Sex and the City 2 (2010)

"Sex and the City 2" has nothing on the HBO series and isn't nearly as good as the first film. However, as a huge fan of the franchise, I still enjoyed it because I got to see the girls on the big screen.

This film picks up two years after the first "SATC" movie. Carrie and Big are married and still living in NYC, but Carrie's afraid they're in a bit of a rut. Meanwhile, Samantha is struggling with menopause, Miranda's irritated with her new boss, and Charlotte's kids are driving her crazy. When Samantha lands an all-expenses paid trip for all four girls to enjoy a week of luxury accommodations in Abu Dhabi, all four women are thrilled at the chance to escape from reality for a little while. During the trip, Carrie is shocked to run into her ex-fiance, Aidan, in the middle of a Middle Eastern marketplace. How will this chance encounter affect her relationship with Big? Watch the movie to find out.

Here are some of the pros and cons of the movie. (Warning: I'm going to go into some spoilers that weren't included in the movie trailers.)

PROS

+ It's another "SATC" movie! If you love the girls, you will enjoy this movie at least a bit. How could you not?!

+ Although there was some Big/Carrie drama, it was refreshing that everything stemmed from Carrie's behavior this time. For once, Mr. Big didn't do something massively awful to screw the relationship up, which was refreshing to see.

+ The gay wedding was super over-the-top and ridiculous, but very funny to watch. It was also hilarious to see who was getting married (I won't spoil that surprise for you!).

+ Yes, some of the Abu Dhabi scenes were a little much, but I loved the luxury hotel scenes, and when Samantha started flashing condoms and screaming "Bite me!" to an angry mob of religious men, I wanted to applaud.

+ The girls get up and sing karaoke! And they do a good job! Who knew Kim Cattrall could sing so well?!

+The biggest pro for me...THANK GOD the film didn't feel the need to give Carrie and Big a freakin' baby. I am so sick and tired of society telling people that they need children in order to lead happy and fulfilled lives. Carrie and Big have a great relationship, a gorgeous home, and a rich life together. My husband and I are also child-free, and we get so many odd reactions from people when we have to explain that not having kids is our choice. I could very much relate to that scene with Carrie, Big, and the other married couple at the gay wedding, and I'm so glad the producers handled this issue the way they did.

CONS

Unlike the first "SATC" movie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda really took a backseat to Carrie in this film. Their respective subplots were all glossed over and were mainly used as filler material, which was disappointing.

With the exception of Mr. Big, the other supporting characters like Steve and Smith only had about two minutes of screen time each, which was another bummer.

The girls are still sexy and the clothes are still great. I love Kim Cattrall and I think she's gorgeous, but Samantha is supposed to be 52 years old now, and some of her outfits and makeup kind of made her look like a drag queen. It was very sad. Women can be sexy at any age, but that doesn't mean they can pull off any and every look.

Another character that wasn't featured in the film as much as it should have been was New York City! The city itself was such a central focus of the series and of the first movie. I don't think this film did it justice at all.

I enjoyed the gay wedding, but Liza Minnelli singing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" was too much. Seriously. All through the number, I kept whispering, "Make it stop!"

We all know that "SATC" is all about over-the-top fashions, but this movie took things a new level of extreme. On several occasions when Carrie stepped out in a crazy ensemble, everyone in the theatre could be heard muttering, "Seriously?!"

Why did Aidan have to show up?! Sorry, but I have always been on Team Big. I though this Middle Eastern run-in was super unrealistic. Boo!

Finally, if I ever kiss a man other than my husband, I doubt that my hubby will react by rushing out to a jewelry store and buying me the biggest diamond ring he can find. I'm just sayin'.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and I'm sure most die-hard "SATC" fans will like it as well. However, I hope that a "SATC3" is in the works, and that it's much better than this film.

I rented this movie to pass time during a blizzard. I thought I would watch a cute comedy, drink a glass of wine and get some laughs, I only laughed a couple of times. I enjoyed SATC the series and the 1st movie was pretty decent. The second movie....... not so much.

The gay wedding scene, for me was not that bad, the Liza Minnelli "single ladies" performance, I could deal with that, I thought it was slightly funny.

Carrie started whining about not going out every night, really Carrie; you are 1,000 years old, too old to be on the scene all of time. Younger women laugh at older women like Carrie's character who are always on the scene; you look pathetic. I am not married but the t.v. in the bedroom and Carrie thinking she is too cool to stay in w/ her husband being a big problem in the marriage was lame, immature, and made Carrie look like an old pathetic brat.

For the first time Miranda was actually the cool one; she was more chilled out, and the only person who was the voice of reason on their trip to Abu Dhabi.

Charlotte, a dumb plot, I mean storyline; there was no plot. Who is going to allow their nanny to walk & play around their children and husband w/o wearing a bra; come on.

The trip to Abu Dhabi was pointless, I was expecting the plot to begin once they arrived in the U.A.E. That did not happen. There was no plot. I have been to the U.A.E. I thought they would use the movie as a platform to break stereotypes about the middle east, they just reinforced them. The biggest one is that all women in that part of the world wear a veil, not true. Many of the women dress just like us. Samantha seemed tired and trashy,in America if a women grabs her dates crotch in the middle of a restaurant there would be plenty of people who would by outraged by it, why make it seem like the middle east is overly sexually repressed in that situation.

I was done when Carrie ran into Aidan in Abu Dhabi, so dumb. Kissing him, calling her husband to tell him about her misstep, and upon her return home he rewards her with a diamond. I pretty sure that just does not happen.

I was hoping the ladies would be growing old gracefully and being an example to younger women about accepting who you are at every age. But instead Carrie is old and whiny, Charlotte is an airhead, Samantha is a tired tramp, and all wore bad make up and even worse clothes.

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This. Movie. Was. Just. Too. Much. It showed absolutely no restraint on all fronts. There were so many reasons to hate this movie, but I'll name a few:

1) It was another road trip. I think the rationale for setting this movie in the middle east was something like, The audiences enjoyed the exotic road trip scenes in the the first movie, so let's create that. Plus the girls will have the opportunity to wear some bright, showy clothing.

2) It was culturally insensitive. The movie was written so that ladies would applaud at the strong women being strong women and sexually liberated antics, but when it is done at the expense of another person's culture, it is wrong. They should have hired a consultant from the middle east to run a sensitivity check on some of these scenes. It just felt like the typical American egocentric, index-finger shaking stance of "Our way of life is the right way to live. Your culture is backward!" Let the middle eastern people live in the manner they see fit. They didn't ask for Americans to validate them and bless their way of life. I just feel like whatever problems they may have is their cultural battle to fight, not ours. I cannot stand the black and white thinking. It feels so sophomoric. I hate when other countries talk crap about America, especially when they don't live here.

If a country is "sexually repressed" and you are not, I think the smartest thing to do would be not to visit. It is not liberating to pretend that you are somehow helping the women of that country by pushing your values on them. It's silly and imperialistic. There was a scene with one of the girls raving in a souk, that was absolutely cringe-worthy and horrifying.

3) The older the women get, the more childish they seem to act. Instead of embracing age with dignity and grace, one of the girls is desperate to turn back the clock. Everyone has to get old, everyone has to die, no amount of Louboutins or Herve Leger dresses is going to stop that from happening. Why not be a role model, show us young-ins how to age with grace, and make way for the new generation? Everything has a season.

4) I get it; you guys are rich! It was so so so upsetting to see the amount of wealth and waste that went into the movie and it was celebrated! In the middle of an economic and environmental crisis, there was just too much excess.

Before I saw the movie, I thought, during the second world war, MGM and other studios made these lavish films to take people minds of the war and depression, to give them an escape. But in this day and age it didn't quite work. I think it's because audiences know too much. Thanks to Sex and the City, Cribs, E! Entertainment television, VH1, Material(istic) Rap, etc, we know exactly how much a Maybach costs. We know exactly how much their suite costs. We know that designer clothes are not cheap and that wearing them to ride a camel it somewhat akin to Marie Antoinette saying, "Let them eat cake!" in reference to the poor French masses. We're riding camels in the Middle East wearing couture! Eat cake America (or should I say, "Wear couture America!")! The movie makers throw it in our faces and we know exactly what it costs. And more importantly, we no longer view celebrities in that soft focus kind of naive way. I know that SJP works out like a dog to maintain her body. I know that she is proud to flash her legs every chance the script gives her. (Her body is great, but sometimes it was a bit excessive as well.) I know that the reason why Kristen Davis's face doesn't move freely is due to Botox and fillers. The bubble on the dream has burst.

The movie's makers thinks it pulled back in respect of the economy. What was the first script like? Did they each charter their own private plane to Abu Dhabi? Carrie says that she and big downsized with respect to an apartment. Ha! Okay, thanks, for trimming a little bit of fat off the giant prime rib.

5) This movie tried to tackle too many things: marriage troubles, relationships troubles, sexual liberation, existentialism. It sinks in a quick sand of corniess and lacks direction. At one point the script even relies on a silly " on the look out" spy trope, where their heads pop out from around a corner in a synchronized fashion. I thought, "what am I watching!?" Sex and the City the TV show was too sophisticated to rely on such tired comedy. Sex and the City is having an existential crisis. I don't think that it was a show that ever meant for the big screen.

6) Frat boy humor comedy. From four ladies in their 40s and 50s--NO!

7) I get it! Samantha has sex. I just no longer want to see her do it. It doesn't come off as funny to see her with some guy on top of her. It is feels a bit demeaning because we've seen this before and there isn't a hilarious payoff. Sex scene with no meaning is just filler. Kim Catrall is too gorgeous and too good of an actress to be used like that.

