Forensic Science Movie Reviews

Director Peter Hyams appeared to have been inspired by the Western drama "High Noon" when he made this movie. Indubitably "Outland" presents the ingredients of a cowboy movie. The town is represented by a mineral colony on Io -a moon of Jupiter -in spite of the fact that they are in outer space and, if you go out, you might take the chance to explode your guts inside out because of the gravity. The town's people don't help anybody who goes against the powerful conglomerate. And then there is the sheriff in the body of Sean Connery.
Connery plays Marshal William O'Neill, a law man who believes in truth and justice in a "town" where those things are unaccounted for. Unfortunately he goes against the powerful general manager of the mining corporation (Peter Boyle) under the suspicion that his company is giving some poweful drug to the workers who, later, end up dead. The manager decides to hire assassins to have O'Neill killed, and the clock -just like in "High Noon" -is ticking.
This movie is quite a treat. The claustrophobic settings are very adequate for the plot development. However, this movie sometimes goes slow in the middle, but the suspense catches up with the viewer for the climax.
It's too bad this DVD does not have documentaries, so I'm waiting for the release of a special edition. Anyone?

Hard to believe that this movie made 22 years ago still holds up but it does. It is a dark movie, lightingwise, but on my HD big screen TV it still looks great. Sean Connery is superb as the loner Marshall aboard a space mine on a moon of Jupiter. When the bad guys find that they can't control him, which means ignore his duty, they send assassins to kill the marshall. Connerys only friend is the spacey doctor.

If the two movie High Noon and Blade Runner (though Bladerunner has made after Outland) could have a baby, that offspring would be this movie. Some had called it slow moving, but the tension that builds helps to emphasize the hopelessness of the situation. This is also a story of doing the right thing instead of drinking the koolaid for the party or the company. The values taught in this movie are slowly being obliterated, so admire this marshall that takes a stand and that others must obey the law.

Outland is a solid, if somewhat predictable scifi film. Directed by Peter Hyams, the film takes the old fashion western and substitutes the frontier of space, for the open range.

On one of Jupter's moons, a mining community is disrupted when several ore workers are killed. Marshal William T. O'Niel (Sean Connery starts an investiagation into what really happened. The Manager of the mining station, Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle) and the station's Security Sgt. (James Sikking)soon make O'Niel realize that all is not as it seems. His one true ally throughout the investigation is Dr. Marian Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen).

The mystery element of the movie is not all that hard to figure out here. Thanfully, Connery keeps it all together, ith another strong performace. The rest of the cast is fine too. These elements-along with some well staged action, and a memorable score from composer Jerry Goldsmith, help you to forget a cliched plot.

The DVD lacks any substantial extras, save for the theatrical trailer, and few production notes. Viewers may watch Outland in either the widescreen or fullscreen format. The film may not be the best of its kind, thanks to Connery and the rest of the cast though, it's still an entertaining film that's recommended

Originally intended to be the sequel of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, a box office bomb, CYBORG is the post-apocalyptic story of a Slinger (hired protector) named Gibson Rickenbacker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who sets out for revenge against Fender Tremolo (Vincent Klyn), the hellish villain who murdered the woman he loved.

If the names Gibson and Fender sound familiar, it's because all the characters are named after guitars or accessories like Roland Pick, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet. Fender also possesses The Cyborg, an half woman/half machine who has the technology to wipe out the plague that infests the world.

For all fans of Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces," here is another cinematic entry that follows the ancient path of the mythic paradigm.

Director Albert Pyun (THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER) and screenwriter Kitty Chalmers (JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH) borrowed plot elements and styles from legendary filmmakers like John Ford, Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone -- and their films -- STAGECOACH, THE SEARCHERS, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, THE SEVEN SAMURAI, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. The film is essentially a western -- punctuated with droves of kung fu and savaté -- and dressed in the melancholy garment of post-apocalypse à la THE ROAD WARRIOR and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK -- only with 1/3 of each film's budget!

Don't watch CYBORG expecting state-of-the-art special effects, great acting or complex storytelling. This is a grade-B trashy sci-fi flick -- the 50s had 'em like MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER -- and the 80s had just as many, such as CYBORG and COMMANDO. For a trash classic, the film's soundtrack boasts an above-average score by composer Kevin Bassinson "SMALLVILLE" (TV).

As far a trashy cinema goes, CYBORG stands at the top of the heap. Roger Ebert included the film in his pretentious book `I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie' -- all the more reason not to miss it!

