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Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The first Re-Animator definitely ranks in my personal top horrors of all time, and it's sequel isn't that far behind in quality.

First and foremost, Bride of Re-Animator is batshit insane, arguably more so than its predecessor. My the time the climax rolls around, there is just an unholy amount of crazy shit going on at once. It's genuinely quite challenging to take it all in, and it's nothing short of marvelous.
The effects work is outstanding. Practical effects and stop motion are used to bring a plethora of rejected experiments to life, and the whole film is just caked in gore and viscera (be prepared if you get funny about veins and ligaments...)
There's one particular moment that could well be one of the finest examples of body horror ever committed to screen.

The puppeteer of this madness is of course Herbert West, a bonafide icon of horror, and once again played by the great Jeffrey Combs. It's great to see David Gale and Bruce Abbott back for another stint as well, and Kathleen Kinmont gives it her all as the titular and showstopping Bride of Re-Animator.

The only real way that Bride falls short of the first movie is really down to pacing and structure. The payoff is fantastic, but the majority of film that comes beforehand feels a bit jumbled together (much like the Bride herself) and comes across as disjointed at times. Honestly, any character that isn't mentioned above is also just kind of there, but that's a minor grumble in a film that involves Hebert West.

Not quite as brilliant as the first Re-Animator then, but a suitably absurd sequel that can stand proud on its own merits.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Annabelle Comes Home (2019) in Movies

Oct 26, 2020 (Updated Oct 26, 2020)  
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
2019 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Incompetent, one of the worst horror movies I've ever seen. No film with a 70s soundtrack this cool should suck this hard, just as a bylaw from now on. Gives you false hope by starting off with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga's charming Warren couple (after rehashing that first 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 scene for the third goddamned time in three different movies) then violating your trust by immediately veering into pure shit. Not even remotely scary, just really loud and irritating - somehow even less frightening than 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦: 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and that useless spinoff wasn't scary either. The same tropes with increasingly less charm, wit, originality, and purpose with each subsequent entry - this one having the added facet of looking like total ass now too! You'd think a beloved multi-million dollar franchise would be able to produce a film that doesn't look like a cheap Halloween section at a Party City with only like one and a half cool shots lmfao. At first you may think that maybe its lack of polish is supposed to add into a nostalgic, old-school Hollywood horror vibe but no - they just didn't care. For a now defaced series so adamant on overstuffing itself with intertwining lore (like so many films feel the need to nowadays during this unholy "just wait for the good stuff... it's building for now..." franchise kick) to the point of losing all sense of singularity they really put nothing into this writing to justify any of that. They really just turned this into some disgraceful, borderline unwatchable, generic drek that'd feel right at home in 2011/2012's rotten horror catalogue. A sequel to a prequel of a prequel to a main entry which has its own sequel that has *its* own spinoff. The pits.
  
Jurassic World (2015)
Jurassic World (2015)
2015 | Adventure, Sci-Fi
Dinosaurs (2 more)
Amazing location
Great effects for the Dinosaurs
Training Raptors?! (0 more)
We spared no expense
I do love a good Dinosaur film and generally I'm a big fan of first three films. We've been waiting a long time for the 4th instalment and it didn't disappoint. Bigger, badder with huge action scenes. The park is finally open and booming and it is great to see. The technology in the park brings the series up to date. I like the little touches which refer to the other films, mainly the first one as it's set on the original island 20 years later. Parts of the plot are a little over the top but this can be excused. It feels more like a sequel to the first film in many ways which is a good thing. Grab the popcorn, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
  
G.I. Joe---The Movie (1986)
G.I. Joe---The Movie (1986)
1986 | Action, Animation, Family
The real toy story
Most of u us had G.I Joes growing up and watched the cartoon and we wanted to beat the evil organization called Cobra. It is brought to life in this action packed movie

