In post-civil war Arkansas, a young doctor is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks, only to discover the utopian paradise he expected is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence. Starring Tim Blake Nelson and David Arquette, Ghosts of the Ozarks is a thrilling new take on the southern ghost story.(IMDB)
Overall, I enjoyed Ozarks, I just didn’t find it original enough to be great. If you like the sound of the premise and the cast list, then it is definitely worth a look, just be prepared to be underwhelmed by the final act that probably won’t take you anywhere you haven’t been before.
Following on pretty much from the end of Extinction, Alice has enlisted her clones in her continued mission to bring down Umbrella and finish off everyone’s favourite bad guy, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). After coming in all guns blazing, as far as I can tell, our Alice is the only surviving Alice and, following a tussle with Wesker, loses her powers but leaves him for dead in the wreckage of his aircraft.
‘The Impact’ is the result of a collaborative filmmaking initiative run by Create50. The feature film is comprised of thirty-seven short films made by various filmmakers from around the world. (IMDB)
What would you do if you had just over 90 minutes to live? Would you go crazy and run amok? Rush to be with your loved ones? Call up old friends or go looting and behave as if The Purge was real? Hopefully none of us will ever be in that situation, but this is the exact question posed by THE IMPACT, a new film from CREATE 50, a London Screenwriter’s festival Initiative led by filmmaker Chris Jones.
A weedy charity-shop worker is set on winning the big national talent show. But when the actions of 5 selfish people cause him to miss his audition, he sets out to seek deathly revenge. It’s 1 lunch break, 5 spectacular murders. (IMDB)
This is low-budget filmmaking at its best. Paul Dood won’t trouble the Oscars, but it was never meant to and although, it’s a bit rough around the edges, much like its lead, that just adds to its charm.
See the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE
Theoriginal link to Ginger Nuts of HOrror is now broken, so the full review is now posted below.
A weedy charity-shop worker is set on winning the big national talent show. But when the actions of 5 selfish people cause him to miss his audition, he sets out to seek deathly revenge. It’s 1 lunch break, 5 spectacular murders.(IMDB)
People see Paul Dood (wonderfully played by Tom Meeten) as a bit of a loser. He works in a charity shop with other misfits and lives at home with his elderly mum (June Watson). But his heart is in the right place, and he loves his mum.
And she loves him.
So much so that she supports his dreams to win the big talent contest Paul is obsessed with. Paul is so invested in the talent show that he posts videos and live streams charting his journey to stardom on the social media site “Trend Ladder” a popularity contest where everyone is vying for the top rung. However, when Paul realises he has mixed up his dates, he has just a few hours to get to the audition or his dreams may end up in tatters.
With his mum in a wheelchair, Paul embarks on a hero’s journey that is thwarted at every turn by officious railway staff, frustrated shop-owners, dodgy church-folk and celebrity judge, Jack Tapp (Kevin Bishop) who makes Simon Cowell look like Charlie Brown.
Paul’s dream ends in disaster, and he finally cracks a few days later as he sets out on a poorly planned rampage of revenge against all those he holds responsible for his audition failure, live-streaming his deadly lunch break all the way.
Paul Dood’ Deadly Lunchbreak is a mildly gory, light-hearted look at one man’s limits; it’s Falling Down in the English suburbs mixed with interpretive dance. It is, on the whole, a silly film, played for fun, but with an underlying warmth and love for its lead character. Regardless of whatever you think about Paul’s actions on his deadly lunchbreak, you are on his side all the way as he fights to overcome the arseholes in life who won’t let people just be who they are.
As Paul livestreams his lunchbreak, his popularity on TrendLadder soars, propelling him into the stardom he wanted from his audition, but for hugely different reasons. As the reality of his spree becomes evident, he is elevated to local hero, before a final standoff where…. Well, you will have to watch to find out, I don’t want to spoil anything!
Ultimately, Paul Dood’s deadly lunch break shows him that he doesn’t need to seek adoration from the faceless people on social media, that the important people to him have always been right there in front of him, it just takes a few deaths to figure that out.
I loved this film and can’t recommend it highly enough. It not high art (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean) but is an hour and a half of pure fun and joy with a great cast of characters played by some of our greatest domestic talent. Paul Dood mixes with the likes of Katherine Parkinson, Kris Marshall, Johnny Vegas, Mandeep Dhillon, Craig Parkinson, Pippa Haywood, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram. And there are some great minor characters mixed in as well; keep an eye out for the women who stumble across Paul in the local skate park!
Visually, the film looks great. It is mostly intimately shot, with a lot of interiors so you don’t get sweeping vistas and widescreen photography, but you don’t need it. You need to be intimate with Paul to understand him and empathise with his journey. The way the film is shot and written does that perfectly.
Not only is it very funny in places, but it also loves its lead. It would be easy to criticise Paul Dood for scoring laughs at the expense of Paul and his life. But it doesn’t. The main “digs” at Paul come from the arsehole characters around him who see him as a joke, but the film is never directly cruel to Paul. It is an interesting take on the impact of Talent Shows and the dubious value of entertainment that encourages you to laugh at “losers.” It is everyone other than Paul that is the problem here. Paul is harmless, loving and caring and many of those around him don’t deserve him.
The style and feel of the film (and some of the cast) reminded me a lot of Sightseers so, if you had a good time with that couple (who also show up here) then I think you are going to enjoy spending a lunch break with Paul Dood. This is low-budget filmmaking at its best. Paul Dood won’t trouble the Oscars, but it was never meant to and although It’s a bit rough around the edges, much like its lead, that just adds to its charm.
Unlike Jack Tapp, why not give Paul Dood a chance?
So, here we go, round 3! This time we take up the story several years after the events of Resident Evil Apocalypse and the whole world is now either infected or struggling to survive against the horrors of the T-Virus. Alice is now alone, trying to avoid bring found, distancing herself from the survivors of Raccoon City to keep them safe as she is hunted by the Umbrella Corporation.
Two years after the world was introduced to Alice and the Umbrella Corporation, the franchise returned for its second installment, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which continues the story immediately after the events of the first film.
I remember looking forward to this film a lot while waiting for it’s release. Resident Evil was a phenomena on the Playstation 1 (yep, kids there was actually a PS1!) and I have a lot of fond memories of playing the game with my housemates at the time. A favourite was coming home one night after a late shift, knowing my mate was playing and bursting in through the open window (it was summer) while making Zombie noises. Oh how he laughed…
Something I have been meaning to do for a while is revisit the Resident Evil Movie franchise. Actually I have also been thinking about revisiting the game franchise, but that is a much bigger committment, so that might take a bit longer to get to.
Online Confidential is a course designed by a writer, for writers. It is a step-by-step guide to utilise the online space to your best advantage. Say goodbye to online tumbleweeds and ensure your online spaces don’t misrepresent you OR your talent.
So how is your Twitter Game? Are you an expert at TikTok? Are you a pro on the Gram? Yep, I expect that makes me sound like the “never really cool, middle-aged father” that I am, but they are questions you probably should be asking yourself as a creative, if you want to create buzz around you, your brand and your “product”. Although I obviously run this website, and have Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn accounts, I am not sure I am utilising them to the best of my ability or certainly not making them work for me as much as I could.
An anxious shut-in moves into a haunted apartment, hiring a stranger to perform an exorcism which quickly takes a horrific turn (IMDB)
I liked the way it built up slowly; the more psychological elements of the story and how it affected Ken, taking away his control and grip on reality. It reminded me of Host and the way that builds up the terror by not really knowing what is going on and whether things are real.
Dark Mark Writing 