Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Life is good for stock market tycoon Paul Marsh, apart from his recurring nightmare about a seductive mermaid with razor sharp teeth. At the moment he is holidaying on a yacht off the coast of Spain with his girlfriend Barbara and their two friends Vicki and Howard and there isn’t a cloud in the sky – until a mysterious storm suddenly whips up and slams the yacht into rocks, trapping Vicki and forcing Paul and Barbara to take a dinghy to the mainland and look for help. But the fishing village of Imboca is a forbidding place, and the sinister-looking residents are strangely uncommunicative, apart from the local priest who offers to take Barbara to the authorities while Paul returns to help his companions. The only problem is, Vicki and Howard are no longer in the yacht (although they left behind plenty of blood in the water) and when Paul goes back to Imboca to find Barbara, she too has disappeared.

Now the villagers are pursuing Paul through the dark rainswept streets, determined that he will share the same grisly fate as the other strangers who have been unfortunate enough to come here. But is that truly Paul’s destiny? When he meets the seductive Uxia, who bears a disturbing resemblance to the scythe-mouthed mermaid of his nightmares, Paul begins to realise that a terrifying appointment with Imboca’s vengeful undersea God Dagon has been lined up for him – but not before Dagon receives an unexpected sacrifice.

H.P. Lovecraft’s stories have inspired a plethora of filmmakers, very few of whom have been able to translate HP’s grotesque imaginings to the big screen. Of the handful who have managed it, Stuart Gordon is probably the most successful and reverential, and even he usually had to resort to black humour to undercut the quirky strangeness of some of Lovecraft’s ideas (Exhibits A & B: Re-Animator and From Beyond), while Castle Freak was just a bizarre train wreck. But Dagon is different in that it takes its source stories Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth very seriously indeed, and the movie is all the better for it. Yes, the tension flags a little in the hide-and-seek middle-section, and some of the CGI effects haven’t worn well (especially in HD) but, for our money, Dagon is very possibly the best Lovecraft movie produced so far (we’re overlooking Carpenter’s underrated In The Mouth of Madness because that was only tentatively inspired by Lovecraft’s mythos).

Umbrella’s new Blu-ray is a revelation compared to the grainy home video versions we’ve seen before. The print is bright, the skin tones are natural (even the fishy ones) and the colours pop off the screen. There’s also a small but perfectly formed selection of special features, although it’s disappointing that Umbrella haven’t licensed the commentaries and features that are on Vestron’s new stateside release (note: the Vestron print, though a shade darker, is mostly identical). If you haven’t seen Dagon yet, you’re in for a treat. If you’ve seen it before, you’re in for a visual feast. And if you’ve got a thing about tentacled femme fatales, the gorgeous Macarena Gomez is about to make all your bad dreams come true…

DAGON / DIRECTOR: STUART GORDON / SCREENPLAY: DENNIS PAOLI, HP LOVECRAFT / STARRING: EZRA GODDEN, FRANCISCO RABAL, RAQUEL MERONO, MACARENA GOMEZ / CERT: 18 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

One Piece (Uncut) Collection 18 brings together episodes 422-445 of the anime about the pirate crew searching for the ultimate treasure. Apart from a few episodes devoted to an extended flashback filler sequence, the majority of the episodes present focus on Luffy’s attempts to rescue his brother, Ace, from a hell-like prison.

Because almost all of this collection features Luffy in the aforementioned prison, the rest of Luffy’s crew are virtually absent, only appearing in the flashback sequence. This will somewhat lessen the appeal to fans who tune to watch all of One Piece’s cast rather than just Luffy.

The episodes featured here do manage to have an ensemble feel to them despite the lack of a crew. The gap left by the usual characters is filled by the return of some faces who travel through the prison with Luffy and should be familiar to long-running viewers of the show. They have good chemistry, and the interplay between them results in not only good banter but some strong character moments as well. The villains in this arc are also a welcome addition to the show. The warden in particular aptly walks the line between comical and threatening. The prison itself is multi-faceted, and it challenges the characters in a variety of ways – it is inhabited by monsters which threaten them, but the very environment itself it also designed to kill them.

