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REVIEW : Uzumaki
By Richard of the paradiseofhorror blogs
To be honest, I thought this movie would be a Japanese drama. I was dead
wrong. This movie is based of the popular Japanese anime novel of the same
name. It tells the story of a town that is cursed by the Uzumaki or The Spiral, in
English. Little by little the towns residents start to slowly become dangerously
and violently obsessed with anything to do with spirals and some of the
residents start to actually turn into living things the actually have some sort of
spiral within them, such as a snail.
The movie was one giant, random, acid trip twisted with romance and drama.
Sort of like a…twisted…drama. What makes this movie disturbing is the ways
that some of the people are obsessed with The Spiral. For example: one of the
dads has a garage full of household objects with spirals incorporated into them,
one girl took her extremely long hair and teased to an insanely huge spiral-like
style, one kid slowly transformed into a human snail, one man could twist his
body into a spiral shape, one woman attempted to cut her ear open to obtain the
cochlea inside and one teen ran over himself so that he could be twisted around a
car tire and one kid stuffed himself into a washer so he could become a spiral.
Another disturbing aspect of this very well crafted movie is the atmospheric
tone and the style in which this movie was shot. The camera angles add to the
psychotic and twisted story; in other words, it had very good cinematography.
The overall coloring of this picture makes for a somewhat demented story. The
coloring is a blend of lime green, yellow and a little orange and the special effects
with some of the spirals are outstanding.
However, like many Japanese films, this one has a layer of forbidden love and
romance between a girl and a boy. However, with all the spirals and strange
happening going on in the town it is hard to keep up with the relationship of the
two teens. But, in some way, it is very irrelevant, more like a second hand story
that has nothing to do with the actual story. Overall, I would recommend this
film to anybody who likes vastly different and bizarre foreign films. It has just
enough wackiness and insanity; it touched me.
Check out the often updated and interesting Blogs at
http://paradiseofhorror.blogspot.com/
http://tropicalrepublics.blogspot.com/
By Richard of the paradiseofhorror blogs
To be honest, I thought this movie would be a Japanese drama. I was dead
wrong. This movie is based of the popular Japanese anime novel of the same
name. It tells the story of a town that is cursed by the Uzumaki or The Spiral, in
English. Little by little the towns residents start to slowly become dangerously
and violently obsessed with anything to do with spirals and some of the
residents start to actually turn into living things the actually have some sort of
spiral within them, such as a snail.
The movie was one giant, random, acid trip twisted with romance and drama.
Sort of like a…twisted…drama. What makes this movie disturbing is the ways
that some of the people are obsessed with The Spiral. For example: one of the
dads has a garage full of household objects with spirals incorporated into them,
one girl took her extremely long hair and teased to an insanely huge spiral-like
style, one kid slowly transformed into a human snail, one man could twist his
body into a spiral shape, one woman attempted to cut her ear open to obtain the
cochlea inside and one teen ran over himself so that he could be twisted around a
car tire and one kid stuffed himself into a washer so he could become a spiral.
Another disturbing aspect of this very well crafted movie is the atmospheric
tone and the style in which this movie was shot. The camera angles add to the
psychotic and twisted story; in other words, it had very good cinematography.
The overall coloring of this picture makes for a somewhat demented story. The
coloring is a blend of lime green, yellow and a little orange and the special effects
with some of the spirals are outstanding.
However, like many Japanese films, this one has a layer of forbidden love and
romance between a girl and a boy. However, with all the spirals and strange
happening going on in the town it is hard to keep up with the relationship of the
two teens. But, in some way, it is very irrelevant, more like a second hand story
that has nothing to do with the actual story. Overall, I would recommend this
film to anybody who likes vastly different and bizarre foreign films. It has just
enough wackiness and insanity; it touched me.
Check out the often updated and interesting Blogs at
http://paradiseofhorror.blogspot.com/
http://tropicalrepublics.blogspot.com/
REVIEW: Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever 3-22-10
By Miss Undead AKA Jenn Friend of the site!
“Days after a killer virus consumed his friends, Paul emerges from a ditch by a river……” You all remember Paul, don’t you.
Played by Rider Strong, he starred in the original film, Cabin Fever. A movie with a good story, some gritty gore and a bit of comedy.
We even got to know the characters a bit. If you’re not familiar with the story, it goes a little something like this. A group of college
kids decide to spend their break camping out in the woods in, yes folks, a cabin. Come to find out, the water is infected with a flesh
eating disease, and throughout the movie, these kids are being eaten alive. I remember getting a bit of a chill when one of the characters
is shaving her legs, and her skin peels away with the razor. That is the kind of gore this movie provides for us. Creepy, realistic good
old fashioned gore.
I was excited when I heard that they were making a sequel, even knowing that Eli Roth would not being taking part is the direction
of this one, I still had high hopes. I spent the entire 86 minutes trying not to compare this movie with is predecessor, but found
myself failing. Cabin Fever 2, takes place in a local high school, where once again, the water is tainted with the virus that consumes
your skin. Except, this time, it’s a bit more disgusting. Not in a good way either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for lots of blood and
things that make me cringe, but this is just too much. Somehow, the disease had transformed. It doesn’t just eat your skin, it causes
your teeth and nails to fall out, and your skin to become covered with what looks like an awful case of herpes. In one scene, a teen is
getting a blow job from one of classmates, who had a giant blister on her lip, and one thing leads to another and his penis is falling off.
The same girl works in a strip joint, where she puts on her lipstick and leaves it behind for other unsuspecting dancers to become
exposed to the blister. The patrons of the strip joint are okay with the fact that the girl is a minor, and in fact applaud it. They are also
okay with the fact that when she takes off her top, her breasts are covered with these disgusting blisters. One man even goes on to
say, “You wouldn’t throw out an apple because of a tiny brown spot, would you?” Another blow job, and the disease is spreading
like wild fire. While this is going on, the other teens are attending prom.
The prom king is ditching his date, to seek out the unpopular, unsuspecting larger girl, for a quicky in the pool. One tooth after
another, the girl falls apart and ends up drowning in her own blood. Now this is where it gets a bit ridiculous. The government knows
something is going on, and they want to keep it contained. So they lock down the school, and hope the problem will work itself out.
The kids inside the school are starting to discover that they are all very sick. This is where the sea of blood comes, as they are all
vomiting on each other.
At this point the movie has already become very difficult to stomach, and I’m hoping the end is coming soon. The couple of good
points, which there weren’t many, were this. Giuseppe Andrews returns to play your favorite party deputy, but even his role in this
movie doesn’t make much sense, and a scene where a boy and his date decide to remove his hand using a circular saw and a torch to
cauterize it. There is an entertaining bit of cartoon in the beginning, and at the end that tell a little story of where the disease comes
from, and where it ends up. Other than that, I was quite disappointed with the film, and even a little ashamed that it shares the same
name as the first one. The use of blood, and gore, seemed like a cover up of the fact that the story wasn’t very good and the acting
was horrible. This movie left me scratching my head and asking, “What was that?”
By Miss Undead AKA Jenn Friend of the site!
“Days after a killer virus consumed his friends, Paul emerges from a ditch by a river……” You all remember Paul, don’t you.
Played by Rider Strong, he starred in the original film, Cabin Fever. A movie with a good story, some gritty gore and a bit of comedy.
We even got to know the characters a bit. If you’re not familiar with the story, it goes a little something like this. A group of college
kids decide to spend their break camping out in the woods in, yes folks, a cabin. Come to find out, the water is infected with a flesh
eating disease, and throughout the movie, these kids are being eaten alive. I remember getting a bit of a chill when one of the characters
is shaving her legs, and her skin peels away with the razor. That is the kind of gore this movie provides for us. Creepy, realistic good
old fashioned gore.
