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Reviews
Blood and Bone (2009)
Good midnight entertainment...
After seeing Michael Jai White in «Undisputed 2» getting head to head with Scott Adkins, I am sure many were extremely impatient for his next upcoming movie Blood and Bone. And here it is! Blood and Bone is a simple story of an ex-con Bone (White) who keeps his promise to find his friend's wife and kid when he gets out. Since the friend got butchered in the prison, Bone has a personal score to settle. And boy, he settles it
For all you martial art fans – this is the movie to watch. It does not have as much fights as «Undisputed 2» had, but offers better acting (special thanks to ex Warlock – Julian Sands, and Eamonn Walker), and more drama. This is what this movie is – a drama with martial arts. As for the fights, and whats more important, people who fight – there's plenty. There's Kimbo Slice, Maurice Smith (from the «Bloodfist 2» fame), Matt Mullins, Bob Sapp, Gene LeBell, hell even Bob Wall from Enter the Dragon as «O'Hara»(!!!), what else could you ask for?
Anyway, if you like martial arts – watch this. Its worth it. If you like Michael Jai White – watch this, he gets to fight, to act and looks very cool. If you've seen Channing Tatum's «Fighting» and thought it wasn't good enough – again, watch this. Lower budget, but better understanding of action, better martial arts and lots of familiar faces. Good midnight entertainment.
The Terminators (2009)
For what is is.....its watchable
I started watching this, knowing that this was made by Asylym, and to be honest, it was not all that bad. Yes, the movie has CGI, but its not overloaded with it, and honestly this is one of the better Asylym films i've seen.
Acting is okay, Paul Logan looks really cool and believable as the TR, he has the look, he's ripped, and does a fairly good job. A Martinez, whom i remember only from Santa Barbara has aged well, and is actually a good actor, well he was acting okay, before the end of the film. Jeremy London looks pale, and unconvincing.
Special effects are really good, music is okay too. Of course this is nowhere near the Arnold Schwarzenegger terminator trilogy, or the new C. Bale vehicle, but still one of the better sci-fi movies of Asylym. Waaaay better than Universal Soldiers for example. Give it a look.
Driven to Kill (2009)
Who are you if you watch this?
Seriously. If you are an American who knows Russian, you will probably have mixed feelings after watching this. If you are Russian, and you happen to know English, do yourself a favor and watch this in English. You'll probably end up on the floor laughing.
Steven is absolutely hilarious in this one. No, i am not talking about his Russian yet. First of all we actually get to see him RUN...yes, he does run for like 10 seconds or so, himself, so try to imagine that. Yes, he looks old, even wider than in Urban Justice. Fights are... well in KillSwitch we actually see Steven fight through fast cuts...in here we don't even get that.
After watching this i understand why they dub Seagal's voice... in this movie he isn't dubbed - he talks with his own voice the whole time...which is the problem - you sometimes simply cant understand what the .... is he saying! The absolute finish is the Russian language in this film. This is supposed to be Russian mafia....not gangsters. Whoever was a technical adviser for this movie - you failed miserably. I am talking about Russian language only, people don't talk like that, and especially former Russian mafia. For God's sake they don't say "Do Svidania" to their family or brothers! They don't talk in English between themselves if they speak Russian fluently.
As for the film itself - shaky camera work, strange mix of music (which starts to frustrate the more you watch), stupid subtitles (why did not they use subtitles every time someone speaks in Russian??? instead they use it only 2 times throughout the whole film, and the rest remains untranslated)...
To sum it up - this is slightly better (funnier) than Attack Force, and a lot worse than Urban Justice and KillSwitch.
Dead On: Relentless II (1992)
First killer was unpredictable. This one is unstoppable
When i first saw the poster for this movie, i knew this movie simply "CAN NOT" be bad. Relentless 2 has a great tag line - "First killer was unpredictable. This one is unstoppable". Thats pretty much is true. Miles O'Keeffe looks like a new terminator model on that poster, so i decided give this crime thriller a try.
