The Movie

Vampire Ecstasy

With a title like Vampire Ecstasy, one can easily guess what Joe Sarno's cult sexploitation gem is going to be about and feature. Expectations are pretty much set in stone in a name that immediately invokes sensuality, and in Sarno's first foray into the horror genre, the movie does not disappoint in this respect. When two young women, Monika (Ulrike Butz) and Helga (Marie Forså), arrive at a creepy castle to claim an inheritance, their innocence is soon corrupted by a coven of witches preparing to reincarnate their vampire leader. With each night the two spend wandering the stone hallways, viewers witness this small band of spell casters, led by the dispassionate yet charismatic Wanda (Nadia Henkowa), partake in a series of carnal pleasures and bizarre, erotic rituals. In a short span of time, as both women learn more about their ancestral...Read the entire review

The Movie

What started as a search to fight the world's greatest swordsman ends up becoming a poignant journey of redemption and finding inner peace in Sword Master, making it a welcomed, unexpected surprise in what should have been a standard, straightforward martial arts flick. Loosely based on the wuxia novel by Gu Long, the film toys with a disjointed narrative for the first half without exactly being nonlinear, jumping between various events and locations. But as the audience follows two strangers on separate journeys, the pieces slowly come together, gradually revealing that their paths will soon cross. How exactly is not explained in detail. Rather, the plot steadily progresses forward, sprinkling just enough tidbits to maintain interest, such as a hired assassin, Yen Shisan (Peter Ho), wandering the countryside in search for whom he believes is a worthy opponent, ...Read the entire review

The Movie

For fans of the franchise, the draw to this comic-book-like vision of a viral apocalypse is not just the ravaging hordes of zombies hunting the last remaining uninfected humans of Earth. It's the central badass heroine Alice surviving this dark, infested hellhole, kicking the butts of the walking dead and not tolerating any lip from anyone who underestimates her, all the while looking good in spite of probably not showering for a few weeks. (The last time was in the previous entry when she and Claire battled the Axeman in a stylish prison shower scene.) In Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, director Paul W.S. Anderson returns once more to the series (the only notable worthwhile project of his career outside of Event Horizon and to a lesser degree, Soldier) to finally answer the mystery behind Alice's origins, her abilities and her role in the Umbrella Corp...Read the entire review

The Movie

The Monkey King 2 picks up 500 years after the events of the first installment where Sun Wukong (Aaron Kwok taking over for Donnie Yen and who previously played Bull Demon King in the last movie) remains imprisoned under Five Fingers Mountain. And immediately, for those familiar with part one or the Chinese mythology told in the classic novel Journey to the West on which this film series is based on, the sequel carries a darker, slightly more serious tone compared to its predecessor. Of course, there is a good deal of comic relief to be enjoyed, some of which comes from Wukong's mischievous mishaps as well as a trio of new characters. Nevertheless, soon after traveling monk Tang Sanzang (Feng Shaofeng) frees Monkey, he is coerced into joining the Buddhist monk on his spiritual pilgrimage by a golden ring attached on his head. Whereas the previous movie enjoyed a...Read the entire review

The Movie

If not for Hollywood's continued persistence over the years of revamping, retooling and rebooting classic television properties for modern moviegoers, the idea of turning The Smurfs into a major studio production would have been preposterous. A fantastical notion so ridiculous it would've been met with sudden bursts of laughter and likely followed by some cordial mockery. But as it turns out, someone heard the idea, took it serious rather than a joke, pitched it to some studio heads, and here we are. A live-action, CG-animated motion picture of the little blue humanoids living in mushroom-shaped houses, spreading their infectious cheer and jubilee for life while singing their even more contagious signature jingle. "La la la-la-la-la, la la-la la la." Great! Now, that's going to be stuck in my head for the rest for of the month.

Thankfully, the adaptation from director R...Read the entire review

The Movie

Half hard-nosed sci-fi and half standard drama thriller, Passengers meanders at a tortoise's pace to its foreseeable destination much in the same way the starship Avalon creeps through the hostile vastness and solitary of space. Transporting 5,000 colonists and crew members to the promise of new beginnings on a planet aptly named Homestead II, the journey is a 120-year voyage that suitably describes Morten Tyldum's (The Imitation Game) adventure film, which is both good and bad. Details and pertinent plot points are slowly divulged when required as we cruise through the stars and allowed to take in the sights. And this deliberate leisureliness will engage some viewers while others are likely to glance at their watch, hoping for a sooner than expected departure time. Things only speedily progress when the exterior damage inflicted upon the ship in the opening sequ...Read the entire review