Boo! The Movie

Starring:Jim Tampa, Michael K. Washko, Rusty Mann, Lauren Carter, Molly Kaufman
Director: Michael Lansu
Studio: Nutech Digital
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

I love this movie!
disappointed
Great Comedy
Imagine you and me
This movie puts me in a good mood every time I watch it

Imagine Me & You
Starring: Piper Perabo , Lena Headey , Matthew Goode , Celia Imrie , and Anthony Head
Director: Ol Parker
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000F7CEBG
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Amazon.com

Writer/director Ol Parker's debut takes its title from "Happy Together" by the Turtles ("Imagine me and you / and you and me") and its inspiration from the romantic comedies of Richard Curtis (Love Actually). There's a twist. Flower shop owner Luce (Lena Headey, The Brothers Grimm) is gay. Newlywed Rachel (a convincingly UK-accented Piper Perabo, Lost and Delirious) is straight. The two meet at Rachel's wedding--Luce designed the floral arrangements--and feel an instant connection. Rachel brushes it off. After all, the charming Heck (Matthew Goode, Match Point) was her best friend long before he became her husband. Shortly after the ceremony, however, she begins to feel as if something is missing. She starts making excuses to see Luce. First it's to thank her for the flowers, then it's to invite her to dinner with Heck and their on-the-make pal Cooper (a hilarious Darren Boyd)...who's crushed when he discovers that Luce prefers women. Rachel, meanwhile, finds married life pleasant enough, but only really feels alive when she's with Luce. It's tricky, because she loves Heck and doesn't want to hurt his feelings, so she and Luce decide to stop seeing each other. But the bond between the two is too powerful for either to resist. What it may lack in originality, Imagine Me & You makes up for in an enchanting soundtrack and sensitive performances from its three likable leads. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Piper Perabo lights up the screen as Rachel, a blushing bride whose perfect nuptials take a surprising turn at the altar. An innocent glance between Rachel and an unexpected wedding guest is all it takes to spark a 'love at first sight' romance with a surprising twist -- the object of Rachel's affection is a smart and sensuous... woman! Their shocking romance causes quite a stir amongst her family and friends as Rachel is forced to choose between her husband and the girl of her dreams. Say 'I do' to the wonderfully witty film that Cosmopolitan calls "a refreshing romantic comedy."

Customer Reviews:

I love this movie!.......2007-07-05

I had heard some of my friends talking about this movie and decided to check it out. I happened to catch it one evening on a premium channel. I ordered it the next day. This movie is funny, serious, sad and happy all at the same time. I wouldn't label it a gay movie because it is a story of love at first sight and the gender does not matter. I highly recommend this movie whether you are straight or gay. It is a fun movie.

disappointed.......2007-06-18

A young bride walks slowly down the aisle on the arm of her father, toward the waiting groom.A glance to the side and her eyes meet those of a woman in the side aisle and , in that fleeting glance is the

recognition of a soul mate. In that brief moment, her life is changed forever, although she is not yet aware of it.Without really understanding why, she feels the need to broaden her friendship with this woman.

But this only leads to more confusion about her own emotions. At first she cannot understand just what this feeling is, but she gradually becomes aware that she is feeling a passion, far and away greater than

anything she ever felt before and certainly more than she feels for her husband, made all the more devastating by the fact that it is for another woman, although in this case, who could possibly blame her.

Finally, driven to confront the object of her grand passion, she finds that her feelings are returned, leaving her with a dilema which the movie solves with a typically contrived final chase scene, to a happy

ending.So far so good, the makings of an entertaining little romance.
The problem, in my opinion, is that the director has chosen to present this romance, a story based upon an unstoppable passion, with a total lack of passion, or indeed any overt show of affection, let alone

love.Luce never shows any great affectionfor Rachel although numerous occasions arise where a growing attraction could have been introduced, for example at the soccer match when Luce puts her arms

around Rachel, or when they just fail to kiss. In the confrontation scene in the flower shop, just prior to that pathetic schoolgirl embrace among the flowers, Luce seemed to exhibit more curiosity than sympathy

for the turmoil that Rachel was going through. And then the best show of eternal love that the director can come up with is to have Luce say "I want you". What for, to help out in the store. What ever

happened to the old fashioned " I LOVE YOU ". How come neither protagonist ever got around to that simple expression of feeling? And this is the 21st century; we have become quite accustomed the the

fact that physical love is an essential part of passion. Sex is O.K and entirely appropriate and, in this situation not gratuitous but necessary. There has to be an overwhelming motivation for Rachel to cast aside

the bonds of convention, leave her husband, alienate her friends and family and one quick little romp in the flowers is not convincing. In the commentary the director indicated that he felt that it would be asking

too much of the actors to go any further. Nonsense! Both leads are totally professional competant actors and if the script calls for it would have no problem going as far as the story line requires. It is the

director's call. The supporting cast are all adequate and the overall tone of the movie is what you would expect for a fluffy little romance, but this could have been so much more. What a shame to waste a good

storyline. If you would like to see how such a grand passion should be handled, I suggest you rent " When night is falling"

Great Comedy.......2007-06-14

I really enjoyed this movie, it was charming, funny and a tad sad too. I loved the ending, it ended the way I hoped it would.

Imagine you and me.......2007-05-26

Absolutly great on a cold night, huge fire a a big bottle of wine. I loved it.

This movie puts me in a good mood every time I watch it.......2007-05-13

I bought this movie because I loved it's plot. I was thrilled when I watched it and found it to be a very sweet film. It's plot is believable because I saw myself in this movie. I was the other woman and could relate to Luce falling in love with a married women. My road wasn't so short, but I also got the girl in the end. When I need a pick me up I put this movie on and it reminds me of the magic of falling in love, whether it be with a man or a women. But it also brings in the reality of your actions and the pain all must feel along the way. I wouldn't have wanted this movie to change in anyway. I love this movie.

Average customer rating:

A childhood favorite of mine, still plenty of typical Scooby Doo fun.
excellence
Above average old school Scooby Adventure
Scooby Doo Meet The Boo Brothers
Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers

Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers
Starring: Don Messick , Casey Kasem , Sorrell Booke , Rob Paulsen , and Ronnie Schell
Director: Carl Urbano , and Paul Sommer (II)
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008DP4A
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

When Shaggy inherits an old Southern estate from an uncle, he and his sleuthing hounds take a road trip. But they don't even make it to the mansion before the haunting starts. Amid headless horsemen, walking skeletons, and a menacing butler, Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy get majorly spooked. The three Stooge-like ghosts they hire to help them know more about slapstick than ghostbusting and, to make matters worse, neighbor Sadie Mae has the hots for Shaggy while her gun-toting brother Billy Bob is hot to eliminate him. The local sheriff is no help--although an escaped gorilla is--and the jewels that Scrappy uncovers keep disappearing. This new 91-minute movie fuses together episodes from 1983 of the long-running cartoon, which features Casey "Mr. Countdown" Kasem doing the honors as Shaggy. It's classic Scooby-Doo: bumbling good versus slightly-less-bumbling evil with a lot of laughs for viewers 3 and up. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Description

It's the start of a Boo-tiful friendship when Scooby-Doo and Shaggy get up-close-and-spooky with some supernatural siblings in this all-new animated movie! After Shaggy's uncle leaves him a fortune in hidden jewels, Scooby and Scrappy join him for the ultimate scavenger hunt through the trap doors and tunnels of the haunted old Beauregard mansion! Terrified by the ghost of Shaggy's uncle, the gang calls in reinforcements -- the wild-and-ectoplasmic Boo Brothers, a phantom family of ghoul-chasing ghosts! Join them as they unravel the mystery in the all-new movie, SCOOBY-DOO MEETS THE BOO BROTHERS!

