Rankin Bass’s “Mad Monster Party” (or “Mad Monster Party?”) is a monster bash of animated proportions that brings the great Boris Karloff aboard to lend credibility to an already fun animated film. Comprised of some excellent voice work and some classic stop motion animation from the Rankin Bass studio, “Mad Monster Party” sets down on the geeky and lovable Felix Flankin, a pharmacist with an allergy problem who is called to his old uncle Baron Boris von Frankenstein’s island for a party where he plans to announce to his monster community that he’s giving up the life of monster making and plans to hand over the business to his nephew.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
The Bates Haunting (2012)
I’m sure Byron Turk thought the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride was amazing, so setting a horror film in and around it would be amazing. It wasn’t. It was also likely going to be a good opportunity to promote the ride. Originally titled “Welcome to the Bates Motel,” the movie gives audiences the impression it has something to do with “Psycho,” when it really doesn’t. The owner of the haunted hayride is named Randy Bates, but that’s as far as it goes. Really, the only reason you’d be interested in seeing this is if you’re a “Jackass” fan. Bam Margera has a five second cameo for a commercial for the attraction, while the late hilarious Ryan Dunn plays an angry customer ordering a pizza. Beyond that, the tagline for the film “Some Things are Best Left Alone” should serve as instructions for anyone looking to rent this title.
Blade (1998)
Though the media often cites Bryan Singer for starting the comic book movie boom of the twenty first century with his adaptation of “X-Men,” most comic book fans argue that “Blade” really started it all. “Blade” was a scaled down production based on a popular comic book character and managed to present an epic story with a minimal budget. It’s ironic that the character that would restart the comic book movie boom was a kitschy seventies horror character known primarily for being one of the few minority superheroes in the Marvel Universe. The adaptation of the Marv Wolfman character manages to get the character just right.
Riddle (2013)
It’s a movie about a girl solving a mystery in a town called Riddle. Soak that in. If anything, “Riddle” isn’t a complete loss of time when you consider that Elizabeth Harnois and co-star Diora Baird are mind-blowingly gorgeous. The pair can also provide good performances when given the right material. I’m still not sure why Elizabeth Harnois keeps being handed these roles that straddle the line between horror and drama. Is she trying to garner a fan base while not being pegged a horror scream queen? She’s very pretty and a decent performer. Diora Baird is now and will always be a bombshell of a woman, so her presence is welcome. She has charisma that make almost any movie watchable. That said, “Riddle” is not quite a drama, and not quite a horror film. It’s just right there in the middle for a broad audience.
The House of Seven Corpses (1974)
As far as murder mystery movies about evil houses, “The House of Seven Corpses” is not a masterpiece. I’m by no means intent on watching it again for at least a few years, but it makes a good argument for nonsensical genre fodder that doesn’t even try. The main character’s cat gets in to a stare down with a painting on a wall featuring the head of a severed cat. There’s the “Tibetan Book of the Dead” that’s bandied about like it’s an encyclopedia, and did I mention a zombie pops up in the end? Why? Who the hell knows? The zombie just gets out of its grave, kills the entire cast, carries a naked girl to his grave, and the movie ends.
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Author Anne Rice has been accused of feminizing the vampire creature for a very long time. While Bram Stoker was one of the first authors to take a fear creature of its period and turn it in to an individual with feeling and romantic urges, Anne Rice gets the brunt of the blame for taking a horrifying creature and transforming it in to a romance novel element. I can safely say I’ve never read a single Rice novel, but I am always surprised when I find that “Interview with the Vampire” is an entertaining film. It’s probably the most erotic mainstream film of all time. It’s a glorified Jean Rollin vampire film that places sexual emphasis on blood sucking and vampirism that Jess Franco or Jean Rollin would have offered fans in the early seventies.
Vampire on Bikini Beach (1988)
Michael Headley: Dude this will be our big break!
Todd Kaufman: How do you figure?
Michael: Everyone loves vampire movies right now, so we could make our own!
Todd: Genius, dude!
Michael: But while the audience is watching the horror movie, we can perform some songs during the movie.
Todd: Geniuser, dude!
Michael: I mean they have to watch us perform, what else are they going to do? Press the forward button?







