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Victor Frankenstein (2015)
Kept Avoiding It When On Now I Watched IT I'm Sorry I Did- I LOVED IT!
I'd caught parts of tis now and again when it was on and I was channel surfing between commercials while watching something else, never struck me as something I'd watch-too many Frankensteins made seen from alternate views etc that never really grabbed me. Then finally tonight I saw it from the beginning and watched it right through (and pity the wife or cats-even the sick one I'm tending- that got in my way! Great take on the story and great actors playing the role-McAvoy gives a Frankenstein you've never seen but you'll be glad you did-he loses himself inn the roll. The same with Radcliffe, no Harry Potter here, as he rebuilds body parts with glee! And some really great sneaky laughs you'll have to be ready for to catch. My advice- don't screw up and pass this one by like I did- WATCH IT NOW you will NOT be sorry!
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
A Rare Horror/Comedy Gem From Karloff and Lorre
Here is a little gem, a rare comedy/horror with two of the greatest stars of the silver screen whose very names send a shiver down your spine and are synonymous with the genre they mostly starred in- Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. Although this film reminded me more of the three-act plays performed live on-stage, such as Arsenic and Old Lace (which I was lucky enough to perform in back in High School, all those decades ago). MISS Jeff Daniels stars as Winnie, a woman with a bit of money, a good heart and a completely ditzy personality who buys a rundown inn from the Colonial days so she can revitalize it and run it for a living (or just for fun). She allows the current inhabitants to stay on, including Karloff, playing Professor Billings, the past owner who is doing experiments in the basement to create superhuman zombies for the war effort (kind of like Outpost series only for the good guys and so far haven't boded well for it's subjects), as well as Amelia, the housekeeper, with a fondness for raising chickens, though she has none, and Ebeneezer, out in the barn, with a fondness for raising pigs (of which he DOES have). Add to the mix comes Lorre, playing Dr Lorenz (accompanied by a Siamese kitten in his pocket he takes everywhere and whom seemingly helps him solve crimes), who plays the town doctor/sheriff/coroner/justice-of-the-peace among other things (when asked if any of the other people in the town of Jinxville do anything he replies 'Oh yes, they vote once a year), coming in to hand the mortgage to Karloff once he's paid it off (and Karloff, like so many homeowners of that time, and up, gleefully tears it up and does a little dance) then he eventually joins the Professor in his experiments, smelling money in there somewhere. The cast is soon joined by a slew of other odd-ball characters including Winnie's ex-husband (who istrying to convince her not to buy the place, no one will want to stay there even though someone comes to stay just as he's saying that, staying even though his foot goes through a worm-eaten step). I won't give away any more of the story except to say that a few more oddball characters are lured into the Professor's and the Dr's, experiments and end up 'martyrized' (as Lorre says) instead of becoming the super-soldier intended. This film is well worth your 66 minutes for it's gentle humor and great uses of malapropism (which will probably be understood more by Boomers than Millennials- geezo I hate using those terms!) by these two horror giants alone! Though the only way it would end up on a Friday night midnight Shock Theater is because of its stars, it is perfect for a rainy weekend afternoon. Put it on, sit back and enjoy. You won't be sorry!
Jackals (2017)
A Good Chunk BETTER than 'More of the Same'.
Too many reviews called this 'more of the same' but it's a bit higher up than the average 'more of the same' (which if you look at the selection, most films are just that, whether stranger invasions, zombies (or chemically induced zombie-like creatures), werewolves, vampires, et al. Jackals is a good cut above that. The rescue from a cult and de-programming of the son of a family turns into a fight for survival as the cult comes back for it's own. The setting, in the family cabin, home to many happy memories, in the middle of the dark night, set in the 80's so no cell phones is the picture of remoteness. The 'saved' son Justin, now calls himself Thanatos, the demonic representation personification of death in Ancient Greek mythology, and is more like a captured prisoner working on them from the inside. They've done a great job setting up a battle on your nerves with this film, jump scares that actually follow through. You keep saying 'They won't' but they do! Watch it in the dark and tell me you're not jumping at every noise you hear! This film is much better than others would have you think.
The Toybox (2018)
B Movie Madness
Yes, it's not Academy Award winning by any means- the movie itself is actually a really great idea that could be made into a decent horror given a much higher budget- a serial killer who uses his RV as his mobile crime scene- his 'Toybox'- and then haunting it after his death. But take it as a cheaply-made B-movie and it is still a fun ride! Some (most) of the acting is below par, but if you go into it without expecting alot, you will be surprised! The killer is great, the glimpses we have of him (the tune that comes on when he's doing his thing will stick with you too!), and the deaths are unexpectedly fun and inventive! I enjoy this every time I watch it- one of the more fun B-movies made lately. Give it a shot and you might be surprised!
VFW (2019)
Remember the VFW!
Tonight I was looking for something fun and ran across VFW. It had everything in it that sounded fun-gory action, us against them, and 'Nam vets at the VFW! Eight friends gather at their favorite watering hole- the local VFW- and are celebrating the birthday of the owner that night. Most all are Viet Nam vets but one was in Korea and one fella freshly in from Desert Storm. Alot of familiar faces here: Stephen Lang (picture his character from 'Don't Breathe', only w/eyesight!), William Sadler, George Wendt, Martin Kove (in a rare 'good guy' appearance) to name a few. Anyway, just as their evening is getting started a teenage girl comes racing in, being chased by hordes of drug-crazed maniacs. It turns out that she stole from the drug 'king-pin'', took his whole stash of 'hype' the newest most addictive opioid developed, and the drug-crazed maniacs were sent by the king-pin to retrieve the girl and the drugs. So now the old-timers in the VFW make a stand, trying to save the girl and stay alive in the VFW. It's a gory race, a fun good-guy vs bad-guy movie. At one point one of the guys inside says 'Remember the Alamo' and one of the other fellas says 'But the all died there'. This is a modern Alamo-type movie only with old, almost-Rambos in the fort instead. Was it made to win an Oscar? No. Was it made to entertain? Yes. Does it succeed? Yes. Definitely. You get to know these guys, these eight old vets, holding down the fort and fighting back against what seems like hundreds of 'hyped-up' maniacs to protect this girl they don't even know. And even though there are one or two down-right silly parts, you will be at the edge of your chair to see who makes it to the end.
The Divide (2011)
A band of disparate characters take refuge in the basement home of building caretaker Mickey & after they're welded in, the world inside disintegrates as well.
The nuclear holocaust that occurs from the start is a minor character when compared to the group sealed shut in Mickey's home. It soon becomes apparent that Mickey, a loner who likes it that way, has let the wrong ones into his home, which as a survivalist and nihilist as well as a loner (after his wife died), he has kept well-stocked w/provisions for just such a terrible happening. He soon regrets letting in some of the group who are blacker inside than the ones who dropped the bomb outside, and the real horror of the movie comes with the knowledge that the human condition can be more terrible and frightening than any nuclear bomb. It isn't long before the're attacked by men wearing protective suits, but even then, you're kept in the shadows. As the movie moves along you begin to think it would have been better to be outside when the bomb was dropped.
I have to say that I've always enjoyed Michael Biehn's movies, but especially his later work after he (like we all) put on the years and looked the part he played (he was always a good actor but in his earlier work that was heavily coupled with his 'good looks' as the original Kyle Reese in the 1st Terminator and Cpl. Hicks in Aliens whereas in his later works he didn't 'lose' his looks, he aged into a hard, weather-beaten, tough good looking man). And his taking part in the making of the movies brought that bleakness, the hardness with a core of hope or caring, that makes you want to hunt down more by the man. Always a good actor, he got better, as well as his directing and producing, giving you movies hard to watch but impossible to stop. This is one of them-it shows you that sometimes you don't know who the real enemy is until it's far too late.