END SEAT

Certificate: 18 Running time: 104 minutes  Directed by: David Gordon Green. What’s it about: Forty years after Laurie Strode survived a vicious attack by crazed serial killer Michael Myers, Strode finds herself confronting Myers once again after he escapes from a prison bus crash. The verdict: So it should be made clear from the start that I have, prior to watching this film, only ever seen one other Halloween film - Halloween H20. And by seen, I mean I hid during most of it. So I use the word ‘seen’ loosely. I do however have a good knowledge of the franchise, but obviously this has probably had an impact on my viewing of the film. With Halloween, I think it needs to be evaluated in two ways - its merit as a horror film and its merit as a sequel.  So firstly, let’s address its merit as a horror film. And when doing that, I have to say that I found Halloween sub-par. I really liked the first act but the consequent acts went downhill for me. When broken down in...

Certificate: 15 Running time: 112 minutes  Directed by: Ruben Fleischer. What’s it about: Whilst investigating experiments performed by the Life Foundation and its founder Carlton Drake,  journalist Eddie Brock gets more than he bargained for when he finds himself merged with alien symbiote Venom.  The verdict: There was a press embargo on any reviews being published for Venom until the day before its release but rumours had already started to seep through that Venom did not meet expectations. And when the embargo was lifted, critics had throughly slated Venom - with some even going so far as to call it “the worst film of the year.” But is Venom as bad as the critics have made out? The answer is both yes and no.  Let’s address the negatives first. For me, Venom’s biggest flaw was its tonal problems. It almost feels like Fleischer had so many films that he wanted to make that he decided he’d just make them all. At times Venom is a comedy, other ...