THE LAST ASSASSINS (2026)

3 stars

Seven Tales. Digital. 6th July

Originally title Nobel and the Kid, THE LAST ASSASSINS is set in a future world where an event has happened which has crippled most of the tech (so no more scrolling on your iPhone). Cities are in ruins and much of them are fog enshrouded (which helps to cover up budgetary limitations).

A young girl credited as The Kid (Athena Park) lives with her Dad in this dystopian world. A warning signal goes off – there has been a perimeter breach. Her father (Donna Mitoma) hands her a knife and tells her that if anybody comes, to kill them.

He then waits, sitting at his desk unfazed, as several men in gas masks confront him including their leader who looks like a sort of cheap Darth Vader. They are looking for his daughter for some reason and when they get no joy, he ends up stabbed to death with a samurai sword.

Luckily for the teenager, friend of the family Nobel (Josh Bainbridge) arrives and she escapes with him, away from the devastated city and heads to the countryside. As she begins to realise her Dad was involved with some shady types, she is desperate for revenge. However, her protector wants to take her to her aunt

Metiseaya (Lora Burke) who should keep her safe from the gas mask wearing villains of the piece. But why do they want The Kid?

Athena Park is effective in the lead. Despite an obvious low budget this is actually quite well made. With director James Anthony Usas keeping things sensibly small scale within his monetary constraints, working from a script he co-wrote with Ryan Keller. The music by Geoff Raffan is over the top and some of the CGI in the finale is a tad cheesy. It’s all a bit like a Charles Band production from back in the day – not that that is necessarily a bad thing.

Steve Kirkham

REMEMORY (2024)

3 stars

Miracle Media. Digital. 29th June

aka Dead Man Memory

The film starts straight in to the action with French cop David (Michaël Cohen) in Thailand on a police raid at the docks – ostensibly as an observer. It isn’t long before, as the gunfire erupts, he becomes part of the melee. Unfortunately their main target escapes.

Of course the Police Chief, like in most movies, is not happy – with several of the men dead. They had known they were coming.

Later at a Thai temple David observes a young boy called Ravi (Dante Amanda) who claims that in a previous life he was Floyd from Jamaica, a ‘bad man’, with links to the criminal that our French cop is trying to track down. He asks to speak to the young man, but his father gets angry and shuts things down.

Of course the Thai team are not impressed with the story of this supposed reincarnation. The only one who sees it as a lead is Joanna (Caroline Ducey), a French woman who is part of the squad.

There is an explosion and fire at the house where the boy lives, with only Ravi surviving – clearly someone must think he knows more than he should. David and Joanna join forces and whisk him away to protect him and try to get to the bottom of whether he does know anything worth pursuing or is just making it up.

A low budget thriller from director Jean-Marc Minéo, his script (co-written with Philippe Vidal) has the kernel of a good idea but handles it in a dull way, and just seems to be an excuse to string the plot along between various explosions of gunfire. Much of it is dialogue driven, with lots of scenes driving around in cars, so it is odd that some sequences are in either French or Thai with no subtitles – though this may just have been a fault of the review screener I viewed.

Steve Kirkham

SOLO (1970)

3 stars

Radiance Films. Limited Edition Blu ray. Out Now

The great thing about boutique labels like Radiance Films, unlike many who constantly recycle their catalogue with new shiny editions, is that they seem to be digging around in the the dark corners of cinema, scouring through distributor catalogues, to find the more interesting and often obscure titles and highlighting the work of often little known filmmakers. One such is the amazingly prolific Jean-Pierre Mocky, who I have to admit before their recent box set of three of his films, I had never heard of him. With some 500 credits on the IMDb, he is a French actor, writer, director and editor.

One of his earlier works, SOLO is a more straightforward thriller with political overtones, than say the weird LITAN (1982), which was one of the productions highlighted in the aforementioned box set release.

Mocky not only directed this one and co-wrote the script with Alain Moury, but he is also the star. The film opens with a massacre at a wild orgiastic party attended by rich men and young women who are gunned down by black clad leftist revolutionaries.

Meanwhile womanising and somewhat carefree Vincent Cabral (Mocky) has just finished a stint as a violinist on a cruise ship – where he also managed to steal jewellery from the ladies onboard. he returns to Paris, planning to catch up with his brother Virgile, who he hasn’t seen in several years. Before long he learns that his sibling is the leader of the political activists and are planning another strike in the city. With the police after Virgile, Vincent is soon caught up in trouble – trying to protect his younger brother, whilst not believing in his idealistic views.

