Monster Bites - Hard Eight

OROCHI, THE EIGHT HEADED DRAGON (1994)

Also known by the name Yamato Takeru - the central character, Prince Yamato. While there are plenty of giant hero versus kaiju sci-fi movies out there, a fantasy approach is used less often. This one didn't do so well at the box office at a time when Godzilla was enjoying his second wind, so perhaps that's the reason. That being said while this is full of nods to Japanese mythology and includes names like Amaterasu and Susano, it still ends with a huge monster fighting a huge robot. I suppose technically it's a giant holy warrior, but for all intents and purposes that's the kind of grand finale this offers. The blend of creature effects and sword and sorcery adventure should be a resounding success, but the reality is less effective.

Summer Sequel-a-Thon 2018

PART ONE: WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

Following up a popular film for one reason or another is a process that can often have mixed results, as this little movie marathon inevitably proves. It's to be expected a lot of the time particularly with horror and schlock - another movie will often end up being a let down. That spike in quality on part two which leads to the third entry dropping the ball doesn't happen that often when things are not planned out properly. We touched on this in earlier b-movie excursions where is was clear that some kinds of stories just don't have the loose ends to ever receive a part two. Others are just too strange to need one... but that doesn't always stop sequels arriving. So let's get right into some of those cases in which they just couldn't leave things alone.

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 ☆☆☆☆