Media Notes: Roundup for September 2022

  

This is a somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during September 2022. 

 

Note that there was no roundup in August 2022 because Blogger, literally as I was about to publish it, decided to delete it with no way to recover it. Annoying to put it mildly.

Movies and films (links to IMDB.com for basic information unless noted otherwise). Some of these I watched via TubiTv.com or other online source. The DVDs come from the public library (unless noted otherwise). In addition, I will try to add other trivia notes, such as when a film is based on a book adding the information about the book (at least the WorldCat record if available).

Since September means it is almost October and Halloween, I decided to start my horror watching for the season now, so here are some horror films I watched in September:

•  Pumpkinhead (1988. Horror. Fantasy). Plot description: "After a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers." Part of the reason I wanted to watch this, besides that many consider it a classic, is that it has Lance Henriksen portraying the father who loses his son and wants revenge on the teens that caused the son's death. Henriksen does good work in horror, so I decided to check this out. On a small technical note, this is one of the movies that TubiTv does not have captioned. Film starts in 1957 when a man chased by some creature knocks on a rural family's door for shelter; they refuse to let him in, clearly afraid of whatever is outside. The creature gets the man, and the story transitions to what is present time. The present starts with Ed (Lance's character), who turns out to be the young son in 1957. The present starts in his farm Ed and his son; he is a single father who runs a small grocery store in a rural road. They are poor but happy. The young folks soon arrive, hauling their dirt bikes to go riding in the mountains, and it's usual bunch of douchebag drinking guys with some girls. Soon, the accident happens as one of the boys ends up running the kid over with a dirt bike. When Ed finds the boy, he picks him up, and when one of the other boys offers to help, Ed just glares. That silent glare is quite scary, moving, a man in grief you dare not cross. Meanwhile, the rest of the youths ran off, and their "leader" decides to just abandon the scene (in part because he is already in trouble with the law and has been drinking). The stage is set for Ed's revenge as his son dies in his arms, a pretty moving scene. Ed decides to find an old woman known to be a witch, hoping she can help his son. As a villager tells him, all she can do is take him on a trip to hell, but we know by now if Ed can't have his son, he will have his revenge. . . at a price. When Ed realizes the actual price, it is too late to stop Pumpkinhead; the curse must run its course. The scene with the witch is also done very well, good atmosphere. Overall, this is a pretty good thriller that combines backwoods fantasy/fairy tale, feels a bit like a folk tale, with horror, a revenge tale where soon enough the revenge seeker finds the price may be too high. It has scary moments, but it is not really gory. I can see why many viewers like this film. It is a good horror film. The very end was very good by the way. Henriksen puts on a great performance. I really liked it so 4 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/3.
• Blade: The Iron Cross (2020. Horror. Fantasy. Science Fiction). Plot description: "In 1945 a psychic war journalist gains a telekinetic link to a murderous puppet and uses its help to sabotage a top secret Nazi experiment that involves using a Death Ray to transform people into zombies." This is a sort of spinoff, sort of solo outing for one of the puppets from the Puppet Master series, Blade. I find the Full Moon Studios series to be so so (some installments are OK, others not so much), but still decided to take a chance on this one. As our story opens, we learn these evil Nazi experimenters are in the United States in hiding, and it is almost the end of the war. Soon we find out the local detective, Lt. Detective Jonas is trying to solve a series of murders, but it seems the prosecutor is not that interested in listening to him; we soon get hints the DA is corrupt (likely in alliance with the Nazis), so are some of the other cops. Our psychic reporter, Elisa, by the way, has the puppets now, but not much left of Toulon's serum. Not really explained why she has them. Anyhow, soon Blade comes to life, linking to the psychic's energy, and he starts killing the bad guys. It is up to the reporter, the detective, and the puppet to save America from a Nazi plot. The movie is seriously cheesy, and rather than horror it is more a bit of fantasy and science fiction. The acting is not great, but not too bad. The story is a bit corny, but you do get a fairly satisfying ending. As usual in the films, the soundtrack music remains pretty good. It was OK, so I am willing to give it 2 out of 5 stars at most. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/3.
• I, Vampire: a Trilogy of Blood (2000. Horror. Anthology). Plot description: "A sensual trilogy of vampire stories from Wizard Entertainment." One of the things the stories get well is the traditional vampire lore such as sun can kill them, the stake through the heart, being invited into a home, so on. The quality of the stories is inconsistent, so is the acting. As I said, it catches the vampire atmosphere well, but the writers seem to waste that potential, especially with the first story. The stories have romantic elements, but they are not really terribly sensual. Overall, the anthology is OK, so I am willing to give it 2 out of 5 stars. Watched 9/9 via TubiTv.
  
