Topic: Marie's 2012 Horror Movie Thread

[Dragonfire]

Tremors 2: Aftershocks

Tremors 2: Aftershocks They're back! The giant underground creatures that terrorized a desert town in 'Tremors' are now plowing their way through Mexican oil fields, gobbling up everything and everyone around - and only one man can stop them! In the style of its predecessor, this comedy sci-fi creature feature reunites Fred Ward as down-on-his-luck Earl Basset and Michael Gross as gung-ho survivalist Burt Gummer, two desert desperadoes who take on the task of destroying the monsters. Partnered with them is Christopher Gartin, a young guy in need of kicks, cash, and a career change, and Helen Shaver, a sexy and intrepid scientist who's seen it all...until now. Together they devise an ingenious plan for tracking and killing the creatures. 'Tremors 2' is filled with high speed action and plenty of laughs - until the predators wise up.

This one was made 6 years after the first movie.  I'm not sure how much time is supposed to have passed since the end of the first movie.  Despite having plans for getting out of Perfection, Earl is still there and struggling to raise ostriches.  Val has moved on - it seems like with Finn from what is said.  Anyway, Earl is contacted to deal with a graboid problem in some Mexican oil fields.  He isn't interested at first, but changes his mind when he learns how much he'll be paid.  He sets off with Grady, a younger guy who is a fan of Earl and Val.  It isn't long before Earl decides to call in the big guns and Burt arrives, loaded down with enough ammo and weapons to fight a war.  Things are going ok for them, and then the graboids change in an unexpected way, causing Earl and Burt to have to figure out how to deal with a different sort of foe.  The plot for this one isn't that complicated, but I think it works for the movie.  There is a connection back to the first movie, and explanations are given for why Val, Finn, and Heather aren't around.  I really didn't expect the graboids changing like they did and that did add something new to the movie.  There is a decent amount of action and violence, usually tied to the creatures getting blown up. 

This one is a bit more cheesy than the first one, but it is still fun and entertaining.  People that liked the first movie may find something to like about this one.



I did post a longer review on Epinions a few years ago.

Tremors 2: Aftershocks

[Dragonfire]

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection

Tremors 3: Back To Perfection Those  morphing, man-eating monsters are shaking things up again in the dusty little town of Perfection, Nevada - and durvivalist Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) is the only soution to the latest evolution! Aided by a couple of young entrepreneurs (Shawn Christian and Susan Chang), Burt pits his impressive knowledge of weaponry against the newest and dealiest generation of Graboids. If Burt and his new partners can't find a way to stop them, then the creatures that put Perfection on the map will wipe it right off the face of the earth. 'Tremors 3' promises earth-shaking, explosive, edge-of-your-seat entertainment!

Burt is back with his arsenal and he's shown fighting shriekers in another country before returning home to Perfection.  While he was gone, Jack has shown up and set up a tour connected to the graboids even though there hasn't been one of them around there in years.  Burt talks about being prepared for another attack, but no one listens to him and they are all shocked when graboids turn up again.  Jack pushes his way into helping Burt deal with the situation.  Jody, who is running the store now, uses the graboids every way she can to try to boost her business.  Burt believes he is prepared for anything, and then the creatures change again.  Some of what happens seems to be a rehash of things from the first movie - characters being stranded over night on boulders by a graboid - but the movie still manages to be entertaining.  It is silly at times, which may turn off some viewers.  Some of the acting, especially by Jack, is a little over the top.  

The movie does have some issues, but I think it still manages to be entertaining and I think it is worth watching.  



I did get a longer review posted on Epinions a few years ago.

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection

[Dragonfire]

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins Get ready to be shaken to your core by the all-new prequel to the original 'Tremors'! When workers in the remote mining town of Rejection, Nevada, fall victim to an unseen predator, the mine's owner, Hiram Gummer [Michael Gross], great-grandfather to 'Tremors'' Burt Gummer, hires a mercenary to destroy the carnivorous creatures before they swallow up his profits. What follows is an all-out assault that takes the battleground from deep in the earth to a suspense-filled showdown on the streets of Rejection! 'Tremors 4: The Legend Begins' will thrill you with incredible action sequences, awesome bonus features and earthshaking special effects created by the award-winning team behind the original box-office hit, 'Tremors'.

This one is a prequel, showing the graboids terrorizing a small town in the late 1800s.  Changing the setting does add something different, especially since they will be more limited at that point in how they can fight the creatures.  The plot is fairly straightforward again, but it is entertaining.  I think it is interesting to see Hiram and how completely different he is from Burt.  There is some violence to the movie, but it is more toned down than what has been in previous movies. 

There is some comedy to the movie again, and some things may seem too silly or cheesy for some viewers.  I did enjoy the movie and think it is worth checking out for people who liked the first movies in the series.



I did get a longer review posted on Epinions a few years ago.

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins

[Dragonfire]

The Munster's - The Complete First Season

The Munsters: The Complete First Season Get ready to be entertained by America's first family of fright. In this timeless, one-of-a-kind comedy series, the unforgettable family of The Munsters casts a hilarious spell that will keep you laughing through every new episode. This complete first season includes the never-before-seen pilot episode.

