The Revenge of Dr X (1970)-James Craig (1)

Director: Kenneth G. Crain

AKA: The double garden; the devil garden; Venus fly trap

Stars: James Craig, Tota Konodo & Lawrence O'Neil

Genre: Horror/Science Fiction

MPAA Rating: Unrated

Running Time: 94 Min

Tagline: “A Different Slice of Life

Synopsis:

{According to IMDB}

"A mad scientist uses thunder and lightning to turn carnivorous plants into man-eating creatures"

Discussion

Revenge? What revenge? As far as I’m concerned there was no revenge in this movie. The whole thing was soo misleading, especially the film's title. The movie went through several different titles; at one point it was to be called double garden (which makes even less sense) the original title was Venus fly Trap (better title in my opinion) with so many different titles it is no surprise that it turned into a big mess. Just look at the cover, it’s even more misleading than the actual title. The cover seems like it’s just another random slasher flick...that couldn’t be father from the truth. There is no screaming blonde chick, no gore, no blood, and no knife, nada. the whole thing could have been rated G for all I care. I say that because there is no violence or thematic elements questionable for children; in exception of some nude swimmers...but the boobs are way too flat to even tell that they’re actually naked. As I said, nothing bad for kids.

So if this movie isn't a slasher, then what is it? Well its shit! That’s what it is. Seriously though, even if this movie is shit. There is some sort of plot going on ...I guess.
There might not be a Dr.X but there is a Dr in the house. His name is Dr Brannigan. This guy looks like they pulled him out of an old Frankenstein movie; he even has a maniacal laugh in one scene. This doctor wants to blend human blood with a Venus fly trap.... Yes I know WTF? Why on earth would he want to do that? Cuz he's cuckoo, that's why. He had nothing better to do on a rainy Friday night I suppose.

Mid way in the movie he travels from U.S to Tokyo to conduct his experiments. Waiting for him at the terminal  is the cousin of a co-worker of Dr Brannigan. She seems to be botanist... I’m still not sure of that because she looks mesmerized when she sees the Venus fly trap for the very first time. I may be no scientist but I think I can recognize a venus fly trap at first sight. But that's just me; Worst is when the doctor arrives at the hotel where he will conduct the experiments...the place comes full equipped with a greenhouse! I guess they were really expecting him in Japan. Even more hilarious is that the place comes equipped with a hunchback assistant. Isn’t this beginning to feel like Frankenstein? That's because it pretty much  a Frankenstein story...just with some plant theme thrown in there for the hell of it. Just think little shop of horrors done caca. With the help of his new assistants he works on creating a human Venus fly trap. Using lightning and human blood to bring him to life (again Frankenstein)
As soon as he makes his creation a living reality... It eventually escapes and decides to break havoc in the city of Tokyo. I swear Tokyo and monsters what is up with that? God! this movie was shit; I can’t emphasize more how horrible it was. Especially the way it dies. I guess I’m gonna ruin it, not like it matters much. The doctor follows his creation into the city. He and the huge Venus fly trap fall into a volcano...the end.

DVD

I got this movie in a bundle pack; it came in a 50 Chilling Classics Box Set. The box set was only 10 bucks, 50 movies for 10 bucks isn’t bad, even if most of them are as bad as this one. The movie is supposed to be "remastered" according to the box; the quality however is very cheap low quality transfer from a VHS.
Video

Like most cheap DVD's the quality is never anything above average. Presented in 1:33:1, the total feel I got for the picture quality was dark and grainy. Even though the box set said they are "remastered" they aren't, and then again for how bad it is, I’m not expecting it to be anything spectacular in the visual dept. So overall the quality was just bleh. Felt like they transferred it from a second generation VHS

Audio

The audio was worst the picture; there were times where I needed to rewind back to understand what they had previously said.  

Bottom Line:

Skip it, pretend I never spoke of it, it’s so bad I will not post a link to the full movie. I will only post a link to a part of the film that made me say “WTF!?”

WTF?

 

Into The Sun (2005)- Steven Seagal (2)

Director: Mink

Stars: Steven Seagal, Tokao Oshawa, Juliette Marquis

Genre: Action/Martial Arts/Adventure/Thriller

MPAA Rating: R (Strong Violence, Language, Some Sexuality & Nudity)

Running Time: 97 Mins

Tagline: "Only One Man Can Stop The Yakuza"

Synopsis:

{According to IMDB}

"When a government official is killed, an American operative with experience in the Yakuza culture is brought into investigate."

