DVD Collectors Online

House of Bones (2009), a review by addicted2dvd

House of Bones (2009/United States) SyFy Director: Jeffery Scott Lando Writing: Anthony C. Ferrante (Writer), Jay Frasco (Screenwriter) Length: 90 min. Rating: Unrated Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Charisma Carpenter as Heather Burton
Marcus L. Brown as Greg Fisher
Ricky Wayne as Tom Rule
Collin Galyean as Simon
Kyle Clements as Bub
Corin Nemec as Quentin French

Plot:
Psychic, Heather Burton (Charisma Carpenter, "Angel") and a team of TV ghost hunters travel to investigate a haunted house surrounded by rumors of paranormal activity. Upon their arrival they find a foreboding house with a mind of its own, and as darkness falls, the house begins to kill the crew one by one. With time running out, will they be able to outwit this terror and make it out alive?

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers

I have forgotten about this one when I bought it... but I did indeed see this movie before. When it originally aired on the Syfy Channel back in January 2010. I got this one mainly because I like Charisma Carpenter. The movie is better then I was expecting it to be. Sure some of the effects were cheesy... and there was some predictable stuff in it. But I definitely enjoyed it. Charisma Carpenter plays a psychic that joins one of those shows where they go off investigating supposedly haunted houses called Sinister Sites. On her very first episode they end up in the "real thing". While it may not be the best haunted house movie I ever seen... I am glad I added it to my collection. It's worth the time put into it to watch it.




(From Alphabet Marathon: The Unwatched Version on September 17th, 2011)

Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde (1920), a review by Danae Cassandra

Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde
Year of Release: 1920
Directed By: John S. Robertson
Starring: John Barrymore, Charles Lane, George Stevens, Brandon Hurst
Genre: Horror

Overview:
The fifth American screen version, many regard this as the greatest of all adaptations of Stevenson's classic tale with Barrymore's performance being one of cinema's finest (equally as many regard his performance as excessive and place the 1932 version, with Frederic March, above it). Though it is often claimed that Barrymore used no make up for his transformation scenes this not strictly true. The first change from Jekyll to Hyde was achieved by the actor dislocating his jaw and contorting his facial features but thereafter makeup was used.

My Thoughts:
This is a very good film, held up almost entirely by Barrymore's excellent, chilling portrayal.  His Jeckyll is suitably altruistic in the beginning and conflicted, troubled, remorseful - but unable to cease giving in - after his transformation.  Barrymore's Hyde, meanwhile, is as menacing, distasteful and evil as one can imagine - yet still a charismatic character when he wants to be.  It's a fabulous performance, and one can easily see why Barrymore was one of the most celebrated actors of his day.

The rest of the film is up to snuff, if not as excellent as Barrymore.  The script is relatively tight and moves quickly, and the supporting cast are fine in their roles.  If the acting styles seem a bit broad, a bit over-the-top, or the makeup seems, maybe, more than a bit heavy, one must consider that this film was released in 1920, and as a silent film has different conventions than modern film making.  Silent films owe much more to stage productions, where such things are the norm.

Worth watching - both for its own merits and as a classic piece of silent film.  Recommended.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 21st, 2014)

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

VOY 4.03 Day of Honor
Writer: Jeri Taylor (Writer)
DirectorCast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Garrett Wang (Harry Kim), Alexander Enberg (Ensign Vorik), Alan Altshuld (Lumas), Michael A. Krawic (Rhamin), Kevin P. Stillwell (Moklor), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice (voice))

This is the second big P/T episode. Voyager must dump its warp core (I think this was the first time ever, that we actually saw the warp core eject from the ship on-screen in any Star Trek series). B'Elanna and Tom take a shuttle to get the core back, but are left stranded in environment suits with not much oxygen left. This leads to some heart-to-heart and a love confession by B'Elanna shortly before they would have died if Voyager hadn't shown up in the nick of time.
Although I like this episode and the P/T moments, it was much too sudden. They slowly built up the relationship during season three, and in the first episode in season 4 with P/T content they suddenly get together. Originally it was planned to continue slowly building up that relationship in season 4, but when Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna) became pregnant in real life, they decided to get Tom and B'Elanna together before the actress started showing.

P/T moments: About half of the episode, but the most important is of course the last scene.



Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on September 30th, 2009)