Ash

Posted on March 6, 2026 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: They say that vampires become ash after death.

Vampire Bat: Everyone becomes ash after death, that is the point.

Vampire Owl: You are referring to returning to dust.

Vampire Bat: Yes, we are all dust and shall return to the same.

Vampire Owl: I am talking about ash in particular, like being burned in the sun.

Vampire Bat: Vampires burning in the sun will have no remains, not even ash.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein has come up with a method to prevent vampire sunburns.

Vampire Bat: Last time Mr. Frankenstein tried that, the Vampire Penguin had moonburns.

Vampire Owl: As far as I remember it, that was Jupiterburn.

Vampire Bat: You should remember that pseudo-science based on science fiction has been banned for a long time now.

[Gets a thattu dosa and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Riya Ortiz (Eiza Gonzalez) wakes up aboard a scientific research station located on a strange planet with no real recollection of what happened to her or the area – she does not even remember her name. As she explored the station, she has some nightmarish flashbacks with violence and deaths all around and finds some dead bodies. She also finds out that she is injured on the head, which might have led to the memory loss. She comes across a man named Brion Cargyle (Aaron Paul) who claims to have come to the research station from the space docking centre after receiving a distress signal. They come to the conclusion that one of the crew members whose dead body is not found in the research station, Catherine Clarke (Kate Elliott) might have lost her mind, or was affected by some parasite, leading her to go berserk and kill people, leaving the research station in a bloody mess. They also feel that she might not have traveled that far, and could be around somewhere in the barren planet with a strange climate.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is revealed that her crew were part of several expeditions all around the galaxy to discover new habitable planets after Earth’s environment became almost uninhabitable. They were the only crew got this far successfully, and the planet they are currently on, designated as K.O.I-442 with the nickname ASH, happens to be Earth’s last hope for survival of human race against all odds. As the crew were working at the research station, Brion had stayed on a second station in planet’s orbit to maintain contact with Earth along with passing the instructions and monitor the crew’s progress with their objectives. Riya and Brion make preparations to leave the planet, while Riya hopes that she could find Catherine during the same time, and even ventures outside the research station to look for her, with no result. At the same time, Riya begins to experience more flashbacks of murdering the crew, and wonders what part she had to play in the process, with her seemingly attacking people in the new nightmares full of blood and gore.

And what more can happen here in a distant planet of chaos and destruction? :: Riya has herself healed by a medical bot, and gets ready for the unexpected as a a meteor storm comes through, with the strange weather of the planet hurting the research station. The systems register a hull breach as the storm comes in unpredictable waves. While working hard to seal the breach, Riya finds signs of someone recently having gone through the maintenance shafts. As the station’s oxygen supply keeps on rapidly depleting, Riya and Brion find the emergency need to leave too. At the same time, in one of the drones’ recordings, Riya finds recordings of an external vehicle investigation made by the crew after some strange emissions came from different parts of the planet. The investigation had discovered some atmospheric converters of alien origin which had been terraforming the planet to its present status. Brion tells her that something strange happened after that, and a series of events followed, with the crew being exposed to the planet after the atmospheric converters started making noises.

The defence of Ash :: The movie scores nicely with its atmosphere, as the new world found on a new world with scary as much as beautiful visuals to deal with, comes in addition to that world inside research station that looks more or less like a spaceship itself. The world has so much of mystery in there, which makes us wonder if these could be revealed with a sequel – like in those video games, there is so much to explore on this planet; there is parasitic as much as modern technology for a species that seems to be something beyond the usual understanding. The blood and gore keep on being there and adds to the overall horror of the movie, in a world that has the creature which would be more lethal than Alien and Predator, because in its own dominion, not much is yet to be known, and there is no easy action-adventure way out of it. The twists work on its way, and there is certainly more than what meets eye for the same. The tension has always been nicely built throughout the movie. The suspense has us on the edge of the seat and keeps us thinking with the main character will searching for answers.

Positives and negatives :: The movie does have a few moments when nothing much seems to happen, with struggles there to get on track after the early exposition of the terrifying things which had happened around there as part of what seemed to be other-worldly terror. There were also the chances to have its heroine at a different level. Then, Eiza Gonzalez comes up with a fantastic work, looking stunningly beautiful on one side, but always suitable as the astronaut on another planet with memory loss and in a seemingly complex state of mind and her world itself. We had known her in another form Alita: Battle Angel, further noted in Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw and as a stunning beauty in Bloodshot, not to forget Godzilla vs Kong in between. In this particular movie, she establishes her with a performance which might be the best by an astronaut on another planet facing her own hallucinations as much as alien life-form – surely not an easy thing to do, but done with such charm and grace. It is all about her, as others just have to play through. We would love to see her in a full action movie as the main character. Until then, we enjoy one of the best depictions of an alien planet and with all its mystery and terror beyond human understanding.

How it finishes :: Ash is surely that surprise quality alien movie which has kept us so much engaged even when there is less happenings around, and reminds us that Alien and Predator movies are not the final sayings, as there is always scope to further develop this kind of an idea – Life was a movie that tried, but did not that much reach there despite giving similar feelings. Then there was the Russian movie named Sputnik which came even closer to doing the same, but back on Earth. There were always the signs to bring the parasitic creature from outer space coming into the picture with humans trying to be the over-reachers. Here, we have the world built in a classic manner, and not really going trying to apply to the audience looking for mindless action. There is smartness in this movie, and the class here will make sure that we have something to remember for long, with twists and a world which we will remember for the technology and the beautiful details. It is surprising that we did not know about the existence of such a movie if not for an Amazon Prime Video recommendation, but the best movies are often the less hyped – this one gets it right, and we would love to have its sequel.

