Recent viewings

[JaseSF]

The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2006): Hoping to make a fresh start in a new town along with her father (Jake Weber), a young teenage girl named Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) enrolls in a new school where she struggles to fit in and battles her own inner turmoil over the event that triggered the move: her own mother (Marin Hinkle) trying to stab her to death with a pair of scissors!

This hints at possible scares and horror but ultimately falls flat when it comes to delivering on that promise - a CGI scary face is hardly the stuff of nightmares. Early on I thought maybe it might take an interesting, non-gory turn with the psychological horror of a descent into madness but again this really fails to deliver. "Fails to deliver" pretty much sums up this film in a lot of ways as really very little truly happens despite numerous buildups and false scares and the final twist ending disappoints on more than one level. It also seems to suggest successful people are in league with the Devil. This is one of those films that seems to promise thrills but never, ever truly delivers on that promise. Ultimately this ends up being somewhat of a bore. ** out of ***** stars.

The Astral Factor (1976): Robert Sands (Frank Ashmore), a psychotic killer imprisoned for strangling his own neglectful and controlling movie star mother, uses astral projection to turn himself invisible and thereby escapes from prison and sets out on a killing rampage directed towards those women, most of whom where friends of his mother, who testified against him at his trial leading to him getting convicted. Each murder seems a reenactment of his mother's strangling. On his trail is Lt. Charles "Chuck" Barrett (Robert Foxworth) but just how do you catch and stop a killer you cannot even see?

This 70s cheesefest is filled with beautiful women most of whom have the potential to become strangle victims. Most notable of these ladies is the lovely Elke Sommer as a Miss Galaxy named Christine Hartman whom we get to see in a revealing bikini and a very young Stefanie Powers who plays Barrett's wife Candy and who has a revealing nude scene from the back in this one. Other notable beauties here include Marianna Hill, Sue Lyon and Leslie Parrish. Could have done without see Foxworth's naked behind though. It plays very much like a 70s style cop show or more likely a TV movie of the era. Its very 70s in terms of feel, look and execution. This film would be made in the mid-70s but would not be released until the early 80s (where it perhaps found an audience as a cheesy video release under the title Invisible Strangler). I'm surprised it didn't turn up as a TV Movie but perhaps the material was considered too risque for TV in that era. For 70s style bad movie fans who have an high tolerance for cheesy garbage. Still I enjoyed this far more than The Haunting of Molly Hartley so I'll give it a generous *** out of ***** stars albeit more on the bad movie scale. (BMFMS)

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: ROBOT MONSTER: A season 1 episode, which means they're not really up to speed yet. The host segments are a mixed bag, but the one where Tom pretends to be a Ro-man and threatens to kill Joel is funny, as is the bit where Joel tries to explain surrealism to the bots (Crow: "so it's cool not to make sense?") Two boring episodes of the Commando Cody serial bring this episode down. The feature, of course, is the Bronson Canyon-classic about a bubble-loving ape/aquanaut hybrid alien who must, but cannot, wipe out the last vestiges of humanity. I'd rather watch ROBOT MONSTER without this commentary, but it's still worth 3/5.

[claws]

The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2006): Hoping to make a fresh start in a new town along with her father (Jake Weber), a young teenage girl named Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) enrolls in a new school where she struggles to fit in and battles her own inner turmoil over the event that triggered the move: her own mother (Marin Hinkle) trying to stab her to death with a pair of scissors!

This hints at possible scares and horror but ultimately falls flat when it comes to delivering on that promise - a CGI scary face is hardly the stuff of nightmares. Early on I thought maybe it might take an interesting, non-gory turn with the psychological horror of a descent into madness but again this really fails to deliver. "Fails to deliver" pretty much sums up this film in a lot of ways as really very little truly happens despite numerous buildups and false scares and the final twist ending disappoints on more than one level. It also seems to suggest successful people are in league with the Devil. This is one of those films that seems to promise thrills but never, ever truly delivers on that promise. Ultimately this ends up being somewhat of a bore. ** out of ***** stars.

I would file this under Christian propaganda.

[claws]

Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)

All people disappear during a blackout in Detroit except for those lucky enough standing near a light source that doesn't require electricity. Four lucky ones seek shelter in a bar that is run by a generator, but their luck won't last forever: a dark energy is lurking in the shadows devouring the living not protected by light. And we all know batteries won't last forever.
Apocalyptic Arthouse Horror/Thriller that reminded me of Night of the Comet at times. Above average acting (great: Thandie Newton) and lots of suspense. Enjoyed this quite a bit. 4/5

[Jack]

Impulse (1984) - a girl (Meg Tilly) returns to the small farming community she grew up in, just in time for everyone to start mysteriously losing all their inhibitions and acting on any "impulse" they might have. Over the course of the movie they get increasingly violent. It had a little bit of intrigue as we wondered what could be causing this bizarre behavior, but in the end it just tuned out to me the most hackneyed plot device imaginable. It seemed very tacked-on. The characters were okay, though they seemed to keep the audience at arm's length and so I never developed any real feelings for them. The whole thing was fairly slow moving. Not good, not bad, just your average 3/5.

[claws]

Not good, not bad, just your average 3/5.

*pees on Jack's car*

[Jack]

Not good, not bad, just your average 3/5.

*pees on Jack's car*

Is that another favorite of your's Claws?  

Oh, the birds took a great big dump on my car, if that's any consolation to you 

[claws]

Is that another favorite of your's Claws?  

Not really, but I love that scene in the movie.

Oh, the birds took a great big dump on my car, if that's any consolation to you 

Nothing worse than bird poo, so you got my sympathy 

[Jack]

Is that another favorite of your's Claws?  

Not really, but I love that scene in the movie.

That was pretty good lol.

[Rev. Powell]

BABO 73 (1964): President Sandy Studsbury of the United Status has to deal with an invasion by the Red Siamese and with his own crazy cabinet led by Chester Kitty-Litter. Occasionally clever but mainly goofy underground satire is not up to snuff; it's like ordering DUCK SOUP and getting watery broth, or going to see DR. STRANGELOVE only to learn he flunked out of med school. Writer/director Robert Downey Sr. would get better. 1.5/5.

[Jack]

Legend of the Sandsquatch (2006) - some ugly girl and her "friends" go out to the desert and most of them get killed by a weird looking skinny guy. Laughably deus ex machina ending.  Real z-grade junk with terrible acting, but entertaining enough to sit through I guess. Just barely.  2.25/5.

Count Dracula's Great Love (1974) - in 19th century Europe, some busty babes get stranded when their carriage breaks down, so they take shelter at the only residence in the area - you can perhaps guess who lives there    Lots of terror and bustiness follows. Paul Naschy stars as Dracula. This wasn't too bad at all; certainly not a classic, but an enjoyable watch. 3.75/5.

[JaseSF]

Watched a bunch of films over the Canada Day weekend including:

Halloween 5 (1989): Disappointing followup to Halloween 4 continues on where that one left off but instead of heading off in a new direction as was hinted at with the end of 4, we're back in the same old-same old territory here with Micheal Myers sure enough returning to stalk and kill more people, mainly dumb teenagers although his main target remains his now 9-year old niece Jamie (Danielle Harris). Overall this is competently made with some interesting and different kills, some arguably more brutal than usual for The Shape. Another dark mysterious figure dressed in black also turns up in this one which actually seems to come rather out of left field and adds to an already confusing plot. I thought Harris did well but poor Donald Pleasance seems tired and worn out in this effort in his familiar Dr. Loomis role. **1/2 out of ***** stars.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991): The future is an Utopia based largely on the philosophy and music of Bill & Ted's Wyld Stallyns. One person, a man named De Nomolos (Joss Ackland), however is not happy in this Utopia and invents evil robots duplicates of Bill & Ted whom he plots to send into the past and kill off the real Bill & Ted, take their place and ruin their Battle of the Bands performance during which their music started to take off around the world.

Clever sequel followup to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is quite entertaining delivering a number of odd and unexpected parodies and weird and unusual sci-fi/horror style twists and touches. It's surprising how funny the Evil Bill and Ted Robots are as well as Bill & Ted's trips to Hell and Heaven. Some of the rest is a bit more hit and miss but nevertheless a pretty solid sequel. *** out of ***** stars.

The Living Daylights (1987): MI6 Agent James Bond (Timothy Dalton) is assigned to aid one Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) in his efforts to defect from the Soviet Union but when Koskov is as quickly snatched back out of the blue, Bond investigates his trail across Europe, Morocco and Afghanistan. Just how is he tied in with one General Puskin (John Rhys-Davies), the new head of the KGB whom Koskov accuses of having British and American agents secretly murdered and one Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker), an American arms dealer? Along the way, Bond meets up with Koskov's girlfriend, a beautiful cellist named Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo) who inevitably joins him on his adventures.

