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Common sense media reviewers.

Derivative horror movie is violent and depraved.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Most of the movie is about terrible behavior. The

The majority of the characters behave badly, enabl

Perhaps the most disturbing sequence takes place d

The movie opens with a scene of full-frontal nudit

Language includes frequent use of words like &quot

One scene takes place in a store, and some brand n

Young people (possibly of age, possibly not) drink

Parents need to know that this horror film about a group of young adults who visit a creepy old house where a hideous man-monster is supposed to have lived has a high body count. There's lots of blood and gore, and much of the violence comes from humans threatening and/or attacking one another with weapons. One…

Positive Messages

Most of the movie is about terrible behavior. The movie seems fascinated by all this creepy, depraved stuff, and the voices of reason are eventually drowned out.

Positive Role Models

The majority of the characters behave badly, enabling the creature, killing each other, and otherwise engaging in debauchery. Only one character shows some bravery, but he also resorts to brutal violence, and his efforts don't add up to much.

Violence & Scariness

Perhaps the most disturbing sequence takes place during a flashback, when a man kills a giant gator and begins eating the discarded human body parts nearby. Lots of monster attacks, as well as a surprising number of incidents with humans threatening, attacking, and thrashing upon one another. A few severed body parts, and lots of spurting blood.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The movie opens with a scene of full-frontal nudity as a woman goes swimming in the swamp. Two more women are seen topless. In a flashback, a man is shown to be in a romantic relationship with his young teen sister. In perhaps the most shocking scene, a teen girl manually stimulates a boy (the "action" is out of frame). The same teen boy tries to seduce another teen girl, but fails (though they kiss). Another couple has sex in the woods, though entirely off screen; viewers only see the foreplay. Additional kissing and some innuendo.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes frequent use of words like "f--k," "s--t," "damn," "ass," "hell," "goddamn," and "Jesus" (as an exclamation). Characters give each other the middle finger.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

One scene takes place in a store, and some brand names are visible in the background.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Young people (possibly of age, possibly not) drink beer and wine and smoke pot around a campfire. A couple of hillbillies drink beer -- and some kind of homemade liquor -- until they're stumbling drunk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this horror film about a group of young adults who visit a creepy old house where a hideous man-monster is supposed to have lived has a high body count. There's lots of blood and gore, and much of the violence comes from humans threatening and/or attacking one another with weapons. One scene shows a person eating human body parts. There's full-frontal nudity as well as some perverse sexual situations, including a relationship between a brother and sister. The main characters (who may be of age but may not) drink beer and wine and smoke pot. Language includes multiple uses of "f--k" and "s--t." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say
• Kids say (3)

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

Six (presumably) college-age kids -- who don't seem to like each other much -- drive through Louisiana on their way to a fun getaway. Stopping for gas, they meet some creepy backwoods locals and learn about the legend of a man-monster supposedly living in a swamp. They decide to see the creature's home and wind up spending the night in the woods. Soon, the monster comes out of hiding and begins to attack. Unfortunately, the monster is looking for more than a meal: It's looking for a bride. What's more, it has some unexpected help.

Is It Any Good?

This monster movie is about as bad as they come. Its amazingly low-budget "effects" include an actual latex monster rather than the now-more-typical CGI. The creature isn't at all scary, but some of the behavior of the human characters can be disturbing; some of the behavior on display here includes incest and cannibalism.

On a pure storytelling level, the filmmakers steal from dozens of typical teen-road-trip horror movies, plus the old evil-hillbilly chestnut, and throw in a few depraved ideas from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . And most of the characters are simply flat-out annoying. It's all so numbingly routine that it's not clear whether the filmmakers thought they were paying homage, making a parody, or just doing an outright rip-off. The casting of legendary character actor Sid Haig -- and a subtle mention of Haig's best movie, Spider Baby (1964) -- suggests some genre knowledge, but there's no inspiration in the cheap, lazy CREATURE. It's dead on arrival.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's violence . How does it compare to other horror movies you've seen?

Is the movie scary ? Do you think the goal is to scare, shock, or both?

How does the movie portray sex ? Why do you think so many horror movies mix sex and violence?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 9, 2011
• On DVD or streaming : March 20, 2012
• Cast : Mehcad Brooks , Serinda Swan , Sid Haig
• Director : Fred Andrews
• Inclusion Information : Black actors, Female actors
• Studio : The Bubble Factory
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : bloody violence and grisly images, some sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use
• Last updated : February 25, 2022

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Creature’ On Netflix, A Turkish Drama About A Med Student Who Resurrects His Mentor And Suffers The Consequences

Where to stream:.

• Creature (2023)

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Sometimes you just know, you know? You just know when a show is going to torture viewers with a story that’s padded and drawn out, with performances that are about as subtle as a kick in the shin. A new Turkish drama loosely based on Frankenstein is one of those shows.

CREATURE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A snowy mountain. A voice over says, “Have you ever thought about why people are afraid of the undead?”

The Gist: As a group of explorers sets up camp on that snowy mountain, a strange human-like creature carries a man through the snow. The creature enters the camp, drops the man on the ground, and demands them to “Heal him!”

As the man, a doctor named Ziya (Taner Ölmez), lies in a delirium at the camp, he mutters names and random words. But he’s thinking about his time as a child, when a girl named Asiye (Şifanur Gül) moves in, and as they grow up as siblings, they become very close. Ziya’s father, Muzaffer, Engin Benli, is a doctor, and he taught Ziya about the human body and had him assist him starting from when Ziya was a boy.

As both Ziya and Asiye get older, we see the family on a holiday at the beach. As Ziya’s mother Gülfem (Ümmü Putgül) takes a drink of water that she said tasted off, Ziya discusses with his father his desire to find The Book Of Resurrections , which his father dismisses as fake and a line of work he shouldn’t be pursuing as a med student.

Soon a cholera outbreak runs through the town where Ziya and his family live, and Gülfem contracts the disease. As she gets sicker, she tells Ziya and Asiye to pursue the feelings they have for each other. After her death, Ziya vows to eradicate diseases like cholera and others that could take out entire villages. But he’s also interested in getting a copy of that book on resurrection.

He leaves Asiye to attend medical school in Istanbul. When he goes to his hotel, he meets with the man he thinks has the book for him; they’ve been corresponding for over a year. Instead, the man robs him of everything he has. Ziya has no choice but to find a spot at the medical school to lay his head, hoping he doesn’t get detected. But he also sees a somewhat loony professor named Ihsan (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil), who is shown actually writing The Book Of Resurrection .

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Creature , written by Çağan Irmak, is based on the Mary Shelley classic Frankenstein , so any show or movie with a take on the Frankenstein’s monster legend will be a good match here.

Our Take: What Irmak is trying to do in Creature is lay out the relationship between Ziya and Ihsan, and how Ziya used his mentor’s teachings to resurrect the professor after his death. Of course, that tends to lead to all sorts of bad outcomes, including what led the creature that used to be Ihsan to bring a gravely ill Ziya to that village.

