Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)

Director: Curtis Harrington

Writers: David D. Osborn, Robert Blees, Jimmy Sangster, Gavin Lambert

Composer: Kenneth V. Jones

Starring: Shelley Winters, Mark Lester, Chloe Franks, Ralph Richardson, Lionel Jeffries, Hugh Griffith, Rosalie Crutchley, Pat Heywood, Judy Cornwell, Michael Gothard, Jacqueline Cowper, Richard Beaumont, Charlotte Sayse, Marianne Stone

More info: IMDb

Tagline: She's Taking A STAB At Motherhood!

Plot: A demented widow lures unsuspecting children into her mansion in a bizarre "Hansel and Gretel" twist.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It's a neat little take on Hansel & Gretal but it's really hard to take a short story and turn it into a feature length movie as this one proves.  The last few minutes are pretty cool but it's the 80 that preceded it that has problems. The setup is good even though it takes an hour (love the guillotine, by the way - VERY effective scene) before it you start to see Mrs. Forrest (Winters) unravelling and kind of begin to lose her shit and start to resemble the witch in the fairy tale even if she's far tamer than the Grimm character.  The performances are good but it's the script that's been forced to stretch a penny into a quarter that's the real culprit.  Fans of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981) will get a treat out of seeing a much younger  Michael Gothard (the octagonal glasses guy from FYEO).  And OMFG I did not recognize Judy Cornwell in this at all.  She's best known to me for playing Daisy in KEEPING UP APPEARANCES (1990-95).  I should have recognized her voice.  Sorry, Daisy.

The Children (1980)

Director: Max Kalmanowicz

Writers: Carlton J. Albright, Edward Terry

Composer: Harry Manfredini

Starring: Martin Shakar, Gil Rogers, Gale Garnett, Shannon Bolin, Tracy Griswold, Joy Glaccum, Jeptha Evans, Clara Evans, Sarah Albright, Julie Carrier, Michelle La Mothe, Edward Terry, Peter Maloney

More info: IMDb

Tagline: ...thank God they're somebody else's!

Plot: A busload of children has disappeared from the quiet New England town of Ravensback, and Sheriff Billy Hart is on the case. A short while later, he manages to track down the kids, but unfortunately they seem to have been transformed into murderous zombies by a cloud of radioactive gas.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Sure, if a widescreen print turns up.

Here's a nice little low budget horror/thriller I'd never heard of.  It's pretty darn good.  I might have given it a 7 or better if the print I saw was better.  As it is, it's just a crappy VHS rip and packaged with a bunch of 70s/80s drive-in type films put out by Fortune 5 called Grindhouse Classics Volume 3.  This picture is one of the best in the set.  The acting is good considering the budget and all.  There are some questionable performances but it doesn't take away from the film. The director did a fine job overall.  Now you're not going to get a lot of gore in this one but there are quite a few kills.  All the kids have to do is hold you and you're dead but the flipside is to kill the kids you just have to whack off their hands.  It's got a great ending, too.  No spoilers but the camera moves around and away from two characters so that it doesn't take long before you're seeing the countryside and hearing what's going on with the pair keeping you in total suspense.  It's incredibly well done, effective and patient.  I loved it.  Composer Harry Manfredini did this film between FRIDAY THE 13th (1980) and FRIDAY THE 13th PART 2 (1981).  It's a shame there's not a nice widescreen print of this film available.  I've heard even the Troma DVD is utter shit.

John Wick (2014)

Directors: David Leitch, Chad Stahelski

Writer: Derek Kolstad

Composers: Tyler Bates, Joel J. Richard

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Willem Dafoe, Bridget Regan, Jason Isaacs, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Alfie Allen, Michael Nyqvist, David Patrick Kelly

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Revenge is all he has left

Plot: An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

"Who is this guy, the boogeyman?"
"No.  He's the guy you call to kill the boogeyman."

I just got back from seeing an early screening of this and holy shit is it fun!  I'm not much of a fan of Reeves.  There's very little he's done that I liked.  This is the Keanu Reeves movie for people who don't like Keanu Reeves.  Really.  He doesn't have an awful lot of dialogue (a big plus) but that's almost immaterial because he's really good in this.  The script is tight and the direction is lean.  The first fifteen minutes of setup is all you need.  It perfectly illustrates where John (Reeves) is at and why it's so important that he does what he does.  Once he's been wronged it...is...fucking...ON!  One of the beautiful things about this picture is the film makers take their sweet lovin' time in filling in any of John's former life.  I'm not going to spoil a fucking thing because fans of revenge flicks are going to fucking love this.

