Actuarial Science Movie Reviews

Worse movie ever. I wish I could think of any redeeming qualities but I can't.
There was only one sympathetic character and his whiney attitude soon made me want to punch him in the face. I ended up punching myself in the face for even renting it.
All of the other characters were so very unlikeable that I couldn't care less what happened to them.
The actual 'surge' power source was cartoonish.
I recommend passing this one by. I wish I would have.

they had an awesome concept but they did not work it to their full potential. It would have been a lot better if they had all rebelled or been good together. the best scenes were when they were using their powers at school. The special effects were very realistic. It was entertaining

this movie is pretty cool. i liked the story. only problem is it ripped off the craft.

Where to start.... I give this film credit for the fact that it is a tiny budget independent film and therefore should be viewed as one. As a film maker myself being a small film does not excuse bad cinematography, scripting, sound design, direction and production. The performances are quite strong particularly bjork's and lets face it nobody would watch this film had she not appeared in it. The thing that made this messy film even worse was the special features on the dvd! Sometimes they are better left off the disk, trust me. The interview with the writer/director is cringe worthy at the very least and the so called deleted scenes, well who cares! Seriously there is a shot of a bird with the directors voice over saying "It was a bird from a zoo". Big deal, it's just sitting in a tree that shot was achievable anywhere at any time. When questioned as to what this film is about this director has no idea about her own subject matter, it just sounds like she wanted to go to iceland. As far as researching this project for almost a full year, well it sounds like a pretensious university lecturer living off grants. Unfortunately this woman is what keeps independent film makers down and had that money been given to someone competant a great film could have been made. basically this is a shocker but the actors are great.

...Now, I've the utmost respect for Bjork's music and acting skills. Granted, she is decent enough in this. But this film would never have been released in the USA if she wasn't in it. ...

Bjork, Iceland's eccentric and eclectic artist, singer and actress stars in "THE JUNIPER TREE."

Shot in black and white on bleak locations in Iceland, the story is an old folk tale adapted from the Brothers Grimm archives. And grim it is. Bjork is Margit. When her mother is burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft, she and her older sister Katla flee across Iceland's rugged terrain until they reach the remote farmhouse owned by handsome widower Johann. Katla casts a seductive spell on Johann and bewitches him. Soon they are wed, much to the dismay of Johann's suspicious young son Jonas who sees clearly what has happened to his dad. Things get increasingly tense and Margit is forced into the spiritual world to save Jonas from Katla's supernatural wrath.

This dark, brooding mystical tale is nicely visualized and Bjork is a natural actress. And yes, she sings. Extras include an interview with director Nietzchka Keene, deleted scenes and publicity photos.

This otherwise excellent Kurt Neuman movie, fully restored, and one of the only ones to have real movie footage from a climbing rocket, is useless to anyone with a hearing impairment.

Wade Williams Collections, Corinth Films and Image Entertainment have produced this movie and another like it, (Destination Moon) which I purchased, and neither of them are captioned.

Having recently lost my hearing, I depend on Closed Captioning for nearly everything on TV or video. Therefore, these old classics which I wanted for my own are worthless in their present condition.

I bought this without ever viewing it previously.
First we must realize the time period it was produced in and that it is after all science fiction. Yes it was hokey, but if we
are a true follower of this classic genre we will want to see this one and the price is right. This 75 minute venture into the
unexplored with Loyd Bridges and Hugh O'brien is worth the trip.

I want to thank Image for a wonderful transfer. The sound and picture quality is wonderful on this DVD. The story has been told here so no need to go over it again. Very enjoyable story of the first rocket into space. I would add that the "pinkish" color used to "colorize" Mars looks very good, much better than the "cinemagic" used in the later movie, Angry Red Planet.

OK, so it's NOT "Lord of the Rings". The acting is good, the people interesting, the naked bodies good to look upon, and everybody involved in the film seems to be having fun. I got exactly what I expected: a decent story, decently acted, and some utterly gorgeous undraped female eye candy, all of whom actually did some acting.

This one was a good hearted parody of the "X-files", and it's going into my permanent collection so when I'm in the mood for some good, well-filmed eye candy, it will be there.

Alien Files is fast and sexy. All the sex scenes are great, and unlike Surrender and Seduction cinema releases, the music doesn't drown out the love scenes. Cool cheesy plot, too. The redhead, Ravenelle Richardson, is hot!

