Vlad

Starring:Billy Zane
Studio: Terra
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Haunting Indeed
haunting indeed
Great Suspense
Disappointing horror film which fails to generate any suspense or horror and is occasionally downright laughable
This thing sucked so bad !!!

An American Haunting (Unrated Edition)
Starring: Susan Almgren , Gaye Brown , Vernon Dobtcheff , Philip Hurdwood , and Matthew Marsh
Director: Courtney Solomon
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000HC2LFI
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Amazon.com

With its brisk 83-minute running time, An American Haunting is compact enough to be recommended as an occasionally spooky sampling of historical horror. Based on Brent Monahan's novel The Bell Witch: An American Haunting, which in turn was inspired by the only known case (from 1818-20) in which the U.S. government officially acknowledged a death by supernatural forces, writer-director Courtney Solomon's film is a well-crafted 19th-century case study involving Tennessee land-owner John Bell (Donald Sutherland), his worried wife Lucy (Sissy Spacek), and the terrifying abuse of their daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) by a malicious poltergeist. Intensified by excessive sound effects and a nerve-jangling score, these nightly hauntings won't scare anyone who's seen The Exorcist, and they grow increasingly repetitious even as Spacek and Sutherland make the most of their underwritten roles. Solomon (who previously brought Dungeons and Dragons to the big screen) seems more interested in visceral terror than fleshing out the details of this interesting story of dark secrets and child abuse, and his over-used bag of tricks includes time-lapse footage, flashes of negative images, black-and-white (to signal an imminent haunting), and a variety of physical effects designed to keep your adrenaline flowing. It works, to a point (although the present-day framing scenes are completely unnecessary), and An American Haunting makes a good double-feature with The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a far better film with similar subject matter. This good-looking, bleakly moody fright-fest is also noteworthy as the next-to-last screen credit for Adrian Biddle, the esteemed cinematographer of such high-profile hits as Aliens, Thelma & Louise, The Mummy, and V for Vendetta, the latter completed just prior to Biddle's fatal heart attack in December 2005.--Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Haunting Indeed.......2007-06-29

Recommended. Good acting, good story and quite chilling in parts. Best "spooky" movie I've seen in a while.

haunting indeed.......2007-06-26

As the movie is based on true events that led to the only death with cause registered as supernatural events, I was indeed interested. When I found veteran actors Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek were in it, I was even more interested. The tale is well told overall with some decent effects and some that were a bit subpar, but with the exception of the overdone breakneck horse and carriage chase scene, the secondary characteristics of movie effects were well in balance. The writing is decent enough as well, but for some reason many of the actors seemed to be robotic in the delivery of their lines. One serious plus for the movie was an outstanding music score that goes farther beyond setting the tone for the movie than the eerie talking spirits heard constantly throughout key scenes. Since we have seen the premise of this film worked over and over in many other movies, it is difficult to conceive of a delivery much different than we see here and the producers and director were obviously banking on the fact that their movie wasn't the work of fiction, rather, fact. Faults aside, An American Haunting is a decent enough horror movie that will keep you interested until the creepy end.

Great Suspense.......2007-06-25

This movie is one of my favorites for the element of "Make you jump" suspense. I did alright with it, however, my wife didn't. She screamed,I jumped and wet myself (Ok, maybe an exaggeration on the jumping part)not only because of the movie, but the high decibel pitch accompanying it. We enjoyed this movie all the way till the end. The greatness of this movie depends on your level of "Horror". Great imagery, and the story makes you guess what the turn in the plot will be. I recommend it.

Disappointing horror film which fails to generate any suspense or horror and is occasionally downright laughable.......2007-06-14

What's it all about?
An American Haunting is set in Tennessee in 1817 and is based on the supposedly true story of the Bell Witch. When John Bell (Donald Sutherland) is cursed by a local woman, strange things start happening to him and his teenage daughter, Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Wood).

Initially, the spooky occurrences are limited to weird noises in the house, but the entity gets more and more violent and only seems to attack the father and daughter, while the mother (Sissy Spacek) and older brother (Thom Fell) can only watch in horror.

Various attempts at exorcism are performed by both a local reverend (Matthew Marsh) and a schoolteacher (James D'Arcy) but nothing seems to work and the poltergeist keeps getting angrier.

The Good
Sutherland and Spacek are always good value and they do the best they can, although you can tell that they'd really rather be somewhere else. However, the stand out is Rachel Hurd-Wood, who gives an impressive performance, despite spending large portions of the film in bed. Hopefully she'll go on to bigger and better things after this.

The Bad
The film's biggest problem is that, like last year's The Exorcism of Emily Rose, it comes across as a cheesy rip-off of The Exorcist. Unfortunately, it's not remotely scary and writer-director Solomon resorts to all sorts of cheap tricks to try and convince us otherwise. That said, the climactic sequence is intriguing, but you can't help feeling the film would have been more effective if the truth had been revealed from the start.

However, the film's biggest mistake is to book-end the film with a truly atrocious sequence set in the present day. The ending, in particular, is likely to cause unintentional laughter.

Worth seeing?
In short, this is a disappointing film that could easily have been a lot better. Rent The Exorcist again instead.

This thing sucked so bad !!!.......2007-06-06

Oh, What a lousy film ! It had potential for a very creepy and moody 19th century supernatural thriller, but instead it was hashed out as an embarrassing and laughable attempt at something that almost qualifies as a weekend filler on the Lifetime Network or ABC Family. Most historical accounts of the Bell Witch are admittedly based on arguably validated fabrications that attempt to outdo themselves with each successive evolution, and some accounts (true or not) are quite scary. This movie doesn't really follow any of them, and instead capitalizes on a known legend and dresses it up with levitations, ghost wolves, and creaky floorboards. They couldn't even use the clichés properly. (The levitation and slapping scenes made me laugh)

As a positive, some of the wolf scenes are well done (such as being chased in the forest) despite the fact that it does nothing for the story. Also, the stagecoach flipping was an exceptionally executed stunt.

However, there are a few shots of the wolf (prancing under the window or trying to evade the flipping stagecoach through the fog) on which the obvious CG work was so poor that I found it a distraction.

Finally, the acting was so subpar that it seems a waste to have used such high powered talent...unless they were being blackmailed or being paid scale, I can't make sense of that one.

Avoid this movie. It is not scary.

It sucks.

Average customer rating:

Good Movie.
Terrible Film
I Love Jean Claude
Familiar Materials, But Well-Executed Actions
Communism rears its ugly head, and Van Damme is there

Second in Command (2006)
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme , Julie Cox , William Tapley , Alan Mckenna , and Razaaq Adoti
Director: Simon Fellows
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000ENUYH2
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Description

In this action-packed, edge-of-your-seat film, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays an official who's just been appointed as "Second in Command" to the U.S. Ambassador at an American Embassy in a small, turbulent Eastern European nation. When local insurgents attempt a coup d'etat, the nation's President takes refuge inside the embassy. The embassy is then besieged by the well-armed insurgents. The U.S. Ambassador is killed in the ensuing action, and now it's up to Van Damme and the embassy's small detachment of U.S. Marines to fend off the attackers.

Customer Reviews:

Good Movie........2007-01-14

This was a good movie and it is definately worth watching it. Even though some of the other reviews say that the ranks and stuff were wrong, who cares. The movie has a lot of action and it is a good movie to watch if you are a van damme fan.

thank
enjoy the movie

Terrible Film.......2006-08-31

I agree with the problems related to all the technical issues cited by other reviewers, but found the movie problematic at its core. First, military personnel are not EVER in the chain of diplomatic authority in a United States Embassy. So the entire premise of this movie is an impossibility because the character JCVD portrays would never be "Second in Command." Sure, there is a willing suspension of disbelief when watching a movie, but there is just SO MUCH WRONG in this movie, that verisimilitude is impossible. A Navy Commander (O-5) outranks a Marine captain (O-3) and would ALWAYS have command precedent in a military situation, whether a message was sent to higher authority or not. Marines simply do not dress nor act like those depicted in this film. The uniforms were wrong. The "Gunny" had a soul patch and chin whiskers! NEVER! And the Marine captain tells a Marine to "seal this room, soldier." ARRGGGH! No Marine, under any circumstances, would refer to another as a "soldier." How about the Marine Expeditionary Unit helicopters, hovering over the Embassy, announcing, "This is the U. S. Army..."? Oh, and what Marine Embassy Security Unit, defending their post from attack during the hours of darkness, would have the building bathed in light?

I Love Jean Claude.......2006-08-20

A bit different than his usual flix but packed with lots of action. He's a man that can lead the action or follow the leader, it does not matter which role he plays he does exceptionally well in both.

Familiar Materials, But Well-Executed Actions.......2006-08-08

Among the numerous numbers of the direct-to-video films, Jean-Claude Van Damme's `Second in Commander' is far better than other average or below-average action films including those starring Steven Seagal and Wesley Snipes. The film's plot is just a retread of the familiar situation like `Assault on Precinct 13' or `Alamo,' but it keeps us entertained from the beginning to the end.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is a newly arrived US commander Sam Keenan in some politically unstable Eastern Europe country where the insurgents try to capture the president of the country. The people are led by renegade leader Anton Tavarov (Velibor Topic), and they surround the U.S. Embassy where Keenan, the president and other Americans barricade themselves in the building. The rest of the film is about the chess game to survive, and the whole process is surprisingly well-done.

Except the opening chapter where the film attempts to establish the `documentary' tone with shaky camera and grainy image, the setting of `Second in Command' is limited to the embassy where outnumbered marines try to fight back the swarming militia with firearms. There is a suggested romance between Jean-Claude Van Damme's character and a US journalist played by Julie Cox, but the sub-plot does not detract us from the tension of the film.

Though Jean-Claude Van Damme does not show his martial arts skills as he used to (except the last sequence), the film's actions are effectively done, and though the range of his acting is still very limited, Van Damme's acting as washed-out commander is not bad. Unfortunately, the special effects used to express the explosions fail to convince us, lacking the money they should have. And most curious thing is, though the embassy is surrounded by the insurgents, their attack is always from one side of the block (namely the front gate), which is quite inexplicable.

But in spite of its lower budget, `Second in Commander' is a good action film. Perhaps you must have seen everything in this film done elsewhere, but that does not change the fact the film has enough power to hold our attention throughout.

Communism rears its ugly head, and Van Damme is there.......2006-07-02

Second in Command isn't that bad of a movie, in my opinion, largely because there are enough gunfights, explosions, and general mayhem to overshadow some of the weaknesses in the story. With a couple of exceptions (largely moments of less than heartfelt Marine bravado), the acting is acceptable. Van Damme is Van Damme, of course; he's fine as long as he's shouting orders or killing people, but the romantic relationship between his character and a female reporter doesn't have enough spark to light a cigarette. And while I'm on the subject, why oh why can't we have at least one military-related movie without the main character getting sidetracked all the time with a love interest? In this particular case, the little love subplot does more harm than good - it's pretty hard for me to respect a military attaché to a country clearly on the brink of internal chaos who stops off on his way to the embassy to conduct a very personal inspection of a female reporter. By the time Sam Kennan (Van Damme) reports for duty, several journalists are dead and things are already beginning to hit the fan over at the Presidential palace.

