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Mute Witness (1995)

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Director Anthony Waller, if famous for anything, is known for directing one of the most worthless and embarrassing sequels ever: An American Werewolf in Paris .  In some ways it's a shot-by-shot retelling of John Landis's classic horror comedy An American Werewolf in London , only changing it to Paris and using crappy CGI rather than state-of-the-art practical effects.   What got him the chance to direct what a major studio mistakenly thought was a sequel people were asking for - despite the original movie not ever calling for one - was a low-budget film he made in Moscow not long after the fall of the Soviet Union.  This was during the time of Boris Yeltsin and a period of extreme social upheaval in Russia where the country was almost lawless and, in some respects, run by organized crime.  It was also a brief time period when the country was becoming more open and welcoming to the West and, like a number of other former Eastern Bloc countries, presented cheaper...
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Pet Sematary (2019)

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Pet Sematary was the first novel I read by Stephen King.  I did re-read it later in life and realized just how pulpy it was compared to many of his previous stories and definitely the later dark fantasy and straight literary efforts.  It put my initial dislike of 1989's film adaptation   in perspective.  After seeing it again within the last couple of years I still don't find it to be a great film, but I can't fault it for being a campy b-movie when I take the source material into consideration. Pet Sematary did take some liberties with the original story, but it managed to make an effort to present the story as it was written.  That was what I expected the 2019 movie would do, possibly integrating some things that were left out while giving us a bland, color-washed, CGI-filled bore fest that would make me appreciate the original even more.  In some ways that is what it delivered but, to their detriment, directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, along wit...
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Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

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For all the franchises like Hellraiser or Leprechaun that overstayed their welcome there are those that never got a fair shake.  The original Hellboy  was an okay movie.  It had a lot of imagination and heart, in large part due to Guillermo del Toro's involvement and Ron Pearlman's love of the source material, but it was far from del Toro's best film.  It also didn't do as well at the box office as the studio had intended so, even though a sequel had been greenlit, it took four years for Hellboy II: The Golden Army to reach theaters.   During that time Universal picked it up and CGI got better, although this still used plenty of practical effects.  Also, like many great superhero sequels, the second movie is not burdened with an origin story.  That was taken care of in the original which allows for Hellboy II to concentrate on worldbuilding and an interesting story.  It also allowed del Toro a bit more freedom to do the film his way even if t...
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Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

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Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy was the last movie the duo made with Universal and the next-to-last feature overall.  The duo was getting older and the age of the screwball comedy had pretty much passed.  In fact, this entire movie, despite being quite entertaining, feels like something one would see from a decade prior.  Along with going back to the well frequently to parody the old monster films it was clear by this point that everyone involved was just phoning it in.  Pete Patterson (Bud Abbott) and Freddie Franklin (Lou Costello) are two Americans living in Egypt.  They overhear a conversation with a Dr. Zoomer (Kurt Katch) that he has found the legendary mummy Klaris (Eddie Parker) and needs help transporting him back to the United States.  The doctor has also found a medallion on Klaris that would lead him to a treasure trove.  The problem is that Klaris is still alive and is worshipped by a cult led by Semu (Richard Deacon) who sends his henc...
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Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)

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Diminishing returns on the movies where Abbott and Costello meet different Universal monsters was a given.  After all, by the time Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  was made the duo had made over 25 films for Universal and were obviously trying to wind things down.  Most of the jokes had become routine.  However, if one thing had been learned from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein , it was that the horror elements must balance out the comedic.   There is a monster on the loose in London who is killing random people.  Reporter Bruce Adams (Craig Stevens) is trying to get the scoop.  While doing so he meets a beautiful suffragette named Vicky (Helen Westcott) who is also a performer in a music hall.  Vicky happens to be the ward of Dr. Jekyll (Boris Karloff) who, along with his assistant Batley (John Dierkes), is experimenting with bringing out the different sides of human beings.  He secretly wishes to marry Vicky and ...
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

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At the end of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein  there is a throwaway joke where they meet the Invisible Man, voiced by an uncredited Vincent Price.  He had previously played the role in The Invisible Man Returns   and the scene hinted at which direction the next Abbott and Costello movie would go.  Instead, they went for more of a whodunnit with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff  and then produced a number of more typical comedies with the duo.  However, when they did get back to meeting the Universal monsters, it was the Invisible Man that came next.  Like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein being a direct sequel to the previous monster films this is also a continuance of the original The Invisible Man   from 1933.  Bud Alexander (Bud Abbott) and Lou Francis (Lou Costello) have just graduated from detective school and are eager to get their first case.  That comes in the form of boxer Tommy Nelson (Arthur...
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)

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Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein , despite Bud Abbott's reservations, turned out to be a grand success.  It brought back Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot, aka the Wolf Man, as well as Bela Lugosi as Dracula.  It also managed to give all three of the most popular Universal monsters a proper ending rather than the silly films they had turned into.  Ironically, they did this while being intentionally funny. The one thing that was missing was Boris Karloff.  Glenn Strange, who had played the Monster in House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein , returned as the creature.  Meanwhile, Karloff agreed to promote the film as long as he was not forced to watch it, which is a shame because it is one of the best old-time horror comedies made.  Seeing that formula was successful he agreed to a bit part in the next one which, though only having some horror elements on the surface, still was quite entertaining. Freddie Phillips (Lou Costello) is a bellhop at a pre...
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