Moviecritic1990's Movie Commentary

Last week, the wife & I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe play and it was pretty good. Really enjoyed the performances and was quite memorized by the production. After the play, the wife mentioned about checking the trilogy out and we did just that. Starting with the 1st film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Now, a movie like this in 2005 wouldn't be on my radar as I've mentioned countless times that I was and still am a heavy horror & action guy. But, watching this now, I do regret on missing this one because it was quite entertaining. Like the play, the script isn't bad and the pacing is well done. Performances were good as well. The only thing that was sort of funny was the CGI effects. It looked a little hokey to me. I'm not one to watch many live action Disney flicks due to the fact that the really care more about pandering than entertaining and I feel they should step away from doing...

 The slasher genre was nearly running it's course by 1989 and a year before that, Robert Englund aka Freddy Krueger himself, stepped behind the camera to make a slasher film of it's own and that was 976-Evil. In my younger days of scouring the webs of the internet collecting horror movies, I remember getting this film along with it's sequel and at the time, I enjoyed both flicks as I considered them cheesy fun. Now with a fresh pair of old eyes and drinking coffee as I type this, I look at 976-Evil as still cheesy but a fun slasher flick. It seems like Robert was having fun directing than playing his signature role of Freddy. 976-Evil has some bad acting and the pacing itself is alright but it doesn't stop it from being fun. Stephen Geoffreys of Fright Night, plays the nerd role so well. I mean even in Fright Night, his performance was good. Here in 976-Evil, he channeled his inner Evil Ed and made his character of Hoax pretty much the same as he did in Fright Night. 97...

 If you were to ask my folks, or anyone in general, I'm not a fan of superhero films. To me, they're more of the same and very repetitive. Although, I do have a soft spot for the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films as I grew up with them as a pre-teen. Another superhero film I do have a soft spot for and honestly, I'm kind of glad they didn't make a franchise out of it is Spawn. Spawn is one of my favorite dark superhero films of the 90's mainly because it's cheesy as hell and yes, the special effects are bad but hey, I was a heavy into video games when I was a kid and I know bad graphics when I see it. Sure, the script may be cheesy and dumb at times, but it's hell of a lot of fun and better than what Marvel & DC churn out every couple of months. Martin Sheen plays a damn good bad guy in Spawn and like Jai White probably knew the script was lousy, did their best with what they got. My only real disappointment with Spawn is it's rating. Yes, I'm aware...

Ever since the release of The Blair Witch Project in 1999, it seems to me that any found footage movie that is made is trying to capture the same success. No found footage film will ever come close to riding Blair Witch's coattails. In my personal opinion, TikTok and social media influencers should not be considered a career. To me, a career is a job that you go to everyday. But that's my opinion. I don't want to make this commentary a post about social media because this is a movie blog and I'm here to spread positivity, not negativity. Now, in case of House on Eden. It's a typical found footage film nothing more, nothing less. But I will say that House on Eden is one of the better found footage films out there. Now, my wife is familiar with the cast of House on Eden as she watches the two main women on YouTube. I've seen some of their stuff but I'm not invested into it like my wife is. Both women did a great job with their first horror feature. It has all ...

 The final feature of Troma Day, Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo is a slightly better film than Sgt. Kabukiman. It's almost like if you took Evil Dead 1 & Evil Dead 2 and you put them in a blender and out comes Frostbiter. The one thing that I found really dumb was the stop motion sequences which I find were done a lot better in 50's sci-fi films than something made in 1988. Believe it or not, Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo was filmed in 1988 and sat on a shelf until 1995. One can only wonder why? The script like Kabukiman is stupid but at least it didn't go overboard on the comedy so it gets a pass from me. It may be the old age talking but I think I'm a little hesitant in checking out The Toxic Avenger films but hopefully they'll be a lot better than this & Kabukiman. 2/5

I must confess, I'm very familiar with Troma. I've just never seen anything from Troma not even the Toxic Avenger movies which I plan to next week. Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. was a film I've heard about quite a bit over the years from people and in honor of Troma day today, I decided to check it out along with Frostbiter and I must say that while Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. is great on the action, it's not great on the comedy. The script itself is very stupid but it didn't stop me from enjoying the film for it's cheesiness. I may garnered a couple of chuckles from the movie, but really, I was more focused on the action than it's attempts at comedy.  2/5   

