Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
"Right there in that very house is where our story begins. The story of the first Easter Rabbit. And, you know we came within a hair's breadth, if you'll excuse the pun, of never having an Easter Rabbit at all."
Rankin & Bass brought us some of the most memorable holiday specials ever made. Most of us grew up watching these cartoons and stop motion shorts no matter what age we grew up in. You see, this stuff has been on television non-stop for 50 years. There are so many classics. There's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and so many others that we could fill the page with our own memories. For the most part, just putting the Rankin & Bass name to a special pretty much guaranteed an entertaining and enduring tale. Unfortunately, The First Easter Rabbit just isn't one of those.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 7th, 2010
A spaceship crashes. From it emerge a monstrous creature called the Moorwen, and a man, Kainan (Jim Caviezel in Buff Action Mode), who is determined to hunt it down. However, he is promptly captured by vikings and taken to their village, at which point he must convince them of the terrible danger they are in. As it turns out, they don't take much convincing, once the Moorwen attacks.
Analyzing the zeitgeist is always a tricky business. How, for instance, to explain the fact that over the last several years there have been numerous film versions of Beowulf, almost all of the revisionist variety: Eaters of the Dead, Beowulf and Grendel, and now Outlander, to name but three. The newest take has fun with its mix of vikings and SF, and the monster action is good fun. Is anything here groundbreaking? No. But the film keeps its focus on providing the viewer with an exciting ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
When you first look at the title for this entry in After Dark's 4th annual 8 Films To Die For, you probably have summed up images of a dank and foreboding cemetery where unspeakable horrors rise from their resting places to torment the, albeit temporarily, living. This is definitely a little bit of a case of false advertising and the misleading use of a title. These Graves are sisters, Megan (Grant) and Abby (Murray), to be exact. They're the kind of sisters that do everything together. You know the type. They almost speak in a secret language and appear to be soul mates. But Megan is a bit more outgoing and has gotten herself a job in New York, far away from the sisters' home in Arizona. Abby is a bit more introverted and is having a hard time dealing with the inevitable loss of her sister. So the two decide to have one more blast together. It's time for a road trip to visit the world's largest thermometer. Oh boy. Any horror fan worth his remote knows that the girls are likely not going to make it to see the big thermometer, and they'd be correct. They get sidetracked in a small town called Unity where they are encouraged to visit the abandoned gold mine called Skull City Mine.
Something very strange lives at the mine, and the town's folk have been feeding it tourists. The creature or entity is a dirt cloud that devours the hapless victim's soul. Unfortunately, the creature isn't capable of killing its prey, so the townsfolk have to pitch in and commit a little murder in order to satiate the beast. The Graves sisters are lambs being led to the slaughter. Of course, these two girls just wouldn't be enough slaughter fodder for the full running time of a respectable movie, so the filmmakers have populated the mine with other lovely co-eds to provide a bevy of interesting kills to amp up the movie's gore meter. Fortunately for the girls, the creature is willing to eat anybody, even its own followers if they should happen to find themselves dead. And the Graves sisters are all too happy to help some of them find their way to that cooperative condition.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 7th, 2010
A young migrant farmworker raises money for his mother's medicine by prize fighting illegally in an old auto shop. As tensions mount on the farm where he works, he finds himself as a major chess piece in the battle between some Texas fat cats and the Mexican workers on both sides of the border.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
"There are no multiple choices."
It's about time that someone did a good job of making a horror movie version of Revenge Of The Nerds. This is the first movie for director Joey Stewart. He's done a lot of second unit stuff, mostly for television in the past. It's like the third effort for writer Jason Kabolati, but together I think they just might be on to something here. The Final plays on both our desire for a good blood and guts horror movie and our satisfaction of seeing those picked-on socially awkward kids get the upper hand on their bullies. If you've been waiting for that kind of a combination, then this is the movie for you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
Maybe the problem is that I just don't get British. I'd like to think I'm just as hip as the rest of you out there, but I'm just not so sure. I mean, I love Monty Python to death, but just could never get Benny Hill. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan from a long time ago, but some of the British science fiction movies and mini-series I've seen of late mostly just leave me scratching my head. It's like everyone in the world is in on this great funny joke and I'm the only one who doesn't get it. I hate feeling that way, but that's exactly what The Reeds left me feeling before it was all over.
