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Operation Good Guys (1997)
Absolutely one of the funniest things that's been on TV.
I'm not going to bother writing a huge review of this series but to give you an idea of how good it is I'd just like to tell you that the most i have ever laughed in my ENTIRE life, ever, EVER, was at one scene in this series. I have never laughed like that since, and to be honest i don't want to, because it was an unpleasant experience. So to put it bluntly, this series is too funny.
I also believe that the office may have drawn a lot of inspiration from this program.
Its out on DVD finally now so go and buy it.
BUY IT.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Worthy remake
I always go to see horror film remakes, no matter what anyone says, "oooooh, it's an insult to the original" and all that rubbish. I see it as more of a tribute. There have also been a few excellent remakes, "The Blob", "TCM". So i went into this with medium-level hopes.
Well i can honestly say that this is the most exciting movie I've seen so far this year. From the jumpy beginning to the ominous end, every scene kept me interested. There are even a few to make you laugh and remember that it's only a movie.
The zombies move a lot faster than they did in the original, the sprint at you screaming, something i believe that the filmmakers tried to cash-in on "28 days later"'s success. However, they improved on the zombies in "28 days" by managing to make them look like zombies, not merely nutjobs with red eyes, thus adding to the creepiness of the whole thing.
The characters in the film are not enything special, but the actors play their parts well and present a realistic interpretation of the situations that they face. However I don't think that the slight attraction between the nurse and that bloke was needed as they never really explored it enough.
I had read a review telling me that the film was not that violent, this disappointed me at first, as I like my horror films with added red stuff. This comment was proved wrong as the film more than satisfied the gorehound in me. Highlights include an armoured vehicle plowing through a crowd of zombies with a chainsaw sticking out the side, and a stick being thrust through a zombie's head lengthways, plus some wicked head explosions. The other thing I liked about the gore was that it was rarely enhanced with computer graphics, it went back to the old skool methods of latex and squibs, this gives a much more realistic view of the gore. NICE!
All in all, one hell of a movie, and definately recommended to fans of the original, I know that I might annoy some people by saying this, but I thought it was better than the original, which i found quite boring, even though it was far more violent. Oh well, you will have to see for yourselves!
Note: Watch out for Tom Savini making a cameo as a policeman on T.V, and that other bloke from the first DAWN whos name I've forgotten also making a cameo appearance.
Oh, and you get see one of the charchters having sex, and you see her boobies, which was nice. Pointless, but nice.
Identity (2003)
Brilliant horror-thriller, kept me gripped until the end!
I didn't know that much about this film before I saw it, but i knew that it supposedly contained some great twists so I went to see it and hoped for the best.
The film i saw wasn't the best, (my favourite film is drive, but that's another story), but it was up near the best of them in my opinion. I have to say that I hadn't seen a film that gripped me to the screen so compulsively for its whole running time for quite a long time.
The film starts with a load of strangers ending up at a Motel in a storm after a pretty nasty accident. Each charachter seems to hold their own stereotype, the hooker, the strange geeky man, the boy who hasn't talked since his father died etc and this may force people into thinking that the film is merely standard horror fare. But that's the point, that's what the director wants you to think, and this makes the ending all the more twisted. Everything comes together in the end, which of course, i won't ruin for you as the journey until the nerve-jangling climax puts you through more twists and turns that a rollercoaster.
Don't at any point in the film (until the end) try to convince yourself that you know exactly what is going on, because you won't, and you won't until the end.
Overall, a ramming good snog of a film and i really recommend it to those who like their films nasty, creepy and a bit more on the intellectual side of things, a real first class movie.
Oh and you get to see the hooker in her bra, which is nice.
Ghost Ship (2002)
Alright...I suppose
Well, i saw this one the other day, and before seeing it my friend and I were pondering on whether to see About Schmidt instead. No doubt About Schmidt would be the better film and we knew it, but we were in the mood for a horror film so we went to see this, but would it live up to our expectations...?
Well, yes and no, first of all I've noticed that many other reviewers on this site have mentioned the fact that you should see it if you love a good gore film. Now this is strange as it didn't seem to me that it was a good gore film. The gore quota is low and there are not many deaths, some are even OFFSCREEN!!?? If this is supposed to be a gore film, what are people being killed offscreen for?? Oh well.
You also might have noticed that people seem to be obsessed with the film's beginning and i think that people have classed the film a 'gore film' mainly because of the beginning and I don't blame them, its grim. It's very gory and is very well done, but apart from this scene and another one involving a woman in the flashback which is particularly nasty, the film isn't all that gory.
So we move on to the actual film, the film boasts a well respected actor in the form of Gabriel Bryne and then some less well respected actors/actresses and I'll admit, the acting isn't all that bad. Neither is the storyline as this is a horror film remember, and they don't need good storylines. Overall though, the film was alright, it was just dissapointing and if you go to see it expecting loads and loads of gooey gore then you'll be annoyed, but if you have read this review, then hopefully it will lower your expectations and make the film an all the more enjoyable experience, which is what it's meant to be.
Oh yeah I forgot, there's a naked woman in it.
And I need to reinforce how amazingly cool the beginning is, maybe it's worth seeing the film just for that.
Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
This was better than the first one
Now I love zombie films, I love gory films, and I love funny films, this film was all three. However, i don't think it was meant to be that funny, i just seem to find zombie films funny. Anyway, the film, well, I picked this film up on dvd knowing it was directed by Brian Yuzna who is one of my favourite horror directors, and knowing that the special effects were done by Screaming Mad George, who has done lots of work on previous Brian Yuzna/Stuart Gordon projects and his work is always impressive. So i bought the dvd not having seen it before and relied on Brian and George to deliver a film that wouldn't disappoint me and luckily, it didn't.
The film starts good and gets better, it doesn't let up until the end. Oh, and another plus, its really gory. Now I've seen lots and lots of horror movies in my time and this has been, (in terms of gore) up near the best of them, (Braindead, Society). So those gorehounds among you will not be disappointed, Screaming Mad George and a host of other special effects and make-up artists do their best to stuff non-stop carnage throughout the film's short running time.
I have seen the first Return of the Living Dead but not the second and I can safely say that the third one was better than the first, only not as funny as this film seems to have steered away from the camp wackiness of the original into more straight horror territory, this has worked effectively as even though there are dashings of black comedy now and then, the film can be genuinely scary in parts.
This film is highly recommended for fans of Yuzna's work and/or zombie films in general. Oh and the main zombie woman gets naked a few times, which is always good.
The Guardian (1990)
Better than expected
This was the first William Friedkin film I had seen. Knowing that he had directed the Exorcist, I was expecting a 'scary' film and unfortunately it wasn't. Oh well, the film however was exciting and creepy and Jenny Seagrove played the part of the nanny with ease, presenting a brooding yet somehow likeable character, until of course, the end. Those looking for a gore film may be slightly disappointed, although there are a few good gore scenes but they are few and far between as the film contains a low body count. However, those looking for a horror thriller will revel in the films delights as it achieves this substantially and the film's last moments will have you on the edge of your seat. Oh and she keeps getting naked for those of you who like that sort of thing, i wasn't complaining!