#Alive, 2020 Post Apocalyptic on Netflix

 #Alive (Korean: #살아있다; RR: #Saraitda) is a 2020 South Korean post-apocalyptic action horror film directed by Cho Il-hyung. Starring Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-hye, it is based on the 2019 script Alone by Matt Naylor (itself becoming another film), who co-adapted his script with Cho. The film revolves around a video game live streamer's struggle for survival as he is forced to stay alone in his apartment in Seoul during a zombie apocalypse. It was released in South Korea on June 24, 2020, and globally via Netflix on September 8, 2020. Critics generally gave positive reviews.

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What we do in the Shadows, 2019

What We Do in the Shadows, 2019 is an American comedy horror mockumentary fantasy television series created by Jemaine Clement, first broadcast on FX on March 27, 2019 until concluding its run with the end of its sixth season on December 16, 2024. Based on the 2014 New Zealand film of the same name written and directed by Clement and Taika Waititi, both of whom act as executive producers, the series follows four vampire roommates on Staten Island, and stars Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, and Kristen Schaal.

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PREMISE

Traditional vampires Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja, together with energy vampire Colin Robinson, share a Staten Island residence, maintained by Nandor's familiar Guillermo. The vampires routinely clash with the modern world, other supernatural beings, and/or each other, while Guillermo earnestly endeavors to balance his loyalty to Nandor with his desire to become a vampire, complicated by his ancestry as a descendant of vampire hunter Van Helsing.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Lost Boys, 1987

 The Lost Boys is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Harvey Bernhard with a screenplay written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer and James Jeremias, from a story by Fischer and Jeremias. The film's ensemble cast includes Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Corey Haim, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Jamison Newlander and Dianne Wiest.

The film follows two teenage brothers who move with their divorced mother to the fictional town of Santa Carla, California, only to discover that the town is a haven for vampires. The title is a reference to the Lost Boys in J. M. Barrie's stories about Peter Pan and Neverland, who, like vampires, never grow up. Most of the film was shot in Santa Cruz, California.

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PLOT

The Emerson family—teenager Michael, his younger brother Sam, and their recently divorced mother Lucy—move to the seaside town of Santa Carla, California, to live with Lucy's eccentric father ("Grandpa"). Lucy takes a job at a video store owned by Max, who takes a romantic interest in her. At the local comic book store, Sam meets the Frog brothers, Edgar and Alan, self-proclaimed vampire hunters, who claim the undead have infested the town.

Meanwhile, Michael becomes drawn to Star, a beautiful girl he meets on the boardwalk. He notices Star spending time with David, the charismatic leader of a local gang that includes Paul, Dwayne, and Marko. Sensing Michael's interest in Star, David challenges him to keep up with them on their motorcycles, leading him to their hideout in a former luxury hotel buried during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. There, David seems to manipulate Michael's perception, making his food appear as maggots or worms, before offering him a bottle filled with red liquid. Although Star warns him that it contains blood, Michael drinks. David's gang then leads him to a railway bridge, where they hang suspended over a vast drop, each member eventually letting go and disappearing into the fog. Michael, unable to hold on, falls—but he suddenly awakens in his bed.

Michael begins to change: he becomes sensitive to light, finds normal food revolting, and notices his reflection fading. He develops a craving for blood and nearly attacks Sam, but Sam's dog, Nanook, intervenes and stops him. Though terrified, Sam agrees to help Michael and deduces that he is turning into a vampire. However, his transformation will only be complete if he feeds on human blood—and it may be reversible if they kill the head vampire. Sam, Edgar, and Alan suspect Max is the head vampire, but after Max is invited to dinner at Lucy's house, they notice he has a reflection.

David and his gang attempt to push Michael into killing by revealing their true monstrous faces and demonstrating their ability to fly as they murder a group of partygoers. Michael resists the temptation to feed. Later, Star confides in Michael that she and Laddie, a young member of the gang, are also only partly transformed, as they, too, have refused to kill. She admits that David wanted her to kill Michael to complete her transformation. Determined to save her, Michael leads Sam and the Frog brothers to the gang's lair during the day while the vampires are sleeping. They stake and kill Marko, whose pained screams awaken the others. The boys narrowly escape with Star and Laddie as David vows to hunt them down that night.

Michael, Sam, and the Frog brothers prepare for the gang's impending assault, arming themselves with holy water, a longbow, and stakes. As night falls, David's gang breaks into the Emerson home. In the ensuing fight, Sam, Nanook, and the Frog brothers kill Paul and Dwayne, while Michael takes on David. Michael resists David's temptation to accept his transformation, ultimately impaling him on Grandpa's collection of antlers. Despite David's death, Michael's transformation remains incomplete, leading the group to suspect that David was not the head vampire.

