ALIEN: ROMULUS - Considering I think that 'Alien' is one of the best films of all time, I'm always disappointed to realise I feel so little for the rest. I don't even truly believe 'Aliens' is that hot. Pointless expectations aside, 'Romulus' is pretty fun. It diverts away from the ponderous direction of the more recent sequels and sets us on a punchier, pulpier track. I liked the grotesque human/Xenomorph hybrid at the end, less sold on the contentious use of dear old Ian Holm. Overlong but a good laugh, and I use 'good laugh' in the context of a movie by the director of 2013's ultra-depresso 'Evil Dead' reboot.
TERRIFIER 3 - Well, if you don't know what you're getting by now... the return of Art The Clown, doing pretty much what he did in the other two. As is director Damien Leone. To state the obvious - it's really f*cking gory, and in some ways quite twisted, and brings into focus something missing from the horror landscape these days - sheer bloody spectacle. The carnivalesque revel in grotesque for grotesque's sake has been nowhere near the horror mainstream for years. But Leone doesn't overlook our love of poignant subtext, and although he isn't interested in doing nuance, he fills the gaps with backstory and mythos. This is a flaw. 'Terrifier 3', like its predecessor, is too long, there's too much set-up and backtracking and explanation. He should've just brained us with a bucket of blood n guts and left it at that. But it's good, I'm not saying I don't welcome it, and I'm not trying to sound jaded, I just hope come the third sequel he trims a bit of runtime and leaves it all upfront.
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