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Kill, Baby...Kill!, a review by Achim

Title: Operazione paura
Year: 1966
Director: Mario Bava
Rating: NR
Length: 83 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: Italian: Dolby Digital Mono, English: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Erika Blanc
Fabienne Dali'
Piero Lulli
Max Lawrence

Plot:
'Giacomo Rossi-Stuart' and 'Erica Blanc' star in 'Bava's' final gothic masterpiece, the hallucinatory tale of a remote village tormented by the specter of a dead little girl. Despite it's threadbare budget, Bava creates an unprecedented world of baroque dread, mesmerizing disorientation and explosive color whose direct influence would be seen in films by 'Fellini', 'Scorsese', 'Argento', 'David Lynch' and 'Guillermo Del Toro'. More than 40 years later, it remains one of the most beautiful and unnerving horror experiences of all time.

Alternately known as CURSE OF THE LIVING DEAD and OPERAZIONE PAURA/OPERATION FEAR, Bava's 1966 stunner has been plagued for decades by inferior public domain transfers. This presentation has now been remastered from all-new elements to create the highest quality ever seen in North America.

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers
Production Notes

Wow, what just happened here...? The story was a big mess to me (not that I didn't get it, just the way it was told was all over the place) and I best leave it to Jon & Jimmy to either find the thread that made it all beautiful or to properly rip it to shreds. The whole thing just didn't click with me.

There was, however, several wonderful moments in this film, where cutting, cinematography and whatnot came together nicely. The best example to me is that scene near the end when the doctor is giving chase to someone at the Villa...



(From Mario Bava marathon on June 28th, 2009)

Repo Man, a review by dfmorgan

Repo Man: The Masters of Cinema Series (1984/United States) Eureka Entertainment, Eureka Video (United Kingdom) Director: Alex Cox Writing: Alex Cox (Writer) Length: 92 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: Mono, Music Only: DTS-HD Master Audio: Mono, Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English

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Stars:
Harry Dean Stanton as Bud
Emilio Estevez as Otto
Tracey Walter as Miller
Olivia Barash as Leila
Sy Richardson as Lite

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Interviews
• TV version, 44-page booklet

A strange film with a chequered history. Overall I enjoyed it and I think that this was the first time I saw the film that Alex Cox made as opposed to the alternate TV version that usually gets broadcast.

Rating:

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on April 8th, 2012)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by goodguy

2x03 The Mousetrap
Synopsis: See Achim's post.
My Rating:

Another episode that I enjoyed more upon rewatching. The opening is especially great, with Charlie & Michelle on the desert road, making stop at a gas station. No words exchanged between them for several minutes, just a little country song playing along, but the emotions between them are almost tangible. TSCC has a knack for these moody and minimalist scenes and it is the main reason I like this show. Also notable just how gorgeous it looks most of the time, in an earthy and completely unflashy way. All things that are pretty untypical for an action show about killer robots - no wonder it got cancelled.

From the early kidnapping climax, we get to a single short scene with highly pregnant Kacy, whom I forgot to mention in the last episode. I've never seen Busy Phillips before and initially I thought it was Mercedes McNab (Harmony on Buffy/Angel) playing the character. Anyway, she again is wonderful here. Oh, and Beast Wizard 7 is hilarious.

Do terminators get bored? Cameron finds the center of the house, determines the timeframe for a paint job, and is eager to kill at least a bird (Maybe later?). That sounds like funny robot, but is has such a wry sense of humor that it doesn't feel out of place. Also noteworthy the perfectly timed "I don't swim" exchange with John much later in the episode.

Charlie's phone call to John and Sarah is another one of many excellent scenes. He is so completely and heart-wrenchingly lost. Top performance by Dean Winters.

Sarah gets to do the reluctant hero thing, angry and tired, lashing out at everyone in frustration. That's a fine line to walk, but mostly it works, even when Michelle is the target (Frankly, I thought it'd be easier. I thought you'd be dead).

After Cromartie's setup succeeds the plot gets a bit messy. Taking an injured Michelle with them doesn't make much sense, nor does the designated meeting point for Cromartie and John. As much as the show succeeds in creating atmospheric and dramatic scenes, it often seems that less thinking went into the plot mechanics. I can live with that most of the time, but sometimes it becomes a little distracting.

The funeral scene at the end, while moving, would be a bit generic, if it weren't for the two cuts to the dinner table at the Connor house, once with the VO from the priest and then again, silent. Great stuff.

As for Weaver and Ellison: I like that they take their time and advance that part of the story slowly. And Shirley Manson already seems much better here than in the first episode. Or it could be Richard T. Jones, who can make almost everything work, reflecting positively on her.


(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 2nd, 2010)