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| Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) in a frame from Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974 - 1975) |
The first episode, called ‘The Ripper’, is pretty much a rehash of the
first film, but this should be expected as viewers that had not seen the films
would have wanted a bit of familiarizing. ‘The Zombie’ is about voodoo and the
resurrection of the dead, although the most jaw-dropping scene is the one in
which the protagonist puts a female reporter in the trunk of his car, in order
to get rid of her after the suggestion of a police officer; man, the 1970s were
weird. ‘They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be…’ is a very clever episode about
a series of murders of both humans and animals whose bone marrow is missing,
what could possibly be the connection between those hideous crimes and a series
of metal deposits thefts by an invisible force? ‘The Vampire’ is an excellent
episode about a super strong female vampire. ‘The Werewolf’ is set on a ship
and it is about a – you guessed it – werewolf that causes mayhem for no
apparent reason; Paul Naschy would be proud. ‘Firefall’ is about the ghost of a
gangster that has a taste for classical music and a series of bizarre explosions
that trouble the protagonist. ‘The Devil’s Platform’ is about a dog that is
involved in a political conspiracy that includes several suspicious explosions
(and maybe a bit of good old-fashioned Satanism). ‘Bad Medicine’ is a really
boring episode about a Native American that can turn into a crow, and the
connection he may have with some stolen diamonds. ‘The Spanish Moss Murders’ is
about a sleep clinic that accidentally unleashed a Cajun monster that lurks in
Chicago’s wells. ‘The Energy Eater’ is about the eponymous ghost that feeds on
the energy of a hospital that was built upon its grave. ‘Horror in the Heights’
is about swastikas that mysteriously appeared in the walls of a Jewish
neighborhood, while its streets are terrorized by a demon that can be
transformed into your most-trusted person. ‘Mr. R.I.N.G.’ is about an A.I.
anthropomorphic robot that is malfunctioning and quite accidentally kills
people. ‘Primal Scream’ is about an ape that goes into a killing spree. ‘The
Trevi Collection’ is about a series of murders that are happening in the
fashion world (it was so fashionable back then anyway) that may be connected to
witchcraft. ‘Chopper’ is about a headless biker ghost that is beheading its
victims with a sword! ‘Demon in Lace’ is a particularly scary episode about a
succubus. ‘Legacy of Terror’ is about a bunch of Aztecs that remove the hearts
of their victims. ‘The Knightly Murders’ is about a medieval museum that when
it is about to be turned into a discothèque, a knight is resurrected and kills
people. ‘The Youth Killer’ is about a lady that sacrifices people to ancient
Greek gods in order to stay young and beautiful. The final episode, ‘The
Sentry’, is one of the best, and it is about a human-sized reptile monster that
is killing construction workers in a miles-long underground tunnel site.
And now, let’s switch our focus towards some recent shows…
 |
| Black Mirror - Season 5 |
 |
| Genny Savastano (Salvatore Esposito) in Gomorrah |
Set in a world where superheroes are a commodity, generating millions
from appearing in movies and saving the world in general, the 1st
season of The Boys (2019 – ongoing)
is about store clerk Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) who lost the love of his life
by one of the costume-wearing freaks. He is approached by mystery man and
overall tough guy Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) who wants to take down the Supes
and have them pay for all the collateral damage they cause and expose the life
of excess that they live in secret. After so much superhero mythology from
Marvel and DC and the billions they made for the film industry, it was
inevitable that something like this would get made, namely a high profile
comedy with glorious special effects and splatter. What’s more, the soundtrack
employs classics such as ‘Neat, Neat, Neat’ by The Damned, and ‘Cherry Bomb’ by
The Runaways. It is fun, and maybe more so than many of the myriad brand
superhero series that are out there right now. Simon Pegg plays the
protagonist’s father.
 |
| Iron Fist - Season 2 |
In the 5th season of Peaky
Blinders (2013 – ongoing) the titular gang’s head, Thomas Shelby (Cillian
Murphy) doubts himself in regards of his power and control, and goes as far as
having suicidal thoughts. Taking place amidst the Wall Street Clash and the
impact this has, the Black Country criminals get involved with politics (taking
a socialist stance in particular, of all things), but their problems come in
the form of Billy Boys, a Scottish gang of criminals that is known for backing
up fascists, as well as putting their dead enemies on a cross. The series,
taking the approach that tells us that the other gangsters are worse than the
protagonist ones creates the expected interesting dramaturgy, but not much
else. So, will the good bad guys win the baddie bad guys this time around? On a
final note, the soundtrack is excellent as always, and aside of the title song
(Nick Cave and the Bad Seed’s ‘Red Right Hand’), it also includes Black
Sabbath’s ‘Planet Caravan’.
And finally, please allow me to speak a word or two about some recent
mainstream films…
 |
| Dark Phoenix (2019) |
Distributed by Blumhouse, The
Gallows (2015) is awful, but clocking at 80 minutes (including end credits)
it is short enough to not become a torturous experience. An introductory video
lets us know that during a school play in 1993 tragedy ensued leaving one actor
hanged. Fast forward to the present day (i.e. 2013), a bunch of students of the
same school attempt to perform the same stage-play, and as it is to be expected
by such fare, the consequences will be deadly. This employs the dreadful ‘found
footage’ format, which is fine for 1 minute long Instagram videos (especially
when the subject matter is cute cats or funny dogs), but it is simply way too
boring when it is stretched to feature length. I really don’t understand how
this blending of conventional narrative with amateur video aesthetics could
appeal to anybody, but what do I know, as the film grossed $43 million on a
$100,000 budget, which means that – you guessed it – a sequel is in the works.
Maybe the best thing about it is the validation that happy endings are now
passé.
 |
| Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019) |
Happily married couple of successful professionals Scott (Michael Ealy)
and Annie (Meagan Good) buy a house from Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid), in The Intruder (2019), but the problem is
that the seller has a sketchy past and will not let go of his house at any
cost, even if this means murder. Although it is actually well-cast, this
standard thriller is laughable at times (the plot is often unbelievable) and
the end result is nearly unwatchable.
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| Ma (2019) poster |
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| Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) poster |
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| Crawl (2019) poster |
There really is no plot to speak of in writer/director Quentin
Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in
Hollywood (2019), which is essentially a movie about 1969 (a setting) and
not much else. However, the cast is great (Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot
Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino, Michael Madsen, and so many
others) and the overall aesthetics employed are so pleasing, that you can’t
take your eyes of it for its two and a half hours. The ending is bananas as
well.
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