In the early days of horror film collecting, I came across this rare Canadian gem that I recall my father telling me about. Rituals was a very hard film to find back in the day as I went through every horror site, trader that I knew of and couldn't find it anywhere. There was there was no DVD release as it was only released on VHS at the time. When I did eventually find a copy of Rituals, I can recall the quality being terrible, it was alright in the daylight scenes but when it came to night time footage, it was hard to make out certain scenes especially in the last 10 minutes. As of this writing, there is a Blu-ray release with better picture but not great. Hopefully in the future, a 4K remaster will be released. Now, the film itself is very good. I've always had a soft spot for this film, not because it's from my neck of the woods, it has a good script, good pacing and not so bad acting wise. I've always respected Canadian horror as we've had many good actors and ...

Collecting horror films, whether it be a slasher, ghost, monster etc, or just an uncut horror bootleg version of a film, I consider it a fun hobby and still collect at my old age of 35. I love the thrill of just finding stuff, watching it and being able to talk it with other horror fans. Now, aside from collecting, I was also into the Sci-Fi channel's Saturday night monster movie of the week. Some were bad, some were just cheesy and others were just really bad. Red Clover aka Leprechaun's Revenge falls into the category of bad but cheesy. This Leprechaun doesn't have any wisecracks like the original Leprechaun nor is he affiliated with the Warwick Davis's Leprechaun series. The script while stupid is only saved by it's cheese and that's all thanks to the bad acting and adding talent like Billy Zane & William Devane who do their best with this script are just here for a paycheck. I miss the days of the old monster movie of the week as they be subpar in qualit...

 This will be a little different for the blog as I'm reviewing a short film from one of my favorite horror franchises, Friday the 13th. Now, I rarely if not ever watch short films. But this had me intrigued. The last time we horror fans saw Jason Voorhees on the big screen was in 2009 and next to all the actors who portrayed Jason in each of the 12 films, all of them have made their mark in horror history. I don't have a personal favorite. But for 16 years, we've all waited patiently for another movie. But due to the legal issues surrounding the original screenwriter, it's been a long road in order for another film to happen. We have a new tv series in the works, Crystal Lake, which is said to be a prequel about Pamela Voorhees before the events of the original Friday the 13th film. I'm personally on the fence about this as I feel we don't need to know her backstory. Am I happy were getting more Jason content? Yes. But I feel a tv series is the wrong way to go g...

Maximum Overdrive was another film that I remember finding and watching thanks to my dad's vhs collection. It has a reputation of being the only film directed by Stephen King and also not based on a book he wrote. I've watched the trailer with Stephen talking about how other directors haven't made the movies based on his novels scary enough and that he was the only one that can make them scary. That sentiment alone was enough to make me laugh. I don't know how much cocaine King was on during filming but you could clearly see it in his directing style. Maximum Overdrive has a reputation of being one of those films that are so bad it's good. In fact, I think Maximum Overdrive is more bad than good. The concept of machines taking over the world sounded good on paper in 1985 but King's directing really doesn't do much force. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the film which I did. But clearly I think King was out of his element here. Pacing while not bad, ...

In my personal opinion, werewolf films are hit or miss. You have to have a good story in order to impress me and the few I've seen over the years, some good, others are forgettable. It's the story that matters to me. I've seen bits of American Werewolf in London and I did enjoy what I saw with that one in terms of story. Now with Silver Bullet, it's got one good thing going for it and it's not the cheesy werewolf effects, not the story and certainly not the rowdy bar patrons that are out to kill the werewolf. It's Gary Busey's hammy acting. From the moment Busey comes on screen, he just hams it up, hams it up that I suddenly felt like I was watching a comedy instead of a horror film. Gary Busey looks like he can be that favorite uncle of yours that spouts out lame jokes at a family function that you can't help but laugh. The few times I've watched Silver Bullet thanks to my dad's old vhs. I've developed a soft spot for it and that's mainl...

Ever since the first trailer dropped for Weapons, the horror community was hyped up for this film. I'll admit that I was excited yet, curious as to what to make of this film after seeing not one, but two trailers. After going to tonight's screening at my local theater, I was surprised to discover that people were being carded. Then again, it's an 18+ (R-rated) film and I didn't think Weapons was going to be PG-13. Once we sat in our seats, the theater manager came out started hyping the audience and I looked over to my wife wondering what in the hell did we get ourselves into? Once the lights were off and the film began, it took about 20 minutes for me to realize that the film was really good. I was very impressed with everything from acting which was very good from everyone. The script was strong which resulted in good pacing. For a film that was 2 hours, it wasted no time in getting to the meat of the story. I did read some reviews on how people didn't like it or ...

 Being a fan of The Naked Gun films and yes, I do have a soft spot for the third film despite the lackluster script, I admit I had some doubts on this reboot, remake, sequel, whatever you want to call it and I can happily say that The Naked Gun 2025 was not bad at all. It maintains the same level of humor as the original as all of our characters are oblivious to what's around them. The callback to the original film was pretty funny along with the one O.J. Simpson joke that was left in. Liam Neeson has been pigeonholed as an action star thanks to the success of the Taken films. Here, he trades his particular set of skills for comedy and I'll admit I did get a laugh out of some of the jokes especially the bathroom scene. Everyone did a fantastic job. Script wasn't bad, could have been better and the pacing was good. All in all, The Naked Gun 2025 will never be better than the original but you'll get a chuckle out of this one should you decide to watch it. 3/5

In my early days, I wasn't searching out foreign horror movies as much if not at all and that's mainly because I perceived it as very graphic and I probably would get sick to my stomach. I'm not sure why I thought that and I do regret it not filling my palate with foreign horror in my teen years. As I got older, I slowly started searching out for Italian horror which led me to Demons. Demons is an Italian horror flick but was filmed in Germany if you could believe that. It is a gory flick, but a very fun flick with people trapped in a movie theater by demons and have to survive. It's almost like an Italian version of Evil Dead but 10x crazier. I've always liked this film since the first time I've watched it and more recently, it was released on 4K along with it's sequel. I think it's time to give these films a rewatch. 3/5  

 I'll be honest. I never got around to watching the Re-Animator trilogy until my late 20's when I had an all night marathon from 1-3 and I can remember enjoying the film for what it was, a cheesy dumb fun horror flick with a good cast, good script and all around gory. When I first started collecting horror movies as a teenager, I remember reading a bunch of message boards regarding a 4th film which never happened. I'm glad it never happened as the plot sounded stupid. The Re-Animator trilogy is due for a re-watch soon and I can't wait to show this to my wife. 3/5

 I've been a huge fan of The Return of the Living Dead for years. Next to the original Night of the Living Dead, it's one of my favorite zombie flicks of all time. That being said, The Return of the Living Dead Part 2 is not my favorite zombie film. It's not even a good film either. In fact, I never liked the film no matter how many tries I've attempted to watch it and that's due to the fact that the script is terrible. It's been said that the original script was not a sequel to Return of the Living Dead but the producers insisted on making it a part of the series and also the director was not a horror guy which dampened the enthusiasm of the entire set. I wonder if the original script would have been a better film or perhaps a different director who actually cared about the film could have made it better? One will never know. The original Return of the Living Dead was a straight up horror comedy that had more emphasis on comedy then horror whereas here, it feel...

 Wow, my 300th post. Where has the time gone? For this one, I'm going back to when I was a heavy horror nerd, scrounging through my dad's vhs tapes which was always an adventure for me as a teenager which pretty much got me into collecting and amassing a collection of 3,000+ movies today which I started 17 years ago this year. Time flies when you're having fun. The film I'm going to talk about today is Pumpkinhead. Pumpkinhead was a film I seen a few times over the years and I consider it one of the best low budget monster movies of the late 80's. As I write this, I look back and think about how dark the quality was on the tape itself which it made even more scary for me at the time. Now, I just laugh at that little moment. The slasher genre dominated the 80's, but there was always room for a cheesy monster flick to come by and Pumpkinhead is indeed a fun slasher. You got a great script, good gore effects and the amazing acting talent of Lance Henriksen who is a...

