Kind of forgotten in the wake of James Cameron’s The Abyss, Leviathan is an OK if not uneven sci-fi adventure. The cast is good and some of the creature effects aren’t bad either, but at the same time it comes across as a rip-off of Alien sans suspense and compelling storytelling.
The Perfect House is a tad better than expected especially compared to some of the other crap from WER. The acting, although hardly faultless, isn’t entirely bad and the plot, at least some of it anyway, is at least interesting. Not sure if I can completely recommend this but perhaps horror junkies might get something out of it.
it’s another great season for “The Good Wife” raising the bar, no pun intended, with its storytelling, character developments from everyone though Julianna Margulies the most, and the departure of one character which shocked fans but was well done.
Scream Park is a student film that somehow wrangled Doug Bradley into a cameo role but even with Bradley, it’s not very well made, is quite dull in places and the acting isn’t very good, even by amateur standards. The DVD released by Wild Eye has average audio and video transfers.
The Legend of Hell House is an effective British supernatural-horror-thriller with fine performances all around but with special notice on Roddy McDowell and Pamela Franklin.
My Gal Sunday is another sweet Hallmark Channel movie where the script is washed down, dialogue trite and acting subpar. This is the kind of movie families (ages 12+ anyway) can enjoy but for everyone else it’s forgettable and throwaway entertainment. The DVD released by Cinedigm offers OK video and audio transfers but with no features.
The Buddy Holly Story is a well done biographical drama given life by an Oscar-worthy performance from none other than Gary Busey (yeah, there was a time when he wasn’t completely nuts). The direction and pacing was also fine-tuned making for a nice drama.
Motel Hell is another quirky release in the Scream Factory line and it has its moments headlined by a good performance from Farmer Vincent himself, Rory Calhoun.
For a DTV flick, Legendary isn’t bad and the visual effects are halfway decent… well, probably Asylum levels and at least better than a SyFy Original Movie. Scott Adkins actually is alright here and Dolph Lundgren always seems to have a good time playing an unabashed villain. The DVD released by Lionsgate is unsurprisingly light on features but the audio and video transfers are both well done.
I actually found Scooby-Doo: Franken Creepy to be one of the better entries of the recent DTV movies. The animation is more or less the same but the humor is great, include some fun in-jokes and a strangely stylistic direction style seemingly inspired by Edgar Wright’s The World’s End (and a couple others that I can’t remember).
To be perfectly honest, I’m not a fan of zombie shows or movies with few exceptions (“The Walking Dead”), so Dead Within wasn’t exactly my cup of tea yet the psychological aspects were at least interesting and co-writer/director Ben Wagner at least gives some suspenseful atmosphere.
Man Hunt is a very well made thriller, with some of that 1940s war propaganda, with some solid performances by Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett and George Sanders, a great score from Alfred Newman and impressive cinematography.
Phantom of the Paradise is a well made and quirky adaptation of the classic opera. The performances, both sung and acting, were good headlined by William Finley and Jessica Harper
Agency of Vengeance: Dark Rising (aka Dark Rising 2) has to be sequel that not a whole heck of a lot of people were clamoring for but I suppose as a cheesy, low-budget sci-fi flick (with matching micro budget visual effects suitable for the SyFy network), it’s not an awful movie, just one with a thin script and questionable acting, though with someone with the body of Brigitte Kingsley, who spends some time in her bra and panties, who needs a script?
Follow That Dream is considered one of Elvis’ finest performances and he indeed is charismatic as ever and the lovely Anne Helm works well with him providing a nice spark. Yeah, the story itself feels out-of-date but still fun to watch.