Reviews

This may not be ground breaking cinema, but it is a lot of fun. Being a teen in the 80's keeps this one close to my heart. It's not taken overly seriously, but still manages to keep all the crucial elements intact. There is a little bit of black humor mixed in to keep it on the lighter side and overall it works really well.

I love the scene where the first corpse is reanimated. It's one of the best scenes in any zombie movie. I also feel that I would be remiss in my duty if I didn't mention the incredibly hot punk rock girl who does the graveyard burlesque show (for a gratuitously long time).

Just a fun one to watch.

7 out of 10

In short, this is what years of slasher pics amounted to. This movie is the apex of the slasher genre, although it's not without it's problems. The gore is WAY over the top, and people who aren't into extreme graphic violence should stay well away. This movie is about as mean-spirited as they come, and throws in a heapin' helpin' of the freakin' bizarre. It will remain a classic for years to come.

When you've gotten bored with the likes of Friday 13th and the like, take it to the next level with Maniac!

6 out of 10

Inferno is a complete mess. Sure, I read the reviews where they say it's visually stunning, and praise Dario's over the top visual style, but really the stunning visuals are pretty much over after the first 15 minutes. The story...er... I guess there's one in there somewhere, but only Argento himself could tell you what the heck it is.

As much as I hate to say this, don't bother with this one. It really is a piece of crap. But who knows, if he ever decides to make a third installment in the series, maybe it'll make some sense out of this jumble.

5 out of 10 (3 of those points for the underwater rooms)

You've just got to love this 70's classic. It has everything a haunted house tale should have. Unlike most of the haunted house tales, this one manages to keep things a little bit more believable. The time and date stamps are particularly effective here.

All the players do a great job with their roles, especially Roddy McDowall. I love Mrs. Barrett's erotic fixations. Unfortunately, they'll probably get the bright idea of remaking this into a horrible piece of crap.

This movie relies mostly on atmosphere, not on gore or other special effects. If thats what you are looking for, you'd better try somewhere else.

9 out of 10

Ya gotta love old Reefer Madness. The outrageous claims they make in this movie about the way people are effected by Marihuana, should be reason enough to see this one.

If you've never seen it, then don't consider yourself well rounded.

3 out of 10 (that's a 'must see' 3 thank you)

This is the greatest of all action movies. Nothing can rival it's chases and excitement. Hands down Mel Gibsons best movie, now and forever. Very few films have been as influential as this one.

You have to love the big semi chase. There will never be anything like that put on film again!

If you've never seen it, see it tonight!

10 out of 10

Savage Abduction is another cheesy 70's classic in the vein of 'Last House on the Left'. It's now bee bought up by Troma and is distributed as one of their movies. Really though, it's not all that bad. My wife and I had a few laughs at it's expense, and were very entertained.

One of Troma's cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned. There's actually a movie here (albeit not the greatest)!

6 out of 10 (fun)

George Romeros cult classic film is often. I feel, very misunderstood. It is indeed a horror movie and social allegory all wrapped up into one. Some reviewers have noted that the movie lacks action and is boring, but I think these reviewers are missing the point of the whole film. The film itself is about a group of people holed up in a house together trying to weather the storm (the zombie uprising), and their inability to coexist and cooperate, which leads to their downfall.

One of the greatest, this movie will live on in infamy and I'm glad. A word of caution though, try to avoid the version with the redone soundtrack, the whole thing is tarnished, and doesn't do nearly as well as the original.

8 out of 10

...because the person in the seat next to you will probably be screaming too!

You've got to love this campy cult classic from William Castle. Vincent Price is great as always, but the supporting characters are really good also, which can sometimes be hard to find in this kind of movie.

The opening 'screaming' sequence can be a little annoying, but it's all in keeping with the fun you have watching this classic.

Be ready to laugh!

8 out of 10

I love all the William Castle films. Vincent Price is really good here. Elisha Cook Jr. is solid playing the freaked out 'sole-survivor' character that Roddy McDowall would reprise in 'The Legend of Hell House' opposite Clive Revill.

See this movie and forget about the remake.

7 out of 10

I saw the original Star Wars when I was 6 years old, and I loved it. I had never seen anything like that before, and neither had anybody else. Having said that, the only forward progress the series made, was from Star Wars to The Empire Strikes Back. After that the movies have gotten worse by leaps and bounds. Which brings me to The Phantom Menace. This movie is embarrassing it's so bad. Every time I see Jar Jar Binks I want to shoot the TV like Elvis. The story is absolutely ridiculous, and if you can still be impressed by the special effects after the first time you see it, then I'm guessing that you're below the age of 10. After the special effects wear off, you're left with nothing but bad acting and crappy dialogue.

I'm still curious why George chose to make Anekin a bumbling fool operating more on fantastic luck than on the skill of the midget-chlorines or whatever they're called. It's deplorable! The scene where he flies into the enemy mother ship by accident makes my face turn red with shame it's so bad.

