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Reviews
The Penny Dreadful Picture Show (2013)
One of the Best Anthology Films You Are Not Seeing
The penny dreadful picture show I am not a fan of anthology films I barely remember the Creepshow films(82/87/06) and I could barely stand Trick or Treat (07) and the one I loved was a Tales from the Crypt anthology which seemingly was presented as a movie in which a magician had nine lives due to a cat barely seen on HBO as far as I can remember. At first the origins of Penny Dreadful and her cohorts are mysterious and vague but later on in the movie they kind of grow more engulfed but never are fully laid out which is probably a good thing. The first story is a short having to do with a jack in o box and is short of stature but full in effect as it takes a seeming less toy from childhood and make it monstrous but doesn't fully give away where the story may go. The Second Story is of something we see quite often in our pop culture but it takes it back in time to the 70's and tries to present it in a whole new light. It's not revolutionary but a decent premise on how to go about such a topic. The Third story is the gem of the ball and it takes the classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Meets The Strangers and A House of 1,000 Corpses and turns it all on it's head. You think you know about all these stories but you don't know for sure. In the end I found myself pretty delighted for watching such a film but still not absolutely in love. It was something good and decent to watch but it didn't reinvent the genre but it was still fun and worth a watch. I commend these films cause they take actors like Sid Haig (House of 1,000 Corpses/The Devils Rejects/Halloween) and Jefferey Combs (Re-Animator 1&2/The Frighteners)and Barry Ratcliffe (Dorothy and the Witches of OZ and other films) A platform to keep performing their craft where as other productions companies would not have them. In the beginning of watching this film I was prematurely sure it was going to be a colossal waste of time but by the end I was delighted and thought it as a throwback to 70's/80's early horror at least and worth at least a view if any one was so inclined. Eliza Swenson's makeup is fantastic and if you'd like more of her she's fantastic in the mini-series The Witches of Oz which was shortened to the feature film Dorothy and the Witches of Oz and IMDb her and the other actors for more titles.
The Witches of Oz (2011)
The Witches of Oz
Possibility of Spoilers Altert but I hope not The Wicked Witches' plans to rule Oz are foiled. Dorothy returns to Kansas and now she's all grown up. Dorothy is an author to her own line of Oz books. Dorothy and her partner Allen are offered a publishing deal to the books and are whisked off to New York. Soon they will discover all is not what it seems. That the Wicked Witches still seek to obtain that which has eluded their grasp. Instilled with fear and doubt Dorothy must now find it within herself to face what's to come. She'll soon discover that she's not as alone as she thought. Dorothy will also have to face some hard realities of life and will learn some truths from her past long forgotten as she discovers whom she really is. Will Dorothy discover the Wicked Witches' evil intentions in time and be able to stand in their way and defeat them, or is this just the beginning to our world's demise? That is the key to things you'll see.
I'd say See It, it's not a rehashing of what came before, it's modernized brought into our world melding a whole whirlwind of ideas for a new take on the World of Oz and combining all these new but still familiar elements into a standalone new story. It's filled with so many intricate parts to the plot that make it an intelligently brilliant story. Does it deliver? Yes and No. I first saw it back in 2011 but didn't review it and wasn't all that awe struck by it, though still fond of it. I watched it again for the first time a few weeks ago and discovered a new found deep appreciation of what they had created and I saw it in a new light. There was just so much story to be included which they sculpted together brilliantly that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't made exactly for little kids new to the stories of Oz but for us who grew up watching The Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz and have been waiting so long for something more and up to date. That being said it is a 2 part mini-series of about nearly 3hrs combined. The special effects are stronger in some places than in others. Some are really beautifully rendered and there are some wonderful shots of New York while other effects just don't seem to be enough or on par with today's blockbuster standards. This movie hosts some of the best talent around today. If you're like me you may not fully appreciate it right away and it may take going back to. Return to Oz wasn't a huge success but it is a beloved cult classic. It was a lot shorter and in my opinion better than Syfy's Tin Man and reminded me of say something like the series Once Upon a Time or Stardust, the Golden Compass, Ink heart, Merlin or an older TV mini-series the 10th Kingdom. Movies along those lines, just as good as any of them, if not better.
Donald Huggins Jr.