Review: SAW X

Review:SAW X

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob's Blog

Last night I watched the new installment in the SAW series, SAW X.

John Kramer is back and in good form in this prequel that takes place between SAW and SAW 2. In this story John goes to Mexico for an unauthorized surgery and drug treatment that he found out about from a supposed cancer survivor. Unfortunately for John it turns out to be a scam being done by a bigger monster than John himself. So in picture perfect Jigsaw style John decided that these con artists need to be taught a lesson and prove themselves as worth of life.  The main lesson of this film is don't fuck with John Kramer or suffer the repercussions.

I really loved this film and loved seeing John and Amanda back in action. 

The games in the story were definitely appropriate. The only issue for me was two of the games dealt with weighing body matter. I think should have made each game totally different. But that can be easily fluffed off because both games were great.

Also, I think they could have done some de-aging on Amanda because she was showing her age. As for John I thought even though Tobin Bell was showing his age too it worked with the fact that the character was suffering from terminal cancer, this many people in that condition look prematurely aged.

Also, and I love this, I think that putting this story on its own yet actually between two of the installments was a brilliant and gutsy idea. The filmmaker managed to have freedom to do the story he wanted without messing with the continuity.

In conclusion I have to say SAW X is a gory, fun, installment of this beloved series that fans of the series should treasure.

Keep on Creepin'!

Horror Bob's Blog

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 2 Review

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 2 Review

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob'Blog

Well, I finished watching season 2 of Star Trek Strange New Worlds and I have a few thoughts on it. First, I believe that this season was far weaker than season 1. I felt that there were far too many oddball episodes this season. Three in one season is far too many when you only have ten episodes. Also jumping the shark with the musical themed episode was far misplaced.this episode would have been better place in the 6th season. The first three seasons are for establishing the characters and the tone of the show, not going off the wall. 

Also, I believe that they have mishandled Ethan Peck’s Spock and his relationship with Nurse Chapel. Spock has been way over emotional. His cheating with Chapel when he is engaged to TPring is way out of line with his character. Also, the way Chapel treated Spock in episodes 8 and 9 were very much against her character. The writers need to stop screwing with fan favorite characters. I know they can do thatby the way they have handled Kirk, I have no complaints about him.

Finally, there is the literal elephant in the room, The Gorn. The Gorn presented in the opening episode as the big bad this season, but except for a few mentions they were absent until the season finale. We got far more Klingons than Gorn this season. I’m  not saying I’m not happy to see real Klingons again, but they weren’t supposed to be the main villains. This shows a definite problem with the writing staff and the show.

All in all this season has been a mixed bag. This show is definitely better than Discovery but it still needs to gel and become the great show it can be. I await the next season and we’ll see what happens.

Keep on Creepin', Horror Bob's Blog

Review: Nefarious

Review: Nefarious

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob's Blog

I watched the possession film Nefarious last night and have to say I was impressed. This story is about a psychologist who goes to a prison to evaluate a prison who is about to be executed with old sparkie. This multi-murderer claims to be possessed by a demon who calls himself Nefarious. The psychologist has to prove that the man is not crazy and can be executed according to the law.

The majority of this film is just the two men talking yet I was never bored. There is only a few minor FX scene which mostly involved the brutal, yet brief execution scene.

This film shows itself to being worlds better than the FX laden possession films we get on a regular basis. Just this demon sitting and calmly telling this psychiatrist how he took over and destroyed this man's life and how Hell is manipulating the human world to destroy people and send the majority to Hell is far more disturbing than Regan's green puke or Emily Rose twisting herself backwards. This is the one possession film I give high respect to but this film is truly a frightening affair...

keep on Creeping, Horror Bob's Blog

Review: Slasher:Ripper

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob's Blog

Last night I finished watching SLASHER: Ripper. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this season. The plot was interesting. The killings were interesting. But all the WOKE bullshit this season was annoying and took me out of the story. The black detective with the cornrows (give me a fucking break) and the black woman coroner distracted me. I kept saying to myself that this was bullshit. It went against the era the story was set at and did NOTHING to forward the narrative, thus shouldn't be there.

I'm sorry but the social politics ruined what could have been a very interesting season. I cannot recommend this season, unless you like to yell at the screen and get annoyed...

 

Review: Jung-E

Review: Jung-E

By William Pattison

For Horror Bob’s Blog

Gore and Scares, this time I have a sci fi morality tale from Korea, Jung-E.

Set in the 22nd century, climate change has caused the planet to become uninhabitable and humans live within a man-made shelter. A war takes place within the shelter. Jung Yi is the elite leader of the allied forces. She becomes the subject of a brain cloning experiment. In the experiment the researchers, which includes Jung Yi’s now adult daughter, install the cloned brains into robotic recreations of Jung Yi, since her brain is now the property of the government. They force her to relive her final mission in the hope of the prototype replicant getting past the situation that caused Jung to fail, which caused the war to last decades longer. It also means that her daughter must see her mother die over and over again.

I love a well crafted sci fi film that deals with human morality in a sci fi setting and this film is exactly that. In many ways this film is similar in tone to the live-action Ghost in the Shell film that came out a number of years ago, but it also shares a lot in the feel and subject matter of the sequel to the original anime, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, in that it is about copying human brains but treating them as products with no respect or dignity.

For those looking for action and robot fight scenes, there are a few scenes of this but it is not the focus of the film. It is about the relationship of Jung and her daughter and the moral implications of their situation. This is a film that deals with exposition and the CGI and action scenes may be few and far between but when they appear they are impressive.

In conclusion if you are looking for a robot war film that is nothing but fluff CGI battle scenes this is not the film for you. But if you are looking for a story that makes you think and has a moral and emotional impact, this is the film for you. Enjoy…

Keep on Creepin’, Horror Bob’s Blog