"The Hidden" is one of those rare movies that grabs you in the first few seconds and doesn't let go until the end credits begin to roll. It's like a book where you can't go to sleep because you are so eager to find out what is going to happen in the next chapter. You do not have everything spelled out for you and the author (or, in this case, screenwriter,) does not assume that you are a moron. In the first ten minutes we are treated to a bank robbery and a high speed car chase through Hollywood. This kind of pace remains throughout and with the addition of well-written mysterious characters, I was thoroughly glued to my set for the entire running time. Michael Nouri stars as Tom Beck, a cop who is reluctantly paired up with a strange FBI agent named Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan). They are trying to solve a rash of violent crimes committed by some seemingly normal folks. It turns out that the reason is that an evil alien creature is transferring itself between bodies once its previous body has been used up. Sure we have seen similar plot devices in movies like "The Thing" and "Fallen" but this one is different. "The Thing" is an excellent movie but the creature had a very limited number of hosts while "Fallen" tried to pull off this type of creature-transference idea but fell flat. In "The Hidden", the host could be anyone in the near vicinity and it can transfer quickly while the only way to kill it is the brief time that it is between hosts. You can feel the frustration that our stars feel as the creature continues to kill. This movie has near perfect pacing, cool and believable performances, and great effects by Kevin Yagher ("Nighmare on Elm Street 2, 3, and 4"). Co-stars include Claudia Christian ("Hexed"), Clu Gulager ("Return Of The Living Dead"), Richard Brooks, and Chris Mulkey. I look forward to director Jack Sholder's return to the genre with this year's "Wishmaster 2".
This is an excellent biopic about the legendary Motown group that had me glued to the television throughout its nearly three hour running time. What else can be expected from the director of "Rock N' Roll High School"? This film contains all the good and bad points in the career of this great group from infighting to drug and alcohol abuse to out of control egos to death. All the things that make rock and roll so exciting. Charles Malik Whitfield stars as Otis Williams, a young man in Detroit who dreams of starting a R&B band and to get signed to Motown. He soon hooks up with some other guys with similar dreams and they go on to form a group. These other guys include Melvin Franklin (D.B. Woodside ), Eddie Kendricks (Terron Brooks), and Paul Williams (Christian Payton). They also soon hook up with badass David Ruffin who gets an ego bigger than he can handle. Ruffin is played by Leon who is a veteran of unknown movies but is also an excellent actor as is evidenced by his performance here. As a matter of fact, all of the performances are well above average and you feel more like you are watching the actual Temptations as opposed to a reenactment. My only qualm about the whole thing is that it was written and produced by the real Otis Williams and I felt that it may have been biased by this fact. This is a minor detail and did not detract from my enjoyment of the film. I recommend this to all who want to see a great story, a great drama, or just want to hear some great music.
A Polish Vampire In Burbank (1985)
I have heard about this movie a number of times but I never knew what the hell it was. I thought it was probably a really bad late 70's low budget vampire horror comedy that would be a good finger exercise for my thumb and the speed search button. I was wrong. What this movie is is a really good early 80's low budget vampire horror comedy that has a lot of silly (but funny) sight gags, plays on words, Conrad Brooks, a queerwolf, and last but not least Eddie Deezen. For those who don't know who Eddie Deezen is, you do. Eddie is the guy you think of when you try and muster up a mental image of the ultimate eighties geek. You know who I'm talking about. Anyways, back to the movie. Mark Pirro wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this tale of a polish vampire named Dupah who can't bite someone because he doesn't feel right doing it. His father and sister are sick of siphoning blood for him so they make him go out and get his first victim. Of course he falls in love with her and plot centers on the relationship between beauty and bloodsucker and the eventual possible consummation of their relationship. This was as entertaining as they come for low budget fare with a good pace and enough laughs to keep you interested without being annoying. Pirro went on to make "Curse Of The Queerwolf", "Nudist Colony Of The Dead", and more recently "Color-Blinded".
I usually like movies with Fairuza Balk and this was no exception. Lenny Von Dohlen ("Twin Peaks") stars as Jack, a tollbooth attendant in smalltown America who dreams of moving to Miami so that he can be like Crockett and Tubbs. Jack loves his girlfriend Doris (Fairuza) and she won't leave until she finds her long lost father. We are then shown the life and characters in the smalltown and an event that will create a big problem for Lenny. I know I sound like the back of the box but it is difficult to summarize the plot on some movies because sometimes there are so many layers to a film that I don't want to wreck anything. All I can say was that I enjoyed this movie and that it was written very well as a different type of black comedy love story. There was also a very surreal overtone to the whole picture that made it like some weird tame-Lynchian dream. I just made a new word. Check out "Tollbooth" if not simply for the cast alone. In addition to Fairuza, there is also Will Patton, Seymour Cassel, Louise Fletcher, James Wilder ("Melrose Place") and William Katt ("Greatest American Hero").
