Friday, 7 August 2026

Darbie's Screamhouse Film Review



Horror knockoffs are a dime a dozen these days with seeming every single characters that's in the public domain getting one. Well we have a horror movie that's based on both a popular toy character that is still under copyright law and its successful 2023 film and if you want to know what character and movie this is knocking off just look at the films title as it's clear as day what character is being knocked off in this movie and to then join me as I review the film that likes to remind you of other better horror properties like The Munsters and Creature From The Black Lagoon with the film in question being called simply just "Darbie's Screamhouse" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when Darbie gets told that her boyfriend is cheating on her she sets out to kill all of the people that he's cheating on her with. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that'd actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really bad. Even for a film that's obviously using a beloved character as the main villain this films plot is bad like laughably bad as there is nothing to this films plot at all with it feeling like that the makers of this film wrote this film up over a weekend and called it a day as there is no thought and no effort put into this films plot. To say that this films plot is thin would be an understatement as while the film does indeed get to the plot right away it does take a good long while for the plot to really get going and when it does and when it does get to things that are interesting or decently done it gets cut off all for no reason with this being something that does leave the plot of the films feeling underbaked with one of the ideas of the film being something that is so stupid that it does actually work that being the fact that the doll characters in this film are literally dolls in the real world with them all even having an owner but the film does nothing with that idea and yet it's the best part of the films plot, this films plot can best be described as nothing alot happens for an hour followed by everything happening in the final thirteen minuets of the film as that what it felt like alot of the time as the film doesn't devote any time to fully fleshing out it's plot with the plot of this film also not really being really rather entertaining and as well as not really being really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 


Starring in this film is this films co-writer -co-composer and executive producer Jessa Jupiter Flux as Darbie , Ashleigh Amberlynn as Ditzie Darbie , Brent W. Black as Brent and Angel Nichole Bradford as Danger Darbie. Also starring in this film is Joe Casterline as Beach Blanket Ben , Kimberly Lynn Cole as The Mayor , Mel Heflin as Rodeo Darbie , Jimmy Kelley as Jimbo , Fallon Maressa as Dream Date , Kasper Meltedhair as Deidre Doll , Claude D. Miles as Ben , Newt Wallen as Sleazy Steve and Ana Xaden as Tripper.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that'd actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really bad. Even for one of these extremely cheaply made horror films where the actors are usually just friends with the director the acting is bad even the child actor that they got to play the dolls owner is bad this is of course none of the actors fault as they are being told to act a certain but when your leading actor has so many other roles in the films production then she really should have stepped up her game and made sure that the director and co-writer Donald Farmer knew what he was doing as it does seem like he had no idea on how to get a good performance out of his actors and it is something that really does show in this film. With the best actor in the film being Mel Heflin as Rodeo Darbie as she looks like she's the only one who is having a good time in making this film and is fully committed to it does this make her performance in the film good no but it does make her better then alot of the films other actors with her character her character a southern charm that does make her character more fun with this being being something that does come through in her performance. With the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.


Character wise it does go without saying as alike alot of these horror movies the films characters are at best weak. As none of this films characters ate even remotely well written with all of them just being bland and boring characters that feel like characters in a decently written Barbie horror fanfiction look to be fair this films characters were never ever going to be that good as this films script was more then likely written in a week with there being no re-writes to the films script yet if there was re-writes to the script then the makes of the film could have taken the chance to make the films characters at the very least passable as Darbie is just a dumb character who is literally just Barbie but with no charm to her and the rest of her line of dolls all have the personality of there name Ditzy Darbie is dumb , Rodeo Darbie loves country , Danger Darbie loves sports which isn't dangerous at all and Tripper is nosey these are the more stereotypical character traits that they could give a character with all of the male characters having zero personality which given that there ripping of Ken is oddly fitting. Heck they even fail to understand that being into sports isn't a dangerous thing therefor calling a character Danger Darbie makes to sense when you could have called her Sporty Darbie and having two characters in the film serving as the films dumb character just doesn't work and is just pure lazy writing on the behalf of the makers of this film with it being obvious that the makers of this film are just coping the character traits of the characters in the 2023 live action Barbie movie without taking the time to realize what it was that made those character traits in that film work as well as did because if they did then this films characters would have been better written. 


It's pretty obvious just by looking at the title of the film that this film is ripping off the live action Barbie movie and the Barbie toyline in general. As everything about this film was done so much more better in that movie with even the fact that this film mainly takes lace in the world of the Darbie dolls here called Dollworld and occasionally cutting back to the real world whereas in the Barbie movie that movie was set both in Barbie Land and the real world world and even the title of the film is a play on Barbie's Dreamhouse this film is such a Barbie knock off that Mattel could actually have grounds to sue as while they are not using there characters it's clear as day who the knocks are meant to represent as the film makes no attempts to hide it. Just to be clear I was willing to go into this film with an open mind and fully accept it as a movie done in the vains of say The Mouse Trap or Popeye's Revenge but those movies at least had some level of thought put into what it was that they were knocking off and while yes the whole idea behind these films is always the fact that the killer is a beloved kids character however this film is such an obvious knock off of a much more better movie that it is hard to ignore alot alot of the time where as in alot of these other films you can easily just switch your brain of and accept it for what it is here tho you really can't do that as they do throw so much stuff at you that was done better in the Barbie movie that all it ends up doing is reminding you that you could have been watching that movie instead, this is something that wouldn't be an issue if the film had alot more redeeming qualities about it but it doesn't as there is clearly no thought and no effort put into this film and that is something that you do notice right away and becomes a bigger issue the longer that the film goes on heck if I made this film i'd be embarrassed by it as it is just that bad and that obvious of a Barbie knock off film.

There really is nothing all that redeeming about this film with the film even having dreadful sound al throughout the film. With characters from sounding there like there whispering even tho there in the same room as each other to suddenly SOUNDING LIKE THERE SOUTING in the same scene this is something that really does hit home the fact that this film was really poorly made as even The Mouse Trap had better sound quality then this film does and that film was made for cheaply in a couple of weeks where as with this film it does feel like everything came together in a matter of days with the films sound quality really suffering as a result of how cheaply made that this film was whereas if the makers of this film did take the time to fully make the film as best they could have done by raising the funds to get better equipment then we could have something that was at the very least watchable but we don't even have that. Look to be fair to this film this film it was made cheaply and this is something that does need to be taken into account but you can still get good quality sound cheaply just by going to a film school near your location and asking around for any students who are hoping to do something do with sound in the film industry this would have been something that would have given the film a much more better quality of the sound and it's something that they would have been able to do for next to nothing therefor it wouldn't have been a big chunk of the film budget and yet this is something that quite clearly never happened as the sound that we ended up getting just sounds bad with it making the makers of this film look like they had no quality control as they just let the film be released with this dreadful sound.


I really is hard to say on if this film is mean to be a horror comedy or not as while the film does feature some jokes in it. Alot of those jokes just aren't that good with the film having a running joke in which a newscast will repeat something that we've already seen with the directors name being mentioned at the bottom of the screen and that's it with even the characters acting so dumb that they could be in a comedy yet it's those jokes that do make the film feel like a horror comedy albeit one that is more in favor of being a comedy then a horror film when the balance really did need to be split equally with Darbie herself being a good example of this as even she is the films main villain she does get alot of moments to show us the fact that she is just a doll. With the fact that her idea of getting drunk is drinking root beer and the fact that all of her clothes are pink or have pink in them really playing into the main idea of these characters just being dolls something which the other characters to play into when they mention the fact that alot of them did get other toy sets whilst Ditzy Darbie never did and therefor only has the ne set of clothes which is a funny idea but the film never does anything with it as we never get to see her struggle to to choose what to wear in the morning or see her try not to get anything on her one and old dress these are things that are perfectly made for Ditzy Darbie as they would have played into the fact that there was only one toy set made for her and even tho it's a small thing to have in the film it is something that would have made for a decent running joke in the film instead of having a news cast show up to just repeat everything that we've just seen.

Now the this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirteen minuets and twenty three seconds. This on paper should have been a perfect running time for this kind of film to have as these films don't typically have that long of a running time in the first place but given the fact that it takes well over twenty minuets for the films plot to start of properly and the fact that it takes till around the thirty minuet mark for us to get to out first kill of the film that it then the running time does become a problem but it's one that could have been fixed by the makers of this film just by having them cut out alot of the pointless slow motion shots of Darbie and cut down on the films over two minuet opening sequence and give that running time to getting to the films plot early and to getting us at the first kill alot more quicker wit the film having more then enough plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place. This film really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot as the film instead spends more time in getting alot of the actors playing the various Darbie to go topless for literally no reason whatsoever and not use that running time to fully develop it's plot with it being painfully obvious that the makers of this film cared more about getting alot of the female actors topless then they did about fully developing the plot of the film. This is also something that does effect the films character development as none of the films characters get any kind of character development which to be fair is par the course for these kinds of films but it is something that should still be called out as that's how the makers of these film listen with it being made clear that they cared more about showing of a signed picture of The Munsters then they did about giving the characters any kind of character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really bad pacing to it tho. 


So now then as a slasher that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really bad. With the actor playing Darbie not only missing her target alot of the time so much so that it does make the kills more comical then it does scary but the films kills are also lame as anything to watch and are filled with CGI blood, look having CGI blood in this case does make sense as again the film would have had a small budget but having your leading actor missing her target alot of the time is just bad film making. With there not even being a kill in the film that could be called the best ill of the film as they are all equally lame with them all having CGI blood in them and it's the same effect as well a it's just blood spurting up int the air which is fine for one kill but it's in all of them and it is something that does make you wonder what the quality control was like for this film as they are letting so many small things slip threw the cracks here that it does end creating one big problem with these things being made worse when you take into count that Darbie is missing all of her targets alot of the time and heck they even show us clear as day that she's not even close to hitting Danger Darbie which is just bad editing and is something that very easily could rea;;y have been fixed just by cutting to close up shot of Darbie it's that easy of a fix and yet the makers of this film clearly really didn't care enough to fix this mistake with the rest of the films kills being just as bad as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at lea
st.


Overall does it seven need saying what I think of this film by now as yeah even for a cheaply made horror film this film is bad as even The Mouse Trap whilst that film does have it's flaws still had decent sound and kills going for it this film doesn't even have those going for it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now the  i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 0 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.

Monday, 3 August 2026

Killer Klowns From Outer Space Film Review



There are some films just from the title alone that you know full well are going to be cult hit films The Amazing Colossal Man or Queen Of Outer Space. The film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today is one such film as all you have to do is read the title of the film and you know right away that the mainstream audience isn't going to catch on to it but it will find it's audience else where and that's exactly what happened as the mainstream audience hasn't embraced this film yet it has found a cult following and so then join me as I review the film that really pretty much lets you know right in the title what it's about with the film in question being called simply just "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when two teenagers find an alien spaceship shaped like a giant circus tent it falls on them to stop there town from being invaded by killer clowns that are from outer space. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best. To be frank here this films plot like alot of the things in this film is going to be hard to fully judge as the film is meant to be over the top and almost cartoon like and to be fair this films plot does represent that by being this fun and over the top plot. However tho here's the thing the films does take it plot far to seriously to the point where it's not that fun to watch whereas given the more goofy nature of the film it would have made more sense for the plot to be played up more laughs and be alot more fun as this is the kind of goofy and over the top premise where you can afford to do something like that and it would not only work but it would work in the films favor, this is not helped by the fact that the films plot is pretty thin at best and while this is something that is still a bad thing it does feel more like an excuse for the makers of this film to have some gags with the villains of the film which is something that does make sense but it does come at the expense of making the films plot be alot more stronger as this is something that if it was done right and done well then it could have had this strong plot but it just wasn't and therefor we do end up with this pretty thin plot with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 


Starring in this film is Grant Cramer as Mike Tobacco , Suzanne Snyder as Debbie Stone and John Allen Nelson as Officer Dave Hanson. Also starring in this film is John Vernon as Officer Curtis Mooney , Michael S. Siegel as Rich Terenzi , Peter Licassi as Paul Terenzi , Royal Dano as Farmer Gene Green, one of this films co-writer and co-producers Charles Chiodo as Jojo The Klownzilla and Christopher Titus as Bob McReed.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. The quality of acting that we get in this film us about pretty much what you expect to get from a like this one as all but maybe one of this films actors aren't that well known with the only slightly known actor being John Vernon and that's it and he's not in the film all that much with the rest of the films actors just having a blast being in this film with t being clear as day that they know what type of film that this is and are just willing to have fun with it. With the best actor in this film being Grant Cramer as Mike Tobacco as he does do a good job of playing someone who is so stressed out about the whole thing and that wants to defeat these clowns but is constantly held back by doing so from the towns police officers with Grant really making someone what could have been a really annoying character seem kind of fun and kind of likable with his performance in the film really helping to make the film alot more better as Mike could have been this really annoying character that we all hate and yet Grant found away to make him likable which is something that really does shine through in his final performance. With the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this film characters absolutely anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even menta to be in the first place which is something that really does help to hinder the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.


Characters wise the films characters are really much like everything else in the film as they hard to fully judge. As while alot of the characters are very poorly written one could argue that that's also apart of this films charm as this film is meant a be this cheesy science fiction horror comedy and part of that does include having very poorly written characters with none of the films leading characters having anything about them that makes them stand out as Debbie is just the damsel in distress character that we've seen hundreds of times , Mike is the action hero and Dave is just there and while these character tropes aren't bad as they are tropes for a reason there still does need to be more added to these characters to make them feel more fleshed out. With the worst of the films characters easily being brothers Rich and Paul Terenzi as they are meant to be the films comic relief characters and yet they are written to be so annoying that you actively dread every single time that they appear on screen as not only is there attempts at "comedy" not even funny as it just boils down to them arguing over who's idea it was to start an Ice Cream busisness in the first place which isn't funny and the characters have some kind of thick plot armor on them as they survive alot of scenes where they should have been killed which granted might be one of the films jokes but if so then the joke needs to be funny and if it wasn't meant as a joke that why have it happen in the first place and why have it happen to the two most annoying characters in the film as having it happen to any of the main three characters would have made some form of sense as you could argue that it was happening to make the clowns defeat all the more satisfying but to have it happen to two of the characters that nobody likes just makes it pointless.


This film is the very definition of a cult hit film as everything about this film from it's title to it's tone just screams cult hit. and thank god it was. As if this film was a mainstream hit film we would be on the first remake by now after having several sequels all of which having nothing to do with the main film and yet despite the fact that this film is a cult hit film we have never ever gotten a sequel to this film with the closest thing to a continuation being being the recently released video game Killer Clowns From Outer Space: The Video Game with there being a remake announced to be in the early stages of development this is something that does go to show you just how much of a cult hit that this film is as Hollywood very rarely if ever looks to remake one one of these movies. With the thing that's kept this film fresh in peoples minds being the fans that its grown over the years as every year people do dress up as the clowns for halloween and spirit halloween does have a dedicated section of there stores just for selling replicas of the films props and costumes and if the whom every they get to direct the remake is smart then they'll listen to the fans and give them exactly what they want as they are the ones that have kept this franchise alive for all of these years and they are the ones that should the remake ever get made by the ones that need to be listened to the most. the fact that the film is a cult hit is not a bad thing in this case as some films are made to be exactly that and while it would have been nice if the film did find some level of mainstream success given it's title and premise that was never going to be the case and that's OK at it makes the film feel like this little secret that only a few people know about with the makers of this film seemingly leaning in to the cult aspect of the film in the film itself just by having the clowns be these the top villains.

This film is a horror film but it's one that does more effort into its comedy then it does it's horror element. With the film still having creative kills and fun kills but there sadly aren't that many actual deaths in the film as alot of the citizens that do get attacked by the clowns end up in these pink like objects and are taken to the spaceship for unknown reasons which is great as it does give the film an air of mystery as it means that we the audience have to work out why the people are being transported to this ship in the first place but for a horror film it does feel like that the makers of this film did put alot more thought and effort into giving the film some out there and wacky comedy then they did into giving us a lot of kills. While it does make sense for the makers of this film to focus more on the comedy as this mean to a horror comedy after all the fact that they tip the scale so far one way and not enough the other is a huge issue as a film like this one is going to attract people who don't love horror but are attracted to the films title and while having them laugh at the films comedy works for the film it doesn't work for the people that just want to see a lot of bloody deaths as they end up getting noting and while you can't of course please every body there did need to be an attempt made to give the film some genuinely scary moments as the film does out of the way to give us some really funny moments with a film like this one really needing to balance the line between horror and comedy alot more better as if you tip it to much either way you risk loosing alot of the audience but if you kept it fairly well balanced by having alot of genuinely scary moments and some genuinely funny moments then this film really could have been something all the more special.


There's no doubt about it the main stars of this film aren't the films human actors it's the clowns themselves and it's very easy to see why' As while none of them are named either in the film or in the films credits they all look not only so cool but are all visually distinct from each other that no one is going to be getting these clown mixed up with each other with no to clowns in this film looking the same which is something that very easily could have happened as the makers of this film didn't have a big budget to make this film with the most expensive thing in the whole film being clowns gun therefor it would have been super easy for this film to use duplicate designs for some of the clowns as a way to save money and yet they didn't. Wit all of the films puppets looking so good which is something that does make sense all of the key people that made this film are all special effects artists and you can tell that this film was basically mad as a showcase for them to show us what they can do with puppets as they do get all of the puppets into these weird and funny situations that for a filmmaker that hasn't had that expirence with working with specials effects would be seen as being a night mare to film and yet because of the fact The Chiodo Brothers are all special effects artists they would know how best to film these creatures to make them look good and while there are some scenes in the film that could have been filmed differently like there are in alot of other films the makers of this film do a really good job of making all of the films puppets not only look really good but in the case of Jojo also looking really creepy as well.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty six minuets and one second. This is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you'd expect a film like this one to have and to be be fair this is exactly how long that this film really needed to be as the films premise is wafer thin as it is and therefor stretching it out even by five extra minuets would be pushing it as it is something that would require alot of filler scenes and while granted some of those scenes could have been used to fix issues with the film this is a case where the films faults add to the overall charm of the film itself with the film having more then enough there interms of plot to cover that amount of running time. Yet even so this film still really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as we don't get to find out a few of the most basic things like why the clowns are on earth to begin with or why they are they are evil both of those things are crucial to make the films plot work and yet they are both missing from this film which is something that does make the films plot feel a tab underbaked with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film cared more about the clown puppets then they did about giving the film plot development. This is something that does also shine through into the films character development as well as none of the films characters get any of kind of development with all of the films human characters sticking with there one personality trait all throughout the film and not really learning or growing as characters as the film doesn't add anything to any of its characters to make them feel more developed and thought out which is something that the makers of this film really should have done with the makers of this films put alot more thought into the films comedy they they did into the films character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With alot of this films comedy coming from the fact that the films main villains are all clowns doing the things that we all see clowns do in a circus only now it's mainly done to horrifying results and heck we even seen the main three characters each get a pie in the face at the end of the film which was something that really didn't need to be in the film but its also something that does hit home the idea that this films villains are at the end of the day just clowns. With the best joke in the whole entire film being a really simple and stupid joke as it's the joke where the clowns in order to find there victims will create a balloon animal dog with that dog nine times out of ten acting like a real dog complete with it barking whenever it sees one of there victims which is just such a fun and funny idea that could only only work in this film with this kind of joke really telling us that the makers of this film knew fully well just what type of film that they were making and therefor just weren't all out of with the types jokes that they would have and while the balloon animal dog is a really simple effect to pull off as it is literally just a balloon animal it is something that does look really good in the film with all of the films actors really commiting to the idea that this balloon animal dog is real which is something that does make it all the more funnier with the rest of the films jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Overall it really is easy to see why this film has as big of a cult following as it has as this is the kind of film that is just made for a cult audience and to be fair to this film that is exactly what it was also going to be is allowed to truly flourish because of it as it would have been forced into being something that it's not if this film did get mainstream success which would make this film all the less special in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , Amazon . Co . Uk , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.

Saturday, 1 August 2026

Soulm8te Film Review



Films set in a shared universe are a very popular thing these days however alot of them all have the same thing in common there universes are still going strong. The same thing cannot be said for the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today as this i a film that is set in a universe that is pretty much dead after it's second film as that film did so poorly at the box office that it forced Universal to shelf this film film for a while before deciding to release it as a straight to DVD and Digital only movie and so then join me as I review the film is for now the final film in the M3GAN universe with the film in question being called simply just "Soulm8te" enjoy.

The plot of this film is a software engineer named David gets a protype robot meant to simulate love but when he removes it's safe guards to make it feel more human the robot ends up becoming more and more obsessed with David. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot thats actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With the films plot being a more adult version of the plot of M3GAN even down to sharing very similar plot beats to it but where as in that film the plot felt fresh and new here in this film it felt tired and worn out. As the film really doesn't do anything new or even remotely interesting with its plot as the films plot does go to all of the places that you think that a plot like this would go to and while this is fine for something like Betty's Revenge or Popeye Returns as in those types of films you do walk into them expecting the plot to be predictable whereas here with this film given the fact that it was made by a major film studio and was slated to get a theatrical release back in 2025 it does make you wonder why the makers of this film thought that it was a good idea to have the plot be this predictable in the first place as while the M3GAN 2.0 had a pretty out there plot you never knew where it was going to go next but here with this plot you do know where its going and while yes the plot is still a solid plot it doesn't mean that it had to be this level of predictable with the plot of this film also not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this film is Evil Dead Rise star and The Mummy 2026 star Lily Sullivan as Sara , Oppenheimer and Alien: Earth star David Rysdahl as David Wasson and The Boys and Gen V star Claudia Doumit as Aubrey Mansouri. Also starring in this film is Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and Daredevil: Born Again star Arty Froushan as Ben Hoffman , Elijah Cook as Terrence , Emma Ramos as Alma Flores and Mara Huf as Lizzie.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting thats actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. To be frank if you go into this film expecting the acting to be really good then more fool you to be honesty as the M3GAN films aren't really known for having great acting in them as everyone in those films seems to know full well that there in a bad movie and just have fun with it and it does kind of look like it's the same here as alot of this films actors do look like that they know there in a bad film but the thing is they don't turn in enjoyable performances rather they play everything straight with this making the films performances feel boring and wooden. With the best actor in the film being Lily Sullivan as Sara as she does make for a really good robot with this being a case where having wooden acting would work well in the films favor and while i'm not saying that she's wooden in the film far from it but given how seriously the rest of the films actors are forced to treat things in the film it does help with her acting as Sara is a robot and therefor being more robotic and wooden with the acting makes sense and while she's not as good as both Amie Donald and Jenna Davis were as M3GAN she is still enjoyable in her own right but you do get the feeling that the makers of this film were holding her back as we known from she is in Evil Dead Rise that when she lets loose as an actor she can be really good but here she's not allowed to be that good with this being something that does shine through in her performance. With the acting that's in this very film not really being helped by the fact that the films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely anything to work with interms of what it is that there characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.


Doing the CGI for this film is the legenda and the greats that are currently over at Cinesite , Folks and Millennium FX. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI thats actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty pretty good. It would be a challenge to say that this films CGI was impressive as there was very little of it in the film outside of a shot where you see the back of a robots head whilst still seeing there human looking face but to be fair to this film what little CGI that we go get in this film does for the most part look really good. Whilst there are alot of good effect in the film with any film there are some bad looking effects but the bad ones don't really last that long and are only screen for a few seconds at the most with it feeling like this film is only CGI to improve things on the robot characters which is something that does make sense as it was something that they did on both of the M3GAN movies as well and therefor it does make sense for them to do it here, with it appearing as if the film uses more hidden CGI then it does outright using computer effects which is something that does make sense as these movies have never really been effects heavy movies. This film does mainly use CGI for things like extending the sets and that's really it and that is a great way to use CGI as there just building upon what was there on the day of filming and not creating something that they could have done for real inside of a computer.


Incase you aren't aware this film is set in the same world as the M3GAN movies and was supposed to come out either last year or early this year as the film was fully completed in late 2024. However most likely due to M3GAN 2.0 not getting as many good reviews as the first film and not doing all that well at the box office it does appear as if Universal Pictures got cold feet as this film was supposed to get a theatrical release and yet due M3GAN 2.0 not doing as well as the first film did Universal pulled the film from it's release schedule and left it's future in doubt that was until a few weeks ago when they dropped the trailer on there direct to DVD Youtube channel telling us that the film will be getting released after all just not theatrically. However it still feels like that Universal is doing this film dirty as alot of digital releases happen on a Tuesday or during the working week that way people have all week to buy or download the film and the film can do well in terms of shifting DVDs / Blu-Rays and downloads yet Universal decided to drop this film on a Saturday when no one is going to be around to download or buy the film as alot of them will be spending time with there families r going on holiday just bottom line not really being around to get the film when it first comes out this is something that does pretty much signify the death of the M3GAN shared universe as 2.0 proved that it doesn't have that much staying power at the the box office and due to Universal releasing this film on an odd day when releasing it during the working week would help the film this film won't do that well with it feeling like that the film only got released for contractual reasons and not because Universal believed that they had a good product on there hands.

If we're being honest there this film does feel like a poorer version of Obsession as both films do share a kind of similar plot to them. As both films feature a character that becomes obsessed with someone else to the point where they are willing to kill people who they think is getting in there way with the only difference being the fact that the in Obsession the obsessed person is a human where as here its a robot and that's literally it and given the fact that Obsession is the most profitable horror film of the year thus far it does make sense for Universal to release this film to try and leech off of that and with the film being an R rated film it does mean that the film can go to those more adult places that the other films in this universe can't go to due to the fact that there PG-13. This is a hard to film to fully judge as usually with a direct to DVD  film there are certain things that you can excuse due to them not having a bug budget and yet here due to the fact that it was never made to be a direct to digital movie it does mean that the film had a big budget to afford to do bigger and better things which makes it all the main painful when they just do the bare minimum as alot of this film is very predictable as it does follow alot of the same beats laid out by Obsession and while it would be wrong to call this film a knock off of that movie due to the fact that this film was shot first it was however released second, to give this film credit it does kind of earn its R rating as we do get to see some level of blood in this film grated it's not as much as other R rated horror films but it still there with the film having alot of adult things in it therefor even tho it is set in the world of M3GAN it is one that young fans of those two movies should stay away from.


Sara as a villain to be frank is actually made out to be quite likable as we only see her attack people who are bad towards her at first. With this being something that does make us want to cheer her on like for example we see her almost getting robbed by some guy who was rude to her before therefor when she does kill him we don't feel sorry for him we feel glad for her as she was put into a situation where that was her only way out whereas if the guy show attacked was a nice guy but she attacked him anyway then it would make her out to be this nasty villain and that's what she needs to be as she had just seen various adverts and TV shows about how to act with her mind becoming more and more warped by the things that she was seeing therefor she would go outside with that knowledge and attack someone believing that she was doing the right thing and yet by not having her do that the makers of this film make her out to be the good guy in that situation. However she dos come off alot more better as a character then David as David comes across as being a blank slate as there's nothing to his character outside of the fact that he's lost someone close to him and that's it whereas with Sara not having anything to her character is oddly fitting for her character as she is a robot after all and is just learning how the world works when David takes apart her programming to make her more human with David quite frankly being the worst character in the film as there rea;;y isn't anything to him that makes the him feel unique and while the same thing could also be said for Sara it hurts with David his backstory is tragic enough that it right away makes you want to like hm as a character and yet the second you start to poke wholes in his character that's when he starts to fall apart.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty nine minuets and six seconds. Which is both a solid running time for the film to have and also not long enough for this film as this is a film that really could have been about ten minuets longer as the film does spend alot of time just in setting up it's plot and therefor when Sara does start going on a killing spree the film is almost over and yet at the same time this is also the perfect running time for the film to have as the films plot is not only so thin in the first place that to stretch it out to near two hours would be a bit much but also it would mean having alot more scenes that are just pure filler with the film having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of time in the first place. With the film not even using the running time that it does gave all that wisely as the makers of this film don't really take the time to fully develop the films plot with this being something that they really should have done as while the plot for the M3GAN films aren't the best there are still things added to them that do make them appear to be more thought out whereas here it does appear as if the film was made up as they went along as all of the things that they could've have added to the films plot that they set up in the first act of the film don't effect the films plot at all and are forgotten about with the makers of this films putting more thought and effort into making sure that we know that this is an adult film then they did in giving us plot development. Heck even the films characters aren't that well developed as the film doesn't take the time to give them any kind of development with is fine for Sara as she is afterall a robot but all of the films human characters there really did need to be something literally anything that made them feel more well developed with the makers of this films putting more thought and effort into giving David a tragic backstory then they did into giving us well developed character but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.  


So now then as this is a a horror film that really does mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally tought / felt hat the actual kills that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. The films kills are to be frank the best part of the film as thats where we get to see this films premise of being this erotic thriller with robots get put to good use with even one of the films more memorable kills being something hat does as full advantage as they could have done will still being a mainstream Hollywood R rated movie as we do get to see a really creative kill and given what happens in that scene alot of blood. However that is not the best kill in the film as that honor does go to the death of Ben as Sara hacks into his robotic car to get it to keep the hood or bonnet open with her only telling her to close when his hands are under it thus slamming them into them and yet it doesn't stop there as she then gets to the car to drive into him at full speed into a parking lot garage door and then with his hands still trapped reverse at full speed thus ripping of his arms with him dieing not long after, which is just such a fun and creative kill that does take full advantage of the fact that Sara is a robot and therefor she would be able to hack into things to get them to do as she wants which is just such a cool and creative idea and it is one that this film does keep on coming back and when it does that that' that's when we end up with something truly special like this kill was with the rest of the films kills being just as good as this one one was as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Overall it is hard to say if this film is better then M3GAN 2.0 was as that film was made for and got a theatrical release whereas this film whilst it was made to get released theatrically ended up with a direct to DVD release but the one thing that is certain is that the M3GAN franchise is good as well dead in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally thought in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies an gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.

Wednesday, 29 July 2026

Munster, Go Home! Film Review



When people think of scary but family friendly horror families they usually only think of The Addams Family and for good reason. Yet not alot of them no that around the same time as that show was starting another family of monsters was just starting out The Munsters and while they aren't as well known today as they were back in the day with even there latest film being that god awful Rob Zombie movie it doesn't change the fact that they did have one theatrically released movie starring alot of the TV actors and it's that very film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the film that sees The Munsters appear in color with the film in question being called simply just "Munster, Go Home!" enjoy.

The plot of this film Herman finds himself becoming the lord of a town in England and along with his entire family have to stop a counterfeiting ring taking place in there new home. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good.  While this films plot is a cheesy plot given the fact that this film was meant to serve as the final episode of the show and the show itself was pretty cheesy in all of the best ways possible it does make sense that this film would have a plot that is just as cheesy. Heck one could even make the point that it's the fact that this films plot is as cheesy as it is that it makes it alot of fun to watch as by all rights this films plot shouldn't have worked and while it could be argued that it still doesn't work it's the fact that it does have this cheesy almost sitcom like plot to it that does make fun and campy and heck even the fact that the film reverts back to the status quo of the show at the end is something that does hit home the fact that this is a sitcom style plot but here's the thing while having a plot like this works well for the show for the movie you do want something a little more grander and while having the family go to a different country does work in this regard the plot it self does need to reflect this by being more of a plot that could only work in a movie as this films plot as good as it is feels like an extended episode of the show with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this film is Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster , Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster and Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster. Also starring in this film is Butch Patrick as Eddie Munster , Debbie Watson as Marilyn Munster , Terry-Thomas as Freddie Munster , Hermione Gingold as Lady Effigie Munster , Robert Pine as Roger Moresby , John Carradine as Cruikshank , Bernard Fox as Squire Lester Moresby , Richard Dawson as Joey , Jeanne Arnold as Grace Munster , Maria Lennard as Millie Cruikshank , Cliff Norton as Herbert , Diana Chesney as Mrs. Moresby , Arthur Malet as Alfie and Ben Wright as Hennesy.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To be frank if your expecting this film to have OSCAR worthy acting in it then more fool you as whilst this films acting is indeed really good it's also the kind of good acting that you would expect to find in a sitcom which for this film does oddly work as that's where the characters started life with of course the four retuning actors having a huge advantage in this regard as they would all know how best to portray there respective characters and while the new actors do there best in this film it doesn't hold a candle to what the TV actors do in this film. With the best actor in this film being Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster which might be a cliche thing to say but it is true as he really does nail the character of Herman down perfectly with him giving us a performance that does suit the character and while the doesn't go to child like with his performance like alot of the other actors do that play this character he takes it far enough that it almost feels like a performance that's worthy of being on the big screen with him brining this likable energy to the role that really does come through in his performance. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.


Whilst the characters from the TV show are written how they usually are in the show it's the newer characters that aren't that well written. As the films new characters are written very much as being these over the top characters and while again this is something that would work in an episode of the show for the movie tho you do expect them to be better written as there really isn't all that much to this films new characters outside of the film just straight up telling us which characters we should like and which others we should hate and that's really it and even that doesn't work as the film doesn't give us a reason to care for for the characters that are meant to like and we feel indifferent about the ones that we are meant to hate. With the main Munster family being the better written of the films characters and even that is more die to the fact that the writers of this film had the expirence of writing for these characters in the show and even then some characters from the show do get the short end of the stick as both Lily and Eddie get nothing to do in the plot of the film with Herman and Grandpa being involved in the main plot and Marilyn being involved in a subplot and while one of the shows characters was always bound to get the short end of the stick when it comes to doing things in the film it feels weird that the makers of this film allowed it to happen to two characters that the fans of the show do love with the pair of them not really getting alot of time to show of just why there character was as beloved as they were in the show all for seemingly no reason as it's a very common thing with all of the live action Munsters movies, yet both Herman and Grandpa are given a chance to show of just why they were liked as characters in the show with them oddly enough getting alot the more better scenes in the film with Marilyn just kind of being there which does make as she was never really given alot to do in the show either.


Speaking of the show believe it or not this is the last time that the actors playing Eddie , Herman , Lily and Grandpa would all appear in a Munsters project together. With the only missing actor from the show being Pat Priest as she for some unknown reason was replaced by Debbie Watson with the only reason being that I can think of for her casting being the fact that she had a contract with Universal Pictures and that's really it and even then that doesn't make her casting right as Pat Priest was the more well known actor as Marilyn as even tho she took over the role from Beverly Owen she was the longest serving person to play that role and was more well known to the fans of the show as that character therefor it does seem weird that for the movie and for quite literally alot of the live action Munsters movies they would just recast the character over and over again. With the real only reason to go and see this film is to see the characters in color as up until this point in the time the characters had only been seen in black and whit and to be frank this film would have worked all the more better if it was a black and white movie as that would make it visually look more like the show but in all fairness to the film it was fun to see these characters in color and while they do get a few things wrong like for example making Herman's green skin now appear to be blue and making things perhaps a bit to colorful it was still fun to see these characters in color as the only time there had been coloured version of The Munsters was in one of the failed pilots for the original show which again like this movie had Herman's skin coloured blue, heck if this film was done as a black and white film then it could have been done more as a parody of the Hammer horror films of the time think Carry On Screaming but American and you'll get the idea.

Much like with all of The Munsters films in which she appears in Marilyn is given the same plot line in this film where she falls in love with someone who is tied to the main plot in some very loose way. While this is something that does get repeated alot in all of the other live action Munsters movies that feature Marilyn as a character this was the first film to really do that with her when it comes to the movies therefor this film does get a little bit of slack as they did have to give us a love interest somewhere in the film for one of the characters and it can't be any of the adults and Eddie is to young therefor by default it had to be Marilyn but this was also something that they did alot of the time on the show as well and it's something that does do more harm to her character then it does good. As while giving her that kind of a plot is fine for one maybe two episodes of the show for the film you do want to give her something different as your not going to have countless other episodes in which to fall back on should this plot line have failed and this is something that the nineties made for TV Munsters films did try to do as while they did give her a love interest it was someone that actively tried to help her family out, yet here in this film this plot line does feel played out as the makers of the film do nothing with it when they really could have taken the time to create something truly romantic with those scenes and yet they don't do it which does make those scenes with Marilyn feel forced as the character plays no part in the films main plot outside of having a love interest that Herman has to race against in the films third act and that's and that's not really something that justifies her being given a love interest as you very easily could have said that Roger was was her pen pal or something like that and it still would have worked as nothing about the films plot would be affected by it heck even it's own subplot wouldn't be affected by it.


To be fair to this film it's villains even tho they are badly done as characters are still really entertaining to watch in the film. As all the four them want is for Freddie to named Lord Munster which does involve the having to find ways to rid of Herman and yet every time they do Freddie throws a tantrum which is always funny to see as it does add to the over top almost cartoon like nature of this villains and yet alot of them aren't really given much screen time with alot of it going to Freddie and his mother with his sister Grace being more of an afterthought as while she does year appear in the film quite alot and even takes part in one of the families schemes to scare Herman and his family away outside of that one scene she doesn't really do anything to help to further there end goal rather she just fades away into the background while her mother and brother take the centre stage. With this not really being helped by the fact that the film does try to have a mystery over who this person telling hem how to do these things is as they only know them by The Griffin and that's it this is something that could have worked if the makers of this film had given us clues as to who The Griffin was in the first place therefor allowing for us the audience to work it out for ourselfs which does make the big reveal of it being the barmaid all the more of a let down as it literally comes out of nowhere with it making no sense be it from a character point of view or the point of the view of the movie and heck it would have given us the audience a reason to rewatch the film if there was clues sprinkled all throughout the film like for example one of the characters mentions her knowing a little to much about cars for a barmaid that would have made for a great clue to have in the film and yet we aren't given it rather we are given nothing interms of who The Griffin could be as we don't even get any sort of Red Herrings for whom the character could be either.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty six minuets and nineteen seconds. Which again to be fair to this film is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you would expect a film like this one to gave and the film does need that long of a running time to tell it's story as while you could very easily tell this films plot in a two part episode of the show if you cut out all of the padded scene in the film this is still a plot that does work well on the big screen with the films running time reflecting as while alot of sitcom to movie adaptations would feel like sketches from a sketch comedy show just loosely edited together this film does feel like exactly that a film and while yes the film doe have obvious padding with the sequence with the characters on the boat last for far two long there's no denying the fact that this running time is solid for this film with the film even having enough plot there t cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet even so this film really doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot with the film just not being bothered to add things to the plot that help to make the plot feel more developed with this adding to the feeling that this is just a sitcom style plot only now instead of being twenty two minuets it's at a feature length running time with the makers of this film being more focused on giving us over the top villains then they were in giving us a well developed plot. This is something that does also effect the films character development as while normally you could make the case for all of the tv show Munster family getting there character development in the show and therefor don't need it in the movie given the fact that the characters started out live on a sitcom that resets itself every week that was never going to happen therefor if they did stand a chance of getting character development it would have been in this movie and that's the one thing that both they and the films newer characters don't get with the makers of this film being more focused on making sure that we knew that this was the first time that we seeing these characters in color then they were in giving them character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy thats actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally tought / felt tat the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. The fact that we do have some good comedy in this film does make alot of sense as the films characters especially the villains are portrayed as being these over the top cartoons that it does make it easy for the makers of the film to craft jokes for them as they can go over the top with the jokes and that it would work and its something that does work with the TV show characters as well as they whilst there not as over the top as the villains are they are still wacky enough that they do still work. With the films best joke not really being one joke as its a running joke where alot of the people that first see the TV show Munsters are afraid of them and run of in over the top and dramatic ways which is something that whilst it is over played in the film and is a bit cheesy it does add to the films almost sitcom like nature as that is the kind of joke thar they do on an episode of the show and it's one that does still work in this film as of course these people would run of in fear as to them The Munsters are monsters and whilst The Addams Family would lean in to the fact that they are this creepy family the thing that makes this joke work not only in the show but also in this film is the fact that The Munsters think that they are normal looking people with the rest of the films jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Overall it doesn't need saying but its going to be said anyway but this film is easily better then the 2022 The Munsters film as this film does ta the very least make an attempt to not only recapture the spirit of the the original show but also adapt for a the feature length format whilst also doin it's own thing as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very revie and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.

Darbie's Screamhouse Film Review

Horror knockoffs are a dime a dozen these days with seeming every single characters that's in the public domain getting one. Well we hav...