The story takes place in the fictional Eastern European country of Moldavia. In this supposedly peaceful country, supporters of the former leader are unhappy with the newly-elected President, and a Communist insurgency is egging them on wholeheartedly as they surround the Presidential palace. With the military (yes, the entire military) having been dispatched elsewhere for some stupid reason, only a few palace guards stand between the President and what is quickly becoming a lynch mob. Over at the American embassy, the ambassador agrees with Keenan that they must act to preserve the fragile democracy by extracting the President from the palace. That's not the hard part, though. The hard part involves keeping the President secure inside an American embassy housing a force of only fifteen Marines. The insurgents surround the place, ready, willing, and able to storm the building, drag the President out, and start building their new Communist government. From this point on, the action is hard and heavy.

Things aren't all that peaceful inside the embassy, as there is some question as to who is really in charge. Keenan insists that they stay and try to hold off the militants until backup arrives in the form of the President's Army and a force of American Marines, while a truly insufferable CIA agent recommends evacuation. It proves to be something of a moot point, as the heroes have one heck of a fight on their hands.

You have to take some of the events at face-value. I'm still scratching my head over the idea of sending the country's entire army several hours away from a volatile capital city, and I don't believe for one minute that there is any city in Eastern Europe that American forces couldn't reach in less than four hours. I also don't think Keenan lived up to his billing as the best at what he did, as he made several mistakes that proved costly later on. I also have to wonder why no one tried to kill the leader of the insurgents; the guy was constantly in the line of fire, but no one even took a pot shot at him.

Despite some obvious weaknesses in its easily predictable plot, though, Second in Command did succeed in capturing and sustaining my attention. It's not a great film by any means, but it's hard not to get some kind of kick out of a movie with this much hard-hitting action.

Average customer rating:

A promising film, with a few major weak points..
Shoestring efffects
Ugh!
see it!!

Attack of the Gryphon
Starring: Jonathan LaPaglia , Larry Drake , Amber Benson , Andrew Pleavin , and Douglas Roberts
Director: Andrew Prowse
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

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ASIN: B000MNOX8A
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Product Description

A true sword and sorcery epic, Attack of the Gryphon, chronicles the story of two kingdoms brought together in their quest to defeat the Gryphon and the evil Sorcerer who controls him. Long ago, a feud between princely brothers Delphus and Lock tore the once great kingdom of Vallon in two. Centuries later the warring kingdoms of Delphi and Lockland remain embroiled in perpetual battle. On the eve of Lockland's destruction, the Lockland King orders his Sorcerer to raise the Gryphon against his enemies. The plan is a success until the Sorcerer commands the Gryphon turn on Lockland in an effort to bring both kingdoms under his evil authority.

Customer Reviews:

A promising film, with a few major weak points.........2007-06-17

I had wondered what this film was - and I was impressed with it to a small degree. The production is that of a school play, with the strength of the film majorly on the good characters, especially Amber Benson's character.

I was rather removed from the idea of the villain and his cronies - Nobody on the opposing side seemed believable, until they tried to thrawt the heroes, usually right in front of them. The major character of the story, the mystical gryphon, doesn't feel really like it belongs in the film - it's not alive in the scene, it looks like it was animated and composed into the scene without a touch of realism.

Condering the production was produced for the SCIFI Channel, the film is low-budget. However, I didn't consider the film "bad", but "cheesy", and it does deserve some attention. My best advice - Be an Amber fan, that way you won't be offended, and throw twenty dollars down the drain.

Shoestring efffects .......2007-05-15

I enjoy fantasy movies, and dragons, or gryphons in this movie, are always of interest, epsecially when their presence in the story is central to the action. I guess I've got used to the high quality Hollywood or British FX seen in so many movies recently, that this one came as a real disappointment. From the end credits I believe an east european company were responsible, although I could be wrong. Whoever they are, or wherever they are based, I'm sorry to write that their efforts marred what was otherwise a well thought out story. I am particularly sorry because this movie cast Amber Benson, an actress whose work I always admire, in an action hero role, and she was particularly good at the cut and thrust of the sword and sorcery story. I was pleased that she had this opportunity to shine, just sorry that the FX marred the end result.

Ugh!.......2007-04-18

Where to start. It was nice to see Jonathan LaPaglia (Frank Parker from "7 Days.") Other than that, the movie was horrible. The acting and dialog was very nearly painful to endure, and as for the special effects...I think the Teletubbies had more cutting edge effects than "Attack of the Gryphon."

see it!!.......2007-01-28

well let me start my saying please see this movie. i saw it on sci-fi channel it was pretty good. amber benson was great as usall but she looks differnt. anyway see this movie if ur a fan of fantasty movies,or of amber benson,or just looking for something good to watch u will not get disaponited!

