Review #112: AVP (2004)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Paul W.S. Anderson (Director): Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Death Race (2008)

Sanaa Lathan (Alexa Woods): Blade (1998), Life (1999)

Lance Henriksen (Charles Bishop Weyland): Aliens

Colin Salmon (Maxwell Stafford): Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), Resident Evil, Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Tommy Flanagan (Mark Verheiden): Braveheart (1995), The Saint (1997), Face/Off (1997), Gladiator (2000), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Sin City (2005), When a Stranger Calls (2006)

Trailer:


A satellite orbiting the Earth picks up a heat signature coming from a remote location in Antarctica. Thermal images shows that the signature outlines an ancient pyramid underneath the ice. The owner of the satellite, The Weyland Corporation, assembles a scientific archaeological team and drilling team to take down to Antarctica to discover the orgins of the pyramid.

Upon arrival, the team finds that a tunnel from the surface to the pyramid has mysteriously been carved out of the ice. Anxious to be the first ones down to the pyramid, the team proceeds down to the ancient ruin without any questioning of the mysterious tunnel. Little do they know that they are walking into a Predator trap.

The Predators uses humans as "hosts" to produce the Aliens so they can hunt them. A long time ago they captured a Queen Alien as keeps her captive and frozen until 100 years pass, and then they thaw her out to produce the facehugger eggs. A few, select Predators return to Earth to hunt the Aliens as a Rite of Passage into manhood (or something like that).

Now the surviving team members must escape the ancient pyramid that reconfigures every ten minutes or become part of the "hunt" and battle between the Aliens and Predators.

Tagline: Whoever wins, we lose

Whenever Paul W.S. Anderson directs, we lose. I swear this guy directs some of the worst "should be cooler" movies ever. How is he the other half of the Milla Jovovich life story? (Pictured right) When I think of him and her, the quote from Talladaga Nights pops up. When Ricky Bobby is telling his wife's dad, Chip, "They only thing you've ever done good in your life is make a hot daughter." Kind of the same concept here. Mr. Anderson, "The only thing you've ever done good in you life is marry a hot girl."

So this is how they bring the two great franchises together. For numerous years the Sci-Fi geeks around the world had awaited this movie. Ever since we caught a glimpse of the Alien skull in the spaceship in Predator 2, we've been teased and held in anticipation for this film. And now it arrives. Finally. And I felt a little ripped off.

First of all, my initial disappointment in this film came upon learning that it was going to be rated PG-13. Really? PG-13? If you don't know me, but I have a certain disliking of slapping the PG-13 label on horror movies. It defeats the purpose of a horror movie. It's like having a PBJ without the peanut butter. A lap dance without the stripper.

Another thing about the PG-13 rating, apparently it's alright to have as much blood as you want, as long as it's green blood. Splatter that all over the screen and it's okay. But human blood, nooo, we can't have any of that. Damn Hollywood. During a random picture search, this picture came up. Whose the Alien and whose the Predator?

So just like all other PG-13 horror movies, I avoided this one at the movie theater. It's my own personal stand against the studios pulling this crap. I eventually saw this movie at work...at least the majority of it. I was a little intrigued and interested in the parts I saw, so I gave in and finally rented it.

My first impression was that it was okay. It was an enjoyable popcorn movie to watch. It definitely was better than Predator 2 and Alien 3. The story focused more on the humans in the film than it did the two species. That was a common argument for the film's disliking. "Blah, blah, blah, character development. We want more Aliens vs Predator!" I agree with that to some degree.

I didn't like that the film brought the two species into modern day Earth. I felt like it violated all the time lines, and lore between the two franchises. I would have preferred to see the two species duke it out on some other planet in another time. But that's just me. Also, I love the Lance Henriksen character in the Alien franchise, but they really didn't need to work him into this one. Made me feel the same way when Star Wars II forced Boba Fett into the story. Some things are just better left alone.

I also wasn't a big fan of the chick teaming up with the Predator at the end. That was pretty gay itself. If I was the Predator, I would be like, "F*ck you lady. You'll slow me down. I'm a trained professional. I'm on my own. Get out of my way." Instead the Predator "embraced" her into the hunt. I would have used her for bait...and many other things. Oh, that chick happened to be Sanaa Lathan (pictured left). It's not exactly the hunt I would take her on.

