Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)

Liebesman’s direction is very tight, with much more suspense and atmosphere this time around. When we set down on the four teens being ravaged by the psychotic family, we can instantly gain a sense of futility and sheer dread that otherwise was lacking from the remake. And that helps because “The Beginning” is a much more entertaining entry than the remake was. The acting is better from Ermy this time around, and the basic characters fleshed out slightly more to where they’re less walking victims, and more human drawing slightly more sympathy. And it’s also a plus to watch Jordrana Brewster and Diora Baird run around screaming and giving their surefire scream queen routines. Brewster is a much more sympathetic heroine, and Baird’s “busty babe victim” role is pulled off with as much gusto it requires.

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Aquaman: The Pilot You’ve (Probably) Never Seen!

It’s very rare that cult classics become cult classics on one episode only. Surely, shows have become cult favorites with one season; there was “Firefly”, “Freaks and Geeks”, and “Brisco County”, but on one episode? I can’t think of too many series like that. “Aquaman” has become a cult classic not because of its quality, but because of curiosity. Curiosity not from comic book fans only, but from fans of “Smallville”, and the public whom enjoy kitschy entertainment. And sure, some people have managed to enjoy it. Okay a lot of people. But is it for the right reasons? First called “Mercy Reef” (taking off on the “Smallville” formula), then called “Aqua” and now called simply “Aquaman”, this series was an attempt to spin off from the popular guest stint of Aquaman on the “Smallville” series. The CW changed the series from “Mercy Reef” to the blunt “Aquaman” mainly because Aquaman just doesn’t hold the clout Superman does, and many people consider the character quite lame.

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Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)

dominion_prequel_to_the_exoAll horror fans are familiar with the bumbling of Morgan Creek and their insistence on kicking out experienced director and screenwriter Paul Schrader in exchange for the hack Renny Harlin to direct the prequel to “The Exorcist”. We didn’t need a prequel, but if the studios felt that they could have drained one more film from this franchise, then they could have and should have done it right in the first place. After all the problems, “Dominion” was finally released, and while it will never win any awards, I enjoyed it more, not to mention I found it to be more consistent in quality. “Dominion” is basically the same deal. Father Merrin, disenchanted with the church, goes out on archaeological expeditions, finds an underground church, and faces against the demon. Except, Schrader’s film is much more coherent and cohesive.

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Cube Zero (2004)

cubezeroJust so we know where we stand, I disliked Cube, and hated Cube 2: Hypercube, both films that made the basic horror/science fiction fan cream their pants. Though the concepts were original, the writers and creators did very little with it and thus we were given much repetition in both. One is about a bunch of people in a cube maze with death traps, Cube 2 was just basically a lot more of the same thing, and it seems to me the creators figured out that they needed to change it or else continue repeating the same old stuff, so they created this prequel/semi-sequel called “Cube Zero”.

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Star Wars, Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

I am a hardcore “Star Wars” fan, I love the lore, the amazing mythology and It’s taken hours before I could summon the emotions I took from this last installment in the “Star Wars” franchise and somehow manifest it in to words, and surely this last “Star Wars” movie was an emotional experience for me. When I stepped in to the theaters and watched the theme blast from the speakers I felt a swell of emotion build up in my chest–maybe it was gas, who knows?–but regardless, this was quite possibly the biggest experience I’ve had in theaters in years. I liked the “Star Wars” prequels, I thought they were okay, but they still just did not add up to the original trilogy and Lucas did a poor job of displaying Anakin Skywalker’s descent in to the dark side.

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Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)

What I really liked about this movie is it managed to take a clever satirical horror film with a twist and add some lore and depth to it. Whether or not “Ginger Snaps” needed to progress beyond the first movie is open for argument, but this film does manage to add some creative and some times engrossing lore to the whole “ginger snaps” story with a similar tale being told in the past century, and it kept me interested the whole way through until the dynamite conclusion. Two sisters traveling abroad the Canadian country side, Ginger and Bridgette, travel through the forest horseback and get lost. When Bridgette accidentally gets caught in a bear trap, Ginger goes to look for help but they’re discovered by a Native American hunter and taken to a local fortress where they’re taken in by a group of soldiers awaiting orders and supplies.

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Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

exorcistthebeginningwsr“The Exorcist” is my favorite horror movie of all time and to this day no matter how much I see it, it’s still the most intelligent, character based horror film I’ve ever seen; the rest of the series? Not so favorite of mine, but regardless, after a lot of hype about this movie and the constant problems, we’re given this. After nearly five years of filming and constant problems (Original director dying, Original star dropping out, and so forth), this film basically bombed big time with both critics and movie-goers despite moderate success in the box-office. The original director Paul Schrader — who was kicked off the production (You’re morons Hollywood execs) in favor of Renny Harlin (Again, morons!) — directed his own version before being forced off, and while I imagine it can’t be as bad as this, I hope it’s at least an improvement.

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