SUMMER B-FEST 2018

PART ONE: IT CAME... FROM OUTER SPACE

It's hot out there. The last few weeks of Summer seem to last forever and the skies overhead bring a another searing day without cloud coverage. There's no apparent sign of the big thunder storm I've been hearing out. So what is to be done, maybe some feel good adventure films and family rated stories about heroic action? Perhaps it's finally time to just go outside, or to hit the beach. The coastal waters are calling... Well I guess that could be a nice idea. But the only sane choice is to get through a series of films about monsters, aliens and serial killers.

Sunday Sequel-a-Thon - Nightstalker

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984-1994)

Like so many of its contemporaries, Wes Craven's original fantasy slasher film has way too many sequels, and quite a few were simply churned out without enough creativity or imagination behind them. Which is odd considering the premise. It's a series set in a world where anything you can dream up is possible! And yet they rehash ideas way too often, usually looking to capitalize on the popularity of certain elements without sticking to the established rules and lore. But let's go deeper and see what exactly the issues are and how all of this holds up as a franchise. A lot of fans cite the third and seventh instalments as where the peaks in quality lie, so it's time to see why the entries in between are remembered less fondly. The man of your dreams is waiting...

Horror Bites - Rigor Mortis

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)

"It worked in the movie!"

For whatever reason Dan O'Bannon's horror comedy Return of the Living Dead feels like something that gets overlooked these days in comparison to more stoic horror features. I guess that the whole idea about eating brains idea is pretty well known, but audiences tend to expect this to be deadly serious these days.  But as I've probably mentioned in past reviews this kind of thing with the corpses staggering about and chewing on people is always kind of silly as a whole. Sometimes a comedy works just better than a straight horror. I'm still a big fan of Romero's original flesh eater trilogy (with Dawn of the Dead taking top spot) but there are times when goofball nonsense is essential. This is one of them.

 

Fun for the whole family

Scorecard

JULY

FILM OF THE MONTH The Long Good Friday ☆☆☆☆
A Chinese Ghost Story ☆☆☆☆
Taxi Driver ☆☆☆☆
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three ☆☆☆☆
Destroy All Monsters ☆☆☆☆
Drunken Master ☆☆☆☆
Get Carter ☆☆☆☆
Ghidora the Three-Headed Monster ☆☆☆☆
The Young Master ☆☆☆☆
Toy Story ☆☆☆☆
Iron Monkey ☆☆☆☆
Mothra vs Godzilla ☆☆☆☆
Once Upon a Time in China ☆☆☆☆

Horror Bites - Weekend with Argento

THE ANIMAL TRILOGY (1970-1972)

Dario Argento's first three Giallo movies may lack the signature music from Goblin and Claudio Simonetti and they rarely include the crazy visual flourishes he would become known for with Deep Red and Suspiria. But they sit firmly within the world of murder mysteries as solid examples of the Italian crime genre. There are no ventures into the supernatural, and no examples of extra sensory perception. The eye popping colour schemes are missing too which is kind of a shame. However there are still glimpses of a style developing, and there are imaginative moments to be found sprinkled all over the place. Things never quite come into their own but it's still worth considering each on their own merits, so let's take a look.