It’s time for another episode of the Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, and with this one we’re paying tribute to the late, great Julian Sands with a look back at the 1990 “nature run amok” film Arachnophobia (buy it or watch it Here). To hear all about it, check out the video embedded above!
Directed by Frank Marshall from a script crafted by Don Jakoby, Wesley Strick, and Al Williams, Arachnophobia has the following synopsis: After a nature photographer dies on assignment in Venezuela, a poisonous spider hitches a ride in his coffin to his hometown in rural California, where arachnophobe Dr. Ross Jennings has just moved in with his wife, Molly, and young son. As town residents start turning up dead, Jennings begins to suspect spiders and must face his fears as he and no-nonsense exterminator Delbert McClintock fight to stop a deadly infestation.
Sands...
Directed by Frank Marshall from a script crafted by Don Jakoby, Wesley Strick, and Al Williams, Arachnophobia has the following synopsis: After a nature photographer dies on assignment in Venezuela, a poisonous spider hitches a ride in his coffin to his hometown in rural California, where arachnophobe Dr. Ross Jennings has just moved in with his wife, Molly, and young son. As town residents start turning up dead, Jennings begins to suspect spiders and must face his fears as he and no-nonsense exterminator Delbert McClintock fight to stop a deadly infestation.
Sands...
- 6/30/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A new episode of the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw video series has just been released, and with this one we’re looking back at a film that was made by one of the legendary “masters of horror”. The master in question is Tobe Hooper, the director who brought us The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Funhouse, and the Hooper movie we’re recommending today is his 1985 “space vampires” sci-fi horror movie Lifeforce (watch it Here). To find out all about Lifeforce, check out the video embedded above!
Directed by Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O’Bannon and Don Jakoby and based on the novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson, Lifeforce has the following synopsis: A mission to investigate Halley’s Comet discovers an even stranger phenomenon: an alien spacecraft! Following a deadly confrontation, the aliens arrive on Earth, where their seductive leader begins a terrifying campaign to...
Directed by Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O’Bannon and Don Jakoby and based on the novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson, Lifeforce has the following synopsis: A mission to investigate Halley’s Comet discovers an even stranger phenomenon: an alien spacecraft! Following a deadly confrontation, the aliens arrive on Earth, where their seductive leader begins a terrifying campaign to...
- 11/29/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A new episode of our The Black Sheep video series was just released through the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel, and with this one we’re looking back at director John Carpenter’s 1998 film Vampires (watch it Here). A movie that has its share of fans, but still doesn’t get as much respect as some of Carpenter’s earlier films. To hear why we think Vampires deserves more love, check out the video embedded above.
Scripted by Don Jakoby and inspired by the novel Vampire by John Steakley, Vampires has the following synopsis:
Ever since his parents were murdered by vampires, Jack Crow has had one purpose in life: putting stakes through bloodsuckers’ hearts. With his battle-hardened crew of vampire killers and the assistance of the Catholic Church, Crow roams the New Mexico desert looking for undead lairs to annihilate. But he meets his match when, at a roadside motel,...
Scripted by Don Jakoby and inspired by the novel Vampire by John Steakley, Vampires has the following synopsis:
Ever since his parents were murdered by vampires, Jack Crow has had one purpose in life: putting stakes through bloodsuckers’ hearts. With his battle-hardened crew of vampire killers and the assistance of the Catholic Church, Crow roams the New Mexico desert looking for undead lairs to annihilate. But he meets his match when, at a roadside motel,...
- 11/24/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Most people question the intention behind doing a remake; is it for money (always), or so an IP won’t revert back to original ownership (sometimes), or is it to improve on an interesting concept but poor delivery (it’s happened before)? These are the normal scenarios. But then you have a legend like Tobe Hooper, who decides as the middle flick in a three-picture deal with Cannon Films, to do a sincere remake of Invaders from Mars (1986), the 1953 minor cult classic. Why? Because you can tell he genuinely loves the original, and he leaves enough Dr. Pepper fingerprints so you know you’re in Hooper Town.
Released in early June, Invaders lost money and wasn’t a critical success. Surprise! Unfortunately, most Hoopers’ aren’t built for the era they occupy; it’s not often his work was appreciated in his time.
Yet look at what he did in...
