Spent last weekend in NYC, saw the Card Player at the Pioneer theater. Place it third to last in my ranking of Argento flicks, liked it better than Sleepless and Phantom of the Opera. Which is actually a decent ranking, since the only one I actually dislike is Phantom of the Opera. The basic premise of the killer taunting the police by beating them at internet poker is completely ludicrous, and if you can't get past that you might as well not watch the movie. The dubbing on all the actors beyond the two leads is typically atrocious, but the two leads (Liam Cunningham and Stefania Rocca) are compelling, although in retrospect it could very well be by comparison. I thought it was better shot than Sleepless, and there's a couple of terrific death scenes in it.

Also saw the Forgotten, which was slick and bland. The plot twists I'm sure were very shocking to any number of housewives who saw it because they liked Julianne Moore's interview in Lady's Home Journal.

Saw Shaun of the Dead twice in the theater, and uncountable times on the reg2 dvd. Probably my favorite film of the year so far.

Sky Captain I liked quite a bit, but it had its share of flaws. I dug the style and thought Paltrow was actually quite good at playing Lois Lane from the Fleischer Superman cartoons. Could've used a bit more involved story, and the cgi wasn't perfect, but...well I can't really dislike this movie. It's just my cup of tea.



As an aside, I'd like to thank Todd for his hard work trying to get the forum back online. It's been tough not having the forum around for me, so I can just imagine the anguish he went through. Cheers.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ka-ka-ka-ka

I finally saw the first two FRIDAY THE 13TH films, courtesy of Paramount's new DVD boxed set. I'll write about them in a separate post, since--believe it or not--I had never before seen a Paramount F13 movie, except on television.

I did watch a prerecord VHS of EYES OF A STRANGER, which is by the director of KING FRAT and SHOCK WAVES. It's an OK slasher flick with Tom Savini gore effects that were probably pretty good before Warners cut this movie to receive an R rating. It's also very similar to John Carpenter's earlier (and much better) TV-movie SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME! Female lead Lauren Tewes was a name at the time because of THE LOVE BOAT, and it's odd to see John "Grossout" DiSanti as the killer. Of course, Jennifer Jason Leigh is the reason to watch as Tewes' Helen Keller-like sister. I'd like to see this movie on DVD, hopefully in an uncut version like Blue Underground and Anchor Bay have done with titles like ESCAPE 2000 and DEAD HEAT.

I needed a dose of classic horror last week and threw in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, which my wife watched while knitting. She enjoyed the "Song of the New Wine" but now curses me for introducing it to her, as it comes back to memory so easily.

We also watched COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE and THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA; the colors on the MGM disc are amazing. Barbara proclaimed Robert Quarry a "cutie" in the original, but noted he'd put on weight by the time of the sequel. The sequel doesn't hold up to my good memories of it; most of it is wasted in naff Lewtonesque moments and filler. Still, we enjoyed our ride on the Yorga Express. Maybe I'll show her MADHOUSE next.

RHS

For me, some first-time viewings of:

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001)
THE GHOST (1963)
DEAD EYES OF LONDON (1961)
VAN HELSING (2004, blecch...what a wasted opportunity!)
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (2004, ditto)
THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1970)
FLESH & BLOOD: THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR (1993/97)

And some revisited favorites:

THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1961)
FIVE (1951)
THE TWONKY (1953)
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE (1958)
SSSSSSS (1973)
CARRIE (1976)
DRACULA (1931, Spanish version)
THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE (1959)
HEAVY METAL (1981)
WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1966)
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (1974)
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988)

Among the things that I kept busy with while waiting for Mobius to reappear:
THRILLER A CRUEL PICTURE (which I reported some of my feelings on over at Euro-cult)
X-Rated Kult's EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN, which I enjoyed, despite it's slow pace and relative lack of sleaze.
I dug out my old Cinemax copy of THE MUTATIONS and wondered where it's DVD release is! Great film! Donald Pleasance chews the scenery in this one like no other! Great!
I picked up BU's THE PROWLER used (for under $10!) and wondered why I'd waited so long!! We loved it, and the commentary track is very enjoyable as well!
THE HUNGER... Warner's new DVD looks very nice! The film still looks like a 90 minute music video to me, but that's not saying that I don't enjoy it. In fact I do!
GINGER SNAPS 2... I finally caught up with the sequel to one of my favorite films of recent vintage. I really liked it, though on a different level than the first one. I've decided that Emily Perkins is one of my very favorite actresses. Other than the GINGER SNAPS films, is there anything else I should be seeking her out in?

I took advantage of Boston's Chintatown district and grabbed an import VCD of JU-ON THE GRUGE 2 and a DVD of PHONE, both of which had some good scares. I must admit though, I think the JU-ON films have run their course. The familiar horror images are starting to lose their potancy for me. Time for something new!

I've also been enjoying my Outer Limits box sets and revisiting some episodes of The New Avengers.

Theatrically, we saw SHAWN OF THE DEAD and A DIRTY SHAME recently, both of which I highly recommend!

If you felt like digging way back, Emily Perkins had a good supporting part in the mini-series made of STEPHEN KING'S IT, and was fairly heartbreaking as Farrah Fawcett's daughter in SMALL SACRIFICES. More recently she did an episode of the Showtime series DEAD LIKE ME, but does excellent work in her recurring role as a sex trade worker on the Canadian TV series DAVINCI'S INQUEST. Her character of Sue is trapped between being an informant for a good cop and being manipulated by a dirty (even murderous) one.

Her GINGER SNAPS costar Katherine Isabelle works incessantly. Both of them appear in the American remake of INSOMNIA, though Katherine's part is larger. She herself played a drug addicted sex trade worker in a recent telefilm called THE LIFE, appeared in FREDDY VS JASON last year, and gave sharp performances in the films ON THE CORNER, FALLING ANGELS, and TURNING PAIGE. If you feel like checking out her early work, try to see the family film THE LAST WINTER (1990) or the telefilm YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS (1992), starring Charles Bronson and Richard Thomas. She plays Virginia! Bronson is the newspaper editor she writes to about the authenticity of Santa Claus. I think it would have been great to have him respond "Do you believe in Santa Claus? Well, you're gonna meet him!" as a seasonal riff on one of his DEATH WISH 2 lines but they managed to dodge that one.