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7 Stars = Very Good

As a big fan of "the Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which I consider the best trio of films ever made, I was ecstatic to hear about a prequel trilogy in "the Hobbit" & that Peter Jackson was helming them! I know many don't share that point of view on this new trio of films that have read the books, but as I have not read either "the Lord of the Rings" or "the Hobbit," it pretty much goes without saying that I'm not here to compare the movies to books, but movies to movies. So with much relish, I went to "the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" today, & to be honest, I was not overwhelmed, but I was not underwhelmed either.

Yes, I went into this film reading several reviews about it, so I was not expecting the pure cinematic magic & genius of the prior films, & I didn't get that, but I got a film that may go on to classic status, but never masterpiece. Without giving a million things away about the film, I will say that there are several down falls here. For one, "the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" does not have the feeling of impending doom & desperation that the first three have. It veers to far towards a children's film the first half of the movie, with to much cuteness & comedy taking place, & not enough serious content. Though it starts out pretty good in setting the story up the first 15-20 minutes, one has to wonder how the dwarfs ever made it to the status of overlords? Their pretty much portrayed as something more akin to "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs," as all except a couple of the dwarfs are inept in their intelligence, & seem to want to just eat, drink & be merry. Here I think Jackson made the same mistake as "Star Wars" episodes, "Return of the Jedi" (discounting the final show down between Luke, Darth Vader, & the Emperor), & "the Phantom Menace." Jackson dummied the movie down to appeal to a young audience, taking the chance of alienating the older adult audience. Also, another mistake made in this film is that Jackson threw everything he could possibly dream up in "Middle Earth," & tossed it at you like a asteroid hurdling towards you through the movie screen at the speed of light. I mean, there was two, maybe three times the variety of creatures than previous films, & just to many characters to really be able to grasp & hold on to, & feel a real connection with. There was just to much shoved into a to small time frame of space, even if the film is almost three hours long. In this respect, "the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" pales before the first three films, but then again, this is a very tall order, & Jackson is proved to be human after all. Another downfall for me was that Bilbo Baggin's character just was not what I expected, but I can see him growing into the character I knew from "The Lord of the Rings." Especially starting with the meeting of Bilbo & Gollom, in a very well done scene on how Bilbo acquired the "Precious." I can see this character maturing & becoming the heart of the films.

Even with all I said I didn't like about "the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" there is more I liked. I really can't put a finger on it, but I feel this film will grow on me with repeated viewings. It has a great premise, & a director that is capable of taking it to greater heights with the two following films, if he fixes the mistakes made here. I do have to say the 3-D was amazing, & really made "Middle Earth" come to life, though in the fast moving sequences, there was some blur with the background. This will most likely be fixed & improved on. It also does not hurt that many characters from "The Lord of the Rings" have returned with the same actors. I look forward to their roles & the part they'll play in the future films!

All in all, this is a film that may reach classic status with me in time. It was a huge undertaking, & had almost the impossible task to live up to "Lord of the Rings." For the time being, I'll rate this a very good film, that you should see for yourself & make your own opinion. It is well worth the watch!

This is not your standard ghost story, but a ghost story with a wicked twist! A daughter has came back home for her very abusive mother's funeral. She is staying in her mother's house when strange events begin to happen. Things falling off the walls. Someone touching her that is not there. Crazy vivid dreams. A mysterious blonde woman who materializes from thin air. Her sister & cousin comes up missing in the house. Yes, this all sounds like typical overused & abused haunted house clichés, but their done very convincingly, with good direction, strong acting, & a strong soundtrack, that adds a good amount of ghostly dreadful suspense.

"The Pact" is a hybrid film of two genres. I won't go into details for it would ruin the story. In some ways it reminds me of "the Entity," especially it's soundtrack. It also reminds me of "Silence of the Lambs" & "What Lies Beneath." OK, maybe to much information, but that's all I'm giving away.

You could do a lot worse than to check out this good little indie horror film, though flawed, it is a different breed of a ghost story, which is a rare ghost indeed in the huge cemetery of forgotten ghost films.

3 1/2 Stars = Very Good

It's the Monstermania version of "Wrestlemania!" It's so cheesy, it had to be filmed in Wisconsin, but set in Michigan. I suppose they make cheese too, but I wouldn't want to eat it. It's so stupid, it's hilarious, at least at times. It's so bad, it's good!

