The Asylum

Starring:Steffanie Pitt, Nick Waring, Ingrid Pitt, Patrick Mower, Robin Askwith, Colin Baker, ChloÃ« Annett, Paul Reynolds, Jean Boht, Robin Parkinson, Denis Huett, Penn Linfield, Sadie Nine, Antonia Corrigan, Christopher Whitehouse, Hannah Bridges, Terry Taplin, Carolina Giammetta, Jane Shakespeare, Peter Cushing
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Studio: Passion Productions
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
One of the patients in an institution for the incurably insane was once its director, and a young psychiatrist (Robert Powell) has to figure out which one as they all tell him their stories. What better setting for a horror anthology? It's an inspired framing device, making this one of the better examples of the genre, even if screenwriter Robert Bloch at times resorts to gimmicks rather than invention. The first two stories are less than brilliant (the first is highlighted by dismembered body parts neatly wrapped in butcher paper wriggling back to life for revenge), but Charlotte Rampling and Britt Eklund are marvelous in the third tale, about a mentally unbalanced young woman and her dangerous best friend. Herbert Lom is also excellent in the final story as a scientist who carves an army of dolls he claims he can bring to life by sheer will power.

Amazon.com essential video

Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of Psycho victim Janet Leigh; and the obsessed policeman played by Donald Pleasence is named Sam Loomis, after John Gavin's character in Psycho. In the end, though, Halloween stands on its own as an uncannily frightening experience--it's one of those movies that had audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the screen. ("No! Don't drop that knife!") Produced on a low budget, the picture turned a monster profit, and spawned many sequels, none of which approached the 1978 original. Curtis returned for two more installments: 1981's dismal Halloween II, which picked up the story the day after the unfortunate events, and 1998's occasionally gripping Halloween H20, which proved the former baby sitter was still haunted after 20 years. --Robert Horton

Description

Divimax is a High Definition (HD) film transfer process that provides state-of-the-art picture quality--and can be viewed on any home entertainment system.

Customer Reviews:

Halloween.......2007-07-03

John Carpenter's first and best entry in a long series, this movie gives the slasher pic a good name (that is, until you sit through all those pale re-treads). This lean feature works because it's both original and daringly basic: Laurie is a young teenage girl up against a monster, with only her wits and her two feet to protect her from the wrong end of a large butcher knife. Will Laurie and her young charges make it to Thanksgiving? You'll remain on the edge of your seat finding out.

THE NIGHT HE CAME HOME........2007-06-23

I just picked up this movie the other day and i have been a huge fan of the halloween series all my life and just never had the original. I never knew how much I lovede it until yesturday. This movie is awsome and John Carpenter and Debra Hill are genuises. Half the movie is shot in mid day and is still as scary as if was shot in night.This is Jamie lee curtis best film and does a great job in it. I also love Michael is this one the way he walks and such. Anyway pick up this movie it's awsome.

Halloween Movies.......2007-06-20

Oh the good old days of the element of surprise and fear waiting for Michael Meyers to jump out and whack you ! I became a fan in 1978 and still get creeped out when I see Michael.

He Came Home.......2007-06-07

When John Carpenter gave form to "The Shape", aka Michael Myers, he crafted a chilling story of suspense around this murderer. Before the stupid "sister storyline", the attempt at turning Myers into some supernatural bogeyman, or the reboot which only tarnished the original further (Sorry, but Jamie Lee has definitely lost what acting skills she once had), there was the tale of a child who simply was...evil. He came home on Halloween night to relive the horror of his first murder. He was not a man. He was, pure and simply, evil. Now why did we need to know more than that?

Carpenter's Halloween.......2007-05-22

The oldest sister of all psycho-thrillers: a modern revision of the boogeyman's myth shot in 1978 by John Carpenter, probably the only horror movies artisan still in action. Although many of the rudiments of psycho movies can be already find in the first italian giallos and, of course, in Hitchcock's "Psycho", its very calculated prologue contains as if it was a manual all the leit-motives of the genre: the use of the subjective camera and the steadycam for supporting the suspense scenes; atmospherical travellings; obssessive and disturbing sound effects and cold-blood murders. Proving once more that to suggest is more effective than to resort to explicit shots, and looking for a pure horror show without gratuitous violence Carpenter reinvents wisely through the tradition in this very smart and stylised horror classic: for example, the suggestion that colour white can hold a devilish connotation is already in Edgar Poe's " The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket". Donald Pleasance plays the psychiatrist Dr. Loomis, a sort of modern Van Helsing and the man who better knows the evil nature of his patient Michael Myers, recently escaped from the asylum Dr.Loomis rules.

Another chance to recover this indisputable classic. Widescreen edition.

