Moviecritic1990's Movie Commentary

With a runtime of 74 minutes, Scared Shitless is a fast paced fun Canadian horror flick that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a horror comedy with emphasis on the word "comedy". Part of the reason as to why I enjoyed the film so much was not just the creature effects which were laughable, but it's soundtrack. It consists primarily of 70's & 80's Canadian music that I immediately recognized. I have a soft spot for that kind of music as I've always said growing up it's better then what comes out today. For a monster movie, the script isn't bad nothing weak that I noticed. I expected the acting to be what I anticipated. In a creature feature, you can always find the acting to be miniscule at best. I think the actors had fun with the material that was given. Pacing as I as mentioned very crisp and smooth at 74 minutes. I'm not sure what else to say as I enjoyed this film so much. I'm Jeff Roman. 4/5   

 It's been quite awhile since I've seen a creature feature and it's been quite awhile since I've seen a movie from the early days of Full Moon. Nothing personal against Full Moon today, it's just they don't hold a candle to their earlier work from the 80's-90's, Shadowzone is a fun little cheesy monster movie where it's script is decent, but not great and acting, so-so.  The special effects are laughable at best. I've always said practical is better than CGI. It's more believable in my opinion. When watching a monster movie, who's really out there saying, "the acting's brilliant or the script is awesome? We watch monster movies for the blood and guts. Creature features usually have a terrible script but it's the cheese factor that stops it from being a bad movie altogether and the acting leaves a little to be desired but it's all about the cheese. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

 Resurrection Road was a film that I couldn't wait to check out as it was one of Michael Madsen's final films before he passed away earlier this year. As of this writing, he had about 16 films in post-production or completed. I'll be sure to eventually go back and check out his filmography when I can. In the case of Resurrection Road, the movie took me by surprise by the way it was going, I thought I would have to switch it off, it turned into full blown horror flick in the second half. That's right, Resurrection Road tries to be another From Dusk Till Dawn. Action film in the first half and horror film in the second. The script is okay, could have been better due to some of the pacing issues which is not so surprising since the film clocks in at 79 minutes. Once it goes into horror mode then it picks up. Acting is okay, I could tell Madsen looked tired and out of it. But he did his best with what was given. It's been a very long time since I've seen two genres ...

I always get excited when movies that are considered lost media are found and get a general release. You hear about films that were made and than abandoned due to lack of funds or the print was being held for lots of money. Whether the reasons that it may be, it's fascinating to see something get restored that was once lost years ago. Arbor Day is a lost slasher that was never released on VHS back in 1990 succumbing to the bowels of lost media for 35 years never to be seen again. To be perfectly honest, I've never heard of it until I read an article about it on Bloody-Disgusting. Me being the slasher aficionado and trying to collect as many as possible, I knew what to expect when going into one of these films. Arbor Day is a film that's bad all over especially in it's acting & writing department. I don't expect much when it comes to writing as I've seen it all before. The writing in Arbor Day is downright bad. I've seen my fair share of amateur films and...

 As a teenager who started becoming a film buff. I grew up watching a lot of horror and action films. When it comes to action films, I find that the direct to video stuff is more cheesy, fun and get away with a lot more then a Hollywood action flick. That isn't to say I don't like the action flicks Hollywood churns out weekly. There is a difference between the two that I've noticed. An action flick from Hollywood has studio interference, messaging to pander it's audience which hinders the enjoyment, and actors who excel in those roles even though half of them can't act their way out of a paper bag. A direct to video action flick is different. There's less studio interference, not a lot of messaging to pander to it's audience, and the most important thing is it's fun. Full Eclipse is a movie where it's script is cheesy on paper, but absurd on screen. The idea of werewolf cops sounds far fetched when you think of about it. In the 90's, the plot of ...

Sisu: Road to Revenge is a hilariously graphic crazy follow-up to the original Sisu. Obviously you all know my stance on sequels. They aren't needed, less is more. Now, I put that aside for this film as I enjoyed the first film and going into the sequel, I knew it was going to be bonkers crazy and indeed it was. Our main character once again, doesn't speak throughout the entire film and unleashes bloody revenge on the bad guys. The kills are even more funnier this time around and it was nice seeing Stephen Lang & Richard Brake, two great actors who excel at playing villains. The script is once again typical of an action flick, pacing was very fast. I mean I was surprised to see it hit the one hour mark as I was enjoying it so much. Acting isn't not bad. Then again, when watching an action flick does anyone really care about acting? No, we just like to see the good guys kill the bad guys. Our main character doesn't speak once throughout the film so it's all just ...

