Pacific Heights is a 1990 thriller directed by John Schlesinger and starring Matthew Modine, Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton.Drake Goodman(Modine) and his girlfriend Patty Palmer(Griffith) buy a house in San Francisco. They plan to rent out two apartments in it. It is a very expensive house in a very good area called Pacific Heights. The first tenants are a Japanese couple called the Watanabes and they are no trouble. The next tenant is a suave guy called Carter Hayes(Keaton). He seems to have money and they like him.
He has a problem with a credit check and he manages to get Drake to leave it and gets him references instead. He tells Drake that he will pay the first six months by wire transfer and that satisfies Drake. Hayes decides to move in unannounced and he locks himself into the apartment without his money being paid. Over the next few days, it happens that the money is not going to be paid and Hayes is making weird noises in the apartment. Drake gets worried and tries to get inside but the locks have been changed. Drake wants to cut the heat and electricity to get him out, but Hayes calls the cops and Drake is warned that he will be in trouble if he does that.
This begins a cat and mouse game between Hayes and the couple. Drake attacks him and gets arrested and Hayes gets a restraining order to keep him from coming back. Patty is alone and Hayes terrorizes her. Drake comes back to the building and is shot by Hayes who then disappears. The cops finally get inside the apartment and everything has been stripped and gone. Patty finds a photograph of Hayes and finds out that his real name is James Danforth. She goes to speak to one of his references and finds out that he was disowned by his family and that he is very dodgy. Patty traces his girlfriend and finds out that Danforth assumed Carter Hayes' identity and she shows her a postcard from him and Patty finds out where he is now.
She finds his hotel and gets into his room and goes through his stuff. She finds out that he has been using Drake's identity. She calls Drake and tells him to cancel his credit cards etc. She gets Danfroth into trouble by making a huge room service order and when he can't pay, he is arrested. He is bailed out by his next victim and he goes back to San Francisco to get his revenge. There is a fight between him and the couple and he ends up dead. Patty and Drake sell the apartment and move on. This was a good film with a great cast. Keaton is great as the murky Hayes and Modine and Griffith play their parts well. This is a well made thriller and I really enjoyed it. I will give it a 7/10.
The Walking Dead is finally back after all this time! The premiere was really good and full of action. Last time, Alexandria was falling and the walkers were everywhere. Deanna died and Denise was taken hostage by the Wolf guy that Morgan had left alive. Glenn and Erin found Maggie but she was on a tower surrounded by walkers. Daryl, Sasha and Abraham ran into some bikers who told them that their stuff now belonged to a guy called Negan. This episode begins with that story line. The leader of the group tells them that they have to give up their stuff or else. They are going to kill Abraham but Daryl manages to get hold of a rocket launcher that they had with them and blow the entire group to bits!
Cut to Rick and the others who are making their way through the horde of walkers covered in walker guts. Jessie's son Sam is the weak link and he is looking around at the walkers and getting scared. He freaks out and gets eaten by the walkers. Jessie won't let him go, so she gets eaten too. Her other son, Ron points a gun at Rick, but he is killed by Michonne. He fires the gun before he dies and it hits Carl in the eye.Is he dead?
Denise and the Wolf guy are running around and he wants to escape. He tries to save her from getting bitten and he gets bitten instead. She tells him that she can save his life if she can get him to the infirmary in time. They try and run but Carol shoots him dead. He turns into a walker but gets killed (again) by Morgan. Denise has to try and save Carl's life. Rick is distraught and he starts attacking all of the walkers in anger. Some of the others take a leaf out of his book and attack too. They make a large dent in the horde. Glenn and Erin save Maggie. Daryl and the others arrive back to Alexandria to help with the fight. Rick sits with his son and prays that he will survive. This was a very good episode. There were a few surprise deaths. I didn't expect Jessie to die with her two sons. I didn't see Daryl blowing up those biker dudes. It was very exciting and I am glad that it is back.
