Hits From the Bargain Bin!

Last night watched the classic Leviathan from 1989. A sci-fi/horror classic with an ensemble cast. Peter Weller! Richard Crenna! Ernie Hudson! Daniel Stern! Basically, it's Alien underwater. It's pretty neat, though. SFX by the legendary Stan Winston. And Weller delivers one of the best one-liners EVER as he delivers the coup-de-grace to the film's aquatic monster. Check it out! Should you find it in a bargain bin, give it a happy home.

Same goes for Bad Moon, a little-known werewolf movie from 1996. Just three years prior, the little kid that was in this played the title character in Dennis the Menace. Want to see that youngster go toe-to-toe with his werewolf uncle in this Michael Pare CLASSIC? I thought you did. The whole thing is on YouTube. You're welcome, friends. You're all welcome.

In case you haven't noticed already, there's no Robin Williams retrospective here. His passing is sad and tragic, but others have paid him tribute a hell of a lot better than I ever could. Fellow movie buff Robert McCune among them. So I would rather take a pass and kind of leave readers and fellow movie fans hanging than go for it and insult the memory of the comedy icon. That's my thought.

On a lighter note, the new season of Doctor Who. Are people aware that the guy that's slated to direct the first new episode has done some really gritty horror flicks? Kill List is one of them. I saw it a few years back and it's decent, but not as great as the trailer implies it to be. I did let a co-worker and even bigger fan of The Doctor borrow it, though, and he was pretty shaken. So that's director Ben Wheatley for you, people.

Finally, I might start watching movies that feature a dystopian future or brutal dictatorships, after being moved by what I've seen from news in Ferguson. Protestors getting tear-gassed. Journalists deliberately targeted for arrest. Do you guys realize we're just small steps away from the Landmaster vehicles from Damnation Alley (around the same shape, just smaller and less wheels)?

It's a sad world we're living in at the moment.

Don't get me started on horror anthologies.

That's a very extensive post for another time. I LOVE horror anthologies. But I tell you what: go find a copy of Tales From the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, released on 20th Century Fox's Midnite Movies line as a double feature. It's a couple of bucks at your used movie store or online. Watch it. Then report back here at a later time.

Anyhow, right now I'm watching the 80's remake of The Blob. Great stuff. Over the top visual effects make this one a plus. Go on and watch it, and see if you're brave enough to go into a phone booth or unclog the drain on your kitchen sink ever again.

And speaking of disasters, hundreds of thousands of people in nearby Toledo don't have access to water. Something to do with toxins in the good old H2O. It's a huge mess. In typical movie buff fashion, I now have movies about lost amenities and the resulting civil unrest that takes place in my mind. Namely, 1996's The Trigger Effect. It's about what takes place after a massive blackout in Los Angeles. Like The Blob, it's a little over the top at some points. But I enjoy watching it. I greatly enjoy the part where the characters prepare themselves for a long trip to get to a relative's house, where they can find safety.

Do I still have this movie? If I still did, I'd have to look for it. It's one of the perils of being a massive movie buff with an extensive collection.

Also, if I was affected by a real-life disaster with no power or water, I think I would either excel and become King of the Wasteland or fail miserably and just be a skeleton.

You be the judge.