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Bunny Lake is Missing, a review by GSyren
(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on August 8th, 2013) The Witch's Mirror, a review by Danae CassandraThe Witch's Mirror (El espejo de la bruja) Year of Release: 1960 Directed By: Chano Urueta Starring: Rosita Arenas, Armando Calvo, Isabela Corona, Dina De Marco Genre: Horror Overview: A benevolent witch (Isabela Corona) enchants a magic mirror to protect her adopted daughter Elena (Dina de Marco) from her cruel husband (Armando Calvo). When the incantation fails and the girl is murdered, the witch vows revenge using every unholy principle of the supernatural that she can conjure. An unforgettable foray into black magic, high spookery and dazzling storytelling, CasaNegra is proud to present The Witch's Mirror restored and remastered for the first time on DVD in a brand new transfer - including the blasphemous resurrection of the slain Elena! My Thoughts: The first half of this seems like a low-budget but well-scripted gothic. At the midpoint it turns to gothic meets mad scientist horror. This is by no means bad, as the script holds together with the thread of supernatural vengeance running through all of it. It is a film of witchcraft, and the witch is a powerful force of evil. Nonetheless, she is not the villain of the film. The budget is low, and the script derivative (Eyes Without a Face is an obvious influence) but the filmmakers create enough atmosphere and the performances are good enough to overlook that. If I've one major criticism, it's that the witch, Sara, targets the innocent second wife as much as the guilty husband. Too often women are pitted against each other by society, and Sara labels Deborah an 'evil woman' for actions outside her control. That aside, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it to fans of gothic horror. Watched For: Scavenger Hunt 19, Hoop-tober 3.0, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016 Bechdel Test: Pass Mako Mori Test: Fail Overall: 3/5 Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 6/52 (From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 6th, 2016) The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ DoenaStar Trek: Deep Space Nine What's the show about? At the request of the Bajoran government, Starfleet is to establish a Federation presence in their system following the withdrawal of the Cardassian forces. Deep Space Nine is a former Cardassian station that happens to be in the system that has the only known stable wormhole. And that wormhole leads to the Gamma Quadrant, to a point 70,000 lightyears away. But this wormhole is indirectly the reason for the greatest war the Alpha Quadrant has ever seen. What happened before? DS9 begins six years after the beginning of TNG and three years after Wolf 359. At Wolf 359 a fleet of 39 Federation ships fought one Borg cube - all were destroyed. Among the ships was the USS Saratoga and its XO, Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko, who lost his wife in that battle. "Emissary" Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko and his son arrive on the heavily damaged space station Deep Space Nine. Most of his crew hasn't arrived yet but he soon meets with his second-in-command, the Bajoran Major Kira. Sisko isn't sure he wants this assignment and his son to grow up here but then an extraordinary event takes place. They find the only known stable wormhole and suddenly the Bajoran system moves from "the outer rim" into the "attention center" of the Alpha Quadrant. My Opinion My favourite Star Trek show! It has a great story arc, even if it wasn't planned from the beginning as it was done with "Babylon 5". B5 and DS9 have many similarities which isn't that surprising since JMS (the creator of B5) has shown his B5 plans to Paramount. But they are also different since DS9 is anchored in the Star Trek universe. (From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008) |