Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

THE DOLL FACTORY - Ultra-low budget Amazon Prime movie, featuring a bunch of teenagers who decide to read some incantations from a book of witchcraft in an abandoned factory and bring a bunch of murderous dolls back to life.  Stupid, bad effects, racial stereotypes, pretty much bad everything. 2/5

AGE OF SUMMER -  A surprisingly good coming-of-age flick about a kid from up north who moves to California and tries to become a junior lifeguard, juggling friendship, a stolen bike, and an unrequited crush on one of his fellow lifeguards.  This was better than I thought it would be. 4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"KISS: Beyond the Makeup" (2001)
...this VH1 documentary traces Kiss' history from their humble New York beginnings, through the '70s rise and fall, the '80s resurrection and the '90s reunion, up to the then-current "Farewell Tour" (which of course ended up being only a "Farewell" to the reunited original lineup!).
I'm pretty sure I saw this when it first aired years ago, and even though it's obviously quite out of date now, it was still a cool trip down memory lane, loaded with vintage performance clips and interviews.

[lester1/2jr]

the OA season two - a little more conventional and a lot more complicated than the first season. Now, the action is in two different dimensions, as the OA, reemerging as a Russian heiress, attempts to stop the evil HAP from doing whatever he's doing. The group of kids from the first season try to make sense of it all without the help of their ostensible leader and a new character is introduced: a detective investigating a mysterious house around which all the plots come together. like I said, its kind of complicated.

Netflix apparently didn't promote the show very much and it was cancelled after this. Too bad, I was riveted and could certainly have watched another season if not many more

5/5 in memoriam

[indianasmith]

AXE GIANT (2013) - A group of juvenile delinquents are sent to a boot camp style reform course in the mountains, and one of them defiles the grave of a giant ox, bringing a wrathful Paul Bunyan rampaging down on them with his huge axe.  I'll be honest; this was better than I thought it was going to be - cheesy gore effects, unlikable teenagers, a whacked-out Joe Estevez, and a cameo by Dan Haggerty (AKA Grizzly Adams).  Totally worth the hour and a half it took to watch it! 2/5 on a real movie scale, a solid 4/5 on the bad movie scale!

[Dr. Whom]

READY OR NOT (2019)

This has been on my watch list since I first saw the trailer, and then when I saw that Indy recommended it, I sought it out. This is an absolute hoot. An unsuspecting bride is falls victim to an ancient tradition, where she has to be sacrificed before dawn to avert the family curse. There is not a lot of mystery (we know the set up before the credits roll) and it is mainly played for suspense. One of the aspects I liked is that the family are not your standard Evil Cultists/Conspirators. They are often as baffled by the situation as the bride, all they know is they have to kill her to save themselves. It does get quite bloody at times

[FatFreddysCat]

"Warlock: The Armageddon" (1993)
Julian Sands is back for another round as Satan's son, trying to bring about the end of the world (again) by collecting six sacred stones that will open a portal to Hell. Fortunately there's a pair of powerful teenagers standing in his way, who've been trained by Druids for just such an occasion.
The first "Warlock" flick had a cast of decent actors but mostly-terrible effects; this time it's the other way around. "Armageddon" is faster-paced and much gorier than the first movie, but the performances are mostly atrocious (even Sands seems to be phoning it in). The few attempts at early 90s CGI are laughable as well. Still, if you liked the first "Warlock" you'll probably dig this one.
As an added metal-nerd bonus, the end credits theme song is "Something Wicked" by Nuclear Assault!

[indianasmith]

DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974)  So I discovered this channel on Amazon Prime called POPCORN FODDER, in which the host (who would be a good fit here, BTW) plays classic bad movies and comments on them.  I'd never heard of this one, but it's a hilarious 70's horror featuring a pre-teen Lief Garret as the leader of a pack of homicidal children who survive a wreck (the van was taking them to a mental hospital) and come to a mountain lodge, where they kill the group of unsuspecting adults residing there.  It's a cheesy delight, and the host's commentary makes it all the more fun! 4/5

[lester1/2jr]

The Invitation (2015) - LA weirdos invite people over to try and make them join their cult... or are they just annoying? Why the normal seeming main guy knew all these people or goes along with it doesn't make tons of sense, but whole situation is sordidly great 5/5 the bald guy is terrifying

[chefzombie]

indy, is that a free channel on prime?

[indianasmith]

indy, is that a free channel on prime?

The first season is free.

[claws]

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

Two stepsisters and two friends explore an underwater temple/cave/maze in Mexico. Soon they are trapped and must face hungry blind (!) sharks.
Dumb sequel with cliche dialogue and bland/annoying actors. They threw in a bit of teen-bullying that goes nowhere, and added mild tension between the stepsisters (one is hot, the other is not) to spice things up I guess. I was surprised they recreated the best fright bits from the first film. It just shows how lazy this sequel is. Also, nobody  has a cell phone and the soundtrack consists of 1990s songs which seems well, odd. The shark design is actually creepy and the f/x are good. During the final half they managed a few well staged thrilling action scenes, and the tacky never ending ending is so over the top ridiculous that it's almost good. 2/5

[chefzombie]

had my mind seriously blown last night, by a silent movie starring mary pickford called " poor little rich girl".  it's based on my all time childhood fave book of the same name, and it is BRILLIANT!
  it compresses the story down to the essentials, and the effects were excellent, considering the era! i can't believe i never knew this existed, as much as i love the book.
    watching it felt like reliving the dream i had after reading the book at age 8, and it felt like a good omen too. i don't quite know how to express that...it gave me hope, somehow.

[FatFreddysCat]

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969)

James Bond (played for the first and only time by previously-unknown Aussie George Lazenby) romances a Countess and foils SPECTRE's latest germ-warfare plot in the snowy Swiss Alps.
Bond fans have been split on this movie for years. Some think it's the best film in the series, while others dismiss it altogether, due to Lazenby's lack of acting experience/ability. I think it's a bit overlong and drags in the midsection, but the last 40 minutes are just one cool action sequence after another.  
Lazenby (a former male model) may not have been much of an actor at this time, but but he definitely showed some promise in "OHMSS" -- if he hadn't followed the terrible advice of his manager (who said that Bond was a Sixties fad and the character would be "passe" in the '70s) and done at least one more 007 film, movie history might have been quite different.

I've always found George's story fascinating - he was a nobody who essentially walked in off the street, bulls**tted his way into the most coveted movie role in the world, and then went "OK, I'm done" after only one film. Even if you think he was crazy or stupid (or both) you gotta admit he had steel cojones!

[Dr. Whom]

Tales from Earthsea (2006)

This. is. SLOW. This is the movie by Miyazaki Jr. and where Hayao Miyazaki's movies are exciting and imaginative, Goro's is predictable and portentous.  The simple plot is cobbled together from Ursula K. Le Guin's Earth Sea stories, and can't sustain a two hour movie. Also, while Hayao Miyazaki delights in world building, here you have a handful of characters and a few, largely empty settings. Only for Ghibli completionists.

[lester1/2jr]

chef zombie - I've never seen that one. when silent movies "work" it can be a really unique, enjoyable experience. I guess that can be said of any movie though!



It Comes at Night (2017) - suddenly apropos thriller about people living off the grid to avoid a corona virus like virus. The central thesis: that being super paranoid about germs and only hanging out with your family all the time isn't much fun, has largely been confirmed.

4/5