Incubus_Reborn

"Chopping Mall" belongs to an exclusive league of movies that are so bad they are good. Just like most 80's slasher/splatter/whatever flicks, this one is just pure fun and pure cheese. Another predictable yet enjoyable slice of corny 80's horror where you know who's going to die, what order they are going to die in and how the movie ends. The plot revolves around four couples who hide out in the Park Plaza Mall until closing to have a big party where (oddly enough) they all choose to have sex in the same room (?). All is fine and well, until the mall security catches onto their little party. No, my friends, we don't have the typical rent-a-cop doing the rounds, instead, three deadly machines, meant to protect us, reprogrammed by lightning (aren't they all) chase after our hapless teens at 7 miles per hour for about 70 minutes. There's one particularly gripping head explosion, but other than that, the effects are cheesy and the movie is sorely dated. But that's all part of what makes it endearing. When I bought the DVD I knew exactly what to expect, and when I finally remembered who Jim Wynorski, the director, was, it all made sense to me. This is the man who brought you "The Bare Wench" trilogy.

7/10

Ever since I saw it on opening day back in 1998, "Bride Of Chucky" has been a personal favorite of mine. I have been a big fan of the "Child's Play" franchise since I was about seven years old, and this movie pretty much sums up everything that makes a Chucky movie great. In this fourth installment, the focus is finally taken off of the saga of Andy Barclay (which was getting a bit played out by the end of "Child's Play 3"), and instead on Chucky and Tiffany, a previous flame who was with him up until his original death. After Tiffany (played to perfection by the wonderful Jennifer Tilly and her wonderful cleavage) finally gets a hold of Chucky's remains (basically a trash bag full of Chucky parts [see part 3]) and resurrects him with some strategic sewing, he turns on her and ends up passing her soul into another doll. Together, they hitch a ride with runaway couple Jesse and Jade (Nick Stabile and Katherine Heigl) to New Jersey to find a stone that Chucky was wearing around his neck the day he died that will help resurrect them to human form. As you can predict, lots of hectic things happen on this road trip. Blood is spilled, pot is smoked and Chucky does indeed get lucky (in a hilarious and memorable scene that will be burned in your memory forever). Don Mancini, the creator of Chucky, writer of all three previous installments, returns as writer and fleshes out a beautifully demented and imaginative horror comedy. With the flare of director Ronny Yu (who would later go on to direct "Freddy Vs. Jason"), "Bride Of Chucky" is the best installment in the Chucky series thus far. Everything about this movie works. The death scenes are elaborate and somewhat comedic in parts, the music rocks (check out the soundtrack), and the story is so much fun, you just can't turn away in the 90 minutes this movie spans. Add that to a knock-out ending -- which leads us into the upcoming "Seed Of Chucky" (November 10th) -- and you have yourself the perfect Saturday night horror flick.

10/10

The biggest crime that "Halloween: H20" commits is that it doesn't respect the fans that stuck with the series through thick and thin or the efforts made by various people to try and keep a continuous story going, and most importantly, it pretty much voids out the contributions of the late great Donald Pleasance (a.k.a. Sam Loomis, the crazy doctor who hunted Michael up until part 6: "The Curse Of Michael Myers"). You see, this movie completely ignores any sequels that came after part two. Not that this is a bad movie because of that fact, but the fact that it doesn't fit in with the rest of the series has left a bad taste in my mouth. Now don't get me wrong, through all of that, a good movie shines through. It has a great story, some good acting and more than enough nods to the original to keep any Halloween fan content. Jamie Lee Curtis returns to reprise her role as Laurie Strode, only now she is known as Kari Tate and lives in California with her son John (Josh Hartnett) where she is a teacher at a private school and tries desperately each day to put the past behind her. It's been twenty years since the blood-bath that occurred in Haddonfield, and the memory of her brother, the infamous Michael Myers, still haunts her, and she can't help but shake the notion that he may be coming after her. Soon enough, all her fears turn out to be true when Michael starts slashing his way through faculty and students just to get to Laurie and her son. Only this time, Laurie makes the decision to stop running and finally faces Michael, to put a stop to him once and for all (yeah, too bad "Halloween: Resurrection" scratched all of that). This movie is filled with plenty of tense moments and keeps things interesting for the 90 minutes it stays. The usually mediocre Steve Miner ("Friday the 13th Parts 2 & 3," "House") does his best John Carpenter impression as director, and turns in a slightly stylish picture. Sure, I can't help but feel that I would enjoy this movie had the film-makers not snubbed the fans by ignoring the other movies (thanks a bunch, Kevin Williamson), but take it for what it is, and it's good enough.

7/10