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.

JoeLumb's Movie Review HALLOWEEN (1978)

 Well since it's Halloween season I think it's time I start the month of October right with the franchise that introduced is to it's main antagonist Michael Myers. 

On October 25,1978 The Original Halloween movie was released in theatres after it's release the movie became the most profitable independent films of all time grossing $70 million in the box office. Primarlily praised for John Carpenter's direction and the musical score,many critics credit the film in the first in a long line of Slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "PSYCHO" (released in 1960) and Bob Clark's "BLACK CHRISTMAS" (1974) not to mention Tobe Hooper's "TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE" (1974) and it's considered to be of one if NOT the GREATEST Horror Films ever made.

How Halloween came about was when an independent film producer named Irwin Yablans and his financier Moustapha Akkad sought out Director John Carpenter following the viewing of his previous film "Assault on Precinct 13" at the Milan Film Festival and they wanted him to direct a film of a psychotic killer that stalked babysitters. Well Carpenter along with Debra Hill had wrote the screenplay in approximately 10 days.

In the start of the film it was Halloween Night in 1963 in a town called Haddonfield,Illinois. Michael Myers then a 6 year old boy stabbed his teenage sister to death with a chef's knife. He was soo caught shortly thereafter and we fast forward to October 30,1978 and Dr.Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) Michael's psychiatrist and his colleague Nurse Marion Chambers drive to Smith Grove's Sanitarium (where Michael has been incarcerated since killing Judith all those years ago) to escort Michael to a court hearing where Dr.Loomis hopes he'd be locked up for life,Michael managed to escape the Sanitatium and steals a car. Halloween was the next day and after killing a mechanic stealing his coveralls on the way to Haddonfield and stole knives,ropes and a white expressionless mask from a hardware store,Michael Myers sees Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) drop off a key at the long-abandoned Myers house that her father had been trying to sell for years. Laurie noticed that Michael had been stalking her throughout the day but her friends Annie and  Lynda dismiss her concerns. Meanwhile Dr.Loomis made it to Haddonfield as he discovered Judith's tombstone has been stolen from the cemetery,tightening his suspicions that Michael is in town. Dr.Loomis meets Sheriff Brackett (the father of Annie) and they investigate the Myers' house. Dr. Loomis tells Brackett that in 15 years he's known Michael and that he is purely EVIL.

That Night Laurie babysits Tommy Doyle while Annie babysits Lindsay Wallace across the street. Michael follows them spying on Annie and murdered the Wallace's dog by strangling it to death. Well later in the night Annie decided to take Lindsay over to the Doyle house so she could meet with her boyfriend Paul. Unknown to her Michael kills her by slicing her throat with the chef's knife. Soon Lynda and her boyfriend Bob arrive at the Wallace house to find it abandoned and they ended up having sex. Bob went downstairs to get a beer and Michael ended up killing him by pinning him to a wall with a kitchen knife. Then Michael posed as Bob in a ghost costume and confronts Annie who teased him to no affect. Then when Annie decided to call Laurie,Michael took the phone cord and strangled her to death while Laurie listened in on the other end,believiing it's a joke Laurie went next door to investigate. Loomis finally arrived and discovered the stolen car and searched the streets. 

Meanwhile Laurie went to The Wallace house and discovered her friends are dead and sees Judith's tombstone in the upstairs bedroom She flees to the hallway in distress when Michael appeared slashing her arm causing her to fall over the stairway banister. Barely escaping with her life she went back to the Doyle house,Tommy lets her in as those two along with Lindsey hide from Michael. Michael snuck through the window and attacked Laurie again but she stabs him in the neck with a knitting needle,that didn't keep Michael down for long as he got back up and went after Laurie again this time she stabs him with a hire hanger she then has Tommy and Lindsay go to a neighbor's house and have them call the police,after they leave Michael rises again and continued to go after Laurie,Luckilly Dr.Loomis saw the kids running to a neighbor's house so he went over the Doyle's house to investigate. He sees Michael attempting to strangle Laurie until Loomis took his mask off,distracting him as he puts the mask back on Loomis shot him six times knocking him off the balcony. He soon looks over the the balcony and discovers that Michael has vanished. Laurie sobs in terror after asking if that was "the boogeyman" and Dr. Loomis confirmed her worst fear.

Halloween spawned a film franchise that spawned 13 films in 45 years after it's release. My overall rating for the Original Halloween is a 90/100 Now keep in mind there was a remake of "Halloween" in 2007 Directed by Rob Zombie and that movie didn't bring the franchise any new life and the sequel 2009's "Halloween II" was NO BETTER. 

JoeLumb's Movie Review Silent Rage (1982)

 This is the first Chuck Norris Movie review I'm about to do. The movie "Silent Rage" is a sci-fi/action/thriller starring Chuck Norris as Sheriff Dan Stevens he must stop a mentally ill man named John Kirby played by Brian Libby,who goes on a violent rampage after he had been granted near indestructibility in a medical experiment. 

