The Devil’s Throat - 2019 - Bulgaria

The Devil’s Throat - 2019 - 6/10
AKA - Djavolskoto Garlo

 
The first mutilated corpse had his eyes replaced with sheep eyes.
Followed by another tortured body.  There are clues this may be Islamic terror.
And the small town is already struggling with a refugee center.
The capital dispatches a lead investigator to take charge, a high strung female.
Long -winded Bulgarian series about a serial killer and buried secrets.
The meat of this 12-parter is the first two episodes and the last two.
The middle eight should have been condensed down to six, possibly four.
Those are misdirection and attempted relationships.
Lead duo are hammy actors, supporting cast is excellent.

The Hunt For Salamander - 2020 - Bulgaria

The Hunt For Salamander - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Otdel Izdirvane

 
Kamen leads the 4-man MWD team.  An
MWD is an elite, national Missing Persons unit.  It is an above the law, violent, crew.
After a morning jogger is murdered for no reason, they hone in on a recently released convict.
What follows are assassinations, frame-jobs, cover-ups, interference from politicos.
A trail begins to surface (feels improvised to me).
Late in the series, we hear about the Salamander organization – think SPECTRE.
Europol has been after Salamander, yet the organization is completely hidden.
Villains get shuffled, the narrative goes into a higher gear, and then … the show flat out ends!
Thirteen episodes, loose threads galore.  What happened?  They run outta money?

Roboshark - 2015 - Bulgaria

Roboshark - 2015 - 4/10

 
Yeah, murdering more of my brain cells.
One could argue this is one of the better Bulgarian films, though I must confess this is my first.
Alien spaceship sends pods down to earth.  One splashes into Pacific and is swallowed by shark.
Before you know it, that shark is transformed into ...
I thought this would be cheap knock-off of the preeminent Sharknado epics, but this boasted perhaps better characters and a stream of SciFi in-jokes.
When the military gave Roboshark’s current coordinates, I laughed.
The girls next to me asked, and I said,  “Map coordinates, THX1138,”  and explained.
Later Admiral (wonderfully done, by the way) declares,  “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
Billionaire computer mogul, Bill Glates, enters the fray.  The power of social media is revealed.
Silly nonsense, set in “Seattle,” with stray Cyrillic signs here and there.