This was inspired by the student uprisings in France in 1968, though I am not familiar with this part of history – hey, that’s what Wikipedia is for right? Mocky is fine in the lead role, nicely capturing the slight bemusement of his character, as, even during an escape attempt he finds time to flirt! The film is clearly low budget – the toy boat shown as the cruise ship that Vincent was playing his violin on is a bit a bit of a giveaway – but it doesn’t suffer due to monetary constraints

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

Interviews with screenwriter and star Jean-Pierre Mocky; with actor Anne Deleuze (2022, 17 mins); with Jean-Pierre Mocky’s assistant and friend Eric Le Roy (2022, 15 mins)

Image gallery with original promotional materials

Plus Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters; limited edition booklet featuring archival interviews with Mocky

Limited edition of 3000 copies

TWO FROM JIM HENSON

THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH

Anime Limited in collaboration with Radial Entertainment. 4K & Blu-ray Collector’s Edition, 4K & Blu-ray Steelbook, Blu-ray, and DVD. 22nd June

Both 4 stars

Puppeteer Jim Henson is rightly famous for creating The Muppets in 1955. Following his feature film directing debut on THE GREAT MUPPETS CAPER in 1981 he turned to fantasy with his next outing with THE DARK CRYSTAL in 1982, which he conceived, and co-directed with his longtime collaborator Frank Oz. Of course this lent on their experience with muppets, with a film which was created without any human actors onscreen (though plenty of puppeteers and performers were used to bring to life the numerous creatures).

On an alien planet, a crystal has cracked open and we now have two races. The bird like Skeksis and the gentle Mystics. Living with the Mystics is a Gelfling called Jen. The evil Skeksis had killed off his people. He is sent off on a mission to try and find a missing shard, which will heal the crystal. He only has a short time to achieve this quest – if he fails those nasty old Skeksis will rule the planet.

Some of the creations are amazing, and look great on this 4K release, though inevitably you do have to suspend your disbelief somewhat. The animatronics and puppets were fashioned by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and the concepts were drawn up by English fantasy illustrator Brian Froud. It has a notable score by Trevor Jones.

There was a late in the day prequel TV series on Netflix in 2019 – The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Froud’s son Toby worked as a designer on the series.

Toby nicely links with the second film under review as he plays the baby in LABYRINTH which is kidnapped by Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie), when his half sister Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) wishes he was taken away by the goblins she has read about in a book, after the youngster constantly cries.

When her wish comes true, she meets Jareth and is given 13 hours to solve his labyrinth or Toby will be turned into a goblin!

So Sarah finds herself in a strange world, where she must try and get across the various mazes, whilst meeting odd creatures along the way, which will either help or hinder her.

Working once again with illustrator Brian Froud, Henson and he set out to create a lighter weight story, after the darkness of their previous collaboration. The numerous goblins, trolls and the like she meets along the way are, of course, beautifully realised by Henson’s Creature Shop and the production design is stunning, including a room inspired by M. C. Escher.

Connelly is slightly whiny in the lead role, but she is a young teen after all. Apparently several other actresses were considered for the part, before she won Henson over, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Marisa Tomei, Laura Dern and Ally Sheedy. The coup de grace in terms of casting is, of course, getting Bowie as the Goblin King, as he fills the role perfectly – Sting, Prince, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson were all in the frame at one time. Trevor Jones once again supplied the score, with Bowie recording several songs for the production.

This was the last feature film that Henson would direct, though the last production he helmed was the ‘Muppet Vision 3D’ film at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – which I have enjoyed many times, though it recently closed to make way for a new land called Monstropolis based on the Monsters, Inc franchise.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

Both releases of The Collector’s Edition will include:

Double walled slipcase holding:

68 Page production art and photos booklet.

3 disc Steelbook with the film on 4K, the film on Blu-ray, and a Blu-ray disc of video extras

The Dark Crystal –

Fan Event Q&A With Lisa Henson

Audio Commentary With Conceptual Designer Brian Froud

Various documentaries: “The Dark Crystal: The Myth, Magic And Henson Legacy”; “The World Of The Dark Crystal”; “Reflections Of The Dark Crystal: Light On The Path Of Creation”; “Reflections Of The Dark Crystal: Shard Of Illusion”

