13 Reasons Why, 2017

 13 Reasons Why is an American teen drama series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey, based on the novel from 2007. Thirteen Reasons Why by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) and the aftermath of the suicide of fellow student Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford). Before her death, she leaves behind a box of cassette tapes in which she details the reasons why she chose to kill herself as well as the people she believes are responsible for her death.

TRAILER

FINAL SEASON

Overview

Set in the fictional county of Evergreen, California, the first season follows Liberty High student Clay Jensen, who receives a set of cassette tapes at his front porch. These tapes were recorded by Hannah Baker, a former Liberty High student who killed herself two weeks prior and recorded thirteen reasons why she did so on the tapes. Each tape includes a reason for various people in Hannah's life – fellow students Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn), Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe), Alex Standall (Miles Heizer), Tyler Down (Devin Druid), Tony Padilla (Christian Navarro), Courtney Crimsen, Marcus Cole (Steven Silver), Zach Dempsey (Ross Butler), Ryan Shaver (Tommy Dorfman), Sheri Holland (Ajiona Alexus), Clay himself, Hannah herself, Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice), and school counselor Kevin Porter – and how those people are connected to her death.

In the second season, Hannah's parents sue the school district, during which Hannah's tapes are released online. The fallout from the events of the first season and the toll it has taken on the lives of Liberty High's students is further shown.

The third season takes place eight months after the events of the second season. Ani Achola, a new student at Liberty High, narrates the season as Clay and his friends struggle to keep Tyler's attempted school shooting a secret and to help him in his recovery. Tensions rise among the tapes' subjects after Bryce is killed, with Clay as a suspect. In the wake of his death, Bryce's past actions and the person he has become in the aftermath of the release of Hannah's tapes are examined.

In the fourth and final season, Clay's mental health deteriorates as a result of the deaths of Bryce and Monty, while the other students of Liberty High plan for their impending graduation and future.

Rating: 10 Stars.

The Crazies, 2010

The Crazies is a 2010 American horror film directed by Breck Eisner from a screenplay from Scott Kosar and Ray Wright. The film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name and stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson and Danielle Panabaker. George A. Romero, who wrote and directed the original, served as an executive producer. It is about a fictional Iowa town that becomes afflicted by a biological agent that turns those infected into violent killers.

TRAILER

PLOT

In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, resident Rory interrupts a local baseball game, entering the outfield with a shotgun. Sheriff David Dutton attempts to dissuade Rory but is forced to kill him when he raises his weapon. David's wife Judy, the community doctor, notices another resident, Bill, exhibiting bizarre behaviour, including lifeless and repetitive speech. That night, Bill locks his wife and son inside their farmhouse and burns it down.

Following the discovery of a pilot's corpse in a swamp, David and his deputy Russell investigate the area. They discover a military aircraft that crashed into the river a few days before. Suspecting a link between the contaminated water and the residents' bizarre behaviour, David urges Mayor Hobbs to shut off the town's drinking water supply. Hobbs refuses to authorize him, but David does so anyway. Responding to a disturbance at the morgue, David is attacked by the infected pathologist whom he kills with an electric saw and is then saved by Russell.

Soon after, all communication services are cut off and soldiers arrive to quarantine all residents at the local high school. The residents are examined for symptoms of infection. Due to her pregnancy, Judy has an elevated temperature, is flagged as infected, and separated from David. Escaping quarantine, David returns to his office, encountering Russell. The pair head for the school to free Judy. At the school, the military personnel are unable to contain the perimeter and evacuate, abandoning the civilians. Judy wakes up strapped to a gurney alongside several others. An infected enters with a pitchfork and begins killing the helplessly strapped people. David and Russell arrive in time to save Judy and Becca, her assistant.

The four make their way out of town on foot and witness soldiers killing Becca's boyfriend Scotty and his mother, then burn their bodies. David subdues a soldier and learns that the military has been ordered to shoot all civilians. They make it to David's house and begin fixing the patrol car in his garage. David enters his house and is ambushed by Rory's infected wife Peggy and son Curt. David kills Peggy, and Russell shoots Curt through a window. Russell enters the room and shoots the pair's corpses multiple times, disturbing Judy.

David, Judy, Becca, and Russell flee in a car. On the road, they are spotted by an attack helicopter and drive into a car wash for cover. The infected carwash employees attack the car and drag Becca out by the neck with a hose, breaking her neck. When the rest of the group leaves the car to help Becca, the helicopter destroys the car.

While walking down the road, the group spots a black SUV speeding, which Russell disables with a police spike strip. The driver, a government employee, reveals that the cargo plane contained a Rhabdoviridae prototype and biological weapon called Trixie. It was in route to Texas to be destroyed when the plane crashed. Enraged, Russell shoots and threatens the Duttons. David confronts him about his behaviour, and Russell realizes he is infected. Russell begs to continue with them. At a military roadblock, Russell distracts the soldiers and is killed, allowing the Duttons to sneak past.

