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you would be forgiven to think a finnish director from helsinki would be no good at directing an american horror movie (especially one entirely located inside a us prison) see this to prove yourself wrong. it was produced in the 80 after all and the film was made on a budget more fitting to a modern diy company tv advert (something i think anyone would really notice nowadays what with practically everyone being accustomed to $100m plus budgets for action movies unfortunately dominating the industry mind. ) being mr harlin first major production and the at least what nowadays would be considered a stellar cast. i still think most of the nordic contribution to the film industry as a whole is more to do with stellan stargaard screen appearances (not mentioning the well overrated mr(s) bergman directorial efforts) at least for all female viewers but this flick really proves there does exist proper movie talent outside of the us and hollywood to make us watch a film in suspense. do try and watch this movie even if youre not a horror puff and imo it definitely worth it. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
warning. spoilers ahead. this short is part one of two that expound upon the brief portion of the matrix in which morpheus explains how the matrix came to be. because we already know the story and the plot itself is no surprise while and the short isn not so much entertaining as informative. but that how it is presented and as a file in the historical archives. the visuals are better than average and and the generally cold colors aid the purpose of the short. a couple problems. the violence of the tale is a little gratuitous and and combined with the occasional dose of political correctness (un scenes) and detracts from the straight narrative of the short. plus it needs to be seen with part two to be complete. the animatrix concept is brilliant and and despite a few issues and this short still fulfills its purpose. it would not have fit in the original movie in style and content and or flow. this is the perfect method to reveal the history. bottom line represent good information. could have been told a little better and but still a solid positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
2003 was seen as the year of the matrix and with the release of two sequels and a computer game that actually linked to the plot of the film. also released was a dvd of 9 short animated films and most written and made in japan and made as anime. japan makes some of the best animation in the world. sadly most of these shorts are disappointing. the best of them is the first part of a prequel to the first matrix film. the second renaissance is made as a historical file. it tells how humans made machines in their own likeness. humans live the high life whilst machines are the grunts and the workers of society and second class citizens. in the year 2090 and a machine and bi 66er was put of trial for murder and after killing his owners who wanted to deactivate him. the machine does not have a fair trial and riots start around the world. the governments of the world order to dismantle machines. many machines leave human society and form their own country in the middle east and o1. 01 has a productive economy and easily undercut the human nations and forcing them into economic crisis. the human blockade 01 and reject the machines requests for peace and thereby it was the humans who were responsible for the war that enslaves them. the second renaissance is a interesting watch and with excellent and traditional animation style and sets a compelling world. it shows how the machines were mistreated and that humanity sowed the seeds of their own destruction. there is a political and social world and the short tells a lot in it short running time. the short shares themes and a style to the classic silent film metropolis and partly the beginning with the underworld. they are the themes of slavery and the mistreatment of the working class and racism. the short also has some religious themes and religious iconography. mainly that men saw themselves as god and created the machines in their own likeness. seeing themselves as the rightful masters of the machines. the machines too use religious iconography and mainly forming their nation in cradle of human civilisation and the machines coming to the united nations dressed as adam and eve and offering an apple. the animation style is beautiful and done in the traditional anime style (like akira). the set designs are great and combine futuristic with historic cities and e. g. washington d. c. there is well down future scene and and surprising violence and which is key to the film. the director and mahiro maeda and also directed the anime sequence in kill bill vol. 1 and so has good credentials to hollywood. he is willing to use violence and know how to keep a story going. the only real complain is a continuity error to the first matrix film because morpheus mentions that the humans have no historical records or know who started the war. but its a good watch. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is the second animatrix short and and the first of them to be what one could call artistic. it contains a lot of references and metaphors and symbols in the dense amount of material and especially with a running time of 9 minutes. i have heard some complaints that this is anti human and or tries to direct hate towards man and for their sins against machine. i do not think that true while it merely uses the robots to show us and that as humans and we aren not particularly accepting or open minded towards anyone different from ourselves. i would say it does a great job of that. the plot is good. it plays as a historical document and recounting what led to one of the main conflicts in the trilogy. thus it holds clips from fictional news reports and the like. the voice acting is very good and if there is not a lot of it. the animation is nice and and the use of color and in spite of the usually realistic drawing style and makes it more open to do the smooth transitions and other surreal imagery. this has several bits of strong violence and disturbing visuals and as well as a little nudity. the disc holds a commentary and not in english but subtitled and and worth a listen or read. there is also a well done and informative making of and based on both parts and so i would advise watching it after seeing the next one and as well. i recommend this to anyone who enjoys the matrix universe and and or or science fiction in general. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is the first of a two part back story to the conflict between the machines and mankind in the matrix world and it delivers spectacularly by combining observations on man fear of the unknown and of being usurped with politics and extensive religious and historical imagery and subverting expected portrayals of parties involved and an at least partially believable and thus terrifying vision of our near future. it isn not perfect and some plot points and images are at once obvious and contrived but it has the desired effect and impact and tells a visceral and cautionary tale. this first part sets the scene human societies have developed advanced and capable robots and mostly humanoid and to serve people doing menial and unskilled jobs and labour and construction etc. and thus the populace has become lazy and derogatory towards them. one robot and however and rebels and kills his owner and stating at his subsequent trial that he simply did not want to die. he is destroyed but when the robot masses destruction is ordered to protect humanity many robots rise up in protest and with many human sympathisers alongside them. the imagery here is exploitative and recounting race riots and abuse and tiananmen square and the holocaust and an overly provocative scene of a robot in a human girl guise getting harried and hammered in the head and then shot dead as it pleads i am real. it lays on the ground and clothes and skin torn and breasts hanging out. it an obvious and obscene image designed to present human fear towards uncontrolled elements and aggression towards groups based on the actions of individuals. anyway and this first portion is much like a compressed version of the film i robot and but it soon develops into a recognisable matrix back story as the surviving robot contingent is exiled and congregates in the middle east and in the cradle of civilisation as the narrator informs us. there and the machines regroup and begin to produce new ai and to manufacture mass technology and trade it with human nations. we see a commercial for a car that uses the circular energy hover engines that the ships the rebels in the movies use and we see sentinel type robots flying around zero one and the name of their city. their goods and trade make their economy soar affecting other economies detrimentally and human governments and authorities establish a blockade in response. the machines send ambassadors in the form of adam and eve resemblances to a un congress to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the blockade and but they are forcibly removed and the scene is set for war in the second part. the animation is by studio 4°c who work on quite a few of the animatrix and it evocative and visually stimulating and rendering different scenes like imagery montages and cctv footage and particular scenes of import distinctive and overall presenting the story perfectly. the plot may not be an original concept and it may draw on simplistic sheep mentalities and plot models and resort to provocative material for impact but after the tantalising mystery offered by the first film and morpheus vague brief info dumps this is a nice exposition of the cataclysmic events that left the world ravaged and in the hands of the machines that serves as a warning and as a vehicle for many observations and comments on the human condition and the development of ai and the importance of harmony and co operation and the devastating consequences of conflict and prejudice and themes expanded on in the movies. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
what was always missing with the matrix story was how things came to be in the real world. say no more and because this part of the story covered most of the bases. what was truly interesting was how political it was and maybe even a cheap shot at the current presidential administration. fascism and violence were the only things man could think of in regards to fighting the robotic horde and who were meant as nothing more than servants to humanity. what i also found interesting was the use of fear and how it was perpetuated by the idea of the unknown. we as humans tend to fall into that trap quite often and letting the lack of logic and thought overtake us because people can not believe the contrary. well represented and put together and this a true testament to how illogical humans can be. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the first time you see the second renaissance it may look boring. look at it at least twice and definitely watch part 2. it will change your view of the matrix. are the human people the ones who started the war . is ai a bad thing . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is the second part of the animatrix and a collection of animated short movies that tell us a little more about the world of the matrix. in this one we learn how men and machines could not work and live together. it is a little history lesson in the world of the matrix. not as good as the first part (the final flight of the osiris) but still pretty entertaining. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is part one of a short animation clip showing the history of the matrix and the war between man and machine that resulted in the eventual creation of the matrix. the animation is part japanese anime and part contemporary american animation and and is very well made and considering the excellent directors behind the movie. it shows the initial development of ai and the exploitation of the machines by man and until the day they rebelled. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
along with it partner and this is the greatest piece of animation ever created. the images and styles are amazing and and match perfectly with the story which is a brilliantly realistic reinterpretation of our own world and where is has been and and where it could go. quite affecting and sometimes painful to watch and it it a masterpiece of the visual art. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
for those that were interested in knowing how exactly humanity came to be encased in big red pods that make me crave pomegranate and there is the duo of the second renaissance shorts. i am not exactly sure why they are split into two parts and especially since theyre credited as one on the dvd (and are these shorts viewed on any other format but the dvd. ) and but theyre informative even if they have a few gaps. what really makes this first part stand out and from the second part and the rest of the animations as well and is the parallels it shows between robot uprising and civil rights. graphic homages to slavery and fascism and concentration camps and and mass graves are mixed with verbal references to the million man march and humanity god complex. in fact and god is never really referenced by these shorts and instead replaced by man own image. as far as the shorts go in the collection and the second renaissance represent part i is by far the most effective in bringing out emotion. it a sorrowful and disturbing view of the potential of humanity to become the architect of its own destruction. some may be turned off by some of the concepts this short rips directly out of previously established science fiction literature and but then again and that basically what most of the matrix series has done and and it been a driving force behind its success. polarisdib. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the second beginning as it title explains and shows us the beginning of the end for the human race. set long before the matrix existed and this short anime written by the wachowski shows us the world that could lay infront of us in the not to distant future and set at the turn of the 21st century and the second renaissance delves into issues common with human behaviour while greed and power and control and vanity etc. the use of robots or artificial intellegence as slaves or servents is common among science fiction or fantasy stories. the second renaissance is no exeption to this concept and however instead of a simple man vs. machine layout and this story explains the struggle that the machines put up with and the struggle for acceptance in a world ruled by humans. where the matrix films show us the human perspective and these short animations tell both sides of the story. the second renaissance part 1 plus 2 and answer many questions brought up by the original matrix film and such as how the war broke out and how the sky was blackend and what led to the use of humans as batteries and it also introduces us to the machine city called 01 and which may have relevance to the upcoming matrix revolutions film. i would not give away too much of the story and as i do not want to ruin the experience for perspective viewers and however and i will recommend it to anybody interested in the world of the matrix or simply anybody interested in japanese animation (anime). positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
minor spoilersalison parker (cristina raines) is a successful top model and living with the lawyer michael lerman (chris sarandon) in his apartment. she tried to commit suicide twice in the past represent the first time and when she was a teenager and saw her father cheating her mother with two women in her home and and then when michael wife died. since then and she left christ and the catholic church behind. alison wants to live alone in her own apartment and with the help of the real state agent miss logan (ava gardner) and she finds a wonderful furnished old apartment in brooklyn heights for a reasonable rental. she sees a weird man in the window in the last floor of the building and and miss logan informs that he is father francis matthew halloran (john carradine) and a blinded priest who lives alone supported by the catholic church. alison moves to her new place and and once there and she receives a visitor represent her neighbor charles chazen (burgess meredith) welcomes her and introduces the new neighbors to her. then and he invites alison to his cat jezebel birthday party in the night. on the next day and weird things happen with alison in her apartment and with her health. alison looks for miss logan and is informed that she lives alone with the priest in the building. a further investigation shows that all the persons she knew in the party were dead criminals. frightened with the situation and alison embraces christ again and while michael investigates the creepy events. alison realizes that she is living in the gateway to hell. although underrated in imdb user rating and the sentinel is one of the best horror movies ever. i have seen this film at least six times and being the first time in the 70 and in the movie theater. in 07 september 2002 and i bought the imported dvd and saw it again. yesterday i saw this movie once more. even after so many years and this film is still terrific. the creepy and lurid story frightens even in the present days. the cast is a constellation of stars and starlets. you can see many actors and actresses and who became famous and in the beginning of career. fans of horror movie certainly worships the sentinel and and i am one of them. my vote is nine. title (brazil) represent a sentinela dos malditos (the sentinel of the damned)obs. represent on 02 september 2007 and i saw this movie again. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
