The Kindred (1987)

I understand that people who know me through various social media connections may already be fed up of me going on about The Kindred, but I am going to spend some more time on it. Because it deserves it. Whatever people think of the quality of the film itself, this was something I had been wanting to see for about 35 years, all thanks (as so often happened) to a lurid and tempting VHS cover.

While his scientist mother (Kim Hunter) is dying, John Hollins (David Allen Brooks) is surprised by the news that he apparently has a half brother. Even more surprising, he is supposed to destroy this individual, named Anthony. Heading back to the old homestead with some firm friends to help him, John starts to piece together exactly what his mother meant. It is all to do with a load of illegal experiments, resulting in the creation of a life that really shouldn’t exist.

Co-written and co-directed by Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow, The Kindred is, especially in the first half, a clumsy and clunky piece of work. It often tries to be creepy and suspenseful while most viewers will be waiting for whatever wild practical effects are surely due to come along in time for the third act. In fairness, however, those practical effects DO come along, kudos to the team for them, and they are given plenty of screentime to ensure that nobody feels short-changed.

Although The Kindred is gloopy horror fun, most will be unsurprised to find that it is far from a showcase for great acting. Brooks is decidedly average in the lead role, outshone in any scenes that he shares with either Talia Balsam (who plays his girlfriend) or Amanda Pays (who plays a woman so happy to help our hero that she might just have a secret agenda). Peter Frechette is defined by the fact that he is trying to no longer be a smoker, and he’s stuck being the most annoying of the main group members, while Timothy Gibbs and Julia Montgomery have lesser, but also less annoying, parts to play. Hunter may not be onscreen for long, but she’s not the only established star to be involved. Rod Steiger is enjoyably over the top as another scientist who values results over ethics, and every scene that features him is a barmy delight, either thanks to his performance or the special effects around him.

Despite the runtime not being overlong, the pacing could be tightened up slightly. The special effects, as wonderful as they are, vary wildly in quality. And the score by David Newman feels like it should have been much more bombastic. But these are relatively minor criticisms, especially when you think of the many other horror films from this time that ended up being much less satisfying.

The Kindred almost comes close to delivering on the promise sold on that VHS artwork, and almost coming close is a damn sight better than many other horror movies manage. I am sorry that it took me over three decades to see it, but I am also glad that something I had given up hope of ever seeing turned out to be part of a very special viewing experience, one that kept a grin on my face for the duration.

7/10

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A Fistful Of Dynamite (1971)

AKA Duck, You Sucker.

A film from Sergio Leone that manages to fit in a lot of his usual tricks while also feeling a step removed from his better-known works, A Fistful Of Dynamite is his most comedic movie, and yet it doesn't skimp on the moments of explosive violence (literally).

James Coburn plays John, the Irish "rebel" who is happily driving around Mexico on his motorbike until he crosses paths with a Mexican bandit (Juan, played by Rod Steiger). The initial encounter quickly reveals John's skill with explosives, something that Juan can see being very useful as he thinks about a particularly rich bank he has wanted to rob for some time. John is reluctant to help, to put it mildly, but the two soon form an unlikely alliance, leading them on a path that will get them more involved with the Mexican Revolution, to the apparent delight of John and despair of Juan.

Once again, Leone shows that he knows who to pick for his leading roles. Although I have limited exposure to both Coburn and Steiger (sad, I know), both men quickly beguile viewers here with their laid-back acting styles and natural charisma. Coburn possibly edges ahead, but Steiger features in more of the comedic moments, and plays them wonderfully. This is very much a mismatched "buddy" movie and therefore relies on the chemistry of the leads, both individually and as they interact with one another, so the casting of Coburn and Steiger plays a huge part in how enjoyable this is. The rest of the cast are decent enough, although there's a lack of some of the memorable supporting players who populated the "Dollars" trilogy. Romolo Valli has some good moments, David Warbeck is an important figure in a number of flashback sequences, and Antoine Saint-John is the main villain of the piece (although there is really more than one, and just how bad they are is relative to your own views on morality and treachery).

Despite the focus here being on explosions rater than gunshots, the structure is similar to what we have seen from Leone in his other movies. Each set-piece seems to feel a bit bigger than the previous one, culminating in a grand finale that supercedes everything that came beforehand while still taking the time to reveal some more about one of the central characters, and what has motivated them throughout the entire film.

It looks very good, as you would expect, and many people enjoy the Ennio Morricone score (although I wasn't all that taken with it), but there's nothing here that puts it on a par with any of the other masterpieces from Leone. Not to say that the film is bad, it just doesn't reach the ridiculously high standards set by the man in charge. I absolutely recommend people give it a watch, it's probably the least-seen of Leone's filmography, and it's one that I can also see as an easy choice to revisit and enjoy. It's just not a classic, but they can't all be classics.

