Welcome to another installment of YouTube Wednesday! I’ll be taking a look at one of NECA’s Sci-Fi and Horror Blind Bags. Each bag supposedly contains twenty-five dollars worth of sci-fi and horror goodness. Yours truly decided to take a chance and, well, it’s just okay. Check out the video and let me know what you think!
The bag isn’t terrible, but it was a bit underwhelming. I really love the Fly pin, but everything else will most likely go to friends, family, and strangers. If you see me at a convention, lemme know what you want and I’ll give you the Zonko’s shoelaces, the anime carabiner, or the zombie magnet. Oh, and Zonko’s is the joke store in the Harry Potter books and films. I don’t know why I didn’t catch that.
Thanks for watching my video. There’s a ton of awesome things coming in the near future!
Lex is a horror fiction writer looking to add depth to her latest book. Her friends, hoping to inspire her, surprise her with a trip to Hawaii and an abandoned resort that is supposedly haunted by the sinister Half-Faced Girl. When they arrive at the island resort, things quickly go south. Is The Resort truly haunted or is it all in Lex’ head?
The Resort is very aggravating to watch. It’s actually a very solid horror film until our fearless foursome arrive at the resort. The story plays out from the point of view of Lex, who is being interviewed by a detective. She recounts the horrible things that happen to her and her friends at the resort and the story, written and directed by Taylor Chien, does an amazing job of pulling in the viewer and setting up the group’s arrival at the abandoned resort. When things get spooky, sadly, the film falls into a by-the-numbers, low-budget rhythm that makes you wonder if Chien was facing production issues, lost interest in completing the movie, or adopted a “let’s phone in the finale” mindset. It actually made me angry that the film was so well executed at the beginning but completely unraveled at the moment that it was supposed to get good.
I can’t fault the actors in this film. Bianca Haase plays Lex quite well. Sure, she’s a bit of a basic girl who doesn’t really give off a “horror writer” vibe, but she’s believable enough. Michelle Randolph does a fine job as Bree, Lex’ friend who repeatedly suggests leaving the resort but is pretty much ignored the whole time. Michael Vlamis is perfect as the intentionally unlikable Sam. He’s the goof-off who easily finds trouble and is a thorn in the side of Chris (Brock O’Hurn), who is a stereotypical good guy with muscles and great hair who happens to have a thing for Lex. There aren’t many other people in the cast, save for a couple of security guards, a helicopter pilot, hospital staff, a few ghosts, the Half-Faced Girl (Nayeli Morales), and the detective (David Sheridan) who is questioning Lex throughout the film. They do their best in the film as well, but they can’t save the film from its nosedive ending.
The makeup effects are very well done and the location is simply amazing. The resort in the film was actually the Makena Beach & Golf Resort located in Maui, Hawaii. It was shut down in 2016. The property owner wanted to convert the resort into condominiums. The resort was demolished in 2018 and the property is now a members-only residential community. The cinematography was executed quite well.
Unfortunately for The Resort, you need more than a beautiful location, good effects, and an easy-on-the-eyes cast to make a decent film. This movie should have been so much better than it was, but it falls apart at the most important moment and never recovers. Give it a shot if you’d like, but I won’t blame you if you pass on this flick.
Thanks for checking out my post. See you again real soon!
Calcasieu Serialfest returned to the Brimstone Museum Annex for its ninth year on July 29th! This year’s theme was science fiction and the robots, mad scientists, and space invaders were in full force! Flash Gordon was front and center, having two chapters from Flash Gordon’s Trip To Mars (1938) and one colorized chapter of Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe (1940) presented to the audience. Buster Crabbe starred as Flash and he also appeared in as Buck Rogers in a chapter of the 1939 serial entitled Buck Rogers. A free lobby card reprint was given to all attendees featuring Crabbe as Flash Gordon and visitors also got to pick up an 8 x 10 of Crabbe and Jean Rogers as Dale Arden. There was also a Flash Gordon’s Trip To Mars poster given out to fans as well. Exclusive trading cards, a sticker, a Ming The Merciless button, and a decoder dial were also available for anybody that wanted them.
Other serials showcased at the event included chapters from The Crimson Ghost (1946), The Lost Planet (1953), Captain Video (1951), The Phantom Empire (1935), The Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940), and King Of The Rocket Men (1949). A classic Max Fleischer Superman cartoon, The Mechanical Monsters (1941), was also shown to the audience. Don O’Malley wowed the crowd via Zoom as he spoke about his serial, Hop Hopkins, and discussed other serial-centric things with our fearless leader, Patrick Bennett. Yours truly presented a panel on the connection between The Crimson Ghost and the Fiend mascot of The Misfits horror punk band. Cosplayer Daniel O’Neill showed off his Commando Cody suit complete with helmet, rocket pack, and gun! The mysterious Crimson Ghost made an appearance for my panel as well! Fans got to take photos with both cosplayers and appeared to have a fun time at the event.
Next year is the tenth anniversary and the Tenth Chapter of Calcasieu Serialfest! The theme will be superheroes, so get ready to watch amazing chapters of some of your favorite comic book and pulp novel adaptations. As soon as the date of the event is released, I’ll share it here on my blog. We plan on having more cosplayers as your favorite heroes. Are there any heroes in particular that you’d love to see at the event? Let me know in the comments section!
Thanks for checking out my post! The Houston Horror Film Festival is coming up in less than two weeks! I’ll be there and I’ll be posting over the three day event! Stay tuned, true believers!
“It’s really hard being good at something and no one knows it.”
On June 8th of this year, NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, released an original series entitled Based On A True Story. The dark, satirical comedy stars Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina as Ava and Nathan Bartlett, a financially strapped couple that is about to welcome their first child into the world. When plumbing issues force them to call a professional, they are unable to pay him. The plumber, Matt Pierce, agrees to do the work on the side in exchange for free tennis lessons from Nathan, a former professional tennis player who had his career cut short by injuries. Matt and Nathan become fast friends. When a young woman is brutally murdered in the neighborhood, Ava, a true crime podcast fan, deduces that Matt is the infamous Westside Ripper. She tells Nathan that if they make their own podcast featuring interviews with the real Westside Ripper, they can make a ton of money and end their financial woes. The series follows the trio’s journey through the crazy world of true crime podcasts, fans of true crime, and the mentality of a serial killer.
Granted, the premise of the series is absolutely ridiculous, but it somehow works. Ava and Nathan believe that they can blackmail Matt with the constant threat of turning him in to the authorities, but Matt actually begins to manipulate them instead. He enjoys the podcast and has his own ideas about how each episode should work. Ava and Nathan love one another, but their marriage is strained. Ava fantasizes about one of her real estate clients. Nathan fantasizes about Ava’s best friend, Ruby, a socialite who is having marital issues of her own. Living with Ava and Nathan is Tory, Ava’s younger, attractive sister who seems to be nothing more than a side character at first, but there are hints in later episodes that she’ll be a much bigger player in the second season if there is one.
Other characters come in and out of episodes. Some of them, despite Ava and Nathan’s “no murder” rule, end up dead. Does Matt actually kill them? You’ll have to watch the series to find out. Some of the standouts include Simon, Ruby’s somewhat unhinged husband, and Ruby’s lover, Carlos, as well as the opportunistic Dahlia Stone, who claims to be the only woman that ever survived an attack by the Westside Ripper, and the Lipinski Sisters, a duo of true crime podcasters that co-host the wildly popular Sisters In Crime podcast.
The cast includes Cuoco and Messina, Tom Bateman as Matt Pierce, Priscilla Quintana as Ruby, and Liana Liberato as Tory. It also features Aaron Staton as Simon, Sebastian Quinn as Carlos, and June Diane Raphael and Jessica St. Clair as the Lipinski sisters. Lizze Broadway appears as Dahlia Stone and Natalia Dyer portrays Chloe. All of them do a wonderful job, especially Bateman and Quintana. Bateman portrays Matt as a very likeable guy who snaps at a pin drop when someone offends him or rubs him the wrong way. Quintana is simply hilarious. She does a great job as Ruby. The series was created and written by Craig Rosenberg and executive produced by Cuoco, Rosenberg, Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, and Alex Buono.
All eight episodes are currently available on Peacock. The season ended with a brilliant setup for a potential second season, but Peacock has said nothing so far about a second season being produced. I really hope that we get a second season. I want to see how these characters develop. I do believe that the series shouldn’t go beyond three seasons, however, as the situations will likely get too ridiculous. It will ultimately need some type of resolution. Whether that’s Matt being turned over to police, Matt murdering the Bartletts, or something else, an endpoint will eventually have to be reached.
I definitely recommend this series. It’s darkly funny and you actually begin to cheer on Matt (at least I did) as the series progresses. Don’t get too attached to some of the characters, however, as many of them won’t live to see the end of the first season.
Thanks for checking out my post! I’ll be attending Calcasieu Serialfest this weekend and there are a couple of other events that I’ll be attending later this year. Be sure to like and share my Facebook page and my Instagram page as well!
Yes, I’m absolutely aware that the above quote is from 1985’s Teen Wolf. I’m also aware of the fact that some of you are probably scratching your heads as to why I’m quoting that film and not Captain America (1990), the film that is the subject of this post. Well, I have a very good reason: Kirk…Mr. Lolley…the theater teacher from Teen Wolf, is portrayed by Scott Paulin who, in Captain America, portrays the sinister Red Skull. When I realized this at the beginning of the film, I began laughing because I that I heard in my head was Mr. Lolley yelling, “I said MAUVE, not TURQUOISE!”
Captain America (Matt Salinger) and Mr. Loll…um…Red Skull (Scott Paulin).
Long before Chris Evans donned the red, white, and blue suit of the Super Soldier-infused Steve Rogers, Matt Salinger somehow slid into a fairly comic-accurate rubber suit as Ol’ Cap for a film that 21st Century Film Corporation and Marvel Entertainment hoped would draw in massive audiences like Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ Batman film did in 1989. Things didn’t turn out so well for Marvel and 21st Century, however, as the film was ready for release in August of 1990 but remained in limbo until 1992. It was in that year that the film was released direct-to-video and it pretty much fizzled into obscurity.
In the film, we see the Italian government murder a family and take their son. The son, Tadzio De Santis, will eventually become the Red Skull after the government uses a Super Soldier serum on him. The doctor that created the serum has a change of heart and escapes to the United States where she injects the serum into Steve Rogers, a man suffering from polio. The doctor successfully heals Rogers and gives him super strength, agility, stamina, and quick recovery from injuries. Rogers eventually squares off against Red Skull and he is strapped to a missile that’s headed for the White House. Using his strength, Captain America diverts the missile and he crashes somewhere in Alaska. He remains frozen until years later where he is discovered in the ice. A lot of other stuff happens involving Cap’s old flame and her equally beautiful daughter and Red Skull is now an elite member of the mob who uses his daughter to do the family’s dirty work. Eventually he captures the president of the United States, attempts to brainwash him, and Captain America has to try and save him. Oh, and he has to stop a nuclear bomb as well. Why? Cuz nuclear bomb, that’s why! Does Cap prove to be true to the red, white, and blue? Watch Captain America to find out!
This major motion picture feels more like one of Marvel’s campy Incredible Hulk made-for-television movies. The special effects are only slightly above made-for-TV levels. The story is convoluted and ends with a dull thud. I like Cap’s suit overall. It’s lacking the fish scale armor that Captain America wears in the comics, but the rest of the suit is accurate. My biggest complaint with the suit is the fact that it has rubber ears on the side instead of Matt Salinger’s actual ears poking out from under the mask. Why? Seriously, why? Also, the Red Skull’s initial look is actually kind of decent, but when we jump ahead to the 1990s, it appears that he’s had extensive plastic surgery to cover his skull face. He reminded me of Jigsaw from the Punisher: War Zone film.
The film even has a pretty decent cast. Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty lend their 1990s star power to the film in decent roles as the president and his best friend, a nosy reporter, respectively. Francesca Neri hams it up a bit as Red Skull’s daughter, Valentina. Kim Gillingham does double duty as Steve Rogers’ 1940s girlfriend and her 1990s daughter. There’s also some pretty cool ties to A Christmas Story and Lost In Space. Darren McGavin has a substantial role as the devious General Fleming. Bill Mumy portrays young Lt. Fleming at the beginning of the film. Mumy is best known for his work in Lost In Space. Melinda Dillon has a small role as Steve Rogers’ mother early in the film. She and McGavin played the parents of Ralphie in A Christmas Story.
Surprisingly, Matt Salinger turned in one of the weakest performances in the film. Sure, he had the overall look of a superhero, but his charisma was dead in the water. In a bit of a twist, Kirk….Mr. Lolley….uh….err, Scott Paulin turned in what I would consider to be one of the best performances in the movie as Red Skull.
The film tries very hard to be more than mediocre, but it fails. It’s not a bad movie. It’s just a dull flick that really did deserve to be released direct-to-video. It’s currently available to watch on Amazon Prime and has been released on home media multiple times over the years. It’s worth checking out at least once just to see how far Marvel has come since that time. Heck, just a few years later in 1998, Blade showed the world just how well done a Marvel superhero film could be if its cast and crew really cared about the subject matter.
Thanks for taking a trip back in time with me today. Marvel definitely improved in later years, but their recent crop of films has shown that the MCU is starting to unravel. Maybe I’ll post about that one day. Let me know in the comments section.
On Saturday, July 29th, the Brimstone Museum Annex will be home to the 9th Annual Calcasieu Serialfest! Join myself and other classic serial fans as we travel back to the days of the cliffhanger, cinematic serials that typically feature between twelve and fifteen chapters, each ending in a suspenseful moment until the final chapter. These films were the first big screen home of superheroes, jungle adventures, and pulp novel adaptations.
This year’s event will focus on science fiction serials and will include chapters from serials such as The Lost Planet (1953), The Phantom Empire (1935), King of the Rocket Men (1949), and more! Witness the amazing skill and daring of Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers! Stare in wonder as the Copperhead (Robert Wilcox) battles the insane Doctor Satan (Eduardo Cianelli)! You’ll be given a whole seat……but you’ll only need the edge!
In addition to serial chapters, this year’s event will include a Zoom interview with Don O’Malley, host of Don’s Breakfast Serial, and a panel hosted by yours truly covering the massive influence of The Crimson Ghost on the band The Misfits! If you are able, be sure to visit the event. It’s absolutely free and will feature free popcorn, drinks, and pizza for lunch!
The fun begins at 10 AM with a welcome from the event’s host, Patrick Bennett, of Pop Ninja! The first block of serial chapters begins at 10:15 AM with short breaks between each block. Lunch will be served at 1 PM and Don O’Malley’s interview will begin at 1:30 PM. More serial blocks will follow with my panel taking place at 3:10 PM. Rumor has it that the Crimson Ghost himself will make an appearance! That will be followed by another block of serial chapters and the grand finale will be a colorized version of the first chapter of Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe! I hope to see you there!
Thanks for checking out my post. If you do attend the festival, I’ll have free stickers to hand out. Just look for them on one of the event tables or ask me for one. There will also be tons of other goodies handed out by the event, so get there early to make sure you get some swag!
1980’s Fade To Black, starring Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Linda Kerridge, and Gwynne Gilford, tells the story of Eric Binford (Christopher), a bullied, mistreated, and socially awkward young man who loves two things in this world: classic movies and Marilyn Monroe. When he meets Marilyn O’Connor (Kerridge), a skating rink worker who looks like Marilyn Monroe, he convinces her to go on a date with him. When she unintentionally doesn’t meet him for their date, Binford begins to snap. The years of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse finally push him to the edge. He starts dressing up like his favorite film characters and reenacts murderous scenes with the tormentors in his life. His killing spree leads him to the top of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where he, along with his Marilyn, plans on acting out one last scene.
Written and directed by Vernon Zimmerman, the film is much more than a standard slasher flick. It also fits in well with the contemporary issue of bullying and the sometimes violent and fatal retaliation of the victims on their tormentors. Eric couldn’t take the pain of rejection and the constant abuse from his aunt and his co-workers and finally snapped. Yes, Eric was wrong for what he did, but it’s easy to see how quickly he would be driven to murder to get revenge.
As excellent as the plot is, however, it’s executed in an uneven way. Marilyn comes off as entirely too gullible and quickly falls under the spell of Eric. The psychologist that is trying to stop Eric, Dr. Moriarty (Thomerson), is a cocaine snorting hack who teams up with a beautiful police officer, Anne Oshenbull (Gilford), who enjoys a little coke herself. They also find time to bed one another while Eric is on his killing spree. The performances of most of the actors is a tad weak and uninspired. The movie drags at times as well.
Despite all of these shortcomings, the film is definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of classic horror or classic cinema in general. The story is good but poorly executed. Oh, and you also get to see a young Mickey Rourke and Peter Horton in small, early roles. Another little bit of trivia is the fact that Gilford was pregnant during the shooting of the film. Her child? None other than current film star Chris Pine.
Fade To Black could have been a lot better than it was, but in the end, it’s still a decent film. Check it out and let me know what you think of it.
Thanks for checking out my post. See you again real soon!
