Demon House

Released earlier this year, Demon House is a documentary about a house in Gary, Indiana that is reportedly haunted. The documentary is written, directed, and produced by everyone's favorite paranormal-investigator/charlatan Zak Bagans who, of course, also stars in the film. 

Now, I actually really like Zak Bagans show on the Travel Channel Ghost Adventures, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, so I was very interested in checking this out. Unfortunately, the film just feels like a much longer episode of the TV show... and not one of the good episodes. 

So, what's it about?

Shortly after having a nightmare, Bagans hears a news story about a house that is supposedly home to a multitude of demons and so he buys the house sight unseen. He then travels to Indiana to investigate, looking for anyone with any connection to the home. The majority of the movie is just Zak conducting interviews, which is a little disappointing if you go in looking for more of a ghost-hunting movie like I was. Toward the end of the film Zak actually does finally decide to stay the night alone in the house with all the windows and doors boarded up. Not much happens. A blurry shadow is briefly seen on camera, Zak gets a bad headache and claims that the night in the house was the cause of him now needing to wear glasses. After that, the house is torn down and the movie is over. 

Overall, I didn't find this film all that compelling and I can't see myself actually recommending it anyone. 

I give Demon House a 1 out of 5.

Western Wednesday: Cahill United States Marshal

It's another "Western Wednesday" and I'm going with a John Wayne movie again this week (last week I reviewed The Train Robbers, you can check out that review by clicking HERE). Today's movie is 1973's Cahill United States Marshal. 

In this one John Wayne plays J.D. Cahill, a U.S. Marshal who's job often keeps him away from home and his two sons Danny and Billy for long stretches of time. One night, while Cahill is away, Danny and Billy help a gang lead by Abe Fraser (played by George Kennedy) rob the local bank. The gang has the perfect alibi because, as far as everyone else knows, they were all in jail for drunk and disorderly conduct the night of the robbery and Billy is tasked with hiding the stolen money. When Cahill returns to town, he and Danny set out to find whoever robbed the bank with the help of tracker named Lightfoot. While Cahill is out of town looking for the criminals, Fraser and his gang ambush Billy demanding to know where the money is hidden. The problem is Cahill's sons feel guilty and want to return the money to the bank, but Fraser will stop at nothing to get it. The result is a showdown in the forest between the Fraser gang and the Cahills. 

As a film, this is a pretty average, by-the-numbers Western. There's no interesting camera work, amazing musical score or incredibly complex characters. However, this is the kind of movie that is really elevated by John Wayne's larger then life presence, which makes it an enjoyable watch. Plus, I've always liked George Kennedy and he's also good in the movie. Cahill United States Marshal isn't a flick I'd recommend to everyone but, I think it's a "must-see" if you're a John Wayne fan.

 3 out of 5

A Look Back at the 'American Pie' Films

For those who don't already know, the American Pie film franchise is a series of teen comedies, full of people finding themselves in awkward and often embarrassing situations... with a bit of gross-out humor thrown in for good measure. These are not high-concept cinematic masterpieces and even though I usually don't get into these types of movies, I've always enjoyed this franchise. 

Now, I'm only going to focus on the main series and not any of the spinoffs like American Pie Presents: Band Camp or American Pie Presents: Beta House. This is because;

 A) All those spinoffs were direct-to-video releases and they're all awful, so I don't want to rewatch any of them for this piece.

B) Other than Eugene Levy, none of the core original cast is in the spinoffs.

Now, none of these films were hits with critics for obvious reasons (the first film features Jason Biggs humping an apple pie), but they all did well at the box-office. Looking back, the first three films are pretty dated but a lot of the jokes still get a laugh out of me and the pop-punk/alt. rock soundtrack each film has is right up my alley. I find the core cast of this series to be a bit of a mixed bag with actors Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, and Eugene Levy all giving memorable performances, whereas some others like Chris Kline, Tara Reid, and Thomas Ian Nicholas are kind of forgettable.

Let's start, obviously, with 1999's American Pie. This first film focuses on a group of friends who are high school seniors that make a pact that they'll each find a girl and have sex by the end of prom night. It's a premise that worked in '99 but probably wouldn't do so well today. Even though each character gets their own story beats, Jim Levenstein (played by Jason Biggs) is the real standout of the movie, and he becomes the true main character in subsequent films.

Next up is American Pie 2 which was released in 2001 and stars all the same cast as it's predecessor. The film picks up with each of our main characters from the previous film after their first year at college. It's summer break and the guys rent a lake house for a summer of fun and plans to end it with a big party. Alyson Hannigan's character (Michelle Flaherty) has a bigger role in this film, with her and Jim developing a relationship. The best way I can describe this one is, uneven. It has some of the series' best moments, and also some of the most skippable.

The third entry in the series, American Wedding, came out in 2003 with some noticeable absences to the cast. There's no Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, Tara Reid, or Natasha Lyonne, but when rewatching the movie I really didn't miss any of their characters. In this one everyone is done with college and, as the title suggests, they're all preparing for Jim's wedding to Michelle. Of course, shenanigans ensue, and even the characters in the film acknowledge how remarkable it is that Jim gets into all these crazy situations and ends up coming out of it on top. 

