Keeper - The scoop and digest

Unrelated to 2025 video game and 2006 Sarah Langan novel of same name, folk horror is written by Nick Lepard and directed by Osgood Perkins.

Oh, three different films called The Keeper exist.

Tatiana Maslany - Liz

Rossif Sutherland - Malcolm

Birkett Turton - Darren

Eden Weiss - Minka

Summary

For their one-year anniversary, Malcolm (doctor) and Liz (painter) arrive at a secluded cabin in the woods for a romantic weekend getaway.

Liz finds a boxed cake which Malcolm claims was gifted by the caretaker.

His cousin Darren and girlfriend Minka unexpectedly show up and after a quiet chat with Malcolm, they soon go.

After sampling a slice of cake at Malcolm's insistence, Liz begins having strange visions and later, inexplicably eats the rest.

When Malcolm is called away to treat a patient, Liz is left alone, but not for long.

Fish on the hook

When Liz tries the cake, she reacts by saying:

"Tastes like shit."

How ironic, as this literally was.

Despite a committed performance by Maslany, I was really bored.

In the final 20 minutes, we get the big reveal.

200 years ago, Malcolm and Darren as teenagers, caught a pregnant woman trespassing on their property and locked her in a pigpen, where she gave birth to the humanoid creatures stalking Liz.  They shot her dead and ever since, have been luring women to feed the creatures who in exchange, granted them immortality.

Those expecting a proper explanation will be sorely disappointed.

In the basement, the 'children' surround and embrace Liz due to her resembling mother, whose head has been preserved inside a jar of honey.

The following morning, a now elderly Malcolm has been strung upside-down from a tree.  Liz (now with black eyes), forcibly feeds him cake and drowns him in another jar of honey.

Meat Kills - The scoop and digest

Johan Paul de Vrijer writes and Martijn Smits (who also cameos at the beginning as Regie) directs the first Dutch horror to be rated NC-17.

As I know you care, the first film slapped with the same certificate was 1990 biopic Henry & June.

Although released as Meat Kills, title card is bizarrely Vleesdag (Meat Day).

The most literal English translation of Meat Kills is Vlees doodt.

Caro Derkx - Mirthe

Emma Josten - Nasha

Sweder de Sitter - Jonathan

Sem Ben Yakar - Ishmael

Tommy Zonneveld - Humphrey

Chardonnay Rillen - Donna

Bart Oomen - Jonas

Derron Lurvink - Jacco

Juliёtte van de Weerdt - Jerrienne

Summary

At Heerema's Piggery, Mirthe is caught recording activities on her phone and is fired by Jonas for breaking regulations.

She joins activist group Animal Army and after meeting its leader Nasha, they decide to break into slaughterhouse and free the pigs.

Once inside, there isn't an animal in sight and presume they've already been killed.

When Jonas' son Jacco turns up, he and his brother Jonathan are taken hostage.

Shit quickly spirals out of control, and a bloody fight for survival between both factions ensues.

Meat is murder

Premise is absolutely ridiculous, but the appetite of gore aficionados will be sated.

The influence of Hostel, Eden Lake and extreme French horrors such as Switchblade Romance are there for all to see.

Also, Jonas releasing pigs which eat Donna alive smacks of Hannibal (2001).

Jonas chases Humphrey in a tractor, chops up body and then guts Ishmael, ripping his insides out.

Mirthe bites off a huge chunk of Jonas' neck and kills him with a handheld circular saw.  She also extinguishes Nasha's light by firing a bolt into psychopath's foreheard.

Such irony.

To briefly explain, Nasha loses it when she learns that Mirthe was close to Jonathan.

Climax is so stupid, it's almost brilliant.

Bedridden for most of running time, wee lass Jerrienne gets up and finds the bodies of Jonas and Jacco.

Does she scream? Shed hysterical tears?

No.

Instead, after coming across Mirthe holding Jonathan's corpse, she takes a shotgun and blasts Mirthe in the back.

Jerrienne catches up and slits her throat with a meat cleaver.  As Mirthe dies, she hallucinates a pig.

Totally realistic, right?

