RebelXStar Reviews

Being Erica (2009–2011)

If life's journey be endless where is its goal? The answer is, it is everywhere.

[8/10 · 6 January 2019]

After having been fired from her job, dumped by her boyfriend and collapsing from anaphylactic shock after consuming a nut-laced coffee all in the same day, 30-something Erica Strange wakes up in hospital and meets a mysterious man known only as 'Dr. Tom'.

Erica learns that he is a therapist and she has been chosen to be one of his patients -- what she doesn't know is that Dr. Tom has the ability to travel time and his 'therapy' involves sending Erica back in time to various, regretful, moments in her life to allow her the chance to gain a new perspective and learn.

Initially reluctant, Erica refuses Dr. Tom's help, but after being shamed into feeling like a big loser who can't get her life together by her family she writes a list of her life's biggest regrets and so begins her journey into what 'being Erica' really means.

I watched a handful of episodes of 'Being Erica' a few years ago and it instantly grabbed my attention with it's quirky 'Sex and the City' meets 'Quantum Leap' concept. Unfortunately, as it aired in the mornings here the UK and my schedule wasn't always consistent I didn't see it all the way through to the end, despite being hooked.

I put 'Being Erica' on my list of movies and TV shows I wanted to revisit, and now, thanks to the gift of Youtube I've spent the last week of 2018 and the first week of 2019 binge watching the entire series from beginning to end -- and let me tell you, what an ending it was! (Spoiler alert: I cried)

The promo for this show really doesn't do it justice; though incredibly quirky and comedic at times, the promo really underplays the philosophical aspect of the series and how thought-provoking and emotionally engaging it was.

A thoroughly underrated show that I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in time-travel, philosophy or metaphyics... or just anyone who has ever experienced the pain of regret.

Ink (I) (2009)

He's convinced himself he's God. We're just reminding him he's not.

[7/10 · 11 March 2018]

I must admit that when I first saw the trailer for this on Youtube the low-budget cinematography almost put me off. Almost. Fortunately, the premise alone intrigued me enough to give it a chance anyway.

The story centres around an imaginative but troubled little girl called Emma who is under the care of her grandparents due to her mother's recent death and John, her grieving father's reluctance to face up to his responsibilities.

In this world there are 2 inter-dimensional factions that co-exist unseen alongside the human world; the dream-giving 'Storytellers' and the nightmare inducing 'Incubi'.

One night, after having been visited by a Storyteller, Emma's soul is kidnapped by an Incubi, simply known as 'Ink' who hasn't quite earned his stripes yet and needs her to use as a bargaining chip so that he can become part of the Incubi elite.

In real life, Emma consequently falls into a coma and is taken to hospital but when John is still reluctant to come to his daughter's aid, the storytellers must work together to save her from the Incubi's clutches by helping John face up to his responsibilities as a father and Ink to realise his true identity.

I think you will enjoy this movie, if like me, you are intrigued by subjects like metaphysics, dreams, time travel etc.; the scene in which the audience witnesses how the Storytellers manipulate the events that led up to an earlier scene in the movie which results in John being in a car crash and having to be taken to the hospital where his daughter is lying in a coma had me holding my breath (if only because it visually depicted something I've thought about myself.)

I'm glad I saw 'Ink' in spite of its ugly cinematography and I can tell it was a real passion project for its creators.

Halloween II (2009)

Hey, world! Guess what. I'm Michael Myers' sister! I'm so f*****

[2/10 · 17 February 2017]

So, Rob Zombie's Halloween II starts out much the same as the sequel to the original in that it picks up on the same night as the previous movie, with Laurie Strode wandering the streets in a state of shock after having attacked and been attacked by her long lost sibling, serial killer Michael Myers.

She is promptly whisked to hospital, along with best friend Annie, who also survived her attack, and stitched backed together again.

In the meantime, as Michael's seemingly dead body is taken away to the morgue the vehicle crashes and he awakens. He tracks Laurie to the hospital and proceeds to slash his way through the hospital staff in a bid to get to her.

Just as Michael zeros in on Laurie and it seems as though he will succeed in killing her, the movie then abruptly cuts to two years later, where Michael's body is missing and Laurie, struggling to cope with what has happened to her, awakens from a nightmare.

And that's where the similarity with the 1981 movie begins and ends. Which is fine - it's not like the sequel to the original Halloween is some untouchable classic - and we see that Laurie has basically turned into what she would have become had she grown up in her original family; foul-mouthed, greasy, grungy, unpleasant, whiny, bitter and angry.

Her anguish is understandable of course, but when she is even angry and mean towards Annie and father, who take her in and let her live with them after Laurie's adoptive parents were slaughtered in the first movie, and raging at her therapist she is a very exhausting character to root for and sympathise with; and one of the strengths of the original movie (and even the sequels) was the likability of it's heroine(s) - even poor, tragic Jamie Lloyd who was stalked by Michael Myers from the age of eight, abducted into a cult at age nine and gave birth to her uncle's baby showed more resilience and less self-pity than Zombie's Laurie Strode.

During the course of the movie, thanks to Dr. Loomis (now a selfish, fame chasing, money hungry pseudo-celebrity) who wrote a book on Michael Myers, she learns of her true identity as Angel Myers - Michael's estranged baby sister. She breaks down at the revelation and in an effort to escape her pain, she goes out and parties the night away on Halloween night, with disastrous consequences for her and her friends, as unbeknown to them, Michael is very much alive and eager to finish what he started.

To give credit where it's due, this does present a very interesting premise; is it possible to change your fate? Can you escape who you were always destined to be? Is tragedy rooted in your DNA?

Unfortunately, all of this is COMPLETELY OVERSHADOWED by Zombie's reliance on extreme gore, violence, mean-spiritedness, insistence on making every other word an 'F' bomb and completely bizarre and odd plot choices.

