The Outer Space Connection (1975)

Director: Fred Warshofsky

Writers: Alan Landsburg, Fred Warshofsky

Composer: Roger Wagner

Starring: Rod Serling, Roy E. Cameron, M.C. Chang, Patrick Flanagan, Art Ford, Tim Gill, E.S.E. Hafez, Duncan A. Lunan, Thelma Moss, Leslie Orgel, Ernst von Glasersfeld

More info: IMDb

Tagline: We Are Not Alone in the Universe

Plot: This documentary examines the speculation that aliens have visited Earth in ancient times, and built structures to which they will return at a future date.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not but I would just to hear Rod Serling for 94 straight minutes.

Aliens did it.  There.  Now you know what Rod Serling spent an hour and a half telling us the answer to so many mysteries we supposedly hadn't explained by 1975.  In the first minute Serling states, "The facts that will be presented are true."  Now, that statement is misleading.  The lawyers for the picture would tell you that since a fact in and of itself is a true statement, then the filmmakers have covered their ass.  However, that's not how most people are going to interpret that statement.  To a lot of folks it sounds like their implying that what you are about to see and hear is true.  There are times when Serling says things are theories or "some believe", that kind of thing.  It's dishonest at the very least.  It's also pretty darn entertaining.  Rod Serling's narration makes this a must-watch all on its own.  There's even a PLANET OF THE APES (1968) pun late in the film (Serling wrote the screenplay for that picture).  I love documentaries from the 70s about Bigfoot, aliens and so on.  This flick is like a greatest hits of weird goofy shit like that which was all the rage back then.  I recognized writer/producer Alan Landsburg's name right off the bat.  He was the creator and producer of the hit series IN SEARCH OF...(1977-1982).  I watched that show religiously in its original TV run and I couldn't get enough of it.  I was also 8 years old, the perfect age for such strangeness.  As I grew up I discovered I had a brain of my own and me and my old beliefs amicably parted ways.  Even though I find a lot of what's discussed in this picture a load of bunk, I still get a kick out of watching these 70s curiosities.  It's probably all nostalgia but I dig it nonetheless.  Even if I hated it, I still got to listen to Rod Serlings masterful voice for an hour and a half and it soothed the nerd in me. 

Ghosts That Still Walk (1977)

Director: James T. Flocker

Writer: James T. Flocker

Composers: Ronald Stein, Hod David Schudson, The Edgar Kelly Band, Richard Thompson, Michael Tshudin

Starring: Ann Nelson, Matthew Boston, Jerry Jensen, Caroline Howe, Rita Crafts, Janice Renney, Lee James, Phil Catalli, David Kane

More info: IMDb

Tagline:

Plot: A young boy is possessed by the spirit of an Indian medicine man and begins to terrorize the local population.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Geez.  This movie is sloooooow.  It's essentially a horror anthology but the kicker is each of the three stories involves the three main characters, Grandma (Nelson in her film debut), her grandson Mark (Boston) and Dr. Sills (Crafts).  Once we breakaway to the first story after the set-up it's all about Grandma and Grampa from a few years earlier when they're driving their RV across the California desert.  Their RV has a mind of its own, swerves all over the lonely highway and eventually offroad when it just stops.  Minutes later small to large rocks and boulders roll across the landscape toward them like tumbleweeds.  Gramps gets the rig started and they're chased by big rocks!  It's a wonderful idea and Flocker is sometimes effective at showing us but the scenes go on too long which takes the wind out of any horror or suspense he's going for.  It really lasts much too long.  The next two stories involve the kid and the doctor, both of which suffer from even worse pacing than the tumblerocks.  How's the payoff?  I had zero shits left by the end.  It was OK and you could tell there were some kernels of good ideas but they're lost in the bad pacing and execution. 

A Visit to the Underground Cities of Mars (1977)

Director: ???

Writers: Ruth Norman, Thomas Miller

Composer: ???

Starring: Ruth Norman, Thomas Miller

More info: Wikipedia

Plot: Take a psychic voyage to Mars and learn of the exciting way of life the Martians lead.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

If there are only two science fiction films released in 1977 you must see before you die it's STAR WARS & this peculiar gem.  At just under an hour, this film (made by the religious (of sorts) organization called Unarius Academy of Science) is essentially a fantastical commercial for taking a trip to Mars.  You get to know all about the spaceship that'll take you there (the dimensions, how it works and so on) as well as many aspects of the culture and civilization that exists on Mars.  Visually it's bonkers with re-enactments of ceremonies, cultural events and whatnot.  There are models, drawings and other effects to help bring this to a reality.  It's a fun, well thought out piece of sci-fi that's to be taken seriously.  Seriously.  Check out the amazing documentary called CHILDREN OF THE STARS (2012) and then watch this.  It's nuts. How nuts?  The following ends the picture: The preceding film was an actual psychic visitation experienced and written by Uriel (Ruth Norman) and Cosmon (Thomas Miller).  'Nuff said.

Night Watch (2004)

Original title: Nochnoy Dozor

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Writers: Timur Bekmambetov, Laeta Kalogridis, Sergey Lukyanenko

Composer: Yuriy Poteenko

Starring: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Menshov, Valeriy Zolotukhin, Mariya Poroshina, Galina Tyunina, Yuriy Kutsenko, Aleksey Chadov

More info: IMDb

Tagline: All That Stands Between Light And Darkness Is The Night Watch.

Plot: A fantasy-thriller set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nope.

Man, I was so excited to finally watch this.  That could have contributed to the problem.  It's not every day that a Russian horror film makes its way over to the States.  I've had the DVD of this one and the sequel DAY WATCH (2006) for years.  Anyway, it's got a good story with some good effects, acting and whatnot but it's too long and there's too much going on.  Maybe it takes a second viewing to really appreciate it.  Beats me but the first time through it felt like it needed to be scaled back a little.  When you boil the plot down to its basic elements it's really good.  I dug the Vortex thing and the kid's relationship to the story's big picture (and especially his fate at the end of the picture) but there were lots of little sidesteps the characters make that slow it down and drag it out.  Still, I liked the film enough but just shy of wanting to watch the sequel (there was a planned third film but it has yet to be made).  Say, that reminds me, I don't watch enough Russian cinema.  I've been meaning to tackle SOLARIS (1972) for years.  I need to buckle myself into the couch armed with some ice cold Red Bulls and take that sumbitch in one sitting.  The 20th Century Fox DVD of NIGHT WATCH has the film (in Russian and English dubs) in anamorphic widescreen along with some extras including an extended ending, a commentary by the director, four trailers and a subtitled commentary by novelist Sergey Lukyanenko.

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Writers: Dorothy Clarke Wilson, J.H. Ingraham, A.E. Southon, Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss, Fredric M. Frank

Composer: Elmer Bernstein

Starring: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Olive Deering, Douglass Dumbrille, Frank DeKova, Henry Wilcoxon, Eduard Franz, Donald Curtis, Lawrence Dobkin, H.B. Warner, Julia Faye, Woody Strode, Mike Connors, Clint Walker, Frank Wilcox

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Greatest Event in Motion Picture History

Plot: The Egyptian Prince, Moses, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe in another 30 years.

I saw this once before and it was a good thirty years ago.  It would've been either on TV (with commercials) or on VHS.  Either way it was watched on a small TV.  I finally got to see it in a theater with the recent TCM special event showings and it was great to see such a spectacle film on the big screen.  It really makes all the difference in the world.  The three hour and forty minutes took its toll on my butt about three hours in.  Woof.  Initially the acting may feel stagy and pretentious but you get used to it quickly.  I guess there's no avoiding that style when you consider the time period, director, and that it's a biblical period piece.  Heston is great, Brynner is fun and I liked Robinson a lot (he's one of my top favorite actors).  Brynner is playing his puffy chest best but there's a moment when Moses (Heston) comes back to Egypt and confronts Rameses (Brynner) to "Let my people go".  Rameses sits there all unimpressed and incredulous.  His line delivery isn't stately like it is for the everything else, he talks like a regular guy as in, "You're shittin' me, right?".  It's brilliant and it's the most genuine moment in the picture.

There's so much to say but I don't want to spend too much time writing it.  Savvy?  The effects are all over the place from dodgy to amazing which is odd because it won the Oscar for best special effects, beating out the only other film, FORBIDDEN PLANET!?!?!?!  The hell?  Moses coming down off of the mountain after hearing the voice of god the first time sporting a new, bigger hairdo that would make Michael Landon jealous was hilarious, plus that bigger, darker, sharper beard.  They actually did a fabulous job on that Heston makeup until the last transition into flowing white hair and beard which looked phony as crap.  Excellent Elmer Bernstein themes and score.  I was surprised at how little music there was prior to the intermission but they made up for it in the final third.  I never read the bible so I've got no idea how closely this picture adheres to the stories but it is an epic tale with romance, intrigue, action and lots of supernatural goings-on (the latter is nearly all after the intermission).  The supernatural/religious stuff is really hard to swallow as it creates a plethora of plot holes but then I'm watching this as a work of fiction and, as such, it's very entertaining.  Some people I know find it tough to believe that my atheist ass would drop $12 down for a ticket, even after explaining that I watch horror movies without believing in ghosts.  For that twelve bucks, I wanted to be taken on a fantastical, entertaining ride to a place I could never visit to see people I'll never know and despite a sore tuchas, I got exactly that.  It was worth it.

Starry Eyes (2014)

Directors: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer

Writers: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer

Composer: Jonathan Snipes

Starring: Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan, Fabianne Therese, Shane Coffey, Natalie Castillo, Pat Healy, Nick Simmons, Maria Olsen, Marc Senter, Louis Dezseran, Danny Minnick

More info: IMDb

Tagline: She would kill to be famous.

Plot: A hopeful young starlet uncovers the ominous origins of the Hollywood elite and enters into a deadly agreement in exchange for fame and fortune.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Here's a good little horror picture that I did not think I was going to dig based on what I'd seen.  It's a slow-paced horror thriller that spends most of its running time building up to a killer finish.  The final act is a whopper but you've got some odd stretches of time beforehand that feel like they should have been trimmed or cut altogether.  Still, the payoff is worth the wait.  The performances were pretty good as was the score but the extra time taken to get to the goods at the end may turn you off just a little.  Despite that, it's still worth a look.  It's not often a low budget horror movie is as good as this. 

As Above, So Below (2014)

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Writers: John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle

Composer: Keefus Ciancia

Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, Francois Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar, Cosme Castro, Hamid Djavadan, Theo Cholbi, Emy Levy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The only way out is down.

Plot: When a team of explorers ventures into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

I didn't know what to expect going in.  I hadn't watched any trailers or read anything about it except that it was generally well-received and it took place in the catacombs below Paris.  The setting was great, different, unusual and creepy.  I really dug it.  Horror movies that have a reality-based story and scares tend to do better with me and for a while it looked like that's where this picture was going.  Then the supernatural aspect works its way into it and it took a few minutes for me to accept it.  Once I did, though, I enjoyed it more.  There's an interesting concept that gets realized in the final act that also took a while to seep in (for me at least) but it made for an unusual and satisfying conclusion.  The filmmakers do a wonderful job of creating the catacombs and the creepy atmosphere therein. It is a found footage-ish film and the hand-held camera work got on my nerves a few times so if this isn't your bag you should probably skip it.  I would've preferred a more traditional approach to the filming or at least keep the damn camera steady instead of giving the feeling like your slinging it around on a rope from time to time. 

The Exorcist III (1990)

Director: William Peter Blatty

Writer: William Peter Blatty

Composer: Barry De Vorzon

Starring: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif, Jason Miller, Nicol Williamson, Scott Wilson, Nancy Fish, George DiCenzo, Don Gordon, Harry Carey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Fabio

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Do you dare walk these steps again?

Plot: A police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased 'Gemini' serial killer, lead him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I haven't seen this in nearly 25 years.  I remember liking it but I REALLY liked it on this most recent watch.  Scott has a couple of moments where he a little too intense (at least it seems weird).  Dourif has a great monologue where he really gets to show off his acting chops.  It's more of a detective thriller with some supernatural elements than it is a horror film.  Blatty, who wrote the novel that started the franchise, gets his second and final directing gig and he does a great job.  There's a genuine sense of evil and dread running alongside some wonderful performances.  It's been said the studio forced him to add an exorcism at the end for fear audiences would stay home without it.  I don't think that part is as bad as some people think but I am curious to see what Blatty had in mind.  I read recently that there's a Blu-ray release in the works that will have Blatty's cut of the film.  I'd LOVE to see that.  The Warner Bros. snapcase DVD has the film in anamorphic widescreen with only the theatrical trailer (also in anamorphic widescreen) for an extra.  There should be more as it's a good film and the best sequel in the franchise (and some would say even better than the first).

