What did you watch today?

[Ain_Uussaar]

American Heist (2014)
Battle for Skyark (2015)
Run All Night (2015)

[Davy_Lee]

Frankenstein Hammer Horror Double Feature:

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (First viewing f.o.c.) – 6.5/10
Not much horror to see here and not much suspense either. This being the last sequel actually doesn’t give a conclusive ending to the franchise.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (First viewing f.o.c.) – 7.5/10
There are few minor flaws here, especially the abrupt ending. No wonder another sequel was made.

If I were to create a trilogy of Hammer’s Frankenstein films in my collection that would still retain some loose plot continuity and tell “the final fate of the character”, I would choose “Curse of Frankenstein”, the underappreciated “Evil of Frankenstein” and this “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.”

[Ain_Uussaar]

Black Cobra (2012)
Canyon Passage (1946)

[Ain_Uussaar]

Beyond the Reach (2014)

[Davy_Lee]

The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) [First viewing f.o.c.] – 6.5/10
Based on a true story of the Texarkana Moonlight Murders in Arkansas in the spring of 1946 by a serial killer known as “The Phantom Killer”, this lightweight B-movie thriller is made to look like a docudrama. Ben Johnson (The Wild Bunch) and Andrew Prine (Grizzly, Eliminators) star. It’s worth a watch, but isn’t a must buy.

[Tim_Rogerson]

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (First viewing f.o.c.) – 6.5/10
Not much horror to see here and not much suspense either. This being the last sequel actually doesn’t give a conclusive ending to the franchise.

I personally thought the ending was appropriate.

[Reveal] Spoiler:

It is clear that the baron is where he belongs and confined to his hermatically sealed world. His last speech is very much the ravings of a lunatic because now that the director is dead there will presumably be a replacement and his little game is up

[Davy_Lee]

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (First viewing f.o.c.) – 6.5/10
Not much horror to see here and not much suspense either. This being the last sequel actually doesn’t give a conclusive ending to the franchise.

I personally thought the ending was appropriate.

[Reveal] Spoiler:

It is clear that the baron is where he belongs and confined to his hermatically sealed world. His last speech is very much the ravings of a lunatic because now that the director is dead there will presumably be a replacement and his little game is up

Hi Tim,
Since Frankenstein is an insanely evil character, viewers should see his "final" demise at the end of the last sequel to show them that crime doesn't pay. That's not to say that we haven't had the chance to see his death and resurrection twice before At least we can surmise that he escaped death on both incidents and so another sequel was made. Absence of logical plot continuity is the main flaw in Hammer's Frankenstein franchise, even more so in Dracula! But it can be forgiven because of the performances of the two great leading actors

[Ain_Uussaar]

Play Dirty (1969)

[Davy_Lee]

Legal Eagles – 7.5/10
A detective comedy about a top New York D.A. who gets entangled in a murder case of an art gallery owner in the most bizarre way – he beds the alleged murderer! Robert Redford, Debra Winger, Daryl Hannah, and Brian Dennehy (First Blood, Best Seller) star, Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Twins, Kindergarten Cop) directs.

This is one from the video days that I liked and still like. The most memorable part is the theme song from Rod Stewart, “Love Touch” that is played during the ending credits

The Humanoid (1979) [First viewing; f.o.c.] – 5.5/10
This cheesy Italian Star Wars copycat sci-fi adventure is a mega-waste of budget that doesn’t have any of the elements that have made Star Wars a timeless classic. Here you see similarities that you see in Star Wars – from vehicles, places to characters: Star Destroyer (even following the exact sequence of how it is shown in Star Wars!), Land Speeder, laser guns that shoot red beams, lots of Darth Vader look-alikes (since they are portrayed not only as the leader but also guards), Princess Leia wannabe (she’s called Barbara and sexier), a kung fu fighting Luke Skywalker, a robot dog (a substitute for R2D2) and a little oriental Obi-Wan Kenobi! Even the opening sequences mimic those of Star Wars!

The producers must have been immensely impressed by Richard Kiel’s performance in “The Spy Who Loved Me” and "Moonraker" that he was given a similar role – doesn’t speak, just gnarls and looks dumb.

Richard Kiel (Flash and the Fire Cat), Corrine Clery, Leonard Mann, Barbara Bach, and Ivan Rassimov star. I was surprised to find that Ennio Morricone composed the original score! Not on English-friendly DVD.

[Davy_Lee]

Shaw Brothers 70’s Martial Arts Double Feature:

To Kill a Mastermind (First viewing; f.o.c.) – 8.5/10
A syndicate of ruthless robbers controlled by seven chiefs known as The Qi Sha Clan has been terrorizing villagers and townspeople across the Chinese empire for years. The Government eventually decides to send their agents to hunt them down. Unbeknownst to the clan mysterious leader, the grand leader of the seven chiefs, a spy has been infiltrated among them to destroy the clan from within. After several failed attempts in their criminal operations, the seven chiefs begin to suspect that there is a spy among them and begin to kill one another. With the Qi Sha chiefs dwindling in number, it is only a matter of time before the mastermind must reveal his identity, and the spy must confront the surviving chiefs and the mysterious mastermind in a duel-to-the-death showdown.

This is a 1979 kung fu wuxia (martial art hero adventure) film directed by one of Shaw Brother’s top tier director Sun Chung (The Avenging Eagle, Kung fu Instructor, Human Lanterns) which stars newcomers of the time. It’s very entertaining but you should first be familiar with Shaw Brothers films. Not on DVD.

Shaolin Temple – 7/10
Released in 1976, this is the first mega Shaw Brothers production on the iconic temple. In the early 80’s there was another film with the same title produced by another company that starred a very young Jet Li, which would be his career breakthrough in the film industry and was made into two sequels – Shaolin Temple 2 and Martial Arts of Shaolin.

Shaolin Temple tells about the initiation of several historically revered Shaolin warriors into the temple, their kung fu training, betrayal among them, and the subsequent destruction of the temple by Manchurian fighters and soldiers. This is a prequel to “Five Shaolin Masters” that was produced two years earlier.

Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, David Chiang star, Chang Cheh directs.

[Samuel_Scott]

Suite Francais (UK Blu) 7/10 - http://dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=3763
The Alphabet Killer (Dutch Blu) 5/10

[Ain_Uussaar]

Chappie (2015)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Black Sheep (2006)

[Ain_Uussaar]

Focus (2015)

[Davy_Lee]

Miles O’Keefe “Guerilla Commando” triple feature:

Double Target (1987) – 5.5/10
Miles O’Keefe plays Robert Ross, an ex-commando who is searching for his long-lost son in Vietnam. Following suicide attacks on random U.S. military personnel in several Southeast Asian countries, he is then hired for a surveillance mission into the Vietnamese jungles to uncover the ominous plot behind the attacks, and, if possible, find his son. This is an Italian production with director Bruno Mattei (under the pseudonym Vincent Dawn) and stars Miles O’Keefe, Donald Pleasence, and Bo Svenson. Not on DVD.

Phantom Raiders (First viewing; YouTube) – 6.5/10
Another Namsploitation genre with Keefe this time as Python Lang, a mercenary commando who is hired to penetrate the Vietnamese jungles and destroy a Viet Cong terrorist training camp, run by a rogue ex-Green Beret (Mike Monty). It is a film of literally non-stop explosive action with themes of ninjutsu thrown in. Watching this Filipino film company production is just like playing one of those “shoot-em-up” video games.

The Hard Way (1989) – 5/10
Specialist military operation commando, Bull (Keefe) leads a squad of three soldiers on a mission to extradite a Latin American drug lord. Roughly two-thirds of the running time is basically one long chase after another through the jungle interspersed with guerilla battles, culminating in a showdown between Bull and the drug lord’s second-in-command Captain Wesson (Henry Silva) at the enemy camp. This Italian production delivers loads of repetitive fire-fights against Silva's henchmen, but a bore to watch. Not on DVD.

[Ain_Uussaar]

The DUFF (2015)

[Davy_Lee]

Across 110th Street (First viewing; YouTube) – 8.5/10
Two men posing as cops raid an apartment in Harlem and rob $300.000. The problem is that the cash belongs to the mafia who will stop at nothing to get their dirty money back! I’ve heard positive reviews on this one, and I couldn’t agree more! This is a violent and bleak urban crime drama that should belong to the collection of any fan of crime drama. I’ll be getting this sleeper.

Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa star.

Hercules (2014) [First viewing f.o.c.) – 6/10
Being a 2014 mega-Hollywood production and a film on a legendary character whose myth has been known for centuries, this should have had a more interesting script. In fact, the story is too generic that it could be made into a pilot episode of any mythology-based TV series. If Hercules were a musical genre, it would definitely be categorized as “classical”. This, unfortunately, is “pop”.

Fist of the North Star (1995) [First viewing; YouTube) – 5.5/10
This is a low-budget live-action martial arts film of a popular Japanese graphic novel “Hokuto No Ken” that plays more like an extended 80’s pop music video. Set in the dystopian future, the plot tells about Kenshiro (Gary Daniels), a banished fighter who is returning to the city he once lived in to seek revenge against Lord Shin (Costas Mandylor), the Southern Cross master who killed his father Ryuken (Malcolm McDowell), the ruler of the North Star, and kidnapped his beautiful wife Yuria. Realizing that Kenshiro is heading back into the city, Lord Shin, now the tyrant is set for the ultimate showdown.

[Ain_Uussaar]

Across 110th Street (1972)
Siin me oleme! (1979)
John Doe: Vigilante (2014)

[Vincent_Bouche]

127 - Boardwalk Empire #4 (French Blu)
Maybe not the best but a damn good Boardwalk season, with several new interesting characters. Arguably one of the best shows of these last few years - 8/10.

128 - Velvet Goldmine (Broadcast)
First viewing; this is a great tribute to the 70s, with beautiful pictures and musics, and young promising actors - 8/10.

129 - Black Storm (Broadcast)
Basic disaster movie, nothing special… 5/10

130 - The Terminal (French Blu)
Minor Spielberg movie, overwhelming with good feelings. Strong performance by Tom Hanks as always - 6/10.

131 - Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (French Blu)
Following of Caprica and prequel to BG : better than what I expected! 6/10

132 - The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Broadcast)
Japanese tale of a princess born in bamboo… very stylish animation movie with a good story - 7/10.

133 - Victoria (Theater)
Really disappointed. The whole movie has been shot in one single take, which is really a performance, but besides that, the action start very slowly, after at least 45min, and then I didn't see anything "special" - 5/10.

134 - Her (French Blu)
This is just the kind of awkward love story I like. Joaquin Phenix is just fantastic - 8/10.

[Alister_Manson]

Universal Soldier: Regeneration


Highly enjoyable brutal fight-fest. Too bad the open matte framing on the Australian BD makes it feel like a TV movie.

[Davy_Lee]

Metal Storm – The Destruction of Jared Syn (First viewing f.o.c.) – 7.5/10
Okay, this is another B-movie from my video days that I didn’t get to see, but I’ve always remembered this as a cool 3D sci-fi adventure.

Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, the story tells about a roving lone ranger named Dogen (Jeffrey Byron) who finds a lovely young woman Dhyana (Kelly Preston) alone and terrified outside a mining cave. After knowing that her father, a scientist, was killed by a raving mutant named Baal, he vows to avenge her father’s death. So, who is Jared Syn and why must he be destroyed?

It turns out that Syn (Mike Preston) is the father of Baal, and he is some sort of a messiah-like priest who is planning to control the surviving nomadic tribes that roam the barren wastelands and enslave them. Not being able to locate this mysterious messiah, Dogen seeks the help of a down-and-out alcoholic mercenary Rhodes (Tim Thomerson – TRANCERS, ZONE TROOPERS), who happens to know Syn’s whereabouts. Together they seek for a mask that will help them find and destroy Jared Syn.

I’ve always admired the Band family (Albert, Richard, and Charles) for their creativity as a producer, composer or director, especially their short-lived Empire Pictures production. There are always some things unique in their low budget films, and this is one of them.

This old-school 3D sci-fi adventure needs a 3D blu-ray release!


Desert Warrior (1988) [First viewing; YouTube] – 5.5/10
This is a B-movie post-apocalyptic adventure, produced in the Philippines (Silver Star Films), about two clans – one civilized and hi-tech while the other is rather barbaric and lo-tech – fighting for survival in the deserts of what was once called Earth. For such a boisterous action adventure film, the epilogue is so foolishly romantic that it's fully accompanied until the ending credits with a soppy love song sung by a duo!

Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk TV series) and Shari Shattuck (The Naked Cage, Dead On) star. Not on DVD.


The Manhunt (1984) – 6/10
This Italian production comes from Fabrizio De Angelis a.k.a. Larry Ludman, the same director responsible for rip-offs as: Cobra Mission (Operation Nam), Thunder, Thunder II, and Thunder III. It's not just an ordinary manhunt, it's "The Manhunt" and that's what's shown on screen.

The plot of this B-movie action drama is utterly ridiculous but that doesn’t stop you from being “mildly entertained”: a naive young man (Ethan Wayne) buys two racing horses at an Arizona race track, pays in cash but does not get a receipt (because he is so naive and does not think it’s a must have ). Later, this negligence becomes a very serious problem. He is accused of stealing the two horses by a wealthy horse rancher (Ernest Borgnine) and is then sentenced to imprisonment. In prison, he is mistreated and abused by a stone-faced warden (Henry Silva). He escapes, is recaptured, and escapes again to track down the man who sold him the horses. Chases and shootouts in the town ensue and all these happen for the sake of getting a sales receipt!