Pawn

Starring:Evigan, Lo Bianco
Studio: York Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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Shooting Gallery
Boring
Breaks like a Mini-Jesus
"If I'm Lyin...I'm Dyin."
3.5 stars

Shooting Gallery
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr. , Ving Rhames , Roselyn Sanchez , Daniel Newman (II) , and Callum Keith Rennie
Director: Keoni Waxman
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
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Stickmen
Poolhall Junkies
The Baron and the Kid
The Color of Money
The Hustler (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B000BI5LFK
Release Date: 2005-12-26

Description

Jericho Hudson is a street smart kid with a gift for shooting pool. He finds himself in the middle of a dangerous hustle when he's played as a pawn in a contest of wits and Nine Ball between two legendary pool hustlers, Cue Ball Carl Bridges and Tenderloin Tony, and a Vice cop, Timothy Mortensen.

Customer Reviews:

Shooting Gallery.......2007-01-20

I thought the movie had poor acting and a terrible plot. What should I have expected with Freddie Prinze Jr. though. I wouldn't recomend this video if you are a pool junkie like I am. I'm still waiting for the next great movie to take over where the "Color of Money" left off. I think it's about time for one.

Boring.......2006-10-15

To make a long movie short, this movie sucks. Don't waste your time. Most pool movies suck. If you want to see a good pool movie watch stickmen. Its a independent film from New Zealand but it is really good.

Breaks like a Mini-Jesus.......2006-10-06

A lot of people give this movie crap and say it gives "pool a bad name". Movies such as the "Hustler", "Color of Money", and "Poolhall Junkies" though good in their own respects have long since given pool and pool players a bad rep as macho, greedy, pigheads who play a great game but are stupid when it comes to other aspects of life. SG has made it no better or worse than the other films have.

Saying that, this is a revenge story set in a poolhall. I'm sure poker players everywhere would be spewing the same mindless battle cry "It gives us a bad name" if this movie took place over a poker table. People fail to see that and are too concerned whether or not this film gives who a bad name.

Cinematography is excellent. Acting is decent. Some nice pool action. Not the greatest pool film ever but certainly not as bad as people would like you to believe.

"If I'm Lyin...I'm Dyin.".......2006-10-02

After watching this I came to the conclusion that I was watching a rip-off "Poolhall Junkies" and a poorly executed one too. Freddi Prinze Jr. as your main character comes off and nothing more then a pretty face who thinks he can shoot some pool. In the final stages of the film, I wanted to cut my ears off because I couldn't stand his "broken nose" accent.

Ving Rhames was waaay below par in this film; all he does is walk around and chew on alligator feet which was quite nasty to me. He actually does nothing in the film, until the climax when he shoots some pool and a gun. Roselyn Sanchez played her role quite well, albeit her history in the story does not need to be actually in there, and finally Callum Keith Rennie does a good performance, but his character was written in what seems to be a hurried way. The whole crew was (if you can imagine the analogy) put into a blender, served up with whipped cream and a cherry on top, when you are expecting something bitter. It didn't blend at all well, the acting between the people.

The visuals within the film are great. The director did a great job for showing such a different forray of shots; the sleazy underworld, the wonderful city shots and the added bonus of Pool-Hall terms being printed and written across angled camera-shots - I liked. Freddie actually shoots some pool here, nice to see that, but it's obvious that the trick shots are done by someone else. I liked the whole switching of the shooting sides that Freddie does near the end though; I thought that was a nice addition.

This film, in it's own right, is a film that went straight-to-DVD/video and quite rightly so. No way would it have performed in the cinemas with the rest of the blockbusters of 2005. I can say that `Shooting Gallery' is one of those films that people rent when they have run out of films to watch.

