Skip to main content




Rating: 4/5
Review: "And then there were none TV review"

Rating: 3.6/5
Review: "Scream season 2 TV review"

Rating: 3.4/5
Review: "Slasher season 1 TV review"

The common theme of these three TV series is 'slasher'. All of them have a whodunit mystery. And then there were none shows that it is superior in mystery and thrills than the other two. And then there were none benefits from being staged as a three episodes mini-series. This is a strong difference between the three whodunit series. Both Scream and Slasher have the same weakness; they are overlong. The new season of Scream has 12 episodes (2 more episodes than the first season) and Slasher has 8 episodes. The problem with whodunit TV series is that they usually drag in the middle of the season and the excitement and intrigue of finding who the killer is slowly diminishes.

And then there were none is a breezy three episodes mini-series based on the Agatha Christie's mystery book. The first few minutes of episode 1 sets the mood of the entire series. Sombre music, mysterious characters and an ominous location. It may take a while to introduce the many characters and the whodunit story. But once characters are killed off, the pace will grip you and never let you go. It is complimented by beautiful cinematography, great acting and an atmospheric music score. My only grip is that it could be better as a film. Nevertheless it is a pretty damn good whodunit.   

The second season of Scream continues where the first season last ends. As the cliffhanger of the first suggests that there may be another killer on the loose, the second season's pace is brisk without many characters to introduce. The first few episodes are exciting enough. The suspect could be someone closer the main characters know. There is a lot of teasing of who the killer could actually be. And the suspense may even draw you into a debate. However, since the season adds another two more episodes, it starts to sag in the middle. It decides to develop first on some romantic relationships with a few characters. It is MTV after all. To the fans of Scream of the franchise, I think they will be disappointed the number of kills. To compensate for the lack of kills, it makes you anticipate who will be killed next with a sense of dread. The final reveal of the killer actually surprised me as I never thought MTV would have the guts to do it. Although this is a decent season, I wish it would end here for Emma and her remaining gang. After its good first season, the second season seems tired with a familiar and tame direction. Either it is time to give the series a fresh cast or just stop. Clearly, the creator did not get the memo, the season unsurprisingly ends with another cliffhanger. It is not clear whether the Halloween special will end the Emma's troubles with Ghostface.

The first season of Slasher is not bad but it could better in the suspense and thrill department. The first episode starts interestingly enough. The suspense is carried on to another few episodes before going downhill. None of the characters are likeable. Everyone is guilty in his or her own ways. No one is innocent, fair enough. But that doesn't justify why everyone has to act like a dick. Even the main character's motives are not exactly smart. Slowly, you will start to feel nothing for them as they are picked off one by one. It felt like that they are just an excuse to showcase blood and gore. I must admit that the reveal of the killer is a little surprising but regarding how the writers write the the killer's motives, I didn't care for the killer.

Overall: The three series are entertaining in their own ways. I enjoyed And then there were none the most because of its brisk pace, suspense, psychologically thrilling and good mood and cinematography. I enjoyed Scream but not as much as season 1. Slasher is worth a watch one time but soon it becomes nothing more than just an empty entertainment to watch on rainy days.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 3.4/5 Review: "The Spirit of Ramayana" (103 minutes) "A passable Thai horror movie with an interesting concept but weak execution." As a low-budget horror movie, it has enough entertainment values. In the recent years, there are a few strong Thai horror movies with decent production values and there are many mediocre low-budget horror movies. The Spirit of Ramayana is somewhat in the middle. It may not look that polished but its themes and concept are intriguing enough. The story: The narrative is straight forward however its editing made the movie look messy and disjointed. It is a simple story about Mintra, a young dancer who is rejected for the main role because she cannot pull off an evil and sensual side. However, a spirit helps her to unleash her dark side. On paper, it sounds like a supernatural Black Swan. It lacks the emotional depth of Black Swan as the director seems only interested in churning out cheap scares. As the plot develops fur...
Rating: 3.7/5 Review: "Terminator Salvation DVD review" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is not bad. It is not the worst terminator movie, I actually thought Terminator 1 is just okay. Terminator 2 and 3 are quite entertaining followed by also entertaining Salvation. MCG, the director of Charlies' Angels, takes the directing seat and turned terminator into a dark and gritty world. As what he said, he did not want the future to be a shiny world but a dark and gritty world. He is considered to have done a great job in that and creating the realistic and cool action. But his story pretty much stays the same as his other movies, a simple mindless thrill ride. The story: The future is here and the year is 2018...John Conner is a daring man who will be willing to save people from Skynet, a evil organisation which creates Terminators. A mysterious man who is supposed to be dead suddenly finds himself in the year of...
Rating: 3.7/5 Review: "Fantastic Four movie review" "A decent gritty reboot that could have been something more than what it is now." This is Josh Trank's first big budget movie and it seems he is slightly inexperienced of directing a movie of a massive scale. Fresh from directing a small budget movie, Chronicle, it seems that he is overwhelmed by whatever happened (there are rumours that Matthew Vaughn was brought in to reshoot). Nonetheless, on the whole, the reboot is an alright movie that rehashes on the tired superhero origin. It is disappointing that it is a little shallow. I think with a longer runtime, it could benefit the characters' development and flow of the story. The story: Apparently, the writers of the film said that it does not follow any story from the source material. Instead, a new origin is created. I didn't exactly know how the original source material goes (I read a couple of Fantastic Four comic books to know the tone ...