Lucy and Max return home from their date. Spotting David's lifeless body, Max confesses he is the head vampire. He reveals he passed the boys' earlier vampire tests because he had been invited into their home, making him immune to those vulnerabilities. Max explains that he sought a disciplined family and ordered David to turn Michael and Sam to compel Lucy into becoming a willing mother to his lost boys. To save Michael, Lucy reluctantly agrees to Max's offer. However, before Max can act, Grandpa crashes his truck through the wall, impaling Max with a large wooden fence post and causing him to explode. With Max's death, Michael, Star, and Laddie revert to normal. Grandpa then quips, "The one thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach: all the damn vampires."

Rating: 10 Stars

Abigail, 2024

Abigail is a 2024 American vampire horror comedy film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick. It stars Alisha Weir as the title character alongside Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, and Giancarlo Esposito. The film follows a group of kidnappers who capture the daughter of a powerful underworld figure and demand $50 million for her release, unaware of something sinister.

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Young ballet dancer Abigail is abducted by six criminals and taken to the secluded Wilhelm Manor. Before leaving, their leader Lambert instructs them to guard Abigail for 24 hours, at which point they will receive an equal share of a $50 million ransom paid by her father. The group, using aliases to avoid identifying each other, consists of former Army medic and recovering drug addict Joey, former NYPD detective Frank, thrill-seeking hacker Sammy, former Marine sniper Rickles, dimwitted mob enforcer Peter, and sociopathic driver Dean.

Though reluctant to continue with the plan as she was unaware Abigail was a child, Joey is tasked with managing Abigail. Joey is sympathetic to her, sharing that she has a son and promising to protect Abigail from harm. Abigail admits her father does not care about her and will not pay the ransom, before apologizing for what is going to happen to Joey. Perturbed by Abigail's words, Frank violently confronts her, learning that her father is Kristof Lazaar, a powerful, almost mythical crime lord.

Dean enters the basement, where he is attacked by an unseen assailant. Investigating his screams, Sammy finds Dean's decapitated corpse. The group realize that Lazaar's legendarily violent enforcer, Valdez, is inside the house while the security system prevents them from leaving. Searching for a way out, Rickles is mutilated and killed. The group confronts Abigail for information, but she transforms into a vampire, revealing she is Valdez. Frank shoots Abigail, but her injuries heal almost instantly. Frank, Sammy, and Peter attack Abigail with garlic, crucifixes, and other folkloric weapons said to ward off vampires to no effect. Her strength and speed allow her to easily overwhelm and prevent them from stabbing her through the heart. Abigail bites Sammy before being incapacitated by Joey with a tranquilizer and locked in a cage.

Upon awakening, the centuries-old Abigail reveals that she knows the group's true identities and arranged for them to abduct her, through Lambert, so she can kill them for wronging Lazaar. Joey deduces that Abigail has killed dozens of her father's enemies in a failed effort to earn her his love. Abigail effortlessly escapes her confines and attacks Frank, but Joey exposes Abigail to sunlight, which severely wounds her. With hours before sunset, the group splits up to find an escape route, but Sammy transforms into Abigail's vampire thrall and kills Peter. Abigail has Sammy attack Frank and Joey, forcing Joey to destroy Sammy with reflected sunlight.

Lambert lures Frank and Joey to a hidden security room, where he reveals Abigail turned him into a vampire years earlier for helping Frank avoid Lazaar's wrath. Frank allows Lambert to turn him into a vampire so they can kill Abigail and Lazaar, but following his transformation, Frank kills Lambert for leading him into Abigail's trap. Abigail attacks Frank, but he overpowers her and drains her blood, leaving her weakened. Cornered, Joey leaves a phone message for her son, apologizing for having been absent from his life for many years. Revealing in his power, Frank bites Joey, intending to turn her into his thrall and force her to kill Abigail and eventually her son. However, Joey does not transform because of Frank's inexperience with his new abilities, and she and Abigail team up to kill him.

Abigail encourages Joey to leave and be present in her son's life, but Lazaar arrives and threatens Joey. Abigail defends Joey for being present when she needed her while Lazaar was not. Although Lazaar angrily rebukes her, he relents for Abigail's sake and allows the bloodied and battered Joey to leave.

CAST

Melissa Barrera as Joey, a military medic and recovering addict

Dan Stevens as Frank, a corrupt former police detective

Alisha Weir as Abigail, a centuries-old vampire who has the appearance of a 12-year-old girl.

Will Catlett as Rickles, a Marine sniper who lives by his own moral code

Kathryn Newton as Sammy, a thrill-seeking hacker from a wealthy upbringing

Kevin Durand as Peter, a physically-imposing former "muscle" for the Broussard family of Montreal struggling with his conscience

Giancarlo Esposito as Lambert, a criminal mastermind connected to Abigail's kidnapping

Matthew Goode as Father / Kristof Lazaar, an ancient vampire, infamous crime lord and Abigail's father.

