Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Jun 26, 2009 16:59:28 GMT -5
I thought I'd throw in a review I remember watching this when I was a kid and absolutly loving the hell out of it mainly because of the gore, so a few days ago I decided to watch it because I hadn't seen it in a good few years and also to see if it was as good now as it was then. And you know what, It is and that's not nostalgia talking. It's a remake of a Steve Mcqueen movie from the 50's and instead of a retread they added a little more explenation into the Blob's origin and although they use the cliche of "Military Experiment gone wrong" it actually works for this and IMO beats the original. It's basically a meteor crashes to earth and inside is a blob like substance that attaches itself to a tramp's hand and is taken to hospital were it eats the entire lower half (Awesome FX BTW) and escapes to go on a feeding frenzy and gets bigger (MUCH bigger) and it's up to our likable heroes played very well by Shawnee Smith (Saw) & Kevin "Don't call me Matt" Dillon to stop it, But half way through it's revealed that the blob is in fact a goverment experiment on Germ Warfare that went haywire and the military clean up crew are there to cover all tracks (Including the residents). The Major reason people like this flick are the special FX which are amazing given it's budget & time period, The Blob creature itself is very well done and although it's Blob of pink slime is a frightning creature because the way it kills is just downright ugh, It melt people away which you see in graphic detail. The Gore is good too not just the Blobs M.O but it's other ways of death dealing which include dragging a guy through a kitchen Sink in full detail (Messy). Although it sounds like a run of the mill B-movie it throws you some curveballs like the one guy who looks to be the hero but is actually the second to be killed off (Plus a few surprises), Plus they kill a kid. I also love the Dig at "Friday the 13th" with the Movie within a movie called "Garden Tool Massacre" which actually looks awesome (I wish it was real) The Blob is a 1980's B-movie cheesefest and it knows and embrases it by ticking all the right boxes, it's full of cliches but they add to the film's charm and make it a fast but perfectly paced 80's classic.
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Post by GuyOfOwnage on Jun 26, 2009 17:10:30 GMT -5
I saw this one TV years ago (without having seen the original), and it's a cheesy, fun, 80s B-movie romp. Good review.
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Post by DSR on Jun 26, 2009 18:28:00 GMT -5
Some thoughts: a.) The original Toolbox Murders, I think, is very good for the first half hour and the last half hour, but its a rough slog through that middle passage. But I ultimately felt the experience was worthwhile. Its not exactly the kind of movie I point to and say "Hey man, you need to see this" though. b.) The Brood, as I mentioned way back when I reviewed It's Alive, is a very male-viewpoint-dominated horror picture. The film is sort of meant to show the mysterious, alien quality that is a woman's reproductive process (not to mention their thought processes), and as such, is obviously meant to play on men's fears and insecurities in regards to women. Of course, Cronnenberg also made the movie as a means of venting his frustration over the collapse of his own marriage and the custody battle over his daughter that insued. At any rate, while it does get a little overly verbose, I still think The Brood is overall a creepy, sick, and more interesting film than your rating suggests. I'd give it something closer to 3.5 stars out of 5. But, like always, it takes different strokes for different folks, blah blah blah.
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Jun 26, 2009 20:10:17 GMT -5
Weird...I'm a big fan of The Brood, The Blob not so much.
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andrew8798
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Post by andrew8798 on Jun 26, 2009 20:21:10 GMT -5
Saw The Blob about a few years ago I liked it took me by surprise when they killed one of the kids off
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erisi236
Fry's dog Seymour
... enjoys the rich, smooth taste of Camels.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
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Post by erisi236 on Jun 26, 2009 20:25:53 GMT -5
I love the '88 Blob movie, I've watched that flick so many times. Those gruesome melting FX are a sight to behold, and I really like the way they swerve us and kill off pretty much anyone they feel like killing off at any time. Isn't their supposed to be another one in the pipes? I'd like to see what a modern CG Blobing death would look like.
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Post by Sir Woodrow on Jun 26, 2009 20:37:48 GMT -5
The Blob is a sweet remake and shows that when there is talent behind the scenes that cares about the project remakes aren't evil.
