Saturday, January 31, 2009
Best Vampire Film?
I am looking for your input again. This time I want to know which vampire movie you think is the best. I am going to select a few good ones and I will pick MY favourite ones out. Let me know if I have left any good ones out and tell me what YOUR favourite one is. I have chosen more recent ones, that doesn't mean that I am disregarding the older ones, but I just need to cut the list down a bit.
Here is the list of some of the all-time best Vampire Movies(In no particular order) :
1.Bram Stoker's Dracula(1992)
2.Interview with the Vampire(1994)
3.Van Helsing (2004)
4.Fright Night(1985) Fright Night 2(1989)
5.Blade1,2,3
6.Underworld and sequels.
7.Night Flier(1997)
8.John Carpenters Vampires(1998)
9.Nightwatch(2004)
10.Salems Lot(1979) and Return to Salems Lot(1987)
11.From Dusk Till Dawn(1996)
12.The Lost Boys(1987)
13. Near Dark(1987)
14.30 Days of Night(2007)
15.Bloodrayne(2006)
16. Let The Right One in(2008)
Bear in mind that there are only so many that I can put in my list so if you can think of something I have left out that you think is great, let me know. As for me, I am torn between a few movies. I am going to say that my three faves are: Near Dark, The Lost Boys and 30 Days of Night(A very underrated movie).
Scarce(2008)
You might not have heard of this movie, but I would recommend you finding it and watching it. I didn't hear anything about this and I just watched it today and I was surprised by the quality of it. It is directed by Jesse T. Cook and John Geddes who also wrote and produced it as well as starring in the movie. There is a lot of blood and gore in it for those who have a weak stomach!
This movie begins with three guys, Dustin(Thomas Webb), Owen(John Geddes) and Trevor(Jesse T. Cook). They are having fun in Colorado at a party and everything is rosy. They are driving back home when the weather gets very bad and they spot a little diner in Pennsylvania. The diner is filled with hillbillies(the old cliche!) and they eye up the young guys with contempt and distaste.The guys get some food which is disgusting and then they leave after asking some weird guy for directions back to the highway. They have a little spat with the weird waitress and then they get out of there.
They end up crashing after they hit a roadblock and Trevor's leg is broken. The other two decide to walk around and find help. They end up coming to a house in the middle of nowhere and they enter it to look around. They are startled when the owner, Ivan(Steve Warren) comes back and they tell him that they need help. They get a lift with him back to the car but Trevor has gone. Ivan tells them that he was probably picked up by a neighbour and taken to hospital. The two guys stay overnight with Ivan and they realise that he is a bit creepy, but he seems like a good guy.
The next morning, Ivan is doing odd jobs around the place with Dustin. Owen wants to leave and find help. Owen goes to the top of the hill to see if his cell phone will work, but it doesn't. Dustin asks Ivan where the toilet is and when he comes out, Ivan knocks him out. Owen returns and he is caught too. They end up in a basement where they are hanging by chains. Trevor is there too. They realise that Ivan isn't as nice as he seemed. Another guy arrives on the scene . He is called Wade(Gary Fischer) and he is a killer too. He tortures the guys and he tells them that they are going to be eaten once their bodies are ready. Trevor is the first to be killed. They let him go, but he is so weak that he can't run very far. They come after him with a rifle and shoot him down. Then he is gutted and hung like a deer. He is chopped up and eaten by the cannibals.Dustin tries to escape but he is caught again. The two guys are subjected to torture and then released while the two hunters trail them and catch them again. They are going to be killed when they have a lucky escape after they kill two of the weirdos. They run away, but I will not give away the ending. Do they escape or will the last hillbilly get them first? I will leave it to you to find out.
Amanda's Verdict: I liked this movie. I thought that it was entertaining and it had a lot of thrills. It was very well-made and was a total surprise. I didn't expect much but I was impressed by these two film makers. I will be watching out for more from them in the future.I would definitely recommend it and I would give it an 8/10.
Jigsaw's Verdict: This movie is unknown, but it is a lot of fun. It has a simple story, but it has its fair share of blood and guts for the horror fan. If you are looking for a psycho- hillbilly-in-the-woods chasing screaming city slickers type of movie, then this one is for you! It's low-budget fun! I would give it a 6/10.
Macabre(1980)
This movie is a very obscure one. It was not easy to find,but if you can, you should watch it. It is directed by Lamberto Bava who also directed Demons(1985) which I have reviewed here. This movie, however is not as well known and it is a little strange, but I enjoyed it anyway.
