Change Your Image
Evan Anderson
Reviews
Vincent (1982)
Magnificent
This is my favorite short film of all time. It's probably more enjoyable to a Vincent Price fan than anyone else, but I think everyone should see it. The references and rhymes within it are brilliant, and once again Tim Burton's dark atmosphere and imagery is fascinating to watch. The film is comedic but dark at the same time, but I'm not sure if I would call it a black comedy. During the film a six minute poem about a boy who wants to be like Vincent Price is recited the the spookmaster himself. As it is a young boy acts out what is being said. It's funny, creepy, impressive, atmospheric, weird, etc. You can see it on the Nightmare Before Christmas DVD. As I said I think everyone should see it, but it is essential for fans of Price.
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
I love this film!
I saw this film once for the first time and I have to (and hate to) admit that while I thought it was decent I was a bit disappointed. Then I realized that i couldn't stop thinking about it and thinking about how impressed I was with the ending. I had to see it again. I did and the second time I loved it! It doesn't have a complex plot, but Russ Meyer was never known for such things. If you want to know the plot I'm sure other reviewers can tell you. It contains certain trademarks of Russ Meyer. It has well-endowed women playing lead roles, archetypes and stereotypes, and ends with a scene of violence. The characters are great! This is considered the best Russ Meyer film with good reason. It is essential viewing for any of his fans or for people just wanting to check out his work. Like most of his films it is a hilarious satire on sex and violence in all it's glory. If you like this one another essential one of his is Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-vixens. This film is for more than Russ Meyer fans, but the people that think Matrix Reloaded is the best film ever should steer clear. The dimestore dialogue, trademark editing, and beautiful B&W Russ Meyer quality look would most likely be lost on them anyway. This film is rare so if you're lucky enough to find a copy rent it. You can probably find it sold on ebay or amazon.com if your hopes are high enough to buy it. I think it's worth the money either way. I wish this would come out on DVD. Russ Meyer I salute you!
Doppelherz (2003)
WOW!
The first time I tried to watch this film my friends were being freaked out by it and didn't understand it. They made me stop it. Once I got another chance I put it in my DVD player and watched all twenty-six minutes of it. I was in awe. Even though the film is said to have no explanation I understood it. That's pretty funny. There is no sense of traditional storytelling here. The first track on the c.d. plays in a loop as marilyn manson says several different things over and over again in voice over. There is no pattern to it. Listen to the things he says. Some are funny and others are thought provoking. At least one helps explain the plot I saw. "I'm not really tall dark and handsome" was the line. Also everything that is not him sitting in his chair is a flashback and what he puts on his face is an adhesive used in stage makeup called liquid latex. Figure out the rest for yourself or come up with an entirely different interpretation. I would like to see Marilyn do another film. After this one (even though it was more than enough) I crave more! I guess I'll just have to wait until his next c.d.
Suspiria (1977)
A masterpiece of horror
Suspiria is a truly great movie. One of the things that makes it so wonderful is the haunting music done by the band Goblin. It's downright hard to listen to their music at night in the dark. With music like that Suspiria is likely to be the scariest movie you will ever hear, except for maybe Eraserhead (best sound ever). The first and last are the downright scariest but there are others inbetween that will still scare you. Despite the fact that the movie is slow after the first murder it's still not so slow that it diverts your attention and bores. Jessica Harper may not be the greatest actress in the world but she is beautiful along with some other girls in the movie. The first murder in the movie is known as the most brutal ever put to film and I agree. That still is not to say this movie uses only gore to scare you. It uses music, imagery, story, etc. All the killings are not just regular slasher murders. They're all rather creative. A barbwire murder and possession of a dog are two creative murder methods. The Romanian guy looks as creepy as hell. There really isn't much more to say except rent if you are a horror buff but if the kind of horror movies you consider to be the best are ones like Scream avoid this one until you become a fan of cult horror, and can stand a low-budget flick made in the 1970's.
Commando (1985)
Ha! Ha! Ha! Who says Arnold can't do comedies well?
This is a funny funny movie even if the humor is unintentional. I have no idea whether it is or not. It's like a spoof of action films. Just so many things that happen in the movie are impossible or improbable. The two villains aren't very threatening compared to Abu Aziz (True Lies) or T-1000 (T2). In fact the second main one is a man with a horrid accent and a greasy face and the main badguy is even less a threat. Bennett, the main badguy, is a rather fat version of Freddie Mercury who wears a chainmail vest (bad style) and overacts during the movie. Listen to the "I kill you myself!" line in particular. You'll be treated to some hilariously ridiculous scenes such as, Arnold shaking a guy out of a phone booth, Arnold fighting the wimpiest cops ever on film, a car that miraculously repairs itself, a bad dialogue green beret scene, Arnold killing half the population of the world (some of them are killed twice), and an arm being cut off with Monty Pythonish special effects. I'm sure there are more but rent this movie watch and try not to die of laughter!
Eraserhead (1977)
About f#&*ing time!
I say that in the one line summary because this film is harder than hard to find. I finally found it in a video store that had rare cult movies. If you live in N.C. and want to see it I found it in Boone at Fat Cats video store. There's not much point in persuading someone to watch it, but if you want to watch it here are some guidelines. 1) You have to accept the fact that the movie will (most likely) scare you, depress you, weird you out, and CONFUSE you. Might bore you. 2) Don't try to understand the movie. You won't! Even if you've never been confused before in your life you won't understand this movie! I don't think David Lynch even really understands all of this movie. 3) This isn't essential but it helps if you sympathize with Henry.
