Zombies, assassins, spies, and Jedis ... just some of what's been flavouring my December 2015...
Click "READ MORE" below to see this month's looks, sounds, vibes & flavours...
Thursday, 31 December 2015
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Tremors 5: Bloodlines - Mini Review...
What's it about?
Burt Gummer - graboid hunter extraordinaire - is now a survivalist reality show host, but he's pulled back into action when a man from the South African government turns up in search of his help. Joined by Travis, a laid back stunt rider, they discover that the graboid/shrieker/ass blaster family aren't solely an issue for North America and Mexico - there's an entire African bloodline with their own evolutionary surprises out there causing havoc.
Who would I recognise in it?
Michael Gross, Jamie Kennedy.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It's been years since we've had anything from the Tremors franchise, and coming off the back of a sorely under-funded third film, an intriguing but strangely repetitive fourth film, and a one-season TV show of variable quality, a new entry is a somewhat surprising occurrence...
Click "READ MORE" below to continue the mini review...
Burt Gummer - graboid hunter extraordinaire - is now a survivalist reality show host, but he's pulled back into action when a man from the South African government turns up in search of his help. Joined by Travis, a laid back stunt rider, they discover that the graboid/shrieker/ass blaster family aren't solely an issue for North America and Mexico - there's an entire African bloodline with their own evolutionary surprises out there causing havoc.
Who would I recognise in it?
Michael Gross, Jamie Kennedy.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It's been years since we've had anything from the Tremors franchise, and coming off the back of a sorely under-funded third film, an intriguing but strangely repetitive fourth film, and a one-season TV show of variable quality, a new entry is a somewhat surprising occurrence...
Click "READ MORE" below to continue the mini review...
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Double Bill Mini Musings: Space Vampires and Con-Artist Chemistry...
Lifeforce:
What's it about?
The crew of a space shuttle following the trail of Halley's Comet encounter a strange, alien craft hiding within the comet's tail. Inside things only get curiouser as they discover countless dried-up vampire bat-like creatures floating within the cavernous confines of the ship - and then they stumble across three nude figures in suspended animation. The strangest thing of all is that they appear to be human. However, when the space shuttle returns to earth, the ground team discover there's been a terrible fire that's wiped out the crew - but left the three humanoids intact. Back on Earth - London to be exact - events take a turn for the worse when the lifeforms awake and start to literally suck the life out of people!
Who would I recognise in it?
Steve Railsback, Patrick Stewart, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Aubrey Morris, Michael Gothard.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), co-written by Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead), and presented by Cannon Films during their 1980s heyday, Lifeforce has the genre credentials from the get-go. Based on Colin Wilson's novel "The Space Vampires" (surely a much better title than the non-specific "Lifeforce"), Hooper's film turns out to be a surprisingly fun outing. Jam-packed with special effects - from gruesome prosthetics and puppets to please horror fans, to a vast array of colourful optical effects to please sci-fi fans - Lifeforce unfurls in its final act into a stunningly epic extravaganza by way of a mystery. At just shy of two hours it's a touch overlong (and some plotting is either drawn out or repetitious), but the sheer volume of chaos and spectacle paper over the cracks (at $25m it was Cannon's largest film budget at that time) ... and that's without even mentioning Mathilda May's jaw-dropping beauty as the lead 'space vampire' who spends much of the movie seducing every male she encounters with all of her kit off (so that checks off fans of boobs, too!). If you're looking for something cheesy, something fun, something genre-tastic, ever-so-80s, and visually stunning, then it's worth checking out this somewhat-forgotten-about slice of sci-fi horror wham-bam mania. Good.
Click "READ MORE" below for 'Focus'...
What's it about?
The crew of a space shuttle following the trail of Halley's Comet encounter a strange, alien craft hiding within the comet's tail. Inside things only get curiouser as they discover countless dried-up vampire bat-like creatures floating within the cavernous confines of the ship - and then they stumble across three nude figures in suspended animation. The strangest thing of all is that they appear to be human. However, when the space shuttle returns to earth, the ground team discover there's been a terrible fire that's wiped out the crew - but left the three humanoids intact. Back on Earth - London to be exact - events take a turn for the worse when the lifeforms awake and start to literally suck the life out of people!
Who would I recognise in it?
Steve Railsback, Patrick Stewart, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Aubrey Morris, Michael Gothard.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), co-written by Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead), and presented by Cannon Films during their 1980s heyday, Lifeforce has the genre credentials from the get-go. Based on Colin Wilson's novel "The Space Vampires" (surely a much better title than the non-specific "Lifeforce"), Hooper's film turns out to be a surprisingly fun outing. Jam-packed with special effects - from gruesome prosthetics and puppets to please horror fans, to a vast array of colourful optical effects to please sci-fi fans - Lifeforce unfurls in its final act into a stunningly epic extravaganza by way of a mystery. At just shy of two hours it's a touch overlong (and some plotting is either drawn out or repetitious), but the sheer volume of chaos and spectacle paper over the cracks (at $25m it was Cannon's largest film budget at that time) ... and that's without even mentioning Mathilda May's jaw-dropping beauty as the lead 'space vampire' who spends much of the movie seducing every male she encounters with all of her kit off (so that checks off fans of boobs, too!). If you're looking for something cheesy, something fun, something genre-tastic, ever-so-80s, and visually stunning, then it's worth checking out this somewhat-forgotten-about slice of sci-fi horror wham-bam mania. Good.
Click "READ MORE" below for 'Focus'...
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
The ABCs of Death 2 (2015) DVD Review
Find more horror movie reviews here.
Amongst the recent upswing in anthology horror movies, we've
had three V/H/S flicks (so far), and now we've got The ABCs of
Death 2, which returns to the '26 Directors, 26 Ways to Die' formula that
produced such a varied – and often downright bizarre – series of short films,
where crazed invention ruled above all else. Naturally, with such varied films
(and filmmakers), the results are mixed – read on for a run-down of the
Hits, Misses, and OK inbetweeners. N.B. This is my personal take: film viewing
is subjective, and your mileage with The ABCs of Death 2 may vary.
A is for “Amateur” (E.L. Katz):
Kicking things off in a high energy, music video style, the
first of twenty-six shorts details the exploits of an assassin – but the
perfect hit turns out to be a far more difficult (not to mention grubbier
and more painful) affair than intended. Featuring Andy Nyman (Severance),
this is a darkly comic treat. HIT.
B is for “Badger” (Julian Barratt):
A found footage style entry set during the recording of a
nature documentary called “Toland's World”, with The Mighty Boosh's
Julian Barratt as a preening Attenborough wannabe. A nearby nuclear power
station seems to have killed off the local badger population – or has it?
Typically British in its understated humour, but the jump scare fails to
startle … good gore, though. OK.
Click “READ MORE” below to learn your ABCs all over
again...