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buddy3_16
AGE: 33
SEX: MALE
LOCATION: OHIO
OCCUPATION: ORDER SUPERVISOR
I'm a huge fan of movies in general and sports: Red Wings, Browns, Indians and OSU Buckeyes.
2014 October Horror Challenge:
October 1, 2014 1. Lucky Bastard (2014) First Time Viewing 2. Almost Human (2013) First TIme Viewing
October 2, 2014 3. Without Warning (1980) First Time Viewing 4. The Final Terror (1983) First Time Viewing
October 3, 2014 5. Ticks (1993) First Time Viewing
October 4, 2014 6. Pieces of Talent (2014) First Time Viewing 7. Death Spa (1989) First Time Viewing
October 5, 2014 8. Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear (2013) First Time Viewing 9. Annabelle (2014) First Time Viewing
October 6, 2014
October 7, 2014
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First Time Viewings Repeat Viewings Total Viewings
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Gritty Drive-In Horror at its Best
The Hills Have Eyes has been one of my favorites ever since I first watched it four years ago. I've always been a fan of that brand of 1970s slasher where a group of normal people has to fight for their lives against a cannibalistic family. I'm not sure why, maybe because they always tend to be very gritty and violent, plus they give you more than one killer and the killer family tends to get more characterization than your standard slasher villain. It could also have something to do with the fact that both sides are literally fighting for their lives. Think about it, while the Carter family is fighting for survival, Jupiter's clan is killing to eat. Certain members of the family get a little sadistic pleasure out of the murders, but at the root of it all they are killing to feed.
The actors all play their parts well. No one in the Carter clan stands out as being excellent, but no one drops the ball either. Michael Berryman shows how he became a cult icon out of this role, but again no one else from Jupiter's tribe stands out as being Oscar worthy, yet they all play their parts well enough to be scary as hell.
Another thing that has helped set The Hills Have Eyes apart from most of its genre brethren is the inclusion of four of the more intense moments in horror films. The first scene occurs when the family finds Big Bob burnt to a crisp after Jupiter kills him. It's not so much the brutality of the death, but how the Ethel reacts to seeing her husband of 25 years barbecued. The most intense scene of the film is when Brenda is attacked by Mars and has the gun fired off in her mouth, only to find out that it was out of bullets. Just think about that, someone forces a gun into your mouth, fires it and the only thing that has kept you alive is that the assailant decided to shoot your sister twice instead of just once. Another scene that really hit me the first time around was when Bobby and Brenda struggle to come to grips with using their mother as the bait for their booby trap. It didn't get me as much this time, but I had no clue what kind of trap they were setting the first time around so I was getting pretty nervous when Jupiter walked up to her. The final scene that really stands out to me is the death of Mars. I suppose it isn't even close to being the most brutal murder ever captured on film, but it's the transformation that occurs within Doug for that brief moment in time. Doug is set up as a kind and peaceful man, but it shows what some are willing to do when put up against the most extraordinary circumstances. Oh yes, it all comes back to the primal nature of the film.
Overall, The Hills Have Eyes is a fantastic film if you are into 70s drive-in horrors. I have never understood why The Hills Have Eyes is grouped into the exploitation sub genre. It does have some brutality and gore, like exploitation films, but it's no more brutal or graphic than most slashers of its time. Sure, two of the family members sexually assault Brenda, but her attack isn't even remotely graphic and the film contains no nudity what so ever. I was always under the assumption that exploitation films were more about the nudity than the violence. Or when they are about violence, they amp it up to the degree of simulated snuff, films like those in the Guinea Pig and Faces of Death series.
MY GRADE: A ... 9/10
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Silent Night, Deadly Night: My Review
SPOILERS
Billy Chapman is deeply traumatized at age five when a man dressed as Santa Claus kills both parents and rapes his mother on Christmas Eve. A combination of this murder and something his insane grandfather tells him leaves the impression to him that Santa leaves presents for the good children punishes the naughty children. He is then sent to an orphanage where a cruel Mother Superior drills the idea that punishment is good in his head, and that sex is one of the naughtiest things you can do. He also has a deathly fear of Santa Claus, seeing someone dressed as Santa causes him to basically shut down and have a violent reaction.
Enter Christmas Eve 1984, Billy is now eighteen and working at a local toy store. The usual "Santa" has broken his ankle ice skating, so they need Billy to fill in. Everyone starts drinking after the store closes and Billy, thinking he is Santa, embarks on a mission to punish the naughty. What follows is one of the most controversial horror movies of the 1980s, not because it was so depraved, but simply over the idea of having a man dressed as Santa killing people.
To be honest, Silent Night, Deadly Night isn't anything special. It's a standard slasher movie, delivering about the same level of scares and gore of any of the Friday the 13th or Halloween sequels. The bloodletting is about the same, and there are similar levels of nudity. It's one of those movies that slasher fans will love, but everyone else will find mediocre at best.
All of the performances seemed to be at about the standard level one would expect from a slasher movie. No one does anything Oscar worthy, but at the same right no one is so laughable they ruin the film. Robert Brian Wilson seems a little under talented for his role at times though. When he's supposed to be flashing back to why he's so traumatized he looks more confused than tormented. On a humorous side note, I think Linnea Quigley might possibly have set the record for highest percentage of being nude in a film that isn't pornography (hard or soft). Her character is on screen for about five minutes, and she's topless all but the first thirty seconds of screen time.
Overall it was a pretty standard slasher film. I found it to be very enjoyable, the same way I would enjoy Friday the 13th Part 2. It has a steady amount of violence and nudity, plus you actually get to know most of the characters before they are killed.
MY GRADE: B+
Lo squartatore di New York (1982)
The New York Ripper: My Review
MINOR SPOILERS
An aging detective and college professor try to stop a psychotic maniac with a voice like a duck that stalks the streets of New York searching for young women to slaughter.
In The New York Ripper Fulci brings all of the sex and violence to the table that made his zombie films so famous. The breast bearing is frequent and graphic close-ups of slashings are aplenty. Not to mention a few more extreme shots such as an eyeball slashing, a nipple splitting and a sequence where a woman is finger-banged by a local sleezball's toes. Oh yes, it's the work of Fulci at his very best.
The New York Ripper is a rather simplistic slasher where the focus is placed more on the detectives searching for the killer than any of the potential victims. It's typical Fulci, actually Italian, film-making at it's very best. The viewer doesn't really get much feel for any of the victims, even though a few of the victims are developed more thoroughly than most films of the same nature.
The acting was the best out of all the Fulci films I've seen. Some of the actors' lips actually matched up with what they were saying and a few of the actors actually showed some emotion. That said, it's still a Fulci film, so don't go into the film expecting anything remotely Oscar worthy.
My only real problem with the film was that it's way too spelled out at the end. Some films, like Black Christmas, pretty much leave everything to the imagination, while others, like Sleepy Hollow, give an excessively detailed explanation into exactly how the plot has been developed. While The New York Ripper isn't quite as bad as Sleepy Hollow about giving an over explanation of what happened, they give way too much too late. What I mean by that is, they never start trying to outline motive until near the end of the movie, and by that point you just want suspense, not to find out the driving force behind the killer. Oh yeah, that duck voice was a little ridiculous, but I guess it's all in fun and didn't ruin the movie.
MY GRADE: B
It's a very entertaining slasher film that gore hounds will love! I think this or Zombie should be the first Fulci film anyone looking to explore his work should see.
Shiryô no wana (1988)
The Evil Dead Trap: My Review
SPOILERS
Nami Tsuchiya is an ambitious young reporter who hosts a late night public access show. One day she returns to her office to find a mysterious tape sitting on her desk. She watches it only to see the directions to an abandoned factory where someone kills a young woman. Nami recruits several friends to go to the factory in effort to finally get the news story she's been needing to become famous. Once they arrive at the factory someone, or something, systematically picks off all of Nami's friends without mercy in a game of cat and mouse. Nami then meets a mysterious stranger that claims to be looking for his brother and knows the way out of the maze-like factory.
The first half of this film is outstanding. The gore is great, the plot is great and the pacing is great, but then after all of Nami's friends are killed and she meets the stranger the pacing just sort of dies up until the climax. It goes from being one of the best horror movies I've ever seen into a film that becomes, well, boring. There are several long sequences, of like three or four consecutive minutes, where we just have Nami walking around in a field sulking over her dead friends. I rarely say this, but The Evil Dead Trap would have really benefited by cutting about ten minutes off the runtime. Then it picks back up at the end for a rather twisted ending very reminiscent of the work of Larry Cohen, in sort of a mix between It's Alive and God Told Me To.
As I mentioned, the gore in this film is excellent. The opening murder scene features an example of eyeball violence and brutal close-ups that rival even the best of Fulci. As soon as the television crew arrives to the factory you get the feeling of a great 1980s slasher film, containing both spine chilling suspense and good gore once the killer makes his move.
Overall this was a great film surrounded by a decent amount of material that didn't need to be there. Had the pacing of the whole film been what it was in the first half then this would go down among my all time favorites, however it gets too dull and pointless to earn that honor. Instead, in my opinion it goes down as a good slasher film that I am glad I purchased but didn't live up to my expectations.
MY GRADE: B
The Last House on Dead End Street (1973)
The Last House on Dead End Street
Terry Hawkins (Roger Michael Watkins) decides to make society pay for sending him to prison for a year after a drug conviction. He recruits four of his friends to help him kidnap and murder four people in a series of snuff films he produces in the ratty old mansion he rents. The Last House on Dead End Street has a very low production value, and the print Barrell Entertainment used looks gritty and grainy adding to the effect that it could be legit.
I wasn't by any means disappointed by this film, as it delivers exactly what it promises. However, I think it could have been so much better if they focused more on the side of the victims than the side of the killers. The film is presented through Hawkins' point of view, and Hawkins is psychotic murderer. While you kind of hope the four victims get away, you don't really know any of them except Mrs. Palmer, and while she doesn't deserved to be murdered she really isn't someone you like either.
The Last House on Dead End Street (1977) could have been a classic exploitation film if they took a different approach to the story. They should have selected one of the victims to make you care about, then viewers might actually get some emotional response out of watching the movie. In stead you get one of the most brutal films ever made.
MY GRADE: C+
Overall: It was a very brutal film that is unnerving to watch, but you don't care about any of the characters and therefore get little more than a good stomach churn. Must see for exploitation fans and gore hounds, but everyone else might want to take a pass on it.
Death to Smoochy (2002)
I laughed my butt off
Being a fan of black comedies, I found this film incredibly amusing! I saw this movie with my brother, and both of us laughed their entire time we were watching it. Edward Norton gave an incredible performance, as usual. Robin Williams was a hysterical villain in this movie. Michael Rispoli gave a great performance as Spinner, who was by far and away the funniest character in the movie. There were good performances by the supporting cast. And Danny Devito did a great job directing. All in all, this was a great movie, that I will definitely pick up on DVD when it comes out. 10 out of 10!
Jason X (2001)
Good if you're a fan of the series!
Going into the theatre I knew that I was not about to view an Oscar caliber film
and that the way a Friday the 13th film should be! Horror films are supposed to be somewhat cheesy, and not have overblown dramatic performances. They are supposed to give a good enough performance that makes you care about them, but not so much that you are crushed when they get killed. The only character that you are supposed to like that much are the ones that either survive, or get killed saving their friends and kill the bad guy. Everything is not supposed to make sense. How many times have you ever personally encountered a superhuman killing machine, like Jason Voorhees? Not many, and if you did, you would have probably been killed. That being said, Jason X was a really good horror movie, and it stayed very true to the F13 series in many ways. There was constant action, a little T&A, some classic F13 gore, and a whole lot of fun. Oh yeah, there were also some really cool death sequences, and the filmmakers really did a good job taking advantage of the projected technological advances when plotting out some of the deaths. The best part of the movie was the distraction that Kay-Em 14 sets for Jason in the hologram room. Not only does it take Jason back to his roots, but it is very comical. Oh yeah, and at the end there was a very cool sequence that makes me believe that there will be another sequel, but it will be in a Camp Crystal Lake type setting. Let me just say that I loved this movie. It is definitely not the worst movie in the F13 series (that honor would got to either 5 or 8.) However, it is not the best movie in the series either, I don't think that I could make that distinction, because too many of them are really good. It really was very true to the F13 series; only it took place in space. There were only two things that I disliked about this film: 1) the sequence following Kay-Em 14's upgrade, and 2) the cheesy one-liners that plagued certain parts of the movie. However, if you are a fan of the series, neither of those aspects will prevent you from enjoying the film! Like I said, it was not an Oscar caliber film, but if you go in expecting that quality of film, then you are not familiar with the series! I am a huge fan of the series, I own all 9 films, so my opinion is very biased. Being a big fan of the series I give it an 8.5/10. With one point getting knocked off for Kay-Em 14's upgrade, and half a point getting knocked off for the one-liners.