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Dangerous Animals (2025)

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Dangerous Animals (2025)

An abducted woman must find a way to escape a serial killer’s boat before he feeds her to the sharks.

IFC and Shudder have done it again! Independent films take liberties that studio films can’t. That’s why the element of surprise is more likely to be found there. What Tucker (Jai Courtney) can and will do to these people you find out only when he does it. He is relentless, and the way he acts towards his victims is gory and downright psychopathic. Hassie Harrison (Zephyr) and Ella Newton (Heather) play their part brilliantly and, for at least the first fifty minutes, everything goes. Writer Nick Lepard and director Sean Byrne’s narrative is unpredictable and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The issue over the last thirty to forty minutes is that they slowly turn into a Hollywood film, and what you expect to happen, will happen. The indie element starts fading out, and the Hollywood one infiltrates the narrative remorselessly. The improbability levels increase exponentially, and you’ll be wondering “why.” And, actually, that was the film’s biggest surprise, unfortunately.

Overall, it’s definitely worth your time, as, for the most part, it’s brutal and Courtney goes above and beyond to make Tucker as hateable as possible.

Dangerous animals? Yes, we are.

P.S. Having a model-looking (main) cast is also a sign of turning indie films into a Hollywood spectacle, also known as the cinema of attractions.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Drop (2025)

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Drop (2025)

A widowed mother’s first date in years turns into a nightmare when a stranger keeps sending her threatening messages.

Highly implausible yet engaging. Actually, it’s a lot better (for the most part) than the trailer made it to be, which is rare. Very rare. Director Christopher Landon, the man behind several Paranormal Activity films, Happy Death Day (2017) and more, turns Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach’s implausible script into a whodunit (or “whosdoingit”), stylised thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and Meghann Fahy (Violet) is the right person to convey the thrilling predicament.

Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay) and Blumhouse (Jason Blum) wear the producers’ hat on this one, taking no risks and offering a formulaic Hollywood spectacle that will keep you engaged for an hour and a half. What you know will happen, happens. It’s just a matter of how it’s going to get there. A good choice if you’re looking for something that will help you forget your problems for even a couple of hours.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

The Surfer (2025)

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The Surfer (2025)

A man returns to the place he grew up to surf with his son, gets humiliated and slowly starts spiralling out of control.

Trippy, paranoid, and somehow poetic. The classic title font, the music that accompanies it and instructs you on how to feel, the abstract shots, the American accent contrasting with the Australian one, the zoom-ins and the close-ups… Well, mix all that with the repeated and exaggerated bravado and bullying against Nicolas Cage and the constant bad news he keeps receiving, and it’s a bomb waiting to go off. But does it?

The Surfer builds up hatred throughout! An hour and a half of real unnecessary harshness, hallucinations, and paranoia blend smoothly with trauma into an explosive cocktail that starts as one drink and becomes… something else. Wait and you’ll see.

All the audiovisual elements work like a Swiss watch. See the fountain covered in faeces, Cage’s reactions to it, the bird’s reactions to him, which seem to mock him too, like life itself, and the background music that accompanies the scene. There will be sequences where you, too, will want to laugh but will be ashamed to do so due to the tragicomedy of madness. What’s real, what isn’t, what happened and what didn’t, when the build-up turned into climax, when the initial dream started and when the hallucination and trauma kicked in… all in one trippy film called… The Surfer.

Congratulations to writer Thomas Martin and director Lorcan Finnegan for creating such a brilliant film. Congratulations also to Cage and the sorely missed and beautiful person, Julian McMahon. They went toe to toe, and their audience came out the winner…

RIP Julian McMahon. You rode amazing waves!

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

The Old Guard 2 (2025)

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The Old Guard 2 (2025)

The immortal warriors and Andromache reunite to face an enemy they never expected: the oldest immortal that ever existed.

