Reviews

I'll be the first to admit that historical movies aren't quite my go to movie for entertainment purposes, as I've reached my 50's now I've still managed to avoid the trip down historical lane.

However this being directed by Jesse V Johnson there was a certain compulsion that lead that piques my interest.

Predominantly known in his earlier career as a stunt man/co-ordinator Jesse made the mighty leap into the director's chair with such early fare as The Last Sentinel with Don The Dragon Wilson and Pit Fighter, strictly straight to video fare but no less engaging.

Over the ensuing years Jesse has honed his craft with the help of working with Scott Adkins and directing a number of high concept action vehicles that showed off not only Jesse's flare behind the camera but also allowed those not too familiar with Scott.

All of which I currently have in my collection, gems such as Avengement, Accident Man, Savage Dog and the Debt Collector Sequels.

As I discovered a while back, Boudica was a much cherished dream project and through his association with Bleiberg Entertainment he has been able to bring his dream to life.

Now just when you thought Jesse was all about stunts and no other substance, his visual eye is certainly to the fore with some stunning set pieces.

I have no doubt given the running time that certain aspects of the story have been dramatically altered partially for cinematic effect.

However that's not to say that he has skimped on the dramatic element, to the fore in that instance is the show stopping performance from Olga Kurylenko as the titular character.

I won't go too much into detail plot wise as that to me would be seen as spoiler territory, needless to say we watch as Boudica goes from humble yet quietly outspoken wife to fearsome warrior queen.

I do believe that the movie has a certain ethereal quality to it, especially when all around her don't believe that Boudica has the power or indeed skill set to to be the warrior queen, the moment she dives into the water to retrieve the sword truly is a magical moment that Jesse captures on film.

The power of Jesse compels to to see his interpretation of this often told tale, through doing so, I certainly hope it adds more movie goers to his fan base, of which I am proud to be one.

Onwards and upwards for you young sir.

No I'm not going to beat about the proverbial here! It's not often a movie makes me angry and prompts a walk out, but Ben Wheatley stab at the big time truly has me seeing red.

Granted having left 40 minutes before the movie finished probably doesn't warrant a review of any kind but you know when you just have to vent?

The original Meg was a let down, but being the Jason Statham fan that I am(Safe, Wild Card) being two of his finest efforts so I was hoping based on the trailer for the sequel things might be due for an upturn.

Sadly such was not for happening!

Now I never read the books but how on earth do you mess up when the golden goose is right there in the title.

Cliff Curtis was seriously underused and looked I'll, The Stath looked his comfortable self but he was given mundane dialogue. As there was Chinese investment in the movie, we had to suffer through a small portion of subtitles.

The trench sequences truly nailed the coffin for me, and as for the Meg itself, the way the story was developing, the prehistoric creature more or less took a back seat to the Die Hard elements that started to unfold.

I realise this was a summer blockbuster, leave your brain at the door but this was just a misfire and definitely not one for the Statham collection.

Before I thought about writing this review I thought I'd check out the others that had been written previously, true to form the majority were riddled with negatives and didn't quite get the point of the movie!

If I said to anyone who reads this, think The Sea Wolves meets The Wild Geese, and when you watch the movie and hear the names of the characters being mentioned like Burton, Peck and Harris then hopefully you will get the idea that the makers of this tidy little gem were aiming for, in essence a loving tribute to those old school action movies from the 70's and early 80's.

This being fledgling production company Shogun Films second full length feature after Nemesis, they truly upped their aspirations with aplomb.

The cast list alone was enough to garner my attention, with the likes of Louis Mandylor on barnstorming form as Goram, the gang leader who who every nerve is tested when things don't quite go to plan in his adoptive town.

The movie itself starts out with Nick Moran as Burton down on his luck with a story to tell, living rough and reliving a certain nightmare from his SAS years, upon reconnecting with an old comrade, Carver played by the still velvet smooth Lee Majors, just when things might be in the up for Burton, the cards come tumbling down and what ensues is a an action packed and at times quite breathless execution of events.

In order to restore peace in good old London Town, Burton along with his former brothers in arms must decide if they blend into the background or fight for their right to live as free men but also discover who murdered one of their own.

Directed with breakneck style by Daniel Zirilli who also puts in a cameo here, I won't say what his role his but it's a delight to see him on screen plus he also co wrote the theme song Renegades too.

If I didn't mention already beyond Nick Moran who shines so bright in this , the supporting cast includes some sterling turns, look out for Billy Murray as Woody, wearing his eye patch and brandishing a crossbow, he clearly was having a ball here, Paul Barber as Harris, Ian Ogilvy as Peck.

Lending some Hollywood power to the proceedings we also get further legends like Michael Pare, Danny Trejo and the late great Tom Tiny Lister.

The ending promises a potential sequel for the seasoned renegades and I for one would certainly get in line to see it.

Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

A solid 10/10.

It seriously pains me to say this, having been a longtime fan of Charles Band's going back to his Empire Days, the state of play at the House Of Full Moon is but a shadow of former glories!

There's a germ of a good idea in here, but what was needed was decent acting and most importantly a script worthy of the title itself.

Had the Director made this in the 80's the whole production would've made for better viewing but as it stands, despite some cameos from himself plus Becky LeBeau, this is woeful stuff.

Of course the sequel is forthcoming but I won't be checking it out.

Now gangster/gangland movies have never really been my thing but every so often I'll take the plunge and check one out.

My interest in this one stems from having known one of the producers on the project. Now before you raise an eyebrow and think I'm about to sing lyrically about the movie without giving my real thoughts, rest assured I've thought long and hard about this review.

