EvilPhoEniX

You can't expect a bad film from Olivier Marchal. Department 36 is an excellent French crime thriller focusing more on rivalry and backstabbing between cops, but all this is so gripping that the film won't let you breathe a sigh of relief, and all this accompanied by an excellent cast (the film has all the stars from France, only Vincent Cassel and Jean Reno are missing). I've never seen a better police story. Very good. 80%.

An excellent, thrilling, smart and gritty survival drama with an intelligent man-eating swine! Anthony Hopkins steals the whole film for himself, he is smart and resourceful as always, but he also delivers his wisdom and ideas, which are far more interesting than a "how to survive in the wild" manual. Alec Baldwin is a good partner to him, but only a shadow in terms of acting. 80%.

A solid cannibal survival drama involving a very intense plane crash and the stranding of several members of a rugby team in very cold and freezing weather. Courage and ingenuity follow us throughout the film and the film also beautifully illustrates the fact that only the strongest individuals survive in the wild. I liked most of the members and I was rooting for them. A well-deserved four stars. 75%

A decent actioner from Dante Lam with an excellent Andy On in a villain role. What I wasn't too pleased with was the story, which I found either strangely overdone or not interesting enough to draw me in, but it's all made up for by the high budget and numerous action scenes, mostly shootouts and explosions, but the occasional close-quarters fight is also nice, so in terms of action, actors and pacing I'm satisfied. The slow motion bullet shot was over the top. 70%.

I was looking forward to wronging the film, to lynching it!! Well, surprisingly, that's not going to happen, because Annabelle is the scariest film of 2014. It takes Oculus, Deliver Us from Evil and The Babadook for breakfast, not to mention parodies like Jessabelle and Ouija. Right from the start the film sets a fast pace, a solid soundtrack, a nice retro look and plenty of scares, yes I got scared twice and had a decent twitch three times. The elevator scene was absolutely breathtaking!! Chills and goosebumps are inevitable. Annabelle is a solid old school horror film and a tribute to all things 80s and 90s, even though it goes on and on, this form suited me. Considering the aversion I have for ghost stories, this one was a pleasant surprise and I'm not afraid to praise it. 70%

This made me happy! Not counting The Hobbit, I haven't seen better fantasy in years, and Sergei Bodrov has a similar affinity for creatures as I do, so the flawless art kept me entertained from start to finish. The form is impeccable, the content weaker (the film features all the clichés that belong to the genre), but what do you expect from a fairy tale right ? Fine popcorn flick. 75%.

The premise is decent, but it didn't get interesting until the last half hour before the end, which is a shame. Nicole Kidman was very unlikable here, so I wasn't rooting for her. The film is also sorely lacking in complexity, more twists and turns, and more suspense wouldn't hurt. It had more potential. A fairly bland and ordinary affair. 55%

The Australians rocked in 2014 and this action film can also be considered a great success. Nicely conceived, engaging, entertaining with likeable actors, fine action and a cool final twist, all underlined by a solid pace. So for me, a big enthusiasm and I even hesitated to watch the film.

The first anticipated horror film of 2015 is over, but I didn't get much satisfaction. You can say that it is a decently unpredictable survival drama up to the first half, after that the film slides into clichés and a lot of illogical character behaviour, which wouldn't have mattered so much as a complete lack of gore and a rather weak dose of adrenaline, and I don't forgive that in survival films. I found it to be a weaker variation on Eden Lake, with a woman taking the law into her own hands again, as is the norm in horror films these days Grrr. What also disappointed me is that the director didn't have the balls to pull it off at least in the end, I wouldn't mind a higher rating, but still better than shit like Jessabelle or Ouija. 45%

If Jonas Alexander Arnby had pushed the envelope at the end and given us a bunch of good and detailed gore scenes, the rating would have looked completely different. As it is, this is unfortunately a pretty slow, thankfully not boring horror drama with an interesting premise and a decent Nordic atmosphere, nothing more. Let the Right One In in is a whole other level in terms of atmosphere and storytelling. 60%.