The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Inferno)

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Fuji Vice

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Evil Dead II)

Army of Darkness



Ash Williams is time-warped to a medieval castle beset by monstrous forces. Initially mistaken for an enemy, he is soon revealed as the prophesized savior who can quest for the Necronomicon, a book which can dispel the evil. Unfortunately, he screws up the magic words while collecting the tome, and releases an army of skeletons, led by his own Deadite counterpart.



Evil Dead II had proven to be a success and given the ending of that film, it seemed obvious that yet another sequel would soon be forthcoming. However, instead of firing one out immediately after the last, Sam Raimi (and Bruce Campbell of course) went down a different road, making the film Darkman instead. Aside from being an early showcase for the talents of Liam Neeson, that film grossed three times its budget and met with wide critical acclaim. After that kind of success, the folks at Universal Studios had no problem giving Raimi free reign (and a big budget) for the third and possible final chapter in the Evil Dead series. Thus Army of Darkness was born and while it certainly showcases that bigger budget to full effect, there’s also a certain something missing. While the story is whimsical enough and drawn from classic sources, it just doesn’t feel the same as the first two in the series. Obviously that’s not a great thing, but at the very least Army of Darkness still manages to pack quite the entertaining punch.



"Tom Cruise without the mask."

Sam Raimi once again directed the film, and this time co-wrote the screenplay with his brother, Ivan. They drew from many sources, including A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and Gulliver’s Travels, while also maintaining a heavy influence from the Three Stooges. The end result is a classic adventure tale on steroids, amped up for a new millennium and full of moxie. However, it also has a tendency to drift off on tangents from time to time, never quite sure exactly what type of movie it wants to be. Where the first two films in the series deftly mixed horror and comedy, this one almost tries too hard to do the same thing and it doesn’t always succeed. Negativity aside though, I actually did enjoy the screenplay itself and think it could be turned into a pretty funny book so there’s always that. Meanwhile, Raimi’s direction here is stellar and definitely his best work in this series. Even with the script issues, his pacing is perfect and he really gives his star a chance to shine. This is of course the best thing he could have ever done, because once again his star is none other than….



"Two words...fucking and awesome!"

That’s right, Bruce Campbell returned and really I don’t think the movie could have been made without him. Outside of that amazing scene above, Campbell is just all over this movie and in more ways than one. Not content to simply have Ash be amazing on his own, the Raimi brothers chose to imprint him all over the place, from an evil twin to multiple miniature versions. This all adds up to a healthy dose of awesome, as Groovy Bruce is just the man no matter how you slice it. While he’s never become a mega-star, the guy is just absolutely loaded with charisma and never before has it been better displayed than here. Once again he totally dominates the movie and leaves everyone in his dust, but this time the bit performers are talented enough to realize this and get out of his way. Embeth Davidtz is very nice to look at as Campbell’s love interest, but she’s pretty useless in the acting department. Thankfully the majority of her scenes are with Campbell, so he makes her look better than she is by proxy. Accomplished character actor Ian Abercrombie handles the role of Wiseman with some zest, while Marcus Gilbert also does a decent job as Lord Arthur. Still, as with the first two, it’s totally Campbell’s film and he is easily the best part of it.



"Kill the baddies, get the girl."

This film is unlike the others in the sense that it really gets to explore the character of Ash, and what we see is pretty refreshing. He is most certainly an antihero, but not like Snake Plissken or Dirty Harry. Those two may have no scruples about how their goals are accomplished, but the end result is always an act of heroism. Meanwhile, Ash is the farthest thing from them; he’s not heroic at all. He's a cocky loudmouth who is much more prone to cowardice than bravery. He screws up a lot more than he repairs but he’s just so damn cool that you can’t help loving the guy anyways. This in-depth view of the character allows us to get behind him even more than in the first two and that makes the whole experience better. At the same time, Raimi’s increased budget allowed him to really get the most out of his special effects this time around, and they’re a tour-de-force for the time period. The usual stop-motion animation stuff is here, as well as the buckets of blood we’ve come to expect. The problem is that sometimes they tend to distract from the action, but that’s part and parcel of the Evil Dead series in the first place so it kind of makes sense. As I mentioned earlier, the only trouble I really had with the film was the meandering script, but Campbell’s performance and Raimi’s direction more than make up for that flaw. Army of Darkness was pretty much the perfect way to end off the Evil Dead series and while there are always rumours of another in the pipes, perhaps it should stay finished. As confident as I am in Raimi and Campbell, why chance a poor entry in an otherwise great series?



"It's only a model."