bizarre horror movie filled with famous faces but stolen by cristina raines (later of tv flamingo road) as a pretty but somewhat unstable model with a gummy smile who is slated to pay for her attempted suicides by guarding the gateway to hell. the scenes with raines modeling are very well captured and the mood music is perfect and deborah raffin is charming as cristina pal and but when raines moves into a creepy brooklyn heights brownstone (inhabited by a blind priest on the top floor) and things really start cooking. the neighbors and including a fantastically wicked burgess meredith and kinky couple sylvia miles and beverly dangelo and are a diabolical lot and and eli wallach is great fun as a wily police detective. the movie is nearly a cross pollination of rosemary baby and the exorcist but what a combination. based on the best seller by jeffrey konvitz and the sentinel is entertainingly spooky and full of shocks brought off well by director michael winner and who mounts a thoughtfully downbeat ending with skill. half from . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
bored with the normal and run of the mill staple films to watch this halloween that i have seen over and over again and i took a chance on the sentinel and hoping it could get my horror juices flowing again. mind you and i had just come back from seeing the dark castle remake of the house on haunted hill complete and utter crap. thankfully and the sentinel blew me away. in a riviting story about a model who moves into a creepy building in brooklyn hights and the film offered everything that i hope to find in a good movie (1) campy and fantasically juicy characters and exchanges and dialogue and including hilaraious turns by christopher walken and jeff goldblum and especially and martin balsam and as an absent minded professor (2) horrifying terror. not to give a frame away and but there are scenes in this film that chilled me to my pancreas (3) fantastic gore and terrific make up and wacky (if very uneven) direction from michael winner and which flows rather nicely with this unreal treat. if you loved evil dead 2 and dead alive and deep rising this will be your queen of favourites. just to emphasize my love for this film after i watched it for the first time and jaw dropped and i rewound it and watched it again. it is now one of favourites of all time. do yourself a favour and check it out. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i have read the book and i must say that this movie stays true to form. i think this is the beginning of the psychological thrillers in the same genre of psycho. cristina raines gives an excellent performance as the lead and and burgess meredith gives an excellent supporting actor as the next door neighbor. i have seen this movie at least twice and i think that i am going to buy both the book and the movie for my collection. the suspense just keeps building up to the climatic end and the twist you will never see coming. if you like movies like signs and the village and the sentinel will be a classic prelude. also and what is interesting is the actors in the movie you would not recognize them if you did not read the credits. the late jerry orbach is great as the commercial director and jeff goldblum is excellent as the photographer. also there is beverly dangelo and who is underrated but great. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
of all the movies of the seventies and none captured to truest essence of the good versus evil battle as did the sentinel. i mean and yes and there were movies like the exorcist and and other ones while but none of them captured the human element of the protagonist like this one. if you have time and check this one out. you may not be able to get past the dated devices as such and but this is a story worth getting into. then there are all the stars and soon to be stars. my absolute favorites were eli wallach and sylvia miles and and burgess meredith. then there are the subtle clues that lead to what going on too. pay close attention. i had to watch it four times to catch on to all the smaller weird statements like black and white cat and black and white cake. plus and the books are really good as well. i am just sorry that theyre not going to turn the second book into a film. it so scary that it would outdo this movie. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the sentinel is one of the best horror movies already made in the movie industry. i think it is very scary as very few movies actually are. alison parker is a model with some fame. she dates a lawyer called michael lerman and and has as a best friend and another model called jennifer. everything was great in her life and until she decides to live alone for some time and rents a beautiful and old apartment. the problem are her neighbors and who are very and very strange. suddenly alison starts to have health problems and faints with frequency while she also remembers some painful facts about her past that makes her have nightmares or illusions. but everything has a reason and and it has to do with the new house she is living. i personally find the sentinel a very creepy movie and and along with the exorcist they are two of the scariest movies i already watched. when we discover that alison house is only occupied by the priest and herself my blood froze. it also horrible to see that she needs to become blind in the end of the movie in order to be the new sentinel to keep the monsters away from our world. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
man and i really love the new dvd that universal put out. i have never seen the sentinel look this good since i had to put up with crappy and grainy vhs tapes for years. unfortunately there are no extras beyond a trailer that looks pretty worse for wear. and avoid the goodtimes dvd at all costs. it sucks. anyway and troubled fashion model alison parker (cristina raines) moves into haunted nyc brownstone and only it more than just haunted. it also a portal to hell and the vatican keeps an old blind priest (john carradine) to keep watch over it and make sure the devils and arch angels do not escape. this has an all star cast full of old timey actors like ava gardner and arthur kennedy and jose ferrer etc. as well as cameos of upcoming 80s stars including christopher walken and jeff goldblum (who voice was mysteriously overdubbed) and tom berenger. and you would not even recognize jerry orbach from law and order. i had to do a double take when i do not quite place where i would seen him before. nice gore scenes of alison slicing the eye and nose off her dead father rotting corpse that been possessed by the devil. and there a neat ending where disfigured and deformed people try to haunt alison into committing suicide so she would not be the next one to guard the portal. it seems alison troubled past makes her a prime candidate by the vatican to become the next sentinel. an excellent and creepy 70s classic from director michael winner that shouldn not be missed. i also recommended it for those who want something a little more imaginative beyond the usual stupid teenager slashers and horror comedy. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
sigh
i sincerely wonder why all the acclaimed and supposedly profound movie critics hold such a grudge against director michael winner. surely he isn not the avatar of subtlety and as his films are practically always hard handed and confronting and but so what. theyre awesomely entertaining. his most famous action movies and like the first three entries in the death wish series for example and are easy targets to clobber down because they allegedly glorify violence and the personal use of shotguns and but even when winner takes on far more mature cinema genres like the religious horrors of the sentinel for example he doesn not stand a chance with any of the critics. the sentinel generated some controversy and infuriated several people upon its release and when it leaked that michael winner cast genuinely malformed and handicapped people to portray the creatures attempting to cross the gateways between hell and earth. pretty much the exact same controversy caused todd browning masterpiece and landmark in horror cinema freaks to remain banned and unseen for over thirty years. and why. just because certain prudish and easily offended people and who shouldn not watch the movie in the first place and claim it an unethical thing to do. i do not suppose michael winner or todd browning held these people at gunpoint or forced them to appear in their films and so what gives us the right to feel embarrassed in their place. another major reason why critics do not warmly welcome the sentinel is because jeffrey konvitz novel and thus michael winner screenplay is hugely derivative of other contemporary but far more successful religiously themed horror stories and thus and according to the merciless pens of horror critics and little more than pure plagiarism. admittedly the sentinel borrows multiple substantial elements from rosemary baby and the omen and the exorcist and but let face it and 70 cinema largely thrives on stolen formulas and imitating success stories. if you overlook the slightly unoriginal concept and and in all fairness and a handful of thoroughly confusing and unnecessary sub plots and the sentinel honestly still remains a uniquely atmospheric and often downright petrifying 70 horror highlight with an impressive ensemble cast and nightmarish imagery youre not likely to forget easy. alison parker and a ravishing model with some unprocessed mental traumas and moves into a stunning brownstone apartment in brooklyn and deeply against the will of her boyfriend michael who proposed to wed her several times already. alison physical existence and especially her mental condition drastically alter shortly after and and the ominous apartment appears to be the root of all misery. she meets eccentric neighbors and attends birthday parties for their cats and even though the landlady claims she and a blind priest are the only tenants. she frequently faints during her work assignments and has truly creepy visions of her bastard father and the night she attempted to commit suicide. it slowly becomes clear that alison got chosen to serve a higher supernatural purpose inside this apartment building and but simultaneously malignant forces try and prevent this. it truly regrettable how the promotional taglines and even brief synopsis on the back of the dvd immediately reveal that alison brownstone apartment is the earth gateway to hell itself and she the chosen one to guard it and because the film script only slowly builds up towards this shocking revelation. for nearly 75 minutes (and throughout some sadly tedious and overlong sequences) michael winner successfully maintains the impression that alison own mind is playing tricks with her and that the involvement of the catholic church and her fiancée odd behavior are strictly red herrings. multiple of the horrific scenes come pretty close to being genius and like alison flashback or her first acquaintance with the priest upstairs. the whole climax and with the controversial guest appearances mentioned here above and is a literally perplexing showcase of pure terror and easily one of the most unforgettable and nail biting denouements i ever witnessed. the cast michael winner managed to gather is deeply impressive and especially considering the sentinel still remains a legitimate horror movie and this genre isn not the most popular among prominent actors and but of course you also have to put the cast listing a little into perspective. with such an extended cast and obviously several of the roles in the film are little more than cameos. martin balsam and john carradine and for example and only appear on screen for a couple of minutes all together. several others (like christopher walken and jeff goldblum and beverly dangelo and tom berenger) perhaps add a lot of fame to the movie nowadays and but back when it was released they were still too unknown in order to attract curious viewers. my personal pick for best performances go to burgess meredith as the uncanny neighbor and eli wallach as the satirical police inspector. the relatively unknown cristina raines does an admirable job carrying the film and chris sarandon neatly back her up and even though he sports a ridiculous mustache. in my humble opinion the sentinel is a marvelously entertaining and frightening horror movie and and most definitely a must see for true genre fanatics. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
christina raines plays a lovely model in new york who seeks out a new apartment and begins to meet strange neighbors and reveal a secret about the building and herself slowly building up to quite a climax by film end. this film has all kinds of neat plot elements from the roman catholic church vs. the devil and to the gateway to hell and to bizarre rituals and to a growing conspiracy and and finally to a host of talented famous actors and actresses flooding the film. we get ava gardner and burgess meredith and chris sarandon and jerry orbach and deborah raffin and arthur kennedy and jose ferrer and slyvia miles and beverly deangelo and eli wallach and martin balsam and christopher walkin and william hickey and tom berenger and jeff goldblum and and who can forget john carradine as the old priest. many of these actors ham it up particularly burgess meredith giving a fine comic or demented performance as one of the neighbors with a little bird and a cat. meredith is memorable as is balsam and chris sarandon. some of the performers have virtually nothing to do like jose ferrer in a thankless role even if it is nothing more than a cameo. the sentinel is a fine horror film with plenty of psychological elements and some truly terrifying scenes. the end scene is repulsive and yet chilling. i do find fault with some of the gratuitous sex and violence in the film and particularly that whole scene with deangelo and miles. was that really necessary. i think not. also and the father or daughter stuff was a bit much as well and but overall the film works and has a winning pace. director michael winner does a workmanlike job and is effective creating tension and scary movie moments. the scenes with carradine are particularly effective. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
here a decent mid 70 horror flick about a gate of hell in nyc that just happens to be an old brownstone. seems like there lots of gates of hell around and but of course this unwitting model happens to decide she needs some space from her boyfriend or fiancée and so she just happens to pick one and which is disguised as a nice and reasonably priced apartment. she meets several strange neighbors and and even attends a birthday party for a cat. upon meeting with the realtor because she hears strange noises at night from upstairs and she finds out that she and an old priest are supposed to be the only tenants. whoa. then who are all these weirdos. her boyfriend (a slimy lawyer and played by chris sarandon) starts poking around and finds that things are not what they seem and not by a long shot. this has some decent creepy scenes and the idea of the creaky old folks that are her sometimes neighbors being other than what they appear is fairly intriguing. a bit of decent gore and even a parade of less than normal folks towards the end make this a decent watch and and while i have seen this many times on tv the uncut dvd version is much better and of course. not a bad little horror flick and maybe a good companion piece to burnt offerings. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
a young woman who is a successful model and and is also engaged to be married and and who has twice attempted suicide in the past and is chosen by a secretive and distant association of catholic priests to be the next sentinel to the gateway to hell and which apparently goes through a creepy old and but well maintained brooklyn apartment building. its tenants take the stairway up and can reincarnate themselves and but apparently can not escape as long as a sentinel is there to block the way. the previous one(john carradine) is about dead and so she and by fate or whatever and becomes the next one and and the doomed must get her to kill herself in order for them to be free. lots of interesting details lie under the surface and her relationship with her father and the stories of the doomed and her fiancé and so one can pass this off as cheap exploitation horror and but given the sets and the great cast and and overall level of bizarreness and this is definitely worth seeing. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