Discussion

I don’t know why I keep watching these mediocre Seagal flicks. It is as if I’m a masochistic idiot who sets himself up for a bad movie, knowing all along it will ultimately suck. I’ve said many times before; I’m a diehard fan of Seagal’s old school movies. While they weren’t perfect either, At least they had a sense of realism and authenticity; which seems to be absent now in his movies. Actually all of his movies now are recycled stories from his old movies, even the titles. There are about three movies that have the same title.  Out for Justice, Out For a Kill, & Out of Reach. None of them are actually related, just similar titles to call the attention of fans like me.

As always Seagal plays either a CIA Agent, a retired FBI agent or a Secret Operative. This time he plays an Operative. Early in the movie a politician is killed by a member of the Yakuza. The government decides to get a man who knows the streets and connection of Tokyo. Undoubtedly they give this assignment to Seagal’s Character.   Seagal in real life knows a big deal about the Japanese culture, he actually grew up there. In fact he was one of the first Americans to open a Aikido School in Japan.  But back to the movie, Seagal and a partner are on the case to find why the politician was killed. In the long run there’s a deal going on between yakuza and tongs uniting there drug empire …or something like that. In the end I really don’t know why they killed the politician. The whole plot was so convoluted and nonsensical overall.  

The only thing that pleased me about this movie was that Seagal did most of the stunt work. There was barely any stunt doubles…at the most probably in two action scenes. Even if he is mostly only doing patty cake on the screen, I rather see him do it, not a stunt double. Yet, there were scenes were a a stunt double was used, even if it didn't call for it; then again this is a notorious fact in most of Seagal’s DTV flicks. 50 pounds lither double is placed from behind to make the real Seagal look skinny. I mean the guys pancake face is on the screen, it’s not like we can’t tell the guy is obese. I was also glad there wasn’t any dubbing of his voice this time.  Yet, in the scenes where he is “supposedly” speaking Japanese and I say “supposedly” because he sounds like he is muttering most of it,that they should have actually dubbed.  Personally, as a fan of Seagal, I would say just wait, they will eventually show it on TV. I’m sure spike TV will show it, they have shown several of Seagal's DTV flicks

DVD

Belly of the beast was the last Seagal movie I bought on DVD. Since then I either rent or borrow them from someone else. Or I just watch them online. This time, I got a back up copy from a friend. So in technicality this movie comes from the original DVD source.

Video

The copy of into the sun that I got had a lot of compression and pixilation all over the place. I don’t know if this is the actual case with the original DVD, but that was the case with this copy. Since it came from the original DVD, I am assuming it is the case with the original one as well.  

Audio

I wasn’t really impressed with the audio. Even at 5.1 Surround, it didn’t feel very loud to me

Bottom Line:

Like I said, wait for the TV to show it, not worth spending your money on. But if you are a fan like me of Seagal, I will post a free full movie link so you can see it in two parts. Without commercial interruptions.

THEATRICAL TRAILER:

Into the Sun Part 1 out of 2

Mortal Kombat (1995)- Robin Shou (3)

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Stars: Robin Shou, Christopher Lambert & Linden Ashbey

Genre: Action/Martial Arts/Fantasy

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Fantasy Violence)

Running Time: 91 Mins

Tagline: Nothing in This World Has Prepared You For This

Synopsis:

{According to IMDB}

"Three unknowing martial artists are summoned to a mysterious island to compete in a tournament whose outcome will decide the fate of the world. "

Discussion

Without a doubt this is definitely the best video game adaptation. Every character, every action sequence: true to the Original Video Game from Super Nintendo.  This is one of those movies that I remember seeing as a kid and loved. Seeing it again I fell exactly the same about it: Still love it.  

If you’re not familiar with the plot of Mortal Kombat, let me enlighten you.  A group of fighters have been chosen to attend a tournament known as Mortal Kombat.  But, little do they know that this tournament holds the future of humanity. If the bad guys win, the world gets enslaved by Shao Kahn: Ruler of Outworld.  In charge of the tournament is another baddie: Shang Tsung played marvelously and maliciously by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. It is up to Liu Kang and his friends to win the tournament and prevent the world from being enslaved.

Yeah the effects are dated, it is quite cheesy sometimes, but it’s still a treat. I watch this movie many times a year. There’s something about the fight scenes and the soundtrack that get you in the mood to kick ass! Especially the opening song when the logo of New Line Cinema appears and you hear the roaring sound of MORTAL KOMBAT!!!  

The blu ray I own is a Canadian import; I was so anxious to get this movie on BD I just took the first copy available of this film. So the review will be about the picture and sound quality on the Canadian Blu- Ray Release from Alliance. Not the official American Release.

