john-1451 Reviews

Hunted (IV) (2020)

This movie will cost you I.Q. points

[1/10 · 15 January 2021]

Have you ever seen one of those movies where it's obvious that the writer ran out of ideas two thirds of the way through, then said eff it and started throwing in whatever nonsensical idea that came into his mind? That's this movie. Either that or he wrote the screenplay with a plastic bag tied around his head. Please do not waste your time on this idiotic piece of trash. This movie is so terrible, that I cancelled my Shudder subscription immediately after I finished it. It's that bad.

Black Summer (2019–2021)

Dumb characters, but brutal action and thrilling tension

[10/10 · 12 April 2019]

I am a big fan of zombie movies and TV shows, and after watching Korean entries Train To Busan and Kingdom, I thought that they had outpaced us in thrilling zombie action. Boy was I wrong. Black Summer is everything I want in a zombie movie or TV show. While lacking in gore, this makes up for it with tension and spectacular set pieces. Shoot outs, car chases, zombie attacks, all done with style and aplomb. Good guys, bad guys, anyone can die at any time. If I have any complaint it's that the characters make tons of stupid decisions, but if they didn't we would miss out on the scintillating zombie action. This is pretty low budget, but they used it to their advantage, crafting a gritty, non stop thrill ride. Episodes 4, 5 and 8 compare favorably to the best episodes of any zombie show out there.

The Punisher (2017–2019)

Disappointed

[5/10 · 19 November 2017]

I guess I have to be that guy and disagree with those that talk about what a great show this is. While Bernthal is good as the title character, this is a VERY slow series, with maybe one action highlight an episode. While I sympathize with the plight of veterans, this show beats you over the head with a PTSD story line that seems extremely familiar. And why do all of these "Hero on the run from government killers" shows always have to use the trope of the hero visiting an old friend or mentor that is living as a hermit and tries to kill him? Been there and seen that. Plus the sub plot of the FBI agent trying to find him really adds nothing to the over all story. all in all, a disappointment.

Mindhunter (2017–2019)

Inside the minds of serial killers

[9/10 · 17 October 2017]

I binged this all in one day. If you're looking for action and adventure, look somewhere else. This is a fascinating study of not only the mind of serial killers, but also of the FBI men trying to understand them. The acting - and I wasn't familiar with a single actor on this show - is excellent, with the standouts being Jack Erdie as Richard Speck and especially Cameron Britton as Ed Kemper. They both bring out the very different evils of their characters. Ed Kemper discussing sex with Agent Ford may be one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen. I've always thought Citizen X was the best serial killer movie, but this ranks right up there with it. Thought provoking and disturbing.

Death Note (I) (2017)

I must be the only one who loved this movie.

[9/10 · 26 August 2017]

I rarely post reviews on IMDb, but this time is one of the exceptions. I never read the manga or saw the anime, so maybe that's why I liked this as much as I did. The acting was kind of up and down, but Willem Dafoe as the demon, and the guy who played "L", the detective were very good. The thing I liked most was that the plot was unpredictable, with plenty of twists and turns. It started out as a standard "Teen Revenge" movie, but goes off in a very different tangent, with the protagonist using his power not just to get revenge, but also to right wrongs. It's when the aforementioned detective begins to close in that things start going badly. The most important thing was that I was never bored, and that almost never happens. Sometimes people give bad reviews to American adaptions of foreign properties - especially Asian properties where the characters are changed to Caucasians - their "PC" mentality making them hate it before they even see it. This seems to be the case here.

Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine (1967) Season 2, Episode 6

One of the best

[10/10 · 25 June 2017]

One of the reasons the original series is thought of so highly is that certain individual episodes (City on the Edge of Forever, Journey to Babel, Balance of Terror and this one) are as good as anything you will see on movies or TV. This episode highlights some the things that made TOS great: Lighting, set design, and the acting. For all the grief Shatner receives as an actor, in this episode he really nails what makes Kirk a great captain. He is confident, forceful, able to think on his feet and fully in command. The color scheme, which employs bright primary colors, and the eye light they use on Kirk to highlight his sense of command are excellent. And don't forget the writing and directing that fully makes use of the tension inherent in the situation. You will never see a better straight ahead action episode on TV than The Doomsday Machine.

