Expelled Grey Matter

I remember Lisa Frankenstein being promoted prior to it coming out.  A local group that presents cult movies was offering preview passes and, as usual, I had something happening on whatever day it was happening.  It didn't really phase me much as it didn't seem the sort of movie I would want to watch anyway.  It seemed like another cult film that wanted to force the supposed cult-ness of the production on audiences that were hoping for something new and entertaining.  To top it off it was PG-13.   Fast forward a couple years and this movie has become a genuine cult hit.  It has an '80s aesthetic, a Tim Burton-style romantic plot and has plenty of nods to Heathers .  Despite all that, and despite a number of flaws, it still manages to be its own thing.  Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is slowly coming back to normality after her mother was killed by a psychotic killer.  Now living with her father Dale (Joe Chrest) and stepmother Janet (Car...

I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on Lamberto Bava to be like his dad but, with his frequent collaborations with Dario Argento, he went in a quite different direction.  The Church and Demons  are his most popular, supernatural features that combine all of his influences, from Mario Bava to Lucio Fulce.  Before those, however, his first couple of films fell clearly within the giallo realm.   Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) is a film composer working on the soundtrack to a horror film directed by Sandra (Anny Papa).  She puts him up in a large rural villa to do his work, hoping that the atmosphere will influence him, while withholding the last few parts of her movie.  The owner of the villa is a playboy named Tony (Michele Soavi) who has to spend most of his time away in Kuwait.   Bruno soon gets to work and is interrupted by a woman named Katia (Valeria Cavelli), who is murdered a short time later by an unknown person.  Bruno finds clues af...

A major frustration with many Stephen King adaptations is that, due to copyright or other issues, the interconnectiveness of the stories never shines through.  Even a story like Hearts in Atlantis , which was integral in introducing Ted Brautigan, a character that would figure heavily in the last few Dark Tower  books, got adapted in a way to where it left the important parts out and concentrated on the coming-of-age story.  After ignoring all the connections for so long I was surprised to find out that an adaptation of The Dark Tower series was a thing. Then came the bad news.  The movie is only 95 minutes, hardly the time needed to encapsulate eight books' worth of material, even if it skipped some of the parts that felt more like wheel-spinning on King's part or the awful decision of including himself as a character in the last couple tomes.  It also did what too many movies do these days and race swapped Roland Deschain, who in the books is obviously modeled...

Shaw Brothers, one of the most famous movie studios in Hong Kong, was known for their grand martial arts epics and period dramas.  However, they occasionally branched off into stranger realms.  Influenced by Ultraman and many other Japanese films director Shan Hua and writer Kuang Ni came up with a kitschy, hilarious and often fun sci-fi film of their own. When a series of disasters begin to strike the world Professor Liu Ying-Te (Hsieh Wang) uses his advance scientific laboratory to investigate.  It doesn't take long before the source of the problems reveals itself: the Glacier Queen (Terry Liu), Demon Princess Elizebub, has gathered a number of creatures from the ice age to wreak havoc upon human civilization in an effort to reclaim the surface world.  In order to combat this threat Professor Liu recruits one of his best agents, Lei Ma (Danny Lee), to undergo an experimental procedure.  The result is that, when needed, Lei Ma turns into Super Infra-Man, a cybo...

A major problem with many of the Godzilla films from any era is, though the series may begin strong, it quickly devolves into trying to walk a fine line of presenting a cool monster story while still keeping it family friendly.  The modern-day versions have worked best when the stories went into darker territory and allowed the terror that permeated the original Godzilla to come through.   Surprisingly the Millenium Era of Godzilla understood this.  There was no grand plan except for a few of the movies made to have multiple chapters.  Instead, each entry presented Godzilla in a different manner, and both Godzilla 2000: Millennium and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus  were partially successful.  The issue was often that Toho didn't give the directors and special effects crews decent budgets, thus resulting in some impressive miniature work but often horrible CGI.  Because of that the feeling of watching an epic monster movie didn't surface until Godzilla...

Sam Raimi, except for the premiere episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead , had backed away from directing after the disastrous flop  Oz the Great and Powerful .  It was the best decision at the time as that movie had little of what made Raimi great, either as a classic horror director or as the director of one of the best superhero films of all time.  It was a tired piece of work-for-hire Hollywood pablum that would cause anyone to question their career choices. Despite his reluctance to get behind the camera again he was talked into directing a Marvel film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness .  Despite being a latter-day Marvel production it was a solid fantasy flick and was recognizably a Sam Raimi film despite all its flaws.  Although it had a mixed reception it got him interested in directing again and, lo and behold, we got Send Help in early 2026.  Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is the hardworking head of the strategy and planning department of her com...