Category: Z-View

“The Marksman” (2021) / Z-View

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The Marksman (2021)

Director: Robert Lorenz

Screenplay:  Robert Lorenz, Chris Charles, Danny Kravitz

Starring:  Liam Neeson, Jacob Perez, Katheryn Winnick, Juan Pablo Raba and Teresa Ruiz.

Tagline:   Justice comes down to him.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jim (Neeson) is a rancher living on the Arizona / Mexico border.  Jim should be living the American dream, but life has been rough.  Recently, the woman he loved died.  The economy is tanking and Jim may lose his ranch.  Jim served his country as a marine and still loves it, but he needs to catch a break.

Instead Jim catches a woman (Ruiz) and her son (Perez) illegally crossing into the US through his land.  Jim calls the border patrol as vehicles speed to the Mexican side of the fence.  Several rough-looking cartel thugs demand the return of the woman and her son.  When Jim refuses, a shootout ensues.  Jim kills the cartel boss’ brother, but the boy’s mother is wounded.  Jim escapes with the mother and child.  The mother has been fatally wounded but before she dies, she gets Jim to agree to get her son safely to a relative in Chicago.

Jim turns the boy over to the border patrol telling them about the kid’s family in Chicago.  When Jim learns the cartel thugs have made it across the border and the boy is going to be turned over to them, Jim escapes with the boy.  With the police and cartel after them, Jim is determined to get the boy to his family no matter the cost.

The Marksman is an excellent vehicle for Neeson.  He is convincing as the older rancher who believed in a system that has let him down.  It’s no surprise that Neeson can play a man who can handle tough situations.  Hats off to Jacob Perez as the kid.  He’s in almost every scene and holds his own.  Katheryn Winnick is wasted in a role that gives her little to do.  Robert Lorenz’s direction is solid but not flashy.  His time as 2nd Unit Director for Clint Eastwood has paid off.

The Marksman is full of action and suspense.  It would have rated higher except for a few choices near the end of the movie.  The decision that Jim and the kid make in regard to cartel money doesn’t ring true.  The same with the final showdown with the cartel thugs.  Not all movies have to have a happy ending, but man, Jim just can’t catch a break.

The Marksman rates 3 of 5 stars.

“The Deep House” (2021) / Z-View

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The Deep House (2021)

Director:  Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury

Screenplay:  Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, Julien David, Rachel Parker

Starring:  Camille Rowe, James Jagger and Eric Savin.

Tagline:  None..

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Tina (Rowe) and Ben (Jagger) are an engaged couple looking for adventure.  They explore haunted locations for Ben’s social media.  While in France they learn of an old insane asylum at the bottom of a lake.  Of course they decide to check it out.

When Tina and Ben arrive at the location, they’re disappointed to discover the lake has become a tourist hot spot.  Ben strikes up a conversation with a local.  The man (Savin) says he can knows of an isolated area that contains a mansion perfectly preserved at the bottom of the lake.  Tina and Ben agree to the man’s price and he takes them there.

At the bottom of the lake, Tina and Ben find the mansion.  The place is creepy enough on the outside and once inside strange things start happening.  They hear scary noises and what sounds like muffled voices.  Do they leave?  Of course not.  They go deeper into the house and discover photos of missing children, satanic symbols and scratches on the inside of the front door.  Do they return to the surface?  Nope.  Then they find a huge crucifix holding a door closed.  Time to go, now?  Naw, let’s move the cross and go downstairs.

The House Below has a several creepy scenes and a few scares.  Since we don’t know much about the characters, we’re not as vested in their survival as we could be.  Some things happen that are attributed to ghosts, but the ghosts must be about as smart as our leads..  The ending is supposed to be shocking (and it may surprise you), but it’s just another example of a character’s stupid choice.

The Deep House rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Invaders from Mars (1986)” / Z-View

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Invaders from Mars (1986)

Director:  Tobe Hooper

Screenplay: Dan O’Bannon, Don Jakoby based on a screenplay for the 1953 film by Richard Blake

Starring:  Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Laraine Newman, Louise Fletcher and Jimmy Hunt.

Tagline: He knows they’re here.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

One night young David Gardner (Carson) wakes to see a spaceship landing beyond the hill behind his house.  He wakes his parents (Bottoms, Newman), they come to his window, but everything seems normal.  The next day the boy discovers that his teacher (Fletcher) and one of his classmates have become possessed by aliens.

Of course no one believes him… except the school nurse (Black).  Now it is up to the young boy and the school nurse to save the world.

Invaders from Mars is not a good movie. I kept watching trying to figure out how much was a wink at the original 1953 film and how much was just an updated misfire.

If you take Invaders from Mars as a dream the boy had, it kind of makes more sense.  It explains how the kid is the real star of the film and why he has more brains than the adults, including military leaders.  It also explains the goofy (and far from scary) aliens.  It doesn’t explain the famous final scene though.

Invaders from Mars has good actors that don’t prove it with this movie.  Hunter Carson is Karen Black’s son and maybe Tobe Hooper got a two-fer;  Black would do the movie if her son got to play the kid.  Sadly, all poor Carson gets to do is repeatedly look scared and run flailing his arms.  Louise Fletcher’s most memorable scene is when she turns around with a frog hanging from her mouth.  I do applaud that Jimmy Hunt (who played the kid in the original film) is brought back to play a small role in this remake.

Invaders from Mars is one of those rare movies that I make it all the way through and then decide, it’s not for me.  Invaders from Mars rates 1 of 5 stars.

HELL CHOSE ME by Angel Luis Colón / Z-View

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Hell Chose Me by Angel Luis Colón

240 pages
Publisher: ‎ Down & Out Books (February 2, 2019)

First sentence…

Charlie Ryan’s head cracks against the bar top with a satisfying thud and snaps back up like a rubber ball – blood gushing from the shiny new gash at the bridge of his nose.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bryan Walsh is a hit man.  Which is a strange profession for someone with a conscience.  Walsh justifies his kills by saying, “The bad choices his targets made put them in his sights.”  Walsh uses the contract money to provide life support for his comatose brother.  The medical bills are crushing.

Each hit pushes Walsh further to the edge,  After each kill, Walsh is visited by his victim’s ghost.  The ghosts fade in and out, haunting Walsh.  Is his mind playing tricks or are the ghosts are real?

When his contact for a hit lowballs him,  Walsh thinks something’s up… or maybe he’s just paranoid.  Then he’s immediately offered another job (violating the rule to never work back to back hits).  Walsh is sure something’s not right,  but he needs the money so…  

It was a simple hit until someone unexpected showed up.  Now Walsh is on the run with the knowledge that he and his brother are marked for death.  Unsure of who he can trust, Walsh must figure out why things went south and who he needs to kill to fix them.

Angel Luis Colón has created an interesting character in Bryan Walsh.  He’s far from the genre hitman.  I liked the supernatural aspect of Walsh interacting with the ghosts of those he’s killed.  Was it his mind playing tricks?  Walsh has an interesting backstory and we see how his decisions led to his current situation (just as he blamed his targets for their decisions putting them in his path).  This was my first book by Angel Luis Colón, but it won’t be my last.

Hell Chose Me rates 4 of 5 stars.


Hell Chose Me Trade Paperback
Hell Chose Me Kindle

“Endangered Species” (2021) / Z-View

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Endangered Species (2021)

Director:  M.J. Bassett

Screenplay:  M.J. Bassett, Isabel Bassett based on a story by Paul Chronnell

Starring: Rebecca Romijn, Philip Winchester, Isabel Bassett, Michael Johnston, Chris Fisher and Jerry O’Connell.

