In this sequel to the Evil Dead films, a discount-store employee (”Name’s Ash. Housewares.”) is time-warped to a medieval castle beset by monstrous forces. Initially mistaken for an enemy, he is soon revealed as the prophecised savior who can quest for the Necronomicon, a book which can dispel the evil. Unfortunately, he screws up the magic words while collecting the tome, and releases an army of skeletons, led by his own Deadite counterpart. What follows is a thrilling, yet tongue-in-cheek battle between Ash’s 20th Century tactics and the minions of darkness. Written by David Thiel {d-thiel@uiuc.edu}

(more…)

Bartertown is a city on the edge of a desert that has managed to retain some technology if no civilization. Max has his supplies stolen and must seek shelter there in a post apocalypse world where all machines have begun to break down and barbarians hold what is left. He becomes involved in a power struggle in this third Mad Max film where he must first survive the town, survive the desert and then rescue the innocent children he has discovered. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

(more…)

We follow a bunch of high school kids through a period in their puberty. Their lives mainly consist of watching the girls in the shower and making life a living hell for their teachers and for each other. The movie is packed with practical jokes and eccentric characters, like Pee Wee with the short dick (which he measures every morning) who met up for sex with the school “mattress” Wendy already wearing a rubber, or the fat teaching bitch Beulah Balbricker who is determined on making life a living hell for the boys. The name “Porky’s” is the name of a striptease bar the boys get thrown out of and humiliated in in the beginning of the movie. They have their minds set on revenge, but that’s not easy as the owner’s brother is sheriff. Only by forgetting their internal differences can they defeat Porky and his gang. Written by Rune Dahl Fitjar {rfitjar@online.no}

(more…)

Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are terrific in the family-friendly comedy/drama, “Secondhand Lions.” These two venerable actors with over 11 decades of work between them are fresh and fun to watch as two crotchety old men who, on first glance, seem to live by the old adage, “Shoot first, ask questions later.”

“Secondhand Lions” follows the story of Hub (Duvall) and Garth McCaan (Caine), elderly brothers spending their retirement years in solitude on a farm in Texas. The only significant intrusions on their peace are the traveling salesmen who show up uninvited and leave hastily when shotgun rounds answer their requests for money.

(more…)

After being discharged from the local police force, Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) travels to Texas with his girlfriend Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) to face down his demons and visit an old friend. Along the way, however, Jim & Maggie picks up a demented hitchhiker who has diabolical plans for the duo. Written by JRH

After success cleaning up Dodge City, Wyatt Earp moves to Tombstone, Arizona, and wishes to get rich in obscurity. He meets his brothers there, as well as his old friend Doc Holliday. A band of outlaws that call themselves The Cowboys are causing problems in the region with various acts of random violence, and inevitably come into confrontation with Holliday and the Earps, which leads to a shoot-out at the OK Corral. Written by Ed Sutton {esutton@mindspring.com}

(more…)

After eight years serving the U.S. Army Special Forces, Sergeant Chris Vaughn returns to his hometown seeking for a job in the local mill. He is informed by Sheriff Stan Watkins that the mill was closed six months ago and now the Wild Cherry Casino, owned by his former high school friend Jay Hamilton, is the major source of jobs and income to the town. Chris goes home, and meets his best-friend Ray Templeton, who organized a football game with their friends. After the game, Jay invites Chris and his friends to spend the night in his casino on him, but when Chris finds that the casino stick-man is cheating with the dices, he fights against the security men and is almost killed by them. When his nephew Pete has an OD with amphetamines sold by the security men of the casino, Chris realizes that the town is dominated by the mobsters and the corrupt sheriff and with a huge piece of wood, he breaks the casino and the criminals. He is prosecuted and in the trial, he promises to the jury and to the population that if he is considered non-guilty, he would be candidate to the sheriff position and clean the town. Later, Sheriff Chris Vaughn has to fight against the organized crime to keep his promise. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

(more…)

A sequel/remake of the film The Evil Dead. A young man named Ash takes his girlfriend Linda to a secluded cabin, and plays back a professor’s tape recorded recitation of passages from the Book of the Dead. The spell calls up an evil force from the woods which turns Linda into a monstrous Deadite, and threatens to do the same to Ash. When the professor’s daughter and her entourage show up at the cabin, the night turns into a non-stop, grotesquely comic battle with chainsaw and shotgun on one side, demon horde and flying eyeball on the other. Written by David Thiel {d-thiel@uiuc.edu}

(more…)

Kevin Costner jumps back in the saddle for “Open Range,” a majestic look at the old west. The “Dances With Wolves” director and “Silverado” and “Wyatt Earp”star, with “Open Range” Costner reconnects with the genre that’s served him well in the past.

“Open Range” is the nostalgic story of grizzled cowboys, the wide-open beauty of a young country, and the fading days of a way of life. “Open Range” is visually stunning and features an easy to follow plot with strictly defined heroes and villains. While the heroes don’t literally wear white hats, there’s never the slightest doubt whom to root for.

(more…)

“Underworld” starts off slow, speeds up when the action sequences kick in, then it gets itself totally mired down in the La Brea Tar Pit of Incomprehensible Plotlines. Unfortunately even the most spectacular looking and beautifully choreographed fight sequences cannot overcome the convoluted story.

(more…)