Recent viewings

[FatFreddysCat]

"Night Of The Living Dead" (1990)
 
Gore-makeup guru Tom Savini made his directorial debut with this entertaining remake of the George Romero classic. The story's still the same - a group of squabbling strangers hole up in an abandoned farm house to ride out the zombie apocalypse  - but Savini updates a few minor details and overhauls the heroine "Barbara," who's way more of a  bad-ass than she was in the '68 version. I remember thinking this "NOTLD" was pretty hardcore when I saw it in a theater back in the day, but now it seems almost quaint in this age of ultra-violent zombie TV like "The Walking Dead." How times have changed!

[javakoala]

Teenage Wolfpack (1956)

A dark, gritty JD film...from Germany! Freddy is a young tough who left his family because of a bad relationship with his father, who is a bit of a jerk. He meets up with his brother Jan one day at a public swimming pool. In spite of warnings from his father that Freddy will only bring him trouble, Jan starts hanging out with Freddy and his gang. Freddy's 15-year-old girlfriend starts playing up to Jan.

Jan, looking for money to help his family out of debt, teams up with Freddy in a robbery scheme. There are failures, double-crosses, gun play, and wiener dogs mixed in with tough guy dialogue and a vaguely noir theme running through the film. Typical fare in America at the time, but rather untypical in Germany.

Fairly well acted with a nice, dark edge to the whole thing. Worth a look if you want to delve into Juvenile Delinquent films of the 50s and early 60s.

3.5/5

The Hearse (1980)

Trish Van Devere decides into a house that once belonged to her aunt. Before she even reaches the house, she is attacked by a strange man in an old hearse. The townspeople treat her as if she has The Plague. Weird things keep going bump in the night, and that old hearse keeps following her.

Yup, it's old-school haunting time! Nice build up throughout the entire film, though it hangs around a little too long by a good 10 minutes. A clean scary movie that even has a very tasteful sex scene and no blood to mention. Sadly, the ending opted for a vague artsy element that left the film basically unresolved. Still, worth checking out if you want decent, low-rent thrills without copious amounts of violence and gore.

2.5/5

[javakoala]

Hitler - Beast of Berlin (1939)

This anti-Nazi film would probably make a good double feature with "Samurai" (1945). Of course, this film is a bit more sober and realistic in its depiction of the atrocities brewing in Germany prior to the USA's involvement in WWII.

A group opposed to Hitler's destruction of Germany's culture and peaceful standing in world affairs publish propaganda to oppose the country's build up to war. We are witness to their personal lives as they are slowly pulled apart by the Gestapo and Nazi sympathizers. Some are jailed, some are tortured, and some are killed. Fairly grim stuff for that time period.

The film was the first release of PRC studios. Unfortunately, it suffered at the box office due to problems with censorship and being banned for a short time in New York. Apparently the US government felt the country should stay neutral in the building war in Europe, and this had a chilling effect on any production that suggested anything negative towards any of the Axis countries. ("King of the Zombies" is a fine example of a production basically making the bad guys Nazis without ever uttering a negative word about Germany or Hitler.)

Cheap, but effective film making that has an interesting place in history. Oh, and Alan Ladd makes an early appearance before he became a major star in Hollywood.

3.5/5

[lester1/2jr]

Runaway (1984) - Tom Selleck kind of phones it in but is good enough and Kirstie Alley is at her early 80's I haven't been on Cheers yet best in this vaguely sci fi cop drama thing. Gene Simmons is a mafioso looking guy who wants to steal some micro chips or something to make robots for terrorists. Only Magnum PI and Rebecca Howe and a porn star looking blonde stand in his way. good late night viewing and some cool vintage robot laser shooting thingies

4/5

[lester1/2jr]

Coma (1978) - slightly stronger effort from director Michael Crichton here. Both this and runaway are very of their era. In the latter case it meant computerized gizmos, in this it's a big conspiracy. Perfectly healthy patients are falling into comas for some reason. No one seems at all perturbed by this ( plot hole: does no one in the hospital talk to each other?) except a nurse who is dating ambiguously/ could be good or evil Michael Douglas.

If you saw this you probably remember the giant room with the bodies hanging down from the ceiling. that whole part of the movie in general is awesome and the most overtly sci fi looking. Richard Widmark is the head surgeon it's to bad he got old and isn't in movies anymore. The plot is a little very unfathomabe and theres an awful lot of the lady running to and fro in big empty buildings but it's better than at least...I don't know...8/10 of the stuff you could possibly rent.

