Post by: Jimmy on October 01, 2008, 09:12:44 AM
Month Long Horror Marathon
(http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/images/thumbnails/827058105996f.jpg)
Title : Zombie (1979)
Overview
In Italy, it was considered the ‘unofficial sequel’ to DAWN OF THE DEAD. In England, it was known as ZOMBIE FLESH-EATERS and banned as obscene. In America, it was called ZOMBIE and advertised with the depraved tag line “WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU!” 'Tisa Farrow' (MANHATTAN), 'Richard Johnson' (THE HAUNTING) and 'Ian McCulloch' (CONTAMINATION) star in this worldwide splatter sensation directed by the Maestro Of Gore 'Lucio Fulci' (CONTRABAND, CONQUEST, THE BEYOND) that remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time!
My Impression
I've always like those italian zombie movies and this one is my favourite. I like the fact that the action is situate on a deserted island and not in an urban city, this situation remove the army factor : the movie protagonists are alone and they must act to save themselve. The special effect and the zombie make-up are well done something not really surprising since the Italian crews are recognize for making the great things with almost nothing. The musical score brings a perfect mood to the film and there is no use of cheap music cue to create a jump scare. I can't comment on the acting since the film is dub in english and this one is not too bad, evidently sometimes it's pretty funny (mostly the dubbing of Lucas). Another plus is the presence of Tisa Farrow in the cast, I'm always happy to see her since she had a little something that make her beautifull for me. No problem for recommanding this one.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 1
Post by: Jimmy on October 01, 2008, 07:36:01 PM
Title : Zombi 3 (1988)
Overview
A group of terrorists release a cloud of putrefying toxic waste, causing the local population to mutate into a mass of ferocious, flesh-chomping zombies! A group of young people led by Kenny and Patricia are barricaded in a hotel and seek refuge at an abandoned military base. Together, they must rely on their most savage instincts to survive the apocalyptic onslaught of blood-crazed ghouls.
My Impression
This one is a sequel by name only, the only common thing with Zombi is the living dead. The basic story for this is interesting and possible in reality, not the zombie invasion but the release of a deadly virus by a terrorist group. The problem with this movie is that it can't fix its mind, just one exemple the zombies : some are fast, some other super fast (kind of funny to see), some are slow, for some the transformation is a long processus and for some other it's a question of second. The interaction between the scientist and the millitary is really caricatural and cliché. As usual the english dubbing is annoying and sometimes very laughable. The special effects are well done again, but the print used by Shriek Show for this dvd is really bad : the majority of the movie is clear, but all the gore scene seams to have been source from a third generation vhs tape.
Not the best movie in the "living dead" genre, but not a bad one.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 2
Post by: Jimmy on October 01, 2008, 10:03:20 PM
Title : Zombie 4: After Death (1988)
Overview
A voodoo curse on a remote island opens the gate of hell for the flesh-eating undead to devour the living. With bloodspurting, head-bursting, human puppetry, cannibalism, & great zombie gore & FX, who will survive this onslaught of the undead while coping with the harsh realities of the jungle?
My Impression
Third part of these serie that have no link between each of its film. This one isn't really great, it was filmed fast and this is really evident. The story doesn't really make sense (even for a zombie movie), the premise of a young girl of 7 or 8 years old escaping alone an horde of living dead and coming back 20 years later remembering everything is stupid. No characters in this movie is likeable and when they die we are happy, the zombie are not better they just look like a bunch of black face monk on drugs. Evidently the fact that the big name in the movie is Chuck Peyton doesn't help, for those who doesn't know Peyton is more known as Jeff Stryker an adult gay movie star. The effects are really cheap and only the last death scene is well made. The dubbing is one of the worse that I've heard.
Really not recommanded unless you are a completist. At least this is better than Zombie 5 that I will not watch in this marathon.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 3
Post by: Jimmy on October 02, 2008, 03:04:30 AM
Title : Ring Around The Rosie (2005)
Overview
In this electrifying suspense thriller, your deepest fears become reality.
Following her grandmother's last wish, Karen (Gina Philips, 'Jeepers Creepers') reluctantly travels to a remote, run-down mansion to sell the family estate where she grew up. Karen soon realizes that she's not alone at the property. Living in the shanty at the horse stables is Pierce (Tom Sizemore, 'Heat'), an odd and mysterious caretaker. With every passing night as she rummages through the dusty house, Karen's fond memories of her childhood turn into nightmares.
Haunted, Karen feels relief when her sister arrives, but things only spiral out of control when Pierce becomes increasingly more violent. Suddenly both women find themselves trapped in a house that preys on their greatest fears. Karen has no choice but to face the horrible memory she thought she put behind her and walk the line between bad memories and deadly reality.
My Impression
This movie has completely gone unnoticed at its released 3 years ago, it was a box-office flop and I really don't think that the dvd sales were good either. I really want to like this movie : the story is good, Tom Sizemore is incredible (too bad that he is unable to control his drug problem because he is one of the best actual actors), Gina Philips isn't so bad either and the movie is a good suspence with a twist ending. But the the movie running time (1h18) is too short for a movie like this and this is where is the problem. The story isn't clear and I was confused for certainly 30 minutes, the characters are not developed enough we know nothing about their past.
Like I've said I want to like this movie, but the lack of characters development harms this movie too much. Not a strong recommandation, but it worth a try at least the director intention were good.
Rating : between
and Number of film watch : 4
Post by: Jimmy on October 02, 2008, 07:09:38 AM
Title : Cloverfield (2008)
Overview
From visionary producer J.J. Abrams '(Lost)' and director Matt Reeves comes the worldwide sensation of nonstop terror and suspense everyone is talking about.
My Impression
After a false start last week because we were not suppose to watch horror movies before the marathon, I've decided to retry this one tonight. Like everyone know here usually I don't like the recent movies, but with this one it was different. To be honest the beginning of the movie didn't look promising to me : almost all the characters stressed me with their idiot way of talking (does every young American really say dude, cool or totally every 2 phrases?). But when the attack start... WOW!
The found video recording is not something new, the first movie that I'm aware of this concept use is Cannibal Holocaust. But in this movie the concept is well use, in fact it helps a lot to create a feeling of insecurity since we never really see what happens and when we see it it's too late.
None of those actors are really familliar to me and this is a good thing since it's more easy to believe. I was impress by the principals actors who are really credible. Talking of actor, am I the only one who was thinking that the actor playing Jason Hawkins was Jared Lehto?
The effects are really well done and for one time I can't criticize the use of CGI. Evidently they look good because we don't see too much...
Sure they are some impossibilities, but it's a movie and for this it's better to be completly entered in it. Really like this movie, one the best recent movie.
But please don't make a sequel this will have no sense!
Finally, the monsters in this look exactly at how the ones in The Myst looked like to me when I've read it the first time.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 5
Post by: Jimmy on October 02, 2008, 11:27:05 PM
Title : Planet of the Vampires (1965)
Overview
A band of space travellers has just intercepted a distress call from a distant world! Is it a desperate cry for help... or something far more sinister? After landing on the shadowy planet, the crew s attacked by a horde of disembodied aliens with a diabolical plan: to conquer the universe by controlling the crew's minds and stealing their souls - proving that even in outer space, possession is 9/10 of the law!
My Impression
I'm a big fan of Mario Bava the director of this movie and I've bought it because of him. What a deception! This movie is so slow moving that I've fell asleep while watching it (that's why I've watched only one movie this afternoon). Nothing happen, no action, no vampires, ....Sure the visual is beautifull, but this is not enough.
Now maybe the problem is the american version of this film, my oppinion could have been different with the original italian movie : Terrore nello spazio (Terror in space). The original movie version is only 2 minutes longuer, but maybe the editing or the dialogue are different. I'm not sure if I really want to try it, but I can't believe that Mario Bava had directed a movie boring like this one.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 6
Post by: Jimmy on October 03, 2008, 04:32:56 AM
Title : Dagon (2002)
Overview
Dagon is a monstrous God of the sea. His evil, half-human offspring have overrun the fishing village, Imboca, off the coast of Spain. When a boating accident forces Paul Marsh and his girlfriend, Barbara, to seek shelter in the decrepit village, they soon realize that Imboca has a horrifying secret. Now they must escape - before they are condemned to a nightmare of merciless terror...
My Impression
Watching this was like revive the summer that we got this year here : rain, rain, rain and more rain. I really like this movie, but I can't compare it with the Lovecraft's short story since I've never read it. What I like in this movie is the mood of it : it's depressing (the rain), it's confusing (the absence of traduction for the Galician, I can deal with the Spanish a little bit but no more than that) and the uncleanliness of this place. It doesn't take long to discover that something doesn't sound right in this village and the explication is given much later in a perfect way. The effects are a mixed bags : the old schools one like when a character is skinned alive are good, but the ones with the CGI are really weak (too obvious and honestly this is possible to do the same thing with some mechanical devices). The acting is not good or bad, but I really like the accent of Raquel Meroño. But, if you watch this film take the time to observe the eyes of the actors playing the citizens of Imboca (really really impressive). The last think that I like is the fact that Paul Marsh isn't a superman, just like everyone in real life he can hurt himself.
I recommand this one, but don't expect an Hollywood film where everyone is happy, get married and have a lot of children.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 7
Post by: Jimmy on October 03, 2008, 07:19:07 AM
Title : Brain damage (1988)
Overview
A chatty worm-like parasite offers the utmost psychedelic experiences to its host if they allow him to latch onto their necks and inject their brains with a bizarre secretion. For Brian, this trip is better than his dull life, but in order to maintain the buzz, he must provide this parasite with its favorite food - human brains! The original cult classic.
My Impression
Time for a little comedy. This one is a film from Frank Henenlotter, a director who had never disappointed me. This is the third film directed by him that I've watched, the others are Basket Case and Frankenhooker. By the way After 14 years of waiting henenlotter had made a new film that will be release soon : Bad Biology (http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/bad-biology-2008) :yahoo:
But I'm here to talk about Brain Damage. I don't think that it will be a surprise if I say that I've appreciated this movie. The story is great and this little Aylmer is really funny, this is the parasite. He sound like a documentary narator (a very serious voice) but his apearances make this really funny. Kevin Van Hentenryck from Basket Case had a cameo in it and this one is great, but you need to know what he had in his basket to understand it. The withdrawal attempt by Brian is a great moment full of good lines from Aylmer. The effect are well made, old school like I like. The acting is so-so, but this is not that important.
No problem to recommand it and when was the last time you have seen a girl having her brain eaten while she try to give a fellation?
Rating :
Number of film watch : 8
Post by: Jimmy on October 03, 2008, 09:11:45 PM
Title : The Bagman (2002)
Overview
Fifteen years ago Jack Marshall's house burned to the ground, living him with disfiguring scars and both parents dead. Cruely teased and tormented by his peers, his own private hell came to an end at seventeen when he was savagely murdered by his classmates. Ten years later the classmates reunite where, one by one, they disappear in a swirl of grisly slaughter.
Is Jack Marschall really dead?
My Impression
Does this synopsis look familliar to you? I hope so, more than a hundred movies with the same basic story were made in the eighties. Ok this film is unoriginal but how is the rest of it? Honestly quite bad... Most of the film is too dark (yes, I've adjusted my screen brightness), many times the image is blurry maybe the "DP" doesn't know that the camera had a focus option on it. The acting is really, really bad nobody sound natural and it's very obvious that most of the time the actors read their lines on a Cue cards. The effects are worst than the one in The Undertaker and His Pals that was made 1966.
A complete lost of time and money, but at least Stephanie Beaton get naked in this.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 9
Post by: Jimmy on October 04, 2008, 03:31:12 AM
Title : The New York Ripper (1982)
Overview
A blade-wielding psychopath is on the loose, turning The Big Apple bright red with the blood of beautiful young women. As NYPD detectives follow the trail of butchery from the decks of the Staten Island Ferry to the sex shows of Times Square, each brutal murder becomes a sadistic taunt. In the city that never sleeps, he's the killer that can't be stopped!
Written and directed by acclaimed horror maestro Lucio Fulci (ZOMBIE, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) and filmed on location in the mean streets of New York City, THE NEW YORK RIPPER is one of Fulci's most savage and controversial thrillers and is presented here completely uncut and uncensored.1
My Impression
A real masterpiece, this one as a strong reputation and it's fully deserved. This is certainly one of the most violent giallo ever made. This violence is shown in a very realistic way and this demonstrate one time again that you don't need cheap CGI effects to look real : you only need talent. The story is dark, depressing and not for everyone. This is the genre of movie that you love or hate, in my case I love it.
My version is the Denmark zone 2 release without the missplaced freeze frame present in all the zone 1 dvd.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 10
1. This not the overview on the back cover on my dvd. Unless you speak in danish it doesn't mean anything.
Post by: Jimmy on October 04, 2008, 06:07:49 PM
Title : An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Overview
It's a rainy night on the Welsh moors. Two American students on a walking tour of Europe trudge on to the next town, when suddenly the air is pierced by an unearthly howl. . . . Three weeks later, one is dead, the other is in the hospital and the nightmare begins for "An American Werewolf In London". David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter star in this contemporary story of the macabre which takes you from the Welsh moors to Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the grounds of Windsor Castle.
My Impression
This one is a special one for me since this is the first movie that I've seen in a theatre at 12 years old. It was a triple features horror night and the 2 others one were "The Funhouse (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082427/)" and "Dead & Buried (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082242/)", evidently the theatre weren't really a theatre (we talk about Petit Saguenay, a village with less than 1000 citizens) but the church basement at the same place where the dead are expose (no they were none this night :laugh:). I've always like this film and this is one of the first dvd that I've bought.
The chemistry between David Naughton and Griffin Dunne is really good, they are supposed to be friend in this and they look like. Jenny Agutter is certainly a beautifull nurse and she's good in this one, but I prefer her performance in "Logan's Run". The transformation effect is certainly the best thing in this movie, 27 years later nothing equals this FX creation by Rick Baker and honestly I don't think that we will see better soon since every movie use CGI now. Another good make-up job is the one when we see Jack after his death, look real to me. I love the music in this too, nice idea to have the word "moon" in the title of each of these songs. I love everything in this : the story, the dream sequence, the acting, the end setting, ...
The only critic that I can make is that the comic relief character (the policeman) was not necessary.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 11
Post by: Jimmy on October 04, 2008, 11:15:24 PM
Title : Wolf Creek (2005)
Overview
Three unsuspecting hikers take off for a drive across Australia. When the trio returns from a four hour hike to Wolf Creek National Park, they find their car is dead. Help comes in the form of big, back-slapping bushman Mick (John Jarratt). Since Mick appears to be more Crocodile Dundee than Freddy Krueger, the trio trusts him...which proves to be a grave mistake.
My Impression
This is supposed to be based on a true story, usually when it happen I do some research after watching the movie to see what is true and what isn't. For this one I couldn't care less. For more than 50 minutes we have to endure 3 stupid and annoying "teenagers" while they do a car trip in Australia doing stupid things like every stupid kids. Finally after one hours a man who is as much annoyed than me with them decide to kill the idiotic kids. Sadly, for a guy who seams to have killed a lot of travellers he had a lot of problems for exterminate those 3. So we will have to wait another 35 minutes to finally see him succeed, but all this time we have to suffer the tribulations of the 2 girls. The stupid boy escape from our savior, but at least he doesn't have anything stupid to say anymore.
Do I need to say that I didn't like this movie?
Rating :
Number of film watch : 12
Post by: Najemikon on October 04, 2008, 11:35:24 PM
Finally after one hours a man who is as much annoyed than me with them decide to kill the idiotic kids.
:hysterical:
I love that line! I have this film and liked it, sort of. However my mate hated it, so I'm sure he'll appreciate that line.
All that said, don't you have any kind words for Mick? I thought he was a fantastic villain. Top drawer maniac. The "head on a stick" was pretty memorable too.
Post by: Jimmy on October 04, 2008, 11:52:04 PM
I'll buy a complete series of films with this guy as the hero cleaning the world of a lot of annoying kids or a serie of prequel about his past crime.
Post by: Jimmy on October 05, 2008, 02:28:59 AM
Title : Sole Survivor (1982)
Overview
Before there was FINAL DESTINATION, there was SOLE SURVIVOR, directed by Thom Eberhardt (NIGHT OF THE COMET), this chilling tale tells of a young woman who is the sole survivor of an airplane crash. Disregarding the warnings of a psychic friend. Denise tries to get on with her life, but she has somehow cheated Death, and the Grim Reaper sends his minions to bring her to him.
My Impression
The story in this one is interesting, this is about how you can't cheat death : sooner or later it will catch you. Except for that there is no real connection with Final Destination, but I understand easilly why Code Red play it strong on the cover and their publicity. I like the idea that the death use freshly dead peoples to try to take the survivor and not some over the top way to kill her. This movie is slow moving so don't expect an action festival, but if you want something original and not fill with tv actors of the month you will like this movie.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 13
Post by: Jimmy on October 05, 2008, 05:27:32 AM
Title : Left in Darkness (2006)
Overview
Her mother died in childbirth, and she always felt responsible for the tragedy. When her father disappeared, her grandparents raised her. As she got older, her sense of guilt grew deeper. And on the night of her 21st birthday, Celia ('Monica Keena' of FREDDY VS. JASON) is drugged, raped and dies of an accidental overdose at a wild college frat party. But for some, death is only the beginning: Trapped in a netherworld between sanctuary and damnation, Celia must now battle the demons -- including hordes of horrific Soul Eaters -- that prowl the Afterlife. Is the spirit of her recently deceased grandfather ('Tim Thomerson' of TRANCERS) trying to lure her to an eternity of suffering? Can her guardian angel ('David Anders' of ALIAS) safely lead her to the other side? And for a young woman caught in limbo, is there any way to go towards the light when your soul is LEFT IN DARKNESS?
My Impression
I like the idea that something exist between our life and the heaven/hell, even if in reality probably nothing exist after our death : we roth in the earth or we vanish in smoke. The film works mostly because of David Anders who give a really good performance. The story is interesting too, at least this is something original between all the crappy remakes that populate the horror genre in the recent years. But the good thing stop here... Seriously Monica Keena doesn't have the talent to support a movie! She's a pair of breast with no personallity or emotions... As usual the movie is populated by adult university students who act like a bunch of 12 years old : This Hollywood cliché gets on my nerve! I've never seen anybody like that when I was at the cegep or the university and not even when I was in high school!
This is not a bad movie, but you must pass over the negative to get the interesting story
Rating :
Number of film watch : 14
Post by: Jimmy on October 06, 2008, 03:46:11 AM
Title : It's Alive (1973)
Overview
Our modern world is full of marvels -- but also polluted air, foods sprayed with deadly chemicals, misused drugs and hidden radioactive substances. Ever wonder how these poisons might affect a developing child in the womb? 'It's Alive' offers a shocking possibility -- and in so doing has become a creepy cult classic!
My Impression
This is one of the few movies where I feel sad for the "monster", since he isn't responsible for what he do. In fact he is only a newborn child and when he attacks someone this is just because he is affraid and wants to defend himself. The only thing he wants is to return with his parents. This is easy to make the link between this mutated baby and a real one who is deficient mentally or physically. This is not the first time that I watch this and everytime I let a couple of tears escape.
For the rest the acting is really good particullary John Ryan who gives a fantastic performance as the child's father. The script by Larry Cohen is original and you can even connect it with the Thalidomide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide) failure in the sixties.
This film is really nuanced and it isn't just an horror movie. One last thing : watch this fast before the remake release that will completly destroy this movie and transform it as only a monster movie
Rating :
Number of film watch : 15
Post by: Jimmy on October 07, 2008, 03:38:46 AM
Title : Seed (2007)
Overview
Seed recounts the supernatural story of a ruthless serial killer who survives electrocution on death row. Prison guards fail to exorcise the evil in this murderer and inadvertently unleash a malevolent monster. The resulting reign of violence, with its extreme gore and torture, sets a new standart of the horror genre.