But if we have to suffer through the drawn out story of how Ziya met Ihsan and convinced the professor to teach him his resurrection methods, paired with much of the overacting we saw in the first episode, we’d rather just watch old Frankenstein movies over and over.

It’s a very slow-progressing story, and it’s not exactly one we’re that interested in. For one, there are moments that feel disconnected from the rest of the story, like Ziya lying in delirium in the explorers’ village; we’re sure there’s a payoff there at some point, maybe having to do with Ziya’s recovery and reunification with Ihsan, but it feels like it’s going to take the entire show’s run to get there.

But we’re also get the feeling we’re going to be tortured by the runup to the resurrection in the first place. There’s only so many dark moments and yelled dialogue we can take. Sure, Ziya is likely being portrayed to be as crazed as Dr. Frankenstein was in Shelley’s novel, but Ihsan is also a bit unhinged. Are we going to have these unhinged physicians playing off each other for episodes on end before we get to the heart of the story?

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: In a bit of an abrupt ending, Ihsan hears a knock on the door, soothes his dog Darwin, and then lowers a tarp onto what he’s working on, with smoke wafting up from under the tarp.

Sleeper Star: No one really stood out.

Most Pilot-y Line: Ziya’s father takes the family to a leper colony, where the family’s former housekeeper is living since contracting leprosy. Even though both Ziya and his father acknowledge that leprosy can’t be transmitted through touch, he still races to keep Ziya from holding the woman’s hand.

Our Call: SKIP IT. The first episode of Creature is so dark, overwrought and disjointed we’re not going to stick around and find out the answers to any of the questions the episode brought up.

Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere.

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Release date

24 th February 2023

Based on the English National Ballet production of the same name, Creature tells the story of the titular Creature (Jeffrey Cirio), a man who is enlisted into an experimental programme in a dilapidated former Arctic research station. Tested on by Doctor (Stina Quagebeur) for his mental and physical resilience under the orders of the tyrannical Major (Fabian Reimar), the protagonist struggles to make sense of this strange world but finds love and companionship through the cleaner Marie (Erina Takahashi). Creature and Marie dream of escaping the doomed Earth, but the Major’s desire for Marie threatens this dream – and their lives.

Creature marries the visual languages of theatre with those of film, with Asif Kapadia’s directing reinterpreting and reshaping Akram Khan’s choreography in some fascinating ways. Watching this film feels like watching a conversation between these two directors and their respective genres, with an entirely new experience created from the synthesis of cinema and ballet. The camera often gets up close and personal with the dancers, bringing out fresh elements of their performances and immersing the audience in Creature ’s dark and visceral world in entirely different ways from a standard theatrical performance.

This story is powerful, exploring ideas of authoritarianism, othering, climate catastrophe, love and loss without its actors saying a single word. The film doesn’t give much in the way of context, with even the names of its characters only being revealed in the credits, but it’s a testament to the strength of Khan’s choreography and Kapadia’s directing that the narrative works effectively without any information beyond what the ballet conveys.

The strength of the piece’s storytelling is of course bolstered significantly by the talented dancers, who communicate a rollercoaster of emotions and atmospheres without missing a beat. Cirio steals the show, playing the Frankenstein -esque role of the titular protagonist in a way that brings out the complexity of the character and perfectly serves the multi-faceted themes and ideas that Creature represents.

Overall, Creature is a fascinating cinematic experience, bringing together two different creative disciplines and making something at once familiar and brand new. It’s raw, intense and experimental, with breathtaking dance explored and enhanced by a keen directorial eye, telling a story that manages to juggle a lot of narrative balls while keeping things coherent and maintaining a focus on universal parts of the human experience.

Creature is released in select cinemas on 24 th February 2023.

Watch the trailer for Creature here:

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Creature (United States, 2011)

Terror Has Teeth!

As taglines go, that pretty much tells you what to expect. Creature , a no-budget horror movie whose financial limitations are repeatedly on display, tries to get by with an oversaturation of gore and camp. Lovers of cheap, grade-z exploitation films will find a lot to smile at here. We're on the fringes of "so bad it's good" territory, where a certain class of viewer will mumble about "guilty pleasures." Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is not how production designer-turned-director Fred Andrews was able to uncover the minimal amount of money necessary to make Creature but how it was able to secure even a limited theatrical distribution for this straight-to-DVD effort. He must have pictures. Damaging pictures.

There is a perverse enjoyment to be had from something this cheesy, although not enough of one that I can recommend sitting through it. Still, as bad as Creature is, it can be fun, although the level of enjoyment is probably in direct proportion to the viewer's level of intoxication. Andrews knows exploitation movies and has crafted Creature as an homage to the best/worst of them, even going so far as to recruit Sig Haig for a supporting role. You want blood? It's here, spraying left and right. You want boobs? They're here, too. You want dismemberment? It's here. You want a lesbian clinch? It's here. You want jell-o wrestling? Sorry - that's one thing Andrews couldn't figure out how to work into the movie, although you can bet he tried.

Creature opens with infinite promise as actress Jennifer Lynn Warren (whose filmography lists previous roles as "Vampire Hunter", "Tekken Citizen", "Bar Patron", and "Student") disrobes and goes for a swim in a lake. Two things are immediately apparent from this first scene: Andrews is not beyond getting a little artsy (the scene is heavily color desturated, almost to the point where it's in black-and-white) and Ms. Warren trims down below but does not shave. She's not the only one the director gets naked. All three of his female leads have topless scenes, although Serinda Swan's is sadly PG-13 in terms of what she shows.

Creature 's opening skinny-dipper emerges from the water legless, courtesy of an attack by either a bayou alligator or the dreaded Lockjaw- a half man/half reptile who looks like the unholy offspring of a Teenage Mutant Turtle and Bowser (from the Mario video games). Although Lockjaw is Creature 's title entity, we never get a really good look at him, thereby keeping audience laughter during his appearances to reasonable levels. As movie monsters go, he's less interesting than the Creature from the Black Lagoon but about as bloodthirsty as Audrey II, although he lacks Levi Stubbs' pipes. Still, the sight of Lockjaw dancing around while singing, "Feed Me!" would have improved the film's overall entertainment value.

Our six generic, horny twentysomethings enter the film fairly early, allowing us to place bets on the order in which they will provide Lockjaw with meals. They are: sarcastic, wisecracking Oscar (Dillon Casey) and his hot "sister", Karen (Lauren Schenider); ex-Marine Randy (Aaron Hill) and his southern belle, bi-curious girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Fuller); and token black guy Niles (Mehcad Brooks) and his squeeze, Emily (Serinda Swan). On a road trip to New Orleans, they end up lost on back roads and meet individuals who should be carrying banjos. There are also snakes, spiders, and alligators. The spiders might be real. The snake is probably rubber. And the alligators are clips from a National Geographic special.

The plot becomes convoluted beyond all hope of unraveling once Sid Haig enters the picture. There are intimations of incest and bestiality, although narrative clarity is not one of Creature 's primary goals. God's name is used in vain, although there probably should have been a "-zilla" appended. It all ends with a big mud fight that can only be considered anticlimactic. Seeing Serinda Swan spread-eagled then writhing around in brown muck doesn't make up for the overall lameness resulting from budget restrictions. Maybe this is where the jell-o should have come into play.

Creature has been made with a particular audience in mind: those who have been craving a mash-up of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Deliverance , and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a monster straight out of '70s Doctor Who . The movie is little too straight to play out as a parody, but there are plenty of laughs, to be sure. The only question is how many of those laughs are intentional, intentionally unintentional, and unintentional. I won't claim to have liked Creature , but I didn't hate it, either. Those within the limited demographic will get a hoot out of what the film offers. Those not in that group will walk out and sneak into whatever is playing next door. For them, I have this to say: what did you expect from a movie that advertises itself with the line Terror Has Teeth! ?

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Netflix's Creature looks like a Frankenstein thriller that leans into the novel's obsession

Can Netflix's Creature breathe new life into a story we've seen so many times before? The trailer suggests that it can

If you're looking for something a bit more cerebral than the average monster movie, Creature by Çağan Irmak could be just the thing. It's an adaptation – Netflix describes it as a re-imagining – of Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein that updates the story, but looks like it won't lose track of the themes of obsession and grief of the original.

The limited series is set in Ottoman-era Istanbul and focuses on Ziya, a young and rebellious medical student. After seeing people he cares about die, his ambition is to become a famous doctor and save people from the epidemics for which there is currently no cure. Over its eight episodes it shows what happens when Ziya, in cahoots with fellow doctor Ihsan, conducts a forbidden experiment that crosses the fine line between genius and insanity with horrific results.

As you can see from the trailer below, it looks pretty interesting.

Why is this Frankenstein adaptation called Creature?

The show's title, which translates from the Turkish as 'creature', is faithful to Shelley's original too: throughout her book the creature created by Doctor Frankenstein was only ever called "the creature", "the wretch", "the thing" and other no-capitals titles designed to avoid humanizing it. And if the scientist's name isn't Frankenstein, you can't really call it Frankenstein any more. That's probably a factor.

It's hard to decide whether this show is going to be great or if it'll fall into hackneyed horror tropes, but I'm optimistic: all the pre-show publicity so far has emphasized the darker elements of Shelley's story: the grief of losing people, the hubris of believing we can cheat death, the sickening feeling of things going badly and dangerously out of control, and the horror of humans playing God. So it's a safe bet that this show isn't going to have a laugh track. 

I hope Creature is as good as it looks, because of course the real horror of the Frankenstein story wasn't the monster, the creature, the fiend or any of the other things the doctor's creation was dubbed – although the monster is often the focus of most pop-culture depictions. The real horror lived in the second half of the title, the bit that's typically forgotten or ignored: The Modern Prometheus, the man so arrogant he believed he could steal fire from the gods. In an era of accelerating climate change, autonomous weapons and other modern human-created terrors, the story is just as resonant as when Shelley first told it in 1818.

Creature will be streaming on Netflix from 20th October. 

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Creature is Netflix’s most underrated horror series right now. Here’s why you should watch it

Halloween isn’t for another week, but Netflix already has another treat for horror lovers. Creature , the new Turkish horror miniseries, has premiered on the 10 most popular shows on Netflix . It stars Taner Ölmez as Ziya, an idealistic young doctor whose determination to defeat death results in the creation of his own Creature (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil).

A fresh coat of paint on a classic tale

• The dual performances of Erkan Kolçak Köstendil

The Creature and his maker

If you think that sounds like the plot of Mary Shelley’s famous novel, Frankenstein , then you’re not wrong. Çağan Irmak has put his own personal touches on the story that is at once familiar and different. And we’ve got three reasons why you should watch Creature this Halloween. We also have a viewing tip: Watch it in the original Turkish language with subtitles. The English dub isn’t as convincing as the native tongue from the original.

Almost every incarnation of Frankenstein takes some liberties with the original story, but Creature takes more than most. In addition to changing the names of the major characters, the primary setting for the story is Istanbul in Turkey during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.

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That means more than just a new backdrop for the story. It’s an entirely different culture with its own beliefs about death, science, and beyond. Ziya is initially more altruistic than Victor Frankenstein was in the novel. In his mind, Ziya sees conquering death as his ultimate gift to mankind, and he truly believes that this will change the world for the better. But like Dr. Frankenstein, Ziya is so blinded by his ambition that he doesn’t realize he’s gone too far until it’s too late.

The dual performances of Erkan Kolçak Köstendil

Because this story doesn’t play out exactly like Frankenstein , Erkan Kolçak Köstendil had the rare opportunity to play two roles in this incarnation. He portrays Ziya’s mentor, İhsan, the man who helped teach him that life doesn’t necessarily end with the grave. Unfortunately for Ihsan, his untimely death allows Ziya to resurrect him as the unnamed Creature.

The Creature proves to be a disappointment to his maker, and also a showcase for Köstendil to bring out the pathos of his character. The Creature is capable of more than just death or destruction, and he just wants to find the same community and love that humans have for each other. Unlike Frankenstein’s Monster in the book, the Creature actually gets a taste of having real love in his life. At least until fate cruelly snatches away his only chances for happiness.

At its core, Frankenstein is about the man and the monster, as both Victor and the Monster trade roles during the course of the story. Creature follows the same trajectory with its tale of Ziya and his creation. Surprisingly, it doesn’t stray that far from the novel, although at times it seems to be taking more influences from the Frankenstein movies than the original book.

Regardless, the confrontation between Ziya and his Creature plays out in a satisfactory way. Without spoiling things, their final meeting mirrors the birth of the Creature. And while there are tragic elements, at least one member of this cast of characters gets to end the show in a happier place in his life.

Watch Creature on Netflix .

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Den of Geek

Creature review: is it really the worst film of the year?

Creature is arguably the biggest box office bomb of the year. Thus, we had to see it, to see if it was really that bad. Here's Ron's review...

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Last Friday, a movie was released to over 1500 theaters in the United States. There was no real marketing campaign, aside from a few ads placed in the wee hours on the SyFy Channel. There was no all-consuming star. There was no massive budget. Unsurprisingly, the movie, Creature, had one of the weakest debuts of all time, to the tune of $327,000 (or $217 per screen). That’s the second-worst per theater average of all time, second to only the movie Proud Americans , which I have never heard of.

Given this knowledge, I had to go see it.

A group of friends are traveling through the bayou country on their way to Louisiana, following the advice of their driver Oscar (Dillon Casey) and his sister Karen (Lauren Schneider). Along for the ride are a pair of military veterans, Niles (Mehcad Brooks) and Randy (Aaron Hill), and their respective girlfriends, Emily (Serinda Swan) and Beth (Amanda Fuller).

Along the way through a decayed town, they stop at the convenience store of Chopper (Sid Haig) to get beer and learn about the lesson of Grimley, an inbred swamp dweller whose journey into insanity mutated him into a half-man, half-alligator creature known as Lockjaw.

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When Randy has the bright idea to go see Lockjaw’s shack in the swamps, the others come along for the ride. Little do they realize that the legends are true. Oops, looks like we’ve got spam in a cabin.

