‘Once Bitten’ An Allgory Of The HIV/AIDS Crisis In The 1980s

By the time, Once Bitten opened in theaters in mid-November 1985 (two weeks after Halloween for some reason!), Rock Hudson had been dead for about six weeks. The HIV/AIDS crisis had entered into the homes of Middle Americans (aka conservative Christian WASPs). Charlatans like Jerry Falwell was still calling it a plague for gay peopleContinue reading “‘Once Bitten’ An Allgory Of The HIV/AIDS Crisis In The 1980s”

‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Animated Feature Remains Divided Among Tolkein Fans After 35 Years

It’s been less than 20 years since Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings into a trilogy of movies hit theaters. The spectacle of doing three movies at such great lengths through New Line Cinema, which was still considered an independent studio, was a risk that would’ve bankrupted the studio and torpedoedContinue reading “‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Animated Feature Remains Divided Among Tolkein Fans After 35 Years”

‘The Rapture’ Explores Religious Faith

The Rapture is one strange movie. It begins like a soft-core porn you’d use to find on Skinemax. It even has the sets and a young David Duchovny appears during his Red Shoe Diaries days. It then transitions into a faith movie before spiraling down into a psychological thriller and ending as a drama aboutContinue reading “‘The Rapture’ Explores Religious Faith”

‘Critters 2’ Takes A Bite Out Of Easter

The first Critters movie was a surprise. Despite being considered a rip-off of Gremlins (which it isn’t), the movie about these furry little aliens with a huge appetite who crash land on Earth, was a hit with critics and audiences. Roger Ebert gave it three stars in a positive review and it scored over $13Continue reading “‘Critters 2’ Takes A Bite Out Of Easter”

‘One Cut Of The Dead’ Is A Zomcom Of Slapstick Madness

Warning: This contains spoilers A movie like One Cut of the Dead could easily be one of the best and worst zombie movies depending on how you view it. It begins with a 37-minute long poorly made and filmed movie within in a movie as a low-budget Japanese horror production is plagued by real zombies.Continue reading “‘One Cut Of The Dead’ Is A Zomcom Of Slapstick Madness”

‘The Outsiders’ At 40 Stays Gold

When Tulsa area teen S.E. Hinton got her first novel The Outsiders published in 1967, there were already concerns over the novel. The term “young adult novel” probably hadn’t entered into the literary world. Even Judy Blume hadn’t published a book yet. She had wrote it while still in high school as she was upsetContinue reading “‘The Outsiders’ At 40 Stays Gold”

‘In The Mouth Of Madness’ Spins A Tale Of Hallucinations, Monsters And Murder

For a while, John Carpenter seemed to be on fire. After a small start in the 1970s with Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13, he made Halloween in 1978 and spent the next 10 years banging out a movie almost every year, as well as the 1979 Elvis television movie, the first collaboration withContinue reading “‘In The Mouth Of Madness’ Spins A Tale Of Hallucinations, Monsters And Murder”

‘Tropic Thunder’ Sounds Off The Brutal Savagery Of Hollywood Filmmaking

One of the most popular topics among filmmakers is to poke fun at Hollywood. Sometimes, it works with movies like The Player and Bowfinger and sometimes it fails like most recently Babylon. As the TV show Community boldly said people grow tired of movies about making movies about making movies. But a movie like TropicContinue reading “‘Tropic Thunder’ Sounds Off The Brutal Savagery Of Hollywood Filmmaking”

‘Wild Things’ At 25: How A Sleazy Movie Got So Many A-Listers And It Worked

When Wild Things hit theaters in 1998, it was the first day of Spring March 20 and the movie had numerous A-listers on the cast in a movie that includes greed, sex and murder. Wild Things seems like one of those movies you’d come across on Skinemax with Shannon Whirry, Shannon Tweed and Andrew StevensContinue reading “‘Wild Things’ At 25: How A Sleazy Movie Got So Many A-Listers And It Worked”

Warwick Davis Has A Lot Of Electric Boogaloo As Evil Lead In ‘Leprechaun 2’

It’s hard to believe Warwick Davis was just a wee lad when he first appeared as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi. He was 12 during the filming of the movie and went he finally got the lead in Willow, he was only 18. Unfortunately, there weren’t that many roles for dwarves inContinue reading “Warwick Davis Has A Lot Of Electric Boogaloo As Evil Lead In ‘Leprechaun 2’”