Just watched this one last night. This is another one that I've been meaning to watch for forever, but just never got around to it, but I finally got around to it and it's well worth a watch. For those of you that aren't familiar with this movie's premise, here it is: Bruce Campbell plays an elderly Elvis (the real one who switched lives with an impersonator back in the 70s) living in a nursing home in texas with a black man who's convinced he's JFK (Ossie Davis), and their nursing home and its residents are under attack by an ancient mummy, and Elvis and black JFK have to save the day (that is quite possibly one of the craziest sentences I've ever written). If you are a sane intelligent human being, chances are you read that synopsis and said "oh my god, that sounds crazy," for some of you it should make sense though if I told you the movie was directed by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm series, John Dies at the End (2012). For those of you who don't know the insanity that is Don Coscarelli let me explain/describe the other movies he's best known for: Phantasm (1979) is the story of a boy and a disgruntled Ice cream man battling a demonic/alien mortician named "the tall man" and a metal flying orb with blades on it that drills through peoples skulls, and John Dies at the End (2012) (which I previously reviewed) is about two college aged men who take a mysterious drug called "soy sauce" and become paranormal interdimensional warriors. So this film fits perfectly into Coscarelli's usual brand
of craziness. Bruce Campbell is hilarious and very believable as an elderly Elvis who regrets switching identities with an impersonator so he could escape fame and start over, he misses Priscilla, Lisa Marie, and the fame. But with the arrival of the mummy wreaking havoc on the Shady Oaks rest home he has found a new reason to live; to save the shady oaks residents. The chemistry between Cambpell and Ossie Davis is perfect and the movie is laugh out loud funny. It's also great to see Campbell in another role after Army of Darkness (1992) where he can call everybody "baby" and be "the king" again. The movie is relatively low budget (like most of coscarelli's movies) but the makeup and special effects are effective. Also make no mistake, though this is a definite comedy, it is a horror movie, a horror-comedy, the creepy atmosphere in the old folks home at night is very well done. The humor is pretty vulgar, that's just a head's up in case vulgar humor's not your thing. There are also lots of great lines like " I hate to tell you this Jack, but Kennedy wasn't black." "I know that, they dyed me this color!" If you're a fan of wacky movies, or horror movies/horror comedies, I highly recommend this one. Also if you like either Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) or The Big Lebowski (1998) this one has a similar wacky feel to it. I give it a 4.5/5; This film is available to be streamed on Netflix, and it is also available through Xfinity OnDemand with Comcast. For some reason Blogger won't let me upload the trailer I want as a youtube clip so I'll put the link to the better version of the trailers for it here.
I don't have a lot to say about this one. It's about a small cruise of people (think Gilligan's Island) getting stranded on an island that was once used to experiment on Nazi soldiers to try create the perfect soldier that couldn't die, and could also survive/attack underwater. So yes this could quite possibly be the only film about underwater Nazi zombies, and Peter Cushing (Star Wars episode IV, Horror of Dracula, Dr. Who) is the Nazi commander who used to be in charge of the zombie operation. The only other notable names in the movie are John Carradine (Grapes of Wrath, The Howling, The Sentinel [1970s version] several dracula films), and Brooke Adams (Days of Heaven, The Dead Zone). The movie is a low
budget flick with a similar feel to a Roger Corman flick from the 70s: very gritty, limited makeup or costume effects, and film mostly during the day. The movie has some pretty good POV scenes as well as zombie stalking scenes shot underwater. The zombies are always creepy whenever they're shown too because they do everything in unison. The acting is all pretty well done considering the plot's premise and the movie's budget. The last notable thing that should be mentioned about the film is how wonky its soundtrack is. The film has a lot of very ominous unusual synthesizer tones that are at sometimes very slow and heavy, and at others super frantic and high pitched creating a near fever-dream of an atmosphere that is very effective for creating a very fitting atmosphere for this film (it's really similar to another little known classic 70s horror Let's Scare Jessica to Death[1971]). My only problem with this film though is that it does tend to drag in some spots and seem rather boring at times, so I give it a 4.25/5. You can view the trailer below:
This film is based on the novella My Talks with Dean Spanley by Lord Dunsany. It is set in turn of the century England among the middle to upper class and is about an English man who meets once a week with the town's new minister/priest who has an interesting stance on the concept of reincarnation. The film was made in New Zealand and stars Peter O'toole in one of the better performances to come out of the latter end of his career, and Sam Neill as the Dean. This is very unique and I found it very refreshing. At first glance it looked like an intellectual film about people meeting to talk about reincarnation, but that's only the best description I can give without ruining the surprise of the film, even though that description isn't the most accurate. I feel this film is best to go in fairly cold to, in other words don't read much about it and only see the trailer if you must (you might be able to figure it out from there, but I wasn't), because the whole thing that makes this film so fresh and unique is best to discover on your own as the main character discovers it half way through. This film is full of wonderful quotes like "I wonder if one can be a dog and not have fleas." This film can be taken very seriously and analyzed very deeply (there's tons of symbolism) but it can also just be enjoyed superficially without thinking too deeply about things, it's really funny in parts, and very heartwarming without being corny or cheesy. If you like Downton Abbey, I'd say give this a chance, but on that note you don't have to like Downton Abbey to like this (admittedly I'm not an Abbey fan). The film has an 85% critic approval rating and an 80% audience approval rating on rotten tomatoes.com, and I give it a 5/5. You can view the trailer below:
Nightbreed is a movie that was doomed to obscurity for several reasons: one being a horrible marketing campaign ( the movie was marketed as a slasher film when it is actually an alternative super hero movie), and the studio did not give Clive Barker final cut when he was directing it, so the studio cut out a lot of what Barker originally wanted in it, as well as changed how he wanted things to be (i.e. the ending). This film is based on a short story by Clive Barker (originally titled Cabal), about a man who is being mislead by his evil psychiatrist to think that he (the client) is responsible for a series of murders lately. The man also has recurring nightmares about inhuman creatures and a place called Midian, the man ventures out to the town where the murders occurred and it just has to be next to "Midian" a cemetery, the man wanders through the cemetery and gets attacked by two creatures who threaten to kill him, after being bit by one of the creatures though, the man learns he can no longer die and he becomes one of "The Nightbreed" and joins them in their underground city of Midian. The man (known as Boone) then has to help defend Midian against his evil former psychiatrist who hopes to destroy Midian.This film is part slasher film, but the more overwhelming important part of the film/plot is that it is an alternative super hero movie (think if Clive Barker made The X-Men, or if the cenobites from Hellraiser were good guys). The creaures, or "mutants", in the movie
tell the viewer that they've always been around but misunderstood by man, and that because of mankind's ultra violent treatment towards them the creatures, they had to retreat underground. The movie is one of the few major acting roles for acclaimed horror director David Cronenberg (he's the main villain), his acting is pretty horrible when he plays the doctor, but when he plays the killer his acting improves ten fold.The movie has a great 90s vibe to it, some offbeat humor, an interesting concept as well as characters, and AMAZING costumes special effects and makeup. The underground city definitely is reminiscent of the bar in Mos Eisley in Star Wars a New Hope. Danny Elfman also scored the film. This film was a commercial and critical failure when it came out, but it has since become a cult classic. For years a special print of the movie known as "The Cabal Cut", has been touring and playing exclusively on the convention circuit for the last five to ten years, ( a print that has restored as much of the movie as they can find over the years, [the negatives of the film were destroyed in a fire). Well I mention this because later this year The Cabal Cut will finally be getting an official DVD release sometime later this year. I generally love Clive Barker's movies (his dissatisfaction with this film led to him only directing one last film after this one), and this film is pretty great, the only thing I dock it for, is having some minor-moderate logic flaws/plot holes. Other than that though I give it a 4.25/5: you can view the trailer below:
I had heard mixed reviews about this one for a long time, and I thought the story had strong ties to witchcraft or the occult ( I love horror movies but I tend to stay away from that subject matter, that's the only stuff that really spooks me too bad) so it took me a while to get around to it. That all being said though, the film deals with ancient Native American burial grounds (always a great start for a horror movie), it fits into the "killer kid" sub-genre of horror, has Stephen King appear as a priest, Fred Gwynne (the actor most known for being Herman Munster from the tv series The Munsters) is a main character, and The Ramones contribute a couple songs to the soundtrack (including the title theme which was their highest charting single ever on The Billboard charts). Also the story is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, but it is influenced by the classic horror folk tale "The Monkey's Paw". That all should make the movie sound great because it is, I loved every minute of it. The acting was terrific by everyone involved ( I should also mention the child actor who played the son is probably best known for his roles as a friend of Michelle Tanner on the classic 90s sitcom Full House, and Kindergarten Cop[1990]), the cinematography and special effects are great, it's a terrific drama for a lot of the film, but it is also funny and definitely freaky in parts. The story is about a family moving to New England and shortly after they arrive their cat dies. The family's neighbor then shows the dad of the family a place where he can bury his cat so that it will come back to life. Shortly after tragedy strikes the family, the husband is tempted to use the magic of the secret burial ground again. There are a lot of King's trademarks here, a New England setting, a psychic connection with the young girl, and strong dramatic overtones. This is also the movie that made Mary Lambert (the director of the film whose other claim to fame is directing some of the most famous music videos of the 80s)'s career. The film is listed on Bravo's list of 100 Scariest Movie Moments, but I would advise to not watch the segment about the movie until after you see it. I give it a 5/5, you can view the trailer below:
The Ward is the latest film directed by one of my favorite directors, John Carpenter. It is a story about four or five girls in their teens/early 20s, living in a special security ward in an insane asylum during the 1960s. A new girl arrives and quickly learns this ward is no normal place. The film has wonderful cinematography, wonderful creepy hospital atmosphere, as well as a really nice 60s feel to it at times (a highlight is a dance scene in the ward set to a sixties vinyl single playing on the phonograph). The acting is also really good, but this movie is far from perfect. A lot of the scares in the film are given away by the musical score, or are just really predictable/cliche at times. The movie's mystery does remain a mystery for most of the movie, but I felt the ending was fairly anticlimactic as well as fairly predictable. This movie goes from an interesting compelling unique story to almost a "cop out" of a psychological thriller. The film turns out to be similar to another film I've reviewed on this blog called Identity (2003). There aren't any big name stars in this one, but all of the girls are fairly recognizable from various movies and TV shows made within the last ten years. This film is available to stream on Netlfix, and I give this one a 3.25/5, you can view the trailer below:
I normally don't like films by Lucio Fulci, they are usually far too graphic and gory for me, and this film was no exception. Fulci's most famous film is 1979s Zombie: We're Going to Eat you! also known as "Zombi 2". Fulci's horror movies are famous for their gore (think Dario Argento's typical violence taken up a notch). Fulci also has some films famous for their Gothic imagery though, and this is one of those (the other one being The Beyond). I liked the cinematography as a whole, very similar to an Argento film, and I liked the fact that they actually filmed part/parts of this film on location in New York, because typically if foreign low budget independent movies are set in US cities, they film them in a different country and just try to get away
with it (Inferno[1980] for example). The sets and music were also really good. The adult actors were good, but the little boy annoyed me though ( they also dubbed his voice with a voice that did not seem to fit his age or looks). Plot wise I thought the story was very confusing, the boy's nanny seemed to have some sort of connection to the murders and such, but that was never really explained. The husband also had a secret and it's confusing if his secret was an affair, or something connected to the murders, not to mention the ending didn't really make much sense either (also similar to an Argento film that way). Plus I found the "monster"'s costume to be really fake, it didn't really have a face, it was horrible. And of course as I mentioned before it was far too gory for my taste, I'm talking Dead Alive (1992)[aka Braindead] levels of gore here. Too many limbs everywhere and too much bizarre mutilation, and when all that is shown, the camera sits on it for WAY too long in my opinion, a la David Cronenberg style. I give this one my lowest rating yet, a 2/5. I should also mention that like most of Dario Argento's films, and old Spaghetti Westerns, this film is dubbed in english, even though some actors and characters in it did speak english. This one is available to stream on Hulu.com, you can also view the trailer below:
