DVD Collectors Online

Masque of the Red Death, a review by Danae Cassandra

Masque of the Red Death
Year of Release: 1964
Directed By: Roger Corman
Starring: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Death and debauchery reign in the castle of Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), and when it reigns...it pours! Prospero has only one excuse for his diabolical deeds - the devil made him do it! But when a mysterious, uninvited guest crashes his pad during a masquerade ball, there'll be hell to pay as the party atmosphere turns into a danse macabre!

My Thoughts:
This is another one of Price & Corman's wonderful Poe adaptations. Price is marvelous as the sinister, cultured, cruel Prospero, and Corman's direction is solid. There's a good supporting cast here, and lavish, colorful sets and costumes. Apparently Corman was able to borrow sets from Becket, so this is a handsome production. Nicholas Roeg is here as cinematographer, and he makes wonderful use of light and dark in the film, as well as the jewel-like colors of Prospero's masquerade ... and of the figures of death. One of the best of Price's films. Highly recommended.

This is also a beautiful transfer of the film.  It's never looked better.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Scavenger Hunt 19, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 23/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 11th, 2016)

MegaFault, a review by addicted2dvd

Megafault (2009/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Echo Bridge Home Entertainment (United States) Director: David Michael Latt Writing: Paul Bales (Screenwriter) Length: 90 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles:

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Stars:
Brittany Murphy as Dr. Amy Lane
Eriq La Salle as Charlie "Boomer" Baxter
Bruce Davison as Rhodes
Justin Hartley as Dan
Paul Logan as Boyd

Plot:
Solid ground gives way, skyscrapers crumble and cities are buried in this thrill-a-minute, action-packed movie event! A deep seismic fault has been triggered in America's heartland. Now, it threatens to slice North America in half. Amidst unpredictable aftershocks, chaos and destruction, seismologist Amy Lane (Brittany Murphy, Deadline, Sin City) and Charley "Boomer" Baxter (Eriq La Salle, TV's ER) must race to predict the fault's direction and warn the millions in its engulfing path.

Extras:

• Scene Access

While it is not the best film I seen of it's kind... I definitely enjoyed this one for what it is...a leave your brain at the door disaster film. And the fact that it has a handful of people I know and like in it helps as well. I would say this one is worth the time put in to watch it... but don't go in expecting too much.



(From Mini-Marathon: Elemental Disasters on August 23rd, 2017)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Bart Allen is back in town. But it isn't a social visit he paying Smallville and Clark. He is working for Oliver/Green Arrow and they are investigating Lex's 33.1 project. And Bart isn't the only one. In the end they have to fight side by side: Oliver "Green Arrow", Bart "Impulse", A.C. "Aquaman", Victor "Cyborg" and Clark "Boy Scout".

My Opinion: I really liked to see them again and together. It was sad though to hear that it didn't work out with Victor and his girlfriend (remember, what I said about them?) and that Oliver is leaving Smallville. He was a great character and I'd like to see him again.

Synopsis: Clark is attacked by something and awakes in a mental institution. There they want to make him believe that he is perfectly normal - just a bit schizophrenic. He's just Clark Kent, not Kal-El and he's definitively not from Krypton. Only Chloe believes in him - until she gets killed.

My Opinion: The "everything was an illusion" episode that's quite common among sci-fi and fantasy series. I liked it because it forced Clark to stop kidding himself and it showed once again that he would nearly everything give up for Lana - but only nearly everything.

Synopsis: A lipstick composed of red Kryptonite and some herbal oils makes Lois fall in love with Clark. Chloe finds that terribly funny until Lois actually kisses Clark and thus "infects" him with red K. Lex and Lana couldn't have chosen a worse day to rehearse the wedding dinner.

My Opinion: This episode was funny and sad at the same time. They way Lois behaved was hilarious and again I liked the hints that they may become an item. The part of Clark being unleashed was of course sad. In opposition to previous "red K trips" this was not funny. It showed what Clark had to digest over the last months and still there's nothing he can do about it.
BTW: No way in hell would Lex be able to deform a chisel like that. After all, it's a tool that is built to withstand brute force.

Synopsis: Lana has secured the chisel and is wondering about it when she notices that someone is watching her. That person has seen her with the chisel and that means she can't confide in Lex. First she hides out at Chloe's, later at the Kents's farm. But her stalker is following her and threatens to kill her.

My Opinion: Could he or couldn't he catch the guy, too? Did he let him die or was he simply too late to save them both? There are people on the internet that claim that he let the guy die - but we haven't seen what really has happened. The writers decided to not to show it to us. Thus, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
And even if. This Clark Kent isn't the regular Superman guy. Superman is a boy scout, he's perfect. This Clark is far from perfect and he himself admits that freely. Additionally, perfect is boring.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 20th, 2008)