Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Well, as it turns out Katie was saving her REALLY Disturbing Behavior for later...) 『Disturbing Behavior (1998) Oh oh! It seems something strange is happening to the kids at Steve's new school. The "bad kids" are transforming one by one into the Blue Ribbon bunch, overachievers with a slight penchant for violence and murder. Can Steve (James Marsden) and new girlfriend Rachel (Katie Holmes-TV's Dawson's Creek) maintain their identities long enough to solve the mystery? This one can't get past the fact that it is cribbed from so many other movies (The Stepford Children, Strange Behavior). Also, though Marsden and Holmes are okay, there's not enough character development here for them to sink their teeth into. The most telling factor is that the distribution company believed they had a dog on their hands and chopped this down to a bare bones 74 minutes. This does keep the film moving along, but a little more character development or a few more "quiet moments" might have helped flesh this out. Character actor William Sadler (Die Hard 2) spices things up as a brighter-than-he-looks school janitor, but he can't save this one. Skip it. Also with Nick Stahl, Bruce Greenwood, and Steve Railsback.』
(High school horror?) 『Loner Steve Clark (James Marsden) and his family have just moved from Chicago to an idyllic village in the northwest. As he starts school, Steve finds the usual cliques, the strangest being a group called "the Blue Ribbons;" they're the handsomest jocks and most beautiful co-eds and seem perfect but have a bad habit of beating people up - and getting away with it. Steve is befriended by a stoner (Nick Stahl) and a punk girl (Katie Holmes) who share his suspicions about the Blue Ribbons. Can they solve the mystery - in time?!
First of all, James Marsden is way too good-looking, charming, and old to play the outsider teen. He's extremely likeable and sincere, however, and was the only reason I kept watching to the end, hoping this confusing mess would make sense. I guess it did have a plot, but it was so poorly written that it's pretty laughable. There was nothing in the story that seemed believeable. The teen and adult characters were all stereotypes, the Marsden and Holmes characters suddenly became brilliant detectives and figured out an evil plan to turn the student body into Stepford Teens, and zombies, it seems, are really dumb and apparently no one will notice if they all disappear.
For a so-called "thriller," this movie was not suspenseful at all, just silly and amateurish. (But James Marsden looks good.)』
(C'mon Ray Ray, give up the play for ol' Chuck!) 『Disturbing Behavior is essentially an American adaptation of the classic A Clockwork Orange. Where juvenile delinquints were targeted before, now it's every kid who doesn't exude the perfect behavior.
The movie begins with a teenage couple making out at an overlooking bluff. When the girl gets a little too frisky, the young man tells her that he "needs his fluids". When she doesn't follow his suggestion, his eyes glow slightly, and then he snaps her neck. To make matters worse, the local police happen upon the scene, and at least one of the cops is complicit. Unfortunately for them, this is all seen by a local kid named Gavin (Nick Stahl), who has an inexplicably verbose vocabulary for a high school student.
Meanwhile, the perfect WASP family is moving into quiet Cradle Bay, a community where the most happening place is a Yogurt Shoppe, and the most exciting news is usually related to a bake sale somewhere. Steve (James Marsden) is the clean-cut, go-getter, and like the rest of his family, he is recently mourning the loss of his older brother. At his new school, however, he'll soon be mourning the fact that the social divide is far beyond most high schools; it's the "Greasers" versus the "Soc'ias", but to the Nth degree. In the new school, as explained by Gavin and an albino friend nicknamed UV, it's "Motorheads", "Microgeeks", "Skaters", and "Blue Ribbons", a group of school do-gooders, who are just a little too perfect, a little too 1950s.
Steve soon sees Rachel (Katie Holmes), a beautiful outcast who ridiculously insists on using the word "razor" as a slang term. Katie Holmes may have never been better looking in a movie. Soon enough he's distracted, however, by one of the Blue Ribbon kids going berzerk and beating two other high school kids, even ripping out a nose-ring, because his attraction to Rachel was too much to handle. It seems that when Blue Ribbons have emotional or sexual attraction they're not quite up to Blue Ribbon standards.
Within two days, Steve notices that one of the rougher students, who recently got in a fight with one of the Blue Ribbons, has suddenly become a straight-laced Blue Ribbon. It's just a bit too odd for Steve, or anyone else's tastes. He hears about Gavin's theory that the kids at school are being brainwashed and/or lobotomized by the school therapist Dr. Caldicott, and he meets Mr. Newberry, an insane janitor at the school.
To prove his theories, Gavin sneaks into school with Steve one evening, and learns that Gavin's parents are planning on enrolling him into one of the weekend retreats that has helped, maybe even created, the rest of the Blue Ribbons. What happens next shocks everyone.
As a result, Steve and Rachel realize they must fight the rest of the school, the growing school conspiracy, the Blue Ribbons, and what seems like the entire town in order to find out what has been happening. It's a race to not only save themselves, but also friends and family who may be affected. Disturbing Behavior is a well-made adaptation, with great acting, and a few interesting twists to keep the viewers guessing.』
(ONE OF MARSDEN'S BEST) 『If a "spooky" movie is supposed to give you the creeps, this film does the job. Lots of strange characters from police officers to students. James Marsden, who is excellent in everything he does, plays the hero Steve. Nick Stahl is great here but greater in Carnivale. Good acting all around. Steve Railsback and Bruce Greenwood are standouts, and the actor who played the janitor was a scene stealer! Great surprise ending too. A good fun movie with just enough suspense and fear to make you love it!』
(Underrated) 『High School! Yay! If you're like me, you loathe the very mention of "High School". The principal in charge of my school ran the place like a prison. No pop machines. No soft drinks or candy allowed. Need to use the bathroom? Tough. Go when you're walking to your next class. I won't even get into the fact that when I turned eighteen at the beginning of my last year I could legally smoke cigarettes yet for some reason wasn't allowed to even OUTSIDE of the building without receiving some sort of punishment. Of course, after the warden moved on a few years later, the kids there had pop machines, candy machines, and could leave for lunch whenever they felt like it. I'm not bitter about it, really. It's so far in the past that I laugh about my experiences there whenever anyone mentions high school. Which, fortunately, isn't often. My encounters with high school these days largely come to me through movies. It looks like kids today have to go through the same crud I endured years ago. I feel for them. My advice to these poor souls: gut it out. Life gets much, much better in a few years.