Original Skeksis Language Scenes With Introduction By Screenwriter David Odell

Picture-in-Picture

Labyrinth –

Audio Commentary With Conceptual Designer Brian Froud

Q&As With Brian Henson & Toby Froud

Anniversary Q&A

Contact Juggling Tutorial

Various documentaries: “Reordering Time: Looking Back At Labyrinth”; “The Henson Legacy”; “Remembering The Goblin King”; “Inside The Labyrinth” Making-Of; “Journey Through The Labyrinth: Kingdom Of Characters”

Deleted & Alternate Scenes Including Audio Commentary With Brian Henson

The Storytellers

Picture Gallery

SIGNAL ONE (2026)

3 stars

Signature. Digital. 15th June

The film opens with a quote from famous writer H.G. Wells: “We must never forget that the cosmos, for all its aims… is inherently hostile”. Preparing us that we might be seeing aliens with bad intent, which unfortunately the film can’t quite deliver.

Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) is a tech billionaire who has made his fortune from solar energy. At a lecture about what the future holds he calls out Annika Kask (Isabelle Fuhrmann, ORPHAN), a computer scientist who he sees as a visionary. Later he offers her a job as she has made an important discovery to do with dark matter. Initially resistant she eventually agrees.

Whisked off to a remote island in the Caribbean (a nice sunny break for the cast), she is to work on a secret project away from government interference. Once there she meets Charlie Kaminksy (Josh Hutcherson), a high profile electronics engineer. They are both there to help the irascible, dismissive and often drunk and clearly unstable Dr Perry Glassner (suitably played by David Thewlis) who has created Littlemouth (also an alternate title for this film), a quantum communication device (yes, its that kind of film with lots of science babbling).

Through the device he has received a signal which he is hoping they can crack the code and determine – are aliens friend or foe. Also can they use the machine to actually communicate with whatever is out there… and is that actually a good idea!

Glossily made and quite compelling, the cast deliver the tech-speak with conviction and there are lots of computer screens running code and showing flashy graphics. The film is predominantly dialogue heavy with much talk of a philosophical and scientific nature. It does build to an intriguing finale, but, I suspect due to budgetary limitations, doesn’t give us what we want in terms of alien interactions. That being said, it is well made by director Jonathan Sokol working from his own script.

Steve Kirkham

DEEPSTAR SIX (1989)

3 stars

StudioCanal. UHD, Blu Ray, Digital. 8th June

Undersea soggy sagas were clearly a thing when DEEPSTAR SIX originally came out. Around the same time we got James Cameron’s ABYSS, LEVIATHAN and LORDS OF THE DEEP amongst others. Sadly the film at hand wasn’t one of the better ones.

This outing was helmed by Sean S. Cunningham, who is probably best known for FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980). Here he is saddled with an unexciting script by Geof Miller and Lewis Abernathy, which is basically a riff on ALIEN as a crew are stationed on an undersea research base where they inevitably do something they shouldn’t, by blowing up a cave, and end up releasing a monster from the deep.

The problem here is it takes forever for anything to really happen and the creature doesn’t turn up until the last knockings. In the meantime there is lots of chat among the crew with the only familiar face amongst them being Miguel Ferrer.

Whilst Cameron was playing with early doors CGI this watery escapade is resolutely old school, with almost quaint model work which could have graced an episode of Gerry Anderson’s THUNDERBIRDS TV series.

Still if you are a fan, there are copious extras to keep you entertained.

Steve Kirkham

Four (!) Audio Commentaries with Horror-Fix.com’s James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton (2025); with director Sean S. Cunningham and visual effects supervisor James Isaacs (2001); with screenwriters Lewis Abernathy and Geoff Miller (2020); Isolated Score with audio commentary by composer Harry Manfredini

Interviews with Mark Shostrom, Greg Nicotero, and Robert Kurtzman/with Greg Evigan and Nancy Everhard/with Kane Hodder

Behind The Scenes vintage 1989 featurette

Extended Vintage 1989 Interviews with Cast & Crew

Behind-the-Scenes Footage

Original 1989 EPK

Stills Gallery/Theatrical Trailer/TV Spot

KRAKEN (2026)

3 stars

Signature Entertainment. Digital. 1st June

Clips from an old TV report with folks seeing something in the fjord – large and unidentified but despite searches nothing is found. The start of a legend…

Cut to Present day. Two guys messing around on a jet ski on the waterway when an indistinct shape in the water goes beneath them. Doing a spin they fall off… and disappear beneath the surface.

