Recent viewings

[Rev. Powell]

Lambada
The forbidden dance!  An Indian princess comes out of the rain forest (because Richard Lynch ran over her apple tree), teaches a spoiled rich boy how to dance the Lambada, and then wins a dance competition so that she can appear on TV and talk about saving the rain forests!  Sid Haig is her witch doctor!  His biggest trick is handing people his "snake bag."  If you take the snake bag your hand is wracked by paralyzing pain.  Personally, I wouldn't take the bag from him.

This is also known as THE FORBIDDEN DANCE.  I remember three lambada films came out in 1990, and this was the best (worst?) of the lot.  I recall it as being silly fun and wouldn't mind seeing it again, though my memory of it may be a little gauzy.  Are you planning to review it, Andrew?

[Jack]

Curse of the Devil (1973) - another Paul Naschy film from Spain.  A witch is burned at the stake, but not until she puts a curse on the descendants of those who executed her.  At some point in time after the prologue, we meet Waldemar Danninski (Naschy), a rich property owner who is a descendant of the witch burners.  He meets some satanic Gypsy girl who of course puts the werewolf curse on him.  Luckily there's also a murderer roaming the mountains, and the werewolf killings get blamed on him.  Waldemar falls in love with some girl, and the middle part of the movie is spent with this romance.  This is a very slow moving movie, and unfortunately the characters are pretty underdeveloped, which makes it drag.  It does have some gorgeous Gothic scenes though, one in particular has three bodies of werewolf victims laid out by the villagers, and they pluck their eyeballs out in the belief that it will blind the werewolf.  It's just scrumptiously Gothic.  The Spanish don't mess around when it comes to nudity, just give you some full frontal stuff and get on with it 

[Torgo]

CHILD'S PLAY    *** out of ****

[Torgo]

RIGHTEOUS KILL  **1/2 out of ****

[Jack]

Memorial Day - basic Friday the 13th ripoff, done on a budget that makes the Friday films look like mega-budget blockbusters in comparison.  Or maybe they were just less clumsy.  Some kids go out to a cabin by a lake, they're stalked and killed one by one.  The characters really weren't that bad;  well, one of them was overly morose and it was pure drudgery sitting through any scene with her in it.  Two of the females gave good performances, the males tended towards overacting.  Though they kind of came off as believably obnoxious.  Overall, I sort of liked these folks.  The plot was handled clumsily, with characters having unbelievable reactions to things.  They kept taking refuge in a brightly lit building which killed any atmosphere the film might have had.  It did keep my interest all the way to the end though.  There were some dark comedy elements which worked surprisingly well.  Compared to other zero-budget movies I've seen lately, this was actually kind of good.  However, compared to what you expect to see when you buy a DVD, presumably made by professional movie makers, it basically sucked.

[indianasmith]

let's see . . . last weekend I watched LEATHERHEADS, which was pretty cute and had some clever repartee between  George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger.  A bit slow, but worth the rent.

Then I saw two abysmal zombie movies . . .  THE VEIL and VANGUARD.  Both unwatchably bad; avoid them like the plague!

[JaseSF]

The Apartment (1960): Jack Lemmon has been moving up the executive ranks in a most unusual way: by lending his apartment out to cheating higher-ups at the company he works with. Things take an unexpected twist however when Lemmon's crush Elevator girl Shirley MacLaine turns out to be one of those using said apartment. Surprisingly this film turns out to be a charming romantic comedy perhaps far ahead of its time. It's quite good although I do wonder at it winning Best Picture for 1960. Sure it's good but it was overrated in its time and still is. Lots of good lines and plot twists sure to keep viewers on their toes. *** 1/2 out of *****

The Fortune Cookie (1966): the first time Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon teamed up making it significant to this long time fan of the pair. Anyways the film itself stars Matthau as a scheming con artist lawyer who convinces his brother in-law Lemmon to feign a serious crippling injury after getting accidentally tackled while handling a camera for a Cleveland Browns football game. Has some great lines and features fine performances by Matthau and Lemmon with nice support from Ron Rich as football player Boom Boom Jackson who greatly befriends Lemmon's Harry Hinkle after he thinks he's hurt him. Only marred down by a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion.  Worth a watch but not quite as funny as a lot of other efforts by this pair possibly because some of the character's, while played brilliantly in many respects, prove rather unlikable. ** 1/2 out of *****

American Splendor (2003): This film, like the comic book series on which it was based, follows the real life trails and experiences of average joe/everyday curmudgeon Harvey Pekar, here played fairly true to life by Paul Giamatti although the real Pekar himself appears too throughout the movie adding his own commentary and further insights into the proceedings. This is one freakin' brilliant movie! While its lead character may not have a life everyone will envy (in fact far from it), what he does have and what makes him a hero so easy to root on is the ability to stay true to himself. He doesn't sell out his principles and ideals (well maybe a little on Letterman but he turns that around eventually too) and especially not his right to self expression. Pekar's take on the comedic frustrations of everyday living frequently proves true to life and downright funny in its fashion (who came first anyways, Pekar or Seinfeld?). In the film, we see real life at its most raw and ugly yet at the same time, there's so much of it that remains truly beautiful, wondrous and heartwarming.  ***** out of *****

[Jack]

Resident Demon (2005) - yet another $100 home video that's promoted as an actual "movie".  Some people move into an apartment, throw a housewarming party, and the spirit of the witch that used to live there starts jumping from one body to another, killing off the guests one by one.  The characters are boring as hell, undeveloped, a severe case of under-acting by everyone involved.  There's some vague interest developed by trying to figure out which body the spirit is in.  It goes into the kitty cat at one point.  That was kind of cute.  The video is really grainy, worse than VHS quality.  Sounds like the guy who did the theme music put a good hour's worth of effort into the project.  At one point he holds a single note for about a minute.  Probably 97% of it doesn't have any music at all.  At least the dialog doesn't have any reverb off the walls, that's kind of professional of them.  You do get two different girls who strip down to their bras (yeah, guess why I bought this?).  Anyhow, this is basically the type of movie you would expect to find in one of those 10 movies for $12 sets. 

[Rev. Powell]

REPULSION (1965):  When her sister/caretaker takes a well deserved vacation, mentally fragile Carole (Catherine Deneuve) holes up inside her lonely apartment and retreats into her head, which is haunted by irrational fears about men. Deneuve's portrait of a terrified and tormented mind barricading itself away from the world is simply magnificent, one of the most realistic and frightening portrayals of mental illness ever captured on film. 4.5 out of 5.  1/2 star off for the too-slow start.

[Rev. Powell]

DR. STRANGELOVE: OR, HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964): Can world leaders overcome their petty differences and stave off Armageddon after a rogue US general obsessed with the purity of his precious bodily fluids unleashes a nuclear-armed bomber wing on the Soviet Union?  Peter Sellers plays three roles, but George C. Scott's jingoistic General Buck steals the show.  The Cold War may be over, but decades later fears about the power of our technology coupled with the fallibility of our leaders still make the hilarious yet horrifying jokes in this black comedy resonate still.  5/5.

MST3K: I ACCUSE MY PARENTS:  Great riffing makes this snoozer melodrama about a "kind of stupid" kid with "drunk folks" who somehow gets involved with the mob into one of the most memorable epsidodes in the series.  Highlights include the mobile of Jimmy's unconious used to illustrate the roots of his psychosis, and Servo's lyrics for the theme song: "They laughed when I accused my parents..."  5/5.

[Jack]

Prom Night (1980) - one of the better slashers.  Some kids accidentally cause the death of another kid, then a few years later they're all in high school, prom night is approaching and they start receiving threatening phone calls.  Once the big prom arrives, we get some great stalking sequences, the one where the killer chases the bad girl, Wendy, through the darkened school is a classic.  Wendy steals the show, her character practically makes the movie.  There's one scene that just cannot be forgotten, LOL.  Wendy walks into the prom, and Jamie Lee Curtis grabs her boyfriend and says "Let's show her what we can do".  They proceed to the disco dance floor, where of course everyone backs off and gives them plenty of space to do their fabulous dance routine.  Good grief...let's just say they ain't no John Travolta 

Backlot Murders - Think "Bill and Ted's Excellent Slasher Adventure".  A bunch of idiots in a band go to shoot a video on the backlot of a movie studio.  Some guy in an Elvis mask starts killing everybody.  As a horror comedy, I guess it didn't work too badly.  The video director actually made me laugh a couple of times.  As a slasher, well, it's too much of a comedy to have any suspense at all.  Plenty of jiggly girls though.