In Memory of Angus Cloud

Cloud was found dead in his family's house in Oakland, California, on July 31, 2023 at the age of 25. The cause of death was an accidental multiple drug overdose, a lethal mix of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and benzodiazepines, the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau told NBC News in September 2023. His mother said his last words before his death were “I love you, mama."

Most likely he died in the movie scene by Abigail in 2023.

In the abandoned house in the movie has a LOT of DEAD bodies inside. Everybody died, except one. 

Rating: 10 Stars

Trouble, 2024

The Swedish film Trouble, 2024 from director Jon Holmberg (Swedish Dicks) and co-written by Holmberg and Tapio Leopold (Day by Day), stars Felip Berg, Amy Deasismont, and Eva Melander.

A innocent father who works at a major electronics store runs into trouble with the law when he witnesses a murder during a TV installation. Unfortunately for him, he’s framed for the crime and swiftly locked up. It’s all going downhill fast. 

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What happens in Trouble?

Conny (Berg) is down and out — divorced, his ex’s new husband is a well-to-do pilot, and he hates his job. But his luck is about to get so much worse: After a routine TV installation at a customer’s home, he witnesses the murder ofher her husband and Conny’s pinned for the crime . He’s mistaken found guilty at trial, because of a scheme within the police itself, sent away to jail for years, and believes he may never see his daughter again. When he meets big-time bad guys Norinder (Čukić) and Musse (Sällquist) in the clink, he gets tangled up in their escape plan while also trying to clear himself of all wrongdoing. They need a Pilot and they think he is one after seeing his family photo in his room, they scape after and events unfold as he tries to prove his innocence.

Is Trouble based on a book?

No. It’s a remake of the 1988 Swedish film of the same name (Strul in Swedish) directed by Jonas Frick and written by Bengt Palmers and Björn Skifs. 

Rating: 10 Stars (Super Fun)

The King, 2019

 The King is a 2019 epic historical drama film directed by David Michôd, based on several plays from William Shakespeare's Henriad. The screenplay was written by Michôd and Joel Edgerton, who both produced the film with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Liz Watts. The King includes an ensemble cast led by Timothée Chalamet as the Prince of Wales and later King Henry V of England, alongside Edgerton, Sean Harris, Lily-Rose Depp, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Mendelsohn.

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PLOT

King Henry IV of England has several sons, including the eldest, Henry, Prince of Wales ("Hal"), and Thomas. Hal, uninterested in succeeding his father, spends his days drinking, whoring, and jesting with his companion Falstaff in Eastcheap. 

King Henry IV grows tired of Hal's debauchery and announces that Thomas will inherit the throne. King Henry IV sends Thomas to subdue Hotspur's rebellion. However, Hal arrives and upstages Thomas by challenging Hotspur to single combat. Hal kills Hotspur, ending the battle without further conflict. Thomas, feeling cheated of his glory, complains to King Henry IV. 

Shortly thereafter, Thomas dies while campaigning against the rebels in Wales. King Henry IV dies in his bed with Hal present. Hal is anointed as King Henry V and opts for peace and conciliation with his father's many adversaries, despite his actions being seen as weakness. 

At King Henry V's coronation feast, envoys from the Dauphin of France present Hal with a tennis ball as an insulting coronation gift. However, King Henry V chooses to frame this as a positive reflection of his boyhood. His sister Philippa, now the Queen of Denmark, cautions her brother that nobles in any royal court have their own interests in mind and will never fully reveal their true intentions.

 King Henry V interrogates a captured assassin who claims to have been sent to kill him by King Charles VI of France. French agents approach the English nobles Cambridge and Grey. The traitors plot against Hal and unsuccessfully attempt to win over the Chief Justice, Gascoigne. Gascoigne advises Hal that a show of strength is necessary to unite England, so Hal declares war on France and has Cambridge and Grey beheaded. 

He approaches Falstaff and appoints him as his chief military strategist, saying that Falstaff is the only man he truly trusts. The English army sets sail for France. After completing the Siege of Harfleur, they receive taunting messages from the Dauphin. 

The English advance parties stumble upon a vast French army gathering to face them. Dorset advises Hal to retreat, but Falstaff proposes a false advance to induce the French into rushing forward into the muddy battlefield, where they will be weighed down by their heavy armour and horses. They will then be attacked by the English longbowmen and surrounded by a large, lightly armoured flanking force hidden in the nearby woods. 

Unable to dissuade Falstaff from leading the advance personally, Hal proposes to the Dauphin that they meet in single combat to decide the battle and minimise bloodshed. The Dauphin, seeing this as weakness, refuses. The Battle of Agincourt commences. Falstaff's plan works – the bulk of the French army charges to engage Falstaff's force and is soon mired in the mud. Hal leads the flanking attack, and the outnumbered but far more mobile English army overpowers the immobilised French, though Falstaff is killed. 

