Bad Blood

 

 (imdb)

BLOOD FEAST-2016-American Fuad Ramses (Robert Rusler from the "Babylon 5" TV show) and his wife Louise (Caroline Williams; THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2) run a diner in France, trying to put their daughter (Sophie Monk) through college. She gets mad at them because they are serving old meat. Fuad who works a night shift at a museum, stops taking his medication. One night, Egyptian Queen Ishtar (Sadie Katz) says she wants him for her lover. Through Professor Hershell (Herschell Gordon Lewis!) Fuad learns that a guy named Tammuz once killed 14 children and served them to their parents. Thus, Ishtar became his lover. Suddenly Fuad has an altar to Ishtar in his basement and is going to recreate the feast for her. 

Garbage production with terrible acting and a stupid script. Director Michael Walz needs to reevaluate his career choices.

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Stan Lee Has a Cameo!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN-2012-Hollywood couldn't stop when they were ahead could they? I'll say Sam Raimi's 2004 version wasn't perfect but he did a good adaptation. Why not 10 years later did they have to "re-invent" the whole thing over again?? The makers of this could have cut to the chase at least and just included a brief introduction on how the old web-head came to be but no they had to start all over again although the origins are basically the same. This time however nerdy science brain photograph taking Peter Parker has a mysterious missing father (Campbell Scott) who was once friends with the one armed Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) now head of a technology corporation working with spiders. Flash Thompson is still the dumb muscled bully but when Peter after gaining his super powers humiliates him in front of the whole gym it's Peter who gets in trouble and receives a stern lecture from his doomed Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). Hey! Someone has to defend bullies, right?

But in fact Peter is kind of a fuck up, acting very dysfunctional and even forgetting to do things for his devoted Aunt May (Sally Field). Later Peter strikes up a relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) who's father (Dennis Leary, Dennis Leary? Really? At least THE DARK KNIGHT had Gary Oldman) of course is the police captain trying to arrest the crime-fighter. Andrew Garfield is a total failure in the title role who instead of being the wisecracking hero is more like a smug bully himself. Connors later turns himself into The Lizard but of course instead of a being a lizard man it's a huge mutated CGI monster. The stupidest part is how The Lizard finds out Peter secret ID. After one of their encounters he finds a camera stamped "property of Peter Parker"!

Director Marc Webb (who also made the romance  (500) OF SUMMER) should stick to making Jesse McCartney videos. Unfortunately this was a hit and Part 2 is in post-production at the time of this writing. Too bad no one told him the phrase: "With great power comes great responsibility"....

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Rise of The Remake of The Panet Of...

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES-2011-Will Rodman (James Franco) a scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease is using apes as his subjects. One chimpanzee seems to be the key to success but she goes crazy (during a meeting for funding) and is shot dead. However her baby Caesar has inherited intelligence from the drug and after the research is shut down Rodman takes him home as a pet for his Alzheimer's stricken father (John Lithgow). Rodman decides to use the formula he concocted on his dad. It works but only for a short time.

When Caesar (Andy Serkis doing the movements much as he did with Gollum in LORD OF THE RINGS) bites the finger off a bullying idiotic neighbor he's placed in a scientific facility with normal apes where he's mistreated by a sadistic guard. Later he talks and leads his fellow apes in a human attack.

I found the battle scenes kind of hilarious! Brian Cox is wasted as the head of the ape facility but it was nice to see David Hewett (from PIN and CUBE) in a major release. Freida Pinto (from SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE) is Rodman's love interest.

Director Rupert Wyatt also made THE ESCAPIST. I thought they could have at least used one of the stars of the original until I realized (except for Linda Harrison who had a cameo in Tim Burton's version) they are all dead!

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Silent and Not So...

PHANTOMS-1922-FW Murnau made this moody expressionistic examination of human suffering the same year he made his classic NOSFERATU. It’s not as startling or even as interesting as his later silent masterpieces FAUST and SUNRISE but it’s still well done.

Alfred Abel (the industrialist in Lang’s METROPOLIS) is excellent as a timid book reading city clerk who’s life is turned inside out by a chance encounter with a mysterious woman in white who rides a horse drawn coach (portrayed by Lili Dangover from THE CABINET OF DR. CALAGARI). The running time is a little long but most of Murnau’s work before this isn’t available so it’s a nice find.



THE CABINET OF CALIGARI-1962 –This is a talky psychological melodrama that’s not really a remake of the German expressionistic silent classic but borrows some sets and a “things aren’t what they seem” plot.

Glynis Johns stars as stranded traveler who seeks help at the home of Dr. Caligari, a strange but seemingly helpful fellow. She eventually is held against her will at his home (or so she thinks). Dan O’Herihy is a friendly pipe smoking houseguest with a secret. English actress Estelle Winwood (was this woman ever young?) is talkative guest. She was in Bert I. Gordon’s THE MAGIC SWORD the year before. Familiar TV character actor J. Pat O’Malley is there too. Robert Bloch wrote the screenplay. The film has it’s moments but I found it disappointing. It reminded me of a William Castle movie without any of his gimmicks or black humor! Director Roger Kay worked mostly on TV series including an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE (“99 Years Without Slumbering”).

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