TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2017

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Dead Silence" (2007)

After the mysterious death of his wife, a young man returns to his home town and learns of his family's connection to a local legend - the ghostly Mary Shaw, an insane ventriloquist with an army of living dolls.
Creepy-cool spook story with lotsa atmosphere and a couple of decent jump scares. Underrated.

Did you see the version with all the weird tongue FX?  Apparently a lot of that was not in the theatrical release.  I forget who but somebody on this board recommended that movie and I really liked it.

tohostudios wrote:

Did you see the version with all the weird tongue FX?  Apparently a lot of that was not in the theatrical release.  I forget who but somebody on this board recommended that movie and I really liked it.

Nah, just the standard theatrical cut (it's on Netflix). I've heard of the extended version with the "weird tongue FX" but never seen it.

Last night I revisited "Hellraiser" (1987) for the first time in dog years.



Clive Barker adapts his own short story "The Hellbound Heart" in this cult classic that introduced Doug Bradley's "Pinhead" as the next big horror icon. The acting is mostly terrible and the story/pacing is a bit muddled but the big selling point for this flick was always the gore effects, and they are still impressively gross 30 years on.

The Island Of Death (1975)

I watched this mainly on the synopsis: a British couple vacationing on a Greek island turn the trip into a murderous rampage, killing anyone they deem sinful. Turns out this was a sleazy exploitative film. Tons of nudity,rape,murder and even bestiality. You watch this,you'll need a shower afterward.

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Did you see the version with all the weird tongue FX?  Apparently a lot of that was not in the theatrical release.  I forget who but somebody on this board recommended that movie and I really liked it.

Nah, just the standard theatrical cut (it's on Netflix). I've heard of the extended version with the "weird tongue FX" but never seen it.

Last night I revisited "Hellraiser" (1987) for the first time in dog years.



Clive Barker adapts his own short story "The Hellbound Heart" in this cult classic that introduced Doug Bradley's "Pinhead" as the next big horror icon. The acting is mostly terrible and the story/pacing is a bit muddled but the big selling point for this flick was always the gore effects, and they are still impressively gross 30 years on.

The acting is pretty bad in that film but I still love it.  It's just the stuff of nightmares.

Side note, the only other thing I've seen Doug Bradley in besides the Hellraiser franchise is Night Breed and I didn't even realize it was him until the last time I watched it and the credits rolled.

^ I haven't seen Nightbreed in ages either. I have the "director's cut" version lined up in my Netflix queue but I haven't gotten around to revisiting it.

Next up for me will prob be "Hellbound: Hellraiser II," which I'm honestly not sure if I've ever seen at all.

...and I just skimmed Doug Bradley's IMDB page and now that you mention it I've never seen him in anything outside of the Hellraiser films or Nightbreed either, haha

I really like Hellraiser II as well.  After that they start going downhill; although the "Hellraiser In Space" sequel actually isn't too bad if you can get past the silly device of reconstructing the puzzle box in space using lasers on satellites.

tohostudios wrote:

I really like Hellraiser II as well.  After that they start going downhill; although the "Hellraiser In Space" sequel actually isn't too bad if you can get past the silly device of reconstructing the puzzle box in space using lasers on satellites.

Yeah, I like "Bloodlines" (aka "Hellraiser IV") too. That's probably about as far as I'd go if I were going to revisit more of the franchise, cuz after that the series simply became a never ending parade of poop-sandwich direct-to-DVD installments.

IMDB even sez there's a new one in the works ("Hellraiser: Judgment") slated for a late 2017 release with a new actor playing Pinhead. Booooo!

Anywhoo, as promised in my last post, today I watched:

"Hellbound: Hellraiser II" (1989)


The lone survivor of the previous "Hellraiser" finds herself locked up in a psychiatric hospital, run by a twisted doctor who wants to use her as bait to prove the existence of Hell and the Cenobites. Lotsa flaying, bleeding, and screaming ensues.
This sequel is way more elaborate than the first film, with some cool/weirdo surreal set designs (which are impressive in spite of the obvious low budget) and of course plenty of gross out gore FX and make up.

Strangely, although I've seen the rest of the films in the "Hellraiser" saga (some more than once) over the years -- including all of the aforementioned direct-to-video poop sandwiches  -- somehow I had never seen this one before. I'm not sure how I missed it back in the day, but at least now I can check it off the never-ending list.

I actually think Hellraiser 2 is my favorite one of the franchise.  The whole labyrinth thing is such a surreal nightmare.

"Ah Kirsty, so eager to play so reluctant to admit it."

The last movie I watched was Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

The last TV show episode was the Family Guy episode The Juice is Loose. It's one of my favorite Family Guy episodes, and I obviously rewatched it due to O.J. Simpson being in the headlines again.

Required Fields wrote:

The last movie I watched was Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Any good? Most of the reviews I've read have been absolutely scathing.

I had never heard of the movie, or the character, till a month or two ago when my comic book store gave me a free "preview" issue of the comic series, with lots of pix and hype about the film.

The artwork in the comic was very nice but I couldn't make heads or tails of the story (which had apparently been translated poorly from the original French) so even before the reviews for the film started rolling in I'd already kinda written it off, haha.

"After Porn Ends 2" (2017)


This follow up to the 2012 documentary interviews another handful of former adult film stars from the '70s, '80s and '90s and finds out how they've adjusted to life outside of the XXX world. Some, like Georgina ("Devil In Miss Jones") Spelvin, are happily retired; others like Ginger Lynn, Lisa Ann, and Tabitha Stevens have moved on to other interests and careers, and a few, like Chasey Lain and Janine Lindemulder, have screwed up their lives so badly that they're still trying to undo the damage. Like the original, this flick is intriguing, occasionally depressing but never dull.

