Halloween H20 - 20 Years Later (Dimension Collector's Series)

Amazon.com

Halloween is one of the great modern horror films, but as a franchise its track record has been spotty at best, painfully bad at worst. Halloween H2O: Twenty Years Later, directed by horror vet Steve Miner (Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, House), won't displace John Carpenter's original but it might help you forget the films in between. Miner certainly has: the film begins as if sequels 3 through 6 never happened. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role for the first time in almost two decades) faked her death and is now a single mom and headmistress of an exclusive California private school. She's also a secret alcoholic who lives in fear of her homicidal brother-bogeyman Michael Myers. Guess who decides to show up for a family reunion? The film begins with classic horror-movie exposition (the deserted college campus, Michael's escape, Laurie's waking nightmares) accomplished with some humor and style, but it's all setup for the second half, a driving roller coaster of stalk-and-slash thrills. There's little of the self-conscious genre referencing of Scream and at times the film is a little far-fetched--it is a slasher movie about a knife-wielding homicidal maniac who won't stay dead, after all--but Curtis transforms Laurie from a shrieking victim into an empowered, determined horror-movie heroine who's learned a thing or two from the previous films. Adam Arkin, Josh Hartnett, and TV cutie Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek) costar, and the script received uncredited polish from Scream writer Kevin Williamson; Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh, pops up in a cameo. --Sean Axmaker

Description

This smart and suspenseful thriller scares up a bone-chilling good time with original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (TRUE LIES, HALLOWEEN I&II) and a hot cast of hip young stars! Now the headmistress of a private school, Laurie Strode (Curtis) is still struggling with the horrifying, 20-year-old memories of the maniacal killer Michael Myers ... when he suddenly reappears with a vengeance! And this Halloween, his terror will strike a whole new generation! Laurie's rebellious son (Josh Hartnett -- THE FACULTY), his girlfriend (Michelle Williams -- TV's DAWSON'S CREEK), and the school security guard (LL COOL J -- WOO, B.A.P.S.) will become Michael's newest victims unless Laurie can conquer her greatest fears and put evil in its place once and for all! The time has come again for you to experience the frightening fun of HALLOWEEN -- the motion picture series that totally redefined terror!

Customer Reviews:

Short and sweet.......2007-09-06

The showdown between Laurie and Myers makes the film. I watched it yesterday and I still get chills from how Michael stalks his victims. His face is ghost white and you can see no expression. The movie does seem rather short but at least they didnt film it with useless information. The only problem is this movie is filmed with flavor of the month celebs (meaning they were hot at this time) including LL Cool J, Joseph Gordon Levitt (in a really small part), Adam Arkin, and Michelle Williams. People can point out Josh Hartnett as well but he did make that amazing movie called Lucky Number Slevien. Pick up this movie if you loved the orignal movie, this movie wont disappoint. If you dont like it, you wasted 86 minutes of your life.

JAMIE LEE CURTIS AND MICHAEL MYERS A GREAT PAIR!!.......2007-09-02

why is it that these two go so great together. jamie was made for this, and the "shape" michael is super. this movie was special. they reunite after so long, and this one's up there with halloween the original. it's that good. mike breaks out, and is coming to get her, she feels it, and her son and his friends the first he comes after. then they meet face to face. i love that part, great acting. then he's after her. she gets tired of running and fights back. and in a certain scene she's the hunter not the hunted, good twist for a minute, but as always michael is the boogyman can't beat him. the chase is on. then she thinks she's won, but not by a long shot. it must go on again... super movie, loved it.

Worst Sequel Ever!!!!.......2007-08-30

Bad Plot. A Brand new (Sqeaky clean) Michael Mask. C-List Actors. If There Were a 0 Rating, That's what it would of got. Worst Halloween in the Series, Besides part 3. Then again, part 3 Wasn't about Michael. The Decapitation scene was the Crappiest death ever. Where was the blood? Dimension didn't give this movie a budget at all. If you read this, Do Not Buy this Movie!!!

Terrible Sequel.

AT LAST A SEQUEL WORTH WATCHING!.......2007-06-04

This entry into the halloween series is probably about as good as it is gonna get! After two really really bad installments(parts 5 and 6) we get a pretty darn good sequel "Halloween H20". The best thing about the movie is that Jamie Lee Curtis is back and it makes all the difference. I still don't understand why they keep changing Michael's mask? It looked great in the first movie...why fix what ain't broke? This movie is really a 3 and 1/2 star movie,but they don't have that option. The DVD transfer is good,but I would like to see a 16X9 upgrade someday.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the film that made her a star.......2007-05-20

In HALLOWEEN H20, Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the film franchise which made her a star. This is probably the best entry since "Halloween II", in terms of performances and the fact that Jamie Lee Curtis is back as terrorised Laurie Strode. To properly enjoy this film, you have to disregard the 4th, 5th, and 6th films which featured Laurie's daughter, Jamie Lloyd. There is no daughter here, instead we have Laurie's son John (played by Josh Hartnett).

The film picks up 20 years to the day of the original Haddonfield slayings. With a new name and persona, Laurie Strode is the headmistress of a private school in Southern California, yet still living with the daily terror of her past literally coming back to haunt her. Sadistic, unstoppable Michael Myers has tracked down her records and decides a little family reunion is needed, but this time, Laurie vows to ensure it will be the final showdown...

Jamie Lee Curtis perfectly slips back into the role of Laurie, and the rest of the cast is equally fine, including Jamie's legendary mother (Janet Leigh, "Psycho") in a fun cameo as the school receptionist, Josh Hartnett as her son, and Adam Arkin as her boyfriend. There are some brilliant set-ups and action scenes, and the tension is taut.

HALLOWEEN H20 originally set out to close the chapter on Laurie and Michael, but the franchise has continued with "Halloween: Resurrection", again with Jamie Lee Curtis.

Average customer rating:

Love this one!
Great Classic Comedy
Murder by Comedy
FAST shipping!
One of the all-time classics!

Murder by Death
Starring: Eileen Brennan , Truman Capote , James Coco , Peter Falk , and Alec Guinness
Director: Robert Moore
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005RDRO
Release Date: 2001-12-18

Amazon.com

Neil Simon wrote this 1976 spoof in which virtually every famous fictional detective of the 1930s and 1940s congregate at the home of a mysterious fellow (Truman Capote) to try and solve the mystery of who's trying to kill them all. Simon's jokes are mostly obvious, and the film's real appeal is the clever concept matched with fine--sometimes legendary--actors. Peter Falk plays a very Bogart-like Sam Spade equivalent, James Coco is a Hercule Poirot wannabe, Peter Sellers does a Charlie Chan bit, David Niven and Maggie Smith are reflections of Nick and Nora.... You get the picture. Lighthearted and silly, this is cotton-candy comedy for the cast as well as viewers. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Love this one!.......2007-07-22

This is a really funny old movie! A great mystery/comedy that is more about the individual, funny personalities of the detectives mixing with the others then the mystery it's self. The totally different types of detectives makes this such a funny movie.