The start of the film showed the mentally ill man John Kirby murder two family members. So sheriff Stevens and Deputy Charlie (Stephen Furst) respond and arrest John,however he breaks out of his handcuffs overpowers other officers and grabs a shotgun forcing the officers to shoot him.  Now John is severely injured and near death gets transported to an institute where his phychiatrist Dr.Thomas Halman (Ron Silver) and he works along side Dr.Phillip Spires (Steven Keats) and Dr.Paul Vaughn who are two doctors/genetics. In order to save John from death Dr.Spires propose treating him with a formula created by himself and Dr.Vaughn,Dr. Halman objects to it's use to to John's psychosis and Spires pretends to agree but administers the formula anyway once Dr.Halman leaves. Revived and rendered to near mute he is now virtually invulnerable. John escapes from the institution and tracks down Dr.Tom Halman at his home having overheard him tell Dr. Phil Spires to die earlier on. Well John ends up killing Dr.Halman when Tom's wife Nancy discovers he's dead John killed her too. Tom's sister Allison (Toni Kalem) came home to discover the corpses of her brother and his wife. But John didn't kill her he fleed the scene as Allison ran to Sheriff Stevens and Deputy Charlie as the police arrived. Dan and Charlie take Allison to the institute knowing that John is going to see Doctors Spires and Vaughn to treat his wounds,but instead John kills the two doctors as well stabbing Dr. Vaughn with a syringe after he threw acid on John and then John kills Dr.Spires by snapping his neck. Charlie attempted to arrest him but John broke his back and he is left to die so now Dan has to protect Allison from this monster John has become. When Dan and Allison escaped the institute John climbed in the back of Sheriff Steven's truck into the back window and they were forced to jump out as the truck crashes and explodes lighting John on fire but again he survives,only injured so he jumps in the lake and recovers. So now with Allison watching Dan and John get into a fight that ended with the only way Chuck Norris knows how to end it with several roundhouse kicks before being thrown into a nearby well. Seemingly dead by this point Dan and Allison leave,but deep in the well John seemed to arise from the water and then we get the rolling credits. 

"Silent Rage" was directed by Michael Miller the screenplay for this movie was written by Joseph Fraley and produced by Anthony B. Unger and Distributed by Columbia Pictures. Released on April 2,1982 the movie did $29.5 million in the box office. Chuck Norris was on a hot streak when it came to starring in profitable films starting with 1979's A Force of One,followed by 1980's The Octagon and 1981's an Eye for an Eye. 

I rate this movie an 85/100 unfortunately it's not ranked in the top 10 of favorite movies of 1982. Years later Michael Miller had hoped to do a sequel to Silent Rage however he felt that Chuck Norris was not a fan of those kind of slasher movies now was it Norris' favorite pictures to do. Who could blame him?

JoeLumb's Movie Review Fatal Attraction (1987)

 When preparing for research for this movie I found out some very recurring themes when it comes to director Adrian Lyne. See Adrian Lyne is a british born writer,director and producer. He began his career in the 1970's directing television commercials,he then went on to make well received short films that are entries in The London Film Festival. He would begin making feature films in 1980 his movies are known for sexually charged stories and characters. Which brings me to the topic of today's movie Review.

"Fatal Attraction" is a psychological thriller directed by Adrian Lyne(who directed Flashdance in 1983 and 9 1/2 weeks in 1986 and would go onto direct movies such as Jacob's Ladder,Indecent Proposal and Unfaithful) The film stars Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher,Glenn Close as Alex Forest and Ann Archer as Beth Gallagher. Released on September 18,1987 The film's budget cost $14 million to make and made $320 million at the box office worldwide. A Huge Box Office Success.

The movie plot centers around Dan Gallagher(Michael Douglas) having a weekend fling with Alex Forest(Glenn Close) while his wife Beth (Anne Archer) and kid were out of town. Well once the wife and kid return,Dan ends the affair,but Alex becomes obsessive refusing to let the affair end. Then Alex drops the bombshell to Dan that she is pregnant with HIS child. Fearing for the worst he changed his phone number so that she can't get to him,suddenly she shows up at his apartment which is up for sale to meet Beth. Well Dan did not take that too well and confronted Alex about it. She tells him "She will not be ignored" So Dan relocates the family out of his Manhattan apartment into a beautiful house in Bedford but did that dissuade Alex? No she stalks him pouring acid on his car,delivered a tape recording of herself filled with verbal abuse. Then she had the gall to follow him home where she can see the sight of his family and it made her sick that she ended up throwing up.  The final straw was when Dan,Beth and their kid were away Alex snuck into the house killed the little girl's pet rabbit and boils it on the stove. That horrified Beth and then Dan comes clean and says the woman who killed the rabbit is the same woman he had an affair with and confesses she's pregnant and that enraged Beth who ordered him to leave. Dan then calls up Alex and tells her that he told Beth everything,Alex didn't buy it until Alex got on the phone and warned her she will kill her is she persists in harming her family. Than Alex really crosses the line where she takes Ellen(Dan and Beth's daughter) out of school and takes her to an amusement park,when Beth learns that she is not in school she frantically looks for her all over town and she ends up getting into a car accident which required hospitalization. Once Dan learns of what Alex did by kidnapping  Ellen and Beth had been in the hospital he became enraged and busts into Alex's apartment and attempted to strangle her,suddenly he stops short of killing her,she then grabs a kitchen knife and lunges to him,but he disarms her and departs fearful for his life knowing that she is psychotic. He then goes to the police as they search for Alex. Well Since that day Beth forgave Dan and welcomed him back home. Well just before Beth was about to take a bath Alex appeared out of nowhere and she attacks her,Dan appears after hearing Beth's screams from downstairs gets a hold of Alex and drowns her in the bath water. Suddenly Alex emerges from the water and attempted to stab Dan until a gunshot pierced the air and Alex is seen bleeding from her chest. Beth shot Alex and she died. After Dan gave his statement to the police he embraces Beth in the living room and we see the photo of the happy family and then the rolling credits. 