I've enjoyed this show for years, so I picked up the complete series when I found it on sale earlier this year.  The episodes are funny and entertaining.  A lot of what happens is a bit silly in some way, but that doesn't bother me.  I think the silliness works for the show and the characters.  I like that the show gives a humorous twist to monsters.  I really like Herman.  He means so well and is such a nice guy, but he usually ends up messing something up.  Some of those things happen because people see Herman and freak out..other times Herman just goofs in some way.  The episodes stand alone fairly well, though a few things, like Marilyn's issues with men, do carry through multiple episodes.  Grandpa manages to come up with plans that don't work out too.  The family isn't dysfunctional..they are just different.  I still really enjoy the episodes and am glad that I picked it up.  This is a fun show that has held up well and still deserves to be seen.



I did post a longer review at Epinions.

The Munster's - The Complete First Season

[Dragonfire]

Transylvania 6-5000

Transylvania 6-5000 Tabloid reporters Jack Harrison (Jeff Goldblum) and Gil Turner (Ed Begley, Jr.) are sent to Transylvania with two choices: find the Frankenstein monster or find new jobs. But before the jumpy journalists can dig up their big story, they must first face the horrors of an extremely clumsy butler (Michael Richards), a nymphomaniac vampire (Geena Davis) and semi-mad doctor (Joseph Bologna), as well as assorted mummies, werewolves and more Transylvanian oddballs. Can these two bumbling heroes unravel this monstrous mystery or are they in for some very scary surprises?

This one is a bit silly and even odd, but I think it is fun and entertaining.  Some of the classic movie monsters show up here, though they are very different from how they have been portrayed before.  The different versions of the characters can be kind of odd or silly, but they help to make the movie funny.  Most of the characters are a bit..umm....loony in some way, something else I think helps to make the movie entertaining.  The plot is entertaining, though not exactly that strong.  Things that happen are predictable and that could bother some viewers.  This isn't a movie that everyone will like.



I did post a longer review on Epinions a few years ago if anyone would like to take a look.  I think I may have posted about it here before too.

Transylvania 6-5000

[Dragonfire]

Black Dragons

Black Dragons Nazis send plastic surgeon Dr. Melcher (Bela Lugosi) to Tokyo where he transforms Japanese spies into identical copies of prominent American businessmen. In order to keep their secret safe, the Black Dragons, an organization of fanatic murderers, imprison the doctor and plan his execution. The Japanese "duplicates" begin to commit acts of sabotage and destruction. The plan seems foolproof until the impostors begin to turn up dead on the steps of the Japanese Embassy. Secret agent Dick Martin (Clayton Moore) is brought in to investigate. He uncovers a trail of horror discovering that Dr. Melcher has been kidnapping, killing and even turning his victims into deformed monsters. "Black Dragons" is the third film in the infamous 1940's Bela Lugosi "Monogram 9." Clayton Moore, seen here in one of his early roles, went on to great acclaim as the star of the western TV series "The Lone Ranger."

This one is part of the 50 movie set I got a few years ago.  I think Pete has the same set..and maybe Jimmy. 
The plot is kind of interesting, but I really isn't what I think of as horror.  Kind of a thriller.  It was hard for me to stay interested in the movie and I'm sure I missed stuff.  It seemed ok, but nothing great. 
The picture and sound quality isn't that good...which isn't surprising because of the movie being part of a 50 movie set.

This isn't one of my favorites..I don't see myself watching it again anytime soon.

[Dragonfire]

Invisible Ghost

Invisible Ghost In the first of the notorious "Monogram 9," Bela Lugosi stars as a doctor driven to murder by the ghost of his faithless wife. When the "phantom" appears, it pushes Dr. Kessler into a maniacal rage that can only be quenched with violence. As the corpses pile up, the doctor begins a hunt for the culprit, unaware that he has committed the murders himself while in a hypnotic trance. A villainous twist exposes the truth about the ghost, the killings and the insanity. Director Joseph H. Lewis sets a dark and foreboding mood for this Jekyll and Hyde tale. Ripe with unexpected shots and dynamic lighting, the Invisible Ghost is the most visually striking of Lugosi's Monogram features.

This is another movie from the 50 movie set.  I do think it is more of a horror movie than the last one.  The title doesn't fit the movie at all..no one is invisible and there isn't a ghost.  It does take a little while for it to come out exactly what is going on with the wife..but she is not a ghost.  There is some suspense to what is going on, though it isn't difficult to figure out what is going on.  The movie is ok, but nothing that great.  The picture quality isn't too bad, though there were a few sound issues.  This one is ok, but again, it isn't a favorite and I'm not sure when I'd watch it again.

[Jimmy]

I think Pete has the same set..and maybe Jimmy.

Pete have it not me, I'm not a big fan of the films of that era.