4.25/ 5

[lester1/2jr]

Orphans of the Storm (1921) - The Gish sisters gish around in this telling of the story of the French Revolution. Like pretty much every revolution it seems, it started off good then the people who led it ended up being horrible dictators themselves. Hate it when that happens. TCM gave this 3 stars and I would generally concur but I still really liked it.

The one Gish is blind so the other one helps her around then they get separated. instant tension! lots of political goings on between the commoners and the fancy lad types in the castle. This thing is 2 and a half hours long but it had that magical silent film thing where really just the fact that it's so OLD made it interesting. If you can make a half decent silent movie Ill watch it. heck if you can make a half decent movie period I'll watch.

It's DW Griffith so you know there's no skimping on budget. No idea where it was filmed but it looks like a real town.

4/5

[Rev. Powell]

HELLRAISER (1987): A woman must feed her deceased lover flesh and blood to give him a new body; oh, and he's also being chased by a trans-dimensional S&M cult who want him back. Despite being a slasher franchise-starter, the original hooks you with a real sense of evil. 4/5.

SILENCE (2016): Two 17th century Jesuits travel to Japan searching for a mentor who is rumored to have apostatized; once there, they find themselves targets of religious persecution. I assume the man who left 2/3 of the way through, muttering "worst movie ever" as he made his way through the aisle, was looking for something a little more inspirational, but this is "faith-based" cinema the way it should be: Christians facing challenges a little more trying than loud-mouthed atheist university professors. 4/5.

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000): The downward journey of a junkie and his crew; even his mom gets hooked on diet pills and ends up a burnout in permanent amphetamine psychosis. A little bit hysterical, like a "just say no" commercial on acid, but the mix of sensationalist melodramatics and genuine human tragedy is moving and entertaining at the same time. 4.5/5

[dean]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Tina Fey dramedy that's an easy watch if you wanted to put something on whilst cleaning. Nothing super memorable but certainly not a bad film either. Good sunday afternoon video. 3/5

Autopsy of Jane Doe: My partner asked me to turn it off halfway through as she was too scared, not that it was super scary mind you but she had an exhausting and stressful day. I'm rating it well already just because I was really enjoying it up until where things started to hit the fan and so far the characters and setting have been really quite good. Let's see if it sticks the landing, but so far 4/5

[Dr. Whom]

The Hunger (1983)

I first watched this when it came out, and it was just about the coolest thing ever.

Recently watched it again, and I found it a bit disappointing. It sets itself up as a more 'serious' genre film that uses the vampire motif to say something profound about love, and aging and life. And then it doesn't and it suddenly ends. Cathérine Deneuve looks stunning (but then, she always does) and David Bowie and Susan Sarandon give creditable performances. But the whole concept doesn't go much beyond 'hey, let's have David Bowie and Cathérine Deneuve play a stylish vampire couple and then have her seduce Susan Sarandon'

Visually it remains stunning. It still is the epitome of 1980s new wave cool. You get a bit tired of the indirect lighting effects and flapping diaphanous curtains by the end, though.

[indianasmith]

THE DARKNESS - An autistic boy, vacationing with his family near the Grand Canyon, falls into an ancient cave and finds five stones with pictographs on them, carefully placed in front of five large cave paintings of sinister figures.  He puts the stones in his backpack and takes them home, and of course creepy stuff starts happening.  By-the-numbers native American ghost story, but well done for all that.  Features Kevin Bacon and the chick who played the hot cop on SILENT HILL as the boy's mom and dad, with an interesting subplot about a bulimic older sister.  Entertaining overall. 4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Hole" (2012)
It's terror in the Southern California suburbs! Two brothers and their single Mom move into a new house, and soon the boys discover a locked trap door in the basement. Naturally, they can't resist opening it, which reveals a seemingly bottomless pit and eventually (of course) unleashes something nasty that threatens them and the cute girl next door. Joe "Gremlins" Dante directed this throwback kids-versus-spooky-things flick which will bring back memories of late '80s cable favorites like "The Gate" or "The Curse." Fun stuff!

"X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016)
This is what, the seventh X-Men movie? Eighth? Honestly, I've lost track. Anyway, this latest installment is set in the early 1980s and pits the mutant heroes against an ancient Egyptian super-mutant God type who (of course) wants to destroy the world. As usual, lots of blasting, zapping, and massive property destruction follows. Apocalypse runs a bit over-long (nearly two and a half hours) but the FX are great and the performances (by a mix of returning series vets and some new faces) are fine, so this may be my second fave flick in the X-franchise (right behind "First Class").

