Friday, December 26, 2008

Cats at Christmas!

















As its Christmas I decided to show off my two pet cats again! They are Kitty and Felix.Kitty is older than Felix and Kitty is female and Felix is male.Needless to say as Kitty is female she is more trouble than Felix!!! I previously posted about Kitty here and Felix here.
Felix is above here looking out the window.




Here they are two in a bed! Where one starts and the other ends god only knows! Its just a mass of paws and tails! Felix is on the left and Kitty on the right! As you can tell they are the best of friends and always sleep together.They are like people and don't like the light being turned on when they are sleeping.Felix is very affected by light and usually just has his eyes like this picture! Kitty is the type of cat that sleeps with one eye open!

Here is a nice picture with the two of them doing what they do best......sleeping! The cat nap pillow is in the background so this is one of my favourites.I took all these pictures and this one makes them look like a cat with two heads! They always sleep very tight together as you can see from these photos! I hope you like these photos as much as I do!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Christmas from Jigsaw's Lair!


Well, it's that time of year again where we go home to our families and eat turkey and watch terrible televison! If you get bored, you can always watch some of the movies we have reviewed over the past few months. Check out the latest reviews for a good film to see! Maybe Pinhead could raise your Christmas spirit or maybe Leatherface will warm your heart over the cold days.

Whatever your preference, keep it dark and evil.....Amanda and I will be setting some traps over the holidays and looking forward to a bloody New Year full of latest movies,books,Sci Fi,horror and nightmares!!! We will be coming up with new and more evil ways of trapping those poor 'innocent' victims whilst indulging in some of the more conventional Christmas traditions.

We would just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you have been good all year! Thanks for visiting our blog.Just pray you don't wake up in a trap and a tape of Billy the Puppet is playing on a tv in front of you like below!!!!

American Psycho Book Review 2

American Psycho is a book by Bret Easton Ellis that I have only just got around to reading now.I have seen the movie starring Christian Bale and liked it a lot.Usually I try not to see the movie until the book is read as its very hard to get the images of the actors out of the mind once they are there! The books are usually superior to the film anyway though there are exceptions to that rule.I have not read any other books by Ellis prior to this but I do remember listening to a radio interview that he gave and he seemed very interesting.He had read excerpts from this and his other book Lunar Park and I had him on my list to read ever since!

For those who haven't read the book or seen the film, American Psycho is about Patrick Bateman who is the main character.He is twenty six and is handsome,intelligent and works on Wall Street which sounds like he is a great guy! But he is also a Psychopath!!!! Though the title of the book may have given it away already! It is set in the 1980's and follows him around as he lives his life.We learn that he and his friends are obsessed with appearance and how they dress.He loves to work out and use all kinds of face creams to look good.Then we learn that this is his carefully kept persona and that he harbours deep homicidal rages against people.For most of the first half of the book it's about how he and his friends go out and look for beautiful women and do drugs in clubs.

Then his darker side comes out as he begins killing people.Ellis (Pictured right) goes into gory detail about how he kills them and this would not be for the faint hearted! Once you are fine with the grisly details I think that people will think that this is a great book.I thought it was a great read definitely and I was reminded of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club that I have read.Of course this book was out first but I have only just gotten around to reading it!!

American Psycho is a book that will have you thinking about it and discussing it long after it has been finished.We wonder did he really kill people? Did he imagine it? Did he imagine some and do others? I think its purposely not made clear and that's what is so intriguing.Some pages are devoted totally to the character's thoughts of musical albums so we are left guessing about everything throughout! I would thoroughly recommend you getting a copy and reading this if you have not already.It is definitely a modern classic.

American Psycho (9/10)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Gift Ideas!!

As we come up to Christmas, I thought I would suggest some gift ideas! It's that time of year where everyone goes to the shopping centres to get a load of presents for their loved ones.It's a tough time when you deliberate on what to get that special someone or relative.Sometimes that usual gift of socks or perfume just isn't enough.You want to get something that they don't have.Something they never even thought they needed is a good idea!! These may be hard to get but give you food for thought anyway!

First off we have a Christmas CD from none other than Ray Romano! It's a whole load of Christmas hits that he recorded and you can get a sneak preview in the following video......



Next up is a very handy tool for all the family.If you need to know whether a relative or friend is gay then what better way to find out than use the special Gaydar Gun! It will come in handy to find out for sure to end all those arguments with no more doubt!

Now we have a very handy item that may come in handy for me when I am with Amanda! It's a remote control for your wife or girlfriend! I think every guy would want one of these from Santa this year! Handy buttons for bring me food and bring me beer are preinstalled so thats a great thing! Butttons for Let me be and Let me out are there also so you could say its complete!


Monday, December 22, 2008

The Lost Boys(1987)- Amanda

Hello there, can you remember where you first heard these words-Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It's fun to be a vampire. Yes, it is from one of the best cult movies of the '80s- The Lost Boys(1987),directed by Joel Schumacher. I love this movie and I think that most people would agree with me. It is just pure fun with some horror mixed in. It stars some of the hottest young talent of the 1980's, namely Jason Patric , Corey Haim , Corey Feldman , Jami Gertz and of course, Keifer Sutherland.How could you go wrong with a cast like that?

The story begins with Mike(Jason Patric) and Sam(Corey Haim) moving with their mom(Dianne Weist) to the town of Santa Carla. They don't want to move there and they don't like it when they are brought to their new home owned by their grandpa(Barnard Hughes). There are plenty of kids hanging around the boardwalk and Mike and Sam are looking around when Mike sees Star(Jami Gertz) and is captivated by her. He follows her and he meets a group of guys led by David (Keifer Sutherland). They challenge him to a motorcycle race and they end up fighting. David invites Mike to their secret hideout and he goes. Mike is offered wine which he drinks. Little does he know that it is David's blood and that his new pals are vampires. He has unwittingly joined their gang.

Meanwhile, Sam meets the Frog brothers, Edgar(Corey Feldman) and Alan(Jamison Newlander). They tell him that there are vampires in Santa Carla and that he might be in danger. He thinks that they are nuts and laughs it off, but he reads the comic and he becomes scared. He starts to realise that Mike has become a vampire and the Frog brothers tell him to kill Mike, but he can't. Mike tells him that he needs help to get Star and a little vampire boy Laddie(Chance Michael Corbitt) out of their lair. Their mom has met a guy called Max(Edward Herrmann) who seems nice and who offers her a job in his video store. They begin dating and Mike and Sam soon find out that he is the head vampire and that he needs to die before everyone else will become human again.

So, the last part of the movie is taken up with trying to get Star and Laddie out of the lair and
back to safety, but David and his gang are not going to give up so easily. Sam and the Frog brothers try and kill them off with hilarious results. Eventually, it ends up that Max is the only one left and he wants their mom to become his wife. She doesn't want to and grandpa saves the day in the end, killing Max and returning Mike, Star and Laddie back to humans. This movie is great entertainment and it is well worth watching again and again. Plus, there is a great soundtrack!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Milk Movie Review 10



Milk is movie starring Sean Penn,Josh Brolin,James Franco and Emile Hirsch.This is based on a true story.Penn plays Harvey Milk,California's first openly gay official.He was a San Francisco supervisor who led the fight against anti-gay initiatives and tried to get equal rights for gays.Josh Brolin plays another city supervisor Dan White who was a family man but they became linked as the movie will reveal! I don't want to spoil the movie for those who don't want to know what happened but it can be found out by clicking on his name.The movie goes through how Milk started out and how he became involved in politics.James Franco plays a boyfriend of Milks and Emille Hirsch plays Cleve Jones who was Milk's protege.