 Two weeks ago while surfing Bloody-Disgusting, I came across a post that mentioned another variation of War of the Worlds was being released the following week on Prime Video & it stars Ice Cube. After watching the trailer, I found the concept kind of interesting, basically taken place in a government facility where Ice Cube's character is watching the carnage via his computer while trying to save his family. I was able to view the film last night and I can honestly say, it's one of the worst I've seen. Not counting the original 50's film and the 2005 Tom Cruise remake, there's many versions of War of the Worlds that I haven't seen and will never watch because I feel they would disrespect the original. This 2025 remake of War of the Worlds is complete garbage. My wife pointed out some things that I didn't even think about, from how is Ice Cube's character able to video chat with people while this is going on and why is the pacing bad? Well, for star...

I love zombie films. I grew up with them. The original Night of the Living Dead from 1968 is by far the greatest zombie flick ever made. Millions of zombie flicks tried to cash in on Night's success and many have succeeded and stamped their own legacy while others have faded into obscurity. In my 20's I was a heavy horror movie bootleg collector, searching for a bunch of horror flicks, uncut versions of movies, and through a bunch of message boards, I was told about the worst zombie film of all time, Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence. I was curious, yet intrigued as I've seen my fair share of bad zombie films and there's a lot I can say about this film.  I searched into my collection of movies and found my copy to check it out for old time's sake. First off, Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence is bad... very bad and you know why? There's no script. You don't know who the main characters are for starters and random people just show up out of the blue just to be killed ...

 The final installment of The Naked Gun series is decent but not great. I think after part 2, they were running out of steam and weren't sure how they could continue the adventures of Frank Drebin. I personally believe they should have stopped at 2 and not continue because while I feel part 3 has some funny moments and there are a lot of them, the script is poor. I will say that the pacing is good, it doesn't slow down at all. I just feel that the script could have been better. It's been said that in the 2000's a script was written for a fourth film which was to have been called  The Naked Gun 444.4 which would have had Frank team up with a young female sidekick but it never came to be.  A new movie was just released this past weekend with Liam Neeson playing Frank's son. I was initially skeptical on how they could do this but I do plan on checking it out. 2 1/2/5 

 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad was a box office hit when it was released in 1988 and you can sure bet that Paramount commissioned a sequel soon after. I guess they were happy about being involved with a franchise that didn't involve a hockey mask killer slashing teens. But that's a story for another time. The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear is a hilarious follow up to the original. Like the first film, the script is still strong, the pacing is good and the jokes are still funny. I don't think anyone else could have played Frank Drebin better than Leslie Neilsen. His serious deadpan delivery as the jokes play around him is very funny.  I've never listened to Robert Goulet's music but adding him as the villain was hilarious. I'll end this commentary by saying they don't make comedy like they used to. 3/5 

 In the early days of Leslie Nielsen's career, he was in the classic The Forbidden Planet and also had done a lot of dramatic work. It wasn't until the 1980 film Airplane which changed Leslie's image from drama to comedy. Even before The Naked Gun, It was a short-lived tv series called Police Squad. I've seen the show and it was ahead of it's time. I guess back then audiences weren't ready for that style of comedy yet. What I've always found funny about The Naked Gun films is how Leslie plays it straight when the comedy happens around him. Even the way he delivers his lines, you just have to laugh at the antics of the character. He may deliver his lines like he's in a serious cop film but something stupid would probably happen in the background and would react as it's completely normal. The Naked Gun has a strong script with good pacing and it's an overall laugh riot. 4/5

 Osiris was a film I went into with excitement because I missed watching films depicting soldiers against an enemy not of this world and Osiris filled that void. If you can put up with Linda Hamilton's Russian accent like I reluctantly did than you'll be okay. I found it to be a little distracting but the action and horror elements made up for it. Script is decent, not good but passable. Pacing was okay, but all in all, it was great fun. 3/5