Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Kappa Kid's Dungeon of Schlock

IIRC I like the set up and the world created much better than the plot.

I'll have to watch it again.

Speaking of Cronenberg, today's review is over what many consider his masterpiece, The Fly. Though it's remake of a movie from the 1950's, Cronenberg doesn't just create a carbon copy of the original and instead opts to tell a new story that still keeps true to the original's roots. A lot of people don't care for Jeff Goldblum's acting style, but I love it and it works wonders for him in this movie. His bumbling, awkward personality really contrasts with his more agressive,alpha male personality when he becomes the fly. Geena Davis is really good as the love interest and has great chemistry with Goldblum. The effects are top notch and the transformations make it the standard for Boddy Horror, along with John Carpenter's The Thing remake. I highly recommend checking this one out if you haven't seen it.

Rating: 5/5 stars

"Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid."

The most commercial of Cronenberg's horror films (paired with Dead Zone), it's an interesting transition for him, moving from the flat out body horror of the earlier films to the spark of more cerebral and understated horrors in later works. After the success of this film, he could have gone on to make any mainstream film he wanted, so of course he chose "Dead Ringers" .

A great film, and great performances (although, I'd say "Naked Lunch" was his masterpiece, FWIW).

There are so many good Cronenberg films. I'm quite fond of Scanners myself (that has Patrick McGoohan in it! and the ever entertaining Michael Ironside).

I was probably not in the right mood when I saw Naked Lunch, if I'm honest. I think I was just looking for a very straightforward movie to lose 90 mins in. Instead I picked Naked Lunch. A few years later, when I had read it, I went back to the film and enjoyed it a lot more.

The Fly was an excellent movie. Great chemistry, good dual sci-fi and horror plot and opportunities for gore. Goldblum can be a little hit and miss for me too. As he's really the same every time, it's obviously the casting director's fault.

The Thing remains one of my favourites.

I would be remiss in not mentioning any Japanese kaiju films in this thread and I'll kick if off by talking about my favorite film in the genre, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. Imagine a typical Godzilla vs monster movie, but combine it with Terminator and Back to the Future. In this entry in the Godzilla series, mysterious strangers from the future come to Japan to tell them how to defeat Godzilla. However, they are secretly planning on taking over Japan using Godzilla's most fearsome enemy, King Ghidorah. Needlessly to say, time travel hijinks ensue and Godzilla and Ghidorah battle it out. This is one of the more bizarre, convoluted plots in the franchise, but I love it for that same reason.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I've gone back and added ratings to all my reviews to better clarify my thoughts on movies and give a better idea on wht I think of them.

Last night's viewing of choice was John Carpenter's classic Big Trouble in Little China. This movie is truly a testament to Carpenter's versatility as a director, as he blends action, fantasy, romance, and horror all into one movie. Kurt Russell is awesome as always, imbuing the character of Jack Burton with that right amount of self aware action hero wit that Bruce Campbell would later do with Ash in Army of Darkness. Kim Cattrall also does a decent job in a supporting role and its nice that the romance in this movie isn't cliched and ends with her and Russell's character riding off into the sunset together. The music score is also great, as is usually the case with Carpenter's films.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I don't think Big Trouble was much of a box office success. Shame, as it's a fun movie. Perhaps having something for everyone is why it didn't get the success it deserved.

I'd recommend Carpenter's Prince of Darkness for this thread.

I need to watch Prince of Darkness when I get the chance.

Here's the tentative list of movies I need to watch and do reviews for soon:



-Scanners
-They Live
-Re-Animator
-Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
-Westworld
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
-Dawn of the Dead

If you can, watch the special cut for the European market, better known as "Zombi". I think it's even better than Romero's original cut.

Every one of those is a winner Braja.

Will do!

Holy Crap 7 pages deep already!

We love our SCHLOCK!!!!

7 pages? We're only 3 deep right now, but we're getting there.

I've wanted to see the original "Dawn" ever since I saw the remake, but it's never anywhere to be found on any channel I get. I like the remake, but you almost literally can't scroll through the guide on any given day without seeing it listed. It's definitely over-saturated.

All I can figure is the rights to the original must be exclusive to Netflix or some other service (none of which I subscribe to) because one channel had the original "Night" and "Day" but not a sign of "Dawn".

That stinks! Sorry to learn that, Lardy.

Is there a Movie Stop near you? Maybe you could find a used DVD?

I picked up Dawn of the Dead on DVD, and again when a lengthier version was released I think.

It pays to get those versions for the above lists. Reanimator and Close Encounters have better cuts than the original one.

Yeah, I don't know how many times I've clicked on it to discover it was the remake rather than the original!

Tonight's viewing of choice was Westworld, a western/science fiction classic from 1973. Written and directed by Michael Crichton, it's clear this movie served as a prototype for Jurassic Park many years later, which is one of my all time favorite movies. The movie can also be seen as an inspiration for the Terminator movies as Yul Brynner's robot character is very similar to the T-800. There are some interesting questions raised about the nature of robot technology, though some may seem dated when viewed with 21st century eyes, However, one line that still stands out to me as brilliant is when one scientist points out that "they don't know how some robots work since some robots were made by other robots". This just adds to the creepiness of the robots, suggesting that they were almost reproducing as a species. All in all, it's a fun blending of very polar genres into a concoction that stands as one of the best science fiction works of the 1970's.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I'd heard a lot about Westworld before I ever got to see it. A clip or a still added to the anticipation. It was well worth the wait. As an aside into '70s Sci-fi, I saw Rollerball a month back, and it's still an excellent movie.

I love that the movie is very small scale. Unlike it's spiritual successor, Jurassic Park, Westworld opts to focus on only two main characters, showing how they go about each day in this artificial world before the park goes to hell.

Gather 'round, schlock hounds. Today's review isn't really a schlocky movie, but a classic that inspired many countless monster movies down the line: Creature from the Black Lagoon. Admittedly, I have never been much of a fan of the Universal monster movies. They are a bit too dated for my tastes, but CFtBL stands out as the best of the crop for me. Part of that may be due to my love for swamp monsters, like Swamp Thing. On the other hand, this movie was really ambitious for its day. One noteworthy behind the scenes tidbit is that the actor who played the creature, Ricou Browning, had to hold his breath underwater for all the shots, some of which were nearly 5 minutes long! The underwater shots are very well done for the period and still hold up by today' standards.

Rating: 3.5/5

I've watched most of the classic movies down the years. Unfortunately all I really recall about the Creature were the good locations, the cinematography and a poor sequel.

If you're looking for something that doesn't date in the same way, try the German expressionist ones from the 1920s.

After a fairly disappointing Oscars show, I decided to watch another movie on my list, which happened to be Scanners. Directed by David Cronenberg, the movie features Cronenberg's love of body horror, but the gorier elements are largely downplayed in favor of a bizarre plot, even for sci fi/horror standards. While the movie's premise is deeply rooted in psychic abilities and "mutants", Cronenberg attempts to create a espionage-esque thriller, which ultimately serves to undercut the otherwise awesome concept behind the film. Revelations to the "mystery" come so late in the moviet that they feel of little consequence and only serve to raise the stakes of the climax.The characters are so bland and devoid of personality that I had very little interest in whether they survived through the end of the movie. Had the movie been played purely as a sci-fi horror hybrid, it could have been one for the ages, but it's ultimately forgettable, aside from a great performance by Michael Ironside.

Rating: 2/5 stars