RAZE [2013]

Josh C. Waller's vicious exploitation flick, Raze, is guaranteed to make even the strongest of stomachs wince at least once.
50 women are abducted by bored rich folk and forced to beat each other to death in one-on-one matches to save their own loved ones from being murdered.  Sound familiar?  Probably.  It's nothing new with the exception of it being women this time around and it wisely avoids all the gratuitous nudity, lesbianism and rape scenes one would expect from such a film.  However it doesn't skimp on the stomach-turning bloodshed.  The level of graphic brutality earns the film a comfy spot in the horror genre based on the violence alone.  At first the film doesn't offer much but mind-numbing cruelty but as we become more familiar with the characters and they with each other, the choices, consequences and sacrifices make it both interesting and distressing to watch.  It's decent performances and clever writing raise the film above it's spotty premise and that's a disturbing yet pleasant surprise.

3 Death Proof girls out of 5

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

I didn't collect Joe figures as a kid, so I didn't see the Hollywood anus take a giant shit on a beloved childhood memory. All I saw was a film that had more time spent on calculating how many explosions were needed to turn a profit than it had on improving the script, which, let’s face it, isn't atypical of the summer action movie genre. In that respect, it's as good or as bad as many of the other below average summer time-wasters. I even enjoyed that utterly ridiculous chase through the streets of Paris.

2 traffic violations out of 5

THE WOODS [2006]

Something eerie is going on in director Lucky McKee's bizarre supernatural thriller The Woods.
McKee has a stylish and imaginative flair that brings this otherwise run of the mill Suspiria clone up a few notches where it allows us to know the characters and feel the atmosphere.  It never really frightens or disturbs like the director's other works but manages to keep it spooky beginning to end.
...and let's face it, we all want to see Bruce Campbell fight trees again.

3 glasses of spilt milk out of 5