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Reviews
Theatre Night: The Birthday Party (1987)
Harrowing
Pinter's masterpiece translates well to the screen in this adaptation overseen by (and featuring) Pinter himself. Wonderfully acted, unforgettable, unforgiving and shockingly frank, this is a work that cannot be ignored.
The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1982)
A great documentary-style surreal animation
The Quay brothers style is at it's best here, with beautiful, surreal puppets telling the story of Czech animator Jan Svankmajer's life. The expressionist, stop-motion puppet work is perfectly suited to tell the story of Svankmajer's own surreal film-making. Split into several sections, the puppets (one expressing Svankmajer himself) act out the scenes, with maze-like, unidentifiable sets, dancing pins and a mesmerising soundtrack. All these elements combine into a treat for the eyes, and a severe hammering to the brain. The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer is a marvellous short, particularly of interest to fans of Svankmajer himself.
Flash Gordon (1980)
Without doubt, the "worst" film I have ever seen
Yes indeed, I have never seen anything quite so poor in my life. So you might be interested to know that I gave this film a 10.
Never have I had so much fun laughing at the acting of the main character (and his ridiculously plastic face), the atrocious script and the poor special effects (although fair enough for the early eighties). Tim Dalton and Brian Blessed gave fantastic performances (of course) and Von Sydow wasn't too bad. But the whole film just reeked of cheesy class and childish enjoyment.
So bad, watching it is a timeless pleasure. Heartily recommended.
Bad Taste (1987)
Truly unique
Well, this film certainly looks terrible, and the acting is utterly dire on places, but you just can't help but love it! The TERRIBLE camerawork and fakeness is just what's needed to make this film special. You can tell Peter Jackson just made this to have fun, and he did. And its fun to watch too. So see it! (8/10)
Enter Achilles (1996)
Fascinating, disturbing and compelling
The DV8 dance group, who specialise in their own unique brand of physical theatre, attack the British lad culture in this surreal and compelling film. Set in a pub, the 5 or 6 young actors and dancers express this disturbed and surreal world where emotion is unacceptable and beer means everything.
The graceful and yet perfectly ugly movements of the young talents draw you in, and the piece manages to be beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Truly stunning.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
Something really rather special
This film is unique. Utterly unique. As it acts as a prequel to the series, it can only be truly appreciated alongside the series itself. But aside from that, this film is quite unlike any other you will see. A definite Lynch classic. Not as surreal as Eraserhead, and slightly more down to earth than Lost Highway, this is Lynch at his surreal/realistic best. Also, it was one of the few films that made me yell aloud out of fright. I have to recommend it, but only if you've seen the whole series.
The Lost Boys (1987)
Just a bit of fun
Lets cut to the chase: the acting in this film is just above mediocre, the script is pretty dire and its hideously cheesy. But OH MY GOD THIS FILM WAS FUN!!!
The film was just so... stupid! But by NO means is that a bad thing! Its a great summer movie, it was easy to watch, GREAT fun to watch and really entertaining, which is what you watch films for, innit?
All in all, a bit of '80s fun that CANNOT be missed.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
An interesting break to a lagging series
Looking at the other comments and the votes this film got @ the IMDb, I can't understand why so many people hated this film!
OK, Halloween was absolutely great. A horror masterpiece and the father of the slasher film. Halloween 2 wasn't bad, but really added nothing to the series and was more of the same.
So while it may have been a risky decision to make a third film completely seperate from the other two, I think it was quite a good one. With the second film, the series was looking a tad worse for wear, so this seperate story was needed in a way. You just need to make sure, before you watch it, that you're not expecting Michael and Laurie to run across your screen (apart from the Halloween trailer cameo).
The plot was great, and revealed itself well, and while it was quite silly in places, and completely off the wall in others, I personally think that this was a great addition to the series, and a highly enjoyable horror film.
Guess I'd better go and buy Halloween 4...
The Matrix (1999)
Really not all that great...
WOW! Big superstars! AMAZING special effects! Guns! Romance! WHAT a great film! A really original plot too!
I am of course, lying.
The Matrix really wasn't all that great. The special effects, while being pretty good as they were, were: A) first seen in Gap adverts B) just there for the sake of it, and they really added nothing.
As for the plot, I could see about three films from which it was seemingly stolen, the far superior Dark City on particular.
The pathetic attempt at romance was disastrously tacked on at the end, for no reason, and Reeves's performance wasn't really that great.
Just another big bad Hollywood nothing. Shame.
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
If you've got the stomach, SEE IT!
The first film was definately an aquired taste, and while it was graphic, it also had complex characters and a clever plot. Of course, all horror films of the time need a sequel, and most are terrible. But not this one...
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 really is a great sequel. Possibly better than the first (but much MUCH sicker), and although it has some rather poor special effects, its damn clever, and reveals a lot of interesting stuff about where Cenobites come from and who they are.
Be warned: This is a very very gory film, but if you can stand it, you'll see its great.
Akira (1988)
Possibly one of the finest films to ever come out of Japan
Akira is certainly gory, its certainly gritty, but after seeing it for the first time, I felt like crying. And not because it was bad. Akira is one of the most deeply emotional and incredible films I have ever seen. It certainly takes a (very) open mind to appreciate and understand it, but once you do, your imagination will explode.