Reaction & Review | House on Haunted Hill

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a horror movie from 1959. That movie is "House on Haunted Hill". Which is the second movie that came off this DVD 2-pack that I own, which also featured "The Bat".

Now, earlier this month, I did review "The Bat", and I thought it was a pretty good movie. It wasn't great, and it certainly didn't feel like a horror movie, but it was a still pretty good mystery film overall. Now, on the off chance anybody asks why these movies are together as a 2-pack, the only answer I can give is that they're both horror movies, they came out in 1959, and they both star Vincent Price. And oddly enough, when I decided to put these movies on the schedule for this month, I had no idea that they both came out in 1959. But hey, you learn something new everyday, don't you?

Now, I'll be honest, I've been looking forward to this movie all month. Because out of every film that Vincent Price has starred in, this is the one movie that almost everyone knows him from. Not only that, but the premise is set in a haunted house, as if the title didn't give that away. As for the premise itself, it involves 5 people that have to stay overnight at this haunted house as a challenge by Price, and his wife in this movie. And if any of them survive overnight, they will each get $10,000. I should mention that I LOVE these sorts of premises, where it involves a group of people that are together in some form of a haunted house or mansion. As I made very clear in the past, I loved "Clue: The Movie", and it still remains as one of the funniest mystery films I have ever seen. In fact, my favorite episode of "Family Guy" is the episode entitled "And Then There Were Fewer". Which was the season 9 premiere where the entire cast of that show get invited to a mansion, and it involved the death of James Woods. And they had to figure out who killed him among themselves before they all ended up getting killed, as well.

So, I'm hoping that this movie is going to be amazing, and that it will live up to the high expectations I have set for this thing. However, I could easily be letdown by this movie, as well. But I have plenty of hopes that this movie is going to be great. And the only way I'm gonna find out how good this movie could possibly be, 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 "House on Haunted Hill".

4 minutes later

OK, guys, so as the opening credits are going by, I have a question. So, one of the guests that has participated at this haunted house is Watson, the guy who owned the haunted house at one point. And he stated that his entire family was killed there. If he knew that the house was haunted, and that seven people were murdered, don't you think that the police, or somebody else, would've torn the place down? Because if there were that many deaths that happened beforehand, then why would you keep the house intact, as is? I understand that the house is, probably, haunted, but you would think that somebody would've done something about it by this point. I don't know, and I understand it's trivial and stupid, but it was just something that came to me, you know?

10 minutes later

So the only reason why Frederick is hosting this party for his wife is because of the ghosts? And she wants to see what they can possibly to do these people who decide to stay overnight? That is rather...and pardon the pun...ghoulish. You know, I've heard of the term "shits and giggles" before, but that honestly just sounds incredibly creepy to me.

19 minutes later

You know, guys, Vincent Price's character in this movie, Frederick, is incredibly creepy, especially when he sounds demanding. I totally understand that it's Vincent Prince, and that he can, damn near, make anything creepy with his voice, but that scene with his wife almost took a dark turn there. And the way he kept insisting that his wife go to her party makes this scene almost uncomfortable to watch.

13 minutes later

Well...out of all the people I expected to see die in this movie first, that one wasn't what I expected. At least it keeps things interesting. But still, I was not expecting that character to die first.

14 minutes later

You know, guys, just seeing that bow rope crawling around Nora's feet like that is rather creepy. I understand that I've been using that word quite a lot in this movie so far, but this scene is really solidifying that. I didn't think a movie was able to make this creepiness work, but, my god, is it ever fucking working. I was not expecting that.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "House on Haunted Hill". I'm gonna shut the movie off...OK. I kinda like how, in the closing credits, it lists the skeleton as himself. I thought that was kinda cute. But anyway, let's talk about the movie, shall we?

Let's start with writing. Writing, for the most part, is really solid in terms of story and characters. Almost everything here works. The only real issue that I had with it was towards the end of the movie. And I'm not gonna tread too deep into spoilers, because I don't want to spoil this movie for anybody who hasn't seen it yet. Within the last 10 minutes or so, we get hit with a buildup, which, by itself, really works, but then we get revealed with a plot twist involving a couple of characters that have been secretly working together this entire time. And it seems as though that they are going to get away with their perfect crime. But as soon as one of the characters tries to dispatch one of the other characters that had been shot in the wine cellar, we then fade to black as one of them has been supposedly been dropped into the acid pool. Then, a moment later, one of the characters tries to check up on them to see if they're OK. And then we are treated to a scene that is suppose to be haunting, where it involves a skeleton that rises from the acid pool, which scares one of our characters as they are being "attacked" by the skeleton. And eventually, it ends up with that character slipping and falling into the acid pool, killing them. And then shortly after that, we are told about the nature of the guns that all of our guests have been given to by Frederick, which I'm not going to spoil here. And this reveal, along with the twist that happens before that, ends up being...kinda cheap. Because it almost comes right out of nowhere, and the fact that they had to fade to black before we get to see what happens to one of the characters that ended up getting shot, felt kinda cheap and rushed. At least, to me, it felt like that. But I don't want you to think that it will ruin the entire film for you, because everything before that is really solid and very engaging. And you're going to be sucked into this movie, because our story is just so good. It's just that the ending felt a little bit cheap and rushed.