Jean-Claude Van Damme was 28 when he made CYBORG, a low budgeted, post-apocolyptic martial arts adventure. At that time in his career, he'd made his name through a number of low budget, B-quality kung fu flicks. I liked BLOODSPORT, all the more so, becuase it's based on thrue events in the life of kumite champion Frank Dux, and Van Damme was definitely the right guy for the role.

Then there's KICKBOXER, which, like BLOODSPORT, shows Van Damme as an apprentice on a vendetta with a Mike Tyson-esque Muy Thai champ. That movie is distinguished, if nothing else, by the final battle between Van Damme and Tong Po, who was played by Van Damme's close friend Michael Quissi (though he was still credited as Tong Po.)

Then came CYBORG. It was released it 1989, and starred Van Damme as a martial arts master named Gibson Rickenbaker living in the post-apocolyptic ruins of New York. He finds himself rescuing a cyborg codenamed Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon) from a murderous gang of hooligans led by the sadistic Fender Tremolo (Vincent Klyn). Seems Pearl has detailed information on how to sythesize a cure to the plague that has caused all the chaos and is on her way to Atlanta to give the info to the last scientists. Tremolo and his gang would do anything to get ahold of the information and rule the world. It up to Gibson to save Pearl.

Now, I'll admit that when I was short on cash, and I had a choice between buying CYBORG or TIMECOP, I went with the latter, but I almost immediately after ordered CYBORG over the internet, and it was well worth it. As another customer pointed out, the fights in CYBORG are amazingly realistic and show Van Damme getting hurt and taking just as much of an butt kicking as he dishes out. (In a particularly brutal scene, Gibson is battered and exhausted, and gets beaten to a pulp by Tremolo.)

The movie has sort of a ROAD WARRIOR quality to it, the bigeest difference being the budgets of the two films. The villians and even the good guys dress in ragged clothing, like THE ROAD WARRIOR. The land is basically deserted, and there is an utter feeling of helplessness and anarchy. That's the essence of post-apolyptic action films.

Bottom Line: CYBORG is a great movie in my eyes, because it shows that in any martial arts movie, what is at it's heart is the fact that the hero can have all the strength, speed, and power in the universe, but no matter what, the hero is always human. In other Van Damme movies, like STREET FIGHTER, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, TIMECOP, REPLICANT, or DOUBLE TEAM, he was a righteous fighting machine, but he could still be hurt. Even in THE MATRIX movies, Neo was the Chosen One, capable of fantastic, inhuman feats, but he was still just a man, he could be beaten to the point where he would cough up blood, but he had the spirit to back him up.

And so it is with CYBORG. Gibson is a fantastic martial artist, but he could be beaten up almost to death by a bigger, stronger opponent. He got into certain situations where he would have to rely more on what he had inside than his blackbelt status. That's what truly makes a great karate flick, having a fighter who has fantastic fighting skils, or even superhuman powers who has the the heart and will to win. CYBORG is such a movie.

I remember watching this movie several times a year when I owned it as a kid. I never forgot about it, and kept promising myself that someday I will buy it. That promise has not yet been made, but I just now saw the film on TNN, and it was like watching a new movie because I didn't remember any of it. And let me just tell you...forget Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bruce and all those other quaky (entertaining, but quaky) martial art films. Cyborg blows them all away.

I've seen other Van Damme films (God were they horrible). This is the only one that captivated me. The fight scenes were just so realistic. You don't got a guy climbing walls like he's spider man throughout the entire film, or jumping off buildings or flying around like he's a bird - he actually gets hurt and falls to his knees every now and again. It's not like the Matrix where you're just sitting there waiting for the guy to win - you really feel the pain of Jean-Claude's character when he gets cut or kicked.

All the reviewers are correct. There is hardly any dialog to this film...because it's an atmospheric film. You remember the Shining? No dialog on that one either, just pure atmosphere. And let me tell you, the doomsday world that this movie depicts was mind blowing. It really delivers to the viewer a sense of utter desolation. Everyone in the film is maniacal - totally out of their minds. It's the Drak Ages all over again, where little differentiated bewteen both sexes, and women actually faught in wars, at times accompanied by their children. Take Escape from LA, and combine that with REALISM, and that's just the world you'll enter when you watch this film.

Jean Claude did such an excellent job of playing a traveling vagrant consumed by the nightmares of a seriously disturbing past. His only priority in life is to kill the Cyborg that killed him a long time ago. The world is at the mercy of an awful plague, and even when the doors of a possible cure is open to him, all he can think about is vengeance. Note the face he makes when he first sees the Cyborg after years of searching for him. The hatred was so well defined in every contour...I was thinking, 'My God, I would NOT want to be that Cyborg!'