Reeves stars as rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah who is working with his partner and veteran FBI guy Angelo Pappas(Busey) to catch a group of bank robbers called the Ex- Presidents, who wear masks of ex- US Presidents in their robberies.The thieves are very slick and they are well organised. Utah has to go undercover when they suspect that the robbers might be surfers. He wants to get some information on them, but he sticks out like a sore thumb. He meets surfer lady Tyler (Lori Petty) and tries to get her to help him to learn to surf. She reluctantly agrees after she saves him from drowning when he tries to surf alone. She introduces him to a charismatic guy called Bodhi(Swayze) who seems to be the leader of a group of surfer dudes.
The surfers wonder who this Utah is, but Bodhi realises that Johnny used to play football in college and this relaxes everyone and he is accepted. He gets in deeper with the group and finds their way of life appealing in some ways. He knows that he has to stick to his job, but it is hard to think of the guys as criminals. He has a suspicion that they are the thieves and he gets closer and closer to discovering the truth. He also grows closer to Tyler. Of course, Bodhi finds out that Johnny is not who he says when he is chased by him after a robbery attempt. Things get strange after that. Tyler finds out who he is and dumps him. He is still with the gang, but Bodhi has Tyler kidnapped and blackmails Johnny into helping them rob a bank with them. He has no choice, but it all goes wrong and one of the surfers is killed. Bodhi knocks Johnny out and leaves him there while he escapes.
Johnny and Angelo try to stop the thieves when they find out that they are taking a flight to Mexico and there is a shootout. More surfers are dead and Angelo gets shot and killed too. Only Bodhi and one of his pals are left. They force Utah onto the airplane and then they jump out with their parachutes. Johnny jumps after them and he tries to catch Bodhi, but his knee gives out from an old injury and he can't catch him. Tyler is released and Bodhi and another friend of his escape with the money leaving Bodhi's last surfer pal dead behind him. Cut to almost a year later and Utah catches up with Bodhi in Bell's Beach in Australia where a major storm is brewing. Bodhi is there to surf the ultimate waves. There is a brawl and Johnny wants to bring Bodhi in, but he cannot when Bodhi pleads with him to let him surf the waves, knowing that this means certain death. Johnny agrees and he and the cops watch Bodhi disappear into the violent waves. Johnny tosses his FBI badge into the water and walks away. This is a great film. I loved this when it was released and it is still as good as ever. Swayze is great as the mystical Bodhi who captivates Johnny and Reeves is entertaining as the pretty clueless Johnny Utah. There is a good cast in this movie and it is a must for all action fans. I know that there is a remake of this in cinemas at the moment, but I am not really interested in that. Watch this instead, it is a fun movie and one of my favourite 90's movies. I give it a 9/10.
FBI agent Joe Merriweather(Morgan) is working with his partner Cowles(Abbie Cornish) on a serial killer case. Joe goes to an old friend called John Clancy(Hopkins) who just happens to be psychic. Joe needs his help with the case. John has been a recluse since his daughter died of cancer. He reluctantly agrees and he goes to the apartment of one of the victims. The killer leaves a note and it seems as if he is taunting the cops. The cops arrest the husband of one of the victims, but John can see by touching him that he is not the killer.
They figure out that the killer seems to be targeting people who are sick have something wrong with them. Is he putting them out of their misery? The killer knows every step that they take and John realises that he is also psychic. He has been ahead of them all of the time. They find out that the killer can see that the victim is or will be sick or dying in the future and he wants to prevent their suffering and that is why he kills them. He looks into their future and sees pain and misery so he kills his victims to save them from this.John meets him and talks to him but he escapes.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!The cops chase up leads, Joe gets shot in pursuit of the killer who is Charles Ambrose(Farrell).It turns out that Joe has stage four cancer and he dies. Cowles has to go on alone with the help of Clancy. Clancy meets Ambrose and talks to him about what he is doing Farrell thinks that he is helping people. John can see that Cowles will face Ambrose on a train and that she will get shot and die. He tries to prevent this by going with her and he has a face off with Ambrose who is dying and wants Clancy to carry on his work for him. Clancy shoots Ambrose after getting shot himself. Ambrose dies but Cowles is saved. Clancy survives and he and Cowles part as friends.
This was an interesting thriller. I liked the cast and the story was good too. Farrell was suitably moody as the killer and Hopkins entertained as the weary Clancy. I would recommend this as a solid thriller. I will give it a 6/10.
This film looks interesting. I have read a lot about it but I am still waiting to see it. It looks like it could be good. The Witch is an indie horror movie which might do well at the box office. I like the look of it anyway so watch the trailer and see what you think. It is directed by Robert Eggers and it stars Anya Taylor-Joy. It will be released this month.
Paul Sachetti(Sensenig) and his wife Anne(Crampton) are a couple who have lost their son Bobby in a car accident. They move to a new house in 1979 in New England. Of course the house seems to be in the middle of nowhere but it is close to a little village. Anne hears things in the house and begins to think that maybe the spirit of their son in with them. They meet two neighbours, Dave( Monte Markham) and his wife Cat(Connie Neer). She warns them to get out of the house now. They discover that the house belonged to a man called Dagmar and that he was run out of town with his family for doing shady business.
The movie takes off then with two friends of Anne's coming to see them. They are Jacob(Fessenden) and his wife May(Lisa Marie). They are kooky hippies who can communicate with the dead or something like that. Their son Harry was a good friend of Bobby. Poor Joe the electrician is in the basement and he meets something nasty down there and he gets hurt. He refuses to go back.What is down there? It ain't good!!! The two couples go into town for something to eat and the locals look at them funny. Harry and his girlfriend show up at the Sachetti's looking for his parents, but they aren't there. He and his girl go into the house and Harry meets a sticky end as he enters the basement. His woman drives away and she gets killed too.
The group leave the bar where they were eating. Neighbour Dave asks the bar woman what they were talking about. She tells him. It turns out that every 30 years the house needs a sacrifice or the evil will ruin the town. The locals have to kill them. While Anne and May have gone out, Jacob decides to hold a seance with Paul and this does not go well. Jacob gets taken over by the spirit of Dagmar and Paul has to tie him up to stop him from causing trouble. Anne and May come back. The villagers turn up at the house to kill them.
Surprisingly, the ghosts retaliate and kill all of the villagers. The ghosts do not want to kill Paul or Anne as Bobby is with them. They kill Dave instead when he threatens to kill Paul and Anne. They head back to the basement. Anne hears Bobby's voice telling them not to be afraid. Paul smiles as he realises that his son is in the house with them and he is in the basement. This was an entertaining movie in parts. I liked that it was set in the 1970's but it was a little dull in parts. I think that it was trying to be like those old horror movies from the 70's but it just didn't hit the right spot for me. I liked that there was a scene with a ball falling down some stairs which was a homage to The Changeling. I liked the ending most of all as something finally happened. I liked that the director used Scream Queen Crampton, but that's it. I wouldn't say that it was great, but it is worth a watch. It gets a 5/10.
Dawn(Amy Pietz) and her daughter Kayla(Fairaway) go to a lovely spa for a nice break together. They need some bonding time and it seems like the perfect place to chill out. They meet the boss of the place who is called David James(Whitworth). He is a charismatic person and everyone seems to revere him. Dawn takes to him immediately. Kayla is not so sure. She witnesses David shouting at an employee and she is suspicious of him but he allays her fears. He tells her that the employee was stealing from the guests and that he fired him. David talks to the new people who have come to the spa and has them eating out of his hand.