8) No more heavy black eyeliner on Sarah Jessica Parker. It just makes her eyes looks small. Not flattering. Not sexy. Actually, the make-up in general was too dark and heavy on all of the ladies.

There is probably a lot more. I wish they showed more NY and delved deeper in an organized way into the girl's issues. I thought Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte's problems were the most interesting because the are universal. How do you define yourself after you have been married? How do you balance parenthood and self? How do you define yourself after a physical change? Why couldn't it have been a movie about the existential crisis, with nice clothes? If there is a next time, don't flash the clothing brands in my face (sorry advertisers!); let me wonder where they came from.

Ladies, maybe we can have it all. You just can't have it "all" at once and you certainly can't have it forever. But frankly, after seeing this movie, I think all is too much.

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Where do I start? Let me start with the ugly, jarring harsh makeup. What happened to SJP's lovely face? It looked like her original face was made of latex and then melted over a gas stove and stretched. Sweetheart--you're too OLD to have long dark two-toned hair. You're also too old to be that thin. SJP had the sex appeal of a dried-out stalk of wheat in this movie. Her character, Carrie, is unrecognizable now. The imperfect bubbly cute Carrie has been replaced by this humorless stretched out elitest shrew. She's the kind of woman now that Carrie would not have liked in the series. She's awful to everyone in the movie--condescending to the other characters. In fact, all of them are incredibly rude to "lesser" people--servents, foreigners (they're only foreigners after all!).

Worst things (for me):

-Samantha's wardrobe. WHY do they insist dressing Kim Cattrall like a bad drag queen version of Joan Crawford? She has a lovely figure and they always stick her in these ridiculous hard-edged power suits with enormous shoulder pads.

-Samantha also got the honor of saying the worst line of the movie "Lawrence of my labiaaaa!" which was embarrassing to witness

-Miranda was tolerable, except when she lowered the window of the car in the desert, screeching like she was at a sports bar at the goat herders at the side of the road--just culturally tin-eared and disrespectful and they seemed to rush to herd back the goats who were startled, glaring at this over-privileged moron in a $400,000 Mercedes

-Charlotte gets camel toe. Oh goody. More vulva jokes! Really? Does Charlotte have to be humiliated in some scatalogical way now in every movie? The spoiled entitled American idiocy of her holding out her phone yelling about reception on top of the camel was also atrocious. Again, completely disrespectful and something Charlotte of old would NEVER have done

-Carrie's prudish covering up of Samantha at every turn, but she shows up to meet Aiden (after hilariously kohling her squinty tired-looking eyes to even smaller proportions) in a thigh-baring cleavage-revealing top and skirt.

-Mr. Big, the true virile man's man, posing like a ponce-y English Noel Coward in brown satin pajamas holding a teeny tiny teacup and saucer.

-They ask Samantha what she's eating, even though most normal people, and particularly supposedly sophisticated people from New York City have known what HUMMUS is since like 1991.

I was a huge SATC fan, and I enjoyed the first movie, but this movie was the kind of irritating where you want to kick something or drink. My beloved characters were ruined.

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Wow. Just. WOW.

And not "wow" in a good way, either! Sex in the City 2 starts where the first movie left off. I'm a fan of the original HBO series and even though that show didn't exactly do much for empowering women, it was still a guilty pleasure of mine. After all, there's nothing wrong with girls enjoying fashion, makeup, fabulous lifestyles in fabulous places, and MEN... Even if some negative stereotypes separating the genders were still enforced even if the show supposedly broke boundaries.

The first movie was unnecessary, in my opinion, and this second movie is even less necessary. And yet, I willed myself to see them both -it's just something one has to do if you're a fan of the show, and the makers of these films were definitely banking on the original fan base to sell this mess. It's clear the writers are different for this movie compared to the original show, because even though Carrie is just as lame with her stupid puns (which she THINKS are so clever) in this movie, the "wittiness" in these movies is more just for the sake of having some jokes rather than having the witticisms be part of Carrie's personality.

*** spoilers ***

I thought it was inconsistent with the characters' personalities that Steve would cheat on Miranda and they'd break up. I don't know if other people think differently, but that's just the way the movie hit me. I thought the subplot with Carrie and Aiden kissing in the Middle East was flat out forced and just stupid.

AND most important to me of all is that this movie is insultingly ignorant of women's issues in the Middle East.

Utterly ridiculous.

Subplots with Charlotte and Big and Samantha were all just excuses to bring familiar characters around for an extended SATC episode. Nothing shocking, though it tries to be. It's just all familiar, tired ground, and not interesting.

-and the karaoke scene! SO painful my stomach hurt, I was so embarrassed just watching it.

Rich, stupid, aging women act like teenage tramps in a foreign land and completely disrespect that country's customs. One can challenge a society's views without coming off as an ignorant snob, and yet that's exactly how these women came off.

YAWN.

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Live Nude Girls (1995)

You have to smile at the idea of all of those viewers, predominantly of the male persuasion, who took one look at the title of this DVD, and may be a second look at Olivia D'Abo, Dana Delaney, and Kim Cattrall on the cover, and decided to rent it only to end up being bitterly disappointed. You have to give credit to writer-director Julianna Lavin because she reneges on all three parts of her title. Working back to front, except for some flashbacks the characters are women in their early thirties and not girls, the nudity is more emotional than physical (and for the latter you have to look really quick and then wait for the end of the movie when there is a lot of water), and when there is nudity it tends to occur in fantasy rather than reality. So there are going to be people totally devoid of any understand of the concept or irony who are not going to like this movie and the fact that what substantive nude scenes exist are erotic as defined from the feminine perspective will just be seen as adding insult to injury by the same.

Those who should enjoy "Live Nude Girls" will be woman of the same ages as the characters. Jill (Delaney) is the gossip of the group, Jamie (Cattrall) is a B-movie actress who may or may not be getting married, Marcy (Cynthia Stevenson) is being blackmailed by her soap opera star boyfriend (Glenn Quinn), and Rachel (Laila Robins) is basically stuck being Jill's uptight sister. They have gathered at the house of Georgina (Lora Zane), who is bisexual and currently living with Chris (d'Abo), for what would be described as a slumber party as long as everybody involved understands sleeping will probably not be involved. What will be involved is talking, mostly about sex, which necessarily involves talking about relationships and get to talking about fantasies as well. There is not a specific plot against which these conversations are held. Jamie's fiancé is at his bachelor's party and she expects the worst, Marcy has reason to worry about Randy showing up, Jane has something she does not want to tell Rachel, and Georgina and Chris are having problems, but what serves as the climax for this movie is the sun coming up the next morning.

There is more humor to be found in this 1995 movie than profound insights. I liked the gender-reversal conversation that Marcy has with Randy, especially since a man would never dare have such a grin on his face while saying the exact same things, but for the most part it is the act of self-disclosure and not what is actually disclosed that matters the most here. Men are usually the subject of the film's barbs, which proves that boys will be boys when it comes to immediately picturing women naked and that men will as likely behave like boys as well given the opportunity at a bachelor's party. I was going to say that the weak part of the film is how it keeps the character of Chris on the periphery, which allows Georgina to indulge in flights of fantasy, but since ultimately I find the point of "Live Nude Girls" to be that talking and talking about everything is important, I have to admit the point is underscored in the negative by Chris's self-exclusion from the gab fest (and certainly reinforced by what she does during the finale in the pool). If Lavin gets her viewers to not only admit they should have their own slumber party, but actually end up having one, then she will have done well by making this film.

A better title might have been, "Chatty Neurotic Girls". Very talky and static; not terrifically engaging, unless you like the idea of eavesdropping at a substantially atypical girls' night out. There's a fine, attractive cast (Cattrall seems to be rehearsing her character from "Sex and the City," from what this cable-deprived fellow has read of that series), but (yawn) not much to do, and the situations are SO drearily melodramatic. More live nudity would have been an improvement.

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The title of this film is very deceiving & it's pretty clear that it was designed to lure people in. I actually saw this movie way back in the early 90s. I forgot all about it and got excited and bought it a few years back. I thought it was a sure-fire to be wall-to-wall skin. After all, it features 2 names (Dana Delany and Kim Cattral) who have shown no aversion to shedding their clothes in other movies.

Well, I was way wrong. There is MAYBE 10 seconds worth of nudity in the whole movie. It's also supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't find it particularly humorous, either.

For what it is, it's an OK movie. It details what is basically a slumber party for a group of grown women. Some of the dialogue about sex is cool kind of like finding out what goes on in a women's locker room. There's also some exploration of how being a lesbian might make life more "simple" than being straight.

However, in the end, I found this to be a pretty dull film. Most importantly, it does not deliver on what the title promises. I would be far more forgiving if they had named this movie something else, but I do detest false-advertising.

Read Best Reviews of Live Nude Girls (1995) Here

In this movie a group of women who are longtime friends get together for a "girls' night in". They end up talking about various of their sexual experiences in real life and fantasy. The fantasies seem like ones women really have and the experiences are like ones some women have and others could at least relate to. There was a great deal of humor, but also real feeling. In the process of sharing all this, the women gain a closer bond with each other and with other women in general.

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A decent movie, though it fails to keep your attention fully throughout the whole show.

But if you want to see a movie covering mostly a slumber party full of beautiful women talking about sex (plus a little nudity), this might be it. (The title is not to be taken literally, of course.)

