Young hero in the making trying to prove himself. A father who doesn’t believe in him. The bond of a young hero and his enemy. And a young anachronistic heroine who helps the hero find himself. We’ve seen it all before and then some, but thankfully with “How to Train your Dragon” is handled the formula so well, it’s almost original and unique. Almost. Dreamworks’ animated action adventure film is your classic boy and dog story, except the boy finds his man’s best friend in his purported enemy, a young dragon who forms a common ground with him in a world where humans and dragons are eternally grappling at war with one another and are told they must do battle.
Tag Archives: H
Hunter Prey (2010)
Director Sandy Collora is known around the country for being one of the most, if not the most talented fan filmmaker of the modern era. Collora is a skilled artist and a man capable of creating his own visions of a mythos that are nothing short of brilliant and dazzling. Not surprising, Collora eventually took time out to create his own world with his own characters and it happens to be a pure work of science fiction excellence that channels the likes of “Hell in the Pacific” to convey a wide scope of a grander story that is scaled down to the personal battle of two soldiers in the middle of a inter-galactic war. Collora paints the picture of two soldiers stranded on an island during a great war that eventually becomes their own personal battle.
Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
It’s Pinhead. In space! With his cenobites. In space! Someone opens the puzzle box. In space! And people are tortured and turned in to cenobites against their wills. In space! The aspect about “Bloodlines” is that even though it closes the original continuity, there’s still a host of questions never answered for the fans. One of them being, if it’s indicated in the original film that becoming a cenobite is based primarily on the subjects own sado-sexual desires that transforms them in to beings of unbridled sexual pain and pleasure, why is Pinhead still just a stock slasher who turns people in to cenobites against their wills? In space? It’s a surefire sign you’re in for a thrill ride when you see director Alan Smithee at it again.
The Human Sexipede (First Sequence: A Porn Parody) (2010)
If the pretentious shit drizzle torture porn of 2010 entitled “The Human Centipede” entertained you, or if it just made you roll your eyes at the bloated hype, then “The Human Sexipede” may just be right up your alley. “The Human Sexipede” works more as a spoof of the Tom Six film than it does a hardcore porn, and right from the get go its intent is to make us laugh. I found myself giggling through most of the parody, especially with Sunny Lane and Amber Rayne delivering dialogue that’s nothing but clunky foreshadowing. The basic premise of this version is that both American tourists are incapable of achieving sexual satisfaction. After a quick girl on girl romp involving anal probing with vibrators, and 69ing, the girls find the evil Dr. Heiter online through a personal ad where Heiter insists he likes to party.
Hatchet II (2010)
Unnecessary back story, toilet humor, and overlong gags involving gore, yes, this is a sequel to “Hatchet” alright! While “Hatchet” was a serviceable genre installment that consumed time with a smile and didn’t change the genre as many movie critics promised it would, “Hatchet II” is here regardless, and rather than simply follow the formula it purports to adhere to with a throwback to goofy slashers of the eighties, in actuality it spends more time setting up the story in the first twenty minutes than it does get down to the nitty gritty of the sub-genre. Green takes the time out to explain the origin of Victor Crowley yet again for audiences after setting the sequel immediately after the events of the first film where Marybeth escapes the clutches of Crowley and manages to get away with the help of an eccentric fisherman.
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
It’s not often movies are released that manage to disturb the human consciousness anymore; especially a horror film. In this day and age horror fans have seen everything and are desensitized to the point where the death of an animal rolls off our backs. So it’s pretty surprising to be visiting my favorite movie haunts online to witness numerous comments from horror buffs proclaiming “I’m never watching “Human Centipede!” People are horrified to see what director Tom Six has concocted because good or bad, he has managed to create one of the most evocative, controversial, and utterly disturbing horror films ever made. And it’s one that will spark many debates from movie buffs on its intent. Is it a study of the human psyche, the god complex of surgeons, or just an excuse for human torture for ninety minutes?
The Hills Run Red (2008)
If you’re willing to ignore the obligatory self-aware jabs at slasher films in the first half hour that derails the story for a good portion of the prologue, “The Hills Run Red” is actually quite an entertaining slasher film, and one that dabbles in that classic formula of teens wanting to uncover a legend and meeting pure evil and chaos face to face. If you keep knocking on the devil’s door, eventually he’s going to answer, and two aspiring filmmakers learn that lesson when they team up to find the mythical grindhouse flick “The Hills Run Red” a controversial gory film in the vein of Ruggero Deodato’s classic that mysteriously went missing along with its director and co-stars.