If you’re in the mood to watch a He-Man villain chase three buffoonish horror characters around deserted locales, eternal night, and a dull as day old bread funeral home, armed with a camera that seemingly never runs out of tape or battery power, then step right up to “Laid to Rest.” I can’t believe I waited anxiously for my chance to see this movie and wanted to welcome the new horror character to the slasher fold while enjoying the creative hook all to be welcomed with nothing but endless bickering among characters, a killer who doesn’t do much of anything unless the plot conveniently calls for some scares to keep audiences awake, and fifteen minutes involving three people trying to find the password to a cell phone to call police.
Tag Archives: L
The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (2009)
I wanted to love “The Lost Skeleton Returns Again.” Truth be told I’ve spent a lot of time trying to love Larry Blamire’s first film and then tried anxiously to really love and be enamored by his spoof of science fiction cinema with a title that’s about as redundant as any disposable sci-fi cheese released, but… I just can’t. Even though the cineaste in me is begging that I should. And while he does take great pains in committing to his tribute by writing some of the most quotable moments in independent cinema in a while, along with some rather comical performances, “The Lost Skeleton Returns Again” is a ninety minute gag that you’ll enjoy for the first thirty minutes, like after forty five minutes, and then wonder when it will end after an hour has passed.
The Last House on the Left (2009)
Let me preface this review by declaring my sheer utter hatred for Wes Craven’s original “The Last House on the Left.” I don’t care how influential it is or has become, since watching it about four years ago I couldn’t believe my eyes. Here within this seventies grindhouse flick was a truly nihilistic gem hidden beneath an utterly ridiculous sub-plot involving two of the dumbest cops I’ve ever seen. “The Last House on the Left” in spite of its impact on cult filmmaking is one of the worst movies I’ve ever laid eyes on. So with that did I support a remake of it? No. Why? Because for one thing, Craven ripped off “The Virgin Spring” with his film, so it was a remake already, and two this could have been its own film without the tag. Nevertheless with its great cast and atmosphere I approached this with an open mind and guess what? I loved it.
Léon: The Professional (1994)
In spite of ranking on the top ten lists of many, many movie fans since its release, my love for “Leon: The Professional” was not immediate. As a matter of fact I pretty much disliked it on the first and second outings because I couldn’t quite grasp what Luc Besson was going for with this film. It’s not an action movie, it’s more of a love story set to the tone of bloodshed and corruption, a subtle poetic masterpiece that relies on characterization and artistic strokes of pure raw emotion than some shoot em up gangster flick.
Lunch Break (2005)
Re-watching “Lunch Break” reminded me what a joy it was to watch the first time, experiencing a short mock documentary centered around the working class and their reliance on big corporations to get by and support their family. John W. McKelvey’s short film is about something, and in the midst of a really bad repression where everyone is losing their jobs and working for basically nothing, “Lunch Break” holds a deeper social relevance now than it did five years ago. People are at a point where they’re sacrificing everything from their personal happiness to their dreams just to get a paycheck and survive another day, and “Lunch Break” has a resonance to it that reaches toward the audience or anyone who has ever been in a rut at a dead end job.
The Legend of Rune Wraith (2010)
It seems the more Larry Longstreth forms his own niche in indie films the more bizarre his comedy gets and that’s not a bad thing. Because even the most unusual concepts are pulled off because Longstreth is never afraid to go over the top and stretch the confines of the genre he is most comfortable in. “The Legend of Rune Wraith” is a full on display of the abilities of Longstreth who seemingly improvises most, if not all, of the lines here.
The Lovely Bones (2009)
Peter Jackson is usually a very competent director. Hell, he’s a skilled director who can take any concept he wants to tackle and tackle it with great prowess almost never failing. With “The Lovely Bones” the man doesn’t seem to be hitting his stride and instead looks to be sleepwalking through what could have been an excellent film. I never read the novel before but I felt that was what would give me the ability to see through what Jackson was attempting to accomplish. Instead what I received from his latest was a story that was often confused about what it was trying to say. He seems to want to jump on every theme and plot point possible and this causes a cluster fuck in its focus hopping from character to character from perspective to perspective.