• Tag Archives B-movie

  • Canister X Movie Review #124: Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Click Here to Order from Amazon.com
    Click Here to Order from Amazon.com
    Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)
    Written by Robert Valding
    Directed by Jeff Broadstreet
    Runtime 80 min.
    3 out of 5

    I found out about this flick via the movie-on-demand feature from my cable provider. I watched the trailer, loved the zombies, then vowed that one night soon after my wife and kids went to bed, I’d indulge in a world of darkness and gore while hiding out in an old farmhouse.

    The problem was: I got busy, so when I finally got around to my late-night television watching, I was too tired to watch a full movie and since the on-demand rental would only be for 24 hours, there wouldn’t be any other time to watch this flick other than, well, right when I rented it.

    So the suspense built. One day turned to two. Two to four. Four to eight, ’til eventually a few weeks passed, me all the while unable to stop thinking about this film. Then . . . finally—finally—I was able to watch this thing. The only problem was it was an over-the-cables rental so no 3D for me. Oh well.

    I loved how it started out like the original Night of the Living Dead (that was 1968, for those who don’t know). The opening scene in the cemetery immediately brought back memories of the original and the same kind of eeriness. Then the zombies showed up; I was all giggles and my inner undead fanboy was a happy camper.

    Right then I knew I was in for a good time. And I had a good time. The zombie scenes were great. The dead were just plain gross, each in various states of decay. The blood was plentiful and Sid Haig as Gerald Tovar Jr. did a great job of being that creepy, hick kind of guy that would bother anyone. And I gotta tell you, I didn’t see the twist in the storyline coming. I won’t spoil it, but those who’ve seen this movie know what I’m talking about.

    This movie is one of those great-yet-not flicks. You love it because it’s all blood and guts, zombies and definitely a B-movie. You have a problem with it because the story is kind of “meh” and the acting is all right. At the same time you can’t stop thinking about it afterward because—since it’s a remake—it brings back gushy memories of the original (and in this case the original and the 1990 remake), but at the same time you wonder how it got off the rails so badly.

    That said, I’m giving it a split rating, the idea here being you can go either way on this, but at the very least be in for a good time, especially if you dig B-horror.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #110: Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)

    Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus
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    Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)
    Written by Jack Perez (as Ace Hannah)
    Directed by Jack Perez (as Ace Hannah)
    Runtime 88 min.
    3 out of 5

    Watched this thing last night.

    Okay, let’s see . . .

    Cool premise. I mean, really, a big shark versus a massive octopus? That just reeks cool.

    The story was more or less solid. Some parts were predictable, especially the “how to get rid of them” part.

    The acting . . . well, aside from Deborah Gibson, who I thought was the most believable in terms of how she presented her character (except when she screwed around with Vic Chao, which seemed really out of the blue), needed lots of work. Seemed forced in a lot of ways, but this is a B-movie we’re talking about so I was willing to not nitpick the acting because I just wanted to see shark vs octopus action.

    The special FX were okay, a 6 or so on a scale of 1-10. Some stuff looked super fake. Others, namely the underwater sequences, looked real. My only issue with the underwater stuff was that you lost all sense of scale because there was nothing to compare these guys to (as compared to when the shark took a huge bite out of the Golden Gate Bridge). However, you did get your sense of scale when the submarines tried to take the shark on.

    The shark vs octopus fight was pretty good. How often do you see a giant octopus wrap its tentacles around a shark’s entire body? I just wish, though, there was the budget to drag it out because the fight was kind of short-lived and was very simple in terms of the “fight moves” from each creature. Likewise, other shots of the creatures throughout the movie were just a glimpse here and there.

    On a fun scale, this gets an 7 out of 10, but my official rating is a 5. I think there was better acting in Transmorphers, and, well, guess I am nitpicking a little.

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