3.5 stars .......2006-09-28

This movie had potential although in some ways it is a rip off of "The Hustler" with Paul Newman and thats one of the reasons this movie suffered because Freddie Prince JR sure is not Paul Newman If you have seen The Hustler than maybe you can give this movie a shot ,, I dont know what the other reviewer was talking about with the slang it is understandable I didnt really notice any slang in the movie .. The bright spots of the movie are Ving Rhames, your always going to get a good performance from , he played his part well and Roselyn Sanchez, I have not seen her in any movie previous to this one , Not only is she beatiful but she can actually act this is usually uncommon with beatiful actresses. Really those where the only two reasons I bought this movie cause I am a Ving Rhames fan and I wanted to see Roselyn Sanchez. Overall for about 3 bucks I would say it is possibly worth owning but for the price of renting it you might as well just buy it

Average customer rating:

A Masterpiece from the master
THE GREATEST CHARACTOR ACTOR
This is American Silent Cinema!
at his fascinating best
Eerily brilliant

The Penalty
Starring: Charles Clary , Doris Pawn , Jim Mason , Lon Chaney , and Milton Ross
Director: Wallace Worsley
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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TCM Archives - The Lon Chaney Collection (The Ace of Hearts / Laugh, Clown, Laugh / The Unknown)
Outside the Law/Shadows
Victory / The Wicked Darling : A Lon Chaney Double Feature
The Shock
Oliver Twist (1922)

ASIN: B00005O5CE
Release Date: 2001-10-09

Amazon.com

Lon Chaney, the Man of a Thousand Faces, was no mere makeup wizard, as this dark, deviant crime drama shows. Strapping his legs into a painful leather harness to play a double-amputee underworld kingpin, Chaney scrambles through the film like a human spider weaving his criminal web across San Francisco with equal parts seduction and terror. Crippled as child by an incompetent doctor, he dedicates his life to vengeance in a double-barreled plot that will bring both the city and the doctor (now an honored physician) to their knees. Director Wallace Worsley (who later collaborated with Chaney on his legendary Hunchback of Notre Dame) peppers the busy plot with bizarre touches of sexual menace and sadism, and he creates a wicked atmosphere of corruption and murder that implicates every character. Even the absurd twist of a happy ending can't wipe that away. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

A Masterpiece from the master.......2007-03-04

Aside from the legendary comedians of the time, Lon Chaney was the KING of silent cinema and one of the few artists of this genre whose work holds up well today.

Here, our man plays Blizzard, a man who is mistakenly crippled in a bothced operation as a child by a crooked doctor who covers up his mistake. He grows up into a mad super-criminal bent on wreaking vengeance on the world whith his misfit followers. While there is not a light minute in the film, it doesn't overwhelm you. You are drawin in to the shocking power and brilliant storytelling of this psychological thriller.

Hardocre Chaney fans will relish the sequence from the long-lost THE MIRACLE MAN, where our man plays a fake cripple who pretends to be healed by a faith healer (Jimmy Cagney played an approximation of this scene in MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES). See it and enjoy.

THE GREATEST CHARACTOR ACTOR.......2007-01-30

It is always an experience to watch Lon Snr`s work as he is, in my opinion, the greatest charactor actor of all time. As the renowned Chaney historian, Michael F Blake, reiterates many times; Chaney was never a horror actor. Neither the Hunchback (incidentally eagerly awaited in a new DVD presentation-hint hint KINO)nor Phantom are horror films.

The penalty is witness to the input, perfection and endurance that Chaney would bring to a role never giving into anything less than startling realism which seems even more fantastic by today`s standards. His perfomances still make the viewer`s head nod in almost disbelief.

No one equaled Chaney in terms of his acting standards when he was alive and there has certainly never been anyone since.

The Penalty is a fast paced superb film which must be seen and not described.

The DVD is excellent value and as we have come to expect from KINO only the best surviving 35mm elements have been used. There are great extra features one of which is the examination of Lon`s make up case by Michael F Blake. I also found the soundtrack initially annoying but it does grow on you after a while.

If you have access to a DVD projector take the opportunity to project this on a huge screen it really brings the film to life again.