"Fatal Attraction" was adapted by James Dearden with assistance from Nicholas Meyer from Diversion a short british film done in 1980. Now there was an alternate ending other than the one we got. You see Alex was originally supposed to take her own life at the film's end with the knife Dan had left on the counter framing Dan for her murder. After Dan gets arrested by police Beth finds some incriminating evidence the cassette tape filled with verbal abuse you know the one calling Dan a "cocksucking sonofabitch"  and she threatened to kill herself. Upon this revelation Beth takes the tape to the police and Dan is cleared of all charges. The last scene shows a flashback of Alex taken her own life by slashing her throat while listening to "Madame Butterfly"After doing test screenings Joseph Farrell who does all the final screenings suggested a new ending be shot where Dan drowns Alex,but Alex would emerge only for Beth to shoot her dead in sel defense. 

My overall rating of this movie is an 85/100 This was one of the first of many great films Michael Douglas has done throughout his career and he has done some remarkable movies before this like Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile and latter movies like Wall Street and Basic Instinct. I rank this somewhere in the top 5 best movies of 1987.

JoeLumb's Movie Review Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

 It's been nearly 2 and a half years since the first Beverly Hills COP movie and today I review "Beverly Hills Cop II the sequel. Now originally Paramount Pictures had planned a television series based on the first film. Eddie Murphy turned down the series however he was open to do a sequel. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer hired Tony Scott on as director following the success of the previous film the three did together with "Top Gun" Originally the film was to be shot in London and Paris,but the script was re-written after Murphy expressed a reluctance to film outside The United States. 

Eddie Murphy's salary at that time was at the time he starred in the film was at $8 million The movie's budget was at $27 million. Ronny Cox was to have some more screen time however due to his commitment with another film (Robocop) that didn't happen. Filming began on November 10,1986 and concluded on March 25,1987. 

The plot of this story follows Captain Andrew Bogomil (Cox),Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton) and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) are trying to figure out who is behind a string of "Alphabet Crimes" Although in this movie the political change had happened. You got this HARD ASS Police Chief named Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield) who is incompetant,egotistical and verbally abusive who is doing all he can to stay on the good side of Mayor Ted Egan (Robert Ridgely). Well Lutz got pissed off at Rosewood for calling the FBI to help solve the case this lead to Lutz suspending Bogomil and demoting Rosewood and Taggart to do traffic duty. Well later in the day Bogomil gets shot by Karla Fry (Brigette Nielsen) she is a chief enforcer to Maxwell Dent (Jurgen Pronchnow) the secret mastermind of The Alphabet Crimes.  When Axel Foley (Murphy) learns of this on television he abandon's the case he's working on in Detroit and flies out to Beverly Hills to reunite with Taggart and Rosewood and assist them into tracking down the ones responsible for wounding Bogomil. Posing as an FBI Agent to get past Lutz with the aid of Axel's pal and fellow cop from Detroit Jefferey Friedman (Paul Reiser) Axel makes the connection between the robberies and Dent. The first trail was one of the ammunition used in one of the robberies traced to a gunsmith named Charles Cain (Dean Stockwell) a manager of a gun club owned by Dent. Axel has Bogomil's daughter use her connections as an insurance agent to find out about Dent's financial dealings. As it rurns out Dent is robbing his own businesses intentionally in order to finance firearms transactions with an arms dealer named Nikos Thomopolis and is discreetly using Cain as the frontman for his operations. That was one reason why Bogomil got shot because he was on the right track.

Having foiled a robbery at a bank depot Foley trick's Dent's accountant by the name of Sidney Bernstein into letting him use his computer,discovering that Karla and Max are planning to leave the country. Axel also learns from Jan(Bogomil's daughter) that all of Dent's business have had their insurance coverage cancelled and are about to go bankrupt except for a racetrack. Wasting no time heading to the racetrack,Axel solves the latest riddle sent to the police and is convinced that this riddle was made easily solvable in order to throw Cain under the bus. Implicating him as The Alphabet Bandit,throwing the authorities off Dent's trail.  Well the trio got there too late as they find Cain dead (he was executed by Karla). While Lutz announces that the alphabet crimes have been solved,Axel discovers some red mud at the stables which lead him,Rosewood and Taggart to Dent's oil field. There Dent is making his transaction deal with Thomopolis. The three end up in a shoot out with everyone involved. Rosewood destroys one shipment trying to escape using a rocket launcher grenade,Axel destroys another shipment by tossing a hand grenade in there. BOOM!!!! Axel manages to find Dent and kill him,Karla was about to shoot Axel until Taggart shot her and killing her.  Just as the last of the criminals try to escape the police arrive and they soon surrender,arresting most of Den't goons and Thomopolis. Mayor Egan and Lutz showed up and Lutz is furious over Taggart and Rosewood's insubordination and wants Foley arrested,however Taggart and Rosewood are sick of Lutz abusive attitude tells him off as does Mayor Egan who fires Lutz as police chief. At the end of the film Bogomil is chosen as the new police chief and Mayor Egan calls Foley's boss Inspector Todd and Todd was none to pleased with what Foley had been doing out there anyway. 

The Film was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and Directed by Tony Scott. Released in theatres on May 20,1987 and did $276.6 million in the box office making it the third highest grossing film of 1987 behind Fatal Attraction and Three Men and a Baby.  I ranked this movie #2 on my favorite movies of 1987 behind Robocop. Overall Rating of this movie is a 90/100

JoeLumb's Movie Review Black Moon Rising (1986)

 This is one of those movies from the 1980's known for alot of cheesy bullshit and it's neo-noir themes. However this movie peaked my interest because this was the movie Linda Hamilton was a co star in following her performance in "The Terminator" movie in 1984. 

"Black Moon Rising" is a science fiction action thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones,Linda Hamilton,Lee Ving,Robert Vaughn,Keenan Wynn,Richard Jaecklel and Bubba Smith.  The plot of this movie revolves around the theft of a prototype vehicle known as The Black Moon. 

The plot of the story has Sam Quint(played by Tommy Lee Jones) a thief hired by the FBI to steal a computer disk that contains incriminating evidence against The Lucky Dollar Corporation out in Las Vegas. After stealing the disk,Quint is pursued by Marvin Ringer (Lee Ving)  a former thief who works for the Lucky Dollar Corporation.  At the same time a prototype machine called "The Black Moon" is being tested out in the desert by Earl Windom (Richard Jaeckel) Now could you picture a vehicle that reaches the speed of 325 miles per hour. That's Fast. But what was also cool is that it runs on tap water and not regular fuel. Then we meet Nina (Linda Hamilton) who lead a band of auto thieves in stealing the cars including The Black Moon at a restaurant in L.A. Quint tracks down the thieves at a parking garage however there was no sight of the them. He then gets his ass reemed by FBI Agent Johnson (Bubba Smith) he's not gonna get paid and the government's case against The Lucky Dollar will be tossed out of court unless the computer disk is returned within the next 3 days. After getting blueprints to Ryland Towers from city hall,Quint heads over there. Now Ryland Towers are a pair of office building built by Ed Ryland (Robert Vaughn). Ryland is also the head of a car theft syndicate. The basement of the two towers is a large chop shop,but Ryland keeps the best cars for himself and sells the others. Ryland berates Nina for stealing a car he does not want (probably The Black Moon) but refused to allow her to keep it for herself. Once Nina left the towers Quint follows her to a nightclub where they meet and next thing you know they're back at her apartment where they have sex. Remember Windom he and his team were in the towers searching for evidence to give to the police until Ryland's goons ambush and kill one of the men. So they go to Quint to offer assistance and that's when Ringer and his henchmen show up to ambush him,only got Quint to slay the henchmen while Ringer got away. The next day Ryland confronted Nina about a tape of her and Quint getting it on,calling her a traitor and locked her in a closet,meanwhile Quint manages to get into one of the towers,he soon discovers Nina is trapped in a closet and gets her out,she then agrees to help Quint steal the Black Moon. Next thing you know they get the Black Moon managed to escape after killing Ryland and retrieving the disk,but then Ringer shows up and a brutal fight between Quint and Ringer happens as FBI Johnson arrived. Ringer got knocked out. Quint gives the disk to Johnson allowing himself to retire. Windom shows up and is thankful that The Black Moon is still in one piece but wonders how he will get the vehicle down? The movie ends up back at Nina's apartment where Quint asks if she's glad to steal the Black Moon and she replies that she is and in return Quint was glad too. 

"Black Moon Rising" was directed by Henry Cockliss who would go on to direct episodes of the 90's TV series Xena:Warrior Princess. The Screenplay was done by of all people John Carpenter and he wrote the screenplay around the time he was directing Escape from New York back in 1981. William Gray and Desmond Nakano added on to Carpenter's script. The movie was released via New World Pictures of January 10,1986 and did $6.5 million in the box office.

My overall rating for this film is a 65/100 truthfully Jones and Hamilton would go on to have much better films other than this one. It's in the in between good and bad films of 1986 in my book.

JoeLumb's Movie Review Rambo First Blood II (1985)

 This movie is the sequel to "First Blood" which was released in 1982.  See the plot of this movie was inspired by the Vietnam War/POW/MIA issue,but in this movie Rambo(Sylvester Stallone) gets released from prison 3 years after the chaos he caused in Hope,Washington (from First Blood) in a deal with the U.S. Government to document the possible existence of missing POW's in Vietnam,but is given strict orders not to rescue any. Now here is where the mission is a sabotage. Apparently after Rambo sees a POW tied to a cross shaped post he sets him free. This lead to this asshole Major Marshall Roger T. Murdoch (Charles Napier) ordering to abort the rescue and in turn pissed off Rambo's commanding officer Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) who confronts him and then Murdoch reveals to Trautman that he never intended to save any POWs as Congress expected Rambo to find nothing,if he did Murdoch himself would dispose any photographic evidence or even leave Rambo to die.

