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House of Wax (2005), a review by Rich

Title: House of Wax

Movie Count:36  
TV Ep. Count:18  

Runtime:108
Certificate:15
Year:2005
Genres:Horror

Plot:Thrills and chills ooze all over you in House of Wax, from Dark Castle Entertainment and legendary horror producers Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis (Gothika, House on Haunted Hill).
When their car breaks down on a road trip, six college friends are sidetracked into an eerie backwoods town. Curiosity gets the better of them when they are intrigured by its macabre House of Wax. They soon find out that the town is not what it seems and they must find their way out before they fall victim to its ghoulishly inventive killers.

My Review:
Above average remake, very watchable despite having Paris Hilton in the cast, although it was difficult to tell her apart from the wax dummies.
Some nice original scenes, such as the cinema, add gloss to a reasonable plot, albeit cheesy, but you find yourself enjoying it nonetheless.
Despite the stuttering start, once the action begins it is pacy and gory with reasonable tension, and with bodies dropping at regular intervals your attention is kept focussed.
Not great acting, but 'Trudy' is a pretty scary monster, and the set-pieces make this a surprisingly entertaining flick.  



(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 28th, 2009)

The Terminator, a review by Tom

Title: The Terminator
Year: 1984
Director: James Cameron
Rating: FSK-18/KJ
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, German, Spanish

Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Michael Biehn
Linda Hamilton
Paul Winfield
Lance Henriksen


Extras:
Booklet
Deleted Scenes
DVD-ROM Content
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailers

A great action movie with great effects considering its low budget. And a perfect example of a time-loop story.

In the deleted scenes on the DVD, there are already ideas present, which are later used in Terminator 2. In one, Sarah wants to go and destroy Cyberdyne Systems before they invent Skynet. Originally, it is also revealed, that the factory, the Terminator is destroyed in, is actually Cyberdyne Systems, where employees are finding remnants of the Terminator's microchip. From which then the technology of the Terminators will be reverse-engineered.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 15th, 2009)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: A Centauri agricultural colony is attacked by the Narns and taken over. The head researcher of the Centauri happens to be the nephew of Centauri embassador Londo Mollari and the Narn have no intention of giving the colony back. Meanwhile unarmed transports are raided by people who seem to know exactly when and where a transport will be.

My opinion: This episode is somewhat of a second pilot. While it doesn't introduce the station or the characters it sets certain things in order and makes changes to the staff and the appearence of certain aliens (e.g. Delenn, the Minbari ambassador). It also introduces the concept of a primary and a secondary storline to this show, a concept that many of the following episodes will use, too.
It's not that great an episode but it shows the mutual hatred between the Narn and their former oppressors, the Centauri. But I loved Lt. Cmdr. Susan Ivanova from the start and while Lt. Cmdr. Takashima (from the Pilot) was ok, Susan seems much more powerful from the beginning.


Synopsis: An alien unknown to mankind "stumbles" through the jump gate and lands himself in the infirmary. To other aliens his kind is known as Soul Hunters because they catch the soul of people the moment they're dying. And this particular Soul Hunter has come for a certain ambassador.

My opinion: I liked this episode because it discussed the different belives of what happens to a soul when the body is dying. And everyone was certain that his/her concept alone was to be the correct one and than one should act accordingly.
I also liked the hints that Delenn is hiding something from Sinclair and the first mention of Dukhat, although the events leading to his demise are not revealed yet.


Synopsis: Londo falls in love with a Centauri exotic dancer and doen'st care much about his duties as ambassador of the Centauri Republic. Meanwhile someone uses illegaly the high priority communication channels known as "Gold Channel" and security chief Michael Garibaldi is determined to find him or her.

My opinion: I really liked the insight of the Centauri society because it showed that the Republic is more like an aristocracy with houses and titles and slaves. I also liked. We also learn more about Ivanova and that she is russian. OK, since Star Trek's Chekov this is no new concept but I was always a fan of the idea that not every human in space is of american origin.


Synopsis: Babylon 5 has its second birthday and Sinclair is trying to evade from a InterStellar Network (ISN) News reporter. But more danger to the station are some artefacts from a world long dead and the realization that not one person of a species is a pure being of that species.

My opinion: I love enemies who mus be defeated in the great Star Trek tradition of "talk them to death". While ST often used it on computers and confused them with logic, it works with bio weapons, too. And we learn that there are deserted worlds and civilisations long gone and the earth company InterPlanetary eXpiditions (IPX) sponsors such expiditions.

(From Babylon 5: Marathon on August 4th, 2007)