My Impression
Do I need to tell you again that I like Uwe Boll? This man is a genius, one of the best director actually in the b-movie genre. A marketing expert who does what he wants, like he wants and doesn't care about anybody opinions. He is probably the first producer to have understand the power of the dvd buyers fan base.
This movie in the serial killer genre doesn't follow the convention of the genre, we don't see Max Seed killing someone before a long waiting time. The story start really fast and we have the feeling that we are late for a date. The first half of the movie is really dark and it's really hard to see the details, but this is certainly voluntary and an editorial choice. The light appears only after Seed is "reborn". The acting is ok and for one time Boll haven't fallen for the big name trap, the cast is mostly is regular players : Michael Paré, Will Sanderson, Michael Eklund, ...
I have only two negative things to say : this film is too short and the cgi is not really great (too over the top).
warning : at the beginning there are some stock footages provided by PETA were some dogs are killed in some kind of dog farm.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 16
Post by: Jimmy on October 08, 2008, 01:40:04 AM
Title : Demons (1985)
Overview
Two girls are given free tickets to a special screening in an isolated movie theater. The film, a violent horror movie, exerts a malevolant influence over the theater patrons who are transformed - one by bloody one - into a horde of crazed demons.
My Impression
It's time for some Italian fun ;D I will not say that this movie is really profound, but this is a fun one with a couple of jump scare. This is almost a zombie movie, but the protagonists are Demons and honestly those demons could send a crying zombie to his mother in 2 seconds. I like the movie in a movie concept and I would have like to watch this in a real cinema. The effects are great and, at least for the 2 first transformations, we feel the pain of the victims. The hard rock score kick ass, the motorcycle escape at the end on the song "Fast as a shark" by Accept is a classic scene. Sure the story is silly and the dubbing atrocious, but all the Italian movie of this period are like that. Anyway how to not like the guy who dub Bobby Rhodes? Impossible to be more a pimp stereotype than this :laugh:
Rating :
Number of film watch : 17
Post by: Jimmy on October 09, 2008, 05:47:23 AM
Title : Curse of the Cannibal Confederates (1982)
Overview
The south shall rise again...and again! Four score and many years ago...during America's Civil War, a brave battalion of Southern Confederate soldiers was captured and tortured to death by the Northern Army! Before they died, they cried REVENGE! Now, the blood-soaked battlefields have become an accursed cemetary where vows of revenge reverberate!
A pastoral picnic at a historical site now becomes a flesh-feast for the living dead! You've heard of "Southern Hospitality" & "Southern Fried Chicken"...but you have never seen anything like this Colonel's secret recipe! THE CURSE OF THE CANNIBAL CONFEDERATES! A holocaust of revenge-hungry rebels! A finger-licking good fright film!
My Impression
Much better than what I was expected after the other reviews read before, not that this film is good or professesional by any means... far from it. The acting is atrocious to be polite, the dialogue are read without emotions and a lot of lines are missed and not retaken. The zombies are not look alike at all : some wear mask, some have a grey painted face, some have a white painted face, ... The effects are poor, at one place they eat the guts of a dead guy but his shirt is just cover with fake blood it's not even rip a little. The story when we think about it doesn't really make sense (why a bunch of dead soldiers care about a book and how did they know that one guy had taken it?). Anyway the most terryfing thing in this film is the place and time shifting dimension : sometimes two actors talk together and one is in autumn and the other in summer or one talk near a road (by the sound) and the other in the forest or one is in the day and the other in the night... This is the scary stuff :o not the zombies.
Pete I've only one screen capture that are something else than a forest, maybe you'll recognize this building?
(http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/3/10/8/f_Clipboard01m_3ccfd11.jpg)
And one question : Is it common in your states to bring fireworks when you go hunting :laugh:
Rating :
Number of film watch : 18
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 09, 2008, 11:57:22 AM
Quote from: jimmy
And one question : Is it common in your states to bring fireworks when you go hunting :laugh:
:laugh: I wouldn't put it past some of the rednecks around here!
Post by: Jimmy on October 09, 2008, 03:46:42 PM
:laugh: I wouldn't put it past some of the rednecks around here!Like our friendly protagonists
(http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/3/10/9/f_Clipboard01m_19a2978.jpg)
This picture is one of the rare occasion when the 3 guys aren't in a different time and space dimension
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 09, 2008, 03:49:23 PM
Post by: Jimmy on October 10, 2008, 07:17:38 AM
Title : 28 Days Later (2002)
Overview
An infirmary patient awakens from a coma to an empty room…in a vacant hospital…in a deserted city. A powerful virus, which locks victims into a permanent state of murderous rage, has transformed the world around him into a seemingly desolate wasteland. Now a handful of survivors must fight to stay alive, unaware that the worst is yet to come…
My Impression
I've bought the second parts today so I've decided to rewatch this one to refresh my memory. I will not write a lot here since almost everyone had seen this film. First to close the debate about the running zombies once and for all : They are not zombies, they are infected peoples with a mutated rage virus. Their brain is alive and the only emotion they have is the violence. Did they died only with a bullet in the head? No, so they are human that seams pretty clear to me...
I like the confusing feeling at the beginning and for me it was confusing the first time, since I didn't know anything about this movie. Every time the movie make me jump at the same moment (even this time and I've seen this movie at least six times before) and the first time I've almost made an heart attack after I've fell from my chair (ok I exagerate a little bit, but my heart was beating really fast). We really care about the protagonists because the director give them a substance they aren't only empty shell or filler characters, even a guy at the beginning who died fast had a backstory and we feel something when he died even if he had maybe 5 minutes of screen time. I prefer the first half of the movie, the second part is more conventional (a little bit like of Day of the Dead) and I'm not crazy about the end.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 19
Post by: Najemikon on October 10, 2008, 10:05:54 AM
I prefer the first half of the movie, the second part is more conventional (a little bit like of Day of the Dead) and I'm not crazy about the end.
Me too, although I did prefer the quality of the 35mm shot they used of the infected on the bridge compared to the digital look throughout the rest of the film. But that's just being picky! Apparently though, using the slow motion feature on the digital cameras with a high FPS created a unique look for the infected that couldn't be done with film, so maybe I'd better let them off... :-[
Hope you enjoy the sequel as much as I did.
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 10, 2008, 12:25:23 PM
Post by: Jimmy on October 10, 2008, 03:31:48 PM
Hope you enjoy the sequel as much as I did.Especially since I've bought it because of your review or, most accuratly, your review made me remember that I've not buying it yet. By the way, Is it sunny sometimes in England? The sun is a really absent guest star in this movie :laugh:
I tried 28 Days Later a while back ago... just couldn't get into it... didn't even watch it all the way through. Maybe I should give it another chance.Do I have to say that I'm surprise? Give it another chance, maybe you were not in the mood for it. But who I am to judge when I'm the guy who doesn't like the Myst or Land of the Dead... Too much music use in the film maybe?
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 10, 2008, 04:05:27 PM
Post by: Jimmy on October 10, 2008, 10:05:31 PM
Title : 28 Weeks Later (2007)
Overview
The terror and devastation unleashed in '28 Days Later' picks up six months after the Rage virus has decimated London in this heart-stopping horror sequel that "surpasses the original" ('Dallas Morning News'). With order restored and the war against the infection won, the U.S. Army steps in to help repatriate Mainland Britain. But one of the returning refugees carries a terrible secret that threatens to reignite the deadly explosion of bloodlust, carnage and chaos.
My Impression
Sadly I'm not like Pete and when I watch a sequel I can't leave aside the precedent part. As a sequel this movie is a big deception... The movie start well and this is sad that the director had decided to not follow the story of the survivor. In place of this he had decided to make an ode to the US army and its greatness ::), sure the others european countries can't intervene since they are a bunch of wimpy non coalition members (I'm sarcastic here). Honestly this movie is not a sequel at all, this is just a bad war movie... The script is weak, we don't care about the kids and why were we, since they are no development or backstory... Seriously don't tell me that the chopper stunt isn't stupid and impossible to do... No suspense, it's like the director had thrown everything that works in the first film in the garbage and a completly different movie (better known as the Nightmare on Elm Street syndrome).
Bad as a sequel and bad as a stand alone movie...
Rating :
Number of film watch : 20
Post by: Najemikon on October 10, 2008, 11:51:24 PM
(click to show/hide)
My only real complaint was the unrelenting bleakness. It needed something, if only grim irony, to relieve the feeling of being bashed over the head!
Is it sunny sometimes in England? The sun is a really absent guest star in this movie :laugh:
Erm. No. :hysterical:
Our summer this year was particularly brief. There was a Tuesday in July. I think that might have been it. ???
Alright we're not that bad, but yes, these films have more of an air of credibility about them because of it. That scene at the start of 28 Weeks when he runs across the field? That looked like a decent typical picnic day, if not for the raging zombies! We can get better, but it's less likely. :P
As I was replying I was thinking of other home-grown UK films that show a very accurate setting. Guy Ritchie's films (Lock Stock Two Smoking Barrels) have an unreal hue to them compared to The Long Good Friday or Get Carter. But the most real, unaltered view might be Shane Meadows films and I just realised his movies are right up your street.
He is a brilliant film-maker. Very low budgets and very, very real. It helps that he doesn't use scripts in the main, but hires actors from workshops and lets them improvise with a rough idea of what he needs. You could do a lot worse than pick up Dead Man's Shoes and This Is England. The former is simple in its brutality while the latter is a powerful story based on his own experiences of growing up in the skinhead fashion culture that got corrupted by racists and became the neo-nazis.
Check them out. I think you'll really appreciate them.
Post by: Jimmy on October 11, 2008, 12:26:00 AM
Post by: Najemikon on October 11, 2008, 12:39:38 AM
This Is England seams to be on the same subject than Made in Britain a movie that I own and like, so the chance are good that this is a movie that I will appreciated. But it doesn't seams to be release here yet on dvd, no problem to order it from Europe but I've to wait since my order for november is already decided (The Unseen (http://www.amazon.ca/Unseen-Peter-Foleg/dp/B0019D3DJM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1223677140&sr=1-8), Sweet Sixteen (http://www.amazon.ca/Sweet-Sixteen-Jim-Sotos/dp/B001CCY44S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1223677140&sr=1-3), Pieces (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001D5C1R6/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB) and Faces of Death (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001BBAVPQ/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB)) and Dead Man's Shoes is now in my wishlist since it looks like a good revenge movie.