To make it short: If you liked the first Relentless (directed by William Lustig), you will like this one too. A huge improvement over the first is the villain. Basically, Miles O'Keeffe steals this movie with his murderous Russian Specnaz character Gregor. Killer from the first movie Bud would be ripped apart by Gregor. O'Keeffe's character doesn't talk, doest blink, doesn't move a muscle on his face, all he does is killing. Leo Rossi returns as a likable but mostly helpless detective Sam Dietz, assigned on the case of the murders.
What i liked is that Meg Foster was brought back as Rossi's wife (there's also a cameo of a photograph with Rossi and Robert Loggia from the first movie), and the music is a perfect fit for the film. So, if you like crime thrillers, give this a try. If you want to see one of the better cold-blooded killer performances, also watch this movie. And, if you are a Miles O'Keeffe fan - by all means go watch this movie!
Submerged (2000)
Could have been worse....
"Submerged" is definitely NOT "the worst movie ever". It does have its flaws, such as borrowed footage, crazy script and non-existent special effects (these are the worst), but it also has some good points too. The acting is surprisingly good, there are LOTS of familiar faces whom you probably know if u're a b-movie fan like me.
I was very glad to see Brent Huff playing one of the heroes, knowing him mostly for his 80's action films, and i must admit, he is not a bad actor at all. Fred Williamson, Maxwell Caulfield & Tim Thomerson get some limited screen time, but are believable in their parts. The "eye-candies" in this Fred Olen Ray movie are Yvette Nipar and Nicole Eggert, both looking very sexy and very mean. Michael Bailey Smith adds some muscle to the background as a Navy SEAL. Unfortunately the only cast member who (in my opinion) is completely out of place is Coolio. He doesn't act at all, talks like he didn't even read the script, and being a badass in the beginning of the movie, gets shot like a wimp a hour later. Not a good choice.
To sum this movie up - this is not such a bad choice for late night entertainment. If you can get over the special effects thing (so many guns, so much fire, and not a single wound on anyone), Coolio's annoying performance, and the recycled footage from Airport 77, you might like this no-brainer after all.
Merchant of Death (1997)
Tricks of Yossi....
First of all, a question to you - have you ever seen any of Yossi Wein movies? If no, then you might end up liking "Merchant of Death". Michael Pare looks tough enough, portraying a likable hero, and Linda Hoffman in my opinion? is very cute looking doctor, who is trying to help Pare with his problems.
Now, if you are familiar with Y. Wein's work.... you'll probably be angry as hell, and end up throwing your notebook away or breaking your DVD player in half. Because about 40-45% of this movie is EDITED from 4-5 other Yossi Wein movies. I kid you not. Footage from Cyborg Cop 3 (1996), Cyborg Cop (1993), Project Shadowchaser 4 (1996), Warhead (1996) and Never Day Die (1994) was used for almost ALL action scenes, except for those when we see Pare running / shooting or talking.
I don't know whether this was done because of budget constraints, or pure laziness, but i was really upset with this effort. They probably could afford Michael Pare for only 1-2 days, so they shot the needed scenes and added everything else later. Due to bad editing, you can actually see other actors (Frank Zagarino from Shadowchaser 4 footage, B. Genesse in a car chase from Cyborg Cop 3, old warehouse shootout from Cyborg Cop, etc) in the footage used here. So, if you haven't seen any of the movies mentioned here, you will probably like this no-brainer. Otherwise, please avoid it.
SWAT: Warhead One (2004)
I should have expected this from David Huey...
This is your typical action movie, starring former kick-boxing champion Olivier Gruner as a SWAT team's leader. The only other well known cast member is Mel Novak, whom i liked very much in this awful movie. The story is full of cliché's, fighting scenes are bad, i mean really bad. David Huey (directed and also wrote this) doesn't seem to know how to use his actors. I mean, he has Gruner, Ron Hall and Gerald Okamura. Ron Hall is known for his martial-arts skills from Bloodsport 2, and Okamura has been in lots of low-budget martial-arts movies. The only one of the three who gets into the fights is Gruner. What a waste.
