blackboxla Reviews

Frankenstein (II) (2015)

Monster Masterpiece

[10/10 · 1 March 2016]

In short, despite Frankenstein remakes, rehashes and adaptations,Bernaed Rose's ability to effectively reinvent the wheel for the modern generation, highlighting the perils of frighteningly cloning technologies, speaks volumes for his ability as a filmmaker. This kind of reworking is what keeps Frankenstein's grotesque yet sentient monster well and truly alive almost 200 years after Shelley's masterpiece and Rose's adaptation is certainly tantamount to the original novel's subtitle as it really is a modern Prometheus.

Xavier Samuel as Adam who perfectly depicts just "how mutable are our feelings" as his acting range is indescribably electric. It was also a pleasure to see Tony Todd (Candyman) reunite with Rose to play Eddie, a blind homeless father figure who does his utmost to guide Adam down the straight and narrow although his efforts ultimately fail to bridle Adam's inner beast. Also, having a prostitute explain the birds and the bees (in a particularly graphic YouTubian manner) brought some particularly humorous yet ultimately tender and heart wrenching moments to the film. Compliments are also due to Adam's "parents" with Carrie-Anne Moss playing the sympathetic/apathetic mother to a tee and Danny Huston putting in a mean performance as the ruthlessly thick-skinned monomaniac, Viktor Frankenstein.

Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002 Video)

Much like Part 5, Hellseeker pulls an Angel Heart.

[7/10 · 23 February 2016]

The "Hellraiser" series as we know it took a new turn for the better and the worst with "Hellraiser: Inferno" and Hellseeker follows in those footsteps.Much like Part 5, Hellseeker pulls an "Angel Heart"-light on our asses and plunges its lead character, as well as the audience, into a Trippe world of visions, mind-bending reality, confused identity, flashbacks, what not. Overall, "Hellraiser: Hellseeker" did provide for some quality entertainment and I dug it as a stand alone. But much like Inferno,Dean Winters (Trevor) does OK with the material that he's given.Ashley Laurence (Kirsty) shines in the limited time she's given, it was great to see the dame kicking it again it was her best performance as Kristy id like to see her return as a female Pinhead one day. Doug Bradley (Pinhead) walks through this one; I think he also knew that Pinhead doesn't have much to do with this sequel. Sarah Jane Redmond (Gwen) does the S&M jive very well and has a belly I'd love to lick 24/7. William S. Taylor (Det. Lange) charmed me with his unique behaviour; there was something about the guy that just made me want to watch him go. he "Seven"-esque look kicks in again with the colours being washed out and the tone being all grim. It still works although it's starting to get a little tired. Bota handles his directorial duties well by slapping in potent slow motion, giving the images an effective bluish tint, using the occasional blurry cam and delivering stylish camera angles. Competent. If you liked "Hellraiser: Inferno", you'll most likely get a few hooks in the throat from this one. The flick is well shot, eerie and will mind-bang your every orifice. But if you're going in here expecting Kirsty, Pinhead and the Cenobites to be relevant factors in this hallucinatory ball game; get ready for a letdown, because they're basically window dressing to allow the makers to call this"Hellraiser".

Blade (1998)

A Movie That Broke New Ground - A Classic

[10/10 · 23 January 2016]

If you like your science-fiction action packed, or your action movie to have a brain, then this Blade is for you.The first is still the best in franchise.Between Snipes' potent machismo and Norrington's stylistic eye, Blade pulsates with pounding vitality.An intensely thrilling comic- book story.Lots of pumping blood and superhuman feats power this Wesley Snipes- as- half- vampire flick above the norm.A hugely entertaining supporting cast. This film was a very welcome surprise.Glittering and gruesome, slickly assembled and strangely serious for the genre.Blade has style and substance. The setting of "Blade" is ingeniously evoked, at once wildly unreal and entirely believable.The heroin chic, nihilist couture and Sybaritic abandon of New York night life are all marshaled to create a portrait of a lumpen class of hip parasites who are constantly on the prowl for their next sanguinary fix.With his pasty, punkish look and slouchy sexuality, Dorff is a vampire for the millennium -- Bram Stoker by way of Robert Mapplethorpe.