Tagline:  Far from home. Far from safety. Far from over.  (“Far from Over!”  Cue Frank Stallone! )

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jack (Winchester) and Lauren (Romijn) take their son (Johnston), daughter (Bassett) and her boyfriend (Fisher) on a long-planned dream vacation to a wilderness park in Kenya.  Looking to get close to wild animals, the group leaves without filling out proper paperwork or getting guides,  They then venture off-road into the Kenyan wilderness.  When their vehicle is totaled by an irate rhino, things become desperate.  Without food, water and with a pack of hyenas closing in, their chances of survival are slim.  Things are about to get worse.

Endangered Species is irritating.  The characters do nothing but argue and make stupid decisions. They leave the camp without letting anyone know.  They go on a “safari” drive without a guide.  They leave the designated road and travel into the wilderness.  They don’t bring enough water and the water they do bring is in glass bottles which easily break.  They decide to get closer to a wild rhino.  They let someone who doesn’t know how to drive, take them to the rhino.  Even the poachers who capture the family are stupid.  Like bad James Bond villains, they tell the family that they are going to kill them. Then they leave the family unattended so they can drink around the campfire.  What?

I made it through Endangered Species and it has a couple of scenes that work. I’ll give it the benefit of my kind heart (or am I, like everyone in the movie, also making a stupid decision) by rating it 2 of 5 stars.

“The Horde” (2016) / Z-View

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The Horde (2016)

Director:  Jared Cohn

Screenplay:  Paul Logan

Starring:  Paul Logan, Tiffany Brouwer, Sydney Sweeney, Nestor Serrano, Vernon Wells, Bill Moseley, Costas Mandylor, Thomas Ochoa and Don Wilson.

Tagline: Fight back or die.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

John Crenshaw (Logan), an ex-Navy SEAL accompanies his girlfriend (Brouwer) and some of her photography students into the deep woods for a class assignment.  When the group is attacked by a family of inbred mutants, it will be up to Crenshaw to save them.

The Horde wants badly to be  Rambo Meets The Hills Have Eyes.  That would seem to be an achievable goal.  They’ve got a star who is believable when it comes to fight scenes.  They have several actors known for their work in horror films.  The plot is simple.  It takes place in the woods at night; sets shouldn’t be a problem.  So what went wrong?

Everything is so bad.  Navy SEAL tough guy at a loss for words with his girl because he’s so in love.  Spoiled, rich student who insults everyone, but is still part of the group.  Two students in the back seat who make-out for the entire hours long trip to the deep woods — with their teacher fully aware.  A female student falling for one of the male students on the trip and casually discussing sexual advice with her teacher.   They’ve been driving for hours and in the background it looks like they are still in the neighborhood.  The dialogue is terrible.  The acting only slightly better.  (Thomas Ochoa is the exception — he is funny/irritating/believable as the spoiled rich brat.)

Fans of low-budget horror/action may like The Horde.  It just wasn’t for me.  The Horde rates 1 of 5 stars

“10 Minutes Gone” Starring Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis (2019) / Z-View

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10 MInutes Gone (2019)

Director:  Brian A. Miller

Writers:  Kelvin Mao, Jeff Jingle

Starring:  Bruce Willis, Michael Chiklis and Meadow Williams.

Tagline:  Keep your enemies close.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Rex (Willis) is a mastermind who brings together a crew of thieves to rob a bank.  When the robbery goes sideways, it’s every man for himself.  The robbery team make their escape going separate ways.  As Frank (Chiklis) and his brother head down an alley to their getaway car, someone jumps from the shadows and knocks Frank unconscious.  Ten minutes later Frank wakes up to find his brother has been killed.

When Rex learns that the robbery is a bust, he brings in a professional killer to take out anyone with knowledge that could lead to him.  Frank knows that time is running out. He needs to find who killed his brother and sabotaged the heist.

As I watched 10 Minutes Gone, it was tough to get through Bruce Willis’ scenes knowing what he has been dealing with in regard to his health.  Willis speaks one or two lines at most in his scenes and then the camera cuts away.  Michael Chiklis is always good, but even Chiklis isn’t enough to raise this film from an “OK” rating.  It’s worth reading the IMDB trivia on 10 Minutes Gone to understand why it wasn’t better.

