// Category Archive for: Movies

Blu-Ray Review: Rage

By Brad Henderson

These days when we see Nicolas Cage’s name pop up in a title we all giggle. He is like that annoying uncle that we love. Personally, I still like Nicolas Cage but I dislike most of the films he is in these days. When I was younger I dug him quite a bit; Con-Air, Face/Off, Gone In 60 Seconds, and many more of his films from the ’80s and ’90s still remain some of my favorites.

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Blu-Ray Review: Ironclad: Battle For Blood

By Brad Henderson

Viking and medieval indie films have it worse than horror and drama these days. These films are harder to make than sci-fi flicks. Between sets, set dressings, and costumes, your budget could skyrocket in no time at all. The sad part is that most of these films are kind of boring. Every once in a while there will be something worthwhile but not enough to make us want more films like this. Back in 2011 Jonathan English did a film called Ironclad that was pretty good. The cast and special effects were good along with the costumes and sets. The film was also moderately successful and did well on the video market. Now the director is back with a sequel and it seems like Ironclad: Battle For Blood might have used a quarter of the budget of the first one.

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Blu-Ray Review: Curtains

By Less Lee Moore

The 1983 Canadian tax write-off known as Curtains has long been out of print, except for deplorable VHS and DVD transfers. In the 30 years since its theatrical release, it’s become an iconic cult horror film, particularly because of its uniquely chilling ice skating murder sequence. Now, Synapse Films has restored the film from its original negative and released it on Blu-Ray. So, does Curtains hold up?

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DVD Review: Varsity Blood

By Brad Henderson

I feel compelled to tell the people who are reading this that a couple years ago I wrote a review for a film called Bloody Homecoming. If you pay attention to my writing and you know anything about me you know that I don’t trash films in reviews. Well, I didn’t trash Bloody Homecoming but I did speak my mind about the film. Bottom line: It wasn’t good and the review was much on the negative side.

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DVD Review: Legendary (a.k.a. Tomb Of The Dragon)

By Brad Henderson

Most of us still love our old action stars. For me, Jeff Speakman, Brandon Lee, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are my favorites and have been for many years. Throughout the course of the late ’90s and today, most of these guys passed their peak and are doing a lot of DTV stuff. Yes, they do have a film in theaters here or there but not as solid as the films they did in the ’80s. With Sly doing The Expendables franchise, it has given these guys a chance to strike gold again on the big screen, and in a corny and cheesy way they succeed.

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Blu-Ray Review: Aftermath

By Brad Henderson

There are many elements to making a decent sci-fi/horror/apocalyptic independent film. Money is the biggest evil when it comes to this type of thing. For one, you need good effects. You need money for that. Well, if that doesn’t play in your favor you need to make up for it through other means. Since you don’t have money you can’t have A-listers so you need to find the best of the best in the indie community. Secondly, since you can’t have tons of locations you need to have a badass screenplay with a fresh story as well. Many other things follow suit in this equation like well-written characters and all that.

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Blu-Ray Review: Made In America

By Brad Henderson

Made In America is a small documentary made by Ron Howard about a very diverse concert put together by Jay-Z. Pearl Jam, RUN DMC, Skrillex, and many more deliver a wonderful concert but a subpar documentary.

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Blu-Ray Review: Anaconda, Last Action Hero, The Legend Of Billie Jean

By Brad Henderson

Mill Creek has blessed us many times with their double packs and some great Blu-Rays. Yes, they come up criminally short of special features, but they do have some decent transfers and their prices are next to perfect. Recently Mill Creek has reissued some classics and I think they look fantastic.

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DVD Review: Under The Skin

By Brad Henderson

I find it harder these days to write reviews of films that I thoroughly enjoy, and easier to review the films that I think are OK or not the greatest. Under The Skin will be in my Top 10 for this year and will not move from that spot.

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DVD Review: All Cheerleaders Die

By Brad Henderson

Lucky McKee has been on my radar ever since I saw his first feature May and I’ve made sure to follow his career closely. After May, McKee did a small film called The Woods, which I’ve been a fan of for a while and which still holds up. Then, came a thriller called Red that represented a change of pace for McKee, although it still had many horror elements. In 2011 McKee shocked audiences with The Woman, which was brutal, beautiful, and gave him the chance to show his true talents. The Woman is a well-shot horror film that focuses on a more technical and storyline-driven aspect rather than a ton of brutality. Now McKee has another horror film under his belt called All Cheerleaders Die.

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