Moviecritic1990's Movie Commentary

  The early 90's was pretty bizarre with the Rodney King verdict & The LA riots. 1992 is a drama/heist film that centers around both the King verdict & LA Riots. The first half of the film plays out like a typical drama whereas the second half plays out as Die Hard in a factory where Tyresse is John McClane and Ray is Hans Gruber. I should also point out it's also the final film of Ray Liotta before he passed away. I would say 1992 is better than Dangerous Waters as Ray was wasted in his few scenes he was in. A good film to watch on a rainy weekend. 3/5

Wolfs is a film that I had a lot of fun with. George Clooney & Brad Pitt never once made it boring. The action sequences are fast and furious but don't go into it expecting any John Wick violence because it's not here. We also some have comedic moments which mostly have to do with the two main characters played by Clooney & Pitt not liking each other. 3/5   

When you think of the western film genre. Who's the first person that comes to you? Is it John Wayne, Glenn Ford, or maybe Clint Eastwood. Watching Quigley Down Under, I expected someone like Clint Eastwood would do a role like this, not Tom Selleck. A decent western with a great performance by Alan Rickman who two years before this film came out, shined as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, once again is the bad guy and does a fantastic job. I'm not knocking Tom Selleck who I think is a great actor in whatever he does. I just couldn't take him serious as a cowboy. 2/5  

Ninja 3: The Domination is the third and final film in Cannon's Ninja trilogy. I wasn't expecting much with this one but this was a little bit of a struggle to get through. While I did enjoy the first two films for it's cheesiness, Ninja 3 had pacing issues and the action wasn't really great. I get that "B" movies can only do more much with a low budget and such, but it could have been a little better plot wise. Decent but not great. 2/5   

Revenge of the Ninja is the second film in Cannon's Ninja trilogy and the cheese factor to quote Spinal Tap "goes all the way to eleven". Sho Kosugi is in all 3 films and in each of them, he plays a different character. Like the first film, Revenge of the Ninja is filled with bad acting, cheesy dialogue and more action packed. 3/5  

 Enter the Ninja is first of 3 ninja films from Cannon that I'm covering for the blog and the first film in this series is a fun yet average movie. It's your typical action flick with a ton of overacting especially from Christopher George. I don't know why, I just found him pretty funny as the villain of the movie with all of his overacting. In a film like this, acting skills aren't important, it's all about fighting and spewing one liners. Enter the Ninja isn't your typical Hollywood film but it's an entertaining bad "B" movie. 3/5

Next to the original 1954 movie, this is one of the best iterations of Godzilla I've ever seen. It's a beautifully made movie with characters you care about throughout. This is Godzilla... scary, threatening and a force of nature. Hollywood take notes, this is what a Godzilla movie should be like. 5/5

 Infested is probably one of the most fun spider movies I've seen. The concept of people living in a apartment fighting to survive against a spider infestation was pretty cool. This Paris apartment is dark, grim and isolated that you generally feel for these characters. A fun little creature feature that needs to be seen. 4/5

  A decent little horror flick that's best watched on a rainy day . Your average horror fan with roll their eyes with the typical horror cliches which doesn't help that you have stereotypical characters that you've seen thousands of times before in other movies. For me, it did it's job, nothing more, nothing less. 2/5

 I love the movies of the Zucker Brothers. They've made some great classics like Airplane (1980) & The Naked Gun (1988). While High School High isn't a classic, you can see some elements from the two films I mentioned. Jon Lovitz channeling Leslie Nielsen from Airplane playing it straight and unlike Leslie isn't oblivious as to what's around him. Decent little comedy that's guaranteed to give you a few laughs on a rainy day. 3/5 

I went into this movie expecting  Van Damme to ham it up and fight but instead I got a crime thriller with little action. This is Van Damme attempting to show the world he can do more than kickbox the bad guy for an hour. Although he may not be a huge star he once was in the 90's, he's still churning out these DTV action flicks for his fans and regardless of quality, he gives it his best. Is Darkness of Man a good movie? No, but it's entertaining to see Van Damme try something different out of his sandbox. 2/5

 Nicolas Cage in a post apocalyptic world fighting monsters? That's got to sound like a cool premise for a horror film? It's a decent little horror film but my only disappointment is the lack of crazy wild eyed Cage. Here he seems more grounded and not hamming it up as much. Other than that, it kind of has A Quiet Place vibe to it but whenever I see Nicolas Cage in a movie, I know I have to see it regardless of a bad script or not. An okay movie, but would have been better to see Cage chewing up the scenery. 2/5