I guess the moral here is, Star Wars has always sucked, but we were just too young to realize it.

5 out of 10 (and I'm being generous here, people!)

I love this movie. It has just about everything you could ask for in a comedy. The characters are all great, and the animation is striking. Loosely based on 'The Seven Samurai', there's enough here to keep all ages entertained.

Of all the Pixar efforts (I haven't seen 'Finding Nemo' yet), this one is the cream of the crop. The story, thankfully, is less manic than the 'Toy Story' series, and manages to keep you laughing through the whole movie.

I highly recommend this one to anyone who might have thought that it was only for kids. Sometimes you just want something that will make you laugh. See it and enjoy!

10 out of 10

When I sit down to watch a kung-fu flick, I don't really want to see a long drawn out love story. I also have no desire to see the characters fight each other for 25 minutes to no clear victory. Crouching Tiger fails in these respects, but Iron Monkey is something else entirely.

If you want to see great kung-fu with a story basic enough to drive the action, then this is the one. I rank this right up there with the best genre movies ever made. I think of it as a kind of kung-fu Robin Hood.

If you liked Crouching Tiger, give this one a chance and you'll see what I mean.

10 out of 10

Somewhere between a remake and a sequel, we have Evil Dead II. It is interesting how this movie has divided many horror fans. Some don't like the comedy aspects of the film, and some of us seem to feel that it fits in pretty well with the over the top nature of the story. I am one of the latter horror fans. Let's face it, the first movie was a great horror movie, but how much more could you do with it? Would you rather see a sequel in which Bruce Campbell is attacked by demons for an hour and a half? Sam Raimi did a great job coming up with ways to keep it all fresh, and the comedy was one of those innovations. All that said... I still like the first movie better.

One thing that part II does better than part I is the character development. The characters are a lot more personality driven in this installment. Hats off especially to Dan Hicks for the greatest redneck role ever captured on film. I'd love to see him in something else.

While there are shortcomings here, this one still makes it into my top 10 list (along with part one).

A final note: If you've seen part I and then see part II but don't like the comedy angle... don't see Army of Darkness because you'll hate it.

9 out of 10

Those were the days! The days of great action movies, and cold as ice heroes. John Carpenter had yet to turn sour, and Kurt Russell was in his prime.

This is one of my favorites. The characters and story go together perfectly. The cast that was assembled for this movie is one of a kind. Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton and Adrienne Barbeau are all great. There's even Isaac Hayes in there for a little nod to the 70's.

Above all, this is one of those rare action features that has a great story to drive it. I won't bother to recount the plot here because I'm assuming most people have already seen this one. For those of you who haven't seen this one before.... Shame on you! Go see it now.

8 out of 10

Dario Argento is hard for me to figure out. In this movie he has a fairly good cast, great visuals, and some of the most brutal murder scenes ever. While I really like this movie, I'm still not sure how I feel about Dario. He's really hit or miss in his style. Suspiria is great but if you see it and love it, don't rush out and buy his whole catalog expecting more films of this caliber.

The whole movie is highly stylized, and the visual feeling he creates are stunning. A lot of red and blue lighting keeps the atmosphere going, and give it that world of witches feel. Some of the dialogue is really cheesy, but you should know going into an Italian horror movie that there are some concessions that have to be made in order to truly appreciate it.

I go back and watch this one frequently, and I would recommend it to all serious horror fans. Casual fans should stay away though due to its extremely graphic content. If you like this one and want to see what else Argento can do, see 'Tenebrae' and 'Deep Red'. Most of his others are for completists only.

One final thing I will say about Dario is that, while a lot of his catalog is trash, he's way more talented than most of his counterparts such as Lucio Fulci.

9 out of 10

Great movie! Sonny Chiba is the ultimate martial arts star. Everything about this movie is great... well, not everything. For instance... Ratnose? If you were the sidekick of a martial arts maniac like Terry, would you call yourself Ratnose? Oh well, as annoying as Ratnose is, you can live with it because The Street fighter is what it's all about. You will become tired of hearing Ratnose whine "Terry, Terry, Terrrrrryyyyy!" but at least it's good for a couple of laughs.

If you like this one, you just about have to see Return of The Street Fighter, which completes the story. However, The Street Fighters Last Revenge is the best of the series in my book.

All in all, this one will remain a classic for all time.

10 out of 10

Zeppelin is my favorite band, so when I heard that this double dvd was coming out, I was understandably excited. I'll just cut to the chase here, and say that if you are any kind of Zeppelin fan, you must run out and buy this right away! It's absolutely spectacular! It blows 'The Song Remains The Same' completely out of the water. Why this material was never released before is beyond me. The footage presented here really shows Zep at the peak of their game, which I never really felt that 'Song' quite did. Jimmy Page is the best ever without a doubt, and these performances make Jimi Hendrix look like a chump! Be on the lookout for the live jam 'White Summer'... whew!

