Recent viewings

[JaseSF]

Watched the following three movies including on a DVD I purchased for $1 at a Dollar store. Was well worth the money although the picture quality isn't all that great as you might expect given the price.

Gung Ho! The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943): This movie is based upon true events surrounding the training and eventual attack mission upon the Japanese at Makin Island undertook by Carlson's Raiders during World War II, the first American offensive mission following the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

Aside from the expected wartime propaganda (including speeches) and unsettling hatred shown towards the Japanese (albeit understandable under the circumstances), this is a pretty rip-roaring war picture once it finally gets going. It does seem a little slow at first as we transition from recruiting to training to submarine transport before we finally see the soldiers land but all that background does help to build up a lot of the characters so that they become a little bit more than one-dimensional throwaway stereotypes. It really does help makes them seem like real people, who laugh and joke and love, and emphasizes the importance of the team effort in the war. I was ultimately surprised by the level of realistic violence and bloodshed depicted on screen given this came out in 1943 although it's obviously not up to realism they display nowadays. This also benefits from having a very capable cast of stars including the likes of Randolph Scott, Alan Curtis, Noah Beery Jr., J. Carrol Naish and Robert Mitchum. *** out of ***** stars

The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959): a down on his luck young man named George Fowler (Steve McQueen) hoping to score enough money to return to school in hopes of getting a better life ends up joining a gang of crooks plotting a bank robbery. However when his ex-girlfriend discovers what he's up to raising the ire of the gang, George finds all his plans beginning to unravel.

In many ways, this is a latter day Film Noir in that it features a young man led astray and whose one mistake lands him in a world of trouble he likely never thought quite possible. It does however lack the femme fatale so common in those movies as the girl in this film has only our hero's best interest at heart. The main villains of this piece is actually the leader of the gang, a man named Egan (Crahan Denton) and his squirrelly, weaselly follower Willie (James Dukas) who quickly takes a jealous disliking to newcomer George.

There's a lot of gripping drama and suspense in this one and some very intriguing characters. The homosexual undertext of the whole thing also is somewhat unsettling and gives this a feel quite unlike any other film from its era as does its almost documentary style look - where it feels kind of like we're following the characters around for a lot of the movie. The movie though is severely hampered by a bad and largely inappropriate score and background music that proves more annoying and distracting than anything else. This one could have been great, and I'd argue it is great at points, but the music really takes away from it quite a bit. *** out of ***** stars

The Master Touch (1972): an Italian/West German crime action thriller featuring a recently released from prison master thief - the cunning and suave Steve Wallace (Kirk Douglas) - who soon plots one more large score, along with the help of his reluctant wife Anna (Florinda Bolkan) and a former Circus Trapeze artist named Marco (Giuliano Gemma), that could either set them all up for life or land him right back in prison...or perhaps a bit of both??  

This one proved a pleasant surprise to me as I really wasn't expecting much. What I got instead was an intense crime drama loaded with lots of great action in between. The film isn't without flaws...one wonders why a few things seem to be established but not effectively used that much - such as Marco's trapeze skills, mobster Miller not being seen much beyond the beginning although his lead henchman does figure prominently into most of the best action sequences and finally why Steve doesn't figure things out sooner - of course one has to note that the version I saw on DVD was edited down from 112 minutes to 96 minutes. The best thing about this one though is its action sequences featuring Marco and the lead henchman fighting and then later engaged in a demolition derby style car chase! Douglas adds some star power too and pulls off the more dramatic conclusion in suitable fashion. ***1/2 out of ***** stars

[3mnkids]

12(2007)~ Twelve men must decide if a young man killed his adoptive father. A Russian remake of the film 12 Angry Men... I liked it but wish it had been a little shorter. At 2 hrs and 40  minutes long it was sometimes difficult to keep from fidgeting.   

The performances were very good and I liked the most of the characters.

