Received more titles from the good folks over at 88 Films sent me over a batch of some of their March releases included the two titles I am reviewing now. I have decided to include them in one review because they are both Full Moon goodness (well, depends what you personally think of THAT type of cinema I guess). Both films are from the early 90's so expect a lot of 80's hangover in terms of style and a certain person's fantastic hair (more later). Anyways, this is a very tedious introduction that isn't tad or bodacious at all.
Bad Channels
"Killer Music! Alien Airwaves!"
At this point, I would copy and paste 88 Film's synopsis but at the time of the review, they have the Arcade write up there so I'm going to have to summarise this one myself.... What do you mean I'm a lazy bum of a human!? Basically the story revolves around our main character a shock-jock by the name of Dan O'Dare. Whilst doing his show one night, his radio station is invaded by a couple of outrageously campy aliens and yeah, it's your typical "can the crazy hero guy save the day" sort of thing and.... To be honest, this was not my thing at all, so ignore me if it sounds like I'm a film snob (at least I'm not like Cinemaphile who gave this is a 0/4 and bitched).
Is it by any means a generally bad movie? Yes! It's cheesy fun that just lacked... the fun part but I will say that if you do like your overly camp cheesefests, then I think the majority of you will enjoy it. I loved the alien costume and the special effects, that side I found very charming and I really enjoyed the musical sequences. The film's score was actually written by Blue Oyster Cult. If you want to shut your brain off for 90 minutes then give this one a go. It's not one of Full Moon's greatest films but I can see some people really digging it.
Once again, props to 88 Films for giving this a release. I'm not too sure what other discs are available so I can't really comment but you do get the typical special features with this including a making of and trailers. The transfer is good and the artwork is really nice so if you haven't seen this or you are a fan of Full Moon I would suggest picking it up. The disc will be released on the 17th March and at £7, go for it.
Check out the Wikipedia, IMDB and the 88 Films page for more information. Pre order and buying link is here, obviously...
ARCADE
"The game wants to play with you."
"All the kids in town are dying to play the hot new video game ARCADE. Trouble is once you play the game you can kiss reality good-bye. Arcade has seven levels of excitement, adventure and terror for its players. The game transports you to another world with its stunning graphics, thrilling sound effects, and virtual reality simulation. It is the ultimate experience in a video game. But excitement like this doesn’t come cheaply - when you battle with ARCADE you’re putting your life on the line. The kids have accepted the challenge and are absorbed into the game. Only Alex (Megan Ward) realises that their mysterious disappearances are linked to ARCADE. She must battle the game, alone. Too bad she’s never been very good at games…"
Things pick up a tad with this title. For it's time, this shit was cutting edge and now it's something the Gravity snobs would laugh at. Yes, I am talking about Seth Green's hair. The computer stuff is pretty nifty too by the way. I could imagine this film resonating with bible thumping church goers who genuinely think that video games are turning our children in to mindless thugs. I enjoyed this one, the story was straight forward, the characters were fun and the computer generated worlds and sequences in general were awesome. There were actually some genuinely dark moments in there too which I won't spoil because this is the film out of the two I would urge you guys to check out... Yes, even just for Seth's fantastic do!
I'm glad I got to watch this flick, don't let the dull two or so minute credit sequence put you off because just it gets better. Features are essentially the same as Arcade and similar Full Moon titles by 88 Films. The making of did give me a chuckle when they were talking about how there are points were the audience won't be able to tell what's computer generated or not... Sorry bud, my eyes aren't that bad yet.
PDx
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