 Before Roger Corman did a bunch of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, he made this horror comedy called A Bucket of Blood. On a low budget, Corman & Co. did a fantastic job making you care for the characters and it's a interesting little movie with personality. It was made on a budget of $50,000 and was shot in 5 days. I've been getting into Corman's early films and I can't help but can really appreciate what he did on a shoe string budget. A Bucket of Blood is a fun horror comedy that isn't afraid to have fun. 4/5

  Before the film came out, I've read a lot of articles pertaining to this movie. There had been a lot of buzz on Nicolas Cages' performance as Longlegs and let me tell you the scenes he is in, he puts the crazy all the way to eleven. You see glimpses of his face in some scenes but when you do see him, you can't help but feel creeped out. All of us in the audience, chuckled at his outbursts and there were times that I was stunned. This movie is dark, very dark and I don't think anything else this year will surpass it. 4/5

  The Cavern is a rare gem of a movie. It's more of a human drama about a group of soldiers and a lady are trapped in a cave after an explosion. I was hooked from the opening to the final scene of the film. The copy I seen was a 16mm print that was shot in 1.85 but was 4:3 as some of the credits looked stretched. It's a decent film nothing more, nothing less. 2/5

 Oh my? A Full Moon movie that's actually decent? That's a scary way of putting it. Yes my friends, Sideshow is a decent flick from Full Moon that actually was lot of fun to watch. It's cheesy but it's passable. My only critique is that near the end it slows down as it felt like they didn't know how to end it but that's one minor complaint. Step right up folks and watch Sideshow. 2/5

 Killjoy.... where to start with this one. For one thing, it's another Full Moon project with a short run time. This one however, appears to be shot on video. Killjoy is a corny horror film that makes you wonder how a movie like this can be bad but yet, you laugh at the idiocy of the characters. They made sequels to this and I have no intention of viewing said sequels so one is enough for me. 1/5

 Hell Asylum is your typical low budget horror film straight from Full Moon films. They're all the same, short run time, low budget, bad acting and bad special effects. But there's something about them that it keeps me coming back to see more of their catalog. The films aren't great but they at least provide a ton of cheese for me to enjoy. Hell Asylum is a supernatural type horror film that's so bad that you can't help but laugh at the horrible effects and acting. But again, I'm used to seeing this stuff. 1/5

When you ask someone who the best action star of the 1990's is? They'll probably say Van Damme, Stallone, Lundgren or Seagal. No one ever mentions Chow Yun-Fat which is a shame because he's deserves to be on that list of 90's action stars. Hard Boiled puts Hollywood action movies to shame. They're carbon copy flicks compared to the Hong Kong action flicks. In it's 2 hour runtime, it's full on action from the beginning until it's explosive conclusion. If you're tired of the usual Hollywood Schtick of action and want to watch something different, than I recommend Hard Boiled & any action flick from Hong Kong. You won't be disappointed. 4/5

 Gotti is a fast paced crime drama about the rise & fall of New York mobster, John Gotti. Armand Assante does a fantastic job in the role along with everyone else. This isn't the Godfather, this is a real story about a real mobster who was born into poverty and became a wealthy man later in his life until it all came crashing down. If you like me, are into crime films then I recommend Gotti.  4/5

Sometimes all you need is a silly comedy to laugh at and Pure Luck made me laugh in parts. There were a few moments where it slowed down but nothing crazy. I miss the days when comedies used to make me laugh and never hit you over the head with their politics. Nowadays, comedies rarely make me laugh and I can never seem to get into the style of humor. Old comedies like Dumb and Dumber, Stripes, and Planes Trains & Automobiles, those make me laugh. Pure Luck did make me laugh, but in spurts. 2 1/2/5 All reactions: 2 Joe D'alimonte and Patrick McGahern

  Around the time of the film's release, 3D was being used on every big major release. There were even 3D TVs you could buy at your local BestBuy & Walmart. Me at 21 years old, I never did like the concept of 3D as it would hurt my eyes after 20 minutes so I can't imagine buying a 3D TV and watching the latest Seinfeld rerun in 3D. I'm not here talking about 3D, I'm here to talk about Drive Angry. Nicolas Cage is one of those actors that no matter how bad or subpar a script is, you know the he's going to ham it up and he does in Drive Angry. I remember seeing ads after ads for this on TV & YouTube and at 21 years old, me being heavy into horror & action, I said, I got to check this out and I never did. Cut to 13 years later, I finally watched it and man oh man, it was fun. The moment Cage comes on screen you just know you're in for a fun ride. It almost has like a Grindhouse feel to it as what they should have done was scratched up the film and made ...