Overall this is a highly recommended motion picture with a fantastic presentation by KINO

This is American Silent Cinema!.......2007-01-04

One is tempted to limit one's remarks to "Wow!. I am a fan of Lon Chaney the Elder (the Younger wasn't bad either). He was a master of mime, of storytelling without words. He had one of the most expressive pairs of hands in history. He was, by the standards of the 21st century, a stylized, broad, melodramatic actor, but in the special, very rich, context of his time, he was one of the greatest. In "The Penalty" he pushes the envelope once again as a demonic master criminal who is so evil he is hired to pose for a sculptress as she models a portrait bust of Satan! The plot of "The Penalty" is downright operatic, full of wild action and heightened emotion. The denouement is questionable enough,I feel, to have raised some eyebrows even when the film was new, but the rest of the experience more than compensates for that fact. This DVD release is especially distinguished by its newly-composed musical score, one of the finest, and most unusual, I have ever heard for a silent film re-issue. Lon Chaney's films are a good way to discover what the separate art form of silent film could do!

at his fascinating best.......2006-08-12

Watching this film before reading up on it (which, as another [...] viewer has noted, is the most satisfying way to encounter a Lon Chaney picture), I assumed this film was made circa 1927 and was a little surprised by the vintage costumes. For 1920, THE PENALTY is a superior achievement.

The plot is far superior to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and not only moves swiftly but also is filled with surprises right to the end. And the ending indeed rings more true than that of its popular novel source material.

One explanation for the success of villainous Blizzard in San Francisco's crime district is that the "best undercover agent in the police department" is so inept. And the hats subplot is rendered ludicrous by the fact that anyone could acquire a hat that had fallen off a crook. Still, bumbling "homeland security" and the terrorism of a city bring unexpected currency to this story's more far-fetched elements.

Lon Chaney's Blizzard is a remarkable creation. He visually exudes evil and menace, yet (an apparent thread through many of Lon Chaney's films) transcends society's contempt by revealing a sympathetic soul underneath. His acting is credibly natural, despite his legs being strapped back at the knees, and it is his sheer physical grace (akin to Keaton's, Fairbank's, and Gilbert's) that contributes to his power and charm as a presence on the silent screen.

Eerily brilliant.......2005-03-06

This film and this DVD reissue have already received vy competent reviews from prior critics, so I cannot add much. This is one of the best restorations I've seen, superbly mastered and artisically tinted. The music is extraordinary, very well coordinated with the action. I liked it a lot. It reminded me of "Tubular Bells" in Friedkin's "The Exorcist." Chaney is simply astounding in this film. He is known as the Man of a Thousand Faces and most people meet him in his heavily made-up roles as the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera. Here he is himself, just his own face, his own acting skill against the camera lense, and he is astounding. This is one of the great, great silent films and I was reminded of Gloria Swanson's immortal line in "Sunset Boulevard." "Back then we didn't need sound. We had FACES." Chaney's gymnastics as a legless cripple are tremendous -- he climbs stairs on crutches and twice lifts himself by sheer arm-strength up a series of pegs driven in a wall, like a giant spider -- but in some way they are the least part of the film. It's his face, his acting, his sheer power that carries the film along. It's all expressions, all shoulders and arms and hands. It's an astounding performance. The only drawback is that he just blows everybody else away, every other actor in the film seems made out of cardboard, compared to Chaney. I agree with a prior reviewer: "WHAT ABOUT THE HATS?" That part of the film doesn't make much sense, though it does afford Chaney one of the most terrific and scary moments in his career, when he threatens a hatmaker, wobbling and towering above her like a huge monster on a table. The ending is silly, but one is left with the disturbing and unforgettable sense of having seen something truly demonic briefly released on film. An astounding and powerful film, a real tour-de-force, handsomely restored and presented with many fascinating extras. Even the subtitles are curiously horrific.

A minor note: Rex Beach, who seems to have collaborated on the screenplay, went on to promote Coral Gables as a real estate development south of Miami, along with William Jennings Bryan. Everybody ends up in Florida, sooner or later!

