The First 10 Movie Reviews

 For those that are not aware I have a youtube channel and that youtube channel has a list of playlists many of them were videos done by me and in one playlist is called JoeLumb's Movie Review.

I started to use Blogger to jot down a series of movies I reviewed which ended up being on youtube months later so what I like to do to day is go back and look at the first 10 JoeLumb Movie Reviews:

We begin with HALLOWEEN the first Movie Review I did for youtube back on October 6,2023

The Original Halloween was released in movie theatres on October 25,1978 it became the most profitable independent films of all time grossing $70 million at the box office. The Film was directed,co-written and scored by John Carpenter. Co-writer Debra Hill produced the film. It tells the story about a mental patient named Michael Myers committed to a sanitarium after he murdered his teenage sister as a child,15 years later Michael escapes and returns to his old town of Haddonfield,Illinois where he stalks a teenage babysitter named Laurie Strode and her friends while he is under pursuit of his psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis. Well Michael ended up killing Laurie's friends Annie and Lynda along with Lynda's boyfriend Paul before he zeroed in on Laurie,the young boy Laurie babysat named Tommy along with the girl Annie babysat in Lindsay went over to a neighbor's place where Dr.Loomis saw them running knowing he's on the right track for Michael and just when Michael was about to kill Laurie Dr.Loomis came in the nick of time shot him six times,knocking him off the balcony,only to disappear into the darkness.

The Original Halloween spawned a film franchise with 13 films in it the 45 years after it's release. I gave the film rating a 90 out of 100 as it was praised primarily to the direction of Carpenter along with the theme's musical score. Many critics credit this movie for being the first in a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974)

Next was the sequel HALLOWEEN II which I dropped for youtube on October 13,2023 

Halloween II was released on October 30,1981 and it picks up where "Halloween" left off. John Carpenter and Debra Hill wrote and produced the sequel while Rick Rosenthal ended up directing it. See the plot picks up where the first film left off. Laurie Strode is taken the the hospital to be treated for injuries after surviving Michael Myers,who pursuits her there while killing everybody in sight. It was soon discovered in the film that Laurie is the younger sister of Michael Myers and that she was put up for adoption after the death of Michael's parents with the records sealed to protect the family. One of the final scenes of the film saw Laurie shoot Michael in both eyes blinding him,while Dr.Loomis and Michael were immobilized in a room filled with flammable gas and there was an explosion where Michael emerged from the flames only to collapse. Once again Laurie survived. 

Halloween II didn't do as well in the box office but managed to rake in $25.5 million in the box office that took a $2.5 million budget to make. Overall rating for this movie I gave it an 85/100 This one was distributed by Universal Pictures along with Dino De Laurentis' production group there would be a sequel unrelated to the series Halloween III:Season of the Witch which was released a year later and that movie SUCKED!!!!!

We continue on with CREEPSHOW that was Episode 3 on my Movie Review series the video dropped on October 20,2023

Creepshow was released on November 12,1982 it's a horror/comedy anthology film directed by George A. Romero (director of Night of the Living Dead and it's sequel Dawn of the Dead) and written by Stephen King making this his first film as a screenwriter. The movie had an all star cast with Adrienne Barbeau,Ted Danson,Ed Harris,Leslie Nielsen and Hal Holbrook to name a few. The movie itself consisted of five short stories "Father's Day" about a family patriarch rising from the grave to get revenge on his daughters for murdering him and get his cake in the end,"The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" aka Weeds where a meteor crash lands on this yokel's farm where his skin made contact with it and everything including his own self turned into nothing but thick vegetation. "Something to Tide You Over" tells the story of a heartless millionaire sadistically murders his cheating wife and her lover by burying them neck deep in the sand as the rolling tide washes them away,but the two lovers would return from their watery graves to get vengeance on the evil bastard. "The Crate" tells the story about this furry beast that eats it's victims whole,while stuffed in a wooden crate. This was where a professor decides to kill his abusive bitch wife by having the monster eat her. The final short story is "They're Creeping up on you" Where this Mysophobic Business Mogul living in a hermetically sealed penthouse apartment filled with surveillance cameras and electric locks,suddenly his whole place is filled with cockroaches and it overtakes him. In between the five shorts we had the prologue where an Abusive Father punishes his son for reading a horror comic book and threw it in the trash and the epilogue sees the son get revenge on the father by having a voodoo doll decorated in his dad's image and he stabs it repeatedly in the neck and The Boy was having so much fun in the end. 

