stigdu99 Reviews

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

A protracted experience

[25 April 2004]

In my humble opinion, this movie pales in comparison to the 1st volume of Kill Bill. Where the first movie was briskly paced, part 2 simply drags. Where the fight scenes shone, here they glimmer weakly.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

That's not to say there is nothing to like in Kill Bill: Volume 2. Daryl Hannah has her best role in a long time with Elle Driver, and the fight scene between her and Uma Thurman in the caravan is everything it should be - brutal, bloody and exciting.

Gordon Liu is both unrecognisable and on good form as Uma's mentor, Pai Mei - he gets almost all of the laughs in this movie (bar one line spoken by The Bride's daughter at the end of the movie - "Shogun Assassin" - had me rolling in the aisles!)

***END OF SPOILERS***

Tarantino's weakest film to date for me, but Tarantino at half-mast is still better than a lot of directors out there at their best!

6/10

Cabin Fever (2002)

Nice-looking but ultimately ordinary...

[10 January 2004]

It wasn't the bloodfest I had heard it was, though the KNB effects work was very well done, what there was of it. It's definitely a horror movie fan's movie - with audio and visual references to The Last House on the Left, Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Evil Dead to name but a few.

The acting was good - my favourite character being Bert (played by James DeBello) who gets all the best lines.

The DVD itself is a very nice affair, having a holographic cover, animated menus, 5 (yes, five!!!) audio commentaries, trailers, and a few other silly bits 'n' bobs. The 5.1 audio and 2:35 anamorphic transfer are excellent - Lion's Gate have excelled themselves with the quality of this one.

The problem for me was that the film drags in places and is quite slow to build up, then towards the end when we want to see all the gory aftermath, it doesn't show us.

*spoilers ahead*

I wanted to see the head being shotgunned! I wanted to see her foot fall off! I wanted to see the dog eating her guts!

*spoilers end* ...but sadly, we don't. Perhaps this is the way of the noughties horror film now?

Irreversible (2002)

Shocking. Brutal. Inspired.

[23 November 2003]

Like a sledgehammer to the face, this film will leave you dazed and breathless. The film is an assault on the senses, truly horrific - the fire extinguisher scene is probably the most violently realistic scene I have ever seen put to film. One of the best films of 2002.

10 out of 10.

Identity (2003)

Thriller with a nice twist...

[8 September 2003]

A very well-written and directed thriller which is one of those sleeper hits like 'Frailty' that comes out of left-field with little fanfare, but greatly received and reviewed by most of those who have had the pleasure of seeing it.

Pruitt Taylor Vince as the madman about to be executed was excellent, as was the rest of the cast. You think you know where this one might be going, but then it takes a 180 degree turn and throws you in a totally different direction. Great stuff, and a truly brilliant concept for a movie.

9/10.

Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies (2001)

Jap zombie schoolgirls with buckets of blood

[3 September 2003]

A film named after me??! How cool is that?! I decided to go for this DVD having heard it contains 3 of my favourite things - zombies, chainsaws, and young women dressed as schoolgirls.

Typically Japanese over-the-top gore comes in dribs and drabs with more than a passing nod to greater horror flicks such as 'Day of the Dead' and 'Dawn of the Dead.' The plot is sadly lacking, and the film is pretty slowly paced, although there are some fun moments to be had, particularly with the 3-girl anti-Romero repeat kill squad. I liked them.

If you're gonna get yourself a decent Japanese zombie/gore flick, then do yourself a favour and buy 'Versus' or 'Junk' instead. THAT'S how to do it properly.

The DVD from Synapse is pretty good, with a very nice anamorphic transfer and Dolby 2.0 stereo sound with player-generated subtitles. However, I would only buy it if you're a hardcore zombie fan or collector of crazy and bloody Japanese flicks.

4/10 for some good gore scenes and a couple of chuckles.

Reindeer Games (2000)

Um...did I miss something?

[26 August 2003]

As one of the other reviewers said, if you enjoyed films like Fargo and Red Rock West, then you'll most likely quite enjoy this.

I disagree with those who said Charlize Theron was hamming it up in this movie - I thought she was great. Gary Sinise was fine too, if a little dumb, and Ben Affleck...well, he's just Ben Affleck, isn't he?

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

I didn't understand why the important reference was made by Theron's character about there being FIVE dead Santas. The four bad guys get killed in their outfits: Gabriel, Pug, Jumpy and Merlin. So surely after the mayhem of the casino heist, the cops would still be on the lookout for the 5th Santa that did them over?

Surely a tidier ending would have been for Ben Affleck's character Rudy to have swapped clothes with Nick Cassidy before letting the truck go over the cliff, thus providing the police with their 5th Santa heister?

***END OF SPOILER***

Overall, I thought it was passable fun with some good twists but some sadly clumsy editing and lack of violence.

6/10

Out for a Kill (2003 Video)

Out for a Kill - several kills, more like...

