Stephen King claims this is his favorite movie. It’s a pretty cool little film. It definitely has the Stephen King “feel” to it with well-drawn but odd characters and creepy rats attacking a man’s house. The man is played by Peter Weller (Robocop himself) who basically carries the entire film on his back as he portrays a man slowly going insane over his aggressive pest problem.

It’s such a weird premise for a horror film and yet it works. Ferocious rats are taking over this man’s house while his family is away and he turns mad in his quest to rid his home of the pests. If you’re thinking this sounds super cheesy, it absolutely is but it works because everything is played straight and serious and the acting is so good.

The first half of this indie-western is one of the best westerns I’ve seen in years. A powerful beginning and set up. That’s not to say the second half it bad but things go a bit off the rails before ending on a strong finish. The middle part suffers from a lack of character motivation, meandering events that don’t directly effect the character’s goals, and a lessoning of the threat that was built up so perfectly in the beginning.

There’s also a few nitpicks with the internal logic of the film including why the main character doesn’t have a hat when he’s been on the trail for days or why Fassbender’s character would help the kid at certain points in the film. Despite this VERY minor gripes, this is a great little indie-western and a must see for western fans.

Some reviews were actually okay for this (at least on some of the movie review sites I read) so I went in not expecting a lot but part of me thought, maybe this would turn out pretty good. I was wrong.

I’d count myself a fan of Vin Diesel. Seems like a cool guy and although he doesn’t have much range, I like his one-note character and personality. Part of me wishes we had the “serious actor” Diesel we saw hinted at in Saving Private Ryan instead of the action star today only because I think he can do better things but I like his action stuff. I’ll absolutely go to bat for Riddick anytime. Love that series.

After a promising opening action scene (that was very well put together), things start going down hill. The core problem here is the script which uses constant deus ex machina tricks to conjure plot lines (that were never even teased) into existence. For every problem the characters face, there is some random explanation or solution (never before hinted at) that is made up to keep the story moving.

The dialogue is also some of the worst I’ve seen in a Vin Diesel film. Because the script is so confusing, the characters have to tell the audience what is happening with inane lines like “she did it” or “he’s saved us”. Seriously, I can’t believe this was a black list script. Just look at IMDB’s “quotes” section on this film to get a taste of how on the nose and ridiculous the dialogue is (and those lines in IMDB are supposed to be the best in the film!)

Add another strike for the constant shaky cam and much-too-zoomed-in action shots making the action too often, totally incomprehensible. It’s fun only because it is so easily mocked. You’ll be constantly face-palming over the bad dialogue and indiscernible plot but you’ll have fun doing it.

Possibly the best movie of 1996, Lone Star is a powerful drama of complex characters and family dynamics all wrapped up in an underlying murder mystery. In a lot of ways, Lone Star is a modern-day western with sheriffs, saloons, and small town politics all set in a little Texas border city.

Written, directed, & edited by the great John Sayles, the dialogue crackles in every scene. Just brilliant stuff. The acting is especially excellent here as well with the late Elizabeth Pena putting in a powerful performance. Chris Cooper brings tons of pathos to his character and there’s a a knock-out turn by Kris Kristofferson as a devious town sheriff. In every scene, he just oozes dread. Even if you don’t think this is the best movie of 1996, it certainly is the best written script from that year (or most of the 1990’s frankly). A must watch if you’ve never had this film on your radar before.

I may be one of the only people on the planet that doesn’t hate Blade: Trinity. Sure, it’s nowhere near the quality of the first and even stumbles in comparison to Blade II, but there are still some cool moments and as much as I love Del Toro and enjoy Blade II, I have to admit that some parts of Blade: Trinity are cooler and better put together.

I know that’s sacrilege because people love to hate on Blade: Trinity and the criticism isn’t without merit. There are some laughably bad scenes, teaming Blade with sidekicks rarely works, and the direction from first time director David Goyer isn’t close to the quality of the first. The fight choreography in Trinity isn’t as good as Blade II (which I think is the overall best in terms of the fights & stunts). Also, the final 30 minutes of Trinity flat out sucks. But Trinity’s opening scene is I think better than Blade II’s. And the overall story, at least for the first half is more intriguing and less derivative than Blade II. There’s also some terrific ideas here, however poorly executed.

Notice I’m not talking much about the first Blade because it’s by far the best and frankly, pretty untouchable overall. I so wish Goyer had only wrote Trinity and Stephen Norrington (the director of the first Blade) would have been able to come back and do this one. It could have been a great end to the trilogy instead the ultimate disappointment it became.

Snipes gets some good lines in this (better than Blade II in some cases) and I know Snipes hated the director and went a bit nuts on set but he’s still great on screen. I don’t hate Jessica Biel in this and Ryan Reynold’s sarcastic act works sometimes, again didn’t hate it. Dominic Purcell and Parker Posey are pretty bad though. The worst thing is how this film ruined Whistler’s character. They should have never gone there with him. In the end, Blade: Trinity is surprisingly better than I remembered.

Tales of Halloween is an anthology film made up of several very loosely connected Halloween-themed stories. The film was done on an extremely low budget and in that context, there’s some surprisingly fun stuff. The beginning is pretty strong and there are a few other standout episodes but much of the middle of the disappointing ending come off as amateurish. Note though that this film doesn’t seem to be going for scares (there are practically none) but instead wacky comedy and gore (which is fine but I would have liked to have seen a few more scares thrown in – it is a Halloween movie after).

Here’s a few of my favorites:

Sweet Tooth – Some fun practical gore and a good creepy clown design. If I was 10 years old, this one might have scared me a little. It’s pretty derivative but a solid opener.

The Night Billy Raised Hell – Way too flamboyant for my tastes but there were a few funny moments that make this at least worth recommending.

This Means War – By far the funniest and probably the most entertaining in just overall “fun” value.

Friday the 31st – Clever twist on the slasher genre with a reversal and space aliens thrown into the mix. Also, killer claymation. This was one of the best.

The Ransom of Rusty Rex – It’s played for laughs here but with a little tweaking, this could have been a great Twilight Zone episode back in the day. Pretty funny.

In the end, most of these episodes feel more like Disney-channel kids movies with gore and swearing added in. If that peaks your interest, check this out.