The Horde (2016 Video)

Low budget horror actioner with some good performances.

[6/10 · 8 May 2016]

I met several of the people involved with this movie a few years ago, and became friends with them on Facebook, so when this movie came out I decided to purchase it. The Horde is a throwback to earlier action/horror movies like TCM3, Wrong Turn, and The Hills Have Eyes. While no one could call this movie a rousing success, it still has enough fun scenes to be worth a watch. Unfortunately, our two leads, the hero and his fiancé, are probably the worst actors in the cast. While Paul Logan handles the action scenes well, his emoting needs some work, but in a movie of this type you can forgive a few faults as long as the plot moves along, like this one did. Unfortunately, one can't say the same for the actress who played his girlfriend. When the hero proposes to her, she laughs constantly, before, during and after her line deliveries, and it's so annoying that I found myself shouting at the screen for her to stop. One of the most frustrating movie scenes I've ever seen. But there are a few gems in the cast: Vernon Wells (he of the cloth chain mail vest in Commando), gives a great performance in the short scenes he is in. His monologue while torturing and killing the most offensive victim (A stereotypical flamer who constantly name checks his powerful(?) father) is chilling and delivered with just the right amount of menace. Mathew Willig also shines as the most violent and psychotic of the escaped prisoners, and Devin Reeve as the groups Walter White walks the tightrope between obsequiousness and menace, and sticks the landing. This movie is not going to go down as a classic, but you could certainly do a lot worse.

It Follows (2014)

disappointing

[5/10 · 18 April 2015]

This one of those movies you see that you neither really like or hate. It has all the elements that make a scary movie, but it's just plain not scary. The acting was fine, cinematography and soundtrack were average at best. But there is a distinct lack of tension, and the pursuit scenes were unimaginative and repetitive. The monster shows up, chases the heroine, the heroine runs away, then spends 15 minutes talking with her friends about what's going on. Repeat this four or five times and you have this movie. One issue I had was how the man who gave the heroine the curse, seems to know all the rules, but doesn't explain how he knows them. I don't need to have everything explained to me, but this was confusing. A good idea, imaginative, but just so flat that there is no tension.

Burn Notice: Breaking and Entering (2008) Season 2, Episode 1

disappointing

[5/10 · 11 July 2008]

I was disappointed in this episode. After last years excellent cliffhanger, I expected more in the season opener. To go through all that rigamarole, and then just stick him in a situation like all of last years, was quite a let down. Don't get me wrong, it was a good episode, but after waiting a year to find out who had burned michael (or was pretending to be that person) I expected more. Maybe the writers couldn't come up with a revelation that was outstanding enough, so they just decided to go with the tried and true. This is a great show, but the story needs to branch off in a few new directions if it is going to remain fresh. I hope that this is just a temporary blip in an otherwise original and fun show. In the last year I have become a fan of the quirky programming on USA. Shows like Burn Notice and Psych are the only ones I look forward to seeing any more, and I would like that to continue.

The Carrier (1988)

completely original

[7/10 · 24 May 2008]

In defense of this movie, it is completely original. But don't you have questions about who and how it was produced? It seems like a whole town got together and pooled their limited resources to produce this film that must have been written by a local who had waaay too much acid in the 70's. But for some reason I find this movie affecting. Who can't relate to the main characters loneliness and isolation? But to all those complainers out there: People are always criticizing movies for being the same bland formula over and over-now here's one that's way different than most without being totally incomprehensible. My hat goes off to the people who made this movie. You tried, and sometimes that's enough.

Hostel: Part II (2007)

Roth/Tarantino just don't understand

[3/10 · 11 June 2007]

If you are going to make homages to b movies, at least understand them. With "Grindhouse" and now "Hostel 2", Roth and Tarantino have proved that they don't have a clue as to what makes a cheap genre picture work. Don't get me wrong, I like both of these directors, and like the majority of their movies, but their recent turn to b movie sensibilities just isn't working. They seem to emphasize cute and clever movie tricks when they should just dish out the horror or action. Build up should be just that and not marking time. "Brevity is the soul of wit" is a phrase they should take to heart. That's what makes movies like "I Drink Your Blood", or "The Flesh Eaters", classics-not long stretches of pointless dialog. As to Hostel 2-WTF. After Bijou Phillips character is disfigured, she basically disappears. I know that she is killed, but they don't even show the guy going into her room, so there is no closure on her character at all. In fact, if they had concentrated more on the two businessmen, and the infrastructure of Elite Huntings management, it would have been a far more original and interesting movie than what was merely a gender switching rehash of the original. Eli Roth, I know there's a great movie in you-start working on it instead of rehashing b movie clichés.

