Reviews

Not to say that I don't appreciate what Romero has done here; the themes of honor and chivalry definitely come through strong, but seriously, it all amounts to very little at the cost of a huge two and half hour price! Romero has always had a great talent for taking obscure situations and turning them deadly serious. I was waiting for Knightrider's to kick it into high gear, but it never happened. No shocks, little emotion and dull humor. Knightriders is not just Romero "light", it's calorie-free diet film making.

Seeing as how this was the first Polanski movie I saw where he actually starred in, I was very impressed as to how natural he was. His character is in virtually every scene of the movie and it's one of the better roles I've seen in an while. The movie itself has got to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. I'm talkin' top 5 here. The wit and horror meld perfectly together. I laughed at all the right moments and I cringed at all the right moments. And a lot of cringing there was! The fellow at the video store who recommended this to me said it had him virtually gnawing his own arm off. After watching it I know exactly where he was coming from. The Tenant WILL drive you nuts - in a good way.

Easily the best out of all the Elm Street sequels, and probably the Friday sequels as well (I can't really be certain as it's been a long time since I've seen some of the Fridays). But anyway, I thought the first half of this movie was the most suspenseful, where the second half sacrificed some of it's suspense for balls-out action which was done well. Ronny Yu seems to have a talent for taking mainstream horror films and turning them into well made, scary must-see movies. This one is definitely a must see! By the way...this review sucked...I am very aware of that.

A very scary, claustrophobic horror film with superb acting, no fake scares, and an amazing setting (The immense asylum is almost intimidating to watch). The makers of Session 9 did an amazing job at taking best advantage of an obviously limited budget. But lets be honest...there is no way in hell that the asbestos clean-up crew would be able to clean that place in one week...maybe a few months!

Admittedly, I was certain I was headed for B-movie hell when I first queued up The Body Snatchers, and I am happy to say that my initial impressions of the film were wrong. I can't compare this 1993 version to the earlier ones as I have not yet seen them, but on it's own merits, The Body Snatchers is quite an exciting movie. The story this time is centered around a U.S. military base where most of the personnel seem to be mere vessels for some sort of extra-terrestrial beings intent on taking over the human race. The creature effects are quite good (we actually don't see too many creatures but but a lot of tentacles make for some queasy moments) and we get some decent bloody chunks of gore here an there. From an acting perspective I thought everyone was solid and have no complaints. I was particularly impressed with R. Lee Ermey was down played his character and it worked. I've always found his characters a little to hammy to take seriously. Also noteworthy is the musical score/sound which gave the movie a lot of its creepiness. Perhaps not overly musical but definitely eerie. All in all I would give The Body Snatchers a solid 7 out of ten, Perhaps losing a mark for a slow beginning. But once The Body Snatchers Kicks it into High gear around the half hour mark, it's an unrelenting thrill fest that demands to be seen at least once.

Considering I finally got a chance to see the unrated version of this movie in it's entirety, I feel an updated review would be appropriate. I was actually surprised how much better the unrated version was. The gore was far more plentiful, but it wasn't exactly the amount of gore, but how it was done. Jackson really does have a creative eye for gore and I loved the vivid camera work. All the crazy angles and weird camera shots really give Dead-Alive a lot of pizazz (did I just say "pizazz"?).

Probably the most asinine script out of all the Friday's (Okay, Jason goes to Hell takes the cake), but you half to admit, this movie has one heck of a body count. Maybe not as gory as previous or later efforts, but there some clever kills in this one (the rooftop boxing match is my fav). And these are probably the most expendable batch of teens I've ever seen in a horror movie.

This is in my opinion the most intelligent of Romero's Dead films, and the social commentaries and deeper meanings are laid on thick here. But it's also technically well made with some of the best gore I have ever seen. At first, I was turned off by all of the hating, irate characters, but after dwelling on this movie for some time, I feel the unlikeable characters actually gave this movie an interesting twist.

Okay, I won't deny it, this movie is a grand 'ol time...but it's often so freakin bad I could never give this movie a good mark. This movie is a blatant, unapologetic ripoff of Fulci's Zombie and Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust. Even the title rips off those two movies. The acting is terrible and the dubbing is atrocious. On the positive side, Zombie Holocaust does sport some top notch gore (although some of it is very spotty). The sound effects were pretty gruesome sounding as well.

A very effective re-working of Poe's story, mostly due to Henriksen's excellent performance. This guy was scary! I did however find the comic relief a little too over-abundant, bringing down the serious tone of the film. But in the end, thanks to good performances, a strong script, an inspired score and some excellent torture sequences (it's all about the tongue!) Gordon's Pit and the Pendulum is a winner.

7/10 - I had mixed feelings about this one. I did LOVE the first have of the movie. Now, having said that, if the rest of the movie were near as good, I would have given The Hitcher a "9" instead of a "7". The movie started off with a great premise, had excellent suspense, and really was an "edge of your seat" type of film. Unfortunately it turned into a routine chase movie half way through and I got somewhat uninterested. I also question a lot of the character's motivations. They never really explained what the deal with Hauer's character was, nor why he was so intent on tormenting Howell's character. I was left scratching my head at the end thinking, "That's it?!". On the up-side, Hauer did put in a great performance and the movie is worth seeing for that alone.

The Dead Zone is not a scary movie by any means, but it is an intriguing and sometimes emotional film, thanks mostly impart to Walken's strong performance. On the negative side, I thought that Martin Sheen was severely miscast and I never really bought into his villainy. I think he just tried too hard.

I have nothing bad to say about this movie. This is one of those rare movies that happens to be atmospheric, witty and scary all at once without any compromise. The cast was very appropriate; my favorite character was definitely the doctor whose ice-cold demeanor was very effective. My favorite scene: The first werewolf attack on the English moors. Talk about atmosphere!

A very involving Hammer production that chronicles the history and life of Leon (Reed) who becomes cursed at birth causing him to turn into a werewolf when the moon is full. This is a story driven movie. The action and violence is sparse, but that's not what this movie is about. Playing out like a historical drama, Curse of the Werewolf details werewolf mythology like I have never seen. The performances are fine, and the film has an ambient feel to it that makes it even more appealing. Don't sit down to this movie expecting a bloodbath, Curse of the Werewolf is a well written, brilliantly conceived, and nicely plotted thriller.

I like to consider my self a somewhat intelligent person, and I would normally expect to have somewhat of an understanding of what happened in a movie after I after watch one. Well...either me gets a whole lot stupidier or David Cronenberg has created a film that's sole intention is to mess with people's minds. I hope it's the latter (but I know that's not really the case). I actually watched this movie back to back with David Lynch's Eraserhead and my brain is fried! And be warned...don"t blink while watching this movie or you"ll be completely thrown out of the loop.

Some movies just stay with you days after watching them. Cannibal Holocaust is one of them. Admittedly not the easiest film to watch, the graphic nature of the film will turn off all except those with the strongest of stomachs. Even the most seasoned horror fan may have a hard time with this one, but those who are not easily disturbed and can appreciate powerful film-making will no doubt take a liking to Cannibal Holocaust.