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charlieboy80
Reviews
Threads (1984)
Absolutely terrifying, utterly disturbing. (Spoilers)
Having just purchased this on DVD I was eager to watch it after waiting years to see it after it was unofficially banned from ever being shown on the BBC again. I was four when it was first shown and my parents switched it off, too frightened to watch it themselves never mind let me see it.
I have to say it is absolutely terrifying and utterly terrifying in the extreme. This could have actually happened! I was impressed by the way the film conveyed what it would be like if thousands of megatons of atomic bomb was dropped on the U.K. Normal life comes to an abrupt stop. One minute people are shopping in their local supermarket, going to the pub and wallpapering their new flat and suddenly they are plunged into Hell. Civilisation is blown back into the stone age.
The most scary part was the way the authorities were shown unable to cope with the scale of the attack (perhaps why the BBC never aired it again). We always think that it could never be that bad because someone would come to our rescue, someone would maintain control. But no, the bombs / missiles keep raining down and down prompting one traumatised emergency committee member to scream, "not another one!" They just did not expect so devastation and are completely helpless. Later soldiers shoot people for food, people wish for death and the emergency committee, those meant to be running things, die in the supposed protective bunker, trapped by rubble.
Ten years later, nothing is back to normal. What young people there are behave like wild animals, raping and fighting and speaking in a bizarre caveman manner.
Since the Cold War ended people have stopped being frightened of nuclear weapons. Everybody in every country should watch this film and realise that if there ever was a nuclear war, still possible with growing tensions between a superpower and its rivals, those left alive would wish they had been caught in the blasts and killed outright.
I don't recommend this for sensitive viewers.
Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka (2003)
A long, overdrawn propaganda piece for the JRA
Well, well...I thought the Cold War was over! This nasty, dull mouthpiece for the Japanese Red Army ought to be avoided, especially by us in the West. We are told by the actors in this vile film that America needs to be defeated to prevent the Communist regime of North Korea, the Taliban theocracy in Afganistan etc from being overthrown, that Islamic rule will come to Japan and that the peoples of the world will only come together if the enlightened youth of Japan attack Western cultural imperialism and reject the authority of their own government.
The film brings back all the issues close to the Japanese Red Army's heart, such as freedom for Palestine, recognising the authority of Marxist Pyongyang over Seoul, and the imperial ambitions of postwar Japan.
I'm surprised that this movie was even allowed to be released! Apart from the obvious promotion of Marxist-Leninism and the embrace of Islamic militancy and rejection of Western values such as democracy, this movie is just dull. It goes on and on and on and even the conclusion brings no answers (apart from suggesting that the Glorious Revolution is close).
Please, please avoid this poor communist propaganda if you love your country!
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002)
What was the point?
Very, very odd film.
Wilbur, a suicidal lunatic, is admitted to a mental hospital after an attempt to take his own life. Wilbur, you see, has a desire to die. His life is all about death. We don't really get to find out why he wants to die but there are plenty of opportunities to listen to him go on about dying and his half-hearted attempts and his endless fascination with morbidity begin to grate after a while. Harbour, his good-hearted, well-balanced ever loving brother invites Wilbur to stay with him at his bookshop/house to allow Wilbur some time to get back on his feet. Lonely Harbour meets a poverty-stricken woman in desperate need of a man. After a brief romance they are married but poor Harbour is diagnosed with cancer and is admitted to the same dingy psychiatric hospital his brother stayed in. (There must only have the one hospital in Glasgow???). Whilst Harbour battles in vain to survive, Wilbur abuses his trust completely and begins a relationship with Harbour's mouselike wife. Wilbur grows stronger and more independent and Harbour dies. It is as if Wilbur is a parasite feeding off his brother's energy right to the end when his cancer gets the better of him. Are we supposed to feel sorry for Wilbur? Are we meant to feel sorry for Harbour's wife who is sacked from her job after turning up late? Harbour, far from looking virtuous for accepting Wilbur going off with his wife, ends up looking like a victim. His wife, that we first felt sympathetic towards, ends up looking like a common slapper. Not a very pleasant film whatsoever. None of the characters have any saving graces and it is thoroughly depressing.
Hannibal (2001)
'Carry on Cannibal'
What went wrong? The film was absolutely terrible! In fact, the only aspect which saved it was the acting of Gary Oldman - and he was unrecognisable in full make-up! Fortunately, the failure of this film cannot be blamed on the people involved in the actual film. Thomas Harris' book of the same name didn't seem to have the impact of the first two books. However, the film didn't attempt to put things right: Anthony Hopkins inclusion of terms like 'Okey Dokey', made Lector into a camp circus monster. He is starting to look more like Freddy Kruegar than the personification of evil. Or was he supposed to be evil anyway? Who knows.
Let's pray they DO NOT make a sequel. Can you imagine the title? 'HANNIBAL 4 - He's Back and He's Hungry'. No doubt it will happen, and Hannibal the Cannibal will join the ranks of Jason, Myers, and the aforementioned Freddy. They may as well make 'Freddy Vs Hannibal'.
This film scraped the bottom of the barrel, and turned the most sinister 'monster' since Count Dracula, into a joke.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
A horrific film...for all the wrong reasons.
I heard about all the hype; I got myself all excited; I eventually saw the film...and decided that it has to be the most pointless film of ALL time. For one, most of the actual film used by the creators seems to have been wasted on shots of the ground and the trees. I ended up getting dizzy with the way the stupid girl was waving the camera around. The most annoying thing about 'The Blair Witch Project' was that it wasn't particularly scary. In fact, it wasn't remotely scary in any way. Nothing made me feel uneasy and the audience in the cinema with me began to tut and look at their watches half-way into the film. Also - not many people know this - a similar, but far superior film called 'The Last Broadcast' was made a year earlier than the BWP. I get the feeling that the BWP is a cheap and nasty version of this classic. Don't bother with this purile pile of pants; go out and rent 'Casper' because it is much more scary and far more interesting. A big YAWN.
Batman & Robin (1997)
Don't bother
This - is - absolute - garbage.
I just couldn't believe what I was seeing when I saw this originally. There is no redeeming features whatsoever. The acting is terrible, the storyline works as well as a faulty lightbulb, and the sets! The sets look like pantomime rejects. I can't believe this EVER got past pre-production stage! I can't believe how anyone could have the audacity to sit down and write such trollop. Basically the film was a marketing plot to sell lots and lots and lots (and lots more) toys to the kiddies. I don't think this worked though, and hopefully Warner Brothers will either dump the Bat-Franchise or resurrect the Dark Knight in his true psychotic form. The film was as camp as the 1960s series but not as funny! Oh well.
Batman (1989)
Amazing!
This film has everything a Batman movie should have. Firstly the Dark Knight himself IS dark! He is not portrayed as some lycra clad buffoon spouting out ridiculous one-liners! Secondly Batman/Bruce Wayne is an intelligent and yet disturbed individual, which anyone would be if they had seen their parents murdered in front of them as a child. (It could be safe to say that the character is bordering on psychosis). This is the Batman I am familiar with from the classic DC comics of the eighties. Unlike Superman, Batman doesn't search the city trying to bring justice to the world, he does it to try and rid himself of the demons that haunt him. This was excellently shown in Michael Keaton's portrayal of the man. Another great point (of course) was Jack Nicholson as the Joker; could ANYONE else have brought the Clown Prince of Crime to life in such an effective way? The only downside to the movie was...erm...not much really. Unless you count Prince being on the soundtrack, but that is a minor matter after all. A great film which can be read on many different levels!
The Amityville Horror (1979)
What a pity.
It's just a shame the film didn't cause the amount of terror I felt when I read the original book by Jay Anson. It is a half decent film - the acting is good, the direction is adequate, the music is sufficiently creepy enough - but there was just something lacking. The book worked so well because it played on your imagination, and this is where the film was doomed from the start. Some of the film's scenes don't seem to make a great deal of sense due to the fact that the watcher isn't given a sense of what the hell is going on. The special effects also left a lot to be desired too. However: the film is a good version of the book in which a family is nearly torn apart by malevolent spirits, and so is worth watching from that aspect.
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Best Film Ever Made?
The Wicker Man...what can I say which would sum up the film's magnificence??? The film is a eerily gentle rollercoaster ride into indifferent chaos and pagan anarchy. Unfortunately the full version - which elaborates on the plot further - is no longer in print, so I had to make do with the released edition. Why the film appeals to me so much I can't explain. Everything just feels 'right'. The scenery is beautiful and the acting is excellent. The plot is very clever for a horror/thriller and it is unfortunate that we don't see films of this standard being made anymore. I would recommend this to anybody who is willing to watch a film intelligently; this is no cheap slasher movie in anyway.
Apart from the amazing plot, somehow the film-makers seem to have captured the atmosphere of the isolated island, and sometimes it is just possible to imagine you are there smelling the village smells, feeling the seasonal wind...and the stench of the burning Wicker Man at the end of the film. I just hope that eventually they WILL release the uncut version. (I also recommend reading the new novelisation by the writers of the film. It goes into far more detail than the film and gives an insight into what the uncut version must look like...brilliant).