Released in early June, Invaders lost money and wasn’t a critical success. Surprise! Unfortunately, most Hoopers’ aren’t built for the era they occupy; it’s not often his work was appreciated in his time.
Yet look at what he did in...
- 1/15/2022
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
A remake of the 1953 movie of the same name, Tobe Hooper's Invaders from Mars made a mark all its own with memorable special effects by Stan Winston and John Dykstra, a screenplay co-written by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, and Hooper's expert direction behind the camera. This week, Cavitycolors will celebrate Hooper's 1986 remake with a new apparel collection featuring the movie's massive martians, reminding you that "there's no place on Earth to hide."
Including new designs by artists Devon Whithead and Hillary White, the new Invaders from Mars collection will be available on Cavitycolors' website beginning Wednesday, February 6th at 5:00pm Est, and you can get a look at the new shirts and vinyl sticker below.
From Cavitycolors: "We’re celebrating Tobe Hooper’s remake of the campy sci-fi horror classic, Invaders From Mars!
Featuring officially licensed Tees, New long sleeve shirts, and more! - including this brand...
Including new designs by artists Devon Whithead and Hillary White, the new Invaders from Mars collection will be available on Cavitycolors' website beginning Wednesday, February 6th at 5:00pm Est, and you can get a look at the new shirts and vinyl sticker below.
From Cavitycolors: "We’re celebrating Tobe Hooper’s remake of the campy sci-fi horror classic, Invaders From Mars!
Featuring officially licensed Tees, New long sleeve shirts, and more! - including this brand...
- 2/6/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Vampires (aka John Carpenter’s Vampires)
Written by Don Jakoby
Directed by John Carpenter
U.S.A., 1998
The name John Carpenter, much like Wes Craven, is synonymous with the horror genre. Few American filmmakers have a filmography so thoroughly steeped in horror that their names instantly come to mind of rabid fans of the genre whenever asked to list their favourite directors, or at least those that left an indelible mark on horror cinema. From all the way back in the late 1970s with films like Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween to as recently as 2010’s The Ward, Carpenter is one of the iconic directors having attained legendary status. If Assault, which is more thriller than horror, is any indication, he can also direct action scenes with relative aplomb. 1998 finally saw him meld horror and action with Vampires.
Opening in a sleepy New Mexican town, vampire exterminators Jack Crow...
Written by Don Jakoby
Directed by John Carpenter
U.S.A., 1998
The name John Carpenter, much like Wes Craven, is synonymous with the horror genre. Few American filmmakers have a filmography so thoroughly steeped in horror that their names instantly come to mind of rabid fans of the genre whenever asked to list their favourite directors, or at least those that left an indelible mark on horror cinema. From all the way back in the late 1970s with films like Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween to as recently as 2010’s The Ward, Carpenter is one of the iconic directors having attained legendary status. If Assault, which is more thriller than horror, is any indication, he can also direct action scenes with relative aplomb. 1998 finally saw him meld horror and action with Vampires.
Opening in a sleepy New Mexican town, vampire exterminators Jack Crow...
- 10/31/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
It has taken nearly 30 years, but it seems that Tobe Hooper’s 1985 sci-fi horror epic, Lifeforce, is finally earning the respect it deserves.
Lifeforce is the movie that pretty much killed Tobe Hooper's mainstream directing career. The first of his three-movie deal with the great Cannon Films, the film recouped less than half of its $25 million budget (which, for Cannon, might as well be Avatar money) upon its theatrical release and made Hooper something of a laughingstock in the process. Maybe because his previous movie, Poltergeist, had been so commercial (which has more to do with Spielberg’s influence than Hooper's), a lot of the audience for Lifeforce assumed Hooper didn't know what he was doing — they concluded that the movie just got away from him. Nope. Tobe Hooper knew exactly the movie he was making. Lifeforce is a crazy movie. It was designed as a crazy movie. It...
Lifeforce is the movie that pretty much killed Tobe Hooper's mainstream directing career. The first of his three-movie deal with the great Cannon Films, the film recouped less than half of its $25 million budget (which, for Cannon, might as well be Avatar money) upon its theatrical release and made Hooper something of a laughingstock in the process. Maybe because his previous movie, Poltergeist, had been so commercial (which has more to do with Spielberg’s influence than Hooper's), a lot of the audience for Lifeforce assumed Hooper didn't know what he was doing — they concluded that the movie just got away from him. Nope. Tobe Hooper knew exactly the movie he was making. Lifeforce is a crazy movie. It was designed as a crazy movie. It...
