Reaction & Review | A Nightmare on Elm Street

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a slasher movie from 1984. That movie is "A Nightmare on Elm Street".

Now this may come as a surprise to some people who are reading this for the first time, but I have never actually seen any of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies. I've sometimes referenced it in my past reviews, but never have I actually seen of any them. The closest that I've came to that was when I watched "Freddy vs. Jason". Which I really enjoyed, even though I'm aware some people weren't exactly fans of that movie. And just as an off note, I have seen several of the "Friday the 13th" movies, but those were in no particular order. The ones I remember seeing were the first, third, and a little bit of "Jason X". So while I may not be able to cover those particular movies from the beginning, the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies are a different story. And, similar to what I'm doing with the "Underworld" franchise, I'm gonna be covering the first 4 movies in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series thanks to a 4 movie combo pack that I picked up at my local mini mall sometime ago.

Now I'm gonna give you guys the basics of everything I know about the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies. I know that they're slasher movies, I know they all star Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and I also know Mr. Krueger himself kills people inside their dreams while they're asleep. I also know, thanks to "Freddy vs. Jason", that he's something of a child killer. Though whether he was considered a pedophile or not is just implied since they don't really ever explore that area of his character. I don't know how much of that is gonna be shown in any of the first few movies, but I'll find out for myself once I start watching them.

But yeah, guys, I'm really looking forward to watching these movies. I've heard various things about the sequels after this one, but I do know most people say this movie is a classic. Though whether that holds up or not is something I'll find out for myself. And the only way I'm gonna know if this movie still holds up 42 years later 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 "A Nightmare On Elm Street".

6 minutes later

You know, guys, when I saw Johnny Depp's name pop up in the opening credits, I thought I was just mistaken, but nope, that actually *is* Johnny Depp. A much younger Depp, obviously, but still, I honestly had no idea he was in this movie until I just saw him. That's actually really interesting.

1 minute later

OK, that's probably one of the more creative uses I have seen for a cassette radio. That is really cool, and funny as hell, too.

7 minutes later

OK, that was genuinely creepy as shit. The way that wall almost took shape in the form of Freddy looked really fucking creepy. But also, really cool, too.

17 minutes later

You know, guys, I was just thinking about something. So, from what I remember about my multiple watchthroughs of "Freddy vs. Jason", Freddy talked about how he can't come back if he's forgotten. So that means that someone had to originally think of him at some point in order for Freddy to begin his killings, right? And if that's the case, then I have to wonder who originally thought of him to begin with? I know it probably sounds like I'm digging a little too deep here, but it's just something that I wanted to share with you guys. It's sorta bugging me slightly.

9 minutes later

All right, that was certainly gross there. Never imagined a centipede crawling out of a girl's mouth like that. Granted, she is technically dead, but still, it was pretty fucking gross.

11 minutes later

So Nancy, somehow, grabbed Freddy's hat out of her dream while she was sleeping in the hospital. And I say "somehow" because we never saw her dream. So how exactly she was able to get it off him is anyone's guess, really. At the very least, this proves that she's not crazy. So, at least that's progress.

8 minutes later

OK, hold up a minute here. So, Nancy's mother is showing her the claws that Freddy-oh, my bad "Fred", had down in her basement. Even though a just moment ago, she told Nancy the story about what he did when he was alive and how the parents went and killed him by burning him and the boiler room down that he stayed in. So how is it then that Nancy has his claws if they burned the place where he stayed at? I'm really curious here, unless Nancy's mother retrieved it after Fred was killed. Which would be the only explanation I can think of, but still, it raises a bunch of other questions, such as why she even kept those claws to begin with? I'm really sorta curious here.

10 minutes later

Guys, out of all things I do remember about the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies, it's this kill. And seeing it now, in full context, it still looks awesome. I love it.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Wow, um...where to start here? Well, I guess I should go ahead and say right off the bat that, yeah, this movie is great. It probably shouldn't be shocking, but as I said earlier, I had never seen any of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies before, so I kinda went into this with a little bit of caution on the off chance that I didn't like it. Well, thankfully, I can let my caution down here because I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie.

Why don't we start off with what I usually start with these reviews, which would be it's writing. Writing in this movie great. And it's really interesting to see this for the first time, because, while I did know about Freddy Krueger for a long time, I never got a chance to see any of the movies that he starred in. And watching this movie, I noticed something, which is gonna be a minor nothing, but I still want to make mention of it. You see, even though he is the main attraction of this movie, you don't really see very much of him. You see him in pieces, especially when he's about to make his move on his next victim. And normally, I would complain about the lack of presence involving an important character for your flagship movie. But in this case, it actually works because it builds up something of a mystique to the character that makes you interested in him. And while you may not see much of him, he definitely leaves an impact, both on the viewer, and on his victims. The kills, I should mention, are great here. However, I'll touch more upon that when I cover special effects.

Anyway, as for the story, well, I did bring up earlier about when I was watching "Freddy vs. Jason" that Freddy was a child killer. And they do bring that up during the last third of the movie as Nancy's mother talks to her in private about his origin. That being said, there is one or two things that sorta nag at me a bit. The one big one, for me, is how exactly Freddy got his start after he was killed. Because, again, Freddy only appears when someone starts to think about him, which is where he supposedly gains his powers. And when people start to forget about him or don't actually fear him, he loses his powers, in a way, and he can't come back. Again, I'm basing this off what I viewed from "Freddy vs. Jason", because that's where most of my knowledge about the character comes from. So when it comes to this movie, someone must've remembered him at some point, which would naturally mean that his presence would become more well known in the public. Or at least within certain people's minds. Glen, I think, was the only one who never thought about him because he never had any nightmares involving Krueger until his death. I'm guessing Tina, the first victim of Krueger, must've discovered something about him first at some point, which is how we see her in his dream world at the start of the film.

But that really is just me trying to stretch a nitpick that if you think about it too much, then it might nag at you for the entirety of the film. Which it really shouldn't because it's ultimately trivial in the end. And being that this is the first movie of this franchise, I can let any minor nitpicks I have with writing go to the wayside because it's very well possible that this could've been a standalone movie, had it flopped or Wes Craven, the writer and director of the movie, didn't have any interest in making a sequel. The only reason why I wanted to talk about it in depth is because, well, again, my knowledge about Krueger came from "Freddy vs. Jason", and seeing as how I've seen that film multiple times, it's just something that I wanted to make mention of is all. And believe me when I say that, even if you have never seen "A Nightmare on Elm Street" before, or even saw "Freddy vs. Jason" first like I did, it's not really gonna affect your enjoyment of this movie because it's a really solid film in it's own right, and is able to stand on it's own two feet with little to no problems at all.

And as for our characters, well, barring Fred Krueger for a moment, the only one who has any sort of depth here is Nancy, because she's the one who gets the most development out of our main protagonists. Everyone else is just sorta there, really. They're not horribly developed or anything, it's just that you're not really going to care about them as much because they'll most likely be victims of Fred Krueger. And speaking of which, Krueger in this movie is phenomenal. Again, you don't really see him very much on screen, but when he *does* appear, it is nothing short of amazing. He is rather charismatic, even if it is a little downplayed when compared to his appearance in "Freddy vs. Jason". But that's just a minor thing, really. And a lot of his greatness here comes from the fact that he's played by the ever talented Robert Englund. However, I'll touch upon him when I cover acting in just a second here. But yeah, in terms of characters, the only two who have any sort of depth and personality is Freddy Krueger and Nancy. And just as another minor thing, I really don't like how his first named is shortened. I don't know if that was meant to be intentional, or, if later down the line, they realized that adding the extra letters in his name would make him more marketable. If it's the latter, then I'm glad they went with that option because I'm kinda getting tired of just calling him "Fred" instead of "Freddy". But that's just me, personally.

Aside from all that, guys, the writing here is very solid. Any nitpicks that I could pick apart from here are all trivial in the long run because the movie is very sharp in it's writing, and can stand on it's own without it being weighed by it's nitpicks. And it's also very entertaining, too, which is a definite plus for me. Now as for the acting, well, as I mentioned a moment ago, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger is fantastic here. Admittedly though, I'm kinda more used to the deeper voice he usually gives out when he's hamming it up. But here, it's more so downplayed, yet is still able to be charismatic at the same time without losing any of his charm. Which is what I believe makes his performance stand out so much. But then again, he is the main reason why you should see this movie. If he wasn't, well, then this franchise would've been dead before it got started. But anyway, our other cast members do a fantastic job, too. The one who surprises me the most is Johnny Depp because, as I mentioned before, I had no idea he was even in this movie until I started watching it. And when you see him in this movie, he's very unrecognizable because he's usually associated in a lot of Burton's movies, in which he plays weirder characters. Here though, he's just playing a regular dude who's also Nancy's boyfriend. So, it may take some time for any fans of Johnny Depp, who have not seen any earlier films that he was in, to get use to how he looks here. Still though, his acting here is really solid, as is the entire supporting cast.

