ORBzine Movie Reviews May 1999
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Back to the Future IIwas made back-to-back with BTTF III, and it shows in the plot. There are a couple of pieces of foreshadowing for the next film; specifically the references to the wild west [where the 3rd film is set], and Marty's fate at the end of the film is also foreshadowed.
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Addams Familyis the introduction of the now uber-babe Christina Ricci, last seen in Legend of Sleepy Hollow . There was a second film, Addams Family Values , but after Raul Julia [Gomez] died the third film was made as a straight-to-video release with an all-new cast.
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Dragonslayeris a finely turned-out Fantasy adventure. The effects by ILM are magnificent, especially considering the film is almost 20 years old. The plot seems to have heavily influenced the more recent Dragonheart. The only drawback to this film's success is its lack of mainstream stars - the Luke skywalker role is taken by Peter MacNichol, who went on to play Renton in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and is now best known these days as The Biscuit in Ally McBeal.Basically, the hero is on a quest to kill the last dragon, Verminthrax. Along the way he meets the compulsory stock characters, but there are some nice twists in the story.
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Candymanis better than this reviewer expected. Ignore the pathetic cliched comic-book sequences used in the trailer - this is a chilling picture which makes perfect use of a talented cast and an above-average script. The epilog, however, is a step too far - corny and predictable, a real let-down after the effective climax of the film.Tony Todd is the title character, a supernatural serial-killer. Virginia Madsen investigates the myth surrounding him, and becomes the object of his obsession.
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Candyman 2: Farewell to the FleshTony Todd is back, none the worse for wear after his Final Death in the first film. It seems to have slowed him up, though - now you have to say his name 5 times to summon him instead of the original 3. The action is set in New Orleans for some reason, instead of Chicago. We get to see a flashback of the Candyman's origins. Veronica Cartwright plays the heroine's mother. Apparently a THIRD film is planned, with Baywatch 's Donna D'Errico as the blonde heroine.
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Tales of the Dark Side: the movie
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Space Campis where teenagers like Lea Thompson [Back to the Future] get made into astronauts by instructors Kate Capshaw [Temple of Doom] and Tom Skerrit [ Alien].In a training simulation on a real Space Shuttle the team is accidentally blasted into orbit! Trivia buffs will note that the youngest of the bunch [Lucas Haas - Mars Attacks] is a Star Wars fan - he and Capshaw both worked with Harrison Ford, and Thompson was in Lucas' Howard the Duck!
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Village of the Damned [1995]Christopher Reeve [ Superman ] and Kirsty Alley [ Wrath of Khan ] star as Doctors in a low-budget remake of the 1960 b&w classic, Midwich Cuckoos. This reviewer's advice - forget the movies, read the original novel by John Wyndham.In the small US village of Midwich, the entire population fall unconscious for 6 hours. When they awake the women discover they are pregnant. Dr Alley, with her own agenda, offers the families $3000 per month if they keep the children and let her inspect them regularly. Years later, the children exhibit un-earthly powers like telepathy and telekinesis. They do this by killing off anyone they don't like. Linda Koslowski [Paul Hogan's wife] is one of the village's women, who manages to introduce her alien child to human concepts like empathy. Mark Hamill [Star Wars] is the local Preacher, suspicious of the children from the start. This is not one of John Carpenter 's finest works. In fact, it pales in comparison to the others. However, there are some nice SPFX courtesy of ILM.
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