Customer Reviews:

A childhood favorite of mine, still plenty of typical Scooby Doo fun........2006-06-12

The premise is that Shaggy inherents a spooky, decaying mansion from his Uncle Beaureguard, and the movie begins as he, Scrappy-Doo, and Scooby-Doo are en route to the mansion. The whole estate is pretty spooky and decayed looking, replete with swamps and forests surrounding the house, a perfect setting for mystery and mayhem. At the mansion they are greeted by a sinister butler with a humorously overdone but still jarring laugh in Farquard.

This does nothing to alleviate the nervousness Shaggy and Scooby are feeling, and with the introduction of the ghost of Uncle Beaureguard, an escaped ape (pursued by Sheriff Buzby, your typical thick-drawled, incompetent, and overweight Southern sheriff stereotype) they're ready to leave, when they find a message from Uncle Beaureguard that says Shaggy must solve a series of riddles to locate his treasure. To deal with the ghosts, they call in "ghost exterminators" - the Boo Brothers, who indeed are a knock-off of the Three Stooges in every way.

With the treasure beckoning, and the fact that their truck is incapacitated, they stick around, despite Uncle Beaureguard's ghost, a skeleton ghost, a headless horseman, the ape, the bumbling sheriff, the Boo Brothers doing more interfering than helping, a hillbilly girl who has fallen in love with Shaggy and takes every opportunity to press her unwanted affections, and her hillbilly brother who "protects" his sister by hunting Shagggy and the gang and shooting at them. Well, treasure usually isn't easy to come by.

The riddles lead the gang around various areas of the esate - to the attic, basement, graveyard, caves, etc. One of the things that appealed to me as a kid (and still does) was the neat idea of this vast, spooky estate you could explore, with the fearful crumbling mansion at the forefront. There's secret passages to be found, and the skeleton and Confederate ghost (Uncle Beaureguard) to be found at every turn, or more mundane foes to be avoided. The idea of the riddles, that solving the first riddle leads you to the location of the second one, and so on, was something I thought was very cool as a kid, though it's an old idea.

I think the animation and look of the show is pretty well done, considering the time, budget, and technology. The mansion and its grounds do give off a spooky air of decay and mystery; the setting is excellently accomplished. The supporting characters are mostly old stereotypes played out for humor but that works well for what it is. The ghosts are suitably menacing for this sort of thing, and Scrappy-Doo isn't as obnoxious as he's been on other occasions (though I'd like to have seen what this movie would've been like with the original Mystery, Inc. gang). The suspense of getting to the treasure is nicely built up, and there are some fine revelations along the way to keep viewers interested.

In conclusion, this movie isn't rocket science or anything complicated. In fact, to your average modern audience there probably isn't a whole lot ot recommend this film. But, for whatever reason, it clicked with me growing up and even now. It's got a classic gothic ghost story set-up, which usually appeals to me, along with some slapstick and typical Scooby-Doo humor. It's fun, moves quickly, and shows more than just perfunctory thought and effort put into it (as opposed to later Scooby-Doo movies). I give it five stars because it succeeds for what it is.

excellence.......2005-09-12

I ordered this for my grandchildren as I live in England and they are in the states.Both myself and my Son were delighted with the product.Well done,I will certainly use you again.Thank you

Above average old school Scooby Adventure.......2004-05-16

This entry suffers from the presence of Scrappy. It was made in the mid-eighties when Scrappy was at the height (!) of his fame (?). He doesn't do much in this so it's not that bad.

The story is about Shaggy (minus the rest of Mystery Inc.) being left a spooky mansion house in his uncles will. Conveniently said mansion is in the middle of a creepy swampland in the Deep South. The kind of place where there are always eyes watching from the trees.

As soon as he arrives, Shaggy has to deal with an annoying southern stereotype sheriff, a weirdo butler who wants to get his hands on the old uncle's hidden treasure, hickabilly neighbors and the ghost of his uncle telling to leave (then why did he give him the house?). There is also an escaped ape on the loose but even though only Scooby sees him (Shaggy doesn't believe it) he's just a big, cuddly monkey who wants to play.

The Boo Brothers are basically ghost versions of the Three Stooges. They're listed in the phone book as being experts in the busting of ghosts. This isn't a job they do well though, so Shaggy's payment at the end is a bit too generous.

There are some laughs to be had and the plot is mildly interesting but too many running jokes are just plain bad. The hillbilly neighbor joke becomes very boring and could have been done without. The animation is a bit dated, though it has enough modern touches (lens flares in car lights) to distract you from it. And I like the dark, decaying atmosphere of the swampland. The color pallet is mostly made up of dark blues and purples (the story takes place all in one night) and the backgrounds are not as generic as the earlier, cheaper TV shows.

For the average fan this is a worthy effort though I would just catch it on the Cartoon Network instead of forking over the cash, unless you're a Scooby completist.

The DVD is in 1.33:1 full frame, as drawn, with a Dolby Mono soundtrack that is unsophisticated but workable. The Region 2 release comes in a sturdy Keep Case but the Region 1 is still in a cruddy snapper. Extras are minimal childish fluff.

Scooby Doo Meet The Boo Brothers.......2004-05-12

Just replaced my VHS version with a DVD. A wonderful bonus area with a Shaggy trivia game and a music video that I hadn't seen on other Scooby Doo DVDs. By far the best of the original Scooby animated movies about Shaggy trying to solve the clues to the family fotune. You don't see them eatting as much as other Scooby works but they scares and thrills are there just the same.

Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers.......2004-05-11

the best of the Scooby Doo clasic movies has all the hi-jinx you expect of the fraidy two-some without all the monster snacks you normally expect. The ghost busters who are real ghosts themselves are like the three stooges and the riddles of the treasure hunt makes it fun for the whole family.