Average customer rating:

BeoCRAP!
Poem to Screen.
It is a Lambert movie
"What Brings You? The Darkness" ~ The Quotability Factor
Real treat for Lambert fans

Beowulf
Starring: Christopher Lambert , Rhona Mitra , Oliver Cotton , Götz Otto , and Charles Robinson
Director: Graham Baker
Manufacturer: Dimension
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004Y631
Release Date: 2000-10-17

Amazon.com

Beowulf translates the ancient epic poem of the same name into a postapocalyptic Road Warrior-style future, in which a military outpost is being invaded by a monstrous, blood-thirsty creature. Drawn hither by the evil emanations comes Beowulf (Christopher Lambert from Subway and the Highlander series), a powerful warrior with dark secrets of his own. There he meets the beautiful Kyra (Rhona Mitra), a woman warrior with a couple of cleavage-revealing outfits. Her father Hrothgar, meanwhile, is haunted by dreams of a blond, seminaked succubus with crimped hair, who has some mysterious connection to the murdering monster. Everyone, even father and daughter, has a different accent. It's all pretty trashy--the script is full of bravura lines like, "The only thing that keeps me from becoming evil is fighting evil"--but the cinematography and special effects are capable, there are lots of cool-looking swords and weaponry, and there's some pleasantly cheesy techno-metal music that plays intermittently for no good reason. Christopher Lambert, with white hair and a full-length leather duster, looks a little bored, but he's still his competent brooding action-hero self. If you enjoyed Mortal Kombat, this is right up your alley. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Christopher Lambert (MORTAL KOMBAT, HIGHLANDER) stars in this futuristic update of the classic poem written in 900 AD and set in a world of supernatural evil and inexplicable danger! Torn from a legend whose roots are buried in the mists of time, Beowulf is half man -- half god. Living in a techno-futile world of the future, a medieval land where technology's secrets are locked away in a mute past, Beowulf fights his way through a besieging army and into a mysterious, ominous castle on the edge of nowhere to face an evil within ... a beastly spawn of man and demon named Grendel. Now he must fight to the death in order to quell the raging violence hidden deep in his own bedeviled soul!

Customer Reviews:

BeoCRAP!.......2007-04-14

Christopher Lambert hasn't done a good movie since the original Highlander movie. This movie is lame. Bad acting, bad special effect, bad diologue. Yep, must be a Christopher Lambert film. If you want to see a good movie based off the Beowulf legend, watch "THE 13th WARRIOR."

Poem to Screen........2006-09-19

a motion picture based on the classic saxon poem. christofer labert is beowulf, a lone warrior contracted to kill a demon feeding on lone outpost under siege. i was realy suprised to see how well this independant film did, its one of my favorites. spending most of its money on casting Lambert. this films special effects are mostly makeup with a small FX scene. it was very good on keeping the story and also remaking it into a film. i was very happy when it was released in the US on dvd. i first saw it at a rental store in england. its fun film, so go check it out.

It is a Lambert movie.......2006-07-30

Bad special effects. Lambert looked bored at times. The plot has a few holes. Too much cleavage. Bad fight scenes. Beowulf can do multiple black flips and spin in the air and yet the monsters can still hit him! The fact that Grendel's mother is pregnant doesn't really play into the movie, but they keep bringing it up. It is not the worst movie I have ever seen and I pretty much got what I expected so I'm not completely trashing it. The weapons were cool.

"What Brings You? The Darkness" ~ The Quotability Factor.......2006-07-25

Though the '98 sword and sorcery film 'Beowulf' adapted from a 8th century Saxon epic poem doesn't receive high marks overall, it does contain everything necessary to attract a sizeable cult following.

What Attracts A Cult Following?
1) Charismatic Hero: Christopher Lambert stars in the role of Beowulf. That will attract Highlander, The Hunt and Mortal Combat fans.
2) Hot Women: His co-star and romantic interest is gorgeous newcomer Rhona Mitra as Kyra. She is one of the sexiest actresses to appear in a fantasy adventure film since Caroline Munro graced the screen in the role of the slave girl Margiana in the '74 film, 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'. It's worth watching just for her. (*There's also a brief appearance by ex-Playboy centerfolds' Patricia Velazquez as the ill-fated Pendra and Layla Roberts as Grendal's demonic Mother).
3) Quotability Factor: The dialogue is trite and annoyingly shallow, but contains many quotable lines such as; "I'm not like other men" and "The only thing that stops me from being evil is fighting evil". Quotability is a must for attaining cult status consideration.
4) Monster Aesthetics: Grendal is an acceptable adversary for Beowulf, but his demoness Mother (Layla Roberts) is even better.
5) Music Appreciation: 'Beowulf' contains a strong, pounding, contemporary rock soundtrack to help keep you focused.

OK for one viewing, but not much more unless you're a hardcore Lambert fan or just like looking at Rhona Mitra. On second thought, maybe a repeat viewing is in order.

Real treat for Lambert fans.......2006-01-23

I love this movie for many reasons, and sure I can see how some people can dislike it because it's not their cup of tea, they might see it as a cheap movie with mediocre acting because they are used to a more mainstream type of a movie while this one is a detour on the straight road of life.

Christopher Lambert is a flaxen hair warrior on a horse yielding a sword in a battle against a man eatting monster by the name of Grendel, which is mysteriously somehow connected to him, while Enigma crossed with the Matrix type music blasts through out the movie. Lambert plays Beowulf who comes to a place called the Outpost, where many troubles are happening, and he volunteers to kill the beast that is running on murderous rampages when night falls. He also establishes a relationship with a young widow and tackles her brother who doesn't trust him.

I'm a huge Lambert fan, he's quirky and odd but his movies are different and simply great. If you enjoy movies such as Conan, Red Sonja and fantasy costume and monster madness then this might be a great addition to your collection. This sci-fi adaptaion of the medieval Anglo-Saxon legend was filmed on location in Romania and it really looks ancient, while the acting isn't oscar material, I appreciate it for what it is.