Obviously filmed in the time of Corona, so with that in mind I tip my cap to all for pulling the production together in such circumstances.

As the movie begins we see a little girl running along a beach, as to why, it's a case of watch carefully and don't blink, it's all plot relevant.

What happens when a feared member of the gangster fraternity returns from exile, will things remain the same? Or will time have moved on, well as Billy Murray's John Morgan soon discovers, time waits for no man and in his absence enter the ever so suave Bruce Payne as Damien Osborne to lay down the rules of the game.

Of course Frank Morgan has other ideas and along with his wife, Sadie played by Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott and daughter Kate played by Roger Moore's granddaughter Ambra.

With a movie of this kind, how do you inject something fresh into the proceedings, as I mentioned previously it all begins at the beginning with the very brief prologue, who is this little girl and what part will she play during the ensuing proceedings.

Of course with Frank Morgan's arrival back on home soil, this ignites long fuelled passions of anger within the community plus it reinstates the passion for justice within Nick Moran world weary police officer Frank Conway, can he finally put his stamp of authority on the the returning Morgan and make the streets just that little bit safer? Or will his own demons take hold and derail his own sanity.

Whilst entertaining to a point, there are some issues, certain scenes go on way too long, the direction isn't exactly flashy given that the Director James Crow is more known in certain circles for his frequent foray's into the horror genre but this assignment was a last minute gig as he replaced the original director Adam Stephen Kelly, who wrote the script for this movie.

There is a very jaw dropping scene involving Miss Sothcott, which at first glance was perhaps not needed, but if you recall the movie world of Roger Corman and his insistence that if the plot is flagging throw in some mild nudity.

Granted afterwards, I did ponder and wonder if the scene between Miss Sothcott and Lucy Aarden's character of Zoe that followed afterward should have went in a different direction.

The storyline is a little strained in terms of trying to follow it but no doubt revisions played a part in certain elements of the coherency of the plot, I must say though the scenes between Nick Moran and Ricky Grover as Billy in the bar room scene were excellent, very understated with both actors bouncing off one another with some choice dialogue, in some respects Nick Moran's character pretty much stole the show.

Billed as a home invasion thriller, this aspect comes into play with the party scene, and the events that follow with double cross shenanigans revealing themselves between all parties plus we get a twist in the tail which as twists go did sting a little as the plot devices used to wind up the story didn't at any point suggest what had happened in the life of Frank Morgan previously.

The movie itself has been a huge hit regardless of what I or any one else's think, and having been on the set of this movie I understand the blood sweat and tears that went into making it, but perhaps if they hassle given themselves more time and filmed at a later date we might have gotten a more polished production but to be commended regardless.

So I left it to my wife to choose our Friday night movie, looking through the listings on Netflix we stumbled upon this alleged romantic comedy within the confines of Little Italy somewhere in Canada, although if you look this movie up on IMDB the location is Toronto(my own home city) but such a location isn't actually mentioned but then again why should it when the storyline revolves around an Italian family, their culture and of course their love of pizza.

However to quote Peter Griffin from Family Guy, what really grinds my gears is when the whole scenario is totally forced, the characters are carbon copies from movies that did it with far more success, instantly Moonstruck springs to mind.

Of course, with every passing decade a new breed of filmmaker and they believe they have conjured up something special! Sadly not so in this case.

The main leads were fine, although Hayden Christensen does lay on the Italian charm a little too thick, Emma Roberts didn't really have to hard and really she didn't quite pass as Italian.

As good and sometimes excellent as Danny Aiello has been in movies gone by, I have to ask why Danny, why tarnish your reputation with such a pithy role.

However, I'd blame were needed to be bestowed, I'm not going to say Director Donald Petrie, but rather Vinay Virnani, who wrote the story for this as well as co writing the script, there are two Asian characters in the movie, who to be honest are just on screen to illicit laughs, if anything the storyline should've perhaps been a culture clash of Asian meets Italian, as perhaps this might've been a tad more watchable.

My wife enjoyed it, I found myself rather annoyed with the entire proceedings, as a life long movie fan, I implore you all, avoid at all costs, go watch Moonstruck or even Big Night just to remember how tales of love and laughter can be viewed within Little Italy

Now I must have been around sixteen years old when I first watched this, much to my mother's surprise, I actually rented something that was guaranteed to pull at the heart strings, rather ripped said beating heart from your chest, yes I was one of those teenagers back in the 80's who was forever renting horror movies!

However from time to time I was always caught off guard by the latest trailer I had watched, and true enough Hugh Leonard's very own screen adaptation of his award winning play had caught my attention.

Back in the 80's, I was never interested in girls, was I even interested in school? Well that's another story! But a trip to the video store was always a big highlight for me, and of course being half Irish, the landscape of the movie resonated deeply with me.

Being of an age now whereby I recall my time as a boy in Ireland, and my very own relationship with my father and indeed my Irish side of the family, gathers ever more momentum as I get older.

Having just watched the movie for the first time in 30 years, for years leading up to this point I used to quote lines from the movie to my wife every so often, 'Sappy Days' There's okd Drumm coming halfway up the The path and thst all time zinger as spoken by Martin Sheen as Charlie when he sees his long deceased dog coming back as one of those memories 'Ah you're dead too Blackie, you that! Such a line even all these years later still brings a tear to my eye, and the wife knows this all to well.

If you ever visited the small towns or villages in Ireland, then you willcone to realise, that life somehow stands still, we may move with our lives, create new memories, but the memories of our past will forever haunt us, Be they the good memories or indeed the bad.

