Thrill Ride YIFY
John Carpenter's 1978 'Halloween' is wholly deserving of its status as a horror classic. To this day it's still one of the freakiest films personally seen and introduced the world to one of horror's most iconic villainous characters Michael Myers.Which is why it is such a shame that not only are all of the sequels nowhere near as good but that the decline in quality is so drastic. Ok, the original 'Halloween' is very difficult to follow on from, but most of the sequels could at least looked like effort was made into them. To me, and many others it seems, 'Halloween 5' is one of the worst of the series. Even with its attempt at a grittier tone, it is far from a thrill ride and there is very little scary about it, other than one scene and how poor quality the film is.Danielle Harris and Don Shanks give strong performances, as does Ellie Cornell in the limited screen time she has. Donald Pleasance does his best and succeeds in creating an unnerving presence, but his character is now too much of a caricature which is at the writers' door not his. There is one effective scene, that with the laundry chute which is actually pretty freaky. The setting has a haunting eeriness when it is not hindered by the low-budget-looking rushed-looking filming.Sadly, most of the time it is with the editing being especially amateurish. The direction is also sloppy, especially in the dramatically inept non-horror scenes. The music is here a drawback when it was one of the better elements of the three previous sequels. Here it sounds cheap, goofy and would have sounded out of date even in the 80s most likely.'Halloween 5' is also seriously lacking in atmosphere and the darkness and grittiness doesn't come through enough because too much of the film is dull and descends into overly-silly camp. Again, 'Halloween 5' feels more of the same, the chilling scares, nail-biting suspense and the feeling of being unsettled. There is nothing creative or shocking about the scares or deaths, it's all by-the-numbers, over-familiar and indifferent. Everything is just too predictable and dull in pace to be remotely suspenseful. Stupidity is also all over the film. So many moments are intelligence-insultingly ridiculous and almost illogical. The characters mostly are very bland and annoying, especially Tina. High quality of acting and dialogue is never to be expected in a 'Halloween' film, but both are especially bad here. The script is so last-minute sounding and not even half-baked and outside of the aforementioned the acting is terrible.In summary, one of the worst of the series. Scary and thrilling are the two last words to describe this revenge. 3/10 Bethany Cox
Thrill Ride YIFY
A huge disappointment, especially considering the excellent trailer which advertised this movie (turns out the trailer just about gave everything away!). I was expecting a tight, suspenseful chase flick with plenty of violence and bloodshed. What did I get? An edgy, middle-of-the-road, "teen" thriller complete with dumb humour, dumber situations, totally implausible scenarios (just what was up with that dumb-as-nails ending?) and many, many scenes ripped of from previous, better fare like DUEL, THE HITCHER, and BREAKDOWN.The main problem this film has is that its geared too firmly towards the "teen" market, so the plot is dumbed down, the situations overplayed and unrealistic, the humour out of place and irritating. The young characters are bland and one-dimensional, so that action man Paul Walker doesn't have a chance to make his lead anything other than a crashing bore. Steve Zahn fares a little better, injecting some life and spirit into his role as the mischievous brother, but Leelee Sobieski is generally appalling. The best actor? Ted Levine, playing the voice of trucker "Rusty Nail".Not much of this film is surprising, just contrived. Director John Dahl aims for suspense but is hindered by plot cliché after cliché, most of them liable to make you either groan or laugh. There are a couple of novel situations along the way, but not enough, and come the routine climax I could barely be bothered to continue watching. What's the point of spending money on a new movie when the end result is just a concoction of the 'best bits' of previous films, warmed up and lacking originality, depth or excitement? None, which is why I fail to rate ROADKILL as a worthwhile watch.
I stumbled upon this movie on cable and was totally hooked. The story of a group of surfers who ride the big waves, waves that are monstrously huge, waves that would make any rational person run away in terror is a one that manages to be spectacular and make you understand why people spend their lives chasing waves. There is nothing special about the film, other than it brings together some very interesting people who are are in love with what they do and lets them talk. Sure there are scenes of them surfing, but what makes this movie so special is the people. Here are a bunch of guys who are so enthusiastic about what they do that it crosses over to the people watching. Half way into this movie you'll want to go off and learn to surf as well. Few documentaries have ever managed to covey the passion that these people have and its the films ability to make us feel it that makes this a great film. See it.
Note this is not a war movie. Instead it is a survival story set during a war. Viewed in that sense, it is an incredible action-packed drama. The photography is insanely good, with some fantastic aerial shots. Hail to director John Moore for having such a clear vision of what he wanted the end product to look like. This was so incredible, it is hard to believe it was his directorial debut feature.Owen Wilson does a styling job here, so much so that I can't understand why he does comedy more often than drama. He just does drama so well. The film has amazing visuals, fast paced action, great acting, great music, great effects, great suspense - what else could one ask for to be entertained? This was a thrill-ride from beginning to end, with never a dull moment. It just got better and better as it progressed - and what an ending!
Well despite what others thought I really enjoyed this. I hadn't seen it in ages and had a great time watching it again, a thrill ride with solid characters, excellent special effects, and some cool looking camera work. Just as an FYI this is a great movie to watch on the treadmill as it's essentially just one long chase sequence set to some decent music.It does get a bit rah-rah-ridiculous during the final climax, flag waving and just OTT bordering on silly but whatever I was still entertained.This never slowed down, sure you can question the believability of events but I just enjoyed the ride, as our hero runs through exploding minefields, slides down the side of a dam, and hides in a pile of dead bodies with the enemy just inches away from him. There's a scene in a defunct factory/minefield where one of the bad guys suffers the shock waves of a (grenade) blast in slow motion, I've never seen anything like it, well done. The fighter jet scenes while being targeted by a missile reminded me of 'Top Gun', but were still exciting.The story follows Owen Wilson as a navy pilot who is shot down over enemy territory and then struggles to get to his extraction point while surviving the relentless pursuit of a deadly tracker/sniper and countless hostile troops. With his rescue mission is delayed by politics, commanding officer (Gene Hackman) goes against orders to bring him home.I liked seeing Owen Wilson in this downplayed action role, he did a great job as did Hackman, but he's playing a familiar character. Vladimir Mashkov is chilling as the Serbian sniper dude too. 2/23/16
I love movies that have you trying to wrack your brain who the killer is. This was one of those in my opinion. Low budget but the actors did what they could with it. Definitely a solid little thriller to kill some time with.
I stumbled upon this on ION TV and all I can say is wow. There may only be a trace of danger, but there is a boatload of electrifying action to be had. I had to look this up because it seemed like a new release and I hadn't seen any trailers or seen it in theaters. Wasn't sure how this one slipped by since I'm always combing the movie listings for the latest action flicks. Well this was a roller-coaster ride from opening to closing credits. I'm not gonna spoil it for anybody, all I can say is you need to watch for youselfs. One bizarre twist after another interlaced with high-flying stunts, stunning courtroom drama, and riveting, spine-tingling suspense make this a "must-have" for any real action fan's DVD collection. Might as well keep it on top since you'll be watching it over and over again to pick up all the subtle nuances you missed in previous viewings. I would really like to see the star with her shirt off, but being that it's on TV, I prolly won't get to. :( Anyways, she's dressed scantily enough that little is left to the imagination. I gotta good enough picture of her naked in my head to "work with", if you know what I'm sayin' :) Alright, I gotta get back to the movie, the commercial's over, but def check this out, you can thank me later.
Like a lot of Joe Dante's output, THE 'BURBS is a film that's impossible to dislike. Yes, it may be cheesy, it may be obvious, and some of the characters in it may be more than a little irritating, but for the most part this is a fun-filled thrill ride tinged with Halloween chills and a healthy dose of paranoia.Of course, the real joke is the supposedly ordinary neighbours who spend the movie spying on the newcomers inhabiting a ramshackle old house are far more bizarre than the would-be villains of the piece. Tom Hanks is the everyday Joe who's taken a week off work and becomes increasingly unhinged as the film progresses; Carrie Fisher is his ever-exasperated wife. Rick Ducommun, who bags one great gag-scene in which he threatens to eat his neighbours out of house and home, is the loudmouth conspiracy nut. Bruce Dern in a particularly inventive piece of casting is an ex-army loon with a fine line in gadgets, and Corey Feldman, who has grown up a lot since THE LOST BOYS, is good fun as a teenage slacker.The creative casting alone is reason to keep watching, but Joe Dante brings a lot of life to Dana Olsen's script. Dante has a natural love of cinema in all its forms which makes even his clichés seem like a lot of fun. The ghoulish antics surrounding the creepy old house are often hilarious, like the scene involving the femur and the neighbourly house call. Henry Gibson steals his scenes as the sinister doctor and watch out for Dick Miller in a particularly engaging cameo. The climax is completely spectacular and ends the film on a real high, paying off on all the kooky tension that's come before it. 041b061a72