New stuff at 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting:
The Abyss (1989), in which the military is still the last bunch of people you want handling first contact with an alien intelligence twelve years after Close Encounters of the Third Kind…
Daughters of Darkness (1971), in which Belgium wants a piece of that 70’s lesbo-vamp action…
Primeval (2007), which baits and switches its bait and switch…
30 Days of Night (2007), which does a much better job of being I Am Legend than I Am Legend did…
Troll (1986), in which we get very nearly to the bottom of Charles Band’s mysterious fascination with cute little monsters that would make neat toys…
and…
Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), in which Herschell Gordon Lewis and David Friedman say a great deal more than they probably intended to.
#1 by Blake Matthews on November 17, 2008 - 6:04 am
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After watching “Last King of Scotland” and “Blood Diamond”, the only thing that’ll get me to watch another about Africa is a monster. So I’ll probably check out Primieval when it comes on TV down here.
#2 by Tom Meade on November 18, 2008 - 5:29 am
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It’s nice to know that Primeval and 30 Days of Night are worth watching, since I had been led to believe that they were both terrible. I am putting a lot of faith in you, sir. Approximately five dollars worth, to be exact.
#3 by Joshua on November 18, 2008 - 6:35 am
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Since we’re all putting our faith in El Santo, I feel I should mention that I decided to actually hunt down a copy of Two Thousand Maniacs before reading the beyond the first paragraph of your review.
#4 by MatthewF on November 19, 2008 - 4:08 am
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I don’t know what two thousand maniacs is like, but I heartily discourage 2001 Maniacs, the remake from about, uh, 2005.
I liked 30 days of night becuase it wasn’t more teenagers being slaughtered but I thought it had a lot of problems. Specifically around pacing and the way time passes in the film. Also, what bugged me was that they live in a part of the north where it appears to go from complete normal daylight to complete darkness and back again, rather than the whole gradual process that I am used to.
#5 by El Santo on November 19, 2008 - 8:08 am
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Yeah, they got the mechnics of polar night pretty far wrong. Most notably, except for a few days right around the winter solistice, there ought to be a period of twilight every midday (its duration tapering down as the solstice approaches, then back up again after it passes), and we never see that.
#6 by KeithA on November 19, 2008 - 2:30 pm
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I enjoyed 30 Days quite a lot, after assuming I wouldn’t. As listed, there are some problems with it, but I found those pretty easy to roll with given the other strengths of the film. however, I simply cannot tolerate the poor table manners exhibited by the vampires. you would think that, at some point during those 30 days, at least one of the vampires would seek out a napkin and wipe its mouth. I mean, i like bacon cheeseburgers, and if you took somewhere where I could eat them uninterrupted for 30 days without dying, I would go all animalistic as well, but at some point I would still wipe my mouth, if for n other reason than to make sure I wasn’t missing any bacon.
I haven’t seen Primeval yet but just added to the list. The last giant croc movie I watched was Rogue, and it was pretty pleasing. Anyone seen the other Aussi croc movie, Black Water?
#7 by Gentle Benj on November 19, 2008 - 3:00 pm
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Yeah, Rogue wasn’t bad, but it was so… tame? I guess I was expecting Wolf Creek with pointy teeth… but in retrospect, I should have realized that the Wolf Creek approach wouldn’t translate to an animal-attack film.
It was a strange experience, though; I rented it as a favor to the sleazy side of my brain, but by the end the classier side was thinking “Man, Radha Mitchell is an EXCELLENT actor.”
#8 by lyzard on November 19, 2008 - 3:43 pm
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I hope to be able to file a report on Black Water in a matter of days.
#9 by El Santo on November 20, 2008 - 8:13 am
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But… but… that would mean going out of order!
#10 by rjschwarz on November 20, 2008 - 9:23 am
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I second KiethA’s comments. I mean you’re biting the jugular in some cases, you might want a lobster bib and goggles as well as a dozen wetnaps before you’re done.
I’ve never understood the vampire blood worship. In blade the rave vampires had it raining down on them. What the ? I thought it was food, aka fuel? If it’s food why worship it as if it were beer?
#11 by Elizabeth the Ferret on November 20, 2008 - 12:20 pm
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Maybe to vampires, blood is the Ultimate Beer. Like the unholy love child of beer and chocolate chip cookies, only, you know, not tasting completely vile.
#12 by KeithA on November 20, 2008 - 2:07 pm
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Just what we need. Vampires wearing those hats with blood holders on the side, doing blood keg handstands, and yelling, “Whooo! Chug! Chug! Chug!” whenever someone bites a victim on the neck.
Speaking of vampires, did anyone catch last night’s South Park where the goth kids struggle to make people understand they’re not the same as vampire kids? Every time Butters would crouch down and hiss while making claw hands and baring his fangs, I pretty much lost it. I haven’t laughed at South Park in a long time, but that one got me.
#13 by lyzard on November 20, 2008 - 4:49 pm
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Oh, *bbbllllllspspspsp*.
#14 by The Rev. D.D. on November 20, 2008 - 9:02 pm
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Keith–I saw it as well. And yes, Butters’ hissing had me rolling. I also enjoyed him standing up to his godawful parents for a while, even though I knew the status quo would be restored by the end of the episode.
#15 by MatthewF on November 21, 2008 - 3:55 am
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Surely vampires are just non-threatening boyfriends for 14 year old girls?
#16 by rjschwarz on November 21, 2008 - 4:16 pm
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Kieth I hope the Troma folks aren’t reading this because you just supplied them with enough to wrap a movie around. Can you beer bong with fake fangs?
#17 by hair follicle test on January 9, 2009 - 3:53 am
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I agree, that all these films are great, I have seen practically all of them.