Nine years later the cast of the original came back together for one last time for 2012's American Reunion, and this probably the last we'll see of that original cast in an American Pie film (unless all of the actors get real desperate for money in the future). I never went to the theater to see this one and, in fact, only recently watched it for the first time. While I do enjoy the series, I thought American Wedding was a satisfying conclusion so I passed on this one initially. It's been thirteen years since the gang graduated high school and they're all back in town for a reunion. This one is definitely the weakest of the bunch and a lot of the jokes don't land as well as they did in previous films. It's not terrible, but the movie relies a little too much on the viewer's nostalgia for the older films.

Overall, I wouldn't call any of these movies great, but I think they're fun. Maybe I was just at the right age as these movies came out but, despite their flaws, I find myself going back to them every so often. 

Today's Movie: Brubaker

Released in 1980 and starring Robert Redford, Brubaker is one of those really good movies that no one ever seems to talk about. Fun Fact: It also happens to be one of Morgan Freeman's first films (though he's only in it for a few minutes).

At the start of the film Henry Brubaker (played by Robert Redford) enters Wakefield State Prison as an inmate and almost immediately he identifies a slew of problems at the prison. Some of the issues include a doctor charging inmates for medical attention, inmates being tortured, and food with maggots in it. It's soon revealed that Brubaker is actually the new Warden and he plans to turn things around. Of course not everyone is on board with the reforms. Local businessmen had been benefitting from the free labor the inmates were forced into by the previous Warden. Then a political scandal begins to unravel when Brubaker confronts a group of politicians over corruption, repairs that are long overdue, the eventual discovery of several unmarked graves on the prison's property. 

Overall, I think this is a really solid, well-crafted movie. A few of the characters are slightly underdeveloped and the film does drag just a little bit at times, but none of that ruins the movie for me. I recommend checking this one out if you've never seen it.

4 out of 5.

Western Wednesday: The Train Robbers

It's been a while since my last 'Western Wednesday' post, but I'm going to try and make it a regularly updated series again. So, today's movie is the 1973 John Wayne film, The Train Robbers.

The movie is about a widow named Mrs. Lowe (played by Ann-Margret) who wants to recover a half million dollars in gold that her late husband stole and return it to the railroad in order to clear the family name. Plus, there is a nice $50,000 reward for anyone who returns the gold. With the help of a man named Lane (played by John Wayne) and a couple others they set out for Mexico to retrieve the hidden gold. However, a gang made up of some of the original train robbers want the gold and they'll stop at nothing to get it. 

The plot really isn't anything special but, the relatively short 90min runtime keeps things moving forward and I think it's a fun movie overall. There are a couple shootouts, John Wayne punches someone in the face in multiple scenes, and near the end a couple of buildings get blown up. Sure, It's not at that level of John Wayne classics like True Grit, The Searchers, or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but I still think it's definitely worth watching if you're a fan of The Duke. 

I give this one a 3 out of 5.

Rob Roy

The 1995 film Rob Roy is an interesting piece of cinematic history. While not necessarily under-appreciated by those who have seen it (The film holds a fair 6.9/10 on IMDB and a 73% Rotten Tomatoes score), it has been largely forgotten. The movie is a period-piece about a poor Scotsman, who is a leader among his people and fights back against the dishonorable ruling class. Unfortunately for Rob Roy, it happened to come out just a month before another Scotsman vs. Nobility movie; Braveheart.

  In addition to the Best Picture winning Braveheart, 1995 gave us other memorable films like Apollo 13, Se7en, Toy Story, The Usual Suspects, Leaving Las Vegas, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Goldeneye, Get Shorty, Casino, Heat... It was a good year and looking back it's easy to see how this movie got overshadowed.

   For anyone interested in checking this one out, I'm not saying it's great but, it is a half-way decent flick. It's entertaining, well directed, boasts a pretty solid cast including Liam Neeson, John Hurt, Tim Roth, and Jessica Lange. More people should give it a chance.

3.5 out of 5

A Bridge Too Far

I haven't reviewed a war movie in a while, so today's film is 1977's A Bridge Too Far.
The film takes place during WWII and tells the story of a failed Allied mission to break through German lines, and seize several bridges along the way. The plan was to have paratroopers drop in behind enemy lines and secure the bridges, making a path for tanks and heavy artillery to reach the town of Arnhem. Unfortunately, a series of setbacks including problems with radio communication, and underestimating German firepower in the region, doomed the operation. 

This is a well directed film and, even if you're not a big fan of war movies, the cast is amazing. Starring the likes of Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, James Caan, Ryan O'Neal, Elliot Gould, Robert Redford, and Sean Connery this film is worth watching based on cast alone. Now I really like this movie, but if I have nitpick it's the runtime. I have no problem sitting down to a long film, as long as the length is necessary to tell the story. A Bridge Too Far clocks in at just under three hours and it really doesn't feel like needs that much time. 

Overall, I highly recommend this one. It's about 20 mins too long, but it's worth it.
4.5 out of 5