Seed Of Chucky (2004)

Chuck and Tiff return, resurrected by their son (Billy Boyd), and hit Hollywood in the fifth film of the CHILD'S PLAY series.

When the notoriously evil Chucky doll and his lover gave birth, they had no idea that their spawn would grow up to be a peace-loving kind of guy; however, that's exactly what Glen turns out to be: a gentle soul who is horrified at what he has been told about his family. After hearing the news of a film being made about his parents' murderous legacy, Glen sets off for Hollywood, where he promptly brings Chucky and Tiffany back to life. Far from diving into doting fatherhood, Chucky is seriously disappointed in his son's lack of inherent evil and tries his best to impart his vast knowledge of all things malevolent before Glen becomes some sort of do-gooder. Elsewhere, Tiffany finds that she will be played by Jennifer Tilly in their movie and doesn't hesitate to let her son in on their family's most cherished tradition -- killing sprees. 

The family that slays together stays together.

Now I know what your thinking, that is the stupidest plot in the world.  This is a fun film.  I know I should say that I hated it. I should say it was awful.  But I can't.  It provided no scares, no tension and no suspense.  But god damn it made me laugh and entertained me for 90 minutes.  

Don Mancini, who created Chucky many years ago, finally gets a chance to direct.  He takes the fifth film in this series and actually makes it fresh and fun.  "Seed" has the over the top humour of the best obnoxious comedies and a surprisingly graphic amount of gore - this thing doesn't skimp on the blood.

There are also about a million in-jokes to test your movie IQ.  

I don't know much about myself. I know I'm an orphan. I know I'm a freak. And, of course, I know that I'm Japanese.

Film Editing, Cinematography and incidental music are superb.  Jennifer Tilly is superb in this movie and she has big tits which are on display throughout the film.  She throws herself 100% into this film playing herself which is just a big joke about her. Rapper Redman does a decent job as well playing himself.  He's not really stretching himself too thin doing that. 

Seed Of Chucky is not a film for everyone. You have to be pretty open-minded to endure the morbid humour, but it's the guiltiest pleasure you're likely to have for a long time. The self-aware Hollywood references never become intrusive and the convoluted story never becomes confusing.  It's not easy going entertainment if you're a stuffy conservative.  

Fun stuff from start to finish. 

I am Chucky, the killer doll! And I dig it!

 Trivia:

Jason Flemyng has said the only film he'd erase from his filmography is Seed Of Chucky - "I was dressed as Santa, getting killed by a doll, on a set in Romania, thinking: 'Where did it go wrong?'" He's obviously a dick.  

Because Focus Features has a reputation for yielding eloquent, "artsy" independent films, Rogue Pictures was created as an off-shoot to release this movie. 

The wife of the man Tiffany calls to apologize to is the widow of the cop she killed at the beginning of Bride of Chucky (1998).

Filmed on the largest soundstage in Romania and the second-largest soundstage in Europe where Cold Mountain (2003) was also shot. 

Jennifer Tilly wanted to lose weight to play herself in the movie, but she and Don Mancini inserted "fat jokes" into the script in case she didn't make it.  

The TV spots for this movie displays an unusual disclaimer: Britney Spears Does Not Appear In This Movie. This disclaimer was inserted into TV spots because Britney's management was concerned that people might be lead to believe that Britney actually appears in the movie. It is not her in the movie; but a look-alike.  

The gender confused child of Chucky and Tiffany is named either Glen or Glenda by his parents. Glen or Glenda (1953) was Edward D. Wood Jr.'s film in which Wood himself portrayed the transvestite known as Glen or Glenda.  

This is nuts! And I have a VERY high tolerance for nuts.

 When the floor manager at the beginning of the film shouts "Hey, Tiffany's left arm is loose again" and then the arm grabs his crotch, this is an in-joke as revealed on the DVD commentary for Bride of Chucky (1998). Jennifer Tilly explains that Chucky's left arm kept grabbing her breasts during shoots.

As revealed on the DVD's commentary the directors and producer had difficulty agreeing on the look of Glen. The director wanted to give him his own look and style but the producer felt that he should have features similar to Chucky because after all Glen is his son. As a result Glen was given blue eyes, red hair, and freckles like Chucky. Glen's blue eyes and red hair however are a different shade than Chucky's. 

As revealed on the DVD commentary because of the low budget the crew were unable to shoot the much bigger Chucky vs Glen fight that was in the shooting script.  

Quentin Tarantino was originally offered the role that Redman later played as the role was originally written for him in mind. 

Joe Pantoliano was considered for the role later played by Redman. 

Tiffany: What the hell is goin' on in here?
Chucky: She came on to me!
Tiffany: No wonder her career's in trouble.