Well, whatever he had in mind, it didn't turn out so well. His nemesis proved to be quite...unstoppable.

The music in this film has got to be the best I've ever heard in any action film. It plays along perfectly with the atmosphere and the fight scenes. Slow, but hard pounding. Very nice touch. The whole movie was choreographed with the utmost of precision. Right on target with each kick and punch. Had me totally captivated. Get this film if you're not much for that cheesy stuff that comes from all these popular Chinese directors that is totally fake, (with the exception of a few Bruce Lee films). Jean Claude's character actually carries a gun around which in most martial art movies, this element lacks (Hey, a gun is more effective than a sword. Am I right or am I right?) And he is not afraid to use it, but tries to conserve his ammunition by fighting (bullets and guns are scarce in this upside down world). Lots of battles with sharp bladed weapons too. I mean, this movie has it all.

This DVD displays the movie in widescreen letterbox format. What everyone fails to mention is this is not an anamorphic format, rather a letterbox format within a standard 4:3 (1.33:1) format. That means for those of you that have purchased high-end video gear you'll get a horrible picture. I am a bit surprised the picture quality is rated at 5 out of 5 by what I thought was a reputable institution. I consider resolution a key criteria for picture quality and Village of the Damned is definitely low-rez.

If you don't understand most of this and are content with a 10-year-old TV, buy it; you probably won't see any of the problems I have outlined here. This review is for people with current technology that want to get the most out of it.

This is a very creepy and shocking horror film about evil children all born at the exact same time from various women in a small community. But as they get older, they have an ability to read and control people's minds. And when their temper is crossed, they force the adult to hurt themselves or even kill themselves in bizarre and very painful ways. Like at the scene where the little girl's eyes turn red as her mother plunges her arm into the boiling hot pot of soup. And the scene where the girl forces the eye doctor to put the stinging eye drops in her eyes.

I saw the original "Village of the Damned" when it was released back in 1960. Being a child myself, I was horrified at those evil little kids with the white hair and the glowing eyes. The inimitable George Sanders and that lovely British horror queen Barbara Shelley starred and it scared the bejesus out of me! Now in the latter part of the 20th century, horror maven John Carpenter remakes it, and along with "The Thing", Carpenter did himself well in making the remakes original in their own rights without sacrificing the mood and feel of the earlier versions. There is an innate eeriness in evil children; one cannot remove one self from realizing that despite all the evil they are doing, they are still children. Christopher Reeve is gallant and controls the nuances of his performance; Kirstie Alley is deliciously over the top in her role as the government scientist who wants to (what else) study the children; Mark Hamill makes a rare appearance as the town's minister, and he gives the role an unusual grace and subtlety to a cliche role; the children all do nicely, as one would expect children to do. Lindsey Haun as Mara and Thomas Dekker as David are especially memorable. However, for me, Linda Kozlowski's performance as Jill, David's mother, commands the essence of futility but firm hope, and makes her the real "star" of the film. Hard to believe she's Crocodile Dundee's woman, in this change of pace role.
The music and cinematography are also supportive.
A GOOD THRILLER.

On late night black and white tv, this movie scared me to blackout my bedroom windows (which didn't please my parents). William Cameron Menzies was a visionary. His stark style of design and tight storytelling still affects me as a designer and a writer. This past year I saw IFM on TCM and my imagination must have been at work because it wasn't the same movie. But then TCM's savvy host wised me up. The copyright was up for sale and some bozo bought it. He thought it needed more military action and inserted stock footage of tanks loading (to the tune of "Caissons" no less), and other footage of tanks coming to the rescue. In other words he reedited a classic. So if you buy the DVD and it says Original U.S. release. It's a lie. Send that warning to the FBI.

I Think I was five years old when this came out. When I saw it , it scared me to death. I'am really glad to have this is my collection. However, I am disapointed that the film wasn't cleaned up better before the transfere. All and all it is all there and not really bad but there is alot of scratches that are noticeable and some jumping around that is present when you run old film. It even has the old reel transfere dots in the upper right corner. It is still worth having and really one of the better done old Sc- Fi Flicks. Thanks For Reading This Review. I hope it helps. This is for the DVD.

This is a classic 1950's film. A spaceship lands at night and only a young boy knows what is really going on. The special effects may not be up to par with modern films but it is a fun and exciting film that the whole family can enjoy. Put on the popcorn, pop a cola, turn down the lights and pretend you are at the drive-in!

