First off, I know this is not a horror film. Secondly, as this is just released in the cinemas, I will make the effort not to go into spoiler territory. But given my predicament to keep with with these blog posts in a single day, and that this film does fall into the categories of B-Movies, Grindhouse, violence, blood, guts, action, comedy, scantily clad women, and other crazy story elements and beyond, I'm gonna allow it. Besides, I talked about Resident Evil: Retribution last year when it was released, so might as well throw in another theatrically released flick this month: Machete Kills.
Verdict?
I found the film to be enjoyable at the start with some insane scenes and the introduction to many bizarre characters, but as the film went on it stalled for a bit and during the halfway part it changed pace and direction which at first viewing is a little offputting, and towards the end I wasn't sure what to make of it. Maybe it was to do with going into this film with high expectations, but when I think back to when I watched the first Machete, I felt the same way back then.
It suffers the same problems as the first film with being overly ambitious with having too many characters crammed in, along with story threads that at times became needlessly complicated. This makes for less screentime dedicated to them, and yet the film becoming overlong with too many elements to take in on first viewing. I watched it again two days before I went to see the sequel and found that I enjoyed it more on repeated viewings, albeit in a not so sober state of mind.
Still can't get used to her voice despite how hot she is.
My only major gripes with the film are the overuse of the "Machete don't....." joke, and the casting of Mel Gibson, who I've never warmed up to as an actor and a person, even before the controversies surrounding his private life and personality. But his cameo well outstayed its welcome and I just hope that if a sequel does get the greenlight he won't be involved. Which brings me to my second problem with the film. Not wanting to give anything away, but I really hope there will be a Machete Kills Again (as mentioned in the first film), otherwise it would be unsatisfactory if the series was to stop here.
Don't get me wrong the film does have entertaining characters and story twists that keep the excitement factor going throughout its runtime, and I'm sure that with the first film, it will get better with each viewing. Plus it is one of the more entertaining films I've seen this year. And I guess it's a good sign that I'm hoping for the next one to go into production. I just hope it won't take as long as the release of the second Sin City film.
And on a final note.....
I will give credit to the film for including my favourite film sound effect during the music to the opening credits, which made me laugh out loud in the cinema. I'm sure you can guess what it is.
Okay I may be slightly late with this one as I went to see Metallica: Through The Never last night. I had a film in mind for this blog entry, but being pushed for time and scheduling, I will make reference to this film in relation to what film company was responsible for it. And that is the infamous producers of films mimicking current releases of whatever they're peddling, The Asylum.
I have heard so much about this company over the past couple of years in relation to the quality of their films and their marketing strategy. Nowadays I have come across a few of their films to the point where I am able to list the ten films I've seen in order of worst to best. Bear in mind that I've not seen the likes of AVH: Alien vs Hunter, The Terminators and the Transmorphers. And if they did, they would more than likely end up on this list. So for now I'm just limited to ten, with the strange temptation to check out more in future.
10. Monster
Not to be confused with: Cloverfield, or even Monster.
How and why: It was on the SyFy Channel.
Verdict: Technically I've never seen the full film properly as I fast forwarded the majority of it because of how bad it was. It may have some good ideas in terms of distorted or corrupted "found footage" but they were overused in a film that was the second worst "found footage" film I've ever seen (just behind The Bay)
9. Snakes On A Train
Not to be confused with: Snakes On A Plane
How and why: I found it on the American version of Netflix and it was the first film from The Asylum I've ever heard of.
Verdict: Very poor with an ending that I find out was tacked on due to the cover image, in order to please the Japanese investors of the film (look it up on Wikipedia if you don't believe me). Plus it's a bad sign in the end of the end credits is funnier than the entire film.
8. Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus
Not to be confused with: .....what the hell can you confuse it with?
How and why: I bought it for three euro in a used book shop.
Verdict: bar one infamous funny/ridiculous scene, along with some silly editing, the film was a bit of a bore and not as exciting or as fun as the title suggests.
7. The Amityville Haunting
Not to be confused with: The Amityville Horror (any film from the series)
How and why: It was on the SyFy channel.....yes, another one.