BTW your images are huge today

[Dragonfire]

Elvira Mistress of the Dark

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark When her Great Aunt dies, famed horror hostess Elvira® heads for the uptight New England town of Falwell to claim her inheritance of a haunted house, a witch's cookbook and a punk rock poodle. But once the stuffy locals get an eyeful of the scream queen's ample assets, all hell busts out and breaks loose. Can The Madonna Of The Macabre find love with a studly cinema owner, avoid her creepy Great Uncle, titillate the town's teens and become a Las Vegas dance sensation all without being burned alive at the stake? Cassandra Peterson stars in this sexy comedy hit, filled with wild wisecracks, campy chaos and scary movie spoofs, all poured into the lowest-cut black gown in horror movie history!

This one is silly, but it is fun and entertaining.  It isn't going to appeal to everyone. It is very campy and Elvira is over the top, but that goes along with the character.  The plot isn't that strong and a lot of what happens is predictable, which might bother some viewers.  The movie isn't going to appeal to a lot of people.  It is just a fun, silly type of Halloween movie.  



I did post a review on Epinions a few years ago if anyone wants to take a look.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

[Dragonfire]

I think Pete has the same set..and maybe Jimmy.

Pete have it not me, I'm not a big fan of the films of that era.

Ok...I know you picked up at least one of those movie sets, though I couldn't remember for sure which one.

[Jimmy]

Ok...I know you picked up at least one of those movie sets, though I couldn't remember for sure which one.

I have only three of those sets. Too much works to profile them for the quality

This one have some good film, but the quality is all over the place and it feels like a return to the VHS days,


Those two are full of awfull recent movies loaded with bad CGI and bad "acting"

[Dragonfire]

I think I looked at the Chilling Classics one before. 

I still haven't watched many from the set I have..a few haven't been too bad, but nothing to great so far.  I know what you mean about the quality...in one - that I haven't posted anything about here yet, but I will, the picture is so dark at times I had no clue what was going on.  I made child profiles for each movie just because I like to have a separate one for each movie, but I also downloaded other profiles for just about all the movies, and copied the covers and stuff.  I didn't want all 50 of the movies to have the same cover.  I've done that for other multiple movie sets that just have 2 or 3 movies too.  Just doing it that way takes me a while..I know it would take way longer to do it the way you do.



That has a different cover than the one I have..mine has some freaky looking guy..maybe from Phantom of the Opera.

[Jimmy]

I made child profiles for each movie just because I like to have a separate one for each movie, but I also downloaded other profiles for just about all the movies, and copied the covers and stuff.

As you I make one profile by movie, but I create all them from scratch as I don't want to mess my own database with the online DVDP database, I don't say mine is better or worse but at least all the names in mine are linked forever and won't change in two days because an actress got married.

So it's a lot of work (usually I complete a set like that in four days if I count the time to search the theatrical poster for the cover) and, since I'm lazy, I try to evit them as they look bad most of the time.

[Dragonfire]

I've started locking more stuff with mine..though I have forgotten a few times. 
But I'm doing better.  And I found in one of my profiles that had Lon Chaney in slightly different, so it wasn't linking right...I managed to fix it how I wanted it without having to redo all the cast.

[Dragonfire]

Mimic GUILLERMO DEL TORO (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) presents MIMIC like you've never seen it before in a visually stunning Director's Cut. Starring Academy Award® winner** Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite), Charles S. Dutton (A Time to Kill) and Josh Brolin (True Grit), MIMIC brings the epic battle between man and nature to life when a team of scientists discover that their experiment in genetic engineering has gone horrible awry. Recut and presented with in-depth special features that take you inside the film, MIMIC: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT restores Guillermo del Toro's vision for this chilling modern cult classic. **1995, Actress in a Supporting Role, Mighty Aphrodite.

I first saw this on television several years ago.  I enjoyed it enough to pick up the Blu-ray when I found it for about $7 earlier this year.  I like that the movie takes the time to set up a reason for why bugs are genetically engineered.  Susan is trying to prevent the spread of an illness that is killing children, so it isn't like she is some crazed mad scientist hoping to take over the world with an army of people eating giant bugs under her control.  Even though she creates the new bug - the Judas Breed - she does have some doubts about what she did and what the longer term implications for what she did will be.  Three years later, she is the first one to figure out what is going on and that somehow, the Judas Breed has survived and further mutated until it is the size of a human and can even pass as human in certain light.  The plot is interesting, though I do think there some issues with it.  That is probably because of how one of the Weinstein brothers kept butting in and insisting on certain things regardless of it they fit the script or not.  A couple of things are introduced and then not much is done with those story lines.  None of the characters are developed enough, though a few do receive a little more attention.  The movie has a very creepy atmosphere that works well.  The lighting in many scenes is darker, and that adds to the creepy feeling. 

The Blu-ray I have has the director's cut that is a little bit longer - I think it is 6 minutes longer.  I honestly can't remember what is new.  There are some featurettes that have del Toro talking about the making of the movie.  He does talk about some of the..issues he had to deal with during the filming.  The look of the bugs is also discussed.  The extras are interesting.

Overall, I enjoy the movie and think it works as a creepy thriller.  It isn't going to appeal to everyone.



I did post a longer review at Epinions if anyone would like to take a look.

Mimic