Nightmare Beach (1988) Mini Review...

What's it about?
The leader of a biker gang is executed for the crime of murder, but when his body goes missing and rowdy Spring Breakers start turning up dead-by-electrocution, the authorities desperately try to keep a lid on things - but the bodies keep piling up.
Who would I recognise in it?
John Saxon, Michael Parks, Lance LeGault.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Directed by Umberto Lenzi (Syndicate Sadists, Eyeball) under a pseudonym, Nightmare Beach was one of his last directorial outings - into which he put little effort (as he himself admitted). Coming in after years of slasher movies, this cheap little killer flick - written by Vittorio Rambaldi (with some rushed rewrites by Umberto Lenzi) - proves to be a rather mixed bag. Indeed, just in terms of acting, the movie comes across rather schizophrenic. The ever-reliable John Saxon (A Nightmare On Elm Street) plays a sheriff doing the dirty bidding of a mayor who's only worry is not scaring off tourists (*ahem* Jaws *ahem*), while Michael Parks (Red State) plays an alcoholic doctor/pathologist/pervert, and Lance LeGault (The A-Team) gleefully hams it up as a Bible-clutching priest - all good stuff, but the rest of the acting on-show ranges wildly from under-sold to reprehensible. Mind you, in a movie like this (ideal VHS rental fodder), that's part of the fun...

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Alien Covenant - a quick review...

What's it about?
The crew of a colony ship bound for a new world are woken from their hypersleep early and follow a mysterious, scrambled message to a planet that was once home to an ancient civilisation. Naturally, they encounter biological beasties galore.
Who would I recognise in it?
Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir, Guy Pearce.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Prometheus had a few flaws and divided audience opinion. Some loved it, some hated it (I'm in the former camp). Its weighty ideas of mankind's origin and the earliest ancestors of the infamous xenomorph made for grand scale, intelligent sci-fi. With Alien: Covenant, however, Ridley Scott & Co have listened too much to their Prometheus detractors and scurried back to xenomorph territory - despite Scott having previously been quoted as saying that said beastie had been seen enough on the silver screen!

A familiar story unfolds before the viewer as a group of unlucky space explorers encounter grisly ends, but at least Scott hasn't abandoned all his higher-minded ideas. A rich theme of creator/creation antagonism runs throughout (dovetailing with the Engineer/Human relationship in the previous film), even if it skews into 'simply confusing' instead of 'well explained' territory on occasion...

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Double Bill Mini Reviews: Under Your Radar Edition...

Anomalisa:
What's it about?
A middle-aged family man arrives in another identikit hotel in advance of giving another motivational speech on yet another whistle-stop tour. Feeling lost and alone in his life, so much so that everyone but him in this world has the same face and the same voice, he's doomed to misery - until Lisa enters his life.
Who would I recognise in it?
David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan (all voices).
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Sometimes the format in which you tell a story can make all the difference, or put an intriguing spin on the material. With "Anomalisa", writer/director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) teams up with director Duke Johnson to present this very grown up tale of middle-age melancholy in the form of stop-motion animation...

Click "READ MORE" below for the verdict on this flick as well as Kevin Smith's weirdest movie to date...

Only God Forgives: quick review...

What's it about?
An American drug dealer living in Bangkok is sent into the criminal underworld by his domineering mother to seek revenge for the murder of his brother. Bloody, stylish, straight-faced chaos ensues.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Tom Burke.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
I recently posted my thoughts on Nicolas Winding Refn's latest film - The Neon Demon - and found it to be extraordinarily stylish and obsessed with obtuse symbolism, but I was disappointed by how it sought to dispense with as much plot, story, characterisation, and redemption as possible (and it was decidedly over-long at an indulgent two hours). So I figured it was time I caught up with Only God Forgives, the film that sits between TND and Refn's 2011 film Drive (a richly textured, yearning, ultra cool modern classic). Where, I wondered, would it fall on the scale between those two films...

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Triple Bill Mini Musings: Animal Instincts, Bunker Troubles, and Organic Gore...

Zootropolis:
What's it about?
The animal kingdom has evolved beyond its base instincts and created a world where predator and prey of all sizes can live side-by-side. However, when fourteen mammals go missing under suspicious circumstances, it's up to the first rabbit in the Zootropolis Police Department and a sly fox to figure out what's going on.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Jenny Slate, Idris Elba, Nate Torrence, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Shakira, and others (voices).
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
With a strong and clear message at its heart, Zootropolis (otherwise known as Zootopia) still manages to avoid coming off as preachy, because the message is intrinsically lodged into the well-constructed story...

