Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

I Saw the Devil (2011) - twitter sized review - guy attempts very involved, extended revenge on wife's killer. What could go wrong? S Korean 4/5

The reason i didn't give this a 5/5 wasn't because of the plot or the acting they were great and it's a unique storyline but there were certain logical things I couldn't see past. For one, where were the police? and how did both guys seem to be practically psychic?

Beyond that though, this is an excellent if gory thriller highly rec'd if you like Silence of the Lambs and that sort of disturbing but super well done thing. It's 2 and a half hours long but it works at that length. The struggle between the two men recalls the saying "you can roll in the mud with a pig, but only one of you will enjoy it" and would apply to many political situations today, perhaps S koreas with their neighbor?'

4/5

[dean]

I Saw the Devil (2011) - twitter sized review - guy attempts very involved, extended revenge on wife's killer. What could go wrong? S Korean 4/5

The reason i didn't give this a 5/5 wasn't because of the plot or the acting they were great and it's a unique storyline but there were certain logical things I couldn't see past. For one, where were the police? and how did both guys seem to be practically psychic?

Beyond that though, this is an excellent if gory thriller highly rec'd if you like Silence of the Lambs and that sort of disturbing but super well done thing. It's 2 and a half hours long but it works at that length. The struggle between the two men recalls the saying "you can roll in the mud with a pig, but only one of you will enjoy it" and would apply to many political situations today, perhaps S koreas with their neighbor?'

4/5

I've been wanting to catch this one for a while but my partner isn't a fan of reading subtitles when a bit sleepy [usually when the thrillers get busted out it's late at night] The Silence of the Lambs comparison may make the difference in convincing her!

[javakoala]

Hellgate (1989)

Loopy movie that can't make up its mind if it wants to be a comedy or a horror flick. You sure can't tell from this trailer. Oh, and it stars Ron Palillo. RON Palillo? Yes, Ron PALILLO!!!!! Rating: 3/5
! No longer available

Here's a quote of the sparkling dialogue:

Matt: [to Chuck] You know you're an a***ole?

[motions Chuck closer]

Matt: You really are.

[motions Chuck even closer]

Matt: I mean it.

[both laugh]

Hey, Trevor! You have a copy of this stored where you work? It was apparently shot in South Africa, or, at least, parts of it were. I was wondering if the run time is different from the copy I watched. It was 91 minutes.

[indianasmith]

Last night I watched THE LEGEND OF WASCO.
A returning veteran moves in with his sister and her fiancée, who dresses as a clown to advertise a local car wash.
The vet, Byron, tells him about a local legend involving a killer clown named Wasco who, along with two other circus clowns,
raped and murdered the mayor's daughter a century before, and then were dispatched by angry vigilantes led by the local sheriff.
Byron fixes his brother-in-law's clown makeup to look like Wasco's, then goes out at night and takes a bunch of pictures, which go viral when posted on the internet.
Somehow, all this attention bring the real Wasco and his two companions back from the dead, and they go on a killing spree.
This one was dumb but entertaining. My favorite part is when the Knowledgeable Old Lady brings them a knife "forged in hell" that is supposedly the only weapon that can kill the undead clowns.  It's a flint blade.  You don't forge flint - you chip it or knap it!  I know that's kind of a technical thing, but I still laughed every time they pulled the stupid knife out.  3.5/5

[javakoala]

Last night I watched THE LEGEND OF WASCO.
A returning veteran moves in with his sister and her fiancée, who dresses as a clown to advertise a local car wash.
The vet, Byron, tells him about a local legend involving a killer clown named Wasco who, along with two other circus clowns,
raped and murdered the mayor's daughter a century before, and then were dispatched by angry vigilantes led by the local sheriff.
Byron fixes his brother-in-law's clown makeup to look like Wasco's, then goes out at night and takes a bunch of pictures, which go viral when posted on the internet.
Somehow, all this attention bring the real Wasco and his two companions back from the dead, and they go on a killing spree.
This one was dumb but entertaining. My favorite part is when the Knowledgeable Old Lady brings them a knife "forged in hell" that is supposedly the only weapon that can kill the undead clowns.  It's a flint blade.  You don't forge flint - you chip it or knap it!  I know that's kind of a technical thing, but I still laughed every time they pulled the stupid knife out.  3.5/5

But...but "knapped in Hell" doesn't have the same ring.

