Sleepin_Dragon

The night after attending a party, Sam wakes up to find the apartment block in chaos, as he tries to go about his business, he finds the block has been overrun by zombies, Sam has one choice, to learn how to live alone.

Please don't be put off by the negative reviews, this is a very fine horror movie, one with a twist, yes it's a zombie movie, but it's very much a story of Sam's survival with isolation, the human side is what makes it so interesting.

I couldn't help but wonder how the water and electricity survived for so long, and how he made food from a few rooms last as long as it did, minor gripes.

Ths shots of an empty Paris look terrific, such a bustling City is silent and eerie, credit to the production team for making it look so good, I can only imagine how they did it.

Anders Danielsen Lie was great I thought, considering he did so many scenes on his own, he did a fine job.

8/10.

A crab fishing vessel takes on board a team of conservationists, who are tracking down belugas, they discover something frozen in a block of ice, something that turns out to be a former Soviet space station.

I really wanted to enjoy this movie, I have something of a soft spot for lower budget horrors, but this just doesn't work. On paper, it sounded like fun, I'm all for that idea of a Soviet space shuttle containing something nasty.....

However, the something nasty turned out to be a bit of a poor copy of The Thing. The pink goo may have sounded like a good idea, but it just didn't work, throw in the dodgy CGI, 1980's style Russian agent and a ridiculously simplistic ending, and I'm afraid you're left with a clunker.

Some of the acting wasn't too bad, I thought Camille Balsamo did a decent job as Sadie, her boss though, that was quite something.

I couldn't sit through this one again.

4/10.

John and Patsy Ramsey are panic stricken one night when they discover that their six year old daughter JonBenét has vanished, their world is shattered when they discover her dead body in the house, a flawed Police investigation follows.

The first thing I'll note, this is not a series for the sensitive to watch, some of the content, particularly in the second episode is very harrowing, truly shocking.

It's a very revealing, in-depth look at what happened to that poor child, I'm sure we'll all have our views and opinions as to who was guilty, and what happened, one thing is clear, John and Patsy were truly failed by The Authorities.

It's incredibly well made, with some very powerful interviews, it's just a shame that The Boulder Police didn't offer up their point of view.

The Police carried out a truly shambolic investigation into the crime, why on Earth wasn't an experienced Detective called in to hunt for the killer?

The Media also deserve a heap of criticism, their behaviour was truly reprehensible.

9/10.

The Jury is unable to make a final decision on the case, and ultimately the case is closed. Suspicion falls on a photographer, who took a more than keen interest in the pageant kids. Years later a journalist receives a call from a man who claims to be the killer.

It has been such a harrowing watch, from start to finish it has been challenging and uncomfortable. Of course your heart goes out to that little girl, but the effect on John and Patsy must have been unbearable.

Another harrowing episode, it's genuinely shocking to see how badly this crime was treated.

The shocking twist at the end is so unexpected, just when you think The Police have their man. Is someone a little sinister purely because they look a certain way? Surely we cannot judge on that front.

The DNA issue was surely the turning point, and for that you can blame The Boulder Police, for their mismanagement of the crime scene.

Hard to imagine that JonBenet's killer evaded justice for over a quarter of a century, that really is a crime.

8/10.

The Boulder Police carry out a shambolic investigation into the death of JonBenet Ramsay, falling out with the local Prosecutor. The Press take the line that John and Patsy are guilty.

This is such an uncomfortable watch, honestly some of the content here is utterly sickening, it truly is abhorrent to hear talk of what happened to that poor little girl.

The Press and Authorities in this instance seem beyond contempt. The Police did an excruciatingly bad job, and we're clearly out of their death, there's no way on Earth the parents harmed that child.

The Press, absolutely beyond contempt, it seemed like all they were interested in was selling newspapers.

Sickening, but what an interesting, shocking story.

9/10.

1996, John and Patsy Ramsey are alarmed when they discover their six year old daughter JonBenét has disappeared, their lives are broken when John discovers her dead, bound body inside their own home.

It's a quite fascinating first episode, one thing you can see already (without even knowing what we know now,) is that The Press were clearly going to have a field day with this story.

It's very distressing, the way in which that poor child died is enough to give you sleepless nights, absolutely diabolical, that makes the behaviour of The media and Authorities worse, the poor parents.

The Boulder Police didn't exactly seem capable, but you have to add in that they had zero experience in crimes such as this, the crime scene fiasco, that's inexcusable.

Who on Earth could do that to a child! It honestly had me in tears. This is not one to watch for anyone with a sensitive nature.

Those child beauty pagents have always made me feel uncomfortable, let kids be kids, there's definitely something exploitative about them.

9/10.

A year after his mum Jean died, busy actor Richard Pritchard returns home to call on his dad Ken. Richard quickly discovers that Ken isn't coping too well, and ends up staying on to support his zany father.