If anyone here reads this blog and decides to watch Sisu. I want you to imagine John Wick in World War 2 but more violent. Sisu is an extremely action violent film that puts John Wick to shame in it's violence department. Sure, we can laugh at the many ways John Wick kills the bad guys. Here in Sisu, it's the exact same thing, only much more graphic. The script is what you would expect with a typical action flick. It doesn't slow down for even a minute. The acting is okay for the most part. I'm not expecting any Oscar nominated performances here. I had a lot of fun with Sisu and as much as weird it's for me to say, I can't wait to check out the sequel. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

I watch a lot of movies from different time periods as I enjoy learning about the time era, the political climate and the way actors acted compared to today.  You look at Hollywood back then and it's a much different beast compared to today. There are no actors that I can think of that can hold a candle to the legends of back then. I look at films like The Defiant Ones and I really strive to enjoy what makes them perfect and yes, while things may have changed 67 years later after the film is released. We can learn a lot about the era. The Defiant Ones has parts  involving racism and use of the N word and hearing the stuff that was said in the film, it wouldn't fly today. I'm of the opinion that instead of banning movies because of outrage, we could watch them and not have to worry about any sort of controversy. I think schools should films like The Defiant Ones and study the attitudes of the time and not having to worry about offending anyone.  I'm not going to go into ...

Before watching the trailer or reading any articles about Shelby Oaks, I had never heard of Chris Stuckmann or his YouTube channel. It was only through a friend of mine at work that I got to know who he was and how he reviews a film. I may be a film buff and somewhat of a critic, but he's got a better style than me that's for sure. Shelby Oaks has the rare distinction of a film that was funded successfully by Kickstarter after 21 days which is great feat and I applaud Stuckmann and crew for this. As for Shelby Oaks itself, I would say the film is great, script is good, acting isn't bad and pacing's pretty good. I went into this thinking it would be a typical found footage paranormal horror film but to my surprise it was half found footage and half non-found footage and not a paranormal film so that was unexpected. Shelby Oaks was a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing what Stuckmann has up his sleeves next. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

 It's been awhile since I've seen an anthology film and I was in the mood for one and low and behold, The Devil's Messenger popped up on my feed and I checked it out. Now, I read into the film upon watching the movie and discovered the stories in The Devil's Messenger were taken from an obscure TV show in Sweden called 13 Demon Street and that they shot new footage with Lon Chaney Jr. to pad out the running time and with a crisp run time of 70 minutes, it wastes no time getting into the 3 stories of terror. The movie itself is very low budget and the vhs quality left a lot to be desired but I'm not hear to talk about the quality but the film and stories themselves. The first story concerns a sex crazed photographer burnt out on chasing the ladies takes a trip to New England for rest. As he takes pictures on his trip, he comes across a woman coming out of a house, proceeds to attack her. The photographer slowly goes nuts when the woman appears on the photograph of th...

Having enjoyed Richard Stanley's first film, Hardware & his later Nicolas Cage freakout masterpiece, Color Out of Space, I was initially hesitant to check out Dust Devil as I wasn't sure what to make of it. I think should have avoided it entirely as Dust Devil isn't a good film and part of the reason is the studio interference. Dust Devil was a film that was produced by the successful Weinstein Bros and if you have ever seen a film produced by them, chances are that film was a victim of studio interference and I've read story after story on films that were subjected to massive cuts and Harvey Weinstein going ballistic on not getting his way. Dust Devil was one of those films that was edited bad and is the one reason why I think the film suffered. There may have been a good script somewhere in this movie. But with bad pacing and edits, the film isn't very good. There is some good acting in Dust Devil mainly from the main actor who plays the title role and everyon...