Average customer rating:

Fun and Revealing
The first dogme comedy

Camera
Starring: Carol Alt , Anderson Bourell , Erika Brannan , Rebecca Broussard , and Big Daddy Carlos
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
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Heart of Stone
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BitterSweet
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ASIN: B00016XNV6
Release Date: 2004-03-30

Description

A unique and hilarious story about the Dogma-styled adventures of a video camera in Los Angeles as it enters the lives of wannabe filmmakers, tourists on holiday and even celebrity stalkers, capturing unique LaLa land sensibilities. The camera gets stolen, pawned, lost and eventuall finds its way to Richard Martini… who just wants to make a movie.

Customer Reviews:

Fun and Revealing.......2005-02-18

"Camera" was not that good, but very revealing in unintended ways..everyone in it were friends of the director (or people he met in pawn shops) His friends are all from the demi-world of models and actors hanging around Hollywood and film festivals, but not really making it. Running the film with the sound off but commentary on after seeing it in the normal way, shows you these people with their hopes and energies shining though. The lesson is clear, if you are young, beautiful and sexy, and female, you get invited to the party in the nice apartment, but you are still really on the outside as far as the world is concerned. It is a world where accomplishment is hard to come by and if you hit it even once you can party on it for decades as you slide down further and further.

The hairdresser , without film ambitions (How much do you love me?), the Sky-Diving model (whose film clips are the best part) and the pawn broker clerks, (also without film ambitions) are the people who are the best performers in this film by far...it is a real lesson.

The first dogme comedy.......2004-04-21

I've seen all of the dogme films released in the States, and this is the first comedy I've seen. It's like "The Yellow Rolls Royce" or "Red Violin" - story of a video camera that gets stolen from a store and goes on an adventure around the world. Sometimes I couldn't tell if the film was kidding or not, especially the hilarious scene with the camera stalking Carol Alt, or the guy who looks like he's going to jump off a building. I couldn't tell if it was real or not, but it made me laugh anyway. Some really funny bits in here, I'm giving it five stars for effort.

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Jurado, Armendariz, Bunuel....A Cinematic Treasure
Excellent but little known Bunuel's retelling of the Frankenstein's story
FIND OUT JUST WHAT GARY COOPER ONCE SAW IN KATY JURADO IN HIGH NOON
Another Luis Buñuel classic on DVD!

El Bruto
Starring: Luis Buñuel , Pedro Armendariz , and Katy Jurado
Manufacturer: Cozumel
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Viridiana - Criterion Collection
Luis Bunuel's Robinson Crusoe
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Beyond All Limits
La Escondida

ASIN: B0000CABBA
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Description

The Brute is a slaughterhouse worker who more than makes up in muscle what he lacks in brain power. He's hired by a landlord to intimidate his unwanted tenants, but ends up seducing the daughter of one of them, much to the annoyance of the landlord's wife, with whom he's also having an affair... In Spanish No Subtitles. El Bruto trabaja en el matadero, y lo que le falta de cerebro le sobra de fuerza. Un propietario lo contrata para echar fuera a inquilinos indeseados, pero el Bruto seduce a la hija de uno de ellos, cosa que molesta a la esposa del propietario, con quien el Bruto también tiene relaciones… In Spanish No Subtitles.

Customer Reviews:

Jurado, Armendariz, Bunuel....A Cinematic Treasure.......2007-04-25

This review refers to "El Bruto"(The Brute) DVD from Cozumel Classic Films(Ventura Distribution)

Wow...What an intense and enthralling film. Pedro Armendariz, Katy Jurado and Andres Soler are exquisite. Directed most artfully by the great Luis Bunuel, these immense talents combine to completely absorb you in this dark drama.

From 1952, it's a film that has aged well. An unfeeling landlord is going to evict the poor residents of his property in order to sell the land at a huge profit. He's got the law and the courts on his side, but the process is easier said then done. He comes up against some tough opposition when the tenants refuse to move and stand up to him under the leadership of four of the most outspoken and brave men of the group. Frustrated by the tenant's stand and loyalty to each other, his beautiful wife who has a very dark side, advises him to get rid of the four instigators. Not being a young man, he turns to El Bruto. A guy who although not the smartest of the bunch, has a physical presence that is quite intimidating. And what's more he has been loyal to the landlord, his mentor since childhood. El Bruto takes matters into his own hands and the results is tragic. Complications get even deeper when El Bruto falls deeply in love with one of the tenants daughters, but has already given in to the seductive powers the landlord's wife. She is a woman scorned and is out for blood.

I would liken it to "On the Waterfront", in the way that pits the powerful against the weak, the relationship of El Brute and the girl,the character study(that may have you wondering, just exactly who is "The Brute" in this film), and as the film builds on the emotions of all concerned and gets more intense as the story unfolds.

This black and white film is in Spanish with English subtitles(no option to turn off). The DVD transfer is clean and clear. You will barely notice it's age. The only extra is a filmography of Pedro Armendariz.

A fine film and a definite keeper. Katy Jurado, always a joy to watch, turns in a fiery must see perfomance for fans. Armendariz presents an huge and powerful portrayal. Together,under the superb filming of Luis Bunuel they are electrifying, making this a cinematic treasure.

The film has language and adult themes.

Gracias......Laurie

Excellent but little known Bunuel's retelling of the Frankenstein's story.......2007-01-31

Had Luis Bunuel ever made a bad movie? I've seen fourteen his films and every one of them is great, simply fantastic, starting with the most famous short film, 17 minutes long "Un chien andalou" (1929) and ending with his swan song, "That obscure object of desire" (1977). Bunuel made films in France, his native Spain, and in Mexico where he had to immigrate after Franco came to power in Spain. Each of his films is uniquely brilliant but all of them have in common his magic touch no matter what period of his life they belong.

"El Bruto" is no exception and it is a strong combination of a surreal melodrama and political film which could also be viewed as a modern retelling of the Frankenstein's story. Pedro "El Bruto" is a young tough slaughterhouse laborer who is exploited by a tyrannical landowner who may be his father and to whom he is very loyal. He is eager to help Don Andres to evict the poor tenants form their houses that belong to Don Andres. Pedro is a simple man who was not used to think a lot and analyze the motivations of the others but he will learn and his eyes will open. Pedro will become a not so obscure object of desire of two women, passionate and strong-willed Paloma, the young wife of Don Andres and the kind and gentle Meche, whose father Pedro accidentally kills while doing the job for Don Andres. As is supposed to be in the melodrama, one of the women is scorned and hell hath no fury as she does and the inevitable ending is coming. The very last shot of the movie with its enigmatic irony is pure Bunuel - only he would finish the film the way he did.

9/10

FIND OUT JUST WHAT GARY COOPER ONCE SAW IN KATY JURADO IN HIGH NOON.......2006-09-06

see this film to understand the burning love between Gary Cooper and Katy Jurado in High Noon: this is how he remembers her and why he still loves her.

In a word she is BAD in this movie, to die for. She's married to a landlord who wants to kick everyone out into the street, and gets a slaughterhouse worker to do his dirty work. Katy shows her elderly landlord how, by cutting chrysthanemums, and then falls for the muscle while keeping back. THe girl is bad, and beautiful.

ANd the social message as always with Bunuel is excellent and right on target

should a landlord have the right to decide suddenly to throw entire families of poor people in the street in order to sell the building?

The US Supreme Court's eminent domain decision says yes!
Bunuel asks really? and how? violently?

Another Luis Buñuel classic on DVD!.......2004-04-17

WAKE UP, AMAZON! You've got another Luis Buñuel title to offer your customers!
(NOTE for the fans: Rialto is releasing into theatres 'The Phantom Of Liberty' & 'The Milky Way'. So Criterion will most likely be releasing these two by next year at the latest.)
Contrary to the information found on most websites, this DVD release DOES have English subtitles. As far as accuracy in the translation - it's passable. Being a Spanish-speaking person I took some notice of the differences. But how often is the spoken word in foreign film treated with the proper justice through the subtitles?
'El Bruto' is a must-see for those who appreciated Los Olvidados and the like. Speaking of which, 'Los Olvidados' with 'Las Hurdes (Land Without Bread)', as well as 'El (This Strange Passion)' with 'The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz' HAVE ALSO been released! And these are NTSC Region 0 DVD's. For more information, check with DVD Beaver's reviews on the aformentioned titles.

Average customer rating:

Red Vengeance

Pawn
Starring: Evigan , and Lo Bianco
Manufacturer: York Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006676G
Release Date: 2002-06-18

Customer Reviews:

Red Vengeance.......2005-11-11

Strangely enough this movie came and went without much comment but I happened to stumble onto the DVD when I was in a Russian neighborhood nearby taking a bite at a tea lounge.

THE PAWN is well worth your time. It tells the outdated story of Cold War friction between Russian gangsters and the American cop they get on the wrong side of. Poor Greg Evigan plays the unlucky cop who starts out the movie in New York, accidentally pulling a gun on a young teen who winds up dead and Greg gets blamed.

The media makes sure he gets the stiff penanlty of having to leave Manhattan and hightail it home, one of those cute upstate towns like the one in which Humbert Humbert met Lolita (in fact it looks like the same one!) There, in the small town where he grew up in, young Gregh hopes to find peace of mind and forgiveness for accidentally killing the punk.

Except that . . . everything has changed. And not for the better either! As if his psychic wounds weren't burden enough for two people, Greg finds that the whole town has been infested, like roaches with true evil, Russian people. The Russian mafia has infiltrated Smallville and even Megan, the lovely young girl for whom Greg cherishes fond hopes, is in danger of, well, not becoming one of them, but turning into a victim of a white slave ring. I couldn't really follow the plot at this point, but it seems that a lot of the Russian mafia income depends on a sophisticated scheme by which innocent American teens are drugged, kidnapped, and shanghaied to Russia where they are forced to work as Vinyl Skirted prostitutes in Red Square. Megan is played by the talented young star Sydney Penny, the girl who played in THE THORN BIRDS as the young Meggie before she grew up to be Rachel Ward.

Here, she is all grown up and THE PAWN in a game of Red betrayal and counter-vigilante vengeance. Talented Clay Borris did the honors for direction. He is best known for PROM NIGHT IV: DELIVER US FROM EVIL. Canadian I assume.

Average customer rating:

Oh the humanity!
Creep
WOW!

Creep
Starring: Kathy Willets , Joel D. Wynkoop , Tom Karr , Patricia Paul , and Dika Newlin
Director: Tim Ritter
Manufacturer: Sub Rosa Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00015HVW4
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Customer Reviews:

Oh the humanity!.......2004-08-24

Director Tim Ritter's shot on video magnum opus, "Creep," carries the dreaded Sub Rosa Studios designation. Anyone remotely familiar with Sub Rosa knows that this company distributes the most appalling Grade Z schlock ever conceived by the human mind. What can you say about a film distribution company that unleashes films like "Peter Rottentail," "Feeders," and "Shatter Dead" on an unsuspecting world? Precious little that's good, unfortunately. Sub Rosa makes Troma look like the Criterion Collection. What particularly sticks in my craw about this firm is how they hype this shot on video junk, how they seem to equate every release with the latest Sundance Film Festival winner. Believe me when I say that a film like "Creep" will never win any substantive awards. I should admit I liked a couple of Sub Rosa films, specifically "Meat Market" and "Ice From the Sun," but I liked them more for what they could have been than what they actually were. "Ice From the Sun" was probably the best of the batch, a film with an inventive idea and occasionally interesting special effects. "Creep," on the other hand, fails on so many levels that writing a review of the picture feels like an exercise in pointlessness.

Ritter's film centers on the character of Angus Lynch (Joel Wynkoop), a lumpy, sweaty serial killer type recently escaped from prison. We see the big break at the beginning of the film, a sloppily shot and sloppily edited car crash and foot chase resulting in the demise of a few corrections officers. Lynch follows up his leap to freedom with a cheesy double homicide involving a girl and her boyfriend parked out in the Florida backwoods. The story shifts at this point to introduce us to Officer Jackie Ketchum (Patricia Paul), a severe looking cop with a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and ten deep. For example, when she catches some nut putting something in bottles of baby food at the local gas station, she beats the man senseless and then forces him to eat his own poisonous treats. Jackie's behavior lands her in hot water with her cop father, Captain David Ketchum (Tom Karr), who promptly suspends his daughter until the inevitable investigation wraps up. Jackie's problems stem from childhood when she witnessed the heinous murder of her mother. You'll quickly learn that every character in "Creep" is damaged in some significant way.