The Night of the Devils (1972)

Original title: La Notte dei Diavoli

Director: Giorgio Ferroni

Writers: Eduardo Manzanos Brochero, Romano Migliorini, Gianbattista Mussetto, Aleksei Tolstoy

Composer: Giorgio Gaslini

Starring: Gianno Garko, Agostina Belli, Roberto Maldera, Cinzia De Carolis, Teresa Gimpera, Bill Vanders, Umberto Raho, Luis Suarez, Sabrina Tamborra, Rosita Torosh, Stefano Oppedisano, Maria Monti, John Bartha, Tom Felleghy, Renato Turi

Tagline: Creatures of the Living Dead

More info: IMDb

Plot:  The patriarch of a family fears that he will show up one day in vampire form. Should this happen, he warns his family not to let him back in his house, no matter how much he begs them.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

You never know what you're going to get when you watch some early 70s Euro Horror except one thing...it's probably going to be slow.  No exception here.  The pacing issue makes this feel more of a horror/drama than straight up horror in the sense of what you'd think. The performances are fine (the copy I had was dubbed in English so it's hard to tell how the acting is sometimes as you've got two people working the same part).  Gaslini's main theme is lovely and it gets a lot of mileage, adding to the pacing issue.  There is some gore, kills and boobs (yay!) which helps a lot but that 86 minutes feels a tad longer when you're in the middle of it.  It's got a good ending.  Hmmm, so I guess the only thing that detracted for me is it being a little slow.  Still, not a bad film.  It feels like ages since I dabbled in the Euro Horror genre of this period.  I really need to make it more a part of my cinema diet as well as 70s Euro Crime, 60s Euro Spy, 70s Pinky Violence and so on.  I feel malnourished now.

Poltergeist III (1988)

Director: Gary Sherman

Writers: Gary Sherman, Brian Taggert, Steve Feke

Composer: Joe Renzetti

Starring: Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein, Lara Flynn Boyle, Kipley Wentz, Richard Fire, Nathan Davis, Roger May

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He's found her.

Plot: Carol Anne is staying with her aunt in a highrise building, and the supernatural forces that have haunted her previously follow her there.

My rating: 3.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Drinking game: Take a drink every time someone says "Carol Anne".  It happens 121 times.

If you thought POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE (1986) was bad...woof.  Right off the bad you can tell this is going South from the first few notes of the by-the-numbers synthesizer score.  Aside from Skerritt, Allen and Boyle, the acting is pretty bad for a Hollywood flick.  And the score is right out of a low budget 80s horror with little to like, if anything.  Jerry Goldsmith is definitely missed.

If you like mirror special effects then drop your pants and start workin' it because this movie is mirror porn.  Some of the effects are nice and clever (and for that alone I should probably raise the score a little bit) but they do get old after a while.

 YIKES! That's some great creature effects.

There's a fake-out about 30 minutes from the end that'll likely piss you off.  Why?  Because you keep thinking it's over but it marches on for another half hour.  In hindsight, it's kind of funny, that scene teasing us like that, but it wasn't at the time.  The conclusion puts a nice cap on closing up the story that has continued for three films.  I'm glad it's over.  But wait, maybe not.  There's a remake in the works for release in 2014 starring Sam Rockwell.  The original '82 film is so good there's no way it can be topped.  Having Sam Rockwell in the lead is a big step forward in getting my butt. 

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

Director: Brian Gibson

Writers: Michael Grais, Mark Victor

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O'Rourke, Oliver Robins, Zelda Rubinstein, Will Sampson, Julian Beck, Geraldine Fitgerald, John P. Whitecloud

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They're back.

Plot: The Freeling family move in with Diane's mother in an effort to escape the trauma and aftermath of Carol Anne's abduction by the Beast. But the Beast is not to be put off so easily and appears in a ghostly apparition as the Reverend Kane, a religious zealot responsible for the deaths of his many followers. His goal is simple - he wants the angelic Carol Anne; but the love of her family and the power of psychic Tangina once again unite, along with an elderly native American, to fight for her life.

