Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

"Gremlins 2: The New Batch" is the delayed, less successful follow-up to the smash 1984 hit by director Joe Dante. After being given complete artistic control, Mr. Dante finally agreed to make a sequel six years after the first film, taking the chance to create a satire of his film and sequels in general. This film is much more of a comedy than horror, keeping the violence at a minimum and less intense. Horror fans will be delighted to see Christopher Lee making an appearance as an "evil" scientist whose experiments result in some of the gremlins evolving into more chaotic creatures. With the different types of gremlins, Rick Baker was brought in to work some of his special effects magic.


After Mr. Wing dies of old age and his grandson is no where to be found, Gizmo ends up in the science labs of Clamp Enterprises, located inside an office building in Manhattan. It isn't long before Gizmo has some water splashed on him and he multiplies again, and of course it isn't long before those new mogwai grab a bite after midnight and turn into the evil gremlins. But it just so happens that Billy and Katie, now his fiancee, also work at Clamp Enterprises and saves Gizmo from the gremlins. Together, along with the help of Clamp Enterprises ego-driven owner Daniel Clamp, they try to keep the gremlins from escaping the office building and causing havoc all across New York City.

Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg made a name for himself early in his career for creating some truly fantastic, violent, reality bending films. He wrote most of his films that has directed and one of the more unusual productions from his early career is "Videodrome". The movie almost feels like a David Lynch film except for the fact that it has a clear linear plot. The movie explores themes of obsession and control by having the protagonist Max Renn (James Woods) suffering through both experiences. The film dances back and forth from reality and Max's hallucinations more and more as the story races towards its end. The special effects and make-up by Rick Baker are creative and look organic, impressive work for that time period.

Max Renn is the president of a UHF television station in Toronto who is always seeking the next "big thing", but to him the next "big thing" has to be something that pushes the boundaries of good taste and has to shock his audience; his station showcases softcore porn and similar fare. When one of his engineers comes across a pirated signal that is showing people being tortured in various ways in a large orange room, Max becomes obsessed in finding out where the signal is coming from so he can air it for his station. During his search he meets Niki Brand, a radio personality who helps people on her show. Niki turns out to love S&M and becomes more obsessed than Max, going so far as to travel to Pittsburgh when they learn that that is where the signal is coming from. As the movie progresses, Max begins to have violent hallucinations, finding it difficult to tell what is real and what isn't. It doesn't help that an expert that he seeks help from is nothing more than a deceased man who has days worth of VHS tapes that contain all of his thoughts because he refused to talk to anyone directly. When Max finds out the sinister truth about the show "Videodrome" and his connection to it, he goes on a violent revengeful rampage throughout Toronto. 

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

American Werewolf in London is simply one of the most amazing movies of its kind. It has the best and possibly most realistic, pre-CGI effects style transformation scene and won an academy award for it that year. The movie blends comedy and horror with ease without being campy. It's original while honoring previous classics like "The Wolf Man".  I personally think it’s interesting that three wolf theme movies came out that year, the other two being “Wolfen” and “The Howling”.

David and Jack are two young Americans backpacking across Europe. The movie begins with them traveling through the distant countryside of England. They come across a small town just as night falls and decide to try to get something to eat at an inn aptly named “The Slaughtered Lamb”. As they enter, they are met with objecting stares from the locals. They become more unsettled when they see a large pentagram on the wall. When Jack asks about the pentagram, the locals become hostile so Jack and David decide to leave. Before they go, they are told to stay on the road…which of course they don’t. Before long they have lost their way and the road and begin to hear a creature pacing around them in the darkness. Suddenly Jack is attacked and brutally killed and before David can get away, he too is mauled. Before the beast can finish him off, the locals from the pub arrive and shoot the beast. And David passes out…

When David comes to three weeks later, he finds himself in a hospital. He is interviewed by police and a representative from the American Embassy, but he doesn’t remember much and is shocked to find out that Jack is dead. The doctor takes an interest in David’s story while the nurse takes an interest in David. As David heals, he begins to have weird dreams about Nazis and hallucinations about a decomposing Jack. Except Jack is not a hallucination, he’s a spirit caught on earth begging David to kill himself before the full moon comes. David dismisses Jack’s existence and moves in with the nurse, Alex. Everything is going well until she leaves him alone one night when the full moon is near and David goes through his famous painful and horrific change into the werewolf, where he then breaks out of Alex’s apartment and kills a couple going to a party, a few homeless bums and a man walking from the subway. When David wakes up in the morning, he is naked in a zoo. He is later visited by Jack and the ghosts of those he murdered. David’s sanity is tested as Alex and the doctor quickly try to find the truth from the locals at “The Slaughtered Lamb” before it’s all too late.

Favorite moment – the transformation scene!

Second favorite moment – The conversation in the porn theater between David, Jack, and the other ghosts. Some are nice towards him while others want him to kill himself and to be quick with it.