The Bone Snatcher (2003)

Director: Jason Wulfsohn

Writers: Malcolm Kohll, Gordon Render

Composers: Paul Heard, Mike Pickering

Starring: Scott Bairstow, Rachel Shelley, Warrick Grier, Patrick Shai, Andre Weideman, Adrienne Pierce, Patrick Lyster, Brian Claxton Payne, Sean Higgs, Jan Ellis, Langley Kirkwood, Lulama J. Nombiba

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It will scare you out of your skull.

Plot: After miners disappear in the Namib Desert, some scientists find their remains and the demonic creature that killed them.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I checked this one out at the behest of a friend and he was right.  It's pretty good. There's a weak link in some of the acting but the location and creature design and effects are great.  You don't see too many horror pictures that take place entirely in the desert.  It's probably a bitch to shoot but it makes for good drama when you consider a desert is mostly dead with little or nothing growing in it and a supreme lack of water.  Then there's the bazillion miles from nowhere scenario so if something happens you're pretty fuckin' screwed.  Add to that the thing that's killing off the team one by one.  The design of it is fantastic and I especially like that it's flat in sheen rather than glossy.  Horror creatures are often shiny and slimy and shit but not these guys.  They're badass and the CGI, especially considering it was over a decade ago and it's a low budget picture, are great.  The second half of the film settles in and drags a bit, plus you've got fewer characters and it's mostly at night.  That could have been fixed in the story. You have to work harder when you go from daylight to night and you've lost most of your cast.  It's at that magical 90 minute mark and, considering the slower pacing of the final third, it could probably have stood a few minutes trimmed to tighten it up.  Still, it's a pretty good movie and worth checking out for horror fans looking for a lower budget that tries and succeeds in delivering the goods. The First Look DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print with the extras being fullscreen trailers for this film, HOLLYWOOD NORTH and BETWEEN STRANGERS.

Dark Age (1987)

Director: Arch Nicholson

Writers: Sonia Borg, Tony Morphett, Grahame Webb

Composer: Danny Beckermann

Starring: John Jarratt, Nikki Coghil, Max Phipps, Burnham Burnham, David Gulpilil, Ray Meagher, Jeff Ashby, Paul Bertram, Ron Blanchard, Gerry Duggan

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Death is only one bite away.

Plot: In Australia's Northern Territory, a massive saltwater crocodile is attacking and killing people. A ranger is assigned to deal with the killer crocodile, but he finds himself at odds with the local Aborigines, who believe the crocodile contains the spirit of their past, and want this Goliath-sized beast preserved. The ranger must work with the Aborigines to develop a plan to respect their wishes as well as protecting the local residents threatened by the crocodile.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not.

#36 on my on-going quest to watch every film from the amazing documentary, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION! (2008)

I love Australian films and I'm partial to the many types of JAWS (1975) clones that followed in the wake of that massive hit.  This is one of the better ones. This is such a clone of JAWS that there are even some scenes that copy it and more successfully than I've seen done before.  Remember when Chief Brody caused a panic when he ran toward the beach yelling for everyone to get out of the water?  In this one it's Cathy (Coghill) doing it and you'll instantly recognize the editing, camera shots and people's movement in and out of the line of sight.  It's fucking great.  And what's better?  It ends with a small child getting chomped by the giant croc!!!  It's already a better film, right?  Yup.

This is one of the few JAWS rip offs that I can forgive because there's so much that's different about it in the location, animal, the use of the Aborigines and the final act of the film.  They make it their own.  The score doesn't work for me and part of that is the cheap sound of the 80s synthesizer.  There are a great number of scenes that don't have any music which was a pleasant surprise.  Some of the action cues are hokey.  If this sounds like your type of flick then it is.  It's not quite good enough for me to find a permanent home in my collection but I'm definitely glad I saw it.

Funny Games (2007)

Director: Michael Haneke

Writer: Michael Haneke

Composer: no score

Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart, Boyd Gaines, Siobhan Fallon, Robert LuPone, Susi Haneke, Linda Moran

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Shall we begin?