Dead Man's Shoes is a very effective revenge movie, especially thanks to Paddy Considine's unrelenting and focused performance.
It's interesting you mention Made in Britain, because I would usually say that's a good example of a British movie I don't like. Too grimy! I don't like too much misery. Although I tend to avoid Mike Leigh's films for that yet usually end up glued to the screen, so what do I know? As with all his films, Meadows puts a lot of warmth in so it always feels like I could know these people; it makes their lives more feasible and their stories more powerful because I can see the joins and they make sense. Especially as he always filmed in Nottingham where I live, so the streets are so familiar and This Is England is set in the 80s so I would have been not much younger than the main character.
Glad you've got them on your radar! ;)
Post by: Jimmy on October 11, 2008, 12:54:47 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PWP3SQ86L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
It's a British movie, so you're the expert ;)
What do you think of it?
Post by: Najemikon on October 11, 2008, 02:46:05 AM
Scum is again the type of film I say I don't want to watch, but I have seen it and it is very good. Raw and brutal, and Ray Winstone is incredible.
Scum has an interesting history because it was originally a TV play in 1977 with Winstone in the same role. It was so well received Alan Clarke was able to remake it with Winstone and a bigger budget.
Definitely worth seeing. Not that I wanted to... ;)
Post by: Jimmy on October 11, 2008, 04:27:17 AM
Title : Demented Death Farm Massacre (1972)
Overview
After executing a daring robbery in the big city, a gang of psychotic daimond thieves steal a jeep and head out into the country. When the jeep runs out of gas, they ditch it and wander into what looks like a backwoods farm, the perfect hideout! And even better, there's a country bumpkin with huge udders living there offering the thieves some good ol' fashioned Southern hospitality! Everything is cool as a glass of lemonade, this is, until the babe's seemingly dimwitted husband returns home from a long hard day of shucking corn. Sensing the ill-fated intentions of his freaky farm guests, the farmer must come up with a plan to turn the tables on these dangerous thugs.
My Impression
This one is not really an horror movie, but it's a part of a terror pack and I've not watched this for nothing. So we will stretch the elastic a little bit. My god this film is awfull this is not for nothing if it was release only in 1986 (14 years after it was made :o). The acting is bad, the murder special effects are the worst that I've seen (Shriek of the Mutilated FX are master works compare to this), the story made no sense, John Carradine interupt the film many times to make non sense comment, the farmer looks like Victor French (it's not him but this is funny), one the girl looks really like a transvestite (it's a girl, she have the breast to prove it :laugh:). Two things only save this mess of a film : the 20 minutes lame pursuit with an hillbilly banjo music score and Ashley Brooks is enjoyable for the eyes.
Honestly, don't watch this unless you are crazy for everything with banjo music.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 21
Post by: Jimmy on October 11, 2008, 05:46:44 PM
Title : Frailty (2001)
Overview
Years after terrorizing a small Texas community, the God's Hand Killer has returned - leaving in his wake a perplexing trail of fear and death. Convinced that he knows the killer's identity, Fenton Meiks shows up at FBI Headquarters, intent on putting an end to the murderous rampage and relieving his conscience of his family's sinister secrets.
My Impression
Since I know what is waiting for me later, I've decided to watch one movie that I like a lot this morning. This one is the best blind buy that I've ever bought. Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton and even the 2 kids are really great in this. The story is perfect and the end is impredictable (at least it was for me). I don't know if it was the first movie directed by Paxton or if he have directed anything else but I'm really impress. The movie is even scarier when we think that some crazy guy like this exist and are free.
(click to show/hide)
The movie that I recommand the most in this marathon at this time :thumbup:
Rating :
Number of film watch : 22
Post by: Jimmy on October 11, 2008, 11:20:02 PM
Title : The Sorority (2006)
Overview
A small college town is gripped in terror as coeds are being found burned alive. Carved into their charred remainsare the words "Join or die". The police has no leads, but when a student discovers that the hottest sorority on campus is actually a coven of devil worshipers, she's brutally murdered by the Satanic witches. At the student's graveside her sister vows revenge and sets out to make things right. Hunter becomes the hundted as she fights her way througha maze of Satanic rituals, murder, beheadings, lesbianism and black magic in her quest for vengeance, as all hell breaks loose in the final showdown between good and evil.
My Impression
Wow just wow... Even Pete's review haven't prepare me for that. The movie is not start that we already have a problem, Just look the menu
(http://img01.picoodle.com/img/img01/3/10/11/f_Clipboard01m_2bba137.jpg)
This is not even a dvd, but a self pressed dvd-r and this is filmed not with a digital camera (something that I already hate) but an old vhs camera... Welcome to the eighties...
This movie is lame and pathetic : the acting is bad, the story is full of hole, the fx is cheap looking
(http://img28.picoodle.com/img/img28/3/10/11/f_Clipboard01m_d0d6340.jpg)
just an exemple
The story is set in the lamest school with the lamest students and the lamest sorority ever shown on screen. If this sorority is the best one on the campus the other one look probably like this one :
(http://img29.picoodle.com/img/img29/3/10/11/f_Clipboard01m_b0c3851.jpg)
Sorry, even the cast of Freaks act better than anyone in this movie
This film is 4 hours long, ok it's only 1h40 but it feels longer. The film cut really abruptly after the final fight (nothing exciting there) maybe it's my copy but I really doubt of this. If you want this because of the word "lesbianism" in the overview forget it, the nearer you came from this is a that :
(http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/3/10/11/f_Clipboard01m_f90354c.jpg)
Next time I will trust Pete when he will write that a film is bad. Don't buy this movie don't even accept a free copy of it... if a friend give you this one this is not a friend this person hates you...
Rating :
Number of film watch : 23
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 11, 2008, 11:53:38 PM
Like I said... they are both bad... but I think I got the better of the deal! :P
And yes... all the dvds are made like that... well at least mine is as well.
Post by: Jimmy on October 12, 2008, 01:37:54 AM
Title : The curse of Lizzie Borden (2006)
Overview
Nestled within a quiet California town, a museum dedicated to the legend of Lizzie Borden has been opened. Cassy, a beautiful college student is drawn to the museum, taking a summer job as a tour guide.
Cassy is quickly propelled into a mystery of the folklore surrounding the legend of Lizzie Borden. It began to consume her every waking moment. She begins dressing, acting and talking as if she were Lizzie Borden. And there are the dreams. Dreams of blood and death !
One by one her friends are found murdered and her boyfriend Andrew begins to fear the worst. Cassy may be next !
Is some madman killing off all their friends ? Has the ghost of Lizzie Borden come back for a bloody rampage ?
Will Cassy and Andrew be able to stop the killer or will they fall victim to the same fate that Lizzie's parents did so many years ago ?
Untill the final bloody axe falls, no one is safe from the CURSE OF LIZZIE BORDEN.
My Impression
Second part of this insane deal. To answer the question no this movie isn't better than it was the last time I've watched it in january. I will not repeat what I've said in my previous review if you really want to read it again just check in the review list (letter t in the banner). Sadly this film is now in my most watch list on my Phpdvdp online collection, what the people who look my collection will think of me now? :laugh:
Pete you have got the better end in this deal at least this movie had some quality (this is very relative) compare to The Sorority. Now are you ready for the sequel (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182340/)? No it doesn't release yet, but it can't be as bad...no. :hmmmm:
Next time say no when I offer this genre of deal :laugh:
Rating :
Number of film watch : 24
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 12, 2008, 01:55:19 AM
Post by: Achim on October 12, 2008, 12:57:41 PM
Sorry, even the cast of Freaks act better than anyone in this movieFreaks is an excellent film and lined up for my October marathon (for one of the gaming night, as it's short and leaves more time for gaming ;D)
Post by: Jimmy on October 12, 2008, 03:04:44 PM
Freaks is an excellent film and lined up for my October marathonI've it and I personally don't see it as an horror movie, but like a revenge movie. But I agree that this film is excellent and an important pieces of film history. It's really impressive to see how these person deal with their medical defect in their everyday life, Johnny Eck and Prince Randian really impress me. Harry Earles was in "The Unholy Three" another movie by Tod Browning that I've not seen yet but is supposed to be a good crime story. Angelo Rossitto career has ended in 1987 after 60 years! Most people remember him for his role in Mad Max 3.
Post by: Jimmy on October 12, 2008, 10:48:01 PM
Title : Please Don't Eat My Mother! (1973)
Overview
Henry Fudd (Buck Kartalian), an overage mama's boy and part-time Peeping Tom, is the proud owner of two very perculiar plants he keeps locked in his bedroom. Named Adam and Eve and looking like overgrown Venus flytraps with giant mouths full of razor-sharp teeth, the plants not only talk, but eat humans - especially the sexy centerfold kind.
My Impression
Not really an horror movie, but horror comedy count too and since I wanted to watch this movie. First time that I watch this one, but since this is an Harry Novak production I was already sure to like it. Like I've said this is not really an horror movie, but there are two carnivor plants in it. Buck Kartalian is the star of this one and he is the best actor in those seventies genre movies (you probably know who he is, but not his name since he is mostly a character actor). Not surprisingly he gives a really good performance in this film and it's important since the movie success depend of him. René Bond is certainly a plus too (what can I say... I love those seventies type of girls) and she is as good than sexy as usual, this is her first movie after her breasts surgery so for a fan this is interesting. This is a Novak film so there is a lot of nudity and fake sex, but sometimes it doesn't look that fake since it was common on his production to mix the real and fake. The story is interesting and funny too. Not a film for everybody and not a familly film since the nudity is complete and it had frontal male nudity too.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 25
Post by: Jimmy on October 13, 2008, 04:51:11 AM
Title : Angst (2003)
Overview
Helen finds herself having intimacy problems with men. Her private parts are devouring all lovers and leaving her with an insasiable thirst for blood. In order to satisfy her cravings she becomes a prostitute wich lead to a death filled tale of murder, madness and sex.
