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Bite Size MOVIE REVIEWS In
an effort to catch up with a whole stack of DVDs, I've created this new section. |
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Starship Troopers 3: Marauder Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 2008 Written & Directed by Ed Neumeier I didn't expect much from this third film in the series but I was pleasantly surprised with fun action and some good laughs. The film doesn't have the charm or talent behind it as the original but you'll have a good time watching the bugs munch on a bunch of folks who do and don't deserve such a painful way to go. This is Casper Van Dien's career role. He does another good job of portraying the leader of a bunch of hard-nosed soldiers. Besides Amanda Donohoe I wasn't really crazy about the rest of the cast. Special Features include; Evolution: The Bugs of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder and Enlist: Marauder's Mobile Infantry featurettes. There's a Music Video: "It's a Good Day to Die." Filmmaker Commentary and a 2nd Commentary with Director & Stars Casper Van Dien and Jolene Blalock.. Visit Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment to get the third film in this entertaining series.
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Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning - Deluxe Edition Paramount Home Entertainment - 2009 Directed by Danny Steinmann www.paramount.com/homeentertainment
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One Eyed Monster Liberation Entertainment Inc. 2009 Starring: Ron Jeremy Amber Benson Charles Napier Length: 84 minutes
Rated R
By Mike Porciello
Horror and comedy meet soft core porn in
this nice little diddy about a snowed in movie cast and crew, forced
to come to grips. Huh! huh! no pun intended! You won't believe your
ears, but maybe your eyes! The country cabin, the lonely crew, the
perfect setting for mayhem to unwind. The possession
of the largest member causes total
chaos among the bunch. What are they do? Screw it? Watch as
they try to cleverly outsmart the one eyed monster! A touch of
hilarity, with good acting, a convinceable plot, and a dramatic
tongue in cheek ending.
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Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys Anchor Bay 2004 Starring: Corey Feldman Vanessa Angel By Mike Porciello
Ha! You remember the Puppet
Master series of the late 1980's through the mid 90's. It started
off as a good concept, but seemed to lack steam as |
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Blood - The Last Vampire Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 2009 Directed by Chris Nahon Gianna plays the kick ass vampire Saya, who is dedicated to slaying all other vampires. BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE is based on the cult hit anime series with the same name. Chris Nahon gets very good performances from his cast and doesn't ignore the human elements that make the movie work. The bad vampires are wicked, which gives Saya the challenge of removing the Demons who have infested the Earth. Special Features include;Making-Of Featurette and Battling Demons: Behind the Stunts Featurette. Go over to Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment to pick up this little film that's sure to put a bite in
your day.
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Stan Helsing Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2008 Written & Directed by Bo Zenga On Halloween night a video clerk Stan Helsing (Steve Howey) along with his girlfriend (Diora Baird) and a couple friends detour into a town cursed with parodies of six of the most famous monsters in movie history: Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, Leatherface, Chucky and Michael Myers. There is a rule in storytelling I've always believed in that applies to this movie - silly plus silly equals stupid. The one thing that does literally stand out in STAN HELSING and is the movie's best quality is Diora Bard's bust. Anchor Bay supplies their usual excellent goodies: Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer/Director Bo Zenga and Actors Kenan Thompson and Desi Lydic. Killer Parady: The Making of STAN HELSING. Extended, Alternate and Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Trailer, Still Gallery and Storyboard Gallery round out the DVD. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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Directed
by Jamie Dixon Starring Review by Michael
Knight Bats…
is a low rent special military operations story about forces sent into a
Russian forest to find some rogue scientist who is possibly working for
Chechen rebels. A CGI Helicopter
lands them on the outskirts of the Belzan Forest in Russia. A
Russian born agent with a bad accent guides the US forces. Genetically
altered bats run combat missions and are dispersed as security to keep
the US forces out of the forest. The bats look convincing enough.
Michael Jace of “The Sheild” is the one bright spot of this movie.
Unfortunately, he is the first of the squad to be killed off.