• "Spawn of Hell." Story starts with a young woman driving along an isolated road. She comes across a car wreck where two passengers are dead. There is also someone in a body bag that turns out to still be alive. She takes the woman from the body bag to a doctor, a doctor that seems a bit on the eccentric side (to put it mildly). They realize the woman is a vampire, and she is concerned someone, an older vampire, is after her. The older vampire arrives, the doctor tricks him, and manages to wound him, but the young vampire saves the older one from death. Turns out later the doctor himself is also a vampire, albeit a reluctant one using his science in hopes of curing himself. The setting and scene look good, and they got the vampire lore done pretty well. But the acting is pretty bad, and the plot is a bit of a mess. Whatever horror there is gets ruined by the poor acting and plotting. Of the three stories, this is the weakest one.
  
• "From the Grave." Story starts with a woman who has been having nightmare dreams. As if that was not bad enough, some guy she knew, an ex, just got paroled. That evening, some naked guy walks out of a building, a morgue it seems (implied but not specified), finds a victim, gets rid of him and takes the clothes. We can guess this is the vampire of the story. Story is pretty minimal on basic details, so audience has to make them out as the story goes along. Soon the ex does what exes in these movies do: start harassing the woman and stalking her. The woman of course freaks out. The vampire also seems interested in her, but we are not sure why initially. It seems the vampire is the man she dreams about, and that the two may have known each other before; turns out it was in a previous life, and she was his lover. It's the woman's somewhat nosy aunt who believes in conspiracy theories and cryptids among other things who gets the first hint the man is a vampire (she sees he has no reflection in a mirror). The aunt is also an antiquarian book dealer, another detail that goes well with a vampire story. The aunt decides the vampire needs to die, and in a moment of absolute ridiculousness, she forces the stalker ex, at gunpoint, to help her do it. This part of the plot cannot possibly get any more stupid. In the end though, this is a story of lovers reuniting, so there is a happy ending. 
• "Undead Evil." Sofia, a young female musician, member of a local symphony, gets an offer from another woman representing a wealthy patron to do a private performance. Given a generous enough fee, she accepts. That evening, the other woman comes to pick up Sofia. A male friend of Sofia, vampire apparently also, tries to stop her but she goes. Turns out Zachary, the friend, is indeed seeking to hunt down the older wealthy vampire. Ash, the older vampire, seduces Sofia, hoping to turn her (he wants her not just as a lover but for her musical talent), and it falls to Zachary to try to save her. Of the three stories, this was the strongest one. It had a better plot with a small element of romance and melancholy. 
•  Jason X (2001. Horror. Science Fiction. Action). Plot description: "Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the 21st century, and is discovered in the 25th century and taken to space. He gets thawed, and begins stalking and killing the crew of the spaceship that's transporting him." Why anyone thought it was a good idea to freeze Jason and then take him to space is beyond me, but here we are. I vaguely remember watching this back in the day, and it has been a while since I have watched the Friday the 13th films, so when I saw Tubi had this I decided to do a revisit. Like many cheesy horror movies, this one starts with some stupid premises. One, the military apparently has Jason in a research facility in the 21st century. Once they are done researching, they freeze him cryogenically. You know when a military guy says "everything is under control," shit is about to happen (and it does). Next stupid thing: centuries pass, Jason's frozen body is discovered by some research students in the by now abandoned research facility (Earth apparently is a wasteland by now, so humanity has moved to space), and of course they just transfer him to their ship in space. They do find the frozen body of the woman who managed to freeze Jason also frozen, so she will now become the one trying to warn the others who, of course again, will not listen until too late. 25th century or not, higher tech and security, once Jason gets going, nothing will stop him. Should have left him frozen back on Earth. The lead researcher figures there is money to be made from Jason's frozen body if he can sell it to the right buyer, and there goes next stupid premise. In a sense, this is like other loose alien brought on a ship wreaking havoc movie, but with elements still from your basic slasher: young students, young students having sex, stupid decisions, and no one listening to the one person who is actually an expert. Needless to say, Jason wakes up 400 or so years later now, and well, he is pissed. Once he is awake, time to start counting dead stupid research people and pulling for the survivor girl from the 21st century hoping she makes it. Overall, the film is pretty ridiculous. It is basically a slasher film with a science fiction coat over it. I do like the science fiction elements, but even those are not enough to elevate this sequel. As I said, once Jason gets loose, it's a matter of counting the kills until the very end and see who makes it. Amusing but no big deal. Works for a slow night, just make some popcorn and be amused. The kills are mostly OK as is the film overall, so I am giving it a 2 out of 5 stars. Watched 9/17. 
• Hellraiser: Judgment (2018. Horror). Plot description: "Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of this world." Another installment in the Hellraiser series; this one went straight to video back in its day. It features a detective story, so I decided to take a chance. It also features a different actor (Paul T. Taylor) from the one in the original film (Doug Bradley) in the role of Pinhead. As the film opens, Pinhead and the Auditor discuss how time has passed, how the box that lures people in and the cenobites into Earth may be obsolete because sin is so easy now with technology, so on. It is an intriguing possibility, so we need to see if the film lives up to it, and what can Pinhead do to catch up with the times so to speak. From there, the first scene has Pinhead's minions capture a pedophile the Auditor lured to an abandoned house to be tortured as "reward" for his misdeeds. There is a bit of a gross factor in parts of the scene, so be warned, but it is also highly stylized as horror scenes in this series can be. It is after this opening scene that the movie credits open, and the story really starts. We now follow the two detectives as they find the first case we see, a murdered woman. Soon we learn the detectives are chasing a serial killer they call the Preceptor. The movie's idea is not bad, but the execution is pretty awful. It seems the film is more interested in some gross out elements, and then a very slow plot where Detective Sean Carter seems to be very affected by the case, but otherwise not that much really happens. The film just drags for the most part as it turns Detective Egerton is there not just to help with the case but to keep an eye on the detective brothers. This is a movie that lasts about an hour and 20 minutes, and we make it to the top of the hour with very little of substance really happening. We get the "big" reveal of who the killer really is, but even that does not quite make sense, again, something that had potential, just not set up well, so when the film gets there it does not seem as credible as could be. And once Pinhead arrives in the end, well, there is no escape. The film could have had potential, but the plot is a mess, not really coherent, and it drags until the last scene. There is an element of a higher power the cenobites answer to, or at least need to obey, but it is not explored. It seems to be more of a convenient deus ex machina. Overall, this was pretty bad, and not even a good cash grab for the franchise. This franchise should have ended long ago, and this film, the 10th in the series, is just poor filler. 1 out of 5 stars, barely. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/30.

 Other non-horror films I watched in September: 

 

• The Valachi Papers (1972. Crime Drama). Plot description: "Gangster Joe Valachi is a marked man in the same joint where mob boss Don Vito Genovese is imprisoned and he's forced to co-operate with the DA in exchange for protection." When I saw TubiTv had this, I decided to watch it, in part due to it being based on a book, but more so because it has Charles Bronson in it. In addition, the film is produced by Dino De Laurentiis, and it is directed by Terence Young. The film starts with Valachi already in prison when Genovese gives him the "kiss of death." At that point, Valachi decides to take the deal to talk to the Feds for protection. From there, we get his story in flashbacks as he tells it to an agent. Valachi tells his story from his rise to end up working for Genovese, who was quite crooked. However, at times not as crooked as the FBI could be. Overall, the movie is interesting, and it does have some thrilling moments here and there. Bronson puts on a decent performance. The ending does get a bit melodramatic. Still I liked the film, so willing to give it 3 out of 5 stars. Watched 9/9.
  
• The movie is based, loosely, on the book The Valachi Papers by Peter Maas which IMDB mistakenly labels as fiction. I am curious enough from the film I hope to read the book down the road. 
• Appointment with Death (1988. Mystery. Crime. Drama. Literary adaptation). Plot description: "When a former prison wardress who dominates the lives of her three adult stepchildren and her daughter is found dead at an archaeological dig near the Dead Sea, there are a great many suspects." This another adaption of an Agatha Christie story featuring Detective Hercule Poirot. Peter Ustinov once more portrays the famous detective in this Golan-Globus production from Cannon Group. As usual with Christie adaptations, this one has a very good cast of actors including Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, John Gielgud, David Soul, and others. The initial travel scenes are not that interesting other than to introduce Poirot and setting up the boat journey to the Dead Sea and the Holy Land. Once the journey gets on the way, things get more interesting. Piper Laurie portrays Emily Boynton, the mother, and she plays the obnoxious domineering mother to the hilt; you are just rooting for her to get killed. Agatha Christie often makes the murder victims quite unpleasant. Lauren Bacall plays Lady Westholme, an American woman who married a British noble (thus her title), and she plays the imperious woman well too. Overall, this was a pretty good and entertaining movie with some very good performances, especially Ustinov and Bacall. I liked it, so 3 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/30.
  
• The film is an adaption of Christie's novel Appointment with Death. Given the film departs in some ways from the book, I am curious to read the book down the road.
  

 

 

Television and other series (basic show information links via Wikipedia unless noted otherwise). Some of these come in DVD from the public library. Others may be via YouTube, which, as noted before, I keep finding all sorts of other old shows in it, often full episodes:

• Ben Bailey: Road Rage (2011. TV special. Stand up comedy).  Plot description: "As host of the Discovery Channel's "Cash Cab" and "Cash Cab After Dark," Ben Bailey's following and popularity continues to grow. Now comes Ben Bailey's hilarious, debut stand-up DVD!" I enjoyed Cash Cab when it was on the air, so I figured I'd take a chance on this. His bit on Google is pretty good and spot on. Naturally, he speaks a bit about the show, including a bit about what you did not see on the television. This was actually pretty good, and I had some good laughs. You do not have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this, but if you know the show you'll probably appreciate parts of the routine more. I really liked it, so 4 out of 5 stars. Watched via TubiTv on 9/2.
  
• Iron Chef (1993-1999). I continue watching this full run via TubiTv. I finished watching the 5th season. Among the highlights of the 5th season are: The French Special where they travel to France (parts one and two), a holiday strawberry dessert battle, and Kandagawa brings a female challenger for a soybean battle. For me, this is always a very enjoyable series to watch.
  
• Ralphie May: Prime Cut (2007. TV special. Stand up comedy). Plot description: "Videotaped on location at The Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, TN, Ralphie keeps the audience in stitches as he offers commentary on the topics he's most passionate about: mullets, dudes who wear flip-flops, being right vs. being happy, his favorite gifts, and silence!" Granted some of his humor can be politically incorrect these days, but the guy is funny. He makes fun of others but he also makes fun of himself. In addition to the good humor, he also had very good facial expressions as he made the jokes. By the way, he is spot on being right vs. being happy when it comes to guys and relationships. This was good overall, though the relationships part went a bit longer than it should have probably. I will note he had other routines, not featured here, that can be quite funny too such as hanging out with Jesus. I liked it in the end so 3 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/3.