As you are no doubt aware, having found this particular website, in the late ’70s space was the shit. In the wake of Star Wars, numerous projects were green-lit, ranging from Ridley Scott’s franchise-launching Alien to the bottom-of-the-barrel Disney project The Black Hole. Saturn 3 was American-born, British TV supremo Lord Lew Grade’s attempt to cash in on the public’s new-found love of sci-fi. And, on the surface, its got a lot going for it.
Back in the late 80s/early 90s I was not allowed to watch the many horror films that adorned the plastic shelving of my local video store. Some might say that is wise parenting, considering I was only 5 or 6 at the time. But strangely action films were deemed ok to view (such as substandard fare from Cannon Pictures and Guild Video).
Animated by Hideaki Anno, Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01’s plot centers on Koji, an engineering student who accidentally discovers the Madox-01; a heavy mechanised, armoured exoskeleton. This military weapon, successor to the Madox-00, is equipped with a large array of weaponry and was designed to fight against heavy armoured vehicles. Glancing through the conveniently included instruction manual, Koji climbs into the Madox-01 exoskeleton.
Of all the bad films I have had the guilty pleasure (and at times displeasure) to watch, none have be as sentimentally close to me as Steve Wang’s live action take on the Japanese Manga; Guyver. A sequel to 1991’s The Guyver (itself a mediocre Americanized take on the source material), Guyver: Dark Hero was everything its predecessor should have been. Granted many might think this is just Power Rangers with blood and gore, but for its minuscule budget it contains impressive practical effects and brilliantly choreographed wirework.
Let’s get right to it; is this movie the final installment of The Bronx Warriors trilogy that includes 1990: The Bronx Warriors and Escape from the Bronx, or not? The short answer in my opinion is no, it most definitely is not. It bears no resemblance, nor any connection to the previous films that I could detect; though it is supposedly set in New York, I don’t recall any reference to it in the dialogue.
“Larger than Life!”
Wow, if there ever was a less promising tagline for a zombie Twistern, I can’t recall it. Hopefully, whoever came up with it will work on expanding their creative writing skills. BTW, I know that’s a reference to a Backstreet Boys song, but still. How do I know? Well, I didn’t; I looked it up and I’m choosing to take the word of the Interwebz. It’s right 100% of the time, isn’t it?
I can’t even begin to discuss 1989’s The Vineyard without first discussing the undisputed talent of James Hong. With a filmography that has spanned over six decades, it is Hong’s portrayal of the legendary sorcerer Lo Pan in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China (1986) that has become the most iconic. Yet, those of us that have seen Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) will also remember Hong as Hannibal Chew, the genetic (eye) engineer hired by the Tyrell Corporation. That being said, James Hong is truly a force to be reckoned with…
Directed and co-written by Vincenzo Natali, Cube is a Canadian science fiction horror released in 1997. Significant for being the Canadian Film Centre’s (CFC) first feature film, and Natali’s feature length directional debut, Cube has polarised audiences since release due in part to it’s ‘kafkaesque’ setting; a surreal, industrial cube-shaped design.
Cube is one of the greatest, and unfortunately most underrated horror movies from the 1990s.
Let me just preface this article with the acknowledgement that I loved this movie way out of proportion to what it probably deserves. If you’ve seen it or do so in the near future, it’s a tossup as to whether or not you’ll feel the same way about it that I do. You might gag and roll around on the floor foaming at the mouth miming, “My eyes, my eyes!” But seriously, have you seen it yet?
Another movie that’s so good at being bad that it surpasses all expectations, America 3000 is the work of writer-director David Engelbach. You’ll join me if that name doesn’t ring a bell, as this movie was his single directorial credit.
Is Turbo Kid really a B-movie? Can a film be considered that grade if it’s an intentional and very aware homage? Or must it be classified something else? Ah, but it does the homage thing so very, very well…literally to a level that it exceeds the films that inspired it. What’s additionally amazing is that the makers of Turbo Kid are clearly aware of what they’re doing…
“Coming soon to a wasteland near you!” PRESS PLAY ►
In 1981, Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, the ultimate experience in grueling horror, was released onto the unsuspecting public. It became a cult classic, spawned two sequels; Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992), and created a cult icon with the character of Ash, played by the charismatic Bruce Campbell. It was inevitable that this movie was going to be remade…
Produced by Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert, directed by Fede Alvarez and released in 2013.
If you put all comparisons to John Carpenter’s 1978 original slasher aside, Rob Zombie has done an admirable job of trying to demystify the boogeyman. Micheal Myers is not the embodiment of pure evil, but rather a troubled and misguided soul whose self-induced isolation leads him on a killing-spree on Halloween night.
“Inside every one us, there exists a dark side. Most people rise above it, but some are consumed by it. Until there is nothing left, but pure evil.” PRESS PLAY ►
