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Haeckel's Tale, a review by addicted2dvd

Haeckel's Tale
In a time when the laws of science battled the secrets of magic, medical student Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil) believes the power of life, death and resurrection lay in his arrogant hands. But on a journey to visit his gravely ill father, he finds shelter in the home of an older man and his seductive young wife (Leela Savasta) who cannot be fulfilled by mortal hungers. Somewhere in the darkness of a nearby necropolis, a defiant necromancer (Jon Polito of BARTON FINK, MILLER'S CROSSING) will now summon them all to an orgy of the undead and unleash the ultimate depravity for those who do not heed the warning of HAECKEL'S TALE.

Directed by John McNaughton in association with horror legend George A. Romero, this startling mix of erotic desire and gut-ripping horror is adapted by series creator/executive producer Mick Garris from the short story by Clive Barker.

My Thoughts:
This is another episode I like a lot. Is a fun... yet interesting (if not somewhat sick) story. The effects and make-up are well done. And this one does have it's share of gore in it. As with all the season 1 episodes this release has good quality and a lot of extras to enjoy.

For those interested... here is the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uq3fGkvtBM

(From Masters of Horror Marathon on May 29th, 2008)

Scarecrow Slayer, a review by addicted2dvd

Scarecrow Slayer
When Dave and Karl steal the Scarecrow from Farmer Caleb, Dave is shot and his soul is given new life as the Scarecrow. One by one he dispatches anyone who stands between him and the object of his desire -- Mary, his former girlfriend. The Scarecrow kidnaps Mary, dragging her back to the field to resurrect her soul inside a Scarecrow body. Karl races to the rescue but is killed -- then resurrected as another Scarecrow! Now as the two Scarecrows battle, Mary must stop the creature determined to make her his bride!

My Thoughts:
This is one of the rare instances where the sequel is better then the original movie.  Not a whole lot better... but there is a definite improvement. For the most part the acting is better (except a character here and there).Storyline is a quite a bit better this time around. And I have to wonder if they realized that the Scarecrow was coming off as I put it... A Wannabe Freddy... as they did change his character up some... most notably the fact that he doesn't even talk at all this time around. Even with these improvements the movie still leaves some to be desired. But at least it does give me reason to consider getting the 3rd film in the series (Scarecrow Gone Wild) to what I believe would conclude the series. I also wanted to mention a big plus in this movie was they got one of my favorite genre actors to play Caleb... Tony Todd of Candyman fame.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVD Collection on April 20th, 2008)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Jadzia undergoes the zhian'tara, a Trill ritual where the memories of her former hosts are removed and transfered into another person so that she can learn where certain aspects of her come from and so that she can talk to the former host from face to face. Every of her friends is willing to be a host for one of Dax's former host with Kira being Lela, Dax's first host to Odo who gets the memories of the "old man", Curzon. But the merge of Curzon and Odo has an unexpected result.

My Opinion: Although the fact that all species basically look alike (head, two arms, two legs) has been explained once in TNG (The Chase) I still find it sometimes unbelievable how compatible everything in Star Trek is. It's rather the exception that something is not compatible, e.g. Betazoids cannot read the minds of Ferengi. And in this episode you can even join the memories of a Trill host with the mind (that is placed where exactly?) of a non-humanoid jelly being. Yes I know, I am nitpicking, but once again it's a Dax episode and once again it wasn't that interesting.

Synopsis: Sisko has just been promoted to Captain when there's trouble at the Tzenkethi border and the Defiant goes there to investigate. But suddenly they lose control over the ship and it cloaks and readies the weapons for an attack on a Tzenkethi settlement.

My Opinion: Life at DS9 must be really dull when it is possible that the entire command stuff of that station - including the chief of security - can simply depart for a few days. While Odo was needed for the story, it could have been arranged that Kira stays behind, she isn't even a Starfleet officer. But the plot that the changeling/Founder was scheming was really clever (from a Dominion's POV) and it was a nice hide-and-seek episode.

The Season - My Opinion: The show has definitively picked up speed and especially the three two-parters were interesting. The Defiant was a very good addition to the show in much the same way as the White Star was a very good addition to Babylon 5. The characters are not "trapped" on the station anymore or have to use the small runabouts. I also think that it was a good idea that it wasn't an exploration ship like the Enterprise because that would have ended in pretty much the same stories as TNG has shown us. Diversity is a good thing, trust me.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on November 1st, 2008)