Marine biologist Johanne (Sara Khorami) is called in to investigate a salmon fish farm. She has been sent a whistleblower video which shows fish jumping from the water onto the land, as if scared. The facility is using sonic delousing which she invented, which sends a signal into the water – which could be the cause of what is going on. Meanwhile some new private investors are being shown around the high tech farm – you know they will end up as victims!

The missing jet ski is found. Spotting something odd in the water Johanne takes a dive and discovers the two missing tourists. They have bioluminescent slime on them from a deep sea creature.

Don’t expect anything wildly original from this creature feature from Norway – and it takes it time delivering on the titular deep sea menace. About two thirds of the way in it does eventually go full on monster mash, though the unfeasibly large tentacled terror is not actually shown much as it attacks – this is probably a good thing, as it is a CGI creation. There are also weird crablike trilobite creatures scuttling about. Everyone looks suitably scared as the behemoth reaches inside the corridors to pluck people out. Undemanding fun.

Steve Kirkham

VOIDANCE (2026)

3 stars

Elli Films, in association with Mind Engagement Productions and Unfolding Entertainment. Digital. 26th May

The oddly titled VOIDANCE is Brit sci fi that tries its hardest to cover for the obvious lack of production funds.

Alana (Zoe Cunningham) is an agent for some kind of intergalactic anti-terror organisation called ATIC. Sitting in a fairly empty room – there’s that lack of budget for you – she is greeted by the holographic Agent Polo (James Cosmo in what amounts to nowt more than a cameo). She is to be sent on one final assignment before she becomes a full fledged agent – not being rude to the actress playing Alana, but one must surmise that either the training was many, many years long or this is a late in the day career change.

She is to investigate and try to prevent a terrorist attack and ends up at The Forge – a bar peopled by various miscreants. The place is dressed up to appear interesting but looks a bit like a theatre production with tables and chairs from a school canteen. No matter, as it all just a simulation. Each time she is unsuccessful in her investigation, the scenario resets – which given the amount of times it loops around, you would think she would be an immediate fail in this final exam!

Ultimately this ends up as a kind of Agatha Christie murder mystery, as several folk in the establishment end up mudered – this being a British production it even has the appropriate accents! Much of the dialogue is clunky and delivered with varying success by the cast and much of it is unconvincing. The plot contrivance of the capability to reboot, becomes, inevitably, repetitious.

KRISPR (2023)

3 stars

Miracle Media. Digital. 18th May

Chloe (Ash Maure Felkner) arrives home to find her husband Dr Elijah Roelof (Petrie Willink) with another woman. He chases after her as she has the wrong idea — it’s actually Krispr (or Krispr G4-667 to give her full title) (Sof Puchley), the expensive $100 million clone he has been working on for the last seven years. Willink also scripted this oddly named film and co-directed with Jeremiah JJ Roberts. It is never explained why she is called Krispr – unless I missed that.

He introduces his wife to this childlike adult. Her mind is like a babies but constantly (and very quickly) learning – soaking up knowledge like a sponge. It’s Christmas time and he has brought her home as part of her education. He treats her more like his own child – which understandably annoys his wife, as she desperately wants to start a family and her husband seems to care more about his “creation” than his wife’s feelings and is always too busy with work.

Next day they are going to drive up to the mountains to a family get together for the holidays. He hasn’t told his family he is bringing the clone. It isn’t long before tensions arise. Krispr doesn’t seem to need sleep and watches television and then YouTube videos and starts to come across troubling material. How will this impact how she interacts with the family – of course things start to go off the rails as she becomes more aware and starts to become manipulative. You can probably guess it won’t end well…

From it’s annoying music and it’s drawn out narrative KRISPR is a bit of a slog with lots of talking or shouting at each other – the acting is variable, as it usually is in these low budget affairs, though Puchley is quite effective. It is not explained why if she is a clone, and not some kind of computerised robot, she has this increased capacity for learning. The ending is rushed. If you can be bothered there is a mid credits scene.

Steve Kirkham