Now I would imagine, Da is somewhat autobiographical, look for Hugh Leonard as oneof the pallbearers at Da's funeral, true elements of the movie make you feel like you are watching the stage play unfold, but as the movie plays out, it doesn't matter one bit.

The performances from all the cast remain unblemished by time, the late Barnard Hughes excels in his recreation of his role from stage as Da, and as for Martin Sheen, does he ever give a bad performance? Certainly not here, watch as he embraces the past, rekindles memories both heartwarming and of course heart wrenching in one of the greatest 80's movies ever made.

So it goes like this, my wife suggested the other day that we might go see a movie of a mutual choice, currently playing in the local cinema is Mama(my kind of movie) Being a fan of Nicholas Sparks's previous adaptations, particularly The Notebook & Nights In Rodanthe, the mutual nature of choosing together went completely out the window as I thought to myself, lets do the date movie thing.

Now apart from the Nicholas Sparks reference I knew nothing about the movie, and granted I prefer to watch horror movies, whodunnits, as I have done all the live long day, I have as I've gotten older broaden my scope when it comes to big screen entertainment.

However there comes a time in a married man's life when you gotta say, whoa nellie! what on earth am I watching here.

Now if ever a movie deserved spoilers to dissuade fellow patrons from parting with their hard earned cash, then this be the movie to spill the beans with, that being said, we should all judge for ourselves and be adult about it.

When my wife put forth the movie as said date movie, I kept calling it No Safe Haven(my mind was thinking about an old Wings Hauser movie) and I nearly asked for two ticket for that movie. As the movie began to unfold, my mind drifted toward the old Patrick Bergin/Julia Roberts rib tickler Sleeping With The Enemy.

Now I said no spoilers, and I will stay true to my promise, but sleeping with the enemy is all I will say, and truthfully that's all that permeated through my mind as the movie played. About half an hour into the movie I begged my wife to set me free, but she gripped my arm with a vice like grip and made me sit with her.

Many thoughts ran through my mind, Josh Duhamel you are better than this. Lasse Halstrom do you ever remember directing My Life As A Dog, good god man you don't need the money that badly and lastly Mr Nicholas Sparks, how dare you! In recent times you have systematically resurrected the romantic drama from it's slumber but with this glossy piece of dreck you are trying to pull the wool over the cinema patron's eye.

Something told me that we were not going to be in the same territory as his previous screen adaptations, and I said as much to the wife, when I exclaimed to her 'Something tells me my love, you are not going to shed a tear at this one' but hey what do I know, I'm a guy(as the character in Say Anything said, the world is full of guys, be a man) well I'm man enough to say, this was not the movie for me, and if you check out what I've reviewed in the past, you might well agree.

That being said, you've been warned, No Safe Haven.....sorry Sleeping With The Enema is instantly forgettable. Even My wife agreed with me and that's not an easy thing for her to do.

I've often thought many years after my first initial viewing of this sequel, just what was Anthony Hickox thinking when he wrote and directed this serious misfire to what was a very enjoyable and fun filled original.

Admittedly when it came to the first Waxwork, what drew my attention to the movie was the groovy looking cover, such a weakness for cool looking artwork covers still haunts me to this very day, even though I am no longer than impressionable teenager, but a man celebrating his fortieth year on this planet(how about that for ageing this review and indeed myself) Luckily the first movie was able to deliver upon the promise of the synopsis and the artwork on show. What the second installment was sadly lacking was direction, a cohesive storyline and more importantly that fun factor.

I remember when this was first announced, I was so excited, because after Waxwork, Hickox made what was arguably(for me anyway) his best movie, Sundown The Vampire In Retreat, so having watched both these movies, I felt a need to watch any movie that Hickox applied his name to.

With the first Waxwork, the story had an aim and fully formed structure, plus a great cast to see it through, alas all the name's attached to Lost In Time, we mere time fillers and what did he have them do, re-enact/rehash classic scenes from 'The Haunting' and 'Alien' et al.

I can still hear Lesley Gore singing 'It's my party' at the end credits of the original, too bad this monster mash up, that Hickox threw together couldn't find that necessary gel to make it all stick.

A bitter disappointment. 2/10

Yes indeed the 1980's when I was but a very impressionable teenager, it felt like my every waking hour was spent in my local videostore, and when I was in school, I was always thinking about what movie I was going to watch next.

As was the case back then, a cool looking cover was always the catalyst for me to hire the movie regardless of whether or not I enjoyed the movie.

So Ghoulies was to be my introduction to the cinematic world of a certain film producer Charles Band, and his company Empire Pictures. Having just recently revisited the world of Ghoulies, and just about to embark on my fortieth year on this earth, I have hand on heart began to realise that what I liked when I was a teenager, has not remained the case as I've gotten older.

No matter what the detractors think of Charles Band's riff on Gremlins, the movie does have more plus points than negatives. The overall acting is pretty spot on, Peter Liapis as Jonathan Graves truly devours his part as Jonathan Graves, heir apparent to the supernatural throne left to him by his late demented father Malcolm, Michael Des Barres.

Des Barres has never been an actor that I've been to keen on, maybe it's his accent that I find somewhat off putting, but then again if you've ever watched him in Diary Of A Sex Addict, the title pretty much summed that movie up, but let us not forget his turn in Nightflyers.

You know when your a teenager, and you just watch copious amounts of nonsense, you tens to forget what you've watched and just who was in it, back in 85, I had no idea who Jack Nance was, but then I still hadn't watched Eraserhead, but Nance participation was a bit of a shock to me, I did find myself doing a double take when I spotted him hiding behind that fake beard, but you never forget that crazy eyed stare.

