Recent viewings

[FatFreddysCat]

"Scream" (1996)

A suburban high school full of hip, wise cracking, self aware teens is plagued by a series of horror-movie-inspired murders in this horror/comedy hit that re-vitalized Wes Craven's career and kick-started a new slasher-film craze. For a while it was trendy for "real" horror fans to hate on "Scream" because of all the late '90s teen-horror badness it inspired, but I had to admit that it's actually aged pretty well.

[FatFreddysCat]

"XX" (2017)

A slick but disappointing horror anthology consisting of four short stories, all written and directed by women (the film's title refers to females having two "X" chromosomes). All four are well acted and nice looking, but only one really goes anywhere and even that one falls apart well before it ends. The best parts of this flick are the quick, creepy little stop motion animations that separate each segment - they have a cool, scuzzy look (lots of old doll parts and things scuttling around in the dark) like those early Tool music videos. Otherwise, this flick is poop. Avoid!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Leprechaun in the Hood" (2000)

Three doofus rappers hope to finance their demo tape by ripping off a local hip-hop mogul (Ice-T). What they don't know is that the secret to the music exec's success is a golden flute stolen from the dreaded Leprechaun. When these wanna-be gangstas accidentally unleash "the Lep" (yes, that's what he calls himself) during their heist, it gets REAL, knum' sayin'?

(even I can't believe I just typed that...)

...so yeah, this fifth "Leprechaun" installment is awful, of course, but in an utterly hilarious kind of way. I have to give Ice-T particular credit, 'cuz even though the movie is totally ridiculous, he still manages to come off like a bad-ass. Respect!

[Rev. Powell]

PERFECT BLUE (1997): A J-pop idol turned actress has a mental breakdown as a stalker harasses her, she begins seeing visions of her younger self, and people around her start turning up dead. Startling anime take on the psychological thriller from the great Satoshi Kon, touching on issues of celebrity worship, feminism, and identity. 4.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

The toybox - interesting british horror movie that has a fresh look and a lot of life and homemade flair to it. the pacing falters in the more brutal second half and the supernatural magic amulet sort of things that I really liked get tossed asunder. for a while it looked like a crazy cross between tod solondz and Xena the warrior princes or something. seems like the director tried to do too much on his own? I understand there were also problems in production, film getting lost etc

3/5

se7en- what can you say. classic Fincher. Morgan Freemans character could have been a little less perfect but you can't really mess with this one

5/5

[indianasmith]

This week I have watched PULSE 2 - it's been a long time since I saw the original, but this wasn't too bad; people disintegrating to piles of ash or melting into puddles of goo after being touched by the dead who have gone before.  Entertaining but forgettable; half a point for the attractive girlfriend character disrobing before melting into black tar.  3/5

LIFE (2017) - Great science-fiction film, brilliantly shot, well cast, set on the international  space station. A probe from Mars brings back a soil sample that contains a single-celled organism.  It grows rapidly in size, intelligence, and lethal will.  Most of the crew perishes as the space station falls apart around them.  The alien life form is not nearly as scary looking as, say, the creatures from ALIEN, but its beauty and innocuous appearance make it all the more menacing.

[Rev. Powell]

MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON (2000): A film crew travels around Thailand, asking the people they meet and interview to participate in creating a story ("exquisite corpse" style). Unfortunately, the tale they come up with, about a crippled boy, his live-in teacher, and an alien, is disjointed and absurd in an uninvolving way; it's only interesting on the slightest formal and intellectual level. A generous 2/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dragnet" (1987)

Dan Aykroyd plays the straight-laced nephew of the original Joe Friday and Tom Hanks is his cocky, freewheeling new partner in an affectionate action/comedy riff on the classic '50s and '60s cop show. Funny stuff with lots of quotable bits, also notable for being one of Hanks' last second-banana roles prior to becoming a leading man in his own right.
Fun fact: the closing credit tune "City of Crime" is performed by Aykroyd, Hanks and Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple/Black Sabbath)!

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: BEING FROM ANOTHER PLANET: A mummy, who is actually an alien (a fact the title cleverly hides) chases after a frat boy who stole his magic crystals. Easily the most boring movie featuring an alien mummy possible; the guys can't do anything with it to make it more than just barely watchable. Host segments are good, however, featuring "tragic moments" porcelain figurines for the depressed grandma and the first appearance of the Holo-Clowns (who will deliver one of the show's funniest bits in the very next episode). Overall this episode is a low point during the series' high point. 2.5/5,

[FatFreddysCat]

"His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th" (2009)
Special FX wizard Tom Savini hosts this entertaining documentary that explores the long history and fanatical following of the "Friday the 13th" film series, featuring interviews and commentary from cast members, directors, producers, and pretty much everybody that's ever had anything to do with an "F13" movie. Cool stuff loaded with trivia for horror nerds.

[JJ80]

"Alien From The Deep" (1989): Predictable but entertaining shenanigans ensue when a Greenpeace film crew infiltrate a dubiously-run nuclear plant whose operators are dumping waste into an erupting volcano summoning a supersize Xenomorph wannabee.
Entertaining enough fare from the ever-reliable Antonio Margheriti with plenty of Il Maestro's trademark explosive model effects. The finale which 'pays tribute' to the Ripley vs Alien Queen battle from "Aliens" is genuinely worth waiting for and Charles Napier and Luciano Pignozzi put in fun performances.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Halloween: The Inside Story" (2010)
Cool made-for-TV documentary about the making of John Carpenter's classic slasher film, featuring lots of behind-the-scenes photos, film clips and interviews with the cast and crew that made it happen. Surprisingly in-depth and thorough considering its basic-cable origins.

"Puppet Master" (1989)
A group of psychics meet at an old hotel to mark the passing of one of their colleagues, where they learn that their deceased friend had been messing with the forces of life and death -- by studying the notes of an old French alchemist who once commanded an army of living puppets.
Aside from the charming and cool stop-motion FX, this cult classic from Charles Band's infamous Full Moon Pictures is cheap looking and suffers from a seriously weak script...but enough people rented this one to warrant nearly a dozen sequels over the next 20+ years so most of'em must have liked it a lot more than I did.

[claws]

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

Due to a company's financial problems a young executive is send to Switzerland to retrive a CEO who is resiting in a health spa/resort located in the alps. Upon arrival the young man is involved in an accident and becomes a patient himself at the idyllic but mysterious rehabilitation center. He soon learns about the building's violent past, and discovers disturbing secrets that put him in grave danger.

No doubt A Cure for Wellness is visually stunning, but the plot tends to dip into hot mess territory ever so often. Mixing psychological with traditional horror, and a dash of sci-fi, director Gore Verbinski certainly created something special with plenty of tastefully done icky stuff scenes. Far from great but good enough to watch. Rating: 3/5 (good)

[FatFreddysCat]

"Cliffhanger" (1993)
Sly Stallone is the leader of a mountain search & rescue team that battles with a gang of plane-crashed bank robbers way at the top of the Rockies.  Nothing here ranks very high on the believability scale but it's got a great cast (incl. John Lithgow as a truly slimy villain), impressive stunt work, and awesome scenery. Fun stuff. 

[FatFreddysCat]

"Jonah Hex" (2010)
Josh Brolin stars as DC Comics' scar-faced Old West gunslinger, bounty hunter, and all around tough guy, who has to stop a crazed former Confederate general turned terrorist (John Malkovich) from attacking Washington D.C. with a super weapon on the day of America's Centennial.
This entertainingly dumb shoot'em-up/blow'em up was subject to constant behind-the-scenes drama and interference during filming so what wound up on screen turned out to be a disjointed mess. It's not as bad as you've probably heard, but it's nowhere near as bad-ass as it could've, and should've been, either.

"Scream: The Inside Story" (2011)
Another Biography Channel horror-film documentary, this time telling the story of the 1996 hit which re-ignited Wes Craven's career and gave the horror genre a much needed jump start. As usual, there are lots of interviews and stories told by cast and crew members. Entertaining stuff if you're a fan of the series.