Michael-Bay Movie Reviews

I can only judge this film by the USA version of the DVD, which is what I viewed.

I didn't like it very much. I understand that it was meant to portray a somewhat tawdry lifestyle of strippers in the seedy part of NYC, but this film didn't hold together that well, despite the presence of a first-rate cast.

The nudity (mostly strippers doing their dance routines) made me yawn after a while. I expected some nudity in this movie, and nudity doesn't offend me (I've drawn many nudes in Life Drawing class!). But I thought the dance sequences got to be too long and derivative. Obviously everyone else's mileage will vary on this point, and I guess the fact that I am female is not insignificant in explaining my sentiments.

Jack Scalia, Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams and Melanie Griffith are the main stars. Griffith's performance is kind of lackluster, but I don't recall her maturing too much as an actress until much later. (This film was made in 1984.) Tom Berenger is good as the brooding ex-boxer sporting a head full of curls. (Oh my word -- the clothing and hair in this movie were *so* '80s!) Jack Scalia is handsome, square-jawed and likeable in his part, as is Billy Dee Williams, (though I didn't think his character was written very well).

I didn't understand why the story was written the way it was -- why is there so little mystery? We know who the killer is right off. What motivates him to kill? I never did find that out -- maybe I dozed off and missed that bit of information when I was bored into a stupor during one of the topless dancing routines. Whatever. All I know is, the story could have, and *should* have been much more interesting.

This is the first movie I've seen of director Abel Farrara, and I don't believe it is a proper introduction to his work. I have been led to believe that he has made some notable films. This is not one of them. The plot is average, the pace is choppy, and I disliked the score immensely. It was intrusive and hackneyed.

This is an average film. If you like any of the main stars and don't mind the seamy smarminess of the story then you might want to view this film. Otherwise, I am guessing that one of the other films by Farrara would be a better choice.

I've had this movie for years, back to when I foolishly wasted my money on a laser disk player. But, anyway. The plot of this movie is simple: a psycho has targeted a group of strippers, for his own warped reasons, for death. And of course, we, the audience, get to see the acts of most of the dancers, before their timed-just-right deaths. Rae Dawn Chong and Melanie Griffith, for two. What is there to say about a movie like this? A must see for fans of Abel Ferarra.

In response to the review written on 31/03/01- the film was cut by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) of a total of 1 minute and 10 seconds! This is probably the most edited anywhere. The version on ... UK website is 91 minutes in length; the version on the German website is 93 minutes; the version on this / the US website is 95 minutes in length. One can only assume that an edited version was submitted to the British censor prior to their 1 minute and 10 seconds of cuts.

The movie itself is a Sci-fi Horror thriller from Spain and Portugal about Toxic Wastes that mutate a horde of "Slugs" and turn them into man-eating Monsters. It's a slick and entertaining if somewhat [sick] flick with some preety bad acting and goofy storyline but this is a fun movie from the director of the MST3K fave " Pod People".

Every country has its own self-delusional hack when it comes to genre films: In Italy, it's Bruno Mattei ("Night of the Zombies"). In the US, it's the once-great Tobe Hooper ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2", "Spontaneous Combustion", "The Mangler"). And in Spain, it's Juan Piquer Simon, the type of director who you can almost see watching the daily playback of his films, smiling with Ed Woodsian delight over how WELL things are going.

"Slugs" is probably one of Piquer Simon's better films, and that's only if it's viewed for laughs. Really, carnivorous slugs making progress through a small town, eating up everyone in their path? Gimme a break. This tripe is directed with an obviously straight face, but neither the actors nor script are up to the challenge, so most of it comes across as unintentionally comic (thank God). You get the Health Inspector who's aware of the problem but whom no one believes, his Sewer Cleaning(?) buddy who's turned into chum, a Dorky Science Professor (complete with a snooty English accent) who just happens to be an expert on slugs, and the Requisite Horny Teens having what looks like the dullest Halloween party in history. Put these--along with countless other stock characters--in a blender, and you have a campy treat (but only for genre fans who are used to this sort of bad-good rubbish).

But what about the slugs? Yes, they are nasty critters who, despite their slowness, can somehow occupy entire rooms within minutes if so motivated (note the funny sex scene), and only seem to come around to knock off annoyingly unlikable characters (which I applaud). In all seriousness, there is an excellent effect in which a guy's (actually a refugee from Piquer Simon's "Pod People," MST3K fans take note) head melts/explodes into a shower of maggots and leeches (er, slugs) right in the middle of a restaurant meal!