It begins in New Orleans with a housewife Jane Baker(Bernice Stegers) who has a loving husband and two children. She is going out to meet her lover, Robert Duval(Stanko Molnar). She arrives to meet him and they have sex. As she is with her lover, her son is killed by her daughter. She receives a phone call to tell her what has happened.She is very distraught and she drives home recklessly with her lover in tow. She crashes the car and he is killed. She is so upset that she is put into a mental institution.
A year later, she is released and she moves into the boarding house where she and her lover used to meet. The landlord has died and her blind son is in charge now. He likes Jane and he asks her out for dinner a few times. What he doesn't know is that Jane is using voodoo to bring back her dead lover while keeping his head in her fridge. Jane's daughter is taunting her about her son's death too. She blames her mother for everything and she tries to make her mother sad. The blind man becomes more infatuated with her and he asks her to come out with him, but she refuses. He hears her in her room having sex with someone, but he doesn't see anyone coming or going.
He sneaks into her room and he tries to find out what is going on, but it all comes out when her daughter comes for a visit one weekend and she pushes her mother too far. The mother loses patience and kills the child. Then, the blind man finds out that Jane has been making love to her dead lovers head. Bizarre? Oh yeah! He has to get away from Jane as she has gone crazy! He sees that Jane has killed her daughter and he is horrified. I won't spoil the ending but I have to say that this movie was weird but I enjoyed it despite the strange subject matter. I would give this one a 7/10.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Silver Bullet(1985)
This werewolf movie is based on a novella called Cycle of The Werewolf, written by Stephen King. It is one of my favourite movies and it is directed by Dan Attias, who is well known for his television work.
This movie begins in the small town of Tarker's Mills,Maine. A railroad worker(James Gammon) is attacked by something that the police cannot identify. They assume that he was run over by a train adn they leave it at that. A woman, Stella(Wendy Walker) is slaughtered in her bedroom and the police begin to worry that there is something very wrong in the little town. Jane(Megan Follows) is narrating the story and she has a brother,Marty(Corey Haim) who is confined to a wheelchair. Another man,Milt(James A. Baffico) is killed when he goes outside to his shed.
Everything goes to hell when a young man, Brandy(Joe Wright), is killed. The townsfolk are up in arms about it and they have a meeting to discuss it. Reverend Lester Lowe(Everett McGill) tries to make them see sense, but they ignore him. They go out at night to hunt down the person or creature who is responsible for this but they end up being attacked by it instead. Meanwhile, Marty's alcolholic uncle Red(Gary Busey) arrives in town. Marty's parents aren't too happy to see him, but Marty idolises him. He sets up a motorised wheelchair for Marty. Marty decides to take it for a ride at night as he has fireworks he wants to set off. As he is setting them off, the werewolf approaches him. He escapes by wounding the creature in the eye with a firework and driving home.
Marty tells his sister Jane about it and they go around town pretneding to look for cans for recycling so that they can find out which local has an eye patch. Jane goes to Reverend Lowe's house and she sees that he has a patch. She becomes very nervous around him and he suspects that she knows something. He is going to do her some damage but she escapes. He begins to stalk Marty and he tries to kill him. He has gone mad and he doesn't care about the fact that Marty is just a child. Marty and Jane convince Uncle Red that the Reverend is dodgy and he doesn't know what to think. He believes them, though and he talks to the Sheriff(Terry O' Quinn) and asks him to look into the Reverend's background. He does so and when he finds out that Lowe has a dodgy background, he goes to confront him. Unfortunately, he is killed by Lowe.
This sets up the final scenes where the Lowe/Werewolf comes to the house to kill Marty. He stalks outside until he makes his move and he is only stopped when he is shot by a silver bullet which Marty had made specially. He transforms back into the Reverend and the brother and sister are drawn closer together as a result of what has happened. A very good movie with a good cast. I liked all of the characters in this and I think that the movie has an eerie quality to it. It gets a 10/10 from me.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Lost - Season 5 Episode 3 "Jughead" Recap/Discussion
The latest Lost episode has just been on called "Jughead".Did you see it? Given up? Still glued to the TV screen? Well I am! If you want to know what happened read on and let me know what you think of the episode by a comment if you wish! If you need to know about Episodes 1 and 2 click here! Bear in mind this show is very complex as I try to explain what happened.I am assuming that you more or less know what has been happening up until now!
