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Nimona (2023)

Charming well animated film, fun for young and old

[8/10 · 11 December 2023]

There is no doubt that Nimona is a movie aimed at a younger audience. That being said, I, as a 32 year old man, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Aside from the usual action packed high jinks you would expect from a fast paced story such as this, there are a number of twists in the story that I didn't see coming, as well as a few humorous moments that caught me off guard. Usually, movies like this fall under the banner of "fun, but predictable". That label does not apply to Nimona. The story feels refreshing. It takes things that feel familiar and gives them a new twist. Kudos to the writers.

Speaking of Nimona, the titular character of this movie, she is definitely the big draw of this movie. Watching Nimona, it's clear that a lot, if not most of the animation budget went into animating her character specifically. Add to this the voice acting of the very talented and experienced Chloë Grace Moretz and you have quite a gem on your hands. Her voice is like bubblegum. It feels like she can do just about anything with it. Her character is tragic in a way, and you really empathise with her sense of loneliness. All the other characters are well voiced and animated as well, with the character of Ballister functioning as the "straight man" (ironic term I know) to her wacky antics. This balance, though it's definitely been done before, works well.

As for the visual style and the animation. It's all computer work (no motion capture on the faces far as I could tell), and at times it does look a little "video gamey" to me. This seems to have become a standard in the industry, especially when it comes to platforms like Netflix, so I won't complain about it for too long. The animation itself is definitely very well done. It's always lively and never feels stilted. I read that Nimona faced some production issues, so I suppose we should all be glad it even got made. I must say I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well. It really hit during some of those more somber beats in the story especially.

I would recommend this movie to just about anyone.

Sadako DX (2022)

This is a comedy

[1 October 2023]

Of all the Ring and Sadako related films I've seen, this is the only one that truly isn't scary at all. Many of them are bad, many are underwhelming, but every one has at least a scene here or there that's genuinely scary. None of that here. Most of this movie is just unfunny banter between highly forgettable characters.

This movie deserves some points for at least trying to evolve the concept of the Ring, and doing something new. The curse, or virus, "mutates", meaning the 7 days time frame is now only 24 hours. While this seems an obvious attempt to appeal to Gen Z's short attention spans, it does show at least some attempt at new ideas. There are more ideas like that in the movie, that I won't share, because of spoilers. There are some homages to the original, in the sense that the main characters have to do a lot of detective work to figure out the curse. This gets so specific after a while that I honestly lost the plot for a bit. It even has a call back reference to the small pox virus, as written about in the original novel.

Despite all this, the movie fails at its basic task: scaring the viewer. It seems that the further this franchise goes, the more Sadako becomes just a footnote in her own story. She's hardly even seen in the film, which is mostly taken up by the increasingly elaborate curse and its intricate mechanics.

At the end of the movie, the whole thing turns into a straight up spoof, with the movie itself being keenly aware that it's not being serious anymore. As wacky as some of the other installments are (Looking at you, Sadako 3D number one and two), they were never intended to be funny. This movie clearly is. This is truly a sign that the franchise has lost its way, resorting to comedy out the sheer inability to frighten us any longer.

What a shame.

Let the Right One In (2022)

Convinced a skeptic and die-hard fan like me, though it took me until episode 7 to get hooked

[7/10 · 23 July 2023]

Watching this show was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, both positive and negative (though mostly positive). I cannot even express how much I love the original novel and the movies it inspired. When I first heard about this show, and saw some of the promotional material, I must admit, I felt insulted and angry. I completely misjudged it, thinking it would be a retelling of the original story, matching the book closely. Except... well, the obvious. The characters look nothing like you're used to. It seemed like a clear example of forced diversity to me. Rehashing the same old, same old just to appeal to a certain current day audience. Thankfully, that is not actually the case. Sometimes, it's very good to be wrong.

Let me start by saying that the title for this show is a bit misleading, which also explains my initial reaction. It matches the title of the original book exactly. This while, the previous American adaptation of the story, was called Let Me In. That title would have been more appropriate for this series in stead, as, unlike Let Me In, this series does not follow the book at all. The end credits clearly say "Inspired by", regarding the book. And that is completely accurate. It is more of a spin-off, than a retelling, though it definitely manages a certain gravitas that outshines what you would expect of most spin-offs. Still, the way the series relies on the title of the original so brazenly, is a bit off in my opinion.

Whereas the original story focuses only on the lives of Oskar and Eli (or Abby and Owen, if you prefer), the story of this series branches out in myriad ways. It basically takes Lindqvuist's concept, of vampires being tragic human beings without evil inclinations that only kill because they have to, not because they want to, and expands on it, involving a lot more characters and plot lines than the original. Most of the time, this works in the show's favour, though not always.

Starting with the good. I like Eleanor and Isaiah. Their chemistry felt real (which is a detached way of saying they're pretty adorable together). The angle is quite different from the original, though I don't wish to spoil. Eleanor's innocence is maintained much longer than it is in the original story. This makes for quite a different relationship between Eleanor and her friend Isaiah, as well as Eleanor and her father. In the original, the character of the father is not even actually her father. And the relationship is not one of familial love, but something else entirely, far more sinister. Whereas Eli's/Abby's/Eleanor's caretaker was a completely irredeemable figure in the original, that is not the case here. They decided to humanise him, making him, and not his daughter, the main character of the show. This makes for a different kind of story entirely, less focused on personal drama, and more on plot twists, crime scenes, and some painfully twisted relationships between characters.

This show, even down to it's most used promotional poster, reminds me a bit of the Last of Us. Even though it came out before the HBO show, that story has been around for a decade, and I think it took a little inspiration. A father reluctanty kills for his daughter, in the hopes of finding a cure to a disease that threatens mankind. And to top it off, she's even called Ellie. This is a new plot introduced to this series, entirely foreign to the original. But still, I just had to mention it. While the plot of finding a cure creates a new tangent filled with plenty of intrigue, it does take away from the human focus of the story. The original, the book especially, was more of a human drama with vampires and horror as its backdrop. The focus lay enitrely on the boy Oskar, and the girl Eli. This show seems to flip that exactly upside down. The relationship between Eleanor and Isaiah, though endearing, is pushed more to the background to make way for entire episodes featuring a lot of detective work, and science experiments.

Although I think most of the new tangents introduced into the story work quite well, it's not all flawless. The storyline of Claire and her brother as they search for a cure was not always equally compelling to me. Neither was that of Isaiah's mother and her co-worker, as they seek out a series of strange murders relating to a new drug on the market. We, as the viewers, figure out very early on how the storylines of Claire and her brother, and that of Isiah's mother and Eli's father, are bound to come together. And yet, it all kind of plays it rather slowly, as though it were all still a big mystery. As a result of this, this show takes much too long to truly get started. Up until episode 6, I was really on the fence as to whether I actually found it all compelling or not. Only by episode 7, which I absolutely adore, did I really get hooked. For a series that only features ten episodes, that is not the best score.

This series' slow start is not only caused by the somewhat meandering plot, but also, admittedly, by the performances at times. Allround, the acting in this show is quite good, but a couple of things irk me. There are moments where Eleanor has a really emotional scene, but the girl playing her (Madison I believe), just didn't quite manage to convince me. I hate to criticise child actors, but I will say, I did not have that problem with either of the movie adaptations. Be that as it may, Eleanor as a character absolutely grew on me. She has a charismatic, somewhat boyish (no offence!) energy, that did draw me in. Something about her is just very cool to me. So much so that I can forgive some of the lapses in performance.

Then there is Eleanor's father, played by an actor with a very heavy Spanish accent. Most of the time, this is not an issue. But there were moments where it distracted me. I understand Demian Bichir is a very established actor, but this does not free him from criticism. At times he simply did not sell it for me. I'm no expert in judging acting skills, but when something feels off, I listen to my gut. He is the main character of this show, and should be the best. But I didn't feel like he was, often being outshined by the actors playing side characters around him. Again, maybe that's just me.

Admittedly, it seems this show shines the most in moments that it borrows most heavily from the original, and begins to crack a little at the seams at points where the writers tried to inject new things. This I feel is just a testament to the power of the original, not so much a devastating criticism of the show. They took the concept and ran with it, taking creative risks. Given this story has already been adapted to film twice, that was really all they could do.

I'm very sad to hear that a second season is off the table. Although I wouldn't wish this series to drag on forever, like some new version of the Walking Dead, it has more than enough merit to warrant about three seasons by my reckoning. The story has clearly been written to account for that, and as is always the case with modern day TV Shows, it's all a bit painful and disappointing to think that the many plot points set up in this story will likely never have their pay-off. We're closing in fast on a year since this came out, and judging by the very low amount of IMDB ratings it received compared to some comparable shows that came out around the same time as this one, the ratings must have been truly poor, which is a damned shame.

In closing, I'm very glad I set my skepticism aside and gave this show a chance. I cannot stress enough how passionate I am about the original story. It's gotten me to get more serious about my own creative writing than I ever have been, and I still think about it all the time. Even if there is never a second season, I'm happy with how this series managed to expand my imagination further, and engulf me into this world once more. After more than a decade of absence, Let the Right One In made a worthy return, maintaining the high bar that has already been set, and staying respectful towards the original, in its own way. And for that, I am grateful.

Sadako 3D (2012)

I love this movie for all the wrong reasons

[13 July 2023]

Being a big fan of the Japanese originals as well as the American remakes, I'm always in for more of this franchise it seems. That being said, I'll be the first to admit that this movie is extremely far removed from its source material. Both the books and the movies. It is just completely bonkers, in a way that only a Japanese movie can be, being such a bizarre mix of a seriously attempted plot and obviously ridiculous things, that you constantly keep wondering what you're actually looking at. If you're in the right mood, that can be very entertaining.

This movie is many things. Silly, bizarre, creative, over the top, but never boring. It takes the basic concept of Sadako and that's about it. Yes, there is a cursed video, but gone is the 7 days requirement and all the suspense it brings. Gone is her backstory as well. This Sadako doesn't follow many rules, and has as many faces and forms as all the other movies in the franchise combined. Some of them were so crazy I just had to respect the creativity of it. I mean, wow. It's a lot. Most of it wasn't actually scary, but certainly memorable.

This movie really makes me see Sadako (2019) in a different light. I think the original director returned just to remind people that Sadako 3D is not what the franchise is about. 2019 had some silly aspects, but Sadako 3D makes it look almost gritty and realistic with its utter ridiculousness, almost like an attempt at 'return to form'. It shows just how far a franchise can derail if it runs long enough.

If you want a serious suspenseful horror film like the original Ringu, nothing to see here. Me personally, I'm used to seeing long running franchises go completely off the rails (Alien and Godzilla come to mind), so seeing an interation of Sadako this crazy isn't all that surprising. Go in with an open mind, and you might have fun with it.

Spiral (1998)

I couldn't follow the plot, or maybe I just didn't want to

[4 July 2023]

My order of watching the Ring movies has been The Ring 1 and 2 (american). Then Ringu. Then this movie. Then Ringu 2. Imagine my surprise, not knowing going in, that Rasen and Ringu 2 are both unrelated and totally different sequels to Ringu.

Of all the Ring movies that I've seen, I liked Rasen the least. My ranking (so far) would probably be as follows

Ringu The Ring Ringu 2 The Ring 2 Sadako (2019) Rings (2017) The Ring Virus Rasen

There are two main reasons for me that cause Rasen to be at the bottom. 1. I wanted to be scared, but I wasn't. 2. More importantly, I don't understand the plot, or don't care enough to follow it.

This is me trying to recap Rasen's plot about three weeks after watching it first (bear with).

A surgeon does an autopsy on his deceased friend (one of the two protagonists of Ringu who died from watching the tape), and finds a mysterious note inside his body (yes, it's that kind of movie). He proceeds to try and figure out what it means, knowing that his friend had the ability to predict the future. It turns out the note translates to "present".

A mysterious man enters into the plot, I believe a co-worker of the man who died, and brings the doctor protagonist a tape. It's THE tape. Our doctor watches it, thinking it to be the "present" foretold in the note, and soon comes to believe that he will die, based on the visions it brings about (some of which are weirdly sexual).

I'm not entirely sure how she falls into the plot anymore, but there's a young woman who was the assistant of the deceased man in Ringu, also the protagonist of Ringu 2 (which is like an alternate reality compared to this one, largely disconnected). She becomes amorous with the doctor protagonist, and he insists that she should be there when he dies.

Now, my interpretation of this, is that the doctor is more or less "pregnant" with Sadako's curse, and that during copulation, this curse is transferred onto the woman (I'm sorry I can't remember their names). She then "becomes" Sadako (similar to how the boy "becomes" her in both the American and Japanese versions of the Ring 2), though a rather benign version of her.

Along with all this, there is a notebook or diary, created by the female protagonist of Ringu (the second protagonist), describing some details about the well Sadako was in (it was missing a piece, I believe). Now, here is where they begin to lose me. Apparently, the notes also contain some kind of curse, and are capable of transferring Sadako's "pain" or "curse" or whatever you wanna call it, around the world. How exactly?

In a typically Japanese fashion, the closing scene of the movie features the characters giving a rather wordy exposition on the finer details of the plot. I must say it went completely over my head and I haven't retained much of it. By this point, I was so disillusioned by Rasen that I no longer really cared. I hated the idea of Sadako, one of the most iconic horror characters of all time, being reduced to some sexy lady hanging from a guy's arm. It felt like a piece of fan fiction rather than an actual sequel to Ringu.

I was very surprised to find out afterwards that Rasen is apparently most faithful to the books when it comes to sequels (much more so than Ringu 2). I've been reading the first book and I like it so far, but I can't imagine this is really the direction the author chose. I guess I'll find out when I get to it whether Rasen the novel really has the same tone and story as this movie does.

So in conclusion, Rasen is not really a horror movie, but more of a semi-romantic science fiction film with the type of plot that I feel only Japanese people really understand, or find plausible/believable in a way they enjoy. I don't think it's so much the case that the plot is "too complex" for me to grasp, more so that it's so incredibly far fetched, that my brain doesn't want to latch onto it. I'd say give it a watch for curiosity or for the sake of thoroughness, but don't expect much of the Ring universe you've come to know and love.

Rings (2017)

Not exactly disrespectful toward its predecessors, but still underwhelming

[1 July 2023]

I heard about Rings when it came out, but never saw it at the time. I couldn't care less at first. After the Ring 2, I felt the franchise was played out. It's only since watching the Japanese originals reinvogarated my passion for this story that I decided to check out all it has to offer.

The first thing that stood out about the movie to me was the usage of the original score. The credits to the movie list Hans Zimmer as a "executive producer" on the soundtrack. Right in the opening scene, we see the original version of the tape as well, featuring the horse's eye, the spinning chair, the nail through the finger, and all that. This surprised me, as I was certain up front, especially going by the title, that this would be merely a spin off and nothing more. The fact the makers of this movie had the rights to so much of the original source material inspired me with some confidence, even though I kept my expectations low. It even features some flashbacks to the original throughout. The attempt seems to be more of a "Ring 3" than a spin off, yet the movie lacks the gravitas to pull that off. In that sense, the title "Rings" seems painfully self aware, as if there was little confidence in the product.

It doesn't take long for problems to arise. Some would say they start at the first scene. As over the top as the first scene was though, I liked it. But then we move on to the stereotypical young attractive couple, and I knew right away that I wouldn't remotely care about these characters or what happened to them going further. Before long, we find out that the boyfriend has seen the tape, and the girlfriend is deeply upset, but the writers have done nothing at this point to make me care. A side character gets killed before we're even halfway through the movie, presumably to remind us the threat is very real. I liked the scene itself, in fact, no matter how far the franchise has spun into mediocrity since the original, good Sadako/Samara scenes still abound, and there's a few in this movie that I definitely loved. But I can't help but feel Samara wasn't used to her fullest potential, being more of a footnote to her own back story, as she's increasingly become as the years have gone on.

Rings (2017) shares a lot of similarities with Sadako (2019), made by the director of the Japanese original. Both try to bring the story into the modern age where VHS tapes are no longer relevant, yet they drop the ball in a similar fashion. I must say Rings does a better job at least, actually trying to make the internet/digital version of the tape work and giving it some attention in the story. In Sadako, it truly felt tacked on. Both films, however, forgo making the virality of Sadako/Samara the core of the movie, in stead opting to delve deeper into her trauma and back story, which I feel is a mistake. It's just not that compelling anymore. Whatever mattered about Samara's backstory has already been dealt with in Ring 1 and 2 long ago. And with the focus on the tape being lost, we are stuck with more generic horror, jump scares, and none of that true suspense we hope for.

The climax of Rings is sadly underwhelming. The side characters in this movie are as forgettable as the main protagonists, and the ending mostly revolves arond them. That includes the professor responsible for the "Rings" project the movie gets its name from. You know, the typical charismatic professor you see in movies, who speaks in such semi-philosophical generalities that we actually forget what subject he's supposed to be teaching. He gets randomly killed off before we even get there though. Samara's "real" father was clearly supposed to be the crux of the dramatic ending, but he lacks the stage presence that her adoptive father had in the original. His quiet resolve was much more eery and compelling than this blind bearded man's yelling and woman abuse. I just don't buy him as Samara's father at all.

All in all, this movie is worth a watch for fans, and features some cool creative scenes with the now iconic girl from the well. But with its pretense of being more than a spin off, its trying on some shoes that it simply can't fill.

The Ring (2002)

Deeply respectful, well executed remake. Yet somehow, not as scary as the original

[27 June 2023]

I watched this movie a lot in my late teens, loved it, and then didn't watch it again for 15 years. Occasionally it popped up in my mind, but I didn't think too much of it. Recently, it came to mind again, and I remembered that this movie is remake of a Japanese film. So I decided to check out the original.

It's hard to describe how the original made me feel. It's such a slow burn, with the payoff and the major plot twist coming only at the very very end. The tension, from the very first scene all the way to the end, is built so incredibly well (no pun intended). Sadako/Samara's backstory is different from the remake, however. It's explained she has telekinetic powers (Japanese love that stuff), and so did her mother. Her powers were so strong that she could simply WILL someone to death, and she does. In other words, she is far more evil than she is in the remake, in which she seems to be mostly responsible for horses dying, and fishing hauls turning out disappointing.

The creators of this remake really wanted the audience the empathise with Samara, to see how she was just a sad little girl, and they do a great job of it. But that very fact, for me at least, actually takes away from how scary she is. Sadako in the original, is much more of a true demon than Samara is in the remake, a vengeful spirit. You empathise with her a lot less, and feel like maybe her parents were right to get rid of her. This is, I believe, one of the main reasons I find the original more scary. The remake humanised her a bit too much for my taste.

It's common in modern western writing, to never really have a truly evil villain anymore. Evil, without excuses, just that, is considered too simple and not interesting narratively. We all want the psyche of the villain dissected, etc. But the very fact that the Japanese version does very little of that, oof, it just makes Sadako so much more monstrous and intimidating.