For instance, were the first twenty four minutes of the movie real? A dream? And if it was real, how did Laurie escape? Who knows? The movie never explains.

What was the point of Michael's 'white horse' visions of his mother? Was there a point? Or was it just an extremely forced way of giving Zombie's wife, Sherie Moon, a role in the movie?

What was the point of showing Michael traipsing across the countryside as an unmasked, hairy, dishevelled hobo? Most of the murders he commits during these scenes are completely unnecessary and gratuitous, it lessens the impact when he finally shows up on Halloween night knowing he's just been trawling through fields eating dogs and killing rednecks (imagine how terrifying and impactful it would have been if he had just appeared without any warning or explanation!) and his physical appearance just looks like a lame attempt from Zombie to insert his own image into Michael.

And don't even get me started on Loomis, who in the original movies and sequels was always a worthy adversary to Michael - the 'woodcutter' to Michael's 'big, bad wolf' if you will - is now just a narcissistic, selfish jerk.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

I had to search the bowels of Hell, but I found someone; someone who'll make 'em remember

[2/10 · 28 January 2017]

Twelve years after the events of Freddy's Dead and the population of Springwood have all but forgotten serial dream killer Freddy Krueger, rendering him powerless and resulting in many years of sweet, murder-free dreams for the town.

Furious at having been forgotten by the very town he once single-handedly terrorised he enlists the help of Jason Voorhees, the hockey-masked serial killer of Camp Crystal Lake, to invoke fear back into Springwood's residents so that he can feed off that fear and reign supreme once again.

Jason is summoned to 1428 Elm Street, the original home of Freddy's first and most enduring adversary, Nancy Thompson. Only now it is inhabited by pouty lipped Lori Campbell and her father. When her father is away one night her friends come over for drinks and teenage shenanigans.

After Jason murders the boyfriend of one of Lori's friends, the police - who have tried to ensure that the current teenage population of Springwood know nothing about Freddy Krueger and his brutal crimes - inadvertently plant the seed in Lori's head, and soon she is freaking out and having nightmares.

Though fear continues to spread as the body count mounts up, it takes a while before Freddy is strong enough to kill again and is reliant on Jason to hack through more victims to ensure the fear grows.

However, just as Freddy is about to kill his first victim in over a decade, Jason swoops in and takes the glory away from him and Freddy realises that Jason isn't his minion but a serious threat to his title of Springwood's most notorious serial killer and the two must go head-to-head in battle for the ultimate victory.

Though there are a few cool moments in the movie, such as making the town of Springwood and Camp Crystal Lake part of the same universe, the appearance of Westin Hills, the psychiatric hospital from 'Dream Warriors', as well as nods to other horror movies - 'Lori' a nod towards the character of Laurie Strode in 'Halloween' and 'Campbell' a possible nod towards Neve Campbell who played Sidney Prescott in 'Scream', and the character of Gibb being almost entirely based on PJ Soles' character from 'Carrie' - I mostly find FvJ uninspired, boring, clichéd and not nearly as epic as it could have and should have been.

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

The only way you're gonna survive is to do what you think is right, not what they keep trying to jam you into

[8/10 · 19 December 2016]

There are some movies that are referenced, parodied and talked about so much that when you finally get round to watching them, you go into them feeling like you've already seen them. Saturday Night Fever was one of those movies for me.

After watching all of the pop-culture defining musical movies of the late seventies and eighties (Grease, Fame, Flashdance, Footloose, Dirty Dancing etc.) I went into Saturday Night Fever thinking I knew exactly what I was going to get.

Imagine my surprise when far from being a lighthearted musical about the late seventies disco scene in the vein of 'Flashdance', it was a story about struggle, despair and desperation that was very dark and sometimes outright depressing - scenes of gang violence, a rape, an attempted rape, an accidental suicide and plenty of racist language - all set against a backdrop of disco music including the now iconic soundtrack by the BeeGees.

I think when I first watched Saturday Night Fever I felt I was in a similar dissatisfied place and situation in my life as the movie's main character, Tony Manero (played with just the right amount of swagger and charm by John Travolta), a Brooklynite in his late teens who plods along in his day job at a paint store and lives for the weekends when he can let loose with his friends on a Saturday night at the local nightclub, where thanks to his good looks and dance talent, he is something of a local celebrity.

Unlike his friends though, who seem to have no aspirations beyond going out, getting drunk and laid at the weekends, he knows that his lifestyle has a shelf-life and by his own admission dancing at the disco is one of only a few times and places he feels appreciated and worthy; even within his family he lives in the shadow of his older brother, Frank Jr., whom his family idolises due to his vocational choice to become a priest.

When the opportunity to enter a dance competition at the nightclub arises he is convinced to enter with his friend, Annette, even though he is reluctant because he knows Annette is in love with him and he doesn't feel the same way for her.

Then Tony meets Stephanie.

On the surface, Stephanie seems to have it all together with a good job in Manhattan and a nice apartment but Tony soon realises that not all is as it seems with her.

And unfortunately for Annette, Tony doesn't hesitate to trade Annette in for her as his dance partner, in the hopes of getting to know her better.

While Stephanie's aloof and haughty manner makes it hard for a true romance to blossom between them, there is a definite chemistry and connection between when they dance. The more they get to know one another they realise they have similar goals and aspirations to rise above their humble surroundings and move on to better things.

I watched this movie with a completely different set of eyes than the vast majority of IMDb it seems, as I don't see the relationships between the main characters the same way most view them at all. While most people seem to think that because Annette was objectively more attractive and adored Tony, that it was wrong of Tony to ditch her in favour of Stephanie, who acted like she was better than him, at least in the beginning.

It's fairly obvious to me why Tony doesn't like being around Annette; she represents everything he hates about his current life and Stephanie represents where he wants to go.