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andrew8798
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Post by andrew8798 on Jun 26, 2009 20:42:27 GMT -5
I love the '88 Blob movie, I've watched that flick so many times. Those gruesome melting FX are a sight to behold, and I really like the way they swerve us and kill off pretty much anyone they feel like killing off at any time. Isn't their supposed to be another one in the pipes? I'd like to see what a modern CG Blobing death would look like. Yeah there is a Blob remake in the works
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Post by Rorschach on Jun 27, 2009 2:31:07 GMT -5
"b.) The Brood, as I mentioned way back when I reviewed It's Alive, is a very male-viewpoint-dominated horror picture. The film is sort of meant to show the mysterious, alien quality that is a woman's reproductive process (not to mention their thought processes), and as such, is obviously meant to play on men's fears and insecurities in regards to women. Of course, Cronnenberg also made the movie as a means of venting his frustration over the collapse of his own marriage and the custody battle over his daughter that insued. At any rate, while it does get a little overly verbose, I still think The Brood is overall a creepy, sick, and more interesting film than your rating suggests. I'd give it something closer to 3.5 stars out of 5. But, like always, it takes different strokes for different folks, blah blah blah. " That's interesting, and I didn't know that about Cronenberg's marriage. That does explain the negative light that most all the women are painted in throughout the movie. However, I stand by my 2 1/2 star rating, as for the most part, the acting is like something you'd see on a British soap opera, and as I said, I think at times the pacing suffers from Cronenberg doing a bit too much naval gazing. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it...it IS a very interesting film, and the twist in it is something that IS truly shocking, as one character is far MORE evil than you'd been lead to believe, while one is far LESS. I just wish there would have been more of a pulse to it, is all. It comes to life mainly when the Broodlings are on the attack, and then goes back into a coma again right after those scenes are done. Maybe it's the overly quiet nature of the film, and more than likely, it's because I myself have become accustomed to modern filmmaking and how damn loud IT is. I'll give THE BROOD another viewing one of these days, and see if I come away with a different take on it.
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Jun 27, 2009 9:54:59 GMT -5
Plus, unless I'm mistaken, isn't The Brood the first movie to ever feature an exploding head? Or did Scanners come out before it? At any rate, a most auspicious achievement, to be sure. ;D
Anyway, went and saw The Hangover yesterday (good, funny flick), and one of the trailers was for The Final Destination. Looks to be a most awesome time indeed, and if the TV ads sell the movie as well as the trailer does, I don't think we'll have much of a problem burying Rob f***in' Zombie's movie right out of the theater.
Also, might be slightly off-topic, but who the f*** cares...as if there weren't already enough reasons to love Tony Todd, I just finished watching the seventh season of 24, and once again, Todd was a complete and total badass in his bad guy role. For a while I've thought about reviewing Candyman, but really, reviews consisting of nothing but glowing praise are generally boring (hence why I'm a very boring poster, as I don't like bitching, generally - ever notice that all my really negative reviews just come off really awkward and lame?). Todd is one of those rare actors who has hit a home run in virtually EVERY role I've ever seen him in, and Candyman would have been nowhere near the movie that it is with any other actor in that role.
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Jun 27, 2009 9:57:05 GMT -5
Frank Darabont & Chuck Russell wrote The Blob (88)
That's why it's good
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Jun 27, 2009 12:46:29 GMT -5
Alright, I think I finally have something interesting to add to the discussion. Might not be the most timely subject in the world, but I'm sure everyone will take what they can get with me at this point.
Since there's an M. Night Shyamalan thread on the first page, and I'm a supporter of his first three wide release films, I thought I'd throw this in here. The Village is widely considered to be the turning point of Shyamalan's career, and the movie where he started to officially suck. With this movie and The Happening (I don't count Lady in the Water, as it's a pretty straightforward film), Shyamalan became like a caricature of himself, and threw in gigantic attempted swerves just for the sake of swerves, and because it was what everyone expected of him. The explanation of what "Those We Do Not Speak Of" are in The Village is just plain laughable and bad, and just one step up from the "it was only a dream" plot explanation.