Yes, it's "Monster Brawl!" The movie you've been waiting all your life to see! The movie that pits "Creature," against "Creature!" "The Undead," against "the Undead!" Even in two weight classes! Middle weight & heavy weight! But wait, there's more! The winners of their weight class & division are pitted against the winners of the other division, so we have get two world championship matches! "Creature" vs. "the Undead!" Heavy weight vs. heavy weight. Middle weight vs. middle weight. Oh the horror, the agony, the ecstasy! The gooey dripping cheese from my flat screen!

All jokes aside, this is a fairly clever monster bash. The makers of this film intended it to be so bad, it's good, & their good at doing it! No, this is no classic creature feature, but it's a great idea that I'm surprised has not been done before. It lampoons professional wrestling & movies like, "Godzilla vs. King Kong" & "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, & current film series, like "Underworld" & "Twilight." Yes, the film makers have an agenda here, & it works a good part of the time, to induce a good belly laugh or two.

Their are basically four segments' of this film. You get a little biography on each monster before a match, but unfortunately, more than not, this is pretty weak, only inducing a smile or two. More because of it's total corniness, than any genuine laughs. You have the two wrestling commentators, a big wink at the WWF & WWE, this works better, but not by much, other than when the matches are happening, which works well. In a bigger wink, you get Jimmy Hart, "the Mouth of the South" with two hot vixens in bikinis. This is very corny too, but works in the context of things. Then you get the matches, which are frankly, hilarious! The monster's make up, suitably cheesy for this cheesiest of films. The cheese is running hot! I mean, you got to take this all in context as it was meant to be taken. The matches are down right funny in their lampooning silliness, along with the commentators yakking it up, makes for a lot of fun!

Of course, the makers could've went the straight route, but that in it's self could've been a real cheese fest (especially with their low budget), unintended & no fun. So take "Monster Brawl" in the context it is meant to be, pop a beer, eats some potato chips, & have some fun with it! I did!

Decided to go through my Netflix streaming last night & watch a film. Of course, I went right to the horror section. There sat "Altered," a film I thought about watching several times in the past, but passed it up for something else. Well, all I got to say is, I waited way to long to see this film!

"Altered" is a mean, lean, sci-fi/horror machine! There is no fat to be found here! Five friends get abducted by aliens 15 years before. One of them dies. One of them lives & hides. Three of them go out in the wilds of Florida to hunt down one of the aliens for fifteen years, & are finally successful. What transpires afterwards is a taunt horror thriller that delivers in spades! The acting is top notch, though I have to admit, the first twenty minutes I thought this was going to be a dumb redneck film? I'm sure glad I continued watching, because there is definite method to their madness, as the script reveals real people, not just another hillbilly stereotype exploitation film!

After succeeding in capturing an alien, the three friends start to realize exactly how foolish they've been, that is, all except for one, whose brother was killed by the aliens. He was blamed for his brother's death, even by his own father, & put in prison. His performance may be the finest of all the fine performances here, as he spews hatred for the alien, wanting it to feel all the excruciating pain he went through. A portrait of pure unadulterated revenge, where nothing or no one is going to stand in his way of satisfying it. Also of note is a girlfriend, who gets caught up in this & takes matters in her own hands, literally. A strong female protagonist performance, a rare thing in low budget sci-fi/horror films. All this makes for a very good character study of a group of friends splintered emotionally, & how their forced to deal with the tragedy of the past, & impending the doom of the future.

"Altered" is no big budget film, but the special effects are fine & the aliens look good. I've seen better make up in higher budget films, but still, the aliens were malevolently convincing.

If you want a white knuckled sci-fi/horror thriller, "Altered" is as better than most films of its ilk in the last ten years. A superior effort, especially when you consider it was released straight to DVD!

Way underrated sequel to the masterpiece, "Poltergeist."

This film in some ways, was a lot more terrifying than it's predecessor, especially in the character of one Reverend Henry Kane. Just about the creepiest character I can remember from any horror movie! The scene where he walks up to the house to see Carol Anne, is as eerie as they come. The tension of that scene is physically tangible, as he & Mr. Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) have a match of wills, as "Kane" tries to enter the house. Then he walks off & disappears! CREEPY! The scene at the outdoor mall is just about as creepy, as people walk right through "Kane," as he follows & talks to Carol Ann. Julian Beck as "Kane," looks like a walking skeleton with just skin, hair, & those malevolent huge eyes! Better casting has rarely been seen! Also of note, is the foreboding music score that accompanies these scenes. They'd lose quite a bit of potency, without that menacing score.

