Change Your Image
were-skwerl
Reviews
Night Terror (1977)
A forgotten gem
I recently discovered this movie on YouTube, while trying to find a different movie. I had never heard of or seen this movie before, but I figured "what the heck..." I was pleasantly surprised to find myself sucked into it and 80 minutes later I realized I'd like to have a copy of this movie for future enjoyment. Yes, I'll agree that it borrows a lot from the movie "Duel" but it mixes it up just enough to were people aren't screaming "RIP-OFF" The movie is a bit short though, it would have been nice to have more of a back-story for the killer, we see him loading an army crate into a car, was he a Korean or Vietnam Veteran? Is that how he lost his voice? Was he an assassin or something? Did he live or die at the end? These unanswered questions are one of the things that prevented me from giving this movie a perfect score, the other reason was that there were too many coincidences. Carol just happens to run out of gas, the first time, only feet from a gas station, sure the station is closed but you don't see her having to push the car 5 miles up a hill. The second time she runs out gas it's only feet from a house, (the only one for miles I might add) sure there's no phone at this house, but at least there's people. Yeah, they're not much help but at least there's someone to, at least, verify that she was there. What happened to the Native-American couple before the killer steals their truck? Did he kill them? Despite all these unanswered questions, I found this movie to be quite engrossing and have been going back to YouTube to watch some of the more suspenseful scenes. If you're a fan of these old suspense movies then you should give this one a try, you can find it on YouTube under its original title "Night Terror"
The Fog (2005)
Lost in a fog...of nonsense!
Since nearly everyone else has panned this flick, I'll keep it short and simple. This movie is a waste of your time and, or, money. The surprising thing is that John Carpenter was very disappointed with the 1980 version, so he was all gung-ho to help out with the remake. Alas this remake wouldn't even scare 5 year-olds, the CGI's are so bad they looked like they were rendered by an old cold war era computer. I've seen low budget movies that had CGI's that would make the major studios green with envy, so there is NO excuse for bad CGI's in this day and age, but there are and it's just pure laziness on the part of the studio. This could have been an excellent horror movie about justice and revenge but, instead, it's a barely coherent mess that feels rushed and sloppy. Instead of watching this movie you could find something scarier in your sock drawer or maybe try balancing your checkbook, watching paint dry is slightly more entertaining than watching this clunker of a movie.
Jimmy the Kid (1982)
Don Adams in a dress...What more could you want?
Like one of the above reviewers, I, too, watched this movie on HBO every chance I could, in my early teen years. Basically you have an all star cast: You have Gary Coleman, who I thought was always kind of annoying no matter what movie or program he was in. You have Pat Morita, who didn't have much to work with here, you had Cleavon Little, of "Blazing Saddles" fame, you had Dee Wallace, who took a break from doing horror movies to play a ditzy blond. You had Paul Le Mat, who would gain real attention with "The Burning Bed" You had Ruth Gordon, who seemed to play the same character as she did in "Every Which Way But Loose" You had Walter Olkewicz, who plays a dumb, but lovable petty thief, and last but certainly not least, we have Don Adams, who simply plays the same type character that made him famous in "Get Smart" In fact, this movie could have been written by the "Get Smart" writers. You'll probably disagree, but, in my opinion, Adams seemed to do 75% of the work in this movie. The movie seems almost quaint by today's standards, there are times when the actors have to rely on one-liners or sight gags to pass the time, but I still watch it (I have it in my collection) I don't think this movie was ever a commercial success, though. One sad note: A lot of the stars have passed away; Coleman, Little, Gordon, Adams, Morita and also Avery Schrieber, who played Coleman's shrink, They're all gone! This movie was shown maybe once on TV, and then it kind of disappeared into the vortex of forgotten movies. Aside from salty language, it's a family friendly movie that avoids raunch and bodily-function jokes, which modern comedies rely on, so heavily!
Satan's Playground (2006)
A bit muddled, but watchable
I saw this recently and, though it wasn't great, I didn't think it was all that bad, either. We have, what I thought were 3 people going on a camping trip with their father, I only found out later that he was the husband of the dark haired woman. Anyhow, the car gets stuck and the husband, Frank, goes off in search of help, only to end up at the doorstep of creepy, old Mrs. Leeds and her even creepier looking daughter. Well, he gets offed right away as some Satan worshipers are just outside the house whipping some naked guy, I thought the Satanists would be central to the plot of the movie but they're not, and truthfully they don't add anything, artistically, to the movie. After waiting around awhile his wife, Donna, decides to go look for him and she ends up in the clutches of the weirdo Leeds family, then their autistic 18 year old son, Sean, has a vision of his mother in trouble and he goes off in search of her, leaving Donna's sister, Paula and her newborn behind. A police officer shows up at Mrs. Leeds door and tells her he ran off the Satan worshipers, on her property and hears Donna's muffled cries which Mrs. Leeds attributes to an injured cat. He returns to his patrol car and is killed by the Jersey Devil, who, as it turns out, doesn't really add any more to the movie then the Satan worshipers did. Paula awakens to find the patrol car parked only a few yards from their disabled car...She goes to investigate and finds the mangled corpse of the cop, she returns to the station-wagon only to see Mrs. Leeds creepy daughter making off with her baby, so she too ends up in the Leeds residence, dead. Sean ends up sinking in quicksand, the only survivor, Donna, escapes only to end up right back at the Leeds house, with a lone, elderly, disbelieving cop, who is quickly offed by Mrs. Leeds daughter, Donna escapes, again, only to meet her end at the claws of the Jersey Devil! This movie would have been better without the satanic cult, and the Jersey Devil element, and seeing Mrs. Leeds snorting coke!