[Dr. Whom]

Vampire girl VS Frankenstein Girl - whats important here is that the movie lives up to the title. it's not just people talking for an hour and a half and you feel stupid for renting it. Whatever criticism you may have, you can't deny it goes for the gusto and throws absolutely everything it has into making an insane movie. I'd say it succeeds in that too, at least most of the time.

At a Japanese high school, a new exchange student shows up and begins to vie for the attention of the most popular boy with some girl and her Mean Girl type squad. We meet various cliques like girls who cut themselves all the time, girls who think they're black and this is all I guess a comment on Japanese society.

The Vampire Girl is played by a porn star but the whole thing is pretty much pg 13. the vibe is somewhere between Dead Alive and a Bill Zebub feature. That is, very gory with lots of innuendo and makeshift sort of humor. The girls are pretty, the gore is totally over the top then taken farther with demented CGI.

the only problem is the story kind of runs out of steam halfway. I didn't watch the whole thing in one sitting. At one point I was wondering why he chose the one girl over the other then it occurred to me that the makers of the film didn't think about that for 2 seconds. Still, it's a colorful and fun movie. if it had been at a video store back in the day I would have rented it many times

4.5 /5

That one is a hoot!

[javakoala]

Basket Case 2 (1990)

A sequel that was not needed, but was made anyhow. The results? Eh, not horrible. The two brothers from the original survive and are taken in by a couple of women who run a house for "freaks" so they can receive the love and care they deserve. Unfortunately, a snoopy reporter is determined to find the brothers, who are fugitives from justice, and the safety of the entire household is threatened. If you've seen the classic "Freaks", you know they don't take kindly to those who try to mess with one of their own.

3/5

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Speaking of unneeded sequels, this is a prime example. Tommy, who offed Jason in the fourth film, is older and still messed up due to the trauma he experienced. While he is in a halfway house for disturbed teens (always a good idea, don't ya think?), bloody murder rears its head again. Is it Tommy? Is it Jason? Is it Paramount trying to milk this series for all it can? Who cares? Other than the obnoxious mother and son team who live next to the halfway house property, this movie stinks on ice.

1.5/5

Out of Print (2014)

A love letter to both 35mm films (and their preservation) and the New Beverly Cinema, a revival house theater in Los Angeles. If I ever win the lottery, I think I'd move someplace close to this theater and basically live there. The interviews with regulars and directors who both frequent the place as well as help schedule the films and provided Q & A sessions during screenings are touching and informative. You get a real sense for the place without ever stepping through the doors. Definitely a good documentary to check out. Sadly, it will make you long for a revival house theater in your neighborhood.

4/5

Blood Rage (1987)

The tale of twins: one is evil and the other, mostly a mental vegetable. As children, Terry, the evil one, hacks up a horny teenager's face, the blames it on Todd, his twin. Todd gets locked up. Ten years later, Todd realizes he isn't the killer, so he escapes to bring his brother to justice.

People are hacked, sliced, cut in half, dismembered, stabbed and other fairly gruesome things as the two brothers search for each other while their barely-functional mom, played by Louise Lasser, loses her mind and cleans the oven.

A rather splattery flick that is a fine little time waster as long as you don't expect too much from it.

3/5

[javakoala]

Super Fuzz (1980)

Terence Hill tries, in vain, to imitate an American accent. Ernest Borgnine yells almost every one of his lines. Julie Gordon looks tasty. That is this movie in a nutshell. Brainless is a good description for it. Annoying would be another.

Terence Hill is a rookie cop who is radiated by a red dust from a government experiment, and he ends up with super powers. While using his powers to help combat crime, he crosses a crime boss who is counterfeiting one dollar bills by the thousands. Trouble and, supposedly, hilarity ensues. Spoiler: Unless you have brain damage, hilarity does not rear its head.

I actually saw this one back at a drive-in theater. Thank god we were all drinking lots of beer while it played.

1.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Running Man" (1987)
In the dystopian future of 2017 (ha!), America is a totalitarian state and the #1 TV program is "The Running Man" - a rigged game show where criminals can supposedly "win" their freedom by surviving a brutal obstacle course filled with attackers. Can a falsely-accused Arnold Schwarzenegger beat the odds and expose the fraud?
This '80s cult classic (based on a Stephen King novelette) is cheesy in all the right ways, and features a bravura performance by Richard "Family Feud" Dawson, who is clearly having the time of his life playing the sleazy game show host. Honestly,"The Running Man" wasn't a top drawer Arnold flick even back in the day and obviously it hasn't aged well, but it's still lotsa big, loud, dumb fun.