Movie Review: Vengeance of the Zombies

Jacinto Molina Alvarez. There is a name that trashy horror films needs to be familiar with. Rather, it may be a bit more appropriate to know him by his theatrical name, Paul Naschy. He has appeared in over 100 films, written over 40, and directed 15. Granted, I have only seen but a handful of them and have a long way to go, but there is something about seeing this guy on screen that just feels right. The man exudes confidence, even in the face of ridiculous material. Case in point, Vengeance of the Zombies is a ridiculous excursion into the world of Naschy.

Movie Review: Contamination (1980)

An abandoned ship floats into New York harbor. A few intrepid souls board the ship and begin to search it, looking for clues to what happened. Then they find it. Reading that, it sounds an awful lot like 1979's Zombi 2, but it is actually the start of Contamination from 1980. Instead of Lucio Fulci it is Luigi Cozzi (or Lewis Coates as he is often credited). It has also been known as Alien Contamination (in a cut version) and Toxic Spawn when it was on VHS way back in the day (also cut). The movie begins as an Alien rip off, but manages to have a life of its own, holding your attention through to the ending credits.

Critical Capsule: A Million Ways to Die in the West

Well, I saw A Million Ways to Die in the West. I am pretty sure I did not laugh at all. I suspect I will be in the minority, but the movie just did not work for me. It felt like a Family Guy cutaway that keeps going and going for nearly two hours. It is like observational stand-up, only difference is the guy is actually in the setting and pointing things out. The humor is similar to that one guy who thinks he is hilarious for pointing things out and if you don't laugh, he repeats it until you do.

Movie Review: Chef

Chef is a movie we have all seen before in one form or another. It is not original in the least, but for some reason it still works. It is the story of an inattentive father, ex-husband, and chef who has lost his way. After a particularly ill conceived blow up, he finds himself unemployed, with no prospects, and a son whom he barely knows. The film chronicles the build up to the blow up and the subsequent attempt he makes to reconstruct his life, his career, and ultimately rediscover himself and those who care about him.

Movie Review: Maleficent

Coming on the heels of Alice in Wonderland (the Burton one), Oz: The Great and Powerful, and Snow White and the Huntsman (never bothered with Mirror, Mirror), I found it difficult to muster all that much enthusiasm for Maleficent. Now, I am sure there are ways to have made those other movies, you know, good, and I am sure there is a way to tell a fascinating story about Maleficent. The problem is that none of this has actually been done. Maleficent is just the latest debacle in this revisionist fairy tale cycle. While there may not have been that many movies, yet, let's hope that it either comes to an end or someone with a solid idea steps up and gets the job done.

Movie Review: Neon Maniacs

The 1980's saw all manner of up and coming and wannabe film makers throw their hat into the horror ring. The results ranged from awesome to the completely unwatchable. Then there is that group of films that are completely inept and make absolutely no sense, yet remain insanely watchable. One of those movies is Neon Maniacs, a movie made way back n 1985 that I was just introduced to on the big screen in a rare 35mm projection. I have to say, for as silly and ridiculous as the movie is, it is hypnotizing in its watchability. Seriously, the movie makes no attempt to explain itself, and as quickly as it begins, it ends.

Movie Review: The Ghost Galleon

The Ghost Galleon, also known as Horror of the Zombies, was released way back in 1974 and was the third film in the blind dead series, following 1972's Tombs of the Blind Dead and Return of the Evil Dead in 1973. They all seem to be connected by style but not by narrative, more or less exercises on a theme. All of the films were written and directed by Amando de Ossorio and were successful to wildly varying degrees. In this case, we are given some nice atmosphere and great looking dead, but everything else is half baked.

Movie Review: Leprechaun

Way back in 1993, writer/director Mark Jones introduced us to his version of the Leprechaun myth. The rules may state that if you catch one, he must take you to his pot of good, but there is nothing that says he cannot hang around and do whatever it takes to get his gold back. That is what the tale here is all about. It opens up in the past, a fellow has caught he wee guy, taken his gold and imprisoned him in a box using a four leaf clover. I don't recall that bit before, but it makes sense, I guess. Doesn't matter, that is what it means in this movie.

Movie Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

It is rare, at least in my experience, to see a franchise really begin to catch its stride this far in to its run. It is especially rare when you consider that said franchise did not start out all that bad, in my estimation. In fact, I thought they did a really good job with the first couple of films. 2000's X-Men and 2003's X2 were both pretty strong adaptations. Definitely not exactly like the books, but they did a good job of keeping true to the source while adjusting to the movie format. Then there was a steep stumble with X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.