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Frank's Movie Log

My life at the movies.

  1. Halloween II 2009

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Rob Zombie. Starring Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, and Sheri Moon Zombie.

    Writer-director Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake functioned as more of a Michael Myers origin story, but hewed to the original film’s story beats. With this sequel, Zombie stakes new narrative ground. Minor spoilers follow. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    31 Mar 2022
  2. Halloween 2007

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Rob Zombie. Starring Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, and Brad Dourif.

    In an aging house with peeling pain and broken shutters, in the part of town where rusted cars on cinder blocks occupy driveways and chain ink fences replace white pickets, a monster has grown. Young Michael Myers, aged ten, has developed a taste for violence. Starting with rats, progressing to dogs, and today, Halloween, he will graduate to people. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    31 Mar 2022
  3. Merrily We Go to Hell 1932

    D: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Dorothy Arzner. Starring Sylvia Sidney, Fredric March, Adrianne Allen, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher, George Irving, and Esther Howard.

    Sylvia Sidney stars as an heiress who falls for an alcoholic newspaper reporter played by Fredric March. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    28 Mar 2022
  4. Leprechaun 5: In the Hood 2000

    C+: 3 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Rob Spera. Starring Warwick Davis, Ice-T, Anthony Montgomery, and Rashaan Nall.

    After the original, I opted to jump straight to the fifth entry in the franchise, comfortable I’d lose little context. I knew this entry took a critical bashing, which may have lowered my expectations, but I found it entertaining and packing a surprising bite. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    17 Mar 2022
  5. Leprechaun 1993

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Mark Jones. Starring Warwick Davis, Jennifer Aniston, Ken Olandt, and Mark Holton.

    Jennifer Aniston plays a Beverly Hills princess transplanted to North Dakota where she and a group of youths find themselves terrorized by a leprechaun bent on reclaiming his gold. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    17 Mar 2022
  6. Heat 1995

    A+: 5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Michael Mann. Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, and Jon Voight.

    I tilt forward in my seat. My heels rise. The balls of my feet press into the floor. My hands clench tight and I realize I’m holding my breath. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    12 Mar 2022
  7. Halloween Kills 2021

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by David Gordon Green. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and James Jude Courtney.

    After resuscitating the franchise by embracing the past while pushing the narrative forward, writer-director David Gordon Green’s sequel stalls out. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    03 Mar 2022
  8. Halloween 2018

    B+: 4 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by David Gordon Green. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and James Jude Courtney.

    Here’s a rare feat. A sequel that resurrects a franchise without a reboot. The trick? They tossed out everything but the original film. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    03 Mar 2022
  9. The Jezebels 1975

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Jack Hill. Starring Robbie Lee, Joanne Nail, Monica Gayle, and Asher Brauner.

    Jack Hill’s penultimate directorial effort gets a lot of love from Quentin Tarantino, who re-released it on his Rolling Thunder Pictures label, and Sam Ashurst raved about it on the Arrow podcast, but Switchblade Sisters underwhelmed me. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    21 Feb 2022
  10. Rawhead Rex 1986

    D: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by George Pavlou. Starring David Dukes, Kelly Piper, Hugh O'Conor, and Cora Venus Lunny.

    I can say this about Rawhead Rex: the plot wastes little time getting started. Slight spoilers follow. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    20 Feb 2022

Pagination

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