Recent Viewings, Part 2

[RCMerchant]

CREEPSHOW 2 (1987)
Not nearly as good as the original, but good fun.
The RAFT segment was the best episode, with some teenagers stuck on a raft in a lake surrounded by a black maneating blob. The kid show type animation was neat too!

[Alex]

Australiens. Australia (and only Australia) is invaded by aliens, out to destroy the world. This p**ses off the rest of the world, who wonder why they haven't been invaded too and in a fit of pique refuse to help out. Low budget and badly acted, but in a fun way, this film is way more fun than it has any right to be. Oh, and f**k Tasmania!

[FatFreddysCat]

Halloween night double feature:

"The Purge" (2013)
Set in a near-future America where all criminal activity is legal for one night a year, a wealthy family learns that their ultra-high-tech security system is not enough to stop a particularly determined gang of home invaders. This isn't exactly a "horror" movie, but it's a tight, claustrophobic suspense thriller with some primo scenes of ultra violence. The scariest thing about this movie may be how plausible it seems, given our current national situation.

"The Purge: Anarchy" (2014)
The first of several sequels to the all-crime-is-legal-for-one-night dystopian flick shows the other side of the "Purge" coin -- rather than focusing on wealthy and privileged characters, it follows some ordinary citizens who are trapped on the mean streets of L.A. during the Purge and just want to survive the night. With more characters and a whole city to play in, this is a bigger, even more mean-spirited adventure -- I think I liked it better than the first movie.

Would it be too predictable to watch "The Purge: Election Year" on Tuesday night while waiting for voting results to roll in? 

[Alex]

Would it be too predictable to watch "The Purge: Election Year" on Tuesday night while waiting for voting results to roll in? 

Go for it. What is the worst that can happen?

[lester1/2jr]

The Seventh Victim (1943) - don't know how I missed this one over the years. A young girl leaves boarding school to search for her missing sister in New York City. When she gets there, she realizes something very weird is going on. It seems her sister has gotten herself mixed up with a group of fifth columnists. Not Nazis, not communists, but....Satan worshippers! In 1974, that would have been a pretty phoned in idea for a plot but for 1943 it was definitely edgy.

Kim Hunter in her film debut reminded my of Patty Duke on the Patty Duke show. She has an innocence which contrasts nicely with the dark urbane subject matter of the film. Not everything works, but that seems besides the point. I can think of a bunch of things that could have gotten ironed out with more time and a bigger budget: for one all the guys kind of look the same...The titular "seventh victim" aspect isn't really explored... Eddie Mueller the TCM host noted some stuff that might have explained it better was taken out to maintain the shorter running time. I don't know if a director's cut exists.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention one very noticeable scene: one of the satan people walks into the bathroom while the younger sister is showering. She taunts her and you can see her silhouette in the shower curtain. 100% of people watching post 1962 will definitely think of Psycho. I don't know if Hitchcock was influenced by this scene but if he was it would certainly make sense. it's similarly effective




very cool beans 5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Stepfather 3" (1992)
After a visit to a back-alley plastic surgeon (to hide the fact that he's being played by a new actor), the serial family killer moves to yet another new town and begins romancing yet another divorced Mom (Priscilla "Three's Company" Barnes). However, the psycho step-dad may have met his match with Priscilla's teen son, a disabled computer whiz whose hobby is solving crimes.
...obviously there isn't much going here that you haven't already seen in the previous two "Stepfathers." New leading man Robert Wightman (who?) does a fair job of imitating the great Terry O'Quinn and there's a few good violent bits, but overall this one's too long and too needlessly complicated for it's own good.

[RCMerchant]

Australiens. Australia (and only Australia) is invaded by aliens, out to destroy the world. This p**ses off the rest of the world, who wonder why they haven't been invaded too and in a fit of pique refuse to help out. Low budget and badly acted, but in a fun way, this film is way more fun than it has any right to be. Oh, and f**k Tasmania!

That sounds interesting! 

[RCMerchant]

the GORGON (1964)
It's Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together  against a Gorgon that turns people into stone by here mere gaze. Well acted, of course, and beautiful to look at...but kinda talky.
It's a late night lying in bed movie.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Paganini Horror" (1989)
A struggling all girl rock band discovers a long lost, unpublished piece by the Italian composer Paganini - who, legend has it, sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his talent. While shooting a music video for their version of the track, they awaken the undead spirit of Paganini himself, who doesn't appreciate these gals borrowing his work.
Luigi "StarCrash" Cozzi directed this brain-dead rock/horror mash up, which has a bad script, bad acting, bad dubbing, bad music (the girl band's "hit" is a hilariously shameless rip off of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name")... pretty much bad everything. Even a cameo appearance by the great Donald Pleasance (whose voice is overdubbed by another actor, for some reason!) can't save this movie.
This was the 2nd time I've seen "Paganini Horror" and it certainly didn't improve with a repeat viewing. There will not be a 3rd try.