4) Be prepared for a slow movie with some images and sounds you've never seen or heard. 5) Remember it's just a movie. 6) Laugh or smile at the parts that are funny. 7) If it's getting to you too much stop the tape. It's not essential to life. 8) Don't watch it if at the time you are already depressed. 9) Unexpected things happen all through the movie. 10) Read the other user comments of Eraserhead. 11) You will either love or hate it. Overall a great movie! I hear that people that watch Eraserhead are trying to be artsy or intellectual or even refer to us a psuedo-intellectuals. We aren't, and to the people that think that please let's just leave it at the fact that we liked Eraserhead and not hold any hard feelings toward each other. This movie is the weirdest but probably not the best of David Lynch. I like Blue Velvet more. You won't really know what to make of the movie as and after you watch it. The sound in the movie is to die for and the baby is... well... hard to describe but scary, weird, gross, animal-like, etc. You have to watch this movie more than once to get the movie. The sperm scene was probably the scariest part of the movie. The beginning is fantastic. It gets weirder as it goes along. I think David really just wanted to evoke a response from the viewer more than he wanted to entertain but it did both to me. I don't really know what else to say except it will change the way you look at chicken forever.
The Bottomless Cup (2000)
good
This film is pretty good. Anyway it's pretty weird and that's probably the reason I like it since my life revolves around the bizarre. A man falls asleep at the wheel and goes into a diner to order coffee as a remedy. He orders a bottomless cup and it seems the name isn't just a clever title. This film has a sort of creepy twilight zone feel. One of the better short films I've seen. This film is one of those that just sort of stops. It ends abruptly with no real resolution.
The Elephant Man (1980)
One of the greatest
This was a truly great and touching movie. It's hard to give a review because it really has to be seen to be believed. Hopkins and Hurt are terrific. This has to be one of the best by David Lynch and that's saying a lot considering the obsessed Lynch fan I am. One of my friends have begged me to see it at a party but he and I were outvoted by Shining fans. Anyway this movie will make you cry. John Merrick may look like a monster but he is a caring, kind, intelligent, respectful, and above all great man. It's the people that discriminate against him, ridicule him, and use him that are the monsters. Several scenes in the movie can be rather disturbing (one is hard not to turn away from) but that's what makes this movie so powerful. I don't see how anyone can put down this film and say it is not great. Even if you hate David Lynch's other movies you'll probably still like this one. If it didn't win any of the eight academy awards it was nominated for it would have been an injustice. You have to see it to believe it.
10/10
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Lynch in all his glory. Interpret it.
This movie is more or less about a women referred to by an alias Rita (the beautiful Laura Elena Harring) trying to find out who she is with the help of her newfound friend Betty (the equally beautiful Naomi Watts). There are other things going on like a young frustrated director trying to recast the lead of his film and a paranoid man worried about the nightmare behind a diner but most of the movie is Rita trying to find out who she is. The earlier part of the film is weird but easy to follow but the last thirty minutes are crazy! Don't go psycho and bash Lynch all you people. Calm down pay attention and get your own interpretation. I'm not listing mine for the simple reason I want you to get your own. There are probably one-million interpretations and none of them are wrong since Lynch probably intended for people to have different interpretations. That's the beauty of films like this. They give you freedom which is more than I can say for normal movies. If you like weird movies like me rent this! You will also be treating to some disturbing scenes a bum that looks like he came straight from hell, miniature malicious old people crawling under the door, a strange stage performance, an accidental suicide, and a rotting dead body. There's also blue haired woman whispering "silencio." Then there's a rather pointless but sexually stimulating lesbian sex scene (Enjoy guys!). 9/10
Blue Velvet (1986)
The best Lynch film I've seen so far
The only reason I say so far is because I haven't seen the ridiculously unattainable Eraserhead. I've seen all of David Lynch's other films and the only one that I think comes close to being as good as Blue Velvet is Elephant Man. Blue Velvet is not a good movie to watch if you cringe at the sound of the f word but if you can stand to hear that word you should see this movie. I was talking to my friend about Lost Highway and he asked if I had seen Blue Velvet. Once I said no he just smiled and said rent it. Thank you friend! This movie is tied for my second favorite with American History X. Dennis Hopper delivers a very chilling performance as Frank Booth. His first scene in the movie is very disturbing and brutal to watch.It has some very interesting dialogue and visuals that you won't forget anytime soon. At first the town seems so nice but if you scratch the surface you realize that there is much more than what you see. There is a forced love slave, a drug addicted sadist, a severed ear, and let's just throw in the bugs we see at the beginning. In other words this is movie hard to explain simply by commenting on it. The other comments may help you understand it better but it still has to be seen to be believed. 10/10
American History X (1998)
Powerful! My second-favorite movie
This movie is a great film against racism. It shows the horror of racism and what it can do to a decent family. The performances of the characters (especially Edward Norton) are so insanely great that they are scary! I like this movie because I hate racism. Only watch this movie if you're not bothered by profanity and can take a sad ending that always makes me cry! It is definitely not a movie to watch on a bad day but a movie to watch on any other day.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Best movie I have ever seen!
I totally love this movie. It is my favorite and will likely remain that way until I die! If you like bizarre disturbing movies this is for you! The movie is about four guys who beat up people and rape women. One night the gang leaders members turn on him and he gets caught. In prison he gets himself into a special form of rehab but it turns out to be more than he bargained for. If I went any further I would tell too much. I like this movie mainly because I have a fascination with bizarre disturbing movies. You find those two elements in all it's glory in this movie. I am also fascinated by the language spoken (nadsat)and the classical music played in the movie. No one has ever done as much with language as Stanley Kubrick and Anthony Burgess. I love the english accents and Malcolm Macdowell was made for the role of Alex (your humble narrator)! Enjoy the disturbing singin in the rain scene!