Total Recall (1990)

4 / 5 Mar '10

Tagline: They Stole His Mind, Now He Wants It Back!
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Written by: Philip K. Dick, Ronald Shusett
Actors include: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Length: 113 minutes
Banned: Nope
Country: USA

Review:
This is one relatively exciting action packed futuristic tale that doesn't seem all that far off from actually happening. Okay well maybe that's an exaggeration, I can't picture some of these violent sequences actually happening but conceptually...we aren't far off. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Douglas Quaid, a fellow who really wants to go to Mars but his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) isn't interested. Instead Douglas hears of a company called Recall which implants memories of trips to nearly anywhere and they let you be any sort of person you'd like for the experience. Douglas decides to give it a try and he selects secret agent with aliens and brunette lady friend (and I can't imagine why anyone would select Rachel Ticotin over Stone) and receives a vacation implant to Mars. We hear that something has gone wrong and that Douglas' memory has accidentally erased, we sort of meet with him and we aren't quite sure which state he's at and he's more confused than we are. All of the sudden people with guns are shooting at him and life is a giant adventure all to do with something that happened on Mars that he can't remember. It's pretty fun watching everything come together especially since it's a rather violent ride filled with adventure. Really I guess this should be recommended to most, the concept is interesting the effects are good and it's very easy to enjoy.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Deadly Blessing (1981)

3 / 5 Mar '10
Tagline: A gruesome secret, protected for generations, rises to give its...
Directed by: Wes Craven
Written by: Glenn M. Benest, Matthew Barr
Actors include: Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Jeff East
Genre: Horror
Length: 100 minutes
Banned: Norway, Finland

Review:
Certainly not one of Wes Craven's finer pictures yet not his worst either, this at least has an unusual subject manner. It's got something to do with a sect of extreme Amish called the Hittites who believe technology is so evil that it's pretty much being in cahoots with the Devil himself. We meet up with a fellow who appears to have abandoned his Amish heritage for a beautiful wife, he's still a farmer only he has a tractor that the nearby Hittites seem to hate. When the fellow is mysteriously murdered by his own tractor things go from bad to worse. The young widow invites some friends over to help her after the death (one of which is the beautiful Sharon Stone in one of her earliest roles) only they all end up in peril. See spiders and snakes seem to be trying to kill the beautiful young ladies but could the Hittites be responsible or is it something more sinister? It's kinda neat that Michael Berryman turns up as a creepy Hittite, and well if you want to gaze upon beautiful Women this film should keep you busy. The resolve is beyond stupid, it really doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense and it's very unsatisfying I thought. This could have been worse but it could have been so much better, especially since it does have a rather unique concept.

Availability:  This is available on PAL DVD only currently