Consumer Information Movie Reviews

This movie is definitely not on the year's A-list, but as low-budget flicks go, it's a winner! The story is basically a modern-day western about bank robbers who commandeer a train somewhere in Mexico so they can escape with their cache of diamonds, and have some fun terrorizing and killing innocent passengers along the way. It's a little violent in spots, but if you're okay with that, enjoy!

By the way, Bentley Mitchum as the ringleader of this bunch of goons is my pick for Best Actor when they hand out the Oscars. All things considered, I think he'll be overlooked, but he's the baddest bad guy I've seen in a long time! I was actually rooting for him over the boring "hero" who did nothing but skulk around in a black leather coat, hiding and climbing back and forth between railway cars.

If you want to go along for an entertaining ride, I'd recommend boarding "Death Train". :)

This film is a great b-movie action flick; far superior than Van Damme's "Derailed" from a year earlier. The main character in this movie is also one of the stars from my favorite movie ever, Operation Delta Force 3. But in this movie, Brian Genesse is alone as he tackles the ruthless terrorists one at a time, in the tradition of Steven Seagal and Bruce Willis. It was also nice to see Genesse's natural fighting abilities when he was battling the bad guy boss at the end of the film. Without any obvious stuntman, Genesse handles himself quite well.
The final scene of the movie is awesome as his Mexican Federale friend hands him the Tequila bottle for the second time and poor Brian is still out of breath after his first swig. A wide eyed Brian mutters "My turn?", as he grabs the bottle from his friend, not quite ready to take another gulp of the potent liquor.
Nice action movie. After seeing it, I am going to buy it.

I have seen the movie at least 6 times i think it is a great movie plrnty of action and some comedy i think this is one of bryan genesse better movies i would like to see him in more movies the dvd is great and has digital and sterio makes

This movie is definitely not on the year's A-list, but as low-budget flicks go, it's a winner! The story is basically a modern-day western about bank robbers who commandeer a train somewhere in Mexico so they can escape with their cache of diamonds, and have some fun terrorizing and killing innocent passengers along the way. It's a little violent in spots, but if you're okay with that, enjoy!

By the way, Bentley Mitchum as the ringleader of this bunch of goons is my pick for Best Actor when they hand out the Oscars. All things considered, I think he'll be overlooked, but he's the baddest bad guy I've seen in a long time! I was actually rooting for him over the boring "hero" who did nothing but skulk around in a black leather coat, hiding and climbing back and forth between railway cars.

If you want to go along for an entertaining ride, I'd recommend boarding "Death Train". :)

This film is a great b-movie action flick; far superior than Van Damme's "Derailed" from a year earlier. The main character in this movie is also one of the stars from my favorite movie ever, Operation Delta Force 3. But in this movie, Brian Genesse is alone as he tackles the ruthless terrorists one at a time, in the tradition of Steven Seagal and Bruce Willis. It was also nice to see Genesse's natural fighting abilities when he was battling the bad guy boss at the end of the film. Without any obvious stuntman, Genesse handles himself quite well.
The final scene of the movie is awesome as his Mexican Federale friend hands him the Tequila bottle for the second time and poor Brian is still out of breath after his first swig. A wide eyed Brian mutters "My turn?", as he grabs the bottle from his friend, not quite ready to take another gulp of the potent liquor.
Nice action movie. After seeing it, I am going to buy it.

I have seen the movie at least 6 times i think it is a great movie plrnty of action and some comedy i think this is one of bryan genesse better movies i would like to see him in more movies the dvd is great and has digital and sterio makes

it is pretty stupid. I would have been inclined to give it 4 stars if the music performance were good, but they are so-so, and the sound quality of the music is also mediocre.

This DVD is wonderful in all its wonderfulness. Gesualdo, was perhaps the greatest musician to ever live. Not only did he compose wonderfulness, he was multi-talented in the areas of gardening (he chopped a measly country-side in a matter of 2 to 3 months), cooking (he prepared a meal for over 1000 people with 125 courses of quail), and murder. His music foreshadows the likes of such greats as Wagner, Jacopo Peri, Ignatz Stotmeiker, Stravinsky, and Charles Burney. We see the tortured soul of Gesualdo having an effect on present day pyschopaths. There is even a retarded boy riding a horse, and a young child being chained and flying through the air while forced to wear women's clothing.

In short, Gesualdo is the most imortant (besides Franz Tunder, Walter Von de Vogelwiede, and Busnois) who ever graced God's green Earth (which, incidently, is less green because of Gesualdo's wacking).

If I could give this 23 stars I would give it 17 and a half, but that's still more than the five I gave it here.

I almost can't believe that GESUALDO is out on DVD. This is one of Herzog's funniest documentaries. I'd never heard of Gesualdo before, but the film made me a huge fan of his music. He led a crazy life and made some hauntingly beautiful polyphony--all of it is shown with the expected immediacy and weird humor by master filmmaker Werner Herzog.

Since documentaries are featured as extras on many DVDs, there's a growing appetite for this cinematic art form. Criterion is feeding that craving with a series of fascinating glimpses into extraordinary real lives.

The artistically apposite worlds of Jackson Pollock, and Robert Crumb are revealed in "JACKSON POLLOCK: LOVE AND DEATH ON LONG ISLAND" and "THE CONFESSIONS OF ROBERT CRUMB". Striking views of Pollock's work are commented on by artists including his wife, painter Lee Krasner. Ed Harris, the star and director of the Academy Award© winning film "Pollock" discusses Pollock's blazing rise to fame and his difficulties coping with it.

Somehow a sad look at the destructive, hyper life of what may have been a madman. Is being an artist be difinition a kind of insanity?

WOW! Though this is not actually the movie Pollock, and actually a 40 minute biography/precursor to the movie, it was wonderful! It had several interviews with freinds, fellow artists and other misc. aquaintences of Jackson's in it from Ruth Klingman to Kirk Varnedoe. They were short to the point and all very interesting, especially the Cedar Bar bar tender stories! In addition it had footage from the famous Hans Namuth movies of him at work and when he painted on glass while the camera was underneath(very hard to find footage!) This is a must to any Pollock freak. Caution there is some language unsuitable for classroom usage. Well worth the money if you like JP.

This film and "The Scarlet Claw" are generally considered to be the best of the Universal Holmes series. Rathbone and Bruce are in good form with a clever and resourceful script to back them up and Miles Mander gives a fine performance as Giles Conover,master criminal.

It's great fun to watch the Queen of Screams--Universal's Evelyn Ankers--finally able to do some acting. In Pearl, she portrays one of her rare villianess' (you should see her strut her stuff as Illona in the camp classic "Weird woman". As Naomi, she portrays a cockney dishwasher, a bookish clerk of antiques, while all the time terrified by The Creeper--played by real-life acrogomaliac, Rondo Hatton. No one can display terror as la Ankers: her blue eyes widen, she uses her palm to press against her temple, her breathing quickens and usually there's a blood-curdling scream. There's plenty of Universal fog-machines at work here with Rathbone deftly solving the murders (along with Dr. Watson-Nigel Bruce). Ankers wrote in her memoirs that the set of Pearl was unusually British and droll. She and Nigel addressed Basil Rathbone--as Rasil Bathbone. The spry but elderly Nigel flirted with Ankers who took it with good humor but terrified her admirer when she brought her new husband on the set, B-movie king, Richard Denning, who had just joined the Navy since this was during World War II. Sharp little gem of a thriller. Wish Universal would put all the Sherlock Holmes movies on tape, or in a boxed series. Especially "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror' which showcases Ankers talents and beauty more than any other flick she made--with the exception of "The Mad Ghoul."

Alex Cox is probably the most underappreciated guy in the business. All four movies are unique, fun, intelligent and -different-.

Repo Man is simply a classic 'indie film' - humour, insight, bizzare plot twists - it's all here. A must see. Straight to Hell is similar to "Dusk Till Dawn" - yet somehow better. But the standout is Three Businessmen --- Cox goes Becketesh to wonderful results.

If you like screwball comedies, punk rock, action movies, romantic comedies, sci-fi, and high faluting art things you'll love this collection!

