Review- Galaxy of Terror (1981)

So it's that time of the year (Fall) to watch horror films in anticipation of Halloween. So I know it's not October yet, but I figured why not get in the spirit and watch an old cheesy sci-fi horror classic. I remembered this movie from when I was a kid in the 80's...yeah my parents let me watch R rated movies. It's been a very long time since I had seen this so I had to give it a re-watch. 

The stars in this film I'm sure drew a crowd. After all, Joanie (Erin Moran) from Happy Days starred in this as one of the female leads. Ray Walston, from Popeye also starred in this. While this is not a cinematic masterpiece it did feature some up and coming stars of the horror film world, such as Robert Englund known for his role as Freddy Kreuger in The Nightmare on Elm Street series. The yet to be known Sid Haig, who is from Rob Zombies films had a minor role. 

So yeah this is kinda cheesy in comparison to sci-fi classics from this period due to its low budget. But that doesn't mean it wasn't worth watching. This was one of the many horror/sci-fi films in the 80's. Not as cinematically pleasing as Alien or The Thing. For instance, there is a scene with a very similar looking alien type creature. Before Event Horizon we had Galaxy of Terror. The special effects are not terrible and can be a little gruesome at times. Be mindful that there were quite a few head explosions and corny laser gun sound effects. Check out the trailer below. If you have an Amazon Prime membership you can watch this for free. Believe it or not, they actually made a sequel to this called Forbidden Planet that I will have to check out later.

Movie Review: Goodnight Mommy

This film has been on my watch list for quite some time, and I just recently got the chance to watch it. For those who have not heard of it; it is an Austrian film about twin boys awaiting the return of their mother from the hospital after she has had plastic surgery. it's never explained why she had surgery, but that is not really important for the flow of the story. She returns and is acting differently than before, such as taking photos out of the family album and walking in to search the boys' room.  There is also one scene which is featured in the trailer where she walks out into the woods to disrobe.

Odd behavior that normal people just do not do, such as going for naked walks in the woods and ripping photos out of the family album. So the boys question whether she is their real mother or someone who has taken her place.

This film is very slow to get going and you the viewer mostly follow the twins around the estate doing what boys usually do. They explore and run through the woods near their home.  The mother does do some strange things and we see the boys start to question who this lady is. Is she a doppelganger? They even ask her at one point "Where is our mother?".  Is there something sinister going on? 

Not until the very last 10- 15 minutes of the movie do we understand what is really going on. I won't spoil it for you as this is the plot twist that gives you the aha moment where strange past scenes start to make sense. You may even want to go back and rewatch this after the ending so that things come out more clearly.  I'll admit I got bored at times with this film, but the end all I did enjoy it and rated it 3 out of 5 stars. 

Cooties Film Review

Could one chicken nugget start a zombie apocalypse? That's how the 2015 horror comedy film Cooties starts off.  It opens up with disgusting imagery which kinda hints at poor hygiene conditions of processed foods, like the book "The Jungle" did in written form.

Elijah Wood stars as Clint, an aspiring horror writer who works as a substitute teacher for the elementary school in the town of Fort Chicken. Everywhere are subtle and not so subtle mentions of chicken, and eating symbology. The town is named Fort Chicken, there is a rooster trailer hitch in the beginning, and the phrase "Eat a cock" written on a windshield.  

This is not the type of film that draws out long boring parts, and gets right down into the action fairly quickly. So if you want a fast paced and action packed film with raunchy dialogue, and comedy mixed in with the horror elements.

Another metaphor used by the filmmakers is the title, and much like it implies the way little boys pick on little girls by saying that they have cooties. The first victim of this plague is a little girl who unfortanately eats one of the tainted nuggets, and develops what looks like chicken pox. A bully then tries to pull one of her braids, and gets bit by her. The plague quickly spreads at recess, and the chaos ensues. I won't say more, as I do not want to spoil this. I rated this film 4 out of 5 stars, and highly recommend it for fans of Shaun of the Dead. And while the market is over-saturated with zombie films I still think this is one worth checking out.

Below is the trailer for this film, and I wanted to save that part for last....

Here is the film available for purchase on Amazon. I get a very small percentage of any sales.

Who is the Villain? Film Review of Red White & Blue

I came across this film in a listing of 10 horror films that should be seen to be believed or something like that. As I watched this I had seen the ending of this film a very long time ago on IFC, which is who produced this movie.  I rented a copy of it from Netflix, and no one is paying me to review this, which I will give my honest opinion on this film.

The movie does not start out at all like a horror film, and I kept asking myself...."why is this considered horror?" You see it starts out with a skanky girl named Erica, and we see how she goes from bar to bar just picking up random guys and sleeping with them. We later learn that she lives in a room for rent establishment and pays for her board by cleaning. The film jumps all over the place, and shows different players in the film. This really confused me, as the story telling is not right in your face and direct. The viewer kind of has to play detective and figure it out as the film progresses.

One of the other characters that is introduced is a man named Nate, who lives on the same floor as Erica. He seems to be a strange loner, who shyly observes Erica, and later helps her get a job where he works. One day he tells her this bizarre story about how he used to torture animals as a child. Creepy. They slowly develop a relationship, but not in the way one would expect.

At one point in the film Erica reveals just why she sleeps around, and "never fucks the same guy twice".  She tells someone how when she was 4yrs old her mothers boyfriend raped her. So is she the victim or the villain?

I don't want to spoil this film for those who have yet to see it, but it has been called a revenge film, and if you put together all of the stuff I have mentioned already you may get an idea of just what happens to make this be considered a horror film. I liked this film, and rated it 4 out of 5 stars. I think it was a bit confusing at times, but kind of made sense in the end. There is no real marking the separation of time events, but only through paying attention to the dialogue. We also see near the end just why the film is named what it is, and this was another one of those moments where you had to pay attention to catch it.

The Revenant Movie Review

I just recently saw this film, and I recalled seeing the trailer a long time ago, and thinking that it looked like an interesting film.

Here is one of the trailers for this film.

The story of this movie is that a guy named Bart is in the service, and he gets killed while serving in the middle east. He awakens to find himself in bad shape, as his mouth is sewn shut, and he is filthy. He tries to rationalize that perhaps he was buried alive, and has no idea how long it has been. He tracks down his best friend, and approaches him to get some help figuring out just what is different about him.  His friend is kinda freaked to see him suddenly alive, and almost thinks it's someone playing a cruel joke on him. He let's him in and together they realize that Bart is decomposing, but seemingly alive at the same time. Through various experiments, and research online they come to the conclusion that he is a Revenant, which is an undead being that lives on the blood of the living. Bart has to drink blood to stop decomposing, and when it is daytime he returns to a dead like state. He seems like a vampire, but looks like a zombie. Together these friends decide that they best way to provide blood for his friends survival is to become vigilantes, and at the same time help save people from criminals. While they are pursuing this scheme Bart has unknowingly started something that is not revealed to almost the end of the film. I will not spoil this, and tell you just what happens, but it is a nice unexpected twist that further makes this a great movie.  I really enjoyed this movie, and think that if you have an interest in dark comedies or zombie/undead films that this is the movie for you. I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix.