Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Hundreds of years ago, alchemist Fulcanelli created the Cronos device, a contraption thatlooks like a silver Faberge egg. This device conveys eternal life, but at a price, as a kindlyantiquarian (Federico Luppi, who also starred in The Devil’s Backbone) discovers. Hebecomes younger, but also monstrous, and develops a thirst for blood. He must also battleRon Perlman, thuggish henchman of a dying millionaire who also wants the device. Then there’sthe bond Luppi has wit...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 12th, 2003
Synopsis
A survivor of Strickland’s disease (the illness that led to the creation of the Judas breed ofgiant cockroaches in the first place), Karl Geary is extremely allergic, cannot be far from hisoxygen bottle, and is essentially of prisoner of his bedroom. From here he watches theneighbourhood through a telephoto lens, obsessively photographing. His mother (AmandaPlummer) is an oblivious flake, and his younger sister is well on her way to becoming a junkie.Gradually, Geary realiz...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 12th, 2003
Synopsis
A movie star has disappeared, and a police inspector arrives in the small town where he wasstaying to investigate. He is informed that there is something very strange about the house wherethe star was living, and we then see the stories of what happened to the various tenants. In thefirst story, writer Denholm Elliott fears that a strangler in the novel he is working on has come tolife. Next, Peter Cushing visits a wax museum and sees a statue of Salome that bears an uncanny...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 1st, 2003
Synopsis
JoBeth Williams plays radio host Dr. Rose. Turfed from her radio show, she moves fromsmall-town Eureka to LA (taking with her a mannequin with whom she has involvedconversations). She lands a new job at a small college, and starts making a name for herself.Unfortunately, she has no real qualifications, and is (as Williams twitchy performance makesclear from the opening seconds on) completely off her nut. When a skeptical student starts raisingquestions about her, Dr. Rose w...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 30th, 2003
Synopsis
The premise to both movies is pretty much the same: super-intelligent Labrador retrieverescapes from government lab and is pursued by evil Sasquatch/ape monster that kills anyone thedog comes near (the two are telepathically linked, you see). In the first movie, the dog hooksup with Corey Haim. In the second, with Marc Singer. The results are odd, rather like OldYeller meets Predator: Disney animal scenes mixed with eye-gougings. None of thisis particularly go...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 29th, 2003
Synopsis
Convinced, after therapy, that his previous vampire-fighting adventure was the product of adelusion, William Ragsdale returns to normal life. Unfortunately, he and horror host PeterVincent (Roddy McDowall, reprising his Peter Cushing/Vincent Price role) are targeted byvampire Julie Carmen, who wants revenge for the death of her brother. The comedy isn't funny,and the horror isn't scary. The film is slick, but is just barely a passable time-waster.
Audio
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 28th, 2003
Synopsis
In Howling V: The Rebirth (**), a group of strangers gather for the re-opening of aHungarian castle, which has been shut up for 500 years. One by one they are killed off by a(barely glimpsed) werewolf, and there is a secret that ties them all together. Nothing tooextraordinary here, and werewolf fans will be disappointed by the monster’s next-to-zero screentime. This is, in fact, a throwback to the kind of movie involving much prowling around a darkcastle that Italy ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
A terrible virus called Rage (which just happens to be the French word for rabies, thatdistinctly English fear) gets loose and ravages the population of Britain. 28 days after the initialrelease, Cilian Murphy wakes up in a deserted hospital. He wanders around empty London,wondering where everyone has gone, until, come night, he is attacked by a horde of the infected,who move like George Romero zombies on speed. He is rescued by Naomie Harris, and togetherthey then hook up ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
In Troll (**), a family headed up by Michael Moriarty and Shelley Hack move intotheir new apartment. Unfortunately the young daughter is kidnapped and impersonated by a troll,who goes about turning the other residents into greenery or fairy creatures. Among thosesuffering this fate are Sonny Bono and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, who can't have been too happy tohave this hunk of cheese lurking on their CVs. Mediocre as Troll is, it does at least havefairly high ambiti...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2003
Please do not confuse this Hallmark made for TV film with the wonderful Tim Burton film of the same year. They have about as much in common with each other as either does with the classic Washington Irving story. The only good thing I can say about the film is that Brent Carver’s Ichabod Crane is a spectacular performance. Carver reminds me a great deal of the late and great Roddy McDowall. He shares his overall appearance as well as certain characteristic mannerisms and speech inflections with McDowall.