In this episode Desmond, having just woken from his sleep either just remembered that he met Daniel Faraday or dreamed it but he now wants to find Faraday's mother.Faraday having knocked on the hatch and told Desmond to find his mother in the future.But Faraday had time travelled just after telling him! Desmond in the present time has had a baby with Penny but now resolves to track down Faraday's mother.Then we go back to Faraday's group who are now in the past and looking to meet Locke,Juliet and Sawyer at the creek.They shouted this meeting point when they were being attacked by the flaming arrows in the last episode.As they walk to the creek, Charlotte is looking worse by the minute as she says she has dizziness and double vision.Faraday tries to reassure her that she will be fine.Unfortunately for Faraday two of his group get blown up by explosives that were hidden by tripwires in the jungle.Good news for us is that they were two guys that no ones knows so that's OK! It is like the old Star Trek episodes when you knew the guy who never opened his mouth would always die first!
The explosion draws in a group of Others who hold the group at gunpoint! They think Faraday is here to attack them with his group. Meanwhile in present time Desmond argues with Penny that he was not dreaming about meeting Faraday and says he has to find out about Faraday's mother but it will all be finished in the one day.Back to Faraday's group, the Others want to know where the rest of the group are but he does not know as they were split up.Miles says maybe they were blown up by all the explosives the Others planted.The leader of the Others holding them at gunpoint accuses Faraday's group of planting them.So who put the explosives there is a mystery!!
Now we cut back to Locke,Sawyer and Juliet who are holding two men prisoner.When Sawyer threatens to kill them they speak Latin to each other.Juliet reveals she knows what they said as she speaks Latin also and that the two men are Others!! (Cue dramatic music!) We go back to Faraday's group as they are being marched through the jungle to the Other's Camp.Faraday sees some of the Others have their hands bandaged up from severe burns and Miles senses that they have just walked near the recent graves of US military soldiers! He somehow knows 3 were shot and one died of radiation poisoning.At the Camp,the leader of the Other's comes out of his tent and is revealed to be Richard! Richard tells Faraday that he assumes he has come back for his Bomb!!!!
In present time,Desmond is at Oxford University trying to meet Faraday but there is no record of him at all there! He sneaks into Faraday's old Physics lab but everything is covered in sheets and has not been used in a while.A workman catches him there and tells him that Faraday was rumoured to be trying to send rat's brains back in time.The workman says he will not tell anyone Desmond broke in if Desmond says that all he found was rubbish to his friends.As Desmond is leaving the workman says Faraday did something to a girl so Desmond heads off to her to find out more.Back in the past Richard tells Faraday that they started attacking them first.He thinks they are with the US military but Faraday guesses that the bomb is unstable by the bandaged hands of some of Richards men so he offers to stabilise the bomb and render it safe.As Richard thinks he might just detonate it, Faraday professes his love for Charlotte and would not want to see her hurt so Richard knows he is not on a suicide mission.
As Locke's group heads to the creek,one of the Others says that Locke's friends are dead as the Others heard that they were heading for the creek and would have cut them off and killed or captured them.Juliet appeals to one of them to take them to the Camp and he gives directions to it just before the other man kills him and runs away.Locke does not shoot him even though he could and when asked why by Sawyer, Locke says because he is one of Locke's people!! In present time, Desmond arrives at the girls house that the workman talked about and meets her sister.The girl though is in a catatonic state being spoon fed and her sister says Faraday abandoned her.Charles Widmore is revealed to be Faraday's benefactor funding his research and it was he who pays for the girls care.
In the past,Faraday tells Charlotte that he was not lying when he said he loves her but gets taken away by Richard who tells him that they had to kill 18 members of an army battalion a month ago.The Others said to them to leave the Island but they would not leave and Richard says he answers to someone but does not say who.Just then the man who escaped from Locke's group runs into the Camp and says not to trust Faraday.Richard says he might have led Locke's group to the camp but the man says Locke is an old man and would not know the Island as well as him.Of course we cut to Locke who is looking down at the Camp!!!!!!!!
Locke says he is going down to talk to Richard while Juliet and Sawyer rescue Faraday.Faraday meets the Bomb which is up on a wooden scaffold while an Other Woman holds a gun on him.The bomb is clearly labelled "Jughead".He sees that there is a crack in the casing and says to her that the bomb needs to be buried.She says that it might still explode but he says that it will not as he is from the future and the bomb has not exploded!! Sawyer and Juliet arrive and they take the gun off the woman.
Back with Desmond, he bursts into Charles Widmore's office and demands the address of Faraday's mother.Widmore demands to know is his daughter Penny safe as he has not seen her for 3 years.Desmond does not answer but demands Faraday's mother's address again.Widmore gives it to him but says once Desmond meets her to get out of it and keep Penny safe.Back in the past, Locke strolls into the camp and demands to talk to Richard.Richard does not know him as they have not met in this time yet.But when Locke says Jakob sent him Richard knows that Locke is not a danger to him.The man that escaped wants to kill Locke but Richard takes his gun away as he calls him "Widmore". Locke asks him if his name is Charles Widmore and he says whats it to Locke.Locke says nothing but "pleased to meet you" as he realises that the man is Charles Widmore when he was very young!!!
