DVD Collectors Online

Collinsville, a review by addicted2dvd

Collinsville
The terrifying account of an actual Connecticut town where nearly fifty people are slaughtered in a two day killing spree. Who was the killer? Was it a homeless drifter? Or was it Kane Barker, the ruthless axe factory owner who died one hundred years before?

My Thoughts:
This is a (very) low budget horror movie that I got (extremely) cheap. It came in a set of 4 horror movies (Collinsville, Collinsville 2, Hell Asylum & Witchouse 3) Called Haunted by the Past that I got for only $5.99... that is approximately $1.50 per movie. As I said this movie is very low budget... no one in this movie you would recognize. The first thing I noticed is that for a low budget movie... yes it did have a low budget feel to it... but the quality of the actual filming was pretty good. Also the actors... even though unknown was not terrible. I found myself being able to enjoy the movie. Then the weirdness happened. First I notice that the story itself if very short... talking under an hour short. But to gain time... they made a round table conversation with the cast and crew documentary attached to the end... actually as part of the movie. A documentary that seemed serious... at least till the end.. which makes me question how serious was the documentary to start with? See in the documentary the actor that played the killer got into words with the director... and he ended up walking out on the discussion. Then tacked on the end of the documentary it showed a clip of the actor coming back to return a hat from the movie... and them getting into it again... this time with it getting physical... and the actor hitting the director... then asking if he was alright... about to call 911 but stops... then takes off. That is when you see a notice of this movie in the memory of the director. Implying that the director died do to the altercation. Which of course is all bull as this director has worked since this movie.

So like I said... the movie portion was good... the round-table discussion was fairly interesting till the argument begain... the ending was a complete joke. So I personally choose to look at this as an enjoyable... but very short movie. and can see myself watching the actual movie again... but will always stop it when it gets to the point of the documentary... even though it is made to be part of the movie. Now I sit here wondering if part 2 will at least be enjoyable. So I think I just may go ahead and watch it next.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 2/8-2/10 on February 8th, 2008)

Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning
Movie Count: 94
TV Ep Count: 45
Other  Count: 2
Time Started: 5:15pm
Plot:
Jason is back, hockey mask and all. And he's up to his old maniacal tricks in 'Friday The 13th Part V - A New Beginning'. This time he seems to have set his sights on the young patients at a secluded halfway house. And more than a few of his teen targets end up in half, in quarters... you name it, Jason does it.

My Thoughts:
This one I liked... but not as much as some of the others. Some of the characters are enjoyable... but others I just couldn't get myself to care about. I did like the younger boy, Reggie and his grandfather. I also didn't care for the twist at the end of this one. But it is still enjoyable for what it is... and glad I have it in my collection.



(From My Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2008 on October 29th, 2008)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

5.01 Buffy Vs. Dracula
Writer: Marti Noxon (Writer)
Director: David Solomon
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn), Emma Caulfield (Anya Jenkins), James Marsters (Spike), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Rudolf Martin (Dracula), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), Amber Benson (Tara), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), E. J. Gage (Mover #1), Scott Berman (Mover #2), Marita Schaub (Vampire Girl #1), Leslee Jean Matta (Vampire Girl #2), Jennifer Slimko (Vampire Girl #3)

I never really liked this episode. I don't like the way Dracula is portrayed. He is similar in character to Byron from Babylon 5, who I also don't like. Also I think Dracula as a real figure doesn't fit into Buffyverse. He doesn't even look like other vampires in the series.

Rating:



5.02 Real Me
Writer: David Fury (Writer)
Director: David Grossman
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn), Emma Caulfield (Anya Jenkins), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), James Marsters (Spike), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), Bob Morrisey (Homeless Man), Amber Benson (Tara), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Brian Turk (Mort), Chaney Kley Minnis (Brad), Faith S. Abrahams (Peaches), Tom Lenk (Cyrus)

This is a great introduction for Dawn. I never had a problem with her as an addition to the series. I like the way they introduced her. And also Harmony is a riot.

Rating:



5.03 The Replacement
Writer: Jane Espenson (Writer)
Director: James A. Contner
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn), Emma Caulfield (Anya Jenkins), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), James Marsters (Spike), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Michael Bailey Smith (Toth), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Kelly Donovan (Xander Double), Cathy Cohen (Building Manager), David Reivers (Foreman), Fritz Greve (Construction Worker)

I enjoyed this episode. Even though the premise is nothing new, it is fun to watch two different Xanders. And we aren't even bothered with bad split-screen effect, because Nicholas Brendon's twin brother doubled for the second Xander.

Rating:



5.04 Out Of My Mind
Writer: Rebecca Rand Kirshner (Writer)
Director: David Grossman
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn), Emma Caulfield (Anya Jenkins), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), James Marsters (Spike), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), Bailey Chase (Graham Miller), Charlie Weber (Ben), Time Winters (Dr. Overheiser), Amber Benson (Tara), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Dierdre Holder (Hospital Doctor)

Nothing special. At least this episode is preparing the departure of Riley from this series. He is a character I never really liked.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on May 22nd, 2010)