I was excited when I heard that they were making a sequel, even knowing that Eli Roth would not being taking part is the direction
of this one, I still had high hopes. I spent the entire 86 minutes trying not to compare this movie with is predecessor, but found
myself failing. Cabin Fever 2, takes place in a local high school, where once again, the water is tainted with the virus that consumes
your skin. Except, this time, it’s a bit more disgusting. Not in a good way either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for lots of blood and
things that make me cringe, but this is just too much. Somehow, the disease had transformed. It doesn’t just eat your skin, it causes
your teeth and nails to fall out, and your skin to become covered with what looks like an awful case of herpes. In one scene, a teen is
getting a blow job from one of classmates, who had a giant blister on her lip, and one thing leads to another and his penis is falling off.
The same girl works in a strip joint, where she puts on her lipstick and leaves it behind for other unsuspecting dancers to become
exposed to the blister. The patrons of the strip joint are okay with the fact that the girl is a minor, and in fact applaud it. They are also
okay with the fact that when she takes off her top, her breasts are covered with these disgusting blisters. One man even goes on to
say, “You wouldn’t throw out an apple because of a tiny brown spot, would you?” Another blow job, and the disease is spreading
like wild fire. While this is going on, the other teens are attending prom.
The prom king is ditching his date, to seek out the unpopular, unsuspecting larger girl, for a quicky in the pool. One tooth after
another, the girl falls apart and ends up drowning in her own blood. Now this is where it gets a bit ridiculous. The government knows
something is going on, and they want to keep it contained. So they lock down the school, and hope the problem will work itself out.
The kids inside the school are starting to discover that they are all very sick. This is where the sea of blood comes, as they are all
vomiting on each other.
At this point the movie has already become very difficult to stomach, and I’m hoping the end is coming soon. The couple of good
points, which there weren’t many, were this. Giuseppe Andrews returns to play your favorite party deputy, but even his role in this
movie doesn’t make much sense, and a scene where a boy and his date decide to remove his hand using a circular saw and a torch to
cauterize it. There is an entertaining bit of cartoon in the beginning, and at the end that tell a little story of where the disease comes
from, and where it ends up. Other than that, I was quite disappointed with the film, and even a little ashamed that it shares the same
name as the first one. The use of blood, and gore, seemed like a cover up of the fact that the story wasn’t very good and the acting
was horrible. This movie left me scratching my head and asking, “What was that?”
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Review: Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest
By THE DUDE
After watching the second installment years ago (on VHS no less), I said I would never put myself
through another "corn" movie unless I was watching the original again. I broke this vow when I
recently heard that Charlize Theron from the Devil's Advocate and Aeon Flux fame was in this one.
It's only been 15 years since seeing the 2nd installment which is called "the final sacrifice"....funny
since there are 8 "corn" movies to date (including the recent 'made for cable' remake)and I felt I could
give the series another try.
Eli and Joshua are adopted into the Porter family after their "papa" gets turned into a scarecrow by
Eli. Eli hides the book from which he gets his powers in the cornfield and off to the city they go. Soon
you find Joshua acclimating to city life pretty well while Eli attempts to plant a cornfield from hell in
an old abandoned building literally next to the Porter's home. He also tries to convert the high school
kids into become deciples of "he who walks behind the rows" while Joshua plays basketball and gets
"frisky" with the neighbor girl.
The plot slowly deteriorates to include special effects that are sub-par for even the early 1990's. One
scene shows the "corn monster" devouring a unlucky teen that is obviously a barbie doll. The
animated scene would even make Ray Harryhausen shut his eyes an cringe in disgust. But, getting
back to the reason I gave this movie a chance; yes, Charlize Theron is in a couple of scenes as a
brainwashed teen but she isn't in the movie enough to meet my satisfaction.
Although the movie brings the storyline outside of Nebraska, the movie is missing the main elements
that made the original movie so creepy. A whole town of kids is a lot creepier than just a couple of
kids, (actually just one) trying to take over a town. Overall, I'm sorry I broke my vow. Two out of
five stars. One, for bringing the story into a city setting and the second is for Charlize Theron because
I think she's hot.