Creature is an updated, sleazier version of a 1950s monster movie crossed with a 70’s hixsploitation movie. It has all the elements you’re looking for in a B-movie, and this is the B-est of the B. There’s nudity, weirdness, blood (though not too much blood), women in peril, some comedy, and most importantly, a great rubber suit monster.

I love a good rubber suit monster, and Lockjaw is pretty awesome looking. More importantly, they avoid shooting him in direct light, thereby making him look as good as possible. Given his color and texture, he’s great at blending into the swamps and then popping out of nowhere to rip into a torso, then disappearing again.

As for the acting, there’s not a lot bad to say. Most of it is independent movie-level stuff, but Sid Haig is always great in everything he does. As the villainous Chopper, he recycles most of his Captain Spaulding character from The Devil’s Rejects , but he dials it down a bit to make the character seem a little more normal. He’s usually fun; this is no different.

Of the non-Haig actors, Mehcad Brooks is pretty good as Niles, and I really enjoyed the performance of Lauren Schneider as Karen, simply because the actress has the most amusing role and embraces it wholeheartedly.

The director of the film, Fred M. Andrews, has never helmed a movie previously. However, he has been a set designer on CSI Miami and Without A Trace , so he does a good job of getting the movie to look well. He also incorporates some fun, old-timey use of stock footage into his movie, specifically stock footage of alligators swimming through swamps and whatnot.

It’s a neat callback, of a sort, to an older way of making films. He also makes good use of location. While you could have shot Creature using B-roll from Shark Night 3D , that’s not a knock on Creature or Andrews, who works with what he has to make up for what he lacks. It’s quick, dirty, and very entertaining.

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The script, from Andrews and Tracy Morse, makes up for the budget issues by being quick without overreaching. There are no long, dramatic monologues, just quick, relatively witty exchanges. It doesn’t try to trick the viewer, but it does provide a few fun twists and turns along the way. Sid Haig gets to chew the scenery in his debut, and there are no ultra-annoying characters to detract from the enjoyment of the film. The plot gets out of the way of the story, and that’s refreshing.

Is Creature going to win any awards? No. Is Creature way better than Bucky Larson , last weekend’s other major box office flop in the US? You bet. By any metric, Creature is a better horror film than Bucky Larson is a comedy. Creature might be a better comedy than Bucky Larson , too.

That said, it’s also more likely to be an acquired taste than most movies. If you long for the days of cheap-o double features, late-night TV, and the bottom shelf of the video store, then Creature might be just the thing you’re looking for. When you’re living in the postmodern world, somehow the old fashioned and quaint feels fresh and new. Thanks, nostalgia! US Correspondent Ron Hogan has always wanted to don a rubber suit and chase people through the forest. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi .

Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here . And be our Facebook chum here .

Ron Hogan is a freelance writer from Louisville, Kentucky who got an English degree from a college no one has ever heard of. After dropping out…

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Creature – Netflix Series Review

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Oct 20, 2023 | 3 minutes

CREATURE on Netflix is a new dark sci-fi fantasy series from Turkey (org. title: Yaratilan ) based on Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN . The series has eight episodes, and while the production quality is good, there’s a stage drama feel to it. Read our Creature series review here and find it on Netflix now!

CREATURE is a new Netflix series from Turkey (org. title: Yaratilan ). It’s a Turkish adaption of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN , so while the story is familiar, the setting is different. It takes place in the Ottoman Empire and focuses on what man should and should not do.

The age-old “Just because we can, does not mean we should”-morale. Over the course of eight episodes, we see the story unfold. A lot of it is in flashbacks from the very first episode, which sets the stage nicely. Unfortunately, I also felt the word “stage” came into play as some of the acting had a distinct feel of a theater play. Not my preferred way to experience a sci-fi fantasy story like Frankenstein .

Continue reading our Creature series review below. Find all eight episodes on Netflix from October 20, 2023.

Creature is a Turkish adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Creature  is an epic story that takes place in the final era of the Ottoman Empire. As with most stories that stem from Frankenstein, it dwells on the fundamental questions of “death and the afterlife”. Particularly, this also plays into religion, as various religions have different theories of what the soul is.

In any case, we follow the adventurous and rebellious young medical student, Ziya, who has a dream of finding cures for infectious diseases. Death being the ultimate disease to overcome, of course. After all, this is a Frankenstein story.

Ziya crosses paths with Ihsan, who is also a medical doctor, but balancing between genius and insanity. Ihsan is exactly the kind of person who understands what Ziya is dreaming of. It inevitably leads to an ancient and secret book about resurrection and a forbidden experiment.

The series stars Erkan Kolçak Köstendil as İhsan & Taner Ölmez as Ziya. Also in the cast are Engin Benli, Şifanur Gül, Bülent Şakrak, Sema Çeyrekbaşı, and Devrim Yakut.

The best Turkish Netflix series

Over the years, we’ve come across quite a lot of genre productions from Turkey. In terms of feature films, a movie like  Baskin  (2016) was a hit at various genre film festivals. If you watch it, you’ll understand why. It is crazy but in ways that get under your skin in all the right ways – because it’s so wrong.

On Netflix, we’ve also been getting a lot of solid series from Turkey. Recently, or earlier this year, there was Who Were We Running From?   which I can definitely recommend. Also, there’s a vampire series from 2019 titled Immortals   that you could also check out.

Personally, I always feel that the very best Turkish Netflix series is  Fatma  (2021) . However, if you want something in the sci-fi or fantasy genre, then  Hot Skull  is another one I  really  enjoyed .  Fatma  has already been remade into a South African series , and I suspect a remake of  Hot Skull could also come. I certainly hope so!

Watch the Creature  series on Netflix now!

The new Turkish adaption of Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein was created, written, and directed by Çagan Irmak ( Remember Us ).

I had a difficult time letting go of the “drama”-feel of Creature (org. title: Yaratilan ), which never made it really work for me. Not all actors were guilty of this style of acting, but too many in leading roles were. Still, the production quality is solid and I did enjoy seeing the world of Frankenstein play out in this new setting.

If you’re curious and want something new yet familiar, then you should absolutely give it a shot.

Creature is on Netflix with all eight episodes from October 20, 2023.

Creator: Çagan Irmak Director: Çagan Irmak Writer: Çagan Irmak Cast: Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Taner Ölmez, Engin Benli, Şifanur Gül, Bülent Şakrak, Sema Çeyrekbaşı, Devrim Yakut

When tragedy befalls a reckless scientist in Ottoman-era Istanbul, his student uses untested methods to finish his work — with devastating consequences.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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Creature Reviews

There are far more laughs than real shocks... it doesn't really matter, after all, in space, no one can hear you groan.

