From Times Square to a seaside town... "The Exterminator" and "The Fog"
From Times Square to a seaside town... "The Exterminator" and "The Fog"
it was definately a boring night, so it was decided that to alleviate the boredom, it needed to be movie night. In fact, it was "catch up on movies that have been sitting in the 'to watch' pile for weeks" night. So, off we go...
The Exterminator is a low budget exploitation movie from 1980, which follows two men upon their return home from Vietnam. Life isn't easy for them, but they have their families and each other. Well, after one of them is nearly killed by a gang, the other one swears revenge and he spends the rest of the movie dispatching New York's sickest in all sorts of creative ways.
The Exterminator definately playes off the success of movies like Death Wish, since it basically is made from the same template. But where many other movies did the same, and failed, The Exterminator succeeds. The movie is filled with decent acting, especially from Robert Ginty as the Exterminator. There is a lot of action, with multiple car crashes and explosions, gun fights and a grisly opening in Vietnam. All of that doesn't mean jack though, because if it doesn't work, the movie is garbage. Car crashes and shoot outs don't make a good movie. Luckily, it all flows together nicely here.
There are multiple nice arial shots of old Tiimes Square and also, a few scenes takes place on the streets, so we see a lot of the old theatres, which used to showcase grand movies like this one.
On to the carnage... as I said, the movie opens in a Vietnam prison camp and there is all sorts of bloody wartime action there, including a creepy beheading. Later on in the movie, there is a lot of gunshot violence and a character is wounded with a gardening tool. The Exterminator uses a flame thrower at one point, but discards it for plain old gasoline and a lighter later on. The movie is every bit as sleazy as the streets it takes place on.
Towards the end, it seemingly runs out of energy, as the final moments are a definate let down. No worry though, Robery Ginty would return in The Exterminator 2.
Overall, a notable early 80's exploitation movie and one of the best of its kind.
On the otherhand, The Fog, a remake of the John Carpenter movie, is not so hot. Yes, you read that right, another horror remake. Bah! You know, the original The Fog was hardly a classic. In fact, it wasn't too great at all. So you would think if someone was spending the money to remake it, they would take extra care to fix all the faults of the original and make the movie a good time. Well, no, that is not the case here! Seriously, what the fuck? First off, the acting is kind of bad, as the cast is filled with teeny bopper actors, who don't do much besides try and look scared. Second, the plot keeps all of the same bad idea from the original and makes them worse. Hey, maybe that is why remakes suck? Especially this one. I mean, it's based off a bad movie, so why expect something good.
We got the same bad story about angry seamen who were wronged a long time ago coming back for revenge. While the original at least had some creepy atmosphere, this one has none. The effects are not too special, as they are mostly of the fog doing things and swirling around. My head was swirling about 15 minutes into this thouogh, so at least I can relate to the Fog. Hahaha!
There is no gore to talk of. No scares. No suspense. Just super annoying Selma Blair blabbing her mouth, trying to sound hip, over some radio station. Ugh! Help! Please make it end! Ok, it eventually does end, with, get this... An ending that is even more dumb than the one the original had! Oh man, yes, it is that bad. Ok, to hell with this movie. It sucks.
E
it was definately a boring night, so it was decided that to alleviate the boredom, it needed to be movie night. In fact, it was "catch up on movies that have been sitting in the 'to watch' pile for weeks" night. So, off we go...
The Exterminator is a low budget exploitation movie from 1980, which follows two men upon their return home from Vietnam. Life isn't easy for them, but they have their families and each other. Well, after one of them is nearly killed by a gang, the other one swears revenge and he spends the rest of the movie dispatching New York's sickest in all sorts of creative ways.
The Exterminator definately playes off the success of movies like Death Wish, since it basically is made from the same template. But where many other movies did the same, and failed, The Exterminator succeeds. The movie is filled with decent acting, especially from Robert Ginty as the Exterminator. There is a lot of action, with multiple car crashes and explosions, gun fights and a grisly opening in Vietnam. All of that doesn't mean jack though, because if it doesn't work, the movie is garbage. Car crashes and shoot outs don't make a good movie. Luckily, it all flows together nicely here.
There are multiple nice arial shots of old Tiimes Square and also, a few scenes takes place on the streets, so we see a lot of the old theatres, which used to showcase grand movies like this one.
On to the carnage... as I said, the movie opens in a Vietnam prison camp and there is all sorts of bloody wartime action there, including a creepy beheading. Later on in the movie, there is a lot of gunshot violence and a character is wounded with a gardening tool. The Exterminator uses a flame thrower at one point, but discards it for plain old gasoline and a lighter later on. The movie is every bit as sleazy as the streets it takes place on.
Towards the end, it seemingly runs out of energy, as the final moments are a definate let down. No worry though, Robery Ginty would return in The Exterminator 2.
Overall, a notable early 80's exploitation movie and one of the best of its kind.
On the otherhand, The Fog, a remake of the John Carpenter movie, is not so hot. Yes, you read that right, another horror remake. Bah! You know, the original The Fog was hardly a classic. In fact, it wasn't too great at all. So you would think if someone was spending the money to remake it, they would take extra care to fix all the faults of the original and make the movie a good time. Well, no, that is not the case here! Seriously, what the fuck? First off, the acting is kind of bad, as the cast is filled with teeny bopper actors, who don't do much besides try and look scared. Second, the plot keeps all of the same bad idea from the original and makes them worse. Hey, maybe that is why remakes suck? Especially this one. I mean, it's based off a bad movie, so why expect something good.
We got the same bad story about angry seamen who were wronged a long time ago coming back for revenge. While the original at least had some creepy atmosphere, this one has none. The effects are not too special, as they are mostly of the fog doing things and swirling around. My head was swirling about 15 minutes into this thouogh, so at least I can relate to the Fog. Hahaha!
There is no gore to talk of. No scares. No suspense. Just super annoying Selma Blair blabbing her mouth, trying to sound hip, over some radio station. Ugh! Help! Please make it end! Ok, it eventually does end, with, get this... An ending that is even more dumb than the one the original had! Oh man, yes, it is that bad. Ok, to hell with this movie. It sucks.
E
posted by Crimson Screens at 3:31 PM
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