Alien Files is a very, very sexy little flick. In the tradition of Lifeforce, Breeders, and Species it's basically got lots of nude women who sexually attack men. There's lots of sex in it, and for once, none of it is drowned out by the annoying background music. Most of the women in this one are really hot. The main exceptions are Kira Reed (she's okay-looking, but hardly supersexy, and she does get in a hot scene set in a kitchen) and Kim Yates. The best are Blake Pickett, Lauren Hays, and the single best scene must be when Delphine Pacific pleasures herself on a bed! Alien Files is one of the best softcore flicks I've ever seen and it's got about as much nudity as all those aforementioned movies combined!

While i have to define this movie as cheesy, i mean it in the nicest way. This film was about as low budget a shoot as ive seen and yet it is well acted enough to make it a pretty good watch. As Planet X approaches the Earth a space ship arrives with a strange visitor. Due to abuse at the hands of a rather crazy scientist we never know if the stranger would have been friendly given nicer treatment. After escaping his tormenter the alien begins preperations to help his race take over earth. Not a classic but a fun movie to enjoy.

Under the guise of a low-budget science-fiction movie, 'The Man From Planet X' (why 'Man'?) is a subversive work featuring typically atmospheric Ulmer visuals. Its starting point seems simple enough: coming from a mysterious planet which is rushing towards Earth, a spaceship ends up in Scotland; various stock characters - professor Elliott and Dr. Mears, scientists with contrasting personalities; prof. Elliott's daughter Enid; Lawrence, a dashing reporter; and, later, a group of anonymous officers and inspectors - try to learn more about the spaceship and its strange-looking pilot. At first sight, the villain (Mears) and the heroes (both Elliots, Lawrence, the officers and inspectors) seem clearly identified, but there's more than meets the eye. The spaceship's pilot, by far the film's most important character, is neither an outright hero nor an enemy; his motivations are never revealed, and the way humans react around him tells a lot about them. If the creature eventually becomes hostile, it's because Mears resorted to violence in order to obtain secrets he planned to use for his sole profit; but this, in turn, is caused by prof. Elliot and Lawrence, who let Mears alone with the creature. Furthermore, fears of a possible invasion are based on assumptions which are never verified, because late in the film both 'enemies' (Mears and the now hostile creature) die and planet X doesn't crush the Earth. The irresponsible choices made by the 'heroes' thus prevent the initial contact with non-humans from bringing interesting information to both races, and what appears to be a semi-happy ending is only, at best, a return to status quo.

I don't have time to write a lenghty treatise here, but this film was successful in scaring the living daylights out of me when I saw it in the theater as a six year old. I have to give it 5 stars because of the impact it had on me. Looking at it now as an adult, it seems almost comical. But it was effective then. Also, this is one of the first films (if not the first) with the theme of alien invasion. Important film in my life. It definitely is worth a look. This is a classic film of the sci-fi genre. Watch it and enjoy.

I found an old memo I wrote which was to remind me that "Seascape" was music in "The Lost Continent" and my note tells me it was possibly performed by the Michelle Le Grand Orchestra.
Can anyone help me to find this music?

I have the video version of this film. The dialogue is suprisingly well written for a low budget movie, though attitudes toward women are old fashioned. Does anyone know if the scene with Sid Melton, after he is attacked by the triceratops, is in the DVD version? It was stupidly dropped from my video version which is in otherwise excellent shape. I don't want to purchase the DVD version if that scene is still missing.

