Horror Movies

[returnofjakedog]

So it looks like its a prequel. Set in '98. No Alice/Milla.

I wonder if they will try to return to the horror roots of the original game(s), or if they will continue with the schlock action-horror of the (previous) series.

 

[Blackshirts BLVD]

Not horror, but plenty of blood with some gore...

Mortal Kombat

Spoiler-less review.

Ok, so... it was not a good movie by any means, but it was fairly entertaining. The story, or lack there of was pretty bad. The main character isn't even in Mortal Kombat lore and that is dumb and lazy. Kano was funny, he definitely steals most of the scenes he is in. This should have been a Sub Zero vs Scorpion style movie instead, they were easily the best parts of the movie. There were some cool fatalities, but none of the fights seemed to matter nor last long.

A big pet peeve of mine.... CGI blood. What a waste of the budget. This honestly felt a lot like the new Power Rangers movie from a few years ago. Updated graphics which are nice, but not a well thought out story or movie as a whole.

4.5/10

 

[Blackshirts BLVD]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Not horror, but plenty of blood with some gore...

Mortal Kombat

Spoiler-less review.

Ok, so... it was not a good movie by any means, but it was fairly entertaining. The story, or lack there of was pretty bad. The main character isn't even in Mortal Kombat lore and that is dumb and lazy. Kano was funny, he definitely steals most of the scenes he is in. This should have been a Sub Zero vs Scorpion style movie instead, they were easily the best parts of the movie. There were some cool fatalities, but none of the fights seemed to matter nor last long.

A big pet peeve of mine.... CGI blood. What a waste of the budget. This honestly felt a lot like the new Power Rangers movie from a few years ago. Updated graphics which are nice, but not a well thought out story or movie as a whole.

4.5/10

Agreed with all the above. Not bad for a throwaway watch but you won't catch me rushing to rewatch it. If I did happen to stumble across it I wouldn't mind watching some of the fight scenes. The Sub-Zero vs Scorpion thread was definitely the strongest and should have, as you said, been more of a focus. Maybe they should have done an origins style plot that spawned this new movie with Cole at the forefront and focusing more on the conflict with the Outerworld/Savage-Land & the tournament.

The gore element was awesome, but yea some of the cgi blood was a little over the top. Still, it made some of the short fights feel much more worthwhile.

Casting was ok. Only person that I didn't think fit was the Shang Tsung actor. Not a bad actor; however he just didn't come off as malevolent as the character should have been. I think they could have also done without the Jax character altogether and let Sonya take over that role as well. Jax's arc was a little bit of a waste to be honest.

 

[DJ Fieri]

 

[DJ Fieri]

Back from Vegas all married....

 

[returnofjakedog]

Back from Vegas all married....

Congrats man!

 

[UVA_Guy81]

Just watched Critters 2. Just some good, cheesy fun for an hour and twenty minutes.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[returnofjakedog]

So I've watched a couple of horror series lately.

First up, Castle Rock (2018-19).

As a Stephen King fan this series is a smorgasbord of the King universe filled with characters, storylines, and easter eggs from his books throughout.

*Some (but probably not all) of the works referrenced include: It, Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, 'Salem's Lot, Dreamcatcher, Night Shift, The Green Mile, Misery, Hearts in Atlantis, The Shining, The Mangler, Four Past Midnight, Different Seasons, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, The Dark Half, The Night Flier, Cujo, The Dark Half, Needful Things The Tommyknockers, The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Tower, Stand By Me, and The Dead Zone.
*Though it includes other areas the main 2 locations are the fictional Maine towns of Castle Rock, and Jerusalem's Lot with a main secondary town of Derry. These three towns sit in a kinda triangular formation north-west of Portland and west-south of Bangor.

Season 1 deals with the discovery of an undocumented prisioner found in the bowels of Shawshank. The prisioner is played by Bill Skarsgard who played Pennywise in the It movies and appears to be reprising the role here (I won't go into further detail). The main protagonists are lawyer Henry Deaver, who has a strong past with the town, and his former childhood friend, played by the chick who played Charlie Sheen's neighbor-stalker in Two and a Half Men. Things start weird and then get weirder as things progress.


A lot goes on in Season 1 and it is a bit convoluted at times but it does have a well executed, and acted narrative.