With a budget of $8 million to make the film did $21 million in the box office "Creepshow" knocked "First Blood" from the top spot in the film's opening weekend and it remains the highest grossing horror film Warner Bros. ever made. I gave this movie an 80/100 rating and I remember the first time I saw this movie it was on WPIX Channel 11 where I was living in New York on October 22,1990 and it still gave me nightmares to this day. 

That movie lead to it's sequel CREEPSHOW 2 that was Episode 4 on my movie review series and that first uploaded on October 27,1990

"Creepshow 2" would be released on May 1,1987 another comedy/horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick who did the Cinematography for "Creepshow" now due to budgetary bullshit we only got three stories instead of five. George A. Romero who directed "Creepshow" wrote the screenplay and the three stories are once again Based on the shorts written by Stephen King. "Ol' Chief Wood'nhead" where a wooden indian comes to life and avenges the murders of the owners of a general store at the hands of three thugs. "The Raft" where this blob like creature devours a quartet of college students all because they wanted to skip classes and go swimming on a desolated lake and then you got "The Hitchhiker" a story about this adulterous businesswoman that ran down a hitchhiker,but decides to shrug it off,only for the hitchhiker to come back from the dead to haunt her to her death in the end. The movie cost $3.5 million to make and it only did $14 million in the box office. While there's nothing else to write about on this film I remember when it first aired on WPIX Channel 11 in New York where I lived at that time (July 25,1990) and that gave me nightmares as well,not to mention that George A. Romero and Richard P. Rubinstein created that DAMN Anthology series "Tales from the Darkside" following the success of Creepshow. Because of the way the movie was cursed due to budget constraints and all that other shit the movie got a 50/100 rating from me.

October was nothing but Halloween month,but when it came to November I moved away from The horror stuff and moved into more of the buddy cop genre flicks Starting with "48Hrs" that was Episode 5 on my movie review series first uploaded on you tube on November 3,2023

"48 Hrs." tells the story about a cop avenging the murder of his two colleagues at the hands of an escaped convict and his criminal accomplice,by aligning himself with another convicted felon with an axe to grind with the main villain in the film. The only way to bring the criminals to justice is by catching them within 48 hours. My favorite line in that movie was when Cates (played by Nick Nolte) that he and Hammond (played by) Eddie Murphy are not partners,brothers nor friends he would keep him down until Ganz (played by James Remar) is locked up or dead and if got away Hammond would be sorry he ever met Cates and then Hammond's response was "I'm already sorry" that same line would be revisited later in the film when Hammond reminded Cates that they're not partners and friends and if Ganz got away with Hammond's money,Cates will be sorry he even met Hammond and Cates responds with "I'm already sorry". "48 Hrs" was released in theatres on December 8,1982 and it became one of the most commercially successful films of that year. The film costs 12 million to make and did close to $79 million at the box office plus it launched the film career of Eddie Murphy.

That lead to my sixth installment of my movie review series when I reviewed "Beverly Hills Cop" uploaded on youtube on November 10,2023

"Beverly Hills Cop" was released on December 5,1984 (two years after 48 Hrs) it stars Eddie Murphy as Detective Axel Foley a cop from the streets of Detroit heading to Beverly Hills to track down his best friend's killer,but he got more than he bargained for when he got off on the wrong foot of two top cops on the BHPD and their commanding officer. However by films end Axel bonded with the three fellow law enforcement colleagues. "Beverly Hills COP" was the highest grossing film of 1984 grossing in an estimate of $234 million not bad on a $13 million budget it cost to make. My overall rating for this movie was initially 10/10 when in actuality an 100/100 that became the blueprint for the genre of the buddy cop films that followed Including the sequel

"Beverly Hills Cop II" the seventh episode of my movie review series which first aired on youtube on November 17,2023

"Beverly Hills Cop II" was released on May 20,1987 and in this sequel Detroit Cop Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills reunited with Detectives Billy Rosewood (played by Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (played by John Ashton) to stop a criminal organization that commits "Alphabet Crimes" after their commanding officer Captain Andrew Bogomol (played by Ronny Cox) got wounded by members of that criminal clan. The one thing I didn't like about the movie was Police chief with abuse of power well he got shitcanned by the mayor by film's end and Bogomil got promoted as police chief which was for the best. Despite the mixed reviews from critics it was still a box office success by raking in close to $300 million in the box office. I gave that film a 90/100 overall rating.