None of this nonsense has much to do about anything except to serve as a rather lame introduction to my review of David Nutter's 1998 film "Disturbing Behavior". The movie introduces us to Steve Clark (James Marsden), a young man moving into the small town of Cradle Bay and trying to navigate his way through the social hell that is high school. He quickly meets up with two important characters: Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl) and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes). These two kids definitely look the part of outsiders. Strick mumbles a lot and has that old soul look, and Wagner dresses in black and sulks all over the place. Still, the two provide our hero with plenty of information about the various goings on in Cradle Bay High School. In one scene early on in the movie, Strick sits with Clark in the cafeteria and provides a quick run down of the various social cliques. The stoners, car lovers, nerds...you get the idea, except he has different names for them. Gavin makes sure to point out one group in particular, a collection of neatly groomed youngsters he calls "Blue Ribbons". They're the upright, popular kids who also excel in school.
But something is horribly, terribly wrong with the members of the Blue Ribbon gang. Let's call them a cult, actually. As Steve Clark soon learns, the town fell under the sway of one Dr. Edgar Endicott (Bruce Greenwood). He developed a plan, a behavior modification plan, that promises to transform troubled kids into straight arrows. Sounds great, doesn't it? Most of the parents in Cradle Bay think so. The Blue Ribbon cult keeps getting bigger and bigger as more kids fall into the orbit of Endicott's program. There's just one LITTLE problem with the new in crowd. The members have a tendency to erupt into cyclones of violence at the drop of the hat, usually when something excites those darn teenage hormones. Witness the carnage that takes place in a supermarket in one scene, and I think you'll agree that something isn't right here. Clark launches an investigation, spurred on by Gavin's sudden conversion into a Blue Ribboner, and what he finds isn't pretty. Endicott, with the help of Officer Cox (Steve Railsback), is performing bizarre experiments in the field of neurology. I think it's safe to say that brain surgery, behavior modification, and raging hormones lead to one heck of a conclusion.
"Disturbing Behavior" is a lot of fun. The movie achieves heights of ridiculousness, especially during the grand finale, but that didn't stop me from grabbing on to this sucker's horns and riding it until the gruesome end. Let's run over the positives real quick. One, Katie Holmes. She's smoking hot in this film. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for her, but she attains heights of foxiness here I never imagined. Simply gorgeous. It's painful to think she's glued to Mr. Xenu in real life. Two, Nick Stahl is a really good actor. He can take something as goofy as "Disturbing Behavior" and sell it to the audience. Third, what's up with Hollywood and janitors? Between the guy in "The Breakfast Club" and the janitor here that lends a helping hand to Steve and his buddies, Dorien Newberry (William Sadler), it's obvious Tinseltown has a love affair with those pursuing a career in the custodial arts (a nod to Bender there). Four, and finally, it's nice to see Ethan Embry and Katharine Isabelle in small supporting roles. Now let's peruse the negatives. There aren't any, really, unless you count the film's short runtime. "Disturbing Behavior" clocks in at a paltry eighty-four minutes, including credits. Ouch!
The "Disturbing Behavior" DVD contains mucho supplements. We get a music video from The Flys, a commentary track featuring director David Nutter, an alternate ending, and eleven deleted scenes. That's a lot of deleted scenes! They should've just plugged them back into the movie to up the runtime. Anyway, I enjoyed this movie immensely. I remember when it came out back in the late 1990s, and I remember it tanking fast, so I put off seeing it until now thinking that it must have really stunk. The returns were so low that David Nutter has done nothing but television work since the film came out. Well, the critics and theater audiences were wrong; it's a great, entertaining horror flick filled with violence and heavy-handed messages about social conformity. In other words, it's high school with Katie Holmes. By the way, did I mention Katie Holmes is smoking hot? Good. I give this movie five stars. I give Katie ten stars. Good flick.』 『This paranoia-fueled thriller, more intelligent and imaginative than you would have reason to believe, owes a huge debt toThe Stepford Wiveswith its premise of a goody-good high school clique programmed by an evil doctor to be wholesome, academically driven, and shining examples of clean living. Unlike its predecessor, though, David Nutter's film opts to open up its premise for everyone to see, diluting the scares but amplifying the creepy atmosphere. There's never any question of what's happening to the students of Cradle Bay High, who go from being druggies and sex fiends to the academically excellent Blue Ribbons, but it's a lot of fun to see these programmed teens run amok--and start killing people--when their hormones kick in. And considering they're all horny teenagers, this happens, oh, at least a few times a day. Model-perfect James Marsden, with stunning cheekbones and piercing blue eyes, is the new kid in town who stumbles on the plot with a little help from metalhead Nick Stahl. Moody Marsden stirs up trouble when he refuses to join up with the Blue Ribbons, prompting his concerned parents to consider signing him up for the program, especially after it turns Stahl into a vest-wearing, pep-rallying brainiac. The satire isn't entirely fulfilled (the evil kids hang out at the yogurt shop and spout inspirational platitudes), but once the action kicks in it's quite an enjoyable ride, thanks primarily to Bruce Greenwood (ofThe Sweet Hereafter) as the mad scientist behind it all and Katie Holmes (Go) as Marsden's love interest. Refusing the advances of the star football player and fighting gamely alongside Marsden, Holmes manages to deck a few bad guys with a fervor that squarely puts her in Linda Hamilton and Jamie Lee Curtis territory. With Steve Railsback as the colluding chief of police and Dan Zudovic as a janitor with a penchant for getting rid of "rats," rodent and otherwise.--Mark Englehart』 『Hot stars James Marsden ("Bella Mafia"), Katie Holmes ("Dawson's Creek") and Nick Stahl (The Thin Red Line) set the screen ablaze in this breathlessly fast-paced jolt-fest from veteran "X-Files" director David Nutter. Written by Scott Rosenburg (Con-Air) and featuring a hip soundtrackfrom the hottest bands around, this "clutch-your-armrest thriller" (Teen People) will pull you into the undercurrent of a deranged high school cliqueand drag you away screaming! Achieve, be excellent...and be afraid. For when the esteemed Blue Ribbon club of Cradle Bay High take their slogans too far, things in the small coastal town begin to go wrong. Dead wrong. And when a "dark sinister force" begins turning the school's curricularly challenged into the soulless, academic elitethree "outsiders" join in a desperate race to avoid becoming insidersand losing their individuality forever!』
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (it was alright) 『[good things] The story in all was pretty good, I loved the overall atmosphere of the movie. It reminded me a lot of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Wrong Turn type movie. The movie did have another brilliant performance by genre superstar John Saxon. The movie, while staying creepy as hell, added a lot of fun and humor, without going way too far. I really enjoyed the two redneck sons, they really added a lot of humor to the movie and it made the really slow parts easier to watch.
