Review Category: Reviews

CASTLEVANIA – SEASON 3

REVIEWED: SEASON 3 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: NETFLIX

Given how Season 2 ended, it might be a surprise to see Castlevania back for a third season. On the other hand, given how well the Netflix original has gone down, perhaps it was inevitable. It proves to be a mixed bag. The last two episodes stand out, and the cast is as faultless as ever, but Season 3 struggles to decide if it is the epilogue to what has already happened or the prologue to something new.

With Dracula vanquished, Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage) and Sypha Belnades (Alejandra Reynoso) arrive in the mysterious town of Lindenfeld, populated in part by some occult monks and ruled by a creepy but seemingly friendly judge. Meanwhile, Carmilla retreats to a castle run by her sisters, dragging her forge master prisoner Hector (Theo James) back with her to make her an army. Alucard (James Callis) has to adapt to a lonely life moping around his father’s old castle. At the same time, Isaac (Adetokumboh M’Cormack) raises an army of night creatures to enact revenge against those who betrayed him. A lot is happening.

Even with the longest series to date, there isn’t enough room for every character in each episode. This four-part narrative slows the showdown in early episodes, the vampire sisters, in particular, being drawn the short straw. The biggest problem, however, is Dracula – or rather, the lack of him. His powerful, menacing presence – able to compel your attention even when he wasn’t doing anything – is badly missed, as is Graham McTavish’s outstanding voice work. This series tries but fails to fill the void with more plot, and none of the other characters draws you in as he did. The result is a first eight episodes that, at their worst, can feel poorly paced and unnecessary.

That being said, the final two episodes remind you of what made the last season so fantastic. The drama, action, and stakes are all raised, and the cutting between different storylines finally feels like it has a reason other than tying up loose ends. There are some spectacular battles, mouth-watering twists, and tantalising hints at what may yet come. A new arc for Alucard may leave you shaken. If you struggle to stay interested in the beginning, you will not be able to look away by the end, least of all from a genuinely haunting portrait of Hell.

And as ever, the cast is stellar. Armitage has a refined roguishness as Belmont, at once charismatic and reluctant, and also a brooding, powerful hero. His relationship with Sypher is injected with moments of relatable comedy, which both pull off well. Asides them, the other highlight is M’Cormack, who brings the series’ most driven character to life with a chilling, calculating absence of mercy. If the story leaves you wanting more, the cast does the absolute best with what they have to work with.

By the end, you might still wonder what the point of a third season was, but Castlevania lives on with plenty of bite. Gorgeously drawn, well-acted, and eventually rising to a gripping crescendo, there is much more to come from one of the last remaining representatives of the hand-drawn animation.

STAR TREK: PICARD – THE LAST BEST HOPE

STAR TREK: PICARD – THE LAST BEST HOPE / AUTHOR: UNA MCCORMACK / PUBLISHER: POCKET BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

We’ll say this straight off the bat – if you’re enjoying the new Star Trek: Picard show, then this prequel novel is well worth your time.

Set a few years before the Romulan sun went supernova, The Last Best Hope tells the full story of Jean-Luc Picard’s crucial role in the evacuation mission. We get backstories for the new characters in the show (including Picard’s colleague Raffi Musiker and cybernetics expert Dr Agnes Jurati) and we check in with Geordi La Forge and Bruce Maddox to see the creation of the synths, whose rebellion set the whole show in motion.

The new characters, such as popular politician Olivia Quest (who threatens secession from the Federation to provoke reform in the organisation) and a Romulan scientist who is forced by his government to disagree with his own findings even to the end, are all very believable with understandable motives and there are very few capital-b Bad guys. Like the characters, you feel very confused as to why the Romulans are actively making Starfleet’s mission harder. But I would argue that the real villain of the book is ‘the concept of leaving Romulans to die’.

Author Una McCormack proves why she was a good choice for this gig. She tells a compelling story, which does the impossible and convinces you that Picard can be successful in his mission, even when you know exactly how it turns out. Her treatment of Picard is pitch-perfect; he feels exactly like he did in the original TV show. His determination, even in the face of colossal setbacks, carries you along until it goes horribly wrong. Essentially, it’s a story of what happens when even the best plans don’t work out.

Some people have a problem with the way that Picard is treating the world of Star Trek, saying that it’s too dark, too action-focused and departs from Roddenberry’s vision. You may be one of those people. But if you read this, you’ll get a clearer sense of how the universe ended up the way it did.

