From the mind of Thriller writer Jo Nesbo comes JACKPOT, a darkly funny little Thriller from Norway from director Magnus Martens.

JACKPOT follows the story of Oscar, who finds himself in a strip club covered in blood, surrounded by bodies and clutching a shotgun in his hand. Taking in by the police Oscar relives the story of the events leading up to that moment.

The events start as Oscar and three of his work friends Thor, Billy and Treschow win the top prize in a lottery sweepstakes. As the foursome party on into the night Oscar is sent out to buy more alcohol. When he returns home he finds his friends Tor and Billy standing over the body of Treschow who had apparently gone crazy and tried to kill the other two men for the money. As the trio try to dispose of the body it becomes clear that Treschow might not be the only one trying to get more than their share.

When I first received JACKPOT in the post I was a little hesitant, I didn’t read the press release and I hadn’t seen anything advertised through the internet. To be honest I forget who has sent me what nowadays and I thought this was going to be yet another low budget snore fest. Oh how wrong I was, JACKPOT was a very nicely shot and well direct film with a ton of laugh out loud moments throughout the whole film. It played out like a misadventure thriller and a cautionary tale of sorts and, with the soundtrack over it, it works really well. The acting was top class, with the back and forth between Oscar, play by Kyrre Hellum (NORTH,RAN)and the police detective Solor, Played by Henrik Mestad (NIGHT OF THE WOLF) causing a far chunk of the comedy moments.

If you like a fun crime thriller with a dark twist then JACKPOT is a top choice. It has everything you came ask for from both the Crime and Comedy genres and you won’t be left dissatisfied in the slightest.

Release date:  Out Now
Format:   DVD 
Certificate: 15


(Reviewed by Mark Goddard)

Halle Berry (X-MEN Series, MONSTER’S BALL) takes a usual route as she stars in “Made for TV” looking shark attack thriller DARK TIDE, a thriller that seems to have very little in the way of shark attacks in it.

For experienced open water diver Kate (Halle Berry) the memory of a brutal shark attack has left its scars. But with the bank about to take her boat she accepts a lucrative deal from an extreme thrill-seeking businessman who wants her to lead a dive with Great Whites… outside of the cage. Heading out to sea with her crew she sets course for the world's deadliest feeding ground: Shark Alley. But with a massive storm rolling in and a school of Great Whites circling for food, the dive is about to become a brutal, bloody descent into hell.

In fairness there are three parts of the film that has shark attacks, we have the initial start attack which sets the story, and odd middle attack on some poachers (doesn't really fit with the story arc but hey ho) and the final finale attack to close the film, the rest of the film however is basically a made for TV drama about a woman getting over the death of a man who was like a father to her while trying to brave swimming with sharks. That would be all well and good if this film was being marketed as a drama; however this is not the case. I was expecting a JAWS style shark film with twists and turns and if I am honest I felt slightly cheated.

DARK TIDE is basically a Sunday afternoon film, a film you could just chill out a watch after eating your Sunday roast. Halle Berry is actually really good in this, and don’t get me wrong DARK TIDE is not a bad film it just isn’t the type of shark film I was expecting. The underwater shots are stunning and are worth a watch just for the great shots of the sharks and the real people in the suits who are obviously not Halle Berry and her co-stars.

Release date:  22nd October 2012
Format:   DVD & Blu-Ray
Certificate: 15
R.R.P: (DVD) £15.99 (Blu-Ray) £17.99

A couple love their house, bought for a steal out of a foreclosure. During their first visit they find illegal drugs stashed in the walls, and they realize this is not their dream house. As they are about to leave, suddenly their exit is blocked by gun-wielding neighbor Spector (LUNDGREN) and his accomplice. They come to realize the house is hiding more than drugs. On the run from the professional killers who want the drugs and evidence, the resourceful couple will need to turn the tables on their attackers to survive.

The home invasion sub-genre seems to be in full force as of late with STASH HOUSE being my most recent to review. STASH HOUSE stars 80’s action star Dolph Lundgren (ROCKY IV, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER) as a hitman sent to recover something left in an old drug stash house, a house which is now owned by the madly in love Emma (Briana Evigan – BURNING BRIGHT, MOTHERS DAY) and David Nash (Sean Faris – NEVER BACK DOWN, TWISTED).  Trapped in the house Emma and David think that it is all about the drugs hidden inside the walls, however the hitman is looking for something a lot more valuable. With their lives hanging in the balance the couple try and find a way to escape the house while trying to uncover the truth hidden inside their dream home.

