Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

I think this is a very good sequel to "Poltergeist".  This film gave me countless amounts of nightmares when I was a kid.  I was so scared of Kane (The Beast).  His skeletal features and strange way of talking just freaked me out.  It is still very frightening.  He is maybe the scariest looking actor to ever hit the screen.

There were some good shocks in the film and the effects were once again great.  It also had good acting, like the first film.  

I wasn't crazy about the Indian character.  I would have liked it more if it was just Zelda Rubinstein again establishing contact with the supernatural.

"Poltergiest II" is a great sequel that has a good amount of scares.  If you wanna watch something good on a dark and stormy night, watch this.

B  I recommend it.

District 9 (2009)

**

I really enjoyed this film.  It sets out to do what great science fiction films do.  It parallels real life situations excellently.  Through aliens, race issues are represented.

The effects were excellent.  I didn't like the design of the aliens very much, but they still looked very realistic.  

It is a very good picture that everyone should see.

B+  I recommend it.

13 Ghosts (1960)

A very fun ghost movie with great special effects for its time.  I loved the look of the ghosts.  They resembled ghosts found in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.  I wish I could see this in Illusion-O.  It would be so fun.  

"13 Ghosts" is a great film in the William Castle series.

B+  I recommend it.

NEW FORMAT

From now on, I will not be reviewing every film to the extent that I have been doing.  I will now post the picture of the poster, give it a rating, and maybe a sentence or two.

The Shining (1980)

**

Stanley Kubrick directs this "masterpiece of modern horror".

Jack Nicholson plays a writer, husband, and father.  Jack and his family take a job as caretakers of the Overlook Hotel during its off season.  Once Jack, his wife, and son are alone in the hotel, strange things start happening.  Spirits are materializing and they are trying to control Jack, forcing him to kill his family.  Jack's son, Danny, has a special ability where he can see spirits, the future, and read people's minds.  His ability is referred to as shining.  

"The Shining" is a great horror film.  Jack Nicholson is amazing in his role as Jack Torrence.  He is genuinely crazy and you really believe that he has it in him to kill another human being.  Stephen King, the writer of "The Shining", did not want Nicholson to play Torrence.  King wanted a straight actor who really transforms into an insane murderer.  I see where King is coming from.  It would have been much more effective that way, but no one can do crazy like Nicholson.  I think ultimately they made the best choice with Jack.  

All of the ghost scenes are incredibly scary.  The scariest has to be the bathroom scene.  Jack's son, Danny, has been attacked by a ghost of a woman.  Jack goes to check out the room where Danny was attacked and he finds a beautiful nude woman in the bathtub.  She walks toward Jack and they kiss.  It is then when the woman turns into an elderly, decaying, old woman.  As Jack runs away, she follows him with maniacal laughter.  It was really scary.  The other scene that I think is really scary is when Jack's wife sees ghosts of a man (dressed in a bear suit) giving a blow job to another man.  It was very random and incredibly eerie. 

Stanley Kubrick really gets the best out of his cast and crew.  Jack Nicholson is as good as he has ever been.  Shelley Duvall and Scatman Crothers really give outstanding performances as well.  "The Shining" also has one of the best musical scores of a horror film.  It really adds a good amount of terror to the story.  The other thing that really stands out is the cinematography.  The way each scene is framed is a work of art.

"The Shining" is known as one of the scariest films ever made and I couldn't agree more.  They don't make horror movies this involved anymore.  "The Shining" is a slow moving film, but it adds to the eerie atmosphere.  It really sets a foreboding mood.  Horror films do not accomplish this anymore.  Most of today's horror films are just too fast paced and they do not set the mood needed to really scare someone.

A-  I recommend it.

Sorority Row (2009)

**

A group of girls in a sorority pull a prank on a boy.  One of the girls hooks up with him and she pretends to die.  The boy falls for it and the other sorority sisters take the prank too far.  They drive the "body" out to the middle of nowhere and they decide they have to cut the body into pieces.  This is all to prank the boy and he still believes it.  When no one is looking, the boy shoves a tire wrench through the girl's chest, killing her.  He had no idea she was still alive.  The sorority girls then decide dispose of the body by throwing it down a mine shaft.  They then have to live with their secret so they do not get in trouble.  

Months later, killings start to begin.  Everyone involved with the murder is being killed and the sisters believe that the murdered girl has come back for revenge.  

"Sorority Row" was a terrible movie.  The whole thing was dumb.  The reveal of the killer was not a good one.  I figured it out fairly early in the film and the killer really did not have a good reason for murdering people.  It was so dumb.  He was the main girl's boyfriend and he was killing everyone so she could live happily ever after with him and so she could rid her life of these bitches she has as friends.  It was not a good motif.  

I did like the main girl played by Briana Evigan though.  Not only is she one of the most beautiful actresses, but she seems to have a good amount of talent.  She was the only character that I liked because she wasn't a snobby bitch.  I also thought Margo Harshman did a good job as the "slutty" sister.  She is a terrific actress.

Another bad thing about the film was Carrie Fisher.  She plays the house mother.  For the final night of the semester, she lets the sisters throw a party.  After the party, she returns and she is upset because the house is torn to pieces.  She shows up with a shotgun for what reason?  To shoot the girls?  It didn't make sense.  When the girls tell her that there is a killer in the house, she starts to search the premises.  She starts shooting at anything that moves.  There was party there just moments ago.  It could have been anyone she was shooting at.  It was amazingly bad.

I have never seen the original "Sorority Row", but I'm sure it can't be as bad as this.  This is not a good horror movie.  It tries to be like "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Scream", and all the rest of the '90s horror films, but it falls flat.  Really really flat.

D+

High Noon (1952)

Gary Cooper plays a Marshal in a small western town.  He has just been married to Grace Kelly and they are planning on starting a new life in a new town.  Unfortunately, some bad news has come up.  The most dreaded bad guy is being released from jail and he has it in for Gary Cooper.  He will be arriving to town at noon.  Gary Cooper can leave with Kelly, but he decides to stay and confront his villain.  Cooper tries to put together a small group to fight the villain and his 3 accomplices.  To Cooper's displeasure, no one will fight by his side.  Cooper has till noon to figure out what to do.  Will he leave town or fight his enemies?

"High Noon" was a terrific picture.  It was exciting the entire time and you really feel bad for Cooper.  No one will help him after all that he has done for the town.  It is true that if he leaves town, a shoot out will not take place.  But Cooper knows that the villain will find him anywhere he goes.  

The acting is very well done in this picture, but frankly, I don't get Gary Cooper.  I don't think he is the great actor history has made him out to be.  He seems to be a bit stale, but not enough where it affects the film.  I'm not saying he is a bad actor.  I just don't think he is one of the greats.  Grace Kelly did a great job in her role though.  Her character changes dramatically by the end of the film and it is quite the thing to witness.  Lon Chaney was also in this film as a retired Marshal.  He did a very good job, but he was only in two scenes.  It is still a very memorable role, however.

The film is wonderfully directed and the script is written beautifully.  It is hard for many screen writers to keep an audience aware of many different characters, but it works well here.  You really get to know the townspeople, even though they may only have one or two scenes.  

The best thing about the film was the climactic ending.  Cooper does fight his battle and when it seems like he is about to be killed, Grace Kelly saves him.  She picks up a gun and kills one of the bad guys herself.  That was the change in character I was talking about.  She refused to stay with Cooper because she wants to start her new life.  She is on the noon train and ready to leave, when she hears gun shots.  Right away, she jumps off the train to try and help the love of her life.  

"High Noon" is an excellent western film.  I can truly understand why it is a classic.  Everyone was on top of their game during the filming of the picture.

A-  I recommend it.