Oasis Of The Zombies (1982)

Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have watched this film.  I watched it over a year ago and swore then that it was the worst film I had seen and would never watch it again.  As the Bond title goes Never say never again.

So why, you may ask has it come to this, to sit here and watch this movie again? Why to review it, of course.   A lot has happened to me over the past few years, and my writing was the first thing I stopped doing and I am working on regaining my creativity after a few years of being depressed. But please don't worry it wasn't this film that caused it.😉

Hopefully this review will not be as boring as I felt the movie was the first time I saw it.

Supposedly the plot of the film is: An expedition searching for treasure supposedly buried by the German army in the African desert during WW II comes up against an army of Nazi zombies guarding the fortune.

I really enjoyed Dead Snow, so based on that plot I thought sure I'd enjoy this, so I said go ahead sounds like a silly horror film.

Movie starts with an orange Suzuki 4X4 driving though the desert to an Oasis, to some awful incidental music that sounds like the musicians have given up before the movie has even begun.  We have two young women in tank tops and very short shorts and no bras, who decide to go for a walk around the Oasis. 

They find a some WWII weapons, Swastikas and a cannon, the blonde is jumpy about a weird noises she keeps hearing, the brunette says she's not leaving without the butt of the gun she found.  It also sounds like she says the following:
"There must have been a battle here, Rommel's legions against monkey's horny highlanders"
Either I miss heard that or the actress dubbing the film was making up some weird dialog 😉

We hear the weird noise again and get a shot of a spider and the blonde girl runs off.  Then like at the end of Carrie, two hands appear from the ground and grab the blonde girls legs she screams and the brunette comes running and is also grabbed by the zombies.

At 4 minutes into the film with have the opening credits, with more awful incidental music, over a stock image from Egypt I think.

We are introduced to a big burly guy and a girl, he leaves her in the car to smoke while he goes up to talk to someone, we see some war medals on a table and see a man with a mustache asking the burly guy if his research is accurate and we get the back story of what happened in the Oasis.

Basically, some Nazis had six hundred Million dollars in gold, they were intercepted at the Oasis on there way somewhere and a legend states their ghosts guard the gold.  Your classic Gold Curse seen in many movies including  Pirates of the Caribbean .

Once the Mustache man tells the Burly guy exactly where the Nazis were intercepted, the burly Guy kills him using a pen with a secret knife in it and takes the map.  I guess Mustached guy didn't know that you should never divulge all the information when someone asks, when it comes to treasure, it will always lead to your death.  we are then introduced to Mustache man's son Robert in London who gets the news his father is dead and needs to go the Africa immediately.  The dubbers don't even sound that interested in what they are saying.

It appears that Robert arrives in Africa and reads thorough his dads war diary, lucky that he reads the exact part of his fathers diary to tie up what happened to his dad and the Nazi gold mentioned earlier.  Like in the movie House we get a flash back to WWII, this flash back.  The British Army led by Roberts dad ambush the Nazis in the Oasis and killed them. It is a great action scene and works well but then Roberts dad walks off to the desert and nearly dies but is found by locals who rescue him and care for him.

I think the person doing the music for this film was asleep on the keyboard, it's kind of like how a yawn is contagious the sound of music played by a sleeping musician makes you want to sleep and yawn.  😴

Mustache Man (Roberts Father) falls in love with the daughter of the man who saved him.  After the father tells him the oasis is cursed and to not go back there he goes for a walk in the desert with the daughter and she gets naked and they kiss. thankfully the son is reading this and his narration kicks back in showing us more WWII desert battles and repeats of earlier shots.  We find out the girl died giving birth to Mustache man's son.

OK, when he started reading the diary, Robert was on his own, now he appears to be surround by College friends and has been telling them the story. I'm a bit confused I thought he had gone to Africa but he hadn't, he was still in college, he had he fathers war diary and figured this was the time to read it sure dad dies I should read his diary and then persuade my friends to go in search of treasure in the African desert.

Finally the Burly guy is back arriving at the Oasis  with the girl and another couple of blokes, they set up camp, the two blokes talk about taking the gold they find and keeping it for themselves and decide to walk around the Day for Night Oasis.  At last we see a Zombie at 34 minutes into the film and it looks hilarious.

I know zombies rot but surly after 40 years both eyes would have gone not just one or is this a relative of One Eyed Willie from Goonies?   It doesn't even try to eat either of the men it strangles the loud mouthed one while the other is attacked by three zombies.  The zombies then turn there attention to the tent and the burly guy come out, sees them and shoots at them but it does nothing the girl pops out screams and is grabbed and eaten by the zombies while burly guy runs off to the truck to escape, but a zombie on the back of the truck bites him before he drives off.

We get some very dodgy shots of the girl being eaten by the zombies, of course her clothes have been ripped off, it looks like they are eating something very private.😜😜

Robert and his three collage friends arrive in "Egyptian" Town in a 4x4 and one of them is wearing a fez and the car is full of boxes with CAMEL written on them, that is the first thing I do when I travel buy a ton of CAMEL cigarettes, no wait that is what you do at the airport on the way home, perhaps this was all for the production crew.

Before doing anything the college kids must shop so here is a boring pointless montage of shopping. then them walking through the town while everyone stops to pray.  they bump into a couple of blokes filming who happen to then take them to a sick man and you guessed it that would be the burly man who was bitten, talk about a lucky coincidence.

Everyone watches as the burly man stumbles around the grounds of the house he has been treated at he falls on to some hay and and Robert shouts at him asking him where the Oasis is and calls the Burly man Kurt, but Kurt dies unable to tell them anything.  the locals tell Robert and his friends that he met the walking dead.  If only I was watching that show, i might be more interested.

The locals burn the body on the haystack the men filming from earlier film and ask why and apparently if you don't burn them they come back.  So good to know Fire stops Zombies coming back and I though a bullet to the head would do that.

Nearly an our in to this film and Robert finally does what he said he would do over half an hour ago and that is go to see the sheik that looked after his father and whose daughter had a son.  The Sheik explains that Robert is his grandson, which no one could figure out from the flashback (DUH!), and he tells Robert where to find the Oasis even though earlier he said it was cursed and that no one should go there.  The sheik must truly hate his grandson to send him to his death by zombie. 😩

The people filming that they met earlier got to the Oasis before they did and have been killed, lucky sods there is still over 20 minutes of this film and I am finding it hard to keep going I just want this to be over.   One of the men that were filming survived and says the following  "Zombies, the living dead they came out of the sand out of the sandwiches" he then collapses they take care of him and the girl who was apparently unconscious and has a minor scratch on her face and they all start digging around the oasis still trying to get the gold.