Anchor Bay's DVD has the usual excellent picture quality, but the extras are sadly sparse. One can only hope that Juan Piquer Simon will contribute some commentary to his masterpieces in the future...

Slugs is one of those movies that scared the hell out of me as a kid.It made me check my food before eating it and made me think twice before sitting of the toilet.It's about mutated killer slugs that eat people.That's sounds kinda corney,but it works.The gore in this films is fantastic from a hand being cut off to a man's head exploding with worms.The special effects in this movie are very well done.I'd recommend you not watch this movie alone in the dark.Don't say I didn't warn you.

If you sit through this b/w British horror film about a stupid voodoo curse all the way to the end, you must be a horror completist. It's absolutely worthless junk without even any camp value. If you can't fall asleep, slip this disc in and you'll be out in no time.

This is a very well made film. Beautiful black & white photography, good story, and finely acted. I really don't understand how someone could not like this film, unless they've been raised on the action-filled, special-effects laden schlock that comes out of Hollywood these days. I found nothing objectionable in the depiction of the natives, I found it no different from the depictions of other primitive cultures in films of the era. In short, as good or better than most of the Hammer films.

A British hunter (Bryant Haliday) is on an African safari, when a less skilled hunting mate wounds a lion which then runs into the territory of a tribe that worships lions as a god. The hunter (Haliday) and his local African partner reluctantly chase down and kill the wounded lion.

The tribe puts a curse on him which follows him back to London, causing deteriorating health and hallucinations. He sees tribesmen - some in Western attire, some in loin cloths with spears - lurking around him in London. He can't convince anyone other than his estranged wife that it isn't due to insanity or his excesssive drinking. His African partner is held captive by the tribe and tormented.

Eventually, when his wife learns that the only way to break the curse is to return to Africa and kill the one who put it on him, he goes back to try to break the curse and rescue his partner.

Haliday puts in a strong performance as the anti-hero hunter, and the dark, psychological story has a lot of bite. Some viewers (and reviewers) are obviously put off by what they consider negative depictions of Arficans. Hollywood's current code of political correctness would never allow some of a film's African characters to be shown as superstitious, primitive, or the "bad guys," as this picture does.

To the contrary, I felt the picture reflected its creator's honest and informed assement of Africa, and the disregard for political correctness was not only refreshing, but a display of candor and open mindedness when compared to today's films.

This movie made by former Bond director Peter (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Hunt and starring then 007 Roger Moore has all the hallmarks of a great fun action thriller. Yet, the action doesn't seem to truly pick up until the latter part of the movie when things start to go terribly wrong in a South African gold mine.
The plot - for what it's worth - revolves around plans to increase the value of gold stocks by flooding a gold mine in Africa, and the machinations employed to keep the manager of the mine (played by Moore) suitably distracted and away from the location to allow the villains plot to succeed.
A great cast supports Moore in this piece including Susannah York and Sir John Gielgud and it moves at a fair pace. The troubling aspect about this movie (and the reason I give it only four stars) is the poor treatment that has been afforded the picture on the DVD - it really does deserve to be redone and remastered.

While living in South Africa in 1972 I had the idiot notion I might like to work in a gold mine, so I spent a day about 2 miles down. This, and my studies of geology, qualify me to speak a bit to the authenticity of this movie.
What the audience of this movie cannot FEEL about life 2 miles down is the heat and humidity that is natural and the coldness that is artificially created by the 20-ft fans pulling air down through the tunnels and around one's drenched body. But everything that can be conveyed visually is true to the facts of that time (above ground and below, and political as well as natural), and for these reasons this is an absorbing story well told.

After Peter Hunt directed ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE he left the Bond series. This was Hunt's best directorial effort since then. Roger Moore gives a standout performance as an engineer working for a gold mine in South Africa. The beautiful Susannah York provides the love interest. The sort of likeable Bradford Dillman is the villain of the piece. At a time when composer Elmer Berstein seemed to be struggling between genres he came up with one of his most innovative and beautiful scores including a rousing vocal main title. This is a good film supported by an intelligent script. Well acted.

This movie made by former Bond director Peter (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Hunt and starring then 007 Roger Moore has all the hallmarks of a great fun action thriller. Yet, the action doesn't seem to truly pick up until the latter part of the movie when things start to go terribly wrong in a South African gold mine.
The plot - for what it's worth - revolves around plans to increase the value of gold stocks by flooding a gold mine in Africa, and the machinations employed to keep the manager of the mine (played by Moore) suitably distracted and away from the location to allow the villains plot to succeed.
A great cast supports Moore in this piece including Susannah York and Sir John Gielgud and it moves at a fair pace. The troubling aspect about this movie (and the reason I give it only four stars) is the poor treatment that has been afforded the picture on the DVD - it really does deserve to be redone and remastered.