[Alex]

Australiens. Australia (and only Australia) is invaded by aliens, out to destroy the world. This p**ses off the rest of the world, who wonder why they haven't been invaded too and in a fit of pique refuse to help out. Low budget and badly acted, but in a fun way, this film is way more fun than it has any right to be. Oh, and f**k Tasmania!

That sounds interesting! 

Found it on some random Roko channel. No idea where else it would be available.

[lester1/2jr]

Bowery at Midnight (1942) - A psychology professor who teaches about criminal behavior has a secret: he himself is a criminal. Bela Lugosi is all too believable as a guy using a soup kitchen as a cover for murder and burglary. I'm still not entirely sold on the concept. I think maybe they could have done the classroom stuff as a flashback. He works all day and all night when does he grade the papers, etc?

Anyway, he gets in some "three's Company" style hijinks when someone from the class wants to do a study at the soup kitchen. Will his whole diabolical plan come crashing down??? Tom Neal from Detour is awesome as one of his many criminal co horts. I have a feeling something was cut somewhere because all the sudden one of the guys I thought was dead was back. or maybe its the fact that everyone dresses the same and has the same haircut. how did people tell each other apart in the old days??? I sure can't do it now


4.5 /5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Voorhees" (2020)
After pulling off a successful bank heist, a crew of thieves (and their two hostages) hole up in the deserted ruins of Camp Crystal Lake. Of course, they soon learn that the camp's most famous resident, Jason Voorhees, doesn't take kindly to trespassers. Predictable mayhem ensues.
This is the latest F13 "fan film" to hit YouTube and though I tried to dig it, "Voorhees" lost me fairly early on. I liked the concept, the guy playing Jason looked legit, and there were plenty of gory kills, but the acting is strictly amateur night and the whole thing simply drags on for way too long.
If "Voorhees" had been an hour, it could've been a much cooler, faster moving film, but at nearly an hour and forty minutes, it becomes an endurance contest.  
If you wanna see a cool F13 fan film, watch "Never Hike Alone" instead.

[Dr. Whom]

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020)

Well, the actual title is a bit different, but you know what I am talking about. This is a slog. Another one of those movies which can't make up its mind which direction it is going. On the one hand it tries to be an ensemble piece about a bunch of people facing injustice,  finding eachother and working together to do something about it, and on the other you have the zany adventures of Harley Quinn. Not only are these two fundamentally different story arcs, the more grounded tone of the one doesn't mesh with the cartoonish world of the other. I mean, there is a reason we don't have Deadpool starring in the Avengers movies.

Also, the Harley Quinn part falls flat. In order to have a charming rogue, you've got to make your character at least likeable, and preferably smart. This Harley is neither and much more of a sidekick that a real protagonist. Margot Robbie gives it all, but she's got little to work with.
That being said, it is a very pretty movie and the final fight in the amusement park is a lot of fun. Also Ewan McGregor clearly had a blast as the villain.

[RCMerchant]

Bowery at Midnight (1942) - A psychology professor who teaches about criminal behavior has a secret: he himself is a criminal. Bela Lugosi is all too believable as a guy using a soup kitchen as a cover for murder and burglary. I'm still not entirely sold on the concept. I think maybe they could have done the classroom stuff as a flashback. He works all day and all night when does he grade the papers, etc?

Anyway, he gets in some "three's Company" style hijinks when someone from the class wants to do a study at the soup kitchen. Will his whole diabolical plan come crashing down??? Tom Neal from Detour is awesome as one of his many criminal co horts. I have a feeling something was cut somewhere because all the sudden one of the guys I thought was dead was back. or maybe its the fact that everyone dresses the same and has the same haircut. how did people tell each other apart in the old days??? I sure can't do it now



4.5 /5

Trying to keep track of the plot of a Monogram Lugosi movie is pointless.
I just watch it to see Bela chewing up the carpet !
And it's real morbid.
And I won't give away the ending unless someone asks! But it's a shocker for the time!

[pacman000]

Rings - Bit late for Halloween, but hopefully not too late.

Lacks the slow build & suspense of the 1st one. Surprise antagonist was a cliche. 

Wouldn't recommend it, but it was an ok way to spend the afternoon.