Jim first solo short dives into Nick Frost’s terrifying taxi thriller ‘Black Cab’ on this week’s Streamin’ Demons, awarding it 4/5 Cthulhus. Discover why this nail-biting British horror deserves your attention. Spoiler-free review.
(4 / 5)
Black Cab review Transcript:
00:01.17
Jim Phoenix
Everyone Jim Phoenix here and today’s stream and demons. This is definitely not take 18. By the way, we are doing a small stream and demons. One of the solo shows. We’ve been teasing this for a while because sometimes brandic is at a convention. Sometimes I am. But those movies keep coming in. And for our solo stream and demons, we’re focusing only on what’s current. but We’re not doing deep dives and older films. This is the new and what is absolutely current.
00:32.66
Jim Phoenix
And do I have a surprise for a very first one? I’ve been sitting on this screener for some time now. And if you read the title, it’s not a surprise. Just read the title of the podcast you’re viewing, really. But we’re going to do Nick Frost’s Black Cab, a shutter original, all this nut and next demon demons.
01:05.19
Jim Phoenix
and We’re not going to play the entire thing. You know, I miss the banter I do. You know, there’s no one else to do that with me. mr Yeah. I know. During that banter, I’ll get Rise of the Drow, the collector’s edition. You can actually kill someone with from AAW games. Love it. Coming soon as a review, by the way. Spoiler alert, five out of five.
01:32.62
Jim Phoenix
Oh, wait, we’re back. Hey, kids, a year one. That’s actually day 11. Wow. I’m ripping off Letterman in my very first show. Good for me. All right. So today it’s just me. Don’t change. Don’t change. Don’t touch that dial. You do not touch that dial. I’ll use my sexy voice if I have to. But you were not going to touch that dial on our very first mini stream and demons. We’ve got black cab.
02:01.08
Jim Phoenix
with Nick Frost. It came out this year, it came out this month. What am I talking about? It came out a couple of days ago on Shutter. It’s a Shutter original and I’m gonna read off the IMDB. A couple who find their Jovio cab driver, diverse them into a remote haunted road, revealing disturbing motives and his true intentions. If you don’t understand that this is a Nick Frost movie, it’s horror and it’s really well done.
02:31.02
Jim Phoenix
This is written by Virginia Gilbert and IMDB gave it a little bit of a toss, which is weird. Usually ah myself and IMDB are kind of on the same spot on this. But here we go. I think I will give the IMDB the best review so far, apparently. It’s like I’m a taxicab driver, so I wanted to watch a movie, but I didn’t Google it first.
02:59.75
Jim Phoenix
if If you are a Tastic Cab driver and you’re like, oh, Black Cab, it must be about me. I don’t know. I can’t help you. I can’t help you. What I can help you right now is the setup and the premise for Black Cab is great. From the moment the picture actually starts to roll, the psychological drama starts.
03:25.99
Jim Phoenix
And it’s only an hour, 24 minutes. So it’s it’s actually a pretty tight movie. I will give you some spoiler free reviews because there’s something in act three that didn’t work for me. So I’m going to parse that out as a spoiler free review, because this is brand new. It’s on shutter. If you don’t have shutter and you’re a horror fan, why the hell don’t you have shutter? Honestly, if you have like five bucks, wherever much it is, don’t quote me at five bucks. No more. I have no idea how much shutter it costs anymore.
03:54.75
Jim Phoenix
And you got to spend it. Well, you’re going to spend it on like another Winnie a Pooh latte from Star Fox. No, you’re going to go to Shutter and you’re going to put the streamline and Joe Bob Briggs, whatever it’s going to be and get all this cool Shutter originals like Black Cab. This is worth it alone. Think about this. It’s like renting a movie, writing a movie once a month pays for your subscription at Shutter. Do it thus. Thank you, Shutter. Oh, wait, wait. They just texted me. OK, cool. The money’s in the bank.
04:24.24
Jim Phoenix
But for real, I don’t know what else I can say about this movie other than if you’re a Nick Frost fan, it’s all you need to know. And if you’re not, don’t read the IMDB. If if you’re not a Nick Frost fan, don’t read the IMDB. Go directly to Shutter and start watching it. It is a mix of practical and like spooky, spooky looks like Luba CGI. and But not enough to really throw you off. This story is not this big fantastical CGI ride. No pun intended. It’s scary because. You could probably feel parts of this being real. Meaning. The beginning where the abusive guy is the abusive guy, right? And of course, the controlling his his wife or soon to be a wife or a girlfriend.
