[8] Dino DeLaurentiis foots the bill for this gravely ambitious film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel about the messianic rise of an off-lander who rallies a reclusive desert civilization in a fight against galactic takeover. Hot off The Elephant Man, David Lynch was chosen as director — a bold but inspired choice. And in the end, it’s Lynch’s style and aesthetic taste that …
[7] More of a verite, psychological approach to the slasher genre than most of the ’80s slasher windfall, William Lustig’s Maniac rises above its exploitation roots by putting us inside the killer’s mind and keeping us there, even as his sanity starts to unravel. The killer’s back story may be a little cloying, but Joe Spinell delivers a terrific leading performance, and the dream-like ending seals …
[4] As far as I could tell, Xtro is about a father who is abducted by aliens, then returned to his family as a strange alien-human hybrid. But I’m not sure. First, there’s a weird crabby-looking monster in the woods, then it rapes a woman, then the woman gives birth to a fully-grown man (the single reason to see this movie. The man begins to …
[6] After a city-wide blackout allows their escape, four criminal psychotics terrorize a new doctor and his family. The script is wobbly well into act three, and I’m not all too happy with how the escapees are characterized, but Alone in the Dark still pulls out a few decent horror sequences. The scene where the babysitter is terrorized by a knife through the mattress is …
[6] I know I’m being too kind to this over-produced piece of cheese, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it at least a little bit. It falls short of all previous installments primarily because the justification for fighting this time around is the weakest, and also because the drama is more forced. The Cold War very much influenced the American propaganda …
[4] There really isn’t a compelling reason for those ghosts to continue haunting poor little Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke). But if it were a stand-alone movie outside a famous franchise, Poltergeist III might not have been half bad. There’s inventive use of mirrors throughout the movie (it’s how the spirits travel this time around), and the aspect of a broken family trying to reforge itself …
[7] This film and Top Gun are the ones that really launched the Simpson/Bruckheimer brand of action/comedy that would dominate the box office through the late 80s and 90s. (Even after Simpson’s death in ’96, Bruckheimer is still a top name in action today.) Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I won’t get into. I’ll just say that at least it was a fresh …
[8] The Coen Brothers broke onto the film scene with this claustrophobic mystery/thriller featuring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and Dan Hedaya in a murderous love triangle. M. Emmet Walsh complicates matters for all of them as a hitman for hire. The concept is simple, but mined for every ounce it’s worth — just how hard is it to kill someone? Everything you love about the …
[6] This Dino DeLaurentiis production of the infamous tale of mutiny welcomes more shades of gray into the characters of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian than the 1935 original film, though I wouldn’t say it’s a better film overall. Bligh and Christian are portrayed by Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson, respectively. Bligh is a more complicated and sympathetic character; Christian is a more blindly passionate …
[5] In the first film, Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) was a fish out of water in New York. This time around, the action is transported largely to the Australian Outback, with Linda Kozlowski’s character being more of the fish. Unfortunately, this sequel is short on laughs and anti-climactic, but Hogan and Kozlowski are charming enough to make it worth a gander for those who enjoyed …
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