Average customer rating:

Fingersmith
wonderful!!
Fingersmith
This film is beautiful beyond words.....
Finger Smith By Sarah Waters

Fingersmith
Starring: Stephanie Middleton , David Troughton , Imelda Staunton , Karen Seacombe , and Tallulah Pitt-Brown
Director: Aisling Walsh
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A4T804
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Amazon.com

From Sarah Waters, author of Tipping the Velvet, comes this twisting and twisted Victorian-era thriller with an L-word charge. Sally Hawkins stars as Sue, an orphan who grows up among the reprobates of Lant Street to become an accomplished "fingersmith" (thief). Elaine Cassidy costars as Maud Lilly, an heiress who, as a young girl, was plucked from the madhouse and raised by her stern, bibliophile uncle (Charles Dance). He makes her wear gloves at all times so as not to smudge the precious tomes he makes her read every night. Enter Richard Rivers (Rupert Evans, the otherwise sterling cast's weakest link), an artist hired to give her painting lessons. But he has designs on Maude's fortune, and recruits Sue for an elaborate con. That's when the gloves really come off. Originally broadcast on the BBC, this riveting three-part tale of illicit passion and betaryal is by turns harrowing and quite erotic (the tasteful sex scenes manage to generate heat without baring a lot of skin). The literate script reveals its feminist leanings ("You are a man and might do everything," Maude tells Richard during their first meeting. "I am a woman and might do nothing."). The superb cast includes Academy Award-nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as Mrs. Sucksby, a Fagin-esque character who mentored Sue, and has a few surprises for Maud, as well. --Donald Liebenson

Description

Based on the acclaimed novel by Sarah Waters, author of Tipping the Velvet.

The lives of two young women collide in an engrossing Victorian thriller that alternates between the twisting back alleyways of Dickensian London and the cloistered gloom of a Gothic mansion.

Raised in a den of petty thieves or "fingersmiths," plucky orphan Sue Trinder (Sally Hawkins) agrees to help a conman known as Gentleman (Rupert Evans) defraud and betray wealthy heiress Maud Lilly (Elaine Cassidy). But Sue's plans are turned upside down when she falls in love with Maud. Then the women are separated—each to her own hellish prison—just as they realize the strength of their passion for each other . . .

Fingersmith was originally broadcast on the BBC and features Oscar®-nominee and BAFTA-winner Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) and BAFTA-nominee Charles Dance (The Jewel in the Crown).

Customer Reviews:

Fingersmith.......2007-07-05

It was pretty good. I would rate it as 3 stars. It's not a favorite, but I'm glad I watched it. Now that I have seen it, I wouldn't recommend it for a video library or anything.

wonderful!!.......2007-06-21

This was a beautiful film, the characters were very well-rounded, I was convinced that the two women really loved each other and the story took an unexpected twist which I really enjoyed.

Fingersmith.......2007-05-31

I bought this film after buying another on the 'people who bought that sometimes buy this' kind of link. My original purchase was of a DVD called 'Tipping the Velvet' which was based on a book by Sarah Waters. I had seen the original of this when it was screened as a TV mini-series and very much enjoyed it.
Now to the Fingersmith DVD. This film claims to be based on the same book and the synpsis is similar. Other than this there is no similarity in the two films.
Fingersmith has a completely different plot and though it is a good film I cannot see how the makers can claim a link to the original book.
There are some outstanding performances in this film especially by Imelda Staunton.
A good film and worth the time watching it.

This film is beautiful beyond words............2007-05-17

Being a big fan of period pieces, I was eager to view this film. I don't necessarily consider it a "lesbian movie", even though I have several in my collection. It is so much more than that. It's worth watching over and over because there is so much to the story and the characters. Yes, it starts off slow, but all good things in life do. The few scenes between the two main characters are deeply moving and so incredibly beautiful that I just held my breath in awe. The talented actresses brought the amazing story to life. One of my favorites!!!!

Finger Smith By Sarah Waters.......2007-05-12

brilliant book.An absorbing story, I could hardly put it down!

Average customer rating:

Halloween
THE NIGHT HE CAME HOME.
Halloween Movies
He Came Home
Carpenter's Halloween

Halloween
Starring: Brian Andrews , Jamie Lee Curtis , Charles Cyphers , John Michael Graham , and Peter Griffith
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (Divimax Edition)
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ASIN: 6305546789
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Halloween.......2007-07-03

THE NIGHT HE CAME HOME........2007-06-23

Halloween Movies.......2007-06-20

Oh the good old days of the element of surprise and fear waiting for Michael Meyers to jump out and whack you ! I became a fan in 1978 and still get creeped out when I see Michael.

He Came Home.......2007-06-07

Carpenter's Halloween.......2007-05-22

Average customer rating:

Outrageously funny
The Dream Team review
A Very Funny Movie
Univeral Studios DVD's do not have closed captions
Insanely funny movie, a true classic

The Dream Team
Starring: Michael Keaton , Christopher Lloyd , Peter Boyle , Stephen Furst , and Dennis Boutsikaris
Director: Howard Zieff
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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Night Shift
Multiplicity
Mr. Mom
Crazy People
Gung Ho

ASIN: B00009AOAZ
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Product Description

Michael Keaton heads an all-star cast in this wild and crazy comedy about four mental patients who get separated from their therapist on the way to a baseball game.

Billy (Keaton), a pathological liar with a violent streak, finds himself on the loose in New York City with his fellow group therapy patients: Henry (Christopher Lloyd), a neat freak; Jack (Peter Boyle), a former advertising executive who thinks he s Christ; and Albert (Stephen Furst), a near catatonic couch potato. Faced with the task of rescuing their missing doctor from a pair of crooked cops, the group finds themselves sharing a series of hilarious misadventures in this farce The Washington Post calls an irresistibly nutty buddy movie.

System Requirements:

Starring Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, Stephen Furst

Directed by Howard Zieff

Running time: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

Customer Reviews:

Outrageously funny.......2007-03-13

I LOVE this movie! Great performances all around. This remains one of my favorite comedies.

