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War Party (1988) Directed by Franc Roddam

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 7:36 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,



Thing this movie mostly has going for it is its originality. It features an awesome and creative concept, that I feel, works out pretty well within the movie!

Yes, this is somewhat of an underrated movie, that besides isn't very well known. A shame really, since this movie definitely deserves to.

The idea of having a bunch of people going at each other with real weapons during a reenactment between US Cavalry and Blackfeet Indians already sounds kind of awesome and interesting to begin with but the movie actually handles it in a far more creative and delicate manner than you would expect.

Yes, this movie is entertainment but at the same time it's also having some serious messages in it and handles some delicate issues. It's a movie that focuses heavily on racism toward native Americans and the wrongdoings they had to endure throughout the centuries. It does this by not necessarily focusing on the past but more so on the present.

In this movie, history literally repeats itself, when some Indians get caught up right in the middle of things, when people start up getting killed during a reenactment battle and the 'white men' start to hunt them down. The way things slowly start to go from bad to worse and things steadily start to escalate into something big is done in a pretty realistic and effective way.

Old and new, history and present, everything ends up blending effectively into each other. So basically that means we have some guys 'playing' cowboys & Indians, not just with a bow & arrow and revolvers but with assault rifles, cars and even airplanes as well.

It's also interesting that this movie focuses on the Indians and treats them as the good guys for a change, without villainizing the 'white men' in a too bad or forced way. Lets just say there are no James Bond type of villains in this, only people doing some bad things and making some wrong choices.

This movie is overall a pretty good- and above all things effective mixture of entertainment and some more serious themes. The seriousness never gets in the way of its entertainment and its entertainment never gets in the way for the movie to have some serious messages and themes in it as well.

7/10

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Red Scorpion (1988) Directed by Joseph Zito

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 10:23 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , ,



Can't say I fell in love with this movie but it has a certain appeal to it. As far as cheesy, overblown, 80's, B-action movie flicks go, this is being a petty enjoyable and good movie for what it is!

There were certainly certain aspects about this movie that I appreciated. One was its story. Not that it's being much good or anything cleverly written but it at least takes the movie to plenty of good places and meets some good characters along the way. And how many actions movies set in rural Africa are out there anyway? The movie is great and unique already, just because of that.

Another thing I also liked about the movie and its story was that Dolph Lundgren was being both the villain and main hero of the movie. There isn't really being a main villains in this, since Dolph Lundgren is already on the 'wrong' side and along the way switches sides, as he is growing more and more sympathy for his objective and their cause. the transitions his characters go through are pretty good to watch and gives the movie and its story something extra and more depth. It's probably also part of the reason why this movie is often being regarded as the ultimate Dolph Lundgren movie.

And this movie also definitely benefits from Lundgren's presence. He's a very charismatic lead, even while he doesn't speak an awful lot. He handles all of the action very well, both the hand to hand combat scenes as the ones in which he has to handle a large gun.

The action itself is always something decent enough. Certainly nothing that blew me away but there are still some large setup moments that are great to watch and definitely something the '80's action movie lover should enjoy and appreciate.

It's still being a totally silly and overblown action movie of course but if you're able to take it as just that, you'll most likely have a good time watching this movie.

6/10

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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) Directed by Dwight H. Little

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 11:42 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 13 September 2009)

Because this is the already fourth establishment in the Halloween-series, this movie has always been a bit under-appreciated. After the failed attempt at a different approach that "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" was, this fourth movie goes back to its roots again and the movie can be simply called a good and effective one within the slasher-genre, which the first movie from 1978 firstly really defined.

The movie is far from being perfect though with its story that is just plain ridicules and just too hard to believe at times. The movie at times is being too simple and light about things and often simply just takes things from granted, even though as a viewer you'll hardly ever buy these things. Still the movie is good enough to serve as one that is typical and good enough for its genre. It has all the clichés you can expect but as a fan of the genre you'll hardly ever complain about these things.

It's main concept still works out better than I anticipated though. I mean, Michael Myers who is after his 7-year old niece this time didn't sounded very appealing or exciting to me at first. Luckily it still works out so because the movie also features some other good characters, on which the movie concentrates just as much.

I must say that Donald Pleasence was truly excellent in his role. He impressed me more than he ever did before in any of the other previous Halloween-movies.

As an horror/slasher it perhaps isn't being the most original or bloodiest movie within its genre but it's being simply good and generic enough to please the fans of the genre, as long as they are open for a third sequel to a movie that redefined the genre for ever. Of course this movie doesn't ever reaches the level of the first "Halloween" but on its own right this movie is simply being a good one that is still very well worth watching and is much better than most other genre movies and certainly much better than most sequels to horror movies.

7/10

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Pumpkinhead (1988) Directed by Stan Winston

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:25 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 12 June 2009)

Literally halve of this movie is build up. It builds up to the moment of the first killing by the movie its monstrous character. Thing is that the build up is actually way better than the disappointing second halve of the movie. It makes "Pumpkinhead" a very uneven genre movie, that still has got a good reputation due to Stan Winston's involvement.

The movie proofs though that directing is an craft on its own. Sure you can be Stan Winston and have created some of the worlds best known and best looking monsters and creatures but that doesn't mean you can direct a good genre movie as well.

The movie itself basically has all of the right required genre ingredients in it. A monster, a revenge plot, a couple of teenagers, some other odd creepy looking folks, dark settings and whatever more you can expect from a genre movie such as this one. The movie handles all of its ingredients well in its first halve, when the movie is still more of a moody and mysterious one but in the second halve it just relies too much on its monster, the killings and its gore. It was real disappointing and I literally lost interest in this movie during its second halve.

