A British fantasy adventure directed by Kevin Connor, starring Christopher Lee.
A boy with a pet monkey helps a prince to get a magical rose, defeat the evil caliph and win the princess.
This was alright at best. The plot was rather stereotypical of the genre. The prince, who was supposedly the main character, played a supporting role for the boy who actually conquered all of the obstacles. From what I heard, the boy's name was Machine and his monkey was called Shitty. The special effects were the most disappointing part for me. They went wild with flying carpets, but everything else was lack-luster. Set design was the best part of this film. The palace was expertly crafted with a very good color scheme. The audio was very poorly mixed, with loud music and quiet dialogue. A one point, a woman was giving the boy advice from inside a jewel and I expected him to say something like "Speak up, I can't hear you!". Overall, there are far better fantasy adventure films to watch. I rate this tolerable.
A Swedish Norwegian Russian fantasy directed by Vladimir Grammatikov, starring Christopher Lee, Christian Bale and Susannah York.
A boy who is unhappy with his foster parents is transported to a land of fantasy where he is a prince. He goes on a quest with his best friend (from the real world, who is also in the fantasy land) to defeat the dark knight and save the children of his kingdom.
This is pretty standard, classic fantasy. The plot fits into the standard cliche like a puzzle piece. What I found hilariously cliche was the king approving of his son's quest to evil-land. The characters are shallow and stereotypical, as expected. The duo of main characters reminded me very much of Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings. We also have typical NPC-type characters and a "source of all evil" villain. The video was not too shabby, but nothing to get excited about. The audio also fit this mold. Style is where this film shines. It fits the mold of children's fantasy so well that it almost defines the genre. Everything is wrapped up into such a neat package that it set standards in cohesion. The plot points being repeated in dialogue and each section leading to the next makes it easy to understand for younger audiences. I also thought it was funny how the kite that had been flown earlier became the face of the old man in the sky that transports the main character to the fantasy land. Seeing how I like this genre so much, I thought it was great. Overall, a road map to children's fantasy. I rate this good.
A British Canadian American comedy directed by John Landis, starring Tom Arnold, Jessica Lundy and Christopher Lee.
A family of stupid people get involved in a real military and government conspiracy by believing in a false one. They save the world from arms dealers instead of a man named Sender who steals mail and garbage.
This was stupid. It was supposed to be. I think that John Landis was the correct director for this. His comedic works are generally reviewed positively. The casting was correct and I liked the bright visual style to mimic the children's books. This is not a film to analyze or think about, just watch it and be glad you're not watching Some Kind of Monster or Blues Brothers 2000. I rate it o.k. because it's a mediocre comedy. Nothing more, nothing less.
A Spanish British science fiction horror film directed by Eugenio Martin, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
A scientist brings a box onto a train which enrages a religious fanatic. The box supposedly contains the remains of an apelike creature said to be the missing link. After the ape escapes, people begin to be found dead with white eyes and smooth brains (graphic autopsy scene). It is eventually found that the thing from the box contained a consciousness which travels through it's victims.
I'm too sick to think clearly, so a short review. The style is that of cult horror films of the time. The plot was interesting, but most characters were not. Father Pujardov was the most interesting character. The audio was typical of cult horror film of the time as well, meaning loud and annoying. If the audio wasn't so gratingly abrasive, it would have gotten a better review. I rate it o.k. Watch this if you like Suspiria (1977) and stuff like that.
A mystery directed by Robin Hardy and Neil LaBute, starring (1973) Christopher Lee, (2006) Nicolas Cage.
A police officer goes to an isolated island because he receives a letter about a missing child. The people on the island don't like him and confuse him, but he persists in his search for the girl. He finds out about pagan rituals performed there and tries to stop them from killing the girl.
These were 2 very different films! They had some similarities like the same basic plot, hating the main character and a wild ending. They had way more differences though, like: The 2006 film changed everything it could without changing the basic plot and it had a wilder ending that I wish had happened in real life. In the 1973 film, there were naked women and good music, but in 2006 we get man hating feminists. The production value of 1973 is not so great, but 2006 is way over-produced, with stupid flashback scenes every few minutes. To give you a hint about my preference, Nicolas cage is in the second one (hate his guts!) and that's why I like the ending more. I'm rating the set o.k. because the 2006 film redeemed itself for all of it's sins in the end.
A horror by Jesus Franco, starring Christopher Lee.The Dracula story is played out, '70s style.Before I tell anything else, I must say that the audio was piercing. It really detracted from the film as a whole. The plot and characters are so stale it hurts and I can't say any good things about the style or production value. I guess the pace was alright. Christopher Lee is cool and all, but Bella Lugosi did it better like 20 years before this was made. I have to rate this bad for obvious reasons.
An animated fantasy by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules bass, starring Christopher Lee, with music by America.A lonely unicorn leaves her forest to search for others like her. She is captured by a freak show and along with the show's wizard, she escapes. They travel together to the kingdom where the red bull has chased all of the other unicorns away.Rankin and Bass make some cool films, but there's always something REALLY hokey in them. In this one, there were a couple of musical numbers that seemed forced and didn't sound right. There was also a pirate cat, complete with eye patch and peg leg. The animation style makes up for any shortcomings. I'm rating this good.
