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"F"
PAGE 1 |
FALLEN - 1998 - Director: Gregory Hoblit Imagine trying
to catch a killer that can jump from one person to the next with a simple
touch. This is the predicament Denzel Washington's character John
Hobbes has found himself in this supernatural thriller. The story is
set in motion when Hobbes catches his nemesis "Edgar Reese" played by Elias
Koteas and is sitting in when they put him in the gas chamber. Soon
afterwards, the same scenarios begin to happen again. Hobbes thinks
it's someone copying Reese's routines, but eventually realizes it's Reese
himself. I'm not giving anything away by telling you this because it's
forecasted quite extensively. It turns out Reese is some sort of
"fallen angel" who has powers beyond this world. Hobbes has his hands
full to say the least. The cast is tremendous, Donald Sutherland, John
Goodman, and James Gandolfini all have supporting roles. The action is
fairly slow, but when it kicks in, director Gregory Hoblit handles it very
well. This isn't exactly the most original idea, "The Hidden" had a
similar storyline, and the supernatural has been explored many times over
the years. It's a smart movie though, more for the deep thinkers
versus those out for a quick thrill ride. |
FATAL PULSE - 1988 - Director: Gregory Hoblit Sorority
House... ten voluptuous girls and Martin Sheen's brother Joe Estevez.
What else do you want from an 80's Slasher? I'm pretty sure every
girl in the movie was show topless at one time or another. This
one is about as blatent exploitation as it gets. The girls are
all blonde and dumb and are tortured in some form before they're murdered.
It's obvious who the target audience is, young males. As most
of these Slasher's, there's some major discrepancies in the story, but
this one does do a decent job at keeping you guessing who the killer
is. I've seen worse and I've seen better, if you like your murders
a little uncomfortable, this might be the turn-on you're looking for. |
FAUST - 2000 - Director: Brian Yuzna Sick, twisted,
loud, funny and truly bizarre. These are just a few words to describe
this action-packed maniacal story of Satanic mayhem. It's part "Spawn"
and part "Wishmaster" as the original "Master" Andrew Divoff plays "M", who
appears to be the Devil himself. Mark Frost plays "Faust" and "Johnny
Jaspers", an artist who sells his soul for the gift of revenge on those who
killed his girlfriend. The story doesn't make complete sense and alot
of it is used for the purpose of creating violence and eroticism. This movie
is quite hot, mostly due to "Claire", played by the lucious Monica Van
Campen. Yuzna does amazing work with a limited budget and get's
brilliant work from Frost, a relative newcomer and Divoff, the seasoned
veteren. Isabel Brook is also great as the heroine. Jeffery
Combs has a smaller but effective role as a police detective as well.
The soundtrack is loud and obnoxious and perfect for this type of film.
This is a very entertaining film, just don't think so hard and enjoy the
ride! |
THE FEAR - 1995 - Director: Vincent Robert Amidst the
Horror drought of the early to mid-90's came this attempt at a profile in
fear based around a statue made of wood. I think the watching somebody
carve this statue would have been more entertaining. This
"strait-to-video" movie is about college student who drags his friends out
to a remote cabin to explore their fears so he can write a paper on it.
He has them sit and talk to "Marty" a wooden statue with magical powers
while he takes notes. Yes, it is a dumb as it sounds. The
characters are not likable whatsoever, and it ends up to be more of a soap
opera that a horror film. "Marty" does provide some scary moments as
he basically comes to life and starting killing off the guests, but director
Vincent Roberts doesn't utilize what he has here. The script needed
some more work before putting this together, the actors aren't completely to
blame here and do the best they can under the circumstances. |
FINAL EXAM - 1981 - Director: Jimmy Huston This may be hard to believe,
but this Slasher starts off with your basic "date-rape" scenerio, guy want's
girl, girl want's to wait, they both get butchered. This one was just one of the
onslaught of Slasher movies in the early 80's thanks to the success of "Friday The
13th" and "Halloween". I can guarantee there's a scene that would
NEVER make it to the screen today as a Fraternity thought it would be funny to stage a
terrorist shooting on the campus, with all the school shootings in the 90's, this would
have never been done. This one fails in some important areas, like developing a
character we care about. The campus nerd "Rasish" looks and sound JUST
like Edward Norton. They TRY to put him as the leading man, but I'm sorry, that
squeaky effeminate voice just doesn't "cut it". Also, not once during the
film did they ever hint at why this guy was killing people on campus! No revenge
theme, no reports of an escaped Mental Patient, NOTHING! Just some guy walkin'
around killing people! The director did a nice job of placing the killer in
reflections and windows just out of sight, it does create some tension. Overall
there's too much talking, and too many false alarms, it's like the boy who cried wolf. |
FLATLINERS - 1990 - Joel Schumacher "Today is a good day to
die." Flatliners could have potentially been a real stinker, especially after
putting together a cast of young actors based mostly on their popularity.
Fortunately they all put out an amazing performances in the "near death
experience" thriller about a group of young med. students who literally kill
themselves to see what's "out there". Keifer Sutherland (The Lost Boys)
leads the crew of scientists into the great unkown along with Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts,
William Baldwin (one of the Baldwin's... like it matters) and Oliver Platt. They
commission themselves the proper equipment to monitor their heart-rates to flatline and
then stay under for ridiculous amounts of time. One by one they go under while the
rest of them stay ready to bring them back and see what the results bring. Yes, it
sounds a bit too easy, but with the settings and our curiosity of life and death you fall
into the story easily. After each returns, they bring something back with them...
their sins and guilt. Each have to deal with their Demons who become quite real.
Without going into complete detail or give anything away, let's just say they may
not have found any real answers, but they did find more than they bargained for.
Yes, Hollywood may have made some of it unrealistic, but the storylines and questions it
asks make up for any shortcomings. |
tTHE FOG - 1980 - Director: John Carpenter I thought this movie was
scary when I was younger, and it's still scary as an adult. John Carpenter is the
master of creating tension, just watch "The Thing" or "Escape From New
York", but this one is down right scary! It's basically a Ghost story about the
small Coastal town of Antonio Bay who has a haunting history. When settling the
area, some of the locals were robbed of their lives and their gold, and now they've come
back to claim what's their's... and to exact some revenge in the process. You only
really see outlines of the colonial killers, and the Fog is the real scary part as it
slithers onto shore in the wee hours of the morning. Adrienne Barbeau is the sultry
radio announcer who's stationed in a tower and becomes the towns only source of
information. Jamie Lee Curtis, Hal Holbrook, Janet Leigh (Psycho), and John Housman
help make up the rest of this star-studded cast. I can't prove this, nor is he
credited, but I swear one of the ghost pirates is John Carpenter himself. Debra Hill
again helped write this one as she did with Halloween, and yes, in typical Carpenter
fashion, there are some things that remain unexplained, but you don't notice until you've
seen it numerous times. |
FOOD OF THE GODS - 1980 - Director: John Carpenter H.G. Wells
story about "messing with mother nature" comes to the big screen. A
strange ooze is coming out of the ground on an island right off the coast.
When ingested by animals, they become oversized to ridiculous proportions.
The problem with the film is there's a lot of holes in the story and very
little explanation to what this is all about. Fortunately, you don't
really need to know as the film is basically treated as B-Movie Science
Fiction... big on action, small on story. Director Bert I. Gordon
brought us other classic such as "Attack Of The Puppet People" and "Earth
Vs. The Spider" so you can imagine the style of this film, it definitely has
the elements of the 50's Creature Features. There's some unintentional
humor (I THINK it's unintentional) in the film due to the oversized animals.
When our hero Morgan (Marjoe Gortner) get's done fighting a 10 foot tall
chicken, he yells at the owner "Where the Hell did you get those God Damn
Chickens Lady! Did you know one of those bastards tried to kill me?
Huh??" Granted, I don't know what I'd say in that position, but I
might be a bit more stunned or upset about a giant chicken trying to peck me
to death. This is, and should be, a cult-favorite, it is loaded with
action and has some genuine tension created when a group of people are
trapped by an army of giant rats. You DO have to let yourself go here
as some of the effects are truly silly in today's standards, but for the
time period, it's done very well. |
FRANKENHOOKER - 1990 - Director: Frank Henelotter In a sick
sort of way, this is a love story... all right, it's a love story with
decapitations, exploding bodies and reanimations, but a love story nonetheless.
This has become a huge cult-classic for those who enjoy the twisted
side of things. Poor Jeffery, played brilliant by James Lorinz,
has lost his dear wife Elizabeth in a tragic lawnmower accident.
Luckily for Jeffery, he's quite intelligent, and was actually going
to be a doctor at one time, so he decides to bring his lovely wife back
to life. The only problem is that he needs a few extra parts.
This film has everything you want from a B-Movie, it's twisted, funny,
ample nudity and a good amount of gross-out special effects. This
could almost be mistaken for a Troma release, but it's not quite that
over the top and believe it or not, the acting is better (like it matters
in these cases). This would make a great double feature with "Hollywood
Chainsaw Hookers". Director Frank Henelotter was also responsible
for cult-classics "Brain Damage" and the "Basket Case"
series. |
FRANKENSTEIN - 1931 "It's ALIVE!!"
These famous lines are still delivered to this day by people
who probably don't even know where they came from! It's a part
of our culture as is one of the most famous monster's of all time.