David and Judy arrive at a truck stop to search for a vehicle, discovering that the military has also executed those who were evacuated. After killing more infected, they escape in a semi-truck. As they drive away, a massive explosion destroys Ogden Marsh and disables their truck, forcing them to continue on foot. A view from a military satellite highlights the couple and then the city, and the words "Initiate containment protocol" appear.

A Cedar Rapids newscaster reports on the explosion in Ogden Marsh, stating a perimeter has been set and civilians are not being allowed into the area. An infected person appears on camera before the signal is lost.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Possession of Hannah Grace, 2018

The Possession of Hannah Grace (also known in some countries as Cadaver) is a 2018 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Diederik van Rooijen and written by Brian Sieve. It stars Shay Mitchell, Kirby Johnson, Stana Katic, Grey Damon and Nick Thune, and follows a former policewoman who encounters the supernatural while working in a morgue.

TRAILER

During an exorcism ritual, the possessed Hannah Grace almost kills the priest by choking him while suspended in mid-air. Her father, Grainger, then suffocates her to death using a pillow. As her father sobs over her dead body, a fly lands on her hand and it twitches ominously.

Three months later, Megan Reed, an ex-cop with the Boston Police Department struggles with depression and an addiction to pills after her patrol partner was shot dead by a criminal whom she failed to subdue. Megan's friend Lisa Roberts finds her a nightshift job in the Boston Metro Hospital's morgue, located in an intimidating brutalist architecture building (portrayed by Boston City Hall). During Megan's second shift, a man (later identified as Grainger) aggressively tries to convince her to let him into the building, but she denies him and informs the two security guards Ernie Gainor and Dave. However, shortly after, Megan helps EMT Randy to move the corpse of a brutally murdered young woman (later identified as the one of Hannah Grace) into the building and the man secretly enters. Randy tells Megan a man stabbed Hannah to death and was then caught in the act trying to burn her body in an alleyway.

When Megan tries to fingerprint and photograph Hannah's corpse, the camera explodes and the fingerprints return as illegible by the computer. Other strange things occur and Megan becomes more suspicious of the corpse. Megan soon encounters Grainger trying to drag Hannah's corpse through the building. Alongside Ernie and Dave, Megan manages to subdue Grainger. The latter screams Hannah's corpse must be burnt because she isn't really dead, but they do not listen to him and have him arrested by the police.

Megan's ex-boyfriend, Andrew Kurtz, is still employed as an officer and responds to the scene. He agrees to help Megan identify the corpse. Soon after, Andrew tells Megan that Hannah Grace had died three months earlier and asked Megan whether the given finger prints was Hannah's. Megan confirms this, and Andrew thinks maybe there is some error in the computer data. Meanwhile, Hannah kills Dave by telekinetically lifting him across the ceiling and into her refrigerated drawer in the morgue where she breaks his body. Soon after, Megan notices that some of the wounds on Hannah are missing, as if it had healed by itself. Investigating the security footage, Megan sees a glimpse of Hannah's corpse crawling around in the building. She shows the footage to Lisa, who does not believe her and accuses her of having a relapse on her addiction to pills. Lisa is killed by Hannah soon after. When Randy returns to the morgue to deliver another corpse, Megan shows Randy the healing body of Hannah.

Kirby Johnson 

After Randy leaves the morgue, Megan notices that the lift closes by itself and is going down. Megan investigates the security footage and sees a glimpse of Hannah's body crawling inside the lift. She rushes down to the access bay to warn Randy, but Hannah has already killed him. Suddenly, Andrew calls Megan to warn her that Grainger has escaped police custody after killing the two officers transporting him. Moments later, Grainger forces Megan to take him to Hannah's body at gunpoint. Grainger explains to Megan that he is Hannah's father. He tells her that numerous exorcisms failed because the demon possessing her was too strong, and that it is able to possess Hannah's body after her death by killing people to heal itself. He tells her that Hannah had depression and it worsened until the demon was able to enter Hannah's body. The blue eye colour is the sign of the demon possessing Hannah. Grainger wonders why Hannah killed Dave and Lisa, but did not kill Megan. Megan agrees to help Grainger cremate Hannah, but she reanimates and pushes Grainger into the fire. Then she locks Megan inside her refrigerated drawer.

Andrew and Ernie come to Megan's aid. Hannah kills Ernie and then tries to kill Andrew, but Megan forces herself to be calm. She picks up Andrew's firearm and shoots Hannah, then drags her to the crematorium while Andrew calls for backup. After a brief struggle before the incinerator, Megan pushes Hannah into the fire.

Megan recounts how she has managed to stay clean for over two months. As she looks into the mirror at her reflection, a fly lands on the mirror's surface. Megan smashes it with her hand.