- 6/19/2015
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
Per THR, Sony’s in-house production company Escape Artists will produce a modern day revamp of 1983 thriller Blue Thunder.
The talent assembled for the remake hail from genres that are at times in complete opposition. Fifty Shades Of Grey‘s Dana Brunetti is producing under his Trigger Street Productions tag, and Craig Kyle – a Marvel Studios executive who is currently penning Thor: Ragnarok – is scripting. His work will be based on the original screenplay by Dan O’Bannon (Alien) and Don Jakoby (Evolution). At the moment, there’s no further information on who might be at the helm, but if development continues, we might see a shortlist of contenders in the near future.
The original movie, directed by John Badham and starring Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern, focused on the pilot of a military-style combat helicopter designed to mute crowd aggression during the 1984 Olympic Games. It’s believed that this...
The talent assembled for the remake hail from genres that are at times in complete opposition. Fifty Shades Of Grey‘s Dana Brunetti is producing under his Trigger Street Productions tag, and Craig Kyle – a Marvel Studios executive who is currently penning Thor: Ragnarok – is scripting. His work will be based on the original screenplay by Dan O’Bannon (Alien) and Don Jakoby (Evolution). At the moment, there’s no further information on who might be at the helm, but if development continues, we might see a shortlist of contenders in the near future.
The original movie, directed by John Badham and starring Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern, focused on the pilot of a military-style combat helicopter designed to mute crowd aggression during the 1984 Olympic Games. It’s believed that this...
- 3/17/2015
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
Reviewed by Kevin Scott
Invaders from Mars (1986)
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Written by: Richard Blake, Don Jakoby, and Dan O’Bannon
Cast: Hunter Carson (David Gardner), Karen Black (Linda Magnusson), Timothy Bottoms (George Gardner), Laraine Newman (Ellen Gardner), James Karen (Gen. Climet Wilson), Bud Cort (Mark Weinstein)
The best that I can tell, nostalgia runs on a thirty year cycle. I can speculate that what everybody watches as children, shapes them into adults with a deep seated desire to emulate it or watch it being emulated. A select few make it to a position where they can actually interject that nostalgia into the contemporary mainstream, and satisfy both the fans of the original material, but also put such a spit shine on the old premise that even the youngsters dig it, and have no idea that it’s based on something way older than they are. In the 1980’s we...
Invaders from Mars (1986)
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Written by: Richard Blake, Don Jakoby, and Dan O’Bannon
Cast: Hunter Carson (David Gardner), Karen Black (Linda Magnusson), Timothy Bottoms (George Gardner), Laraine Newman (Ellen Gardner), James Karen (Gen. Climet Wilson), Bud Cort (Mark Weinstein)
The best that I can tell, nostalgia runs on a thirty year cycle. I can speculate that what everybody watches as children, shapes them into adults with a deep seated desire to emulate it or watch it being emulated. A select few make it to a position where they can actually interject that nostalgia into the contemporary mainstream, and satisfy both the fans of the original material, but also put such a spit shine on the old premise that even the youngsters dig it, and have no idea that it’s based on something way older than they are. In the 1980’s we...
- 9/24/2014
- by admin
- MoreHorror
“Don’t worry. A naked girl is not going to get out of this complex!”
Lifeforce screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (September 5th and 6th) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)
The guys at Destroy the Brain are following up last month’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre with another film from director Tobe Hooper. His 1985 opus Lifeforce was exciting, trashy sci-fi from the nuts at Cannon Films, with a better than average cast, some decent special effects, an interesting premise, and yes, the hottest space vampire ever seen on screen! The plot of this gonzo sci-fi horror/hybrid is incomprehensible yet strangely compelling: A space crew brings back three bodies from an alien ship. All naked. Two guys and one girl. The guys don’t count for much. They’re not that important. What is important is the naked alien woman, (Mathilda May). She is to be lusted after,...
