Christopher M.'s Reviews

This has got to be the worst of director DeCoteau's films although there are certainly other contenders to consider for that designation. It's so profoundly dull and stultifyingly boring it won't even work as a satire on the peplum genre, only as an insult.
The nearly non-existent plot concerns a bevy of Greek muscle-boys including a young totally lackluster "Hercules" assembling for "warrior training" and athletic competitions for leadership of their coterie which consists mainly of monotonously repetitious solo vanity posing. What little brief action scenes occur are clumsily staged and over-crowded, successfully killing what interest they might have generated. The acting by all is puerile, with the sole exception, oddly enough, of Brendan Lamb who plays the role of the murderous traitor. He's the only one of the bunch worth watching or looking for in any further productions.
If you like this director's work I recommend another in this 1313 series "1313: Alien Invasion" which is a sci-fi film that is much more interesting.
Review Date: 3/18/2015

I expected this film to be much better than it is...the first half is pretty good but it is way too long and tedious. As it moves into the second half it just gets stupider and stupider and turns out to be nothing more than Pinocchio on acid. Don't waste your time, like I did.
Review Date: 1/4/2014

Sweden's most expensive film to date.....and it is glorious! No cgi here and the horsemanship and sword work is all real. The cinematography is breathtaking in both Sweden and the North African desert.
Do yourself a favor and get the longer version...
This is a great epic story with a host of detailed characters and relationships...it's far more than a mere action story...it portrays what the ideal of knighthood was all about....honor, devotion, faith, and above all enduring terrible adversity while maintaining those virtues.
The two young lovers Arn and Cecilia are separated and both forced to perform cruel penances for no less than 20 years....
Cecilia is punished by being shut in a convent where the vicious, hostile Abbess abuses her and makes her life a misery, even sending away her newborn bastard to be fostered. Because of his prowess and equestrian skill, Arn is sent on crusade for a twenty year duration.
Meanwhile, the warring clans of Sweden volley for power and kinghip with tides of fortune often turning to one clan or the other, often decided in blood.
When the crusader kingdom falls to the Saracens after Arn's term of service expires, how will he survive, or will he? When Cecilia's sentence is at last completed, how will she fare when Arn fails to return?
Don't miss this one....it's a classic!




Review Date: 10/12/2017

Apparently those who have not actually read and enjoyed the original Robert E. Howard stories are responsible for this film's incomprehensibly and unfairly underrated status. It's far superior to the earlier attempts and much truer to Howard's characterization. As a film it's also superior to such bloated and underwhelming projects as "Prince of Persia" and "Gods of Egypt" which were little more than boring big-screen video games with non-existent or nonsensical plots. The abundant action proceeds briskly and the film looks stunning. It's an excellent introduction to the Conan character with Jason Momoa doing the barbarian proud. Unfortunately it's generating more fans from the DVD release than it did while during its theatrical run, which is probably going to preclude more of the Conan stories being filmed, on this scale at least.
Review Date: 6/12/2020

Surprisingly effective and well acited by Steve Austin, who plays an ex-con out on parole from a manslaughter conviction and six years in prison. The quiet self-control and integrity demonstrated by Austin's character competing in a world of brutal fights "'til one man surrenders or is unable to continue" is exciting but not for the squeamish. All in all a good story, with excellent supporting players in key roles as well.
Review Date: 3/16/2014

To be perfectly honest, I'm not a big fan of sports films, but this one really surprised me. The sports milieu is quite secondary to the human interest and character development that abounds. The film is based on the true story of the coach, Catana Starks, the first black woman to coach an all-men's team on a college level.
The obsticals she faces, starting with minimal funding and only half-hearted administrative support, are daunting. The most likely athletes have already accepted recruitment from bigger, more prestigious colleges offering full scholarships, but she is bound and determined to assemble and train a fully competitive team from the oddball collection of "misfits" who show a glimmer of aptitude.
It's a hard, uphill road when the team doesn't coalesce after months of rigorous practice due to personality problems and ethnic antipathies. The prospects are bleak, and she's put on notice that her refusal to back down on the failing project will cost her own career and livelihood.

Though the cast is largely unknown to mainstream audiences, every performance rings true, from the 'crazy Korean" to the "Yoda-like" janitor. Aptly titled 'From the Rough" adds up to a real inspiration in its satisfying 97 minute runtime..
Review Date: 5/26/2016

This 1938 study of teen-age angst features the former child-star as high school senior who's worked hard to get good grades in order to be accepted at West Point, his big dream. But it turns out there's a spanner in the works when his estranged father with a known racketeering past rejoins the family. All of a sudden, the high school golden boy, it seems, has been relegated to the status of a social pariah. When he gets arrested for hitting a pedestrian after a party, his dreams hit the skids. The scripting is quite good up until unconvincing scene in the the DA office near the end.
This B picture is an entertaining relic, with the jitterbugging party scene of particular interest.
Review Date: 3/25/2020

With low expectations, as a diehard sword and sandal fan, I bought this dvd. As soon as the film starts it grabs you by the throat and doesn't let up! The film opens with Hercules, surprisingly well-played by John Kennigan, murdering his wife and children while under the influence of a dose of psychedelic poison administered by his sadistic rival Nikos(Dylan Vox)
Nikos, commander of the army of the city of Enos, promotes a promising soldier Arius (Christian Oliver) but is angry to discover that the princess Theodora intends to marry him, while Nikos is planning a palace coup with the object of taking Theodora for himself.
When the ambitious traitor General Nikos murders the king and queen and enslaves the unwilling Theodora, Arius and a few men of resistance decide to try to enlist the legendary Hercules to their cause. When they find him, he's pretty much a drunken wreck of his former self with little or no motivation.
The story is a good one, and the action is unrelenting, very violent and much gorier than usual in peplum films. The little band of valiant rebels face a daunting, impossible fight with a disengaged and unreliable Hercules providing no help.
It's a rousing, rip-roaring adventure epic and the ending leaves you wanting an immediate sequel. Hopefully there will be another or several more films to come.
There is an interesting 'making of" bonus feature and a gag reel.
I give it four stars for being far more effective than several big budget efforts that don't have half plot, action, acting or character.


Review Date: 7/19/2015

This series holds up very well...the only thing that dates it is the excellence of the ensemble cast turning in consistently outstanding performances as their characters each show and the remarkably good stories by its writers. Those who enjoyed the first season as much as I did will surely want this second installment. We get episodes with notable guest stars such as Jane Wyatt as a deluded and vengeful aristocratic lady and Robert Cummings as Lottie's (saloon owner Joan Blindell's) ne'er-do-well husband showing up.
As in season one, the regular cast continues in varying degrees of importance in each story, but Bobby Sherman and David Soul are especially memorable.
Very satisfying viewing for all ages.
Review Date: 5/20/2013

Good cast and reasonably good presentation if you can overlook the split screen sequences which I found annoying.
Review Date: 10/7/2022

"Joshua" is a disturbing psychological horror film all the more effective for the absence of any cgi supernatural intrusions. The "monster" here is a precociously manipulative and downright evil child who, using the guise of meek sweetness, destroys the lives of his parents and even commits cold-blooded murder to get his way. The realism is so convincing that it makes you realize that there really are children like this...the increasingly frequent homicide rate in schools among the young is clear evidence which makes this film all the more chilling.
Review Date: 12/13/2014

Stunning in its sheer audacity.....this low budget film, though released in the 70's is a product of the 60's and hearkens back to the genre of the great 50's sci-fi films which were nearly all low-budget B films that produced such classics as "The Incredible Shrinking Man", Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Invaders from Mars" to name a few.
The simple premise of what happens when unlimited power suddenly falls into the hands of somebody who is emotionally and psychologically immature is briliantly played out in the story of Billy, a sweet but sulky young surfer dude with a lot of powerful resentment and rebellion building up in him.
When he fnds the mysterious weapon left behind in the desert by alien visitors the film effectively takes on the quality of an impending train wreck about to happen as we witness the gradual transformation of sweet young Billy turning into something more and more monstrous, hurtling toward his inevitabe tragedy.
The filmakers wisely give the aliens a low profile and keep them in the background as it is not their story, but primarily ours.(and Billy's) They look like man-sized turtles with no shells and they are quite effective.
It is strange how every critic who pans this film still admits that it's fascinating. As one reviewer cogently put it "I'd rather watch this than Lucas-Spielberg stuff" because it is less ponderous and pretentious and a lot more fun.
Review Date: 4/10/2011

Fascinating star-studded sample collection of adventure, mystery, action and drama from the bygone dustbin of televson's forgotten series.

1. Kimbar of the Jungle (1949) Steve Reeves
2. Bulldog Drummond (1952) Robert Beatty, Greta Gynt
3. From the Files of Jeffrey Jones (1952) Don Haggerty
4. The Storyteller (1952) Marvin Miller
5. The Phantom (1961) Roger Creed, Lon Chaney, Jr.,
Paulette Goddard, Richar Kiel, Reginald Denny
Review Date: 10/7/2022

Understandable why this show won so many Emmys. All of the characters are well observed, the writing is great, the actors are terrific, especially the principals.
And a very slick evocative portrayal of life at the top of the establishment in the 60's.
So well filmed and acted that there's never a dull moment.
Review Date: 8/1/2015

The true mystery of this film is why it's so overlooked and underappreciated. It's an American answer to a Hammer film if there ever was one. Most films that try to transpose 19th century Gothic themes to comtemporary time fail miserably...while this one succeeds admirably.
Nights in Souhtern California have never looked so spooky....
Gustav Vintas is appropriately creepy, carrying most of it naturally, without garish makeup.
There's more violence, gore and nudity than expected, but not enough to ruin the film and story.
Jason Williams, more mature here, is quite good...(his casual and likable machismo and his fit appearance would have been great in the role of John D. Macdonald's Travis McGee series.)
Two of the supporting characters who become victims are standouts, too: the female cop who stalks Jason's character and a stand-up comic whose original frantic phone call to identify the serial killer initially brings Williams into the case.
I won't go into detail about the plot, but the film is very effective from the opening scene until the final frame...and, surprisingly, it's the only "vampire film" you'll ever see that leaves you with the feeling that it could have really happened.

Review Date: 9/24/2013

Lately the vampire genre has been done to death, with long-running tv series, etc. But somehow, this fine little film has slipped through the cracks, while infusing new blood into the tired fomrula. I had no expectation of this film being anywhere near as good as it is...but now I would rank it among the best in the genre which boasts very few good entries beyond some of the classic tratments based on the original Bram Stoker novel. Among these would be "Brides of Dracula", "Vampire at Midnight", and "Blood and Donuts"
Zak Killberg is surely the most realistic and sympathetic protagonist of any of these films...his portrayal of the confusion, fear, hesitation, and abysmal lack of self-esteem and loneliness as he struggles to cope with his "illness" and its consequences is nothing less than masterful. It is obvious that this young man is a great actor not yet discovered. His own personality is nothing like the character he so brilliantly portays in the film. Killberg is upbeat and confident. Contrast his own character with the persona he portrayed and it seems worthy of an Oscar! This is certainly a film that deserves a much greater audience and it may very likely become a treasured cult film in future.

Review Date: 10/14/2013

This is certainly one of the better Norse blood and thunder epics. It's brutal and violent, just like the age in which it is set and the story is believable, a good one and well acted by all.
A band of Norse outlaws is driven by a furious storm to the inhospitable coast of Scotland when their ship is wrecked and they wash up on shore. They are almost immediately confronted by the local petty king's army who's forcibly conveying the king's daughter in a locked cart on her way to be delivered to a neighboring kingdom for marriage.
The band manages to fight them off though they are outnumbered, taking the feisty girl as a hostage.
From then on it's a fight to survive as the king sends his two best vicious "nobles" after them with another army. As it happens, they don't want the girl to survive to eventually take the throne with her husband, so the pursuers intentions are to kill her along with exterminating the Viknigs.
What ensues is an exciting, hair-raising chase, with many bloody confrontations, traps and evasions along the way as the little band is slowly killed off along their way. The excitement never lets up as the desperation grows.
Review Date: 9/13/2015

An interesting sampler of early tv western pilots, many of which have never been aired.

1. The Adventures of Rick O'Shay (1951) with Steve Keyes
2. Frontier (1956) with Chuck Connors
3. Tumbleweed (1956) with Richard Tretter
4. Johnny Moccasin (1956) with Jody McCrae, Claud Akins,
Iron Eyes Cody, Frank DeKova
Review Date: 10/7/2022

****1/2 A stunning series which is often overlooked among the plethora of better known but inferior examples with occult/horror themes. The show has so far run for 6 seasons mainly because the writers and the actors have literally buried competitors by infusing realism, complications, nuance, great character depth and development which is so often missing in the genre. All this with coherent suspense, unflagging excitement and even some normal humor keeps the bizarre violence in a workable perspective.
Despite the unfortunate title, Tyler Posey as the adolescent "loup garou" trying to control his sudden, unwanted affliction as well as deal with average human coming of age problems and school, immediately grabs your attention and succeeds in holding it a tight grip while all his associates and fellow townsmen are in deadly peril. The cast of characters are all very well-acted, with his loyal friend Stiles (Dyan O'Brien) a standout, earning critical kudos. Don't miss this one...!
Review Date: 10/13/2016

"Undersea Kingdom" is fast-moving and exciting, better than most serials...with the added fun of seeing how the cliffhangers are impossibly resolved. One of my favorite superheroes who's never been filmed is Namor, the Submariner and this serial comes closest to rendering him on film. It's amazing how a very ordinary looking guy (Ray Corrigan) with an admittedly great physique can be transformed into a thrilling superhero just by donning a costume. This is the best example of the transformation by costume...Corrigan doesn't look anywhere near as imposing without that great sort of Aztec-looking helmet, the best flowing cape (far better than Superman's) and those nifty fish-scale briefs that turn transparent when the lighting hits them just right. Fortunately, our hero wears this impressive outfit throughout most of the series, and you will notice how much his presence is diminished just by removing the helmet from time to time. Despite the robots that look like lumbering water heaters and a sardine-can tank that announces its presence with an ambulance siren, this is a classic serial adventure that should surely please most action-hero and serial fans. It's a very ambitious and largely successful product for its times, with the added bonus of little of the tediously long previous chapter replays of later efforts in the genre. Highly recommended!
Review Date: 2/12/2012

Silly, quirky, charming and not at all believable. A fun film with photogenic Rick Faugno as the title character. Extras include a fantastic tap dance sequence with the actor which has nothing at all to do with the movie...it just shows another (unused) aspect of his phenomenal talent.
Review Date: 3/15/2015

This series is far more developed and disturbing than the original "Westworld" and "Futureworld" films on many levels. What started out as a fantasy amusement park for wealthy bored vistors to indulge their worst impulses in a 19th century realistic but controlled milieu has turned into a nightmare about to happen as the lines become blurred when a few of the older upgraded "host" personnel gain some small degree of desision capability outside of their programmed cyclic behavior and constant repairs. Anthony Hopkins is appropriately creepy in his role as Dr. Ford, who controls the enterprise, indulging his entrenched god-complex by playing with risks in his favorite models. Much of the details are brilliant and wholly believable. The tension keeps building as the sinister and often violent events transpire. You will want to see what results.
Review Date: 6/17/2021

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