Moviecritic1990's Movie Commentary

The ladies may see Patrick Swayze as the romantic lead in Dirty Dancing and Ghost. I see Patrick Swayze as the action guy in films like Next of Kin, Point Break, & Black Dog. Black Dog is a fun little action film where it has all the usual action tropes that Hollywood churns out when making these kind of films. But Swayze makes it so much fun. I've always said the musicians going into acting never usually works out. If you want to see a bad film with bad acting, then check out Madonna in Shanghai Surprise. There are a few expectations but I won't get into it here. The script as mentioned is full of the usual action tropes which you'd think it would be exhausting, but it's put to good use here. Acting is so-so. I'm not here to see good acting, I'm here to see action. Pacing is pretty good for the most part. Overall, Black Dog is one of Swayze's good action flicks of the 90's.  I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5  

Dark Star is an interesting little space comedy. While I did garner a chuckle or two out of it. I did find the film to be fun. Where else are you going to find an alien beach ball? The script is okay, not great, but you can see glimmers of talent between Dan O'Bannon & John Carpenter who both went to great success. The acting is so over the top that most of my laughs came from the acting vs. the actual film itself. The pacing is surprisingly pretty good for a short film. Overall, Dark Star is a great look into seeing a first time director and writer go on to bigger things and they can look back at Dark Star as a stepping stone.  I'm Jeff Roman. 2/5

In every one of my commentaries so far when it comes to talking about slashers, the golden age of the genre is the 1980's. They all tried to ride the coattails of Friday the 13th's success but did it's own thing. By 1989, the genre was dead and it wasn't until Scream rebooted that format in 1996 where it saw a resurgence. The acting wasn't perfect in a lot of those slashers at the time. When it comes to movies like Scream or Friday the 13th, people wanted to see blood & gore, but it also had something called a story to go along with that. Die'cd Reloaded is a slasher that fails miserably. The script for Die'cd is bad and it's not just the script, the acting is also bad. To me, I sat there watching, shaking my head going, "wow, this is bad". Now, again, the Friday the 13th franchise may not have had great acting, but at least there was effort put into it. I feel that the gore sequences make up for Die'cd which I felt they spent time ther...

I watch a lot of Canadian films to support Canadian content and being Canadian myself, I enjoy the stuff that I see from time to time. Some are good and some are bad. Sweetness is a decent Canadian film which I can describe as a teenage version of Misery. No film with the same plot or references can ever hold a candle to Misery. But I will say that Sweetness isn't a bad film. But one thing I found infuriating is the teenager jargon. When watching a film and hearing teenagers sprout dialogue, it gets annoying after while. I can assure you when I was a teenager, I was a heavy horror movie nerd who never spoke the way teenagers speak today. The script is okay, not perfect, but okay.  Despite the abundance of teenage dialogue, the acting is okay for the most. Pacing isn't bad, It takes it's time in setting up it's story. Overall, Sweetness isn't a sweet film, it's sour. I'm Jeff Roman. 2/5  

 Unless it's an action flick from the 80's, 90's, and or 00's, I rarely watch any action flicks that come out today. Mainly because they don't have the charm of what made the genre so great back in the day or if there's an actor I recognize I'll make an exception. Hellfire is a fun action flick that's been many times before but combine it with the star power of Stephen Lang, Dolph Lundgren, & Harvey Keitel, the movie is just as fun. The script is typical of what you'd expect in an action flick. You won't find any cheesy one liners here. The acting is again the same as you'd expect in a action flick and pacing's pretty good for the most part. Overall, Hellfire is a fun turn your brain off kind of flick that wastes no time in doing what it does best, entertaining. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

 Doctor Plague is a British indie slasher that to me feels amateurish. This movie felt like a SOV (Shot on Video) project that I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Like many slashers I've seen over time, the plot for Doctor Plague has been many many times before. The script is typical of the genre, acting is mediocre at best, and there's some issues with pacing. Overall, Doctor Plague is nothing special and will float off into the sea of forgotten slashers.  I'm Jeff Roman. 2/5