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The Nice Guys - mini review...

What's it about?
Los Angeles, 1977. A goon for hire and a bumbling Private Investigator, both with questionable morals and a streak of bad luck trailing in their wake, find themselves thrown together as they investigate a case of corporate conspiracy that spirals outwards from the death of porno star 'Misty Mountains'.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, Keith David.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Shane Black brings his love of L.A. and crime fiction back to the silver screen with a hefty dose of humour ladled on top. If you dug the vibe of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang then you'll know what to expect here, but with an added 1970s groove and a rowing back from the sheer self-awareness that stood so proudly at the heart of Black's last foray into noir-tinged sleuthing in the City of Angels...

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Texas Chainsaw: Mini Review...

What's it about?
A direct sequel to Tobe Hooper's legendary 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in which, after Sally Hardesty's escape, the Sawyer family - including an extended rabble of misfits coming along for family support - are burned alive in their home. It's 1973 and there's only one survivor - a Sawyer family baby - who grows up forty years later to be in her early twenties. Seriously. Lack of respect for the audience's intelligence and the horror genre in general aside, young 'Heather' is surprised one day to learn that her grandmother - whom she never knew - has died and left her an inheritance in (where else) Newt, Texas - where all the chaos happened in 1973. She and her friends go to investigate - guess what happens next.
Who would I recognise in it?
Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde, Gunnar Hansen, Bill Moseley, Marilyn Burns, Scott Eastwood, Richard Riehle.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Written by Adam Marcus (the writer/director of the initially intriguing but ultimately lamentable Jason Goes To Hell), the film starts off strong - the attention to detail in re-staging the post-massacre location from the original film is impressive - with a non-Leatherface cameo from original chainsaw-wielder Gunnar Hansen, and Bill 'Chop Top' Moseley playing Jim Siedow's part as Sawyer patriarch Drayton. However, the strange tone of the film - in which the monsters are unconvincingly cast as victims to be sympathised with - becomes evident early on. Moving forward to the present day - from 1973 to 2013 - comes the film's major F-You to the viewers. It's not explicitly stated that it is present day - but the up-to-date hip-hop, vehicles, and (most blatantly of all) smart phones - makes the space-time continuum-breaking 2013 setting undeniable. As previously stated, but repeated for emphasis - the infant survivor of the 1973 lynching grows up FORTY YEARS LATER to be in her early 20s, in the shape of Alexandra Daddario (True Detective, Burying The Ex)...

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Tremors 5: Bloodlines - Mini Review...

What's it about?
Burt Gummer - graboid hunter extraordinaire - is now a survivalist reality show host, but he's pulled back into action when a man from the South African government turns up in search of his help. Joined by Travis, a laid back stunt rider, they discover that the graboid/shrieker/ass blaster family aren't solely an issue for North America and Mexico - there's an entire African bloodline with their own evolutionary surprises out there causing havoc.
Who would I recognise in it?
Michael Gross, Jamie Kennedy.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It's been years since we've had anything from the Tremors franchise, and coming off the back of a sorely under-funded third film, an intriguing but strangely repetitive fourth film, and a one-season TV show of variable quality, a new entry is a somewhat surprising occurrence...

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Double Bill Mini Musings: Space Vampires and Con-Artist Chemistry...

Lifeforce:
What's it about?
The crew of a space shuttle following the trail of Halley's Comet encounter a strange, alien craft hiding within the comet's tail. Inside things only get curiouser as they discover countless dried-up vampire bat-like creatures floating within the cavernous confines of the ship - and then they stumble across three nude figures in suspended animation. The strangest thing of all is that they appear to be human. However, when the space shuttle returns to earth, the ground team discover there's been a terrible fire that's wiped out the crew - but left the three humanoids intact. Back on Earth - London to be exact - events take a turn for the worse when the lifeforms awake and start to literally suck the life out of people!
Who would I recognise in it?
Steve Railsback, Patrick Stewart, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Aubrey Morris, Michael Gothard.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), co-written by Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead), and presented by Cannon Films during their 1980s heyday, Lifeforce has the genre credentials from the get-go. Based on Colin Wilson's novel "The Space Vampires" (surely a much better title than the non-specific "Lifeforce"), Hooper's film turns out to be a surprisingly fun outing. Jam-packed with special effects - from gruesome prosthetics and puppets to please horror fans, to a vast array of colourful optical effects to please sci-fi fans - Lifeforce unfurls in its final act into a stunningly epic extravaganza by way of a mystery. At just shy of two hours it's a touch overlong (and some plotting is either drawn out or repetitious), but the sheer volume of chaos and spectacle paper over the cracks (at $25m it was Cannon's largest film budget at that time) ... and that's without even mentioning Mathilda May's jaw-dropping beauty as the lead 'space vampire' who spends much of the movie seducing every male she encounters with all of her kit off (so that checks off fans of boobs, too!). If you're looking for something cheesy, something fun, something genre-tastic, ever-so-80s, and visually stunning, then it's worth checking out this somewhat-forgotten-about slice of sci-fi horror wham-bam mania. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for 'Focus'...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Naughty Bears and Loving Aliens...

Ted 2:
What's it about?
When Ted's status as a 'person' is called into question by the state, the little fuzzy chaos machine and his 'Thunder Buddy' John - with the help of a pot-smoking newbie lawyer - must fight for Ted's civil rights. Naturally, gross-out gags and mucky-mouthed silliness ensues.
Who would I recognise in it?
Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, John Slattery, Jessica Barth, Morgan Freeman, and more.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Having read some less-than-kind reviews of this follow-up to the well-received original, I couldn't help but think "Why?" Featuring a solid story (the fight for a sentient teddy bear's civil rights proves to be surprisingly involving) and several laugh-out-loud gags to accompany the general mirth, Ted 2 is just as much fun as Ted. A handful of resurrected jokes from the first movie do threaten to derail proceedings and send it careening down into a pit of self-referential 'remember this' laziness, but these call backs are soon dispensed with as the main thrust of the plot takes hold. It may not be as fresh as it once was, but what else would you expect? It's a sequel, after all - but MacFarlane, after a wobble with the patchy "A Million Ways To Die In The West", manages to give fans what they want and tell a good story. Arguably it's a smidge overlong (the Extended Edition adds in 11 minutes), but even scenes like the indulgent opening musical number are entertaining enough to paper over the cracks. The replacement of Mila Kunis with Amanda Seyfried (as new love interest Samantha L. Jackson) is well handled and allows the immaturity of John and Ted to run wild, sensibly leaving the "it's about time you grew up" shtick to the original movie. A little mustier around the frayed edges, but still as much fun as ever - if you dug Ted, you'll dig Ted 2. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for an intergalactic love story...

Triple Bill Mini Musings: Exes, Voices, and Maxes...

Burying The Ex:
What's it about?
Max, a horror nerd, comes to realise his horny environmentalist vegan girlfriend Evelyn isn't exactly a match for him, so he decides to dump her. However, a spanner in the works comes in the form of a bus - which promptly runs over his soon-to-be-ex. Sufficiently grieved, our young hero starts a new relationship with someone far suited to him (Olivia, a fellow horror fan and novelty ice cream shop owner). Trouble is, our boy's dead ex-girlfriend is back from the dead, un-killable, and distinctly unaware that they're no longer in a relationship!
Who would I recognise in it?
Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene, Alexandria Daddario, Oliver Cooper, Dick Miller.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Joe Dante makes a welcome return to our screens with this L.A.-set, cine-literate (Romero references, the horror of a folded film poster) slice of comedy horror. It's an efficiently told, sparky, and decidedly fun ride. Dante fans would do well to check it out, and in the - admittedly slim - sub-genre of the 'rom-zom-com', Burying The Ex is the best entry since Shaun of the Dead (although don't go in expecting something as blow-you-over-fantastic as Edgar Wright's audience favourite). Gleefully silly and occasionally quite gooey. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for weirdo Ryan Reynolds and feral Tom Hardy...

Avengers: Age of Ultron: Mini Review...

What's it about?
Having once again got their mits on Loki's 'pokey stick' from Avengers Assemble, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner accidentally stuff themselves when they create the titular artificial intelligence, which promptly crafts itself a body, a father complex, and a plan to wipe out mankind. Perhaps Tony should have just sat on his arse and put his feet up for a change instead? Naturally the team have to fix another fine mess, while smashing the place up in grand fashion and throwing around a few quips.
Who would I recognise in it?
Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Linda Cardellini, Stellan Skarsgard.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Not quite as strong as Avengers Assemble, which had a clearer and more defined plot, or Captain America: The Winter Soldier (the preceding entry in the Marvel movies), but thoroughly enjoyable all-the-same. Bursting at the seams with superhero wow-factor and movie star wattage, the light and dark elements of the story are well balanced, and there's so much spectacle to behold that one viewing isn't enough to take it all in...