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Directed
by: Jeffery Scott Lando Starring: Review by Michael
Knight |
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Starring: While there is a
pretty nice back story and premise to Tooth Fairy, I couldn’t help but
think of the similarities to Darkness Falls which is a much better
movie. This is like Darkness Falls with a sex scene and some gore FX and
a guy with an axe and a little girl ghost and some stalker hillbillies
and stuff. OK, so some of us have to see every horror movie that is ever
made. That would be me. If
that is you, too - it won’t be a total loss. There are a some
good parts in this flick. |
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Directed by: David Benullo Starring: Review by Michael
Knight |
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Starring Review by Michael
Knight Devil’s Den
re-hashes old ideas previously explored in From Dusk ‘til Dawn and the
lesser known Vamp, with Grace Jones. That being said, Devil’s Den may
be fun to watch for those who like some campy horror and half naked
strippers. Small time drug runner (Devon Sawa) takes the path less
traveled, stops in a gentlemen’s club and hopes to be out of sight
until the heat cools down. Once inside he is trapped along with other
unsuspecting patrons in a den of flesh-eating demons who are hell bent
on devouring all humans. Luckily a young assassin (Kelly Hu) is also
trapped in the club. She leads the battle that will pit man against
monster ‘til the first light of dawn. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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Directed
by Shane Abbess Starring Review by Michael
Knight Arc Angel, Gabriel
is sent to earth to battle the fallen angels and restore balance to the
land. Upon arrival he is witness to the gloom and doom of the constantly
dark and rainy city that will set the stage for battle. His nemesis
Sammael is ready for the fight. The choice of weapons for both sides are
guns rather than the spears and arrows we see in the art world
depictions of a heaven & hell battle. This movie has a slick style
and is visually entertaining as it melds the supernatural with the
action packed feel of a good cop flick. If you like releases such as
Hitman and Constantine, this would certainly be a movie you may enjoy.
Despite the relatively small budget, Gabriel is a visually solid movie. |
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The
Thirst Director:
Jeremy Kastan Starring: Review by Michael
Knight The Thirst is a
vampire movie that tries to be different. It ravels serious subject
matter (cancer, drug addiction), into the plot of the story. Early in
the movie, the whole cancer part was quite distracting as I thought
about personal loved ones who had contracted the disease rather than the
movie itself. After that, The Thirst turns into a blood and gore-fest
rarely paralleled in today’s modern movies. The blood flows and
spatters with abandoned, spewing and spurting like a fire-hose that is
out of control. Flesh & blood… gallons & gallons of blood!!!
It’s really quite a spectacle. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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Directed by: Tim Cox Review by Michael
Knight OK, so
an Alien comes down from space in some meteor/spacecraft. This time it
doesn’t inhabit the bodies of young college coeds, no… this time it
lands in a museum and takes over the body of a frozen Woolly Mammoth!
Only, for some reason this Mammoth is not so Woolly (should’ve used
Woolite). So, off on a rampage it goes. There are some decent CGI
Mammoth destruction scenes here but other scenes look fake and budget. I
would much prefer some fake looking stop motion animation, where’s Ray
Harryhausen when you need him? Good movie to kill some time on a
Sunday afternoon while nursing a hangover.
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Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Directed
by: Paolo Barzman Starring Review by Michael
Knight This
movie offers a modern twist on the old tale and does so admirably. Dr.
Jekyll (Dougray Scott) who realizes his experiments have unleashed a
side of him that should not go unfettered, convinces young attorney
Claire Wheaton (Krista Bridges) to fight in court and have him locked up
in the asylum. Once there Mr. Hyde becomes even more prominent and as
Claire tries to help he becomes increasingly violent. Both main
characters are played very well by their respective actors and the story
offers some new concepts and conflicts. However, I have seen so many
versions of Jekyll & Hyde in my years that even with the new
treatment I found the story relatively long in the tooth.