The Running Man - It's Show Time

Edgar Wright's adaptation sucked serious ass.

https://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-running-man-2025-scoop-and-digest.html?m=1

While I had so much more to say in my review, I purposely saved shit for another time.

And that time is now.

1982 novel

Welcome to America in 2025 when the best men don't run for President. They run for their lives - in the ultimate death game.

Each night all Americans tune in to the nation's favorite TV game show - The Running Man.

Each night they see if the contestant has evaded death at the hands of the Hunters just one more day. Thirty days of survival takes the prize - one billion dollars.

The record is eight days....

But now a new contestant, Ben Richards, has set out to beat the brutal odds, beat the rigged game, beat the entire savage system. He's betting his life that he can....

Stephen King (as Richard Bachman), was no doubt inspired by Richard Connell's 1924 short story The Most Dangerous Game and 1975 films Death Race 2000 and Rollerball.

Years later came Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, (both books before becoming movie franchises).

Finally, The Condemned (2007) is a really bad rip off of The Most Dangerous Game and the first Battle Royale film.

The most obscure example is Deadly Prey (1987), which also mixes First Blood (1982).

Anyway.

Das Millionspiel (1970)

West German TV film (translated as The Million Dollar Game) adapted Robert Sheckley's 1958 story The Prize of Peril.

To win one million marks, Bernhard Lotz has to survive 7 days, while being hunted by a gang.

While it's likely King stole idea from Sheckley, I can't see him having access to film.

1987 film

Apart from main character and basic premise, Schwarzenegger classic had almost nothing to do with source material.

Prologue begins in 2017, but meat takes place 18 months later in 2019.

Just for shits and geeky giggles, The House of the Dead III (2002) is also set in 2019.

A lawsuit determined filmmakers plagiarized French film Le Prix du Danger (1983), the second adaptation of Sheckley's story.

King didn't face any action.

So coming full circle, 2025 film is arguably an unofficial adaptation of Das Millionspiel.

Official game

Emerald Software's shitty side-scrolling beat 'em up was released for Amiga, Atari ST, C64, Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1989.

We play Ben Richards (obviously), but Amber Mendez, William Laughlin and Harold Weiss are MIA.

To be fair, Subzero, Buzzsaw, Dynamo, Fireball and even Killian made the effort.

Smash T.V. (1990)

The year is 1999.

Television has adapted to the more violent nature of man. The most popular form of television remains the game show.

One show in particular has dominated the ratings. That show is Smash T.V. The most violent game show of all time.

Two lucky contestants compete for cash and prizes. Each contestant is armed with an assortment of powerful weapons and sent into a closed arena.

The action takes place in front of a studio audience and is broadcast live via satellite around the world.

Intro presumably used an excerpt of film's prologue as template.

"Television is controlled by the state and a sadistic game show called 'The Running Man' has become the most popular program in history."

Unlike Robotron: 2084, spirtual successor didn't hold back on gore.

Big money. Big prizes. I LOVE IT!

Evil MC can also say: "I'd buy that for a dollar," confirming devs were fans of Robocop.

Flashback (1992)

Conrad B. Hart is told by his friend Ian that TV show Death Tower is literally his ticket back to Earth.

10000 credits is up for grabs.

Conrad is presented as the winner.

A sequel, Fade to Black, was released for PC and PS1 in 1995.

Original was remade in 2013, and ten years later, we got Flashback 2, set eight years before original in 2134.

How prequel fits into timeline remains unclear.

Other numbered video game prequels include Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Suikoden IV and Dead to Rights II.

Films are more prolific, such as Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, Paranormal Activity 3, Insidious: Chapter 3 and From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter.

Finally, let's look Paul Michael Glaser's film in more detail.

Spelling police

Accomodations should be accommodations.

Retreval should be retrieval.

Miscellany

When the runners arrive in the game zone on vacuum sleds (just in case you missed name), END IS HERE is written on a wall.

'Professor' Subzero is wearing one hell of a jock strap.

Here's something pretty odd.

After Richards takes care of Subzero (who was a real pain in the neck btw), we can clearly see Laughlin taking hockey stick.