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Fast and Furious 7: Mini Review...

What's it about?
The heavy-footed family are called back into action when Deckard Shaw - brother of #6's villain Owen Shaw - gets hungry for a spot of revenge (thus tying us in with Tokyo Drift at long last). Throw in an impressive macguffin called "God's Eye", cue a series of set pieces that boast an escalating amount of vehicular insanity, and Vin Diesel grumbling the word "family" at every given opportunity.
Who would I recognise in it?
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Staham, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Ludacris Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Lucas Black, Elsa Pataky.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Fast 7 will forever be overshadowed by the sudden death of Paul Walker - mid-shoot - in a car crash, and it's hard to view the film without that thought - and of CGI-infused body double fixes - lurking in the back of your mind. Even more-so considering the film's continued (and franchise-spanning) emphasis on the importance of family, one of the elements that has helped turn this franchise into a box office juggernaut...

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Double Bill Mini Reviews: Bosses and Fighters...

Horrible Bosses 2:
What's it about?
Nick, Kurt, and Dale - the bumbling trio of boss-hating worker drones from the first movie - have all quit their jobs and set out on their own, establishing a business making 'Shower Buddys'. Naturally, they get screwed over by a horrible boss and things quickly spiral out of control as they seek to get their own back.
Who would I recognise in it?
Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Banks, Keegan-Michael Key.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Fairly solid plotting (relatively speaking) is left swinging in the wind thanks to a lack of jokes. After a slow start a few chuckles creep in, but all-too-often they rely on the 'bumbling and shouty trio' schtick that worked well in a lesser dose in the first movie. Here the same buffoonery takes centre stage at the expense of more interesting gags and starts to become grating at worst, and at best the dim-witted actions of Dale and Kurt in particular display chronic stupidity that's too stupid even for this movie's sense of logic. Jason Bateman was refreshingly candid about the film on a recent appearance on Marc Maron's WTF Podcast - everybody got paid, they had a good time, and they tried to improve upon a dodgy script. It's not a total disaster - there is an amount of fun to be had - but after the enjoyable silliness of the first movie, this sequel comes as a general disappointment. Alright.

Click "READ MORE" below for a rockin' rockumentary...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Trolls and Doppelgangers...

The Boxtrolls:
What's it about?
From stop motion animation studio Laika (Coraline, ParaNorman), this latest outing revolves around the titular box trolls - essentially scruffy little goblin handymen that live inside cardboard boxes - and the human populace of the world above who believe them to be vicious, man-eating ghouls after a small child is apparently kidnapped.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, Elle Fanning, Maurice LaMarche, Nick Frost (voices).
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
As per usual, Laika's visual style is superb - the setting here being a rickety Victorian-esque coastal town that rises up on a large hill - and the story doesn't seek to safely illuminate its darker recesses. The Boxtrolls themselves appear both demonic and lovable, depending on the perspective, with a similar mix applied to the human characters - particularly the main antagonist and his goons. The former is a class-obsessed Boxtroll chaser called Snatcher, weighed down by the weight of the chip on his shoulder and his obsession with cheese (a delicacy reserved for the rich 'white hat' folk). His goons, meanwhile, vary between monosyllabic creepiness and complex introspective musings on whether or not they truly are the 'good guys' (as they have been told by their increasingly sadistic boss). If ParaNorman didn't quite hit the high watermark of Coraline, The Boxtrolls certainly manages to attain the same level of intelligence, wit, fairytale whimsy, and darkness. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for a double dose of Jake Gyllenhaal...

Chappie: Mini Review...

What's it about?
In a crime-ridden near-future Johannesburg high tech police robots are put on the streets to clean things up. However, their creator has dreams of developing a truly sentient artificial intelligence, and opts to test his newly developed code on 'bot #22, which has been destined for scrap. Unluckily for him, he's kidnapped by a gang of criminals in-hoc to a crime lord for a hefty sum - and they want to use his skills and his sentient robot to facilitate their final heist.
Who would I recognise in it?
Sharlto Copley (voice and MoCap), Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Die Antwoord, and others.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
"Short Circuit" meets "RoboCop" by way of "District 9" ... did you dig those flicks? If you did, chances are you'll dig this too. Far better for a new film to take significant cues from earlier films and apply its own little something to it, than for movie fans to suffer yet another inferior remake. Numerous parallels can be drawn between "Chappie" and "RoboCop" in particular, but this is still unmistakably a Neill Blomkamp film - he even takes a few cues from his break out film "District 9"...