The Dream Team review.......2007-02-15

This movie is hysterical. I've seen is several times but just showed it to friends. They laughed the entire time. The casting is superb and they are all excellent. Great story line. Probably not what most would expect from the title.

A Very Funny Movie.......2007-01-06

This is a very funny movie and very enjoyable. This will make you laugh and do we all ever need to.

Univeral Studios DVD's do not have closed captions.......2006-12-08

I was very unhappy to discover that all Universal Studios DVDs do not have real closed captions for the deaf and hard of hearing, even though they say they have it in their product description and on the DVD box. What they really have is english subtitles with a few sounds identified. The subtitles are large, block the screen and jump all over the place. Worst of all, they do not identify who is speaking, making me have to guess who is saying what.

I am a big fan of Micheal Keaton, but Universal's deceptive marketing destroyed this film for me.

Insanely funny movie, a true classic.......2006-08-14

One of the movies I remember seing in the theater back in 1989, just a great comedy then, and even better now that I have it on DVD. This is a movie about a Group of 4 men that are inpatients at a state hospital that are in the same therapy group. Their young doctor has been trying to blaze a new trail in their treatment, stopping all of their drugs and doing strickly therapy. Unfortunatly, its been going slow. As a booster, he has plans to take the group to a Yankees Game on a supervised pass. And yes, they get aproval. Unfortunately, the plan didn't go as expected. The Doctor disappears while taking his patient to find a restroom. Unfortunatley, the patient is a semi-cataonic schizophrenic that only speaks as a TV brodcast or in baseball terms. He is the only witness to where the doctor went. So we are left with 4 psych patient in the big city, and no supervision. Well, I don't want to wreck the movie if you haven't seen it, although this was a staple of TBS, WGN and other cable channels, but let say that they stuggle through many different challenges, including police conspiracy and murder charges and some how come out clean. They all even get to face their past demons and gain theraputic insight as well. A classic movie, and a unique one as well. Highly recommend this movie.

Average customer rating:

How to Talk Dirty and Influence Friends...
THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR!
LOVED IT
Wonderful
Oooh! The Marquis de Sade

Quills
Starring: Michael Caine , Patrick Malahide , Pauline McLynn , Billie Whitelaw , and Geoffrey Rush
Director: Philip Kaufman
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00003CXPV
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Amazon.com

With bedroom eyes and the mischievous smirk of an insatiable roué, Geoffrey Rush is a perfect choice to play the Marquis de Sade in Quills, directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted by Doug Wright from his own stage play. Imprisoned in France's Charenton asylum at the turn of the 18th century, de Sade is a stately court jester in disheveled finery, and Rush imbues the role with the fierce urgency of a writer whose sexual fantasies are his sole remaining defense against repression and hypocrisy. Deprived of quill and ink, he writes with wine, then blood, then his own feces--a descent into madness or an impassioned refusal to be silenced? Quills embraces freedom of expression ("such beauty, such abomination," as one character notes) while affirming that all freedoms have a price.

De Sade smuggles manuscripts out of Charenton with help from Madeleine (Kate Winslet), a virginal laundress who relishes de Sade's scandalous prose--a divine irony since she was taught to read by asylum abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), whose desire for Madeleine is suppressed by Catholic propriety. The delicate dynamic of this trio is shattered by the arrival of Royer-Collard (Michael Caine, appearing somewhat comatose), a righteous hypocrite appointed to silence de Sade once and for all. It's all very engrossing as a piece of theater (which it still is, despite Kaufman's elegant filming), and although Wright's literate dialogue limits de Sade to zesty ripostes and sneering perversity, Rush's intensity ensures that the marquis's plight is no laughing matter. Quills has a point, makes it without condescension, and knows the difference between madness and passion. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Rush gives a tour-de-force performance as history's most infamous sexual adventurer, the Marquis de Sade. A nobleman with a literary flair, the Marquis lives in a madhouse where a beautiful laundry maid (Winslet) smuggles his erotic stories to a printer, defying orders from the asylum's resident priest (Phoenix). The titillating passages whip all of France into a sexual frenzy, until a fiercely conservative doctor (Caine) tries to put an end to the fun, inadvertently stoking the excitement to a fever pitch.

Customer Reviews:

How to Talk Dirty and Influence Friends..........2007-05-08

This is an engaging period piece based on one of the most amazing yet perverse characters in history - - The Marquis De Sade. - - While the subject matter of DeSade's books or DeSade himself might be enough to make a movie on (plenty of more titilating/less savory ones have!), "Quills" actually paints a much larger picture -- quirkily demonstrating a darker side of the Enlightenment - - one in which one can't briefly wonder if DeSade's works were merely an allegory of the age he lived, and not the writings of a madman (who indeed was writing from an insane asylum.) - - It is also the story of Abbe de Coulmier, the Pioneering priest who ran the Charenton assylum in the early 19th century and was commited to the (relatively) humane treatment of his patients, shunning more traditional methods which involved varying forms of torture and abuse. To boot it also turns out to be a very traditional tale of love and jeoulosy... but with with a somewhat horrific ending... All of this said though, one thing is important to understand: it is historical fiction... a play BASED on the life of the Marquis De Sade... I mention this because there is one thing that disturbs me about the film... Basically a lot of people interpret the movie as a film about "censorship" and "freedom of speech" - - yet clearly, as the film plays out DeSade is portrayed not only as a madman (which many would agree) but as a madman who's writings were *clearly* dangerous to society. Everytime he is read from, writes or even speaks, it is as if the devil has come down to earth... chaos breaks loose, fires erupt, and people are forcefully victimized from behind until he's made to shut up. - - Ultimately, DeSade's words destroys not only those he doesn't care about but those closest to him as well... and at the end, he learns a lesson, and everyone else who listened to his "filth" get their revenge too... In essence its a film about divine justice and how a person needs be be careful what they say lest their words come back to haunt them. So how can this be called a statement about freedom of speech? (If anything its a morality play about how words can come back to haunt people.) - - In conclusion, though, the movie is not really a story about a martyr of free speech... but rather an excellent play about a struggle of wills, as well as a tale of sin, repentence, punishment and love.... Taken as pure fiction, it is brilliant to that extent, but if framed as a tale of censorship and literary freedom, clearly God wins out in the end and Voltaire gets sent to hell.

Regarding the ending - - after the "climax" the film becomes a bit funny - - first intentionally, then unintentionally.... - - In fact, at times I wonder if the director had toyed with several different endings and decided to use them all... Cuckoo's Nest, Hitchcock, Erotic Fantasy, Irony... or how about something funny (bingo!)

As for the acting... it is intense... Surprisingly, the Marquis himself is rarely seen during the first 17 minutes of the film... but appears as a shadowy figure... When he finally does appear, Geoffrey Rush's gushes with the intensity and charisma one would have expected the DeSade would have exhibited. There is no letdown and it is no surprize that he got an Academy for that role.

The dialogue at times can be funny and campy (be sure to have a pen on paper on hand as you watch and learn how to talk dirty with literary elegance) - - of course, this is a film about Western Literature's first and foremost intentionally distasteful writer/philosopher - - the man who turned scandal into high art. - - and one who's mind as profound and imaginitive as it was... filthy - - however, while the libertine life is not totally overlooked, the film is about far more than this... and most of the more graphic portrayals in the film come across as satire moreso than erotica.

As a footnote, the genuine British accents really let you know you're in 18th century France !

All in all, a fantastic tale of ribaldry with a twist !

THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR!.......2007-04-01

Yeah, Mr. Rush did an outstanding job as the Marquis De Sade, but the part that really surprises me is Michael Caine as the EVIL sonofabotch who...well, ya gotta see the film...when I heard Mr. Caine was slated to star in BATMAN BEGINS, I was kinda worried...but he nailed that part, too! I usually don't care for films that talk about films and their related counterparts (books, music etc.), but this film is FOCUSED and AMAZINGLY ENTERTAINING! My heart-rate went up by 10x for much of this film! It eloquently presents the importance of free speech and does a power-house job at entertaining the audience! I'm not sure what year this film came out, but I'm thinking it was somewhere around 2000 or 2001; I can't think of a better film that came out EITHER of those years!

LOVED IT.......2007-02-22

I bsolutely loved this film. Though not for the faint of heart, or the underage. I will re-watch this movie over and over.

Wonderful.......2007-01-31

This film is a must see. Outstanding acting by the entire cast, great period piece, fun, funny and horrific. Goffrey Rush at his best. Joaquin Phoenix demonstrates again how underated he is. Kate Winslet . . . What can one say about her that hasn't already been said? Michael Caine at his most diabilical.

Oooh! The Marquis de Sade.......2007-01-12

It was a darn good movie. Kate Winslett was good and so pretty. Geoffry Rush was the marquis, so believable! Not for the kiddies...

Average customer rating:

Step right up for chills, spills and thrills!
Why did I bother?
One of my favs!
There are some nice horror visuals here... and the story isn't too bad.
A GOOD REMAKE.

House on Haunted Hill
Starring: Jeffrey Combs , Peter Gallagher , Famke Janssen , Max Perlich , and Bridgette Wilson
Director: William Malone
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00003CWRF
Release Date: 2000-04-18

Amazon.com

House on Haunted Hill is one of the new breed of waste-no-time thrill machines, like Deep Blue Sea, and a particularly effective example at that. The plot is pure contrivance: For a party stunt, a wealthy amusement-park manufacturer (Geoffrey Rush) offers five people a million dollars if they spend the night in a former insane asylum where the patients murdered the sadistic staff. But it turns out the five people who arrive aren't the five he invited--did his wife (Famke Janssen), who hates him, make the switch? From there events unfold with a smart combination of human and supernatural machinations; spooky jolts are dispensed at regular, but not entirely predictable, intervals. The visual effects owe a considerable debt to Jacob's Ladder, a much more ambitious movie; House on Haunted Hill just wants to get under your skin, and succeeds more than you'd expect. Rush is his entertainingly hammy self; Janssen, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, and Bridgette Wilson are attractive and reasonably straight-faced about it all; and Chris Kattan is genuinely funny as the house's neurotic owner. Some elements of the plot seem to have been lost in the editing process, but it hardly matters. More bothersome is that the scares go flat when computer effects take over at the end--the digital images just aren't as creepy as the more suggestive stuff that came before. But that's just the very end; most of the movie has a lot of momentum. Watch until the end of the credits for a final bit of eeriness. --Bret Fetzer

Description

When an eccentric millionaire offer a group of opposites $1,000,000 to spend the night in a so called "Haunted House" with a murderous past, they figure it is a quick way to get quick money and leave. All of them are sure it is some made up story just to mess with their heads a little and test their courage. But, once they stay in the house they start to think about the mistake they made in coming there when mysterious things start to happen.