Desmond is now with Penny and wants to forget about it all but she implores him to just finish what he started and that she will go to Los Angeles with him where Faraday's mother is. Once more back to the past and Locke demands to know how to how to get off the Island from Richard.Locke knows he has to get off the island to bring the Oceanic 6 back.He gives Richard the compass that Richard gave him in another time and says to Richard that Locke is now the Leader.Richard finds this hard to believe as the process to pick a leader starts very young so Locke asks him the year.Richard says the year is 1954 and Locke says he will be born in 2 years and that Richard should go see him.(This ties in with a flashback of John Locke in earlier episodes where Richard came to see him when he was young)
Locke appeals to Richard to tell him how to get off the Island just as Locke,Sawyer,Juliet,Miles,Faraday and Charlotte all time travel again!! The Camp disappears along with all the Others and Richard.Faraday runs over to Charlotte and is relieved to see her OK and unties her from ropes.She gets dizzy and her nose bleeds as she collapses to the ground.The episode ends with Faraday cradling the unconscious Charlotte in his arms!!!!
This was a good episode again that answered a few questions and made a few things clearer for me anyway! The time traveling is a good way to flesh out the storyline and is a different way than the usual flashback.Story threads are tying into each other as we realise Widmore was an Other on the Island and we now know why Richard visited Locke when he was very young.Desmond is very close to meeting Faraday's mother who I am guessing will be Miss Hawking played by Fionnula Flanagan.The bomb might have a big part to play in the end of the whole series with it blowing up the whole island! That is just my guess! Of course it might never be referred to again as you never know with Lost! Now we wait for episode 4! What did you think of Episode 3?
In this episode Desmond, having just woken from his sleep either just remembered that he met Daniel Faraday or dreamed it but he now wants to find Faraday's mother.Faraday having knocked on the hatch and told Desmond to find his mother in the future.But Faraday had time travelled just after telling him! Desmond in the present time has had a baby with Penny but now resolves to track down Faraday's mother.Then we go back to Faraday's group who are now in the past and looking to meet Locke,Juliet and Sawyer at the creek.They shouted this meeting point when they were being attacked by the flaming arrows in the last episode.As they walk to the creek, Charlotte is looking worse by the minute as she says she has dizziness and double vision.Faraday tries to reassure her that she will be fine.Unfortunately for Faraday two of his group get blown up by explosives that were hidden by tripwires in the jungle.Good news for us is that they were two guys that no ones knows so that's OK! It is like the old Star Trek episodes when you knew the guy who never opened his mouth would always die first!
The explosion draws in a group of Others who hold the group at gunpoint! They think Faraday is here to attack them with his group. Meanwhile in present time Desmond argues with Penny that he was not dreaming about meeting Faraday and says he has to find out about Faraday's mother but it will all be finished in the one day.Back to Faraday's group, the Others want to know where the rest of the group are but he does not know as they were split up.Miles says maybe they were blown up by all the explosives the Others planted.The leader of the Others holding them at gunpoint accuses Faraday's group of planting them.So who put the explosives there is a mystery!!
Now we cut back to Locke,Sawyer and Juliet who are holding two men prisoner.When Sawyer threatens to kill them they speak Latin to each other.Juliet reveals she knows what they said as she speaks Latin also and that the two men are Others!! (Cue dramatic music!) We go back to Faraday's group as they are being marched through the jungle to the Other's Camp.Faraday sees some of the Others have their hands bandaged up from severe burns and Miles senses that they have just walked near the recent graves of US military soldiers! He somehow knows 3 were shot and one died of radiation poisoning.At the Camp,the leader of the Other's comes out of his tent and is revealed to be Richard! Richard tells Faraday that he assumes he has come back for his Bomb!!!!
In present time,Desmond is at Oxford University trying to meet Faraday but there is no record of him at all there! He sneaks into Faraday's old Physics lab but everything is covered in sheets and has not been used in a while.A workman catches him there and tells him that Faraday was rumoured to be trying to send rat's brains back in time.The workman says he will not tell anyone Desmond broke in if Desmond says that all he found was rubbish to his friends.As Desmond is leaving the workman says Faraday did something to a girl so Desmond heads off to her to find out more.Back in the past Richard tells Faraday that they started attacking them first.He thinks they are with the US military but Faraday guesses that the bomb is unstable by the bandaged hands of some of Richards men so he offers to stabilise the bomb and render it safe.As Richard thinks he might just detonate it, Faraday professes his love for Charlotte and would not want to see her hurt so Richard knows he is not on a suicide mission.
