Category: Movie Review

Spider- man 2

spider man 2

Ok, so like I began my Spider-man review, there are some movies that stay with us and inspire us as well as change the way we see a genre. Where the first movie was a great beginning, the second chapter is without a doubt one of the greatest sequels I’ve ever seen- enough that I’ve seen it in theaters 5 times when it came out.

Two years after the first movie, we again pick up with Peter Parker dealing with life’s struggles as well as dealing with life as Spider- man: his grades at school are slipping and he can’t hardly keep a job, he carries the guilt over the deaths of Uncle Ben and Norman Osborn- leading to a rift in his friendship with Harry. If all this wasn’t enough, Mary Jane is soon to be wed, though she does love Peter. Suddenly Peter’s powers start crapping out and Peter see’s a possibility to continue his life and give up Spider-man. But there is a new foe to bring him back, Doc Ock, a hero and mentor to Peter who suffers a tragic accident while trying to accomplish his dream of creating unlimited energy, losing his wife his beloved wife and having the metal tentacles attached to his spine. Peter’s lives collide but can he find it in himself to become Spider-man once again and save New York from Doc Ock?

Ok, this movie is a damn good example of a sequel. Everyone gives great performance, especially Alfred Molina as Ock and Tobey Maquire  shines as Spider-man. The effects are impressive; Ock’s tentacles are genuinely badass to watch. The emotional tone and epic fights are leveled up and the story is a solid continuation. The only flaw I really have is he does take his mask off a bit too much and Ock’s end feels a bit anti-climatic. In the end, if you liked the first movie, I think you’ll love the second movie…just leave it at that. Let’s pretend there isn’t a 3. And may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Maniac

maniac

There is a few times in my years as a horror fan that I’ve been rendered speechless by a movie. I’d say there is maybe 5 times in my life a movie made me speechless, Maniac is the 5th. Be warned, this is not a pleasant movie.

Frank Zito is a serial killer, slaying random women at night and scalping them to attach to mannequins, which he talks to out lonely psychosis. Through the movie we gather pieces of information about Frank’s troubled upbringing as well as the bitter loneliness and isolation he feels. He eventually meets a lady photographer he genuinely falls in love with, and for once, she seems to feel affection for him but he is haunted by the urge to stop her beauty from aging, so she would always be his…

See, I told you, this is not a pleasant movie but damn if it isn’t a good movie. Whereas 99% of horror movies have a heroine or perhaps a police plot or investigator plot, this movie focuses 100% on the killer and his day to day life. The late Joe Spinell is frankly fucking chilling as Zito who somehow is disturbingly terrifying but sympathetic despite the horrible things he does. The movie does well to not glamorize the murder scenes and feels like a legitimate story about a serial killer instead of a common Jason movie. If you can take the blood and graphic nature, it is a great acted, gritty movie I’d recommend to check out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Spider-man

spider man og

There are some movies that both help define a genre and inspire people, leaving impressions on us almost two decades later. After Spider-man (N64) I was in love with the wall-crawler and his rogues gallery and what do you know, we got one of the best superhero movies of our time.

We meet Peter Parker, that good hearted geek just living with his loving Aunt May and Uncle Ben next door to lovely Mary Jane Watson, who his best rich best friend Harry Osborn starts dating. Peter’s high intellect and work drive strikes the attention of Harry’s father, Norman, who admires Peter over his own kid. One day, during thhe fateful field trip Peter gets bitten by the genetically modified radioactive spider and his life is changed forever, but not just his; Norman, a scientist about to lose his company, in desperation tests a new formula on himself with malevolent results. Peter develops powers of a spider and suddenly things are looking up, but in a moment of selfishness, Uncle Ben is killed and Peter learns the hard way that with great power comes great responsibility. Using his powers to become Spider-man, Peter goes out to help the people of New York and stop a maniacal menace called the Green Goblin…

Ok, so most people know the story; I’d say Spider-man has arguably the well known origin story next to only Superman and Batman. That being said, it’s a damn good retelling of his origin. Tobey Maguire will always have a soft spot in my heart as Spidey and Willem Dafoe is awesome as Osborn and Goblin. The acting and effects are solid with an unforgettable score. In the end, it’s a classic in the genre and is absolutely worth a watch.

 

The Covenant (2017)

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This movie is a kind of  anomaly. The movie isn’t bad or good. It isn’t original in any regard nor is it exactly truly a rip off. It is just very run of the mill and cliché. It starts off with a sister and brother moving home to their deceased moms house about a year after a personal tragedy. Stuff starts getting weird eventually leading to the house getting more and more haunted. People think the sister is a bit weird, brother doesn’t believe here.

Later you find out the sister is possessed and has a dark past, some priest gets involved and we end up getting an exorcist type exorcism scene towards the end. Towards the beginning we even get the standard bathroom topless scene and the standard sex scene later.

None of the movie is truly badly done mind you, the acting is fine, the script is fine and there is nothing wrong with the effects or story even. It is just very basic, you have seen all of this before. I won’t say don’t watch the movie, it is actually enjoyable, but don’t expect anything new here. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tag Trailer

 

I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this considering all the star power this movie looks to have, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet. The premise made me do a double take at first, but after a seeing a trailer like The Happytime Murders trailer 1 I can’t really say anything is going to shock me today. The trailer looks genuinely funny and I do like the actors involved so I’d be curious where it goes, but what do you think?

House by the Cemetary

house by the cemetary

I’ve been watching some horror movies as of late, the first in the set was the unofficial third part of Lucio Fulci’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy ( City of the Living Dead and The Beyond being the first two parts.) Over a decade ago I watched The Beyond and a couple years later I saw Fulci’s Zombie, both films impacted me a lot so I was glad to see another.

The Freudstein house has had a long a sordid history of gruesome activity and murder. A young family takes the house over, the father working on research to jump start his budding career. His wife and young son are predominately left alone in this murky old house where the mom hears noises and her son keeps meeting a mysterious little girl that tells him to get out of the house, but something is lurking below them and it’s not friendly. Could it be the old Dr never left his home?

This review is rather tough. House by the Cemetery is a very eerie movie with terrific atmosphere, a great score, and some haunting practical gore effects BUT the dubbing is goofy at times, Freudstein looks likes he walked off the set of Goosebumps and there are some unintentionally hilarious things, especially with the damn son. It’s really freaking hard to say which side of the spectrum the movie falls on and in the end, that’s it’s biggest flaw. If you want something different in horror, it is a respectably freaky movie that deserves a watch, though you will laugh a few times you probably shouldn’t. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Happytime Murders trailer 1

 

After a small reprieve after being attacked by hordes of bird men and saving the eight dimension, I’m back to writing for the Savior once again and wow, did I come back on a good day. Savior brought a new comedy to my attention- namely The HappyTime Murders knowing my affliction of WTF movies and such. What was I expecting? I’m going to be brutally honestly, I was thinking maybe it was going to be Rob Zombie style horror, exploitation movie. Nope…it’s just, well, you’ll see. Suddenly my hype jumped to 10 and I can’t wait to see more. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Manhunt (2018) — Dan the Man’s Movie Reviews

Lawyers and cops always gotta stick together! Prosecutor Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu) has a pretty solid life set out for him. Nice job, respect among his peers, and a general sense of what’s good and wrong with the world. Everything’s looking up for him when suddenly, literally out of nowhere, his girlfriend winds up dead […]

via Manhunt (2018) — Dan the Man’s Movie Reviews

Mothers of horror

purple dahlia

Happy Mothers Day everyone, from us to you. Without mom, there essentially is no us but even our nightmares have mommies too, or in today’s case, they maybe the nightmare. Today, we’re talking about the moms of horror, in no particular order, let’s begin with…

mrs voorhees 1. Pamela Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

She worked her bum off to give her sweet baby boy Jason a decent life but those damn fornicating teenagers let him drown. So like any good mother, rather than seeking therapy or perhaps trying to avoid this situation, she decided to rid Crystal Lake of those damn fornicating teenagers. Thanks Mrs. V

mrs bates 2. Mrs. Bates (Psycho)

“A boy’s best friend is his mother,” her son once said because it’s true, well, at least to Norman anyway. Norman loved her so much, he never let her go, but did everything he could to make her proud. Thanks Mrs. Bates

mrs white 3.Margaret White (Carrie)

It’s hard trying to bring kids up with good spiritual values and that’s all she tried giving her daughter Carrie. She warned her about those sinning bastards at her school, and gave her life to stop her enraged daughter from hurting all those innocent folks in town. Thanks Mrs. White.

queen 4. Queen Alien (Aliens)

Moms are strong, beautiful, intelligent, and organized and the Queen herself is the greatest in the galaxy, receiving thousands of gifts from the hordes of her children as she gives us all the gift of yummy eggs. Thanks your highness.

Happy Mother’s Day and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Rage:Carrie 2 (1999)

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Every so often I hear someone complain that we are getting a sequel we don’t need. I always find this to be an odd statement because really we don’t need any movie. They are simply made to entertain. They are all pointless and unneeded so they all become needed to be made from the standpoint of their creator. That being said, once in a while I come across a movie I watch and I realize I am being way to literal, and this is what they mean by we don’t need this movie.

That is not to say the movie was terrible. I can’t honestly say it was some flaming dumpster fire and nobody should ever watch it. The acting was good, the visuals were nice, the sound was good enough but could have used some better music I thought. I mean come on, it was the late 90’s and the movie cost you 21 million bucks to make and you couldn’t be me some good tunes? The movie was a flop by the way, grossing only 17 million on that 21 million budget and it isn’t hard to see why. have you seen Carrie (1976) ? If the answer is yes than you have essentially seen this one. The movie takes place 20 years after Carrie, yes it is a direct sequel. Sue is now the counselor at the new school that replaced the one Carrie torched. Rachel or telekinetic friend is the unknown half sister of Carrie ( same father) and the story goes like this.

Jocks are sleeping with girls at the school for points in a game they are playing, Rachel’s friend gets upset and takes a walk off the top of the school, Rachel and one of the Jocks fall for each other, jocks don’t like it, jocks target Rachel, Rachel goes ballistic at a house party and kills everyone and burns the place to cinders after they show a sex tape her and her boyfriend didn’t know the jocks made. The End. Seriously this is less a sequel to Carrie and more of a re-imagining or retelling. The movie isn’t exactly bad, it is just the same story, and isn’t done as well. Except the end scene where stuff dies, I am willing to debate that those 2 scenes are about equal in quality.