The relationship and friendship between Tony and Stephanie and especially the first scene of them dancing in the studio together, is one of the highlights of the movie for me. I think people take Stephanie's haughtiness too personally anyway.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982–1983)

They dream of following the path of the setting sun that leads to El Dorado and The Mysterious Cities of Gold

[9/10 · 13 November 2016]

I probably watched all of about two or three episodes in total of this French-Japanese animation as a child but thanks to the beautiful animation, stunning visuals and the beyond epic theme song it has stayed permanently embedded in my psyche ever since.

Now as I have the chance to watch every episode from the beginning, there are two things that stand out to me; (1) I was shocked to learn that it originally aired in it's entirety before I was even born and (2) I am only about eight episodes in and already I can see why this resonated so deeply with many eighties kids, like myself; not only is the animation beautiful, but the story, which centres around Spanish exploration of the Americas in the 16th century, is very mature and the characters incredibly engaging and complex for a children's show.

While the adult characters are driven by very 'adult' motivations of seeking fortune and notoriety in finding 'The Mysterious Cities of Gold', the children are driven by much 'purer' motivations; Esteban, a young Spanish boy who lived his whole life believing he was an orphan learns from a man named Mendosa that he is a 'Child of the Sun' and that he was rescued at sea by Mendosa himself and his real father may still be alive, somewhere in The New World, close to where he was rescued.

Zia, a young Incan girl, who was taken from her family and captured against her will by Spanish explorers, wants to reunite with her people but is conflicted because in doing so she will lead her captors straight to them.

And lastly, Tao, who joins the story a little later, is the last remaining member of a technologically advanced race who believes he will discover the secrets of his people in the Mysterious Cities of Gold.

If I had to nitpick anything, it would be that while Esteban, Zia and Tao are all implied to be around the same age, in the English dub, Esteban sounds notably younger than Zia and Tao, who both sound like the preteens they're supposed to be. Esteban sounds like he's about eight years old. But that's a really tiny nitpick.

I wish I could could say it's my age making me say 'they don't make them like this anymore', but they really don't.

Halloween (2007)

The darkest souls are not those which choose to exist within the hell of the abyss, but those which choose to move silently among us

[4/10 · 30 October 2016]

In the 1978 movie, Michael Myers starts out as an angelic looking blonde haired little boy who stabs his older sister to death for no explainable reason on Halloween night.

In the 2007 movie, Michael Myers is a grungy, greasy product of white-trash who tortures animals and stabs his older sister to death on Halloween night because she wanted to have sex with her boyfriend instead of taking him treat or treating.

He also kills her boyfriend - presumably because he is the reason she wouldn't take him trick or treating-, and his mother's boyfriend because he's an unemployed deadbeat who bullies him.

In fact, the only people who Michael likes, and therefore escapes his rage, in his family are his mother, Deborah, who was working (as a stripper) at the time of the murders, and his baby sister, 'Angel' who is subsequently adopted into another family after Deborah commits suicide due to the stress of having a psychopath for a son.

The two remaining siblings grow up leading very different lives; Michael is committed to a life inside a mental institution while Angel is renamed Laurie and grows up in a nice neighbourhood with two loving parents.

Several years later, on the night before Halloween, two hospital employees decide to get their kicks by raping a vulnerable young female mental patient inside Michael's cell and it's then that the now adult Michael breaks out of the hospital and makes his way back to his home town of Haddonfield in search of his now teenage sibling, leaving a bloody trail wherever he goes.

The rest of the movie is then an almost scene for scene remake of the 1978 movie with Michael tracking down Laurie as she babysits alongside her friends on Halloween night.

Some people like to give props to Rob Zombie for trying something different but as someone who is neither very familiar with Zombie's other work, nor a fan of what I have seen, I can't say that excuse sits well with me. It's not that I'm opposed to seeing a different interpretation of the story or even giving Michael a backstory it's just that the 'bad childhood' angle is so dull, predictable and lazy. Seeing an angelic Michael's descent into murder and rage would have been far more compelling.

I'm also not a fan of how Zombie has a tendency to create all of the male characters in his own image and the constant (constant!) dropping of f-bombs.

With that said, there are a couple of aspects that I do like - for instance the ambiguous time period setting of the first half of the movie; it's vaguely seventies-esque, but never explicitly established which makes for interesting visuals.

Malcolm McDowell does a decent job of Michael's psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis but doesn't hold a candle to Donald Pleasance.

Danielle Harris, who played Laurie's daughter in Halloween IV and V, makes an appearance, this time as Annie, Laurie's sarcastic, snarky best friend from the original movie.

I also like how the sibling story arc flows with more ease, though considering this aspect wasn't added until later in the original series, that can be put down to hindsight.

New Nightmare (1994)

When the time comes, you're gonna have to make a choice; whether or not you're willing to play Nancy one last time...

[7/10 · 29 September 2016]

In 1984, acclaimed horror director Wes Craven breathed new life into the slasher genre with 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and then again in the mid-nineties with 'Scream', a cool, edgy (for the time) meta-horror. But before there was 'Scream', Craven had already ventured into meta territory with 'New Nightmare.'

The actress who played Nancy, Freddy's adversary from the first and third 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' movies, Heather Langenkamp plays a fictionalised version of herself raising a son, Dylan with her special effects technician husband, Chase.

Heather begins to experience nightmares, including one where Chase is attacked and killed on the set of a new 'Nightmare' movie by a Freddy glove come to life. She is also dealing with a real-life stalker who likes to mimic Freddy's mannerisms and struggling to shield Dylan from her work as a horror movie actress.

Whilst doing publicity for the tenth anniversary of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' she learns that there is indeed another movie in the works and Chase has already been working on special effects for it without her knowledge. The production company want her to star in the movie but she is reluctant.

However, when Chase is killed in a car accident and his body is found with deep claw marks in his chest and Dylan's behaviour becomes increasingly unstable, including becoming convinced that a man is trying to come up from the foot of the bed while he sleeps to attempting suicide in the playground, Heather turns to her 'Nightmare' co-workers for help and support.

