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The Beekeeper Movie Review
I finally saw the movie The Beekeeper in theaters.
It is the latest Jason Statham movie.
I was late getting into his movies (The Expendables was the first that really got me hooked.), but once I did, I became an instant fan.
I own most of his movies and like them all. Some more than others, but that’s with anything.
I think The Beekeeper is one of his best.
It is a very satisfying action movie.
He plays a retired “beekeeper”, which is a very off the grid agent that keeps things balanced.
In the movie, he literally is a beekeeper working on this woman’s farm, when he later finds her dead of a suicide.
As it turns out, she was conned out of all her money by a computer call in company.
Statham spends the movie going after this company, companies like it, and the people involved the best way he knows how.
Again, a very satisfying action movie.
I really enjoyed it.
I grew up on movies like this so I always have time for a great action movie.
Way to go Statham!!
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The Garden Movie Review
The Garden is about a young boy, who has bad dreams, cuts himself, and was just released from a mental hospital.
His dad, who has partial custody of him and is an alcoholic, comes to pick his son up to take him back to his mom’s house, only to get involved in a car accident, going over a hill. No he was not drunk driving.
A man (played by Lance Henriksen) gets them to safety and takes them back to his farm.
Spoiler alert: Everything that happens after this is very interesting. Lance turns out to be the Devil in disguise (Lance does a phenomenal job as always), and he is tempting the boy’s dad by giving him a job on the farm, giving him drinks, and wants him to pick from a tree, which by all intents and purposes, is a tree just like in The Bible in the Garden of Eden.
The boy figures this out and has to fight Lance and try to save his dad.
I really enjoyed this movie a lot.
Sean Young plays the boy’s teacher in it and is very good.
It’s an excellent modern day telling of the Garden of Eden story, basically, but with a Twilight Zone type feel and twist to it.
I love this movie and highly recommend it.
Five stars!!
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The History of Metal and Horror Documentary/Movie Review
I am a HUGE fan of Metal music.
I am also now a Horror movie fan.
So when I found out about this, I wanted to see it.
Unlike most documentaries, which it definitely is a documentary, it also has a little movie wrapped around and within it, which I found very interesting.
It starts off with a guy walking the streets and finding these old tapes and guitar and goes back to seemingly where he lives.
It turns out he is the last survivor on Earth.
He tries out these tapes, one of which is about the history of Heavy Metal and one is about Horror.
They don’t work unless he plays them together. So when he does, a man (played by Michael Berryman) comes on the screen and starts talking about Metal and Horror and throughout this, many music and Horror movie people (Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Scott Ian, Marky Ramone, Phil Anselmo, Kane Hodder, Corey Taylor, John Carpenter, Dave Mustaine, some of the band GWAR, Boris Karloff’s daughter Sara, Nick Castle, Tom Savini, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, and many more) talk about Metal and Horror.
Other than the movie parts, it’s essentially a documentary, but it’s well done, giving both subjects more or less equal time and the movie parts are pretty cool I think.
If you are a fan of either genre or both, then I highly recommend watching this.
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Trick or Treat (1986) Movie Review
This movie is about a high school kid named Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) that is bullied (sadly I can relate) but he’s also a hard rock/heavy metal music fan (I can happily relate).
His biggest musical hero is a fictional rock star named Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), who ends up dying in a hotel fire. However, he leaves behind one more recording that a DJ named Nuke (Gene Simmons of KISS) is going to play at midnight on Halloween.
Eddie just happens to be a friend of Nuke’s and so he gives Eddie a copy of this recording to listen to before the broadcast.
Well, spoiler alert: when the record is played backwards, Sammi Curr is actually speaking to Eddie telling him things like how to exact revenge on the people bullying him and how he is going to wreak havoc on the town.
Sammi ends up coming back alive with supernatural powers and causes trouble, to say the least.
One of my great friends let me borrow this movie many years ago because two of our mutual favorite singers/musicians, Gene Simmons of KISS and Ozzy Osbourne, were in it.
Judging by the DVD box, it looks like they are the leads in it.
Misleading because they are barely in it.
Still, I wanted to check it out.
It took me until recently to finally buy it because frankly, I just wasn’t wild about it when I initially watched it.
But since I’ve slowly become a horror movie fan, I wanted to give it another watch, and this time, I enjoyed it more.
It’s just a fun low budget horror movie, and being such a music fan, I love seeing all the cool posters the lead has in his room, and seeing Gene and Ozzy in a movie is always cool in my book.
And Ozzy is hilarious because he’s playing a Reverend on a TV screen saying that Heavy Metal is bad for the kids. Considering Ozzy is one of the creators of it with his band Black Sabbath and that he was attacked for subliminal messages (not true), I find this so ironic and hilarious.
And Gene is cool as the DJ Nuke.
Speaking of messages, this movie touches on what was going on in the 1980s when music like metal was considered bad for kids, which I disagree with wholeheartedly.
It’s music just like any other form. You either like it or you don’t. I happen to love it and always will.
Charles Martin Smith (Toad in the American Graffiti movies, one of The Untouchables in that movie, and many more projects) directed this movie and has a brief part in it during a high school dance scene.
