Recent viewings

[indianasmith]

Last night I watched a Chiller Original film called ANIMAL.  Five college students go hiking into a national forest and get trapped inside a cabin with three other stranded hikers by a monstrous creature that is bipedal, intelligent, and ravenously hungry.  They are left with the choice of staying holed up in a very rickety cabin with the monster constantly probing for week spots, or trying to outrun a very dangerous predator that is faster than they are.  I didn't have a lot of expectations for this one, but it was pretty good.

[Rev. Powell]

JAKE SQUARED (2013): A director makes a self-indulgent autobiographical movie about his failed love life, and, "Twilight Zone" style, versions of himself in his teens, thirties and forties show up in his life. It's like 8 1/2 done by a Hollywood phony as a romantic comedy. 1.5/5.

[JaseSF]

Josie and the p***ycats (2001): A girl rock band named Josie and the p***ycats find themselves suddenly thrust into fame and fortune when a music producer handpicks them as his next big stars. However underneath this all is an evil plot to control and manipulate the public with hidden subliminal messages in their music.

This film proves rather true to its comic book/cartoon source material. Rachael Leigh Cook as Josie, Rosario Dawson as Valerie, and Tara Reid as Melody just feels incredibly right in terms on its casting. At times, this is a pretty good send-up of fickleness of pop culture, the music industry, and the silliness behind whatever the latest new fad is. Actually some people actually do seem to believe the theory of subliminal message brainwashing presented here as a plot device for the film's villains played by Parker Posey and Gabriel Mann. It certainly would explain the popularity of some of the incredibly untalented individuals who have become popular pop stars over the last decade or so. At times, this film is clever, at times funny but it never proves truly as satisfying to me as a viewer as I would like. The band Dujour feels a bit too much like a real boy band and there's product and company placement everywhere in this which is part of the plot but still it seems excessive although it was part of the plot and a running joke of sorts. The plot does feel lifted from a cartoon which I guess kind of fit in this particular case. A mixed bag to me personally. I think some of it really is quite clever and funny but its annoying components make it tough to watch at times. *** out of ***** stars.

Equinox (1970): We learn via flashback the fate of four young people who decided to take a picnic/double date in the wrong place at the wrong time. David Fielding (Edward Connell) decides to look for a friend, a Professor named  Dr. Waterman (Fritz Leiber Jr.) and this leads them into this situation. A crazed madman in a cave, a disappearing castle, a smashed house, a creepy park ranger, an ancient evil book, demons, and monsters soon factor into our story.

There are some clever ideas at work here. Sure the execution is obviously done on the cheap and this is clearly a low-budget film aimed at the drive-in market. The cast is mostly no name stars, aside from Frank Bonner of WKRP fame, but I know I've heard the voice of Fielding in a cartoon series (not sure if he was dubbed here or not but I wouldn't be surprised) but Jack Woods portrayal of the Forest Ranger named Asmodeus is appropriately creepy and unsettling. The real star here though is the early stop-motion FX work done by Dennis Muren. Sure it's a little crude compared to some of his later work but I still really enjoyed what I saw here (the work is Harryhausen-esque), the story was surprisingly unsettling, and I enjoyed this one although one does find oneself questioning the reasoning behind the decisions of the four characters, especially David. Barbara Hewitt does well in her role as David's blind date Susan and provides the film's main eye candy and creates a certain empathy with the struggle she goes through in the film. This film was likely an influence on Evil Dead. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958): Finding a way to escape the guillotine, Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) reestablishes himself as Dr. Stein in Germany setting up a new medical practice all the way planning to continue his own personal experiments in private. Eventually he is recognized by one Doctor Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews) who wants Frankenstein to teach him all he knows and so he becomes Frankenstein's apprentice/assistant as Frankenstein sets out to create a new man, this time planning to use the brain of volunteer Karl (Michael Gwynn), a partially paralyzed man whose greatest desire is a new body. However things don't go quite as planned.

This is one of my favorite Frankenstein movies. I like the different twist behind this monster who certainly isn't the usual breed we see in these films. The best thing about this film to me is the performances given especially by Cushing as Dr. Stein/Frankenstein ("They'll never be rid of me."), Matthews as Kleve, Gwynn as the flawed Karl, Eunice Gayson as Margaret - a woman sympathetic to the plight of others. The characters really seem real, gritty, human, flawed, emotional. The story is quite good although we never get quite the resolution with Karl one would have liked. The final twist I liked but some might find it a bit predictable and unbelievable but at least this film set things up for the Hammer Frankenstein series to continue on. Nice pace to this one, just very enjoyable to me from start to finish. Some might find it a bit lacking in action but to me, the human element is what really makes this one work. **** out of ***** stars.