The cast is magnificent.  Ian Mc"fuckin'"Shane, bitches!  He's got far too little screen time but he fucking owns what he has.  Willem Dafoe owns every scene he's in.  Love that guy.  Jason Isaacs?  Where the shit bricks was he?  He's on my love list, too.  Adrianne Palicki was all kinds of fun as...well, you just have to see.  David Patrick Kelly...super fucking cool burgers, Man!  John Leguizamo plays a cat that helps set up the mystique of John Wick early on.  That dickless guy from GAME OF THRONES, Alfie Allen, plays a part that you're going to love to hate.  Michael Nyqvist plays Dickless' father and he fucking OWNS!!!  He's in all three of the THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO flicks that came out of Sweden and now I've got no damn excuse.  I must see these movies and soon.  And then there's Keanu Reeves.  He's fantastic.  I must repeat that he's an Oprah's buttload of fun here and this is coming from a cat that doesn't really care for the guy.  Now I do.  He's a lean, mean killing machine.

And that brings me to the action.  Wick is efficient as the day is long when it comes to killin' folks.  I would love to shake the hands of the folks that made this because they avoided that frenetic editing in the action scenes (and there's a metric shit ton of action in this movie) and they let the audience's eyes focus on what the fuck is going on.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Now, this isn't 1970s let's hold the camera on the action until somebody fucks up shot length but it's a lot more than what nearly all modern films will give you.  And for that, I thank them.  This movie is refreshing in so many ways. Funny? You bet your sweet Uncle Petunia's ass!  The humor is dark and there's just enough of it sprinkled throughout that you know the film makers know what they're doing and they're having a blast doing it.  It's never eye-rolling-inducing or over the top.  It's just enough that it'll instantly have you fully on their side.  It's like a delicious meal that has JUST enough seasoning that it enhances rather than overpowers the taste.  What's even more impressive is that it's the first time for these two kids in the director's chair and the third go around for writer Kolstad. 

The bottom line is, this movie is a blast for guys like me.  I like a good revenge flick and these kids have cranked out a fun one.  I'm so glad I got to see a sneak preview of this as it's not something that I would have likely bought a ticket for strictly for the reason that it starred Keanu Reeves.  I love it when I'm proven wrong for things like this.  I encourage you to check this out. 

Daughter of Darkness (1990)

Director: Stuart Gordon

Writer: Andrew Laskos

Composer: Colin Towns

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Mia Sara, Robert Reynolds, Dezso Garas, Jack Coleman, Erika Bodnar, Kati Rak, Agi Margitai, Attila Lote, Mari Kiss, Ferenc Nemethy, Istvan Hunyadkurthy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Finding the truth about her father is her only dream...but following her dreams is about to become her worst nightmare.

Plot: A young American woman travels to Romania in search of the father she never knew after her mother dies. Upon her arrival in Romania she begins to investigate her father's life, trying to find out as much as she can about him. Along the way she meets and befriends Devlin, a semi-important functionary working for the US embassy, and an older man named Max, a taxicab driver. Both men try to help her in her search for info about her father. Eventually, she meets her father, and falls into the clutches of a secret community of vampires, who have some definite ideas about the role she should play in their society as the "Daughter of Darkness."

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I loves me some Anthony Perkins but I had low expectations for this.  He's actually one of the best things about it.  He does a fine job.  It's a few of the other actors that don't quite measure up (ahem, Jack Coleman) but part of that is some of the cheesy dialogue.  You've got to be in the upper echelon of thespians to pull off stuff like that. Anyway, Colin Towns' score is rather good and filming in Budapest, Hungary was a nice touch. Story-wise there isn't an awful lot to it but there's enough to keep you from getting bored.  One odd touch was having the vampires extract blood through the mouth that suddenly appears on the tips of their tongues.  That was weird but different.  It's better than average for what it is (being a TV movie and all - but there is some nudity!) but don't expect an awful lot and you'll probably dig it on some level.