Lifeforce screens midnights this Friday and Saturday (September 5th and 6th) at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117)
The guys at Destroy the Brain are following up last month’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre with another film from director Tobe Hooper. His 1985 opus Lifeforce was exciting, trashy sci-fi from the nuts at Cannon Films, with a better than average cast, some decent special effects, an interesting premise, and yes, the hottest space vampire ever seen on screen! The plot of this gonzo sci-fi horror/hybrid is incomprehensible yet strangely compelling: A space crew brings back three bodies from an alien ship. All naked. Two guys and one girl. The guys don’t count for much. They’re not that important. What is important is the naked alien woman, (Mathilda May). She is to be lusted after,...
- 9/2/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Humankind’s collision with otherworldly life forms can make for unforgettable cinema.
This article will highlight the best of live-action human vs. alien films. The creatures may be from other planets or may be non-demonic entities from other dimensions.
Excluded from consideration were giant monster films as the diakaiju genre would make a great subject for separate articles.
Readers looking for “friendly alien” films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), It Came from Outer Space (1953) and the comically overrated Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) are advised to keep watching the skies because they won’t find them here.
Film writing being the game of knowledge filtered through personal taste that it is, some readers’ subgenre favorites might not have made the list such as War of the Worlds (1953) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).
Now let’s take a chronological look at the cinema’s best battles between Us and Them.
This article will highlight the best of live-action human vs. alien films. The creatures may be from other planets or may be non-demonic entities from other dimensions.
Excluded from consideration were giant monster films as the diakaiju genre would make a great subject for separate articles.
Readers looking for “friendly alien” films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), It Came from Outer Space (1953) and the comically overrated Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) are advised to keep watching the skies because they won’t find them here.
Film writing being the game of knowledge filtered through personal taste that it is, some readers’ subgenre favorites might not have made the list such as War of the Worlds (1953) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).
Now let’s take a chronological look at the cinema’s best battles between Us and Them.
- 7/13/2014
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
Reviewed by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com
Vampires (1998)
Directed by: John Carpenter
Written by: John Steakley (novel), Don Jakoby
Cast: James Woods (Jack Crow), Daniel Baldwin (Anthony Montoya), Sheryl Lee (Katrina), Thomas Ian Griffith (Valek), Maximillian Schell (Cardinal Alba), Tim Guinee (Father Adam Guiteau)
Back in 1998, there were two vampire films in theatres, “Blade” and “John Carpenter’s Vampires”. They were eerily similar. Both had something to do with vampires going through an ancient rite to walk in the daylight, both had an anti-hero vampire hunter whose life had been ruined by bloodsuckers, both had a conspiracy that vampires really do exist, and both even had actor Tim Guinee in the cast. “Vampires” and “Blade” are huge favorites of mine. “Blade” planted the seed for the renaissance of Marvel films we are enjoying today, and well, like many other Carpenter films, “Vampires” enjoyed the patronage of horror and Carpenter fans alike during its theatrical run,...
Vampires (1998)
Directed by: John Carpenter
Written by: John Steakley (novel), Don Jakoby
Cast: James Woods (Jack Crow), Daniel Baldwin (Anthony Montoya), Sheryl Lee (Katrina), Thomas Ian Griffith (Valek), Maximillian Schell (Cardinal Alba), Tim Guinee (Father Adam Guiteau)
Back in 1998, there were two vampire films in theatres, “Blade” and “John Carpenter’s Vampires”. They were eerily similar. Both had something to do with vampires going through an ancient rite to walk in the daylight, both had an anti-hero vampire hunter whose life had been ruined by bloodsuckers, both had a conspiracy that vampires really do exist, and both even had actor Tim Guinee in the cast. “Vampires” and “Blade” are huge favorites of mine. “Blade” planted the seed for the renaissance of Marvel films we are enjoying today, and well, like many other Carpenter films, “Vampires” enjoyed the patronage of horror and Carpenter fans alike during its theatrical run,...
- 6/11/2014
- by admin
- MoreHorror
As all lovers of crime, suspense thriller, war, western, horror and science fiction films know, creating a truly great cinematic villain is no easy task. When it happens, it’s virtually impossible to forget that character.
We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains of the 1980’s.
The criteria for this article is the same as my previous article Cinema’s Greatest Villains: The 1970’s: the villains must be from live-action films-no animated features-and must pose some type of direct or indirect lethal threat. The villains can be either individuals or small groups that act as one unit.
