Monday 26 June 2023
Code Orange: TK Maxx, Newport
Tuesday 28 March 2023
Sweet Home (2020) Series Review
The Evil Dead meets Resident Evil in SweetHome, an action-packed horror series from South Korea. As much I despise Netflix as a company - and I do - they actually do a great job of making foreign language shows more accessible.
Bastards.
This review will absolutely have spoilers so head back now if you don't want to know.
The first episode is a slow burner, but it has to be because Sweet Home is an ensemble show with a lot of characters to introduce. You meet the residents of Green Home, a rundown apartment complex, getting small pieces of their puzzles. As the show progresses, the residents - unexpectedly thrown together as the building in put under lockdown - get to know each other and form relationships because... you know, it's no fun killing them off unless it'll make everyone cry, right?(Or, in the case of Woo Hyun's greedy misogynist, Seok Kim, freaking cheer.)
While most of the story revolves around Cha Hyun-su (SongKang) as he battles the monster growing inside him, many of the other residents
have their own trauma, heartbreak, and complicated relationships. Take An Seon-Yeong (KimHyeon-Ok,) the long-suffering wife who eventually gets justice in the nastiest way, and paid killer, Pyeon Sang-Wook (Lee Jin-Uk) who’s
more than he seems. My favourite character has to be the cheeky, disabled Han
Du-sik (Kim Sang-ho) who whips up badass weapons for the others with whatever
he can find laying around while cracking horrible jokes.
Sweet Home has all the post-apocalyptic fun and none of
the tedious zombies – although, as usual, what the end of the world shows us is
that people are more troublesome than monsters. Speaking of monsters…
You can’t fault the production value of this one. It has a deliberately
kooky air that lightens what could be an otherwise depressing atmosphere. The CGI on the monsters, which are born from our desires and can only be killed if
they’re incinerated, is well done. The Sweet Home monsters provide good jumps and plenty of gory deaths but can
also be downright funny. The Tongue Monster has to be the most disturbing monster for me (because *shudder* fucked up mouths just creep me out,) while The Eyeball Monster earns the biggest chuckle.
Unlike most of the other infected, our hero, Cha Hyun-su, manages to regain control from his monster,
which he finally unleashes to save the others. In the webtoon, Hyun-su turns
into a “dark knight” figure. In the Netflix adaptation, on the other hand, his transformation is
mostly limited to the arm that bears the scars of his self-harm and
becomes what looks like a weaponized wing of blades. Instead of a dark
knight, he looks more like a dark angel.
Whatever you want to call it, it looks freaking cool.
Sweet Home is a gritty, entertaining ride from start
to finish, with characters (who, yes, sometimes border on stereotypical, but)
you actually give a damn about. With surprises and monsters galore, it’s more
than worth a binge. Even better, there are two more seasons coming (already filmed, in fact) so Sweet Home doesn’t
have that one-and-out disappointment that too many Netflix shows are tainted by.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some Korean manhwa to find…
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
Sunday 26 March 2023
Book Review: Tentacles and Teeth (Consorting with Monsters #1) by Rowan Merrick
When I picked up Tentacles and Teeth (Consorting with Monsters #1) by Rowan Merrick, I thought, ‘It’s not my thing, but it’ll waste some time.’ Turns out… I must have more kinks than I knew ‘cause…
Whoa.
Gotta admit, when I picked up tentacle porn, I was not expecting
one of the Fs in a FFM to be the one with the tentacles... but it works, creating an interesting dynamic between Sid, Katarina, and Fenn, the werewolf who can’t
wait to take a bite out of his roommate’s feisty new girlfriend.
Still with me?
Merrick does a surprisingly good job of worldbuilding and
character development in such a short time. Her world feels like a place you
could step into, a place with history, culture, and rules. The characters were
just as developed, well-rounded with individual personalities and goals. Tentacles
and Teeth also introduces a myriad of side characters that you just know
will get their own stories eventually.
And I’ll be there for every one of those.
Tentacles and Teeth is a fun and sexy little romance (yeah, there’s some wild fucking, but the relationship between Katarina, Sid, and Fenn is still sweet and respectful) that, at times, borders on the taboo when Katarina and Fenn finally get it on – in his werewolf form. Scenes that make me blush aside, Tentacles and Teeth is a good story that, really, could have been fleshed out into something more than quick smut. Although it lets itself down a little in that area, I still recommend this one for a steamy light read.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Saturday 11 March 2023
Book Review: The Antiracist: How to Start the Conversation about Race and Take Action by Kondwani Fidel
The Antiracist: How to Start the Conversation about Race and Take Action by Kondwani Fidel is a poetic memoir loaded with the kind of anguish I couldn't hope (thank the gods) to understand. It is not, however, what it claims to be. There's no call to action, advice, or guidance, which is disappointing.
Although The Antiracist is a powerful read, it isn't what I needed and not at all what the title offers. I would recommend it as a memoir, I suppose, but nothing more.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Thursday 23 February 2023
The Rig (2023) Series Review
The Rig is a six-part series available on Amazon Prime. It focuses on Kinloch Bravo, an oil rig in the North Sea due to be decommissioned by the energy company that owns it, Pictor, that finds itself invaded by a mysterious, seemingly supernatural entity.
(As always, this review is full of spoilers so jump ship now if you don't want to know.)
Oil rigs are made for horror. They’re rough,
desolate, isolated places unfamiliar to most of us. They might as well be
foreign lands. Add the fact that they’re cramped places, with people living on
top of each other for long stretches and you’ve got an environment just begging
for disaster. Tensions run high. In tight spaces like that, minor inconveniences
grow into lingering grudges – and that’s before anything goes wrong. Throw a
monster into the mix…
With references to John Wyndham’s The Kraken Wakes,
you’d be forgiven for expecting a whopping Cthulu-esque, eldritch beastie to be
at the heart of the Bravo’s misfortune. I know I was. That’s nowhere near what
you get with The Rig, though. It’s a slower, quieter horror but,
strangely, I wasn’t disappointed. As these apocalyptic things usually go, the
real monster is us. And, of course, monster gets what it deserves at the end of
The Rig so, although there aren’t any tentacles or teeth, it’s still satisfying.
How’s it working out?
Not good for us.
Although it wasn’t what I was
expecting, The Rig is still good horror. It’s atmospheric as hell, for
starters. A lot of shows take a couple of episodes to bed in but this one gets under your skin straight away.
It goes back to isolation. To cliques and old
grudges. People who’ve already got beef take very little convincing when it
comes time to mistrust their colleagues. So, when the fog clears, only to be
followed by a shower of ash from the doomed Kinloch Charlie that acts as a carrier
for the “attacking” ancient spores whose only mode of communication is… well, joining
with the crew members, things get nasty very quickly.
Because people suck at communication when they can use
words.
The spores’ (more super nature than supernatural) attempts to communicate, while a complete
failure, are valiant. They speak in terms of mass extinction events, using
circles to represent the times they’ve had to wipe the slate clean in the past, with a final broken circle to show our time running out. I’m not a total
idiot (Honest!) but I didn’t realize what the spores were trying to say until Rose explained it so… yeah, as a species, we’d probably be fucked, lol.
The scary thing is that we talk about it all the time.
There are always memes online about how we’re in the middle of an extinction level
event, but we still have to pay our taxes, etc. (haha) but we’re obviously not
getting it. The Rig challenges us to think harder. To really pay
attention for once. Like… what will it take? Will it take the planet physically fighting
back for us to change? If the fate of the Bravo is any indication…
Probably.
Our inability to communicate effectively is just one of the
many layers The Rig uncovers in its short but powerful run. That, I
think, more than its low-key horror or stunning visual effects, is what I
enjoyed most, that there’s so much happening on so many levels, all the
time – apropos, given the setting.
I mentioned the relationships already, and that’s definitely
part of it. With that thought in mind, I have to mention The Rig’s diversity
& inclusivity. There are men and women, gay and straight, young and old.
You’ve got strong representation across the board, which was a relief. And, as
an added bonus, the women don’t face constant sexual harassment just for being in
a “man’s field,” which I’ll admit I was half-expecting.
What can I say? The film & TV industry’s got me jaded as
fuck, y’all.
Anyway… I like that you’ve got this traditionally ultra-macho
place like an oil rig but no one bats at eye at different sexualities. Like,
it’s just normal, yeah? Which it is. But you expect friction from the dinosaurs
(which you get about pretty much everything else) but it’s not even an issue. There
are queer characters without being queer having to be part of the plot. It’s
normalized and thank you very much.
While we’re talking about dinosaurs, though…
The Rig acknowledges how hard the end of oil, steel,
coal, etc. will be on older generations, on the folks who’ve never known
any different. It shares their pain. But it doesn’t pander to them. It says, we
know. We’re sorry that your day is done but this is our future, and we
have to protect it. It acknowledges the pain of one side while at the same time
one hundred percent making a judgement about the right way forward. There’s no
both-sides-are-valid bullshit and I am fucking here for it.
Which might not even be such a bad thing – unless you want to be doing this when you’re 65 and the sky is burning.
You feel for the plight of the Bravo because the character development is so well done. Characters you hate at the beginning, like Emily Hampshire’s Rose, are the ones you’re rooting for at the end. Mostly. Some you still want to chuck off the rig. (Cough, cough, Hutton, cough, cough.) The Rig works because it’s so emotional. So character-driven. And it doesn't hurt that the actors are damn good at their jobs. It’s well cast with a lot of familiar faces from the likes of Line of Duty and Game ofThrones. I want to mention a few standout performances.
Owen Teale’s Hutton walks into frame and it’s easy to spot
the asshole. (To be fair, he always plays the asshole.) You know the
moment Hutton walks in that he’s going to be a problem and guess what… he is. There’s
nothing redeemable about his character. From the beginning, he’s a liability.
He’s selfish and delights in stirring shit. It doesn’t matter that they
humanize him later on because he’s done so much wrong through the other episodes and
I think that’s important. Sometimes, you can try to wipe the slate clean, but there’s no coming back from the damage you’ve done. You have to carry
that with you. And I am glad they didn’t try to do that whole earns-his-redemption-through-death
crap thing at the end. Massive pet peeve.
I have to mention Rochenda Sandall’s Cat because she’s my new hero. She’s so tough and no-nonsense. You know she’s been through hell, but she
doesn’t let it break her. All the way through, you’re waiting for her breaking
point and a few times you think she’s reached it, but she keeps pushing through.
The old white men crumble around her, but she keeps her shit together. Which is
why the end is so, so much more unfair for her.
(Doesn’t hurt that she kicks Hutton’s ass,
either…)
And, of course, there’s poor tragic, villainized Baz (Calvin Demba) who just wanted to understand. To listen and protect. At the end,
there’s really no need for Baz to die. He knows there’s nothing he can do. He
knows that the collective entity made up of spores might not even let him
back in. But he stays to try - and fuck if that’s not the fucking
moral of the story. Yeah, we’re all fucked... but shouldn’t we fucking try
anyway?
Which is kind of the point, isn’t it? The whole point of The
Rig seems to be that it’s too late.
It’s. Too. Late.
Fuck.
Hard truths, y’all. When the Doomsday Clock is just 90
seconds from the end, and you’re watching The Rig, and it’s giving you a
visual representation of your own demise – the one you’re drinking and fucking
and eating and buying like crazy to ignore – it really hits you. It’s
entertaining but also fucking hard. It’s the feels. All the feels.
There are no fans left for shit to hit.
I can’t express how stunning The Rig is to watch.
It’s eerily beautiful in places and just straight up enchantingly mesmerizing in
others. I could watch the spores dance among the flora they created for hours.
At the same time, watching Leck’s (Emun Elliott) tattoos bleed away as his fillings were
forced from his teeth evoke a very visceral response. It’s hard to capture
both a sense of otherworldly magic and pure body horror, but The Rig does.
If The Rig doesn’t get renewed because it’s too
costly to make, you’d understand. That kind of SFX can’t be cheap. But I’d like
to see it get another chance. Give us another chance.
Overall? The Rig is sombre but not despairing. It’s
dark but not dreary. And it never does what you expect it to do.
I still would have liked a big fuck off monster, though… Maybe next time?
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Saturday 11 February 2023
Sorry About the Demon (2022) Review
Sorry About the Demon (2022) is a tongue-in-cheek horror comedy from writer/director Emily Hagins. It follows recently dumped serial quitter, Will (Jon Michael Simpson) who's duped into renting a house from whiter-than-white Ken and Tammy Sellers (Dave Peniuk and Sarah Cleveland) who see nothing wrong with striking a deal with the demon who inhabits their house: the life of their precious daughter, Grace (Presley Allard,) for the life of an unsuspecting stranger.
"No money down!"
Too bad the demon in question, the unfortunately named Deomonous, doesn't much care for their choice in sacrifices.
Poor Will... I spent the whole movie waiting for Deomonous to say, "You are a loser, Will." The voice actor, Tony Vespe, has the perfect voice for a sarcastic symbiote.
My childhood overachiever/adult burnout, neurodivergent TikTokers will feel Will's plight. (Or is that feel attacked by Will's character? Lol.) He's the guy who takes up a million new hobbies - or, you know... intends to... tomorrow, maybe - but never sees anything through. Until Deomonous sets its evil little eye on Will's ex, Amy (Paige Evans.)
The thing I love most about Sorry About the Demon is how casually Will just copes with the ghosts who inhabit the house and are manipulated by Deomonous. Because, hey, any Millennial knows that living with a couple of ghosts is worth finding a cheap place to rent! Evil demon in the basement? Sharing the telly with a ghost? But look at the size of that house! Sign me the Hell up!Sorry About the Demon isn't just customer service cringe and light slapstick. There are some genuinely creepy moments and, even though it never presumes to take itself too seriously, it still manages to maintain an eerie ambiance throughout the laughs. There are good fake outs and even better stings. I can't decide if my favourite moment comes when the female ghost reaches out from underneath the bed to grab Will around the throat (gets me every time) or when a kitchen cabinet swings open to wallop Will's annoying hipster friend, Patrick (Jeff McQuitty) in the face...
In addition to droll humour, sympathetic characters (except maybe Patrick, screw that guy,) and decent horror, Sorry About the Demon includes a couple of good nods to horror classics like Poltergeist and The Exorcist and even manages to wind things up with a happily-ever-after.
Sort of.
We stumbled across this one after seeing exactly no advertising for it, which is a shame. People need to be out there bigging up Sorry About the Demon because it really is one of those hidden horror gems flying under the radar.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