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01. Låt den rätte komma in
[Sweden] (2008) {honorable mention to the US remake, Let Me In (2010)}
02. Psycho
[United States] (1960) {honorable mention to Psycho II (1983)}
03. North by Northwest
[United States] (1959)
04. Halloween
[United States] (1978)
05. V for Vendetta
[UK] (2005)
06. Gutta Boys (mini-series)
[Norway] (2006)
07. Ils
[France] (2006)
08. Suspiria
[Italy] (1977)
09. The Devil's Backbone
[Spain] (2001)
10. La Grande Illusion
[France] (1937)
11. Sherlock Holmes
[UK] (2009)
12. Raiders of the Lost Ark
[United States] (1981) {honorable mention to Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade (1989)}
13. Super 8
[United States] (2011)
14. Alien
[United States] (1979) {honorable mention to Aliens (1986)}
15. Filth
[Finland] (2008) {honorable mention to an unrelated but similarly themed film, Black Death (2010)}
16. Duggholufólkið
[Iceland] (2007)
17. The Breakfast Club
[United States] (1985)
18. I'm Not Scared
[Italy] (2003)
19. Före Stormen
[Sweden] (2000)
20. 28 Weeks Later
[UK] (2007) {honorable mention to 28 Days Later (2002)}
21. Orphan
[United States] (2009)
22. The Skeleton Key
[United States] (2005)
23. Eskalofrío
[Spain] (2008)
24. Jar City
[Iceland] (2006)
25. Gandhi
[UK] (1982)
TOP 10 FAVORITE T.V. SHOWS:
01. Okkupert
02. Stranger Things
03. Game of Thrones
04. The Big Bang Theory
05. Frasier
06. Águila Roja
07. Inuyasha
08. The New Adventures of Old Christine
09. House, M.D.
10. King of Queens
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
Excellent setting, great story, TERRIBLE dubbing.
While definitely not a bad film, in my humble opinion, it is very much overrated. First off, I will admit that I do not watch many films in the Western genre, but I've seen many classics, most of which I greatly enjoyed (Unforgiven, Pale Rider, High Noon, The Searchers, etc.); this film on the other hand, seemed to pale in comparison (no pun intended).
To start with, I did enjoy the story. The influence of Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" being weaved into a Western tale is interesting immediately, & it was definitely well written into a simple but intriguing story. A mysterious stranger rides into a terribly corrupt & violent border town, & then this anti-hero proceeds to manipulate two rival factions against each other; the stranger's strength (as emphasized by one of the villains), is not simply his ability with a firearm but his intelligence, of which he makes great use. After successfully cleaning up the town, the mysterious stranger returns to the desert wilderness from where he came. As I said, a simple but well-crafted story.
Even though the story was good in my opinion, the dialog was a bit lacking in points. I do realize this is an Italian "Spaghetti Western," & thus the script might not have been originally written in English; this fact does carry over to the dialog in a negative fashion; at some points, it's fine but at others it's pretty bad. Going along with the dialog, I found the music to be odd & out of place at many points.
The real weakness of this film was the voice acting. The movie was apparently originally filmed silently with the voices being overdubbed later. According to to the special features, "the Spanish Actors spoke (mouthed) their lines in Spanish, the Germans spoke (mouthed) theirs in German, the Italians in Italian, and the Americans in English." This fact most definitely shows in the final product. The dubbing is absolutely terrible; for me it was impossible to ignore the awful dubbing & it completely ruined the atmosphere of this film. The voices used to overdub the international cast were at best out of place & at worst just plain annoying; either way, they didn't seem to fit the characters or their original actors at all, really detracting from the film's quality.
This film is supposed to have a very serious, very gritty, Western atmosphere; its setting absolutely created that brilliantly combined with a great story, but the atmosphere is completely destroyed by the terrible dubbing. What could have been great, ends up being just 'okay.'
My rating: 6.5/10
The Evil Dead (1981)
"Why are you torturing me like this?"
I might get a lot of heat for this review, but, in my opinion as both a horror movie fan & a fan of cinema in general, "The Evil Dead" is simply a poorly executed film.
The plot is simple; a group of "teenagers" (calling them teenagers seems inaccurate, I'm in my early twenties & they look older than me) venture into the woods for a retreat at a cabin. In this macabre cabin they discover an ominous ancient book & an audio recording. After they play the audio recording, which recites a spell to reanimate the dead, that's when the "horror" begins.
The story is simple & easy to follow, & that is not a complaint. It is a unique way to create a movie about a common horror movie subject—the undead. The setting is well created; the woods (within Kentucky, I believe) are creepy & the cabin definitely has a very dark & ominous vibe.
Sadly the setting & the story are the only well-done elements in the movie. The dialogue was mediocre & the acting of the characters ranges from cardboard to obnoxious overacting. There were moments where I just wanted some of the characters to be killed off just to save me from their acting. Once the second character had "turned," I just wanted the movie to end.
The special effects are really good; I give the creators credit in that regard; they did particularly well for an obviously low budget film. "The Evil Dead" definitely pours on the blood, guts, & gore; however, that didn't help my opinion of the movie; special effects simply aren't as important to me as good acting & coherent dialogue.
As far as the music score, at some points in the film it blended well with the events occurring while at other times it clashed.
Something as rudimentary as cinematography also struck me as amateur, not simply low budget but amateur.
If you would like to see a movie that properly combines elements of horror & black comedy, I would strongly recommend "Frostbitten" (Swedish title: "Frostbiten") or Hitchcock's black comedy films (specifically, "The Trouble with Harry"); if you would like to see a very low-budget horror film, check out "Just Before Dawn;" if you want to see a simple-minded slasher-type gory horror movie, then see one of the Halloween sequels, its remake, or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. All those disparate films have something in common that is lacking from "The Evil Dead;" they all have good acting.
I have read that this film was considered by some fans to "take itself too seriously" compared to the rest of its series, perhaps I'd feel different about it after watching its sequels; however, I cannot recommend this movie; if you're looking for any of the elements that I mentioned above, check out the other suggestions I mentioned.
The Stuff (1985)
Original idea... terrible execution.
The Stuff was a nostalgic film for me. I remember seeing it at 8 or 9 on a Saturday afternoon television show which aired weekly horror films (Chicago natives might know to which show I refer) and had been eager to view it again as an adult; however 15 years later, nostalgia simply wasn't enough.
Larry Cohen's The Stuff is a horror movie with a unique idea, a satire on America's consumption culture leading to the marketing of a deadly, addictive, frozen treat. However, the best ideas can fail if not executed properly.
The acting in this film leaves much to be desired. While I did not go into this movie expecting acting on par with Oscar-caliber films, I was still quite disappointed in its mediocre acting and poor dialogue. The special effects in The Stuff are relatively good considering the b-movie quality and budget of this film. However, the music and sound effects seemed very disjointed and out of place; usually conflicting with the events occurring in the movie.
Overall, The Stuff presents an interesting idea that had potential to be a good sci-fi/horror film, but The Stuff simply fails as a good movie; however, it's not unwatchable, and might prove to be a "fun" distraction if you're looking for a campy, mediocre movie with which to kill an evening.
3.5 out of 10.