Video

Presented in Full 1080p HD, I was really blown away with the remastering they did for Mortal Kombat. I had never seen the movie so clear. Both the VHS & DVD had very poor picture quality, especially the early DVD release. The early DVD was Non Anamorphic and the transfer seemed like it came from a Laserdisc or something like it. Anyways, the HD of Mortal Kombat actually improves the dated special effects, in many ways it improves the clarity of Sub Zero's ice power, and Shang Tsung's Transformation into other characters.  From what I've heard the American release didn’t have the same transfer for the BD disc. Then again I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen the American Blu Ray release. But this Canadian import did the job done, very impressive in the HD dept.

Audio

The audio was just as impressive as the video. When the theme song started and the flames started roaring I was impressed, I hadn’t heard the soundtrack this clear before.   

Bottom Line:

 

This is a nostalgic film for me; I saw this movie at 6 and since then I have re-watched it several times. Even as corny as it is sometimes, I still think this should be in any action movie buffs library. A Must Own!

theatrical trailer:

Belly of The Beast (2003)- Steven Seagal (2 ½ )

Director: Siu- Tung Ching

Stars: Steven Seagal, Byron Mann, Monica Lo

Genre: Action/Martial Arts

MPAA Rating: R (Violence, Language & Brief Nudity)

Running Time: 91 Mins

Tagline: A Father’s Rage Knows No Limit

Synopsis:

{According to IMDB}

"An ex-CIA agent's quest to find his kidnapped daughter leads him on a trail of political intrigue, corruption, danger and betrayal; he will stop at nothing to save her. "

Discussion

Let’s face it, Seagal is FAT! That is a very recognizable fact! However, the guy still keeps making movies, even more so than when he was in shape. Talking about shape, he now has a much thinner double in most if not all the fight sequences. The way I see it, he has some bills to pay, if not he wouldn’t be making these mediocre Direct to Video flicks.  

 

As an avid fan of Seagal, I never miss any of his films, even if they are mediocre or down atrocious; which seems to be the case now with most of his DTV entries. However, this one wasn’t all that bad, no masterpiece of course, but not horrible either. So let’s get into the movie, Seagal Plays Jake Hopper an Ex C.I.A agent, whose daughter has been kidnapped in Thailand by some terrorist, so it seems. Not to quote every action movie out there in history but “they just fucked with the wrong man!’ 

 

Ok it’s quite obvious that this movie has a plot similar to any action movie of the late 80’s or early 90’s: more specifically I would say its carbon copy of Commando Also we know what is going to happen next! A lot of kicking ass is gona take place! As an action buff, what more can I ask for! I didn’t put this DVD on to see a classic; I put it to see mindless action, Period. Now, this movie doesn’t go without criticizing, even if it is mindless action, there is a lot I need to go over.  Firstly, why on earth do they keep dubbing Seagal’s voice? I mean I know the guy has somewhat of a low voice, but he isn’t mute! Not just that, as I said earlier, they keep placing a double in the action scenes. One who is very thin, I say 50 pounds lighter than he is; they even place the double in scenes where it doesn’t call for one. Such as a scene where they arrest Seagal’s Character, he walks into the police station, and from behind it is soo god damn obvious a double was placed. Anyways, the most ridiculous thing in the movie is that there is no such thing as gravity here. The laws of gravity are defied countless times through the movie. Specifically at the end, where the antagonist throws an arrow at Seagal, and miraculously breaks it in half in mid air with a sword!! Cool Beans Huh?  Again, As I said, I wasn’t expecting much from this movie. It at least did the job of entertaining me, I wasn’t bored, even if the film is pretty dumb overall.

DVD
This was one of the last Seagal movies I bought original on DVD. I mostly now just get a back up copy from a friend or wait for Spike or another channel to show them.  There really is no point now in owning them.

Video:
 I found this transfer to be quite decent, being that it was probably shot digitally, it doesn’t have that many artifacts around the screen (pixilation, spots etc) from what I seen on Amazon, this title is slated for release on Blu- Ray soon. I don’t really think I would upgrade, it was a very mediocre flick. I would stick to the DVD if you are interested. But yeah, the quality on DVD was all right

Audio:
There were a lot of fight sequences in this movie, along with gunfire…but I wasn’t feeling the boast in the sound Dept. I had the volume on my Home Theater at 40, and the gun firing sounded worse than a kid’s play gun. I was disappointed in the sound mostly.