Well Rambo was held captive by Soviet and Vietnamese forces and is interrogated by Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky(Steven Berkoff) and his right hand man Sergeant Yushin (don't know the actor's name so don't ask) they torture him to the point where Podovsky demands that Rambo broadcast a message to Murdoch not to have anymore rescue missions. Rambo refused but after being tortured with electric shocks he relents,only to use that as a threat to Murdoch that he's coming for him overpowering his captors and escaped the camp. Which lead to a killing spree on many of the Soviet and Vietnamese soldiers sent to stop Rambo. He rescues the POW's and destroys the entire prison camp with rocket launchers while slaughtering more of the enemy. Towards the end Rambo throws Yushin off the chopper and used the rocket launcher to destroy Podovsky's helicopter and then returns to The Home Base When he returned Rambo knocked out one of Murdoch's stooges (Martin Kove) shoots up the basr pulls out his knife and demands that Murdoch find and rescue more POWs cause if he doesn't he will be dead. Towards the end of the film Rambo now being a free man,elected not to return home and he only wants his country to love it's soldiers.

"Rambo:First Blood II" was directed by George P. Cosmatos and the screenplay was done by Sylvester Stallone and James Cameron(who at the time he was writing and directing The Terminator,while also writing and ready to direct Aliens) The Budget to make this film cost $25.5 million while it did $300 million globally at the box office. I rate this movie an 8.75/10 the only down part of the movie was why didn't Rambo and Trautman have disciplinary actions towards Murdoch. I think that was a political power play as the Government expected Rambo to fail the mission. Whatever it was it eventually worked out in the end Rambo is a free man having served time in prison and told the asshole Murdoch to rescue more POWs or hr will return and end him. That movie was ranked #1 in my favorite movies of 1985.

JoeLumb's Movie Review The Terminator (1984)

James Cameron made his directorial debut directing the 1982 horror film "Piranha II:The Spawning" during the film's release Cameron devised the premise of his next movie from a fever dream he experienced in Rome,Italy. Soon thereafter Cameron developed the concept in collaboration with William Wisher Jr. He then sold the rights to the project to Gale Anne Hurd who at the time was working for New World Pictures on the condition that she will produce the film if Cameron himself directed it. Hurd managed to secure a distribution deal with Orion Pictures while Executive Producers John Daly and Derek Gibson of the Hemdale Film Corporation were instrumental in setting up the film's financing and production. Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally approached by Orion for the role of Kyle Reese a human sent from the future to protect a woman from a cyborg assassin which is The Terminator,however he agreed to play The title character after he befriended James Cameron. Filming of the movie took place mostly at night time on location in Los Angeles (the third largest city in the United States of America) but most of the shooting was delayed due to Schwarzenegger's commitment to "Conan The Destroyer" during which Cameron found some time to work on scripts for Rambo:First Blood II (with Sylvester Stallone) and a future James Cameron directed film "Aliens" The Special Effects which includes miniatures and stop-motion animation were created by artists Stan Winston and Gene Warren Jr. 

Here's the plot of the story two men arrive separately in the city of Los Angeles in the year 1984 having time traveled from the year 2029 one is the cyborg assassin The Terminator(Schwarzenegger) programmed to murder a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The other is a human soldier named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) who is assigned to prevent The Terminator from killing Sarah. They both end up stealing clothes and weapons as a result.  Now here's the part of the film that got explained see Reese informs Sarah that an artificially intelligent defense network known as Skynet created by Cyberdyne Systems will become self aware and trigger a global nuclear war to exterminate the human species. He then tells her that her son John will rise up and lead a gang of survivors in a resistance movement against Skynet and it's army of machines. On the verge of the resistance's victory Skynet sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah and prevent John from being born. The Terminator is a relentless killing machine with perfect voice-mimicking ability and a robust endoskeleton covered by living tissue that disguises it as a human.  There was a point in the film where Sarah and Kyle have sex which lead to her conceiving John.  Soon after the Terminator locates Sarah and Kyle and the chase was on again. Towards the end Reese got killed and Sarah managed to crush and destroy The Terminator with a hydraulic press. Months later A Pregnant Sarah travels through Mexico recording audio tapes to pass on to her soon to be born son John. At the gas station a boy takes a photo of Sarah and she bought it from him. It's the exact photograph that one day John will give to Reese.

With a Budget of 6.4 million to make,Defying low pre-release expectations "The Terminator" topped the American box office for two weeks eventually grossing $78.3 million at The Box Office. That film launched the careers of James Cameron as a Director and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a leading actor and action hero was solidified.

My Rating for this movie is a 90/100 Following the success of the movie we got a film franchise out of it along with a television series,comic books,novels and video games out of The Terminator. I ranked it #4 on my favorite movies of 1984.

JoeLumb's Movie Review 10 to Midnight (1983)

 The Producer of this film Poncho Kohner had done a number of films with Charles Bronson and Director J. Lee Thompson. They pucharsed the film right to the  1978 novel "The Evil that Men Do"  written by R.Lance Hill. Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan wanted to market Bronson's next film project and the adaptation of the novel,but Kohner estimated the right to the novel and cost of the screenplay being $200K Menahem Golan refused to pay and the deal fell through. Golan however still offered to market Bronson's next film,just not based on that novel Poncho and Menahem arranged a visit to The Cannes Film Festival to promote "The Evil that Men Do". In the meantime Golan told Kohner to come up with a new project and a fresh title. Back in Los Angeles while coming up with the screenplay for the new project Poncho Kohner's colleague Lance Hool suggested using the screenplay Bloody Sunday written by William Roberts. That's how "10 to Midnight" came about. 

