Norman Bates is back to normal. But mother’s off her rocker again.
When Maureen Coyle, a suicidal nun who resembles Norman’s former victim, Marion Crane, arrives at the motel, all bets are off and “Mother” is less than happy.
Showing posts with label 1980s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1980s. Show all posts
Psycho II (1983)
It’s 22 years later, and Norman Bates is coming home.
Norman Bates is declared sane and released from the facility in which he was being held, despite the complaints of Lila Loomis, sister of his most famous victim. Is he really cured, or will he kill again?
Skullduggery (1983)
Wow. What the hell did I just watch? That is all I can think after watching Skullduggery. I have heard a lot of bad things about this movie over the years but never bothered to watch it until recently and almost immediately regretted my decision. It was just as bad (if not worse) as everyone said that it was and I think that I might have lost some IQ points-not that I had a lot to begin with-after watching it. I knew that I was in trouble after the movie opened with a weird, Scooby-Doo-like theme song (that I will never, ever be able to get out of my head no matter how hard I try) and things just got even worse from there. Make no bones about it this movie is bad. Not in a “so bad it’s good” way but just in a “wow, this film is very, very bad and it just plain sucks” sort of way. It’s boring, goofy, confusing at times and just all around a terrible movie in every possible way.
I’ll admit that it sounded like it could be interesting but after the horrible opening scene (that takes place in the 1300’s) I just got a bad feeling that I was in for something quite painful and I was right. After this horrid opening we are transported through time to 1982 and meet our main character Adam (who is pretty talented at just walking around looking confused or angry and being a dick to his friends and others in general). We get to watch him do amazing things like play a role playing game, argue with his dorky friends, and then attend a really lame talent show (don’t know why it was called a talent show since no one seemed to have any actual talent) where a goofball magician (that sort of reminded me of the short-lived WWF wrestler Phantasio that made one whopping appearance in the ring back in the day) awakens the curse inside him and makes him a killer.
Bad Girls Dormitory (1985)
This opens with a trio of set-up-but-innocent girls getting arrested and shipped off to the titular facility. The place is run by Miss Madison, who wants to do some experimental reconditioning techniques on her charges and social worker Don Beach (Rick Gianasi) is concerned. Lori (Carey Zuris) emerges as our leading character and, naturally, there are tough chick adversaries in the form of Lisa (Jennifer Delora) and her sidekick Rebel (Donna Eskra). And, even more naturally, Lori and Don hook up.
If you want some 80s NYC sleaze, you can't go wrong with this. Sporting a lo-fi BASKET CASE aesthetic, BAD GIRL'S DORMITORY is rife with dirty NYC alleys, grimy apartment buildings, and basements with peeling paint. I love it. The acting is universally bad but lead Zuris, who looks a bit like Marilyn Chambers, is actually decent. She didn't do anything else. I'd also give Delora points for her tough chick portrayal (she is interviewed on the Media Blasters DVD). Special mention should be made for the obviously pseudonym donning Marita as the warden Miss Madison. Looking like a porn variation of Bridgette Nielsen in ROCKY IV, she is hilariously bad and her bizarre accent makes me suspect she may be Angelika Jager (another pseudonym?) from Kincaid's ROBOT HOLOCAUST (1986). Given how awful Jager was and the proximity of the two productions, they must be the same lady.
The Ice Pirates (1984)
A group of pirates led by captain Jason (well, he's not a mythological Jason?!) picks in the distant future the Universe in search of water for their civilization. Two of them were captured and brought into slavery space Princess who attracts both search for their father who disappeared at the very moment when he came into some dangerous secret.
However, this bonding experience "the pirate movie" with fantasy and simultaneously parodying both genres would be interesting, if the direction of Stuart Raffel didn't seem so "claustrophobic" (in the apt definition American critic Leonard Maltina), and he had a more subtle, not so vulgar sense of humor and knew how easy, it is natural to change the registers and the tone of the narrative, alternating between adventure and entertainment. And without all this turned out very strained, heavy and not funny. It's amazing how idiotic company "star pirates" got good actress Angelica Huston, which is excruciating along with other performers at least one audience laugh. But Mel Brooks after three years showed in a fantastic Comedy "Spaceballs" as I should be though rough, but very wittily parodied the movie series "Star wars."
Demon of the Lute (1983)
A number of the regular Shaw Bros. cast appear in this really silly film about magic swords, a magic bow and arrows, magic lutes and so on. Everybody is on wires at least half the time and all the weapons used are absurd.
Does that make this a bad film? Well... I enjoyed it after it became clear that this was intended for a younger audience (at least I hope it was). Giant axes, remote controlled flying swords, a chariot drawn by dogs, a guy with an arm that can stretch 20 feet, fighting scissors, a bird man, exploding... wait, that's enough, you get it. The lute of the title will remind people a bit of "Kung Fu Hustle". The little girl in the film is really good. She keeps up with the other actors.