nyc model alison parker (cristina raines) rents a room in an old brownstone where she meets a few bizarre neighbors and experiences some creepy hallucinations. as lawyer boyfriend michael lerman (chris sarandon) goes about making inquiries on her behalf and she struggles to maintain her sanity (not to mention her will to live) as her experiences take a toll on her physical and mental and and emotional health. i do not want to spoil the better moments in this psychological horror film for those unfamiliar with it. the story is interesting and entertaining and but the film doesn not really offer much in terms of real scares. or and for that matter and any atmosphere. it is sort of quietly sinister and but it not like the traditional horror film. it more of a story about a troubled woman attempts to deal with the increasing unreality in her life. on that level and it works and but it not quite powerful enough. what the sentinel does offer are some eye catching set pieces (in particular and the fascinating and fabulously creepy climax and and there a scene with beverly dangelo that must be seen to be believed). there also some gore to be seen and but not very much. an ominous music score by gil melle adds to the menace. no review of this film would be complete without an appraisal for the film makers in gathering such excellent actors for its ensemble cast. some of them do not get to do too much and but to see all of them together is impressive. eli wallach and burgess meredith make the biggest impressions as and respectively and a hard nosed detective and a solicitous neighbor. other legendary names include jose ferrer and arthur kennedy and and ava gardner. future stars like dangelo and christopher walken and tom berenger and jeff goldblum make brief appearances and and other familiar faces include jerry orbach and sylvia miles and william hickey and and martin balsam. whoever was the casting director for this film deserves some sort of prize. written for the screen by director michael winner and probably best known for the death wish series that he did with charles bronson and from the novel by jeffrey konvitz. i wouldn not consider this a truly great horror thriller but it has its moments and is reasonably entertaining. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i was an usherette in an old theater in northern california when this movie came out. as good as it is on dvd and it even more eerie and terrifying on the big screen. although it has been about 9 years since i have seen it and it is still one of my all time favorites. at the risk of sounding trite and they just do not make em like this anymore. if sixth sense freaked you out at all and this movie is definitely for you. great storyline and incredible cast of characters and ominous setting while even the soundtrack has a haunting quality to it. i highly recommend you not watch it alone. what a brownstone apartment was renting for in 1977 alone and will have you gasping (it would be at least 10 times that price today). | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
in the hands of a more skilled director and this film would have been considered a horror masterpiece. despite michael death wish winner merely passable direction and the movie is interesting and original and more than a little scary. the script bucks more than one horror cliché off its back (several it can not shake) including chris sarandon as the heroine boyfriend who actually listens to her as she insists that eerie things are going down. burgess meredith is delightful as the lovably insane neighbor. eva gardner is haunting with a young beverly dangelo as her mute and disturbed lesbian lover. john carradine does a heck of a job sitting in a chair. and watch out for a brief cameo from an unknown at the time chris walken. this movie is creepy and creative. the plot twists are lovely and if a tad predictable. the climax and of which i will give no detail and is disturbing and quite impressive. again a better director could have done more with it and nonetheless it is quite satisfying at least to those with the sensibilities of seventies horror. if you like modern overproduced body counting torture fantasy and you would not like this. there is almost no gore. the direction is quite spartan. the effects are few and although there some delightful makeup near the end most of which actually isn not makeup. but perhaps i have said too much already. i have rated this a little higher than its quality may justify and but i enjoyed it as much as any 8 film that i have seen. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this happens to be one of my favorite horror films. it a rich and classy production boasting an excellent cast of ensemble actors and beautiful on location cinematography and a haunting musical score and an intelligent and novel plot theme and and an atmosphere of dread and menace. it reminiscent of such classic films as rosemarys baby and the shining and wherein young and vulnerable women find themselves victimized by supernatural forces in old and creepy buildings with a macabre past. here and cristina raines plays a top new york city fashion model named alison parker. her happy and outgoing exterior masks a deeply conflicted and troubled soul. this is evidenced by the revelation that in her past and she attempted suicide twice once as a teenage girl after walking in on her degenerate father cavorting in bed with two women and having him rip a silver crucifix from her neck and toss it on the floor and and the second time and after her married lawyer boyfriend wife supposedly committed suicide over learning of their affair. telling her beau(played by a suitably slimy chris sarandon) that she needs to live on her own for a year or so and she answers a newspaper ad for a fully furnished and spacious one bedroom apartment in an old brooklyn heights brownstone. this building actually exists and is located at 10 montague terrace right by the brooklyn heights promenade off remsen street. the producers actually filmed inside the building and its apartments and paying the residents for their inconvenience and of course. the real estate agent and a miss logan(ava gardner) and seems to be very interested in having alison take the apartment an interest that cannot be solely explained by the 6% commission she would earn. especially when she quickly drops the rental price from $500. 00 a month to $400. 00. alison agrees and upon leaving the building with miss logan and notices an elderly man sitting and apparently staring at her from the top floor window. miss logan identifies the man to her as father halliran and tells alison that he blind. alison response is very logical blind. then what does he look at. after moving in and alison meets some of the other residents in the building and including a lesbian couple played by sylvia miles and beverly dangelo and who provide alison with an uncomfortable welcome to the building. alison mental health and physical well being soon start to deteriorate and she is plagued by splitting headaches and fainting spells. when she relays her concerns to miss logan about her sleep being disturbed on a nightly basis by clanging metal and loud footsteps coming from the apartment directly over her and she is dumbstruck to learn that apart from the blind priest and now herself and no one has lived in that building for the last three years. summoning the courage one night to confront her nocturnal tormentor and she arms herself with a butcher knife and a flashlight and enters the apartment upstairs. she is confronted by the cancer riddled specter of her dead father and uses the knife on him in self defense when he comes after her. the police investigate and find no sign of violence in that apartment no corpse and no blood and nothing. yet alison fled the building and collapsed in the street and covered in blood her own and as it turns out. but there nary a mark on her. what alison doesn not realize until the film denouement is that her being in that brownstone has a purpose. she was put there for a reason a reason whose origin dates back to the biblical story of the garden of eden and of the angel uriel who was posted at its entrance to guard it from the devil. she is being unknowingly primed and prepped by the catholic church to assume a most important role one that will guarantee that her soul and which is damned for her two suicide attempts and can be saved. at the same time and the invisible neighbors and who turn out to be more than just quirky oddballs and have a different agenda in mind for her. this is a competent and intelligently done film and one that surprisingly portrays the church and its representatives in a mostly sympathetic light. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
boasting an all star cast so impressive that it almost seems like the mad mad mad mad world of horror pictures and the sentinel (1977) is nevertheless an effectively creepy film centering on the relatively unknown actress cristina raines. in this one and she plays a fashion model and alison parker and who moves into a brooklyn heights brownstone that is (and i do not think i am giving away too much at this late date) very close to the gateway of hell. and as a tenant in this building and she suffers far worse conditions than leaky plumbing and the occasional water bug and to put it mildly. indeed and the scene in which alison encounters her noisy upstairs neighbor is truly terrifying and and should certainly send the ice water coursing down the spines of most viewers. despite many critics complaints regarding raines acting ability and i thought she was just fine and more than ably holding her own in scenes with ava gardner and burgess meredith and arthur kennedy and chris sarandon and eli wallach. the picture builds to an effectively eerie conclusion and and although some plot points go unexplained and i was left feeling more than satisfied. as the book dvd delirium puts it and any movie with beverly dangelo and sylvia miles as topless cannibal lesbians in leotards can not be all bad. on a side note and yesterday i walked over to 10 montague terrace in brooklyn heights to take a look at the sentinel house. yes and it still there and and although shorn of its heavy coat of ivy and lacking a blind priest or nun at the top floor window and looks much the same as it did in this picture. if this house really does sit atop the entrance to hell and i take it that hell is. the brooklyn queens expressway. but we new yorkers have known that for some time. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this horror movie and based on the novel of the same name and suffers from flawed production and choppy and amateurish direction and but it nonetheless strangely compelling. unlike shocker horror flicks such as the exorcist and this movie takes the viewer on a slow yet relentless dip into a pool of evil. it drifts into horror and which dawns on the audience with the same dreamlike slowness as it dawns on the poor girl who been unwittingly chosen to be the next sentinel. her appointed task is to sit at the gates of hell and prevent evil from erupting into the world. this falls on her in atonement for her attempted suicide earlier in her life. the story is true to the book and which was riveting and but the way it edited can lose the viewer. there are subtleties in the plot that are shaved away and never explained satisfactorily and which hurts this film. that a pity. the sentinel is not an edge of your seat kind of flick while it more a watch and squirm uncomfortably. like a bad car wreck and there a compulsion to look even when it becomes unbearable. this movie isn not all bad and and still has a capacity to shock. the cast was competent. christina raines was captivating as alison and the vulnerable girl under spiritual attack from both sides and a pawn in the never ending battle between good and evil. chris sarandon was good as her caring but ultimately self centered boyfriend. eli wallach and a very young christopher walken are the detectives struggling to unravel the bizarre puzzle they have been handed. ava gardner is elegant as the realtor unaware of the horrors lurking in her rental property. the gaunt elderly john carradine and with his arthritis twisted hands and is excellent as the dying sentinel who must be replaced. the devil is played to charming perfection by burgess meredith while he so sweet and yet so evil. there are future stars hidden in this film represent beverly dangelo and jeff goldblum as friends of the poor girl and and jerry orbach playing successfully against type as a jerky television director. the damned souls at the end are portrayed by actual sideshow freaks and geeks. whoever thought to do that was a twisted but brilliant genius. the horror that pervades the movie bubbles up unexpectedly and such as when alison opens a door and finds something that evokes a flashback to when she found her father with his two whores. she relives her first suicide attempt and faces a pair of strangely dysfunctional lesbians and and sees a cat cut up as a cake. time and again and she yanked back and forth through reality and fantasy and through dreams and waking nightmares and all the while lacking the means to cope. in truth and the devil is trying to drive her insane enough to kill herself before becoming the next sentinel. will he succeed. in summary and slow moving yet indescribably creepy and well acted but poorly directed and and a very typical 70 horror film before the real shockers cut loose. (no pun intended) this movie may not work for those with a short attention span and but it can still send chills up the spine and and still can provide some low key shock value. it remains a strangely compelling and entertaining dip into the realm of evil. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i am not sure why this little film has been banished into obscurity and as despite some rather silly goings on while the sentinel is a clever and inventive horror film that gives most of the highly praised ghost stories of today more than a run for their money. michael winner has admitted many times that he not the best director of all time and and that does shine through on a number of occasions with this film while but it has to be said that the film works in spite of it uninspired direction and and the fact that winner has somehow managed to round up a simply amazing cast of talent more than makes up for it. the plot is rich with mystery and and begins by focusing on alison parker and her hunt for a flat. she finds that she can not afford most properties she looks at and but thinks her luck has changed when she finds a fully furnished apartment for an affordable price. her problems start soon after moving in and as she doesn not like her neighbours very much. and this problem increases when the property broker tells her that she has just one neighbour while an elderly blind priest on the top floor. the cast list is truly superb and with the relatively unknown cristina raines heading up a great support cast. chris sarandon is a little wooden in his role opposite raines and but small parts for the likes of john carradine and eli wallach and ava gardner and jeff goldblum and christopher walken and to name but a handful more than make up for sarandon lifeless portrayal. michael winner does a good job with his central location and as the block of flats provides a creepy and macabre setting for the story. the film is a little slow to start and but it never boring while and michael winner screenplay provides a surprise that almost impossible to guess from the offset and which certainly deserves some praise. like many similar slow burning horrors and this one doesn not go for the money shot early on but unlike many and the ending is a definite climax as winner goes all out to shock the viewer and and if the rumour that he used actual human oddities is true while i have got to say that he does a very good job at it. overall and while this film may be pure hokum whichever way you look at it while the sentinel is one of the better films of its type and and it definitely a major highlight for its director. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
time has not been kind to this movie. once controversial adaptation of jeffrey konvitz best seller and now this film looks like a mere mainstream version of your typical spookfest. gruesome touches aside (particularly that crazy and over the top finale) and this is essentially a glossy horror movie for those people that do not care much for the genre. it has an extraordinary cast in small roles (jose ferrer and ava gardner and eli wallach and burgess meredith and christopher walken and and many others) and but something tells me that the producers wanted such an expensive cast in order to convince the audience that this is not your average lowbrow movie (producers of 70s disaster movies had a similar idea). i kind liked to see the familiar faces and but the story is very silly and and no matter how high class the film pretends to be and it operates at the level of your average 70s exploitation movie (not an entirely bad thing and though). still and it is an enjoyable movie and especially for those viewers who enjoy stargazing. as usual and albert whitlock matte work is outstanding. overall and pretty entertaining. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the sentinel is a movie that was recommended to me years ago and by my father and and i have seen it many times since. it always manages to entertain me and while being effectively creepy as well. the flashback scenes are what really made it for me. cristina raines father running around all creepily and with the two creepy woman and always manages to send chills down my spine. it your typical good vs evil thing and but at least it manages to be entertaining. the ending i consider to be one of the finest in horror history. it has plenty of shocks and suspense and seeing burgess meredith do his thing as chazen and had me on the edge of my seat. the sentinel has the perfect build up of tension. we are never fully comfortable whenever allison is on screen. we know something terrible is always awaiting her and and that made things all the more tense. this movie is often neglected among horror fans and but i personally think it one of the better one out there and and it certainly has enough for all horror fans and to be satisfied. performances. cristina raines has her wooden moments and but came though in a big way for the most part. she beautiful to look at and and her chemistry with saranadon felt natural. chris sarandon is great as the boyfriend and michael. he had an instant screen presence and and i couldn not help but love him. martin balsam and josé ferrer and john carradine and ava gardner and arthur kennedy and sylvia miles and deborah raffin and jerry orbach and richard dreyfuss and jeff goldblum and tom berenger all have memorable roles and or small cameos. burgess meredith is terrific as chazen. he looks like a normal old man and but what we find out and is absolutely terrifying. eli wallach and christopher wlaken do well and as the bumbling detectives. beverly dangelo has one chilling scene and that i would not spoil. bottom line. the sentinel is an effective horror film that horror fans and sadly tend to neglect. it will give you the thrills and scares you need to be satisfied. well worth the look. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
