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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 10, 2011 11:06:52 GMT -5
The Collector-A burglar breaks into an empty house with the intention of robbing a safe, but unbeknownst to him, a masked madman has already laid claim to the home, taken the family under siege, and filled the house with all sorts of lethal traps, forcing a lethal battle for survival inside the death trap. I'd say this was about a 3, maybe a strong 2.5 depending on my mood. This one just doesn't have a sense of fun about it and hardly anything that really happens in here is really interesting or entertaining. The lack of knowledge about the killer, the goofy mask that makes him look like a desperate convenience store robber, the sheer clueless-ness to notice the traps or even the ability to spread them throughout the house without being noticed (I lost it the second there was acid on the floor: that's a liquid which would seep through the floor, rendering it impossible remain in such a condition as we find it in the film) and it was just really hard to stay invested in this one. I will admit the creativity of the traps was great, the deaths were brutal and gory and it's got some admitted suspense with the chasing in the later half, but I just can't get past the pretty big flaws.
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Post by knightofcydonia on Feb 11, 2011 11:47:07 GMT -5
Agreed
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Post by Bartwald on Feb 12, 2011 15:51:00 GMT -5
- Black Swan. Very good psychological thriller with a rather European flavor (dispite being an unmistakable US production, complete with lack of nudity); not quite as smart as it pretends to be, but definitely worth a watch. Exactly what I thought. A beautiful movie for sure, but does it have emotional impact similar to, say, Requiem For A Dream? Hell no! Just saw Heartbreaker - a very funny romantic comedy from France. Much recommended! |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 14, 2011 11:42:26 GMT -5
Pinata: Survival Island-When a college initiation prank accidentally awakens a murderous pinata on a remote island, the students must band together to get away from the creature and get off the island alive. One of the very first horror films I ever reviewed, and now I finally have an uncut copy to have in the collection. Better gore, great pacing, tons of cheese, highly entertaining.
Bloodrayne 2: Deliverance-Arriving at a small Western town, half-human/half-vampire Rayne finds the citizens in a grip of fear over the vampiric Billy the Kid and his gang, forcing her to put together a band of mercenaries and hunt them down to save the town. More like a dark Western than an out-and-out Horror film, this one was really quite tiring rather than enjoyable like I found the first one, which is grossly underrated. This one was really kinda dull from a lack of action until the finale and was really not all that exciting as the vampires really don't do much anyway but the final showdown is worth a look, the audacity to actually kill off a child is somewhat refreshing and the Western look works for what's displayed. Just needed some help in the action department to really win it over.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 15, 2011 11:10:56 GMT -5
John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos-Following reports of a vampire clan attempting to acquire a sacred relic in the Mexican desert, a group of hunters teams up with a woman able to sense their presence to track them down and kill them before they are able to walk in the daylight. Not a whole lot to say here, finally got an uncut copy in the collection despite being on TV for the last three years in that incarnation but never knowing that I didn't have a version in that incarnation. Pretty good in this incarnation, with a great bloodbath sequence, an vicious rampage in a small town and a really impressive finale. Lacks the brutality of it's predecessor and the action of it's following film, but it's a really good film as it stands.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 16, 2011 11:17:42 GMT -5
Open Graves-When the play of a cursed board game starts a chain reaction of deaths among a group of friends, they race to solve the mystery of the game that will save their remaining friends and end the cycle once and for all. So, you'll be able to spot what's going on a mile away, the CGI is pretty atrocious and it tends to wander around doling out deaths at a really languid pace, it's still a lot of fun. It's a pretty fun game, the deaths are pretty freaky and generate some decent suspense, there's some pretty nice suspense scenes that are pretty clever and it's got a lot of action towards the ending where it's the main point. A lot better than it looks, despite it being somewhat flawed for what it is.