The movie is full of unnecessary idiotic dubbing (Gruner is being dubbed for a couple of minutes), some parts of the movie were completely dubbed, as if Huey was shooting them with sound turned off. Like i said, the only worthy actor in this movie is Mel Novak. He is actually the only one who is trying to ACT. Everyone else is pretty much awful. 60% of the cast seemed to be picked up from the streets to act in this film.
So if you're looking for an action movie, look for something else. Because with this, you will fall asleep in just 20-25 minutes. This is only worth for die-hard Olivier Gruner fans. I bet Gruner really regrets being in this movie.
Hostile Environment (1999)
A very rare movie, in almost every sense...
Being a die-hard Matthias Hues fan, i was really happy to track down a copy of this rare post-apocalyptic action movie. The story is nothing new, you've probably seen it thousand times before. Compared to most of David Prior's films, Hostile Environment seems to be made on an even lower budget, but with a surprisingly good list of b-movie actors (including Chris Kriesa, Voyo Goric and Grant James).
Matthias Hues proved (at least to me) that he can be a leading man, who has charisma, he looks good on screen, and can kick some serious ass. Darren Shahlavi is a good addition, as a brother of the great looking Jennifer (Rochelle Swanson), who gets kidnapped by Minna (Brigitte Nielsen). Also lookout for Ted Prior (director's brother), who has an uncredited cameo as "the running man" in the beginning of the movie.
Good points of this movie - Solid, well-known b-movie faces, some good fights, Matthias Hues as a likable, fighting-machine of a hero.
Bad points of this movie - Weak script, awful editing (which affects fighting scenes and shootout scenes a lot).
All in all, this is almost gold for B-movie lovers. If u're tired of seeing M. Hues getting beaten and killed in most of his movies, you'll be pleasantly surprised here. Darren Shahlavi shows his awesome fighting skills, and Brigitte Nielsen proves ones again that she is better suited for the villain roles.
Reptilicant (2006)
and here we go...
Well first of all, if you don't know who Gary Daniels is, or you are not one of his fans - by all means do not watch this movie. This is a low-budget action/sci-fi movie about a squad of treasure hunters who get trapped inside of an Alcatraz prison, and hunted down by a reptilian creature...
Gary Daniels himself stated that he made this movie because the producer was a friend of his. So basically, this movie has no other qualities besides Daniels, who gets to fight the monster, showing some cool amazing martial-art skills for his age.
Everything else is quite awful - the acting, the music, the sets, the effects, the monster.... So, there you go - if you are not a die hard Gary D fan - avoid this movie at all costs.
Zombiegeddon (2003)
ZombieGeddon...
Before seeing this movie, i did expect it to be a no budget "so bad its good" zombie flick. What i saw was a lot worse. First of all Zombiegeddon has a very dull script - Lord Zombie (William Smith) is creating human-like zombies and sends them to Earth. This is just pathetic. I don't understand why in hell did people like Edwin Neal, Tom Savini, Brinke Stevens, Felissa Rose, Linnea Quigley, Robert Z'Dar and Joe Estevez even appear in this movie. Edwin Neal plays God. Tom Savini plays Jesus Crist. Robert Z'Dar appears for only 5 mins, and even makes fun of his own cult movie The Maniac Cop !
The effects are cheap, and unrealistic. Awful soundtrack. The directing is even worse. Zombie make-up is none-existent. Some zombies are kickboxers, and kung-fu fighters. The acting is beyond bad. In the beginning of the movie, director Uwe Boll tells us not to watch this movie, because its bad. Well after seeing Zombiegeddon i'll have to admit, he was right. His House of the Dead was better than this.