Average customer rating:

Typical, and Then there were none type fare.
Good well almost ....A little short on substance of Plot.
The cave in
Nice sets, now where's the story
GQ goes spelunking

The Cave (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Cole Hauser , Eddie Cibrian , Morris Chestnut , Lena Headey , and Piper Perabo
Director: Bruce Hunt
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000BUNZY2
Release Date: 2006-01-03

Amazon.com

While it might give spelunkers a few helpful hints about using their equipment, The Cave is strictly routine as an Alien-styled monster show. The film's major achievement is its impressive setting -- not a real cave under the Carpathian mountains (where the ill-fated characters are exploring "the Amazon of underground rivers") but a lavishly convincing cave set built on a Romanian soundstage. This gives first-time director Brad Hunt (a second- and third-unit director on the Matrix trilogy) the movie's only claim to originality, as the cavernous interiors become a death trap for most of the nine-person team (led by Cole Hauser, and including Morris Chestnut, Daniel Dae Kim from TV's Lost, and Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo) that's exploring the maze-like cave for reasons never fully explained (maybe they just wanted to test out their fancy gear). They're not alone down there, and creature-feature specialist Patrick Tatopoulos borrows from the H.R. Giger design-book with some gnarly critters that, in turn, borrow elements from The Thing to foment suspicion and anxiety among the dwindling crew of survivors. It's all familiar to genre buffs, but there's just enough in The Cave to satisfy the curiosity of its intended audience. Dumped into theaters for a marginal release in late summer 2005, it's precisely the kind of horror flick that finds a second life on DVD. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Typical, and Then there were none type fare........2007-07-03

The cave did have some scarey moments with good cinematography but, major flaws abound also. The dialogue of this movie was just horrible the scientists spoke to each other, like high school kids. The climbing action was a bit outside of the realm of normal physics as well,jumping to stationary rocks while swinging at 30 to 40 miles an hour. The monsters were creepy looking, sort of like The Alien. Overall if your looking for a scarey cave monster type movie stick with The Descent,which is pretty much the same formula but much more jump out of your seat.

Good well almost ....A little short on substance of Plot........2007-06-24

I like the sets like the other reviewers mentioned , but i thought the diagloue was woody and dull only some of the script was interesting to listen to. there was soo much this film could've been , but it lacked all the which was too bad i actually like this one, especially for the the underwater photography done it was nice and water monster nicely done , but all in vain because there was no solid plot to hold it together . i found myself at times wanting to laugh even though this was a serious film i thought so i held my laughter. but i have to say this film was way better than that joke of a film octopus that was prize turkey of a film. this was a 100 times better.

in closing i wish the screenwriter just would've made a tighter script that'd make you care for the characters in the movie , all in all it's decent rental Oh and for you (Lost Fans) Out There The Guy That Plays Jin Has A Part In This Film. He's Good in Part.

The cave in.......2007-04-23

What a disaster. Don't waste your time with this one. Nothing grabs you in the beginning, the plot(if any) is poor, and yes there are some nice sets, but that doesn't make a good movie.

Nice sets, now where's the story.......2007-04-10

The production designer of this movie should have been nominated for an Oscar, but his designs were tied to this "shaggy dog" "Alien" rip-off that try as it does never delivers the goods. A real shame for all involved.

GQ goes spelunking.......2007-03-08

Yet another PG-13 "horror" film, which means you know it has been "sanitized for your protection." At least this time we have young adults in peril instead of teens. I realize I am being cynical, though it is difficult not to disparage a film when every one of the actors and actresses is young and good-looking. There is nothing wrong with including young and good-looking individuals in a film; it certainly makes the viewing experience more pleasant. Yet, how seriously can I take a movie when there is no good reason for casting this way other than to cater to a certain an audience that cares more about the attractiveness of the cast than the content of the film? This certainly seals its fate as an average (at best) film because we know artistic vision and profundity have been relegated as inferior to superficiality. It is too bad, really, because this story had potential. After the first couple minutes, during which Romanian soldiers stumble across mosaics depicting winged creatures of death in an ancient cathedral, I thought it might turn out to be better than its mediocre reputation. Over the next few minutes, however, I began to get that sinking feeling as the hunky, bland cast was introduced. It then became apparent this would be another clichéd, formulaic film. I could forgive the fact it is more or less "Alien" set in Earth's underground rather than in space because the production values here are top-notch. Aside from the relatively high budget and the occasional swear word, however, there isn't much here to distinguish it from the average made-for-the-Sci-Fi-Channel flick. At least some good came from watching this, though, as it renewed my interest in watching "Alien" again.

Average customer rating:

Please Wesley, Work at 711
OK for its budget
Falls Below the Mark, Even by the Standard of B Action with Terribly Edited Actions
BIG FAT ZERO!
Can i not give a no star??

The Marksman
Starring: Wesley Snipes , Emma Samms , William Hope , Anthony Warren , and Peter Youngblood Hills
Director: Marcus Adams
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000A1OFYQ
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Description

Wesley Snipes (Blade Trilogy) is armed and extremely dangerous in THE MARKSMAN, an explosive action-adventure thriller where nothing is what it seems. With Russia on the brink of nuclear annihilation, there's only one man who can save it: The Marksman (Snipes). An elite U.S. Special Forces operative, he's been ordered to take out a Chechen nuclear power plant before terrorists set off a live reactor. Infiltrating the heavily-guarded facility, The Marksman indicates the target for an American \missile strike and makes his escape. But when he discovers it's the missiles and not the terrorists that'll ignite the device, The Marksman realizes he's been set up. And so begins a race against time as he attempts to disarm a target whose detonation will trigger the death of thousands and topple two world powers.

