my very brief thoughts on.... '2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams'

Herschell Gordon Lewis set the standard for gore.... and he did it starting in the 60's....! before he came along, horror movies were fairly tame by today's standards.... they were starting down the path towards more horrific things, but Herschell saw a niche market out there and he filled it.... the blood was obviously fake and the guts and stuff were borrowed from other animals insides.... but regardless of that, i still find his movies a little difficult to watch at times.... like 'The Gore Gore Girls'.... what does that have to do with '2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams'....? well, it's the sequel to the remake of Herschell's 1964 classic '2000 Maniacs!'.... the original was just that, it was original.... the reamke had some of the same spirit, but it just never captured the magic.... for some reason though, they decided to make a sequel to the first one.... instead of Robert Englund ('A Nightmare on Elm Street' series) in the lead, they replaced his character with one played by Bill Moseley ('The Devil's Rejects').... they continued the storyline of the first one, with more of the southerners who killed the 'yankees' in the first one taking their show on the road to kill 'yankees' instead....
i love Bill Moseley and he does the best he can with his role in this movie, but it's just not a very good movie.... they attempt to re-create the type of gore that Herschell Gordon Lewis made famous, but they fall short of the mark.... it's a bit lame at times and i think that's kind of the point.... however, i was hoping for a little more.... they also include in the storyline some main characters ('yankees') who are very similar to those of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie during the 'Simple Life' years.... it's not subtle, as a matter of fact it's blatent.... i would've rather seen those two getting chopped up on camera, but that's too much to hope for.... all that being said, you can aready guess that i only gave it 1 out of 5 stars.... there was nothing worthwhile in this movie other than Bill Moseley.... but it's not worth the damage it will cause to watch this, just to enjoy the scenes he's in.... this is a sequel that should have just stayed in the back of someones mind as a bad idea.... instead of on DVD as a bad idea.

if you want to see where this all began, watch: 'Two Thousand Maniacs!' (1964), 'Blood Feast' (1963), or 'Color Me Blood Red' (1965)

my brief thoughts on.... 'Repo! The Genetic Opera'

i've never been much of a fan of musicals.... and i may catch flack for this, but i'm not even a fan of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'.... that's the closest thing i can relate to this.... although this movie is not funny.... it still has it's satirical moments, but it's not ha ha funny.... now before you go to watch this movie.... (which is OnDemand).... you should know it is a full on musical.... there is very little talking.... it's 98.5% singing.... well, maybe not a musical.... to be more correct, a rock opera.... because it has big guitars, bass and drums.... and is anything but quiet.... the big difference between this movie and other ones like it is that it's not afraid to pull any punches.... this is full of blood, guts, gore and icky stuff.... i mean, it's about repossesing body parts.... it has to have it's share of horror.... and it's not subtle.... this movie has a lot going for it just as a horror film.... but when you add that additional layer of music, it turns it into something entirely different.... and i can't decide exactly how i feel about it....

this is set in the future where a plague or something has caused a large part of the population to suffer from organ failures.... it wipes out a huge portion of society.... and the people that are left turn to a big corporation who are willing to provide replacement organs to save lives.... and they'll even put them on an installment plan.... but this comes with a potential price.... as they get the ability to reposses the organs if they default on their payments.... that's where the repo men come into play.... meanwhile, the head of the corporation is dying and his three children are all eyeing the throne.... and he has yet to name a replacement.... that's just the meat of it.... there's a lot of other things going on as well.... the side dishes to the main course....
so after all of this.... have i changed my opinion on musical/rock operas....? not really.... i still find them hard to watch.... and i can't really say why.... all i know is that something just doesn't sit right with me when i watch them.... this movie was the better of the ones i've seen.... i mean where else can you see Bill Moseley, Paris Hilton, Alexa Vega (of 'Spy Kids'), Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman and some actor who goes by the name Ogre....? the cast was excellent.... the music was interesting.... the story was original.... it was well directed and the cinematography was well done.... i don't really have anything bad to say about it.... i just can't get past my bias.... oh well, maybe someday.... until then.... i don't regret seeing this.... i just don't know if i'll need to see it again anytime soon.... oh and it's a 3 out of 5 star rating from me.

if you like this, check out: 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', 'Cannibal! The Musical'....are there any others....?

my thoughts on.... 'Babysitter Wanted'

i've been hearing about this movie for a while now.... and i was awaiting it's arrival on DVD.... finally it showed up.... and last night i was able to sit down and soak it all in.... now you may think this is just another 'When A Stranger Calls', but it's so much more.... i enjoyed this movie from the credits to the credits and everything inbetween.... it had just the right amount of creepiness, suspense, blood, gore and good actors that it all belnded almost perfectly.... it feels like i'm constantly heaping praise on so many movies.... but i've gotten so lucky lately and seen some really amazing films.... so once again, here i go.... but before you think this is another 'The House of the Devil'.... let me tell you that it's not.... although there are similarities, they are 100% different films....

an 18 year old devout catholic girl named Angie, heads off to community college to study art histroy.... once she gets there she realizes she needs to earn some extra money in order to survive.... so she takes a number for a babysitting job out at a farmhouse far away from the college out in the boonies.... the couple are extremely nice and their son is a little shy, but takes a liking to Angie and she gets the job.... in the meantime, Angie meets a good upstanding Christian boy and they soon start to date.... she also begins to notice that someone seems to be stalking her and that there has been a rash of dissapearances around the area of young girls.... afraid that she might be next on the list, she goes to the local sheriff, played by Bill Moseley, and tells him her fears.... he gives her his card and off she goes.... the first night of babysitting arrives and during her time at the house she begins to notice strange things and soon the supposed stalked breaks down the door to the house and that's where the movie really gets started....
this film has a few well placed twists and turns.... some excellent timing and everything is just so well done.... that you don't see what's coming right away.... unless you read a lot of reviews for the movie ahead of time.... (which i don't recommend).... it's so much nicer to just let this movie unfold before your eyes.... to see what Angie sees and to learn what she learns in real time.... it makes this so much better of a movie.... and to experience this the way that the director intended, i would ask you to rent this on blind faith and just trust your Uncle Joel.... knowing too much ahead of time is not always a good thing.... oh one little detail i'll let slip.... Bill Moseley plays a good guy....!

once again, this was a no brainer and 4 out of 5 stars was well deserved.... this is the reason i love horror films.... it has all the elements that prove why this genre is so popular, but still a bit taboo.... it's not available OnDemand just yet, so you'll have to rent it.... but Netflix has it and i'm sure most popular video stores will carry it too, if they have any brains at all.... Blockbuster, i'm looking at you.... i know i usually inform you if i'll be including a film in my DVD collection and that kind of serves as my ultimate seal of approval.... and yes, this one will be included someday.... i can't wait to watch it again.... to see Angie's character arc.... it's more than worth the price of admission just to see that change.... i'm off to my babysitting job now.

if you like this, check out: 'When a Stranger Calls' (either one), 'The House of the Devil' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'