Recent viewings

[indianasmith]

I watched a pretty gory horror film called DEMON ROOK the other day.
Not a lot of plot or dialogue to get in the way of tons of gore and pretty decent makeup effects.

[claws]

Ruby (1977)

Ruby who is engaged to a mob boss has an affair but not for long, her lover is shot to death by the mob. Sixteen years later Ruby is running a Drive-In Theater, and the guys who killed her lover are her employees. One by one the men fall victim to a supernatural force, killing them in a brutal matter. If that wasn't enough, Ruby's teenage daughter appears to be possessed by her dead lover.

When Carrie meets The Exorcist. Piper Laurie does a good job as the constantly tipsy but tough mob lady Ruby, shattered over the loss of her dead lover while trying to run a business. The abrupt and silly ending is a total cop out, however. 3.25/5

Ghostkeeper (1981)

Three friends on vacation in the snow bound mountains of Canada are stranded in a seemingly abandoned lodge/hotel in the middle of nowhere. They are not really alone: a mysterious female caretaker and her silent assistant hang out at the hotel, feeding humans to an ever-hungry wendigo locked in the cellar.

Low budget but atmospheric horror that wants to be kind of like The Shining. Great location with a few nasty bits of terror. Solid. 3.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Airport" (1970)

Airport (1970) (Theatrical Trailer)

This hit adaptation of Arthur Hailey's aviation soap opera set the template for the "Big budget all-star disaster movie" genre that lasted through most of the 1970s. The cast includes Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset and Helen Hayes (who won an Oscar for her role as an elderly stowaway!) to name just a few, and their personal stories all intersect on a very rough night at a major Midwestern airport - not only has a massive snowstorm blocked the main runway, but another airliner is crippled in flight by a mad bomber. Yeah, I hate when that happens too. :lol:

The success of "Airport" led to three increasingly silly sequels plus a ton of clones and ripoffs revolving around countless natural and man-made disasters. By the end of the decade, "Airplane!" came along and skewered them all so bad that it became impossible to take the originals seriously anymore, but "Airport" was still a fun watch for its retro/camp value.

[Rev. Powell]

THE DOCTOR'S HORRIBLE EXPERIMENT [AKA EXPERIMENT IN EVIL] (1959): A lawyer is distressed by the behavior of his old friend, a psychiatrist, who seems to have taken up with a brutish criminal. This made-for-television French version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" isn't as classic as most of Hollywood takes on the tale, but it may be the most true to Robert Louis Stevenson's original story---and Jean-Louis Barrault's twitchy, funky "Opale" is a gas. 3.5/5.

[Alex]

Introduced Kristi to Sharktopus last night (SyFy's horror plot no 2, take 2 creatures and genetically splice them (plot number 1 is take two creatures, make the giant and have them fight each other)). She did not enjoy it as much as Sharknado.

[JaseSF]

This is Not a Test (1962): Deputy Sheriff Dan Colter (Seamon Glass), a highway patrolman, enforces martial law stopping a small group of motorists after learning that a nuclear attack may be imminent. Tensions mount among the small group as impending doom seems to get closer as time goes by.

Intriguing low-budget film that tells a story rather similar to the Twilight Zone episode "The Shelter" and the similarly themed Panic in Year Zero! although Panic takes place following something happening while this story is focused more on the build towards something approaching that could possibly end the lives of all the characters in our story. Colter clings to the hope and belief that they can find some refuge from the bomb inside a tractor trailer while others fear there's no hope of escape. These films were quite relevant in the time and era of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This story proves very involving and is surprisingly good for a low budget film with mostly no-name stars. Probably a bit underrated.  ***3/4 out of ***** stars.

The Great Mouse Detective (1986): Young Olivia Flaversham (voiced by Susanne Pollatschek), a girl mouse hopes to find the great mouse detective Basil of Baker Street (voiced by Barrie Ingham) hoping he can help her find her toy-maker father who was mysteriously kidnapped by a peg legged bat. Retired mouse soldier Dr. David Q. Dawson (voiced by Val Bettin) meets up with Olivia and decides to help her find Basil. Basil upon learning of the bat believes this is all somehow tied in with a plot by his arch-nemesis: Professor Ratigan (voiced by Vincent Price).