[FatFreddysCat]

"I, Frankenstein" (2014)

I, Frankenstein Official Movie Trailer [HD]

Frankenstein's monster, now named "Adam," returns from centuries of self imposed exile and finds himself caught in the middle of a war between demons and gargoyles, with the fate of the world in the balance. This incredibly silly action/fantasy flick isn't a movie; it's a special effects "sizzle reel" in search of a plot. Aaron Eckhardt looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, the CGI quickly becomes tiresome, and the dialogue is some of the most god-awful comic book crap I've heard in ages. The only cast member who seems to be having any fun is Bill Nighy as the head bad guy. It took less than ten minutes to see why this one tanked at the box office. Ignore, delete, destroy!

[indianasmith]

I did a triple feature for my snow day today . . . starting off with

BIG DRIVER (2014) This was an adaptation of a Stephen King story that I really enjoyed, from his most recent short story collection.
Tess Thorne (played by Maria Bello) is a successful author of a mystery series about a knitting society that solves murders.  She travels
to give a talk to a local book club several hours away from her home, and the club's friendly, helpful president gives her advice on a short
cut to take home.  However, she hits a board full of nails that gives her a flat tire, and the big fellow who stops to help her change the tire
knocks her out, brutally rapes her, and then leaves her for dead in a drainage ditch.  She comes to lying in the water beside the corpses
of his three previous victims, and makes up her mind that she is not going to the police - she is going to get even!  A great little revenge
flick, surprisingly graphic for a TV movie.  4.5/5

WOLVES (2014)  Cayden is an all-American high school success story - football quarterback, dating the prettiest girl in school, with proud
parents ready to send him off to college.  But he wakes up screaming every night from dreams of blood and carnage, and after taking a
hard knock in the head at a football game, he attacks the opposing player with such ferocity that the boy is hospitalized - and that night,
Cayden attacks his girlfriend, transforms into a wolf man, and wakes up at home with his parents torn to pieces in the next room.  He flees
into the night, and after a few weeks, a fellow vagabond on the road directs him to the town of Lupine Springs, Texas - where he discovers
the secrets of his birth family and had a chance to embrace his own lupine nature - or fall victim to the town's alpha wolf.
This one was not too bad, loved the creature effects, and the main babe was really cute.   4/5

CUT (2014)  This was a rather confusing movie within a movie, with an aspiring filmmaker conspiring with an ex-con to make a snuff film,
but disguise it as a mainstream picture and try to get the big studios to promote it.  Confusing in places, poorly lit, and with bad sound
editing, this could have been a much more interesting film than it wound up being had it been more competently shot.  3/5

[Jack]

Houseboat Horror (1989) - a bunch of drunken wankers rent some houseboats and go out on a river. Luckily there's a machete wielding killer to put them out of our misery. Not much to like about this: unlikable, undeveloped characters, no plot, no suspense. I guess there were a few pretty scenery shots. 2/5.

Warlords of the 21st Century aka Battletruck (1982) - in a post-apocalyptic future, there's this bad guy (James Wainwright) who's got this big armored semi truck, and he takes over some village. But the villagers have a friend who's a great fighter and he helps them fight back. This was enjoyable. Characters were pretty good (Wainwright as the bad guy really stole the show), there was a fair amount of cheesy post-apocalyptic action (I love when the good guy fires a light anti-tank weapon at the truck, blows a hole in its roof, and somehow manages to jump his dirt bike right through that hole and land inside  ), and that truck itself was pretty cool looking. 3.5/5.

[claws]

Last night I watched a Chiller Original film called ANIMAL.  Five college students go hiking into a national forest and get trapped inside a cabin with three other stranded hikers by a monstrous creature that is bipedal, intelligent, and ravenously hungry.  They are left with the choice of staying holed up in a very rickety cabin with the monster constantly probing for week spots, or trying to outrun a very dangerous predator that is faster than they are.  I didn't have a lot of expectations for this one, but it was pretty good.

Here's hoping it is somewhat better than the similar but awful Creature (2011). Didn't know Drew Barrymoore is the producer of Animal though.

[claws]

"I, Frankenstein" (2014)
I, Frankenstein Official Movie Trailer [HD]

Frankenstein's monster, now named "Adam," returns from centuries of self imposed exile and finds himself caught in the middle of a war between demons and gargoyles, with the fate of the world in the balance. This incredibly silly action/fantasy flick isn't a movie; it's a special effects "sizzle reel" in search of a plot. Aaron Eckhardt looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, the CGI quickly becomes tiresome, and the dialogue is some of the most god-awful comic book crap I've heard in ages. The only cast member who seems to be having any fun is Bill Nighy as the head bad guy. It took less than ten minutes to see why this one tanked at the box office. Ignore, delete, destroy!