Boris Karloff set the standard for thE monster and Colin Clive did the
same for Dr. Frankenstein. I must admit, that I saw most of the
updated versions including the Mel Brooks parody Young Frankenstein
before I saw the original. This is probably the case for anyone
under 35 years of age. This may be why I enjoyed the movie so much,
I was constantly comparing it to all the other versions. The
whole concept of re-animation is creepy enough, throw in the gothic
castle and surroundings, the black and white graininess and director
James Whale's brilliant use of shadows and camera work and you have
a genuinely scary movie. Of course today's audiences may find
the movie humorous, but I'll bet this one scared the life out of people
from that era. There's some intential humor too with Frankenstien's
assistant "Fritz" played by Dwight Frye (Renfield in Dracula)
and by Baron Frankenstein, played by Frederick Kerr. There's been many
different takes on Marry Shelly's novel, but this is the one that that
made it famous. I can honestly say this make Young Frankestein
a LOT funnier than it already was. Yes, that can be construded
as disrespectful, but I also know that without this movie, modern horror
would not be what it is today. |
FRANKENSTEIN REBORN - 1998 This loosely based remake of
the classic is part of Full Moon's "Filmonster" series. There was also a
"Werewolf", "Mummy" and others made as well. This was a nice
idea and is a perfect way for kids to enjoy a good old fashioned Monster Movie. They
are actually rated PG so you can imagine the advanced Horror Buff will be completely bored
out of their skull by this. The story is based around "Anna" Frankenstein,
a young girl who sets off to visit her relatives in the Frankenstein Castle. She
befriends the monster and this one ends up like an after school special. Both Dr.
Frankenstein and the Igor character were long-haired pretty boys and the monster coming to
life was very anti-climatic. Kids will enjoy and still probably be a little scared
as the effects are actually very well done, especially the castle and atmosphere. |
FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND - 1990 - Director: Roger Corman Roger Corman puts an
"interesting" spin on the classic Mary Shelly story of Frankenstein and his
moster. John Hurt plays a scientist who, in the year 2031, creates a weapon of
destruction that in turn creates a "time slide" that send him back to 1817 where
he meets up with Victor Frankenstein (Raul Julia), Mary Shelly (Briget Fonda), and Lord
Byron (Jason Patric). Despite the very capable cast, this one is just a little hard
to swallow. Hurt's character is trying to set things strait and actually confronts
Mary Shelly about her writings before they were written. I'm not sure if the
fashions and background were correct for 1817 Switzerland, but I do know everything looked
a little to "neat". I give Corman credit for his story-telling abilities
and the way he attempts to twist and re-tell the classic story, but this one just didn't
quite pull it off. |
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 3 - "3D" - Dircector: Steve Minor Oh the HORRRORRR! The
credits... they're leaping out at us! AAAHH! If you sense some sarcasm,
congratulations. After the successful Part 1 and 2, they decided to make this one in
3-D for some reason. Of course on video all you see are stupid camera angles, like
someone passing a joint and OH NO, IT'S COMING RIGHT AT US! This one is missing a
very important element, characters we actually hope will make it though the movie.
They are faceless bad actors who mean nothing! Sure, there's the little surprises
we've gotten used to in this series, and of course their trademark music effect, "cha
cha cha" or whatever it is, but overall, it's towards the bottom of the list. |
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 4 - THE FINAL CHAPTER - 1984 I might be a little biased
to this one because I saw this one IN the theater ON Friday the 13th on opening
night. I was only 14, if that, and it scared the hell out of me! Looking back
now, I still think this is one of the better installments. You have a young Corey
Feldman is annoying, but effective as the hero Tommy. Crispin Glover (Back To The
Future) brings an element of humor to the film. I did have to laugh when his
character was yelling into the other room to his buddy asking, "Where the Hell's the
corkscrew!". I think you know what happens next. This one comes after a weak
3-D sequel so even though it's "The Final Chapter" you get the feeling is a
"New Beginning" of sorts. I thought the acting was better and the main
characters were more likeable in this one that any of the others. Lot's of shocks and
tension here as we don't see Jason as much until the end. |
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 5 - NEW BEGINNING - 1985 Corey Feldman's character
"Tommy" from Part 4 has grown up and is really messed up... so much so that he's
moved from an intitution onto a "funny farm" so to speak, with other kids having
emotional problems. Tommy is continuously having Jason sightings in his head and
then the killing starts... the rest is history. This is my absolute least favorite,
the killings happen in daylight and the characters are so completely unlikeable you almost
smile when they bite it. Here's a spoiler too, look away if you don't want to know
this, but.... the killer isn't actually Jason this time. |
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 6 - JASON LIVES - 1986 Jason get's a jolt of
lightning that brings him back to life in the 6th installment. This one trys
to be too funny and the characters are parodies of themselves, which might have been the
intent, but it comes off as annoying. You also see Jason WAY too much, which
takes away from the mystique and it becomes more like the "Terminator".
There's a ridiculous body count that includes a 3 in 1 shot with a machete. This one
definately falls under the mainstream horror category, predictible and boring. |
FRIDAY THE 13TH - PART 7 - NEW BLOOD OK, so the whole premise of
Jason coming back to battle a girls with psychokenetic powers seems to be a bit of a
stretch, but this one is pretty enjoyable. The effects give this one an added
dimension and actually push this one into the Science Fiction realm. The casting is
better than the previous two, as you actually become attached to some of the cast, which
to me is very important in making a good thriller. They don't overdue the humor in
this one, but rather work off the indestructible nature of Jason and the study of
psychokenesis. Although, the scene where the girl tries to hide in here sleeping bag
was a bit funny. Of the entire library, this one is near the top, or at least in the
top half. |
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