Rate the Last Film You Watched

Hellboy The Crooked Man

I'll be slightly generous and say 10/10.

Easily my favourite of the 4 films.
Directed by Brian Taylor. He co directed 2 of my favourite films (Crank and Crank 2) so that's a good start.
Mike Mignola co wrote the script.
I liked that it got away from the usual destroy the world plot.

Really creepy.
 
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Nobody 2

Struggling to make time for his wife and family, following a reluctant return to his life as a professional assassin, Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) seizes upon the idea of taking them back to the beloved holiday park he remembers from his childhood, only to discover it has become a staging post for the cross-country smuggling of illegal weapons.

While I think it peaks in the middle and suffers a slightly underwhelming finale, there is an undeniable charm to seeing the Mansell family return for another misadventure. At only 89 minutes, it certainly won’t waste your time either, although I actually wouldn’t have minded a little more time for the supporting cast to develop their respective characters. It’s clearly Odenkirk’s show and there is a definite joy in seeing the pathos crossing his face as he tries to keep his ‘very particular set of skills’ in check, but everything else feels so pared down that I couldn’t help wondering if a lot of scenes had been cut.

Central Station (1998)

Scratching a living by writing letters for illiterate passers-by in Rio’s biggest train station which she frequently bins rather than posting, a cynical former teacher (Fernanda Montenegro) feels a pang of conscience after seeing a young boy’s mother killed in an accident, and reluctantly decides to travel with him to a remote town in the hope of finding his father.

A little predictable, but beautifully shot and with enough of an edge to keep it from becoming too saccharine, this is well worth seeking out, particularly for the fantastic central performance from Montenegro. It’s just maddening that she was pipped for the Best Actress Oscar by Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love.

Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

Picking up where the previous film left off, zombified policeman Matt Cordell (Robert Z’Dar) continues his murder spree, and finds an unlikely ally in the form of a deranged serial killer, leaving a shifty detective and a police psychologist as the only ones who might be able to stop him.

In B-movie terms, this one is pretty good; it boasts some surprisingly slick stunt work and bursts of action that would put far more reputable films to shame. Unfortunately, I’d read a lot of positive comments from its online champions prior to seeing it and I think I was expecting more than it’s able to deliver. It takes a good hour of what is only a 90 minute movie before it solidifies into anything resembling a definite story - so much just seems to be happening for no particular reason. Had they been able to establish a clearer sense of what Cordell will and won’t do from the outset, I think it would have helped immensely; as it is, it frustrates me that there’s so little rhyme or reason to who he attacks and who he spares.

Anyone with an interest in exploitation cinema is sure to find something here to their liking, but this feels like a classic case of ‘so near and yet so far’.
 

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John Carter (Of Mars), this is a vastly underated Disney film that came out over 10 years ago. It perfectly captured the essence of Edgar Rice Burroughs fantasy world Barsoom and the fantastic adventures that ensue. I like this movie more this time than when I first watched it years ago.
 
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I watched a Chinese film at Odeon called Dead to Rights. It's a film set during the Nanking Massacre and there are some scenes that are quite shocking to me (as a Chinese person) and some bits emotional.

The only issue I have with the film is that none of the onscreen text is translated into English.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2025! Day I: The House that Screamed (1969, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador)

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I’m kicking off the marathon with a Spanish slasher flick set in a 19th Century French boarding school for girls (though with the voices dubbed into British accents for whatever reason). Dubbed Spain’s first major horror film production, the film is a slow-burner as students unexpectedly start going missing - the ending, though perhaps somewhat tame by today’s standards is solid and that sums this movie up - a good one to kick this marathon off.) 3.5/5
 
Not sure I’d go as far as to say I like it more than the first one, but I have a lot of time for Predator 2 - it feels like part of that brief window when we got a lot of sci-fi / action movies that were heavily influenced by the kind of dark humour in Robocop.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2025! Day II: The Blair Witch Project (1999, Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez)

