Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Jim H]

Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker (aka Night Warning) - Lesser known shocker/thriller from the early 80s.  It's about the odd and overly protective relationship an aunt has with her nephew she has been taking care of for 14 years, and issues that arise as he is getting ready to become an adult.  Bo Svenson is in it as a cop who is a real pile of ****.  Point in fact, all the police in this film are worse than useless.  Susan Tyrell is great as the aunt.  Bill Paxton has a small, VERY early role (pre Terminator).  It's a bit slow in the middle, and feels a bit stodgy and TV-like (the director is best known for golden era TV like I Love Lucy and the Beach Party films), but the rather perverse material, memorable performances, and decent atmosphere still all work.  Totally worth a watch.

Oh, this is possibly the earliest (1981) horror film I've seen with a non-stereotyped unambiguously gay character who is positively depicted; really, he's the most likable adult in the entire film, decently written and performed too.  Just found that interesting.

[Rev. Powell]

THE MADS ARE BACK: A NIGHT OF SHORTS 9: Frank and Trace riff shorts, with a bit of a seasonal flair: "A Halloween Party," the bizarrely-conceived "The Dirt Witch," a salesmanship short, one about how to make a marionette (that creeps everyone out), and a fifties short about how kids can deal with their fears. The jokes are especially funny (and a little dark), and the post-show guest is Dana Gould, who is probably the funniest guest they ever have, so this is an above-average episode and worth the download. 3.5/5.

[Jim H]

The Forever Purge - Better than the last one, but that's not saying much.  Passably entertaining if you're bored, I guess.  Personal recommendation for the entire series, watch part 2 and skip every other entry.

[indianasmith]

FEAR PHARM (2020)

A group of college kids go to a cornfield maze, and one of them wins entry to the "VIP MAZE" reserved for the 10,000th customer each season.
Of course, as it turns out, the owners are sadistic killers who harvest certain customers each year for nefarious purposes.  Gory kills follow as the teens are pursued by killers in an interesting variety of costumes.  Not great, but a decently fun Halloween slasher. 3.5/5

[Dr. Whom]

Prey (2022)

In the oddly specific year 1719, a Comanche girl who want to be hunter, battles a Predator. That about sums it up, really, a simple but effective movie. I particularly liked that the director didn't go for the drawn out duel formula, which tends to need ever more far fetched twists and turns to keep up the the momentum. Instead, you have essentially a video game structure, where the protagonist faces a series of trials to gather the objects and the skills needed for the final boss fight. The final fight is quite compact and beautifully shot in moonlight with green fluorescent Predator blood. You also have gorgeous nature shots and a painstaking recreation of a Comanche village and trapper camp. Perhaps these are about as accurate as TV vikings are to real Norsemen, I wouldn't know, but it looks cool.

You can fault this film for being too simple or too much on the nose, but it only sets out to entertain and for me, it succeeds 100%. Just to thing to take you mind off the complications of life.

As for the French in it. It feels like someone wrote the lines in English, translated them in French and then had American actors shout them in a curious accent. I may sound less strange to a Canadian, but I doubt it.

[Alex]

X.

A group set out to a farm in order to make a porno. The elderly owners of the farm take exception, mostly through jealousy and start killing off the cast and crew. As to be expected there is some T&A in this film, perhaps one T&A scene too many I would say. Not a bad film as slashers go though. I'll be looking out for the prequel and sequel.

[Rev. Powell]

MASKING THRESHOLD (2022): An experimental horror movie about a man performing experiments to find the source of the tinnitus which is driving him mad. Basically a 90-minute monologue illustrated with closeups of objects in a small room, you have to work a little to get into the uncinematic style---but the reward is a deep and ultimately horrific character study reminiscent of a creepy tale by Poe or Lovecraft. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

ZEROGRAD (1989): An engineer travels from Moscow to a tiny industrial town where he finds all the residents utterly bizarre, but is ordered to remain when he witnesses a suicide. This ambiguous, Kafkaesque Glasnost-era satire expresses anxiety about encroaching Westernization (symbolized by rock n' roll dancing), and simultaneously critiques the imperative to lie about history; a portrait of an unsure Russia at a crossroads, stuck in an untenable reality but afraid to move forward into the unknown. 3.5/5.

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

 Just watched Heavy Metal 2000,  AKA FAKK 2.

Was it a worthy sequel to Heavy Metal? No. I found the nusic forgettable and just a few hours later I don't really remember any. The story was a routine sci fantasy one,  with a lot of animated nudity,  violence and F bombs. Featuring an Amazonian sex goddess wearing a final outfit that barely kept it R rated. More effective by far than Taarna, but infinitely more forgettable.

The animation was competent,  with as much cgi as they could get away with throw in.

All in all it was a decent sci fantasy story and over the top action flick,  nothing great let alone legendary like Heavy Metal. I'd give it a maybe B- if I was in a good mood,  a C+ otherwise. I imagine a good number of guys have spanked to it.

[Rev. Powell]

DONKEY SKIN (1970): A fairy godmother advises a princess (radiant Catherine Deneuve) to dress in the skin of a magical donkey to avoid marrying her father (!) Jacques Demy adapts Perrault's crazy French fairy tale as a musical, treating the incestuous theme (which is only the first act) with a lighthearted humor that makes it appropriate for kids, and a spectacle (along with a killer cast including Jean Marais and Delphine Seyrig) that appeals to adults as well as young girls. 4.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

A fairy godmother advises a princess (radiant Catherine Deneuve) to dress in the skin of a magical donkey to avoid marrying her father

thats a good reason

The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson story (2004) - The most remarkable thing about this Lifetime (I'm guessing) product is how much the main guy looks like Scott Peterson. I can't believe after all the movies I tried to watch, I ended up settling on and getting involved in this one. I guess we never really know ourselves fully.

I think if it were made now, decades later,  it would be a lot more sordid. Amber Frey's role is understated and Peterson is far too sympathetic. The plot moves well enough, though. Decent time waster but this story could be told a lot more colorful/ stylishly

3.5 /5   

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: GIRLS TOWN: The movie stars Mel Torme as a juvenile delinquent (!), Paul Anka as a sissy teen idol, and features Mamie and her Van Dorens as stacked bad girl Silver. In Deep 13, the Mads debut the Umbillicus (a Season 6 gimmick that never took off). Underrated episode that's funny as hell (lots of jokes about Van Doren's, uh, talents). 3.5/5.

[Jim H]

Twice Dead - lesser known Corman horror film, kind of combines home invasion thriller and gothic horror ghost stories.  It's not great, but has some reasonably fun bits.  Multiple recognizable cast members too - Jill Whitlow from Night of the Creeps and Raymond Cruz from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul (plays Tuco) for instance.  It's such an odd hybrid that it's worth a look for that reason.  Pacing flags a bit in the middle, but the last half is worth it.  Does feel like the script could have done with a second draft though - in particular, the house ghost's motivation is weird in a way that feels half-baked.  But enjoyable enough, and free on Tubi.

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

Babylon 5 lost tales. 2007

Originally intended to be an anthology series set in the B5 universe, JMS only got one film done before the project was canned. As such it made a beautiful low budget love letter to the show's fans, and had a touching intro sequence that sure worked on me.

[Jim H]

Dracula Untold - aborted start to a new movie universe.  It's as bad as that makes it sound.  Probably the biggest thing I'll give it credit for is brisk pacing and some pretty effective CG gothic horror elements, about as good as you can get on a PG13 rating.