Dawn grows closer to David as Kayla meets a young man called Brett(Devon Werkheiser). He is going to tell her something about the spa, but David catches him and has a word with him. Brett shuts up but eventually he opens up and tells Kayla that all is not what it seems at the spa. David is turning the place into a cult. He and his sinister sidekick Siddharta(Charles Fathy) are disposing of anyone who threatens their setup and nobody is allowed to leave. Kayla wants to leave, but Dawn is reluctant as she likes David and does not want to leave him. Kayla tries to ring the cops but David catches her. She tells him that she wants to go and she tries to escape. She tells her mother, but her mother refuses to believe that David is bad and she lets her daughter take off alone.
Kayla is caught by Siddharta and David and placed in a little shack where she is subjected to mental torture. Her mother finally gets wise and tries to save her daughter when she sees David killing Brett. She and Kayla try and escape. Kayla finally kills Siddharta and David and the two leave together. The movie ends with David's other sidekick Lori(Kelly Curran) taking over where he left off. This movie was good fun. I enjoyed it. It is a little light on scares, but it was better than I thought it would be. I will give it a 6/10.
Last episode, the walls were going to crumble in Alexandria. Glenn and Enid had returned but couldn't get inside as there were walkers everywhere. When the walkers enter, everyone runs and splits up. Maggie goes up a ladder to escape. Eugene gets saved by Rosita and Tara. The rest run to Jessie's house to hide. Unfortunately, they discover that Deanna has been bitten by a walker and that there is no hope for her. She knows that she is on the way out. Ron attacks Carl at the worst possible time and draws walkers to the house. The group has to hide upstairs.
Morgan and Carol hide in his house. The doctor, Denise is left alone with the Wolves member that he left alive for some stupid reason. Carol finds him and tries to kill him, but she is stopped by Morgan. He knocks her out and then gets knocked out himself by the baddie. Tara and the others come by just in time to see the baddie take Denise hostage.He now has a gun and he walks outside with his hostage.Morgan is such a fool to have left him alive.
Glenn and Enid go into Alexandria and find Maggie trapped up high. Rick and the group have to leave Deanna in the house. She understands and she has a gun to end it all. They have to cover themselves in walker guts to get out as they need to walk among the dead to get away. Jessie's son Sam is scared and I think that he is going to mess everything up. They walk among the dead, but the son calls for his mother and we don't know if he has caused the walkers to see them. There is a little bit at the end where Daryl, Sasha and Abraham get stopped by men with guns. They have to hand over their stuff and the men tell them that their belongings are not theirs anymore. Sasha asks whose they are and they are told that they are Negan's so this introduces the next baddie. Very exciting episode and I am looking forward to seeing the next half of the season next month.
The movie starts with a cop called Dorian Fletcher(Michael Beach) shooting an unarmed man by mistake. He meets fellow cops, Dennis Peck(Gere) and Van Stretch(Baldwin) who are busting some drug dealers. Peck grabs a knife and he puts it into the dead man's hand to cover Fletcher who is not sure that this is the right thing to do. He is uncomfortable with this, but Peck tells him that cops have to help each other out. There is something dirty about Peck and Stretch. Along comes Raymond Avila(Andy Garcia) who is joining Internal Affairs. He is working with a partner called Amy Wallace(Laurie Metcalf). He is put on the case of Stretch who is a loose cannon. He has been using excessive force and is beating his wife.
Avila realises that Stretch's partner Peck is no saint either. He is not liked by a lot of the cops and he is hated by Fletcher who thinks that he is a bad cop. Avila tries to put pressure on Stretch to testify against his pal, but it doesn't work at first, but he cracks and decides to cooperate. Peck discovers this and he arranges a little accident for his pal. He gets him shot and he finishes him off himself. He thinks that he is in the clear, but there is a witness who gets shot after he shoots and kills Fletcher. He tells Avila that Peck was the killer before he dies too.