Verdict: basically a rip-off of the Paranormal Activity series, not only is it worse than any of the films I've seen from that series, but at the same time it was more entertaining, thanks to some laughably bad scenes, particularly the one that involves the breakdown of one of the main characters.
6. 2-Headed Shark Attack
Not to be confused with: .....is there even any other two headed shark movies in existence?
How and why: SyFy channel.....once again.
Verdict: while it is a struggle to find some genuine laughs from this, even with Brooke Hogan's woeful acting (that person should not be famous, in any shape or form), it's still a step up for Carmen Electra, after her contributions to the cinematic abominations courtesy of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
5. Nazis At The Center Of The Earth
Not to be confused with: Iron Sky.
How and why: It was on Netflix.
Verdict: I already wrote about this film here, but at the time I thought this was the first Asylum film I sat down to watch. But after looking at the list of films produced by them, I found out that was wasn't the case, where in actual fact, the first one was.....
4. Death Racers
Not to be confused with: the Death Race series.
How and why: it was one of the first films I saw when I was able to access the American version of Netflix.
Verdict: for the most part a joyless affair, given the subject matter. The only redeeming features to this film were the appearances of the Insane Clown Posse (who have made more entertaining films than this) and one of my favourite wrestlers of all time: Raven (who I mentioned before was one of the inspirations for the name of this blog).
3. Battledogs
Not to be confused with: .....darned it I know.
How and why: SyFy channel.....are you starting to see a pattern here?
Verdict: another film that may not be as fun as the tile suggests, although one part in the last few minutes made me laugh out loud. What I found surprising about the film were the number of actors that are familiar faces, which would result in asking others what films/TV shows they were in, without the aid of IMDb. I guess it's a sign that The Asylum now has enough money to hire more credible actors for their incredibly bad films.
2. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
Not to be confused with: any version of Sherlock Holmes that's around nowadays.
How and why: I saw the cover, which showed a dinosaur, an octopus, a dragon and a 19th century looking Iron Man. So I had to buy it (cheap of course).
Verdict: as barmy as the film was, not to mention the woeful acting, the story wasn't that bad as it reveled in its absurdity. Plus I found it more enjoyable than the Robert Downey Jr films.
1. Sharknado
Not to be confused with: all the other hit and miss shark films released these past few years.
How and why: thanks to the internet hype surrounding this SyFy flick.
Verdict: not only is it the best film I've seen from The Asylum, it is one of the most fun movies I've seen this year. Deserves to be lauded with a cult following the same way The Room and Troll 2 have in the past. Plus it's the greatest episode of Beverly Hills 90210 I've ever seen (joke).
And on a final note.....
Since I mentioned the Insane Clown Posse, might as well bring out my inner Juggalo (look it up) and post one of their songs. Still find it weird that they are, in a way, a Christian rap band.
For anyone (other than myself) that knows how plans change with this blog, I did hint that I would be writing up on another horror franchise this month. However I am increasingly pushed for time to give each film a proper write up. Plus I was aiming to enjoy the series from one film to the other without pausing to do create an article. So while searching for other alternatives, I find myself coming back to a series of blog posts that I've been meaning to continue with, the B-Movie DVD collection.
RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES
I recently purchased a second hand copy of Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes as not only had I not seen it since I recorded it on VHS, I wanted to reacquaint myself with it before moving on to the sequel. Plus it starred George Clooney, pre-E.R. days, so I had to check it out.
94 minutes later.....
After watching the first film, I was taken aback by how different the sequel was, and at times, not for the better. It started off promisingly with the bizarre opening sequence and the self referential theme song mimicking the one from the original. But as the movie went on it not only came off as a corny 80s flick, but not only did it not have much of the surrealist humour the first film had, it didn't have any actual Killer Tomatoes, despite the title of the actual movie.
Instead we get these musclebound henchmen for Professor Gangreen (played by the original Gomez Adams) that were transformed from tomatoes, and his "girlfriend" running away with a cuddly looking tomato. The film does drag on for the first half or so when it's plainly obvious that it's going in one direction. That is until the movie itself starts breaking the fourth wall, even mocking itself about how bad it is, of which most of the humour lies.
While it was fun to see some characters from the original come back (even the underwater expert), the stand out actor in this film is, unsurprisingly, George Clooney. Even if I was to take away the fact that I already knew who he was to begin with, he is clearly the more talented actor onscreen, which makes him likable and funny onscreen, rising above the material given to him.
