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
Steven E on Deathstalker (2025): “@ben If you’re on a Conan rip off kick, have you seen Fulci’s CONQUEST? Watched a low res YouTube rip…” Nov 28, 03:39
Ben on Deathstalker (2025): “This movie has gotten me to go back and watch some of the old conan rip off fantasy movies like…” Nov 28, 00:19
juicywoowoo on One Battle After Another: “So first off, I stumbled on your site a couple hours ago for the first time and have been happily…” Nov 27, 19:26
Steven E on Deathstalker (2025): “Can’t agree it is better than Deathstalker 2 – but for me D2 is a perfect movie. It makes me…” Nov 27, 16:02
Miguel Hombre on Frankenstein (the 2025 Guillermo del Toro one): “A bit of early Christmas news: apparently GTD has confirmed on Twitter (a strict no go zone for me) that…” Nov 27, 08:51
Muh on Deathstalker (2025): “This is fun stuff. I wonder what the budget was…it’s clearly lower budget in terms of Hollywood movies, but like…” Nov 27, 06:45
Max K. on Deathstalker (2025): “Yeah, I liked this a lot. A put-upon badass in a fantasy setting is actually pretty original and Bernhardt really…” Nov 26, 23:20
Max K. on Christy (2025): “The armchair analysis on so many film’s financial prospects, well, it’s rarely ever conducive to any sort of good insight…” Nov 26, 23:03
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Martijn on Ghost Killer: “I saw this at the Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam last year. It’s so much fun! Seeing her bicker with…” Nov 26, 11:58
Birch on Sisu: Road to Revenge: “I thought the first one was alright but the festival buzz was enough to get me to see this. I…” Nov 24, 17:02
Stu on Sisu: Road to Revenge: “Just got back from seeing it and I had a great time. The ratio of wincing at the violence to…” Nov 24, 16:10
Curt on Superman (2025): “Majestyk, I highly recommend checking out Season 2 of PEACEMAKER if you haven’t already. Like you, I enjoyed Season 1…” Nov 24, 13:39
CJ Holden on The Loose Canon: Blade: “Obviously a great read —– AVC: Tell me about Blade. What did you do in that one? UK: I like…” Nov 24, 07:40
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–
