Shiver Me Timbers

This film knows exactly knows what it wants to be - a sincere homage to the low-budget horror movies of the '80s - and director, Paul Stephen Mann, has assembled a crew and cast more than capable of helping him achieve this vision.

With references to the video nasties of Raimi, Craven throughout and gore aplenty, the film follows in the tradition of 'good time' horror films, made on a shoestring by fans and for fans. This could be something made by Troma, minus the unnecessary nudity and misogyny.

Mostly practical effects, augmented by some decent CG (especially for the money - the Jurassic World films still can't get anywhere close to what the original film did with a couple puppeteers in veloceraptor leggings), this akin to something made by a young Peter Jackson. Filmed in Scotland in September, mostly during the night, I'm surprised none of the actors died of hypothermia from the no-doubt freezing blood they are frequently drenched in.

The actors all around nail their assignment and the crew are clearly top of their game, particularly the make up and practical effects, recreating both a believable nostalgia for the 80s as well as the numerous injuries and bloody deaths incurred almost every character.

I suppose the question might be, why would people so talented make a 'Popeye' film and not something more 'original'? Particularly when many of the negative reviews seem fixated on this, focussing on what they misunderstand to be flaws in the film (rather than deliberate referential codes) to reinforce an opinion formed before they even saw it.

The answer would be, well, why not? This is clearly the film that Mann wanted to make and the cast and crew have achieved this 100%. Any review that takes the premise of 'why can't this thing be a different thing?' doesn't hold any weight, and perhaps said reviewers would benefit from rewatching the end of Ratatouille. It is always easier to complain from a distance; creating something is hard and making a film is among the hardest. So well done to all involved.

So, if you're looking for knowingly cheesy and bloody (haha) good riff on 80s shlock classics, check this out. It is considerably better than many of the films that followed in the wake of Grindhouse and, at just over an hour, it even excises much of the tedious first acts of too many of the films it homages, so you can get straight to the good stuff. Get the beers in and watch with friends.

Comets are nothing to mess around with.

I must admit that Popeye the Sailor Man is just about the last character I'd ever associate with the horror genre, so I was intrigued to see what the writers and director were going to do to make him scary. It was funny to see how they used his catchphrases and habits in news ways to keep the audience entertained. He made me laugh and shrink back in fear at the same time which is exactly the reaction I hoped I would have.

While I didn't need a lengthy explanation of why Popeye appeared, I did find myself wishing for more plot development here. The reason given for his murderous escapades never quite made sense to me, and trying to figure it out was a distraction from both the horrifying and the comical moments in this film. I would have chosen a higher rating if this wasn't the case.

It isn't necessary to be familiar with 1980s slasher flicks in order to enjoy this homage to them, but viewers who have seen at least one or two horror films from that decade may notice some cool throwbacks to the way things were filmed a few decades ago. Without giving away spoilers, I'm specifically thinking of the way rural settings were sometimes used to amp up the suspense back then and how isolation and fear could lead a character to make impulsive decisions that they might not have chosen if, say, they'd been in a city surrounded by other people.

Shiver Me Timbers was creative.

Shiver Me Timbers is yet another classic character slasher/horror movie, also one of several recent Popeye Horrors and this one is scraping the bottom of the barrel along the lines of the Mark Polonia shark movies.

There is almost no plot or story and there are loads of filler scenes to waste time. When you consider the movie only runs 73 minutes then that's not good. Acting is subpar across the board, editing is awful, music is too loud compared to dialogue, all the characters are annoying stereotypes, special effects are CGI heavy and very poor, lastly attempts at humour fall completely flat.

I wasn't expecting much but I hoped it would be a so bad it's funny b movie but it didn't work for me at all. Popeye The Slayer Man is far better.

Absolutely nobody who puts this movie on is expecting an oscar winner nor anything serious. Why people are hating on this when it's been done deliberately that bad it becomes good and hits all the hilarity you could expect from a movie of this ilk... I'm sorry but this is definitely a 6 and will keep you laughing all the way through just for the sheer hilarity. They nailed this, fun night in. Only idiots would actually expect this to be a serious movie. What's not to like about a old aged pensioner who smokes a pipe fishing getting hit by an asteroid and then turning into a pot smoking serial killing meathead.

I was lucky enough to see a preview of this film before the UK release date at the group that I attend at b-team.

Surprisingly it was all filmed in Scotland although made to look very much like Northern California. It also has a nod to a Stranger Things vibe with it being in the 1980s and odd things occurring.

The main guy in question Popeye!, played by Tony Greer is very much a mutant that you do not want to mess with.... particularly if you are trying to get to your car keys.... Trying to be vague here so I don't spoil it. It also left you feeling like you'd think twice going on a camping trip or hooking up with a crush too while camping.

The plot is easy to follow and the characters are really relatable as well in their own right, some stereotypes like any horror but mostly relatable characters.

Big shout out to Lt. Lang played by Stephen Corrall, I really believed your character's portrayal of the sense of urgency to get to the problem at hand with regards to helping out Olive Oyl.

I like the fact that some Easter eggs were put into the movie as well to keep it intriguing. Such as notable nods to Freddy Krueger, Evil Dead and The Walking Dead.

The 8/10 I've given, only constructive criticism is: I felt the character's needed a little bit more character progression with regards to getting to know them as I felt some were killed off too soon.

All in all, a brilliant b-movie with a lot of laughs, downright gore and edge of your seat stuff.