7/10

Here's a nice disc release.
American amigos can get a blu here.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Mars Attacks! is a crazy sci-fi comedy based on a series of popular trading cards. It's quite a slight film, as you'd expect from such source material, but it's also very funny in places and full of great homages to sci-fi films of yesteryear. Jonathan Gems was the man who put a script together for the alien antics while Tim Burton was in place to direct the madness.

The plot is summed up by the title. That's it. Really. What the alien invasion premise does is allow Burton to deliver a number of amusing, and often visually striking, vignettes to the audience, be it a herd of flaming cattle or a number of warped experiments taking place on a spaceship. Many of the moments in the movie are inspired directly by images on the trading cards, but there are still a few characters allowed to develop in between the set-pieces. Jack Nicholson plays the President Of The United States, with Glenn Close playing his wife and Natalie Portman the fed up daughter. Jack Nicholson also plays a man setting up the business deal of his life. Annette Bening is the woman in his life, trying to keep her spirit positive while surrounded by the corrupting, garish influence of Las Vegas. Michael J. Fox and Sarah Jessica Parker are two very different TV personalities, Pierce Brosnan is a scientist optimistic about the aliens and Rod Steiger is a not so optimistic general. Jim Brown wants to get back to his family, Martin Short wants to use his position as Presidential advisor to get with women and Lukas Haas wants, well, very little as he's the generally content sort.

As you might expect from a movie based on a series of trading cards, Mars Attacks! is more a series of amusing vignettes loosely strung together than an entirely flowing, coherent movie. It's anarchic and fun in a way that may put many people off, but I happen to like anarchic and fun. Think of some Ed Wood movie fused with any cartoon that featured Marvin The Martian and you're close enough.

Tim Burton is in his comfort zone, the film certainly feels as if he was left to his own devices and he has fun bringing the vibrant, retro imagery to life. The handling of the material is affectionate, the handling of the cast less so as they're killed off or experimented upon with not even a second thought for A-list status or billing order. As well as those already mentioned, all of them admirably going along with every preposterous moment, there are appearances from Jack Black, Pam Grier, Danny DeVito, Christina Applegate, Lisa Marie and Tom Jones. Yes, THAT Tom Jones. Playing himself, amusingly enough.

If you grew up with imagery of flying saucers that were actually saucer shaped, little green men who flew around the universe looking for people to menace with their ray guns and sci-fi b-movies that were as colourful and inventive as they were, oftentimes, cheap and cheerful then this is the movie for you. It recalls all of those elements with love and then uses them for lots of silly gags. Whether or not you actually enjoy the gags is another thing entirely, but you will enjoy plenty of imagery reminding you of aliens as envisioned in decades gone by.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mars-Attacks-Blu-ray-Region-Free/dp/B003IHVKR4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365138034&sr=8-2&keywords=mars+attacks

The Amityville Horror (1979)

You may sneer and laugh at me for saying so but The Amityville Horror remains one of my favourite haunted house movies and I put it up alongside such classics as The Haunting and The Legend Of Hell House. It left an indelible impression upon me when I saw it in my youth and even though I am now older and wiser (and armed with the knowledge that a lot of the story is alleged to be completely fictional) I still can't watch the movie without being affected by the ominous presence of the house at the centre of the supernatural events. That haunting score by Lalo Schifrin doesn't help matters (I rank it alongside The Omen as one of the best horror movie scores of all time).

The story, for those of you somehow unaware of the most famous haunted house since Borley Rectory, is all about George (James Brolin) and Kathy Lutz (Margot Kidder), a married couple with three kids (two boys and one girl) and not too much in the way of disposable income. They move into the house in Amityville, aware of the history it has but dismissing the fact that the house itself is a bad place, and it's not long before things start going bump in the night, bump in the day and bump all over the place.

The Amityville Horror is, despite the fact that none of it actually happened, a fine movie. It takes a number of preposterous ideas and somehow makes them all believable, thanks to a mix of solid direction from Stuart Rosenberg and a great cast including Brolin in one of his best roles, Kidder being a bit less annoying than usual, Rod Steiger, Murray Hamilton and Don Stroud. Steiger is landed with the worst of the roles, a priest trying to help the Lutz family, but he has fun in the role and is always entertaining. The film also proves once again that what you don't see is always a lot scarier than any special effects that could have been thrown around onscreen (the one major visual fright is actually one of the lamest moments in the whole movie).

The book was written by Jay Anson, from the tale that he was told by George Lutz and his wife, and the screenplay by Sandor Stern takes the enjoyable and melodramatic raw material and keeps everything nicely paced en route to an unashamedly bombastic finale.

Yet, in many ways, The Amityville Horror isn't all that affected by the direction, the script or the acting. That music plays and the camera shows the "face" of the house and that's all it takes for the goosebumps to rise and the atmosphere to start taking hold. You might try to say that the house is actually an icon of horror. Or maybe I'd be alone with that opinion.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Amityville-Horror-DVD/dp/B000795L9E/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1342087283&sr=8-6