Annabelle: Creation
Former toy maker Sam Mullins and his wife, Esther, are happy to welcome a nun and six orphaned girls into their California farmhouse. Years earlier, the couple's 7-year-old daughter Annabelle died in a tragic car accident. Terror soon strikes when one child sneaks into a forbidden room and finds a seemingly innocent doll that appears to have a life of its own.
Worth a watch 7.5/10
The House
Scott and Kate Johansen must figure out a way to earn some money after their daughter's scholarship falls through. When all else fails, the desperate couple join forces with their neighbor Frank to start an underground casino in his home. As the cash rolls in and the good times fly, Scott and Kate soon learn that they may have bitten off more than they can chew.
Decent with some proper lol moments 7.5/10
Tell Me How I Die (2016);
A horror/thriller about a group of college students looking to make a few or two by taking up a job in a research facility as lab-rats/guinea pigs testing a revolutionary new drug that apparently cures memory loss (I need it but I'd probably keep forgetting to take it) & dementia.
As the students turn up at the facility which just so happens to be in the middle of nowhere in the midst of a major snow-storm they realise leaving the premises or quitting the job becomes all the more difficult.The head scientist informs the patients beforehand that only half of them will be taking the actual drug the others a placebo (only the scientists know who) & that the drug affects people differently (some straight away & some after a lengthy period) so they they are kept locked up in the facility away from civilization for a period under quarantine whilst being observed.
It doesn't take long that certain patients start feeling the effects & start seeing premonitions before they actually happen & one of the girls Anna has a vision that see's all the other patients being killed.
The film then moves into the similiar theme to the Final Destination films where Anna has to try & help her fellow patients avoid a certain death.It just so turns out that a disgruntled ex-patient turned psychopath breaks into the facility & wants help the patients meet the Grim Reaper in person & in exactly the same way in Anna's visions.
This is an okay film that starts of promising & while not original by borrowing cliches from films like Final Destination & I Know What You Did Last Summer, at around the halfway through the film it turns into your bog standard teen-slasher.Okay,5/10.
The French Connection(1971) Based on a true story,two New York undercover cops (Gene Hackman & Roy Schneider) investigating a drug smuggling ring trace it to Marseilles. A mostly gritty, realistic feeling police procedural which is a slow burner. Of course, Schneider and especially Hackman are excellent with good support from Fernando Rey as the main French villain. A fine filmed history of New York of the time too. As I said earlier mainly realistic, apart from the excellent, famous car chase through the New York streets. Also starring Tony Lo Bianco,Marcel Bozzuffi,Frederic de Pasquale,Bill Hickman and Arlene Farber. 7.5/10
Underworld - Blood wars 4/10 - the fifth and worst in the franchise.
IT
Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, are about to face their worst nightmare an ancient, shape shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town's children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer, the friends must overcome their own personal fears to battle the murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise.
Fully immersing myself in this movie, this film contained some genuine terrifying moments along with some uncomfortable viewing (bullying/abuse) ect....
As a stand alone horror (good) fully involved (lights outs,vols up,no distractions) even better.
8/10 worth a punt!
Mystery of the Wentworth Castle(1940)
A reporter investigates the death of a shipping magnate in this stylish crime thriller from director William Nigh.Gritty and grounded in reality with perfectly underplayed performances from Boris Karloff and Grant Withers.
7/10
The Women In Green
A Sherlock Holmes film starring one of my fav actors as Holmes Basil Rathbone.
7.5/10.
Hotel Reserve (1944) 1938 in a South of France hotel and an Austrian(James Mason) is accused of being a spy, but sets out to find the real culprit. A far fetched and poorly plotted film but still enjoyable, partly because although billed as a spy thriller, its more like an Agatha Christie type mystery. There's good use of night time photography, a fine turn from the ever excellent Mason and a chance to see a young Herbert Lom. Also starring Lucie Mannheim,Raymond Lovell,Julien Mitchell(good as the chief of police) ,Clare Hamilton,Frederick Valk and Patricia Medina. 6/10
Mansfield Park(2007) A made for TV version of the Jane Austen novel in which poor Fanny Price(played by Billie Piper) moves into her cousin's stately home Mansfield Park. As she grows into adulthood, flirtatious visitors from London arrive changing the house dynamic. Piper equips herself well in the title role,and there are strong performances from Douglas Hodge as the head of the household,Hayley Atwell
(relishing many witty and acid lines) and Joseph Beattie as the visitors, Jemma Redgrave, Maggie O'Neill,Blake Ritson and Rory Kinnear. The only weak link was Michelle Ryan with rather stilted delivery. A good introduction to Austen's work for a beginner which I am. Also starring James D'Arcy, Joseph Morgan and Catherine Steadman. 7/10