Is it possible for a film to be so bad that it is good? Well, if you're looking for an example of this cinema phenomenon, check out "She-Devils on Wheels" directed by drive-in, exploitation king, Herschell Gordon Lewis. A group of motorcycle mamas race each other to decide who gets first pick of their "stud" line. When a gang of men get in their way, a hell breaks loose and the war is on. The best way to describe this menagerie is to say it's a "Grease" gone terribly wrong. Even though we witness campy dialogue, bad acting, and fist fights that look like something you'd dream up when playing cops and robbers as children, "She-Devils" still seems to permeate a certain finesse from a different time of filmmaking.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
Fritt Vilt (Cold Prey) (3 Stars)
2006. Dubbed. Not Rated.
A group of friends go skiing on a remote mountain and one of them has an accident. With their car miles away, they find an abandoned ski lodge to stay for the night and quickly find out that someone has been there well before they arrived. This Norwegian slasher has a good-looking cast that actually can act; a welcoming treat that makes you care about these characters. The story is formulaic but it builds some sassy suspsense without the gratuitous gore. A sequel was released in 2008.
A group of friends go skiing on a remote mountain and one of them has an accident. With their car miles away, they find an abandoned ski lodge to stay for the night and quickly find out that someone has been there well before they arrived. This Norwegian slasher has a good-looking cast that actually can act; a welcoming treat that makes you care about these characters. The story is formulaic but it builds some sassy suspsense without the gratuitous gore. A sequel was released in 2008.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Paranormal Activity (4 Stars)
2007 (Created). 2009 (Limited Release). Rated R.
Captivating. Terrifying. Creepy. Believable. Are just a few words to describe this Poltergeist/The Exorcist/ The Blair Witch Project hybrid. It has been awhile since I have heard “ooh” and “oh my God!” mixed with gasps from an audience. A suburban couple begin to hear noises at night and decide to videotape their bedroom while they sleep. And lets just say the video captures a presence that becomes more and more active each evening. This micro-budget indie will give you goosebumps long after you leave the theatre.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Black Christmas (4 Stars)
1974. Rated R.
Bob Clark’s (Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, A Christmas Story and Porky’s) Christmas terror dishes out tension and character development in lieu of blood and guts. A sorority house gets obscene phone calls; a little girl is murdered in the park; a sorority sister disappears - how is it all linked?
Margot Kidder is fantastic and plays the smart-ass, drunk girl to a big T, along with Marian Waldman as the flip housemother. This Halloween precursor is sure to send chills down your spine. Highly recommend.
Bob Clark’s (Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, A Christmas Story and Porky’s) Christmas terror dishes out tension and character development in lieu of blood and guts. A sorority house gets obscene phone calls; a little girl is murdered in the park; a sorority sister disappears - how is it all linked?
Margot Kidder is fantastic and plays the smart-ass, drunk girl to a big T, along with Marian Waldman as the flip housemother. This Halloween precursor is sure to send chills down your spine. Highly recommend.
Quarantine (3.5 Stars)
2008. Rated R.
A remake of the 2007 Spanish film [Rec], Quarantine gives its viewers a glimpse of madness and carnage when a disease runs rampant in a quarantined apartment complex. Jennifer Carpenter (Emily Rose) is believable as a news reporter who goes on a call with the fire department to the complex and is trapped inside with her cameraman. Filmed Blair Witch style though the lens of Carpenter’s cameraman and includes only natural sound, the film is an effective zombie thriller. The last ten minutes evokes the same degree of hysteria and mayhem that the Blair Witch did back in 1999 and closes the film with a memorable finish.
A remake of the 2007 Spanish film [Rec], Quarantine gives its viewers a glimpse of madness and carnage when a disease runs rampant in a quarantined apartment complex. Jennifer Carpenter (Emily Rose) is believable as a news reporter who goes on a call with the fire department to the complex and is trapped inside with her cameraman. Filmed Blair Witch style though the lens of Carpenter’s cameraman and includes only natural sound, the film is an effective zombie thriller. The last ten minutes evokes the same degree of hysteria and mayhem that the Blair Witch did back in 1999 and closes the film with a memorable finish.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Coffy (3 Stars)
1973. Rated R.
Pam Grier is most excellent as a vigilante nurse who goes after the drug pushers that gave her sister laced drugs. Filled with head explosions, women catfights with salad and razorblades and most notably a young Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses and Devil’s Rejects), this blaxploitation, drive-in fair is a must see for those who like their action gritty and raw. The movie is dated and the dialogue can be corny at times – but this is pure 1970s nostalgia with Tarantino-esque style.
Pam Grier is most excellent as a vigilante nurse who goes after the drug pushers that gave her sister laced drugs. Filled with head explosions, women catfights with salad and razorblades and most notably a young Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses and Devil’s Rejects), this blaxploitation, drive-in fair is a must see for those who like their action gritty and raw. The movie is dated and the dialogue can be corny at times – but this is pure 1970s nostalgia with Tarantino-esque style.
Monday, January 19, 2009
My Bloody Valentine 3D (3 Stars)
2009. Rated R
Put on your 3D glasses, suspend your beliefs and let this film take you on a wonderful three dimensional ride through the coal mines of the town of Harmony. This remake of the 1981 film stays true to the original but also manages to both trim down the parts of the story that weigh down the predecessor and beef up the ideas that make it a classic. It’s a pure blood n guts splatterfest, mixed with a vintage 1970s drive in cinema feeling filled with a little-person homicide and a pissed-off, full-frontal, naked playboy bunny running through a parking lot (these two scenes are choice and add comic relief). Even though the film utilizes the black cat jumping out with loud music trick often, this remake still entertains as a full throttle action horror spectacle.
Put on your 3D glasses, suspend your beliefs and let this film take you on a wonderful three dimensional ride through the coal mines of the town of Harmony. This remake of the 1981 film stays true to the original but also manages to both trim down the parts of the story that weigh down the predecessor and beef up the ideas that make it a classic. It’s a pure blood n guts splatterfest, mixed with a vintage 1970s drive in cinema feeling filled with a little-person homicide and a pissed-off, full-frontal, naked playboy bunny running through a parking lot (these two scenes are choice and add comic relief). Even though the film utilizes the black cat jumping out with loud music trick often, this remake still entertains as a full throttle action horror spectacle.
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