One thing I need to talk about is the pacing. I should note that this movie is only an hour and 15 minutes long. And in most cases, you don't have a lot of time to boil up a slower-paced story. Now, you would think that this movie would suffer the same fate, because it does have to work with such a short runtime. But surprisingly, this movie was able to pull that off, and it pulled it off really well. And that's something I don't see happen often in movies. Usually, a lot of movies would try to stretch it beyond or close to 2 hours, and they still wouldn't be able to build a good story out of it, or get any decent characters. This movie, however, is able to show you that you CAN pull off a slower-paced story, despite a short runtime, and get pretty good characters out of it as well. Now admittedly, not all of our characters are super developed. But to be honest, this movie didn't need to do that. Because you know why they are at this haunted house. We're told at the beginning of the movie by Frederick that he invited all of these people at this haunted house for his wife's party, so that he can offer them $10,000 if they are able to survive overnight there. And he explains why certain individuals need that kind of money. For example, we have Nora, who happens to work for Frederick's company, because she needed the money the most to support her family. Another one is Watson, who owned the haunted house, after seven people in his family were murdered. Which I'm still trying to figure out why exactly no one decided to tear the place down, after there were seven murders that happened in this haunted house? Again, I understand it's trivial, and almost no one is going to think about that kind of thing, but it is something that kinda nagged at me for a bit. As for our other characters, barring Frederick and his wife, most of them are there to help move the story along. And all that's perfectly fine. Now, a moment ago, I was talking about the pacing, and I want to go back to that for a second. So, because we have all of our characters trying to survive overnight to get $10,000, you would think that this movie would try to go for the quick approach to try and kill off most of these characters, so that way we can find out who's going to survive by the end of the night. However, that doesn't happen. Because this movie is taking a different approach, by going the more slower route. Rather than killing off our characters right off the bat, it's actually doing a slow buildup to where we get established as to who our characters are, our setting, and what they need to do to survive the night, and all of this works really well. Again, the last 10 minutes or so felt a little bit rushed, but that's honestly not going to affect most people who watch this movie, because they're probably going to end up really liking how the last 10 minutes plays itself out. So, despite all of that, the writing here is really strong throughout most of it's runtime.

Now, let's get to the acting. Once more, Vincent Price steals the show in this movie. Which is not surprising, because you could give Vincent Price almost any bad script, and he would still be able to turn it into solid gold. Now, that isn't to say that nobody else here tried. In fact, everybody else was able to pull their own weight when it comes to the acting. The only one I would have to make mention of is Carolyn Craig as Nora. Now that isn't to say her performance was bad or anything, but her fucking screaming got really irritating at a couple of points, to where I thought she put a little too much effort into overacting her screams. But aside from that, her acting is still really good. It's just that fucking screaming of hers was really irritating to listen to. And as for everyone else, like I said, they do a really good job here, and it makes a really good horror movie even better.

Speaking of which, let's move on to special effects. Now, unlike the previous Vincent Price film I covered, which was "The Bat", I talked about how that movie didn't really feel like a horror movie. Well, this movie decided to rectify that, and become what it was suppose to advertise itself as. And it definitely lives up to that, because you feel like you are trapped with these guests at this haunted house. The tension is mostly there, and it sorta helps keeps you guessing on where the story is going to go next. But I'm getting off track, because I haven't covered special effects yet. We have quite a bit of blood in this movie, and that comes from a couple of points when it drips onto one of our female character's hand. There are also couple of bits of makeup effects when it comes to the caretakers of the house, and they look rather decent, too. One other one I'm going to make mention of, and it has to do with that skeleton I talked about earlier on. Now, this effect is more intentional, but I still feel the need to bring it up anyway. So, the skeleton first appears when it starts to rise out of the acid pool. And that looked really cool, except that you can see the wire from the top of it's head being pulled out. And you might see a shot of it's arm being pulled with the invisible wires. And if that twist didn't happen, then I would've written that off as the only cheap effect in this movie. However, it was intentional, and I'm not going to go any further than that, without having to discuss spoilers. Special effects, overall, are really good, especially for a movie that only had around a $200,000 budget.

Camerawork here is really good. Lighting is lit pretty well. Sound-mix here is mostly good, aside from, maybe, the very beginning of the movie where we get to hear a really loud scream, and I felt like it was a little too loud, even for me. But aside from that, sound-mix from everything else is pretty good. Music here is really well done. But it's only needed, when it needs to be. And going back to the last 10 minutes for just a second, there is a moment when one of our characters enters the wine cellar. And during this bit, there is no music playing. Just pure silence as the candles are going out, and the place begins to get dark. And that moment was fantastic. The payoff wasn't as great because of what I talked about earlier, but the buildup to it was really good, because of that one moment where no music was playing. And that's something that I wish more horror movies would take advantage of, because it shows you that the people in charge of the music cared about when to use it, rather than just phoning in a bullshit, generic, horror movie score that you get in a lot of horror movies. But I'm getting off track. The score here is great.

Ultimately, guys, can I recommend "House on Haunted Hill"? Oh, hell yes. This movie was great. Often when you think of any of Vincent Price's movies, most people would cite this off as his absolute best, and it certainly shows. This movie was fantastic, and it damn near surpassed my expectations. While the ending was kind of a letdown, everything else before that was great. And I am happy that I actually get to own a physical copy of this movie, thanks to this 2-pack. And to anyone who's into horror movies, and you've not had a chance to see this one yet, by all means, check it out. It certainly lives up to being a classic. And I know that the move is on YouTube, so if you're hesitant on buying a physical copy, there at least a few copies of it on YouTube, so you don't have to worry about spending money on it. And if you enjoyed it enough, definitely find a copy of it somewhere. Whether it's through this 2-pack that I bought, or if it's just a standalone copy by itself, pick it up. It's certainly going to satisfy anybody that's into horror movies. And I'm definitely going to be adding this to my list of horror movies that I'm going to watch every year around Halloween. This movie was just that awesome. Now...I've still got a few movies left that I need to watch for this month, and I'm gonna do that by watching "Clue: The Movie". I talked about it earlier, and I really need to watch that again, because that movie is just fantastic on every single level. So, I'm gonna go do that, and this movie is going to have a very happy spot on my DVD shelf.

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 in the near future. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Chopping Mall

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm covering a horror comedy from 1986. That movie is "Chopping Mall".

Now, I've wanted to watch this movie for the last several years, and it really has to do with the premise. The premise is that a bunch of people that work at this mall decide to have a party overnight there. And this somehow leads them into coming into contact with a bunch of robots, that also happen to be in charge of security at this mall, who go on a killing rampage, and our main characters have to survive against them. Which sounds kinda fascinating, and I'm really interested in seeing if this movie will be able to pull off something good here with that kind of premise.

Now the one thing I did notice, when I was doing the scant bit of research on this thing, is that the version I'm gonna be watching on YouTube is about an hour and 16 minutes long. The reason why I bring the runtime up is because when I was doing the small amount of research on this movie, it advertises itself as running 20 minutes longer to about 95 minutes. And one of the reasons as to why was because when this movie was aired on TV, there was extra footage that was added to it. Now, from what I've heard, most of it is just filler, and there was a reference to where one of the main character's ends up watching an actual movie called "Attack of the Crab Monsters", which was released in 1957. And as far as most people know, the TV cut of this movie has never been officially released on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. Now, I don't know if those scenes from the TV cut are included on DVD and Blu-ray as extra features. But regardless, this is the version that we ended up getting.

