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Vampire Circus, a review by addicted2dvd

Vampire Circus: The Hammer Horror Collection (1972/United Kingdom) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Synapse Films, ITV Global Entertainment, Carlton Film Distributors (United States) Director: Robert Young Writing: Judson Kinberg (Screenwriter) Length: 87 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Music Only: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles:

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Stars:
Bradforts-Amaros
Adrienne Corri as Gypsy Woman
Thorley Walters as Burgermeister
Anthony Higgins [Anthony Corlan] as Emil
John Moulder-Brown as Anton

Plot:
A little girl is brutally slain by a vampire in a tiny 19th century Austrian village. Seeking revenge, the townspeople invade the foreboding castle of Count Mitterhaus and kill him for the crime. As the Count dies, he curses the villagers and vows that their children will all die so that he may someday return to life. Fifteen years later, as the village is ravaged by the plague, a traveling circus comes to town and distracts the villagers from their current hardships. Little do they know that their troubles are only beginning! The circus is actually a troupe of shape-shifting vampires and, as the local children start disappearing, they realize the prophecy of the long dead Count is coming true. Synapse Films is proud to present VAMPIRE CIRCUS, now available for the first time on home video in glorious 1080p high-definition and loaded with amazing extras you can really sink your teeth into!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Featurettes
• Gallery

I never had much experience with Hammer films in the past. And what little experience I did have wasn't that great. But I think I was just unlucky enough to see the wrong ones as I found this film to be much better then the previous ones I have seen. The story was good and I liked how they did the vampires. This film has given me hope there is other Hammer films out there for me.



(From Horror / Halloween 2017 Challenge on October 10th, 2017)

Soul Surfer, a review by Dragonfire

Soul Surfer tells the story of teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton.  She survived a shark attack that took her arm and she returned to competitive surfing.  I hadn't realized a movie was being made about what happened before seeing the trailers.  I do remember hearing the news reports about it when it happened.

The movie starts off introducing Bethany, her family, and best friend.  It is clear how much surfing is a part of her life and a competition is shown.  The shark attack is shown, though not in a lot of detail.  I think the way it was shown worked well.  It is clear that she has been attacked and seriously injured without being gory.  The fact that she survived is amazing.  She has an incredibly good attitude about what has happened to her overall, though she does have moments when she struggles with it.  She is still in the hospital when she talks about wanting to go surfing again.  I can't imagine setting one toe in the ocean again after seeing a shark, let alone after being attacked.  I should probably mention that I have...issues about sharks.  I do have a fear of sharks even though I don't live near the ocean - I saw one of the Jaws movies too many times when I was younger.  In some ways, the shark attack in this movie freaks me out more than the more graphic shark attacks in other movies I've seen.  Bethany and the people she were with weren't doing anything.  There was no sign of the shark.  It just lunged up out of the water and attacked her with no warning.  That is scary.  I read some stuff about the movie and evidently some scenes were filmed in the same spot where the attack happened.

The movie does deal with things tied to Bethany's recovery and how she and her family dealt with some things.  It took time for Bethany to be able to surf again.  The movie is very entertaining and interesting, though there is some bad dialogue every so often.  The cast does well with their parts, especially AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany, though she is several years older than Bethany was when she was attacked.  Bethany was only 13 when that happened.  She is professional surfer now.

The movie has a beautiful look in many scenes.  Bethany lives in Hawaii and that is where the movie was filmed.  The beaches look gorgeous.  The scenes showing the surfing are well done.  There are some amazing shots that I don't have a clue how they were filmed. 

The movie has a few issues, but overall it is really good and definitely worth seeing.  Bethany's survival and recovery is amazing.  When the movie is over, there is footage of the real Bethany surfing, before and after the accident.  One of her brothers filmed a lot of home movies, and that is where a lot of the footage came from.  The movie is definitely worth watching.



I did get a review posted after seeing the movie.

Soul Surfer


(From Soul Surfer on May 8th, 2011)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Oliver/Green Arrow gets shot but miraculously heals without even having a scar. Yet he seems different, he is uncaring and aggressive when Clark tries to talk to him. Clark tries to warn Lois that something might be wrong, but she has to learn that first-hand when she encounters the Green Arrow while he is "trying to rob" Oliver.

My Opinion: I think he got a bit too easy out of his addiction but maybe it wears of that easily. After all, it was never intended to function as a addictive drug. But I am also glad that Oliver learned something from Clark.

Synopsis: Lex has been abducted by a man who claims to be a victim of Lex's experiments. Lana, Chloe and Jimmy try to find and rescue him. But Clark must immediately go to Seattle where another Zoner is brutally killing people.

My Opinion: I fully support Clark's decision. Even if it weren't Lex's own doing that has brought this upon him, it still would be a numbers game. And even worse, the Zoners are on Earth because Clark has brought them here. It's his responsibility to get rid of them again. Additionally it was Lex's doing and he can't be expecting to be rescued everytime he screws up. Unfortunately this event will harden his opinion on meteor freaks.

Synopsis: The owner of a neighouring farm has a special ability that allows him to keep his "unregistered workers" under control. If they try to escape they die. But one day a boy actually can escape and he runs directly into Clark.

My Opinion: When I first started to watch movies and shows in english I stumbled across it: "He's an alien.". What? For me, an alien would be someone like E.T. or Kal-El or the Alien alien. But how can a Mexican be an alien?
This was an usual FotW episode and it wasn't that interesting.

Synopsis: Lana and Chloe have a very private conversation about Lana not being sure about her feelings towards Clark and Lex. How could this leak and being printed on the gossip section of the "Daily Planet"? And the next headline will be: "Clark Kent: farm boy or alien?".
Meanwhile Lois thinks that she has figured out that Oliver and the Green Arrow are the same person. Clark helps Oliver to prove her wrong.

My Opinion: This was a great episode. I liked both parts and I can understand that Chloe is frustrated that she is supposed to keep all those secrets and then the people are angry with her because of it. But the conversation in the "Talon" between Lois, Chloe and Clark have more than compensated for this. She had real fun with them.
Although Lana always suspected something now there's no doubt whatsoever anymore that Clark has a secret. Now she will begin to dig real deep. I like that.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 15th, 2008)