We have a gratuitous sex scene between the girl and one of Roberts friends while another stands in the Oasis watching and we start to see he Zombies rise and attack him.  Please end already and can the sound guy please stop playing with the wooden fish instrument that was in every music class at every school I went to,  it is so annoying.

The film guy tells Robert and his girl that the only way to stop the is fire and to hold out till dawn.  daylight didn't bother them before as at the start they attacked the two girls during the day.  make up your mind movie.  Robert and his girl and film guy get full and pour it around and ignite them and Robert and his girl survive his grandfather the Sheik turns up and asks did you find what you were looking for and Robert says "I mostly found myself" yeah right, whatever.  The movie finally ends with Robert ad his girl going with the Sheik

I still hate this film, it is boring there are no characters or Character development, so much so we don't find out peoples names except Robert till they are about to die or are dead.  There is nothing good about this film the dubbing is weak and feels like the actor are as bored as I am watching this film, like I've mentioned the music is woeful and adds to the coma inducingness of this film.

I would not recommend watching this once let alone twice, it does not get better or funner, Beetlejuice would be bored, I would rather watch the Exorcist or Rosemary's baby multiple times and I thought they was slow and boring, but in comparison they are anything but.

Till next time be careful what you watch 😱😱😱

CELLAR DWELLER (1988)

Welcome back, Today's offering is a film not many will have heard off and one when I was a child I was scared of.  Cellar Dweller is a 1988 horror film about artists that work in the old house that belonged to a comic book creator who died in a fire back in the 1950's.   Well that's the basic starting point, but lets get started.

The film starts suddenly on VHS and opens with Gothic text informing you "30 Years Ago" and we pan down from a full moon to see Jeffery Combs from Re-Animator (1985) inking comic book frames, then we get some shots based off what he is drawing, filmed in the style of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981) at this point it is not clear what is going on with the editing but it does become clear I promise.

The monster of Jeffery's Comic is the Cellar Dweller and is a large ugly beast with a pentagram in a circle on its chest.

This is where it gets silly, wouldn't you just know it Jeffery Combes has a spell book, that looks a bit like the Necronomicon.  He should know better as he has been in a few HP Lovecraft inspired films and HP Lovecraft did enjoy using the Necronomicon in his stories.  When will people learn nothing good comes from that book.  Though I will admit I do enjoy Ash vs Evil Dead.

So Jeffery reads from the book he even reads the warning, but ignores it.  Right behind him the comic becomes real, he runs off.  Jeffery grabs the axe that appeared after he drew it in the comic and heads back to fight the beast in the cellar, but this is dark magic and it can't be killed by an axe, Jeffery pics up some paper and lights it so he can see the beast.

However, he has lit the pages of the comic therefore killing the beast and as he watches the beast die he drops the burning pages on some cloth and accidentally sets fire to the house trapping himself and dies. 

This all happened in under 10 minutes the beast is defeated and Jeffery is dead, so how is there still another hour and 10 minutes of this film?

Well the credits start rolling so you would think maybe someone forgot to rewind the film but no that would be to easy.

While the credits are rolling, I will give you some information on this film's creators, these credits are going on for quite a while and I don't want to fall asleep before the rest of the films starts.  The credits state that it was written by someone called Kit Du Bois, this is a pseudonym for Don Mancini the writer and creator of the Child's Play (Chucky) Films, this is his first film credit and he choose to be credited as Kit Du Bois I tried to find out why but I couldn't.  John Carl Buechler directed this film he directed Troll (1986) and Ghoullies 3 so that could explain the look of the beast.

Finally the credits are over, on with the film. and just in case you forgot the opening was set 30 years ago, they put on screen in Gothic text that it is "30 Years Later"

We are introduced to our heroine Whitney Taylor played by Debrah Farentino who arrives at the Art institute that was set up in the location of Jeffrey's home from the start of the film.  It is a dark stormy night. (Oh the horror stereo type.) Yvonne De Carlo of The Munsters fame startles her, they go to Yvonne's office and Whitney gives a history of her life and her love of the Cellar Dweller Comics.

In Classic fashion Whitney is told she is not wanted at the institute but that the board have stated that Yvonne had to find somewhere for her.  She is then shown around the building and told that the Cellar is off limits and Whitney imagines a hideous version of Jeffery killing the girl that was a nameless victim of the beast at the start of film.  Whitney is introduced to all the other artists in the institute that include painters, videographers, performance artists and a writer.

We see another of Whitney's nightmares and then one of the artists is outside screaming to the moon just to release her tension.  We get some more back story about Whitney and her enemy Amanda who is at the institute.  Whitney goes exploring the cellar though she was told it as off limits and we get an obvious jump scare because Phillip who is a finger painter startles her in the cellar.  Whitney finds the Necronomicon and reads the passage from the start of the film so the spell is activated.  Whitney then requests to be allowed to work and sleep in the cellar. 

Amanda and Yvonne conspire to get rid off Whitney, but Amanda becomes the first new victim of the Beast that Whitney has created from the original art, she draws a comic strip where Amanda is attacked and eaten by the beast.  What has been drawn happens, but no one hears Amanda's screams for help.

We are 43 minutes into the film with another 31 minutes left and though the Beast in the comic asks Who's next.  I just don't care.

One by one the other artists are killed off by the beast either by Whitney's design or by the Beasts choosing, it really doesn't matter the other characters are in the film just to be victims.  Whitney and Phillip discover the beast is real and that Whitney brought the beast to life with her imagination and tries to destroy it by lighting the pages on fire but it doesn't work and Phillip vanishes and Yvonne De Carlo becomes the beast and attacks Whitney.

Whitney trows stuff at the beast and chucks white out which lands on the comic causing the beast to disappear.  Whitney then uses her art to try and bring everyone back and chains up the beast in her drawings.  This all appears to work, Whitney and Phillip burn the comic art to kill the beast but she also destroys the ones she just drew of all the other artists and she is left on her own, or so she thinks and the beast reappears and credits roll as we hear her being eaten by the beast.

I should explain how I know this films, you see when I was 8 or 9 years old, my dad rented this film and let me and my little brother watch it with him.  Now having watched this as an adult I can see no issue with the film it is not scary it is short, it is predicable and has all your classic requirements for a 80's horror film jump scares, gratuitous tit shots and characters with no back story there just to be killed.
But I, as my husband will account, can be easily scared as I have a vivid imagination.

The monster in this film, when I was younger, was the thing of nightmares.  It was my Sully but not funny, I was so afraid as a kid I literally could not go near my bed because I thought this monster was underneath it and I would jump on to my bed from a distance and not let my arms hang off the bed as I was scared it would pull me under, you get the idea.

