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gojira69
Reviews
Geomi sup (2004)
I got bit!!!
I want to believe all new horror films coming out of Japan these days are edgy and make for enjoyable watching.
Spider Forest is neither.
It is seldom that I finish watching something and end up teed off for the waste of time, but Spider Forest was an exception in this regard. I was very teed off. The makers of the film succeeded on one level; throughout the film I could not stop because I wanted to see the answer to the mystery spun by the storyline. I could not stop watching. That's why I was so angry when the film finished... they dragged me all the way through 2 hours of tedium for this POC? WARNING: Spider Forest is another one of those Japanese "ghost" stories, though you don't realize that going in.
I never want to see a Japanese ghost story again. They're phony and contrived. "It's a ghost story" has become like a big rug under which to sweep any and all unresolvable plot holes you have in your story-telling.
House of Dracula (1945)
Let's not compare...
Coming at the end of the cycle of the Universal Monsters horror films, and before the Golden Age of sci-fi films, House of Dracula is more science fiction than horror and incorporates some of the more cheesy {read:enjoyable} elements which would come to typify the sci-fi films of the coming era. Lon Chaney Jr. plays the Wolf Man, and John Carradine, Dracula and Glenn Strange, the Frankenstein monster.
A mad scientist sets out to "cure" both monsters of their "sicknesses" by means of modern {read:mad} science. When the scientist's beautiful nurse-assistant is revealed to be a hunchback early in the film, the viewer is thereby alerted to the fact this film is not going to be typical Universal fare; this film foreshadows the kind of sleazy exploitation we would come to take for granted in 1950's sci-fi.
If you don't mind the slower pacing of the older films and black & white does not throw you off, this film is recommended viewing. Afaik, this one is not currently available on DVD, but AMC airs it occasionally, so keep a lookout, or you could always wishlist it on your TiVo!
Jaws (1975)
UFO in Jaws
...I never noticed something until tonight. There is a scene where Roy Scheider goes to his Nap sack to pull out a pistol. He verifies its there and loaded and then... the most amazing UFO I've ever seen streaks through the sky over his head! Yes, its true. It looks like no shooting star I've ever seen. Queue it up and see for yourself.
Its just after the scene where they've had a drunken reverie on board singing "Show me the Way to go Home". The shark starts ramming the boat. They all run up on deck and Scheider checks his Nap sack.
Very weird.
BobB
The Last Man on Earth (1964)
This movie deserves more credit...
This movie deserves more credit for its place in horror cinema history. I remember the chills I got from watching this movie alone in the wee hours of the morning when I was younger.
Some have commented on problems with the acting in the film. This is a valid criticism. What is amazing is that the film holds up despite this weekness. Let me put it to you this way, are you a fan of Vincent Price? Yes? Then let me just say, Vincent carries the movie on the merits of his own style and delivery alone. Add to that the fact that the director has in fact successfully created a very downbeat mood in the film, and you have a great movie!
I believe it is unfair to disregard this film on the basis of isolated weaknesses in it. The budget was apparently very low and much of what should have been re-shot apparently could not be re-shot or cut for that reason. This movie should instead be taken as a whole, and as a whole it is a not-to-be-missed under-rated, gem.
I consider myself somewhat of a B-movie afficiando of the '50s and '60s era, and TLMOE has ranked itself on a short list on my top shelf for a long, long time.
BTW, this film was very recently removed from the "hard-to-find" column on anyone's search list. Last time I was in Suncoast I saw a copy there for $6. Gogetit!