The movie goes through his attempts at getting elected and how he became focused on the rights of gays and the injustices they suffer.Then when he is elected how he tries to influence policies.Sean Penn is very good in the part as Milk and Brolin gets little screen time but then it is about Harvey Milk!! James Franco is good also and looks very different in this.This is a real serious Penn movie that definitely would not be for everyone especially if you are not interested in learning about gay injustices or truth based movies.

I found Milk very interesting and it held my attention throughout.Throughout the movie there are real news clips thrown in from that time and it all works seamlessly.Gus Van Sant who did great movies such as Good Will Hunting,My Own Private Idaho,Drugstore Cowboy and the absolutely brilliant Psycho remake that Amanda Loves!!! (Em no not really!) directs this and the result is a very good biopic.It's a movie that you can see in the Oscar shake up with Penn maybe getting nominated for best actor.The only problem I had is that it seemed Milk had no faults at all other than being a bit too invested in his political life and the expense of his boyfriend.Of course maybe he was a great guy and had no faults! I would recommend that you go see this movie as it is entertaining and interesting at the same time.So now all i have to ask is Got Milk?!!



Milk (7/10)

Surveillance Movie Review 9




Surveillance is a movie starring Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond as FBI agents who travel to a small town police station to interview three people who are witnesses to murders.The agents have been tracking two serial killers and they finally have witnesses to interview.The story shows how each had a different point of view and how they came to the area of the killings.French Stewart of the great sitcom Third Rock from the Sun is a cop who got killed and his partner is still alive so the agents want to know how he died.Then Pell James plays a drug addict who also survived and there is a little girl played by Ryan Simpkins whose family all got murdered to interview also.

The title name comes from the cameras set up in each interview room that Bill Pullman watches while they are all being interviewed.It's written and directed by Jennifer Lynch who did Boxing Helena and the executive producer is her father David Lynch who did the great Twin Peaks,Dune and many others.Speaking of David Lynch did you know you can buy David Lynch Coffee??!! See Pic under here and go to here if you want some !


After a while in the movie I guessed the ending and hoped that I wasn't right but what I thought was correct.To me it seemed obvious but maybe it's not for everyone.Bill Pullman looks very different in this movie but he is very good.It's a different type of movie for him.Surveillance does not show police in a good light but for a simple story its not too bad.


The story is a bit thin but it's ok and the only thing I really did not like is the obvious ending.I think if you do not see it coming you will think this was a great movie.It's another movie that you should only check out if you have seen other better movies but it's ok.I would have scored this a bit better only for the fact that I thought of the end early on in the movie.If you do get to see this movie it will be interesting to see if you think of it too!!!

Surveillance (4/10)

Appaloosa Movie Review 8

Appaloosa is a movie starring Ed Harris (who directed,produced and helped write the screenplay also) and Viggo Mortensen,Jeremy Irons (who owns a castle here in County Cork) and Renee Zellweger.It is a horse opera and they are rarely made these days.A horse opera meaning a western of course!!! Harris and Mortensen play two trouble shooters who go around restoring law and order in towns by making what ever Harris says the law! They come to the town of Appaloosa where local bad guy Jeremy Irons rules the roost.At the beginning he murders two lawmen with his gang that came to arrest him so he can do what he likes.Harris and Mortensen take over the town as marshal and deputy and make it clear the old ways of Irons doing what he likes are over.Thus begins the fight between both sides and things go from bad to worse when a member of Irons' gang gets a conscience and admits he saw Irons shoot the lawmen!

Things go on from there as Harris and Mortensen try to bring Irons to justice as during this time Renee Zellweger's character arrives in town.Mortensen likes her but she likes Harris more so they begin seeing each other.This movie is based on Robert B. Parker's book of the same name but I have never read it.The movie is obviously a pet project for Ed Harris as he did nearly everything for this movie and there are rumours of a sequel.It is around 1 hour 50 mins but at least 20 mins should have been cut out.It is slow moving but the story did hold my attention unlike other slow movies.Harris and Mortensen are the main guys here with Zellweger doing hardly anything but just pick up her pay for doing a different type of movie.Lance Henriksen shows up in the middle and is as good as ever.

Appaloosa is an interesting movie that won't be for everyone though.If you don't like westerns then this is not the one to try to change your mind.If however you like them then I think you might like this.Its not riveting but it is interesting and the cast is good.Its a movie that is not great at all but is not complete rubbish so its a movie to try to catch at some point but there is no need to rush out to see it!

Appaloosa (5/10)

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Children of the Corn(1984)- Amanda

What can I say about Children of the Corn(1984)? This movie is a delightful tale of some little kids who decide to murder their parents and take over a town called Gatlin.It is based on a short story by Stephen King.The kids are ruled by a little weird looking teen preacher called Isaac(John Franklin).The kids believe all of his rubbish about the so called 'He Who Walks Behind the Rows'(of corn that is). They think that he is the best thing ever and he uses his leadership to make sure no one questions him. He is aided by a red-haired Malachai(Courtney Gains) who has a huge knife to keep them all in line.

Enter Vicky(Linda Hamilton) and Burt(Peter Horton), a couple who are on their way to a new life together when they break down in the little town of Gatlin(you knew it would happen!). They find the town deserted and they look around for a telephone but no no avail. They find strange drawings and they meet two little kids who are not brainwashed by Isaac. They learn that all of the adults were murdered by Isaac and his weirdo cult and that Isaac rules the place.

Vicky and Burt need to get out of the town but they find that they are being hunted down by the weirdos. They are caught and are going to be sacrificed when Isaac is taken instead by He Who walks Behind the Rows. It is an okay ending but in the short story Vicky and Burt are killed and maybe they should have stuck to that. But, on the whole, this is an entertaining movie with a real message- little kids shouldn't play with knives! Just a note- avoid the sequels, even Stephen King, who wrote the short story tried to distance himself from them...

Friday, December 19, 2008

The Fog(1980)-Amanda

Something is in the fog! The Fog(1980) is a great one to enjoy over Christmas. It is directed by a favourite of mine, John Carpenter. It begins with the town of Antonio Bay celebrating their centenary. There is going to be plenty of partying etc. Then a strange fog descends on the little town. The fog is eerie and strange and the townsfolk begin to realise that there is something very sinister and evil inside that fog.

There are many good characters in this movie. Adrienne Barbeau stars as the local d.j. Stevie Wayne and she is one of the first to notice that the fog is coming thick and fast and that it is not what it seems to be. Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Elizabeth, who hitches a ride into Antonio Bay with local guy,Nick(Tom Atkins). Jamie Lee's real life mother Janet Leigh(from Psycho) stars also. The priest Fr. Malone(Hal Holbrook) finds a hidden journal of his grandfather in the church and he discovers that there was a conspiracy in the town years ago which lead to the death of some lepers in a shipwreck. Now, they have come back in the fog to get revenge and yes, they are pissed off!

There is a creepy and surreal atmosphere to this movie. The special effects are good for the time. The zombies/lepers are always hidden from view until the very end and this benefits the eerie feeling. There are plenty of killings as the zombies get revenge for what happened to them all those years ago. This movie is great fun and there is a genuine scary feeling to it. It is one to enjoy with the lights off..All alone...Watch out for THE FOG!!!!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Star Wars - The Silent Movie


I fell asleep in my Lair last night after watching Star Wars and dreamed I was watching it in the old days before 'Talking' came in to being.Yes, it was the era of the silent movie! It all seemed so real to me that I was able to mentally record what I watched!!!!!! Yes its true! Then after waking up I was able to go to my laptop and switch on my mental wireless transmitter and send the video to my laptop!!!! My talent knows no bounds!!!The result is here for you to see!

Then I woke up from my dream within a dream and realised that I saw it online! This is a short little film about how Star Wars might have looked if it was made in the era of silent movies!!! Complete with accompanying piano playing also!!!!!!

Christine(1983)- Amanda

Hello, Amanda here. I am back with a good film based on a novel by Stephen King. Christine(1983) is directed by John Carpenter, who also directed Halloween(1978) and The Fog(1980). It is the story of a high school loser called Arnie Cunningham. He is bullied at school and he is ruled by his parents at home. He has one friend, Dennis, who tries to stand up for him and a girlfriend, Leigh.
His life is pretty crappy until one day, he spots an old Plymouth Fury at the side of the road. She is owned by some old guy and he agrees to sell her to Arnie. Her name is Christine and Arnie becomes obsessed with fixing her up.

After a while, Dennis and Leigh begin to notice a change in Arnie's personality. He has gone from geek to crazy guy. He seems to want nothing else only Christine. He has lost his good nature and he has become mean and crazy. His friend wants to help him when he notices that Arnie is living for the car and nothing else. He finds out that the previous owner had the same problem and it becomes apparent that the car is 'alive'. Leigh and Dennis have to destroy the car and save Arnie from a horrible fate. Arnie and Christine have different ideas and they will kill anyone who tries to come between them...

This is an entertaining movie and I really liked it. I have read the book and John Carpenter has done a good job. Sometimes, Stephen King adaptations can be horrible-Riding the Bullet(2004) comes to mind as a terrible adaptation of a Stephen King story. Anyway, this is a must for us horror fans. If you haven't seen this already, buy it or rent it. You won't be sorry.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Demons(1985)- Amanda

Well, I am here again with a little movie called Demons(1985). As a rule, I am not mad about zombie movies, but I saw this one a few years ago and I liked it a lot. It is directed by Lamberto Bava and was written by him along with another horror genius, Dario Argento. The acting isn't up to much and there wasn't a whole lot of money spent on this film, but that actually makes it better, I think.

The story begins when two young girls enter a movie theatre after being given free tickets to see a horror film by a weirdo. A woman decides to try on a mask that was used in the movie and she is cut by the mask and while they are watching the movie, she starts to turn into a nasty, blood- seeking demon! What happens for the rest of the movie is mayhem as she attacks others and soon, there are plenty of the rotten demons looking for lunch! It is great fun as the unbitten try to get out and kill the demons at the same time.It becomes a battle between the survivors and the slimy undead.

This movie is a great eighties horror, with a good soundtrack too. There are plenty of scary moments and lots of laughs. There is everything to enjoy about it- bad acting, scary demons and plenty of comedy. I just might take it out later and watch it again...It's a shame there aren't many horror movies on t.v. at Christmas for those of us who like something different to the usual light-hearted warm and fuzzy movies. There are some of us who prefer something evil and nasty, just to warm our hearts and give us pleasant nightmares......

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Wicker Man(1973)- Amanda

Hello there and welcome to another review of a fine horror classic- The Wicker Man(1973). This movie is one to enjoy over and over whilst listening to the screams of the poor man being burned inside the gigantic Wicker Man!!!!The story begins with the disappearance of a young girl on a strange island off the Scottish coast. A policeman, Sgt. Howie(Edward Woodward) is assigned to investigate what happened. On landing, he is aware that the community are a little odd. Well, as he meets locals, he sees that there is something very off about the place.

There is a leader of the Island called Lord Summerisle(Christopher Lee) who rules the place. Sgt. Howie visits him at his home and witnesses some strange rituals being performed. It seems that the people on the island are all pagans and they practise rituals which are disgusting to the Catholic Sgt. Howie. He begins to feel uneasy, as do we as we can see that something is going to happen to him and it isn't going to be good! As he comes closer to discovering that the child isn't missing as he thought, he is captured by the weirdos and put into a huge Wicker Man. He is freaked out, as you would be, but when he realises that he is going to be sacrificed and roasted like a chicken, he screams for help, which is not coming.

