Recent viewings

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Batman Vs. Dracula" (2005)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7wcHjyFUgQ

In this feature-length spinoff from the mid-'00s animated series "The Batman," everyone's favorite Dark Knight is not the only Bat in Gotham City anymore, when the Penguin accidentally awakens the King of Vampires from his crypt in Gotham Cemetery. As Dracula feasts on the citizens of Gotham to build his undead army (and selects girl reporter Vicky Vale to be his bride), Batman must find a cure for the afflicted and take down the head bloodsucker once and for all.

I never watched "The Batman" show but it looks like it had a slightly different style than the early 90s "Batman: The Animated Series." Batman's eyes are so huge he looks like Spider-Man with pointy ears, The Joker looks like a Rastafarian! Despite that, the animation's great and the story's creepy and action packed, though be warned, it's proabably a bit too horrific and bloody for the kiddies.

[JoeTheDestroyer]

TerrorVision- Lovably silly.  I didn't mind that all of the characters are pretty much caricatures.  That, along with some of the pulp sci-fi stylization, made the movie enjoyable. 

Aahh! Zombies!- A decent zombedy, but nothing to write home about.  I like how the movie showed reality through the eyes of the zombies, then shifted to actual reality.  What mainly killed the movie was that the characters were pretty hollow (not even caricatures like in the movie above).  I know a lot of people will probably ask what I expected from a zombie comedy, but I've also noticed that some of my favorites from that genre included very likable characters (Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, etc.). Thumbs in the middle.

The Tunnel- A very well made Australian found-footage horror movie.  It's kind of like a found-footage reimagining of CHUD with some decently creepy scenes.   

Ted- Expectably crude, but still somewhat enjoyable.  I don't usually mind swearing, but I feel like this movie went overboard.  There are some funny jokes, but I think what almost killed this flick for me was that it felt too much like Family Guy (I expected as much).  Still worth a watch if you're a fan of Seth McFarlane.   

Watching another found-footage movie tonight called Evil Things.  I'll let you know what I think!

[JoeTheDestroyer]

As promised...

Evil Things- This movie was a godawful waste of time.  I like found-footage movies because I have the patience to sit through an hour of nothing happening to get to the meaty bits of a film.  Once you get past the slow part in this flick, though, you find that there are no meaty bits.  This was one of those movies that could have been good had the payoff (read: the last half-hour) been worthwhile, but it wasn't.  In the end, you won't know what happens to any of the characters, what's going on in the ending scene, or why you should be afraid.  For all I know, I could have just watched a practical joke play out and the characters are actually fine somewhere, warm and cozy.   

[fulci420]

Dead and Buried-Got this on blu ray for my birthday. I had always heard good thing's about this one but never got around to watching it. This is a creepy little movie about a small town where mobs of people are going around killing individuals. As the film goes on we follow the Sheriff in his attempt to discover what is going on as the dead start showing up around town. This is a solid little horror movie with great atmosphere and some surprisingly well done effects work. Reminded me of another Blue Underground title "Deathdream" in it's tone and subject matter.

Don't go expecting miracles from this blu ray version though as this film was shot intentionally dark and murky. Certainly not a title I would show off my player with. There is a solid amount of extras on here including no less than three commentaries. I have listened to the director's one and it is a solidly informative and engaging look at the film. According to the director he intended the film to be comical in nature but a production company took over editing and added some more gore. It doesn't look like Blue Underground is putting out new titles at the moment which is a shame as I love the effort they put into movies that would otherwise be forgotten.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Almost Famous" (2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk0XnyrENrE

A dorky California teen manages to B.S. his way into a writing assignment for Rolling Stone and joins an on-the-rise band called "Stillwater" on the road, where he learns about life, music, love, and of course, groupies. Cameron ("Jerry Maguire") Crowe based this charming rock 'n' roll coming of age tale on his own experiences as a young music journalist in the early 1970s.

Great soundtrack and an excellent cast including Kate Hudson, Philip Seymour Hoffman (as the legendary "Creem" magazine editor Lester Bangs), Jason Lee, and Frances McDormand. This is one of my favorite rock movies. If you haven't seen it, do so.

[claws]

I Am Number Four (2011)

Young guy is constantly on the run from strange invaders who are out to kill him. As he settles down with a new identity in a small town he falls in love with a girl from his school. Ready to live a normal life he finally confronts his persecutors...

Different take on Superhero movies, more in the vein of Chronicle. Even though this has a TV movie feel to it at times, but there's enough decent action and f/x to remind you that you are actually watching a theatrical feature. 4/5

[fulci420]

Cabin in the Woods-2011-Finally got around to watching this movie after hearing good things from friends and critics. Wow what a disappointment this movie was! You can't really talk about the plot without spoiling it so I will not do that. The wrap around plot twist initially seemed innovative and intelligent but as the movie went on I felt that it didn't live up it's initial premise. This movie takes a horror comedy approach but unfortunately I found both aspects extremely lacking. I really don't understand the hype this movie got as I actually like horror comedies that take apart the tropes of the genre, but this has to be by far the worst of this subgenre in my opinion. I don't think the Scream series are exactly masterpieces but pick any of those films and you will find more intelligent observations on the genre, actual laughs, all without losing the tension that makes those films engaging.  

[ChaosTheory]

Cabin in the Woods-2011-Finally got around to watching this movie after hearing good things from friends and critics. Wow what a disappointment this movie was! You can't really talk about the plot without spoiling it so I will not do that. The wrap around plot twist initially seemed innovative and intelligent but as the movie went on I felt that it didn't live up it's initial premise.

