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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Videodrome (1983) in Movies
Sep 8, 2020
First It Controls Your Mind Than It Destorys Your Body
Holy shit this movie is good. The effects, the psychological espect, the sci-fi, the horror, the suspense, the mystery and James Woods.
The Plot: As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn (James Woods) is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend (Deborah Harry) auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Distributed by Universal Pictures, Videodrome was the first film by Cronenberg to gain backing from any major Hollywood studio. With the highest budget of any of his films to date, the film was a box-office bomb, recouping only $2.1 million from a $5.9 million budget.
Now considered a cult classic, the film has been cited as one of Cronenberg's best, and a key example of the body horror and science fiction horror genres.
The basis for the film came from David Cronenberg's childhood. Cronenberg used to pick up television signals from Buffalo, New York, late at night after Canadian stations had gone off the air, and worry he might see something disturbing not meant for public consumption.
After the box office success of Scanners, Cronenberg turned down the chance of directing Return of the Jedi, having had no desire to direct material produced by other filmmakers.
When it came to casting the character of Max Renn, Cronenberg chose James Woods, who was a fan of Rabid and Scanners and met with the actor in Beverly Hills to offer him the part, and liked the fact that Woods was very articulate in terms of delivery.
Its a excellent movie and a must see, same with david cronenberg's early horror films.
The Plot: As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn (James Woods) is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend (Deborah Harry) auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Distributed by Universal Pictures, Videodrome was the first film by Cronenberg to gain backing from any major Hollywood studio. With the highest budget of any of his films to date, the film was a box-office bomb, recouping only $2.1 million from a $5.9 million budget.
Now considered a cult classic, the film has been cited as one of Cronenberg's best, and a key example of the body horror and science fiction horror genres.
The basis for the film came from David Cronenberg's childhood. Cronenberg used to pick up television signals from Buffalo, New York, late at night after Canadian stations had gone off the air, and worry he might see something disturbing not meant for public consumption.
After the box office success of Scanners, Cronenberg turned down the chance of directing Return of the Jedi, having had no desire to direct material produced by other filmmakers.
When it came to casting the character of Max Renn, Cronenberg chose James Woods, who was a fan of Rabid and Scanners and met with the actor in Beverly Hills to offer him the part, and liked the fact that Woods was very articulate in terms of delivery.
Its a excellent movie and a must see, same with david cronenberg's early horror films.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated House of Dracula (1945) in Movies
Jun 18, 2020
Get The Gang All Together: The Crossover II
House of Dracula- was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein, and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange), Count Dracula (John Carradine), and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.).
The plot: This monster movie focuses on the iconic vampire, Count Dracula (John Carradine), and Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney), better known as the Wolf Man. Both beings of the night are tired of their supernatural afflictions, so they seek out Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) for cures for their respective curses. While trying to aid the imposing creatures, Edelmann himself develops a transformative condition, adding to the many ghouls lurking around the foreboding landscape.
The working titles for the film were Dracula vs. the Wolf Man or The Wolf Man vs. Dracula.
Although Glenn Strange appears as the Monster in most of the film, footage of Chaney as the Monster from The Ghost of Frankenstein and Boris Karloff from Bride of Frankenstein was recycled; Karloff appears in a dream sequence, while Chaney, as well as his double Eddie Parker, are seen in footage in a fire scene.
Strange recounts that a scene with the Monster stuck in quicksand was particularly arduous for him. On top of three hours of getting into makeup, Strange spent the rest of the day buried in cold sand, including during the lunch break, and was so cold by midafternoon that he could barely feel his legs. Lon Chaney Jr. attempted to help Strange keep warm by passing him a bottle of scotch, with the result that Strange was so drunk that after getting out of costume and makeup, he had difficulty dressing himself in his street clothes. Chaney's drinking contributed to his reputation as being difficult to work with, and probably was the reason Universal let him go after the film was completed.
The film, which was the seventh Universal film to feature Frankenstein's monster, as well as the fourth with Count Dracula and the Wolf Man, was a commercial success, but was one of the last Universal movies featuring Frankenstein's monster, vampires, and werewolves, with the exception of the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), in which all three appear.
Its a fun entertaing horror film starring the universal monsters.
The plot: This monster movie focuses on the iconic vampire, Count Dracula (John Carradine), and Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney), better known as the Wolf Man. Both beings of the night are tired of their supernatural afflictions, so they seek out Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) for cures for their respective curses. While trying to aid the imposing creatures, Edelmann himself develops a transformative condition, adding to the many ghouls lurking around the foreboding landscape.
The working titles for the film were Dracula vs. the Wolf Man or The Wolf Man vs. Dracula.