But as he and Richards are freeing Weiss, weapon has vanished, and never seen again.

Later, Richards could've easily taken Buzzsaw's chainsaw, but doesn't.

If I was in their situation, I'd like to fight back with more than fists and feet.

The Magnificent 10

Before getting his hands on Richards and co, Killian searches for potential contestants.

Some things are impossible to appreciate in real-time, hence why the pause button is used for more than toilet breaks.

Pete Rodriguez
Conv: Agent provacateur
Occu: Technical writer
Hobb: Criminal poetry

John Doe
Conv: Unauthorized outdoor activities
Occu: Anti fire worker
Hobb: Arson, pyromania

Jason 'Jay Man' Argo
Conv: International espionage
Occu: Interpretor
Hobb: Golf, scuba, TV

Spike Mackenzie
Conv: Industrial terrorism
Occu: Copy machine repair
Hobb: Collecting antique phones, guns

Brad 'Pepsi' Yamamoto
Conv: Anti state prop inciting a riot
Occu: Industrial waste
Hobb: Morbid interest in intellectual games ie. chess

Eddi 'Ed' Fisher
Conv: Religious crimes unsanc. worship
Occu: Collective framer
Hobb: Collector anti state icons

Advertisement break.

Mado 'Baby Face' March

Are you kidding me?

Next.

Peggy 'Now What' Vinetz
Conv: Anti state prop inciting a riot
Occu: Industrial waste
Hobb: Morbid interest in intellectual games ie. chess

Jeffry 'DJ' Winsted
Conv: Religious crimes unsanc. worship
Occu: Collective framer
Hobb: Collector anti state icons

Wanda Zorn
Conv: Agent provacateur
Occu: Technical writer
Hobb: Criminal poetry

What do Eddi and Jeffry, Pete and Wanda have in common?

Well, quite a lot actually.

As do Peggy and Brad, who are industrial waste and have a morbid interest in chess.

Awww, that's cute.

But the prize goes to John Doe.

What constitutes as unauthorized outdoor activities?

Err, I dread to think.

Considering geezer's profession is against fire, I find it hilarious that he's into arson and pyromania.

Deathstalker (2025) - The scoop and digest

Writer-director Steven Kostanski reboots cult 1983 sword and sorcery fantasy of same name.

Slash of Guns N' Roses is an executive producer.

Daniel Bernhardt - Deathstalker

Laurie Field - Doodad

Christina Orjalo - Brisbayne

Paul Lazenby - Jotak

Nicholas Rice - Nekromemnon

Tanya Saari - Toralva

Nina Bergman - Grendul

Conor Sweeny - Prince Baldur

Adam Brooks - Prince Halgan

Additionally, Patton Oswalt provides the voice of Doodad.

Summary

The Dreadite horde cuts a path of death and destruction throughout the land.

Who wields the power to stand against the might of never-ending darkness?

Oh I don't know, Deathstalker perhaps?

Coming into possession of a mysterious amulet, protagonist seeks the help of Doodad to translate runes, but pint-sized wizard disappoints.

They learn sorcerer Nekromemnon is after object, as it secretly houses almightly weapon the Light of Talon (a four-bladed sword).

Female thief Brisbayne tags along, who is captured by Nekromemnon and used as a vessel for the demon Citor.

Machinations of the Gods

Rather than raping women, self-aware cheese fest inserts goofy comedy, hammy villains and cartoonish gore.

I had a fucking blast.

Munkar (who was the big bad in original) now owns a tavern, serving as a fun callback.

Miscellany

Army of Darkness (1992)

Dreadites sound nothing like 'Deadites', right?

Contrary to popular belief, possessed beings weren't named in The Evil Dead (1981) or Evil Dead II (1987).

Hellraiser (1987)

When the Acolytes of Kulthis bring a Dreadite back to life, I honestly thought I was watching Frank being reborn.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

Realising that a Stone Golem is pretty much invincible, Deathstalker 'unplugs' adversary, identical to what Jason does to Talos' heel.

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Towards the end, rival sorcerers Doodad and Nekromemnon summon stop-motion skeletons, ripping off the principle of samurai warriors conjured by Egg Shen and Lo Pan.

Nuremberg - The scoop and digest

James Vanderbilt's historical epic (ntbcw TV series and 2023 film of same name), is based on Jack El-Hai's 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist. 

Rami Malek - Douglas Kelley

Russell Crowe - Hermann Göring

Leo Woodall - Sgt. Howie Triest

John Slattery - Col. Burton C. Andrus

Michael Shannon - Robert H. Jackson

Richard E. Grant - David Maxwell Fyfe

Summary

May 7, 1945.

A week after the death of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring is captured by American soldiers in Austria.

At the Grand Hotel Mondorf (Codename: Ashcan) in Luxembourg, Colonel Andrus tells psychiatrist Douglas Kelley that the governments of Russia, France, Great Britain and the United States are considering putting the remainder of the Nazi High Command on trial for their lives.

Göring is the key, a leader of a nation in exile.

Kelley works closely with Sgt. Howie Triest, who serves as a translator.

As the trial draws closer, Göring grows in confidence, becoming an enigma for Kelley.

Epilogue

Robert Jackson returned to the Supreme Court.

The case laws he established became the bedrock for all modern war crimes prosecutions.

He left the army following the trials and took his sister Margot back to America, dying aged 93.

Douglas Kelley's book 22 Cells in Nuremberg failed.  He never wrote another.

In 1958, after a long struggle with depression, he committed suicide using cyanide, the same method as Göring.

Palace of Justice

Crowe gives one of his best performances, expertly capturing character's narcissistic arrogance, while also nailing accent and contemptuous attitude.

Malek is no slouch either, and shares a brilliant scene with Woodall baring his soul.

Of course they're not given as much to do, but support is also outstanding.

Authenticity is immaculately observed, as we're forced to endure about six harrowing minutes of concentration camp footage during the trial.

Göring initially gains the upper hand over Jackson, but then Fyfe takes over, soon wiping smug smile from face.

By escaping hangman's noose, he did make good his threat though.

The Running Man (2025) - The scoop and digest

Edgar Wright co-writes and directs the second adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 novel of same name (as Richard Bachman).

To be clear, this is NOT a remake of the 1987 Schwarzenegger classic.

Glen Powell - Ben Richards

Josh Brolin - Dan Killian

Colman Domingo - Bobby T.

Lee Pace - Evan McCone

Michael Cera - Elton Parrakis

Emilia Jones - Amelia Williams

William H. Macy - Molie Jernigan

Daniel Ezra - Bradley Throckmorton

Jayme Lawson - Sheila Richards

Alyssa and Sienna Benn - Cathy Richards

Katy O'Brian - Jenni Laughlin

Martin Herlihy - Tim Jansky

Summary

Welcome to Co-Op City, where poverty is rife and corporate media networks bombard people with trashy reality and violent game shows.

Blue-collar worker Ben Richards lives in the slums with his wife Sheila and daughter Cathy.

When he's fired by Defense-Net for insurbordination, he can't afford the medicine for Cathy's influenza.  In desperation, Ben auditions for FreeVee's game shows, with his anger, fitness and physique making him the perfect contestant for The Running Man.

He meets the producer Dan Killian, who offers an advance on Cathy's medication and a safe house for his family if he agrees to take part.

To win one billion new dollars, 'runners' must survive for 30 days, hunted by not just trained killers, but also the public.

Ben and fellow runners Jenni Laughlin and Tim Jansky are given $1000 and a 12-hour head start, and must send a tape of themselves each day.

Trio quickly learn that the show's host Bobby T. manipulates the audience by making out contestants are psychopathic killers.

Can they defy the odds and scoop the ultimate prize?

Kill the execs

First off, this is very faithful to the book, but unfortunately, that's the problem.

I'm a huge Edgar Wright fan, but bloated, joyless borefest is defintiely his worst.

The tone and pacing is all over the place, the script is blunter than a butter knife and while action and chase sequences huff and puff, no house is in danger of being blown down.

