DVD Collectors Online

Primal Rage, a review by Jimmy

Title : Primal Rage (1988)

Overview
This blood-soaked, stomach-churningly gory Italian horror outing is set on a college campus in Miami and chronicles the grisly aftermath that occurs when a student is bitten by a lab animal and turns into a voracious, man-killing beast! Will the fun loving campus in Florida turn into a blood bath? Will the campus concert turn into a massacre of the macabre?

My Impression
It's an italian movie so we know what to expect, a lot of blood and nice make-up effect. Right from the start we see that it will deal with medical experiment done with monkey lab and we know that it isn't a thing who usually end well. Of course it won't since the monkey escapes and the virus it carry with him... Well done movie where the students look loke student (wich is sure a rare thing in movies), as expected the special effects are well done and it doesn't silly since the film was made in english so it isn't dub. Wich doesn't mean that the acting is great in any ways (a lot of overacting and bad acting, but it goes with the territory) and check for a young Sarah Buxton who is quite hot in this (at least at the beginning ). This film sure had the most annoying theme song ever written and to make it even worst the song play three times...

Another good one.
 
Rating :

(From Jimmy's 2010 Horror Marathon on October 1st, 2010)

The China Syndrome, a review by Jon

The China Syndrome
4 out of 5



Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas star in The China Syndrome, a powerful cautionary thriller about the dangers of nuclear energy and the power of television news.

At some point in your regular run-of-the-mill disaster movie, you have put your hands up and admit that it's pretty daft. They take a tiny fact and blow it up too far, but you don't care because it's too much fun. Roland Emmerich reaches this point in under 20 minutes usually! The China Syndrome is powerful right up to the final moments because it stays in the realm of what could happen, not what does. In that sense it isn't even a disaster movie, more the "cautionary thriller" the cover blurb calls it, yet you never get that safety blanket of being bale to dismiss it out-of-hand. It builds up to a tense and even disturbing finale. There are no set-pieces, just a well-told drama with a sobering premise and two-thirds in it's clear it will be more whistle-blower The Insider style than anything else. Visually it isn't ambitious, but Director James Bridges does a great job to keep all the plates spinning, not least in the final emotional roller-coaster sequence. The story is split between a nuclear power plant dealing with a potential accident and the news team that happened to have been there when the control room briefly went nuts.

In retrospect, it's kind of bleak, yet it's also very entertaining while you gnaw on your fingers! It has a cheeky sense of irony in more than one moment. The cast are as dependable as their script and sell the story perfectly. Jack Lemmon is his usual brilliant self as the conflicted shift supervisor who knows something is wrong with the power plant, Jane Fonda is the reporter looking for hard news and Michael Douglas is her hot-headed camera-man. He shows his worth and never feels like a third-wheel between the other two, Oscar nominated, performances.

Between the plant and the news room, there is Fonda's story of trying to prove her worth at the TV station. It's intriguing stuff and dovetails nicely with the other angles. While it reminded me of Network and it is a serious drama, it almost seems unfair to pick out the similarities with Anchorman; the similarities between Kimberley Wells and Veronica Corningstone are impossible to miss as she struggles to be taken seriously against the male anchors (the bellydancing moment is pure Ron Burgundy material!), and only gets the zoo and birthday party assignments! You couldn't make it up.

To it's credit, the film loses nothing for such a comparison. What you'll remember is a well-acted, slow-burning thriller, with a message still relevant and potent today, and a powerful ending. It's no spoiler to say that the credits are silent. Can't think I've seen that before.

(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 5th, 2009)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

The Incredible Hulk


The Incredible Hulk (Pilot)
In this thrilling two- hour movie, Dr. David Banner inadvertantly exposes himself to a high amount of gamma radiation and is horrified to discover that in moments of frustration and anger he is transformed into the incredibly powerful Hulk. Susan Sullivan guest stars.

My Thoughts:
This was always one of my favorite shows at the time it originally aired. I still enjoy it very much. I like this origin story they made... even if it don't stay accurate to the comics.  At this point I have the first 2 seasons as well as all the TV movies in my collection. But I do hope to get the final 3 seasons eventually.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on February 10th, 2010)