necrophilissimo Reviews

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

Chevy Chase can be serious when necessary

[7/10 · 25 September 2005]

I have to admit, I was very skeptical about this movie, mostly because most John Carpenter's attempts to do something else than horror or sci-fi have been complete disasters. And having Chevy "cheap comedies" Chase on the cover didn't help. But I'm glad that there still are a few positive surprises lurking in the video rental shelves.

Most movies involving invisible people have been pure special effects extravaganzas with few thrills, so seeing this film was a pleasant fresh meat to the grinder. Performances are great, except perhaps for Hannah (but as she is there for looks, it doesn't hurt). Chase's performance is as solid as it can get and even though there are slight hints of his generic and all-seen comedic maneuvers here and there, when combined with ILM special effects they're fine - a bit like Jim Carrey in "The Mask". Sam Neil is great bad guy, but that's no news for everyone who has seen third "The Omen".

Not to spoil things, I can say that the plot is fine and has several innovative ideas. Just don't expect anything genre-defining or even remotely intelligent, and you're in for an entertaining ride.

Firecracker (1981)

Lobotomy without surgery

[2/10 · 21 August 2005]

Ever wanted a lobotomy but are either afraid of surgery or you just haven't been able to prove your psychiatrist that you need one? Well, no problem, just try to find this "Firecracker" or "Naked Fist" on video (or DVD if someone's been crazy enough to release one).

I love martial arts films, really do. Chackie Chan and Bruce Lee are quite common in my DVD collection and I always try to look for other genre classics. Having such a cult status, "Naked Fist" got me excited, even though the bare title made me worry - Naked Fist sounded awful lot like a porn film. And when the film started, I was STILL afraid it was a porn film. The looks, the acting skills; Pure exploitation quality. And actually the script is VERY close to porn films, too; Actors drop a few lines of dialog, then comes the action sequence. After that they switch the scene, drop a few lines of dialog and start another action sequence. This pattern is repeated all the way to the end. That wouldn't be bad for cult film, though, if the plot was any good or had any reasonable sense. Poor cutting makes things worse, as I honestly had no darn clue what the heck they were fighting for this time. Just insane hustle. The choreography wasn't near great, either.

First I feared it was a porn film. After an hour of it I started to hope it WAS a porn film.

After all this, you possibly wonder why I gave it TWO points. The only thing I enjoyed was Nonong Buencamino's insane retro-trip soundtrack; The score was just like from Commodore 64 era video game classics, like "International Karate +". Sadly the score gets constantly overrun by horrible punch noises - or noise, they seem to use same sample for every 200+ punches in the flick.

But hey; If you STILL want a lobotomy, have go!