My Impression
Love it as much as the first time I've seen it. I don't write a new review for it, since my previous one (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,695.msg70614.html#msg70614) is already on the site.
For those who have bought it because of my review I hope that you have like the film as much as me, if not I'm sorry.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 26
Post by: Najemikon on October 13, 2008, 09:37:22 AM
Post by: Jimmy on October 13, 2008, 04:04:16 PM
Sounds a bit like Teeth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780622/)Maybe a bit, but :
- Angst came in 2003, so it's the contrary,
- the film is set in a high school with any untalented tv actor available as it is usually the case with any american teen movie,
- Angst is more than just a pussy eating movie (writing this make me feel dirty :laugh:). This a comedy and a love story,
- Angst is a subtil movie, Teeth doesn't sound like it at all,
- a rating of 5.9 for Teeth another proof that most of the imdb voters are idiots,
- Angst is sexy and mature. Teeth sounds like a teen comedy.
Honestly Jon why watching a poor american product when this european production is already perfect with a great cast, a great story and film in your country?
Movie Trailer (http://www.darkblackfilms.com/films/penetrationangst/trailer.html)
Post by: Najemikon on October 13, 2008, 09:21:02 PM
Sounds a bit like Teeth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780622/)Maybe a bit, but :
- Angst came in 2003, so it's the contrary,
- the film is set in a high school with any untalented tv actor available as it is usually the case with any american teen movie,
- Angst is more than just a pussy eating movie (writing this make me feel dirty :laugh:). This a comedy and a love story,
- Angst is a subtil movie, Teeth doesn't sound like it at all,
- a rating of 5.9 for Teeth another proof that most of the imdb voters are idiots,
- Angst is sexy and mature. Teeth sounds like a teen comedy.
Honestly Jon why watching a poor american product when this european production is already perfect with a great cast, a great story and film in your country?
Movie Trailer (http://www.darkblackfilms.com/films/penetrationangst/trailer.html)
I haven't seen Teeth, but I think you might be doing it a dis-service. Check out the Empire Review (http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=133710). Not perfect, but has some aspirations.
Post by: Jimmy on October 13, 2008, 09:30:25 PM
Title : Porno Holocaust (1979)
Overview
A group of scientists visit a deserted island to search for a native who's reportedly been exposed to nuclear fallout. Unaware that a sex-crazed, cannibalistic, radioactive monster walks among them they are stalked and attacked by the, zombie mutant. This insatiable creature explicitly rapes and then disembowels the females, who die horrible deaths after being inseminated with its radioactive sperm.
My Impression
Since this is one of my marathon it was inevitable that an adult movie would make an apparition sooner or later. The time is now...
This is an italian movie made by Joe D'Amato and he is known as a competent director in many genre. To be honest this film is rather boring as an horror movie and as an adult movie too (adult in this review means XXX). First, this film is really long (1h53) and we have to wait more than one hour to see the monster who is not really impressive. The first hour of this film is mostly the preparation for the travel to the island with some explicit sex, but the sex scenes are not great since the women are not really my genre of girl. One of the scene is almost arrousing, but the fact that the 2 black guys are unable to achieve an erection kill the mood. The horror part is conventional and too fast, but the last killing is not so bad in a way (sure it depends if you like the idea of an inanimate girl rape to death by a radioactive monster).
Not everything is bad... The cinematography by D'Amato is good and the fact that this movie was made in the Dominican Republic is certainly the reason. Luigi Montefiore, as usual, is really good in this and no he doesn't have any sex scene. The script isn't so bad and a better movie could have been made with the same basic idea with the same hybrid horror/XXX genre.
Not something that I recommand, many others adult horror movies better than this exist.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 27
Post by: Jimmy on October 14, 2008, 04:55:27 AM
Title : La Noche del Terror Ciego (1971)
Overview
A legion of Knights Templar--executed horsemen whose eyes had been pecked out by crows--rise rotting from their graves, hunting only by sound in a quest for human flesh. The BLIND DEAD saga begins here, as a modern-day tourist trip to the ruins of the Templar monastery unleashes a frenzy of lesbian desire, sexual violence and the unholy onslaught of the eyeless undead!
My Impression
Time for some real classic horror. I have watch the original spanish version for two reasons : I always watch my movie in their original language everytime it's possible and the english version (available on the disc too) had 18 minutes of materials cut (no idea what, but I suppose the nudity was cut and every pieces of gore). I've always find this serie scarier than the Romero's Living Dead quadrilogy (now with 5 entry, but I don't know the word for this :whistle:). The Templar Knight are much more creepy than any zombie : you can't kill them, their appearance is terrifying, they travel on horses and they catch you if you make any noise. Don't tell me that the living deads are scarier since they catch you by luck... The fact that it is based on an historic fact is interesting too : not that some skeletons live and kill peoples in Spain :laugh:, but the Templar Knight was a real order excommunicated by the Catholic Church (maybe I'm wrong here, but I think that they were involved in the Crusades and they have acquired too much power with the time). The only critic that I can make is that this film is really slow between the Templars attacks. Another thing : as usual I will have some nightmares because of this film tonight, even if I'm not a child anymore :-[.
Strongly recommanded and you have no excuse for not buying it since it's possible to buy the movie individually now.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 28
Post by: Najemikon on October 14, 2008, 09:25:50 AM
The fact that it is based on an historic fact is interesting too : not that some skeletons live and kill peoples in Spain :laugh:, but the Templar Knight was a real order excommunicated by the Catholic Church (maybe I'm wrong here, but I think that they were involved in the Crusades and they have acquired too much power with the time).
That's true, and I heard that some became pirates, the first to fly the Jolly Roger flag:
"In his book Pirates & The Lost Templar Fleet, David Hatcher Childress claims that the flag was named after the first man to fly it, King Roger II of Sicily (c.1095-1154). Roger was a famed Templar and the Knights Of The Temple were in conflict with the Pope over his conquests of Apulia and Salerno in 1127.[9] Childress claims that, many years later, after the Templars were disbanded by the church, at least one Templar fleet split into four independent flotillas dedicating themselves to pirating ships of any country sympathetic to Rome, thus the flag was an inheritance, and its crossed bones a reference to the original Templar logo of a red cross with blunted ends."
Post by: Jimmy on October 14, 2008, 10:52:35 PM
Title : El Ataque de los Muertos sin Ojos (1973)
Overview
On the 500th anniversary of their execution, the blind horsemen rise from their tombs to wreak bloody revenge on the town that condemned them.
My Impression
This is the second movie in the Knight Templar franchise. It's important to note that this is not a sequel, but a retelling of the first movie with a better budget and a better plot. In fact the four movies in this franchise are independant from each other, this is not necessary to have seen the first part to understand the second. The best proof of that is the fact that Lone Fleming and José Thelman play a different characters in this one. The Templar are as scary than they were in the first film and I've forgot to mention in the first movie review that they carry a sword and they know how to use it. This movie make the correction of what I have less like in the first one : the slow mood. Not that this is a piece of action, those movies are not about that, but the story is better and something interesting happen between the Knights attack.
No complain on this one, I really recommand it.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 29
The english version had 4 minutes cut and I've never watched it even if it's on the disc, so I can't tell what is missing.
Edit
I say frequently that the imdb board users are not really brilliant and watching the board for this movie I've seen this gem of a question : "IS this a sequel to Raimi's classic?". Didn't look that stupid since the dvd title is Return of the Evil Dead but;
1. When you are on every imdb film board you can read the title and production year of the film,
2. the board is "Board: Ataque de los muertos sin ojos, El (1973)",
3. by that we can logically deduct that this movie was made in 1973,
4. The Evil Dead was made in 1981.
So we have 2 solutions :
Amando de Ossorio had used a time travel machine in 1981 to go back in 1973 to direct the sequel of a movie that will exist only 8 years later
or
OrlandoEastwood (the user who ask the question) is an idiot.
Post by: Jimmy on October 15, 2008, 01:54:18 AM
Title : The Ghost Galleon (1974)
Overview
In what many fans consider the most surprising of the four films in the series, 'Maria Perschy' (CASTLE OF FU MANCHU) and 'Jack Taylor' (EUGENIE) star in writer/director 'Amando de Ossorio's' chilling tale about a boatload of stranded swimsuit models who discover a mysterious ghost ship. But this phantom galleon carries the coffins of the satanic Templar, eyeless zombies who hunt humans by sound. Even if these frightened lovelies can survive their own forbidden desires, will they escape the insatiable hunger of the 'BLIND DEAD'?
My Impression
This one didn't work at all as a knight templar movie. No horse, no sword and no hiding places. The Knights aren't scary on a boat, it took me 2 minutes to realize what it tooks the complete movie for the characters to realize : you are on a boat, the corpses are in boxes, the knights sleep in the day... Take the boxes and throw them in the water in the day :shrug:
Boring, cheap and no star at all. The worst film in this franchise.
Last film today, this is election day here ;)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 30
Post by: Achim on October 15, 2008, 06:37:09 AM
So we have 2 solutions ::hmmmm:
Amando de Ossorio had used a time travel machine in 1981 to go back in 1973 to direct the sequel of a movie that will exist only 8 years later
or
OrlandoEastwood (the user who ask the question) is an idiot.
Post by: Jimmy on October 17, 2008, 08:44:33 PM
Title : The Murder Mansion (1972)
Overview
A young couple joins a group of travelers stranted at a fog-bound mansion to wait out the bad weather. While everyone tries to deal with each other, they must also contend with the creepy surroundings of the ancient manor and its adjoining cemetary. When the guests are beset upon by unliving residents from the graveyard, they must try to band together in order to survive the nightmare
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81599.html#msg81599)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 31
Post by: Jimmy on October 18, 2008, 05:14:44 PM
Title : I eat Your Skin (1964)
Overview
A writter, looking to research voodoo legends for an upcoming book, arrives on a remote tropical island to investigate reports of zombies roaming the land. He soon discovers a scientist and his beautiful daughter living on the island, where the father is experimenting with a serum that has transformed some of the natives into strange looking creatures. When the remaining natives decide to sacrifice the scientist's daughter to appease their voodoo gods, our writer must stop them and the scientist from causing any further harm.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81668.html#msg81668)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 32
Post by: Jimmy on October 18, 2008, 08:49:53 PM
Title : Scream Bloody Murder (1975)
Overview
A young man kills his own father and is subsequently set to a mental institution where he remains for many years. Upon his release, he returns home to discover his mother has remarried and, after growing to dislike his new step-father, murders the gentleman as well as his own mother. The crazed man then turns his attention to a young artist whom he has become obsessed with and continues his murderous ways in order to be with her.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81685.html#msg81685)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 33
Post by: Najemikon on October 18, 2008, 09:36:49 PM
A young man kills his own father and is subsequently set to a mental institution where he remains for many years. Upon his release, he returns home to discover his mother has remarried and, after growing to dislike his new step-father, murders the gentleman as well as his own mother. The crazed man then turns his attention to a young artist whom he has become obsessed with and continues his murderous ways in order to be with her.
Lovely. Such an upbeat family film should have been saved for a Christmas marathon... :hysterical:
Post by: Jimmy on October 19, 2008, 04:49:04 AM
Title : Metamorphosis (1990)
Overview
A university researcher is working to crack the human gene code in order to create a serum that would prevent aging. Pressured by the administration to publish his papers and produce some results or risk losing funding, the scientist decides to use himself as a guinea pig for the latest serum he's developed. Suffering no apparent side effects at first, the scientist eventually discovers that the serum has indeed altered him in a manner most unexpected.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81694.html#msg81694)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 34
Post by: Jimmy on October 20, 2008, 08:14:58 PM
Title : Naked Massacre (1976)
Overview
In Belfast, a group of eight nurses share a home while working at various hospitals and clinics throughout the city. Entering into their lives is a crazed Vietnam veteran with a hatred for women who decides to take out his hatred on them. Stalking them one by one, the killer terrorizes and tortures the women while the authorities attempt to track him down.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81777.html#msg81777)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 35
Post by: Jimmy on October 21, 2008, 05:03:20 AM
Title : Haunts (1977)
Overview
A small town is stalked by a deranged killer who uses scissors as his weapon and a very religious young woman begins to suspect that her uncle may be the killer. As more murders take place, the young woman fears that she too will become a victim of the killer. Shocking twists and turns bring you to a surprise ending as well as the identity of the killer.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81794.html#msg81794)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 36
Post by: Jimmy on October 22, 2008, 06:53:26 AM
Title : Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (1962)
Overview
At a school for wayward girls, a series of mysterious attacks have plagued the campus. The victims all appear to have been attacked by a vicious animal, wich leads some to believe that the school is being stalked by a werewolf. As the next full moon approaches, the campus becomes nervous in anticipation on what will happen next, as the authorities struggle to track down the monster.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81883.html#msg81883)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 37
Pete, I think that this is a movie that you could appreciate.
Post by: addicted2dvd on October 22, 2008, 02:36:21 PM
Post by: Jimmy on October 23, 2008, 04:22:59 AM
Title : The Driller Killer (1979)
Overview
A struggling artist is trying to complete his latest painting when he finds himself distracted by a punk rock band that moves into the downstairs apartment and continuously plays its music. He finally finishes his marterpiece despite the noise and shows it to his art dealer but his devastated when the dealer laughs at his work. Driven over the edge by the dealer's criticisms and the band's loud music, the artist snaps and begins killing people using a large power drills as his weapon of choice.
My Impression
Follow the link (http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,4618.msg81957.html#msg81957)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 38
Post by: Jimmy on October 24, 2008, 05:53:02 AM
(http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/images/thumbnails/M16f.jpg)
Title : Horror Express (1972)
Overview
In 1907, a scientist discovers the figure of a creature imbedded in the ice of Manchuria. Believing it to be the Missing Link, the scientist has the ice block loaded onto a Trans-Siberian train for a trip across the continent with the eventual destination of London and the ununveiling of the discovery. While travelling through a snowstorm in Siberia, the creature is freed from the ice and begins to terrorize the passengers, while the scientist and his rival discover the creature is not what it appears to have been.
My Impression
This one is a really good discovery. The performances of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are very good, Telly Savalas had an interesting role (even if it is very minor) and Faith Clift the worst actress of all time is in it as well (yes she doesn't have any emotions and sound unatural as usual). The story is really good and the devellopment with the creature is really surprising and impossible to guess. In fact if you like the movies produced by the Hammer Studio you will like this one (this isn't an Hammer production, but it looks like)
Rating :
Number of film watch : 39
Post by: Jimmy on October 24, 2008, 11:02:59 PM
Title : Snowbeast (1977)
Overview
A Colorado ski resort is the center of a winter carnival celebration but something threatens to interrupt the festivities. Skiers have been found brutally slain out on the ski runs, torn apart by what appears to have been a wild animal. After eyewhitnesses confirm what appears to be a large human-like creature leaving the scene of the latest attack, it becomes apparent to some that this is something more than a bear attack. While some people wish to warn the public and cancel the festival, there are others with a financial stake who wishes to continue the carnival no matter what the risk to the public.
My Impression
For this one your appreciation depend of if you like tv movie or not. The acting is ok, there are no real blood or gore in it, most of the action happen offscreen and the movie is a little bit slow. All this are usual problems with tv production. Personally, I'm not sure if I like it or not. :shrug:
Rating :
Number of film watch : 40
Post by: Najemikon on October 24, 2008, 11:07:06 PM
I know I was supposed to not write any review for this marathon, but only the crazy doesn't change their mind and if I am too boring you will certainly mention it to me. :laugh:
Good! I was going to message you and encourage you to keep going because I enjoy your reviews. Anyway you should be writing for yourself as much as anyone else. I like to write about movies because it helps me put my thoughts into context.
And if no-one had a go at me about writing pages of boring waffle about Alien, I'm pretty sure they aren't going to be bored by you! :laugh:
Post by: Jimmy on October 24, 2008, 11:53:09 PM
Anyway that made me add the list of what I've review in the marathon, so I've done something usefull yesterday :laugh:
Post by: Jimmy on October 25, 2008, 04:14:17 AM
Title : Sisters of Death (1977)
Overview
During a sorority initiation ceremony, something horrible goes wrong and one of the new members is accidentally killed. Seven years later, the remaining sorority sisters receive invitations to attend a reunion at an isolated mountain estate. Unberknownst to any of the women, the resort is owned by the father of the deceased sorority member and he is looking for revenge.
My Impression
The synopsis for this one looks really promising. You get all the elements of a good drive-in movie : 5 quite good looking girls trap in a house with a crazy man waiting to kill them one by one. That's almost promise a "The Most Dangerous Game" scenario with nudity and violence. But, since they had always a but... this movie is rated PG. You know what it means : forget the nudity, forget the violence and forget the gory effect :voodoo:
The acting is just ok and no one except Claudia Jennings really impress me. The father's revenge plan really make me think as the kind of too complicated one that was the trademark of every vilains in the old Batman tv serie. One thing that I've not understand at all is why the seven years waiting time...
But one thing positive about this movie is that it isn't about a lame sorority of ugly black girls that invoke some bad CGI evil spirit to hide the fact that they can't act to save their lives.
More seriously the end save this film, it was a complete surprise to me. So if you watch this wait for the end even if the movie isn't so great.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 41
Post by: Jimmy on October 26, 2008, 12:01:45 AM
Title : Oasis of the Zombies (1981)
Overview
During World War II, a platoon of German soldiers is transporting a large shipment of gold across the African desert when they're attacked by Allied forces who force them to hide the treasure in a remote desert oasis. Fifty years later, the son of the only surviving Allied attacker decides to lead an expedition to track down the hidden gold. Facing numerous perils along the way, the adventurers find the hidden oasis only to discover it is guarded by horrifying Nazi zombies.
My Impression
Not a good day of movie watching for me today, first the God awfull pieces of shit that is "War of the Robots" and now this one. The first hint that this movie will be boring is the original title : L'Abîme des morts vivants, that means that it's a French horror movie and except for Jean Rollin no French is able to make an horror movie. The second hint is the director name A.M. Frank that are one of the hundred of alias of Jesus Franco, he had made almost 200 movies and most of them are bad. The last hint was at the start of the movie, I've watched this one 15 years ago in its original language and didn't finish it because it was boring... So finally since we can escape our karma I've watch it today without knowing that it was this one.
It was longer than the real running time, I've fallen asleep 4 times watching it... Badly dub, crappy print quality, annoying music, completly illogic (one of the zombie is the dad of the teenager but he didn't died there, the Sheik doesn't age at all in 40 years,...), no characters development, bad script, an end that doesn't make sense, ...
Only good thing in it, the zombie makeup is good but they used the same footage again and again and again...
Really don't watch this, unless you need to sleep and you're unable to.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 42
Post by: Jimmy on October 26, 2008, 05:11:50 AM
Title : The Witches' Mountain (1972)
Overview
A newspaper photographer and his girlfriend are traveling through the mountains on an assignment to photograph a legendary haunted peak. Stopping at a castle near the mountain to rest for the evening, they discover that not all is as it seems. The castle is the home of a coven of witches that call the peak their own and wish to keep any strangers away from their activities.
My Impression
A little bit better than my previous one, but honestly this is not the harder goal to achieves. The problem with this movie is that its really really really slow... Nothing really happen in the first 70 minutes, if your movie had a length of 5 hours it's ok but if your running time is actually 85 minutes maybe it's a problem. The other thing is that those 15 minutes are really confusing (they were for me :shrug:) : maybe those events happen maybe not, maybe the covent exist maybe not, maybe the covent is at the mountain maybe somewhere else,... The problem is that the print is too dark, it's really hard to see the night scenes and maybe some hints are given there.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 43
Post by: Najemikon on October 26, 2008, 01:05:03 PM
(http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/images/thumbnails/M20f.jpg)
What the hell is that thing on the cover? ???
Quote
that means that it's a French horror movie and except for Jean Rollin no French is able to make an horror movie.