[the bad] The movie was really tame, there were scares, but nothing to write home about. Barely any blood, and very few deaths. Realistically, none of that really took away from the movie. The movie is marginally good, but with a good amount of deaths, blood and gore, the movie could have been a genre/cult classic.
[final thoughts] The movie in no way is great, and it isn't bad. It's just another movie in the endless stack of direct to video snoozers. The movie did have a very short theatre run, from what I understand, but was jerked out of the theaters with an abysmal opening weekend. The movie had a lot of good parts in it. The two redneck sons, both idiots, one dumb, the other wise-cracking, added a lot of humor. When I watch movies like this, memorable characters always gets be back to watching the movie again. This wasn't much different. I have seen it many times, and continue to be a guilty pleasure of mine. The movie did have some cameos too, one by the late Ray Walston, and the other by Evander Holyfield, who was also the Executive Producer of this film. If you can get your hands on this for cheap, do so. Even though it is nowhere near being a great classic, it's one of those movies that you sort of want to watch every now and then.
』
(Embarrassing to watch!) 『Some movies are just bad. So bad, in fact that you feel sorry for the people who are in them, because you know that they know the movie they are in is a complete turd. This is one of those cases. I can hardly believe that Ray Walsten actually has a cameo in this. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.』
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (inexpensive fun) 『Don't expect much, and you can actually enjoy this movie! This ended up being the wrong movie, I was looking for a different version of this title, but it was pretty good.』
(UNRELENTING HORROR (and that ain't a compliment)) 『It was always a secret ambition of mine to be a movie trailer announcer during the heyday of drive-in cinema. I loved those bombastic voices carrying on about the cheesy movies as though it were the end of time. So I thought I would couch my review of this '71 "classic" in just those terms:
A FILM TO CURE INSOMNIA!
A NEW DEFINITION 0F HORROR
A FILM OF SUCH QUALITY AS TO MAKE ED D. WOOD APPEAR COMPETENT!
It's....DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN!
WATCH THE HORROR OF B MOVIE ACTORS NEAR DEATH AS THEY TRY TO BREATHE ONE LAST DESPERATE BREATH INTO THEIR ALREADY FORGOTTEN CAREERS!
LISTEN TO J. CARROLL NAISH'S DENTURES CLICK!
WATCH LON CHENEY WITH A BAD HAIRCUT KISS A PUPPY!
SEE FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND EDITOR FORRY ACKERMAN HUGGED TO DEATH BY AN ACTOR WITH A GOAT-CHEESE OMLET ON HIS FACE!
BEHOLD AL ADAMSON CONFUSE DAY FOR NIGHT! A TRICK POSSIBLE ONLY BY THE GREATEST AUTUERS SUCH AS WOOD, HAAS, AND HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS!
LISTEN AS COUNT DRACULA SPEAKS IN CONSTANT WALL OF SOUND REVERB THAT WOULD TURN PHIL SPECTOR GREEN WITH ENVY!
WATCH THE PHONY MONSTER FIGHT AS DRAC SHREDS FRANK LIKE A NANDINA BUSH!
It's...DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN!
Coming soon to a DVD bargain bin near you.
』
(As lousy as this movie is-) 『-it scared the crap outta me as a kid when Dr. Shock aired it in the 70s (WPHL - Philadelphia). I miss that show. :(』
(It seems they have it confused with another movie...) 『This version of Dracula VS Frankenstein is not to be confused with the 1971 J. Carroll Nash version with Lon Chaney. The other reviews on this page have it wrong! This version, starring Michael (the day the earth stood still) Rennie and The european wolfman Paul Naschey has space aliens trying to take over the world by resurrecting the planets most horrifying monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and the mummy. Once alive the plan is to break earthman's will and conquer the planet. The acting is certainly very poor (except for the great Paul Naschey a.k.a Valdimar Daninsky a.k.a the Wolf Man) and the make-up on frankenstein looks like a child did it. It does have that campy , cheesy feel about it and those who are fans of B horror will get their fill. As for the title though, i don't think that Dracula ever does fight Frankenstin!』
(A wonderful timecapsule, but only for a specific audience.) 『Dracula Vs. Frankenstein was a movie from Independent International Pictures, with Sam Sherman acting as Producer, and long time friend and companion Al Adamson working as Director. The movie actually went through numerous changes before finally becoming Dracula Vs. Frankenstein. The original script didn't even have Dracula or Frankenstein in it!