10 Minutes Gone rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Darc” (2018) / Z-View

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Darc (2018)

Director:  Julius R. Nasso

Writers:  Tony Schiena, Dennis Venter

Starring:  Tony Schiena, Armand Assante and Shô Ikushima.

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

An Interpol agent named Lafique (Assante) arranges for the early release of a convict known as Darc (Schiena). Lafique then recruits Darc to bring down a Yakuza human trafficking ring. When Darc was a small boy he witnessed the leader of the Yakuza gang kill his mother.  Darc will use all of his martial arts skills in an attempt to avenge his mother and bring down the gang… but will they be enough?

Shaky camera work on several of the fights diminish their effectiveness.  Schiena comes off as a cross between Karl Urban (a good thing) and early Steven Seagal (used to be a good thing).  It would be interesting to see him in a better film.  It’s always good to see Armand Assante.  I wish the movie was as good as the poster.

Darc rates 2 of 5 stars.

“The Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942) / Z-View

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The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Director:  Erle C. Kenton

Writers:  Scott Darling (screenplay), Eric Taylor (original story)

Starring:  Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, Evelyn Ankers and Colin Clive.

Tagline:  The King of all Monsters strikes again! No chains can hold him! No tomb can seal him in!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Ygor (Lugosi) discovers Frankenstein’s monster (Chaney) buried under rubble of Dr. Frankenstein’s castle. Ygor and the monster journey to find Dr. Frankenstein’s son, Ludwig (Hardwicke), who is also a doctor. When they arrive in Ludwig’s town, the monster befriends a young girl.  Townspeople fear the monster is going to hurt the child and attack the monster.  Two villagers are killed before Ygor and the monster escape.

Ygor wants Ludwig Frankenstein to use his father’s notes and put Ygor’s brain in the monster.  While Ludwig considers this, he is visited by his father’s ghost (Ha! THAT explains the title) who says to find a good brain for the monster.  As villagers search for the monster, Ludwig prepares to operate, but whose brain will he use?  And what will be the result?

I have many fun memories of watching The Ghost of Frankenstein with my buddy late at night on Sammy Terry’s Nightmare Theater.  It’s a fun movie for kids.  You have Bela Lugosi (Dracula!) as Ygor and Lon Chaney, Jr. (Wolfman!) as the Monster.  You get the monster fighting villagers on a rooftop, chained in a courtroom (What?) and breaking free, plus the mandatory laboratory scene with electrical arcs and rioting villagers.  What’s not to like?

If you see The Ghost of Frankenstein as an adult for the first time, your mileage may vary quite a bit from mine.  I still enjoy The Ghost of Frankenstein even though we have Ygor and the monster as friends. They were bitter enemies before.  Chaney plays the monster as if it is blind, which explains why the monster’s eyes are always closed and it walks with arms outstretched.  This is never really explained in the movie. The Ghost of Frankenstein isn’t as good as Frankenstein or The Bride of Frankenstein (or even Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein) but I like it well enough to give it 3 of 5 stars.

IQ by Joe Ide / Z-View

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IQ by Joe Ide

Trade Paperback: ‎ 352 pages
Publisher: ‎Mulholland Books

First sentence…

Isaiah’s crib looked like every other house on the block except the lawn was cut even, the pain was fresh, and the entrance was a little unusual.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Isaiah Quintabe is a quiet kid with a superior intellect.  While IQ is still in high school, his older brother and guardian, is killed in a hit-and-run accident.  Alone and afraid he will be sent to a home, IQ begins to earn money from neighborhood folks needing help.  When IQ finds a runaway daughter word spreads.  Soon he is getting requests for assistance with “cases the police can’t or won’t touch.”  The cases don’t pay much and sometimes the reward is food or tires for his car.  Because money is tight, IQ takes in a roommate.  Dodson is a low-level drug dealer that IQ knows from the ‘hood.  Both IQ and Dodson hope the arrangement is temporary.