[Jack]

The Surgeon (1995) - Some insane doctor is killing people at a hospital in order to extract some fluid from them, which he uses to heal his wounds.  But the main story is about a female doctor and a male intern having a romance.  This is a very confused movie.  It wants to be a serious horror movie, yet it's terribly cheesy in spots.  It can't decide if it wants to be horror or romance, and so the whole horror aspect keeps dragging to a stop so our medical folks can go on a date and give us some background on the killer.  The whole plot is done in a really weird way - at the beginning, we spend quite a bit of time thinking that Malcolm McDowell's character, who is apparently conducting unethical experiments, is going to be the antagonist.  But after a half hour, that's dropped completely (Why did they even put it in there?) and we get this insane dude - who the hell is he?  In another half an hour it will be explained.  The cops who come to the hospital to search for the killer are idiots, and the patients at the hospital are just screwy, annoying, and done in a completely unbelievable manner.  The main protagonist, the female doctor, is written to be extremely unlikable, but I have to give the actress (Isabel Glasser) credit for infusing her with at least a touch of niceness.  Oh, and the killer.  He looks like Fabio, and he crawls through the ventilation ducts, thus giving him full and undetectable access to all areas of the hospital.  I guess he can turn invisible too, as that's the only explanation for people not seeing him half the time   2/5.

[JaseSF]

Black Dynamite (2009): A super black stud of epic proportions named Black Dynamite (Michael Jai White), while searching for the killers behind his younger brother Jimmy's death, stumbles across a much larger conspiracy being perpetrated by "the man" against 'the brothers".

This takes the 1970s blaxploitation formula and amps everything up to the umpteenth degree. It's surprisingly both faithful to the spirit of the original 1970s style material and very funny in its parody of it although in some ways it also feels like a parody of superhero movies. Throughout its running time, this movie had me either laughing or just plain wondering just how over the top can one movie possibly get? Very in fact. The only thing that kind of disappointed was they didn't have a female badass lead equivalent to the level Pam Grier used to deliver in her glory days. That and well this sometimes seems more than a bit excessive in terms of its violence and cheesiness - that and the lack of any real emotion for anything our hero is too busy posing  - although I think that also a large part of what this parody is all about . I especially loved the cheesy and obviously fake-looking Special FX gore. ***1/2 out of *****

[Raffine]

DAY OF THE DEAD (2008) Marginally OK as another generic 'zombie movie' but (here we go) pales when compared with the original.

When I first saw Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD way back in the 80's I not a big fan of the original DAY OF THE DEAD (rather slow and introspective for me way back when) but I now have a greater appreciation for it, especially in its natural continuation of the 'zombie plague' from the first two films.

This remake didn't really even feel like a sequel to the relatively great DAWN remake, but more as more yet another re-imagining of the same ol' zombie theme.

And, most of it takes place at night! 

It was scads better than ZOMBIE TOWN, I'll give it that.  

[Jack]

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) - A young doctor (Shane Briant) is following in Frankenstein's footsteps, carrying out experiments involving dead bodies.  But he's arrested and sent to an insane asylum, and who should happen to be the doctor there?  Why, Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushng) himself of course!  The young doctor is thrilled to become his assistant.  At the asylum, one patient has a brilliant mind (he's just a bit prone to violence when provoked).  Another has hands which are capable of creating beautiful works of art.  And yet another, recently deceased, has an extraordinarily powerful body.  Ummm...ya see where this is going?  The monster isn't your typical creature, he looks like Bigfoot with a bad case of mange.  As usual with Hammer horror movies, I really liked this.  It's one of Cushing's best performances, and both doctors come off as very sympathetic, if completely immoral.  The plot isn't exactly exciting, or especially scary, but it focuses more on the tragedy of meddling with things us humans should leave alone.  As always with Hammer horror movies, the photography is full of lush colors, from the dank, crappy interiors of the asylum to the gorgeous green scenery just outside the barred windows.  The DVD from Paramount has very good picture quality, a touch grainy in spots but overall I was more than satisfied with it.  Sound was great as well - mono, but other than one woman's scream which was a touch too loud in comparison to everything else in the movie, it was clear and robust.  4/5.

[3mnkids]

Tell no one(Ne le dis à personne)~ Alex's wife was killed at the lake his family owned. 8 yrs later two more bodies show up and it looks like Alex might be involved. He starts getting emails from someone who looks like his dead wife. Was she killed and if so by who? Who is trying to frame him?

The performances are really good and its well written. It has lots of twist and turns that kept me guessing. My only complaint ,and its a minor one, is that the Alex and his wife supposedly grew up together and in flashbacks look the same age... He is at least 10-15 yrs older than her.    Anyway, its one of the best thrillers I've seen a while.

The book of Eli~I had no desire to watch this but the rest of the family did so I rented it and... I really liked it.    I love the way it looks, Denzel is great like always, and its nice to see Oldman in something other than batman.      Its a good popcorn movie.

[Raffine]

CORRUPTION (1968)

Tag-line: 'This is not a woman's picture! No women will be allowed in alone!'

When respected but stuffy surgeon Peter Cushing takes his vain fashion model fiance to a wild hippy party, he gets into a fist fight with a photographer taking suggestive photos of her (on a little stage in the living room, just like in FEMALE TROUBLE!). They knock over a huge floodlight on her head, resulting in her face being burned to resemble an over-cooked cheese pizza.

Cushing discovers a combination of gland secretions and laser will restore her lost beauty, but the result are only temporary. So, at the shrill urging of his now demented fiance, he dons his spiffiest ascot and goes on a killing spree, knocking off young beauties to get the much needed glands. Cushing finds he can save time by taking the ladies' heads rather than hanging around the crime scene performing delicate surgery.

Things get really complicated when their seaside love nest/killing field is invaded by a gang of maurading hippies! This all leads to one of the most outrageous and satisfying endings to just about any film around.

Great mod clothes, a ultra cool but completely inappropriate beatnik score, and some completely insane performances by Cushing and Co. make this a great find for fans of this kind of film. Reportedly a scene of Cushing rubbing blood over a headless prostitute's breast was cut. Too bad...

Most reviews call it a rip-off of  Les yeux sans visage but it's more like a remake of Bela Lugosi's THE CORPSE VANISHES. That is not a bad thing.

[indianasmith]

I watched INBRED REDNECK VAMPIRES this week.  Lots of blood, boobs, and bad Southern cliches dominated this low budget piece of dreck.  It seems that rednecks are just too dumb to be good vampires . . . they kept managing to kill themselves, accidentally, after they were turned.  Funny in places, but draggy in others.  Still worth a view, for the title alone.

[InformationGeek]

Coraline (2009): Ordered this one on demand and holy crap is it freaky.  It's a great kids film and great horror kids film as well.  Good voice acting by Dakota Fanning and Keith David.  Highly recommend this film, but it might scare the crap of the little ones.

[JaseSF]

Watched another $1 Store DVD from Dreamline. Every single one of these DVDs has a goofy video featuring Devon Scott Dicker singing his patriotic tune "One Nation" and you can't skip it either although I'm thankful after hearing it the umpteenth time  (not that he's terrible really, I've just heard it too much) you can hit the fast forward button through it. The quality on this DVD which showcases 3 classic Westerns was pretty much crap with the films looking like they were transferred from EP VHS tapes  . The first film (The Young Land) in particular looks terrible and even has patches in it where the picture jumps and fades out and goes to black and white just like in a badly worn EP video that needs constant tracking on your VCR. Ah what does one expect for a dollar I guess...

Anyways the three films included were:

The Young Land (1959): Set in the late 1880s, a young Californian town Sheriff named Jim Ellison (played by a very young Patrick Wayne) calls in help from a State Judge (Dan O'Herlihy) and Deputy Marshal Ben Stroud (Cliff Ketchum), who sounds an awful lot like Huckleberry Hound to me whenever he talks, in order to hold a trial for a white American man, one Hatfield Cairns (Dennis Hopper), accused of murdering a Mexican during an observed gun duel. With Mexicans having just been made legal American citizens at this point, this trial also acts as a kind of test of American justice for the Hispanic population

