J*A*S*M

An amazing piece of filmmaking supported by an equally amazing music score. The story at the beginning is a bit too tedious for my taste, but things improve with every minute, and the last half hour (or rather, from the visit to the cemetery on) it’s already a five-star worthy experience. One of the most balanced horror movies I've seen, where not a single component (direction, music, actors, script) lags significantly behind the others.

The beginning was pretty good, but unfortunately, after half an hour it started to bore me. The twist elevated it to a slightly above-par level, but Cronenberg has impressed me more with other films. Here the director flies too low and the result is far below his potential. I’m quite looking forward to the remake that is in the works.

There was a time when I was in love with Peter Jackson and had great fun with Braindead, but when I put it on again today it failed to match my flawless memories. It is very bloody and insane, with a lot of memorable funny scenes, but the overall impression… I don’t know, it’s like an amusement park. Over-the-top characters, over-the-top action, all intentional, of course, but I’ve already learned to like different stuff. I’m bringing the original five stars down, and I’m not sure whether four or three.

A slight drop in quality after the first two episodes, but still worthy of attention, with a second half that delivers quite some carnage. I don’t understand why the creators decided to reduce the humour and focus the attention on the characters of the doctor and the journalist, leaving West somewhere in the background; that was a mistake. The plot was never one of the strengths of Re-Animator, and that’s also the case here – I’d go as far as to say that in this episode the screenwriting emptiness reaches its peak. But they didn’t spare ideas and bloody gimmicks, thanks to which the film deserves three stars, but barely so.

Before anything, I should say that this film is more comedy than horror, and quite unbalanced at that (you won’t be overflowing with joy after the ending). The first half delivers mostly childish jokes, while the second relies on expressive comedy and mildly sad humour, with the film’s overall tone fortunately following the vibes of the second half. Bruce Campbell is great, as always, and the insane premise is also worth praise, but I can’t avoid the impression that they could have got a lot more out of it, either going full on or avoiding jokes like the festering growth on Elvis’s manhood. I’m not giving it more than three stars today (that’s what happens when you expect insane horror comedy and what you get instead is a slow film with almost philosophical insight), but that rating might change with time.

Bloodier, more insane and more B-movie than the first part – in other words, better. There’s a greater dose of action, humour and Frankenstein perversion and the last 15 minutes are proper splatter fun. Herbert West is a great character, Jeffrey Combs elevates the other actors whenever he appears on screen and the level (of entertainment) increases sharply. And since he’s on screen almost all the time, I can’t avoid an above-average rating.

Sci-Fi Channel presents another horror film about a violent monster, this time it’s the turn of the werewolf. I agree with Le-Chuck, but I’d add that, coming from this TV station, for many people this film might be a pleasant surprise on account of it being watchable. The tolerability of the scenes with Kevin Sorbo is incredible, he’s still the best “actor”. The TV quality of the film is evident in every scene, which could be forgiven if the script wasn’t offensive to every sensible being – 20%.

Wow, I remembered Re-Animator a lot weaker than it feels today after a second viewing. Rewatching it was a pleasant surprise, it’s brilliant horror fun with great characters, with Herbert West being of course the best. For a horror comedy, the plot is quite unpredictable, and also quite bloody and brutal for the 80s. The last fifteen minutes are awesome.

I didn’t like this at all. The promising premise is literally killed by bad acting and an excessive runtime – there are some scenes that I would simply delete. The story changes locations constantly, which affects the already weak atmosphere – it basically never manages to build one – and the stupid behaviour of the characters doesn’t help, either. The special effects didn’t look that good, quite the opposite, actually. I didn’t like the ending, either, it’s too predictable and kitsch. Lifeforce was a disappointment. 45%

A good thriller that gets a mysterious touch in the middle and by the end slides into horror. The story is not exactly packed with action, it moves forward rather slowly to reveal a surprising twist at the end, and it is really surprising. Formally, I don’t think there’s anything to reproach, but the film didn’t win my heart because voodoo is a topic that I don’t care much for, and that prevents a full score.