Plot: Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I'm a HUGE fan of Haneke's FUNNY GAMES (1997).   It was original, intense and in your face.  This pointless remake is practically shot for shot (as well as my memory serves, that is).  I've seen the original two or three times in the past fifteen years and it really sticks with me.  I love it.  I'll have to watch it again to get a better feel for exactly why it's better but this remake isn't as effective.  While it does retain a lot of the shocks the original is famous for, the family feels a lot more passive and unrealistic in this one, especially Tim Roth's character.  It's probably as simple as the actors taking it further than the 1997 film's cast.  It's ridiculous that money and time are spent just to make foreign films more accessible to American audiences.  Shit, people, we're not THAT bad over here.  Then again, it does make some sense.  Hopefully those who liked or disliked this remake will seek out the original and see what all the fuss is about and add to their cinematic education.  The Warner Bros. DVD comes with both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film on a double sided disc.  There are no extras.

The Hills Have Eyes II (2007)

Director: Martin Weisz

Writers: Wes Craven, Jonathan Craven

Composer: Trevor Morris

Starring: Cecile Breccia, Michael Bailey Smith, Archie Kao, Jay Acovone, Jeff Kober, Philip Pavel, David Reynolds, Tyrell Kemlo, Lee Thompson Young, Daniella Alonso, Eric Edelstein

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The lucky ones die fast.

Plot: A group of National Guard trainees find themselves battling against a vicious group of mutants while training in the desert.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Hey, it's better than THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2006).  In a way it's like the first film/remake in that the first half is better than the second half but it's a great first half and the second half isn't all that bad.  The problem is that once we're 100% in the dark caves you find yourself pining to see daylight.  No spoilers but the team decides to take the fight to whoever/whatever is killing them off and go into the mine.  One guy volunteers to make a go at getting away and bringing help.  I was thrilled because I suspected that staying in the darkness for the rest of the picture would bring it down.  I was right but it's still pretty good.  There are few jump scares (if any...I can't remember now but these films are usually loaded with them and I fucking hate that shit) and some of the kills are fun. As stupid as the mutants are (I hate the overuse of the standard look of hillbilly mutants) they're very effective killing machines and use the tunnels to great effect.  The ending set us up for another installment that's not going to happen considering 7 years have past.  It would be easy to rip this flick to shreds when you consider things like how they'd really mutate and how are they able to survive for all these decades with little food and less water and other factors.  How can they live in near total darkness and go outside without being blinded?  Who cares.  It's a fun horror movie.  The unrated DVD comes with a few extras including 4 deleted scenes (with a play all feature that's always welcome), a one minute alternate ending which doesn't change much and it's a good thing they left it out, four featurettes (totaling about an hour) and a non-anamorphic widescreen trailer for the 2006 film yet no trailer for this one. 

Wolf Creek 2 (2013)

Director: Greg McLean

Writers: Greg McLean, Aaron Sterns

Composer: Johnny Klimek

Starring: John Jarratt, Ryan Corr, Shannon Ashlyn, Philippe Klaus, Shane Connor, Ben Gerrard, Gerard Kennedy, Annie Byron

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Mick's Back With a Few Days to Kill

Plot: Lured by the promise of an Australian holiday, exchange student Paul visits the notorious Wolf Creek Crater. His dream Outback adventure soon becomes a horrific reality when he encounters the site’s most infamous local, Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). When Paul attempts to flee, Mick pursues him across a hostile wasteland and eventually drags him back to his underground lair. After seeing the true magnitude of Mick’s monstrosity, Paul’s only hope of surviving, where no one has before, will be to use every ounce of cunning to outwit the man behind the monster.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Oh, yeah.

After re-watching WOLF CREEK (2005) with a friend who hadn't seen it he tells me that the recently released sequel is streaming on Netflix.  Holy fucking shit is this good and much better than the first one.  It's a great cat-and-mouse horror film that's got some fantastic car stunts (and editing) that will have you cringing in your seat. You really need to see the 2005 film first; not for any continuity reasons but just to familiarize yourself with Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) because this sequel has him from the get go.  The way he handled the cops took me completely off guard.  I was wondering the whole time how is he going to pull this of so as not to bring any attention to himself and he does it beautifully.  I LOVED how the first victims he comes across are German and they speak very little English the entire time we're with them.  Nobody does that these days.  All of the 'good guys' in horror movies, even if they are of a different nationality than US or UK, all speak English.  Then there's how Paul (Corr) enters the picture and the shit that happens to him.  WOW!  I loved the old couple and how that whole thing played out.  And how about that lengthy get to know ya session between Mick and Paul?  Outstanding.  You've got no idea how it's going to end.  And how about that ending?  LOVED IT!  It adds a lot of depth to Mick that you rarely ever see in a horror movie.  I'm just sad that it took nearly 10 years to make it...but it was worth the wait.  I really like this film and I truly hope that writer/director (of both films) gets to do another one, even if it takes a while to make it.  He'd better hurry, Jarratt is 63.

