Director Fred Olen Ray has had one of the weirdest movie careers I’ve ever seen from any director. It’s not many filmmakers that can ride the tides of various trends creating softcore porn for basic cable, erotic thriller, cheapy horror movies, and then goofy Hallmark Channel Christmas movies in one career. Fred Olen Ray gets shit done, I guess, and “Sorceress of Suburbia” is one of his many forays in to the porn sub-genre.
Tag Archives: Fantasy
Wednesday: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray]
Now Available from Warner Entertainment.
Since the unfortunate passing of Raul Julia, Warner has spent many years trying to reboot their “Addams Family” property for a new generation. While the animated movies were fine enough, they just couldn’t build enough momentum. Enter Jenna Ortega. Ortega has been one of the hottest and most talented young actresses of the last five years who took the lead in a new kind of “Addams Family” series. This time, with Tim Burton leading the charge, fans got to spend a lot more time with the adolescent daughter of the brood Wednesday.
Shockingly, it works.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023) [Make Believe Film Festival 2024]
I’ve been enamored with the French-Canadian “Humanist Vampire…” since the beginning of the year but didn’t quite have the means of being able to view it. I’m glad that I finally had a chance to, since Ariane Louis-Seize creates such a charming, and interesting coming of age horror comedy that re-thinks the whole idea of being a vampire, while also using it as an allegory for restarting our lives. Louis-Seize’s horror comedy, while not entirely original, still excels on being a great slice of life that embraces the absurdity of its premise.
Bad Movie Monday: Troll 2 (1990)
I saw the original Troll many many moons ago, in the mythical faraway fantasy age of the late eighties, and it’s probably my favourite Harry Potter movie of all time. Har-Har. Go to the film’s IMDb page and look up the names of the characters to understand my rapier wit sarcasm. Troll stars Michael Moriarty, Noah Hathaway, Sony Bono, June Lockhart, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, and Phil Fondacaro. A pretty solid cast. It was directed by late great special effects artist John Carl Buechler and was written by the legendary Ed Naha. Google him, you’ll see why I call Naha legendary. The original film even has a kinda sorta naked Elaine Benes in a few scenes. What’s not to like? So today, of course, I’m going to review it’s sequel Troll 2. Sigh.
Wonka (2023) [4K UHD/Digital]
Now Streaming on Digital and Available on Physical Media.
What made the 1971 screen version of Willy Wonka so entertaining was that while he was an idealist, he was also a well-worn cynic who hated people as much as he loved them. While he made candy for people, he also understood how ravenous and cut throat they could be. He approached everyone entering his factory with a sense of caution and quiet observation. Even with Charlie he saw something special in the boy but was quick to write him off at a moment’s notice. What’s missing from Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka is that sense of misanthropy; that sense that deep down while he likes people, he understands how nasty that they can be.
Bunny to the Moon (2023) [Cinequest 2024]
The team of Akira Maynard, Sammy Liu, and Justine Fong really do create something so unbelievable and special with “Bunny to the Moon.” It’s a classic tale about friendship, companionship, and the idea of sacrifice and learning to care for oneself before caring for others. Although the “Bunny to the Moon” does suffer from a run time that could have used at least ten more minutes, the short is beautifully animated and feels so much like a callback to films like “E.T.” or “My Neighbor Totoro.”
Demon in a Bottle (1996)
Full Moon and Charles Band always had a knack for delivering entertainment on the cheap side, allowing them to cover a lot of markets. Their family movies, despite being low budget, had a kind of novelty and charm that is still pretty fun. One of the lesser among the library from Full Moon’s sub label Moonbeam was “Demon in a Bottle.” Despite its sinister title, the movie is very much a take on “The Goonies” except with only about ten percent of the budget, I’d assume. It has a small cast, very limited scenery, and only has villains that animated—you know, to spare the whole cost of live actors.