barfly4404 Reviews

Alone in the Dark (1982)

A good 'psycho-logical' 80's Slasher

[7/10 · 16 January 2006]

Don't be put off by the title {it has nothing in common with Uwe Boll's craptastic masterpiece}, Alone in the Dark is a clever, yet non overly ambiguous entry in the 80's slasher scene, one of the few with a veteran cast of proved actors.

Dr. Dan Potter {Schultz} has landed a new job at a mental health clinic, as a special patient supervisor and counselor. He's in for more than he bargained for however with a group of maniacs stationed on the 3rd floor. The Fab Four includes a serial killer who gets nosebleeds every time he kills, a true 'Bleeder', a 400 lb child murderer who'd love to devour Dr. Potter's young daughter, a crazed former POW, and a preacher who sets fires to churches. When Hawkes {Palance}, gets the idea that Dr. Potter is out to kill them, he strikes up a plan to get Potter and put an end to the madness.

As the title insinuates, a power outage provides for an inconvenience when the men, separated from the outside world by only electricity, escape.

The film has enough gore and usual slasher hijinks {T&A, babysitter and her boyfriend} to keep the average horror film fan satisfied, but Director Jack Sholder {The Hidden} includes enough twists and turns, and attempts to set up a good enough cast for suspense and atmosphere, that the film's rough edges are smoothed out a bit. The film even briefly examines the hypocrisy in the medical world, what is crazy exactly, to us or to anyone else?

Though not a major standout, this along with some great over the top acting by Palance and Landau, help to set the film apart from other slashers of the era.

The Meaning of Life (1983)

There's Always Life of Brian

[5/10 · 11 August 2005]

After all these years I finally caught up on seeing the final Monty Python film, and to be honest it was easy to see why I waited so long. This film revolves around 'The Meaning of Life', which so happens to be a dumb life if you ask me. The jokes are sporadically funny, but there are some segments that don't really work at all.

The film starts with several fish, voiced by all the MP actors, looking out their fish tank trying to decide what life really means. Then, the film diverges into multiple segments. I personally thought the Birth segment wasn't funny at all, even though I'm an MP fan, but as the film continued I began to enjoy it a little more. The only two segments I can say I thoroughly enjoyed were War and Death, the final one where an annoyed Grim Reaper strikes, hilariously mistaken for a dinner guest.

A lot of the segments I thought either went a tad too far, or didn't go far enough. The film did contain some classic MP humor here and there, and the soundtrack is actually quite good, laced with some pretty good songs. But all in all this was a rather mediocre installment in the MP series. I don't know if it was just dated or what, because I'd say only about 20% of the humor worked. If you're a MP fan, then see this, but be warned that its nowhere near MP and the Holy Grail or Life of Brian. If you're just looking for a funny film, this probably can wait seeing that its the most mediocre film in the series and not really laugh out loud funny, it isn't even very funny that often, but it still has its moments.

5/10

Supercross (2005)

So So For Fans, Stay Away If Not

[4/10 · 11 August 2005]

I was actually surprised that Supercross got even a 4 from me. It was such dumb fun, that I couldn't help but resist. Trust me, the film is really pretty bad, but me being somewhat of an extreme sport fan myself, it was hard to turn away in parts. But its this style of MTV generation kids, the ones who made this film, and the ones who may like it, that worries me. I just hope nobody mistakes this schlock for a piece of art.

The writing is, pure and simple, awful. The acting is atrocious as well, and the film get's more predictable as it goes. The dramatic sequences rarely work, but the motorbike races are actually filmed fairly well, and I was impressed with some of the stunt work. Though predictable, the film offers us a character or two to like, but the 'villians' are so cheesy and clichéd that its almost unbearable.

I won't dig deep into the plot, but it revolves around two brothers who find motocross to be a good escape from their troubles at home and after their father's death. The main characters are quite a pain, one is bossy and the other is a genuine idiot who becomes increasingly annoying, and in the final scenes I actually wanted him to crash. The emotional scenes are worthy of a cringe or two, and a predictable romance subplot gradually unfolds. The story really proceeds to make less and less sense, and all the film can offer by the end is some nice eye candy. The one liner attempts are also equally miserable.

If you're a fan of the sport, then its recommended not as a film, but more just a long infomercial on the sport, with some nice stunt work. The story is at best 3rd grade level and the bad acting is hard to ignore, but it gives a decent perspective on the sport, decent enough that a lot of fans shall be pleased. But if you're not a fan of this sport, then at all costs: Stay away!

4/10