DVD Collectors Online

Summer of Fear, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Summer of Fear (AKA: Stranger in Our House)
Year: 1978
Director: Wes Craven
Rating: PG-13
Length: 98 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Linda Blair as Rachel Bryant
Lee Purcell as Julia
Jeremy Slate as Tom Bryant
Jeff McCracken as Mike Gallagher
Jeff East as Peter Bryant

Plot:
From famed horror master Wes Craven comes a chilling thriller starring acclaimed actress Linda Blair!

When Rachel's cousin Julia comes to live with the family at the farm, unsettling things begin to occur. Casting an alluring spell over everyone she meets, Julia slowly lures everyone away from Rachel. Terrifying instances of the occult begin to take place, forcing Rachel to fight for survival against what is revealed to be a horrifying demonic presence!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Production Notes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
After watching The Exorcist with Brittany the other day... I felt like watching another movie with Linda Blair. This is actually an old TV Movie. Yes I realize there is an MPAA rating above for this movie... but it is one of those rare occasions where a TV Movie put through the MPAA for an official rating at the time of it's DVD release. Another familiar face in this movie is Fran Drescher (The Nanny) who has a small part as Rachel's friend. This is actually one of the few movies I have dealing with witchcraft... at least compared to other horror sub-genres. Being a '70s TV movie there is of course no type of gore and most of the bad things that happens occur off screen. But it is a good story with characters you care about. I enjoyed this one quite a bit... I would recommend checking it out.




(From Movies of the '70s Marathon on March 21st, 2010)

Cuando me toque a mi, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Ecuador
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Cuando me toque a mi (My Time Will Come)Overview
A predawn murder sets in motion a series of interlocking tragedies that eventually find their way to the city morgue's brooding Dr. Arturo Fernandez.  Physically and emotionally isloated from the world around him, Arturo develops an oddly intimate relationship with the personal lives of his cases, gradually forcing him to confront his connection to the living, and the dead.  Adapted from the novel De Que Nada Se Sabe, director Victor Arregui's serpentine tale is a dark but sympathetic portrait of one man's solitude set against a richly textured rendering of Quito, Ecuador's capital city.

My Thoughts:
My first thought was that the overview made Arturo sound like much more of a prominant character than he was, for the first part of the film is very much an ensemble piece.  Gradually, however, Arturo takes a greater role in the film, until he does become the protagonist, such as the film has.  This is a low-budget film not overly concerned with the technical (the camera work, for instance, is a bit shoddy).  Instead, this is a slice-of-life kind of picture, a look at the lives of these characters, where and how they intersect, and the dark, gritty Quito they inhabit.  It is also a character study of Arturo, a man with an inability to form connections with other people.  One wonderful scene, perhaps the best scene in the film, is very short and completely wordless, but tells the viewer everything they need to know about Arturo's family.  I couldn't help but think after that scene that a US film would have felt the need to have a lot of dialogue there, but that instead Arregui had the actors convey everything with body language.  It was a wonderful moment and really showcased that Arregui has quite a bit of talent as a director.  If you like quirky, character-driven films that aren't transparent as to where they're headed, give this one a try.  Much like others I've watched, if you need a lot of action or a tidy, wrapped-up ending, skip it.

Bechtel Test:  Fail

Overall: 3.25/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on September 2nd, 2012)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek: Voyager
3.02 Flashback
Writer: Brannon Braga (Writer)
Director: David Livingston
Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Commander Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Lieutenant Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Lieutenant Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), Grace Lee Whitney (Commander Janice Rand), Jeremy Roberts (Lieutenant Dimitri Valtane), Boris Krutonog (Helmsman Lojur), Michael Ansara (Kang), George Takei (Captain Sulu)

Voyager's episode to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek. It cannot hold a candle to DS9's.
It is nice to have a crossover to classic Trek by revisiting Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. But I don't like the story about the Flashback surrounding it. They used the fact that Tim Russ played a character on Sulu's ship in Star Trek VI. Too bad that it wasn't Tuvok but a human character.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on November 28th, 2011)