It's a solid start, it's very watchable, and it is clearly well made and well acted. The one issue for me, is it just wasn't very funny, in this day and age, humour is basically dead, it's too safe, the scene in the bed shop was perhaps the best moment.

Gregor Fisher and Greg McHugh combine incredibly well, I can totally believe in then as a father and son.

Don't judge me on this, but is it me, or does Fisher look a little like Frank Carson in some scenes?

I can see this developing into something good.

8/10.

Lucy's life is shaped and mapped out by the tragic death of her sister Summer, who was a victim of a serial killer back in 2003. Out with her parents one day, Lucy is drawn to a strange light, a light that houses a time machine.

The synopsis and introduction made me think I was watching a straight up slasher movie, and there are flashes, but I'd put it more in the teen action mystery bracket, it lacks any credible scares.

It's actually better in reality than the story would suggest, and it has some quite interesting concepts. Seeing Lucy question her parents, away from their grief was a satisfying moment, and I liked the way 2003 was recreated (a much nicer time!)

The 'Ken' face mask was pretty decent I thought, it looked rather good. I wish we'd gotten to learn a bit more about him.

Nicely acted and well produced, I think it's better than some of the reviews would suggest.

6/10.

Jim and Linda Darcey become frozen in a pocket of time, a freeze which sees their young daughter about to be killed by a truck. Time moves at a fraction of its pace, the couple have to find a way to save their daughter's life.

This show is truly coming to an end on a real high, this second series has been pretty remarkable, and The Premonition is another classic.

It made me desperate to revisit Stephen King's The Tommyknockers, I've always loved the idea of time standing still, more specifically people being frozen in a pocket of time, pressured into beating the clock.

I thought the performances were solid, I wouldn't say remarkable, and credit to the actors that has to stand still, apart from a few slight wobbles, they did a grand job.

A great penultimate episode.

9/10.

English teacher Claire starts to hear a humming noise, a sound that nobody else can hear. The hum starts to affect her life, she finds some comfort when a student, Kyle, also hears the same noise, the pair explore the noise, and are drawn to a group.

I've heaped praise on the drama output of both ITV and The BBC during 2024, both organisations have put out some wonderful content. This however, this is the low point, a total dud.

Excruciatingly slow to start, it should have been half the running time, the only time the series offers anything, is in the third episode, which I enjoyed. Episode four is truly one of the most painfully, terrible things I've ever watched, there are no words for how awful it is.

We get such a feeble explanation, we don't even get to glimpse the sound, we should have been given the hum very early on, it made it impossible to empathise with Claire. There's weird, and then there's plain old incomprehensible, and this I'm afraid is that, it leaves the viewer cold.

It's diversity on steroids, as you'd expect, The BBC's world view on things continues to patronise.

Some decent performances however, Amr Waked stands out, the guy has some real presence.

Avoid.

4/10.

Claire and Kyle start to listen together, Claire gets a feeling of ecstacy that she's keen to share with Omar and the group. Claire finds a support in the group that isolates her and Kyle from their families.

I wanted to give this final episode a one star, I absolutely hated it, episode three offered something for the viewers, they totally pulled the rug from under our feet here though.

It promised so much on paper, it absolutely bombed here though, simply becoming a bland and empty cult story. For us to go from that intruding concept on the hum, to this, it's like opening a beautifully wrapped Christmas present, only to find a bottle of fairy liquid inside.

If you want to see a diverse bunch of people laying on the floor, then this will tick those boxes for you.

I'm not so childish that I'll score it a one, and as always, I'll look for positives, the acting is pretty decent, Amr Waked has a definite presence, I loved the way he delivered his lines.

2.5/10.

Claire tries to break away from the group, she finds strength from Ashley, who gets a glimpse into the minds of Claire's fellow group members. Kyle gets further in with The Group, Claire hears worrying comments about the leader, Omar.

I haven't enjoyed this at all, but this third episode was better, the meandering story and endless looks of vagueness on Claire's face finally have some sort of relevance.

Weird beyond belief, it's definitely not going to have a broad appeal, but let's applaud it for at least being a little bit different.

The bizarre relationship between Claire and Kyle continues to be explored, with the whole balance of power shifting.

I can't not comment about one thing, it's The BBC, but this is diversity on steroids, it's patronising, please BBC stop doing it, it's nonsensical.

I will praise Mia Tharia for this episode, I thought she did a really good job, Ashley was an important figure here.

Opus III, that's a song I haven't heard since the 90's.... *Moves to put jewels on head.... If you know, you know.

Weird, but better.

6/10.

Claire starts communicating with Kyle outside of school, the pair join a group of individuals, who all claim to hear the same hum. Kyle's mother finds out about the inappropriate relationship the pair have.

The rating for this episode, are you kidding me, are you genuinely joking, this was the most dismally boring thing I've sat through in ages, nothing happens, genuinely nothing happens here.

