Pupkin-2 Reviews

Ringmaster (1998)

Flawed but innovative and interesting

[7/10 · 26 May 1999]

I rented the film (I don't think it got a theatrical release here) out expecting the worse. The previews made the film look awful. I was in fact very surprised, it was well worth watching; it was loosely scripted, almost like an ensemble piece of film. It had some very funny moments in it and although flawed is an effective satire on the show and the people on the show without being too scathing. It is flawed, mainly by the awful soundtrack of bludgeoning 'comedy' effects but on the whole it comes across as honest and generally true to form of the show in an altmanesque or Larry Sanders way.

At the moment it is the fashion to be critical of Jerry Springer, he is also an easy target. Springer could have made Citizen Kane and it would be proclaimed 'the worst film ever made'. I recommend this film for anybody interested in the show. A flawed but innovative and interesting piece of film.

Blue Velvet (1986)

Lynch's finest hour

[10/10 · 26 May 1999]

Blue Velvet is a great surreal work of art. Both intensely disturbing and funny. The story is a device by Lynch to explore desires 'hidden' in all of us. David Lynch obsessivley 'pulls back the surface' to contrast light with dark, Evil with good. Dennis Hopper is shocking and explosive in Blue Velvet, the 'In dreams' scene where Frank is on a joy ride is a movie classic, a scene of virtuosity.

It is 'The' film of the 1980's and a milestone for independent cinema but more importantly it is a fully fledged masterpiece in it's own right. I cannot recommend this film enough

The Revenge of the Living Dead Girls (1987)

Breathtakingly awful

[18 May 1999]

A terrible ultra soft core porn / horror, exploitation film. Deserves attention because it is so bad. Thrill to the awful camera work! Be amazed at the end car stunt sequence which defies all logic! Be shocked at the sequence where an actor looks directly at the camera and laughs, flouting the rules of continuity! Love the wretched story line!

Society (1989)

Ha, Ha, Horror

[8/10 · 4 November 1998]

Society is a great film about paranoia and those paranoias coming true. It works well as a satire on the Beverly Hills rich too. Essentially a different refreshing horror film.

The first half of the film is a brillant parody of a Beverly Hills 90210 world, with a menacing current underneath. Later on the film gets stranger and more surreal with a wicked vein of black humour running through it - The end has to be seen to be believed, an excellent example of the rich "sucking" the poor dry.

Lost Highway (1997)

Not the man's best - try a little subtlety

[6/10 · 26 October 1998]

I am a big supporter of Lynch's films - They overturn and sometimes mock Hollywood conventions. Lynch's films are surreal, dark and never less than original.

However Lost Highway Sees Lynch at his least resonant, the subtlety that characterised Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet is gone . Instead we see Lynch back in Wild at Heart ground - in full overdrive, where it seemed to work in Wild at Heart it seems to work less here. The pacing of the film suffers badly, mainly because Lynch is at his most ambitious, changing lead actors half way through. Unfortunetly there is little or no humour or light touches to let up the assault, Lynch throws us so hard into his dark territory that his handling is akin to mind rape.

This film sees Lynch at his most far out - while a universal idea seems to be apparent in most of his films (Eraserhead - Paranoia, Blue Velvet - Pulling the surface back), Lost Highway just seems to be a descent into darkness without any real centrifugal point and as such although by far the strangest it is by far the least interesting of Lynch's films.

However by not his but typical film standards this does have a right to be seen, some great scenes take place in the film - the hideous little man talking to himself on the mobile phone being one. The film does have those touches of Lynchs surreal genius but as a whole this mega - ambitious film just fails to work.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Dodgy

[5/10 · 15 October 1998]

The sequel to the texas chainsaw massacre is quite a disappointment, it's intentions are honourable enough in that it does not want to retread territory of the original. Unfortunatetly this is the millstone that hangs around the film's neck = it tries to be so diffrent and diverse to the original that it just ends up a jumbled mess.

Tobe Hooper cannot decide whether to direct the film as a straight out black comedy, a homage to the first or a pastiche of the first. It is imaginative film making we see at work here however, it is incredibly flabby, undiciplined, self indulgent film making as well. At least Dennis Hopper saves the film some face - hamming it up like a giant leg of pork.

The Truman Show (1998)

One of the greats of 90's cinema

[9/10 · 12 October 1998]

The Truman Show is an exceptional piece of cinema, it is mainly a media satire with beautiful subtle surreal touches (notice how Truman lives in a 50's world of gadgets) but it also has a strong human element without ever sinking into sentementaliy. This human element is due to Carrey who against odds has turned in a terrific performance here - definitely Oscar standard.

The director Peter Weir who i have always thought was talented but not "top league" with Scorsese, Kubrick etc has made a film exceeding anything we have seen for a long time from anybody. This film has got to go down as one of if not the very best movie of the decade, it may sound like I'm over hyping but if there is a wrong note in this film then I fail to see it

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Slasher franchise gets inventive kick up behind

[6/10 · 12 October 1998]

From what I can gather this is a pretty much detested film, however if we look at the continuing dross in this franchise we can begin to put this movie in perspective.

This film is not in the same league as Halloween, how could Tommy Lee Wallace be as good as old John Carpenter. However the film is inventive, interesting and even creepy in limited part. The film may be messy overall but It Is very ambitious.

It's not all that bad and cetainly not as bad as Halloween 3, 4, 5.......etc

The Wicker Man (1973)

One of the eeriest films ever

[9/10 · 12 October 1998]

The Wicker man is a very disturbing cult picture, it happens to capture the mood of it's pagan vaguely demonic story with great success.

The film has some fantastic set pieces in it, the pub singing scene comes to mind, and the acting is above par. The music, cinematography, setting all combine to great effect for a resounding eerie feel. I have heard the film was badly cut when at the time of release the studio was taken over, and this is my one and only critrique of the film - that it lacks continuity, in this case more would have been more. On the whole though a film which really stands out as particuarly inventive dark and imagina.

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)

Poor and lame

[3/10 · 9 October 1998]

The film is a poor successor to the texas chainsaw massacre. While a few effective sequences do exist (notably when we first meet the whole family) the overall effect is lame. The film is lit badly and at times tends to resemble the gloss of a T.V movie . The film gives up around half way through on its intentions to disturb, seemingly sensing its ineptitude. From here the film turns into a strange horror/action hybrid which is well below par. What surprises me most is the fact that this half baked turkey got banned in some countries.