I’ve been a fan of Guillermo del Toro since I took home the film Chronos one night from my video store. Since then, I haven’t missed anything he’s done, and look forward eagerly to each new project. When I heard that he was taking on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I was delighted. The classic monsters have…
Tag: source material
Casino Royale (1967) – Val Guest, Ken Hughes, Robert Parrish, Joe McGrath, and John Huston
It’s been a long time since I watched Casino Royale, a spoof of 007 films, which had originally been developed as a serious adaptation of the Ian Fleming novel. When the Bond filmmakers, and Sean Connery didn’t want to be involved, the producers held onto the rights and went with a comedy instead. With five…
Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) – Brian Taylor
I love the character of Hellboy, both the cinematic and the source material brought to life in the Mike Mignola’s comic books. However, this time out, thanks to budget constraints, which directly impacted actors, effects, camera et. al. what fans are given feels like a fan-film and not a studio one. Set in the early…
The Equalizer 2 (2018) – Antoine Fuqua
Sure the first installment of the Antoine Fuqua/Denzel Washington actioner came out in 2014, and I watched it for the first time nine years ago, and hadn’t watched any of the films since. And yes, I’m a fan of the original series with Edward Woodward. but I rather enjoy Washington’s interpretation of the character. The…
12 Angry Men (1957) – Sidney Lumet
Reginald Rose wrote the absolutely engaging and captivating script for Lumet’s 12 Angry Men from his own source material and received an Oscar nomination for it as well as a Best Picture nomination with his fellow producer Henry Fonda, both of whom deferred their salary to get the film made. The film was also nominated…
Logan’s Run (1967) – William F. Nolan, and George Clayton Johnson
I loved the movie when I first saw Logan’s Run, I was too young to really understand what was going on, and while everyone my age was very excited over Farah Fawcett, this was my first introduction to Jenny Agutter, and I had one of my first crushes. I’ve seen the film a number of…
Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) – Sam Liu
I remember, not that it was that long ago now when the DC animated movie adaption of the iconic graphic novel The Killing Joke was released. Fans were in an uproar about the addition of a plot frontloaded to the beginning of the film which reveals Batman (wonderfully voiced by Kevin Conroy) had sexual relations…
Sherlock Holmes (2009) – Guy Ritchie
Guy Ritchie brings his trademark rough and tumble style to the iconic Arthur Conan Doyle creation, Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey Jr. steps into the titular role, and while the script plays with the literary canon and text, it remains a fun interpretation of the character. Jude Law plays the loyal Doctor John Watson, Rachel McAdams…
Tales From the Crypt (1972) – Freddie Francis
Based on the EC comics Vault of Horror and Tales From the Crypt, this anthology film is the next zombie recommendation film from DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. The film features some recognizable names including Joan Collins, Ralph Richardson, and Peter Cushing, The collection of short stories brought to life on the screen are…
Pet Sematary (2019) – Blu-Ray Review
The most recent Stephen King adaptation, and remake of the 1989 film, comes home on DVD and blu-ray today from Paramount Pictures. Featuring some pretty significant departures from the source material, but arguably faithful to it at the same time, this variation of the classic monkey’s paw tale is a fairly solid tale, while not…
The Mind Reels 