THE EXPLOSIVE REVIEW

Starring: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, Earl Hindman, James Broderick, Dick O’Neil, Lee Wallace, Tony Roberts, Doris Roberts, Jerry Stiller, Nathan George, Tom Pedi, Beatrice Winde, Rudy Bond, Kenneth McMillan, and Julius Harris.

Directed by: Joseph Sargent.

Story:
It’s a normal day in New York City for the cynical Lt. Zachary Garber, an NYC Transit Authority Cop, whose daily routine is disturbed when one of the 6 trains (Pelham 123) is hijacked by a group of armed men led by a British mercenary named Bernard Ryder and his partner Harold Longman whom used to be a motorman. The hijackers demand a ransom of one million dollars which must be delivered under an hour or else they will begin executing passengers.

After a frantic drive uptown from the financial district, the squad car delivering the ransom money gets into an accident, resulting in the death of two transit workers by the hijackers. More complications arise as Garber attempts to negotiate with and confront the hijackers and get the hostages safely off the train.

Characters:
*Lt. Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau): The cynical and somewhat grumpy protagonist of the film who works as an NYC Transit Cop.
*Bernard Ryder (Robert Shaw): The lead hijacker.
*Harold Longman (Martin Balsam): The former motorman hijacker who sneezes an awful lot. *Joe Welcome (Hector Elizondo): The third hijacker.
*George Steever (Earl Hindman): The fourth hijacker.
*The Mayor (Lee Wallace): The Mayor of NYC, the man overseeing the entire hijacking situation. *Lt. Rico Patrone (Jerry Stiller): Lt. Garber’s partner in this whole mess.
*Jessie (Doris Roberts): The Mayor’s wife.

Overall:
Welcome to the world of Pre-”Die Hard” style terrorism. Based on the novel of the same name by John Godey, “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” isn’t so much of a “Die Hard” or “Speed” genre of film but is more or less a suspenseful detective thriller with themes of terrorism and appropriate moments of humor. The hijackers almost make it and the film kinda makes you route for them a little but the hijackers themselves seem to have some interpersonal team work issues. On the other foot is Lt. Garber who tends to look at a situation from every possible angle as opposed to everyone else who just looks at what they see (i.e. Garber wonders and is puzzled by how the hijackers plan to escape from the tunnel).

I have not read the book, but this film is a very smart terrorist/detective flick which moves into surprising and unexpected directions as the third act looms around. The final scene is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Lt. Garber and the head hijacker Bernard Ryder are brought to life with neat performances by Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” is an interesting peek into New York City in 1974 and how the terrorism aspect was handled prior to the “Die Hard” explosion.

Rating: ****

Starring: Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Edi Gathegi, Tom Atkins, Betsy Rue, Kevin Tighe, Marc Macaulay, Megan Boone, and Richard John Walters.

Directed by: Patrick Lussier.

Story:
Eleven years ago, the north side of a mine caved in, trapping six miners within. By the time the rescue crew reached them, five of them were found slaughtered by a pickaxe. Harry Warden, the sixth miner, survived but continued on in a coma. Suspect Tom Hanniger is believed to have been the murderer although he is eventually flamed for the mine disaster itself due to the fact that he forgot to vent the methane lines.

One year later on Valentine’s Day, Harry Warden awakens from his coma and escapes the hospital, slaughtering more victims along the way. Meanwhile, a bunch of teenagers including Axel, his girlfriend Irene, Tom Hanniger, and his girlfriend Sarah, are all throwing a party at the site of the abandoned mineshaft. After they lose one another inside the mine, they stumble across another teenager who is then stabbed behind his head through his eye by the masked Harry Warden decked out in full miner gear and carrying a big axe. The group is chased by Warden until the police arrive and shoot the killer whom escapes somewhere in the mine.

Ten years later, Tom’s estranged father passes away, allowing him to inherit the mine. Axel has become the town sherif, now married to Sarah. Low and behold, the murders start once again - First Irene is killed, then a miner in the mineshaft. Axel confronts his father, the retired Sheriff, about what happened to Harry Warden and he tells them that Harry was killed and buried. However, upon digging up Warden’s grave, Axel and friends discover no body at all…

Characters:
*Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles): Tom inherits the mineshaft from his estranged father after he passes away. He wants to sell the mine and seems to be the suspect of the new murders as they all tend to follow him around.
*Sarah Palmer (Jaime King): Axel’s wife who isn’t very bright, waits until the last minute to shoot the killer, runs and falls at all the predictable moments.
*Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith): The new town Sheriff. He thinks Tom is the new killer.
*Deputy Martin (Edi Gathegi): Axel’s police partner.
*Burke (Tom Atkins): Axel’s father, former town Sheriff.
*Irene Sparco (Betsy Rue): Tom’s girlfriend who spends a lot of time naked on screen.
*Harry Warden (Richard John Walters): The butcher of the film who started it all - dressed in full miner garb and armed with a pickaxe.

Overall:
“My Bloody Valentine 3D” is a remake of the original 1981 film which was part of the huge slasher craze in the late 70s to 80s. I personally have not seen the original but plan to watch and review that very soon. This remake, which is both available in 2D and 3D formats, is the first R-Rated film to utilize the brand new Real D technology (Thank God!) which was previously used in “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (2008). Here I will be reviewing the 3D aspect and the story aspect separately.

First off, the 3D - Simply amazing. This film plays this new technology to the hilt - You will have tree branches, gun barrels, blood-dripping pickaxes, body parts, and much more leaping out of the screen at you. The director takes full advantage of the depth-of-field illusion as well - ever wonder what it would be like to endure long views of torn chest cavities with missing hearts? Here is your answer. This 3D package will make you forget all about “Friday the 13th Part 3D” (1982) and “Jaws 3D” (1983). This is gore that you can believe in. The glasses are extremely light-weight although not paper thin, they are a lot like a thick pair of sunglasses or prescription glasses as a matter of fact. They certainly need to film more R-rated projects like this and better with the Real D technology, it’s getting real tiring to see such state-of-the-art 3D go to waste on asinine animated films and PG flicks (Reminder to Hollywood: ADULTS love 3D too! Just in case you forgot).

Now, the story itself - A cliched and conventional 1980s slasher horror flick, much like the original. Although here, it feels like it offers nothing new as a remake aside from the fact that it’s in 3D. The film feels a lot like “Scream” (1996) at times as it tries to confuse us as to who the killer is and even borrows a scene from the climax. It can be a bit boring at times actually, this would get old very fast in 2D format. Sorry, but just because you remade a film in 3D, that doesn’t mean you just leave the film the way it is as far as the story plays out. Why not try something new? Why not? Because they don’t care, this is a 3D remade cash-in attempt. Most annoyingly of all is the Sarah character - she is straight out of a 1980s slasher flick - I can’t tell you how many times I screamed at her to shoot the gun, to run, or to get the hell up!

Be sure to get a taste of this new 3D technology in R-rated style while it lasts. As far as the DVD release goes, I’d say skip it.

Rating: ***

Starring: Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, James Earl Jones, and Paul Henreid.

Directed by: John Boorman.

Story:
Four years after “The Exorcist”, the Cardinal assigns Father Philip Lamont to investigate the mysterious death of Father Lankester Merrin who was killed during the exorcism of the Assyrian demon Pazuzu that possessed Regan MacNeil. The Cardinal informs Lamont that Merrin’s death has brought upon posthumous heresy charges and some church facilities are not even sure if the exorcism was necessary - Basically, they don’t want to acknowledge the existence of Satan. Lamont, a priest who is struggling with faith, has some experience in exorcism, and is well aware of Merrin’s controversial teachings, accepts the assignment.

Meanwhile, Regan MacNeil has grown into a beautiful young teenage girl and is now seemingly normal, she is currently staying with guardian Sharon Spencer while her mother is away shooting a movie in California. Despite Regan’s normal state, she continues to be monitored at a psychiatric facility by Dr. Gene Tuskin, who believes Regan’s memories of her exorcism are buriedor repressed within. Father Lamont visits the institute and attempts to question Regan but is rebuffed by Dr. Gene Tuskin who thinks Lamont’s influence will do her no good, considering past events. Instead, Tuskin uses a biofeedback device called the synchronizer to synchronize the brainwaves of two people, namely Tuskin and Regan, in order to find out what happened that night and how Father Merrin died. Along the way, they encounter the evil Pazuzu once more…

