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Demonic Toys (1992) (V) Directed by Peter Manoogian

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 12:39 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , ,



Really can't say this is a very good movie but at least it's an enjoyable one

Here we have one rather fun horror movie, obviously inspired by the success of the "Child's Play" movies. Instead of having just one killer doll, they give us a whole bunch of different killer toys, including some pretty good and creepy looking dolls.

It's obviously not a movie to take very seriously and it indeed goes over-the-top at times. But it's obvious that this movie its intentions never were to bring you any real scares or to be a full blown horror flick. It's going for a more silly and entertaining approach instead, that works out well for the movie. It's simply a fun one to watch, though at the same time I just have to say that it also is quite a bad movie in some ways.

It's a very simplistic and straightforward movie, that hardly is featuring any story or any good and truly surprising developments in it. No wonder this movie is only 86 minutes short, including the end credits. They hardly were able to come up with anything truly good and interesting at times. The movie starts off alright but it soon starts to slow down and also becomes a bit of a repetitive one and eventually even turns into more of a silly fantasy flick, toward the end.

The effects used also heavily vary in quality. The designs for all of the 'demonic toys' are all pretty good and creepy but it's just a bit too obvious at times that they are being controlled by human arms. It definitely makes them less scary and threatening to watch, as does the voice acting. The voices didn't really suited the characters in my opinion, at least not for a horror type of production, such as this one.

But the acting in general just isn't anything all too impressive. It stars a bunch of actors I have never heard of, or seen in any other movie before. At least not that I know of. This basically is nothing more than a silly B-flick, with also B-movie like actors and performances in it.

A silly and in some ways even bad movie but at least it's still enjoyable enough to watch!

5/10

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The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) Directed by Curtis Hanson

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 7:01 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , ,



This movie is from the time period psychological thrillers were extremely popular ones and this movie also spawned lots of wannabees and ripoffs later on. It's not hard to see why, since this movie does lots of things well and successfully manage to create good atmosphere and tension, without doing all that much really.

Just think about it; this is quite a minimalistic movie. No car chases, no shootouts, no real big name actors. It's simply a subtle movie, like a good psychological thriller also should be like and mostly set at just one location.

Not that it's always a very convincing or perfect movie but as far as these type of movies go, it's definitely one of the more effective ones. It's the type of movie in which a family gets terrorized by person who starts interfering with their lives and tries to set people up against each other, all to achieve her eventual goal.

Some of the events and developments are clearly put in there to add to the movie its thriller elements, while they just don't serve a good clear or significant enough purpose for the movie its main story. It makes it obvious this is a Hollywood movie, in which nothing ever comes as a true surprise either but at least things still get build up and handled well, making it a perfectly effective thriller. No big surprise, once you learn the movie got directed by Curtis Hanson, a person who's always capable of creating a good thriller.

It also feels that this is one of the movies that truly brought back the femme fatale to Hollywood movies again, personified in this movie by Rebecca De Mornay. She's a classic villain, that's perfectly evil and capable of keeping a straight face throughout the entire movie, making it also believable that no one in this movie sees what she is truly up to and who she really is.

I won't go as far to call this is a classic but it still is truly a thriller that does lots of things right and effectively!

7/10

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Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion (1992) (V) Directed by Mark Patrick Carducci

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 2:50 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , ,



This is obviously being a low-budget and almost fan-made documentary about Edward D. Wood Jr.'s notorious 'opus magnum' "Plan 9 from Outer Space". It's not an impressive looking or put together documentary by any means but it's being a pretty insightful one, that shares and elaborates on some fun facts.

It's not necessarily a documentary about the making of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" but more one about Wood's entire career, in which "Plan 9 from Outer Space" plays the central role, holding and bringing everything in this documentary together. It's something that works out well but can be deceiving for those who are expecting a documentary purely focused on the making of "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

They managed to get a whole bunch of people in front of the camera, who in one way or the other were involved with "Plan 9 from Outer Space". They share their thoughts and memory of the movie but more so of Ed Wood and those who had passed away already, such as Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson and Criswell. Most of the information is pretty insightful and helps you to learn more about the movie as well as those involved who had passed away already, which also includes Wood himself of course.

This is a fan project, so there are nothing but kind words about him (well, almost entirely) but otherwise this would had most likely been a very depressing documentary, without any fun to it, since Wood's life was far from a happy tale, so I actually don't mind this. It's actually great to see how all these people, after all these years, can speak still so passionately about him and praise him for what he all did and achieved, which might not seem like much but is still quite a big accomplishment all when you look at it objectively. He at least often succeeded to get some big names in his movies and he (almost) always managed to get the movies made in the first place, with basically no money.

