_ When we think B-Movies normally people would mention at some point the word shark. We have seen many shark attack films such as SHARK IN VENICE, SHARK IN MALIBU, SHARKTOPUS and SHARK ATTACK, all terrible in their own ways but they are somehow entertaining enough for people to watch over and over again on SyFi or The Horror Channel and here with have another to add to the ever growing list of trash which will be hitting the shelves in 2012.

Now I’m not against B-Movie horrors (there are lot of good ones out there) but when it is done badly you are sure as hell going to know about it. SAND SHARK is following (Badly) the same basic plot we have seen in films like Piranha (1978). The son of the mayor of a small island town is looking to bring new life to the town by hosting the first annual Sandman Music Festival (See where this is going). The festival is under threat however when people start being attacked by Sharks.  Enter Dr. Sandy Powers (*Chuckles childishly* get it SANDY....SAND SHARKS....your comedy writing style kills me Cameron Larson) played by Brooke Hogan (BROOKE KNOWS BEST, DEVOUR) the daughter of Wrestling Legend Hulk Hogan, who is hired to track down the origin of the shark. However these are no ordinary sharks! These are SAND SHARKS, sharks that swim and hunt in the sand (obviously).  The party still goes to plan, teenagers die and a hobo like stranger helps save the day and this is the general plot of most Shark or animal based B-Movies.

The only good thing about this film is that Brooke Hogan is actually not half bad at acting, even though I did spend a lot of the film thinking how much her face is very similar to her dads. The film otherwise was a walking disaster, the effects were awful the acting from the rest of the cast was dire and the dialogue was beyond terrible. We have a script here which is trying to be funny but all we get is a sad attempt at it. I was actually hoping for a lot more and maybe I was foolish is this hop but damn it I actually fancied a decent Shark Film.

Should you buy this? Only if you are a true lover of very bad B-Movies otherwise I would wait till it is shown on SyFi.

EXTRAS: N/A

Release date: 9th January 2012
Format: DVD
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 91 min
RRP Price: (DVD) £12.99

_ After given up his shady life as a hitman after a job gone wrong in Kiev, Former solider Jay and his wife Shel are starting to feel the financial pressures leading to arguments in the home. Approached with a job from his best friend and Partner Gal, Jay heads out on a hit which involves taken out three men. However the job is darker than it seems as Jay and Gal are dragged into a world of Witchcraft and cults.

Starring some of the best lesser known British actors and actresses around at the moment, KILL LIST holds its own among the best British Gangster/Hitman films on the market. On saying that is this really a strong horror film? I’m still not sure.

The build up to the films finale was a bloody good ride. The hitman situation had shades of RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER and films of that sort but then we get to the ending. Now I DID like the WICKER MAN style cult, I think it was a nice touch and in a way I was expecting this to be the case but I just found that the closing scenes slightly rushed and it just didn’t make a huge amount of sense to me, but as an overall package KILL LIST was a pretty solid film. The masked cult members look really good and the whole naked followers involvement added to the grim and eerie feel which I assume was the feel that director Ben Wheatley was going for..99

_Acting wise KILL LIST was faultless. Myanna Buring, who plays that part of Jay’s wife Shel, has brought the same professional acting style which she gave in her previous hit THE DESCENT. The same goes for Neil Maskell who I loved in RISE OF THE FOOTSOLIDER. Unlike other British films we see you can actually believe that these characters are who the writer envisioned and this makes the film feel alot better in my eyes.

I unfortunately missed this when it showed at this year’s Film Four FrightFest but I was given many opinions the following day. The opinions had me worried; a lot of people were not impressed and in a way I can see why as KILL LIST is trying to reinvent, in a way, the feel that a film like WICKER MAN created all those years ago. KILL LIST is worth a view but if you are expecting an all out horror film then you may be slightly disappointed. Overall the film was good but had a few points which I personally thought didn’t work as well as they could of. The ending could have been extended or at least explained better, however this is nit picking at a film which I thought was well directed and acted.

Extras: Commentary with Director Ben Wheatley and Writer Amy Jump / Commentary with Actors Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring and Michael Smiley / Audio Description / Making Of Kill List / Interview with Ben Wheatley / Interview with Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring / Interview with Claire Jones and Andrew Starke / Trailer

 

Release date: December 26th
Format: Blu-Ray & DVD
Certificate: 18

Running Time: 91 min
RRP Price: (BLU-RAY) £19.99 (DVD) £15

_ When Dennis decides to break it off with Dana, the woman he is having an affair with, the last thing he would expect is to be harassed by a mysterious biker. At first he just slashes the side of Dennis’ car but it start to become clear that biker is stalking him. The violence grows as the small things i.e. cutting Dennis’ breaks, turn more and more extreme.  Is this Dana’s ex-Boyfriend? Or is this someone with a bigger grudge against him?

RAGE goes back to the days of DUEL and the 80’s video nasties bringing the edge of your seat thriller but not being scared to throw in a good bit of blood and violence. You can tell RAGE was filmed on a low budget, but this is actually to the films advantage, the punches and a shocking rape scene are made rawer by this fact.  In the auto shop I did find the two guys talking about DUEL amusing the fact that the film is very much like that style makes it obvious that the director is paying homage to the film. Witherspoon doesn’t slack in the violence department either. There have been so many lower budget films that look pretty fake when it comes to blood but we are treated to some impressive biker attacks.

Acting wise I want to give props to Rick Crawford who put on a fantastic performance as our main character Dennis. His acting still wasn’t at all bad and I was left pretty impressed by the end of the film.

Is RAGE worth seeing? Hell yeah it is! RAGE is an 80’s flashback which delivers to the final showdown.  It takes on a lot of the more indie horror films on the market and I will go out on a limp and stay could out do a lot of the crap that seems to be coming out of the US at the moment. RAGE shows how road rage and karma can both come around and round house kick you square in the jaw.