[JonE(vil)]

Macabre. 2009. Indonesia.
7/10
A group of friends end up a not so friendly villa.
The travellers pick up a young woman and agree to take her back to her home. They end up staying, are drugged and prepared for slaughter.
Kinda standard fare, but there are a differences. The acting is kinda shit. Can't fault them for that, they do a decent job, but it kinda noticeable. 90 minute film, that hints at a larger plot to do with eternal life thru cannibalism. If this was explored more, it would have dragged the films run time out and not been worth it. Well shot with some great horror elements. The violence and gore gets more bloody which means it doesn't get boring.
Clear nods to T.C.M. but in a way that is not a rip off.
Entertaining film from a conservative country.

[JonE(vil)]

The attack. 2012.
10/10
The wife of a well to do surgeon living in Tel Aviv blows herself up in a suicide attack. He is cleared of involvement and goes to find out what drove her to do it.
Excellent drama that looks at the occupation thru the eyes of a arab who has been accepted in israel, and leads a comfortable life. It has the bombing early on in the film, and some flashbacks are scattered throughout of him interacting with his wife. The bulk of the film takes place inside in a small town in what is probably The West Bank. There he visits his sister and uncle trying to find out what inspired her and who is responsible. It shows a people just trying to get by, but deeply affected by the occupation, in comparison with Tel Aviv.
A slow burn but always engaging, slowly ramps up a pressure and sadness that exposes the daily life of some compared to others. Careful not to glorify such bombings it doesn't identify anyone directly connected with the bombing. But shows that the arab people are grateful for such a action.

[JonE(vil)]

Abu Omar. 2020.
6/10
A arab stuck in Israel tries to get home with his dead son in a duffel bag.
Slow drama that is for the most part heartbreaking. When his son dies of a heart defect in a hospital in Tel Aviv, he takes the body and tries to get back to his village to bury him, in the The West Bank. He meets a jewish woman who takes it upon herself to help him. The film at the start and for a while is pretty hard hitting. He is a quiet arab man, constantly holding the bag, while every now and again, someone makes a comment about a bad smell. When the woman decides to help him, it follows familiar plot points. A curfew mean no access thru checkpoints, getting ice to keep the body cool.
After a while, the slow pacing and kinda relentless grind did wear thin. Overall it portrays the ordinary people of both sides as human, just stuck in a shitty situation.

[JonE(vil)]

Thanksgiving. 2023.
3/10
​A bloke in a pilgram costume is hunting specific people involved in a black friday sale gone wrong the previous year.
Directed by Eli Roth, it echos eighties slasher films pretty well. The teens are loud and annoying, there is one girl who will survive, who is the killer?, practical effects. Other than that, its standard fare. Enjoyable in a campy kind of way. It has interesting kills.
I lost interest fairly early on, and clicked thru some parts to the kill scenes, eventually going to the end. A film that will work for some, just not me.

[JonE(vil)]

Kolysanka. (Lullaby) Poland. 2010.
4/10
A family of vampires collect locals and live off their blood.
Quirky comedy with very little 'horror'. Mostly just scenes of dialogue as the hostages discuss their situation and the vampires add to their collection as random people turn up.
Interesting concept but just inoffensive to the point of boring.

[JonE(vil)]

The boy and the heron. Japan. 2023.
8/10
Studio Ghibli about a young lad who follows a heron into a tower to find his step mother.
Very surreal and kinda dark. Excellent animation. First film iv seen from this studio and it lived up to its reputation. The backgrounds were are detailed, yet what i would describe as slighty dulled. All the characters on screen were then high in color and really stood out. Took a while to used to the bizarre story. But very entertaining.


Porco Rosso. Japan.1992.
6/10
Studio Ghibli animation about a bounty hunter in a sea plane that has to defeat another pilot.
Great animation with a strange but interesting plot. Had a steady pace and was entertaining. With such a steady feel, it did feel a little long.


Smugglers. 2023. South Korea.
9/10
Oceans 11 done really well.
A small village is forced to turn to picking up illegal packages due to a factory nearby polluting the water and killing the fish using a all woman dive team. The plot was quite layered and very engaging. Seemed to be based on true events as it had a number of specific dates and times. With a large cast, it was methodically set up. The women divers, a local gang, the customs officers and a smuggler from Seoul. Instead of one heist and a series of flashbacks and boom its all done. It shows the whole story of what went wrong early on, then how the women were going to get what they were owed. Very entertaining crime drama with a great underwater scenes and a epic fight.

[JonE(vil)]

There's something in the barn. 2023.
5/10
Barn elf gets mad.
Quirky horror comedy set in Norway that brings together a folklore tale and a family of americans. When they inherit the house and land from the fathers uncle they decide to move there. Typical set up for family. Goofy but well meaning Dad, nice step mother, teenage daughter and a younger son that understands what is going on. It mainly uses practical effects and alot of humour the revolves around the fish-out-of-water style.
Brings a depth and engaging interest to the film. Kinda gets a little boring near the start of the third act. But for a casual watch it's OK.

[JonE(vil)]

Satanic hispanics. 2023.
6/10
Collection of short films.
A group of directors each made a short film, that has a lead in by a bloke sitting in a police station.
Some funny, some serious. Bit of a mixed bag. There is one that deals with a witch which had a very folklore feel. Good practical effects for the most part made it a compelling watch.



My neighbour Totoro 1988. Japan.
7/10
Entertaning family film that shows the style of what the studio do hasn't changed really at all in over 30 years.
Simple and engaging, it has the same steady plot that is hard to stay engaged with at the start but slowly builds as the film progresses.

[JonE(vil)]

Evil dead rise. 2023.
5/10
The book of the dead is opened. Again.
5th film in the 'evil dead' saga. This one changes things up a bit by having the setting in a old apartment building.
Interesting way the book is discovered and the evil is released. Soon shows thru as another retread of a very old idea. With a dedicated legion of fans who will watch it and any previous or future films, its violent but a wholly unscary experience.

[JonE(vil)]

The day of the jackal. 1973.
8/10
A assassin is hired to kill the french president.
Good thriller that is quiet but full of suspense. Kinda slow but it works with the methodical planning of the killer and the hunt to catch him. No big flashy car chases or action scenes, just a solid high stakes crime thriller.