From Wes she learns that the script he's writing is eerily similar to the current events in her life, but is real-life inspiring the script or is the script dictating real-life?

After 'Freddy's Dead' gave Freddy a damp squib of a send-off, 'New Nightmare' was a welcome entry to the series. And even though the ending is still somewhat anti-climatic and Robert Englund is very underused (there should have been more interaction between him and the 'new' Freddy - what a missed opportunity!) this is still the vastly superior 'final' movie that is both enjoyable and original.

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Let the Dangertainment begin!

[3/10 · 22 August 2016]

In Halloween: H20, Michael successfully tracks down his biggest adversary and opponent, his own sister Laurie Strode and the two go head to head in a battle of wits resulting in Laurie walking away the victor when she faces the fear of her brother and kills him with a swift axe blow to the head, decapitating him; a fitting and epic ending for an iconic horror villain and beloved horror heroine.

So then, how is it that Halloween: Resurrection exists?

Well, it turns out none of the above actually happened.

No, it turns out that Michael switched places with a paramedic at the scene of his murderous rampage, crushed his larynx so the man couldn't speak and walked away undetected.

Overcome with guilt at murdering an innocent man, Laurie is subsequently committed to a mental institution where she patiently waits for Michael to find her again, which he inevitably does.

Laurie manages to trap Michael on the roof of the institution but terrified of killing the wrong person again, she falters at dealing the final blow and Michael is able to exploit her moment of vulnerability to stab and throw her off the roof to her death; a feeble ending to her character in stark contrast to the triumphant ending at the conclusion of the last movie.

With Laurie finally dead, Michael is free to return to Haddonfield, where he lives under the foundations of his old, abandoned childhood home - presumably to live the rest of his life in peace.

Unfortunately for Michael, a reality TV producer (Busta Rhymes) has commissioned a live internet broadcast to take place on Halloween night inside the Myers house, where a group of college students agree to be filmed spending the night at the scene of Michael's first murder as a child, completely unaware that the man himself still lives there.

Cue a new murder spree, broadcast live on the internet to an unsuspecting audience not realising that they are witnessing real - as opposed to scripted - deaths.

This film is entirely pointless, and yet I can completely understand why it exists. Made in 2002, reality TV and the internet were still relatively new and innovative commodities that hadn't been used a lot in horror movies at that point. In fact, one of my favourite (and arguably, best) parts of the movie is where the main heroine, Sara, receives instructions of Michael's whereabouts in the house on her palm pilot via her friend watching the broadcast on the outside world.

I feel as though the script would've fared better as an individual horror movie, not as part of the Halloween series. The retconning of the events of the previous movie and opening sequence with Laurie feels forced and Michael could've been replaced with a new horror villain and serial killer.

After all, no-one wants to see their favourite horror icon karate chopped through a window by Busta Rhymes. Yes, really.

Twister (I) (1996)

You've never seen it miss this house, and miss that house, and come after you!

[6/10 · 11 August 2016]

Bill Paxton plays Bill Harding, a former storm chaser who travels to the heart of tornado alley with his fiancée, Melissa, during an unusually high outbreak of storms to retrieve divorce papers from his storm chasing, soon-to-be ex wife, Jo (Helen Hunt).

Jo, who still has feelings for her estranged husband, reveals that she has brought Bill's design for an internal tornado reading device, 'Dorothy', to fruition.

Lured by the chance to see Dorothy in action for the first time, Bill agrees to join Jo and the team one final time.

Unfortunately, an inept but arrogant rival team of storm chasers have copied Bill's design and developed a tornado reading device of their own called 'D.O.T.', and Bill and Jo must get Dorothy into the air before they have a chance.

The rest of the movie that follows is basically Bill and Jo realising their true feelings for one another interspersed with scenes of tornadoes that appear and disappear conveniently according to the plot.

This movie is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Going by my own personal rating system this movie should be a '5', which is an essentially 'bad' movie with good elements that make it worth a watch, but I bumped it up to '6' for two reasons; as an avid sky watcher (seriously, I should have just gone into meteorology for the amount of time I spend looking upwards) there is a real dearth of good extreme weather movies out there and as long as you aren't concerned with complex characters or plot then Twister delivers in that respect. Yes, the science is implausible and downright silly at times, but it's still the best extreme weather movie to date.

The second reason is for the end credit sequence featuring Van Halen's instrumental piece, 'Respect the Wind'. I've bumped up many a mediocre movie before due to their soundtracks and I feel 'Respect the Wind' captures the wild, majestic, unbridled nature of planet Earth's skies perfectly and beautifully.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Every town has an Elm Street!

[3/10 · 23 July 2016]

I put off writing this review for a long time as it is arguably the worst entry into the series (except for maybe Freddy vs. Jason and the atrocious remake - but more on that later) and by far my least favourite, as everybody's favourite dream killer hacks his way through yet another batch of sleep deprived teenagers to get to his daughter, a social worker for said teenagers, in order to make his way out of Springwood (whose population of children he has successfully slaughtered) and into the consciousness of a new town to terrorise.

Yes, they waited until the 'final' instalment of the franchise to reveal that before (or whilst) he became a serial child killer, Freddy was a family man with a wife and child; a set-up which simply falls flat, firstly because it was always heavily implied that Freddy had been forced to lurk in boiler rooms due to his social outcast role in the community - so this revelation just comes out of nowhere - and secondly, because although I feel the series had already become somewhat lacklustre before this movie, the characters in Freddy's Dead are so unbelievably dull, which equates to a very anti-climactic 'send-off' for this horror icon.

I can't help but feel that the movie would've packed more of a punch if they'd found a way to bring back characters from previous movies in the series to defeat Freddy for a 'final' time.