I like movies that have characters stuck in a single location and try to figure out how to escape. I sometimes feel a sense of dread and I think to myself, it's only a movie. What got me to checking this movie out is Kevin Spacey. The man may have issues but, I've loved his work over the years in various films. A decent little thriller for a Saturday night. 3/5

 I'll be honest when I was in high school. I was really fascinated with history. Believe it or not, I was the only one in my class who scored the highest on the history exam. I think me enjoying history resulted in me enjoying historical films. I love a good autobiographical film and Napoleon is a good film though not great. Throughout the film, you witness Napoleon from lover, megalomaniac, and butcher.  While it isn't historically accurate and I'd expect that from Hollywood. It does keep your attention throughout. The film clocks in at 2 hours and 38 minutes. If anyone can watch a 2 hour Marvel film then surely they could watch Napoleon.  2 1/2/5

  Late last year when Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey came out, I said this was the beginning of childhood movies that we grew up with turning into slasher films. I wasn't particularly impressed with Pooh when I saw it and yet, there's a sequel and I have no intention of watching the sequel. At the time of this writing, a new universe is in the works called The Twisted Childhood universe which started with Blood and Honey followed by Bambi, Peter Pan and maybe Pinocchio. I'm not here to talk about that universe. I'm here to talk about Micky's Mousetrap. The story concerns a group of friends celebrating the 21st birthday of one of their friends at an arcade when they run into Mickey Mouse and he begins slaughtering them one by one. Will anyone survive? I'll admit I was intrigued by the plot mainly because all I kept hearing was Disney's copyright on Mickey Mouse expired so the filmmakers of this movie set out to make a slasher movie. The film itself while ...

 In 1985, Jackie Chan came to the American film market with The Protector. Despite the problems Jackie had during production with director James Glickenhaus feeling that his talent wasn't fully being utilized. I think Hollywood had no clue how to market Jackie Chan and his style of action. The Protector isn't a great film but it's a cool buddy cop action flick that really showcases Chan's stunt work. 3/5

 The Eiger Sanction is very much a 70's film with a different role to Clint Eastwood. With his popularity in the Dirty Harry films & westerns, he wanted to try something else to avoid being typecast. Clint isn't a cop or a cowboy. He's a retired assassin/art professor. That's a bit of a stretch for him wouldn't you say? You can think of it as an Americanized version of James Bond (At one point Clint was offered the role of James Bond but turned it down). A little slow in pacing but it's a fun little film to see Clint try something out of his element. 3/5

Tarot is nothing more than your typical teeny-bopper horror flick with gen-z dialogue that's enough to make you cringe. The plot's been done before many times. Though, I will admit I did enjoy the make up on the creatures. I would love to see another film based on the creatures themselves. Tarot is like a level in a video game for teens getting into horror films. Each level goes from light horror to extreme horror. I've been into horror for over 20 years and I know good or bad when I see it and Tarot is decent. 2/5

  Another example of a action film that's so bad it's good. Basketball star Dennis Rodman is an Interpol agent living in a French monastery battling a evil villain who has a computer chip that could be used to take over the world. A plot like that sounds like it's the best movie ever made. No, it's the best bad movie ever made. A lot of these direct to video action flicks are nothing more than cheap fodder trying to copy Hollywood's action flicks. I guess that's why I enjoy them. They keep making them and I keep watching them. 

