The Great, Big, Quarantine Catch Up

I'm not going to get political or anything on here but, with much of the world shut down it's safe to say that I've had a bit more time on my hands than usual. Now, with so much time I have been able to catch up on some T.V. shows that I had pushed to the back burner and luckily Nintendo has blessed the world with the gem that is Animal Crossing: New Horizons. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been watching a whole bunch of movies. It's been a little while since my last post (again the world is in a weird place right now) and I thought it might be an interesting change of pace to do an overview of what movies I've watched lately. 

Of course, being stuck inside it's been the perfect opportunity for a few marathons. This past weekend rewatched the three Godfather films. The first two are obviously considered great movies but, I'm starting to gain more appreciation for the often disregarded third film in the trilogy... It's still not great but, I liked it more since the last time I saw it a few years ago. I also went on a little bit of a Tim Burton kick for a few days and rewatched some of his early films. Beetlejuice, Batman, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands... these are all good movies and got me thinking "What happened to Tim Burton? All he makes is crap now". Maybe that'll end up being the topic of a separate post in the future. 

In terms of movies that I hadn't seen before, I finally got around to watching Rocketman. I didn't have time to see it when it was in theaters last year but, better late than never. When the movie goes into big musical numbers it's a lot of fun but, the rest of the time it's a pretty paint-by-numbers biopic. Overall, liked it and it's probably in that 3.5 out of 5 range for me. I also watched Mirrors 2. I never saw the first Mirrors but I found this one in a bargain bin and with the quote on the back of the blu-ray case " They can't run... they can't hide... the can't even look in the mirror!" Well, that's all I needed. It's a schlocky horror movie. Not good but, I had fun with it. Another horror movie I decided to watch was The Exorcism of Molly Hartley. It's far from the worst exorcism movie I've seen (that honor is held by Exorcism of the Dead) but, I still wouldn't recommend this one. Turning away from horror, I finally watched a film that had been sitting in the stack of movies on my desk for months, Machine Gun Preacher. The film is based on a true story about an ex-biker gang member who starts helping poor kids in Africa. It's fine. The title is way better than the movie.

Finishing up, here are a few miscellaneous favorites that I've rewatched over the past few weeks. I highly recommend all of these so if you're like me, stuck at home waiting for the world to go back to normal, these are some solid films to help pass the time. 

- Field of Dreams, a feel good movie and there's no real baseball on T.V. right now. 

- Gone with the Wind, it's an all-time classic and the 4hr-runtime isn't a big deal when there's nothing else going on. 

-Top Gun... I just really like this one.

- The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese movies are always worthwhile.

- Spartacus, like Gone with the Wind, it's a long one but, worth it. 

- The Muppets from 2011. Good songs, and funny jokes. A perfect distraction.

- The Man Who Knew Too Much, I personally prefer the 1956 version with James Stewart and Doris Day but, the 1934 original is a great movie as well. 

-And finally Moon. It's great, I love it, and more people need to see it.

Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror

Well, it's finally Halloween and, like so many other people this time of year, I've been on a bit of a horror movie kick the last two weeks or so. Rather than revisit some of the horror classics like Psycho, Frankenstein, Halloween, or The Shining I've been taking a look at some lesser-known titles. Movies like Dog Soldiers, WolfCop, American Poltergeist, Exorcism of the Dead and The Tooth Fairy. In keeping with that trend, today's film is Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror. This is an anthology movie similar to Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt, and it consists of three stories. Our narrator and connecting thread between the different tales of horror is the Hound of Hell (played by Snoop Dogg).

The first of these three stories is titled 'Crossed Out'. A woman named Posie (played by Daniella Alonso) is given a magical tattoo on her arm by a stange and mysterious man played by Danny Trejo. This tattoo gives the Posie the ability to kill anyone simply by spray painting a red 'X' over any tag they have left on a building. She doesn't have to kill anyone, she chooses to. And with her choice to make the hood even more violent than it already was, Posie has to pay the ultimate price.

Next up is 'The Scumlord'. Tex and his girlfriend Tiffany (played by Anson Mount and Brande Roderick) are offered the opportunity to receive a hefty inheritance after Tex's father dies. There is a catch though; They have to move to the hood and live with four of the father's old Vietnam war buddies for one year. Tex in particular treats the vets like crap and eventually pushes them to their breaking point, resulting in the death of both Tex and Tiffany.

And finally the last of the three is 'Rapsody Askew'. This one tells the tale of a rapper known as SOD (played by Pooch Hall) who has seen a meteoric rise to fame. Much of this success can be attributed to SOD's friend Quan (played by Aries Spears), who always stuck by his side even though SOD is a pretty terrible person. One night after a big awards show, a mysterious woman enters SOD's hotel room telling him that she knows all about his misdeeds. Soon after, a zombie version of Quan appears and reveals that he now knows that SOD had him killed. The zombified Quan then kills the hitman and disappears, thus framing SOD for murder.

Overall, I think this is a pretty fun movie. It's obviously no cinematic masterpiece but has a pretty decent cast, it's well paced, and the three tales are all distinct and entertaining. Of the three, I think 'Crossed Out' was probably the one I enjoyed the most. I'm not going to go as far as saying that this should be a 'must-watch' every Halloween but, if you come across it give it a try.

 I give this one a 2.5 out of 5

The Tooth Fairy

I've been posting about a number of horror films lately in the lead up Halloween. So far I've written about Dog Soldiers, WolfCop, American Poltergeist, and Exorcism of the Dead. That trend continues today with The Tooth Fairy (not to be confused with the 2010 family-comedy Tooth Fairy starring Dwayne Johnson). 

Released in 2006 The Tooth Fairy is about a old witch who takes children's teeth with the promise of gifts in exchange. The kids never receive the gifts but, are instead brutally murdered and their teeth are kept inside the witch's magic music-box. The film actually starts out with one of these murders and then jumps several decades forward to the present day. A man named Peter (played by Lochlyn Munro) is restoring the witch's house and turning into a cozy bed and breakfast. Peter invites his girlfriend and her daughter Pamela up to the house for a relaxing weekend, but thing go south pretty quickly. After befriending the ghost of another young girl and learning the legend of the evil witch known as the 'Tooth Fairy', Pamela looses a tooth. This, along with the restoration of the home, awakens the witch and she goes on a killing spree. 

This movie is a mess. The witch is after Pamela's tooth but most of her killings seem unrelated to that goal. There are also these two redneck characters who aren't necessary to the plot, and I think were just added to pad the runtime. The acting isn't good, but it's passable for a direct-to-video horror flick. The biggest problem however is that I didn't find this film all that interesting. There are a couple of good kills and some unitentionally funny moments but, it's not enough to earn this movie a recommendation from me.

I give The Tooth Fairy a 1 out of 5.

WolfCop

My last post was about 2002's Dog Soldiers and, since we're only a week away from Halloween, I decided checkout at another werewolf flick.

So, today's movie is the Canadian horror-comedy film WolfCop, which was released back in 2014. With a title like 'WolfCop' you'd probably assume this is a schlocky B-movie....and you would be correct. However, it's also a ton of fun and really entertaining. The movie stars Leo Fafard, Amy Matysio, Jonathan Cherry, Sarah Lind, and Jesse Moss. It centers around a drunken loser of a police officer named Lou Garou (played by Fafard). One night a cult kidnaps Lou and performs a ritual to turn him into a werewolf for their own nefarious purposes. Unfortunately for the cult, they underestimated Garou. Even though he transforms into a beast at night, he still retains enough intelligence to put on his uniform, grab his gun, and hit the streets as the 'WolfCop'.