Duke (Tatum) is a life long military man who is charged with delivering new top secret missiles when his unit is attacked by members of the evil Cobra. We see the use of future weapons and good battle scene and he and partner Ripcord (Wyanes) are saved by members of the G.I Joe elite. The go with them to learn about the unit and ultimately the missiles get stolen and they join the unit to fight back and recover them. THe movie has some good twists and turns and a good fight scene here and there. This movie spawned a sequel why I don't know
  
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David McK (3600 KP) rated Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) in Movies

Mar 24, 2019 (Updated Jan 18, 2020)  
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
2016 | Sci-Fi
Most of the original cast (0 more)
Hackneyed dialogue and some dodgy effects (0 more)
With the original 1996 film being, essentially, a B movie writ large (and one of those guilty pleasures), this one had quite a bit to live up to.

This is set 20 years after that original (and was also released 20 years after it), with Earth having survived the first alien attack and now having combined alien tech with our own. With most of the original cast returning - bar Will Smith, whose cost (I expect) wa too much - this moves the focus onto the younger generation, who have grown up in the shadow of that original invasion.

It also ends in an absolute set-up for a sequel (or series): to date, no sign of that happening as that is pretty much the epitome of a 'meh' movie.
  
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu  (2019)
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)
2019 | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy
One of the better game/cartoon to live movies (0 more)
Predictable plot (1 more)
Forced humour
Pika Pika
Pokemon is a global brand spanning cartoon, cards, animated films, video games and now a live film, well as live as you can get with imaginary creatures.

Watched in 3D, it really didn't bring anything extra to film.

The plot is pretty much by the numbers and suffers from being horribly predictable, this most likely due to being aimed at a much younger demographic. Bill Nighy really got license to over act his heart out and it shows, in his somewhat limited screen time.

Will it spawn a sequel, possibly, only time will tell as it's launched at difficult time with Endgame still massing larger viewings and Aladdin and John Wick 3 releasing in the next 10 days, it may get squashed to limited performances quickly.
  
Halloween (2007)
Halloween (2007)
2007 | Horror
Rob Zombie was an inspired choice to helm the 2007 reboot of the series and the resulting film was very good indeed. Opting to focus more on Michael’s backstory was an intriguing change to the formula and a risky one at that.

Many fans concluded that it lessened the impact of Michael’s murders. Showing him as an abused child took away the supernatural elements that made Carpenter’s masterpiece so terrifying in 1978.

Nevertheless, I thought the idea worked well, and although Zombie’s film is a case of style over substance in some sequences, it’s a good reboot and one that manages to raise itself well above its horror stablemates at the time of release.

It also had an absolutely cracking soundtrack, but the less said about the disappointing sequel the better.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/10/28/halloween-movies-top-5/
  
When Briar Rose kidnaps Prince Liam to force their marriage, the League of Princes ride to his rescue. However, things go horribly wrong, and they find themselves on a new mission – this time for the very spoiled Briar Rose herself. But what is this princess really after?

I shouldn’t have waited so long before reading this sequel. It’s as delightful as the first one. I laughed the entire way through while enjoying how the characters continue to grow and evolve. The plot takes some nice twists along the way to a satisfying conclusion. This book also sets up some interesting possibilities for the climax of the series, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/07/book-review-heros-guide-to-storming.html">Carstairs Considers</a>
  
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Britt Smith (36 KP) rated Alien: Out Of The Shadows in Books

Mar 11, 2018 (Updated Jun 26, 2018)  
Alien: Out Of The Shadows
Alien: Out Of The Shadows
Tim Lebbon | 2014 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Back in the world (0 more)
Quick Development (0 more)
I can't lie to you about your chances, but... you have my sympathies.
I'll update this as I get more into the book, but I dove into Alien Out of The Shadows after a Xenomorph kick (I like to pretend the movies after the first two do not exist). It brings you back to the chaos, and Ripley is in the mix as this is set between Alien and Aliens. Hopefully, they can capture that feeling.

** Update: You know, for a quick read it was a really, really good book to delve back into the world of Alien/s. There was only one part that let me down and the rest? Well, let's say I'm going to be coming back to the sequel. Great fun if you love the universe and want to continue your ride.