Seventh edition of the Film Diary; covering films I've watched within the span of a week, accompanied with a short review and rating. For those familiar with this routine, skip ahead, for anybody new to the blog, I will try to churn these out as quickly as possible, but there's never enough hours in the day. These reviews won't appear under the index of reviews as I prefer to keep that reserved for more lengthier entries.

Strange and short mix for the final week of 2022 - it's mostly filled with newer films I ticked off the ever-growing list.

Films watched between Monday 26/12/2022 and Sunday 01/01/2023.

Monday 26/12/2022
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Director: Charles E. Sellier, Jr.

An ultra mean seasonal slasher that I view religiously every year, along with Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974). The two titles are shining examples of the differing styles within the slasher genre. The latter is a Hitchcockian suspense film aping the "whodunit?" style, while the former goes for the jugular; an all-out festive bloodbath, with a nutcase dressed in a Santa costume hacking and slashing his way through a rural American town. Essential holiday viewing.
There is a longer review elsewhere on 42nd Street Cinema. 



Friday 30/12/2022
Day Shift (2022)

Director: J.J. Perry

Initially rated this two and a half stars, but since I don't do halves here it's being rounded down. I've also got to be clear and transparent with you, Emily had this on while I was writing up my Water Power review and I didn't give it my full undivided attention.
Vampires in L.A.! - it's nothing we haven't seen before and while the movie isn't terrible, for all the gloss and colour it feels so drab and hollow. Perhaps I'm not the right demographic that this is geared towards. The main takeaways for me: well choreographed fight scenes and a handful of genuinely funny comedic moments, backed up with a great hip hop soundtrack. At one point Snoop Dogg appears dressed like The Undertaker from WWE wielding a gatling gun, the inclusion of such a scene almost makes Day Shift worthy of your time.



Friday 30/12/2022
Alligator (1980)

Director: Lewis Teague

This movie is fucking great, eh?
A baby Alligator named "Ramon" is flushed down a toilet and mutates into an enormous reptilian behemoth, capable of erupting through the asphalt to street level. Most likely produced because of the ever increasing trend of "when animals attack" movies, and I'll be honest I'm an absolute sucker for 'em! I'm also giddy for anything that features Robert Forster; the guy was severely underrated, and there's a running gag throughout the movie about Forster's hair loss. Alligator is up there with the other giants of killer animal flicks.



Saturday 31/12/2022
Water Power (1977)

Director: Shaun Costello

What more can I say about it? It's one of the most unusual hardcore roughies from the Golden Age of pornography. A dizzying NYC sleazoid magnum opus, starring Jamie Gillis and C.J. Laing.
Recommend for all the porno-creeps and sleaze-freaks.
If you're interested there's a longer and more informed write up you can read here.



Saturday 31/12/2022
Bullet Train (2022)

Director: David Leitch

Checked this one out with Emily during our end of year binge.
Bullet Train is a movie made for those with short attention spans. Not bad or uninspired, just a tad predictable. Brad Pitt is enjoyable in the role of Ladybug, an "unlucky" assassin tasked with stealing a briefcase. Given it has a 2 hour runtime the pace is as speedy as the title suggests. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry are fantastic as Tangerine and Lemon, a brotherly duo of Cockney assassins. I think the bottle of Lidl-brand Irish Cream helped me enjoy this movie a lot more than I should have.



Saturday 31/12/2022
Bull (2021)

Director: Paul Andrew Williams

A near perfect revenger, hampered only by a weak conclusion. Keeping the spoilers and plot super-vague because I fully recommend this and want the keep the whole experience intact. The ending is a double-edge; it's kinda cool, but kinda lame, a twist on the traditional revenge genre trope, but ultimately not too satisfying. Neil Maskell gives a brilliant performance as the titular "Bull", an enforcer for a local gang, not since the early days of Ray Winstone have I seen anybody channel such an intense level of rage. Check it out.



Sunday 01/01/2023
Run Sweetheart Run (2020)

Director: Shana Feste

The final film from our end of year binge and the third watched via Amazon Prime.
Prior to our viewing, my Dad told me that he had ended up randomly watching this, I don't remember him having too much to say about it and I suppose I was a fool for not realising that he hadn't actually recommend it.
A supernatural-horror movie with a cool and strong feminist concept, that only fails because of a poor execution. I love it when a filmmaker wants to challenge the status quo or the viewer on more personal levels, but this felt terribly cliché and borderline cringeworthy. There's some cool moments nabbed from the exploitation heyday of the '70s; tough chicks performing martial arts and girl gangs, but the ending is so ham-fisted and unsatisfying that you're left feeling kinda glad it's all over and done with. A disappointment for sure!