Avila is married to Kathleen(Travis) and their marriage is on the rocks. Peck calls around to see her and pretends to be from Internal Affairs too. He asks questions about her husband and when Avila spots them together, he jumps to the wrong conclusion and freaks out, hitting his wife in the process. He realises that he was wrong when he talks to her and they make up.Peck's web of lies and deceit unravels as Avila gets closer to catching him out. He shoots Wallace and escapes. Avila realises that he is heading for his house and his wife. He arrives home to find him trying to rape Kathleen. He pulls a gun on Peck, but Peck attacks him. Avila shoots him dead.
This was an entertaining thriller with lots of twists and turns. There were good performances from all of the cast. Gere was very good as the sleazy cop and Garcia was good as the hot headed Avila. Very good movie. I will give it a 7/10.
Pacino is a NYC homicide cop called Frank Keller. He has been in the job too long and he is burnt out. He lost his wife to one of his colleagues and he is just fed up of everything. He is put onto a case of a man who was found dead with a record called 'Sea of Love' playing in the background. The killer left a cigarette with lipstick on it and fingerprints. Frank looks into the case and he has to deal with a second man who is also found dead and the murder seems as if it was committed by the same person as the first. The two men had put adverts in the newspaper seeking someone to spend time with. Frank and his pal Detective Touhey(Goodman) decide to place their own ad in the newspaper and see who turns up. Maybe they can catch the killer.
Frank sets up dates in a restaurant with Touhey masquerading as a waiter. Several women turn up. Touhey takes their wine glass with fingerprints on it for analysis. Frank meets one woman called Helen(Barkin). She doesn't seem very interested in him. They bump into each other a few times after that and they get on well. She is a manager at a posh shoe shop.Frank omits that he is a cop. He suspects her for a moment, but then realises that she is not the killer. They begin to get close and begin to see each other.
Frank discovers that Helen had met the dead men from their adverts and he begins to wonder what is going on. He tells her that he is a cop and this does not go down well with Helen. They fall out over it and he breaks it off with her.SPOILER ALERT....It turns out that the killer is Helen's ex-husband Terry(Rooker). He has been killing any man who is with Helen. He forces his way into Frank's apartment and tries to kill him. A fight ensues and Terry ends up falling out the window and dying. Frank and Helen reconcile. This is a very good thriller with a great cast. I really liked Pacino as the fed up cop and Barkin is good as the shady Helen. Rooker is young in this role and he only has a cameo, but he is good. All in all, this is a solid 1980's thriller and I really enjoyed it. I give it an 8/10.
This episode begins with Glenn who manages to survive getting chomped by walkers. Nicholas is not so lucky. He creeps underneath a dumpster and somehow he lives. When the walkers move along, he meets Enid from Alexandria and she gives him water. She tells him about the Wolves attack and tells him that she isn't going back. She runs off. Cut to Alexandria and Rick wants to reinforce the walls after finding a bloody bullet hole in it. He talks to Ron who is Jessie's son and tells him that he will teach him to shoot. Ron wants to go shooting but Rick tells him no as there are walkers everywhere. Ron steals bullets from the armoury. Morgan and Rick butt heads over Morgan letting the Wolves get away.
Glenn and Enid meet up again and decide to go back to Alexandria. Enid finds balloons and uses them to distract walkers. They get back but find that Alexandria is surrounded by walkers and they can't get in. Carol discovers that Morgan is hiding something and decides to find out what it is. Ron is going to attack Carl with the gun when everyone sees the balloons and realise that it is a sign from Glenn. Just then, the walls begin to collapse and the walkers arrive. This was an interesting episode setting up the mid season finale...Glenn is alive after all, but the fate of Alexandria does not look good.
It's that time of year again and it is time to relax and enjoy the Christmas holidays. To all of our readers and followers, Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. We hope that you will continue to enjoy our blog and we will keep writing and giving our opinions on everything. This year was a good one for TV shows. There was The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, The Blacklist, Sleepy Hollow, Penny Dreadful and True Detective. There were plenty of movies this year to choose from. I can't really think of one movie made this year that I really liked so I will leave it at that.