Release date: 21st March 2025
Running time: 95 minutes
Directed by: Flying Lotus
Starring: Eiza Gonzalez, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale, Flying Lotus

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Shadow in the Cloud

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I wonder what is stopping them from understanding this shadow?

Vampire Bat: You mean to say that you know this shadow?

Vampire Owl: Yes, it should be Uncle Dracula trying to get some moonlight.

Vampire Bat: I don’t think so. He prefers darkness over any light.

Vampire Owl: Well, he is now being lunar powered.

Vampire Bat: What? You mean, like those werewolves and witches?

Vampire Owl: Yes, the technology in the cells in now shared.

Vampire Bat: You mean to say that Doctor Frankenstein did another experiment.

Vampire Owl: Yes, now the advantage that the werewolves had over us is gone.

Vampire Bat: Advantage? The barbarians can make any empire fall at some point.

[Gets a vegetable cutlet and three cups of ginger tea].

What is the movie about? :: During the final stages of the Second World War, the Flight Officer Maude Garrett (Chloe Grace Moretz) finds herself assigned to a B-17 bomber named a The Fool’s Errand, but as she boards the airplane with her orders, nobody in the crew is happy to see a young woman being assigned to what seems to be a tough and dangerous journey which lies ahead. She feels that she saw something on the side of the flight, which resembled an unidentified creature, but people have a difficult time believing her as they had reached a lot of height. After being left in the turrey for takeoff, she is not able to get back to the flight, as the hatch is stuck and nobody is able to open the door. They keep trying from above and below, but as she begins demanding that she be taken out immediately, they cut off the communications to her, and goes on checking her credentials, if she is really a flight officer like she claims to be.

So, what happens with the events here? :: But it turns out that there is something else happening in the flight. After seeing a Japanese plane close to the flight, she is attacked by the creature, a gremlin, but somehow manages to fight it off. The crew finds out that nobody by her name exists in the force, and feels that she could be an imposter, or an enemy spy who boarded the flight with some sinister plans. There was a bag which she had brought with her, and the crew begins to wonder what its content could be. But Maude continues to try and make them believe what she had earlier said. It is then that the gremlin returns, and they are also attacked by Japanese fighter planes. Now, they have more than one thing to worry about, but the question remains if they can trust her enough to have her fight with them. As of now, it seems that only Staff Sergeant Walter Quaid (Taylor John Smith) seems to believe her up to an extent. Can the crew survive this?

The defence of Shadow in the Cloud :: The music in the beginning itself provides us with that fun feeling, and it comes right after a short animation video regarding the gremlins. The movie focuses on that kind of entertainment, which is not that much based on finding the reason behind everything. Without that much of thinking involved, this movie can be nicely set on that flight during the Second World War, which serves as a nice setting for the same, and it makes the whole thing feel divergent. It does the same by leaving all the accuracy behind, but gets to be fun enough even with that loss – criticism would find fault out of many things. The film is surely good looking, and the plane is also stylishly designed. The soundtrack is really good, and it provides a special feeling to the action. The title of Shadow in the Cloud is justified nicely too. It is the kind of movie which you watch when there is a lot of time to spare, and need quick entertainment.

The claws of flaw :: The movie requires to focus on the entertainment and nothing the rest of the things around. When one searches for logic in this one, it won’t suit the movie much, as there are lots of things which seems to be out of it. There is World War, Japanese fighter planes and strange things happening at such a height – when the leading characters falls down from the flight, she gets blown up by an exploding plane and she falls into the plane, and she also beats up a gremlin with her own hands – I thought we were done fighting on the top of flights, but these people are still having that. The movie is also too short – even then, the movie takes a little too much time to get going in the first few minutes, which are full of dialogues. Talking about too many things might be one of the problems, as the movie does lack focus. It could have actually focused on being the monster movie in such a height, and there could have been some real terror being unleashed, but the same is certainly not the case here.

Performers of the soul :: There is absolutely no doubt about what Chloe Grace Moretz is capable of, as she has been showing the same in some of those big movies, most of them underrated due to no reason. Her performance is somewhat pulled back due to some bad dialogues and writing – if this was a better work in totality, the work would have been noted further. If this movie used more sense, the result would have been outstanding for her. Almost every movie which Chloe has acted in, you see her doing a fantastic job, and you find it difficult to not like the movie – it is certainly an advantage which the makers of her films have. When you have acted in such a young age, some of the acting skills are lost when you get old – we have seen the same in Malayalam movie industry, some child actors have become pain to watch when they became older. But Chloe is clearly an exception, as she is too good. The rest of the cast is only there to support her.

How it finishes :: Shadow in the Cloud makes a fine display of what fun movies can be, with an interesting setting added to it. It is a shorter movie of less than one and half hours which throws logic and accuracy out through the window, and seems to be very proud of such an action. Even if you are not too fond of this kind of movies, you can watch the film for Chloe Grace Moretz, the child actor who has been doing so well also as the leading lady in the last few years. If this movie had released before COVID-19 pandemic, may be a lot of people would have watched and enjoyed the movie – it would have ben such a nice time-pass thing. If you are supposed to remain in home for two to three months without break, you will watch anything, but entertainment like this is a mood booster – not that much of a thing for the brain though. Do give it a chance, and see how it will turn out to be, according to your preferences and demand.

Release date: 12th September 2020
Running time: 83 minutes
Directed by: Roseanne Liang
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Taylor John Smith, Beulah Koale, Nick Robinson, Callan Mulvey, Benedict Wall, Byron Coll, Joe Witkowski