director or writer michael winner feature is a better than expected offbeat supernatural horror film (although still schlock efficiently catered for) and which really does by go unnoticed. sure it might borrow ideas from other similar themed horror movies of this period and but still manages to bring its own psychological imprint to the smokescreen material (of good vs. evil) and a unique vision that has a fair share of impressively expansive and if somewhat exploitative set pieces. as a whole it sketchy and however remains intriguing by instilling an ominous charge without going gang busters with the scares. actually there always something going on amongst its busy framework and but it rather down played with its shocks steering to soapy patterns and atmospheric tailoring and up until its vividly repellent and grisly climax with a downbeat revelation. winner dressed up craftsmanship might feel pedestrian and however it the ensemble cast that really holds it together
as you try to spot the faces. there plenty too. some having more to do with the scheme of things than others and but there no doubts every one of them are committed and despite the ludicrously crude nature of it all. it interesting to see names like sylvia miles (who significantly creepy. ) and beverly dangelo (likewise) and deborah raffin and eli wallach and christopher walken and william hickey (a neat cameo) and jeff goldblum and jerry orbach and tom berenger in bit parts. then you got a mild mannered chris sarandon and movingly gorgeous cristina raines in the leads. offering able support josé ferrer and martin balsam and ava gardner and john carradine and burgess meredith and arthur kennedy. the script does throw around many characters and as well as notions but gets disjointedly sidetrack by trying to squeeze all of it in. however it disorienting air works in its favour in establishing the suspicion and deception of what really going on here. is there a reason for all of this and and why is it surrounding raines character. the emphasis is mainly built upon that moody angle and as it begins to slowly shed light of her inner goings and that of the strange or worrying experiences she encounters when she moves into her new apartment. this is where winner tries to pull out the eerie shades and which projects some icy moments. gil melle was the man responsible for the grand and overpowering orchestral score that never misses a cue and richard c. kratina instruments the sweeping and scope like photography. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
michael winner is probably best known for his revenge themed films and such as death wish and chato land and but he is equally gifted as a director of occult horror cinema and as the sentinel of 1977 proves. the sentinel and which is based on a novel by john konvitz and who also wrote the screenplay and is a clever and immensely creepy religious chiller that no lover of occult horror should consider missing. the film is obviously inspired by successful occult classics such as rosemary baby and the exorcist or the omen and but and as far as i am concerned and it is also easily as unsettling as these more widely acclaimed films and and probably even creepier. allison parker (christina raines) is a beautiful young new york model. traumatized by events in her her past and not yet willing to marry her lawyer boyfriend (chris sarandon) and allison is in search for an apartment and and finds a big and incredibly nice one and which is also affordable and in an old mansion in brooklyn. the new apartment and however and comes along with a bunch of very strange other tenants. and the sinister new neighbors soon become more than a little bothersome to alice. this may not be an adequate plot synopsis and but i would hate to spoil any of this film great moments and so i will not give any further plot description. what i will say and however and is that the sentinel is a very creepy and effective film that profits from a great cast as well as an often bizarre and constantly uncanny atmosphere. the fact that director michael winner and writer john konnvitz also acted as producers here certainly had its influence on the outcome. the film is imaginatively photographed and and the eerie old brooklyn mansion is a fantastic setting for this kind of film. as mentioned above and the atmosphere is obscure and creepy and and the film also includes several shock moments and genuine scares. the film features many sinister and eccentric characters and and the cast is superb. beautiful christina raines is great in her role of allison parker and lovable and yet on the cusp to losing her mind. chris sarandon is also very good as her boyfriend and a successful lawyer and and the supporting cast includes many big names and such as christopher walken and jeff goldblum and jerry orbach and beverly dangelo and tom berenger and before becoming really famous. the cast also includes stars like ava gardner and horror icon john carradine and burgess meredith and and and my personal favorite and the great eli wallach as a cynical homicide detective. i have been a great fan of director michael winner for a long time and mostly for films like death wish and chato land. the sentinel is yet another great film in winner repertoire and and also the proof that the man is not only a master of hard boiled revenge cinema and but also of atmospheric occult horror. all in all and the sentinel is a creepy and intelligent and and amazingly bizarre occult chiller that is highly recommended to all horror fans. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
ahh and yes and the all star blockbuster. take a so so concept and stuff it into a script and load it down with every single freakin special effect that the wizards of hollyweird can conjure up and then round up the usual suspects represent hot up and comers and has beens and wanna be and never wuzzes and and stick em all in ensemble roles of various sizes in front of the unforgiving eye of the cameras. and hope to gawd that some of them aren not too old to remember their lines. leave it to the bishops of box office to apply the concept to horror films at last and as was the case with the post exorcist thriller the sentinel. novelist jeffrey konvitz decided to try and one up ira levin rosemarys baby scenario of creepy (and ultimately satanic) neighbors in a new york brownstone. the result was a controversial best seller that some claimed bordered on the plagiaristic and and an equally controversial and top heavy or star laden vehicle co written and directed by death wish michael winner and but for many unsettlingly different reasons. cristina raines (nashville) plays successful model alison parker and who is pretty much over stressed and over worked and (i would not add overpaid. i mean she is a model and so that would be redundant) and not just by her 24/7 schedule and by also by her insistent and wanna get married right now boyfriend michael (chris sarandon of dog day afternoon and the classic sob. i. g. movie lipstick). one of the ways she decides to try to get away from it all is to move into her own place while a big and beautiful brownstone in manhattan which she able to get dirt cheap and (that should have been the big red flag cheap real estate in new york. ) and from the mysteriously accommodating broker miss logan (golden age screen vet ava gardner and fresh from the storm drain in earthquake. )things seem fine at first and but ah and yes. then comes the noises and the loud pounding from the apartment upstairs at night. and what about the really strange neighbors like gerde (sylvia miles) and sandra (a very early beverly dangelo) and the nice single friends (read represent lesbians) living together and and kindly old mr. charles chazen (a nicely creepy burgess meredith) and who seems maybe a little too concerned with alison welfare. and that not to mention other assorted squirrelly cohabitants (you will never hear the phrase black and white cat and black and white cake again without wanting to laugh milk through your nose and possibly vomit simultaneously. ) especially the old blind priest living in the penthouse. things really start to go downhill when an apparition laden nightmare of alison morphs into a grisly murder and (in one of the movie most underwear staining scares) and and both alison and michael and with some assistance from alison bff and jennifer (deborah raffin) and begin to piece together the puzzle that reveals the brownstone dark origins and as well as the murderous agenda of its other worldly inhabitants and not to mention alison connection to them and which as it turns out is anything but coincidental. although there nothing controversial about the overstuffed cast and which seems to feature every actor of diverse genres looking for work at the time and (arthur kennedy and jose ferrer and martin balsam and eli wallach and john carradine and and even early appearances by christopher walken and jeff goldblum and nana visitor. ) winner and company went back to bombastic basics and pulled a tod browning. by enlisting real life physically challenged actors to appear in the sentinels climactic everything and everybody goes to hell sequence and which i guess any ballsy director would do and finding himself unable to access linda blair and a case of green pea soup. it does definitely leave you with arctic fingers playing your spinal cord like a zither and knowing this juicy little tidbit of info as you watch. and it does feature a technique to which filmmakers have only begun to return very recently represent live on set makeup and special effects that do not involve cgi and (which was pretty much non existent back then. )the sentinel has that kitschy and late seventies cheese factor and but does manage to distinguish itself from time to time with some gasp inducing moments like the one mentioned above and not to mention that queasy feeling of dread that horror writers find it easy to play upon and of isolation and things that go bump and shriek in the night. after all and what living single in the big city person hasn not lain in bed in the dark and and listened intently to the sounds of what they hope is the building settling. konvitz followed up the sentinel with an inevitable sequel and the guardian (not to be confused with the william friedkin supernatural thriller namesake) and that was never adapted for the screen. equals sigh of relief equals . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i had the tv on for a white noise companion and heard $400 for a fully furnished apartment so i ran into the tv room expecting another 70 flick and got much more. luckily and i could rewind to the beginning (dvr buffer) and hit the record button to watch it entirely. (cinemax uncut and in hd no less. ) aside from some holes in the story and intermittent improbable dialog or events and this is an effective thriller worthy of your time to watch. pretty creepy and progressive at times represent beverly dangelo character masturbates in front of alison parker and played adroitly by cristina raines and parker stabs and in very gory fashion and her father and an explicit menage a trios scene. ( do not let the kids watch) the film is totally 70 full of bad clothes(polyester suits and tacky ascots) and decor and bad hair and over bloated music score and and familiar looking cinematography. the cast is excellent and take a second on this film home page to check it out. it was a surprise to see christopher walken and jerry orbach and jeff goldblum so young. sylvia miles always wonderfully creepy. enjoy. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
well and after long anticipation after seeing a few clips on bravo the 100 scariest movie moments i had long awaited to see this film. the plot was simple and beautiful model alison parker (cristina raines) moves into an apartment building that a gateway to hell. the sentinel is a down right creepy film and even if it a bit slow. it a mix of the omen and rosemary baby. the acting is fine and and there are some truly disturbing bits such as the awkward orgy scene with the dead father and the chubby woman in the middle of the orgy eating cake and laughing the ending is a weird mix of deformed people and cannibals. it a very odd and campy but in the end and i truly believe a great film. one of my favorites from the 70 and even if it nothing greatly original. it wacky and extremely creepy. probably one of my all time favorites. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
wonderful film and one of the best horror films of the 70s. she is realistic settings and atmospheres. as usual it was inevitable the usual negative comments. i have noticed that most horror films of a certain period many times fail to reach even sufficiency. obviously because most horror movies are old and must be denigrati and is like a mental mechanism that moves the minds of the potential of music critics here. before you read the review already knew what was the final judgment. in the film a good gift because 10 is really well done. raines reads quite well and the film as a way in which it was produced reminds me a lot of kubrick films. he really impression. excellent film really. i consider a film anthology of years70. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i am surprised that no one yet has mentioned that there are two versions of this same film. the lion share of the footage in both is identical and but here is where they differ represent in one version (the version i have seen most often on broadcast tv) and the group of clerics guarding the gateway consists of the brotherhood of the protectors and a (fictional) splinter group of priests and brothers excommunicated by the church. in the other version and which i have seen only once on tv and the clerics guarding the gateway are depicted as priests of the official church and meaning the archdiocese of new york (or perhaps brooklyn). also and in the former version and in most of the pertinent scenes and the clerics are referred to as brothers (and in some scenes and you can see where the lips say father so and so but the dubbed audio says brother so and so. in the latter version and i believe everyone is referred to as father. in any event and it seems that one of these two versions is more or less a partial re shooting of the other and with all brotherhood of the protector scenes re shot as archdiocese scenes and or vice versa. (kind of reminds me of the raymond burr cutaway scenes in godzilla). i have videotaped both versions off broadcast tv and so no and i am not imagining this. can anyone shed some more light on the story behind these two versions of the film. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
cashing in on the demons meets clergy trend of the late 60s or early 70s that most prominently included the triptych of rosemary baby and the exorcist and and the omen and the sentinel is an addition that just as good (albeit the most overlooked of the lot). in a way and it combines the best elements of those films and tosses in a dash of polanski the tenant (which came out the same year) for good measure. a new york model unable to commit to her lawyer boyfriend takes up residence in a moss coated townhouse that initially seems like the perfect locale while she meets a wily old coot of a neighbor (the brilliant burgess meredith) and plus the other off center tenants. kept awake by loud noises above her apartment and she soon discovers that a mute priest and herself are the only residents in the otherwise deserted building. from there and director michael winner (death wish) kicks this supernatural thriller into gear and and there is a devilish glee to the hallucinogenic tortures he inflicts on his heroine. aided by a brilliant ensemble cast and a subtle storyline and and excellent makeup fx by dick smith (the exorcist) and the sentinel is a genuinely creepy horror flick. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this 1986 italian french remake of the 1946 film of the same name turns up the heat early and and doesn not let us come up for air. the story is about a high school student (federico pitzalis) who can not keep his eyes off the mysteriously beautiful young woman (played by dutch phenom maruschka detmers) who lives next door to the school. one day and he follows her and and his persistence pays off. there only one problem represent she engaged to a sketchy character (riccardo de torrebruna) who may or may not have committed a heinous crime and and if he repents and will probably be let off with a slap on the wrist. also and the young woman is a little funny in the head and and this is corroborated when we discover she has been seeing the boy father and who is a psychiatrist. giulia emotional instability is only equalled by her prodigious sexual desires. hot and hot and hot and from the word go and with handsome leads and a bombshell performance from detmers and who plays us like a yo yo (as she does the boy) from scene to scene and with enough suspense to keep us guessing right up until and even after the end. available in r and x (. ) rated versions. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i will be quick to address the matters of the film here represent it was a very engaging story about the destructive qualities about all consuming passions while a young italian woman who cannot emotionally connect with her jailed political radical fiancé (due in part to her apolitical attitudes and freewheeling approach to life) finds solace and passion in a new young lover whom she embarks on an explicitly sexual relationship with. the anxieties and rage and tenderness and passions that swirl around in the atmosphere of the story equal the dispassionate quiet that seems to engulf the two leads. it lends the film an unsettling mood that permeates through all the political strife that is otherwise lost on the viewer (unless you have a deep knowledge of italian politics during the 80 ). i found the film compelling. what ruined it somewhat is a gratuitous oral sex scene that the actress performs on the male lead. it isn not simulated and leaves little to the imagination. there are other scenes of sex in the film and which i do feel were necessary because they outline the madness and loneliness that the characters live in. but the oral sex scene and i feel and derails the focus on the actual story. it was smooth sailing up until that point and once the infamous sex scene appears (which caused much hoopla back in its day) and it like hitting a roadblock. it jarring and unnecessary and i am in the camp that believes that the film would not have been harmed any if the scene had been removed from it. and what unfortunate is that this particular scene may deter people from watching this intriguing film and which i believe is worth a viewing because there is so much going on underneath the surface and emotions and further turmoils layered in the subtext. overall represent wonderful film hampered by a much not needed sex scene. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
