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Reviews
La tumba de los muertos vivientes (1982)
The Potential is There
The movie has potential and could be pretty good if developed, but the execution really fails. The pace is too slow, shots are shaky with no purpose, and scripting is disjointed and very basic. But I HAD to watch it. I can now say I watched the entire Oasis of the Zombies. I can't wait for the sequel.
Into the Forest (2015)
Are people really that naive?
After all the apocalyptic movies that have been made, you would think people would be smarter. Spoiler...when the power goes out and the radio quits broadcasting, it's not a good time to go into town. The ending of the movie...what the?!?! Oh my gosh they are going to be someone's BBQ.
A Christmas Carol (1938)
The Best Family Version
I have watched several versions of A Christmas Carol and this one tops them all. The black and white version sets the stage as a bleak and cold period of time of 1843 when the novel was written. The 1938 version is a simple tale with no fancy visual effects. I marvel at how they could make such a very good quality movie in 1938, before World War II, before the Polio vaccine, before George Lucas/Lucas Film/Skywalker Ranch! MGM made this version a family version, omitting a few of the incredibly dreary novel parts like, Want and Ignorance and the many phantoms outside Scrooge's window. MGM wanted this version to be something the entire family could see.
Reginald Owen was the second choice as the lead. Lionel Barrymore was to be Scrooge but was not physically able to do the work. Barrymore later starred in You Can't Take It With You and It's A Wonderful Life.
The Cratchits have real family members. The husband and wife were really married and one of the girls was an actual daughter to the husband/wife team. I think this helps with the feeling of the Cratchits being a real family in the movie.
If you pick up the 1938 version, you won't be disappointed.
Empire of Assassins (2011)
What Did I Just See?
A friend told me if I wanted to watch a B movie with terrible dubbing, horrible fight scenes and no ending, I should watch this. So I did and he was correct. This is one for MST3K. It takes place in ancient China but the dubbed audio has things like, "you're going' down" and "piece of trash". That's the funny part. The main character nearly dies several times in the movie only to get back up a few seconds later to kick butt and then nearly die again. Scenes are haphazardly edited together which makes the story line hard to follow. Then there's the ending...wait, there is no ending, never mind. I had to get on line to find out if I were missing a disk that contained the ending. No, I had the full movie. Lions Gate just forgot to edit in an ending. I hope this didn't cost more than "Sick and the Dead" did to produce. I just feel sorry for anyone who may have gone to a theater to watch this.
Edges of Darkness (2008)
Had Ever Creature except King Boo
I've never shied away from a really bad horror movie (Zombiez, Ghosts Don't Exist, The Sick and The Dead) and this one didn't disappoint, thank goodness. It was 87 minutes of being on an edge of plots but they were way to far in the distance to recognize them. There were three story lines; 1) the couple whose marriage was not going well because the dude was on the computer all the time while a zombie apocalypse was going on outside (later the computer became an alien life form that eventually sprouted roots and killed his wife who dreamed of dancing with zombies), 2) the vampire couple who captured a female to feed on but she turned out to be some anti-vampire, 3) a kick-butt girl who is a wannabe Alice (from Resident Evil) and gets hooked up with the Anti-Christ. None of the three story lines actually crossed paths, except that they were living in a zombie apocalypse. It was 87 minutes of incredible lack of direction, no plot and some really weird scripting. If you like movies with no plot and no clear ending, this is a great movie for you. One of the best lines in the movie, "There's m-f arm bones in the front yard!" I gave this one star because the videography/camera angles and video transitions are well done. This is a keeper for my "Crappy Movies" collection.
Sick and the Dead (2009)
Entertaining B Movie
As long as you pick up this movie with the understanding it only cost $20,000 to make, then you'll enjoy the flick. Don't look for new plots or story lines, but it's an entertaining B movie that kind of has the quality feel of Evil Dead I.
It's definitely better than some B-movie zombie features I've seen. The transitions from one scene to the next in the beginning is pretty ingenious. The "hero" is well-defined; you know who he is when you see him by his action scenes and action music.
About the middle of the movie I wondered if there was a plot or if it was just going to be a series of interesting ways to kill zombies, but eventually it went from the slaughter-fest back to the main character.
There were a couple scenes of frontal top nudity of women. Fortunately, there were just a couple scenes. They were unnecessary, a distraction, and seemed to only be in the movie to satisfy the teenage guys watching it. However, once the producers got that out of their systems, the rest of the movie was clean (except for language). This made the movie more enjoyable and one that mixed company can watch without awkwardness.
Right before the credit roll there were two outtakes which added a touch of class and reminded us this was a movie put together by folks like you and me, not a league of Hollywood producers who have a bazillion dollars at their disposal.
The editing could have been tightened up more and there was one scene that I believe was supposed to be at night but it was day, then another scene was dusk and back to day.
Spoiler alert: Towards the end, one of the characters gets shot in the shoulder, but then walks around clutching the center of his chest. If you get shot in the center of your chest, you're not going to be walking around. And, strangely enough, everyone who wasn't a zombie and was killed somehow became the living dead. Even the girl who cut her own wrists.
An entertaining B-movie made by folks like you and me. I bought my disk for a couple bucks. I wouldn't pay any more for it, but I'm glad to have it in my collection of zombie flicks.
Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)
Why Did I Give This a Three?!; should have been less.
I gave this a three because it kept my attention until the end...hoping for something better than what I was watching. Vanishing on 7th Street had so much potential for a good movie, but it failed. Good cast of characters, just a really bad plot and script.
I watched the entire movie and still have questions. What was this darkness thing? How do you conquer it? Obviouly the darkness situation was not over because those two kids rode out of the city as the darkness descended upon the city and Earth again. What the heck point was being made by having the actors say, "I exist" right before succumbing to the forces of darkness? The writer of the movie wanted to make a point but failed because I still don't know what was the reason they used "I exist" throughout the film. It didn't help the victims because when they said it, they were taken by darkness. Maybe they should have said, "There's no place like home". At least we KNOW that worked for Dorothy.
The two kids at the end rode out on a horse at night with nothing but a stinkin' flashlight...and the foley folks added a giggle by the girl when her light turned on. Believe me, there is nothing fun about riding a horse in pitch black. And under those circumstances, it would be outright terrifying.
This is a movie without a cause. I was waiting for the "I exist" to be the point of the movie. You can overcome anything if you "will" it so. And then of course have the script do more to slam Christianity (I don't agree with it, but I was expecting it). However, this movie didn't have a political, social or religious statement (well, it really did have an anti-religion theme, but nothing out of the ordinary for Hollywoood). It just "existed" in film. And I wasted two hours.
Ghosts Don't Exist (2010)
The Only Thing Scary Was The Acting
This is a classic B movie, except most B movies are more entertaining. I was prepared for a really cool scary movie. However, it was disappointing from beginning to end. The acting was forced the entire time, very stilted with some corny lines. It was very unnatural. One person would say their line, pause, another person would continue on. The house scenes were really bad. I know if I'm getting sick while in a stranger's home, first thing I'm doing is getting out. Instead, the actors linger on in the house and needlessly stretch out the movie. I was slowly getting sick with them, but it was because the movie kept going on and on, just like the ending. It dragged on, and on. I really didn't see any scary parts to the show. If you have a slow evening with nothing to do and you can rent this movie for $1, then do it. You'll be glad you didn't pay more.