Customer Reviews:

Please Wesley, Work at 711.......2007-05-06

The Marksman misses on all points. This movie was so bad that I had to prop toothpicks under my eyes to keep myself awake. Snipes has apparently signed a multimovie contact with Castel Films--the same outfit that fatso Steven Seagal now works for (keep in mind too, that Seagal now denies he makes films with Castel, he knows they suck so bad). The story was ridiculous, the combat was silly (I love the fact that military stock footage was spliced into the film--if anyone looks closely you will see scenes that originally appeared in TOP GUN and US NAVY SEALS!!), the acting was so stupid it seemed that Wesley was falling asleep himself through scenes, and where--just where did they get Emma Sams for this? What pile of washed up actors did they scrape her up from? She delievers her lines like she was still learning acting in high school. Not that the script helped either!

Snipes ho-hommed his way through this film and obviously did it for the cash, possibly to bail himself out of the multi-million dollars he owes the government in back taxes. He really would be better off giving up acting and taking the nightjob at the 711 near my house. I'd love to speak to him and find out--just how did he fall from grace!?? Shame on you Wes! Give it up already!

OK for its budget.......2007-01-09

This is a low budget with a script that had great promise. This action-packed military movie stars Wesley Snipes and Emma Samms. Both of these actors do an ok job with what they are given to work with. Like another reviewer said, let us be thankful they did not try for any flashbacks to tell back-story in this film.

The story line has the U.S.A. being tricked into targeting a fully functional nuclear reactor that was captured by Chechen rebels. And as we watch the missile being launched that will cause massive chaos for the region, if not the world, the Special Ops team led by Snipes figures out a way to stop the disaster from happening in an all to convenient and simple way. Still worth grabbing a bag of popcorn and checking it out from your local library.

Falls Below the Mark, Even by the Standard of B Action with Terribly Edited Actions.......2006-10-13

`Marksman' is not as bad as you might believe after reading so many negative reviews ... well, at least, what the film is struggling to be is not that bad. The problem is, you need much more money than is spent here, to make a decent action film based on this script, which encompasses a wide variety of action film elements that have been seen in such films as `Behind Enemy Lines.'

Wesley Snipes plays "Painter," a laconic, sullen, and deadly special agent who is sent to a nuke plant in Russia with other elite soldiers. He must set a homing beacon for the missile attack AND save the life of the seven American scientists held as hostage there.

`Marksman' is surely a slick action film, but "slick" here merely means it does not spend too much time on Painter's past activities in Bosnia, or the relation with his ex-lover and senior officer played by Emma Samms. Fortunately the film has no lengthy flashbacks or anything that might delay the actions, and I personally find no problem with their acting or casting. The idea of US military officers speaking with British accent is not very effective even in the direct-to-video actions, but you can just stop paying attention to it.

The real problem is the film's unimpressive actions. They include several explosions, air battle, shoot-outs, and a tank running wild after a poor Russian, but none of them really works. I hate to say this, but the action sequences are mostly thrill-free, with terribly edited shots borrowed from action scenes of other better films. See for example the dogfight that tries to be as exciting as summer season blockbusters, but you know it only disappoints us when the film repeats the same footage, replaying the same cheesy explosion.

Many other reviewers have already pointed out the numerous plot holes and factual inaccuracies of the film. No film can be totally from goofs, I know, but the countless goofs in `Marksman' and its badly edited sequences suggest that the film company either experienced a troubled production, or they just did not know what to do with its results. Either way, it remains true that `Marksman' marks the career decline of Wesley Snipes who needs another `Blade' very quickly.

BIG FAT ZERO!.......2006-07-11

I dont use all caps much, but this one is well deserving of that title. What a waste of time. Let me break it down:
Screenplay: ZERO STAR- if you actually pay attention to the lines that are uttered, most of it reads like the weekly supermarket circulars- TRITE.

Directing: ZERO STAR- I should pay attention to who did the directing so as to AVOID any other garbage he puts out there.

Acting: ZERO STAR- Was it a bad cast or bad director? Or bad idea? Maybe the other actors needed to get work badly. But Snipes had no excuse. He fell three notches on this one. Go back to being a vampire. Oh this came before I think.

Visuals: half star- some nice flying shots. pyro-technics not very realisitc.

Three words of wisdom: AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.

Can i not give a no star??.......2006-05-25

BAD, BAD, BAD.... Does not deserve the one star i gave it. poor acting, cheesy lines and a dismal plot. Infact I found this film so intresting that half way through I reallised that I had missed 10mins while thinking about a good film!

Average customer rating:

Typical, and Then there were none type fare.
Good well almost ....A little short on substance of Plot.
The cave in
Nice sets, now where's the story
GQ goes spelunking

The Cave (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Cole Hauser , Eddie Cibrian , Morris Chestnut , Lena Headey , and Piper Perabo
Director: Bruce Hunt
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BUNZXS
Release Date: 2006-01-03

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Typical, and Then there were none type fare........2007-07-03

Good well almost ....A little short on substance of Plot........2007-06-24

The cave in.......2007-04-23

What a disaster. Don't waste your time with this one. Nothing grabs you in the beginning, the plot(if any) is poor, and yes there are some nice sets, but that doesn't make a good movie.