Dracula (Zandor Vorkov, who's real name is Roger Engle) find's the body of the Frankenstein Monster in a cemetary (in California ?!). He brings the body to the wheelchair-bound Dr. Frankenstein (J. Carrol Nash, once famous character actor) who owns a spookhouse at a carnival. Dracula hopes that the Dr.'s "blood serum" will render him invulnerable, and in exchange give's him the Monster so that He may get revenge on the Dr. who crippled him (that Dr. is played by Forry Ackerman). Dr. Frankenstein also has a lab assistant, Groton (Lon Chaney Jr. in his final role), who when injected with the blood serum becomes a viscious axe murderer, killing love-makers near a beach! He's also aided by a midget called Grasbo, played by Angelo Rossito! One of his victims is the sister of busty blonde night club performer Judith Fontaine (Regina Carrol, Al Adamson's wife),who decides to take matters into her own hands and look for her sis, when the cops prove useless. However, she gets entangled in a horrifying web of monsters, hippies, and Russ Tamblyn, who looks like he's just waiting for his weed. Finally they stumble upon Dr.F and all is revealed. Groton is killed by the chief of police (Jim Davis), Grasbo falls on an axe, and Dr. Frankenstein's head is chopped off! Judith is kidnapped by Dracula and the Monster, and her love interest is melted by the fierce power of Dracula's ring (a very cheesy, but cool, effect). The Monsters carry her to an old church, and bind her, and her boobs, too a chair. Dracula lights some candles and prepares to have her "join him in the world of the undead", but he wasn't counting on the Monster's love for cleavage, and the viscious brute strikes Dracula with a chair (very funny, because it looks like it hurt, and there were obviously no stunt men)! Frankie knocks his ring off and chases Dracula into the woods. They then battle in day for night photography that is too dark. Finally Drac tears the Monster apart piece by piece, ripping his arms and his head off. Drac rushes back to his coffin, but the sun comes up and Dracula is fried, turning his face into a $0.75 halloween mask! Judith breaks free of the ropes, and after a nice close-up of her cleavage, she leaves and the movie ends! Wow.
Yes, there are two Dracula Vs. Frankensteins, but this is the "real" one. The other DvF is actually Assignment Terror, a Paul Naschy Hombre Lobo vehicle, where all the horror heavyweights battle it out, when they are ressurected by an alien played by Michael Rennie. It was retitled DvF for the American market in 1969....or '70, I think. Naschy is one of my all time faves, but this is about I.I.P.'s Dracula Vs. Frankenstein!
Lon Chaney Jr., and J. Carrol Nash worked together many times before, but most notably in House of Frankenstein!
There are many references to Son of Frankenstein in Dracula Vs. Frankenstein. Names and dialouge. Forrest J. Ackerman plays Dr. Bomont, which was the name of the crooked doctor in Son of Frankenstein. Also, the idea of having Dracula tear Frankenstein apart "piece by piece just as Frankenstein created him" is also mentioned in Son of Frankenstein.
Unfortunatly, Al Adamson was murdered a couple years ago by a man hired to work on his house. His body was discovered inside the cement pool foundation! And this was only a short time after Regina Carrol died of cancer. Al spent all his time and money fighting her inevitable passing, a fight no one could have one.The world has lost two wonderful entertainers...
Thankfully, all of Al's movies are now widely available on DVD for all fans of B-cinema to enjoy. But be warned these movies are dated, and a younger or more modern, or simply ignorant audience, will NOT appreciette them. Their loss, cause these are some very fun movies, and Dracula Vs. Frankenstein is easily one of the best of them!』
price：$2.00
Trinity Home Ent
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Great) 『I was pleased with this product. I was unable to find it in stores. Luckily, I found it on Amazon.com.』
(ARE YOU DEAD?????) 『THis is a blast from my past! I used to watch this over and over, and sing all the AC/DC songs! This is a amazing film telling the story of what would happen if Electronics took over the world!! Fun Story!』
(Interesting Movie) 『I would love to give an honest review for this movie, however, I cannot. I can say that my husband had been talking about this movie for months, and wanted to see it again. So of course, I thought of Amazon. He was thrilled when the movie came, and has watched it over and over......』
(Great movie!) 『Some may not like this movie because of the vulgar language&graphic pictures, but besides that this a great movie overall. Great sci-fi movie =)』
(Maximim Satisfaction) 『This movie is a classic 80's flick. What I mean by that is it is so bad that its funny. Worth every penny.』 『Get ready for the ultimate battle of man vs. bloodthirsty machine in this terrifying Stephen King classic! For three horrifying days the Earth passes through the tail of a mysterious comet. The skies glow an eerie green as humanity waits to see what the fallout will be. But what they imagine is nothing like the nightmare they find - the comet's magnetic fields cause all of the machines on Earth to suddenly come to life and terrorize their human creators in a horrific killing spree. Now its up to a small group of people trapped in a desolate truckstop to defeat the killer machines - or be killed by them!System Requirements:Runnign Time: 81 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 692865147336 Manufacturer No: T-1473』
price：$15.49
Warner Home Video
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (...a profound, intellectual journey through words, sight and sound...) 『It was great to watch Babylon 5 in its entirety because this series is a well-written story which respects the viewers and does not talk down to them. The actors are fantastic, too. It is not driven by special affects, but, the aliens are innovative creations. I watched this series last summer with my husband and it was a wonderful way for us to grow closer. It really makes something fun to come home to. I highly recommend the series because even if you watched some of the episodes seeing them all together is amazing!』
(it works good and fast delivery) 『the dvds work good and had fast delivery was good. ty for your time and your work』
(GREAT SHOW) 『If you like sci fi, this is a good tv series. I watched it when it was on tv and loved it. I heard from a friend that it was at a good price for all five seasons and checked it out myself. It was there and I did purchase it that night. I got it in great shape and in a short time period. I am happy with my purchase and would recommend it to others.』
(A nice extra for B5 fans) 『If you enjoyed Babylon 5 you will enjoy this collection of movies. Each is about 90 minutes long and amounts to an extended episode. They are fine as stand-alone pieces, but it does help to be familiar with the series. We are glad we bought them, because they complete the set and were satisfying additions to our B5 collection.』
(Babylon 5 The Movie Collection) 『After ten years it is a pleasure to see and own these Movies. This is Sci fi writing at its best.』 『TheBabylon 5pilot movieThe Gatheringwas originally broadcast in 1993 a full year ahead of the regular show. A somewhat dull tale of an attempt to assassinate Koch, the Vorlon ambassador toB5, the feature served to introduce Commander Jeffery Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) as well as familiarize the audience with the unique environment of a five-mile-long space station in the year 2257. Missing many of the main cast, and suffering from a leaden pace and mediocre music score, series creator J Michael Straczynski later improvedThe Gatheringby tightening the cut for a special edition (the version released on DVD), adding some deleted character moments and commissioning a new score from series composer Christopher Franke.
