20s Movie Review - Aftermath

Director: Peter Winther
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore, Britt Baron, Sharif Atkins, Diana Hopper, Ross McCall, Paula Carces, Alexander Bedria

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 CHALLENGE MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 22: A HORROR FILM
 
Description: A young couple (Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore) struggling to stay together, when they are offered an amazing deal on a home with a questionable past that would normally be beyond their means. In a final attempt to start fresh as a couple they take the deal.

Review: Nathalie and Kevin are a young couple, struggling with the aftermath of an affair that Nathalie had. Kevin never really forgave her for what she did, but they are trying to make it work. Kevin works as a crime scene cleaner, and he can get a great deal on a house that a family was murdered in. In a final attempt to save their marriage, Kevin and Nathalie move in and things start looking up. Until strange things start to happen. First, it’s just objects being misplaced or lost. But later footsteps and shadows that they can’t explain. Is someone in their house?

The movie gets a lot of bad reviews, but it’s not a terrible film. It’s fairly predictable, yes. And some things that happen make no sense. But still, I found it a pretty enjoyable, creepy horror/ thriller film to watch. The film is filled with cliches and a lot of horror overused tropes are in this movie. But still, somehow, I found it entertaining enough to sit through.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Ruins

Director: Carter Smith
Genre: Horror/ Thriller/ Adventure
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2008
Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Joe Anderson

Description: A leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of friends and a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 6: A FILM BASED ON A BOOK
 
Review: “The Ruins” is based on the book by author Scott B Smith. Two girlfriends, Amy and Stacy, are vacationing in Mexico with their boyfriends Jeff and Eric. Relaxing by the pool, sunbathing and drinking cocktail; heaven on earth. To end the last say still somewhat active, they decide to tag along with a German tourist, whose brother is working at an archaeologic ruin. This tendril-covered pyramid from the Mayan civilization is not on any tourist maps. But they are in for one last adventure before flying back home.

Because four young friends vacationing before ending up in the slaughterhouse is not terribly original, a solution has been found. The intro is pretty quick and very early on in the movie, the end up at the ruins. And that is where the movie really begins.

While there, the sense of adventure is silently replaced by claustrophobia. Fear of leaving the ruin, fear of staying there as well. Things gets creepy and bloody and the film is a lot more surprising and original as you might expect.

The characters aren’t that fleshed out though. This is not because of the actors, because they are convincing enough. But the dialogues are a but wooden and the characters lack background information. Jeff is the only one we get to know a bit better, but it’s still more on the surface.

Besides this, “The Ruins” is a pretty good horror movie, scary enough and it has just the right length. I enjoyed it.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

TV Show Review - The Boys (Season 2)

Season: 2
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Crime
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2020
Starring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Anthony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Elisabeth Shue, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Aya Cash, Shawn Ashmore, Giancarlo Esposito

    
Description: A group of vigilantes sets out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.

Review: Before I started watching this show, I wasn’t very enthusiastic, since we get so many superheroes in movies and now also TV. I had just finished “The Umbrella Academy” which I really liked because it had a different take on it. And the same goes for “Watchmen”, which also took a very different route. But after reading all the positive reviews, I decided to watch “The Boys” and I loved the first season. It was a wild rollercoaster filled with blood and gore, great characters and surprisingly good storylines. I enjoyed the dazzling combination of conflicting interests, cutting edge action and hopeless situations.
This second season builds on the hopeless efforts of an unorthodox group of vigilantes to end the evil Vought International and The Seven, a team of superheroes that works for Vought and is mainly allowed to show up for photo sessions and interviews. They barely fight actual crime, although that’s supposed to be their main task. In reality, it’s all about making money though smart marketing strategies. Vought’s leadership is ruthless when the image of these heroes is compromised, because they earn gold from the merchandise and promotions.
To Vought’s frustration, it’s been rumbling within The Seven for a while now. After they fell into disfavor in season one, A-Train and The Deep are eager to rejoin The Seven. The arrival of the unpredictable and mysterious new hero Stormfront gives the team new dynamic. However, her plans are not immediately clear. She behaves completely different from the good and seemingly incorruptible other members and that makes Vought and Homelander quite nervous.
Besides the fuss within The Seven and the rebellious behavior of Stormfront, the megalomaniac and physically invulnerable Homelander is especially busy with the sudden arrival of ‘super-terrorists’. He considers himself the leader of America, a protector of America. His own hypocritical interests and manipulative manners drive Homelander to murder all of them. His unstable behavior gets even worse when at the same time he decides to interfere more intensively with his son’s upbringing.
The counterbalance in the series is formed by the undercover fighters of the CIA, the titular Boys. The unstoppable Butcher has his own reasons for pushing his boys to the limit in their almost hopeless battle against the powerful, perhaps unbeatable superheroes. This season it will become more clear where his hatred of The Seven and Homelander in particular comes from. And Hughie tries to restore his relationship with Annie, also known as The Seven member Starlight. Something for which he regularly has a hard time with Butcher.
These and other storylines are key and interweave into one of the most original series of the year. The viewers won’t have difficulties in understanding the motivation for the different characters, although the methods used are doubtful. The main motive is clearly survival in a world where danger is almost ubiquitous. How do you successfully fight against demigods, especially when they dismiss murder and innocent victims as an afterthought without ethical objections? And not unimportantly, how do you preserve your humanity in this bloody battle?
The start of season 2 is a bit slow, but eventually the writers manage to deepen the story without stopping the progress of events. You get to know more about certain characters and new ones are introduces. MM was probably my favorite this season, since with Butcher being less present at the start, he unintentionally becomes the leading figure for the boys. I also loved the dynamic between Frenchie and Kimiko. I also realized that Queen Maeve is one of the best characters on the show. She is not pure evil, because she still knows the difference between good and bad. Maeve probably started out just like Starlight, but she is so deep into it all now, it’s hard to go back. The addition of two new characters Stormfront and Lamplighter was very welcome. Stormfront is a really well-written character and perfectly portrayed by Aya Cash. Lamplighter is only in a few episodes but Shawn Ashmore really impresses. And I wished he would be around longer. But the one that really stands out is Anthony Starr as Homelander. He was already a dick in season one, but he is even a bigger dick here. If that were possible. Starr really took in that role and he is a really good actor. Because I constantly want to slap him in the face, when he probably is a really nice guy in real life.
The only negative for me is probably the roles of The Deep and A-Train in this season. The Deep’s storyline isn’t all that interesting and A-Train doesn’t have a lot to do.
I was very pleased with season 2 of “The Boys” and the ending really looked promising. I’m glad I decided to watch this show, because it’s so good.