On the day after Thanksgiving (November 24,2023) I ended up reviewing  the sci-fi neo noir flick "Blade Runner" 

"Blade Runner" was released on June 25,1982 and stars Harrison Ford,Edward James Olmos and Rutger Hauer. The movie is set in a Dystopian future in which synthetic human replicants that are bio-engineered bya powerful corporation forced to work in space colonies,however when a fugitive gang escape back to earth a human cop hunts down it's gang leader along with his gang. 

In the film's intial run it did $41.6 million at the box office as the movie it self cost $30 million to make it didn't become a cult classic until a decade later thanks to a Director's Cut release in video stores and it became one of the first films to be made on a DVD format,not to mention there was a 25th anniversary Director's Cut version of the film released in 2007.

The movie got a 75/100 overall rating mainly due to the lack of fast paced action and being dragged on repetitively for all it's hype,but at the same time,Blade Runner is credited for the creation of the cyberpunk genre.

"The Golden Child" the ninth episode of my movie review series uploaded on December 1,2023 on youtube. 

"The Golden Child" stars Eddie Murphy as a social worker out in L.A. and he becomes the chosen one to save a Tibetan Boy with mystical powers known as "The Golden Child" who is abducted by a mysterious evil man. The movie also stars Charles Dance as the mysterious evil man Sardo Numspa and Charlotte Lewis as Chandlers love interest Kee Nang. "The Golden Child" was released on December 12,1986 with a budget of $12 to $24.5 million to make but raked in nearly $150 million at the box office. 

I ended up giving this film a 65/100 rating this film connected for me at times in this film but not as much as Beverly Hills Cop did. Besides The film did not meet Paramount's expectations when compared to Beverly Hills Cop.

We get to the tenth episode of my Movie Review series and it's "THE EXORCIST" first uploaded December 9,2023.

We can all agree That "The Exorcist" is one of the scariest movies of all time. Released on December 26,1973 the film stars Linda Blair,Ellen Burstyn,Max Von Sydow and Jason Miller. The film is based on the 1971 novel of the same name written by William Peter Blatty. It's story is about Regan MacNeil being demonically possessed and her mother makes a desperate attempt to save her through an exorcism with the help of two catholic priests.  In the movie's initial run it raked in $193 million at the box office and thanks to subsequent re-releases it has a lifetime gross of $441 million.

I rated this film 80/100 The Exorcist was like the first horror film to be nominated for an Academy Award for best picture as well as nine other awards. The Film's Franchise and Legacy is still going strong after 50 years.

For the next 10 movie reviews TO BE CONTINUED........

JoeLumb's Movie Review Robocop 2 (1990)

 Robocop 2 is an American sci-fi/action flick directed by Irwin Kershner(who directed the Star Wars sequel "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980) written by Frank Miller and Walon Green and stars Peter Weller (reprising his role as the titular character),Nancy Allen (reprising her role as his partner),Dan O'Herilihy(reprising his role as OCP's Chairman) Ton Noonan (as the main villain Cain) and Gabriel Damon (playing the thug kid named Hob) It's is the sequel to 1987's blockbuster "Robocop"

The story is set in Detroit in a dystopian future where the plot follows our hero becoming embroiled in a scheme made by Omni Consumer Products to bankrupt and take over the city while also fighting the spread of a street drug called "Nuke" and it's gang of dealers lead by Cain (Noonan) The film was shot on location in Houston,Texas (the fourth largest city in the United States)

When it came time to do a sequel to "Robocop" Orion had already greenlit the development of the sequel in September of '87 so the writers of "Robocop" Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner began working on the first draft,while also writing for another Orion project called 'Company Man". The deadline to complete the script was December 31,1987. Their draft of the sequel would be called Robocop 2:The Corporate Wars set 25 years after the first film,when they presented it to the people at Orion. They HATED IT!!!! The reason why is because the people at Orion wanted them to to a PG rated Robocop sequel that would target children to see the film unaccompanied by an adult,plus tie in to the 12 episode animated series Robocop that was done by Marvel Productions in 1988. So when it came time to re-write the script to Orion's liking The 1988 Writers Giuld of America Strike happened and the two writers Neimeier and Miner were FIRED for refusing to work during the strike. So they was replaced by Frank Miller and his draft was accepted into Robocop 2,while the draft Neumeier and Miner worked on ended up being "Robocop 3" in 1993. 

