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SMB Film Thread 2025

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The Hunt on prime. 2020 action horror satire where liberal elites are hunting online conspiracy theory undesirables. Nicely done with some inventive deaths and good one liners. Doesn’t quite hit the mark but canny overall.
6.52/10
 

The Key Man (1957)

Lee Patterson runs a true crime radio slot. He reflects on a robbery from a decade ago, whereby one of the culprits was sent down for killing another, but the loot was never recovered. Patterson puts an ad in the paper appealing for the recently-released villain to come forward, to bring closure to the case.

Mixed bag. Some of the build-up and turns are nice. Some are poor. There’s pacing issues, and the ending is weak and makes little sense. There’s some really decent work elsewhere, though. Patterson is very good again.

5/10
 
Weapons [2025] 8/10
I enjoyed this a lot but it's not as great as I was hoping for. There's an Easter egg very early on and if you see it it removes a fair amount of the mystery. The book-ended voice-over is completely unnecessary. Also, apart from a few jump scares, which are pretty telegraphed, I didn't find this that scary. This is better than Barbarian but Zach Cregger still hasn't made his great movie yet. I think he's definitely got one in him, although, I'm not sure it's going to be next year's Resident Evil.
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The Platform (2019)
Available on Netflix.

Spanish psychological drama/scifi/horror. Inmates of a strange tower/pit prison structure live 2 to a floor. An intricately prepared gourmet banquet descends floor by floor, with each pair of inmates being given a set short amount of time to eat as much as they can/choose before the platform descends to the next level. They can't keep anything for later. All leftovers must be placed back on the platform or the temperature will be raised or lowered to melt or freeze the people on that level.

After fifty levels or so, there's no food left on the platform. But how may levels are there?

After spending a month on their current level, the pairs of inmates are gassed to sleep and rehoused on a different random level.

Some of the inmates are prisoners. Others have been promised something in return for spending some time there.

How many will retain their sanity? Or their humanity?

It's creepy, it's gory, it's thought-provoking. Well worth watching if you don't mind a bit of cannibalism in your psychological horror movies. :)

7.6 / 10

Oh I should mention that its sequel is also on Netflix. I haven't watched that yet but I will.
 
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Freedom to Die (1961)

Paul Maxwell escapes prison to confront gang leader Bruce Seton and access the contents of a deposit box.

There’s some good stuff in this B crime drama, but also some absolute chod. I liked the playing off between the villains, but the motivations at the beginning and end of the film are a load of old toss. There’s an implied scene that’s quite close to the knuckle for the time, but a lot of iffy dialogue and acting seem to overrule the better things.

Shame because for most part, I was quite enjoying it, despite the amateurness, but the bookending just felt too clumsy.

4/10
 
Fletch73 said:
Weapons [2025] 8/10
I enjoyed this a lot but it's not as great as I was hoping for. There's an Easter egg very early on and if you see it it removes a fair amount of the mystery. The book-ended voice-over is completely unnecessary. Also, apart from a few jump scares, which are pretty telegraphed, I didn't find this that scary. This is better than Barbarian but Zach Cregger still hasn't made his great movie yet. I think he's definitely got one in him, although, I'm not sure it's going to be next year's Resident Evil.
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Click to expand...
Must have missed that like, fancy sharing in a spoiler text or pm? For what it’s worth, also think it’s a solid 8/10. Thoroughly enjoy his films and really hoping he can land Resident Evil after how many times they’ve messed it up so far. Not even a hard franchise or film to make in my opinion, the material is there in the games for both action and horror.
 
Calpricorn said:
Must have missed that like, fancy sharing in a spoiler text or pm?
Click to expand...
The teacher has a nightmare where she walks into the class and all the kids are sitting at their desks with their heads down. The whiteboard behind her has PARASITES written on it and the description underneath - 'an organism or living thing that lives on another organism'. I immediately thought it was a Doctor Sleep situation where the kids were being fed upon by something to keep it alive. It came shortly after she'd gone to the house and peeked through the window to see the two parents just sitting there like zombies. From then the only mystery to me was whether the boy was responsible or something else controlling him.
 
fyl2u said:
The Platform (2019)
Available on Netflix.

Spanish psychological drama/scifi/horror. Inmates of a strange tower/pit prison structure live 2 to a floor. An intricately prepared gourmet banquet descends floor by floor, with each pair of inmates being given a set short amount of time to eat as much as they can/choose before the platform descends to the next level. They can't keep anything for later. All leftovers must be placed back on the platform or the temperature will be raised or lowered to melt or freeze the people on that level.

After fifty levels or so, there's no food left on the platform. But how may levels are there?

After spending a month on their current level, the pairs of inmates are gassed to sleep and rehoused on a different random level.

Some of the inmates are prisoners. Others have been promised something in return for spending some time there.

How many will retain their sanity? Or their humanity?

It's creepy, it's gory, it's thought-provoking. Well worth watching if you don't mind a bit of cannibalism in your psychological horror movies. :)

7.6 / 10

Oh I should mention that its sequel is also on Netflix. I haven't watched that yet but I will.
Click to expand...

The Platform 2 (2024)

Expands on the ideas hinted at in the first one, and almost a continuation rather than a traditional sequel. You'd definitely need to see the first one to understand certain aspects of the second one. Rather than just more of the same, it's more.

7.8 / 10 for the second one.

It's been a gripping ride, these two movies. I'm really glad I gave them a chance.
 
Leon: The Professional - 7/10.

Honestly had a great time watching this and it is thoroughly enjoyable, but have some big issues with how they decide to handle certain dynamics and character portrayals. Probably made even worse reading about the directors personal life, it’s a bit weird.

It is a good film though. Performances are absolutely fantastic too, Oldman is brilliant & Portman was clearly destined to be a great actress putting in that great a performance so young.
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Watch the Assembly Cut of Alien 3
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Have you seen the Legacy Cut released earlier this year?

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The way they've tidied up the special effects is fantastic. This is a bit of a spoiler below but it shows the before and after of the Xenomorph. Only press play if you want to see just how good the difference is.

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ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK said:
Have you seen the Legacy Cut released earlier this year?

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The way they've tidied up the special effects is fantastic. This is a bit of a spoiler below but it shows the before and after of the Xenomorph. Only press play if you want to see just how good the difference is.

You must be logged on to see media items
Click to expand...

I have not, will have to give this a good look
 
Weapons (2025)

It’s good. It’s close to very good. I’ve had a couple of days to mull it over, and while I think the tone and story structure are good, the pay off didn’t quite land as well as I’d have wanted it to. I thought the cop and the homeless drug addict had the best segments of the film, despite not being directly involved in the initial disappearance.

8/10
Fletch73 said:
The teacher has a nightmare where she walks into the class and all the kids are sitting at their desks with their heads down. The whiteboard behind her has PARASITES written on it and the description underneath - 'an organism or living thing that lives on another organism'. I immediately thought it was a Doctor Sleep situation where the kids were being fed upon by something to keep it alive. It came shortly after she'd gone to the house and peeked through the window to see the two parents just sitting there like zombies. From then the only mystery to me was whether the boy was responsible or something else controlling him.
Click to expand...
In a flashback she’s seen and heard teaching about that very thing also.
 
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