Also of note, is where Mr. Freeling is finishing up a bottle of Quervo Gold tequila, & becomes possessed by "Kane", then vomiting "Kane" out, who was lurking like a Mescal grub at the bottom of the bottle! Then "Kane" crawling out from under the bed with no legs, vaguely looking human, then turning around & smiling. Ranks right up there with "Frank's" resurrection, from "Hellraiser, as one of the best in horror!"

Sadly, the ending killed the full potential of this film. It was if the movie ran out of ideas, & it did, abruptly! Still in retrospect, this film is a classic, & deserves to be reassessed 26 years later.

This remake of the 1940's classic, is the cat's meow, literally, especially with beautiful Nastassja Kinski in the starring role! She has one problem though, when she gets sexually aroused, she becomes...well...lets just say, a tad feral.

Malcolm McDowell, as Nastassja's brother, always had a penchant for bizarre films & roles, this is no different, as he wants to mate & be mated to his sister for life. This is because their both of the same affliction, sexual arousal causes them to change, to kill, to become a cat! A BIG cat! The only way for them to have sex, & have their partner survive it, is to be an incestuous pair. Though this will repulse people, it makes sense in the film, for our morals don't apply here, & this makes for a unique film of surrealism, as Nastassja spurns her brother for another. The idea of incest repulses her too, but maybe for different reasons than normal. A portrait, a metaphor, of a young beautiful woman coming to grips with her growing sexuality.

"The Cat People" is not for everyone, but those of you that are, will know it, as soon as the cat scratches you! The ending scene is as profound as they come!

As I've said before, I'm a sucker for a monster movie, especially a giant monster movie! "Q: TheWinged Serpent," is such a giant monster movie, & a classic too! A Mexican Aztec winged serpent god is brought to life through ritual killings by an Aztec high priest, but the death count rises as people in New York City start getting decapitated, & are swept up in thin air. No one knows why, except Michael Moriarty, a small time con man who has seen the serpents nest & extorts NYC for $1,000,000 for it's hiding place, at the top of one of NYC's tallest buildings. A nod to "King Kong." Moriarty plays his part with the same offbeat manner he is famous for, & is quite enjoyable as the bumbling would be millionaire bum. David Carradine plays a good off beat role as a none traditional cop detective, who is going to outwit Moriarty in divulging the location of the serpent.

What follows is a great little cat & mouse game between Moriarty & Carradine. Great flying sequences as the winged serpent attacks & kills it victims off of skyscrapers. The stop motion effects are superior for 1982, as the winged Serpent looks great! A foreboding reptilian bird like giant, that makes its victims know how it feels to be a worm plucked out of the ground by that pesky Robin, after a rainstorm in the morning.

All this & more, make "Q: The Winged Serpent," a very enjoyable monster romp, for us giant monster fans! A cult classic!

Here's a morbid little bundle of joy!

Madeline, a pregnant mother is involved in a car crash. She goes to the doctor & is told her unborn baby is dead. She decides to keep the baby full term, as she is obsessed with having a baby, even if it's dead. The child is born & pronounced dead, but something very strange happens, the baby thought dead comes back to life! Madeline overjoyed, names the baby "Grace." Grace is not your typical bouncing baby girl, as a matter of fact, Grace is not typical at all, as she starts to produce an odor of rotting flesh, & attracts flies. It seems as Grace has an appetite, a very peculiar appetite, not for mother's milk, but mothers blood!

"Grace" is indeed a strange nightmarish film. It will not appeal to everyone, especially mothers who have had a miscarriage or still born baby. They will find this film sacrilegious to a sanctity of motherhood. The rest of us? Well, I'll just say it's not to everyone's taste, as this is truly an ugly & disturbing portrait of the obscenely unnatural. It's repulsiveness will attract us like a car wreck, we don't want to see, but we have to know. We watch in morbid fascination as baby Grace feeds off her own mothers blood through her breast, shredding & bloodying Madeline's nipples like a rat in baby human form. It's quite the disturbing portrait of depravity & a mother's desperation. Not for everyone.

Those of you that have not seen this film, you're forewarned. Be prepared for the warped offensive film this is, that is somehow mesmerizing.

This is just a good old fashioned giant monster movie, or you could call it," Jaws" in the sand. It is also a buddy film, a comedy, & a hell of a good time!

"Tremors" is filled with great special effects that still hold up well today. It's giant carnivorous worms are original to say the least, but these worms eat the fisherman, as they attack anything making vibrations on the ground, like Great White sand sharks! This makes for some very good suspenseful moments!

"Val" (Kevin Bacon) & "Earl" ( the very underrated Fred Ward) make for the buddy part of the film, & have great chemistry playing off one another, with funny lines, bickering, & superior acting, you'd think these two had been friends for years. They really make this movie work, along with a great cast of character actors, playing misfits, in a misfit desert village (I don't think it quite qualifies as a town) , way off the asphalt path. Especially good are Michael Gross & Rebecca McEntire, as a married couple that are survivalists, armed to the ears waiting to wage war, but not the kind they think.

All in all, "Tremors" is a classic up date of giant mutated monster movies of the 50's. It's funny flowing script, it's superior acting, editing, direction, & lastly, it's great special effects will make any monster movie lover happy! Just don't feed the worms.

Much like "Bram Stoker's Dracula (Coppola produced), here is a stylish, beautifully filmed, & acted update of a classic story. Some people fault Kenneth Branagh for his hyper dramatics, both in the direction, editing, & his acting in this film. I say it was just terrific! Here is a man so obsessed by his mother's death, that he wants nothing less than to bring an end to death! His whirlwind performance is a hypnotizing! A man so possessed by his vision, that it would eventually destroy everyone around him he loves & eventually himself. The most extreme case of irony, of a man who wanted to give life, but in the end brought nothing but death.

Robert De Niro. What can I say about his performance as the monster? Not since Boris Karloff's great portrayal, have I seen such pathos, love, & and anger in Frankstein's creation. His interpretation should of at least won him an Oscar nomination. Nothing short of brilliant!

"Mary Shelly's Frankenstein" is a film filled with a tornadic vortex of emotions, actions, & circumstance. It is a film that can sweep the viewer in to it's catapulting crescendos & crashes. An emotional roller-coaster ride to one man's oblivion. Profoundly sad, but also, profoundly mesmerizing! Only "the Bride of Frankenstein" matches this film in importance, as a truly transcending film from a classic story, of one man's madness.

Fun remake of the 50's Vincent Price classic, "the House on Haunted Hill." Worth the price of admission for the chemistry alone between Geoffery Rush & the ever beautiful Famke Janssen, as husband & wife who don't exactly make holy matrimony, to say the least, as both think one is trying to kill the other. Funny dialog with a witty twist expound from both, as the guests look anxiously on, befuddled at the whole scenario.

The guests make for good victim fodder, as their one dimensional characters. You'll have fun picking & rooting for the ones you hope get killed next, & that's exactly what their in this film for, to be murdered, one by one.

Good pacing & special effects make this one a fun amusement ride, though the roller-coaster falls off track in the end, otherwise I would've rated this a half star higher. Still, this film does not take it's self seriously, & if you don't, this makes for a very good Halloween time watch!

I feel "Bride of the Re-Animator" gets a bum rap. Sure, it's not as good as it's predecessor, "The Re-Animator, but it's a classic!

Jeffery Combs as "Herbert West," is black comedic genius! Black hearted & ambitiously delusional as ever! It is Combs who drives this film over the top, but he does have help along the way. Most of the great characters are back from the first film, even David Gale as "Dr. Carl Hill," is back as a flying bat winged head, a real scene stealer, & a sure knee slapper! Bruce Abbot as "Dan Cain" plays the straight man again, getting sucked in to Herbet West's maniacal schemes. You'd thought he'd of learned by now, LOL!

The special effects are great, as this film is another gorenaza! Especially funny is an eye ball with four fingers attached to it, crawling all over the place, well, until it meets it's demise. The ending is a slam bang freak show of the first order, as Herbert's creations rebel against him, as he screams, "rejects" at them! Funny stuff!

If you have not seen this film, then by all means do so. If you have, but seen the "Re-Animator" first & thought this film was a waste, then watch this again with no expectations. You just might find this a great re-animation of the first film!

Hilarious horror /black comedy film! You Bruce Campbell addicts will jump for joy over you're mummy's sarcophagus, as Bruce fights the evil of "Bubba-Ho-Tep," as no other than the "King of Rock n' Roll" himself, Elvis, or at least he thinks so. Ossie Davis is his cohort in battling this evil, or should I say, cohort in delusion, as he thinks he's president, "JFK." Only one problem, he's black. Never the less, the dynamic duo set out to battle evil incarnate, "Bubba-Ho-Tep, to save their home & fellow neighbors, living in a retirement home from certain death & damnation!

This is Campbell's best film since "Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn," & possibly his best performance too, though you got to love Ash in "Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn" & especially "Army of Darkness." Either way, "Bubba-Ho-Tep" is a moldy bundle of funny bones, all wrapped up in a smartly directed, well acted, piece of brilliance. Bruce Campbell may well be the most overlooked comedic actor of his generation, & that people, is the true horror! A shame.

The critics mostly dumped on this film. I thought it was a well constructed, acted, sci-fi/horror film, that really got the short end of the proverbial stick, poked right in the eye, or any orifice available.

The cinematography is quite stunning, the special effects done very well. The storyline is very good, as far as these type of movies go. Some pretty good gore scenes that help build dread & suspense of being isolated in the deep woods in mid winter, with no help insight. Then when help is found, things even get worse. Though the military, government actions in this film are clichéd, but then again, that's what these films are comprised of, almost 100% of the time. It's not whether it's a new idea, but how well that idea is executed in the film. Here it works.

Interesting characters & plot twists, make "Dreamcatcher" worthy of a nightmare!

Fans of Tim Burton can do a lot worse than watch this film.

Johnny Depp puts on one of his amusingly patented, cowardly heroic performances, as Ichabod Crane, the skinny pale weirdo detective from NYC, solving the headless horsemen case. As isolated dreary Sleepy Hollow, the town that surrounds him, is as strange & secretive as Ichabod & the Headless Horseman himself.

Good to great performances abound, as one after the other important townsmen gets their heads lopped off in high fashion. Christopher Walken puts in one of his patented weirdo performances as the Headless Horseman! Short, sweet, & vicious! God love him! The script is fine for the chewing. The direction, darkly, bleakly, comedic, as the gorgeous dark cinematography graces your eyes glowing from the screen. A rich tapestry of dark hues & shades, contrasted by vividly bright hues, all in the right places, enhancing the viewing experience.

A great film for Halloween, or any dreary grey day or stormy night. "Sleepy Hollow" will charm you, thrill you, & make you laugh! Heads up!

With the glut of the so called "torture porn" genre over the last ten years, & myself being 52 years old & weaned on monster/ghost movies, I just didn't have the time nor desire to watch "Saw." A movie that is majorly responsible for this masochistic horror sub-genre, that's really is only an excuse to see people graphically tortured & mutilated, without any redeeming qualities. I was WRONG!

I had just got Netflix streaming & there was "Saw." I thought to myself, why not, lets see what all the hoopla is about. I mean a film that is pretty much responsible for a whole horror sub-genre, has to have something going for it, right? Right! I was very pleasantly surprised! Here we have a film with a white knuckled terrific plot, what would you do to save yourself? Great acting, an intelligent script, great pacing & direction, & it was more than just a torture porn flick, it had redeeming qualities & characters. It was not what I expected at all! It was actually closer to films like "Silence of the Lambs" & "Seven, & was the best film of that ilk since those great movies! I was almost dumbfounded, & thought, why did I wait so long! "Saw" is a movie that every horror & non-horror fan should see. It is a shining example of how to get much mileage out of a film, with no gas money. Though I'm not inspired to check out it's sequels, as most sequels get progressively worse, this is a film I'll watch many more times, & recommend! A cutting edge film!

"The Burrowers" is an original little film to say the least. It makes a pretty damn good western, & commentary on how whites treated the Indians badly in the late 1900's. It makes for a nifty little horror film, as what the white settlers & Calvary thought was a Indian raid & massacre of a family, is not what happened, to their horror.

Very good acting, directing, & pacing compliment this film, with enough of a spooky soundtrack to intensify scenes just at the right moment. The creatures are a bit tough to make out in the dark, but in retrospect, that probably enhances this film too.

If I had to liken "the Burrowers" to any movie(s), I'd call it "the Mole People" on steroids, meets "the Searchers." Though no where near as good as film as "The Searchers," (not many westerns are), it digs up "the Mole People," & buries them for good! "The Burrows" is one of those rare films that combines the western & horror genres & makes it work!

Notched it up a extra star for originality!

I love the original "Halloween," but I got to admit, I like Zombie's remake better, if only for it's true to life cruel dysfunctional realism.

Zombie has not only remade the film, but he has re-created the story & has in the process, transcended the original in terms of plausibility, verses the supernatural unstoppable "Shape." Here we get to see the making of a serial killing psychopath machine! Outwardly, Michael is unemotional pure unadulterated evil. Inside, a smoldering anger of a young child left to ferment in his hatred of all those who surround him, & mostly, his hatred of himself.

A terrifying portrait of what can be wrought on to others by a person whose years of systematic abuse by his family, & by those who ostracize him from society, filled with malicious school bullies, to a psychologist exploiting him for personal monetary gain & fame. This is Michael Myers life, not a life as most know it, but an existence blindly feeding off of hate & self loathing.

Two commandos land on a German occupied island in the English Channel, on the eve before D-Day, to knock out a gun fortress as a diversion to the main invasion of Normandy. At first they are puzzled that no one seems to inhabit the island, even thinking they landed on the wrong island, though the huge concrete gun fortress is there looming ominously over the English Channel. Little do they realize that their not alone, & that more than just humans occupy the fortress.

"The Devils Rock" is a rewarding little watch for those who stick with it. It is an intimate film, only having four characters to it's story, but that is all it needs. The small cast is well acted & directed. They enhance the already eerily foreboding atmosphere of the gun fortress, with it's long cold half lit cement hallways. One's imagination could run wild here. An occasional cry is heard from inside, only to reinforce the isolation & the fear it brings.

The Germans were/are here, but it's not guns & defensive positioning that this gun fortress on an island is about. It's isolation is being used for the occult, & their black magic has summoned up a she Demon from hell. Aptly portrayed by Gina Varela, both in human & demonic form, she is the central figure that makes this film work. Her make up is just right, not overdone or underdone, she really does look like she's sat on Lucifer's knee! But, unfortunately, she does not appear until the last third of the film.

Yes, all the cast does a great job, but the rock blocking the road here is that two thirds of the film crawls to building up the last third. Not that it's not well scripted, & also has it's dreadful charm, but there is not a lot happening, as the characters are piecing together what has happened & meet up with the only German still alive, an SS Colonel who has some surprises in store. A person could go either way with this build up, you can either love the tension it builds or fall asleep. I lean a tad towards the former, but this film would easily rate higher for me if there was just a little more happening to shake things up. As it is, it's still a very good piece of work from what is probably a direct to DVD affair. Quite superior given all the garbage that resides in the horror section of the low budgeted. So if you've the time & the patience, "The Devils Rock" is a good place to visit on a dark night.

One quick note, this film reminds me somewhat of another Nazi war time horror film, 1983's "The Keep."

Highly entertaining vampire film with a great premise, there's no where to run! "30 Days of Night" in a way is a vampire version of "The Thing," at least in it's setting, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, where many of the residents are packing up & leaving for the winter. A ship becomes ice locked in the Arctic Ocean & a colony of vampires converge on the towns remaining residents. What ensues is a game of cat & mouse, as the vampires feed off of one resident after another, until only a few remain.

The cold bleak isolated setting definitely puts a chill to this film, & you'd actually think it was filmed in Alaska, but was filmed in New Zeeland! No matter, the setting is perfect for blood thirsty vampires feasting through the long night, 30 days of it, until the sun rises, & then the nomadic vampires move on. The vampires their selves are well done, & their Slavic Eastern European accents along with their brutal almost pack like behavior, only serves to make them more menacing, but the remaining few of the towns residents are not going to give up without a fight, & fight they do!

To say much more would be giving to much of the story away. If you like ample amounts of dread, suspense, & survival of the fittest, all set in one of the most dismal places you could hope to survive, then "30 Days of Nights" is your sleigh ride to cold blooded horror.

OK, yes, "Silent Hill" the movie is nowhere as great as the video games, but you know what, they did a pretty damn good job of turning this supremely eeriest of video games, into a pretty good eerie film. No small part due to the fantastic CGI effects, atmospheric cinematography, & what may be the most unnerving soundtrack in horror movies, or I should say, video games, the original "Silent Hill" video game music.

But for all this going for the films benefit, the direction was surprisingly weak, especially considering director Christophe Gans amazing effort, "Brotherhood of the Wolf!" Even so, a mediocre effort by this superior director is many directors "A" game, & the film does have it's surrealistic creepy, "Hellraiser" like charms. Other problems include a uninspiring execution of the plot, some weak acting, & an overwrought climax, to much of a good thing makes a mockery of the whole point of the film. Yet, it does get under the skin, & that is not a easy thing to do. Compared to the "Resident Evil" films, I'll take "Silent Hill" as my nightmare any night or day! For horror lovers of both cinematic & video game!

This one is for you Lynch fanatics out there! I always thought that Stanley Kubrick had a major influence on David Lynch, but after watching "Hour of the Wolf," from renowned director Ingmar Bergman, I feel that David Lynch had to watch this film in his formative years. This is David Lynch, before there was David Lynch! A masterpiece of surrealistic macabre! A truly groundbreaking film, filled with disturbing images, foreboding bleak atmosphere, & direction years a head of its time!

If I really dig into my grey memory matter, there is an earlier low budget American film that could've of been an influence on this film & others to come, 1962's, "Carnival of Souls." Another masterpiece of alternative surrealistic realities. "Carnival of Souls" & "Hour of the Wolf," are direct precedents to the films Lynch would make later, especially his eerie black & white opus, "Erasurehead."

If you can sit through the subtitles & the first half, slow but fascinating. The second half of "Hour of the Wolf," is a bad LSD trip on celluloid, confounding, compelling, brutally sadistic (the scene with the boy) & masochistic, this film will be your entrance in to alternative filmmaking of the most surrealistic kind! A film that expanded what could be done with movie making, by making a anti-movie in the conventional sense. For conventions is a thing Ingmar Bergman left light year realities behind him, when he made "Hour of the Wolf!"

Goofy semi spoof, semi serious offshoot of films like "28 Days Later," with plenty of " Re-animator" overtones.

A scientist invents a "Rage" virus that turn humans in to blood thirsty mutated Zombie like creatures. Not only does it work wonders of mass meaty mutilation from it's human infected, but infects giant vultures who (somewhat hilariously) swoop down from the sky & attack an RV filled with twenty something's. What ensues is a funny fearful fight for survival, as they become infected their self's, one by one.

For you blood thirsty gory gore hounds out there, this is your main course of red rare meat by the piled plateful, quivering, shivering, glossy globs of gluttony gore . For the rest of you, just sit back & be bemused, & amused by the whole bloody spectacle!

What do you get when you mix "Night of the Living Dead" with "The Body Snatchers," with "The Thing," then add hilarious black comedy? You get "Slither," the surprise sci-fi/horror/comedy of 2006! The makers of this film had an obvious love for 50's sci-fi & 60's, 70's, zombie movies. They rolled it all up into one highly entertaining film, with winks & nods all over the place to their beloved genres.

The direction is top notch! It's hard to make a film like this successful, but there is nary a flaw in it. The casting is superb, especially Greg Henry ("Payback" & "Body Double") as the hilarious foul mouthed, hard drinking, deer hunting, mayor of a redneck town, filled with all assorted characters slithering around leaving their slimy imprints on your laughing belly muscles. The make up of the main alien/monster was fantastic, & very reminiscent of the main monster in "From Beyond" mixed with "The Thing." All other make up & CGI was done with great love & affection. Especially well done & funny as hell was the killer Deer in the police station, getting a little payback for all it's Bambi brothers that fell to the hunter's bullet.

You could do a lot worse than pick up this little gem! Beware of dogs missing in town, empty meat cases at the grocery store, & disappearing cows!

The most hilariously refreshing Zombie film since "Return of the Living Dead." You just know with a name like "Fido," that this film is going to be a die laughing affair, & "Fido" like faithful dog, never disappoints! Yes, there is some elements borrowed from "Shaun of the Dead," as far as Zombie's being incorporated into society as workers, but where "Shaun of the Dead" skims over the subject, "Fido" goes right for the gut & the brain. Where "Shaun of the Dead" relies partially on crude comedy to get it's laughs, "Fido" is the thinking Zombie's comedy. It is also a love story, a pet story, a murder mystery, a story of Zombies being more than just brain munching cadavers. Here the Zombie's are the good guys & cooperate villain Zomcon, is the bad guys.

As "Fido" unfolds, it's a funny & touching comedy that has brains to spare, not for eating, but for thinking. After all, Zombies have feelings too.