Miller's draft was less comic and had a bigger emphasis on corporate facism than the final film,with the last showdown being Robocop fighting OCP forces instead of Robocop 2. Producer Jon Davison was good with that for it's grittiness,inventive action,humor and politics,so were good to go,until the ASSHOLES at Orion rejected it as "unfilmable" and brought in "Wild Bunch" screenwriter Walon Green to re-write it. 

There was material cut out that included backstories for Officer Lewis and the marriage of Alex and Ellen Murphy. That would lead to Miller using his treatment as a story for his own series of Robocop comics published in the 2000's which was in his mind "Giving a BIG FUCK YOU towards the Orion Film Company who were far dictatorial for Robocop 2 than they were in the first movie,by strongly going against the input of Frank Miller,Director Irwin Kershner and the actors themselves,even going so far as to schedule a release date before the story was even completed. Neumeier and Miner reported this activity going on claiming the film company controlled material based on business decisions rather than creativity. The planned release date would have been around Christmas time in 1989 but settled for a June 22,1990 release.

In the movie the Detroit Police Department went on strike after OCP decides to bankrupt the city after their pension plans were terminated and salaries were cut which lead to an increase in street crime,wll the while OCP began to foreclose on all public property taking over the city's government and allowing their master plan to redevelop Detroit into Delta City. Meanwhile Robocop and Officer Lewis remained on duty after raiding a manufacturing plant of Nuke a new street drug plaguing Detroit,The carte;s frontman Cain along with his young henchman Hob escape. We fast forward to OCP struggling to develop Robocop 2 a police droid filled with brains of legally dead cops that were intended for mass production to replace the striking cops. The resurrected cops committed suicide upon activation. ENTER THE MORALLY WARPED DR.JULIETTE FAXX. She theorized that Murphy's strong moreal code and strict Catholic upbringing were critical in it's initial success so she convinced the chairman aka OLD MAN to allow her to lead a project to recover their 90 million dollar research and development investment. What Dr.Faxx's plan was to seek the use of death row inmates that desire power and immortality than the police officers. Meanwhile Cain fears he's losing his grip on the city and used a dirty uniform cop by the name of Officer Duffy to undermine OCP and Robocop's enforcement efforts. When Robocop tracked down Duffy he beats the information of Cain's hideout out of him. So he confront Cain's gang at an abandoned construction hideout,only to be ambushed and chopped apart and then dump pieces of his body at the Police precinct. That lead to Cain having Duffy dissected or as the way I call it Open Heart Surgery without sleeping gas. That scene was the most horrifying thing I ever saw and I seen some horrifying shit.

Anyway Robocop is repaired and the arrogant Faxx reprograms him with more than 300 new directives that severely impedes his ability to perform his duties so that her project can be selected. Suddenly Robocop clears them all by shocking himself with a high voltage transformer and rebooting his system. So now rebooted and out for revenge Robocop rallies up the striking officers to aid him in raiding Cain's hideout. As Cain tries to escape,Robocop wounds and apprehends him,while Hob escapes with Cain's girlfriend Angie as he took over Cain's drug empire. This lead to Faxx using Cain's brain and controls him with a canister of Nuke by selecting his brain for her Robocop 2 project. Surgeons placed his brain into a robotic body similar to ED-209 and Cain is reactivated. 

Then we get to a meeting between Hob and the Mayor and the kid offers him a deal to retire the city's debt in exchange for "hands off" policy towards Nuke thereby nullifying OCP's scheme and preventing Delta City's construction. Threatened by this move OCP has Cain now going by Robocop 2 invade the meeting slaughtering all of Hob's henchmen and killing Angie in the process,but The Mayor managed to escape with his very life. Robocop arrives shortly there after and finds a wounded Hob and he informs him of who did this before he died. 

Then we get to the presentation ceremony conducted by the Old Man revealing Delta City and Robocop 2/Cain,it was when he presents a canister of Nuke Cain's  out of control addiction caused him to be defiant and go on a rampage killing many civilians and cops Robocop arrives and fought Cain to the death,after rpping out his brain and Smashed it to bits. At the end The Chairman and his executive Donald Johnson decide to throw Faxx under the bus for Cain's attack as Lewis complains that OCP is not accepting accountability,Robocop reminds her while tuning his own head to be patient "Were all Human." 

