This week I do not have the time to watch or critique anything, so it's comedy time!

Sometimes a good show or movie warrants not just a sequel but a prequel. But what happens if the prequel gets a prequel? Behold The Fear Before The Fear The Walking Dead Trailer:

We all know modern communication can be a mess to deal with, from text messages to outright scams. But how would it look if these elements were injected into the works of Jane Austin? Watch and find out!  

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

Sniper Elite 5

On May 26^th, 2022 Rebellion Studios released Sniper Elite 5. Since I have shared my opinion on Sniper Elite (SE from here on) V2, V2 Remastered, 3 and 4, I thought it is high time I shared what I think about the fifth part of the series. This is perhaps a bit late, but it takes time to fully understand a game this complex.

Once more we step into the boots of commando demigod Karl Fairburne. SE5 is set in France in 1944 from just before D-Day until that fateful day itself, and beyond. This makes it the fifth game in sequence but the third game in chronological order.

Mechanically SE5 is much like the other games. Third person camera, a good choice between rifles, submachine guns and pistols and the standard binoculars. Unlike all but SE4, the maps are enormous. It took me about three hours per map and with nine missions not counting DLC, it takes a while to play through, and that does not factor in replayability.

The game looks gorgeous, plays great and feels smooth. On a few of the levels there are loudspeakers that periodically blare out propaganda and I really wish you could turn them off. It is really loud and annoying, but that is the one mechanical element that frustrates me.

Some things are new however. Rebellion have added a RPG like leveling system that is fine but not great, in essence you become more effective with time. Nothing special, but okay. There is also a new mechanic called Focus that allows you to sense enemies through walls but using it raises your heartbeat, which reduces accuracy. When I played on lower difficulty settings, the Focus system was of questionable use at best since you can see the enemies on the mini-map, but once I got to Sniper Elite (hard) difficulty you can no longer see enemies on the map and Focus became incredibly useful.

As mentioned above, the maps are gigantic and very complex. This allows for a myriad of ways to tackle objectives in whichever way you want to. SE5 got some criticism that it is too stealth focused and not a good sniping game, but as someone who is on his fifth play through, I can confidently say that critique is complete nonsense! The maps allow up close take downs, long range sniping, furious assaults, whatever you want really. It is up to you to figure out how to do what you want to do. You get your objectives, and then you get to decide how to do them and in which order.

Another wonderful element is the addition of extra starting positions that you can unlock on each map. This simple little thing almost makes each level a new experience. On some maps you can even start on the other side of the map and essentially play it in reverse. It sounds simple but is in reality a stroke of genius.

The alternative starting positions combined with the medals really push for extra playthroughs. As I mentioned, I'm on my fifth run, and I'm finding new places and details all the time. The previous games have their achievements as does SE5, but here you can also unlock medals for mastering weapons, playing the game on various difficulties, getting long shot kills and best of all, interesting challenges like taking out three snipers in melee on a map, specific kill challenges and much more.

SE5 has a PVP invasion mode, but not only am I not interested in that, it is full of cheaters despite the so called “easy anti cheat” you have to install if you want to do that. I'll make no further comment on this.

I could keep gushing, but I think you get the point by now. I love this game! I haven't played SE4 for a few years and most SE fans say that the fourth game is the best. I agree but I would say that this installment in the series is almost as good as number 4, if not equal to it. If you've been thinking about giving Sniper Elite a chance go with 4 or 5.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Sniper

Like last week, this movie is also a re-watch from the 90's. This week it's:

Sniper (1993).

Directed by Luis Llosa and starring Tom Berenger and Billy Zane, this movie follows intelligence operative Richard Miller (Zane) and veteran Marine sniper, Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett (Berenger) as they creep through the jungles of Panama in order to take out two high profile targets.

If ever there was an easy synopsis, that has to be it, but there is actually more to it than that. The real meat of the story is the relationship between the two main characters. Beckett is a veteran, a man not just at home in the cruel jungle but one who actually thrives there. A man who lies to himself that he is going to retire one day, something Miller sees right through.

Miller on the other hand is an ex Olympic sharpshooter who has served as a SWAT sniper but hasn't actually ever killed anyone, something he is trying to hide from the veteran. Two men who are similar on the surface but couldn't be more different under the hood.

The story isn't honestly much to talk about. It is pretty typical 90's tough guy stuff. It turns out that a Panamanian sniper that stalks them was trained by Beckett, because of course he was. Things go predictably wrong but mostly turn out okay in the end. Thing like that. Comfortably predictable. Beckett isn't a one man army like often portrayed by Stallone or Schwarzenegger, but he isn't that far removed either.

I like that you can tell the difference between Miller and Beckett in how they move. Beckett is smooth and economical in his actions while Miller is nervous and twitchy. Both actors do a good job, that has to be admitted.

Sniper was made in a time when movies were often set in the jungles of Middle and South America, so a lot of the props in this movie are familiar. The plain green fatigues, the AK's, the jeeps etc. The enemy soldiers are also about as effective here as they usually are in other movies. Whether it's Sniper or Commando (1985) they love to shoot from the hip while running, a sure way not to hit anything. Then again, if the enemies were actually competent, it would be a very short movie.

This is the first movie I saw that made me interested in the concept of sniping, but I remembered nothing except the final sniper duel between Beckett and his former protegee. At least I thought I remembered it. Turns out that it is a lot shorter than what my memory told me, but that's memory for you.

So, do I recommend this movie? Well, not really. There is nothing truly wrong with it even though there is a long list of small mistakes being made at a constant rate. It's just that there isn't really anything that noteworthy about the film. As I said, the main actors do a very good job, but everything else is okay but not great. Average is the word I'm looking for I suppose. The story needed more and got nothing. If you love movies about snipers or commando missions and you for some reason haven't seen it, then go for it, otherwise I'd say give it a miss.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Devil's dirty fingernails

This week's movie is a re-watch that I watched once back in the 90's. It is:

The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971).

This bleak horror movie with its overly dramatic name is directed by Piers Haggard and stars Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden and Barry Andrews along with a solid cast of British actors.

The Blood on Satan's Claw is set in the early 1700's in a remote English village. A plowman, Ralph Gower (Andrews) unearths a creepy inhuman skull when he is plowing a field. Terrified, he runs to the nearby manor where a visiting Judge (Wymark) is staying but when they return to the field, the skull is gone. Soon thereafter horrible things happen. People mutate and go mad, folks start growing coarse patches of hairy devil skin and a young woman, Angel (Hayden), becomes the mistress of a gruesome cult bent on resurrecting their demonic master, Behemoth. Things escalate, people get murdered and defiled, until the climax of the movie, that unfortunately wasn't very good.

The movie is made by Tigon Studios who had previously released The Witchfinder General (1968) which became a big hit and they were keen to replicate that success. Originally The Blood on Satan's Claw was supposed to be a trilogy of connected stories set in the Victorian era, but Tigon was worried that that period was played out and with their desire to keep riding the witch hunting train, the script was changed to be one movie set in the 1700's.

You can actually tell when the script jumps, cutting the story into three parts. They stick together pretty well, so the change really doesn't matter. The studio also insisted on changing the ending which was originally supposed to be the Judge arriving with a militia and butchering the whole village. This was deemed too dark even though it is a horror movie and the ending is a flat confrontation that is painfully cheap. Sure, the budget was only about £70.000 but the ending is just sad.

All the actors are very good, with Patrick Wymark being the solid old veteran but the standout is Linda Hayden. Taking the role of a witch/cult leader that tries to seduce the priest and commits several murders while never sliding into being the least bit cheesy is no mean feat, but when you factor in that she was only seventeen years old, it is really impressive. Angel starts the movie as more of a mischievous troublemaking teen but soon becomes pretty damn scary.

Prop wise the movie is fine. British film has lots of experience doing the 1700's so there is really nothing to complain about. There aren't really many gory scenes and what little there is, is done sufficiently well.

The music wasn't perhaps that good, but it does the job. At least it isn't jaunty jazz tunes, but then this movie isn't Italian.

So, do I recommend this movie? I do, at least to those who like slower more subtle horror. It is overall pretty tame as horror goes, even the interrogation of a witch was a no show, so it could also serve as an introductory movie to those who want to get into horror but are a bit unsure of where to start. The Blood on Satan's Claw lacks some of the finesse that Hammer Horror used to pull off, and The Witchfinder General is a much better movie, but for being a low budget period piece, The Blood on Satan's Claw was pretty good.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!