Average customer rating:

Great Stuff!
5 stars for a few reasons
one of the best crappy movies
The movie is as bad (good) as the title!!!
REDNECK ZOMBIES - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT DVD REVIEW:

Redneck Zombies
Starring: Steve Sooy , Anthony M. Carr , Keith Johnson , Ken Davis , and Stan Morrow
Director: Pericles Lewnes
Manufacturer: TROMA ENTERTAINMENT INC.
ProductGroup: DVD
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Rabid Grannies
Terror Firmer
Tromeo and Juliet
Class of Nuke'Em High
Surf Nazis Must Die

ASIN: 6305058873
Release Date: 1998-07-08

Description

When redneck dirt-farmers accidentally drink a barrel of nuclear waste they transform into tobacco chewing, flesh eating, cannibal kinfolk from hell! Meanwhile, seven sophisticated city slickers on vacation get lost in the woods and encounter a nightmare world of these illiterate, and extremely hungry, undead appalachains. While the tourists hikers use all their wits and courage to stay alive, more and more "down-home" types imbibe the nasty brew until Redneck Zombies are everywhere. What started as a scenic nature-hike turns into a bloodbath of dismemberment and cannibalism! Redneck Zombies, the directorial debut of effects genius Pericles Lewnes (Troma's War, Toxic Avenger Part II and III), was the first feature film shot on video!

Customer Reviews:

Great Stuff!.......2007-06-17

This is definitely one of my favorite movies. It has bad acting. Bad script. Silly gags. Disgusting situations. Tons of gore. Nonsensical activity. It has everything that makes a great bad movie! Now, if you don't like movies that are campy, cheap, silly, over-the-top (or whatever other term you want to use), then you obviously won't like this one. You shouldn't even rent it. In fact, you shouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole--because this is one of the best bad movies ever made.

Yes, the acting is bad, but the key is that it's not boring. Yes, the script isn't going to win any awards, but it's not boring. Yes, the gags... well, I think you see the pattern. This isn't a sophisticated movie--it never pretends or tries to be. It's just a *fun* movie. What I really don't understand are the bad reviews here by people who say they like campy horror movies. I don't doubt their sincerity or honesty, I just don't understand how they couldn't at least give this movie a pass.

So, what is so good about this movie in my opinion? Let me count the ways! (a cheesy movie deserves a somewhat cheesy review) First, I loved the sound effects and music. I don't like country music, but the theme for this movie is just awesome, and much of the other sounds in the movie emphasise the campiness of the movie, but in a good way. Second, this movie has a lot of funny and memorable jokes. One of my favorites is when an illiterate farmer is looking at a barrel of nuclear waste, and in trying to read what is on the side of the container, points at it and says "Do not... open till... Christmas," with the last word being represented by a nuclear symbol. This movie is full of such silly jokes and campy dialogue.

Third, the movie gives you lots of things to think about, though because of the otherwise silly context, it never seems overbearing or condescending. Really, these situations just seem really wierd until you try to think about what is being said. One example of this involved a tied up girl on a couch, a really strange guy sitting next to her, and images of baby chickens being slaughtered on tv. It's freaky; it also makes you ask "what the hell is THAT about?"

Fourth, for such a campy movie, the characters are actually fairly well established early on, and developed nicely throughout the movie. In fact, there's a lot more characterization involved here than in most hollywood block busters. If you actually like this movie, you won't easily forget Ellie May, or the drunk mute guy, or the Tobacco man. The characters here are definitely not your cookie cutter horror movie kills-waiting-to-happen.

And the fifth reason that I love this movie... it's unabashedly consistent, fun cheesiness. It doesn't try to be your typical horror-comedy, it's just total silliness (e.g., the kills are gory, but not gruesome).

If you're a fan of horror-comedy and/or silly low-budget movies, then I'd definitely recommend this one. It's one of the best that I've seen.

5 stars for a few reasons.......2006-09-02

Normally a movie of such low budget and acting skills would not receive about 3 stars. There are a few reasons why I have given it 4 stars.

1. The ending of the film is great. Most low budget zombie films are good until the ending.
2. The scenes of the people running away from the zombies are creative and funny. This movie was made over 10 years ago and used the comedy part of a man acting like a zombie to avoid being lunch.
3. The strange rednecks bring characters to each of the zombies instead of random walking rotting corpses.
4. The guy drinking various alcohols in each scene is great.
5. Each time you watch it, you catch something new.
6. Zombies don't look like video game zombies like the ones in "House of the Dead" and other bad films like that. Zombies are bad but bad in a funny way.
7. Using the still to spread the zombie plague is great. Even how the moonshine is dropped off shows a few classic scenes.

one of the best crappy movies.......2006-05-04

This is def. a real "B" or Indie movie, shot on video. But as far as super low budget zombie movies, this is the best. Seems to be around the same budget as films like Flesh Freaks, and Dead Life for example and this blows them out of the water. Its funny and gory..holds true to TROMA Entertainment. Noticable influences from The Toxic Avenger, Zombie, and Day of The Dead. If your a zombie or troma fan, buy this dvd.

The movie is as bad (good) as the title!!!.......2006-02-27

This is one of the funniest movies evermade, it is also incredibly gory. I don't
know what the other viewers were expecting when they watched this fantastically horrible piece of garbage but if you go in watching with incredibly low expectations, like I did, you will be very happy. This movie is best viewed with a like minded friend so that someone is there to laugh when you make a third rate MST3K comment. If you like anything from Troma you must buy this movie.

REDNECK ZOMBIES - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT DVD REVIEW:.......2006-02-05

Obviously this movie is crap, what do you expect? I knew before watching this movie it was going to be s##t. This type of movie is suppose to be funny even though it is listed under the horror category in your local video store.

FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN WATCHING THIS MOVIE, GET REALLY HIGH OR DO SOME KIND OF DRUG BEFORE YOU WATCH IT.

Average customer rating:

Throw "Sweet Insanity", "Madhouse" and "See No Evil" into a blender and pour out "Boo!"
Pretty good ghost story
Different horror movie
Awful
A Sad Mess Filled With Missed Opportunities & Lots Of Potential

Boo
Starring: Trish Coren , Rachel Harland , Jilon Ghai , Happy Mahaney , and Shirlene Quigley
Director: Anthony C. Ferrante
Manufacturer: Kismet / Graveyard
ProductGroup: DVD
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Ring Around the Rosie
House of 9
The Dark Hours
Creep
The Dark (2005)

ASIN: B000ARFQ0C
Release Date: 2005-10-25

Description

Some hospitals don't have the 13th Floor. Santa Mira Hospital shouldn't have had a third. It's something a group of five college students discover when they enter an abandoned hospital on Halloween night only to discover that rumors about the place being haunted are very real. Running into other people who are trapped in the hospital, they uncover the truth about a vengeful spirit who is hell bent on making sure no one, except himself, gets out alive.

Customer Reviews:

Throw "Sweet Insanity", "Madhouse" and "See No Evil" into a blender and pour out "Boo!".......2007-02-03

For a straight-to-dvd, this is not a bad horror movie. It is somewhere between "Sweet Insanity", "Madhouse" and "See No Evil". The acting is pretty bad, but it doesn't detract too much from the story. There are some good special effects here and there, along with some genuine scary parts.

