Malcolm_Riviera Reviews

Nightstalker (2002)

"Stunningly bad!"

[1/10 · 8 September 2006]

If you have an interest in the real Richard Ramirez a.k.a. "The Nightstalker" case, please don't waste your precious time and definitely not your money on this. This movie could possibly have been saved by simply changing the title and character names. You could rename it "The Crack Stalker" and change all the names of the characters -- and you would then at least have a Grade C horror flick to show at 4:00 am on Cinemax. It has all the basic elements of some kind of random serial killer flick, and the killer is certainly a highly unpleasant fellow. But to pass this off as having anything to do with the real Nightstalker case is just plain stupid. On the old Saturday Night Live, critic Leonard Pinth-Garnell might have reviewed this as "Stunningly bad!"

Eye of the Devil (1966)

Film noir meets horror -- with Sharon Tate!

[8/10 · 30 April 2006]

This one gets a least a 7 just on the camera work: glorious black & white, lots of shadowy scenes shot in a creepy French castle. Add to the mix a gorgeous young Sharon Tate in her screen debut as a freekoid Pagan witchess and you have enough to hold my attention for 90 minutes! I thought it was great all the way around: story line, casting, sets, you name it. Lots to like: Pagan cults, weird ceremonies with dead doves, hooded figures dressed in black, a tomb in the woods, ritual sacrifice, and did I mention that the magnificent Sharon Tate is in this movie? David Niven is outstanding as the grim and proper heir to a cruel pagan tradition designed to save the failing vineyards of his fore fathers. Ignore the IMDb 5.5 average rating -- if you like 60's B&W British creepy chiller/thrillers, watch it!

eXistenZ (1999)

Cronenberg fans will love it; others beware!

[23 April 2000]

Fans will delight in this 1999 addition to the director's increasingly excellent body of work. All the familiar Cronenberg elements are in place: pulsing organic lumps, grotesque biomorphic creations, time/reality shifts à la Philip K. Dick. Jennifer Jason Leigh is at her sultry best in a role that is quite unusual for her. My only complaint: the film could have been longer!