"Robocop 2" was released on June 22,1990 after a budget of $25-30 million to make which did $45.7 million at the box office the film got mixed reviews.

My overall rating for this movie is a 65/100 the common complaint this film got was it didn't focus enough on the title character or his partner and that the film's human story trapped inside a machine was drowned by a sea of violence and the movie's screenplay is a confusion of half-baked and unfinished ideas. Orion shit the bed when they controlled most of the film's creativity as far as I was concerned.

JoeLumb's Movie Review The Evil that Men Do (1984)

 It's been over three months since I last reviewed a Charles Bronson film (that was 10 to Midnight) and I've been wanting to review this movie shortly after my review of 10 to Midnight however I never got around to it. 

The movie is based on a novel written by R.Lance Hill who published the book in 1978,the screenplay adaptation was done by John Crowther and David Lee Henry and it stars Charles Bronson,Theresa Saldana and Joseph Maher. 

Charles Bronson plays a former assassin named Holland who comes out of retirement to avenge the death of his friend a journalist who was tortured and murdered at the hands of Joseph Maher's character Clement "The Doctor" Molloch and he happens to work for various dictatorships across the world particularly those of Operation Condor. 

When it came to development film rights were purchased in 1980 by a company consisting of Bronson his then wife Jill Ireland,director J.Lee Thompson and producer Pancho Kohner. So they arranged to have the script written. Kohner came close to setting up the movie at Cannon Films who had a success in making "Death Wish 2" but the people at Cannon Films refused to reimburse the cost of screenplay and rights option. So because of that Bronson went to start in "10 to Midnight" for Cannon directed by Thompson. Kohner succeeded in getting a deal financed with ITC Entertainment and the film's budget was at $4.6 million,this film would be the final picture Bronson would do with ITC the first two being "Love and Bullets" (1979) and "Borderline" (1980) As far as writing went R.Lance Hill wrote the first draft but the production company was unimpressed,so David Crowther was hired to re-write the script along with David Lee Henry. 

And as far as Filming went the cast and crew went to Mexico to begin the filming the movie in March of 1983.  Shooting the movie in Mexico saved producers alot of money even though there was no soundstage and everything was shot on location Producer Pancho Kohner and Executive Producer Lance Hool were on set for the entire shoot. The film was originally supposed to be directed by Fielder Cook,but he was gone after a week so J.Lee Thompson was brought in to finish directing the rest of film. 

My overall rating for this movie is a 70/100 I felt that the movie it was good on all the action,but it felt short as the film's runtime was clocked at 90 minutes. Something else I noticed in most of these Bronson films it's like a theme he avenges the death of a friend or family member by killing the main antagonist in the end. Dating way back to when he starred in "Death Wish" back in 1974.

JoeLumb's Movie Review "Blade Runner" (1982)

 When this film came out on June 25,1982 in North American theatres "Blade Runner" initially underperformed which left critics polarized. Some praised it's thematic complexity and visuals while others critiqued (in my words "buried") the movie due to  it's slow pacing and lack of action. 

"Blade Runner" is a 1982 sci-fi film directed by the legendary Ridley Scott (Director of Alien) the screenplay was written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples and it's an adaptation of Philip K.Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" The movie stars Harrison Ford,Rutger Hauer,Sean Young and Edward James Olmos The film is set in a dystopian future (2019 in Los Angeles) in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on space colonies. When a fugitive gang of advanced replicants lead by Roy Batty escape back to Earth it's up to a cop named Rick Deckard to hunt down Batty and his gang.

Many years after it's release "Blade Runner" became a cult classic. Mainly due to the fact it was starting to be regarded as one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. Hailed for it's production design by depicting a high tech but decaying future,the film is often regarded as both a leading example of neo-noir cinema as well as a foundational work of the cyberpunk genre. It has influenced so many sci-fi movies,video games,anime and TV series. It also brought Philip K.Dick's work to Hollywood's attention and lead to several film adaptations of his works. In 1993 it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by The Library of Congress.

The Film's Budget cost was $30 million and why was it so expensive? Mainly because there were seven different versions of "Blade Runner" that existed as a result of controversial changes requested by the studio executives. A Director's cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to test screenings of a workprint. This in conjunction with the film's popularity as a video rental made it one of the earliest movies to be put out on DVD. There was a 25th anniversary Director's Cut of the film that Warner Bros. put out in 2007 which was digitally remastered it's the only version of which Ridley Scott himself retained artistic control. 

In 2017 a sequel called "Blade Runner 2049" was released along side a trilogy of short films covering in the 30 year span between the two movie settings.  The movie did $41.6 million at the box office in it's initial run. 

My overall rating of "Blade Runner" is a 75/100 for all it's hype the movie did lack alot of fast paced action and dragged on repetitively. However it's credited for creating the Cyberpunk genre. So I'll give the movie credit for that.

JoeLumb's Movie Review The Exorcist III (1990)

 This movie was more of a phychological horror film than a supernatural horror film. Written for the big screen and directed by William Peter Blatty based on his 1983 novel Legion. It's the third installment of the Exorcist film franchise. "The Exoecist III" is a direct sequel to "The Exorcist" (1973) as this film dismisses the events of 1977's "Exorcist II:The Heretic" the movie follows one character from the original film Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (played by veteran actor George C.Scott) as he investigates a series of murders in Georgetown that have the hallmark of The Gemini Killer. There is another character Damien Karras (played by Jason Miller who reprised this role) now going by Patient X has a significant role in this picture. More on that in the plot. 

Why did William Peter Blatty direct this movie instead of William Friedkin? Well you see Friedkin was on board with directing the film,but backed out as he went on to direct another supernatural horror film called "The Guardian"

It's 17 years later after Regan MacNeil's exorcism Father Dyer and Lieutenant Kinderman reminisce about Father Damien Karras. The following night an incident occured at the church indicating the presence of an evil supernatural entity which caused the crucifix to open it's eyes,the next scene follows with the perspective of a man walking on the streets speaking of a dream of falling down a LONG FLIGHT of STEPS" suggesting that someone is committing murders linked to Karras' death.  The Next morning Kinderman is called to a crime scene to find a deceased body of Thomas Kintry a youngster that had his head replaced with a cut off statue of Jesus. While fingerprints at multiple crime scenes didn't match the indication of a different person committing the murders,Kinderman informs the hospital staff that the murders fit the modus operandi of James Venamum The Gemini Killer a serial killer who was executed 15 years earlier. Later on Lt.Kinderman visited the head of the psychiatric ward Dr.Temple and relates the history of one of his patients The patient wandered around aimlessly 15 years previously with amnesia. He was locked up in a catatonic state until he became violent and claimed to be The Gemini Killer. Kindernam soon learns that the patient has turned out to be Patient X/Damien Karras however his form soon changes into The Gemini Killer. He expressed Karras' ingorance but boasta about killing Father Dyer. 

That evening a nurse gets killed and Dr.Temple dies by suicide,Kinderman returned to see Karras who once again transforms into The Gemini Killer. The Gemini explains that he is aided by a Master (Master of What I don't know,but if I had to guess Pazuzu is Gemini's master) The "Master" was furious with Karras for being exorcised by him after he possessed Regan MacNeil many years ago. So "The Master" is exacting revenge by using Karras' body as a conduit for the Gemini to continue his killing spree. Each night The Gemini's soul leaves Karras' body and possessed the other patients in the hospital using them to commit murders. The Gemini revealed that he forced Dr. Temple to bring Kinderman to him. 

Soon The Gemini possesses an old woman and attempts to murder Kinderman and his family at his home,however plans were thwarted when Father Paul Morning arrived and performed an exorcism on Karras. The Master Intervenes taking over Karras' body and Morning gets severely mutilated. Kinderman rushed back to the hospital and attempts to euthanize Karras. The possessed Karras then torments and attempts to kill Kinderman,however a recovered Morning tells Karras to fight,Karras is freed as he cries out to Kinderman to shoot him and Kinderman does shoot him freeing  him of both The Gemini and his Master.  The film ends when Kinderman watches Karras' funeral. Then the credits roll.

With a budget of $11 million to make,The Exorcist III made $44 million at the box office worldwide. This movie is considered a cult classic and would revive The Exorcist franchise and it spawned two prequels Exorcist:The Beginning in 2004 and Dominion:The Exorcist Prequel in 2005, Not to mention the recent release of Exorcist:Believer which was released on October 6,2023.

My overall rating of this movie is a 75/100 it was just as frightening as The original Exorcist movie from 1973 and it was FAR better than Exorcist II from 1977. 

JoeLumb's Movie Review The Exorcist (1973)

 Regarded as one of if not THE Scariest Movie of All Time "The Exorcist" has left a long lasting impression in motion picture history. Based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty. "The Exorcist" is a 1973 supernatural horror film that if you seen it one time it would give you nightmares for years to come. 

The story follows a demonic possession of a young girl named Regan MacNeil and her mother's desperate attempt to save her through an exorcism through two Catholic Priests. 

William Peter Blatty not only wrote the screenplay but also produced the film and he handpicked William Friedkin to direct it. They had handpicked unknown actors such as Ellen Burstyn,Jason Miller and Linda Blair who was at the time when filming began was in her early teens,instead of major stars that was opposed by Warner Brothers. The Principal Photography was also difficult taking place at both hot deserts and refrigerated sets. Many of the cast and crew that worked on the film were injured,some of them died and unusual accidents delayed the film's shooting. Production took two times as long as scheduled and cost the initial budget triple the amount as the many mishaps believed that the film was cursed. 

The plot of this story starts in Georgetown,Washington D.C. where Chris MacNeil starred in a movie directed by a friend of hers named Burke Dennings they rent out a luxurious house with servants. We are then introduced by Father Damien Karras a psychiatrist who counsels Georgetown University's catholic priests recently visited her ailing mother in New York. He confided in a colleague that he is unfit for his role citing a crisis of faith. Then the film takes a dark turn it started at a party Chris held with Karras' friend Father Dyer (played by a real life Catholic priest by the name of Father William O'Malley) he explained to Chris that his protege Karras' mother died recently then Regan appears and she is unwell and starts pissing before the mother comforts her. After she is put to bed she shakes violently meanwhile Dyer consoles Karras who expressed guilt for not being there for her mother when she died. Regan is soon subjected to medical tests after her personality becomes violent. No physical cause was found. Then the police get involved as Lieutenant William Kinderman learns of the violent death of Dennings. But then Regan's condition started to get worse courtesy of another violent fit and this time stabbing a crucifix in her vagina (I'm not making that up) and started to turn her head backwards. So Karras shows up to visit Regan and she is believed to be possed by a demon named Pazuzu(representation of Satan himself) she starts vomitting projectiles in the face of Karras while speaking in tongues as Pazuzu will remain inside Regan until she is DEAD. So there is only one way to get the demon out of her body "AN EXORCISM needs to be performed" So after granted permission by his superior with the condition that an experienced priest lead the ritual Father Lankester Merrin (played by Max von Sydow) is summoned to the house that The MacNeil's are at.

So Father Merrin arrives as he along with Karras begin to read The Roman Ritual and while they were doing that Pazuzu started using profane language towards them. Soon the priest rests as as shaken Merrin took nitroglycerine meanwhile Karras went back inside and saw Pazuzu appear as his mother. FREAKY!! Showing Weakness,Karras claims that Pazuzu is not his mother,Merrin then returns and excuses Karras and continued the exorcism alone. Karras then gives the assumption to Chris that Regan will NOT DIE but when he re-enters the room Father Merrin is dead from a heart attack and Karras snapped beating the possessed Regan and damands that Pazuzu take him instead,Pazuzu rips the medallion of Saint Joseph from Karras' neck and possesses him and freeing Regan. Karras then hurls himself out of the window tumbling down the stone stairs outside. Then Chris and Kinderman enter the room Chris embraces a healed Regan while Kinderman surveys the scene. Outside Father Dyer administers a dying Karras his last rites.

As the MacNeils prepare to leave Father Dyer says his goodbyes. Despite having no memory of the ordeal that she was possessed Regan kisses Dyer on the cheek as she is moved by the sight of his clerical collar,as they leave Chris hands Dyer the medallion found in Regan's room. He then examines the stone steps where Karras died before walking away. 