Characters:
*Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton): Yet another priest struggling with his faith, assigned by the Cardinal to investigate Father Lankester Merrin’s death from the previous film.
*Cardinal (Paul Henreid): Assigns Father Philip Lamont to take care of the plot in this film because he’s much worried about Father Merrin’s reputation.
*Father Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow): The deceased and highly knowledgeable priest from the original film, was killed by Pazuzu during the exorcism of Regan MacNeil. He appears here in a dream sequence of sorts.
*Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair): The possessed 12 year old girl from the previous film who is now 16 and a full-blown hottie. Unfortunately, she’s still having demonic issues - Beware Men.
*Sharon Spencer (Kitty Winn): Regan’s guardian from the first film. She’s taking care of her while mommy is away filming a movie.
*Dr. Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher): Regan’s sexy psychiatrist who likes to use to hypnosis machines to see what’s going on in Regan’s mind.
*Kokumo (James Earl Jones): A man who was exorcised as a young boy by Father Lamont.
*Pazuzu: The evil Assyrian demon who possessed Regan last time around. Doesn’t seem too scary here.

Overall:
Its films like “Exorcist II: The Heretic” which give sequels a bad reputation. Its films like “Exorcist II: The Heretic” which make you wonder why they even bothered making a sequel in the first place. This sequel to the creepy horror classic, “The Exorcist” (1973), is devoid of any qualities found in the original. The entire film is a complete bore, there isn’t one ounce of scariness anywhere to be found here. This is more of a telekinetic murder mystery and Father Lamont is a detective of sorts while Regan MacNeil walks around the sets in skimpy outfit and shows off her sultry self like she’s Marilyn Monroe.

For a good chunk of the second act in the film, Father Lamont continues his investigation in Africa where he meets up with a man whom he exorcised as a boy (shown in the opening sequence), meanwhile Regan sits her tush at home, missing in action. The only two things this sequel has going for it is a very, very hot and young Linda Blair and a third act which surprisingly picks up and makes things a little more interesting. Pazuzu doesn’t have much to do here either, he is included in the many interviews or investigations rather through the synchronizer device and as well as a possessed reincarnation of Regan herself towards the end of the film - But the fact of the matter remains that Pazuzu is not the demon we have become familiar with from the original. Scary my arse, you, me, and Pazuzu could all meet at a cafe and have lunch together.

After watching “Exorcist II: The Heretic”, it’s very easy to see why it was such a huge box-office failure back when it was released - For a film that is so boring, is it any wonder that is directed by a man named John Boorman?

Rating: **1/2

Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey C. Kramer, Susan Backlinie, Jeffrey Voorhees, Lee Fiero, Jonathon Filley, Chris Rebello, and Jay Mello.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg. 

Story:
 ”Jaws” takes place on Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, and tells the story of Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and his attempts to shut down the beach in order protect the town’s beachgoers from an enormous great white shark, however, the town’s councilmen persist for the beach to stay open in order to obtain higher profits from tourists during the summer. After numerous deaths, Chief Brody seeks help from a marine biologist, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and a professional shark hunter, Quint (Robert Shaw).

Characters:
*Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider): The protagonist who’s afraid to go in the water and knows nothing about sharks.
*Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss): Marine biologist who teams up with Brody and Quint.
*Quint (Robert Shaw): Professional shark hunter who teams up with Brody and Hooper.
*Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary): Martin’s wife.
*Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton): The mayor who’s too ignorant to listen to Chief Brody’s warnings and keeps the beach open, resulting in further deaths.

Overall:
Based on Peter Benchley’s best seller as well as inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, “Jaws” marked the beginning of the Summer Blockbuster Movie. Studios followed suit one year later in the summer of 1976 with “The Omen”, then “Star Wars” in the following summer of 1977, laying the footprints for many studios to distribute their Big Tentpole films during the summer season thereafter.

The film was the first of which to cross the $100 million mark box office-wise, hitting $470 million worldwide. The high concept flick explores the theme of the fear of going into the water, encountering the unknown. The characters are brought to life by successful performances - There’s Roy Scheider’s Brody who has never been in the water and knows nothing about sharks, then there’s Quint and Matt whose lives revolve around sharks and the water, yet it is Brody who succeeds in the end due to his will to survive and not from his knowledge.