05:19.28
Jim Phoenix
into getting one cab, they know ah the mail, I’m in the mail, stuff like that. That’s all gross. And I love how they did the dinner party because it feels real. It feels real and it sets up the characters really well. And you have a flashback prior to this.
05:38.18
Jim Phoenix
that will actually fit in when you watch the rest of the movie. So you have to piece a bit of it together. So maybe that’s why people didn’t really love too much of the editing because yeah, you do have to piece a bit of this together. It’s not hard. They kind of do it for you in the movie. I mean, if you can’t pay attention for more than. Kidding. Just paying making sure you’re paying attention. I’m paying attention. You’re paying attention. You know who else got to be paying attention?
06:07.49
Jim Phoenix
Wrong one. I should be paying attention. I want to say baby Yoda. Baby Yoda. I’ll just do it myself. So you you have this thing and you are getting into a cab after a bad night out. And it’s England or whatever city or small town or it’s an Uber driver or whatever it’s going to be. And the point is you’re trapped with a monster and you think the monster is your significant other. And they probably are a bit of a dick.
06:35.01
Jim Phoenix
But you realize that the cabbie, this is not spoiling the movie whatsoever. I mean, it’s actually in the damn log line. You know, is he mad or just plain evil? That’s actually the synopsis from Shutter. You see this and it’s really not quite stranger danger. Because we think cab drivers aren’t strangers to us. And yet we get in. We.
07:02.39
Jim Phoenix
don’t know their driving background. We don’t know who they are really. We know they’re providing a service and really the only thing that separates us from them is that small piece of plexiglass or if you’re in an Uber nothing whatsoever. So it preys on those fears of the familiar yet the unknown. And I think that does really well. And the acting, by the way, is phenomenal. There’s there’s no one, they’re like, oh, it’s a bad that’s a bad acting job. No, no one’s gonna say that if they attack the acting, they’re just wrong. I’m sorry. You’ve got, beyond Nick Frost alone, can carry this movie. And he doesn’t have to. That’s the cool thing about it. Nick Frost could carry this movie, but he doesn’t have to.
07:46.77
Jim Phoenix
You know, Chanel Carlson does a fantastic job as Ann. And you have people that you absolutely will hate in this movie. And Nick Frost ain’t one of them, really weird. it i Because he’s, you know, the antagonist for us.
08:03.06
Jim Phoenix
But this is where the story kind of gets convoluted. And this is where act three, I think. So I think, you know, act one is great. The setup’s awesome. They spring in the two. That’s amazing. I love it. I love the isolation. He’s taken people from the downtown city center all the way through like this isolated country. You know, we we know the fear of going out to the countryside because no one can hear you scream. Oh, that’s whatever. No one can hear you scream in the countryside either. Trust me.
08:31.44
Jim Phoenix
like
08:35.75
Jim Phoenix
We have the psychological happen. And we start seeing a little bit why Nick Frost’s character is doing what he does. And you’re almost sympathetic for a while. You start sympathizing with the bad guy. Because you realize if you were in his situation, would you do anything differently? Would you do anything differently? And it’s not like he’s just doing this on a whim.
09:06.18
Jim Phoenix
there’s actually something compelling him to do this a pretty decent reason. And if you take away the supernatural part of it all, bring it down. I’m not going to spoil the movie, but bring out the supernatural and bring it down to the very human elements, the very human elements. If this was you in a Nick Frost situation with things happening that you could rationally explain. So not supernatural. So a rational explanation.
09:37.59
Jim Phoenix
And that’s really hard to say without giving it away. And you had the decision to make someone else like pay for it, would you? How how far are you gonna protect your own world versus someone else’s? At what point do you just go eff it? At what point do you become that monster?
10:05.59
Jim Phoenix
And I think each of us has to answer that ourselves. And I think Black Cab poses the question beautifully. It really does. Because if you’re like me, you actually start thinking like, man, I don’t think I’ll do the anything differently. you know So you have the acting great, the writing, the premise is great. The premise and the premise is great, right?
