After about thirty minutes of filler and scenes from the past films from both franchises, the basic premise of “Gingerdead Man Vs. Evil Bong” becomes Evil Bong playing heroine while Gingerdead Man is the villain. The main character from Evil Bong has opened up a bong store, while the surviving character from “Gingerdead Man” has opened up a popular bakery down the street.
From Mill Creek Entertainment comes a twelve movie pack of some of the most interesting titles out there for purchase. Every year, there’s a new set with these movies, but as I always say: These packs are good for horror fans starting a collection and looking to get more for their bucks. “Don’t Answer the Phone” is the 1980 thriller about a Vietnam veteran taunting a radio show host as he describes his violent experiences with women and begins stalking her.
There was no need for a sequel. I don’t care how good Michael Myers was as a character, there was no need to further the misadventures of Michael and Laurie. I would have loved to see what the writers would have mustered up with their idea for a “Halloween” anthology movie series, but sadly, we were given “Halloween II.” As a sequel it’s not a bad film, by any means. It just takes the opposite direction of the original film by turning Michael in to a hack and slash killer, rather than a force of nature. Instead of Michael receding in to the night to await his next rumble with someone tasked by fate, Michael is not quite done with Laurie just yet.
After the enormous disaster of “Season of the Witch,” Moustapha Akkad and co. basically rebooted the Halloween storyline by completely remaking the first film. While it does offer some new elements, “The Return of Michael Myers” is a partial reboot and a partial remake. It’s also the start of the parallel story arc involving Michael and his evil mark of Thorn. After the hospital explosion in the sequel, Michael has been in a coma for a long time and is kept under strict guard in a hospital. During a transfer, Michael finally awakens and murders all of the guards managing to escape his binds. Dr. Loomis is back and investigates the ambulance crash Michael was involved with. While the authorities are convinced Michael died in the crash, Loomis is certain Michael is still alive and lurking around.
For a film called “Axed,” I was expecting something really dark and gruesome, and yet in the end I didn’t realize how trying Ryan Lee Driscoll’s horror drama would be. It’s a practice in tedium and boredom, with a mean spirit that is often very forced. If that’s not enough the direction leaves much to be desired with a series of performances that are sub-par at best. It’s a despicable film about a despicable man, torturing despicable people for no real reason, when it all boils down to it.
You have to wonder if Gus Van Sant either garners an enormous amount of hubris, or just has a masochistic streak in him. Why else would he dive head first in to a remake of a hallowed horror and cinematic classic? And why else would he deliver a remake that’s exactly shot for shot? And “Psycho 1998” isn’t a remake that’s shot for shot with some liberties taken. It’s shot for shot to where director Van Sant copies every single shot of the original film, except with new actors. Van Sant fills the remake with a surreal tone in the vein of David Lynch to where the movie is adrift in a time period blurred between the fifties and contemporary time.
