Recent Viewings, Part 2

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hot Moves" (1984)
Four dorky Southern California teens make a pact that they will all lose their virginity by the end of summer. Hilarity is supposed to ensue.
...as you might expect from such a generic plot and title, this is another low budget, by-the-numbers '80s raunchy sex comedy. It has a few chuckles here and there and features lots of pretty girls in various states of undress, therefore I was entertained.
Actually, the main reason I sat thru this flick was because there are two non-album songs by the 80s metal band Raven (one of my favorites) on the soundtrack -- "Hot Moves," which resurfaced on 1999's Raw Tracks compilation, and "Ladykiller," which I'd never heard before tonight!

[indianasmith]

My wife and I just watched READY OR NOT.  This was supposed to be a horror comedy but it was a lot darker than I expected - not too dark for me, but my wife didn't like it much at all.   Solid performances all the way around in this story of a family curse and the young bride who unwittingly becomes its victim, with just enough humor to relieve the grim parts. 4/5

[indianasmith]

THE DUST WALKER - An Australian sci-fi/horror film in which the residents of a remote Australian town are taken over by some sort of body-snatching alien spores that drive them to kill their fellow townspeople.  A second alien shows up and begins "collecting" all the possessed townspeople - but why?  Is he there to help or make things worse?  This one was a bit confusing and hard to follow in places, but I still enjoyed it. Then again, any entertainment is welcome right now!  3.5/5

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: THE BLACK SCORPION: The feature is a by-the-numbers giant insect flick about giant scorpions coming out of a Mexican volcano; the only memorable thing is Willis O'Brien's stop-motion work. In Deep 13, Dr. Forrester and Erhart's self-experiments have gone awry; it also ends with a very funny reader letter providing an (unflattering) psychoanalysis of Crow. Overall, this late season1 episode never gets off the ground comedically, but better things are coming soon. 2.5/5.

[indianasmith]

THANKSKILLING - OK, I have wanted to see this one for years, ever since seeing the trailer nearly a decade ago.  This is one of the WORST bad movies I have seen in a long time; and by WORST I mean most awesome!!!   Cheap special effects, incredibly stupid plotline, the dumbest college students in history, a topless pilgrim wench, and a radioactive killer turkey!  This one was just cheep cheesy fun from start to finish.   4.5/5

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS - I love this low-budget found footage horror masterpiece; it's proof that you don't need a multimillion dollar budget to make a genuinely scary horror film.  What would happen if the cynical, skeptical hosts of a GHOST HUNTERS-style reality show really did meet some malevolent undead spirits?  Watch and find out!  5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Pet Sematary" (2019)
Remake of Stephen King's saga of a country doctor, a dead cat, and a mystical Indian burial ground follows SK's original story pretty faithfully for a while, then unexpectedly flips the script into something quite different in the second half. As remakes go, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't nearly as creepy as the '89 film and didn't have its emotional punch either. Overall, a pretty unnecessary exercise.

[indianasmith]

AXE MURDERING WITH HACKLEY (2018)  Being homebound and not having any papers to grade (yet, we start distance learning next week), I've been watching a TON of movies this weekend.  Tonight it was AXE MURDERING WITH HACKLEY - a hilarious mashup of THE OFFICE, 9 TO 5, and FRIDAY THE 13TH.  Hackley had been the dominant slasher on the scene since the year 1980, but now the corporate world of serial killing, with its suffocating company policies, endless status meetings, and petty office feuds is simply too much for him.  Hackley longs for the good old days when he could simply go out and axe up teenagers at will, but that's against protocol these days.  This is a hilarious film with homages to many of our favorite slasher films; what they did with Jigsaw is worth the watch all by itself.  This was a hilarious send up of the whole slasher genre, and it's free on Amazon Prime!  4.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Piranha" (1995)
Low rent, made for cable retread of the 1978 Joe Dante/Roger Corman killer-fish classic stars Alexandra "Baywatch" Paul, William "Greatest American Hero" Katt, an all grown up and spectacularly busty Soleil ("Punky Brewster") Moon Frye, and a pre-teen Mila Kunis (in her film debut). 
Large portions of the dialogue (and many of the fish-attack FX shots) were lifted right out of the '78 film, so it felt like I was sitting through a re-run. Stick with the 1978 version.

