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Awix (3310 KP) rated Scanners (1981) in Movies
Oct 12, 2020
Horror-SF from David Cronenberg. A man with psychic powers is sent to infiltrate a dangerous network of others with similar abilities: they have many subtle telepathic and telekinetic powers, such as being able to make people's heads explode.
Actually rather less graphic and icky than the film's reputation (and advertising) might suggest; the really spectacularly gory bits bookend the movie, and much of the rest of it looks like a relatively conventional thriller. The film is arguably ahead of its time in its suspicion of the military-industrial complex and big pharma; there is perhaps a subtext about the souring of 60s idealism as free-thinkers are persecuted or exploited by vested interests. Pretty good performances from the hero and the villain, but (not really surprisingly) Patrick McGoohan steals the film as the protagonist's father-figure. A thoughtful and intelligent film that isn't afraid to really go for the splatter now and then.
Actually rather less graphic and icky than the film's reputation (and advertising) might suggest; the really spectacularly gory bits bookend the movie, and much of the rest of it looks like a relatively conventional thriller. The film is arguably ahead of its time in its suspicion of the military-industrial complex and big pharma; there is perhaps a subtext about the souring of 60s idealism as free-thinkers are persecuted or exploited by vested interests. Pretty good performances from the hero and the villain, but (not really surprisingly) Patrick McGoohan steals the film as the protagonist's father-figure. A thoughtful and intelligent film that isn't afraid to really go for the splatter now and then.
Lenard (726 KP) rated The Banana Splits Movie (2019) in Movies
Sep 2, 2019
You never meet your heroes
In an alternate universe, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour is still running on TV and the youth of today still watch it. Harley is a huge fan of the chaotic puppet rock quartet. Harley has few friends, his father died, and his brother is turning into a millenial. His mother gets five tickets to a taping of the Banana Splits show for Harley's birthday. Unbeknownst to the studio audience, the network has just cancelled the show. Now all those fans are in danger as the show has nothing to lose so why not oversized Sid and Marty Krofft puppets murdering people. The concept for the movie is absolutely brilliant. However, the child actors in the cast can carry the tone of the film. Some of the campiness is evident, but the filmmakers never really match the surrealism of the Sid and Marty Krofft original to counter out the horror elements the writers have included.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Jaws (1975) in Movies
Aug 26, 2019 (Updated Aug 26, 2019)
Spielberg's exemplary suspense-fright machine remains the only killer shark movie you will ever need to watch. A two-course fish supper: the first half concerns police chief Roy Scheider's attempts to persuade the self-serving authorities of the danger posed by a marauding shark (post-Watergate subtext is fairly obvious); the second sees Scheider, bright young oceanographer Richard Dreyfuss, and salty sea dog Robert Shaw setting off on a primal quest to slay the monster, in a boat which may well prove to be of inadequate size.
Spielberg does an excellent job of hiding the pulpy horror-story origins of the tale, swathing it in plausible small-town Americana, low-key humour and excellent characterisation; John Williams' score is, needless to say, essential to the enterprise. The battle to the death in the second half is superbly constructed, paced and executed. Superb entertainment; I am happy to report that over forty years on, Jaws remains entirely capable of making cinema audiences squirm and scream.
Spielberg does an excellent job of hiding the pulpy horror-story origins of the tale, swathing it in plausible small-town Americana, low-key humour and excellent characterisation; John Williams' score is, needless to say, essential to the enterprise. The battle to the death in the second half is superbly constructed, paced and executed. Superb entertainment; I am happy to report that over forty years on, Jaws remains entirely capable of making cinema audiences squirm and scream.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Curse of the Cat People (1944) in Movies
Jun 4, 2020
Odd, dreamy follow-up to Cat People; not really a sequel in the conventional sense at all, barely qualifies as a horror movie, either. Picks up the story a few years later; the couple from the original film are now married with a child, who has a problematically rich fantasy life. Given a 'wishing ring' by a lonely old woman, she wishes for a friend - and what appears to be the ghost of her father's first wife (Irena the Cat Woman) materialises...
Much, much gentler than it might sound; there's virtually no reference to Irena's supposedly cursed blood (she turns into a cat in moments of passion), the 'curse' mentioned in the title is the shadow her death still casts over the family. But here Irena seems entirely benign and the story is about the relationship between parents and a child struggling to fit in. Nicely made and performed, but very hard to categorise.
Much, much gentler than it might sound; there's virtually no reference to Irena's supposedly cursed blood (she turns into a cat in moments of passion), the 'curse' mentioned in the title is the shadow her death still casts over the family. But here Irena seems entirely benign and the story is about the relationship between parents and a child struggling to fit in. Nicely made and performed, but very hard to categorise.
My Favorite Thing is Monsters
10.0
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Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters...
Graphic novel
Action Tadka India
1.0
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Welcome to Action Tadka India:The one stop for the latest on Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood,...
Strength Check (Dungeons and Dating #1)
8.8
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Roxie Esposito just opened a board game café in San Francisco and should be basking in success....
Contemporary FF Romance
David McK (3935 KP) rated I Am Legend in Books
Jul 7, 2019 (Updated Mar 19, 2023)
Richard Matheson's classic 1954 horror story, that (according to Wikipedia) has been converted four times into movies: The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man(1971),I Am Legend(2007) and I Am Omega(2007)
Of those, I was aware of only Charlton Heston's The Omega Man and Will Smith's I Am Legend, only having seen the latter. I'm also aware that that film also deviates from the source material (when do they not!), with the book describing the pandemic as (more-or-less) turning people into vampires rather than the zombies of the film. In both cases, Robert Neville seems to be immune to the virus, and is trying to work out how to cure it, while seemingly the last human being on the planet. The two versions, however, also end rather differently, with the novell(a) suiting the title 'I am legend' (and explaining why) more than the movie does!
Of those, I was aware of only Charlton Heston's The Omega Man and Will Smith's I Am Legend, only having seen the latter. I'm also aware that that film also deviates from the source material (when do they not!), with the book describing the pandemic as (more-or-less) turning people into vampires rather than the zombies of the film. In both cases, Robert Neville seems to be immune to the virus, and is trying to work out how to cure it, while seemingly the last human being on the planet. The two versions, however, also end rather differently, with the novell(a) suiting the title 'I am legend' (and explaining why) more than the movie does!
Darren (1599 KP) rated Scream 4 (2011) in Movies
Oct 31, 2019
Characters – Sidney has made a career in books after the events in the films, she is completing her latest book tour right where it all started. With her back in town the killings start up again, Sidney must be the role model for her cousin who is going through the same situation she once did. Gale is now married to Dewey, she has given up the spotlight, but craves getting back into the field with the new killings offering her the chance. Dewey is now the sheriff who must now control the situation before it gets out of hand. We get the new potential victims or suspects here with Jill being Sidney’s cousin always tired of being in the shadow of her more famous family member, Kirby the rebellious teenager, Robbie who is filming every moment of his life for a reality YouTube network and Charlie is the leader of the film club. These characters do fit around the moulds of the original teens too.
Performances – Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette all return giving us good performances without needing to bring anything new to the performances. Of the new cast members nobody comes off in a shining performance which can disappoint in places as we have a wonderful set of talents in the film.
Story – The story here brings back our original characters just as a new killing spree has started in the area where it all started, with a new generation of victims and horror fans. The idea for this story comes from the idea that we have too many sequels or reboots, which does help take away the serious nature from the film, the Ghostface does seem flat for the most part because they seem to get mixed into being too intense without a reason behind the killings. Of course this is more about poking fun with the meta of everything in the horror genre which is does achieve.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film comes from the slasher angle, only this time we get a bloodier version of the kills showing the change in the genre. The mystery in this film comes from just who the killer is going to be this time, though we don’t get enough signs this time.
Settings – The film returns to the original town which does help with the idea of a reboot sequel piss take that we are dealing with.
Special Effects – The effects are the most disappointing side of this film because we have moments of CGI that don’t look as true as the practical moments.
Scene of the Movie – Deputy Judy being like Dewey is the funniest moments.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The kids are not really likeable.
Final Thoughts – This is a solid look at the horror genre with the countless sequels and remakes that we are seeing, it brings back enough relevant characters back but does fail to give us enough interest new ones.
Overall: Simple fun sequel.
Performances – Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette all return giving us good performances without needing to bring anything new to the performances. Of the new cast members nobody comes off in a shining performance which can disappoint in places as we have a wonderful set of talents in the film.