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I’m not sure what else new I can say about TBWP, its use of found-footage on a shoestring budget, compounded by some impressive marketing provides it with a very solid legacy. As a film on its own merits though I thought it was a sometimes tedious experience owing to the lead trio being rather annoying, but the film did have a solid final 15 minutes, so was worth a look but is far from a favourite when it comes to the found-footage subgenre despite its significance. 3/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2025! Day III: Cannibal Marathon II: Last Cannibal World (1977, Ruggero Deodato), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978, Sergio Martino), Primitives (1978, Sisworo Gautama Putra), Massacre in Dinosaur Valley (1985, Michele Massimo Tarantini)

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Last year I did a marathon of the various Italian cannibal movies I had acquired up to that point, and owing to some more recent Severin acquisitions I figured it would be a good opportunity to do so again.

LCW (AKA Jungle Holocaust) is considered to be the start of the “cannibal boom” that spawned more notable entries like Cannibal Holocaust and Ferox, also from Deodato. It’s also notably one of the first to amp up the graphic violence, nudity and grindhouse feel that would influence the subgenre, and in turn the controversy and notoriety associated with Cannibal movies to this day.

SotCG, meanwhile, is notable for featuring Bond Girl Ursula Andress and though weaker than LCW was a decent watch, albeit with some unnecessary sequences involving animals. Primitives’ (AKA Savage Terror) main notable features are its rarity in availability until Severin Films did a solid BD release, and that it’s an Indonesian film that borrows a lot of elements from LCW and is a middling entry into the genre, though I’ll give them props for using Kraftwerk of all bands for the opening title sequence (likely owing to where they sourced the opening credits that were previously lost.)

Finally, MiDV is a film that came post CB and while it pales in comparison to some of the bigger entries made for another fairly entertaining and slightly sillier entry to end this mini-marathon on. 3.5/5, 3.5/5, 2.5/5, 3/5
I’ve put this in spoilers due to the nature of these films.
 
31 Days of Horror

Day 4 was In a Violent Nature (2024) been meaning to watch this one since it come out. It’s a interesting film the concept is different from the slashers I’ve seen over all 4/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2025! Day IV: Black Pit of Dr. M (1959, Fernando Méndez), The Witch’s Mirror (1961, Chano Urueta), The Braniac (1962, Chano Urueta), The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963, Rafael Baledón)

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Indicator Films put out a boxset titled Mexico Macabre a while back so this was an opportunity to watch these four features for the first time. I’d say that Black Pit of Dr. M was my favourite of the four, whilst The Brainiac was my least, as after 20 minutes of exposition the rest of the story was very dull and silly. 3.5/5, 3/5, 2/5, 3/5
 
31 Days of Horror

Day 5 Today I watched Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (1995) “aka the Japanese evil dead” as seen on some of the posters, to be honest I’m not sure what to say about this. I’d be interested to see if anyone has seen it or know anything about it
 
31 Days of Halloween 2025! Day V: The Stone Tape (1972, Peter Sasdy), Don’t be Afraid of the Dark (1973, John Newland)

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Two made-for television offerings, one British and the other American. TST is a sci-fi/supernatural horror focusing on a team of scientists researching possible paranormal activities in a renovated Victorian mansion. Though perhaps dated in some aspects I thought it was a solid watch and a nice enough release from 101 Films considering the limitations of the picture quality.

DBAotD, meanwhile, was a weird but fairly creepy feature that was short but sweet, and also worth a look. 3.5/5, 3/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2025! Day VI: Eyeball (1975, Umberto Lenzi)

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Italian auteur Umberto Lenzi produced a rather varied filmography until he ceased making films in the early 90s, and this is the first non-cannibal film of his that I’ve seen. It’s a fun Gialli focused on a group of tourists visiting Barcelona for a bus tour, only to become targets for a serial killer with an obsession for removing victims’ eyes. 88Films did a nice UHD release for this as well. 3.5/5
 
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