
paul_haakonsen
Joined Jan 2010
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And the streak of movies from Maverick Entertainment continues as I sat down to watch the 2021 movie "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence" without knowing what I was getting myself into. But just a single glance at the movie's cover, and I figured that chances were extremely high that this would be a movie from the somewhat dreaded Maverick Entertainment. Yup, I've watched enough questionable movies of theirs to recognize their movies by the cover alone, apparently.
Still, I opted to give "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence" a fair chance, even without knowing what I was getting myself into.
Writer and director didn't exactly put together a stellar script here. The movie was only semi-watchable, and I have to admit that I rather quickly lost interest in the narrative, and my attention quickly started drifting towards other things than what happened on the screen.
Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. Some of the acting performances were actually not entirely bad. But all in all, then you're not in for an evening of Shakespearian performances, should you opt to watch "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence".
The movie was definitely not off to a great start, given the laughable music that played during the intro sequence.
The movie looked and felt amateurish, as if it was recorded with someone's home video camera. It was lacking proper cinematography, and it just came off as being a low budget home project of a movie.
Something that spoke in favor of the movie was that it was not as bad as the majority of movies from Maverick Entertainment, but it was a farcry from being good.
My rating of writer and director Karlton T. Clay's 2021 movie "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.
Still, I opted to give "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence" a fair chance, even without knowing what I was getting myself into.
Writer and director didn't exactly put together a stellar script here. The movie was only semi-watchable, and I have to admit that I rather quickly lost interest in the narrative, and my attention quickly started drifting towards other things than what happened on the screen.
Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. Some of the acting performances were actually not entirely bad. But all in all, then you're not in for an evening of Shakespearian performances, should you opt to watch "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence".
The movie was definitely not off to a great start, given the laughable music that played during the intro sequence.
The movie looked and felt amateurish, as if it was recorded with someone's home video camera. It was lacking proper cinematography, and it just came off as being a low budget home project of a movie.
Something that spoke in favor of the movie was that it was not as bad as the majority of movies from Maverick Entertainment, but it was a farcry from being good.
My rating of writer and director Karlton T. Clay's 2021 movie "Sweet Mahogany 2: Pure Indulgence" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.
Needless to say that I had never heard about this 2020 movie titled "Queen: The Awakening" and given the movie's cover I thought that it would most likely be a movie from Maverick Entertainment. Yeah, I've watched sufficiently questionable movies to be able to tell their movies by the cover alone, by now. Lo and behold, "Queen: The Awakening" was indeed a movie from Maverick Entertainment.
Given the movie's low rating here on IMDb and the general quality of movies from Maverick Entertainment, I have to admit that I wasn't harboring the biggest of expectations to "Queen: The Awakening". But still, with it being a horror movie that I had never seen, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance. And in all fairness, Maverick Entertainment does occasionally release a movie that is actually watchable.
Writers Shannon Parker and Rodney Williams didn't exactly put together an overly interesting storyline. The narrative was so sluggish and slow paced that it ultimately killed the movie. Trust me when I say that this movie is a struggle to sit through 95 minutes of slow paced non-thrilling storytelling and ridiculous music.
The acting performances weren't exactly stellar performances, but at least it was a step up from many of the other movies from Maverick Entertainment. Of course I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list.
Let me get this straight, there was a vampire in the movie with silvered grills on the teeth and dangling a Christian cross as an earring from one ear. Yeah, that doesn't really function with traditional vampire lore. That was just stupid writing.
The special effects in the movie were amateurish, but at least they tried.
I have to admit that I tossed the towel in the ring and gave up on "Queen: The Awakening" after a mere 35 minutes of brutal, pointless and dull storytelling. And believe me when I say that I am not returning to attempt finish watching this movie.
My rating of director Trevor G. Ford's 2020 movie "Queen: The Awakening" lands on a two out of ten stars.
Given the movie's low rating here on IMDb and the general quality of movies from Maverick Entertainment, I have to admit that I wasn't harboring the biggest of expectations to "Queen: The Awakening". But still, with it being a horror movie that I had never seen, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance. And in all fairness, Maverick Entertainment does occasionally release a movie that is actually watchable.
Writers Shannon Parker and Rodney Williams didn't exactly put together an overly interesting storyline. The narrative was so sluggish and slow paced that it ultimately killed the movie. Trust me when I say that this movie is a struggle to sit through 95 minutes of slow paced non-thrilling storytelling and ridiculous music.
