1982

[3] It’s not Tim Matheson or Kate Capshaw’s fault. Really, it isn’t. Both of them are plenty attractive and charismatic to carry a film like this. The problem is that A Little Sex is a boiled-down reduction of every rom-com ever made. Matheson plays a guy who talks his long-time female buddy (Capshaw) into getting married. But since he can’t keep his wiener zipped up, …

[8] Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Bones (DeForest Kelley) and the rest of the Enterprise’s bridge crew return in this sequel that better captures the spirit of the original TV show than the previous feature film. Khan Noonien Singhe (Ricardo Montalban), who was exiled by Kirk in one of the TV episodes, returns with a vow of vengeance on the man who left …

[6] Nastassja Kinski stars in this slow-moving tale of a woman who discovers her sexual urges transform her into a black leopard. Kinski learns her brother, played by Malcolm McDowell, shares the same curse and wants to forge a sexual (and incestuous) relationship with her so they can both experience sex without killing their partners. But Kinski ends up having the hots for a zoo-keeper …

[6] Part two in the Amityville franchise is actually a prequel exploring the grisly deaths of the previous family who lived in the cursed home. The first half of the movie builds to a pretty shocking climax, where the oldest son (Jack Magner) shoots his parents and three siblings to death. The second half is an attempt to immitate The Exorcist, with the family priest …

[8] An orphaned teen (Jimmy McNichol) becomes fearful of his aunt (Susan Tyrrell) after she kills a man in their home. But that just scrapes the surface of Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker. Add in that the aunt has incestuous desire for the boy and plans to keep him with her forever — full athletic college scholarship be damned. She even starts poisoning him. Also add in that …

[3] Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this flick about a Russian jet that is undetectable by radar. This is probably my least favorite film in Clint Eastwood’s rather large filmography. The first half of the movie is unbearably boring, and when we finally get to the action, it’s too poorly paced and executed to save the movie. Adding insult to injury, Eastwood’s character is …

[8] Spoiler Review! Sylvester Stallone further cemented his action super-star status with this smart, character-driven thriller about a former Green Beret suffering from post-traumatic stress who gets bullied by a small mountain-town sheriff and his deputies. When the soldier finally defends himself, the police force him into an all-out war in the misty mountainside, where his special training helps him evade the law and stay …

[3] A cannibal stalks campers while the ghosts of his two children haunt the forest in this goofy wannabe slasher flick that, despite having nature at the ready, lacks any atmosphere whatsoever. There’s a nice scene where a bad actor doesn’t realize he’s eating his own girlfriend, and the soundtrack is kinda cool in that gitchy, synthesized way, but other than that, The Forest is …

[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 …

[7] Richard Gere plays a navy cadet who falls in love with a factory worker played by Debra Winger. The romance part of the story doesn’t work as well as Gere’s combative relationship with his drill instructor, played by Louis Gossett Jr.  Director Taylor Hackford (Dolores Claiborne, Ray) does a remarkable job grounding the melodrama, especially in the tragic third act, but I have a …

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