The Plot of the movie is an office equipment repairman who is a psychopathic killer of women after,they reject his sexual advances. The Antagonists name is Warren Stacey(Gene Davis/I don't know if it was to take a cheap shot or pay homage to another Hollywood star in  Warren Beatty) anyway,well one night he attends the showing of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid where he sits next to two girls intentionally I might add. As the movie plays he heads towards the bathroom to strip naked put on a pair of gloves and slips out the window. He tracks down a female co-worker who rejected his sexual advances,down to a wooded area and he observes her having sex with a boyfriend in the back of a van. So Warren ambushes them killing Betty's lover,chasing Betty to the forest where he caught up to her and stabbed her to death. Then Warren returned to the movie,puts his clothes back on and  then exits with the other attendees giving him a solid alibi. 

Meanwhile veteran detective Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) and his young partner Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens) investigate the murders. Anyway Stacey attended the funeral of Betty when he overhears from the victim's father about what her friend knows that Betty kept a diary about her encounters with other men. Fearing that he would be mentioned he races to the apartment to look for it when interupted by Betty's roommate and co-worker Karen Smalley entering the place after returning to the funeral and Warren stabs her to death. He resumes finding the diary until he realizes that she gave it to Kessler. 

That lead to Stacey being arrested and charged with murder but this is what pisses me off about police protocol if you're gonna make evidence stick against a killer don't plant it in order to frame him and put him away for good cause that's exactly what Kessler did he wanted him put away for life. His partner McAnn discovered what Kessler did and confronted him  with the fear of him committing perjury. Well in court Kessler admitted to planting evidence which lead to Stacey being acquitted of all charges and Kessler being fired from the force.

Now a free man Warren Stacey taunts Leo Kessler over the phone,but he returns the favor by ransacking his home taunting him over the phone in return and getting him fired from his office job.  That night Kessler tails Stacey through the Los Angeles streets. After he picked up a prostitute he tails them to a seedy motel,but when he got there the prostitute was knocked out and Stacey was gone. Realizing now that he's going after Kessler's daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher). He frantically calls her dorm,but it was too late. Stacey had murdered three of her roommates as Laurie escaped and ran for her life as the killer went after her.  Meanwhile Kessler alerts McAnn of Stacey's whereabouts and they run to the dorm. The Killer fully nude mind ya chased Laurie down the L.A. streets,however McAnn and Kessler caught up to him rescuing Laurie in the process. Stacey then goes on a rant on how insane he is and and thus liable to be released after doing jail time.  The police arrive to handcuff him but now without telling Leo "The whole fucking world will hear from me again." and a coldhearted Leo Kessler responds "No We Won't" and that's when he shot him in the head killing him and the film is over,roll the credits. 

The film was released om March 11,1983 by City Films a subsidiary of The Cannon Film group. It cost $4 million to make and did $7 million in the box office. The film had a cult following years later thanks to home video releases and Cable TV showings,the film was heavilly edited for TV broadcasts which displayed alternate scenes of Stacey and his victims in their underwear instead of them being totally naked.  This Charles Bronson movie was heavy on violence,nudity,sexual situations and vulgar language.  

The problem I have with this film is why didn't they extend the movie a little more after Stacey's dead,Kessler is reinstated to the police force. How come they didn't do that?  That ending we got partially didn't make sense to me. My Overall Rating for this movie is a 20/100 no wonder why it's regarded as one of the worst movies Charles Bronson ever starred in. 

10 Monster Movies I Literally hate

 There are monster movies that defied everyone's expectations GOOD or BAD. 

But you see there are a handful of Monster Movies that I literally HATE with a passion so here are the 10 Monster Movies I literally HATE.

#10 Megashark vs Giant Octopus (2009)-What the Fuck? I mean Really This is one of the first of three Megashark movies distributed by The Asylum they are an indie film production company that features alot of low budget direct to video films. That production is known for creating "mockbusters" a mockery of blockbuster films that had been released by major film companies. But this one Why the Fuck didn't they call this Megalodon vs Kraken. Megalodon is a prehistoric giant shark that is bigger than a school of Great white sharks and a Kraken is just a giant octopus. It's Shit. But this is not the only movie that features a Giant Octopus check this next one out.

#9 Tentacles (1977)-You want to talk about Capitalizing on the success of Jaws (1975)-It's the story about a seaside tourist resort called Solana Beach where people are turning up dead their skeletons were picked clean of flesh and bone marrow. Apparently a construction of an underwater tunnel had madden the Kraken as I like to call it and it kills everyone that awakens the beast. So the protagonist  Gleason (Bo Hopkins) has a team of trained killer whales destroy the monster. Thank the president of Trojan Construction (Henry Fonda) for letting that beast out to begin with. 

#8 Tarantula (1955)-If you thought the last two were bad check this one out it features a giant spider,everybody has a fear of spiders,but they have a bigger fear of tarantulas even a giant tarantula Holy Shit!

#7 Them (1954)-Giant Irradiated Ants that were discovered in New Mexico become a national threat Oh Brilliant Giant Ants Terrorizing a city,We need a Giant Anteater to save us. 

#6 The Suckling (1990)-That is Bloody Disgusting abort a baby,flush it down the fucking toilet treating it like it was a piece of shit,lands in some toxic waste transforms into a monster that goes on a killing spree in the clinic. I repeat Bloody Disgusting. 