Special effects in this movie are absolutely phenomenal. In terms of practical effects used in horror movies, this may be one of the higher echelons of how amazing the special effects are. The blood effects are tremendous, especially that one scene that, if you've seen this movie, you'll know which one I'm referring to because that kill was amazing. The makeup effects on Krueger's face are also amazing, as is his iconic costume as well. I know, to some people, that a red and green sweater and a hat may not seem like much for a horror character, but when you compare it other slasher killers like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, who's main attraction for their costumes is mainly their masks, Freddy's stand out much more since he's not hiding behind a mask. Not that I'm saying that the masks aren't terrible or anything, far from it, it's just when it comes to the rest of their costumes, they pale in comparison to Freddy Krueger's. Although that's mainly just a personal preference for me. But anyway, the point is the costume, makeup effects, and practical effects involving blood are absolutely fantastic.

Camerawork here is really good. Lighting is lit very well, even in the darker lit scenes. The sound-mixing here is almost great, aside from the beginning, when Tina wakes up from her dream and the audio takes a bit of a dip when her mother comes to check up on her when she begins talking. I don't know if that was an issue on the VHS version, or if it was a technical hiccup when putting the movie on DVD, but regardless, it is the only one issue I had with the sound-mix. Apart from that, however, the sound-mixing here is still great. And the music is also really good, too, as you get to hear Freddy's theme quite a bit in this movie and it's nothing short of amazing, no matter how many times you hear it, because it never gets old. At least, to me, it doesn't.

So when all is said and done, guys, am I to recommend "A Nightmare on Elm Street"? Of course I'm totally gonna recommend it. It's a great fucking movie! And if you're a horror movie fan and you still haven't seen this film yet, then why the fuck are you still reading this review? Go and watch it already! Granted, the review's almost over, and if you stuck around for this long, then thank you, but still, any horror movie fanatic should at least see this movie once. Granted, I'm gonna be watching it multiple times over because it's that fucking good, but still, I enjoyed this film greatly and I'm certainly looking forward to watching the next 3 movies this month. Again, I've heard various things about the sequels, both good and bad, but I'll find out for myself how good or bad those movies are until I start watching them. But until then, I'm gonna go and "Freddy vs. Jason" again, seeing as how I've mentioned that film many times in this review already and I'm kinda in the mood to see more Freddy Krueger already, so I'm gonna go do that next shortly after I get this review uploaded already.

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 | Underworld

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be checking out a horror movie from 2003. That movie is "Underworld".

Now, I know very little about this movie, let alone the entire series. I remember seeing a trailer for this movie back when they first aired on TV, and the only things I could remember from it is that it's a horror movie with a Gothic feel to it. Which might be interesting. In fact, I found this movie that came in a 4 movie combo pack which contains the first 4 movies in this franchise, which I plan on covering this month. So you'll have a pretty good idea of what's to come here.

Now aside from this being a Gothic horror movie series, I also know that most of them star Kate Beckinsale, who is featured on the front poster of this movie. And I also found out that the director for this movie, Len Wiseman, it's also his directorial debut. Mind you, this guy has not made a whole lot of films. Most of them come from this franchise. I noticed one other film he had made, which was that remake of "Total Recall" from 2012. Which I have heard nothing but horrible things about.

But leaving that aside for now, I'm sorta curious to find out if this movie series is even worth pursuing. I'm hoping that this first one is at least pretty good. I won't know for it is any good unless 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 "Underworld".

19 minutes later

Well, guys, I am gonna say this much about the movie. So far, I really like how it looks. It really gives off a unique vibe to this world. I just kinda wish the story and the characters were more interesting right now. This movie really hasn't given me much to work with since it started, but I'm gonna give it a chance here and see where it goes. Hopefully, it'll get more interesting soon.

20 minutes later

So, guys, I'm still waiting on this movie to give out anything resembling a likable character. Better yet, I'm still waiting for something resembling character development because, so far, I have yet to find a likable character out of this entire cast, and that includes our main character Selene. I just want to find a reason to care about any of these characters, so that I can get more invested into the story. And so far, I haven't been able to find that yet. I'm still hoping for this movie to get interesting soon, but given the rate this film's going, I'm not sure if it will happen or not.

20 minutes later

OK, guys, I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we're finally learning about Selene's backstory about how she became what she is today. Bad news? It took the movie an hour to finally give us that backstory despite the film itself already being halfway over. The pacing in this movie is really kinda bad, guys.

11 minutes later

OK, while it's cool to see Selene finally being free, I have to ask why she didn't just break the window from before the blonde girl shut down the lights to the mansion? I mean, OK, sure, she probably wouldn't be able to have access to her car or guns, but at the same time, I feel as though she could've broke the window in the room where she was locked in. I know it's probably a trivial point, but it's still something I wanted to bring up.

13 minutes later

All right, well, that was a little too much blood he lost from a simple punch, but I will say at least that scientist is now dead, thankfully. So, at least he got his just desserts.

6 minutes later

So, guys, I just got to learn more about Lucien's backstory. And after learning it, it is honestly really kind of stupid. I'll get more into why later on, but I'm just gonna let you guys know now the reasons involving Lucien's backstory is honestly really stupid.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Underworld". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well, uh...where to start with this one? Honestly, it's gonna be hard to pin down this one, guys. I will say this much, the movie isn't all that bad, it's just a very flawed movie. And it starts to get more stupid the more you start to pick it apart.

Why don't we just dive right into this one here and first talk about the writing. Now earlier, I mentioned Lucien's backstory, and the reasons why he is on a vengeance against the vampires. Now in some fairness, the motivation is not completely unreasonable on his part. It more so has to do with Viktor, one of the vampire elders, who was awakened by Selene way early on in the movie. Now, I'm gonna try not to spoil this film entirely for you guys, but the short version I can tell you is that it just boils down to racism. Well, I say that, although it's not because 'oh he just hates lycans and wants their race destroyed', no no. The reason has to do with more than that. He doesn't want both races to join together in a way which will go against how the vampires operate. Which I know probably still sounds vague, however, as I said, I'm not gonna really spoil the whole reason behind it. I'm not gonna go into another tirade spoiler rant like I did with "Millennium" because at least in this regard, it's a little bit more simplified here.

Leaving aside that, that does lead me into a big problem that I found with this movie, which boils down to the ambiguity of both sides between the vampires and lycans. See, the movie sets this whole war between the two races against each other, and you're not really sure who you're suppose to root for or even care about. That bit I mentioned about Lucien's backstory, even though it does clear up some things about how the war started, before that happens, the movie sets it up as if the lycans are the bad guys. And just in case you're curious, lycans are essentially just werewolves. That's it. There's no special meaning about them other than they're werewolves. Granted, they look a little different than how I would view werewolves, but that's just really more of perspective. Anyway, they're set up as the bad guys. And yet, as you're watching the movie, you start to learn about the vampires, who almost all of them are not really all that likable. Kraven is basically kind of a self-centered asshole. I get what they were trying to do with Selene, though she kinda comes off as being very one notish and doesn't have very much personality. And Michael is just really thrown into the thick of things, even if it may not be his fault. So really, you're with left two sides here and you're not really sure who you're suppose to care about and why. Which honestly, doesn't really leave a very good impression, especially this being a first movie in a series and all.

One more thing I wanted to mention is the pacing. You see, I hinted at it earlier, but the pacing in this movie is just not very good. Well, at least the first hour anyway. First hour of the movie just feels like a slog to get through because the movie just feels like it's taking it's own sweet time trying to build itself up. Which probably wouldn't be much of an issue for me, however, it really didn't do anything to build it's up characters or anything else of the sort. It wasn't until the halfway mark where they try to give out backstory for Selene in which it kinda sorta works, however, most of her backstory is just told through exposition. You don't really see any of it, which is more left up to being very ambiguous. The only you thing you get to see is flashbacks from Michael's perspective of what happened that led up to the war between the lycans and vampires. Very brief ones, mind you, but still, that's the only thing you get to see. That, and the reason why the Lycans are after Michael to begin with. Again, I won't spoil the reason why. You can just watch the movie for yourself if you're really curious.

Now with everything I just talked about regarding the movie's flaws with writing, I will say that the second hour of the film does pick up and it actually does start to get interesting. And again, I am gonna comment on the film's look because it really does look like a darker style kind of world. Although, if I had to nitpick anything, I have to ask if it ever becomes daytime at all in this universe? I'm only asking because it's always shown during the night. Which makes sense, seeing as it's featuring vampires and werewolves and all. But still, it's just something I wanted to ask because at least with fictionalized cities like Gotham City, at least they show that it can become blue skies instead of the usual red sky you see in some universes like the animated series did. But that's just me going *way* off topic. Point is, I'm just nitpicking something, partially for the sake of it. But who knows, maybe in future installments, they actually bothered to include that detail somewhere.

