Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I love this movie. I can watch it every year. But, I wonder if the ads takes you to 2023, making it hard adapting to modern conformity, etc.... If anyone has not seen this, please watch it uninterrupted. Turn off the phone, etc..

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Good points. IMO the film was watchable, but the main attraction of the picture was Ruth Gordon as Maude. She was usually enjoyable to watch, but I think she --much like Clifton Webb before her-- essentially played the same character in most of her movies.

Zero Hour! (1957)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

They just kept on making these Hellraiser films (or, more to the point, they kept turning original screenplays into Hellraiser films.)


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Hellraiser : Deader - (2005)

The seventh Hellraiser film reminded me of the fourth inasmuch as I couldn't understand it's main conceit, with a cult leader, Winter LeMarchand (Paul Rhys) raising people from the dead for reasons that are hard to figure. Investigating is journalist Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) who goes to Bucharest to track him down. Like some of the previous Hellraiser films, this was shoehorned into the franchise by making changes to a screenplay that had nothing to do with Hellraiser. Somehow, they twist the story into one where LeMarchand wants to wrest control of the Cenobite's dimension from Pinhead using Klein and his band of followers. Despite being warned not to, Klein opens the box, but as to exactly how all this works, I had no idea - Pinhead (as usual appearing very briefly) arrives during the film's climax and whisks everyone away to his dimension, but Klein sends him back to hell by throwing the box against a wall. Terrible movie, but it happens to have one wonderful scene that wouldn't be out of place in a great horror film, where Klein searches an apartment with a suicide victim hung in it - restricting her ability to search a fertile area of discovery. The film held such promise at that time, but it's cheap and makes no sense.

3/10


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Hellraiser : Hellworld - (2005)

This was an awful, awful 2000s teen scream horror film converted into the eighth Hellraiser movie. It features Lance Henriksen and a young Henry Cavill. In it, Hellraiser (called "Hellworld") is a famous, addictive computer game and those who beat it earn the right to go to a Hellworld Party. It starts with a group of friends at a funeral - one of their number committed suicide after playing the game too much - and it then shifts forward two years. All the friends have earned the right to go to a Hellworld Party, but not all is as it seems. This is a new direction for the franchise, but I can't stand the "wacky and horny teens" formula, and I was unimpressed by all the twists at the end. Pinhead shows up to deliver a line here and there, but mostly this is cheap and derivative standard horror stuff, with nothing to really make it worth your while watching.

3/10

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Zabriskie Point (1970)

That's how Robert Shaye (Robert Shaye) pitches a Nightmare on Elm Street sequel to Heather Langenkamp (Heather Langenkamp). The blessing and the curse of making a successful film is that fans will always want more, and the studios – being the business enterprises that they are – more often than not will bow to that, putting business interests above creative and artistic ones in the process.

New Nightmare is a bit of an exception to that. The film is set in a fictonalized version of "reality" where Langenkamp, along with other cast and crew members of the franchise, are being terrorized by Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) who is invading the real world. It is a unique meta approach that I'm sure wasn't an easy sell back in 1994, but that somehow works.

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Full review on my Movie Loot

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The fight to end all fights! Freddy vs. Jason follows the two titular antagonists as they fight each other; something that had been in the minds of the studios since the 1980s. The film features a weakened and forgotten Freddy (Robert Englund), who resuscitates Jason (Ken Kirzinger) and sends him out to kill teenagers because somehow he thinks people will put the blame on him, allowing him to gain power and come back to life.

But anyway, the film is mostly fun, with some nice kills and cool setpieces thrown around. There's a scene where Jason interrupts a rave in the middle of a cornfield that is pretty cool. Then there are the two iconic fights between the two main baddies: first in Springwood and Freddy's boiler room, and finally at Crystal Lake. There is a certain amount of eye-rolling silliness, like Freddy bouncing Jason off of pipes and vents like a pinball machine, but at least it's stuff you can laugh at.

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Full review on my Movie Loot

It hasn't been a good period for movies and this one will not move the meter very much - Ant Man and the Wasp - the latest Marvel movie - The characters are sent to the "Quantum Realm", where they interact with strange creatures.

Acting ain't bad, but the plot is an incomprehensible mess. The whole thing is somewhat redeemed, however by fairly spectacular FX and animation, full of saturated, colorful imagery, explosions, complicated mechanisms, and extended combat sequences. As for what actually went on, I'm not sure, but it looked great getting there.

Zardoz (1974)

Made in Britain (1983)

Searing performance from Tim Roth as a 16 yo skinhead. It crystalizes the social state of britain through the early eighties. A difficult watch because Roth plays the most annoying character ever on top of the racism. It's disjointed but I realise that the director (David Leland) was making a TV film so some of the production values can be forgiven. A very powerful piece of cinema/TV and very dated.

30th Hall of Fame

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) -

Friedkin is now two for two with memorable car chases.

I might be rating this film too high, but since its best elements have stuck with me to a significant degree since watching it, my better judgment says my rating for it is fair. On the surface level, it has some strong acting across the board (Willem Dafoe, in particular) and some well-executed action scenes (including a car chase scene whose choreography and sense of thrills rivals that in The French Connection). It also has some memorable music choices. Beyond all the gloss though, it's also a compelling story which examines the personality and morality of the two main officers in the film. Chance is reckless and corrupt, while Vukovich is more level-headed and follows the rules. Watching the two of them carry out the investigation in their own distinct ways and observing the impact it has on them is where the film shines. For instance, while the aforementioned car chase is great, the aftermath of it comes with its own set of teeth since Vukovich is crippled by guilt for his involvement in it, while Chance remains unfazed throughout it. I wasn't a fan of the culmination of Vukovich's arc since his actions were too rushed for me to buy them, but this is a minor flaw in the grand scheme of everything else. For the most part, the film handles the characters very well and does a fine job at exploring the ways their shaped by their surroundings.

