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riordan-goodwin
Reviews
Urutoraman: Kûsô tokusatsu shirîzu: Uchû kara kita abarenbô (1966)
The original "sphere"
Silly (and fun), but prescient - anticipates the concept of Michael Chrichton's Sphere novel by 21 years...
Sphere (1998)
Original "sphere" was in '60s Kaiju TV show
Not just Chrichton's idea - see original Ultraman season 1 episode 11 - some 21 years before his novel...
Headless (2014)
Brainless
Same old question about shillage - I'm wondering if the two reviews (7 and 8/10) at the top on IMDB were made by either friends/relatives of Toby Lawrence or others associated with the production. Casts further serious doubt about reliability of IMDB reviews.
Banal, tedious, and improbable, but at least nearly without gore (the crutch of every hack who lacks the ambition, knowledge, and skill to capture atmosphere, build suspense or craft actual dread). Somewhat interesting premise squandered - script is uninspired, pacing is poor (feels long for 70+ minutes) acting (aside from Jackson) embarrassingly bad, main character absurdly credulous/indulgent with bumpkin cultists who are creepy from the get-go to the point where she's earned a Darwin award nomination. What the hell was that supposed to be at the end? Deus ex machina in the form of Hannah Singer's magic box assisted by coven-mate kibuki-faced ghosts released Futurama-style (taking the lids off jars with heads in them)? Was her sister actually a witch? Wow. Was this a college film project? If so, it should have gotten a D. Plot is similar to the 1960 classic City of the Dead with Christopher Lee...
To say this is anti-Christian would be giving it credit for something it doesn't deserve as it is only incidental to the plot. Christian cults are a dime a dozen and therefore a very low-hanging cliche for the unimaginative.
Might have been better developed as a Tales from the Crypt episode. If you want rural horror, try actually watching Deliverance all the way through...
Toby, you can to better than this.
The Young Unknowns (2000)
White Punks on Dope
(Mom and Dad lived in Hollywood) Tedious, predictable indie similar to Less Than Zero. With the exception of the girlfriend (who's the default hero for bailing out), unsympathetic narcissistic, vapid, posturing characters. I was hoping for a dramatic fiery car crash ending into the Hollywood sign with the drug addict model jumping out at the last moment. Best thing is the apparent Tubes reference...