By the way, the song that's playing during the fantasy scene with Olivia d'Abo and Lora Zane at around 45 minutes is "Picture Of An Angel", by Candy Says. More info here:

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History of the World Part 1 (1981)

I wasn't familiar with History of the World until someone recommended that I see it. I knew a little of who Mel Brooks was and had seen Young Frankenstein so I knew this might be good. Now I think it is one of the funniest movies ever, a genius spoof of world history troughout different period of time. You get to see prehistoric man invent art, and along with the first art came the first art critic. We see the real story behind Moses and the Ten Commandments. The best part to me was the part about the Roman times, when Comicus the stand up philosopher is introduced. I was laughing long and hard when Comicus gets a job as waiter at the Last Supper. Also spoofed are the Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution.

History of the World is a great movie that features a terrific cast including Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman and Sid Caesar. There are others, but together they give an entertaining perspective into some of history's most important events. There are also countless quotes from the movie that will stick with you for a long time after you hear them. This is something I recommend seeing, as even after 23 years it still seems as fresh as ever with the humor it provides.

Though it's not considered a classic like Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, there are a lot of laughs to be found in Mel Brooks' HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I, a zany,if inconsistent look at Biblical times, the Stone Age, Ancient Rome, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution as seen through Brooks' demented brain. The film is not as all encompassing as its title implies, but Mel gives his own twisted vision to these particular times in earth's history, which includes Mel himself in four different roles, including Moses and his own version of Louis XIV (It's Good to be the King). Mel gathers his usual nutty repertory company together and laughs are provided by Sid Ceasar (very funny as a caveman), Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise (hysterical as Cleopatra and Ceasar), Gregory Hines, Cloris Leachman, and Harvey Korman as Count De Money ("That's De Monay!!!).

As always in his films, music is key and the Spanish Inquisition is presented here as a mammoth production number that is guaranteed to either amuse or offend,depending on your mood. Hard-core Brooks fans will love it, others be warned...there's something to offend everyone here.

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So many have reveiwed the movie, I would like to comment on the improvements of the Blu-ray release.

I was quite impressed, I always saw this as a grainy movie if the 1980's. This Blu-ray release is re-mastered with pure sharp images and bright clean colors. The sound also seems to be cleaned up a bit more. This movie looks like it was shot yesterday. You would not know its age until you see what Mel looks like today in the bonus material interview.

In addition to the great re-mastering, we are now treaded to bonus a documentary & trivia. Find out who was really cast for the movie & why tha last minute changes were made.

Now HISTORY gets the same deluxe treatment that BLAZING SADDLES & YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN got on their DVD releases.

Oh, and the movie itself just gets better with age.

This is well worth the upgrade, both movie qiality & monus material.

Read Best Reviews of History of the World Part 1 (1981) Here

When you see a title such as this with Mel Brooks the director, you pretty much know what you're getting. And Brooks does not disappoint. He uses the same philosophy as in "Silent Movie," marrying old jokes to veteran actors with hilarious results. It's no different here, whether it's Sid Caesar as a caveman who invents "rock" music, Brooks himself as Comicus, a stand-up comic and waiter at the Last Supper in ancient Rome, or Brooks regular Harvey Kormann as Count de Money ("de Monet, de Monet") in a send up of the the French Revolution, every old joke and routine is resurrected . . . and never fails to keep us laughing.

Besides Kormann and Caesar, Brooks is ably supported by Gregory Hines (his first film, and a great flair for comedy), Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Shecky Greene, and the great Spike Milligan.

And just when you think it can't get any sillier, along comes Brooks and the Spanish Inquisition in Swingtime, a beautiful parody of MGM musicals.

The only shame of this movie is that Brooks never got around to making a Part Two.

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When this film first appeared more than 20 years ago, it temporarily threatened to replace world history courses in schools, colleges, and universities. Of course, that didn't happen. Probably just as well, given the fact that screenwriter, producer, and director Mel Brooks never wrote, produced, and directed Part II and its eagerly-awaited portrayals of "Jews in Space" and "Hitler on Ice." There are historians' homes in which Brooks is still not welcome. In any event, what we have in Part I is a combination of five extended sketches: The Dawn of Man, The Stone Age, The Spanish Inquisition, The Bible, and The Future. Inevitably there are some gaps.

Brooks appears in several different roles while (in fact) portraying himself: Moses, Comicus, Torquemada, and King Lou. Other members of the Brooks Ensemble Company include Madeline Kahn (Empress Nympho), Cloris Leachman (Madame de Farge), Harvey Korman (Count de Monet), Ron Carey (Swiftus), Andreas Voutsinas (B'ernaise), and Shecky Green (Marcus Vindictus). Brooks has assembled a cast of thousands. The production values are remarkably good. However, as in other Brooks films such as Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety, the quality of the humor varies from Brilliant & Inspired (e.g. King Lou professing love of "the little people" while shooting at airborn peasants who have been launched as targets: "Pull!") to Oh No (e.g. Moses reducing the number of Commandments to Ten by dropping/breaking one of three tablets while descending Mount Sinai, and, Jesus becoming confused by use of his name as an expletive). Brooks is an incurable gagster and punster. More often than not, the humor in this film works. But when it doesn't....

Several clever touches. For example, beginning the film with a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Orson Welles providing the voice-over. Also, it is fun to play the equivalent of "Where's Waldo" by trying to spot familiar actors in supporting roles such as Bea Arthur (Clerk), Charlie Callas (Soothsayer), Jack Carter (Rat Vendor), Sid Caesar (Chief Caveman), John Gavin (Marche), Ronny Graham (Oedipus), Nigel Hawthorne (Official), John Hillerman (Rich Man), Hugh Hefner (Entrepreneur), Barry Levinson (Column Salesman), Spike Milligan (Monsieur Rimbaud), Howard Morris (Court Spokesman), Jan Murray (Nothing Vendor), and Henny Youngman (Chemist). As I said, a cast of thousands...if not more.

Brooks' best films, those most effectively developed, are The Producers and Young Frankenstein, the latter being a remarkably respectful version of several earlier films. All comics are thieves. The best comics steal from the best sources. I thought about that when I saw this film again recently, wondering if Brooks' History of the World -Part I was in any way influenced by The Story of Mankind (1957), a film based on Henrik Willem Van Loon's bestseller. For purposes of parody, The Story of Mankind would be an excellent target of opportunity. Those among its diverse cast of thousands (if not more) include Charles Coburn'(Hippocrates), Ronald Colman (The Spirit of Man), Cedric Hardwicke'(High Judge), Dennis Hopper'(Napoleon), Hedy Lamarr'(Joan of Arc), Peter Lorre'(Nero), Virginia Mayo'(Cleopatra), Chico Marx'(Monk), Harpo Marx'(Isaac Newton), Groucho Marx'(Peter Minuit), Agnes Moorehead'(Elizabeth I), Vincent Price (The Devil), and Cesar Romero'(Spanish Envoy). Whenever a list of the Ten Most Pretentious Movies Ever Made is formulated, The Story of Mankind is frequently and deservedly given serious consideration.

Despite its several flaws, The History of the World -Part I remains a generally entertaining, at times hilarious film. Whenever I see it again, I feel eager anticipation as I await its strongest scenes, willing to endure its weakest meanwhile. To me at least, the previews for Part II (which conclude Part I) suggest why Brooks resembles the Little Girl with The Curl: "When she's good, she's very very good but when she's bad...."

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Camp Nowhere

I have been reading the reviews, most of which are obviously written by teenagers or preteens.

My husband, also 30something, tuned into this on cable the other night. and we both sat and watched the whole thing. It's "Lord of the flies" set in modern day, but much more fun to watch.

Christopher Lloyd, best known as "Reverend Jim" on t.v. show Taxi, and "Doc Brown" in the Back to the Future movies is the only known star that shows up in most of the movie. He plays the authority figure throughout the film when the parents' aren't.

It's a "let's see how much we can get away with while the parents aren't looking" movie. and I have to admit, it was pretty cool..Both my husband and i were thinking: That is cool..I wish I could've done that. It's a fantasy for younger teens. Basically, some rich kids pool all their summer camp money together and create their own fantasy camp and their parents think that they are all at the camps they were originally supposed to go to for the summer: fat camp, computer camp, drama camp.. instead, it's just 'HAVE FUN ALL SUMMER camp..OR Camp Nowhere at some run down land that Lloyds' character finds.

The teens all come together and help Lloyd from going to jail.

It's a cute little film that certainly isn't one of the most classic of the teen genre, but certainly is entertaining enough.

A lot of silliness goes on, and eventually chaos!!! the parents want parents day..of course, they have to get caught eventually, right?

check it out...

This movie is great. It is very hilarious and well worth your time. It is almost a five-star movie in my opinion, but I can't give it more than four because some of the scenes are just plain corny and/or ridiculous. And yes, as one reviewer mentioned, the parents are represented wrongly, in that they never suspected anything, which does not seem real.

On the other hand, that same reviewer mentioned that he did not finish watching this movie because of cursing. I seriously do not know what he is talking about. I only remember very occaisional and rather mild swearing.

All in all, this is a great movie that is definitely worth watching more than once. I definitely recommend at least renting it, if not buying it.

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I recently rented Camp Nowhere. Best movie I have seen in my life. It is SO funny. It is all about this group of four teens {two girls, two boys} whos parents are making them go to summer camps in which they do not want to go. They find Dennis Van Wilker {Christopher Lloyd} and they scam thir parents into this camp. Along with many other kids, all summer this "camp" which is really just a big party, goes great. In August, all the parents want a Parents Day, so they pull of "the GREATEST scam of all time" At the end, the truth is revealed, nothing bad happens. The whole movie, Mudd and Gabby have a little crush going on and wont admit it to each other but at the end Mudd and Gabby have a nice wet kiss.