Rating: 10 Stars

October Faction, 2020

October Faction is an American supernatural drama television series created by Damian Kindler, based on the comic series of the same name by Steve Niles and Damien Worm. It premiered on Netflix on January 23, 2020. The series stars Tamara Taylor, J. C. MacKenzie, Aurora Dawson-Hunte, Gabriel Darku, Wendy Crewson, Megan Follows and Stephen McHattie. In March 2020, the series was canceled after one season. 

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PLOT

October Faction follows the story of a monster-hunting couple, Fred and Deloris Allen, and their twin teenage children, Geoff and Viv. Following the death of Fred's father Samuel, the family decides to go back to their home town Barrington-on-Hudson, in New York, to arrange the funeral. Haunted with childhood memories of his brother's death and the incessant arguments with his parents over his inadequacy and his choice in women, Fred is repulsed by his childhood home. The children soon begin showing supernatural tendencies. During an Impromptu session Viv has visions of a creature with long hair chained to the seafloor, struggling to free itself. Her brother Geoff accidentally reveals a teacher's deepest, darkest secret about his wife in front of his classmates. Both are ridiculed by the popular cliques for being outsiders.

Fred and Deloris are members of Presidio, a secret organization tasked to protect humanity from various breeds of monsters. They must hide their identities from the townsfolk and appear to live a normal life. This proves hard from the start as strange things begin to unfold in the sleepy little town.

Rating: 10 Stars

I Woke Up a Vampire, 2023/2024

“I Woke Up a Vampire” is a delightful fantasy comedy television series available on the Family Channel and Netflix. Netflix split up the first season into two halves. The first released on October 18, 2023 and the second half (released as season 2) released on April 4, 2024. Let’s dive into the intriguing premise:

On her 13th birthday, Carmie Henley receives an unexpected revelation: she’s not just an ordinary human. Instead, she discovers that she’s half human and half vampire. To complicate matters further, she possesses mythical powers that make navigating middle school even more challenging.

Guided by her comic nerd best friend, Kev, Carmie embarks on a journey of self-discovery. As a Vampling (a hybrid of human and vampire), she grapples with questions about her identity, origins, and the complexities of adolescence. All this while juggling puberty, participating in the middle school musical, and evading a persistent Van Helsing.

The show combines elements of supernatural fantasy, humor, and relatable teenage experiences. So, if you’re up for an entertaining blend of mythical powers and middle school drama, give “I Woke Up a Vampire” a watch! 

TRAILER

Dylan and Gorgon

CAST

Kaileen Angelic Chang as Carmela "Carmie" Henley, a blended Vampling (half vampire half human)

Niko Ceci as Kev Gardner, Carmie's friend.

Zebastin Borjeau as Dylan Hesling, a hunter who work for The Collector in season 1.

Kris Siddiqi as The Collector, a mystic gorgon.

Jayd Deroche as Aiden Henley, Carmie's adoptive brother.

Delia Lisette Chambers as Jayden Henley, Carmie's adoptive sister.

Aaliyah Cinello as Madison Spencer, a blended werewolf.

Charlotte Legult as The Shapeshifter, a vampire who is Carmie's biological mother. 

Will Coombs as Tristan, a cunning warrior fairy who appears in Season 2. He despises and wants to eradicate the human race.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Baby Sitter Killer Queen, 2020

The Babysitter Killer Queen is a 2020 American black crime slasher film directed and produced by McG, from a screenplay he wrote with Dan Lagana, Brad Morris, and Jimmy Warden. It is a sequel to the 2017 film The Babysitter and stars Judah Lewis, Emily Alyn Lind, Jenna Ortega, Robbie Amell, Andrew Bachelor, Leslie Bibb, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Samara Weaving, and Ken Marino. The film continues the story of Cole Johnson, two years after the events of the first film, who must again fight to ensure his survival after a secret is unburied, as he is hunted by demonic enemies, both old and new.

TRAILER

PLOT

Two years after a satanic cult led by his former babysitter, Bee, tried to kill him, Cole Johnson is a junior in high school. He is unable to convince anyone, except for his best friend Melanie, of Bee's life-threatening plot; his parents and most others think he had a psychotic break. After he discovers that his parents have enrolled him in a psychiatric school, he escapes with Melanie, her new boyfriend, Jimmy, and their friends Boom-Boom and Diego to join a lake party.

At the party, Cole witnesses the arrival of new student Phoebe Atwell at the lake after finding a stuffed toy and directions to the lake. Later, Cole's friends play a party game on a boat when Melanie suddenly kills Boom-Boom with a boathook and saves her blood. Melanie, Jimmy and Diego are revealed as cult members. With Boom-Boom's blood as a sacrifice, they need Cole's blood as an offering of an "innocent" to make their wishes come true. Original cultists Sonya, Allison, Max, and John also appear, having been resurrected so they could partake in the ritual by sunrise. However, Phoebe suddenly appears, looking for gas for her jet ski, and provides Cole with some time to evade the cult members and escape with Phoebe on her jet ski.