The story takes too long to move along and gets confusing when it goes too many places at once. This is especially true towards the end. Trish Coren reminded me a little bit of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, which probably isn't the best thing for a horror movie. But, she's cute and with some acting lessons could go places. The same is not true of the rest of the cast. Even flawed, it's worth a rental.

Pretty good ghost story.......2006-12-26

The only things in the negative was that some of the acting wasn't that great, and the ending was a little forced. But, for a low budget film, they did an excellent job in making it creepy. The special effects were top notch. There are a few scares throughout that made me jump or squirm. This one is worth yout time and $$

Different horror movie.......2006-11-30

I really liked this movie. Not only is it different in the story, but it takes place in a real psychiatric hospital that is haunted. Look up the "Linda Vista Hospital" where the movie is filmed on the net. It is great!! Ok, the movie did start out a little corney and slow, but it really took of in the middle and the end. Great story and good acting!!! Highly recommended!!!

Awful.......2006-10-24

BOO has to be the worst horror movie I have seen in a long time. Poorly conceived, badly acted (and, boy, is the acting BAD), atrociously written, sloppily directed and lacking anything approaching a genuine sense of atmosphere, this film has virtually nothing to recommend it. There are occasional (VERY occasional) glimpses of the film that might have been, but every opportunity is wasted and all we're left with is ninety tedious minutes of teenage histrionics and unnecessary (and unconvincing) gore. Even some of the potentially disturbing imagery (not to mention the presence of Dee Wallace Stone - oh, how careers can plummet!) cannot save it. The one thought I came away with at the end is 'How do people with so little talent and aptitude actually get the opportunity and funding to make a film like this in the first place?' I guess that's one of life's more baffling mysteries, that and the assumption on the part of film makers that horror fans will accept any old rubbish. Avoid this film like the plague. It is truly, truly dreadful.

A Sad Mess Filled With Missed Opportunities & Lots Of Potential.......2006-10-22

I give this hack job the extra star for the fact that it had some very creepy visuals a handful of jumpy scares & a good idea for a story. How sad is it though when that kind of potential can't crutch the horrible outcome,wich resides in plot-hole central USA,home of the university of bad acting & laughable endings(UBALE). Oh man! Horror fans! "BOO" could have been an excellent new low-budget horror flick if it had a tighter script with a much better ending & included some half decent actors who actually had a grip on there character's. All & all what we are left with is an all over the place mess with some good visuals & scares. So many missed opportunities & so much potential lost. What a sad waste!

Average customer rating:

*Whip/Crack* went this frumpy tale...
Lies...
SCAT KISS? NO THANKS
not many films like these are being made today....
Not a shock

Lies
Starring: Sang Hyun Lee , Tae Yeon Kim , Hyun Joo Choi , Kwon Taek Han , and Hyuk Poong Kwon
Director: Sun-Woo Jang
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
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In the Realm of the Senses
Lie With Me
9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
L' Ennui
Pola X

ASIN: B00005RFHF
Release Date: 2002-01-22

Customer Reviews:

*Whip/Crack* went this frumpy tale..........2006-09-11

I was at first disgusted with director Sun-Woo Jang because I had felt that he cheated me. Jang had the potential to create a strong, deeply emotional film about sex and its effects on people, but instead chose to focus his strength on the pornography element more than the actual human element. I couldn't see the characters at first and his sloppy introduction which blended both realism and cinema together was amateurish at best ... yet this film remained in my mind for days after I viewed it. What stayed with me wasn't the story, it wasn't the characters, nor was it the apparent pornographic nature of the film, but the transition that Jang demonstrated between Y and J. If you watch this film carefully, you will see that both begin in an exploration phase of their relationship, eager to jump into the unknown, but not quite certain the next step. As they continue to meet, exploring new avenues of pleasure, they continually jump between the aggressor and the aggressed. Jang initially explores the idea that J is the one that in control of the situation, then hauntingly, the reversal happens when J becomes obsessed with Y. It is a very small change, and due to the graphic content of this film, it can easily be missed, but it is there. It becomes apparently clear near the end when J cannot live with Y, as their meetings become less frequent, and J attempts to become a part of normal society. This was a huge and very exciting element to this film to see right before your eyes, but alas, it was the only element of this film worth viewing.

I will ignore those that speak of this film as nothing more than pornographic, because there are human elements at the core of this film, as underdeveloped as they are, they are there. It is a film about a facet of our lives that is very rarely explored in cinema or talked about in the papers. What happens behind closed doors is never known ... or so we should believe. While the act itself does becomes repetitive after a bit, director Jang tries to change it up a bit with some constantly changing scenery. Our characters are continually moving from hotel room to hotel room to best quench their thirst for each other's flesh. This is fun at first, but again, Jang's repetitive streak seems to make it feel boring than exciting. This leads me to the biggest issue that I had with this film. Jang had a great story with Gojitmal, but where he failed (outside of the obvious choice to focus directly on the pornographic side) was that he took scenes, repeated them time and again, without changing in front of us to allow us to get to know the characters. Where was Jang going with this movie? Did he want the sex to tell the stories, or did he believe the characters would? He failed in this sense because by the end of the film we know so little about Y and J that we could care less how they resolve themselves. The ending seems almost random at best as Jang attempts to create a final resolution for our two, absolute unknowns, of this film. I have to give Jang some credit for trying, but not much. He attempted to create some sub-stories that would create the personal element that we were lacking, but they just couldn't congeal well together. Y's brother and J's wife were those plot points, but again, due to him focusing so strongly on the sexual element, these stronger sub-stories became un-rememberable and down-right dull. Maybe it was just how I viewed this film, but outside of the sexual scenes, nothing else worked together. We knew nothing about J and Y and that is why Gojitmal failed.

Finally, I would like to say that this film could have benefited from having a strong score or a daftly remote music genre element to it to bring us, the viewers, closer to the emotions being felt by J and Y. From what I can remember, and I am trying to push this film far from my mind, I don't remember any musical undertones. Gojitmal may have been a stronger film if Jang either stylized it with music or done something to allude towards our character's beings. While I understand that he wanted the sex to speak for itself, there was just a technical element missing from this film that may have quenched a stronger desire for more. Technically, this was a poor film. Obviously an independent film in nature, it felt more like director Jang was trying to make symbolic references out of nothing instead of your typical independent of this nature. I didn't see as much of a social message or human element like mentioned above, I just felt like he threw this film together over the course of two weeks and understood that the sex would sell it enough. This was no Larry Clark production; this was sub-par and definitely needed some further technical clicks to develop it stronger than the final release!

Overall, I think I could have liked this film and there were smaller elements that I did enjoy, but I felt this film was rushed, repetitive, and played too much towards the taboos instead of breaking them. The obvious pitfalls of this film can be seen by the last scene of this film when we are privy to how the title of this film was conceived. Our characters were uneventful, our story was underdeveloped, and we could have used something memorable to make what was happening between Y and J into something more symbolic than sex. To me, Jang was trying too much to capture art house meets pornographic ... and it failed miserably. This was not a film worth the time and effort that it took to make.

Grade: ** out of *****

Lies..........2005-10-01

This Korean production left me somewhat suprised. That is, it was a love story. Yes, a slightly twisted love story. My view is that interaction between our main characters was love indeed. In any relationship, there must be a willingness to give and take, to stand firm, to compromise. The attention that they pay to each other during their 'sessions.' Remember, the beatings was only part of the retinue, it functioned as their appetizer, their main course, their dessert.

Another point that I'd like to make. A reviewer commented that the man wasn't really masculine at all (skinny, wimpy...). This is exactly the point of this 'man.' Because of his size, it shows that while he is a man, he is also small enough to be 'handled' by the girl (in the movie, you'll see what 'handled' means!). So, pay attention!

If you choose to buy/view this film, look for the 'lies' behind the relationships in this film (and maybe we'll all learn something!). Five stars!

SCAT KISS? NO THANKS.......2005-07-22

I watched this in the hope of an erotic tale. Needless to say that is not what I got. The movie does start out in that direction, but soon spirals out of control into whipping and beating. (Not to mention the low point of the film: A scat kiss.) The character J at first seems to be a sadist, as he begins whipping Y prior to having sex with her. Later in the film the whip is turned on him and his true colors begin to emerge. As this relationship progresses it seems more and more like J is just taking advantage of Y's desperate circumstances to satisfy his own obsession with the whip. I found that there was no real connection between them as the whipping becomes so pathetic you just have to laugh at him. Pass on this film.

not many films like these are being made today...........2005-01-22

Capt. Freaky usually loves any kind of S&M sex stuff....however, this movie falls short of being a 5 star film because it lacks the quality of people we want to watch screwing! The girl is pretty enough (I suppose) but the man is "girly", skinny and not impressive as a "dominant" who can control any woman and whip her into submission...

Its appropriate that later in the film, he starts getting beaten and whipped by her....she cuts her hair very short (butch looking) and begins to take over as the man in this film. There are alot of "simulated" sex scenes... and a lot of nudity, so I gave it 3 stars for a few sexually tense moments, that are quite suggestive. Its always a turn on for most of us when an older man or couple becomes involved with a dumb, horny,teen....

I suppose considering its now 2005...this film goes places no film dares to go these days....its not full blown "porn" however...there are no "money shots" in this film.

To sum up my review...its a weak, "Asian" version of some of the old Euro-trash, soft porn stuff from the 1970's. Except most of those films are more interesting to watch and better to use as "foreplay" to poke your significant other, than this film would be....I imagine this film would be a serious turn on for a 45 yr old Asian housewife, who dreams all day about whipping the crap out of a naked, 18 yr old high school girl, who may be sleeping with her husband. Yeah for those women...this would be an exceptional foreplay film! Si-o-nara!

Not a shock.......2004-06-10

The movie it's attractive until the half, with plenty of love scenes and sadistic ones, but it's not as shocking as other movies. The movie becomes very disgusting when J wants to be whipped and he wants to be dominated, that's very weird. The problem it's the voice off and the sudden changes of rythm, when things go right, suddenly the image it's distortionated or the colour changes. However you can see the movie with no problem, I can't consider it a porn movie.

Average customer rating:

Perfect for any age!
2 year old grandson really likes Elmo
Great!
Great Movie!
Elmo Says Boo

Sesame Street - Elmo Says Boo
Starring: Carlo Alban , Alan Arkin , Paul Benedict , Larry Block , and Lexine Bondoc
Director: Jim Henson , Jim Martin , Randall Balsmeyer , Victor DiNapoli , and Ken Diego
Manufacturer: Sesame Street
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Sesame Street - A Magical Halloween Adventure
Elmo Saves Christmas
Sesame Street - Elmo's World - Happy Holidays
Sesame Street - The Best of Elmo
Elmo's World - Wake up with Elmo!

Product Features:

Collect them all!

ASIN: B0000687C9
Release Date: 2002-07-16

Amazon.com

A Halloween treat. Elmo visits fellow Sesame Street Muppet the Count in the latter's castle--and gets scared for a moment. But only a moment, as more friends from the television program show up, and jokes, songs, and surprises abound. Among the clever tunes: "Transylvania 1-2-3-4-5," "We Are All Monsters," and "Frazzle." --Tom Keogh

Product Description

This is a Sesame Street Elmo Says Boo DVD. In this Sesame Street Elmo Says Boo DVD, Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Baby Bear and Telly visit The Count's spooky castle. Songs include "Transylvania 1-2-3-4-5," "The Batty Bat" and "We Are All Monsters." It's a frightfully good time!

Customer Reviews:

Perfect for any age!.......2007-05-14

I bought this video for my son 3 years ago when he was 2. He played it so much I had to buy a new one for his little sister, because the DVD froze too much. I even bought a 3rd one for my godson. My son now 5 still loves to watch it. He knows all the words to the fun songs. We dance and sing to every song on the DVD. The DVD has funny Halloween jokes, catchy tunes, and of course Elmo is cute as ever when he tries to scare guest, Julia Roberts. Its a great DVD the whole family can enjoy! Totally recommended.

2 year old grandson really likes Elmo.......2007-04-15

My grandson's favorite character on Sesame Street is Elmo and wants his mom to watch this with him most every day.

Great!.......2007-01-09

My daughter who is 22 months old loves Elmo so this is a great DVD she watch's it over and over again..

Great Movie!.......2006-12-22

My 17 month old daughter LOVES this movie. If your looking for a movie with the Count in it this is the one. Hes in almost every scene, and they show a few of his songs too!

Elmo Says Boo.......2006-11-07

My 18 month old grandson loves this video and so do I. He watches this video over and over from start to finish. My grandson loves "The Count" and all of his counting songs.

Playhouse Disney Halloween (Just Say Boo/A Spookie Ookie Halloween)

Average customer rating:

Worst Menu EVER!!!
I agree a GREAT PICK!!
Great Pick
Not worth the money

Playhouse Disney Halloween (Just Say Boo/A Spookie Ookie Halloween)
Starring: Andrea Rosario , Michael Mylett , Dane Hammond , Aleisha Allen , and Vivian Bayubay
Director: Steve Feldman (III) , Maureen Thorp , and Richard A. Fernandes
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Rolie Polie Olie - Olie's Winter Wonderland
Rolie Polie Olie - Springy-Time Fun
Rolie Polie Olie - Baby Bot Chase
Rolie Polie Olie - The Great Defender of Fun
A Very Playhouse Disney Holiday