While living in South Africa in 1972 I had the idiot notion I might like to work in a gold mine, so I spent a day about 2 miles down. This, and my studies of geology, qualify me to speak a bit to the authenticity of this movie.
What the audience of this movie cannot FEEL about life 2 miles down is the heat and humidity that is natural and the coldness that is artificially created by the 20-ft fans pulling air down through the tunnels and around one's drenched body. But everything that can be conveyed visually is true to the facts of that time (above ground and below, and political as well as natural), and for these reasons this is an absorbing story well told.

After Peter Hunt directed ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE he left the Bond series. This was Hunt's best directorial effort since then. Roger Moore gives a standout performance as an engineer working for a gold mine in South Africa. The beautiful Susannah York provides the love interest. The sort of likeable Bradford Dillman is the villain of the piece. At a time when composer Elmer Berstein seemed to be struggling between genres he came up with one of his most innovative and beautiful scores including a rousing vocal main title. This is a good film supported by an intelligent script. Well acted.

This movie made by former Bond director Peter (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Hunt and starring then 007 Roger Moore has all the hallmarks of a great fun action thriller. Yet, the action doesn't seem to truly pick up until the latter part of the movie when things start to go terribly wrong in a South African gold mine.
The plot - for what it's worth - revolves around plans to increase the value of gold stocks by flooding a gold mine in Africa, and the machinations employed to keep the manager of the mine (played by Moore) suitably distracted and away from the location to allow the villains plot to succeed.
A great cast supports Moore in this piece including Susannah York and Sir John Gielgud and it moves at a fair pace. The troubling aspect about this movie (and the reason I give it only four stars) is the poor treatment that has been afforded the picture on the DVD - it really does deserve to be redone and remastered.

While living in South Africa in 1972 I had the idiot notion I might like to work in a gold mine, so I spent a day about 2 miles down. This, and my studies of geology, qualify me to speak a bit to the authenticity of this movie.
What the audience of this movie cannot FEEL about life 2 miles down is the heat and humidity that is natural and the coldness that is artificially created by the 20-ft fans pulling air down through the tunnels and around one's drenched body. But everything that can be conveyed visually is true to the facts of that time (above ground and below, and political as well as natural), and for these reasons this is an absorbing story well told.

After Peter Hunt directed ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE he left the Bond series. This was Hunt's best directorial effort since then. Roger Moore gives a standout performance as an engineer working for a gold mine in South Africa. The beautiful Susannah York provides the love interest. The sort of likeable Bradford Dillman is the villain of the piece. At a time when composer Elmer Berstein seemed to be struggling between genres he came up with one of his most innovative and beautiful scores including a rousing vocal main title. This is a good film supported by an intelligent script. Well acted.

This movie made by former Bond director Peter (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Hunt and starring then 007 Roger Moore has all the hallmarks of a great fun action thriller. Yet, the action doesn't seem to truly pick up until the latter part of the movie when things start to go terribly wrong in a South African gold mine.
The plot - for what it's worth - revolves around plans to increase the value of gold stocks by flooding a gold mine in Africa, and the machinations employed to keep the manager of the mine (played by Moore) suitably distracted and away from the location to allow the villains plot to succeed.
A great cast supports Moore in this piece including Susannah York and Sir John Gielgud and it moves at a fair pace. The troubling aspect about this movie (and the reason I give it only four stars) is the poor treatment that has been afforded the picture on the DVD - it really does deserve to be redone and remastered.

While living in South Africa in 1972 I had the idiot notion I might like to work in a gold mine, so I spent a day about 2 miles down. This, and my studies of geology, qualify me to speak a bit to the authenticity of this movie.
What the audience of this movie cannot FEEL about life 2 miles down is the heat and humidity that is natural and the coldness that is artificially created by the 20-ft fans pulling air down through the tunnels and around one's drenched body. But everything that can be conveyed visually is true to the facts of that time (above ground and below, and political as well as natural), and for these reasons this is an absorbing story well told.

After Peter Hunt directed ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE he left the Bond series. This was Hunt's best directorial effort since then. Roger Moore gives a standout performance as an engineer working for a gold mine in South Africa. The beautiful Susannah York provides the love interest. The sort of likeable Bradford Dillman is the villain of the piece. At a time when composer Elmer Berstein seemed to be struggling between genres he came up with one of his most innovative and beautiful scores including a rousing vocal main title. This is a good film supported by an intelligent script. Well acted.

