It's hard to believe with all the remakes being done that this 1975 gem is the only film of this notorious event, that said it would have a tough act to follow. Elizabeth Momtgomery gives a chilling dead-on performance of the 19th century spinster who allegedly axed her father and step mother to death. I remember seeing this film as a child when it was released and Momtgomery's Borden was genuinely frightening! A far cry from the Samantha Stevens we know and love from Bewitched. In fact the entire cast from Katherine Helmond, Fritz Weaver, Fionnula Flanagan, Ed Flanders, Hayden Roaurke and Bonnie Bartlet are flawless. But when a film is riddled with a cast and a director like Paul Wendkos all pros at their craft, there's little chance of failure. I do remember this film was presented with a disclaimer that it was not recommended for children due to violence and nudity and I have to admit that peaked my interest being a fan of scary movies. As I recall the film was a major hit so I wish Paramount would finally release this on DVD where it belongs it needs to be seen!! not left to fade away in oblivion. Even though I'm not a fan of remakes I kind of wish they would because usually they release the original when they make a remake.
Reviews
9 Reviews
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
(1975 TV Movie)
Montgomery is masterful !. Where is the DVD?
16 September 2011
Licence to Kill
(1989)
Dalton shines in his last Bond
16 September 2011
In Timothy Dalton's second and final adventure as 007 we probably have one of the most realistic, gritty and underrated films in the franchise. After Sanchez (Robert Davi), a notorious violent drug dealer tries to kill Bond's buddy Felix Leitner and brutally murders Leitner's new wife on their honeymoon, Bond turns rogue, for justice and revenge.This outing seems custom made for Dalton who has always wanted to make Bond more human but also keeping the sophistication of the iconic character in check. The film succeeds because it perfectly mixes the typical style of the franchise: beautiful women, Carey Lowell as Bonds current colleague and love interest (But this Bond girl has balls!) Sanchez's femme fa-tale girlfriend and an evil sidekick played to the hilt by a young Benicio Del toro, a loyal moneypenny who always seems to be watching Bond's back and Desmond Llewellyn of course adding comic relief and gadgets galore as Q. Wayne Newton even has a cool cameo as a slick evangelist and of course an explosive finale pay off that defines a classic Bond film. Adding the expected to a storyline that could easily have been ripped from the headlines at that time, murder and an international drug ring along with Dalton's unfailing ability to show what makes James Bond tick made License to Kill for me a dark, yet unpretentious action extravaganza.
Mulholland Drive
(2001)
Lynch dujour
15 September 2011
After hearing so much hype about how brilliant this film is from various sources, being a movie fan, I was looking forward to seeing it. I was aware of David Lynch's quirky style of film making (A style that I am not particularly fond of) still as a rule I've never been one to listen to critics, I've always taken them with a grain of salt (As everyone should) and then made up my own mind. Everyone has different tastes and everyone has a right to their own opinion. So I did view this film with certain expectations. I enjoy intelligent thrillers. Lynch seems to direct this film with the assumption that the more chaotic and metaphoric it is the more intelligent it is, leaving the average viewer in a state of saying to themselves "What the hell is going on here?" The talented cast seems to agree they go through scene to scene with looks of restrained bewilderment. Just when I thought I had the puzzle solved and knew the direction, it does a complete 360, which had to be frustrating to the average viewer. It's safe to say that this film demands multiple viewings (If you have that kind of time). For the Lynch fan it's right up your ally. For the average viewer it will make your head hurt. For me it was like watching a group therapy session. I enjoy intelligent thrillers that have a puzzle to solve but not when the puzzle is as exciting as a college exam. And when you do finally solve the puzzle you realize it wasn't worth being solved in the first place.
not definitive enough
13 September 2011
The only issue I have with this DVD Reflections: the ultimate performances of Diana Ross and the Supremes is.. it's not definitive enough! Where is 'Love is like an itching in my heart", "Forever came today"" I'm living in shame" 'No matter what sign you are" & other hits? (I know there's video footage of these songs)Not to mention Ross and the girls' spellbinding performances of such standards as 'Thou swell",'The impossible dream", 'I'm the greatest star" and show stopping medleys dedicated to the likes of Fats Waller and Irving Berlin. This DVD should showcase the full repertoire of the reason why they're the greatest female group of all time.These early clips also show the presence and charisma of Diana Ross proving how she became a legend in her own time and in the Guinness book of world records as the most successful female recording artist of all time. Why are'nt there any DVDs of Ross's spectacular specials? Like her debut special DIANA!(1971), the tony award winning Evening with Diana Ross (1976), Live at Cesar's palace (1979),Red hot rhythm and blues (1987) Workin overtime (1989) and most notably the blockbuster central park concerts that were so crowded at the time it would be easy to refer to them as "Rossstock" This should be called a greatest hits video collection certainly not definitive. I see tons of dvds by the likes of Britney spears and Beyonce available but where are these classic performances? Spears and Beyonce should hope their careers match the longevity that Ross's has. PS It would have also been cool to show some videos of the post Diana Supremes featuring Jean Terrell oh well we can always hope for a volume 2.
The Hotel New Hampshire
(1984)
one of the worse films I've ever seen.