Solvent... Another found footage film that's bizarre, f*cked up, weird, & then bad. It starts normally like any typical found footage film would and then it goes into bizzarro territory soon after. I couldn't fathom what was happening trying to understand what was going on but then eventually I just gave up right after. Script is bad, acting is atrocious and hammy, especially from Jon Gries aka Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite and pacing... Don't get me started. All I expected was a typical found footage film about a group trapped in a situation trying to survive, instead all I got was a mindf*ck of a film that went nowhere. Stay away from Solvent... Stay far away. I'm Jeff Roman. 1/5  

 When I did my commentary on The Blair Witch Project almost a week ago, I talked about how other found footage films have been trying to take the crown off of the Blair Witch Project and become #1. No found footage film will ever take the crown of best found footage film ever made. Decedent is a example of a found footage film that isn't trying to be the next Blair Witch, but it's own film. With a budget of $20,000, it's not bad, Script is decent and the acting is amateruish but that's to be expected with found footage films. All in all Decedent has emerged as one of the good found footage flicks, but it'll eventually be forgotten if not already. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

With the remake of The Running Man now in theaters this weekend. I thought it would be fun to  go back and revisit the original 1987 movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a lot of fun 80's action flicks and putting The Terminator aside, the rest of his 80's filmography is nothing short of cheese. The Running Man is a prime example of that. It's basically Arnold on a game show killing the bad guys and sprouting out dialogue that's enough to make you laugh. With villains like Buzzsaw, Fireball, and Iceman, what's not to love about The Running Man? The script is got so much cheese that half the time I was watching, I kept wanting more cheese. The pacing is good, nothing off center, and the acting mediocre, but again, this what you would expect in a 80's action flick.  I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5  

Ever since I was a teenager, I've been a huge fan of George Romero and his zombie films. It wasn't just the blood & guts, it was the social commentary added to it which wasn't preachy but entertaining. Now, there have been countless imitators over the years that have tried to be the next Night of the Living Dead or add their own spin to the zombie genre, some have succeeded in their own rights and others have failed. You can never replicate Romero's films. Putting politics aside, Queens of the Dead is a decent film, but not great. This is not because of the LBTQ themes of the film, which I have nothing against, I don't feel the need to blast people's beliefs, their sexuality, etc. This is a movie blog, nothing else. I feel there is a good zombie film in Queens of the Dead but the script isn't the greatest. I will give them credit that I'm glad they stuck with the slow moving zombie over the running zombie as I've always been against that since th...

When I watch a Jackie Chan film, I watch it not for the bloopers at the end as you would normally see, but for the stunts he does. Every stunt I've seen him thus far is nothing short of crazy.  Ever since watching Hard Boiled a year ago, I've made a vow to watch as many of the Hong Kong Chinese action flicks as I can whether it's Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, etc. The Accidental Spy is a typical Jackie Chan action flick that's doused with  his usual brand of comedy that's well known. The film has more of a light feel to it like it was  another version of Rush Hour vs. the R-rated material Jackie would normally do with films like Police Story & Rumble in the Bronx. The script is basically what you would expect in a Jackie Chan movie, comedy, fights, slapstick humor, etc. Pacing is okay and acting is more of the same in his films. At the end of the day, The Accidental Spy may not be a groundbreaking action flick, but it's a turn your brain off and have fu...

 After the smashing success of The Blair Witch Project in 1999, Artisan Entertainment immediately ordered a sequel which in my opinion was a big mistake. The creators wanted the hype to die down before producing a sequel but we all know how Hollywood works. It's all about money and that result produced a lame, but not so good sequel. A lot of people who visit my blog or talk to me about movies will know my stance on sequels. Some can be fun, but often times they are not needed and that's the case with Book of Shadows: Blair Witch Project 2. Less is more is what I always say. The script is bad, acting is okay despite the bad script and the pacing is all over the place which I think was the result of the reshoots that were demanded. At the end of the first Blair Witch Project, I was confident with the fact that is less is more, I didn't need to be explained by what was going on and having a sequel just ruins that illusion for me. I'm Jeff Roman. 2/5

 When The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999, I was 9 years old, playing a lot of horror video games and slowly discovered the world of horror films and wouldn't see The Blair Witch Project until years later. Having seen the film numerous times, the film was my introduction to the found footage genre and I've seen a bunch of films in that genre and many of them seem to try to be the next Blair Witch, they don't hold a candle to it. There are found footage films I like, but it least it had the audacity to be it's own movie. The acting in Blair Witch is mediocre. In found footage films, the acting is always bad, but here it's okay but some of it felt over the top to me. Whatever script they had was good and pacing is alright for it's short run time of 81 minutes. I have to laugh thinking that in 1994, there were no cellphones, no social media and the only thing that could have helped you get out of the woods was a thing called a map. Had they had the technol...