This Western was quite interesting to watch unfold and also quite unlike many movie Westerns I've seen before. In many ways, it reminded me much more of a TV drama before it finally returned to the standard Western showdown at the end. It really does pull the viewer in and leave you wondering just what the jury will decide and whether the town will explode into violence what with Hatfield's drinking buddies waiting in the wings and the Mexican Mercurios watching on, each side wanting a different outcome. Add to this mix a young unarmed Sheriff not even officially appointed as the town's main body of law and his girlfriend Elena de la Madrid (played by the utterly gorgeous Yvonne Craig) refusing to leave his side and well things definitely remain interesting. Strong character performances from O'Herlihy, Hopper, Ketchum and Ken Curtis as a fugitive turned deputy really help bring this to life. Surprisingly good little film if nothing particularly memorable. **1/2 out of *****

The Deadly Companions (1961): A former Yankee soldier nicknamed Yellowleg (Brian Keith) who has spent five years searching for and seeking revenge against a man who brutally assaulted him and scarred him for life gets sidetracked when he accidentally shoots a little boy. Feeling remorse, he's determined to escort the boy's mother Kit Tildon (Maureen O'Hara), during her funeral procession through dangerous Apache territory although she doesn't take too kindly to his offer of help. Also along for the journey are a pair of ruthless bandits, the womanizing Billy Keplinger (Steve Cochran) and the brutish Turk (Chill Wills) who Yellowleg befriended for reasons all his own along the way.

This Western directed by the one and only Sam Peckinpah certainly has its moments, some that are very evident of the director's style, others where it seems O'Hara might have been exerting her influence over the film. What really makes this interesting though is the characters in this story and why each one is driven to take the actions which they do and the ultimate consequences of them taking said actions which leads practically all of them into dangerous and deadly territory and each in their own unique fashion. Maureen O'Hara is quite stunningly beautiful yet surprisingly earthy as Kit, a woman who's been through the emotional wringer - being the primary victim of constant town gossip and working as a dancehall girl where she was forced to smile and be kind to many different men, even those who derided her behind her back. Now she's lost the only person she loved in the world - her son. She's determined to accomplish one more thing, to get her son back home and bury him next to his father and her husband even if it means her own certain death going through Apache territory. Keith's Yellowleg is consumed with his desire with revenge which ultimately leads him to accidentally taking the life of a young boy. Keplinger is consumed by his desire for Kit which definitely puts him on dangerous ground. Turk is so consumed with the idea of creating and leading his own army he's blinded to numerous other dangers all around him. This one grips and has you wondering how it'll all play out. Will Yellowleg get his revenge? Will Kit get her boy home to be with his father? Will the Apaches attack? Will Billy dare to make his move on Kit? Will Turk and/or Billy realize the truth about Yellowleg? This is a story about loss, guilt, hate, revenge, lust and obsession. It never lost my interest although honestly the ending didn't play out quite like I expected given who the director was (although I understand there was a lot of backlot politics going on behind the scenes with regards to this film). *** out of ***** stars

Zorro (1975): A bandit named Zorro (Alain Delon) appears on the scene and attempts to counteract the evil machinations of one Colonel Huerta (Stanley Baker) who practically runs a province despite the presence of other commanding bodies, people he has assassinated if he cannot control.

This movie is terrific fun. It has all the style and flair one expects from a Zorro film and Alain Delon's Zorro is as true to the character as any other version I've seen with our hero not only often besting the villains but also humiliating them in colorful and entertaining fashion. The lead villain played by Stanley Baker is also quite well done as Baker plays him very much as a dead serious would-be dictator who also happens to be excellent with a sword. There's lots of other great humor in this film too what with a dog even playing ally to Zorro in several scenes not to mention kids, monks and a deaf mute, all of whom seem smarter than most of Huerta's soldiers. There's a lot of clever stuff done by Zorro, clever tricks and stunts that quite surprised me in their effectiveness. If this film has a flaw, it's that theme song that plays constantly over and over. I'll grant you it's catchy a time or two and even made me laugh at some points but well "Here's To Being Free Lalalalala Zorro's Back Here's To Flying High Lalalalala Zorro's Back" gets kind of tiresome after the third or fourth time you hear it and certainly beyond that. Also I personally felt the long sword duel at the end went on a bit too long and the dog defeating numerous soldiers on horse was ludicrous although I have to admit to enjoying those scenes on some level. This version was actually edited down from the original over two hour version to a shortened almost 90 minute version. I really would like to see the original given just how entertaining this version was. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[3mnkids]

7 Days(Les 7 jours du talion)~ Dr. Bruno Hamel is a surgeon with a wife and an 8 yr old daughter. One day his daughter is raped and murdered. He kidnaps the murderer and his plan is to torture him for 7 days before killing him.  now Ive seen my fair share of "torture porn","gore porn" whatever you want to call it... Saw, hostel, martyrs..etc. Ive also seen my fair share of revenge films. Having said that, they did not prepare me for this. Compared to the movies listed above the gore is mild, the torture is mild, but somehow this was worse.