This movie made by former Bond director Peter (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Hunt and starring then 007 Roger Moore has all the hallmarks of a great fun action thriller. Yet, the action doesn't seem to truly pick up until the latter part of the movie when things start to go terribly wrong in a South African gold mine.
The plot - for what it's worth - revolves around plans to increase the value of gold stocks by flooding a gold mine in Africa, and the machinations employed to keep the manager of the mine (played by Moore) suitably distracted and away from the location to allow the villains plot to succeed.
A great cast supports Moore in this piece including Susannah York and Sir John Gielgud and it moves at a fair pace. The troubling aspect about this movie (and the reason I give it only four stars) is the poor treatment that has been afforded the picture on the DVD - it really does deserve to be redone and remastered.

While living in South Africa in 1972 I had the idiot notion I might like to work in a gold mine, so I spent a day about 2 miles down. This, and my studies of geology, qualify me to speak a bit to the authenticity of this movie.
What the audience of this movie cannot FEEL about life 2 miles down is the heat and humidity that is natural and the coldness that is artificially created by the 20-ft fans pulling air down through the tunnels and around one's drenched body. But everything that can be conveyed visually is true to the facts of that time (above ground and below, and political as well as natural), and for these reasons this is an absorbing story well told.

After Peter Hunt directed ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE he left the Bond series. This was Hunt's best directorial effort since then. Roger Moore gives a standout performance as an engineer working for a gold mine in South Africa. The beautiful Susannah York provides the love interest. The sort of likeable Bradford Dillman is the villain of the piece. At a time when composer Elmer Berstein seemed to be struggling between genres he came up with one of his most innovative and beautiful scores including a rousing vocal main title. This is a good film supported by an intelligent script. Well acted.

The only reason to see this movie is to check out the two "heads" having sex. Which means the movie is really not worth seeing...

Belial returns & this time he ain't alone. Duane Bradley & deformed brother are taken in by a family of "Special Individuals" as Granny Ruth calls 'em.
Problems arise when a tabloid reporter and her sleazy (friend) photographer endanger their home.
The sex scene with Belial & Wife is disgusting, yes.
Get it only if you like low budget, frothy fun/horror films.

This is actually a good movie, granted the 1st was a classic, this one is much more gory, demented fun. Don't expect an awesome movie just enjoy it for it's sick pleasure. The freaks, the plot, the gore even belial himself are better than the original. You don't have to, but try to see pt. 1 1st.. sit back, be disgusted and have fun with this one beotch...

In the early 1970's Hammer films saw their movies slipping, they tried new angles like adding more gore and nudity, but were still falling behind. They decided to join together with Shaw Brothers to make two joint productions that would combine the martial arts elements that Shaw Brothers used with some british actors and some of the elements Hammer was known for. The first result was Legend of the seven golden vampires or the Seven brothers meet Dracula as it called in the states once it was released several years after it was made. That film had it's share of good points and it's share of the bad, which is more than I can say for the second collaberation.

I wasn't expecting Enter the Dragon, but I thought it would have some decent action and maybe a fair spy - drama type plot because Hammer had put out some decent thrillers in the sixties. The plot is like a third rate 70's cop show, guys with lots of guns and very little charater or sense. The fight scenes are not of the terribly phoney variety, but just pretty lame and unspectacular with the sole exception being the final fight scene. It says something when you cannot make a tournament with fighters of varied styles the least bit interesting.

Stuart Whitman is really quite bad, maybe not at first, but he gets old quick. Anton Diffring and Petet Cushing have small roles, but they make the best of them. The sets and scenery are good and as usual, Anchor Bay did a good job of releasing a very sharp looking product. This film is actually qite hard to watch in one sitting because it just tends to drone on and on. The one star is largely for Cushing and Diffring.

Hammer studios known by most for their gripping horror films, produced this drama "Shatter". The only horror in Shatter is Stuart Whitman's acting. Shatter (Whitman) is a hitman whose government turns on him, framing him for a murder they put him up to. Mayhem and martial arts ensue. Lots of nice scenery, action, and a special appearance by Peter Cushing in his last Hammer film. Once you view this film you will understand why Whitman was cursed to play baddies in 70's television cop shows....who loves ya baby?

The print is excellent but what makes this DVD worth purchasing is the audio commentary. The uncredited director Monte Hellman offers some insight into the trouble bound production. Stuart Whitman's commentary is recorded in a hotel room and is not as clear as I would have liked,though his stories are fascinating.