The acting performances weren't exactly stellar performances, but at least it was a step up from many of the other movies from Maverick Entertainment. Of course I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list.
Let me get this straight, there was a vampire in the movie with silvered grills on the teeth and dangling a Christian cross as an earring from one ear. Yeah, that doesn't really function with traditional vampire lore. That was just stupid writing.
The special effects in the movie were amateurish, but at least they tried.
I have to admit that I tossed the towel in the ring and gave up on "Queen: The Awakening" after a mere 35 minutes of brutal, pointless and dull storytelling. And believe me when I say that I am not returning to attempt finish watching this movie.
My rating of director Trevor G. Ford's 2020 movie "Queen: The Awakening" lands on a two out of ten stars.
Given my love of both horror movies and Asian cinema, then of course I would sit down and watch the 2024 Indonesian horror movie "Sumala", as I had the opportunity to do so here in 2025. I didn't need any persuasion to do so. Nor did I know what the movie was about, or what I was getting into, but I assumed that it was probably a subpar horror movie, as the Indonesian horror genre has been rather stale for the last year or two.
But color me impressed. I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained throughout the course of the 112 minutes that the movie ran for, as writers Betz Illustration and Riheam Junianti put together a great script and storyline. It was a rather compelling script that encompasses the audience in the narrative. It was a nicely, and well-told, story, with interesting and detailed characters.
The only cast ensemble I was familiar with in the movie was Luna Maya. I will say, though, that the acting performances in the movie were good, by all of the actors and actresses. Child actress Makayla Rose Hilli really put on a great performance.
While the movie definitely started out interestingly enough, it was sort of a sleeper movie, but at around 1 hour into the playtime, it really kicks off and gets into a proper gear. And "Sumala" is not a movie for faint of heart. Nay, "Sumala" was Indonesian horror done right, and that was a most welcomed thing for me, as I have found the Indonesian horror genre to have been in a stale slump for the past couple of years.
"Sumala" is a pretty brutal movie, especially when Kumala runs amok about an hour into the movie. But there is something oddly liberating about her getting revenge on those tormenting her, but be warned, it is not scenes that are suitable for everyone in the general audience.
It was really refreshing to sit down and watch "Sumala", because this was the most proper Indonesian horror movie released in recent years. And it is well-worth sitting down and spending 112 minutes on watching.
Visually then the movie was good. There are some scenes which may not be suitable for sensitive viewers; just a heads up, as there are some pretty gruesome scenes in the movie. I liked the special effects in the movie, I will say that, and the effects looked good and realistic, and really added something grand to the overall enjoyment of the movie.
My rating of director Rizal Mantovani's 2024 horror movie "Sumala" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.
But color me impressed. I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained throughout the course of the 112 minutes that the movie ran for, as writers Betz Illustration and Riheam Junianti put together a great script and storyline. It was a rather compelling script that encompasses the audience in the narrative. It was a nicely, and well-told, story, with interesting and detailed characters.
The only cast ensemble I was familiar with in the movie was Luna Maya. I will say, though, that the acting performances in the movie were good, by all of the actors and actresses. Child actress Makayla Rose Hilli really put on a great performance.
While the movie definitely started out interestingly enough, it was sort of a sleeper movie, but at around 1 hour into the playtime, it really kicks off and gets into a proper gear. And "Sumala" is not a movie for faint of heart. Nay, "Sumala" was Indonesian horror done right, and that was a most welcomed thing for me, as I have found the Indonesian horror genre to have been in a stale slump for the past couple of years.
"Sumala" is a pretty brutal movie, especially when Kumala runs amok about an hour into the movie. But there is something oddly liberating about her getting revenge on those tormenting her, but be warned, it is not scenes that are suitable for everyone in the general audience.
It was really refreshing to sit down and watch "Sumala", because this was the most proper Indonesian horror movie released in recent years. And it is well-worth sitting down and spending 112 minutes on watching.
Visually then the movie was good. There are some scenes which may not be suitable for sensitive viewers; just a heads up, as there are some pretty gruesome scenes in the movie. I liked the special effects in the movie, I will say that, and the effects looked good and realistic, and really added something grand to the overall enjoyment of the movie.
My rating of director Rizal Mantovani's 2024 horror movie "Sumala" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.