DVD Collectors Online

Near Dark, a review by Danae Cassandra

Near Dark
Year of Release: 1987
Directed By: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein
Genre: Horror, Western, Crime

Overview:My Thoughts:
This is a stylish hybrid film, bridging horror, western and crime genres together to create a uniquely modern look at the vampire.  Perhaps one shouldn't use the term here, they certainly don't in the film, but it is still definitely a vampire film.  All of the actors do an excellent job, and the pull Caleb finds himself in between his two contrasting families creates quite a bit of excellent tension as you wonder whether he will accept his new family and new life, or continue to cling to his humanity.  Jenny Wright's portrayal of Mae is also just about the best portrayal of Stockholm Syndrome I've ever seen.  There is a bit of gore here, but nothing too bad and all necessary to the story.  Well worth a watch.

Bechdel Test: Fail (I think)

Overall: 4/5

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 9th, 2014)

House of Wax (2005), a review by Rich

Title: House of Wax

Movie Count:36  
TV Ep. Count:18  

Runtime:108
Certificate:15
Year:2005
Genres:Horror

Plot:Thrills and chills ooze all over you in House of Wax, from Dark Castle Entertainment and legendary horror producers Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis (Gothika, House on Haunted Hill).
When their car breaks down on a road trip, six college friends are sidetracked into an eerie backwoods town. Curiosity gets the better of them when they are intrigured by its macabre House of Wax. They soon find out that the town is not what it seems and they must find their way out before they fall victim to its ghoulishly inventive killers.

My Review:
Above average remake, very watchable despite having Paris Hilton in the cast, although it was difficult to tell her apart from the wax dummies.
Some nice original scenes, such as the cinema, add gloss to a reasonable plot, albeit cheesy, but you find yourself enjoying it nonetheless.
Despite the stuttering start, once the action begins it is pacy and gory with reasonable tension, and with bodies dropping at regular intervals your attention is kept focussed.
Not great acting, but 'Trudy' is a pretty scary monster, and the set-pieces make this a surprisingly entertaining flick.  



(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 28th, 2009)

Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Xena intervenes in an old feud between two kingdoms that is fuelled by the weapons dealer profiting from it. He kidnapped the princess and blamed it on the other kingdom. Within his ranks Xena finds Marcus, an old friend of hers who still travels the road she's left.

My Opinion: It was an OK episode, but Marcus's sacrifice at the end was a bit unconvincing. Granted they prepared for it in that conversation between him and Xena, but he was just fighting her because he did not want to change his way of living.

Synopsis: Ares, God of War, slaughters some innocent villagers and blames it on Xena. The surviving villagers want to bring her to trial and then execute her. Ares could help her - if she comes back to him. Gabrielle tries to defend her and prove her innocence but is being sabotaged in her efforts.

My Opinion: Even though the episode introduced the cool Kevin Smith (they are both cool, but this is not the fat one! ) as Ares, the episode didn't work for me. Even though she was innocent she surrendered to this trial just because she has a dark past. And it looked like as if she might have let them kill her. That's BS in my eyes.

Synopsis: Gabrielle inadvertently releases three of the Titans when she recites and old chant in a huge cave hall. Amongst them is Hyperion, the Sun Titan, who is not very fond of Humans. At first they follow Gabrielle's command since they believe that only a powerful god could have released them. But Hyperion is impatient...

My Opinion: This episode I liked. It was cool to see Crius (one of the Titans) to follow Gabrielle's every wish and constantly calling her "the virgin goddess" and her getting annoyed by it (especially the "virgin" part ). I also thought they did the handling of the height difference pretty decently. The special effects in the show aren't the best but here they managed it to look pretty convincingly.

Synopsis: Hera, wife of Zeus and mother of the gods, has put Prometheus in chains. This means that mankind will slowly lose all gifts Prometheus has given them. Starting with the ability to heal and the ability to utilize fire. Both Xena & Gabrielle and Hercules & Iolaus try to free him again.

My Opinion: This was a cool episode, seeing the four of them together (I think it's the only time it ever happens). And while it was unlikely (due to the time frame) that Hercules told Xena about Prometheus and his chains I didn't care. I liked how they found "a solution" to free him without the need to sacrifice one of them and I liked how Iolaus and Gabrielle came closer.

(From Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon on December 2nd, 2009)