"Screamers" starring Peter Weller as Hendricksson, the commander of a lonely outpost on a planet far from Earth, is supposed to be a morality tale about the dangers of creating ever more sophisticated weapons with which to kill each other. Instead, it is a terse psuedo-action flick that becomes dreadfully predictable about half way in.

In "Screamers" a war has been dragging on for years between Earth forces and NEB forces. NEB stands for the New Economic Bloc. It is a profit-minded enterprise set up to mine an energy-rich planet. When the workers start dying, they refuse to continue mining. The substance they are mining is killing them with radiation poisoning. NEB eventually rains nuclear weapons down on them as a lesson to all other workers who might resist. When the people back on Earth find out what has happened they declare war against the NEB forces.

"Screamers" picks up ten years into the war. The war has settled down into a World War I like war of attrition. Hendricksson has received a request from the NEB forces commander to come to their location to work out a peace treaty.

And oh yeah, there are these mechanical devices on the planet that the inhabitants call "screamers". These robots were built by the Earth forces to defend against the NEBs. The Earth forces carry wristbands that protect them from the screamers. The screamers manufacturing process has been totally automated and no one knows how to shut it down. The screamers have learned how to build ever more sophisticated units and are now indiscriminately attacking Earth forces too.

To describe any more of the story would be to give away the heart of it. Suffice it to say, Hendricksson has to make a discovery and a decision late in the movie that is supposed to make you second guess the advanced weapons that we are currently researching. In reality the movie just makes you question why you wasted your time watching it.

I do give "Screamers" some points for doing something with an obviously limited budget. Director Christian Duguay has managed to create a feeling of otherworldliness and desolation, in Canada of all places. Plus the level of acting is far above what you would expect. Peter Weller has unfortunately been typecast in Hollywood and no longer receives parts worthy of his better than average acting abilities.

"Screamers" could have been a much better adaptation than it was. Then again, Hollywood has often missed the mark on Philip Dick adaptations.

When I saw this (in the cinema) about 6 years ago, I had never actually been frightened by a movie before. I saw it with a girlfriend and a bunch of mates who all giggled all the way through the film and agreed it was probably the worst movie thay'd ever seen. Part of me agreed with them.

But another part of me was absolutely terrified for the next 3 or 4 weeks. I'm talking nightmares, not wanting to be alone in dark rooms... The blokes knew how to rev me up - they'd just whisper "Can I come with you?" at me. That god-damned line still chills me.

I don't know how to rate Screamers, because I didn't like it much and everyone else thought it blew dog. And my girlfriend at the time was the sort who's usually crap herself at a horror flick, and she thought it was fairy floss.

But it remains to this day the only film that has truly pulverised me with fear. I guess I'm a bit of a weirdo eh? :)

Screamers takes the idea from Philip K. Dick's story "The Second Variety", and puts it on another planet set in the future. This is low budget, and with maybe a few million dollars this probably would outclass flashy "hip" sci/fi like The Matrix. The story is easy to follow, but it's very intriguing. If you go into this movie expecting tons of action... forget about that. The dialogue in the film is well done, and the atmosphere is pretty grim. Great acting as usual from Peter Weller (His best next to Naked Lunch). Roy Dupuis was not in this film for very long, but this was one of his best performances ever. You may remember him from the La Femme Nikita show on USA. In this movie he plays an N.E.B. solider who is like a cross between the Terminator, and Shakespeare. While many movies have cheap one liners, he uses famous quotes instead, giving this a more intelligent feel all around. This is creative low budget sci/fi, and not for all tastes.

(Opinions of The Motion Picture and The Undiscovered Country are based on years old memory)
The original Star Trek crew worked solely on the basis of its lead trio. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley made for arguably the most charismatic and enjoyable trio to watch in cinematic history. As for the rest of the crew, I didn't much care for anyone else, though George Takei probably came across the best as Sulu, mostly because he never succumbs to the silliness that pervades the other three (Scotty's prat falls, Chekov's accents and mispronunciations, and Uhura's horrific dance number in Star Trek V).

It's been years since I've seen The Motion Picture, and memory serves that it was an engrossing adventure that was so far off from the camp I'd been used to while watching the original TV series. Basically, I liked it, and this is without having seen the director's cut, which I hope to catch some day. The Motion Picture is decidedly an attempt at the kind of cerebral science fiction that 2001 attempted, and while I'm quite certain it's not in the same league as that film, it holds its own.

