Tuesday, December 13, 2005

DVD Review: Heebie Jeebies


If you're going to put the tagline "Scarier Than Hell" on your DVD cover art, then you'd better try to make it so. If Hell is as scary as Heebie Jeebies, then it's no big whup. The film deals with a young woman who has prophetic dreams about her friends dying. Since she has a habit of her dreams coming true, she decides to have them all come out to a dilpidated old farmhouse so she can protect them from their imminent demise. Interspersed throughout the movie are little "dream" segments that are like little movies in themselves. They're each actually better than the movie as a whole. The film was a little grainy and the sound was a little low, but nothing to really complain about, I mean it is a B-movie. One thing I did like, I did like the twist at the end. It was creative at least. I think this film would have worked better as a Creepshow-type of anthology because like I said, the shorts weren't bad. This film suffered from a flow problem, it just wasn't smooth. Hopefully the directors, Doug Evans and Michael Hawkins-Burgos, used this as a learning experience and will only get better, because the shorts show their talent. Also has a funny blooper reel on the DVD. I'll give it *** out of *****. Same score as Star Wars, for 150 million dollars less!

DVD Review: Star Wars-Episode 3-Revenge of The Sith


Well, I may be the only one out there, but I'm kinda glad this series is over with for now. This latest from George Lucas' money making machine is beautiful to look at, but is as hollow as a gourd. The acting is unbearably bad, by some of the best in Hollywood don't forget, and the story isn't much better. But there's never been a better looking or sounding DVD. This thing rings true through the surround sound and the visuals are amazing. If only Lucas could take the whole human element out of his films and just use his Lucasarts team to make CG movies, then they'd be great. This is the part of the series that ties the new trilogy in with the old, the creation of Darth Vader. The fact that we already know who lives, because of the original Star Wars, takes so much away from this movie. We know Anakin doesn't kill Kenobi, we know Padma has twins and dies in childbirth, this movie doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know. I don't know, I wasn't impressed, other than by the sound and the effects. I'll give it *** out of *****, just for technical mastery if anything else. And it's a great film to show off your surround system.

DVD Review: One Missed Call


From Takashi Miike, another masterfully chilling film. This guy knows his way around a camera! The plot is about a group of young people, who one by one start to recieve a call on their cell phone. The phone rings in a tone that's not their's, and it's a spooky tone let me tell you, and when they don't answer it, they find out there's a message left. The message is from themselves, days in the future, at the time of their death. The tone of this movie is absolutely great! You don't know what's going to happen next and everything is slowly revealed. The acting is top notch and the atmosphere extremely creepy. This just may be my favorite Miike film yet. Of course, there's always the troublesome ending with Miike, but I think I figured out his meaning on this one. ****1/2 out of *****. Why are those long haired Japanese women so scary!?

DVD Review: Werewolf Hunter


This one is certainly not your run-of-the-mill werewolf movie. It takes place in the 1800's and is about Europe's first serial killer, Romasanta, who's defense was that he was a werewolf. As the cover says, it's based on a true story. The location shooting is fantastic and really lends an atmosphere of old world charm to the picture. The film stars Julian Sands (Warlock), and the acting is actually very good with the direction and choreography top notch. But, as in many a bad advertising methods, the creature on the cover does not make an appearance in the movie. And we all know how that steams me. For such a well directed movie to have such a stupid cover on it just to garnish some sales is a shame because the film is much more than a werewolf movie. I'll give it **** out of *****. It lost half a star because of the cover lie.