I've always been fairly generous when judging the Elm Street series as even after the movies themselves stopped being 'scary' I've always given props to the creativity of the visuals and ideas (i.e. the idea of the teenagers having dream powers and abilities suited to their personalities), but all of that is just gone in this movie; none of the characters have any interesting traits, powers or abilities and after having watched Freddy's Dead again recently, for the purpose of writing this review, I did enjoy the sequences where the John Doe character keeps finding himself in situations where he is falling through the sky but this is completely overridden by the cringe worthy video game/power glove sequence.

Oh, and the movie attempts to explain the origins of Freddy's powers which is not only incredibly lame but unnecessary.

(You've probably noticed that I've written the word 'final' in quotation marks; that's because I like to think Freddy's REAL send-off came out just three short years after this movie's release...)

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

Michael Myers... Yeah, right!

[6/10 · 10 June 2016]

As the title of the movie suggests, H20 takes place twenty years after the events of the original movie and is a direct sequel to the first two movies ignoring the 4th, 5th and 6th instalments of the franchise.

Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode, who unable to cope with the memories of her ordeal on Halloween 1978, faked her death, changed her name to Keri Tate and became the headmistress of a private Northern Californian school.

As Halloween approaches she becomes increasingly anxious which affects her relationships with new love interest and counsellor at her school, Will Brennan and her seventeen year old son, John (Josh Hartnett).

John is tired of his mother's stifling, overprotective ways so when she forbids him from going on a camping trip with his friends, they instead decide to stay behind and have a private party of their own inside the school on Halloween night.

The people around Keri are quick to dismiss her fears and write them off as paranoia, but little do they know that Michael Myers has come out of hiding, found out Laurie's new identity and is making his way from Illinois to California to finish what he started twenty years earlier...

H20 came out post 'Scream' which was the movie attributed to the revival of the 'slasher' style horror movie, after it's decline in popularity in the early nineties and the influence is definitely there. From the opening scene that throws you into the heart of the action, it's willingness to defy/revamp horror clichés and it's vaguely meta/self-aware approach.

The Last Unicorn (1982)

There are no happy endings, because nothing ends

[7/10 · 25 May 2016]

A lone unicorn learns from two huntsmen passing through her forest that she may be the last of her kind in existence. Unsure of what to think she asks a passing butterfly what he knows of the fate of her species.

When the butterfly backs up what the huntsmen said by telling her that long ago all of the unicorns were hunted down by a red bull and now held captive in a faraway location, this prompts the unicorn to leave her forest in search of answers.

In the outside world, only those that believe in unicorns can see her for what she truly is. Those who don't, see only a white horse.

Pretty soon she is captured by a witch called Mommy Fortuna and held captive in her travelling carnival. Even though Mommy Fortuna can see the unicorn in her true form, she gives her a false horn. In fact, all but one other creature in the carnival, a harpy, is an ordinary animal with a spell cast upon them so that non-believers can buy into the illusion.

Whilst captive, the unicorn meets Schmendrick, a magician who wants to be a real wizard. He too, can see the unicorn in her true form and agrees to help set her free.

Once free, the unicorn sets the harpy loose, which then kills Mommy Fortuna and her other assistant leaving Schmendrick free to accompany the unicorn along her journey.

In a conversation with the unicorn before her death, Mommy Fortuna alluded to the red bull being a minion of an old king named King Haggard so spurred on by her words, they head in the direction of King Haggard's castle.

Along the way they meet a band of travellers, one of whom is a jaded, weary, middle aged woman called Molly Grue, who decides to leave her life behind and join Schmendrick in his bid to help the unicorn.

As they approach the castle, the red bull appears and tries to force the unicorn into the sea. In an attempt to save her life Schmendrick casts a spell on her, inadvertently changing her into a human. They re-name her 'Amalthea' and continue onward to Haggard's castle.

At first Haggard is unimpressed with his unexpected visitors and only lets them stay because he isn't fooled by Amalthea's outward appearance, though they are on borrowed time because the longer Amalthea stays a human on the outside, the more human she becomes on the inside.

And to complicate things further, Haggard's son Prince Lir takes a romantic interest in Amalthea who rebuffs him at first, but slowly starts to return his feelings the more human she becomes.

This animated adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's novel of the same name captures the wistful, melancholy tone of the book, perfectly.

The music, sang and composed by America, while not to everyone's taste, also adds to this tone wonderfully.

Labyrinth (1986)

It's only forever, not long at all

[7/10 · 28 April 2016]

Resentful at being made to babysit by her father and step-mother, Sarah - an imaginative but whiny teenage girl - inadvertently wishes her baby brother, Toby into the Labyrinth; a magical world populated by goblins and ruled over by Jareth, The Goblin King, played by the late, great David Bowie.

Jareth informs her that unless she can solve the Labyrinth in thirteen hours, Toby will be turned into a goblin, confident that she will be unable to do so.

It seems that everything and everyone in the Labyrinth is out to get Sarah and throw her off the scent, so she has to try to befriend the characters she meets in order for them to help her. Among the myriad of colourful creatures there's Hoggle, a troll, Ludo, a hairy beast-monster with the ability to control rocks and Didymus, a feisty, scrappy little dog-knight.

Though it has a large following now, I was surprised to learn that Labyrinth was a commercial failure at the time it was released, and it's very hard to pinpoint exactly why.

Labyrinth is like Jim Henson's take on the Alice in Wonderland story, with all the imagination and creativity you'd expect from a Henson production and just a hint of sexual awakening/coming-of-age thrown in for good measure. Even when watching as a small child, I picked up on the chemistry between Jareth and Sarah. And noticed Bowie's astonishingly tight pants...

In addition to having themes that appeal to both children and adults, Labyrinth shows an immense attention to detail which give it great re-watchability value.