Exactly what I've been saying about Alien 4! :devil: :hysterical:
Post by: Jimmy on October 26, 2008, 03:41:35 PM
What the hell is that thing on the cover? ???You have to watch the movie to find it :devil:
No really I've no idea :shrug: Certainly not something that I've seen in this movie and a red glowing something walking would have been very easy to spot in this snoring festival...
Thinking of it, it's looks like a giant male organ waiting to receive some pleasure from the dead guys... But maybe I'm just a 38 years old pervert :devil:
Post by: Jimmy on October 26, 2008, 10:51:45 PM
Title : The Revenge of Doctor X (1970)
Overview
A NASA scientist is ordered to take a vacation due to showing signs of stress while working on his latest missile project. Traveling to Japan, the scientist decides to indulge in his botany hobby and begins experimenting on a venus flytrap he brought along on his trip. Using radical techniques and falling into madness, the scientist eventually creates a plant creature that feeds on flesh and blood, wich then sets off to find food in the form of the people of a nearby community.
My Impression
Don't be fool by the cover since it had nothing to do with this movie, this is just a generic VHS cover. If you watch it don't be fool by the openning credit too, they had nothing to do with this movie (in fact those credits are the credit of Mad Doctor of Blood Island). Does it sound really professional to you? Our "hero" here is sure a multi-talented kind of guy : he is responsible for the Apollo program (we know that because of the stock footages), he was a mathematician during the war, he is a botanist and he know how to overact. The other cast members are a Japanese woman who is hard to listen most of the time because of her accent and a Japanese limping hunchback who talk only in japanese. I forget there are a bitch (a female dog not the insult) and her puppy.
This movie is weird, but if you know that the writer of this his Ed Wood it's not a surprise anymore. How to resume it : a Frankenstein ripoff where the creature isn't made with corpse body part but with a venus flytrap and some kind of aquatic plant... By the way this is the result of this experience :
(http://img01.picoodle.com/img/img01/3/10/26/f_Clipboard01m_734fcdd.jpg)
Yes this monster is created in a stormy night since the experience need electricity too and yes we get the "it's alive" quote too, but in a much lamer way. But contrary to the Frankenstein's monster this plant creature need water and blood to really comes alive. To show how this is a demoniac creature we see it killing a puppy and a child who show it a teddy bear for his own reasons. Evidently killing is a big word, since the only hint that we receive is the fact that the screen turns red. The movie will end when the scientist try to catch the Bragan's Monster (it's the scientist name so we can give this name to his plant creature) with a goat as a bait and the two of them fell in a volcano to their death (see the volcano stock footages at the beginning wasn't there for nothing). The movie end on a good note since a child climb down the volcano with the goat.
This film was a weird experience, do I recommand it? You bet I do :laugh:
Rating :
Number of film watch : 44
Post by: Jimmy on October 27, 2008, 05:27:52 AM
Title : Funeral Home (1980)
Overview
A young woman arrives at her grandmother's place to help convert it over to a bed and breakfast inn from the funeral home wich was operated by her recently departed grandfather. After completing the change and guests begin to arrive, the granddaughter hears strange noises from the basement and finds some of the guests have disappeared. Getting nowhere with the police, the granddaughter decides to get to the bottom of the mystery by going down to the locked cellar to see what's inside.
My Impression
First my usual rant when I talk about a canadian movie : I hate the fact that those films never get a good release when many of them are in fact better than many american movies made in those years. I can't understand why Evil Death was release something like 50 times on dvd, but Cannibal Girls never was or why Halloween was release a thousand times on dvd, but never Death Weekend... Ok enough with the rant mode.
Time to go on nostalgia mode : remember the time when the movies that we were renting on VHS had 3 or 4 trailers before the movie? Most of the time those films were bad and the best thing on the videotape was the trailers. This movie is one of those trailers that I've seen, but never the movie untill today.
I don't write the overview and a proof of that is the fact that this one is completly wrong, the only correct parts are the one that I've highlighted. This movie is more a suspense than a real horror movie, honestly I've no problem to say that it's as good than Psycho. The acting is really good : Kay Hawtrey (the grandmother) and Lesleh Donaldson (the granddaughter) are particullary good. In fact everyone in the cast act well and as a bonus Barry Morse from Cosmos: 1999 is in it.
Another canadian gem that I strongly recommand.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 45
Post by: Dragonfire on October 27, 2008, 07:40:27 AM
(http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/images/thumbnails/M20f.jpg)
What the hell is that thing on the cover? ???Quotethat means that it's a French horror movie and except for Jean Rollin no French is able to make an horror movie.
Exactly what I've been saying about Alien 4! :devil: :hysterical:
I don't think I want to know what that thing on the cover is.
Post by: Jimmy on October 28, 2008, 03:01:46 AM
Title : Lady Frankenstein (1971)
Overview
Dr. Frankenstein and his daughter are experimenting with the re-animation of tissue and create a hideous monster that kills the doctor and escape into the countryside. The daughter, undaunted by her father's failure, goes to medical school to gain the necessary skills to continue her father's work. Upon her return, she and her father's former assistant create a new creature by placing the assistant brain into the body of a simple-minded, brawny handyman. Things become complicated when the first creature returns to finish exacting his revenge by killing the doctor's daughter and assistant.
My Impression
For this one the problem is the version available and this is the same print in every PD release, this is the cut version of it and almost 10 minutes are missing. Sadly the complete version doesn't exist actually on dvd anywhere in the world,. I know that an European label was working on it last year, but I didn't get an update on this since february (just hope that the project is not dead).
This is a good update story of Frankenstein with an european twist on it and you know that I like those movies ;D. For those who don't know, since we had some new people here, it means that a lot of nudity is add (not that much this is the cut version). I like the look of the monster in it (evidently not the "Universal Frankenstein Monster" since his look is copyrighted) and the fact that his face burn when the lightning strike add a touch of "reality". I can really comment on the acting since this movie is dub and not really well. But, Rosalba Neri is as beautifull than ever and we can see the emotions in her eyes. For the completist Joseph Cotten play the Baron Frankenstein in this film. The 19th century recreation is well done too.
I like this film, but I recommand to wait the release of the complete italian version of it.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 46
Post by: Jimmy on October 29, 2008, 02:28:58 AM
Title : Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)
Overview
A man inherits his family's mansion that has been unoccupied for years and was at one time a mental hospital. Desperate to sell for much-needed cash, he sends his attorney to the mansion to prepare it for sale. Unfortunately at the sime time, a deranged killer escapes from a nearby institution and returns to the town and the mansion, both wich hold some dark and sinister secrets.
My Impression
First time that I've watched this one and I was pleasantly surprise. This is a really well done movie, in fact this is more a thriller than an horror film (even if the synopsis tell the contrary). There are some blood, one of the first murder is particullary bloody and realist, but most of the murder are offscreen (take note that some of them are really obviously cut on the print use for my dvd). The story is really good too and this is surprising since it's only the third movie script written by Theodore Gershuny. Like the naration use and the flashback story (this is at this moment that you really understand this film). For those flasback the cinematography is all in sepia (just like the old silent movie) and this is really imaginative. The cast is ok, but Mary Woronov is the only one that shine and it's easy to understand why she continue to act for 42 years. The only downside of this film is the quality of the print : the sound is correct but the image is full of scratch, light spot, ... It would be nice to have a remastered special edition for 2009 since it will be the 35th anniversary of this film, but my hopes are not really high.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 47
Post by: Najemikon on October 29, 2008, 09:34:17 AM
Post by: Jimmy on October 29, 2008, 04:08:10 PM
(http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/images/thumbnails/778854137394f.jpg)(http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/images/thumbnails/880934124191f.jpg)
By the way "Silent Night, Bloody Night" was released in 74 but made in 72, so it was the first Christmass "horror" theme movie.
Black Christmass is not the first "slasher" movie, the first one is Bay of Blood (Reazione a catena) directed by Mario Bava in 1971 that I've reviewed it in june.
And I certainly don't hold "Porky's" against him since this is one of my favourite Canadian movie and this is the greatest success of our cinema1. I can't say the same for She-Man (http://aesppres.com/phpdvdprofiler/index.php?mediaid=014381123524&action=show), what a boring movie, but at least the second features is great ;D
1. I know that Eric and Sebastien will not agree, but "Good Cop, Bad Cop" doesn't really break the record even if the French Canadian medias (mosly TVA) want to make us believe it. GCBC is not even close to Porky's for the number of ticket sold at the theatre. GCBC was a flop in the ROC and haven't done anything in the international market. Porky's was a box office success everywhere in Canada, in the United States ($105,500,000) and probably in many others country. GCBC had the record for the highest grossing Canadian movie in the Canadian box office but not the number of viewer and in absolute dollars value Porky's is always the record holder. By the way a movie with a eight millions dollars budget that made only 11 millions in the international box office is certainly not a success.
Post by: RossRoy on October 29, 2008, 04:40:17 PM
1. I know that Eric and Sebastien will not agree, but "Good Cop, Bad Cop" doesn't really break the record even if the French Canadian medias (mosly TVA) want to make us believe it. GCBC is not even close to Porky's for the number of ticket sold at the theatre. GCBC was a flop in the ROC and haven't done anything in the international market. Porky's was a box office success everywhere in Canada, in the United States ($105,500,000) and probably in many others country. GCBC had the record for the highest grossing Canadian movie in the Canadian box office but not the number of viewer and in absolute dollars value Porky's is always the record holder. By the way a movie with a eight millions dollars budget that made only 11 millions in the international box office is certainly not a success.
:redcard:
I happen to fully agree with you. We have such a tendency here in Quebec to think that we are bigger than we really are, and never take into account the global market. Bon Cop Bad Cop probably did break the Quebec record. But, of course "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" was a flop everywhere else, it's made from such a Quebec perspective, and is so reminiscent of the usual "Quebec vs ROC" (I'm assuming ROC = Rest of Canada) that it can't really work anywhere else. Porky's on the other hand has more of a universal appeal. The whole premise of the movie doesn't rely on a very local reality (QC vs ROC), but on something that's universal.
And anyway, most media who tout a movie as being the new record holder never take into account tickets sold. It's always $$$. Thing is, how much does it cost to go to the theater today, versus what it cost back when Porky's came out.