Rating: *****

Characters:
*Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill): Farmer farm-boy turned commander in the Rebel Alliance, Rogue Squardron leader, and a Jedi in the making.
*Han Solo (Harrison Ford): Smuggler and good friend of Luke Skywalker’s, here he is working for the Rebellion in exchange for money so that he could pay off his long-time debt to Jabba the Hutt.
*Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher): Han Solo’s love interest whom happens to be a high ranking official in the Rebellion’s chain of command.
*Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew):
*C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels): Leia’s British accented protocol droid - He’s a barrel of laughs too.
*R2-D2 (Kenny Baker): Luke’s astromech droid and 3P0’s partner in crime - they make a great couple.
*Yoda (Frank Oz): The ancient Jedi Master who has been hiding in exile for more than a decade on the swamp world of Dagobah.
*Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones): Dark Lord of the Sith and Apprentice to Emperor Palpatine. He turns out to be Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father, in the end (oh come on it’s no longer a secret) so that explains his obsession with tracking him down throughout the film.
*Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch): Badass Bounty Hunter hired by Vader to capture Han Solo and friends.
*Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness): Luke’s teacher from the previous film who was killed by Vader in a duel on the Death Star. He continues his presence here in the form of Luke’s visions.
*Wedge Antilles (Denis Lawson): Pilot in the Rebel Alliance who often flies alongside Luke Skywalker.
*Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid): The vicious conquering ruler of the galaxy and of the Galactic Empire, also known as Darth Sidious, he is the Master Sith Lord to Darth Vader.
Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams): Administrator of the Cloud City on Bespin and a long time buddy of Han Solo.

Overall:
“Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back” continues to draw from many mythological stories, figures, and worldly religions much like the previous chapter. ‘A New Hope’ exceeded all cinematic expectations one can imagine and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ does the same and even more, it proves itself as an extraordinary sequel in the vein of “The Godfather: Part II”, “Rocky II”, “Jaws 2″, and “Dawn of the Dead”. This time around, the bad guys have the upper hand and it makes the story all so much more interesting as our lovable heroes are thrown into the heat of danger and the bleakest of situations.

Lucas stepped down as director, replacing Irvin Kershner in the seat, due to the fact that he was too busy, pretty much involved in almost every aspect of the film’s production as well as the overseeing of his special FX corporation ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). “Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back” tops its previous entry, putting the bad guys in the front seat, putting our heroes on the run, introducing us to new worlds and environments, and delivering the most tragic, climatic, and vicious confrontation ever on film.

Rating: *****

Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and Kevin Bacon.

Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham.

Story:
In 1958, two counselors at a Camp Crystal Lake summer camp are murdered while having sex by an unseen assailant. Jumping forward to present day on Friday, June 13th - A group of teenage counselors (Ned, Jack, Bill, Marcie, Brenda, Alice) re-open the campsite along with its owner, Steve Christy, to refurbish the cabins and facilities (and to have sex inside of them as well, duh). When a strong thunderstorm hits, the killing spree begins and when one young lady appears to be the last one standing, the murderous mother of Jason, Mrs. Vorhees, finally makes her appearance.

Characters:
*Mrs Vorhess (Betsy Palmer): The crazed psychotic mother of the drowned Jason Vorhees, the killing is left up to her in this first entry.
*Ned (Mark Nelson): Another one to bite the dust.
*Jack (Kevin Bacon): The young Kevin Bacon in one of his earliest on-screen roles, he plays a victim here for a change.
*Bill (Harry Crosby): Stupid enough to go out in a dark thunderstorm by himself. Arrows come in handy for people like that.
*Marcie (Jeannine Taylor): More cannon fodder.
*Brenda (Laurie Bartram): She’s so hot she gets axed.
*Alice (Adrienne King): The heroine of the flick. She has a very nasty a habit of assuming she’s killed the person chasing her when the killer simply gets up again several times. Bad girl.
*Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer): The owner of Camp Crystal Lake.

Overall:
“Friday The 13th” was the next best thing to happen to the slasher horror genre since 1978’s “Halloween” which it drew much inspiration from. Panned by many critics upon its release, it grossed nearly $40 million domestically, becoming one of the most profitable slasher films in the history of cinema. One of horror’s most popular and influential icons was given birth to from this franchise, that is Jason Vorhees, the tall and looming hockey-mask wearing murderer. Although he’s not very much involved in this first film, he plays a very important role to the story while his mother does the killing.

