kscaduncan Reviews

Beyond Re-Animator (2003)

A Most Welcome Return

[6/10 · 1 January 2004]

It's been well over a decade since we last saw Herbert West and now he's finally back. It seems his past has finally caught up with him as he is now currently serving a jail sentence for the gory mayhem his re-animated corpses have caused. The arrival of a new young doctor, who wants to help West, results in West being back in business. The best thing about this film is Jeffrey Combs. He slips back into the role of Herbert West effortlessly. The gore effects courtesy of Screaming Mad George are also a highlight. While not as good as the original, it's about even with Bride Of Re-Animator. I hope there'll be further instalments.

Oh and continue watching during the end credits.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

The showdown is finally here!

[8/10 · 15 August 2003]

After years of development, Freddy Vs Jason is finally here. A pretty cool film overall. Plenty of gore, nudity and stupid teens. The way it should be. I'm not giving away who wins but you may have already guessed the outcome. There are some nice little nods to earlier instalments of both franchises. This film is really for the fans. Let's hope we see another FVJ with Evil Dead's Ash. Or Michael Myers. Or Leatherface. Or Pinhead. Hell, have all of them and do the ultimate tournament!

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Just as good as the first two.

[8/10 · 3 August 2002]

I loved both International Man Of Mystery and The Spy Who Shagged Me so I was looking forward to this. I was not disappointed. Michael Caine was superb as Nigel Powers. An excellent piece of casting. Mike Myers is also great as Austin, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and new character Goldmember. Verne Troyer is also wonderful. The best parts of the film are the cameos at the beginning and towards the end of the film. I won't mention the stars featured but it's worth waiting for. As much as I would like to see more Austin Powers, I think now's the time to stop. Everything has been wrapped up and there isn't really any other direction the franchise can go to.

To the makers of the film: Quit while you're ahead. Don't let the saga drag on and on. Look at the Friday The 13th or Halloween franchises!

Overall, a great comedy film which is well worth watching.

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

A good tribute to an influential series

[7/10 · 25 July 2002]

I'm not really a fan of anthologies but I did enjoy this film. The best segments are the prologue and the final two segments. Segment 3, which is based on the Twilight Zone episode 'It's A Good Life', is probably my favourite. It's about a teacher who meets a young boy who has telepathic powers and uses them to terrorise the people that hate him. The segment is directed by Joe Dante and is done in the crazy, cartoon style he is renowned for. The special effects are also very good such as when the boy conjures up several nightmarish cartoon characters including a great looking monster bunny rabbit. The final segment, which is based on the episode 'Terror At 20,000 feet' is also very good. It features an extremely nervous airline passenger ( superbly played by John Lithgow )who keeps seeing a monster on the wing destroying the airplane's engines. The other segments are okay. Overall, this a film that is well worth your time.

Demon Seed (1977)

An interesting sc-fi film.

[7/10 · 25 July 2002]

Demon Seed is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dean R. Koontz. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw this film. Needless to say, I was impressed. Whilst the idea of a megalomaniacal computer is not new, it is used to great effect. Proteus IV is a computer that actually questions the tasks it has been made to do and what the relevance of those tasks are. It also seems to have emotion and is heard several times to other characters in the film that he does not wish to hurt them when they are not co-operating with his demands. Although aspects of this film are now dated ( particularly the computer equipment ),Proteus IV's interesting philosophy, Julie Christie and Fritz Weaver's performances and the unexpected creepy ending make this film worth watching.

Bottom (1991–1995)

Classic!

[5 April 2002]

Bottom is one of my favourite comedy shows. The show is about Richie and Eddie who are two disgusting, sexist slobs who live in a council flat in Hammersmith, West London. Their lives consist of stupid get-rich-quick schemes, beating the crap out of each other and trying to chat up women ( which they fail miserably ). Richie seems to think he is some sort of intellectual. While its true he is not as stupid as Eddie, he's no genius. He's also a pervert and spends his time 'studying' certain works of art in his art books when he's alone. Eddie is an alcoholic and gets very drunk in some of the episodes. If there's no booze, he finds alternatives such as Old Spice and Bleach.

