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Darkman, a review by Jon

Darkman
3 out of 5

Peyton (Liam Neeson) is a scientist working on synthetic skin that only lasts 99 minutes in the light. His girlfriend (Frances McDormand) is uncovering corruption and so hired thug Durant (Larry Drake) blows up him and his lab. Horribly disfigured, without feeling and in a rage, Peyton plots his revenge.

A pure comic book movie from Sam Raimi and an obvious dry run for Spider-Man, but bears a huge resemblance to both Robocop and Batman (especially Danny Elfman's lazy overbearing score that never... shuts... up! )

It's an unusual cast really for this sort of thing which along with Raimi's trademark abstract direction makes for a surreal experience. So it should be much better than it is, but for poor dialogue and a story that plays safe by borrowing far too much. Apparently Raimi's creation, he obviously didn't trust himself. It gets much better in the end, after finally abandoning Robocop (hero dead and buried, except he's rebuilt and looking for his old life while picking off the gang) and Batman (duh), but it's so clearly what would become Spider-Man that even it's best bits are too familiar now. Hero swinging through city, albeit attached to a helicopter, leading to kidnapped girlfriend about to drop many hundreds of feet before he swings in and catches her...  Raimi obviously has a bit of a fetish about swings...

(From Jon's Random Reviews on January 28th, 2009)

Leopard Man, a review by Jon

LEOPARD MAN
4 out of 5

I've seen some reviewers dismiss this as another take on Cat People, but I think that is unfair. Ok, there are some base similarities, but Leopard Man abandons some of the complex morals in favour of a more regular random attack story. Not that it skimps on the emotional side I've come to respect from a Val Lewton production.

Also Cat People was supernatural and the story was mainly concerned with characters trying to find a more tangible explanation. Here, a tame leopard escapes and kills a girl. It is then blamed for more deaths, but some insist it is a human murderer. We the audience are perhaps the only ones considering a cross between the two, maybe because we just watched Cat People(!), but it is definitely inferred anyway.

It's possibly the most genuinely scary film of the set so far, because it shares Cat People's use of shadow and suggestion, but also adds a huge amount of build-up for the victims. Despite the short running time it shares with the other films (just over an hour!), much effort is made to draw you into their lives so it's all the more nerve-shredding when they finally face the terror. The blood running under a locked door as a family desperately try to get it open is very memorable (that it was locked in a petty squabble just adds to the moral tension that Lewton does so well). These are Hitchcockian levels of detail and audience manipulation, working with the barest of tools. If only Val and Al could have met! Actually, no, they'd have probably worn each other out. I should wish instead that filmmakers of today would watch films like theirs and actually understand how to construct a proper, scary, character driven slasher instead of trotting out another cheerleader or three.

Not that I have the slightest thing against cheerleaders, trotting or otherwise.

(From Val Lewton Horror Marathon on October 4th, 2008)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek: The Next Generation
5.09 A Matter of Time
Writer: Rick Berman (Writer)
Director: Paul Lynch
Cast: Patrick Stewart (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. William Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Stefan Gierasch (Dr. Moseley), Matt Frewer (Rasmussen), Sheila Franklin (Ensign), Shay Garner (Scientist)

A man claiming to be an historian from the future arrives to witness the current mission of the Enterprise. An entertaining episode. Especially the scenes where this man is interacting with the crew.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on October 31st, 2011)