Full Review | Jul 22, 2022

Some bad movies are so bad they are funny or fascinating or both. This one makes counting grains of sand seem more lively.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Aug 16, 2021

The opening scene is hysterical in its setup for eventual alien scares, as characters behave insincerely and deliver lines of dialogue as if they were in a romantic comedy.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Aug 31, 2020

Okay, the movie wouldn't be much without Kinski, but our German fiend makes up for it.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 23, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 11, 2005

Chintzy and forgettable "Alien" retread.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 2, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 27, 2003

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Creature Reviews

• 1 hr 37 mins
• Horror, Science Fiction
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A Saturn-based space crew discovers a ghoul. Stan Ivar. Sladen: Wendy Schaal. Perkins: Lyman Ward. Pennel: Robert Jaffe. Dr. Oliver: Annette McCarthy. Bryce: Diane Salinger. Hofner: Klaus Kinski. Directed by William Malone.

An American expedition led by corporate lackey Lyman Ward travels to Titan, one of Saturn's moons, to learn what has become of the spaceship that was sent there previously. The American corporation is competing with a German firm for the mining rights to the moon, and they are aware that a German ship is also on the surface. After the Americans land on Titan, their exploration of the first ship and of the German ship yields several dead bodies and one ALIEN-like monster that snatches one of the female crew members. CREATURE is a strange hybrid of science-fiction films. The sets and creature are ripped off from ALIEN, the space suits resemble the ones from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and the dead returning to life is from PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES. The film does have some effective moments, and the performers are competent, if undistinguised. Though it earns a zero on the originality scale, CREATURE packs enough of a wallop to save it from being a total washout.

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For a few minutes, “Arcadian” basically becomes “ Aliens ” on an Irish farm with Nicolas Cage in the Ripley role. That might be the best elevator pitch I've ever heard. You know if you want to sign up for that or not. Don’t get me wrong. This is not James Cameron-level filmmaking, but it is an effective creature feature that avoids a lot of the traps of post-apocalyptic horror (which has really been a thing lately, especially at this year’s SXSW) and delivers on its premise. It truly feels like “The Walking Dead” and now maybe “The Last of Us” have spawned a wave of films about how humans respond when civilization collapses—“Arcadian” is one of the better entries in this growing genre about how screwed we all are.

“Arcadian” opens with Paul (Cage) fleeing what is obviously the end of the civilization, represented by sirens and explosions buried in the sound design, off in the distance. In a hiding spot, he cradles two infant twin boys. Cut to fifteen years later, when Paul lives with his teen sons Joseph ( Jaeden Martell ) and Thomas ( Maxwell Jenkins ). We’re introduced to these characters in a moment of panic as Thomas hasn’t returned home from the nearby Rose Farm, and the sun is going down. It’s clear that people don’t like to be out after dark.

A brief bit of character development at a table sets up the fact that Thomas is the more instinctual, risk-taking brother, while Joseph seems more intellectual, interested in figuring out how to progress beyond just survival. The trio boards up all windows and doors at night, moving to a higher floor, and then something tries to get in, leaving scratch marks on the door that look like moving blades were trying to chop it down. Those aren’t your ordinary wolf claws that did that. After spending a bit too long with the cute Rose daughter Charlotte (a very effective Sadie Soverall ), Thomas falls as he’s running home, getting stuck in the woods after dark. Dad goes out to save him. Things get really weird. And then director Benjamin Brewer and writer Michael Nilon drop their bomb in one of the best genre scenes in a very long time. Without spoiling it, let’s just say it involves a sleeping Joseph, an open panel in a door, and a wide shot that feels like it goes on forever in order to ratchet up maximum tension.

It turns out that what’s out in those woods is absolute nightmare fuel. It feels like Brewer asked his creative team to bring in every creature design idea they could and then just said, “Let’s just do em ALL.” At its core, the monster kind of looks like a primate produced an offspring with a xenomorph. There’s the almost crawling, twisting energy of the H.R. Giger monster but there’s so much hair and teeth and I don’t even know what. One of the main reasons “Arcadian” works is that Brewer knows how to hide his budget in quick shots of the creatures that don’t feel like cheap obfuscation as much as terrified glimpses. You don’t want to see this thing all at once. You couldn’t handle it. Every time, you think you know what the Hell these things are, they have a new level of insane design. In one of the death scenes, it just becomes a never-ending maw of teeth and fluid and blood and who the hell knows what. There have been some truly mediocre creatures in horror films lately, and “Arcadian” proves how essential it is for the things that are supposed to terrify the character to be, you know, actually terrifying.

Having said that, there are some choices in “Arcadian,” especially early, that work against it. It feels like Brewer was too nervous that people would get bored during the set-up, and so he goes full shaky-cam with cinematographer Frank Mobilio . There’s no reason for early scenes in a film like this to be shot like a Bourne movie. And Cage-heads should be warned that this isn’t really his movie as much as Martell's, Jenkins', and even Soverall’s. They’re all good, but I worry that people going in expecting another “ Mandy ” will be disappointed. This is subdued Cage, one who knows that he's more of a support for his young co-stars, the human and the creature.

Ultimately, “Arcadian” might not have much character development or world building for some people, but, again, the creature design overwhelms that common flaw in this genre. There’s no time to talk about why the world fell apart of even develop much of a personality when THAT comes knocking every night.

This review was filed from the premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. It opens nationwide on April 12 th , 2024.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Arcadian (2024)

Nicolas Cage as Paul

Jaeden Martell as Joseph

Maxwell Jenkins as Thomas

Sadie Soverall as Charlotte

Samantha Coughlan as Mrs. Rose

Joel Gillman as Hobson

• Benjamin Brewer
• Michael Nilon

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Stephen king offers praise for skin-crawling horror movie with 96% rt score.

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Every Horror Movie Releasing In 2024

The fall guy's box office reveals a harsh reality of ryan gosling's movie career, brendan fraser's the mummy 4 gets an update from director stephen sommers.

• Stephen King praises Infested for being " scary, gross, well made " in a glowing review on X.
• Infested received overwhelmingly positive reviews for delivering compelling thrills and developing human characters.
• The spider-centric horror film has a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Stephen King offers praise for Infested , a new skin-crawling horror movie with a near-perfect 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics. Directed by Sébastien Vaniček in his feature debut, with a script he co-wrote with Florent Bernard, the French-language horror film (originally titled Vermines ) follows the residents of an apartment building as they battle against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders . The cast includes Théo Christine ( Suprêmes ), Finnegan Oldfield ( Final Cut ), Jérôme Niel ( Smoking Causes Coughing ), Sofia Lesaffre ( Les Misérables ), and Lisa Nyarko.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, King shared a glowing review for Infested , calling it " scary, gross " and " well made ." Read his full post below:

King's full post reads, " INFESTED (Shudder): Spiders, some as big as puppies, overrun a French apartment building. Scary, gross, well made. (French, with English subtitles) ."

Infested in streaming on Shudder and AMC+.

Why Infested Reviews Are So Positive

It's an effective creature feature with well-developed characters.

Critics are calling it a compelling creature feature that not only delivers skin-crawling thrills, but also captivates audiences with its sleek presentation and thought-provoking elements...

