What I Watched This Week (w/e October 5th 2008)

This was a really bizarre week as I had 11 DVDs to review so I didn't have any time to watch anything of my own - the only things I watched and haven't reviewed were a couple of WRC discs from the 1990-99 boxset and half a season of The Big Bang Theory off Virgin's OnDemand service.

DVD

http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108521"">John Carpenter: The Collection - Seven cracking films from a true master of horror, including the five films below plus Halloween and Prince of Darkness.


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108508"">Assault on Precinct 13 - A fine update of Rio Bravo.



http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108507"">The Fog - Not great but a good ghost story with fine performances.


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108459"">Escape From New York - One of the most influential films in the post-apocalyptic genre.


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108448"">The Thing - A fantastic psychological horror and a true classic - it's just a shame there is no anamorphic transfer, bring on the Blu-ray!


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108417"">They Live - Who'd have thought that Roddy Piper would make such a seamless transition from ring to screen and take part in one of the most memorable on-screen fights ever? Top film too.




http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108655"">Rise of the Flesh Eaters - Three zombie films, all very different.


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108618"">The Zombie Diaries - There are many faux-documentaries and 'found footage' films in the horror genre and this tense offering has the honour of beating Romero to the punch.


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108654"">Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! - The tagline of Strippers VS Zombies just about says it all though the zombies are crack whores! Oddly there's not a lot of nudity though.


http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108639"">Days of Darkness - An interesting combination of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Dawn of the Dead with a strange zombie castration.





http://nosferatu.myreviewer.com/default.asp?a=108709"">In Search of a Midnight Kiss - From the title and synopsis I thought I'd hate it and was expecting a sickly romance. I was pleasantly surprised to find a charming and funny film that is beautifully shot and reminiscent of Manhattan and Before Sunrise/Sunset.

Cinema

Taken - Of all the weird casting decisions, putting Liam Neeson in a role that you'd expect someone like Vin Diesel or Jason Statham to get, this one ranks highly. The film is extremely violent and yet another of those 'Americans, stay at home as the outside world is dangerous' movies like Hostel. It's stupid and slightly racist, but the action sequences are well choreographed if that's any consolation.