ASIN: B0000A1HUF
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Amazon.com

The Book of Pooh: Just Say Boo
For those who found the animated Pooh video series a disappointment compared to the original Disney featurettes (compiled in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), the Book of Pooh may revive interest. Its puppetry gives child viewers the delightful impression of their stuffed toys come to life. Although this new Disney Channel series still offers more lesson-oriented storytelling than the whimsy of the A.A. Milne-based originals, it has its own charm. This 46-minute offering contains three fright-oriented stories with Halloween in mind. The first--a double-length episode--focuses on Eeyore's move to the Scary Woods while the rest of the gang dreams up creepy costumes to win the contest at Kanga's holiday party. Piglet finds a black hat he thinks makes him brave and Tigger, Piglet, and Rabbit get spooked house sitting for Owl in the other two stories. --Kimberly Heinrichs
Rolie Polie Olie: A Spookie Ookie Halloween
To describe Playhouse Disney's perennial preschool favorite, think Teletubbies meets The Jetsons. This loving, traditional family--Mr. And Mrs. Polie, 6-year-old Olie, sister Zowie, and Grandpa Pappy--are hairless beings with antennas, glassy eyes and noodle arms, set in a fruit-striped computer animated household of living appliances. Okey Dokey? While parents scratch their heads as to what makes this program work, preschoolers are enamored with the soothing storylines, predictable endings and deliberate pace of the Emmy-award winning show. A trio of hardly-haunted tales makes up this celebratory 24-minute video. If Charlie Brown gets the Great Pumpkin, then Olie can dream of the giant orange Spookie Ookie, which he does in "The Legend of Spookie Ookie." In "Oooh Scary," Olie and his pal Billy plan to give Zowie the fright of her life but the shivers come back to haunt them, much to her delight. And in "Zowie Queen of the Pumpkins," the spookie ookiest day of the year! becomes a sweet memory of dancing with spook-o-lanterns when Zowie meets a midnight friend in the pumpkin patch. (Ages 2-5) --Lynn Gibson

Description

Ever wonder what goes on in a pumpkin patch during the fall season? Pumpkin Season is a Read-A-Long DVD Picture Book. This wonderful story is about a cute little pumpkin named Reggie. He can't wait to go to the jack-o-lantern auditions and play pumpkin games at the seasonal patch parties. However, in pumpkin society you either qualify to become a jack-o-lantern, or you are kicked out of the patch and made into pie by the Bakerman.

The Bakerman never makes pies out of the official jack-o-lanterns, but he has a big pie order to fill and now all pumpkins are up for grabs, especially Reggie. Reggie's courage unites the pie pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns and they all join together with the jack-o-lantern ghosts of Halloweens past to defeat the Bakerman. The jack-o-lanterns finally realize that big or small scary or not, they are all the same. And from now on all pumpkins will be Holiday jack-o-lanterns, thanks to Reggie.

This wonderful story is for all ages. Special features include, animated intro, on-screen story text so children can read along, your choice of male or female narrator (kids pick), a full screen gallery with music track. Images are highly detailed and colorful 3D computer generated illustrations. Length is approximately 30 minutes, language is English.

Customer Reviews:

Worst Menu EVER!!!.......2005-10-31

This is the second year that we have pulled out this seasonal DVD and my son enjoys them now just as much as he did last year. The reason I started warehousing seasonal DVDs was because of the level of frustration I have with this menu. First of all there is a verbose and utterly unnecessary narration about how to use the menu. Once you get past it or hit MENU on your remote to shut the guy up then the play all function from the main menu doesn't even work. You can then go into a sub menu for each show. Just in case you didn't catch in the first time there is yet another explanation of how to use the menu. When I press MENU at this point I am removed from the all menus and have to start over. I can take it for a few weeks a year but it's going back into storage as soon as the jack-o-lanterns hit the trash can. I have to give this DVD a one just based on the poor menu design.

I agree a GREAT PICK!!.......2005-10-12

We, too, never had any trouble bypassing the menu. This is another great creation by Disney. For any kids and parents who adore Playhouse Disney, this is the DVD for you, just sweet Halloween cheer. We would rate it a 10 if we could. It is one of our favorites!!!

Great Pick.......2004-01-08

I just wanted to say that I have never experienced any problems with our DVD taking too long to load. It is just like any other DVD, when you put it in you wait for the restriction info, hit menu, hit menu again to skip the bit that explains how to use the DVD and hit play. It starts just like all the rest. I think it is great that they are slowly getting these switched to DVD. I love Rolie Polie Olie and my son loves it too. It's defintely worth the $$$ or whatever it is.

Not worth the money.......2003-10-22

This DVD is not worth the money (might buy it for $5.00). The beginning is this long drawn out explanation of how to use the main menu and about the spooky ghost who will try to scare you as you make your selections (I'm not kidding you, it takes 3 to 5 minutes to get to the right screen to start the program you want to watch then another 2-3 minutes to start it from there). My daughter was screaming for Rolie Polie Olie and I couldn't skip the main menu to start it and then it was only 20 minutes long (there's Pooh bear on it too). Don't buy it!!

Average customer rating:

Fun for Peek-a-boo enthusiasts

Brainy Baby - Peek-A-Boo
Starring: Brainy Baby
Manufacturer: BRAINY BABY
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Brainy Baby - Laugh & Learn
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ASIN: B0001NXNRI
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Product Description

The very best way to help develop your child?s brain is to give them what they need to do it! This brain-stimulating video helps nurture such important skills as object permanence, communication skills, cause-and-effect, language development and many others. Babies and toddlers will delight in eye-catching visuals, silly faces, rhymes and music, and lots of Peek-a-boo games!

Customer Reviews:

Fun for Peek-a-boo enthusiasts.......2006-08-08

My now 20-month-old has loved this video for several months, since he became obsessed with peek-a-boo. It's not non-stop peek-a-boo but enough to satisfy his need. The music and acting is pleasant and realistic, not overly dramatic or annoying for grown ups. It shows scenes of babies and toddlers playing peek-a-boo, parents singing to their kids (e.g., wheels on the bus, you are my sunshine, etc.), cartoon segments, and nature scenes (which don't really fit with the theme of games/songs/play but what the heck, my son loves it all).

Average customer rating:

In the memory of a free festival
Good "Scary" Science Fiction with Human Drama
No Monkey's Uncle
Deadtime for Bonzo...
7/10 Strange

Monkey Shines
Starring: Jason Beghe , John Pankow , Kate McNeil , Joyce Van Patten , and Christine Forrest
Director: George A. Romero
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bruiser
The Crazies
Knightriders
The Dark Half
Martin