Nice sets, now where's the story.......2007-04-10

GQ goes spelunking.......2007-03-08

Average customer rating:

Not the worst Vampire movie, but Different
could have been better
hocky
Impressive and Unique Twist on the Dracula Story
Very Well Done

Vlad
Starring: Brad Dourif , Francesco Quinn , Billy Zane , Paul Popowich , and Kam Heskin
Director: Michael D. Sellers
Manufacturer: Xenon
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000AM4PK4
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Description

Four foreign exchange students retrace a journey taken by Vlad the Impaler, the infamous Transylvania prince known as Dracula, through the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. They carry with them a powerful amulet- rumored to have been stolen from Vlad's tomb- that allows them to transcend time and witness the 15th century barbarism that molded a young orphan into one of the most feared despots in medieval Europe. At their heels is the monster himself, determined to seize the amulet and resume his reign of terror. The film stars Billy Zane (Titanic), Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "Deadwood"), Paul Popowich ("Dark Angel"), and Kam Heskin (Catch Me If You Can).

Customer Reviews:

Not the worst Vampire movie, but Different.......2006-07-29

This was a very interesting movie about Vlad Dracula, not especially about vampires. It tried to tell a bit of history about Vlad and his origin and rise to power, and it wasn't just a cheaply made movie to show off a bunch of women getting naked and getting their necks bitten. It's actually about 4 exchange student "chosen" to come to Romania to study the history of the country by traveling to the Carpatian mountains to research the home Territory of Vlad the Impailer. But, one of them has a secret, an necklace that was worn by Vlad himself, taken off of him in his grave. Now, the movie gets strange because it is not based around getting the necklace back, but about getting this midevil English girl that has been brought through time just before Vlad was going to Kill her (or marry her, not really sure). She was warped through time by the power of the amulet. After she comes back, so Follows Vlad because she reminds him of his dead wife. The rest of the movie is the students trying to get this necklace back to the tomb so VLad will rest in peace.
I could explain more, but Its difficult. I found myself at many points wonder, why doesn't Vlad just take the dang english girl and leave, he wanders into the castle right by her (followed her scent) and attacks all the friend, and yet doesn't just walk up, take the girl and leave?. Or, if he's mad about the Necklace, why doesn't he just take it from the guy? I am not sure. Finally, as one of the other astute reviewer notes, at the end scene, One of the female student who is controlled by Vlad, attacks the friend attempting to put the necklace in the stream and back on the stone, then turns her attention to english girl who jumps on her back. Finally, this Vlad controlled student gets the upper hand on the English chick, and calmly stand by in awe as the first friend completes the task of replaceing the necklace. Why doesn't she snap the english gals neck and stop the gal with the necklace, or why doesn't vlad turn and stop her? Instead he is just merely swinging his sword attempting to kill the friend without the amulet? Just really confusing. The movie was entertaining enough, but could have been so much more. It just Kinda flaked out at the end. Again, at times i think they did throw in some nudity scenes just to capture male viewership. Their was a dream scene in the bathtub, could have been done in bed or any other time just as well, but eh, that's what B movies do. Also, they had to throw in a steaming animalistic love scene, again, B movie nescessity? So, worth seeing, just try and ignore the few script errors, and it really could have been a big film if it had been funded better.

could have been better.......2006-03-22

The only really interesting thing about this movie were the flashbacks. If they had focused on that, instead of trekking through the woods, it would have been a much better movie. ANd I must have missed the point of this as I watched alot of the movie in fastforward, but what was Vlads purpose in taking and having sex with the one modern day blonde, and then going after the past blonde? Or is this another of those movies where sex and nudity has to be thrown in just because? I was really disapointed in what I thought would be an interesting movie rental.

hocky.......2005-12-05

The transylvania accents sound really phoney; so much so it was almost laughable. The whole story and variations of the theme of the dracula fiction was also absurb. The main theme is some stupid amulet. I just didn't like the movie. The story is too far absurb, and I didn't like the fusion between the old world and the new-all through the amulet "breaking the wall of time" It was like mixing two separate themes which totally clashed.

Impressive and Unique Twist on the Dracula Story.......2005-12-01

I was pleasantly surprised with this film... definitely not your average vampire yarn. Let's face it,... all horror movies are are a little hoaky, but you ignore it to get the thrill! This one starts off with a flashback to the time of Vlad the Impaler, with a narration by John Rhys Davies (Classy). You get a little history lesson on the real Vlad Tepes Dracula. You see him as victim of deceit, betrayal, and violence. You begin to understand how he would like some revenge... Bigtime! This puts a human face on the old Dracula story. The photography (filmed in Romania) is First Class, and the Musical score... even better. This has the look and feel of a very expensive, big studio production, although as an indy it probably had a short budget. Shows you what you can do when you have real talent. The chicks are hot too! One, a sharp Romanian actress,... the other, a blonde bombshell (Cam Heskin) from "Catch me if you can". They both did a great job in this film... and their roles were not just T&A fluff. The real stand-out, tho, was Francesco Quinn (Anthony Quinn's son)... He did a fantastic job in the role of Vlad. He was artistic and chilling at the same time. Look for big things from this guy. Billy Zane.... (could have played the Vlad role) has a rather incidental part to play. He's convincing in the role, but gets done in quickly. The plot pivots around an ancient amulet or necklace which belonged to Vlad, and was buried with him.. One of the Characters has the Amulet, and wants to return it to Vlad's tomb (it was stolen by the germans during the war). But guess what?... As the amulet is brought closer to Vlad's castle, Vlad returns from the past, and unlives again! The rest of the movie is a contest between some graduate students and a vampire. He wants to stay in the present, and they want to send him back. By the way,... there's also some pretty hot sex scenes along the way. I won't give away the ending, but will just say see the movie. I did, and I was glad I did.