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CAMP NOWHERE has been one of my favorite flicks for a long time. I just saw this flick again for a second time on TV today. Although I'm 17 years old, I still find this movie very enjoyable. It's about this geeky kid named Mudd (Jonathan Jackson) and three other kids (including Andrew Keegan), who come up with a plan to make their summer vacation the most fun vacation they've ever had by creating their own camp called Camp Nowhere, with the help of an ex-drama teacher named Dennis (Christopher Lloyd). The camp was just supposed to be for the four of them, but then a bunch of other kids find out about the camp and they end up going to the camp, too! It's a wild and crazy summer for the kids with no rules or responsible adults. The kids get to do whatever they want, while their parents think they are away at computer camp, weight-loss camp, military camp, or drama camp! And of course, they've got megabucks to spend on whatever they want from the money their parents paid for the camps. But then their parents come for parents' day and they have to prove to them that they are really at the camps their parents thought they were!

This movie is very hilarious and fun to watch with your friends. You can watch it over and over again without ever getting tired of it. With an allstar cast including Jonathan Jackson, Andrew Keegan, and Christopher Lloyd and a great script, how could you go wrong? If you haven't seen CAMP NOWHERE, I definitely recommend that you do. You must buy this movie 'cause it's da bomb! And Jonathan Jackson is really cute in this movie, too!:-)

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This movie was the reason I joined up with Amazon, thus, as everyone can guess, it can't be bad. Right? Right!

Let's start with the movie: it's very amusing. While there are only very few truly funny scenes (most notably the car wash scene with Cristopher Lloyd), the whole movie is lighhearted and easy going, with nice characters with whom you can identify. And altough there are a bunch of them the most important are 5: Mud, Gaby, Trish and Zach the 4 main kids who originate the camp idea and the adult they blackmail into helping them, Dennis. All have their quirks, all come to terms with them. And some come together in the process, which you, as the viewer, will if not love, then atleast like a lot. All in all I can say this is one decent family movie, which both the kids and the adults ought to like.

In other words highly recommended!

Lets go to the next part the packaging. While the extra features are few (Spanish audiotrack + chapter menu) the enhanced 16:9 transfer is excellent. You'll probably enjoy it even on a computer, as the final resolution is big enough for even 19" monitors. The sound... well, this is the only detail I can complain about the package carries a "Dolby Digital Surround Sound" notice, which ain't true both audiotracks, while in Dolby's format, are only stereo. But as this ain't really a movie where you can do much with surround sound then this shouldn't be a reason why to skip this release. Besides the number of channels audio is fine.

So, to take it all together: very nice movie with very good picture and more than decent audio. And while there are practically no extras it's no reason why your family shouldn't own a copy of this DVD.

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Sunflower: Sophia Loren Award Collection (1970)

Vittorio De Sica's Sunflower is one of those nice ideas for a love story that doesn't really pay off. Sophia Loren is the devoted wife who refuses to believe missing husband Marcello Mastroianni is dead on the Russian front after the end of the Second World War and determines to find him. Unfortunately the stars never really convince, playing almost parodic working class characters who are more mildly irritating than engaging with his exaggerated nasal accent and her bad wig they just remind you of one of those couples who you end up constantly sharing a dinner table with on holiday despite all your best efforts not to. It's a slave to clichés not one, but THREE railway station separations! but despite the sizeable budget often feels too rushed and half-baked to allow many of them to work even as a production line tearjerker. There's even some surprisingly poor camerawork at times in the Italian scenes that makes you wonder if anybody was that bothered about the final result. A few moments stand out, like the cabin packed with soldiers sleeping on their feet in the Russian winter or a field of sunflowers that are the only marker for the graves of unknown soldiers and peasants, and the last half hour is fairly effective, but it doesn't add up to much.

This is another title that has had a troubled history on DVD, from a decent transfer as part of Lionsgate's Sophia Loren 4-Film Collection (Neapolitan Carousel / Attila / Madame Sans-Gene / Sunflower) to a dire public domain release from Jef Films. Kino Lorber's US DVD and region-free Blu-ray release is certainly the best of the bunch, with a good widescreen transfer in the original Italian with English subtitles, stills gallery and Italian trailer. That edition is also available as part of the Sophia Loren: Award Collection [Blu-ray] (Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow / Marriage Italian Style / Sunflower / Vittorio D / Boccaccio '70) with Boccaccio '70, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Marriage Italian Style and feature-length documentary Vittorio D.

[SUNFLOWER (1970) Directed by Vittorio De Sica Widescreen Italian w/ English subtitles 107 min.] During WWII, a new army recruit, Antonio (Mastroianni) and his lover, Giovanna (Loren) wed and enjoy the marriage furlough awarded him before he's shipped off to the Russian front, never to be seen or heard from again. After the war is declared over, and fraught with despair upon hearing that he was last seen on a frozen battlefield attempting to return against impossible odds, Giovanna promises Antonio's mother that she will set out on an odyssey search for him, and won't return without knowledge of his fate. It's critical to them both to know, despite the outcome. Their mourning may never cease, but they may take dark comfort in closure.

She searches and searches, showing his picture to scores of women who don't even understand her language, in relentless pursuit of a possible lead to his whereabouts, even after being led to a site of unmarked graves acknowledged solely by wooden crosses that stretch out forever. She eventually discovers he's alive and where he is currently dwelling, but their reunion is anything but blissful. Why didn't he return to her after the war? Who is this person he currently resides with? Why wasn't there even a letter sent? Did he no longer love Giovanna, his family, friends and homeland? The answers to these questions aren't easy to comprehend.

As always, the pairing of Marcello and Sophia on screen insures a cinematic event not to be missed by lovers of world cinema, and adding the brilliant directorial skills of De Sica is more than just icing on this multi-tiered cake, it makes for mandatory viewing. At the time of its release, its lack of a Hollywood (read: cop-out) ending insured it dismal box-office receipts and lukewarm reviews due to it going against the grain of what was then the contemporary film trend America was (for the first time) seriously anti-war thanks to Vietnam, and almost all portrayals of WWII were of the 'MASH', 'Kelly's Heroes' or 'Catch 22' variety, unless we're speaking of 'Patton'. But this film seriously demands careful reconsideration now, as it showcases a heart-wrenching performance by Sophia Loren, the always understated brilliance of Marcello Mastroianni, and the keen, mindful eye and expertise of Vittorio De Sica.

A great, gripping drama that doesn't dwell too long in its melodrama, and a bittersweet ending that's thought-provoking long after the end credits roll, 'Sunflower' is a film about life, war, marriage, love and loss, even if there's a twinge of belladonna in the air. Highly recommended.

The Lorber Films blu-ray release offers a stunning print with exceptional colors and great audio quality, and there is a stills gallery and trailers for a few other Loren/Mastroianni must-see films.

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Beautiful movie..i love sophia loren! Living legend..very sexy and elegant. I wish i were more like her! Ahaha well sbout the dvd, i was happy to watch this beautiful movie in my blueray :] came just in time!

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I am so HAPPY WHEN I GOT THE BLURAY! I have been looking for this movie to many years.

LOVE IT!

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When Amazon.com a couple of years or more ago released the normal nstc version of Sunflower, I immediately Bought it, but when I tried to watch it, there was nothing to watch except grey grains. I'm still expecting Amazon to conpenate me. I hope that when Amazon.co.uk release a decent copy of Sunflower, they will send me a Blu-Ray copy free of charge.

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The Incredible Mr. Limpit (2012)

After I watched this movie last night, I found out that Don Knotts had passed away. Kind of a creepy feeling! Anyway, Knotts who won five Emmys for his role as Barney Fife on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW was certainly one of our most endearing clowns. With his trademark voice and bug-eyed delivery, Knotts is one of the true legends of our time, and in LIMPET, he shows us why. Although he has more screen time as the voice of the fishy Limpet, Knotts manages to create a loveable character. The plot's been rehashed in many other reviews, so I'll stick to what makes this animated/live action film such a pleasure. With the cartoon stylings of the early sixties, the movie gives us a dreamy undersea world populated with such creatures as Crusty the Crab and the lovely Ladyfish. On the human front, we're blessed with character actors Jack Weston, Larry Keating, and Andrew Duggan. And the delightfully underrated Carole Cook, whose last scene with Henry the fish is unexpectedly poignant and touching.

A delightful film for the whole family to enjoy and to remember the delightful Don Knotts!

Highly entertaining! Don Knotts gives his best performance in this picture. Kind of funny with the mix of animation and live action in a non-Disney film. With the animation, the singers, it's so lovely. I enjoy every second of this film. Too the people who highly dislike this movie, you're missing out on it. You don't have to be a child to enjoy it. "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" is the finest non-Disney animation/live action film.

Too bad this was one of the last films to be made before the Warner Animation Department in Burbank shut down.

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THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET (1964) is one of the most underrated films of all time. Coming in at approximately #64 on my own personal Top 100, MR. LIMPET is a blend of live action and colorful animation, an impossible fantasy film which somehow manages to entice even the most sourpussed of viewers. Although it starts out a bit slowly, MR. LIMPET is irresistible, a pure entertainment experience.

The fishlike Don Knotts is perfectly cast as Henry Limpet, a nebbishy bookkeeper from Brooklyn, circa 1942. Walter Mitty-like, Henry dreams of being a war hero. His one other passion is his fish tank. When Henry is rejected from military service as a 4-F, he falls into a depression and escapes into unreality by wishing he was a fish.

Walking on the Coney Island pier one day with his wife, Bessie, Henry takes a misstep and falls into the briny Atlantic. Lo, and behold!---he is instantly transformed into a (cartoon) fish (complete with pince-nez glasses). Although Henry is initially lonely, he soon makes the acquaintance of Crusty the Crab and the seductive but loving Ladyfish, and sets off with them to explore his new, aquatic, world.