Interesting parts, uninteresting sum… The film we’ve been waiting for for some time. Five years after the original, The Old Guard (2020): https://kaygazpro.com/the-old-guard-2020-action-fantasy/, director Victoria Mahoney takes over from Gina Prince-Bythewood, and the result… is not flattering, I’m afraid. This merely means, of course, that the problematic final cut is her fault. Netflix, Skydance, the writers and their borderline wokism are all part of it. First things first, though…

The story is great! The inciting incident, its direction, and the build-up look great on paper. The plot, dialogue, and character development (except for Booker’s), on the other hand, are spoon-fed and watered down to death. And I’ve said it more times than I can count: Undermine the audience’s intelligence and see what happens. For people who are thousands of years old, the things they say and do often fail to meet expectations. So, it’s a shame, really…

From a cinematic point of view, it’s the same. Short shots, multiangularity, multichopped editing… There is nothing original or impressive about a film that they had five years to prepare and deliver. Except for the emotional moment between Booker and Andy, it certainly lacked depth, which is ironic given Quyhn’s situation and the way filmmakers mishandled that.

However, let me conclude by saying that the cast is exceptional: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Henry Golding, Veronica Ngo, and Uma Thurman all do a great job, despite their characters facing irreparable issues. Again, Theron vs Thurman should be the cinematic event of the year, but like everything else, the filmmakers didn’t know what to do with what they had.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

 

John Carpenter

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John Carpenter

In France I’m an auteur, in England I’m a filmmaker, in Germany I make horror films, and in the United States I’m a bum.

Caveat (2020)

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Caveat (2020)

A man with partial memory loss is sent to look after a girl with mental health issues, in a house no one should ever live.

Franz Kafka would be proud… Right off the bat, all three characters appear as people you wouldn’t want to associate with. The awkwardness and coldness they emit make them people you want to stay as far away from as humanly possible. Who on Earth would offer a job like this, who on Earth would accept it, and who on Earth would live in a house like that?  Neither the people nor the place makes sense.

The darkness they both carry is Kafkaesque projections that Shudder and writer/director Damian Mc Carthy manage to bring to life. The characters and the film’s claustrophobic mise-en-scene “scream” Kafka’s name from the lighting to the walls to the utterances, actions, and reactions.

Caveat is a nano-budget, slow-burn psychological horror with a plot that defies reason or rational explanation. Well, trauma and guilt partially justify it, but the rest is up to the viewer to make up their own mind. Therefore, “enjoy” Ben Caplan (Moe), Johnny French (Isaac) and Leila Sykes (Olga) who embrace the abnormality, the paradox and the depravity of their characters and revive Kafka’s bleak, grotesque, alienated, existential (and more) vision of humanity.

P.S. Oh, and what about that freaking judgmental rabbit?!

P.P.S. Writer/director Matthew Holness evoked similar results with Possum (2018).

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Squid Game: Bloodsport, Debt, and the Death of Innocence

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Squid Game: Bloodsport, Debt, and the Death of Innocence

Children’s games, killer instinct, and the system that raised us. Squid Game is a global mirror – reflecting debt, despair, and the illusion of choice. Why do people willingly return to a game they know might kill them? Because, for some, the outside world is worse. This episode explores what made Squid Game resonate worldwide, the real-world systems it critiques, and the cinematic legacy of human hunting. Who’s really watching? Who’s funding the spectacle? And what does it say about us that we can’t look away?

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Lana Wachowski

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Lana Wachowski

“Cinema is a social art form. You cannot make a piece of cinema by yourself. No matter what you do, no matter how controlling, no matter how crazy and Fitzcarraldo-bizarre or how crazy generally you try to be, yelling at people with your bullhorn, you can’t push a single pencil across the table without help. It’s just the way it is. The final product will always be a sum of all of the parts that are working on it. So if you want to understand cinema, you have to think about it as a social dynamic. And you have to investigate it and unpack it as a social project.”

Demonic Horror and Cinema’s Religious Nightmares

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Demonic Horror and Cinema’s Religious Nightmares

Demons in horror films are more than just terrifying entities—they’re reflections of our deepest fears, shaped by culture, religion, and history. From The Exorcist to Hereditary, from The Vigil to Under the Shadow, different belief systems have given rise to unique interpretations of possession, evil, and the supernatural. But why do these stories resonate so deeply across cultures? And what do they reveal about the anxieties we carry in the real world?

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Ethan Coen

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Ethan Coen

“People ask you about your signature on the movie, or whatever. Nobody wanted to sign the damn movie. You know what I mean? We’re just trying to do justice to the story. We’re not trying to pee on it.”

The King Tide (2023)

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The King Tide (2023)

A small Canadian fishing island cuts itself off from the rest of the world when a gifted baby is washed ashore, but the responsibility tears them apart.

