Reaction & Review | Escape From L.A.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, we're closing out 2025 with a movie that's also a follow up from a previous episode of mine. The movie came out in 1996. That movie is "Escape From L.A."

Now, for those of you who are new here and are reading this for the first time, I'll fill you in. Several years ago, I reviewed "Escape From New York" and I loved it. It was the second movie from John Carpenter that I hadn't seen before and I'm glad I did. Not only did I love it, I also ranked it as my number one movie from one of my early Top 5 movies list I did for Reaction & Review of that year.

And tonight, I get to check out it's only sequel. Now, I've heard some mixed things about this film. I've heard some people say that the movie's pretty good, though not quite as good as the first one. I've even heard some people flat out admit that the movie is a pile of shit. And I'll admit, I do have some concerns with it myself. For starters, like I said, this movie came out in 1996. It's predecessor, "Escape From New York", came out in 1981. So to wait 15 years to make a sequel seems kind of odd to me.

The other minor thing that I wanted to mention is that, even though John Carpenter is credited as both a writer and director, I noticed that Nick Castle, the man who-co wrote with Carpenter on "Escape From New York" doesn't come back for this one. Now I don't know the reason why exactly, but I will say that they did get two other people on board as co-writers. One of them being Debra Hill, who was one of the producers on "Escape From New York". The other being the film's star Kurt Russell. So it's a trade off I'm willing to accept here.

Now whether or not that translates into a good movie is another issue altogether. But that's what I'm here to find out. I really hope that this movie will be just as entertaining as the first film was. And the only way I'm gonna know for sure is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Escape From L.A.".

5 minutes later

So let me see if I understand this. Los Angeles, after it became an island after all the devastation it suffered from, is now basically a deportation port for people who are unfit or undesirable to live in the new United States. You know, some people have predicted for years that California itself would end up drowning in the ocean, though that obviously still hasn't happened. But if it did, and it ended up like an island like how it's being described here, one could make an argument that certain celebrities would fit perfectly on that island. Not just because Los Angeles is an actual shithole, mind you, but that a certain number of Hollywood celebrities are just horrible people in general that you hope you get to see those people stranded there. Mind you, this is just my own bullshit theory, so you can take it for what it's worth. But it is something that you could potentially ponder on. At least, to me you could.

11 minutes later

So Snake has been infected with some kind of virus that will kill him in less than 10 hours. And unless he can retrieve the black box, he will die due to the virus's infection. That *is* sorta interesting. Though when you think about it, it's a much smaller timetable to work with...oh, and apparently, Snake's been talking to a hologram of the President...OK. Anyway, back to my point, it's a smaller timetable to work with considering in the first movie, he had about a whole day's worth to save the President. But still, at least it's an interesting way to get Snake's cooperation.

7 minutes later

Well, guys, even though it is a little bit early in the film, I can safely say that the CG, at least in this sequence here, is ridiculously shit. OK granted, I understand this movie was made in the mid-90's, but this CG here is shit even by the standards of 1996. I'm hoping maybe as the movie goes on, I'll get to see less of it, but I'm not sure if that's going to be the case or not.

12 minutes later

Well, guys, I am willing to say that Snake Plissken is still a major badass. That was kinda awesome. Granted, it was kinda stupid of them to not shoot at Snake at any given time, but I'm willing to kinda let it slide there.

7 minutes later

OK, that is really creative on how Plissken just had a blow dart inside his mouth and shot at this surgeon generals face. I'm curious as to how long he actually had that in his mouth or how he was actually able to hide it there, but then again, considering what the man's been through in his time of war, I'm going to assume that's natural for him to do something like that.

6 minutes later

OK, that was sorta unexpected. The only other character, aside from Snake, who had something resembling depth is now dead. Well, if this movie ends up going like it did in the first movie, Snake can't have people who are alive around him. That's kinda tragic, really.

11 minutes later

So Snake has to play basketball solo, and he has to get 10 points. Otherwise, he gets shot and killed. You know, guys, I'm no fan of basketball, but if the NBA ever wanted to implement this sort of rule for their sport, it would actually give me a reason to watch basketball. Just something I thought I'd share with you guys.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Escape From L.A.". Let me go ahead and shut the film off now...OK. Well, first thing I gotta answer is the obvious. Is this movie better than the first one? No. Not even by a mile does this thing come even close to how awesome the first movie was. Now I will go ahead and say that, while it doesn't really come close to surpassing the original in any way, I can't deny that I had fun watching with this movie. Now mind you, it isn't entirely good. The film is flawed as shit, but it's still enjoyable in it's own unique way.

So, let's dive right into this one and talk more about the movie. Let's start with the writing. The best way I can summarize this movie's story is that it almost feels like a rehash of "Escape From New York". You have scenes in this movie that are almost identical to how it was done in the first film. A couple of examples I would list is stuff like the opening scene to Snake getting arrested and being cut a deal to him dropping on the island, only it's through a submarine this time and not a jet. I'll talk more about that submarine later when I get to the CG. Another example I can think of is the basketball game where the crowd is chanting for Snake, much similar to how Snake killed that one dude in the first movie in a wrestling ring. There's more I could mention here, but basically, guys, it's examples like those where you can tell that the movie is basically just a rehash of the first film. Now if you haven't seen "Escape From New York" and you saw this movie first, you probably wouldn't notice it. In fact, you would probably view in a different manner.

As such, I want to mention the film's tone a little bit. See, while the movie is more or less just a rehash of "Escape From New York", there's one thing that feels a little different to how the first movie operated. The first movie felt something like a sci-fi action thriller. And it took itself quite seriously. Granted, it does have a couple of goofy moments, but it still knew what it wanted to be in terms of it's tone. This movie, on the other hand, feels a lot more...goofier than before. I'd almost say that it feels like a parody of the first movie to a certain extent. And it's kind of a double-edged sword here. On one hand, it feels rather off putting, especially knowing how much of a tonal shift it goes from being a sci-fi action thriller to it being a stupid plotless action film. On the other hand, though, it *is* somewhat refreshing to see this kind of change unfold as you watch the movie. It kinda reminds me of what happened in between Puppet Master's 3 and 4. Where the third movie was pretty dark in it's tone, and the fourth movie changes that by being somewhat more light-hearted. And that's what this movie is in a nutshell. It's a dumb action film that harkens back to how a lot of action movies from the 90's operated. Which I know might turn some people off, but again, it's something that kinda stuck with me throughout the film.

Characters here are kind of a mixed bag. Personally speaking, barring Snake Plissken, the characters in this movie are nowhere near as interesting as the first movie. The only characters I can mention are the President's daughter, who gets kidnapped and is kind of an annoying bitch. Cuervo Jones is this movie's main antagonist and the best thing I can remember about him is that he looks like a young Fidel Castro cosplayer. Other than that, he has nothing on the Duke from the first movie. That brings me to the only other character I can mention, which is Eddie. Or "Map to the Stars" Eddie. Don't ask me why he calls himself that, it's not really important. But I will say that Eddie is probably the only character who has something resembling a personality. He kinda acts like a car salesman mobster, which makes sense, since he is played by Steve Buscemi, and he's had experience in those roles both before and after this movie. But yeah, he easily is the best side character in the entire movie. Snake Plissken himself is more or less the same character he was in the first movie. Cynical, doesn't give a shit, and just does whatever he needs to do in order to get the mission done. And he can also be a badass too, which is always awesome to see.

So, to paraphrase with you guys, the writing in this movie is pretty weak. Only because it's just blatantly rehashing the first movie's plot, only now they're just making it more goofier and more action packed. But again, it doesn't necessarily make it bad, it's just...different is all. So with that said, let's go straight into the acting. The acting here is actually really good. Kurt Russell is the only one who reprises his role as Snake Plissken and he's great at it. Even during a 15 year gap from when he last played the character, the man has not lost his step at all. Steve Buscemi, as I mentioned before, is very natural in his role and seems like he's having a lot of fun with it. The only one who I have mixed feelings on is Peter Fonda as the surfer bum. I don't know what it is exactly, but something about his performance just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe it's just because I've never seen Peter Fonda in this sort of role before. Mind you now, he's only in two scenes of the entire movie. One at the beginning when Snake is on the island, and the other is a scene that I cannot spoil because it's something you would have to witness for yourself. Trust me, you'll know what that scene is the moment you get to it. But yeah, Fonda's acting in this movie isn't really bad per se, it's just something that's putting me off slightly.