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Post by Fenril on Feb 16, 2011 16:21:03 GMT -5
John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos-Following reports of a vampire clan attempting to acquire a sacred relic in the Mexican desert, a group of hunters teams up with a woman able to sense their presence to track them down and kill them before they are able to walk in the daylight. Not a whole lot to say here, finally got an uncut copy in the collection despite being on TV for the last three years in that incarnation but never knowing that I didn't have a version in that incarnation. Pretty good in this incarnation, with a great bloodbath sequence, an vicious rampage in a small town and a really impressive finale. Lacks the brutality of it's predecessor and the action of it's following film, but it's a really good film as it stands. I agree with all of this; I liked this movie a lot, but it definitely works better if you forget that it's supposed to be a sequel to Vampires (itself a very good movie, obviously). Seen: - Once were warriors. Beautiful, heartwrenching New Zeland drama about a suburban Maori family, their troubled (and violent) lives, their individual quests for an escape. For me, movies like this and "The sweet hereafter", define true drama, the likes of which Hollywood can never (okay, rarely) hope to archieve. - Los ojos de Julia. (aka Julia's eyes) Spanish ghiallo concerning a woman's efforts to solve the mystery behind her blind twin sister's death before her own eyes betray her. Fun movie that is both a clever homage to the genre (with visual nods to, among many others, De Palma, Argento, Fulci, and of course Hitchcock) and a solid thriller on its own. Labeled (by both the director and several online reviews) as a feminist giallo, which speaks volumes about how mysoginist European horror tends to be. Still recommended. - A cena col vampiro. (aka Dinner with the vampire) an episode of the italian TV series "Giallo brivido" directed by Lamberto Bava and released here as an individual film. A group of young (or even amateurish) actors are invited to play a dangerous game with a vampire: use the movies he has made about himself to try to figure out a way to kill him before dawn. Otherwise, they are dinner. Fairly entertaining, if impossible to take seriously; really atrocious english dubbing (and the DVD box claims the movie is in Italian!). |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 17, 2011 11:05:26 GMT -5
Caddyshack II-When a group of aristocrats deny the application of a crass millionaire to their private golf club, he buys the place and turns it into a playground for friends, causing all sorts of destruction and mayhem to the guests still staying there. Well, I have to admit I chuckled at this one more than I thought I would, and it did have some genuine laughs that resulted from the return of the gopher that was the best part of the first one, but I just can't help shaking the feeling that this one really could've been better had it not been tagged with such a title. It's pretty hampering to the film since it equates it as being able to compete with the first one, which it can't as it falls into emulation territory far too often for it to really stand on it's own and be it's own separate film, but overall I have to say it was pretty impressive.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 18, 2011 11:07:16 GMT -5
Outlander-A viking finds an alien stranded on Earth, and after fighting with it proves no help in controlling it, decides to team up with it in order to rid their land of a shadowy enemy in the middle of a huge war with his tribe. Despite it initially appearing as a horror film, this is almost similar to Aliens in the sense of being a Sci-Fi/Action film with horror elements since the film has no where else to take the action into that area due to the inhabitants. Not that it's a bad thing at all, since it's a really nicely-paced film with not a whole lot of boredom going on, the fighting scenes are really nicely done and look great and there's enough bloodshed to be suitably gory enough for the gorehounds. The main problem with it is the fact that it feels exactly like what it sounds like it is, 300 meets Aliens, and you'll be able to predict what happens fairly easily. Still, though, not all that bad of a time.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 21, 2011 11:31:14 GMT -5
Splintered-Going out with friends to investigate a series of animal attacks in the area, a woman finds that a legendary beast is responsible and attacks the group, but is captured and hidden away before it gets to her, with her repeated escape attempts putting her directly in harm's way of the beast. A rather curious British werewolf effort, mostly in that the creature is never seen at all except in minor, fleeting glimpses or so off in the distance an accurate identification is impossible, making it so that off-screen growling/hissing, shadows on the floor or wall or the playing with objects between the two figures is all we know that something's going on. The creature's lack of presence makes it utterly boring for the most part since it's kept off-screen and we stumble upon the bodies later, and the main plotline about her being hidden away is handled so badly and clumsily that it's nearly impossible to get into the story. Still, it has some decent stalking scenes when it gets that far into the film and the forest setting does work early on, but it's a rather low effort.