But regardless of all that, I'm happy that I'm finally able to get a chance to see if this thing is any good. I'm not totally sure if it will be, but the only way I'm gonna find out, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Chopping Mall".

10 minutes later

Well, guys, we just got our first death in the movie. It was quick and simple. But, so far, we're off to a pretty good start. Hoping that these robots will kill more of these humans, because I haven't really found a likable character as of yet.

12 minutes later

So one of these robots just bypassed the room in which our characters are partying at. And I want to make mention that NOBODY saw this robot, as it was passing by them. I understand that when you're busy partying, you're not really going notice a lot of things going on around you, but I would've assumed that at least one of these people saw the robot looking at them before it moved on. But hey, maybe that's just me.

2 minutes later

OK...so I guess I was wrong into thinking that everything from the TV cut was not in this movie. Apparently, we do have two of our main characters watching, what I'm going to assume is, "Attack of the Crab Monsters". I'm just going to assume that this was in the original movie, and not just added for the TV cut. Still, at least the movie that they were watching looked sorta cool. Kinda cheap and stupid, but still, it was sorta cool.

4 minutes later

Well, guys, I just learned a very valuable lesson today. When a robot asks a janitor for their ID badge, you should probably show it first, without insulting the robot. Otherwise, it will shock you to death. That is a great lesson to fucking learn, guys.

6 minutes later

Holy shit...guys, I just saw the best fucking kill in the entire movie so far. And considering that this chick was this douchebag's girlfriend, it couldn't have happened to two luckier people. That was awesome!

12 minutes later

So these robots are fireproof...interesting. Perhaps that might explain how that first robot from earlier wasn't killed by that explosion. Still though, at least it makes it more interesting to see how our main characters are going to kill these things.

30 seconds later

And just like that, the whiny bitch dies a fiery death, and I couldn't be fucking happier. That bitch was becoming irritating as shit. And I'm loving these killers robots with each passing moment.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Chopping Mall". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. Well...what to start with first?

I want to make mention of something first, before I get into the actual writing for this movie. A lot of what I'm going to say is going to sound incredibly negative to a lot of you. For example, our story is incredibly paper thin, and our characters are completely flat. And in a lot of cases, that would sound like a huge detriment to any movie. Because, as I stated many times beforehand, you want to have characters that you want to care about. Now, I am not saying that you have to go out your way to give characters mountains of depth. I am not expecting that for certain movies. But you, at least, want to care about them in some way. And really, the only character who I actually kinda liked, not counting the Protector Robots or the Killbots as I'm going to call them, was the nerd. Everyone else, I could give two less of a fucks about, because most of them were that shallow and rather douchey. And by the time that most of them get killed off, oh, I was so happy to see them gone. Now again, in most cases, if a movie does not have likable characters, then it usually sets itself up for failure, because it doesn't give the viewer any reasons to care about them. However...I'm going to give this movie a pass on the lack of likable characters, because it does kinda benefit from having shallow characters. If this thing took itself incredibly seriously with it's characters, then I think this movie would suffer greatly. Basically, if you're expecting this movie to take itself seriously in the likes of "Friday the 13th" or "A Nightmare On Elm Street", two other horror franchises that have more serious plots, then this movie is not going to have any of that here. It's a horror comedy, and you're here to see these Killbots kill these douchebag characters off at this mall. And on that end, it works pretty well.

Now, that's not to say that this movie doesn't has it's other problems. As I said, our story is incredibly paper thin. Basically, we have these people that work at this mall, and they decide to have a party overnight there. Why? Because...reasons, I guess. The best one I can come up with is for shits and giggles. And like I said, nobody here has any real depth. And I could barely tell you any of their names, because most of them are that forgetful. I could remember Alison, who is one of the waitresses, Suzie, who's a whiny bitch because she thinks something has happened to her boyfriend against the Killbots, Mike, who is a fucking douchebag, and Ferdy, who's the nerd that hooks up with Alison. Everyone else, I couldn't tell you their names, because they were just so forgetful. Now, while I'm able to give the lack of character depth a pass, I will say that the pacing involving them kinda slows the movie down. And I'm really only talking about before the robots start going on their killer rampage throughout the mall. Because for the first half hour, we don't really have a whole lot happening. The only thing that we get really established is how the Killbots function while they're on guard duty when the mall is closed. And then we're treated to a montage of a lot of unfriendly, and messy, people at the mall. Such as when a kid is in the elevator with a chocolate ice cream. A bunch of people enter the elevator. And then a moment later, they exit the elevator, and the kid is covered in his own ice cream. Or how we see one of the waitresses carrying a heavy tray full of food and drinks, and when she brings it over to the customers, she ends up dumping it all over the floor. Basically, it's shots like those that we see during the opening title sequence. And while all that is OK, it's after that where we don't have a whole lot happening. Now, while there are a couple of kills after the Killbots programming gets malfunctioned after a thunderstorm, those kills go by really quickly. And the movie is still kinda slow after that. It doesn't really pick up until after Mike, the douchebag, dies from one of the Killbots. So, the pacing is kind of an issue with this movie. And unlike "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", another horror comedy, which had fantastic pacing from beginning to end, this movie doesn't necessarily have that kind of luxury.

One other thing that kinda me struck as sort of an issue has to do with the Killbots abilities. Now, at the beginning of the movie, we get a video demonstration of how the Killbots function. It basically shows this robber trying to rob some jewelry, and the one Killbot that runs up against him takes the robber down with a sleep dart that basically knocks him out. And then after the video demonstration, we are showed how the Killbots are suppose to respond to ID tags that are given out to the employees at the mall, and how they will respond once you show them your ID tag. And that's really all we're told. But then later on in the movie, after the thunderstorm blows out the robots malfunctioning from the control room, they start shooting lasers beams at our main characters. And while all of that is really cool, the only thing I'm wondering is how the hell are they able to shoot lasers? Because, like I said, the only things that we're told about them is that they can shoot sleeping darts at intruders, and how they're suppose to respond to ID tags. I don't recall laser beams being in the manual for when the Killbots were being developed. But hey, I could be totally wrong about that. On the other hand, maybe after the thunderstorm blew out the robots malfunctioning from the control room, they were able to gain the ability to shoot lasers from that. Who knows? I understand it's all trivial and stupid, but it was something that kinda bugged me a bit. Going to back to the characters for just a moment, I could also say that some of the dialogue from them is very cheesy and stupid. However, you have to understand that this movie came out in 1986. So, I wasn't really expecting realistic dialogue in a B movie such as this. So, by B movies standards, the dialogue kinda works here. And if you go into this movie with those standards, then you're probably going to end up loving this thing. However, I'll get more into that when I get to recommendations.

So, writing here is kinda weak. However, by B movies standards, it's pretty good. As for the acting itself, it's pretty good. Mind you, none of it is great, and it's certainly not going to win any awards, what with it's corny dialogue and everything. But it's certainly fun to listen to. And for a B movie, it's all I could really ask for. Now, I wouldn't say that the dialogue, or the acting, is as memorable or as cheesy as, say, the "Street Fighter" movie from 1994. However, a movie would have to actively go out of their way to try and out cheese a movie such as that one, unless if they were desperately trying to go for the "so bad, it's good" title. Which is one of worst things a movie would try to aim for. Thankfully, this movie doesn't look like it's trying to do that. It's what it wanted to be. The acting is cheesy, and it makes the movie almost lovably awesome. There is one thing I do want to make mention, in terms of acting, and it has to do with the Killbots. The Killbots were voiced by a man named Jim Wynorski. And that name is very noticeable, because, not only did he voice the Killbots, but he also wrote and directed this movie, too. And while I can't really gauge his real voice, seeing as how the Killbots spoke with an obvious robotic voice, it's pretty good. And it makes the acting kinda stand out, when you consider that Wynorski wrote and directed this thing. But still, it makes the Killbots the most memorable thing out of this movie, and it totally works here. Overall, guys, the acting is cheesy, but it totally works for this kind of movie.

Special effects in this movie are pretty damn good. Mind you, this thing was filmed on a low budget, so we're not shooting for the stars here when it comes to the special effects. Most of it comes from the Killbots. As I mentioned earlier, we get to see them shoot different colored lasers, which I think were only about two or three different colors. We also get to see a little bit of electrocution in this movie, as was the case with the janitor, when he got electrocuted to death from one of the Killbots from early on. And the Killbots, themselves, function really well. Even when they have to move around in smaller tight places, such as when one of them gets trapped in the elevator. We also have a little bit of practical blood that shows up when we see a couple of our main characters die. But, by far, the best kill comes when one of the Killbots kills one of the female characters off. It's the one that I made mention during the reaction portion, which I'm not going to spoil here. However, like I said, it was the best kill in the entire movie, and I loved every moment of that kill. Again, special effects are pretty good for a movie that was working with a slightly low budget.

Camerawork here is pretty good. Lighting is mostly dark, and that's mainly because this movie was probably shot at night in this mall. However, I am willing to say that you're still able to see everything very well. So it's not going to be too much of an issue for you, even if you do notice it. Sound-mix here is mixed well. Our score is mostly this repeated track that plays whenever the Killbots are chasing after our cast of characters. And it's OK, but I don't think it's anything ultra memorable.

Ultimately, guys, am I able to recommend "Chopping Mall"? I'm willing to say yes, only if you're into B movies. Like I mentioned earlier, if you're expecting this thing to have some sort of a serious plot involving killer robots that are spread throughout this mall, then you're not going to find that here. This movie lives up to being a horror comedy, and it pretty much stays that way throughout the film. Now, I don't think it's the best horror comedy I've ever seen, but I certainly had a lot of fun watching this thing. However, I could totally see other people being turned off by this movie, if they're not into B movies. But if you do want to watch this thing, it is on YouTube, at least at the time that I'm writing this Reaction & Review. And if you liked it enough, then go ahead and buy it on DVD or Blu-ray. Like I said, I had a lot of fun watching this movie, and I am tempted to buy this thing on DVD, if I can find a copy of it somewhere. But for now, I'll just have to stick with watching it on YouTube. Speaking of horror comedies, I haven't watched "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" yet this month, so I'm gonna go do that, as I continue my run of watching certain horror related movies that I have done for the past several years now.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and have a nice day. Peace.

Reaction & Review | Digimon Adventure tri.: Future

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we're finally closing out the "Digimon Adventure tri." series. It is the sixth and final entry that came out in 2018. That movie is "Digimon Adventure tri.: Future".

Now, for those of you that are new here, let me bring you up to speed with what's going on. Way back in August, I decided that I was going to watch all six movies of the "Digimon Adventure tri." series. And the result, so far, has been incredibly polarizing. The first movie started off really good and very promising. But then almost every other entry after "Reunion" has been incredibly underwhelming with it's quality. Mind you, none of it is overly bad, but it's nowhere near as great as I thought this series was going to be. And with each entry that passed on by, I have noticed problem after problem with these movies, whether it's a problem with the writing, the acting, or the god awful CG that has plagued these movies. It really has been a very polarizing experience with me, when it comes to these particular movies.

Which now leads us to "Future", the final entry in this series. And honestly, I really have no idea if it's going to be any good. Moreover, I don't even know if this series is going to end on a positive note. I'm certainly hoping that it will end better than that horrendous fourth "Wishmaster" movie I covered several weeks ago, back when I alternated these movies with the "Wishmaster" series. But considering that these movies have been so inconsistent with it's quality, I'm not having a ton faith in that happening. But I am still interested in seeing how this series of movies is going to end, and, like I said, I'm hoping that it will end on a high note. And the only way I'm gonna find out if this movie is any good at all, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Digimon Adventure tri.: Future".

9 minutes later

OK, I know this is a really trivial thing to be bitching about, but I'm gonna bring it up anyway. So Sora keeps bringing up the possibility that Tai might be really gone. I wanna parenthesize that; Tai might be really "gone". But she never says that Tai might be dead. Why doesn't she just say that instead? Again, I understand it's a trivial thing to be bitching about, especially considering that I have seen anime kid shows that really tried to hide the word death because of, kinda, stupid reasons. But just hearing it mentioned without using the word "dead" in this movie comes across as really unnecessary, especially considering that you're not working with TV standards. Again, it's trivial, it's stupid, but it's something that I felt like was worth mentioning.

15 minutes later

You know, guys, I find it kinda funny how this movie was released in 2018. And somehow, between the 3 years of when the first "Digimon Adventure tri." film was released, the CG still has not changed in the slightest. I understand that I'm beating a dead horse by this point about the CG, but I just find it funny that the people in charge of the CG didn't even bother to fine tune it to make it look a little less ugly. That is just depressing on a whole host of levels, guys.

11 minutes later

Wait, so the Digimon companions got their memories back? When? Because if I recall correctly, when the Digital World got rebooted, the Digimon's memories got wiped out. So...does that mean that if the DigiDestined spent time with their Digimon some, then their memories suddenly come back with no real explanation? I'm gonna be honest, guys, I'm a little bit lost here.

14 minutes later

I swear to God, guys, every time I hear Gennai open his mouth to speak, I want someone to tear his fucking body in half. That is how much I am despising his character in this movie. And if he doesn't die by the time that this thing is over, I am going to be a little bit pissed.

17 minutes later

OK, so the Digimon companion's memories are stored away in Meicoomon and that they can possibly get re-downloaded again. All right, so I guess I was wrong into thinking that their memories were completely back by random. Fine. But it still seems weird to me that the Digimon in this movie suddenly know their partners like they've been with them before the "reboot" happened. I don't know, maybe I'm just thinking a little too deep into this.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Digimon Adventure tri.: Future". Let me shut the movie off...all right. Well...I can now officially say that I have watched all six "Digimon Adventure tri." movies. That feels like a fucking accomplishment.

I want to start with something completely different. Because normally, whenever I have to go into this series of movies, I would usually talk about writing, acting, animation, and the technical stuff, as I've done in the past two and half months covering this series. And I'm gonna be honest, a lot of what I'm gonna be mentioning about it is not really going to change, with the one lone exception being writing. But I'm gonna sorta break my usual protocol, because I need to start with something that has been on my mind since the first movie. Now, I didn't really bring it up much back then, because I felt like it wasn't really important at the time. I wanted to see if these movies were gonna answer the questions that I had kept to myself up until this point. Well, now that I have seen all 6 of these movies, I feel like now is the time to really get into what's been bothering me since the first movie. Now, I'm gonna make a clear warning to anyone reading this. What I'm gonna be talking about is me spoiling a few things from most of the "Digimon Adventure tri." films. So, if you do not want to be spoiled, you may want to hold off on reading this review, because I have a LOT to say about what I'm gonna be discussing here. And for those who don't care about spoilers, then you're not gonna be affected by what I'm going to be talking about. That, or you've already seen these movies for yourself, so spoilers are not going to affect you. But for everyone else who is interested in getting into these movies, you have been warned, because I'm now going to talk about what's been on my mind.

One of the things that got me interested in checking these movies out has to do with the timeline. Now, as I made mentioned way back during my review of the first movie, I mentioned that these movies are suppose to be a sequel to the first two "Digimon Adventure" seasons. And when I first heard about that, I thought it sounded amazing, because we would get to see how the DigiDestined from both seasons are doing, now that they have grown up. Well, we get to see the first season's DigiDestined in these movies. But what about the season 2 cast? Where are they? What happened to Davis, Ken, Yolei, and Cody? Well, we get a prologue at the beginning of "Reunion", and it shows the entire season 2 cast being killed off in the Digital World. Well...sort of. According to this movie, they're in suspended animation. I'll get more into that a bit. But anyway, we're just suppose to assume that most of the season 2 cast are dead, because of what happened to them in the prologue. And guess what? They don't get mentioned again, until the very last movie. So basically, everything involving them from between "Reunion" and "Future" are completely non-existent. Hell, even before this movie, Kari and T.K. don't even mention the season 2 cast by name. Which makes no fucking sense at ALL, because they were both part of the season 2 cast. You would assume at one point that they would bring up their names. Well..."Ken" does get mentioned. I'm gonna get to him in a second. But everyone else, no. They don't get mentioned by Kari or T.K. because I guess these movies, for some reason, wanted to omit the fact that they were associated with the season 2 cast. One argument could be made that the season 2 cast were not as popular as the cast from season 1 of Digimon. And I call bullshit on that, because I know that a lot of people loved season 2 of Digimon, myself included. So there is no reason for these movies to basically just ignore them up until the very end of this series of movies. And for a series that was suppose to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Digimon, the season 2 cast are just basically an afterthought. Especially in this movie, because, and I'm gonna be bringing up a little bit of the writing for this movie, once they're back in the Digital World, they get mentioned that they're resting at the hospital, and towards the very end of the movie, they're basically doing fine. Now, we don't get to actually SEE them at all, no. No, we're just suppose to assume that they're doing fine, even though they have been completely ignored throughout this entire series because fuck you, that's why.

Now, I brought up "Ken" earlier. Well, he's the only one that actually gets to show up in these movies. Because throughout most of these movies, he's seen wearing his Digimon Emperor attire back when he was a villain in the first half of season 2. And you get to see him in most of these movies, with, maybe, the two exceptions being "Reunion" and "Coexistence". But as I made mention before, Ken was seen "killed" off in the prologue of "Reunion", so why is this "Ken" roaming around in the real world at will? Well, at the end of "Confession", it turns out that the "Ken" we see throughout these movies turns out to be Gennai as "Ken" in disguise. Which was what made me want to ask a ton of questions on why that twist made no fucking sense. However, seeing as how I have seen all 6 of these movies, my issues with that slowly became irrelevant. I don't know why he was still disguising himself as "Ken" after we get to learn this reveal at the end of the 3rd movie, but oh well. Now shockingly, Kari and T.K. actually do go check up on the real Ken, after the events of "Determination", where "Ken" was responsible for causing Meicoomon to get infected. Now with T.K. and Kari, they go check up on Ken at one point during "Confession", just to see if he's doing OK and to see if he's at home. So they go to his apartment, and he's not answering his door. And neither does his parents. Now, I will admit, it has been a long time since I've seen season 2, but I could've sworn that Ken had parents that were living with him. I could be totally wrong on that, but let's just assume that they did live with him. Now if they did, that means either they left the home for reasons, or the writers completely forgot about them. However, I'm not going to delve into that issue too much. But here's where my issues with the disappearance of the season 2 cast makes no sense. So, as I just stated, T.K. and Kari get no answer after they try to check up on Ken. Now, that should raise alarms right there, because if he's not at home, why didn't they think of contacting Davis, Cody, or Yolei as to whether or not they have heard from Ken? Because THEN, it would've lead to a series of events where those two figure out that with Ken's disappearance, they would begin to realize that if they had contacted the rest of the season 2 cast and not have gotten answers from them, then they would've realized that something might be wrong here, and then they would get together with the rest of the DigiDestined and told them that their other friends might be gone too, and they would ask questions as to what happened with the season 2 cast. And I was just thinking about something, too. Don't the cast of season 2 go to the same school with the season 1 cast? Because if they do, then they, that being the season 1 cast, would've realized that Davis and the others are not showing up at school. Then that would've lead to even MORE questions as to why they haven't shown up in these movies. It would've helped cleared up some of these issues that were on my mind as I was watching these movies, but no. T.K. and Kari only go to check up on Ken, and once they realize that he's not answering his door, they just end that subplot there. Nothing happens beyond that, and we get no checkup on the rest of the season 2 cast up towards the final movie.

Which leads me, now, into talking about what REALLY happened to the season 2 cast. So, in this movie, we get an explanation from Nishijima that the season 2 cast went missing for a long time. Why? Well, it turns out their disappearances were kept a secret by the order of Agent Himekawa. Why did she did keep their disappearances a secret? Well, she was working with King Drasil, and they basically worked together to destroy the season 2 cast. Now why she wanted to do all this, I kinda spoiled back in my review of "Coexistence". So if you want to know the answer to that, you can go and read my review for that movie. But basically, that's what happened to them. Now...I have a ton of questions about this. The one big question I have is why in the hell did Nishijima have to keep this a secret for so long?! I ask this, because he found out about Agent Himekawa's true motives back during the fourth movie. Why didn't he tell the DigiDestined about this back during "Coexistence" when they were hiding out at the high school? Why the fuck did he still keep this a secret AFTER he found out about Agent Himekawa's true motives? And if the reason is because he works for a government agency, and he is sworn to secrecy to all Intel, then it still makes no fucking sense, because, as I said, he already knows about Agent Himekawa's true motives. So there's no reason for him to keep it a secret anymore! Plus also, who the fuck is gonna rat him out because he would be giving away important information about the season 2 cast? Hackmon? I don't think he fucking cares, because he only cares about bringing some perfect balance, or some such shit. So again, what the fuck is stopping Nishijima from getting this info out to the DigiDestined? Oh my God...guys, this is one of the reasons why I've had so many issues with the writing in these movies. And I held off on talking about this one towards the very end, because I wanted to give these movies a chance to see if they would answer that question. Well...I barely got a reason. And it's not even a halfway decent reason, at that.

One other thing I want to mention, before I move on to the actual writing of this movie, and this just came to me, what happened to the rest of the season 2 cast's Digimon? Like, I have an idea what happened to them, what with Nishijima's explanation, but what about after the final showdown with Meicoomon? Were they also affected by the "reboot", too? Because we don't get to see them at ALL during these movies. And you would think that because of the "reboot", we would actually get to see them in the Digital World in some form. But no. We don't get anything like that. Oh, but the season 2 cast are doing fine. Not their Digimon, though. They're pretty much dead. And if that IS the case, then this might actually retcon the ending of season 2. A bit of a spoiler, not that I've spoiled enough about this series, but oh well. On the final episode of season 2, right towards the very END of the series, it shows the DigiDestined, both seasons 1 and 2, having children of their own, and taking them to the Digital World to meet their Digimon companions. But if the season 2's cast Digimon were killed off at the beginning of the first movie, then what makes of the ending of season 2? Was that just an alternate ending I watched as a kid, and was this movie telling me that this is what REALLY happened? I have no idea. And I understand that I'm probably thinking WAY too deep into this, but this genuinely pisses me off. Because if we're just suppose to assume that the season 2 cast are doing fine, then this movie would've at least showed us that they are doing fine. They would've showed that, yes, the season 2 cast are acting like normal again after being away from the real world after so long. Better yet, this movie could've shown that the season 2 Digimon are doing fine, as well. But again, none of that fucking happens. And I do NOT want to hear that these movies take place in an alternate timeline. Because unless these movies are suppose to say otherwise, then that is nothing more than a cop-out excuse. And these movies, at least to me, do a piss poor job of trying to claim that they are suppose to be a sequel to season's 1 and 2 of Digimon.

Now...on the off chance that any of you bypassed all of that, let me give you the short version. These movies did a half-ass job in trying to bridge what happened with the season 2 cast, and it just ends up with a mountain of questions that, if you really think about them for too long, then it's going to potentially ruin these movies for you. I'm just gonna leave it at that and move on. Now, what about this movie's writing? Well...in real honesty, it's not too bad. Again, barring the piss poor attempt to try and explain what happened to the season 2 cast's DigiDestined. The writing here is certainly miles better than what was shown in, say, "Confession", and "Coexistence". I would even, almost, say that this movie is just as good, if not better, than what was shown in "Loss". Because, for the most part, we have quite a decent mixture of both action and character development. And unlike "Coexistence", it actually manages to balance out the tone for this movie. That being said, I don't feel like this is a true ending to this series. And the reason why I say that is because...well, it ends a little bit anti-climatically. Not the final battle itself, because that in of itself was done fine. I'm talking about what happens after that. Now, I could bring up the season 2 cast again, but I've said plenty about it as is. But it really has to do with Gennai. Because, and I'm gonna give out one more spoiler here, he suffers NO repercussions at all. And he ends up going back to the Digital World, where he can probably cause more damage to the Digital World, or even the real world, at his own will. So yeah, even though the DigiDestined finally stopped Meicoomon from swallowing the real world with the Digital World, Gennai is still an issue. But hey, I guess it's perfectly fine for him to do whatever he wants, so who cares about him, right? And honestly, I really feel like that this series does not feel finished. Gennai is still out on the loose, and we're just going to assume the DigiDestined from season 2 are perfectly fine, even though we don't get to see them, physically, at all. And I know that there is some sort of a sequel that came out a couple of years after this movie. However, I really don't know if I even want to watch that movie right now. Because I've had my fill of these movies as is, and I'm not sure if that movie is even going to do a decent follow up with what I watched from these movies.

But anyway, the writing, at least for this movie, is not too bad. It's not great, but it could've been a hell of a lot worse. As for the acting, well, as I said, all of this is still the same kind of acting that you've gotten from the previous 5 movies. So, if you've gotten use to the acting from those movies, then this one is going to offer more of the same. No one here really phones it in, as far as I could tell. I will say, however, that whoever is voicing Gennai REALLY sounds like he's trying to ham up his performance. And in most cases, I would say that it kinda works. However, all it really did was make me hate the character of Gennai even more. So, aside from his questionable acting, the rest of it is fine.

Animation here is also really well done. The art style has continued to remain consistent with these movies, so I can honestly say that it still looks beautiful to look at. CG, well, at this point, if it hasn't been made clear enough, it's fucking terrible. But again, I have been beating that particular horse throughout most of these movies. So, it is what it is. It's shitty CG that you're gonna have to get use to seeing. Sound-mix is good, as is the music.

Ultimately, guys, am I able to recommend "Digimon Adventure tri.: Future"? If you have been following these movies up to this point, then yes. I can recommend it on that end. Like I said, it's almost as good, if not better, than "Loss". It's still nowhere as good as "Reunion" was, but it's still good for what it is. Now...the one remaining question I have left for these movies is can I recommend the "Digimon Adventure tri." series, as an entire package? I am willing to say yes, provided, and this is BIG provided mind you, that you go into these movies, and not treat them as cannon. Basically, if you can ignore the idea that this is suppose to be a sequel to season's 1 and 2 of Digimon, then I think you're going to enjoy these movies. Because, even though I have had a ton of issues with these movies, I was still able to find some enjoyment out of every one of them. So, I personally can't say that these movie wasted my time. However...if you do go into these movies, and you're going to think that they serve as a good sequel to the first two seasons of Digimon, then no. These movies, at least when it comes to being a sequel, kinda sucks at it. Because of what I had discussed earlier, it's really hard for me to say that you'll enjoy these movies if you think about all of the issues that I had with them. But if you're able to ignore a lot of what I just said, and enjoy these movies for what they are, then hey, you're probably going to have a blast with these movies. And if you're curious, I was able to watch all 6 of these movies on Shout Factory's website. Because they're the company that, I'm going to assume, put out these movies on DVD and Blu-ray. So if you want to watch these films, they're all on Shout Factory's website, so you don't have to worry about spending X amount of money, and not being sure if you're going to get a bang for your buck. And if you liked these movies enough, then go ahead and buy them somewhere. As for myself...I'm just happy that I'm able to put these particular movies behind me and move on to something else. Mind you, I did enjoy watching these movies once. However, I don't think it's something that I would rush out and buy on DVD. If I wanted to experience Digimon all over again, I would just watch the entire 1st season I have on DVD. And as much as I would like to do that again, I'm kinda burnt out on Digimon, thanks to these movies, so I'm just gonna go ahead and get some rest.

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

Reaction & Review | The Bat

 

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a horror movie from 1959. That movie is "The Bat". Which comes as part of a DVD 2-pack that has both this movie and "House on Haunted Hill". Later on this month, I will be covering the other movie from this 2-pack.

As for tonight's movie, I really don't know very much about it. I'm gonna tell you everything that I know about it right here. I know that it's, as I've stated, a horror movie. I know that there is some killer who calls himself "The Bat", and is killing people in a mansion. I also know that this movie is based on a novel and stage play that I've never read or seen. So, any comparisons between this movie and those mediums are going to be completely irrelevant here.

The only other thing that I know about this movie is that it stars the legendary Vincent Price. So, the good news is that if this movie ends up being terrible, at least Vincent Price will make it worth watching. I'm certainly hoping that the entire movie is going to be worth watching, but I have no idea if it will be. And the only way I'm gonna find out if this thing is any good at all, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "The Bat".

1 minute later

Well, guys, I can say, so far, that this opening song here is pretty catchy. You guys can't hear it for obvious reasons, but this song is catchy as hell. I'm hoping that this is a good sign of things to come.

18 minutes later

So this maid is gonna set this item on top of the door, and that if anybody tries to get in through the top of the door, it will fall. And she claims this as a booby trap. I wouldn't call that a booby trap, that's more of an alarm than anything else. Plus also, what happens if, say, it falls off on it's own and no one was in front of the door to knock it off? I'm kinda curious about that now, because this booby trap doesn't really sound foolproof, you know?

3 minutes later

Seriously? They believe that fake toy bat creature bit her on the arm? How the hell did they not notice the damn thing, when it was laying on top of Cornelia's arm in a lifeless pose? If it was a real bat, then it would've continued flying after it had 'bitten' her. I'm sorry, guys, but there's a HUGE difference between a toy bat and a real one. The fact that neither of them noticed that just comes across as really stupid to me.

19 minutes later

You know, guys, for a horror movie, this thing really isn't all that scary. Granted, I don't think the movie was aiming for it's scariness, but still, even for the standard of horror movies, it is incredibly tame, even by the standards of 1959.

20 minutes later

Sorry, guys, if I haven't been saying a whole lot. I'm kinda getting sucked into the story here. It's been pretty decent, so far.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "The Bat". And the movie just ends, as it just brought me back to the DVD menu screen. So I don't have to wait for any credits to roll. So I'm gonna go ahead and shut the movie off...all right. Well, what to start with first?

I guess I should start with something that has been on my mind while watching this movie. Now, as I made mention during the reaction portion of the film, it really lacks any kind of real horror. Now, I will admit, I haven't seen a ton of horror movies from the 50's, so I may not be the best person to judge this film's style of horror. But just for the sake of it, I'm going to try it anyway. So, if I were viewing this by the standards of late 50's horror, I would say it's OK, but it doesn't really feel like a horror movie. In fact, this movie really focuses more on the mystery of who this killer, the Bat, really is. And that part works fine. But as a horror movie, it kinda falls flat. Part of the reason is of the Bat's appearance. We're told straight up in the beginning of the movie that the Bat has no face and leaves no fingerprints behind. And the reason why the Bat leaves no fingerprints behind is because he wears these Freddy Krueger-like claws. And he's able to use those to open locked doors, and kill his victims. And for a horror movie, he only has a body count of about 4 people. And all of his kills are incredibly spaced out. As for his appearance, it really isn't all that terrifying. Like I said, he has these Freddy Krueger-like claws, and has his face is covered in all black. Basically, I want you to imagine the Question's face from DC Comics, if the Question didn't have eyes poking out from his face. Other than that, the Bat doesn't look scary in the slightest. And I'm saying that he doesn't look scary, even by the standards of 1959. In fact, now that I think about it, this movie kinda has the same problem with another movie that I covered for this series way back when, which was "The Old Dark House". I mentioned back then that the movie failed as a horror comedy, but it totally works as a straight up horror movie. In this movie, it's kinda the reverse opposite. Where it totally works as a mystery film, it kinda fails at being a horror movie, because it's really not that scary. Now normally, I would've used the excuse of me being desensitized by the lack of scary stuff happening in horror movies. However, because this doesn't really work as a horror movie, I really didn't feel like I was disturbed or creeped out by "The Bat". But again, since this thing came out in the late 50's, I may not be the best judge of character when it comes to horror movies that came out of this time period.

While I'm on the subject of the Bat, this is gonna lead to my only real gripe I have with the writing. And that is the identity of who the Bat really is. Now, I could totally see that this movie was trying to build up tension, as the movie tries to make you guess on who the Bat is. And while I will say that it is sorta fascinating to watch it unfold, I can already tell you who it is right from the word go. Because we're introduced to 3 suspects. We have Dr. Malcolm Wells, which is Vincent Price's character in this movie, who also happens to be studying bats. Then we have Cornelia's butler, who use to be a suspect in a robbery at one point in his life. And then we have the police lieutenant, who, according to this movie, is the bright shining star in the police force that is trying to track down the Bat. Now, I'm not going to spoil who the Bat is among those three characters, on the off chance that you want to go and see this movie for yourself. However, if you can't tell who it is, judging by my description of those three suspects, then it's going to fly right over your head really quickly. I'm just gonna leave it at that. Now, the other reason why I can sorta tell who the Bat was really quickly has to do with my experiences from watching another mystery show that I use to watch, which was Scooby-Doo. You see, this movie sorta has the same problem with Scooby-Doo, in which they both telegraph who the mystery killer, or in Scooby Doo's case, monster really is. They both don't really do a good job in hiding it very well, and it comes off as rather weak. Now, I really can't count this as a negative, because I'm basing this off my own experiences with watching mystery shows like Scooby-Doo. So you have to take it for what it's worth. Now I will say that, unlike an episode of Scooby-Doo, which has not been interesting or entertaining in many, many years, this thing, for the most part, keeps you engaged, because it's still able to tell it's story really well. Our characters are really interesting and developed rather well. And while it may fail as a horror movie, it certainly works it's mystery well enough to where you can bypass the lack of horror that is in this movie. However, if you're looking for more horror in your mystery films, this movie doesn't really do that very well, so you have been warned.

So the writing here is a little bit weak. But it's still interesting enough to make you want to keep watching. Now, with all that being said, let's get to the acting. The acting is pretty strong, for the most part. Nobody here really phones it in, and they're able to work with their characters, because the script is very well written. Special mention has to go to Vincent Price. A lot of people may not know this about Vincent Price, but he was sometimes known as an acting god, at least when it comes to horror movies. Because that was his real specialty, was when he was working in horror movies. In fact, the only other movie that I can recall ever seeing him star in was a movie known as "The Last Man on Earth", which was a pretty good movie, and I would highly recommend it if you are into post-apocalyptic movies. But anyway, as I stated a moment ago, Vincent Price was mostly known for his roles in horror movies. And a lot of people today probably don't know that about him, because they mostly think of his voice acting roles in "The Great Mouse Detective" and "The Thief and the Cobbler". And if you've never had a chance to see what Vincent Price could do back in the days of horror movies, I would highly recommend you go check them out. Now granted, I've only seen about two of his films, those being this movie and "The Last Man on Earth". And, as I stated at the start of this thing, I am going to be checking out "House on Haunted Hill", which is another movie that he stars in. But as I just said, just based off the two movies I've seen Vincent Price in, he is amazing at what he does. So in case you couldn't tell, the acting in this movie is really solid.

The only thing I can mention involving special effects is the bat creature I mentioned early on. And by that, I mean when the killer known as the Bat is in front of the door of the room that Cornelia and her maid are sleeping in. He slips in a bat toy that is suppose to be a real bat, and it starts flying around the room. Now that part looks fine on it's own, but then when the bat creature is flying towards Cornelia as she sleeps, it just lands on her arm, and that was enough for Cornelia to wake up and scream, because she was bitten by it. However, when the bat creature lands on her arm, as I just stated, it just looks like a fake toy that looks nothing like a real bat. Now, I understand that it would be kinda difficult to work with a real bat, considering the nature of those creatures. However, you could've totally pulled off something different here that didn't look like a really obvious toy. I will also say that, for a horror movie, this movie lacks blood. However, considering that this movie was shot in black and white, I don't think it would've been noticed anyways. So, I can give the lack of blood a bit of a pass here.

Camerawork here is pretty good. I was a little bit worried about the picture quality of this movie at first, because I noticed that the company that put this movie out on DVD, which was Good Times, also put out a butchered copy of "McLintock!" on two separate occasions. Where it felt like a poorly made-for-TV film, and someone over at Good Times fucked up with the picture quality so bad on those versions of the movie. Thankfully though, it doesn't look like there was anything wrong with the picture quality for this movie on DVD, so at least I can cut them some slack here. Lighting here is pretty good. Sound-mix is mixed competently. The score is pretty good, and it does it's job well enough to when it needs to be used.

Overall, guys, am I able to recommend "The Bat"? If you're looking for a good mystery film, then this movie is definitely worth watching, at least once. However, if you're looking for an interesting horror movie, then this movie doesn't really live up to that, because there's barely anything here that I would classify as horror. But even so, if you're a fan of Vincent Price, and you've never had a chance to see any of his movies that doesn't require a voice acting role, then I would say go ahead and check this thing out. Because I really do think that people who only know him for his voice acting roles should get into his other movies, unless they're not fans of horror movies. As for myself, I thought it was pretty good. I'm not sure if it's something I would watch a second time, but at least I have another movie of his to check out later this month, and I'm hoping that it's going to be even better than what was shown here. Now...as for myself, I'm going to continue my run of watching the Puppet Master movies I have on DVD this month, so I'm going to do that by watching the second movie.

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 in the near future. Peace.