John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. massively polarised both critics and fans alike when it was released in 1996. Any sequel to a much-loved cult classic such as Escape From New York will be anticipated with nervousness, as it had such a high bar to live up to. The film met with praise but also disdain …
Continue reading Is It Really That Bad?- Escape From L.A. (1996)
I love a sequel that not only ups the ante regarding the original film but decides to be as extreme as possible and really 'go for it'. In this film theres a new family who move into Amityville. You know that any family that includes Burt Young and Rutanya Alda as members is going to …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 29- The Amityville Horror Part 2- The Possession (1982)
I actually saw this back in the 80's when it was called Piranha 2: Flying Killers. Theres really not much plot except that there is a shoal of piranhas who have wings terrorising a resort. Pulitzer Prize worthy stuff. The lead female character seems to have been based on Stevie Wayne from The Fog if …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 7- Piranha 2- The Spawning
A boat sails into New York but the only person onboard happens to be a morbidly obese zombie who seems to be pissed off and hungry. The daughter of the boat’s owner decides to venture to where her father had been, a Caribbean island called Matul. She takes along with her a journalist who smells …
Continue reading Day 18- 31 Days of Halloween- Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
I first heard of Phantasm when its sequel came out. Barry Norman reviewed it and admitted that he hadn’t even heard of the first film. Neither had I. Fortunately, my sister in law had a friend who had closed down their video business and so gave her a lot of the videos he used to …
Continue reading Day 9- 31 Days of Halloween- Phantasm (1979)
A class are transported to an island and its then disclosed that they have to kill each other with the last person left standing the winner. Brutal (as you'd expect) but also witty, humane and strangely poignant in places. This film is brilliantly acted, directed with style and is beautiful to look. Murder and deception …
Continue reading Day 2- 31 Days of Halloween- Battle Royale (2000)
Every day in October I will be reviewing a different horror film. Some of the criteria I've used for the choice of films are - a film from each decade from the 1920s onwards - films from a number of different countries - a Friday the 13th film as within October this year the 13th falls on a Friday!!! …
A bigger budget, a remake of sorts, this film was released when the video nasties furore was petering out. People were starting to see that horror movies wouldn't turn the working class oinks into bloodthirsty serial killers or even adversely affect their dogs (as Graham Bright so hilariously claimed) but could be considered as art …
Continue reading Evil Dead 2 – Day 29 – 31 Days of Halloween
It takes a great big set of balls to make a sequel to a film that is recognised as a classic. One such film is Halloween. Is the sequel any good? Well, yes it is actually. There are many things to love. One such thing is that the film carries on straight after the events …
Continue reading Halloween 2 (1981) – Day 15- 31 Days of Halloween
Meathook Cinema 