It's nice to see a nice ambitious low budget film that comes along every so often that is totally original. "The Good Book" is the story of a world in the near future where everything is controlled by the Internet and if you choose not to partake in this sit-at-home and worship your computer lifestyle you are exiled into being an "outsider". These outsiders eventually mutate and become zombie-like monsters. The plot centers around a guy named Joseph Cyrus who has one of the few jobs left and is a mobile computer tech for the big cyber company that controls everything. He has to go out on service calls and battle zombies in the outside world. Before long, he is introduced to a Jesus like being who enlists his help in putting an end to the Internet and what it has done to the world. Joseph has a lot to do and has many decisions to make while not being able to trust anyone. The thing that makes this movie really cool is that it tries to take a complex sci-fi concept and make it fly in a low budget film and it succeeds. The effects are not overly spectacular but between the excellent acting from Brian Campbell as Joseph, the smooth direction, the competent technical considerations, and the complete dedication to having the viewer believe in what they are seeing, the film works on most levels. The additional short entitled "The Day I Met My Mother" that was also included on the tape was excellent as well. I would recommend "The Good Book" to anyone who wants to see what can be done with a low budget if you really want to and if you don't let your budget cloud your vision. I look forward to more from director Matthew Giaquinto.
The Warrior And The Sorceress (1984)
This may be David Carradine's low point. David has always has a bad rap but I can usually find something nice to say about the guy who played Frankenstein in "Death Race 2000" and Caine in "Kung Fu". Unfortunately, in this film, I don't have much nice to say about anything. Carradine stars as Kain, a dark warrior who stumbles into a square between two kingdoms where there is a well. The kingdoms are batting over the water in the well and Kain plays off the kingdoms against each other while earning lots of money from both through manipulation. There is lots of boring fighting, a really unscary monster, and a tiring battle sequence at the end. I did not care about anything except for a really fake looking lizard pet that was mildly amusing. There is also the fact that co-star Maria Socas spends the entire film without a top. This led me to ponder how the director could convince her that it was necessary to have her top off for the entire film. I actually spent most of the film envisioning the conversations that the girl must have been having on the set rather than watching the film. "Why do I have to take my top off again?" "Well, Maria, as a sorceress in the ancient times, the only way to channel energy is to receive sunlight through your nipples." "Oh." That is just a snippet of what went through my head. I do kind of have a life...
As with most of the later Stephen King adaptations, this one is not that great. It is, however, the best one that I have seen in a long time (probably since "Misery"). Miguel Ferrer ("Robocop") stars as Richard Dees, a tabloid reporter with a bad attitude who is put on a story about a psycho who flies into US airstrips that are in the middle of nowhere. He does this in the middle of the night and proceeds to kill the inhabitants of the airstrips and drain their blood. His name is Dwight Renfield and he may or may not be a vampire. Dees is also antagonized by a woman cub reporter (Julie Entwisle) who is trying to get her breakthrough story. The idea behind this movie was interesting (as with most Stephen King stories) but it essentially became boring and I began to let my mind wander (as with most Stephen King movies). There was a really cool "hell" sequence in an airport terminal and this was the saving grace of making this movie good and leaving me with the feeling that it was better than most of these adaptations. The effects by KNB were excellent as usual and there were enough tense moments to make this an OK viewing. It was also funny to see Pee Wee from "Porky's" as Dees' boss.
This is the final film in Herschell Gordon Lewis "blood trilogy" that was preceded by "Blood Feast" and "Two Thousand Maniacs". All three of the movies are similar in that they are extremely low budget but different in tone. "Blood Feast" was played in a non-realistic manner that made it funny, "2000 Maniacs" was like a demented cartoon, and this one had the best acting and was not as silly as the others. Please remember that I said "as the others". Don Joseph stars as Adam Sorg, a tortured artist who can't seem to get the right shade of red for his paintings. That is until his girlfriend cuts herself and he proceeds to paint a picture with her blood. Soon, he runs out of blood and needs to find more so that he can continue to paint. This film has a hilarious shot of our hero painting with an entire corpse rather that simply dipping his brush in the open wound. You'll know it when you see it. These three pictures are essential for fans of cult movies but if you have never heard of H.G. Lewis or these movies or this sounds really dumb to you, don't bother. Your opinion won't change.
When I think of zombies, there are two names that pop immediately to mind: George A. Romero and Lucio Fulci. "Zombie" is Fulci's take on what Romero started with "Night" and "Dawn of the Dead". Our basic premise is that there is a doctor on some island who is conducting experiments that lead to people returning from the dead. This is discovered when a lone boat drifts into the New York harbour that contains a flesh eater. The discovery leads to a newspaperman and the crazy doctor's daughter (Tisa Farrow) who decide to go to the island where the zombie originated. Of course there are other zombies on the island and this leads to all kinds of flesh eating mayhem. Actually, there isn't that much flesh eating but when there is, oh, what a payoff. Gore fans will remember this for the standout "splinter through the eye" scene and the underwater "zombie vs. shark" sequence. We are also treated to a couple of really juicy throat rippings and some excellent zombie make-up courtesy of Giannetto De Rossi. I recommend this to zombie fans, gore fans, and Fulci fans. You should follow this up with the other Fulci classic entitled "The Beyond".
As the box very plainly states, this is "a story about stuntmen". Robert Forster ("Jackie Brown") stars as Glen Wilson, a stuntman who goes to a film set where his brother Greg was killed when a stunt went wrong. Soon after arriving, Glen's stunt friends begin to die as well. Obviously somebody is sabotaging the film set but the question is who. This was an enjoyable little movie that seemed like a good way to showcase some great stuntwork and pay tribute to the men and women who risk their lives to make movies look more realistic for our enjoyment. Co-stars include Fiona Lewis ("The Fury") as a reporter, Ray Sharkey as Glen's studly friend, Bruce Glover, Joanna Cassidy ("Blade Runner"), and Candy Rialson as a movie starlet. This was directed by Mark Lester ("Class Of 1984", "Roller Boogie") who usually provides an entertaining experience.
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