I always find it funny when they keep saying "<MovieTitleHere> broke the record for opening weekend gross revenue". Oh sure, it probably did make more moolahs, but what about ticket entry? That would be the best indicator. But no, they won't do it. They know too well records would be too hard to break.
Post by: Jimmy on October 29, 2008, 05:04:16 PM
And anyway, most media who tout a movie as being the new record holder never take into account tickets sold. It's always $$$. Thing is, how much does it cost to go to the theater today, versus what it cost back when Porky's came out.I don't know what was the price for one ticket in a real theatre in 1982, but it cost me 1$ for 3 movies in a not so real theatre in my town this year. One thing is sure it was possible to bought a lot of thing with this $ from the perspective of the 12 years old that I was them. By exemple a bag of chips was only 25 cents...
Post by: RossRoy on October 29, 2008, 05:15:32 PM
One thing is sure it was possible to bought a lot of thing with this $ from the perspective of the 12 years old that I was them. By exemple a bag of chips was only 25 cents...
Haha yeah. When I was younger, I used to go to the candy shop with 25¢ and came out with a bag FULL to the brim of individually sold candies... which I proceeded to give to my sister on my return home (my fun was choosing the candy, not eating it, oddly. You wouldn't think that if you saw me today. Right, Eric?? ;))
Post by: Jimmy on October 30, 2008, 02:10:12 AM
Title : Panic (1976)
Overview
A British scientist is working with various forms of bacteria when he is accidentally exposed to a deadly variety due to a lab accident. The exposure transforms the scientist into a hideous, flesh-eating monster and he begins a rampage in the local community that has the government considering wheter or not to destroy the entire town to countain the problem.
My Impression
Nothing special with this film. They had tried to cover to much and they fail in the 2 aspects : the city rampage is non existent and the monster chase is boring. David Warbeck as usual as a good screen precence, but Janet Agren is really underuse. The dubbing is poor, the editing isn't really good and the end is really lame. Maybe the italian version is better, but the version that I own is a lost of time.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 48
Post by: Jimmy on October 30, 2008, 05:23:02 AM
Title : The Beyond (1981)
Overview
Beneath a run-down New Orleans hotel lies a dark, evil secret. The entrance to the underworld is waiting to be opened, and when new residents of the hotel move in...the evil is awakened. Demonic forces of all shapes and sizes are rising up and violently attacking the living one by one. Can the text of an ancient book save the tenants from a horrible death? Will mankind prevail over the demonic forces, or will it perish in a bleak wasteland conquered by legions of the undead?
My Impression
This one is a real italian classic. Very bloody, great special effects, an interesting story and a powerfull musical score. Two scenes are particularly frightening : one involving a group of spiders (I can guarantee that this one would give some nightmares to our good friend Pete) and the other involving a blind woman and her dog (you know what it means Jon). Catriona MacColl is really good in this, David Warbeck and Cinzia Monreale aren't too bad either. The movie was made in english, so it doesn't sound silly like many Italian movie (some of the Italian actors are dub but none of them have a big role). The end is confusing and you must watch the movie more than one time to get it (this the fifth time that I watched it and I'm not 100% sure of my interpretation yet). One last thing that I've just remarked this time : One of the character is a plumber and his name is Joe :hysterical:
If you have never watched a Fulci's horror movie this is the one to watch. He had directed a lot of good movies (Perversion Story, Don't Torture a Duckling, ...) but none of them are really horror movie. The dvd reviewed here is the one release by Anchor Bay in 2002 that countains a really good commentary with David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 49
Post by: Jimmy on October 31, 2008, 03:58:35 AM
Title : Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh And Blood (1985)
Overview
An infamous manga artist received an unmarked parcel in the mail. In this mysterious package was one 8mm film, 54 still pictures and a 19 pages letter. The letter told the artist that a horrible crime was commited by a person of aesthetic paranoia in a very secret place. The 8mm film shows a horrifying descent into pure madness as a psychotic slowly dismembers a defenseless woman and then add her to his collection. The artist quickly turned the film, stills and the letter over to the police for investigation. Haunted by the images he witnessed, he decided to make a semi-documentary based on what he saw.
My Impression
With this one I almost feel like I'm cheating since it's only 24 minutes long, but nowhere in the "rules" it was mention that a movie must be at least 60 minutes long. In fact this is not even the real movie on the DVD that runs for 44 minutes but an easter Egg on the disc. I've choose to watch this movie like that because I think that it's the only way to feel it.
This film had a long history and many people were certain after they have watched it that it was a real snuff movie. Evidently it is not the case... Do you think that those kind of movie get a commercial release :laugh:. I've heard talking of this movie 15 years ago when it was seen as a real one and after a lot of research I've found a place to bought it, but didn't buy it (It was out of my league, the price asked was way too high). So when it was released in 2002, I've bought it sure the price was always high (45 $US) but a lot less that the old bootleg market price. When I've put it in my reader the first time it was a deception, the remastering job is too good and the film is too clean to be credible. But, playing with my reader remote I've found the easter Egg and my oppinion on the dvd had changed. Why? Because this is a poor quality VHS copy with a bad tracking, defects showing that it was copy many time, no subtitles and a bad sound.
The movie is not complicated : it starts with a woman running in the street who is kidnapped by a weird Japanese guys dress in samurai who will slice her members one by one. So we can say that it's a nice familly movie... The effects are really well done and it's easy to understand why it was seen as the real thing. The guy looks like a psychopath and the girl act seriously. Like I've said this is not the same with the real feature.
I don't say if I recommand it or not, since this is the kind of thing that you know if you like or hate them.
Rating :
Number of film watch : 50
Post by: Jimmy on October 31, 2008, 04:00:03 AM
| # | Title | Date | Rating | Never Watch |
| 1 | Zombie (1979) | 10/01 | | |
| 2 | Zombi 3 (1988) | 10/01 | | |
| 3 | Zombie 4: After Death (1988) | 10/01 | | |
| 4 | Ring Around The Rosie (2005) | 10/01 | | |
| 5 | Cloverfield (2008) | 10/02 | | :yep: |
| 6 | Planet of the Vampires (1965) | 10/02 | | :yep: |
| 7 | Dagon (2002) | 10/02 | | |
| 8 | Brain damage (1988) | 10/03 | | |
| 9 | The Bagman (2002) | 10/03 | | |
| 10 | The New York Ripper (1982) | 10/03 | | |
| 11 | An American Werewolf in London (1981) | 10/04 | | |
| 12 | Wolf Creek (2005) | 10/04 | | |
| 13 | Sole Survivor (1982) | 10/04 | | :yep: |
| 14 | Left in Darkness (2006) | 10/04 | | |
| 15 | It's Alive (1973) | 10/05 | | |
| 16 | Seed (2007) | 10/06 | | :yep: |
| 17 | Demons (1985) | 10/07 | | |
| 18 | Curse of the Cannibal Confederates (1982) | 10/08 | | :yep: |
| 19 | 28 Days Later (2002) | 10/10 | | |
| 20 | 28 Weeks Later (2007) | 10/10 | | :yep: |
| 21 | Demented Death Farm Massacre (1972) | 10/10 | | :yep: |
| 22 | Frailty (2001) | 10/11 | | |
| 23 | The Sorority (2006) | 10/11 | | :yep: |
| 24 | The curse of Lizzie Borden (2006) | 10/11 | | |
| 25 | Please Don't Eat My Mother! (1973) | 10/12 | | :yep: |
| 26 | Angst (2003) | 10/12 | | |
| 27 | Porno Holocaust (1979) | 10/13 | | |
| 28 | La Noche del Terror Ciego (1971) | 10/13 | | |
| 29 | El Ataque de los Muertos sin Ojos (1973) | 10/14 | | |
| 30 | The Ghost Galleon (1974) | 10/14 | | |
| 31 | The Murder Mansion (1972) | 10/17 | | :yep: |
| 32 | I eat Your Skin (1964) | 10/18 | | |
| 33 | Scream Bloody Murder (1975) | 10/18 | | :yep: |
| 34 | Metamorphosis (1990) | 10/18 | | :yep: |
| 35 | Naked Massacre (1976) | 10/20 | | :yep: |
| 36 | Haunts (1977) | 10/20 | | :yep: |
| 37 | Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (1962) | 10/22 | | :yep: |
| 38 | The Driller Killer (1979) | 10/22 | | |
| 39 | Horror Express (1972) | 10/23 | | :yep: |
| 40 | Snowbeast (1977) | 10/24 | | :yep: |
| 41 | Sisters of Death (1977) | 10/24 | | :yep: |
| 42 | Oasis of the Zombies (1981) | 10/25 | | :yep: |
| 43 | The Witches' Mountain (1972) | 10/25 | | :yep: |
| 44 | The Revenge of Doctor X (1970) | 10/26 | | :yep: |
| 45 | Funeral Home (1980) | 10/26 | | :yep: |
| 46 | Lady Frankenstein (1971) | 10/27 | | |
| 47 | Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974) | 10/28 | | :yep: |
| 48 | Panic (1976) | 10/28 | | :yep: |
| 49 | The Beyond (1981) | 10/28 | | |
| 50 | Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh And Blood (1985) | 10/30 | |
Post by: Jimmy on November 01, 2008, 12:03:38 AM
I'm way behind the number of Pete (he is in a league of his own :laugh:), but it was a big dvd watching month for me. Hope that I've gave you some idea for your wishlist...
50 will be possible to beat next year. At least it will be easier for me than Pete :P
Post by: Najemikon on November 01, 2008, 03:06:16 AM
Post by: Achim on November 01, 2008, 04:18:37 AM
I enjoy reading your reviews of films I hardly ever heard of!
Post by: Jimmy on February 01, 2012, 01:03:57 AM
Title : 28 Weeks Later (2007)Just watched it again today. First time I blamed the US soldiers a lot (didn't change my mind on that one bit)). But I just realized the kids are to blamed for everything that happen at the survival zone, everybody fricking died because of them and they are seen as hero... fricking unbelievable :whistle:
and no I don't appreciate this film more after a second viewing, in fact I think it become even worst ::)