I almost shut it off at the ten minute mark when they find the little girl. Its shocking and I cant remember a movie where they show a small child in that kind of state..Its awful, really awful. I knew the SOB who did it would be getting his so I stuck it out. Towards the end of the movie the father isn't nearly as sympathetic as he was in the beginning. All in all its brutal, depressing, and disturbing. Not something I would recommend and never in a million years would I watch it again. Damn, I need to watch some happy movies for a change.

[Doggett]

Transporter 3 (2008)
Jason Stathem has to transport a woman and if he or she goes more tham 75 feet away from the car - KABOOM !
Not as bonkers as the first two and the woman is very uncharasmatic.

2.75/5


Switchblade Romance/ High Tension (2003)
A woman is staying at her friends house (or something) and it gets attacked by a nutter ! Not as good as I was lead to belive, the gore is a little over the top so you can't take it seriously. With 'serious' horror, I find less is more. Still it moves at lightening speed which I liked.

3.5/5


Midnight Run (1988)
A bounty hunter has to go from New York to LA with an accountant who the mob, a rival bounty hunter, and FBI are also after.
I LOVED this ! Its great fun. Its an 80's buddy comedy and has some great gags, it very much like 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles', but better. And I LOVED that film !

4.5/5


They (2002)
A woman whos friend killed herself begins to see the same delusions he did...
Okay, this is rubbish. I read that the script was rewriten by ten producers, thats never a good sign. The acting is below par, way below par, that writing is awful. But...I did like the scares and as its a horror film I think that counts for something. I thought it had good sound design too. I liked that you never really knew what was in the darkness...
Bad, but not as bad as you might think.

2.75/5


Death Race (2008)
Jason Stathem gets framed for his wife's death and gets sent to prison to take part in Death Race - which is pretty much what you'd expect. Joan Allen is great as the head of the prison ! This film is 'Mad Max' cars crashing around and shooting at each other. Shallow, but fun.

3/5


Heart of midnight.
I've already spoken abouth this:
http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,130941.0.html
2.75/5

[Rev. Powell]

FRANKENWEENIE (1984): Young Victor decides to re-animate his dead dog, which then terrorizes his idyllic 50s neighborhood in this 30 minute B&W short from Tim Burton.   There are few surprises in this obvious Frankenstein spoof, except how surprisingly charming the whole thing is.  Cool to see Burton honor Paul Bartel with a small role.   3.5/5

MARY AND MAX (2009):  A lonely 8-year old girl in Australia picks a random address out of the phone book and begins a lifelong pen-pal relationship with Max, a middle-aged New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.  Funny and touching dual character study, done in a cute/grotesque claymation style.  4/5.

DEAD MEN WALK (1943):  A student of the black arts returns from the dead as an overenunciating vampire.  Dual roles from George Zucco can't save this impoverished Poverty Row DRACULA ripoff (Dwight Frye even plays a watered down version of Renfield).  More incompetence might have made this entertaining instead of dreadfully dull.  1.5/5. 

[Raffine]

DEAD MEN WALK (1943):  A student of the black arts returns from the dead as an overenunciating vampire.  Dual roles from George Zucco can't save this impoverished Poverty Row DRACULA ripoff (Dwight Frye even plays a watered down version of Renfield).  More incompetence might have made this entertaining instead of dreadfully dull.  1.5/5.

I think this rare poverty row excursion into true horror territory has some genuinely creepy moments, but you are right - in the end it's a real snoozer.

I recently tried a couple of times to rewatch this, but I'm 0-2 for staying awake past the first fifteen minutes.