Stephen Herek’s “Critters” is a fun and gory horror science fiction film that knows exactly what kind of movie it is. It’s neat a mix of a monster movie and a tongue in cheek action sci-fi movie. As well it delights in doling out a lot of gruesome kills and fun nuggets of very light comedy that will arouse some chuckles, but never ruin the momentum of the movie. Up in the space in a prison space ship, the Krites have managed to escape their cells and are now on the run. They’ve taken hold of a ship of their own and are headed for Earth. The alien overlords hire two skilled bounty hunters with blank faces, urging them to find the krites before they reach Earth and wreak incomprehensible havoc on the population. With the bounty hunters on their tails, the Krites have crash land on a farm in the middle of a rural town in Kansas.
Author Archives: Felix Vasquez
Hobgoblins (1988)
If you think you’ve seen the worst of the worst “Gremlins” knock offs, 1988’s “Hobgoblins” is the crème de la crème of the copycats. In the eighties, every single studio wanted their own “Gremlins” cash cow and very few were able to pull it off well. “Hobgoblins” seems to have absolutely no money to work with and tries to make out like a bandit with their own weak “Gremlins” wannabe. The problem is that “Gremlins,” despite the big budget, has competence, and depth, and magic, and an interesting mythology. Not to mention the monsters in the film do so much more than stand around cackling.
The Exorcist III (1990): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist III” proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that even if a film series is destroyed by a bad sequel, it can bounce if the follow up is bold and creative enough. While “The Exorcist II” took a dump all over the original movie from Friedkin, “The Exorcist III” manages to quite brilliantly carve out its own unnerving horror story, while also expanding on the mythology of pazusu, and the possession of Regan McNeil. It also helps to confirm the idea of total evil that is never quite resolved, which only contributes to the film’s inherent sense of unease.
Tamara (2005)
Taking off from classic teen revenge horror flicks like “Carrie” and, to a lesser extent “Urban Legends 3,” “Tamara” is yet another ho hum female fueled revenge horror entry about a brutally scorned woman coming back to strike at her killers. Young Tamara is a constant target for the jocks and popular kids in her high school and mocked on a daily basis, especially now that she’s written a controversial article about drug testing in the school which further gives them a reason. To get back at her, they play a very cruel prank which goes very awry giving her a bad case of death. And because she’s secretly a witchcraft practitioner, she comes back from the grave as one pissed off, undead, sexy avenging angel.
Lights Out (2016) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
For three years, David F. Sandberg’s short horror film “Lights Out” rocked the internet and became a viral hit. It was a very short and to the point film with excellent framing, brilliant editing, and a shocker of a surprise ending. After years as a viral hit, we’re given the full length adaptation of “Lights Out,” which is a pretty great extension of the terror that Sandberg spreads out for his audience. Thankfully while the spirit of the original film is kept in tact (with the original star making a welcome walk on appearance), “Lights Out” is transformed in to a complex and wrenching horror film about mental illness, abandonment, and family. I was a bit hesitant to believe “Lights Out” could be expanded in to a feature length film but while it isn’t perfect, it’s a damn good horror film with some genuinely dynamite moments.
Dead Rising Endgame (2016)
It’s a damn shame that the Crackle team couldn’t follow up the entertaining first “Dead Rising” movie with an even better one. “Endgame” is a very disappointing follow up that spends most of its ninety minute run time involving government cover ups, potential military strikes, and reporters trying to get the word out about corruption. Every now and then the movie decides to dole up some zombie carnage. And even then it’s disappointing, since the story slowly drifts away from zombies and begins focusing on more rabid mutants that the government has been testing on. The narrative for a movie like this shouldn’t be so hard to follow but lo and behold when I wasn’t drifting off from boredom, I was anxiously trying to figure out how any of this worked.
The 5 Best Times Glenn Rhee Was a Bad Ass on “The Walking Dead”
I’m still not sure if Glenn Rhee is going to die by the dreaded barbed wire face of new villain Negan’s bat Lucille in the season seven premier, but all signs currently point to Glenn being one of the two characters that suffer the cruel fate. If Glenn Rhee does die, it’s going to leave a sad huge hole in the series as Glenn has managed to be sympathetic, charming, funny, heroic, courageous, selfless, paternal, and has sacrificed more than anyone on the series to ensure the safety of his friends and family.
The show’s casting of Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee was genius, and Steven Yeun has done a wonderful job playing a major role in the series. It’s not too often we see Asian heroes in monster hit television series even in modern television, but Yeun has completely made his mark as one of the most lovable every day heroes of the zombie apocalypse. Here are five best times Glenn Rhee was a bad ass on “The Walking Dead.”