Very Well Done.......2005-11-03

I'm impressed, although I'm not a huge "Horror" fan this movie was well done and I'm sure it's fair to totally judge it ad "Horror". Nice mix of the real character (Vlad) and present day. Love the Romanian locations. Not your typical "Vampire" flick at all!! Francesco Quinn reminds me of young a Anthony (his dad). Nice mix of History and fiction. Vlad the impaler rides again.

Average customer rating:

Haunting Indeed
haunting indeed
Great Suspense
Disappointing horror film which fails to generate any suspense or horror and is occasionally downright laughable
This thing sucked so bad !!!

An American Haunting (PG-13 Edition)
Starring: Susan Almgren , Gaye Brown , Vernon Dobtcheff , Philip Hurdwood , and Matthew Marsh
Director: Courtney Solomon
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000HC2LFS
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Haunting Indeed.......2007-06-29

Recommended. Good acting, good story and quite chilling in parts. Best "spooky" movie I've seen in a while.

haunting indeed.......2007-06-26

Great Suspense.......2007-06-25

Disappointing horror film which fails to generate any suspense or horror and is occasionally downright laughable.......2007-06-14

This thing sucked so bad !!!.......2007-06-06

Average customer rating:

America just discriminate cause this movie was shot in Romania
Beyond A Joke
For real Foriegn Service Officers only....
Nowhere near reality
Dreadful

Diplomatic Siege
Starring: Peter Weller , Daryl Hannah , Tom Berenger , Adrian Pintea , and Uwe Ochsenknecht
Director: Gustavo Graef-Marino
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 1573628603
Release Date: 2000-04-11

Customer Reviews:

America just discriminate cause this movie was shot in Romania.......2005-10-23

Well it may have very foolish & boring moments but's not not bad. the theme of the movie is pretty interesting and it has some good scenes. There are also a lot of fiction moments that make you get crazy. The director and the producers were thinking good about the scene with lasers or the one they almost made love.

Beyond A Joke.......2002-02-28

Dreadful wannabe action movie attempts every cliché hurdle and falls every time. Only partially relieved by several unintentionally hilarious set pieces... the toilet elevator kidnap, the (completely unerotic) sex scene featuring Peter Weller's socks, the wet-towel-on-head ploy and the HUGE amount of noise made by our heroes as they attempt to sneak through the air ducts. Oh I forgot the laser beam/pocket mirror scene!

Oh, and the Pentagon Chiefs of Staff/NSA - the least believable casting ever. Check out the guy with the suit three sizes too big ...

Poor Tom Berenger. They can't have shown him the complete script.

For real Foriegn Service Officers only...........2002-01-08

For those who have a abiding reason to support the Rumanian government (who seems to have written it - Nearly every actor, down to the US Ambassador, is a Rumanian, and the credits list pages of Government offices who supported it), buy it. For all others, rent it once, and then only if you happen to have been stationed overseas at an Embassy. Besides the abysmal writing, the high-school level acting, and the plot with holes so big you could drive a movie through it, the movie has few redeeming qualities other than the vision of an Embassy that was really run like that.

You have been warned ;^P

Nowhere near reality.......2001-10-23

The movie is awful, the dialog abuse against the cast, but...

...if you happen to be assigned to the (real - not the movie) US Embassy in Bucharest, and happen to be the real technical security officer (computers, alarms, and such), and just happen to have offices in the basement (where the mythical nuclear bomb is) - well, the movie is simply a scream! Boy, if only Daryl Hannah would come down to the basement and visit me some time...

I tell you, reality can never match Hollywood (either for shear moron stupidity or pure exaggeration). Not recommended unless you've been posted here, and really need to get a laugh about the old place!

Dreadful.......2000-12-09

This so-called international thriller was so dreadful that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The team of four writers who wrote this trash should be imprisoned for crimes against humanity. The eight producers who brought it to the market should be tried for conspiracy to cause brain death. It was that bad.

This film was horrible in all regards. The production standards were below TV quality. The photography was poor, the sound was muddy and the music was pure garbage. The premise was interesting; that the U.S. planted atomic bombs in all its embassies in the Soviet Union and Eastern block countries during the cold war to give them first strike capability. Now that the cold war was over the U.S. was disarming all the bombs, but the last one was in an embassy taken over by a group of terrorists. Our heroes (Daryl Hannah and Peter Weller) had to disable it before the terrorists got control of it.

The presentation of the story was abysmal. The dialogue was so bad that I was literally guffawing between eye rolls. Some scenes were so implausible that I had to wonder what the writers were smoking. For instance, our heroes are clanking through the ventilation system, trying desperately to find a way to get downstairs to the bomb to disable it. Terrorists were all around killing one hostage an hour. So, this would be a perfect time to start necking in the air duct, right? The writers thought so.

Daryl Hannah and Tom Berenger did their best to bring credibility to their ridiculous characters with some success. Peter Weller was awful. His character had a batch of very stupid lines, which he was able to elevate to absurdity.

I rated this film a 2/10. Do not see this film under any circumstances. Action junkies might be tempted because of the enormous body count. Resist.

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