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Holy shit, where do I start?  I've only watched this once before it was in the theater on its original release.  I remember not liking it but I couldn't tell you why.  Now I can.  The first film, POLTERGEIST (1982), is a solid scare flick with everything going right and one that hasn't lost its effectiveness.  The first half of the picture isn't all that terrible I guess.  It's unrealistically abundantly optimistic.  There's a nice tracking shot when Kane shows up at the Freeling house.  Jerry Goldsmith is back to score the film (a plus) and you've got Julian Beck being all creepy as shit as Kane. 

Then we start to get into some strange goings-on here and there that don't really add up to all that much.  It's boring.  And the finale when we're 'on the other side' is ridiculously campy but it clearly wasn't supposed to be.  Goldsmith and Beck are the best things about this flick.  And then comes the third and final film that makes this one look good.

Carrie (2013)

Director: Kimberly Peirce

Writers: Lawrence D. Cohen, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Stephen King

Composer: Marco Beltrami

Starring: Julianne Moore, Chloe Grace Moretz, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday, Alex Russell, Zoe Belkin, Ansel Elgort, Samantha Weinstein, Karissa Strain, Judy Greer, Katie Strain, Barry Shabaka Henley, Demetrius Joyette

More info: IMDb

Tagline: You will know her name

Plot: A remake of the classic horror tale about Carrie White, a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Despite my little nitpicks, this is  good movie until the bucket of blood scene at the prom. It's then that the picture fails.  Mortez does a very good job as Carrie and the rest of the cast in their roles.  Mortez does adopt Spacek's way of saying, "Mama", from the original film, CARRIE (1976).  The problem is, Spacek had a Southern accent that she used for the entire film and Mortez only uses the Southern accent to say, "Mama".  Very minor shit, I know.  Mortez starts the film with very blonde hair and then it turns red...and back and forth during the film.  It's never acknowledged which made it feel like a screw-up.  There's one student in a panning shot down the school hallway that looks unattractive.  Other than that one instance, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT at that school is hot and slender.  I don't fucking think so.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! YARRRRRRR!

So, my problems with the ending.  Once she's drenched in blood, the shit hits the fan.  Carrie only kills (there may have been some collateral damage that I missed) those girls who ridiculed her at the beginning of the film.  In the original she kills everyone but one person.  The shitstorm at the prom lasted too long as did everything afterward with Carrie going home and killing her mother.  There was something about that final act that took forever.  Maybe it was just poorly directed.  Everything leading up to it was great and then it just fell apart or something.  I'm having a hard time explaining it without comparing it to the 1976 film.  The original excels all the way around, especially in the final act.  I was rather disappointed to say the least.  I can always go back to the De Palma classic.

1408 (2007)

Director: MIkael Hafstrom

Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Tony Shalhoub, Len Cariou, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

More info: IDMb

Tagline: No one lasts more than an hour.

Plot: The cynical and skeptical writer Mike Enslin writes books evaluating supernatural phenomena in hotels, graveyards and other haunted places, usually debunking the mystery. While writing his last book, he travels from Los Angeles to New York to spend one night in the evil room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel, which is permanently unavailable for guests. The reluctant manager Mr. Gerald Olin objects to his request and offers an upgrade, expensive booze and finally the reports relating the death of more than fifty guests along decades in the cursed room. However, Mike threatens Mr. Oiln, promising to sue the hotel, and finally checks in the room. Along the night, he finds that guests of room 1408 can check in when they like, but they can never leave the room alive.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yup.

Great flick.  I caught this one in the theaters way back when and again recently on Blu-ray.  I was totally into it until the ending which wasn't what I wanted but it's not a deal killer. The performances are great (LOVE that Sammy Jackson) but it's the goings-on in the room that take the center stage.  It's a fun mind-fuck of a ride that Cusack's character takes (and by the way, great performance by him as well).  I'm impressed at how well it was pulled off. Usually I shy away from movies based on a Stephen King story because they're mostly mediocre at best but Hafstrom did a fine job holding the suspense and keeping this away from face palm territory.  He did so well that I'm going to have to dig into his catalog and check out some of his other horror pictures.

