DVD Collectors Online

Phantom of the Opera (1943), a review by addicted2dvd

Phantom of the Opera (1943)
This spectacular retelling of Gaston Leroux's immortal horror tale stars Claude Rains as the masked phantom of the Paris opera house -- a crazed composer who schemes to make a beautiful young soprano (Susanna Foster) the star of the opera company and wreak revenge on those who stole his music. Nelson Eddy, the heroic baritone, tries to win the affections of Foster as he tracks down the disfigured "monster" who has begin murdering those who resist his mad demands. This lavish production remains a masterpiece not only of the genre, but for all time.

My Thoughts:
I am sure it is no surprise here... but I just could not get into this one. Way to much music for me to get past in this one. Not that I am surprised... that is why after having it in my collection for 4 years (in a classics boxset) I have never watched it till now. I was however... surprised to see something made in the early '40s to be in color. Of course I am not all that familiar with the classics so really have no idea when movies went color. But hey... at least I did make it through the whole movie.... though I was glad when it finally was over.

(From Classic Monster Movie Marathon on May 18th, 2008)

Hostel, a review by Hal

Title: Hostel: Director's Cut
Year: 2005
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: Unrated
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:
Jay Hernandez
Derek Richardson
Eythor Gudjonsson
Barbara Nedeljakova
Jan Vlasak

Plot:
College friends Paxton and Josh are lured by a fellow traveler to what's described as a nirvana for American backpackers - a particular hostel in an out-of-the-way Slovakian town stocked with Eastern European women as desperate as they are gorgeous. The two friends arrive and soon easily pair off with exotic beauties Natalya and Svetlana. In fact, too easily... Initially distracted by the good time they're having, the two Americans quickly find themselves trapped in an increasingly sinister situation that they will discover is as wide and as deep as the darkest, sickest recess of human nature itself - if they survive.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Multi-angle
Interviews

Well, this is the third movie I've watched today that includes an obsession with electric drills.  This movie starts out being your typical "buddy" movie with two guys traveling Europe in search of as much sex as they can find.  Then about half-way through, they "hook-up" with two girls who lure them in with a roll in the hay, but who have ulterior motives for their actions.

Some pretty gruesome scenes for the feint of heart, especially, with the young Asian girl.  It is a little hard to believe that the human body can endure some of the treatment depicted without the owner passing out, but what fun would it be to torture someone who's unconscious.  It would be like screwing a corpse.  Then again, I hear there are people who go for that sort of thing, too.

If this is a prime example of Tarantino's work, then I now know why I've avoided it thus far.

The acting was fairly decent and the cinematography and score were decent. Those are the only things that keep me from rating this lower.

Rating:

(From Hal's 2010 Horror Marathon Reviews on October 3rd, 2010)

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

Synopsis: Someone kills seemingly random Starfleet officers aboard DS9 and he or she uses an old-fashioned gun instead of an energy weapon. The killer seems to be shooting at point-blank range yet there are none of the expected powder burns on the body. Ezri uses an Trill ritual to call forth the memories of Joran Dax, the murderer. She hopes that his insight can help her catch the current killer.

My Opinion: Actually, this was an interesting episode. I liked it how Joran pushed her to solve the case but I also liked how she resisted him in the end. To use a Vulcan as killer was a surprising choice, but because of that it was a good one. It seemed logical () from a script POV not to use one of the usual suspects.

Synopsis: When O'Brien and Odo return from a mission their runabout is followed by some sort of space being. It enters the ship and turns out to be a shapeshifter. But it's not a Founder. He's one of the hundred like Odo that were sent into space to explore and experience. Odo tries to convince him to live on the station, but Laas is older than Odo and he's developed a certain dislike for "monoforms".

My Opinion: While I found the special effects and the idea that a shapeshifter could turn into fire or fog interesting, the rest of the episode was rather boring.

Synopsis: Vic's program contains a hidden Jack-in-the-box component which allows the gangster Frankie Eyes to overtake the hotel and turn it into a casino. Vic is thrown out. But the crew of DS9 can't simply reset and restart the program because that would mean that Vic would lose all his memories about them. They need to find an ingame solution and soon after the senior staff of DS9 is planning a robbery of a 1960s Las Vegas casino.

My Opinion: The last fun and also the last holodeck episode of the show. I enjoyed it very much. It's a bit like Ocean's Eleven (the original one, the one without all the computer stuff). And I liked the general idea that they were unwilling to reset the program and lose Vic as they know him. Basically Vic is to them what fictional characters are to us and I love my fictional characters the way they are.

Synopsis: Shortly before Bashir departs for a conference on Romulus he's contacted by Sloan from Section 31. Sloan gives him an additional job: To evaluate the health condition of certain members of the romulan Continuing Committee. Sisko and Admiral Ross order him to play along to find out what Section 31 is up to. But when it becomes clear that someone is about to kill the chairman of the romulan intelligence service Tal Shiar, Bashir reveals this information to the romulan liason officer, Senator Cretak.

My Opinion: "Inter arma enim silent leges." - "In times of war, the law falls silent." The theme of this episode was similar to the one in In the Pale Moonlight. What is allowed in times of war to win that war? Garak did the dirty work in the former episode and now Section 31 has done it. But this time it happened with the approval of a Starfleet admiral and not just a station captain. When does the price become to high to pay? What good are principles if you lose and become enslaved? But what good are principles if you only life by them when it's an easy choice?

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on March 1st, 2009)