The villains must be human or human in appearance, so no shape-shifting alien from John Carpenter’s amazing 1982 The Thing, no Aliens from James Cameron’s classic 1986 sequel and no Predator from John McTiernan’s beloved 1987 film of the same name.
Also, individuals that are the central protagonists/antiheroes...
We’ll now take a look at the greatest film villains of the 1980’s.
The criteria for this article is the same as my previous article Cinema’s Greatest Villains: The 1970’s: the villains must be from live-action films-no animated features-and must pose some type of direct or indirect lethal threat. The villains can be either individuals or small groups that act as one unit.
The villains must be human or human in appearance, so no shape-shifting alien from John Carpenter’s amazing 1982 The Thing, no Aliens from James Cameron’s classic 1986 sequel and no Predator from John McTiernan’s beloved 1987 film of the same name.
Also, individuals that are the central protagonists/antiheroes...
- 6/12/2013
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
Scream Factory brings us 1985's space vampire flick Lifeforce to Blu-ray for the first time ever. Although Tobe Hooper's blend of sci-fi and horror didn't fare well at the box office when first released, it's gained a cult following over the years thanks to video and DVD. Lifeforce Collector's Edition includes both the theatrical cut and a longer director approved version.
An alien spacecraft is discovered in the midst of Halley's Comet by astronauts sent to investigate. Upon entering the ship, they find three humanoids which are in a type of sleep state. They bring the bodies aboard their vessel and discover too quickly that was a mistake. The aliens take over the Earthbound craft by killing everyone on board. Led by their seductively beautiful leader, they arrive on Earth and begin draining the life out of everyone they encounter.
I would say that Lifeforce is probably Tobe Hooper...
An alien spacecraft is discovered in the midst of Halley's Comet by astronauts sent to investigate. Upon entering the ship, they find three humanoids which are in a type of sleep state. They bring the bodies aboard their vessel and discover too quickly that was a mistake. The aliens take over the Earthbound craft by killing everyone on board. Led by their seductively beautiful leader, they arrive on Earth and begin draining the life out of everyone they encounter.
I would say that Lifeforce is probably Tobe Hooper...
- 6/10/2013
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Eric Shirey)
- Cinelinx
There's so much to like about the 1985 science fiction / horror / action-packed apocalypse flick Lifeforce that one finds it very easy to overlook the film's numerous problems. I mean, why worry about boring stuff like editorial cohesion and tonal consistency when you have a flick jam-packed with spaceships, vampires, lasers, mass murder, and one of the most gorgeous naked ladies to ever grace the silver screen? No movie geek worth their stripes could dismiss Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce without admitting that there's some pretty amazing stuff on display in this adorably weird movie. Or if not amazing then at least novel, diverting, and audacious. The movie does borrow from a ton of other sci-fi films, but it has also inspired a few moments in films like Species, The Hidden, and 28 Days Later, so it all seems fair in the end.
Look, the movie is based on a novel called The Space Vampires,...
- 6/4/2013
- by Scott Weinberg
- FEARnet
Arachnophobia will soon arrive on Blu-ray for the first time since it's theatrical release in 1990 from Disney. The release is part of Disney's recent deluge of catalog releases on Blu-ray. It was directed by Frank Marshall and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. What sets this horror thriller apart from other films in it's genre is the great cast. Arachnophobia stars Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Stuart Pankin, and Henry Jones.
Don Jakoby wrote the screenplay, which tells the story of a vicious spider from the South American rain forest who hitches a ride to a small California town in the casket with a dead body. Soon after arriving, the large spider mates with a local spider. Not long after, the small town is infested with venomous spiders and the population begins to die off one-by-one. The doctor and bumbling police chief are aided by an insect...
Don Jakoby wrote the screenplay, which tells the story of a vicious spider from the South American rain forest who hitches a ride to a small California town in the casket with a dead body. Soon after arriving, the large spider mates with a local spider. Not long after, the small town is infested with venomous spiders and the population begins to die off one-by-one. The doctor and bumbling police chief are aided by an insect...
