'Slow West' tells the story of Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a soft and delicate looking young man from Scotland who is travelling across old west America in search of his true love, a girl who had to flee Scotland with her father after there was what Jay refers to as “an accident”. As it is very clear that naive is Jay’s middle name we quickly realise he doesn’t stand a chance trying to make it as a cowboy and will be dead by dinner time. 

Luckily for Jay he suddenly finds himself in the presence of Silas (Michael Fassbender), a no-good outlaw who basically forces Jay to accept him as a guide for the fee of a hundred dollars. Jay isn’t happy about it but like the audience he has realised how poorly equipped he is for survival and against all better judgment accepts the helps of the big scary man with a gun. But this whole arrangement seems fishy from the get-go and … you know what, I’m actually going to leave it there. 

The plot isn’t really that much more complicated and most of the reveals come out early, but the characters are deep and interesting and I believe their story deserves to be told the way the filmmakers intended (if that isn’t too snobbish a thing to say). Jay and Silas embark on a quest across the plains, mountains and forests of America meeting a variety of old west stock characters who are all subtly interesting and unique, and lightly philosophising about the human condition and the fragility of life, all the while pushing the plot towards it’s dramatic conclusion. With things being pretty clear right from the beginning that conclusion won’t be the happy love story Jay is hoping for. 

What I guess I want to say is that I liked this film and I recommend it but with a few caveats. Weirdly I left this film feeling a little disappointed but that’s because I kind of felt like I should have loved it and I actually only liked it, which is about as petty as complaints can get. I do love the wild west as a setting, despite not being that into westerns, and I’m a sucker for a quest movie, of which this is a great example. But although all the components work it kind of feels like the movie doesn’t quite come together one hundred percent.

As I said the characters are great, the acting is solid throughout, the plot was gripping and the action kept me on the edge of my seat, but despite several good shocks, laughs and tearful moments, nowhere was there the “you have to see this” moment that makes me want to drag my friends into the cinema against their will, though the final shoot out nearly gets there. In addition the end is a tad simplistic and when it comes to the philosophical thinking of our heroes the film can get a little smug in it’s appreciation of it’s own cleverness. 

Also there are very few films that can pull off a voice over and this isn’t one of them. The film opens with Fassbender narrating how he tracked down Jay and this narration continues some way into the film but it’s very unnecessary, either explaining things that are largely irrelevant or just things that have already been explained within the actions of the film itself. If anything it just works to unravel the mystery surrounding his character and to be frank I think it was a big misstep.  In addition I’d say that between the visceral though very well staged violence and the deeper occasionally surreal feel of the films message, you might find the film falls awkwardly in-between Tarantino and the Coen brothers. Whilst I think captures much of the essence of those styles it undoubtedly falls short of the quality of either. 

So overall it’s good but it never quite reaches great. Consider me recommending this film in as much as if you think you’ll like it I think you’ll like it, and if it sounds a little outside your comfort zone then it probably is. As it stands I enjoyed it but I recognise it’s not without it’s flaws.

Alongside global warming, civil unrest is no doubt one of the greatest and most turbulent issues currently faced by the modern world. Whether frequent race-related altercations between African-Americans and the police, a battle for social and political equality, or both domestic and international terrorism, it's almost impossible to ignore the fear and threat of violence hanging in the air, and covered incessantly by the media. So, it makes a kind of sense that the next stage in the evolution of horror would mine the depths and shock of such real and terrifying subjects...

In their new overseas home, Jack (Owen Wilson) and his family soon finds themselves caught in the middle of a coup, and they frantically look for a safe escape in an environment where foreigners are being immediately executed.

 The film starts with a traditional and intriguing cold open, complete with a title screen harking back to the eighties or, more recently, 'The Raid' or 'The Guest'. What follows is a brief exposition-heavy respite through which to acquaint the audience to Jack and his family - his wife, Annie (Lake Bell), and their two children, the somewhat irritating and uncooperative Lucy (Sterling Jerins) and the adorable, precocious Beeze (Claire Geare) - as they themselves try to get acquainted with their new, strangely internet-and-phone-free environment. It's a sudden change that is unfortunately jarring, featuring taxi-drivers named Kenny Rogers, comedic culture-shock observations, and drunken karaoke, begging the question of whether this is a serious film or a slightly light-hearted romp.

 It's a question that recurs throughout the early stages of the films runtime, as scenes stagger blearily from edge-of-the-seat tension to potentially inadvertent hilarity. If actually intentional, though, it's a move that could almost be considered genius, breaking the tension in laugh-out-loud fashion. If not, it's just further proof that the film would have benefited from a keener eye for detail. 

The action kicks off with suddenness, a jump-scare with a dramatic, pulse-pounding chase the likes of which even the original 'Point Break' would be envious, scored with angry chants, terrified confusion, and men banging shields like war-drums. From there situations escalate quicker than an Anchor-man news-channel showdown, rushing headlong from location to location, taking in everything from gunfire and riots to helicopters, tanks, and death-defying leaps.

Though largely described as an action-thriller in the same vein as 'Taken', it's hard to miss the leanings of the horror genre for which director John Erick Dowdle, along with his brother/co-writer Drew Dowdle, have become synonymous. Each scene and set-piece is packed with a constant sense of dread and fear, putting the survival instinct of the characters on perpetual red alert. In the age of the comic-book adaptation, it's quite rare to instil genuine fear for the safety and survival of the protagonists, but 'No Escape' manages it with ease. With some of the most terrifying moments brought to life on the big screen in recent memory - the scene in the bamboo garden and on the streets amid the rioters serving as a highlight of white-knuckle cinema - it drags the audience breathlessly to the edge of the seat. The lack of subtitles serves to add another layer of fear and confusion that places the audience right alongside the plight of the family and other victims.

Unfortunately, it's a feeling that fails to remain right up until the credits roll. Though the action and suspense is near constant, there is an unmistakable feeling of repetition. With the trope of the "friendly hostile" and "child running away into danger" rolled out on more than a few occasions. Though showing foreign people as something to be celebrated, as good and normal people, rather than entirely terrible soldier and terrorists is extremely refreshing.

The more personal moments also mostly fail to land, with the marriage troubles only touched upon rather than fully explored, and with an impressively natural performance by Claire Geare most successfully pluck the heart-strings. Owen Wilson does well with what he has, bringing his usual charm and wit and adding moments of levity, this time most definitely intentional, as well as demonstrating some considerable action and dramatic chops. Adequately taking the lead and exploring the extent ordinary people can and may go in protection of their family. Lake Bell performs similarly well, adding a depth of emotion and strength, most notably in the final act and during a brief monologue when the writing seems all but etched on the wall. But, overall, the material just isn't consistently there. 

Along for the ride, almost literally, is Hammond (played with a larger than life verve by Pierce Brosnan), a figure so initially creepy and obviously foreshadowing, that its a wonder that anybody would get into a car with him, much less trust his word and allow their young daughter to speak to him. Pierce is as capable as ever, playing almost against type in a role that can only be described as a hybrid of James Bond and Crocodile Dundee. It's an intriguing blend, but the character seems almost shoe-horned in, popping up as and when needed with lines and back-story written on the spot, as though filling a need for a more traditional action hero, to impart information and to add clarity to proceedings. As well add an extra level of renewed suspense and fear for the third act.  

All in all, inconsistencies aside, there is quite a bit to love about 'No Escape', especially for fans of poignant, almost true-to-life, heart-racing action. Depending on your point of view, this might just be one of most terrifying action films of 2015, or the most action-packed horror films. In either case, a thoroughly nerve-wracking and entertaining watch.

I, like most people, remember the first Maze Runner as a fairly decent addition to the teen angst 
sci-fi genre with a bizarre nonsensically stupid ending, so the hope here is that the sequel reconciles that dilemma. 

‘The Scorch Trials’ picks up almost immediately after the first movie with the survivors of the maze aboard the rescue chopper as it arrives at the mysterious base of their rescuers where they are taken in by the highly suspicious rebellion group. All is not what it seems, otherwise we wouldn’t have much of a story, and our plucky gang are forced to flee into The Scorch (the general term for, well, the planet I guess) in search of a better option. Or something, they don’t really have a plan.

In answer to my first question, no the nonsensical ending from the first movie doesn’t get any more logical. Spoilers for the first movie here (but this is a sequel so what do you expect), you might remember it ended with possibly the least logical explanation for the events of the maze there could be, the sun had scorched the Earth and people had turned into raving zombies and the maze was designed to help somehow... Except then an almost meaningless twist, that happened way too suddenly, meant that maybe this wasn’t true and we were left with a big ‘huh?’ to deal with. 

Tragically this raving gibberish turns out to be true, the world has turned into the ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’ and WCKD have taken up the most bizarre methodology they could think of to try and combat the problem, and I’m afraid I couldn’t get past this. Much like the first movie it largely works really well, the 'Mad Max' meets 'Fallout' landscape is stunningly realised and the pockets of “civilisation” the kids encounter are all varied and interesting. The problem is we are stuck with what is still ultimately a very stupid plot hanging over the proceedings like a tidal wave threatening to drown the movie under it’s nonsense. 

WCKD are searching for a cure for the zombie apocalypse but don’t know how to do that without being incredibly evil, for unclear reasons. The best way to find said cure is to torment some children, trick them into submission and slowly ferry them to their doom, again for unclear reasons. The rest of the world are against WCKD’s search for the cure despite not having a better plan. It’s just … dumb.

Weirdly this film is also a total left turn from the first, they really have next to nothing in common besides apparently taking place in the same universe, and much like the first the premise, characters and beats of the story work great it’s just the story itself that let’s it down. But it means that I can’t honestly say that if you liked the first you’ll like this one because they’re very different creatures. 

I mean I know who the heroes and villains of this story are I’m just not sure why I’m supposed to care. WCKD are evil, sure, but what’s the point? A villain with essentially noble intentions is always interesting but there’s a limit to my suspension of disbelief and WCKD are at best idiots. 

I think it’s a damning indictment of the series that I’ve now seen two films and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I missed the next one. I can recommend this film for it’s scenery and world building but I just wish we had a better story to explore this world with and ultimately I was bored. Not for me.

Coming soon! Release date to be announced.

'The Prey' kicks off the proceedings with some truly awe-inspiring visuals and camera-work, setting the foreboding eeriness of the evening within seconds. All before drawing you in to the more human and relatable drama between Mel (Rebecca Van Cleave) and her boyfriend (James Alexandrou).

From there, things refuse to let up; the drama quickly ramping up to a broader sense of such nerve-wracking tension that it’s all but impossible not to be pulled to the edge of your seat. It truly is heart-pounding stuff, not least of all due to a truly impressive use of music and sound, that manages to seem both original and occasionally an homage to other well-known horror movies.

On the acting front, all prominent members of the cast are on solid form. James Alexandrou ('Eastenders') does well with a role which, with lesser writing and in lesser hands, could have been a one-note and generic “annoying boyfriend” role, blessing it with nuance and an acute sense of awareness. Of the two, however, Sam Gittins ('Ripper Street') easily stands out, conveying myriad emotions and levels of menace with expressions and actions alone.

Alongside and up against both, Rebecca Van Cleave ('The Royals', 'Game of Thrones') more than holds her own, in both the personal drama and the subsequent tense situations she finds herself involved in. The scenes she shares with Sam Gittins truly sizzle with palpable psychological and emotional strain. As well as, surprisingly, a wonderful amount of dark humour, producing genuinely laugh-out-loud moments amid the traditional and impressive gore and violence.

Has there been a more divisive franchise in recent years than 'The Human Centipede'? Tom Six's 2009 original introduced us to the mad scientist Dr Heiter's stomach-churning, "100% medically accurate" idea of attaching three people anus-to-mouth to form the continuous digestive passage of the titular creation. The second instalment was briefly banned by the BBFC in 2011, securing the franchise’s notoriety.

Fast forward to 2015 and the much-awaited-by-some third and final part to the trilogy is released with a glitzy L.A. premiere, a number of famous faces in the cast, and a scope & production value far greater than its predecessors. Don't get the idea that 'The Human Centipede' has gone "mainstream" though; the gleeful tagline "100% Politically Incorrect" suggests this film's tone will be far from the tried and tested horror-by-numbers sensibilities of a Blumhouse Production. The main question that dampened the hype building up to release was whether, after two whole films, the concept of the Human Centipede itself had anything left to offer.

Set in the fictional George H.W. Bush Penitentiary in the middle of the Texan desert, the deranged, racist, and misogynist warden Bill Boss and his simpering accountant Dwight Butler are played respectively by Dieter Laser & Laurence R. Harvey, both of whom played the main characters in the previous two installments. Yes, this film pushes the meta styling of the second movie to Inception-style lengths by having both films existing in this fictional setting, making the original essentially a film-within-a-film-within-a-film. Unruly prisoners and spiraling costs (unaided by Boss' tendency to inflict a few injuries on his patrols) prompt Eric Roberts' Governor Hughes to insist on major changes else the duo are fired. After a string of failed schemes aiming to achieve Boss' dream of domination over the prison, each involving some form of torture or dismemberment towards the prisoners, Dwight suggests they take inspiration from the infamous Human Centipede movies.

