Ring of Terror

Hey guys, how's it going? Just rolled this movie, which I've seen before. Ring of Terror is on the Nightmare Worlds 50 Movie Pack. It's also one of the many MST3k episodes on Netflix that I've seen. So, for obvious reasons, I'll be watching that version of the film. MST3k is one of my favorite shows and Ring of Terror is one of my favorite episodes. I'll be watching that a little later tonight, and I'll get back to you guys shortly thereafter.

IMDb: Ring of Terror

Review:

Ring of Terror, complete. This movie is about a fearless sociopath who wants into a fraternity or something, idk. The plot is flimsy as hell and comes and goes throughout the whole film. I'm so glad I watched the MST3k version. I couldn't imagine watching this movie without a little good-intentioned humor to help it along. The movie is short, yet still feels like it's dragging. However, it's one of those 'so bad it's good movies'. The elderly teenagers and other things help make it a watchable film. Like I said, I'd hate to watch it without Joel and the Bots.

Pros:

Puma: Puma? Puma? Puuuuumaaaaa? Oh, Puma??? Where are you Puma? PUUUUUUUUUUMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?????!?!?!? PUMA?!?!?!? Best scene evar. This is a classic MST3k line. This is one of the funniest things in this movie and, sadly enough, one of the only good things.

The Student Body: The medical school they attend could just as easily be a nursing home. All of the actors are in their 40s or early 50s. However, the character's they're portraying are supposed to be in their 20s. Lewis Moffit, the main character, is supposed to be 22. However, the actor portraying him was 42 at the time of filming. That's quite a large of age gap and it definitely shows in the movie.

Cons:

Sociopathic Tendencies: Lewis Moffit, is unafraid of anything, except..... the fucking dark?!? He'll bite the heads off bats, swim in acid, rape a dead body and then go eat dinner. If you turn out the lights, however, he'll turn to a tub of goo and die. This is flimsy at best. Lewis Moffit is either insane, sociopathic, or just plain stupid. And personally I'm banking on the third one.

Lame Ending: An ending is where a movie must make a mark, this is the part of the movie I'm going to remember best. This film seems to just fall flat on it's face. I'm not going to spoil it, all I will say is that it was REALLY stupid. It's just like jaw-droppingly dumb, I sat there for like 30 seconds trying to figure out if it was a joke. It wasn't.

FINAL SCORE:

6/10

PUUUUUUUUUUMAAAAAAA??!?!??! Puma might be the only reason this film deserves over a 3. This movie is pretty hilarious and would probably be really fun to watch if you were really drunk. It would probably make a lot more sense if you were dunk too. 

Note - No photos in this review since I didn't actually watch the DVD of it. Don't think I'm getting rid of images forever. They should be in the next review ;).

Purchase "The Ring of Terror":

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Oldies

Nightmare Worlds 50 Movie Pack

 

MST3k Version

Invisible Ghost

Starring Bela Lugosi! Hooray, our first Bela movie. This movie is on the Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack. It's about Bela being crazy or something, idk. Pretty excited, will post the review sometime tonight. Bye bye =).

IMDb: Invisible Ghost

Review:

That was interesting, and quite good as well. The movie isn't really horror at all. However, I would say it's still a fitting movie for a Horror set. A guy keeps seeing his "dead" wife, every time he does he goes into a fit of rage and kills someone. Bela Lugosi, of course, steals the screen, however, this film is far from Bela at his best.

Pros:

Bela Lugosi: Bela is one of my favorite actors from the Golden Age of Horror. He played in some of the high points of the genre, Dracula, White Zombie, and the classic Bride of the Monster. Bela is welcome on my review any time. Even if he doesn't want to be in a movie, he still gives an earth-shattering performance.

The Horror Icon, Bela Lugosi.

Story: Like I said earlier, this film is far from a Horror flick. However, it has some horror elements, like a "ghost" and some murders. Let's be completely honest, this film is obviously in this set due to the star. If Lugosi wasn't in the film, I doubt it would be in the Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack. The story is really interesting. Since Lugosi's wife left him for his best friend, every time he sees her, he kills the first person he can. However, the twist is that the gardener is holding her in his shed. She went a little crazy after a car accident. Though you pretty much know it's Lugosi murdering people from the beginning, the movie keeps you guessing who will be next.

Mrs. Kessler and the Gardener.

Cons:

Bugs: This movie was filmed in Summer. Somewhere in the Mid-West or South-Eastern United States. How can I tell? There are CONSTANTLY bugs landing on the camera lens. Usually this wouldn't bother me, however, in one scene there is at least 7 bugs on the lens at the SAME TIME. They really needed to think this through. The insects are distracting and, in my humble opinion, detract from the beauty that is Invisible Ghost.

  Those are bugs, they get shooed away in the next frame.

FINAL SCORE:

7/10

This film was really clever and intriguing. Bela just put the cherry on top of it. However, the movie seems a little short at only 64 mins. It also has a bug problem through a good portion of the film. Overall, not a bad film, however, I probably won't watch it again. 

Purchase "Invisible Ghost":

Amazon

 

Oldies

 

Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack

 Watch For Free:

Go For Broke

Just rolled the movie of the day, it's on the Combat Classics 50 Movie Pack. Didn't read much about this film, only thing that caught my eye is that it was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar. So that's interesting. Pretty excited to dive into it.

Here's the IMDb page: Go For Broke, On that page they also have the full movie for instant watch.

Review: Go For Broke is about the 442nd Army Division and their combat exploits throughout Western Europe. The 442nd was an all Japanese-American regiment which, for obvious reasons, caused them to be less than trusted. They, however, against adversity and rampant racism proved to be invaluable in the Italian and French Front.

After having finished Go For Broke, I can see why it was nominated for that Oscar. The writing was well done and at times, rather comical. The movie had some definite comedy elements which, though present, never overpower the films main genre, action. The action is well done and the cinematography is used perfectly to show off the action.


Pros:

Comedy: Comedy helps to break up the monotony of pretty much all war movies, especially older ones.

Racism: You might be saying, "How is racism a Pro?" Really the reason it's on here is the lack of racism. When you think of a Japanese Army regiment with Caucasian officers in 1943, you'd expect to find some racism, to say the least. However, the few times the film actually does show this racist element, it's kept contained and never used extensively.


Cons:

Character Development: The only development truly present in the movie is the main character's differing opinion towards his platoon. In the beginning of the film he wanted nothing to do with a Japanese-American platoon. However, near the end of the film he wouldn't want to be with any other platoon. And that's the extent of character development. Yes I know war movies probably shouldn't have much character development, however, this film had so little, I noticed it continuously throughout the film.

Pigs: I highly doubt any army would let a soldier keep a pet. Let alone a pig. Tommy, the soldier who "owns" the pig, at some points talks about how precious little food he has. Yet he keeps a fat piece of pork around. Oh well, he eventually hands it over to a poor French family anyway. So I guess it served some purpose.

FINAL SCORE:

7/10

I'm far from a modern military buff or a war movie buff. However, I found the characters in this film to be likeable and the writing was well done. Like I said prior, had there been more character development this would be a higher score.


Purchase "Go For Broke":

Amazon

Oldies

Combat Classics 50 Movie Pack
Or watch it free here (in much lesser quality):

Go For Broke