But anyway, the writing here, while ridiculously flawed, is still entertaining as long as you view it as a mindless popcorn flick. And as long as you don't try to pick apart this movie like I did, you might really enjoy this movie even more. But that really depends on your taste in movies, obviously. So with that being said, let's talk about the acting next. And I will say that the acting here is really good. Kate Beckinsale does a rather good job with her performance even though it can still come as being one notish at times. Martin Sheen also turns in a really good showing as Viktor when he eventually shows up near the halfway mark of the film. Everyone else, while most of their roles are minor, still turn in a rather good showing as well. So, I can at least say everyone here turned in a pretty good showing.

Special effects in this movie are mostly really solid, except for one. Now I won't spoil what it is exactly, but it involves a kill, and the slicing of this kill when the head comes off looked rather bad. However, it really is only regulated to that one scene. If you ever get around to watching this movie, you'll have a pretty good idea as to what I'm talking about. Everything else in involving CG, like when you see a Lycan shapeshift into their true forms, and blood effects looks great. Costuming is also pretty good, too, even though with Kate Becinsale, she's only wearing black leather, similar to how Catwoman looked in "Batman Returns", although a little less stylish and more straight to the point. Regardless, her costume is fine.

Camerawork here is really good. The lighting here is mostly consisting of bluish lighting, which helps this movie's visual style. I know some people might be turned off by this, however, I still believe it makes this movie stand out a little bit in a positive way. Sound-mixing here is good. And the music, well, there's honestly not much I can say about it. It's mostly just a forgettable score, really.

So with all that being said, guys, am I able to recommend "Underworld"? Um...sure. Only, though, if you go into it as mindless popcorn flick. Like I said earlier, as long as you don't try to pick out the obvious problems this film has, then you'll definitely find some enjoyment out of this movie. However, if the problems become too obvious for you to not overlook, then I can't guarantee that you'll like this movie. Myself, personally speaking, it's an all right movie. It certainly isn't great, but it's still decent for what it is. I'm hoping the sequels will actually improve on what I just discussed in this review and hopefully they'll be able to fix them. In the meantime, I'm gonna go and watch another movie involving vampires. I'm gonna go and watch my copy of "Vampire Hunter D". It's been a good while since I last saw it, so I'm gonna go and watch that 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 | L.E.T.H.A.L Ladies: Return To Savage Beach

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, we're concluding a series of films, AKA the "Triple-B series", that I started back in 2024. And the final film in this saga came out in 1998. That movie is "L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Return To Savage Beach".

Now before I begin talking about what I do know about this movie, I'm first gonna say that I have enjoyed watching these particular movies for this series. And while there might have been a few bumps on the road, I am quite happy that I got to watch these movies for this series. And out of the 11 films I've covered in this series, I have enjoyed about 9 of them. Now sure, there were a couple of mediocre films in this series, but I still enjoyed those to an extent. And now, I get to finish this series off by taking a look at the 12th, and last, entry in the "Triple-B" series.

Now as for what I know about this movie, I do know two things. One, I know this was the very last film that Andy Sidaris ever made. That being said, even though I'm about to finish the "Triple-B" series, that doesn't mean that I have covered *every* film that Andy Sidaris has actually made. There are still several movies of his from way before this series that I haven't seen yet. So I may keep my eyes open whenever I come across them at some point.

The second thing I know about this movie is that it also acts as sort of a sequel to another movie in this series, which was "Savage Beach". In fact, I kinda mentioned way back when I ended up covering that movie and said that there was a sequel that I would later cover, which is this movie. Now, how much it ties into "Savage Beach" is something that I can't say at this time. I don't know if they're gonna bring back any characters from that movie into this one, or it's just gonna be another standalone movie that basically does it's own thing.

Which, to be honest, guys, I really don't think it's gonna matter a whole lot. Because, as I've said many times in this series, plot is the last thing that most people aren't gonna give a fuck about when it comes to an Andy Sidaris film. I have a feeling that this movie is going to be more of the same, despite it being the last film in the "Triple-B" series. That all said, I am curious to see how this one is going to play itself out. 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 "L.E.T.H.A.L Ladies: Return To Savage Beach".

7 minutes later

Wait, there's actually a place called "Uncertain, Texas"? I'm gonna have to look that up later to see if that's really the case, because I've lived in Texas ever since I was a child and I have *never* heard of that town before. Granted, I don't really travel a whole lot, but I'm still curious to find out if that's actually a real town or not.

6 minutes later

Huh...you know, guys, it's not often that I bring this kind of thing up, but the background in which two of our agents are riding their jet skis is the same background that was used in "Do or Die". I really didn't think that was actually possible to completely lift a background from a previous Sidaris flick like that, but I guess Andy found a way to do it. So...that's something, I guess.

12 minutes later

Well, guys, I got some good news. Donna and Taryn are actually in this movie! Bad news is that their cameos are just used as stock footage from "Savage Beach" in order to tell the story about the confiscated gold that we already heard about in that movie. I guess, maybe, Andy Sidaris added it in here just in case nobody watched "Savage Beach". But for me, seeing it in here, just seems like filler to me.

7 minutes later

OK, I didn't really want to say anything about this until later, but this guy who's wearing this mask, it honestly looks like a cheap Halloween mask you could buy at Dollar General. I know that Andy Sidaris always operated on a low budget for his movies, but I didn't think he could be *that* cheap. Just, wow...

12 minutes later

OK, well, even though that was an obvious dummy that they used, that explosion that guy was in looked pretty brutal, at least for the way he went flying there for a bit.

13 minutes later

So, upon finding out that Tyler was kidnapped, and one of the discs was stolen, Widow and Warrior go take a walk, which then leads into them making out. Yeah, cause that makes *total* fucking sense. I mean, yeah, sure, she did say that they would leave at dawn to go to Savage Beach, but this just comes out of nowhere. And also, for a final movie from Andy Sidaris, so far, this film has been kinda underwhelming.

16 minutes later

OK, guys, two things. One, this kill involving a remote controlled toy battle tank looked sorta cool, even though it was already kinda done earlier when one of the other female agents used a remote controlled car to kill another guy via an explosion. And two, the ninja that was shooting at Cobra could've used his gun to fire at her while she was taking the time to move the toy battle tank in position to where he was at! But instead, he just looks down at it while Cobra activated the bomb on the toy tank, killing him. That was honestly really kinda stupid, even by the standards of an Andy Sidaris film. That's kinda sad, really.

The Review

Well, guys, that was L.E.T.H.A.L Ladies: Return To Savage Beach". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off now...OK. Well, I can now officially say that I have seen all of the movies in Andy Sidaris's "Triple-B" series. And after finally watching the last one here, how does this fare up to all the other films in this series? Well, um...honestly, it's very underwhelming. Mind you, I'm not saying that it's the worst film in the entire series, however, when compared to all the other films made by Andy Sidaris, and even his son, it's really more on the weak side. Not as weak as "The Dallas Connection" or "Hard Hunted", but still, considering that this was Andy Sidaris's last movie, it still is rather weak, even by it's own standards.

So anyway, let's just start this review off here by first talking about the writing. I am gonna give this movie one thing. In fact, this is apparent for just about all of Andy Sidaris's films in this series, but I am gonna say that, for all of the T&A and the over-the-top action scenes, this movie was able to do something that I haven't seen done very well in modern movies. And it has to do with how it's able to retain it's own continuity. Now when I say "modern movies", I'm mostly referring to all the crap that gets shoveled out by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whether it's through their own movies or direct to streaming shows on Disney+, where they're barely able to keep their continuity consistent, and thus they continue pumping out shit in which it directly, or indirectly, contradicts what may have happened in said movie or show. Now admittedly, this may just be more of a content issue. Because Disney and Marvel doesn't know when to end things on a decent note, and instead they just shit out content to milk out whatever money is left from their dying cinematic universe.

And then you compare that to somebody like Andy Sidaris and his "Triple-B" series because, through all of these films faults, he's still able to retain continuity from prior films, even if it may seem unnecessary, simply because it's a movie series about playboy models becoming action stars and showing off their tits whenever their movie calls for it. And in this movie, the villain from the fourth movie, Martinez, somehow survived his encounter with Donna and Taryn and he's somehow reformed his ways. Now, there is a twist involving him that I actually won't spoil here because I'll freely admit that I didn't see it coming. Granted, I know plot is not really that big of a thing in these sorts of movies, however, I will give a special exception here. And I didn't notice this at the time, but looking back at the casting list for "Savage Beach", I did not know that Martinez in that movie was also played by the same guy who was the villain in the last several movies for the "Triple-B" series, AKA Rodrigo Obregon. So, I guess, for better or worse, he has some kind of impact on these series of movies.

Speaking of which, that brings me into talking about something that I never thought I would admit to when covering these sorts of movies. I actually do kinda miss Donna Hamilton. And the reason why I say that is because, through all of her faults, and her terrible acting, she carried the load for the better part of 7 movies. Starting from "Hard Ticket To Hawaii" to "Fit To Kill". Her character may not have gone though much change, but, like I just said, she helped carried these movies for a really long time. Which is why, instead of making one big cameo appearance in this movie, she gets regulated to her appearing in stock footage from "Savage Beach". In fact, she and Tayrn get referenced at least a few times here. Nothing about Nicole, though, for some reason. I thought that was kinda strange that they left her out. But then again, Donna and Tayrn were sorta the original female duo when it came to these movies. And what's strange about all this is that you never hear about what happened to Donna and Tayrn. The most you get out of it is that there's a model plane hanging inside Tyler's home, which is suppose to be a homage to Donna and Tayrn. But as for what happened to our former leading ladies is something you never find out. Whether they were killed or retired but that never gets answered. Which is sad, really, because, as I've pointed out, this is the last film Andy Sidaris ever made, so I figured maybe they would get some kind of surprise appearance or something. Sadly though, that doesn't happen here.

So you're probably wondering why I spent that good amount of time reminiscing about a character who I had mixed feelings on rather than talking about the characters in this movie? Well, that's simply because all of the protagonist characters you see here were in the previous movie. And most of them are just as bland and as forgettable as they were there too. I would include Warrior and "Elvis Fu" as exceptions here, however, they also get nerfed here too. Remember how the Asian guy was going under the name "Elvis Fu" and had that job as an Elvis impersonator in "Day of the Warrior"? Well, sometime between then and now, he drops that gimmick and just ends up being a generic kung-fu sidekick or something. Why? I don't know. I don't know why he dropped the Elvis gimmick, since that was one of the big highlights when it came to his character back then. And as for Warrior himself, well, he's now reformed here as a good guy, who only spent 3 months in prison. And while he's still played by Buff Bagwell, he's unfortunately lost a lot of his personality and he ends up being really bland, too. And also, he's paired up with Willow Black for some reason, even though they fought each other in the final battle in the previous movie.

Believe me, a lot of this doesn't make any sense. And normally, for an Andy Sidaris film, I would let this sort of stupid shit pass, however, for this being the last Andy Sidaris flick, it really is sorta hard for me to do that, because I feel like he just sorta phoned it in here. Not all the way, mind you, there is still some of that charm that he's usually known for when it comes his movies, however, it's similar to what I felt in "Hard Hunted", where it seems a little bit watered down when compared to most of his other movies, where he at least put in a little bit of effort to make some of those movies stand out a bit. Here though, there's really nothing new here when it comes to his level of creativity. I mean, he recycles the same RC car kill that he does twice in this movie. OK granted, the second time he did was with a toy tank, which is sorta new, but it's still the same method. And...that's it. That's the most creative sort of thing you see in this movie, and it's not even that impressive either. They also recycled the same ski chase from one of the previous movies, which gave me further indication that perhaps maybe this was finally the film that he just gave up on trying anything new or different.

So yeah, writing here is definitely more on the weaker side of things. Again, it's nowhere near as bad as other films like "Hard Hunted" or "The Dallas Connection". However, if I were ranking these movies, I would probably put this right above those two in terms of it being the third weakest film of the entire series. At least, that's how I would do it anyway. But that aside, let's talk about the acting next. And much like before, the acting here is just as wooden and terrible as it was in a lot of Sidaris's films. The only exception here is Buff Bagwell reprising his role as Warrior. Again, it doesn't really make a lot of sense to have his character as a good guy because he was involved in a lot of illegal shit. But I guess someone over at L.E.T.H.A.L was able to overlook all of that and have him only serve 3 months in prison. Whatever, he's back in this movie, and even though he doesn't get a lot of screen time here, he's still one of the few actors here who's putting in an effort. Everyone else is just as wooden or hamming it up as they did previously. It's just more of the same acting, really. And whether you can tolerate it for about 12 films is left up to you. But unless you're a newcomer to this series, well, I can't really guarantee that.

Anyway, special effects are, again, everything you've seen in the previous movies. Pyrotechics, squibwork for guns, very little blood effects, etc. All of it's there and it really hasn't changed. Granted, there is some cheapness here and there like the obvious dummy I mentioned, but I can give something like that a pass, because I think it sorta helps enhance the movie's charm a bit.

Camerawork here is pretty good, although I do have to talk about the picture quality for just a moment here. Now, perhaps maybe it's just a technical issue on my end, but for some reason, this movie has a bit graininess to it. Which is really odd, because I hardly ever encountered any of that in the previous movies. But for some reason, it's more noticeable here. I don't know if that was just, again, a technical issue on my part, or if Mill Creek Entertainment, the company that put this whole 12-pack out on DVD just left it as is without attempting to clean up some of the footage. Either way, this film looks really cheap. Which, again, when compared to just about all of the other films in the "Triple-B" series, I never had to bring any of that up because the picture quality looked perfectly fine there. This movie, for some reason, is the exception. Don't know why that is, but I guess it's just what it is, unfortunately.

Lighting here is great, seeing as how a majority of this movie was shot outdoors, as was most of the previous films in this series operated. Sound-mixing here is fine. The music here is nothing to write home about. It's really just there to be serviceable and that's about it. There's nothing else to say about it, really.

So, with all that said, guys, when it comes down to it, can I recommend "L.E.T.H.A.L Ladies: Return To Savage Beach"? If you have been following the entire "Triple-B" series to this point, and you want to see how it all ends, then yes, if only for that purpose alone. However, personally speaking, I think this is a really disappointing way to end this series of movies. I really thought it was gonna go out with some kind of bang. And instead, he just kinda ends it by recycling a lot of the same shit he's done in his previous movies, and he just sorta phones it in while doing it. Then again, I guess after doing 12 movies, I guess he was bound to run out of ideas at some point. And yeah, this movie was definitely that indicator. But still, for what it's worth, I had a great time checking these movies out. And out of all 12 movies, I can say that I enjoyed 9 of them. Which is still a really good batting average, because I genuinely thought I wouldn't really get much from reviewing these particular movies. However, I was totally wrong, and I'm thankful that I own this 12 pack, because I got plenty of movies from this collection to rewatch again and not worry about the ones that I didn't care for. So yeah, I would say that the "Triple-B" series is totally worth checking out, in my humble opinion.

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 | Die Hard

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the "Reaction & Review Christmas In July Special". Yes, guys, I'm once again doing another Christmas movie in July. And for this year's special, I'm covering a rather famous movie that has a rather infamous "controversy" of sorts. It is an action thriller from 1988. That movie is "Die Hard".

Yes, guys, believe it or not, I have never seen this movie before. I know of it's premise, which is about our main character, being played by Bruce Willis, as he's trapped in a large building with a bunch of terrorists and he has to escape from the building, while trying to evade being killed by these terrorists. That's all I remember about the plot, which, to me, sounds like a really cool premise already.

But as I just mentioned already, this movie has something else that a lot of people on the internet seem to have an interest about. You see, people who have already seen this movie, whether it be fans of something or the like, debate on whether or not the movie counts as a Christmas movie. Which, to me, I find to be a really stupid debate for two reasons. One, the movie already confirms it itself, as the premise mentions something of a Christmas party that takes place around the building that Bruce Willis's character takes a part in. And two, I watch a bunch of movies around Christmas time, which don't even center around Christmas, whether it gets mentioned or not. For example, "Pokemon The Movie 2000" has nothing to do Christmas, but I watch it every year around that time. And if you want a live-action reference, "Dead Snow" really has nothing to do with Christmas, even though it's set around a wintery area in the mountains of Norway.

Basically, guys, I find the whole debate on whether or not "Die Hard" is an actual Christmas movie to be really pointless. All I care about is whether or not this movie is entertaining. And if it *is* entertaining, then I'm most certainly gonna add it to my yearly tradition of Christmas films that I must watch every year. But the only way I'm gonna find out if this movie is entertaining at all is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Die Hard".

18 minutes later

Well, guys, right now, I don't have a whole lot to say at the moment, but I am, so far, getting into this movie. And it looks like these terrorists are about to start to their takeover, so I'm hoping that our plot will finally get kick in now that they've arrived.

15 minutes later

OK, well, it's good to know that Argyle still has his priorities straight. He's still listening to loud music in his limousine, and I also have to question how Argyle, ignoring the loud music, would be able to hear gunshots from, possibly near the top of the building to which McClaine was a witness to. I'm really kinda curious here.

8 minutes later

OK, I like John's little "calling card" we shall say. And the fact he just indirectly tells them that he has one of their machines guns basically is an indication that, yeah, he's coming for them, and I'm gonna be here for the entire ride.

4 minutes later

Wait, so even though these lady cops obviously heard gunshots going off while John was trying to call for help, they sound fucking casual about the whole thing as if this was a prank call. Yeah, they said they would send a black and white out to check the building, but the fact that they didn't take a hint that there were gunshots going off in the background makes me hope those people on the line get fired for negligence on their part! Just...wow.

12 minutes later

Well, that's certainly one way to get the cop's attention. Just throw one of the terrorists dead body out the window and onto their car. Problem solved. At least, I hope so anyway. However, by the time that this is all done, I don't think they're gonna be all that necessary after McClaine takes care of business by himself. Calling it now.

20 minutes later

You know, guys, out of the things I've seen blown up in movies and TV shows, that might've been one of the greatest ones I've seen of all time. Holy shit, that was amazing.

15 minutes later

So, John is actually going to help Hans out, who, I should mention, John doesn't even know that it's him. Why the fuck is he helping him out? Doesn't he know that there are terrorists in the building, and he doesn't suspect some guy in a suit, and is obviously suspicious? Unless Hans stays unarmed, then John is still kinda stupid for bringing him along. Just saying.

20 minutes later

Sorry, guys, for not saying very much at the moment, I'm really getting invested into the story here. It's been amazing so far.

8 minutes later

Well, guys, after two hours into the movie, Argyle actually did something of value. I was really beginning to question the validity of his appearance in this movie, but he actually did something useful. So, I'll cut him some slack for now.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Die Hard". And, man oh man, what a way to end a movie. Holy shit...well, I may as well go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. First things first, I'm gonna answer this question so I can put this debate to bed. Is this movie actually a Christmas movie? Yes. It totally is. And any retard who keeps debating about it is just fooling themselves. It has Christmas decor. Hell, it even ends Dean Martin's rendition of "Let It Snow!". So yeah, this movie totally counts as a Christmas film. And not only that, but it's a fantastic Christmas movie, as well. Which makes me wonder why I even waited this long to finally watch it, but hey, never late than never, I suppose.

So now, let's actually talk about the movie a bit. I'm gonna start with writing. And in most cases, I would probably just disregard writing when it comes to action movies, because, as I've mentioned time and again, most people don't care about the plot. They only care about the action scenes. And there's plenty of it here, mind you. But it also has something else to it that a lot of action movies don't really have. It actually has depth to it. It makes you want to keep watching it to see what happens. This is the kind of action movie that makes you *care* about these characters. Which is something that I don't see a whole lot from action movies that operate on a standard format. Now don't get the wrong idea here. I don't mind when action movies do their own thing, like with most of Andy Sidaris's action films, because he never aims for anything more than just making a cheesy, action film with playboy models with big tits pretending to be action stars. Those are an exception.

But with this kind of movie, it shows that you *can* add depth and personality to your action movie if you take the time to put in that effort. Now granted, the story here is very simplistic, which is fine for an action movie. As I said earlier, it's about Bruce Willis's character, AKA John McClaine, who is a New York cop who gets caught up at the wrong time when terrorists take over a building where his wife is works at. And the terrorists are there to break into a vault to steal shit, while McClaine is a one man army who attempts to take them all on while trying to escape the building. So yes, it's a very standard plot, but it's also so damn compelling that you want to see how McClaine gets out his situation, even when he's battered, bloodied, and, even during one point of the movie, he runs across glass while being barefoot while trying to make an escape, and the entirety of his sole is bloodied to all hell. I couldn't even begin to imagine that kind of pain, and frankly, I don't really want to. Now I should mention that you don't visibly see him running across glass, as it was covered by a flash grenade from one of the terrorists. But still, I think you can get an idea of what happened to him after his escape.

And speaking of characters, all of them are great. John McClaine here is charismatic, and he has depth and personality. He's sorta like the reverse Rambo. Where with Rambo, he was mostly the silent type who would kill you in an instant when he got a chance. With McClaine, he's not like that. While he's still a one man army type like Rambo, he acts more vulnerable, but he's still able to be creative with his mind in very tense situations. Some of the stuff that he actually comes up, like when he tapes a gun to his back while pretending to be vulnerable is something that, if I were put in this situation, I would never have come up with something like that. Or the thing involving that massive explosion. Believe me when I say that this is the kind of explosion that Michael Bay would not be able to recreate, even if he tried to. But yeah, McClaine here can be vulnerable, but he's still able to be a badass, even in scary situations where tries to act calm, even though he's probably scared to death on the inside. But then again, considering he's a New York cop, I would imagine that he's learned to control his fear when he signed up for that job. Though that's just me theorizing.

If there was any sort of negatives to characters, I would probably have to go with Argyle. Because Argyle, for almost the entirety of the movie, does nothing of value. Not only that, but he really has no kind of character to him other than him being a rookie limousine driver. Now yes, I did give him credit earlier in which he stopped one of the terrorists from escaping by disguising themselves as an ambulance worker, but that was towards the end of the movie. Before that, he really just does nothing other than sit on his ass in his limousine while listening to loud music. Now, in some fairness, when he picks up that McClaine was in the building he actually does start to listen a little bit about what's happening to him. But other than that, and beyond his lack of character, I honestly believe that you could've replaced him with any other character, and you wouldn't have missed a thing with him. Aside from that, though, I will still give him credit where credit his due for stopping at least one of the terrorists.

But yeah, our other characters here are also decently developed. Granted, a majority of the hostages aren't really focused on. The only one I can think of is John's wife, who he has been trying to get back together with after being in an estranged relationship with. But otherwise, you're not really gonna care about the hostages because, as I just said, they're not really the focus. Our villains, including Hans Gruber, is incredibly unlikable. However, you're not really suppose to like the villains, and they do a great job of making you want to hate them. Also, I have to mention the cop, Sgt. Powell. The friendship that he and McClaine share, even though they almost never physically meet each other is fantastic. It really is some of the better character depth I have seen between two friends that I haven't seen in a long time with other movies. Although that may be just a personal thing on my part.

So, guys, if it's not made any clearer, the writing in this movie is fantastic. It's an action film that has depth and personality to it, it has characters you can care about, and for a movie that's only a little over two hours, it doesn't feel very long either. But then again, it's not very short either. Basically, this is a movie that is worth the slightly over two hour runtime that it's working with, which is perfect if you ask me. The acting here is also fantastic. Every single actor in this movie is giving it their all here, and it shows. Even if it's a minor actor, they still turn in a fantastic showing. Special mentions go to Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. With Rickman, he oozes off with a lot of charm to his character, even if his character is slightly on the generic side of things. He's still able to take his character and just makes you want to despise him. And he does a fantastic job of it. And as for our hero of the movie, Bruce Willis is incredibly charismatic here, and he'll even take one-liners and turn them into gold. I obviously don't need to bring up his famous quote because anyone who, even if you have never seen this movie, chances are that you've at least heard it uttered at least a couple of times beforehand. I don't know what else to add to all this other than to say that the acting here is nothing short of fantastic.

Special effects in this movie are also really good, too. Blood effects here are brutal, especially the scene I mentioned earlier where McClaine is taking the time to take out shards of glass out of his bloodied foot. Mind you, that's one of the instances I can think of, other than him having a bloodied shoulder as well. Still though, blood effects are really good here. The pyrotechnics are also fantastic as well, not including the obvious here. Now I'm not sure how much of it was legit or how much of it was done in CG, but I still think it looks great for the standard of late 80's special effects.

Everything else, guys, involving camerawork, lighting, sound-mix, and music is all great here. There's really not anything special I can mention about the technical work. I could also mention that, for a supposed Christmas movie, there's not much Christmas music playing, other than the end credits. But I'm kinda thankful that they don't play any of it during inappropriate moments, otherwise, it might come off as a little bit awkward. At least, to me, it would.

But otherwise, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Die Hard"? Oh, fuck yes, guys. This movie is fantastic, and if you somehow still haven't seen it yet, then I would wholeheartedly recommend it. Not just as a fantastic movie, but I would also say it's worth watching during Christmas year. Which I'm totally gonna be doing from now on because this thing has more than proven worthy of that honor. Now is it my favorite Christmas movie of all time? Well, I'm not sure if I would put it that far. I mean, it's gonna be difficult for it top films like the first "Silent Night, Deadly Night" movie or even "Tokyo Godfathers", but I would say it ranks very high up there now, thanks to my first viewing of it. And you bet your ass I'm gonna be watching it a lot more often, even not during Christmas time. It's just that great, and you owe it to yourself to check this movie out. It is fantastic in every single way. Now...seeing as how I brought up Rambo, I'm probably just gonna watch one of my Rambo movies right now. I don't know which one at the moment, but I'm gonna go watch one of them right now.

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

Reaction & Review | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. And not only that, guys, but it's also the 350th episode, as well. And normally, I would be celebrating this occasion by covering a movie that I've wanted to see for quite some time. And, well...I'm not quite feeling it with this one. As you can probably guess from the title, tonight's movie came out in 2024. That movie is "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice".

Now, just in case you're new here, earlier this month, I reviewed the first "Beetlejuice" movie. Which is already a weird thing to say, but regardless, I actually had never seen the first "Beetlejuice" movie, up until I did that review. And overall, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really funny at times and, while it's not one of my favorites from Tim Burton, I still really did enjoy the movie, which is awesome to say.

That then brings me to the sequel...and already, I have two major complaints about it before I even push play. Number one, the fact that they're doing a sequel, which came out 36 years after the first film, already feels like a desperate cash grab move from Warner Bros. And two, this film also came out during a time when sequels and remakes were, and still are, unfortunately, a massive thing. And I have a strong feeling that this is gonna be another one of those sequels where it will have no reason to exist.

Now keep in mind, I'm not saying that this movie's gonna be bad because it feels like a desperate cash grab sequel. All I'm saying is that, with what was already accomplished in the first movie, I really feel like there's no reason for this movie to exist because it has nowhere else to go. But who knows? Maybe, just maybe, there's something here that I'm not seeing yet. I have heard some good things about this movie, so there is a possibility that this movie could surprise me somehow and actually wind up being pretty good. Granted, my doubts on that are pretty high. But hey, I would love to be proven wrong here. I'm hoping that this film will actually do the impossible and wind up surprising me in someway. But the only way I'm gonna find out where this film will stand with me 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 "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice".

10 minutes later

So, not only did Lydia's stepmother make it into the arts, but also, her stepdad got killed off via a shark, which was all done in stop-motion. Admittedly, that's a rather interesting way for them to write off Jeffery Jones character since, well...they couldn't get him back for obvious reasons, let's just put it that way. But still, I actually really liked how they were able to explain why he's not in this movie.

15 minutes later

So, this lady can actually suck out the souls of people via Shang Tsung style. That's actually sorta cool. I mean, granted, I know she did it earlier, and I don't know what her deal is with Betelgeuse, at least as of yet, but at least the way she's able to suck souls out of people's bodies is sorta cool.

3 minutes later

So, guys, I just got to see more of Betelgeuse's backstory involving him and how he met his ex-wife. And I gotta say, considering that this, I believe, may be the first time I got to see something related to the guy other than him just being weird and goofy. That actually is rather interesting.

13 minutes later

Wait, let me see if I understand this. The reasoning as to why Barbara and Adam from the first movie aren't in this one is because they, who I'm going to assume is suppose to be Lydia and her family, found a loophole and moved on. Um...what loophole? Did they, like, find a way for Adam and Barbara to get out of Betelgeuse's world so that their souls can rest peacefully or what? I really don't get what Lydia means by this. I'm kinda hoping maybe that there's a better explanation for this, otherwise, that's a *really* weak way to write them out of the movie. Just saying.

12 minutes later

Well, guys, I am willing to say that the special effects here are still actually really good. Granted, there is a semblance of CG in this movie, but for the most part, I'm really digging the practical effects that are present here. They're almost as good as they were in the previous movie. That's actually really surprising to me.

11 minutes later

OK, I really need to ask this, because this is starting to bother me now. So, Astrid has been seeing this guy, Jeremy, for the past couple of days, only to learn that he, along with his parents, have been dead for the last 23 years. I won't say how that happened, exactly, but my question is that if they've been dead this long, then why didn't anybody just tear their house down or get other people to buy the house and move into it? I'm asking this, because if 23 years have passed since their deaths, then that house should either look completely different or, like I said, it really should've just been torn down. I'm really curious about this now, and I'm not totally sure if the movie's ever gonna explain that at all.

10 minutes later

OK, I will grant the movie this much. The reference to "Soul Train" is fucking awesome. Then again, that's partially because I actually did watch a little bit of "Soul Train" back when it was airing close to midnight when I was a kid. Regardless, I actually am really digging that reference.

13 minutes later

So, guys, do you happen to remember that goofy-looking scene in the first movie where the characters were singing and dancing really weirdly? Well, they're sorta rehashing the same idea here. However, it is still done in a rather creative way. And the song itself is not too bad either. So, at least I can give the movie that much.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well, um...where to start with this one?

I suppose, first and foremost, I should answer an obvious question. Is this movie as good as the first one was? No, it isn't. When compared to the first movie, it is nowhere near the level of how great that first movie was. But don't take this as it me saying that this movie sucks. It really doesn't. Now part of me when into it with very little expectations because I know that, being that this was a sequel to a very well known movie from way back when, sequels usually don't measure up to how good their predecessor was. And I had a strong feeling that this movie was going to flat out suck because of that. And again, while the movie still isn't as good as the first one was, I can actually say that, on it's own standards, it's actually really decent. Yes, it does have a number of problems, however, I can actually say that, for the most part, this movie is really enjoyable.

So anyway, let's actually dive right into this one here and actually talk more about it. Let's start with the writing. Now, one thing you have to be wary about when doing a sequel is that you really can't just recycle a bunch of ideas that you had already done in the first movie. Otherwise, you run the risk of just doing a barebones sequel that takes little to no chances and is only there to make a quick buck for whatever studio is publishing it. And I still believe that this movie was probably intended as a quick cash grab and not because they wanted to do more with the property. In fact, the most they did with it was the animated series from the 90's. I haven't really seen the whole of it yet, but what is there still looked really cool and innovative. At least as far as movies that had animated tie-ins goes. And trust me, there's lot of movies that got turned into animated series for children. I'm talking about films like the "Rambo" movies, "Conan The Barbarian", "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", and even "Toxic Crusaders", which was a spinoff of "The Toxic Avenger". And mind you, those are just a few examples of movies that got turned into animated series for younger audiences.

But anyway, getting back on topic, the idea of them doing a sequel over three and a half decades later just seemed like a pointless and terrible idea that really shouldn't have worked. However, after finally watching this movie, I can actually say that it does sorta work. And in terms of them rehashing ideas from the first movie, I can officially say that they mostly go for more of an original idea for it's sequel. The only thing that they actually do rehash is the song and dance sequence from the first movie. And also, they recycle the sand worm that was also in the first movie as well. I won't say how much they use that idea, however, it is almost identical to how they use it here. I'll leave at that for now because, really, there's quite a bit here that I could spoil. But seeing as how this movie's only a couple of years old at the time I'm writing this review, I'm going to not spoil very much here, as I think it would be better for you to watch the movie for yourself to know what I'm talking about.

As for the writing itself, for the most part, it's actually written competently well. In terms of our returning characters, the only ones who return are Betelgeuse (duh), Lydia, her stepmom, and her stepdad...sort of. Yeah, obviously, Jeffery Jones character is now dead, so they had to find a way to write him off seeing as how there was no way in hell they could ever get the actor back to reprise his role. That being said, there is one thing that really bothered the shit out of me, which is how they wrote off Adam and Barbara. Lydia says that they're not around the house that they use to own anymore because, somehow, Lydia found a loophole and now they're suddenly gone. And I ask again: What fucking loophole is she talking about? As far as I can think of, maybe she found some sort of incantation spell to send their souls back to heaven or some such garbage. But even then, that's still a very half-assed answer because she never properly explains what this loophole is. And the more insulting thing about this is that, with Jeffery Jones character, at least they were able to show what happened to him through claymation. With Adam and Barbara, though, they don't get shit! I can overlook the idea of Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis not reprising their roles here, but the fact that they don't get any kind of sendoff here is honestly kinda bullshit. And the loophole explanation Lydia gives out? I can summarize it like this: Fuck you, that is why.

Anyway, moving on from that little fiasco, there are a couple of other problems to address. One of them includes Betelgeuse's ex-wife Delores. They build her up as some kind of big threat to Betelgeuse, however, the big problem with her character is that she's not really in the movie for very long. It's sorta the reverse opposite to how Betelgeuse's character was introduced in the first movie. Because with him, it at least made more sense, because you wanted to see more of him, and that movie kept gradually building him up until you actually to see him in action in all his glory. This movie, though, while it does show more of Betelgeuse himself, you don't get to see much of his ex-wife. And what's even more underwhelming about her is that, despite her buildup, she's really not much of a threat at all. Yeah, she can be intimidating, but overall, she's not really much of any threat and is easily dealt with. Same goes for the police chief, who is played by Willem Dafoe. His whole deal is that he's after Betelgeuse for breaking a law about entering the outside world illegally. Don't ask, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. However, that, to me, is the probably the least of this movie's writing problems.

I will also say that this movie is kinda juggling with a lot of subplots here. For example, as I just brought up, you have Willem Dafoe looking for Betelgeuse, then you have Lydia and her daughter, Astrid, trying to connect with each other despite their estranged relationship with each other. Speaking of, Astrid ends up meeting a teenage boy named Jeremy, who kinda reveals to her that he's already dead, along with his parents. Which still doesn't entirely make sense, seeing as how their house is still up and it still hasn't been torn down in the 23 years since their death. Also, going back to Betelgeuse's ex-wife for a moment, as I mentioned with her earlier, she can suck the souls out of people via the Shang Tsung method, and those people wind up being dead. Which makes no sense because, since the people who are in Betelgeuse's world are already dead, that means she's just making them more...dead. Again, it really doesn't make much sense, but I still consider that a minor problem, not counting Delores herself. There's also one involving Lydia's aunt, who goes into Betelgeuse's world for reasons involving her dead husband. I really don't remember a single thing about it other than it exists.

So, we have a *lot* going on here. All of this combines with the fact that it's just over an hour and a half long. And with how much they decided to cram in here, I feel like this movie could've worked a little better had they cut out one of the subplots. Specifically, I would've cut out the whole subplot involving Lydia's aunt, because, like I just said, I don't remember a single thing about it. I feel as if the writers did too much in order to get it passed an hour and a half long. And had they gotten more away with it, it could've gotten up to, or even surpassed 2 hours. Which, I'm thankful that's not the case because, most of the time, less is indeed more. And adding so much in here as it is kinda ruins the flow of the story already. Mind you, it doesn't really kill the movie as a whole, it's just that there are certain things here that could've been cut out entirely, and the movie would've flowed better, pacing wise. So yeah, I guess I can add pacing as a little bit of an issue here.

But despite all the problems I have here, the writing is still rather decent for what they did work with here. Our characters here are, for the most part, really likable. Lydia sorta drops the goth motif, even though she is still wearing black. Her daughter, Astrid, is also rather likable as well. Granted, at the beginning, she comes off as rather insufferable, what with her no nonsense attitude and always believe in facts and science over the paranormal. And in a way, it kinda makes sense, because part of it has to do with her father, who Lydia ended up getting married to, and he got killed off at some point. And he had some attachment to that kind of stuff, too. However, with his death, this ended up being an estranged relationship between Astrid and Lydia. I won't go too much further on it, but I will say that Astrid does end up mellowing out later on, so I won't give her too much shit. And as for Betelgeuse, well, he more or less appears as much as he did in the first movie, and he is still pretty funny here. I wouldn't say it's as funny as it was in the first film, but there's still plenty here to where you could get a laugh out of.

So overall, the writing here is still pretty decent, despite it being a bit over-crammed with a lot of subplots. Now as for the acting, I first have to talk about Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse. I'm first gonna say that, acting wise, the man has still got it. Despite him being in his 70's, the man can still move and act like he did back in 1988. However, his vocal work does come off as a little bit rough. I say this, because if you're someone who has seen this movie before, you can tell that his voice has definitely aged a bit. And I can see that, despite his attempts to cover it up, it is still pretty noticeable. That being said, I still think he does a great job here, despite the roughness in his voice. Winona Ryder as Lydia and Catherine O'Hara as her aunt are still at the top of their game, despite a 36 year gap. The acting from them is very solid. The rest of the acting goes the same way, too. Especially Willem Dafoe, who is the only non-returning cast member who is definitely having a lot of fun in his role as the police chief. Well, technically, in this movie, he was an actor turned into police chief, but that's not really all that important in the overall story. So yeah, despite a couple of minor nitpicks, the acting here is very solid from both our returning casts and our newcomers.

Special effects in this movie are mostly really solid. Mind you, this movie was made in 2024, so obviously, they had to work in some CG here. And I will say that some of it does look obvious, such as when you first see Delores putting her body together with a staple gun. Other instances is when you see some CG fire that looks kinda like shit, or the sandworm looking more CG than stopmotion. At least, to me, it did. I could be somehow wrong there, but it did look like CG to me. But other than that, guys, the practical effects are still as creative as ever. Everything you see in Betelgeuse's world looks very creative and I can see that the effects team didn't lose their edge here when it came to using practical effects. The costuming and makeup effects, mostly on Betelgeuse, still looks awesome as he did back in 1988. Puppetwork is still pretty good, our sets here are really good, too. So yeah, guys, without sounding more like a dead horse, the special effects in this movie are awesome.

Camerawork here is really good. Lighting here is mostly good, with one exception that I kinda found to be a little bit annoying. See, sometimes when you're inside Betelgeuse's world, two colors of lighting will stand out to you. Those colors are blue and yellow. And I don't know why the filmmakers chose these two colors in particular. Because, you see, this particular lighting appears quite a bit in this movie and it does stand out a little bit here. Not enough to ruin the movie, but, to me, it kinda got a little annoying to see after a while. But otherwise, guys, the lighting here is still really good. Sound-mixing here is also good. The music, once again, was composed by Danny Elfman. And much like before, the music here is really good. Not quite as good as it was in the previous movie, and some tracks here, while still good, aren't as catchy as they were in the previous movie. But other than that, Elfman hasn't lost his touch here. So I can definitely say the music is still a positive.

And on that note, guys, when it comes down to it, can I recommend "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"? For the most part, yes. If you're someone who really enjoyed watching the first "Beetlejuice" movie, and you're really curious to see how the sequel can stand on it's own standards, then by all means, go check it out. Whether you find it on a streaming service, or you find it through this 2-pack that I have on DVD, go check it out somewhere. I would say it's definitely worth checking out. However, if you somehow are expecting this film to be better than the first movie, you'll most likely end up being disappointed. Because, like I said way early on, this movie is nowhere near as good as the first "Beetlejuice" film. Mind you, it's still pretty good, it's just nowhere near as good as the first one was. Still though, I would say, for me anyway, that this film turned out to be a bit surprising for me. I thought it was going to flat out suck, but thankfully, I was actually proven wrong here. It still has it's problems, but for what it's worth, I'm happy that was I able to check it out for myself. And I can definitely say that this 2-pack that I bought for both movies is definitely worth the $5. So now, I'm gonna go and watch something else. And you know what? I may have mentioned this in my review of the first movie, but I really enjoyed the first two Batman movies from Tim Burton. Which, to me, are my favorite Burton movies. I'm gonna go and and watch the 1989 "Batman" movie right now, and if I'm really in the mood for it, I may end up watching "Batman Returns" later on. So yeah, I'm gonna go and do that next as soon as I get done writing this review up.

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 | Day of the Warrior

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm taking a look at the 11th entry in the "Triple B" series, which came out in 1996. That movie is "Day of the Warrior".

Now this movie, I do know, has Andy Sidaris back writing and directing this movie after his son fumbled with the previous film in this series, which was "The Dallas Connection". And if you hadn't read my review of that movie yet, to give you a short summary, the movie really kinda sucked. It had all of the ingredients in a regular Andy Sidaris flick, but it lacked a lot of the charm and interest that Andy Sidaris usually puts in his movies.

So with Andy Sidaris back in the director's chair for this one, I'm hoping that he'll be able to rebound after his son's disappointing showing. Granted, I probably shouldn't be too harsh on his son, but honestly, after watching "The Dallas Connection", I'm already happy that Andy Sidaris took over for the next two films. And like I said, I'm hoping for this one to at least be entertaining enough for me to consider worth watching. Mind you, I haven't really heard good things about this movie, but as I said back in my review of "The Dallas Connection", none of these movies are actually "good", they're just cheesy action films that feature what you would expect from Andy Sidaris. And I really only care if they're entertaining. So long as this one is entertaining in a so bad it's good kind of way, then I'm not asking for much else here.

So anyway, I'm hoping this one will be really entertaining in it's own way. But the only way I'm gonna find out if it is entertaining 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 "Day of the Warrior".

9 minutes later

Well, guys, so far, I can't really say much about the story itself yet, but I will say that gun that our main character was using looks awesome. I really want that gun.

6 minutes later

So, I'm going to assume that this is suppose to be the head honcho of our villains this time, Warrior. And the guy who's playing him is Buff Bagwell. Yes, guys, former WCW wrestler Buff Bagwell is playing the main villain of this movie. That's actually really cool! I'm hoping that I get to see more of him in this movie.

10 minutes later

You guys can't hear this for obvious reasons, but this rock song here is actually sorta catchy. Well, at least, I'm enjoying this song anyway. So, I can at least say the music here is a positive, so far at least.

5 minutes later

So the Elvis Impersonator on stage is, not only one of the side villains from "The Dallas Connection", but his stage name is called "Elvis Fu". Oh god...that name is really fucking stupid. Granted, it's sorta funny, but why the hell did he choose that name of all things?! Just...why?

3 minutes later

So, I've gotten a little bit more backstory for Warrior here. And I'll say this on the record, he's probably one of the most developed villains in the entire "Triple B" series. I want you to process that for a moment. Our villain, Buff Bagwell, who's also a professional wrestler in this movie, has the most development in an Andy Sidaris film, which is mainly about women showing their boobs and overly ridiculous action scenes. I'm...just speechless, guys, just...wow.

15 minutes later

Well, guys, I think somebody might've taken some inspiration from Rambo by shooting a crossbow-looking gun and having the arrow explode afterwards. But what's interesting about the gun is, well, as I just stated, it looks like a pistol with the smaller length-size of a crossbow. Why the fuck anyone would make a gun like that makes zero sense, but I'm gonna say that at least it looks stupid, in a really funny way. Just thought I'd share that with you guys.

11 minutes later

So, guys, I just saw posters featuring films from previous Andy Sidaris flicks like "Do or Die" and "Savage Beach". There was one other, but I couldn't quite make out which one that was. Still though, it was a nice cameo to see there.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Day of the Warrior". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Before I delve right into this movie, I'm first gonna get this question out of the way. How does this film compare to the other films in the "Triple B" series? Well, it still isn't good, but I will say, when compared to something like "Hard Hunted" and "The Dallas Connection", it's certainly a huge step above those movies. And as for it's own standards, well, I would say that it's just OK. I can't really rank any of these because I don't really do "tier" lists that people take incredibly seriously, but if I were forced to do that with this one, it would be somewhere hanging out in the middle. But still, it's a very entertaining film that I still enjoyed, even if it did go slightly overboard at times.

Let's start with the writing. Now, in case you hadn't read my review for "The Dallas Connection", I talked about the different styles between how Andy Sidaris writes for his movies, and how his son, Drew Sidaris, writes for his movies. With Drew's movies, it seemed like he just took ingredients from his father's previous works and just stitched it together into some mishmash of a half-assed plot, along with things that were done in previous Andy Sidaris films, only he didn't do it in an interesting way. And without go too much into detail, because I've already written a review for it that you can read for yourself, it just made Drew's movies look a lot weaker, when compared to his father's work. Now that's not to say that Andy himself had his fare share of weak movies, but in terms of what I watched from Drew's two movies, I can hardly see myself ever watching his movies again. Maybe I could give "Enemy Gold" another watch, because that was at least partially decent, but "The Dallas Connection" is where I had to put my foot down and say that it completely sucked so much that I genuinely believe it to be the worst movie out of the entire "Triple B" series.

Now with this movie, it's very similar to what Andy Sidaris did with "Fit To Kill" after he kinda fumbled with "Hard Hunted". Basically, this movie is what I would call a "back to basics" sort of film. Where he took what worked in his previous movies, and used his magic to make this film stand out in his own charming way. This movie has everything you could ask for from him. Women showing off their big boobs, over-the-top action scenes, and a lot of T&A. And while, admittedly, this movie doesn't do it as cool as the previous entries did, there is still a couple of moments where the action scenes do shine. Such as near the very end where one of our heroines uses a walking cane to blow up and kill one of the bad guys in an over-the-top fashion. It's out of nowhere and very hilarious, which is another thing I can grant this movie is that the humor is definitely really funny at times. Granted, not every joke here is going to land, but what is here for humor still works in it's own way.

Now as for the plot, well, the only things that I could pick up from it is that a former CIA Agent, AKA Warrior/Buff Bagwell, turns heel and steals a computer database, which has information on all of our agents, who are now in danger of being killed. And it's also here where I can say that Buff Bagwell's character is the most developed out of every character in this series. Because, aside from his status as CIA Agent, he's also a pro wrestler and is also part Native American on his mother's side, which is why you see him dressed up with an Indian's big feather wig as part of his wrestling attire. Honestly, the first time I saw Buff Bagwell wearing that outfit, part of me pictured Tatanka, an actual Native American wrestler from the WWF days, in that role. Now granted, I don't know if they could've made that work or not. But still, what is here for Buff Bagwell's character still works. However, I'll get into all that later when I covering acting.

Speaking of characters, that actually is one of the big problems with this movie. And it's not just that a lot of the characters are bland, but moreover, there are just too many characters in this movie to follow. To give you guys an example, in the beginning of the movie, we follow blonde-haired male agent by the name of Doc Austin infiltrating an enemy unit's camp that's working for Warrior. One of the villains of the movie is named Manuel, who is also the same actor who played the previous two villains in "Enemy Gold" and "The Dallas Connection". I'm going to assume that they couldn't hire anybody else to star in these movies due to budget concerns or contractual obligations. I don't know which is the correct answer, but regardless, we have him and some blonde girl I've never seen before.

Next, we have Cobra, who was also the same blonde-haired lady from "The Dallas Connection". And she's in a lot of scenes that probably could've been trimmed down, because some of them are just tracking shots of where she's going next. She's also one of the agents that's being hunted down. Then you have another male agent by the name of Tyler, who also has another girl with her who's name that I don't remember. Then you have Julie Strain back in this movie, only this time, she's playing one of the protagonists by the name of "Willow Black". Yeah, seriously, she went from "Black Widow" in "The Dallas Connection" to "Willow Black" in "Day of the Warrior". Very creative naming, I know. But anyway, she's in this movie. And also, the Asian dude who got killed in "The Dallas Connection" is in this movie too, and he also has a gig where he becomes an Elvis Impersonator performing in Vegas. And while his stage name "Elvis Fu" is incredibly stupid, he honestly is one of the only other characters in this movie that I can remember who stood out to me.

But you see where I'm going at here, right? There are just too many characters in this movie to follow, and there's probably a couple of more that I forgot about because there really is a lot to follow and keep track of here. And what sorta hampers this is the pacing of the movie. The film's only about 96 minutes long, and while I don't think the pacing here is as terrible as it was in "The Dallas Connection", I admit that it does go on for about 10 minutes too long. Like I mentioned earlier involving the scenes with Cobra, I do believe that they could've trimmed a couple of scenes involving the tracking shots and it could've flowed a little better.

So anyway, the writing here, plotwise, is really nothing you're gonna care about. The only thing most fans care about is what you would come to expect from an Andy Sidaris film. And all of that is, thankfully, here. Especially after the disappointing run of films that came from Drew Sidaris, this is a nice welcome back to basics for Andy Sidaris. And as for the acting, well, much like with a lot of these movies, the acting here is mostly terrible. Most of the acting here sounds stilted and wooden. And even though you have returning actors like Julie Strain, Julie K. Cobra, and Rodrigo Obregon in this movie, most of them still put on wooden performances like they did in the previous movies. The only two standouts I can give is the Asian guy playing "Elvis Fu" and Buff Bagwell, the latter who is just hamming it up whenever he's in the ring. And I don't just mean when he was performing on WCW, I mean his actual role in the movie. Mind you, he's not as bad as he could be here, but it's still laughably bad, which still makes it stand out in a positive way. But overall, guys, the acting here is pretty much the standard terribleness you come to expect from an Andy Sidaris movie.

Special effects are also the same kind of thing from just about every film in this "Triple B series". Pyrotechnics, squibwork for guns, and what little blood effects are just there, really. Costuming here is pretty good, although I'm mainly just saying that for Buff Bagwell's wrestling attire. Then again, as a pro wrestling fan, I take more attention to those whenever I see a wrestler's costume or attire that stands out to me. But anyway, costuming here is pretty good, at least when it comes to Buff Bagwell.

Camerawork here is good. Lighting here is great. Sound-mixing is also good. Music here is definitely a positive, as there is quite a bit of music in this movie, and the songs here are actually sorta catchy. The one song, though, that kinda got to me in slight annoyance is this one piano track that I swear they loop a *lot* here. I can't quite count how many times I've heard it, but it did start to sound a little grating after a while. But other than that, the score and soundtrack here is mostly really good.

Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Day of the Warrior". Yes, I actually can. Provided, of course, you're into these movies to begin with. And also, if you're someone like me who was disappointed by Drew Sidaris's last couple of films and you want to see a return to form from Andy Sidaris, then yeah, this movie is definitely going to provide that for you. And I'm happy to say that, again, I really did enjoy this movie. Not quite as much as the previous films that he did, but it is still entertaining in it's own right. So yeah, guys, I can recommend "Day of the Warrior" to you all. Which now only leaves one more movie to go in this series. And, my god, I can't believe we're about to reach that cornerstone. But that's not gonna be until next week. I actually have a couple of more movies to go first, one in which includes my "Christmas In July Special". I won't spoil what it is, but if you're curious about it, then stay tuned, because that'll be coming up very soon. Until then, though, I'm gonna go and watch something else. Well, I've been watching a lot action films lately, so I think I need to switch it up a bit and watch something different. I think I'm gonna go and watch something like "The Cat Returns". Why not? It's sorta random, but I haven't seen a Studio Ghibli film in quite a while, and "The Cat Returns" is certainly one of my top favorites from them. So I'll go and do that next as soon as this review gets put 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.