Batman and Robin (1997)
It’s hard to find a movie as critically reviled and universally despised as Batman and Robin. But I was going into this with an open mind. I hadn’t seen the film in twenty years, since seeing it on opening night. I must have blocked the film out of my mind with some PTSD-like fight or flight […]
Bad Dreams (1988)
Everyone likes to proclaim that the world is so much worse today than it ever has been. If you feel that way and weren’t alive for the 1970s, allow me to debase you of this notion. The “Me Decade” was full of random violence, the fuel crisis, Three Mile Island, Watergate, Son of Sam, the […]
A whole bunch of Alien rip-offs all at once!
If I had all the time in the world, I’d write up more detailed essays on some of the films that Alien inspired. That said — I’d be upset at myself were I to not inform you, dear reader, of these homages. Or ripoffs. You can say ripoffs, if you wish. Inseminoid (1981) This British/Hong Kong film was […]
Forbidden World (1982)
A week of only watching Alien ripoffs? Sure. Sign me up. Along the way, I’ve got to explore some old favorites, unearth some dusty TV movie affairs and learned of the existence of 1982’s Forbidden World, another Roger Corman produced effort that uses Galaxy of Terror’s sets and Battle Beyond the Stars’ special effects. Director Allan Holzman (Emmy winning director/editor of Steven […]
Xtro (1982)
Alien is a haunted house movie in space that has begat a slew of imitators, copycats and outright rip-offs. 1982’s Xtro, on the other hand, is truly a movie that has something for everyone, if everyone includes folks who want to see movie about a father reconnecting with his son, as well as a film where Maryam […]
The Intruder Within (1981)
While Alien is by no means a wholly originally film — just watch Bava’s Planet of the Vampires — its success has begat a spawn (Deadly Spawn, too) of imitators. I’ve made it my insane mission to watch as many of them as possible — I can guarantee that at least one or two of them will be much […]
Yor Hunter from the Future (1983)
“He is from a future world. Trapped in prehistoric times. Searching for his past. A hunter of incredible power and strength. In his quest for his origin, he and the woman he loves must fight hostile tribes. Battle deadly beasts. And try to survive the violent forces of a newly born Earth.” The first time I […]
The Sentinel (1977)
My teachers and guidance counselors in high school told me, explained to me, screamed at me: “You’ll never learn anything being obsessed with all of these horror movies!” I would argue that I have learned plenty — and 1977’s The Sentinel would be my doctoral thesis in “I Live My Life by What I Learned from 1970s […]
The Car (1977)
America. The late 70s. It was a very different time and place, to be sure. Fuel was scarce. Crime wasn’t. We weren’t yet in the grip of the 1980s Satanic Panic, but thanks to Manson, Son of Sam and Zodiac, we were darn close. And despite blockbusters taking over the cinema, there remained grimy little […]
Queen Kong (1976)
From the lunacy of A*P*E* to Toho’s seminal King Kong Escapes — with a sideways glance at a Kong novelty record — I’ve been devoted to studying everything Kong related in celebration of the big gorilla’s return to the big screen. But 1976’s Queen Kong nearly broke me. Due to legal action by Dino De Laurentiis, maker of the bloated 70s […]
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