asmushar Reviews

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973 TV Movie)

For an 8 yr old this is as creepy as it gets!

[9/10 · 19 October 2010]

I remember seeing this movie on TV when I was 8 and it scared the @#$! out of me. The plot seems familiar but has a disturbing twist. Woman inherits creepy old mansion and finds it to be haunted, unlucky for her there are no ghosts here but rather sinister looking demons which she unwittingly sets free. I have not seen this movie for at least 30 years but remember it very well. This movie is not for children as it plays to every child's fear: something under the bed-in the closet-dark corners. This movie, to its credit, also leaves behind more questions than answers. What are the creatures, Demons, goblins or something else? Where did they come from + how the hell do you get rid of them? The film only reveals that they can't stand light and seem to be able to appear and disappear at will-except from the furnace which is both brick and metal. The demons also seem to be tethered to the house-no explanation. Demons seems most appropriate since they seem to enjoy tormenting the heroine psychologically 1st before they attempt to do physical harm! Take the sinister looking antagonists + add an unorthodox ending + you have an excellent horror film. The remake should be interesting, but if it gets the typical modern horror makeover-CGI + over explaining every minute detail-lack of appropriate atmosphere + it won't measure up. One of the creepiest horror flicks ever!

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Ultra low budget but still great!

[10/10 · 13 October 2010]

If you are looking for high quality special effects you will not like this film. The good news is that this movie does not need F/X to be effective it succeeds on a much higher level. The acting ( mainly price) is excellent and the movie creates a sense of loneliness and despair that few movies (if any) can match. The zombies/vampires are present but they are not the focal point of the movie, rather they exist in the aftermath of the apocalypse. This movie strikes all the right chords in telling its story. Unlike the ridiculous 2007 flick "I am legend" this movie's strength lies in its substance not over the top CGI. This is one of the few films I have seen starring VP and it made me appreciate him as a great actor. Watch this movie and its 2007 re make b2b (if you can get through the latter!) and you will see what I mean.

I Am Legend (2007)

Typical modern CGI horror film!

[1/10 · 13 October 2010]

First let me say that will smith is terribly overrated as an actor. That out of the way this film cannot be blamed on his performance. Apparently, the current horror/action adventure paradigm coming out of Hollywood seems to be to hype such movies to death and then throw as much CGI at the audience as can be afforded. Then pay off the initial critics to stimulate attendance. Unlike "The last man on earth" with Vincent Price (which is a vastly superior movie) this movie has no soul and fails to generate the proper (or any!) atmosphere. The VP movie was ultra low budget but told the story perfectly and conveyed the hero's despair over losing his child, his wife and ultimately his world to a mysterious plague. This movie attempts to compensate for plot development and acting with 'bionic" superpowered zombie like creatures who can run like the flash and scale walls like spiderman. Too bad they are the bad guys. The 7 rating to date is a joke-this movie is lousy!

Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

Not as bad as 4+5, but bad!

[2/10 · 8 October 2010]

The good=Mindy Clark is hot! The bad=the rest of the movie! The zombie love story did not work for me at all. Storyline in short: military brat reanimates GF after getting her killed in an motorcycle accident, brats dad is in charge of the trioxin project ( apparently the military is so sharp they have not learned to leave this stuff alone yet!) allowing brat to illicitly gain access to secret facility, GF slowly descends to full zombie status-sort of. And believe it or not its all downhill from here. More annoyingly the director/writer paid little attention to the rotld rules spelled out in the 1st two movies. Unlike the 1st 2 flicks now you can be reanimated if you are bitten whereas the original established that only trioxin gas can reanimate the dead. The film maker seems to be confused with the night of the living dead series. In addition the electrocution angle introduced in pt 2 is forgotten and the living dead are referred to as virtually indestructible? Again, the military officers in this movie are about as sharp as bowling balls. Then there's the pain/hunger contradiction which another reviewer pointed out. Why call it ROTLD 3 if you don't follow the rules of the 1st 2. Tries to go in a different direction + fails. Avoid this if you are a fan of the 1st 2 or a sci-fi fan who has seen the other 2 movies. Add all this to the above mentioned plot(?) and you have one lousy horror flick. F/X were not bad though.

Return of the Living Dead II (1988)

Fairly decent sequel

[6/10 · 7 October 2010]

This movie does not deserve some of the harsh reviews it has garnered here imo. It is a much better horror film than ROTLD 3 and you can totally write off ROTLD 4+5 which were horrendous and I don't mean so bad they were good, I mean god awful! This movie centers around what looks to be a new suburban area ( so new 1/2 the houses are partially constructed). The hero here is a young boy and his sister. The characters are OK and make no mistake this film in no way approaches the original. However I did like the introduction of electricity as a means of destroying the "living dead". It has a certain sci-fi plausibility to it. Electricity essentially fry's the cadavers reanimated cns as well as every other nerve system as well in effect finally eliminating the zombie. Electrical current would also have the effect of dehydrating the reanimated tissue-so like I said sci-fi plausibility. This film is better than average and worth a look if you liked the 1st one. Again, don't expect the same quality though.

Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

Not as good as the 1st but Good!

[8/10 · 6 October 2010]

When I first saw fright night 2 I thought it was a very good horror movie. I had not yet seen the original, which of course was great! Fright Night 2 (FN2 for short) does not exactly take up where the original left off. The "amy" character is left out which I felt was no loss. The college aspect was good, but the shrink angle not so much. This film is still a good horror film though and I think Julie Carmen (What happened to her?) was very sexy as the chief vamp. Peter vincent is back and Roddy Mcdowell plays him to a tee. This movie is not scary or creepy in any sense but it does tell a good story of a vamp seeking revenge although we don't find this out until about 45 minutes in. If you liked the first one you will like this one too. Again it is not as good as the 1st but sequels rarely are! Unfortunately cable does not show FN2 often which is a shame since most so called modern horror flicks are total trash.

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Probably the best zombie movie

[9/10 · 6 October 2010]

When I first saw ROTLD I actually did not like it, I happened to turn it on during one of the brain munching scenes and was actually sort of grossed out! This is not easily accomplished as I am a horror fan but yep this film did it. I don't think brains are anyone's favorite organ to view at least not mine. This is probably one of the intentions of this movie- to up the ante on night of the living dead. This film accomplishes this in several ways which I discovered years later when I actually sat through the whole thing. The zombie's in this series are fast, harder to get rid of and can work together to get you! This film is funny, scary and gross all at the same time- a weird but very effective combo. It is now one of my favorite horror movies and I think it will stand the test of time. Just a note, the second movie was OK, the third was bad and started to veer away from o'bannon's new zombie rules. I will review those movies as well.

Fright Night (1985)

My favorite Vampire movie!

[10/10 · 6 October 2010]

This flick is my favorite vamp movie of all time and IMO one of the best horror movies as well. The movie stands out as having a sense of fun to it despite being a full fledged monster/action film. All the characters are perfectly cast with the exception of "Marcy" (she is supposed to be a teen? she is supposed to be hot?) who is badly miscast here. This is probably why she does not appear in the second installment. The film moves at a brisk pace and is both comedic and horrific. This film has also stood the test of time well- even my son loves it! An all time horror classic ! The film stays true to the vampire genre while charting a course of its own. I thought the concept of having to have total faith in utilizing the cross against a vampire was ingenious and made sense. There really is not a boring stretch in the movie. When there is a pause in the action the characters/plot are being developed. Rent or buy it and you will not be disappointed if you are a horror fan.

Night of the Demons (1988)

Great action Horror film!

[10/10 · 11 December 2009]

I remember seeing this film in the theater and liking it. I happened to stumble upon it on fear net last month and watched it again and found it better with age. First of all for those of you who describe this as 80s cheese if you objectively compare it with the horror flicks of the past 2 decades it compares quite well if stacked up against films in its unique horror sub genre which I would term action/horror as opposed to psychological horror such as "The Shining" or "the exorcist".

Furthermore for its budget this film really delivers the goods (or in this instance bad). The film actually has some character development and gives enough of a history of the infamous hull house to get the atmosphere right before the characters set foot in the front door. The film also has several hilarious one liners and gives the appropriate mood that a creepy horror flick should have. If you compare NOD to contemporary big budget horror films such as "I am legend" (The Vincent Price version was much better) this film really stands out. Modern horror flicks have become almost completely dominated by CGI. Most have no plot or character devel at all and are completely predictable. The special effects dominate these movies from start to finish and the characters are 24k plastic. If this is 80s horror cheese I'll take it over 95% of current entries in the genre.

On a closing note seeing NOD again made me remember the beautiful Jill Terashita and wonder why I have not seen her in more films horror or otherwise. Jill on the odd chance that you read this- I think you are gorgeous and should have been in more films. Lastly, if you like action horror flicks you will probably like this one a lot.