Well, it's a relief to know I'm not the only person who had this reaction   


I was feeling particularly morose yesterday so I did a marathon of CACHE (2005), FAT GIRL/A MA SOEUR (2001) & SHAME (2011).  I rather liked SHAME, FAT GIRL was pretty good but I didn't like the ending, and CACHE was disappointing (about halfway it went from intriguing to "is this ever going to end?").

[lester1/2jr]

Warrior - MMA themed Rocky type sports drama with climactic fights. Nick Nolte is very good as the ex drunk father who trains the prodigal son and so forth. It starts out as a good if heavy handed guy movie and ends up becoming a victim of plot holes and painting itself into absurd corners. You will either find it compelling  or ridiculous, I was in the former for most of it but by the end towards the latter. Aspects of it like the live MMA event and using the announcers and stuff could be folded into a better movie. Guess what: the wife hates that he wants to fight and doesn't care about the money, but she comes to the big fight! 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Arrival" (1996)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-uGQYEN4jc

A pre-"winning" Charlie Sheen stars in this paranoid sci-fi thriller that was obviously inspired by "The X-Files." Charlie's a radio astronomer who picks up a signal from outer space, but can't get anyone to believe him. When he investigates the signal and traces its source to Mexico, he learns that the aliens are already here - and they're working to "terraform" Earth so that it'll be suitable for them to come in and take it over.

The movie runs a bit longer than it needs to (and the oh-so-dated 90s CGI is howlingly bad) but for the most part this is a pretty decent suspense flick. Two appendages up.

[Jack]

Double Exposure (1983) - a photographer is having dreams about killing women. And all the women he meets turn up dead. Sounds like he's the killer, right?  Well unless they throw in a totally unexpected twist at the end. This was sort of dull - meet girl, kill girl;  meet girl, kill girl - like an hour of that. The main guy, Michael Callan, did a pretty good acting job. Not enough to carry the whole movie though. Pamela Hensley (Old farts like me may remember her as Princess Ardala from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) is one of the detectives investigating the case. Pretty boring but not painfully so. 2.25/5.

[Rev. Powell]

LUST IN THE DUST (1985): Four people (including overweight drag queen Divine as a dancehall girl) scheme to find the gold buried in the desert town of Chili Verde. This goofy Wetsern spoof labors most of the jokes but it's fairly watchable, and Lainie Kazan does have a great musical number ("Let Me Take You South of My Border"). 2.5/5.

[indianasmith]

Found footage movies can be hit or miss, but I just finished one that I thought was a gem - CROWSNEST!

Four friends are off on a long weekend, trying to find a cabin up in the mountains that belongs to someone's uncle.  They never get there, wandering off the beaten track and getting turned around in the mountains. After stopping at a tiny gas station and liquor store called CROWSNEST, they try driving further up the logging road to see if they can get back on the highway eventually - and suddenly they are being stalked and nearly run off the road by a huge RV.  At first, they giver pursuit, hoping to get the license plate number, but then the lumbering behemoth comes after them, and they find themselves in a desperate race for survival.  This movie worked on several levels, delivering some great suspense.  The gore is not constant, but when it comes it is brutal, intense, and sudden.  The ending is particularly wrenching.  I'll be honest, I rented this with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised.  It reminds me of what "found footage" used to be before the whole genre got done to death.  Indy sez check it out!

[FatFreddysCat]

"For Your Eyes Only" (1981)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9d2Rf54N0

Roger Moore's fifth spin as 007 brings James Bond back "down to earth" after the space-faring "Moonraker," sending him on a mission to the Mediterranean to recover a missing missile-launch computer system. Along the way he battles the bad guys on skis, in cars, on top of mountains, and even at the bottom of the ocean.

"FYEO" has some decent action scenes but runs a bit longer than it really needs to. Overall I'd say it's a middling entry in the series, but it earns bonus points due to the presence of the cute-as-a-button Lynn-Holly Johnson, who plays a bubbly blond figure-skating bimbo who's fixated on James.

[Jack]

it earns bonus points due to the presence of the cute-as-a-button Lynn-Holly Johnson, who plays a bubbly blond figure-skating bimbo who's fixated on James.

Indeed 

The Dungeon of Harrow (1962) - a ship crashes on some rocks and the two survivors wash ashore on a nearby island. There they find the evil Count de Sade (who's played with insane zeal by William McNulty). Things don't go well for our survivors - the Count sends one of them to the torture chamber just for grins 'n giggles, and before long he locks the other away in an underground vault. Luckily a sympathetic woman teams up with our main guy to attempt an escape. The plot was actually kind of interesting in this, and the characters were decent. Mill Creek gives us a lovely print of the movie on their Pure Terror 50 pack - it looks like a 30 year old VHS tape they excavated from the bottom of a landfill. I'd give this a 3/5 except the ending was just one major bummer too many. 2.5/5.

Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973) - one of those Paul Naschy movies from Spain. As always we begin with some evil devil worshiper guy being executed along with his female companion. Flash forward hundreds of years and Naschy and friends decide to dig up the bodies. Instead they find a chest which is quickly stolen by some thieves. Of course it contains some evil force which takes over the mind of one guy and before you know it, he's brought the evil guy back to life along with his girlfriend. And they're (as always) out for revenge against the descendants of their executioners. So they chase Naschy and his pals around for a while. This was pretty dull really, and lacked the wonderful atmosphere that most of Paul's films have. I really couldn't bring myself to pay enough attention to know the intricacies of what was going on, but I doubt that made much difference. Meh, it was watchable. 2.5/5.