This was a pretty thrilling and exciting entry in the series and a great start for Timothy Dalton. It was neat to see the Aston Martin return and feature greatly in a terrific car chase sequence. This movie is filled with great stunts and has a ton of action moving from country to country with spy, war and smuggling intrigue. Dalton's Bond here somehow seems a bit more vulnerable yet retains his edge over his adversaries nevertheless. This is a long Bond film but it never feels that way. The only negative here is perhaps the villains are a bit weaker and not so megalomaniac as usual and some of the stuff with the plane does seem more than a bit far fetched. d'Abo makes a fine partner in action and potential love interest for Bond here. **** out of ***** stars.

The Fatal Image (1990): A mother and daughter vacationing in Paris, France find themselves targets of a murderer after accidentally witnessing and recording a murder on video. Lots of action and intrigue follow.

This TV Movie starring Michele Lee and Justine Bateman (of "Family Ties" fame) as the mother and daughter is surprisingly enjoyable. Sure a lot of it seems a bit far fetched and the villains seem like something out of an "A-Team" episode but there's far more action here than I certainly expected with chase scenes, shootouts and kidnapping and murder plots and an unexpected connection to the murderer who helps keep the intrigue going. François Dunoyer plays the French Inspector who tries to help them. Fun little movie. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Colors (1988): Police drama focused on the special unit that deal with gangs, the LAPD CRASH Unit. Here our story focuses on veteran cop Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall) and his hotshot new partner Danny McGavin (Sean Penn) and how they try and deal with gangs and gang violence. In many ways, the story is as much about the gangs and their lifestyles, not to mention the deadly consequences of their choice, as it is about Hodges and McGavin and how much gangs can unfortunately become romanticized in the eyes of those around them and/or influenced or connected with them but also how being around them can also be a kiss of death for many. This is an interesting movie that doesn't beat about the bush with regards to this element and doesn't shy away from it either. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[indianasmith]

I watched three horror films this week.  First was a Western Zombie film called EXIT HUMANITY.  It was told in the form of a series of journal entries from a returning Confederate veteran who found his corner of the wilderness overrun with zombies a few years after the war, and his efforts to first find, then avenge, his wife and son.  Some interesting and original touches, especially the illustrations he sketched in his journal, which morphed into cartoons, then live action, as each chapter began.  The film tried to be sad and philosophical, and did succeed on some levels, but was a little slow for my taste.  Points for originality, though!
Then I watched a German zombie film this afternoon called TOXIC LULLABY.  A girl is driving with two male friends, partying and doing some heavy drugs, when she passes out in her hotel room and comes to in a world where biological warfare has killed most of mankind's food sources and turned much of the surviving population into zombies. I was really sleepy when I watched this and nodded off several times; having to read subtitles made it even more difficult.  It was a pretty dark and depressing film, for the most part, even for a zombie flick.
This evening I watched a rather interesting creature feature called PARASITIC.  A meteor crashes in the ocean and infects the fish with a parasitic organism.  The manager of a nightclub eats some sushi made from the infected fish and gets a tummy ache, which causes her to flee to the bathroom, rip off her top, and grow a giant alien penis-shaped tentacle from her throat, which then infects and transforms all the other workers who are locked inside the club waiting to be paid and sent home into parasitic creature host zombies, one by one.  Some interesting gore and goop in this one, and the original host chick is . . . well, pretty epic in her proportions, although her assets are hard to appreciate with a giant tentacle waving around above them for most of the movie.  But I think Jack would appreciate them anyway!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Invasion of the Bee Girls" (1973)
http://www.youtube.com/v/KXdRtWrIeW8

Uber-trashy '70s sexploitation sci-fi in which a government agent is sent to investigate the mysterious deaths of numerous scientists at a research lab... and discovers that an experiment gone wrong has turned the local females into horny, human/bee mutations that kill whenever they mate. Lots of T&A and plenty of random WTF-ness ensues.

Seriously, this movie made no sense but lotsa purty girls get nekkid so hoo-boy, was it fun to watch. Fun fact: screenwriter Nicholas Meyer went on to direct two "Star Trek" films.

[Jack]

Species III (2004) - some scientists have once again cooked up an alien/human hybrid who's not bashful about walking around sans clothes (and Sunny Mabrey certainly has the body for it). She of course would like to mate with somebody to continue her species. Trouble is, there are some other alien/humans who I guess are left over from the last movie - their genes aren't quite right and they're slowly dying of various diseases. They'd like the scientists to create a cure for them, and they're NOT asking nicely. This was fairly good, the action moved along well and the characters were likable enough. The special effects budget was adequate to create some decent looking aliens. About what you'd expect for the second sequel; not exactly epic but a good waste of 90 minutes. 3.5/5.