Rabensblut Reviews

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Much more better than other Action films done this day

[8/10 · 24 August 2011]

first of all I will say my point of view as a film viewer, Conan fan, REH purist and all in all as a man with a open mind. This film made me puzzled...the directing could be better, the story is quite good, as for Conan I know worse than this, but the funny elements as catapult, catapulted my mood directly the opposite way and the egg race was dumb (proven to be a warrior with running with eggs in your mouth ???? I thought proving that you are a man was breaking the neck of a Cimmerian Bull). Small things that make the film just silly like going on a trip around hyborian inland with a ship. On the other hand parts as the dweller and Acheron made me really satisfied having that REH Cthulhu mythos stories look , plus the scenery was great. Jason as Conan is great at least he can move and has a voice for Conan. Conan is no Bodybuilder, he is a Savage (or as many call him a barbarian, although I do not like to use the word). The others - Lang, great, Perlman (one of my fav. actors) could show more, but did not have so much space, Tamara and others - hmm playing the second violin to Conan as the others except of Lang, who is a great baddie, but hey, this is no soap opera here, it is Conan, that has to be straightforward action, and that this film deliveres. From the REH point of view, There were lots of remarks (Tower of the elephant, Yara, Zingara, Acheron ...) so I liked it a lot this way, since this is an origin story of Conan and thus something like a "Welcome back it's so long we missed you" film. If they will do the Frost Giant's daughter/Queen of the black coast (Sean Hood all alone script no Oppenheimer crap) as part two, then I can accept this number one without Howard's story (1982 and 1984 were also Howardless stories as well). All in all, compared to the comics adaptations and other action films done this day, this one stands strong, it is a love it or hate film for all film viewers, Conan fans, REH purists. It is indeed a film that divides and devours as a slice of the Conan's sword. I give it a

Action film 10/10 (hell yeah) Good film with philosophy and characters 05/10 (poorly written) Conan fim 10/10 (definitely it is Conan) Momoa 10/10 (Momo has potential for the future and Conan suites him) REH purist 07/10 (still missed some expectations)

PROS - athmosfere, locations, Khalar and Marique, action and Momo CONS - bad dialogues and script, egg race, big ship "sailing" through Hyboria (come on) and catapult

all in all I give it 8/10 hoping for the Frost Giant's daughter/Queen of the black coast sequel

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

This film was OK. Indy is old but still entertaining.

[8/10 · 26 May 2008]

This film was OK. Being a fan of Indiana Jones for more than Twenty Years I can say I was not expecting nothing special. Many of the people wrote that he is too old that there are no Nazis. I really liked the Temple of doom and there You can see no Nazis at all. Russians are not new to the franchise of IJ, if You just played IJ and the Infernal machine and that game came out ten Years ago (DR. Volodnikov and his hounds). The action OK. Just as in the old films. The action, superb. This was the point of which I was not expecting much, but I really liked it (even the Tarzan scene was quite OK). This film is not about to think about it but to have fun. You can believe me that i|f You were thinking about the previous three films and about those historical nonsenses they were showing there, You would know what i am writing about. Just sit back take Your Popcorn and Enjoy.

Secret of the Sahara (1988)

Once upon a Time there were Secrets in the Sahara desert

[10/10 · 29 April 2008]

When I was ten Years old this was the best series ever going on the Slovak (Czechoslovak ???) TV. Thanks god I found this series again (two DVDs althogether 360 minutes and 4 parts cca 2,50 Euros for both DVDsin Lacne knihy shop) I nearly began to cry. My god. I understand that the people from States or Australia will not like this kinda stuff, because this is no Hollywood at all (Thanks God Almighty). It is typical Italian romantic adventure series just as the tower of the firstborn but ten times better. Michael York was always one of my most favourite actors because he was not taking only Hollywood roles (he even played a role in one Slovak film !!!). Here we can even see Andie Mac Dowell and Ben Kingsley as well. Plenty of good actors. I really recommend this movie to the fans of the Mummy, so they can finally see what mystery, adventure and romantic means. I despise films without atmosphere and idea (rubbish like mummy and mummy returns). This is a must see for fans of films like Indiana Jones (Can' t wait to see the fourth instalment). Not so much adventure though, more mystery.