My favourite episode has to be Digger which was the first episode of Series Two. It is has to be one of the funniest episodes of Bottom ever. The episode is about Richie and Eddie visiting a love bureau to find the girl of their dreams. Richie is offered a Moldavian aristocrat called Natasha ( whose name is extremly long ) while Eddie is offered Sarah Ferguson ( at the time of the episode's broadcast, she had spilt from Prince Andrew ). Eddie declines. The rest of the episode shows the duo trying to look wealthy and Eddie acts as the butler, Jives. Richie also appears to be finally getting a chance to fulfil a life-long dream: to have sex. Or does he...? The result is done in true Bottom style and I don't wish to spoil it here.

Another great episode is Burglary especially the first half where Eddie arrives home extremly drunk and attempts to offer a reasonable explanation of why he's been missing for the past few hours. Series 2 is probably my favourite series of Bottom. Other good episodes from this series are Culture ( which has a great fight scene with Richie and Eddie at the end ), Holy and S'Out. From the other seasons, Gas and S'Up are the best from Series 1 and Hole,Terror, Break and Carnival from Series 3.

Let's hope we see more from Richie and Eddie in the future.

All About Me (2002–2004)

They are copying our life! Or are they...?

[22 March 2002]

Hi

I have been watching this programme from the first episode. I am grateful to the writer for including within the family unit a person who has a disability. In doing so you are raising awareness of disability issues in a way that is inclusive and portrays,with humour, the `normalness' of family life. Respect!

However, As this particular sit com developes, I am becoming very interested in the writer for one reason. The characters portrayed are beginning to eclipse my own family, with the exception that we are not a divorced couple with children and neither are we of different cultural backgrounds. The uncanny similarities lay primarily with the disabilities portrayed.

Our eldest son had a rare metabolic illness which meant he had no co-ordinated movement or speech but was intellegent and communicated, like Rhaj through facial expression. My youngest son has, yes, you have guessed it, Aspergers Autism. I watched this evenings episode and the script unveiled explaining to my `Builder' husband that I suspected that the youngest boy had autism. At that point my daughter rang me to ask if I was watching the programme and if I had been instrumental in providing the plot. As she is a script writer she was mortified to think I had given away a potential story line which she could have used.

So my question to the writer is this. Out of pure curiosity who did you base the script on and what research did you undertake?. Is this co-incidence or it there some divine explanation for the similarities. Scaaaarrrrry or what!

P.s Has Ruvinda got a job and if so what?. (hopefully she hasn't or if she has, is it the same occupation as mine!)pass me the garlic please!

Regards

Sandra Duncan

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Absoluetly Fantastic!!!

[18 February 2002]

When I saw Lord of the Rings, it was the first time I had been to the cinema since November 2000 when I saw Little Nicky. Although I enjoyed it and thought it didn't deserve the treatment it had received, it does not even compare to this wonderful epic! I haven't read the book so I don't know how different it is from that.

There is no point of me explaining the plot so I'll just say how good it is. I've noticed this film is even similiar to Star Wars! Gandalf's demise and extreme emotion from Frodo echoes Obi-Wan's demise and Luke's unhappiness from Star Wars. Also, both Alec Guiness and Ian McKellen have received oscar nominations. LOTR has received 13 nominations. I hope it wins them all.

The only negative point is the ending. Although I know it is a long saga split into 3 films, I was hoping for a better ending. I'm not saying the ending was bad or anything but it was a bit of a dull way to end it. Throughout it's 3 hour length, the film has enough endings for 6 films!!

If you have not seen this film, then I advise to see it at once! This is one of the best films I've seen in a long time and is a promising start to what looks like being one of the best movie trilogys of all time.

The Making of 'Terminator' (1984 TV Movie)

Interesting featurette

[8/10 · 16 April 2001]

This is a quite interesting behind-the-scenes look of one of the best sci-fi films of all time. We get some nice interviews with the cast and crew and some good behind-the-scenes footage. Particulary interesting is a segment which shows the filming of the scene where Sarah and Kyle are chased by the Terminator down an alleyway and Arnie's subsequent attack.