If you're a fan of horror-comedies then I think that this is definitely one you should check out. It's a little uneven, but it provides just enough gore and dumb laughs to make it worthwhile. I would've liked if the movie was maybe 10 minutes or so longer, because there were a few times when it felt like it was rushing a bit. I went back and forth on whether to give this one a 2.5 or a 3. In the end I decided that, on fun-factor alone, it deserved that extra bump. 
I give WolfCop a 3 out of 5.

Carrie (2013)

2013's Carrie is a film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. This story was most famously brought to the big screen in 1976 by director Brian De Palma and that version stared Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, and John Travolta in one of his very first roles. Now, as a disclaimer I've never read the Stephen King novel all the way through and I haven't seen the '76 film in many years. So there isn't going to be a lot of comparing and contrasting of the 2013 film to either one of those versions.

The basic framework of the story is still the same as in previous iterations; Carrie is a shy, teenage outcast who is often bullied at school. Her home life is just as bad (if not worse) as she lives with her over-bearing, religious fanatic, mother. As the story moves along Carrie starts to notice that she has telekinetic abilities. She starts to explore these powers and even gains a little bit of confidence. However, when a cruel prank at the high school prom results in Carrie being drenched in pig's blood, all Hell breaks loose...

Overall, I think this is a decent movie. I like Chloe Grace Moretz portrayal as Carrie and Julianne Moore is ok as her mother. The biggest knock against the movie, for me, is that the film is safe and efficient. It's the same story told again, hitting all of the expected beats, with little new added other than some minor updates.

It's a fine movie and I was entertained, but it's not a 'must-see' and not as good as the 1976 version in my opinion.

I give this one a 3 out of 5.

The Wolf Man

"Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright."

I love all the classic Universal monster movies but The Wolf Man from 1941 is probably my favorite (with 1931's Frankenstein being a close second). It's a movie I've referenced in numerous blog post, including '10 Movies to Watch in October' but interestingly enough I've never written anything in-depth about it.

 The film stars Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, a man who returns to his family's estate after learning that his brother has passed away. While back in town Larry becomes interested in a woman named Gwen (played by Evelyn Ankers), who runs an antique shop. One afternoon while visiting her shop, he purchases a walking stick decorated with a silver wolf on the top. Later that night, Larry attempts to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from what he believes to be an ordinary wolf. He kills the wolf with his new walking stick, but Larry was bitten during the encounter. Soon After, a gypsy tells Larry that the wolf that bit him was actually her son Bela (played by Bela Lugosi) in the form of a wolf. She also tells Larry that since he was bitten by a werewolf and lived, he will turn into one himself. From there Larry struggles to control his condition, occasionally turning into the Wolf Man and lurking in the foggy woods outside the village. In the end he's killed by his own father, with the silver-topped walking stick. 

While so many modern horror films rely on jump-scares and gore, The Wolf Man is engaging because it's a well made film with a good story, and an atmospheric score. Lon Chaney Jr. is great in the movie and every time I watch it I feel bad for Larry Talbot. He was just trying to do the right thing, he didn't ask to become a werewolf and he never turns into a stereotypical evil monster. He's just a regular guy with an unfortunate curse he can't control. 

Overall, it's a pretty short movie, with a runtime of only about an hour and ten minutes, but that doesn't make the story feel any less developed. Film critic Leonard Maltin once called it "One of the finest horror films ever made", and I couldn't agree more. I definitely recommend this film to any one interested in going back to check out some classic horror flicks, and it's a perfect film to pop in if you're looking to for a movie to get yourself into the Halloween spirit. 

5 out of 5

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Released in 1954, Creature from the Black Lagoon came out at the tail end of horror's Golden Age which mostly takes place during the 1930's and 40's. This may be a contributing factor as to why the Creature or "Gill-man", while usually lumped in with the Universal Classic Monsters, is not more famous. Sure, the Gill-man's look is iconic but not more than the likes of Karloff's Frankenstein or Lugosi's Dracula.