Have to agree. This movie was super-dull. I bought the Blu-ray cheap and gave it away for free after one viewing.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Intruder" (1962)

The Intruder (1962) trailer	Small | Large

An absorbing civil-rights drama directed by Roger Corman, about a racist agitator from the big city (a fantastic performance by a young, pre-Star Trek William Shatner, at his most despicable) who comes to a small Southern town to stir up the yokels just as court-ordered integration begins at the local high school. The movie was "ripped from the headlines" then, and it's a disturbing history lesson now. Fascinating stuff.

Interestingly, for many years The Intruder was known mainly as "the only movie Roger Corman ever lost money on." As you might expect, its initial release in 1962 was very limited due to the "too hot to handle" subject matter, particularly in the South. (a subsequent re-release unsuccessfully tried to sell it as an exploitation flick by re-titling the movie "I Hate Your Guts!").

Corman didn't finally break even on The Intruder till the 1990s when the producers of a documentary about Charles Beaumont (author of the novel upon which the film is based) paid to license clips from it for their film.

[indianasmith]

Tonight after church my wife and I watched BIG HERO 6 together.
It is  a very fun, family film that is never boring or too cheesy for grown ups.
We both loved it.

[Jack]

Bigfoot Wars (2014) - there's a bunch of bigfoots around this small town, and they're abducting women to try and make little bigfoots. Or maybe they're just horny. Anyhow it's up to the sheriff, who specializes in monotone voice-overs, to save the day. This was just crummy. Boring, with unlikable and completely undeveloped characters - example:  the sheriff's daughter gets a bit of dialogue, proving she's basically the daughter from hell. Then she gets kidnapped by bigfoot. We're supposed to care? It actually had a decent plot but the whole thing was done in such a sloppy manner it was completely ineffective. Also loved the wasted loser character who explained the plot - I could make out maybe one word in ten from his mumblings. 2/5.

[Rev. Powell]

AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL (1972): Pursued by machine-gun toting mimes (!), an American hippie goes to Israel and founds a small commune on an island. This painful oddity is not the lost cult classic it's marketed as; too many hippies, not enough mimes. 2/5.

[alandhopewell]

"The Intruder" (1962)
The Intruder (1962) trailer

An absorbing civil-rights drama directed by Roger Corman, about a racist agitator from the big city (a fantastic performance by a young, pre-Star Trek William Shatner, at his most despicable) who comes to a small Southern town to stir up the yokels just as court-ordered integration begins at the local high school. The movie was "ripped from the headlines" then, and it's a disturbing history lesson now. Fascinating stuff.

Interestingly, for many years The Intruder was known mainly as "the only movie Roger Corman ever lost money on." As you might expect, its initial release in 1962 was very limited due to the "too hot to handle" subject matter, particularly in the South. (a subsequent re-release unsuccessfully tried to sell it as an exploitation flick by re-titling the movie "I Hate Your Guts!").

Corman didn't finally break even on The Intruder till the 1990s when the producers of a documentary about Charles Beaumont (author of the novel upon which the film is based) paid to license clips from it for their film.

     Here it is....

The Intruder starring William Shatner - Full Movie (Warning contains racial slurs, the n-word)

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dark Ride" (2006)

Dark Ride (Trailer)

Silly, cheap slasher trash set on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey. A long-shuttered horror attraction (which was, of course, the site of several murders long ago) is set to re-open, so a group of college kids on their way to Spring Break make a detour to check the place out after hours. Naturally, the psycho murderer from back in the day has returned to his old stomping grounds and is waiting inside for them. You can pretty much write it yourself from there. This is one of those by-the-numbers horror movies where the characters are all so obnoxiously irritating and stupid that you start ROOTING for them to die. Avoid!

[indianasmith]

Last night I watched a truly dreadful little low budget film called TAETER CITY: CITY OF CANNIBALS.
A very badly filmed dystopian movie about a future in which criminals are detected in advance due to a brain
deformation that causes violent behavior.  The government (known as THE AUTHORITY) liquidates them and
sells their meat at a franchise called TAETER BURGERS.  Ridiculous amounts of very cheap gore effects and
dialogue that is incomprehensible - this is a HORRIBLE movie; avoid at all costs. 1/5

After that, I watched THE INTERVIEW.  I am not a huge fan of Seth Rogan, but doggone this is a FUNNY movie!
The actor who played Kim Jong Un was spot-on hilarious, and Seth Rogan and James Franco are a very funny
duo.  If you haven't seen this one, you really ought to.  Even if you don't like it as much as I did, you will still
be putting a stick in the eye of the world's scummiest dictator.