Sam Neill made his North American film debut with the third installment in The Omen series. This one saw Dick Donner as the film’s exectuive producer, and Jerry Goldsmith delivering hi third score for the series moves away from the chanting to deliver a bit more of a majestical piece. Damien Thorn (Neill) is now…
Tag: 1981
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) – 4K Review
The third film in The Conjuring series, The Devil Made Me Do It, is available now on 4K from Warner Brothers, and once again plunges into the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who give a real sense of humanity and emotional investment in their roles. This time,…
Outland (1981) – Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams writes and directs this galactic update of the classic western, High Noon, that sees Sean Connery stepping into the Gary Cooper role of a lone marshall awaiting the arrival of men who are coming to kill him. With a visual look that seems to marry it with the universe of Alien (aided by…
Indiana Jones 4K – 40th Anniversary Celebration!
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Paramount Pictures has remastered the original four films into a gorgeous 4K collection that is as crystal clear as my memories of seeing each and every one of them in the theatre… In 1981, I remember seeing television ads for Raiders on the television,…
Excalibur (1981) – John Boorman
Like a series of pre-Raphaelite paintings brought to life, director John Boorman infuses the screen with magic and beauty as he delves into the myth of King Arthur and delivers what would become the gold standard for cinematic interpretations of the English legend. Each frame is a work of art as the story follows the…
Licence Renewed (1981)- John Gardner
In the early 80s, the estate of Ian Fleming reached out to author John Gardner to continue telling stories about James Bond, 007, and to perchance, bring him into the 80s. This involved a bit of a retcon moving the events of the previous novels from the 50s/60s to the 60s/70s. Gardner’s first effort, Licence…
Condorman (1981) – Charles Jarrott
This week’s spy movie is a film that should have worked, if it had a tighter script, and a better effects budget. Disney delivers a superhero spy movie that feels like a family-friendly version of From Russia With Love. Micheal Crawford stars in this film, and that was the thing that originally caught my attention…
Cujo (1983) – Lewis Teague
The film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1981 novel, Cujo, is the next title up in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies, and I find myself a little divided on it. The majority of the film is, in fact, faithful to the novel until we reach the final act of the film. But we’ll get to…
Jaws of Satan (1981) – Bob Claver
Dean Cundey (!?)serves as DOP in this film that stars Fritz Weaver, and Gretchen Corbett, and a very young Christina Applegate, that has a very fun and unbelievable plot, as I delver deeper into DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies, and settle in for Jaws of Satan, aka King Cobra. In a small town, where…
On Golden Pond (1981) – Mark Rydell
The next title up in the Ten Bad Dates with De Niro book, under the category of movies not to watch while you are medicated, is this classic Oscar-nominated film starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda. The film, based on the play by Ernest Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay, follows Norman (Henry…
Dragonslayer (1981) – Matthew Robbins
Vermithax Perjorative. Was there ever a better name for a dragon ever? DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book brings me this classic film from ’81 as I continue my exploration of the dark chapter on dragons and dinosaurs. Boasting some fantastic creature effects, Vermitax may be the best looking dragon to ever be presented…
Clash of the Titans (2010) – Louis Leterrier
The next title that I dove into for the Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales chapter of DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book was doomed for me from the moment of it’s inception. The remake of 1981’s Harryhausen effects driven classic was never going to wow me. Why? Gone are the practical effects…
