Vampyr a forgotten classic

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Enjoy a rare classic....

Classic Movie Review: Dark Water

As most of you are aware the Japanese film preceded the American version by three years, that is 2002 versus 2005.

The films are based on the short story Floating Water by Koji Suzuki published in 1996.

The plot is well known; a woman in the throes of divorce attempts under extreme earthly and other worldly pressures to protect her young daughter.

This is a solid ghost story all around but what struck me are the differences, some subtle and one overriding between the two film versions.

No laundry list here, the umbrella is simply that the Japanese version is more faithful to the supernatural than the American. The original film is more eerie, more atmospheric and, in my opinion, the superior of the two.

Don't get me wrong Walter Salles' version is a good film. Jennifer Connolly's performance is impeccable but if your 'thing' is horror the 2002 version is better than the remake.

There is something about a ghost child, a demon little one skulking around the edges that is most unsettling. The color yellow as well is a powerful visual device to heighten the fear amidst the grey and dark of the film. And the early emphasis on the missing girl stamps this version with an air of mystery and misdeed.

And also for that reason, a more faithful adaptation to the original tale, I believe the first script is superior. The linear dimensions of the story telling are clearer, tighter and heighten the tension in shorter and stronger spurts.

So what if you have to read subtitles. You can read right? But if you know the basic story, you can watch Hideo Nakata's original version with the sound off. His direction is that pure.

Classic Movie Review: GOJIRA

Which is the original Japanese pronunciation for Godzilla. Theatrically released in 1954 and directed by Ishiro Honda, this film is not to be confused with heavily and ineptly edited American version starring Raymond Burr.

This is the first appearance of the King of Monsters as we soon find he is a legend before his time and appearance while wreaking havoc in the fishing lanes of Japan. Elders tell us that he is a mythical creature who rising from the sea and demands a sacrifice.

While this portends the franchise to come, soon the lumbering monster takes to land, begins munching on a train and the fun begins.

This is the template for the franchise to come although what may not know and what I will spoil is that Godzilla is killed and rendered into a skeleton on the bottom of the ocean.

But in a twist before the credits can roll we are warned about the continued effects of nuclear testing and the potential of it releasing another Godzilla upon humanity.

A brilliant piece of writing keep the doors open for sequels and at the same time leaving the possibility of getting out of town if the flick bombs.

Well you know the history.

I recommend you find this on DVD and see how history is born as well as hatched.

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Where Is An Infomercial When You Need One; A Movie Review: Haunted Prison, SciFi Channel

I have been ill and not sleeping much since slumber on a toilet can be hazardous not to mention messy. In between bouts of health food revenge I found a horror movie on television this early, early morning titled HAUNTED PRISON. Found specifically on the SciFi channel; usually a purveyor of garbage, today they reached a new low in sewage.

Here the spirits of a violent prison riot attack a group of thieves along with a separate group made up of a documentary crew investigating the hauntings; end of plot. This convergence of disparate groups is even more unbelievable than the two gangs of bank robbers robbing the same bank at the same time in "Take The Money And Run". At least the latter was satire and funny; 'Haunted Prison' could only attain a level of sickening. The one star rating for this alleged horror show should have come with a disclaimer explaining why this movie is as overrated as 1980s popular pop music.

Poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed this truly is a horror show. The special effects are laughable no that is incorrect; the special effects are pitiful. The producers of this film would have been better off with a ball of twine, magic markers and sock puppets.

When will the SciFi Channel turn out decent programming? When will we as consumers demand more? Bad is not cute and campy? It is bad. Sharks in a tornado isn't neat --- it is stupid and so are we if we take this for entertainment.

'Haunted Prison' a definite miss, in fact the print should be locked away for life in those states where there is no death penalty.

Thank God for a lot of bowel movements and Thank God that Broderick Crawford and 'Highway Patrol' came in on another channel.