Overall, it was a decent movie to watch. I do give the studio credit for making each species a formidable opponent to each other. I thought they would make the Aliens into a bunch of pussies (cannon fodder), but they ended up to be a pretty tough match for the technology dependent Predators.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on August 13, 2004 and made $80.2 million at the Box Office ($38.2 million opening weekend)
-1st Alien or Predator movie not to receive a "R" rating
-Arnold Schwarzenegger would have made a cameo appearance if he had lost the election for California governor
-The morse code the satellite at the beginning spells out, "Whoever wins, we lose"
-Three Predators names: Scar, Celtic, and Chopper

Review #111: Deep Blue Sea (1999)

There's not a better way to kick off the Holiday Season than to sit down and review a shark movie. Huh? A little out of season? Well, maybe. But if you've ventured out into the stores and hit some of those early holiday sales, then you could probably can relate to the frenzy of shoppers swarming around the stores like sharks.

Statistics would show that more people die in stores do to holiday craziness than the number of people who die in this movie. Also to bring in the holiday spirit, this was my first ever DVD in my collection. I received it for X-mas. So it's in my holiday spirit!

Cast/Notable Credits:
Renny Harlin (Director): A Nightmare On Elm St 4: The Dream Master

Thomas Jane (Carter): The Mist

LL Cool J (Preacher): H20

Saffron Burrows (Dr. Susan McCallister): Wing Commander (1999), Troy (2004), The Bank Job (2008)

Samuel L. Jackson (Russell Franklin): The Exorcist 3 (1990), Jurassic Park (1993), Snakes on a Plane (2006), Lakeview Terrace

Jacqueline McKenzie (Janice): The 4400 T.V. series

Michael Rapaport (Tom Scoggins): Metro (1997), Hitch (2005), The War at Home & Boston Public T.V. series

Aida Turturro (Brenda): The Sopranos T.V. series

Stellan Skarsgard (Jim Whittlock): The Glass House (2001), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3 (2006 & 2007)

Erinn Bartlett (Girl 1): Little Nicky (2000), The Benchwarmers (2006)

Trailer:


Plot: Looking for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, scientists turn an old military submarine facility into a shark pen as they genetically alter three sharks in hopes of studying their brains to find a cure. Lead scientist on the project, Dr. Susan McCallister, conducts an "ahead of schedule" experiment on one of the sharks, the Gen-1 shark (a.k.a. The Big Mother F*cker Shark), in a desperate move to impress the company's head and save the project from being cancelled.

During the experiment, the Gen-1 breaks free and also breaks the underwater lab's big window, flooding the facility, trapping the scientist under water, and allowing the sharks to move freely in submerged parts of the facility. Chaos, deaths, and a lot of fun follows as the scientist try to get back to the surface for safety. Along the way, we learn that the scientists violated genetic laws and enhanced the sharks beyond their normal capabilities making them bigger and smarter. They were even smart enough to get this lady down to her undies in the film (Saffron Burrows pictured right).

Best shark movie since Jaws! Period.

Okay, I might be a little biased here, but I don't care. I LOVED IT! Maybe tied with Jaws 2, but it's still a great movie. Sure there may have been a few plot holes such as:

-Sharks don't swim backwards
-When a high level member of management comes down to give the final vote of confidence, businesses do not usually send everyone home and run off a skeleton crew for the weekend
-And they wouldn't do this during a tropical storm
-When a Coast Guard Helicopter crashes...usually a follow up crew goes to investigate
-A trio of sharks don't usually "triangulate" and coordinate with each other when hunting humans
-Sharks don't fling metal objects at high rates of speed at glass windows

Outside of those "minor" plot holes and a comedy of human errors that leads the scientists to their situation, the film kicked some serious butt. What would you expect from a shark movie with that type of premise? Yeah. That's what I thought.

My Best advice: Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Three words to live by: Suspension of Disbelief. Live it. Learn it. Enjoy it. And you will love this movie.

It's an All Star cast in the film, but Thomas Jane by far stole the show. He plays Carter, who is like a professional shark wrangler or something like that. He's a convicted Felon who has been given a lighter sentence by the courts in exchange for his services aboard Aquatica. He is one of four likable characters in the film. Surprisingly enough, none of them are the "mad" scientists behind the operation. Samuel L, LL Cool J and Michael Rapport are the other three. Isn't that a Big Mother F*cker Shark?

The film also provides many scary "jump" sequences in the film. As the sharks swim through the flooded underwater parts of the facility, the audience is left in doubt of the shark's whereabouts. This creates some kick a** sequences in the movie. I personally have two favorite ones: * Highlight to Read *

1. LL Cool J crosses paths with one of the sharks and retreats to his flooded kitchen. He climbs on a metal rack to get out of the water. His pet parrot is floating on a metal bowl in the water close to him. He slowly reaches down in the water to retrieve the bird, and the shark blasts out of the water at him. That scene was pretty cool.

2. Samuel L bites the dust. Trapped at the bottom of the facility, the scientist bicker about what to do next, and then Samuel L steps in a gives one of those uplifting inspirational speeches. He is standing next to a lagoon pool ranting off on his speech and then...BAM! One of the sharks comes out of the pool and chomps him in half and drags back through the pool and into the ocean. My friend Bookie and I saw this at that theater and he jumped in fright during both scenes. I think he might have even wet himself. :)

Overall, the film had some humor, suspense and pretty good special effects. They storyline was somewhat plausible (as in looking for Alzheimer's cure) but it also may have been a little bit too far fetched in the series of events. But it's still worth checking out if you haven't already.

In the end we learn that PETA was right. We shouldn't be testing on animals after all. Score one for PETA. Unless you WANT to see murder and mayhem courtesy of some genetically enhanced killer sharks. Honestly PETA should be using these types of movies to make the world conscious of it's wrongdoings on animals.

Deep Blue Sea is one of my personal favorite movies to watch. Despite some "possible" flaws in the story line, it's a very enjoyable shark movie to watch. Who knew that the director from A Nightmare on Elm St. 4 would go on a do so many descent movies?

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on July 28, 1999 and made $73.6 million at the Box Office ($19.1 million opening weekend)
-Original ending had LL Cool J dying and Dr. Susan living

December B-Days!

Happy B-Day for the films released in December:

December 1
Turistas - 2006

December 4
Psycho - 1998

December 8
Blade 3 - 2004

December 9
Christine - 1983

December 12
Scream 2 - 1997

December 14
I Am Legend - 2007

December 16
Devil's Pond - 2003

December 18
Alligator 2 - 1991

December 20
Black Christmas - 1974
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1978
Scream - 1996
Santa's Slay - 2005

December 21
Sweeney Todd - 2007

December 22
Dracula 2000 - 2000

December 23
Hellraiser 2 - 1988

December 25
An American Werewolf in Paris - 1997
The Faculty - 1998
Darkness - 2002
Wolf Creek - 2005
Black Christmas - 2006
AVP 2 - 2007

December 26
The Exorcist - 1973

December 29
Ghost in the Machine - 1993

December 30
Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood - 2003

Guest Review #2: Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

Bookie's Guest Review #2:


Cast/Notable Credits:
Jack Arnold (Director) - It Came From Outer Space (1953), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Jack Carlson (David Reed): It Came From Outer Space
Julia Adams (Kay Lawrence): Lost T.V. series
Richard Denning (Mark Williams)
Nester Paiva (Lucas)
Ricou Browning (The Creature in water)
Ben Chapman (The Creature on land)

Trailer:


Lucas: I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon"; a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it.

Out in the Amazon, a scientist finds a fossilized hand that may be a link to an evolutionary fork in the road. As he brings this to the attention to Drs. Reed and Williams, his camp, and all his stereotypes…er…assistants…are massacred by something mysterious. The scientific team, including Reed’s main squeeze, Kay, arrive and find a living Fish-man-thing! A Fish-man-thing who is madly in love with Kay! A disagreement follows, as Reed initially wants to go back for reinforcements and Williams dreams of the headlines for him if he brings back the Gillman alive. Williams wins out, but at the cost of most of the boat crew, and a couple of fellow scientists. Lucas and Reed try to lead an escape, but The Gillman, a hopeless (murderous) romantic at heart, blocks the river, and kidnaps Kay. The scientists rescue Kay, shoot the creature, stab him in the heart (symbolism!), and then the creature sinks into the lagoon, fate unknown (sequel!).

Bookie’s Take: Full Disclosure-
Creature from the Black Lagoon was originally a 3-D movie; In fact, it’s held by most historians as one of the most famous 3-D movies of that era. BUT….I have never seen it in 3-D. I have seen it in glorious 2-D, and It has remained one of my favorite 50’s genre movies. Why? Not because of the cast. They’re all fine, but largely paint-by-numbers; Carlson made a career of playing good-hearted scientists, Denning does a adequate job of making you dislike him when he goes crazy with the thought of capturing the Gillman, and Julia Adams (pictured right) is pretty much what you would expect from the female lead in these movies. (Hottie + Good Scream = Monster Bait)

The one deviation is Paiva, who does elevate Lucas above the normal 50’s ethnic type, if only slightly. Arnold’s direction also falls into the “good, but not great” category, He does much better in “It Came from Outer Space” and “The Incredible Shrinking Man”; “Creature” has its moments, but the visual elements are not awe-inspiring, with one major exception.

That exception is one of the reasons that I love “Creature”. The underwater scenes pop, like no other movie up to that point. Unlike the rest of the movie, all underwater scenes were filmed on location in Florida, and it shows on the screen. The sub aquatic moment that everybody remembers, and rightly so, is the “dance” between an unsuspecting Kay, under the impression she’s swimming alone, and the Gillman, inches below her, mimicking her moves. This is arguably one of the top 5 scenes in 50’s sci-fi/horror, and it sets up the unrequited love story that dominates the rest of the movie. “Black Lagoon” did not invent the monster love story category (That would be King Kong), but it may have come closer to perfecting it than anybody.

The other reason I enjoy “Lagoon” so much is extremely simple, but unbelievable important; The Monster. The Gillman looks so much better than other monsters of the era that, honestly, it’s unfair. The majority of 50’s beasts are not well put together, usually more attention given to the face than the rest of the body (leading to many “find the zipper” games), and lacking the little details that make the difference. The “Creature”, however, is terrifically designed, with foam pieces glued to a wet suit, and given touches that bring him to life. The Creature’s breathing, made by air bladders on the gills, give him the appearance that on land, he’s gasping for every breath as he stalks his victim, which is a truly creepy effect. It is the attention to detail like this that makes “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” one of the best genre movies of its era, and a fitting addition to the Universal monster pantheon.

3 Lessons I learned from “Creature from the Black Lagoon”.
1. ♫Creature’s got People Fever♫, ♫Creature’s got People Fever♫

2. Julia Adams’s bathing suit is really pointy. Before you accuse me of being a pig (Correct!), watch the movie (or look at the picture to the right). Her suit is literally pointy. Was this the fashion back then? Why aren’t there more men with eye-patches?

3. Lucas is, by far, the most interesting person on the boat. It’s not even close. If there were a TV show back then where Lucas went around, helping gringos make interesting scientific discoveries and generally being a wise Latin bad-ass, yeah, I’d watch that. If they made that show now, I’d watch that. Somebody get Aaron Sorkin on the phone.


Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on March 5, 1954 and made $1.5 million at the Box Office
-Ricou Browning had to hold his breath for over four minutes underwater to hide possible air bubbles during filming
-Originally produced in 3-D
-The creature appeared on an episode of the Munsters T.V. show as Uncle Gilbert

Special thanks to Book and his reviews!

* Guest Review #1 Link *

Horror Icon #10

Brad Dourif
(voice of Chucky)

Misc. Trivia:
- Born: March 18, 1950
- Father died when 3 yrs old
- Graduated from Fountain Valley in Colo. Springs in 1969
- Taught acting and directing classes at Columbia University
- Won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor for One Flew...Nest

Films:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Billy Bibbit
Dune (1984) - Piter De Vries
Blue Velvet (1986) - Raymond
Child's Play (1988) - Charles Lee Ray (Chucky)
Mississippi Burning (1988) - Deputy Pell
The Exorcist 3 (1990) - James Venamun
Graveyard Shift (1990) - Tucker Cleveland
Child's Play 2 (1990) - Chucky
Critters 4 (1991) - Al Bert
Body Parts (1991) - Remo Lacey
Child's Play 3 (1991) - Chucky
Amos & Andrew (1993) - Officer Donaldson
Murder in the First (1995) - Byron Stumphill
Death Machine (1995) - Jack Dante
Alien Resurrection (1997) - Dr. Gediman
Urban Legend (1998) - Gas Station Attendant
Bride of Chucky (1998) - Chucky
The Prophecy 3 (2000) - Zealot
Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers (2002) - Wormtongue
Lord of the Rings 3: Return of the King (2003) - Wormtongue
Seed of Chucky (2004) - Chucky
Pulse (2006) - Thin Bookish Guy
Halloween (2007) - Sheriff Brackett

Review #110: The Strangers (2008)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Bryan Bertino (Director)

Liv Tyler (Kristen McKay): Empire Records (1995), Armageddon (1998), The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Scott Speedman (James Hoyt): Underworld 1 & 2 (2003,2006), xXx 2: State of the Union (2005)

Laura Margolis (Pin-Up Girl): Dirty Sexy Money T.V. series (Pictured right)

Glenn Howerton (Mike): Serenity (2005), Crank (2006), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia T.V. series

Trailer:


Narrator at the beginning of the film:

On the night of February 11, 2005, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt left a friend's wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family's summer home.

The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.

The Strangers is a movie about a couple who is terrorized by three masked villains at a secluded summer home. James and Kristen have arrived at his family's summer home late one night. It was supposed to be a romantic getaway to celebrate their recent engagement. At least that was James's plan. Instead, he got the cold shoulder from Kristen when he popped the question.

Things couldn't get any worse for James...until someone mysteriously knocks on their door at four in the morning looking for a person that wasn't there. Soon afterwards, the couple become part of a cat and mouse game as they are stalked and haunted by mysterious masked beings.

Wow! This movie kicked some ass. It was one of the spookiest and most disturbing movies I've seen in a while. And I loved it! Bravo! Finally a horror movie with some balls and substance.

First of all, the premise of the movie was excellent. Three unknown masked villains terrorize and stalk a couple at a secluded house out in the boonies. It's a simple, but yet an effective plot. It's not like we haven't seen this type of story before, but this film actually delivers on the screen. Nothing fancy or cheesy just good ole' fashion fun here.

The best element of the movie...there was no reason behind the stalking. They just went out and did it. The best explanation came when Liv Tyler's character asks the question to the villains, "Why are you doing this to us?"

One of them replied, "Because you were home."

It's just that simple. No mutation, retardation, or psychologically troubled childhoods behind the killer's madness. "Because you were home." Now that's awesome!

There was no need for elaborate costumes, make up or looks to the villains. The female killers wore generic, plastic Halloween masks of a Pin-up girl and a Doll Face. The male villain wore a pillow case with holes punched out for eyes. Nothing special in the looks, but the look came across effective and eerie. Mostly because the director did a phenomenal job using the shadows and darkness to conceal the villains from the audience, thus giving them a terrifying presence.

The cast did a great job in the acting category. They made a believable performance that delivered, especially Liv Tyler (pictured left). Once I phased out the lyrics to Aerosmith's ♫ "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" ♫ song from her earlier movie, Armageddon, she did a pretty darn good job at being the scared, terrified woman. ♫ Because I miss you baby, and I don't wanna miss a thing ♫

The movie was able to keep within the "realistic" bounds of society. Most of these types of films always comes up with the cell phone excuse of "no signal". That always pisses me off when someone goes to call for help and that lame two word excuse comes out. This time around, the cell phones are out of reach, or stolen by the predators. I can buy that.

There was one little thing that bugged me though. James found his family's shot gun and acted like a puss with it after the fun had already started. I would have just started hunting the hunters with it, but I guess that wouldn't have made for a good movie. So Hollywood made him a puss with the gun to make the movie a little bit more scarier. I guess I understand that aspect of it. I would have rather them not introduce the shotgun to the equation though.

Overall the movie was a fun ride. The sound department of the film did an excellent job coming up with the loud ominous tones to reflect the film's pace and terrifying moments. It was director Bryan Bertino's first gig. Hopefully he lands a few more after this one, because he did an excellent job on the film. Unfortunately his name sounds a little bit too much like Brian Boitano. I kept on thinking about South Park's reference's to him. WWBBD? What Would Brian Boitano Do?

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on May 30, 2008 and made $52.5 million at the Box Office ($20.9 million opening weekend)
-Inspired by a true event that happened to the director as a child...a stranger had knocked on his door looking for someone who wasn't there and later on he found out that houses in his neighborhood had been robbed that night
-Gemma Ward started off as a model; was rumored to be dating the late actor Heath Ledger shortly before his death (Gemma pictured right)

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since there aren't too many horror movies related to Turkey Day, it's the best I can come up with. Enjoy the video!


Also, here's a couple of photos of two very beautiful women who were in that Thanksgiving Day play in the second Addams Family movie.

Young Christina Ricci (Wednesday Addams) and the current Christina Ricci:

And let's not forget her arch rival, Mercedes McNab (Amanda...aka...Sarah Millner):

It's amazing how they grew up.

Happy Thanksgiving!