Skinford: Death Sentence (2017) - I really wanted to like this more

Wow, this film was a 'rollercoaster' and by that I mean that my opinion of whether I actually liked or disliked it kind of changed every other scene.  It starts out with our protagonist 'Skinny' about to be executed in the middle of, er, the 'English outback' (seriously, I may be from the UK, but I didn't recognise a single location and characters' accent seemed to fluctuate!).  Two things then happen which I will simply class as 'supernatural.'

Now, I don't mind a good 'mystery' film - whether all points are wrapped up by the end of the story, or enough answers have been given which give the audience a decent chance of unraveling everything after the credits have rolled.  However, Skinny has the chance to ask the other main character in the film what exactly is going on - and yet he never really does.  I know that, in terms of writing, no writer would create a mystery, only to solve it two minutes later.  But the fact that Skinny never asks (or at least doesn't really find out until the final act in line with the audience) kind of ruins the film in terms of story.

But it was an engaging mystery and it kept me hooked.  However, what transpired was a movie which had nice ideas and yet either the writing let it down, the acting ability of some of the cast, or lack of budget.  Sometimes a new character comes into the story and we're instantly teleported to a flashback which explains the new person's relevance.  This is kind of jarring and puts the film's story in reverse.  A couple of the actors either can't act or overact and a couple even behave like straight out cartoon characters.  When it comes to budget, there are some computer effects which you'll have to be forgiving on, but a better example is a car chase through - what is by all accounts - a completely deserted city.  Therefore the lack of any other vehicle on the road (a fact I dispute, living in the UK, even in the dead of night!) really does hamper any terms of stake as there's not much to crash in to.

So, I stuck with it and most of the questions were suitably answered, even if you may have to really suspend your disbelief to the max in order to let the plot slide.  I hear there's a sequel and I'd actually be up for watching it if I can track it down - mainly just out of curiosity - because I think there are genuinely good intentions and ideas here and I'd like to see the film-makers behind it sharpen their skills and make something a little more focused.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights