Reviews

Spring lakes turns out to be a powerful, disturbing, thoughtful and thought-provoking study of occultism. The film is highlighted by the fantastic performances of both leads, James Bryhan and Rosalind Stockwell. The realism and authenticity of both actors deserve some sort of award. It's a brilliant solo performance from Bryhan who convinces utterly as the overweight ,depressed film maker searching for his place in the world while showing some loyalty to a mother who manipulates his every move. Ranjeet S Marwa is one of those magnificent film makers who brought Stockwell and Bryhan together and made, for me, absolute movie magic.

Father Gerald performed menacingly and convincingly by David Lamont was the curve ball throughout the film. Demented, horrifying and strangely funny in moments was the perfect yang to Bryhan's ying. The performances between these two was remarkable and appeared to be two sides to the same coin. It would be a wonder to see these two in future films as their talent made the film.

I have watched Marwa throughout the years and the cast he has worked with and to see how far they have come and grown shows a great potential for Marwa, Lamont and Bryhan to be next big thing.

Spring Lakes proved to be a well-crafted film that more than repaid the time I spent watching.

This is an absolute joy! The film kicks straight in and from there, it's a roller coaster ride of high endorphins.

The film stars Mark Strange, a man on the road to redemption after being released from prison for crimes... well you'll have to watch, but needless to say, its a revenge movie.

I felt for Marks character, Raven Black and rooted for him throughout the film, championing him on to get the men responsible for his incarceration, yet there were two other characters with whom i wanted to see survive the carnage around them.

Smoke played magnificently by David Lamont. An unhinged psychopath who ,when you see the film, has moments that make you chuckle a little guiltily. Smoke takes me back to the good days of bad guys in those 90's action movies and I love him for it.

The other is James Bryhan, an actor known for roles like Shadow and Bone.

One eyed Sanford,A charming jack the lad type with a hint of something you wouldn't want to meet down a dark alley. A persuasive, almost pleasant and likable man who would as soon stab you in the eye as well as kiss you. ( maybe that's how he lost his.. hopefully we'll find out) His performance was tremendous , especially a certain scene between his character, Sanford and Raven.

As for the fight scenes. Just mind blowing! Fast, realistic and I felt every hit. Just what I want in a martial arts film. But this one is different and in a good way. It combines martial arts with a futuristic landscape filled with some very touching scenes.

A gameshow with a difference.

Players have to kill one another to get there freedom, but theres one thing standing in their way.

A great film and worth a watch if you just want to sit back and lose your mind watching a ton of blood and guts.

I liked it and routed for a couple of the players.

And when you see them, you'll know whom I am talking about.

Actingwise, there was one scene in it involving a grenade that I thought didn't need to be there. The two actors need to go back to drama school. Everyone else held up and were convincing which is why I can forgive those 2 minutes of the grenade guy.

The fight scenes between Sunny Pang and Nick Khan were fantastic ,pacey and hard hitting.

I look forward to the next installment.

Director: Sheikh Shahnawaz

Writer: Sheikh Shahnawaz (Screenplay)

Starring: Gurj Gill, Jason Adam, Nisaro Karim, James Jaysen Bryhan (Shadow and Bone) Joe Egan (Sherlock Holmes) .

Bluff starts when a London Police officer Danny Miller (Gill) accepts an offer to go undercover from his superior, Detective Collins (Bryhan) in the heroin world in a small town, making friends with addict Cooks (Adam), to learn about the other connections within the area.

The line between his job and being a criminal becomes hazy, as his investigation becomes dangerous the closer he gets to finding out the source of the drug trafficker.

The performances from Gill, Adam Karim and Bryhan (though we don't really see much of his character, we see an amazing amount of emotions from being Gill's superior to being a father figure and I personally would've liked to see more of the relationship between Gill and Bryhan) are fantastic.

What's wonderful about this film, aside from telling a story of a cop going undercover(which we've all seen) is that the story resonates around Cooks (Adam) addiction and how he deals with it. That was quite refreshing and i was invested in his character.

I hope that there is a sequel and though I won't give away the ending, I'd like to see what happens next between Collins(Bryhan) and Miller(Gill).

Overall, a 9 out of 10 for me as i believe the appearances of Egan and Bryhan as established known actors sell the film with a virtually unknown cast.

This episode is quite magnificent.

A well made, cinematic and brilliant acting, especially by James Bryhan as the Archivist and his interaction with Freddy Karter.

I would love to see what happens next with the Archivist, considering his archives had been broken into and if , like many of the other characters, had something special about him.

Overall, a brilliant script, fantastic acting and a series that most certainly deserves all the awards heading its way..

This film is quite magnificent. A film that should have been seen on the big silver screen. A well made, cinematic and brilliant acting, especially by James Bryhan as Lance Cooper. An almost wordless performance, but wonderful in the way his emotions emanate on the screen is truly hypnotic. The film reminded me a lot of SAW but completely different in style and story telling. The actors were all wonderful in their performances and it took me by surprise when a twist involving lance Cooper throw me a curveball. (You'll have to watch the film to see what happens). The scenes with Bryhan and Terri dwyer ( Hollyoaks) are tense, nerve racking and impeccable. Overall, a brilliant script, fantastic acting and a film that most certainly deserved a bigger audience.

An exceptionally, well made short film.

The story starts with two young lovers, Jenny and Michael, discussing the repercussions of meeting the young girls father, who sounds menacing and intriguing.

Swiftly followed by our young love interest of Jenny , Michael meeting the father for the first time in what you would expect is tense and nerve racking. After a bit of chit chat, the father asks Michael a rather blunt question ,which left me to gasp and gulp and a feeling of , this isn't going to end well.

Corey Thompson is a wonderful performer, going from meek and mild to defensive and assured and plays the character with some conviction and is very believable.

James bryhan portrays his character with strong conviction and through his anger, which is subtle ,yet menacing, performs with such skill in his emotions , you can read and empathise his look ,as well as feel intimidated.

Both Corey and James bounce of each other with such style, its almost perfect how these two talents draw you in. I say perfect as I wished there was more to see. Maybe a TV series. I'd love to see these two further their characters and also see more of georgia who plays Jenny ( A rather young ,gifted actor) and her relationship with her Dad.

On the whole, this had me wanting more.