Red Snow – Film Review – FrightFest

Posted on September 9, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Sean Nichols Lynch

Writer: Sean Nichols Lynch

Starring: Dennice Cisneros, Nico Bellamy, Laura Kennon, Alan Silva, Edward Ewell and Vernon Wells

Rating: ★★★★

There’s a real clash with how Vampires are presented in recent years. On one side they are merciless killers that hold no regard to humanity other than as food. On the other side they are romanticised and seen as victims more than villains. Red Snow shows both sides of the timeless characters in a fresh take on the vampire mythology.

Dennice Cisneros plays Olivia a writer who is currently struggling to get her vampire romance novel published. She is obsessed with vampires, with coffee-table books, Christmas tree ornaments and a t-shirt with Orlok’s face from Nosferatu. A few days before Christmas a bat flies into her window, and after nursing it back to health discovers that the bat is actually a real-life vampire named Luke. With a vampire hunter lurking about, Olivia makes a decision to see if Luke can help her writing career instead of turning him in.

There is a lot to love about Red Snow. It’s a really funny film with a dark twist. The laughs are plenty and the gore is over the top in the best way possible. Visually the film is great. It’s bright and warm and feels like a Christmas film, that you can settle down with the family to watch, then the killing starts. The violence is brutal and at the same time the humour is kept up throughout.

Dennice Cisneros is absolutely fantastic as the shut-in writer Olivia. She’s a great character and Cisneros gives a brilliant performance. When she first realises that Luke is a vampire, the excitement that Olivia is pure brilliance. Likewise Vernon Wells as the legendary vampire hunter is great casting. He’s sinister when he needs to be and funny as well. His role is small in the film, but his first meeting with Olivia is a memorable part of the film.

Red Snow is a perfect Christmas or Halloween film. It blends horror and comedy together nicely and is an entertaining story. At just under ninety minutes, it’s the perfect length for either holiday and will definitely be one you’ll be adding to your yearly traditions.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Greywood’s Plot – Film Review – FrightFest

Posted on September 9, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Josh Stifter

Writer: Josh Stifter and Daniel Degnan

Starring: Josh Stifter, Daniel Degnan, Kieth Radichel, Samantha Kirchoff and Aaron McKenna

Rating: ★★½

Josh Stifter, co-wrote, directs and stars in Greywood’s Plot a body horror film that explores the search for success online making videos in a generation where it feels half the world is doing just that.

Dom (Josh Stifter), lives in his mum’s basement making videos about the unexplained. He’s on the verge of committing suicide but can’t bring himself to do it. After a mysterious video tape is sent to him, Dom and his best friend Miles (Keith Radichel) go on an adventure to se if the video is a hoax or a real sighting.

This film feels like it is massively inspired by Kevin Smith’s career. The first part of it feels very much like his comedy Clerks with the black and white visuals and young adults not really doing much with their lives and the later half really feels like Tusk. The film parallels Tusk throughout. Instead of a podcaster it’s a vlogger, instead of a walrus it’s supernatural creatures. It doesn’t feel like a rip-off in any way, but Greywood’s Plot really puts its influences in the open.

There’s a lot of comedy at the start of Greywood’s Plot. It’s funny and charming and the performances are decent. The effects when it turns full horror are really good and the make up is exceptional. It looks a lot better than a lot of films with bigger budgets.

The first half of the film is surprisingly great. The characters are relatable, and the simple set up works really nicely. There are so many creative people out there who must feel the same as the main character. Just seeing that play out is really interesting. The film starts to fall apart when it turns into a body horror film. The effects and make up are fantastic. There’s no faulting it. But the story just isn’t engaging. This isn’t Tusk. It’s very dull and really feels dragged out by the time the ending finally arrives.

Greywood’s Plot feels like something that is on the verge of being something great but just doesn’t quite make it all the way. The first half an hour is a great character study on struggling young adults trying to make their way in the world. It’s engaging and has some genuinely funny moments. The last half hour just drags out horror to no real effect. The point it makes is clear, but by the time the credits role you just don’t care.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yakuza Princess – Film Reviews

Posted on September 8, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Vicente Amorim

Writers: Fernando Toste and Kimi Lee

Starring: Masumi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Eijiro Ozaki and Kenny Leu

Rating: ★★★

Yakuza Princess is based upon a graphic novel Samurai Shiro by Danilo Beyruth. It tells the story of the heir to a Yakuza family after the boss is murdered in cold blood. The heir is sent abroad as an infant and grows up without knowing her past. After rival Yakuza discover her secret, Akemi ends up teaming up with an American to get to the truth of her past.  

There are some great performances here. Masumi makes her feature film debut and is really great as the lead role. She’s convincing as an action hero and really brings Akemi to life. Her character isn’t developed enough, which is a shame, but the small character-building moments at the beginning with her training and going to a club for her birthday are really good and help you care about Akemi enough to keep your attention for the rest of the film.

Yakuza Princess is simply gorgeous. The lighting and visuals are stunning throughout. From the dark and gritty moments to the bright neon lights, it’s a joy to watch and is really well shot. There’s some choppy camera work through the action sequences, but that’s only a minor issue. It’s a beautiful throughout.  

