Retro Review: Tony
Published on October 7th, 2015 in: Horror, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reviews |
If the name Gerard Johnson doesn’t ring any bells, it should. Perhaps you will recall a grubby, claustrophobic film from a few years back called Tony. (I can see you nodding at your computer as you read this blog post. But I swear I’m not creepy.)
Blu-Ray Review: Contamination
Published on October 6th, 2015 in: Blu-Ray, Current Faves, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Horror, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reissues, Retrovirus, Reviews, Science Fiction |
When I stated on Facebook that I was watching the 1980 Italian horror-fi movie, Contamination, I got heat from a couple of people.
“Why?”
“How come you’re watching that?”
And I thought, I’ve built a career out of watching horrible films and writing about them. There’s no reason why this should be a surprise.
Then it struck me: maybe there are people out there who don’t intentionally seek out and watch films they know aren’t great. Wow. That floors me. It leaves me wondering how to recommend Contamination, which is a gigantic piece of shit that I adored.
Movie Review: Men & Chicken
Published on September 30th, 2015 in: Culture Shock, Current Faves, Film Festivals, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reviews |
In Men & Chicken, Elias (Mads Mikkelsen) and Gabriel (David Dencik) are brothers whose father has just passed away. He’s left them a videocassette revealing that not only is he not their biological father, but the woman they knew as their mother wasn’t their biological mother. He also reveals that the name of their father is Evelio Thanatos.
DVD Review: A Plague So Pleasant
Published on September 29th, 2015 in: Current Faves, DVD, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Horror, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reviews |
Anyone with a decent camera phone and at least two acquaintances can make a zombie film. It’s that simple. Because of the simplicity of the basic set-up (don’t get eaten), we’ve gotten a lot of zombie flicks that are the same thing over and over. Eat that leg. Yank out those entrails. Cut off those zombie heads and for the love of all that’s profitable, don’t stray from the formula!
Movie Review: Scorpions, Forever And A Day
Published on September 21st, 2015 in: Documentaries, Movie Reviews, Movies, Music, Reviews |
Somewhere around the halfway point of this rockumentary, I came to an odd realization. Here I am, a man who lived through the Eighties, watched the rise and fall of Hair Metal, and yet I have taken the band, Scorpions, completely for granted. After all, has there ever been a world where “Rock You Like a Hurricane” hasn’t existed?
Blu-Ray Review: Immoral Tales
Published on September 15th, 2015 in: Blu-Ray, Culture Shock, Current Faves, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reissues, Retrovirus, Reviews, Teh Sex |
The 1970s were a time of sexual revolution. Women’s liberation, bra-burning, birth control pills, swingers, orgies, and who knows what else? It’s not like people didn’t know about sex before, but in the ’70s, sex exploded (which sounds gross). Suburban couples were lining up around the block to see Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door, two pornographic films that found both mainstream success and legal troubles, as both films were placed on trial for obscenity.
Obscenity still has an elastic meaning, and at times the line between artistic license and simple prurient leanings is blurry and hard to see. That’s precisely where 1974’s Immoral Tales lives, in that strange tesseract on the corner of Softcore Porn and Arthouse Loophole.
Retro Review: Dario Argento’s Deep Red
Published on September 9th, 2015 in: Horror, Movie Reviews, Movies, Retrovirus, Reviews |By Tim Murr
In honor of Italian horror master Dario Argento’s 75th birthday this week, I wanted to take a look back at one my favorites of his films, Deep Red a.k.a. Profondo Rosso from 1975.
Blu-Ray Review: Miracle Mile
Published on September 3rd, 2015 in: Blu-Ray, Current Faves, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reissues, Retrovirus, Reviews |By Brendan Ross
4:00 a.m. A payphone rings outside of an all-night diner in L.A. Our protagonist warily answers it, opening up the line to a frantic missile silo employee lamenting about imminent nuclear destruction set to hit in 70 minutes. Gunshot sounds are heard in the background. A man’s voice takes over the phone.
“Forget everything you’ve just heard and go back to sleep”
This ominously sets the scene for the remaining 70-minute run time of Miracle Mile. The previous 20 minutes, however, set a much different tone.
Blu-Ray Review: Cherry 2000
Published on September 3rd, 2015 in: Blu-Ray, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reissues, Retrovirus, Reviews, Science Fiction |By Brendan Ross
The year is 2017 (30 years in the future) and due to some economic turmoil, the United States has essentially turned into a sparsely populated wasteland. Businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews), who lives in one of the few remaining civilized communities, comes home after a hard day of businessman work to his “Cherry 2000” (Pamela Gidley), a female love robot. She already has dinner ready for him, and after a healthy dose of preprogrammed ego catering words they are ready to make love. On the kitchen floor. While the future dishwasher runs in overdrive covering the floors, counters, and both of them with soapsuds. Unfortunately, even in the distant future of 2017 electronic water damage still has not been eradicated and Cherry short circuits.
Blu-Ray Review: Island of Death
Published on September 2nd, 2015 in: Blu-Ray, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies, Reissues, Retrovirus, Reviews, Underground/Cult |
Most people have a movie they only show to certain people, a movie so strange or weird that you would rather everyone not know you like it. In some cases, that movie is a test. The thought process is: if I show you this movie, and you still like me, then we can be friends. If you like me and the movie, then we can get married.