The Vault

There are 88 posts filed in The Vault (this is page 1 of 13).

Freaky Friday: X-Ray

X-Ray (1981)

“Love hurts, love scars. Love wounds and marks any heart,” as Nazareth once sang, or the Everly Brothers, if you’re old school. Yes, love can take its toll on anyone, and in the case of X-Ray aka Hospital Massacre aka Or Else aka Ward 13 aka Be My Valentine, it’s a body toll.

I’m surprised there aren’t more horror Valentine’s Day movies. Hell, I’m surprised there aren’t more Valentine’s Day movies in general. A day where people are pressured to express one of the most powerful emotions by any means necessary feels like the perfect impetus for any kind of movie, whether it’s a rom-com or a slasher.

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Fe-Burt-uary: The End

The End (1978)

Before Fe-Burt-uary, I had been dismissive of Burt Reynolds’ film career. I even went so far on a recent podcast as to unfavorably compare Burt to Dwayne Johnson, as two actors who care more about their celebrity than being artists. I was wrong. As a Millennial, the only Burt performances I was familiar with for most of my life were Deliverance, which is celebrated more as an ensemble piece than a Burt vehicle, and Boogie Nights, where Burt is great, but his performance is overshadowed by being another notch in film auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s belt.

This month, I’ve learned that Burt did care about being an artist. He was never one to turn down a big paycheck for a dumb action flick, but he was also interested in telling good stories and broadening himself as a performer. Just this month, I’ve learned about Burt the action star, Burt the comedian, Burt the dramatist, and now, Burt the director. Where do we start? What better place than with The End?

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Fe-Burt-uary: Starting Over

Starting Over (1979)

It’s a special week for Fe-Burt-uary! Not only is it Valentine’s Day, but this week also marks what would have been Burt Reynolds’ 89th birthday, his birthday was February 11th. Sadly, Burt passed away from a heart attack in 2018, leaving behind a rich legacy of 20ish box-office hits, a successful sitcom Evening Shade (CBS, 1990–1994), seven Golden Globe nominations and two wins, two Emmy nominations, and a single Oscar nomination. After watching Starting Over, I would argue that it should have been two Oscar nominations.

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Fe-Burt-uary: Semi-Tough

Semi-Tough (1977)

After several failed attempts to convince my fellow Mildly Pleasers to do a Burt Reynolds-themed month (Novem-Burt could have been something beautiful) for our movie podcast, The Pick, I’ve made the difficult but necessary decision to go it alone and devote four Fridays this month to Hollywood’s top-grossing star from 1978 to 1982.

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The Vault: Alice, Sweet Alice

Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

This is part 3 in a 300 part series of Fangoria Magazine’s “Top 300 Horror Movies”.

A week ago, cult cinema distributor Arrow Video announced the release of a special Alice Sweet Alice Blu-Ray August 2019. Why am I excited? Not only does this mean a proper release for the cult classic slasher film, but it’s also another opportunity for people to see one of the most underrated horror movies of the ‘70s. By all means Alice Sweet Alice should be a classic with merchandise and fan art and a shitty 2006-ish era remake. Instead, it’s an often forgotten slasher that launched Brooke Shields and did little else. Which is a shame. This movie is atmospheric with great characters and an even better mystery. That mystery including the question, “Why didn’t this make a bigger impact on the genre?”

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MCU Retrospecticus: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Original Review: n/a

One thing I didn’t mention in my Ant-Man review is how it parallels the first Iron Man so well. You could describe Tony Stark or Hank Pym’s arc as the story of a guy recovering from a trauma and standing up to the evil dude who took over his company. The big difference being that Hank Pym is not the main character of Ant-Man, Scott Lang is, so they came up with a contrived reason for Hank and Hope to have to rely on Scott to help them. The smartest thing Ant-Man and the Wasp does is lean back the other way, letting the film become the story of a super hero father and daughter, and this other guy who wants to help but mostly wants to take care of his own daughter.

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