Recent viewings

[Jack]

The Hole (2009) - some kids move into a new house and discover a trap door in the basement. It's got 6 paddle locks on it, so obviously it's not supposed to be opened - so of course they open it and find a bottomless pit underneath. What evil might lurk down there? This was okay. The first two-thirds of it was almost like an After School Special where everything is a bit too nice to be believed. The ending was kind of neat I guess. The characters weren't bad; they weren't good either. The dialogue was at least a tad witty, which was probably it's sole saving grace. Plot was kind of silly. 3/5.

The Wicked (2013) - Lester watched this and I'd totally forgotten that I bought this DVD sometime last year lol. There's this house where a witch supposedly lives and if you throw a rock through the window she'll get you. Why not just NOT throw a rock one might ask? Well that wouldn't be any fun. So these kids throw a rock through her window and this witch starts abducting them and taking them to her basement to perform her witchy ceremonies on them. I sort of liked this, the plot is silly but I thought the characters were kind of fun (except for those two idiot cops). Meh, better than a sharp stick in the eye as they say. 3.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Jack - that blonde girl is 21 can you believe that?

I watched The Hole (2001) as opposed to the Hole (2009) - This needed some fine tuning on the writing side but was still pretty good if a little random. The first 15 minutes were painful. Thora Birch actually says at one point "I love him, but he doesn't even know I exist". It doesn't get more cliche than that. She's a girl who is in love with the captain of the rugby team (it's in Britain ) but she's a geek or something. She wrangles herself an invite to The Hole, which is an old bomb shelter in the woods, along with another couple. they are going there to party why would they do that? What girls would want to go down into a bomb shelter with two guys for an extended time why not just go camping or something? The guy who locked them in splits and they have to be survival-y

Thora Birch's rack is in full effect but she doesn't get get nude. Frankie, the other girl, is pretty thin and actually British and a good actress. The two guys are guys idk

This has "Wild things" sort of aspirations except the girls aren't showcased all that well and the biggest issue is the writing. The idea of having to guess who is telling the truth about what happened in the Hole is good, though I figured it out and I am really bad at that usually, but they don't introduce the sides well enough so you have to be like "oh ..I see". The basic idea is good but the execution is clunky. In order to tell what they have to tell they have a pretty big plot "hole" at the end. The title has a bit of a double meaning I guess.


It was still good though 4/5

[claws]

Kiss of the Damned (2012)

A somewhat shy but beautiful young woman named Djuna fears relationships because she's a Vampire. She tells people that she has a skin disease (allergic to sun) and can only move about at night time. While in a video rental store she makes eye contact with a handsome young screen writer, and both end up at her place. She throws him out of her house before the sex, but he is persistent, returning every night. So she tells him her big secret and he agrees to be bitten, turning him into a Vampire as well. Soon after Djuna's younger Vampire sister Mimi shows up in need of a place to crash. Mimi is a troublemaker, and her dangerous ways causes all sorts of bloody mayhem ...

1970s Euro-Vampire semi-homage with a modern setting. Very erotic, stylish and tastefully done. Intentional awkward moments/dialogue and a groovy soundtrack makes this Indie horror stand out. Refreshing. 4/5

[Jack]

Jack - that blonde girl is 21 can you believe that?

She's going to get carded going into bars until she's about 30 I think.

[lester1/2jr]

I guess she was 19 or 20 when they made that. She's on twitter but I don't follow her just a dopey girl. https://twitter.com/dhopxo

[lester1/2jr]

Passion's Obsession (2000) - soft core Surrender cinema thing that has nudity in just about every scene. It starts off very strong with a shot of strippers stripping then the opening scene where a girl with a very short skirt leans over the hood of her car and it's shaping up to be a very good adventure indeed. I guess it sort of is, but the quality of the nudity, if not  the volume, drops off a bit sometimes significantly after that.

The lead actress is Asian and hot and her sidekick is a redhead and hot. Her client (she's a detective) is an older bleach blonde with a the Nanny type accent probably due to her nose job. She's like not that attractive. The biggest disappointment was when the detective goes to the "sex party" and it's just two very unattractive lesbians.

Regina Russell: Passions Obsession Trailer - Sexy Movie

The acting hits some pretty high lows ( ?) but the plot actually makes sense, theres wall to wall nudity, and it gets the job done 4/5

[claws]

The Caller (2011)

Divorced from her abusive husband, a young woman named Mary moves into a new apartment for a fresh start. Apparently the previous owner left behind an old dial-up phone which Mary thinks is charming, and decides to keep it. Shortly after she receives phone calls from a woman named Rose who is claiming to be living in the year 1979. Mary finds out through talking with Rose that Rose is apparently abusing her little daughter, so Mary tries everything to safe the child.
Filmed entirely in Puerto Rico with an American cast, The Caller kind of plays out like one of those Asian ghost movies with a twist surprise ending, except there are no pale jittery ghost in the movie. The focus is more on the psychological side with a dark, disturbing secret. Well acted film with decent jump scares and edge-of-your-seat suspense. 4/5

[lester1/2jr]

I saw the Caller I recall liking it

[Jack]

The Wickeds (2005) - watched The Wicked, so this is the plural version of that. It's a low budget cheese fest starring Ron Jeremy. Some kids go to a scary house and meanwhile old Ron digs up the grave of a vampire and steals some amulet, which causes the dead to rise from their graves. Everybody takes shelter in the scary house while two kids make out upstairs for a long time. The girl is cute. And yeah...they spend a lot of time yelling about whether they should attempt to flee to safety or stay in the house. This was sort of fun I guess, for a movie that seems like it was made on a weekend. Kind of sexy girls and some humorous zombie kills. 3/5.

