Demon Possessed is a movie which embodies exactly the kind of quality I have come to expect from its makers, Action International Pictures. ::sneer:: That is not to say that I was not entertained by it, and I suppose that is all I can ask.
Read more: http://90shorror.blogspot.com/2011/08/demon-possessed.html
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Yakuza and High Anxiety
Robert Mitchum is cool and Mel Brooks is nervous.
Mitchum is the star power but this is Ken Takakura's movie and he is the motherfucking man. Watch him stride through the room starting at :26 in the above video. It's frightening, even though you're rooting for him. This is arguably the climactic scene of the film and you're watching a man who's been holding back for over 25 years finally let go.
The Yakuza is an amazing film. It has an east meets west theme but never makes its Asian characters into magical Zen weirdos. The entire film is, I feel, a metaphor for the U.S. and Japan finally overcoming their differences after WWII. Mitchum goes to Japan to help an American friend whose daughter has been kidnapped and gets re-involved with the woman he left behind there twenty-five years before; his old conflict with her brother, Takakura, which is the reason he had to leave, is still fresh.
What can you say about Mel Brooks? He's not my go-to director; most of his comedy is just too broad for my liking, but High Anxiety charmed me against my will. Madeline Kahn is always fun to watch, and who knew Brooks was a crooner?
Mitchum is the star power but this is Ken Takakura's movie and he is the motherfucking man. Watch him stride through the room starting at :26 in the above video. It's frightening, even though you're rooting for him. This is arguably the climactic scene of the film and you're watching a man who's been holding back for over 25 years finally let go.
The Yakuza is an amazing film. It has an east meets west theme but never makes its Asian characters into magical Zen weirdos. The entire film is, I feel, a metaphor for the U.S. and Japan finally overcoming their differences after WWII. Mitchum goes to Japan to help an American friend whose daughter has been kidnapped and gets re-involved with the woman he left behind there twenty-five years before; his old conflict with her brother, Takakura, which is the reason he had to leave, is still fresh.
What can you say about Mel Brooks? He's not my go-to director; most of his comedy is just too broad for my liking, but High Anxiety charmed me against my will. Madeline Kahn is always fun to watch, and who knew Brooks was a crooner?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
I Know What You Did Last Night
Last night I watched I Know What You Did Last Summer, which I picked up yesterday on VHS along with I Still Know and The Faculty as fodder for my 90s Horror Movies blog, but so far I've only used I Know to feed my oldest blogchild with a Who Would Win article. Check this out:
Tonight I’m debuting a new feature here on In It For The Kills. In the spirit of crappy movies like Freddy Vs Jason and Alien Vs Predator, we’re going to pit some horror villains who share similar characteristics against one another and see who would win in a fight. For our inaugural edition, it’s hook against hook. Who would win in a fight between Candyman and Ben Willis of I Know What You Did Last Summer? Let’s check the facts.
Read more: http://initforthekills.com/2011/08/27/who-would-win-candyman-versus-ben-willis/
Spoiler alert: Candyman wins.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Spellcaster and She Waits
Spellcaster was filmed in '87 but released in '92. This explains why a member of the cast who was supposed to be a super hot chick was wearing leggings with a long shirt, a big slanted belt, and boots instead of a baby doll dress, tights, and Doc Martens. The movie itself centers around a contest, run by an MTV-like channel, in which seven people go to an Italian castle for the weekend to look for a million dollar check. Unfortunately for them, the castle's owner is an evil guy with a crystal ball who keeps waving his hand and killing them in ways appropriate to their greed. It's basically Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for adults, if Willy Wonka was Satan.
Speaking of Satan, he is played by my childhood crush Adam Ant. I watched part of a movie called Rockula the other night which had Thomas Dolby in the cast, so I'm thinking of finishing that one so I can make a post about whether Dolby's character of Ant's character would win in a fight. Battle of the classic MTV pop stars!
She Waits is a terrific 70s TV movie starring Patty Duke as the lady whose new husband takes her to meet his mother, who lives in a huge house haunted by his old wife. Scary things happen. I'll explain it all later on Realm of the Uninvited. I know this is not a new statement, but wouldn't it be nice if TV movies went back to being fun to watch, instead of being horrible "based on a true story" movies about cancer?
Speaking of Satan, he is played by my childhood crush Adam Ant. I watched part of a movie called Rockula the other night which had Thomas Dolby in the cast, so I'm thinking of finishing that one so I can make a post about whether Dolby's character of Ant's character would win in a fight. Battle of the classic MTV pop stars!
She Waits is a terrific 70s TV movie starring Patty Duke as the lady whose new husband takes her to meet his mother, who lives in a huge house haunted by his old wife. Scary things happen. I'll explain it all later on Realm of the Uninvited. I know this is not a new statement, but wouldn't it be nice if TV movies went back to being fun to watch, instead of being horrible "based on a true story" movies about cancer?
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Metamorphosis
As a huge fan of Italian horror both good and bad I got excited when I started this movie and saw that it was put out by Filmirage. Ditto for the fact that it's written and directed by George Eastman of Anthropophagus fame. This movie may be filmed in Virginia, USA, with actual English-speaking actors, but it's Italian crap from the first frame. You can tell because the soundtrack of the beginning scene is dominated by Foley footsteps. They're not the clickety-clack ones in most Italian films, although there are plenty of those later. Nope, these are the unmistakeable squeak of athletic shoes on a gym floor during a game of basketball.
Read on and on...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Uncle Sam (1996)
I remembered this one only for the VHS box, which had a hologram on it that made Uncle Sam turn from live and angry to dead and scary. It was worth a watch, though, as I found out tonight, if you like cheesy movies. I'm sure it was supposed to be funny.
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