But what about the movie itself. Like I've mentioned previously, viewing the movie as an adult, you still sensed the atmosphere, those pesky Ghoulies, still look as cheap and cheerful and not quite scary as ever, but Luca Bercovici does capture some pretty good stuff on camera.

Of particular mention was the scene when Malcolm rises from his grave, quite striking and very well lit.

Ghoulies was my first introduction to Charles Band, but it wasn't until I watched Trancers, that my interest in Band's output truly took hold of my teenage years, and throughout the next two decades.

Ghoulies 2 was a smart little follow up three years later, ignore the next two sequels, as really you can't hold a candle to the original.

My rating is 6/10

First there was Alvin Purple, then came Alvin Rides Again, just when you thought you'd never catch sight of the purple headed monster again, along comes Melvin Son Of Alvin or as I fondly remember it known as Foreplay.

I have to say that if it wasn't for Mark Hartley superb Not Quite Hollywood, his documentary on Ozploitation movies, I would never have realised that before Melvin there came Alvin Purple, but then again when I first saw Foreplay I was fourteen years old, and as such my hormones were just peaking, and any movie that had a whiff of T & A about it I had to watch it, granted such movies like this were released in the 1980's before the BBFC took control of the home video market and exercised their right to ruin your entertainment behind closed doors.

Released here in the U.K by that late great home video distributor Medusa Home Video, the movie's plot was very slight, Melvin discovers that he too has that same sexual charisma that his father had before him, and every woman that he comes into contact with just has to have a piece of him.

Of course all Alvin wants it to share his love with one woman, namely Gloria.

Gerry Sont, whom I can only remember from Home & Away exudes a certain charisma and breezes throughout the movie with effortless ease. Like I said the storyline is paper thin, as this is considered part of the Ozploitation package of movies that Australia churned out back in eighties.

The movie does contain one of the catchiest themes tunes ever, 'Melvin the son of Alvin, which seems to permeate throughout the movie, I did wonder back then, did the movies budget only allow for one song, that aside the movie delivers upon the promise of it's titillating artwork cover.

What the definition of Foreplay? Brace yourself for some naughty antipodean antics and enjoy this now ultra rare slice of saucy sexiness.

My rating is 6/10

Back in the 1980's when you wanted to watch a cheap and cheesy little B movie, the only label that really delivered the goods on the home video front was the late great home video company Medusa Home Video(anyone in the U.K who might happen to read this review will instantly recognise the name) Medusa Home Video thrived on releasing some really good and seriously off the wall movies that would never ever see the light of day.

If it's was Italian action movies(Warbus & Blastfighter spring quickly to mind) then it was sterling efforts emerging from down under, some might not have been very good, but you can never fault the overall commitment when it came to movies like Kadaicha, Out Of The Body.

It is true what they say, for every miss-fire, you will inevitably discover a little gem, and as such Dangerous Game certainly delivered the goods.

At the time I wasn't familiar with the name of Stephen Hopkins(then again who was) but after this movie Mr Hopkins received the call from America and made a few decent genre movies(Judgment Night, Nightmare 5 & Predator 2) but with his directorial debut, Hopkins much like Russell Mulcahy displayed with Razorback, that even if you had next to nothing in the way of a budget, you could more than make up for in the way of style.

That is not to say that the film had many flaws attached to it, Yes its true that the movies plot revolving around five teens being terrorised by a maniacal cop is in any way original, but it does help if you have the actor Stephen Grives playing the crazy arm of the law, who through every scene we get to watch and feel the emotional breakdown of this troubled law enforcement officer.

It's been many many years since I last watched this movie, but it takes a certain something about a movie for me never to forget about it, Sundown - The Vampire In Retreat is one such movie as is Steve De Jarnatt's killer thriller Miracle Mile.

What is that one thing you might ask? Well it takes a few things, a decent concept, some really good dialogue and as always some barnstorming acting. With every thriller you have to have a really good villain, and not since Inseminoid has Stephen Grives had the chance to exercise his acting chops but equipped with some exceptional dialogue, his freak out speech when he toys with Marcus Graham's character Jack and that of Kathryn when he realises that they have never seen a dead body before just rocks! When I had the movie in my collection, I always had to rewind that one scene just to hear every line of dialogue.

What of the rest of the cast, yes it's true that Grives is the star of the show as the Irish cop working down under, but the young cast more than hold their respective own, Miles Buchanan(Bliss) as the computer nerd who holds a serious torch for Ziggy(Sandy Lillingston) and Marcus Graham who for the majority of the movie is the main aim of psycho cop Murphy psychotic attentions.

Whilst not a very bloody movie, it does deliver, the Medusa Home Video cover was always the coolest and whilst this movie has all but fell beneath the radar, if you can find it, check it out and get ready to experience antipodean horror in your life.

Ps, the ending promised a sequel, thankfully such a thing never materialised.

A Dangerous but very true 10 out of 10 for this lost little Australian gem

As of this writing I've finally managed to bag myself the unrated director's cut of Scott Speigel seriously classy directorial debut Intruder(aka Night Crew) this release comes courtesy of Charles Band's Wizard Entertainment label, Prior to Intruder, Scott Spiegel name for me was only ever recognisable from his screen credit for co-writing my all time favourite Evil Dead movie, Part 2 - Dead By Dawn. With Intruder, Speigel created a very groovy suspenseful little thriller.

Essaying his soon to be recognised trademarks goofy camera angles(the camera in the shopping trolley) and writing some really good dialogue, Spiegel created for me personally a seriously cool little slasher classic.

All the actors excel, especially Dan Hicks(watch the movie to discover why) although the trailer I watched gave too much away with regards to the actual outcome of the movie, heck even the back of the Wizard release even shows the killer's identity, that being said, this movie hits all the right notes, such a transgression is oh so minor.

Then again I've watched this movie so many times down through the years, just to watch the movie build crank up the tension is always a joy to behold, and yes it's always nice to see the KNB effects team special effects fully uncut in this movie.

Although not really a horror movie, but after two decades this movie still lingers in the memory for all the right reasons.

A resounding 10/10

I realise that the original Friday the 13th set the benchmark for all subsequent sequels and any other teen orientated horror movie made during the eighties and beyond, and in truth it was a decent little chiller, especially that ending! However for me, Friday The 13th - The New Blood has always been my personal favourite of all the Friday movies made. Two reasons for that were the presence of director John Carl Buechler calling the shots and scriptwriter Daryl Haney credited as co-scripter.

I've always loved my B movies, and these two masters of their respective craft have been attached to some of my favourites down through the years, Buechler's Cellar Dwellar is still one of my favourite Empire movies, and as for Haney, he hit the nadir of his career when he worked for both Harry Bromley Davenport & Axis Films International.

Now as for Part 7 - The New Blood, how do you resurrect everyone's favourite bogeyman when he's been anchored deep beneath the murky waters of crystal lake, why not introduce a girl called Tina, who many years earlier consigned her errant father to a watery grave via her ability for telekinesis.

Then of course when she feels that she needs comforting she accidentally brings back everyone's favourite bad guy, who naturally picks up where he left off, slicing and dicing.

Lar Park Lincoln excels in the role of the adult Tina, emoting very well the stresses and strains of being a teenager with an unusual talent, but the Oscar for the best bad guy on screen, aside from Jason that is must surely go to Terry Kiser as Tina's snake in the grass svengali Doctor Crews.

Although many people expect a film like Friday the 13th and it's respective sequels to have bum acting and less than sterling scripts, but that is certainly not so, as Friday The 13th Part 4 - The Final Chapter & Buechler's seventh entry in the series will attest to.

Why even Kane Hodder brings his usual panache to the role he made his own.

As sequels go, this one get's my full attention every time, 10/10

For creating a movie so Godawful that it truly defies description! I first discovered this movie's title when I was browsing through John Carl Beuchler's list of credits here on IMDb, naturally seeing such a title listed captured my imagination and why wouldn't it.

Now I did harbour ideas of purchasing the movie, based upon Buechler's participation and of course that of Eric Weston as director, although it had been many a year since I had last sat down to watch Evilspeak, favourable memories of that movie still lingered in my mind! Trying to find a release date or even a website that was selling the movie proved impossible, but luckily for me(however dread was to follow) here in the U.K. we have the horror channel, who from time to time do show the odd decent little horror movie, so without hesitation I sat down to watch it.

From the opening beats of the movie, my initial thoughts of yeah turned quickly to Holy crap! You would think that the presence of headline star Costas Mandylor would at least elevate the movie, but having witnessed Mandylor sacrifice his dignity in the movie Dr Chopper I should have known better, if it wasn't for the Saw franchise the man wouldn't have a career! As for Eric Weston, what happened in the intervening years between Evilspeak and Hyenas? did he forget how to be creative? In this instance the artwork for the movie offers more than the actual movie delivers! 1/10

When Empire Pictures folded back in the late 1980's Company founder Charles Band has often cited that the reason for his beloved company's demise was the many acquisitions that his company made.

One such pick up was this cheap and cheesy supernatural horror movie written and directed by Bruce Hickey, who as far as I can gather has never been tempted back to have another stab within the horror genre, of course for any of you out there who have actually sat through this movie, perhaps one bite of the cherry for Mr Hickey was more than enough for anyone to stomach.

However if you look beyond Bruce Hickey's initial involvement, the main point of interest for me was the man who produced the movie, that man of course being the legend that is Tim Kincaid, who was taking a career break from making gay porn to lend his name to this a few other choice Empire releases, remember such gems as Mutant Hunt & my own personal guilty pleasure Breeders.

The main star of this movie was LeeAnne Baker, who by all accounts was a personal favourite of Kincaid's as she turned up in nearly all of his low budget legitimate movies, whilst not overly endowed both in body and acting talent she did have that something special about her, and luckily given the lead role as Eva, the reincarnated witch, she goes about stealing virginity's all over the place.

A major highlight of the movie is when Baker's character suddenly develops multiple boobs and her minions of the night start to suckle upon her lady lumps, a seriously demented delight indeed.

The storyline doesn't hold much water, the sheer goofiness of it all makes it all quite endearing and the major attraction is of course LeeAnne wearing all her Lipstick, Powder & Paint, parading around the Goth chic you shouldn't cross for fear of your losing your mortal soul and virginity.

Charles Band's Empire may have vanished, but these pick up flicks that he chose to release straight to video are what made my teenage viewing all the more memorable.

A boobtastic 7/10

Every genre fan worth their collective salt should always make time to check out this cheeky little off the wall supernatural black comedy.

Back in 1986 when this movie glided onto home video I was just gathering my love for all things off the wall when it came to genre movies, of course back then my main preoccupation was any movie associated with Charles Band and his glory days at Empire Pictures.

That being said, every so often a certain trailer would come to my attention that would more often than not strongly suggest that I should really check that movie out.

So without hesitation, I devoured the movie, from certain pieces of dialogue, some seriously well staged set pieces and a really good soundtrack.

A few years later when the movie surfaced on DVD, I needed no invitation to purchase, once again if you harbour any anorak ambitions, listening to how they came up with the story and how the movie got made is always worth a serious listen.

Reminising just recently after my latest viewing, the movie has lost none of its charm, William Katt looked like he was having fun, I had only ever seen him in one movie previous, remember Disney's Baby Secret Of The Lost Legend? Would he rather forget that one and cling to the memories of House.

Or how about Kay Lenz, she who has the most amazing jaw line, should they ever consider a revamp of Doc Savage look no further, Ms Lenz's career highlight for me was the very excellent 'Stripped To Kill' which had hot dancers, a killer soundtrack and a pretty decent storyline.

George Wandt as Harold Gorton I could take or leave, his acting style has never really amounted to much for me, as for behind the camera, Steve Miner was already a seasoned professional when it came to this style of movie-making and as his mentor Sean S. Cunningham was their as his guiding light how could he fail.

Of course the greatest aspect for me was the script, complete with a story by Fred Dekker, who really should try for a comeback, and a script by Gremlin puppeteer Etahn Wiley, Mr Wiley's career truly has been all over the place.

No matter how many sequels that came to pass, you really can't deny that this first excursion into household terror really was the best, in fact it was priceless!....

10/10

Of all the horny as all get out comedies that I remember watching back in the 1980's, Revenge Of The Nerds, Screwballs, and of course the Porky's trilogy, The Party Animal has always remained a constant source of reverie in my mind.

Having just watched the Region 1 release, after not viewing the movie in more than twenty years, It never comes as a shock to me that once the first few frames pass by how the memories just come flooding back of just why I liked this movie.

First and foremost was the soundtrack, The Fleshtones & especially The Buzzcocks, another movie released somewhere around the same time Splitz also had a killer soundtrack, plus it also contained that killer element of copious amount of female flesh wildly on show.

To that end, and as I was your atypical teenager just discovering the joys of these teen sex comedies, the T & A aspect of The Party Animal was for me the major selling point and I must confess, those elements still hold up to this day.

Considering what kind of movie this is, you wouldn't expect the acting to be up to much, but once again the vast majority of the actors acquit themselves admirably, Matthew Causey shines in the role of Pondo Sinatra, who as we all know would sell his soul for a piece ass! It's really is amazing that Causey refuses to acknowledge this movie, his career hasn't really taken flight, and I for one would love to be associated with a movie that has attained major cult status, but I'm sure Causey has his reasons.

The only real star to emerge from the movie was Tim Carhart, although he has one of those faces, I can only remember him from Thelma & Louise, I often wonder if he would ever shy away from talking about this cool little comedy.

Although the movie does have a fractured narrative, which in truth actually helps propel the movie forward, the movie itself is still a great little slice of eighties sleaze and tease and with such pleasures they don't come as guilty as this classic sex crazed comedy.

This movie gets a Viagra free 10/10

The first and last time I saw this Tobe Hooper movie was back in 1990, I was nineteen years old, the strangest thing about it was that at that time I was totally gripped by it, but also at the same time I couldn't forget about it.

The sole reason at that time was the participation of Brad Dourif in the main role of Samson/David Bell, the man with a curse on his very soul! Just recently I managed to pick up the Anchor Bay Region 1 double header release which aside from Spontaneous Combustion, also included the seriously excellent Society.

Having just watched SC again, the movie despite some real shoddy effects moments, really has held up well after all these years, as previously mentioned, Dourif holds the movie together despite his performance taking flight on many occasions.

I have to say though that two other performances really stood out for me, one being the criminally underused Brian Bremer as Samson's father, you know I still remember Brian as Bunt in Stan Winston's excellent Pumpkinhead' from that performance to his turn here, he has always been an actor to remember.

The other was Cynthia Bain as Samson's potential love interest, I cant for the life of me remember her character's name, of course both her and Bremer were both in Pumpkinhead, both shared some serious screen time in that movie and it's two bad they didn't here.

Hooper might be considered as a master of horror, and despite having watched nearly all his horror offerings, I can honestly say that aside from SC and The Funhouse, nearly everything else has been more miss than hit, oh the scars that I still carry from sitting through The Mangler.

But enough about the bad and remember this decent little flourish that Hooper concocted from his own story, with some decent set pieces and a brisk pace, Spontaneous Combustion certainly set my cinematic world on fire some twenty plus years ago and to this day I recall with fondness.

Check it out - 9/10

You know when you really want to like a movie, even after all the bad press and all the negative reviews that gather muster when a movie is really really bad! Well regardless of all that was said and done, I was adamant that I was going to check out the Menachem Golan produced and Albert Pyun directed big screen version of Marvel's first avenger Captain America.

Now I knew going into the movie that Albert Pyun's track record in making decent movies was few and far between and sure enough was in the words of Ronny Cox's who played the president in the movie, it's all bad medicine! Granted the major highlight for me was the villain The Red Skull, essayed in the movie by Scott Paulin, a longtime favourite of Pyun's if you ever check out Paulin's filmography, curiously Paulin also doubles up as an army doctor near the beginning of the movie.

As for the Matt Salinger playing Steve Rogers/Captain America, he tried, but wearing that goofy looking suit and spouting Stephen Tolkin's rigid dialogue, made his task nigh on impossible.

There is so much wrong with the movie, one such problem was the suggestion that the Red Skull was to the forefront of all the major assassinations throughout history, and the other was the environmental message running throughout the movie, I don't want to preached to whilst watching a superhero movie, I just want to enjoy the marvel of it all.

Is it a good thing that this movie is seriously hard to find, perhaps! and I must say that whilst watching the movie it reminded of Superman 4 - The Quest For Peace, and what that was trying to do, try less to entertain and strive more for force feeding us the viewer an environmental message.

You do have to wonder if this movie was made to keep the copyright alive, much like the Roger Corman produced Fantastic Four movie, which was also somewhat on the dreadful side.

All in all, this version will be consigned to the vaults of history and by doing so we will all feel very thankful.

My rating is 2/10, why 2? because it's Captain America, plus Albert Pyun directed the movie. With Pyun, you will never know what to expect, for every Sword And The Sorceror, we get Crazy Six!

Some might say that living in the past is not a good thing! But when I think about the movies that I remember fondly from my formative teenage years the Richard Wenk written/directed Vamp has remained a firm cult favourite of mine ever since then.

Just recently I thought I would dust off my Anchor Bay release and give a welcome return to old familiar territory after watching many a dud of late, and truth to tell the movie has not lost any of it's style and wit after all the years.

Granted the presence of Grace Jones is the main selling point of the movie, and from the original poster release, video release and the Anchor Bay release, her face is plastered all over them, I've never been a fan of the woman, I've never found attractive and her music has no appeal whatsoever.

For me the main stars of the movie are the protagonists of Keith & A.J. ably assisted by Duncan as they go on a nocturnal search for the perfect stripper, why you might ask? To gain access to their chosen frat house, they offer to garner the services of said stripper to entertain the frat boys and make it easier for them to gain admittance to the frat house of their choice.

Sounds like a simple task Right? If only! As our three heroes discover to their cost as their journey into hell more or less begins when they have a run in with Billy Drago and his cohorts, from there they head straight into the After Dark Club, and then the real horror begins.

Any horror fan worth their salt knows the story, so I wont tread over familiar ground but needless to say Messrs Makepeace(who looks like a young Mel Gibson) & Robert Rusler make a great double team, I could take or leave the Dedee Pfeiffer character and the presence of the late great Sandy Baron as the After Dark Club emcee really gives the movie a certain edge.

A truly great vampire movie, that has in abundance a great visual style, a seriously good soundtrack, the first song played in the After Dark Club when Candy(Sweet Sweet Candy) is dancing is still my favourite, plus Gedde Watanabe's line to the waitress when he asks her what time do she get off is still a classic.

Once bitten forever smitten that's how I feel about this 80's entry in the vampire genre.

My rating is an immortal 10/10

Love him or loathe him, director Albert Pyun will always manage to divide his critics with his movies. My initial initiation with Pyun's vision was Radioactive Dreams, it had a quirky charm, two decent actors in the leads and a really good soundtrack courtesy of Sue Saad and Drock.

Back in my teenage years, my movie tastes were mainly geared toward horror movies and anything remotely B movie orientated, and it just so happened that Albert Pyun was making such movies primarily for one of my favourite film companies Cannon Films. Inc.

One such B movie, made for very little, if Cannon didn't want to spend too much, Albert Pyun was always on hand to squeeze every ounce of the budget he was afforded, and one such movie that he lent his talents toward was Alien From L.A.

How would you describe Alien In L.A? back when I first watched the movie I was only seventeen, and all I knew was two things, it was a Cannon production and more importantly it was a film by Albert Pyun, having watched the movie for the first time in twenty-three years, and grown a few decades older, I viewed the movie and garnered a few thought about it.

Well its a fairytale, as the once upon a time in the opening proclaims, we then catch sight of Wanda as she is being dumped by her boyfriend for being dull and annoying, that last remark is in part due to her voice, which is ever so slightly highly pitched, oh and she is also lacking in ambition and adventure.

So cue a letter relating to her supposed late father, informing her that she must come to Africa in relation to her father's disappearance, so in a blink of an eye we are treated to a myriad of visuals, some severe lapses in storytelling.

Granted the movie utilises Jules Verne's much told Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, but it also adds a dash of Indiana Jones and King Solomons Mines, plus and I mustn't forget the fairytale take on Alice In Wonderland, especially as Wanda(cutely played by Kathy Ireland) in pursuit of answers about her father falls down the rabbit hole and straight through the looking glass and wakes up in the fabled underground city of Atlantis.

It all sounds pretty cool, and truth to tell, one look at the cover and reading the synopsis back in 1988, I was hooked! Although to be honest the main draw was the director, and having just viewed the movie prior to drawing upon my thoughts, it is still a visual treat on the eyes, and the storyline is clearly visible, but the execution is truly all over the place.

Another painful aspect is the accents of some of the characters, especially William R. Moses, an underground opportunist, when he first spoke I thought to myself, is he Australian? is his mouth full of apple's and pears and was he in fact trying his hand at a cockney accent, but then he sounded like Vincent Klyn's Fender character from Pyun seriously cool Jean Claude Van-Damme futuristic actioner Cyborg.

In the end I just gave up trying to decipher was he was trying to do, but then nearly all the featured players were also affecting faux-pas east London accents, I guess what made it really annoying was the fact that the actors portraying these roles were all South African actors and you could really tell, if you've ever watched any South African based, American set movie, you'll always tell by the accents.

For all the bad things to be found within the movie, there are some good, and these good points lean toward the presence of Kathy Ireland, Deep Roy and longtime favourite of Pyun's Thom Matthews as Wanda's Prince Charming, which leads to the obvious happy ending.

I've always believed that when Albert Pyun worked under the control of Golan/Globus, that yes they saw that he had potential, but did they harness that potential properly, by cutting the budget's and working to a tight schedule, certain things had to take a back seat, and in this case it was the story structure.

Such things are still present with every movie Pyun has made, from his Cannon days straight through to his Filmwerks output, great ideas but severely lacking in a cohesive execution.