Most of the special features on offer with this release are standard fare, but there are a couple which stand out. Chopper Plays Doctor is essentially Brina Palenica playing “Operation” while her co-workers pretend to suffer from various afflictions. Cooking with Sanji is exactly what it says on the tin. It is a cooking lesson with Erica Vale, and it is a genuine cooking lesson with some helpful tips. These features aren’t great, but they are pretty decent and they offer something a little different. As with previous releases, a handful of episode commentaries have been included. They perfectly combine the information of a question and answer panel with the laid-back feeling of friends hanging out together on a sofa.

One Piece (Uncut) Collection 18 showcases One Piece’s perfect blend of wacky humour and dramatic tension. The episodes are missing a large part of the cast that viewers have come to love, but the characters that are focused on instead make worthy substitutes. Some of the special features offer viewers something a little different and help to make this a more tempting proposition in the age of mass streaming. A fine addition to any One Piece collection.

Special Features: Episode commentary for episodes 425, 432, 434, and 442 / Chopper Plays Doctor / Cooking with Sanji / Trailers / Textless Opening Songs, Textless Opening and Closing Songs

ONE PIECE (UNCUT) COLLECTION 18 / CERT: 12 / DIRECTORS: VARIOUS / WRITERS: VARIOUS / STARRING: COLLEEN CLINKENBEARD, MIKE MCFARLAND, DUNCAN BRANNAN, JEREMY INMAN, BRADFORD JACKSON, BARRY YANDELL / RELEASE DATE: 20TH AUGUST 2018

Having consolidated his reputation with the ambiguously resolved Anglo-French erotic thriller Swimming Pool in 2003, it’s little surprise to see François Ozon returning to such fertile territory nearly fifteen years later. If you’ve the stomach to get past the gynaecologist’s view opening (the French don’t seem to mind this stuff; Swimming Pool was universally rated over there while needing to be cut to avoid an NC-17 in the US over its sex and nudity), L’Amant Double is essentially Ozon’s homage to Hitchcock, and Vertigo in particular.

It stars Marine Vacth as Chloé, and as anyone who knows their Paris fashion houses will be aware, Vacth has been modelling for a company called Chloé these last several years, a perfect indication of the kind of meta- and intra-textuality that Ozon has created his loose adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ American novel Lives of the Twins around. The film begins with Chloé being referred to a psychologist, having been told the stomach pains she’s been suffering have no medical origin, and pretty soon the unemployed 26-year-old is feeling better enough to get herself a job as a watchwoman at a museum – largely because she’s fallen for Daniel Craig lookalike Jérémie Renier’s Paul. So she leaves his practice and moves into his apartment, but before she’s been there 24 hours she spots Paul in a part of town he denies visiting, and upon returning the following day discovers the office of another psychologist Louis, a dead ringer for the man she’s just set up home with.

That’s just the first act, and there’s little subtlety in the way Ozon assembles his elements; here’s a sexually driven psychological thriller involving psychologists and (pussy) cats, with a vast amount of camera close-ups and shot dissolves involving characters replicating across the screen and a heavy focus on the eyes (and other body parts). There’s an overwhelming sheen of cleverness to the script and production, which belies the notion that the viewer would be well recommended to hand in their thinking faculties at the opening credits; despite Ozon’s reverence for his sources and obsession with creating a visually stimulating puzzle-box of a film, in the end this is a story about imagined truth and the resolution to it will, rather than making you re-think everything you’ve seen, instead put you in mind of Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole. The one piece of unambiguous exposition given in the resolve robs almost everything else you’ve seen of any credibility, such that if you try to add any single part of the narrative up, you’ll find the numbers wanting.

Having said that, it’s the journey that’s important, and both Vacth and Renier (especially the latter, who very subtly delineates his two characters through the countenance of his face, so that you’re never in any doubt which is which) are as pretty and as elegant as the rest of the picture. Unfortunately, the one thing neither actor can bring is a sense of the two lovers enjoying one another as people, but Ozon quickly skips past the courtship and dives straight into the bedroom, where there are plenty of mind-bending fireworks instead. This is a very cool, very Gallic, and very opaque Basic Instinct, and if it’s ultimately only partly satisfying, it’s still incredibly absorbing and a lot of fun.