When I first stuck this film on I was happy to see Briana Evigan. I have never seen a bad film with Evigan in so I automatically got my hopes up for this one, especially as I have seen some questionable home invasion recently. I have to say I was a tad bit disappointed in the film, maybe this is due to my higher expectations (my fault I admit) but I felt that the story was a little drab and predictable once you see the out of place cooker in the house. You see very little confrontation through the main part of the film, we are building up more and more as David creeps around the house trying to not gain the attention of the hitmen but this doesn’t seem to give an exciting conclusion. Lundgren is okay as our main villain and his partner, played by CASTLE actor Jon Huertas, fits very well into the role but it is Evigan who left me a little disappointed. Coming from films like BURNING BRIGHT, where she is a strong female lead, we are giving a weaker character.

If you are looking for an easy film for a weekend afternoon then this could be an okay choice but do not going into this film with high expectations.

Release date:  3rd September 2012
Format:   DVD & Blu-Ray
Certificate: 15
R.R.P: (DVD) £15.99 (Blu-Ray) £19.99

There’s being an influx movies of late, all with pretty much the same premise; amnesia victims wakes up and guns and bad guys follow. You’ve seen The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Bourne Series, etc, etc. Danish thriller ID:A gives us a familiar start with a glum faced pixie played by Tuva Novotny waking up in the shallows of a river with a nasty bump, a bag of cash and a missing memory. Soon she discovers a trail of death which seems to lead to her. Naturally you’d assume that she’d be a forgetful assassin or a misplaced spy, but the truth, however domestic, is slightly refreshing. But as she’s soon pursued by a group of quite inept, very inconspicuous pursuers through stylistic shot night streets filled with effective though poisonous yellow light; our heroine soon realises that there’s a lot more depth to her situation

Ida, as she becomes to be known, soon begins to carefully piece her life together by a series of remarkably tidy coincidences uncovering murders, deceit, extremists plots, robberies and even more murders. The film ties up nicely with a generous flashback of Ida’s pre-incognito life, revealing some joyous moments with a helpful transvestite and a cool as fuck, gay bank robber, injecting the last half hour with a few decent moments of action needed to alleviate and answer the spiralling intrigue.

If you hungry for action ala’ Taken, you’ll probably still feel a little famished after this, but if you enjoy a thriller to curl  up on the sofa with your other half, you’ll find a decent 100 minutes of watchable Hitchcock inspired screw tightening here to lose your mind to.

Now there are a few things the French do well and gritty cinema is one of those things. There have been countless Titles out over the last few years that have really shown Hollywood how to make a real film, i.e THEM, TELL NO ONE, and with THE PREY the French are showing us once again that they shouldn’t be over looked.

Directed by Eric Valette, the man behind the films HYBRID and the US version of ONE MISSED CALL, THE PREY is a gritty crime thriller along the same kind of lines as TELL NO ONE and TAKEN. Franck Adrien is a convict who is doing time in prison for bank robbery which he committed to pay for his daughter’s specialized care. Keeping the whereabouts of the money to himself, Franck finds himself a target of his former running partner, and fellow inmate Novick. After protecting his cell mate Jean- Louis Maurel, a man inside for allegedly raping a teenage girl,   from a four on one beating Franck confides in him. With Maurel cleared of all charges and free to leave the prison Franck asks Maurel to visit his wife and warn her of Novick.

Once free from Prison Maurel’s true plan begins to unfold as he kidnaps Franck’s daughter with his wife and begins hunting for teen girls again. Meanwhile Franck is approached by a former police officer who has been on Maurel’s trail since his days on the force who warns Franck that Maurel could be after his family. When a fight breaks out Franck sees his chance to escape prison and looks to follow Maurel’s footsteps. With the police on his trail and Maurel framing Franck for his murders Franck is running for his life as he tries to track down the man who has his daughter.

THE PREY is an on the edge of your seat thrill ride, and this isn’t just me pandering. I have seen so many films like this in all the years of film watching but it is one of those genres which can be so easy to screw up. I actually found no wrongs in this film (a rare thing for me) the acting is fantastic, you are really behind Franck from the start as you learn of his family life without learning to much about the crime he has done and you know from the moment you see Jean-Louis Maurel that something just isn’t right with him. I was really impressed with the female detective, Clare Linne (Alice Taglioni – CASH) a character I could see coming up again in her own film (in the style of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, HANNIBAL).