Imagine yourself in Montevideo, Uruguay way back in 1993. Heavy rain is falling and you want nothing more than to find your way into an old, rundown theater showing a lame horror flick so that you dry off for a bit and possibly enjoy the movie. Then, without warning, a slasher begins to systematically murder everyone in the theater. Oh, and he’s locked the place up, so one of you isn’t going to make it to the end of the film. Sound interesting? Well, that’s exactly what happens in 2020’s The Last Matinee.
The film is a joint venture from production companies based in Argentina, Uruguay, and Mexico. It’s a Spanish language horror flick directed by Maximiliano Contenti and it stars Luciana Grasso, Ricardo Islas, Julieta Spinelli, and Franco Duran. Contenti wished to pay homage to American slashers and the Italian giallo genre. Since these two genres have multiple similarities, it’s easy to see how Contenti pays tribute to both of them. The film features a faceless (at least for most of the film) stalker with no real motive for selecting his victims, tons of gore and brutal deaths, amazing sound production (seriously, the sound is more painful to hear than the murders are to watch), and a limited set (in this case, a 1993 projection house theater). The film also features some amazing shots, utilizing all sorts of angles to manipulate the viewer.
The film also has a decent amount of humor despite its limited cast of characters and quick runtime. Mauricio (Pedro Duarte) provides most of the funny moments even though his role isn’t that big in the film. He’s a really neat character. The heroine of the flick, Ana (Luciana Grasso), is fairly oblivious to what is going on in the theater since she’s in the projector booth, studying for an engineering final. When she finally realizes what is happening, most of the other characters have been offed by our murderer.
Speaking of the characters, we have a young couple, three loud and obnoxious teenagers, an older gentleman who is by himself, a lone teenage girl who was stood up by her date, and a young boy who managed to sneak into the showing of Frankenstein: Day Of The Beast (more on that movie later). Then there’s the killer. While he doesn’t have a motive for selecting his victims, he does have a taste for a certain body part of each of them. I won’t ruin what body part he favors, but you’ll catch on to what it is early in the film.
This movie isn’t perfect by a long shot, but it is very fun to watch. The kills are gruesome and the killer is played by the director of the film, Frankenstein: Day Of The Beast, that’s being played in the theater. It’s supposed to take place in 1993, but Frankenstein: Day Of The Beast was actually released in 2011. It’s meant to be a joke in the film and it works once you realize that Ricardo Islas is murdering people that are watching his movie.
Be sure to check out The Last Matinee. It’s a really enjoyable slasher flick with some great nostalgic vibes. It makes me want to check out more of Contenti’s work and also check out Islas’ Frankenstein: Day Of The Beast.
Thanks for checking out my review. Be sure to watch The Last Matinee on a rainy day to have an even creepier film experience!
The original Eagles, L to R: Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey.
“Why don’t you come to your senses?”
Life In The Fast Lane: The Eagles’ Reckless Ride Down The Rock & Roll Highway is a very decent read. The author, Mick Wall, is notorious for his sometimes scathing looks at some of the biggest acts in rock and metal. This book plays nice for the most part with its subject, the Eagles. Wall focuses primarily on Don Henley and Glenn Frey, two of the founding members of the band. The other founding members, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, are often treated as an afterthought. Wall will wax poetic about the greatness that is Henley and Frey and then occasionally mention Meisner and Leadon. This is somewhat justified, as Henley and Frey did call most of the shots for the band, but I really would have liked to hear more about Leadon and Meisner.
The Eagles added Don Felder (front, R) to the group in 1974.
Wall spends about a third of the book setting the tone for the creation of the band. You’ll read about Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, J.D. Souther, the Troubadour, and a lot of other California-centric people and places before arriving at the point where Frey and Henley meet one another and David Geffen sets them on their way….with Bernie and Randy along for the ride. Then you’ll read about their albums, the addition of Don Felder (another afterthought in Wall’s writing), the exits of Leadon and Meisner, and the addition of Joe Walsh (the somewhat notable afterthought) and Timothy B. Schmit (the last afterthought). You’ll also read about Irving Azoff’s master plan to make the Eagles even bigger stars.
Joe Walsh (center), a star in his own right, replaced Bernie Leadon in 1975.
Eventually you learn of the band’s somewhat quiet split, Frey and Henley’s attempts at solo careers, a brief mention of Hell Freeze’s Over, an even briefer mention of Long Road Out Of Eden, and the current state of the band in which Henley is the lone founding member.
Timothy B.Schmit took over Randy Meisner’s duties in the band when Meisner exited in 1977. The band would split altogether in 1980, only to reunite in 1994.