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Anaconda 3: Offspring Directed
by: Don E. FauntLeRoy Starring: Review by Michael
Knight Damn, I
didn’t know Hasselhoff was still acting… and he plays a damn badass
in this flick, too! Ok, what we got here is an Anaconda sequel, Sci-Fi
Channel premier. The CGI looks like CGI. The story is the usual faire,
evil corporation conducts secret experiment, experiment gets loose and
wreaks havoc as it heads for the city and the main populous in order to
feast on us poor incapable humans. Badass, hunter dude named Hammett
(David Hasselhoff) teams up with scientist chick named Amanda (Crystal
Allen) to hunt down the giant, intelligent, bio-engineered snake. Snake
has babies, all hell breaks loose. Explosions. The end. Believe it or
not I watched the whole movie and found it somewhat entertaining. I was
rooting for the snake! |
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Starring: Reviewed by Michael
Knight While the attractive candy stripers, played by ex-playboy
playmates, Deanna Brook and Serria Tawan are eye candy themselves the
movie never seems to take the campy shtick far enough. I kept waiting
for the brash innuendos, ditsy comments and incidental flashes of sexy
titillations that really make this genre fun to watch. That being said
the movie is pleasant to look at, has some nice special-FX (when the
candy stripers decide to show their true alien selves), and is enjoyable
enough for the once through viewing.
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Directed by The
Butcher Brothers Starring: April Fool’s Day blends the classic slasher with a real who-dunnit
mystery feel. It is a well made movie with good acting and plenty of
chills and thrills. This is a remake of the 1986 movie of the same name.
While the plot and the ending twist are the same there were a good
amount of differences from the original. Even though I knew the surprise
ending it was still an enjoyable journey.
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Directed by Don
Michael Paul Starring: Reviewed by Michael
Knight As always, Lance
Henriksen plays his character exceptionally well, stirring the lazy farm
into a chilling field of evil. The scenes of the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse are quite a vision, somewhat reminiscent of the reaper’s in
“Tombs of the Blind Dead”. Overall, The Garden is a well written,
well developed story, visually compelling, driven by interesting
characters and textured with intellectual conflict. |
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Directed by Kevin
Van Hook Starring: Reviewed by Michael
Knight A group of young
filmmakers set out to shoot a documentary about the abandoned Isla
del Roca Penitentiary. The
massive prison had laid dormant for many years since that ill-fated
night when a violent prison riot and subsequent fire, spilled the blood
and life of every inmate housed there. When a gang of small time
criminals decide to hide-out in the empty prison, the young filmmakers
are caught unaware. With first blood spilt upon the penitentiary
grounds, the restless spirits of the rioters are awakened. After all
these years the ghostly inmates are still hell-bent on inflicting
violence and maximum pain as they explode into a hateful rage within the
prison walls. |
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Vinyan Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 2009 Directed by Fabrice Du Welz Starring When the movie started with the dark watery screen, while hearing people screaming, I was excited with the artistic choice. But after four minutes of this on the screen, I knew the film was in trouble. VINYAN is the story of two parents losing their young son to the tidal wave that hit Thailand in 2004. Haunted by his disappearance, the mother frantically looks for him, even forcing herself to believe he is standing in the background of documentary footage recorded near where the tragedy took place. The video footage sparks the couple to go back to Thailand and search for him. This leads them on a wild goose chase through treacherous landscape and to deal with hostile inhabitants. They chase a ghost. Unfortunately Director Fabrice Du Welz tells the story in a plodding (opening established this) manner and the graphic ending wasn't enough. The film does have merit, it's artistically done with extraordinary exotic locations and many of you may like the foggy story.