[lester1/2jr]

Run, b***h, Run (2009) - The lead actress is pretty and charismatic and the stuttering sidekick guy is a decent actor. They should "run" away from this mediocre student film with a hard on for grindhouse movies (or more likely the Tarantino movies inspired by them) but not enough of the energy, efficient editing,  cool music, etc of those films.

Things start off well when we meet two cute Catholic schoolgirls who are selling bibles door to door in a small backwards seeming town. They then have a run in with some rather nasty people and 70's style rape and murder ensue. Thats the first half hour. While the writing reminded me of the juvenile, cliched crap I had to listen to in my creative writing class in college, they at least go for the jugular with it. for a while anyway.  Unfortunately, it can't keep up the pace despite some relatively frequent nudity (for 2015, for 70's it would be pretty standard). It moves okay and is passably entertaining but there isn't anything all that interesting going on. The characters are all one note, there's very little tension, action, or interesting camerawork and the music is all very perfunctory.

There's indications the director has some sort of talent and the brazen title, nudity, and throwback concept show they aren't going to sugarcoat anything, but this doesn't have much movie magic, b movie or otherwise. It is watchable though. I watched it. and the ending was at least satisfying

2.5 /5

[Rev. Powell]

RAMPO NOIR (2005): Four experimental stories of sex and madness adapted from the works of Edogawa Rampo (nicknamed "the Japanese Edgar Allen Poe"). Each director treats the project as a calling card, and the spirit of Rampo gets subsumed into their (impressive) visual and stylistic displays. Unusually for this type of anthology, the best segment is the last one (the schizoid "Crawling Bugs"); the "Caterpillar" segment (about a human torso war casualty and his wife) is interesting (though it only treats Rampo's text as a suggested starting point) but was done better in Kôji Wakamatsu's 2010 feature film CATERPILLAR. 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Thor: The Dark World" (2013)
http://youtu.be/npvJ9FTgZbM
Thor tangles with an ancient baddie who wants to capitalize on an upcoming planetary alignment to destroy the universe. In other words... just another day at the office for the God of Thunder. Natalie Portman, Kat Denning and a half-naked Stellan Skarsgaard are the Earthlings caught in the middle as the usual zapping, blasting, and massive property damage ensues.
This was the only entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I hadn't seen, so now I'm all caught up. Better late than never.

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: RADAR SECRET SERVICE: The Mads introduce a concept known as "Hypno Helio Static Stasis" to describe the effect of this gray, dull, boring movie on Mike and the bots. After a hilarious short about families maimed and ripped apart by automobile accidents, the main feature is about an investigative agency built around radar (which the filmmakers think is something akin to magic) and their attempts to stop a shipment of "atomic material" from a gang of incompetent thieves. Not one of the most memorable episodes (though the short is good). 3/5.

[claws]

Scalpel (1977)

Left out of his dead father-in-law's last will, a surgeon with mental problems - who killed his wife and his daughter's boyfriend and made it look like accidents - is rather bummed after learning that his missing daughter is the sole heir of $5m. Opportunity knocks when the surgeon picks up a stripper who just had her face smashed in by an angry customer. He performs Facial Reconstructive Surgery and creates a splitting image of his lost daughter. The stripper plays along in pretending she's the missing daughter in order to get the money. Soon enough the surgeon starts a sexual relationship with the stripper who looks like his daughter, and things get far more complicated when his real daughter returns home to collect her fortune.