This is a bloody film. While it’s not over the top, there isn’t any holding back with the blood and violence. There is a lot of sword-fighting and death. The effects are incredible and one of the best bits of the film. It’s not overly gory, but there’s a lot of slicing limbs off and stabbings. The sound effects are really exaggerated, but it fits a film that’s based on a graphic novel.

While the film is under two hours in length, it does start to drag a little in the middle. The mystery at the centre of the story takes a little while to unfold and you do figure out the main parts of it before it’s fully explained. It would have been nice to speed this up a bit, the final fight sequence is entertaining though and makes up for it.

This is an enjoyable and solid action film, even though the story does feel like it follows some familiar plot points.  It’s nothing extraordinary, but with some really good performances, beautiful visuals and really bloody action there’s more than enough to enjoy.  

Yakuza Princess – Trailer

Yakuza Princess will be available in the UK on digital platforms from 13th September

Apple TV: https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/yakuza-princess/umc.cmc.2tx5bnrz74ziwidxmqx5ahq9l

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/movie/yakuza-princess/id1582525495

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Night Drive – Film Review – FrightFest

Posted on September 8, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Directors: Brad Baruh and Meghan Leon

Writer: Meghan Leon

Starring: AJ Bowen, Sophie Dalah and Scott Poythress

Rating: ★★

Night Drive is not a good film. It’s really boring, drags on way too long and falls flat in almost every single way. Russel is a ride share driver and it’s close to Christmas, his next client Charlotte runs out of a house with a suitcase and tells him to drive. Before he knows it, Russel is dragged into a night wacky antics that will change his life forever. 

This feels like a Hollywood comedy. It has a typical set up, good production values and the cast give decent performances. If it wasn’t for the gory moments (two of them, nothing more), then it would have nothing interesting in it. The effects are fantastic, but it’s still just a bad film.

The twist comes in too late. The plot revolves around the suitcase, that contains something that we aren’t told about until way too late in the film. Once it’s revealed it isn’t used in any interesting way. It feels like the first hour and ten minutes should be the first ten minutes to a better film. The whole thing only lasts an hour and twenty minutes but feels so much longer. It’s such a boring uninspired film.

The acting is fairly good, but the main character, Russel (AJ Bowen) is just boring. There’s nothing to him. He feels like a cookie-cutter protagonist for a Hollywood comedy, except this isn’t a comedy it’s a thriller, that isn’t thrilling. To be honest, this would have probably worked better as a comedy, that’s what Charlotte (Sophie Dalah) feels like she’s from. She’s full of energy and drives most of the film. She’s a great character in an otherwise rubbish film.

If it wasn’t for the really great gore effects and decent performances, there would literally be no redeeming qualities about Night Drive. It’s still not worth watching, but it’s not the worst thing ever made. 

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Here Today – Film Review

Posted on September 7, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Billy Crystal

Writers: Billy Crystal and Alan Zweibel

Starring: Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, Penn Badgley, Laura Benanti and Louisa Krause

Rating: ★★★½

2021 is apparently the year of dementia films. The Father with Anthony Hopkin’s Oscar winning performance started the year, the overlooked Supernova with an emotional story between Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci came up next. Here Today is Billy Crystal’s take on the subject, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in. Based on the short story The Prize, which was written by the co-writer of the screenplay Alan Zweibel, Here Today looks at dementia through the lens of a rom-com.

Billy Crystal stars as Charlie Burnz, an aging comedy writer who is suffering with the early stages of dementia. Charlie ends up having lunch with Emma Payge (Tiffany Haddish, Girl’s Trip) thanks to charity auction where lunch with Charlie is won for $22. They end up becoming unlikely friends and Emma is the only person to know about Charlie’s condition.

This is a very schmaltzy film, which is probably going to put off a few people straight away. If you can get passed that, then there is a genuinely moving and touching story to be found. Yes, it is overly sentimental. Yes, it shies away from the harsher moments of dementia. And yes, there are a few too many moments that come together in an almost perfect way towards the end. But beyond all of that is two incredibly strong performances from Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. They are both excellent and the chemistry between them is great. The characters are polar opposites but work very well together.

There is a lot of very funny moments in this film. Crystal tackles dementia with great humour and moments of true sadness. Aside from moments where Charlie forgets names and one moment when his routine is interrupted it doesn’t really deal with the horrific nature of dementia. There is enough there to make the film genuinely emotional at points, but this isn’t The Father, and it isn’t trying to be. Here Today is a funny, touching look at a horrible disease and it works so well.

The characters are great, and you do care about Charlie. He’s trying to write a book for his late wife, Carrie, and he’s struggling. Through conversations with Emma, we get to see his life through first person flashbacks. The meeting of Carrie up to her eventual death. It’s told really well and is heart breaking. It may not show the worst moments of dementia but because you get such a great idea of who Charlie is, it hits so much harder than The Father. This is a truly emotional film that will have a lot of the audience in tears.

Here Today is a great rom-com. It deals with dementia in a funny way and at the same time is about so much more than just the diseases. There is an interesting family dynamic between Charlie and his two children, that is explored nicely. It touches on the changes in comedy from Charlie’s heyday to the modern sketches. There’s also a great budding friendship with Charlie and Emma. This is a great little film that, in the UK at least, has been completely overshadowed by Marvel’s latest offering. It’s definitely worth seeking out if you get the chance.

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments