antony-15

The original Halloween scared me to death when I first caught it when I was eight, so when I saw the sequel I didn't expect the film to live up to the first - How wrong I was! Okay, so the way the hospital is run is pretty ridiculous - seven doctors in a hospital THAT of that size is a bit stupid, but Michael Myers' continuation of October 31, 1978 is just as scary as the first. Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance are as excellent as ever, as are the rest of the cast. The movie has some cool make-up effects for the era and this film (along with Halloween (1978), Halloween 4 (1988), and Tenebrae (1982)) are the only horror films I have found truly scary. Even though the plot has been extended from Part 1 - one of the scariest things in the first - it still scary to see THAT mask, THOSE defenseless women and hear THAT scream. This is definitely one for a group of friends. Everyone that's watched it with me has screamed, jumped, or seen Michael Myers emerge from the shadows in their bedroom that night. An under-rated classic, and probably (along with Aliens) one of the only sequels that lives up to the original. Here's to Halloween 8!

This is Kate Bush at her best. Any Kate Bush fan will admit that most of her earlier videos (see "KATE BUSH: THE SINGLE FILE" (1983)), are basically Kate showing her unique way of dancing, but this video is where she really excels herself. Kate is practising to record her video of the 1993 single "Rubberband Girl", which is cut short when there's a power cut. When everyone has left, Kate is confronted by a strange woman who comes through the mirror (!), and begs Kate to help her get home - in return, she will give Kate her beautiful red ballet shoes. Kate accepts, but soon regrets when she herself is taken into the world inside the mirror - the woman double crossed her, because the shoes are eternal - the never stop dancing! The film then shows Kate trying to get home, while she sings some A+ songs like "Moments of Pleasure", the previously mentioned top-ten hit "Rubberband Girl", and "The Red Shoes", also the name of the album the video coincides with. Kate's acting may not be Oscar standard, but her ethereal beauty, the excellent music and the obvious fun she is having make you forget about that and enjoy the ride, and the acting is pretty good for a first performance. This is a fantastic idea, and should be adopted by more singers. Should appeal to ALL Kate Bush fans, music fans in general, and fans of films such as "WIZARD OF OZ" and "THE RED SHOES". Hopefully Kate will do this again if she does record another album! 10/10 :-)!

A keen viewer of anything which "drips blood", is located on "Sorority Row" or has "The Prowler" in it, I snapped up MADMAN for next to nothing at a garage sale. I knew I wasn't going to be seeing SUSPIRIA by the cheesy silhouette artwork, but I gave it a go. The first thing anyone notices about this film is the stupidity! Check it out when the girl hides in the fridge (that only has ice in it - was there starvation at summer camp in 1981?), or when another is hit over the head with a piano by the killer, or when the woman carries a torch around with her - but doesn't even switch it on, or where the girl thinks she's seen the killer but shoots her best friend! There's just so many daft things going on - and don't forget the super decapitation with car bonnet! This film stars DAWN OF THE DEAD'S Gaylen Ross - under the pseudonym Alexis Rubin - wonder why she changed her name for this stinker! But don't get me wrong - MADMAN is a pretty good horror. The bodycount is high with imaginitive deaths, and even though it's full of already-done ideas from FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH, THE BURNING, HALLOWEEN, and THE PROWLER, the production values are okay and the gore is quite good. The cast are not bad and can scream on cue. The "score" is pretty bad, a sort a eighties synth take on the HALLOWEEN "stalking theme". The killer is effective - usually in silhouette form or very sparing glimpses - that's a good thing for a)atmosphere and b) he looks like a overgrown garden gnome! Get MADMAN if you ever see it! It's camp, corny, has a few chills, and some great laughs! Joe Giannone should have made more horrors - where is he now? LIVE ON MADMAN MARZ! 10/10 :-)

This film is so strange. The beginning lets us know we are in for camp thrills. It sort-of has an interesting film within a film, within a film, pre-dating DELIRIA (1987), who stole the idea (but worked it much better). It then has an awfully eighties style soundtrack, and we are introduced to the oldest looking teenagers ever, who do the usual stupid stuff of going to a haunted house, having sex, getting drunk, and getting murdered by a guest who looks like a mix between Linda Blair in THE EXCORCIST (1973) and THE INCREDIBLE HULK! Sounds like a KILLER PARTY! Anyway, nothing happens for ages, apart from the usual teenage "humor", such as playing tricks on the teachers and having an initiation ceremony in the abandoned frat house. After about an hour, the cast are whittled down systematically in about two minutes. Not exactly nightmarish, but VERY eighties and quite amusing - see it if your bored!

Right. Let's just get the "plot" out of the way. The 'Cycle Sluts', a bunch of rowdy, western style bikers, arrive in Zombie Town. The beginning of the film is slow and takes a while to get going, but when the 'zombies' (which look like they are just people the crew pulled of the street) go after the girls, after being let out from a Cave (Believe it!) you can't help but laugh at the stupid ways the 'Cycle Sluts' kill the creatures. Look out for the grenade munching zombies! Any film with a midget shooting zombies and an unexplained buss-full of blind teenagers who help save the day has to be seen to be believed! I also think the second half like BRAINDEAD (1992) to a small extent. Where the HELL do Troma get their ideas from? 7/10 :-)

"Madonna", 1984's mini EP of four videos, came out at around the same time "Like A Virgin" was released. Containing three hit songs and one that maybe only true Madonna afficionados would recognize, the video features the NY set "Borderline", the cheap but effective looking "Lucky Star", the superior "Like a Virgin" where Madonna famously writhes around on a Venetian gondola, and "Burning Up", where Madonna once again wiggles her hips for us in very tight, revealing clothing. The EP is a nice little video for Madonna fans - so try it - and once again, be touched for the very first time...

AQUARIUS, or STAGE FRIGHT is a great little Italian thriller. The film starts out as a fun "chase" film, but goes a few shades darker for the macabre finale. Directed by Dario Argento's protege Michele Soavi, the film is about a group of actors making a horror-musical(don't ask!). However, an infamous psychopath has escaped the confines of the local asylum. Little do they know that he is really in the building, with a storeroom full of numerous sharp implements! You can guess the rest! This film is a fantastic slasher pic with style.

This film is the best. You can't fault it. It's like a wild fairground ride that you want to ride again and again. I first saw this movie when I was six years old, and now, all these years later, I found a copy at a garage sale. It's a great movie about a bunch of misfit kids - the loudmouth, the overweight kid, the wallflower, the high-school jock - they are all here, and together, they spend a day following a local legend for pirate's gold. Unknown to them, first class criminals are hot on there heels for their share! The Goonies has aged pretty well - Cyndi Lauper with her bubblegum soundtrack, An excellent group of kids and a hilarious Anne Ramsay as Mamma Fratelli, Chris Columbus' funny dialogue,and Spielberg's genius. Put it all together - you've got a movie that you can watch over and over again without ever tiring of.

This little known slasher movie is one you just have to see! Unlike the countless clones of "Halloween" (1978) and "Friday the 13th" (1980) that appeared around this time, this film has an expensive look about it. With a lush score, well paced scares and nice finishing touches, this film can't go wrong. An excellent horror film, definitely one of my favorites.