His passion and love and devotion to his projects made up for his talent, which just wasn't quite there. It's actually great to see Wood himself directing some scenes for a movie in this documentary. It was just like I always had imagined, he was extremely passionate and committed about it and seemed to be just happy to do it as well. He truly was in his element. There is some more unique footage of Wood himself in this documentary, which was always something I was interested in.

This is being a pretty good and insightful documentary to watch, if you can forgive it for its somewhat amateur like look and feeling at times. But you shouldn't have any problems with that if your interested in "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and Edward D. Wood Jr.!

7/10

Unlawful Entry (1992) Directed by Jonathan Kaplan

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 8:17 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , ,



Thing I like about this movie is that it isn't overdoing anything, or feels the need to spice things up with gunfights or explosions. It rather relies on its story, characters and underlying tension, like every good thriller should do, in my opinion.

No, this movie doesn't has the most likely story in it and some of the developments aren't all that convincing but the movie is simply being good and enjoyable for what it is. As a thriller it does serve its purpose well and probably won't disappoint anybody that is looking for a good thriller.

In its simplicity and setup, this is being a quite effective thriller, in which a cop starts terrorizing a family, when he falls for the wife. Things are slowly starting to get worse and more troublesome for the family. The way the entire movie gets buildup ensures that the tension of the movie works out effectively. It's basically being one of those stalker movies, a lot got made of, during the '80's and '90's. This happens to be one of the lesser known ones but it most certainly is not among the worst ones as well. You could even say that this is being a bit of an underrated and under-appreciated movie.

This movie also made me realize what a shame and waste it was that Ray Liotta's career never truly reached great heights. There was a period, around the time of this movie, that he truly was an A-list actor but he never really managed to maintain this status and there are too few classics, starring him, to consider his career to be a truly successful one. There was far more in it really. It's not like he has stopped acting but it's hard to imaging his career is still going to take off now. He was an absolutely great and charismatic presence and villain in this movie and almost completely stole the show away from other fine actors such as Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe.

This really is being a good, straightforward, old fashioned thriller, that is definitely worth a watch.

7/10

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Trespass (1992) Directed by Walter Hill

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 7:35 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , ,



This is a movie perhaps more in the vein of a silly '80's genre flick, that is heavy on the fun and action but not really on its story.

In this case however it's a good thing that the movie doesn't have a too complicated story in it. It's actually being one of the movie its strengths that the movie has a simple story to it, that doesn't ever make things needlessly complicated or hard and annoying to follow.

The story is mostly being kept simple by the fact that most of the movie is taking place at just one location; an old abandoned factory. And the movie doesn't need an awful lot more than that, to simply create a good and fun action flick with. It uses its settings well and handles its concept in a good and original way. The movie is still filled with plenty of surprises, in terms of that you just never really know what will happen next or how the movie shall eventually end.

It never really makes this a boring or tiresome movie to watch. There is always something happening and there is plenty of variety to it all, even though it has restrained settings and a quite simple and straightforward story in it. All reasons why this movie is definitely way better than just the average genre attempt. And that's a real fact!

Walter Hill has never been a director of any truly great movies (except for "The Warriors" perhaps, though I still had plenty of problems with that movie) but he always was a guy that knew how to handle '80's type of action in his movies, perhaps also thanks to it that he had worked with many other great directors from that time period, as a writer and producer. And the movie truly benefits from this. It never becomes a big or spectacular action flick but it still really feels like a big action movie, probably because the movie never stands still.

The acting is a bit of a mixed bag but then again what action movie does have impressive and flawless actors and acting in it. It's always nice to see Bill Paxton in a leading role and he actually pulls all of the action stuff quite well as well. I have a bigger problem with the gangsters and villains in this movie. I never have been all that impressed with Ice-T's acting and Ice Cube also isn't always too convincing with his acting. But oh well, guess that in some way their acting and the characters that they play add somewhat to the nostalgia- and cheesy fun value of this movie.

Definitely a good and also entertaining enough movie to watch.

7/10

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Unforgiven (1992) Directed by Clint Eastwood

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 6:01 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 14 May 2009)

Clint Eastwood is of course a true western-legend and with this movie he is paying tribute to the genre, as well as saying goodbye to it. Westerns now days are just not as popular anymore and besides, Eastwood was of course also an aging actor already at the time. This movie got made at the right time and is a great swansong for Eastwood within the genre that made him star. What "The Shootist" was for John Wayne, "Unforgiven" is for Clint Eastwood.

Besides playing the main character, the movie also got directed by Eastwood himself. It was the movie that really launched his directing career and he even won an Oscar for it. He had already directed multiple movies prior to this one and also some quite good ones as well but for some reason he was never really taken serious enough as a director by the main-stream audience.