The Vengeance of the Vampire Women-A masked wrestler is called in to determine the origin of a series of strange disappearances and finding a group of gangsters working with a resurrected vampire attempting to create a gang of followers to do her bidding. Fabulous Gothic/luchadore mixture, with great underground Gothic scenery, a great resurrection concept for the vampire and an air of sensuality on display, mixed with a series of fantastic brawls and fighting that are a lot of fun to watch. Gets way too cheesy at times with it's obviously fake plastic fangs and a couple of scenes which don't really belong, but it's still rather entertaining.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 23, 2011 10:59:51 GMT -5
Fire Dragon-A female assassin, indebted to a corrupt general for teaching her a devastating kung-fu tactic to ensure her success against his enemies, joins forces with a group of rebels to overthrow his regime in feudal China. Utterly phenomenal chop-socky HK effort, absolutely reminiscent of the earlier 70s films with it's utter disregard for logic in the showcasing of kung-fu talents as people literally fly across the screen in 20-30 foot leaps without touching an object to propel them or even keep the momentum going, lightning-fast swordplay and hand-to-hand combat filling the scene just about every five minutes and just some utterly hilarious dubbing that gives it's jokes even more of a sense of comedy. The lack of realism and a rather cliche plot make up about the only flaws here, but you don't really care about that stuff, it's the action and this one comes through in spades.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 24, 2011 11:14:48 GMT -5
Deep Shock-A deep-sea science experiment crew stumbles upon the gigantic killer eels that have caused numerous complications to past crews and must stop the creatures from continuing their path of destruction in the waters. Unbelievably weak creature feature, not a whole lot of attacks at all and rather bloodless in that the creatures tend to utilize a discharge of electricity to kill their prey, so it tends to just utterly drag for the majority of the time. As well, we also have an incredibly ham-fisted plot about attempting to psychically link with the creatures as a form of understanding their motivation that just really drives this one down before it even gets into the atrocious CGI present in so many of these Sci-Fi Channel creature features. Basically all that works here is just the action in the finale during the final escape, but that's about it.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 28, 2011 11:19:23 GMT -5
Capulina vs. The Vampires-An insurance salesman is assigned to visit a strange castle to clear up the final paperwork for the residents inside, but finds a coven of vampires living within that see him as the key to being freed from imprisonment within. Mexican slapstick effort that is straight-up comedy over horror (we only have one death in here, and even Dracula: Dead and Loving It had a scarier death scene than the one in here) which brings up the greatest point of comparison to this one in that it feels like a spoof of "Dracula" only mixed in with extreme amounts of slapstick, farce and what I'm assuming are wordplay jokes but with the lack of Spanish can't say for certain. Some fall-down funny scenes and gags in here, some which grow old but overall, it's pretty enjoyable despite the language barrier.
Blade II-Recruited by his vampire prey to help them out in a deadly struggle they've been recently engaged in, Blade finds that his new employers have a far more sinister agenda in play than previously told and must battle his way through this new threat. Fixes one of the major problems I had with the original in a far more even pace, generating action pretty much more nonstop than just loading up on the beginning and end and ignoring the middle, which allows for a really thrilling and enjoyable time. The action is fast, furious and extremely gory, mixing in just about everything that's great about the genre in firefights, hand-to-hand battling and even swarming action scenes that are just a blast. Mix in tons of gore, a pretty neat twist and some minor CGI flaws, it's a serviceable and even highly enjoyable entry.
Blade: Trinity-When it becomes apparent that staying in the shadows while engaging in the war with the vampires might be impossible, Blade forms an alliance with a motley crew of hunters to battle his largest and most dangerous enemy yet. Again, a lot of fun here if a little bit off in the pacing department over it's two previous entries done in mostly by the inclusion of several pompous and grandiosity-showcasing speeches that are just plain boring and monotonous that hold the pacing up. The action is pretty fun and it's gory when it counts, the inclusion of humor is welcome somewhat (the jokes are hit-or-miss) and the storyline makes for some pretty interesting content. Ends the series on a fine note, but somehow I don't see it ending here anyway.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Mar 1, 2011 11:06:57 GMT -5
The Dunwich Horror-A group of archeological hunters seek a former associate for help in locating a special object that will close the gates to another dimension that a family of devil worshippers are trying to open that will unleash a race of vengeful creatures loose upon the world. Actually, not all that bad and definitely a lot better than it should be, as dealing with Lovecraft is definitely not an easy task and attempting to remake one is an even bigger one, yet this one handles it quite well with a great mystery built up over the actual amount of damage done and what they've actually released as well as the race to stop them. Has some really good suspense scares as well, making for some really nice moments later on that are really fun and just a blast. The finale is a tad underwhelming with it's beyond lame CGI and a totally weak-looking final monster that really should've stayed in a Lovecraftian sense, but it's still a pretty decent ride.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Mar 2, 2011 11:00:36 GMT -5
Blue Demon vs. The Diabolicals-A masked wrestler is called in to deal with a criminal organization using a wrestling promotion as a cover for a diamond-smuggling ring, but it becomes more complicated when an impostor is found to be working for them. About as cheesy as you could get with these kinds of films, from the jazzy soundtrack to the ability of the criminals to fail to spot a masked man running around in a bright blue mask and sparkling cape (yes, you read that right) in broad daylight to the constant scenes of women dancing in a nightclub for no reason, yet it somehow manages to be enormously entertaining in its own right. Never really dull or boring, it keeps its running time pretty much moving the plot forward, which due to the Spanish is pretty limiting but it's still not a bad time at all.
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