Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Breeders (1986)

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fcdb0648-35f7-4486-87d6-8d0Detective Dale Andriotti: Maybe when this is over, we can go out for dinner.
Dr. Gamble Pace: Okay, but I warn you right now… I have a tortured history with men.

Six minutes in, Dr. Gamble Pace as played by Teresa Farley escorts a police officer in to a young victim’s room in a hospital. The hospital room has only one small IV, no medical equipment, and the IV doesn’t seem to be hooked in to anything in particular. Obviously not holding to the discretion rules, Dr. Pace, dressed in average clothing and an awkward medical robe explains in a stilted and painfully performed monologue what the young girl experienced when attacked by a mysterious monster. While the girl is half awake an inch away. That’s about the time I thought: “Oh crap, this is going to be painful.”

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Compliance (2012) (DVD)

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complianceYes. People are this stupid. Just to answer the question you’ll be asking yourself over and over while watching “Compliance,” one of the most controversial movies of 2012.  Supposedly a film that inspired one woman to slap her knees, shout “Oh come on!” and storm out of the theaters, director Craig Zobel’s infuriating dramatic thriller is a film that draws inadvertent parallels to Abu Ghraib. Where most of the armed officials who took part in the humiliation and torture of prisoners on the bases that they were merely following orders, “Compliance” sheds the light on a day in a fast food restaurant where a young girl was subjected to humiliating and degrading acts of torture and pain on the bases that folks were merely following orders.

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Vamp U (2013)

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vamp-uOddly enough “Vamp U” (formerly titled “Dr. Limptooth”) works much better as a horror movie than it does a comedy. Deep down it possesses the tone of one of those raucous horror comedies from the eighties that should rightfully star someone like Eddie Deezen or Linnea Quigley, and as a horror movie it’s a very effective tongue in cheek vampire film. As a comedy it’s a pretty decent riot, and one that may not inspire laughter, but will garner various giggles and chortles. When “Vamp U” decides it wants to be a straight up vampire movie, it’s a pretty wicked little throwback to the eighties, especially with Julie Gonzalo having a blast as the alpha vampire queen Chris, who begins sleeping with her vampire professor and turns in to a vampire mid-way.

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Are All Men Pedophiles? (2012)

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If director Jan-Willem Breure’s documentary “Are All Men Pedohiles?” ever gets a wider distribution deal, it definitely needs a new title. The title of the film posits the film as a thesis about the potential for all men to be pedophiles in the making. In reality, Breure’s film is really about pedophilia as a while and what it means to be one and to identify one. The title makes the assertion that it tackles the potential for all men to be pedophiles, when Breure interviews all kinds of subjects about pedophilia. He even interviews female pedophiles during the mid-point of the movie. So while the title does in a sense tackle the theory that any attraction to children can be deemed as pedophilia, Breure offers the example that men and women can be pedophiles and have sexual attraction to children of all ages, hence the title is really a misnomer of a sorts.

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Frankenweenie (2012)

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image00As far as animated efforts from Tim Burton goes, “Frankenweenie” isn’t such a bad bit of fan service. Director Tim Burton has always expressed interest in remaking his short film “Frankenweenie,” and it’s a shame since the original short isn’t a bad movie. All things considered, it’s short, sweet, and to the point. Not to mention it’s cute, sad, and has that Burton American Gothic whimsy we’d later see in “Edward Scissorhands.” With 2012’s remake of “Frankenweenie,” director Tim Burton is able to do pretty much whatever he wants, while expanding on an already interesting twist on Mary Shelly’s story.

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Gahan Wilson’s The Kid (2001)

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I’m not particularly familiar with Gahan Wilson or his art, but having read up on his work, I know he does strive for bold and daring story work. “Gahan Wilson’s The Kid” is your run of the mill coming of age chronicle about a ten year old known as The Kid, who goes through three trials of growing up throughout the course of the film. The movie approaches mortality, sexuality, and good old fashioned mythology, and does so with an adult disposition. The film is courageous enough to depict little girls nude at one instance, after all. “The Kid” premiered on television in Halloween eve of 2001 mainly because the final segment revolves around Halloween.

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Red (2008)

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Brian Cox has proven himself to be one of the most underrated actors of all time. While he’s consistently a character actor who works in small often thankless roles, when he’s put on the spot with the right script, he can turn in an amazing performance. “Red” is a bleak and often somber revenge film where Cox is really able to shine on his own. What’s interesting about Jack Ketchum’s stories is that they’re relentless and often unflinching stories about the utter epitomes of human cruelty and the ability of the human to be as utterly amoral as possible, and often times the figures in his stories are either too old or too young to do anything to battle the cruelty.

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