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Reviews
Fort Solis (2023)
Not a thriller, much less a horror game
"Fort Solis" is advertised a thriller, some reviewers even saw a similarity to games like "Dead Space". Well, it's set at an abandoned space station with a somewhat unsettling atmosphere, but the mystery behind the disappearance of the crew is only mildly engaging. The story, most of which you have to puzzle together by reading e-mails, listening to audio clips or watching video logs, is one of the most worn-out in sci-fi history.
Pros:
Great visuals, atmospheric sound
Very good voice acting, likeable main characters
Playing time's fairly short (I wouldn't have put up with the pattering around and pressing the interaction button for a minute longer)
Cons:
Characters move at glacial speed. It's not possible to jog or run, which makes especially backtracking a pain in the neck
Random QTEs, which happen without any advance notice
No puzzles that could be described as such (mostly "find battery 2 meters away and put it into a socket"), otherwise it's "press E to interact"
The "mystery" behind it all is a story which you've seen a million times before, except you lived under a rock.
I cannot recommend to buy this at full price - maybe at a discount, if you like graphically impressive walking simulators.
The White Lotus (2021)
Escalation in paradise
A group of mostly unsympathetic characters getting increasingly on each other's nerves in idyllic surroundings - it's an original concept, carried by mostly good actors.
The only thing that bothers me extremely is the music, which is used far too often and is too loud, sometimes even obscuring the dialogue (this is probably intentional, but still annoying).
Deathtrap (1982)
What a stinker
I can't explain why this stale farce seems to have some kind of classic status. Reeves is the only one who puts in some acting effort, while Caine is phoning it in. Cannon and Worth try to outdo each other in overacting. The pace is uneven, especially the first half hour drags endlessly. Overly loud and annoying soundtrack.
Yes, there are some mildly original "twists" you can smell from a mile away, since they've been redone so often since this film came out.
The Boy Behind the Door (2020)
Speaking of dumb decisions..
I was about to stop watching several times, because the boy's actions were so illogical or just plain stupid. Yes, he's supposed to be quite young, but even at this age and under stress you just wouldn't have done some of these things, e.g. Checking out a safe and flipping to photos of victims while your kidnapper is taking a shower a few metres away.
Apart from that, there were the usual hackneyed thriller elements such as "fleeing without taking the gun" and "leaving the perpetrator lying unconsciously without trying to immobilise him/her in any way".
Besides that, how has an old dial phone a modern RJ11 plug, and how could the kid completely clean up such a massive amount of blood in such short time with just two tea towels?
WandaVision (2021)
If only it were funny
Olsen and Bettany must have had a blast portraying these characters - unfortunately, it's not contagious.
If the writers of the series chose to copy sitcoms from the early days of television, they should have at least made them funny. This is just boring, silly and painful to watch.
Ratched (2020)
All style and no substance
I don't quite know what to make of this. The production value is high, the settings and costumes impressive, and the acting mostly good, albeit with a tendency to being over the top.
The story, however, is a mess. It's overly melodramatic and at the same time uninteresting. The interspersed scenes of violence have an alienating effect and do not fit in with the rest of the plot. The soundtrack (apparently recycled film music) that dominates almost every scene drowns the whole thing in pompous symphony.
I for my part am not interested at all in Miss Ratched's further ongoings.
Into the Dark: Midnight Kiss (2019)
Seems to be a hit-and-miss show
While I really liked the two other episodes I saw of this series ("Down" and "A Nasty Piece of Work"), this one was rather predictable and felt overly long with a lot of useless filler scenes. The characters weren't very likeable as well and overacted annoyingly.