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Valhalla Rising (DVD)

~ Nikki Baughan

Hellboy

Set in the desolate wilderness of Scotland, in 1000 AD, Danish director Winding Refn’s film focuses on the aptly names One Eye (Mikkelsen) a mute and unbeaten warrior of supernatural strength. Murdering his clan captors, and aided by young boy Are (Stevenson), One Eye makes his escape; encountering a group of Christian crusaders, the pair boards a longboat headed to the Holy Lands but, after they lose their way in fog, ends up on unknown shores. Without food or water, and preyed on by the locals, the group search desperately for a way home, led by One Eye whose vision mark him out as a prophet of sorts. As madness descends, an hellish battle for survival ensues.

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Cemetery Junction (2010)

~ Nikki Baughan

Come on, feel the noise

It’s 1973 in deepest, darkest Reading and, amidst the medly of side burns, corduroy and Elton John, young Freddy Taylor (Christian Cooke) realises he wants more from his life. Determined to make something of himself, Freddy leaves the factory where his dad (Ricky Gervais) and best friend Bruce (Tom Hughes) works and gets a job as a besuited insurance salesman. But when he falls for the free-spirited Julie (Felicity Jones), the daughter of his new boss (Liam Neeson), Freddy realises that freedom may mean more than a good salary and a nice house.

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