Stay brutal!
By THE DUDE
After watching the second installment years ago (on VHS no less), I said I would never put myself
through another "corn" movie unless I was watching the original again. I broke this vow when I
recently heard that Charlize Theron from the Devil's Advocate and Aeon Flux fame was in this one.
It's only been 15 years since seeing the 2nd installment which is called "the final sacrifice"....funny
since there are 8 "corn" movies to date (including the recent 'made for cable' remake)and I felt I could
give the series another try.
Eli and Joshua are adopted into the Porter family after their "papa" gets turned into a scarecrow by
Eli. Eli hides the book from which he gets his powers in the cornfield and off to the city they go. Soon
you find Joshua acclimating to city life pretty well while Eli attempts to plant a cornfield from hell in
an old abandoned building literally next to the Porter's home. He also tries to convert the high school
kids into become deciples of "he who walks behind the rows" while Joshua plays basketball and gets
"frisky" with the neighbor girl.
The plot slowly deteriorates to include special effects that are sub-par for even the early 1990's. One
scene shows the "corn monster" devouring a unlucky teen that is obviously a barbie doll. The
animated scene would even make Ray Harryhausen shut his eyes an cringe in disgust. But, getting
back to the reason I gave this movie a chance; yes, Charlize Theron is in a couple of scenes as a
brainwashed teen but she isn't in the movie enough to meet my satisfaction.
Although the movie brings the storyline outside of Nebraska, the movie is missing the main elements
that made the original movie so creepy. A whole town of kids is a lot creepier than just a couple of
kids, (actually just one) trying to take over a town. Overall, I'm sorry I broke my vow. Two out of
five stars. One, for bringing the story into a city setting and the second is for Charlize Theron because
I think she's hot.
Stay brutal!
REVIEW: Predators
By Jeremy Berg of The-Cinephile.com
Here’s a quick synopsis of Predators: jungle, soldiers, bullets, gore, Predators, explosions, more Predators, more bullets, people die,
the End. Not necessarily in that order but you get the idea. The plot really isn’t important, since that’s not what fans of the original are
here for. The only thing a fan of this series wants is to see a suspenseful story told well. With Predators in it. That’s it. Is this the
quintessential Predator film? Not really. Is it perfect? Definitely not. But to be fair, there hasn’t been a perfect Predator film. Predator
2 is generally hated by fans of the series. I personally think that film deserves more credit than what it’s given but I’m not going to get
into that argument here. Suffice it to say, even if you like that film, it’s flaws are considerable. The original film is a bit trickier though. I
LOVE Predator and have loved it since the first time I saw it at the tender age of 9. Even watching it now, I still think it holds up as a
fun, sci-fi/ action/ horror film.
But is it perfect? No way!
Let’s take off the fanboy glasses for a moment and really take a hard look at the original. You could make a strong argument that
Predator is really just your typical Schwarzenegger ’80’s action vehicle with a cooler than usual concept. Then they took this concept
and elevated it tenfold with mind-blowing practical effects that still amaze to this day. If the Predator itself hadn’t been brought to life
in such a realistic, detailed way would the film have taken off in the hearts and minds of movie geeks the way that it did? If the suit
looked like a holdover from the original Star Trek television series would we be seeing this sequel in theaters this weekend? We’ll never
know for sure but it might have been dead in the water if the Predator didn’t look so good in his debut performance. The Predator is the
true star of Predator. Sorry Arnie. There’s a lot of other things done right in the original too. Sure, there’s some corny scenes and
dialogue topped with a generous helping of ’80’s cheese but it’s part of the film’s charm. The direction, by John McTiernan, is great
and the suspense is built masterfully as the mystery unfolds with patience. But it’s not perfect, not in the way that I would argue that
Alien is a perfect film. Not even in the way that Aliens, though lesser than the original, still manages to be perfect. Predator just never
had the same pedigree as that film series. But it’s concept and antagonist were fantastic and that was enough. So when the filmmakers
responsible for Predators decided to make this sequel they faced an interesting challenge. All they had to do was live up to a film series
that has generally been deeply flawed. Well, they did live up to it. They delivered a film far better than Predator 2, even if it never
really compares with the original. And I couldn’t be happier about that. I couldn’t expect this film to be as good as the original. As it is,
it’s a better film than I what I had expected it to be. But it does come riddled with imperfections, just like the others in the series (for
the record, I am including the terrible AvP films as part of the “series”).
