Alien 3 (1992) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid one of the movie series (at this time there was only 2), that I used to watch with my Dad and sister alot was the Alien movie series... Why you might ask... Well simply, besides the fact that both the first and the sequel were both action packed scare fests, they also both had some truly awesome casts that did an amazing job!

Unfortunately though, as time moved on, we have gotten together less and less to see these movies, and the truth is, is that most of these movies (especially since Sigourney Weaver has left the series), have kind of grown to be pretty bad... I have kind of strayed away from the series... But when all is said and done, this movie that I am about to review, I find to be the first of the movie series to really begin the slow descent in to cheesydom that most franchises seem to go... That movie being, Alien 3 (1992).

Written by: Walter Hill (The Warriors) & David Giler (Fun With Dick And Jane) & Directed by: David Fincher (Fight Club). Starring: Sigourney Weaver (Avatar), Charles S. Dutton (Gothika), Charles Dance (Last Action Hero), Paul McGann (Doctor Who), Brian Glover (An American Werewolf In London), Ralph Brown (Wayne's World 2), Danny Webb (Henry V), Christopher John Fields (Jurassic Park) & Lance Henriksen (The Terminator).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Hopefully Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and this batch of convicts are up to the task of destroying this new Alien threat![/caption]

This movie tells the story of how after the events that happened in, Aliens (1986), The Queen Alien had managed to produce one more offspring that had managed to attach itself to the pods that housed, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Hicks (Michael Biehn), Bishop (Lance Henriksen), & Newt (Carrie Henn).

Well the ship ends up evacuating the crew in an escape vehicle, that ends up crash landing on a Prison planet... Well, Hicks ends up dying from the impact, Newt ends up dying because of becoming an incubator for a new Alien, Bishop becomes un-serviceable, and the only survivor really is, Ripley!

Well in the end, with a new Alien brought to this new planet, it looks like it will be up to Ripley and the Prisoners on this planet, to stop the Alien before the Alien can use them to start a new Alien race!

In the end, this may not be the best of the series, but it certainly is not the worse... And really is the last of the better movies in the series before the slow decent... Well up till Prometheus anyway...

http://youtu.be/9vnjQPcrcZI

5 Classic Horror Shows That Were Canceled To Early

In the world of TV, just as in the world of movies, they tend to gravitate more toward Drama/Comedy/Chick Flick style movies or TV shows, a great example of this is the fact that, 'Beverly Hills 90210' a great teen drama that lasted for about a decade was on longer than, 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'...

Now don't get me wrong, both are great shows in their own right, and in all truth and fairness, most of the bigger named Science Fiction or Horror TV Programs out there do tend to last at least 5 seasons (a pretty good run considering that most of the time these shows that go on for at least 5 seasons get at least a 100 hundred episode run if not more.)

In this case I suppose more what I am talking about is those shows that didn't make it very far but should have!  Like do you remember the show, 'Cult'? Didn't last very long, but a fun show about a TV Program and how it, and it's creator influences a group of obsessed devotee's  that are looking for something specific from the past? Of course not! I mean the  show lasted less then a regular season... And you know what? That show is a show that aired earlier this year!

But I digress and apologize, I didn't mean to rant, all I meant to say is that I thought I would do this list to remind fans of some classic horror TV that was canceled well before it's time!

And for number 5: Point Pleasant (2005 - 2006)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="413"] Point Pleasant (2005 - 2006) a classic horror show that was canceled just when it was finally getting it's sea legs![/caption]

This awesome TV series tells the story of how after a mysterious teenage girl ends up arriving in, 'Point Pleasant', a small coastal town in New Jersey, where she is taken in by an unassuming family, but the longer she stays in this town, the more she finds out the truth about herself, and who her dark mysterious father really is!

Now this show was freaking awesome, and one could almost say is a new take on, 'The Omen', but was canceled way to early and replaced with a show that didn't make it either!

For number 4: Freddy's Nightmares (1988 - 1990).

This one is an interesting one, you see this show is loosely based on Wes Craven's, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' movie series, which was mocked up sort of similar to the old, 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' anthology show, in which Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) would come on and introduce the stories for the show...

I will admit that I have not seen to many episodes of this series (it doesn't air a lot on TV and I have as of yet been able to find it on Netflix, but the few episodes I have seen are a lot of fun, and it is just a shame that this show did not last beyond it's 2 season run!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Considering it's backing, and the commercial success of the movies, it is extremely surprising that this show did not end up doing better then it did![/caption]

At number 3: Night Stalker (2005):

Now here is another truly awesome series that had a strong backing (considering that this is a remake of the classic tv series, 'Kolchack: The Night Stalker' but did not end up lasting to long!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="333"] Night Stalker... Another show that was canceled when it was just starting to get amazing![/caption]

You see this show which also had a great cast, including: Stuart Townsend (Queen Of The Damned) as: Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter whom after his wife dies, ends up investigating her murder through the strange murders of other people that he believes whose deaths are linked to the murder of his wife! Helping him on this is, Gabrielle Union (Bring It On) who plays, 'Perri Reed' another investigative reporter, as well as a few other from their newspaper!

