Hello faithful readers. This is a heads up to a new blog I've been putting together and finally have announced today! It's actually a work in progess, something I've been doing for 10 years now. It's a permenant home for my online comic strip, 'Gregory: the really angry robot'. I started it back in 2001, on accident, and now it's over a 100 issues long. (not including spin-offs.) I have debated about coming back to it again, but recently felt inspired and have been working on it steadily since then. The project took shape in October and now that I've completed the site, I've already finished making 5 more issues. I plan on the first new issue to be released on December 14th, 2011. I do recommend that before you read the new issue, that you go back to the beginning and read from number 1 forward. There are issues that are tied together and a lot of characters that make mroe sense if you see there progression. The site is located at: http://gregoryrobot.blogspot.com/. Check it out and if you like it, sign up for the page and leave comments about issues you dig or things you might want to see or just general thoughts. That's it. That's my BIG news. I'm excited about it and happy to see Gregory back in the limelight. He's a special part of my life and now maybe he can be a special part of yours. (and yes, that's me as a character in the comic.... I'm still not sure how that happened.) ENJOY!
"The most accurate explanation of what really happened." - Gunnar 'Leatherface' Hansen
I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the TCM franchise, however.... I own all but the third one and have seen them several times. I can see it's place in the horror film lexicon and enjoy them for what they are. This film is considered a cult classic and has some fans who are beyond fanatical about this. It has since spawned a remake and a prequel and tons and tons of merchandise. It's a very difficult film to watch and one that any horror fan should see. Once you've seen it, then check out this documentary. I give it 2 out of 5 stars. It's low budget and lack of excitement is a huge setback for this documentary. For something that's covering a fan favorite horror film and documenting everything that went on, there just isn't much.... joy? (is that the right word?) I don't know, I just wanted a little more from this.
Direct to DVD doesn't always mean a movie is going to be terrible, but more often than not.... it does. I don't know why they keep making these movies and I don't know why I keep watching them. The 2nd one was fun, I didn't like the first one and part 3 was terrible. This one, I was hoping would be more like number 2. However, as I started hearing more about it, I began to lose hope. Especially when I heard it was a prequel. Funny thing is, it starts out back in the 70's and tells about how the inbred mutants started, but then it fast forwards to 2003. Why 2003? Because it is the same year the first one takes place. That's what I've read anyway. I don't know enough about the 'Wrong Turn' timeline to dispute it. All I know is that no matter when it took place, this movie just didn't hold water. It was basically a movie for the sake of making a movie. Trying to cash in on a slowly dying franchise. We've all seen enough inbred mutant movies over the years, why make another one that is so similar to all the rest? I think the only thing that sets this apart from other slasher movies is the fact that it takes place in the winter, in the snow. That's not totally original, but it's used well in this movie. It serves as a way to keep the college kids trapped, while the inbred mutants are after them to kill them.
In hindsight, I was involved in the story for almost the entire movie. Despite how bad it was, I still wanted to see what happened. But when the big snowmobile chase ensued at the end and something awful occured that killed the two heroines in the movie.... I gave up. It was so stupid and impossible. It wasn't even fun. Perhaps if I was drunk and with friends? Even then, I still kind of doubt that I would've enjoyed myself. You just have to see it to believe it. I shouldn't complain too much though, it was a sequel to a movie that I really didn't like in the first place.
I am going to keep this short, as this movie doesn't deserve many words.
Ving Rhames has become the 'go-to guy' for zombie movies lately. Sadly, his choice in movies has been getting worse and worse. I'm all for him starring in zombie kill fests, but this one was pretty horrible. Also, Taryn Manning.... nuff' said. Ick. Anyway, I'm going to handle this review a little different than my other ones. The reason? As I was watching this, I was taking notes. I don't ever do that with movies, as it distracts me from the plot. This one, is an exception. Probably because it was a SyFy original. Onward to the 'review':
I gave this a final rating of 2 out of 5 stars. It isn't the worst zombie movie I've ever seen, but it's still pretty terrible. For a SyFy movie, it's better than most of the ones they crank out. If you're home sick on a rainy day and it's one.... maybe take the time to watch it. Just close your eyes whenever Taryn Manning is on the screen. She has some serious anti-charisma. That is all!
When, New Zealand born, Ellory Elkayem made the cult classic 'Eight Legged Freaks'.... he showed potential. What followed, was three crap-tacular failures. These are two of them. Now, 'Return of the Living Dead' 1 through 3 are all pretty good movies. They aren't going to re-invent the zombie genre, but they're entertaining and pretty fun. Part 1 is by far the best. Part 2 uses some of the same actors, but doesn't quite have the same charm. Part 3, goes in a different direction and for some reason it still works. Perhaps it's because it was directed by Brian Yuzna? Perhaps. But when I heard they were making 2 more back to back sequels, I had my doubts. I had good reason to doubt them, these movies are awful. They are boring to watch and the little bit of action in them, is slow paced and not very exciting. I don't feel that they're even part of the franchise. Ah well....
I don't know how many of you have seen the original movies. In them, they re-use some of the same actors and oddly enough.... it works. They don't play the same characters and that makes it that much stranger.... but again, it works. In parts 4 and 5, they try the same thing. They actually use almost the entire same cast for both movies. It is confusing, pointless and a terrible pseudo-tribute to the originals. Also, the zombies still chant "Brains!" throughout the whole movie, but there is no satire or any type of comedy. That's a bit of what the charm was in the first 3. They injected a little bit of humor every so often, to break things up. It worked really well and carried the movies. Also, the zombies in part 4 are all dressed the same(they're test subjects) and it's distracting. (I'm nitpicking now.)