The team that producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal have assembled are very interesting and the actors who play them
all embody their roles with aplomb. I found myself loving the imagery of these completely disparate characters coming together in this
terrifying situation. Unfortunately, you never learn much about these characters apart from their designations back on earth so the
actors never get to express much beyond these surface qualities. I was able to let that slide but one thing I find very unfortunate is that
this team never really feels like the deadliest fighters that Earth has to offer, with the exception of Adrien Brody. The soldiers from
Predator have a lot more weight in terms of training and gravitas. Granted, in Predators they’re not all soldiers but still, the Earth’s
deadliest? The film never really sells it completely. Another misstep is that Predators feels, at times, like fan-fiction. Rodriguez and
Antal are obviously so enamored of the original that they felt the need to slip in visual and thematic references whenever possible. This
fanboy mentality surfaces in other ways too, such as a scene that apparently originated with a conversation about how cool it would be
to have a samurai fight a Predator. Yeah, it’s kind of cool but it also feels forced and a little out of place in the world they’ve created.
There are other little things here and there that stand out. I didn’t love the Predator dog sequence all that much. The idea was sound but
the look of the creatures felt derivative and non-functional and the scene doesn’t pay off satisfactorily. The action scenes aren’t as
memorable as the original’s, nothing as striking as (spoiler?) the Carl Weather’s arm amputation scene or the head explosion. And, most
importantly, I felt this film had a colorful, comic-book look and feel that made it fun but never put it on the same level as Predator
which felt, despite it’s action/ sci-fi elements, as something rooted in reality.
But if you’re a fan of the original, don’t let any of these nitpicks deter you. Ultimately, this is the sequel that Predator fans have been
waiting for and finally, after 23 years, we have it. Adrien Brody is a great and believable action hero and he does a lot with his character.
Lawrence Fishburne does his best Col. Kurtz impression in his cameo as a survivor on the planet and his scenes are a lot of fun. The
script does a good job of exploiting some very interesting ideas in what amounts to a threadbare story and it’s always entertaining. But
most important are the Predators themselves. There’s plenty of them here. I love the look of the different Predators and we end up
learning some new things about their culture and social interactions. Not much, but enough to get us thinking while we wait for the
sequel. And I hope there is a sequel. This may not be the definitive Predator film but maybe someday we’ll get it. It’s certainly a step
in the right direction.
By Jeremy Berg of The-Cinephile.com
Here’s a quick synopsis of Predators: jungle, soldiers, bullets, gore, Predators, explosions, more Predators, more bullets, people die,
the End. Not necessarily in that order but you get the idea. The plot really isn’t important, since that’s not what fans of the original are
here for. The only thing a fan of this series wants is to see a suspenseful story told well. With Predators in it. That’s it. Is this the
quintessential Predator film? Not really. Is it perfect? Definitely not. But to be fair, there hasn’t been a perfect Predator film. Predator
2 is generally hated by fans of the series. I personally think that film deserves more credit than what it’s given but I’m not going to get
into that argument here. Suffice it to say, even if you like that film, it’s flaws are considerable. The original film is a bit trickier though. I
LOVE Predator and have loved it since the first time I saw it at the tender age of 9. Even watching it now, I still think it holds up as a
fun, sci-fi/ action/ horror film.
But is it perfect? No way!
