Oh lord, I had no idea this even existed. Back in 1965, the Munsters characters were commissioned to do a TV special where they crash a performance at Marineland. Despite some cut aways to the Munsters, there is no plot, no side adventures, and the Munsters are genuinely just glorified mascots for this attraction. And boy it is awful. The mercifully hour long special was lost for a long time before being restored and revived for fans, and it’s probably a good thing. Despite a fairly spotless record of Television Specials, “Marineland” is a terrible utilization of these characters.
Author Archives: Felix Vasquez
“Fun Size”: The Halloween Treat That Deserves More Love
Along with “Crybaby Lane,” 2012’s “Fun Size” is one of the bastard children of Nickelodeon Studios that they like to pretend doesn’t exist. It wouldn’t be the first time they hung one of their stars out to dry, and it certainly won’t be the last. Say what you want about the legacy of Nickelodeon, but their nastiness is almost equal to their innovation and creativity. Nevertheless, “Fun Size” is one of the very few Halloween themed movies that have nothing to do with the horror genre.
Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (1994)
1994’s “Aladdin: The Return of Jafar” (or “Aladdin 2: The Return of Jafar,” or simply “The Return of Jafar” as it’s known in some circles), was originally intended to be the trio of episodes for the television spin off of the hit 1992 Disney film “Aladdin.” Not wanting to miss out on milking their hit further, Disney cobbled together a movie that acted both as a sequel and an entry point in to the “Aladdin” syndicated animated series. This meant that much of the resolution of the original movie was rendered pretty much null. Factor in that Robin Williams refused to reprise the role of Genie once again after a fall out with Disney, and you have what is—well, just an okay movie.
“Mask of the Phantasm” is Still the Best Batman Movie Ever Made
We can get argue about Batman in the movies all day long but when it comes down to it the best Batman movie I’ve ever seen is “Mask of the Phantasm.” It’s shocking that the movie initially didn’t do well at the box office since Batman was still a hot property in the 1990’s. Back in 1989 when “Batman” was unleashed, wearing his symbol on a button or t shirt or hat was like a fashion statement, while in 1992 Michelle Pfeiffer just made wave portraying Catwoman in “Batman Returns.”
Peter & The Wolf (2023)
“Beware. For Wolves come in many disguises.”
Sergei Prokofiev’s classic musical fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf” is a story that’s been adapted, and adapted, and re-interpreted, and remade, and rebooted, for sheer decades. My first introduction to “Peter and the Wolf” was the animated adaptation from an episode of “Tiny Toons Adventures,” and since then the story pops up every now and then for modern audiences. This one is written by musician Gavin Friday and the one and only Bono, both of whom originally collaborated on this story to produce a book to benefit the Irish Hospice Foundation. Their version is brought to screen thanks to Gavin Friday who offers up a minimalist but beautiful truncated take on the original story.
Beast From Haunted Cave (1959)/Ski Troop Attack (1960) – 2-Disc Double Feature: Special Edition [Blu-Ray]
A thing I always enjoyed about Roger Corman’s movies is that they were very ambitious. Sometimes they were too ambitious for their own good. Thematically, “Beast from the Haunted Cave” has a good idea. It’s an action themed heist picture but it throws in an icky monster to the mix to contribute to the horror element. A movie like this is begging to be remade, and could become a pretty fun monster picture and action hybrid similar to “Deep Rising,” per se.
Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
Director Emma Tammi and Universal’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is the product of too little, too late, as even the original article that set the template for a trend, feels outdated and old hat by now. Scott Cawthon’s horror video game was, at one time, everywhere on youtube, and in store shelves. Now that we’ve finally gotten the feature adaptation fans were clamoring for, Universal reveals an obvious fear in showing the real teeth of the video game.