Shadow Hunters - some demon hunters are going through an abandoned hospital, tracking down some demon.  At the same time, a bunch of girls - in their bras and panties - are going through their sorority hazing in the hospital.  All manner of gratuitous violence and nudity ensue.  For a Brain Dead picture, it was surprisingly un-awful.  Acting was bad, but the action moved along fast enough that it kept me interested. 

Castle of the Walking Dead - Christopher Lee is an evil count / mad scientist.  Years ago he was drawn and quartered because he was sacrificing 13 virgins to create an immortality serum for himself.  Of course, a little drawing and quartering isn't going to keep Christopher Lee down for long, and he comes back to life and grabs himself another virgin.  The son of the guy who executed Mr. Lee is also there, and Chris isn't too happy with him either.  Other than the really inappropriate theme music, I absolutely loved this movie.  Truly scrumptious Gothic atmosphere - these guys out-Gothicked Hammer studios.  Good performances, a plot that sometimes doesn't make much sense, and oodles and oodles of atmosphere.  Five stars.

[Torgo]

THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN   *** out of ****

Probably the best film version of Clive Barker's famous short story of the same name that could have been made.  Might have worked better as a like an episode of Masters of Horror instead of of a 90 minute movie though. The movie is where this movie suffers in terms of padding. But the 1st 3rd and last 3rd are  great and Vinnie Jones makes a terrible Mahogany a.k.a. The Butcher.  Recommended.

[asimpson2006]

Enter the Ninja *** out of ****

Decided to end some time on Saturday night where I wasn't doing anything I decided to watch this film.  Out of all the films I have seen lately this one easily gets the MST3K treatment next time I see it.  At times it was just really corny but I enjoyed it a lot even though it wasn't the best ninja movie that I have ever watched.

   

[Jack]

Motel Hell (1980)- Well, this was different.  Farmer Vincent sells smoked meats, and they're way more tasty than any other meat.  Guess what the secret ingredient is?  Yeah, he sets little traps on the road and causes motorists to crash.  then he takes them, still living, and plants them in his garden.  To ripen...or something.  Then he slaughters them.  One of his intended victims is a cute dingy blond, and he decides to nurse her back to health.  Then they decide to get married.  How will she react when she finds out Farmer Vincent's secret?  Overall, too tongue-in-cheek to be taken seriously, but it did have a few spooky scenes.  entertaining, but not something I'd watch again.

Night of the Bunny Rabbits - No, wait, Night of the Lepus.  There, that sounds much more scary    Some rancher is having problems with too many bunnies on his land, so he calls in some scientist who decides to inject some unknown hormones or something into them, to make them sterile.  But his cute little daughter lets one of the bunnies out of the lab, it breeds and they all grow into huge man eating bunny rabbits.  They're so cute!  This is a bad movie classic.  Pretty good budget, good acting, and they somehow managed to make the great killer bunny stampede look sort of real. 

[bladerunnerblues]

EMBRYO:Rock Hudson?!Yes.Better than I expected.Had a made for TV look to it but considering there was some nudity,I really doubt this aired on NBC
And that ending with the fake baby?

ULTRAMAN THE NEXT:Went on a bit too long.I think it could have been edited by at least 12 minutes.How come they didn't show the scene where Maki was a boy and saw the "meteor"?

WAXWORKS:Okay,I only caught some of it.Something about that title always turned me off a bit.Kind of sounds like an old Micheal Cain movie.It took me all of these years to realize,oh..wax..like wax museum..okay i get it now.Plenty of cool non-CGI monsters.Any movie featuring a scene with a guy getting his head torn off by a werewolf is okay by me.

ACE HIGH:This was at least the 4th time I'd seen it.Strange to see Terence Hill in a serious role before he became the always smiling acrobatic character we all know and love.A very underrated SW.