The last scene is disturbing as the freaks sing a little song and watch the poor policeman being cremated alive.... Great spooky movie with a classic ending......Just one note, though, stay away from the hideous 'remake' starring poor Nicholas Cage. He really must have needed the cash badly when he starred in that turkey!!!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Randall and Hopkirk(Deceased)- Amanda

I am back today with a great t.v. show from 1969 called Randall and Hopkirk(deceased). I watched this show years ago when it was on British t.v. and it always made me smile. I finally got the complete series on DVD and I have to say that it is one of my favourite programmes of all time. The premise is simple- Jeff Randall(Mike Pratt) and Marty Hopkirk(Kenneth Cope) are private detectives in London. Marty is married to Jean(Annette Andre). Marty is investigating a case when he is knocked down and killed by a suspicious car. It seems like an accident....


Jeff is devastated and is mourning the loss of his partner when he is summoned to Marty's grave by some paranormal force. He arrives there to see his dead partner, Marty. He is shocked and it seems that Marty has come back from the dead to haunt him. Jeff finds it hard to believe it at first, but then, he accepts that he is the only one who can see and hear his dead friend. Marty tells him that he was murdered and they set out to find the killers . They begin to solve cases together which causes great confusion for those who cannot see Marty. Marty is handy for following people and getting help for Jeff when he is in trouble.

This show is very funny and it has a good cast. It is old now, but it still stands up. There are some great stories and I think that it would appeal to anyone who likes cult TV.There was a dodgy remake some years ago with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, but it is best left forgotten....Watch the original instead.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

An American Carol Movie Review 7

An American Carol is a movie by David Zucker starring Kevin Farley (brother of Chris Farley) and a host of well known republicans making fun of Michael Moore and the liberal bias (or perceived bias depending on your view!!) in the american media and Hollywood.Farley plays Michael Malone who is a documentary maker who wants to abolish july the 4th but is visited by three ghosts.They try to show him that america is a great country and they are J.F.K.,Patton and George Washington.Obviously the movie is a satire based on A Christmas Carol by George Dickens and is meant to be a response to all the hollywood movies such as Redacted and Lions for Lambs which some people think show the USA in a bad light.

How much you enjoy this movie will depend on how you look at things like American Foreign Policy and Michael Moore.If you love Michael Moore this movie is not for you but if you think he is an idiot with a camera then you will love it!!! If you do not know who he is, the movie will just pass you by as there are a lot of references to him and what he thinks of the USA involved in the Iraq War.

Farley looks very like Michael Moore in this and is funny in the role.Helping him along are Kelsey Grammer,Robert Davi,Jon Voight,Dennis Hopper,Trace Adkins and even Bill O Reilly shows up in a very funny cameo! He has an interview with a Rosie O Donnell lookalike that is very funny!!! She makes stupid statements about 9/11 that were answered here.The movie starts off very funny and keeps going with the laughs until the end.Thankfully its not too long and will have a good few laughs to keep you entertained.This is assuming that you find jokes about Moore only making documentaries and not "real" movies and getting Oscars, funny.If you go in with an open mind I think you will think its funny enough but it is not a classic like Airplane! I would say this movie is just okay and I think you will know already if you will like it or not!!!!

An American Carol (5/10)

Friday, December 12, 2008

Pineapple Express Movie Review 6

Pineapple Express is a movie starring Seth Rogen (of Zack and Miri make a Porno and Superbad fame) and James Franco (who was in Spiderman) Rogen plays a guy who likes to get stoned on drugs (as apposed to getting really stoned!) and Franco is his drugs dealer that supplies him with the titled Pineapple Express.Needless to say it's one for the whole family,Granddad and the kids! Rogen just wants to collect his drugs and be on his way to work where he serves subpoenas to people who dont want to go to court.While he is at Franco's place, Franco sells him some new Pineapple Express that no one else in the city has as its meant to be great stuff!! Thumbs up from Rogen!!!

So off Rogen goes to smoke his weed in his car but while he is doing so, a policewoman played by Rosie Perez pulls up in her car and enters a nearby house.Rogen can see from his car a man played by Gary Cole and the cop shooting an asian man in the back of his head and he immediately panics! He throws out his weed out of the car and smashes into the cop car while escaping.He thinks he is in the clear at first but realises that Gary Cole's character recognises the weed as Pineapple Express.As Rogen and Franco are the only ones to know about it he goes looking for them.