Interesting premise that raises a lot of expectations. Does it deliver, though? Let’s see—a horrific and relatable drama followed by a mysterious and intriguing element. Director Christian Sparkes raises the question: How would the modern world deal with a modern-day Jesus? Especially when the society lives in the allegory of the cave. If it were in the big city, it would have been a whole different film. But this is a society where everyone knows everyone. Here’s the thing, though. When the extraordinary is presented, everyone shows a self that no one has seen before, which means that no one really knows anyone. What does that say about city people, right?

The gifted girl is the subplot; the actions and reactions around her and her gift are the film’s focus. How could anyone – literate, illiterate, rich, poor, or otherwise – take moral and selfless decisions around someone we could never understand? In the Bible, we exposed and failed Jesus. In fiction, we hid Clark Kent and deified Superman – and then there’s Brightburn (2019). History has shown that we can’t deal with ourselves, let alone a miracle.

To conclude, The King Tide is a beautiful, dark story, with certain production, pace and rhythm, and budget issues, but with great acting and an ending that pays off. Definitely worth your time.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Orson Welles

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Orson Welles

“A long-playing full shot is what always separates the men from the boys. Anybody can make movies with a pair of scissors and a two-inch lens.”

Alexandria… Why? (1979)

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Alexandria… Why? (1979)

Official entry at the 52nd Academy Awards in 1980 in the Best Foreign Language Film category (Egypt).

Interstellar (2014)

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Interstellar (2014)

The giant dust clouds were created on set using huge fans to blow synthetic cellulose-based dust into the air.

Undercover: Inside the Bunker (2025)

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Undercover: Inside the Bunker (2025)

An undercover investigator risks everything by infiltrating an animal testing laboratory for over two years.

It will cut your breath short and urge you to act! Starting as conspiratorial, Undercover soon becomes a reality you wish it had never existed. But regardless of how much you wish or pray, that reality exists. Actually, this is the reality, and most people turn a blind eye to it because it is unbearable. It just adds to the endless list of the atrocities we have committed throughout our history. And, as usual, against living beings that can not defend themselves.

Writer/director Pablo de la Chica takes the docudrama path and builds it up for the first act. He introduces Carlota, explains the situation and deliberately holds most of the punches… until the glasses are on! And this is when you start realising what you have signed up for. Halfway there? You wish all staff would die the most horrible death.

There is no point in telling you how much you need to watch it or why. Cinematic techniques? Plenty! But there is no point in discussing them; the documentary is brilliant. What’s worth discussing is the heroine who risked everything and went in to expose them. What’s also worth discussing is the relatively short time it took for the incident to fade away and be forgotten, as well as the fact that nothing happened to the company, and the laws do not really protect animals. Animal suffering exists, and congratulations to everyone who risks and sacrifices everything to prevent that from happening, regardless of the outcome.

Following Food, Inc. (2008): https://kaygazpro.com/food-inc-2008/ and Earthlings (2005): https://kaygazpro.com/earthlings-2005/, this is the third one that moved me so much, and I decided to make a trilogy out of them. A video is coming where I will put them all together and analyse the effect of films like these on society. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Earthlings (2005)

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Earthlings (2005)

An inside look at the unspeakable and horrifying ways humans and large corporations treat animals.

The most shocking, brutal, and soul-crashing horror you have ever witnessed. Earthlings has no match. It is not for the faint of heart and is one of the most challenging things to watch for the most hardcore audiences. Inarguably, it is one of the biggest challenges you will ever have to face on the screen. There are no words to describe this experience, and hats off to writer/director Shaun Monson for bringing it to life and Joaquin Phoenix for narrating it. It is unthinkable how Monson managed to do it. You will watch to avert or close your eyes while wishing for the atrocities to stop. But they will not stop. They will keep on pounding and pounding until your eyes dry up and until you are disgusted to be called “human.” You will find it unthinkable that these “people” and you are the same species, and you will reevaluate the term “animal” next time someone calls another person that.

It is by far the harshest thing I have ever watched. I tried watching it in 2005, but I couldn’t finish it. Finally, in 2013, I gained the strength to watch it and managed to quit meat. It is not pedantic, and it is not asking the audience to quit meat. It seeks to raise awareness and prompt you to consider what is sacrificed and how it is sacrificed and disgraced, before it reaches your table or is used for your everyday pleasures and luxuries.

As I pointed out, though, in Food, Inc. (2008): https://kaygazpro.com/food-inc-2008/, the change is not the desirable one. Although we are aware, we continue to turn a blind eye to a large extent. I have faith, though. Things are slowly changing, and one day, we’ll get to treat each other and animals as equals.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Food, Inc. (2008)

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Food, Inc. (2008)

The horrible backstage of the American food industry.

Eye-opening and heartbreaking! Writer/director Robert Kenner, in collaboration with Magnolia Pictures, works with author Michael Pollan to bring to life a documentary that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the American food industry. Needless to say, the image they paint is highly disturbing. What you know and what you think you knew collapse. What you care about and what you should be caring about while eating or feeding others will start raising doubts as you keep watching.

The way we treat animals, what we feed them, what we put on our table and how the industry works becomes a mind-bending reality within our reality and surfaces our ignorance and “The Matrix” we live in.

Kenner and his team infiltrate the food industry, using both poetic and harsh visuals, as well as interviews with politicians, industry executives, and victims of what is advertised as “healthy food,” to embarrass the world’s biggest food industry powers, hoping to bring about change for both animals and people alike. Did they, though?

Unfortunately, not the desired one. Obesity is at skyrocketing levels worldwide, and to this very day, fast food is constantly in demand. Oh, and it’s no longer even affordable. Why is this? The information is out there. Now we know more than ever. We know! Thugs and gangsters in suits, under the guise of lawmakers and law representatives, pull the ropes as behind-the-scenes puppeteers. We know! Why does it feel like we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes we already know we are making? It is heartbreaking for people and animals alike.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

The Matrix (1999)

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The Matrix (1999)

The first action scene with Trinity, set in a 5×5 room, where she kicks @$$, required six months of training and four days to film.

The Politics of Sci-Fi: What Alien Invasions Reveal About Colonization

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The Politics of Sci-Fi: What Alien Invasions Reveal About Colonization

From Independence Day (1996) to District 9 (2009), alien invasion films have always been about more than just extraterrestrials. They reflect our own history—our fears, our power struggles, and the way we justify conquest. But who are the real invaders in these stories? Are we projecting our own colonial past onto the aliens, turning them into a reflection of ourselves? What do these films really say about us, and why do we keep telling these stories?

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Michael Mann

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Michael Mann

“For the working director, there is no conscious form from film to film. We all know what our ambitions are, but in a very healthy way we are all unconscious of ‘signature’.”

Girls’ Dreams (1952)

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Girls’ Dreams (1952)

Unfortunately, the film is lost. Its purpose was to present to the public, for the first time, the contestants of that year’s first Greek beauty pageant.

Ridley Scott

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Ridley Scott

“Audiences are less intrigued, honestly, by battle. They’re more intrigued by human relations. If you’re making a film about the trappings of the period, and you’re forgetting that human relationships are the most engaging part of the storytelling process, then you’re in trouble.”

Memory and the Unreliable Mind: How Cinema Warps Our Past

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Memory and the Unreliable Mind: How Cinema Warps Our Past

Memory shapes who we are, but how much of it can we really trust? Films like Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Inception explore how memory is fragmented, distorted, and even rewritten. But cinema doesn’t just reflect our past—it can reshape it, creating false memories that feel just as real. Are our memories truly our own, or are they just stories we tell ourselves?

Image References
IMDb

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Bring Her Back (2025)

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Bring Her Back (2025)

After their father’s death, a brother and a sister have to go to a foster house only to be involved in a horrific ritual.

Disturbing, eerie, and shockingly unsettling! Danny and Michael Philippou surely know how to “open the curtains” – Talk to Me (2022) offered a different shock of the same level. The occult and the ostensibly inexplicable atrocities that come with it will make you wonder how they connect to the drama the two kids will have to face immediately after. Who’s Laura? What’s with her son, Oliver? What really happened to her daughter? What is this place? How does it connect to the occult? How are they gonna make it? Bring who back from where? All these questions and more arise throughout the first act. And if you think that’s disturbing, wait until the second one kicks in.

There isn’t much I can say without spoiling it for you, so let me tell you how it feels. OK, I’ll tell you this one thing. Upon building it up for some time, making you wonder what on earth is going on, “the knife” scene will make you react like very few times have in the cinema. Moving on, the psychological and the paranormal blend into a duplicitous horror with unforeseen intentions that raise doubts about something ominous being about to happen. Something that you will not like at all, but hopefully with a happy ending. Will you get it, though?

Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Sally Hawkins, and Jonah Wren Phillips perform amazingly in front of the camera. A24 and the Philippou Brothers, after doing a brilliant job with Talk to Me, find more creative ways to shock your system! You will avert your eyes, you will clench your fists, you will groan, and you will grasp for breath. You are in for a huge surprise. Pleasant or unpleasant, surely it’ll be uncomfortable. See for yourselves…

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Ballerina (2025)

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Ballerina (2025)

A trained assassin of the Ruska Roma organisation goes against The Director’s orders and seeks revenge against the people who killed her father.

A strong opening sequence that sets the bar high for something you have already seen. I’ve spoken before about the world of John Wick – https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdf9KM1n/ (soon on the website). Neon lights, constant dark skies, diverse tribes of assassins, fancy deaths, sheepy people who keep dancing while everyone dies around them, nonexistent law, and so much more comprise that surrealistic and enigmatic world.

How this film was made is also an enigma. Ballerina’s script went through hell. Many writers added and subtracted content, making it impossible to determine who wrote what and when – yes, it took a few years. However, that’s nothing compared to what happened during filming and the extensive re-shoots it went through. If you want to read more about the creative differences between director Len Wiseman and producer Chad Stahelski (creator of this universe), visit the film’s IMDb Trivia section and weep. It brings to the fore the debates of auteur cinema. But let’s not go into it, shall we?

Production failures and disappointments aside, as a standalone, Ballerina will excite you nearly as much as the John Wick franchise. Ana de Armas does a brilliant job in front of the camera. Then, the addition of John Wick welcomes Ballerina and embraces her into the universe. The lengthy takes, slow editing, invisible effects, stunning soundtrack, and pseudorealistic fights will keep you entertained for two hours. And that’s the end of it. On to the next John Wick…

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Park Chan-Wook

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Park Chan-Wook

“If you would ask me what my ideal process is, I would say, long pre-production, long production and long post-production.”

Akira (1988)

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Akira (1988)

Although common in American anime dubs, Akira was the first Japanese anime where voice acting was done before the animation.

Guy Pearce  

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Guy Pearce  

“I feel I do my best work when it’s all there on the page, and I feel that the character is very vivid as I read the script and I’m not having to create stuff and trying to cobble together something. If I have to do that, then I don’t entirely trust what I’m doing.”

Don’t You Shed A Tear

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Don’t You Shed A Tear

Logline: A man’s family throws a surprise birthday party for him, not knowing that he suffers from a terminal illness.

Genre: Drama, Short

Cancel Culture: Film and Accountability

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Cancel Culture: Film and Accountability

Cancel culture. A force of accountability or a tool of suppression? In the digital age, careers are made and destroyed in an instant, but does cancel culture truly reshape society, or just create noise? And what about film? Movies like Tár (2022), Joker (2019), and The Hunt (2020) have explored power, morality, and public perception, but can filmmakers still take risks without fear of backlash?

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The King’s Speech (2010)

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The King’s Speech (2010)

Screenwriter David Seidler received the Oscar for Best Screenplay at the age of 73 – the oldest recipient to date.

Jim Jarmusch

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Jim Jarmusch

“I love rehearsing because in rehearsals there are no mistakes, nothing is wrong, some things apply or lead you to focus on the character, and the things that don’t apply are equally valuable because they lead you towards what does.”

Scandals, Fires, Drones, Films and Media

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Scandals, Fires, Drones, Films and Media

Scandals, drones, wildfires, elections—our world is a whirlwind of reality, perception, and the stories we tell about them. From conspiracy theories to real-world chaos, this episode dives into the powerful intersection of media, social platforms, and cinema. How do the stories we share shape us? And how do films reflect—and sometimes blur—the lines between truth and fiction?

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Marshmallow (2025)

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Marshmallow (2025)

A boy is forced to go to summer camp, but unexpected horror is all he and everyone else is going to find.

Shy kids, bullies, inherently incompetent adults, sweet people, bonafide a$$holes, summer camps with a horror story, 80s synthwave music… all the ingredients for an American summer-camp horror ala Friday the 13th (1980). Is it, though? What writer Andy Greskoviak and director Daniel DelPurgatorio do differently are two things:

First, the dream sequences, featuring Dutch angles, surreal mise-en-scène, unpredictable, rhythmically edited sequences, and human reactions to them, synthesise an atmosphere that can only be experienced in a dream state.

Second, the lack of trust and the twist that follows. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you more about that. You’ll have to experience it as well as the ethics that come with it.

Marshmallow is not without faults. Bringing a script to life has never been and will never be an easy task. But DelPurgatorio comes through and manages to surprise with an unexpected narrative that changes the rules of what you know or think you know.

Lastly, great job by all actors and actresses, kids and adults alike. This wouldn’t have been possible if they didn’t believe in it.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

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Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

“What has always been at the heart of filmmaking was the value of a script. It was really the writer who could make or break a film.”

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Upon reaching Osgiliath, Sam tells Frodo, “We shouldn’t even be here…” as an inside joke, since in the book they never pass through this place.

Echo Valley (2025)

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Echo Valley (2025)

A single mom who faces her own tragedy must deal with her troubled daughter, who shows up one day covered in blood.

Flawed but gripping! What’s at stake becomes increasingly apparent. With every sequence, you learn something more about family tragedy, the family tragedy that plagues innumerable families all over the world. Focusing on Echo Valley, you get how bad it is by the end of the first act. From then on, though, unfortunately, it gets worse…

Not spoiling it for you at all, here’s what to expect. A mother who, despite her own tribulations, goes above and beyond to save her (ostensibly) hopeless daughter. Their journey is heartbreaking and resembles nothing of the dreams that a person has when they find out they will become a parent. Nothing like it.

There are twists and turns throughout, as well as incidents and unpleasant surprises that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Julian Moore (Kate) and Sydney Sweeney (Claire) do an excellent job in front of the camera, and Domhnall Gleeson (Jackie) does a perfect job making you hate him – and you will. Mark Ingelsby is a brilliant writer (and co-producer here), especially of thrillers, and director Michael Pearce is a brilliant visualiser. And, on top of that, the one and only Ridley Scott is wearing the producer’s hat.

This merely means that the film is without flaws. There are some “too American” moments that only the American audience can feel for. There are also some woke-y moments, too, that ruin the characters’ build-up. But… the narrative flows naturally and the suspense keeps increasing, so it’s definitely worth your time.

P.S. No idea why Kyle MacLachlan appeared in it. He’s a legend!

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Bernardo Bertolucci

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Bernardo Bertolucci

“I don’t film messages. I let the post office take care of those.”

Alfonso Cuarón

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Alfonso Cuarón

“When I finish a movie, I don’t ever see the movie again. The moment I finish the color correction and the mix, I never seen any of my movies ever again. I just try to explore what I can learn from the experience and move on.”

Frewaka (2024)

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Frewaka (2024)

A mentally traumatised carer is sent to an isolated house to look after an old woman with a dark past.

The opening sequence exudes a distinctly folkloric horror, and the rest of the first act is shrouded in esoteric darkness and unspecified trauma. All these lead to the heart of picturesque Ireland, where Irish is still the people’s first language. More specifically, to an isolated house with a carer trying to make sense of the patient she has been assigned, an old lady tied to the darkest side of paganism.

There is not much I can say without giving away plot details, so here’s the takeaway: Writer/director Aislinn Clarke’s visualisation of trauma, mental health, and geographical, physical and emotional disassociation from our roots (frewaka=roots) crumbles the foundations of what we think we know and call identity. What does this have to do with religion? More like, what does religion have to do with anything?

I have reviewed numerous films on both mental health issues and identity, and Frewaka, yet another Shudder original success, is one of the successful manifestations of both. Have you noticed that folklore and mental health often appear together in films? Have you also noticed how difficult it is to distinguish one from the other? Does that say anything about our disconnection with nature? Food for thought. Clare Monnelly (Shoo) does an excellent job in front of the camera, expressing the relationship between trauma, disconnection and the occult. Having said that, good luck trying to establish for sure what is internal and what is external. Irish horror is at the top of my list as their film school blends the two exquisitely. Especially this one, as the main language is Irish and not English.

In a nutshell? Frewaka: Embrace the descent to paranoia.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

It Feeds (2025)

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It Feeds (2025)

A clairvoyant mother needs to stop a malevolent entity that consumes a young girl and threatens her daughter.

Great opening-nightmarish sequence, reminiscent of The Cell (1995) or even Silent Hill (2006). Very promising, but does the rest of the film live up to this promise? The sequence after that, the girl’s appearance, most certainly does. It’s suspenseful, and it sets the cogs in motion. And that applies to the rest of the suspenseful sequences, really.

Writer/producer/co-editor/director Chad Archibald does an incredible job building up the suspense throughout all three acts. In front of the camera, Ashley Green, Ellie O’Brien, Juno Rinaldi, Shawn Ashmore, Shayelin Martin, Julian Richings, and the rest of the cast do a great job, delivering Archibald’s vision.

The drama is somewhat problematic, as it follows a formulaic structure, particularly in terms of dialogue and editing. However, two nasty things happen, so I’ll give it a break. On the other hand, the horror is as good as the suspense, so it’s yet another reason to watch it. If Archibald had left certain clichés aside that imply the audience is less intelligent, it would have scored a lot higher. The same goes for the ending. An indie can be a lot more provocative than studio-level films, but this doesn’t mean that it was all bad. A jaw-dropping ending would have left the audience with a much stronger aftertaste.

Ashley Green may be suffering from being too beautiful and/or from becoming known for something outdated, if you catch my drift. Robert Pattinson seems to have got over it and, hopefully, she will too.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Last Straw (2023)

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Last Straw (2023)

A young manager must fight for her life when a gang invades her diner.

The first act has all the ingredients for a spot-on horror! Realistic acting and lines, proper set-up, long shots, 90s vibes, bad-@$$ Nancy, human trash… all of it. It gets you hyped up for a long night of survival. And that night comes…

When the sun goes down, the buildup is great, and once you think you know what’s happening, the tables turn. The narrative shifts, the film’s style changes, and the backstory emerges. I believe that background story “fried” the reviews – pun intended. While the editing handled it delicately, it debunked the initial mystery and distracted the audience. Wait until the beginning of the resolution, though, because it’s worth it. But then, the actual ending de-escalates it.

Personally, I liked it, and every department seems to have put in a proper effort to make this work. Overall, some parts of Taylor Sardoni’s script are effective, while others are not. Director Alan Scott Neal and Jessica Belkin (Nancy) do a great job behind and in front of the camera, respectively, regardless of the film’s ups and downs.

It’s “funny” how such levels of gullibility and naivety can be seen only in American movies – and society?

P.S. By the way, Nancy’s friend is despicable.

Thanks for reading!

Please, don’t forget to share. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.

Solidarity for all the innocent lives that suffer the atrocities of war!

Stay safe!

Titanic (1997)

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Titanic (1997)

After reading the script, Kate Winslet realised she’d have to undress in front of Leonardo DiCaprio. To avoid awkwardness when they first met… she just showed him everything!

George Lucas

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George Lucas

Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard.

The Unknown Woman (1956)

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The Unknown Woman (1956)

The first and only film appearance of Greek theatre star Kyveli.

Steven Spielberg

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Steven Spielberg

“Before I go off and direct a movie, I always look at four films. They tend to be The Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It’s A Wonderful Life and The Searchers.”

Whose Film Is It Anyway

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Whose Film Is It Anyway

Is a film the writer’s vision, the director’s masterpiece, or the editor’s creation? Let’s break down the filmmaking process – from script to screen – and tackle the ultimate auteur question: Whose film is it?

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Olivia Colman

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Olivia Colman

“If the script’s good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it, and do it honestly.”

The Night Has Come

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The Night Has Come

Logline: A day that finds a woman struggling with her reality brings a night of biblical chaos and darkness.

Genre: Drama, Horror, Short

Cinema: Bridging the Gap Between the Industry and the Academia

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Cinema: Bridging the Gap Between the Industry and the Academia

Cinema: an art form, a cultural artefact, and an ever-evolving industry. But what happens when the academic world meets the practical side of filmmaking? Let’s examine the divide between theory and practice, film schools and universities, and explore how this gap can be bridged. Plus, a thought-provoking question at the end – because your perspective matters!

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