Story – The story here brings back our original characters just as a new killing spree has started in the area where it all started, with a new generation of victims and horror fans. The idea for this story comes from the idea that we have too many sequels or reboots, which does help take away the serious nature from the film, the Ghostface does seem flat for the most part because they seem to get mixed into being too intense without a reason behind the killings. Of course this is more about poking fun with the meta of everything in the horror genre which is does achieve.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film comes from the slasher angle, only this time we get a bloodier version of the kills showing the change in the genre. The mystery in this film comes from just who the killer is going to be this time, though we don’t get enough signs this time.
Settings – The film returns to the original town which does help with the idea of a reboot sequel piss take that we are dealing with.
Special Effects – The effects are the most disappointing side of this film because we have moments of CGI that don’t look as true as the practical moments.
Scene of the Movie – Deputy Judy being like Dewey is the funniest moments.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The kids are not really likeable.
Final Thoughts – This is a solid look at the horror genre with the countless sequels and remakes that we are seeing, it brings back enough relevant characters back but does fail to give us enough interest new ones.
Overall: Simple fun sequel.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Jackals (2017) in Movies
Oct 14, 2019
Characters – Jimmy Levine has been deprogramming cult members for years, after being part of one before, he will push Justin, but this time he may have met his match. Kathy is the mother of the family, she has turned to drink after her marriage fell apart, she does enjoy the grandmother role though. Andrew is the father that brings in Jimmy, willing to face his own mistakes to save his son from the cult. Justin is the son that joined the cult, he believes he is part of a new family and they have come in search for his baby daughter to join the cult.
Performances – We do have a couple of well-known actors in this film, Stephen Dorff, Deborah Kara Unger and Johnathon Schaech being the big three, the problem is with the story, the three actors struggle to make the impact in this film they could have. Nobody gets to make the most of their work in this film apart from the cult members that makes us feel like we are watching the creepy crazed figures.
Story – The story follows a family try to save their son from a cult he joined, only the cult isn’t accepting one of their members to leaving, even if he doesn’t want to leave. This does take a spin on the home invasion film because we have a ready made established member of the cult being taken against his will, the cult size is scary big with the action against being deadly. The problems with the story come from the idea that we don’t learn the true motives of the people in the cult, why he joined them in the first place and with the ending feeling like they just ran out of money. This story has so much more potential, it feels like something was just missing in the execution as the ending is completely rushed.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from just what the cult is willing to do, they will make you feel uneasy every time they are just stood in the shadows, this is easily the highlight of the film. we are left to keep guessing on just what will happen in the film too.
Settings – The film is set in a cabin the woods, we have no signal, the cars are the only way out, but taken away early meaning the family is isolated and trapped, perfect for what the cult want to do to them.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are solid enough, we see most of the aftermath of any damage, which the one time we get to see the shocking damage we can easily turn away from that.
Scene of the Movie – The figures in the shadows.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film that was filled with potential, we could have seen so much more even if the horror side of the film is the highlight of the film.
Overall: Disturbing, yet unfulfilling horror.
Performances – We do have a couple of well-known actors in this film, Stephen Dorff, Deborah Kara Unger and Johnathon Schaech being the big three, the problem is with the story, the three actors struggle to make the impact in this film they could have. Nobody gets to make the most of their work in this film apart from the cult members that makes us feel like we are watching the creepy crazed figures.
Story – The story follows a family try to save their son from a cult he joined, only the cult isn’t accepting one of their members to leaving, even if he doesn’t want to leave. This does take a spin on the home invasion film because we have a ready made established member of the cult being taken against his will, the cult size is scary big with the action against being deadly. The problems with the story come from the idea that we don’t learn the true motives of the people in the cult, why he joined them in the first place and with the ending feeling like they just ran out of money. This story has so much more potential, it feels like something was just missing in the execution as the ending is completely rushed.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from just what the cult is willing to do, they will make you feel uneasy every time they are just stood in the shadows, this is easily the highlight of the film. we are left to keep guessing on just what will happen in the film too.
Settings – The film is set in a cabin the woods, we have no signal, the cars are the only way out, but taken away early meaning the family is isolated and trapped, perfect for what the cult want to do to them.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are solid enough, we see most of the aftermath of any damage, which the one time we get to see the shocking damage we can easily turn away from that.
Scene of the Movie – The figures in the shadows.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film that was filled with potential, we could have seen so much more even if the horror side of the film is the highlight of the film.
Overall: Disturbing, yet unfulfilling horror.