CURSED: AN ANTHOLOGY

CURSED: AN ANTHOLOGY / EDITORS MARIE O’REGAN, PAUL KANE / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Editors Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane have gathered together eighteen short stories and two poems, all based around the theme of a curse. We may think we know what to expect – modern takes on the folk tales that have been with us for centuries, a new spin on the Brothers Grimm – but even when this is the case, the authors adapt the tropes for their own ends, to produce works of an incredibly high standard. Some of the stories create new monsters, which often prove too human for comfort; others have new styles of hex for the modern world, trouble for even the most mundane of people.

There isn’t a rotten apple in this crop, most of which are new to this collection, sitting alongside some old favourites from the likes of Neil Gaiman and Christopher Fowler. The same theme may run throughout, but there’s a wide range on offer that will have readers shocked, sad or even laughing. There isn’t always an obvious moral message, and the reader is often left with food for thought, maybe contemplating ‘what if?’ along with a sense of wonder and entertainment that begins right from the very first page and never fades. The standard is so high that it creates a need to keep reading; just when you think you’ve been able to pick a favourite, another comes along, bringing a feast of ideas.

The editors have assembled a fantastic collection here, one that offers an array of talent and is packed with stories that are all worthy of a return visit. Cursed is an anthology that certainly lives up to and surpasses expectations, with each tale creating its own unique atmosphere, treating the reader to unexpected developments and characters that will delight and thrill and ultimately satisfy. There is that sense of wanting more (as with all great fiction), but – as many of the stories will tell you – we have to be careful what we wish for.

VIVARIUM

DIRECTOR: LORCAN FINNEGAN | SCREENPLAY: LORCAN FINNEGAN, GARRET SHANLEY | STARRING: JESSE EISENBERG, IMOGEN POOTS, JONATHAN ARIS | RELEASE DATE: MARCH 25TH

Staying true to its dystopian convictions, Vivarium (literal meaning: ‘an enclosure for keeping animals under semi-natural conditions for observation or study’) tips its hat to the classic Twilight Zone, specifically Rod Serling’s favourite rug-pull: the suburban haven that bites back. It’s a decent peg for social satire of course – The Stepford Wives (1975) and The Truman Show (1998) both put their protagonists into similarly ersatz idylls to rage against the consumerism eating away at modern life. With its savage mockery of our homemaking aspirations, Vivarium initially feels like it’s been cut from the same cloth, but does its own thing too with mixed results and overgrown babies.

Jessie Eisenberg and Imogen Poots play Tom and Gemma, a young couple on the brink of buying that life-changing first home. Priced out of the regular housing market, they allow a deeply unconvincing estate agent (Jonathan Aris) to lead them up the proverbial garden path to a new development called ‘Yonder’, which is completely deserted and full of identikit houses that look like streets from Trumpton. This is the point where you or I would take one look at the place and get the hell out, but this pair are a bit thick and go for the tour option. Lo and behold, all is not what it seems, and the gullible twosome are soon prisoners in a labyrinth of blandness. Serves them right, frankly.

Everything they do to try and escape, including an attempt to burn their house down, fails miserably. In frustration, Tom starts digging a hole for himself (clunk!) but the soil isn’t real and neither is the sun that beats down on them. Then more plot happens that pads things out quite a bit from what is really just another Twilight Zone episode’s worth of SF concept.

Lorcan Finnegan’s direction of his script just about gets the job done but drops the ball with an estate agent character who appears to be auditioning for The Wiggles. Imogen Poots is a fine actress and goes to pieces rather brilliantly, and Jesse Eisenberg sucks the air out of every scene he’s in, which may or may not be brilliant acting. Production-wise, this isn’t a case where it can be said that the Ireland-based creative team have worked miracles with no money, as the whole production feels a tad bereft. As thought-provoking as Vivarium is, Rod Serling had it right with his 25-minute masterpieces: any longer and the stuffing flies out.

THE POINT (ULTIMATE EDITION) (1971)

THE POINT (ULTIMATE EDITION) (1971) / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: FRED WOLF / SCREENPLAY: NORM LENZER / STARRING: RINGO STARR, PAUL FREES, LENNIE WEINRIB / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (US ONLY)

In the Land of the Point, everything is pointed: the houses, the cars, the trees, and the people. Everything that is, except for Oblio, a little boy who has to wear a pointed hat to disguise the fact he was born with a suspiciously round head. But, when he defeats the evil count’s son in an innocent game of triangle toss, Oblio and his pointy dog Arrow are banished from the Land of Point and exiled to the uncharted realms of the Pointless Forest. Except that everything in the Pointless Forest still has a point, including the freakishly pointed man, the giant bees, the fat dancing sisters, and the walking tree, all of whom directly or unwittingly help Oblio and Arrow find the point to their journey. Because, if Oblio can ever find his way back to the Land of Point, he’ll be returning with a knowledge that will change the kingdom forever: everyone has a point, even if, sometimes, you’ve got to look harder to find it.