So that is the story of the film and theres not much to it.We watch the two stoners trying to figure out what to do and there are a few laughs in the first while so it seems to be going nicely.Then there is an alarming dip in the joke rate where nothing much happens and it all seems to be heading for a dead end ending in a car crash as you can see on the right!! Rogen and Franco provide all the effort but there isn't much there.

Then towards the end it picks up again and gets slightly funny.Mainly due to Danny R. Mcbride's character after they meet up with him.He is pictured on the left.There are some funny moments as they all end up in Gary Cole's hideout and there is a big climax.The movie at 1 hour 50 mins is too long and I would say at least 20 mins could have been cut out as it got slow in the middle.Its mildly amusing otherwise but there are never really any laugh out loud moments even though Franco and Rogen are funny enough but the story does not have much in it.I would not recommend that you see this as there are a lot of funnier movies such as Zack and Miri make a Porno to see.Wait until its on tv or your friend rent's it so you can see it for free!!!!!!!!!!

Pineapple Express (4/10)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Suspiria(1977)-Amanda

I'm back today with a review of a masterpiece of film-making- Dario Argento's classic horror Suspiria(1977). I am a huge fan of Dario Argento and plenty of his movies are classic if you are into horror. This movie is beautifully done and every murder is original. From the beginning, you know that there is evil in the air. The music, done by Argento himself, is haunting and eerie. The colour red is predominant in this movie along with the use of shadows to suggest horrors we can't see.

The film begins with Susie Bannion(Jessica Harper), an American dance student going to a new school in Germany.From the moment she arrives, she feels that the place is strange. The girls seem a little odd and she discovers that they aren't the only ones. Nobody seems to mind the strange noises and the murders that seem to keep happening.She sees a girl running from something when she first arrives and she is unnerved. We soon find out that there is something wrong with the school. Something evil is afoot. Eventually, she finds out that the school is a front for a wicked coven of witches and she has to destroy them. They are onto her and try to kill her but she escapes at the end.

This movie is the first of a trilogy about the Three Mothers- the next being Inferno(1980)and the last being Mother of Tears(2007). Argento's film is a joy to look at and it definitely surpasses most horror films I have watched over the years. I love the haunting score and the way that everything in the movie seems to suggest evil and terror. This film is one of the best I have ever seen and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good blood-splattered horror!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Say Anything- Amanda

Well, I think that I will have a change of pace today. I am giving the horror movies a rest for something a little more mainstream- a classic eighties movie called Say Anything(1989). I have a soft spot for some of those 80's movies with stars now mostly forgotten. So, I will start with this great movie starring John Cusack. He stars as Lloyd Dobler, a guy who likes this girl,Diane Court(Ione Skye). He is desperate to go out with her and he thinks that he can win her heart. He is a classic underachiever and she is a brain. Opposites attract and they eventually go out on a date. She is set to go to college and Lloyd wants to get to know her before she leaves. He clashes with her over-protective father , James Court played by John Mahoney. She has to choose between happiness with Lloyd or her duty to her dad.





His friend Corey(Lili Taylor) has an unhealthy obsession with her ex- boyfriend Joe and it is very funny to hear her songs about him. Diane and Lloyd eventually make it together, but after a lot of tears etc. The best part in the movie is when Lloyd stands outside Diane's window with his boom box held over his head playing Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes'. It's really classic eighties stuff. They head off together into the sunset and it is a real feel-good movie that anyone would like. It is directed by Cameron Crowe who directed other hits like Jerry Maguire(1996) and Singles(1992) and who wrote the screenplay for another classic Fast Times At Ridgemont High(1982) and who wrote another movie Almost Famous(2000). John Cusack is totally at home playing the underdog and we are rooting for him by the end. Great stuff. I would recommend it to anyone.
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