Customer Reviews:

Step right up for chills, spills and thrills!.......2007-06-29

Ladies and Gentlemen, and American Idol haters and fans, allow me to direct your attention to the big screen, where you'll bear witness to chills, spills and thrills that will haunt you till the day you die. Behold the "House on Haunted Hill," and let the nightmare begin!

As far as remakes go, this is the best I've seen. I saw this movie alone, and let me tell you, it was quite a thrill ride. The high gore level makes this movie really fun to watch. Jeffrey Combs is the greatest actor of all time. Buy/rent this movie, and see if you can survive a trip through a Haunted House for the second time in many years...if you dare. Highly recommended.

Why did I bother?.......2007-03-26

I kind of wanted to see this movie when it originally came out in theaters, but I never got around to it...I'm glad I didn't. This movie was really bad. Most of the scenes just didn't make any sense. The characters weren't likeable at all, I couldn't have cared less if they all got killed. The acting was awful and the script was just down right horrendous. Some of the worst lines came from chris kattan's character like, "this house is alive, we're all gonna die" and "you give me my money right now...I want it, so you give it". Thats the kind of bad script that I'm talking about. The only slightly decent thing in this movie is some of the special effects. I would also like to give credit to geoffery rush for trying to do the best he could with what he was given. All and all...don't watch this movie.

One of my favs!.......2007-03-10

This is by far one of my favorite movies. This is definitely not for the weak of heart though, lots of disturbing imagery.

There are some nice horror visuals here... and the story isn't too bad........2006-09-01

House on Haunted Hill is your standard "group killed off one by one but no one knows who it is" ghost movie, and on that level, it works, despite having "been there done that". With that said, there are decent performances, but what really saves this film is the horror visuals and special FX, which are a little 'trippy' considering a asylum doctor who appears on the monitor, and his head flicks back and forth very quickly. Yes, it was based on an earlier work but it works well here, along with the basic gore FX and dark castle/mansion setting.

The pace is decent, and there are some memorable kills. I've seen worse, and at best, this is a slightly above average ghost film.

A GOOD REMAKE........2006-08-02

I DONT UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM PEOPLE HAVE WITH REMAKES. I THINK THAT THEY BRING TO THE BIG SCREEN WHAT PEOPLE DIDNT EXPEIRIENCE WHEN THE ORIGINAL CAME OUT. IVE SEEN SOME BAD REMAKES, BUT THIS ONE ISNT. I REALLY THOUGH IT WAS SCARY AND DISTURBING, GEFFORY RUSH PLAYS A GOOD PART IN THIS MOVIE, AND CHRIS KATTAN IS HARSH IN THIS ONE.

Average customer rating:

creepy, cool
How diabolical can a woman be???
Dream a little dream of me
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
One of the most frightening movies of all time, and that's what matters

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Starring: Werner Krauss , Conrad Veidt , Friedrich Feher , Lil Dagover , and Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
Director: Robert Wiene
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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Nosferatu
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The Birth of a Nation

ASIN: 6305075492
Release Date: 1997-10-15

Amazon.com

A milestone of the silent film era and one of the first "art films" to gain international acclaim, this eerie German classic from 1919 remains the most prominent example of German expressionism in the emerging art of the cinema. Stylistically, the look of the film's painted sets--distorted perspectives, sharp angles, twisted architecture--was designed to reflect (or express) the splintered psychology of its title character, a sinister figure who uses a lanky somnambulist (Conrad Veidt) as a circus attraction. But when Caligari and his sleepwalker are suspected of murder, their novelty act is surrounded by more supernatural implications. With its mad-doctor scenario, striking visuals, and a haunting, zombie-like character at its center, Caligari was one of the first horror films to reach an international audience, sending shock waves through artistic circles and serving as a strong influence on the classic horror films of the 1920s, '30s, and beyond. It's a museum piece today, of interest more for its historical importance, but Caligari still casts a considerable spell. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This milestone film, known for its expressionistic sets and techniques, tells the strange tale of a sleepwalker under the spell of the mysterious and evil Dr. Caligari.

Customer Reviews:

creepy, cool.......2007-07-03

I've been getting into these old suspense/horror/sci-fi films lately, and this has got to be one of the better ones. The plot is cool and mysterious, and the twisted sets in which the story takes place give it a strange, surrealistic feel. Anyone interested in silent films has got to check this one out.

How diabolical can a woman be???.......2007-07-01

Dr. Caligari presents the viewer with a frightening vision of the world through the lens of German Expressionism.

I cannot recommend this film highly enough. It's truly fascinating. And, it really (really) is an art film, since it purposefully and strikingly exhibits the new art of the German inter-war milieu. So, be prepared for an other-worldly excursion into the "total work of art," or Gesamtkunstwerk, of this monumental and influential film.

This film is best seen at night, alone, and with the modern soundtrack which is available on the fully restored version. If the DVD you're watching does not have (a) choice of two soundtracks (traditional music and much-scarier modern track), (b) tinted inter-titles set in a surrealistic (actually expressionistic) font, and (3) is fairly high quality, then send it back and get the restored version. The quality and completeness of silent films are a major factor in experiencing the art form as it was meant to be experienced. The modern sound track in Dr. Caligari makes the film much more accessible for modern audiences (the eerie effects in the modern track heighten the feel of the film for the modern viewer) - try both tracks, you'll see.

It's surprising how frightening and impactful this film can be. You will have dreams about it, I promise. These between-the-wars German films are riddled with creepy foreshadowing for us in the present, who know what was about to happen in Germany.

Anyway, I think the film is best viewed with NO NOTICE. You don't really want to know the plot (the meaning of the end of the film can be interpreted in radically different ways - keep that in mind when it happens). Only one note - artistically the German Expressionist movement is worth reading about after you see the film - you'll notice the theme of "death and the maiden" woven into this artwork. Also, this film is the direct ancestor of films like "Nightmare Before Christmas" and a lot more - you'll recognize the Expressionist look in many presentations in television and film.

WARNING - I would NOT show this film to children. It's very subtly and psychologically undermining - you'll be thinking and freaking about this thing for months to come - such a thing shouldn't be experienced by children - it's an adult, art film (no, not that kind) made for adults.

Dream a little dream of me.......2007-07-01

Two men are sitting on a cement bench by the garden wall. One casually says there are evil spirits all around. As a woman in white glides by the second man Francis (Friedrich Fehér) says that is my fiancée Jane (Lil Dagover) and let me tell you what happened to us.

As his story begins we are subjected to a weird world of light and twisted shadows. A string Dr. (Caligari played by Werner Krauss) brings a somnambulist (sleeping man played by Conrad Veidt) to a local fair. The somnambulist knows all things and can predict the future; he prophesizes correctly Allan's (friend of Francis and rival for Jane's hand) murder and pilfers Jane from her bed chamber. But how can this be; as Francis has been keeping an eye on the doc and the snoozer all night and they have not moved?

I leave you with this thought "Du mußt Caligari warden"

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.......2007-06-20

One of the finest achievements of the silent era and in some ways an allegory of Weimar Germany's decadent demise, Wiene's "Caligari" is an eerie, heavily stylized horror film. With its distorted angles, chiaroscuro lighting, and jarring German expressionist sets, the film is a striking precursor not only to Lang's "Metropolis," but to the look and atmospheric feel of 1940s American noir. And its tale of a crazed doctor and his zombie-like proxy introduced a basic template for many later horror features. Still creepy and lurid after eighty-five years, "Caligari" will cast a spell on you.

One of the most frightening movies of all time, and that's what matters.......2007-03-26

I don't want to go for a long, involved review here, both because others here have already done the job and because much of the movie's appeal lies in just watching it. Show, don't tell. That said, I must respond to the Amazon reviewer's off-handed condemnation of the film as a museum piece. On the contrary! It'll make you shudder, if anything can. Artistic interest aside, one really should remember that at the moment of "Caligari"'s conception cinema Expressionism was in its infancy. It practically began with this. The movie was, at the time, a bold attempt at creating something new AND that new thing was meant to be a horror film. "Caligari" was meant to terrify with visuals and atmosphere. More than some "statement," it remains a little world unto itself, hinting at something horrid, short, venal, coherent of purpose. Let's be creeped out and not miss the forest for the trees.

Average customer rating:

Shadow Puppets

Shadow Puppets
Starring: Tony Todd , Jolene Blalock , and James Marsters
Director: Michael Winnick
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Dresden Files - The Complete First Season
Spike: Asylum (Spike)
The Hard Easy
White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9)
The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Unrated Edition)

ASIN: B000PWQP84
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Customer Reviews:

Shadow Puppets.......2007-05-18

This movie stars my favorite actor, James Marsters, Spike on Buffy the Vampie Slayer,and also Tony Todd ( Candyman and a Klingon in just about every version of Star Trek) Saw a lengthy preview of this movie at an event with James, Tony, and the Director and Producer. It is a suspenseful movie in the Horror/ Psychological Thriller Genre, and down right creepy. It does contain graphic violent images, and will probably come out with an R rating. It looks to be a great movie, and if you are a fan of James Marsters or Tony Todd, it is a must have. Oh yeah, and James is in his underwear for most of the movie!

Average customer rating:

dvd movie
An obscure little gem.
the truth is much, much more demonic than any voices ever could be
Former mental patient doubled over.
hard to find

Crazy People
Starring: Dudley Moore , Daryl Hannah , Paul Reiser , J.T. Walsh , and Bill Smitrovich
Director: Tony Bill
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Dream Team
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ASIN: B000228ED6
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Customer Reviews:

dvd movie.......2007-06-09

saw this movie so very many years ago and was thrilled to have been able to purchase it after so many years...loved seeing it again

An obscure little gem. .......2007-05-12

For anyone in the advertising industry this is a must see. This is a great Dudley Moore film with some hilarious one-liners that will have you still laughing long after the movie is over.

the truth is much, much more demonic than any voices ever could be.......2007-04-12

I have personally interviewed many, many people who fell victim to the fell intentions of sanitarium staff. I even chose to spend an entire year inside the walls of one, only to find that to leave one is nigh-impossible.

