A Romantic Monster flick...
936385
This review refers to the version dubbed in English.

This is supposed to be creepy, I suppose, but I found it kind of atmospheric and romantic. It has some interesting sci-fi concepts, like the idea that blacks are "more human" than whites, who are "diluted" versions of humans. The main character is a writing student who has just moved to Montreal to study at University, and lives with his best friend who is a black guy with a huge family. The roommate has an aunt who is a bit psychic, and she recognizes the problem with the protagonist's new girlfriend that goes beyond the fact that she's a redhead with very pale skin and he's grossed out by white skin to the point that they refer to it as a phobia.

I can't say too much more without giving away the key to the story, but suffice it to say, if you dig the vampire/werewolf/genetic mutation type stories that have sympathetic creatures, this is a good bet. The over-dubs are a little obvious and the acting is cheesy in spots, especially by the minor characters, but I found the male and female lead to be attractive and empathetic enough to make up for the flaws.

For myself, I'd rate this a 5, because of the chemistry that put it up there with my other favorites like Underworld, but I marked it a 4 because that's probably the way most people will see it.
3620887
Not the best sci-fi /horror /monster films I've ever seen, but true fans of the genres might find this dvd enjoyable.
1053549
This is a modern take on a  B-style monster/science fiction film but it is modern and wonderful.

Highly quotable and great for a date night. I followed my GF around our apartment for a week (how lucky was she?!) saying "You have no idea what it's like to--"
You can find out the rest of this sentence when you watch.
2792434
I know because I AM one!  I love monster movies of all kinds and Van Helsing is no exception.  True, it is not a masterpiece in filmaking.

I don't care.  It is entertaining and makes use of screen characters who have sat on the shelf for way too long.

Yep, I'm talking about Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man.

These are updated, reinvisioned versions.  Some people have a problem with this, but as long as you don't count it as Universal Monsters canon, you shouldn't have a problem.

So, here's a short run down of what's good in my humble opinion:

1.  Use of characters.  Lots of monsters!  Vampires, werewolves,Frankenstewin, Mr. Hyde, I almost expected the Gillman to pop up.  Oh well, maybe in the sequel.

2.  The action and SFX are solid.  I kno it looks like a cartoon, but it is STYLIZED! They are intentionally stled to look cartoonish.

3.  The plot is ORIGINAL.  It is totally different from ALL the original Monster movies.

4.  The Costumes and Sets are AMAZING.  The film is worth seeing for them alone. Character wardobes fit the characters perfectly and the setting rovide the perfect air for the film.

So, take it or leave it.  If you want to check it out, go ahead, its a fun popcorn ride.

Classic film of the ages?  Probably not.

But, I shall say it again...IT IS FUN!
2027633
Here's a special treat for all you lovers celebrating Valentine's Day.  From the deep, dark woods at the far end of Lover's Lane comes...The Thing From Lover's Lane!

High school sweethearts Billy and Carol Anne are spending some quality time together out on the far end of lover's lane.  While the two aren't paying attention, a mighty wicked fog rolls in.  Suddenly there is a loud thump on the back of the car.  Billy, sure that one of his friends is playing a prank on him, runs off into the fog in chase.  The next thing we know, Billy is waking up on the ground with a swollen face from the tree he ran into, and Carol Anne is found some distance away, beaten and raped.

It's a pretty classic set-up for a horror story, but The Thing From Lover's Lane is not your typical creature-feature.  It has many of the elements we have come to know and love, such as the high school sweethearts, the small town scene, a sheriff who is relatively new in town and not entirely accepted by the locals, and of course an old coot who lives out in the woods.  Yes, it starts out like a typical late, late movie, but then things begin to shift toward the unexpected.  It is when the sheriff questions Old Gooney, who found the unconscious girl, that this shift begins.  "Who did it?" the sheriff asks him.  Gooney replies, "Not who, but what!"  What makes this story a little different from all the others is the monster itself.  This is no Blob, or Creature From the Black Lagoon, but something much more ancient and terrifying; an evil presence that has walked these woods for generation upon generation.  This is a well-written and suspenseful story that is sure to give you a thrill.

Narrator Shandon Loring did a pretty good job with The Thing From Lover's Lane.  He differentiated the character voices reasonably well and there was a certain thoughtfulness to his reading.  It felt like he was really getting into the story and not just reading it.

My only complaint is in regards to the production quality.  The Thing From Lover's Lane was produced for Audible ACX.  If I understand this correctly, ACX is a system where anyone can record a story and offer it up for sale on Audible.  Kind of like the eBay of the audiobook world.  There was a little more hiss in this recording than there should have been and towards the end of the story there was actually a cricket chirping in the background.  The Thing From Lover's Lane is a good story and it deserves better.

Nancy A. Collins is a horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has also written for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Predator: Hell Come A Walkin and her own one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.  Her novelette, The Thing From Lover's Lane, originally appeared in It Came From The Drive-In (DAW, 1995) and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novelette in 1996.  It is available on audio for the first time.
3315395
So I'm a guy and this movie has monsters and robots. This movie rocks.  End of review!

Story plot was pretty good, reminded me of a few Japanese anime put together into a movie.  Any Japanese anime turned into a movie is always graphical and fun to watch, and this is definitely no different.  When you are watching this movie, watch it with the attitude of this should be a fun ride rather than must analyze every little detail.  If you like analyzing every little detail, I would still recommend to watch this because you'll forget you are analyzing the movie.
3756388
This review is solely for "Terror Within". I didn't bother to watch the second movie "Dead Space" so I can't really comment on it.

TERROR WITHIN

This film can pretty accurately be described as an "Alien" knockoff in terms of plot, but is a very good movie for its genre nonetheless.

The two best things this film had going for it were the surprisingly good special effects and the successful building of suspense at certain parts (especially towards the end). Several of the characters also seemed to have genuine concern/empathy for one another as opposed to other "disposable crew" type films. I attribute this to the fact that they had to live/survive with the help of one another underground perpetually as opposed to just being a rag tag crew who barely knew each other, only assembled for a temporary mission. The last remaining characters in particular seemed to genuinely care for one another's safety (despite the survival of each being crucial to the other).

The main "monster" (or as I should say "gargoyle") is definitely frightening looking, most notably at first. Though its monstrous alien appearance remains quite menacing throughout. The way the monster moved and reacted seemed quite organic as well, but did not give away that it was a costume. I hate when the actual actor's neck or some other body part is showing through (like in one scene in Mutations which ruined that otherwise good creepy movie for me). Some moron on IMDB claimed that the monster's costume looked "rubbery", but I disagree. The texture resembled what a monstrous desert-dwelling alien's skin/hide would probably look like, making it look too wet would not have been consistent with the climate (after all, desert iguanas and komodo dragons don't exactly have moist-looking skin) and I challenge someone to have made a better-looking "gargoyle" suit at that time.

I wonder if totally fake CGI would have been better lol.

I won't ruin the ending unlike some of the less considerate/intelligent reviewers on here but suffice it to say it was quite satisfying and worth the price paid.

Overall I think Corman flicks are underrated, especially this one. The wonderfully clear and vibrant transfer was a nice touch too, aside from some minor grain/visible particles at times the picture was flawless. Sound was also good and I loved how there wasn't even a layer break throughout this movie (as is a minor yet common annoyance seemingly on dual layer discs in general).

To wrap it up... The rather realistic effects/costumes in this certainly outdo a lot of the overdone CGI trash of today. Plus, like most other 80's movies, this one actually seemed to care about telling (or in this case recreating) a good story instead of just turning a profit in the young teen demographic.

Overall a "B Movie" that is more deserving of "A -" status for the Sci-Fi Horror subgenre.
818744
The Devil's Bride (a.k.a. The Devil Rides Out) is a Hammer Films joint from 1968, and are you so surprised that Christopher Lee's in it? It's a supernatural thriller that, for once, presents Mr. Lee as the hero, and he comes off well. This time, the terrorizing element is an astronomical society (cough***satanic cult***) against which Mr. Lee must put his best efforts in order to save the soul of a good friend. And he's got only 24 hours to do it - for the next day is April 30th, time of the true and Grand Sabbath, when disciples and fools can be baptized into the service of evil.

Lee inhabits the role of Nicholas, Duc de Richleau, well-versed in the occult and an intrepid man of action. His heroics are staged against the backdrop of 1920s England, so prep yourself for an eyeball of vintage vehicles and period costumes and mannerisms. This is gothic horror at its most brawny because Richleau and his game companion, Rex Van Ryn (Leon Greene), are both of the two-fisted persuasion and they don't at all hesitate at slinging haymakers at Eeeevil. From a more sedate front, Richleau also applies phials of salt and mercury to ward off the dark forces.

The Devil's Bride blisters along. It begins at a breakneck pace and doesn't let up. There are car chases and slugfests and hairbreadth escapes and sundry acts of derring-do. But it wouldn't be occult adventuring if there were no psychic possessions or sacrificial poultry or ominous pentagrams on the floor. And for the sake of cheap tawdriness, there is even moment enough for a nighttime woodland orgy.

The movie takes its cues from Dennis Wheatley's 1934 horror novel, The Devil Rides Out, a title that seems more apropos given one certain scene in the movie. Legendary novelist Richard Matheson - who wrote one of my favorite horror novels, I Am Legend - adapts the script. I don't know Terence Fisher from Carrie Fisher, but he executed some pretty boss directing here. He constructs a foreboding mood with stylish editing and the spectacular use of color. There are some gnarly images in this movie: the aforementioned orgy, that windshield cracking, the Angel of Death storming in... To me, though, the hugest selling point is Christopher Lee himself. It's such a contrast from what we're so used to seeing him as - he's routinely the big bad - that I continually had the giddy shivers watching him enact not only the hero role but the action hero role. This time, he parlays his saturnine mojo into great effect, lending his Richleau a sense of authority and precision and a certain cold swagger. Also, I'd like to mention Nik Arrighi who plays the much mesmerized damsel-in-distress Tanith, not because she did anything special - oh, she was fine - but because I freakin' adore this singular convergence of names. If I ever have a daughter, "Nik" and "Tanith" are tops on the list of names.

With purchase in mind, be aware of this product's region format. If you're somewhere in North America, this is probably a nuh-uh unless you have a Region-Free/Region 2 DVD player or a Region B/2 Blu-ray player.
3708120
I didn't know anything about the comic when I first watched this film and I still don't. But that aside, this is a cool monster movie, it's got every thing a horror fan could want.. vampires, werewolves, ghouls and zombies. Although it's a comedy/horror it's not laugh out loud funny but it has it's moments. The story is pretty good and the effects/makeup of the monsters was great, especially the 7 foot tall zombie!.. to me if you put Blade, Van Helsing, Beetlejuice and Constantine in a blender you'd get Dylan Dog. That's just my goofy opinion lol. Check this out if you love comedy or horror
4040362
I expected this to be another horrifying Shymalan flick, but it wasn't quite. The beginning of the flick up to about 50 minutes, there's a great plot going about an apparently 19th-century village living in fear of the creatures that live in the woods. The hauntin atmosphere is set my a lot of silence, slow-moving (but appropriately) scenes and the paranoia of what's in the woods that stays inside all the villagers. I must confess, when the "creatures" came out of the woods and ran by underneath the watch-out tower and left red marks on all the doors that I was quite scared.

 Also, in the first 50 minutes, a romance develops between a blind village girl named Ivy and a overly shy and quiet town boy (played by Phoenix, I believe his second time in a Shymalan film). The romance almost seems like a side-plot, but it eventually becomes major matter.

 If you don't want to hear a small spoiler, don't read this paragraph. There is also a mentally challened (I think that's what he ways) man played amazingly by Adrien Brody who later, for no apparent reason, kills Phoenix's character right after he and Ivy agree to get married. Ivy knows that there is another town on the other side of the woods with medicine to cure the infectious stab wounds Phoenix received, so she asks her father for permission to go through the woods, even though filled with "creatures" and go to the next town for the one she loves.

 That's where the plot takes a major twist.

 A lot of the movie actually ends up focusing on the relationship between Phoenix & Ivy, but that's necessary because it shows you the love they have for each other and eventually makes it more believable that Ivy would go to great lengths such as this to heal Phoenix.

 I won't say just what happens, but it is a bit of a disappointment. I wish they just stayed with the original plot and worked with that, but it wasn't a total let-down. Even though it wasn't very scary after you realize what's really going on, it's still just as entertaining and still want to see what happens. So...don't go to this movie expected a super-terrifying horror movie like the advertisements suggest it is. The ads are definetly misleading, and though I would probably have given this a 5 if it just stuck with the main plot, it still gets a 4 because it's entertaining.

 Excellent acting by the lead woman actor who plays Ivy. I forgot her name, but I wonder if she's been in any other movies.
4612133
Its been a while since I've seen a good monster flick. I thought good monster movies ended with the 80's. However, this truly is a macabre, and horrific treat of a monster movie. That has, unlike most recent horror films, a meaning that goes beyond screaming and gore. It reminds us that no matter what choices we make in life there will be consenquences that will follow of equal or greater magnitude.
1733149
as any monster-movie fan worth the zipper up the gill-man's costume back knows, what we have here is the ripping yarn of a misunderstood but hopelesly romantic creatur named k, torn from a mysterious island of prehistoric terrors to challenge the hypocricy and greed of modern man and give his life for whatever scrap of kindness the leading lady throws him, while we in the theater root for the big guy, yes?
NO, that was another K with a capital initial, way back in 1932, and way back then, we knew that the leading man and the leading lady though not the brightest of individuals, were at least BRAVE and DECENT, and even the venal impressario had a certain aura of innocence on him and a respect, however grudging, to that other famous K. the viewer knew, that there is something very wrong with modern exploitation and racism because that message was and still is WOVEN INTO the rationale of all monster stories, from frankenstein to quasimodo downright to that other famous K in 1932 himself. these characters SHOWED us what's wrong, as implicit from interactions within the plot, rather than TELL us what's wrong with modern society.
and that brings me to hg. wells: mr.maine's novel in it's begining nods respectfully towards FOOD OF THE GODS, and yet later on in the novel , as was the case in the later stage of hg.wells's career, the narrative is ever narrowed in favor of the dydactic, the theoretical, which then assume lives of their own. mr. maine chose to concentrate on the dydactics of the monster narrative, to the extent of undermining what could have been an excellent STORY. rather than get a story that integrates cultural issues and assimilates them into the action sof the characters, mr.maine's desire to show all the ills of society results in "director's commentary" that actually turns into two clashing "tracks". thus we veer from the wit and imagination of h.g.wells to the simplification, however witty in itself of orson,in the night that panicked america, but also gave names and tags to issues worked better nameless in the original text. as for the ed wood angle mr. maine's K (as opposed to the more famous K, in 1932) is an attachment to the mechanics,however stop-motioned, of a monster story, of over-stating issues that, once the over-statement accelerates,  neither add nor diminish the story's value: what does it add to know of sexual desires? of racial tension? it does add much indeed, but that is why the story itself exists as a metaphor, addressed at an audience that is niether as repressed nor as innocent as the author assumes. the same is true of 1932, and of that other famous K.
to conclude, even the cultural commentary is somewhat askew, as evinced in the strange comparison made between the palestinians, into whose national ethos it is explicitly woven that the state of israel has no right to exist , versus israel itself, founded by victims of the holocaust, and whose decleration of independance openly states the desire for peace. i call that comparison odd, to say the least, with all due respect to the dislocation of israeli arabs who sought to destroy Israel..it had to be said.

what we have here is indeed a creature part gill-man, part mothra, part godzila, all wit (the reason for three stars) but very little if any of the elementary wisdom required to touch the audience's heart ,such as in the case of the more famous K in 1932.
165307
I have always been a sucker for creature features, and this one is an A-list contender for my top favorite.

The fun begins when a ferocious Rhedosaurus is resurrected from its prehistoric dormancy after a series of nuclear tests in the Antarctic. The beast heads due south through the canadian territories and surfaces straight smack-dab in the center of New York City. From there on, you should be able to guess what happens next.

This is a great showcase for stop-motion effects legend, Ray Harryhausen. He is the man who later went on to lend his talent to the "Sinbad" movies, "Jason and the Argonauts," and "Clash of the Titans." It's a popcorn movie that never loses its appeal, and one that I am especially proud to say I own. I had no prior idea that it even made it to DVD. So, it goes without saying that I practically lunged at the opportunity to finally have it in my collection.

I actually prefer this over the original "Godzilla" film. Many don't but, hey, that's just my two cents.

Kick back, monster fans, relax and enjoy!!!
2076238
Mix a lycanthropic fiend with a bunch of beyond belief sexy babes and what do we get?  DarkWolf, that's right.  This film ain't rocket science, but it sure got me going.  It's got some scenes that I watched a couple of hundred times, just because of the shwing appeal itself. Especially the two girl rooftop scene.  Wow!  It may only be T&A, but what T&A!  The wolf is cool too and the action sequences ain't half bad either.  This is a pretty damn good horror film when it comes down to it.  It's got everything it needs to take it's place in the B-movie horror hall of fame.  Like I said, it's definitely worth a look or even a couple of hundred.  Did I mention the rooftop scene?
3704615
"Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, I smell the blood......."

If I were talking to inquiring parents with young children I would say that this is no Disney telling of "Jack and the Beanstalk". The film would have been pretty terrifying to me as a youngster (but no less enjoyable). I don't recall them showing anyone being eaten but the viewer, even the very young will undoubtedly realize that this is occurring. The giant "General" is extreme and even to this horror-film veteran his creepy 'sidekick' had an effect - it was grotesque and disturbing actually (the film "Basket Case" comes to mind.....seriously). There is definitely an end-to-all-good-things scenario going on - a literal devouring of Man - and PG-13 is an accurate rating although my parents would have rightfully let me watch it much younger but it depends on the child. My nephew is ten and he would not enjoy the intensity and fright at all.

The theme of gallantry is apparent as is the universal fight against brutes. The heroes, villains, and monsters are there for those who want to simply watch a fairy-tale come to life visually in front of them.

The scale of the film at times achieves the epic and I thought the giants looked great as did the effects in general. There are some heart-racing moments involving the many giants - some pretty impressive scenes. The human characters are classic, including a princess, but it's not cheesy although all is quite predictable regarding them, their motives, and their actions.

I enjoyed this film but I do like a fantasy from time to time.
3366176
Bunny is like a hybrid lovechild of the legendary Troma (Toxic Avenger and Poultrigiest) films and the early career of Peter Jackson (we're talking Bad Taste and Dead Alive here folks). Obviously intending to be way over the freaking top it starts off with some mysterious assailents capturing a man and injecting him with a serum that turns him into a hulking rabbit mutant with an enormous wang and an insatiable hunger for pussy (which he constantly bellows). From that point we are introduced to the cast of characters to be menaced. I found the majority of them while thinly written to be rather likable and even relatable at times.

The movie moves at a pretty brisk pace and I found it to be humurous with plenty of gore to satisfy the needs of the horror enthusiast. There are also a couple of rather suprisingly dark subplots going on in an otherwise dumbly fun comedy horror. This won't be for everyone Im sure so I'd recommend watching the trailer on Youtube first to see if its for you. Trust me, if the trailer doesnt scare you away with its penis cam then you'll be fine watching this movie.
428739
Watched this movie, that i havnt seen in a very long time....and it was great... i enjoyed this movie so much...i remember when i first watched it back when it first came out...and i was so disappointed about the monster being made up...that i lost the point of the movie itself...not this time...what a great one i added Thx. My collection!