Now let's get to the worst aspect of the film: the CG. Oh dear god, where do I begin here...? Well, to summarize for you guys, the CG in this movie is beyond dogshit. The submarine sequence is basically the beginning of what you would come to expect with the horribly rendered CG. Because almost any scene that has Snake in any type of vehicle looks awful. The only scene where it looks decent for the most part is during the motorcycle chase, and most of that is done practically. Well, except for a shot when he lands the motorcycle on the back of a truck and the compositing of the shot looks horrible. That also includes the bulletproof helicopters, where the CG looks like it came out of fucking "Beast Wars". Guys, as I've mentioned it before, but the CG in this movie would look terrible not just by today's standards, but also by the standards set in 1996. I've seen movies from the mid 90's that had far better looking CG, like the "Mortal Kombat" film which came out a year prior to this one, and was working with a lower budget of $20 million. This film has over twice the budget and the CG looks like utter dogshit. It's really kinda sad, especially when you think on how "Escape From New York" relied on practical effects rather than shitty, outdated CG. But then again, as I mentioned before, "Escape From New York" was released in 1981, where CG hadn't really existed yet. But regardless, the CG is easily the worst thing about this movie.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting here is lit fine. The sound-mixing here is good. The music is also pretty good, too. It was done by John Carpenter, who's also had experience in making music, which some people may not be aware of, but I'm letting you know now just in case you didn't. So yeah, the music here is pretty good.

So ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Escape From L.A."? I can, yes. But only if you view it as a mindless popcorn flick. If you're able to turn your brain off for about an hour and 41 minutes of it's runtime, then you'll probably really enjoy it. I don't know how one would feel about it's tonal shift from the first movie to this one, though. If you're not a fan of goofy plotless action films, then you're probably not gonna want to watch this one. If you want a more serious film in this kind of manner, then I would just recommend watching the first movie and ignore this one. However, if you're able to accept some of the goofiness of what this movie tries to do, then, again, you're probably really gonna enjoy this one. Now obviously, I would watch the first movie more often than this one, but it might still be worth rewatching again if I wanted to turn my brain off for whatever reasoning. I don't know if it will be good on multiple viewings, but I could see myself watching it again if I'm in the mood for it. Speaking of which, I kinda just want to watch the first movie again, seeing as how it's been a little bit since I last watched it. So I'm gonna go do that next once I get done typing this one up.

And with that, guys, we conclude the last Reaction & Review for 2025. And I'll be back next year for my annual "Tales of the Longbox" marathon. Until then, guys, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the "Reaction & Review Christmas Special". Yes, guys, it's that time of year again where I, once more, cover another Christmas related movie. And not only is it that, guys, but it's also a follow up to another Christmas movie that I already reviewed. Tonight's movie is a horror movie that came out in 1987. That movie is "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2".

Now for those of you who are reading this for the first time, I should probably fill you in. Back in July of this year, I reviewed the first "Silent Night, Deadly Night" film, and I loved it. I thought it was one of the best Christmas horror movies I had seen in a long time, and I now make it a tradition to try and watch it every year during the Christmas season. And I had said, back then, that I would review Part 2 as my yearly Christmas Special, and thus here we are.

Now, I only know of one scene in this movie, and it's a scene that anyone who had also seen this film would be very familiar with. I'm, of course, talking about the infamous Garbage Day scene. If, on the off chance, that you have never watched that scene...it's best that you look it up yourself. Because my words alone would not be able to do it any justice. I will say that I have seen a clip of this scene many times beforehand and it is really funny, at least out of context anyways. But now I get to see the whole scene in context and find out how it all leads up to that moment.

Beyond that, I also know that this movie follows Billy's little brother, who's now taken the mantle of doing the killing in Santa's outfit. Billy, for those of you who don't remember, was the Santa killer from the first movie. And, like I just said, it's his little brother's turn. So now, I'm gonna find out if this movie will be just as interesting as the first movie was. And the only way I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2".

10 minutes later

You know, guys, I was just thinking about something. So they're showing stock footage of what happened in the first movie, where Billy's parents were being killed while his little baby brother in the car, and he, as a kid, had hid while his mother was being raped and killed as well. I'm curious as to why Billy didn't just distract the guy in the Santa outfit from killing his mother? I get that he was probably scared for his life, which makes a lot of sense, but the smallest part of me is thinking that he *could've* prevented it if he had intervened a little earlier. I don't know, perhaps maybe I'm just thinking way too deep into this, but it is something that did occur to me upon rewatching this scene again.

16 minutes later

I should let you guys know that we're still on this trip down memory lane where we're still seeing stock footage from the first movie. And normally, I would complain about the movie's pacing being complete shit. But somehow, I'm actually kinda willing to let this slide, and I'll let you guys know why when I eventually get to reviewing this movie.

6 minutes later

Guys, I said this before in my review for the first movie, but watching that awesome kill again here is fucking hilarious and amazing at the same time. I love it.

17 minutes later

Well, guys, it took a while, but Ricky finally has his first kill. And you know what? He's just about as psycho as his brother was. And honestly, I'm kinda loving it.

5 minutes later

OK, and now Ricky has killed this douchebag with an umbrella. And it was able to open itself up after impaling the guy, too. That's certainly really cool.

13 minutes later

Holy shit...! OK, guys, I just found the most creative death scene I have seen in a long time. Probably since the previous movie, at the very least. That is amazing beyond words, guys, I'm just gonna say.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2". And man, what a way to end a movie. Let me go ahead and shut this thing off here...OK. So...I may as well this answer this question first, seeing as how it's a sequel and all. Is this movie good? Oh yes, most certainly. Is it as good as the first movie was? Admittedly, no, it isn't. And I'll get to why in a moment, but I am still willing to admit that I really enjoyed this movie. So much so that I will be adding to my list of Christmas movies that I must watch every year around this time.

Why don't we go ahead and start this thing off proper by first discussing the writing. And I have to start off with a problem that could potentially ruin it for a lot of people who might be interested in this movie. You see, for the first 40 minutes or so, the movie is essentially a clip show of what happened in the first movie. And I know a lot of people who hate clip shows because they want to see new stuff happening in something like a movie or a TV show, rather than seeing old clips of the previous episode piled up into a compilation so that it can have an excuse for a plot. One example I can think of is with "Puppet Master: The Legacy". Which, for those who don't know, is the eighth movie in the "Puppet Master" series by Full Moon. All that movie is was basically a poorly put together clip show of the previous movies. And don't get me started on it's plot, beyond the clip show, because it is so fucking terrible that I personally don't count it as canon to the "Puppet Master" series as a whole.

But I'm getting off topic. I should probably get back to reviewing this movie. So, as I was saying, when it comes to clip shows, a lot of people get turned off by this concept. And I totally understand why. Even for someone like myself who understands why clip shows exist, they are mostly pointless at best. And I normally would say that for this movie as well, seeing as how almost the first half of the movie is basically just a clip show. However...I can't exactly do that here. Because, and I briefly mentioned it in my review of the first "Silent Night. Deadly Night" movie, not a lot of people watched the first movie. Mainly because, it was pulled out of theaters real quick for, not only how poorly it was doing, but because a lot of people really hated that film for the time when it came out. So for this movie to go out of it's way to show what exactly happened in a movie that not a lot of people saw then is completely justified. This is one of those rare occasions where I can accept the idea of the first half being a clip show for anyone who might've missed out on the first film.

And the best part about this is that it has a really good framing device. We're being told about the events of the first movie from Ricky, who is Billy's little brother from the first movie, as he tells his story to a therapist from his point of view. I should also point out that Ricky's in a mental ward while he's telling this story to the therapist. I'll get a little more into this when I get to talking about characters, but the one thing I could nitpick here is how exactly would Ricky have known the events in almost very sharp detail of what happened to his brother, prior to him getting killed? I should mention that Ricky was just a little kid back then. So how exactly would he have known all this is a little bit of an oddity. However, I get the impression that Ricky already knew what happened to his brother before he got all psycho, what with Billy's traumatic experience and everything. And I'm guessing that he probably already knew the details from either one of the nuns who worked at the orphanage that Ricky and his brother were staying at, or he might've heard about it from the police sometime after they had shot and killed his brother. Either example works in my book.

So let's talk about the only character who's even worth talking about: Ricky. Now, as I mentioned before, he's at a mental ward for the events that follow after his brother's death. I won't spoil that part for you guys, but I will say that his conversations with the therapist that he's answering questions for is gold. See, throughout these scenes, you're suppose to take Ricky seriously, as he's telling his story to the therapist. But you can't, because the way that Ricky talks is that he's suppose to sound menacing...but it almost comes off as comically cheesy at the same. And as some of you probably know, I love this sort of acting, provided that it's not trying too hard to sound forced. But this is the perfect kind of hamfisted dialogue that's suppose to be taken seriously, but because of the way that Ricky talks during these scenes, it's impossible to do that here because of how funny it comes off as. And it mainly has to do with the actor playing Ricky.

Which, you know what, I'm just gonna go straight into the acting here, since I'm already mentioning Ricky's actor and all. The actor who plays Ricky goes by the name of Eric Freeman. This guy takes his role and just runs with it. The man is just oozing with so much charm that you're not gonna be able to take him seriously, especially when he leaves the mental ward and, well, goes nuts, let's just put it that way. But yeah, his acting in this movie isn't what I would call "good", but it makes him stand out as the most memorable actor of the entire movie. Everyone else here is just kinda terrible. Nobody puts in any amount of decent effort. Some of it sounds really wooden, while others try to ham up their lines. However, in the case of the latter, they're never going to outshine what Eric Freeman for his character. So it's just a case of you just have to accept the acting for what it is. It's just terrible with a side of ham and wood to go with it.

