Digital Hierarchy Movie Reviews

Actually thats an unfair thing to say. It isn't Gatchaman, although in many ways it seems like its a progression from it. The story revolves around a former 'Super' team, the 'Goshogun, they were the all round good guys, champions of justice etc. Cat stuck in a tree? never fear. GOSHOGUN is here. Well I imagine thats probably what they were like. The Goshogun are no more, they're all trying to lead their own seperate lives but they are once again draw together when one of their number is injured in a car crash. From deep in her comatose state the main character 'Remy Shimada' desperately battles at a subconcious level, in a dark and forboding town. Should she and her team fail, then she might never wake.

So thats the overview, in many ways its a lot better than it sounds, its not at all cute, the fighting and weapons especially are quite realistic and brutal in style. For the majority of the film you're left in a half confused limbo, bits make sense here and there but not all of it.

Definately one to rent or to see, it wouldn't be my first choice as a purchase but good if you're fed up with all singing all dancing....

But, then again, it is a Karaoke DVD.

If you want clear music to sing along to, then this one has music pretty close to the originals. And what a fantastic bunch of songs too.

If you want top-flight production values as far as the visuals go, then steer clear.

Good fun.

Actors were good but the DVD has the worst quality I've ever seen. My advice is don't buy it because of the bad quality of the DVD ( a lot of noise on the soundtrack, and the quality of the original that was used to do the mastering is awfull). Some words about the actors, they're good in them performance, but all the thing are messed by the bad quality of the DVD.

In this direct sequal to the original GALL FORCE trilogy, the story has fast forwarded to the year 2085. The remains of the Solnoid probe sent thousands of years ago has been found and used to create a new type of cybernetic robot. But the machines have now taken over and nuked most of the human population. Aside from a colony on Mars, most of the people on earth have dies. Only handfuls of survivors fight to stay alive. The two warring factions of humans who originally created the robots unite in a joint effort to send thousands of refugees to the Martian colony. Leading them is Sarah McDougal whose father originally found the alien artifact with the lost technology. They succeed in their mission, but this is merely the prelude for their final fight with the robot army in the next series: GALL FORCE-EARTH CHAPTER. All of the characters from the original GALL FORCE movies are reincarnated witn new names. The animation is pretty good, but the best feature is Keichi(GUNSMITH CATS)Sodana's character designs. Although this was basicly a straight transfer of the RHEA GALL FORCE video on to DVD with no dubbed track or subtitle-free function, this is still a must for the average GALL FORCE fanatic.

Anyone who has played Dragon's Lair or Space Ace will already be accustomed to Time Traveler, the game that debuted as the first holographic game to hit arcades. The game play consists of random "acts", grouped together according to time periods, that the main character, Marshall Graham, must transverse in order to save the universe. The plot is really nonsensical, involving cowboys, ninjas and (!) baseball players. But anyone who enjoyed the arcade game will find in this a faithful reproduction, down to the pretty lady who is ohhh so happy to sell you her reversal cubes. Not for all tastes, but a must-own for Video Game Buffs.

Tunnels was also released on video as Criminal Act. The picture is crisp, but the audio is fair with most of the dialog coming from one channel and music from the other. The plot is basically the story of two female reporters trying to blow the lid off of an underground slave labor trade. There is very little action in this movie, but does occasionally inject some humor. This was apparently made for TV. The highlight for me was getting to see some of my favorite veteran TV actors from the 70's and 80's. The movie has a decent plot, which moves kind of slow, but should not be classified under the horror genre. Only see this if you are feeling nostalgic and can't handle too much excitement. It's a decent way to waste some time on a Saturday afternoon.

"Utopia" was originally released in 1952 as "Atoll K" and later as "Robinson Crusoeland," and finds an aging Laurel & Hardy have inherited a yacht and an island. The boys set off to see along with a refugee as their cook and a stowaway. The yacht sinks in a storm, but a newly created atoll (hence the original title) emerges from the sea to give them a place to live. They are then joined on their new little paradise by Suzy Delair, who is running away from a jealous fiancee. Together they all create their own private little utopia, where everything is just perfect until uranium is discovered and all of the nations of the world begin to battle over ownership of the atoll. Just as the boys are about to be lynched, the atoll sinks back beneath the seas. Rescued by a passing ship, Laurel & Hardy make it to their own little island, only to discover the taxes are too burdensome and they must give up their dreams of paradise.

Whatever its title, this final film from Laurel & Hardy certainly provides mixed feelings. The political satire angle is ambitious, but scarcely appropriate for comedians who rely so much on visual humor (compare with the Marx Brother's classic "Duck Soup"), although the sequence where Hardy distributes key political posts to every but Laurel (he gets to be "The People" is good. But most of the sight gags are not typical Laurel & Hardy routines and several people have claimed the best gags were cut from the film. The film also suffered because co-director John Berry was being investigated for being a Communist, which meant no major distributor would touch it. There is also the shock of the appearance of Stan Laurel, who had been ill before the production and looks like he is at death's door. "Utopia" is a sad farewell to the screen's greatest comic team.

This is certainly not the best Wind in the Willows movie/TV adaptation, but it is entertaining and kids love it. It is MUCH better than the Disney version, who really made a mess of this title.

I found this to be of decent dramatic value, but it was not what I had expected. I don't know why it is R rated because there is absolutely nothing offensive, or obsene in the 1:20 film.