Four new TV movies were part of the deal to syndicateBabylon 5.In the Beginningis a prelude set 10 years beforeBabylon 5, telling the story of the Earth-Minbari war. Told retrospectively, many of the mysteries revealed gradually in the main series are recounted, making the show a collection of spoilers for newcomers while adding little for established fans. It is effective to see events only previously talked about, and enjoyable to have most of the main cast playing younger versions of themselves.River of Soulsis a self-contained adventure featuring a return of the Soul Hunters from Season One, whileThirdspaceoffers a spectacular Lovecraftian space opera which slots into the saga after the end of the Shadow War.A Call to Armsis the most important of the TV films, laying the ground for the future TV seriesCrusade. Set five years after the Shadow War, it tells the story of a Drahk revenge attack on Earth. A final showcase for Bruce Boxleitner as Sheridan, the story fits between fifth-season episodes "Objects at Rest" and "Sleeping in Light." The cliffhanger ending sets the scene for new starshipExcaliburto boldly go on a five-year mission to explore strange new worlds and find a cure for the Shadow virus infecting the Earth.--Gary S. Dalkin』
『First time on DVD! Initiate jump sequence for feature-length tales about key events in the B5 chronology.』
price：$14.49
ANCHOR BAY
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (intense) 『this is one really disturbing. one of the most cruel things I have ever seen on film.』
(The aftermath is very distrubing) 『I am going to make this as short as possible. This movie will catch you off guard. The movie starts off like just a normal view, kids playing, just a normal atmosphere. But as time goes on it gets more intense and by the end of this movie, it is just disturbing. This is based on a true story. I watched this movie about three months ago, and when I think of the girl next door or even run across it in my dvd collection, I pause and still get a strange uncomfortable feeling. This is one of those stories you will never forget that stays with you after the fact. Don't get me wrong this is a very good movie. But if you are overly sensitive to children, my advice is don't watch it.』
(That's 1 1/2 hours I'll Never Get Back) 『This movie was a complete waste of everyone's time. It has a promising beginning, but then tumbles and keeps on tumbling. The entire movie is solely focused on drawing out strong emotions with shock after shock after shock of the abuse a young girl goes through at the hands of her aunt and cousins. The entire movie is an exercise of pain. It exists solely to convey the pain this young girl goes through. The abuse continues right until the end, when the main character, a neighbor boy infatuated with the girl, turns into MacGyver to rescue her. He then kills the abuser so quickly and painlessly that it leaves the viewers with a complete sense of injustice. The ending happened so quickly that there was no reward for the viewer to see all the pain that happened. The entire experience leaves you feeling completely horrified and with no outlet for those emotions. There was no justice, no ramification, no nothing.』
(Vile, Uncompromising Reality) 『After watching this movie, the first thing I thought of was, "What movies have completely shocked me, surprised me, and left me wondering WTF just happened?" Here's the first ten that came to mind:
Remember the ending of Sleepaway Camp? Remember the sore ankle in Misery with Kathy Bates? Remember the Bobbit bathroom inspiration from I Spit on Your Grave? Remember bondage revenge in Descent with Rosario Dawson? Remember the basement scene from Sleepers with Kevin Bacon? Remember the bunny in Fatal Attraction? Remember mom just chilling in the original Psycho? Remember the special delivery from Se7en? Remember surprise in The Crying Game? Remember the chest buster in Alien?
Child's play. All of them. No movie has attacked my senses the way this movie has. No movie has left me with a sickening feeling, a disgusted realization of the depths to which people are capable of sinking. My jaw has never dropped so far, so fast, for so long. My eyes cannot unsee what has been seen. Absolutely unexpected Mike Tyson gut punch.
Based upon the heart-breaking true story of Sylvia and Jenny Likens, and adapted from a novel by Jack Ketchum of the same name, the story follows sisters Meg (Blyth Auffarth) and Susan (Madeline Taylor) who, after their parents' death, are forced to live with their aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker). After a brief period of normalcy, the relationship and situation turns into one of mental, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse that can buckle even the strongest person's knees. Along with a mob mentality reminiscent of the children from Lord of the Flies, Ruth enlists her brainwashed children and their friends to do most of the despicable acts, eventually culminating in suspenseful tragedy.
Blanche's portrayal is one of the most evil representations I have ever seen on film. I admire her for the courage it took to accept this role, and I'll never look at her quite the same way again. Auffarth is emotionally powerful as the defiant young soul who battles unimaginable torture to protect her younger sister, but eventually succumbs to overwhelming abuse.