10:29.38
Jim Phoenix
You have the setup is fine, the act one is smooth, act two goes well, act three, it derails. Notice, I didn’t say derails and cars the car crash and burns up in flame. I just said it derails, and I don’t know if this is editing, I don’t know if this is part of the writing at the end, I don’t have the script in front of me. Although that’ll be pretty damn interesting. I don’t know, but something happened where the audience has to fill in a significant gap.
10:59.57
Jim Phoenix
And it’s like, well, what the actual fuck? Oh, by the way, I swear on this one anyway, motherfuckers. So I don’t. Think that works for the ending. Which is what some people are. are Also, this is one thing I will agree with and with IMDB. They give an eye for incomplete, like one guy is giving an eye for incomplete, the cabbie, the cab guy.
11:25.25
Jim Phoenix
And you’re like, well, you’re right. It’s and I don’t I think that’s too a little too harsh to say it’s incomplete, but it’s not an incomplete movie. I think just something happened in Act three. That we’re not exactly sure about. We’re not exactly fine with. It’s just.
11:47.08
Jim Phoenix
you know, like the the set designs, the ambience, the music, everything is great. It’s just, damn, act three just kind of like derails it, it does. But I could be wrong, and maybe this dude on IMDB who I’m not, Red Robin 62, oh my God, there’s a bunch of numbers, fuck it. Red Robin’s also could be wrong, who knows? We might be wrong.
12:13.30
Jim Phoenix
Maybe we’t not ah one way to find out, hour 24, it’s worth it. Cthulhu rating, you already know it, four out of five. Four out of five kafoolos, if the act three landed, it’ll be a 4.5 and easily a sequel-able movie, depending on who lives and who doesn’t. like though I think the premise is sequel-able, without giving it away, right? I think this could be ah along the lines of ah Woman in Black, Purge, stuff like that. It could you it could be sequel-able to the part where it’s franchisable.
12:51.10
Jim Phoenix
but act three really need to work. and I don’t know what I’m wrong. So four out of five, I’m not gonna drop down on 3.5 because it’s just the the acting and the rest of the story don’t deserve to get lower than four. And that’s it, oh my God, that’s it. A 13 minute streaming demons, holy crow.
13:10.49
Jim Phoenix
All right, next up, we’ve got more. we he He never left. We’ve got some stuff, another video coming out, another movie review. And if you like this format, let me know. We can do a few more of them. Basically, this is just the box and I taking me some time to breathe and movies keep coming in. So if you like this one, let us know. If you hate this one, go fuck yourself. All that and more in the next stream of demons. Wait, what? Hit it.
13:40.96
Jim Phoenix
Meow, meow, meow. And we really are going to start reviewing games, video reviews, which means Jim’s going to be very awkward in them. This game is brilliant, by the way. Rides of Drow. Five out of five.
14:03.00
Jim Phoenix
Meow, meow, meow, meow.
14:09.97
Jim Phoenix
Do we have to listen to the entire thing? I guess so.
14:20.11
Jim Phoenix
Do you hear, Kat? Yeah, motherfucker.
Movies n TV
Returning to the Soothing World of Evil with âThe Demon of Deathâ
âThe Demon of Deathâ is the season 3 premiere of the supernatural drama Evil, created by Michelle King and Robert King.
âThe Demon of Deathâ is the season 3 premiere of the supernatural drama Evil, created by Michelle King and Robert King. The central cast includes Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti, and Andrea Martin. As of this review, itâs available through Netflix and Paramount+ and its add-ons.
The assessors investigate the weight of a soul. Father Frank Ignatius (Wallace Shawn) agrees to participate in this test despite his growing disillusionment. David (Mike Colter) and Kristen (Katja Herbers) deal with the ramifications of their confessions. Kristenâs girls go on the warpath with Leland (Michael Emerson). Andy (Patrick Brammall) signs his death warrant.
What I Like about âThe Demon of Death”
As season 2 ended with a cliffhanger, âThe Demon of Deathâ picks back up with an interesting addition. The episode provides a more obvious stopping point that Season 2 should have taken advantage of. It dumbfounds me because this addition makes for a more interesting and darker cliffhanger. The added context would have made the cliffhanger more palatable. However, itâs a nice twist for the episode.