At number 2: Millennium (1996 - 1999)

Admittedly this show has lasted longer then all of the other ones that I have mentioned above... But the reason that I decided to add this series in here is because this show was so abused and mistreated when it was having it's run that every time it was just about to hit the marks and really become something truly amazing, the shows producers seemingly felt like they would have to knock it back down!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] A truly classic show that showed amazing potential, but just never seemed to quite get it's sea legs![/caption]

What I mean by this, is that this show which took the lead character, who was a retired FBI Agent with seeming special insight in to the mind of a killer, and how initially he worked for a group of seeming retired investigators that consulted on crimes, but seemed to have a greater agenda that in the end, the lead character tried to stop, and destroy the organization got off to a great and creepy fun start in season 1, as a matter of fact I would say that season 1 is probably one of the more memorable seasons of strictly horror TV show to be released in the late 1990s!

But then comes season 2... I won't bore you with the details except to say that it sucked! But then comes season 3... Admittedly that season took a little bit to completely get the show back on track, and just when season 3 was just starting to get really good, and had a strong potential to make the show really something, they ended the series with an episode that really sucked!

In the end, the only saving grace for this series was the crossover that had Lance Henriksen (Aliens) and Brittany Tiplady (The Pledge) who played his daughter, guest star on an episode of, 'The X-Files'

And finally at number 1: Brimstone (1998 - 1999).

I am going to be honest with you guys and say that where as all of the shows that I mentioned above were awesome, this show for me was truly spectacular that watched and re-watched a few times when the show first aired and when it went on sporadic re-runs!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="304"] A truly great show that was taken way to early![/caption]

This amazing show which starred: Peter Horton (Children Of The Corn) John Glover (RoboCop 2), and Lori Petty (Point Break) and which told the story of how after killing the man who raped his wife and then getting murdered himself, a Detective (Horton) is given a second chance by the Devil (John Glover) is given a second chance at redemption when he is asked to rescue a group of damned souls who have figured out a way to escape from Hell!

In the end, this is one of those few shows that I am still bummed out that it got canceled after only 1 season!

http://youtu.be/AaaLvZsFoUs

http://youtu.be/RYGGfbbJlKo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yTFuRmN4dQ&feature=share&list=PLF1492D6ECEEA57DA

http://youtu.be/mcKyW_AtXB0

http://youtu.be/fKJR8BEJsaU

Aliens (1986) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="350"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

Written by: James Cameron (The Terminator), David Giler (The Money Pit), Walter Hill (The Warriors) & Directed by: James Cameron. Starring: Sigourney Weaver (Avatar), Carrie Henn (Alien Evolution), Paul Reiser (Mad About You), Lance Henriksen (Millennium), Bill Paxton (Twister), Michael Biehn (The Abyss), Jeanette Goldstein (Terminator 2: Judgement Day), William Hope (Captain America: The First Avenger), and Al Matthews (Tomorrow Never Dies).

This movie is an interesting one to me, you see usually sequels tend to not to be as good as the original movie… They usually have overblown special effects, a bigger cast, and an over the top story that seldom is ever as good as the original… This movie to me is not one of those!

You see this movie had a great cast which brought back Sigourney Weaver (who played Ellen Ripley in the first movie) and told the story of how after the hell that she went through on board the Nostromo fighting the first Xenomorph attack, she ends up drifting through space for centuries in the Nostromo’s escape craft’s Hypersleep chamber!

Now when she gets back, she ends up losing her status within, ‘The Company’ when they learn that she is the only one that has survived the attack on the, ‘Nostromo’ and all of her crew is killed by the Xenomorph…

After she loses her status in the company and is relegated to loading freight on to ships that are coming in and out of the company’s space station near Earth, she also ends up finding out what happened to her daughter centuries ago, and ends up falling in to a deep depression… That is of course until Carter Burke (Reiser) pays her a visit…

[caption id="attachment_896" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Carter Bruke (Paul Reiser) and Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) not longer after Ripley is rescued from the, 'Nostromo' escape vehicle![/caption]

You see Burke got it arranged to have a colony installed on to LV426 (the planet where Ripley and the Nostromo had originally picked up their Alien passenger that ultimately ended up destroying the Nostromo, it’s crew, and ruining Ripley’s life!)

Now the Colony has stopped communicating with the company back at home and Burke is putting together a team of Colonial Marines (an elite military unit that works with the company) to head to the planet to check on the colony, and since Ripley had been their centuries ago, Burke decided to bring Ripley along as an advisor on the mission… (and despite her better judgment decides to head off with Burke and the Marines…)

In the end, Burke, Ripley and the rest of the Marines will get more then they bargained for when they make it to the planet and Ripley comes face to face again with the Aliens that ruined her life!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Ripley is about to go head to head one more time in, 'Aliens (1986)![/caption]

Now you wouldn't think it, but this movie in my opinion maybe one of the few sequels that are as good (if not better than the original), and I think that is in large part due to the fact that the first two Alien movies were directed by Directors who would later become Science Fiction Masters! (Ridley Scott for Alien (1979), and James Cameron for Aliens (1986)!)

Another thing that I really liked about this movie is the special effects… I mean like most sequels, the special effects are bigger and more splashier… (these are, but they are done really tastefully.)

The cast of course was utterly phenomenal in this (as they are in most of the other movies that I have seen them in…)

And in all truth, the story was awesome! I mean I always love Sci-Fi, but I also love how they put an element of drama and deceit that was all believable and very well done!

In the end, this movie is an amazing good time and if you haven’t seen it yet, then you might give it a try… I think you might really like it!

http://youtu.be/XKSQmYUaIyE