Lurking Fear (1994)

After reading the reviews, I thought crap, After seeing I say very good.

[8/10 · 2 February 2007]

I am big fan of horror films, I saw tons of them, some of them were good some were bad. One of my friends advised me to see this one pointing that it is H.P.Lovecraft based horror film.

1. I know quite all the stories of the Master himself, but this had nothing to do with none of them. Maybe the plot reminded me of shadow over Innsmouth, where the boy finds out, that he is a part of this strange community and one day he is going to be like them. So please do not take it as HPL. If U want to see some HPL just take Dagon, that is real HPL influenced film.

2.The acting was not for Oscar nomination, but what do You want for a low budget flick. Jeffrey Combs is excellent, but anyway also the others did a good job. I saw that this film was made in Romania, I recognized this Pintea guy from Vlad Nemoritorul (Dracula - The Impaler) film, playing the undertaker with the scratched face.

3. The explosions - not every company has the money to do a great explosion. According to this, they did quite good job.

4. The ghouls - Very well made. I have to say they looked very good and realistic. Nice work.

5. The Gore - Not every film has to be as Lucio Fulci, but anyway here it was quite optimal. The only gore scene was that one with the heart. Or maybe I had a shorter version of the film so the gore scenes were cut out. Mine has 1:29.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2006 Video Game)

Brilliant Sherlock - Cthulhu game.

[10/10 · 30 January 2007]

After a long time I played a good A.C. Doyle and H.P. Lovecraf influenced adventure PC Game. Comparing the previous Sherlock Games this one is completely done 3D. The plot about the Cthulhu (here called Leviathan, but the statue images are clear) is something very fresh to this detective genre. The part by Mississipi is just as a copy of the novel Call of Cthulhu from H.P. Lovecraft. Very well done, great graphics, great plot, great sounds and dubbing, great atmosphere, what do You want more? Little bit of Gore, good riddles, and especially Sherlock and Watson as main characters again. I was always fan of good adventure games...this one rules.

Buy, Play And Enjoy

Kull the Conqueror (1997)

One of my best friends played a small role in this one

[10/10 · 6 August 2006]

I liked this film and it is very funny to see some of our locals to play in an American film. Quite the entire film was done in Slovakia (the sea scenes were done in Croatia), better say it is very funny to see a big flame rising out of Devin castle which is one of our national symbols (actually I am a tourist guide in Bratislava, and sometimes I take tourists in there, it is in suburbs of our city). I remember when the long haired people were taken as background into this film. So our guitar player got a small role in this film. He was telling us funny stories about the filming. Like he was running around with a bird cage full of chickens and he accidentally hit a donkey which started to act like crazy and the people had to calm it down. Or he told like they took a local homeless man to play a role so they didn't need to make makeups then :) . Really crazy stuff. U remember the the red haired twins in the crowd. U can meet them in the streets of Bratislava very often. To the film - it is a B-film but I liked it a lot. Good Howard S&S stuff. Kevin is the real person for this role and suites him well, he is more savage type than Arnold and if U read the Howard's Kull stories U can know that he is savage and strong, which doesn't mean that he has to be Mr. Olympia. Kevin is huge man (around 2m high) and is of good muscles enough for Kull. This is no Conan. Conan was more adventurer than Kull. Kull is more a king than that. Actually there are not many stories about his life before he became a king of Valusia. He is a strong person but not only in physical strength but also in decisions and ruling (By this Axe I rule) and is despising all what is modern and civilized. Kull is a part of every man. He is our savage part, when Conan there can be only one. Thatis why I liked this character so much. The other actors were quite good for a B-film, but were just playing background to Kevin Sorbos character.

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

It was not that bad as I expected to be

[8/10 · 24 July 2006]

I can say that I saw only 1st, 3rd part and Jason vs Freddy before and many people were writing that this part is rubbish. I do not think so. I saw lo of horrors and this one is OK. There is no Jason so OK there was none even in the original film, it was his mother who was the killer in number one (they killed the son, so they had to die, same as here). Now finally there are no camps, and the dead are not only teenagers like in the most of the chillers. The idea with the fat boy slashed was original. That nobody knew the father, so what? If U had a kid like that (fat and mentally retarded) U would maybe do the same as his father did. They told it, that nobody liked the kid and that they had to send him from home to home. When he saw his son in pieces, then probably he became retarded as well. The characters are funny and I liked them more than the simple teens in number one. That is why probably most of the people don't like this part, but I do not care. I am stuffed with teeny chillers without an idea. Here at least they tried to give the idea to the film.

