The Sandman (1991)

4 / 5 Apr '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Paul Berry
Written by: N/A
Actors include: N/A
Genre: Horror, Animation
Length: 9 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I did not see this coming somehow...no wonder children are terrified of the Sandman! The style is Tim Burtonesque, sort of gnarled and twisted but whimsical too. It's created with stop-motion and the attention to detail is remarkable. The story is about a Mother who sends her little Boy up to bed with a flickering candle. Before long the Sandman is creeping around, but what could he want? Surprising and refreshing, not the sort of thing one should show to children at all. Very creative and creepy little delight, well worth checking out, and it was nominated for an Oscar for best short film in 1992.

Availability:  I don't think it's on DVD

Puppet Master 3: Toulon's Revenge (1991)

3.5 / 5
Tagline:  When good puppets go bad
Directed by:  David DeCoteau
Written by:  Charles Band
Actors include:  Guy Rolfe, Richard Lynch, Ian Abercrombie
Genre:  Horror
Length:  86 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

This is sort of an odd twist in the series as it's set during WW2 in Berlin.  The Nazi's are trying to work out that reanimation drug to use for the war.  Toulin catches their attention with his magical puppet reanimation secrets.  The Nazi's kill Toulin's wifey then revenge must be had with the help of our little puppet friends.  It's at least something different in the franchise, and it was colorful and fun.  Still the original flick was better but this is probably the second best in the series!

Availability:  On DVD

Raising Cain (1991)

3.5 / 5 May '10

Tagline: De Mented, De Ranged, De Ceptive, De Palma
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Written by: Brian De Palma
Actors include: John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Horror, Drama
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
It's not bad, though it's definitely not one of Brian De Palma's best. It features John Lithgow as Carter...and Cain and a few others. His Wife is concerned with the amount of time and attention he's giving to their daughter plus he's constantly monitoring him. When the wife meets up with an old boyfriend and sparks start flying things get rather dangerous. Especially when people warn her that her husband may be into recreating the experiments that his evil Father worked on. Lithgow is very over the top here yet he does a good job and really without him the movie would have very little. This does involve a few killings though we aren't exactly going to see much, it's more about the idea. It's also rather confusing in places as we see his hallucinations and various other things that we think are happening but later find out they aren't so. This leaves a slightly unsatisfying taste in the mouth yet at the same time...it's DePalma seemingly trying to borrow from Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch so of course it's weird. Oh well it could have been worse and at the end it made sense for the most part.

Availability:  On DVD