Blood Tide (1982)

Director: Richard Jefferies

Starring: James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer, Lila Kedrova, Mary Louise Weller, Martin Kove, Lydia Cornell, Deborah Shelton

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Evil lurks in the Ocean Depths

Plot: An adventurer hunting for treasure in Greece accidentally frees a monster that forces local villagers to sacrifice virgins.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Maybe, JUST maybe I would have liked this more if I watched a clean widescreen print instead of a fuzzy VHS fullscreen one.  James Earl Jones is not only the best thing about this (he's fun) but the only reason to see it. The acting is fine, although Ferrer phoned it in, and the story is average and typical but the score (Jerry Mosely) was ineffectual and the pacing was dreary.  It's slow.  I started watching this with a fun group of movie friends who can appreciate and dig on movies like this but we gave up after a half hour.  Naturally I had to finish it.  It's a good thing I'm going to live forever and I've got unlimited hours to spend watching shit like this instead of playing out in the street with the other kids.

Alone in the Dark (2005)

Director: Uwe Boll

Starring: Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, Frank C. Turner, Matthew Walker, Will Sanderson, Mark Acheson, Darren Shahlavi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Evil awakens.

Plot: Based on the video game, Alone in the Dark focuses on Edward Carnby, a detective of the paranormal, who slowly unravels mysterious events with deadly results.

 

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? Nope.

I've never played the video game this is based on but I can only hope it's more fun and exciting than this.  And I never thought I'd live to see the day where I would say that Christian Slater is the best thing this picture has going for it.  I kind of liked him.  Hell, I felt sorry for the guy that he was even in it.  I'm not going to join the bashing bandwagon this picture has garnered because it's not THAT bad, but it is uninteresting.  I can't even think of what it was that made it so unmemorable.  Some of the dialogue was poorly written and delivered (I'm looking at you, Tara Reid, but you're not the only one so don't get all pissed at me for point only you out.  Hell, I'm jealous that you're even in a bad movie 'cause I haven't been in a single one).  I guess I just wasn't interested.  The characters didn't pull me in and the story sure didn't.  It's just a middle of the road horror picture that's neither here nor there.  Blah.

Fallen (1998)

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Starring: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, James Gandolfini, Elias Koteas, Gabriel Casseus, Michael J. Pagan

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Don't trust a soul.

Plot: Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I was diggin' on this until an hour in (halfway through) when we find out that the 'angel' can only survive outside a human body for one breath and not able to go farther than 500 cubits (finger lengths) or something like that. That's when my eyes began to roll and they started to lose me. But for some reason I kept watching it and I was still diggin' it. It's actually a pretty good horror/thriller with a reasonably satisfying final act. The performances are good and the story, not without a few holes, is different and good as well. Besides from crazy stipulations like how this angel can survive and die (and how exactly do the characters know this? Unless I stopped paying attention for the two minutes they may have explained this, it's a weak plot device) the only thing that bothered me was the use of the Rolling Stones tune, Time Is On My Side. It's annoying the first time you hear it (I dig the Stones but not that song) and really annoying the 257th time. Surely an angel that's lived thousands of years knew a better tune or at least several other 'time'-themed songs...but then that would have cost too much money in copyright fees and we all know that angels are usually strapped for cash. Degenerate gambling winged fucks.

Audrey Rose (1977)

Director: Robert Wise

Starring: Marsha Mason, Anthony Hopkins, John Beck, Susan Swift, Norman Lloyd, John Hillerman, Robert Walden

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Suppose a stranger told you your daughter was his daughter in another life? Suppose you began to believe him? Suppose it was true?

Plot: A stranger attempts to convince a happily married couple that their daughter is actually his daughter reincarnated.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah. Twice is once too many.

So this is my second and final viewing. I first saw it about a dozen years ago and I kind of felt blah about it. Not that bad but not that good. I figured I'd give it one more shot before I passed it onto someone else. My feelings toward the film haven't changed. Both Mason and Hopkins turn in excellent performances. The kid, Susan Swift, has her moments of good and bad much like Linda Blair in THE EXCORCIST (1973) in that they were good when they weren't playing the innocent child. Anyway, the picture moves along nicely, including some effective and tense moments when the kid freaks out, until the trial begins. While is somewhat interesting, it does slow the picture down. And what slows it down even further is the hypnotic regression on the kid. After that piece of business, it's just a few more minutes until the unusual conclusion leads to the credits. It's an interesting film to a point and I'm glad I saw it but I now realize I didn't need to see it again...a mistake I will not repeat. It's not nearly as much of a horror film as the great poster art suggests.

