Mandy (2018) Movie Review

Red lives in the middle of nowhere with his bookworm girlfriend, the perfect place for a little mayhem. A chance encounter on a dirt road causes a cult leader to unleash the spawns of hell on the unsuspecting couple. Just for an opportunity to drop acid with Reds girlfriend. Normally this would be a very short movie but Red isn't just a country bumpkin lumberjack. Oh no, he's secretly a billy-bad-ass. Evil hellions don't stand a chance!

It's so cliche that critics love this movie. Actors starring blankly off into the abyss, full frontal flaccid male nudity, weird lighting, low quality grainy film, symbolism driven flashbacks that are open to interpretation, a painfully slow story that makes little sense, which runs for an hour longer than it should, all the things critics love but have nothing to do with enjoyable entertainment for the rest of us.

YouTube Mandy Trailer

One the best things about this movie is Cage stays away from playing an over the top parody of himself for most of the film. The character of Red never really develops, he gets introduced as a simple lumberjack. Then after they take his girl, he goes to an old friend to get his crossbow. Which is never explained. It's not like its a fully automatic assault rifle with a rocket launcher that you have to hide from the government, girlfriend, and mother. Even weirder his friend, after learning a cult with demon spawned bikers from hell for muscle, killed Reds girlfriend, does nothing. But Red goes home and forges a wicked battleax in only a couple hours, should have at least taken a couple weeks, good thing he has a mold laying around for it, and just so it looks cool for his revenge-vigilante-murder spree, he gives it a chrome finish. When he starts taking demons and cult member out one by one he also is suddenly an expert in close quarters hand to hand combat.

This movie is bad, boring and tedious. All the monsters/demons/hell spawns stay in the dark with only their outlines visible. Which the outlines make no sense or convey little to no evil or terror. The characters, for the most part, are just there. The viewer feels nothing during the initial attack. No attachment either way for anyone. The only feeling I had was relief when the credit finally started rolling. The best thing about this movie is Red's wicked cool retro Tiger jersey!

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018) Movie Review

Another Puppet Master movie dropped this year. If you're keeping count at home that is a total of 13 PM movies. Finding out it was released made me realize how much I miss the bonus features on dvds or end content on VHS tapes. There was a time I couldn't wait for the next Full Moon movie to come out. VideoZone always had me begging for more. It was cool to see the 'making of' and interviews with the cast. With so many ways to reach fans today, nothing can really replace the ease of pushing out all that extra content on the same DVD as the movie.

Charles Band has created some good horror series under Full Moon for over thirty years. The creative artist being able to hold onto the rights of their creation has led to long-running franchises. Under the studio system, someone was lucky to hold on to their creation for one movie. The only way to get a movie made was to give up the rights. Sam Peckinpah ('Wild Bunch 1969', 'Straw Dogs 1971', 'The Getaway 1972') had a long history of having his movies taken away in post-production, getting an edit that audiences couldn't follow. Friday the 13th series quickly became under the control of someone who rapidly shifted to cheap gimmicks and into a TV series that made no sense. The Xtro movie the writer/director was able to keep control of the name but not the story. There has been far to many movies, fans want to see, but rights issues make it improbable. The Saw Series quickly became the high grossing horror franchise of all time due to having the person who created it, retaining control.

YouTube Puppet Master 2018 Trailer

Full Moon movies tend to stick to a common formula that works well for horror films, babes, boobs, blood and beasts without taking themselves to seriously. Without ever getting too crazy in any one area. Not 'Dead Alive' (1993) gory, not 'Slave Girls Beyond Infinity' (1987) boobies, and not overusing the big-bad. With the Muppet Master series, they rotate in different puppets each movie. Every fan has his favorite. Not only does this allow them to show off new puppets but leaves fans wanting to see the next movie to see old crowd pleasers but also what devilish new creations will be rolled out next.

Unfortunately, Full Moon movies always tend to have slow spots. The first ten minutes is painfully slow. There is nothing interesting. The dialog, especially between father and son, falls completely flat. These early minutes have a dated feel to them. But, the latest installment of the long-running series quickly picks up when Ashley the girl next door (Jenny Pellicer) shows up and doesn't slow back down. Scream Queen Barbara Crampton had a small role in the first one returns for a bigger part here. Very cool how after thirty years they can bring back one of the original actors. Also, starring is Michael Pare, who was incredible in some early 80's cult movies, 'Streets of Fire' (1984) is a must see. This newest installment does a good job of standing on its own. So if you haven't seen any of the others or have missed a few it's not a big deal. It's a puppet gone wild, kind of movie.