Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

Terrifier - This had a bit of the classic slasher movie vibe, but the main actress is annoying and unlikeable and in retrospect it all makes very little sense. opening scene was really strong

2.5/5

[claws]

Underwater (2020)

At the bottom of the ocean researchers experience an earthquake (seaquake?) and strange lifeforms attacking their damaged facilities.

Sci-fi horror that borrows from Alien (1979). With a budget of $80m Underwater looks great but Kristen Stewart looks ...weird. Underwater delivers the goods at times and has a decent cast, creepy sea creatures and dazzling special effects but the film somehow still feels uneven and rushed. It kinda needed a final polish, and one has to wonder why Underwater was shelved for three years. For a double feature it makes for an entertaining warm up paired with Life (2017) as both are similar in character. My rating: 3.5/5

[indianasmith]

JOHN WICK 3: PARABELLUM   Keanu Reeves is back as the world's deadliest assassin in this third movie of the series.  This time they pretty much dispensed with all pretense of a plot and simply got straight to the killing; Wick has been declared "Excommunicado" and is being hunted all over the world.  Lots of blood, bullets, and bad acting.  The first installment was fun and entertaining, the second one had its moments, this one was just plain tiresome by the end. 2.5/5

[Dr. Whom]

Byzantium (2012)

A mother and daughter vampire couple are hunted down by the other vampires because they have broken the Code of the Brotherhood (mainly by being women). This is an original take on vampire lore (including a pretty convoluted way of becoming a vampire), the effects of immortality and the attempts to escape to a better life. Well worth seeing and beautifully filmed.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Nightwatch" (1997)
A young law student (Ewan McGregor) takes a new job as the night watchman at the city morgue. Meanwhile, a necrophiliac serial killer is carving up local prostitutes and leaving clues at the scenes that point to McGregor's character. Can he clear his name before the psycho strikes again?
A fairly "meh" horror/thriller that wishes it was "Seven," apparently based on a Danish film from a few years earlier. Skippable.

[chainsaw midget]

The Best Little Whore House in Texas. 
Bury Reynolds is a good ol' boy Sheriff with a  temper and a regular patron of The Chicken Ranch.  The Chicken Ranch is local Whorehouse that's seen by the town, the sheriff, and the Mayor as providing an importan community service.  It's run by strict standards by Dolly Parton as place where people can go for "good clean wholesome fun".  When a TV expose reporter, played by Dom DeLuise, sets his sights on shutting it down for ratings, the sherrif has to fight to keep it open. 

It's not a great movie, but it's fun.  There's a few good musical numbers in it.  I especially like the governor singing "sidestep." 

It's a nice fun movie with a title that might put some people off, but nothing too out there. 

[Rev. Powell]

ESCAPE FROM THE 'LIBERTY' CINEMA (1990): A Communist censor is increasingly frustrated when the characters in a movie refuse to play their parts and start talking back to the audience instead. It's Poland's glasnost version of THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO---the filmmakers steal from Woody Allen's film as literally as you could imagine, but with a political purpose in mind. Unpredictable. 4/5.

[Alex]

Terrifier - This had a bit of the classic slasher movie vibe, but the main actress is annoying and unlikeable and in retrospect it all makes very little sense. opening scene was really strong

2.5/5

Is that the one with the clown cutting the woman in half at the start? I keep meaning to track that one down.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Devil's Rejects" (2005)
In the follow up to Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses," the mass murdering Firefly "family's" home base is raided by police, which sends Capt. Spaulding (Sid Haig), Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Otis (Bill Mosely) on the run through the Texas badlands -- pursued by a revenge-obsessed sheriff (William Forsythe) who might be just as crazy as they are. This ultra-violent, action packed and occasionally quite funny ode to Rob's favorite grindhouse splatter flicks of the '70s is a vast improvement over the first movie.

[lester1/2jr]

Alex - yeah it's on Netflix instant. That was a high point for sure

[chainsaw midget]

Terrifier - This had a bit of the classic slasher movie vibe, but the main actress is annoying and unlikeable and in retrospect it all makes very little sense. opening scene was really strong

2.5/5

Is that the one with the clown cutting the woman in half at the start? I keep meaning to track that one down.

Yeah, it's the one with the black and white clown.  I love the clown's design but the movie itself felt like it needed more substance to it.

[lester1/2jr]

The Girl Next Door - this was the 07 horror movie not the one with the girl from 24.

I got about halfway through and saw where it was going. not for me _ / 5

[indianasmith]

LINCOLN (2013) - Rewatched one of my favorite films of all time last night; Spielberg's screenplay is brilliant and highly accurate, and Daniel Day Lewis brings Abraham Lincoln back to life with eerie authenticity.  Great supporting cast, especially Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.  The focus of the film is on the legal battle to get the 13th Amendment through Congress before the end of the war, to make sure slavery was abolished forever, and how Lincoln used every political trick in the book to get the votes he needed to accomplish what he called the "King's Cure" for the evil of slavery.  One of my favorite films of all time, and I still tear up at the end.  5/5

[lester1/2jr]

Boo!

[claws]

Color Out of Space (2019)

A family of hipster farmers (the mother works from home from her computer, the daughter is sort of into the occult and they have Alpacas in the barn) encounter a meteorite that lands in their front yard. Soon enough a purple, pink and blue nightmare begins.

British director Richard Stanley (Dust Devil, Hardware) returns to the big screen with his version of H.P. Lovecraft's tale of madness from outer space. It is quite trippy and Nicolas Cage certainly adds to the insanity. This is beautifully shot with amazing color f/x. The plot doesn't always run smoothly but that's just a minor issue. If anything, it proves that Richard Stanley hasn't lost his skills at making good cult movies. I'm sure Color Out of Space already has a following. 4/5