Ooh, boy, it's with The Wrath of Khan that I'm sure people will shouting blasphemy when I state that I actually didn't much enjoy the film. Sure, the effects were good and the trio was as entertaining to watch as usual, but Nicholas Meyers' direction is stale, Ricardo Montalban is a cheesy-looking villain (that fake chest can't help, either) who talks tough without actually proving his dangerousness, and the space battles prove to be little different than two submarines stalking each other. The idea of two starships battling each other has never appealed to me, and the case is no different here. I will admit, however, that Spock's death scene is poignant.

Star Trek III is even worse than II. Cheap-looking sets, meaningless blather, and the overall snail pace make this easily the most boring film of the entire franchise. The only highlight is Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon commander.

Star Trek IV is a marked improvement, an enjoyable and funny fish-out-of-water tale. There's little else going on here than seeing our beloved crew interact in the 20th century, but that alone is enough to inspire a barrage of belly laughs, particularly Spock's use of colorful metaphors. Catherine Hicks' rather neurotic performance as a whale specialist is pretty annoying, and a downspot in an otherwise entertaining outing.

Star Trek V is easily the silliest of the lot, but it's also kind of fun and the premise is the most ambitious of them all: it's an all-out quest for God, who is believed to live in the center of the galaxy. The trio is given more screentime together here than in any other film, Jerry Goldsmith's score is marvelous (the best of the series), and there's actually a genuine sense of awe when they reach their destination. Oh, this isn't a good movie, but it's an undeniable watchable and often entertaining one, and I personally liked it more than Star Trek III.

Star Trek VI is the standout, the best movie of the original crew's series. It delivers the most solid plot of the bunch, good and plentiful action scenes, and a healthy dose of witty repartee. The ending is very sentimental, but it's welcome, considering this is the end of the journey for our long-running intrepid heroes.

I've been an avid fan of Star Trek for several years now but I was truly disappointed with this box set of Star Trek movies. It lacked special features, one of the many features that were supposed to make the DVD stand out above the rest. Although the movies were up to par with the quality and sound expected from a DVD, it still wasn't enough. Star Trek is known for their high tech equipment and the DVD producers didn't even put in deleted scenes or other behind the scene footages except for the first disc, Star Trek the Motion Picture. I was even more dissatisfied when I heard that they were releasing Star Trek movies on DVD again this time with the Special Features that were not included in the box set and have been digitally restored. I suggest that you wait for Paramount to release a box set of the Star Trek movies that have been restored and have special features in them.

This is the date i wrote my review and got this box set. It is so kool + 9 awesome flicks. I have watched 1,2,3,& 4 so far and let me tell you they are nothing like i imagined. I thought they would be like the star trek TV show. But there not they have the same characters and all but so much more. I would really buy this before it goes out of stock again.

(Opinions of The Motion Picture and The Undiscovered Country are based on years old memory)
The original Star Trek crew worked solely on the basis of its lead trio. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley made for arguably the most charismatic and enjoyable trio to watch in cinematic history. As for the rest of the crew, I didn't much care for anyone else, though George Takei probably came across the best as Sulu, mostly because he never succumbs to the silliness that pervades the other three (Scotty's prat falls, Chekov's accents and mispronunciations, and Uhura's horrific dance number in Star Trek V).

It's been years since I've seen The Motion Picture, and memory serves that it was an engrossing adventure that was so far off from the camp I'd been used to while watching the original TV series. Basically, I liked it, and this is without having seen the director's cut, which I hope to catch some day. The Motion Picture is decidedly an attempt at the kind of cerebral science fiction that 2001 attempted, and while I'm quite certain it's not in the same league as that film, it holds its own.

Ooh, boy, it's with The Wrath of Khan that I'm sure people will shouting blasphemy when I state that I actually didn't much enjoy the film. Sure, the effects were good and the trio was as entertaining to watch as usual, but Nicholas Meyers' direction is stale, Ricardo Montalban is a cheesy-looking villain (that fake chest can't help, either) who talks tough without actually proving his dangerousness, and the space battles prove to be little different than two submarines stalking each other. The idea of two starships battling each other has never appealed to me, and the case is no different here. I will admit, however, that Spock's death scene is poignant.

Star Trek III is even worse than II. Cheap-looking sets, meaningless blather, and the overall snail pace make this easily the most boring film of the entire franchise. The only highlight is Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon commander.

Star Trek IV is a marked improvement, an enjoyable and funny fish-out-of-water tale. There's little else going on here than seeing our beloved crew interact in the 20th century, but that alone is enough to inspire a barrage of belly laughs, particularly Spock's use of colorful metaphors. Catherine Hicks' rather neurotic performance as a whale specialist is pretty annoying, and a downspot in an otherwise entertaining outing.