Extras: trailer, deleted scenes, lights and costume trials, interview featurette

REVIEW: L’AMANT DOUBLE (aka DOUBLE LOVER) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: FRANÇOIS OZON / SCREENPLAY: FRANÇOIS OZON / STARRING: MARINE VACTH, JÉRÉMIE RENIER, JACQUELINE BISSET, MYRIAM BOYER, DOMINIQUE REYMOND / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The Nun gets its first home release on DVD, Bluray and 4K. But we’re not talking about the spiritual prequel to The Conjuring 2 featuring ghostly brides of God, rather Jacques Rivette’s banned piece of French new wave from 1966, based on the novel The Lumieres by Denis Diderot.

In 18^th Century France, many women were forced to take vows as a nun due to the poor finances of their family or because they weren’t deemed marriage material. This is what happens to Suzanne (Anna Karina), forced into a convent by her parents as they have spent all their money on the marriages of their other three children. Though she initially finds comfort in her first mother superior, after her death, Suzanne suddenly finds a lack of compassion in her new home. She finds that the replacement is having “nun” of her complaints, and learns they most certainly are not sisters of mercy.

It’s interesting to see nuns and convents depicted in this way, seen less as organisations structured around the glory of God but as somewhere to rid yourself of family problems. Suzanne is a beautiful and lovely young women looking forward to the rest of her life, but because of poor money-handling by her parents and marital infidelity she is damned to a lifetime of servitude. The sins of the parents are passed on to their children. The nuns in the convents themselves are rarely depicted as true Christians, more going through the motions to get by, while the feeling of a boarding school (bullying and all) is created.

It’s difficult to see why The Nun was banned at the time. Perhaps the depiction of nuns as vindictive and bullying people, and even as women in charge of their sexual agency though with predatory tendencies, was seen as being too much. It does seem to be largely unfair censorship, as what is depicted is extremely tame with little violence shown, only almost school playground-style psychological torture, and the sexual elements are never overt or brash.

At over two hours The Nun does push your patience, and it has quite an obvious three act structure which winds itself up very quickly for an abrupt ending, but it’s more often than not quite compelling, bolstered in no small way by the performance from Karina. You feel the despair she goes through, and the complete and abject unfairness of the situation that’s been thrust upon her which is in no way her own. You want to see her come through and go on to live the life she deserves. The framing of the scenes seem to always keep her behind bars, showing the very real imprisonment she suffers without ever being convicted of a crime.

Don’t be fooled by its reputation. The Nun isn’t here for shock value, but tune in to its drama and you’ll find an interesting film helped by a strong central performance.

THE NUN / DIRECTOR: JACQUES RIVETTE / SCREENPLAY: JEAN GRUAULT, JACQUES RIVETTE / STARRING: ANNA KARINA, LISELOTTE PULVER, MICHELINE PRESLE, FRANCINE BERGE / CERT: 12 / RELEASE DATE: 17TH SEPTEMBER 2018

First broadcast in the UK in 1970, the classic Gerry and Sylvia Anderson series UFO is available in yet another collection. This latest outing includes all 26 stories over 8 DVDs, and follows the production order, rather than any of the alternatives such as the broadcast order, or the Fanderson recommended order. For those who need the details, the production order is the same as the Fanderson except (as per this release) the episode Survival is fourth and Exposed is fifth. Episodes are in 4:3 format and have (at some point) been digitally remastered. There is also some evidence this is a repackaging of an older Carlton release.

For those who don’t know, UFO focuses on the alien fighting organisation SHADO run by Ed Straker (Ed Bishop) with a secret HQ below a film studio, a moon base, an underwater vessel (Skydiver) whose front section can launch as a jet interceptor, and a satellite monitoring device SID (Space Intruder Detector). It was a live action series as opposed to previous successes such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. The premise is alien invasion, with SHADO tasked with keeping the aliens secret while defending the Earth and finding out what the invaders are up to. The latter two are somewhat at odds – it’s hard to interrogate an alien after you’ve blown his ship up!

The show was a step-up for the Andersons; the use of live actors meant better effects, full-scale props and striking costume designs all bringing a distinct look to the show. The subject matter was more adult as well, in some cases particularly so. Apart from Ed Bishop, the regular cast appeared in various episodes, with George Sewell and Michael Billington prominent as second-in-command Col Alec Freeman and Col Paul Foster respectively. As an aside, the episode order switch between Survival and Exposed concerns Col Foster joining SHADO in the Exposed episode, just after featuring in the episode Survival!

