European Movie Reviews »
Last Exit (2003) Movie Review
David Noel Bourke’s “Last Exit”, about an Englishman in Denmark who gets into trouble with some criminal types, is problematic in the same way most low-budget films are problematic — there is a distinctive...
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Deadline (2002) Movie Review
I guess it was only a matter of time before the rest of Europe gave in and offered up their own version of a zombie movie. The Italians nearly killed off the genre in...
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The Nest (2002) Movie Review
2002′s “The Nest” probably surprised a lot of people, myself included, who didn’t think the general French movie industry was capable of producing anything other than films about how great it is to have...
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Kopps (2003) Movie Review
If the premise of the Swedish comedy “Kopps” sounds familiar, it might be because it’s similar to the recent American comedy “Super Troopers”. The latter movie was about a group of tight-knit State Troopers...
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Anatomy 2 (2002) Movie Review
Despite everything you may have heard, “Anatomy 2″ is not a Teen Slasher film — and in this case, that’s a bad thing. Not having seen the original, I can’t tell if the whole...
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I Capture the Castle (2003) Movie Review
It’s probably just as well that the English film “I Capture the Castle” never states what time period its story is taking place in. The film, about an eccentric family that themselves itself living...
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Johnny English (2004) Movie Review
To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why spy parodies aren’t as funny as they should be. After all, when you’re freed of the responsibility of coming up with a half-decent plot, shouldn’t your...
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Demonium (2001) Movie Review
I knew I was in trouble when the first 12 minutes of “Demonium”, an Italian horror film, involved these scenes: a very unattractive woman having sex with her lover over the opening credits, then...
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Alone (2001) Movie Review
I am reasonably certain there was a good movie in the British Serial Killer film “Alone”, but the final product is, alas, not so good. Even if you could survive first-time director Philip Claydon’s...
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Ghost Rig (aka The Devil’s Tattoo, 2001) Movie Review
The British horror film “Ghost Rig”, essentially a Last Stand in a Haunted House movie set on an oil rig, immediately peaks my attention. Not because it’s an outstanding horror flick, but because of...
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Scarfies (1999) Movie Review
The New Zealand movie “Scarfies” is a good movie only if you can forgive its farcical and truly terrible ending. The film, about 5 college students who discover an elaborate marijuana stash growing in...
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Birthday Girl (2001) Movie Review
I don’t think I’m ruining anything by saying that Nicole Kidman (“The Others”) stars in “Birthday Girl” as a Russian mail-order bride who turns out to be one part of a 3-person con operation....
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Princess of Thieves (2001) Movie Review
It’s unfathomable that I wouldn’t like “Princess of Thieves”. It has everything I’ve come to appreciate — it’s a period movie, it has swords and horses, knights and battles, the Robin Hood legend, and...
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Dobermann (1997) Movie Review
It would be a mistake to consider Jan Kounen’s “Dobermann” an actual movie. It’s a 90-minute music video in the guise of a “clever” crime thriller with hidden desires to be cheap splatterpunk nonsense....
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The Pool (2001) Movie Review
“The Pool” joins the recent spate of German-made Teen Slasher movies to go international. Although the film is made by Germans and set in Prague, and most of the actors are German, the film’s...
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Nobody Knows Anybody (1999) Movie Review
The title of the Spanish film “Nobody Knows Anybody” is probably too appropriate for its own good. The movie, about a lonely man who gets drawn into a dangerous and elaborate game is reminiscent...
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Demons (1985) Movie Review
Surprisingly, I had a lot of hope for “Demons”, and was anticipating its first reveal of the demons that would terrorize our characters with bated breath. And then the demons were revealed, and all...
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Darkness (2002) Movie Review
The new horror movie “Darkness”, not to be confused with “Darkness Falls” (although both films share similar gimmicks involving darkness), stars Anna Paquin (“X-Men”) as a teen whose family moves into an old house...
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Deathwatch (2002) Movie Review
As further proof of the sad state of horror films nowadays, I give you the British movie “Deathwatch” and the recently reviewed Spanish/U.S. collaboration “Darkness”. Two films, made by very competent directors using super...
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Nowhere in Africa (2001) Movie Review
I’m reasonably certain that Caroline Link’s “Nowhere in Africa” will strike a cord with a lot of people. After all, it did when the Oscar for Best Foreign Film of 2002, although how a...
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