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Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Chakushin Ari Final A.K.A. One Missed Call Final (2006)

A Japanese horror thriller directed by Manabu Asou.
A group of college students on a class trip receive messages on their phones from a girl who they used to pick on. The messages indicate that the receiver will die soon. One student reveals a secret about her past that changes the message sending girl.
This was not so hot. The plot went almost nowhere. It was coherent, but one of the more static plots I've seen. The characters were pitifully shallow. It may have been a "lost in translation" issue there. The video was alright, but nothing stood out as being good. I won't comment on the audio because it was in Japanese, but the subtitles that came with the version I watched were horrible. Overall, a lackluster and mediocre film. I rate it tolerable.

Friday, April 14, 2017

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

A Spanish French thriller directed by Jesus Franco, starring Howard Vernon and Paul Muller.
A young woman goes to visit her crazy family for the reading of her father's will.
I have a feeling that Jesus Franco either did not want to make good movies or had a vastly different definition of "good" from mine. The little plot there was in this mostly didn't make sense. I could positively identify two characters. Maybe more if I really tried. The pacing dragged sluggishly through even the shortest scenes. Video was artsy, but not in a good way. It seemed very much a product of the time, a '70s film to only be viewed in the '70s. The audio was in English. Soundtrack music fit Jesus Franco's style, being similar to some Russ Meyer flicks and Cannibal Holocaust. The scene depicted above was a tease. That means no, she did not use this item for it's intended purpose. Overall, just like every other Jesus Franco film I've seen. I rate this poor.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Nemesis 2: Nebula (1995)

A Danish American science fiction action directed by Albert Pyun, starring Sue Price.
A genetic mutant's mother flees the future with her baby and travels back in time to 1980s Africa. The mother is killed, but the daughter is raised by an African tribe to be a warrior. A monster/cyborg from the future finds the mutant woman. Conflict ensues.
This was pretty crappy. The plot made almost no sense at all and was not communicated very clearly. Only the main character had a name. I think this illustrates how little character development there was. Sue Price had not reached the level of bodybuilding in which we see her in Nemesis 4, so she still looked female and not like He-Man. The video looked so bad that it was almost TROMA-esque and the audio was no better. The special effects were poorly done, but they included a ripple effect around the antagonist and a magic knife. The subtitles that I got were crap and this made a working knowledge of African language necessary to understand the first third of the film. Overall, you would really be better off watching something else. I rate this poor.