Season 2 takes on a different storyline but plenty of cross over to the season 1 story remain. It deals with Annie Wilks (of Misery infamy) fleeing her past with her daughter and ending up in the Castle Rock area. The other main thread is Pops Merrill (played by Tim Robbins) and his brethren (including nephew Ace Merrill who was also an antagonist in Stand By Me, and Needful Things). This all tied in with a cult that exists in Jerusalem's Lot.


Both seasons are well executed. Good acting, direction, cinematography, soundtrack/score, fxs, etc. The convoluted and sometimes slow plot can sometimes drag a bit (particularly in Season 1 but it is a slight issue in both seasons).

Overall ratings:
Season 1: I'll go 6.5 to 7 range out of 10.
Season 2: Slightly better at 7.5 to 8 range out of 10.

My biggest problem in reviewing this is similar to others we have discussed in this thread. I am an admitted King fanboy and have read all of the related works. Therefore the characters, related plots, and easter eggs are highlights for me but they might not register at all with viewers who have lesser or no knowledge of the King universe. It also makes it impossible for me to view from an unbiased perspective (ie: I can't say if it presents as well to other viewers with less stakes in/information from the related stories).

A must watch for fans of King, or specific referrenced stories, but probably more hit and miss for other folks.

Last note: They retconned several things. The biggest issue here for me was the removal of much of the events of Needful Things and characters such as Pop Merrill and Ace Merrill. Needful Things is a criminally under-rated novel that could really use a series of it's own (it practically writes itself). Hopefully we will get said series some day.

 

[DJ Fieri]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Back from Vegas all married....

Did she make you sign a prenup?

Lol jk... Congrats my dude!

 

[DJ Fieri]

 

[returnofjakedog]

 

[returnofjakedog]

Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994)
So this is from 2 stories from scripts that Serling's wife found after Rod's death. My feeling after seeing these is that they were never meant to be Twilight Zone episodes as they don't really fit the "feel" of the series. Serling was a very prolific writer with many options for his work and, if anything, these feel more like the lesser known, more horror oriented series Rod Serling's Night Gallery.


So in 1994 they released this 2 feature film with The Theatre, and Where the Dead Are, and the narration by James Earl Jones.

The Theatre is a story about a lady who starts seeing the events of her life on the big screen interspersed in the older movies she is watching.
It is a bit boring. Amy Irving and Gary Cole (the boss from Office Space) do good jobs with what they are given but there isn't a lot of intrigue. Not much else to say about it.
Overall a 5 out of 10

The longer feature Where the Dead Are plays like a cross between a early 70s Hammer movie and an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation. It has quite a bit of dread ambience, and Jack Palance in a supporting role. A fine story though not standard to most Serling's tales I have read and seen. But the end was a bit weak imo.
I'd go 7 out of 10.

Fans of Serling should see it, but even some Twilight Zone fans could be a little disappointed as it does not fit perfect with the original series. It is still better than the 1985 and 2002 reboot series as my memory serves but I haven't seen the 2019 version so I can't speak on that.

 

[Blackshirts BLVD]

Agreed with all the above. Not bad for a throwaway watch but you won't catch me rushing to rewatch it. If I did happen to stumble across it I wouldn't mind watching some of the fight scenes. The Sub-Zero vs Scorpion thread was definitely the strongest and should have, as you said, been more of a focus. Maybe they should have done an origins style plot that spawned this new movie with Cole at the forefront and focusing more on the conflict with the Outerworld/Savage-Land & the tournament.

The gore element was awesome, but yea some of the cgi blood was a little over the top. Still, it made some of the short fights feel much more worthwhile.

Casting was ok. Only person that I didn't think fit was the Shang Tsung actor. Not a bad actor; however he just didn't come off as malevolent as the character should have been. I think they could have also done without the Jax character altogether and let Sonya take over that role as well. Jax's arc was a little bit of a waste to be honest.

YES!!!

What they need to do is give it the Marvel Makeover. Treat it like its own universe. Each main character can have their own origin movie and eventually they all lead to Mortal Kombat (i.e. Avengers).

It was pretty stupid and ridiculous that **SPOILER ALERT** they talk about Mortal Kombat, but it is just forgotten and nothing comes of it. That type of shit.... and the CGI blood, the writers/director deserve to be smacked for that.

I agree about the Shang Tsung actor. I didn't get the vibe that he fit the role, but I am also a big supporter of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawas version. Maybe I am biased because of that.

 

[Blackshirts BLVD]

 

[Blackshirts BLVD]

 

[DJ Fieri]