It was obvious that Claire was going to end up in trouble.

A shame it's so dull, the cast are good, and essentially it's a well made drama, the trouble is nothing happens, it just sucks.

Is Claire having some sort of breakdown? Is she losing her grip on reality, or has she succumbed to the terrors of 5G, I'll be honest, I don't think I even care, I'm not sure if I can suffer the rest of it.

3/10.

English teacher Claire begins hearing a strange low hum, a sound nobody else can hear. Claire undergoes every test, but gets a clean bill of health, desperate to learn what's going on, she discovers that a pupil, Kyle, is hearing the same.

I never like to moan about a new drama, but oh my days this was the most boring thing I've sat through in ages, it's a painfully slow first episode, apart from Claire hearing noises, nothing else actually happens.

It looks good, and some of the music used is terrific, apart from those plaudits, I can offer no other reason for watching.

Rebecca Hall does a competent job, but she's not working with the best script.

It surely has to get better, I was honestly so bored by this first part, it was agonisingly slow.

4/10.

An ice age has wiped out most of humanity, the last remaining survivors form small colonies, and trt to survive sickness, a virus that threatens to wipe out everyone. A distress call from a nearby colony brings a whole new level of threat.

I'll take into account the fact that this was a B movie when I do my review, clearly not a big budget blockbuster, more a c list sci fi clunker.

It's not bad film as such, but it's a close run thing. I liked the visuals, liked the acting and I felt it had a sense of atmosphere. The main problem, the story sucked, it just wasn't very interesting, it offered absolutely nothing new.

A good start, average middle, and an ending that came so abruptly, it hardly felt like a conclusion, it honestly felt like they simply ran out of either time or budget.

You never feel that you're into it, there's a lot happening, but it all feels disjointed, it doesn't flow. There are some nice action scenes, and the alien beings look pretty good.

I thought Dru Viergever was rather good as the leader of the alien marauders, he certainly looked the part, he had an imposing presence.

5/10.

A group of students sign up to take part in a military research scheme, a test that sees each of them due to cash in $1000. Some of the subjects are novices, some are experienced, the trial isn't quite what they'd planned for.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this was a rubbish film, multiple negative comments and a very low score, however, for horror lovers like myself, there is definitely something here to enjoy.

The subjects are all assembled, in an almost Agatha Christie style, then one by one they suffer their fate.

It's not quite a zombie movie as such, but there are shades, the 'monsters' are just a little bit different somehow.

The aids remark I thought was a little tasteless.

It is definitely not Daniel Baldwin's finest hour, he's a little hammy to say the least, but otherwise the acting is decent enough.

One of the more effective 'students take part in a medical trial' type horrors.

6/10.

Taggart is now dealing with multiple murders, murders that somehow don't seem connected. Jimmy continues to plead innocence, but he seems to be the only one with any links, and the means to kill.

I loved the main body of the story, I totally enjoyed it. Well paced, imaginative and intelligent, how on Earth could multiple murders be linked, the solution is a good one.

Very satisfying, I had no idea who it was, or why the murders occured, we were made to wait, but the conclusion was satisfying.

I wasn't quite so keen on Alison's story, it just didn't seem to work somehow. She was like a token guest visitor.

Ian Hogg definitely steals it, but very closely followed by Fiona Tong, who impresses as Alisa, surprising that she doesn't have more credits to her name, she was excellent.

Clare Grogan definitely bad some fun with the part, they definitely glammed her up, Mary is almost camp, she's outrageous, but fun.

I'd love to know what that arcade game was, I used to love playing it, it's funny how shows like this can bring back memories.

8/10.

Alisa and Mary are both accosted by a man dressed as a Vicar, who instructs them to continue with the payments. Tommy's funeral happens, and discussions follow as to the divvying up oh his will. Taggart isn't convinced that Jimmy is the killer.

It's maybe not quite as sharp as the first episode, by it it remains interesting and engaging. It's easy to follow, and as a storyline it's quite engaging. It's quite a bloodthirsty episode, several deaths, that somehow don't seem related.

I have so many questions, who's the Vicar, and what does he have planned? Is Jimmy putting on an act, and who is the killer, I'm none the wiser. How do the dramatic events of the first episode link to recent events.

That MG is truly a piece of engineering beauty, what a stunning looking car, who could possibly get excited about any car on the market today.

Hard to fault.

8/10.

Convicted Hitman Jimmy Catto is released from prison, having served his time for killing four people. Soon after Catto is released, his brother is killed in a flying accident, Taggart investigates.

A great start, I'm not surprised to see that this episode has such a high rating, it's a great start.

Considering this is thirty two years old (at the time of this review,) this is exceptional drama. There's a complexity and a depth to this story, that's just absent from so many of today's shows.