The Dauphin, seeing his men being driven back, reinvokes Hal's challenge but repeatedly slips and falls in the mud until Hal permits his soldiers to kill him. Hal orders all French prisoners executed for fear that they might regroup, despite Falstaff having previously warned him that such an action would be unchivalrous and unworthy of a king. 

Hal reaches King Charles VI, who agrees to adopt him as his heir and offers him the hand of his daughter Catherine of Valois. Hal returns to England with his new wife for a celebratory triumph. In private, she challenges his reasons for invading France and denies the supposed French actions against Hal, suggesting the assassin was a plot from within his own court. 

Suspicious, Hal confronts Gascoigne, who confesses that he had staged the insult and acts of aggression, believing that his sole duty is to protect the king even if it means deceiving him. In a cold fury, Hal stabs the Chief Justice to death, and returns to Catherine, asking that she promise to always speak the truth to him, as clearly as possible.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Twilight Saga: Breaking dawn Part II, 2012 (Leaving Soon Netflix)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (or simply Breaking Dawn – Part 2) is a 2012 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. It is the sequel to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and the fifth and final installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively; Mackenzie Foy portrays Renesmee Cullen. The ensemble cast includes Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Michael Sheen, and Dakota Fanning.

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PLOT

The film continues from the events of the previous film, as Bella, who has just given birth, awakens from her human-to-vampire transformation. After her vampire husband Edward Cullen helps her tame her initial thirst for blood, Bella is introduced to their daughter Renesmee. The rest of the Cullens and Bella's werewolf friend Jacob stay nearby, and when Jacob acts possessively towards Renesmee, Bella learns he has "imprinted" on her, a werewolf phenomenon that makes Jacob and Renesmee soul-mates.

Meanwhile, Bella's father, Charlie, has been trying to contact the Cullens for updates on Bella's health. Carlisle, the Cullen patriarch and a medical doctor, announces that they have to leave Forks, Washington, to protect their identities.

Jacob, desperate not to lose Renesmee, visits Charlie and tells him that Bella is alive and vaguely describes that she has transformed, revealing his wolf form to Charlie to persuade him to stop asking further questions. Charlie goes to the Cullen house to see Bella and meet Renesmee. He accepts that Bella is now recovered but somehow different, though he does not know what has changed or where Renesmee came from, instead accepting she is "adopted".

Several months pass with Carlisle monitoring Renesmee's rapid growth. The vampire Irina spots Renesmee in the forest and mistakenly assumes she is an "immortal child": a type of vampire transformed in childhood who, because it cannot be reasoned with or trained, sucks the blood out of humans uncontrollably. The creation of such children is outlawed by the vampire leadership, the Volturi, and anyone caught with one is executed on the spot. Irina reports the crime to the Volturi.

After Edward's sister Alice, who can see glimpses of the future, experiences a vision of the Volturi and Irina coming to kill the Cullens, she instructs the others to gather as many witnesses as they can to testify that Renesmee is not an immortal child.

As the Volturi serve punishments swiftly, the Cullens and their werewolf allies prepare for a possible battle. Bella soon realizes she has a special ability: a powerful mental shield that had protected her from Edward's mind-reading even when she was human, which she is taught to extend to protect others from vampire superpowers.

The army of the Volturi arrives in Forks, led by Aro, who can read people's minds by touching them. Seeing the Cullens alongside their witnesses and allies, the Volturi hesitate. The Cullens are able to prove to Aro that Renesmee is not an immortal child.

However, the Volturi are eager to subdue the Cullens to forcibly enlist their talented members, so they summarily execute Irina for her mistake to provoke the Cullens into battle. But before an all-out fight breaks out, Alice appears in time to give Aro her vision of the future if fighting ensues.

In Alice's violent vision, Carlisle, Aro, and several others on both sides are killed, including other Volturi, Cullens, and werewolves. Aro, despite being afraid of the vision, still wants to execute Renesmee as she might be a threat to the vampires' secrecy.

Alice reveals their final witness, a Mapuche man from South America, who is a half-human half-vampire, just like Renesmee. He proves that he is not a threat, supporting the notion that Renesmee is not one either. The Volturi unhappily leave, Aro concluding that there will be no battle today.

Back at the Cullen home, Alice glimpses the future, seeing Edward and Bella greeting Jacob and a fully matured Renesmee, also a couple, on a sun-dappled beach. Edward reads Alice's mind and feels relieved that Renesmee has Jacob to protect her.

Alone in their favorite meadow, Bella pushes her mental shield away and finally allows Edward to see into her mind, showing him every moment they have shared together in a montage. They kiss after Bella tells him, "nobody has ever loved anybody as much as I love you", and he romantically responds "with one exception".

Rating: 10 Stars