Army of Darkness was shot on a budget of $13 million and grossed over $21 million at the box office, solid but not even as good as Darkman. Clearly it was time for Sam Raimi to head on to bigger things, and he would certainly do so, eventually directing both the Spider Man trilogy and Oz: The Great and Powerful. Meanwhile, Campbell would continue to work in both films and television and consistently proves why he’s one of the most underrated performers in the business today. Alright, love letter to Raimi and Campbell over, I have to say that Army of Darkness, while great, is my least favourite of the series. It’s still fun, but it just doesn’t say the same things to me that the first two did. Regardless, it’s definitely worth your time and sure to give you a real bang for your buck. 7/10.



"Beginning on Wednesday...what the hell are these things?"
 

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I'm not too much of a horror aficionado so I had never even seen evil dead or evil dead 2 but I always loved army of darkness. But I had to check them out after reading your reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed them both.

On a side note I love these things and always look forward to the next one.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
 

Fuji Vice

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Army of Darkness)

Thanks a lot man, glad you checked out the other movies and even happier that you dig the reviews. I'll do my best to keep them coming for the foreseeable future.
 

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Army of Darkness)

I dunno man AoD is probably my favorite of the three just for the camp factor....but I mean ED2 and AoD are like 1 and 1a so it's really close...great stuff Fuji...and there can never be enough lover for Bruce Campbell
 

Fuji Vice

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Army of Darkness)

I dunno man AoD is probably my favorite of the three just for the camp factor....but I mean ED2 and AoD are like 1 and 1a so it's really close...great stuff Fuji...and there can never be enough lover for Bruce Campbell
Thanks man, much appreciated. I think another issue I have stems from the bigger budget...it just didn't feel or look cheap enough for me compared to the others.
 

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I don't know man him fighting the little hims by using a movie screen and acting in front of it is super low budget
 

Fuji Vice

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Army of Darkness)

I don't know man him fighting the little hims by using a movie screen and acting in front of it is super low budget
That part was fine for sure. I just felt a lot of the time it was trying really hard to be "epic" in tone and feel when it could have just relied on the old magic that made the first two work. Totally minor complaint mind you, just something I seemed to pick up on this time that I never had before.
 

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They are all really great we can agree on that
 

Fuji Vice

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Army of Darkness)

Puppet Master



After Neil Gallagher dies, his colleagues gather at his wake to pay their respects. It soon turns out that they are all part of a group that sought to learn the ability to give life to inanimate objects. These secrets were apparently mastered by man named Toulon, who then used them to create living puppets. Soon it becomes apparent that these puppets are also among the group, and that they're stalking them one by one.



Charles Band is one of a kind, a true original in a world of imitators. From his early beginnings as an exploitation director to the formation of Empire Pictures, one of the first independent distributors, he’s always been a maverick. Along the way he’s also brought us such gems as Re-Animator, Ghoulies, Gingerdead Man and Evil Bong (seriously). However, his greatest contribution to the film world is most certainly the Puppet Master series, a shining example of proper direct-to-video releasing done right. It had originally been intended for a theatrical release until Band realized he may make more money going the alternative route. As it turned out he was right, and the series has developed a huge cult following over the years. Well, it had to start somewhere and that brings us to today’s review, the first in a series chronicling five of these beauties. The original is always the template on which the rest are based, and in the case of Puppet Master, it’s quite the doozy. Never short of zany characters or hilarious dialogue, and featuring goddamn killer puppets, it’s as unique and original as its creator. Truly one of the more bizarre and at times surreal horror movies of the 1980's, Puppet Master should be given a rating of BC for "Batshit Crazy".



"Not quite Geppetto."

The direction by David Schmoeller is pretty poor here, which is surprising considering he’d done the underrated Tourist Trap years before. Thankfully it doesn't hurt the movie too much since it’s totally insane to begin with. I guess if the idea includes puppets that kill it's alright to forget about things like pacing and proper lighting techniques. After all, it would have been virtually impossible for Schmoeller to conceptualize the incredibly psychotic story anyway, so perhaps it’s better that he didn’t try. Well, actually, he did, because he also wrote the script, though I honestly think that was just a sympathy credit with most of the work really being done by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall. Seriously, a story this crazy could only come from the mind of the same man who once produced a film called “Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death”. It’s totally crazy and features some absolutely horrendous dialogue. In fact, one line, "open that door you fucking little cretin, or I'll chop you to firewood" has to be near the greatest of all time right? RIGHT?!?! Damn straight it is, and there’s more where that came from as each character gets a chance to fire off some craptastic gems before it’s all over. While it’s not a technical masterpiece, one thing that really works here is the score, which is well-realized for a low budget horror flick.



"Not quite Christopher Lambert."