Once on land, Cole explains everything to Phoebe, who believes him, while the cultists give chase. Sonya makes the first attempt to kill them, but they end up running her over with a car left by a stranger and decapitate her with a surfboard. The cult gets into an argument after finding Sonya's body and splits into two groups: Allison, Max and John; Melanie, Jimmy and Diego. Max and John leave while Allison takes a break. She finds them, but the two trap her between a narrow wedge of rocks and rip her head off. The two board a boat and drive off, but Max catches the raft attached to the back of the boat and is able to pull himself onto the boat. However, Phoebe sets him on fire with a can of silly string and a lighter, then Cole shreds him with the boat's propeller. Diego and Jimmy supernaturally disintegrate when they attempt to back off from their pursuit of Cole.

Cole and Phoebe arrive at Phoebe's old family cabin, where they take refuge and hope to wait out the night. In the cabin bunker, Phoebe reveals to Cole that her parents died because she crashed into them in a fatal car accident. Cole comforts her, and the two have sex. Melanie calls Cole's father Archie, who has been searching for him alongside Melanie's father Juan, and fakes being drunk so that he can pick them up, hoping to lure Cole out. Cole and Phoebe come out of the bunker armed with crossbows and John accidentally kills himself when a chandelier crashes on him. Archie gives Cole a sleeping drug so he can take him to his car as Melanie kills Juan with a machete and captures Phoebe.

While stopping for gas, Cole regains consciousness, locks Archie out of the car, and drives back to the lake to save Phoebe. In a cove, Melanie holds Phoebe hostage before Cole shows up and volunteers to be sacrificed. Bee emerges from the water and is revealed to be Phoebe's babysitter who was responsible for the car accident that killed her parents. She made a deal with the Devil to save Phoebe's life in exchange for her soul. Sonya, Allison, Max, and John are resurrected again, and the four and Melanie drink the blood of Cole mixed with Boom-Boom's blood. However, since Cole has had sex with Phoebe and is therefore no longer "innocent", the ritual backfires and the five melt and disintegrate. Bee, who did not drink the blood, reveals that she orchestrated everything so that Phoebe and Cole could unite and defeat the cult, having had a change of heart after Cole's love confession after her initial defeat. However, since Bee is still technically a demon, she drinks the blood and disintegrates to save the two. Archie shows up and, having witnessed Bee's death, now believes what Cole said was true. As the sun comes up, Cole and Phoebe embrace in a kiss, while Archie looks on proudly.

Rating: 10 Stars

40 Years Young, 2022 - 40 is the new 12 Afterall

“40 Years Young” (original title: Cuarentones) is a Mexican drama-comedy film that revolves around the life of Cesar, a talented chef who faces a painful truth as he reaches the age of forty. Let’s delve into the plot:

1. Cesar’s Culinary Journey:

   • Cesar, a skilled chef, co-owns a restaurant with his best friend and colleague, Paolo. Their restaurant is unique, blending food with singing and dancing. Despite their unconventional approach, they manage to create delicious meals.
   • For ten years, they’ve struggled to keep their restaurant afloat, combining tradition with innovation. But their culinary adventure is about to take an unexpected turn.

2. The Invitation:

   • As Cesar’s 40th birthday approaches, Paolo surprises him with an extraordinary gift: an invitation to compete in a prestigious culinary contest in Cancun, Mexico, hosted by the renowned food magazine Delicacies.
   • The Grand Prix cook-off promises fame, recognition, and a chance to prove their culinary prowess.

3. Family Secrets Unveiled:

   • Amidst the excitement, Cesar’s world unravels. His wife, Amelia, harbors a secret—one that threatens their family’s stability.
   • When Amelia’s former lover reappears, seeking a place in their lives because of their son, Enrique, Cesar faces heartbreak. Amelia’s revelation leaves him shattered.

4. Culinary Passion and Personal Struggles:

   • As Cesar grapples with family dynamics, he must also prepare for the competition. Paolo encourages him to embrace this new adventure.
   • The film beautifully weaves together moments of happiness, humor, and culinary passion. Singing and dancing are integral to their restaurant experience, but will it distract from the quality of their food?

5. The Grand Prix Cook-Off:

   • In Cancun, Cesar and Paolo compete against other talented chefs. Their friendship, culinary skills, and personal challenges intersect as they vie for victory.
   • Can Cesar overcome his inner turmoil, win the championship, and mend his fractured family?

“40 Years Young” explores themes of love, passion, and the art of cooking, all set against the backdrop of a high-stakes culinary competition. It’s a delightful journey that blends flavors, emotions, and life’s unexpected twists.

TRAILER

Rating: 10 Stars