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dean.aaron
Reviews
Darkness Surrounds Roberta (2008)
Great Dario Argento style thriller (but with a plot).
One thing that always upsets me with Dario Argento is his use of very poor actors and, often, no real plot or a plot that turns on twists that defy the internal rules of the universe he creates on screen.
DARKNESS SURRONDS ROBERTA however has a strong chain of logic and a style that is like the best early Argento or even the great MARIO BAVA.
The females are hot and sexy and the other performances are uniformly excellent.
There is also a great performance from the always entertaining and fun Eileen Daly.
In conclusion a very satisfying and enjoyable thriller that validates low budget film-makers and shows the sheer creativity and imagination of the team behind this movie.
Dark, clever, twisted and at times truly scary.
An excellent addition to a collection or viewing list and once you have seen this movie you will want to see more by the same team.
Timo Rose's Beast (2009)
Amazingly effective Werewolf Movie.
Amazingly effective werewolf movie with an interesting storyline combining international werewolf hunters, a revenge plot and post traumatic stress syndrome.
Great performances from the cast hit the right notes and, as with most low budget movies, there is a wealth of inventiveness on show.
A combination of German and English dialogue adds to the atmosphere and there are very sexy performances from the female leads and a delicate performance from Joe Zaso.
There is also some great make-up work which is reminiscent both American WEREWOLF IN London and THE HOWLING.
Special mention must also go to the soundtrack by Marco Werbawhich is remarkably effective.
As the blurb itself says "Timo Rose's BEAST is one very big, bad wolf...and it's going to tear the fear from your flesh."
A great addition to any horror movie collection and a great fun horror movie.
Slither (2006)
A wonderfully hip take on 70s alien invasion movies.
I must admit that growing up with a selection of great, and not so great Horror movies (through the 70s and 80s)that this combination of some of the more low key horror/SF movies was great fun. The film stands up well to repeated viewing as apart from the fun performances there is also the joy of spotting the many references to other genre films from SOCIETY through NIGHT OF THE CREEPS and even THE BLOB. The slug parasites are nicely phallic and a fitting tribute to SHIVERS and the infested family chasing their daughter whilst promising family fun day has the perfect balance of horror and fun. I am sure that this will become a very guilty pleasure for genre fans in years to come.
Bambi II (2006)
The lost chance for a revenge sequel.
This could have been the great revenge movie a forest set KILL BILL with a killer tag-line "This time it's ARBOREAL!" instead another straight to DVD Disney movie which does nothing other than swell the coffers of Disney and dilute the impact of a truly wonderful original movie.
It is a great shame that Disney the company that founded cell animation features is reduced to turning out second rate movies like this.
Wonderful movies like THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE languish in marketing hell whilst miscalculations like the HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME are marketed through the roof (and what child would have wanted a toy hunchback the same year as BUZZ LIGHTYEAR).