During one of his many misadventures, Henry discovers that he is the possessor of a powerful vocal "thrum" which can be used as an early warning system. Thinking quickly, he finds the ship his friend George Stickel is assigned to, and convinces Stickel (and the U.S. Navy) that he can act as a sort of secret escort for convoys and naval ships crossing the U-boat strewn Atlantic.

With Henry by their side, the Navy is able to turn the course of the Battle of the Atlantic, discovering and destroying enemy submarines and warships by the score. Although the Nazis try to stop Mr. Limpet, he is able to turn their weapons against them.

His wartime actions earn him high rank and many honors, and Henry Limpet, having become the fish he'd always dreamed of being becomes the hero he'd always dreamed of being, too.

A charming (and oddly gentle) war film, THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET is a nearly forgotten gem, a true popcorn-and-soda family film classic that celebrates the hero in Everyman.

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"McHale's Navy" meets "SpongeBob" with "Action in the North Atlantic"? Well, that's one way to define "The Incredible Mr. Limpet", one of the oddest family fantasy movies ever. An early attempt at a live-action/animation mix, it launched Don Knotts' post-"Andy Griffith" career as the classic "Don Knotts" character: a geeky, milquetoast guy who stumbles into a heroic turn in spite of himself. Henry Limpet, of course, is two characters in one: a nerdy Brooklyn accountant who loves tropical fish, andwella nerdy, bespectacled cartoon fish!

With a WWII setting, he's an obvious 4-F as a human, but becomes an underwater guide for a Navy fleet as a fish. Oh, yeahdid I mention it's also (kinda sorta) a musical?

Though released in 1964, "Limpet" sounds and feels like 1954or is it 1944? It's as quaint as a movie can get: old New York costumes and settings, hokey humor, bumbling Navy brass and a super-patriotic musical choir. The animation, the late-model Warner Bros. kind, is a little bland by "Looney Tunes" standards, even with a few legendary artists (but no Jones or Friz) involved. And the non-Knotts cast is a little bit stiff on the whole, save old-timers Andrew Duggan and Larry Keating as the stuffy admirals.

Yet, somehow, "Limpet" works better than described, especially if, like me, you're still fond of old-school family comedy Americana. The story's a cut above most period Disney fare, both animated and live. As a fish, Limpet's engaged in a kind of proto-"SpongeBob" journey with his purple "Lady Fish" friend and a great little creation calledreally!"Crusty Crab"! A kind of crustacean Yosemite Sam (voiced by great radio/

cartoon veteran Paul Frees), he actually looks and sounds a bit like Mr. Krabsnearly 40 years before "SpongeBob"!

And how does our sea-creature hero, who still looks and sounds exactly like Knotts, interact with humans? Well, after his old Navy buddy George Stickel (the rotund veteran Jack Weston), who keeps getting called "Pickel" by the officers, almost drops dead after he discovers that his old friend Henry didn't drown at Coney Island after all, Henry-the-fish serves as an undersea swimming spy on German U-boats and, after a couple of underwater mishaps, helps the U.S. Navy invade Normandy, all to a booming, George M. Cohan-style patriotic chorus! Oh, yesdirector Arthur Lubin was no stranger to talking creatures, since he helmed most of "Mister Ed" and "Francis the Talking Mule".

They sure don't make 'em like this any more, and "The Incredible Mr. Limpet", tacky and corny as it is, just might be a surreal comedy in disguise. Certainly it's one of the few pre-

"Roger Rabbit" part-animated movies that works, awkward transitions and all (no computer tricks here, folks). It also started a new genre, the Don Knotts nerd-com, as perfected in deathless fare like "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and "The Reluctant Astronaut". It's even a light-hearted salute to the kind of old-fashioned Hollywood patriotism that would get shot to Kingdom Come as the '60s moved on. Why, it probably stuck somewhere in Steve Hillenberg's mind when he grew up to draw the SpongeBob crew.

The extras are modest (a "fishtank" game), but the little promo film, which shows the "Limpet" premiere at Weeki Wachee, an old-Florida tourist trap (it's near Clearwater) that involved mermaid shows and glass-bottom boats, is a priceless little slice of old-Hollywood ballyhoo, complete with a few words from Arthur Godfreywho sincerely thought he'd have a hit with a rendition of "I Wish I Were a Fish", the ditty Knotts sings before he hits the drink. Beatlemania saved us from it.

To enjoy "Mr. Limpet", it probably helps if you still love "My Three Sons", Lawrence Welk and other squeaky-clean '60s stuff. But when the Crusty Crab keeps calling Limpet "Flatbush" and the bumbling admirals give the fish an officers' commission, you're going to laugh. "The Incredible Mr. Limpet"it may be quaint, but it's really an ocean of fun!

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I remembered this movie from my youth. It typically played on Saturday Afternoons. I thought that it would be a great movie for my kids to watch and I was right.

For its time the movies animation and special effects are great. My children 14, 11 and 4 all loved the movie. My 4 yearold found a new favorite. She watched it at least 6 times over the first weekend.

It is a great movie that even adults can enjoy and watch along with their children. It is very difficult these days to find a show that the entire family can watch together and this is one of them.

I think I will try The Ghost and Mr. Chicken next, another classic.

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Trick 'r Treat (2009)

I had a chance to see Trick 'r Treat at the Midwest Premiere in Chicago on the big screen and I am mystified as to why this excellent film was never given a full theatrical release? It far exceeded my expectations and I believe it to have already become a classic film for horror aficionados and lovers of the greatest holiday ever, Halloween.

The film is set up as a sort of anthology of short stories, yet they all intertwine and complement each other in the end. There is some great artwork in the tradition of Creepshow and at times reminded me of that film, but the main difference is Creepshow's stories are all their own and Trick 'r Treat follows one night with several groups and characters that each have their own encounter with a very evil character indeed. The film has lots of suspense, violence, gore, and some sexy nudity in one story involving werewolves. We also have a serial killer principal, some rotten teens trying to scare a nerdy girl, and a story told that is destined to be some type of urban legend in the future involving mentally disabled kids and a disastrous fate. The greatest thing about Trick 'r Treat is its style and campy flavor that truly stuck to the evil side of the tracks. The film was so much fun to watch and destined to be a genre classic.

It's too bad that an original idea comes to Hollywood and and they respond by not giving it a release in theaters and snubbing it. I was very lucky to see it in a theater at all. It really is a shame Hollywood is only pumping out atrocious sequels, remakes, and reinterpretations left and right. I guess seeing indie flicks is the only satisfaction I will be getting anytime soon, for the major studios are filling the theaters with boring horror crapfests!

People all over the webbins have been talking about Trick r Treat for some time now exploring conspiratorial notions on why the film has sat shelved for so long while rhapsodizing about just how well X-Men 2/Superman Returns scribe Michael Dougherty's directorial debut works. Having recently seen the film, I can tell you that I know why the film sat for years: It's one of the more ruthless studio-funded horror films ever made. It's not very gory or explicit at all but it has a truly, deeply, bad attitude. If William Gaines penned morality plays this venomous to hell with the Comics Code. He'd have probably served time. Trick r Treat is overflowing with the kind of anarchic, mean-spirited hilarity that never sits well with the suits.

One of the reasons the film feels so vile is that the people who populate the tale feel so utterly real. It's really hard to explain without spoiling a lot of what makes it work so well, but to give you an idea director Michael Dougherty explained to us that one of the notes he received during the production process was that the children he cast were "too young". Couldn't he make the kids older? Couldn't he cast hotter? That's not to say that elements of the cast aren't flat-out "foxy" (witness the sexi-sexi of Lauren Lee Smith and Rochelle Aytes) but there are sequences in the film that work perfectly because they're not about plasticine twentysomethings. Again I can't explain exactly what I mean without doing you a disservice but when you finally see the film, you'll understand completely.

Trick r Treat has been described in certain quarters as an anthology film but that's not wholly accurate. In truth, the film possesses a non-linear narrative structure it's more a Pumpkin Pulp Fiction than a Creepshow copy (though the EC Comics connection this film shares with Romero's classic make them kindred spirits and a great double bill). The film moves back and forth between tales that, at first, seem to be related only by the presence of the mysterious, malevolent little creature seen in the film's promotional materials. Over the running time, we come to realize that the tiny creeper pops up for a reason and even that detail is something I don't want to spoil for you.

Despite the aforementioned EC Comics vibe (wherein the table-turning reveal that hands the petty thief or adulterous couple their just desserts is par for the course), the twisted twistiness of Trick r Treat still manages to surprise. At different points during the running time, the audience could be heard to speculate on how they felt some swerve might play out very early on, I had an idea of how I thought the tale featuring Dylan Baker should end but I was convinced that there was no way my resolution would fly. That Dougherty was able to do exactly what common sense told me would be excised by an executive before it was ever filmed completely negated my anticipation of the last shot. The sequence ended the only way an understanding of the horror genre dictates it should but instead of feeling "been there, done that" the payoff plays like the reward for sitting through all of the committee-created genre projects that lack the spine to do it right. Another reveal easily the film's most glorious made me feel like a complete idiot. Thinking about it now, I still don't understand why I didn't call it with a chuckle the very moment True Blood's Anna Paquin awkwardly stepped out of her fitting room to face the derision of her friends. At least I wasn't alone by the end of her character's arc, the audience I was part of sat in stunned silence...then burst into reverent applause a response based on elements converging in a perfect storm: a beautifully-shot and edited sequence featuring a fantastic revelation, a flawless mix of practical and computer generated imagery, an awesome character beat and one super-cool line of dialogue. You could sell the film with that single scene...if it didn't give so much away.

