#thedwreview

I'm not a fan of sequels, as previous reviews on this page will show.  However every so often a film comes along that you know you have to see at least once, regardless of the title, subtitle or numerical figure in the name. What becomes evident in 'H3: SOTW' is that producer John Carpenter envisioned a Halloween franchise without usual focal character Michael Myers - a welcome departure in collective storytelling.  However despite making a profit at the box office, with some help from the obvious low budget, it apparently drew less than the first two saga instalments.  Maybe cinema-goers were intrigued but not intrigued enough by the premise of only one very brief citing of the masked man coming from a fourth wall-breaking telly ad of the original film actually shown within the fictional context. But to summarise, we get a hero in the form of a Magnum PI lookalike with the rounded backstory of popular medic, not-so-good family man landed with a poor sap brought in to the

Following accusations of numerous war crimes in Bosnia, recently demoted Sgt Barry Craig (Tam Toye) is assigned by Military Intelligence to go undercover as a bodyguard for Glasgow crime boss John Masterson.  His task is to infiltrate the underworld syndicate, destroying the group from within, and is incentivised to hone in on their drug ring with having his rank reinstated if successful.  He works his way up to head of security in the wake of the deaths of some of Masterson's heavies, although ultimately proves to be so good at his job that his colleagues become suspicious of him. Along the way he bonds with Masterson's receptionist (Nichola Hosie), who appears to be more than just a pretty face and a potential love interest for our hero.  This leads to Craig himself realising his game is up and is on borrowed time to both take the gang down and escape unscathed.  Whether he can do it alone or with help from a young crop of soldiers, alleged to be a par below the SAS, is enoug

In my last blog post I provided commentary on the 1958 Hammer version of Dracula aka Horror Of Dracula, which along with the previous year's The Curse Of Frankenstein kicked off a new era for horror fans nationally and internationally.  These films were so well-received that the astute economists producing them decided "Hey, we've got a cash cow here. Let's make some more!" So today I'll provide an overview of the sequels to yesterday's subject, just to give you a flavour of what followed.  Subjectively as a fan I really enjoyed this series but objectively speaking, there's no way in pretending that the quality, at best, varied throughout. (NB: for Hammer aficionados, I will not be commenting on The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974) - often touted as part of this vampire series - purely because I've still yet to see it!) THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) To kick off, we see the legendary Peter Cushing as Val Helsing make his sole appearance whe

Today's assessment looks at a standout in the economically-generous vampire field.  Filmed and produced in the UK, it made a killing internationally (see what I did there?) despite being renamed 'Horror of Dracula' in the US, thus to avoid confusion with the earlier Bela Lugosi standard. Following the success of 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) the prior year, another horror remake was planned by Hammer studios allowing cinema-goers to see their favourite monsters in colour for the first time.  Previously the strong majority of Universal horrors were filmed in black and white, whilst it was certain that the best-known vampire features up to now didn't to any further than a tinted shade; specifically the silent 'Nosferatu' (1922). This interpretation of the fangtastic classic sees Jonathan Harker arrive at Dracula's castle to begin his work as a librarian.  After meeting the Count's acquaintance, it dawns on him he is now a prisoner and gets cau

'Glen or Glenda?' was the first 'major' film project of the renowned Edward Wood Jr, immortalised in Tim Burton's 'Ed Wood' (1994) and whose infamous 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (1959) was reviewed by myself here: https://the-dw-review.blogspot.com/2020/11/film-review-plan-9-from-outer-space-1959.html The story takes a half-drama, half-documentary format where the focal character is Glen, who is struggling with making a confession to his fiancee (Dolores Fuller - Wood's real-life girlfriend) about his interest in cross-dressing.   In this case, Glen happens to be played by the director/writer/editor/you name it under the pseudonym "Daniel Davis" - possibly distancing himself from how many finger prints he had all over this picture. Over halfway through the film, a second plot develops involving a sex change operation which, in a sign of the times, makes national newspaper headlines.  In a curious note this is where the film becomes mor

In an era where faces on the silver screen was really the only way to see them, 'Viva Las Vegas' combined a must-see spectacle in terms of its stylistic package.  All the boxes are ticked for a contemporary rom-com filled with music, dancing and colourful cinematography.  The two headlining stars would've easily filled theatres based on their looks alone - let's be frank.  However the story itself was neither original or memorable. The 'King of rock n roll' plays a car mechanic who likes to race cars and pursue the local swimming instructor, whom he happens to meet when she takes her car to his garage ("...the engine whistles").  As he proceeds to charm her his colleague and friend fancies his chances too, as cinema's most gentlemanly antagonist. The standard Elvis Presley film by 1964 had gained a familiar structure:  boy has life, in comes girl, flirtation is teased, it appears to be on, girl has tiff with boy, boy works to get her back, girl