Verdict?
If it wasn't for the fact that the film was breaking the fourth wall every now and then, the movie would have been a bore. Since there were no actual tomatoes in this film, it could have done with more of this type of humour throughout, along the lines of a Zucker Brothers flick. I'm not sure how I would view the film as a standalone piece, considering the references to the original littered throughout. I will admit it was a bit of a laugh, and maybe in future I'd accept it more for what it is. But compared to the original, I can't help but feel a little disappointed.
RETURN TO HORROR HIGH
One of my earliest memories of a rental shop for VHS, before the days of Xtra-Vision on my side of the pond, was in a dry cleaners above a newsagents. And I will always remember the one cover that stood out from the limited choices it had on its shelf was for this movie (see here). Oh and this flick also stars George Clooney, hence the theme for this blog entry.
94 minutes later.....
While not revealing any spoilers in terms of what happens in the movie, but all I can say is that compared to the rest of the cast, George Clooney's performance was clearly the best, with the exception of the guy who played the janitor. After watching this film, I can see how Return Of The Killer Tomatoes look like a step up in his career. Well, a small step anyway.
While ROTKT had parts where it showed that the movie was being made, here it is about a movie that's being made within the movie. This approach does lend itself to some comedy into how different ideas conflict on a movie set, not to mention some of the other factors that go into it (props, crew members, budget etc.). However it does get confusing at times when it jumps from one timeline to another, and from reality to the filming of the movie.
The film is for the most part a comedy and therefore not to be taken seriously as your average horror flick. And yet the reaction it got outta me was more groan than laughter. And while it does have the slasher element to it, you don't see much of what happens, as the majority of the killing is done offscreen. And with one scene in particular that does show what happens (without giving any spoilers), the payoff is rather disappointing.
Verdict?
The result is a bit of a mess with some good ideas not executed properly, much like the movie that was being shot within movie. However there are some genuinely funny parts be it the dismemberment scenes, the onset struggles, or even criticisms of horror movie tropes. While it could have been better, it was still watchable, if only for looking at how dated the film is, which in itself is a source of humour.
Double Bill Verdict?
I guess it could be a case of two wrongs make a right, with both films slightly under par in terms of quality. But since both movies were not to be taken seriously to begin with, combined they are fun to watch, especially in a six pack and pizza type of scenario. And of course it was fun to see acclaimed actor and director George Clooney in his earliest roles. Funny to think how people saw From Dusk Till Dawn as a dent in his career, as they obviously never saw these two.
And on a final note.....
After watching Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes, the theme song will be stuck in my head for the next week.
This Week In Movies:The Incredible Hulk (I always thought this film was underrated, but at the same time I'm glad Mark Ruffalo is now Bruce Banner), Thor (still can't believe this was directed by Kenneth Brannagh, and it's still entertaining to watch.....plus it has Kat Dennings in it), Lockout (second time watching it within a fortnight, if I had the time, this would be the focus of this weeks article), Punisher: War Zone (an excellent film I've been meaning to write about, as I've mentioned it a couple of times here), and The Crow (it has been years since I've seen this movie, and I forgot how brilliant it was).
This week has been pretty hectic for a variety of reasons. Other than the usual work and health issues which I've mentioned before, and also taking into account that it's the long weekend over here. I also went to two gigs, of which are Lordi in The Button Factory, Dublin (which reminds me to watch their film again), and Devin Townsend in The Stiff Kitten, Belfast (which took place on a Sunday, hence the delay in this blog post).
As I couldn't find the time to write an indepth article on any movie, I have gone with the "Double Bill" structure, of which I started doing a fortnight ago, using DVDs I picked up as part of the collection above. My intention with these blog entries is to watch the films in one sitting, and then write about them. Now in the previous one I mentioned of the delay within the second film, but still got through them on the same night. However, in the week that I had, I didn't have that luxury.
