Eden Lake

Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and Steve (Michael Fassbender) head away for a weekend of wild camping in a secluded location where he's been with his friends before: it's a disused quarry conveniently not far from a village and they went there for dive practice. As naff as the location sounds it's beautiful and has been earmarked for redevelopment into a gated community. Steve has plans to propose to Jenny while there.

Their weekend is disrupted by a crowd of rough teenagers playing loud music and being generally antisocial. Steve decides to confront them about their behaviour.

No good will come of this.

CW: injury detail, torture

Joker

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) makes a precarious living as a clown, taking any jobs an agency will give him. Having struggled all his life with mental illness he attends regular therapy sessions and harbours a desire to be a stand-up comedian but literally never quite manages to get his act together.

Living in a run down apartment where he cares for his ailing mother one of the bright spots is watching Murray Franklin's (Robert DeNiro) TV talk show with her. Arthur idolises Franklin and dreams of one day making an appearance on it.

No good will come of this.

Terrifier

Two young women, Tara (Jenna Kanell) and Dawn (Catherine Corcoran) have been out for drinks on Halloween night. They catch the eye of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) who follows them to a late night pizza joint where they stop for a snack and to attempt to sober up before driving home.

No good will come of this.

CW: infamously grim and bloody with buckets of gore

V/H/S Beyond

This is the 7th in the long running horror anthology series and nominally has an alien/space theme but some of the segments completely ignore this.

It's a mixed bag. One of the stories is chopped up and used as linking items but when it gets to the end doesn't really go anywhere. The standouts are "Stowaway" where a lone UFO hunting podcaster tracks down and boards an alien ship and "Dream Girl" where Indian paparazzi try to get candid shots of a starlet.

I've not watched one of these before as I'd expected quite low rent straight to streaming horror and that was pretty much what I got. It's hard to rate anthologies fairly but I think overall this comes in at about 5/10. It suffered from some segments having a weak premise but good execution, vice-versa or just not enough time/money spent on it to fully develop.

Still interesting though despite my low overall rating and I might give other instalments a look.

Mean Girls

Cady (Lindsay Lohan) has spent her childhood in Africa with her Academic parents and when she enrols in High School at 16 it is the first formal schooling of her life.

Completely unprepared for the cliquey teen environment she struggles to make friends and initially befriends the outcasts Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese).

Unexpectedly she is 'noticed' by the school's 'Queen Bee', Regina George (Rachel McAdams) who starts to cultivate her friendship. Janis and Damian warn Cady about how toxic Regina is and the trio decide to use this as an opportunity to take her and the other 'Plastics' down. However to take down a Mean Girl, Cady will have to become one.

No good will come of this.

Lola

1938, sisters Martha (Stefanie Martini) and Thomasina (Emma Appleton) have invented a machine, the titular Lola, that picks up analogue radio and television signals from the future.

Initially they use it to make themselves comfortable through that time traveller's faithful friend: the bookmaker, then begin to explore the art, culture and science yet to come.

Keeping Lola a secret they are unable to actually change anything much beyond their own knowledge, tastes and fortunes. When World War II begins the pair turn to saving lives anonymously, broadcasting as "The Angel of Portobello": warning people of air raids and other calamities in an absolutely prescient manner.

When a young Intelligence officer tracks them down they are persuaded to turn Lola to the war effort.

No good will come of this.

American Gangster

Late 60s New York, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) works as driver and gopher for the crime boss of Harlem "Bumpy" Johnson. When "Bumpy" dies suddenly this empire falls apart and Lucas unsuccessfully tries to take the reins.

In a moment of sudden inspiration he hits on the idea to use US involvement in the Vietnam war to forge a direct route into the country for heroin. At enormous personal risk he travels there and deals directly with a producer.

This pays off.

Meanwhile, Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is put in charge of a task force to tackle the scourge of drugs on the streets.

CW: graphic images of drug abuse

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

When an ancient artefact bursting with psychic power is brought into Ray Stanz' curiosity shop he hands it over to the Ghostbusters without really explaining how dangerous it might be.

No good will come of this.