HCF Review - Turf Wars

DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988)

He quit the gangs. They killed his girl. He became… Deadbeat at Dawn. Or so the tag-line for Jim Van Bebber’s blood drenched thriller would have you believe. But this isn’t a straightforward Hollywood revenge storyline, things are a lot weirder and a lot messier. It’s an incredibly filthy piece of work just to look at, and there are also certain visuals that might have been more at home on Arrow’s own American Horror Project. But purely as a gang warfare narrative things are a lot less cohesive both in terms of storytelling and the performances that this all hangs on.

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Scorecard

DECEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH Black Christmas ☆☆☆☆
Die Hard ☆☆☆☆
Gremlins ☆☆☆☆
Lethal Weapon ☆☆☆☆
Mission Impossible: Fallout ☆☆☆☆
Paddington 2 ☆☆☆☆
The Blood on Satan's Claw ☆☆☆☆

Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2018 CATCH UP - PART THREE

To conclude at least for the time being let's take a look at what offerings have been taken up or produced by Netflix this year. As a quick aside regarding those releases I've missed, The Cloverfield Paradox is a mixed bag that is probably not worth seeing and has been done better elsewhere while The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a mixed bag that is worth checking out and could only have been made by the Joel and Ethan Cohen. There was also Mowgli, which is mostly an awkward repeat of Jon Favreau's Jungle Book until a third act twist when they remembered it was supposed to be darker. It's all over the place and is bound to be confusing or upsetting depending on the viewer. Anyway for the moment I'll call it a day and discuss some horrifying action, some horrifying horror, and some real human drama.

Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2018 CATCH UP - PART TWO

I guess it's time to talk about the last few big movies of the year. Looking back it seems like I already did Solo and Black Panther, which is odd because I can barely remember them. I guess it's just been a really long year. I have the same problem with some of the next few releases; did they really come out that recently? Maybe my brain just isn't able to separate out all this stuff properly these days. So, there are a couple more flashy blockbusters to cover before I return to the weird and super violent films in the third and final part of this end of year wrap. But first let's talk about weird animated dog movies.

Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2018 CATCH UP - PART ONE

Much like the previous horror movie review session this will be another series of write ups I just haven't had the time or energy to get around to until now. I guess it all feels more pressing suddenly, for one vague reason or another. So here let's take a look at a few big and small releases from the last twelve months (though Infinity War and Annihilation were already reviewed amongst various others). This won't be an exhaustive list by any means but it's nice to cover a few of most recent additions before I swing back around and start discussing more classic horror. In this part I'll be looking at a few of the best releases, or at least those I've seen so far.