How many of you have seen the movie Sharknado or even just read the plot online? Despite it being a successful franchise of horror comedy films. The films are dumb, but they are just so much fun and I do enjoy them. Hot Spring Shark Attack is a Japanese comedy that's so stupid that you can't help but shake your head and laugh at the absurdity on the screen. When I think of Japanese comedy, I think of Jackie Chan in an action movie. At least his films don't come close to this. Hot Spring Shark Attack has bad CGI, bad acting, and just overall bad that I spent a good majority laughing at how stupid it is. With acting out of the way. The script is ludicrous and it's pacing is surprisingly good for a 77 minute movie. I go into these films knowing what to expect and I got what I wanted out of this movie. I'm Jeff Roman 2/5   

There are many found footage movies that try to be the next Blair Witch Project or capture lightning in a bottle to become a cult film that people will talk about for years to come. In Our Blood isn't a film that people will be talking after viewing nor will it be a cult film. But it is a good found footage film with a twist I saw coming about 2/3 of it. I will give it credit that In Our Blood wasn't your typical found footage film with a paranormal plot. but something different, which is a great feeling because it gets a little tiring of seeing the same thing over and over again. The script for In Our Blood is decent. At first I perceived this as some sort of thriller/drama with a twist I thought about and was correct one once I saw the sequence it self. So script is pretty good. Acting is fair. I've mentioned many times before that with acting in a found footage film, it's hit or miss, here it's good, but some of it can be over the top. Pacing... with it feeling l...

Exit 8 is based on the 2023 video game of the same time and to be honest, I've never heard of it until I read up on the film last year. I will say it's a huge relief that it's not a Hollywood movie adaptation because if we all know how Hollywood is when it comes to making movies based on games, they usually ignore the source material and or find ways to ruin it. I'm going to be straight up, Exit 8 is a strange film and when it comes to horror/thriller films made in Japan or overseas, they usually have a weird vibe to it and Exit 8 has sort of a Cube vibe to it and if you know me, I enjoy films that are similar to Cube. The script is pretty decent. I don't speak Japanese so the acting was pretty good. My only issue is the pacing petered out a little bit near the end. All in all, Exit 8 is a pretty good movie and a huge breath of relief that it wasn't ruined by Hollyweird. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5  

The House must had an upset stomach after watching this trainwreck of a movie. The House Was Not Hungry Then is a painfully slow... slow... slow movie that begs the question, what was the point of this movie? I'll give it a credit where credit is due, the plot did sound interesting as it reminded me of Good Boy. But instead of a dog's perspective on a haunted house, it's the house's perspective. If it had a better script, then perhaps the film would have been better. I already said that the pacing was extremely bad. Acting, if there was any acting was non-existent. Overall, The House may not have been hungry then, but it will be now. I'm Jeff Roman. 1/5 

If there's one thing that you won't see me comment on a lot of in this blog are romance movies as I find them to be too sappy for my liking. But for this Valentine's Day, my wife has picked out a few romance movies she wanted to check out and even put together a list for my blog. She has a few ideas on other movies I should check out so, I can't wait to see what she has in store. Please do bear in mind for the few romance films that I do a commentary on here. Purple Hearts is a sappy romance flick whose main character I found extremely irradiating in the beginning. If there is one thing I hate in a film is dealing with characters who are annoying. In any other film, I'd expect them to be killed off within an hour, here I had to put with it throughout the entire film. I've seen a few romance films back in the day and the script for Purple Hearts is as sappy as you can get. Pacing is a little slow. Why does this film need to be 2 hours???? Acting is decent. Overal...