The film starts of with a man named Dr. Carl Maia discovering a unique fossil of an unknown creatures hand. The discovery leads to couple of scientists setting off on an expedition to the Amazon in search of additional fossils. Soon after arriving at the camp, two of Dr. Maia's assistants are found dead. This, for me, highlights one of the films many strengths: The plot moves along at a brisk pace (the runtime is a little less than an hour and a half) and there's very little time wasted. The first creature attack occurs just after the 10 minute mark. Unable to find more fossils, they hypothesize that some of the rocks containing such fossils may have broken off and traveled downstream. Their boat Captain informs them that the nearby river leads to the 'Black Lagoon', and so the group heads in that direction. Shortly after arriving at the lagoon, the lone woman on this expedition, Kay (played by Julie Adams) decides to go for a swim and this leads to my personal favorite part of the film. The scene of Kay swimming along the water's surface with the creature swimming below is a beautiful little piece of filmmaking. After that, the group has a series of encounters with the Gill-man resulting in a few deaths and injuries, and of course ending with the creature being defeated. 

Overall, this is a very entertaining film. Sure, the musical score is a bit generic with overly dramatic cues every time the creature appears onscreen and the human characters aren't particularly memorable. However, though dated obviously, I think the creature still looks pretty cool, and the 'Black Lagoon' setting provides great atmosphere and tension. 
Not a perfect film, but a solid 4.5 out of 5 and one that I definitely recommend.

Bleed

It's October, so I figured I would start the month off with a horror movie.

Unfortunately, I decided to start with 2016's Bleed. This film is a mess. 

Sarah (played by Chelsey Crisp) and her husband Matt (played by Michael Steger) have decided to have some friends over to celebrate their new home and soon-to-be-born baby. Then Sarah's ghost hunting, deadbeat, brother Eric shows up with his girlfriend. Eric gets into a discussion about ghost hunting and suggests that everyone go check out an abandoned nearby prison, that is supposedly haunted. The setup isn't terrible and I thought there was some potential here, but the film falls apart once the gang heads to the old prison. 

Overall, this one was a bit of a letdown. I'd score this one a zero but, I did get a few chuckles from some unintentionally funny moments.

 1 out of 5. I'd recommend skipping this one.

Shark Night (2011)

There are a ton of shark movies out there but, oddly enough, there's only one good one: Jaws. When it comes to all other shark films they range from terrible to just ok. Now, obviously this isn't a great movie like Jaws, and you shouldn't expect that going in. However, it also lacks the 'so bad it's good' charm of a movie like Ghost Shark.

Shark Night starts out on the right track with a shark attack in the first scene. Unfortunately, it then cuts to a college campus and over the next 20mins nothing interesting happens. We're given the setup; a group of friends are going to a lake house for the weekend -AND- we're introduced to all the complex, nuanced characters, like Hot Girl, Black Guy, Comic Relief, and others. Of course they're not at the lake house long before the first shark attack and, to the film's credit, the pacing is pretty good from this point on. Now you may be wondering 'why is a lake full of vicious sharks?' Well, it's a saltwater lake and the bad guys filled it with several different species of shark so they could film the attacks and make some money off it. 

The plot is dumb, as it is in most shark flicks, and the deaths are predictable. It's a PG-13 movie which is kind of ironic since the villain's plan is to give people real footage of vicious attacks, and yet the movie is pretty tame. 

I'd recommend skipping this one.

1.5 out of 5

Movie Review: Dead Awake

Well, I haven't reviewed a horror movie in a while...

While scrolling through Netflix suggestions at 1am, in the mood for a so-bad-it's-good horror flick, I came across this I came across this 2016 psychological horror movie. 

The film is about a woman named Kate who decides to investigate her twin sister's mysterious death and the sleep paralysis that her sister suffered from. Well, while connecting the dots between people who die in their sleep and the sleep paralysis condition, Kate ends up stuck with an entity that takes the form of an old creepy hag and kills people in their sleep.  But here's the kicker: the 'hag' only targets those that believe in it, and a person can rid themselves of the entity by getting a adrenaline shot while they're experiencing sleep paralysis.

