Recent viewings

[Jack]

Dollman vs. Demonic Toys (1993) - There's this guy who's a foot tall, and he meets a hot babe who's also a foot tall.  And there's a police detective who is after some demonic toys that live in a warehouse.  This is all apparently explained in several previous movies, none of which I've seen.  But there's plenty of flashbacks to explain everything.  Anyhow, the police babe gets the foot-tall folks to help her fight the toys.  It's all completely ridiculous of course, but it's pretty entertaining.  It has that special charm that I love about Full Moon movies.  The animatronic toys are pretty well done.  3.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Day of the Animals- just avoid movies filmed at Sequoia National Forest and you'll be okay. Leslie Nielson, a Shelley WInters imitator and a bunch of other nincompoops are an annoying bunch of backpackers who get stuck on a hike led by two equally unlikeable self righteous marlboro men type when all of a sudden THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT makes animals go crazy and attack people. You will definately root for the animals. dull. 2.5/5

[InformationGeek]

Blade Runner:    That movie was bizzare!  Half the people I saw it with walked away saying, what happened?!  I concur with them.  What did I just watch?!  I think I'm going to have to watch this film again before I can give you a proper opinion of the film.

The Shaft: A remake of the German killer elevator movie.  I just did a review of it, so just check that out for my whole opinion, but just to be brief, I liked it.  I thought it was going to suck, but damn, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

[Raffine]

DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966)
Two travelling British couples ignore warnings by locals and visit Dracula's deserted castle. They are greeted by the Count's loyal butler Klove, who soon uses the blood of one of the men to resurrect his master. Dracula immediately turns one of the women into a vampire.

With the help of a vampire-hunting monk the other couple escape to a monastery. But Dracula and his new vampire bride soon follow...

This was the first Hammer Dracula film I ever saw, courtesy of the great CBS Late Movie. This is the first time I've seen it since around '72 or so (!) and it still is effective.

Christopher Lee's Dracula has no dialogue - he only hisses and growls - but this only makes his performance more terrifying and animalistic. Dracula has a somewhat lame but admittedly original demise in this one. I love how James Bernard's score blasts "DRAAA-CU-LAAAH!!!" ever time Lee appears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udqm1gw28xo

Hammer's follow-up DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968) was even better.
This film has very strong religious overtones (Dracula can't enter his castle because a priest has performed an exorcism on it; the atheist hero's first attempt of staking the count fails because he can't say the prerequisite prayer) and a more engaging plot concerning Dracula seeking revenge on the priest - but I did miss the appearance of at least one classic hissing Hammer "vampire bride".

Another small gripe: director Freddie Francis' gimmick of using a red-rimmed frame whenever Dracula appears is initially effective but gets a bit distracting, particularly whenever Francis moves the camera.


Everything's just rosy when The Count is around...

[SkullBat308]

Vampires
The Wickerman (1973)
Disturbia

[lester1/2jr]

CHUD- not bad but a little dissapointing. It needed to have more nudity , more violence and more CHUD and less JAWS/ conspiracy theory type plot. or something. There's a reason this isn't as fondly remembered as Return of the Living Dead or even Aliens Deadly Spawn and that's because it comes close but doesn't live up to it's brilliant title. There is one real actor, the soup kitchen guy, the rest are pretty mediocre and again, it doesn't have quite enough of that awesome vhs slasher energy. worth seeing though. Slasher movies aren't high art but there is a kind of choreagraphy that they have to have with fireworks timed properly.

3.5/5

[claws]

There's a reason this isn't as fondly remembered as Return of the Living Dead or even Aliens Deadly Spawn and that's because it comes close but doesn't live up to it's brilliant title.

Sorry but your comment kinda threw me off. This is the first time I'm reading that C.H.U.D. isn't fondly remembered.
Based on my experience posting nine years at other horror forums, whenever somebody only mentions C.H.U.D. you can always expect lots of drooling. To my understanding it is highly regarded.
Return of the Living Dead is in a league of its own but as far as oddities like C.H.U.D. goes, they have a following and are most definitely fondly remembered. At least in my neck of the woods.