I want to touch upon special effects for a moment. Now for the most part, the effects in this movie range on just standard blood effects and the occasional visual effects too, but there's one thing I want to talk about in regards to makeup effects. Now I am gonna spoil one other thing about this movie. Mother Superior, the nun in the first movie, is also in this one too. And it's been stated by one of the nuns that she had suffered a stoke, thus she retired and went to live on her own. Well, from between the first movie and this one, she also, somehow, developed some kind of skin disease on her face. I swear to god, guys, for some reason, the makeup on Mother Superior's face looks as if she was possessed by a lizard. I don't know why that is, and I also don't know how common it was for someone to look like half a lizard after they suffer a stroke back in the day, but it just looks *really* odd on her. I guess they wanted to make it look like she got older, but somehow, she ended up looking uglier than she did. Which, I don't know if that was meant to be intentional or not, but still. It is something that might throw you off the first time you watch it.

But overall, guys, despite that one bit, the special effects in this movie are pretty good. They're not amazing, mind you, but for the small budget that they had to work with, it's still decent for what it is. Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is also good, too. The sound-mixing is mixed fine. Music here is pretty forgettable. While we're not flooded with stereotypical Christmas songs, the music here isn't really anything to write home about at all, aside from the infamous "Garbage Day" scene I mentioned earlier. But other than that, the music in this movie is rather forgetful.

Ultimately, guys, when everything is said and done, am I able to recommend "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2"? If you liked the first movie, or even loved it like I did, then yes, I would totally recommend this film to you guys. If you haven't seen the first movie, then it's possible that you might want to watch that one first before jumping into this one. Though it is debatable that you could skip the first film and just watch the clip show of the second movie, I still would highly recommend it because there's a lot more in it than just what was shown here for this movie. While this one is obviously not as good as the first film was, this film definitely fits into the "so bad, it's good" genre, to where it's funny as hell, and is definitely guaranteed to make you laugh. At least, if you're into these sorts of bad movies like I am, of course. Like I said earlier, I enjoyed this movie a lot to where I'm gonna add it to my list of Christmas movies that I plan to watch every year around this time. And speaking of which, I really want to go back and watch the first "Silent Night, Deadly Night" movie again, seeing as how this movie wanted to sum up what happened there. I'm gonna go watch it in it's entirety because I love it so much.

So anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of this year's "Reaction & Review Christmas Special". Until next time, guys, take care, and have a very Merry Christmas. Peace.

Reaction & Review | The Pagemaster

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be checking out a family film from 1994. That movie is "The Pagemaster".

Now, I have a bit of a story about this film. You see, I remember seeing the trailer for this movie way back when I use to watch movies like "Ferngully" and "Once Upon A Forest" on VHS. And as a kid, I thought it looked awesome. And I didn't get a chance to watch it until a couple of years later on TV.

Now, here's where it gets a little strange. See, while I did eventually get a chance to finally watch it...I don't exactly recall if I even liked the film or not. And I should mention, again, that I watched it on TV, but again, I don't have any recollection of whether I liked it or not. Which brings me to the present, because I eventually caved in and finally decided to get this movie on DVD and go into this one with a fresher memory than before.

Now I know this film is a fantasy movie and it also stars a young Macaulay Culkin. And I also know this movie mixes in both live action and hand drawn animation together, which is gonna be interesting to see. Now I'm also aware that this movie is somewhat of a polarizing film. Some people I've heard say that this movie has aged rather poorly, while others still herald it as a piece of childhood memories and still love it to this day.

Now I don't really know which way this film is gonna swing for me personally. Even though I have technically seen it once before, my thoughts on the movie back then are rather hazy. But thanks to this series, I finally get a new chance to go into it and see if it either holds up or it really has aged poorly. And the only way I'm gonna find that out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "The Pagemaster".

3 minutes later

Wait, so Macaulay Culkin's Dad in this movie is building a treehouse for him, even though it's just been stated by his mother that he's afraid of heights. If he's afraid of heights, why the hell would you build him a treehouse then? He's obviously not gonna go up in it, so why even bother with it? I mean, I get he wants to be a good father to his son but it still doesn't really make sense to build something that will make him afraid of heights, you know what I mean?

7 minutes later

OK, I have a question, and it's admittedly a bit of a stupid one, but I want to ask it anyway. So, this librarian, who's obviously Christopher Lloyd, is guessing at what kind of book Richie wants, even though Richie just wanted to get out of the rain. And he was doing it in a rather strange and, somewhat, creepy way. Does he do that with *every* kid who comes into the library? I'm only asking because if he approached me in that manner when I was a kid, I would be a little bit weirded out and terrified by how close he's coming towards me. That's just me, personally speaking, but still, I have to wonder if he does that to every kid he meets who comes to the library? I'm really sorta curious here.

11 minutes later

You know, guys, what's really kinda surprising me a bit? It's the fact that Patrick Stewart voices the pirate book called Adventure, and yet, he doesn't sound *anything* like Patrick Stewart. Which honestly makes him stand out the most out of every character that has appeared in this movie up to this point. That's actually kinda interesting, really.

20 minutes later

Sorry, guys, if I'm not saying a whole lot right now. It's just that this movie hasn't really given me much to work with at the moment. I'm hoping that something interesting will happen sooner, so that way I'll have more to talk about. But right now, this movie has been kinda slowing down a little bit.

9 minutes later

You know, guys, out of all the things I was expecting from this movie, a music segment wasn't really one of them. It's not really a musical number, seeing as how this film hasn't had any real songs in here to begin with. But this is the first song I've heard in the movie so far, and it's sorta reminding me of that scene in "Ferngully" where Krysta and the other guy she was with were together. And also similar to "Ferngully", the song here is kinda lame and forgettable. At least, to me it is. Also, I just noticed some electric-looking fairies...interesting. At least the animation is pretty good, so I can at least say that much.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "The Pagemaster". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well...what exactly do I start with first here? I suppose I can start by answering this question. Earlier, I had mentioned that this movie was seen as being rather polarizing to a lot of people. And being that this is my first time in watching it since I was a kid, I wasn't totally sure if this movie was either going to hold up decently well, or if the movie really has aged poorly, as some have proclaimed. Well, now that I have seen it with a fresher mind, I can answer the question of has this movie aged well for me? And I can officially say that...it kinda does. Mind you, the film is still rather flawed, but unlike the time when I watched "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story" where I had no nostalgia for it to begin with, I do have a little more fondness for this movie since I do have a little recollection of actually watching it as a kid, even if I didn't remember on whether or not I liked it then. So yeah, I can say that I did enjoy this movie fine, despite it's flaws.

With that said, let's actually get into this one, shall we? I'm gonna start with writing. Writing in this movie is rather archaic at best. Basically, the film's structure is that our main child character, Richard Tyler, or Richie if you prefer, ends up getting transported into a world after going into a library to get away from the rainstorm. And there, he ends up meeting a wizard who tells him that he needs to overcome three trials, which is basically Richard overcoming his own fears and him getting to the exit. What's really funny to me is that, even though this movie does work in genres like horror, adventure, and fantasy, it really plays itself out like a standard fantasy story. The only new thing that's included is how books are being used as a gimmick. Other than that, the story is really nothing new here. It plays itself safe, since especially this is a family film and all. So, I'm willing to give the setup here a bit of a pass.

However, I do need to talk about the biggest problem with the movie, which is the pacing. Pacing in this movie is rather uneven. It starts off quick when we actually get to the animated world of the movie, and we're introduced to the world of horror. Which looks great by the way, however, I'll get to all that when I cover animation. But it's when we get to the world of adventure in which the movie's pacing starts to become a problem. And the main problem with the adventure segment is that almost nothing of interest happens there. The only bit of interesting stuff is during the beginning of it where our heroes encounter Moby Dick, but outside of that, the whole segment involving Long John Silver is boring as shit. It almost feels like it takes forever to get through. And mind you, the movie's only a little over an hour long, but the adventure segment made the film feel longer than it should. Which I didn't think was possible for a movie that's a little over an hour long, but this film found a way to do just that.

That being said, I will say that the segment involving fantasy is much better. Not just because of the dragon fight, which is really cool mind you, but it's for something else that I'll get to later when I cover animation. So anyway, writing here as a whole, while operating on a formulaic matter, is still decent for what it is. Our characters here are kinda one-noted. You have Adventure acting as a pirate, Fantasy as a fairy, and Horror as, well, looking like an old horror book. Yeah, so Horror's personality is that he doesn't like the genre that's essentially his name. Which kinda makes sense, if you view it from his perspective since a lot of it involves scares, death, and all things related to horror. Granted, it makes you wonder why someone would name a character Horror, when they don't like the genre that they're a part of, especially when you consider that both Adventure and Fantasy live up to their names and embrace their genre. But Horror doesn't. Which, again, kinda makes sense from his perspective, but still, it would be something that could come into mind if you try to think about it.

