Cinefantastique Online

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After being abused and shot, Mari (Sarah Paxton) is attended by her parents (Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter).
I’m quite sure the new re-make of Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left will immediately raise questions about whether we really needed to re-visit this violent revenge story. I was certainly never a fan of the [...]

I never really expected the remake of Wes Craven’s 1972 debut feature LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT  (itself a retelling of Bergman’s 1960 THE VIRGIN SPRING) to be successful as a remake. I did, however, expect it to be at least mildly successful as a horror film, and to some extent, it is. The cast [...]

Being a movie-lover – especially a horror movie-lover - is a bit like being a junkie: you’re always looking for your next fix, and as time goes by, the high diminishes. You just don’t get the same old thrill from the new stuff, and you blame the dealer for palming off some bad shit on you, [...]

I got to speak briefly with Wes Craven last week when he showed up at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood for a panel on how art influences film (part of a promotional event for William Malone’s PARASOMNIA, which is heavily influenced by the paintings of Zdzislaw Beksinski). Basically, I was curious about the rational for [...]

This week brings us a trio of titles from Disney, a belfry full of Batman flicks, some more SOUTH PARK, and a pair of horror films that run the gamut from the worst imaginable to the best of 2008. Which is which? Read on to find out…
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Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Warner [...]

Amazing transfers of two ’70s Disney films that eschew the usual studio factory look in favor of a refreshingly mature style.
When Disney ventured into the live-action field of motion pictures, they typically fell into 2 reasonably distinct categories: there was, of course, pure children’s fare like Flubber and The Apple Dumpling Gang that the little [...]

Disney has issued what few could argue is the definitive presentation of the film, along with a pleasing collection of supporting materials.
For older generations, the deal that merged Disney with Pixar – granting the latter’s John Lasseter creative control over Disney’s animation output – was a bittersweet moment. After experiencing an inarguably good run beginning [...]

Shot in 1992 but not released until 1994, ASHES OF TIME was re-edited and partially re-scored for a brief 2008 theatrical release under the title ASHES OF TIME REDUX . In either its original or revised form, Wong Kar Wai’s free adaptation of Louis Cha’s novel Eagle Shooting Heroes resembles a high-flying martial arts fantasy film [...]

This is one of the most enjoyable over-the-top action-fantasy-comedy-romances you are ever likely to see – a film that delivers the colorful costumes, acrobatic action, and supernatural thrills associated with the genre while adding a winning dose of humor. Viewers familiar with Hong Kong’s supernatural martial arts cinema will find this parody a real scream, [...]

When I saw this film in an upstate New York movie theatre – near Schenectady, in fact - there was a small audience, seven or eight people total. But two women sitting across the aisle from me insisted on talking through it, particularly during sex scenes (of which there are several). My quiet “sshing” had no [...]

WATCHMEN was definitely the film to watch this weekend. Making its debut on 3,611 North American screens, the Warner Brothers superhero tale earned an estimated $55.65-million – more than the rest of the weekend Top Ten combined. Strong advance sales, a big opening night on Friday, and sold-out IMAX screenings had led some to expect that [...]

Ponderous and dull, this filmic adaptation of the famous graphic novel proves that  great source material, a healthy budget, and technical competence are not enough to make a good movie. Some kind of cinematic vision is necessary; unfortunately, what passes for vision in the WATCHMEN film is a superficial sheen  of special effects, production design, and photography [...]

RUBY was one of the last horror films by Curtis Harrington, who directed  several  notable “horror of personality” films in the 1960s (e.g., GAMES, WHAT”S THE MATTER WITH HELEN) and the atmospheric piece NIGHT TIDE. Although RUBY is not up to that level of achievement (thanks to interference from a producer who wanted an exploitation horror [...]