"The Exorcist" was released in 24 studios in the U.S. the day after Christmas 1973 at first reviews were mixed,but audiences waited in long lines during the cold weather,even sold out shows were more profitable since they booked it into the theatres under four wall distribution rental agreements. Some viewers suffered adverse physical reactions like fainting or vomiting to shocking scenes such as cerebral angiography The MPAA wanted to give the film an X rating after children had eventually went and saw the movie. But instead it got an R rating which meant no kid under 17 can see this movie without a parent. After it's initial run the movie brought in $193 million at the box office and has a lifetime gross of $441 million thanks to  subsequent re-releases

"The Exorcist" was like the first horror film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture as well as nine other awards. My overall rating for "The Exorcist" is an 80/100 The Exorcist's legacy is still going after 50 years with the most recent release of "Exorcist:Believer" which was released on October 6,2023

JoeLumb's Movie Review Halloween II (1981)

 Picking up where Halloween(1978) left off. Halloween II directed by Rick Rosenthal in his directorial debut(he would go on to direct Halloween Resurrection in 2002) Written and Produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and Distributed by Universal Pictures following the success of Halloween. Initially Hill and Carpenter considered doing a sequel years after the events,where Michael would hunt down Laurie again this time in a high rise apartment complex. But the setting was changed to Haddonfield Hostpital in script meetings. Now what was the deciding factor to continue the story from that Halloween Night in 1978 was to find a fitting conclusion to the interaction between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. Apparently Producer Irwin Yablans wanted to do a sequel and at that time sequels were never really a thing Tommy Lee Wallace who served as a crew member in the original film stated "no one ever thought of sequels" over the prospect of a sequel. (Noted:Friday the 13th (1980) had spawned a sequel with part 2 in 1981 the same year Halloween II came out). Anyway the script would get worked on Following Carpenter got done with directing "The Fog" Carpenter also directed the sci-fi/action flick "Escape from New York" with Kurt Russell(the first of many films John Carpenter and Kurt Russell would do together).

We pick up where the first film left off with the first film. After Dr.Loomis (Donald Pleasence) shot Michael Myers which lead him falling off a balcony,the disappeared into the night. He wandered in alleys stealing a kitchen knife from an elderly couple and murdered a teenage girl next door. Meanwhile Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who narrowly escaped death is taken to Haddonfield Hospital. Meanwhile Loomis continued his pursuit of Michael and is accompanied by Sheriff Brackett. Dr.Loomis mistakens a costumed teenager named Ben for Michael ends up getting hit by a cop car and being burned to death. Then once Sheriff Brackett learned that Annie was murdered he blamed it all on Dr. Loomis and abandoned the search for Michael. Meanwhile a paramedic named Jimmy befriends Laurie. Michael soon learns of a news report of Laurie's location which is at The Hospital and that is where he is headed to,cutting phone lines and slashing tires so that no one can escape his wrath or call for help. He ends up killing a security guard and several nurses throughout the night while Laurie was dreaming about the day she learned she was adopted and remembers visiting a young Michael Myers at the sanitarium. Meanwhile police are informed that early in the day Michael Myers had broken into an elementary school. Well Marion Chambers had arrived to escort Dr.Loomis back to Smith's Grove under the orders of the governor and under the enforcement of the U.S. Marshal,on the way there Chambers tells Loomis that Laurie is Michael's younger sister (What in Fuck?) and that she was put up for adoption following the death of Michael's parents with records sealed to protect the family. After realizing that Michael is after Laurie who is at the hospital Dr. Loomis forced the Marshal at gunpoint ordering him to drive him to Haddonfield. After killing the last nurse at the place Michael finds Laurie and pursues her through the hospital.  She managed to escape out in the parking lot only to hide in a car. Jimmy who suffered a concussion earlier rescues Laurie and attempts to escape Michael only to pass out while still concussed drove to safetty long enough to pass out and he laid his head on the horn causing a commotion which got the attention of Michael,The Marshal,Marion and Dr.Loomis. They reached the hospital in time to save Laurie. The Doc shoots Michael until he falls,seemingly dead. While Marion calls the police using the Marshall's radio,the marshal attempts to check Michael who rose up and slit his throat with a surgeon scalpel. Loomis and Laurie run into an operating room where he gives her the marshal's gun before being stabbed by Michael. Laurie then shoots Michael in both eyes blinding him as he swings the scalpel violently the two filled the room with flammable gas Loomis tells Laurie to get out before igniting the gas immolating himself and Michael in the explosion. Laurie watched on as Michael engulfed in flames emerge briefly before finally collapsing to the floor. The following morning she is transferred to another hospital traumatized but survived the real night nightmare.

That is a pretty damn good sequel. Released on October 30,1981 Distributed by Universal Pictures with the production of Dino De Laurentis's Production company the film was made with a $2.5 million budget  and did $25.5 million in the North American Box Office. Overall rating of the film is an 85/100 and I ranked this movie at #7 on my favorite movies of 1981.