The cast performs well for what their characters are given (hey, what do you expect? it’s a teenage slasher flick, one of the first of its kind), be on the look out for one of Kevin Bacon’s earliest roles in this, he plays one of the teenage counselors in this flick. As a slasher film, it continues many trends found in “Prom Night” (1980) and “Halloween” (1978), one of most notably being the heroine defeating the killer several times and assuming she’s dead without even bothering to double check, fast forward a moment later and the killer is up and running again.

I wouldn’t say it is the best film in the series as the franchise’s iconic Jason character doesn’t make his mark until the next film, but it sets the stage well for the franchise and plants the seeds for the story of Jason Vorhees which we have all become familiar with. “Friday The 13th” has long since become one of the longest-running franchises to date alongside ‘James Bond’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Harry Potter’, and ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’, spawning nine sequels and a 2009 reboot.

Rating: ****

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton, and Barry Dennen.

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick.

Story:
Novelist Jack Torrance, a recovered alcoholic, is hired as a the winter caretaker of the very secluded and forest-surrounded Overlook Hotel and moves in with his wife and son, Wendy and Danny Torrance. The hotel always gets snowed in during the winter season and has quite a tragic story behind it - the previous caretaker was driven mad and killed his own family. Jack assures the hiring manager, Stuart Ullman, that nothing of that sort is bound to happen again with him as the caretaker.

During the closing day of the hotel, the family is shown around and the chef, Dick Hallorann, discovers that Jack’s son Danny has psychic abilities and is capable of picking up on the ghostly activity at the hotel - an ability that the chef refers to as “shining”. As the winter months come forth, the family is snowed in, and Jack is slowly driven insane by the hotel’s ghosts to the point that he attempts to murder his wife and son.

Characters:
*Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson): A recovered alcoholic who seems to have a lot of writer’s block. For a clean guy, he looks pretty crazy, especially in the first act before he gets possessed.
*Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd): Jack’s son who has psychic abilities that allow him to detect ghosts. How many more horror movies do we need with quiet, reserved children in them? At least he’s more believable than the kid from “The Sixth Sense”.
*Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall): Jack’s loving wife who does everything she can to make sure Jack is happy and comfortable. Too bad his possessed self could care less.
*Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers): The hotel’s chef who finds out about Danny’s psychic powers and refers to the ability as ’shining’.
*Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson): The kind, gentle, and charming hotel manager who hires Jack as the winter caretaker. Big mistake - again.
*Lloyd The Bartender (Joe Turkel): One of the ghosts in the hotel whom Jack talks to when he’s stressed.
*Delbert Grady (Philip Stone): Another ghost, this one being the previous caretaker of the hotel who killed his family.

Overall:
“The Shining” could be summarized as “The Amityville Horror” set in a huge mansion instead of a house - they share a lot of similarities, most notably the plot of a man driven to murdering his family by the ghosts of a house. Stanley Kubrick utilizes his skills and style to provide excellent camera positions and angles, showing no sign of ADD in this film whatsoever, now how many horror films do you know of in the 21st century that are capable of doing just that?

Is “The Shining” a masterpiece? In its own right, the film does certainly hold up in that arena; but as far as comparisons to Stephen King’s original novel though, that’s a different story. The story is altered from the novel as far as characterizations and motivations go. For instance, in the novel, the hotel manager Stuart Ullman is a very authoritative figure, military-like, who doesn’t particularly like the idea of Jack being the caretaker, and Jack himself has authority issues aside from battling alcoholism. In the film, Ullman is the complete opposite of what he is in the book and Jack’s issues with authority is replaced by a severe case of writer’s block.

Overall, Stanley Kubrick’s style makes this film very creepy and the larger setting adds a whole new dimension to the similarities it shares with “The Amityville Horror”. The film runs way over two hours and may seem a bit slow in some parts but Jack Nicholson’s decreasing humanity and increasing insaneness make up for it immensely. “The Shining” remains a worthy tale of a good man’s descent into madness, putting his family is put in the face of impending death and doom.

Rating: ****