Genre: Horror

Year: 1974

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Stewart Moss, Marianne McAndrew, Michael Pataki, Paul Carr, Arthur Space

Director: Jerry Jameson

My Review: Not so good - A decidedly B-quality movie. This one hasn't got much in the way of redeeming features. The acting was bad, the writing fair, but predictable. The music sucked, and the lighting was dark, dark, dark. O.k. most of the movie took place at night, but there were some scenes so dark I couldn't see a 'g-d' thing! In this story, some scientist (a zoologist who specializes in bats!) and his wife are on a 'working honeymoon' when they take a tour of Carlsbad Canyon. They deviate from the tour and fall into some sort of crevice. There he's bitten by a 'rabid' bat. This triggers a bizarre transformation where he becomes a 'bat-thing'. Half bat, half man, craving blood! Yes, he craves blood and must kill to get it, because all bats eat blood - right? The fake bats reminded me of Gilligan's Island. Rubbery, bobbing about on wires, looking like dime store props. Umm, that's what they were. The makeup and man to bat thing transformations were poorly done. The drama unconvincing and poorly directed. The local sheriff latches onto our scientist while investigating a series of bizarre murders to find the crazed zoologist. With the sheriff hot on his heels, he heads back to the hotel, where he infects his wife. He then escapes back to the Carlsbad caves, and his infected wife follows. The best part of this movie comes in the last five minutes of the film, when the Sheriff meets his end. I give it a 2 out of 5.

Summary: A doctor specializing in bats, and his new wife interrupt their honeymoon to go spelunking in Carlsbad Cavern. There he is bitten by a fruit bat and inexplicably undergoes a transformation into a vampire bat. He ultimately escapes, however, escaping back to the caves. His wife, infected by her husband, kills the local constabulary and goes to join him.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime

Year: 1981

Country: USA, Mexico, UK

Rating:

Starring: James Brolin, Anthony Quinn, Lindsay Wagner, James Coburn, Ernest Borgnine

Director: Stewart Raffill

My Review: A $1.00 Wal-Mart bargain-bin selection. Not bad for a low budget b-roll production. In this early 80s movie, four American's with dead-end jobs, and a keen sense of adventure decide to try their hand at a high-stakes heist south of the border. Cashing in on their welfare checks, they payroll a plan to fly to South America and rip off a big time drug lord. Armed with an infinite supply of bullets (hollywood style), a safe combination and they're trusty pet poodle, they make their way through the jungle to the drug lords heavily guarded hacienda. What follows is a hollywood heist and chase movie starring a fair cast of actors. The script was poor but the performances fair. A good amount of action and a few laughs. The scenery was great, but a 4:3 aspect ratio and poor focus/transfer spoiled the setting. 3 out of 5.

Summary: Four American friends, badly needing money, decide to make a commando-like raid into a South American country and steal $5 million from the hacienda of an American-born drug dealer who lives there. The four Americans then succeed rather easily in stealing the money, but soon run into trouble trying to get back out of the country, as both the drug dealer and a small army of bandits each hunt them down trying to get the money.

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Year: 2010

Country: USA, Argentina, France

Rating:

Starring: Amber Heard, Karl Urban, Odette Yustman, Gia Mantegna, Adriana Barraza

Director: Marcos Efron

My Review: A rather boring movie - Just barely gets by with it's setting (rural Argentina), a great looking cast (Odette Yustman, Amber Heard, Karl Urban), and some spooky music. A remake of a 1970 British Horror Classic (which I haven't seen - yet). The story - Two gorgeous American girls are biking about in rural Argentina. They stop in a one cop town to stay the night before their flight leaves at 0800 in the morning. They end up missing their flight after a night on the town, and make the mistake of getting separated after a trivial dispute. One of the girls gets abducted, and the other won't relent in her search for her friend. The characters are paper thin, the acting fair, and the plot as easy to follow as pie. The scenery - Rural Argentina and barely clothed Chicas - isn't enough of a reason to watch this movie. I recommend you give it a pass. I rate this snoozer a 2 out of 5.

Summary: When two American girls on a bike trip in a remote part of Argentina split up and one of them goes missing, the other must find her before her worst fears are realized.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Year: 2009

Country: Sweden, Denmark, Germany

Rating:

Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Annika Hallin, Jacob Ericksson

Director: Daniel Alfredson

My Review: American film could learn a lot from the trilogy produced in Sweden by Søren Stærmose and the crew responsible for bringing Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy" to the screen. Exceptional in every regard, here is the third movie in the series. The main character - Lisbeth Salander (played by Noomi Rapace) is recovering from a bullet to the head after the last film. Her character is an amazing, powerful, female lead - Easily on par with Jason Bourne. In this thriller, the full scope of the mystery surrounding her character, the twisted conspiracy involving the highest levels of Swedish government and a shady organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets secure. The journalistic team that works to uncover clues and protect Lisbeth from a corrupt and unjust prosecution exemplifies the highest morals and standards of journalistic integrity. Too bad it's only fiction. Can Lisbeth and the journalists of Millennium magazine uncover the truth before it's too late? Will Lisbeth be silenced yet again? Having never read the novels, I can only imagine how good they must be. How often does a movie make you want to read the book? This film was easily my favorite of the three, but I doubt it would be if I hadn't seen the other two. Outstanding acting, direction, lighting, camera work, editing, sound, you name it. No one can deny the brilliance of this trilogy. 5 out of 5, and I'm looking forward to additional movies by this director and the cast of this trilogy.

Summary: After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in a hospital and is set to face trial for attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must prove her innocence. In doing this she plays against powerful enemies and her own past.

Genre: Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi

Year: 1951

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert, Roy Engel

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

My Review: Not quite bad enough to be funny. This 50s sci-fi thriller is set on a fog-shrouded, remote Scottish island. Isolated from the 'mainland' by treacherous seas and unreliable communications, this remote island is nonetheless a special location. It's the nearest place on Earth to observe 'Planet - X' as it passes disturbingly close in just a few short days. A group of scientists summons one American reporter to document this important day, but little do they know just how auspicious the day will be. The bad acting and horrid special effects are blunted by a valiant effort at direction. The cast of characters is highly cliched, and the plot boring enough to nearly knock me out (I almost fell asleep on several occasions), despite its short run time (70 minutes). Unfortunately, the setting wasn't reflected in location. The entire thing is shot on a sound stage, and all the long shots are ridiculous static shots of model sets. Planet - X on a collision course, an alien spacecraft, the foggy moors, a ghastly visitor, the beautiful professors daughter, a brash young American journalist, the evil assistant, and a group of zombified superstitious villagers… That's it, you've got the entire plot - Oh, wait, the ending? Call in the Army! 2 out of 5.

Summary: To study a rogue planet heading for a near-miss with Earth, Prof. Elliot sets up an observatory on the foggy moors of a remote Scottish island, with his pretty daughter and Dr. Mears, a former student with a shady past. Soon after arrival of reporter John Lawrence, a ship from Planet X just happens to land near the observatory. Is the visitor (who actually looks alien) benevolent? What are Mears' real motives for trying to communicate with it?

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

Year: 2010

Country: UK, USA

Rating:

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Cara Buono, Elias Koteas

Director: Matt Reeves

My Review: An unconventional Vampire movie with plenty of dramatic character based interaction. It's got great atmosphere, and the acting by Chloe Grace Moretz (playing Abby) was outstanding. The direction was excellent, but I was sorely disappointed by the screenplay. While I saw the original, it's a bit disingenuous to rate this movie based on the former. The production quality was very high, but there really wasn't any suspense. All the secrets are revealed in no time at all. By half way through the movie we know who did what, who's who, and what's going on. The story. Set in the mid 80s, mountainous New Mexico during the winter. Here we're introduced to 12 year old Owen. A slightly built, socially withdrawn latch-key kid, bullied at school, disassociated from his divorcing parents, and left to fend for himself in more way than one. Soon after we're introduced to Owen and his plight, Abby arrives with her adult guardian. They seal themselves into the apartment at the end of the hall, and no one sees them until night descends. The relationship between Owen and Abby is the focus of this movie, and other aspects are tied tightly to those main characters. As I said, there's little suspense or mystery in this version of the film (It is a remake of a 2008 Swedish film by John Aivide Lindqvist (novel/screenplay) and Tomas Alfredson (director)). We find out very early who exactly is doing the killing and who the principles are. What follows is a rather dark coming of age romantic drama, where the characters are polar opposites. One side is innocent, conflicted, and trusting. The other is corrupt, manipulating and deceptive. The location - mountainous New Mexico in the winter, creates a stark contradiction to our sense. New Mexico should be bright and sunny, here we're show a different side of that location. Dark, cold and forbidding. The sound work was also deftly handled. It's not quite as good as the original, but it's still a very good film. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Summary: A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.

Genre: Crime, Film-Noir, Drama

Year: 1950

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed, Tom Tully

Director: Otto Preminger

My Review: A film noir, crime thriller directed by Otto Preminger (Laura, Stalag 17, Anatomy of a Murder). Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill and Karl Malden. This fantastic cast takes on a slightly more complicated film in 'Where the sidewalk ends'. Dana Andrews plays Detective Mark Dixon, hard-line cop, son of a convicted thief. Always trying to prove he's tough on crime, Dixon crosses the line one night when he ends up with blood on his hands. While Dixon's got enough street smarts to keep the evidence from pinning him, he manages to make life complicated when the department seems content to convict an innocent man. Things get even more complicated when Dixon falls for a married woman, the daughter of a man who just might take the fall for Dixon. In no time at all, the drama grows thicker than the hair on a Chia-Pet. The plot is tightly scripted and the dialog fairly formulaic - or at least it seems so now, so many years later. Dana Andrews does a fantastic job playing the multi-layered detective, Mark Dixon. The acting by others was excellent and the direction spot on. The camera work was exceptionally well handled and the pacing quite good. The only thing lacking was a decent score for this film noir classic. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Summary: Det. Sgt. Mark Dixon always wanted to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law. But for a good guy, he's awfully vicious. After several complaints over his roughing people up, his boss, Insp. Nicholas Foley, demotes him. Foley tells him he's a good man, but needs to get his head on straight and be more like Det. Lt. Thomas, who has just gotten a promotion. Meanwhile, Tommy Scalise has an illegal dice game going and is looking to make a sucker out of the rich Ted Morrison, who was brought in by Ken Paine and his beautiful wife Morgan. She figures out too late her husband is using her as a decoy. Paine strikes her when she refuses to play along. The chivalrous Morrison intervenes but Paine knocks him out cold. That seems to be the worst of it, but later it turns out the guy is dead; and Paine looks guilty. Soon Dixon has fallen in love with Morgan - but not before losing his temper again and committing a terrible deed that he tries to cover up...

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2010

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak

Director: Jay Roach

My Review: An adaptation/remake of the French movie 'Le Dîner de cons' or 'The Dinner Game' I rated that movie 6 out of 7 (translated to 5 of 5 in Netflix ratings). It's an awesome film, and I cringed at the prospect of another American remake. In this movie, Paul Rudd (playing Tim Conrad) is an aspiring account executive at a financial firm. To impress his boss, he's tasked to bring an 'idiot' to dinner. The boss and other kiss-ass execs will judge these 'idiots' and reward the biggest loser with a shiny trophy. Steve Carell plays the 'Schmuck' (Barry) who haplessly becomes Tim's worst friend. As Tim tries to maintain his rich and fabulous lifestyle, Barry does his best to inadvertently destroy Tim's comfortable life and relationship with his high maintenance girlfriend. I found the characters and writing a bit shallow. The laughs were good, but the acting wasn't entirely convincing. Zach Galifianakis played an excellent evil IRS accountant, and Jemaine Clement played an awesome pompous art fart. The stuffed mice crafted by Barry were quite charming, but I didn't feel their connection to the character. The pacing was good, the editing fair, and the laughs pretty good. I give it a 3 of 5.