Melodrama / Thriller with an above average script, campy performances, creepy and sleazy plot twists and low budget production values. Director John Grissmer only made two features, Scalpel and the ridiculously over-the-top slasher Blood Rage (1983) which also had a weird "twins" theme. Rating: 4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Breeders' (aka "Deadly Instinct," 1997)
http://youtu.be/G0V6sup4jCk

This loose remake of the notorious 1986 no-budgeter about a rapey space alien transports the action from a New York hospital to an all girls' college campus. The result is kinda like a combo of "Alien" and "C.H.U.D." with extra goop and cleavage. 
For some reason, even though this was a British production, it takes place in Boston, so there's a few unintentional laughs as the mostly-Brit cast tries to hide their accents and sound American. It's got higher production values and a cooler looking monster than the '86 original but it's still a long way from "good."

[Rev. Powell]

LOVE ME IF YOU DARE (2003): A boy and girl carry on their childhood game of dares into adulthood, when the game escalates into life-wrecking catastrophes. This almost drowns in Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Michel Gondry-styled French creampuff whimsy, but a very dark second act saves it. 3.5/5.

[Gene Worm]

I've been watching a bunch of good films recently, but I have seen some amazingly bad ones too! I think I'll go ahead and talk about those.

The Valley of Gwangi: Clean and fake cowboys try to capture purple dinosaurs in a forbidden valley and send them into a circus for profit. However, the creepy desert gypsies (yes, desert gypsies) release "Gwangi", a purple T-Rex-like thing. The sound effects were particularly terrible. Who knew that elephants and burning dinosaurs both make a horrible screeching sound?

4.7/5: Could have been better without the awful sound effects. What monster could rate a movie where clean cowboys fight desert gypsies and kidnap purple dinosaurs anywhere below 4?

The Giant Behemoth: London is attacked by a radioactive paleosaurus that can't decide if it wants to be stop-motion clay or a bath toy. I saw it a while ago, and I finally got to see it again!

5/5: A good, classic monster movie. There isn't really much else to say about it.

The Hideous Sun Demon: With a title like that, I expected to see an awesome movie... but the truth is... I found it horrifically boring. Basically, a man gets turned into a monster by the sun but he is fine and normal with the moon out (like a reverse werewolf). Boring love story between the said man and a woman who is described on the back of the DVD box as a "Sizzling blonde babe with gravity-defying assets" ( ). The monster kills a few people, and a dog, but he gets shot and thrown off a building by a police officer.

2/5: Horrifically boring. At least the parts with Gil turned into a Sun Demon were exciting.

The Black Scorpion: Saw the MST3K version a long while ago, and getting to see the original was awesome! Giant scorpions and even their larvae, which are... bizarre looking. Can't say I didn't love it!

5/5: Awesome monster movie! Especially the larva, and who doesn't love giant scorpions? I mean, come on!

[lester1/2jr]

Clean and fake cowboys try to capture purple dinosaurs in a forbidden valley

story of my life

[JaseSF]

I've been watching a bunch of good films recently, but I have seen some amazingly bad ones too! I think I'll go ahead and talk about those.

The Valley of Gwangi: Clean and fake cowboys try to capture purple dinosaurs in a forbidden valley and send them into a circus for profit. However, the creepy desert gypsies (yes, desert gypsies) release "Gwangi", a purple T-Rex-like thing. The sound effects were particularly terrible. Who knew that elephants and burning dinosaurs both make a horrible screeching sound?

The Giant Behemoth: London is attacked by a radioactive paleosaurus that can't decide if it wants to be stop-motion clay or a bath toy. I saw it a while ago, and I finally got to see it again!

The Hideous Sun Demon: With a title like that, I expected to see an awesome movie... but the truth is... I found it horrifically boring. Basically, a man gets turned into a monster by the sun but he is fine and normal with the moon out (like a reverse werewolf). Boring love story between the said man and a woman who is described on the back of the DVD box as a "Sizzling blonde babe with gravity-defying assets" ( ). The monster kills a few people, and a dog, but he gets shot and thrown off a building by a police officer.

The Black Scorpion: Saw the MST3K version a long while ago, and getting to see the original was awesome! Giant scorpions and even their larvae, which are... bizarre looking. Can't say I didn't love it!

Man, I love all these movies. To me, Gwangi is a pretty damn good movie. For the time and era, the special FX on most of these was actually pretty top notch for low budget films...