That isn't to say that I find the original necessarily better than the American version. As incredibly faithful as this remake is, it's still like comparing apples and oranges. The vibe of the two movies is vastly different, for reasons I can't quite explain. In terms of pacing, the remake doesn't deviate much, but they show a lot more of Samara before she finally attacks, which takes away some of the mystery and the terror for me. At the same time, Samara feels like a more well rounded character, and her backstory made more sense in a lot of ways. I also liked how it was the mother that killed her, in stead of the father. Made more sense narratively, and made the mother's suicide more impactful.

To be clear, this isn't a matter of me being a "weeb", someone who likes the original more simply because it's Japanese. It just truly honestly frightened me, at age 32, twice as old as I was when I first saw the remake, which scared me a lot less back then. I can't imagine how much it must have scared me if I had seen it at that age. The final scene, the big pay off of the movie, simply isn't as scary in this remake.

So, final verdict, both great films, both equally respectful toward the book that inspired it all. The original is scarier, but not necessarily a more well made film. Both succeed at that disturbing fourth wall breaking effect, of the terror coming through your very own TV. In fact, my blu ray player made a very eery sound when it turned off, like the hiss of the tape. It scared the crap out of me!

Effects in the remake, as usual with Hollywood versus Japanese productions, are far superior, and the effects on the dead people especially are WAY scarier than those of the original, which I loved. If you're a fan of horror and suspense, you just gotta watch both versions, to truly get a full appreciation of the terror of Sadako and Samara.

Sadako (2019)

Decent if you go in expecting a 4 out of 10, but a lot of missed opportunities

[22 June 2023]

I suppose this movie faced some high expectations, with the director being the same person who did the first and second movie back in the late 90's. What those some people may not know, however, is that this director also made the second American version.

That's right. The Ring 2 from 2005 was made by a Japanese director, the same man who directed the original which is considered a well loved classic. But as you might be aware of, The Ring 2 isn't very well loved at all. And it doesn't have a very good score on IMDB either.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, not everything that Hideo Nakata has touched so far, Ring wise, has been gold. So to see him make Sadako and find it less than stellar, perhaps shouldn't be such a big shock to everybody. It's not like when Ridley Scott came back to direct Prometheus after not having touched the Alien franchise for 30 years, only to make a really divisive film with some obvious flaws. Now that was shocking.

This movie has its moments. There is one particular scene where Sadako comes out from underneath the bed, that I thought was really well done. It doesn't rely too much on jumpscares, although there are a few. The original is such a slow burn, with its greatest strength being the gradual build of suspense, all working up to that final iconic scene where Sadako comes out of the TV. This is not that kind of film. It follows more of a modern horror format, with scares being spread more evenly throughout.

What irks me most about Sadako (2019) is that there was a brilliant opportunity to take this franchise into the age of the internet but its very poorly developed. Merely a sketch of what it could have been. It hints at how Sadako's curse is carried through a youtube video of some kind, but as to how this actually works and the details of how it spreads, we are none the wiser.

Let's face it, part of the audience for this movie won't even know what a VHS tape is, and well, when they wait for the phone call that comes after the tape ends, they might just mute it. Send me a Whatsapp in stead, Sadako, thank you very much. But they might know about cursed video's. About creepy pasta's. "Send this video to at least ten people, or you will have 10 years of bad luck". That sort of thing.

This is vaguely hinted at in one scene, but then quickly abandoned. In stead, we go gallivanting around a hospital, watching a young girl who is somehow the reincarnation of Sadako without us ever learning why. Then off to the cave where Sadako was born. Even though this is a cool setting, we've seen that place before. We already know Sadako doesn't need you to come to her cave for her to get you, so why is it such a focus in the story?

In stead, we should have seen more of the curse carried throughout the internet. Just think how much faster it could spread, how many more people would be affected. I imagine whole cities wiped out, a Sadako induced genocide. But none of that happens.

Another issue is the character of the protagonists brother. He is deeply annoying and immature, a guy with some bloated sense of a mission of becoming a social media star, like it's the most important thing in the world. He very disrepectfully goes to the scene of a crime, just for views. When he eventually goes missing, I couldn't care less. Good riddance. Were we really supposed to be invested in this character? He is the main emotional connection for the protagonist, but since he's not remotely interesting or likeable, this hurts her character as well.

All in all, I found this movie to be entertaining, and scary at times. There's some nice nods to Ringu 1 and 2. I guess you could call it fan service. The plot is defintely less confusing and far fetched than those of Rasen (Spiral) or Ring 0 (the prequel). That being said, it is essentially more of the same.

Please Stand By (2017)

A true Feel Good movie that isn't overly sentimental. Very uplifting!

[8/10 · 15 December 2022]

Very pleasantly surprised by this film. Less than half way through I already realised it's easily my favourite Dakota Fanning movie now. She's so likeable as the main character and also very relateable for me as a deeply introverted aspiring writer with some autistic traits. When you add the fact that it's also a road trip movie, that's just a perfect combination because I absolutely love road trip movies!

It's so hard to find a feel good movie that isn't overly sentimental or boring. Although the plot of this movie is quite predictable (I figured out rather quickly that it's not about her winning the writing contest but about the "journey along the way"), it's still very much worth a watch. I was worried that I had to be a Star Trek fan to enjoy it, but it turned out to be just a background to the intimate and touching plot that's about Wendy and the people who care about her.

I think Dakota does a great job at portraying an autistic person. There are a lot of sad and funny moments that really make you root for her. It's suitable for all ages and I say that as a compliment. All of the supporting characters are well written too and so is the dialogue.

Just go watch this film. It might really cheer you up!

Brimstone (2016)

A pointless, misleading, disgusting movie, made only for shock value

[3/10 · 16 September 2022]

Over two hours of my life I will never get back. I only kept watching because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. And because I was watching it for free (thank God).

This movie, on the outset, presents itself as a gritty realistic western. But it's not that at all. It's someone's misogynistic fantasy. You realise this when the antagonist villain in the story is actually killed twice, once stabbed then set on fire, once set on fire and then shot.

Somehow, the director was given creative license to just come up with the greatest possible amount of abuse to women and pile it all into a senseless mess of sadistic pornographic gore, committed by a super villain who's only super power is that he can't be killed so he can live to rape again.

Honestly, unless you're a deeply sadistic person who enjoys a bunch of rape, torture and murder, don't waste your time watching this movie. It's just depressing, disgusting and violent for the sake of being depressing, disgusting and violent. For the longest time, I thought the director's aim was to portray the ACTUAL suffering of women in the Wild West, which sounds like an important creative endeavour, though it doesn't make for a pleasant watch.

It was only at the end of the movie when the antagonist dies a second time that I realised I was watching a completely different movie from what I thought. It's not meant to be realistic at all, it's fantasy. A really sick fantasy. Most appalling of all is the fact that this movie has been marketed as being "feminist", while it is in fact just one giant excuse for the director to watch women suffer until he is satisfied. He is a deeply sick man. This story is purely an attempt to shock others with his own sick thoughts, nothing more.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom why any of the actors agreed to these roles. There is no deeper message to this film. Nothing to be learned. The only thing I can compare it to is Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, which was largely a propaganda piece for his own anti-semitic beliefs. Likewise, I believe this movie to represent all of Koolhoven's sick hidden desires.

I give 3 stars just for the acting performances which were great overall. Production value and all the technical stuff also factor in. The "story" is virtually non-existent, as this movie is just a sequence of violent events and nothing more. That includes no hyperbole on my end. Honestly. Pointless, pointless, pointless!