Denti (2000)

Absolutely excellent, it will smash your mouth like the ashtray in the beginning

[10/10 · 6 July 2006]

U remember when my friend told me to go to the cinema to see a "a new Italian vampire flick". We were studying the same class of the bilingual Italian-Slovakian school and the film was an Italian one and whole in Italian.That was also why I liked it so much, I don't like the dubbed films. This film has everything, U can laugh, You can cry, little bit of blood and lotsa stunning life dramas and of course acting,I personally loved (once again) Paolo Villagio as the old dentist, the character suited him well. The music is absolutely stunning (Deep Purple right in the beginning) and U will like it through all the film. There are lotsa good dreamlike sequences like when Antonio is speaking with the deaf guy. This is about life and death, and about the life of every of us. If U seen Nirvana or Mediterraneo from G. Salvatores U will also love this one.

Beyond Re-Animator (2003)

Absolutely one of the best parts of the trilogy.

[10/10 · 28 June 2006]

We can say that this film is not for everybody. It is for die hard fans of the genre, and especially not for Hollywood film fans. This is coproduction in between the Americans and Spanish another great film from fantasy factory (like the absolutely stunning DAGON). Little bit of black gory humor is still present in here. I loved the beginning where the tongue guy started to drink milk (I would really kill sometimes for a cup of milk :)). Really entertaining was the guy with the personality of a rat, great idea. For the end: Watch this film, it will give U something new, and also it is a good sequel to the older parts(not like Return of the living dead, because thise new ssequels lack everything from the original idea).

The Awakening (1980)

The first horror movie I ever saw and still not beaten.

[10/10 · 9 June 2006]

This is actually one of my most favourite horrors about ancient Egypt. From the archaeological and egyptological sides all fits (see name Ka-ra written in hieroglyphics that really corresponds to the signs and mean - the spirit of the sun). The scene with the tombs was made in one of the tombs discovered by Howard Carter in valley of the kings. I really think that this film can be appreciated only by those who like intelligent movies and who like ancient Egypt (and know about the place and history a lot like me). I am a big fan of Charleton Heston as well. Here You can see one of his best appearances. I didn't find a mistake on this film so the rating is 10/10.

The Breed (2001)

This is not Blade copy but a good vampire flick

[10/10 · 15 May 2006]

I love this film. Somebody wrote that this is a copy of Matrix and Blade - You fool, the idea of a special virus deadly only to vamps was used in here, not in Blade. On the contrary Blade Trinity took this idea later. Somebody wrote that they have Russianlike uniforms - hey can U imagine a vampire movie with starwars like costumes - me not.These uniforms fit in the place. I just want to open your eyes and tell the truth - the name of the club was Pravda - that means in my language the truth - and the truth is that this film was very original and interesting and I can tell U I seen lotsa Vamp flicks, this one rules. And if U like the films like Blade full of poor action and dialogues U will never understand this film. Here it is no - comeonyoudamnedbloodsuckeriwillkickyourass- here U have a good and original idea that is what makes this film 10/10

The Stöned Age (1994)

This film is a cult in Slovakia

[10/10 · 5 May 2006]

I remember the times when VTV a local Slovak television put this film 1 time a week and all the times I watched it. Man I saw it 100 times and it was always worth it. We even made a fanclub for this film and our younger friends are coming to watch it and everybody loves it. In our country it is called --Rockmania-- and the name is accurate. It is about chicks, alcooohoooooool, and rock. Blue Oyster is an amazing band and after the film U can see them selling T-shirts. What makes this film so good are the personalities, dialogues and music. There are so many good jokes that we are used to talk them over and over.

---Hele, Tekmajstr prizdisrac, plivni na nej.--- (In original probably something like - Look, Tack-master, shitface(in czech ---prizdisrac--- something like the one who shits beside a wall), spit on him) ---

This one is for those who speak Czech because here U can find only the Czech copy and I am probably the only one who found and bought an original VHS of it so now I am a local rock god.