ASIN: 0792841336
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Amazon.com

George A. Romero monkeys with nature in this gripping and fearful tale based on the novel by Michael Stewart. Allan Mann (John Beghe) is a law student who's hit by a truck while jogging, leaving him a quadriplegic. Luckily, his scientist friend Geoffrey (John Pankow) is experimenting with capuchin monkeys, making them smarter with injections of human genetic material. Geoffrey arranges with Melanie (Kate McNeil)--who's working on an experimental program that matches monkeys with paraplegics to perform guide-dog functions--to train his prize subject, Ella (Boo), to act as Allan's helper. Allan is paralyzed from the neck down, confined to a wheelchair he moves by working a lever with his mouth. He's really vulnerable. Ella can fetch things and do errands, and a real emotional bond develops between Mann and monkey. Too strong a bond, it turns out, as Allan begins to experience dreams from the monkey's-eye view (capuchin-cam), Ella's boosted intelligence giving her the residual benefit of a telepathic ability in which the monkey begins to act out Allan's subconscious rage. Allan's nurse, former girlfriend, doctor, even his mother are terrorized by the creepy capuchin, leading to a showdown between Ella and Allan himself. With Allan trapped in a house, alone with a super-intelligent and malevolent monkey, there is plenty of suspense to make you rip holes in your upholstery. But perhaps even more tension could have been wrung out of this story if Ella had been more sympathetic (being as she was the victim of a scientific experiment gone bad), her wicked antics the acts of a kind of exterminating angel. Performances are brilliant by both Ella and Jason Beghe, who turns in one of cinema's most accurate and intelligent depictions of a high-level quadriplegic character. --Jim Gay

Description

From writer/director George Romero, the man who unleashed Night of the Living Dead, comes a 'terrific psychological thriller (L.A. Weekly) that delivers a disturbing message about messing with Mother Nature. Starring Jason Beghe ( Melrose Place ) and Janine Turner ( Northern Exposure ), this riveting tale is a white-knuckle triumph [that doesn't] let up (Newsweek)! Allan Mann (Beghe) is a bitter, angry and vengeful man ever since an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. He's fed up with himself and everyone around him. All that changes when he's given Ella, a monkey trained to meet his every need. But when Ella begins anticipating Allan's thoughts, strangeand deadly things start happening. And as she stalks and wreaks havoc on Allan's fair-weather girlfriend (Turner), incompetent doctor and meddling mother, Allan realizes he must stop the cunning maniacal creature...before she takes over his mind!

Customer Reviews:

In the memory of a free festival.......2006-04-25

My recollection of this flick is hazy. I saw it late night in the London West End as part of the National Film Festival. There was no one on the door so I just sat down without paying. Niavely I assumed film festivals must be free. Good old fashioned British incompetence was the more likely culprit.

After a promising start it became apparent that George had decided to eschew his auteur style in favour of a strange hybrid of Hitchcock homage and Russ Meyer. That may make it sound more colourful than the laughable and undistinguished results. At one point during the interminable proceedings I recognised a borrowed speech from Doctor Logan in 'Day of the Dead' about civilization that seemed extraneous.

Romero is a talented director who is either 'on' or 'off' and when he's off, the results are invariably puzzling. Despite its appearence at the festival, no further Monkey Business was seen at the local multiplexes which was probably a blessing for the old boy.

Good "Scary" Science Fiction with Human Drama.......2005-12-16

The story is not only scary but has both science fiction and human drama. I think the good acting helps the film not to appear silly as the idea of laboratory experiments on animals cause human to mentally connect to the experimental animals is silly.

Since murder and violence are part of the film, this is not something you can relax with or feel warm afterwards... I still think as a scary science fiction it is well made in terms of story telling, sound and photography effect, and acting.

I am not personally into scary movies because lots of unhappy people appear in them, but I am okay with this one.

No Monkey's Uncle.......2005-06-30

George Romero has a knack for creating suspenseful horror movies using very little in the way of anything. His movies rely on atmosphere with a dash of special effects. In this case, the horror comes from a (not so) innocent little monkey. Well, the monkey is innocent, but the monkey's master is not.

We start the movie off with a little bedroom action, which is really just a teaser to get you into the movie. We see a little bit of skin as we meet Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) and Linda Aikman (Janine Turner). We quickly learn that Allan is very fit, and he is quickly out on his morning jog, when he has a close encounter of the grill kind. Unfortunately, such encounters end badly, and in this one Allan becomes a (nasty) quadriplegic. Of course, going from a fit, macho man to a quadriplegic is sufficiently traumatic that it would upset nearly everyone, and Allan reacts to the situation quite badly. He is helped down the road to rage by the departure of girlfriend Linda.

Luckily for Allan he has a brilliant friend working at Allan's university, Geoffrey Fisher (John Pankow) and his brilliant friend arranges for Melanie Parker (Kate McNeil) to train a Capuchin monkey for Allan to use as a helper. In many other movies we would see touching moments and in the end Allan would develop a cure of some incurable disease, or win a Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. In a George Romero movie, something sinister is going to happen. In this case the sinister is the experiments the Geoffrey has been performing on the normally harmless monkeys, experiments where Geoffrey injects human brain soup into them to try to increase their intelligence. To this point Geoffrey has met with little success, but the pairing of Allan and monkey Ella (played by monkey Boo - seriously) turns out to be fortuitous, or not, depending on which character you are in the movie.

It seems that this time the treatment has formed some sort of empathic bond between Ella and Allan. The bond appears to work both ways. Allan picks up on Ella's primal behavior, and Ella picks up on Allan's feelings of frustration, rage and revenge. The empathy the two feel becomes increasing the feelings each have, and eventually Ella begins to act on Allan's feelings, with murder and mayhem being the result.

This movie has its high points and its low points. The movie is relatively bloodless, so if you are looking for a gore-fest you should probably move on. The tension in the movie builds, but there is little actual surprise, except for the ending. You can even figure out who will die because Romero makes most of the people who die deserving of death. Indeed, one of the low points of this movie is how stereotypical the characters are.

Some of the most annoying stereotypes are main character Allan, who likely was arrogant before he died, but now he has become what he probably previously looked down on. So now he is taking out his frustrations on anyone and everyone. Allan's mother Dorothy (Joyce Van Patten) was genuinely concerned about Allan, but I also thought she was a bit obnoxious (like mother, like son?).

The worst character was probably Geoffrey Fisher. I am not a big fan of scientists as portrayed by most movies because they are unbelievable. Geoffrey was supposed to be a "real" scientist, but his behavior was most unscientific, particularly for someone who was supposed to be on the cutting edge of science. Science is often made the scapegoat for these sorts of movies, when in reality it is some weirdo who thinks he is a scientist, but turns out to be psychotic. You have to admit, turning a poor little monkey into a killer was brilliant. Even more brilliant is how Geoffrey acted like he was surprised that the monkey was a vicious killer.

I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars for this movie. I wanted to give the movie 4 stars because of how well Romero filmed the scenes involving the monkey. However, the stereotypes and overacting tended to push the movie down in my estimation. Also, though I thought the ending had its good points, it also had its weaknesses. Thus, though there are places in this movie that rise to the level of 4 stars, overall this movie comes in at a more solid 3 stars.

Deadtime for Bonzo..........2005-06-21

For some reason every time I see anything having to do with monkeys I think of that episode of The Simpson's where actor Troy McClure (you may remember me from such films as...) marries Homer's sister-in-law Selma in a sham wedding and then appears in a musical play titled `Stop the Planet of the Apes I want to get off!', singing the following lines...