THINK NAZI DEATH CAMPS...

THINK AN ENTIRE CHAIN OF PEDOFILE'S' RAPE BROTHELS, COURTESY OF THE CEO...

THINK OF THE DINGIEST, SMELLIEST, MOST VIOLENTLY AND RUTHLESSLY MANAGED DUNG-SMEARED, FIERY PIT OF DESPAIR AND HOPELESSNESS...

POLITICAL "VOTE FARMS", WITH REPS SENT EVERY 2 YEARS OR SO TO FORCIBLY, AND AS REPRESENTATIVE SPOKESPEOPLE, HARVEST THE VOICES FROM OF THE SHATTERED WILLS OF THOSE WITH NO STRENGTH AND NO VOICE...

BINGO.

I have known people, WOMEN AND MEN BOTH...spoken to them and listened to soul-shattering tales of children committed before even reaching their teens, brutally raped week after week until just months later (and again, and again, over the years) surgery was required to repair the internal damage (DO THE GAWD-FORSAKEN MATH YOURSELVES, PEOPLE!!!), repeatedly, over and over for OVER 15 YEARS WITH NO ESCAPE, NO INTEMISSION OF ANY SORT, AND NO PLACE TO HIDE!!!

don't ever make the mistake of choosing to deliberately accept commitment to a sanitarium...
whether sane, or insane, you will leave (if at all), as a frail, shattered, jumpy, twitching, drooling corpse of your former self!
AFTER ONLY A YEAR AND A HALF, IF YOU SURVIVE AND ARE RESCUED!!!

That being said...enjoy your movie...
Despite the unrealistic kindness, it will open the eyes of those who will see...
This movie presents the tip of an iceberg as large as Texas, and even closer to home...

AND FOR GODS SAKE PLEASE ASK OUR LEADERS TO STOP COMMITTING ATROCTIES THROUGH OUR TROOPS, OUR CHILDREN, THAT ARE MORE THAN 3 TIMES AS DEMONIC, AND RESULT IN HUGE POPULATIONS OF SURVIVING VETERANS TO REQUIRE COMMITMENT INTO THESE INFERNAL SANITARIUMS!!! I HAVE SPOKEN WITH THEM WHILE INSIDE SANITARIUM WALLS!

THESE WARS ARE SHATTERING THE VERY SOULS OF YOUR CHILDREN, INCAPACITATING THEIR SPIRITUALLY WITHERED HUSKS TO THE POINT WHERE A SANITARIUM IS THE ONLY CHOICE WHEN THEY COME "HOME"...
THEIR NEW HOME...
HELL...

Former mental patient doubled over........2007-03-24

I have to say, having done some time in various institutions, this film was especially funny for me. Was'nt it great how in the 80's big companies of the time were really pushing their products in creative ways through hollywood movies? If I have to look at a product being pushed in my entertainment, then at least put it in a high quality package like this movie, Crazy People.

I think you have to be born of this era (40+) to fully appreciate the humor. Companies were just learning how to market themselves well through the media and we were being treated to new tactics in advertising that were very creative and entertaining. This film captures that climate so well.

For me though, the hospital setting was just such a bonus, many of the aspects of daily life in the movie for mental patients are actually accurate. I've actually been involved with a character just like Daryl Hannah's nimpho myself while institutionalized! Maybe I should'nt say that so loud?

Anyway, I wish this were on DVD as I'm very curious as to what some of the behind the scenes stuff was like. God, what a funny unique film! If you get the chance, buy it, you won't be disappointed.

hard to find.......2007-03-11

Was very happy to find this item at last. It arrived in good condition.

Average customer rating:

Still love it!
Come To The Asylum....To Get Killed!
Great Stuff
Classic Horror
One of the best horror anthologies from Amicus.

The Asylum
Starring: Peter Cushing , Britt Ekland , Herbert Lom , Patrick Magee , and Barry Morse
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Manufacturer: Dark Sky Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Trilogy of Terror

ASIN: B000FC2GFK
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Amazon.com

One of the patients in an institution for the incurably insane was once its director, and a young psychiatrist (Robert Powell) has to figure out which one as they all tell him their stories. What better setting for a horror anthology? It's an inspired framing device, making this one of the better examples of the genre, even if screenwriter Robert Bloch at times resorts to gimmicks rather than invention. The first two stories are less than brilliant (the first is highlighted by dismembered body parts neatly wrapped in butcher paper wriggling back to life for revenge), but Charlotte Rampling and Britt Eklund are marvelous in the third tale, about a mentally unbalanced young woman and her dangerous best friend. Herbert Lom is also excellent in the final story as a scientist who carves an army of dolls he claims he can bring to life by sheer will power.

Director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermas and the Pit) builds momentum with each story until the dark and deliciously bloody climax. This Amicus Studios production looks visually dull compared to Hammer's gothic gloss, but it features a great British cast (including Patrick Magee and Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing), and ultimately Baker makes that gloomy look work for his increasingly creepy production. Amicus produced a series of horror anthologies, including the original 1972 Tales from the Crypt and The Torture Garden (also scripted by Bloch). --Sean Axmaker

Description

When Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) arrives at the Dunsmoor Asylum for the incurably insane, he expects to be interviewed by asylum director Dr. Starr. Instead he is met by Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), who explains that Dr. Starr had suffered a mental breakdown and now is one of the patients. Dr. Rutherford decides that if Martin can deduce which one is really Dr. Starr, then he will be given the position. Is it Bonnie (Barbara Parkins), whose affair with a married man turns murderous? Is it Bruno (Barry Morse), a hardluck tailor visited by a mysterious stranger (Peter Cushing) with a blueprint and very special fabric for an unusual suit? Is it Barbara (Charlotte Rampling), accused of murdering her brother and her nurse but insisting that her friend Lucy (Britt Ekland) was responsible; Or is it Dr. Byron (Herbert Lom) who claims the ability to transfer collecting.