Summary: Tim (Rudd) is a rising executive who "succeeds" in finding the perfect guest, IRS employee Barry (Carell), for his boss's monthly event, a so-called "dinner for idiots," which offers certain advantages to the exec who shows up with the biggest buffoon.

Genre: Documentary, Crime, Mystery

Year: 1988

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose, Jackie Johnson, Marshall Touchton

Director: Errol Morris

My Review: A documentary, made in 1988, about the case of Randall Adams - Convicted of murder (in 1976), and sentenced to death under Texas law. The documentary exams the discrepancies of the case, the questionable character of the key witnesses, and the justice of the verdict. The victim; a Dallas police officer, was shot dead in cold blood during a late night traffic stop. The murderer drove away while the cops partner stood by and watched it happen. The film contains first person interviews, skillful reenactments, and a thorough investigation of the facts of this deadly case. The film itself revealed the deep discrepancies, questionable testimony, and flawed prosecution so thoroughly that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Adams' conviction. After the Dallas County district attorney failed to prosecute the case, Adams was ordered released as a result of a habeas corpus hearing in 1989. Adams spent 13 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The Thin Blue Line may separate society from anarchy, but what happens when the law steps over that line? Excellent production, clinical execution, outstanding music (by Phillip Glass) and superb direction. I give this a 4 out of 5.

Summary: Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas. Briefly, a drifter (Randall Adams) ran out of gas in Texas and was picked up by a 16-year-old runaway (David Harris). Later that night, they drank some beer, smoked some marijuana, and went to the movies. Then, their stories diverge. Adams claims that he left for his motel, where he was staying with his brother, and went to sleep. Harris, however, says that they were stopped by police late that night and Adams suddenly shot the officer approaching their car. The film shows the audience the evidence gathered by the police, who were under extreme pressure to clear the case. It strongly makes a point that the circumstantial evidence was very flimsy. In fact, it becomes apparent that Harris was a much more likely suspect and was in the middle of a 'crime spree,' eventually ending up on Death Row himself for the later commission of other crimes...

Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 1974

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm, Dre Pahich, Dan O'Bannon

Director: John Carpenter

My Review: Watched the 'Hyperdrive Edition - A director's cut with a run time of appx 70 minutes. A low budget (~$60,000), student film, which became a cult classic, and catapulted two men onto a brilliant path of film making success. Written by John Carpenter (The Thing) and Dan O'Bannon (Alien). This movie was directed by John Carpenter, starred four people (including Dan O'Bannon), featured original music by John Carpenter, and showcased the outstanding talents of these two young men (In 1974, both men were attending USC when they made this movie). The story. The crew of Dark Star - an colonization scouting ship - are on a 20 year mission to find stable solar systems for colonization by the star bound remnants of mankind. When Commander Powell dies of a tragic accident, the barely competent Lt. Doolittle is left in charge. Blunders and malfunctions complicate their mission, but things get really dicey when they have to negotiate their survival with an obstinate "Smart Bomb". It's a tongue in cheek parody. A charming, dark comedy. The sci-fi is primitive, but well done. There are many memorable scenes and situations. The acting was amateur but sincere. Dan O'Bannon would later remake this comedy as the sci-fi horror classic 'Alien'. I give it a 4 out of 5. Yup, it's a cult classic - You either love it our you hate it.

Summary: Low-budget story of four astronauts in deep space, whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems which are to be colonised. The late Commander Powell is stored in deep freeze, where he is still able to offer advice. As their mission nears completion, they must cope with a runaway alien which resembles a beach-ball, faulty computer systems, and a "smart bomb" who thinks it is God.