Monthly Movie Recap - November 2012

I know technically the month isn't over yet, but I'm done with movies for November. 

And besides, tomorrow begins Creepmas!

 Clicking on a linked title takes you to Amazon where you can order these fine movies. And if you're doing online shopping for the holidays, please use the affiliate links over on the right and I'll get a tiny percent of what you spend and we're all happy.

The American Scream (2012)
This Chiller channel original documentary follows three MA men and their families as they set up their annual yard haunts for Halloween night.

Cool: I have nothing but respect and love for these people, the amount of work they do for one night is unbelievable
Lame: Even though I'm only a coule hours away from these guys, I would never give up my Halloween night to visit their haunts
Rating: 8/10

Cube (1997) 
Another one of the "heard a lot about it but never saw it" movies that I finally got around to seeing. This is like a sci-fi version of Saw only without Jigsaw. Because of the small setting, it feels like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Cool: For such a simple idea, it's executed very well; Good gore effects
Lame: If you're the type that needs to know the whys and hows, you won't get any of that here. You're dropped into the story with the characters and only ever know what they do.
Rating: 7.5/10, if you like this, definitely check out the other two in the series

Cube Zero (2004)
I unknowingly watched the third movie in the the Cube series second and I would actually recommend that order to anyone watching them for the first time. This prequel has another group of people waking up in the Cube but now we get a behind the scenes of view of the people controlling the Cube.

Cool: Gorier traps; Getting a look at the weirdos that run this thing
Lame: Even though we get a look at the people behind the Cube, it gives very little insight as to why they do what they do
Rating: 7.5/10, the little bit of new info you find out is enough to get you creating your own wild theories

Cube 2 - Hypercube (2002)
Surprise! A group of people wake up in a deadly Cube! Only this time there is a reason revealed why they're all here. Also, the physical traps are swapped out for more metaphysical, reality-shifting, dimension twisting traps.

Cool: A tiny bit more of a story than the others; Brain bending traps
Lame: Still not enough info to know what the heck is going on with this thing, but that's ok
Rating: 7/10, recommend watching this second movie last

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Pixar knocks another out of the park for me. As someone that's been playing video games since Pong was the height of home consoles, this movie hits me right in the heart.

Cool: Video game characters cameos
Lame: No obvious Tron reference? Should have been a no-brainer!
Rating: 9/10, absolute MUST see for anyone that enjoys video games

Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987) 
The trailer sums it up pretty well: April tends to cause things to spontaneously combust when she gets aroused. But why is this happening to her?

Cool: Wallace Shawn!
Lame: It's gotta be hard to go on dates when stuff starts exploding around you
Rating: 6.5/10, it might be hard to find but the movie is pretty funny

The Snow Devils aka Snow Demons aka Devil Men From Space (1967)
Couldn't find a trailer, but this clip lets you see the awesomeness that are the Snow Devils. So yeah, yeti men from space are trying to take over the Earth by melting the polar ice caps. You could probably replace the science team with the Fourth Doctor and companion(s) and it would be a decent episode.

Cool: The miniature work is nice
Lame: Global Warming!; Too much of the action takes place on Earth
Rating: 5/10, Probably the worst of the Gamma 1 series of movies

 
Quarantine (2008) 
I would have thought by now that the found footage genre had nothing interesting left to offer. I was wrong. This one is pretty well done. The first 15 minutes are spent setting up the characters as people so you actually care about them when they're in danger. I haven't seen the original Spanish movie REC that this is a remake of so I guess that will go on my list.

Cool: Good to see Jennifer Carpenter in something other than Dexter
Lame: Unfortunately it suffers from a frequent problem of found footage movies where the ending plays right to the audience
Rating: 7/10

Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
Don't let the trailer fool you, this one's practically a snoozefest. It's a brainy sci-fi with A LOT of talking more than any kind of action. It's got a Twilight Zone-ish twist ending but by the time the end rolls around my reaction was more "hm, oh yeah" than "whoa".

Cool: If debating robot rights is your thing, you'll like this; groovy Theremin music!
Lame: Did I mention there's lots of talking?
Rating: 4/10

Arthur Christmas (2011)
This was cute. I usually like everything Aardman does.

Cool: Seeing the behind the scenes of how Christmas happens
Lame: Would have enjoyed it more if Prep & Landing hadn't already done this and done it a little better; I didn't really like the human character models, thought they were kinda ugly.
Rating: 6.5/10, good holiday family movie

I'm watching this next series to prep for the Now Playing movie review podcast's retrospective. If you like movies, definitely check out their show!

Silent Night Deadly Night 2 (1987) 
I watched the first one last year and was almost going to rewatch it so I'd have it fresh in mind before viewing part two. I'm glad I didn't because the first 40 minutes of the movie recaps the first one! Then the second half is the killer going on an unintentionally hilarious killing spree.

Cool: It's so bad it's good; The kills are so ridiculous that you have to laugh at them; "Garbage day!"
Lame: The "star's" poor acting and overuse of his eyebrows (maybe this should go under cool?)
Rating: 5/10, I say skip the first one and start here, the recap gets you up to speed

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out (1989)
Introducing a blind psychic and transplanting the brain of a dead killer are sure signs your horror franchise is in trouble. But this movie gives you both at once!

Cool: Hey look, it's Bill Moseley and Robert Culp!
Lame: Even they can't save this movie
Rating: 3/10, a ridiculous attempt to keep it tied to the first movies

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990)
This is like the Halloween 3 of the series: there's witchcraft and it's not even remotely connected to the previous movies in the series. There's a lot of great parts here but they never quite come together to make a good movie. Not sure why it was part of the series instead of a standalone.

Cool: Score by Richard Band; Effects by Screaming Mad George; Maud Adams; Clint Howard
Lame: Not really Christmas-y and that should be a requirement for the title!
Rating: 4/10, It's got a very 70s occult vibe to it and it does that well.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991)
The surviving characters from part 4 make cameo appearances but otherwise it has nothing to do with any of the previous films. It's not quite as off the wall as the last two.

Cool: Killer toys; Clint Howard has a very brief cameo
Lame: The toys aren't a very efficient way to kill people; weird pseudo-rape scene
Rating: 5/10, If you like Full Moon movies from the 90s, you'll like this

Month Total

New: 14, Rewatch: 0

Year To-Date Total

New: 128, Rewatch: 15