This film is not going to win any Oscars. In place of any strong characterisation or plot, each scene is intended to repulse and offend, with no taboo left untouched. Most people have a certain topic that hits a raw nerve & offends them. Rest assured that this film will certainly address it at least once. The thing is that it is done with such mindless glee, never hesitating for a second, that I found myself laughing at the most abhorrent things. I'm not sure how to defend the idea that a boiling waterboarding scene could be in any way funny, but it is, along with the countless unthinkable things that are done in this movie. Of course Six's unflinchingly twisted screenplay and grindhouse-style direction are accountable, but I think a fair share of the humour comes from Dieter Laser's performance that can only be described as insane. He's a strange man to look at anyway; his skeletal features accentuated by a completely shaved head, atop a gangling frame that moves with such deliberate control, he seems more like an alien that's doing a mediocre job at pretending to be a human.

Every action is so overblown and expressive, and every line is screamed out loud with such manic passion. The combination of wild aggression and his thick German accent results in a good portion of his lines being barely distinguishable, but some grotesque gesticulations tend to fill in any blanks as to what he was referring to. Laurence R. Harvey is not given the opportunity to steal the show in the way Laser does, but seems just as comfortable in this overblown comedic style of acting as he did in the brutally grim, straight-faced style of the second instalment to the franchise. Just like Laser, though, he seems to really become his character - every action & intonation seems considered. Six has either had an enormous stroke of luck or has done a fantastic job (or probably a combination of the two) in searching out these two actors for his trilogy.

One surprising bit of casting comes in Tom Six, cast as himself. When the duo decide to form their prison human centipede, they naturally call on the director for advice. In brilliant self-parodying narcissism, Six gives himself his own theme music whenever he enters the prison, and allows a minute or two for characters to fawn over him & discuss the cultural impact of the two previous Human Centipede movies. In an answer to every cringeworthy director cameo (Tarantino, I'm looking at you...), Six creates a charicateur of himself in moments that are so deliberately cringeworthy they're hilarious.

This is the best looking film of the trilogy. After the simple, clinical look of the first, and the grimy, handheld, snuff-esque aesthetic of the second, this has a real American indie film look to it, with the Texan location offering wide, empty vistas, sweeping camera movements and a warm colour grade. If it wasn't for every single moment of the movie being entirely inappropriate, this wouldn't look out of place at Sundance or the like. Six has clearly realised his Human Centipede concept, no matter how many legs it may have, can only run so far: managing to squeeze two films out of it without it feeling unnecessary was impressive, but a third really would have pushed it too far. As such, the 'pede itself is really a footnote to the wider story of the prison; merely the method by which Boss aims to take control of his prison. Little time is dedicated to the process of creating it, or even to the finished piece. An astute move when horror sequels often tend to repeat the same formula over and over until no one notices they stop making them.

The last thing I want to touch on is something only available on the DVD & Blu-Ray release of this film: the alternative ending. As always, I will give no spoilers, but rather than a different ending, this is an additional scene that plays after the final moments of the movie. True to the spirit of the franchise, it creates a canonical nightmare that is the most bitter, cynical and ultimately hilarious two fingers up to everyone. It's the sort of ending that you'd see as a cruel joke on a forum somewhere. It's fair to say I'm gutted this wasn't kept in the final cut of the movie as I'd love to hear more reactions on it. I can understand it being cut as people who haven't seen the first two films will have no idea what's going on, but for those familiar with the series I consider this the "true" ending.

'The Human Centipede 3: Final Sequence' is an anarchic and outrageous film; it gleefully over-achieves on its clear-set goal of offending anyone and everyone and manages to be incredibly funny in the process. In case you had any doubts before sitting down to watch it, you will certainly realise you're a terrible person for laughing at half of the moments in this movie. You'll definitely want to carefully pick who you watch this with, but with a hand-picked group of equally twisted friends this is a hilariously disgusting experience with some magnificent performances that rounds off the trilogy with excessive, self-referential style.