[21 August 2003]

Steven Seagal kicks major ass. Very little plot sadly - his assistant and wife are murdered (the death of his assistant in the jeep is the vest bit of the film - very cool effect), so Mr. Seagal swears vengeance.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. What happened to the Seagal from Nico? Marked for Death? Under Siege? Now we have fatter, slower Steve who is unfortunately teamed with crappy plots and crappier fight scenes. Add into the mix some very obvious wire-work, and you have a recipe for disaster.

The main bad guy is more hammy than a leg of roast pig. All that eyebrow-raising, s...l...o...w.......s...p...e...e...c...h.......d...e...l...i...v...e...r... y... in the manner of Agent Smith from 'The Matrix.' Just SPIT IT OUT MAN!!

The thing that makes me laugh is the title - a mix of his earlier 'Out for Justice' and 'Hard to Kill.'

That would make his next film 'Hard for Justice.' Hehe. Cool.

2/10 for seeing Seagal kick and slap people a lot.

Christine (1983)

Decent adaptation of a Stephen King book

[20 August 2003]

For those of you expecting outstanding, mind-numbing horror from the horror greats John Carpenter and Stephen King - you may want to look elsewhere. By no means Carpenter's best (that accolade belongs to 'The Thing') or for that matter, King's (Shawshank Redemption, Misery, Stand by Me are all far superior), this is still a decent film with good acting by Keith Gordon (who would later go on to direct such truly wonderful films as 'A Midnight Clear' and 'Mother Night') and, playing his best friend Dennis, John Stockwell.

I liked the way the movie began. You could really feel the friendship between Arnold and Dennis, and felt like you wanted retribution yourself against 'Buddy' and his band of goons.

Christine herself is a very sleek-looking Plymouth Fury, and there are some nice moments of her chasing her prey down thin alleyways, or running the bad guy down at night whilst ablaze.

For an '18'-cert, there is almost no gore but plenty of bad language! I wouldn't have minded seeing some more roadkill carnage, but hey! Them's the breaks.

All in all, a decent movie with a good soundtrack and an ok premise. Just not very scary.

6.5/10

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Creeeeepy ending...

[10 August 2003]

I watched this having purchased the Anchor Bay box set. WARNING: If you HAVEN'T seen the first film, then DO NOT read the back of the DVDs for parts 2 and 3, as they give away a pretty damn major plot point!!

I was saddened to hear that Anchor Bay have (yet again) released an 'R'-rated cut as opposed to an unrated one - it's only thru reading some Americans' reviews that I discovered how the character of Judy was killed. It's all seen in shadow (very little is shown actually) and there is no 'corpse' shot, so we don't get to see the after effects of the kill.

For what is shown, Ed French's make-up FX work is exemplary for what looks to be a pretty low-budget horror film evidently shot on location. There's a seamless arrow-through-the throat shot that I don't know how it was accomplished. Excellent.

Teenagers getting picked off by an unknown killer at a summer camp...sure sure, sounds just like Friday the 13th, but it's about there that the similarities end. The acting is ok, the kills are tastefully done, and the ending...

The ending blew me away. The shiver took 20 seconds to get from my neck to the bottom of my spine.....creepy stuff.

7/10

Hulk (2003)

Comic-book fun though fanboys will be restless...

[25 July 2003]

Having only seen Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Ice Storm", I didn't know quite how such a drama- and emotion-driven director would cope with the comic book story of The Hulk. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. He handles the transition from comic page to film screen with great aplomb, and the 2hr15 running time just flew by for me.

I understand that the film-makers tinkered with the creation of 'The Hulk' and possibly other things such as costumes/ relationships/ side-stories may not be accurate when compared to the comics but all in all it's just an exciting, beautifully told story of one man and his monstrous alter-ego. And boy, what an alter-ego!

The days of CG have come pretty far - he conveys emotions like a real human, his hair sways in the light breeze on the hills of San Francisco, and you can really feel the THUDS as he leaps his way across the desert.

I thought the fx were excellent. I mean - what are you gonna base its realism on?!?! Great action scenes, convincing drama, Hulk destruction, and Nick Nolte hamming it up marvellously.

What more could you want?

8/10.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

A very worthy sequel

[21 July 2003]

A most entertaining 90 minutes of gore, mayhem and thrills. I won't go into plot details here, as you can read about these elsewhere. However, I will say I went in expecting little and emerged with a big smile on my face, having been thoroughly amused and grossed out!

*Spoilers ahead*

OMG it is gory. The double-whammy of the 'pole-thru-the-head' and 'trisection-by-flying-fencewire' had me whooping like a girl. Totally unexpected.

What I like about this movie is the way it blindsided you. You think you know what is going to happen next, how the character will be killed....then something else happens VERY suddenly that turns your expectations on their head and makes you go "OH MY GOD!"

9/10.