Bottom Line:

 

Ok, so I admit the movie wasn’t that good, but it is entertaining. I would say give it a shot if you don’t feel like thinking and just watch mindless absurd action where gravity can be defied

Seagal Defies gravity!

theatrical Trailer:

Track of The Moon Beast (1976)- Chase Cordell (1)

Director: Richard Ashe

Stars: Chase Cordell, Leigh Drake, & Gregorio Sala

Genre: Science Fiction/Horror

MPAA Rating: PG (Violent or Disturbing Images)

Running Time: 80 Mins

Tagline: "The Rising Moon Creates A Monster"

Synopsis:

{According to IMDB}

"A young man is transformed into a hideous "moon beast" due to a meteor fragment lodged in his body".

Discussion

Oh man! Where do I begin explaining this mess of a movie? This is a perfect example of a soo bad its good movie. Every element of badness is here; from bad acting to downright cheesy special effects, this one truly has it all. The movie is only 80 min long but it felt like 3hrs. Pacing was the biggest issue here, every scene was extended and elongated for no given reason.  Oh one thing, before we get into the main plot: the cover of the movie, how misleading it is. The way the creature is depicted is as if he is a real threat, but when you actually sit down and see the movie...Completely different story.

This picture to the right is how he really looks in the film. Can you tell the difference between the cover and the finished product? I sure can. Anyways, let’s get into the plot of this odd little film. Early in the movie, we are introduced to our protagonists: Paul, Kathy and Professor Longbow (they always call him Longbone, don’t know why). All of which can’t act for beans. Especially the actress who plays Kathy, all her reactions are stale and lifeless. Anyhow, Kathy and Paul, who are deeply in love (even though they just met 5 min into the film) are sitting in the woods, making out, when all of a sudden a meteorite hits Paul in the head. Fragments of the meteor get inside his head. Paul dismisses it; however he is in for a big surprise...because soon he will turn into: THE MOON BEAST!

That’s as complicated as the plot gets to be honest with you. The rest just involves a Sherriff investigating the mysterious death of civilians, and of course they are being killed by the beast. The beast for some weird reason resembles The Creature of The Black Lagoon...just done really cheaply here. A curious observation, which is pretty obvious through the movie, is 3 things: the sheriff never unhooks his thumbs from his belt, even when sitting down, Paul is seen shirtless for about 80% off the movie, and Kathy is mostly wearing  skanky clothes which distracts most male viewers from the rest of the cheesy mess of a film. I mean this movie was just soo odd, yet I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen LOL. I will admit, it was a guilty pleasure. I might even watch it again, just for the laughs. Trust me, that's definitely what you will get here: laughs. Such as the song they play in a club titled "California Lady" God! How corny can the lines be, there's a part in the song when the vocalist says "My voice been getting froggy I been smoking too damn much" I was bursting out laughing! But at the same time I would see myself later in the day singing the song, I even have it on my I-Pod now. But yeah, this movie is mostly just to sit back on a rainy night and enjoy for the unintentional humor, even if the pacing is slow, there’s a lot of cheesiness to redeem it.

California Lady Song:

Lyrics to "California Lady":

My voice been getting froggy
I been smoking too damn much
Singing songs to the sun that's rising
Rhyming words I cannot touch
Oh I been wandering in circles
With just a guitar in m' hand
Playing one too many barrooms and drinkin' more than I can stand

California lady won't you bring your love to me
California lady she's the one I want to see
My California lady

I'm hung out in Chicago with a California mind
Lady love and lord above
These city mountains aren't my kind
Oh I been wandering in circles
With just a guitar in m' hand
Playing all these funky barrooms and drinkin' more than I can stand

California lady won't you bring your love to me
California lady she's the one I want to see
My California lady
My California lady
My California lady

DVD

I got this movie in a bundle pack; it came in a 50 Chilling Classics Box Set. The box set was only 10 bucks, 50 movies for 10 bucks isn’t bad, even if most of them are as bad as this one. The movie is actually available on YouTube for free, so if you are interested in seeing this cheesy flick, be my guest, I will leave you a link to it. That way you won’t feel guilty about spending money on it. Also, the quality is no different to the one I have on DVD.

Video

Like most cheap DVD's the quality is never anything above average. Presented in 1:33:1, the total feel I got for the picture quality was dark and grainy. Even though the box set said they are "remastered" they aren't, and then again for how bad it is, I’m not expecting it to be anything spectacular in the visual dept. So overall the quality was just bleh. Felt like they transferred it from a second generation VHS

Audio:
Just like the video, The audio is overall a mediocre 2 Channel Mono

Bottom Line:

Man, this is a hard decision, because I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. I wasn’t scarred nor amused by the films effects...I was mostly laughing. If you want to laugh at and see a corny 70's "horror/sci-fi" than this is your treat.

Full movie: