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Campfire Tales, a review by Danae Cassandra

Campfire Tales
Year of Release: 1996
Directed By: David Semel, Martin Kunert, Matt Cooper
Starring: Jay R. Ferguson, Christine Taylor, Kim Murphy, Christopher Kennedy Masterson
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Horror takes a detour deep into the woods in this terrifying cross between Scream and Tales From The Crypt, starring Christine Taylor (Dodgeball) and Ron Livingston (Office Space).

Returning home from a concert and driving recklessly, four teenagers crash their car on a deserted road. To ward off the cold, they build a fire and wait for help. But the hair-raising stories they tell around the fire put a deeper chill into the night. Each tale is more lurid, more horrifying, more shocking than anything they've heard before. Yet for these unlucky teens in the woods, the biggest shock is still to come...

My Thoughts:
This is a competent enough film, but suffers from being thoroughly predictable. After their car crashes, four teens are forced to spend time by the side of the road telling stories, all of which are well-known urban legends. "The Hook" is the most well-known, and a throwaway bonus tale. Nothing special here. "The Honeymoon" does well to leave you never actually seeing the creatures, and therefore letting the imagination run wild, and I liked that the girl fought back instead of just screaming and cowering. "People Can Lick Too" does well with creating tension but the villain doesn't act as someone like him would. It almost seems the filmmakers are afraid to go where the story should take them. I thought this was the weakest of the group. "The Locket" was my favorite. I liked the production design and atmosphere here, even if I knew how it would end. The wraparound story wasn't bad either, but you could easily see where it was headed. Twist ending aren't as fresh now as they might have been when this was released.

This is a low budget film, and there's some pretty clear technical errors (most glaringly to me, the red camera sights that were visible multiple times). The acting was competent, but nothing spectacular, though I did like how expressive Jacinda Barrett was in "The Locket," especially given I think she was cast because she was very pretty. Recommended if you like anthology horror, but don't expect any surprises.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 2.75/5

2015 Horror Movie Count: 13

(From Horror/Halloween Marathon 2015 on October 29th, 2015)

Beauty and the Beast, a review by Critter

Beauty and the Beast



Year:1991

Director(s): Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise

Run Time: 84 min

Plot: Belle is a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial French town, constantly trying to fend off the misplaced "affections" of conceited Gaston. The Beast is a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. A wrong turn taken by Maurice, Belle's father, causes the two to meet.

Cast: DVD Extras:My ThoughtsMy Rating



(From Critter's Animated Film/Anime Marathon on December 28th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Roseanne: Season One (1988/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Anchor Bay Entertainment (United States) Length: 551 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:Roseanne
1.01 Life and Stuff
Writer: Matt Williams (Created By), Matt Williams (Writer), Roseanne Arnold (Original Characters By)
Director: Ellen Falcon
Cast: Roseanne Arnold (Roseanne Conner), John Goodman (Dan Conner), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie Harris), Sal Barone (David Jacob 'D. J.' Conner), Sara Gilbert (Darlene Conner), Lecy Goranson (Becky Conner), George Clooney (Booker Brooks), Natalie West (Crystal Anderson), Judy Prescott (Miss Crane), Charlaine Woodard (Vonda), Ron Perkins (Pete Wilkins), Evelina Fernandez (Juanita Herrera), Anne Faulkner (Sylvia Foster)

This is a great series. I always enjoyed watching it. Between the first and second episode there was a cast change. The actor playing DJ changed. Also in these early episodes you can see a young George Clooney as Roseanne's boss.
I am still not used to Roseanne's original voice. It is very annoying. I grew up with the German dub.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 26th, 2012)