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Laid To Rest Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2009 Written & Directed by Robert Hall This is a special make-up effects lover's wet dream of a movie. Bloodshed is abound with some real creative splatter effects not seen since Tom Savini's heyday. But for those looking for a scary movie with strong acting, LAID TO REST won't fit the bill. My biggest problem was with the writing or lack of. What the characters do and how they talk, made little to no sense. The main character doesn't even have a name, which I know plays into the plotline of the young, dark haired woman waking up not knowing who she is, but common. The other problem is the clichéd one note, faceless killer. The killer's actions were completely predictable and thus not scary at all. I also thought the movie's direction was to set up to "showcase" the make-up work. When you get a good look at rubber, latex and stage blood it loses it's effectiveness. The best example of how inanely stupid the movie plays is when the main character (brunette with no name) and Tucker (Kevin Gage) are driving a car, they decide to go to a place where the police might come to help. This is instead of driving the hell away from the place. Does that make sense? Anchor Bay includes and Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Robert Hall and Actor/Producer Bobbie Sue Luther. Postmortem: The Making of LAID TO REST explains all the behind the scenes details that went into constructing the movie.. Torture: The SFX of LAID TO REST focuses on what this film is really all about. Deleted Scenes, Bloopers and Trailer complete the bonus features. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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Fantastic Flesh - The Art of Make-Up EFX Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2009 All fangs of the film world would enjoy this tribute to the art of special make-up effects. Many of the masters of the craft speak out on how they got started, the projects they've worked on and what to expect in the future. Many of the filmmakers who have worked with the greats talk about the importance of the work done on their films. There is all kinds of footage and behind the scenes stills to brake up the interviews and support what is discussed. These is an exceptional DVD that is passionately made about the creative world of special make-up effects. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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Directed by Eric Bross Starring Directed with totally a different visual approach, this sequel or rather prequel works as a suspense thriller. It's sole purpose is to take you on a white knuckle roller coaster of tension & violence. It succeeds on both counts. Agnes Bruckner is a young star. The long legged blonde turns in another riveting performance and is the best part of the movie. This young starlet can carry a film. Something most actresses her age can only dream about. Bonus Material includes Deleted Scenes, "Caught on Tape: Behind the Scenes of Vacancy 2″ Featurette, “Behind the Facade: Constructing the Meadow View Inn” Featurette and Commentary with Filmmakers & Cast. In the Making of Eric Bross says he shot this film in the style of the Jason Bourne films. The hand-held frantic visual tactic works almost as good as Nimrod Antal's sure handed visuals in the first film. If you want a film to give you a jolt of adrenaline, VACANCY 2: THE FIRST CUT would do the trick. |
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Red Mist Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2009 Directed by Paddy Breathnach Medical students at a hospital study hard but party harder, until a prank accidentally puts the facility's janitor into a deep coma. The young lady (Arielle Kebbel) who the janitor had a crush on takes responsibility to try and help the man in the coma with an experimental injection. Instead of helping him, this sends his brainwaves into a tizzy that allows him to seek revenge out of his body. I was very impressed with Arielle Kebbel's performance as Dr. Catherine Thomas. Kebbel takes her time and really projects a tremendous amount of thought in each scene and I really believed that she was a medical student working on becoming a doctor. I was equally impressed with Director Paddy Breathnach because with this film, he focuses on telling the story without letting style override the importance of the actors, scenes and movie as a whole. RED MIST is much better than you'd expect and I like the film's subtly with supernatural elements as well as dramatic moments. Anchor Bay includes another nice lineup of extras. The Making of RED MIST tells how the film was done. We learn all about how the movie's dynamite lead got the film and how she pulled off her character in an Extended Interview with Arielle Kebbel. It's amazing hearing how thick the English, Scottish and Irish accents are in The RED MIST Cast in Northern Ireland. www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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Friday The 13th Part 2 - Deluxe Edition Paramount Home Entertainment - 2009 Directed by Steve Miner Starring Five years after the massacre at Camp Crystal Lake, the legend of Jason Voorhees and his mother lives on. Despite warnings to say away from "Camp Blood" a group of counselors at a nearby summer camp explore the area and find out how real the legend is. I love the Kent, Connecticut location. I'd rate this film the third best in the series, topped only behind the first film and Jason Lives. For more of my thoughts on this film please click the link to my previous review of Part 2 included with the F13th Box Set. The special features are cool which include: Inside "Crystal Lake Memories" where Peter Bracke talks about the genesis of his awesome fact-filled book, Friday's Legacy: Horror Conventions shows how the Friday cast & crew represent some of the biggest draws for the horror convention circuit, Lost Tales from Camp Blood Part 2 is the second part of short film connected only by use of Manfredini's score, Jason Forever was already included in the previous box set and you also get the Theatrical Trailer. www.paramount.com/homeentertainment
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The Bell Witch Legend
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Step
Brothers Directed by Adam McKay Starring
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Produced & Directed by Alex Turner Starring
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Directed by Dennis Dugan Starring
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| Mantaray Pictures Homepage | |
