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Children of the Night, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Children of the Night
Movie Count: 85
TV Ep Count: 38
Other  Count: 2
Time Started: 7:15am
Plot:
Allburg is an idyllic small town, far removed from the crime of the big city. Safe, peaceful ... and in deadly danger. When a vampire is released from his long imprisonment in an underground crypt, the unsuspecting town becomes the target of his unearthly bloodlust. One by one, the entire population becomes either vampire or helpless victim. A teenage girl, a school teacher and a wino become an unlikely trio of vampire hunters as they struggle to destroy a monstrous danger more unspeakable than death in this truly terrifying tale of horror and suspense.

My Thoughts:
Felt in the mood for a vampire movie... but one I do not watch that often. As there is a small handful I tend to always watch. This one is a fairly low budget movie... that if I am not mistaken was direct to video. At least here in the US. This is not what I would call a great movie.... but I have certainly saw worse. Even though I do see obvious downfalls of this movie... it is definitely on the cheesy side... but for some reason I find myself enjoying this movie. There is a couple familiar names in this movie. First there is Karen Black who has done a lot of horror in her career. Then there is Peter DeLuise... who was on the TV Series 21 Jump Street.




(From My Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2008 on October 26th, 2008)

Roxie Hart, a review by Antares

Roxie Hart (1942) 75/100 - Lots of fun and surprises in this film. First, I didn't realize that this was directed by William A. Wellman, a director known more for his drama films. Also, I didn't know that this was the inspiration for the musical Chicago. Ginger Rogers, an actress I'm embarrassed to say I don't know or have seen many films by, is outstanding in the title role. At times, she kind of goes over the top a bit, but the character tends to lend itself to being flamboyant, so it works. Wellman does an adequate job with the material and the pacing, but I kind of wonder what this film would have been like if say Preston Sturges or Howard Hawks had directed it. I think it would probably be better remembered today, alongside the more famous screwball comedies of the era.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on September 25th, 2013)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: There's someone who can run faster than Clark! But unfortunately he is also a thief. Clark tracks him down in Metropolis but he won't listen to him. Then he steals a priceless page from a book from Lex, but Lex isn't someone you steal from and get away with it. Lex also know how to track down people but he does something stupid and Clark has to save both of them.

My Opinion: The Flash! Cool. I've known the Flash since the short-lived TV show The Flash with John Wesley Shipp. Back than I didn't know that he belonged to the DC universe nor that he was a member of the Justice League. He also happens to be one of the few people (but their number will increase) that has sepcial abilities that aren't derived from the meteor rocks. I really liked it that they referenced the different Flashs by giving him these fake driver's licenses.

Synopsis: Another stone is "calling out" for Clark and he finds it in the hands of Lionel Luthor who is just about to do a body-switch with his son. Due to Clark's interference he lands in Clark's and Clark in Lionel's. Lionel is free and he discovers the abilities of Clark's body. And Clark is dying because Lionel's body is dying unless they switch back.

My Opinion: This was a great episode. I liked the acting of Tom as well as that of John Glover.
But I also have to admit that I get a bit uneasy when it comes to these stones and their abilities. They've been lost for centuries, if not millennia, nobody has ever mentioned them before but suddenly they are reappearing. It wasn't even mentioned before that the symbols of the Kawatche cave have been found on other places on Earth, too.

Synopsis: Clark is still playing football and he is the quarterback now. But in one game he stumbles and hurts another player. The real problem is: Clark never stumbles except when he is in close proximity to Kryptonite. As it turns out, there's a strange bookie who can influence the game without leaving a trace.

My Opinion: Mmh, interesting. Yet another guy who can do "things" and wasn't infected by meteor rocks. While I can understand that they get tired of inventing the next meteor freak, not to explain how he got his powers isn't a good choice either. For me a fictional universe needs consistency. I have no problem in believing the weirdest things as long as it is consistent in itself. Up until now he have meteor freaks and Clark and other visitors from Krypton that have been on Earth. That might not explain how the cave walls can foretell the future, but they could invent a reasonable explanation. But now we suddenly have people that have powers for no obvious reasons and we have witches that were burned at the stake (I will continue this in the next episode review).

Synopsis: Lana has bought Countess Isobel's spellbook but when she opens it, Isobel snatches her body. After that she uses Chloe and Lois to get two of her fellow witches back from the dead. Isobel is also on the search for the three stones and her magic can hurt even Clark. She defeats him and learns from him that one of the stones is hidden in a secret chamber in the cave wall. But even without his powers Clark doesn't give up.

My Opinion: An out-of-character episode. That's always a thumbs up for me. The three looked really cool (especially Chloe if you ask me) and they played really well.
I still have a problem with that entire Isobel arc. I don't know how it fits in into the Superman mythology and I don't care. I don't like it. I consider Superman more fantasy than science fiction. But that doesn't mean that witchcraft and wizardry fit into this world. Everything that we've seen so far was either caused by a mutation (caused by meteor rocks) or vastly superior kryptonian technology. Where do spells and enchantments fit in?
No, I am not really happy with that particular storyline and probably never will be.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 1st, 2008)