Star Trek V is easily the silliest of the lot, but it's also kind of fun and the premise is the most ambitious of them all: it's an all-out quest for God, who is believed to live in the center of the galaxy. The trio is given more screentime together here than in any other film, Jerry Goldsmith's score is marvelous (the best of the series), and there's actually a genuine sense of awe when they reach their destination. Oh, this isn't a good movie, but it's an undeniable watchable and often entertaining one, and I personally liked it more than Star Trek III.

Star Trek VI is the standout, the best movie of the original crew's series. It delivers the most solid plot of the bunch, good and plentiful action scenes, and a healthy dose of witty repartee. The ending is very sentimental, but it's welcome, considering this is the end of the journey for our long-running intrepid heroes.

I've been an avid fan of Star Trek for several years now but I was truly disappointed with this box set of Star Trek movies. It lacked special features, one of the many features that were supposed to make the DVD stand out above the rest. Although the movies were up to par with the quality and sound expected from a DVD, it still wasn't enough. Star Trek is known for their high tech equipment and the DVD producers didn't even put in deleted scenes or other behind the scene footages except for the first disc, Star Trek the Motion Picture. I was even more dissatisfied when I heard that they were releasing Star Trek movies on DVD again this time with the Special Features that were not included in the box set and have been digitally restored. I suggest that you wait for Paramount to release a box set of the Star Trek movies that have been restored and have special features in them.

This is the date i wrote my review and got this box set. It is so kool + 9 awesome flicks. I have watched 1,2,3,& 4 so far and let me tell you they are nothing like i imagined. I thought they would be like the star trek TV show. But there not they have the same characters and all but so much more. I would really buy this before it goes out of stock again.

I don't know what it is about DTV creature features that attracts me so, but in the past few days, I've seen Blood Surf, Mosquito, Shark Attack 2, the Octopus movies, and now Komodo (Octopus is easily the best of the bunch). In case you couldn't tell from the title, this is a movie that features a bunch of komodo dragons slavering for some human flesh.

More specifically, it's set on a place called Emerald Island, where a teen named Patrick (Kevin Zegers) witnesses the death of his parents at the hands of komodo dragons. Flash forward sometime later, his psychiatrist, Victoria (Jill Hennessy), brings him back to the island, thinking it'll do his psyche some good. Unfortunately, all the "keep out" signs do little to dissuade them, and soon they're stuck on the island, teaming up with a small group of komodo hunters to find a way off.

Komodo has one asset that surprised me: the special effects are very good, and quite superb for a movie released straight-to-video. Unsurprisingly, I'd heard this was almost released in theaters, but it's not hard to see why it was pulled back. While the creature effects are first-rate, nothing else about this movie really is. Most of the action sequences lack tension and thrills, most of the komodo encounters fail to produce much in the way of fun and are rather sluggish. Director Michael Lantieri paces the movie way too slowly and he fails to make the komodos appear as a genuine menace.

While I applaud the effort Lantieri puts behind trying to push in some character development, nobody here makes an impression. It's a bland, boring group we couldn't care less about. And really, what was the point of making Zegers go "Lord of the Flies" on us? That's not to say the performances are awful, the acting is simply unexceptional. At least I can say I can't recall a moment I cringed during the movie.

Komodo ultimately also lacks a climax. The big, action-packed finale we keep expecting (or at least I did, especially considering I saw this after the very fun Octopus) is nowhere in sight. All we get is a komodo burning up from a flare, which is admittedly very cool to look at, but even Lantieri sort of screws it up by cutting away from the scene too quickly.

There's an obvious attempt here to mine the style and success of Jurassic Park and Anaconda. A lot of the sets closely resemble those in Park, but they're never really used to their advantage. Silly as Anaconda was, at least it used its settings to its maximum potential. Komodo just sort of slogs by on-screen, nothing worthy of note really happening. Movies like this are determined by whether or not they're fun for the right reasons, and while Komodo is surprisngly almost never awful, it's not fun, either.

First off, this was a great Komodo movie. Having been the makers of Anaconda and the director and special effects maker of Jurassic Park, I wasn't surprised how good this movie turned out. My mother's seen it, my friend, and my brother, including myself and they all like it. A lot. So if you're going to see an animal attack movie, see this one!

I don't usually care for horror movies that center around animals attacking humans, alah "The Birds" or "Cujo" but this one worked out well. The offending animals are Komodo Dragons which actually exist on a small handfull of remote islands in Indonesia; and they aren't plotting their just hungry.
Some illegal importer of exotic pets tosses about a dozen Komodo Dragon eggs into an off road ditch on an isolated North Carolina Island, not realizing the scope of what he's doing. Approx 12-15 years later some of the dragons are full size and have established a regular colony, much to the distress of the island's tourists and lone business (an oil company.)
Actor Kevin Zegers turns in his usual great performance, and there were a few other noteworthy performances by some of the other cast members. The computer generated graphics are excellent and if you liked Jurassic Park you should love this movie.

Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. Bava's big break into came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years. His films always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. The Bava legacy continued with son Lamberto, one of the guiding lights behind "Demons," an instant cult favorite with gorehounds worldwide. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to horror movies was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from Bava's bloodbath. At least two of the murders in this film appear almost unchanged in the first installment of the Jason Voorhees franchise. That's right: Mario Bava gave birth to the modern slasher film.

The Countess Frederica Donati is a wealthy woman who owns most of the land around a beautiful bay. It is quite unfortunate for her that there are many people interested in gaining control of the land in order to build shopping malls or a resort then in keeping the bay in pristine condition. Donati refuses to sell out her interest, however, and this sparks a jealousy and greed with tragic consequences for anyone in the area. Someone will have Donati's land, even if they have to murder anyone who gets in their way. The first murder (there are ultimately thirteen of them'ring any bells? Remember the trailer to the original "Friday the 13th" trailer that counted up the murders?) claims the countess herself, strung up with a noose in a particularly cruel way. Throw in a greedy lawyer and his secretary, an illegimate son who fishes for squid in the bay, a nature lover and his loony, tarot card reading wife, a quartet of kids looking for some fun, and a family of four with a personal stake in the disposition of the bay's land and you have the makings for a non-stop blitz of murder and mayhem. Just when you think you know who the murderer is, Bava throws a curveball and reveals a little more of the background concerning the struggle over Donati's inheritance. By the time you get to the conclusion you have no idea where this thing is going to end up. I am still shaking my head over the last minute of the film, trying to decide if what I saw is the most ridiculous ending in film history or one of the most brilliant. "Twitch of the Death Nerve" may have loads of graphic killings, but it also has one of the most convoluted plots in horror film history.

The secondary elements of the film, namely gore, atmosphere, and acting, are all well done for this type of movie. You don't often expect great acting with Italian horror films, and you don't exactly get that here, but it is above average. The atmosphere is spectacular, with lots of fade-ins and outs, excellent use of colors, and an oppressive sense of doom hanging over the entire movie. "Twitch of the Death Nerve" is definitely not made by some yuck with a video camera looking to make a few bucks on the straight to video market. Mario Bava knows how to craft atmosphere and scenery, and he does a great job here. The gore is slightly more problematic, with some scenes really working while others looking decidedly cheesy. Still, the intention is here, as the film possesses a streak of cruelty not seen in many horror films.

The biggest difficulty in watching "Twitch of the Death Nerve" falls squarely in the lap of Image Entertainment, the company that released this DVD version of the film. The extras aren't the problem, as there are enough goodies here to satiate every horror aficionado. Image throws in a "murder menu" where you can go straight to the grue, a funky trailer for the film under the title "Carnage" that is one of the most inventive movie trailers I have ever seen, two cheesy radio spots, a biography and filmography of Mario Bava, and trailers for SIX other Bava films released under the Image banner. How can it all go wrong after such a bonanza? It's the sound, my friend. The audio for the film is the worst I've ever heard on a DVD. Dialogue is tinny, drops out with cringing regularity, and then swells up so much I feared my system would explode. In fact, I thought my sound system wasn't working correctly until I saw other reviewers complaining about the sound on the DVD. I cannot imagine any company releasing a product with audio this bad. There is a "Bay of Blood" DVD released under the Scimitar label that supposedly has good audio, but the picture quality on that disc is reportedly mediocre. If we can find a way to transfer that audio track to this disc's picture quality (which is pretty good with a minimum of grain), maybe "Twitch of the Death Nerve" would be the total package. Yes, the audio is THAT bad! What a shame, too. The soundtrack for this film is excellent, with lots of drums and orchestral movements that really add a suspenseful element to the movie.

I'm looking forward to seeing other Mario Bava films in the future, hopefully with better sound quality than this. Mario was quite the technician with his films, not only sitting in the director's chair but working on the special effects and scripts as well. He's probably rolling in his grave right now over Image's mutilation of his movie.

In short, another masterpiece from horror maestro bava and a beautiful widescreen transfer dvd with one litte exception, in terms of sound quality this is the worst dvd ever released!!!
The music is as loud and distorted as each dialogue is low and barely audible unless you have a stadium sound equipment of course. So DON'T BUY IT and go for a vhs or dvd english edition of this one, it's not uncut but the sound is perfectly OK. Shame, shame, shame Image Entertainment!!!