Eastwood made this movie in the 'old fashioned' way, which no doubt he learned to do from working with Sergio Leone, to which this movie got also dedicated. The movie has all of the usual and right required western ingredients present in it but yet it also manage to give the movie a more of a fresh feeling and look over it.

It's also really due to its approach and concept that this movie works out as a refreshing one. Even though it has lots of the westerns clichés present in it, the movie actually succeeds in it to turn things around. The line between the good and bad guys are being blurred and no one is a true gunslinging hero in this one, who blasts his way through town. It makes the characters of the movie work out outstandingly. The movie chooses to be more realistic but not without staying truthful to its genre. It's a western as well as an anti-western at the same time because it debunks so many of the usual western traditions.

It's not necessarily a spectacular or exciting movie but the movie is being carried by its characters and its perfectly cast actors. Because of this the movie becomes a real compelling one. As expected, Clint Eastwood is really in his element as a reformed, aging, former tough gunslinger. He is being accompanied by actors such as Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. Hackman also won an Oscar for his role in this movie, that is being regarded by some as one of the definitive Hackman roles.

The movie got only shot in 39 days but this doesn't prevent the movie from being a good looking one, with nice cinematography, sets and costumes, which all fits the genre and time period it got set in. It's a truly fine crafted movie, that also features a nice little musical score, partly composed by Eastwood himself as well.

A fine good bye for Eastwood to the genre, to which he owes basically his entire career.

8/10

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Gou yeung yi sang (1992) Directed by Danny Lee & Hin Sing 'Billy' Tang

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:30 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 25 April 2009)

This is one of those typical violence filled Hong Kong movies, that is about a taxi driver on a killing spree and features lots of gore and profanities. It takes you into the mind of the serial killer and shows how he got to his deeds. As an Hong Kong genre movie this one is pretty good and it features some nice storytelling.

The movie isn't being told chronologically, which seems a bit redundant and perhaps even annoying at first but as the movie progresses it becomes obvious that this way and style of storytelling was the best one to pick for this movie. The gore and killings are only being shown in the second halve of the movie, when we've already met the movie its serial killer. He seems like a normal guy but as the movie progresses it becomes more and more obvious what a sick man he actually is beneath the surface. It's of course also thanks due to Simon Yam's acting performance that his character- and therefore also its storytelling works out.

It's a pretty effective and intriguing character study of a seemingly normal person, who is fed up with the society, as he sees it from his cab night in, night out. It's obvious that this movie got somewhat inspired by Scorcese's "Taxi Driver" but don't worry, the movie as a whole is quite different really and more a typical Hong Kong movie than a "Taxi Driver"-wannabe/rip-off.

It of course features lot of typical Hong Kong movie humor and violence and gore, that is a bit over-the-top. Guess some people might find it disturbing and tasteless but those who are able to appreciate a good typical genre movie like this will not be disappointed by the movie.

7/10

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Pet Sematary II (1992) Directed by Mary Lambert

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 1:55 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 20 April 2009)

To be honest I more enjoyed watching this movie than its predecessor. The movie picked a less serious approach of things, which mostly made this an enjoyable one to watch. It was too bad that toward the end the movie becomes a bit too ridicules and its story seems to be completely thrown overboard.

Still can't really understand the hate toward this movie though. If you take this movie for what it is it's simply a good and enjoyable one to watch. It's story might not be anything special but it's simply all good enough for the movie of this sort and it features all of the right required ingredients. It's also a movie done with some more style, which comes back in its more professional visual look.

I found the characters from this movie to be also far more compelling as the ones from the first movie. Perhaps this is also due to the actors playing them. This movie has some more big names in it, such as Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards and Clancy Brown. The characters work out as more entertaining and they are easier to identify with.

It's true that this isn't really an horror movie and that's probably also why this movie is being blasted a lot by many people who were basically expecting another movie exactly like "Pet Sematary". Perhaps this movie is also better viewed as a stand-alone. Sure the movie has some gore and shock but it's mostly being used for its 'entertainment'.

The movie is good and enjoyable for most part and in those parts the movie is in my opinion also definitely better as "Pet Sematary" but as the movie is heading more and more toward its ending it tends to get worse. A real shame, since it takes away quite a lot from the movie and its entertainment value. It turns into a real poor B-flick and I feel that the makers perhaps also had some difficulties at times finding the right balance between its humor and the movie its more serious intended aspects.

Definitely still a good and enjoyable enough movie to watch, if you're willing to give it a shot and simply take it for what it is.

6/10

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