#5 Monster Island (2019)-A complete Mockery of Godzilla King of the Monsters which was released that same year Damnit Asylum you did it again. LAWSUIT!!!!!!

#4 Monster (2008)-In what many say is the worst direct to DVD movie to ever come out and to be honest I agree with that sentiment. I mean what the fuck? Another Giant Octopus laying dormant for years causing earthquakes in of all places Tokyo,Japan. God Awful!!!

#3 Earth vs The Spider (1958)-Another Giant Insect movie Give me a fuckin break. Hate Spiders plain and simple.

#2 Deep Rising (1998)-Here we go again another sea beast,but this one is more of an alien creature than an actual giant octopus but get this they name the monster The Octalus the story follows mercenaries for hire to pilot across a luxury cruise ship in attempts an act of terrorism,little did they all know The Octalus were killing victims one by one the only ones to survive were Treat Williams and Famke Janssen's characters. No wonder why the movie bombed at the box office it was terrible. Why the hell it's regarded as a cult classic is beyond me. 

And Now here the #1 Monster Movie I Literally HATE:

#1 JAWS The Revenge (1987):The lowest grossing JAWS film in it's Franchise no wonder why we never got anymore Jaws movies following this one. Nominated for 7 Golden Raspberry Awards. I think after the way Jaws 3 came out four years earlier,it was time to kill the franchise with The Revenge. 

JoeLumb's Movie Review Beverly Hills COP (1984)

 I previously reviewed Eddie Murphy's first silver screen debut in 48 HRS (with Nick Nolte) but today I review the movie that made him a superstar in Hollywood which is "Beverly Hills Cop" 

The origins of the story dates all the way back to 1977 when Don Simpson who was an executive for Paramount Pictures came up with the movie idea about a cop in East L.A. transferring to Beverly Hills Screenwriter Danilo Bach was hired to write the script,he then pitched the idea to Simpson in 1981 under the name "Beverly Drive" the script was a straight up action film,which the executives hated so he was forced to re-write the script,but after a few attempts the project went stale. Daniel Petrie Jr was brought in to re-write and make changes to Bach's original script and the executives at Paramount were good with it. It was Petrie's humorous approach that transformed the lead character from Elly Axel from East L.A. to Axel Foley from Detroit. The offer to play the role of Axel Foley was first presented to Mickey Rourke,but he son left to do another film,then they went with Sylvester Stallone who was originally considered for the role of Axel Foley he wanted to give the script a dramatic re-write removing all of the story's humor and turning it back into a standard action movie. Well Stallone's new script wasn't what Paramount hoped for and he ultimately dropped out,but retained his idea for a future movie which would be called "Cobra" a future movie review for another time. Anyway Don Simpson and his partner Jerry Bruckheimer made a last ditch effort to get someone who would play the role of Axel Foley and that ended up in the hands of Eddie Murphy. So with Eddie's input the final shooting of the draft was done the day production began. The Budget for the Film was around the $14 million mark with Murphy getting $4 million,but got completed around $13 million and filming went from May through late July or August of 1984 mostly around the Los Angeles area,but in the opening there was scenes filmed in the motor city. 

The plot of this story follows a young,reckless detective named Axel Foley (Murphy)and his unauthorized sting operation had gone awry when two uniform cops intervened which lead to the wildest vehicle chases to open a movie and because of the high speed chase and the widespread damage done to the city Foley had gotten verbally blasted by his superior Inspector Todd (Gil Hill) who threatens to fire him if he don't change his ways. Foley then arrives at his apartment when he realized that his longtime friend Mikey Tandino (James Russo) had broken in and made himself a sandwich. The story about their longtime friendship was Axel and Mikey had committed grand theft auto and Mikey took the wrap for him,after he got out he got a job as a security guard in Beverly Hills thanks to a mutual childhood friend in Jenny Summers(Lisa Eilbacher). After getting drunk at a bar two men in business suits first knocked out Axel and confronted Mikey over "Stolen German Bearer Bonds" the plot thickens as one of them kills Mikey before retrieving the Bearer Bonds. When Foley asks Todd to investigate the case he refused because of the close tides and he's still pissed over the unauthorized sting operation from earlier in the day. So Foley decided to "go on vacation" After checking in to a luxurious Beverly Hills Hotel,Foley sought out Jenny and informed her that Mikey had been killed he then soon learns that the man Mikey was working for is an art gallery owner named Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff). After posing as a flower delivery guy he busts into Maitland's office and tries to question him about Mikey,but he has his goons throw Axel out of a window and then he gets arrested for trespassing. At the local police station Axel is questioned by Sergrant John Taggart (John Ashton) and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and then Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) informs Foley that he has talked to Inspector Todd who reminds him if Axel is out here investigation Mikey Tandino's murder he will be fired. Soon thereafter Jenny bails Axel out,while Bogomil assigns Taggart and Rosewood to follow him. Later in the film Foley realizes he got off to a rough start with Taggart and Rosewood and wanted to make peace,by taking them to a strip club,where Foley immediately spotted a robbery was about to take place so the three thwarted the robbery,after that the three men developed mutual respect. While on the trail of Mikey's killer,Axel had snuck into one of Maitland's warehouses where he finds crates full of coffee grounds,which he suspects that it's used to pack drugs since he knows it's used to cover the scent of drugs from police dogs. He also discovers many of his crates have not gone through customs. Foley confronted Maitland again after thrashing his associate Zack(Jonathan Banks) on the buffet table at a country club he tells Maitland he is on to him and then Foley is arrested again. At the police station Axel alerts Bogomil of why he is after Maitland,the murder of his friend and the fact that he is a possible smuggler and then Bogomil's superior Chief Hubbard comes in after learning about Axel's ill-advised investigative actions and orders that Axel will be escorted out of town. But then Axel convinces Billy to pick up Jenny and take her to the warehouse where a shipment was due to arrive that day.  

When Axel and Jenny break in and prove that Axel's suspicions was right,they are soon busted by Maitland and his men,they kidnap Jenny and Zack admits that he should have killed Axel,the same way he killed Mikey. So with Jenny abducted by Maitland and company,Axel is at the mercy of two of his henchmen until Rosewood made the save in the nick of time. Meanwhile Taggart tracks Axel's whereabouts at Maitland's estate and he ends up joining Axel and Billy in their effort to rescue Jenny. Then a shootout happens,The Trio wiped out most of them. Axel goes inside and kills Zack (Avenging Mikey's murder) but then he got shot in the shoulder by Maitland. However Bogomil shows up as he and Axel shoots and kills Maitland and rescues Jenny in the process. After coming up with a story to Chief Hubbard without discrediting Beverly Hills PD,Axel says something to Bogomil that if he gets fired he may move to Bevrely Hills,but Bogomil promises to straighten things out with his boss Inspector Todd.  The final scene was Axel Taggart and Rosewood heading out to get a drink before Foley heads back to Detroit. 

The film was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer,directed by Martin Brest and was released on December 5,1984 and made over $300 million in the box office becoming the highest grossing film of 1984 and it was the third all time highest grossing R rated film behind "The Exorcist" and "The Godfather" 

My overall rating for this movie is a 10/10 it was and still is my #1 pick for best movie of 1984.

JoeLumb's Movie Review 48 HRS. (1982)

 The movie "48 HRs" featured veteran actor Nick Nolte who would later nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in "The Prince of Tides" and this would feature the silver screen debut of comedian Eddie Murphy. Before this film Murphy was a regular on Saturday Night Live a show on NBC which still goes strong today. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was released in theatres on December 8,1982. Directed by Walter Hill (he directed another Paramount film The Warriors in 1979) Hill also co wrote the script of the movie with Steven E.DeSouza,Larry Gross and Roger Spottiswoode and produced by Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver. 

The plot of the movie follows Inspector Jack Cates (Nolte) of the San Fransisco Police Department desperate to capture an escaped convict named Albert Ganz (James Remar) and his associate who helped him escape named Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) while tracking the convicts down Ganz held a woman hostage before killing two of Cates' fellow cops and taking off with his gun. Desperate and armed with a replacement gun,Cates tracks down Ganz's former ally in Reggie Hammond (Murphy). Reggie is doing a three year prison sentence for armed robbery. After a chance meeting Reggie offers to help Jack get Ganz if he can get him out of prison. So a 48 hour time period was put in place and I'll never forget the line Cates said to Hammond "We ain't partners we ain't brothers and we ain't friends,I'm putting you down and keeping you down until Ganz is locked up or dead and if Ganz gets away you'll be sorry that you ever met me." Then Hammond's responds to Ganz's threat "I'm already sorry" After a bunch of frustrating leads and Hammond "playing a bad cop" at Torchy's a hangout where Billy Bear used to work giving Jack the run around he and Reggie get into a fist fight which was broken up by uniform cops. Then Reggie finally reveals the real reason behind his hatred for Ganz. Years prior he,Ganz,Billy Luther (David Patrick Kelly) and Wong robbed a drug dealer of half a million dollars and the money was and still is stashed in the trunk of Reggie's car in a downtown parking garage. Instead of splitting the cash Ganz sold Reggie down the river and that's how he ended up in prison it was also the reason why Ganz and Billy adbucted Luther's girlfriend Rosalie that want to get Reggie's money in exchange for her safe return. Fast forward to the bus chase scene. After Luther gave Ganz the money,Ganz turns around and shoots Luther and presumably his girlfriend (but that probably was cut from the movie) as the villains escape Cates and Hammond crash through the window of a Cadillac showroom.  After getting his ass reemed out by his supervisor.  Jack and Reggie make one last attempt to get Ganz and Billy. They head back to Billy Bear's girlfriend's place where Ganz and Billy used as a hideout. Reggie kills Billy as a gunfight between the heroes and Ganz ensues. In the end Cates avenges his fellow officers death my shooting Ganz to his death. After Reggie had sex with a woman he met earlier that night Reggie and Jack share a laugh before taking him back to prison. 

The film itself cost $12 million to make and it did $78.9 million in the box office. "48HRS" was the movie in which started the buddy cop film genre and would catapult Eddie Murphy into superstardom as one of Hollywood's greatest comedians. 

I rank this movie at #5 in my favorite movies of 1982 and I was only 4 going on 5 when this movie was released.  I watched the whole movie back in 2007 I got a kick out of Jack's threat to Reggie before leaving the prison it would be revisited later in the film after the fistfight and Reggie's confession but this time Reggie threatened Jack by saying "We ain't partners and we ain't friends if Ganz gets away with my money you'll be sorry you ever met me." and Jack's response was "I'm already sorry"