Reviews (1,056)
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Prom Night (1980)
A solid slasher whose biggest drawback is that it takes a long time for the killer to show up and carry out his bloody rampage. From there onwards, however, it’s worth it! Naturally, I could complain further on about the screenplay – what happened to the character of Leslie Nielsen in the final part of the story? But let’s not be picky; I’ve learned over the years that this kind of slasher should be watched with some reserve, not to become upset about it. In my opinion, Prom Night is quite an undervalued slasher, which was worshipped in the USA mainly due to the participation of Jamie Lee Curtis. As for lightening up the atmosphere with humour, the sequel does slightly better.
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The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Craven’s sadistic view on how a family vacation might go wrong. I cannot imagine how shocking this film must have been at the time of its release. It is still shocking today, for that matter.
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His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009) (TV movie)
An interesting documentary and a must see for all fans of Friday the 13th series, despite the fact that it doesn’t bring much new information over the course of its ninety minutes. Instead, we get to explore the past with a bit of self-promotion and uncritical patting on the back here and there (of course, the executive producer of the documentary is Sean S. Cunningham). Besides, the sequence in which the creators philosophise about Jason Voorhees as if he was a figure of antique tragedy, is laughable. The rest of the film, though, is intentionally funny, from Tom Savini’s guiding commentary or the few hilarious allusions (like Kevin Bacon’s star on the Walk of Fame). On the whole, this is just to be watched the same way as the series itself: by switching the brain off and enjoying the ride.
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Messiah of Evil (1973)
The characters talk and behave in such an absurdly dramatic absence of logic that it must have been intentional. For sure, this strongly contributes to the dreamy atmosphere. As for the audiovisual experience, Messiah of Evil is on top of things (with a combination of very chilling music, colourful execution and peculiar editing). One regret: the plot is quite straightforward and without major surprises. Other than that, thumbs up.
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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
With the help of his rock band, Buckaroo Banzai, an American polymath with Japanese roots – uncovers a secret invasion by aliens from the 8th dimension (each of them being named John and commanded by amusingly overacting John Lithgow), accompanied by synth-generated music. What else could I say? The weirdest thing about this flick is that, if its creators tried to make a comedy, they failed, but if they tried not to make a comedy, they failed, too.
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The Andromeda Strain (1971)
I've read the novel and it's very good and engaging. For the most part, the filmic adaptation is merely a faithful transcript which, unfortunately, doesn’t have much in store for those who have read the original. The non-readers, though, will appreciate the undeniably palpable tension.
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Young Frankenstein (1974)
Perfect scripting, perfect acting, just perfect in every aspect! A rule of thumb: the more you are familiar with the original Frankenstein pictures from Universal, the more you will enjoy this one. Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Mel Brooks… Basically, the dream team for such movies, all of them being comedy geniuses! I could watch Young Frankenstein over and over!
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Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Despite its lack of innovation, still a pretty decent conclusion of Hammer Studios’ Frankenstein series. I enjoyed Peter Cushing’s comeback into the main role and also, I was interested in the madhouse set, where the baron is hiding; this part strongly reminds me of "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" by Edgar Allan Poe. The appearance of the ‘monster from hell’, however, is far removed from the original Frankenstein monsters. Perhaps this was intentional, but I was under the permanent impression I was actually watching a hairy alien from Robot Monster. I can confidently recommend the first two parts of the saga. For the rest, horror fans will decide for themselves – but this one cannot hurt.
What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires (2005)
A half-an-hour-long mockumentary that became the blueprint for the beloved What We Do in the Shadows. Sure, it has a taste of amateurism and the jokes are – by far – not as polished as in the subsequent feature-length piece, but also as a small package, it is effective and quite a lot of fun (Jemaine Clement massively enjoyed playing his role). For the fans of the aforementioned feature film, this is a lovely expansion of mythology, for example if you ever wondered where the vampire clothing goes when disappearing from the mirror reflection.
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The Disaster Artist (2017)
Whatever opinion you may have about Tommy Wiseau’s person – optimistic visionary, tragic dreamer, or just a total failure who managed to attract too much attention – , it doesn’t matter in the slightest way. Here, it is James Franco who is in charge. And obviously, he’s on top of his game. Interestingly, The Disaster Artist completely nails it. Above all, the cast is on point, the roles are performed with authenticity and, what’s more, there’s a delightful cameo every two minutes (the best one coming just after the closing credits, so make sure you watch till the end). Of course, you’d better be familiar with The Room if you want to enjoy the second half of the film fully. During the viewing, I had a feeling the creators had a great time shooting the movie and went out of their way to convey their passion to the audience. And this in itself makes my day.