I’ve always said that If you want nihilism and unabashed filmic carnage, you need to look no further than “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” but Tobe Hooper’s “Eaten Alive” as a follow up almost reaches the heights of pure carnage that his first outing did, but “Eaten Alive” is a film that will properly divide audiences. “Eaten Alive” has a definite potential to it that’s never quite realized what with an irritating uneven pace, and a nonsensical story not to mention that unnerving feeling that this may as well be touted as a sequel to the former. The main downfall is that itching feeling you get that Hooper originally intended this as a follow up and that’s what keeps “Eaten Alive” from ever getting off the ground.
Marley & Me (2008)
What director David Frankel accomplishes with “Marley and Me” is what was basically a winning formula with “My Dog Skip,” a dog lovers movie about the life that revolves around man’s best friend, that life long companion who disappears much too early to allow unconditional love. “Marley and Me” is a genuine dog lovers movie, one of many that takes the life of a dog owner and plants it on screen with as much realism as writers Scott Frank and Don Roos would allow. And I think what connected audiences to this is that most of what main characters John and Jennifer go through is what we have been through with man’s best friend at one time or another.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
The voice work for the transformers is as top notch as ever with Peter Cullen taking to the character with his usual skill as well as Hugo Weaving who is just great as Megatron. Despite my problems with the movie, the massive carnage is quite impressive along with the design of the Transformers themselves who help keep the film afloat at its lowest. Despite not being the worst movie of 2007, there’s no denying that “Transformers” was a clunky mess that had zero direction and almost little appeal beyond the target demographics: 1. People looking for robot smashing and 2. Megan Fox. Both of which were vastly over sold elements with little pay off, come the climax.
Transmorphers: Fall of Man (2009)
Tiny Juggernaut’s special effects are pretty good when compared to other indie productions and though it’s all mostly takes on the Transformers, the robot menaces are pretty sleek and cool to watch as they fuck shit up in civilization. I’m still not sure why we need an attack from a cell phone, but Tiny Juggernaut keeps the special effects standard and old school quite often. And who ever creates the one sheets over at The Asylum, I commend them on their artistic ability. If anything The Asylum is great for providing great cover art for their productions. I also enjoyed some of what director Wheeler brings to the screen. There’s even a really ominous sequence where our hero and heroine realize that the signal these robots have sent out just didn’t get intercepted and comets are falling to the sky with the alien menace in tow. It’s a great scene that is thankfully sold by star Shane Van Dyke’s shocked reaction.
Northville Cemetery Massacre (1976)
With a bigger budget, a better cast of actors, and higher production qualities, “Northville Cemetery Massacre” could have been one hell of a movie. But the catch is that it would have never achieved its status as a cult classic if it did have all the perks listed above. Based on a real biker gang, directors/writers William Dear and Thomas L. Dyke’s action thriller set down on the Spirits (known as the Scorpions Biker Club in real life) a kind band of pious cycle riding nomads who peruse the road for something to do. They’re so kind in fact that they stop mid travel to help an old couple whose car has been run off the road. Dyke and Dear’s story set out to educate people on the good biker clubs actually try to do and how stereotyping is the very essence of ignorance.
The Warriors (1979)
It was like something out of a Western this film; a gang called “The Warriors” is blamed for the death of the highest gangster of them all and must race to their Coney Island turf before trouble stirs beyond their grasp. It sounds simple enough except every single gang in the city is out for their blood and they must fight their way through colorful delinquents all of whom want to make the small band of rejects pay for the murder. “The Warriors” is a movie I fondly remember being introduced to by my pops who rented this one night and sat us down to bask in the glow of the television and let Walter Hill perform his magic.
Race With the Devil (1975)
The seventies were all about fascination with Satanism and with the curiosity it begat movies with themes of satanism one of the most famous being “Rosemary’s Baby.” Probably one of the more underrated satanic films, “Race with the Devil” is about being at the wrong place at the wrong time and what ensues is a claustrophobic cult classic that stars Peter Fonda as one of a group of innocent bystanders who witness a satanic ritual and are pulled in to the world of satanic worship for witnessing something they were never meant to see.