The Haunted World of El Superbeasto

Rob Zombie has brought his characters from the adult-themed, horror comic, Rob Zombie's Spookshow International, to life in this R-rated masterpiece filled with a pickled Hitler's head, werewolf Nazis solders, SS zombies, a talking gorilla, the corpse of King Kong, Dr. Satan and a few of The Devil's Rejects, with loads of large breasted, naked ladies and an order of scrumptious hot wings. The plot is how our hero, El Superbeasto voice by Tom Pappa, brings in the help of his sexy, eye-patch wearing, blond bombshell of a sister, Suzi X voiced by Sherri Moon Zombie, to help him supposedly save a stripper that was kidnapped by a talking gorilla working for Dr. Satan but really just wants to get her back so he can "tap that ass". The voice talent includes Zombie regulars and a few new surprises like Clint Howard, Dee Wallace, Danny Trejo, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Geoffrey Lewis, Ken Foree, Cassandra Peterson -I love Elvira-, Rosario Dawson, Harland Williams and Paul Giamatti as Dr. Satan. The nods to classic horror icon films are endless and the reference of 80s music and culture are awesome. Everyone loves Loverboy, right?

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Whip It

Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page bring back to the screen one of the sports I loved watching as a kid on TV and these are not the gigantic blond bombshell bruisers I remember from my youth but more like indie and goth Suicide Girls on skates with killer music and awesome tattoos! The story is about high school girl Bliss Cavendar trying to find her own way of dealing with living in a small town and wanting to be, or do, something different than what her mother wants and she finds her inspiration when girls from the local roller derby league are passing out flyers for their next match. The casting of Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern as the strict mother and doting father is perfect and The Hurl Scouts played by Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Eve, and Zoe Bell are bombastic and hilarious. This is a great follow up film for Page to the critically acclaimed Juno and Barrymore does a great directing job and does not over indulge in her own character's share of on screen time. The soundtrack is awesome and I can't wait to see this again on opening night if it works out with Kelly and our friends.

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Love Happens

I was debating whether to go home or stick around at AMC Hoffman 22 - my theater of choice - to see the 7:00 pm sneak preview screening of Whip It and resigned myself to see this film since it would be only one of two films I had not seen yet besides Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself currently playing there. It was a good decision to stay and I really enjoyed the movie and may have had a tear or two in my eye when Aaron Eckhart's character finally comes clean and confesses his feelings of deep-seated guilt on the accidental death of his wife with her father played by Martin Sheen. Eckhart's star is definitely on the rise with fantastic performances in The Dark Knight as Harvey Dent, in The Core as Dr Josh Keyes, and his breakout role as Nick Naylor in Thank You For Smoking. Jennifer Aniston is good as quirky Eloise who helps Burke finally deal with his own wife's death as he has been helping clients deal with their own life tragedies. A good little movie for date night if you need one in a pinch.

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Pandorum

I know a lot of people are going to go see this film because it looks like a glossier version of Alien or Event Horizon from the trailers and looks down right creepy and just maybe a bit scary too. But for me it is all about Ben Foster who has really come in to his own with great lead up performances as The Stranger in 30 Days of Night, Charlie Prince in the remake of 3:10 to Yuma, Dave in 2004's The Punisher, and the iconic image of Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand. Ben does not disappoint as Corporal Bower who wakes up on a spaceship from a long stretch in hyper-sleep and must piece together his past,why he and his apparent teammates are there before the ship's reactor goes terminal, and what are these things that are hunting and trying to trap him? The movie is dark and and claustrophobic and seems to channel some of the best elements of Neil Marshall's The Descent if it was set in deep space and the spelunking woman were being attacked by Road Warrior versions of Gollum. A definite must see for thriller SciFi fans and worth the price of admission.

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Surrogates

I have to agree with some of the critics on that this movie would have been more relevant and interesting back in 1981 even if the filmmakers would not have had access to the great CGI we have today. The plot is very transparent and the characters are not engaging or that interesting even if you write it off to the wooden performances because they are robots filling in for live people. Rosamund Pike is the one perfect casting choice because every movie I have ever seen her in before she has had the same emotional range as a robot. The other high point is the casting of James Cromwell who seems to always be the go to science and leading technology patriarch in this type of film just like in I, Robot and Star Trek: First Contact. Your best bet is to save your money and watch this when it runs on SyFy - I really hate the new logo - or hits Netflix.

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Fame (2009)

Even though I have yet to see all of the 1980's Fame movie, I was a huge teenage fan of the TV series that ran on NBC back in 1982. Instead of being a remake, this movie is more of a generational true-up that reflects the current state of the arts and struggles of the school's gifted performers. There was no chance that I was not going to see this movie and I did enjoy it despite the early critics reviews. The performing set pieces are fun and energetic but the quick transition between school years and the lack of any real investment in the students back stories does not suck you in and engage you as much as you would like. It was good seeing Debbie Allen from the original film and the TV series even though I did not get any nostalgia pangs but the movie was worth seeing during my Saturday matinee.

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Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat

Going through the DVD collection brought me to this little dandy of a film that is sort of a western vampire comedy that is campy as hell an loaded with more stars than you can throw a stick at. I know I originally picked it up because it had Bruce Campbell on the DVD cover and knew it would be funny but the stars they got to appear in this little film that no one remembers from 1990 is just amazing. The film stars genre and 80's favorites like David Carradine, Maxwell Caulfield, Deborah Foreman, M. Emmet Walsh, John Ireland, Dabbs Greer, George "Buck" Flower and the one hit wonder Gerardo Mejia - can you say "Rico y Suave". Basically, Dracula has changed his name and has set up his own retirement community in the west where vampires who no longer want to kill or drink blood can live off of a blood substitute but there is a faction that misses the more traditional life style and they are planning a coup. This may have been an inspiration for True Blood's drink of choice but definitely a fun way to while away a Sunday after noon. Click here to check out this clip on YouTube.com.

Jekyll + Hyde

Robert Louise Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde has to be one of the most re-made, re-interpreted, and re-imaged literature classics of all time. This time out Jekyll is a medical student who experiments with a designer drug that brings out the Hyde persona that starts killing his fellow students and locals girls. The only actor I knew in the movie was Bree Turner who can be seen in such films as The Ugly Truth, Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, and Bring It On Again. The movie was not to bad with some descent bloody set pieces and Turner looks good even as a brunette. Another freebie on FEARNet so who needs cable any more?

Click here to check out the trailer on YouTube.com.

La Monja

Also know as the The Nun, a click of catholic school girls drown an abusive nun and swear to keep the secret but twenty years later the nun returns to seek revenge. The movie was produced as part of Brian Yuzna's Fantastic Factory film projects with the goal to produce low budget but high quality genre films for the international market. Previous films include Faust: Love of the Damned, Dagon, Darkenss, and Beyond Re-Animator which I already have in my DVD collection. The water effects and the demonic Nun are very cool and the story is well crafted. Definely worth a free watch on FEARNet or a rental from NetFlix if you prefer.

Click here to check out the trailer on YouTube.com.

Night of the Demons (1988)

I got my weekly update from FEARNet and an 80's classic is on tap for all us horror fans who love anything with scream queen, Linnea Quigley. The story is about a group of teenagers partying at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night and get the attention of some demons when a mirror breaks and they are unleashed to wreak havoc. Kevin Tenney's sophomore directorial effort captures all of the 80's horror staples with cheesy dialogue, plenty of T & A, and special makeup effects designs by industry favorite Steve Johnson. The unforgettable scenes for me from my freshmen college days was the image of Linnea bent over so her friend can steal party supplies from the local convenience store as the counter guys stare at her ass and the lipstick pushed in through the nipple. The internet, free 80's horror classics online and take out from the local Wing Zone - all make for a good Saturday afternoon.

Check out the trailer out on YouTube.com