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blackknight273
Reviews
Cemetery Gates (2006)
Lighten up, this was never meant to be Schindlers List
I have to admit I pretty much bought this since I saw the Regman (Reggie Bannister for all you nuhorror fans) was starring in this one.
The movie was pretty much what I expected - a low budget ripoff of fifty other, better movies. Still it's not as bad as some have posted here, and much better than most indie horror.
The Regman as usual makes this movie watchable, as he makes most everything he is in watchable.
Sit back, pop open a cold one, and light one up. This is how a movie like this is supposed to be seen, as a escape from the bs of the world.
My score 6/10. Not bad, not great but a fun escape.
Phantasm II (1988)
Great follow up to the original Phantasm
Don Coscarelli's long awaited sequel to 1979's classic Phantasm is one of those rare movies with a Roman numeral after it that is as good as the original.
By all rights this movie shouldn't have been as good. For one Universal wanted established working actors to portray the leads. After much wrangling they finally agree to give Coscarelli the choice between replacing Michael Baldwin or Reggie Bannister. Coscarelli chose to replace Baldwin with James Le Gros, which as it turned out was a wise choice. Universal also made it clear that unlike the original, there would be no surreal dream like plot, and the story would be filmed in a linear fashion answering as many questions as possible. This stipulation technically should have killed this film since much of the original was based around the separation of reality and fantasy.
Somehow despite these restrictions, Don Coscarelli took these lemons and made some damn fine lemonade.
Phantasm II is one of the best paced, unrelenting horror rides ever made. Many hardcore "Phans" consider this to be better than the original, and while I am not in their number I can understand their arguments. It like the original Phantasm deserves its place among the pantheon of great horror such as Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Without giving too much of the plot away, Mike and Reggie set out after the Tall Man (played wonderfully by Angus Scrimm) to take revenge for the murder of their loved ones. Along the way they kick maximum ass. That's all you need to know. Just watch it.
Kudos especially to Reggie Bannister, who went from sidekick in the original, to horror movie heavyweight with this role. He is one of the best characters in the horror genre since Evil Dead's Ash for sure, and is a great underrated actor. Hopefully the upcoming release of this movie on Region 1 DVD will expose more people to this under-appreciated actor.
The Stöned Age (1994)
The Schnappster *ping*
It's sad that many people who commented on this gem, either didn't get it, nitpick over it's faults (yes they are there but all movies have them), or want to compare it to Dazed and Confused. They are two different movies altogether. For one the kids in Dazed and Confused were essentially the 10% - rich, athletic, and popular kids in school partying it up. Then of course there was the rest of us.
If you were an average teen in the late 70's or early 80's, driving, drinking, and smoking whatever you could afford then you got this movie for sure. Smoking skank weed out of a crushed Shlitz Malt Liquor tall can - been there, did it. Driving a vehicle that was a barely moving invitation for the cops to bust you (try a brush painted green Chevy Luv pickup for nasty)- did that too. Getting wasted and crashing the rich kid/jock kegger with your friends - did that more times than I can count.
I especially liked how the writer/director portrayed Joe and Hubbs - for once long haired, hard rock listening, beer swilling, stoners weren't turned into violent sociopaths. There was no nannying Lifetime style message about drug and alcohol use. These were good kids, who while on the wild side, would more than likely grow up to be pretty responsible adults - like most of us did.
It's sad there was never a follow up to this one. I liked the characters enough that seeing them in later years (can you picture both Joe and Hubbs being the father character, dealing with the hip hop listening punks of today - I could)would surely be worth seeing.
This a great, nearly forgotten gem that deserves the 10 I gave it. Crack open a tall OX 45, light up some lumbo and enjoy
Phantasm (1979)
I'm amazed this one is only 6.6 at IMDb! It deserves much better.
As a "Phan" I will concede some things that most "phans" won't. For one Coscarelli copied and pasted elements of just about every Horror, and SF movie and book pre 1978. He claims that the black robed dwarfs similarity to the Jawas in Star Wars was unintentional and pure coincidence. However if you look at the sphere it is fairly obvious that this was borrowed from Star Wars as well (the light saber trainer, and the "torture ball" in the interrogation scene between Vader and Princess Leia). He also "borrows" quite heavily from 1976's Burnt Offerings which not only used the same creepy mansion (The Dunsmuir Mansion) and even had a tall gaunt man who drove a hearse. Add to that some references from Frank Herbert's Dune, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Invaders From Mars, The Exorcist, Salems Lot and Suspiria. Still this movie works, and in some cases works better than those Coscarelli borrowed from.
Yes you have to overlook some plot holes, bad (but well meaning) acting, and the borrowed elements of the story. What most people are forgetting is that this is essentially a movie about relationships. The bond between two brothers, the younger brother's fears of abandonment after already losing his parents a few years before, and his older brothers need to see the world why he is still young. It also touches on our fear of the unknown - especially death and what comes after.
Mike is a thirteen year old in a small rural California town, who lives with his twenty something brother Jody. When one of Jody's friends is murdered (it's ruled a suicide which gets the weirdness going early), he is forbidden by his brother to go to the funeral after he had what is hinted at a breakdown after his parents death (more on this later). Being a typical thirteen year old who is told the word "no" by an adult, Mike does what any thirteen year old would do - he sneaks out to see the funeral. While this could be seen as a typical case of teenage rebellion, there is also Mike's problems with abandonment. As you find out later Mike follows Jody everywhere, not just to make sure he doesn't leave, but also in Mike's thinking as Jody's protector.
After the funeral Mike witnesses mortician aka the Tall Man lift the coffin from the gravesite back into the hearse by himself and drive off. He realizes he sees something that is impossible and knows something strange and probably evil is going on at the mortuary, and sets out to convince his brother. His brother of course chalks it up to an overactive imagination, and dismissses it. Finally after a series of nightmares and strange encounters with the Tall Man, Mike sets out to prove once and for all that his fears are justified, which he finds out quickly are quite justified.
. The rest you should see for yourself if you haven't already.
SPOILERS One of the things I liked at the end was how not only Mike was considerably older looking at the very end of the movie (check the scene where he wakes up, then look at how he looks barely thirteen through the rest of the movie). He looks like he is about fifteen in the last five minutes. Another thing you notice upon returning to his room, that his room is completely different - the last few minutes are a different house entirely. He also reaches for a bottle of meds which gives you the impression the kid has had a pretty tough ride over the past year or so. It's a great setup for what comes next - the infamous ending which makes you question what was actually a dream, and what wasn't.