Actually, that’s not strictly true: I’m sure I can’t match Nathan’s endurance of DTDVD zombie films; but when it comes to Full Moon Entertainment, I yield to no man!
This first sequel in the franchise that built an empire lulled me into a false sense of security with some superior puppet action, elbowed me jocularly in the ribs with its “scientists”, then delivered a death blow by turning into a wholly unwanted re-make of The Mummy.
#1 by Blake Matthews on December 13, 2008 - 5:33 am
Quote
My neighbors and I rented the first two films and watched them in one sitting. The only thing I remember was the silly Leech Girl scene from the first movie and the kid getting roasted in the second movie.
#2 by The Rev. D.D. on December 13, 2008 - 4:27 pm
Quote
The second PM was the first one I saw. Along with the surprise of a kid getting torched, I remember finding the wax dummy/mannequin make-up at the end oddly disturbing. I also love Toulon screaming at the puppets, “You gave me ANIMAL brains!!”
I don’t know if I’d call this my favorite, but it’s one of the better ones. (Take that with a healthy dose of salt.)
Film quality aside, if nothing else, these movies have one of my favorite theme songs (the one playing over the end credits of this one, incidentally.)
#3 by Nathan Shumate on December 13, 2008 - 10:59 pm
Quote
Lyz, you do realize that I’m going to have to call you out with some of the REALLY bad Full Moon movies, right? Watch half a dozen flicks that director David DeCoteau was embarrassed to have his name attached to, and we’ll talk.
#4 by lyzard on December 13, 2008 - 11:46 pm
Quote
You can’t frighten me: I just added Howling VII to my DVD queue.
#5 by Ed on December 14, 2008 - 5:58 pm
Quote
Is Howling 7 available on dvd? I didn’t realize that it was. Good luck, though. I hope you have booze in the house.
#6 by lyzard on December 14, 2008 - 6:08 pm
Quote
It is in my neck of the woods. Oddly, V and VI aren’t; I’ve just had to import those, gah! (And the booze goes without saying.)
#7 by The Rev. D.D. on December 14, 2008 - 7:03 pm
Quote
Speaking of which, supposedly the 9th Puppet Master movie’s in the works. It’s apparently set after the events of the 3rd one (which I didn’t find too bad, although I know others disagree) and details their further efforts against the Nazis, as well as their Japanese allies.
Unfortunately, the director listed is………David DeCoteau.
Which means I’ll probably see it (I haven’t watched any beyond Curse of the Puppet Master) and then be very disappointed in it.
#8 by lyzard on December 14, 2008 - 8:27 pm
Quote
What I love is how we know these things in advance…and go ahead anyway. 🙂 I’m not as much afraid of David DeCoteau as many others are, though, inasmuch as I am not genetically programmed to go into shrieking hysterics at the sight of a guy in his underwear. (A puppet in its underwear, now…)
It did occur to me belatedly that I didn’t really need another ‘open’ franchise on my hands; I’m struggling through the Howling films now, and I’ve been meaning to get back to the Halloween-s for ages. Just a sucker for punishment, I guess.
#9 by The Rev. D.D. on December 14, 2008 - 10:44 pm
Quote
Aren’t we all, really? I mean, I actually watched [b]Can’t Stop the Music[/b] voluntarily today whilst scanning the channel guide. Just because, “Hey, it’s another Jabootu movie I haven’t seen!” More fool I.
I don’t have screaming hysterics at guys in their underwear in movies (OK, maybe Ron Jeremy in [b]Terror Firmer[/b] and Robert Easton in [b]The Giant Spider Invasion[/b]) but DeCoteau’s films just come up empty for me. (I’ve only seen a couple, so maybe I’ve just caught him at his worst?) I realize things could be worse (it’s not, say, Albert Pyun) but still…
#10 by El Santo on December 14, 2008 - 11:28 pm
Quote
For me, the problem with DeCoteau isn’t the rampant beefcake (and let’s be honest, here– DeCoteau, as one would expect of a man in his position, has excellent taste in beefcake), but rather the ennervating, life-sapping tedium that he almost invariably brings to any movie he so much as breathes on. Also, I’d love to know what convinced Charles Band that the gay guy in his employ was the obvious first choice to direct all of those soft-porn features aimed at the hetero market. That’s like hiring me as the program director for a country music radio station.
#11 by lyzard on December 15, 2008 - 1:23 am
Quote
Exactly: the people who criticise his films always seem to me to be fixated on the wrong thing (unless – mwoo-ha-ha! – that was the secret tactic all along).
#12 by Nathan Shumate on December 15, 2008 - 7:06 am
Quote
FWIW, I usually only make one or two snide comments about tighty-whities and instead just concentrate on the digitally-delivered tedium.
#13 by MatthewF on December 15, 2008 - 10:23 am
Quote
I was about to announce that Charles Band was at one point up to direct Spiderman, but I see that it was actually Albert Pyun, back in the days when Cannon had the rights. God I miss Cannon. The mind boggles at what they would have made, having done such a bang-up job with Superman IV. It’s a shame that Full Moon didn’t get hold of one of those franchises. rather than procrastinating over the colour of supermans costume for 10 years as Warner Brothers did, they would have by now deivered 17 increasingly rubbish sequels in which the man of steel battles puppets in the Trancers universe.
But I digress.
#14 by The Rev. D.D. on December 15, 2008 - 10:23 am
Quote
By the way, Ms. Kingsley, I just want to say that the screen capture is $@#%ing great. I’ve giggled every time I’ve looked at it.
