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Revenge of the Creature (1955)
Revenge of the Creature (1955)
1955 | Horror, Sci-Fi
5
6.4 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I'm seeing some Spielbergisms in these movies so far as it seems like he must've used some ideas or themes when starting out like in Jaws. Once you show the monster, it's hard to put jack back in the box.

Unlike the original film, you see too much of the creature right away to build tension or think of him as menacing. This time around different scientists go back to the lagoon and capture the creature and bring him back to civilization. His new home is a large public aquarium where he instantly becomes the new star attraction. While chained to the tank floor he wows the spectators, defends himself against the nosy scientists and attempts escape. This sequence also felt like the 3rd act of The Lost World where the dinosaurs made it to land and terrorized the suburbs.

He eventually escapes and follows the main scientist and his girlfriend whilst they try and have a romantic time out to sea together. The last half of the film feels like you are watching From Here To Eternity with an occasional creature showing up every once in a while.

The tension just wasn't there in this one. A disappointment,

  
Aliens (1986)
Aliens (1986)
1986 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Revisited this for the first time in ages and there’s still no other way of describing it than simply a masterpiece. Watching the theatrical version and the slow build up of tension in the first half building up to the action packed final battle between Ripley and the alien queen is such brilliant story telling and just so well paced. James Cameron follows the Jaws approach and doesn’t show you the slightest hint of an alien till nearly an hour into the film and is far stronger for it. The whole cast are great but the films ace is of course Sigourney Weaver ,she is a total bad ass here and one of cinemas all time great heroines. You are also reminded at what a talent James Cameron was before declaring himself ‘king of the world’. I would love to see him doing something like this or T2 again rather than wasting years on the 172 sequels to Avatar that nobody really wants.

(The special edition of the film is nearly 20 minutes longer and has some interesting moments but in my opinion slows things down a bit too much and you can see why these scenes were removed for the theatrical version)
  
Crawl (2019)
Crawl (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
Killer Alligators and Buckets Of Blood
Crawl is a 2019 disaster/horror movie directed by Alexandre Aja and written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen. It was produced by Sam Raimi and Craig J. Flores and also Ghost House Pictures and Raimi Productions with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper.


Beth advises her sister, Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario), an aspiring University of Florida swimmer to get out of the state, because a Category 5 hurricane is nearing. Concerned for the safety of her father, Dave (Barry Pepper), she goes against police instructions to evacuate, and goes to check on him. Hayley finds Dave's truck at their old Coral Lake home, where she goes into the crawlspace underneath the home to find her father. Now they both find themselves in a struggle for survival as large, ravenous alligators block their escape and they race against time as flood waters rise.


This movie was pretty awesome and better than I thought it was going to be. It was surprisingly delightful the way they built suspense and kept the tension in scenes. It was also pretty brutal with the blood and gore in the kill scenes. Kayla Scodelario performed amazingly and was great as Hayley Keller. Definitely an action-packed blood soaked adventure. The special effects were a little too unrealistic for me, especially in the beginning, which I thought would have bothered me more; but the plight the characters were in was done in such a way, that it just really draws you in. I know a lot of people would probably criticize the alligators behavior in this film too but I'm sure that could be said of movies like Jaws as well. If you don't over analyze it, you'll allow yourself to enjoy a rather exhilarating experience. I give it a 8/10.

This movie was pretty awesome and better than I thought it was going to be. It was surprisingly delightful the way they built suspense and kept the tension in scenes. Kayla Scodelario performed amazingly and was great as Hayley Keller. Definitely an action-packed, blood soaked adventure. The special effects were a little too unrealistic for me, especiallywhich I thought would have bothered me more but the plight the characters were done in such a that it just really draws you in. I know a lot of people would probably criticize the way the alligators behavior in this film but I'm sure that could be said of movies like Jaws as well. If you don't analyze it too harshly you'll allow yourself to enjoy a rather exhilarating experience. I give it a 8/10.
  
Survive: Escape from Atlantis!
Survive: Escape from Atlantis!
1982 | Adventure, Animals, Bluff, Nautical
Sea Monsters (5 more)
Whales that sink boats
Sharks that eat swimmers
Sending monster to do your bidding
getting your people to safety
A newer version was published so everyone has access to it.
The Island is sinking and the ocean is filled with terrors, what a fun time.
I adored this game as a kid, nothing better than sending a shark to eat your sister and making the sounds from the movie JAWS, or sending a whale to sink her boat and maybe yelling "Moby Dick gets his revenge" before you actually know what you are talking about, because you know of the book but haven't read it yet....

This is a great game, the only way to improve it would be to make it 6 players, and add more versions of the creatures, which I've heard the new version does add squids, dolphins and more players. Or as I would call them, Flipper and The Kraken.


I own the old version. which was missing pieces and I got another copy that was missing pieces and created a frankenstein of parts to make the whole. I've seen people playing it online and it hits me in my nostalgic place. I'd love to break this out again and play.


Oh the pictures I would paint in my head as a kid.


The heroic triumph of getting my people to safety.
  
The Babadook (2014)
The Babadook (2014)
2014 | Horror
Minimalist Creep
Wow was I surprised by this. My daughters have been after me for a while to watch, but I have to not being a big fan of modern CGI horror like The Conjuring, Insidious, etc. I made the mistake of including this film in that group and I was wrong.

Modern audiences have grown short attention spans even having film studios get rid of opening film credits, so it is refreshing these days when a film takes its time and leaves something to our imagination. I have written in several reviews the last few years that just because modern filmmakers can do something, doesn't mean they should. Modern CGI effects leave virtually nothing a movie maker can accomplish with enough imagination are computer work done to it; however, I still maintain the "Jaws" theory of the less you show the audience the more they have to used their own imaginations and therefore the film's "Babadook" becomes even more scary.

I loved the way the creature was shown mostly in shadow and not really given a good glimpse most of the way through. Even when it presents itself, you don't really get a good look at it and a lot of the scare is also through creepy, haunting sound effects.

I guess I will have to listen to my daughters from now on!
  
Show all 3 comments.
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Andy K (10823 KP) Dec 11, 2019

No I haven't Lee thanks I'll check it out.

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Katey Bassett (610 KP) Dec 11, 2019

Agreed, it follows was good. Very creepy.