Customer Reviews:

Still love it!.......2007-03-09

Great movie, great delivery time, still entertaining! Not as scary as when I was in elementary. Very happy!

Come To The Asylum....To Get Killed!.......2006-11-19

Ah, remember the days of horror anthology films? I love this format. You really don't see much of it anymore, though Creepshow 3 is slated to come out sometime soon. This film is fun and from a good era for horror films. The film could have been longer with a few more stories, but, hey, what can you do? The script is done by horror writer Robert Bloch, so it's certainly a must if you're a fan of his. It's his style through and through. Very much in the way Creepshow was a total Stephen King showcase. Those familiar with horror films will have the twists and such figured out almost immediately, but what is surprising anymore, eh? It's still well done. A pretty cool cast is assembled here as well, which is certainly a who is who of British horror. The twenty minute featurette is the only thing here of real significance as far as features go. Amicus cofounder Max Rosenberg(who looks like he's about 110), Amicus(and Hammer) directors Freddie Francis and Roy Ward Baker are interviewed to talk a bit about working for Amicus. Pretty cool considering I've never seen Francis or Baker before. The Asylum probably won't win over alot of new fans and may not seem as original today as it did then, but it is a fun ride which is all we really ask of a horror film.

Great Stuff.......2006-11-09

Wow, this movie was fun. I never saw it before and, because I've been on a big Hammer and Amicus kick lately, took a chance on it. I was not disappointed.
Like other Amicus productions, what we get here are several horror stories in one, all centered on "incurably insane" patients in a British asylum. There are some great stars here that make it work oh so well, including Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange), Robert Powell (Tommy, Jesus of Nazareth), Herbert Lom (Phantom of the Opera-1962), Peter Cushing (Do I need name all of his great horror films?), Richard Todd (Stage Fright)Barry Morse (Gerard from the 1960s TV series classic The Fugitive), Geoffrey Bayldon (The House That Dripped Blood), the scrumptious Britt Ekland (The Wicker Man-1973), beautiful Charlotte Rampling (The Fury), and lovely Bonnie Parkins (The Mephisto Waltz).
The transfer from Dark Sky Films is fantastic; it looks like a brand new film. It's presented in anamorphic widescreen and looks great when played in a progressive scan DVD player on a HD television.
Looking forward to the upcoming release of "From Beyond the Grave" from Image. Never saw that one before, either, but am looking forward to buying it just the same.
I'm hopeful other Amicus classics, including "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," "Tales from the Crypt (1972)," and "Vault of Horror" will be released on DVD soon. There are rumors abound that Vault and Tales will soon be released by 20th Century Fox in England, but that won't help those of us living in the states much. Dr. Terror was released in England on DVD, but never in the U.S. There is a demand for these films here. Let's get with it, whoever owns the rights.

Classic Horror.......2006-11-07

I originally saw this film in 1972 when it came out and it was intense. Usually, when I re-visit a film years later, I have a different response then when I first saw it. This one still got to me, so I checked the credits. It was written by Robert Bloch. That's why it still works.

One of the best horror anthologies from Amicus........2006-10-26

Asylum was directed by Roy Ward Baker and was written by Robert Bloch who also wrote Psycho and some other Amicus films, the film has four stories which are told by a different patient that lives in the Asylum and they are played by an all star british cast that you may recognize that includes Peter Cushing, Brit Aklend, Herbert Lom etc. This film has got to be the best anthology horror I have ever seen now it is not gory but it had one of the best format storylines, Amicus allways made these low budget horror films in the 70's and were trying to rival Hammer but usually there films turned out to be very bad and cheesy. The four stories are woven together with a clever framing device the story begins as a psychiatrist applying for a position at an English insane asylum and it seems like the previous director of the institution has gone mad and has become one of the patients. Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) tells him that he must pass a test in order to be hired which is to find out who the director is and it all ends in a surprise I'm not going to ruin it.

The first story is about a young woman whose boyfriend cut his wife into little pieces and put the parts in the freezer but it soon turns out to be a tale of revenge when the pieces start moving, this part was very cheesy and hilarious but it still worked and was effective cause it was the best storyline.

The second story is about Bruno the tailor who is hired by Peter Cushing to design a magical suit for his son. It was a bit predictable but still great because of the performances from the actors.

The third story is about a woman named Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) who had been in a mental institute before, when she arrives back home she finds her friend played by Britt Eklend who causes alot of trouble by murdering people and might send Barbara back to the institute.

The final story is about Bryan (Herbert Lom) who makes little robot dolls which can be controlled by his mind and are able to do anything including murder. This one has a lot of twists and turns and it all concludes with the psychiatrist trying to figure out who the real director is. The film is not scary but still fun to watch and I highly recommend this great British horror film and two thumbs up!.

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