Angus Lynch's crime spree continues after he reunites with his buxom sister Kascha (Kathy Willets), an exotic dancer married to an obnoxious slob of a husband. It turns out both Kascha and Angus underwent severe emotional and physical abuse as children, so the reunion is a lot like putting a match to gasoline. The two siblings immediately engage in the most despicable of behaviors: there are weird dancing games, bloody carnage, and a jaunt out in the country as brother and sister pay a lascivious visit to Mom in the cemetery. Lynch henceforth strikes out alone, robbing a pawnshop, using a blowtorch in an inventive way, and generally making a nuisance of himself. All the while, Jackie Ketchum comes closer and closer to the answers behind her mother's gory demise. I will say this much about "Creep": the film does involve a few plot twists and turns that one usually does not see in super low budget shot on video productions. Either my mind is turning into mush from watching too many claptrap movies (a distinct possibility), or video camera toting filmmakers actually are improving their efforts. A few twists does not make "Creep" an engaging or good film, however.

I don't necessarily blame Tim Ritter as much as I should for the failures of "Creep." He seems like an articulate, enthusiastic young man in love with actualizing his visions. I just wish he would do one simple thing: SHOOT YOUR NEXT FILM ON CELLULOID! Please, I'm begging all experienced shot on video filmmakers to start using actual film on their next production. I know using film stock costs more, will require you to save up a bit more money, but this small step will clear up a host of technical problems. The picture will look cleaner, you won't have all that background video camera noise plugging up the audio, and audiences will take you more seriously than they do now. Of course, film stock would have never improved the acting in this film, not in a million years. About the only believable character in "Creep" is Jackie Ketchum--played competently, not expertly, by Patricia Paul. Everyone else couldn't act his or her way through a kindergarten play. Kathy Willets, whose infamous scandal in Florida put her name in the headlines over a decade ago, injects just enough energy into the Kascha character to convince an audience that she might, MIGHT, be an actual human being. Joel Wynkoop generates more laughs than scares as the unbalanced Angus Lynch. And Tom Karr's Captain David Ketchum achieves an incredible sense of blandness, to the point that he's in danger of blending into the wallpaper on more than one occasion.

The "Creep" DVD comes with a bunch of extras. You get three separate commentary tracks. You get a lengthy documentary covering the production of the film, Willet's notoriety, and Tim Ritter's career. The soundtrack to the film comes from some group named Alucarda (a reference to the cult film of the same name, perhaps?). An amazingly banal film considering the subject matter, "Creep" has somehow managed to lodge itself deep into my head. I can see the movie unfolding in my mind as though I watched it mere minutes ago, a deeply disturbing revelation indeed and probably due to Kathy Willet's surgically enhanced attributes more than anything else. Novices to low budget filmmaking might want to take a step back before watching "Creep." You're probably not ready for it yet.

Creep.......2004-02-26

This movie is terrible! I couldn't watching the hole thing and had to shut it off. First, the filming and angles were atrocious. It was like taking my old VHS camera and just start filming. Second, the acting was so bad it made Sofia Coppola look like an Oscar winner. Last, there was no plot. The script must have been written on the spot. If you want a good Sub Rosa film, go buy Undertow or Backwoods!
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WOW!.......2004-02-17

I saw this film in 1995 and it was Great! I can't wait for the DVD with all the extras! The Director Tim Ritter is KING! This movie is a classic.

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The Pawn [Region 2]
Starring: Greg Evigan , Sydney Penny , Tony Lo Bianco , Rob Stewart , and Tony Curtis Blondell
Director: Clay Borris
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000056QBX

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Deadly Ransom/The Pawn Double Feature

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVD:

DVD

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