The first thing one notices about Extraction is the bizarre name of Chris Hemsworth’s character. Tyler Rake is clearly meant to be a punchy action-hero moniker, but there’s something off about it; it’s both too silly and not silly enough. The script attempts to get ahead of the criticism by making a knowing joke about it, but it remains a distractingly misguided touch. In short, the name doesn’t work, but at least the movie (mostly) does. Continue reading
Though it enjoys a positive reputation as such, The Descent can only be called a monster movie with a major caveat. Like The Blair Witch before it, it wrings at least half – if not more – of its horror from its ominous setting. In this case, it’s the labyrinthine caves of North Carolina, an alien, impossibly dark environment that’s one of the movie’s most indelible characters. Continue reading
One of Netflix’s latest film releases, Spanish sci-fi/horror movie The Platform is enjoying a minor splash on the streaming giant, which is the most one can hope for in the reign of Tiger King. Though never stated outright, the movie is presumably set in the future, where the shadowy “Administration” runs a sadistic institution that’s half prison, half social experiment. Continue reading
This essentially straight-to-digital movie, released back in October, slipped under my radar until very recently when I caught some online buzz about it. A serious Vince Vaughn performance is always an intriguing prospect, so I decided to give it a go, expecting a gritty prison movie with (given the director’s previous movie) some hardcore violence. I wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t expect it to be as damn good as it was. Continue reading