 Like the horror films made in China, Italy's horror films I find are very graphic and rely more on the gore then the story itself. I have seen a few Italian horror flicks over the years and the ones I have seen really go all out on the gore. Now, I've seen a few films by Dario Argento and I find him to be quite interesting. His version of Dawn of the Dead is humorous despite him re-editing the film to remove any comedic moments and make it as serious as possible and the Demons trilogy is I think his best work despite being a producer and co-writer. Sleepless is a typical Italian slasher that doesn't shy away on the gore and there are a few moments where it gets a little crazy. It's a story that's been done before time & time again and as slasher connoisseur, I knew what I was getting into. With the exception of Max Von Sydow, everyone is dubbed to English which to me I found a little annoying as I would rather watch it in it's original dialect. The script i...

 Robert De Niro, one of the greatest actors of his times has made films as of late that aren't good. He seems to be picking and choosing his roles as he doesn't seem to care anymore. Now, I've seen my fair share of De Niro's films and I think he is a terrific actor, it's just every now & then, I've come across films of his that are nothing more than "I only did it for the paycheck" type of films and many actors have gone record and said similar comments when asked about films they did back then. In the case of Godsend, this was a film I never heard of, didn't know anything about it, didn't even know it existed until I searched the forums looking for something to watch and Godsend happened to appear. Now, De Niro is no stranger to thrillers having done films such as Taxi Driver (1976), Angel Heart (1987), The Fan (1996), & Hide and Seek (2005) playing different types of characters instead of being playing the same role. Godsend is not a ...

The poster for the movie Crash is described as being a daring and original film. Crash is certainly an original film from the weird mind of David Cronenberg who's delivered a lot of weird films over the years and Crash is by far not as weird as Videodrome, Dead Ringers, or Shivers, it's just plain bizarre. When people have asked me about the film, I've described it as people corresponding with people on their fetishes before the rise of the Internet where people could share their fetishes and not be judged. No one is judged by their fetishes in this film. The actors do a fantastic job in moments that are described as daring as some of what you see in Crash, probably wouldn't have been able to do in 90's American cinema. The script is bizarre and the pacing is not bad. If you watch this film, don't expect a normal Hollywood type of film because it's not. If you're a fan of Cronenberg, then you might get a kick out of this one. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

Blumhouse has it's fair share of hit or misses and lately, their stuff is mostly more misses than hits. I guess they eventually need to realize that originality matters more than sequels. The Black Phone is an example of a hit. It's not the most original storyline, but when has a slasher film ever had an original storyline? Never in a million years did I ever expect Ethan Hawke to play a slasher villain or appear in a horror flick and he does a pretty good job here. Script isn't bad, pacing is strong and acting is what you'd expect in a horror flick or something that's churned out by Blumhouse. I look forward to Blum's next hit or miss flick. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5  

 October was quite a struggle having lost my grandmother which resulted in me hitting a snag with my blog. I didn't watch as much films as I wanted to because of the loss. I want to go into November, watch more films, add more commentary and show off why I think the film is good or bad. On to the film... Rabid Grannies is the third film I watched this year from the Troma company and I haven't had much luck in liking much of their stuff which has made me more reluctant to do a Toxic Avenger marathon. I'll get around to it eventually. I've seen postings of  Rabid Grannies on various forums in my collecting days and passed by it, not interested at the time. Years later, I finally managed to check it out and  despite it being a horror comedy, Rabid Grannies' main problem was it's pacing and dubbing. Right off the bat, once the movie starts and the first actor on screen starts speaking, I was perplexed by how bad the dub was. I would have laughed at it if it wasn...