Dr. Boggs (Kurt Fuller) and Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) make an interesting pair that adds complexity to both. We even explore some of Sister Andreaâs character flaws, best displayed by her interaction with Kristen in the next scene. Few wise sage characters that display flaws, making this addition appreciated.
Father Ignatius’ introduction adds layers of interest for a character who will play a recurring role, tying into Monsignor Korecki directly. The yet-to-be-explored relationship between Father Ignatius and Monsignor Korecki (Boris McGiver) evokes an interest.
While “The Demon of Death” isn’t a haunting episode, but explores the mysteries and terror of death through science to provide an interesting environment for an episode. It introduces a new character that adds to the cast.
Tired Tropes and Triggers
Thereâs not much to report here that particularly crosses the line and what teeters on the line holds a dark comedic tone.
Perhaps Sister Andreaâs flaw might rub some the wrong way, as it deals with her overwhelming faith. However, itâs a minor point at the moment. Again, I lean on liking some complexity for the wise sage archetype.
What I Dislike about âThe Demon of Deathâ
âThe Demon of Deathâ still plays it safe with its supernatural elements, but that does seem to be Evilâs standard. At this point of the series, it seems a strange restraint. However, the new normal remains functionally paranormal.
While the premiere starts with an interesting procedural plot, it doesnât direct the season like prior premieres. This episode doesn’t deliver a massive refocus as season 2’s premiere, but that’s because its conclusion doesn’t deliver as focused of a direction. Regardless, “The Demon of Death” is still an episode that slips away despite its premiere status.
Ben (Aasif Mandvi) seems needlessly hostile as they investigate a soul’s potential weight. The study delivers a thorough scientific process, which makes his resistance linger on the âangry atheistâ archetype.
The demon shown on screen certainly isnât the demon of death the title suggests. While the plot revolves around the mystery of death, there is a demon with a more carnal domain. As future episodes dive into their respective demons, it does seem to be an inaccurate title. However, the demon of the episode will get further focus in a different episode.
Final Thoughts
âThe Demon of Deathâ doesnât stand out as a premiere but provides an interesting procedural episode. As Father Ignatius will become another key character in the series, giving him an entire episode to introduce him is a nice strategy. While itâs not a haunting episode, it still provides a level of camp with interesting characters to pull it off.
(3 / 5)
Released in 2010, Rare Exports asks an important holiday question. One that no one else has dared to ask.
What if Santa was a ten-story-tall monster buried under the ice for centuries?
The story
Rare Exports is the story of a little boy named Pietari. After doing what is frankly too much research for a little boy, he realizes that Santa is not the jolly old elf we all think of. He is, in fact, a monster who eats bad children. And it turns out that Santa was trapped in the ice near Pietari’s little town. All this would be well and good if a Russian mining team weren’t in the process of cutting him out of the ice. So it’s up to Pietari to convince everyone of the dark, horrific truth.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
What worked
Some movies need to make sense. Some donât. Rare Exports is one of the latter.
Why were the Russians digging in the snow to find Santa? What was the plan there? What happened to Pietariâs mom? And who did they sell the elves to? Do the elves need air or water to live?
We donât get answers to any of those questions. And frankly, we donât need them to enjoy Rare Exports.
This is a wild story about a little boy who discovers that Santa is a mythical monster with a bunch of scrawny old men with big white beards to do his evil bidding and eats bad children who haven’t been beaten by their parents enough. What sort of explanation would help this story in any way?
I mean, we could pick apart why itâs suddenly legal to sell people, or at least mythical creatures that look like naked old men, or why this all happened right next to the only little kid who had the exact knowledge needed. But in the end, wouldnât that be like asking how Santa gets into peopleâs homes when they donât have fireplaces? Doesnât that objective reasoning just piss on the Christmas magic?
What didnât work
While Rare Exports was fun, there were parts that I did not appreciate. For one thing, there wasn’t a single woman or person of any color in this film. Literally not one. Not an extra, not in the background. This little Finnish town is populated entirely by white men. And yes, it is Finland and there isn’t a hugely diverse population. But it’s also 2010. People move. Also, women exist.
On the subject of seeing too many white men, we also saw too much of the white men. Specifically, we saw far too many old white male actors entirely nude. There was just no reason for this. These men were portraying elves. They didnât have to be naked. If they were naked, they didnât have to have, um, yule logs. Maybe elves are like Ken dolls. There were so many options that didnât include so much old man wang.
Finally, I wish we’d seen Santa Claus. Not to spoil the ending, but he never actually emerges to attack anyone. And that feels like a cop-out. If we’re going to be teased the whole movie with this depiction of monster Santa, we should at least get to see monster Santa.
Though, after what they did with the elves, maybe itâs a blessing we didnât see him.
In the end, Rare Exports was well worth watching. It was hilarious, creepy and bloody. And while it wasn’t perfect, it was a delightful holiday horror comedy.
(4 / 5)
Released in 2016, Christmas Crime Story is about a disastrous robbery on Christmas Eve, and all the many lives impacted by the selfish decisions of one person.
And then, suddenly, it isnât. But weâll get to that part.
The story
Christmas Crime Story is the tale of a Christmas Eve holdup gone wrong. We see the story from several points of view, starting with Chris, the detective first on the scene.
Chris is having a hard Christmas Eve. So, on his lunch break, he visits his mom at her diner. It appears that they have a contentious relationship. But nothing is solved in this quick visit.
Chris goes on to pull over a man speeding. When the man, named David, pulls over, Chris discovers something in the trunk. That something must have been pretty damn incriminating, because rather than open the trunk, David shoots him dead.
We then switch to Davidâs pov for the night. Then his girlfriendâs pov. Then, the man his girlfriend has been cheating on him with. And on and on we go, until we see how all of these different stories and people come together for a dark, sordid Christmas Eve.
What worked
The first thing I want to say about Christmas Crime Story is that itâs heartwarming. Like, to a fault, which we will be talking about.
The ending is very sweet, in a Christmasy sort of way. Families come together, people are filled with joy, and all is right in the world for almost everyone. Except for Lena, who deserves to have a bad Christmas, everyone gets a happy ending.
That brings me to my next point. The characters, mostly, are all deeply sympathetic. Even when David or James are killing people, you feel bad for them.
You donât agree with what theyâre doing, but you do feel bad.
You have to feel sympathetic for the man whose girlfriend hired a killer to merk him. Or the woman whose daughter has cancer. Or the guy who just can’t find work, even though he’s trying to make good decisions. You want things to work out for them. You want them to be okay. Even when they do terrible things.
Finally, I always love stories told from so many different points of view. It’s always fun to see a story unfold in a nonlinear way, but in a way that makes more and more sense as we get more points of view. It’s a hard thing to pull off, and I think Christmas Crime Story did it very well.
What didnât work
Unfortunately, all of the sympathetic characters and clever storytelling methods in the world won’t save a story that doesn’t work. And Christmas Crime Story just does not work.
Letâs begin with the ending. The big twist near the end of the movie. I wonât spoil it, but you will for sure know it if youâve seen the film. Or, if you waste your time watching the film.
As a rule, twists work when they make sense. Not when it feels like the writers threw up their hands and said, âOkay, but what if everything we just did for the last hour and fifteen minutes didnât happen, and insteadâŠâ
This wasnât clever. It wasnât fun. It felt like the writers didnât know how to end their movie and just decided to cheat.
Finally, I mentioned earlier that Christmas Crime Story was heartwarming. And yes, that is nice.
But is it maybe a little too heartwarming?
I mean, we have an adorable angel of a child with cancer. Her parents don’t have enough money for her treatment. We have two poor guys who are in love with a black-hearted woman. And we have a detective so sweet and kind that he makes you rethink ACAB. And, he’s about to get married to his pregnant girlfriend. And theyâre naming the baby after his mom. And his name is literally Chris DeJesus. His momâs name is Maggie DeJesus. I tried to think of a sillier less subtle name to use as a joke, and I literally couldnât think of one.
They could have at least named him De La Cruz. That would be more subtle, and I still would have complained.
In the end, Christmas Crime Story just missed the mark. It came very close to being a good movie. But it focused too much on how it wanted you to feel, rather than telling a satisfying story that made sense. Much like that third glass of eggnog, itâs fun in the moment and regretful after. If youâre looking for a satisfying Christmas horror, Iâd suggest looking elsewhere.
(2 / 5)
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