VOD: Hell Fest (dir: Gregory Plotkin, 2018)

"Seriously, it's not funny!"

Hell Fest does pretty much everything expected and does it reasonably well, as a masked killer stalks and slashes his way through a group of friends visiting a horror-themed park event.  It is an unashamed throwback to the late 70s and early 80s horror movies but in a contemporary setting (where even mobile phones are actually used effectively as part of the narrative), with an ending that holds absolutely no surprises and is completely true to conventions but is handled well.  There are a couple of surprisingly strong on-screen gore gags to be found here, the cast is at best adequate and Idiot Plot runs riot, but if you are in the mood for an old-school horror that generally delivers without cynicism or surprises, Hell Fest will entertain reasonably.

VOD: Boy Erased (dir: Joel Edgerton, 2019)

"You say that you're angry, but, quite frankly, I don't really see it."

Based on a biography about a young man going through gay-conversion therapy, the touchstone for this type of family drama again goes back to Redford's Ordinary People - beautifully shot, very carefully and deliberately directed, terrific performances but with an overall feel of clinical dissection rather than depth of emotion.  Lucas Hedges again knocks it out of the park and proves to be an exceptionally capable young actor in the lead role, Nicole Kidman does great character work with a mother role that does not feel fully written, and Russell Crowe gives a nuanced performance in limited screen time as the initially stereotypical pastor father character whose conflicts play well towards the end of the film.  This is a well-made and well-played film but it is quite unsubtle in its messages and is hard to engage with emotionally.

VOD: John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum (dir: Chad Stahelski, 2019)

"Consequences."
"Yeah...consequences...."

If you enjoyed the first two John Wick movies and action movies in general, the third entry will delight.  Picking up where Chapter 2 left off, Wick now has a (growing) bounty on his head, creating almost a two-hour-plus chase movie, with only a minor picturesque desert-set detour sag in the middle, but also with plenty of character and story moments that make this a cut well above a standard actioner.  The mythos is simple and effortlessly employed again here, creating its own little almost-believable world.  Of the set pieces themselves, Stahelski continues to push the bar in breathtaking fashion, and particular excels in staging fights in confined settings, my favourite being a museum corridor in which Wick and opponents basically end up flinging knives at each other with reckless abandon.  The film has enough humour, tension and seriousness to give it weight and some levity, Halle Berry makes a welcome addition doing what she does best and more, and just when you think you are in action heaven, along come the legendary Mark Dacascos for a barnstorming final smackdown.  There is a very clear set-up for another instalment, which would be very welcome if it can maintain the high standard of the three films so far.

VOD: The Secret Of Marrowbone (dir: Sergio G. Sanchez, 2018)

"Our story begins here."

Boosted by its retro-rural setting, The Secret Of Marrowbone offers little more than a standard creaky old ghost story, taken very seriously.  The actual 'secret' or twist is painfully easily to work out very early on, especially if you have seen any recent ghost movies that use a similar narrative trope.  George MacKay shines in the lead role as the older brother looking after his siblings in the isolated house and is engaging to watch as his situation unravels, but there is little else of note here.