Unlikable protagonist moves from one convenience to another and after arriving at the home of Elton Parrakis, underground activist has bizarrely booby-trapped his house, Home Alone style.

Scott Pilgrim electrocutes soldiers with his Psycho Hydro gun, which may be a nod to Dynamo in the Arnie film, but whatever - it's fucking dumb.

Speaking of which, Arnold is literally the face of dollar bills and this Ben even says to Sheila "I'll be back".

CRINGE.

Another weird choice is a female Laughlin.  Yaphet Kotto played made-for-film character William Laughlin.

At Hollywood's behest, we get a happy ending.

Sheila and Cathy are alive, living under false identities.  Ben also survived, otherwise he wouldn't be able to shoot Killian dead.

In the book, Sheila and Cathy have been dead for over 10 days and the plane crashes into the Games Network skyscraper, killing Richards and Killian.

"The explosion was tremendous, lighting up the night like the wrath of God, and it rained fire twenty blocks away."

Frankenstein (2025) - The scoop and digest

Guillermo del Toro writes, co-produces and directs the latest adaptation.

Oscar Isaac - Victor Frankenstein

Jacob Elordi - The Creature

Christoph Waltz - Henrich Harlander

Mia Goth - Elizabeth and Claire Frankenstein

Felix Kammerer - William Frankenstein

Charles Dance - Leopold Frankenstein

David Bradley - Blind Man

Lars Mikkelsen - Captain Anderson

Prelude

Farthermost North, 1857.

Captain Anderson (not Walton) is on a mission to reach the North Pole, but his vessel the Horisont is trapped in ice.

After his crew find a badly injured man, a humanoid of awesome strength wreaks havoc.

"BRING HIM TO ME!"

Realising bullets are ineffective, Anderson blows a hole in the ice, causing the monster to disappear underneath.

Victor warns it's not dead and will come back for him.

Part I

Victor's Tale

A young Victor lives with his mother Claire and father Leopold.

Claire goes into labour and gives birth to William, but dies doing so.

Some years later, Leopold also departs, and the brothers are separated.

In 1855, Victor meets wealthy merchant Heinrich Harlander, with William due to marry his niece Elizabeth.

Harlander hires Victor to bring the dead back to life at his castle and agrees to bring him whatever he needs to build a laboratory.

Favouring tall specimens with long limbs, lightning strikes and the experiment is a success.

Victor chains creation up in the basement and learns it how to say his name.

When Elizabeth bonds with the Creature, a jealous Victor decides to burn the castle down.

In the present, the Creature is about to kill Anderson, but stops at Victor's request.

Part II

The Creature's Tale

Having escaped blazing inferno, the Creature hides in a barn.  Longing to be the family's benefactor, he brings them supplies for winter, and the 'Spirit of the Forest' is thanked with food and clothes.

When a pack of wolves attack and kill the Blind Man, the family blame the Creature and drive him away.

After the Creature demands a companion, Elizabeth is accidentally killed.  Victor hunts the Creature with dynamite, but fails to destroy it.

Back on the ship, 'son' forgives his 'father'.

The Creatures pushes ship free and the Creature walks towards the sunset.  

"And thus the heart will break. Yet brokenly live on."

- Lord Byron

Excerpt is from 1812 poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.

A storm is coming

Great performances, stunning production values and Alexandre Desplat's exhilarating score ensures this is one of the best versions.

Despite some new ideas, this is largely a remake of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1994).

Criticisms include ropey CG animals, the Creature's invincibility and it reconciling with Victor.

But here's something particularly weird.

During his time with the Blind Man, the Creature says:

"In my dreams... I... see memories."

Whoa!

Sounds like a derivative of Silent Hill 2 to me.

"In my restless dreams, I see that town."

To Mary¹ and Bernie², Boris³ and Whale⁴

The Big Bang of my soul

¹Mary Shelley (no explanation needed).

²Mike Hill's Creature design was inspired in part by Bernie Wrightson's 'Frankenstein's Monster'.

³Boris Karloff (c'mon guys).

⁴James Whale directed 1931 film, where the Doctor (Colin Clive) is renamed Henry.