OK in short, I enjoyed this movie, and if you are a hard rock/metal fan like I am, or just want to see a fun horror movie, then this is for you.
It’s nothing super special, but it’s fun.
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Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III Movie Review
I’ve never been a big fan of horror movies.
However, I’ve really liked the old 50s horror movies and the Halloween franchise for a long time, but not really any other movies.
But for some reason, I’ve warmed up to the idea of checking some more horror movies out in the last few years.
This includes the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, Friday the 13th movies, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies.
I’m still discovering these, and for the most part, I’ve enjoyed them.
I have yet to watch all of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, but I will.
I’ve only seen the first 3 (reviews of 1 and 2 are here) and here is my review of the 3rd movie.
I heard that this movie was not that great and that a lot of editing was done to this movie.
But after seeing the Unrated version (I did not watch the Theatrical version because it seemed to just be shorter.) I enjoyed it.
It was more serious in tone than the 2nd one and seemed to try to get back to more of how the first movie is.
None of these I’m sure will have the legacy or impact the first one has, but again, I enjoyed this.
If you’re a fan of 1 and/or 2, you should see this.
Again, I don’t know why I’m becoming a horror movie fan, but I am.
I look forward to discovering more.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Movie Review
Director Tobe Hooper, who made the first The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, returns with this long awaited sequel to the 1974 horror movie classic.
Spoiler alert: More killing from Leatherface and his family happen in this movie.
Dennis Hopper plays a Texas Ranger bent on seeking revenge on the Sawyer family, consisting of Leatherface, Chop-Top (played by Bill Mosely), Cook (played by James Siedow, who is the one returning cast member from the first movie), and Grandpa. A radio DJ is also involved in helping Hopper.
The first movie is much more a real scary thriller but with a documentary feel to it.
This movie is still wild, but it’s not meant to be taken seriously.
As grotesque as it gets at times, it’s just a fun horror movie, I think.
If you like the first movie, you should like this one. Maybe more so, who knows.
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“The Iron Claw” Movie Review
I saw a movie called “The Iron Claw” on premiere night, Thursday night of December 21.
This movie is based on a true story about the Von Erich family.
They are well known to wrestling fans as a very famous wrestling family.
The father, Fritz Von Erich (real name Jack Adkisson) was a wrestler for many years and eventually became a wrestling promoter.
Many of his sons, Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris Von Erich/Adkisson got into the wrestling business later on.
And for those that don’t know, many of the brothers suffer tragic passings. Some would say this family was cursed. Even the oldest son died very tragically as a very little boy.
This movie is definitely about all of this, but the movie mainly focuses on the family itself and their dynamic.
If you’re going into this expecting just wrestling or more of a documentary, you will not get that.
If you want to see documentaries about this, there are a few great ones you can see.
There is wrestling in this for sure, but again, it’s more about the family. And since it is a movie, there is only so much time. So some aspects of the story are rushed, changed, or left out.
But all considering, coming from someone who knows this story pretty well and am a fan (I was able to see Kerry wrestle in 1991 when I was 8.), I think the filmmakers did a very good job with this movie.
And even if you’re not a wrestling fan or know nothing about this story, you can still enjoy it as a movie and story.
The actors are perfectly cast. The locations are great. For example, the recreation of the arena they wrestled at a lot and was more or less their main office looks pretty good, especially on the outside.
Some real footage is used in the background occasionally, which is a nice touch. Kevin (the only Von Erich still alive) and his sons and some of the other kids in the family were involved in the behind the scenes of this, which is great.
Everyone will have their opinion and some I’m sure will complain about some people not being portrayed (Chris Von Erich is ignored completely, which I think is weird.) or portrayed right in it.
But as a fan, I think it was a well done movie.
Warning: It is a sad story, especially later on. So be prepared to cry or feel bad at times. It’s quite the emotional rollercoaster. But sadly, that’s the reality of this story.
But I recommend seeing this because it is a story that not everyone knows about. I’m amazed it took this long for a movie to be made about this because it has movie written all over it.
Check it out and see for yourself.
Feel free to comment on this post. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks about the movie or what they think about the real life story in general.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movie Review
As I’ve said in previous blogs, I was not a horror movie fan growing up.
It was not until 2022 that I finally watched all of the Freddy Krueger and Jason movies.
As of November 26 of 2023, I can say that I finally saw The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.
I watched the 40th anniversary (the movie is now 50 years old as of this writing) DVD with 4 commentary tracks.
Director/Producer/Co-Writer Tobe Hooper made this movie in 1973.
It eventually spawned several sequels and remakes, but this is the original.
I can definitely say it is a scary movie, but not a very bloody/gory movie like I thought it would be.
It’s way more of a psychological horror movie.
It’s about a group of people on a road trip that goes very wrong, in which (spoiler alert) most of them are killed by a cannibal named Leatherface, who uses a chainsaw to cut up their bodies and he and his two brothers eat them and their other victims.
Most of this is not shown, again this is not a blood and guts movie by any means, but if you watch it, you get the point.
Very effective story, and it still holds up.
