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Reviews
12:01 PM (1990)
Haunting and Sad....a Brilliant Effort
I first caught this film in the same way as many of the reviewers here, by catching it as a featured film in the ":30 Minute Movie" segments on Showtime, hosted by Rob Reiner, back in the early 90's. My wife and I were both instantly captivated by the story, which was later remade into a terrible feature-length film, and later modified to become "Groundhog Day." Kurtwood Smith was an inspired choice to play the main character, and the limitations of the 59-minute time frame made his frenzied efforts to escape his inescapable fate all the more terrifying. The ending, while old hat now (since it's been remade again and again), was fresh and shocking for it's time. You ached for Smith's character. The ending haunted me for a long time.
This needs to be released as a special feature on an upcoming release of "Groundhog Day," or needs to be released in it's own right. What a fabulous piece of storytelling.
- T
Alien Apocalypse (2005)
Painful to Watch - Call It - "The Evil Alien Dead."
I'm a Bruce Campbell fan from way back. While I'm not what some would consider a Deadite (rabid fans of Campbell's 'Evil Dead' films by the great Sam Raimi), I am an admirer of those flicks. Bruce Campbell is the best thing to happen to horror-comedy ever. Period.
He must have owed somebody a lot of money to be coerced into putting his name on this.
'Alien Apocalypse,' another in a long string of horrible made-for-cable movies for the US Sci-Fi Channel, is second only to 'Space Mutiny' as the worst science fiction movie ever made. The sets, costumes, makeup, dialogue, acting (God, the acting), and the production values (or lack thereof) all combine to make this so-bad-it's-hilarious. Made for a lunch-money budget, it smacks of public-access cable production values, and acting quality that would embarrass Ed Wood. Bruce Campbell in this movie is like having Marlon Brando in a "Porky's" sequel.
Looking at this film on the surface, it's a mish-mash of 'Independence Day' and 'Planet of the Apes.' Call it, "The Evil Alien Dead," if it helps you. The problem is, not even Campbell is all that good in this movie. A faint echo of Ash (Campbell's hero character from the Evil Dead films), Dr. Ivan Hood is a character best left in the bottom of the trash barrel. Campbell in this role is like a Renaissance painter being asked to create a portrait of dogs playing poker, while sitting naked on toilets. Okay, dogs don't generally wear clothes, but you see where I'm coming from. It's just bad.
Don't watch it on cable, don't record it, don't wait for it to be released on DVD. Believe the hype. It's bad. It's real bad.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
You can thank me later.
- T