The Hearse (1980)

Director: George Bowers

Writers: William Bleich, Mark Tenser

Composer: Webster Lewis

Starring: Trish Van Devere, Joseph Cotten, David Gautreaux, Donald Hotton, Med Flory, Donald Petrie, Christopher McDonald, Perry Lang, Fred Franklyn, Olive Dunbar, Al Hansen, Dominic Barto, Nicholas Shields

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Barrier Between Life and Death is no Greater than the Thickness of a Door...and now that Door is Open!

Plot: Jane Hardy decides to stay the summer in the house her aunt left her when she died, to try and recoup from a bad divorce. Little does she know, her aunt practiced witchcraft and is still thought of very badly by the town's citizens. As soon as she moves in, she is haunted by a old black hearse and it's creepy driver. Is she going insane or is she truly being menaced? She meets a friendly young man and becomes involved with him, but is he and the creepy driver one and the same?

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Ho-hum story and execution.  I can't imagine this even frightening much of anyone in 1980. It's rather dull but watchable.  The performances are just fine and the actors do a good job.  It's just the pacing is dreadfully slow and not much happens.  A door or window shutter closes unexpectedly here and there and Jane (Van Devere) sees things and thinks she experiences a Satanic ritual or something. The titular car isn't in it much, making a cameo every once in a while only to show up in the last few minutes to wreak some havoc.  And the ending just kind of shows up and then roll the credits.  It's hardly a satisfying payoff for slugging through an hour and a half of this picture.  You'll probably be reaching for the remote a couple of times looking for how much time is left.  To add insult to injury, there's no blood or nudity.  The BCI 4 disc, 8 movie set called Drive-In Cult Classic features a good widescreen print.  The extras are trailers for THE HEARSE (anamorphic widescreen), BLOOD MANIA (anamorphic widescreen) and DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE (fullscreen).  That does it for the 8th and final film from this set.  I think there was only one picture that I liked enough to watch again.  You can pick the set up on Amazon for less than eight buck with free shipping.  Is it worth it?  That depends.  All of the films seem to be presented in their proper aspect ratio and are in pretty good shape.  Any extras you get with some of the films are trailers and some drive-in shorts for the concession stand and the like.  Fans of bad horror/sci-fi will find some value in it although you might be able to find a lot of these (or already have them) on the multitude of public domain DVD sets out there.

Lock Up (1989)

Director: John Flynn

Writers: Richard Smith, Jeb Stuart, Henry Rosenbaum

Composer: Bill Conti


Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, John Amos, Sonny Landham, Tom Sizemore, Frank McRae, Darlanne Fluegel, William Allen Young, Larry Romano, Frank Pesce

More info: IMDb

Tagline: How much can a man take...before he gives back?

Plot: Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison term for a relatively minor crime. Just before he is paroled, however, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. Drumgoole was assigned to a hell-hole prison after his administration was publicly humiliated by Leone, and has now arrived on the scene to ensure that Leone never sees the light of day.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Well, it was better than I thought it was going to be. Yeah, it's got the prison cliches which is fine and it helps to have a good cast (It's always great to see Frank McRae in anything) but it does go farther than you'd think.  It does feel a little long at close to two hours but there's a lot to it.  It's a near constant struggle for Frank (Stallone) once he's in the hoosegow under the watch of Warden Drumgoole (what a name, right?) (Sutherland) who sees to it that Frank's final six months is as tough as it can be.  There are the short cons and the long con that break Frank down to do what he's got to do.  It's not a bad film but it's probably not going to make anyone's top 10 Stallone films list.  Fans of him or the genre won't regret checking it out. The Live Entertainment DVD has a good widescreen print of the film and the extras are a fullscreen theatrical trailer, a vintage 7-minute behind the scenes featurette which is a fluff piece (no surprise there) with a little bit of interesting info tossed in and another 3 minute vintage piece focusing on Stallone.