 I'm going to come out and say it. Why? Why was the found footage format dismissed in this latest sequel? What made the original films work for me was people running with a camcorder. Here, it's ditched entirely which wasn't a good sign to start with. The script is okay, but weak. which results in not so great pacing and the acting... oh my god, the lead actress' husband is the worst of the bunch. I'm singling him out because if the script for Lineage is terrible then expect terrible acting and don't get me started on the ending. Overall, Lineage is a not so good sequel to the prequel and hope that no other films in this series are made. But, I'm sure it'll happen. I'm Jeff Roman. 1/5

 After the Hell House trilogy of movies. I thought to myself, what more can be told that we don't know already and sure enough, we got a prequel film and this one ditches the found footage format almost and becomes more of a live film if that makes sense. The story is and I've said this numerous times, typical. But I knew what to expect. I made it through 3 films so I wasn't expecting surprises or any type of differences. The acting is over the top which doesn't make it bad, but enjoyable and the pacing decent. There's a soft spot to be found in these movies and I can't help but continue to watch them just to see what sort of enjoyment I can get out of them and so far, it's not the special effects. It's the acting. These films have such terrible acting that they are fun. I could say the scripts are terrible but they aren't. It's the usual jargon. You know what to expect going in and for people watching horror movies, they may or may not know what...

3rd times the charm I guess and here we are 3 movies in and still, the found footage tropes are working overtime and yet again, the script is loaded with the usual jargon, acting is still mediocre and the pacing while decent, not the greatest. I've noticed when watching this movie that it switched from found footage to live, which gave me the feeling that it was slowly being phased out which to me, wasn't a great idea and should have kept it going with the found footage. But what do I know, I'm just a moviegoer commenting. All in all, a great ending to the series, let's hope there isn't anymore. Oh wait, there is.. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5   

Hell House LLC did so well on streaming that you guessed it, a sequel was ordered. Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel is full of all the typical jargon that a found footage film usually has. Script is what you'd expect. It has all the traits and usual stuff for a found footage film. Acting is still terrible. I'm convinced at this point that there's never going to be good acting in a found footage movie. Not that I'm expecting it but, I'm sure these actors realize that. Pacing still not bad like it's predecessor. The funny thing is they made 5 of these movies and I guess I have to go through all of them for you guys out there in social media land. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it. I'm Jeff Roman. 2/5   

Ever since the release of The Blair Witch Project in 1999, there have been endless found footage films that try to capture the same lightning in the bottle. 99% of the time, they're cheap low budget knock-offs that basically have no script, terrible acting. and incoherent pacing. Sometimes, you get the odd found footage film that'll surprise you and Hell House LLC is definitely a surprise. Scripts for found footage films are usually all the same. I know what to expect going into them and half of the time they're all carbon copies of everything I've seen. Scripts for those movies are full of typical jargon like "We need to film everything, in case we don't make it". I must have heard that line many a time. On to Hell House LLC, the script is decent. Nothing I've seen before as mentioned. Acting is so-so. Then again, the acting is usually the weak spot in these movies & pacing is pretty good. Overall, Hell House LLC is one of the good found footage f...

John Carpenter has made some pretty good movies throughout his career. Escape From New York, Prince of Darkness, Halloween. They're classics in my opinion. It's no secret that in the 1990's, he was in a slump and made some pretty crappy movies. I'm looking at you, Memoirs of an Invisible Man. But he did make Vampires which is without question one of his best next to In The Mouth of Madness. Everything about this movie from it's script, acting, & pacing is very very good. It's not the most original movie I've ever seen, but it's a ton of fun. As I mentioned in my previous commentary of Pig Hill, this is how you make a horror movie. You don't always have to rely on blood & gore, but a good story. I'm going to end this commentary by saying, "Live any good books lately?"  I'm Jeff Roman. 4/5  

Despite a pretty cool opening. Pig Hill suffers the cardinal sin of a horror movie and that's being boring. There are some pretty cool moments in the movie like that opening I just mentioned and... yeah, that's all I can think of. Pig Hill is sadly let down by bad pacing and bad script. Acting is over the top. I've said many times that in order to get my attention in a horror movie, you need a good script, decent acting and to be different. Sounds simple right? You won't find that here in Pig Hill. If I want to watch a film about mutant people... pigs...whatever. I'll watch the original Wrong Turn thank you very much. I've seen so many horror movies my entire life that there isn't anything I haven't seen. Good, bad, they're all the same to me. I'm Jeff Roman. 1/5

The Crossing Guard is a slow burn of a movie and when I say slow burn, I mean a very interesting slow burn movie. A part of me was hoping for some sort of 90's action flick with Jack Nicholson. But all I got is a drama.... an interesting drama. The script could have been a little better which results in some pacing issues. Acting is pretty good for the most part. I know it's a drama, but I had to chuckle a little at Nicholson's emotional scenes. The man has done some good films and even in his bad ones, he still puts effort. All in all, The Crossing Guard may not have been the action film I was looking for, but it's a decent drama. I'm Jeff Roman. 2 1/2/5  

The Stepfather was a success on home video and it became no surprise that a sequel was ordered right away. Personally, I feel The Stepfather worked better as a one off and how it ended, there should have not been a sequel. Even the star of the film agrees on this. But, what do I know? The Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy came out at the tail end of the slasher genre and while The Stepfather is a slasher film with some thriller elements it didn't go crazy with it's gore sequences. Here, the gore is shown a little bit more, especially towards the end. Like most sequels, the script is a cookie cutter carbon copy that adds nothing new. Acting is still relatively good despite the script and it's pacing like the original, not bad. I can make my usual speech about how sequels are not needed but I would have nothing to talk about so I keep on watching them so I could react to them. Overall, The Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy, a decent sequel, but not needed. I'm Jeff Roman....

When it comes to slasher flicks, I consider myself to be an aficionado. Ever since I was a teenager, I've seen hundreds if not, thousands of slasher films and I know what to expect going into them. Often times they are all the same, just cookie cutter carbon copies of well known franchises like Friday The 13th, Halloween, & The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But then you got slashers that end up being a surprise and try to do things a little bit different then their predecessors. The Stepfather is indeed one of them. I do consider it a typical slasher. But I do give it points for trying to do something different. Slashers are often filled with obnoxious teenagers who end up being killed by the villain, here I applaud that they tried something different with a family plot. The script is slasher fodder. The acting is decent for a change, and very good on pacing. Overall, I highly recommend The Stepfather for trying something new with the genre. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5  

When watching Grizzly Night, I questioned whether or not the story was actually true. With it being set in 1967, it begs the question, what about this movie has a 60's background? There are no hippies fighting against the establishment, and the college kids looked little too clean cut for me. Other then the reference to the Vietnam war, Grizzly Night doesn't work for me as a period piece and it certainly doesn't work as animal attack flick as I found myself bored most of the time. The script isn't the greatest. Again, with it being a true story, I questioned certain things. Acting is boring, nobody turned in a good performance and that's the result of this script. The pacing is very slow. I kept tuning out having no hope that the movie would be better. All in all, Grizzly Night is no Day of the Animals.  I'm Jeff Roman 1/5

Every once in awhile, I enjoy a film based on a true story and Dead Man's Wire certainly fit that bill. I never heard of the real story behind this movie but I did do a little research before watching this movie and found that Bill Skarsgard & Dacre Montgomery did not resemble the real characters. I always find it funny when Hollywood does a true story or a biopic and they somehow screw up the casting process. Despite that, the acting performances especially from Bill is pretty good. You start to wonder if he's telling the truth or he's gone crazy. It's always nice to see Al Pacino pop up in a film where he isn't the star. The script is pretty decent and pacing wise, not bad. If you're in the mood for a true story or to see Skarsgard act in something other then Pennywise. Check this out. I'm Jeff Roman. 3/5

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a step up from the first 28 Years Later in terms of horror with a slight twist. I mentioned in my commentary for the first movie that it deviated away from the creatures and focused more on the drama aspect. Which I didn't mind, but what it did in the process was kill any horror that could be found. Here in The Bone Temple, the film ups the horror but shies away from the creatures more and focuses more on the villain. There's some creature horror spliced in here and there but it's limited. In terms of The Bone Temple's script, it's not bad, but  I feel it shouldn't be considered a part of 28 Days Later as it doesn't stand out as a horror flick in that regard. Acting is pretty strong for the most part from everyone. The pacing was pretty fast. Despite the film tanking at the box office and it ending on a cliffhanger which I won't spoil, they need to wrap this up properly and not make anymore movies in this series. I thin...