CROCODILE
I was staying over at my parent's house on Tuesday, and I planned to watch a double bill of movies over there with them. My mum was interested in what I bought, mainly due to the monster type films, so she chose three movies out of the collection (of which are Return Of The Killer Tomatoes and Octopus). I watched the beginning of this film, but had to take an important phone call, so I could only catch the last 30 minutes of the film. Even without watching it, my folks were able to keep me up to speed with the threadbare plot. My dad was pointing out the many continuity errors relating to a certain rucksack, and my folks were able to mock the film by how bad it was, but took into account it was a B-Movie after all, so they were forgiving in that respect. Well, when I told them that this was directed by Tobe Hooper, who has done Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist, my mum said that he should be put down after this. Pretty harsh, but then again I was never a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre to begin with. Although I did find the sequel hilarious.
93 minutes later.....
Right from the very beginning, I wanted everybody onscreen to die, even the cute little dog. These people are not only the cliched beautiful but stupid college kids, but they are completely unlikable and unrealistic, in terms of their dialogue, their attitudes and their actions. Not since Quarantine 2: Terminal have I seen a film where I wanted everyone snuffed out within the first few minutes. Which makes them perfectly good Croc bait in that respect.
As for the crocodile itself, there are two versions of it onscreen. One looks like a giant theme park model where victims looks like they're covered in fake blood and stuck between its teeth, and at times used as a battering ram. Other times a terrible CGI model is in place, so I guess the Coca Cola product placement didn't help in that department. Despite these terrible incarnations of the crocodile (not a gator, as the film throws in a few facts about them in a few scenes), I was still rooting for it instead of any of the other dumbasses in this movie.
On a sidenote, this was on TV on Tuesday night.
Maybe I should have checked that out instead.
Other than the continuity errors that my dad pointed out, not to mention the overall stupidity of these jerks, the one thing that left me gobsmacked was that this film is so cheap, it even looks like it's cutting corners. There are scenes where it focuses on nothing, the crocodile is offscreen while doing something off camera, and the editing is so bad, that they took the same campfire scene with everyone in the same clothes, and tried to pass it off as a separate night. And this is directed by the same Tobe Hooper who made some of the most highly regarded horror films of all time?
Verdict?
This film is bad, full stop. But in a bizarre way, that's what makes it watchable, the same way my parents viewed it. Which of course, it's a B-Movie, you know what you're getting into, so the more stupid things you can point out, the better. I guess the novelty of being directed by Tobe Hooper does give an example of how low some directors can go, in terms of quality. But when watched by like minded individuals, or at least a ton of beers, there is entertainment to be found in this godawful flick.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
In the past I planned to watch a double bill with this film first, and another called Creature. But on Saturday, I decided to watch Crocodile first, as I was familiar with it by this stage, and then move onto this. The plan was to watch these films while waiting for some of my friends to come over later on that evening. But a ladyfriend of mine happened to come over earlier than expected, so I had to halt viewing 20 minutes into the film. As I mentioned earlier I spent Sunday travelling to and from Belfast for the Devin Townsend gig. When I got home I thought it would be the perfect time to stick it on to round off the evening. However, I had fallen asleep somewhere towards the last half hour, only to gain consciousness towards the end of the film. Just as well that I've seen Night Of The Living Dead before, so I'm able to at least write something about it.....man I never intended for these intros to go for more than one paragraph, but given the circumstances this week, it should give you an idea as to my viewing experiences.
96 minutes later.....
Well, what I got from this particular viewing, other than passing out after 7 and a half pints and a two hour drive back to Dublin beforehand, was watching this film for the first time in colour. I was able to get used to it after a while, but for me the modern day equivalent are films that are post converted from 2D to 3D, some work, other don't. This version falls in the latter, as there were some points onscreen where someone forgot to colour it in.
As for the film itself.....well what more can be said about it really? Sure it does have the standard social commentary that George A. Romero sticks in these "Dead" movies. Personally I never cared much for these messages, which may sound ridiculous to most people reading this. Don't get me wrong I understand them and it is quite clever, but at the same time it can come off as pretentious. Plus I choose to view these films on a simplistic level, which is a zombie flick.
In terms of B-Movies, it's one of the earliest examples of this style, not only in graphic content, but by its cheap aesthetic, given the minimal production value this film had.. Unfortunately the colour version highlights these shortcomings, hence why I prefer the black and white version, as seen above. To me the monochrome feel to it just makes the film that much creepier, and even if the movie had been filmed in colour, instead of just added afterwards, it still wouldn't be effective.
Verdict?
Writing about this film would be as difficult as critiquing the likes of King Kong and The Wizard Of Oz. I tend not to look too deeply into picking apart these films, given the fact that they do show their age. But these can be forgiven due to the fact that not only were these films groundbreaking at time of their release, but their influence on modern cinema can be seen even to this day. This film not only kickstarted the zombie genre, but is one of the most influential horror films of all time.
Double Bill Verdict?
While I didn't get to watch these films back to back, or stay conscious in regards to the second film, if I was to imagine viewing these flicks in a row, it would work well. At the beginning I was going to watch Night Of The Living Dead first, which probably would have helped if I was gonna pass out during Crocodile, as I've seen the last few minutes previously. But I think it worked better to go with the bad "creature feature" first, and then watched something better afterwards.
And on a final note.....
In relation to last night's gig, to round off this hectic week on a Bank Holiday Monday, I may as well listen to this album by The Devin Townsend Project; Ghost.
The week in movies: Oblivion (a film so dull that it couldn't make Morgan Freeman with machine guns look interesting), Lockout (which was very entertaining, considering that I watched Oblivion beforehand) Oz The Great And Powerful (a surprisingly enjoyable family film that I was glad to watch in 3D), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (while not a great movie by any means, at least this felt more like a G.I. Joe film than the last one), Star Wars (the 1977 theatrical version) and going through half of the Marvel/Avengers boxset I got at Xmas, with Iron Man (brilliant film), Iron Man 2 (very flawed but manages to be funny) and Captain America: The First Avenger (enjoyable enough superhero flick that ties in with The Avengers).
Another film I watched in the cinema was the remake of Evil Dead. I was going to write about this film this week, along with the original trilogy. Hence the poll that is to the right hand side of this blog at time of writing. But this may not happen as few hiccups include:
the fact that the people behind me in the cinema while watching Evil Dead wouldn't shut up throughout the whole movie. So I will be watching it a second time whenever I get the chance.
I am currently going through the Marvel/Avengers boxset in the lead up to Iron Man 3.
And given that my ideas for article topics tend to change on a regular basis, whether I get around to writing about it remains to be seen. So I may as well write about something that's sort of related to the Evil Dead franchise. So I'm going with a film that stars Ash himself, Bruce Campbell.
One of the other movies I picked up along with River Of Darkness (which I wrote about here) that also cost a fiver was a sci-fi flick called Assault On Dome 4, featuring Bruce on the cover. I didn't read the back of the DVD case to see what it was about, as I figured that I couldn't go wrong with a film starring Bruce Campbell. However I also had a feeling that it would be the only redeemable quality of this movie, which somehow makes it more intriguing.
WARNING: SPOILERS
91 minutes later.....
It is pretty much Die Hard, but set in space. There's nothing more I can say about the story in that respect, other than the whole court marshal scenario throughout the film was pretty pointless, and undermines the actions taken by the hero. I think this movie was only meant to be TV filler, so I can't lambaste it for lack of originality, production value, or even decent acting. It's a run of the mill sci-fi flick that's at least watchable, but for the wrong reasons.
I seem to have a habit of picking films with misleading cover art. While the film certainly does star Bruce Campbell in a major role, it turns out that he happens to be the villain of the movie, which is quite rare for him to play one (to the best of my knowledge at this time). In this film he's an escaped convict who leads a group of prisoners to take over a space station, of which "peace keeper" Chase Morran, the hero of the piece (and damned if I know who plays him), happens to be present.
In a way the cover is not that misleading, as the entire movie focus on Bruce, instead of the villain. Granted he's the only "major" star in this film, and by far the best actor in it. And that's not because I am a fan of Bruce Campbell to begin with. But imagine if the poster for Die Hard made Alan Rickman the main focus of it, with Bruce Willis somewhere in the background. That's how ridiculous the DVD cover was to me.
On a sidenote: Alan Rickman is awesome.
With so much focus set on the villain, and an entertaining one at that, not only did I find myself rooting for him, but everytime the focus shifts to anything else, I wanted the film to go back to Bruce. His performance is his usual wisecracking self that you see in his other movies, but that's not the only reason I wish to see him back onscreen. Whenever the focus shifts to something else, the film just falls apart onscreen. While it is after all a sci-fi B-Movie, it clearly shows that it's a bad one to boot.
The rest of the actors range from wooden to woeful, with next to nothing in terms of character development. Since the rest of the cast don't appear onscreen for too long, or stay alive for that matter, their purpose in this film means very little. Other than Bruce, the only person with more screentime than the rest was the actor who plays Chase Morran. Which doesn't do him any favours, as his lines come across as stupid, especially when spouting unfunny monologues.
The action sequences are so poorly orchestrated that even the one guy with any martial arts background (one of Bruce's main henchmen) doesn't appear in the film long enough to showcase these skills, being taken out by an old soldier with a gun. Not only does this waste an opportunity to use him as one of the main obstacles before taking out the bad guy, the old soldier ends up dead less than five minutes late, which makes this scuffle even more pointless.
Speaking of actors with a lack of fighting skills, "Chase" has very little in that department. So little that I started to wonder why cast him as the good guy in the first place? His part could easily be given to Bruce Campbell. Sure he may not be bulky, but it's not like he has to face anyone that looked more threatening than him (considering that he was never gonna fight the kung fu henchman anyway). But he would have been more believable as a good guy. Here, it's hard to be intimidated by a wisecracking jerk dressed like a saloon bartender.
Erm, when I said that I wanted a shot.....
As with any good (or in this case, bad) B-Movie, there is the combination of poor script, plot holes, cheap special effects, and continuity effects. Plus you know the movie is running short on material when many a time the film goes into slow motion, sometimes for no reason whatsoever. I even have a theory that the whole court marshal scenes were just added in to make up the 90 minutes. These scenes just seem out of place when compared to the rest of the film, much like the alternate opening to The Avengers. To me, it's not really clear if he is found innocent or guilty towards the end. But by that time, I was just glad the credits were rolling.
Verdict?
This is a terrible film, full stop. I would only recommend this to fans of Bruce Campbell, and those who at least appreciate his acting style. If it wasn't for him, not only would this film not get a look in, but it would just crumble under the weight of how bad it really is. It goes to show that he can carry any movie, good or bad, on his shoulders and make it work. Plus he is always entertaining in anything he stars in, be it lead, support, or even a cameo. Other than that, for a Die Hard clone, it was at least better than the godawful A Good Day To Die Hard. Not even Bruce could save that pile of excrement.
This week in movies:Dead Silence (surprisingly good horror flick from the creators of SAW), The Collector (not a bad slasher flick considering that it was meant to be a SAW prequel in the beginning, but I would have loved if it used the hilarious "alternate ending"), Airplane 2: The Sequel (just as funny as the first film), The Thing (prequel to the John Carpenter film, which is a pretty decent reimagining), Zombie Girl: The Movie (interesting little documentary about a 12 year old girl's attempt to make a zombie flick) and Compliance (a shocking and infuriating look at people who deserve a lifetime achievement from the Darwin Awards).
This week I also attended a double bill as part of the Five Lamps Arts Festival, where it showed Chillerama and Bitch Slap. I've seen the first film at the Horrorthon Film Festival two years ago which was my favourite from the festival that year. I never heard of the second film, and while it was in essence a cheap knock-off of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, with the right frame of mind (in otherwords, with a few drinks on you), it can be enjoyable.
I found the double bill to be a laugh, even if hardly any people attended the screening (due to a lack of advertising). It gave me an idea for this blog, just to mix things up a little. As the majority of my previous posts deal with a particular film and my thoughts about it go into detail, including spoilers, I thought it would make a change where I would mix two mini reviews together as one viewing experience.
So the "Double Bill" concept came to fruition, and what better way to start it than to include a few films I bought recently, which belong to The B-Movie DVD Collection. I was tempted to buy the actual boxset, but it worked out cheaper if I bought the individual films.
HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN
This happens to be one of the first films I watched on Netflix. I don't remember much of it other than it was a bit of fun. And after last week's movie choice, it's nice to see a film starring a wrestler (Rowdy Roddy Piper, who also starred in classic John Carpenter flick They Live) that doesn't suck.
88 minutes later.....