Great Classic Comedy.......2007-07-13

We have been enjoying this movie annually since 1976! It is a fun family tradition & we're grateful to have this movie on DVD.

Murder by Comedy.......2007-07-10

Great cast and funny dialogue make this movie a treat. I chuckled throughout the movie because of the funny lines. Listen carefully and you won't be disappointed. Fans of "Clue" should enjoy it. The story is rather predictable based on previous movies like "And Then There Were None", but that is part of the point to be predictable, it is the Neil Simon dialogue full of puns that is the real treat.

FAST shipping!.......2007-05-18

Good price - got here in GREAT time, even with super saver shipping... The movie is hysterical and timeless.

One of the all-time classics!.......2007-03-27

My daughter and I have loved this movie since she was little and we still catch ourselves quoting our favorite lines from the movie! It is such a great spoof on old detective movies and there are so many of our favorite, big stars in it! It is really a fun movie!

Average customer rating:

Deep
Sean Penn at his best!
Engrossing Movie
Good but boring
very emotional, driven by great performances...

Mystic River (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Sean Penn , Tim Robbins , Kevin Bacon , Laurence Fishburne , and Marcia Gay Harden
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001ZX0OW
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Amazon.com

Superior acting, writing, and direction are on impressive display in the critically acclaimed Mystic River, Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted by L.A. Confidential Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this chilling mystery revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston--played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon--drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder (of the Penn character's 19-year-old daughter) in the present. These dual tragedies arouse a vicious cycle of suspicion, guilt, and repressed anxieties, primed to explode with devastating and unpredictable results. Eastwood is perfectly in tune with this brooding material, giving his flawless cast (including Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurence Fishburne) ample opportunity to plumb the depths of a resonant human tragedy, leading to an ambiguous ending that qualifies Mystic River for contemporary classic status. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Drama. Mystic River tells the story of three men whose dark, interwoven history forces them to come to terms with a brutal murder on the mean streets of Boston.

Customer Reviews:

Deep.......2007-08-20

I should rate it five stars I just can't do it. I think it is because this film is so tragic. I mean that in a good way of course, the story is just riveting! I think Tim Robbins turned in the best job of his career here, well he also did good in that Shawshank film and that was also based on a book. Well enough of that and back to Mystic River, a movie that has a lot of misunderstandings between the people in the movie. I do not care for Sean Penn but anything he does is good, the best was probably though when he was in Fast times at Ridgemont high. I do not mean a pun with the word high so stop snickering!

Sean Penn at his best!.......2007-08-09

I really didn't like Mystic River very much because I thought it moved too slow. But I had to give it "a big thumps up," because the performances; while subtle, were believeable and on target. I thought Penn's "Dead Man Walking," performance better showcased the full range of his talent. In any event, while I didn't care much for the movie, I have to admit it was well made.

Engrossing Movie.......2007-07-06

It continually amazes me how people can look at the same thing and have such wide-ranging opinions of its worth. I found this film to my liking, although I didn't cotton to the ending. In order to enjoy this movie, one must have an attention span longer than 10 seconds, and one must enjoy drama that doesn't involve shooting and exploding and car chases and action that is unrealistic/absurd. The story is realistic, and the acting is superb. I love stuff that makes sense and is not in la la land.

Good but boring.......2007-07-01

Clint Eastwood makes boring movies. I don't know what else to say. It may just be that the cinemotography itself is dark so you fall asleep. It was a good film, with the acting saving it and though I never read the book, I heard it was like the book. Sean Penn deserved the Oscar but why this film got a Best Picture Nom. is beyond me. Eastwood is the golden child of the Academy and it is starting to get me mad

very emotional, driven by great performances..........2007-06-09

Sean Penn, without a doubt, is the heart and soul of this movie... Mystic River is one of the very best of Clint Eastwood's pictures and it features highly charged emotions in a great screenplay that flows beautifully despite the length of the film... It all comes back to childhood this is something (I think) we should all know - and something the characters in this movie discover as they fumble around trying to right the wrongs of the world.. Tim robbins' character (i try to be careful not to give away plot elements) is torn inside from a childhood experience and sees the world as a place where vampires roam and suck the blood of the innocent - something he takes upon himself to venge against.. Sean Penn's character is intent on finding justice himself following the death of his daughter.. and kevin bacon (who is a cop) is obviously trying to make up for the wrongs of the world - all three try and fail - because at heart they are children (like we all are) born to suffer in an unjust world.. Mystic river will make you cry if you truly let it break through your personal barriers.. Though i am not normally a fan of such movies (i generally find them predictable) 'mystic river', despite its rehashed dramatic techniques, works out - highly recommended..

Average customer rating:

Heeeeeeere comes your nine-teenth Nervous Breakdown!
disappointing movie
Weird in a Guilty-Pleasure Sense
Largely Forgotten Gem
Scary and Wonderful

Let's Scare Jessica to Death
Starring: Zohra Lampert , Barton Heyman , Kevin O'Connor , Gretchen Corbett , and Alan Manson
Director: John D. Hancock
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000FSME2E
Release Date: 2006-08-29

Description

Jessica goes to the Connecticut countryside for some rest following her release from an institution where she has just recovered from a nervous breakdown. She arrives with her husband and friend, but the three find little relaxation. Instead, they become entangled in a creepy tale of the supernatural which involves murder, an attempted drowning, a séance, disappearing bodies, vampires and constant torment for Jessica. Her marriage is strained, she hears voices, and she can't escape the mental turbulence which haunts her - for there really is something after Jessica.

Customer Reviews:

Heeeeeeere comes your nine-teenth Nervous Breakdown!.......2007-08-15

Yeah, let's scare Jessica to death! Let's do, & say we didn't!

Man oh Man, and you thought summering in the Hamptons was tough! It's not even a feeble patch on the fear & loathing that besets poor addled Jessica as she tries to settle down and get some much needed R&R at her hubby's new digs up in the Connecticut woods.

WHO CAN TURN THE WORLD ON WITH HER SMILE? It doesn't help that she has just been released from the "Institution", where she had been recuperating after her last nervous breakdown. So see, Jessica is what you call "nervous". She's fragile. She's not a happy camper. She's looking to relax, calm down, take it easy, and above all not to tell anyone about the strange, spectral figure she saw hunched by a tombstone in the graveyard on the way up to her new house.

IT'S YOU GIRL, AND YOU SHOULD KNOW IT. But the touching thing about Jessica (Zohra Lampert, ugly enough to scare the siding off of a double-wide trailer) is how hard she tries to 'keep it real' even while on the verge of whoopsing her cookies over the stuff she's seeing. Oh, and the voice-overs, I gotta tell you about the voice-overs; you see, Jessica, nutty person trying to fake normalcy, talks to herself. In her head. Just like I do.

[JSG VOICEOVER: "oh my god, did I just write "Just like I do" in my review? Did they see that? They'll think I'm weird. Looney. Ready for the rubber factory. Gotta watch myself."]

Anyway, Jessica tries hard to cover up just make the proceedings all the more precious ("keep calm---they didn't see it---don't tell anyone. They won't believe you.") and then she slathers the whole weirdness package with this---this SMILE. It's a vintage Crazy-Person-Smile (tm), which sorta buckles around on her jaw, and makes her skin do this little twitching numbers. Lampert shoulda won an Oscar for it.

Things I learned while watching "Let's Scare Jessica to Death":

1)If you've just been released from a mental institution and you're feeling fragile, it's best to get your R&R at a remote, secluded, creepy crawly lookin' Victorian mansion with a notoriously bloodthirsty history. Add points if the grounds are tenanted by a) wandering hippies & b) the itinerant spectre or two.

2) Irony helps the insane get better! No seriously, it's true! For that reason, it's great when the family car is a hearse.

3) Pay no attention to the ancient, doddering townies, all of whom have been bandaged extensively, as if suffering nasty, but entirely random, wounds. It's probably the water. Or the fact that they've been voting GOP for one hundred years. Whatever.

4) When you arrive at your new house and discover---at the top of the stairs and in the dead of night---a wild-eyed, incoherent hippy chick, it's a great idea to make her a family intimate, confide secrets in her, and invite her to stay.

5)It's the 1970's, right? "Jaws", which gave everybody anywhere near a beach the crawls, is coming up, as a means of documenting the meteoric rise in great white sharks going ballistic and opening up a can of chomp-chomp-chomper on bathing beauties.

So with that in mind, whenever the fragile female lead (the ghoulish Zohra Lampert, easily the scariest looking she-creature I've seen in a fear flick since Shelly Duvall scared all the ghosts away in "The Shining") claims something "like a shark" is scudding around the freshwater lake, it's a great idea to swim out to your collarbone and say "see, Jessica, there's nothing here. Absolutely nothing!".

LOVE IS ALL AROUND, NO NEED TO WASTE IT. LSJTD was made in 1971, and it has a lot in common with its contemporary fear flicks, particularly "Burnt Offerings", "the Little Girl who lives down the lane", and, to an extent, the terrifyingly superior "Haunting of Julia" (for my money the scariest film ever made).

Indeed, the first reel suggested the flick was headed down the same road: creepy New England countryside shrouded in mist, the black, inky waters of the Lake where some unspeakable tragedy had occurred, the suggestion of ancient, incestuous evil slumbering beneath the peaked antique gables of the old house.

"LSJTD" shares the same cinematic DNA: these movies all feature women pushed a little too close to the edge, women struggling to maintain their sanity in loveless marriages, poison relationships, or in the wake of family tragedy.

Then there's the seedy, nihilistic 1970's audience, where at any moment with a little shift of the lens or a hitch in the shutter the entire production is on the verge of sliding into pornoland.

YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT AFTER ALL! But when I thought "LSJTD" was about to zag left, the flick zigged right, taking another road far more travelled. As a result the end---given all the delicious, emotionally ugly, positively baroque developments leading up to it---left me underwhelmed. But maybe not you, baby, maybe not you!

But for all of that, if it's seedy 70's ambience, unfiltered creepiness, and things that go bump in the night you're after---

[JSG VOICEOVER: "I wonder if I should tell them about the big shark thing lurking over their shoulder---nah, they'll think I'm crazy, BIIIIIG mistake"]

---well, then, you're in the right hands. Dead, cold, clammy hands, but the right ones, nonetheless.

JSG

disappointing movie.......2007-07-17

If you are a horror film lover this movie is not for you, it was so boring, I kept waiting for it to be over, there are other greats on the market don't let the title fool you.

Weird in a Guilty-Pleasure Sense.......2007-07-14

Wow. This evil force really wants to get Jessica for some reason. Must be the appeal of the spindly brunette lunatic.
I can't say this is really a good horror movie. It's more like a really, really low budget TV movie. But there's something about it that I enjoy. Most people under 30 will steer clear of this turtle-paced '70s creeper. Before watching this movie I'd only seen the video cover in the rental store and expected it to be some kind of slasher flick like "Last House on the Left" or "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ; now I see that it is closer to moody/slow/creepy films like "The Sentinel", "The Stepford Wives", and "Burnt Offerings".

It's not a great scary film, by no means, but it has some sort of atmosphere that eludes description. Maybe it's the odd photography, the eerie background music, the period look and feel of 1971. Zohra Lampert as Jessica is appropriately brittle and awkward as befits someone who just got out of a mental hospital, and now thinks that either she's going bonkers again or she is in real danger from something evil.
I have to confess that it's actually amusing to observe Jessica as she begins to become unhinged. I don't know why. At any given moment she may freak out and just start grunting/shrieking/bellowing and flailing her long arms like a wounded stick insect.

Unfortunately the back of the dvd case basically gives away the entire movie's plot. They did the same thing with "The Other", another quiet, atmospheric '70s film, but it's about twin boys, and it's much better than this film. Why these dvd companies insist on printing spoilers and a nutshell synopsis is a mystery. Stupid, clueless dolts. I suppose it's the age we live in. Most movie trailers now include the entire plot (and twist). Nothing is left to the imagination anymore.
So be warned; the pace here is glacial. If you enjoy weird and cheesy horror movies from this era (with assinine titles), you might like this. And it would make excellent fodder for Mike Nelson and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew if they still had a TV show. Sigh. I miss them. They would have a ball with this movie and its sideburns.

Largely Forgotten Gem.......2007-05-17

It's not often, anymore, that I get to see a truly excellent horror movie for the first time, so "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" was quite a pleasant surprise. It's got a dumb title, but everything else about the film is quite good. It won't be to everyone's taste, since it's not a commercial, mainstream horror film nor is it a gruesome underground gore film. "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" is just a dreamy, slow-moving horror film where the supernatural creeps into a seemingly ordinary situation and gradually makes itself known. Lotsa of people will think it's boring, no doubt, but these people just have no taste for what I think is the truest, best distillation of horror in film. I like the sense of otherworldliness that you get in some of your more low-key horror, and "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" has about as much of this as any film I've seen. If that's what you're looking for, it doesn't get much better than this.

The film opens with Jessica on a boat, alone in the midst of foggy lake. She wonders what has happened, and what is real just as the narrative moves back to the beginning, with Jessica, her husband Duncan and their friend Woody moving to a small, unassuming rural town in New England. Jessica has, apparently, just finished a stay in a mental institution, and this move represents a new beginning for her and Duncan, as they plan to begin a new low-key life on an apple ranch. Not all is well with Jessica, however, and she sees strange things, things that, perhaps, the others can't see. Furthermore, they arrive at their new rural home to find a mysterious, pretty redheaded girl by the name of Emily who has been squatting in their home. She seems pleasant enough, though, so they let Emily stick around for a while, and they even grow somewhat attached to her. (Perhaps too attached, in Duncan's case.) Everything seems more or less fine, but strange occurrences and odd behavior by the local townspeople begin to add up, and Jessica gradually comes to believe that more is going on here than meets the eye or, perhaps even worse, that she's lost her mind.

"Jessica"s critics generally accuse it of being dull, and though I don't agree, I can see where they're coming from. Virtually nothing happens for the films first half, and it doesn't really kick into top-gear until the climax late in the film. Still, it has a certain air to it from the very first frame that I just love. The film isn't about major action or great scenes, it's about the slow buildup of seemingly minor scenes and details which combine to generate a palpable sense of the unnatural. This all begins with the pitch perfect score, mostly slow, mournful piano and guitar with some occasional ominous synth that build a proper feeling of sorrow and foreboding. And then we get the seemingly trivial details: They drive a hearse (cheaper than a station wagon, apparently); The town is populated entirely by old men, hostile old men with strange marks and wounds; Jessica makes grave rubbings, and keeps them in her bedroom where they shudder and seem to whisper at night; Emily herself is just a bit odd, with her long red hair and impish smile. Who is she where did she come from? While exploring their new home, Jessica finds a painting in the attic which looks strangely like Emily. Coincidence? (A great scene by the way, with Jessica being unknowingly trailed by a vague, half-seen black force. What is it, if anything? We never know.)

Eventually, the film becomes more forthright. Turns out Jessica and Duncan bought the the old Bishop place, a long empty home with a tragic history with superstitious connotations in the community. Even worse, Jessica's visions become more common and intense, as she again sees a mysterious white gowned woman roaming the area and believes that she is attacked by a pale figure beneath the surface of the nearby lake. Tension rises: Duncan wants to send Jessica back to New York and his attraction to Emily becomes more and more overt, and now Jessica has to fight to save her mind, her marriage and her life.

"Jessica" really benefits from being a cheap film from 1971: They don't ruin the eeriness with phony CGI or unnecessary cheap scares, nor is the pacing forced in anyway. It builds as is necessary. Equally significant, we get to have mature, adult characters rather than a pack of tiresome teenagers, well-played by a generally unknown cast. (Some have complained about the acting. Anyone who does so clearly hasn't watched much low-budget horror, cause this is way above average in that respect.) Zohra Lampert is particularly good in the lead, as is Mariclare Costello, though her effectiveness is more her basic look than the real acting. For a film of limited means, the technical aspects are solid, with some generally nice photography, though the occasional zooms are a bit dated.

Normally I'm not too hesitant to give away late film details in horror movies since they're generally so formulaic, but I'm going to avoid doing this here, because "Jessica" follows no specific horror movie formula. Sure, it is, at heart, a mystery-horror movie, where the supernatural occurrences function as clue towards the central secret, but even within this form it doesn't follow the traditional routes and clichés. I doubt anyone will be too shocked by the end, but it's not nearly as inevitable as the ending of your typical horror movie. The film does become a bit more conventional at the end, dispensing with the subtle, atmospheric horror and working the standard run-and-chase angle, but I think they do this fairly well, and it is ultimately necessary. Even though the climax rarely lives up to the buildup in this kind of movie, to exclude it is a cheat, because half of the interest in the mysterious occurrences lies in finding out what they ultimately mean. You gotta lay your cards down sooner or later. This isn't to say you need to explain absolutely everything, and the film doesn't, but I've never bought the ludicrous "incoherence is a virtue" principle that so many lazy critics invoke and almost as many obliging filmmakers cater to.

Anyway, I hate to invoke the old cliché, but they really don't make `em like this anymore. Too bad, but at least we've got plenty of classics to fall back on, like this one.

Grade: A-

Scary and Wonderful.......2007-01-11

I had waited thirty years to get Let's Scare Jessica To Death, and now I have it on DVD thanks to this great seller. Fast delivery, too.

Average customer rating:

Open Your Eyes
Okay, so I'm the one guy who didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips.
An Experience that will Stay With You For Some Time To Come...
loved it
Ridiculous ending, not worth watching!

Open Your Eyes
Starring: Carola Angulo (II) , Gérard Barray , Joserra Cadiñanos , Penélope Cruz , and Ion Gabella
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005LZOD
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Amazon.com

Imagine if an actor's director like Eric Rohmer--whose films consist almost entirely of conversation between pairs or small groups of people--made a film that incorporated elements from movies like Dark City, eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor, The Truman Show, and Total Recall. The result might resemble Alejandro Amenabar's remarkable second feature, Open Your Eyes, which favors ideas over effects and offers twist upon twist with mind-warping agility. This film rewards multiple viewings, pushing the viewer toward one perception of reality, then switching to another until reality itself is called into question. Melodrama, love story, and psychological thriller combine with a dash of science fiction, forming a plot that is both disorienting and deceptively precise.

Set in Madrid, the story defies description, but this much can be revealed: young, handsome Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) is vain, rich, charming, and--following a botched suicide-murder scheme by a jilted lover--horribly disfigured. He'd fallen in love with Sofia (Penélope Cruz) but is now an embittered husk of his former self, stuck in a "psychiatric penitentiary" on a murder charge and hiding behind an expressionless mask. His reality has crumbled, but as the film's agenda is gradually revealed, we realize that there are other factors in play. Exposing that agenda would be a criminal offense against those who haven't seen the film; suffice it to say that Open Your Eyes takes you into the twilight zone and beyond, and does so cleverly enough to prompt Tom Cruise to produce and star in an English-language remake, Vanilla Sky. The 2001 remake, directed by Cameron Crowe, costars Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz, who reprises her original role. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Open Your Eyes.......2007-07-13

At the tender age of twenty-five, Amenabar released the mind-bending "Eyes," later Americanized into the inferior "Vanilla Sky." A multilayered, nightmarish whodunit, the intense Noriega makes Cesar's psychic torture palpable, while Cruz personifies the ideal of feminine beauty--ephemeral, tantalizing, and just out of reach. This dark, boldly inventive film, accented with intriguing futuristic elements, keeps its audience engrossed and guessing until the very last frame.

Okay, so I'm the one guy who didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips........2006-12-21

Abre los Ojos (Alejandro Amenabar, 1997)

Okay, I have to say this first: Eduardo Noriega is the male lead in the new Brad Anderson movie Trans-Siberian. I don't need to know anything else, because Brad Anderson is about as close to being a god as movie directors get. If Anderson thinks Eduardo Noriega is the goods, then Eduardo Noriega is the goods.

He's also the star of the much-talked-about Alejandro Amenabar film Abre los Ojos, which everyone and his mother complained was desecrated when remade in America as Vanilla Sky a few years ago. And while I can't find anything wrong with slagging a Tom Cruise flick, I'm not terribly sure why this movie is being held up as the gold standard. Maybe it's a relativity thing; I have (to the value of my sanity, according to friends) managed to avoid seeing Vanilla Sky.

In any case, the plot: Cesar (Noriega, who, did I mention, is in the new Brad Anderson movie?) is an arrogant, handsome womanizer who meets the woman of his dreams, Sofia (Penelope Cruz). Problem is, the girl he jilted for Sofia, Nuria (Before Night Falls' Najwa Nimri), isn't too happy with the arrangement. While offering him a lift home, she commits suicide by crashing her car, an accident that leaves handsome Cesar horribly disfigured.

Now, intercut with all this are scenes of Cesar being interviewed by a doctor, so we know there's a lot more to this story than we're being let in on. And that's all well and good, except that the movie keeps raising two questions for each one it answers. At that rate, you're going to be left with a whole lot of unanswered questions when the movie ends. And that's exactly what we get. It's not so much that the film is ambiguous, which it is, but it's that the ambiguousness of the ending is the part about which we can feel we have the clearest grasp on. There's an "as you know, Bob" character at the end to explain everything, but Amenabar has given us a very strong feeling throughout his tenure in the film that the guy is, quite simply, lying his tuckus off. And where does that leave us? (Knowing nothing but our interpretation of the ambiguous ending, of course.)

What we do get is some rather fine shots of Penelope Cruz showing a lot more skin than we've seen from her before, a handful of really good performances (including Noriega's), and a mystery that, were it to come to any sort of conclusion, would be a cracker. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's entirely possible I missed some small detail that makes the whole thing make perfect sense, but until someone points it out to me, 'm still wondering what it is about this movie (aside, of course, from Penelope Cruz naked) that gets peoples' juices up.

And did I mention that Eduardo Noriega is in the new Brad Anderson flick? ** ½

An Experience that will Stay With You For Some Time To Come..........2006-10-02

Abre Los Ojos came to my attention after seeying it's American Remake, Vanilla Sky. Vanilla Sky had amazed me and had been spinning in my mind for a long time after I had seen it. Then I found this dvd of the original, and bought it here on Amazon.
When it arrived I immidiately watched it, ready to be pulled into that world which Vanilla Sky had pulled me in about a year ealier. Only this time, this movie stunned me even more than Vanilla Sky did, it captured me, moved me and gave the world of dreaming and love a totally different perspective than it gave me when I watched Vanilla Sky.
The reason?
The original is simply more powerfull than it's remake.

Abre Los Ojos is one of those movies that is everlasting. It is a tense thriller, a beautiful love story, an emotional drama, a big mystery and can even be placed under the catagory Horror at some moments.
The story is the most original and one of the most powerfull stories I've ever seen. It's complex, it's tempting, it's confusesing, it's powerful... It's everything that makes a story worthwhile and is absolutely something to remember and think back to.
The cast is fantastic. Penelope Cruz plays the exact same role that she plays in Vanilla Sky. The thing that makes her better in this one than the remake is that she has no problem pronouncing her scentences. Spanish is her motherlanguage, the language she was raised with and the language she can pronouce with pure pasion and fantastic acting. She also did a fantastic job in Vanilla Sky, don't get me wrong, but here you can feel her emotions fluently and she gives her absolute best and in Vanilla Sky you can't really feel that even though she acts absolutely great in that movie.
The leading role is for Eduardo Noriega, an actor that is absolutely convincing and realistic for the part he plays. He was a great casting choice and gives his very best. The thing that makes him believable is that you will feel for his character during the movie. He portrais his character in such a way that is only said in one word: powerful.

The other aspects of the movie: the setdesign, the locations, the lighting, the music, the cameramovements, the editing, the atmosphere and everything else is all maqnificent and leaves a powerfull impression. It helpes the story live and feel real to the audience.
Everything has been taken care of to make every small detail look stunning which helps you even more with falling in love with this movie.
Don't you worry about the language (the whole movie is spoken in Spanish), cause when you are into this movie you won't even notice that you are still reading the subtitles.

My only left advice to you is: Watch Abre Los Ojos first, and after that Vanilla Sky. I did it in the other direction and all I can say is that I think it's a pitty that I did so. So don't make the same mistake that I did and watch Abre Los Ojos first! You will understand what I mean when you will watch Vanilla Sky secondly.

So open your eyes and be moved by this absolute masterpiece of filmmaking. Yes people, this is what the movies are all about!
WOW, what a film!

loved it.......2006-08-28

This film, which in my opinion is way better than Vanilla Sky, flat-out spreads important questions to the viewer. the most important being: how far are you willing to go, how much of your life will you allow beauty to control?

Ridiculous ending, not worth watching!.......2006-08-10

This movie was captivating and interesting for the first 3/4ths of it. It is a psychological thriller/mystery and you obviously want to find out the big explanation at the end that resolves all your questions. Well, the ending was so incredibly far-fetched and crazy that I can't believe that anyone who read the WHOLE script actually wanted to work on this movie. It ends up being a stupid "sci-fi" type ending. So, if you want to get all into a movie, only to have them resolve it with the most ridiculous scenario possible, buy this one!! ....or....DON'T.

Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Ruby In the Smoke (Masterpiece Theatre)

Average customer rating:

Pretty good movie, I hope more are made in series
The smoke's a little thick...

Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Ruby In the Smoke (Masterpiece Theatre)
Starring: Billie Piper , Matt Smith (XXXII) , Sian Thomas , Kay Lyon , and Robert Putt
Director: Brian Percival
Manufacturer: WGBH BOSTON
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000NIBUP8
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Description

Fearless young Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Doctor Who) has a mind for numbers and for sleuthing, and in Phillip Pullman's quartet of novels, set in Victorian London, she is put through the paces of melodrama and mystery. In this vivid adaptation of the first book in the series, recently orphaned Sally Lockhart, armed with a pearl-handled pistol and her keen mind, uncovers the secrets of her father's death aboard the sunken schooner Lavinia, discovers hidden cursed jewels, and faces England's deadliest villains with bold courage. Sally's friends, the street-smart Jim and besotted photographer Frederick, help her expose the truth - no matter how dangerous. Sally navigates through the constantly twisting plots with the savvy dexterity of a sharp-eyed detective.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty good movie, I hope more are made in series.......2007-08-21

I happened to catch the TV promotion for this before it aired and decided to watch partly because it had Billie Piper in it. I like British period detective dramas anyway and I wanted to see if she was good at something other than "Rose Tyler" from Dr. Who. I thought the story was pretty good, and the look of just about everything was wonderful- almost like being there.
Unlike the first review and at least the first comment I believe Ms. Piper did a good job. I found very little to complain about in this movie, it was a bit rushed towards the finish- 96 minutes would've been better than 86- and I think Sally's photographer friend's work tent was much too light (not dark enough inside it), that's about it.

If more are made in the series I'll watch and buy them.

The smoke's a little thick..........2007-06-14

This show, based on the first in a series of books, seems a little like the start to a series itself. It's rushed, awkward, with little character development and less real emotion. The evil old woman is the best of a bad lot, as far as characters go; at least she gets to play with her false teeth. Billie Piper is a terrific actress but she's all wrong for this part. I really wasn't thrilled. I'll stick with Dr. Who and Jayne Eyre, thanks...

Average customer rating:

huffman again
GREAT SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!
MR. AND MRS. MACY'S PARADE
Long, Boring
Great Character Study

Reversible Errors
Starring: William H. Macy , Tom Selleck , Monica Potter , Felicity Huffman , and James Rebhorn
Director: Mike Robe
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002S94C0
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Product Description

William H. Macy and Tom Selleck star in this new four-hour miniseries, based on Scott Turow s best-selling novel. The suspense drama revolves around Arthur Raven (Macy), a successful corporate lawyer, whose world is turned upside down when he is assigned to draft the final appeal of a potentially innocent inmate nearing his execution date.

System Requirements:

Running Time 173 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Based on the bestselling novel by Scott Turow (Presumed Innocent), Reversible Errors presents a first-rate cast in a penetrating look at the death penalty. The made-for-TV movie begins in 1991 when small-time thief Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph (Glen Plummer) is convicted of triple homicide and sentenced to death. Larry Starczek (Tom Selleck), the detective on the case, also happens to be involved with prosecuting attorney Muriel Wynn (Monica Potter). Seven years later, he's still single, she's married, and her old colleague, attorney Arthur Raven (William H. Macy), is assigned to Gandolph's final appeal. Former judge Gillian Sullivan (Felicity Huffman), who presided over Gandolph's trial (and has since done time for bribery) becomes his unlikely ally. The Emmy-winning Selleck (Magnum P.I.) is in typically fine form, but real-life couple Macy and Huffman steal the show by virtue of the greater complexity of--and chemistry between--their flawed, but noble characters. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

huffman again.......2007-06-30

Huffman shines in a star turn about the death penalty. republicans will not like this movie because they will have to THINK, Peo-ple!!! Huffman is brilliant acting as her character in this. SOme people may wish she was better looking in the face as she is kind of frumpy, but she isn't Julia Roberts and doesn't want to be!!!

GREAT SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-10-12

DVD arrived promptly, as described, well packaged. I would gladly buy from again!!

MR. AND MRS. MACY'S PARADE.......2005-02-24

This well done adaptation of Scott Turow's novel is a made for tv miniseries, and features an outstanding cast in a complex, but riveting story. William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman (Mrs. Macy) get the acting honors, as their characters are more fleshed out and flawed, and their performances are wonderfully controlled and executed. Not to take anything away from the other actors: Tom Selleck as the cop whose devotion to his ex-lover makes him break the law; Monica Potter as the up and coming attorney who looks like she's going to be the city's next prosecuting attorney; James Rebhorn as the security cop whose dying secret gives the plot a strange twist; Glenn Plummer as the halfwitted Squirrel who confesses to a triple murder; Shemar Moore as the loudmouthed con who finds Jesus and has his own little secrets. Since this is a tv miniseries, the pacing does slow down some times and handicaps the movie's suspense, but overall it's an entertaining, well done film buoyed by the star turns of the Macys.

Long, Boring.......2005-01-17

This was so long and drawn out. It took over 3 hours for this film to lay out what any crime show could have done on TV in an hour, including all the commercials. There were so many scenes that just went ON and ON - that's what they make DVDs for: to cut out long useless scenes to add to the "deleted scenes" special edition, so people who actually liked the movie can watch more of it, haha. acting wasn't even very good and not always very believable. just CHEESY. save yourselves 3 hours of your life.

also, i have no idea why one reviewer thought there was no sex. though it really wasn't as violent as most movies, still it's no family movie.

Great Character Study.......2004-12-30

I enjoyed this film. It's probably Tom Selleck's best role and Shamar Moore did his character justice as well. Once I saw the ending I replayed the entire DVD to go back and catch things the second time. Knowing what motivated the prinicpal characters made it even more enjoyable the second time through. This was a great film and it shows that a thriller can be great without the sex and extreme violence.

Average customer rating:

"Once you pull the trigger you can't turn back!"
The Funeral
Amazing, but only a few will understand it.
Great Film

The Funeral
Starring: Benicio Del Toro , Chris Penn , Isabella Rossellini , Annabella Sciorra , and John Ventimiglia
Director: Abel Ferrara
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000AGTPTG
Release Date: 2005-08-09

Customer Reviews:

"Once you pull the trigger you can't turn back!".......2007-06-15

This film is not THE GODFATHER; it is not MYSTIC RIVER; it is not GOODFELLAS; it is not THE DEPARTED. This is THE FUNERAL!!! I simply will not lump this film into a category that defines this as another "gangster movie."

Director Abel Ferrara (BAD LIEUTENANTS) has crafted a tense and unflinching psychological look at three Italian brothers in the politically/crime charged 1930's who have been scarred by the violence into which they have been plummeted from their earliest childhood. The film carefully examines the deep contradictions of religion, family,morality and fidelity that combat the souls of those who "inherit" the criminal world as their family legacy. Unlike so many "Italian gangster movies", THE FUNERAL has incredible heart and soul. These characters are "trapped" in a world that causes such vaccilation of emotion that no matter how they might try to change they simply cannot.

Yes..this film is full of bloody violence, sex and explosive rage, but Abel Ferrara asks us to understand WHY these brothers and their companions act the way they do.Ferrara wants us to examine these men and their women who fall for and fear them. We are also forced to examine the continued place that Roman Catholicism and it's teachings had as a foundation for life and thought of these people.

As a rule, I simply do not care for mob/violent films. I must say,though, that THE FUNERAL is completely unique. The script is intelligent in that instead of senseless and gratuitous violence, we are asked to think about the causes, motivations and devastating consequences of violence when it is passed down from generation to generation.

One special note about the acting: CHRIS PENN is downright frightening as middle brother Chez.

The ending was a positive shocker!!!

The Funeral.......2007-01-12

If you like movies about the mob you'll probably enjoy this movie. It's very interesting. At times it's sad, at other times wonderful, and yet other times, it's almost disgusting. It shows human beings and family members at their best, and worst, when they care, and when they don't. The ending, both shocked and disturbed me. I would recommend this movie.

Amazing, but only a few will understand it........2006-06-10

Well its not your typical mob film, it does not contain alot of tough guy bravado, nor does it have that element of comedy most mob films have, No its a realistic modern morality tale from the brilliant and underrated Director Abel Ferra. Here just like Bad lieutenant and King of New York he displays a hard crime story with religious morality thrown in for good measure,its really sad that this brilliant trilogy of films will never get the credit there due since lets face these excellent movies ( The Funeral my favorite) are the type of films mainstream society just cannot accept, why? because no one cares about originality anymore they want all flash and no substance overrated actors and actresses who could not act to save there lives, and pathetic remakes. Is that a fair assesment of all people in todays modern day society? perhaps but there is still a strong minority who demand something more from films, the basics of originality, a good plot, and actors and actresses who give a damm. Plain and simple Abel Ferrera and his films are a blessing in todays world since there is to much crap that is in todays theaters, and while there are his critics about him and his complicated films lets just say they should look closer at Abel Ferreras works of art and this brilliant crime trilogy of King of New York, Bad Liutenant, and The Funeral, should be viewed by all and if you don't understand or somehow are bored LOOK CLOSER.

Great Film .......2006-04-15

Really great film that focuses on the psychological underpinnings of mobsters. The whole thing surrounds the funeral of a mob boss's son and questions the various moral dimensions involved in the life of mobsters; religion, family, loyalty, and revenge to name a few. Also it provides a poignant view of women and their various roles in the mob family. Great companion to the Godfather movies and it has a terrific cast!

Average customer rating:

Southern Hospitality
The movie that started it all...
"In 100 years, we'll be chasing them Yankees in rocketships!"
Worth seeing... Once.
Southern Discomfort...

Two Thousand Maniacs
Starring: William Kerwin , Connie Mason , Jeffrey Allen , Ben Moore , and Gary Bakeman
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00004KDES
Release Date: 2000-02-22

Amazon.com

Flush from the breakthrough success of Blood Feast in 1963, producer David F. Friedman and pioneering goremeister Herschell Gordon Lewis followed up a year later with Two Thousand Maniacs!. The drive-in movie would never be the same. Filmed in 14 days in St. Cloud, Florida, on a luxurious budget of $62,000, this instant cult classic revels in the grisly fate of three unwitting Yankee couples who've been falsely detoured to the Southern hick town of Pleasant Valley (population 2000--get it?). These unlucky lovers are the guests of honor at a Confederate centennial celebration. What they don't know is that the twisted citizens of Pleasant Valley are vengeful ghosts of the Civil War, determined to dispatch their "guests" in deviously unpleasant ways. Simply put, Two Thousand Maniacs! (with Blood Feast) is the original "splatter" film.

On the murder menu: death by amputation, dismemberment by horses (one per limb), crushing by boulder, and, the most unsettling (or creative?), death by barrel rolling... with flesh-ripping nails in the sides. Tame by later standards yet still absurdly shocking, Two Thousand Maniacs! is the pure, funny-freaky essence of exploitation cinema, complete with the obligatory Playboy Playmate (Connie Mason) in the cast. Lewis (a former literature professor, no less) frequently cited this as his proudest achievement, and who's going to argue? With its crude direction, atrocious acting, and delirious redneck flavor, the movie genuinely deserves its place in cinema history, its dubious entertainment value proving surprisingly durable through the decades. A milestone of movie bloodletting, it was followed, appropriately enough, by Color Me Blood Red in 1965. --Jeff Shannon

Description

An entire town bathed in pulsing human blood from madmen crazed for carnage! The 2000 Maniacs of a small Southern town celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Northerners to serve as "guests" for a variety of macabre, blood-crazed fun and games. The festivities include a screaming man placed in a rolling barrel lined with nails, a hit-the-bull's-eye carnival game with a pretty gal and a boulder, and a blonde sexpot whose arm is hacked off and barbecued! But before they can slaughter the only smart Yank (Thomas Wood), he and the lovely Terry Adams (Connie Mason, "Playboy's Favorite Playmate") try to escape.

Customer Reviews:

Southern Hospitality.......2007-04-30

Blood Feast may be Lewis' most famous film and the one that he'll always be remembered by, but 2000 Maniacs is seen as probably his best film by many fans. The budget's higher(just a bit), the acting is better(but just a bit), and the story is more imaginative(quite a bit). Though it's a gore film, I'd have to say that Blood feast was actually gorier than this one. But 2000 Maniacs(due to the budget it looks more like 20 maniacs) manages to be entertaining coz it actually is interesting and funny. Blood Feast only had the gore going for it(as well as a few laughs), coz you really can't say it was terribly interesting as far as story goes. But any way you slice it, both 2000 Maniacs and Blood feast are required viewing for the cult/exploitation/horror film fan, as well as any film historian for that matter.

The movie that started it all..........2007-03-05

Two Thousand Maniacs! (Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1964)

I think I may be the last fan of gore movies on earth to see Herschell Gordon Lewis' infamous Two Thousand Maniacs!, an exploitation-flick take on Brigadoon whose influence on the horror film genre cannot be overstated. In other words, everything there is to say about this hugely amusing little flick has already been said, and probably better than I would say it. This flick, right here, is the genesis of the "inventive ways to kill people" movie; in other words; it's pretty hard to think of more than one or two American horror flicks a year since The Abominable Dr. Phibes that aren't influenced by this movie, as outright bad as it is.

And yes, it is bad. The special effects have the cheesiness for which Lewis is known. The acting plumbs depths of "hideous" that even exploitation films rarely explore. The script is threadbare in its best moments, and unintentionally hilarious throughout. Is Two Thousand Maniacs! bad? You'll have more suspense waiting for an answer if you ask the kid behind the counter at Taco Bell what a beef and bean burrito is made of. And yet, it's driven by such earnestness and played so straight that it transcends bad; it's got the kind of cornball appeal that lends rewatchability, though I grant you that you'll get much more of a kick out of it the second (and third and fourth and...) time around if you're at a party and doing some serious drinking. **

"In 100 years, we'll be chasing them Yankees in rocketships!".......2006-12-19

What can one say about this film?

It is easily one of, if not the BEST Herschell Gordon Lewis films.

The plot is intriguing, the acting decent (exception for Connie Mason), the gore pretty good (Especially the barrel roll sequence. Its very chilling)

This movie is a hoot, and as others have said, the commentary track is very VERY interesting as well.

Worth seeing... Once........2005-08-16

'Two Thousand Maniacs' is apparently the second gore flim ever made. Technically speaking, it's superior to Lewis's 'Blood Feast' in pretty much every way, but I think I like that film more than this one. Suffice to say, you can be a lot better than 'Blood Feast' and still really not be very good, which this film proves amply. The direction is less flat, the acting is somewhat more natural, or intentionally over the top, rather than by accident, as it appeared to be in 'Blood Feast'. Still, this movie is quite a bit longer than 'Blood Feast', which is liable to hurt you, and the intentional humor and wackiness of this film can't match the unintentional humor and wackiness of that movie. Also, it's quite a bit less gory, though it's still severely out there by the standards of the time. Occasionally, the film does manage to generate a somewhat disturbing atmosphere, via the juxtaposition of the violence and the jovial behavior of the southern town. Of course, some people think the light-hearted behavior of the townsfolk actually lessens the impact, so you never know.

Most people seem to think that 'Two Thousand Maniacs!' stands out from Lewis's other films because it actually has something going for it other than the violence, i.e. the nutty southern townfolk. I'll admit it, there over the top antics are kinda amusing for a while, but it starts to were thin well before the film is over. (Much like how the terrible acting/dialogue in 'Blood Feast' starts to lose interest pretty quickly, though I found that stuff more amusing to begin with) Southerner's may not be too fond of how they're portrayed here, but it's so over the top that it really shouldn't be taken personally. The film also earns some points for it's somewhat novel premise. (For those who don't know, it's about a group of northerner's who are tormented and assailed by the ghosts of a southern town that was massacred in the Civil War.) Also, the countrified soundtrack is kinda fun, particularly the theme song.

Overall, this film certainly isn't great, or even good, but it's sufficiently amusing, and is definitely worth a look for serious horror fans.

Grade: C

Southern Discomfort..........2005-04-28

2K MANIACS is a blessedly twisted ghost story with enough goofy gore and bad acting to satisfy any / all fans of cinematic idiocy. Herschel Gordon Lewis' opus of hicktown vengeance is a marvel considering it's 1964 release date! Without the bloodletting, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS would be fairly dull. With the scenes of communal sadism however, it's like watching a bizarre cross between THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, HEE HAW, and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE! Never before (or since) have so many hillbillies gathered together in order to mutilate and kill unwary visitors from north of the Mason / Dixon line! Lewis has created a ghoulish feast of horror, a cautionary tale for any who would dare travel to the southern hinterlands! Beware! Rufe and Lester just might be waiting, putting up their fake detour sign, and hoping a car full of damn yankees will happen by! Stay away from Pleasant Valley! Drive right on past and avoid it's hellish centennial celebration! Don't end up like the poor saps who were cut, chopped, hacked, drawn and quartered, crushed, poked, and otherwise eviscerated! You have been warned...

Average customer rating:

He did to Hitchcock what the Germans did to Poland in WW2
A wonderful Hitchcockian black comedy of murder and revenge by Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau
The Bride Wore Black (1968) - Francois Truffaut
An entertaining murder melodrama!
An excellent, original movie

The Bride Wore Black
Starring: Jeanne Moreau , Michel Bouquet , Jean-Claude Brialy , Charles Denner , and Claude Rich
Director: François Truffaut
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000053VBL
Release Date: 1999-09-07

Amazon.com essential video

François Truffaut's 1968 thriller was an attempt to reconcile the exclusive experience of the Hitchcockian hero with the expansiveness of Jean Renoir's view of flawed humanity. Jeanne Moreau stars as a newlywed whose husband is shot dead on the church steps following their wedding. The story then follows her systematic and relentless efforts to track down the men who were involved in the killing, murdering each one with a creative efficiency that Truffaut does not mean for us to take too seriously. The film's real point is the interesting tension between the audience's growing knowledge about and sympathy toward the guilty fellows, who really are rather ordinary people, and the narrative hook concerning the heroine's reinvention into a figure of insulated emotion and revenge. (Moreau's character resembles nothing so much as the pathological but vulnerable title character of Hitchcock's Marnie.) The Bride Wore Black (based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich) is not meant to be taken as an object lesson in irony, however. In the finest and most entertaining tradition of Hollywood movies (certainly most of Hitchcock's movies), one can watch Truffaut's film without giving a thought to anything other than its own smooth movement. Take a step back, however, and there are riches to be explored. --Tom Keogh

Description

An engrossing, enigmatic tale of passion and revenge, this 1969 Golden GlobeÂ(r) nominee* from FranÃ§ois Truffaut and co-writer Jean Louis Richard is "cool, witty and disturbingly heartless" (Saturday Review). The bewitching Jeanne Moreau is "simultaneously stunning, chilling and altogether remarkable" (Boxoffice) as a woman who will stop at nothing to avenge her husband's death! Julie (Moreau), a beautiful young bride, has just married her childhood sweatheart and love of her