Horror Fans, I Need Your Help!

Posted on August 31, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

I’m calling on all horror fans to give me suggestions of what to watch for October. With September around the corner, it won’t be long until we are in the month of Halloween. Last year I watched a lot of horror films that I hadn’t seen before, crossing off classics like The Omen and Texas Chainsaw Massacre off my list. This year I want to see the scariest, strangest, most obscure films you know.

If you have a favourite horror film that you feel doesn’t get the attention it deserves, then let me know in the comments. I’m going to be watching as many horror films as possible through-out October. I don’t care if it’s a silent era film (Nosferatu is a great film, but I’ve seen that one) a foreign art house film, 1950s B-Movie, a mainstream Hollywood outing or anything in between. Even if you think it’s really obvious, I may not have seen it. I still haven’t seen Child’s Play.

So far I’m planning on watching, Carrie, House (The Japanese film, not the unrelated American one), Kuroneko, The Changeling (1980) and Jacob’s Ladder. Probably Child’s Play as well, since I’ve mentioned it.

If you’ve seen any of these, let me know and give me your suggestions.

Thank you in advance and I’m looking forward to reading your suggestions,

Ashley

Posted in film reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

FrightFest – To Watch List

Posted on August 30, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

This week is going to be slightly different to my normal weeks. Instead of cinema releases, I’m mainly going to be focusing on the digital version of FrightFest. I’ve got my ticket and film schedule lined up. My plan is to do 2 reviews a day for the films from the day before and this should be a full week of posts from this Thursday to the next Wednesday. The films I’m going to be watching are:

Wednesday

The Show

Crabs

Thursday

Broadcast Signal Interruption

Laguna Ave

Friday

The Parker Sessions

Bad Candy

Sweetie, you won’t believe it

Saturday

King Knight

Lair

Are We Monsters

When The screaming Starts

Shadow of the Cat

Sunday

Greywood’s plot

Night Drive

Red Snow

I don’t know much about most of these, but I’m excited to find some new films, that will hopefully be great. I’m hearing good things about some of them from the physical festival. With the world being what it is I didn’t feel like going down to London, so I decided just to do the digital side. Hopefully next year. The one I’m looking forward to most is the first one, The Show. It’s written by Alan Moore, who also stars in it. He’s one of my favourite writers, so it’s going to be good to see.

Other than those films, I don’t have plans for anything else. I’m waiting for my next batch of rentals to be sent out, not sure what they will be just yet.

What are you planning on watching this week? Are you going to be watching any of the FrightFest films online?

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

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

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – Film Review

Posted on August 30, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: George Clooney

Screenplay by: Charlie Kaufman

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts

Rating: ★★★½

Based on the autobiography of the same name, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, tells the story of Chuck Barris, at least the story he claimed happened. Since the book was published in 1984 Barris has admitted that he made up most of the story and later backtracked saying he will never truly say one way or another.

Sam Rockwell (Jojo Rabbit, Richard Jewell) plays Barris, the gameshow producer and host that uses his day job as a cover to be an assassin for the CIA. George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven) plays Jim Byrd, his handler and contact within the CIA. Drew Barrymore (Scream) plays Barris’s partner, Penny Pacino, a hippie and someone who waits around for Barris no matter how poorly he treats her.

Everyone is great in their roles, giving great performances that are believable and natural. Sam Rockwell is great in most things he’s in, but this is a standout role as he carries the entire film. George Clooney is also great as the quiet CIA agent. Drew Barrymore is excellent when on screen, really giving a great performance in what feels like a limited role.

Clooney also made his directorial debut with this film and does a great job. The visuals pop off the screen and captures the 1960s and 70s with flair. There are some great panning shots and scene transitions that work so well and are also impressive to watch and some handheld camera moments inspired by films from the early 1970s.