Though I've heard many times that Bowie must have done this movie for a quick cash grab, I never got that impression at all. On the contrary, it looks like he was enjoying every minute and is now perhaps one of his most iconic and defining moments of his career, especially to those born in the eighties and after.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989)

Sweet dreams, Jacob Daniel

[5/10 · 12 April 2016]

A year after the events of The Dream Master, Alice is graduating high school and has acquired a whole new set of victims, sorry, friends that apparently don't seem to know who Fred Krueger is, or the fate of her previous friendship circle. There's Greta, an aspiring model, Yvonne a student nurse and swimmer and Mark, a comic book artist.

She and her crush from the previous movie, Dan are now not only an item but expectant parents; a fact she doesn't learn until Dan is suddenly killed in a freak accident.

After a resurgence in nightmares she becomes convinced that Freddy is responsible for his death, and as her friends start being killed off one by one, it just reaffirms her fears. But as Freddy can only access victims through Alice's dreams, she cannot figure out how he can get to her friends when she is wide awake. That is, until she realises that the nightmares began around the same time as her unborn child's conception...

The Dream Child is very similar in tone to The Dream Master and like The Dream Master, this movie is almost completely all fantasy and no horror by this point.

Despite the fact that I feel the series had become extremely stale and lacklustre by this point there are aspects of it that I like.

For instance, I like how this is the series' nod to the power of maternal love as much of the story not only focuses on Alice's love for her unborn son but on Elm Street's unsung horror heroine, Freddy's tragic mother, Amanda Krueger.

The visuals are creative and imaginative as always, and much like Halloween 4 in it's respective franchise, where a child is the villain's main target, there is something very disturbing about watching a psychotic killer manipulate a child-an unborn child, no less-for his own gain.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

If there's one thing I know, you can't control evil

[4/10 · 11 April 2016]

Poor Jamie Lloyd. After being kidnapped at the end of Halloween 5 and held captive by the Thorn cult for six years, the movie begins with her giving birth to her uncle Michael Myers' baby after being subjected to the cult's ritualistic experiments. She manages to escape along with her newborn son, with Michael in pursuit, but her victory is short-lived when he successfully tracks her down and kills her.

Luckily she manages to hide the baby, who is later found by the now adult Tommy Doyle (the boy Laurie Strode babysits in the original movie), played by Paul Rudd in one of his first movie roles. Tommy is deeply affected by his brush with Michael in his childhood and now spends his time obsessing over him and even rents a room across the street from the Myers house, now inhabited by his former babysitter's adoptive family, The Strodes. Among them, a young single mother, Kara Strode and her son, Danny who is seemingly succumbing to the same voices and visions that befell a young Michael Myers.

Kara, Danny, Tommy and the Strode family are now the primary targets for Michael's wrath.

Donald Pleasance reprises his role of Doctor Loomis for the fifth and final time, showing his love and dedication to the character.

I must admit that when I first watched this movie as a teenager in the mid-nineties, I didn't have access to the internet and wasn't aware of the all the production problems the movie had. Looking back now as an adult it definitely shows. This was the first Halloween made in the nineties and it has a very noticeable shift in tone from previous entries. Michael is notably bigger, more savage and mean-spirited.

Unlike popular opinion, I actually do like the Thorn Cult storyline and don't think it diminished Michael's menace as much as everyone says. I just think it was very sloppily executed. I can see why it was scrapped in subsequent entries of the franchise.

There exists another version of the movie known as the 'Producer's Cut' and after watching both, the Producer's Cut is arguably the better version.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Oh, baby. Welcome to my world.

[5/10 · 22 March 2016]

When handsome billionaire and closeted sexual dominant, Christian Grey meets timid, virginal college girl Anastasia "Ana" Steele he sees great submissive potential in her and goes to great lengths to pursue her.

And by 'great lengths' I mean try to control every aspect of her life and by 'pursue' I mean stalk her relentlessly.

For obvious reasons I went into this movie with very low expectations, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong, it's bad; a given seeing as though the source material it's based upon is bad... and the source material that's based upon is bad. But a lot of what is wrong with it is mostly due to E.L. James' problematic writing, which I can't fully blame upon the film makers (who, to give credit where it's due, seemed to go out of their way to make a glossy, slick looking movie.)

For example, when Christian declares, "I don't 'make love'. I ****... hard" to Ana only then to apparently 'make love' to her in the very next scene after she reveals to him that she is still a virgin.

Or how he repeatedly tells her that he is not good for her and she is to stay away from him, but when she does exactly that he pursues her and tries to persuade her yet again to become his submissive.

Or how Ana keeps asking Christian to show her what she's in for if she agrees to his demands and then getting angry when she doesn't like it.

She redeems herself slightly in the contract negotiation scene where she tries to meet him halfway by agreeing to the things that she is comfortable with and eliminating the things that she isn't, but then she's right back to agreeing to letting him do what he wants to her and getting upset when she doesn't like it.

Well, you get the idea.

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

They should ban Halloween in this town

[5/10 · 19 February 2016]

One year after the events of the previous movie and Jamie is now mute and in a children's mental institute after having attacked her foster mother with a pair of scissors.

Loomis has been watching Jamie very closely and as Halloween approaches she begins behaving erratically. Believing that she is psychically linked to her uncle, this alerts Loomis to the fact that Michael is still alive, despite the fact that he was blasted down a mineshaft one year earlier.

Michael is indeed alive after having escaped the mineshaft, floating down a river and nursed back to health by a well-meaning hermit. Right on cue, Michael awakens on Halloween, killing the man who took care of him and proceeds to go about his usual murderous rampage, hunting down his niece and anyone who gets in his way.

Jamie's foster sister Rachel returns briefly but is subsequently killed off at the beginning of the movie leaving her eccentric best friend, Tina as the movie's main heroine and a bunch of other bland, underdeveloped teenagers for the audience to root for.

Little Danielle Harris acts her socks off and as the scene in which Jamie hides from Michael inside a laundry chute proves, she holds her own as a preteen horror movie heroine.