[Newt]

Riddles of the Sphynx (2008)  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976167/

It's a cold, rainy day and this was on TV.  Oh my.  Typical Sci-Fi original fare.  Just lame enough to almost make it as a giggle-fest.  Almost.  Highlights include Donnelly Rhodes in a smal role as the wise older man/father, a heroine (Dina Meyer) who is an obvious Lara Croft clone, a hero (Lochlyn Munro) who is (they think) an Indiana Jones clone, a crude cgi monster/creature that is its cheesy funniest when it takes human form (Dario Delacio - his grimaces are epic!), a 'bad guy/traitor' who may as well be wearing a sign that says "trust me to your peril", a child math prodigy who knew more basic history than the history teacher hero and the classic lines "We're all gonna die!"  and "I have become one with the infinite"  (I am not making this up) - all flying back and forth (and forth and back and back and forth again) across the world chasing down clues to ancient puzzles in order to save the world from the wrath of Isis.  It was good background noise for my getting some baking done in the next room: no danger of missing something crucial at any point, or of feeling I had wasted a couple of hours.  (Could have done with missing the ending: it was pretty sappy!)

Not quite a total waste, but one of those flicks that set me talking out loud - and I do mean loud - to it from across the room.  You know the type.  

[SkullBat308]

The Happening- I like this, don't understand the hate 

[lester1/2jr]

claws- I will keep that in mind next time I review similar material. I didn't think it was quite the home run that those other two were.

[lester1/2jr]

The Seventh Seal  - by Ingmar Bergman or Ed Wood I can't remeber which. If yo uare in the mood for this theres nothing like it. I was actually going back and forth between this and Jersey Shore. I can't believe the Situation woud go out like that. It's kind of like this movie, I mean it's so cynical. A very small troupe of actors ( 3 people) circa just post the first Crusades are travelling the plague ravaged countryside doing their imbecilic show for the various bawdy medieval peoples they come across. WHile this is happening a Templar night just back from the holy land is playing a very drawn out game of chess with Death himself. He makes one move then goes away for a long long time. The game takes the whole movie!

There are 3 incredibly good looking woman and the acting and dialogue are superior though this kind of writing tends to sound impressive superficially anyway. It's a little confusing at times but the overall effect is very transporting and impressive. I think I liked this as much as "Valley of the Bees" which was very similar in tone and setting. 5/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE STREETFIGHTER (1974):  A mercenary (presumably at one time in the past a street fighter) tries to protect an heiress while being hunted by the yakuza and the man whose sister he sold into sex slavery.  Sonny Chiba is a badass (and frankly more than a little bit of a dick) and the film gets some violent style points, but I don't really understand why this one has such a great reputation.  I was rooting for the brother to kill Sonny Chiba, so I was bound to be disappointed.  I think I feel about this one the way Lester felt about CHUD.  3/5.

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Let me in. Vampire movie. I didn't know they re-filmed it for the u.s release. Good times.

[JaseSF]

Child's Play (1988): Hoping to get a good deal on an expensive and popular "Good Guys" doll, a mother buys one from a street peddler. Unfortunately for her however said doll is possessed by the spirit of a dead serial killer named Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) aka: "The Lakeshore Strangler"!

I quite like this one. It delivers some good, creepy thrills with a surprising punch to its proceedings. Sure it's kind of predictable and initially Chucky looks a little too sweet which IMO makes the doll even a bit more unnerving. There's some good, clever humor here too but it never really takes away too much from the scares. Love the FX work that brings Chucky to life in such a delightfully creepy way. Good stuff! ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[3mnkids]

13 Tzameti~ Sebastian is fixing the home of someone who is in some kind of shady business. He only hears bits and pieces of conversations but one thing stands out.. the mention of lots of money. The homeowner is waiting on instructions for this "job" when he overdoses. Sebastian gets the instructions and follows them.  Where it leads him shocked the hell out of me.

Im glad I didnt read any reviews on this before watching because almost all of them give away the surprise.    Its in black & white but it works. Its a little slow and confusing in the beginning but wow, when it gets going its amazing. I loved it.