It reveals that the scene took two nights to film and also shows how they achieved the effect where the Terminator smashes his arm through the wind screen to try and get at Sarah. Overall, a good documentary which shows what film making is like. It's a bit of a shame that it was not included on the recent Region 2 release of the film but with the amount of extras and the excellent hour long documentary ' Other Voices', this is not such a great loss.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Enjoyable Horror

[16 April 2001]

This was the sequel to Clive Barker's Hellraiser and it is a worthy successor to the first film. After a brief replay of the ending of the first film and a flashback scene showing the creation of Pinhead, we see Kirsty as a patient in a mental home. Apparently, no-one believes her story about demons from hell. However, it appears her psychiatrist, Dr. Channard, appears to take interest in her. It turns out that he is obsessed with the puzzle box and after resurrecting Julia, he provides her with fresh bodies. When she is whole, Dr. Channard gives the puzzle box to a mysterious young girl called Tiffany who has a strange obsession with solving puzzles. She solves the puzzle box and Pinhead and co appear.

However, they don't want Tiffany. Instead they want Dr. Channard. Tiffany meets Kirsty and the two girls go to look for Kirsty's father. After a run-in with Julia and Frank, they decide to leave Hell. Meanwhile, Julia has actually tricked Channard and he is put into a cenobite creation machine. He emerges as a powerful being who wishes to not only rule Hell but also the world. Kirsty and Tiffany have to find a way to stop him even if it means going back to Hell.

The cast are pretty good and the plot is also interesting. We also find out more about the Cenobites and the fact that they were all once human. This later developed in later sequels especially in the case of Pinhead. Channard makes a pretty good cenobite and gets some good lines. Visually, the journey through Hell is kind of cool. If you love gore, you will love this film. There is a nasty scene where one of the mental patients uses a razor to get maggots off his arm. There is also people with no skin, hooks digging into flesh, cheese wire wrapped round faces, injections of needles, throat slashings and more gory delights.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable film with some nice ideas and excellent make up effects. However, if you are squeamish or don't like the sight of blood, then this a film you should avoid. If it doesn't scare you, it will make you launch your lunch.

Hellraiser (1987)

We will tear your soul apart!

[8/10 · 16 April 2001]

This is considered by many to be Clive Barker's best film and it is not hard to see why. Frank Cotton has acquired a chinese puzzle box which offers the gateway to either Heaven or Hell. Unfortunately, Frank chooses Hell and he is torn apart by hooks. After a mysterious figure picks up Frank's remains and re-sets the puzzle box, we see Frank's brother, Larry, move in with his wife, Julia, and his daughter, Kirsty. When Larry injures himself and spills blood on the floor, Frank comes back to life in skeletal form. He confronts Julia ,who he once had an affair with, and asks her to supply him with bodies to feed from so he can be whole again. Julia agrees and brings home several victims and kills them with a quick blow to the head with a hammer.

Kirsty meets Frank and runs off with the puzzle box. She then opens it and it unleashes 4 evil demons called the Cenobites. They are about to take her to hell when Kirsty says that she knows where Frank is and is willing to lead them to him if they leave her alone in return. They agree to this and Kirsty goes back home to warn her father. But Larry isn't the man he used to be. I'm not going to reveal anything else so if you want to know what happens, go see this film. The cast do well with their roles but in particular, Andrew Robinson as Larry and Doug Bradley as the lead Cenobite who is also known as Pinhead.

The Cenobites themselves are perhaps the most sadistic and evil characters in the history of film as they thrive on pain and discomfort. The film is also quite gory especially when people are torn apart by hooks. Some of the special effects do look a little dated nowadays but the film is still good. Overall, this is a film worth checking out as is the sequel which I have also reviewed on the site.

Alien 3 (1992)

Not a disappointment!

[26 February 2001]

I feel it is a shame that Alien 3 is so underrated. It is nowhere near as bad as people say it is. While it certainly isn't better then the first two, it is a very good sequel. David Fincher ( who would later direct Seven and Fight Club ) was not afraid to make his own unique contribution to the Alien saga and there is more material that exists that was cut out of the film. If the film was issued as a director's cut, then I think people would like it more. The concepts of a prison planet which has a handful of remaining prisoners who have turned to religion to pass the time and that there are no heavy weapons on the planet are very interesting. The Alien effects are very good when done by traditional methods but CGI is not a godsend! These scenes look terrible as it is easy to see that it is just a Computer Image. However, the cast give excellent performances especially Ms. Weaver as Ripley and the prison planet looks stunning. It's very impressive for a 9 year old film but the CGI is absolute crap! Overall, it is a film worth seeing and is not a mess like everyone says it is.

Aliens (1986)

One of the best Sci-Fi sequels ever!

[25 February 2001]

I bought a copy of this on DVD recently as I had wanted to see it for some time and I thought that this was the best way to. My purchase was not a waste of money. Some people say sequels are nowhere near as good as the original and they are right. The Alien saga does not fit in this category although I have yet to see Alien 3 and I have seen the 4th but not all of it and I thought that was okay. Aliens is one of the best sequels I have ever seen. It may be longer than the first ( my version is the Special Edition which lasts 148 minutes ) but it is just as good if not better. Ripley wakes up after 57 years of hypersleep and finds that the planet where she found the alien has now been colonised. But they have lost contact with the colonists and Ripley goes along with a bunch of marines to see what has happened. All they find is a little girl and a whole load of Aliens! While the first had only one alien and was rarely seen in full, this one is an alien overload! No matter how many bullets are used, they just keep on coming. And later, we are introduced to the Alien Queen who has a fight with a power-suited Ripley at the climax. This film is now 15 years old but like the first it has not dated. The Alien effects are so cool especially the Queen. Just goes to show that you don't always need CGI effects! Although this is more of an action film, there is quite a bit of gore and there are also some tense moments. The acting is on par with the first and James Cameron does a great job in continuing the saga. And of course there is the great score by James Horner. Overall, a classic sequel to a classic film.

Alien (1979)

A True classic.

[25 February 2001]

After seeing James Cameron's Aliens, I decided to check out Alien. So I rented the DVD from my local Blockbuster. I must say that I was not disappointed. Even though the film is 21 years old, it is still as great and fresh as it was back in 1979. Watching the DVD, it makes it look so fresh that it could have only been released last week! Nearly everyone knows what this is about so I won't say anything. What I will say is that it is a well made, suspense filled and occasionly gory film. The effects are great ( especially the alien ) and are not dated in any way. The small cast are excellent and the set design is wonderful. If you get the DVD version, there are about a dozen scenes not included in the original such as a full view of the Alien in one attack shot and a much talked about scene which would have made the ending to James Cameron's Aliens impossible.Overall, an excellent example of Science Fiction that is well worth seeing.

History of the World: Part I (1981)

Mel Brooks at his best!

[11 February 2001]

This the funniest of all the Brooks movies. The funniest part has got to be the Roman Empire sequence. Although there is material that may offend, it's very funny. Check out the end sequence featuring footage from History Of The World Part 2 ( which wasn't made by the way ) including Hitler On Ice and Jews In Space. A classic movie that must be seen by any Brooks fan and comedy fans everywhere!

Big Top Pee-wee (1988)

Good Old Pee-Wee

[8 February 2001]

I finally managed to find a copy of this movie and it's great. Pee-Wee lives on a farm with his talking pet pig Vance and one day a circus led by Mace Montana lands in Pee-Wee's back yard. While he agrees to help them out, he falls in love with Italian trapeze artist Gina. But he forgets about his fiance Winnie. I am not going to explain the rest of the plot so you'll have to see it for yourself. It's just as good as Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Great but not really nasty

[8 February 2001]

I saw the French DVD of this film recently and I have to say it is pretty good. The best actors are David Hess as the brutal Krug and Marc Sheffler as Krug's drug addict son Junior. While the film is not as nasty as people say it is, I must admit the rape scenes and murder are quite nasty. The Collingwood's revenge is also good.However, those two cops are not funny at all and that dreadful hillbilly soundtrack does not do the film any favours. All in all, a very good film although I think the BBFC really need to get out more.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

Huh Huh Huh. This movie is cool. Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh

[4 January 2001]

Beavis and Butthead's first and ( and so far ) only big screen adventure kicks ass. You have to be a Assmunch not to like this! Witness Cornholio's antics on the plane, the boys first encounter with Dallas, the boys causing a massive flood at the Hoover dam, Beavis' hallucination in the desert, Cornholio's visit to the white house and many more. The list goes on and on. Nothing is wrong with the movie. If you love the series, then you'll love this. Overall: 10/10