It’s always been heralded as one of the scariest movies (it was not shown in UK theaters for 28 years because it was deemed unacceptable viewing to the general public) , and even though it’s not very bloody, I’ll agree it’s definitely scary.
And even though it was a very low budget movie, it was well done, and again, still holds up 50 years later.
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My Ranking of the Friday the 13th Movie Franchise
Here is my ranking of the Friday the 13th Movie Franchise:
- Friday the 13th-The first one. The template, although the main antagonist, Jason Voorhees, is not the killer in this one. Spoiler alert: his Mom is. Either way, awesome start to what has been I think an overall very good movie franchise.
- Friday the 13th Part 2-Great follow-up to the original. I like it almost as much.
- Friday the 13th The Final Chapter-The 4th and what was originally supposed to be the final Friday movie. It turned out not to be, but nevertheless, I really like this one.
- Freddy vs. Jason-This is really more of it’s own thing, but since Jason is a big part of it, this has to be here. I love this movie. A lot of fun. Having Jason and Freddy Krueger battle each other is so great. Pure popcorn movie.
- Jason X-Jason movie #10. Many may think this is a silly one (Jason killing people in space.) but I think it’s fun and it’s really more of a science fiction movie because as I said, it’s in space. But I really like it. No apologies. And I told Kane Hodder (Jason in Parts 7-10) that when I met him in 2022.
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives-The 6th one. I think this one is over the top but a fun horror movie.
- Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood-Kane Hodder’s (perhaps the most famous Jason because he played him 4 times and has always been a flag waver for this character and the franchise) debut as Jason. Very good story. Great action and kills. I like this one.
- Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning-Apparently this is not a popular one, although I think it’s now a cult favorite. Jason is not really in this one (Spoiler: Someone else is imitating him.). However, it works for me. I really enjoyed it.
- Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D-The 3rd movie and yes it was shot in 3-D and shown in theaters in 3-D. This was actually the first one where Jason wears the now famous hockey mask. Great kills in this one.
- Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan-This should really be called Jason Takes a Ship because Manhattan is not featured until way later in the movie. However, it’s still fun, I think.
- Friday the 13th (2009)-This is considered a remake but I think overall, it’s just another Jason movie. I really like this one. Definitely some differences in the character and his backstory, but still, it’s a Jason movie. I think it was well done.
- Jason Goes To Hell-This is my least favorite by far. The story is an interesting idea, but overall, it doesn’t work for me.
OK there is my ranking of the Friday the 13th/Jason movies. As of this writing, there is supposed to be a prequel series coming, so if that happens, I look forward to seeing that.
How would you rank these? Thoughts?
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My Ranking of the A Nightmare on Elm Street Movie Franchise
I was super late to the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies.
I was aware of them since I was a little kid and knew who Freddy Krueger and Robert Englund was, but I was not a horror fan growing up.
But in more recent times, I have become a fan and I started watching these movies in 2022.
Yeah I’m a late bloomer on these movies.
But I love them now.
This franchise is very good. It’s hard to rank these because I enjoy all of them (even the remake of the original).
However, I’m going to rank them on this post.
Here it goes:
- A Nightmare on Elm Street-The original. The best. The template. I loved it on first watch. All the characters and actors are great. Great story. It has everything it needs to be great. When I first saw this, I thought wow this is going to be hard to top. Again, I like all of these, but this is number one period.
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge-A lot of people seem to hate this movie but I love it. Again like the first one, I love all the actors and characters. Great story. I don’t see what’s wrong with it.
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-I like 3 but this one for me is better, in my opinion. I know I’m repeating myself, but I love the cast and characters. Everyone was cast well and the story is great. I love all of Freddy’s kills in all of these movies. I know he’s an evil character, but you forget that because he’s always cracking jokes and has a super over the top way of killing someone. These movies I always thought were scary, but I think they’re a lot of fun to watch now.
- Wes Craven’s A New Nightmare-This is the 7th Nightmare on Elm Street movie and I think one of the best. Creator Wes Craven returns to write and direct this one and it is so well done. It’s really more like a Twilight Zone or Tales From The Crypt type of episode, but it’s a Freddy Krueger movie. Excellent story.
- Freddy vs. Jason-This is really more of a separate movie, but since Freddy is a big part of it, it still deserves to be on this list. This is a ton of fun. It’s a pure popcorn movie. I love it.
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child-Very good sequel to the 4th movie. Again, apparently this is not one of the popular ones, but I enjoy it.
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors-One of the big fan favorites, and I like it for sure, but I just like the ones listed above more.
- Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare-This is the next to last one ranked but it’s not because I hate it. I really like it actually. But again, I just like the others more.
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)-The remake of the original. I avoided this one for quite awhile because Robert Englund does not play Freddy in it, but once I gave it a chance, I thought it was pretty good, and a little bit different than the original, which I appreciate. I hate remakes, but if they’re done a bit differently, I can respect them. So I actually do like this one. Everyone did a good job with it.
Well that’s my ranking of this great movie franchise. I truly do like them all very much, so even the ones ranked lowest I don’t hate by any means. This is a great franchise and I’m so glad I finally gave these movies a chance.
How would you rank these? Thoughts?