Surprisingly mature style of story for a children's animated film, this one proves very good and entertaining. There is definitely many elements here that recall classic horror and mystery films from the 1930s and 1940s. Ratigan is a charming fiend yet remains a fiend underneath it all. Really this is a kids version of Sherlock Holmes but adult enough in story and style to be enjoyed by adults too although if you really want Holmes, you're probably better off watching one of the great classics starring Rathbone. Still Price is a delight in this one and fans might well want to check this out for his voice performance alone. Probably a great movie to introduce and develop interest in classic mystery and horror in youth as long as the kids aren't easily frightened or upset. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971): Japan finds itself threatened by a new type of monster, a living sludge creature named Hedorah that can join with other forms like itself to form a giant monster. Eventually the monster morphs from being a tadpole like creature that terrorizes the sea to one that walks on land to most dangerous of all, a flying disc shaped monster than spews out deadly gas. Hedorah is in essence a pollution monster that thrives on human pollution. Can even Godzilla defeat this menace and save the world?

While some of the fight scenes for this was lackluster when compared to other Godzilla films, the cleverness and inventiveness of this movie keeps things intriguing and that mixed with all the psychedelic imagery that sometimes makes this feel like some weird drug induced fantasy makes this one a fascinating viewing experience. At heart though, it's still a Godzilla film aimed more at kids. It's enjoyable enough for what it is. I especially liked the ending with Godzilla teaming with humanity to battle the Smog Monster and the final glare Godzilla gives at the end. A  bit of an anti-pollution message movie in some ways no doubt but yeah it doesn't fail to be entertaining and you just gotta love that "Save the Earth" theme song. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Also re-watched the following:

First Spaceship on Venus (1960) What I had to say about it a while back: "Upon discovering a secret message encoded on a spool found within a rock on Earth and  believed to be of Venusian origin, a team of expert scientists, astronauts, and researchers embark on a mission to Venus to make contact with those behind the alien artifact discovered.

Ultimately this is a huge mystery movie with humanity working to decipher, decode an alien message, working to trying and understand just who these Venusians are and why no one has heard anything from them since when the spool was thought to have been left on Earth in 1908 during the Tunguska explosion in Siberia.

I rather enjoyed this. A huge mystery of this magnitude probably would lead to scientists working to decode and decipher a message from space which might not be an easy feat. To further explore its planet of origin assuming that is possible is not such a huge stretch either. I liked how the mystery gradually unraveled before us as viewers and how it forces us to use our noggins a bit to keep up with everything we learn. That said, the Americanized version of this I viewed is missing several minutes of footage, around 15-16 minutes if I'm not mistaken, and no doubt some things are lost in translation here." While I enjoy this one, many may well find it rather dull and overlong.  **** out of ***** stars.

Demons (1985) Here's what I had to say about this one a few years ago, what I said then still applies now: " A group of movie fans find themselves trapped inside a West Berlin Movie Theater, invited guests to witness a new disturbing horror film in which a man becomes possessed by a demon and goes on a killing spree. Soon strangely enough, the events in the movie start happening in real life too and soon the movie patrons find themselves in the battle of their lives against ravenous bloodthirsty demons looking to kill and possess and thereby multiply their numbers.

This feels rather reminiscent of the Romero Zombie Dead films only here we have demons instead of zombies although the demons behave a lot more like zombies IMO. There's loads of gore to be found here and this deliver a lot of thrills and chills. Most 80s Horror film fans should find much to like here although a lot of it sometimes feels a bit cheesy and over the top too but usually in a surprisingly fun way. The plot is pretty simplistic and in fact one probably shouldn't think too much about things while watching this unfold. Just sit back and enjoy this film which is very much a fun but somewhat nasty horror thrill ride.  Some decent scares here too. ***1/2 out of ***** stars."