Director Gregory Wilson paints a picture - not unlike the infamous chainsaw scene in Scarface - that conveys the message without actually showing much. The viewer knows what's happening to Meg, and that's more than enough to make anyone numb. Beyond exploitation and the trivial torture - yes, trivial - of most other movies, this is so close to heart-wrenching reality, and lacking in either satisfactory retribution or reward, that it sickens me to my core. Told through the burning lens of child abuse, this powerfully and sickeningly displays how the reality of warped parental influence and peer pressure can destroy childlike innocence. It's perhaps the most effective horror movie I've ever seen; and considering some of the sick stuff I've seen and reviewed and laughed at (i.e. Funny Games, Hostel, Saw, etc.), that's saying a lot.
Recommended ONE time hesitantly, to open eyes and witness a nearly flawless execution.』
(The only film i have ever watched that disturbed me.) 『Most "brutal" films, I have literally laughed through. I have never, ever, seen a film that left me with a sense of filth, degradation. I felt absolutely ill just for having watched this. That being said, it was an excellent movie. I will never watch it again, as there is simply nothing positive in it. No joy to be had, no revelation, nothing to ponder. this is simply the exposition of how fundamentally sick the human mind can be, and in that sense it succeeds to horrifying success.
So, I'll rate it four stars. I struggle to find the correct term, because to a horror movie buff "grotesque, "cringe-inducing," "explicit," and "twisted" are all buzz words that make us jump for the buy button. This is not that movie. You won't laugh at the creativity of the blood spray like a Hostel or Saw, You won't pick apart the half-assed characters like in any standard slasher flick, and you won't get that giddy "jump scare" of more conventional horror offerings. You will experience an entirely unpleasurable gut sensation of filth and disgust. If you can handle that, view away.』 『Based on the novel by acclaimed author Jack Ketchum,The Girl Next Doordraws its nerve-wracking power from a real-life horror show--the torture of Sylvia Likens and her sister by Gertrude Baniszewski and her offspring in the mid-1960s (the case also serves as the basis for the filmAn American Crime). Here, the Likens character is a recently orphaned teen (Blythe Auffarth) taken in by Ruth Chandler (Blanche Baker), a single mother who plies her adolescent sons and their friends with alcohol and lax supervision. Ruth takes an almost instant disliking to the bright young girl and her sister (who is afflicted with polio) and mounts a campaign of mental and physical abuse upon them; her sons quickly fall into step behind their mother, and a neighborhood friend (Daniel Manche) struggles with his own participation in the atrocities. As true crime thrillers go,The Girl Next Doorsucceeds on many fronts: Baker and Auffarth give impressive performances, and the violence, though harrowing, is never offered as exploitation. Director Gregory Wilson also keeps the pace brisk and breathtaking as the torture escalates; however, he is less capable in the expositional scenes, and the script by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman has a leaden ring at times (which undoes the efforts of the younger cast). Still, it's challenging fare for strong-hearted horror and suspense fans. The DVD includes two sets of commentary: one by Wilson, producer Andrew van den Houten, and cinematographer/co-producer William M. Miller, and another by Ketchum and the screenwriters, who pull no punches in expressing their displeasure over changes made to the film's conclusion (and their assessments are entirely correct). Interviews with the cast and crew and the original screenplay (in DVD-ROM format) round out the supplemental features.--Paul Gaita』 『Based on a true story&book by jack kethum. A teenage girl meg&her crippled sister susam whose parents are dead now are left captive to the savage whims&rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into insanity. Only one troubled boy stands between meg&susan&their cruel torturous deaths. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 93 minutes Rating: Nr』
price：$4.80
DC Comics
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Graphic SF Reader) 『Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers are absolutely nothing like the old version. Well, apart from the bit with Vigilante in it early on.
New versions of Klarion the Witch Boy, and the Shining Knight, and quite a lot of the supernatural alien type of influence.
』
(Among the best superhero stories ever told) 『Grant Morrison began this series intending to, I believe, emulate the critically popular but poorly recieved 'Fourth World' by Jack Kirby. In it, the titular 'Seven Soldiers' each have their own four issue title that all tie in together in a final 'book end' chapter. However, each story is enjoyable in its own right. Reading them together, you can pick up on the subtle interactions - what story happens when in comparison, how part x of one story ties in to part y of another.
However, it isn't the interactions, or even the superheroics, that make Morrison's 'Seven Soldiers of Victory' a stunning success - it's the human element. It's the inspiration of Jake Jordan as he learns to become the Manhattan Guardian. It's the building hope of Alix Harrower as she slowly rebuilds her life from tragedy. It's Klarion's charming exploration of his religion and the boundaries of his society. Every character tells a different kind of story, and while they may not be everyone's cup of tea, each story is charming and inspirational in it's own way...and they all build up to an even greater whole.』
(Couldn't even get started (re-read 2/10)) 『I have read hundreds of graphic novels, and I saw the buzz on this. I guess I have never been a huge Grant Morrison fan, though he has his moments. This was his attempt to create a completely new universe out of old characters. I tried to get started, couldn't finish. If you are a completest, go for it. There is better stuff out there.