As soon as Paul Le Mat appeared on-screen I knew I wasn't supposed to take this movie too seriously. After all, how could you while looking at this guy?
lol.gif
His delivery is atrocious and the best part is he knows it so he doesn't even try. The result is one of the best bad-acting performances in a horror movie that I've ever seen. Pretty much everyone else is just really bad and over-the-top as often as possible. Kathryn O'Reilly as Clarissa is probably the worst of a bad bunch. The scene on the bed where she's describing the movie star tryst is laughably awful, as is another one later where she’s describing a lesbian encounter in a bathtub. She’s seconded by Matt Roe (who has been killed by both the puppets in this movie and by Chucky in Child’s Play 2) in a performance that could have won every bad actor award ever created for all time; it’s simply that awful. I also thought Robin Frates was just brutal as the final girl and I didn’t care one bit for her character at all. However, I said “pretty much everyone else is just really bad” because Mews Small, the actress playing the maid, is hilarious. Aside from her "don't touch the body" line, her mannerisms and delivery are top notch comedy stuff. In fact, I honestly felt she was the most likeable character in the whole movie; save for the true stars.



"Not quite Pinocchio."

Those would be the puppets themselves, who are rendered really well considering the budget constraints. The stop-motion animation on them is pretty solid and it's also cool that each has unique personalities and looks. I can't even decide which my favourite is but it’s probably a toss-up between Blade and Pinhead. Meanwhile, there's even a female puppet that kills a man with leeches that spew out of her mouth. Yep, that happens. Basically, if you can get through the bad acting, awful dialogue and lame plot, you'll see some kick ass puppet on human action...and really, who doesn't want that? For at least the first few minutes, I thought it was going to be a straight up comedy, what with the little puppet cam and all. It didn't help when moments later; one of the puppets actually pouts and makes a sad noise when its creator is putting it away! Well, after it was all said and done I'm convinced more than ever that this movie wasn't meant to be scary at all. The big reveal at the end has to be one of the worst (and most obvious) that I've ever seen yet it all works fairly well if you just follow my lead and let yourself go loony while watching!



"Acid mouthwash can cause serious problems."

While I don’t have any budget or profit information based on the fact that it was a direct-to-video release, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Puppet Master was a financial success. I mean, they’ve made 8 more of these movies since, which is a pretty telling sign. When you step back and think about it, regardless of how “good” the movie is, that’s a pretty remarkable achievement. It’s definitely not a masterpiece and can probably be missed by all but the most ardent horror fan, but those that do check it out should be pleasantly rewarded in more ways than one. Just remember to forget about taking it seriously (it’s about goddamn killer puppets after all) and it should pull all the right strings. 6.5/10.



"Tomorrow...Excedrin Headache Number 2."
 

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Puppet Master)

never seen any of the Puppet Master movies...I didn't really dig horror movies til later in life...
 

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Puppet Master)

It looks like I have two to reply about.


AOD- just like above. I saw it first out of the three and then the others came later. Not like later in life but a few months later. I loved them all. I personally don't think this film nor the others would be where they are without Bruce. He made them. Bruce is the man.


Puppet Master.- the little demons I think I have seen almost all of them. It seems like another has popped out not to long ago. I do like the idea of how these puppets came to life as little bits of the soul of the guy who made them so he could be around. Blade is probably my favorite of this film as he always is lurking somewhere.

Great reviews as always Fuji.
 

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Puppet Master)

Booty Tang said:
never seen any of the Puppet Master movies...I didn't really dig horror movies til later in life...
I'm pretty sure the first movies I ever watched were horror...yes, my parents were a little messed up. I had definitely seen Halloween by the time I was four.

Wang Chung said:
I do like the idea of how these puppets came to life as little bits of the soul of the guy who made them so he could be around. Blade is probably my favorite of this film as he always is lurking somewhere.
It is pretty cool even if it's totally insane. Blade easily has the most personality of any of the puppets and I have to say that I loved the scene where he was pulling the chair down the hall. Just the grunting noises are enough to make that one of the funniest in the movie. :lol:
 

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Puppet Master)

I'm pretty sure the first movies I ever watched were horror...yes, my parents were a little messed up. I had definitely seen Halloween by the time I was four.


It is pretty cool even if it's totally insane. Blade easily has the most personality of any of the puppets and I have to say that I loved the scene where he was pulling the chair down the hall. Just the grunting noises are enough to make that one of the funniest in the movie. :lol:

I really like the one with big hands that somehow was stronger than the rest and six shooter but I believe they all came in the sequels.

Blade did have some personality and he seemed to enjoy what he was doing. It seemed to me he had a smile on his face when he had done things that wasn't there before.
 

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Re: The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Puppet Master)

I really like the one with big hands that somehow was stronger than the rest and six shooter but I believe they all came in the sequels.

Blade did have some personality and he seemed to enjoy what he was doing. It seemed to me he had a smile on his face when he had done things that wasn't there before.
The big hands guy is hilarious because of how small his head is. Luckily I'm doing the next four as well so we'll get to the other puppets soon enough. Blade's a little fucker, that's for sure. He really seems to enjoy his work.
 

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I am going to have to pull them out and watch them then