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Double Bill Mini Musings: Butt Monsters and Wolf Cops...

Bad Milo:
What's it about?
A stressed-out guy struggles to deal with his problems, so naturally a murderous beast shoots out of his butt and starts killing people!
Who would I recognise in it?
Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs, Patrick Warburton, Stephen Root, Peter Stormare, and others.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It's a movie about a monster that comes out of a guy's arse and goes around killing people, what's not to enjoy here? Snappy, gory, and enjoyably silly, fans of dark comedy and practical puppet F/X (sometimes like the sweet/sour mix of Gremlins) will have plenty to chuckle over. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for WolfCop...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Smith's Weird Whimsy, and Near-Future Chaos...

Tusk:
What's it about?
A snarky podcaster heads to Canada to interview a viral video sensation, only to end up in the home of one Mr Howard How - a curious old man, confined to a wheelchair and a solitary life - who has many interesting stories to tell. However, the old man's fixation on the mighty walrus takes a sinister and creepy turn.
Who would I recognise in it?
Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, Johnny Depp.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Birthed from an episode of Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's "SModcast" podcast, in which they extrapolated a bizarre Gumtree advert into a horror film idea, Tusk is very much the product of Smith's new found invigoration for filmmaking. The idea went from a detailed and marijuana-induced giggle to a full-blown film in a matter of months, which affords this strange outing from the writer/director of Clerks et al a sense of immediacy. Low budget and high concept - a maniac seeks to turn his latest victim into the perfect walrus - it's an out-there experience that's as disturbing as it is bewildering.

Crammed-full with in-jokes that attentive SModcast network fans will appreciate, Tusk's immediacy also presents some problems. There are some structural issues that might have benefited from a little extra work - the Guy LaPointe scenes are heartily entertaining, but necessitate a sudden change of gear and shift in focus - but might more time for script tweaks have robbed the film of some of it's vim and vigour? The cast all seem to be having an absolute blast, and undoubtedly stealing the whole show - similar to the case of Smith's previous film Red State - is Michael Parks, who explores the various recesses of his deeply disturbed Mr How. Featuring some wacky - and quease-inducing - practical effects work from Robert Kurtzman, Kevin Smith's latest piece of whimsy is a curious beast. It is a film that has divided its audience, and will continue to do so, but - much like Justin Long's game performance - will haunt your thoughts for a long while. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for The Purge: Anarchy...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Troubled Grooves and Opening Night Jitters...

Inherent Vice:
What's it about?
A complex tale situated at the death of the 1960s in and around the fictional seaside L.A. area of Gordita Beach, in which Private Investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello becomes involved in a twisted, sprawling string of crimes including, but not limited to, kidnap, murder, fraud, and drug trafficking. Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon.
Who would I recognise in it?
Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Jena Malone, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and more.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Not quite Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson's best, but pretty close. Read the book and then watch the film for the best viewing experience. Don't try to unwind every mystery and understand every event - that's not the point - indeed, as Anderson himself said, the best thing to do is just let the movie wash over you. It's more about an atmosphere and an experience, than a neatly tied-up story. Even with some nips and tucks moving from book to film (the whole Vegas angle is reduced to a brief newspaper headline, various side characters' parts are reduced or removed, etc) Anderson manages to remain strikingly true to the source material, so much so that - at times - the film feels more like a book than it does a movie. The pacing and rhythms are different to your usual film, while Pynchon's world is beautifully recreated - cannily helped by deploying the side character of Sortilege as the narrator. Undoubtedly it's a divisive film, but it is one that will find its audience in the home viewing market, where it will reveal deeper layers with repeated viewings. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for Elijah Wood tinkling the ivories...

Sabotage: Mini Review...

What's it about?
A team of hard-as-nails DEA agents pinch a cool $10 million during a raid on a cartel stronghold and stash it for later - but when they return for it, they find it missing. Then, soon afterwards, the team starts getting picked off one-by-one.
Who would I recognise in it?
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Josh Holloway, Mireille Enos, and more.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Testosterone overload ahoy in David Ayer's tough-as-old-boots thriller which plays out more as a murder mystery than a straight-faced action fest. That's not to say it's light on adrenaline - it's not, because there's eruptions of blood-splattering violence throughout (eviscerated and nailed to a ceiling, anyone?) - but the hard-hitting, teeth-gritting gruffness of it all is mixed with a complex who-dunnit plot...

Click "READ MORE" below to continue the review...