High Plains Drifter (1973)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Geoffrey Lewis

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Welcome to Hell

Plot: A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.



My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? Oh, yeah

You can always count on a Clint Eastwood western. This one is probably one that a lot of people may have missed. It's so different from anything that came before it. Eastwood knocked this one out the park. The supernatural/horror aspect of this creeps up on you until, by the end, it engulfs you wondering, "What the hell was that?". I have my theory but it doesn't matter. HPD is an engaging story with an unusual angle and a method that goes against traditional westerns. He's fucking with it and having a blast all the while. Great stuff. Great cast and a gloriously fucked up ending.

"Somebody left the door open and the wrong dogs came home."

You ain't shittin'!

Mystics in Bali (1981)

Dir: H. Tjut Djalil

Starring: Indonesians

More Info: IMDB

Plot: The true Story of an AUSTRALIA girl who learns the magic of LEAK BALI. Strange things happen. Yawn.





My Rating: 3/10
Would I Watch it again? I'm sorry I watched it the first time



Damn, this was painful. If you watch the clip from the link above you've seen the best part of the movie. And it's just about the only thing in the movie worth watching. When there aren't any flying heads cruising about eating the babies out of pregnant women (COOL!!!) there's nothing for these characters to do but talk and repeat themselves. What's worse is that there is a lot of dead air between what's spoken. If you can imaging putting in 2 seconds of silence between what you say and wait for someone else you've got a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. It's painful.

If you look at the comments on imdb you'd think this was a classic crappy B-movie from Indonesia. It is but it's only a crappy B-movie from Indonesia. Want to have some REAL fun watching a goofy film from Indonesia then check out THE DEVIL'S SWORD (1984). It's a blast of hilarity from beginning to end.

I would have given this film less of a rating but the "baby-eating flying head" is worth a 3 out of 10. Save some time and money, watch the clip and move along 'cause there's nothing to see here.

The Asphyx (1973)

Director: Peter Newbrook

Starring: Robert Stephens and lots of Brits who really know how to act

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: If It Were In Your Power...Would You Sacrifice Your Wife...Your Children For Immortality? This Is The Story Of A Man Who Did!

Plot: A Victorian scientist, Sir Hugo Cunningham, and his assistant discover the secret of death: everybody has a kind of personal "death spirit", the "asphyx"; when somebody is about to die, this "asphyx" comes in to claim his victim. If it can be caught at the right moment, immortality follows! The scientist succeeds in capturing his own asphyx, but when he starts experimenting on his daughter, he accidentally kills her. The assistant, his daughter's fiance, commits suicide; Cunningham has no reason to live but has no way to die. He is doomed to live forever ...

My Rating: 5/10

Would I watch it again? Nah

#90 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 2 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

"The original Ghostbusters"

Watching the first fifteen minutes was a chore. When Sir Hugo was developing his theory of a death spirit and by capturing it you can make yourself immortal, I about laughed myself onto the floor. Seriously. I honestly didn't think I'd make it to the end. But, as I stayed with it and the outrageousness of the whole thing subsided, I really started to get into it. However, I must say that the biggest reason I have against recommending it is that it really almost bored me to tears. It would have been far better served as part of an anthology film (which were very popular in the early 70s) since it's essentially a short story stretched to feature length.

The acting is quite good (go Britain) and the story (only after you've accepted the idea of there being an "asphyx" to begin with) is very engaging. The score seemed totally inappropriate by having a classic Hollywood sound (1940's-heavy-on-the-strings). The ending was a downer (which I dig) but I couldn't help feel that all Sir Hugo had to do to destroy his asphyx (and the asphyx of his hamster!!!) so he could die would be to....oh, I don't know....break down the door to the cellar where it was kept? How about leveling the estate? Fire? I know they had it in 1870 'cause I saw QUEST FOR FIRE which took place 80,000 years ago. If he really wanted to get at it he could have. I'm just sayin'.

Rod Serling could've tightened this up and have served it as a classic instead of as an over the video counter sedative.