Not the greatest Sid Melton science fiction movie (that would be The Atomic Submarine), Lost Continent is still lots of cheesy fun, one of those "cross-genre" flicks that should appeal to pretty much any B-movie fan. You get SF, war movie, and jungle adventure cliches neatly combined with some of the most pitiful stop-motion dinosaurs ever. The quintessential B-cast includes Cesar Romero (TV's Joker, Week-end in Havana, Captain from Castile), John Hoyt (When Worlds Collide, Attack of the Puppet People), Whit Bissell (Teenage Werewolf & Frankenstein, Time Tunnel), Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver, Michael Shayne), Chick Chandler (Music Man, Blondie), and Sid Melton (Make Room for Daddy, Green Acres), with Acquanetta (Captive Wild Woman, Tarzan & the Leopard Woman) and second-billed Hillary Brooke (Ministry of Fear, Invaders from Mars) in cameos. To the movie's credit, the plot moves at a brisk pace (except during the seemingly interminable 'climbing scenes'), Romero and Chandler execute some great flyboy banter, and the earthquake stock footage from One Million B.C. is actually pretty well integrated into the movie, particularly during the surprisingly exciting (if rather implausible) climax. The script by Richard Landau (Girl in Black Stockings, TV's Wild Wild West) and direction by veteran PRC schlockmeister Sam Newfield (Nabonga, White Pongo, Flying Serpent) are also slightly above-average for this type of thing. Unfortunately, when we eventually encounter the extremely lame stop-motion brontosaurus, pterodactyl, and triceratops (and one live lizard for laughs), any semblance of credibility generated up to that point is completely destroyed, leaving the movie dangling on the edge of "so-bad-it's-good" rather than "really-not-half-bad". Still a great Saturday-afternoon time-waster for the low-budget cinema set. Serious stop-motion fans beware.
Image upgrades their typical DVD package a bit with this release (perhaps feeling the heat from Anchor Bay?). The disc comes in the superior 'keep case' box and the main menu is animated (not that I really care that much). Twelve chapter stops, five trailers in an Easter egg, and a very good-to-excellent if rather scratchy LC trailer are the usual extras, plus you get informative Tom Weaver liner notes, and an isolated music and effects track so you can listen to Paul Dunlap's rousing score minus the wisecracks. Source print quality is generally excellent with terrific grayscale, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and detail. There is some light speckling and blemishing (some sporadic horizontal 'banding' toward the beginning of the movie), but otherwise there is no major damage. The plateau scenes are tinted green as in the original release. While I commend Image for presenting the movie in its original format, these scenes are not as easy on the eyes as the crisp B&W of the rest of the movie. The only sour note in the whole shebang is the extremely hyperbolic commentary ("beautifully crafted," "excellent production values") by Wade Williams on the box. Pity the fool who purchases based on his glowing review. Overall a step up from Image's usual offerings and as close to a definitive release as this film is likely to see. Three stars for the movie, 4 or 5 for the DVD. Cheese-lovers, go for it.

The term 'campy' was probably intended to describe cheesy monster movies of the 50s like THE GIANT GILA MONSTER. Horror films preceding this decade and following it have tried to scare audiences in a serious way, usually with middling success. In the 50s however, the possibility of a nuclear holocaust convinced more than a few directors that a new and untrod direction in cinematic fear was needed. This direction was to dump some truly ridiculous monsters on the screen, usually with dancing rock and rollers, and go for the cheap laughs. Such a direction was undoubtedly facilitated by an equally cheap budget that did not allow for convincing special effects or a talented cast or gifted script writers. Director Ray Kellog is typical of his contemporaries in that he presents a menace to mankind in which the monster's lethality is confined to a limited target population, either country bumpkin types or jitterbugging teens. The 'monster' was either a giant reptile, as the Gila monster in this movie, or smaller and recognizable variants of known animals like the predatory shrews of THE KILLER SHREWS (also directed by Kellogg). It is difficult to assume that Kellogg really believed that a sequence of shots with a lizard slithering around and through some toy mockups would scare anyone over the age of ten. Far more likely is the belief that he wanted to use the non-existent fear factor as a blanket by which he could raise some threads and peek at an assortment of 50s style themes and fads. It cannot be a coincidence that the scourge of rock and roll, which was thought by the stiff collar crowd to be the undermining of our youth, was loudly trumpted in nearly every third scene. Don Sullivan, who plays the ukelele plunking hero, sings some truly awful songs that are meant to be a jibe at rock and roll but emerge more as an abortive aspirant to star in Hee Haw. TGGM contains the usual range of cinematic cliches from the hayseed but earnest sheriff to the goofy teens (played by actors at least ten years olders than their parts) to a monster that leaves the audience truly gasping at its inept level of non-lethality. As often was the case in this genre only the youthful protagonist could figure how to to slay the dragon. The ending reminded me of that which often closed television juvenile shows of the era--the remaining cast gathered in a circle to hold hands and laugh, possibly to reassure us that the dragon has been banished, but more likely to indicate that they could hardly believe that anyone would pay the price of a ticket to see this one.

My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

I first discovered the film, "The Giant Gila Monster" while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. While the commentary given by the characters on the show really made this film funny, watching the film by itself also lent some humor.

The story centers around a small town that is ravaged by a giant gila monster that emerged from the desert. While the gila monster wreaks havoc on the town and the town's people, the audience is also treated to the singing of Don Sullivan, who plays the lead. While it was funny at first, by the end of the movie you'll want to scream if you have to hear the song, "Laugh Children Laugh" one more time!

All in all, I did like this movie. It's interesting to see the archaic special effects that were probably cutting edge back in 1959 and compare them to the out-of-this-world effects used now. For those of you who love those old, drive-in movies that are purely for entertainment this is the one for you!

The term 'campy' was probably intended to describe cheesy monster movies of the 50s like THE GIANT GILA MONSTER. Horror films preceding this decade and following it have tried to scare audiences in a serious way, usually with middling success. In the 50s however, the possibility of a nuclear holocaust convinced more than a few directors that a new and untrod direction in cinematic fear was needed. This direction was to dump some truly ridiculous monsters on the screen, usually with dancing rock and rollers, and go for the cheap laughs. Such a direction was undoubtedly facilitated by an equally cheap budget that did not allow for convincing special effects or a talented cast or gifted script writers. Director Ray Kellog is typical of his contemporaries in that he presents a menace to mankind in which the monster's lethality is confined to a limited target population, either country bumpkin types or jitterbugging teens. The 'monster' was either a giant reptile, as the Gila monster in this movie, or smaller and recognizable variants of known animals like the predatory shrews of THE KILLER SHREWS (also directed by Kellogg). It is difficult to assume that Kellogg really believed that a sequence of shots with a lizard slithering around and through some toy mockups would scare anyone over the age of ten. Far more likely is the belief that he wanted to use the non-existent fear factor as a blanket by which he could raise some threads and peek at an assortment of 50s style themes and fads. It cannot be a coincidence that the scourge of rock and roll, which was thought by the stiff collar crowd to be the undermining of our youth, was loudly trumpted in nearly every third scene. Don Sullivan, who plays the ukelele plunking hero, sings some truly awful songs that are meant to be a jibe at rock and roll but emerge more as an abortive aspirant to star in Hee Haw. TGGM contains the usual range of cinematic cliches from the hayseed but earnest sheriff to the goofy teens (played by actors at least ten years olders than their parts) to a monster that leaves the audience truly gasping at its inept level of non-lethality. As often was the case in this genre only the youthful protagonist could figure how to to slay the dragon. The ending reminded me of that which often closed television juvenile shows of the era--the remaining cast gathered in a circle to hold hands and laugh, possibly to reassure us that the dragon has been banished, but more likely to indicate that they could hardly believe that anyone would pay the price of a ticket to see this one.

My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

I first discovered the film, "The Giant Gila Monster" while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. While the commentary given by the characters on the show really made this film funny, watching the film by itself also lent some humor.

The story centers around a small town that is ravaged by a giant gila monster that emerged from the desert. While the gila monster wreaks havoc on the town and the town's people, the audience is also treated to the singing of Don Sullivan, who plays the lead. While it was funny at first, by the end of the movie you'll want to scream if you have to hear the song, "Laugh Children Laugh" one more time!

All in all, I did like this movie. It's interesting to see the archaic special effects that were probably cutting edge back in 1959 and compare them to the out-of-this-world effects used now. For those of you who love those old, drive-in movies that are purely for entertainment this is the one for you!

As somebody born in the late 80s, I never had a chance to watch these movies when they came out. Now in my mid teens, I recently discovered these movies, and this DVD set is a great introduction that has already gotten my hooked, causing me to rent many other 80s 'classics'.

The image quality is very good, although all three movies lack any extras other than theatrical trailers. I would have enjoyed seeing a "Making Of" feature, or commentary from the stars of these films.

While all three movies are enjoyable, I think that Pretty in Pink would have been a better fit with The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles than Weird Science is. That movie is a different style and genre that just doesn't seem to fit perfectly with the others.

Overall, I'd recommend this set. If you already own the VHS, don't waste your money due to the lack of features, but if you don't, this is a convenient way to get all three movies at a good price.

I just wanted to explain that the reason it is Breakfast Club, Wierd Science, and 16 candles - is because they are all UNIVERSAL films. The one question I have though is... Why isn't the new H.S. Reunion edition of "Three O'clock High" included? I just find that strange.

Definitely the ultimate buy for bratpack lovers such as myself. But I would have axed Weird Science and included St. Elmo's Fire or even Oxford Blues. I have nothing against W.S. and I really enjoyed the movie but other than Anthony-Michael Hall there were no brat pack members in it and it seems out of place in the collection, but hey...it's all in fun. I'd recommend this set to anyone who needs a boost from the droll movies of 2003 and would love to go back to when movies were fun and young actors...could REALLY act.

The 1978 film "Laserblast" constitutes one of the earliest efforts of writer/producer/director Charles Band. If you are the least bit familiar with this guy's work, you know he is the one chiefly responsible for Full Moon pictures. This production company churned out some of the worst pieces of cinematic garbage in the history of Hollywood. Band is the one to blame, either directly or indirectly, for the "Puppet Master" franchise, "Rawhead Rex," the "Subspecies" pictures, and maybe the explosion of the Hindenburg and the sinking of the Titanic. If a movie truly reeks, Band probably had a hand in its development somewhere along the line. Of course, bad movies are often fun in terms of their utter badness, and I think that's where "Laserblast" comes in. Here's a movie that tried to cash in on the success of "Star Wars" and instead scarred thousands, perhaps millions, of America's youth for the rest of their lives. You really need to see "Laserblast" to believe that a horror like this exists, but at the same time you will find a few things to enjoy during the trip.

This is one of the most incomprehensible films I have seen recently. The plot, as far as I can discern, involves some sort of ray gun and weird necklace that turns human beings into shambling, green faced alien killers with sharp teeth. As the movie opens, one of these mutated human beings stumbling through the desert dies after shooting it out with a couple of extraterrestrials in a space ship. These aliens are huge, clay animation dinosaurs who speak in a weird, squeaky language that the makers of the film never see fit to translate for the viewer. Before these creatures can retrieve the gun and necklace, a plane flies overhead and scares them off. This opening sequence is amazingly lame and sets the tone for the majority of the movie.

Enter Billy, a local loner with a heap of problems: his mother just left for Mexico, his girlfriend always wants him to do things like go to annoying pool parties, the local cops have it in for him, and two car loving nerds cannot stand him. Billy heads out to the desert to get away from it all and promptly discovers the discarded alien weaponry. After figuring out how to shoot the gun, Billy takes it home with him and starts to stand up to his enemies. He uses the laser cannon to blow up cars, buildings, and people, but he doesn't realize until it is too late that this technology changes him in fundamental ways. The first sign of trouble is the hard, shiny lump forming in his chest where the necklace touches his skin. Soon, Billy cannot defy his transformation and the whole town pays a heavy price for ignoring this young man. Subplots include the aliens flying back to earth to deal with Billy and a mysterious guy who makes cryptic comments about what is going on in town. "Laserblast" is an absolute mess of a film that raises far more questions than answers: who are these aliens and what are they saying? How did these weapons get to earth? Who is the man in the black car and why does everyone defer to him? How could an ending such as the one in "Laserblast" ever see the light of day? What in the world is Roddy McDowall doing in this film? Ultimately, no answers exist for any of these questions.

The movie is not a total loss, however. I will go out on a limb here and mention a few things I think make "Laserblast" a must see film. Fans of 1980's cinema will appreciate the fact that this film marks the screen debut of Eddie Deezen, seen here in the role of Froggy. This actor quickly locked up all of the "geek" roles in a number of subsequent films, such as "Midnight Madness" and "War Games," just to name a few. His performance here closely resembles what he did in all of his other roles: play an annoying nerd who frays the nerves of those around him. Deezen always played his characters so over the top that it was a joy to watch him, and he does it here for the first time. Watch Deezen's reaction to his friend's car blowing up and tell me it isn't hilarious. I laughed so hard I cried over this scene alone.

Another significant element of "Laserblast" worth mentioning is the explosions. I call what I saw here the Star Chamber effect, named after the 1983 film starring Michael Douglas and Hal Holbrook. In that movie, the director used three or four cameras to capture an explosion at a drug lab and then spliced the footage together in order to show the effect from different angles in rapid succession. You have seen this effect in films before, but the people behind "Laserblast" elevate the technique to unheard of levels. And what explosions! Cars and buildings blow up with the force of atomic bombs, and they often explode multiple times in close up slow motion as well. You could say that this movie consists of nothing more than numerous fiery explosions stitched together between scenes of hammy acting, lousy dialogue, glacial pacing, and cheap set pieces.

The DVD does a good job of providing plenty of extras. Cast bios, Full Moon merchandise, and lots of trailers adorn this disc. The trailers especially provide several minutes of laughs because they are from movies like "Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity," "The Creepozoids," and "Assault of the Killer Bimbos." Yep, "Laserblast" is low budget junk, but it, and the DVD it comes on, do provide several reasons to watch the film.

I remember this movie when it came out. It was horrible then and still is today. The special effect were cheesy and the acting horrible. It is a great example of a awful movie that is so bad that it is good. For ten bucks go buy it.

I pretty much agree with ALL the reviewers here. This is a bad cheesy movie which I enjoyed for some strange reason. It's hard to describe, but this movie makes cheesy film-making an art form. It probably is for nostalgics only, but who knows. I saw it once when I was very young and it stuck in my mind until I accidentally stumbled across it on amazon.com 24 years later. As soon as I saw it listed here, I just HAD to get it, and I wasn't disappointed. It is what it is, and I like it for that.