1 September 2011
I am a big movie fan and I'm certainly not one to ever tell anyone what to watch and to not try to enjoy a movie each his own we all have our own tastes and opinions but I have to say for a film with so much talent involved I hated this film in fact it probably ranks as one of the worse if not the worse film I ve ever seen!!!In fact just like another reviewer wrote I specifically decided to review this film because of how terrible it was and bad taste this film left in my mouth, but again this is just my opinion watch it and make up your own mind This whole film though I realize it was trying to be quirky didn't make any sense at all.
Damien: Omen II
(1978)
great sequel to great predecessor
1 September 2011
probably one of the best horror sequels ever. Jonathan Scott Taylor seemed born to play the teenage anti Christ. Oscar winners William Holden and Lee Grant bring class to their roles just like Peck and Remick did to the original but Jerry Golsmith delivers and even more chilling score that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and the death scenes couldn't have been better and more realistic and remember this is before cgi which if done today would probably look fake. It also delivers on the coming of age of the antichrist and (considering how business is today) makes a creepy point of what if one of America's largest corporations was to actually be controlled by Satan? Lacks the mystery of it's predecessor but clearly makes up for it with inventive death scenes and high standard production values.
Quantum of Solace
(2008)
where is Bond??? James Bond
1 September 2011
After casino royale being Bond's first mission and Daniel Craigs first outing I was not surprised that they would go for a grittier Bond image. Great and Entertaining. But in the next installment I figured we'd have James back and not a sequel to the previous film. Where are the gadgets,Where are the cool one liners, Where is Q, Where is moneypenny? I LOVE the James Bond franchaise but I want what I love about it that sets it apart from every other action adventure series instead of James Bond we are getting a British version of Jason Bourne And enough with the annoying Mtv style editing it was the main reason why I hated the mission impossible movies & why I'm beginning to hate this franchaise. You've guys have one more chance to sell me on Mr. Craig though I blame the writing and directing more than I blame him. Let's hope it's not a failure for me like this one was, or I guess I'll have to settle for Brosnan and Dalton as the last great Bonds.
The Omen
(2006)
Pointless
1 September 2011
June 6, 2006 is the only reason fox decided to remake a film that was so groundbreaking and terrifiying for it's time it's considered a masterpiece to horror purists. First the bad and good of this version: The bad: Liev schreiber and Julia Stiles are no Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, John Moore is no Richard Donner,Marco Beltrami is no Jerry Golsmith (Who won an Oscar for the original) and Mia Farrow is simply miscast as the evil Mrs. Baylock as is Seamus Davey Fitzpatrick who doesn't come close to the iconic smile of little Harvey Stephens who smile in the original, chilled to the bone, Fitzpatrick looks like a child with perpetual constipation. and now for the Good: come to think of it there was nothing good to this pointless remake, if fox wanted to cash in on the 6/6/06 release date they should have re-released the original like warner bros did with The Exorcist a few years ago, granted The Exorcist had extra footage which I don't think The Omen has but they could have released 1976s The Omen with it's hit sequel 1978s Damien-Omen II which would have been better than this inferior drivel. This is only the opinion of one man, please make up your own mind
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
(2010)
more of the same!
1 September 2011
It's funny but in the 1970s and 80s I don't recall Hollywood constantly remaking horror films from the 40's and 50's and when it was done it was done pretty well 1978s Invasion of the body snatchers and 1982s The Thing come to mind. But since the new millennium it seems the only offerings from the horror genre have been pointless remakes to smart and SCARY classics from yesteryear. We had to revisit the likes of The step ford wives, A nightmare on elm st.,Halloween I AND II,Black Christmas,Friday the 13TH, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,When a stranger calls, The Fog, The Amityville Horror,Hills Have Eyes,The Hitcher,Last house on the left,Dawn of the Dead, another body snatcher remake The Invasion and in the late 90s remakes of Psycho and The Haunting and not to mention the almost blasphemous remake of The Omen! The formula is always the same take an intelligent blockbuster, recast it with a politically correct ensemble(usually with arrogant, annoying teens),saturate it with play station worthy cgi effects and rewrite it so that it's familiar to an MTV/reality show audience with the attention span of a fly. And I'm sure there are more on the way....When is Hollywood gonna produce an original horror script that doesn't insult my intelligence? After all isn't that why they're paid millions and millions of dollars? Don't be afraid of the dark is no exception to these new rules and frankly from this writer and director I expected better. The 1973 creepy original which terrified me as a child starred Kim Darby as a young wife who inherits a gloomy mansion infested with demonic creatures and cannot get her executive husband Jim Hutton to believe her despite warnings from an ominous handy man. This version centers naturally around a young girl instead of a young wife (hence the annoying arrogant teen, kid rule) and a back story (hence the rewritten to the Mtv/reality/dancing with stars attention span crowd) the bottom line if an original is a known as a "classic" always stick with the original, if they must make remakes remake a crappy film and make that one better not vice versa believe me there are enough to choose from or remake a film that is not well known what Gauls me the most is todays young audiences are being jipped into thinking that some of todays garbage are the originals. If this trend continues I suppose in 2040 there will be remakes of Saw,Insidious,Silent Hill,Hostile and the 2040 generations will think they're the real deal. Please don't let my rant prevent you from making up your own mind we all have different tastes if you wanna go see it and if you enjoy it, dandy , this is simply one humble mans opinion.
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