The Point is based on a story and songs written by Harry Nilsson, probably best known to modern audiences for droning “I can’t live, if living is without you” on the Bridget Jones soundtrack while Renee Zellwegger pounds the air drums (even though that was one of his biggest hits, he didn’t write it). But, if that’s all people know about Nilsson, it’s kind of sad. He was a prolific musician who worked with (and wrote for) some of the biggest musical stars of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and even starred in a pretty appalling little movie called Son of Dracula alongside Ringo Starr. The Point is lifted almost directly from Nilsson’s 1970 album The Point! and both album and movie are pretty freaking groovy.

Not surprisingly for a film that was produced as the hippie era of peace and love was beginning to wane, The Point is also endearingly trippy. It’s nowhere near as anarchic and vibrantly in-your-face as The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine (which is undoubtedly The Point’s closest comparison), probably because it was designed for the non-confrontational family-friendliness of prime time US TV. But you can still easily see where Nilsson’s inspiration for The Point came from, when an acid trip made him look at the world in a very different way. It’s surreal, good-hearted, and – despite a little flagging somewhere near the middle – still makes for thoughtful, toe-tapping animated entertainment. Ringo Starr, as the narrator, is surprisingly good, although it would have been nice to hear the original televised narration that was provided by Nilsson’s good friend, Dustin Hoffman. Unfortunately, Hoffman’s contract meant that his narration could only be used one time only, and Starr was only one of three more narrators whose vocals were enlisted for subsequent transmissions. For a disc that’s packed with a lot of fabulous extras, it’s a shame that none of the alternative narrations could be included. Still, The Point is a little-known animated classic that will hopefully become much more popular thanks to this stonkingly enjoyable Region 1 release. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a UK-friendly version, if you’ve got a multi-region player and a hankering for some great tunes and a cool little cartoon story with a great message at its core, put The Point on your shopping list today.

RUNAWAY (1984)

RUNAWAY (1984) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL CRICHTON / STARRING: TOM SELLECK, CYNTHIA RHODES, GENE SIMMONS, KIRSTIE ALLEY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

It’s the near future and robots are everywhere, working in offices, cooking our meals and minding our children, and even building skyscrapers. But, just like anything manmade, robots are liable to malfunction and, when they do, very bad things can happen. That’s why there’s a police division known as the ‘runaway’ squad, whose sole purpose is to track down and turn off the robots who have gone nutso. And Sergeant Jack Ramsay (Selleck) is their star player.

Today, Ramsay has far more than glitchy robots to worry about. Just as he’s teaching his perky new partner (Rhodes) the job, a robot goes full-on psycho and murders an entire family. Pretty soon, the body count’s rising and it looks like the psychopathic genius Dr Charles Luther (KISS star Simmons) is at the centre of it. And Luther isn’t just hacking robots with dodgy microchips, he’s also invented a smart microbullet that locks onto its target’s body heat, meaning that however fast the victim runs, and wherever they run to, the bullet will always find them. But best of all are Luther’s robot spiders that can climb any surface and inject their target with a lethal dose of acid before exploding.

Ramsay’s got Luther’s microchip templates, and Luther wants them back. Even if that means kidnapping Ramsay’s son, trapping the cop at the top of an under-construction skyscraper, and sending his spider assassins off to finish the job. Between terrifying tech and a debilitating case of vertigo, Sgt Jack Ramsay’s about to have a very bad day.

It’s fair to say that Michael Crichton’s career as a screenwriter/director never came close to eclipsing his work as a bestselling author. Westworld was a great high-concept idea that hadn’t aged well until the TV series, and only 1978’s marvellously fun The First Great Train Robbery still holds up to repeated viewings. However, it’s good to see Runaway finally getting some UK Blu-ray love because, even though it’s a sub-sub-Blade Runner rip-off served with a massive pile of cheese with extra cheese on the side, it’s still a terrific piece of low-budget, switch-your-brain-off, comfort-watching hokum. And who doesn’t want to live in a world where robots that look like photocopiers run amok with handguns, microbullets are confusingly four times the size of ordinary bullets, and hero cops try valiantly to perform emergency ER on a mangled robot maid haemorrhaging hydraulic fluid? It’s batty, it’s brilliant, Kirstie Alley smoulders as a wannabe femme fatale, and why the heck Cynthia Rhodes wasn’t a bigger ‘80s film star is one of life’s great unanswerable questions.

DOOM 64

DOOM 64 / DEVELOPER: NIGHTDIVE STUDIOS / PUBLISHER: BETHESDA / PLATFORM: PC, PS4, XBOX ONE (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: 20TH MARCH

To coincide with launch of Doom Eternal, Doom 64 is finally getting an official re-release on modern consoles and PCs, almost 23 years after its original release. It is a common misconception that Doom 64 is simply a port of the original Doom to Nintendo’s N64 console, but it is in fact an entirely different game by an entirely different developer and publisher.

Conceptualised as a sequel to Doom 2 by Midway (of Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam fame), Doom 64 would use a heavily modified version of the original Doom engine to create a significantly more gritty and atmospheric environment than its predecessors. Innovative lighting effects and far more emphasis on the Satanic/hellish elements found in the previous games give Doom 64 something of a horror movie vibe, which would become more of a staple of the franchise in later instalments. The transition from heavy metal chip tunes to a more foreboding, ambient soundtrack only emphasises this further. It is, perhaps, easier to see how the series made the evolution to the more overtly cinematic Doom 3 when wandering through the dark and ominous corridors of Doom 64.

Bethesda have delegated the porting to Nightdive studios (who have previous experience of tarting up retro games for modern consoles), and they have done an admirable job. Visuals are vibrant and smooth with things running at a consistently high frame rate with no noticeable dips. The heavily-criticised excessive darkness of the original is no longer an issue due to how much clearer and more detailed everything appears when running through modern hardware, and everything is so much more comfortable to control with dual thumbsticks (as well as the fact players no longer have to wrestle with the N64’s monstrosity of a controller!).

It’s fair to say that, given the confusion around the game and how long it has been left without a re-release, Doom 64 is something of a hidden gem and probably the most playable of all the early iterations of Doom. This port is clearly the definitive way to experience Doom 64 and (given that it is currently only being made available as a bundle with Doom Eternal) is even more reason to go out and treat yourself to Bethesda’s latest blockbuster.

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY COLLECTION

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY COLLECTION / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30TH

Alejandro Jodorowsky is one of the few truly unique figures in moviemaking. His early work such as Fando y Lis and El Topo caused a massive stir when they came out back in the ‘70s and continue to influence filmmakers to this day. This collection brings together his most important works, accompanied with appropriate commentary and documentaries.

El Topo is the most famous work mostly because of its surreal and striking imagery. This is, after all, a movie where a man duels a naked cowboy. In theory, it’s the tale of a gunfighter who is on a search for spiritual and sexual self-discovery. He wanders the desert challenging masters of the art of gun-fighting until the inevitable consequences of his actions catch up with him. On the way, Jodorowsky’s striking cinematography and surreal direction carry the story forward. Like all of these works, it’s in Spanish, but there’s so little dialogue that it doesn’t matter (and the subtitles are superb).

The Holy Mountain takes things up a notch with surreal tale of spiritual enlightenment, delusion, and fraud. Starring Horacio Salinas as a thief, a fool, and a Christ-like figure, and the director as an alchemist and wise-man, it is a triumph of visual design and shock over coherent storytelling. Crammed with alchemical symbolism, nudity, and surreal violence, it feels like both a criticisms of man’s attempt to understand his soul and also an enormous prank played on western meta-culture.

Finally, we get to Fando y Lis, the director’s earliest work. It’s a messy blueprint for what was to come, and is hard to understand fully because it’s so short and feels unsteady and unsure. More than the others, this is a delight for students of film and a nightmare for the casual viewer.

Each movie has been fully restored and it all looks crisp, which is good because we are here for the visual experience, not the plot. Extras include various critics, academics and the movie’s creators themselves going on about how important these movies are. They’re both interesting and entertaining in equal measure.

The collection includes Jodorowsky’s new film Psychomagic, which is basically the director talking about his two favourite topics. Namely himself and his spiritual believes. It’s a jumble of avant-garde performance art, surreal moments, odd juxtapositions, and utterly pointless excess. Some will find it uplifting and eye-opening. Others will find it to be new-age dross. This sort of art is entirely subjective, so leave your expectations at the door.

As a collection of Jodorowsky’s work, this is a comprehensive collection of his early work with informative commentary. Like anything connected to the man, it’s a matter of personal taste, but if you like this sort of thing then this is a pretty much perfect collection.

AN ENGLISH HAUNTING

DIRECTOR: CHARLIE STEEDS / SCREENPLAY: CHARLIE STEEDS / STARRING: DAVID LENIK, TESSA WOOD, BARRINGTON DE LA ROCHE, EMMA SPURGIN HUSSEY, RORY WILTON / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 10TH (US), APRIL 27TH (UK)

A young man and his mother move into his grandfather’s mansion to care for him after the nurse leaves under mysterious circumstances in Charlie Steeds’ terrific haunted house tale, An English Haunting.

As far as ghostly haunted house movies go, the set up is simple – character moves into the house to care for relative or has been left said house by a deceased relative, strange things begin to occur before the true evil of the house is revealed. However, what sets this particular film apart from its peers is a stunningly eerie and beautiful location which is used to the fullest potential and some expert direction by Steeds allowing the viewers to truly grasp the scope of the world within the confines of the walls and grounds.

The score is equally as chilling as the phenomenal presentation. From violin led pieces to suitably unearthly ambience, everything involved makes it incredibly effective – ever single frame oozes atmosphere and British flair.

At the centrepiece of this affair is David Lenik’s brilliant performance as Blake Cunningham, who is the lead character thrust into the haunted house by his scheming mother who has more than caring for her father on her mind.

Lenik’s shy at first yet ultimately fiery portrayal of Blake shows off his character’s relationship strain with his mother throughout the film to devastatingly power effect that allows him and the rest of the film to pace along nicely. This all adds to the fact that it manages to successfully paper over the cracks of re-treading other ghost stories and creates an incredibly well made, British based film that shows that independent filmmaking is one of the most important things in the crazy world of filmmaking.

From a gorgeous setting that exudes character to a brilliant central performance, all accompanied by a sensational score, An English Haunting is another stellar addition to Charlie Steeds’ catalogue of films and once again proves that real talent doesn’t always come from Hollywood.

DOOM ETERNAL

DOOM ETERNAL / DEVELOPER: id SOFTWARE / PUBLISHER: BETHESDA / PLATFORM: PC, PS4, SWITCH (TBC), XBOX ONE (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 20TH

The direct sequel to 2016’s Doom reboot is finally upon us, giving players the chance to take control of the Doom Slayer once again, ripping and tearing their way through Hell’s demonic hordes in an all-consuming quest to save earth. Eternal is very much a bigger and bolder take on Doom ’16, with larger environments, more ways to upgrade your abilities, an increased need for thinking on your feet during combat, and more than twice the amount of demons seen in the previous game.

Doom has always been known for its high-speed gunplay, and Eternal is no exception. Combat is extremely fast-paced, and you’ll need to combine all of your abilities if you’re going to survive. The Doom Slayer is much more nimble than ever before, now able to double jump, climb walls and vault through the air. Movement plays a big part in combat scenarios (stand still and you’re dead), and there are plenty of other opportunities to test your prowess in platforming/traversal sections, some of which are necessary to move through each level while other lead to hidden areas and collectables.

Various moves can be performed to keep your supplies stocked up during these frantic firefights. Rip apart a weakened enemy with a Glory Kill to make them drop health (and build up your super-powerful Blood Punch meter which can take most enemies down in a single wallop), set them on fire before blasting them to bits if you need armour, or lay them to waste with your chainsaw to make them explode into a colourful shower of ammo. Juggling all of these, along with separate weapon and grenade mods and the need to keep moving at all times, can be a bit overwhelming at times but, when you eventually get into the flow of things, it’s every bit as much fun as Doom ’16.

On top of slaying monsters, there are tons of secret areas to discover, along with a multitude of upgrades to find. Slayer Gates lead to ultra-intense combat encounters, Sentinel Crystals boost your stats, Runes add passive abilities like longer-range Glory Kills or the ability to slow time while in the air, Sentinel Batteries can be used to unlock a variety of skins and upgrades in your main hub area, Mod Bots add functionality to your weapons (which can be further upgraded using points earned in combat), and even your armour can be beefed up using tokens which are often found tucked away out of sight.

There are tons of challenges to complete (kill a certain amount of enemies with a specific weapon, for example), which reward players with experience points. These in turn unlock various cosmetic rewards, many of which come into play in the game’s online Battlemode, where players compete in 2 vs 1 “demons vs Slayer” matches. Unfortunately this hasn’t been active before release, so we haven’t been able to check it out yet, but getting to play as a demon should surely be pretty fantastic.

Doom Eternal is quite a busy game – there’s an awful lot going on, but most of it really is first class stuff. There are some downsides, like occasionally being difficult to work out where you’re supposed to go next, and a few difficulty spikes (even on the lowest difficulty setting) that are likely to inspire more than a few rage quits. Also, one particular new enemy, the fun-sapping Marauder, will have you pulling your hair out in frustration, and you’ll come to dread his appearance purely because he’s so awkward to fight. Other than that, Eternal is a fantastic follow-up to one of the current generation’s most sublime shooters, and comes highly recommended!