The upshot of all this? check through Pyun's back catalogue and track down his better efforts, the already mentioned Cyborg and that other classic actioner Nemesis.

My generous rating is 3/10 and that's for the presence of Pyun, Ireland and Cannon Films. Inc

Within the world of Adult Cinema, writer and director Tim Kincaid will always be revered, having no inclination to track down any of that kind of cinema, my interest in Mr Kincaid work has always been rooted within his frenzy of activity working within the confines of low budget exploitation horror and science fiction movies.

My first run in with the man's work was the delightfully trashy Bad Girls Dormitory, which followed the formula for all those films within the genre, remember the likes of 'Concrete Jungle' & 'Chained Heat' the list is endless.

Bad Girls Dormitory was to be the movie that introduced Tim Kincaid to the legendary film producer and sometime director Charles Band, and upon Band viewing the movie, Kincaid was offered a multi picture deal to churn out some straight to video quickies.

Such titles Kincaid found himself involved in, whilst not exactly award winners, have garnered some serious cult status down through the years, and although I haven't watched all of them, a lack of proper distribution back in the day was partly to blame, plus these days some of his B movies just haven't been released to DVD.

One such title that has managed to survive is 'Breeders' when I first watched this film back in my teenage years, my only reason for checking it out was the movie's association with Charles Band, as to who Tim Kincaid was never fully dawned on me.

As many armchair critics have observed, all aspects of the movie are truly cheesy, the acting is most certainly off the wall, but what it does have going for it, is copious amounts of nudity, the mere sight of Amy Brentano doing nude aerobics is quite a sight to behold, as to why she felt the need to strip to nothing to perform such an act beggars belief, but such thoughts quickly disappear.

The other highlight was the special effects make-up courtesy of Ed French, who appears in the movie, the effects for what they are are suitably gross and goofy at the same time.

As to whether or not the storyline bares much scrutiny in terms of logic and sense please remember this is a B movie, with sensibilities as such, and it it my theory that Tim Kincaid had his actors as act accordingly.

Let's remember, Tim Kincaid is renowned within the circles of Gay cinema, he likes his actors to look a certain way and act a certain way, so it's not folly to think that every step of this movie has not been thought out seriously, yes it was designed as a quickie for the straight to video market and no matter what people think of this movie or the entire works of Tim Kincaid back catalogue of B movie output, he certainly knew what was required and how to entertain the masses.

This movie gets an 8/10, why? because it has a certain charm attached to it

Well back in the day when I was an impressionable teenager, I couldn't even tell the difference between such things as fact or fiction. That being said I always knew a pretty decent horror movie when I saw one.

This little gem first caught my attention when I caught the trailer prior to it's initial release, and much like many a movie with a decent trailer I just knew that I had to see it.

The trailer I saw courtesy of Entertainment in Video announced the title as 'Hardcover' Of course I never realised that the movie was actually called 'I Madman' which was the better title, and which currently graces my MGM retail release which is sitting right by my side as I write these very words.

The 1980's were a good time for horror movies, and they were also a good time for me when it came time for me discovering the many gems that sprawled themselves across the videostore shelves, I still remember hiring the likes of 'Pumpkinhead' 'Killer Klowns From Outer Space' 'Retribution'.

As with most movies that I liked and revered down through the years there have been some that haven't quite stood the test of time, 'Society' springs to mind, that being said, certain elements of 'I Madman' have always remained within my memory.

Having just watched the movie prior to writing these words, it struck me just how visually stunning the movie was and more importantly just how good the script written by David Chaskin was.

Filled with many a wonderful set piece, director Tibor Takacs really knew what to do with the camera, and aided superbly by the acting talent he had to work with, Jenny Wright as Virginia the bookstore clerk who begins to find herself immersed within the hideous world of the mad scribe Malcolm Brand, always had a very distinct acting style, very distant but always alluring, a prime example of this was her star turn in Eric Red's ultra cool 'Near Dark'.

Also on hand and acquitting himself admirably was Clayton Rohner, (who I'll always remember from Nigel Dick's 'P.I. Private Investigation')as Virginia's detective boyfriend, who can't quite bring himself to believe anything that Virginia's tells him, as he attributes her flights of fancy to her taste in reading material written by the villain of the piece Malcolm Brand.

If truth be told one of the best performances in the movie comes from Murray Rubin as Brand's publisher Sidney Zeit, the way he talks, his mannerisms and the interior of his office just encapsulate that closed in world of the low rent publisher.

Kudos also must go to Randall William Cook, who not only does he appear as the titular on screen villain, but he also doubled as the special effects creator, truly rocks as the lovesick Brand, who'd do just about anything for the love of his life(and if you haven't seen the movie, just wait and see and wait for your jaw to drop when you see what he's done to his facial features).

Director Takacs might not have directed anything of note in the last decade of so, but this movie along with the original 'The Gate' stand as a testament to his directing talents and as for scriptwriter David Chaskin, yes he might have been lambasted for his scripting of 'Nightmare On Elm Street 2' but through this movie he truly showed that he really had an ear for good dialogue and attention to detail when it came to setting a good gore laden set piece.

It really is too bad that the MGM release doesn't have a director's commentary attached to it, as it would have been nice to hear how the movie was financed and put together.

This movie would make a good companion piece with John Carpenter's 'In The Mouth Of Madness' and as a stand alone feature, this horror movie really delivers upon the promise of it's trailer and it's artwork cover, plus it's a true testament to it's abilities to chill and entertain twenty plus years later.

Loose yourself in this great little horror curio tonight, you'll be awful glad you did! Without hesitation, 10/10