Let’s take off the fanboy glasses for a moment and really take a hard look at the original. You could make a strong argument that
Predator is really just your typical Schwarzenegger ’80’s action vehicle with a cooler than usual concept. Then they took this concept
and elevated it tenfold with mind-blowing practical effects that still amaze to this day. If the Predator itself hadn’t been brought to life
in such a realistic, detailed way would the film have taken off in the hearts and minds of movie geeks the way that it did? If the suit
looked like a holdover from the original Star Trek television series would we be seeing this sequel in theaters this weekend? We’ll never
know for sure but it might have been dead in the water if the Predator didn’t look so good in his debut performance. The Predator is the
true star of Predator. Sorry Arnie. There’s a lot of other things done right in the original too. Sure, there’s some corny scenes and
dialogue topped with a generous helping of ’80’s cheese but it’s part of the film’s charm. The direction, by John McTiernan, is great
and the suspense is built masterfully as the mystery unfolds with patience. But it’s not perfect, not in the way that I would argue that
Alien is a perfect film. Not even in the way that Aliens, though lesser than the original, still manages to be perfect. Predator just never
had the same pedigree as that film series. But it’s concept and antagonist were fantastic and that was enough. So when the filmmakers
responsible for Predators decided to make this sequel they faced an interesting challenge. All they had to do was live up to a film series
that has generally been deeply flawed. Well, they did live up to it. They delivered a film far better than Predator 2, even if it never
really compares with the original. And I couldn’t be happier about that. I couldn’t expect this film to be as good as the original. As it is,
it’s a better film than I what I had expected it to be. But it does come riddled with imperfections, just like the others in the series (for
the record, I am including the terrible AvP films as part of the “series”).
The team that producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal have assembled are very interesting and the actors who play them
all embody their roles with aplomb. I found myself loving the imagery of these completely disparate characters coming together in this
terrifying situation. Unfortunately, you never learn much about these characters apart from their designations back on earth so the
actors never get to express much beyond these surface qualities. I was able to let that slide but one thing I find very unfortunate is that
this team never really feels like the deadliest fighters that Earth has to offer, with the exception of Adrien Brody. The soldiers from
Predator have a lot more weight in terms of training and gravitas. Granted, in Predators they’re not all soldiers but still, the Earth’s
deadliest? The film never really sells it completely. Another misstep is that Predators feels, at times, like fan-fiction. Rodriguez and
Antal are obviously so enamored of the original that they felt the need to slip in visual and thematic references whenever possible. This
fanboy mentality surfaces in other ways too, such as a scene that apparently originated with a conversation about how cool it would be
to have a samurai fight a Predator. Yeah, it’s kind of cool but it also feels forced and a little out of place in the world they’ve created.
There are other little things here and there that stand out. I didn’t love the Predator dog sequence all that much. The idea was sound but
the look of the creatures felt derivative and non-functional and the scene doesn’t pay off satisfactorily. The action scenes aren’t as
memorable as the original’s, nothing as striking as (spoiler?) the Carl Weather’s arm amputation scene or the head explosion. And, most
importantly, I felt this film had a colorful, comic-book look and feel that made it fun but never put it on the same level as Predator
which felt, despite it’s action/ sci-fi elements, as something rooted in reality.
But if you’re a fan of the original, don’t let any of these nitpicks deter you. Ultimately, this is the sequel that Predator fans have been
waiting for and finally, after 23 years, we have it. Adrien Brody is a great and believable action hero and he does a lot with his character.
Lawrence Fishburne does his best Col. Kurtz impression in his cameo as a survivor on the planet and his scenes are a lot of fun. The
script does a good job of exploiting some very interesting ideas in what amounts to a threadbare story and it’s always entertaining. But
most important are the Predators themselves. There’s plenty of them here. I love the look of the different Predators and we end up
learning some new things about their culture and social interactions. Not much, but enough to get us thinking while we wait for the
sequel. And I hope there is a sequel. This may not be the definitive Predator film but maybe someday we’ll get it. It’s certainly a step
in the right direction.