It sounds dumb, but the movie almost works. The concept is interesting, the plot moves along at a decent pace and, even though some of the characters are blandly written, the acting isn't terrible.

 The real problem is a failed execution ideas: It deals with something attacking while your helplessly asleep but it doesn't really delve into what that can really do to you psychologically other than a throw away line or two and one brief scene with a guy who found a way to never sleep. Also, it fails to deliver any memorable scares. There are no over-the-top deaths, or gore, or even variety. The hag is a pretty basic design and all she does is choke people while they sleep.

 

It's not a terrible movie, but it's one you can skip.

I give it a 1.5 out of 5 

 

The Mummy (2017)

"The Mummy" is the most recent attempt by Universal to kick start a connected Avengers-style universe featuring all the classic monsters (Frankenstein's monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, etc.). Now, I'm a big fan of all the classic Universal monster films including 1932's 'The Mummy' starting Boris Karloff. Additionally, I enjoyed 2 out of the 3 Mummy films with Brendan Fraser. Were they great like the original with Karloff? No,  but they were fun adventure flicks.

So,  is this latest Mummy film any good -or- does it deserve much of the hate it's getting from critics? 

Well, a little of both. Again, I'm a fan of monster movies and, anyone who reads this blog regularly will know, I'm a fan of Tom Cruise so I was excited to see this. 

Well, I enjoyed it. Is it perfect? Definitely not, but it was entertaining and I thought it was a decent mashup of action and horror. Some of the world-building to established the connected universe was slightly distracting. The action is mostly good, and the CGI is pretty solid. There are a few comedic moments as well, some good and some of which don't stick the landing but it never took me out of the film. 

Overall, It's entertaining. I definitely enjoyed it more than the last film I reviewed... (you can check out my Wonder Woman review by clicking here). Despite a few flaws, I actually had a blast watching this one

I give it a 4 out of 5.

Have a suggestions for a review? Leave it in the comments below. 

Today's Movie: Terror Firmer

 

Terror Firmer is a 1999 horror/comedy released by Troma Entertainment. For anyone that is a fan of Troma films this is going give you everything you'd probably expect: over-the-top violence, sex, gross-out moments, blood, guts, wacky characters and immature humor.

The film centers around the crew of a low-budget film, and their odd-ball, blind Director, Larry Benjamin (played by the films real-life Director, Lloyd Kaufman). These are the two biggest reasons I find it entertaining, as a lot of the film's best humor comes from Kaufman and it being a low-budget film about making a low-budget film. Larry is convinced that the movie he's making is a work of art but, along with the typical problems that could arise on a movie set, much of the crew is being murdered one by one at the hands of a serial-killer. in the midst of all this, there's also a love triangle going on between three of the main characters; a production assistant named Jennifer, a boom-mic operator named Casey, and special effects named guy named Jerry. There are also nods to other popular Troma films throughout, my favorite being Sgt. Kabukiman just wandering around the set.

 Well, it doesn't Sherlock Holmes to predict who is responsible for the murders is pretty early on and, in the end the crew bands together and defeats the serial-killer.

If you like Troma films you'll probably really enjoy this one. I wouldn't call it a terrific movie, and it's definitely not for everyone, but it is entertaining. I give it a 2 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.

A Look Back At 'Psycho' (1960)

One of Alfred Hitchcock’s great cinematic masterpieces (and I would even argue his best) is 1960’s Psycho. I had previously placed it on my ’10 Movies to Watch in October’ list (which you can check out here: http://onlyinthemoviesblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/10-movies-to-watch-in-october.html) but I still felt like I should have given it a little more of a in-depth review.

 This is not only a great psychological horror film but a great film overall, with iconic moments, a great score, solid acting (particularly Anthony Perkins) and wall-to-wall suspense. It’s spawned a couple of sequels, a remake, and TV show. Much like Hitchcock urging theater owners not to let people to enter the theater late, because it would ruin the experience, I’ll give the setup and end it there just in case anyone reading this has not seen the movie.