To a large extent UFO is still very watchable (and looks great thanks to the restoration), even if effects have moved on considerably in the past several decades. The music works, the costumes are memorable and even if some of the future looks rather dated now, the stories themselves are still strong and this boxset is a superb way to remember UFO or become a new fan. At less than £15 at the time of writing, this is a tremendous value for anyone. Highly recommended!

UFO / DIRECTOR: GERRY ANDERSON / SCREENPLAY: GERRY ANDERSON, SYLVIA ANDERSON / STARRING: KEITH ALEXANDER, HARRY BAIRD, MICHAEL BILLINGTON, ED BISHOP / CERT: PG / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

“Many of you are not going to like this film. Many of you, luckily, are going to love it. And then there are many of you who aren’t going to know what to think when the film finishes, but, hopefully, you’ll be thinking”. That’s what director/co-writer Terry Gilliam proclaims in his intro to this quirky, dark, messed-up drama Tideland, and frankly he couldn’t be more accurate in describing the mixed emotions when watching this very odd film.

Based on the novel by Mitch Cullin, Tideland centres on young Jeliza-Rose who, after her washed-out mother chokes to death, is taken to a remote rundown farmhouse by her heroin-addicted father. The film delves into the complex fantasy world Jeliza-Rose has concocted in her head in order to cope and deal with the tragedies that happen in her life, especially when her father dies from an accidental overdose and she spends the whole of the movie acting as though nothing bad has happened to him while his corpse is rotting away.

Lord knows if both Gilliam and co-writer Tony Grisoni were on an acid trip when they made this bizarre movie, but it is one of the most surreal, insane, tonally-challenging movies there’s ever been. It’s an unpredictable watch, flip-flopping between the lightness of Jeliza-Rose’s innocence and charm as she’s having her own fantastical adventures with her disembodied doll heads and the dark and horrific reality that is happening around her. Tideland blurs the line between whimsical and grotesque, yet there is something about the way children keep themselves sane through the most extreme of circumstances. Whether it’s through playtime and imagination or projecting your fears onto made-up characters, the film does offer a fascinating portrait of how a child’s mind works, and credit does go to Gilliam for never losing sight of that.

At the centre of it all is Jodelle Ferland, who simply gives an outstanding performance as the adorably innocent Jeliza-Rose. Her maturity is highly commendable and impressive considering some of the horrific antics that are happening around her. Hell, she even prepares heroin for her father in some scenes! If anyone’s curious to see more of Ferland’s impeccable acting abilities, check her out in the short-lived, under-appreciated sci-fi series Dark Matter and you won’t be disappointed.

The nightmarish mood and atmosphere, coupled with Jeff and Mychael Danna’s score, completes this originally unique journey, although it’s a journey that not everyone will appreciate. The reaction to this film has proved to be divisive even to this day, with some going as far as to actively dislike it, and honestly it isn’t hard to see why considering how dark, twisted and strange it is. It has some pretty uncomfortable sexual content, with the very young Jeliza-Rose flirting with a 20 year old mentally-impaired man with a dark background, and there are some grotesque scenes of taxidermy included as well.

Despite how disturbing and messed-up it can be, as well as the hard fact that it is still a very divisive film that will still alienate and anger a lot of viewers, there is something highly admirable about Tideland and the story behind its production. Apparently, Gilliam made the film while he was on a six-month break from the post-production process on The Brothers Grimm, which was a highly-flawed film that looked as though it had the guts ripped out of it by overbearing studio interference. Filming on that particular movie took ages longer than it was supposed to, and there were endless rows between Gilliam and studio-mogul/infamous sex fiend Harvey Weinstein about the end product, so during that nightmarish production period he set out to make Tideland, pouring into it all of the dark, weird and subversive magic that he is famous for.

This goes to show that even the most divisive of movies can come from a place of true passion, even the ones that are hard to digest and remain outside of certain judgements to this day. Kudos definitely goes to Terry Gilliam for trying to get this made in the first place, considering the circumstances that led him there. It is true that Gilliam makes his movies through fire and brimstone just by examining his extraordinary filmography, and there is no denying that Tideland is a film that was borne out of that. It is highly likely that this still won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but nonetheless this remains a peculiarity that should be examined should you dare to choose so. Just don’t go into it expecting a perfect movie.

