Tag: 1988

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Movie Review

Doom Asylum (1988) Movie Review

Doom Asylum – Movie Review

Doom Asylum must watch with alcohol to get the most out of it.

First Reaction – Doom Asylum must watch with alcohol to get the most out of it.

Director: Richard Friedman

Writer: Rick Marx (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A horribly disfigured lawyer, wrongfully pronounced dead after a terrible car accident, is taken to an asylum for dissection, only to come back alive, kill everyone, and make the asylum his killing grounds.

Runtime: 1 Hour 19 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Doom Asylum starts when a group of friends Kiki (Mullen), Mike (Hay), Jane (Davis), Darnell (White) and Dennis (Price), head to an abandoned asylum. It has a reputation of a disfigured lawyer, Mitch Hansen (Rogen), lurking in the corridors in hope of revenge.

They clash with a group of rockers Tina (Collins), Rapunzel (Farin) and Godiva (Alvan), but only pranks. However, Mitch sees this as a chance to continue his killing spree and the youths make an easy victim.

Verdict on Doom Asylum

Recap

The movie follows a group of friends wanting to party at an abandoned asylum. However, they discover a serial killer is lurking in the corridors, waiting for the chance to find more victims.

Best Parts

The location and the idea behind the serial killer are the highlights of the movie. It creates isolation and the killer is driven by wanting to escape their nightmare.

Worst Parts

The movie struggles with a mixture of bad editing and poor performances. We seem to have one person say their line, before a long pause for the next line in a conversation. Elsewhere, it falls into the bad decision horror where nobody seems to have half a brain cell. This ends up falling into so bad it is actually funny.

Final Thoughts –Doom Asylum is a must-watch drunk movie.

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Movie Review

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) Movie Review

Hellbound: Hellraiser II – Movie Review

Hellbound: Hellraiser II dives deeper into the lure of the characters but struggles to bring the horrors to life.

First Reaction – Hellbound: Hellraiser II dives deeper into the lure of the characters but struggles to bring the horrors to life.

Director: Tony Randel

Writer: Peter Atkins, Clive Barker (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: Kirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Hellbound: Hellraiser II starts when Kirsty (Laurence) tries to recover from the horrors of the first film. However, Doctor Channard (Cranham) investigates the case and brings Julia (Higgins) back to life. He works with Julia to help her recover fully and unleash the evil on the world.

Meanwhile, Kirsty prepares to battle to save herself from the evil coming for her. However, Julia is more prepared for Kirsty this time, meaning the battle with the Cenobites is going to be a lot deadlier than before.

Verdict on Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Recap

The movie picks up in the aftermath of the original. Kirsty is recovering from the event, but her doctor brings Julia back to life, because of his obsession with the occult. Now she is back to continue the deadly path for the Cenobites on Earth.

Best Parts

The effects are still amazing, proving the practical effects of looking and seeing horrors involved in the events. We also dive more into the lure of the Cenobites, which is interesting to see unfold.

Worst Parts

While the outside of the movie looks good, it doesn’t get enough into the scares you would imagine. Elsewhere, it can gloss over bigger plot points and wants to hold onto the previous characters, which it feels like it has finished with them before.

Final Thoughts –Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a bloody sequel with more lure, but fewer scares.

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Movie Review

Police Story 2 (1988) Movie Review

Police Story 2 – Movie Review

Check out our review of Police Story 2, the action-packed sequel. Jackie Chan returns as the supercop facing off against a group of blackmailing bombers.

ABC Film Challenge – Franchise Films – P

Director: Jackie Chan

Writer: Jackie Chan, Paul B Clay, Edward Tang (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: The Hong Kong supercop must stop a group of blackmailing bombers, while the villains of Police Story (1985) are out for revenge.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Police Story 2 starts when Chan Ka Kui (Chan) faces punishment for the destruction he caused in the last outing. He is relegated to traffic cop and other gang members from the group he took down have come for revenge against him. Chan decides to leave the force and try and start a new life with his girlfriend May (Cheung).

However, duty calls and he returns to fight against the ruthless gang. Only this time, he must do even more on his own, without the backup he once had.

Verdict on Police Story 2

Police Story 2 is an action comedy sequel following the aftermath of the first movie. Chan faces a difficult future as he must face the consequences of his actions. However, the gang hasn’t finished with him yet.

This movie is bigger and unleashes Jackie Chan in a new way with more combat skills. We continue to get the slapstick comedy from the girlfriend side of the story. It is nice to see the story continue and show the consequences of the major destruction caused. This is a solid sequence that continues to show the heroics of the cop.

Where to Watch

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JustWatch

Final Thoughts – Police Story 2 is an entertaining sequel, filled with action and laughs.

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Movie Review

Dead Ringers (1988) Movie Review

Dead Ringers – Movie Review

Read a captivating review of Dead Ringers, a suspenseful film directed by David Cronenberg. Dive into the twisted world of twin gynaecologists.

Director: David Cronenberg

Writer: David Cronenberg, Normal Snider (Screenplay)

Writer: Bari Wood, Jack Geasland (Book)

Cast

Plot: Twin gynaecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.

Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Dead Ringers starts as we meet the twin gynaecologists Beverly and Elliot (Irons). They have created a system where they can both date women and move on quickly. However, Beverly starts getting closer with an actress Claire (Bujold), leading to the two needing to keep things separate.

Elliot isn’t happy with this change and finds himself caught in the middle of trying to return their life to what is was before. However, Beverly’s change is leaving Elliot without a focus, as they have always done things together.

Verdict on Dead Ringers

Dead Ringers is a horror mystery following twins who have worked in sync their whole lives. However, a new relationship leads to the two becoming distant and seeing their once-perfect lives falling apart.

This movie uses the idea of twin connection and takes things in a direction, which shows it controlling decisions. It also shows a con they create to get more from life. This keeps things feeling uneasy, due to their behaviour toward strangers, mostly women and dives into how in sync they are. Jeremy Irons is fantastic in the duelling roles even if the story starts to fade in the second half of the film. It does claim to be more of a body horror, which doesn’t seem to be as drastic as most of Cronenberg’s movies.

Final Thoughts –Dead Ringers is a strange path of a connection between twins.

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Movie Review

Jack’s Back (1988) Movie Review

Jack’s Back – Movie Review

Discover the intense plot of 'Jack's Back' as a serial killer strikes Los Angeles, copying the infamous Jack the Ripper murders.

Director: Rowdy Herrington

Writer: Rowdy Herrington (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A serial killer in Los Angeles celebrates Jack the Ripper’s 100th birthday by committing similar murders and only one has a chance of stopping him.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Jack’s Back starts when a serial killer is hunting the streets of LA. They are committing murders that match the Jack the Ripper murders 100 years before. However, John (Spader) witnesses the final murder and in his attempts to get help becomes the latest victim. The police believe he committed the murders too, until his twin brother Rick (Spader) arrives to investigate himself.

Rick’s investigation brings new problems as the real killer wants to continue their killings. However, the police turn their attention to Rick who already has a shady side to him. Can Rick stop the killer and prove he had nothing to do with the murders before it is too late?

Verdict on Jack’s Back

Jack’s Back is an action thriller following a serial killer copying Jack the Ripper. His final victim leaves a witness that he murders and frames. However, their twin brother arrives to tackle the case and uncover the truth.

This movie takes an interesting concept of a serial killer using Jack the Ripper as inspiration. It adds in the sprinkling of twins which could have a connection but are worlds apart. The elements are all there for an interesting thriller, however, it puts too much focus on the aftermath of all the crimes, not the hunting through the crimes. It also relies too heavily on wanting to bring out more twists than it needs after struggling to create a bigger enough suspect pool.

Final Thoughts – Jack’s Back is an interesting late-night thriller.

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Movie Review

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Movie Review

A Fish Called Wanda – ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – K (Kevin Kline) – A Fish Called Wanda – Movie Review

Fish Called Wanda

Director: Charles Crichton, John Cleese

Writer: Charles Crichton, John Cleese (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: In London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: A Fish Called Wanda starts when Wanda (Curtis), Otto (Kline), Ken (Palin) and George (Georgeson) complete a risky heist. Wanda and Otto plan on giving up the fall guy in George only to discover there isn’t any loot. Otto and Wanda must come up with a new plan, which sees Wanda getting close to lawyer Archie (Cleese).

However, this ends up mixing everything up as Otto gets jealous of the plan to use Archie as Wanda gets close to him. This sets off a string of events as everyone involved looks to collect the loot.

Verdict on A Fish Called Wanda

A Fish Called Wanda is a comedy following a group of thieves that go in search of the loot from their later heist. This sees the people involved looking to find a solution to the missing loot and get away with the money. However, nothing goes to plan and a series of hilarious events unfold.

This is a comedy that fitted the 1980s style of comedy. It has started to see the jokes becoming awkward and rely on the sense of humour of the audience to enjoy the movie. The performances are fun and a series of iconic moments help keep this movie in the modern conversation on older comedies.

Final Thoughts –A Fish Called Wanda is a comedy that feels like it hasn’t aged that well.

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Movie Review

The Naked Gun (1988) Movie Review

The Naked Gun – ABC Film Challenge – Action – N – The Naked Gun – Movie Review

Naked Gun

Director: David Zucker

Writer: Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Pat Proft (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Naked Gun starts when bumbling Detective Frank Drebin (Nielsen) returns to LA. He learns that his former partner Nordberg (Simpson) is left for dead. Frank must investigate the incident, as the police department is dealing with the imposing arrival of the Queen.

As the investigation unfolds, Frank learns about Jane’s (Presley) involvement in the case. This leads to Frank needing to solve the case before things spiral out of control.

Verdict on The Naked Gun

The Naked Gun is an action comedy following a bumbling police detective who must solve the mystery of an assassination plan against the Queen of England.

This sees things spiralling out of control, as Frank gets deeper into the case. It looks to capture the magic of Airplane! By having a character that is completely out of his depth. Leading to basic comical events unfolding throughout the film. Most of the comedy misses, with not many laughs but wanting to poke fun at the police movies. You can tell the style of comedy has dated badly and this is a worry going into the next part of the franchise.

Final Thoughts – The Naked Gun is a dated comedy, that just doesn’t get the laughs it wants.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – 80s Movies – F- Frantic (1988) Movie Review

Director: Roman Polanski

Writer: Roman Polanski, Gerard Brach (Screenplay)

Starring: Harrison Ford, Betty Buckley, Emmanuelle Seigner, Djiby Soumare, Dominique Virton, Gerard Klein

Plot: In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.


Tagline – They’ve taken his wife. Now he’s taking action.

Runtime: 2 Hours

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Slow Burning Thriller

Story: Frantic starts when Dr Richard Walker (Ford) and his wife Sondra (Buckley) arrive in Paris for a business trip, only while Richard was in the shower, Sondra disappears, which leads to Richard going in search on the streets of Paris for his wife.

As Richard tries to learn about the truth about what happened to Sondra, he meets a local woman Michelle (Seigner) whose suitcase the couple accidentally take back to the hotel, could she have the answer or is there something bigger going on in Paris.

Thoughts on Frantic

Characters – Dr Richard Walker believes he is in Paris for a conference and holiday with his wife, only for her to disappear and him needing to search the streets of Paris for answer to a mystery he never expected to be involved in. Sondra is the missing wife, we only really see how the two are tighter more than anything, before she goes missing. Michelle is the local woman whose suitcase gets mixed up, she helps Richard get to the bottom of everything, despite being involved in a much bigger criminal world.

Performances – Harrison Ford is mostly the only good thing about this movie, he does have the everyday man about him as he is struggle to learn the truth. Emmanuelle Seigner is strong, while the rest of the cast just doesn’t get enough time to do that much.

Story – The story here follows an American whose wife goes missing in Paris and must try and learn the truth before it is too late, only to find himself in the middle of a much bigger conspiracy going on. This is a story that doesn’t seem to really get going despite having an idea of what it wants to tell us, it shows us just how out a place a tourist could be when a family member goes missing and helpless they might well be when looking for help. We do seem to get plenty of ideas of where the story could go, only it ends up just going at a snails pace.

Crime/Mystery – The crime side of the film shows the world that Richard is thrown into and how he doesn’t know who to trust, which does help the mystery, only it doesn’t seem come to any level where it could be filled with peril.

Settings – Paris does make for a lovely backdrop for the film, though we don’t seem to hit enough of the iconic locations.


Scene of the Movie – Rooftop sneaking.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is just slow.

Final Thoughts – This is a slow thriller that just doesn’t get going despite having Harrison Ford in the leading role.

Overall: Just doesn’t get going.

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Movie Review

Die Hard (1988) Movie Review

Director: John McTiernan

Writer: Jeb Stuart, Steven E de Souza (Screenplay) Roderick Thorp (Novel)

Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman, Reginald VelJohnson, Paul Gleason, De’voreaux White, William Atherton, Alexander Godunov

Plot: An NYPD officer tries to save his wife and several others taken hostage by German terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.


Tagline – He’s the only chance anyone has got.

Runtime: 2 Hour 12 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Absolute Classic

Story: Die Hard starts when John McClane (Willis) heads to LA to spend Christmas with his wife Holly (Bedelia) during a work party at the Nakatomi Plaza, this is one last chance to hopeful rekindle their marriage.

The party takes a turn for the worst when Hans Gruber (Rickman) and his highly trained team crash the party, holding the guests hostage, only John gets away unseen, John hides in the building trying to lower the odds to save the guests including Holly from the terrorist that simply won’t stop.

Thoughts on Die Hard

Characters – John McClane is a New York police officer that is spending Christmas in LA with his wife, trying to save his marriage, he isn’t the guy that goes to business parties, but he gets his chance to shine when the terrorists take over the building, he shows his ability to evolve to the situation to stay ahead of the terrorists. Hans Gruber is the leader of the terrorists who have taken of Nakatomi Plaza, they are in control of the hostages, with their plan in motion, he sees McClane as a pain, rather than a problem expecting his men to be able to solve the situation, he always has a plan for the different situations he could be expecting. Holly is John’s wife who works in the building, she becomes the leader of the hostages not revealing her identity to the terrorists.

Performances – Bruce Willis is fantastic in the leading role, it was the role which made him a superstar as he gives us one of the most iconic figures in cinema history. Alan Rickman on his debut in film is truly brilliant too, bringing one of the most iconic villains in film history too. The rest of the cast do bring us characters we will remember through the film, which is something most action films struggle with.

Story – The story here follows a cop that finds himself needing to overcome the odds to rescue a large group of hostages from a group of terrorists. This story keeps everything simple with the terrorists having their plan, the cop having to think on his feet and the supporting characters given enough development to make us care about what is happening. This story is great to watch because of the fact it doesn’t make anything more complicated than it needs to be and become one that nearly everybody knows.

Action – The action is filled with shoot outs, explosions and fights, everything you would to see in this style of film.

Settings – The film keeps all the action in the tower, it keeps everything feeling contained which only adds to the hunt for McClane by the terrorists.


Scene of the Movie – Welcome to the party Pal.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nothing.

Final Thoughts – This is easily one of the greatest action films of all time, it brings us two of the biggest icons in film history and will leave forever in the memories of the audience.

Overall: Classic.