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After one of the busiest weeks I can remember and before one which is bound to be equally hectic, this past seven days seemed relatively quiet even though I've watched numerous films and written eight reviews. The first of these was for the Australian crime drama/thriller Animal Kingdom, David Michôd's debut feature. It follows J, a 17-year-old who, when his mother dies of a heroin overdose, goes to live with his grandmother and her grandsons, all of whom are involved in drug dealing. It is a great piece of filmmaking with an intelligent script and terrific performances, especially by Jacki Weaver, who was Oscar nominated.

The next one I tackled was The Pack, a Franco-Belgian ordeal horror in the same vein as other European shockers like Switchblade Romance, The Ordeal and Them. In this well crafted and gory horror, Charlotte, a young woman on a long-distance drive, picks up a hitchhiker, Max, following a nasty encounter with some aggressive bikers and stops off at La Spack, a rundown roadside restaurant where her new friend disappears. Returning at night to look for him, Charlotte wakes up bound and gagged in a cage, the prisoner of the restaurant owner and her son. If Charlotte thought this was the worst of their troubles, she better think again.

Having watched The Pack, I felt it was time for a bit of (relatively) light relief so watched the new Arrow Video Blu-ray release of Tobe Hooper's 1981 slasher film, The Funhouse (and the three commentaries),. I had fairly fond memories from watching and reviewing the DVD and this is a film which improves on repeated viewings because of the subtexts and reliance on well developed characters and dialogue rather than inventive murder sequences to keep the plot moving. Elizabeth Berridge is excellent as Amy Harper, a teenager who goes to the carnival with her boyfriend and another couple only to witness a murder and become the prey of a deformed fair ride operator.

Even more light relief was found in the form of the latest film from The Asylum to be released on DVD in the UK: Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus. You should really know what to expect from the title alone and it delivers on just about every level with the Megalodon survivor from Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus and an enormous prehistoric crocodile. As expected, the acting is fairly unconvincing, as is the CGI, but that's really what I expected from the film which met my expectations.

Pleasant surprise of the week was the 1942 drama Went the Day Well?, a Second World War propaganda film by Alberto Cavalcanti. Set in the fictional English village of Bramley End which welcomes a platoon of British soldiers who are there to prepare for a possible German invasion. It isn't long until the soldiers are unmasked as German paratroopers who take the village by force but, as Bramley End is populated by plucky Brits, they fight back against their Nazi invaders and, as is mentioned in the prologue, are victorious.

I also found time to watch and review the Second World War (but made in 2010) horror film The Devils Rock, the insomnia thriller Unknown starring Liam Neeson, January Jones and Diane Kruger, plus the Polish action drama Army of Valhalla, based on a Polish folk story.