TIDELAND / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: TERRY GILLIAM / SCREENPLAY: TONY GRISONI, TERRY GILLIAM / STARRING: JODELLE FERLAND, BRENDAN FLETCHER, JANET MCTEER, JENNIFER TILLY, JEFF BRIDGES / CERT: 15 / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 13TH

In many ways, animation is the perfect form for Wes Anderson. His other films have that feel, like they’ve been made with the disciplines of animation in mind – the sets, the way the characters talk, the camera moves, the lighting. His previous stop-motion effort, Fantastic Mr Fox, brought much-loved characters wonderfully to life but perhaps lacked a little warmth. Here we are immersed again into the plight of maligned animals as a young boy joins a pack of wild dogs to find his beloved former pet, Spots, since all dogs have been banished from the Japanese future city of Megasaki by an evil Mayor to Trash Island, following an outbreak of canine flu.

What makes this film superior to Fantastic Mr Fox, and arguably all of his live action work, is the amount of love you get from Anderson in Isle of Dogs. More of a collection of love letters than a single one, the film oozes warmth for so many things, leaving you grinning like a soppy pup all the way though and sending you on your way all fuzzy and beaming.

Anderson’s love of Japanese culture, historical and popular, is evident in every frame. His delight in the characters and performances shines through so much that you care deeply for this bunch of scabby mutts. Clearly he adores the process and experience of stop-motion – there are tiny moments that will make your grin wrap half way around your face, and it takes more than one viewing to get them all. But most of all, for anyone who has ever loved a dog, that devoted relationship comes across so strongly that this film would bring a tear to a glass eye. You’d have to be pretty mean spirited not to be moved.

Of course, on Blu-ray it looks astonishingly beautiful, and there’s great pleasure to be had in watching some sequences several times to take it all in. Extras include a few short documentaries, including an engaging piece on the animators and their craft and a fascinating look at the sets. For once, there’s a stills gallery that’s worth looking at, including shots of the cast posing with their puppet counterparts.

Talking of the cast, the usual Anderson favourites crop up in the interviews. There’s regulars like Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, and Tilda Swinton, with newcomers to the Anderson universe including Scarlett Johansson and Bryan Cranston. Delightfully, these cast interviews are also animated. It’s a lovely touch and shows the meticulous care with which this film was made.

It just might be Anderson’s best.

ISLE OF DOGS / DIRECTOR: WES ANDERSON / SCREENPLAY: WES ANDERSON, ROMAN COPPOLA / STARRING: BRYAN CRANSTON, KOYU RANKIN, EDWARD NORTON, BOB BALABAN, BILL MURRAY, JEFF GOLDBLUM / CERT: PG / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

On Valentine’s Day 1900, a party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College took a day trip to the nearby Hanging Rock. It’s a mysterious place where watches stop working, visitors experience a strange sleepiness, and time seems to have no rules. When three of the girls and their teacher climbed the Rock that afternoon, all except one of the girls was never seen again. But their disappearance, tragic though it was, set a more sinister chain of events into motion. Hester Appleyard, the owner and headmistress of Appleyard College, has been keeping some nasty secrets buried for a very long time, and the subsequent investigation into her missing students’ fate – coupled with the suspicions of one of her most trusted teachers – is threatening to unravel everything. Sadism, madness and death won’t be far behind.

The new miniseries of Picnic At Hanging Rock had a lot to contend with before it even went in front of the cameras. After all, how do you adapt a book that’s considered one of Australian fiction’s most beloved classics, and which has already been adapted into an equally beloved movie by the director Peter Weir, and still find something fresh to say about it? Although this new version was one of 2018’s most eagerly awaited television highlights – especially when Game of Throne’s Natalie Dormer was cast in the lead role of Hester Appleyard – most critics were expecting it to be an interesting failure and the initial reviews suggested they might have been right. But we don’t think so.

The new Picnic At Hanging Rock not only looked absolutely beautiful upon its initial broadcast, but its cast is pitch-perfect and its screenplay is a masterclass in how to transform a revered classic into something that’s both unique to itself and also deeply reverential towards everything that came before it. But the ingeniousness of this Picnic lies in how well the creative team have ramped up the Victorian gothic. There’s a tremendous Turn Of The Screw atmosphere to this version – Appleyard College may be a haunted house without a ghost, but what festers here is far more malevolent than any spectre.

Some critics have argued that Dormer is too young for the role of the headmistress, but the intensity of her performance is the wheel around which everything turns and there’s a backstory to Hester Appleyard that the actress fits perfectly. And don’t listen to the people who say the direction is too MTV-like and Cezary Skubiszewski’s score doesn’t work either. They’re wrong.

The BBC’s two-disc DVD is a decent presentation that unfortunately isn’t quite hi-def enough to do the visuals justice, and it would have been nice to see more special features. Still, it’s the content that’s important and if you missed Picnic’s TV airing we highly recommend putting your concerns about period drama aside and giving this DVD a look – at least until someone sees sense and gives the series the Blu-ray treatment it truly deserves.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL RYMER, LARYSA KONDRACKI, AMANDA BROTCHIE / SCREENPLAY: BEATRIX CHRISTIAN, ALICE ADDISON / STARRING: NATALIE DORMER, LILY SULLIVAN, LOLA BESSIS, HARRISON GILBERTSON / CERT: 15 / RELEASE DATE: 20TH AUGUST 2018

With movies like E.T., the Indiana Jones franchise, Hook, and The BFG on his ridiculously impressive CV, Steven Spielberg has often been able to conjure up true family-friendly magic that can captivate any and all audiences. The iconic filmmaker’s latest venture sees him tackling Ernist Cline’s beloved Ready Player One tale, but is Spielberg still able to serve up the charm and spectacle that has served him so well over what many see as the greatest directing career in movie history?

Set in the it’ll-be-here-before-you-know-it future of 2045, Ready Player One finds a world rife with overpopulation, oversaturation, and a mankind that is far, far happier to turn off from their everyday mundanity and instead plug-in to what is known as the OASIS. A virtual world initially created by Mark Rylance’s James Halliday and Simon Pegg’s Ogden Morrow, this realm takes away the confines of said everyday life, allowing people to be who they want to be, to escape the poverty that surrounds them, and to live an exhilarating experience that sees them connect with the vast array of similar-minded folk across the globe. Of course, there’s a twist to all of this tranquillity, however. You see, Halliday has sadly passed away, leaving the world with a truly game-changing task to complete. This reclusive genius has hidden three magical keys within the OASIS, and the first person to find all three will get the proverbial keys to the kingdom and become the real-world and virtual-world owner of the OASIS itself.

The thing is, it’s been years since Halliday’s passing, and not even a single key has been found – let alone three! So, when Tye Sheridan’s Wade Watts, aka Parzival, shocks the world by working out the key to getting the, err, first key, this youngster is thrown into the spotlight as allies and foes lurk around every real and virtual corner. In this journey, Wade has to rely on his virtual buddies – all with their own unique avatars and all unknown to him in “real life” – to help make sure that Halliday’s quest is won by one of the good guys, as oppose to Ben Medelsohn’s Sorrento and his no-good plans to seize the OASIS for himself and his money-hungry IOI associates.

Ready Player One is simply a stunning piece of popcorn cinema. While some may see the picture as style over substance, boy is that style absolutely mesmerising! There are certain flags and items of deeper meaning regarding our potential future as society, mind, but this is a movie that is dripping in the sort of nostalgia that those of us who were around in the ‘80s will be salivating over. As the picture plays out, it turns in to a true Easter egg hunt, with references to so, so much of what made many a childhood great – all of which are pulled from the things loved by James Halliday. We won’t mention too many of them here, for that in itself is a fun enough game for you eagle-eyed sorts to play. There are, though, standard classics such as Back to the Future, King Kong, RoboCop, and plentiful cheesy musical beats to mention merely a few of the grin-inducing moments.

In terms of the performances on show, Tye Sheridan again showcases why he’s one of the brightest young talents in Hollywood, and similarly so, too, does Bates Motel’s Olivia Cooke. Here, Cooke plays the badass Art3mis within the OASIS; a character who often steals the show when on screen, and particularly as her own particular arc plays out. Ben Mendelsohn hams is up as the villain of the piece, devouring scenery at every turn in a way that doesn’t feel a million miles away from his performance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Elsewhere, Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao, and Win Morisaki play their respective parts perfectly as Parzival’s online pals, and then there’s genre fave TJ Miller making the most of his minutes as a virtual assassin sent on a mission to put a halt to Parzival’s mission.

If we’re being completely honest, the film does sadly falter a tad in the final act, with the more real-world antics of Sorrento and the IOI trying to clinically put a stop to Wade and Co. proving to be a little underwhelming in comparison to the virtual shenanigans on show to this point. But still, what has come before said final act is some of the most visually jaw-dropping action to have come around in years. Truly, Ready Player One is an utter visual delight, and the 4K Ultra HD release is a must-buy for those with 4K capability. As for the bonus material included on this release, there’s so much for nostalgia hounds to enjoy, with pop culture references aplenty throughout the six featurettes that make up the overall package of this release.

Spielberg has yet again shown that he still has it when it comes to magical storytelling and visual spectacle. Granted, this isn’t a movie that’s going to stand out from the pack based on its plot and overall narrative, but this is a true gargantuan of the genre when it comes to visuals and gloss. And let’s face it, while we all love an intricate, deep, meaningful film at times, sometimes you just can’t beat a nice ‘n’ breezy popcorn flick – which is why Ready Player One is one big budget blockbuster worth immersing yourself in ASAP.

Special Features: Six featurettes

READY PLAYER ONE / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: STEVEN SPIELBERG / STARRING: TYE SHERIDAN, OLIVIA COOKE, BEN MENDELSOHN, LENA WAITHE, T.J. MILLER, SIMON PEGG, MARK RYLANCE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

What do you get when you mix Lesbian Vampire Killers and Social Media Influencers? A poorly-written and ultimately uninspiring and bland horror/comedy named Fanged Up.

Directed by Christian James (Stalled) and co-written by star Daniel O’Reilly (known predominantly as the controversial Dapper Laughs), Fanged Up centers around cocky playboy Jimmy Ragsdale (O’Reilly) who, after an altercation at the club he works in, finds himself inside a prison run by vampires who feast on the inmates. Together with Russian brute Victor (played by former WWE Superstar Stu Bennett) and host of other truly throwaway characters including Alex (Youtuber Huw Samuel) and former flame Dr Makepeace (Danielle Harold), Jimmy must survive the weekend inside the prison turned larder.

From the very first scene of a long-winded and ill-acted opening chase scene with over the top panicking, one was aware of what may come throughout the rest of the 90 minute runtime. However, the remainder of the opening act surprisingly shows a glimmer of potential before swiftly being shot down once the “jokes” start to rear their ugly head. One could certainly tell that the gags, both audio and visual, were crafted by a former Viner and Instagram “celebrity” (see the joke about how being a virgin is embarrassing and would ruin his reputation with “the lads”). The typical one-liners which could be classed as relatable humour and crass lines of dialogue in an attempt to shock just honestly felt cringeworthy in places. Couple that with remarks such as “get to the chapel” which sounds a lot like “get to the chopper” and you can see what kind of humour we are dealing with here.

Towards the final act of the film, there are hints of what could have been as one scene in particular is quite well portrayed and heartfelt, only to have that emotional moment tarnished with yet again more unwarranted and untimely jokes rather than attempting to develop Jimmy as a character with an arc. At one point, it is revealed that a character is gay in a throwaway line which makes you feels like O’Reilly felt that he had to put him into the story in order to not offend, but could not think of an effective and respectful way of doing so. Along with the shoddy screenwriting in terms of the comedy element, the characters (or lack thereof) in regards to their development is laughable at best.

Nobody expects intricate and deep characters in this genre in particular, but you at least want to have some relatability or sympathy towards the ones who will ultimately perish at certain points throughout the narrative. The only character who has any kind of arc or history is Victor, played rather brilliantly by Bennett who puts a lot of his fellow cast members to shame. His comedic timing and facial expressions far surpass what one would expect from this film.

Even with all of these negatives, Fanged Up is still a watchable horror comedy effort as director Christian James manages shows that he is at least a competent filmmaker. The production values are a lot higher than you may predict, and the practical and special effects far exceed expectations too. Connect that with adequate editing that keeps the train moving and you can say that the film is somewhat passable.

With everything taken into account, Fanged Up had buckets of potential but unfortunately missed the mark with an extremely woeful script coupled with stilted acting, and would most definitely have been better suited as a long YouTube sketch collaboration considering the amount of content creators that made an appearance.

FANGED UP / DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN JAMES / SCREENPLAY: NICK NEVERN, DANIEL O’REILLY, DAN PALMER / STARRING: DANIEL O’REILLY, DANIELLE HAROLD, STU BENNETT / CERT: 18 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW