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Coog30
and writer whose work has been featured at WorldNetDaily, Frontpage Magazine, Redstate, and American Thinker.
Reviews
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)
All That Can Be Said... Wow!
Wow!! This is an incredible documentary. I'm not the biggest fan of the series, but I enjoyed a few of the films. And this 4 hours is chock full of great interviews with the cast, directors, writers, special effects guys, and producers/financiers. This film chronologically runs the viewer through the challenges, philosophy, social and political messages, successes, and failures of the franchise. It gave me a new respect for this film series that has been a cultural phenomenon my whole life. This movie was obviously a labor of love for all involved, and their passion shows in the finished result. I would say, whether you are a die-hard fan, casual viewer, or just want to watch a historical piece about an iconic horror anthology, watch this movie.
This movie should be the benchmark by which all other documentaries are measured. I'd love to find something like this about the Halloween series, Evil Dead series. Hell, I'd love something like this about Star Wars, Godfather, anything. It's just that great.
Masters of Horror: The Screwfly Solution (2006)
Contrived and boring
This is certainly among the poorer efforts of the series. The acting is decent, I suppose, though any shortcomings in that regard are probably the fault of the shoddy dialogue, rather than the fault of the cast's acting chops.
What stands out the most to me is the lackluster writing. Honestly, it's just utterly lazy and bad. Other reviewers have commented, applauding the film for the sheer scope of the issues that are addressed, like global warming, Islamic fundamentalism, radical Christianity, bird flu, etc. Of course, to say these issues are "addressed" is a gross understatement. It would be more apt to say that these issues, and the author's opinions on these issues, are screamed into the audience's face at most points in the movie, with all the allegorical tact of a PETA commercial.
All told, it's obvious that the writer and director felt the audience couldn't grasp the everyday concepts they predictably lay out, so it comes off like a fire-and-brimstone preacher forcefully indoctrinating the audience with the tried-and-true idea that "human beings and human nature are a cancer to the Earth." If I wanted to watch poorly written, unoriginal, and blatant hyperbole about how bad humans are for not taking care of the planet, I could just watch Avatar again.
Too bad, too. I really like Joe Dante, and the concept itself had potential before it became mucked up by poorly written, ineffective social commentary.
Masters of Horror: The Washingtonians (2007)
"The Washingtonians" skewers American History
"The Washingtonians" was a pretty funny episode. It's an hilarious concept, though I admit that there were a few moments when I thought what I was seeing on the screen had to be somehow blasphemous.
Nevertheless, I found it funny and think it's great that such taboos can be explored, though I pray the average viewer is smart enough to slough off the ridiculous notion that Washington was a cannibal. With the amount of, and overall zaniness of conspiracy theories today, this one could be off to the races.
That small bit of social commentary aside, the film has a bit of gore, a funny concept, few scares, and a lot of camp.
The concept alone makes it worth watching if you're bored. From a critical standpoint, the "concept" itself seems to straddle an objective line, poking fun at both lame conspiracy theories and our pre-conceived idolization of certain historical figures.
Sadly, it almost seems as if the director took a fine piece of complex satire and dumbed it down to a Michael Moore film, to convey that "America sucks. Oh yeah, George Bush, too."