Change Your Image
jclem
Reviews
A Bucket of Blood (1995)
Not horror. Better!
This film is a bit quirky (what room full of "beatnicks" isn't?), but there's an aspect of dark comedy here that makes this film worth watching. It tries to make itself out to be a horror flick, but by the time the cat gets it, it's too funny to be even remotely scary.
If you enjoy dark humor and some off-the-wall dialog, watch this film. It's a B-grade flick, sure, but there's some very good acting here and some great "dark alley" cinematography!
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993)
Pathetically horrible
This movie shames the original and takes script-writing to an all-time low. Some of the effects were interesting, but the dialog was so bad and the characters so stereotyped, I couldn't finish watching it. 35 minutes was all I could tolerate.
Unless you enjoy really bad movies, avoid this one entirely.
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
This is one vampire movie that doesn't suck!
Having seen my share of vampire films in my nearly 40 years, I don't think I've ever seen one as well-done as this one. Bram Stoker's "Dracula" wasn't bad, but there was far more fluff than substance. Carpenter's "Vampires" was ludicrous...and "Blade"? Well, let's not even go there. This film, however, gives a depth of meaning to the life of a vampire that makes the monster far less threatening and far more understandable.
In this movie, we get to see what motivates them...why they do what they do and the general depths of depravity that isn't only innate to characters as vampires, but to that of humans in-general. I found the emotions portrayed in this film as more real than in any of the aforementioned vampire-themed films. And more, all the main actors did extremely credible jobs in their roles. I think the only role where Cruise has even come close to what he put into Lestat was in "A Few Good Men". Pitt was a bit pouty, yes, but that's his morose style anyway.
Anyway, this a thinking person's film. If you want blood, gore and body-parts all over the screen, see the films mentioned in the first paragraph. If you want something that makes you think, watch this movie.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
The more that things change...
Despite the nice homage paid to "Jaws" up-front, the more that action/suspense films stay the same these days. It's rather sad really, as this film had a lot of potential - it just never lived up to it (literally and figuratively).
Samuel L. Jackson must have some affinity for bad underwater films - he's been in two now: this one and "Sphere". Nevertheless, even his part doesn't hold this one's head above the water.
If you liked "Jaws", but have the desire to see it at 78-speed, watch this movie. Otherwise, don't waste your time.