The most brilliant thing about Dougherty's film is how it uses Halloween holiday iconography to craft iconic visuals (if the film received the 3,000 screen release it so richly deserved, really cool parents would be dressing their kids up as "Sam" for years). It's Jack O' Lanterns and autumnal golds and vacuformed masks and flame retardant costumes that tie in the back and urban legends and classic monsters and tainted candy and everything else you know and love about October 31st. As so many before me (including Dougherty himself) have said, this is not a film that takes place during Halloween this is a film about Halloween. It's about the reason for the season. Dougherty says his hope was that his film could become a Halloween holiday perennial the one you watch every year. And trust me it is. I'll watch Trick r Treat every CHRISTMAS because the film is a gift.

Jason Pollock

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In October of 2007, a film was briefly marketed and then abruptly shelved by Warner Brothers. The film in question was Michael Dougherty's TRICK `R TREAT, and the theatrical trailer looked promising. Audiences were frustrated when Warner Brothers repeatedly pushed back the release date, and then, without warning, pulled the film completely out of the public eye.

There are a few reasons why this would have happened. For instance, Warner Brothers had just suffered from the box office dud that was SUPERMAN RETURNS, which was directed by Bryan Singer and was written by Michael Dougherty, who eventually helmed TRICK `R TREAT. Both individuals were probably seen as potential risk hazards for executives at Warner Brothers considering the failure of their previous film. Another reason could have been that they simply did not want to compete with the latest SAW-fest. Whatever the case, the people responsible for the marketing of this film should be ashamed very ashamed of themselves. TRICK `R TREAT premiered at several different film festivals, and won the audience award at Screamfest. Harry Knowles and other critics hailed it as one of the greatest Halloween films ever made. With all of the positive hype surrounding the film, no one could quite understand why the good people at WB had remained silent about it.

As of next Tuesday, TRICK `R TREAT will be released...on DVD. Now, there is a stigma attached to straight-to-DVD fare. This is for a reason. Getting a straight-to-DVD release is a bona-fide guarantee that the film sucks. It's never a good sign. However, TRICK `R TREAT is the exception to that rule. Technically, you could say that it doesn't qualify in the S.T.D.V.D. hall of shame simply because it actually screened in theatres, and won awards and critical acclaim, and you'd be right. The film is excellent. It is everything that you would expect it to be and more. It is the little Hallow's Eve indie that could, and has already gained a strong cult following.

What we have here is an homage to eighties horror films, such as CREEPSHOW, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE, and CAT'S EYE. Each film is basically split up into three or four segments, each one telling a different story. TRICK `R TREAT follows this formula, but the narrative structure has more in common with PULP FICTION than anything else. The film is fun. It's not going to keep you up at night, but if you are on its wavelength, you are going to have one hell of a good time! With all of that being said, the film does have it's disturbing moments, but the humor contained within the film tends to balance it all out. We have stories of demons, zombies, werewolves, vampires...we even have a story that centers around an elementary school principal played by Dylan Baker, with just the right amount of creepiness that made his deranged character in HAPPINESS so memorable and disturbing who just so happens to be a serial killer. He knocks off children one by one by poisoning their candy. Afterwards, he proceeds to bury them in his backyard, while his son watches admiringly from the window. Yeah, this segment of the film was pretty controversial, and was probably another factor that caused mainstream film executives to shelve the film.

In short, it's the most fun that I have had with this particular genre in a long time! Both creepy and hilarious at the same time, this film delivers what it promises, and for those of you who have followed the film up until now, I can tell you this: believe the hype, it's all true one of the best Halloween films that I have ever seen. If you love Halloween as much as I do, you'll understand why I loved it so much! Michael Dougherty has given us an instant classic.

Also stars Anna Paquin (THE PIANO, True Blood) and Brian Cox (BRAVEHEART, ADAPTATION).

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I caught Trick `r Treat at the Midwest premiere and was simply blown away. Like most horror fans out there, I have been following this movie since it was first announced and was anxious to see if it could live up to my expectations. And boy did it ever.

Trick `r Treat is a phenomenal movie that captures the spirit of the great `80s horror flicks. It gives us one night of interwoven stories that scare you, make you laugh, make you cry and make you cheer. All the right people get their comeuppance and the viewer is presented with a chewy moral center. The greatest offering Trick 'r Treat has is its heart and honesty. Director Michael Dougherty's passion for the genre bleeds out of the screen and into your heart. This doesn't feel like a photocopied version of what was once great, but instead an original masterpiece that ought to be studied and revered.

I walked out of this movie rejuvenated and filled with wonder. It reminded me of the first time I saw Return of the Living Dead, April Fool's Day, Dolls and so many other classics of the `80s. You see, this isn't gore porn, this isn't a remake, this wasn't originally in a foreign language and this doesn't star the WB actor of the month: THIS IS HORROR! This is a movie that speaks to fans, not one that speaks to our wallets. It speaks to you, not at you.

Now, I don't want to go into a commentary on Hollywood and the way they choose which movies we see, because ultimately, it isn't entirely their fault. We are the ones who spend the money that justifies what they make. If we keep putting money into seeing PG-13 remakes of our favorite horror films from the `80s (and in some cases `90s), it is our fault that they continue making them and watering down the horror gene pool. With the internet, fans have more power than ever to make their voices heard. If we don't fight for the types of movies we want to see, who will? Don't be bullied by Hollywood; fight back. I had never felt the need to really post reviews or opinions before; instead I would commiserate with friends about the inferior products I was being offered. Well, no longer will I passively sit by and watch the genre I love be destroyed. It is up to all of us to make a difference. I can only hope that Trick `r Treat is but the first shot fired in a horror movie revolution.

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To have just seen this last night and know it has been sitting at Warner Brothers doing nothing for two years is a sad sad thing.I've known about this movie in the vaguest of ways for about two years now.Watching this last night was damn amazing.This really should be seen by people,it is a great anthology of Halloween stories.The group of kids pulling a prank was the highlight.You can understand the way WB was thinking by how the writer/director afterwards said the studio wanted hot 20 somethings instead of real kids.Sometimes thinking about the projects that don't get funded or sit in a vault like this,and then think about the garbage that does come out makes me mad.I can't wait to see this again.

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American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (2009)

Anyone that has watched the films in this series since the beginning (American Pie Unrated (Widescreen Collector's Edition)) is going to inevitably rate this film in comparison to the other films. The first film, much like another film of that same general era (The Matrix (10th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]) was somewhat ground breaking. It was raw, crude, lewd, and really, really funny thanks to being so lewd and crude. The later films in the series have had that bar to jump over and some have been mildly successful (American Pie Presents The Naked Mile) while others have been merely amusing. This particular film (Book of Love) seems to fall into that range with nothing to really push it towards a higher rating. For me, I think I'd have to put this one into the same ratings area as American Pie Band Camp (Unrated Widescreen Edition). While this film is, at least in the Unrated version, loaded with more gratituitous T&A than that earlier film, the story seems to be about as weak as that earlier story was.

There are several cameos in Book of Love that do add to the fun, and a load of extras that add value as well, but personally I'd have to say that this one veers far more to rental territory than to purchase territory. Tread carefully here. If you aren't a fan of the series, then look elsewhere.

Hopefully the next film in the series delivers something a little better for everyone to enjoy.

The AMERICAN PIE series is by far my favorite group of comedy films so I hate to say that BOOK OF LOVE is a bad film but it really is. Certainly none of these films are CITIZEN KANE but they have all had some funny gags, likeable and attractive characters and fairly decent scripts (the first four in particular). Sadly this group of actors (who are supposed to be in high school but look to be in their late twenties) can't even pull off this lame material which includes screwing a peanut butter sandwich, oral sex from the family dog and the "Stiffler" character getting plowed in the rear by a CGI moose. All of the characters are unpleasent for the most part (although Ms. Arquett does a decent job). There is really no one to identify with in this film. This time around no attempt is made to link Stiffler with his previous onscreen relatives and his character amounts to little more than a cameo. Even Eugene Levy phones it in on this one. The entire premise of the film is also extremely unlikely and rather stupid. Hopefully the inevitable part 8 will get back on track. This one is true mess.

Buy American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (2009) Now

Once again Universal dumps the high end cameras and transfer into one of their franchises, so the resulting Blu picture and sound are flawless, but in a film that does not qualify. The DTS was mixed perfectly, especially in each fantasy sequence the music didn't drown anything out. The picture was crystal enough to see every pore and flesh tone and there is a great deal of that. Aside from the cameos and fun fantasy sequences, the movie is forgettable, but the supplements are fun and worth the watch, including:

* Making of, 8:00 minutes. Director intros with how he dislikes the usual fare so this and all of the others could have been one long documentary of gags, outtakes and fun on the set. This one covers some brief interviews and gags.

* Love Manual, 5:50 minutes. The hot girls from the movie and some of the cameo guys give their take on how to get with ladies.

* Trivia. One of the cast goes around the set and tests people's memory on some good American Pie trivia. Enjoyable.

* Pie-Cons, 6:50 minutes. Interviews with the long list of cameos in this film.

* Deleted scenes, 11:14 minutes. Plenty of extra skin and forgettable dialogue.

* Gag Reel, 4:00 minutes. More outtakes and adlib stuff hilarious.

* From the Set, 10 clips totaling 19 minutes. Essentially more deleted scenes with lots of extra ladies sans their clothing in funny sequences. Obviously this crew/cast had a good time making the film.

The extended is only a few minutes longer and there really isn't that much of a difference to warrant watching this twice. I would say bookmark the few worthy music scenes on your BD player (love that feature) watch the supplements and skip the rest, but the quality and extras make this a worthy addition to your library if you like the franchise. 3 stars for the positives listed. Enjoy.

