This updated retelling of “The Invisible Man” saga starts out promising enough. A scientist donates his living body to his experiment and ends up turning invisible. The trick is in finding a way to get him back to the plainly visible. As the experiment goes awry, there is a momentary feeling of desperation for the scientist’s plight. No solution seems to be forthcoming. But that is where the dread ends. Sanity fades and the scientist ends up going a little batty and begins to luxuriate in the mischief and misdeeds available to him if no one can see him. Before long, he is completely following his own agenda and his fellow researchers become mere fodder for his evil acts. The last quarter of the movie becomes ludicrous as the above averaged brained scientists commit the most stupid acts imaginable and completely play into the hands of the unseen menace. In other words, a lot of these characters are there only to contribute to the body count. This movie truly sinks into a formulaic chase/action picture and I can honestly say that I didn’t care if any of these saps made it out alive. Check out the remake of “The Fly” for a memorable “mad scientist” flick.
It is with a heavy heart that I comment on the passing of our very dear friend, Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy proved to be a man of many talents. Among his accomplishments were successful turns as actor, director, writer, singer, and photographer. We all best remember him for his iconic portrayal of the Vulcan First Officer aboard the starship Enterprise, Mr. Spock. The “Star Trek” role endeared him to fans and established his place as one of the most beloved fictional characters in the history of, well, the world! Nimoy’s work as psychologist Dr. David Kibner in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is to me a beautiful showcase for the actor. I find his character to be one of my favorite parts of this movie. Seek out more of Leonard Nimoy’s artistic contributions. It is fine work indeed.
My favorite episode from the cinematic horror comic, “Creepshow”. This movie captured the flavor of horror comics infamously represented by the line put out by EC Comics in the 1940’s and 1950’s. There are flourishes of garish, saturated colors which permeate several chapters of this episodic anthology and some transitions from live action to cartoon graphics. Genre heavyweights George Romero of “Night of the Living Dead” fame and writer Stephen King lent their talents to the weird goings on here. This clip details a murderous act of revenge enacted by a jealous husband upon his unfaithful wife and her lover. The tide turns on the husband as the recently deceased refuse to stay settled in their watery grave and reappear in a rather grotesque, bloated state to return the favor. Nice acting turns by Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson. Nielsen losing his mind when confronted with the undead is rather affecting.
There has been a lot of discussion lately involving Clint Eastwood’s new film, “American Sniper”. But Eastwood has had a couple brushes in the past with sniper related elements in his movies. “Dirty Harry” featured a psycho killer who dispatches a lovely swimming in a pool from long range with a sniper rifle. “Joe Kidd” contained a character who uses a high powered rifle with a scope in the Old West to pick off victims. “The Enforcer” was the third picture in the “Dirty Harry” series. It ends up that Eastwood’s unorthodox cop, Harry Callahan, resorts to utilizing a laz rocket to annihilate another psycho villain who has kidnapped the mayor of San Francisco. The dilapidated prison setting of Alcatraz is where the “hit” goes down. We get the sniper’s point of view as Callahan sights in his prey and blows him to smithereens. For what it’s worth.
A disquieting tale of the destruction of a remote research station by unknown forces. The culprits are right under our noses but we don’t find out until the very end of the movie. Dread and paranoia in abundance as Robert Culp and Eli Wallach attempt to put a halt to the rapid erosion of the human community at a snowbound scientific research center. Will they find a solution in time? Similar surroundings and situation to “The Thing” but without an other worldly threat. An ABC Movie of the Week entry.
A motorcycle is destroyed during the course of this short film. Take it on good faith that the destroyed machine really was on its last legs. Now to haul it away….Can’t remember how that was accomplished.
A different approach to mastering your musical instrument is demonstrated here. Not the most cost effective way….but, a way. Strongly influenced by The Who and their auto destruction phase.
The Americans’ air defense system blows a gasket and a group of six bomb carrying jets is instructed to drop their payloads on Moscow. It is all a computer mistake but one that the US cannot put a stop to. The President’s solution to appease the Russians is far fetched and more than a bit absurd. Suspenseful and tense though the majority of the film making may be, I can’t buy the ending.
An oceanic mining team is coming to an end of a long tour of deep water duty. It is their misfortune to stumble upon a sunken Soviet ship close to their base of operations. Seems that there were dubious genetic experiments taking place aboard the Russian ship that led to its being sunk my the mother country. Our ever resourceful American divers are able to “tap” in to the remnants of the experiment and find that a couple of their crew members become infected with a nasty gene altering material. It isn’t long before it is a battle between humans and decidedly non-human, monstrous offshoots. “Leviathan” was a movie that appeared in the late 1980’s along with “The Abyss” and “Deepstar Six” to form a mini cycle of sea monster movies that found their inspiration from “Alien”. Peter Weller leads the ragtag cast of actors who make a last stand against a rampaging monster while their evil conglomerate sponsors topside delay any efforts at rescuing their hapless charges. Sounds a little like “Alien” to me.
“Below” is a nifty, submarine, World War II, ghost story all rolled into one. A submarine on search and destroy patrol in the Atlantic Ocean seems to be itself a cursed, doomed vehicle. Creepy events unfold and ghostly ambience abounds as the submarine meets with one disaster after another. I’ve watched it a couple of times at night and creeped myself out! Nice performance from Bruce Greenwood as the “new” captain of the boat.
Tensions between America and the Eastern Bloc escalate into a devastating nuclear exchange. We see the bleak results unleashed on one of our large cities and its populace.
There is an extended sequence in this made for television movie, “The Day After”, detailing a very harrowing nuclear missile attack on Kansas City, USA. It is an interesting collage of actual documentary footage detailing the effects on structures and the landscape by the detonation of atomic weapons, sound effects, and newly created film effects of buildings and bodies vaporizing in the flash heat fires which accompany nuclear blasts. Awful.
Pretty harrowing moviefare as a man and his son wander a wasteland attempting to survive a post apocalyptic North American landscape. The cause of the cataclysm is never fully divulged. We do know that most plant and animal life has been wiped out and resources such as food and water are in short supply. Based on Cormac McCarthy’s book of the same name.
A varied collection of unusual movie and music video clips.