Kong:Skull Island (2017)

I missed this one when it was out at the theaters but was able to rent the Blu-ray from Redbox. Well, what can I say except for I loved it. Plenty of action, a good cast, and nice cgi lead to a fun movie. I'm looking forward to what Legendary has coming down the pipe now that have the rights to use King Ghidorah, Mothra and Rodan.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

The last movie I watched was Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Any good? Most of the reviews I've read have been absolutely scathing.

The special effects are fantastic, and the lead actress is a nice piece of eye candy, but otherwise, it's pretty meh.

I'm seeing Dunkirk tonight with my father.

"Police Academy" (1984)

A crew of misfits -- including girl-crazy wise-ass Mahoney, gun-nut Tackleberry, retired florist Hightower, and human sound machine Larvell Jones - go through training to become metropolitan police officers, much to the dismay of Capt. Harris, who wants to get them all kicked out.
I hadn't seen this classic '80s moron comedy (which spawned six sequels and a gazillion imitations) in dog years but it's held up surprisingly well and is still quite funny. (I doubt the same can be said for most of its sequels, though.)

"Gameplay: The Story Of The Video Game Revolution" (2013)

Interesting documentary on the history of video games, starting with their humble beginnings with Pong and Atari and taking us through the boom and crash years of the '80s and the resurrection in the '90s thanks to Mario, Tetris, Lara Croft, and many more. A cool trip down memory lane.

The Passion of the Christ

"Burnt Offerings" (1976)

A family moves into a sprawling old estate for the summer and one by one become victimized by the evil spirits in the house. A moody, slow-burning suspense flick directed by Dan "Dark Shadows" Curtis that has a lot of similarity to Stephen King's "The Shining," which it pre-dates. (King was apparently a big fan of the novel this film was taken from).

"The Nut Job" (2014)

After their supply of winter food is accidentally destroyed, a wise-ass squirrel and his forest friends plan a "heist" at a gourmet nut shop near the park where they live. Unfortunately the store is being used as a "front" by a gang planning a bank robbery, and they don't take kindly to furry trespassers.
Silly, harmless CGI 'toon fluff with a bit of a Looney Tunes mean streak. Fun while it's playing but instantly forgettable.

"Witchery" (aka "Witchcraft," aka "La Casa 4," aka "Evil Encounters," aka "Ghosthouse 2" - 1988)

A group of prospective buyers (including Linda Blair and David Hasselhoff!) visit an abandoned resort hotel on a remote island off the coast of New England. When a storm traps them there overnight, they learn that the hotel is inhabited by a ghostly presence that has nefarious plans for each of them.
This is some seriously crap-tacular Italian-made schlock with some good gore bits, but that's about all it's got going for it.
Avoid!

Since there was a long rain delay in the Pirates game, I decided to watch Goosebumps (2015).

A kid and his recently widowed mom move from New York City to a small town in Delaware. He meets his beautiful neighbor girl and her father, who happens to be R.L. Stine,author of the Goosebumps books. When the kid accidentally releases all of the cursed Stine's creations, its up to the three to save the day. With Jack Black as R.L. Stine. This was much better than I expected.

^^ My kids loved that movie (they were also big fans of the book series when they were younger). It was a fun watch.

The Sandlot

"Spider-Man Strikes Back" (1978)


Peter Parker meets a hot lady reporter who wants his help in finding and un-masking Spidey. Meanwhile, a terrorist has stolen a nuclear weapon and will use it to kill the President of the U.S. unless he's given a billion dollars in gold. Yikes!! Can Spider-Man stop the bad guys without exposing his secret identity to the world?

This flick was edited together from two episodes of the cheesy late 70s "Spider-Man" TV series (though it was released as a feature film overseas and on video), starring Nicholas Hammond as the web-head. It's terrible, but worth watching just to groove on the funky disco soundtrack, and laugh at the hilarious fashions and ultra-cheap special effects.

^^^ When that series came out, I was so psyched out for it. However, once I saw the finished product, I was very disappointed. Way to ruin a 10 year old boy's expectations!

007 wrote:

^^^ When that series came out, I was so psyched out for it. However, once I saw the finished product, I was very disappointed. Way to ruin a 10 year old boy's expectations!

Haha, yeah, it was awful. You have to wonder if the people in charge of this show had ever even read a Spider-Man comic.

I had only vague memories of this show from when I was a kid in the late '70s, I probably knew it was crap even then, but I was just happy to see my favorite hero on TV.

At least we got to see it on TV for free - imagine paying good $$ to see one of these P.O.S flicks in a theater!!

There's one more of these Spiderman "movies" on YouTube ("The Dragon's Challenge") and God help me I'm probably gonna end up watching that sometime soon just to complete the "trilogy."

I remember as a kid being really excited about that show and also the two made for tv movies of 'Captain America', even than I knew they were crap but I felt had to defend them because I was a fan of the comic books.

As a kid, tv shows based on comic books always disappointed me. Especially Spider-Man, they got the character wrong, the costume is something a kid in cosplay would decry as cheap looking today.

I did buy the Captain America movies in a two for one DVD at Walmart, and needless to say never made it past the first one.

Just got done watching a movie about nuclear war and the aftermath called Threads. Hard to find, but they have it here if anyone wants to watch it.

https://vimeo.com/18781528