I am going to enjoy watching Black Christmas(1974) on Christmas Day. I love that movie and it really is the best Christmas horror movie in my opinion. Enjoy Christmas and thanks for supporting our blog this year!
Daryl and the group are heading along leading the walkers away when they are shot at by unknown assailants. Sasha and Abraham return fire and Daryl drives away. He ends up in the woods where he falls from his bike. He tries to get in contact with Abraham but he can't. He's hurt and he finds two girls alone in the woods. He gets hit from behind. He wakes up tied up. Some guy pulls a gun on him and tells him to get up and get moving. They tell him that they might hand him over to 'them'. They tell Daryl that they set the woods on fire and killed loads of walkers. They thought that everyone was fighting the walkers but they didn't realise that everyone was dead. They think that Daryl is with the bad guys.
They are searching for one of their group. They see walkers everywhere and they think that she is dead. Daryl grabs their bag and runs. He tries to make contact with Abraham but to no avail. He gets his crossbow back and finds insulin in the bag. Sasha and Abraham wonder why the people fired on them. They think that they were waiting for someone else. They try and get in touch with Daryl. They wonder where he is. Sasha thinks that they should stay put for the moment. Abraham finds a military uniform. Sasha and Abraham have a chat about life. Daryl returns the insulin to the group. A truck appears in the woods and people tell them that they have to go back with them. Daryl helps them run. The group wonder why he came back to save them. Abraham finds rocket launchers but he has to wrestle with a walker to get the gun. He can't kill it. It falls off and leaves the grenade launcher. He takes it back to Sasha. Abraham likes Sasha and he wants to get to know her better. Daryl and co go back to their base, but it is all destroyed. One of their group gets bitten and dies. Daryl tells them about Alexandria. The guy pulls a gun on Daryl again. They take his bike and head off, Daryl is pissed off. He finds a truck and goes to collect Abraham and Sasha. They hear a cry for help on the radio.
This was a good episode with some new characters. I am looking forward to the next episode!
It's been a while, but my horror years is back. This time, I have decided to look at 1989 and the horror movies that were released this year. Some were good, some bad and some just okay.
I suppose that I should begin with the most popular ones first. Pet Sematary was released this year and it is based on the book of the same name by Stephen King. It is about a strange cemetery where people who are buried in it come back to life with awful results. I liked the book, so I also enjoyed the movie. It was one of the better King adaptations. There was a sequel, but the less said about that, the better. Puppet Master was also out this year and was full of weirdness and fun, especially with the doll who releases leeches on a poor unsuspecting man and a puppet with a tiny head and big body. Creepy puppets! Not a bad movie, but it wouldn't be one of my favourites.Warlock was a very good movie also out this year and I really liked it. Julian Sands is the warlock in this movie and Lori Singer is the waitress who falls foul of him. It is great fun. 976-EVIL is a movie about a guy who calls Satan direct!!!It is good fun. Shocker was a worthy offering from Wes Craven this year.
Anthony Perkins starred in Edge of Sanity, a twist on the Jekyll and Hyde story and with shades of Jack the Ripper mixed in. It is an okay movie, but not great. I am a fan of Perkins, but this wasn't his best movie. After Midnight was a horror anthology with some interesting stories. Clownhouse was a horror movie featuring some freaky clowns. I find clowns creepy at the best of times but this makes for uncomfortable viewing. Another creature feature was Elves which is perfect for this time of year. Evil elves who want to start a master race! What is not to like about that?Killer Crocodile is self explanatory. Intruder was another horror/thriller about a killer stalking employees of a supermarket.
Lastly, the movies that I haven't seen yet or just didn't like. The Church was supposed to be a sequel in the Demons series but I didn't see much connection with the first two movies which I really liked. Night Life is a zombie movie but I haven't seen it yet.Society was a horror/sci-fi movie which was okay, but nothing special. That's all the movies that I have time for now. If you think that there are any I have missed or are worth a look, let me know!
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