As Locke's group heads to the creek,one of the Others says that Locke's friends are dead as the Others heard that they were heading for the creek and would have cut them off and killed or captured them.Juliet appeals to one of them to take them to the Camp and he gives directions to it just before the other man kills him and runs away.Locke does not shoot him even though he could and when asked why by Sawyer, Locke says because he is one of Locke's people!! In present time, Desmond arrives at the girls house that the workman talked about and meets her sister.The girl though is in a catatonic state being spoon fed and her sister says Faraday abandoned her.Charles Widmore is revealed to be Faraday's benefactor funding his research and it was he who pays for the girls care.
In the past,Faraday tells Charlotte that he was not lying when he said he loves her but gets taken away by Richard who tells him that they had to kill 18 members of an army battalion a month ago.The Others said to them to leave the Island but they would not leave and Richard says he answers to someone but does not say who.Just then the man who escaped from Locke's group runs into the Camp and says not to trust Faraday.Richard says he might have led Locke's group to the camp but the man says Locke is an old man and would not know the Island as well as him.Of course we cut to Locke who is looking down at the Camp!!!!!!!!
Locke says he is going down to talk to Richard while Juliet and Sawyer rescue Faraday.Faraday meets the Bomb which is up on a wooden scaffold while an Other Woman holds a gun on him.The bomb is clearly labelled "Jughead".He sees that there is a crack in the casing and says to her that the bomb needs to be buried.She says that it might still explode but he says that it will not as he is from the future and the bomb has not exploded!! Sawyer and Juliet arrive and they take the gun off the woman.
Back with Desmond, he bursts into Charles Widmore's office and demands the address of Faraday's mother.Widmore demands to know is his daughter Penny safe as he has not seen her for 3 years.Desmond does not answer but demands Faraday's mother's address again.Widmore gives it to him but says once Desmond meets her to get out of it and keep Penny safe.Back in the past, Locke strolls into the camp and demands to talk to Richard.Richard does not know him as they have not met in this time yet.But when Locke says Jakob sent him Richard knows that Locke is not a danger to him.The man that escaped wants to kill Locke but Richard takes his gun away as he calls him "Widmore". Locke asks him if his name is Charles Widmore and he says whats it to Locke.Locke says nothing but "pleased to meet you" as he realises that the man is Charles Widmore when he was very young!!!
Desmond is now with Penny and wants to forget about it all but she implores him to just finish what he started and that she will go to Los Angeles with him where Faraday's mother is. Once more back to the past and Locke demands to know how to how to get off the Island from Richard.Locke knows he has to get off the island to bring the Oceanic 6 back.He gives Richard the compass that Richard gave him in another time and says to Richard that Locke is now the Leader.Richard finds this hard to believe as the process to pick a leader starts very young so Locke asks him the year.Richard says the year is 1954 and Locke says he will be born in 2 years and that Richard should go see him.(This ties in with a flashback of John Locke in earlier episodes where Richard came to see him when he was young)
Locke appeals to Richard to tell him how to get off the Island just as Locke,Sawyer,Juliet,Miles,Faraday and Charlotte all time travel again!! The Camp disappears along with all the Others and Richard.Faraday runs over to Charlotte and is relieved to see her OK and unties her from ropes.She gets dizzy and her nose bleeds as she collapses to the ground.The episode ends with Faraday cradling the unconscious Charlotte in his arms!!!!
This was a good episode again that answered a few questions and made a few things clearer for me anyway! The time traveling is a good way to flesh out the storyline and is a different way than the usual flashback.Story threads are tying into each other as we realise Widmore was an Other on the Island and we now know why Richard visited Locke when he was very young.Desmond is very close to meeting Faraday's mother who I am guessing will be Miss Hawking played by Fionnula Flanagan.The bomb might have a big part to play in the end of the whole series with it blowing up the whole island! That is just my guess! Of course it might never be referred to again as you never know with Lost! Now we wait for episode 4! What did you think of Episode 3?
Candyman(1992)
This movie is adapted from the short story 'The Forbidden' written by Clive Barker though there are some differences between the story and the movie. It is directed by Bernard Rose. It has spawned two sequels which I will review in future posts.
The movie begins with Helen Lyle(Virginia Madsen) who is a student researching urban myths for her thesis. Her friend Bernadette Walsh(Kasi Lemmons) is helping her with it. As she is interviewing people about urban legends, she hears of the 'Candyman' who is a local legend who was the son of a slave who was killed for having an affair with the daughter of a white plantation owner. His hand was cut off and then he was smeared in honey and stung to death by bees. He was then burned on a pyre in a place called Cabrini Green.The legend says that if someone looks into the mirror and chants 'Candyman' five times, he will appear.
Helen decides to go to the very dangerous area of Cabrini Green to see what happens. Helen summons Candyman, not thinking that the legend is real. She finds out that there are two unsolved murders and that people think that Candyman is responsible. Strange things begin to happen after Helen has called Candyman and he has been brought back from hell and he is going on a rampage and killing people. Meanwhile, all of the evidence points to Helen and she has to try and clear her name, but when her friends begin to die, it seems as if she is the main suspect.
Candyman confronts Helen in a car park and she is nearly possessed by him. Helen has to battle the Candyman or she is going to die too. She needs to clear her name before she goes to prison. She is being blamed for all of the murders and she needs to put the Candyman back wherever he came from. It is not going to be easy as he is powerful and evil..
I like this movie. It is a good horror and I like the look of the movie. Most of the movie is set in run-down buildings with art scrawled on the walls which adds to the dark atmosphere of this film. The guy who plays Candyman (Tony Todd) is creepy too and he adds to the eerie feeling. I would give this one 8/10.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tourist Trap(1979)
I saw this film on TV a few weeks ago and I remembered it from years ago. It is directed by David Schmoeller. It isn't a movie that is well-known and I had forgotten all about it until it popped up on TV.
The movie begins with four young people who are looking for a missing friend come across Slausen's Lost Oasis which is a tourist trap. They meet the owner, who is a nice, kind man and he tells them that since the new highway came alone, nobody comes near his place. He has a museum full of mannequins which seem very lifelike. Their car breaks down and he tries to help them to fix it.
There are three girls,Molly(Jocelyn Jones), Eileen(Robin Sherwood) and Becky(Tanya Roberts). They are accompanied by Woody(Keith McDermott). Woody is trying to fix the car and the girls stay with Mr. Slausen(Chuck Connors). When people start to disappear, Mr. Slausen goes off to find them and two of the girls and left alone in his house where they try and phone for help only to find that the phone doesn't work. Mr. Slausen also has a mannequin of his dead wife in his house which makes the girls uncomfortable. Eileen decides to venture off on her own and she gets killed by a maniac who is hiding in Mr. Slausen's house.
What the girls don't know is that the maniac is Mr. Slausen's telekinetic brother, David (Shailar Coby) who kills for pleasure and to add to his mannequin 'family'.He moves the mannequins and uses them to hurt people. He is running around after the girls and he catches Woody and Becky and takes them down to the basement where he has another captive. He proceeds to suffocate his captive with plaster and then he tells the other two that they will be next. They try to escape from him,but he is very powerful. They need to escape from him before they become wax dummies too!
I am not going to give away the ending as there is a bit to it and it would ruin it. I did see the twist coming, but then I was still surprised by the ending of this movie. There isn't much to it really. There is a lot of weirdness in this movie, but it is good fun. I like the wax dummies and the way that their eyes follow people around the room. That is creepy. I would recommend this for anyone who likes their horror with a lot of weirdness mixed in.It is worth a 7/10.
Religulous by Bill Maher - Movie Review 20
Religulous is Bill Mahers new movie about Religion.It is directed by Larry Charles who directed Seinfeld,Borat and Curb your Enthusiasm.Bill Maher is the host of Real Time with Bill Maher and is someone who I think is a great stand up comedian or social commentator whichever you think is more appropriate! I usually agree with him except when he goes on and on about how Bush is the worst guy in the world.Maybe he is but I think talking about it non stop is silly.You may or may not have seen Bill Maher:The Decider but in that, all he talked about was how Bush was bad.It gets really boring after a while! In Religulous his focus is on religion and I was a bit worried before I saw this that it might be over the top mocking of religion.It's OK to say what you think but mocking other peoples beliefs can be very off putting. I am happy to say that in this he did not come across as mocking every religion.He asks questions about each one to their believers and tries to find out why they believe in what they do.A lot of people have their mind made up before they see a documentary so I think it is good to try and stay open minded before you see one.I was worried about what he would say to people but he was just asking questions and not getting in people's faces.It is interesting to see people really devoted to their religion that they cannot answer questions.Mind you, only one person that I remember walked out of the interview so I suppose it is not too bad.He talked to one guy who was gay but now is married to a former lesbian as they both found God.They now have kids and Bill wondered were they still gay but they said they were not.It seemed like the guy was just saying it and did not believe it but if they are happy that's the main thing! There were some great laugh out loud moments especially when a senator says you do not have to pass an IQ test to be in the senate and he meets Jesus in a theme park!.I do not think that you would be offended if you are a Protestant,Catholic,Jew or Muslim.It is always good to shine a light on a subject no matter what it is and it should be okay to ask questions of it.This is a documentary that will get you thinking about religion and wondering about it.Mind you at the end Bill Maher makes his feelings very clear about religion and you probably know what they are already.I suspect that you will either love or hate this documentary depending on your point of view.I could not help but laugh at some of peoples views in this but I'm sure they might laugh at mine also. This was an interesting subject to cover as not many people look at all types of religion but usually one of them.You will find some parts funny,some serious and others will have you thinking and talking about them.Bill Maher was not totally biased and gave a chance for everyone he met to debate the merits of what they believe.I would recommend you seeing this movie even to just get you thinking about religion and what someone who does not believe in it thinks about it.I agree with Bill Maher on this subject and as I do this gets a high mark.If you totally love your religion and are devoted to it you should still like this movie as it just asks questions of religion and I did not see bias or total mocking of it.As always please comment on your thoughts! Religulous (8/10)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hilary Swank - Hot or Not?
Is Hilary Swank Hot or Not? This is inspired by the recent Office episode called "Prince Family Paper" that I reviewed here. This is the fundamental question! A simple one but one that causes great debate!
The case for the motion "She is Hot" is hereby put forward in these three photos!
Hmmmm............. these photos make her look attractive I think.But remember the question is "Is She Hot or Not?" She definitely has nice qualities in those!
Well that third photo just about clinches it don't you think? Surely she is hot!
But wait compelling evidence has just arrived in! Some might even say damning!
The case for the motion "She is Not" is hereby put forward in these three photos!
These photos tell a sorry tale of an actress that may not be so hot after all!! Is that a guy there or a woman? What do you think?!
That third photo is a train wreck and could be the end of the argument all together! Is it an angry guy or a Two-Time Oscar Winning actress?!!!!!!
Well, The court concludes as You,the jury retire to consider your verdict!!!!! As I am the Judge may I remind you that the case before you is specifically "Is She Hot or Not?" and not anything else!
Please vote in the Poll on this page and make a comment if you wish to vehemently support your argument against all who disagree with you! All in good fun of course!!
The case for the motion "She is Hot" is hereby put forward in these three photos!
Hmmmm............. these photos make her look attractive I think.But remember the question is "Is She Hot or Not?" She definitely has nice qualities in those!
Well that third photo just about clinches it don't you think? Surely she is hot!
But wait compelling evidence has just arrived in! Some might even say damning!
The case for the motion "She is Not" is hereby put forward in these three photos!
These photos tell a sorry tale of an actress that may not be so hot after all!! Is that a guy there or a woman? What do you think?!
That third photo is a train wreck and could be the end of the argument all together! Is it an angry guy or a Two-Time Oscar Winning actress?!!!!!!
Well, The court concludes as You,the jury retire to consider your verdict!!!!! As I am the Judge may I remind you that the case before you is specifically "Is She Hot or Not?" and not anything else!
Please vote in the Poll on this page and make a comment if you wish to vehemently support your argument against all who disagree with you! All in good fun of course!!
The Stepfather(1987)
This movie is a thriller which is not widely known,but which is very entertaining mostly due to the good performance by Terry O' Quinn. There is going to be a remake this year so we will see what that turns out like. For the moment, I am going to concentrate on the original.
The film begins with a man(Terry O' Quinn) washing blood from himself before changing his appearance. He walks from the house he is in leaving a butchered family behind him. He has killed them and now he is leaving on the ferry. He throws off a suitcase into the water. A year later, he is working as a real estate agent and is called Jerry Blake and he marries a widower Susan(Shelley Hack).Susan's daughter, Stephanie(Jill Schoelen) doesn't trust Jerry and she won't warm to him at all, despite all of the nice things he does for her. He tries to talk to her about it but she still won't trust him. She gets expelled from school and she tries to convince her mother to send her to boarding school, but Jerry won't have the family divided.
In Seattle, Jim Ogilvie (Stephen Shellen), is trying to find out what happened to his sister who was married to Jerry before he killed her. Jerry sees an article written about the killings and he is worried. He goes down to his basement, muttering to himself and he goes a bit mad. Stephanie witnesses this but Jerry tells her he was just letting off steam. He walks off leaving Stephanie with the newspaper article. She becomes convinced that Jerry is the same guy who killed the other family. She sends away for a picture of the husband of the slain woman and Jerry gets to it first before she can see it. He puts in a different picture and Stephanie thinks she is wrong about him.