The movie also begins the introduction to the mysterious 'man in black' and contrary to popular opinion, I thought was an interesting addition to the series and could've taken it in a fresh direction, if executed properly - which it wasn't.

The nonsensical parts of the movie are almost too many to mention. From the clown noises in the background when the cops are on screen, to the fact that the Myers house has morphed into a mansion, the whole movie only seems to exist to set up the Man in Black/Thorn cult storyline... which eventually went nowhere anyway.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

When dreaming's all you have, you kinda become an expert

[5/10 · 13 February 2016]

After the events of the previous movie, the surviving Dream Warriors, Kristen, Kincaid and Joey are moving on and getting on with their lives. Kristen even has a new boyfriend, martial artist Rick and a new best friend in Rick's shy sister, Alice.

However she can't shake the feeling that Freddy isn't really dead and constantly pulls Kincaid and Joey into her dreams to share her worries with them. Annoyed, they dismiss her fears only to be killed shortly after, much to Kristen's horror.

Realising that she is the last original Elm Street child, she resists sleep until her mother spikes her food with sleeping pills. Knowing she is about to die she accidentally pulls Alice into the dream with her.

As her remaining friends start to die around her, even the ones who had nothing to do with Freddy's original demise, Alice realises that she has inherited Kristen's ability to pull others into her dreams and she is now inadvertently bringing new victims to Freddy for him to kill.

Alice discovers her dream power is the ability to absorb and take on the powers and abilities of dead Dream Warriors, making her the Dream Master.

Watching Alice's transformation from shy, mousy girl into a kick-ass Dream Warrior was one of the high points of the movie as is Tuesday Knight's opening theme song 'Running from this Nightmare.'

The Dream Master is the point in the Nightmare on Elm Street series where any horror had left the movies entirely and had become almost entirely dark fantasy.

With the exception of Alice, who I feel is a very under-appreciated horror heroine, the characters are there just to be killed off. Despite some creative visuals and ideas, the movie feels very sterile to me and lacks the atmosphere of the previous films.

Rope (1948)

It's only a piece of rope Phillip, an ordinary household article. Why hide it?

[8/10 · 7 February 2016]

Based upon the play by Patrick Hamilton, Hichcock's 'Rope' is about two narcissistic men, Brandon and Phillip who invite their friend David to their apartment, strangle him to death and conceal his body in a chest in the middle of the living room. They then sadistically host a dinner party for his family and friends.

It turns out that one man is more narcissistic than the other as while Brandon relishes the deviousness of their actions, Phillip immediately begins to fret and slowly break down over the course of the evening, threatening to expose their secret.

One of their guests is their former professor, Rupert who inadvertently served as the inspiration behind their murderous act. He notices there is something "off" about his former students and sets about unravelling the mystery behind David's absence from the party.

I feel like Rope is both one of Hitchcock's darkest and most light-hearted movies. The idea of entertaining the loved ones of a man you have just murdered is macabre and yet the constant incriminating double entendres in the dialogue, such as the discussion about choking chickens, add a layer of dark humour to the story.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Ten years ago he tried to kill Laurie Strode. Now he wants her daughter.

[6/10 · 31 January 2016]

Ten years after the events of the first two movies, Michael Myers is in hospital lying in a coma and Laurie Strode has been killed off screen in a car accident leaving behind her daughter, and Michael's niece, Jamie Lloyd.

The night before Halloween, as he is being transferred between hospitals, Michael (who is noticeably bulky for someone who has spent a decade in a coma, but the less said about his appearance in this movie, the better) overhears the doctors talking about Jamie and this snaps him out his coma. He brutally attacks the ambulance staff and makes his way to Haddonfield to find his niece.

From here, the story is essentially a re-tread of the first movie as Jamie is babysat by reluctant foster sister, Rachel where an innocent night of trick or treating gradually descends into chaos as Michael continues to circle both girls and their friends, eventually closing in on them.

Donald Pleasance reprises his role as Dr. Loomis and does a great job as always.

The film fails to capture the chilling atmosphere of the first movie, however one thing it does have in it's favour is the notably more Autumnal surroundings (Halloween was shot in California and there were times where it showed), shown beautifully in the movies opening credit sequence.

I like the fact that Michael's main target is a little girl as it gives the movie a darker, more unique twist.

Danielle Harris is excellent as Jamie and handles the subject matter of the movie well, without acting unrealistically mature or being annoying, as child characters have a tendency to do in horror movies. She is definitely one of the best child actors I have seen.

Rear Window (1954)

I'm not much on rear window ethics

[8/10 · 25 January 2016]

Jimmy Stewart plays Jeff, a commitment-phobic photo journalist who spends his time observing his neighbours from the rear window of his apartment, while he recuperates from a broken leg.

He has a glamorous socialite girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), who wants to marry him but he feels they are too different to be compatible. While he is confined to a wheelchair and unable to escape on assignments, he is forced to evaluate their relationship and considers breaking up with her but Stella, his physical therapist tells him he's being foolish.

One night while dozing in front of the window, he hears a scream from outside. The following morning the wife of one his neighbours, Mr. Thorwald has mysteriously vanished and after observing more closely, Jeff becomes convinced that he has murdered her.

He confides his suspicions to Lisa and Stella, who don't believe him at first, but soon they too are drawn in and try to help Jeff solve the mystery behind Mrs. Thorwald's disappearance.

The movie was shot entirely from inside Jeff's apartment, giving the movie an intimate, voyeuristic feel (a conscious artistic choice from Hitchcock), which I love.

There is plenty of the usual mystery and suspense that you'd expect from a Hitchcock movie, but by far my most favourite aspect of the movie is the evolution of Grace Kelly's character, Lisa. At the beginning of the movie Jeff is reluctant to commit to her because he considers her too prissy and feminine, instead preferring a woman who is pluckier and with a sense of adventure, like himself. But she proves him wrong when she goes to extreme and dangerous lengths to help him prove Thorwald's guilt and shows that she's more than just the pretty face he considered her to be.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

The man in my dreams... he's real, isn't he?