Troy: [singing] 'I hate every ape I see,
From chimpan-a to chimpan-zee,
No, you'll never make a monkey out of me'

But I digress...Monkey Shines (1988) is a film adapted for the screen and directed by horror maven George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Martin), who, incidentally, has a new `dead' film coming out sometime in 2005 titled Land of the Dead. Starring in Monkey Shines is Jason Beghe, who I first saw on the HBO series `1st and Ten' way back in the mid 80's and has gone on to appear in such films as Maid to Order (1987), and G.I. Jane (1997) before settling into a career of forgettable TV movies. Also appearing is John Pankow (To Live and Die in L.A.), Kate McNeil (The House on Sorority Row), Joyce Van Patten (Bone, The Bad News Bears), Christine Forrest, who just happens to be married to the director, Stephen Root (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story), Stanley Tucci (The Core, Shall We Dance), and Janine Turner (Cliffhanger).

As the movie begins we see a young couple nekkid in the bed, and we get half a bum shot of Janine Turner which is then ruined (for me at least), by a lengthier bum shot of Beghe (for this we should have had partial breastage shot from Turner...missed opportunities...oh well). Anyway, the man, named Allan, who is quite fit, begins what appears to be his daily morning jog, only to find himself on the losing end of a face to grill meeting with a truck, thus beginning Allan's new life as a quadriplegic. Adjusting to a life of near immobility is certainly difficult (so much so for the once active Allan), and not made better by the departure of his hot girlfriend (wait to you see who she trades up to). Allan's friend Geoffrey Fisher (Pankow), who is also a medical scientist working at the university Allan attended before the accident, sees that his friend is having difficulties, and arranges for one of the Capuchin monkeys from his lab to be trained by Melanie Parker (McNeil), an expert in the field of training helper monkeys for the disabled. Thing is, Geoffrey's experimentation involves trying to increase the brain power of primates (developing the cognitive skills) by injecting them with serum partially comprised of frozen human brain shavings have not met with the level of success he was hoping for, that is until Ella (the monkey) is paired with Allan, and its discovered that the formula may have worked too well causing a mind meld of sorts between primate and human. This connection allows for a number of things, but it also unleashes some very primal instincts in Allan, ones that Ella begins acting on, and soon people begin to die...

I enjoyed this film, despite my thinking it was just a tad too long. If you are expecting loads of gore based on the fact that this is a Romero film, you are going to be disappointed and should probably skip this one. It's listed as a horror/Sci-Fi film, but I think of it more as a semi-intellectual thriller. The main problem I had with the film was I didn't care for the main character in Allan...now it's understandable his initial bitterness in coping with his injury as I would think the loss of usage of nearly all ones limbs would be a real downer, but what I am talking about goes beyond that in his treatment of those around him, especially his nurse and his mother. Okay, the nurse was a slacker and complainer, but his harping on her didn't help...and his mother...she might have been a tad overbearing, but her heart seemed in the right place and her concern genuine. Neither really deserved the verbal abuse they got from Allan. Oh, wait, Allan's abusive nature stemmed from his close relationship with Ella, and the unleashing (perhaps transference) of primal furies...whatever...seemed to me Allan had more of an effect on Ella than she did on him. Ella, after her training, existed only to serve and protect Allan, obeying his every command. And something else I had a little problem with was the scientific credibility of Pankow's character. His methods certainly left something to be desired and I hardly bought off on the notion that he was some sort of acclaimed researcher on the cutting edge of brain/intelligence studies. The lack of scientific `veracity' doesn't break the film, but it could have been a little tighter...and why in the world would he donate his best test subject in such a manner? I know he and Allan were friends, but come on now...here's another question for anyone who has seen the film...why did Geoffrey take two hypodermic needles (when only one was needed) with him prior to the final confrontation? Other than it was a necessity for the plot? Perhaps the 2nd hypo was a backup, but I'd doubt it as Pankow's impulsive and erratic character wasn't they type to think in terms of safeguards and backups...anyway...this was a case for me where the supporting more or less cast carried the film, as I never felt any real connection with Beghe or his character (too jerky for me). He did well enough in the calm moments, but appeared too overwrought during the tense scenes. I think my favorite characters, besides the monkey (who was quite expressive) was played by Forrest (the nurse), Van Patten (Allan's mother), and the arrogant Dr. Wiseman (Tucci). One thing that puzzled me was the subplot with Geoffrey and his boss, Dean Burbage (Root). Was that supposed to go anywhere? Seems to me they could have cut those scenes out and saved about ten minutes or so...the real strength in the film lies in the direction as Romero does really well in setting scenes up and just creating and maintaining a general sense of suspense...the story may have been lacking in some areas, but the flow was generally strong, and the plot moved along, leading up to a dramatic finish.

The picture on this DVD, available in both widescreen (1.85:1) and pan and scan, looks sharp and clear, and suffers no noticeable defects. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround audio comes through well enough, but could use a little boost. In terms of special features there really isn't much except for a short `collectable' booklet (what's so collectable about it?) and a theatrical trailer for the film. All in all I'd give this 3 ½ stars...

Cookieman108

By the way, it was stated no monkeys were harmed in the making of this film...it says nothing about budgies, though...and as far as the Simpson's reference I made earlier, I know the film is more akin to the episode where Homer got his own helper monkey named Mojo...

7/10 Strange.......2005-06-15

I shoulda reviewed this like 2 weeks ago when I actually saw this film, so many of the details are getting a little fuzzy. Still, the pertinent information remains, but I'll have to keep it short.

'Monkey Shines' is one of the least popular titles in Romero's filmography. It's certainly not one of his best, but when it gets going it's just obscenely fun and eccentric. Problem is, the film isn't going all the time. This movie is based on a high concept idea: 'Paralyzed man does battle with murderous helper monkey' This is a wacky, amusing idea, and the scenes involving this scenario are... wacky and amusing. But, this is only about the final 30 minutes of the film. That's the big problem with this movie: too much padding, and too many subplots. Hell, the monkey doesn't even kill anyone until an hour into the film. Now I, being the easily amused sort, was always reasonably entertained throughout the film, but the fact is that it really does meander about a lot. There are a number of subplots that go absolutely nowhere, specifically the one about the conflict between the main character's chemist friend and his department head, and the one about the strained relationship between him and his mother. That and the setup of the main plot is a bit too prolonged.

Again, however, once it gets going it's a total hoot. Despite the fact that I generally find monkey's to be ugly, repulsive creatures, Ella is quite adorable, in her way. She's kinda ugly, but her whole anthropomorphic manner is just great. Now, it's nice to see an adorable little monkey scampering about and being friendly, but it's totally great too see a tiny monkey plot vengeance and death via it's beastly cunning and various monkeyous machinations. Of course, this stuff isn't scary or even suspesnseful: The idea of a tiny killer monkey is just too silly. But, it works in it's own way. Also, the film comes to a totally delicious and brilliant climax, which is followed shortly by a spectacularly awesome 'mandatory tacked on scare'. I won't give away any specifics, it'll hurt the film too much. But trust me, it's awesome.

Entertaining stuff. The end.

Grade: B-