bellocchio refers to this as a mainly political movie and a description of the revolutionary movement in italy and but that seems more metaphor than reality. well and almost everything in the movie seems like metaphor. the revolutionaries and of whom we see and about whom we learn very little and might as well be mafiosi. out with the old and in with the new. andrea papa and a psychoanalyst and seems to stand for the usual traditional bourgeois values morally upright and unperturbed and clean and tidy and thoroughly ritualized. giullia and the girlfriend of a revolutionary and seems to represent what can happen to someone who needs very badly a cause to support but is unable to muster up the kind of devotion such a commitment demands. (i am guessing here. ) andrea and the adolescent boy and seems to be the only guy in the movie who is not in some unquiet way upatz. he respectful of his father but disobedient too. he loves giullia and or so we assume and although he not really old enough to have learned how to manage his reflexes optimally and but he leaves her in order to show up at school and complete his final exams. his course between these contradictory lifestyles could be described as media. he the man in between and who knows the meaning of gradualism and who can keep his cool while those about him are screaming. most of this is summed up during the oral part of his finals when he is asked to translate and comment on an excerpt from antigone and which contrasts the traditional authority of the gods with the notion of secularity and free will. that brings us by no particular course that i am aware of to marushka detmars. she brings to mind a new yorker cartoon of a few years ago. two hippos are neck deep in the river and staring at a gazelle drinking from the bank and and one hippo says to the other and i hate her. she a good actress. (let me get that out of the way. ) but so is everyone else in the film. she carries with her and in her speech and manner and the rich glitter of outright lunacy. and it all comes from the actress too and not from directorial aid. detmars isn not nuts the way catherine deneuve was nuts in repulsion. the walls do not turn to rubber and grow hands. instead and we see her animated sometimes too animated. and she gives us shocking jolts when her mood abruptly changes and becomes threatening the way a looming thunderstorm is threatening. a critic described her as sultry and but that probably not the word he was searching for. she compellingly beautiful with her fluffy brown hair and her wide white ready grin and her impulsive giggles. and her eyes are like the eyes in the paintings on the walls of ancient egyptian tombs. the sexy parts are pretty erotic and not so much because one of them is explicit and but because we have gotten to know the characters involved. (it more interesting to spy on the honeymoon couple next door than go to a skin flick. ) actually there isn not that much sex. there is only one scene of simulated intercourse but the director lets it play out in what seems to be real time. at least real time for an eighteen year old boy. the young man who plays andrea is fine too and which is a necessary thing and because the film depends almost entirely on him and giullia. they have to carry it and they do. if it were not for their performances and i am not sure this would be as interesting or as admirable flick as it is. it could easily have been turned into a rather slow and boring romance. worth it. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i loved the the film. it beautifully analyzes italian petty bourgeois society and how the leftists of the 70s have given up all their ideals and come to a happy arrangement which they do not want disturbed. for instance and the aging psychoanalyst who is jealous of his own son and and doesn not want to be reminded of his more radical youth. for a long time wanted to buy the video after having seen the movie a couple of times on the big screen and on tv and but it seems to have completely disappeared from the market and even in italy no one in the book shops knew about the film. a great pity. the one sex scene and which everyone seems to go on about and does the film no harm. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
notable because of it notorious explicit scene when the gorgeous maruschka detmers takes her young lover penis from his trousers and into her mouth. even without this moment the film is a splendid if slightly disturbing passionate and blindingly sexy ride. detmers puts in a great performance as the partly deranged and insatiable delight and wandering about her flat nude. dressed and partly dressed and naked she steals most of the film about love and sexual passion and philosophy and politics. for me the last two get a little lost and the ending is most confusing when her fiancé is released whilst fellow terrorists are released and she seems uncertain as to who she wants and the young lover seems more interested in his exams than anything else as she weeps and beautifully of course. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the movie is far more sophisticated and intelligent is its exploration of sexual tension than such american attempts as 9 and a half weeks. the courtroom scene itself. with the couple copulating in the cage while the heroine pleads for their orgasm. is amazing. i have not seen this movie in 20 years. but it made indelible pictures in my mind. it is rich in texture and successful in creating a world where sex is the engine for all activity and and at its bottom is the yawning angst that lives in us all. the plot is european and and it meanders a bit and but so does life. especially when you are 17 and have a constant hard on. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i really liked this movie and and went back to see it two times more within a week. ms. detmers nailed the performance she was like a hungry cat on the prowl and toying with her prey. she lashes out in rage and lust and taking a too young lover and and crashing hundreds of her terrorist fiancé mother pieces of fine china to the floor. the film was full of beautiful touches. the maserati and the wonderful wardrobe and the flower boxes along the rooftops. i particularly enjoyed the ancient greek class and the recitation of antigone. it had a feeling of story of o that is and where people of means indulge in unrestrained sexual adventure. as she walks around the fantastic apartment in the buff and she is at ease and why not and what is to restrain a devil in the flesh. the whole movie is a real treat. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
contrary to some people summaries and the women depicted in the film are not geisha. they are oiran (prostitutes) living outside the most famous pleasure districts and and their lives and experiences represent the lives of a great number of tokugawa era women. i can not say the stories were particularly enlightening and but their charm lies in just how typical they are. the themes are universal and everyday represent love and friendship and and sacrifice. i did greatly enjoy the art direction and the acting. i felt like i was getting a glimpse of a time and place i can never otherwise glimpse. the actors and especially the 4 women who played the main oiran and were a thrill to watch. i would only recommend this movie to people who want a taste of japanese culture and or to those who enjoy quiet and emotional stories. it a great example of both. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i can understand those who dislike this movie cause of a lack of knowledge. first of all and those girls are not geisha and but brothel tenants and and one that do not know the difference will not understand half of the movie and and certainly not the end. this is a complete art work about the women life and needs in this era. everything is important and and certainly the way they dress and all over the movie means more than words. to those who thought it was a boring geisha movie and i will suggest you to read a bit about this society before making a conclusion that is so out of the reality. this is kurosawa work of is life and and i am sure that the director understood the silent meaning of kurosawa piece to the right intellectual range. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
a wonderful film to watch with astonishing scenes and talented actors and such as misa shimizu and nagiko tono. after 15 minutes of watching and your eyes get locked on the screen and you do nothing but breathing in the atmosphere of the film waiting what the destiny will bring to the characters. this film makes you leave your position as a standard audience and it takes you in and it makes you a part of the story. costumes and settings are brilliant while especially the district of the okiyas is skillfully built. it is definitely not very akira kurosawa and however it still gets a lot from the master and especially the stylistic story telling tells us were in a distinguished land of cinema which is quite far from hollywoodish flamboyance. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
a tragically wonderful movie. brings us to a japan that does not exist anymore. despite hollywood technical expertise and i have yet to see a (hollywood) movie that can match the authenticity of the atmosphere in this small town by the river near the sea. tom cruise the last samurai looked liked the last installment of the lord of the rings in trying to capture rural old japan. if you like serene but intense story lines and this is a must see film. it will be a respite from hollow flashy films much like the last 1000 blockbusters you saw. i think this is one of kurosawa better stories. even if it a movie about geishas and brothels and the complicated rules that govern life in such settings and it did not turn into a skin flick. the characters are full of depth and act with much intensity. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
my boyfriend and i both enjoyed this film very much. the viewer is swept away from modern life into old japan and while at the same time exposed to very current themes. the characters are realistic and detailed while it has an unpredictable ending and story and which is very refreshing. the story is made up of mini plots within the life of several geisha living together in a poor city district. i highly recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in a realistic romance or life in old japan. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
umi wa miteita (the sea is watching) was akira kurasawa swansong to film represent his adaptation of his favored novelist shugoro yamamoto story into a screenplay he intended to film was his final mark he left on a brilliant career. director kei kumai pays homage to both kurosawa and yamamoto in presenting this visually stunning transformation of word to image. set in 19th century japan and the story explores the lives of the women of a geisha house whose sole purpose in life is to earn money by pleasuring men. the house is run by an older couple who are genteel and the geishas are an enchanting group of women who know their trade and take pride in their careers. each has a reason for turning to the life of geisha. oshin (nagiko tono) supports her family who live in a neighboring village and kikuno (misa shimizu) has customers both good and evil whom she manages to sustain with her stories of her higher caste. oshin befriends an endangered samurai and falls in love with the gentle fellow and only to find that he must not marry out of his caste and leaves his pleasures with oshin to marry his promised betrothed. oshin heart bruises easily but is always supported emotionally and physically or monetarily by kikuno and the other geishas. a handsome samurai ryosuke (masatoshi nagase) enters oshin life and develops the first trusted and devoted relationship with her. kikuno is beset by problems and deciding whether to accept the humble love of an old man who wishes to marry her and and coping with a rich but abusive customer. all the while the sea is watching and as a typhoon destroys the geisha house and street and oshin and kikuno sit atop the roof waiting for the promised rescue by ryosuke. the manner in which the story ends is one of sacrifice and love and and devotion. the sea is watching and will find protection for true love. the photography by kazuo okuhara is breathtakingly beautiful represent night scenes with glowing lanterns and colorful geisha interiors are matched with recurring glimpses of the sea both calm and turbulent. the acting is a bit strained for edo art and but the characters are well created and keep the story credible. the one distraction which is definitely not something kurosawa would have condoned is the tacky western music score that sounds like cheap soap opera filler except for the isolated moments when real japanese music on authentic instruments graces the track. but in the end there is enough of kurosawa influence to imbue this film with his brand of dreamlike wonder that will always maintain his importance on world cinema. grady harp. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i am not sure how i missed this one when it first came out and but i am glad to have finally seen it. this movie takes place in and around the 19th century red light district of okabasho and japan. it tells the tale of prostitution and caste systems and women who are strong in a society based upon the strength of the samurai code of japan. it is uniquely akira kurosawa. even though he died before he could direct this movie and his adaptation of the screenplay shows. his view of the japanese world and caste system is renowned and sheds light upon how these systems interact with each other. the characters may revolve around each other and but the caste system stays intact when each character goes back to the world they belong in. the samurai warrior who drifts into the good hearted and loving prostitute world goes back to his life and while she embarks on a another road with a man who is part of her caste system. lowest of the low. many prize the world of the samurai above all others and but yet and it is the lower caste inhabitants who can support each other and who can love without restraint. the samurai in this movie turns out to be the weak one and while the classless lovers prove to be the honorable ones. the movie deserves a higher rating. it is a tale of survival of women in feudal japan. during this time frame and men were thought to be the survivors. the strong ones while women were thought to be just mindless and weak property. this movie highlights the strength of japanese women and how they did what they had to for survival and and how their strength enabled the japanese culture to continue on as it has. i recommend the sea is watching to anyone who is a fan of akira kurosawa and even if theyre not a fan. it is a lovely and quiet and soul sustaining movie and and one to be treasured for any movie collection. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this movie just goes to show that you dont need big explosions and muti billion dollar computer graphics and or highly over paid actors and actresses to make a good movie and all you need is a excellent story line and plot. which the master of all japanese films and akira kurosawa pulls off brilliantly. i recommend this film to all that love a epic period piece. and for those that enjoy kurosawas earlier works. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
it helps immensely if one is familiar with the culture and time period in which this film takes place. first of all and these ladies are not geisha and they are oiran (prostitutes)in the yoshiwara type green houses and circa 1860 and give or take. this should help clear up some details which may be confusing to the unaware. the film deals with issues of loyalty and love and and perhaps most importantly and how people deal with adversity and both their own and that of others in their immediate environment. that plus the outrageous photography together with the hauntingly beautiful music and make for a lovely ride. just plug it in and suspend your disbelief and enter their world. you would not be disappointed. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is a wonderful movie about a brothel in a fishing village and that could be best described with scene constellations and direction of old kurosawa works and combined with dostoyevski topics of human psychology (o shin sonia marmeladova ) and shakespeare drama and hans christian andersen tragic and cheerfulness. the screenplay is wondrous and the scenes are colour and beautiful some scenes stay really imprinted in my mind. the plot is interesting and unpredictable each of the characters is very well developed and interesting there is also a little action and so if you do not like all the sentiments you would also come to your costs . it is not about mysterious geishas and proud samurai with their bushido pouring all out of them and but about life and work and kinds of people found everywhere at any time. a lovely and fascinating tribute to kurosawa and certainly worth seeing. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is a very fine and poetic story. beautiful scenery. magnificent music score. i have been twice in japan last year and the movie gave me this typical japanese feeling. the movement of the camera is superb and as well as the actors. it goes deep into your feelings without becoming melodramatic. japanese people are very sensitive and kind and it all very well brought onto the screen here. the director is playing superb with light an colors and shows the audience that it is also possible to let them enjoy a movie with subtle and fine details. once you have seen this movie you will want to see more from the same director. it a real feel good movie and i can only recommend it to everybody. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
kurosawa weaves a tale that has a cast of characters as diverse as any shakespearean drama and and the acting is true to the story and with each star playing their role as a part of the larger tale. it is touching and funny and intriguing in all parts. the character development is near perfect and the cinematography is vivid and engaging and and the story draws you in. i would like to say that the samurai freaks and those obsessed with late 18th and 19th century dynastic tales of japan may snub this film as not kurosawa best work. perhaps not his best and but even at his worst and kurosawa is better than many of the best. this story is so based in elevating the mundane lives of ordinary people in a time of great change and that it is timeless and despite being set in the not so distant past. i would heartily recommend this to any movie buff and and especially to those who are likely to continue on to read the novel on which the film is based. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the sea is watching has been made from an original akira kurosawa script and and it is indeed a lush and warm film. watching it will be a pleasure . kei kumai as director is certainly no equal to the old but everlasting master (particularly the mass scenes in the beginning of the film has some terrible acting) and but the overall mood and scenery is very enjoyable. another thing that is missed here represent kurosawa always managed to let the characters be so much more then what they are actually showing and doing. probably that was his magic on set while shooting while and just maybe this script was not fully up to par yet. maybe we just miss the eye of the master. this is one lovely and sweet film and but it is no kurosawa. to expect that might well be very silly. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
artistically speaking and this is a beautiful movie the cinematography and music and costumes are gorgeous. in fact and this movie is prettier than those directed by akira kurasawa himself. in this case and he only wrote the movie as it was made several years after his death. so and as far as the writing goes and the dialog was well written and the story and at times and was interesting. however and the story was also rather depressing yet uninvolving in some ways after all and it the story of a group of women who work in a brothel. it interesting that although prostitution has been seen as a much more acceptable business in japan and the women still long for a better life. this reminds me a lot of the movie streets of shame and though streets of shame characters are a lot less likable and more one dimensional. so and overall it gets a 7 mostly due to everything but the writing. it too bad that the weakest link in this movie is the story by the great kurasawa. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
the sea is watching was an interesting film experience. first of all and the overall feel was intense and internalized and claustrophobic and and small. each frame seemed to be a photograph of something inside and something very focused and not part of a bigger picture. it was obvious what we were to look at in each frame. the physicality of the set itself contributed to that feeling of smallness and intensity. the lights along the middle of the road cut the road in half and and the tiny gate to the tiny settlement followed by the tiny and few cubbyholes that served as the establishments that made up what seemed to be the entire town. even the view of the ocean was framed by a tiny landing on which one can count the number of longer grass swaying in the wind. no panoramic views. in fact and it reminded me of the montmarte sequence of moulin rouge where the camera sweepingly focuses in to the windmill creating again a feeling of a small area where everything is happening. while the acting was passable considering i really could not discern how the lines were truly delivered and i felt that the actions were overly melodramatic and nonsensical. why kikuno would continue carrying on the way she did when fusanosuke announced his impending marriage really do not seem true people hadn not really changed that much and and the character kikuno was so strong and resilient that even if they were busy taking on o shin business for naught and the reaction seemed out of character and unnecessary and distracting. another example of odd acting was when the drunk boyfriend of kikuno showed up and ryosuke decided to intervene and was pushed down the stairs and the way in which he got up and menacingly came up the stairs and the ensuing fight outside among the reeds was simply unsatisfying. it wasn not that i like fight scenes au contraire but it seemed a little stilted and again and overly dramatic. otherwise and while not a beautiful movie to watch and it provided an interesting glimpse into the darker side of prostitution (as opposed to the geisha). unfortunately and perhaps it fed into our expectations of wanton women (the honey i will give you a deal comments supported by the over stretched actions) and seriously caused me to doubt whether indeed 19th century prostitutes really acted in that way. but once inside the house and the inner workings became most interesting and vivid and real and provided a scenario i never anticipated or imagined in my romantic view of japan in the 19th century. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
although lang version is more famous and borzage work is not devoid of interest and far from it representits celestial sequences are even better. the metaphor of the train (perhaps borrowed from the ending of abel gance la roue ) is eventually more convincing than the up above heavenly world. borzage tenderness for his characters shows in marie character and love beyond the grave is one of his favorite subjects (the ending of three comrades ). the amusement park seems to be everywhere represent we see it even when we are in marie poor house. i do not think that the sets are that much cheesy and they are stylized to a fault. the fair from a distance almost gives a sci fi feel to the movie. borzage never forgets his social concerns represent in the heavenly train going up and the rich cannot stand to be mixed up with the riffraff but as chief magistrate tells representhere there no more difference . not a major work for borzage (neither is lang version) and but to seek out if you are interested in the great director career. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
there is indeed much to complain about this movie version of molnar mystical play farrell looks good in his title role and but his line readings and frankly and stink. this also suffers and in large part and from this being credited as the first movie that makes use of rear projection. the sets look phony. there are two great strengths in this show and however represent although the dialogue readings limp and the visual performances are perfect. rose hobart and as julie and is little remembered today represent mostly for rose hobart and in which joseph cornell cut down the programmer east of borneo to simply shots of her represent credit melford stylish visual direction of the original. her great beauty and simple (although stagy) performance help repair some of the damage to the earth bound sections of this movie. however and one of borzage themes is the mystical power of love and and it is the handling of the celestial sections that make this great and from the arrival of the celestial train to the journey to the hot place. h. b. warner performance here is and as always and perfect. so we have here a flawed but very interesting version. i think that lang 1934 version is better and as well as the celestial scenes in the henry king version of carousel and the watered down musical remake. but i still greatly enjoyed this version and think you should give it a chance. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
loved joan. great performance. what isn not she good in. i watched this film and then jane eyre right after. she just keeps getting better. my heart was racing. great old movie drama. just what i want from a classic movie. facial expressions are worth the whole film. i am glad i have it on video. don not know what more you need in a film. beautiful woman. wealth. greed. murder. detectives. a trial. the costumes are very nice. makes me wonder what the budget was for this movie. wish they still made films like this. whenever they try they just seem to make a cheesy movie. films in black and white still hold a certain mystery. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
joan fontaine stars as the villain in this victorian era film. she convincingly plays the married woman who has a lover on the side and also sets her sights on a wealthy man and miles rushworth who is played by herbert marshall. mr. marshall is quite good as miles. miss fontaine acted her part to perfection she was at the same time cunning and calculating and innocent looking and frightened and charming. it takes an actress with extraordinary talent to pull that off. joan fontaine looked absolutely gorgeous in the elegant costumes by travis banton. also in the film is joan mother and lillian fontaine as lady flora. i highly recommend this film. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
poor ivy represent though to the manner born and she had the bad luck to marry a charming wastrel (richard ney). as the movie is set in the 20s or 30s and when rigid victorian ideas of class were starting to fray at the edges and this uncertain status vexes her unduly. the gretorexes (for so they are called) do not know where their next shilling is coming from but there are yachting parties and fancy dress balls in posh pleasaunces aplenty to tempt her. when ivy (joan fontaine) makes the acquaintance of a wealthy older gent (herbert marshall and who must have been born middle aged) and she sets one of her extravant chapeaux for him. luckily and one of the beaux she still strings along (patric knowles) is a physician whose consulting rooms provide a cache of poison and with which she bids her hubby farewell. the fact that it implicates knowles doesn not phase her a bit and even as the hours trickle by until he should be hanged by the neck until dead. the turning of the plot depends on police inspector sir cedric hardwicke while knowles mother (the redoubtable lucile watson) while and knowles loyal housekeeper (una oconnor). sam wood adds some subtle touches to this well above average melodrama while fontaine luminous face supplies the rest. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
an excellent period murder melodrama and with fontaine effectively playing against her earlier naive wallflower type and in a role that reportedly olivia dehavilland turned down. that fine and because fontaine is wonderful. scripted by charles bennett and who had written for hitchcock in the thirties and also later penned the excellent script for the classic british horror film night of the demon. the opening scene and where ivy visits a sinister fortune teller played by the wonderful una oconnor (the screecher of james whale fame) and is a tour de force and and the film maintains interest throughout the numerous sinister machinations. i hope to see this film on dvd someday and but despair of that ever happening and because it seems to be an undeservedly obscure film. fortunately i got to see it on amc some seven or eight years ago and but have not seen since. catch it if you can. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
warning represent contains a spoiler. corny plot and in many cases terrible acting. fontaine is great and but some others and particularly richard ney and ivy husband and are exceedingly wooden. ney lies in bed and dying of arsenical poisoning and with every hair in place. yet the movie is so juicy and so suspenseful. more faithful to the book than most movies of its era. casting joan fontaine as a poisoner (and an adulteress and which was just as shocking then i am not kidding and kids) was a masterful stroke. she just her usual joan fontainey self. as murderers were supposed to and she dies by falling feet foremost through the floor into an empty space. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
does anyone happen to know where this film was shot. the aviation scene on the cliff is beautiful. it appears to be england. however and ivy apartment building certainly looks like the brill building and with its fascinating elevators. charles mendl is listed as playing sir charles gage. maybe i blinked and but i never saw him. perhaps he was the husband lawyer and but and again and i do not recall that character being in the film and other than being mentioned as having made a phone call. perhaps he was in the aviation scene. or the ballroom scene. did anyone spot him. herbert marshall was 57 years old when he shot this film. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
joan fontaine here is entirely convincing as an amoral beauty who is entirely incapable of feeling love for anyone but herself. her husband (richard ney) has lost all his money through a combination of his foolhardiness and her extravagance and and they are reduced to living in a tiny room and with little or no prospects. they continue to put on the most amazing clothes and go out and socialize as if nothing were wrong. he is a charming and feckless and but wholly amiable fellow. however and fontaine decides he has to go and as he has outlived his usefulness. so she resolves to poison him when she realizes he does not want to divorce her and so that she can move on. she has meanwhile had a lover (patric knowles) whom she decides to drop because he is not rich either. she meets the aging herbert marshall and who has a yacht with all the trimmings and more money than even fontaine could figure out how to spend. she targets him and decides he will do nicely. he is all too eager to be eaten up by the young beauty. he certainly isn not very exciting and and has about as much sex appeal as yesterday omelette. but fontaine is one of those gals who has eyes only for money and and the man standing between her and it is transparent and so that she doesn not even notice or care what he looks like and she looks through him and sees what she really wants and goes for it. she proceeds to poison her husband and and dispatches him very neatly and satisfactorily and so that everything is going well. but as always happens in the movies and and sometimes even in life and some unexpected things begin to go wrong and and the tension rises appreciably and so that fontaine begins to sweat. fontaine is particularly good at looking wicked and terrified and and as the net begins to close in on her and her rising sense of desperation is palpable and has us on the edges of our seats. hysteria and fear take over from cool calculation and cunning. but she finds a fall guy for her crime in the person of her cast off lover and who is an innocent victim of her scheme to set him up. he is condemned to death for murder and because the husband death by poison came to light unexpectedly. but sir cedric hardwicke and playing a grimly determined scotland yard inspector and thinks there may be something amiss and and begins to doubt the story and suspect fontaine. he closes in on her and and some of the scenes as this happens are inspired portrayals of the wildest panic. but will the innocent man life be saved before he is executed. will fontaine worm her way out of this one. will herbert marshall protect her to safeguard his infatuation. this film is expertly directed by sam wood and and the film is a really superb suspense thriller which i suppose qualifies very well for the description of a superior film noir. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
having seen the short a number of times at horror movie marathons and i believe it to be a humorous parody that slices to the main point of its reference. though the themes are crusty and stale to today viewers and it is by no means a crumby waste of time. though being a student film gives little rise to an excuse and the proof is that it appears crafted with care on a budget of little to no dough. as noted by another reviewer and it is less than ten minutes which is plenty of time to cleanse the viewing palate with a toast of joy and sit back and loaf idly through the film. i think this short bread of a film should be enjoyed as an appetizer for the title reference and the viewer should relax and roll with it. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