[7/10 · 9 January 2016]

After what her mother assumes is a failed suicide attempt, Kristen Parker is admitted to Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital.

There, she meets doctor Neil Gordon, newly appointed psychiatrist, Nancy Thompson and fellow patients: Phillip, a serial sleepwalker, fiery tempered Kincaid, aspiring actress Jennifer, former drug addict and wannabe punk Taryn, mute Joey and Dungeons and Dragons loving Will.

Each of the teens are all very different but have one thing in common; they were all admitted to Westin Hills for having nightmares of former child murderer, Freddy Krueger. Through Nancy, they learn of Freddy's past and realise that they are the last of the original Elm Street children.

Kristen and Nancy bond instantly when Nancy catches Kristen reciting Freddy's jump-rope rhyme (One, two, Freddy's coming for you).

One night after Kristen pulls Nancy into one of her dreams, Nancy (who was able to pull objects out her dreams in the first movie) comes up with a plan to discover each of her patient's dream power and work together in order to defeat Freddy for good.

Of course, her plan sounds absurd to the other doctors at the hospital and must convince fellow psychiatrist, Neil to take part. Fortunately, a mysterious nun who seems to know a lot about Freddy's origins is there to help her convince him.

Dream Warriors was the turning point for the Elm Street series in which the movies stopped being straight forward 'horror' movies and become more like dark fantasy movies. It isn't very scary, but it is very enjoyable.

I like that they took an element from the original movie, in which Nancy was able to retrieve objects from her dreams, and expanded upon it.

I also like the hospital setting as it gives the movie a clinical, isolated feel as very little of the story takes place outside it.

And there's that song. Yeah, you know the one. ("We're the Dream Warriors! Ain't gonna dream no more!")

Where the Dead Go to Die (2012)

You need to watch your step around here, Ralphy. You never know where you can end up.

[5/10 · 7 January 2016]

I have no idea how I truly feel about this movie. It's graphic portrayal of taboo subjects like bestiality and child pornography make it hard to 'like' and I'm the first to admit I often mark down movies that are overly grim and mean spirited as I don't find much entertainment value in that sort of thing. Where the Dead Go to Die is easily one of the most demented movies I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot of crazy movies), but there's just something about it that intrigues me.

Where the Dead Go to Die tells the story of red-eyed demon dog, Labby, who visits three people who live in the same crazy neighbourhood.

First there's Tommy, a little boy who wants to know 'where babies come from.' He is convinced by Labby that his mother is pregnant with the Anti- Christ and witnesses him rip the unborn foetus from inside her and maim his father's genitalia. This is followed by disturbing imagery of Tommy having sex with Labby over his mother's rotting corpse.

Next, an injured prostitute happens upon an addict whose drug of choice is the liquidised memories of the dying. He murders her and takes a trip through her dying subconscious. Strangely enough, this disturbs more than some of the more 'taboo' themes in the movie as I find it so deeply troubling and sad watching the addict access memories of her childhood, knowing what she became and her fate.

And finally there's Ralph, a deformed kid who is in love with a little girl from his class at school, Sofia. Sofia is the star of her father's child porn movies. Ralph befriends Sofia and gains her trust until he is convinced to star in one her father's movies with her, with disastrous results.

I don't judge it too harshly for it's animation style, which reminds me of badly dubbed eighties video game animation, as I'm sure creator, "Jimmy ScreamerClauz" was aware of what the animation looked like as he was making it, so the style is a conscious artistic choice.

I feel like if it were live action or higher quality animation the disturbing subject matter would've been harder to digest and it would've been one of those mean spirited movies that I don't like.

In the end, I settled for a '5' rating because for all intents and purposes, it is a 'bad' movie but I find it too fascinating a piece of work to write it off completely.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

It will be morning soon. Halloween morning. A very busy day for me.

[5/10 · 17 December 2015]

When Michael Myers was killed off in an explosion at the end of Halloween II, John Carpenter tried to take the series in a different direction. He wanted make it an anthology series with each movie telling a different Halloween themed story.

However, movie-goers at the time went to see the movie expecting to see a continuation of the Myers storyline and instead got a movie about an evil toy corporation, Silver Shamrock that wants to kill the children across the United States on Halloween night, using a combination of Halloween masks and a clever, but irritating TV campaign to lure them in.

One night, local store owner, Harry Grimbridge is brought to the hospital while Dr. Challis is on duty, clutching a Silver Shamrock mask and is subsequently brutally murdered under his care. The culprit bizarrely commits suicide outside the hospital afterwards, adding to the mystery.

After identifying his body, Harry's daughter Ellie Grimbridge decides to investigate and traces his steps back to Santa Mira, a creepy town where the masks are manufactured.

There, she and Challis pretend to be a married couple (the age difference between Ellie and Challis is really distracting) and attempt to unravel the horrifying truth behind Silver Shamrock. Once they discover that the masks will literally disintegrate children's heads as they watch the specially designed TV commercials on Halloween night, it's a race against time to defeat the toymaker behind Silver Shamrock and stop the broadcast from going out.

Like Freddy's Revenge of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, Season of the Witch is the black sheep of it's respective series.

Also, like the aforementioned movie, Season of the Witch is best viewed as a standalone horror movie separate from the series it represents. It's still not that great of a movie, but it has some interesting and creative ideas that were overlooked by the movie-going public at the time who were too distracted by the lack of Michael Myers.

One thing the movie did get right, however, is the music. Season of the Witch retains the Halloween theme from the previous movies and mixes it with the music from The Fog (another Carpenter movie) creating a genuinely creepy and uneasy atmosphere.