[indianasmith]

Last night I watched LONE SURVIVOR,  a film based on the memoirs of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell about the firefight in which three members of his SEAL team perished while holding off about 200 Taliban warriors.  Fairly well done; I think they changed a few things from the book, but it's been awhile since I read it, so that could be just my memories.  A bit slow in the buildup, but once the action begins it's very intense.  Amazing how much punishment those guys took before they finally went down.

After that I watched a pretty bizarre French horror film called DEAD SHADOWS.  A young man goes to a comet watching party, when suddenly aliens start infecting all the people there and turning them into homicidal monsters with tentacles spouting from their hands and bodies.  Some great monster effects, even if the plot is a little hard to follow in places.

[Rev. Powell]

THE END OF TIME (2012): Documentarian Peter Mettler interviews various people (scientists, artists, hermits, mystics) about their thoughts on time, using poetic footage of lava flows, particle accelerators, and digital mandalas as a visual background. A meditative but unfocused experiment that at times gets a little too hippie-dippy-acid-trippy for its own good, but it earns points for earnestly exploring serious philosophical concepts that most movies shy away from. At two hours of plotless visuals, it's obviously not for everyone.  3.5/5.

[claws]

Apartment 143 (2011)

After the tragic death of his wife a man thinks his apartment is haunted, possibly by his undead wife. Three paranormal investigators set up camp in the apartment, installing all sorts of gadgets and cams in every room. Soon enough strange things start to happen with the center of attention being the widow's rebellious, troubled and rude teenage daughter. The investigators come to the conclusion that a poltergeist has manifested, most likely created out of frustration and anger from one of the family members...
This starts off like a generic Paranormal Activity clone but switches gears about halfway through: long shots without editing, and quite emotional without being corny. I enjoyed this unusual mix of the familiar and a few original ideas, and the furious ending is a real jaw dropper. 4/5

[JaseSF]

Singles (1992): Follows the dating trials and tribulations of a number of singles, most of whom live in the same area, during the grunge era in Seattle.

This was pretty solid. While not quite as entertaining as the film Empire Records which this shares a DVD with, it was alright. More or less a better than average romantic comedy with some funny moments and the grunge era vibe and music thrown into the mix. The acting was pretty good in this and the characters do actually feel like real people. Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Bridget Fonda are all really good in their roles and Matt Dillon proves memorable too as aspiring grunge rocker Cliff. Funniest bits were the doctor visits and the line involving spam. ***1/2 out of ***** stars

Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus (2010): The megalodon from Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus is back here on the hunt for giant crocosaurus eggs to which Crocosaurus doesn't take too kindly. The military plots and plans ways to destroy the two menaces  but that proves rather difficult as the two continue to engage in battle and cause mass destruction along the way. Scientist Dr. Terry McCormick (Jaleel White who's best remembered as Steve Urkel on Family Matters) believes he's invented a device that might be able to repel, attract, and deliver a devastating blow to both monsters and is soon made part of a special task force recruited to destroy the menace along with tough girl Agent Hutchinson (Sarah Lieving, who appeared before in King of the Lost World) and an Crocodile Dundee-esque type named Nigel Putnam (played by Gary Stretch). Also on hand is Robert Picardo (formerly of Star Trek: Voyager fame) as the Admiral in charge of the team assigned with destroying the two monsters.

This was terrible, actually much worse and perhaps even dumber than Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus which at least had some jaw dropping "did I really just see that?" moments going for it. This movie seems to drag on and on much too much although it does feature lots of action from the completing unconvincing CGI critters. White tries his best but can't overcome this material although it is kind of fun to see him (he's changed a lot from his Steve Urkel days) and Picardo in something again although this certainly didn't do either any favors. Lieving plays her usual tough chick in a tank top and her and Stretch actually get the best moments here although they're fleeting, few and far between. Nothing here to warrant suffering through this more than once if at all. ** out of ***** stars.

[BakuryuuTyranno]

Watched Ravenous recently. You know how sometimes a movie's kinda average but somehow you feel affection for it? Well... that. (Also watched bits and pieces of other films but I'm not sure those would count due to not watching in entirety or close to it)

[Jack]

The military plots and plans ways to destroy the two menaces  but that proves rather difficult as the two continue to engage in battle and cause mass destruction along the way.

The biggest problem was that the creatures were CGI and therefore invulnerable to any and all weaponry