Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 25th, 2004
Synopsis
In 1893, scientist Peter Cushing returns home with a remarkable find: a giant skeleton, whichturns out to belong to a being that was the very incarnation of evil. Where water touches thebones, flesh regenerates, and Cushing isolates the blood cells that contain evil. Obsessed withprotecting his daughter from the insanity that destroyed his wife, he attempts to inoculate her.His experiment goes horribly wrong, and also attracts the attention of half-brother and scientificriv...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Brigitte (Emily Perkins), having dispatched her werewolf sister in Ginger Snaps, isnow living with the fact that the wolfsbane antidote concocted in the previous film is not a curefor lycanthropy. It can merely hold the transformation painfully at bay. Mistaken for an addictto more traditional drugs, Brigitte is picked up and placed in combination drug rehab centre andburn ward (don’t ask). She needs to escape, as she is being stalked by a werewolf who seeks amate. B...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004
Synopsis
Welcome to Mud Creek, Texas. In a depressing nursing home, senior citizen Elvis (BruceCampbell) is sleeping away what remains of his life. Some led gets put back into his pencil,however, when he and “JFK” (Ossie Davis, who else?) realize that an ancient mummy is killingoff the residents of the home. Barely able to walk, they nonetheless decide to fight thesupernatural evil.
As you might guess from the above description, and especially from the casting, this is prett...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 7th, 2004
Synopsis
In 1957, the British studio Hammer, having already produced a number of classic SFthrillers, turned to gothic horror, which had been effectively dead since 1946, and brought it backwith a vengeance. Their revolutionary entry was The Curse of Frankenstein (****1/2),which introduced colour, gore and sex to the classic horror formula, and made Peter Cushing (asFrankenstein) and Christopher Lee (as the Creature) into stars. Unlike the Universal Frankensteinfilms of the 3...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2004
The Monsters of Universal Studios during the 1930’s to the 1950’s truly are a legacy. This collection, while including many films already released, is an important set. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein Monster, and Lon Chaney’s tortured Larry Talbot/The Wolfman have inspired generations of filmmakers, writers, and f/x engineers. The influence on our culture is impossible to deny. When asked about Frankenstein, most of us conjure the classic Karloff image long before we think of Mary Shelley or any ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 29th, 2004
Synopsis
A young boy is growing huge and foul-mouthed due to a growth hormone injection gonewrong. The scientist who injected him (Jackie Burroughs) gets in touch with fellow researcherPaul Coufos, reasoning somehow that he might be able to come up with an antidote. Before hisresearch at the university is complete, however, animal rights activists break into his lab andrelease injected rats. Soon rats the size of wolves are prowling about the campus tunnels,munching on all and sundr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 19th, 2004
Synopsis
John Carradine, playing real-life author R. Chetwynd-Hayes (on whose book the movie isvery loosely based), is ambushed by vampire Vincent Price. Price drains only a bit of his blood,and upon realizing that he has met his favourite author, invites Carradine for drinks at theMonster Club. Here Price spins a trio of tales: a young woman ill-advisedly plans to steal froma lonely “shadmock” (a creature with a fatal whistle); a family-man vampire is stalked byunpleasantly bureauc...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2004
Synopsis
Due to the clumsy snake-repelling tactics of novelist William Katt, the passengers of anAfrican river boat find themselves stuck on Snake Island. They don't realize they're in trouble, atfirst, taking time out to party and dance, but soon their numbers stuck being cut down. It seemsthat the snakes on this island have become very smart and are single-minded in their goal ofcleansing the island of humans
The extended party sequence, complete with mandatory (if nonsensical) nu...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 3rd, 2004
I am often fooled into watching a bad film because the box looked good. I can’t tell you how many times I have been in the video store and uttered the phrase “this looks good”, only to get home and be reminded that looks can be deceiving. Rare have been the times when I found a good film packaged in a bad box. It happens, but not that often. Lucky for me, this is one of those times.
Now, there’s really nothing special about this movie, mind you. The film is just a rehash of the plethora of teen slasher flic...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 1st, 2004
Oh, where to begin? I guess I should start with the directors. That’s right, DIRECTORS. Plural. There are three of them. Apparently, the first two didn’t suck enough, so they had to bring in a third to fill out the talentless triumvirate. Any film directed by three people who are not related should make moviegoers instantly suspicious.
You know what else makes me suspicious? Any movie that stars both Meadow Soprano and Buster Poindexter. My suspicions grew when I realized that they were only in a small port...