I may have only seen this film last year, but watching it again felt like I hadn't seen it in a decade. Hence it was almost like watching it again for the first time, and I enjoyed it even more second time around. Because of the film's ridiculous setting, it is essential that you turn your brain off once the movie starts. And with a plot that involves a beefcake with the only working reproductive organ in the land, rescuing women held hostage by mutated frog people, you're better off doing so.
It also helps that the film has an amusing leading man in Roddy Piper, who plays Sam Hell (gotta love the name). Much like They Live, Piper is able to pull off the combination of being an action hero, while being able to entice laughter by just being his wisecracking self. The supporting actors are not too bad considering the type of film this is, in that they don't bring the movie down by dodgy acting or character traits, leaving Piper to carry the film on his shoulders
And it helps when the supporting cast include scantily clad women.
The plot is perfect B-Movie fodder, and it does have a decent enough budget, even if the frog-man costumes do look silly. It does have that "cult film" feel to it, which gives the movie its charm. It knows it's a B-Movie, and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than that. Not only does it have the right amount of action and comedy, it's also well paced and balanced that it doesn't stray too far from the story in any direction.
Verdict?
Well worth a watch if you're in the mood for mindless fun. I'm not sure what reception this film got on release, or whether it was released in cinemas, but this could have been an entertaining enough franchise today. Apparently there were two sequels made after this, but none of which stars Roddy Piper. Which is a shame, basing my opinion on this and They Live, Piper is entertaining to watch, coming across as a spoof of the typical action hero that was popular at the time. I'm surprised he hasn't been in anything noteworthy after those two films.
RATS
As I've only heard of half the movies I purchased, I will start off with a film I've seen/know of, and follow that up with something that I have no prior knowledge of before I view it. I will not even look at the back of the DVD case, hence not knowing what to expect. As a lot of these films look like "creature features", my choice for follow up film are based purely on the box art.
92 minutes later.....
I don't know why, but at first glance, considering the fact that this was part of the "B-Movie Collection", I thought this would have been a 70s flick. And it could be to do with the fact that the only other movie I could think of that featured rats was Ben. But instead, this was a film made in 1993, which to my surprise starts Ron Perlman, a year before Hellboy came out. That said, despite the vast difference between the two, I was never really a fan of the Hellboy films, so I found this more entertaining.
Granted the movie is in the same category as those you see on one of those digital movie channels, which has very little budget, pitiful CGI effects, and the only recognisable actor they could afford on said budget. And as its a horror film, if you didn't guess from the cover above, it has the usual elements of blood, cartoonish gore, and a cast consisting of beautiful twenty somethings, especially lead actress Sara Downing.
Like the first film of this double bill, it knows that it's a B-Movie, so it doesn't try to stray from that fact. The plot is pretty standard with no major surprises, so what you get is what you see. However, dodgy CGI effects aside, the film actually looks well presented for what little budget it has. As for the acting, it does have some pretty decent performances, given the subject matter of the film. So both these elements make this bizarre sounding film work.
Verdict?
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how this film turned out, and while it may not be the greatest film by all means, it wasn't as awful as I expected it to be. Given that the film is about killer rats, you'd half expect bad acting, poor script and cheap production values. It's worth a watch if you're struggling to find something to watch, either during the midnight hours, or even during the day. It's entertaining enough that you can get a laugh out of it, even the terrible CGI.
Double Bill Verdict?
Considering all the other films I could have chosen as the first "B-Movie Double Bill", this was a pretty good start. The films themselves were enjoyable, both were different from each other in terms of genre, and the order they were viewed in worked well. I felt tired while watching Rats, but that was more to do with pausing the film 30 minutes into it, to take a phone call that lasted for 90 minutes, making it 2:30 a.m. when I continued watching it. If the movies were the other way round, then I would have found it hard to appreciate the stupid but fun nature of Hell Comes To Frogtown. In that respect, Rats works as a follow up to this bill, and has the bonus of not being utterly terrible to boot.
And on a final note.....
Since I have a tendency to watch bad movies, I found this video quite entertaining, not to mention I am a fan of Steve & Larson. But what does it say about me that I watched 8 out of 10 of these movies? It would have been 9 if I went to see Miami Connection in the cinema last month.