- 9/23/2012
- by Jim Napier
- GeekTyrant
John Badham’s high-tech helicopter thriller Blue Thunder rode the crest of a decade obsessed with cool cars and aircraft. Ryan takes a look back…
Back in the 1980s, a company called Sega perfected what it referred to as the Full Body Experience. Less kinky than it sounds, this fusion of Crt television, videogame technology and hydraulic pistons aimed to give amusement arcade visitors a taste of what it might be like to drive a Ferrari Testarossa or motorcycle at breakneck speed or fly a fighter jet through a valley full of enemy aircraft.
For a generation of youths, these machines, with their chunky graphics and even chunkier controls, are the stuff of legend, and the mere mention of their names – Hang On, Out Run, After Burner, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade – is enough to evoke involuntary memories of Proustian proportions.
These half-remembered machines sum up the 80s era of mechanical wish fulfilment.
Back in the 1980s, a company called Sega perfected what it referred to as the Full Body Experience. Less kinky than it sounds, this fusion of Crt television, videogame technology and hydraulic pistons aimed to give amusement arcade visitors a taste of what it might be like to drive a Ferrari Testarossa or motorcycle at breakneck speed or fly a fighter jet through a valley full of enemy aircraft.
For a generation of youths, these machines, with their chunky graphics and even chunkier controls, are the stuff of legend, and the mere mention of their names – Hang On, Out Run, After Burner, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade – is enough to evoke involuntary memories of Proustian proportions.
These half-remembered machines sum up the 80s era of mechanical wish fulfilment.
- 5/8/2012
- Den of Geek
A twangy, western-like riff on the familiar gory tune of killing vampires, John Carpenter's latest opus after the forgettable "Escape From L.A". is even more tinny storywise, while lead James Woods is the only screamer of note in the humdrum cast.
The timing couldn't be better, but Columbia's Halloween release will probably shrivel up like a 3-day-old carved pumpkin after a strong opening weekend. There's not much new for fans of the genre, except a dusty, cowboys-and-bloodsuckers tone that's far from the erotic/gothic milieu of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice.
Setting itself up as a tongue-in-cheek horror-adventure with its perfunctory introduction to a gang of Vatican mercenaries led by Jack Crow (James Woods), "John Carpenter's Vampires" has such working-class touches as the well-equipped, lethal handymen using a truck with a winch to haul doomed ghouls into the sunlight.
The many undead ones hiss and attack and are hard to kill. This last condition affords Woods several opportunities to let loose in maniacal fits of violence and cursing. He's easily the wildest thing in the movie. Set in the current day, the gruesome show almost gets in gear with the arrival of vengeful Valek Thomas Ian Griffith), a 600-year-old "master" who butchers Crow's flock.
Surviving the bloodbath in a sleazy nightclub are Crow, his right-hand guy Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) and bitten-but-not-yet-dangerous hooker Katrina (Sheryl Lee). As the movie progresses, Katrina suffers much verbal and physical abuse from Crow and Montoya in an ongoing "joke," with the dazed woman indeed turning into a monster.
Along with the tough-hombres-doing-a-nasty-job misogyny, our skewering, decapitating heroes are not exactly good Catholics, even though they are advised by one Cardinal Alba (Maximilian Schell) and joined by eager new recruit Father Adam (Tim Guinee) in the search for Valek. On the way to the final showdown, Montoya becomes infected and tries to hide it, while Crow in the heat of the hunt takes time out to rough up rookie Father Adam.
Not even Valek has much of a presence in this one-sided affair, which revels in the bad-boy protagonists throughout, with Carpenter's repetitive rock-music score smothering everything. Apart from some spooky getups and OK special effects, the bad guys are featureless and not half as scary as the good guys.
JOHN CARPENTER'S VAMPIRES
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures and Largo Entertainment present
A Storm King production
Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriter: Don Jakoby
Producer: Sandy King
Executive producer: Barr Potter
Director of photography: Gary B. Kibbe
Production designer: Thomas A. Walsh
Editor: Edward A. Warschilka
Costume designer: Robin Michel Bush
Music: John Carpenter
Casting: Reuben Cannon, Eddie Dunlop
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jack Crow: James Woods
Montoya: Daniel Baldwin
Katrina: Sheryl Lee
Valek: Thomas Ian Griffith
Cardinal Alba: Maximilian Schell
Father Adam Guiteau: Tim Guinee
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The timing couldn't be better, but Columbia's Halloween release will probably shrivel up like a 3-day-old carved pumpkin after a strong opening weekend. There's not much new for fans of the genre, except a dusty, cowboys-and-bloodsuckers tone that's far from the erotic/gothic milieu of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice.
Setting itself up as a tongue-in-cheek horror-adventure with its perfunctory introduction to a gang of Vatican mercenaries led by Jack Crow (James Woods), "John Carpenter's Vampires" has such working-class touches as the well-equipped, lethal handymen using a truck with a winch to haul doomed ghouls into the sunlight.
The many undead ones hiss and attack and are hard to kill. This last condition affords Woods several opportunities to let loose in maniacal fits of violence and cursing. He's easily the wildest thing in the movie. Set in the current day, the gruesome show almost gets in gear with the arrival of vengeful Valek Thomas Ian Griffith), a 600-year-old "master" who butchers Crow's flock.
Surviving the bloodbath in a sleazy nightclub are Crow, his right-hand guy Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) and bitten-but-not-yet-dangerous hooker Katrina (Sheryl Lee). As the movie progresses, Katrina suffers much verbal and physical abuse from Crow and Montoya in an ongoing "joke," with the dazed woman indeed turning into a monster.
Along with the tough-hombres-doing-a-nasty-job misogyny, our skewering, decapitating heroes are not exactly good Catholics, even though they are advised by one Cardinal Alba (Maximilian Schell) and joined by eager new recruit Father Adam (Tim Guinee) in the search for Valek. On the way to the final showdown, Montoya becomes infected and tries to hide it, while Crow in the heat of the hunt takes time out to rough up rookie Father Adam.
Not even Valek has much of a presence in this one-sided affair, which revels in the bad-boy protagonists throughout, with Carpenter's repetitive rock-music score smothering everything. Apart from some spooky getups and OK special effects, the bad guys are featureless and not half as scary as the good guys.
JOHN CARPENTER'S VAMPIRES
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures and Largo Entertainment present
A Storm King production
Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriter: Don Jakoby
Producer: Sandy King
Executive producer: Barr Potter
Director of photography: Gary B. Kibbe
Production designer: Thomas A. Walsh
Editor: Edward A. Warschilka
Costume designer: Robin Michel Bush
Music: John Carpenter
Casting: Reuben Cannon, Eddie Dunlop
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jack Crow: James Woods
Montoya: Daniel Baldwin
Katrina: Sheryl Lee
Valek: Thomas Ian Griffith
Cardinal Alba: Maximilian Schell
Father Adam Guiteau: Tim Guinee
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/31/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Badly in need of more humor and humanity, like that found in his best Hong Kong features, Tsui Hark's long-awaited big-budget debut "Double Team" is doubly problematic.
Beyond a few sequences with some of the Hark magic and the formidable presence of NBA superstar Dennis Rodman, the Columbia Pictures release is not exactly an airball, but it bounces around the rim and finally fails to go in.
The track record of emergent Hong Kong filmmakers working with Jean-Claude Van Damme and producer Moshe Diamant is anything but inspiring -- John Woo's "Hard Target" and Ringo Lam's "Maximum Risk" were both tepidly received by fans and failed to generate much heat in the marketplace. The same will happen to "Double Team", although action-film devotees might pump up the opening-weekend numbers.
Hark has made some of the finest Hong Kong features of the past 20-odd years ("Peking Opera Blues", "Once Upon a Time in China"), and he's been involved with more than 50 features as director, producer, writer and/or actor.
But Hark struggles with the material here, and Van Damme plays another cold, barely articulate hero. There is a halfhearted attempt to personalize the mayhem, with Van Damme's crack counterterrorist on the verge of retirement and looking forward to quieter days with his wife (Natacha Lindinger).
"Double Team" tips off with a big chase scene as Quinn (Van Damme) drives a "super truck" with stolen plutonium through and over numerous obstacles. Not long after, by the pool with his pregnant mate, Quinn is called upon to vanquish a ruthless international terrorist and is told: "You can't retire until he dies".
This perfunctory setup leads to an early showdown with said terrorist Stavros (Mickey Rourke) at an amusement park, after Quinn visits a funky arms dealer played by Rodman. In the elaborate firefight with Stavros, the villain's wife and child are killed and Quinn is nearly blown to bits. The bad guy lives on and the good guy is sent to the Colony, a think tank/prison for spies who are removed from active service but deemed too dangerous to be left alone in the world.
