DVD Collectors Online

Dark Water, a review by Danae Cassandra

Dark Water (Honogurai mizu no soko kara)
Year of Release: 2002
Directed By: Hideo Nakata
Starring: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa, Fumiya Kohinata
Genre: Horror

Overview:My Thoughts:
This was a really well-crafted film. Everything works together so well. We find our story centers around an increasingly desperate and unsettled mother, who fears the loss of the only thing that gives her life meaning - her young daughter. Hitomi Kuroki plays her beautifully, showing the deep love she has for her child and the lengths she is willing to go to for her. Rio Kanno, the little girl who plays her daughter, is also really great.

The film also has great atmosphere. Yoshimi works hard to make the apartment a home for them, but the oppression of the building and the menace of it will not be denied. So many details contribute to this - lighting, cinematography, sound - everything comes together so well to create this palpable aura. This is the same director as Ringu, which I watched earlier in the month. That is by far the more famous film, but I think this one is better.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Pass

Overall: 4/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 30/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 19th, 2016)

Alvin and the Chipmunks meet the Wolfman, a review by addicted2comics

The Plot:

Alvin is struggling with nightmares of werewolves. Alvin believes that the new next-door neighbor Mr. Talbot is a werewolf. Of course, no one believes him. Meanwhile, the boys are working on the school production of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. When Alvin blows up the school auditorium, he is expelled from the production. Theodore is put in to rise his lack of confidence. Alvin and Simon are trying to discover the secret of Mr. Talbot. Will the play go as planned or will the Chipmunks mess it up?! And is Mr. Talbot a werewolf?

My Thoughts:

Wow, this brings back memories. I watched this every Halloween on Cartoon Network (before the channel went lame) and recorded iot on VHS, a tape I no longer had till dad picked up the double-feature DVD for me! I just have to say, dear old dad didn't like it as much, what with the mjusic, but, c'mon!! The music was rockin!!! 



Still, I wish they focused more on Lawrence Talbot, and not Theodore, but it still a fun family, comedic horror cartoon!!



(From Addicted2comics(:P)'s Official Review Thread!!! on October 9th, 2010)

Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season, a review by addicted2dvd

Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season (2007/United States) There are two CLARK KENTs. One is the young man whose life in a tiny Kansas town sets him on destiny's path. The other is a BIZARRO show shares Clark's DNA but not his values. Only one of them can survive. SUPERMAN mythology grows deeper and more powerful in an event-packed season that includes the arrival of Clark's cousin KARA/SUPERGIRL. Keep a low profile and master your powers, Clark says. Kara has other ideas. Plus: LANA LANG might prefer Bizarro to the real deal. LOIS LANE makes a career leap. CHLOE SULLIVAN finds that balancing a meteor power with a personal life isn't easy. And LEX LUTHOR's power-lust has a new fixation - Kara. New characters and complications. New secrets and lore. New thrills and special effects. Power up to Season 7! Episodes: 1. Bizarro 2. Kara 3. Fierce 4. Cure 5. Action 6. Lara 7. Wrath 8. Blue 9. Gemini 10. Persona 11. Siren 12. Fracture 13. Hero 14. Traveler 15. Veritas 16. Descent 17. Sleeper 18. Apocalypse 19. Quest 20. Arctic

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Stars:
Tom Welling as Clark Kent
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen
Laura Vandervoort as Kara
John Glover as Lionel Luthor

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes

While I still enjoyed this season very much over-all... it has my least favorite storyline of the entire series. That being the Veritas storyline. The episodes dealing with Veritas just didn't hold my interest as much as any of the other episodes. This season does introduce Kara/Supergirl. As for guest stars I am familiar with for this season. There was Dean Cain who played Clark Kent/Superman himself in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  James Marsters returns in several episodes as Brainiac. This season we also see the long gone  Sam Jones III (Pete Ross) back for a single episode. Gina Holden (Blood Ties) shows up for a single episode as well.

The seventh season aired in 2007. Which is the year of the writer's strike. But we seemed to get lucky for this series... and didn't lose out on too many episodes this time. As this season still has 20 episodes. So I am thankful for that.




(From Addicted2dvd's Random TV Series Watched on August 30th, 2011)