It’s all wrapped up in a litany of adjectives and asides courtesy of the pen of Mick Wall. He could have gotten to the point a lot quicker, but it was often very fun to read his meandering style of writing.
I know that many music snobs will wince when I say this, but the Eagles and KISS have a lot of parallels. Both feature two core, controlling members (Henley/Frey, Paul Stanley/Gene Simmons), a wizard is brought in to inject new life into the band (Walsh, Vinnie Vincent), and eventually a quiet guy who tows the line keeps the band afloat (Schmit, Tommy Thayer). Also, both bands were very successful and are beloved by their fans but never seem to get the credit they are due from music critics. On top of that, Frey became disenchanted with the Eagles much like Gene Simmons did in the early 80s with KISS, and like Simmons, he pursued a brief acting career. Henley, much like Stanley in KISS, is considered the heart of the Eagles. In addition, both bands are still on the road in what seems to be an extended farewell tour. None of this is mentioned in the book. In fact, KISS is never mentioned at all, but being a member of the KISS Army, I found it kind of cool how the two groups parallel one another.
From the Desperado album shoot. L to R: Meisner, Leadon, Henley, and Frey.
If you’re an Eagles fan, this might disappoint you since it spends A LOT of time on Henley and Frey. If you’re a fan of 70s music, however, it’s pretty cool to read the many interludes and path-crossings that Henley and Frey have with a number of major rock stars and future rock stars.
Thanks for checking out my post. I hope that you enjoyed this review of Life In The Fast Lane. I know that it isn’t my normal type of post, but I felt that this book was worth mentioning. See you soon!
The current lineup, L to R: Joe Walsh, Vince Gill, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and, occasionally, Deacon Frey, Glenn Frey’s son.
While plenty of films based upon Michael Crichton novels were released prior to it, the success of 1993’s Jurassic Park ignited film studio interest in Michael Crichton’s books like never before. In quick succession, films based on Crichton’s work were cranked out by the Hollywood machine. None of them came close to matching the success of Jurassic Park, but a few of them did quite well at the box office. Others were out-and-out clunkers on the big screen. Timeline (2003) and The 13th Warrior (1999) were two such films (although I personally enjoyed them. Then there is Congo (1995), a jungle romp that I saw in theaters and absolutely loved despite its having a number of differences from the novel.
Congo is the story of Amy, a young gorilla that communicates through sign language, who is brought back to her native lands by a brilliant primatologist named Peter Elliott with the help of a Romanian philanthropist named Herkermer Homolka (a character not in the book). Of course, Homolka is interested in locating the Lost City of Zinj, the purported location of one of King Solomon’s mines and home to untold riches. Also along for the ride is Karen Ross, who is secretly in search of her ex-fiancee and an expedition that was also seeking out the lost city’s riches, but for use by a telecommunications company. Leading the group is Monroe Kelly, a “great white hunter….who happens to be black.”
As the group gets closer to finding Zinj, the real motives of Homolka and Ross are revealed and Peter feels as if he’s been duped. After a number of dangerous encounters, the group eventually discover what is left of the telecom expedition and what murdered everyone in the group: hybrid killer gorillas! What happens next? Watch Congo to find out!
I know that on paper, Congo sounds absolutely ridiculous and, truth be told, it is. It tries very hard to capture the essence of old jungle adventure films from the first half of the 1900s and throws in a modern (at least for 1995) spin on the tale. The addition of Homolka was completely unnecessary as well. As dumb as it appears on the surface, however, Congo works. It performed quite well initially at the box office, debuting in first place. The next weekend, however, it was booted by Batman Forever. It would eventually find itself in regular rotation on basic cable as one of those films that someone always seemed to have on in the background but never really watched.
The film’s strengths lie in the performances of Ernie Hudson (Monroe), Laura Linney (Ross), Dylan Walsh (Peter), and Grant Heslove, who portrays Richard, Peter’s friend and assistant. The special effects aren’t too shabby, either. Sure, there’s a ton of cheese provided by Tim Curry as Homolka, but there’s also some solid humor from Amy the Gorilla (an animatronic creation). The film is in no way a national treasure and doesn’t come near to the perfection that is Jurassic Park, but it is a fun jungle romp.
Give Congo a shot if you haven’t watched it. It’s a very good middle-of-the-road adventure flick with amazing performances by most of the cast and excellent special effects.
As always, thanks for checking out my posts. Talk to you soon!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 