Unhappy with the turn of events -- his wife thinks he's dead and she's vulnerable to Stavros' revenge -- Quinn sets out to escape from the Colony. He accomplishes this by hitching a ride on a C-130 cargo plane in a wild sequence that's arguably the best in the film. Hooking up again with Rodman's character, the duo agree that the "best defense is offense."
Jokes alluding to basketball and Rodman's colorful costumes and comic asides are the extent of the film's stabs at humor.
DOUBLE TEAM
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures and
Mandalay Entertainment present
a Moshe Diamant production
a One Story Pictures production
a Tsui Hark film
Director Tsui Hark
Producer Moshe Diamant
Writers Don Jakoby, Paul Mones
Exec producers Don Jakoby, David Rodgers
Co-producers Rick Nathanson, Nansun Shi
Director of photography Peter Pau
Editor Bill Pankow
Production designer Marek Dobrowolski
Music Gary Chang
Costume designer Magali Guidasci
Casting Penny Perry, Illana Diamant
Color/stereo
Cast:
Quinn Jean-Claude Van Damme
Yaz Dennis Rodman
Stavros Mickey Rourke
Goldsmythe Paul Freeman
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Beyond a few sequences with some of the Hark magic and the formidable presence of NBA superstar Dennis Rodman, the Columbia Pictures release is not exactly an airball, but it bounces around the rim and finally fails to go in.
The track record of emergent Hong Kong filmmakers working with Jean-Claude Van Damme and producer Moshe Diamant is anything but inspiring -- John Woo's "Hard Target" and Ringo Lam's "Maximum Risk" were both tepidly received by fans and failed to generate much heat in the marketplace. The same will happen to "Double Team", although action-film devotees might pump up the opening-weekend numbers.
Hark has made some of the finest Hong Kong features of the past 20-odd years ("Peking Opera Blues", "Once Upon a Time in China"), and he's been involved with more than 50 features as director, producer, writer and/or actor.
But Hark struggles with the material here, and Van Damme plays another cold, barely articulate hero. There is a halfhearted attempt to personalize the mayhem, with Van Damme's crack counterterrorist on the verge of retirement and looking forward to quieter days with his wife (Natacha Lindinger).
"Double Team" tips off with a big chase scene as Quinn (Van Damme) drives a "super truck" with stolen plutonium through and over numerous obstacles. Not long after, by the pool with his pregnant mate, Quinn is called upon to vanquish a ruthless international terrorist and is told: "You can't retire until he dies".
This perfunctory setup leads to an early showdown with said terrorist Stavros (Mickey Rourke) at an amusement park, after Quinn visits a funky arms dealer played by Rodman. In the elaborate firefight with Stavros, the villain's wife and child are killed and Quinn is nearly blown to bits. The bad guy lives on and the good guy is sent to the Colony, a think tank/prison for spies who are removed from active service but deemed too dangerous to be left alone in the world.
Unhappy with the turn of events -- his wife thinks he's dead and she's vulnerable to Stavros' revenge -- Quinn sets out to escape from the Colony. He accomplishes this by hitching a ride on a C-130 cargo plane in a wild sequence that's arguably the best in the film. Hooking up again with Rodman's character, the duo agree that the "best defense is offense."
Jokes alluding to basketball and Rodman's colorful costumes and comic asides are the extent of the film's stabs at humor.
DOUBLE TEAM
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures and
Mandalay Entertainment present
a Moshe Diamant production
a One Story Pictures production
a Tsui Hark film
Director Tsui Hark
Producer Moshe Diamant
Writers Don Jakoby, Paul Mones
Exec producers Don Jakoby, David Rodgers
Co-producers Rick Nathanson, Nansun Shi
Director of photography Peter Pau
Editor Bill Pankow
Production designer Marek Dobrowolski
Music Gary Chang
Costume designer Magali Guidasci
Casting Penny Perry, Illana Diamant
Color/stereo
Cast:
Quinn Jean-Claude Van Damme
Yaz Dennis Rodman
Stavros Mickey Rourke
Goldsmythe Paul Freeman
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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