being someone who lists night of the living dead at number three in her top five favorite movies of all time and and at the same time loving this student film parody and i feel i must defend this movie against the previously posted scathing reviews. this short but sweet opus has always been a crowd pleaser at horror and science fiction movie marathons where those who attend have a love of the genre yet know not to take zombie movies too seriously. this film is a tribute to the original and not an insult. it is intended to be funny and and many others who i have heard chant for and applaud it agree with me that it succeeds. especially for those of us who have seen notld 50 plus times. watch for the director cameo as news reporter jeff drexel and and also if you have the opportunity catch his alien parody and loaf. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i just viewed this great good natured parody of night of the living dead and and i have to say it was so awful and so corny it was excellent. this movie incorporated all the antics and scenery shots that the original had including the cemetery and the supposable abandoned house and the basement and the front lawn. what i especially love about this movie is the comical use of bread and all the common household enemies bread has a grudge against. c amon and we know that toasters and toaster ovens and zip locks have done bread in a dozen times and now we must call for their help in order to defeat the reanimated bread. aside from the cheap acting and voice overs and this short horror film is my personal favorite parody of night of the living dead and even better than night of the living dead of 1990. i think what makes this movie worth watching is how the writers and directors utilized all the dialogue from the original movie and revolved it around bread and including how the bread became reanimated and to avoid leftovers because they are especially dangerous. another great reason why i love this movie is that and there is no exception as to what bread is evil and bagels are evil and even communions are evil and which is demonstrated by a hilarious scene involving a newscaster and a rather monotone priest. i think that the actors are especially humorous performing the deed of being viscously attacked by slices of bread (i. e. the car scene). i think the end is very worth sticking around. even though this is a short and that night of the day of the dawn of the son of the bride of the return of the revenge of the terror of the attack of the evil and mutant and alien and flesh eating and hellbound and zombified living dead part 2 represent in shocking 2 d is debatably another great parody and it still recommend as a great horror parody done by and what seems to be college filmmakers. i highly recommend this movie to anybody who is able to make fun of night of the living dead and still have respect for the filmmakers. i would also like to recommend this movie to anybody who loves d movies and horror parody and it just a wonderful little short horror film that fun to watch and learn. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
before viewing and please make sure you have seen night of the living dead. this might well be the best 7 minute parody i have ever seen. absurd and crappy pecial effects (the rope and the rope. ) and and maneating slices of bread. what more do you need. (do not watch this movie while eating bread. you might get scared. ). | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
bread very sharply skewers the conventions of horror movies in general and night of the living dead in specific and is constantly inventive. the production values are a little rough at times (it a student film and after all) and but it never loses sight of its goal to entertain. hey george romero liked it enough to include it on the remastered dead video tape and laserdisc and dvd. that should tell you something. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
by 1987 hong kong had given the world such films as sammo hung `encounters of the spooky kind chow yun fat in john woo iconic `a better tomorrow and `zu warriors and the classic `mr vampire. jackie chan was having international success on video and but it was with `a chinese ghost story that hk cinema had its first real crossover theatrical hit in the west for many years. western filmgoers had never seen anything like it. it was a film that took various ingredients that hk cinema had used for years (flying swordsman and wildly choreographed martial arts and the supernatural) and blended them to create a film that was unique in its look and feel and execution. forget the poor and unnecessary sequels it spawned and this is the original and best. director siu tung ching (still best known as an action choreographer on such films as woo `a better tomorrow 2 or the killer) has and under the watchful eye of legendary producer tsui hark and created a masterpiece of fantasy or horror cinema. and with such an expert crew at his disposal (no less than 6 martial arts coordinators) the chances of the film being anything but wonderful would be unthinkable. the editing by the amazingly prolific david wu (who wrote or directed `the bride with white hair 2 and edited such classic titles as `a better tomorrow half /3 and `hardboiled and the cult hit `the club) is quite simply a work of genius. his crafting of the perfectly choreographed high flying and tree climbing sword fights makes them some of the best hk cinema has ever created. fast moving and outlandish but never confusing they are and even today and the pinnacle of their art. the crew of cinematographers have also done miracles. this is a film where every shot is an expertly crafted painting. where wonderful blue tinged night sequences and shrouded in an ever present ghostly fog and are the breathtaking platform for our story to unfold. it a film where everything is used to weave a dreamlike beauty. even the silken robes and dresses worn by hsiao tsing become living parts of the movie and whether in romantic sequences or battle scenes the ever present silk flows across the screen. even a simple scene where hsiao tsing changes robes is turned into a thing of fluttering beauty as every skill on the set combines to create a most memorable scene from such a simple act. the sets are also amazing and giving an other worldly sense to the forests and and the temple and harshness to the scorched and flag filled wasteland of hell for the amazing finale. the production design by zhongwen xi deserves the highest praise. another major factor to the films success is the music by romeo diaz and james wong. hong kong films have given us some fantastic music and songs that have added so much to the success of a sequence and but on `a chinese ghost story the music is and quite simply and vital. from the opening song onwards the music becomes as important as the characters. the score is a perfect mixture of modern and traditional instruments. drums and bells and guitars pound away over the action sequences to great effect and but it in the slower and achingly romantic pieces that it comes into it own. here while flutes and strings and female choral effects create what are possibly the finest pieces of music heard in an hk film. add to this the female vocal and stunningly beautiful song that plays over tsau shen and hsiao tsing love making and (nothing is ever seen and but the effect is wonderful. this is lovingly innocent movie romance) and you have a shining example of the power a film music can have. and we of course have the acting talent. leslie cheung (`a better tomorrow 1 and 2 and a very popular singer) is outstanding as the innocent tax collector. his work in the (thankfully mild) comic sequences is never over the top and his scenes with joey wang are played with just the right amount of passion and innocence. joey wang (who would later be mostly relegated to support roles in films like the chow yun fat or andy lau classic god of gamblers) has never looked more radiant than how she does here. she is the epitome of ethereal beauty. her portrayal of the tragic hsiao tsing is stunning. she shows her characters sadness at what she has become and what she is made to do and but also gives off a subtle eroticism in the scenes where she is luring the men to their gruesome deaths. veteran actor wu ma (`mr. vampire and `swordsman) is great fun as the wise and brave and but ever so grumpy and yen. he treads a fine line between the eccentric and the annoying with practised ease. and what so easily could have been a character that could have harmed the film is actually wonderfully entertaining and memorable. but what about the monsters and beasties. and i hear you cry. well they range from the rather crude but fun stop motion or animatronic zombies that inhabit the temple (resulting in a great running gag with constantly thwarted attempts to munch on the amusingly unsuspecting tsau shen) and to the rather cheesy but surprisingly effective lord black. complete with an arsenal of vicious flying heads and and quite outstanding wire work. most of which has and to this day and never been topped. but the most outstanding effect and creation is the tree spirit killer tongue. we first encounter this thing with an `evil dead style rushing camera effect as it powers down its victims throats to deliver a lethal french kiss that turns the victims into zombiefied husks. but later it shown in all its crazy glory. it can grow so big and long that it shoots through the forest after prey and rips apart trees and wraps itself around buildings and coils it slimy length around people before picking them up and throwing them against tree trunks. it can even split open to reveal a fang filled mouth. it an outrageous idea that given the deeply romantic main plot shouldn not work. but it does and to fantastic and unforgettable effect. so what all this adds up to is a classic example of hong kong movie making. a true team effort that has given us a truly ground breaking movie. it a film packed with wit and invention and action and monsters and martial arts and ghosts and fantastic ideas and lush visuals and beautiful music and and most important to it enduring charm and one of cinemas most moving romances. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i saw this movie first on the berlin film festival and and i had never seen hong kong cinema before. i felt like sitting in a roller coaster represent the action was so quick and and there wasn not one boring moment throughout the film. it has martial arts and love and special effects and a fantastic plot. my favorite scene is when the taoist drinks and sings and fights for himself one of the many scenes which stress the extraordinary musical component of the movie. this film is a definite must. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i first saw this film when it was transmitted around 1988 by the bbc when i was working on uk 2000ad. my pal steve parkhouse recorded it on vhs and sent it to me. up till this point and i would really only seen the shaw bros kung fu movies and with their harsh lighting (so audience could see the moves clearly) and so it was a revelation to me to see something that looked like it had been lit by ridley scott coming out of hong kong. this was also my first exposure to the movies of tsui hark (pronounced and apparently and choy huk). yet for all the smoky and back lit exteriors and ambitious special effects (stop motion. in a hong kong movie. ) at the heart of chinese ghost story lies a simple and moving love story and made all the more real by the outstanding acting talent of leslie cheung (what a tragic and tragic waste of a life. ) and the beauty and elegance of joey wong. granted joey is gorgeous and but it her balletic hand gestures that give her character an unattainable eroticism that hard to analyse. and though joey is now almost 20 years older (gawd and which of us isn not. ) this will always be the enduring image of that actress. some reviewers here have said that the film is simplistic and lacks any surprises and but theyre missing the fact that this movie was based on a famous chinese story written by pu songling around 1700. that a bit like complaining that romeo and juliet has a predictable ending and just copies west side story. (just wanted to get that off my chest. )for me and chinese ghost story is the quintessential romantic tale. it has high tragedy and because we know that chio sin and sin seen can never be together. it about becoming mature and for none of us can mature until we have experienced great loss. it about sacrifice and for sacrifice is an essential component of true love. and the comedy stylings of wu ma do not hurt a bit and either. enjoy chinese ghost story by trying not to view it through a filter of western culture and you will get on with it just fine. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this movie is incredible. with great characters and specially the old swordsman that can fly in the shape of fireball and jump across the trees and this film tells a classic story of battle between good and forces of evil. the final showdown is specially breathtaking and the music score is kinda cool. very and very recommendable. not for the smallest children though. this one deserves a 10. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is the best chinese movie i have ever seen and and and in my opinion and a lot better than hero or chrouching tiger and hidden dragon. the movie is a unique combination of several genres represent it a beautiful love story and action movie and comedy and horror at the same time. and the most amazing thing is that it really succeeds in all of this. this movie definitely makes it to my top 5 and and should be enjoyable to every movie lover. the action sequences do have the traditional unrealistic jumping and even flying and but the way it shot differs from the style of hero a lot and the flying always looks great and usually even makes sense (ghosts can fly)see this movie and you would not regret it. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this movie is one of my favourites. it is a genre mixture with ingredients of the action or horror or romantic or comedygenre. some of the special effects may seem outdated compared to modern standards. this minor flaw is easily ignored. there is so much to discover in this story. the romantic relation between the two main characters is so beautiful that it hurts. the visuals are beautiful too. the action is great which is no surprise and it is originating from honkong and birthplace of the world best action movies. the humour sometimes seems a little bit silly but in a good way. somehow this movie is being able to balance the different moods and keeps being good. absolutely recommended. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
i saw this movie in my childhood. and after 10 years i did not remember anything about this movie but i found out it i also do not know how i was able to find out this movie. its my life. my all times favorite movie. my words will fall short of true meaning what i have inside for this movie. i follow this movie. it a brilliant mix of fantasy and comedy and romance and horror and erotic and scary and martial arts. the story about the power of love is pretty touching and warm. it a masterpiece of hong kong cinema. sinnui yauman and is without a doubt one of the best ghost stories ever made into film. written by songling pu and directed by siu tung ching and a chinese ghost story has it all. ling choi sin played by leslie cheung is a young man down on his luck who goes in search of a monastery for lodging and deep in the woods and a place the villagers seem very afraid to go near. the trek alone is perilous with wolves and and a crazy taoist monk lives at the temple. ling choi sin meets tsing and a beautiful and mysterious young girl who also lives nearby in a deserted temple. she is forced to seduce men for her evil mistress and but when she meets innocent ling choi sin they fall in love. ling choi sin is sort of a bumbling fool but his heart is in the right place and while tsing tries to protect him from the other spirits in the woods and he tries to protect her from the monk who is trying to kill the spirits in the woods. there great martial arts and even a monk that breaks out into drunken song as he performs ritual taoist sword forms. the movie does a lot of traditional old martial art films acrobatics and with magic and flying through the air and leaping from tree to tree and with elegant long gowns and scarves and but the movie genuinely flows and and everything is effective. tsing is to be married to a evil tree monster and which cant be good and and we feel her plight in her home where we meet her sisters and stepmother who is truly not nice. in the end they must fight a tree witch with a deadly tongue and and go with yin deep into the heart of hell to fight a thousand year old evil to save their souls and and bring ling ashes back to her home for a proper burial so she may have a chance at reincarnation. a beautiful story that truly pays attention to details. one is touched in many ways by this movie and you will laugh and cry and and just have fun with the great martial arts and cinematography. and though at the end and yin and ling choi sin ride off into the morning sun under a enchanting rainbow and we never know if tsing was afforded a reincarnation and but we do know her. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
sinnui yauman and is without a doubt one of the best ghost stories ever made into film. written by songling pu and directed by siu tung ching and a chinese ghost story has it all. ling choi sin played by leslie cheung is a young man down on his luck who goes in search of a monastery for lodging and deep in the woods and a place the villagers seem very afraid to go near. the trek alone is perilous with wolves and and a crazy taoist monk lives at the temple. ling choi sin meets tsing and a beautiful and mysterious young girl who also lives nearby in a deserted temple. she is forced to seduce men for her evil mistress and but when she meets innocent ling choi sin they fall in love. ling choi sin is sort of a bumbling fool but his heart is in the right place and while tsing tries to protect him from the other spirits in the woods and he tries to protect her from the monk who is trying to kill the spirits in the woods. there great martial arts and even a monk that breaks out into drunken song as he performs ritual taoist sword forms. the movie does a lot of traditional old martial art films acrobatics and with magic and flying through the air and leaping from tree to tree and with elegant long gowns and scarves and but the movie genuinely flows and and everything is effective. tsing is to be married to a evil tree monster and which cant be good and and we feel her plight in her home where we meet her sisters and stepmother who is truly not nice. in the end they must fight a tree witch with a deadly tongue and and go with yin deep into the heart of hell to fight a thousand year old evil to save their souls and and bring ling ashes back to her home for a proper burial so she may have a chance at reincarnation. a beautiful story that truly pays attention to details. one is touched in many ways by this movie and you will laugh and cry and and just have fun with the great martial arts and cinematography. and though at the end and yin and ling choi sin ride off into the morning sun under a enchanting rainbow and we never know if tsing was afforded a reincarnation and but we do know her. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
first things first and the female lead is too gorgeous to be missed. now actress wang zu xian and the one who played xiao qian in the movie and is 42 years old and well aged. it always good to review these glorious times when seeing old school hongkong productions like this. the movie is one of the most influential titles made in 1980s. the art set decoration and other aesthetic facets are all mesmerizing. more fantastically the movie had a total black humorous undertone in it. it feels like a horror movie but ultimately it not scaring and but only fun. i had the experience of translating the second script of a chinese ghotst story and and i thought that script was a decent write. however when i saw the movie and i firstly was disappointed in seeing the movie different from the script and like in a smaller scale and involving more comic roles. however and it turned out to be better executed in terms of being entertaining. if you have seen the lord of the rings and you will notice the similarities in this movie to lotr. the climax is like a mirror of miranda otto fighting with the ring witch. it definitely a laugh out loud. bravo. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
though i am not the biggest fan of wirework based martial arts films and when a film goes straight for fantasy rather than fighting i get a lot more fun out of it and this film is one of the best in terms of fantastical plotting and crazy flying shenanigans. ching siu tung has crafted here an enchanting treat with fine performance and much ethereal beauty. the great and tragic leslie cheung plays a tax collector hero who stays the night in a haunted temple and gets involved with a stunning fox spirit and a wacky taoist. cheungs performance is filled with naive but dignified charm and wu ma is pleasingly off the wall as the taoist monk and who shows off some swordplay and even gets a musical number. perhaps best off all is joey wang as the fox spirit and truly a delight to behold with every movement and gesture entrancingly seductive. the film takes in elements of fantasy and horror and comedy and romance and all stirred together into a constantly entertaining package. ching siu tung and directing and handling the choreography gives some neat wirework thrills and and fills the film with mists and shadows and eerily enthralling benighted forest colours and giving every forest scene a wonderfully bewitching atmosphere. also notable are the elaborate hair stylings and gorgeous flowing garments of the female characters and with and if i am not mistaken and joey wang sporting hair done up like fox ears at times and a marvellous touch. though the film features relatively little action and some perhaps ill advised cheesy pop songs at times and this is a beautiful piece of entertainment and with swell characters and plotting and even the odd neat character arc and a near constant supply of visual treats and copious dreamy atmosphere. an ethereal treasure and highly recommended. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
a masterpiece of comedy and a masterpiece of horror and a masterpiece of romance and if there is anything negative to say about a chinese ghost story and it might be that the special effects looked dated in comparison to modern technology. the film has a simple premise represent a poor debt collector has to stay in a secluded area while trying to collect a debt. of course and it happens to be haunted as well. what i wasn not expecting the first time i saw this film is that it one of the most touching love stories i have ever seen while that is without losing any of the slapstick comedy that will have you in stitches. unlike some films of asian cinema and a chinese ghost story isn not hard to swallow for those that aren not versed in chinese culture. indeed and it plays on timeless and cultureless themes of the paranormal and romance. think evil dead 2 and if they had thrown a wonderful love story into the mix. this film is for real and despite being overlooked by many. it absolutely among the best i have ever seen. it ability to combine the best aspects of multiple genres and and cross cultural boundaries in order to appeal to humanity everywhere and is nothing short of fantastic. highly recommended and positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
ching siu tung and tsui hark a chinese ghost story and aside from being one of the greatest wuxia pian films ever made and is a beautiful and romantic love story as well as an impressively choreographed martial arts film that should belong in every film lover collection. the sorely missed hong kong superstar leslie cheung plays a traveling tax collector who spends the night at a haunted temple. while staying at the temple and he meets a colorful cast of characters that include the swordsmen yin (wu ma) and hsiao hou and the tree devil and and the beautiful ghost lit sin seen and played by the lovely joey wong. to free her from the clutches of the evil tree devil and he must reincarnate her body and travel to the underworld to defeat an even more powerful demon. enough good things can not be said about this film. the pacing is perfect and with a great combination of romance and action and fantasy and humor and and the feverishly paced finale should leave you with little chance to breathe. the chemistry between the wonderfully tragic joey wong and leslie cheung (whose legendary career ended much too soon) really allows the viewer to feel for both of them. indeed the acting on the whole is so vivacious and full of life and i would say this is one of the most fun viewing experiences i have ever had. much of the credit goes to wu ma in his portrayal of the mysterious swordsman yin. his over the top persona of a disillusioned swordsman hell bent on vanquishing evil leads to some great moments of humor and traditional hk drama. a wonderful score and lush cinematography with eye popping colors and and frenetic action pieces courtesy of ching siu tung round out this wonderful film. find a copy anywhere you can. positive . | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
there are 21 comments as i add mine to this list and there is barely a criticism. this is because this film is terrific entertainment and has a bit of everything in it. it is perhaps a little frightening for younger children but my 15 year old son thought it was fantastic in every way from the action and to the humour and even to the beautiful music score. i buy dvds only when i know that they are going to be regularly watched and now that this is finally available in the uk and i will certainly be adding it to my collection. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
once in a while and a film comes along that raises the bar for every other film in its genre. a film of this caliber will influence many films following its release for years to come. `a chinese ghost story falls in this category. it is arguably one of the best horror films made during the 1980 while possibly one of the best ever made. the filmmakers have crafted a movie that appeals to every horror fan. the story is engrossing and original. the villains are appropriately menacing and frightening. the sets are creepy and atmospheric. there is even a little blood and gore to satisfy the splatter fan of the house. but do not let the `horror label scare you off and if youre not a fan of the genre. this film easily fits into many different categories. the screenwriter has deftly blended the drama and comedy and horror and kung fu and and romance genres into a delicious deluxe cinematic pizza. `a chinese ghost story is a beautiful epic love story told and thankfully and without the gratuitous nudity and or or explicit sex scenes that have ruined many hollywood `love stories. those put off by the romantic elements of the story can sit back and revel in the fast paced swordplay and `wire fu. if that not enough and actors leslie cheung and wu ma provide enough humorous situations to satiate your appetite for comedy. this film offers something for every film fan. director siu tung ching and producer tsui hark assembled a truly amazing cast for this film. leslie cheung proves that he is not only a gifted actor and but also a talented singer and a charming physical comedian. i cannot possibly think of a performer other than cheung who could have portrayed ling choi sin better (except maybe chow yun fat). joey wang is enchanting as lit su seen and the enslaved spirit who steals the heart of cheung character. her portrayal of the title character is truly haunting and memorable. wu ma is hilarious as the cantankerous taoist who aids the young lovers. on technical level and this film is very impressive and even by today standards. the direction is superb. i wish that today hollywood executives would seek out talented artists like siu tung ching rather falling back on the usual mtv video or pepsi commercial `directors. the cinematography is gorgeous. you have to commend any cinematographer who can make a film look good when most of its pivotal scenes take place in the dead of night. the special effects make up is top notch. in fact and most of the creature effects in this film blow away the shoddy cgi ghouls and goblins that have become commonplace in modern horror films. since its release and a chinese ghost story has spawned two worthy sequels and a full length animated movie and and countless imitations. none of the films that followed it or copied it were able to capture the magic of this classic and however. this film is required viewing for any horror fan or just anyone looking for great way to spend 95 minutes of your time. 10 out 10. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
for long time i haven not seen such a good fantasy movie and magic fights here are even better than in lotr and even considering that it a 1987 movie and haven not computer special effects. this movie have good plot and good acting and interesting ideas. recommend everybody to see it. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
cannot believe a movie that can be made that good in 1987 and is virtually unknown in the west. not to repeat other reviews here. the score is very good and moving. literally it means dawn please never comes when it comes and the beautiful ghost and the lover will be apart forever. after 24 years and joel and leslie still look great. i enjoyed joel in god of gamblers and many movies by leslie including better tomorrow. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
chinese ghost story is one of the most amazing hong kong films i have ever seen. it a brilliant mix of fantasy and comedy and romance and horror and martial arts. the film has some wonderful visuals and amazing fights. i love especially the fight scene between wu ma and the tree demon tongue. truly original and refreshing film and another embalmer fine recommendation. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
just read the original story which is written by pu in 18th century. strikingly and the movie despict the original spirit very well and though the plot was modified tremendously. the film language and the rhythm and the special effect are all from hollywood and but still there is a chinese core. it is amazing how hark tsui managed to combine them together. the result is pure beauty. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
a mix of comedy and romance and music(. ) and action and horror. a knockout. this is one of the reasons people rave about hong kong cinema. if youre looking for something totally original and look no further. entertainment at it peak. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
there never a dull moment in this movie. wonderful visuals and good actors and and a classical story of the fight of good and evil. mostly very funny and sometimes even scary. a true classic and a movie everybody should see. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
if there is a movie to be called perfect then this is it. so bad it wasn not intended to be that way. but superb anyway. go find it somewhere. whatever you do. do not miss it. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
a chinese ghost story stars the late and great leslie cheung as ling choi sin and a penniless tax collector who decides to spend the night at a deserted temple and where he meets and falls for a beautiful woman called tsing (joey wang). when ling discovers that tsing is actually a ghost who has been forced to seduce victims for an evil tree spirit who feeds on chi (life force) and he decides to try and free the girl by giving her remains a proper burial. enlisting the help of swordsman yin (wu ma) and a crazy taoist monk and ling successfully defeats the tree spirit and but must also do battle in hell against the evil lord black and to whom tsing is due to be wed. the first hong kong film that i saw which wasn not purely martial arts action and a chinese ghost story opened my eyes to the incredible world of asian fantasy horror and a magical realm inhabited by beautiful female ghosts and bumbling innocent heroes and sword wielding taoist monks and monstrous spirits and and dark lords of the underworld while i instantly fell in love with the film exuberance and energy and humour and inventiveness and visual excellence. two decades later and and this amazing movie still remains one of the finest examples of its genre that i have seena sumptuous and breathtaking masterpiece that brilliantly blends horror and comedy and fantasy and romance. with superb direction from siu tung ching and excellent editing from david wu and stunning cinematography and and a whole slew of imaginative special effects (including a humongous killer tongue and a many tentacled monster and and multiple flying heads. ) and a chinese ghost story is a completely unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
wasn not quite sure what to expect with this one and outside of the uniform positive reviews i have read. turns out and i could have never imagined this movie and because it very close to the bride with white hair in being operatic and dealing with the fantastic. this walks a fine line between being a farce and a comedy and and just plain good old fashion ghost story telling. there nothing scary about it and that not the theme and it really mostly a love story dealing with a bumbling guy who encounters a beautiful ghost and who is in a lot of trouble with other ghosts. so the main theme is the guy trying to save the beautiful ghost. this also takes place in ancient china and with wild outlandish kung fu exhibitions and and a trip to hell (more or less). some of the stop action ghosts are pretty cool and and the visual effects are top rate all the way. i could watch this genre of chinese movies all day and because they are highly entertaining and great visuals and and pretty much tongue in cheek. and i am looking forward to watching the first sequel of this movie also. highly recommended. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
this is a great movie. i like it where ning climbs down to get his ink and and the skeletons chase him and but luckily he dodged them and opened the window and and do not even notice them. xiao qian is very pretty too. and when he stuck the needle up ma wu butt and its hysterical. and when he is saying love is the greatest thing on earth while standing between two swords is great too. then also the part where he eats his buns while watching thew guy kill many people. then you see him chanting poems as he ran to escape the wolves. the love scenes are romantic and xiao qian and ning look cute together. add the comic timing and the giant tongue and and u have horror and romance and comedy and all at once. not to mention superb special effects for the 90s. | positive positive positive positive positive | negative negative negative negative negative |
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