Partly because the guy kinda looks like The Hoff in that shot, and the idea of The Hoff being besieged by killer puppets makes me rather giddy.
#15 by Chad on December 15, 2008 - 10:45 am
Quote
DeCoteau, as one would expect of a man in his position, has excellent taste in beefcake
Really? Speaking as a red-blooded gay man, I have always been convinced any given DeCoteau film was the male homosexual equivalent of those straight softcore porns cut down to a R or PG-13 rating for distribution at Blockbuster (plus I prefer guys that don’t look like they came out of a factory somewhere; perhaps Charles Band has found a way to realize his mad dream of living dolls?!).
As for the other Howling films, Lyz, I have to admit I actually like V and VI: V because I have a weakness for supernatural murder mysteries, VI because I had a mad crush on the male lead and, as I always say, the hope for a shirtless scene springs eternal. As for VII, it made the godawful IV look like, well, the original Howling. I hope you have an inkling of what you’re in for.
#16 by El Santo on December 15, 2008 - 11:13 am
Quote
“DeCoteau, as one would expect of a man in his position, has excellent taste in beefcake
Really? Speaking as a red-blooded gay man, I have always been convinced any given DeCoteau film was the male homosexual equivalent of those straight softcore porns cut down to a R or PG-13 rating for distribution at Blockbuster (plus I prefer guys that don’t look like they came out of a factory somewhere; perhaps Charles Band has found a way to realize his mad dream of living dolls?!).”
What I like about DeCoteau is that he seems to favor guys with what I think of as boot camp bodies, rather than the gym-rat types I’m more used to seeing in situations where I’m being invited to drool over the male form. My personal taste in men runs strongly toward those who look like they came by their physiques through running around and climbing over things, as opposed to via thrice-weekly sessions with a personal trainer; the Tom of Finland look is definitely not for me.
#17 by Blake Matthews on December 15, 2008 - 12:41 pm
Quote
Wait a minute, are there two El Santo’s commenting on this blog?
#18 by El Santo on December 15, 2008 - 2:35 pm
Quote
Nope, just me.
#19 by Blake Matthews on December 15, 2008 - 5:03 pm
Quote
I got confused. One comment from El Santo talked about DeCouteau’s excellent choice in beefcake, whereas another comment El Santo seemed to be surprised by the previous comment El Santo had made. Now I’m confused.
#20 by Elizabeth the Ferret on December 15, 2008 - 5:52 pm
Quote
Nah, El Santo quoted someone who had quoted him. So there was a big huge quote fest on the merit of DeCoteau’s taste in beefcake.
#21 by Blake Matthews on December 15, 2008 - 6:09 pm
Quote
Ah. My screen had cut off the open quotes and I didn’t notice the close quotes. Sorry for wasting posts, guys.
#22 by Chadly on December 16, 2008 - 2:00 am
Quote
Wait. The Howling VII? …As in The Howling: New Moon Rising? … As in The Howling No Werewolf in Sight: Honky Tonk Armageddon?
I’m gonna go light another candle.
#23 by KeithA on December 16, 2008 - 10:14 am
Quote
Regarding what Cannon’s Spider-Man movie would have looked like, allow me to direct you to #6 on this list:
http://www.cracked.com/article_16716_7-terrible-early-versions-great-movies.html
#24 by Ed on December 16, 2008 - 10:31 am
Quote
There’s also some info on it at http://www.cannonfilm.org.uk
#25 by Ed on December 16, 2008 - 10:33 am
Quote
Sorry, that should be http://www.cannon.org.uk
#26 by supersonic on December 16, 2008 - 6:50 pm
Quote
I need to coax you into coming on a vacation to Bodega Bay.
#27 by supersonic on December 16, 2008 - 9:42 pm
Quote
Hey, I was just reading your review of The Green Slime. And I can’t help but notice that the slime in that movie is totally a precursor of The Andromeda Strain. (If it had been battled by James Tiberius Kirk.)
#28 by Baron Scarpia on December 18, 2008 - 2:07 am
Quote
Comment from The Rev. D.D.
Time: December 14, 2008, 10:44 pm
Aren’t we all, really? I mean, I actually watched [b]Can’t Stop the Music[/b] voluntarily today whilst scanning the channel guide. Just because, “Hey, it’s another Jabootu movie I haven’t seen!” More fool I.
Feh. I own a copy of Can’t Stop the Music. And I’ve inflicted it on friends. (Somehow they’re still friends, I don’t know why)
Beat that!
#29 by El Santo on December 18, 2008 - 7:45 am
Quote
I don’t know if this beats that, precisely, but I saw Showgirls on opening weekend– as a date movie. We stayed together for another five years, too, so I know it wasn’t that that did it…
#30 by The Rev. D.D. on December 18, 2008 - 10:39 am
Quote
Man, what a pissing contest this could lead to…probably not one I could win, though.
Although in high school I took a date to Species; and in college I took dates to I Know What You Did Last Summer and the sequel.
#31 by supersonic on December 19, 2008 - 1:15 am
Quote
I own a copy of Can’t Stop The Music and enjoy it unironically. It’s just fun!
As for Showgirls… I may be nowhere near cool enough to have taken a date to it, but I can say that when it came out, I already owned a photography book whose cover picture is the image that the Showgirls poster is an imitation of.
#32 by Tom Meade on December 19, 2008 - 7:57 am
Quote
My only story along these lines is of the time my father rented Blood Sucking Freaks and then made me turn it off after one scene.
I think he was trying to bond with me.