DVD Movie Reviews

30 Days of Night: Dark Days is one slice and dice fest that won’t let you look away for even a second (even though your stomach might beg you to). Just like the original, there are some scenes that’ll leave you feeling sick by this on-screen bloodbath. It’s been about a year since almost the entire population of Barrow, Alaska was exterminated by a vicious clan of vampires during the annual thirty days of night. Stella (Kiele Sanchez), the traumatised sole survivor has been trying to expose the threat that vampires pose to the rest of the world ever since and has her sights set on the vampire Queen, Lilith (Mia Kirshner). Teaming up with another three vampire attack victims that she unexpectedly recruits while on her mission, Stella and her sidekicks take on Los Angeles in an attempt to stop evil from having the last laugh all over again. Yikes!

Ever heard of the saying: “keeping up with the Joneses?” Well, this flick embodies this statement because the Joneses seemingly have everything going for them: they’ve got looks on their side, are educated, have wonderful personalities and they’re used to a pretty decent livelihood. But looks can be deceiving! The more you watch The Joneses, the more you’ll get the feeling that something just isn’t quite right about this family who appear to be living the American dream. You’ll soon learn that they’re a marketing unit and from Steve (David Duchovny) using his shiny new golf clubs to the dinner plates that Kate (Demi Moore) uses to entertain the family’s friends with, you’ll find this flick exploring the notion of product placement. Their “fake life” is going to plan until Steve and Kate find themselves attracted to one another for real. Uh-oh, we sense problems!

If you thought Kristen Stewart was a one trick pony (that being as Bella from the Twilight series), The Runaways will prove you wrong. Together with Dakota Fanning, both actresses turn in movie-stealing performances that all but ensures their careers in Hollywood in the long-term. Playing Cherie Currie (Fanning) and Joan Jett (Stewart), audiences are taken on a journey as we witness the birth of girl bands. During the ‘70s, The Runaways were the female rock ‘n’ roll band of their time, but their success wasn’t instant. Rehearsing in a disused caravan was a far cry away from the success (albeit short) that they would experience later on in their careers. This flick shows us how these girls forced their way into a male dominated music industry by having more attitude than anyone else in the business. But as is usually the case, rock ‘n’ roll goes hand in hand with sex and drugs. Not good!

You’d think that finding out that your landlady has been killed isn’t really good reason to get all excited and want to throw a party right? Hmm… what if it meant that you could meet the one person that you’ve idolised for years? Well, when Martin (Elijah Wood), a grad student’s landlady is killed, this is exactly what it means for him because it results in Martin meeting Professor Seldom (John Hurt), a man he looks up to. Her murder gives them the perfect reason to spend time together as they engage in deep discussions involving mathematical codes and logic series. Mean nothing to you? Don’t worry, despite the fact that a lot of what’s talked about in the The Oxford Murders is likely to fly over all of our heads, the movie really focuses on solving a series of murders. Not that there’s no room left for a little bit of romance: watch out for the love triangle involving a nurse.

Boasting an impressing body of work that includes Creep, Severence and Triangle, Black Death is yet another addition to director Chris Smith’s horror triumphs. Yep, it’s pretty safe to say that he’s the British King of Horror (Neil Marshall gave him a pretty good run for his money with The Descent and Dog Soldiers)! This historical bone-chiller offers something a little different to what’s currently doing the rounds in terms of horror. Set in 1348 as the plague is at the height of its devastation, Ulric (Sean Bean) is a mercenary who’s forced to team up with a young friar by the name of Osmund (Eddie Redmayne). Together, they investigate how one commune has managed to completely avoid any ramifications from the deadly disease. Is it really due to the presence of a sorceress or is there another more plausible explanation? Watch Black Death to find out.

Let’s not skirt around the subject, Rampage is one very confrontational film that is likely to make most people rather uncomfortable and may even have some feeling as though it goes too far. Bill (Brendan Fletcher) is a young man who’s a little fed up with his life and hearing the endless lectures from his parents who are concerned that his life is going nowhere. One day, they ask him to move out of home and it seems to be the trigger for what would have to be one of the biggest killing sprees in history. Donning a metal plated bullet proof suit and a mask, Brendan embarks on a mass murder mission and no one is safe: he visits hairdressers, the local take out store… anywhere and everywhere, gunning down everyone in sight. Rampage makes you question how you can relate (which you do during the opening scenes) to anyone capable of such horror.