So why did this movie which is so bad scare me so much, well I think it is like Sadako in Ringu, making something you like and trust, TV and in this case a comic something terrifying, but who knows.  I was sacred of Michael Jackson in the Thriller video so Maybe I was just a scaredy cat.

The whole premise of the film is that imagination can create monsters, therefore as long as you have the monster in your imagination it cannot be killed.  However, this means that by the beast killing Whitney at the end it killed it's self as there was no one left to hold the beast in there imagination.

This is a short harmless film, would I recommend it probably not, it has an interesting cast list but that is all it feels more like a pilot for a series similar to Tales From The Crypt, even the style of the comic in the film is in the same style as the title of that show and comic series.

I would say it's worth a watch if you like bad 80's horror or Jeffery Combs.

Well till next time.

KING KONG LIVES (1986)

King Kong Lives is a direct sequel to the 1976 film King Kong staring Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges.  One of my issues with that film, was that King Kong swaggers up to the Twin Towers and doesn't move like a gorilla but that is for another blog for another day.

To start with King Kong Lives makes it clear that it is a sequel, by showing us the ending of King Kong and him falling to his death from the Twin Towers.  They then state it is 10 year later and that King Kong has been in a coma ever since the fall. (Char Right.)

The University that owns King Kong have been keeping him alive and have built him a giant replacement heart, but they need blood from his species to perform the operation. (Cause no other Ape species blood will do for the King.)  Since he is the only known giant gorilla there is no hope and they have wasted a fortune keeping the creature alive and building a giant mechanical heart. (How is this University still operating, they should be bankrupt)

Meanwhile, in a small studio covered in green jungle plants our male hero is introduced Hank Mitchell.  Think Jack Colton from Romancing the Stone but cheaper and dumber.  He apparently has been walking his donkey for a while and they decide to take a nap, and wouldn't you just know it he tries to take a nap in Lady Kong's hand (I think the film makers should have called her Queen Kong.) she is smitten with Hank and runs after him.  Thankfully he is saved by the native extras from the beginning of Raiders who knock her out with blow darts.

As quickly as that we have another Kong and the University are bidding on it as they need the plasma for King Kong but they don't want the female ape.

So the Female ape is bought and shipped to the university so that they can get the blood and finally do the operation they have been waiting 10 years to do and bring King Kong back to life.

When I was 6 years old and saw this film, the operation scene was very memorable for me and I thought it was amazing.  Now as an adult it kind of works, but I feel like I'm watching Lilliputians operate on Gulliver and it just looks ridiculous, I feel like people could have fallen into the open chest cavity and been lost.

If they  re did the operation today it would be performed in a similar way to key hole surgery but with massive tools operated by giant robot hands rather then by Linda Hamilton.

Linda is wielding that giant medical saw.

After the Operation King Kong wakes up from the induced coma on his own and can smell Lady Kong and he is seriously horny then again most men are when they wake up.  Linda is worried about the new heart so sedates him.

Kong wakes up again that night and hears Lady Kong's cries and he brakes out of the operating theatre that he has been in and gets to her and frees her, they run off into the Arkansa mountains.   Hank Mitchell and Amy (Linda Hamilton) go after the apes together and against the Army instructions.  they find the apes before the army and Amy keeps and eye on Kong's heart with a mobile computer.

The apes flirt as do Amy and Hank, so we get a human relationship mirroring the apes because a whole movie of the apes comunicating in gunts would be just as bad as the Star Wars Holiday special, no one needs that, just thinking of the Holiday special and the wookies makes me start to rock.

The Army Captures Lady Kong and puts her in a really deep pit and don't look after her very well and blow up King Kong, or so they think.  King Kong is still alive and recuperating in the swamps and searching for Lady Kong.

King Kong has been living in the swamp for 8 months unnoticed and Amy and Hank have been trying to get access to Lady Kong and set up a reserve for them in Bornio. When Amy and Hank do get to see her they see she is not well and not eating.  and no one has realised that Lady Kong is pregnant.  King Kong leaves the swamp, finally gets Lady Kongs scent and gets to her.

The Army attack and tries to kill them both King Kong takes all the bullets and colapses after Lady Kong has given birth to there son.  King Kong gets to see his son before he dies and we see lady Kong and Son of Kong living happliy in the reserve Hank set up for them.

This is a silly film and there is a lot of things that make no sense, but the film isn't awful i would say I would rather sit through multiple viewings of King Kong Lives than Peter Jackson's King Kong.

There are things wrong, like the fact there is no scar form the operation on King Kong's chest and the fact that the Army arn't using satalite images of America to find the apes and King Kong after they think they blew him up.

However, my personal favorite issue with this film is the fact that no one, not even Hank and Amy who slept very close to the apes in the mountains, heard or felt the vibrations of the two giant Apes making love.  Considering that other times in the film like when King Kong falls down the ground shakes and people nearly fall over themselves from the shock waves.

When I watched this film again for the first time since l was a child, I enjoyed it for exactly what it is pure cheesey 80's monster film, yes the special effects are dated and obvious, but that is true of any film over time.  I felt the ape acting was better then it was in King Kong (1976).

This is a film that a lot of people are unaware of or have forgotten, it wasn't a successful film, but it's fun, very silly, over the top and then very sweet.

Squirm (1976)

Well it is a new year and time to focus on some interesting films and to write my blogs and give my opinion on these films.

Squirm is a 1976 film about killer worms.  I know what your thinking, how on earth can worms kill someone?   My answer even after watching the film is I have no idea,  they claim that the killer worms are blood worms that bite. 

Now I admit that these worms are ugly and appear to have teeth, but still they are worms they aren't fast or very big.

So on with the film, it starts with a text scrawl explaining that on September 29thh 1975 a sudden electrical storm struck the small coastal town in Georgia, which caused the power lines in the town of Fly Creek to collapse, the power cables put electricity into the ground.  The storm also cut the town off from others. 

Yet another mother nature film claiming to be a true story with a text scrawl that states Fly Creek experienced what scientists believe to be one of the most bizarre freaks of nature ever recorded.  Seriously how gullible do they think we are to believe worms can kill.

We are then introduced to the stars of the film after shots of nature and worms we are shown a red headed girl in the shower and a gardener, Think Lawnmower man before VR.  The red head called Geri catches Roger the lawnmower man staring at her while undressed, well that's what happens when you stand naked in front of the window.

Geri needs to pick up her new boyfriend who is visiting her from New York, but with the roads flooded, she asks to use Rogers Truck.  I must explain Roger's Father is a worm farmer and sells them for bait, Roger transports the worms in the creates in the back of  his truck.

Mean while we finally see Geri's boyfriend Mick who appears to have everything you would need to camp out, he gets off a bus that has to turn back in the middle of the woods because there are trees down and the road is flooded.  Mick then asks the stupidest question "you don't know if there any toilets around here."

Just when you think he won't make it out of the woods, he falls into a deep hole and Geri finds him right then and bursts out laughing.  Ain't that lucky.

We see the road, which doesn't appear to be badly flooded at all, she tells him to hang on as they drive through a puddle.

Geri stops in town to get a block of ice for the house.  and Mick goes into a diner where the sleaziest sheriff ever has his hand right up the waitress' dress.  everyone in the diner is talking about the storm and Mick asks for a Egg cream which appears to be a chocolate milkshake and a worm is in it.

Now this is a diner for local people and as Mick is not local they all think he played a prank and that will continue for the rest of the film.

The film just doesn't make much sense, the sheriff doesn't believe Geri and Mick when they tell him on two separate occasions about dead bodies that they find as they appear to have disappeared when they take him to them.  This is classic of horror films that the law do not believe the protagonist.  but it's the fact that Mick takes a scull off a dead body and goes to the town dentist office, breaks in and checks the teeth against x-rays.

Mean while Geri is fishing with Roger and he tries hitting on her and ends up face first in worms and they burrow into his face but don't kill him, instead by the end of the film he appears to be a worm king.

The film seems to jump about and when Geri is busy doing stuff with Roger and Mick needs a companion for his investigation then we are introduced to Geri's annoying little sister.  All the town's people are weird and keep trying to sell their rubbish as antiques.

About an hour into the film even though we have seen skeletons and Mick decides that the worms are killing people though Roger wasn't killed. a tree falls on to Geri's house which leaves them open to the elements and all the worms the next half hour of the film is watching millions on worms swarm and squirm around and kill people, my favorites are Geri's Mother in a rocking chair becoming a mass of worms as they eat her alive and the sheriff who is sleeping with a women in a prison cell.

I have to say it is a well shot film and not the worst mother nature revenge films I have ever seen, but the script and acting are awful.  would I recommend this, well, I would if you like bad films that are so bad they are funny.  The early make up effects of Rick Baker are awesome and I seriously feel like Jeff Fahey based his performance of The Lawnmower Man on Roger in this film.

COMBAT ACADEMY (1986)

I like watching bad films, usually bad films can be comical like “The Room” (2003). When I saw this film on a shelf in CEX for 75 pence I though what the hell I'll check it out.

This film is from the writer and makers of “Police Academy”, cause you know that means “great”. This film was not released at the cinema, it wasn't even straight to video it was a TV movie. This tells you a whole lot right there.

The film has a very recognisable cast, it is a who's who of 80's TV comedy stars. we have the boy from “Christine” trying to be a teenage version of Mahoney but he is not as charming or likable as Steve Guttenberg.

The film is the feature film debut of George Clooney as a character who is a bully, thief and has a character arc which are totally out of place in this so called comedy film.

I put this on the other night as I felt like a bit of 80's cheesy comedy and I like George Clooney, I was hoping for something in the vain of “Police Academy” and possibly “Return of the Killer Tomatoes”. Sadly this film was like neither of these.

The film starts with the teenage leads setting up loads of pranks all around the high school and then standing back as they all go off at school. Nothing funny with this, you've seen it all before in other teen comedies of the 80's like “Animal House” or “Revenge of the Nerds”. The boys are called to the principals office where they are reprimanded. Their parents are called, you would think this would make them send the boys to a military school, but Max, the Mahoney wannabe’s father finds the antics of his son hilarious, so nothing further happens.

Max and his friend pull another prank on a group of workman digging up a road, they get the workman to dig the other side of the road, as you do. This lands them both in court and the judge Mr Jefferson from “The Jefferson's” who sentences them to attend “Combat Academy”.

They try to get kicked out by doing pranks at the academy, in the same way that Mahoney tried to in “Police Academy” but no luck. So they are forced to stay at the school till the end of the year. Max's best friend with a stutter decides to just go with it and not do pranks anymore, he ends up doing well and becoming a corporal.

Max still doesn't want to get involved, but falls for the girl from “National Lampoons European Vacation”. He helps George Clooney deal with his feelings towards his father and stop stealing. The film ends with a war game between “Combat Academy” and a Russian military school, which the kids decide to end as a draw and as friends rather then enemies. Max stays at the school and supposedly gives up his pranks to be burnt and his friend goes off with his girl friend and parents. While Max's final prank is to have fireworks from his prank box to go off.

That is the story of this film in a nutshell, I wanted to like it and laugh but this film is not funny. I read reviews online after watching it.

People gave it 2.5 stars and said it was hilarious, I would like to know exactly what they found hilarious about the film. The one and only time I laughed during this film was when George woke up hungover, his bed was in the woods near the war game with all the other cadets surrounding him. He said “What are you all doing in my room, why are all these trees in my room?” as you would expect George delivered this line brilliantly and was the best thing about this film.

This film has so many well known faces, there was Robert Culp, Jamie Farr, Dick Van Patten, John Ratzenberger, Bernie Kopell (the doctor from the Love Boat). Richard Moll (crazy guard from Night Court) and randomly Marc Price (Skippy from Family Ties). All of the recognisable stars are in there trying to be funny and I know they can be, but the script and characters don't work.

This film was a confused mess.

It starts off trying to be a teenage version of “Police Academy” then tries to be a John Hughes film and tries to be just like “Stripes”. I would rather watch “Stripes” or “Private Benjamin” then this film because they are funny.

Though George's character Biff starts of as a distasteful person who is a Kleptomaniac, the problem is George is such a likeable person and so charming you can't hate him even when he tells Max off and pushes a kid into a pool. What they should have done in my opinion would to be to have cast George as the lead as he would have made that character more likeable and indisputably funnier.

The film is not badly made, it is not the worst film I have ever watched, I just found it dull. The problem with it is that no one seems sure what film they are doing.

Robert Culp and George Clooney are in a serious film, where as Richard Moll is doing something very random in each scene and doesn't add anything to the film, I'm reminded of “1941”. All the stars trying to out do each other, which is why both of these films struggled to find an audience However “1941” is actually funny and has talented funny people in it.

Would I recommend it? No, unless you have absolutely nothing better to do or watch

PHENOMENA (1985)

While searching for something to watch on Amazon Prime I came across this film, it came out a year before “Labyrinth” and was Jennifer Connelly's first starring role. Directed by Dario Argento and co starring Donald Pleasence this all sounded very intriguing and I had never seen or heard of this film so I pressed play.

What I found was a classic Argento film.

I have written this blog 5 times over the past 3 days and each time I have tried to complete it the blog vanishes from the internet even though the site says it has saved it. It has lied to me. However, enough with my frustration, I will continue and hopefully complete this review once and for all.

The film starts with a young girl missing the bus in the middle of the Swiss alps, (by the way she is an area known as the Swiss Transylvania.) Nothing bad ever happens in a place called Transylvania and no one is ever killed in horrific ways in a beautiful Dario Argento film. Wait what am I saying? Of course they do.

The young girl wanders around a bit and finds a house, like Goldilocks she walks in, she thinks it is empty. Meanwhile, we can see someone pulling their chains out of the wall in the same way that Sloth does in “The Goonies” The girl is chased out of the house and to a waterfall and killed, the way this was shot reminded me of Sam Raimi's camera work in “The Evil Dead” films when the evil chases someone through the woods.

We are introduced to Jennifer's character who is called Jennifer (that keeps this simple then) she is stroking a bee in the back of a car with her thumb. The driver and a fierce lady in the car start to panic and attack the bee and Jennifer tells them to stop, she saves the bee.

Jennifer is the daughter of a film star that all girls fancy, but strangely we never see him. She has been sent to Switzerland to a boarding school picked out by her fathers agent. The school is in Wagner's large house from when he was exiled to Switzerland.

When the car pulls up the Principal is waiting. She is not happy that Jennifer is late, even though Jennifer explains that the plane was delayed. This isn't good enough for Madam Principal.

Jennifer goes to her room and introduces herself to her roommate, a French girl. Jennifer's roommate tells her of the serial killer that is on the loose and killing school girls.

You know, just what you want to hear about on your first night in a creepy place like this boarding school and just before falling asleep.

Jennifer gets up and starts to sleep walk around the school and ends up outside. While another girl is chased around inside the school and is screaming. (Wagner's house has amazing soundproofing.)

Jennifer is still sleep walking and is on a ledge outside a first floor window when the other girl is killed right in front of her causing Jennifer to fall into a bush.

Jennifer who is still asleep and unhurt, continues to walk. She ends up in the middle of a road and is hit by a car with 2 guys in. They stop and put her in the convertible.

I assume they are going to take her to a hospital but Jennifer is still asleep, she struggles against the guys and they nearly have another car accident, Jennifer is thrown from the car and down the hill. The guys are clearly relieved to be rid of her.

It is only now that she starts to wake up. Okay, falling from a building and getting hit by a car do nothing to her sleep but falling down a hill that wakes her up. (That is some serious sleep or jet lag.)

When Jennifer comes round she is greeted by a chimp who leads her to Donald Pleasence. he plays Professor John McGregor who is a forensic entomologist who is helping the police try to find the serial killer through his knowledge of bugs and their life cycles.

Jennifer and the professor become friends due to their love of bugs and it turns out bugs are in love with Jenifer and will do anything for her. (This is the second film I have seen where bugs love a human girl the less said about “The Bee Movie” the better.)

Jennifer goes back to school and the principal and the other lady from the car take her to the doctors to have tests done because they believe that sleep walking is the first signs of schizophrenia. This is a pointless scene that does nothing for the storyline but to make us hate the principal and Frau Brückner (the fierce lady from the car) even more then we do already.

All the girls at the school find it hilarious that Jennifer sleepwalks, meanwhile she contacts her dad's agent asking to leave the school.

She stays the night at the school and asks her roommate to keep an eye on her should she sleepwalk again. The French girl doesn't care and is more interested in sneaking out to see her boyfriend to make out in the middle of the night.

Surprise surprise they are both killed and Jennifer sleepwalks out of the school and finds a glove that belonged to her roommate which it is full of maggots.

Rather then go back to the school she goes to the Professor and shows him the glove, we get more exposition and an explanation of Jennifer's power to control bugs.

Jennifer goes back to the school again and the principal and the other students all start attacking Jennifer because of a letter she had started writing to her father.

Jennifer stands up and says “I love you, I love you all.” The girls are slightly disturbed by that, however, it wasn't directed at them, but at all the bugs out side which are now covering the school.

The next day the principal has got Jennifer sedated in bed and is going to ship her off the a mental hospital. Jennifer wakes up, she removes the intravenous line in her arm and escapes the school she goes to the professor for help and they decide to use Jennifer's power over bugs to track down the killer.

It is starting to feel like we are getting somewhere with the story, but rather then describe the whole film and spoil the best part of the movie, let me give you my thoughts on the film as a whole.

It is a beautiful film well shout, with great imagery, I would expect nothing less from Argento. The story of an unseen killer killing girls is nothing new, however the story of a strange girl who likes bugs and can control them and is definitely different.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, people have been telling me for years that Jennifer couldn't act in “Labyrinth” and I always disagreed with them.

I believe I'm right to disagree as Jennifer shows in this film that she can act and be a great lead for a film. Though the film is beautiful, Dario Argento knows how to do creepy and sinister while also grossing out his audiences, this film is no different.

I would recommend that people watch this film, however you should be aware of the type of film this is. If you don't like horror with a psychological and twisted edge then this may not be for you.

David Bowie In the Movies

Hi I'm Sarah or Movie and TV Mistress.  I like to write reviews of movies and TV shows, in this article I will be looking a couple of movies from the past 40 years of David Bowie's career on the silver screen.

40 years ago this year David stared in the classic Sci Fi drama "The Man Who Fell To Earth" I watched this for the first time a year ago and it is a strange and interesting film with so many ideas that you're not quite sure if he is an alien or just crazy, but one thing can be said about David is that as well as being a brilliant musician and artist he was a great actor.

This film is a hard watch at times as it is nothing like the sci-fi blockbusters which just wash over you. This requires you to pay attention and to use your imagination to fill in the blanks in the story yourself.

When I watched it I had to sit and contemplate what I had seen and the story of this poor man who had lost his family and was alone in the world.  The story is a tragic one, but there are so many funny parts of the story and David plays it all straight.  He was perfect for that role.

Another role that he was perfect for was Jerath the Goblin King from "Labyrinth".  This film celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.  It nearly went to Michael Jackson, I don't think it would be the same film, there wouldn't have been the same sexual chemistry that David and Jennifer had during this film.

I know it seems wrong to say that there is sexual chemistry in a family film, where the heroine is 16 and the Goblin King is a mature man.  This film is all about the girls sexual awaking and becoming a woman, not physically sexual but metaphorically, as she works her way through a labyrinth in search of her baby brother, to eventually stand up to the Goblin King and realise she is stronger than any man. 

It is possible to read much more into the relationship and I'm sure many film theorists have, I could discuss the meaning of the relationships of the characters David Bowie played in each film at length.   For now I will give you my short version; what I see is a coming of age film and a teenager realising her selfish nature is hurting others, when she is shown how selfish she is and obsessed with material things, she gains the wisdom to fight against her selfish nature which shows it's self in the form of Jareth the Goblin King.

The thing about films is that you can always read different things into them, I always say each person should make their own mind up about what the films and journeys mean to them.  Sometimes you may just see an interesting or fun film, no matter what try to experience different films, you never know what you'll find.

THE ROOM

Last night Conal and I sat down to watch this film, though I had watched it years ago and knew all the memes, watching it with someone who has never experienced it was brilliant. 


I had shown Conal the Nostalgia critic review of the film and he still wanted to watch the movie because as he said it was a movie he needed to see to believe.

As I said I had seen this film a few years ago, I told to Conal I will need a drink to watch it again and I have to say it seemed to make the movie a funnier experience for both of us.  We both laughed and hurled abuse at the movie.

The one thing we both agreed about the film was that it was well filmed, good shots if you ignore the sex scenes, which were so uncomfortable as clearly Tommy has no idea how to have sex as he was closer to her belly button then her do-dah.

What else can I say about this film that has not already been said by others?  It doesn't make any sense it starts off weird and just gets weirder.  I feel that Tommy Wiseau was actually intending to make a porn film but then tried to add an actual storyline to it to make some sort of point about relationships between men and women.

There are things mentioned by characters that are never mentioned or referred to again, like Lisa's mum having breast cancer, it's mentioned and ignored by Lisa and we never see her sick or going through any treatment.  There is the random character of a drug dealer how turns up and attacks Denny, yet again once the scene is over this is never mentioned or resolved.

I could go on about all the random characters who turn up once or even twice but are never seen again and the guy who comes to Lisa and Johnny's place with his girl friend to do their "home work" which means have sex and all the strange and hilarious faces he pulls.  He comes back to tell Johnny what happened in the one other scene he was in for no apparent reason.

But I know so many people have talked or blogged about this film, it has become a cult classic like Troll 3 that people watch it because it's so bad it is just hysterical.

Would I recommend people watch it, yes, because you cannot believe how awful the acting and story are until you watch it yourself.  this is a great film to put on and get drunk to and even have drinking games with, and don't worry you still won't understand what is going on but you will have so much fun wallowing in the absurdity of it all.

In Memoriam

This has been a shocking week with the death of three men that have been part of many peoples childhoods, I'm of course talking about David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Brian Bedford.

Brian Bedford was the voice of Robin Hood in the Disney film of the same name and he provided a voice in the short film “The Mouse Returns”. I know this was not as shocking as the other two as he had a long life and varied career both on stage and screen. The sad part of is it that though he had been with his partner Tim MacDonald since 1986 he had only been married to him for 3 years.

The week started of with a shock, on my way to work the news came over the radio and I just couldn't help but say “What the fuck” It seemed like a sick joke, but as soon as I got to work it was all over the news and it was official.

As many shows and people have stated David Bowie was an artist that had made his mark on music, films and fashion. He had also been a part of so many generations that have grown up with his music and films. I grew up watching “The Snowman” which he introduces every year at Christmas on Channel 4 and one of my Favorite films of my childhood “Labyrinth”

I know that many will talk about his brilliant staring roll in the film “The Man Who Fell To Earth” but I will always remember him for “Labyrinth” and his Music. I like many girls that grew up in the 80's had a crush on David's Bad boy character Jereth the Goblin King, plus as my name is Sarah this was so my movie, of course. I know I could go on and on like many people have about the loss of David but I won't.

While I was at work on Wednesday I heard the news that Alan Rickman had also passed away form cancer at the age of 69, like David.  Once again because no one knew either of them were sick it seemed like a bad joke or one of those death hoaxes, sadly it wasn't.

Alan Rickman was a great actor that could do anything from comedies, dramas and romantic movies I remember watching “Truly Madly Deeply” and laughing and crying just as much as Juliet Stevenson did. I grew up watching him in “Die Hard”, “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”, “Galaxy Quest”, “Dogma” and many more. I know that to the current generation he is known for playing Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, but he has done so much more then that.

I would love to be able to talk about these men and the impact they have had on my life and others but I just don't think I can do them justice. I may choose to do something more about them and my thoughts, but for now I wish to share my sadness for the loss of these great actors and artists.

My condolences go out to their families.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990)

OK, so here I am, I know it's been a while and I haven't posted the blogs like I intended. Life gets on top of you sometimes, but enough about my life lets get on with this film post.

I watched all the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and the cartoon series when I was a kid, (hey I was 10 when this film came out so it was made for my demographic.) It has been a long time since I watched these films but I know I like them, and with the new Michael Bay film that came out and the new sequel on the way, I felt it time to look back at these films and see if they are as good as I remember.

The movie opens with your classic late 80's New York montage and April O'Neil reporting the news about the teenage crime wave happening all over the city. We get a quick glimpse of the foot soldiers while the teenagers pack up the stolen goods into boxes and April makes a Ghostbusters reference by saying “who are you going to call?”

We see April leave in her trade mark yellow jacket.  She is freaked out by a rat. (it's New York, there are rats everywhere!!!)

She catches some kids stealing and is rescued by the turtles, but Raphael loses a Sai. We get the opening credits while the Turtles say cheesy lines they are famous for. The Turtles report to Splinter, a large talking rat.  (Now that is a rodent of unusual size.)  They are so happy to have done well at their first fight but Raphael is very upset to have lost his Sai and Michaelangelo orders a pizza and while Splinter recommends that they meditate the other Turtles dance but Raphael decides to leave in a disguise that makes him look like a flasher lol.

Well so far still the funny and silly film I remember, you can clearly see the handy work of Henson creature workshop, this must have been around the same time as the sitcom Dinosaurs which was a Disney show. At least the Turtles and rat are really on screen and not the CGI muscled bound monsters, like the current group.

As I sit here watching this film Conal is rolling his eyes and I'm smiling at the hilarity of the turtles. Raphael went to the cinema to see Critters (another film that deserves another view.) Casey Jones and Raphael fight and and we get a whole load of sporting references from hockey to baseball to cricket. Raphael is not having a good night, so Splinter talks to him in the classic style of  Master Po from Kung Fu or Yoda.

The police chief talks like a politician and even April says can you tell us what you are going to do in English. We get our first glimpse of Shredder and he is a Darth Vader wannabee, while the turtles are all in love with April. Yet another film from my childhood where there is some weird type of love between animal and human. April gets attacked by foot soldiers and gets knocked out and Raphael rescues her again and he gets his Sai back.

So we already know April hates rats and now she is facing 4 giant talking turtles and a giant talking rat. no wonder she thinks she is having a nightmare this would be a nightmare for anyone but Freddy would need to be there too.

Now time for the history of Splinter and the Turtles. Baby Turtles first words are pizza and radical yes we are in a 90's "dude movies" that were so popular then. The Turtles have pizza with April and show her their impressions of Rocky and James Cagney. Meanwhile Splinter has been attacked and kidnapped.

The teenagers stealing are hanging out doing what ever they want including smoking cigars and there is a very young Sam Rockwell showing a couple of new kids around and offering them cigarettes. This is a kids film huh. (really!) This kids hide out is reminiscent of the island in Pinocchio. I just dropped the remote when I realised it was Sam Rockwell cause I think he is brilliant.

Shredder is making a speech which screams Star Wars with him explaining the lure of the dark side he even tells all the kids he is there Father.  Seriously he wishes he was Darth Vader.

The Turtles state that April is a babe, in my opinion she is very plain and not as babe like as Megan Fox, but she is more believable as a journalist, but they are turtles maybe they are in to plain girls.

The turtles tease Raphael and he storms off like a typical teenager to blow off some steam and is attacked and beaten nearly to death by a large group of foot soldiers, and the 3 remaining turtles take them on in a very comical fight which they are loosing and then Casey Jones arrives to help and April gets the Turtles and herself out of the building by a secret passage and April is fired from her job as her house and fathers antique store burn down. (Not sure if that is irony.)

I still see what made me laugh as a kid but it is not as exciting as I remember, actually this is a very dark film, both lighting wise and the story with Raphael and the foot soldiers.

April takes the Turtles and Casey Jones to an old big house which looks like the house from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. More movie references and even a reference to a great TV show Moonlighting because of the sexual tension between Casey and April.

April writes her diary as they wait for Raphael to recover and narrates it, which reminds me of Sarah Connor in Terminator 2.

Leonardo decides to meditate and hears Splinter, who knew being a ninja gives you the power of the force, with the other 3 Turtles meditating they can all communicate with Splinter who appears as a hologram in the fire.

The final act has arrived as the Turtles are now ready to return and face the foot solders and Shredder. Danny, the kid of April's boss, is hiding in the Turtles sewer and is struggling to be either good or bad so he leaves and heads back to the foot soldier hang out, we get more history from Splinter as he explains his story to Danny, while Casey has followed him. Casey and Danny try to rescue Splinter, while the Turtles fight more foot soldiers in the sewers.

Casey defeats the head of the foot soliders with a golf club, Splinter and Casey try to persuade Sam Rockwell and the rest of the kids that Shredder and the foot soldiers are not their family.

Finally Shredder turns up and we have the final boss battle of the movie, which is reminiscent of the goza scene at the end of ghostbusters. Splinter turns up and Shredder tries to kill him but Shredder falls from the roof into the garbage truck and Casey turns on the crusher and we are to believe that Shredder is dead.

The kids help the cops find all the stolen goods and April gets her job back then she and Casey make out.

Well that is the first film.  It is an origin story and follows the typical 3 acts of a action film, it is a kids film with some good martial arts.  You have to give the guys in the Turtle suits credit for fighting with those massive and probably heavy costumes.

I know it is not every ones cup of tea and that the film has some issues but it is pure entertainment and still just full of funny lines that kids will find hilarious. My memory of the 3 turtles films is that I really enjoy the second one more then the first and third which seems to happen with some trilogies.

I might wait to review the other 2 films as Conal might get really bored and frustrated cause he has already told me how much he hated the second film when it came out.

But watch this space for my next blog.

Whats happened so far since 2013.

I know It has been a while since I wrote something, it has been a busy and strange couple of years.

I got engaged in the 1^st of march 2013, my lovely husband got down on one knee in front of me with a beautiful engagement ring behind the Disney castle at Disney World Florida. I never thought I would have a boyfriend let alone be proposed to, so it took me a while to speak because of the shock and emotions I was feeling, there was no doubt in my mind that I loved Conal and would say Yes I just couldn't believe what was happening.

A lovely girl at the park came over after I said Yes and offered to email me the pictures she had taken of the event which I am so grateful for they are beautiful and are pride of place on our wall. Also right after I said yes, a husband and wife came over and the man told us he is a pastor and he would like to congratulate us both and wish us all the luck in the world. What popped through my head was I have only just said yes, I don't want to marry him right at this moment. We were then invited into Cinderella's castle to be given just engaged badges and have pixie dust sprinkled on our heads.

We were engaged for 2 year and were married on August 9^th 2015 at the Clandeboye Lodge in Bangor Northern Ireland. It was a beautiful day and neither Conal or I were nervous about getting married, I was emotional because it felt like I was leaving my family but I wasn't and I know that now, our families are both so welcoming to each other.

During the 2 years prior to the wedding I lived and worked in northern Ireland and Conal lived in Blackpool, We went on Holiday to Toronto and went to comic cons in London and Toronto we saw each other as much as we could and we were and still are very much in love and there is no doubt that we make each other very happy.

That said in 2014 I suffered from a breakdown and severe depression and if it was not for my family, Conal and his family, my friends and the doctors I don't want to think about what could have happened, I know what nearly happened and I hate the fact I put everyone through this, but I have learned depression is a dark beast in your head that tries to control you and you have to fight it everyday and it is a beast I am still fighting and some days are better then others.

I left my Job in Northern Ireland as that was the main cause of my depression and I was having trouble working there even when I tried to go back when my therapist told me not to. Thankfully I had been given a job with the civil Service in the UK and was able to move over to live with Conal in Blackpool prior to the wedding and work in Southport. The commute is actually quite relaxing and I have got used to the shifts, I'm so much happier but I still fight the beast in my head.

Because I moved over to the UK in May 2015 we were unable to have a proper Honeymoon We had a couple of days in Belfast after the wedding before I had to go back to work. So we have planned a 2 week trip to Florida in 2016 which was not our original intention but it is actually a perfect way to celebrate or relationship as it was in Florida that Conal proposed and we both love the movies and rides at Disney and Universal.

2016 is going to be a great Year and we will be just as happy as we have been in the 4 years we have been together so far.

I will write more film reviews and work on my story ideas too. I'm not just saying this because of the New Year, I now feel strong enough to go back to this as it is something that makes me happy and I love doing, but over the past year I have found it hard to get motivation to write which is another side effect of depression, you don't have the motivation to do anything all you want is to be on your own and do nothing or not to be part of this world at all.