And it does so many times in this movie. A double-murder within the first ten minutes of a movie gets the pace going in what has been called the utmost in Mario Bava's ouvre of horror movies. Minutes after Countess Federica is murdered by her husband Filippo Donati, he himself is killed by an unknown person and his body dragged away.

Many people then come down to the bay. There's Albert and his wife Renata, the latter being Donati's daughter. Frank Ventura is the scheming architect who wants to turn the bay and the area into some unspecified development project. There are also some teenagers who arrive in a yellow dune buggy and carouse in the abandoned night club by the bay. They are murdered most foully. It is the scene involving these people that served as the guiding inspiration for the Friday The 13th series, you know, brainless teens getting chopped up. But they are quick and brutal, or surprising in one case. Brunhilda, a German girl who looks like Penny Irving (House of Whipcord, Are You Being Served?) has a nice nude swim and a shocking surprise before her demise. She's actually one of the more decent of the four.

Of the residents, entomologist Paolo Fosatti, who is too involved in his Coleoptera (that's the taxonomic order of beetles, BTW) than in his complaining, wine-bipping, fortune-telling wife Anna, and when she was alive, Countess Federica, are opposed to turning the bay "into a sea of cement," the former for the insect life, the latter for its natural beauty and serenity. Simon, the Countess's illegitimate son, hunts squid and lives by the bay.

This movie is also known as Bay Of Blood, Carnage, The Last House On The Left Part II, Ecology Of A Crime, Reazione a Catena, and Antefatto, so take your pick, but Twitch Of The Death Nerve is the official English title. Whatever the title, this film sports a very high body count and brutal blood flow. Despite the cover boasting it being the uncut version, running 84 minutes, I read in one of my film books that the running time was 90 minutes, so a discrepancy there.

The only face I recognized here was Claudine Auger (Renata), who played vivacious Domino in the Bond movie Thunderball. Here though, there is not a shred of decency or compassion in this Lady Macbeth of a woman. Mario Bava's stylish technique on lingering on victims and blood plays a large part here, as does Stelvio Cipriani's piano score, which resembles that of the Rachmaninoff-like love theme in his first movie, Black Sunday.

It's difficult to filter out the message of human greed and also that of preserving the environment. Simon says it best: "Man should live and let live and without any interference." When Fosatti points out that the squid he was eating was alive, Simon retorts, "At least I eat my squid. I don't kill as a hobby like you do. If you kill for killing's sake, you become a monster."

I am a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but I was disappointed with "The Crawling Hand". At first I thought it was really cute because this episode was taken from the first season, so it was interesting to see the really corny sets and even cornier special effects. However, as I watched the episode more, the more bored I became. Granted, "The Crawling Hand" is not the most exciting movie to watch, but it just didn't seem as though Joel and the bots were as funny. Tom Servo had a completely different voice and Dr. Forrester had a different assistant.

I know that this episode is a part of MST3K history and for that I give it respect, but I personally just could not get into this episode. I would suggest it, though, to other fans of the series so they can make their own decisions about it. Like I said, since it's one of the first episodes, it should be watched, but don't expect to be rolling on the floor laughing very much.

Although MST3K would really hit its stride as far as pacing, themes, sets, cast chemistry and joke writing in season 2, this is one of the best episodes from season 1 and it's the only one you can buy on DVD at the time of this writing. The jokes run a wide range of topics from the absurdity of an animated severed hand to the acting ability of Alan Hale, Jr. Although the humor is not as dense as in some later episodes like Cave Dwellers or Pod People, there is still no shortage of humor tossed at this B grade science fiction/horror film. If you love MST3K, you'll want to see this early gem.

...i don't like season 1!

i don't like dr. erhardt as much as tv's frank (who does?) and the riffing is more sparse and of a slightly weaker style. but i was thinking, for a new fan seeking to discover mst3k, this may not be a bad jumping off point (although manos is a better start).

this episode is indicative of the true original philosophy of mst3k. most of the best episodes aren't mystery or science-oriented (manos, mitchell, many sci-fi eps such as jack frost or final sacrifice), but the crawling hand is a true, cheesy, BAD scifi/horror movie. and that was the original intent of the show: to riff on bad scifi/horror flicks. and the riffing IS good, it's just not as good as it would become in later seasons.

nobody should miss out on this episode, but other episodes are better, and once you're well-versed in mst3k-dom, you'll revisit this episode less often than the others.