Reviews

Review: Neal McDonough Stars In Neo-Western BOON

Neal McDonough is someone who steals scenes as a supporting actor in big budget films (Minority Report) and popular television shows (Yellowstone). However, away from delivering first rate support, McDonough also gets to prove his leading man bone [...]

May 29, 2023

Review: Robert Rodriguez Casts A Spell Over Ben Affleck With The Twisty Thriller HYPNOTIC

Hypnotic is a twisty science fiction thriller from the mind of indie action auteur, Robert Rodriguez. The Ben Affleck starrer is an entertaining throwback piece, the type of film that Bruce Willis or even Affleck himself might have toplined 20 years [...]

May 13, 2023

Review: LAST SENTINEL – What’s The Point Of It All?

Have you ever watched a film and thought to yourself, ‘what’s the point of this?’. That’s what was going through my mind as I watched Last Sentinel. It’s competently made and well enough acted – but it has no [...]

April 29, 2023

Blu-ray Review: V/H/S/99 – This Retro Found Footage Horror Anthology Sequel Is A Mixed Bag

The fifth instalment in the V/H/S film series, V/H/S/99 adds an end of the century spin to the successful anthology franchise. Now, Movies In Focus readers will know that I’m not a fan of found footage movies – but I do like a good [...]

April 1, 2023

Review: COCAINE BEAR Lacks Bite – It’s More Like Cocaine Bore!

Cocaine Bear has become much more than a movie. It’s a cultural reference onto itself, a title that conjures up certain B-movie thrills and a trailer that set the internet ablaze. Written by Jimmy Warden, Cocaine Bear is loosely based on a true [...]

March 19, 2023

Review: George A. Romero’s Cult Vampire Horror MARTIN

Writer/Director George A. Romero will forever be associated with zombie films. After all, he did kick-start the never-dying horror sub-genre with 1968’s The Night Of The Living Dead before cementing his status as the ‘Dad of The Dead’ [...]

March 19, 2023

Review: GATEWAY Is A Mysterious Metaphysical Horror Film

Writer/director Niall Owens’ Gateway is an Irish horror film which gives a new and intriguing spin on the traditional haunted house trope. Starting off as a gritty crime film, Gateway then segues into a metaphysical horror that delivers well-honed [...]

February 19, 2023

Review: Daniel Craig Is Back As Benoit Blanc In GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc returns to the screen in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the follow-up to the hugely successful and inexplicably well-regarded 2019 mystery, Knives Out. Knives Out was a perfectly serviceable film [...]

December 30, 2022

Review: Tom Cruise Delivers Sky-High Entertainment With TOP GUN: MAVERICK

Without a doubt Top Gun: Maverick delivers one of the best mainstream Hollywood action films of the last several years. Forget your Avengers or Justice Leagues, Tom Cruise shows how to give audiences the type of entertainment that they’ve been [...]

November 18, 2022

Blu-ray Review: You Need To Hunt Down THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME

Joel McCrea and King Kong‘s Faye Wray play the leads in The Most Dangerous Game, a lean and mean 63 minute adventure produced by the legendary RKO Pictures in 1932. Directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, The Most Dangerous Game is [...]

October 10, 2022

Review: PENNYWISE: THE STORY OF IT

The character of Pennywise has transcended Stephen King’s novel, It and effectively become its own entity. One of the reasons the monstrous clown achieved this infamy is because of Tim Curry’s gnarly performance in the 1990 TV [...]

October 2, 2022

Review: Jon Hamm Excels In The Comedy-Mystery CONFESS, FLETCH

Confess, Fletch is a fun, breezy, star-driven comedy-mystery with a magnificently charismatic turn from the mighty Jon Hamm. This adaptation of Gregory Mcdonald’s 1976 novel is a cool throwback movie – the type of film which was the [...]

September 17, 2022

Review: Colson Baker & Kevin Bacon Are Only Going ONE WAY

Director Andrew Baird delivers a strong neo-noir in the shape of One Way. A gritty thriller which is essentially set within a single location – a bus – Baird infuses the film with enough visual flourishes and energy to make it feel like [...]

September 3, 2022

Blu-ray Review: Neil Marshall’s DOG SOLDIERS Is Still An Absolute Howl After 20 Years

Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers was a major breath of fresh air when it was released in 2002. At the time British horror films were in the doldrums and Marshall came along and delivered a punchy, visceral and monumentally entertaining film which is [...]

August 29, 2022

Blu-ray Review: RED SONJA – Swords, Sorcery & Schwarzenegger

Swords, sorcery and Schwarzenegger – the 1980s were a time of high adventure when it came to fantasy films. You could never call Red Sonja a great piece of art, but if you grab this adventure by the reins and kick-in your heels, then you’ll [...]

July 17, 2022

Blu-ray Review: Ryan Gosling Takes The Hot Seat In Second Sight Films’ Release Of Nicolas Winding Refn’s DRIVE

Based on James Sallis’ novel of the same name, Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 thriller, Drive sees Ryan Gosling play a character only known as Driver, a stuntman by day and getaway driver at night, whose relationship with single parent Carey [...]

June 10, 2022

Review: Nicolas Cage Comedy THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT Excels As An Appreciation Of One Of Hollywood’s True Mavericks

You might like him, loathe him, love him or be totally nonplussed by Nicolas Cage – but you can’t deny that he’s an actor who likes to put himself out there by selecting off-beat projects. From cult actor and Oscar winner to action hero [...]

April 20, 2022