[WingedSerpent]

Starz had Maleficient (2014), so I watched that.  It was bad.

[Jack]

Buried Secrets (1996) - Tiffani-Amber Thiessen moves into an old house and sure enough, there's the ghost of a young girl there who wants Tiffani to help her find out who killed her mom. This wasn't too bad actually. Much more of a drama than a horror movie, it was fairly slow moving but the story had kind of a neat ending and Tiffani looked pretty sexy. 3.5/5.

Dracula: The Impaler (2013) - some kids go to Dracula's castle in Romania and Drac's soul takes over one of them - he needs to kill everyone else to complete a ritual and release him from Satan's grasp. This started out like a typical cheesy Full Moon production, but somewhere along the line it decided it wanted to be a serious horror movie with a downbeat ending. That ending kind of ruined it for me. The characters were actually fairly good and the dialogue was a tad witty but Full Moon should be ashamed of themselves for teasing up with boobies about 5 times but only delivering once, and then only barely. 2.5/5

[indianasmith]

Are you sure it was a Full Moon picture?  They're usually not shy about that!

[claws]

re-watch: The Boogey Man (1980) (Blu-ray)

Lacey (Suzanna Love) living with her husband, son and her mute brother Willy at the farm of her aunt is haunted by the past: the sadistic lover of her mother has returned inside a mirror. Now the mirror is causing all sorts of evil shenanigans.
Notorious supernatural slasher that blatantly rips off John Carpenter's Halloween. As a bonus you'll get John Carradine and the Amityville house as the farm. This is a pretty low budget affair filled with cheap thrills and bloody kills. Suzanna Love stands out however, she's quite beautiful, sympathetic and actually talented. Her acting reminded me of Meg Tilly's (for those who remember her). 3/5

The Prowler (1981) (Blu-ray)

A masked killer has returned to a small town in order to massacre students having fun at a once forbidden Graduation Dance.
My Bloody Valentine (1981) did the same story, only better. The Prowler's highlights are obviously Tom Savini's gory f/x. The rest is generic slasher stuff surprisingly slow moving. 3.5/5

[Jack]

Are you sure it was a Full Moon picture?  They're usually not shy about that!

Looking at the IMDb, they're listed third under production companies.  But watching the movie, I thought their name came up first in the opening credits.  I dunno, maybe they didn't have full creative control 

[Jack]

Don't Go in the House (1979) - a psycho drives around town picking up women, taking them to his house, and burning them to death. I'll give it a half point for the disco music but other than that is was just pure dreariness and predictability. 1.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Son of Batman" (2014)

Son of Batman - Trailer

When Batman's arch enemy Ras-al-Ghul is assassinated by a rival ninja clan led by Deathstroke, his daughter (and Bruce Wayne's sometime lover) Talia flees to Gotham City, where she introduces Bruce/Batman to their son Damien...a skilled martial artist with a serious chip on his shoulder. As Deathstroke's assassins close in, Bruce begins training the boy to be the newest Robin, and together father and son end up kicking a whole lotta ninja ass in this ultra violent 'toon from the DC Animated Universe. As usual with these flicks, the animation and voice casting is excellent. I'm excited for the next installment, "Assault on Arkham!"

[Jack]

Don't Go in the Woods (1981) - some kids go out in the woods (didn't they read the title of the movie?!?!)  and sure enough there's a hulking madman out there killing people. These woods are really full of people, so there's lots to keep our villain busy. Two of the kids manage to make it back to civilization, the cops send out some folks to hunt down the killer, but our two kids are determined to get him first.

This was decent, I sort of cared about the main characters a little bit and the madman was effective enough. Some pretty forest scenery too. 3/5.

[Trevor]

Iron Eagle 2: not a good movie by any ssssssstttttttrrrrrrreeeeeeeetttttttttccccccccchhhhhhhh of the imagination but good fun nonetheless.