Direction was spot on and the soundtrack fitted well for the film. If you like a well thought out crime thriller then I would force you to buy this title! I would walk you to it and then to the till just so I know you have done it! And that is how much I love this film. What are you waiting for?

Release date:  23rd July 2012
Format:   DVD
Certificate: 15
Amazon: (DVD) £11.00 (23/7/12)

Now when I first saw this title I was expecting another footy hooligan film that would have been like GREEN STREET or other films of that type, I mean the post art says it all really. Think of my surprise when I get to the end of the film and find that there was only a mention and a minute of football hooligan violence in the whole thing leaving me with just another Gang/Mobster story.

WHITE COLLAR HOOLIGAN follows the story of unemployed thug Mike Jacobs (Nick Nevern – DEMONS NEVER DIE, OUTPOST: BLACK SUN) who, during a Post-Match riot, bumps into an old friend, Eddie Hill (Simon Phillips – AIRBORNE, JACK FALLS), who offers Mike a job as a runner in a credit card scam. Falling deep into the criminal world, full of money, sex and drugs Mike’s life begins to spiral out of control leading him to come face to face with Mr. Robinson (Billy Murray – DEAD CERT, AIRBORNE) one the most powerful gangsters in London.

Okay so maybe I should have read the synopsis first, however all the screenshots were pointing at a football hooligan style film. Putting this aside for a second WHITE COLLAR HOOLIGAN was so awful it wouldn’t have mattered what kind of film it was in all honesty.

What we have is yet another gangster style film with mob film whore Billy Murray as the main villain, and Billy Murray seems to be in EVERY gritty British film as of late. More terrible Londoners who just look like chavy guys doing crime. I am getting sick of all these Danny Dyer types trying to be the next big thing in an unexciting over used genre. Sorry for the rant. This is no GREEN STREET or THE BUSSINESS and it sure as hell is nowhere near being as gritty as other London based films like KILL LIST or PIGGY.

If you are into your London gangster type films then this may be up your street, however based on the quality of gritty UK films out there WHITE COLLAR HOOLIGAN just doesn’t make the grade for me.

Release date:  Out Now
Format:   DVD
Certificate: 18
Amazon Price: (DVD) £10.00 (As of 11/7/12)

CATCH .44 is the story of three sisters, Tes (Malian Akerman – THE WATCHMEN, WONDERLUST), Kara (Nikki Reed – TWILIGHT SERIES, THIRTEEN) and Dawn (Deborah Ann Woll – TRUE BLOOD, MOTHER’S DAY) who are sent to a dinner in the middle of nowhere to intercept a drug deal by Mel (Bruce Willis – DIE HARD, RED), a shady club owner who hand selected Tes years before. When they arrive at the diner something doesn’t seem right which leads to Tes and the girls pulling out their guns on the clientele and Kara getting shot. Cue several flash backs and forwards as we find out the reasons for the shoot out and why Mel has sent the girls out. As a side note story we are introduce to Ronny (Forest Whitaker – LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, PLATOON) a somewhat hit man who is following the girls around till they make it to the diner. That is all I can really say plot wise without giving much more away about the film.

From the DVD/Blu-Ray cover art I was expecting a more action packed kind of affair, with more Bruce shooting people and the like, alas this was not the case so if that is what you are looking for you may want to turn around and walk away. What CATCH .44 actually ends up being is a homage to the old Grindhouse films of yesteryear and films like reservoir dogs and other Tarantino films of that era. I wish there was a bit more from Willis, his role has been hugely rated from the outset but he has almost as little time on screen as the woman behind the bar (who we see get shot three times during these annoying flash forwards).

This is a nice tip of the hat to 90’s thrillers but I can see why CATCH .44 went straight to home release. A good watch if you can ignore the flashes back and forth and the start but as I said before there should have been more Willis. My major issue isn’t really about the film but about the Cover Art. Below is the American Blu-Ray cover art. This looks a million times better and less like an action film than the image at the top of this review. Sort it out UK this isn’t the first time I have moaned about this!

Release date:  28th May 2012
Format:  DVD & Blu - Ray
Certificate: 15
Running time: 90 Mins
RRP:  (DVD) £15.99 (Blu-Ray) £19.99