Halloween II (2009)

Director: Rob Zombie

Writer: Rob Zombie

Composer: Tyler Bates

Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Chase Wright Vanek, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Caroline Williams, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Dayton Callie, Margot Kidder, Mark Boone Junior, Weird Al Yankovic

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Family Is Forever

Plot: Laurie Strode struggles to come to terms with her brother Michael's deadly return to Haddonfield, Illinois; meanwhile, Michael prepares for another reunion with his sister.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

I'm increasingly impressed with Rob Zombie's films. This is better than his HALLOWEEN (2007).  It's smarter, scarier, more thrilling and more mature.  I swear you will feel like the movie's about to end at the halfway mark.  Zombie puts an awful lot of movie in the span of 60s minutes but for as good as the first half is, the second half is even better.  There's so much I dig about this picture.  The incredibly long fake-out was deliciously fun.  The nasty transformation that Dr. Loomis (McDowell) made is fantastic and the ending is what I hoped for but didn't expect to get.  Zombie delivered and in spades.  The acting across the board is great, especially with McDowell and Brad Dourif.  Dourif really shines in the final act.  And, hey!  It's Margot Kidder!  I love her and it was an absolute treat to see her with a substantial role, the first I've seen her in in a long time. If I had to say anything remotely negative it's that this two hour film feels like three.  It's a long one but it's so damn satisfying that I feel bad for bringing it up.  And it's not like there much, if any, filler or padding.  There's a lot of movie here and it's a good one.  The Sony DVD has a good deal of extras including a commentary by Zombie, 23 (!) deleted and alternate scenes (with a play all feature - THANK YOU), a blooper reel (5 minutes), 7 clips of audition footage (with play all), 3 clips of makeup footage (with play all), 4 clips of Uncle Seymour Coffins' stand-up routines (with play all), 6 music videos with Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures (with play all), and 12 trailers with no play all and are all non-anamorphic widescreen.  Oddly, the trailer for this film is missing.  Hmmmmm.

Edge of Sanity (1989)

Director: Gerard Kikoine

Writers: J.P. Felix, Ron Raley, Edward Simons, Robert Louis Stevenson

Composer: Frederic Talgorn

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Glynis Barbar, Sarah Maur Thorp, David Lodge, Ben Cole, Ray Jewers, Jill Melford, Lisa Davis

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Beware the beast within!

Plot: When Henry Jekyll's experiments with cocaine have gotten out of control, he transforms into the hideous Jack Hyde. As Hyde he searches the London streets at night for his prey in whorehouses and opium dens. The police can't catch him, he has nothing to lose but his mind.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

What a great opportunity that just misses the mark.  It's not all that bad.  Perkins is a great choice for the lead role but he's sometimes over doing it.  To make it worse the crooked, tilted camera angles, colored lighting and makeup on Perkins takes his performance even further, and more campy than it needs to be.  It would have been great if they had taken this more seriously than go for the camp horror.  I REALLY dig Anthony Perkins and I was really excited to see this...until I saw it.  Now I'm just disappointed. Nice ending, though.

It's Alive 2: It Lives Again (1978)

Director: Larry Cohen

Writer: Larry Cohen

Composer: Bernard Herrmann

Starring: Frederic Forrest, Kathleen Lloyd, John P. Ryan, John Marley, Andrew Duggan, Eddie Constantine, James Dixon, Dennis O'Flaherty, Melissa Inger, Jill Gatsby, Bobby Ramsen, Glenda Young, Lynn Wood

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The 'It's Alive' Baby is back... Only now there are three of them.

Plot: A terrifying look at an ill-fated couple who become the parents of an inhuman infant.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not.

Having John Marley in your movie automatically makes it better.  Period.  On the other hand, Frederic Forrest (who I usually dig) has moments of WTF in his role that had me wondering why.  Bernard Herrmann's score from IT'S ALIVE (1974) is being reused.   He died the year after that picture but the score was good so why not use it again?  It works.  I liked how this isn't just more of the same (although it sometimes is) and it's a neat continuation of the first film which delves into a much bigger world as to why these mutant babies are being born and tying it into a government conspiracy.  At least Cohen tried to do something more interesting than have a mutant baby on the loose.  I've got the three movie set from Warner Bros. that has two extras - a commentary by Cohen and the anamorphic widescreen teaser trailer for the film.  Even though this flick wasn't quite as good as the first one, it's a worthy effort.  I'm already lowering my expectations for part 3, ISLAND OF THE ALIVE (1987), which sounds campy as hell.