That scene in the plane is very well done, it's an effective, uncomfortable watch, very nicely produced. The subsequent explosion also looks terrific.

Some of the location work here is fantastic, they picked some gorgeous places.

The music is a little too much at times, and as you'd expect, a little dated, it could only be Taggart music.

Ian Hogg is absolutely excellent is Catto, he's a little creepy, and of course he's going to be the number one suspect, good scenes between him and Taggart.

9/10.

Max and Miranda investigate the disappearance of a journey almost, and the potential of having a prolific hitman on the island, their investigations prompt interest form Interpol.

This terrific third series deserved a great episode to finish on, it delivered that and some, this is very probably the show's crowning episode.

Brilliant from start to finish, it offers everything, high drama, tension, suspense and maybe even a little glimpse of romance.

Definitely a more serious vibe, this certainly didn't feel like afternoon, family drama, instead this was a slick, action packed thriller.

Carlos Robles, who plays El Juez....if they need a new He Man, they've got one here.

Amazon Prime, you've made a great series even better.

Please don't let it end here.

10/10.

The Americans are desperate to beat The Russians to get the first man into space, NASA plans to send John Glenn up, this film charts the role three African American women played in launching the rocket.

I watched it when it first landed, and I enjoyed it just as much on a second viewing. It's uplifting, moving, and a hugely important story.

I have always been fascinated by space travel, and by the key role that NASA played, but even the great organisation itself had its flaws.

It highlights the significant level of racism that people ensured at the time, the segregation, the white and black amenities and facilities, it's sickening to watch now, but this is how people lived.

The acting is terrific, every single performance is on point, every character matters, and has an important part to play. Octavia Spencer however, I think she steals the show, a performance that is genuinely captivating.

It's a fascinating story, and a beautifully well made film, one that inspires and uplifts.

8/10.

A couple set out for a romantic break away, but fine themselves stranded in a small town, surrounded by some very strange locals, some deadly ones.

I was quite excited about seeing this, the original is such an iconic thriller, I didn't know whether to expect a prequel, a follow up, a remake or rehash, and after watching it, I honestly still don't know where it sits.

Had the original not been made, I would probably have enjoyed this, I kept on waiting for something to happen to make it stand out, that moment never comes, nothing makes it unique.

The couple are somewhat irritating, and their dialogue is ultra corny. There's no denying that the trio of villains provide some entertainment.

5/10.

Doctor Corder is having some work done by in demand designer Patrick Grant. After a busy shift, Grant clashes with the coal man, and hospitalises him, Corder digs and finds some serious problems.

What a crying shame that the series came so an end here, it's a brilliant end of series episode.

Corder doesn't play a particular big part here, and it's a shame, but the story is so good, your interest will be kept.

The show never disappointed, it never became stale, The Man who fell apart is another original, quite powerful instalment, a story of duty and honour, Grant feels compelled to do the right thing, in line with the social order at the time.

There is a truly fine cast in this episode, the likes of Alan Dobie and Barbara Shelley are terrific, however it's a terrific performance from Rita Tushingham that steals it, she is terrific, don't ask me why, but there's something almost iconic about her look.

8/10.

Andy and Gabriel decide it's time to develop their relationship, and consider adoption. Gabriel has a strict set of guidelines as to the type of child he wants to take on, Andy is less picky. Their lives are turned upside down when they meet Jake.

I'm late to the party.... I know, I simply didn't fancy it, I had visions of it being a BBC tick box exercise, I was totally wrong, this is a drama of the highest order, without a shadow of a doubt, this is one of the drama highlights of the year.

You'll need your hankies at the ready for this one, there are several scenes that will have you blubbering and sobbing, it is an incredibly moving drama.

Fra Fee and Elizabeth Berrington deliver first class performances, the two are really quite brilliant, Sion Daniel Young however deserves an award for his performance as Gabriel, he is truly phenomenal.

Gwyneth Keyworth, I adore you!

10/10.

After the dreadful tragedy, Gabriel's life falls apart, he turns to drugs and sex with randoms. Gabriel is desperate to carry on with Jake's adoption, but Jackie makes it clear that he's in no position to even consider taking Jake on.

I totally wasn't expecting the show to go in this direction, it's taken a totally new course.

There was always going to be one big question, was the original plan, the adoption still going to happen?

There are some fairly raunchy scenes, so it's perhaps not suitable for the whole family, but the scenes really do work. You get to see how far someone can fall when they go off the rails, losing any sense of care, giving in to the darkest of desires.

Sion Daniel Young you deserve an award for this performance, I loathed Gabriel at first, he truly seemed to transform as a character, initially I found him spoilt and selfish, he quickly turned into a good guy.

Elizabeth Berrington, phenomenal once again, what a talent she is. Gwyneth Keyworth, I have no words, those few minutes she features in, magical.

Incredible.

10/10.