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
jojo on A Working Man: “Same director and everything Man, when I heard the Stath and Richet were joining forces, I got jazzed. The trailer…” Apr 9, 13:34
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Alex R on The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas: “About eight years ago I watched and reviewed every theatrically-released movie based on a Hanna-Barbera cartoon and Stephen Baldwin’s hair…” Apr 9, 08:21
Max K. on A Working Man: “Yeah, lower tier Statham, but still not exactly bad, and has a few moments of action movie absurdity to treasure.…” Apr 9, 00:05
daniel on A Working Man: “The constant scenes of surveillance and interrogation slash torture (other than co-creating the character of Bane, Chuck Dixon is also…” Apr 8, 00:13
pegsman on A Working Man: “I’m glad there is at least one semi-big star out there who chooses to take a leaf out of Charles…” Apr 7, 22:24
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Schmoe Gunn on A Working Man: “I saw WORKING MAN and BEEKEEPER on the same day, and what struck me is that both are built around…” Apr 7, 16:43
ejsteeler on A Working Man: “Vern, I always respect your reviews and your position of looking at things from a half-glass-full perspective, but this one…” Apr 7, 13:06
PetrosMT on A Working Man: “Extremely middling Statham Vehicle if not a straight up disappointing since it’s his next movie after the great Beekeeper with…” Apr 7, 12:55
Birch on Alpha (2025): “I was much, much more negative on this, although the day I saw it I was in a very bad…” Apr 7, 12:46
Zed on Jurassic World: Rebirth: “@Alex/CJ Yeah, exactly. As a kid I knew him from Roger Rabbit and the Mario Bros movie and thought of…” Apr 7, 12:25
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–