A group of 6 friends are on holiday. They're driving some time away from home to enjoy a weekend on a rented boat together. When they get to the Marina, they find out that the boat they reserved is damaged, and there just aren't any others available to let. Well ... that's not exactly true. If the group is willing to drive to another location and pick up a boat left there, they can use it for the weekend. They quickly agree and get directions to the boat. They find the Corsair Star sitting in a marsh with a group of zombie-like stoic kids aboard. They chase them away and commence to start their cruise weekend. They decide to leave the open water and attempt to navigate a narrow passage through a vast plain of reeds. That's when the strange things start to happen. They spot the odd kids again and hotshot aggressive Chris (Mellor) jumps ship to give them a what for. They scatter, leaving a charred dog corpse behind them. Then they get snagged on a metal object that pierces the hull, not to mention Chris. It all goes downhill from there. The group begin to have odd visions, and more and more strange things keep occurring about them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 6th, 2010
If you're reading this review, you must surely already know what the movie is about. We're talking, after all, about what must surely be the single most celebrated case of mistaken identity in the history of film. Cary Grant stands up in a lounge at just the wrong moment and is mistaken for a man who doesn't exist. That utterly perverse mix of chance and paradox, leading to ever more dangerous situations for Grant, in an ever more complicated tangle of battling conspiracies, is so utterly Hitchcockian, it might just as well be trademarked.
The film is also very funny, as so much of Hitchcock's work is. Of course, much of his humour is black as pitch, and that mordant wit is certainly still present here, but there is also a joviality to the proceedings, due in no small measure to the presence of Cary Grant. Unlike the Jimmy Stewart of Vertigo and Rear Window, whose screen image of fundamental decency makes the deeply flawed, pathological aspects of his characters even more painful and weighty, Grant here keeps things light, as his character is just as aware of the absurdity of his perils as we are, and is just as likely to be amused. But if this is Hitchcock working in a lighter vein, that astounding perversity keeps poking through. What are we to make, for instance, of that creepily close relationship Grant has with his mother?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
One might have to legitimately ask about the thinking behind this particular children- targeted release. I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable with the idea of reviewing this film at this particular time. I have two issues that are just unavoidable here:
They both deal with the film's two central stars here. Bindi Irwin is the daughter of famed Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. You all remember Steve. He used to approach some of the most dangerous animals on the planet and quite casually tell us just how deadly they were while tempting them to tag him. We all suspected that Steve might one day get a little careless and get himself killed. The truth is that didn't exactly happen. It wasn't a particularly dangerous animal or any carelessness on Irwin's part that led to his rather unexpected death a few years ago. It was a usually harmless stingray that sent a barb through his heart in what can only be described as an unfortunate freak accident. Now, even before his death, the family had been preparing their very young daughter to follow in Daddy's rather unusual footsteps. Bindi's done several documentary films, including her own television show in the wake of her father's death. Here I can't help getting the feeling that the appearance is somewhat exploitive of the whole business. When I look at Bindi's mom in the extra features, I can't shake the feeling that she's cashing in here. I don't know these guys, so I'm not trying to claim that I know their hearts and minds. I can only report the feeling it leaves me with, and it's not a good one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
The mere mention of Hammer Studios brings to mind bloody terror to the legions of monster fans who grew up on a steady drive-in staple diet of the studio's iconic monster movies. The studio picked up where Universal left off in the 1950's and delivered a new run of the classic monsters we had been introduced to in black and white. Hammer brought these creatures to life in living ... or is that living dead … color. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Werewolf, and The Mummy were all resurrected for a new cycle of films from the British studio. The place earned its often-used nickname of The House Of Horror.
But Hammer wasn't always known as a horror factory. The company actually began in the 1930's, creating decidedly British versions of film noir. In the 1950's and 60's when the horror phase began, Hammer was also putting out other fare for a hungry public. These films often embraced some chilling elements but didn't rely on monsters for many of the scares. The films were often even crime dramas or supernatural in nature. These films often were the training grounds for some of their staple talent over the years. In this collection Sony has compiled some of these early evolving films from the House Of Horror.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 6th, 2010
"It's New Year's Eve on the Poseidon. Partying voyagers toast the future. The future comes in a rush; a 150 foot rogue wave flips the cruise ship over. And a struggle to survive begins."
Poseidon doesn’t waste any time getting to the action, so I won’t waste any time with an introduction to this review. Yes, it’s a remake of the 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure. Yes, it is chock full of convenient cardboard characters (a former Navy man, a fireman, a nurse, etc…). But we don’t watch movies like Poseidon for character exposition, do we?
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