I think that if people were educated on Depression and not embarrassed about it perhaps people would get the help they need sooner and not let the Beast win.

But on a lighter note lets all make 2016 a brilliant year and besides we are now in the future beyond Back to the Future 2.

RED TAILS 2012

So This is arriving a bit late, as I was very sick recently, but here we go with the final film in my colour themed month, that is referring to the titles of films and not the content of this film.

So the film starts with a very controversial quote made by the US Army War College Study in 1925 which reads “Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat.” Well that shows how short the American's memories are, how they love to forget and ignore what the blacks did for them in the civil war and how they always fight for them in wars and get ignored so I see this might be trying to be another GLORY based on that quote.

So on with the film, which starts in a major looking WWII air battle, the Nazi pilot looks a bit like Liam Neeson. Boy this movie is appearing very serious as loads of people are dying, I know war is hell but I thought this film was going to be fun. So the blacks are in a red team and appear to be board as they are not taking part in the air fight. They shoot up a German truck and a German train.

So we appear to have an all black air force base and it looks like Cuba Gooding Junior is channelling Denzel Washington. And gives the pilots a pep talk after they read what America really thinks about black pilots in the war, he then tells them to watch the rest of the film and learn something. I do hope this film gets more interesting and fun soon, or I will think that they falsely advertised this film when it came out.

Wow Bryan Cranston playing a racist Coronal, saying that the experiment of having black pilots is over as they have not destroyed any significant targets or taken any out any enemies. However Terrence Howard's Coronal has another white coronal on his side and gets the Red Tails a mission which will get them noticed. So they are all excited and are flying cover for beach landings.

I have a feeling this is going to end badly as they Liam Neeson looking Nazi is fling head on towards them. OK they aren’t doing to bad so far. The captain and the red tails decide to follow the Liam Neeson Nazi back to his base and go against orders, they attack the base But Junior, who prefers to be called Ray Gun, is shot and badly hurt. They head back to their base and feel like heroes.

Terrance Howard is congratulated for what the red tails did but Bryan Cranston's Coronal is still racist. Junior is blind in one eye now and still wants to fly. Terrance Howard is asked to provide cover for the bomber planes as they are not getting to their targets because the white pilots keep going after the Germans and leaving the bombers open to being taken out by the Germans.

Ah time for more racism as Lightning starts a fight in the officers club and then gets arrested, but gets to remain as he is one of the best pilots. They get new planes and Terrance explains their mission. They paint the tails of the new planes red so they stand out. Capitan gets Junior back on the flight roster to fly in the mission even though he is blind in one eye.

OK, just to explain what happened, at this point Netflix crashed and I could not watch the rest of the film, then I got very sick last month so now I’m going to try and continue.

The team are protecting the bombers while the white bomber teams are racist and feel like they haven't got the best protection. Just the typical racism of the time and of movies like this. The Red Tails follow their orders of not going for glory but protecting the bomber so the Nazi's decided to attack the Red Tails. Junior gets hit and has to bail out and is captured by the Nazi's.

After the bombing attack Lightning argues with the Captain and about the decision to let Junior fly, The captain tries to get Deacon back to base even though he is badly hurt and bleeding from the head and the plane is leaking oil in the cockpit. Lightning brakes from the squad after the mission is over to fly down the coast and tries to take on a U boat (I think) and ignores smoky who tells him that’s enough and lets go home, he actually succeeds in causing major damage to the U boat.

Meanwhile, Deacon is trying to land with the help of the captain as he can't get the canopy open and can't bail. He ends up crashing the plane which ignites in to a fire ball they get Deacon out before the plane explodes. Lightning and Captain argue again as Lightning accuse him of drinking.

Junior is taken to Stalag 18 and is put in a bunk with other prisoners who requested him and he is assured that he will not be hanged and not be treated any different from the other men as they are in the middle of a delicate operation. Wow I wonder what that could be maybe the Great escape.

Lightning shows of his flight footage and his attack of the U Boat and then spends time with his Italian Girlfriend. Lightning talks to captain and asks him to stop drinking and he will fly right and follow orders.

The team go to town together and a white pilot starts shouting at them down the street and they think he wants to start a fight but the guy wants to thank them as he is from one of the bomber teams, they are told the drinks are on him and every one in the club thanks them one by one. Lightning proposes and the girl asks him for time to think.

Junior helps the guys in the camp escape and travels on his own so he doesn't draw attention to the other men.

There is 30 minutes left and I have never felt like there was any risk or danger for the lives of any member of the Red Tails.

The top brass refuse to let the Red Tails fly the whole way with the Bombers on a big mission as it will be reported and they can't have a colour flight squad protecting them. Lightning's girlfriend accepts the proposal and then Captain miller from the camp with junior arrives with Junior's dog tags.

Terrance Howard tells the captain to stop being self pitying and then we see him drinking before they get in the planes. The Red Tails decide to stay with the bombers to the whole mission and go against orders. The Nazi's and Liam Neeson looking guy turn up in Jets and start attacking the Red Tails maybe they have decided to wait till the last 20 minutes to kill some of them. I hate to say it but I hope some of them do die, just so we get some real tension and drama.

One of the bombers turn back as they get attacked and loss an engine and a squad member, Lighting takes a jet head on with Liam Neeson looking guy, but he gets badly shot up and looks like he will die, yep he died but I actually wanted him to survive as he was a great character with a full story and not just cliches.

Junior arrives at the service/funeral for Lightning and announces he will know as the Fabulous Ray Gun. The Red Tails get awarded for their skill and bravery and ends with a brief message about the number of awards they got.

I can see that the makers of this film put a lot of effort in the to flying sequences and wanted to tell this story though battles. But the battles when they had supposed dangerous ones had no suspense or tension as you knew no one would die. It was obvious that they would have to kill one of the main guys. It felt manipulative to have Lighting die as he kept risking his life though out the movie and was about to settle down, but that’s why you could see it coming in the final battle, but I had hoped that Captain would of died cause he was just annoying and there was nothing likeable in my opinion about him. As I stated earlier this movie is Glory and any other movie about the struggle of a minority to be accepted and retreated with respect. I would rather watch Cool Runnings then this film again and I suspect that is why Netflix kept crashing when I tried to watch this film.

When this was advertised it was shown as a fun family film, which it isn't it is long and not really for kids it definitely is no Star Wars and I suspect George Lucas wanted this made as a personal project, it is well know he has stock footage from the war of dog fights which he used to choreograph the space battles in Star Wars.

The next set of Blogs will be about a genre close to my heart Fairy Tale Movies and interpretations of those stories.