"Don't Go In The House" is one of those classic drive-in clunkers from the 1970s and early 1980s fondly remembered by fans of low budget horror/exploitation films. Why anyone would hide in the trunk of car in order to spend nearly two hours watching this cinematic drudge is beyond me. At the same time, watching in the privacy of my own home on DVD was a good experience, so maybe there is a reason or two for risking the inhalation of exhaust fumes in order to watch this horror movie. Apparently, filmmaker Quentin Tarentino had plenty of good things to say about this film, so that may provide another reason for movie buffs to rent or buy this 1980 Psycho rip off. "Don't Go In The House" continued the tradition established by other "Don't..." films, such as "Don't Look In The Basement" and the like. This movie stars people you have never heard of, and its directed, produced, and written by a few other people you've never heard of or from again. Sure, star Dan Grimaldi turned up on "The Sopranos" and in a bit part in the film "Crooklyn," but the people who associated themselves with this film are not pulling down big buck salaries in Hollywood these days.

Dan Grimaldi stars as Donald "Donny" Kohler, a momma's boy who works at some sort of a heavy industrial plant when he isn't home tending to his mother's needs. We learn immediately that something isn't quite right with Donny when a guy at the plant catches on fire and Don does nothing to help him. Understandably, this odd behavior aggravates most of the other workers at the plant with the exception of Bobby, a rather friendly bloke who cheats on his wife and who calls Donny on the phone at weird times. These tentative maneuvers to establish camaraderie between the two never find an explanation in the film. In fact, the script gives us little clue as to what is going on in Donny's mind (at least initially). We do know that Mom was some sort of religious despot who burned Donny's arms when he was a child for some supposed transgression. But now Mom is dead, found moldering in a chair up in her room when Donny comes home from work. Whatever will Donald do now that his freedom from domineering old Mum is over? The first thing he does is smoke in the house and crank up the old stereo! Donald knows how to live, but very quickly after discovering Mom upstairs Donald starts to hear voices in his head instructing him to commit grisly crimes.

Kohler runs with these suggestions by turning one room of the sprawling house into a metallic death chamber complete with chains and hooks. Throw in a fire retardant suit and a flamethrower and you get the strong impression that Donald's interests run to indoor barbecues of a most peculiar character. It isn't long after completing this project that Kohler brings his first victim to the house, a foxy '70's gal who promptly finds herself tied up in the room. The following scene, when Donald douses this woman in gasoline and then lights her up, does possess a certain gruesome fascination and probably constitutes the bulk of this movie's notoriety. Our hero rapidly follows up with two further victims, then dresses up the three corpses in old clothes and sits them in chairs in another room of the house. During the rest of the film, Kohler occasionally revisits this room to learn that the corpses torment him with voices only he can hear. All the while, Mom remains upstairs in her chair and Bobby continues to place odd phone calls to his friend in an attempt to get Donny to go out for a night on the town. Throw in a priest, a tepid dream sequence, and some cheesy disco scenery, and a "shock" ending and you have the makings of a low budget classic destined to win over new legions of fans (!).

"Don't Go In The House" would be a complete rip off of Hitchcock's "Psycho" if it possessed any of the wonderful attributes that made that Anthony Perkins/Janet Leigh vehicle such an enduring institution. Instead, we get bad acting, terrible dialogue, bad cinematography, cheesy special effects, and poky pacing. I think I counted at least five separate times where the director used the same footage of Donny driving his vehicle around town. About the only thing that truly works for this film is the gritty, grim atmosphere of Donny's house. The place is spacious on the inside, but at the same time the Kohler abode looks so incredibly seedy that I felt like taking a shower after watching the movie.

The DVD version of "Don't Go In The House" is atrocious; it looks as though they restored the film, if any restoration took place at all, with a piece of sandpaper. Again, this lousy transfer does lend the picture a certain grimly alluring atmosphere, but for a DVD release I would like to see a better quality film. Amazingly, there are no extras on the disc to speak of: no trailer, no commentary, and no production notes. This DVD doesn't even contain a menu screen. When you put the disc in your player, it immediately goes right into the movie. I'm reminded of a VCD when I think about seeing this movie on DVD, although even VCDs have menu screens on occasion. Overall, this film does have a few things going for it, but only hardcore horror fans should apply here. If you must see "Don't Go In The House," consider renting it instead of buying.

I'd never heard of this movie until I saw it on DVD last night. I'm a sucker for any movie that has a title of, "Don't Look Now," "Don't Go in the House,", etc. But I was pleasantly surprised by the obvious talent and intelligence that went into this independent little sleeper. Dan Grimaldi is aces as the Mama's boy. From the first shot of his brooding, handsome face, you sense this actor has got the personae of the psycho boy down. Okay, it does rip off a little of "Psycho" by having a monster Mama--but the cast and crew do well with what little they have. This is especially true of the scary looking Mama apparition that pops up now and then. There's no gore. There's no sex. So I don't see what all the commotion is about regarding the bloody content. There ain't none. This is a sharp, mood piece for watching on a wintry afternoon while reading a collection of Alfred Hitchcock scary stories.

i'll admit it: there are some bad actors in this film. fortunately, the lead role is ont one of them. no humor whatsoever, this film plays out in much the same manner and style as "maniac" does, going for the point of view of the killer over the boring, and often far too broken, victim narratives. there are some very gruesome slayings, particularly one involving a young, naked woman being burnt to death. this film actually keeps the gore quotient quite low, allowing for the violence that is shown to take more of an effect upon the viewer. and yes, as already mentioned, this movie does borrow heavily from other slashers, but then again, every slasher does: none of them are truly original in fundumental design. none the less, still a good movie, relying more upon mood, atmosphere, and tension to frighten the viewer as opposed to a high kill count.