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Saw this several years ago with my wife. She wasn't that into it which affected my enjoyment, and I knew I had to see it again.

I'd say this is rightfully hailed as a classic. The look, atmosphere, and villain are each all time great level quality. I did have issues with it though. I wasn't a big fan of the character of the mother, and the religion was a little too much at times. I thought the first 40 minutes could have been as much as 30 minutes longer, and the whole thing could've been executed better, especially the ending. After seeing it twice, I see it as a must see flawed masterpiece.

Krull (1983)

The Last King of Scotland 7/10

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 7/10

Prey 7.5/10

It all ended yesterday with the last "gotta hold onto the rights" phase of the Hellraiser sequels and the reboot - I watched them all, and that's a feat.


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Hellraiser : Revelations - (2011)

This ninth very-low-budget Hellraiser film holds the distinction of being the most hated amongst fans - partly because for the first time Doug Bradley doesn't appear as Pinhead. It was made because Dimension Films and The Weinstein Company were about to lose the rights, which would have gone back to Clive Barker if they didn't make a Hellraiser film within a requisite time. It was rushed, and so cheap that nobody really cared about quality - just so long as there was one out there. I have to say, in doing that all of the fancy nonsense is left behind and we do get a Hellraiser film that goes back to the series' roots. Two kids shoot off to Mexico for an adventure, where they're given the puzzle box by a mysterious bum, and get taken by Pinhead and the Cenobites. Their families mourn their disappearance, but one day one of them comes back, hoping to strike a deal and escape his newfound hell. I appreciated the tone and simple story, but it's an ultra-forgettable film.

3/10


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Hellraiser : Judgement - (2018)

They made a lot of these things, didn't they? Same story as the last film - they had to retain the rights, and so needed to make another. This was the tenth film in the series, and is what I count as the worst. First of all - the whole bit with the serial killer basing his killings on the 10 Commandments, and the whole style based on Se7en - it goes way too far to be homage, and is pure rip-off. Plus the way Pinhead is tied into the story is too silly/weird for me - he laments that modern technology is making his job obsolete (I really don't get how - but it's not explained) so he sets up a kind of celestial courthouse in a ramshackle house down the road, and trials commence. There's an Auditor, Assessor and jury, and the way trials are conducted is freaky and disgusting. The two worlds meet when one of the detectives finds the house, and goes on trial. There's a twist ending you'll see coming from a mile out, but overall you'll feel like you've watched a mess that's mostly a blatant copy of Fincher's Se7en and not really a Hellraiser film.

2/10


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Hellraiser - (2022)

Just because this is the best Hellraiser film since the first couple doesn't mean this is a really good film. It's the reboot everyone had been waiting for, and it's a pretty typical modern horror film. The characters aren't really fleshed out all that well, and are all in their early 20s, and it looks like what should have been the make-up effects are CGI. The whole puzzle box mythos has been expanded, and in this there are six or seven stages, and six or seven victims when the box is solved and starts to go through phases. In theory it's really interesting, but oh boy did they get some 0 charisma actors playing 0 charisma characters in this film. It plods through a slasher-like plot, and even though we get a taste of the Cenobites and what they are, it all feels kind of bland and stale. It's just a supernatural slasher, and nothing more. I would have liked more practical effects, more interesting characters, better actors and an interesting plot. We're thrown Hellraiser scraps, but not given a satisfying meal.

5/10

The Hellraiser marathon is over.


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The Way - (2010)

I was looking for something deeper than what I got with The Way - I was expecting too much I guess. Written and directed by Emilio Estevez, and starring his dad Martin Sheen, it is a spiritual journey - he plays Thomas Avery, a taciturn ophthalmologist whose son dies while walking the Camino de Santiago. While there to cremate him (his son is played by Estevez in flashbacks and sightings during the trip) he's inspired to take his ashes along the pilgrimage despite the impromptu nature of that decision and his lack of preparation. During that long walk he meets a Dutch man who wants to lose weight, a woman who was in an abusive relationship and an Irish author - the four bond during the highs and lows of backpacking. I'm not sure what he learns, or how he's transformed by the trip - but it does seem to ease the grieving process for him. I guess you could say he opens up, and instead of constantly rejecting the worldview of others he becomes a listener and learner. I'm sure actually walking the Camino would bring more of a spiritual transformation than watching The Way - but it's an okay film.

6/10

SF = Z



[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

Don't Make Waves (1967)

This line, delivered towards the end of this bleak, post-apocalyptic drama from the Soviet Union, highlights what I think is the main line of thought of the film; the idea of transmitting hope in spite of everything against it. Set in this post-nuclear wasteland, Dead Man's Letters follows Larsen (Rolan Bykov), a professor determined to find hope somewhere, anywhere.

Although the slim hopes of most people rely on the existence of a "central bunker", Larsen is sure that there has to be more outside of that. Released towards the end of the Cold War, this seems like a very clear analogy of the centralized aspect of communism in the Soviet country; something that results in fewer resources, and therefore fewer chances to "survive" outside of this "centralized" system.

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Full review on my Movie Loot and the HOF30.