angelusthorn Reviews

Curse of the Demon (1957)

Perfect Halloween film

[9/10 · 31 October 2022]

I don't know if there is a perfect film. This one comes close. It effectually combines suspense and the macabre. For the time period the effects are quite good. It still remains one of my favorite Halloween films.

The way the scenes of the deaths and the idea of keeping the Monster hidden until the last scene is brilliant. This actually helps alot because even though the design is very good for the time period , if it was seen too often , it would greatly lose its effect.

The cast all seems well suited for thier roles with the character of Karswell being particularly memorable.

Every year this is a classic I look for to enjoy the spooky season.

Squid Game (2021– )

Better than the Mockingbird series

[9/10 · 5 December 2021]

Morbidly enough I'm a fan of Battle Royal or for more classic literature Till there was None (10 Little insert name of whatever variation you prefer) So I had to check this one out. This one went the safe route and kept with only a few characters and followed them through out. Stephen King's The Long Walk followed the same plan. This allowed me to connect with the characters easier. This show is heavy on emotional manipulation but I was ok with that. I felt what they wanted me to feel and when. For this I believe they did an excellent job. The set design and music led to the uneasy feeling that helps you feel the stress of the characters. The show is gruesome in parts, so that's your warning if your squeamish. I was a little put off by the lead character during the 1st episode and in the final scene. That is probably the biggest reason I can't rank this higher. Overall though I really enjoyed this show.

Arcane (2021– )

Fully worth a 10

[10/10 · 5 December 2021]

I have never played League of legends. Even now I still have no desire to play it. That being said I love Arcane and I'm on board for anything else this studio throws at me, in this story. The animation is unique and compelling. During some action scenes you can feel the weight of a punch. This is something I'll only felt in very few moments. The characters are interesting and just so we'll thought out. I found myself even feeling for villains at certain moments. The director did an amazing job with every aspect of this project. Acting, pacing, visuals, movement, music choices, just everything is spot on. Delivers on the feels, both high and lows. I loved every minute of it and will enjoy rewatching it again And again.

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies - New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth - Part 3 (2015 Video)

Ugh

[4/10 · 5 December 2021]

The thing I hate most about book adaptations are when they cut your favorite part of a book for the sake of pacing or time. Here in the Hobbit movies there is no fear of that as we took what should have been a little less than 4 hour movie and made it 12 hours long. The original cartoon did this tale in under 3 hours and was completely faithful. It omitted the Grizzly wizard and I believe one other scene from the book. Here and with the other movies we add whatever Peter Jackson wanted to keep out more cash. Most of the action scenes are frankly more cartoony than the cartoon. The love story is pointless and as we have learned with Game of Thrones,when you vere from the source material the end product suffers. There is a fan online that cut the 3 films down to one movie and it's so much better than sitting through all the extra crap. Most of which is pointless, emotionally blah, and a waste. I love the Lord of the Rings films but after watching each of the Hobbit films once I have zero desire to ever do so again.

The Wheel of Time (2021– )

Awesome

[10/10 · 1 December 2021]

I've read all the books but unlike some people I like the changes. The first dozen chapters of the Eye of the World dragged badly as it set out its world building. Thankfully they are taking a few shortcuts to make things more interesting. The added scenes with Logaine was much needed and unfortunately not in the book. Logain is such a cool character and we get to see that now and not in book 10. The visuals and CGI are in just the right amount. And Thankfully not a complete green screen like when Sci-fi did Dune years ago. The show gets better every week. Judging by the bad reviews it sounds like people who just aren't bright enough for a complex story that has more than one moving part. Also unlike Game of Thrones this story is complete and we don't have to worry about writers having to make up an ending.

The Guardians (2017)

A lot of fun

[10/10 · 22 September 2019]

Ok going to start out saying no it's not a USA rated 10 film. Hated the fact I had to watch it dubbed. From the original trailer I wanted to see this film. I seek out every "super heroes" film I can, even ones like Griff the Invisable and All Heroes Must Die. Some of these like Super are real gems. This film is a gem too in it's on way. The bad of the film is trying to be Avengers without 3 preview movies to set up your characters. The acting I won't comment since I saw the dubbed version. The special effects and stunts were really good. Taking into account it was with 1/12 Avengers budget they were really good. The story could be better but hell so could and should the Marvel films. As far as the main villain he could have had a better look but still looked better than Steppenwolf of Justice League. The heroes on the other hand I thought were all super cool, especially in thier final outfits. All in all enjoyable and I would watch a sequel. For All the haters its a still a lot better than Iron Man 3 or Thor 2.

Z for Zachariah (2015)

Interesting take on a old idea.

[8/10 · 7 January 2019]

An outstanding cast. When I first heard of this film it reminded me of the 1959 Harry Belafonte classic "The World, the Flesh and the Devil". In a lot of ways this film mirrors that one but not entirely. 1960 The Last Woman on Earth is where the film then decided to go in the direction of. It kinda of leave a bit of confusion at the end that I didn't care for, but all in all I enjoyed it.

The Belko Experiment (2016)

Craziness

[7/10 · 26 August 2018]

I admit I like the concept of the battle royal stories. This is definitely one. It has some decent small role charaters Michael Rooker, John McGinley and quite a few more. Not the best acted show. And very little time for character development. It is a blood and guts film but all in all not bad. I enjoyed it for the most part. I think an extra half hour of character work would have made the deaths more meaningful.

Spider-Man (2002)

views from a comic fan

[9/10 · 3 May 2002]

Having personaly seen every comic book movie ever made I can easily say that this is the best by far. With only minor fluxes of the original story the film offers a wide range of emotional moments from tears to cheers, truly a wonderful achievement.