Up until just now, I'd always thought that what Shyamalan needed to do with The Village was have a BETTER explanation of the creatures angle...but the thought just hit me that, you know, if they had just ELIMINATED that aspect of the plot altogether, I think I would have absolutely loved the movie, and it might even be my FAVORITE Shyamalan film. I loved Phoenix and Howard in the movie - both their characters and their performances - and I got very wrapped up in the human plot, and the story of the village itself, minus the creatures. Looking back, the whole thing was just unneeded, and really, I think that the reason that the village exists was more than enough twist - and packed a lot more subtlety than the creatures - for the usual Shyamalan fan.
Anybody with me on that one?
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Post by MysteryStingerfanTheater3000 on Jun 27, 2009 14:38:42 GMT -5
Just to let you guys know TCM is playing the original Psycho right now
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Post by Rorschach on Jun 27, 2009 14:52:18 GMT -5
Just to let you guys know TCM is playing the original Psycho right now Thanks for the heads up. Love me some Hitchcock. Errrm....that doesn't sound quite as clean as I intended it to. MOVING RIGHT ALONG..... I think Shyamalan could benefit greatly from directing someone else's material. He's a great eye behind the camera, and is a very competent director. His only issue comes from the fact that he's become the Vince Russo of filmmaking, throwing idiotic swerves into scripts and films that didn't need them. I'm a person who HATED his last effort THE HAPPENING, mainly because it had so many moments of sheer nonsense in it, yet it took itself far too seriously to be a straight out camp classic. As for THE VILLAGE...I am of the opinion that the best "swerve" M. Night could have given us in that film was no swerve at all. Let the monsters actually be the main terror of the film, after hinting that they might NOT be. Give them center stage and end the film with the villagers vs. monsters fight you led us to believe was coming. The acting in THE VILLAGE was not the issue, in my eyes. The real problem was an over-wrought script and a "big reveal" that was a huge letdown.
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Jun 27, 2009 15:04:03 GMT -5
Oh yeah, I could have gone for that ending as well, Rorschach. When I first went and saw The Village in its theatrical release, I was pretty damn amped, because (I kid you not), at the time, Shyamalan was my FAVORITE director. He's dropped CONSIDERABLY on that barometer since then, but that's beside the point.
When I was watching it, much like all of his earlier films I found myself VERY wrapped up in the human plot, and the whole "monsters" subplot just seemed like the icing on the cake, but then when he paid it off in such a ludicrous way I felt cheated. Hence why I would have just preferred the whole "Those We Do Not Speak Of" plot to just be eliminated entirely, although yours would work as well.
And I'm definitely in agreement with you on The Happening. Good lord, that movie sucked. Still, I'll defend his first three movies until the end of time, considering that now there's a contingent that maintain that ALL of his movies suck, which just isn't the case.
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Post by GuyOfOwnage on Jun 27, 2009 22:38:29 GMT -5
Wow, I have to say I'm pretty bummed out right now. I had planned on ordering Peter Bracke's book "Crystal Lake Memories", which, from what I've read, is THE definitive book on the history of the Friday the 13th series. Imagine my surprise tonight, when I checked out Amazon and discovered that the book is now out of print. I looked around at pretty much every online merchant I could think of, but it was no use. I checked eBay, and sellers are asking anywhere from $100 - $200 for a new copy! As far as I knew, there were no plans to take it out of print, but I guess something happened in the last month or so. Does anyone know when this happened?
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Jun 28, 2009 9:42:07 GMT -5
Couldn't tell ya, Guy, but that really sucks. That book is maybe the BEST F13-related product I've ever bought.
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Jiren
Patti Mayonnaise
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Post by Jiren on Jun 28, 2009 9:46:36 GMT -5
I have a spare "Crystal Lake Memories" just collecting dust
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Post by DSR on Jun 28, 2009 11:10:34 GMT -5
I got that book for Christmas.
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Jun 28, 2009 23:04:24 GMT -5
Get around to reading it yet, DSR? Surprisingly lean read for how monstrous it is; I think I burned through mine in about three days flat.
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