Drug Child

Party Monster (2003)
Dir - Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato

Not sure why I wanted to watch this again but the moment hit me and it was on Netflix Instant but I did. Really is a good movie and I'm planning on watching the brief documentary on Michael Alig soon. This also got me hyped for the upcoming documentary on the Limelight. Eek!

Low Budget Chills

Malevolence (2004)
Dir - Stevan Mena

Missed this one and wanted to catch-up before watching the recently released sequel. This has a pretty low budget but the filmmaker works well within his confines and fills the screen with a nice gritty aesthetic. Plenty of creepy moments and a wonderful retro-slasher synth score that isn't just an homage or mocking but effective.

Don't Waste Another Minute on Your Cryin'...

Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers (2004)
Dir - Joanna Kerns

Just four years after the reunion movie someone thought it would be a great idea to do another. It probably wasn't. This did have more of a sitcom feel to it in parts but the weird thing is what they chose to keep or ignore from the series or previous film. There's no mention of Maggie's run for congress, but Carol is married to the guy she met through the campaign. The biggest head-scratcher is Jason and Maggie are retired and finally moving out of the house they've lived in for 30+ years. Yes, the same house they sold at the end of the series. It also looks nothing like the sitcom home.

I don't know why I'm arguing with myself over a second made-for-TV Growing Pains movie but I am. They've already done two, wonder when we'll end the trilogy.

You've Got 5 Minutes

Drive (2011)
Dir - Nicolas Winding Refn

All of the good word I was hearing about this film is rightly justified. Stylish, intriguing, and surprisingly (at least to me) violent. Gosling is fantastic in the lead and his performance really helped bring a some of the few lesser parts of the film, or more predictable moments.

Show Me That Smile Again...

The Growing Pains Movie (2000)
Dir - Alan Metter

I recently acquired the complete series and re-watched so it's only natural that I then check out the made-for-TV movie to see where the Seaver family is 8 years after the series ended. Maggie loses her job that they moved to DC for but soon decides to head back to Long Island and run for congress. The kids are all grown-up leaving Mike and Carol free to become complete assholes. It's actually shocking at how annoying and rude they are through the majority of the film. There's nothing great about this or on a higher level than the series but fans will find it mildly amusing. Alan Thicke does make a pretty awesome Leonardo DiCaprio inside joke.

Got Flesh?

Flesh Eating Mothers (1988)
Dir - James Aviles Martin
Horror Movie Night

Fun suburban cannibal film that was a first for me at HMN. Glad I saw it.

Read my full thoughts HERE at Horror's Not Dead!

Nightmares and Dreams

Summer School (2006)
Dir - Lance Hendrickson, Troy McCall, Mike P. Nelson, Steven Rhoden, and Ben Trandem

Saw this was coming up on Chiller and it sounded interesting. Turns out to be a very low budget anthology style film about a high school student/online horror film critic (HA!) who spent a weekend watching a few films and is now having nightmares about then while sleeping during summer school. There are some interesting ideas here but much of the movie's pacing is way to slow and makes it easy to lose interest. There are a few nice twists and turns in there however.

A couple of things bothered me. First one segment involving vampires makes this look like they suddenly came out of Hot Topic and that's just lame. Some comedy is attempted in this segment but it just never really works. The other problem I have is with the main kid and general premise. What kind of horror fan, and especially critic, can't watch a few indie horror flicks without having terrible nightmares the next day. Amateurs. Heh.

Psyche Out

BASEketball (1998)
Dir - David Zucker

A comedy starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone before South Park had completely sky rocketed. Really funny and a game that I would actually like to play - though I'm not really sold on having Reel Big Fish as the house band. Full of great jokes and an awesome cameo by Robert Stack!

Discipline

40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
Dir - Michael Lehmann

A fun, interesting sex comedy that I had not seen in a few years. It was on TV so I decided to pop in my version without the commercials and edits. It's interesting how lightly they take a rape scenario and the Internet Company Hartnett works for is ripe with sexual harassment.

Like Catching Butterflies

The Collector (1965)
Dir - William Wyler

This has been in my Netflix queue for-ev-er. It's not as "scary" as I was expecting but definitely creepy and unsettling. Terrence Stamp has some looks that just make your skin crawl. Also noticed that he, at this age, and Kevin Spacey look a lot a like. The final act is amazing and this is highly recommended viewing.

Dinos Attack!

Carnosaur 3: Primal Species (1996)
Dir - Jonathan Winfrey

Watched this for a new series of reviews we'll be doing over at Horror's Not Dead in October. Full review will be up on the site then.

Why the Fuck Are You Talking About Shrimp

The Kindred (1987)
Dir - Stephen Carpenter & Jeffrey Obrow
Horror Movie Night

A great poster/VHS cover that I used to love seeing but never actually watched the film. That's now fixed and it's great! Awesome FX and a pretty cool story.

Look for my full thoughts next week on Horror's Not Dead!

Rodeo Clowns

Stir Crazy (1980)
Dir - Sidney Poitier

Been years since this one and loved every minute - again. Wilder and Pryor were a great team and there's magic in all of their films.

Putz

Grumpier Old Men (1995)
Dir - Howard Deutch

After watching the first film again a few months back I thought I'd give the sequel another shot. This is not nearly as good as its predecessor. Many of the same jokes, set-ups and plot devices. It's tired.

Still, gotta love Lemmon and Matthau!

Hey Mon, It's a Shark

Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Dir - Joseph Sargent

Thought I had seen this, but evidently not. I was enjoying it and wondering why people thought this was such shit and then things started to make sense. A roaring shark, island man Mario Van Peebles, psychic connections between a shark and a particular human family... wow.

Poor Rabbit

Repulsion (1965)
Dir - Roman Polanski

Finally got around to this one and really enjoyed everything it offers. Not the kind of movie I would just throw on in the background or necessarily watch just for fun but it is full of haunting imagery. The handsy hallway scene near the end is a particular favorite.

Another plus - Catherine Deneuve is super hot!

Lake Shark Attack

Shark Night 3D (2011)
Dir - David R. Ellis

About what I expected. Nothing too great, but I'm a sucker for killer shark movies. The 3D was pretty good as were the animatronic sharks but the CGI was mostly bad. The most annoying thing about this is that it was PG-13. If they would have gone as balls out as they did with Piranha it would have been even better. Little complaints

Poor Little Baby

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989)
Dir - Stephen Hopkins

Along with part 2 this had been the other of the series I've watched the least. It's not all bad. There are some great things, like creepy baby Freddy, but then there's the skater/surfer/hippie/artist guy and he's the worst! Forgot all about the comic book themed death with him against Super Freddy. Wow. This rivals the video game sequence in part 6 as the most head-scratching moment of the series.

These Are the Best Times of Our Lives

Killer Party (1986)
Dir - William Fruet
Horror Movie Night

Great fun film that I picked for a BYE week at HMN.

Read my full write-up HERE on Horror's Not Dead!

Kind of a Big Deal

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Dir - Adam McKay

A movie I had only seen once before when it first hit DVD. Pretty damn funny and one that I'll try to revisit again in less than six years.