Although Glenn Strange appears as the Monster in most of the film, footage of Chaney as the Monster from The Ghost of Frankenstein and Boris Karloff from Bride of Frankenstein was recycled; Karloff appears in a dream sequence, while Chaney, as well as his double Eddie Parker, are seen in footage in a fire scene.
Strange recounts that a scene with the Monster stuck in quicksand was particularly arduous for him. On top of three hours of getting into makeup, Strange spent the rest of the day buried in cold sand, including during the lunch break, and was so cold by midafternoon that he could barely feel his legs. Lon Chaney Jr. attempted to help Strange keep warm by passing him a bottle of scotch, with the result that Strange was so drunk that after getting out of costume and makeup, he had difficulty dressing himself in his street clothes. Chaney's drinking contributed to his reputation as being difficult to work with, and probably was the reason Universal let him go after the film was completed.
The film, which was the seventh Universal film to feature Frankenstein's monster, as well as the fourth with Count Dracula and the Wolf Man, was a commercial success, but was one of the last Universal movies featuring Frankenstein's monster, vampires, and werewolves, with the exception of the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), in which all three appear.
Its a fun entertaing horror film starring the universal monsters.
Horror Stories: A Memoir by Liz Phair
5.0
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From the two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter behind the groundbreaking album Exile in...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Mummy (2017) in Movies
Feb 11, 2018 (Updated Feb 11, 2018)
Oh, Mummy.
Laborious attempt by Universal to grab a slice of Marvel's meta-franchise pie by launching a series of fantasy blockbusters based on their stable of famous monster characters. Tom Cruise plays an annoying mercenary who catches the eye of an ancient and evil supernatural creature unearthed in Iraq.
There's a good reason why sensible studios don't try to make horror blockbusters, and especially horror blockbusters starring Tom Cruise - every time the film starts to be effectively creepy or atmospheric, along comes a CGI-enhanced chase sequence, or Tom Cruise doing that smirk, or some other manifestation of corporate blandness. Isn't Tom Cruise too old for this sort of thing? Watching him flirting with a considerably younger actress is by far the creepiest thing in the movie, and he seems quite incapable of the moral ambiguity the part probably requires - Russell Crowe, in the Samuel L Jackson plot-device-character role, acts him off the screen.
You scratch your head wondering how this thing is supposed to work - are all the monsters going to team up together? And do what, exactly? No-one seems to have thought this through. It's much more of a zombie movie than one about an actual mummy, anyway. The depiction of the one-way system in Oxford City Centre is also very misleading; I nearly knocked off a point because of it.
There's a good reason why sensible studios don't try to make horror blockbusters, and especially horror blockbusters starring Tom Cruise - every time the film starts to be effectively creepy or atmospheric, along comes a CGI-enhanced chase sequence, or Tom Cruise doing that smirk, or some other manifestation of corporate blandness. Isn't Tom Cruise too old for this sort of thing? Watching him flirting with a considerably younger actress is by far the creepiest thing in the movie, and he seems quite incapable of the moral ambiguity the part probably requires - Russell Crowe, in the Samuel L Jackson plot-device-character role, acts him off the screen.
You scratch your head wondering how this thing is supposed to work - are all the monsters going to team up together? And do what, exactly? No-one seems to have thought this through. It's much more of a zombie movie than one about an actual mummy, anyway. The depiction of the one-way system in Oxford City Centre is also very misleading; I nearly knocked off a point because of it.
Russ Troutt (291 KP) rated The Nun (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
So often now the theater experience gets ruined with people talking or on their phone, but tonight was a great experience, and nights like tonight, are the reason why I keep going. Whether it was slip of tongue or said on purpose I don't know, but the guy who checked my ticket at the theater said, "Good luck" as he directed me to my screen. And before even touching on the movie, which was amazing, I got super excited seeing the new Halloween trailer on the big screen for the first time; perfect mood setter leading into the movie. Couldn't have asked for a better group of people to watch a movie with tonight. No talking, no bright lights of cell phones, just the sound of chuckles during the few funny lines and the occasional jump and slight screech of a few.
Now, to the movie. There have been some great horror movies in recent years and this one is right up there with the best of them. The Nun was so well done! Set in Romania during the early 50's, it just had that classic horror movie feel to it. I'll finish by decribing and praising it like this, it felt like if The Exorcist was made by Universal back in the 30's/40's era then the result would've been The Nun.
Now, to the movie. There have been some great horror movies in recent years and this one is right up there with the best of them. The Nun was so well done! Set in Romania during the early 50's, it just had that classic horror movie feel to it. I'll finish by decribing and praising it like this, it felt like if The Exorcist was made by Universal back in the 30's/40's era then the result would've been The Nun.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Dracula (English) (1931) in Movies
Jul 6, 2020
It goes without saying that the importance of Dracula cannot be understated. Releasing in 1931, it was Universal Studios first steps into the horror genre, not long after 'talkies' became a thing, and surely paved the way for he mountain of horror titles that have come along since.
Bela Lugosi is Dracula, and though there have been fine portrayals of the titular vampire since, his performance lay the ground work for how a lot of media realise vampires to this day. He cuts a striking figure, he's suave and sinister, and the thick European accent is paramount to how he made Dracula a classic.
I first saw Dracula when I was a kid, and having watched it again recently, it's still a striking experience. While there may not be anything inherently frightening or scary by today's standards, the old black and white style, paired with long moments of uncomfortable silence (Director Tod Browning has exclusively worked on silent films before this), make for a suitably eerie atmosphere.
It's obviously a film that shows it age, but still hasn't lost any of it's charm. The version I watched recently was a Blu Ray restoration, and it's clear how lovingly that restoration has been implemented. Watching a film from the 30s look so crystal clear is something special.
Bela Lugosi is Dracula, and though there have been fine portrayals of the titular vampire since, his performance lay the ground work for how a lot of media realise vampires to this day. He cuts a striking figure, he's suave and sinister, and the thick European accent is paramount to how he made Dracula a classic.
I first saw Dracula when I was a kid, and having watched it again recently, it's still a striking experience. While there may not be anything inherently frightening or scary by today's standards, the old black and white style, paired with long moments of uncomfortable silence (Director Tod Browning has exclusively worked on silent films before this), make for a suitably eerie atmosphere.
It's obviously a film that shows it age, but still hasn't lost any of it's charm. The version I watched recently was a Blu Ray restoration, and it's clear how lovingly that restoration has been implemented. Watching a film from the 30s look so crystal clear is something special.
Virus (1999)
6.2
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Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, True Lies) faces a new, unstoppable terror in this science fiction...
Devil (2010)
6.7
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In Philadelphia, Detective Bowden is still grieving for his wife and son, killed in a hit-and-run...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Wolf Man (1941) in Movies
May 8, 2021
The first Universal werewolf film to really make an impression doesn't have the same iconic status as either Frankenstein or Dracula, but is still a much more proficient movie in purely technical terms. Larry Talbot is plunged into a world of misery and horror when he returns to his family home in Wales; many visitors to the principality will probably empathise, but his experience is particularly bad when he is bitten by a gypsy and becomes a werewolf.
Solid story, decently structured; the wolf man make-up is honestly not that great, and neither is Chaney's performance, but the rest of the cast is decent and the plot rattles along. Notable as the film which established the 'rules' of lycanthropy as far as mainstream cinema is concerned. As ever, probably more interesting from a historical point of view than as a genuine piece of entertainment, but still a film which has deservedly resonated in the culture.
Solid story, decently structured; the wolf man make-up is honestly not that great, and neither is Chaney's performance, but the rest of the cast is decent and the plot rattles along. Notable as the film which established the 'rules' of lycanthropy as far as mainstream cinema is concerned. As ever, probably more interesting from a historical point of view than as a genuine piece of entertainment, but still a film which has deservedly resonated in the culture.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Phantom Creeps - Feature Version (1939) in Movies
Oct 21, 2020
Expirment Gone Right
The Phantom Creeps- is a really good horror film.
The Plot: Mad Dr. Zorka uses his arsenal of bizarre inventions to conquer the world in this feature-length version of the serial.
I like when Bela Lugosi plays as a mad scientist. He does a excellent job when plays as a mad scientist.
A 78-minute feature film version of the film, cut down from the serial's original 265 minutes, was released for television showing in 1949. Which is the verison i watched.
The serial contains some similarities with the earlier serial The Vanishing Shadow, such as an invisibility belt and a remote-control robot. Stock footage was used from The Invisible Ray, including scenes of Dr. Zorka finding the meteorite in Africa. As with several Universal serials, some of the stock music came from Frankenstein. The Phantom Creeps' car chase was itself used as stock footage in later serials.
Its a really good film.
The Plot: Mad Dr. Zorka uses his arsenal of bizarre inventions to conquer the world in this feature-length version of the serial.
I like when Bela Lugosi plays as a mad scientist. He does a excellent job when plays as a mad scientist.
A 78-minute feature film version of the film, cut down from the serial's original 265 minutes, was released for television showing in 1949. Which is the verison i watched.
The serial contains some similarities with the earlier serial The Vanishing Shadow, such as an invisibility belt and a remote-control robot. Stock footage was used from The Invisible Ray, including scenes of Dr. Zorka finding the meteorite in Africa. As with several Universal serials, some of the stock music came from Frankenstein. The Phantom Creeps' car chase was itself used as stock footage in later serials.
Its a really good film.