Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (988)

Content

Dark Places: The Haunted House in Film

Barry Curtis

3.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Horror films revel in taking viewers into shadowy places where evil resides, whether it is a house,...

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) in Movies

Jun 16, 2020 (Updated Jun 16, 2020)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

1977 | Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi

6.4

(7 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Interesting if not entirely successful adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic piece of Gothic SF. Michael York get washed up on Burt Lancaster's private island and discovers he's been doing genetic experiments on animals, trying to instil human characteristics into them. Well-mounted, and with decent performances from most of the cast, even if it's never quite as thought-provoking or disturbing as you'd probably like it to be, while most of Barbara Carrera's scenes feel like they've been grafted on from a different film, not entirely comfortably (an attempt at a twist ending involving her character was abandoned when Michael York refused to film it on taste and decency grounds).

The film-makers seem to have noticed the theoretical issues with the plot of the book - the main character has no real agency and is merely an onlooker - and fixed this by introducing a subplot in which Moreau experiments on him, thus setting up a reasonably elegant action-adventury sort of climax complete with happy ending. This does put the film rather at odds with Wells, though, and gets in the way of exploring the book's actual themes - its somewhat problematic subtexts about social control and the different sort of uplift attempted by the British Empire are still there if you look for them, seemingly by accident. Enough of the book's imagery and ideas survive to make this worthwhile viewing and probably the most rewarding adaptation, but really - read the novel as well.

Kudos

Cori June (3033 KP) rated Gideon the Ninth in Books

Jul 15, 2020

Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir | 2019 | Horror, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Descriptions (2 more)

characters

Kept me guessing

a bit predictable at places and gruesome (0 more)

Necromancers in Space

Before reading Gideon the Ninth all I knew about it was: Necromancers in space and lesbians. Everyone who recommended it to me said it was "Amazing" and I "had to read it." Why the lesbian thing was a thing, I'm not sure? representation? Yeah, I'll go with that.
Anyway,
They were right. It is amazing, interesting read. I admit I had some difficulty getting into the first couple of chapters, however I think that was a me problem not from the narrative. Which is gothic and dark, everything that you'd expect from wizards who raise the dead and fight with skeletons would be, and so much more.
It is an interesting concept, although it read more of a mystery to me than a horror, (horror isn't really my genre, I don't have much to base it on. but most of the critics agree that it is in that genre.) and you're in space for maybe 15 pages of the book, if that much. I think there will be more space in the sequel.

The characters interacted with each other well, the tension between them all are great and I had a clear picture of each. Tamsyn kept me guessing on who was or wasn't trustworthy, and the palace that they explore was beautifully described.
Highly recommend if you want something different. This adventure isn't something you'd forget.

Kudos

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Beetlejuice (1988) in Movies

Nov 7, 2020

Beetlejuice (1988)

1988 | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

8.5

(105 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Micheal Keaton (1 more)

Tim Burton

Say His Name

Beetlejuice- is a halloween classic. Its also a tim burton classic. The cast is really good, the fantasy gothic horror element is really good. Its also a dark film, and its PG and it does have some not PG moments. Its a excellent movie.

The plot: After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose "help" quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.

Burton cast Ryder upon seeing her in Lucas. O'Hara quickly signed on, while Burton claimed it took a lot of time to convince other cast members to sign, as "they didn't know what to think of the weird script.

Warner Bros. disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film House Ghosts. As a joke, Burton suggested the name Scared Sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.

Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian is in development hell and now its shelved. So the likely chance of it coming out is unlikely, but who knows.

Like i said before Beetlejuice is a excellent Halloween Classic.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Interview with the Vampire (1994) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

How can a movie that does practically everything wrong still be so thoroughly enchanting? A fundamentally baffling, scalding hot trainwreck of epic proportions that hasn't held up to the passage of time really at all - a miscalculated weirdo relic of pop culture history. I think a lot of this film's appeal has to do with the fact that it's complete lightning in a bottle - for better or for worse we will never see another movie like this again: mopey, homoerotic rococo vampires stumble around through a flounderingly-paced pre-𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 template for lectures on moral dilemmas and a gallery of some of the most lush period visuals of the 90s (from the sweltering plantations of the 1700s south to the decadence of gothic European high-life, it's all orgasmically displayed). Also this is maybe the best use of "Sympathy For The Devil" in a film, even if it is an inferior cover. The fact that Brad Pitt wanted to die the entire time while filming for this woefully underconstructed character actually makes it the only thing that works with it, considering his only defining feature is... that he wants to die. A totally birdbrained brothel of jagged writing and wicked scenery-chewing from a glorious cast (you know you're in for a treat when Christian Slater gives the most restrained performance lol), actually pretty great even though it disembowels a lot of the original text's depth. Full-tilt camp.