So, to sum it up - don't watch this movie. Its really that bad. And believe me, i've seen bad movies. This one is worse than Zombie Lake, Flesheaters, Bloodeaters, Meat Market, Redneck Zombies, Bone Sickness...etc. All of the B-movie stars listed above appear for only a couple of minutes each. Other actors are absolutely awful. The movie isn't funny, isn't scary, isn't interesting, isn't shocking. The only movie i can think of right now, that is worse than Zombiegeddon is probably Zombiez. 1/10
Tiger Claws (1992)
Bolo's Tiger Claw
I was searching for this movie for some time now, and i finally got to see it. Some psychotic martial-artist (Bolo Yeung) kills other martial artists with a rare Tiger Claw fighting style. Police detectives Linda Masterson(Cynthia Rothrock) and Tarek Richards (Jalal Merhi) who are also martial-artists, try to stop him. That is pretty much all i can say about the plot.
Throughout the movie Rothrock and Merhi are searching for Bolo, and it gets boring. Actually i wanted to see this only because of Bolo Yeung, and i wasn't disappointed. Although all the killings occur behind the camera, in the end Bolo really shows why he's considered one of the great martial artist worldwide. There are couple of good fights, especially the one with Bolo Yeung kicking the hell out of Cynthia Rothrock. The ending fight between Bolo and Jalal Merhi is somewhat believable, but its not enough to save the movie. However if u're a fan of Bolo Yeung, i highly recommend this action flick.
PS: Bolo was 54 when this movie came out. Keep that in mind, and watch his fights.
Adrenalin: Fear the Rush (1996)
Adrenalin...fear the SUSPECT !
Albert Pyun is a good director. This is not his best work, but not worst either.
The story is about A Russian Government that has collapsed (although the filming was in Croatia) , and some kind of virus leaks out, killing lots of people. In this chaos, police finds out that some guy has a deadly disease , and some officers are sent to catch him....
The cast is good. Christopher Lambert and Natasha Henstrige both did a good job. The Killer is played by a stuntman Craig Davis, who, in my opinion looks pretty scary in makeup. Cast also includes Andrew Divoff and Norbert Weisser (who appears in nearly every Albert Pyun film).
Nealy 90 % of the movie, Lambert and Henstridge spend in catacombs, dark tunnels, following the killer who seems to be strong as King Kong, and shoots like Rambo. The Atmosphere is there, second part of the movie is really creepy, but overall it gets boring as the time goes on. Also i didn't like the directing, every time there's a close up , camera is jumping, so u cant see whats going on.
Everything else is okay. A creepy little sci-fi thriller.
Insecticidal (2005)
Giant Bugs.....
I didn't know that if you spray raid on a bug , it turns into a giant murderous bug. In this movie, this is exactly what happens.
Some girls are having a party at home. One of them, Cammy, is a nerd who doesn't have fun. Instead, she's making experiments with her insects, in the basement. Her sister Josie sprays raid on the insects to kill them, but instead, they start growing up, and terrorising the house. Now Cammy, and the left survivors have to battle the giant insects all night long, to stay alive.
I don't even know how to describe the plot. Its so childish. I have no idea why they hate insects so much. The CGI effects are laughable. Playstation games have better graphics than these bugs in the movie. The insects are also given strange names, such as Evander (Holyfield), Louis (Joe).
Amateurish acting, stupid dialogue, and almost no gore, make this movie unwatchable. The only thing that is good about this movie, is Samantha Mcleod.
Don't waste your time on this flick. If horror movie about insects is your fetish, better watch THE FLY or MOSQUITO MAN. 1/10.
The Quick and the Undead (2006)
Apocalyptic Zombie Western....
The plot of the movie is pretty simple : a viral outbreak turned the population into flesh-eating zombies. Those who left became "hunters".
Well, first of all, this IS NOT the worst zombie movie there is. Among the worst are "Zombiez" and the infamous "Zombie Lake".