Stephanie's psychiatrist wants to meet Jerry to see what is going on between them. Jerry avoids him until the doctor pretends to be a client and he meets Jerry face to face. When Jerry finds out, he beats him to death. He makes it look like an accident when he puts the doctor in his car and blows it up. He tells Stephanie the next day about the doctor's death and he comforts her. The peace doesn't last long, though as Jerry sees her kissing a boy and he freaks out. He makes wild accusations against the boy and he fights with Susan and Stephanie. He decides he needs to go and he quits his job and starts creating a new identity for himself. He starts to court a new woman. He applies for a new job. Jim Oglivie has discovered where Jerry is living. He talks to Susan and she calls Jerry's office only to find out that he has left the job. When he returns home, he tries to explain. He can't though and his world comes crashing down. He attacks Susan and thinking she is dead, he waits patiently for Stephanie to arrive home. She is in the shower and Jerry is getting ready to kill her when Jim knocks on the door. Jerry attacks Jim and Stephanie attacks Jerry. He chases her upstairs and corners her before falling through the floor. He recovers and lunges at Stephanie again before being shot by Susan. He is supposedly dead and the last scene has Susan knocking down a birdhouse that Jerry had made for her. I liked this movie as it was well-acted and had some good thrills.
I would recommend it for anyone who likes a thriller. I will give this one 8/10.
End of the Line(2006)
I just watched this movie yesterday and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn't heard a word about it, but sometimes that is a good thing. It seems to be an unknown movie but that was even better because I didn't know anything about it and as I sat back to watch it, I was pleased with what I saw.
The story begins with a young nurse, Karen(Ilona Elkin) , who is working at a hospital where one of her patients keeps telling her that something is going to happen and that the demons are coming. There are a lot of suicides reported also. That night, Karen is waiting in the subway for a train when a strange guy Patrick(Robin Wilcock) starts hassling her. When she turns him down, he begins to turn nasty until a guy who is also waiting for the train steps up and starts talking to her. She is grateful to the guy whose name turns out to be Mike(Nicolas Wright). They get chatting and then board the train. Suddenly the lights go out and Karen is scared. Mike finds her in the darkness and they wonder what is going on.
They can't hear the intercom. A woman comes into them and she tells them that she saw a young woman and a man walking along the track. She pulls out a cross and she stabs Mike with it. She is crazy and she says that she has to kill them to save them. A girl, Julie(Emily Shelton), is sitting on he train, listening to music when Patrick(the weirdo from earlier) gets on and asks her if she wants to make some money. She declines and he pulls a cross out with a spike on it and threatens to kill her. There are a young couple kissing on the train. The driver of the train goes to see who pressed the emergency button and he sees Patrick and Julie. He asks them and Julie admits to it as Patrick has the knife held to her back. The driver gives them a reprimand and heads off. The young couple run into the tunnel.
Pagers begin to go off in people's bags aboard the train. They are all dressed alike. They are part of a religious cult called Voice of Eternal Hope.Patrick is paged and Julie sprays something into his eyes and runs off. There are people with evil crosses all over the train and they are killing people. Karen and Mike meet more people, including the young couple, who are running away from the crazies with crosses. They get into a room where there are two station workers wondering what is going on. They turn on the TV but there is nothing but red mist. There is no radio or mobile phone coverage. One guy, Neil(Neil Napier) wants to go home to his family so the others decide to go with him, carrying weapons. They leave the two station guys behind them.
One of the station guys has a pager and it beeps. The other guy locks him out as he can't trust him. The crazy people get the two of them anyway. One of the young couple, John(Tim Rozon) is stabbed by a junior crazy and he hits him. His girlfriend,Sarah(Nina Fillis) and the others take him somewhere he can lie down. They bump into Patrick who pretends that he is a good guy but they tie him up and decide what to do. The others decide to keep going but Sarah stays with John and Patrick. Patrick persuades her to let him go and tells her to kill John which she does reluctantly. Along come the group of crazies and they kill Sarah.
Meanwhile, the others are trying to get out of the station. Neil thinks that he is getting away only to be killed by the woman who led the crazies. Mike is stabbed in the leg by a crazy. Karen has to leave him and he plays dead when the crazies come. Julie is on her own, being chased by the crazies when they are paged again and they each take a pill and they drop dead. They all kill each other except for Patrick who is chasing after Karen. He has her cornered when his pager beeps. He has no intention of killing himself. He tries to rape Karen but is stopped by the woman who killed Neil. He kills her anyway. He turns his attentions back to Karen but she rips out his tongue and he dies. Suddenly, she sees demons coming towards her. That ends the movie.
I liked this movie and I liked the scares in it. It was very enjoyable and it was directed by Maurice Devereaux who I had not heard of before. I will be looking forward to his next movie.
I give this movie an 8/10.