With the help of Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) -- who makes Blade's massive, silver-stake- throwing guns and hollow-point bullets filled with garlic -- and a pretty hematologist (N'Bushe Wright), Blade seeks out Frost for the ultimate battle.

Norrington, whose background is in makeup special effects, preserves comic-book reality with sped-up action, camera zooms and flash edits.Wesley Snipes has found a role worthy of his suave physical powers, and Stephen Dorff, so good in "Backbeat" and "I Shot Andy Warhol," once again brings superb focus and conviction to his role. Mark Isham's techno- inspired music score echoes and elaborates "Blade's" creepy, druggy, sexy vibe.

Hellraiser: Inferno (2000 Video)

The movie descends deeper and deeper into madness

[10/10 · 23 January 2016]

Released 13 years after the original this first direct-to-video offering enjoys radically improved effects.The tone of the film is a radical departure from the sweeping metaphysical grandeur of the theatrical released. The first of the DTV sequels, Inferno is kind of interesting.As memorably macabre as Barker's debut is, it also featured a genuinely disturbing portrait of temptation and karma. Inferno is a unique take on this, as it's a sort of dark noir, complete with a dubious police detective investigating a series of bizarre murders associated with the puzzle box. the execution is harrowing and futile, much like an actual, real-life execution. As the movie descends deeper and deeper into madness and unreality it becomes scarier: film noir. The best example of this is the scene in which Thorne is assaulted by ninja Indians at the behest of an angry cowboy, all to the tune of a '70s porno film.

Soldier (I) (1998)

Underrated sci-fi actioner - A Classic

[10/10 · 23 January 2016]

1998's Soldier is a science fiction action film written by David Webb Peoples. For those unaware, Peoples co-wrote Blade Runner and Twelve Monkeys, and scripted Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, among several other credits. The writer actually considers Soldier to be a spiritual cousin to Blade Runner, and a "side-quel" since it takes place in the same filmic universe. However, Soldier is also directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson), a director who likes to make trashy action flicks and who gets a lot of flack for his efforts. Hence, while Peoples' script might have been more substantive at some stage, the end result is merely an entertaining action film with a few nice ideas, and it works in that sense.To the credit of Peoples and Anderson, Soldier takes its time to build the characters and observe Todd as he struggles to ingratiate himself into a more peaceful culture. Peoples' script has a number of things on its mind, exploring if it's possible for a lifelong killing machine to assimilate themselves back into society.Anderson gets a lot of hate for his movies, but he knows how to construct fluid and exciting action scenes. The fight choreography here is solid, and the gun battles are bad-ass. When Todd cuts loose and sets out to eliminate his opponents, Soldier is insanely entertaining.Russell was handed a tough task in portraying Todd. Although the star is on-screen practically all the time, he only says about 100 words throughout the entire movie. Instead of using words to convey his character's feelings, Russell had to do all the heavy lifting with facial expressions and body language. And he pulls it off beautifully. It's a terrifically nuanced performance, showing that Russell is a better actor than he gets credit for. Also in the cast is Isaacs, who essentially plays a cartoonish, moustache-twirling villain. It's a cheesy role, but Isaacs seems to be in the right spirit. Gary Busey is here as well, showing us why every movie can benefit from a touch of Busey.unfortunately, the film was a box office disaster, grossing less than $15 million at the domestic box office and predominantly going straight-to-video in the rest of the world. The critics used it as a punching bag, as well. But it matters not. As long as you can accept the movie for what it is, it's a blast.

Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

I'm certainly in the extreme minority of people who can appreciate the ambition behind Bloodline.