Re-readability: 2/10
*I always put re-readability in my reviews for people who like to keep their TPB to re-read*』
(HEAVY LIFTING BUT WORTH IT) 『There is a literary term called "heavy lifting" that applies when an author requires the reader to do a lot of work to appreciate the story -- this "heavy lifting" almost always comes at the beginning of the story. You might also call it "labor-intensive exposition." There is considerable heavy lifting here, so much so that I almost didn't pick up the second book. But, as luck would have it, I left my bag at the comic shop and had to swing by the next day to pick it up. Glad I did. Things really start to get GOOD in the second book, so much so that moments that seemed lame or irrelevant in the first trade are illuminated in hindsight -- the whole world expands! Now I cannot wait to get three and four! But, all that being said, as one previous reviewer noted there is a great deal in the first book that feels stuttering if not downright incomprehensible. Moreover, the order that the issues have been collected -- randomly, it feels like -- did none of the stories justice and served to add to the confusion. So BOOK 1 (by itself) deserves 2 STARS. BOOK 2 (by itself) deserves 4 STARS. And the sum of the two (the hindsight effect) bumps this book up to 3 STARS. So, my final word, DO NOT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU PLAN TO READ THEM ALL. OTHERWISE, YOU'LL BE WASTING YOUR TIME&MONEY.』
(J. H. Williams III is an amazing artist!) 『Every artist represented in this volume (there are six) blew me away - each for a different reason. The artwork in the introductory chapter, by J. H. Williams III, seemed, to me, the most significantly accomplished of the lot. Keep in mind that I do not regularly read contemporary superhero stories, so I had no preconceptions about any of these artists. There's something distinctly Silver Age about Williams' storytelling techniques (and I mean "calm and collected and cool and almost formal Infantino and Oskner DC Silver Age," not "crazy genius Kirby and Ditko Marvel Silver Age," by the way), though the outer layer, the Photoshopped slickness, is (and probably has to be) thoroughly contemporary. In Williams' case, the slickness refuses to obscure an outstanding and versatile line, among other things. There's the scratchy Wrightson-like opening in a swamp. There's the wide, western landscape that reminded me, more than anything, of an old Mickey Mouse adventure digest comic I had when I was a kid - except, you know, more realistic, and creepier. Maybe it was just the cartoony prickly pears everywhere. Or something. Williams' storytelling and character-building skills are as strong as any I've seen in comics. These characters - ultimately dispensible - come alive from the first moment they appear. Surely Williams is considered one of the top stylists of contemporary mainstream comics, maybe even the top stylist. I was particularly impressed with the final battle sequence, in which a great deal of information about a large number of characters performing very complex manuevers was presented so calmly and well (and with such perfect graphic design) that I didn't even notice that, hey, wow, that must have been a difficult sequence to pull off, until I'd read it three or four times.
(the above is excerpted from my longer review at graphicnovelreview.com)』 『This first volume features the exploits of four of the seven soldiers: the Shining Knight, the Guardian, Zatanna and Klarion the Witchboy!Independently, each of these characters is featured in a story arc that redefines their purpose in the DC Universe.But their stories also interweave with the other soldiers tales, and tell a grander story of a devastating global threat to mankind.Together these reluctant champions must arise and somehow work together to save the world....without ever meeting one another!』
price：$7.99
Leisure Books
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Book Rating.) 『1 STAR, originality, kept interest. NEGATIVE STARS, story quality, entertainment value, recommend to a friend, would buy simular item. DESCRIPTION, A woman is forced into a world of underground snuff films and must survive at any cost.』
(It's Amazing that Leisure had the guts to print this Uncut!) 『Recently, I've been reading hardcore novels from authors like Edward Lee and Richard Laymon. In fact, before I had read Survivor, I had just completed The Bighead by Mr. Lee. Whereas the Bighead's violence and gore is SO over the top, you can't help but to laugh while you gag, this book rams you with a sledgehammer over your skull, and just when you think it sunk in, it slams you some more. This book is depravity at its finest, and what makes it so special, is that it takes place in the here,the now,the real world.The events in this book COULD in fact, happen . Sure, there are some grammatical and punctuational errors in the book. However, I'm no longer in English class, so they can be overlooked.I'd love to see a movie made based on this book. With the way the characters jump off the page and imprint themsleves into your brain, imagine what the cinematic geniuses in Tinseltown could do.The main thing about this book is that it shows you how far, and to what extreme lengths a human would go through to survive, and its aftermath. Read this book IF you dare, and then afterwards ask yourself: How far would YOU go,TO SURVIVE?』
(Shocking at times but overall a very low quality read) 『When I first heard about the disturbing content that was supposedly in this book I knew I had to read it to see for myself. While parts of it were indeed sickening, the pages in between were practically unbearable to get through. Long tedious paragraphs of poorly written and unrealistic dialogue made it feel more like a teenage novel than an adult horror book. The excessive descriptions and lengthy detours in between the disturbing parts were sophomoric and made the book quite difficult to get through as I often found myself sighing and waiting for the "good stuff" to come. Once the most horrifying parts came and went the rest of the book was just plain idiotic including the stupid ending. After the "main event" most of the sick stuff was pretty stupid as well as were one or two of the characters, i.e. Mabel. To sum it up Survivor seemed as though Gonzalez thought up the sickest stuff possible and figured that was all that was needed to sell his book - so who cares about the rest? Overall I felt like I was reading a high school kid's sick and twisted English assignment and it certainly didn't live up to the hype.』
(Fails on all levels.) 『Many of the poor reviews for this book are based on its graphic content. Yes, it does portray some disgusting events, but nothing that would shock a reader of extreme horror authors like Edward Lee, or authors like Jack Ketchum on the darker edges of the genre.
No, the real problem with this book is that it's abysmally written. Amateurish doesn't begin to describe the level of incompetence Gonzalez demonstrates in this novel. It gives the impression of having been written at great haste by a writer who was barely paying attention to what was going onto the page. I'm pretty certain that this book received absolutely no editing apart from running it through Microsoft Word's spell checker. We see everything from basic grammar errors to clumsy stylistic goofs to the kind of storytelling gaffes that can only be made by a fumbling hack with only the dimmest grasp of characterization or suspense.
