Watched on Disney +
Even before Zack Snyder's popular and successful remake of the horror classic "Dawn of the Dead", it was the Englishman Danny Boyle who breathed new life into the languishing zombie film in 2002. In his work "28 Days Later", Boyle had England overrun by the highly contagious "Rage" virus. People who came into contact with the virus mutated into instinct-driven maniacs in a matter of seconds, hunting down their fellow human beings in a zombie-like yet…
Watched in the cinema (194th visit in 2024)
Over 300 million for "Sonic the Hedgehog" and over 400 million for the sequel "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" two years later: the box office figures for Sega's golden hedgehog are certainly impressive, which is why this series about the blue hedgehog who whizzes around at a monkey's pace is constantly being expanded. There was a mini-series on streaming TV this year with "Knuckles" to tide us over (which I haven't seen), and…
Watched on Blu-Ray
"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." An iconic quote from George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead", the pop-cultural significance of which is familiar even to non-genre fans, given how often this classic has been plagiarized, reconstructed and parodied. But what if, and Romero did not categorically rule out this idea in 1978, hell is not a mythical-religious place of torment that is ravished by reality, but the earth, our…
Watched in the cinema (181st visit in 2024)
Film reviews often present the challenge of naming recommendations that do justice to the work under review. In the case of "Caddo Lake", this proves particularly difficult, as too many details could spoil the viewing experience. The directorial work of the duo Celine Held and Logan George, who also wrote the screenplay, presents an enigmatic narrative whose appeal lies in the careful revelation of its secrets. "Caddo Lake" is one of those…
Watched in the cinema (161st visit in 2024)
Schocktober 2024 #26
"Venom" was certainly one of the big surprise hits of 2018: with a budget of just over 100 million US dollars, the film about the popular Marvel comic character grossed around eight times that amount and was therefore not far off the films about Spider-Man, whose antagonist it usually is. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" was unable to match this result in 2021. However, with takings of around 550…
Watched in the cinema (159th visit in 2024)
Bertrand Bonello is one of those directors where you never know exactly what he will shoot next. His films are mostly dramas. But it is remarkable how diverse the themes and settings in his works are. In 2014, for example, he told the story of the excessive lifestyle of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent in "Saint Laurent". In "La Bête", the French filmmaker's latest work, he now takes off completely when he…
Watched in the ZDF Media Library
Schocktober 2024 #22
A tranquil lake, shielded by pine forests, forms the center of this picturesque spot of nature. However, the area is not quite as idyllic as the local seaside resort in tranquil Maine appears at first glance. In the depths of the water lurks a gigantic monster that not only sinks its teeth into the flesh of moose, but also makes short work of divers, as the first scene of "Lake Placid"…
Watched on 4K UHD Blu-Ray
Schocktober 2024 #19
Admittedly, "Cloverfield" already relied on viral advertising, mysterious trailers and lots of internet hype in 2008. In "10 Cloverfield Lane", which is not a sequel but a "different take on the events", this type of marketing worked wonderfully again eight years later. Without any big announcements, there was a trailer, the internet was buzzing about the film and JJ Abrams, one of the creative minds behind it, was once again laughing up…
Watched on Amazon Prime Video
Schocktober 2024 #13
Even if author Jack Finney says he is amused to read interpretations of his novel "The Body Snatchers", which has been filmed four times to date, the story and its adaptations must be viewed against the backdrop of when they were written. While Don Siegel stuck closely to the original in his film adaptation, Philip Kaufman's version deviates from the novel, moves the action to San Francisco and, above all, changes the…
Watched in the cinema (153rd visit in 2024)
In 2007, director Michael Bay brought "Transformers" to cinemas and was able to rub his hands with glee at the almost 800 million dollar worldwide box office takings. Among the sequels were "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction", both of which even broke the billion-dollar barrier. After that, things went downhill again for the robots from toy manufacturer Hasbro's range. Now, however, the machines are back as animated…
Watched in the cinema (149th visit in 2024)
It seems as if the success of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" in 2018 has encouraged the big Hollywood animation studios to leave the perfect recreation of reality to one side for a while and instead go all out artistically again. The makers behind "The Wild Robot" are also following this trend in their adaptation of Peter Brown's three-part children's book series, with the backgrounds in particular being inspired by Impressionism. As the…
Watched in the ARD Media Library
Schocktober 2024 #2
Even if "Cloverfield" would have been more authentic in full screen instead of the chosen widescreen format, the film's impression of authenticity cannot be denied. The fact that almost everyone is styled in typical Hollywood fashion is not as visible as in a routinely filmed work due to the shaky-cam perspective a la "Blair Witch Project" and is perhaps also excusable, as the whole thing is initially set at a party.…