American horror films mostly by Don Mancini and David Kirschner, starring Brad Dourif.
A murderer is shot by the cops and uses voodoo to put his soul into the body of a doll. The possessed doll is trying to put his soul into a new human body.
Entertaining is the best description for these. The plots were all along the same lines, but showed a little bit of variety. The first two (1988 & 1990) were my favorites because they were the originals and fit together well with plot, characters and the Andy Barclay actor, Alex Vincent. The other characters came and went, but of them, Jennifer Tilly was most memorable because she was Chucky's bride. The first film was "scariest" because it was more serious and the premise was still fresh. All of the gags, tropes and cliches had not been overused yet. I can still remember the scene when Andy's mother finds that the doll has no batteries in it. As the series went on, humor made more of an impression than horror. Nobody is going to be afraid of the killer doll after the novelty of the gimmick has worn off. Like most horror film villains started in the '80s, Chucky seems immortal. He is repaired, reshaped, repossessed, reincarnated, etc... His motivation is better than Michael Myers of Halloween because he is trying to put his soul in a human body. Unfortunately, like Michael, he just kills anyone anywhere. If you like Nightmare on Elm Street, Critters, Hellraiser, Leprechaun, Puppet Master and Wishmaster, this is another good series to watch. I rate it awesome because although the films declined in quality over time, I still liked the foul-mouthed doll killing people. Watch it.
An American slasher horror by Rob Zombie, starring Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris and Scout Taylor-Compton.
The continued story from the 2007 film. Michael's younger sister (who supposedly killed him in the first one) is having mental issues. Michael is alive and back in town as well.
This was very much like the 2007 film, but not as good because it lacked the back-story section, which was the only part I liked from that. The plot mostly made sense, but it lacked the character development of its predecessor. Really, I found it boring and predictable. I saw every kill coming from minutes away. The video was not as good either. There were some dream/hallucination scenes which looked good, but some of it was cut so quickly that it was almost coruscating. I didn't get the thing with the white horse, except that Death rides a white horse. It must really be that simple because the rest of the movie was. The soundtrack featured an extremely wide range of music, but some of the sound effects were really annoying. There was also lots of shouting and crying in the dialogue. How many times in a row must a character say "fuck!" before the audience gets that they are unhappy? I'm keeping this to complete my Rob Zombie film set (more of that soon), but I wouldn't recommend it unless you HAVE TO watch full sets, regardless of varying quality. I rate it o.k. and it should only be watched right after the 2007 film.
An American slasher horror by Rob Zombie, starring Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris and William Forsythe.
Zombie's take on the Michael Myers story includes the background of the killer. He came from a family which had a negative influence on him and was mistreated at school. He killed his family and was imprisoned in a sanitarium before escaping to return to his hometown.
This was worth watching. I liked the back-story part most (about the first hour) because it had a more engaging plot and developed the main character. That being said, I don't think that Michael Myers is a very good horror film villain. He's crazy and he kills and that's it. Angela from Sleepaway Camp is more my style: she kills anyone whom she believes to be misbehaving. There's some discrimination and reason involved. Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street only kills Elm Street teens and uses dreams to do it. Typical of Rob's other films, the video was done quite well. There tends to be lots of contrast between scenes and this was emphasized in this film with the ultra-bright psyche ward against Halloween night. Audio was actually good. There's not much to say when it all sounds correct. I would say this is slightly above average and worth watching. I rate it adequate.
A German French Canadian adventure directed by Werner Herzog, starring Mathilda May, Donald Sutherland and Brad Dourif.
An experienced mountain climber competes with a young rock climber to climb a mountain. A television newsman documents their struggle and a local crazy guy pops in every once in a while.
This was alright. The plot was simple and characters relatively well developed. The female love interest character seemed like an afterthought, but the crazy guy was awesome. The technical aspects were o.k. with good shots of the mountain. The audio was a little messy on the version that I saw, mostly with loud wind sounds. Overall, not bad and not good. I rate it o.k.
A British French German science fiction directed by Werner Herzog, starring Brad Dourif.
An alien living on earth bemoans the misfortune of his race and the journey of Earth astronauts to his dying planet.
This was mostly repurposed documentary footage that was edited into a story by narration and occasional scenes of the leading actor standing in a desolate location. With very little actual filming, this won awards at film festivals. The plot was threadbare and there were very few characters, none of which were developed well. The music was annoying and the documentary footage did not convince me that this is a narrative film. The only way that I could see anyone getting enjoyment out of watching this is under the influence of strong hallucinogenic drugs. There were lots of pretty shots of water. Overall, not good. I rate this bad.
An American crime drama directed by Werner Herzog, starring Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Coolidge, Val Kilmer, Brad Dourif and Fairuza Balk.
A crooked cop is into gambling, prostitution and drugs.
This was alright I guess. The main character was played well. Nicolas Cage gave a great performance by acting like he's on drugs all the time and screwing over everyone he meets. It seems that he plays negative characters best. The plot was all over the place and things didn't really seem connected. The technical aspects were decent. What impressed me most was a shot of an iguana (picture). The iguana scene was overly long and edited in a psychedelic manner, with lots of similar camera angles. Overall, crooked cop is crooked. I rate this poor for being so disjointed.
