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This weekend there are SIX new films out for you to choose from: Hitchcockian drama in The Girl on the Train, comedy in War on Everyone, Mel Gibson back on form in Blood Father, gross-out horror in The Greasy Strangler, a mixture of violent drama and black comedy in Tiger Raid, and… stick figures in The STIX Movie.
The Girl on the Train tells the story of Rachel Watson’s (Emily Blunt) life post-divorce.
Every day, she takes the train in to work in New York, and every day the train passes by her old house. The house she lived in with her husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. As she attempts to not focus on her pain, she starts watching a couple a few houses down – Megan and Scott Hipwell (Haley Bennett and Luke Evans). She creates a wonderful dream life for them in her head, about how they are a perfect happy family. And then one day, as the train passes, she sees something shocking, filling her with rage.
The next day, she wakes up with a horrible hangover, various wounds and bruises, and no memory of the night before. She has only a feeling: something bad happened. Then come the TV reports: Megan Hipwell is missing. Rachel becomes invested in the case and trying to find out what happened to Megan, where she is, and what exactly she herself was up to that same night Megan went missing.
Directed by Tate Taylor (Get On Up), and with a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, adapted from the Paula Hawkins novel.
The cast also includes Rebecca Ferguson, Edgar Ramírez, Allison Janney, Lisa Kudrow and Justin Theroux, husband to her Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston… who sadly isn’t in this.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
War on Everyone
Two corrupt cops (Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Peña) are in New Mexico, and set out to blackmail and frame every criminal unfortunate enough to cross their path. Things take a sinister turn, however, when they try to intimidate someone who is more dangerous than they are. Or is he?
Also starring Theo James, Tessa Thompson, Paul Reiser and Caleb Landry Jones, this looks hilarious, and at 98 minutes is about the length that The Nice Guys should’ve been!
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Blood Father stars Mel Gibson (now only making sporadica film appearances) as John Link, an ex-con who reunites with his estranged wayward 16-year old daughter, Ursula (Elisabeth Röhm), doing his best to protect her from drug dealers who are trying to kill her.
Directed by Jean-François Richet (Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct, Mesrine Part 2: Public Enemy Number 1, and 2005’s Assault on Precinct 13 remake), from a script by Andrea Berloff and Peter Craig, and based on the latter’s novel, the film also stars William H Macy, Diego Luna and Erin Moriarty.
Blood Father looks like a cracking action/drama and reminds me of Gibson’s 2012 movie, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, which shows he can really pull it out of the bag when he’s trying, and is still worth the entrance fee at those times, despite his rather dodgy views and behaviours.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
The Greasy Strangler
The Los Angeles-set tale follows Ronnie, a man who runs a Disco Walking tour along with his browbeaten son, Brayden. When a sexy, alluring woman comes to take the tour, it begins a competition between father and son for her attentions. It also signals the appearance of an oily, slimy inhuman maniac who stalks the streets at night and strangles the innocent, soon dubbed ‘The Greasy Strangler.’
Seeing some of the murders in this rather gruesome trailer, it looks like they’re getting back to the classic ’80s-style horror movies, rather than a lot of the recent nonsense that’s full of CGI.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Tiger Raid
Two mercenaries ride a wave of pitch-black camaraderie as they travel through the desert night on their way to carry out a kidnapping in Iraq. As the raid progresses, their frenzied world turns in on itself as past misdeeds come to the surface, and violently threatening to tear them apart.
Directed by Simon Nixon and starring Sofia Boutella, Damien Molony and Brian Gleeson (son of the superb Brendan Gleeson), this has a mixture of violent drama and black comedy and looks brilliant.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
The STIX Movie
After their adventures in STIX, Jacob and Larry embark on a journey they didn’t think was happening. Death, an evil villain, wants to turn Earth into his own version of hell. Jacob and Larry embark on their big journey to save the world.
Drawn with stick figures only, this looks weird as hell and it doesn’t grab me but I can see why it will work for others.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.