[Dr. Whom]

Argoman (1967)

This one goes by a variety of titles, so I stuck with the most memorable (and easiest to google). This is essentially a European James Bond ripoff/parody, but with a Diabolik-style superhero. All very stylish and tongue in cheek. There is some influence of Adam West's Batman, but even more from British series The Avengers in the Emma Peel era. It pits the honourable gentleman-thief with superpowers Argoman against Jenabell, the Queen of the World, a classic supervillain with a spectacular wardrobe (often with gravity defying cleavage). The movie has the same approach to plot as Starcrash: let's shoot a bunch of cool scenes and hope that it somehow adds up to a movie. Great fun, if silly.

[claws]

Rocketman (2019)

Elton John bio that's part musical. Taron Egerton as Elton John wasn't as captivating (but still great) as Rami Malek playing Freddie Mercury but then again they both are different in character. My only gripe - no "Little Jeannie" which is my favorite Elton song. 4.5/5

The Dark Tower (2017)

Based on Stephen King novel. Fantasy Action Adventure Western (!) with a bit of Sci-Fi and a touch of supernatural horror. Idris Elba is good but Matthew McConaughey obviously steals the show - one of the better villain performances in recent years. Anyway, I enjoyed this. 3/5

Child's Play (2019)

Remake of a classic with a few modern adjustments. I thought it worked out well. Far from perfect but not a disgrace to the original. I doubt they will make a sequel though. 3/5

[Gabriel Knight]

THE DISASTER ARTIST (2017)

When Greg Sestero, an aspiring film actor, meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.

I think we all know THE ROOM. Personally, I don't think it's that bad, I've seen much worse. The only particularly weird thing about it is Tommy himself, who appears to be from another planet, or maybe another dimension - without him, the movie would be just another crappy drama. THE DISASTER ARTIST explores the making of the film and the inspiration behind it, in a very kind and funny way. I never felt like they were mocking the wooden duo, but rather celebrating them and their friendship. In many ways, this movie felt a lot like ED WOOD, although I prefer the latter, even when it's less accurate.
Overall, a great movie. I honestly didn't realize it was James Franco until halfway the movie, which is a testament of the transformation the actor (and director!) went through for this particular role. Recommended for both fans of THE ROOM, and for those who haven't watched it yet, because they will certainly will feel compelled to do it.

A well deserved 9/10. 

[indianasmith]

BEASTER DAY - A giant carnivorous rabbit is wandering through a small mountain town, devouring scantily clad (and unclad) females and everyone else in its path while the stoner mayor wonder what to do about the situation, and whether or not to cancel the Easter parade.  It makes absolutely no sense and the rabbit is a goofy giant puppet, and basically reeks "badness" from every pore.  I loved it! 4/5

[Alex]

Witching & b***hing. A Spanish language horror comedy which starts off with a robbery going wrong and ends up with the robbers getting into a lot of trouble with their attempted getaway to France. A bit like From Dust Til Dawn only with witches instead of vampires. It didn't make me laugh once, but was moderately enjoyable.

Season of the Witch (1972). A bored housewife starts flirting with witchcraft in an attempt to liven up her humdrum life. This has a very similar pacing to director George Romaro's 'Martin' (what many people would call slow). I am two thirds into the films run time and she has only just picked up some stuff to learn how to be a witch. It establishes very early on that the lead is dissatisfied with her life. Then it establishes it some more (oh gods, does it keep establishing this) and keeps on going in the same vein. Anyway, she ends up a happy and confident woman.

[Rev. Powell]

VEROTIKA (2019): Three vignettes of "violent erotika." With lethargic acting, stupid dialogue, zero scares, and stories without any real resolution, it's just as torturous as you've heard. By the end, you're praying for the sweet release of death. 1/5.

[claws]

VEROTIKA (2019): Three vignettes of "violent erotika." With lethargic acting, stupid dialogue, zero scares, and stories without any real resolution, it's just as torturous as you've heard. By the end, you're praying for the sweet release of death. 1/5.

2,1/10 IMDb