Reviews

Much, much, better than The Church or Aquarius, Soavi is obviously finding his way as a director. A bit too over long and not everything makes sense - what's up with that rabbit?, but the film keeps your attention for much of it's length even though you aren't really sure what is going on. Most everything is explained in the end, and it was a nice surprise to see Herbert Lom outside of the Pink Panther films again.

Overall, a more worthwhile choice for those that liked Cemetery Man than either of Soavi's previous films.

Gotta dig that funky 70's soundtrack, and at times the film doesn't know if it is a romance, comedy, thriller, or horror film, but it is still pretty entertaining. The ending was a little abrupt and there were lots of plot threads left dangling, but all in all it takes you right back to 1974.

I was probably one of the handful of the people that totally missed this film theatrically and still managed to not hear the "secret", but I was ultimately disappointed when I did finally see the film.

The "secret" was so painfully obvious in the first twenty minutes that once I had guessed it the rest of the film was simply a game of seeing if what I was watching confirmed it....and inevitably it did.

I was also confused about so much effort being put into establishing the presence of spirits in the child's apartment, but when the plot was expanded to him 'listening' to them he instead seeks out another, entirely new character. What did the battered wife or the suicidal boy have to say, and other than to jump out and go "Boo!" what purpose did they serve?

It is still an entertaining, well made, and worthwhile film, but highly overrated.

Not near as disturbing as I'd thought it would be, but then I suppose I was expecting a "Brain Dead" bath of blood and gore.

Certainly the worst parts are the animal scenes, but even they didn't bother me as much. Sure, I'd been at parts of my life a vegetarian but I've jumped off of that train again and it seemed to me that the animals, especially the tortoise, were dispatched fairly quickly. Granted, what they did to the turtle was pretty gross but by that point it had been long dead and I'm sure that equally disgusting stuff going on in the neighborhood slaughterhouse.

The story itself is fairly simply but thought provoking, and while I'm sure that most people will be entirely put off by the on screen slaughter, those that demand more from their films will probably enjoy the subtle (?) message and come-uppance that the main characters get.

Better in the first in that there is a fun adventure story included and the writers aren't afraid to make a few sacrifices along the way to give the story some extra weight. The Majin's vengeance is better thought out than it was in the first film, and He is much more of a hero to the villagers this time out.

A bit talky, but certainly well acted and thought provoking.

Walken, looking all of 19, does his usual standout performance in this ethical drama. While not without it's drawbacks - the pace is a bit slow at times and the score is annoying, the questions raised about the ethics used by both the well-meaning Doctor and the frightening military will certainly cause future reflection.

I'm still not totally sure of the plot of this of Mad, Mad Planet, and the rather dicey conversion from Italian to English doesn't help much, but it's still a lot of fun. If you are a fan of Austin Powers then you really would enjoy the wonderful sense of design and fashion.

I'd love to hear what the stunt men that had a blow-torch fired point-blank at their chests were paid.

I'd sat down to watch this, after hearing it recommended on and off for months, not really knowing what to expect.

Wow! Almost two hours later and without a single break, I'd finished one of the most disturbing psychological thriller I'd ever seen.

Far better than Magic and totally without the supernatural elements that ruined that one for me, I'd have to say PIN is one of the better thrillers I've seen in a long time.

A very disturbing film, generally well made and acted.

This film reminds me of those old 30's pulp novels, in which a typically gross alien menace threatens the heroes. The color schemes used are mainly in the red and brown hues, giving the entire production the look of the cover of a pulp novel!

The ending is somewhat predictible, but it's a pretty fun ride getting there.

My man Sam has gone and went mainstream, and he couldn't have picked a better vehicle in which to do it.

The acting is superb, and the direction sublime. You may go into this expecting a Deadite in the cockpit of the plane, but this film shows that the true horrors lurk in the most unlikely of places.

I originally caught this when it was first broadcast, and for almost twenty years I had hazy memories of wookies grunting, Jefferson Starship singing, and a bunch of bad acting all around.

I remember that there was a lot of excitement around the playground the day this was supposed to be broadcast, but the next day most of the comments were about how boring it had been and how stupid the wookies were. It took quite a lot of effort on the part of the producers of this dreck to make a bunch of Star Wars crazy grade-schoolers talk badly about Star Wars, but somehow they managed it.

Thankfully, it lives on through bootleg videos and at least once a year I have some friend that claims that he's seen everything ever done about Star Wars and I can pull this out, pop it in the VCR, and sit back with a smile on my face as he slowly turns green - and not with envy. Rarely can we make it through the entire two hours.

I encourage everyone to get a copy of this, to view it, and to remember that even George Luca$, no matter how perfect he may think himself or his films to be, is NOT infallible.

Things start off nicely with a cheezy theme song, then a brief scene that is full of people in all sorts of period costumes, some weird orange mist, and a bizarre funeral.

Then the movie starts. The next hour is spent explaining why these people are doing what they are doing, and it takes a long time in getting there. Once they actually get to the so-called "Lost Continent", you can marvel at excellent model work, fabulous set design, rubber monsters, and wonderful costuming.

Worth a look for the payoff, but it takes some time to get there.