timothy-5 Reviews

The Uncanny (1977)

I liked this film a lot!

[4 May 2003]

I only saw the second segment all the way through. I just ordered this film off the internet, so when I see the whole thing, I'll make additional comments. The second segment features an orphaned little girl sent to stay with relatives who have a girl a few years older. The little girl has a black cat. The cat gives the mother the creeps, but she doesn't have the heart to make the girl get rid of the cat after having lost her parents. The older girl starts out with minor verbal taunts, but gets progressively meaner as the story progresses and gleefully laughs as she uses a remote control toy airplane to repeatedly hit the little girl with it. The older girl's wicked laughing pitted against the hysterically frightened little girl's crying made me cringe in horror and it made me really mad. I usually don't like black cats either, but when the little girl finally uses the cat to exact revenge on the other girl, I was cheering for the cat!

Earthquake (1974)

very enjoyable

[26 December 2002]

While the plot is a little melodramatic, it is written well enough to hold your attention, and the effects were spectacular for that time. Victoria Principal plays the bimbo with the big boobs, but she's usually flat as a pancake in other roles, so she must have been wearing something underneath. When Barbara the secretary tries to squeeze into the crowded elevator, and is pushed out by someone who gets in, my dad laughed. But then the elevator crashed to the ground, killing all inside, and my dad said, "By pushing her out, he saved her life." Sometimes movies are cut when put on video, and some of my favorite scenes were deleted. They didn't absolutely cut it to pieces; most of the good scenes were there, but one of my pet peeves is seeing any scene cut. They completely cut out the man and woman on the airplane. They get into an argument, and he tells her to play her solitaire fortune-telling game. She does, and picks cards in sets of three. In the middle of picking, she picks an ace of spades and says "Possibility of death". If you want to know what happened to her, just ask me!

Cries Unheard: The Donna Yaklich Story (1994 TV Movie)

Jaclyn Smith is sensational! Possible spoiler if you haven't seen it

[26 September 2002]

Having walked her way through Charlie's Angels with the emotional range of a cold fish, Jaclyn Smith redeems herself with this movie. She has to do many difficult scenes where she suffers physical and emotional abuse from her husband, and the most heartbreaking is where she weeps when her husband forces her to look at photographs of mutilated bodies. This story is true, and that makes it all the more unpleasant.

Survive the Night (1993 TV Movie)

I really enjoyed this film!

[27 June 2002]

I'm a real Stefanie Powers nut, so I can't dislike anything she's in. But this film had an unusual amount of gore and suspense for a television film. Stefanie plays Victoria, and is in a car with her sister Stacy and daughter Julie. They are driving home from a Thanksgiving dinner and notice they are almost out of gas. They see a gas station at the bottom of a turnoff, thinking it is open, but it is closed and is lit just to deter thieves. They run out of gas, and a gang of guys surround their car at the gas station. Things go downhill fast. This movie is similar to the film Judgment Night in two ways; 1) People take a turnoff and land in a bad neighborhood they are unable to escape from and get chased on foot by people who want to kill them; 2) It has a scene where a long plank is used to get from one building to another. I don't know if this movie copied off of the other, or if it was the other way around. This film has an eerie quality and is very special to me, but I don't know why.

Jennifer (1978)

pretty good!

[9 May 2002]

I received my videotape of Jennifer today and I saw it. While the effects near the end were a little shoddy, it was an overall good effort. The writing, acting, character development and suspense were very good. If they had today's digital effects with which to do the snake attack scenes, the film could have been a gem.

Jennifer (1978)

terrific!

[2 May 2002]

I only saw the last half-hour of this film. I have been looking all over the four corners of the earth and finally found it available for order on the internet. When I see the whole thing, I'll make additional comments. I'm tired of maudlin films with reprehensible characters who get killed or suffer misfortune, only to have the other characters weeping or remorseful over the misfortune that character deserved to get. But that's not the case with Jennifer. It is uncompromising and doesn't pull any punches when exacting revenge on many of the film's vicious characters. Some of you have criticized the effects, but be understanding that without today's digital and computer effects, they were limited in what they could do. A good effort, with some reasonably well-known stars adding spice to the film.

These Thousand Hills (1959)

not half-bad, but could have been better

[27 January 2002]

I do agree with the other user's comments. While it was a treat to see the lush cinematography and beautiful landscape, two lovely redhead girls, and a behind-the-scenes look at a bygone era, this is one of those movies that leaves too much up in the air. You wonder whether Callie will be found not guilty at her trial, or whether the fistfight or Lat's seeing Callie will result in a hindrance to his professional or personal life. The film was OK as far as it went, but the filmed seemed to end halfway through.