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Summer of Fear, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Summer of Fear (AKA: Stranger in Our House)
Year: 1978
Director: Wes Craven
Rating: PG-13
Length: 98 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Linda Blair as Rachel Bryant
Lee Purcell as Julia
Jeremy Slate as Tom Bryant
Jeff McCracken as Mike Gallagher
Jeff East as Peter Bryant

Plot:
From famed horror master Wes Craven comes a chilling thriller starring acclaimed actress Linda Blair!

When Rachel's cousin Julia comes to live with the family at the farm, unsettling things begin to occur. Casting an alluring spell over everyone she meets, Julia slowly lures everyone away from Rachel. Terrifying instances of the occult begin to take place, forcing Rachel to fight for survival against what is revealed to be a horrifying demonic presence!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Production Notes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
After watching The Exorcist with Brittany the other day... I felt like watching another movie with Linda Blair. This is actually an old TV Movie. Yes I realize there is an MPAA rating above for this movie... but it is one of those rare occasions where a TV Movie put through the MPAA for an official rating at the time of it's DVD release. Another familiar face in this movie is Fran Drescher (The Nanny) who has a small part as Rachel's friend. This is actually one of the few movies I have dealing with witchcraft... at least compared to other horror sub-genres. Being a '70s TV movie there is of course no type of gore and most of the bad things that happens occur off screen. But it is a good story with characters you care about. I enjoyed this one quite a bit... I would recommend checking it out.




(From Movies of the '70s Marathon on March 21st, 2010)

The Boy, a review by addicted2dvd

The Boy (2016/United States, Canada) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Director: William Brent Bell Writing: Stacy Menear (Writer) Length: 98 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Lauren Cohan as Greta Evans
Rupert Evans (1977) as Malcolm
James Russell as Brahms Heelshire
Jim Norton (1968) as Mr. Heelshire
Diana Hardcastle as Mrs. Heelshire

Plot:
The Boy is a frightening thrill ride directed by William Bell (The Devil Inside) and starring Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead). Greta (Cohan) is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village. She soon discovers that the family's 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that they care for just like a real boy, as a way to cope with the death of their own 20 years prior. After violating a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring Greta's worst nightmare to life, leading her to believe that the doll is actually alive.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Digital Copy

This is the first time I watched this one. As a Walking Dead fan the first thing I noticed is that it stars Lauren Cohan (Maggie). Despite (or maybe even because of) the unexpected twist I rather enjoyed this one. This film went from one type of creepy atmosphere to an entirely different type. I would say it is definitely worth the time put in to watch it.



(From Horror / Halloween 2017 Challenge on October 3rd, 2017)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Lois Lane comes to Smallville to find out who killed her cousin but then she finds a guy in a field who doesn't know who he his. Jonathan Kent lies in a hospital bed and is brain-dead. Lana is still in Paris and has a new boyfriend. Lionel is still in jail, waiting for his trial. And Lex - who has survived the attempt to poison him - travels around the world to find objects that are connected to the symbols in the Kawatche cave.

My Opinion: Sorry, but that went a bit too fast. Within half an hour Kal-El was Clark again. I am sure that if the writers really wanted to, this could have been an arc that lasted at least 4 episodes, even more. Just because it was a cliffhanger doesn't mean it has to be resolved in the very first episode of the new season.
But I like the arrival of Lois, she is refreshingly blunt. And I liked the appearance of Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in the Superman movies), especially her remark regarding Dr. Swann and a "former life". She's now the third person from the movies to appear in the series (Annette O'Toole [Lana Lang in Superman III, now Martha Kent] was obviously the first).

Synopsis: After they've found out that Chloe's grave is empty, Clark and Lois investigate her disappearance, but there are several obstacles: For one, Lois's father is a three-star General who doesn't want his daughter digging into that mystery. Secondly, he is in league with Lex. And thirdly, there's a T-1000 meteor freak who works for Lionel and wants to kill Chloe for real this time. And Lana has returned to Smallville.

My Opinion: That was a really obvious Terminator 2 rip-off, especially with the end. But I still liked it, the scenes in the Kent house were really funny. Lois's great advantage is, that she has no history whatsoever with Clark. For her, he's simply "Smallville".

Synopsis: Clark is now in his senior year at high school and he's trying out for the football team against the wishes of his father (again). The new assistant coach is none other than Lana's new boyfriend. It's a relationship they must keep hidden because he could get fired for it. But there's something else that has changed: A student nicknamed "Scabby Abby" is now a real beauty but when she kisses people they get delusional and land in the hospital. While Lois is stuck at Smallville High (she needs a few additional points to get accepted to the university) she helps Chloe and Clark to investigate.

My Opinion: The bitter irony of that episode is in my opinion, that Erica Durance (Lois) has had a "boob job" because someone convinced her that she would have better chances to get a job afterwards.
That aside it was a decent FotW episode.

Synopsis: The cheerleaders of Smallville High are using meteor rocks to create a love potion. When the football team drinks of it they all become aboulic slaves with the exception of Clark who gets ill from it. Chloe drinks from it, too, and soonafter a new cheerleading star is born.

My Opinion: This was a very funny episode, especially the parts where Chloe hits on Clark and where Clark had to pretend that we was under the love spell. I had a great time.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 1st, 2008)