The story is really well told and captures you from almost the opening scene. It’s full of style and has a lot of funny moments. Kaufman captures an upbeat thriller/drama with a punchy script and Clooney’s direction is great. In many ways it feels more upbeat and energetic than a lot of Kaufman’s films, that is until the breakdown scene. During a taping of one Barris’s shows he suffers a mental breakdown and the whole world around him seems to melt away. It’s a great sequence.

The film does feel really long. It’s not even two hours in length, but it feels a lot longer. It starts out great and you’re having a great time but by two thirds of the way in you don’t feel it anymore. There just isn’t enough there to keep it entertaining and by the end it’s just gotten boring. By the time they reveal who the mole is, you’ve almost forgotten there even was one. The film feels like it’s in two-minds about what it wants to be. On one side it’s an espionage thriller with Barris tasked with finding the mole, the other side is that it’s a drama about a man struggling with his own insecurities and the general disdain towards him from critics.

The performances are great, the direction is wonderful, the story is interesting and the first forty minutes or so are punchy and energetic. Confessions is a good film, it’s just once it’s over you’re left with a feeling that it should have ended a long time before.  

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

Freaks by Brett Riley – Book Review

Posted on August 30, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Thank you to Imbrifrex Books for the copy of this book in return for an honest review

Freaks is due out on March 1st 2022

Freaks is about a group of four geeks who have been bullied for as long as they can remember. Micah can’t take it anymore and is on the verge of snapping. After finding some old and mystical looking books and robes in a chest in his shed, Micah invites his friends around to play a game, pretending they are going to put a spell on their bullies. Instead they open a portal to another dimension, letting through a horrible Vampire-like being and in the process they gain powers of their own.

I really enjoyed this book. It starts with each of the main characters getting a solo chapter giving a brief introduction and showing them getting bullied. It felt incredibly real and brought back some memories that I had forgotten about. Since starting this book last week, they have been circling around in my head and I think that just goes to show how well-written this book is.

I like superhero stories and I like horror and this mixes them well together. When the horror starts is brutal and gory in the best way. The superhero stuff also feels good. The big fight towards the end is great and given a long time to breathe.

Micah is the most interesting character. He has been pushed to his limit, bringing a gun to one of his weekly game nights with his friends. The others panic when they see it and try to talk him down, but the rest of his character arc is really well done. It’s a really different take on a superhero and I think it will be really interesting where it goes from here.

This is really easy to read and the pages flew by. The dialogue is punchy the action is great. I do think the middle section of the book is a little weaker than the great opening and action packed ending, but it’s all building to the climax.

I would recommend this to fans of superhero stories, horror and especially fans of Darren Shan. It’s a great read and I’m looking forward to book 2.

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

My Summer of You, Vol. 1 – Book Review

Posted on August 29, 2021 by ashleymanningwriter

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for the copy of this Manga in return for an honest review

My Summer of You is the story of two high-school boys who bond over their shared love of movies. After a year of hanging out, Chiharu confesses his love for Wataru. Not wanting things to change or get awkward they set out to pilgrimage to locations from their favourite movies and Wataru starts to realise his own feelings along the way.

This is a really nice, simple manga that feels like summer. It tells a really sweet story that’s emotional without coming across as schmaltzy. The artwork is nice with clean, crisp panels that give everything a really summery feel. There’s not much conflict here and it’s just pure escapism.

I really like the idea of travelling to the locations of favourite movies, it’s a nice touch to the story and makes it more interesting to see the main characters talk passionately about films they like. They are also nice characters that have good chemistry together.

There is a flashback sequence that is a little messed up, that sets the whole plot in motion. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. It’s a twist in the plot, so I can’t spoil anything, but it feels like something I’ve seen before and at the same time I don’t think it works completely. It’s hard to talk about without spoiling it, but I think the flashback could have been tweaked slightly to be less messed up and the story would still work nicely.

Aside from that I enjoyed this book and will read more when the second and final volume comes out later this year. I haven’t read much romance manga, so I’m not sure how original it is, but as a newcomer it’s an enjoyable tale of summer and love.

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