Jamie Blank died recently. He was in his mid-20s when he helmed Urban Legend during the slasher craze resurgence of the late 1990s.I’ll admit I had no idea what an urban legend meant when I saw the movie posters. Yet I had heard a lot of them. There was Bloody Mary, huge alligators in theContinue reading “‘Urban Legend’ Was Late Filmmakers’ Great Debut”
Category Archives: Flashback Friday Frights
‘Code Of Silence’ Was Chuck Norris’ Best Movie As It Feels Different
I remember back around 1990 comic/actor Robert Wuhl said during a stand-up routine that if you counted all the good Burt Reynolds movies on one hand, you’d still have some fingers left over. This was around the time he had appeared in the crime comedy Breaking In directed by Bill Forsyth. But it still wasn’t enough as he had to turn to TV toContinue reading “‘Code Of Silence’ Was Chuck Norris’ Best Movie As It Feels Different”
Old Hat For ‘Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood’
The following post contains spoilers! After the fan backlash over Friday the 13th : A New Beginning which attempted to take the franchise in a different direction where Tommy Jarvis turns into a killer following too much trauma, Jason Vorhees was brought back from the dead in the sixth movie. Incidentally, the fifth movie made more money compared to its meager budget asContinue reading “Old Hat For ‘Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood’”
‘Storm Of The Century’ Still Hits Hard Many Years Later
When New England recovering from the huge snowstorm that hit less than two weeks ago, I’d thought I’d look at Storm of the Century which Stephen King wrote specifically for TV. Set in February 1989, it aired as a three-part miniseries in the middle of February 1999. Now, Stephen King adaptations are mostly hit or miss. But his work on TV has been less than stellar. There wasContinue reading “‘Storm Of The Century’ Still Hits Hard Many Years Later”
‘Scream 4’ Brought Franchise Back To Life, For Better And For Worse
The Scream franchise has divided horror fans for the past 30 years. I think it’s mainly because horror movies exist on the fringes of entertainment, a step up from porno flicks and raunchy sex comedies. They’re really never supposed to be big-budget high concept movies. But if done right, it can still be a critical and commercial success. The first Scream movie was released during the ChristmasContinue reading “‘Scream 4’ Brought Franchise Back To Life, For Better And For Worse”
‘The Pledge’ Showcases Tom Noonan’s Talents Alongside Jack Nicholson
When you’re about 6-foot-5, actors like Tom Noonan’s imposing size were mostly cast as villains and antagonists. Yet his dual role in Last Action Hero both as The Ripper and himself showed that deep down he was just a regular person who got the acting bug and went with it. His brother, John Ford Noonan, was an actor and playwright himself. And hisContinue reading “‘The Pledge’ Showcases Tom Noonan’s Talents Alongside Jack Nicholson”
‘Jason Takes Manhattan’ Only Briefly In Lackluster ‘Friday the 13th’ Entry
Before Kangaroo Jack deceived a whole generation into believing that the premise of a movie was different than how it was advertised, there was Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. You could also say the same thing about The Full Monty by the way. By 1989, horror movies were scrapping the bottom of the barrel of filmmaking. Critics detested them. Audiences were staying away.Continue reading “‘Jason Takes Manhattan’ Only Briefly In Lackluster ‘Friday the 13th’ Entry”
‘Outland’ Bends Genres For A Gritty Sci-Fi Neo-Western Crime Thriller
I was a young kid one night when I was channel surfing back when there weren’t that many channels and I found Outland on the late show. Just for FYI, that was back when TV stations ran movies in the wee hours instead of shutting off their broadcast signal. All I remember from the movie was an actor who I didn’t realize was Sean ConneryContinue reading “‘Outland’ Bends Genres For A Gritty Sci-Fi Neo-Western Crime Thriller”
‘After Hours’ Showcases Catherine O’Hara’s Great Talents
Born and raised in the Toronto area in an Irish Catholic household, Catherine O’Hara was on SCTV with other greats like John Candy, Rick Moranis, and Eugene Levy. She famously went on to Saturday Night Live in the infamous sixth season which would see Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo among others like Gilbert Gottfried and Charles Rocket. She reportedly spent one week working at SNL before leavingContinue reading “‘After Hours’ Showcases Catherine O’Hara’s Great Talents”
‘The Hidden’ Needs To Be Seen
During the 1980s, filmmakers managed to make some of the best sci-fi movies without having much special effects. Look at the first Back to the Future or the first Terminator. Even then, we knew that a lot of special effects are just eye candy if the story isn’t well made. There are a number of campy and crappy sci-fi movies that were released during thisContinue reading “‘The Hidden’ Needs To Be Seen”
Zane Says 