Rating History
-
Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
Starting off with a brutal and relentless opening credits of the effects of war on children, it's clear that this isn't gonna be just another horror movie. After that initial 10min assault, the camera cuts to a pleasant sighting of people enjoying the beach, creating great contrast with the aformentioned scene, with loads of fat, healthy people on sight, happy children playing and just beautiful people everywhere. That little exposition scene ends abruptly when a dead woman's body gets discovered on shore by a young child to end that safety, giving room for the movie to start. From here on, the movie behaves like a traditional horror movie. With the lead couple slowly finding the horrors of a deserted small town on an isolated island. And when they start to figure out what's going on, the movie grabs you by the nuts and just doesn't let go. It's absolutly amoral, unforgiving and downright scary. you are confronted with the worse decisions one can take under such circumstances. The acting and superb bleak cinematography help immensely and when you get to the last 20 minutes of the flick you just can't breath on how shocking things get. It is that affecting without being cheap, exploitative or over sentimental. The effects of war on children have never been so brutal on screen. This little cautionary tale hailing from the 70s and shot on Spain is a little masterpiece of cinema that can't be ignored, much less missed. The approach might be a bit too gut wrenching for the common movie goer, but it's impact is undeniable.
Francisco G true -
We Are Still Here (2015)
Despite the old school feel and some great special effects towards the end, We Are Still Here is very amateurish and unpolished on plenty of occasions. Save from Barbara Crampton, the rest of the cast is just plain bad and hilariously so when they should be creepy. Plus, the movies just takes too long to get to the point, even more so since this is a very basic and predictable ghost/haunting movie. We've all seen this before, trot along will ya? And that's it. There's nothing amazing or nothing dreadful about it. It just exists and it's a fairly solid watch for horror completionists.
Francisco G true -
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Proof that you can have witty and edgy blockbusters, Kingsman was a surprise for all the right reasons. It shouldn't come as a surprise though, since Matthew Vaughn already proved he can make funny, violent and edgy contained blockbusters. The only flaw I could point out to Kingsman is that it doesn't do the satire too well. The spy movie references are not too great, the humor has some downs and lacks a little bit of empathy with some of its characters. Still, there's plenty of commentary here and there, backed by outrageous scenes at every turn to make Kingsman one of the most memorable blockbusters of the year.
Francisco G true -
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
So, as long as you can take a goody two-shoes Max, maybe you can roll along with yet another Mad Max side-quest he doesn't wanna get drawn into. This feels like it was trying to appeal to a broader audience but still failed while doing so. The first half of the movie is total Mad Max when it comes to world building and craziness being throw at your face at every turn. Then, "that" happens and you either roll with it or it will kill the movie for you. Has some decent thematic ambitions going on but now the message is on the nose and gets annoying after a while. Add an inferior chase scene at the end and Beyond Thunderdome leaves you wanting for more.
Francisco G true -
Mad Max 2 (1981)
A completely different beast from the first movie, Road Warrior is one of those landmark action movies from the 80s. For starters, it was just different from anything else going, either visually or on a storytelling method. Max doesn't like this type of side-quests, he likes to be left alone and do his thing but he inevitably gets drawn to these conflicts, so this anti-hero (that never says much) already feels different. Then you have the "world" that already tells a story on itself, miss a minute of it and you already lost gold. Then you have those crazy-ass villains that are both hilarious and scary. Finally, to wrap it all up, we have a serious message that doesn't take itself too seriously on an insane chase sequence, where nothing works, people kill themselves because they're crazy, it's intense as hell, ingenious and still one of the best ever made to date. A true classic in every sense of the word, though I don't think it's a movie for everyone.
Francisco G true