I don’t know why I never got around to seeing the THE CROW sequel from the director of SIX-STRING SAMURAI. Always was curious. Still took me 19 years. Lance Mungia’s THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER, just like the previous one, was meant for theaters, but I think it only played somewhere around here? Wiki(dprayer)pedia says its theatrical run was only in Seattle and only for one week, and I do remember seeing an ad for it and being confused, but I was thinking it was in Eastern Washington. Anyway, I didn’t go.
Two Halloweens ago we discussed Tobe Hooper’s first masterpiece. This is his second. He didn’t even want to direct it at first, sort of got pushed into it, but damn did he rally. In many ways THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is the Tobe Hooperest movie ever made.
I don’t blame you if you’re skeptical during the opening scene where two obnoxious “senior boys at Wheeler High” calling themselves “Buzz and Rick the Prick” drunkenly drive a Porsche, fire guns, and harass the K-OKLA request line until they receive a drive-by chainsawing on a bridge that must’ve been built by the same people who made that endless runway from the climactic chase in FURIOUS 6. (read the rest of this shit…)
I gotta confess coming to this one from a place of cinematic ignorance. I’ve seen the original Godard movie, but I don’t remember jack shit about it. I thought it was pretty good, I believe. That’s about all I got. Still, I’m sure less people could tell you anything about the remake than everything about the original. So this makes me smart. (read the rest of this shit…)
These last couple weeks have been tough on my mental facilities. I reviewed that great new “ULTIMATE” edition of the original TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, I also revisited parts 3 and 4 in that original series, then on Thursday I reviewed the new prequel to the remake. So by that point I’d studied and written about pretty much every angle to the whole Texas Chainsaw deal. You’d think I’d be done with it by now, but there is one final chapter: the one spinoff of the original movie that achieves its own level of True Greatness. I am talking about Tobe Hooper’s 1986 sequel, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2. It’s been available on DVD for a couple years in a bare bones edition (get it, that is a pun because of all the skeletons they have) but Tuesday it comes out in a much deserved special edition with new commentaries, featurettes and deleted scenes. (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
CJ Holden on Companion: “Yeah, I don’t have any first hand (or foot) experience with it, from what I’ve heard, depending on the size…” May 10, 23:08
Toxic on The Shrouds: “Thanks guys, I appreciate. She never commented here but I always shared Vern’s best reviews with her, and she never…” May 10, 15:46
Dreadguacamole on Companion: “I got my foot run over by a car as a teen when a friend turned badly into the sidewalk.…” May 10, 15:45
Glaive Robber on Havoc: “I wonder if the effects issue is an international thing, particularly since Gareth Evans is Welsh, though has done a…” May 10, 12:41
Glaive Robber on Companion: “Couldn’t meet this one halfway. Thatcher is great, but after setting her intelligence to 100%, I was thinking, what exactly…” May 10, 12:33
KayKay on Lost Bullet 2: “Well, to the whiners who still can’t stop complaining about all the “CGI-ed car chases” in HAVOC, LOST BULLET 3…” May 10, 07:41
Glaive Robber on Absolute Dominion: “Mmm, yeah — I had seen the trailer with the early scenes of fighting in a well-lit gym, and I…” May 9, 21:13
Mr. Shemp on The Shrouds: “Toxic, I’ve been reading your comments for years and laughed at your avatar every single time. Very, very sorry to…” May 9, 19:45
Mr. Shemp on Companion: “Yeah, between this, NOVACAINE and his appearances on BEST OF THE WORST, I’m finding myself to be a huge fan…” May 9, 19:38
Max K. on Absolute Dominion: “This is the extremely rare movie that was produced by a streamer (Netflix and Blumhouse initially backed this and then…” May 9, 15:46
Mr. Majestyk on Gina: “Best movie I’ve watched this year. Here are my comments from the COSMOPOLIS review for posterity: “A sleazy exploitation thriller,…” May 9, 05:21
VERN on Gina: “Yeah, that’s fair. I guess it’s that our stereotype of rednecks is different. Maybe it’s mostly just weather related. You…” May 9, 01:35
MaggieMayPie on Companion: “This was more light hearted/funny than I expected it to be. It makes sense now to hear that Hancock comes…” May 8, 21:55
Matthew B. on Gina: “I guess this is a quirk of Canadian linguistic habits, but that town is *absolutely* what we would call “redneck.”” May 8, 18:58
walkerp on Gina: “Oh that’s interesting, the version I saw in the theatre here (Montreal) at some retrospective had an incredibly hot solo…” May 8, 15:12
Two Halloweens ago we discussed Tobe Hooper’s first masterpiece. This is his second. He didn’t even want to direct it at first, sort of got pushed into it, but damn did he rally. In many ways THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 is the Tobe Hooperest movie ever made.
Boys, boys, boys–
