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Reviews
The Quiet Earth (1985)
Waiting to be rediscovered
This film was never released in cinemas in the UK, but I saw it in maybe 1993 when BBC2 showed it one evening. I was getting ready to go out and I didn't want to be late, as it would mean having to queue to get in the club, but it totally drew me in and I had to see it out to the end. My impression of it at that time was it became more difficult to maintain the sense of being absorbed in this vanished world after the midpoint of the film - very little actually happens, so if you like big budget scenes of carnage and terror, this film is not for you - but it grabs you again later on until the startling (and gorgeous, though kind of scary) ending.
I would like to see it again as I'm sure I'd give it more than a 7 out of 10 this time, but I just don't remember enough to give it a fair mark. It's all cerebral, you're experiencing this weird world with the main character (who is amazing, by the way) through his eyes and ears, and it's more about the journey than the storyline, which you will all have heard before in one form or another from a hundred different 1980s apocalypso novels or films. But the way they did it is unique. And the ending is really quite spectacular. It's already a cult classic in New Zealand (where it was made) and is fast becoming one in the USA where it had a short run in the cinemas over there, and I'm willing to bet sci-fi fans in the UK would be all over this film like a rash.
I never got to the club in the end, it was closed. I went to another one which was just as good, and lost my house keys.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
It's well worth watching!
If you're a massive fan of the first four "canon" films (like me) the best way to approach this film is to say to yourself this is a separate thing. It's easy to do so, as apart from a few nods to previous events, this film has sod all to connect it to the canon. The script is dreadful, and the cast make a game attempt to do their best with it, but this isn't what most people come to this film for. The action sequences are excellent, especially the first fight between Xeno and Predator which is pretty jaw dropping, and the plot (what there is of it) is silly and enjoyable - there's plenty of decent stuff going on, right up to the incredibly violent climax, and you can always play "Spot The Plot Hole" if you DO get a bit bored. That will keep you busy.
You can see why people who love the canon films hate this so much - it's pretty brainless, and it lacks so many of the things the other four have. There's too little of the bone-freezing horror of "Alien", none of the superb character development that made "Aliens" such a huge hit with audiences, not enough of the chilling echoey industrial art-terror of "Alien 3", and none of the gorehouse comedy and atavistic dread from "Resurrection". Give your brain the night off, and you'll really enjoy this.
The Dead Files (2011)
Great stuff
This is probably my favourite paranormal show. Amy Allan is unlike any other psychic medium on the television - no flowery language, no pulling silly faces, no screaming - she talks to the audience like they're standing next to her in very descriptive but simple prose. If there's any confusion, Amy dispels it in a VT. Pairing her with Steve DiSchavi, a hard-headed ex-police officer, was a genius move, as (unless the pair of them are consummate actors and frauds, which seems very unlikely) he is the rational side of the programme - chasing up old murders, disasters, showing the facts that Amy seems to know anyway. The artist's sketch is a brilliant idea too. Unmissable.
Help! My House Is Haunted (2018)
Enjoyable
Very watchable paranormal-style show, featuring three strong characters and a style of presentation that eschews any obvious ostentation, although Chris the psychic medium occasionally goes a bit bonkers. Lead investigator Barri is calm and sensible, Sandy is curious and asks the right questions, and Chris is generally affable and very likeable for a psychic medium - some of them are so overdramatic that they spoil the shows they're in. I would like to see them use more technology as the series progresses, but I'm impressed.