The Film starts out in Phoenix, Arizona. During a hotel rendezvous while on her lunch hour, a secretary at a real estate office named Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh) discusses with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (played by John Gavin), why they can’t afford to get married because Sam is in pretty substantial debt. When Marion returns from lunch, a client comes by the office and drops off a $40,000 cash deposit for a property. Her boss asks her to deposit the money in the bank, and she asks him if she can take the rest of the afternoon off afterwards. But, she doesn’t go to the bank and instead decides to steal the money to give to Sam. So, Marion heads out of town and toward California where Sam lives. That evening, she pulls over on the side of the road and falls asleep, only to be awakened in the morning by a state trooper. He asks her a couple of questions and is suspicious about her nervous behavior but lets her to drive on anyway. Shaken by the run-in with the officer, Marion stops at a dealership and trades in her car for another and then continues on her way.

Later during her travels, it starts raining pretty heavily so she decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel where she meets Norman Bates and the whole film take a sudden and violent turn.

Like I stated earlier, I think this is one of the all-time great films and it’s always especially good to watch around Halloween. So, if you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen it -or- if you just haven't watched it in a while, go check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

I give this film a 5 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.

...and for some more good reads check out this Book, Video game, and Comicbook blog:
Boredenthusiast.blogspot.com 

Today's Movie: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

This 1935 sequel to the 1931 film ‘Frankenstein’ is one of those rare cases in cinematic history where the sequel is often regarded as just as good as the original. It’s well written, James Whale returned as Director, and it stars some of the key cast from the previous film; Colin Clive as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, Boris Karloff as the Monster, and Dwight Frye (although he’s called Karl in this film and was called Fritz in the previous one) are all great.

So, the film starts out with Mary Shelley played by Elsa Lanchester (who also plays the Monster’s Bride later in the film) recapping the events of the previous film while also setting up the story for this one.

We then pick up where the previous film left off with the burning windmill. Somehow both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster survived the fire as well as the windmill’s collapse. While recovering Henry Frankenstein pretty much abandons his plans to create life. But a little later, after the monster scares a bunch of the villagers and takes Henry’s fiancée, Dr. Frankenstein is forced by his former mentor Dr. Pretorius to create a mate for the monster.  And just like the monster in the first film, the creation in this one is built from dead bodies and brought to life during a thunderstorm. 

Overall, the acting is solid (with the exception of the over-the-top performance of Una O’Conner), and the iconic scene with the monster and the blind man is pretty great. However, the film isn’t quite as dark in tone as the original and the ending always felt a little rushed to me. While I do think this is a good film, I still prefer 1931's 'Frankenstein'.

It didn’t quite make my ’10 Movies to Watch in October’ list, but I still recommend it.

4.5 out of 5

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.

Tonight’s Movie: Snowbeast (1977)

Tonight felt like a good night for a cheesy B-movie.

Right from the get-go, a young woman is killed by a mysterious beast on the slope at a ski resort. As if the death of a skier isn’t enough, the annual Winter Festival is about to begin raising the potential for more attacks. There are a few more deaths and a couple of guys that work for the resort, go out looking for the Snowbeast.

There is also a skeptical Sheriff who serves no real purpose in the movie other than to claim that there is no monster, and that all these people were killed by a crazed grizzly bear.

The actual monster isn’t seen much in the film. We get footprints, growls from off-screen, a lot of POV shots from the Snowbeast’s perspective, brief glimpses of a paw here and there, and people talking about a Bigfoot-like creature in the forest. All of this is used to build up the suspense, and it works fairly well until you actually do see the monster. This creature’s appearance is pretty laughable, but again, you don’t see it that much. 

The acting isn’t great, but it could’ve been much worse and aside from a couple of dull scenes the film moves along at a decent pace. There are a few cringe-worthy lines of dialogue and the way the beast is killed at the end is pretty anti-climactic.

Overall, while not a great movie by any stretch, it is entertaining. 

I give this one a 1.5 out of 5

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.