Read Best Reviews of American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (2009) Here

With the American Pie movies 2 of them stand out as by far the worst and best of the series. The best being oddly enough American Pie 2 and the worst being American Pie Presents Band Camp the second worst dreaded forth sequel of an movie series with the worst being Wrong Turn 4. Another odd thing about the American Pie movies is that Book Of Love is the second worst of the series and it's follow up American Reunion is the second best of the series.

The plot of the movie is pretty simple 3 guys (Nathan, Rob, and Lube) are trying to lose their virginity in high school and keep striking out big time kind of like Finch, Kevin, Oz, and Jim in the first pie movie. The main character Rob takes the place of Jim in this movie since he is tying to get with a girl named Heidi and keeps woosing out when trying to pick her up, kind of like Jim does with Nadia in the first pie movie. Except the big difference is Heidi isn't an exchange student, is present through out the entire movie, and isn't really comparable to Nadia in the first pie movie. Then there's Nathan who has a girlfriend who won't go all the way kind of like Kevin does in the first pie movie. Except the difference is Nathan's girl (Dana) is not a virgin and has black hair. Then Lube because he's overweight kind of plays the part of Oz and Finch combined without being involved in any sports. And then Scott Stifler takes the place of Steve Stifler in the movie.

Rob accidentally sets part of the school library on fire when going after Heidi at a school dance and puts the fire out with water. After he puts the fire out with water he finds the book of love/bible in ruins through serving detention cleaning up his mess. Him, Nathan, and Lube try to read the book of love and use it to get laid. Then after they end up killing a prostitute (Monique) over 65 years of age in Canada by Rob trying to have sex with her due to a passage in the book of love that was written in 1975 about having sex with Monique that Rob, Nathan, and Lube thought was written in 1995. Rob, Nathan, and Lube find the name Noah Levenstien as the first person who checked out the book, contact him, and find out he was the original writer of the book. Then Noah, Rob, Nathan, and Lube contact everyone else who checked out the book to re-print what they'd wrote in the book.

Now lets look at the mistakes in the movie

*Scott Stifler is by far the least funniest of all the Stiflers including Eric. It seemed like the actor who played him really lacked that jerky voice and presentation of anger it took to play a Stifler. Plus the Stifler's play LaCross and football not basketball.

*Way too many embarrassing youtube videos on Rob. It was almost like Rob's little brother put too many youtube videos up of Rob's embarrassing moments during the movie and the director didn't spread out all the boys trying to lose their virginity getting embarrassed through out the movie like in the first American Pie with Finch, Stifler, Jim, and Oz. Instead (even though Lube got an embarrassing moment or 2 in the movie) it seemed like everything was focused on Rob. And Stifler got a good embarrassing moment at the end of the film that was pretty good. Plus all the embarrassing moments in this film unlike the first American Pie just seemed too fictional and non believable causing them not to be as funny as they were in the first American Pie.

*Stifler's house-When Scott Stifler threw a party at his house it just didn't seem believable as your typical get drunk high school party. The party seemed to have too much going on at it and just wasn't the same as the party's Steve Stifler threw at his hose in American Pie 1 & 2 and American Reunion.

*Eugene Levy has the smallest part of any American Pie movie-Eugene Levy wrote the book of love/bible, why is he only in the movie for 20 minutes straight and not spread out through out the entire movie like he is in the other 7 American Pie movies? And why was the book of love written in 1969 when Noah Levenstien (played by Eugene Levy) was in high school, when according to American Pie Presents The Beta House Noah was captain of the Beta House during the last greek games in 1969 (well technically second to last since in Beta House the house does have the greek games against another fraternity house at the end of the film)?

*No Kevin or Tom Myers-When Rob, Nathan, Lube, and Noah re-construct the book of love they call everyone who's checked it out and wrote in it. These people include the East Great Falls principal, Brett Michaels, and other people. Why where Kevin (ie Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Tom (ie Casey Affleck) Myers not in any of these scenes when they were the ones who were talking about and using the book of love in the first American Pie movie?

But all in although American Pie Presents Book of love may not be the best of the pie series, it's still better then American Pie Present's Band Camp and has a much better ending. Even though it seemed like the creator of this movie tried to take the same approach the creator of the first American Pie did. Except the big difference is the creator of the first American Pie found much better and younger actors no one knew about.

Want American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (2009) Discount?

The Book of Love is the final entry in the American Pie Presents series and it is the worst. Eugene Levy's cameo can't help this outrageous and unfunny sequel. Well, actually it is a recycled version of all the American Pies with the reintroduction of the book of love. The cast has no chemistry and the script feels like it is a first draft. Yes, there's graphic nudity, graphic language, sexual situations, and gross out humor, but it is all done in bad taste. There are a few scenes that attempted to be funny, but failed to do so. I bought the movie for a $1.96 at a Black Friday sale, otherwise I would have never watched it.

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Dogma (1999)

Don't listen to the zealots, this is a great movie. Many people believe that this movie "bashes" Christianity, Catholicism in particular. Now, like Kevin Smith, I am a Catholic, and I was in no way offended by this movie, in fact I saw it five times in the theater. This is a movie that shows the idiosyncracies in church dogma, just as every structure has idiosyncracies. The movie shows these points through an interesting and entertaining story of good v. evil. The overall theme of this movie is that people should be more open to new ideas and to realize what Christ was all about, love and understanding. "Jesus wasn't sent to earth to give us the 'willies,' he is a booster." Finally, this is a great movie, with great ideas and great dialogue. I believe that it is Kevin Smith's best work to date. Matt Damon, Jason Lee, Linda Fiorentino, George Carlin, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Alan Rickman, and Chris Rock all give very good performances, but Ben Affleck does a wonderful job as Bartleby. I would certainly suggest this movie to anyone. Faith is a funny thing.

As a pair of two lapsed Catholics, My husband and I rented this movie on the recommendation of another catholic friend of ours. From the moment they unveiled the hilarious "Buddy Christ" to the moment the ending credits appeared we were rolling on the floor howling with laughter as only two people who spent years in catholic school could.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were great as two fallen angels banished by God to hell (Wisconsin) trying to get back into Heaven through a loophole in Catholic dogma. Which would unfortunately destroy the world because it would prove God fallible. Chris Rock was a very funny 13th Apostle named Rufus and Selma Hayek's role as a feisty muse name Serendipity was also good. Jason Mews and Kevin Smith himself in their perennial roles as "Jay" and "Silent Bob" were a scream as two unlikely "prophets" sent to aid the last Scion played by Linda Fiorentino. My favorite performance was that of Alan Rickman who played the surly and much put upon Metatron (or the voice of God). He portrayed the long suffering character of God's right hand angel with an excellent mix of irony, dry humor, and compassion. His fiery entrance scene was classically funny!

I felt that the weakest performance was that of Fiorentino's who played the main character Bethany, the last Scion charged with the mission of stopping the renegade angels. While she did a good job, there was something that seemed slightly forced in her portrayal of a catholic (who worked in an abortion clinic by the way) struggling with her beliefs just going through the motions of faith. The sarcastic lines lacked some bite and her expressions seemed a bit contrived. Her performance improved in the middle of the movie during her scene with Rickman after she discovers her true identity.

Overall, I felt that Dogma was not about bashing the Catholic church, but about some of the funny things about organized religion and faith. Smith touches on a number of different issues here, and the humor was a great way of dealing with the touchy and explosive subject of religion.

Most critics I suspect were offended by the language, but if you've seen one of Kevin Smith's movies before, that's to be expected. Sometimes you have to look past the messenger to see the message. Other critics sited implausible plot, wordy, or the always elegant "it just sucks". One critic bashed Smith for assuming that everyone was Catholic!

Those that thought the movie bashed Catholicism didn't read into what Smith was saying. Selma Hayek summed it up perfectly "You people don't celebrate your faith. You mourn it." Loosen up people, having a sense of humor about it is part of celebrating your faith.

I agree that the dialogue got a bit wordy, but I suspect that was for the benefit of those who didn't have a background in Catholicism. If you filtered out some of the conversational meandering and vulgar interjections by the trash mouthed "prophet" Jay, you'll find some interesting and thought provoking gems in there. As for an implausible plot...hello! We're talking religion here folks, and I think that few people would agree that the Bible is necessarily a wellspring realistic and plausible plots. Religion is about leaps of faith and if you can't handle that, then you won't get the meaning behind the movie.

The critics in the "it just sucks" camp I suspect aren't very patient with the subject of "two hours of Catholic mythology" and are more comfortable with the secular subjects of Smith's other movies (romance, shopping, drugs and the like). Hey, I don't like football, so am I going to complain that the writers of The Replacements and Remember the Titans assumed that everyone in the world enjoys football? No, I'm simply not going to watch movies about football...problem solved. The name of the movie is Dogma, it should give you a clue. And if you don't know what dogma means, look it up.

So here's a warning to all...if you have no tolerance for organized religion, so called Catholic mythology, occasional potty humor (literally), profanity, or you have no sense of humor on the subject of religion, then don't watch this movie. You be disappointed or angry.

If you are a little bit more open minded, I invite you to try out this wonderfully funny movie.

Buy Dogma (1999) Now

Forget about any controvery, this movie is a laugh a minute. Being Catholic I was wary of this film, knowing the church was not too pleased with it. Having watched it once, I then bought the DVD.

Granted, Smith takes some artistic license here. I doubt that there was a 13th apostle and I doubt that Jesus had brothers and sisters that we never heard about, but he uses his "theories" with amazing comedic effect. He also mixes in some poignant generaliztions about the faith that ring somewhat true (i.e. Salma Hayek "Catholics don't celbrate their faith , they suffer it)

The cast in this flick is great. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are a couple of fallen angels looking for a loophole that will get them back into heaven. Damon is surprisingly relaxed and funny in his portrayal as the angel of death Loki. The only people that can stop them are Linda Florentino (the last zion), Rufus the unknown 13th black apostle, and Jay and Silent Bob (the prophets?). Chris Rock is hillarious as Rufus and Jay and Silent Bob are......well if you have ever seen a Kevin Smith movie you know they are good for some laughs.

Other supporting cast include Salma Hayek (serendipity wow, dont miss her dance scene!) and George Carlin(priceless as the cardinal). Overall the cast is fantastic although Linda Florentino was a little off on her timing.

Watch this film with an open mind and you'll watch it again. If you are easily offended, don't even bother....let the rest of us enjoy it.

Read Best Reviews of Dogma (1999) Here

This is an all round great movie that offers so much to the viewer. The plot is original and well crafted. It offers an intelligent, sometimes violent, but ultimately lighthearted telling of two banished angels who have found a loop hole which will enable them to re-enter the gates of heaven. However, this cannot be allowed to happen, for it would negate all existence. It is up to the cynical Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), accompanied by two unlikely prophets, Jay & Silent Bob (who provide some hilarious moments) and the "13 apostle", (Chris Rock) to stop them.

This is probably Kevin Smith's finest work yet, despite it being aimed at a more mainstream market than his usual audience. He uses the same type of characters and much of the same cast as those which made Mall Rats, Chasing Amy and Clerks so watchable. It is a very creative, hilarious, fantasy tale that I can watch over and over again.

The Dvd quality is complimentary to the movie. The 5.1 surround makes full use of its capabilities while the picture is clear. However the extras are dissapointing. For such an interesting movie, it would have been good to understand more about the making of and Kevin Smith's vision, Nonetheless, it is still a must have in your collection.

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I wont review the movie plenty reviews here already. So you want to know about the Blu Ray, well having just watched it inspite of the good reviews before me, I dont quite agree. I dont know what the quality of the DVD is like but I didnt find the blu ray anything special. But what I did find annoying inspite of the fact its supposed to be a 5.1, I found the sound to be sub-standard. The dialogue was low and not crisp and had to up and down volume with the scene. Any action sound was over the top. I just found the sound annoying and no way to par to what it ought to be. Personally Id say just go with the DVD.

PS. I went through the deleted scenes and you wont believe just how bad the quality of them was not even VHS quality. So Id say they didnt invest much if anything into this blu ray hence my suggestion to go for the DVD if half the price, this aint anything special at all. 2 Stars for the blu ray experience.

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TerrorVision / The Video Dead (Bluray/DVD Combo) (1986)

It's about damn time that TerrorVision got the release it deserved. And this is it. Gerrit Graham and Mary Woronov are perfect as the swinging Puttermans, always on the lookout for the newest fad, including a brand new satellite dish that unfortunately picks up not only the local cable channels but a recently disposed creature from space. The hideous creature begins devouring the Puttermans, sometimes creepily taking over their personalities. Can the kids along with a helpful alien save the world? With the outrageous set design, kooky dialogue and other awesome cast members like Better Off Dead's Diane Franklin as the daughter and Bert Remsen as the grandfather, this is real B-movie gold. I was lucky enough to see this one in the theaters! The bonus features are abundant with interviews, commentaries and photos.

The Video Dead is a notch below the wonderful TerrorVision, about an old tv set that brings zombies into this dimension. Although the concept was good, the execution comes off a little shoddy. Overall, it kept my interest but pales next to the colorful and quirky TerrorVision.

A good double feature, but I must admit I bought this for TerrorVision!

I actually got this to get Video Dead, and to my surprise Terror Vision ends up being equally as good if not better! Both are very cheesy and fun to watch. Terror Vision has less horror and plays more like a bizarre Weird Science style film with vibrant colors and extreme stereotype characters. A fairly wealthy swinger couple for parents, a wacky survivalist grandfather, a valley girl punk rock daughter along with her metal head boyfriend and her younger brother who is the most grounded character in the film face-off against an alien "pet" who accidentally gets slingshot to Earth instead of incinerated and beams into their dish and through their TV. Video Dead is a weird Horror film about a couple kids cleaning a newly bought house for their parents only to have this old beat-up TV left in the attic become a gateway for ZOMBIES! A very interesting twist on a zombie film, from the way they act to the way to destroy or get rid of them... not your average zombie movie! The bonus features are very good, especially for Terror Vision and picture quality is pretty good considering. This certainly has been one of, if not the best blu-ray i have bought recently with a high fun factor.

Buy TerrorVision / The Video Dead (Bluray/DVD Combo) (1986) Now

In my quest (I guess you could call it that) for some cult 1980s horror, I've come across quite a few of the same names over and over (Night of the Creeps, Sleepaway Camp, The Evil Dead, etc.) But, two names have come up very few times: "TerrorVision" and "The Video Dead". I read brief synopses for both movies and wondered why these weren't just a little more popular. They both seemed to have some interesting ideas (both having monsters of some sort being able to come to the real world through television). After seeing both on YouTube (lucky to find them there), I was sold on both of them. Then came my second question: why don't these have a proper release on home video?

This was around the time I started to hear about Shout! Factory's new branch, Scream! Factory. Being curious, I looked up what was to come from them and to my joy, saw that they planned a release of these two movies. Five months later, I was able to sit down and watch these two again, the way they were meant to be seen: on a nice TV with a widescreen transfer. It's nothing less than awesome retro horror and even though the films could very well fit into the "so-bad-they're-good" category, they're well worth the buy. There's a lot of great bonuses as well, and though I don't like blu-rays, the transfer for both movies on that is another welcome bonus.

Highly recommended. Don't miss out.

Read Best Reviews of TerrorVision / The Video Dead (Bluray/DVD Combo) (1986) Here

I was beyond thrilled to find out that The Video Dead was finally being released and on Blu-ray at that! One of my best friends petitioned for this to be released for a few years and not only did his hard work and dedication payoff but he even got to join the cast of the film to record a commentary track for the film. I had never heard of TerrorVision before but that was quite a treat, I really ended up enjoying it. You get 1 DVD disc with each movie on the same side (Thank you Scream Factory I hate double-sided disc!) and 1 Blu-ray the same way. They both have limited special features but honestly it is way more than I ever thought I would see. Do not hesitate to add this movie to your collection, you will not be disappointed.

Want TerrorVision / The Video Dead (Bluray/DVD Combo) (1986) Discount?

Sorry for the inconveniance, just a review of "Terror Vision" !

I bought the Terror Vision/The Video Dead DVD/Blu-Ray combo mainly for Terror Vision. A b-rated horror/comedy from the 1980's that was a personal favorite of mine as I still have a VHS copy of it.

In a nutshell, the film is about a space monster that is accidently transported to earth via a unsuspecting family's satellite dish. However, the real highlight of the film isn't the monster, but the wacky cast of humans especially the very, disfunctional Putterman family. The swinger parents, gung-ho military grandpa, Cindy Lauper look-a-like valley girl Suzy (played brilliantly by actress, Diane Franklin), Suzy's boyfriend, a heavy metal clad "O.D." (played by John Gries AKA Uncle Rico from "Napolean Dynamite") and the brave, little hero Sherman (played by a very young Chad Allen who later played a sheriff in the "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" TV series). As I found out from writer/director Ted Nicolaou who stated in his commentary & special features interview, the film was bashed by critics & the general audience on its initial release, but developed sort of a cult following later after its home video release. Simply the type of film that you either love or hate!

Both the Blu-Ray & DVD look fantastic as both feature films are presented in widescreen 1.78:1 anamorphic transfers. Dolby Digital Audio for the DVD & DTS HD audio for the Blu-Ray. Both feature films on each disc (DVD & Blu-Ray). The special features are identical for both the DVD & Blu-Ray. I posted images of my set above.

For Special Features, Terror Vision has a full-feature length commentary with writer/director Ted Nicolaou, actress Diane Franklin (Suzy Putterman) and actor John Greis (O.D.). Besides all three commentators' personal experiences with the film that are discussed, most of the commentary is screen specific as all three participants pretty much talk about each scene as it goes.

A 34-minute behind the scenes & making of featurette is also included as we get the usual director, cast & crew interviews with some behind the scenes stills & video clips. We get current video interviews from writer/director Ted Nicolaou, actresses Diane Franklin (Suzy Putterman) & Mary Woonov (Racquel Putterman), actors John Greis (O.D.) & Chad Allen (Sherman Putterman) and many others. It was interesting to note the following;

Entire film was shot in location just outside of Rome, Italy with a predominately American cast, but predominately Italian film crew.

Chad Allen was only about nine years old in the film, but his concerned, religious parents viewed the set and had mild complaints about the numerous erotic, nude paintings that dominated the interiors of the Putterman household set.

According to the director, Belinda Carlisle was a cast consideration for the role of Suzy Putterman & Harry Shearer for the role of the father, Stanley Putterman, but both were either not interested in the roles or were unavailable.

Frank Zappa was a consideration to score the film's music, but was either unavailable or not interested so Richard Band, scored the film instead & a L.A. rock-band called "The Fibonaccis" performed the "Terror Vision" theme song.

Actress Mary Woonov was originally casted to play the late night TV show vixen "Medusa", but insisted on playing the mother, Racquel Putterman instead.

The special features conclude with a photo gallery consisting about twenty photos of cast/crew shots & multiple Theatrical posters (some international).

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