In fact i think, the idea for "Quick and the Undead" was very good, just executed poorly. Considering the budget they had to work with, this movie looks very good. I wasn't bored at all while watching it. Special Effects were solid, although they did use CGI once (fat zombie getting shot in the head), but everything else (gore, guts) was rather good. Acting is awful however. Our main guy looks like young Clint Eastwood, other "actors" are not even worth mentioning. As far as the plot goes, they didn't work enough on the development of the story.
Bad : acting, low-budget. Good : special effects, idea for the movie.
Overall, this flick deserves 4/10 from me. It's not as bad as people say. Imagine a ZOMBIE WESTERN, then watch this movie.
Scarecrows (1988)
Paratroopers , Scarecrows.......
I expected a lot from this movie, when i saw its rating on IMDb. I wasn't disappointed. The story focuses around some "paratroopers" that stole money and kidnapped some flier and his daughter, forcing them to fly to Mexico. One of the terrorists betrays them, and tries to escape with all the money. So they have to land the plane, to get the money back. Soon they stumble on some mysterious field, and a graveyard surrounded by very realistic scarecrows....
First of all, don't expect any great acting here. There are no known actors (at least to me), and they all act pretty horribly. The acting seems to be this movie's ONLY weak point. Everything else is great. The music, the scarecrow make-up, even the death scenes are done very good. But the major plus is the Creepiness of this movie. Its very well done. I'd say its creepier than Suspiria.
So, if you like horror movies with scarecrows, look no further - "Scarecrows" aka "Paratrooper" is your cup of tea. I haven't seen "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" which is also said to be good. And avoid crap like "Dark Harvest".
Last to Surrender (1998)
Wow.......
I remember seeing this flick 6-7 years ago, and all i remembered was Roddy Piper running around, with a gun, cursing everyone. Yesterday i watched it again....and I don't remember myself laughing so hard watching an action flick like i did while watching "Last to Surrender". I; haven't seen many Roddy Piper's movies, but this, in my opinion is one of his best. He and Ong Soo Han (Bloodsport 2, King of the Kickboxers, Tiger Claws 2) are absolutely hilarious, making fun of each other, hating each other, but somehow have to work together to get "The Tiger" who killed Piper's partner. The Plot is pretty simple, but there are enough fights, shootouts, and action sequences to keep the viewer within the screen.
To sum it up - this is one of the best (if not the best) buddy cop movie i've seen. Funny as hell , watch out for Piper delivering lines like "Enter the Dumbass" (sort of a tribute to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon). A good old 90's action flick. 7/10. I wasn't disappointed at all. I hope you wont be as well.
Buried Alive (1989)
I expected more.....
A woman goes to teach at the Ravenscroft Institute , finding that some secrets better stay buried....
This movie has a pretty good cast which includes Donal Pleasence, Robert Vaughn, Nia Long , and even John Carradine. There are even early appearances by Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy),and William Butler ( NOTLD'90). Donald Pleasence is a very versatile actor, but is wasted in this movie. Carradine appears for only 10-15 seconds. The lead actress Karen Witter doesn't do anything at all , except for screaming.
The plot is OK, but i expected more gore. Though, there is one good death scene, the movie lacks the intence, and is very boring at times. There's enough suspense, but its not compensated with enough action.
I wasn't satisfied. Maybe someone will. 5/10
Blackbelt (1992)
Brainless Entertainment...
A Former cop (Don Wilson) is hired to protect a singer (Deirdre Immershein) from a psycho serial killer who's also a martial arts expert (Matthias Hues).
I am a big Matthias Hues fan , and i must say that he looks as good as always in this movie. Although, after watching his movies, i see that they still cant set up a fight properly, because Hues is always gets beaten by weaker opponents. Same happens in Black Belt.
I actually expected more from this movie. I expected the villain to be something like Van Damme's "Torch" in THE REPLICANT. In Blackbelt we have a serial killer, who is after a singer who looks like his mother, who abused him when he was young.
Wilson on the other hand is trying to stop him , delivering his usual lines as a "good guy". His acting still needs a lot of work.
Figh scenes are somewhat solid, but like i mentioned earlier, the final fight scene between Wilson and Hues looks ridiculous, as well as Wilson's fights during the movie.
So if ur a Don Wilson fan, or you like seeing Matthias Hues as a villain, Blackbelt is worth a watch. Don't expect great plot, and great fight scenes.
Zombiez (2005)
Zombiez......zzzz
PLOT
The movie begins as we see some guy , trying to get away from something that is following him. That "something" turns out to be two bloodthirsty guys with sickles who start beating up their victim to death with the sickles
. In the next episode we see a young woman , who is a member of some demolition crew , which is about to pull down some building. Suddenly the zombies appear from nowhere and start killing off everyone they see , with their butcher knifes and sickles. The woman is so lucky , she manages to escape. Later on , the zombies somehow find the apartment , where the woman lives with her husband. They break in and take her husband away. Now , she is left alone , with no help , surrounded by zombies , and she also needs to find her husband
.
COMMENTS
Well lets start with the plot. It is never explained where did the "zombiez" come from , what makes them want to kill people , etc. The movie is very boring. For the first 40 minutes we are being shown this woman , trying to run away from the "zombiez" and find her husband. The zombie make-up is non-existent. Our zombies are normal people , with some blood on their clothes and faces. They may look like crazy cannibals , but definitely not zombies. At least in the infamous "Zombie Lake" zombies had green faces. By watching the special effects used in this film I was thinking that their budget was about from 50 to 100 bucks. Everything looks so cheap and unreal , as you can possibly imagine : we don't see any explosion when a woman throws a bottle with kerosene into zombies , we don't see any wounds when somebody gets shot (not even a red stain) , we see some sausages instead of entrails..etc. And the camera man is not even trying to hide those cheap things from the viewer. The whole movie is filled with black rap songs , which are good , but throughout the movie they are repeated too often. Needless to say , that acting is one of the worst I've seen in a cheap horror movie. Those "actors" must have been picked up from the street , to play in the movie.
OVERALL
For people who know what "zombie movie" means : This movie is worse than Oasis of the Zombies , Redneck Zombies , Flesh Freaks and I think is worse than Zombie Lake. For everyone else : No matter what do not buy this movie , and I wouldn't suggest renting it either. You will be greatly disappointed. 1/10
The Hazing (2003)
Frankly i expected more from a movie with the title "Butchered".....
Two girls are about to enter some kind of sorority organization (which includes two other girls and their bfs.). First they undergo a little spanking , then they do some push-ups with a cream all over their bras. After 15 mins or so of that i started thinking that the title "Butchered" doesn't really fit in here. After fast-forwarding those scenes, the movie changes its direction a little bit. The third and the last test the girls have to do ,to join the club is to spend the night in an abandoned house. They didn't expect that the club members prepared another surprise for them. And the club members didn't expect a house' owner - a deformed maniac with a butcher's knife to prepare a big and bloody surprise for them all...
For its budget, "Butchered" has good special effects (director Joe Castro is a make-up artist) , and some decent gore. Though its not as realistic as for example Olaf Ittenbach's gore in "Premutos" and "Burning Moon" , but pretty solid. The directing is not very good , and is shot with a home camera. The movie is also very dark - bad lights i guess. I don't have to talk about the acting...there is none.
Our maniac is a female by the way ! That was sort of a fresh idea. She is deformed, has big ugly teeth and wears white mask. Oh yeah , i almost forgot about the butcher's knife. She turns out to be nearly twice stronger than those two guys from the club. Music is boring , and starts to annoy after 15-20 minutes.
Verdict : Boring gore fest. Annoying Music , stupid acting. Even first 15 mins of the movie don't save it. Once again , they've had a good idea , and totally spoiled it.
Dark Harvest (2004)
No Harvest for you guys...Even if its Dark....
The movie starts off as we see a footage of a huge drought back in the 30's in America. Then a short story is shown about a creepy - looking farmer Elija who made a deal with Satan , to get good harvest. Elija hired young men to work in his garden , killed them , and used as scarecrows. He also fed the ground with their blood. Some time after 2 cops come to visit him. One of them gets shot by Elija , another one kills the farmer himself... After that , the present day is shown , and some guy named Sean is told that he has an old farm left as inheritance. He decides to go there with some friends to see what's up. Little did Sean know that the next night is the "Payback Night".....
As for me this movie had a good story for a horror flick , but low budget and poor special effects just ruined it. "Dark Harvest" is a perfect example of lazy film making. For example we see a scarecrow (a usual guy wearing a funny , cheap mask) chasing a girl. When he raises his hand we get to see a normal human skin below his glove, instead of some rotting flesh. The gore is not very impressive as well. There are some nasty killings by our "lovely" scarecrows but everything is very cheap and unrealistic. Surprisingly the acting is somewhat OK in this flick , or i better say its believable. Some nude scenes are presented as well for the fans (even a lesbian scene) ,but those scenes don't save it.
Verdict : Good music, good story, solid acting. But awful effects , cheap gore and plot holes slow this movie down. Not really recommended.
Zombi Holocaust (1980)
Zombie-Cannibal Holocaust
The movie starts off as we see some guy who probably works in the hospital , enters the morgue and cuts a hand off a corpse. The doctors can't understand whats happening. Body parts disappear , and one of the dead is found with a torn chest , and missing organs. The next day hospital staff gets to capture this guy , who turns out to be a cannibal. He escapes , and throws himself out of the window. On his chest doctors find a mysterious sign. To find out what's happening they send a crew to a Molukk island which is , as they believe - somehow connected to these bizarre murders.
First of all i should say that this is not really a 'zombie holocaust'. I mean there are only 6 or 7 zombies in this movie. Zombie make-up could have been much better. The major problem with the zombies is that when they walk , they walk like "normal" zombies, slowly , with all those creepy sounds. But as soon as they see someone they can capture and eat , they start to behave differently , like usual people. In my opinion this is a major letdown in this movie.
There are also cannibals , and a "mad doctor" story thrown in , so the movie itself is never boring. It is slow at times , probably due to poor plot and weak character development (what character development do you expect from this kind of movie ?). What this movie delivers is gore. Limbs get amputated, hearts are torn out, eyes get gouged , disemboweled corpses are discovered, throats get slashed, a machete is slammed into one one of the natives head ,a zombie's face is mashed with a propeller , scalps and so on... If you are looking for gore - this is what you need. It looks pretty realistic , and there's plenty of it throughout the whole movie.
Acting in this movie is....well there is no acting , actually. Ian McCulloch and Donald O'Brien try to do their best. However acting might be the last thing you are looking for in these Italian zombie-cannibal movies. Music is not as good as Fabio Frizzi's in ZOMBIE , but somehow works here.
Verdict : If you are looking for zombies , you better pass on this one. If you just like gory movies , like mixed movies with mad doctors , cannibals and zombies , and if you liked Fulci's ZOMBIE - get "Zombie Holocaust".
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
One of the best psychological Thrillers
Vietnam war is over. War vet Jacob Singer (T.Robbins) returns home. He finds himself a new job and his second wife (Elizabeth Pena) loves him very much. But soon Jacob realizes that something strange happened to him in Vietnam. He starts seeing weird things , ugly creatures chase him in the subway , and even his dead son (Macaulay Culkin) from his first marriage comes to visit him. Jacob's Vietnam buddies are also having the same symptoms. Together they find out the truth about the horrible experiments that took place in Vietnam. The worst thing about Jacob's nightmares is that he is not dreaming...He realizes that too late...and falls down from his ladder.
Now this movie is not really a horror. It's more like a psychological thriller with horror elements (which are used very effectively). Its never boring , though the story is a little hard to follow. Its not your typical brainless horror flick. As the movie goes, it slowly shows Jacob falling into madness and despair. The atmosphere is creepy and even unpleasant at times. But those are one of the factors that make this film a masterpiece.
The acting is almost on the highest possible level. Tim Robbins looks great as the paranoiac Jacob. The supporting cast includes Elizabeth Pena (Jacob's wife) , Danny Aiello (Jacob's doctor) , Ving Rhames ,Eriq LaSalle (Jacob's Nam buddies) , and even Macaulay Culkin (Jacob's dead son). The ending of the movie is truly powerful.
Verdict : One of the strongest movies i have seen. Good acting , good plot , atmosphere , great ending - everything to keep you in your chair. Highly recommended.
Night of the Demon (1980)
Night of the BigFoot
This unknown monster flick is a story about an anthropology professor who takes a group of his students and goes deep in the woods to find out truth about BigFoot. Professor believes that BigFoot is responsible for all the bloody countless deaths that occurred recently. The movie starts as we see professor lying on the table , i believe in a hospital with half of his face (with nose) covered with a blanket. His face is horribly burned, and he is trying to tell the doctor and a policeman that all the scary stories about BigFoot are true. Like it always happens, no one believes him. Professor is asked to tell what happened to him and his students in those woods. Then the flashback begins ,which allows us to see what happened in the earlier...
Well , there isn't much of acting in this movie. Music sounds creepy at times , but very annoying. Gore level is not as high as i thought it would be. However there are some nasty and brutal scenes , so i think splatter movie fans would be satisfied. There is a nice scene where BigFoot rapes a young girl. And another one where our "sweet" monster tears out a biker's penis. The movie is so cheesy that you don't even have time to pay attention to plot holes.
Sasquatch is very poorly designed , and looks kinda small for BigFoot.The monster was played by Shane Dixon who is not even an actor , but is a famous stuntman. He was a stunt coordinator , and did stunts for such movies as Blind Fury , Rambo 3 , They Live ,Maniac Cop 2-3 , Lethal Weapon 1-3-4 , Village of the Damned , Lawnmover Man 2 and so on. Shane passed away back in 1999.
Anyway , this monster flick is fun to watch , there is enough gore not to fall asleep , though it could have been much better. Check it out.
Nella terra dei cannibali (2004)
Predator meets Cannibal Holocaust
This 2003 cannibal flick is directed by Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead) under other name - Martin Miller. Mattei also did the writing credits and the music score.
Plot : A group of soldiers led by Leutenant Wilson (Lou Randall) are sent to the Jungle of Amazonia to find a general's daughter who was somehow caught by the jungle natives. They take an experienced guide Romero (Claudio Morales) and one of the captured cannibals to take them through the jungle...
On one hand this movie is really good. The acting is okay. Claudio Morales (who looks like Chaco from Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust) and the newcomer Lou Randall look very solid for these types of European cannibal movies. The movie is not as gory and violent as Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox , but fans of low budget cannibal flicks will be satisfied.
On the other hand , like the summary says its "Predator meets Cannibal Holocaust". If you have seen those two , you'll laugh while watching this movie. There is animal violence , a captured cannibal , even a punishing ritual when a cannibal kills his wife on the riverside - everything Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust had with more gore and violence. There is a group of soldiers (thank god the leading actor doesn't look like Schwarzenegger) , there is a scene with "scorpion" and a few others (for those who seen Predator will get it) - everything McTiernan's Predator has + it has Arnold.
With all the above Mattei also throws in a story about a girl captured by the cannibals (we've seen this a thousand of times before) - and there we go , we have Land of Death. If you can overcome the plot of this movie , it is really good , especially for cannibal movie lovers. If you don't - at least you can laugh at some of the scenes that were used in Predator and Cannibal Holocaust almost 20 years ago.