Okay, I'll assume that if you're here you already know somewhat of what you're in for. These are two Chiller Theatre reguars (perhaps I'll take this as an apology for what went on with the K. Gordon Murray collection...I want my Brainiac!) with an extremely oddball 1968 latin skinflick thrown in, which is actually a grade lower than "Curious Dr. Humph". Alpha offers 2 of these films but you know you're getting more bang for your buck here, no offense Alpha. With "Monstrosity" 3 girls are used as pawns by a body seeking crone and the doctor who is assisting her. Everything but the kitchen sink is in here, not bad for a flick that takes place in 4 rooms of a mansion. Atmosphere, bad acting and general insanity abound. The Spanish maid gets a cat brain and winds up on the roof just above the dogman - and here I thought we would have a good fight. Well, whatever... Mix the special effects of Hypnotic Eye with the good time cheese of Spider Baby, and this is what bubbles out. Next up we have "Love After Death", what looks to me to be a South American skinflick from 1968. Best special effect is the drag queen. Oh, and check out the miscasting of the dead guy's wife. Her, a virgin? Yeh; she's as pure as the driven snow... after it's been driven over a couple hundred times. Seems that her impotent man turns into a dynamo after he's buried- this guy rises from the grave in more ways than one!! But anyay, it looks like it was filmed in New Jersey for six bucks (check out the castle and you'll see what I mean. Can't find a castle, borrow a museum... (see Unhinged for more on that one. Nice little shock ending there, and actually was a fun little time spender. On to "Incredible Petrified World" another Chiller Theatre classic- just scanned through it as I have VHS from Sinister Cinema and have seen it a billion times. All I have to say is: see it for the lava. Pour whiskey on a cowpat and light, I guess...Gotta love this film. Also included are a slew of trailers and some great new music from Something Weird favorites The Dead Elvi. (If anyone reads this who can do something about it, how about an album or two on this website, it'd be much appreciated).

Other viewers may respond more positively than me to Britten's "Death in Venice." The searching and inward qualities of the writer Aschenbach are certainly noble, but, while I am far from a prude, there is a repulsive quality here which loses me. Nonetheless, Britten is a terrific opera composer, his last opera has magnificent music and the performance is superb. Robert Tear is very moving as Aschenbach. He is in excellent voice and his superb, plangent tenor is matched by eloquent acting. Alan Opie, too, is quite fine, in very good voice and offering a wide variety of acting skills in his numerous roles. The staging, video and sound are first rate.

Although this is in English, I wish subtitles were available, as they would have made it decidedly easier to understand the entire opera. Fast moving choruses are indecipherable without them. I definitely got more out of this by reading through a libretto as I watched. Still, if you can embrace the story, this is recommended. By the way, the production is not from 1973 but from 1990.

Well, we now have two performances of this opera on DVD: the one by the Glyndebourne opera, and this film from Tony Palmer. It's a film rather than a recording of a stage performance, and, perhaps necessarily, reminiscent of the Visconti film. Some of the lines are so similar that, if I didn't know otherwise, I'd think one artist was stealing from another. It's more visually interesting than the austere Glyndebourne performance, but I kept expecting to hear Mahler rather than Britten. Hallelujah, thank God and Image Entertainment that this DVD has subtitles in the original languages. That is when English is being sung, the subtitles are in English; when Italian, then Italian; and when German, in German. One aspect of both performances that I don't care for is that the actors playing Tadzio are not the delicate fourteen-year-old of Mann's novella, but robust dancers in their late teens.

This is a very engaging movie. The story itself is alright. It's about an orphan named Xiao Hai, played by Ting Wa-Chung, who is raised by a crime boss played by Lung Fei, and begins to learn the Chicken fist when he falls for a girl who is a mantis fist expert, played by Kam Yin-Fei.

The reason to get this film is the fight coreography. While it kind of looks undercranked, it's not obvious, unlike some of those Alexander Lo Rei 'Ninja' films during the 80's. And the treat is watching Kam Yin-Fei. She is AWESOME. Not only does she have a lot of power, reminiscent of Michelle Yeoh's on-screen fighting, but she's also very acrobatic. She does as many flips and leg sweeps as the lead character Xiao. Xiao is not a very sympathetic character, but he is a great on-screen fighter and verry acrobatic. He does multiple flips in one spot, not unlike Li Yi Min in some of his films. Lung Fei is also great, but there is some body doubling when his character does some flips.
The downside of this DVD is the picture quality. It is full screen and looks like it was taken from a VHS source. I also had a problem with the sound effects during the fight scenes, but I think that was more a fault of the original makers of the films. Some of the body blows, for instance, had the same sound effect as the 'slap' sound made when one guy blocks a hit with his arms. You realize how important proper sound effects are to making a fight work in a kung fu film.
The special features are interesting, but nothing special. Gordon Liu's interview isn't very enlightening. It's rather distracting that the voice doing the translating only picks out every other sentence (it's like he only had one shot at translating), he translates for both the interviewer AND Liu, and in his British accent, he sometimes throws in British terms, like 'bloke'. The demonstration of Hung Gar is interesting, but is more for show than actual learning value.
Overall, the film deserves a 5. The fight coreography is well paced and top notch. And watch for the girl. It's a wonder why she didn't do any other kung fu films of note. She could have been another Moon Lee or Michelle Yeoh if she was doing her thing in the late 80's. 'Death Duel Of Mantis' - a film you shouldn't pass up on.