This is also due to the fact that you just don't care much for the teenagers within this movie and you can't even tell who is who, not even after a while, since the characters remain mostly cardboard ones and they are not being handled and develop properly within the movie.

Still the movie has Lance Lance Henriksen in it though, even from the time when he was still a quite big actor and didn't had the reputation for starring mostly in B-junk. His presence adds quite a lot and the movie truly benefits from it.

Like you would expect from a movie to which Stan Winston was involved with, it's a good looking movie, with good effects and make-up. Also a problem perhaps though is that it features its effects and monster too prominently. Due to this the horror of the movie simply doesn't work out effectively at all.

Not completely unwatchable but the second halve of the movie still ruins a lot.

5/10

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Ginî piggu: Zansatsu supesharu (1988) (V)

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 6:00 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 9 May 2009)

As far as making of's go, this isn't among the best. This movies gives us a behind the screens look of the Ginî piggu-movies, with some small interviews includes as well, with some of its crew.

Making of's obviously weren't a big thing yet in the '80's and obviously little time and money got spend on it. This movie looks like it got shot with a $10 camera at times and it also just isn't too well put together. It's often more of the same, showing the same effects all over and over again and it also doesn't spend an equal amount of time on all of the movies. Part 1 gets hardly ever featured or mentioned and it also doesn't give a great amount of insight depth of the purpose of the Ginî piggu movies, or anything of that sort.

If it got made this present day, with interviews with the cast and crew members looking back at these movies, with some behind the screen footage included, I'll bet it would be a far better and way more interesting one to watch. Who knows, perhaps this is an idea for the 25 year anniversary of the Za ginipiggu-series next year. It would be a good excuse the re-release the entire series as well again.

Perhaps it's better to watch if you haven't actually already seen the actual movies, fore it provides little new and therefore also adds very little to the series. As a first introduction to the series this movie might work.

5/10

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) Directed by Michael A. Simpson

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:56 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 9 May 2009)

This movie isn't a very effective horror flick, due to its approach but nevertheless the movie is good enough to consider this simply a watchable one, especially for the fans of '80's slashers of course.

The biggest difference between "Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers" and its predecessor "Sleepaway Camp", that got released 5 years earlier, is that in this movie the killer is known from the first moment basically. We see her committing all of the murders, which of course takes away all of the tension and mystery the first movie still had. Nevertheless its different approach doesn't mean that this movie is any worse than its predecessor, though it also ain't exactly a better movie either. It's a typical and pretty standard genre flick, that will still please most of the fans though.

Just like the first movie, this movie foremost is a B-movie. Everything about the movie is kept pretty simple and the movie features some acting performances worthy of a B-movie.

The gore and killings are pretty nice, though its nothing too extreme. It still suits the genre fine and provides the movie with some good moments.

The movie tends to get worse though toward its ending. The ending feels far too rushed and you just loose interest in it because there is too much happening, without ever really becoming compelling. The ending sort of ruined the rest of the movie, that was still pretty decent to watch.

Nothing too memorable, just a movie that serves its purpose well enough.

6/10

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Ginî piggu: Manhôru no naka no ningyo (1988) (V) Directed by Hideshi Hino

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 1:37 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 11 April 2009)

The Za ginipiggu aren't exactly very deep or original movies, since mostly they are purely about seeing people being tortured, dismembered and eventually getting killed but "Za ginipiggu 4: Manhoru no naka no ningyo" has something extra to it, due to its bizarre but yet also intriguing story.

The movie does actually has a plot and story to it. It's a weird one but a story nevertheless, that besides is actually quite intriguing because it's so unusual. It's about a lonely artist finding a mermaid in the sewer, whom he decides to take home with him when she falls ill to continue to paint her. Her condition however only worsens when she starts to develop sores all over her body.

The Za ginipiggu-series is known for its gore and its attempts to shock with it and I feel that this movie is so far (still have to watch the other sequels) being the most successful with it. Even though it doesn't feature any torture sequences or other graphic moments like the previous movies featured, it still is the movie that grossed me out the most. It's a truly disgusting movie to watch.

Graphically it's a good looking movie with all of its effects. Still the production values are being obviously fairly low and also the actors far from impress.

Don't miss out this movie once you get into the unusual Za ginipiggu-series.

7/10

Ghoulies II (1988) Directed by Albert Band

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 10:05 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 3 January 2009)

Well, at least this movie was better than the first. This is because of the simple reason that this movie is so entertaining to watch. It doesn't try to impress but it just brings some simple and good B-movie horror fun!

It must be also due to the movie its settings that this movie is such a fun one to watch. The entire movie is set at an amusement park.

The Ghoulies are more like Gremlins in this movie. In the first movie they were only walking around without serving a real purpose. In this movie they are the heart and soul of the entire picture. They are causing some mayhem and each and every Ghoulie has a distinctive character of its own.

It's a good thing the movie doesn't take itself too serious. It gives the movie a good campy feel and look over it. The movie is often being plain silly and it doesn't try to make sense or create a believable story. Something that the first "Ghoulies" movie didn't do. So really, this movie is surprisingly better and much more watchable than its predecessor.

Perhaps the movie is being a bit too silly and not serious enough at times. This really goes at the expense of the movie its horror. I feel that as if this movie would had been more effective with its horror as well, this movie would had been an even better one to watch. The movie doesn't really have any scares or gore in it.

Of course nothing of this movie really impresses. The acting and story-line are all weak and kept thin. Perhaps you have to be really into the genre to appreciate and enjoy this movie simply for what it is; some simple, fun entertainment!

5/10

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