When Dodson brings IQ a case offering real money, there’s an understanding that Dodson will assist. The potential reward is too good to pass, so IQ agrees.  That’s how they begin working for a big time rapper whose life was threatened.  Soon IQ and Dodson find themselves up against a cold-blooded killer with an attack dog the size of a small bear, and a large list of suspects who’d benefit from the rapper’s death.  Before it’s over IQ and Dodson are on the killer’s list.  Identifying the killer and who hired him will save the rapper’s life as well as their own.  If they can.

Joe Ide has created a unique character with Isaiah Quintabe.  It’s impressive how Ide sets up the first IQ book.  Ide gets in background information, early cases, and IQ’s unlikely partnership with Dodson while at the same time keeping the story moving.  Everything, the settings, the characters and the dialogue, all ring true. Because of this, when Ide introduces the killer and his beast-dog, we buy it.  Ide has created memorable characters and a great first story for our modern day Sherlock Holmes.  I loved IQ and look forward to more of his adventures.

IQ rates 5 of 5 stars.

IQ Hardcover
IQ Trade Paperback
IQ Kindle

“The Forever Purge” (2021) / Z-View

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The Forever Purge (2021)

Director: Everardo Gout

Writers: James DeMonaco

Starring: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Will Patton and Zahn McClarnon.

Tagline:  The rules are broken.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When crazies across the US keep “purging” after the deadline, a rich ranching family joins their Mexican employees in a search for safety.  When they hear that for 24 hours Mexico and Canada have opened their borders to refuges looking for safety, the group heads for Mexico.

Kind of heavy-handed plot, huh?  The rich white family begins to understand how foreign families would leave everything to cross the border for safety.  If this was a better movie perhaps it would just seem ironic.

The Forever Purge rates 2 of 5 stars.

The Forever Purge Blu-ray
The Forever Purge DVD
The Forever Purge 4K

“The Wolf of Snow Hollow” (2020) / Z-View

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The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

Director:  Jim Cummings

Writers: Jim Cummings

Starring: Jim Cummings, Riki Lindhome, Robert Forster and Will Madden.

Tagline:  Welcome to Snow Hollow

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Deputy Sheriff John Marshall (Cummings) is a recovering alcoholic.  He’s losing sleep and his nerves are frayed.  His ex-wife wants sole custody of their daughter.  His father’s (Forster) health is failing and he won’t take care of himself.  Complicating their relationship, John’s father is also John’s boss, the Sheriff.  John’s daughter is staying with him and at the teenage rebellious stage.  No wonder John Marshall has anger issues.

What could happen to make things worse, you ask?  I’m glad you did.

When the first victim’s body is found, badly mutilated with parts missing, word gets out that there is a deranged killer living in their small town community.

Then a second mutilated body is found missing parts. The story becomes they have a serial killer in their midst.

Once the third dismembered body is found, rumors circulate that the werewolf is back!  With each new victim, Deputy Sheriff John Marshall feels himself losing it a bit more.  He’s got to find the killer before he kills again.  And everyone knows there’s no such thing as werewolves, right?  Right?

Jim Cummings wrote, directed and stars in The Wolf of Snow Hollow.  I wonder why he made his character so unlikeable.  Robert Forster is always good and his role in The Wolf of Snow Hollow is no exception.  I like the design of the werewolf and there are a couple of cool scenes where we clearly see how huge it is.  There’s a nice (if not unexpected) twist near the end of the film.  Had I liked the main character better, The Wolf of Snow Hollow may have earned more than 3 of 5 stars.

“Windfall” (2022) / Z-View

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Windfall (2022)

Director: Charlie McDowell

Writers: Charlie McDowell &Jason Segel and Justin Lader & Andrew Kevin Walker

Starring: Jason Segel, Lily Collins, Jesse Plemons and Omar Leyva.

Tagline:  Every Kidnap is a Compromise.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A man (Segel) breaks into one of a young billionaire’s vacation homes intent to steal whatever cash and goods he can.  Things go south when the billionaire (Plemons) and his wife (Collins) show up.

Windfall starts off feeling like a Hitchcock thriller.  Then switches to comedy and finally drama. This just didn’t work for me.  It was like we’re in the comedy section now.  Ok, time for the drama.  The decisions the characters made didn’t feel real.  I felt like I was watching actors in a play doing what the writers wanted, not like people in a real-life hostage situation.

It is cool how the title of the film ties in to the ending.  I just wish the entire movie was that clever.

Windfall earns 2 of 5 stars.

“A Quiet Place Part II”  (2020) / Z-View

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A Quiet Place Part II   (2020)

Director:  John Krasinski

Writers: John Krasinski (screenplay) based on characters by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck

Starring:  Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe and Djimon Hounsou.

Tagline:  Silence is Not Enough

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A Quiet Place Part II begins on day one of the alien invasion.  The aliens are massive creatures with armor-like scales.  Although blind, they are exceedingly fast and strong.  They use their sensitive hearing to locate and kill.  The scenes of the aliens arriving and attacking are worth the price of admission.  The story then picks up where the original film ended.

The Abbotts have been surviving on the family farm since the alien invasion began over a year ago.  Lee Abbott (Krasinski) has been killed by aliens. Lee’s wife, Evelyn (Blunt) is left with her three children, Regan & Marcus as well as a baby. Her oldest, Regan (Simmonds) is deaf.  They accidentally learned that amplified feedback from Regan’s hearing aide disorients the aliens.  While disoriented, the aliens are vulnerable to be destroyed.

With limited supplies, Evelyn and her children leave the farm in hopes of finding other survivors.  Evelyn wants a safe place for her and her children.  Regan wants more.  Regan believes that if she can get to a radio station, she can broadcast how to weaponize sound against the aliens.  Evelyn and Regan both understand the dangers the aliens present… but neither has taken into account that humans can be as dangerous.

A Quiet Place Part II is an excellent follow-up to the original.  I was really happy that in Part II, they take us back to day one of the invasion.  There are terrifying scenes of the aliens attacking.  One scene in particular involves Evelyn escaping an attacking alien and coming head-on with an out of control bus — and then things get worse!

I’m an Emily Blunt fan.  John Krasinski continues to impress both in front and behind the camera.  I didn’t recognize Cillian Murphy at first, but he is a great addition to the cast.  Djimon Hounsou comes in late to the story, but plays a role with heart and does it well.  Millicent Simmonds gets a bigger part this time out, but she is more than up to the task.

A Quiet Place Part II is a worthy  follow-up to the original.  It rates 4 of 5 stars.

PAYBACK is FOREVER by Nick Kolakowski / Z-View

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Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski

Trade Paperback: ‎ 170 pages
Publisher: ‎ Shotgun Honey Books (March 24, 2022)

First sentence…

While the shootout paused so everybody could reload, Miller wondered whether the clown was still alive.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Miller is a successful thief and a not so successful gambler.  This causes him to take a job with a couple of crooks he doesn’t know.  The job goes sideways, the mooks attempt to double cross Miller, and several civilians are killed.  Not all is lost since Miller gets away with the loot.

Now Miller’s on the run.  When he’s offered a job to provide protection for a “simple” transaction, Miller knows there’s no such thing as simple in his line of work.  But the money is too good to pass. Miller needs the payoff to get away and lay low.  Of course nothing is as it seems (boy, it that true!) and Miller is going to learn that Payback is Forever.

Kolakowski has created a great throwback to the Gold Medal paperbacks my grandpa and I used to read.  I blazed through it, enjoying every page.  Payback is Forever is full of interesting characters – crooked crooks, midget hitmen, a ventriloquist with a wise-ass dummy, a sexy love interest and more.

Payback is Forever rates 4 of 5 stars.  If this sounds like something you’d dig, what are you waiting for?

Payback is Forever Trade Paperback
Payback is Forever Kindle

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