Readers with delicate sensibilities should obviously stay away from this book, which features graphic descriptions of atrocities such as rape, necrophilia, and the gruesome murder of infants. But the danger in describing these details is that they might attract fans of extreme horror to this book, creating the impression that they're in for a good old splatterfest. You're not.
If you're looking for kinky horror thrills, you're unlikely to find them here, unless your standards are low enough that you're content with the mere description of horrific acts, staged with absolutely no imagination or style, and in fact rendered with such hamfisted dullness that this book might turn you off of horror for good.
What separates enjoyable extreme horror writers like Edward Lee from wannabes like Gonzalez is that guys like Lee revel in their dark subject matter. They love slogging through the rivers of gore and dredging up bloody treats to dangle before their repulsed, yet fascinated audience. Gonzalez, on the other hand, is an opportunistic hack, and it shows. Gonzalez doesn't understand the genre (s)he is playing at. The way the violence is depicted in this book, it's like a novel about marijuana written by the creators of Reefer Madness. When you have characters who are purveyors of "hardcore S&M porn" actually (and repetitively) using phrases like "the hardcore S&M scene" in casual conversations, you know this author knows nothing about the "hardcore S&M scene" or anyone associated with it.
If you're looking for extreme horror, please stay far away from this book. It's not what you think it is. Read "Bighead" or "The House" by Edward Lee. Read "This Symbiotic Fascination" and "Haunter" by Charlee Jacob. Read something by competent authors who have more knowledge and interest in extreme horror than some pretender dabbling in the field. This book is a ridiculous bore, an absolute waste of any real horror fan's time and money.』
(Much more than just a horror novel) 『Under the guise of an extreme horror novel, author J.F. Gonzalez has managed to create, with Survivor, an emotionally resonant moral commentary on the underbelly of society, showing how the top and bottom blend until there is little or no difference anymore.
Brad and Lisa Miller are on their way to a romantic vacation (where she will announce her new pregnancy to him) when with the unwitting help of the police, Brad is arrested and Lisa is kidnapped. The kidnappers are snuff-film producers, and Lisa was the specific request of one of their best clients. She'll soon be a movie star unlike she ever imagined unless she can somehow bargain her way out, letting her maternal instinct guide the way.
But that's only the beginning. Gonzalez expands his novella Maternal Instinct into a gripping full-length novel that is better than a novella expansion has any right to be. He layers on the suspense and makes Survivor into a real page-turner, despite its horrific subject matter.
The killings put on film are graphically depicted in the prose, which will put off some readers who are more used to the tongue-in-cheek horror of Richard Laymon or Edward Lee. Gonzalez touches on the reality of the situation in a way I've previously encountered only in Jack Ketchum novels, which makes the interpersonal violence even more disturbing. He also approaches an aspect of murder rarely encountered with any depth in horror novels: the consequences. Every character's actions in Survivor have definite and unavoidable repercussions, and Gonzalez folds them all into his believable plot.
The decision Lisa makes in order to attempt her escape has perhaps the most horrifying outcome of all, the effects of which are felt throughout Survivor -- much like in the best work of Gary Braunbeck -- in both tangible and intangible ways. What this all adds up to is a book that impressed me far more than I expected it to, and one that I continue to think about over a year after finishing it. (I never intended to review it, but I had to get all my thoughts out and down in some organized fashion so they'd stop buzzing around my head -- so here they are.)
The early part of Survivor is not as well written as what follows and contains a good deal of unnecessary repetition -- something that, as a proofreader, is a real pet peeve of mine. There are also a couple of unrealistic character autobiographies (where they tell the histories of how they got in the snuff-film business) that slow down the story but do serve to make them more three-dimensional. All of the majors, however, were well drawn so that I can still picture them clearly in my mind even now.
Out of a fairly straightforward novella, J.F. Gonzalez has constructed a multilayered novel with a least three genuine surprises. Survivor can be read as simply a fast-paced and entertaining (if gruesome) horror novel, or also as a statement on family dynamics and their potential outcomes. And it's accompanied by one of the more effective covers I've seen in some time from Leisure Books (usually their images are too vague to evoke any response whatsoever). If Gonzalez's other novels are this impressive, he will have a new fan in me.』
price：$4.93
University of Exeter Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Not strong enough.) 『In researching the genre, I was pointed to this book in several references. Although the wealth of full scripts is a plus, the scholarly portion relies too frequently on other sources (end notes galore) to be of any first-hand value. The authors cite Gordon's "Grand Guignol" with frequency...however, not frequent enough for me to shell out the ninety bucks it's going for these days!』
(blood, guts and gore on stage) 『This book proves that Hollywood writers and directors weren't the ones who invented Horror, it was the Grand Guignol theatre and its playwrights.』 『The Théâtre du Grand-Guignol in Paris (18971962) achieved a legendary reputation as the "Theatre of Horror", a venue displaying such explicit violence and blood-curdling terror that a resident doctor was employed to treat the numerous spectators who fainted each night. Indeed, the phrase grand guignolhas entered the language to describe any display of sensational horror.
Since the theatre closed its doors forty years ago, the genre has been overlooked by critics and theatre historians. This book reconsiders the importance and influence of the Grand-Guignol within its social, cultural and historical contexts, and is the first attempt at a major evaluation of the genre as performance. It gives full consideration to practical applications and to the challenges presented to the actor and director.
The book also includes oustanding new translations by the authors of ten Grand-Guignol plays, none of which have been previously available in English. The presentation of these plays in English for the first time is an implicit demand for a total reappraisal of the grand-guignol genre, not least for the unexpected inclusion of two very funny comedies.』
The scallop of large satisfactory ! northern countries and - [ of how much ] botan shrimp are ! tightly.
getting to know the technique of motorbike expensive sale -- Ta -- if -- -
>,James Marsden,Katie Holmes,Nick Stahl,Tobias Mehler,Steve Railsback