Viva Jimmy Page!

Viva Led Zeppelin!

11 out of 10

I really can't wait to see what Darren Aronofsky does next. Pi was great, but this movie takes the theories and techniques that he used in that movie and sends them into outer space. The performances are breath taking. Everybody sinks their teeth into the role they play, to the point where it feels more like a home movie than a scripted effort. Ellen Burstyn is incredible. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly are also superb as the teen junkies, but the biggest surprise for me was Marlon Wayans (he can actually act!).

The movie is dived into three acts: Summer, Fall and Winter. Summer is morbidly depressing, so you can probably guess that Fall and Winter are positively gut-wrenching. Suffice to say that this is not a feel good movie by any means. I wouldn't suggest it unless you are in the mood for something very (and I mean VERY) dark.

Great follow up for Darren.

10 out of 10

Wow! I love the atmosphere in this movie. It's my second favorite of all Vincent Price movies (of which I am a huge fan). This one has everything you could expect from a VP effort. It has some camp, although not quite as much as most of VP's work. It also has the look of complete decadence. Everything here is larger than life. I love Prices role as Prospero here. He plays it with the utmost seriousness. The villain here is also one of the most dastardly and ruthless characters this side of the Pecos. Prospero drowns himself in his own excess and cruelty, and Vincent leads us along him him and almost makes us sad to see him meet the fate he so richly deserves.

I love this movie!

10 out of 10

Wow, what can I say about SFLR? It is one of the greatest karate-action flicks ever to grace the screen. For my money, you just can't beat Sonny Chiba. He can act, and he can also do some extremely impressive karate!

Something I really like about this series of movies, is the fact that Terry (The Street Fighter) isn't really a 'good guy' per se. He is just the main character. He is only out for himself and is extremely ruthless. I just love the way the character is written. You won't find a movie in this genre that is more entertaining.

If you've never seen SFLR and you like this genre, do yourself a favor and get it now!

10 out of 10

I've never been a big fan of the character Batman. The modern series of Batman movies has done absolutely nothing to interest me, and frankly, are some of the worst movies made in their genre. Which brings me to Batman: The Movie. This is a movie that absolutely cannot be taken seriously. That may be what I like about it. It exhibits the only way that the character actually works on screen (large or small)... as comedy. Having said all that, I love this movie! It is one of the funniest things you're likely to see any time soon. From plastic attack sharks, to super corny dialogue with dead pan execution, everything about this movie works. The only people I can see not liking this movie are Frank Miller purists who were heavily into his 80's era reworking of Batman.

Any way, see this movie if you want to laugh a lot and have a good time.

8 out of 10

This low-budget cheapie from the early 70's is one of my favorite movies of all time. Everything works here! It may not be oscar quality, but you'll never see a story as twisted as this come out of big budget land (Hollywood). While it isn't very graphic in its depiction of zombie attacks, it manages some cool and very dark atmosphere.

The characters, as some of the others have noted, are a little annoying, but some of that is due to the fact that this is a drive-in movie. The script is actually quite ambitious, and the actors, almost all unheard of before or since, do an incredibly good job with their parts. One thing I will say is that you need to stick with this one for a while because the zombies don't attack right off the bat. While this is a zombie movie of sorts, it isn't your standard zombie movie, and certainly doesn't stick to the regular zombie mythos. These zombies aren't your run of the mill chumps! They are fast, strong, incredibly vicious and won't give up or go away until everyone is dead. These zombies are more like hell-spawn than mindless reanimated corpses.

Had there been more gore, I think this movie would be better received by the horror crowd. Believe me though, the lack of gore scenes doesn't really hurt this movie at all. Give it a chance, and if you didn't like it the first time, give it another!

8 out of 10

This movie is great! Sure it's a little cheesy, but it keeps you in there the whole time. It's not all that often that you see the antagonists in a horror film, portrayed this way. They are absolutely unrelenting! The version I have is on a double with 'Attack of the Blind Dead' (El Ataque de los Muertos Sin Ojos) which is nowhere near the movie that the first one is, and completely in spanish with subtitles. But all that considered, I still break it out frequently and watch it.

Without giving anything away... this movie has one of the most classic horror endings of all. See it as soon as you can.

10 out of 10

This movie is incredible. I had never heard of it before the early 90's when I happened to run across it in a video store. I love samurai flicks so I picked it up. If I remember correctly, it set me back about 30 dollars, which I thought was too high, but I'm oh so glad I bought it anyway. This is one of the top films in its genre.

This is the 'War and Peace' of samurai movies! There are easily 15-20 central characters with their own storylines, and not a wasted scene in all of its rather lengthy runtime. A warning though, you have to pay pretty close attention to what's going on or you'll not be able to make heads or tails from the plot.

If you love samurai movies, see this one soon!

10 out of 10