King isn't the only one praising the new spider-centric horror film, as Infested 's reviews have been overwhelmingly positive . Critics are calling it a compelling creature feature that not only delivers skin-crawling thrills, but also captivates audiences with its sleek presentation and thought-provoking elements, inviting them into its intricately woven web full of suspense and intrigue. A few of the reviews also praise how well the human characters are developed, which makes for a compelling human narrative at its core.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive reception from critics, Infested has a near-perfect 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes with 47 reviews tallied. On the review-aggregation site, the film's Critics Consensus calls it " a chillingly effective creature feature with more on its mind than simple creepy-crawlies " that " draws viewers into its web with stylish efficiency ." The site's users also consider it to be an effective creature feature, with an 89% audience score, albeit on fewer than 50 ratings.

2024's horror movies include sequels like Beetlejuice 2 and MaXXXine and new movies by Jordan Peele and M. Night Shyamalan. Here's when they release.

For those looking for similar creature features, Infested comes at a time when the spider-centric horror film is seeing a bit of a resurgence with Sting and other titles. Released in theaters on April 12, Sting follows a 12-year-old girl whose pet spider rapidly transforms into a giant flesh-eating monster. Sting 's reviews have been similarly positive, praising it as an effective creature feature, though it may not linger in the memory for as long as Infested . Nevertheless, the spider-centric horror film is alive and well, and King and critics are loving it.

Sting is showing in select theaters.

What Else Has Stephen King Recently Recommended?

Baby reindeer, civil war & more.

Around the same time he offered praise for Infested , King wrote a lengthy review of Baby Reindeer calling it " one of the best things [he's] ever seen ."

On Twitter/X, King frequently recommends and reviews films and TV shows, many of which are horror, though some also fall outside his preferred genre. Around the same time he offered praise for Infested , King wrote a lengthy review of Baby Reindeer, calling it " one of the best things [he's] ever seen ." Though Netflix's latest hit series may not be categorized as horror, it certainly contains elements of a psychological thriller.

Another one of King's recent recommendations is Alex Garland's Civil War , which is also not technically horror, though it certainly depicts a horrifying vision of what a modern civil war would look like in the United States. Shortly before its release in theaters, King shared a glowing Civil War review , calling it a " fantastic movie " with " terrific pacing " and " all muscle and no fat ." Considering Civil War was designed to be divisive and unsettling, it has received slightly mixed, but still strong reviews, achieving an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics.

On X, King has shared positive reviews for a few recent TV shows – Netflix's The Tourist and Apple TV's Constellation . In his review of The Tourist , King called the first episode " flat-out terrific, exciting, suspenseful " and " mysterious ." In his Constellation review , King called the first two episodes " just about perfect--nail-biting and believable ," though he questioned " whether or not it can stick the landing ."

For those interested in his recent horror recommendations, King " loved " Night Swim , even though the film was eviscerated by critics, resulting in an abysmal 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes. For a Blumhouse horror movie, its box office was also deemed a disappointment. In his Night Swim review , King said it was " like a lost, low-budget Steven Spielberg film from Spielberg's early period, after DUEL but before JAWS ."

Night Swim is streaming in Peacock.

In September 2023, King sang the praises of the sci-fi horror film No One Will Save You , calling it " brilliant, daring, involving, scary " and " truly unique. " In his No One Will Save You review , King said one would " have to go back over 60 years, to a TWILIGHT ZONE episode called 'The Invaders,' to find anything remotely like it ." No One Will Save You was sent straight to streaming on Hulu, though it did receive positive reviews from critics. King frequently recommends movies and TV shows on X, many of which have often been overlooked, so there's no telling what he might watch and review next after Infested .

Source: Stephen King /X/Twitter

• Infested (2024)

Director Sébastien Vanicek makes his feature film debut with a story that follows Kaleb, who is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over a matter of inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a bazaar and brings it back to his flat. It only takes a moment for it to escape and reproduce, turning the whole place into a dreadful web trap. Starring Théo Christine ( Suprêmes ), Finnegan Oldfield ( Final Cut ), Jérôme Niel ( Smoking Causes Coughing ), Sofia Lesaffre ( Les Misérables ) and Lisa Nyarko.

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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes First Reviews: A Thoughtful, Visually Stunning, Action-Packed Triumph

Critics say the latest chapter in the apes franchise boasts avatar -level visual effects to match its standout performances and top-notch action, even if it doesn't quite meet the heights of its predecessors..

TAGGED AS: Action , First Reviews , movies , Sci-Fi

It’s been seven years since the last Planet of the Apes movie gave the franchise its best Tomatometer score. Now, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continues the reboot series with a massive time jump, all new characters, and a new director taking the reins. According to the first reviews of this latest installment, there’ll be no topping War for the Planet of the Apes , but it’s also difficult to compare Kingdom to what came before. Directed by Wes Ball and resembling the dystopian adventure of his Maze Runner trilogy, the fourth modern Planet of the Apes movie is a “brilliant” success all its own.

Here’s what critics are saying about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes :

Is this another triumph in the franchise?

Fans of the franchise should find much to enjoy in this very solid new installment, which points the way forward to a potential new recalibration of the human-ape balance. — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Wes Ball’s brilliant Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , walks securely in the footsteps of this recent legacy, wearing the Caesar-centric films’ values like fairness, loyalty and communal solidarity on its sleeve with pride. — Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a jaw-dropping spectacle. But more so than that, it retains the heart of the previous three films, engrossing us in the world and getting us to care deeply about each of the newly introduced characters. — Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture

There are some scenes here as lively and as thoughtful as any in this great series’ history. — Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

For what it’s worth, the somewhat talky Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the most ape-ful of the series. — Jim Slotek, Original Sin

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is not quite as transporting as the previous trilogy… but there’s still a tremendous amount to mull over here. — Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times

It has taken the franchise this long to arrive at the place that it arguably should have started at. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety

It’s hard not to compare Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to what became before it, and, unfortunately, Ball’s take on the Apes isn’t as engrossing as the last run of films. — Ross Bonaime, Collider

(Photo by ©20th Century Studios)

How is Wes Ball’s direction?

Many of us couldn’t muster much interest in the Maze Runner movies, but Ball’s time on that YA trilogy has clearly sharpened his storytelling tools in terms of world-building, survival suspense, and vigorous action. — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Ball shares with his predecessor an appreciation for character development and somber stakes, delivering a muscular blockbuster that is far more intelligent and mature than most event movies. — Tim Grierson, Screen International

It’s to Ball’s credit that so much of the film unfurls in a somber register. — Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

How does it look?

The movie avoids the flat artificiality of so much recent “live-action” fare that looks more like animation. It’s not 100 percent photorealistic but it’s a close enough approximation to give the film visceral physicality and visual grandeur. — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Kingdom unleashes some truly stunning Avatar: The Way of Water -style visuals. — Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com

Noa’s trek traverses several memorable environments — some beautiful, some treacherous — and all are vividly rendered. — Tim Grierson, Screen International

Ball and cinematographer Gyula Pados continue the reboot series tradition of cleanly composed, satisfyingly fluid sequences of apes jumping, climbing, swinging and beating the hell out of other apes. — Trace Sauveur, Paste Magazine

Are the visual effects impressive?

