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Popcorn (1991)
POPCORN plain or butter BOMBED in its run, but its a FUN ode to william castle.
Popcorn 1991 was a movie i saw in a theater when i was 12 years old. How many people can say that? Without lying? None. No matter how dumb, scary, or down right sickening, if it could get past an X rating and show at my towns cinema, i was there babies. I saw fright night, army of darkness, exorcist 3, return of the living dead, and a number of others as a kid all the way BACK to "jeremys first movie" alien 1979. I can still remember it vaguely the same year i was born. One day i was watching tv on a boring afternoon, probably tiny toons with my half brother who was about 11 years older. The trailer for "popcorn" came on and he said "i want to go see that. Oh cool looks awesome" sth like that. Later i bragged i had gotten to see it. I relayed that i had a very good time, but after going on with no idea what to expect, it wasnt really that scary. At the time perhaps slightly disappointing. "compared with the trailer, it wasnt what i expected". For some reason it reminded me of another movie that had left me baffled. The robert englund helmed remake Phantom of the Opera. Looking back at both of those lately however fond memories recapture me. Despite the fact neither is a "good movie", i had a very good time going to see both in the local theaters, so for better or worse theres at least that, and its a pity more people didnt feel the same. Along with "Tales from the Darkside the Movie" which isnt a totally bad one, and has more claim to being Creepshow 3 than the movie with that title can claim. I also still watch the original phantom of the opera with lon sr. Sometimes. Since i converted it to a 3d file i can see on my trusty nintendo 3ds in autostereoscopic glory. Popcorn isnt a great movie but it is well above the board for its breed. Especially the ode to william castle gimmicks in the short movies, one of which i believe was directed by alan hormsby, who also cowrote and codirected Popcorn (uncredited). Ormsby of course being the infamous author and lead of the cult film Children Shouldnt Play with Dead Things directed by bob clark. I recommend you give popcorn a try actually. Filmed in jamaica has some laughs a rasta band and an upbeat vibe guarateed to make your day to go with all that slice and dice.
The Private Eyes (1980)
Scooby Doo-esque mystery Knotts and Conway Score
To start i was an underprivilaged growing up in rural appalachia between the late 70s and early 80s. We got a tv the first year we celebrated xmas. I was about 7 and both things were brand new to me. Years later i found out my family was actually jewish but anyways. No cable and the funny rabbit ears got one channel. My older half sister brought a vcr from her real dads house one day. I had since that age watched syndicated cartoons "dogmatically" to turn a phrase lol i saw every episode of scooby doo. He man being my second favorite then Superfriends on down the line. I used to rent vhs and nes games on fridays in town with left over milk or lunch money from grade school long weeks. This movie Private Eyes happened to my home one dreary friday and i must have watched it twenty times before i took it back. It might not ring as loudly with more seasoned fans of comedies like these who are familiar with greats like Laurel and Hardy or even Costello.. but if you give them a chance this duo in detective cosplay will make you smile maybe even lol a few times. Enjoy it a rare treat and theres another one i think if you liked this Murder by Death with a rare performance from Truman Capote author of in cold blood and breakfast at tiffanies. Then of course Clue 1985 is a vhs gem also.
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
It didnt keep me from playing teeball in 1987, but almost.
Ok so maximum overdrive at my age now 44 years old doesnt exactly terrify me the way it did when i was 7. But i see a lot more comedy both intentional and not intentional watching it all grown up. The story and events lack any chance to be remotely feasible. Remember that scene in the "uneeda medical supplies warehouse" from return of the living dead 1985? I mean the one where frank is telling freddy that night of the living dead is based on a real event. That scene worked on me a little bit at 6 years old. Even grown i see a nice touch of deadpan amid a whole lot of tongue in cheek. In a similar vein kicked off in 1974 with john laroquettes elegant intro to texas chainsaw massacre when we learned that the "events of this film are real". Celebrating perhaps the spirit of the warning delivered at the beginning of 1931 frankenstein perhaps. The only way maximum overdrive can aspire to anything remotely possible would maybe be that bad dream you had after taking too many zzquils and the microwave was singing tip tie through the tulips. King himself admitted the film itself came at a lowpoint in his creative process when he was battling with coke and.. well the price of coke apparently. Lol as parodied once in an equally unfunny snl skit bobby moynahan i think. There is such a thing as a gift. Critics dont usually lie about those who have it and those that do not have it. And by the time a movie gets to their desk it shouldve passed through the eagle eyes of much of the entertainment world. Infants and dogs can recognize talent heck my cat runs out of the room when i put in a tom green movie. King has a knack as a novelist and short story author especially when he delves into that medium space between his horror shlock and sth his 9th grade teacher might have encouraged to write a little more. When he wrote things such as rita hayworth and the shawshank redemption, stand by me, or parts of misery that earned kathy bates an oscar. This film on the other hand is a far cry from any of those things. King has also on occasion managed to carry a scene as an actor as he did as jordy veral in creepshow. As a director this was not the movie to make a claim to raw ability. Perhaps for an amature director i think maximum overdrive works ok. Maybe about half of the time but it could have been a beyter movie with a beyter director leaving all else the same. Yes slightly and to me that shows. His lines "sugar buns", in a noted tiny acting role near the start in a scene with a foul mouthed atm machine, still fails to be funny. Lol or convince me he is actually speaking to someone i would normally assume is just off camera. In the afore scene i can just tell theres no one there. Even experienced actors have had bad instants in movies like these. Such as the "constable" in 1979 salems lot talking to a police agent on a phone call when he just abruptly hangs up the phone like "no ones buying that oh well" lol. I will admit when i was just 7 the scene of the steam roller plowing into the little league field affected my decision to play tee ball that year. Oh i still played but i had this kind of paranoia or sense of foreboding. That worry kicked off what indeed was a gory and injury ridden season for me personally as a secong grade teeballer. A summer in which i saw an eye put out, an ear flap torn from a face, multiple concussions, etc. Sigh. So i think many times its those sentimental personal attachments us non critics get that make a lot of difference in how we emotionally relate to cimema throughout our very mortal blood and flesh lives. Well that and there are some memorable visuals like that goblin face semi that shouldve been a villain in knight rider. Lastly that acdc sobg really does hit me where it hurts.
The Exorcist III (1990)
memorable for some of the jump scares and just plain weird imagery.
I saw the television trailer one afternoon in 1990 and immediately started pressuring my mom to take me to see it. I was an 11 year old boy with more than a couple horror movies tolerated in a big screen public viewing scenario so i immediately got a "we'll see" in response to plea. The rest of that day was spent rehashing the commercial with my neighbor who was a boy around my age with similar interests but a mom with a sadly more rigid policy about R rated movies. That was even on vhs so there was just no way his mom would be seen taking her son into ANY restricted film. Oh no no. He had seen my treasure trove of vhs baddies on stayover visits and i had a few years since outgrown hiding in my home made "pillow forts" from vhs villains like pinhead or freddy. My mom could never stand jason movies however evil dead the exorcist return of the living dead were standard. He shared with me this "urban legend" his mom had passed onto him while denying his own plea to attend the matinee showing of exorcist 3 that week a sort of urban legend explaining that some real themes hewn into adult movies were of a genuine kind of threat in real life that she shouldnt be exposing children. William blattys was sitting on a park bench in new york city and an unknown woman seated beside him suddenly seemed to become uneasy. Thats when a strange man came right up to them and with a syringe, injected some unknown element directly to the jugular vein of her neck rendering her unconscious before lifting her up and carrying her away quick as the night. Blattys thought to get involved but it happened so fast it left his mind pacing like was he merely her doctor or was it sth more sinister. Immediately after he got the push to start on a series of books that would become the exorcist. The movie in question was being hyped as the first canon sequel to that original film "the exorcist" based on the second novel called "legion". So when i got to the cineplex the next day in 1990 which was just a hole i the basement of one of our dowtown buildings in those years, before they built the more modern ones in the shopping mall behind the food court maybe a decade later, my mom took pause to ask the woman slinging cups of ice passed off as soda.. popcorn and movie tickets if this movie might be too scary for an 11 year old and my 9 year old brother. Which she replied "how old? 9 and 11? Oh yes way too scary. I mean im not going in there myself to sweep till that things been off the screen awhile. Made my mistake last time and a scary loud part came on with all that screaming ..didnt look up i just grabbed the broom and came out here and where i am very content." to which my mom said "3 tickets please". There was a certain age distance in the early scenes between an actor like george c scott, who i would by college age learn about in roles such as dr. Strangelove patton etc, that made the experience slightly better. I could follow the plot but i wasnt old enough to pick up on the cheese of sth like "gemini killer" being like zodiac. I was too young to maybe critique bad acting peformances or pick apart unrealistic events or lazy set pieces. Here all i knew was amid all this build up at some point theres gonna be a jump scare. And boy oh boy was there EVER a jump scare. This tall white figure comes racing out to kill this unsuspecting nurse with these hideous giant decapitating death scissors. Which if youve ever played a clock tower game then you know that being chased with a big ol pair of scissors can be a very effective horror device. Exorcist 3 is long tangled and at times incomprehensible. So farvas sequels with its dark and weird imagery and consistantly menacing tone exorcist 3 is perhaps not a really great horror film like the exorcist. It is yet leagues ahead of many others in its genre and i was especially interested to see the legion special directors cut. I liked the film as an 11 year old kid that couldnt wait to spill the details at recess the next day. And some of those images stayed with me a long time.
Citizen Kane (1941)
I am not sure anything is ever truly original.
Citizen kane. So who hasnt heard of this movie and its legendary status as the film that will be hailed "the greatest of all movies" more times than any other. Including star wars and gone with the wind. Which makes me wonder how a movie that quietly came and went with only one oscar grab and failed to make nearly as much money as either of the other 2 films i mentioned is constsntly rated higher. I hear so many art or film school students bemoan it as a terrible movie. Does it go over their heads? Or is it just the cool thing to hate this movie. So why is it so greatly heralded? My review here isnt going to try explaining defending or persecuting. Youve got wikipedia for that. And this isnt someone who is afraid to be uncool, belittled for their grammar, spelling or amateurish blunders (or lack of punctiation). Still yet as my mom might have put it "like others bearing my surname" i have a little pretentious bluster in my writing that comes naturally. I can at least realize that foregoing any delusion of grandeur i will never be the first word or authority on any subject matter let alone citizen kane. Thats doesnt mean were 20000 leagues apart. Just close to it. Anyways first time i heard of the film citizen kane was seemingly appropriate. I was reading a comic strip in a boring local town newspaper. I was about 9 years old. In this cartoon panel the character, in order to be cruel to the other in the panel (and apparently the reader) breaks silence with the phrase "rosebud was a sled". To which the other character becomes outraged. Aha id been hit with a spoiler for a movie i had never seen and until that instant never heard of. But its a thought i had watching citizen kane recently. That rosebud spoiler is probably the worlds best known. Most of the people watching it the first time already know that. This epiphany occurred to me watching the scenes of jebediah writing a bad review that kane himself finishes before firing him. Its as if the movie itself understands that its infamous tagline been spoiled long before and motivates the viewer to look deeper. The way that the timeline of the narration takes a non linear path has been long scrutinized. It moves from point to point like a set of bumpercars using flashbacks. The method has been done in other places many times with varying degrees of success. Pulp fiction managed to pull it off ok. While a lot of more forgettable movies left audiences with much choice other than to storm out and demand their money refunded. It seemed to me the narrative doesnt get as boring because it shows things out of order and backtracks. Someone else might get frustrated and say the movie seemed like it was afraid to commit and kept starting over in a sloppy out of place way. Taking the earliest shots of the movie outside the ominous fortress it winds predicatively to an ultimate zenith before it begins the long spiraling stairway back to where it started. I liked citizen kane. There are too many noteworthy and powerful scenes to write off and make no note whatsoever. Those doing it are probably just a little too hip, lazy or maybe slightly stupid. Although i admit i have a knack for feeling a little too cool to be cool. Id like to finish this review faster but i will solemnly admit sth personal about the way i read books and watch movies. I might watch a movie a dozen times before i start to feel like ive really seen it. So this isnt my final word on anything when i offer an imbd or other review in a polite fashion as a quasi-dedicated filmster. And high school flunk out. Citizen kane: Is it overhyped? Probably. Is it a bad movie? In some ways its just as bad as it is good. Is it a success? Its already showed that it is. Do i have anything very original to add? Im not sure anythings truly original. Greatest movie of all time? I havent seen every movie ever made.
The Producers (1967)
heres to failure..
I havent seen every single movie that mel brooks has made and i doubt if i ever will. The ones i have seen i must have laughed a few times. They arent bad and while the producers 1967 is his earliest work in some ways it is still his most fresh. Its really sth to see a very young gene wilder in the role of leo bloom a stereotype lonely jewish accountant with a knack for chiseling who gets swept up by a fellow chisler into a scheme to go bankrupt in order to collect. I couldnt help seeing a reverse willy wonka as zero takes gene around the big apple tempting his moral turpitude. Or perhaps like the devil did to jesus in the last temptation. Which leo bloom gives into temptation and joins with evil. People and critics of the time criticized the controversial nature particularly of the portrayal of the jews in the storyline as neurotic shady double dealing types. I think in this time period comedians like richard pryor were self exploiting using stereotypes as cannon fodder. Perhaps the audience hadnt quite gotten in on the joke. Its apparent this movie took broad ethnic humor and a ton of industry in jokes social commentary and schtick out in the open for all to see. Its strange it took me so long to watch this one. Probably because its been under critical reappraisal after a broadway revival of the 1967 original became a hit. I saw young frankenstein as a 6 year old kid accidentally trying to rent the original frankenstein. Why i was drawn to that or the furst king kong movie back then still pyzzles me. I simply was given the choice to rent any vhs i wanted and that was what i wznted to see. The world looked so big to me at a very young age. Watching the producers in 2023 at 44 years old i could see the dna of what would become blazing saddles and young frankenstein. Still i cant help feel sth was very different about this movie. The second movie i remember of mel brooks was on tv when i was about 6 i saw a scene i vividly remember in which he is running through a park being bombed with bird feces. I think it was called high anxiety and its one of his i never finished. Lots of it went over my head and especially at that age. Back then i kind of accepted that but I guess by now i might not "get" but i certainly recognize more of the "in jokes". But ive never been an "in person" so those fall flat on me. I think the producers 1967 is as point blank as brooks ever delivered to the screen. The characters and performances are often very funny. I kept having this feeling this movie likes putting you on the spot and enjoys making you feel uneasy or unsure. It fifures those people who got up and left ee dont need but the ones who stayed around we can count on. Brooks has claimed to have written "springtime for hitler" originally in book form but converted it to a play because publishets felt it was "talky" which eventually ended up a film script he would perform live himself. He touted it was a revenge for being called jew boy in the service and a protest of 20th century antisemitism particularly the holocaust. He claimed his method was to ridicule from the sides instead of stand against head on making speeches from a soap box. Makes sense to me because there are some statements that simply cannot be dignified with a response. A picture paints a thousand words and actions speak louder the pen is mightier.. all that stuff. In his way i suppose he wrote sth that was to him very personal and while not everyone will directly relate they can at least relate just to that conviction. All that other aside Is the movie funny? At times itvwas to me and while not everyones gonna get it i dont yhink watching it will scar anyone fir life.
Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
The Make or Break of Maniac Cop 1 and 2: How You Feel About Bruce Campbell as a Talent..
Assuming you have seen the first movie in this series 1988 Maniac Cop then you might recall it was a kind of low budget slasher police procedural that picks up steam as an unknown menacing white gloved figure murders one innocent victim after another in the seedy Manhattan metro. That was until the part of that movie in which Bruce Campbell, star of Evil Dead enters the movie as "Jack". Jack as a character sketch is enigmatic. He certainly isnt the main focus of film but is "almost" leading man by films end. Cast one degree darker than "anti-hero" we very quickly see him committing adultery then squirming around outlying facts of his own wifes murder to his police captain. Every frame of that scene his miranda rights wave bye bye to the mirth of every "one liner" Bruce fan watching him squirm. Jack takes some cues from the Ash character with a little bit toned down line delivery. So if you were watching the 40 minutes of that movie up until that point and felt "hey that mightve been an okay movie if that hack no talent wannabe actor Bruce whatshisname hadn't ruined it"... then watch Maniac Cop 2. It might be your thing. However if you only kept watching the first one because Bruce shows up and "made your day" with his unmistakable gift for one liners and on screen personability, then i would say maybe skip Maniac Cop 2, because SPOILER.. Jack gets killed less than 20 minutes into the movie. So it was actually a good kill tbh and I think other than "Congo" possibly his quickest on screen death. Maniac Cop 2 isnt a terrible movie when compared with the first. It is a different movie from the first and i personally liked the first one a little better. Robert Davi is effectively charismatic and the story picks up right where the first left off as a battle hardened bogart style chain smoking dick, still hanging around on the force with a nearly whispered backstory we never really hear much about. The twist in this one is that Maniac Cop doesnt just kill good and spare evil. Now he RECRUITS evil men for his final attacks against those who wronged him both in the police station itself and in the "sing sing" where he was slain. Yes its a head scratching affair to behold. One memorable supporting role is that of an obvious Charles Manson inspired killer who runs into the cop while trying to murder the same girl at a strip joint, The scenes between the manson serial killer and the mute maniac cop monster itself reminded me of the original frankenstein movies familiar scene in which a blind man befriends the monster. The movie goes slightly deeper into the lore thing when the "female cop turned psychologist" suddenly starts quoting a nonsense rhyme of her childhood growing up in brooklyn called "two dead boys got up to fight". I had heard the rhyme before myself in grade school so it must be fairly common. If you have ever seen the fritz lang movie "M" with peter lorre you might recall it starts with a creepy childrens nursery rhyme theme about a man dressed in black" or sth similar to that. I think if anything is the star of Maniac Cop 2 it is the practical effects and stunt work especially the car case scenes. The shootout at the police department when Maniac Cop takes his sweet revenge on his fellow officers that sold him out was well paced brutal and up to the solid standards of any robocop or lethal weapon movie ten times the budget. Later scenes of the cop on fire with the inmates that killed him were really well done fire-suit stunts that brought to mind scenes of robert wagner jumping to his doom ablaze amidst "the towering inferno". So overall while i might have liked the first one slightly better im glad i got to see maniac cop 2. Its doubtful i will watch part 3 but i had a little fun with those. Enjoy.
Fright Night (1985)
i saw fright night at a drive in theater in 1985
I went to see fright night in 1985 on a very boring weekday evening at the local drive in theater as a double feature with 1984 ghostbusters. My mom had convinced my dad it would "save money" since it was two movies and the kids hadnt seen ghostbusters yet. I was 6 years old. I recall there a scene about 20 minutes in where charlie is peering at his neighbors house. No one would notice this now. He is standing in front of this cheap lawn chair. In those years when we went to a drive in theater we would load up lawn chairs and sleeping bags pillows etc. Into the family wagon. It was like an event and usually a pretty fun time. The drive in actually had a playground so the kids could run off some steam while the parents chilled out. Anyways i just remember looking at that lawn chair and realizing right away it was identical to one we had brought with us to the movie. I thought "now if this chair got up there on that screen somehow. Does that mean what is on that screen might get down here? What are these people going to pull on me?" a couple years prior when i was 4 my much older adolescent siblings tormented me watching "clash of the titans" telling me over and over to their bemusement if i looked at medusa while her eyes were glowing i would die by turning to stone. So on this night i was ready for anything. Theres sth about seeing a horror movie at the drive in at any age. Well it takes away the boundaries of a nice safe house and walls and puts you right out there where sth might get you. I was terrified all through fright night. Then ghostbusters came on and i was even a little bit scared of that one. As the night went on my fear subsided and i had a lot of fun. To this day watching fright night after repeated views, it actually isnt all that bad. The characters have become timey and the quirky lines of dialogue are still above the curve. The character of jerry is a strange hybrid of things. He wears strange scarves and turtlenecks, juggles and sucks on pieces of fruit, and seems a lot more human than some stiff european guy in a black mortician that hangs out in a castle day and night. The transformations were very good for their time and the cgi sequel might not have really outdone the practical efects they had back then. Given some of the runny green ooze and other things look corney by now but it was a totally 1980s thing that it might be hard for people from now to realize was simply life to us back then. I used to ask my dad if reality was in black and white in the 60s and before and of course you know the answer i got. Im not even certain if babies see in color. There was a tricolor very old tv set in our house everyone complained about but up to the age of 4 or 5 i dont think i knew what they were talking about. Anyways fright night is good the reamke isnt terrible but i ddint like it as much. Not quite a true classic but for me it will always b e super groovy.
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
FUN 1980s COMEDY MISUNDERSTOOD..
This one came out when i was a little kid and i recall the tv commercials for a short theatrical run. I rented it on vhs less than a year later but i loved it low-key subtle humor and little did we know that the gags used by then unknown michael richards would one day become kramer on seinfeld and well maybe one other thing? Either way its a golden memory of mine and i would recommend you to take this 80s comedy in slow and enjoy it for what it is not what it should have been.
Haunted Honeymoon (1986)
lots of haters mostly that know nothing of american cinema that deserves a reassessment.
The movie was released by the doomed orion pictures and not screened for critics prior to its release knowing that it had an unfortunate fate ahead but taking it all in stride the cast and creators bravely put the misunderstood film before the firing squad in 1986 and now its faced a second unfair firing from the internet (not yet as bad as its first death but still its the lowlife class aussies and englanders duplicate slamming everything the yanks like they cant steal). It has some really funny moments instances of brilliance nad is sourly misunderstood.
Batman: Surf's Up! Joker's Under! (1967)
batman didnt jump a shark but went out with a cowabunga..
I admit while im not one of the older viewers that would write a review ive been a lifetime fan of the show and in my 42 lean years ive watched me some batman. this is very late in the series and i have the dvd often on repeat of all three which i like the first season best by far. maybe they were out of ideas or the whole thing just blew up like a shark with a frekin lazer mounted on its head not sure but its still batman the series yeh just not maybe its freshest moment. the mod color schemes i will say are really at the top of their screaming hill on this one. check it out but dont go in thinking its one of the better moments of the cheeky series.. but not totally sad either. also ..there really is nothing worse than a "gremmie" out of control.
House II: The Second Story (1987)
I could have watched evil dead 2 twice but i had to see this at least once..
Ah yes the 80s i was born in the last part of the 1970s so for me its a special time right ..just the very fact that the OG ghostbusters appeared in sync with my existential walk through life to this day both puzzles and amazes. thus it started a longer voyage from the 80s block all around the mulberry bush of horror films via the section of the local video store.. and on this day in 1987 i was waiting for this movie to come out right but some older person shoved me out *move it kid* and took house 2.. however i was tbh hypnotized by another movie that was released to vhs the same week. evil dead 2. my mom grumbled i had let house 2 slip through my still growing fingers.. sat through ed2 with me and mostly amused until the waterfall of multi colored "blood" left her running to see if she folded towels. i loved evil dead 2.. in fact i built a 15 foot tall monument to ed2 in my yard 13 years later which stood until the local city counsel had demolished by court order. but anyways the next week i made a choice. to watch house 2. i remember it had nothing to do with house 1. the movie that had scared me quite a bit a year prior and the then 7 year old hiding under a sheet recalled the richard mull army zombie "big ben" very well and wasnt let down he wasnt featured again in this light hearted "horror movie" .. well the next part is hard to talk about. over years i brooded about it. i started to withdraw from socializing and even spent time in counseling. after decades long struggle i relented. folks this movie is just deeper than the original house and well.. only i understand what seemingly everyone else has missed. house 2 isnt a horror comedy. house 2 is without a doubt one word: scary. in fact it is the scariest movie that has ever been ever made. house 2 is a pit of evil and sin more deranged than ted bundy and charles manson combined. fair warning iif you watch house 2 be prepared to sleep with the lights on. forever.
Creepshow 2 (1987)
The best Creepshow movie.. is Creepshow 2
The first Creepshow is really good but Creepshow 2 is even better. The additional voice acted cartoon segments tie the anthology chapters together. It feels faster and trimmed of some of the Romero type "suspense" in the first one but still has plenty of good scares. Also it is the last true Creepshow film made because Creepshow 3 was bought out by an unrelated company and released as a cash grab straight to home video with no connection to the others. The ending of "The Raft" will always to me be one of the best ever..
Brain Donors (1992)
a movie overlooked with a lot of talent well crafted but for some reason sank..
I have been a fan of this one since it came to vhs back in the early 90s. its a goofball ode to the marx brothers while one might say it flew under the radar it more or less flew under the ground crashed burned and no one really even noticed the crater. besides that if you like the old way of movie making with a new-ish lacquer look no further .. it features a once in a lifetime john turturro lead as a sort of con artist armed with one liners and sarcastic jabs that runs at a frenzied pace through a reasonably well crafted script. the plot is a basic send up of night at the opera with occasional references to marx films only fans of those movies would notice. the mute "harpo" is played well by a stand up actor of the time that outside of gallager really was about the best on hobo while rocko (chico) is well appointed as the mortician from princess bride and the trio do justice to the series although the og groucho can never be bested with one liners this tribute doesnt try so hard to do that but spiritually is gratifying enough for fans. its a shame this didnt win more supporters as it is a decent afternoon flick with some funny moments and even the site gags seem to work off balance in a weird way.
The Thin Pink Line (1998)
not spinal tap but nearly as engrossing
For fans of the mockumentary genre comes an obscure comedy gem i had never heard of till yesterday when i found a place to upload.. shocked how many famous names and yet i had never heard about it.. if you get a chance watch it for at least that one purpose but expect to laugh a few times as well..
The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)
Bemoaned and maybe underrated incarnation...
So what the animation took a nose dive? Hey gimme a break.. its packaged good to go with extra pizzazz of celebrity comedians to boot (some living some apparently ghosts oops).. whom most of which writing this oct 2019 are def ghosts by now.. unless vampires. Yet even still it was fun back when it was new and even in 80s syndication and fun now. But maybe not for the purists who basically want it all to end with "thats snow ghost" and pick up perhaps with the scooby doo show years later (including Joe Barbera i watched an interview cannot find now) f at all.. I think these are at times really good along with that black sheep of the series "The funky Phantom" which ran for the two years in between the series during the 71/72 hiatus..still not bad and surely some gold childhood memories buried in there someplace.. if you can lighten up about the turn in animation which was.. so funky.
Scarecrows (1988)
I LIKED IT! JACKS BACK BABY!
The movie isnt great but for the level that it functions and for nostalgia because i was a tween when it came out in the 80s.. it isnt completely devoid as the detractors in these reviews claim but theres no amazing plot either (its a movie about scarecrows coming to life and hunting war criminals turned bank robbers) what saved the movie for me was the scene where one of the crooks goes nuts and starts "analyzing" the outrageous things happening reviewing in an almost reservoir dogs like monologue events of the heist that happen before the opening credits (we arent allowed to see).. and wonders if they have died and are in some twilight zone and that much i appreciated.. when jack calls his headset after being killed and declares himself alive having the money and on his way to their checkpoint.. its one of those scenes in a horror movie. i lolled when the others just will not for some reason buy it.. but undeterred he holds to his place. and this creates just enough of a foreboding feeling to the scene when jack appears altered as a scarecrow zombie to save the flick for me.. touches like pictures on walls with no apparent meaning and some type of religious alter gave me sort of an impression as with the shining theres something more to the story we arent seeing.. now for people wanting things to make sense however i know that touches of ambiance cannot save it for everyone but if they were willing to play along im sure those scenes would have been memorable enough to make scarecrows decent low budget horror.. the cinematography also used in evil dead 2 about the same time as well as hellraiser.. this idnt a great one but it isnt bed either..
The Video Dead (1987)
MORE CLEVER THAN AT FIRST GLANCE.. ALMOST A MUST FOR THE GENRE..
IM NOT HERE TO PRAISE THE VIDEO DEAD.. BUT BURYING WOULD BE OF NO USE.. BECAUSE MUCH LIKE THE TITULAR ZOMBIES THIS FILM ITSELF WILL RISE AGAIN AND AGAIN.. AS SOME REVIEWERS HAVE NOTED THE SILLY SPOOF HAS A NICE BALANCE OF SELF AWARENESS BUT ALSO .. SOME WONDERFUL CANDID MOMENTS THAT ACTUALLY DO A BETTER JOB OF REPRESENTING THE GENRE THAN SOME OF ITS MORE SERIOUS MINDED CONTEMPORARIES. THE ZANINESS HITS A ZENITH AS JEFF WATCHES HIS "UNDEAD" TEMPTRESS RETURN TO THE TV SET MOCKING AND LAUGHING AT HIS BLUE BALLS ONLY TO HAVE HER THROAT SLICED BY AN UNKNOWN ASSAILANT THAT PROCLAIMS HIMSELF SIMPLY TO BE "THE GARBAGE MAN" WHO TAKES CARE OF 'HUMAN GARBAGE'.. LEAVING OPEN THE GREATEST PLOT HOLE IN THE HISTORY OF HORROR. VIDEO DEAD IS ACTUALLY KIND OF FUN.. I WOULD HAVE RATED IT EVEN HIGHER BUT I DONT GET ANYMORE STARS.. IF I HAD ONE COMPLAINT IT IS THE TECHNICAL PROBS WITH AUDIO DO TEND TO MAKE THE DIALOGUE (WHILE AT TIMES ALMOST WITTY) TO EASY TO OVERLOOK.
Return of the Living Dead: Part II (1988)
Sucks but misunderstood too.
A late afternoon that year 1988 i was in 3rd grade bored after school. I wasn't allowed to ride the schoolbus after my wimpy brother 2 years younger than me started the first grade. Now daily our mom picked us up In a white Chevy Chevette our mom took myself and my little brother too see a random movie at a mall in Barboursville wv. Well it happened to be this one. It was scary to me at that time but when I watch it now i cannot understand except for personal reasons. When I was very young I didn't like horror movies. I would watch them st home and hide my head when sth happened,, a game from times older siblings had hated me saying i would die if i didn't. So being out in a public place with one of those things didn't sound fun. I had made a friend out of shaggy and scooby by Kgrade. My mom agreed if it started bothering me we could leave. Really she like the other kids got a kick out of the hazing. When the tarman came onscreen i got up and left lol which she grabbed me by the arm swearing she paid her 1 dollar 50 cent matinee fare times 3 and wasn't keeping her end of the deal. So i sat through the loud music groans missing all the jokes and cultural schlock like a cowardly housecat forced to partake in a 4th of July fireworks and beer party. Looking back that was the only way it could've scared anyone. Had I been even average for my age I would have picked out the tired and used formula. At least the first film of the series had a few firsts. This one is very derivative of the original. Actors sleepwalking through a repeat role like in the first film just four years older and without O'Bannon a TSOL punk rock soundtrack or any of the edgey feeling the first movie tried to convey. No instead its some annoying kid trying to call the army while checking out his sisters goods. Probably the only gross out the movie pulls off. Memory i have in my life still and I haven't lived near Barboursville or 1988 for an eon. TBH I haven't been to a mall for years by now.