 Silent Night should have been a return to form for John Woo. But it was a bit of a struggle to get through. Don't get me wrong, I love action movies but, the lack of dialogue caused the film to be awkward and unnatural. The main character suffers a horrible tragedy which results in him losing his voice so he decides to get into shape by watching videos on YouTube and go after the bad guys. A plot like this, I've seen so many times before. But I have to admit, I was initially interested in this take by John Woo but it was wasted by pacing, and unbelievable moments. It could have been better if the script was a little tighter. 2/5 

Over the years I've been watching & collecting movies, I've seen a lot of so bad it's good and R.O.T.O.R. falls into that category. From the very beginning, it is clear that it's a Robocop knock-off with bad dialogue, action scenes that will make you laugh and you'll wonder, how much was the budget for this? If you & your friends ever have a bad movie night, please add R.O.T.O.R. to the list. You'll laugh, you'll probably cry, but, you won't be disappointed. 2/5

 Tom Selleck really wanted the role of Indiana Jones but unfortunately, his busy schedule of Magnum P.I. at the time caused him to turn the role down. Regretting this, his first leading role was in the 1983 film "High Road to China". It's been said that the film is a knock-off of Indiana Jones, but the script was written in the 1970's long before Jones entered production. High Road to China can be described as a fun old fashioned escape movie. It's sad that they don't make films like this anymore. A great film for an afternoon. 3/5

"Hunting season is over". There have been a lot of films that depict the most dangerous game. I've seen quite a few over the years. Next to Surviving The Game (1994), there's one other film that I think is the best of the bunch and that's the 1993 film, Hard Target. This is Van Damme at his finest. In the 90's he was a huge star churning out classics like Death Warrant, Lionheart & Double Team. It's safe to say that early Van Damme is a lot better than later Van Damme. Despite the studio interference, clashes with Van Damme & John Woo, this is one of the best action films of all time. Depending on what version you see, it gets better with each viewing. Lance Henriksen gives a great performance as Emil Fouchon. The man who will stop at nothing to get his prize. If you want to see a piece of 90's cheese, then look no further. 5/5

For horror in the 1980's, it was all about the slasher genre. Every slasher was trying to be the next Friday the 13th. Some succeeded and became cult favorites, others are just a distant memory. Curtains, may not be well known by horror fans, but it's actually pretty good. It's your typical whodunit story. Someone's murdering people one by one... who could be the killer? For me, a slasher has the same of type of story just set in many different locations with new ways to shock. Curtains may just be your typical slasher trying to ride off Friday the 13th's success but there's always that diamond in the rough that may surprise you. 3/5

I love a good horror anthology. Creepshow, will always top my list for best horror anthology film. From 1965-1974, Amicus Productions made a total of 7 horror anthologies. The most famous of them all is Tales From the Crypt (1972). There were a few films that weren't a part of the main series, The Uncanny is one of those films. I found it to be a fascinating watch. In the wraparound segment, Peter Cushing is an author trying to get his new book published about cats being supernatural type creatures sent by the devil to take over the world. To convince his publisher about his findings, Cushing relates 3 tales of terror. The first story is set in 1912 London.  A wealthy woman has decided to rewrite her will and give her fortunes to her cats. This doesn't sit well with her maid Janet who is also having a fling with her boss's nephew As Janet attempts to get the will from her boss's safe, she kills her boss and the cats avenge her death. The second story is set in 1975 Queb...

 A movie that came out 2 years ago is being remade? Is this some sort of new trend in Hollywood now. Remaking movies that came out a year or so ago? Another typical production from Blumhouse who's churned out so many movies that it can be hard to distinguish the good ones and the bad ones. I mentioned in the review for the original Speak No Evil is the lack of action from our main characters. Here, the family puts more effort into trying to survive the hell they're in. I've also mentioned how I despise remakes and how they add nothing new to the table. They tend to dumb it down for the audience, add a couple of talking points to make them sound hip for the room and have a happy ending. The main characters of the family in this version are more unlikeable than the original. The only one that stood out is James McAvoy. He's almost like Christian Bale where he convinces you he's that character whether he's good or bad. Despite the pacing issues, it's decent, bu...

When you think about it? Speak No Evil is not a horror film. Sure, it has horror elements but it's not a horror film. It's more of a drama. I won't get into spoilers for those who want to watch it, but I admit to feeling frustrated for the main characters struggling to survive the situation they're in. Characters in movies have to be likeable for the story to progress and yet with every passing moment, the lack of action caused me to not care for them. Since 2020, I've been getting into watching movies made overseas. I like to think that there's always that one movie that will stand out and be really good. Speak No Evil, doesn't stand out for me. 2/5

 I remember when IMDB in the 2000's had a messageboard where people blasted one another on the subject of remakes. The comments were more entertaining that you couldn't help but laugh. Now, I'm going to go on the record and say that I was and still am one of those people that despise remakes because they add nothing new to the table. Night of the Living Dead is the only remake that I actually enjoyed. Yes, they changed certain things to update it for the 90's. It didn't stop me from enjoying it. Tom Towles who played Harry Cooper, did a great job adding his own spin to the character. The character of Barbara played by Judith O'Dea in the original film was essentially a comatose wreck is updated by Patricia Tallman who goes from a mousy librarian type who we meet in the opening of the film to a bad-ass in the second half. Tony Todd & the rest do a great job adding their own spin to their characters. While I still maintain that I despise remakes, Night of the ...

As a teenager, I was exposed to the films of George A. Romero. Putting Creepshow aside, I find that George's Living Dead movies are a fun scary bunch that not only deal with the horror of an outbreak but how society would react if something of this nature happened in real life. Night of the Living Dead is considered a cult classic in the horror genre. Everything from acting, story, and special effects is amazing. I look at Night of the Living Dead as an introduction to the zombie genre. You generally feel for these characters trapped in a farmhouse, struggling to survive against a scary situation. Horror movies today lack the scares and focus on blood & gore. Instead of doing that, they should be focusing more on new ways to scare the audience without resorting to blood and gore and I feel that filmmakers should be giving credit to Night of the Living Dead on how to make a movie scary. For anyone starting off with horror, I recommend Night of the Living Dead.  5/5 

 What do you get when you combine The Three Stooges & zombies? You get Cemetery Man. The first half of Cemetery Man plays out like a horror comedy with two cemetery workers killing zombies. I reference The Three Stooges because the assistant had a Curly Howard look to him. The second half kind of slows down a bit and changes course which is a shame because I was enjoying it. Zombie horror comedies can be fun if done right. Look at The Return of the Living Dead. If it didn't have the humor it wouldn't have worked.  A fun zombie comedy unfortunately bogged down in it's second half. 2/5

 Clive Barker is one of those writers that makes weird interesting films. Putting Hellraiser (1987) aside. Transmutations (1985), Rawhead Rex (1986) & Nightbreed (1990). I find those films weird but fun to watch. Barker has a vision to shock and creep you out that some of the films I've mentioned were the victims of studio interference. Nightbreed suffered the worst of that, but that's for another time. Lords of Illusions (1995) is a strange film. Fun, but strange. I passed by this film so many times as a teenager not knowing what to make of it that I can't believe it's taken me so long to check it out. Films like these are a good for an afternoon or a Saturday night film fest.  If you ever decide to have a Clive Barker marathon than I recommend adding this to your list. 4/5

 " You have to have faith for this to work on me" is a quote said by Jerry Dandrige to Peter Vincent in the 1985 classic, Fright Night. This film worked on me into becoming the horror fan I am today and I owe it a great deal. Fright Night, Creepshow (1982), The Return of the Living Dead (1985) & Hell Night (1981) were my introduction to the horror genre and also started my movie collecting hobby. Fright Night has everything going for it from a great story, great effects and awesome performances from everyone especially Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent. I'm of the opinion that vampires should be scary, not sparkled up. I recommend it to anyone starting out watching horror movies to give Fright Night a try. You won't be disappointed.                                                              ...

 A film by M. Night Shyamalan...Watching one of his movies is hit or miss. The last few films I've seen of his, Split (2016) & Glass (2019) were in my opinion, good films thanks to the brilliant performance of James McAvoy. Trap (2024), falls into the hit or miss category. While I'll admit the plot was an interesting idea, the execution of it wasn't great. I won't dismiss the performance of Josh Hartnett who I thought did a great job along with everyone else. I just wish the script was a little better.  That being said, I look forward to Shyamalan's next movie hopefully with another twist. 2/5

  When I was in my late teens, early twenties, I made it my mission to find and watch every 80's horror & slasher movie that existed. Almost 20 years later, I've found a good chunk of 80's horror and as a movie collector and cinephile, I love finding stuff like this. I'm here to talk about Deadly Blessing. This movie has been on my radar since my 20's. In my early teenage years, when I started getting into horror movies, I kept passing on Deadly Blessing because I didn't know what to make of it. I was really into The Evil Dead & Friday the 13th franchise and unless it was a slasher film, I wasn't interested. Cut to almost 20 years later, I finally had a chance to check Deadly Blessing out and I liked it. You don't see a lot of horror movies these days that are set or dealt with the Amish community. Any movie with Ernest Borgnine is guaranteed to be fun whether the script is good or bad. How many people in their 30's know who Borgnine is? Not ...