Stranger than Fiction   on January 25, 2005 - 1:17 PM PST   of Ed Wood (1994) 4 out of 5 members found this review helpful   Much has been said about Tim Burton's films. Some may never forgive him for Batman Forever or the disappointing Planet of the Apes (the anticipation for that was almost as excruciating as waiting for the end), but you can't deny his ability to capture an aura. It's almost as if Burton has reanimated a lost autobiography of Edward D. Wood Jr. written and directed by the principal of the film himself. Not only does this film perfectly reminisce the camp and kitsch of a 50's era B classic, but the characters Wood surrounds himself with, are just as vintage. Landau necromantically plays Bela Lugosi to a much deserved Oscar and Lisa Marie makes an uncanny Vampira. Though I've never heard the original screen Queen of Darkness speak, the resemblance is unearthly right down to Vampira's inappreciable 17 inch waist. Ed Wood is easier to embrace if one has viewed a few of Ed's charming pictures, especially his signature film, Plan 9 from Outer Space. If you view Ed Wood without having been subjected to Plan 9 then you will almost certainly feel implored to add it to your Greencine queue and promote it to the coveted #1 slot.

Litter Mate   on June 9, 2004 - 11:07 AM PDT   of Ginger Snaps 2 - Unleashed (2004) 2 out of 3 members found this review helpful   Ginger Snaps 1 established a solid place in the lycanthropic cult realm with intriguing and developed characters, a pedigreed plot, and convincing gore, but in the curse of substandard succession, Ginger Snaps 2 - Unleashed (2004) could not escape the disease of the sequel. A howling dissapointment to those who fell under Ginger 1's spell. If blood is what you want than blood is what you'll get. Unfortunately, if you like your gore from flesh on fang than you'll be disappointed. Director Brett Sullivan does a decent job of quenching fan's thirst except most of the blood is let by heroine Bridgette's (Emily Perkins) own hand upon her flesh in close-ups with scalpels, needles, or broken glass as she shoots up wolfs bane or explores her own healing rate in order to better understand her advancing disease. Unfortunately Sullivan may have blown his effects budget here instead of on blood-lusting beasts. If you come here to see werewolves, go back. Fans of Katharine Isabelle, who plays Ginger in both GS 1 and 2, will be disappointed, as her role is minimal and screen time even less. If you're going to watch this film just to see how Ginger makes it into a sequel, please just ask someone. Ginger's timorous sister Bridgette, however, pleasingly develops from the introverted high school goth girl in GS 1 into a strong and willful little demoness. This film may belong in the Wolfman section of your horror library, just keep it hidden behind it's far better predecessor.

Requiem for the director   on April 16, 2004 - 9:58 AM PDT   of Requiem for a Vampire (1971) 1 out of 3 members found this review helpful   An excruciating exercise in...well exercise. In most films it can be assumed that when a character ascends a staircase or enters a room or walks across a field, they will complete their short journey. Jean Rollin feels he must film the entire sequence for us. Perhaps one or two of these shots is welcome, if nothing else than to showcase the miniskirts adorned by the two young virgin-heroines. I'm sure Rollin had a point, but it breaks the threshold of monotony. I did enjoy the beautiful French landscape scenes and gothic cemetery sets. I even favored the campy Dracula-esque costume save maybe the vampire's obtrusive overbites. Even for a low budget, pre-prosthetic, custom molded fang era movie, these incisors were incredulous. If you've ever taken soda straws and attached them to your teeth playing walrus or vamp at Burger King, then you've done a better job. The only saving grace to this suck-u-bus of a film is the savage orgiastic dungeon scene where vampiresses and wild mortal men alike, have their way with chained virgins. There are a few more love scenes and blatant nudity, but even as one of the precious young French girl gives away her virginity, Rollin focuses the camera on her face for an eternity. Okay only 5 minutes, but 5 whole minutes on just her face?