Escape from Pretoria

“Escape from Pretoria” is 2020 thriller/drama starring Daniel Radcliffe (The Lost City), Daniel Webber (The Dirt), and Mark Leonard Winter (Elvis).

“Escape from Pretoria” is based on the true story of two political prisoners who escape prison in South Africa in 1979.

If you’ve read my other reviews dealing with Daniel Radcliffe, you know that I’m a huge fan, and not because of the “Harry Potter” series, but because of his offbeat obscure movies he has done since then. He always nails the role; this one is no different. “Escape from Pretoria” is a powerful movie, that has you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Even though you know it’s a true story based on the prisoners escaping you can’t help but having your heart racing the entire time. It ranks up there with the other great prison escape films such as “Shawshank Redemption”, and “Escape from Alcatraz.” It is a must watch, and you can currently catch it on Hulu. I give it a 10/10.

Nope

“Nope” is Jordan Peele’s third and most recent horror. This 2022 horror stars Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Keke Palmer (Hustlers), Brandon Perea (The OA), Michael Wincott (What Just Happened), and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead).

A brother and sister who are taking care of their late dad’s ranch witness something unexplainable. Now they’re determined to bring proof of the impossible.

Jordan Peele is a horror genius and may go down as the greatest horror director of all time. “Get Out” is mind blowing, did he set the bar so high on that one that the rest seem to lack in comparison? Maybe, maybe not. So “Nope” definitely has some pros and cons, it isn’t like his other two films. Let’s get into the cons first. One it’s slower than his other two. It’s over two hours long, and honestly not a lot of creepy things going on here. It doesn’t drag but it doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat either. Two and this is a big one, the alien. The alien looks bad, really bad, it looks like a weather balloon. One thing about Jordan Peele though is everything in his movies have a meaning, every little detail, even ones you don’t notice. He is notorious for Easter eggs in his movies. So maybe, the alien looked like that on purpose for some reason, but I thought it just looked terrible.

Let’s look at the pros. One the writing is brilliant, like I stated before it’s not like his others. This is his “Jaws”. Instead of hunting a great white in the ocean, they’re hunting a much bigger, and deadlier predator in the skies. Kudos to Peele for branching out. Two the acting is fantastic, I love Kaluuya, he’s great in everything he does. So, with all this factored in I don’t think it’s as good as his other two, he doesn’t have the creepiness factor, but it’s still a good story and movie. I give it a 7/10.

Spiderhead

“Spiderhead” is a 2022 Netflix original thriller starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Miles Teller (War Dogs), Jurnee Smollett (Birds of Prey), and Mark Paguio (The Twelve).

Instead of going to prison several convicts are participating in a study on a secluded island that involves them taking drugs that’s able to control their emotions such as love, fear, and paranoia. One of the prisoners (Teller) believes something much sinister is going on, and he intends to find out what.

It’s a unique story and has a solid ending. My issues with it are I don’t think they do quite enough with it, it seems to be lacking a bit. Also, the majority of the twists are pretty predictable, I predicted pretty much all of them. Doesn’t mean they’re bad twists, I just saw them coming. The big thing that saves this moving is the acting. It stars the god of thunder himself Chris Hemsworth. I Love Hemsworth, he has the big goofy guy role nailed down, but he’s also a versatile actor. He plays the creepy part very well in this one, not to mention the acting from Teller and Smollett are also pretty solid. I still think it’s worth checking out though, I give it a 7/10.

1 BR

“1 BR” is a 2020 thriller/drama starring Nicole Brydon Bloom (The Affair), Giles Matthey (Ford V Ferrari), Taylor Nichols (Criminal Minds), Celeste Sully (Dukkha), and Namoi Grossman (American Horror Story).

Sarah (Bloom) is a young girl who moves out to L.A. trying to make it by making costumes. She finds a one-bedroom apartment that seems perfect, with a real sense of community. She quickly discovers her neighbors aren’t all that they seem, and something much sinister lies beneath.

Nicole Brydon Bloom plays a good lead, and I like the story, it’s very unique. There are a few moments that make you say WTF, that also mixes in some gore. Overall, it’s a psychological thriller, and it sets up for a great ending that you probably don’t see coming. I give it a 7/10.

John Carpenter’s Vampires

“Jon Carpenter’s Vampires” is a 1998 Action/Horror movie based off the book “Vampires” by John Steakley. It stars James Woods (Family Guy), Daniel Baldwin (Cold Case), Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks), Thomas Ian Griffith (One Tree Hill), and Tim Guinee (Hell on Wheels).

Jack Crow (Woods) is a vampire hunter, and when his crew is attacked and killed by a master vampire, he seeks revenge. He is aided by a priest, his right-hand man, and a prostitute who was bitten by the master vampire. He must hunt down and kill the master vampire before he obtains a relic that allows vampires to walk in sunlight.

This movie hasn’t received a whole lot of love, and it’s fairly unknown. John Carpenter is a great horror director as he is the one who directs the “Halloween” series. I came across this on Netflix and decided to give it a try. First off it is cheesy, it stars B list celebrities, and they are hunting vampires with giant pistols and machine guns. Not to mention James Woods the entire movie is wearing dark sunglasses and a black leather jacket, even though they’re in the desert. So, yes, it’s cheesy. Sounds awful, right? Strangely, it’s the total opposite, it’s awesome. Watching vampires get pumped full of lead by B list celebrities and cheesy dialogue is one of the most 90 things I can think of. It’s fun, exciting, and I enjoyed it so much I ordered the book to read. This is a hidden vampire movie gem. I give it an 8/10.

The Princess

“The Princess” is a 2022 Hulu exclusive action movie starring Joey King (The Act), Veronica Ngo (The Old Guard), Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger), and Olga Kurylenko (Seven Psychopaths).

The kingdom needs an heir to the throne, so the king arranges for his daughter to get married. When the princess won’t marry her arranged husband, he sneaks into the kingdom and takes it by force. The princess is locked away in the high tower, she must fight her way down and take back the kingdom.

It is action packed and blood soaked from start to finish. It’s a John Wick style movie but with a female lead where multitudes of people come after her and she essentially kills them all while making her way down the levels of the castle. Joey King is a great actress and overall, it’s a pretty solid movie. It’s not quite as good as John Wick, but it’s still good plus, it’s a pretty original concept. Sure, it has its cheesy parts, and unbelievable parts, but what type of movie like this doesn’t? Overall, it’s worth the watch, I give it a 7/10.

The Outsider

“The Outsider” is a 2018 Netflix original crime drama/ thriller starring Jared Leto (Morbius), Tadanobu Asano (Battleship), Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2), and Min Tanaka (47 Ronin).

An American soldier is in a Japanese prison following WWII. He saves a fellow inmates life, and in return the inmate helps him get out of prison and welcomes him into his gang, the Yakuza.

The Yakuza are a Japanese gang who are ruthless and blood thirsty. This movie does a good job portraying that. I’m typically not a big fan of Jared Leto, I find him weird, and bad at portraying emotion. Most of his movies fall flat because of it. However, his character is trying to survive as an outsider in the Yakuza. So, he needs to be cold hearted, his non emotional self, works out for this role. It’s perfect for him. The movie is dark, gritty and full of drama. If you like gangster style movies, it’s definitely worth checking out. I give it an 8/10.

The Black Phone

“The Black Phone” is a 2022 horror movie based off Joe Hill’s short story. It stars Ethane Hawke (Training Day), Mason Thames (For All Mankind), Madeleine McGraw (American Sniper), and Jeremy Davies (Twister).

Denver 1978, a man known as the grabber is going around and abducting kids. 13-year-old Finney Shaw is his latest victim. An old disconnected black phone and a small mattress is the only things in the soundproof basement he is kept in. The victims before him who were taken and killed by the grabber call Finney through the black phone to try and help Finney survive and escape.

I’ve been excited to see this one since I saw the first trailer for it. It was different than I was expecting. It was more of a crime thriller mixed with some paranormal element’s vs a horror movie. Don’t get me wrong, it is filled with its fair share of creepy parts and jump scares though. It does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat and your heart pounding, just a little different than I was expecting. Hawke, Thames, and McGraw all play wonderful roles. It’s scary, creepy, nail biting, and heart felt all rolled into one. It’s definitely worth seeing. I give it a 9/10.

We Die Young

“We Die Young” is a 2019 crime/drama starring Jean-Claude Van Damme (Kickboxer), David Castaneda (The Umbrella Acadamy), Elijah Rodriguez (The Book of Life), Nicholas Sean Johnny (Barry), and Charlie MacGechan (The Girl from the Song).

A young boy is determined to get himself and his little brother out of the hood and not let his younger brother follow in his footsteps. When a simple run of delivering two bricks goes bad, they end up finding help from an unlikely source, a war vet who suffered a terrible accident while deployed leaving him mute, and now suffers from PTSD.

This one doesn’t have much love on IMDb 5.2/10 stars. Looking at it from Jean-Claude Van Damme’s perspective I get it. His character doesn’t say a single word, which would be okay if it added to the story, but it doesn’t. There’s very little action from him, you could take his character out, and it’s the same movie. So, pretty much his character is pointless and doesn’t add anything to the movie. So, it the movie good? Yes, and the reason why, is because of the other actors, especially David Castaneda. He nails the gang leader roll, crazy eyes and all. It’s a gritty gang movie, with a couple of twists you won’t see coming. Overall, it’s worth the watch. I give it an 8.5/10. It’s currently streaming on Netflix.

Choose or Die

“Choose or Die” is a 2022 Netflix original horror/thriller starring Lola Evans (The 100), Asa Butterfield (Hugo), Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes), and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street).

A young girl who is trying to make her way out of the slums by coding programs runs across an old computer game with her friend. Once she plays it, she unknowingly gets trapped into playing a game that has dire consquences.

This a truth or dare style horror movie when you have two choices, and each round gets worse and worse with plenty of carnage along the way. I enjoy these type of horror movies, especially if they’re done well and not too cheesy. This one doesn’t have great ratings, but I found it surprisingly good. It didn’t go into much detail how the curse worked, or exactly how it all started, it just covered enough to make sense, they didn’t try to go too far and muddle everything up. Also, it has a pretty unique “final boss” sequence. Just don’t get too excited about Freddy Krueger himself being in it, Englund just does a voice cameo for the game itself. To me the movie works, I give it an 8.5/10, it’s a nice hidden horror gem.