[10/10 · 23 January 2016]

I'm certainly in the extreme minority of people who can appreciate the ambition behind Bloodline. Though the film got hacked up and reduced the plot to a mess (as only Dimension and Joe Chappelle could do it!), the multiple story lines stretched over three time periods makes for an interesting take on the Hellraiser mythos. It also features some slick gore and makeup gags, which comes as no surprise considering Kevin Yagher was at the helm (before he was unceremoniously dumped in post-production); A three part anthology spanning five centuries, it explores the origin of the puzzle boxes and the family that created them.The movie worked as an excellent slipcase for the entire series. It gave us a definitive start to the story, wrapped up threads from the earlier movies and gave us a definitive ending.

Hell on Earth: The Story of Hellraiser III (2015 Video)

Another Great Piece Of The Puzzle To Leviathan

[10/10 · 15 January 2016]

Leviathan The Story Of Hellraiser and Hellbound Hellraiser II was an Epic Documentary this is another great piece and extension to that Five Star Documentary i highly recommend getting the 3 disc set from Dead Mouse production This is a great short documentary on Hell on Earth I'm sure we will have more Hellraiser Hell on Earth Documentaries in the future.More People Need To Review This Documentary Theirs Not Many Reviews on it. Amazing Documentary So many Pleasures.Take pleasure in it. Human dreams... such fertile ground for the seeds of torment. This documentary is like a memory of Heaven. Relax, baby. This is better than sex, especially this whole documentary and Leviathan Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound Hellraiser II together.

Terminator Genisys (2015)

Ignore Critics The BACK TO THE FUTURE 2 of TERMINATOR sequels

[10/10 · 3 July 2015]

TERMINATOR: GENISYS ignores the events of the second two films, re-stages bits from the first pair and throws in enough new curve-balls for three sequels, with so many Terminators running around that Arnold Schwarzenegger's central role is billed as "The Guardian" in the end credits.Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Terminator Genisys" houses possibly his best performance of the saga, evolving both as his character and as an actor. Audiences would never have thought that from the trailer. His T-800 shows more intelligence and becomes a more lovable father figure type, a personality Schwarzenegger executed with his own type of grace, believe it or not.The story for "Terminator Genisys" was captivating, somewhat fresh, not confusing and implemented quite well at the proper times. Nostalgia of the 1984 original was at an all time high for the first half and hour of the film, for reasons you will have to see on your own, no spoilers here. Ultimately a little of each of the previous Terminator films were sprinkled throughout, some even combining them all together at once.The action was pretty effective throughout the two hour and five minute running time, lots of cool explosions and sound editing was pretty amazing. Visually there were ups and downs, but nothing like I was prepared for.Overall, I really did have a blast watching "Terminator Genisys.The costars – including Byung-Hun Lee as the new T-1000, Matt Smith, JK Simmons, and Courtney B. Vance – are fun to see. But it's really the action set pieces, massive detonations, and all-out hand-to-hand combat that are the real stars of Terminator Genisys.The blend of top-notch CGI, realism, stunts, and breakneck pace keep all the exploding balls in the air, and the 3D is blissfully easy on the eyes.'ve always loved the story and the time travelling aspect, this did the trick and I believe did a justice to the series even though most would disagree with me there. I would recommend watching it. It's not one of the summers best, but one of those films that is much better on the big screen than in your home.The BACK TO THE FUTURE 2 of TERMINATOR sequels

Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II (2015)

A Labyrinth of limitless Pleasures

[10/10 · 22 June 2015]

This documentary is independently financed and allows the interview subjects to be more candid in their recollections explored with staggering depth that never gets tiresome, one of the greatest joys is that the interviews allow us to see where the cast and crew are now, and also sharing that the project often surpasses its own subject in terms of pure inventiveness.Even for the casual fan, this is one hell of an educational film., There's a lot to love about Leviathan, and virtually nothing to hate. It's not only an expertly crafted film about a beloved horror franchise, it's also a film about the legacy of Clive Barker, Image Animation, and ultimately, a film about the horror genre as a whole. Frankly, you won't find a horror documentary better than this one." The documentary also features 8 bonus feature mini docs on Clive Barker, the Music, the sequels, Hellraiser III and much more.