DVD Collectors Online

Dagon, a review by Danae Cassandra

DagonOverview:
Based on a short story by HP Lovecraft, the undisputed master of macabre ...

Paul and his girlfriend Barbara are celebrating the success of their new company on a yacht off the coast of Spain. When a sudden storm smashes their boat on a reef, Barbara and Paul swim to the nearest town for help. The decrepit fishing village of Imboca at first seems to be deserted, but unblinking eyes peer out from boarded-up houses. The strange inhabitants offer little help to the stranded couple. By nightfall, Barbara is missing and Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town ... but a town of what?

My Thoughts:
For all its additions to the story, Dagon keeps to The Shadow Over Innsmouth fairly closely. We have the drunk, the shambling locals, the famous escape from the inn, and the truly Lovecraftian ending. If we have the addition of other characters besides our narrator and the drunk, and the additions of romantic subplots, those work for the film. It still keeps to the spirit of Innsmouth and that makes it work in bringing Lovecraft to the screen.

Unlike some other films I've been watching this month, this is not a beautiful film. It's nigh the opposite of Masque of the Red Death that I watched this morning. This is an ugly film, dirty, gloomy, perpetually wet. In contrast to Price's cultured characters, the folk of Imboca are degenerate and brutish. There's also considerably more gore, especially in a certain scene toward the end. This is a harder horror film that my usual classics, and I can't recommend it for the squeamish. I can recommend it to fans of Lovecraft, for it's a decent adaptation of Innsmouth, so long as you don't mind the gore.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 24/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 12th, 2016)

Terminator Salvation, a review by addicted2dvd

Terminator Salvation: Director's Cut (2009/United States) Wikipedia |IMDb |Trailer | Warner Home Video Director: McG Writing: John Brancato (Writer), Michael Ferris (Writer) Length: 118 min. Rating: Rated R : Some Violence and Brief Nudity Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

---

Stars:
Christian Bale as John Connor
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams
Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese
Jadagrace Berry as Star

Plot:
In the aftermath of Judgement Day and the takeover by the machines, John Connor (Christian Bale), the destined leader of the human resistance, must counter Skynet's devastating plan to terminate mankind. As he rallies his underground street fighters for a last, desperate battle, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a mysterious loner from the past, challenges him with an impossible choice that will determine the future of the human race.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Featurettes
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Picture-in-picture
• BD-Live
• Digital Copy
• Maximum Movie Mode

I decided to check this one out next. This is the first time I ever seen this film. Every since the very first movie I have always wanted to see more on the actual war with the machines. And now we have an entire movie that takes place in that time. I was wondering why the actor that played Kyle Reece in this film looked so familiar to me... turns out he played Charlie in the "Fright Night" remake. As for the movie itself. It is I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was a couple parts of the storyline I didn't care for as much as the rest of the film... but over-all I definitely enjoyed it... especially all the action scenes!



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: The Blu-ray Experience on July 8th, 2013)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Cmdr. Riker from the Enterprise visits the station but then he hijacks the Defiant by faking a warp core breach. This man isn't really William T. Riker. He's his identical copy, created by a transporter accident several years ago: Lt. Thomas Riker. And Thomas is a member of the Maquis now and he intends to use the Defiant against the Cardassians.

My Opinion: It's interesting how certain organizations are supposed to report to someone else but have developed a life of their own and begin to exist outside of any hierarchy. In this case both Central Command (the military) and the Obsidian Order (intelligence) are supposed to report to the Detapa Council (the civilian government) but neither of them does anymore. I think some real intelligence services behave pretty much the same way. On the other hand: Do we really and honestly want to know what they are doing or do we simply feel safer because they are there?

Synopsis: Peldor joy, my friends! The bajoran gratitude festival is coming up and the station prepares for it. Vedek Barail comes to the station, as well as Keiko - who's currently on a botanical expedition on Bajor - and the Betazoid ambassador: Lwaxana Troi. But something is happening. As if someone slipped a love potion in the punch people are starting to chase one another - but of course in the wildest combinations.

My Opinion: Although it wasn't actually a love potion the plot of this episode is quite common throughout the TV show landscape and wasn't that fascinating.

Synopsis: Sisko, Bashir and Dax have to report back to Earth and they take the Defiant. But when they beam down, they don't land exactly where (or better when) they were supposed to land. It's the year 2024 and while Dax manages to meet a nice industrialist, Bashir and Sisko are brought to Sanctuary District A, a slum without the possibility to leave it.

My Opinion: Although the timeline/time travel logic wasn't logical at all (to explain it here would take than more than a few lines) I liked this episode. But it was scary at the same time. To use concentration camps (although not in the Nazi meaning) for home- and jobless people - a few years back I wouldn't have thought it possible. But if we really slide into a larger depression now, I wouldn't it put past some politicians, who are always looking for simple solutions to complex problems.

Synopsis: The uprising in the sanctuary was one of the turning points in the 21st century but unfortunately the important leader, Gabriel Bell, was just killed protecting Bashir. History is about to be changed, but Sisko mustn't allow that, since it could jeopardize the existence of the Federation itself. He becomes Gabriel Bell. Meanwhile the Defiant's crew tries to re-create the accident and tries to find the three.

My Opinion: This was a good conclusion to the episode, the storming of the district reminded me of the ending of Gangs of New York and O'Brien's and Kira's trips into other eras brought a light touch to this very dark episode without destroying the intended effect.
But I have to make one remark regarding the timeline: The alteration of the timeline was a bit too blatant. No Federation? No space travel at all? Because of the outcome of one revolt that happened even before the third world war? A bit much, don't you think? But as I said the main story was interesting and scary at the same time.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on October 19th, 2008)