The Hammer of God (1970)

china's secret weapon-jimmy wang-yu

[8/10 · 18 August 2004]

In the last few months, I've become reacquainted with Jimmy Wang-Yu, whose movies I hadn't seen since Friday nights at the drive in back in the 70's. An authentic Asian superstar, Wang-Yu's movies usually have a simple plot familiar to any chop-socky fan. What sets him apart is that he had an appreciation of fighting styles from other countries that really liven up the fight scenes. (A great example of this is the movie "The Chinese Professionals".) This movie is one of the few to explain why karate fighters had an easy time with kung fu students but would always fall to the masters. If you're looking for a representative kung fu movie, this is the one. The plot is a template for most every kung fu flick that came after. Not as spectacular as his later films, but the climactic battle with Lo Lieh (star of another classic, "Five Fingers of Death") is well worth the price of the movie. Recommended.

A Woman's Guide to Firearms (1987 Video)

Don't mess with this gal

[22 July 2004]

I saw this little film when I took a concealed weapons course. Mainly an instructional video showing you how to use a handgun safely, it features character actors Lee Purcell and Geoffrey Lewis (Orville in the Clint Eastwood "Every which way... films.) It deals with one woman's quest to learn how to properly handle a gun, and her subsequent efforts to arm every other woman in her California suburb. Lewis is mainly there as comic relief, which he provides by wearing one of the most outrageous outfits outside of an Ed Wood Jr. film. The rest of the actors are obviously playing their real life selves. Not a bad little film to sit through for a thorough primer on how to handle a gun.

The Fantastic Four (1994)

"The Thing" comes to life

[22 July 2004]

I don't know whether this movie was intended to be a comedy or not, but it sure made me laugh. Some of the highlights are: the Things orgasmic breathing when Alicia (who's spent about a minute and 15 seconds with him) tells him she loves him; The "epic" final confrontation between Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Doom; and the good Dr's histrionic line readings behind his welders mask (reminds me of the scene in "Hardware Wars" between Darth Vader and Princess Leia. ("What are you saying? I can't hear you!"). There is a sort of creepy, sex predator quality to Reed and Sue's relationship in the movie, but one detail they got right was the costuming. If you want to do the home version of MST3K, I can't think of a better movie.

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

IN-CAMERA EDITING?

[2 June 2004]

This is a strange one. A couple and their child meet a mysterious fate on a Texas back road. As a videographer who both shoots and edits, I think I may have an answer to part of the incompetent mystery that is Manos, The Hands of Fate-the editing. Some videographers practice a technique called "in-camera editing." Instead of shooting extra footage at the beginning and end of each take, they try to start and stop the camera so that the video needs only minimum trimming. I believe that to save money, Hal Warren employed this technique, badly. It would explain the run-on takes and poor timing evident in this movie. If his camera took a while to start and stop when recording began, you would find cuts similar to the ones found here. As for the bad acting, terrible sound dubbing, dim lighting, and incomprehensible plot, I have no theory beyond stunning incompetence or massive and debilitating drug addiction.

The Final Sacrifice (1990 Video)

Action, thy name is Rowsdower

[25 May 2004]

England has James Bond. America has Indiana Jones. And Canada has the greatest of them all. Zap Rowsdower. A strict regimen of 12 Oz. curls has made Rowsdower into an unstoppable killing machine. (At least until he runs out of breath). Where can I find this personification of Action-Adventure, you ask? In the spine-tingling, thought provoking film, "The Final Sacrifice." Enjoy true heroism through the Canadian lens. See the ultimate hero in action-Zap Rowsdower! Seriously folks, if you want to see just how badly you can screw up an action movie, see this flick. MST3k will live forever through titles like these. Don't miss the opportunity to share the pain.