Aside from that, guys, the writing here, like I said, is decent. And the characters are mostly likable, too. So at the very least, it sorta balances itself out a little bit. Now, what about the acting? Well, in terms of the live action segments, most of it is pretty good. Macaulay Culkin does OK with the script he's given, being that he was still a child actor at this time. The two actors who stand out the most, though, are Christopher Lloyd and Patrick Stewart. Christopher Lloyd, when he's the librarian, hams it up, as he's known to do sometimes. And it's OK, though it's not one of his stronger showings. The other one who stands out is Patrick Stewart. I've brought it up before, but Patrick Stewart in this movie doesn't sound like Patrick Stewart at all. He mostly talks with a gruff pirate accent, and if his name wasn't clearly advertised for this movie, you wouldn't be able to tell that it is him voicing a pirate book. Now normally, when it comes to Patrick Stewart, you would mostly expect his normal sounding voice, as I've seen him do with his performances in animated shows such as "American Dad" or his guest appearances on "Family Guy", but here, he puts on an almost unrecognizable accent, which makes him stand out as the best actor in the entire movie.

Unsurprisingly, though, the worst actor in this movie, by far, would have to go to Whoopi Goldberg as Fantasy. She easily phones in the weakest showing, because she's basically acting like herself, all sassy and whatnot. Which is a stark contrast with Patrick Stewart, who puts in an effort to not sound like himself at all. Whoopi puts in no effort to sound different than what she already sounds like. But then again, Whoopi hasn't put in any real effort, aside from the time that she voiced one of the hyenas in "The Lion King". Now aside from her, there is also the legendary Frank Welker, who voices Horror in this movie, and he does an amazing job also. But then again, it *is* Frank Welker and he has been in the voice acting business for decades, so I probably shouldn't be expecting anything less from him whenever I see his name in anything.

Animation is here really good. For a movie that came out in 1994, this is some really good-looking hand drawn animation. The art-style, in particular, is amazing. Especially in areas such as horror and fantasy. With horror, you get that spooky-looking vibe that really brings out the genre that it's suppose to be representing. And with fantasy, it's really more about the smaller details that catch my eye. And it mainly has to do with how trees look. The designs of the trees and how they look hand painted remind me of "Sleeping Beauty". I was always a fan of how that movie looked, and seeing those those similar-looking trees in this movie kinda made me happy. But yeah, the looks of horror and fantasy look great. And even though I didn't care for the adventure segment, I still think it looks really good for the setting. Color palettes here are really good, though there are certain moments where the characters look a little...lighter-colored, I would say. And I think it's mainly when they stand together after the horror segment is when I first noticed it. Though that's just more of a nitpick on my part.

There is one other thing that I need to bring up involving the animation, which is the CG. Now there is very little CG in this movie to begin with. And that mainly comes from the water coloring segment at the beginning where all of the paintings on the ceiling in the library start to melt. It looks really cool when they melt, but it's when they start to drop on the floor is when you get to notice the obvious-looking CG. For me, it was when Richie starts to run away from it that I noticed how dated the CG looked. Now for 1994 standards, it probably looked really cool. But if you're viewing it by today's standards, it looks really dated. However, the whole segment is still really cool-looking, as long as you're able to look past the dated CG.

Sound-mixing here is fine. The music, at least in terms of it's score, is perfectly fine. The songs, though, are really forgettable and kinda shit. Mind you now, there's really only two songs that I was able to pick up on. And that's the scenes involving the beginning of the fantasy segment and the ending credits. Both songs are really kinda lame and there's no way in hell that you're gonna remember the songs by the time the movie's done. Unless, of course, you're really into these kinds of songs to begin with, but if not, then the songs here are not gonna stick at you at all.

Now with all that said, when it comes right down to it, can I recommend "The Pagemaster"? For kids, yes. I would totally recommend it to children. If you, yourself, are associated with children in some way, be it your own or you have a niece or nephew, then I would say let them check it out, and they're guaranteed to be entertained. If you, yourself, grew up with this movie, then obviously, there's no need for me to recommend it to you further, because you have already seen it and probably own it on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. But for newcomers? Well, if you can look past the middle section involving the adventure segment, then I would say it's possible that you'll find some enjoyment out of it. Though whether you enjoy the whole thing or not is completely subjective on your point of view. As for myself, while it does have some obvious problems, I can actually say that I enjoyed it enough to where I can hold onto it for my DVD collection. So yeah, I think that answers the question on whether it has held up for me or not, which it does decently enough. Now...I do still have "Ferngully" on DVD, I think I'm gonna go and watch that next because it has been a long, long time since I last watched it, so I'm gonna go see if that one has held up since my last viewing of it.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a Japanese horror comedy from 2001. That movie is "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies".

Now before I go any further, I should probably explain something about the film's title for just a moment. See, you guys wouldn't notice this, seeing as how I do these reviews on a text format as opposed to something like a YouTube video. But the version of the movie I have on DVD, only calls it "Stacy". And apparently, it's also on the official release of the movie that was released in the U.S.. Now I have no idea as to why they didn't include it's full title on the DVD. I mean, it's not like it's hard to pronounce or the title's too long or anything. But just for the sake of it, I'm gonna go by it's original title here, seeing as how almost every website I've looked up also include's the movie's full title as well.

So anyway, let's move on from that piece of oddity and actually get into the movie itself here. And the only thing I can really tell you guys, in case you didn't pick up on it already, is that it's a horror comedy that also features zombies. And those can be kind of fun at times. I mean, I enjoy movies like "Dead & Breakfast" and "Dead Snow", both of which were also zombie comedies. And also, they both apparently have the word 'dead' in their titles. Which I honestly didn't notice until I started naming them as examples. So, that's certainly interesting.

But yeah, those are two examples of zombie comedies that I do enjoy, And something else that is also kinda, sorta interesting to note is that all 3 movies, including this one, all take place in a different region. "Dead & Breakfast" takes place in the U.S., "Dead Snow" took place in the mountains of Norway, and this movie is set in Japan. And I think this also may be the first zombie comedy I've seen that takes place in the Far East. At least, as far as I know of anyways.

So, I'm gonna see if a zombie comedy from Japan will actually be any decent. And the only way I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies".

5 minutes later

Wait wait wait, wait a fucking second here. So, this doctor says that these zombies, or "Stacies" as they're calling them, only die by repeat kills if you slice them up into 165 pieces. Even though earlier, we saw a police squad shoot at a zombified high school girl, and presumably taking her down. Now ignoring that bit of logic for a moment, why exactly do you need to slice them into 165 pieces? What kind of logic did this doctor come up with when he was studying this bizarre case in which high school girls are turning into zombies? I'm not quite sure yet, guys, but considering this doctor's already shady from the get go, I have a feeling he's hiding more than what he already knows. Just call it a hunch if you will.

10 minutes later

You know, guys, I find it really weird how they have the one actor who looks plainly like an American, talking about the "Bruce Campbell Right Hand 2". And what's really strange about all this is that I can faintly hear the guy talking in English, even though I'm watching the official version of this movie on DVD which *only* contains the Japanese audio with English subtitles. I don't know why I find that weird, guys, but it's kinda throwing me off slightly.

6 minutes later

So, this illegal repeat killing group is named after Drew Barrymore because she's their idol...OK. Don't see how that's suppose to be funny, unless the name Drew is purposefully shoved into the title of their name, thus naming it after Drew Barrymore. Either way, it still isn't really all that funny, but I guess it kinda sorta makes sense, if you actually want to think on this group's level of logic.

18 minutes later

OK...I've never seen someone pulling a head from someone's neck like that, which also meant pulling out their spine as well. Jeez, that's honestly kinda sickening to watch. I will say, though, the special effects in this movie are really good for low budget standards. Still...that was really nasty to see.

19 minutes later

So, guys, I really didn't want to ask this, seeing as how we're almost an hour into the movie, and there's only about a little over 20 minutes left to go here, but I gotta ask it now. When does this thing start to get funny? I mean, it's a horror comedy for god's sake, and I haven't laughed once since this movie started. Like I said, there's only a little over 20 minutes left of the movie to go here, so I'm hoping maybe that I'll get a laugh out of this before the movie is done. And if not, then we might have a serious problem here.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies". Thank fucking god, it's over. I'm gonna shut this movie off now...Jesus Christ, that was almost torturous to get through. Sorry, guys, but it's been a while since I last watched a movie that almost fried my brain. Yeah, this movie is just...well, shit, really. I still don't even know what to say about it, because that almost left me dumbfounded in the worst way possible.

My god...OK, well, let's just try to get through this review here first and see what I can actually dissect here. Well, I may as well just start off with how I usually do with a lot of these reviews. Let's start with the writing. The story here makes no sense whatsoever. And I need to make a little confession to you guys, I actually did read a little bit of the film's synopsis on the back of the DVD case and it didn't make very much sense to me. But I figured that maybe what I read there was gonna make more sense once I started watching this film...and it didn't. Nothing about it made any sense. And if that wasn't any indication enough, the last 20 minutes of the movie will make even less sense to you. I was trying to make sense of what the hell was going on, but as it just kept going with it's own in-cohesive narrative, my brain began to clock out, and it just ends up becoming boring by the time the movie's finished. Which, for a horror comedy, is a bad thing to end up doing.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the film's attempt at humor. I could see that this film was trying to be something of a homage to B movie zombie flicks, especially stuff like George A. Romero's films. In fact, the police squad I mentioned way early on in the film that was shooting up one of the high school zombie girls are actually known as the Romeros. Which is sort of a neat reference, but the problem here is that none of the humor is really all that funny. The only thing that got me to close to actually smiling a little bit is when they bring up Bruce Campbell's Right Hand 2. Which, OK, it's a cute little reference to "Evil Dead", but it's not really enough. References don't really make your comedies funny. Which is a problem that most people have with Friedberg and Seltzer's movies, since their films mostly just relied on references to pop culture and shit. However, if there's any real praise I can give here is that, unlike and Friedberg and Seltzer, they don't tell you what they're referencing. You have to figure out for yourself that the Bruce Campbell reference is from "Evil Dead". So, it's at least something.

I will also say that, while the story here doesn't make any sense, I will say that at least it's not your typical zombie apocalypse movie. You know, the ones where a group of survivors must band together in a post apocalyptic world where zombies rule and the human population is near extinction. It's nothing like that, though they do make mention of the latter in which high school girls between the ages of 15 and 17 end up dying and are resurrected as zombies, or "Stacies" as what they're really called here. And it somehow ended up where the birthrates in Japan have gone down drastically because girls around that age are always ended up killed by their loved ones. And there's also something about butterfly powder that's connected to these Stacies, though it's very vague and doesn't really make much sense. But then again, like I said, the story here doesn't really make much sense to begin with once you actually try to think about it yourself.

Characters...what fucking characters? There is nobody in this movie that has even a shred of depth, personality, or likability. If I had to pick the worst character here, it would probably have to go to Eiko. And that's mainly because Eiko is easily the most annoying character in this entire movie. Every time she laughs or rings that fucking wind chime she always carries around with her, I wanted her to die because she is that annoying. And a bit of a spoiler here, by the end of the movie, she ends up dying and ends up becoming a Stacy, which causes Shibukawa, the only male character who develops something of a relationship with her, to kill her and kill her again because of the whole "repeat killing" thing. Yeah, that shit also made no sense either, but that's another thing I could go on a half hour rant about if I cared enough to make sense of it.

So, to summarize this up to you guys, the writing in this movie is mostly shit. What was suppose to be a horror comedy ends up becoming nonsensical and stupid by the time it reaches the last 20 minutes of the movie. And even before that, there's nothing about it that will guarantee to make you laugh. The acting here is all right, though. I can sense that a lot of these actors were trying to ham up their lines in a goofy sort of way, and it kinda sorta works, And it seems like the actors here were at least trying to have fun with their roles. So despite my criticisms I have about the writing, the acting here is at least somewhat competent.

Special effects here are actually really good. This film was obviously made on a low budget, but the filmmakers actually went out of their way to make the effects stand out, and they did so tremendously. All of the blood and gore effects here are really good, especially the bit I mentioned earlier when the doctor was pulling one of the zombie girl's head and the spine just comes out right with it. That bit was awesome. The makeup effects are also really good, too. Seriously, if there is any reason you want to check this movie out, watch it for the amazing special effects. They are seriously that good. The prop involving Bruce Campbell's Right Hand 2 is also cool-looking as well. Even though I still haven't seen any of the "Evil Dead" movies, I am aware of the chainsaw that Ash uses, so I would love to have a prop version of that myself and this movie kinda sorta makes me want to get one.

But anyway, special effects are really good for this movie. Camerawork here is pretty good. It sorta gives me the impression that it was shot on video rather than using a professional film camera, although I say that mostly for the beginning where it looks like older footage compared to the camera technology we have today. Though then again, this movie did come out in 2001, so perhaps it makes sense why it looks the way it does here. Lighting here is lit fine. The sound-mixing is also mixed fine. And the music here is also pretty decent, too. Though it's not exactly great either, so make of it what you will. The music here is just fine for what it is.

So ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies"? Not really, no. The only way I could maybe recommend it is if you shut your brain off entirely and just view it as a mindless popcorn flick. That, or perhaps if you're somebody who's a fan of seeing blood and guts on screen, then sure, I would probably say go watch it that way. But if you're somebody who wanted to see a good horror comedy, then no. This movie is not that. The humor isn't really funny, and the last 20 minutes will more than likely fry your brain if you attempt to think about it. So yeah, this movie sucks hard. And you want to know something else? Originally beforehand, I discovered this movie at my local mini mall and they were selling a copy of this thing for $30. Yes, seriously, that is how much they were charging it. Now I didn't buy it then, because it was just too much for even me. But then later, I eventually discovered this movie again at one of my local video stores and they were selling it for $8, which is the copy that I bought. And I'm thankful that I bought it then, because had I been stupid enough to get this thing for $30, I probably would've been even angrier than what I was already for this review. But for $8, it's not that much of a rip off. Still though, I don't think it was entirely worth it in the end.

So now, I'm gonna go and watch a better horror comedy, and I think I'm gonna go and watch my copy of "Dead Snow" again. It's not a great movie, but it's still funnier than this movie tried to be. And on that note, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | The Shape Of Things To Come

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a Canadian sci-fi film from 1979. That movie is "The Shape Of Things To Come".

Now I'm gonna tell you, guys, I know very little about this movie. For starters, I know that this film is based off a novel that was written by H.G. Wells. And from what I've heard, this movie has barely any connection with the novel that this thing is based off of. Which I know will turn off those who have an absolute obsession with movies not getting things that are based off the source material correctly, however, as I've stated before, I don't really do side by comparisons with the movie and book. In fact, I've never even read the book this thing is based off of before, so I can safely say that whatever this movie will do will either stand or fall on it's own standards.

Now the only other thing I know about this movie is that it was trying to cash in on the success of "Star Wars", since this movie came out a couple of years after the first "Star Wars" movie. Beyond that, I know almost nothing about it. I haven't seen any trailers or clips from the movie, so I'm going into this one completely blind here.

I am hoping for it to be decent, or perhaps even pretty good. I don't know if it will be though. The only way I'm gonna find out if this movie is any good at all, is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "The Shape Of Things To Come".

1 minute later

OK, guys, I know you can't hear this for obvious reasons, but is it just me, or is the music sounding rather...disjointed? I thought it was just an issue only when it was on the DVD menu screen, but no, it's still the same, screwy music that's playing in the opening credits. I'm hoping that this won't become an issue later on with the rest of the movie, but I still find it really odd that the music's audio just sounds really off to me.

12 minutes later

Oh my god, are those spacesuits that they're wearing made of tinfoil?! I swear to god, guys, these two guys that are wearing these spacesuits look like they were made out of tin foil paper! Holy shit, I knew this movie was made on a low budget, but how cheap does your movie have to be where you can't even get proper-looking spacesuits for your actors to wear?! Good god...

8 minutes later

Wow...even the helmet that this guy is wearing looks cheap as shit. It almost looks like he's pulling down a grey colored trash bag over his head as he's putting it on. I swear, guys, the costuming in this movie is ridiculously cheap, and I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to handle anymore of this cheapness.

17 minutes later

All right, I think now I can safely say this. The acting from Nikki and Merric is fucking terrible. So far, most of the acting has been halfway decent, but these two actors in particular really fucking suck.

13 minutes later

So...it turns out that the people disguised as bushes are actually kids. And one of them may be infected with radiation. All right, that raises a lot of questions. Mainly, how long have these kids been on Earth, and how long have they been infected with radiation? I would assume that, you know, radiation would slowly kill a person. And if they *are* infected with radiation, then how come Kim and Jason haven't been infected by being near them in the first place? I have so many questions about this, guys, and I'm hoping that at least one of them will be explained sooner rather than later.

12 minutes later

I am gonna say this, guys, the only character in this movie, so far, who I actually kinda sorta like is Sparks the robot. Every other character has been really kinda bland, yet Sparks is the only one that's kinda saving this movie a little bit for me. Just thought I'd let you guys know.

5 minutes later

O...K...now the movie's decided to go on a trippy mood here as our characters are...well...not getting high, obviously, but I guess when they broke through the dimension, they ended up going through a weird, trippy scene. I really don't know how to describe what I'm seeing to you guys, it's just...really fucking odd.

13 minutes later

So, if radiation wasn't going to kill the good doctor, this loud noise that Omus made will. That's...kinda stupid. And underwhelming as well. But I guess it's at least effective.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "The Shape Of Things To Come". I'll go ahead and shut the movie off now...OK. Well...what to even say about this thing? I guess I should probably start by saying that this movie was a little bit disappointing. It doesn't truly suck, but I wouldn't say it's really good either. It falls on the range of being a rather bad movie. Now yes, I've seen and enjoyed a good chunk of bad movies that I have covered for this series. But this one...well, this one, unfortunately, falls short of being on the level of so bad it's good.

Let's just dive right into this thing by first discussing the writing. Now I will say that the story here had a lot of promise. I really think that this movie could've been better written, had it gone through another draft or two. Because what we have here for a story feels undeveloped at certain points. I'll get more into that in a second here, but I should also mention that this movie, not only tries to capitalize on the success of "Star Wars", but it's also trying to do that with "Star Trek" as well. And watching this movie, you can totally tell that this movie felt like a lost episode of the original "Star Trek" series. And there's nothing wrong with that obviously, but the problem here is that, like I said, parts of the story here feels undeveloped. And what we have here is a rather shallow, and kinda boring sci-film when all is said and done.

I wanna talk about the biggest plothole of the entire movie. So the entire setup of the movie is that there was this terrible war with robots that happened on Earth that caused so much damage that radiation began to take into effect. So most of the people of Earth was moved over to the Moon, where there's apparently a new city that they live under known as New Washington. And the only way for the humans to survive is with a drug that counters the effects of radiation called RADIC-Q-2. And it's here where I have to talk about the plothole involving radiation because this really bothered me throughout most of the entire movie.

So earlier, I mentioned these kids that were stranded on Earth, that also happened to be disguising themselves as bushes. So after Jason and Kim first discover that they're actually kids, Jason notices that one of the kids has been infected with radiation. Not only that, but these kids were one of the many survivors of the robot wars. So, I'm going to assume that maybe these kids were infected since they were babies. Which is whole-nother level of messed up when you actually stop and think about it for a moment. But anyway, the only help these kids have gotten, prior to Kim and Jason landing on Earth, was this old guy by the name of Charlie Montgomery, who was the doctor's friend. A little bit of a spoiler here, Charlie's dead, because he was infected with the same radiation that these kids also have. Which, again, begs the question on why our heroes weren't infected by them when they were close to these kids? You would assume that radiation is contagious and that it spreads like a virus to other people close by, so why weren't our heroes ever infected by this same radiation is something that is never explained.

Another thing that bothered me about the kids being infected with radiation is when Kim tells the children that they will be back with a full supply of RADIC-Q-2, because it's obvious that they couldn't take the children with them on their journey, due to them being infected and all. That part kinda makes sense, but here's the thing: We *never* see these kids again after our heroes leave Earth. So you're left wondering if the kids ever got treated or if they were just left to die on their own. Which is something that, I believe, should not be ignored! Why the fuck would you introduce these children if we're never gonna see them again?! That makes almost no sense whatsoever.

Our characters here are mostly dull and shallow, save for 2 of them. One of them is Sparks the robot. And that's mainly because Sparks has something resembling a personality, unlike the rest of our heroes who, again, are pretty dull and shallow. The only other character who was kinda sorta memorable is Omus, our main of the villain of the movie. He's more or less a shallow dictator, but what makes him stand out is the actor playing him, which is Jack Palance. I'll get a little more into him later once I cover acting, but I will say that both Sparks and Omus are the only two characters I can say that kind of saves this movie from being completely hollow.

One other thing that I will comment on that is sort of a problem is the pacing. This movie does feel a little bit slow at times. The best example I can think of is that weird trippy scene I mentioned earlier when our heroes broke through some sort of dimension portal, and there's this 5 minute scene where it looks like they're getting high off this entire scene. I have no idea why it takes *this* long for them to go through all that, but it really could've been trimmed down to a couple of minutes or just completely cut from the movie entirely. There was no reason for that scene to be 5 minutes long, and all it really served was to pad the film out unnecessarily.

So yeah, guys, the writing here isn't very good. Like I said before, it could've gone through at least a couple of more drafts with it's script, and there's a possibility that it could've been better. But as it is, the story here feels kinda empty and rushed, and ultimately is a rather bland sci-fi movie. With that said, let's get into the acting here. Now for the most part, the acting here is halfway decent. Even though most of our main cast didn't get a whole lot to work with, they certainly tried with what they were given. Especially Jack Palance. He was easily the best actor in this entire movie. The parts where he has to shout leans on him overacting, but it's still charming enough to where you could possibly garner a smile out of it. The same can't be said, however, for the other two actors in this movie playing Niki and Merrick. Both of these actors sound really stilted and don't know how to convey emotions properly. Especially for Merrick's actor, since he sounds the worse of the two. He literally has no range to his voice and, slight spoiler here, he dies a little bit in the beginning of the third act of the movie. And I was kinda happy he was gone then because I didn't have to deal with anymore of his shitty acting. Otherwise, guys, the acting here is halfway decent at best.

Let's get into the costuming next. Oh boy, where do I even begin with this one...? Well, for starters, I mentioned the astronauts suits that looked to be made of tin foil. And I would not surprised if that really was the case, because no matter how you look at it, they look like dogshit. Now I also mentioned the kids from earlier and how they were suppose to be infected with radiation. Well, while we only get to see one example of this from one of the kids, some of them also have white hair which is really just obvious-looking wigs. Why the others also didn't get white hair is either because the radiation couldn't affect their hair changing color, or there wasn't enough for the kids to wear is something that I don't know of.

But the most polarizing costuming has to go to Omus's robots, who are essentially just dudes in obvious robot suits. Which is funny, because the only robot in the movie that looks like an actual robot is Sparks, since he's the only one that doesn't look like some guy was dressing up as a robot. Now I say Omus's robots are polarizing, because it's either something that you're gonna get use to or it's gonna throw you off completely. Myself, personally speaking, it was something that I got eventually use to, though that might not be the case for anyone else who might have an interest in watching this movie.

But yeah, costuming here is mostly terrible. Special effects are also pretty standard, at least in terms of it being a low budget movie. The visual effects, the blood, all of that looks OK at best. And also, you don't really get to see much blood in this movie anyway, since it only happens to two people that are killed in the movie. But still, the special effects are nothing to really write home about. Camerawork here is fine. The lighting here is also OK for low budget standards. Sound-mixing is also fine. The music, apart from the screwed up opening song, is also kinda decent. It's not great by any means, but at least it kinda serves it's purpose here.

So yeah, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "The Shape Of Things To Come"? Um...probably not. What holds me back from recommending it is that the writing just feels rather unfinished. I believe if this thing had gotten a much tighter script, it could've been slightly better. Granted, it probably wouldn't have saved the terrible costuming or its special effects, but at least the story could've been fleshed out a bit more. But as is, it's just not very good at all. Add on to the fact that the movie's also kinda boring, too. So yeah, unfortunately, I'm not able to recommend this thing to you guys, unless if you have some morbid curiosity for it. But otherwise, you can probably find some other low budget sci-fi movie to watch, or I guess any other sci-fi movie for that matter. And speaking of, I think I'm kinda in the mood to watch "Starship Troopers" again. So, I'm gonna go and watch that next once I get done with this review.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Cannibal! The Musical

 

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a musical from 1993. That movie is "Cannibal! The Musical".

Now, I've been wanting to see this film for a long time. And it's not just because it was put out by Troma, but more so of what I've heard of and read online about it. For starters, I know this movie is based off a true story about Alfred Packer, who was the only person ever convicted of cannibalism. And this movie is essentially a comedy version of his story of what happened during his trip in Colorado. Which sounds really interesting, and the fact that it's also a musical is definitely another interesting aspect to it.

Another thing I know about this movie is that this was the very first thing ever made by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Yes, the very same guys who would later create "South Park", this is their very first outing. And considering I've already seen their two other films, both being the "South Park" movie from 1999 and "Team America: World Police", this is the only other one that I haven't seen yet. So, I'm really kinda excited to see how they handled themselves the first time around.

Now I could also bring up the production history of this movie, but I'm gonna save most of that for later when I get to reviewing it. Right now, I just really want to watch this thing that badly. I'm really hoping for it to be good, and I'm hoping that it is, but the only way I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and, damn it, I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, guys, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Cannibal! The Musical".

1 minute later

So, guys, this movie has already made a massive lie. The opening text screen said that it edited out all of the violent scenes for your viewing pleasure. And guess what happened? I just saw some guy's arm get violently ripped off and is being used against him as a weapon. Oh, and also, some other guy's neck is being chewed off and is bleeding profusely. So yeah, this movie lied already. However, I have a feeling that it's more than likely going to benefit this movie tremendously. Call it a hunch if you will.

17 minutes later

I'd just like to point this out, guys. Frenchy's two henchman here have the most fakest mustaches out of any movie that I've ever seen. And what's even more funny about it is that Frenchy himself actually has some natural facial hair. I don't know why I find that funny, guys, I just really do for some reason.

7 minutes later

I'm gonna say, guys, the songs in this movie, at least so far anyway, have been surprisingly catchy. This song in particular is no exception. I know you guys can't hear it for obvious reasons, but I'm really digging this song here. And the singing's not too bad either. So yeah, I can safely say that the songs have been pretty good so far.

9 minutes later

Wow, this is somehow the most passionate-sounding song of the entire movie. And it's about a horse too! Granted, I'm not exactly a fan of love songs, but this one's actually halfway decent. I really wasn't expecting that at all.

5 minutes later

OK, I was gonna ask on whether or not the "Indians" in this movie are actually Chinese or Japanese, but now I can safely confirm that, just based on the fact that their teepee tents are based off the flag of Japan, that they are indeed Japanese. So at least that answers that question.

20 minutes later

So this is the cyclops I've been hearing about for most of this entire movie...interesting. Granted, I wasn't really expecting it to wear a fur coat and a hat, but I was sorta expecting him to have one eye. And yeah, he totally does have one eye. So, go figure.

2 minutes later

You know, out of all the songs I was expecting from this movie, one of them singing about building a snowman wasn't exactly one of them. But hey, if anything, at least it presents a new theory that someone over at Disney heard this song and decided to implement it for "Frozen", further proving Disney's own lack of creativity. At least, that's just my own theory anyway, so you can take that for what it's worth.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Cannibal! The Musical". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK.

Before I get into the review, I need to let you guys in on something first. Now as I mentioned way early on, I had seen the two other movies which had been created by both Matt Stone and Trey Parker, both the 1999 "South Park" movie, or as it's better known as "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut", and "Team America: World Police". Now admittedly, it has been a really long time since I last watched the 1999 "South Park" movie so I can't really say much on it. And as for "Team America: World Police", while I admit to enjoying that movie, I also have to say that it was...kinda overrated. That, plus some of the humor in that film wasn't as funny as it should've been. Now part of the reason why is because I had seen a lot of the clips of the movie on YouTube way back when, and I certainly found them really funny back then. But watching it in full, the film didn't exactly win me over. And I have no real plans to watch it again anytime soon.

So why go into all that first instead of talking about this movie? Well, in case you didn't pick up on it, I'll tell you guys why. See, I haven't really been a fan of Matt and Trey's stuff for a long time, and that obviously includes "South Park". Mostly modern "South Park" anyway, and that's mainly because a lot of the humor that they've been doing for the show nowadays is mainly about what's topical at the time. And it comes off as both really dated and really forced, which is mainly the reason why I haven't been a fan of "South Park" in a long time. Now there are a couple of exceptions, such as the "South Park" video games like "The Stick of Truth" and the "The Fractured But Whole". Both are really solid games, so it's not like I'm completely ignoring "South Park" entirely. That being said, it doesn't really give me much of an excuse to go and watch the show anymore. Most of it comes from clips on YouTube, and I mostly try to avoid the modern stuff as much as I can.

Which *finally* brings me into talking about "Cannibal! The Musical". Because this movie shows, to me, that Matt and Trey were at the top of their game when it comes to making a comedy. There's nothing here that I would say, in terms of humor, is anything topical or trendy that they had to make a movie or special just centered around that subject. This movie is it's own original piece. Well, I say that in a very loose sort of way, because this movie is still based off a true story. They just took creative liberties and did their own thing with it. And I'm gonna tell you, guys, the humor in this movie is really solid and funny. There's not a bunch of references to other media except for one that references an old sitcom called "Mister Ed", a show that centered around a talking horse. Beyond that, every joke here is mostly original. While they don't all exactly land, most of it is still really funny and I definitely got a few laughs out of it, too.

And since this movie is obviously a musical, let's talk about the songs next. Most of the songs in this movie are very catchy and the style of music is also kinda expandable. Now what I mean by that is that I was expecting most of the music to feel very timely, such as most of it being folk music. And while there are some songs in here that are like that, there's also a couple of songs that I wasn't exactly expecting. One of them was the song that Alfred was singing earlier about his horse. It's a love song that I would say is something akin to what Barry Manilow might sing. Which is a comparison that I didn't think I would ever make, but there you go. The other song is sung by Pry, the woman reporter that's talking to Alfred. Her song is very reminiscent to a Disney song from the 90's. Now admittedly, that song is probably the weakest song of the entire film, but I will say that the singer is really good at singing. So, it's sort of a give and take situation there. But overall, the songs in this movie are very good.

Now as for the writing itself, it's what I already surmised for you guys at the start of this thing. And I will say, again, aside from some jokes that don't exactly land, the movie itself is really funny most of the time as you get to see the whole journey through Alfred's perspective on what happened during his trip in Colorado. Basically, our band of miners, along with Alfred, are on a journey to Breckenridge to get the last remaining bit of gold that's hiding there before it's all gone. And along the way, they gotta contend with Frenchy and his two henchmen, along with the harsh environments of Colorado itself. I'm gonna try not to spoil it too much, even though there's not much to spoil here given that it's based on a true story, but let's just say that it doesn't end too well for a lot of our heroes here on this journey.

Character wise, there's not much depth to them. The only exception to all this is Alfred Packer, since he's the main character in all this. In fact, without spoiling too much here, it's less about him getting to Breckenridge and more about him finding his horse after it goes missing later on in the movie. Everyone else, like I said, there isn't really much to them. A couple of examples, one of them wants to use the gold to build a church while another one just wants to get laid since he's never a had girlfriend before. It's those kinds of motivations that don't leave room for depth. However, I'm willing to give it a pass on this, mainly because this is the kind of movie that's not really aiming to take itself too seriously to begin with. That, plus the characters themselves are rather likable, despite the lack of depth. So it's just something that you have to take for what it's worth here.

Now let's talk about the acting. So something I sorta left out at the beginning is that I wouldn't talk more about the production history until later on, and I can start doing that now. As I mentioned before, this was the very first thing Matt Stone and Trey Parker ever worked on. And this film was made while Trey Parker was attending school, so most of the actors in this movie consisted of his school mates, including Matt Stone. Trey Parker plays our main character, while Stone plays one of the miners. Now I'm also going to take a guess here and say that the extra actors that they got here were possibly their friends and family helping out, too. Not totally sure about the latter, but that's just my guess, really. Setting that aside, the acting here, at least from our main cast is actually pretty good. Everyone here turned in a rather decent showing. And I can tell that everyone that was involved in this movie had a blast working on it. So, as much as I would like to tell you that a couple minor actors kinda sucked, I can't exactly do that here, because it still looked like they were having a blast also. So yeah, overall, the performances here are pretty good for the most part.

Special effects, though, range on being kind of a mixed bag. Now this movie was obviously filmed on a really low budget. A budget that consisted of $125,000. Which is nothing to scoff at, mind you, since they did make due with what they had to work with. The biggest positives I can give are the blood and gore effects. These are some really good blood and gore effects for low budget standards. What's interesting, though, is that they are only prevalent at the beginning of the movie and the last third or so. So it's kinda spaced out, but they're still totally worth it when you finally get to see it in action. That being said, prop work here is sort of a mixed bag. I mentioned the fake mustaches on Frenchy's henchman from earlier, and there's also a couple of dead people that looked like obvious dummies. That said, I will say the costuming here is pretty good, and seems like it would be accurate during the 1870's. So at least there's that.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Most of it was shot with a 16mm camera, which isn't really new for low budget movies, but it still looks impressive. Lighting here is great, and that's mainly because a lot of this movie was shot outdoors in Colorado. So I would expect the lighting here to be really good. Sound-mix here is also really good. And I've already touched upon the music, so I won't go too much into it again, though I will say the score is also pretty good, too. So yeah, technical stuff here is perfectly fine for low budget standards.

Overall, guys, when all is said and done, can I recommend "Cannibal! The Musical"?  Most certainly, yes. If you're a fan of anything that was made by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, then I would absolutely say go check it out. If you're looking for a physical copy of this movie, it should be available on Troma's website, since they do have a listing of all of their movies for sale. Speaking of which, if you're a Troma fan, I would also recommend it as well. As for myself, I really did enjoy this movie. Now I wouldn't exactly call it the best film I've seen from Troma, but I would say it's probably one of Mart and Trey's better movies than say "Team America: World Police". Again, I can't say anything much about the "South Park" movie from 99. I'll probably have to track it down again at some point and give it another watch. But yeah, this movie is definitely worth recommending to you guys. And that's always awesome to say. Now...you know what? I'm gonna go and watch another low budget movie that had both the blood and gore and was also, sort of, a musical. I'm gonna go and watch "Dead & Breakfast" again. I really love the music in that movie and I kinda want to hear it again now, so that's what I'm gonna go do next.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Sabu

 

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a made for TV film from 2002. That movie is "Sabu".

Now, this film has a little bit of an interesting history to it. You see, this movie was originally made for TV to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Nagoya Broadcasting Network. Which, for those of you not familiar, is a broadcasting studio over in Japan. And then the film was later released theatrically. Now what's interesting about this is that the made for TV film was only 90 minutes. But when it was released in theaters, it was given an extended runtime of 2 hours. Now I'm going to assume that it was probably 90 minutes on TV thanks to commercials and stuff, but it's interesting to me that they did release it in theaters later on. Whether that was because the film was popular enough to get a theatrical release or they really wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Nagoya Broadcasting Network in a big way. But regardless of the reasoning, it still ran for 2 hours, which is what I'm gonna be covering tonight.

Now the main reason why I actually did want to check this movie out is because it was directed by a man named Takashi Miike. And despite me only covering 3 of his movies for this series, I've really enjoyed all 3 of them. And I'm hoping tonight's movie will continue that trend. Granted, I don't know much about the plot, aside from the fact that this movie's story takes place in the Edo period of Japan. Beyond that, I didn't really bother to read up on what the plot is because I'd rather go into it as blind as I possibly can.

So yeah, I'm really hoping that this movie will be good. I'm not totally sure if it will be or not, but that's what I'm here to find out. And the only way I am gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Sabu".

8 minutes later

I will say this much, guys. I am really liking the music in this movie. It has that old-style Japanese feeling to it. Which, obviously, makes sense, since this film does take place in the Edo period of Japan and all. But still, I'm really liking the music here so far. I'm hoping the story will produce the same kind of results, but I'll just have to wait and see for now.

19 minutes later

OK, so they finally explained why Eiji was sent to that island workhouse in the first place. Apparently, some golden-colored cloth was in his bag and it is worth a lot of money. How exactly the cloth got into his bag, I don't know yet. But at least it explains how Eiji got there in the first place. So at least that's something.

14 minutes later

So, guys, just based on what I've seen from Eiji-oh my bad, "Bushu"'s behavior, it seems to me that he's suffering an inferiority complex of sorts. I know that's probably not what the film is suppose to be aiming for with his character, but to me, it just kinda feels that way right now with him.

4 minutes later

OK, this is starting to bug me a little bit now. I get what they're trying to say to Sabu about forgetting Eiji, but they've been repeating that same kind of dialogue 4 or 5 different times now, and I'm starting to get tired of it. Just thought I'd let you guys know.

18 minutes later

Wait, how does this woman even know Osue stole the gold cloth? And I want a better answer than "oh, it's a woman's intuition" thing, because that, to me, is just an excuse of 'fuck you, that's why'. I'm hoping the movie will provide a better answer than the one this woman gave out, because I don't buy that whole 'woman's intuition' thing for a moment. I just don't.

17 minutes later

Wait, so this woman, who Sabu just met for all of less than a minute, mind you, asks him that she needed to borrow some money. And Sabu, again, who *just* met this woman, is just gonna lend him all the money that he has, without even asking *why* she wants the money to begin with. Um...no. I'm sorry, but if somebody was asking me to borrow money, I would ask them, first, how much do you need, and what do you need it for. That's just common freakin' sense! But then again, maybe some people in the Edo period hadn't developed common sense yet, so I'm just gonna chalk that one up to Sabu being stupid as hell.

9 minutes later

Well, guys, I am willing to admit that, despite having a bad leg, Eiji can still kick a ton of ass with that crutch of his. That is kinda badass, really.

The Review

OK, well, guys, that was "Sabu". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off now...OK. Well...I may as well start off by saying this. I went into this movie with pretty high expectations. And the reason why I set them high is because it's from a director whose films that I really enjoy. So when I went into this one, I was expecting the same kind of results. And well...it's still a pretty good movie. However, if I were to rank this one amongst the 3 other movies that I've seen from him, this one would rank at the bottom of it. In other words, guys, this movie sorta disappointed me. Not entirely, mind you, just a little bit. That being said, however, I'm not entirely certain if it's a movie that I'm gonna be watching again anytime soon.

So now that I've gotten my summarized thoughts out of the way, let's go straight into it here. I'm gonna start with the writing, as I usually do for in a lot of these reviews. And I'm gonna start with the dialogue, because that is one of the biggest problems that this movie has, in terms of writing. Now part of it has to do with repetition. See, for the first 45 minutes or so, the characters in this movie will constantly tell Sabu to "forget him", AKA Eiji, who's been sent to an island workhouse for a crime that he did not commit. Now I do get why they are telling him this. They want Sabu to move on with his life, be independent, start a business, etc. That's all fine and good...except we are told this same kind of dialogue about 5 or 6 different times, and by that point, it gets old really quickly and you're gonna be sick and tired of hearing it. Now admittedly, the movie does eventually move on from that repetitive dialogue after the first 45 minutes or so. It's just a shame that it almost took up the first half of the movie to get there, but regardless, they do move on from it.

That brings me into the next problem with this movie's writing. Almost nothing of interest actually happens here. This movie has lot of scenes where characters are talking and almost nothing of value comes from it. Now, I want to compare this movie with another film that was also directed by Miike, which also came out 3 years prior to this one, called "Audition". That movie also had a lot of characters talking with each other and, similar to "Sabu", it also runs nearly 2 hours long. But the reason why "Audition" worked better is because stuff was actually happening, and it was actually building up to something. Sure, it was kind of a slow build, but they were still building up to the big climax towards the latter half of the movie. And by the time it reaches that moment of the movie, it ends up having a huge payoff.

"Sabu", on the other hand, really doesn't have *anything* related to a payoff of sorts. There's characters talking, but there's not much happening that makes you care about what's going on. The only kind of exception I can think of is when there's a storm going on at the island workhouse, and Eiji and the prisoners all have to work together to try and keep everything on the island stable. But aside from that, there's not really anything else going that I can think of is even worth mentioning. There's just a lot of characters talking and, well, like I said, almost nothing of interest comes from it.

Now, I probably would be OK with all this, if this film was taking it's sweet time developing its characters. But sadly, that's not really the case here. Almost every character in this movie comes off as incredibly flat and boring. Our main character, Sabu, is honestly kind of whiny whenever he has to cry. Although I'll get more into that when I cover acting. Eiji is more focused on, as he tries to survive his time on the island. And again, it probably should've worked, but even he suffers from a boring personality because he doesn't go through any real changes in the movie, aside from towards the end, which comes as a little anti-climatic. Not even the prisoners that he's made friends with are interesting whatsoever because they're not all that important to the overall story. Not even his girlfriend, Osue, who, a bit of a spoiler, is the one who actually put the gold cloth into Eiji's bag and her reasoning for it is really kinda stupid. I won't spoil why, if you're really curious in checking this movie out. Just don't expect a halfway decent explanation out of it.

So...yeah, this one is kinda hard to admit, but the writing here is definitely the weakest thing about this movie. Now again, I will state that the movie itself isn't necessarily bad, it's just nowhere near as strongly written as the other movies that I've seen from Miike up to this point. Now, I will say that, despite all the problems the writing does have, the acting is mostly really solid. The only one I would say that turns in a somewhat flimsy showing is the actor playing Sabu. Now I say somewhat flimsy, because his acting is mostly pretty solid...at least until he has to start crying, and it feels rather flaky. I get that acting while crying is somewhat difficult to pull off, but he doesn't exactly pull that off very well here. The rest of the acting, though, like I said, is pretty solid for the rest of the actors, even if the script that they were given to work with was on the weak side.

I will also say that the sets here, along with the costuming and makeup effects look great. You can tell how much effort was put into it by that aspect, along in trying to nail down on how people looked during the Edo period of Japan. It's really impressive to see. There really isn't much I can say about special effects, aside from blood effects, which are very, very little here to begin with. It's ultimately nothing special.

Camerawork here is really good. Lighting here is fine. The sound-mix here is good, too. The score in this movie is also great. Like with the costuming and makeup effects, the music also feels like it came from the Edo period of Japan, and it's great stuff. I actually really like the music here. So yeah, I can say that much when it comes to this movie.

Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, can I recommend "Sabu"? It's kinda difficult to answer that, honestly. I would say that if you are someone who likes the works of Takashi Miike and you want to see something of his that you haven't seen yet, I could maybe recommend this one as a rental. If you can find it on DVD for cheap, or if you can find it somewhere online, I would say it's worth checking out at least once. But to watch it multiple times over...I'm not entirely sure I can say that. Like I said, the writing here is the biggest weak point of this entire movie. And it may not be enough to watch it again on repeat viewings. Now who knows? If you really liked this movie more than I did, then I say go for it. It might totally be worth your time. But as for me, personally speaking, I just don't see myself watching this thing again anytime soon, if ever. Which is really disappointing to say, because I really like Miike's work as a director, but this one didn't exactly win me over as it should. But that's OK, because I do have his other movies that I've covered for this series on my DVD shelf. In fact, I think I'm gonna go watch one of them right now. I think "Audition" will be perfect for this one because it's my personal favorite of his. So I'm gonna go watch that next once I get done typing this one up.

And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.