Ever since 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes , this series has boasted excellent special effects — particularly in the motion-capture ape design. Kingdom is especially strong in this regard, the simians’ expressive eyes and rich coats remarkable to behold. — Tim Grierson, Screen International

With Wētā FX once again providing the visual effects, the motion capture here is a predictably exemplary display of the technology, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is often spellbinding in close-ups that reveal an astonishing range of expressions on the apes’ faces. — Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a tremendous visual feat with some of the best effects this franchise has ever seen and certainly the most stunning on the big screen since the release of Avatar: The Way of Water … The team at Wētā FX have outdone themselves yet again. — Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture

The VFX of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes are a visual feast as the film bestows the most impressive visual effects in a film since James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water . — David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

You’d be hard-pressed to find better-looking visual effects from any movie that doesn’t take place on the planet Pandora. The VFX in Rise still hold up over a decade later, but that work is far surpassed by the continued achievements of how real these artists are able to make these apes look. — Trace Sauveur, Paste Magazine

Noa and his ilk are astounding digital creations by the artists from Weta and other special effects houses. I don’t know why the apes of Planet of the Apes tend to look so much better than comparable CGI characters in other modern Hollywood productions, but they do. — Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

What about the action?

The large-scaled action is heart-poundingly tense, and more logically constructed than what we often see these days. — Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com

Ball executes some top-flight action sequences but, as with the recent Planet Of The Apes trilogy, Kingdom’ s set pieces are heightened by a respect for the complexity of the characters and the desperation of their mission. — Tim Grierson, Screen International

Ball knows when to put his foot on the accelerator in a movie with no shortage of adrenaline. — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

And the writing?

There is not a single wasted idea or scene that feels randomly introduced without a soundly rewarding payoff that deepens and completes the story. — Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com

At a moment in modern history when autocratic rule is on the rise across the globe, Josh Friedman’s smart screenplay takes its cue from its recent predecessors in reflecting the politics of its time. — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

When the ape and his fellow travelers arrive at their destination, the script seems to lose its nerve, and reverts back to more typical blockbuster fare — still solid, but not nearly as fresh or as unusual as the earlier sections. — Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

The screenplay is so flat it’s kind of an insult to the apes’ intelligence. — Caryn James, BBC.com

Do any performances stand out?

Owen Teague delivers an outstanding performance as Noa… Durand’s Proximus Caesar is intimidating and menacing, able to instill fear with just a slight glance. It’s a spellbinding performance from the character actor that instantly ranks as one of his very best. — Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture

Kevin Durand’s performance as Proximus, the leering bonobo monarch, is a piece of insinuating theater. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Kevin Durand makes Proximus an intimidating villain. — Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

In a movie full of incredible special effects and motion-capture actors, it’s Peter Macon’s performance under all of that that makes Raka the most delightful addition to this world. — Ross Bonaime, Collider

Freya Allan is terrific. — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

For most of the film, she is the only human against all of the apes, and it says a lot about Allan’s talent that she can simultaneously look incredibly vulnerable and incredibly powerful. — Kaitlyn Booth, Bleeding Cool

Does it have any major issues?

The movie is too long. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ conclusion abandons all the novel things it had brought to the property in favor of far more standard action fare, in a style and tone that seems ripped out of a totally different movie… It’s a big disappointment. — Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

By the time the demands of big-budget spectacle take over in the final act, a film that initially stands out from the pack in imagining a different perspective of the world ends up looking all too disappointingly like everything else in the current mega-budget cinema landscape. — Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

Kingdom feels like table-setting for a more interesting movie that could come later down the line. — Trace Sauveur, Paste Magazine

Behind the impressive CGI, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the definition of generic… The ending teases a sequel that offers a more intriguing conflict ahead, but that doesn’t help us now. — Caryn James, BBC.com

Can we go into this one without watching the others?

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does a wonderful job of weaving in explanations of anything that has happened previously that is important to understanding the story. It is not necessary to have seen any of the previous Apes films. You can absolutely go in to this one cold, and perhaps it will have you interested in going back and watching the older films. — Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

Set generations beyond the interwoven backstory of over 50 years, a casual moviegoer can pop in and enjoy an easy-to-digest action/adventure sci-fi film for the summer and appreciate it for what it is – an easy-to-watch summer flick. — Christie Cronan, Raising Whasians

It’s surprisingly approachable for those unfamiliar with the previous trilogy, provided they can wrap their heads around the concept of super-intelligent apes. — Kaitlyn Booth, Bleeding Cool

Does it leave us wanting more from the franchise?

The picture ends with a teaser that suggests more sequels will be coming. Considering how effortlessly Ball returns us to this riveting, sweeping universe, those next installments can be eagerly anticipated. — Tim Grierson, Screen International

There are some hints near the end of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes of what might be next for the franchise, should it be fated to continue. But the uneasy fun of the series is we already know what happens, eventually. — Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times

By the time the film is over, it’s safe to say most audiences will be clamoring for more monkey business. — Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a promising start to a new chapter in this particular franchise. — Kaitlyn Booth, Bleeding Cool

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‘Mother of the Bride’ Review: Brooke Shields Says I Do to Netflix’s Aggressively Inoffensive Rom-Com

Miranda Cosgrove also stars in the respectable yet unremarkable streaming feature, in which a high-strung widow reunites with her ex-flame at her daughter’s destination wedding.

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After “Ticket to Paradise” and “Shotgun Wedding” showed us the different ways in which calamity ensues when planning weddings abroad, Netflix releases “ Mother of the Bride ,” which combines the essential elements of both those recent romantic comedies into one passable package. The far-off setting emphasizes the lavish and luxe, though the narrative is cheaply woven and fairly threadbare. While “Mean Girls” director Mark Waters ’ latest fails to add anything unique to the conversation, it does scrounge up a modest amount of heart when it comes to its saccharine sweet message of never giving up on happily ever after.

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Interpersonal relationships between the couples don’t hold a modicum of complexity, providing varying degrees of dampened, rushed resolutions. The audience rarely feels the pull of their emotions or the weight of their decisions. The inclusion of a gay couple is welcomed, though the filmmakers don’t do much with that couple, utilizing Clay and Scott primarily to aid Lana’s arc rather than giving them any internality.

Waters falters in exhibiting the nimble visual dexterity of previous projects. There’s no feeling connoted through aesthetic stylization, as when Regina George’s betrayal dawns on Cady in “Mean Girls” or the curse transference between mother and daughter in “Freaky Friday.” There are few grand movie moments to match the heart-swells in “Just Like Heaven” or the red dress reveal in “He’s All That.” The closest we ever get to something of tangible value are a sunset slow dance between the former lovers and copious drone shots of the sprawling resort property in travelogue-style transitional sequences. Perhaps the peppy, occasionally swoony soundtrack married to the perfectly lit imagery is supposed to inspire our connection to the material, but it doesn’t.

Even so, there are a handful of highlights within its algorithm-aided box-checking. Emma is empathetic to her mother’s extenuating circumstances, which is refreshing to see reflected in Robin Bernheim Burger’s writing and Cosgrove’s nuanced, thoughtful performance. Janice’s horny double-entendres (which Harris blessedly delivers with campy aplomb) are hilarious, especially since she’s never even shown kissing someone she’s hitting on, let alone getting her groove on with them. Shields and Bratt have a chemistry that sparks in their stolen looks and vulnerable intimacies, despite an overall lack of burning desire and heat conducted by their connection. It’s fun to see them stretching their muscles by incorporating genre-mandated physical comedy (via recurring clumsy pratfalls) as it helps to endear this cute couple to us.

Still, with its stale sentiments on social media’s toxic culture of likes and superficial depth exploring second chances at true love, the film’s more palatable qualities are needlessly subdued. In fact, it goes out of its way to not offend anyone with delicate sensibilities, whether it be over-explaining motivations or providing forgettable, reductive scenarios. And while a gentle, light-hearted romp is indeed welcomed in these taxing times, there’s much left to be desired from our journey with these likable but under-developed characters.

“Mother of the Bride” is now streaming on Netflix.

Reviewed on Netflix, May 5, 2024. Running time: 88 MIN.

• Production: A Netflix release of a Motion Picture Corporation of America production. Producer: Brad Krevoy. Executive producers: Brooke Shields, Oliver Ackermann, Galen Fletcher, Robin Bernheim Burger, Amanda Phillips, Jimmy Townsend, Vince Balzano.
• Crew: Director: Mark Waters. Screenplay: Robin Bernheim Burger. Camera: Ed Wu. Editor: Travis Sittard. Music: Caroline Ho.
• With: Brooke Shields, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Rachael Harris, Sean Teale, Chad Michael Murray, Michael McDonald, Wilson Cruz.

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‘Mother of the Bride’ Review: An Old Flame in a Tropical Locale

Brooke Shields plays a single mother who comes face to face with her college ex-boyfriend at her daughter’s destination wedding in this tired romantic comedy.

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By Natalia Winkelman

How often do exes get back together at destination weddings? Based on Hollywood rom-coms, one might assume it’s an epidemic. The last few years alone have seen rancorous pairs reconcile on the tropical beaches of Bali ( “Ticket to Paradise” ), the tropical coastline of Sydney, Australia (“Anyone But You”) and in the tropical jungles of the Philippines (“Shotgun Wedding”). What a surprise to see the trend reappear in Netflix’s “Mother of the Bride,” set in Phuket, Thailand, at a tropical resort.

These movies, as critics have pointed out , are themselves rehashing an older Hollywood trope: the comedy of remarriage, in which a separated couple reunites to find their acrimony transformed into revitalized affection. (A classic example is Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the 1940 rom-com “The Philadelphia Story.”)

In “Mother of the Bride,” that twosome consists of Lana (a committed Brooke Shields) and Will (Benjamin Bratt), ex-beaus who severed ties after college. In Phuket, they discover that their grown children — Lana’s daughter, Emma (Miranda Cosgrove), and Will’s son, RJ (Sean Teale) — are betrothed.

“Mother of the Bride” is directed by Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) with an apparent allergy to verisimilitude. Early on, we are told that the opulent Thai ceremony will be bankrolled by Emma’s company (she’s an intern) and livestreamed to “millions of eyes.” These fantasies of pomp and circumstance often serve to make Lana and Will’s budding romance feel like a B-story to the action — although that may be a blessing when the best screwball gag this movie can muster is a pickleball shot to the groin.

Mother of the Bride Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes. Watch on Netflix .

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Mother of the Bride review – Brooke Shields leads middling Netflix mush

More background fluff from the streamer, this time from Mean Girls director Mark Waters with a splashy Thailand location

D espite experience mostly insisting caution, certain markers still allow one to naively daydream that a new Netflix comedy might be worth more than a background half-watch while ironing. A big name, an experienced writer, a genuine studio-trained director, some substantive source material, anything to allow us to glide on the brief hope that we’re not in hammy, Hallmark-adjacent territory.

This thinking sometimes works – 2019’s Let It Snow was based on a solid YA novel, 2021’s Moxie had Amy Poehler in front of and behind the camera, this year’s Players benefited from the considerable charm of star Gina Rodriguez – but it too often makes precious little difference. For Mother’s Day in the US, the streamer has Mother of the Bride, a breezy comedy that arrives from director Mark Waters, whose indie days included The House of Yes and whose studio days included Mean Girls, Freaky Friday and Bad Santa 2, enough to give one a brief moment of optimism. But after the tudum has been and gone, it’s clear that we’re being spoon-fed more of the same unremarkable competence, sugar with no salt, calories with no nutrition.

The clue was less in who was behind the camera and more in who was behind the laptop, the script written by Robin Bernheim, a Hallmark and Lifetime alum whose Netflix work includes The Princess Switch movies. The writing is as pat and perfunctory as one would expect from such a résumé, rooted in sitcom cliche (hands on hips when angry – check), never able to sneak its way out of the easily expected.

The mother of the title is of the doting, borderline obsessive kind, fixated on her daughter’s future and terrified of what might happen if it doesn’t fall in line with what she’s planned out in her head. Mother Lana is played by Brooke Shields, extending her relationship with the streamer after leading a ho-hum Christmas movie back in 2021, and daughter Emma is the iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove.

When Emma announces her surprise engagement, Lana is horrified, but the full horror arrives when she heads to Phuket for the wedding and meets the father of the groom, her college ex Will (a mostly shirtless Benjamin Bratt), a guy who left her out of the blue never to return. Despite being an extremely accomplished career woman who manages an entire laboratory (this might be the first ever romcom to use the phrase “tumorigenic mechanisms”), she of course turns into a stuttering buffoon in front of both her ex and a handsome doctor, played by a mostly shirtless Chad Michael Murray, also at the resort (she really does say the perennial line “I’ve got underwear older than him”).

It’s partly an older-than-usual love triangle comedy, partly a mother-daughter story about an overly attached empty nester and partly a study of men keeping their abs into their 50s (Wilson Cruz as Bratt’s brother is also with a six-pack and without a shirt), a combination that should tick enough boxes for some. Shields and Bratt are at least pros relative to the material, which allows them to makes the most of Bernheim’s relentlessly trite dialogue, their potentially more poignant what-if dynamic often vaguely threatening to move us.

Cosgrove is a little trapped in her overemphatic Nickelodeon mode (a scene of her using a laptop will surely make meme-lovers happy), but she’s also lumped with the script’s eye-rolling attempt to stay relevant, playing an influencer whose sponcon wedding is being used as a way to boost followers. Lessons about family and forgiveness are ultimately far less persuasive than the scenery, the boost of an on-location shoot that might not quite rival 2022’s extremely adjacent Clooney/Roberts confection Ticket to Paradise (one set piece is litigiously similar), but it adds a gloss that’s otherwise missing from the point-and-shoot workmanship of it all.

It’s a slight cut above just how very bad these things can get , but not enough to edge it toward something that would deserve your full attention. So errand away, Mother of the Bride will be just fine playing in the background.

Mother of the Bride is out now on Netflix

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