The script was originally offered to Universal in 1998, who turned it down. Focus Features (a division of Universal Studios) finally picked up the movie in 2003. 

Chris Sarandon was approached to reprise his role as Det. Mike Norris from the first film, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. 

Was originally rated NC-17 by the MPAA and was later released Unrated.

Body Count: 12.  

We're not from Japan! We're from Jersey!

Chucky: If this is what it takes to be human, then I'd rather take my chances as a supernaturally-possessed doll! It's much less complicated! Think about it! What's so great about being human? You get sick! You get old! As a doll, I'm infamous! I am Chucky! The killer doll!

Venom (2005)

A pack of teenagers run for their lives through the swamps of Louisiana, as they are chased by Mr. Jangles, a man possessed by 13 evil souls who is relentless in his pursuit of new victims.

Venom is a 2005 American voodoo horror-of-the-demonic film starring Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, Meagan Good, D.J. Cotrona and Method Man.

A good Samaritan becomes the victim of voodoo spells in this horror story produced by Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson. When an aged Creole woman is caught in a car wreck in a remote section of Louisiana, Ray (Rick Cramer), the owner of a nearby filling station, speeds to the scene of the accident to help. However, Ray doesn't know that the woman is a voodoo practitioner whose vehicle holds a case full of magic talismans. The magical spirits lead Ray to an unexpected death, and then they take over his body, turning him into a bloodthirsty monster. As the reanimated Ray makes his way into town, a group of teenagers including Eden (Agnes Bruckner) and Tammy (Bijou Phillips) find themselves running for their lives from the supernatural creature, while Deputy Turner (Method Man) looks for a way to keep the strange menace under control.

  

He Never Hurt A Soul Until The Day He Died.

This movie received horrible reviews.  But goddammit I thought the killer was cool as fuck.  Look at the above picture.  That's bad ass.  I think the key was that I didn't go in with high expectations so I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't shit the bed.  It is basically a slasher film but it throws in a little voodoo to make it a tad different.  

The actors were a bit wooden but they weren't doing Shakespeare.  Director Jim Gillespie (who also directed, "I Know What You Did Last Summer") offers some well executed shots and some creativity in the picture. The atmosphere is nice, taking place in the muggy Louisiana bayous - it's a perfect setting for the story.

I told you....Bad Ass

This movie also has a numerous amount of creative and gory deaths. Some examples are a missing corpse, a crowbar stabbing, a hanging body, a chain around the neck, a slit throat, voodoo rituals, a collapsing house, a tree branch through the chest and a knife in the head.  

It's a perfectly serviceable slasher film. Give it a shot if you don't expect too much. 

Mr. Jangles has had a bad evening.

Trivia:

The movie is based on a story for a video game that BFG has in development. 

In the video game and some versions of the script, Ray Sawyer was nicknamed Mr. Jangles because of his keys. When you hear them jangling, you know he's near. 

Originally entitled "Backwater".

Fangoria Magazine did a behind-the-scenes story during the making of the film while it was shooting under the title "The Reaper". The title was changed to "Venom" shortly before its release.  

Wonderman From Shaolin (1979)

This 1979 kung fu classic tells the tale of a young master fighter (Casanova Wong) defending the honor of a Shaolin temple against merciless hordes of bloodthirsty Mongolian warriors. 

A group of mongrel warriors seek out a sacred statue in hopes of gaining legitimate force in the government in this martial arts-adventure featuring Korean fighter Casanova Wong. In the time of the Ching Dynasty, a group of fearsome mongrels descend upon the Shaolin temple in hopes of acquiring the sacred gold Buddha. Knowing that possession of the Buddha will give them leverage within the government, the fighters risk everything in a deadly battle against a legendary lone monk known only as The Wonder Man. The Wonder Man is the master of the Sun Fist Style, but in order to maintain possession of the golden Buddha, The Wonder Man will have to do battle with the White Haired Slayer -- master of the Wind Blade. Could it be that The Wonder Man has finally met his match?

Overall this is not the worst Kung Fu film you could check out....but it's far from the best. It stars Casanova Wong who can kick his ass off. He also does a good job in the first half of the film pretending to be deaf and dumb.  I thought the dumb guy was going to become a Kung Fu master and save the day.  But no, he was fooling everyone to get his revenge against the man that killed his father.  

Try and stop my Wind Blade style

The movie was actually filmed in Korea and stars mostly Koreans as extras.  

The majority of the film kinds of drags with a few fights here and there.  But the last 20-30 minutes is filled with major ass kicking.  I found our hero getting his power from the sun to be a little far fetched and the evil doer's Wind Blade isn't that much better.  I've seen much worse for sure.  Two side kicks our of five. 

World Of The Drunken Master (1979)

A winery owner and drunken boxing master trains two young boys in the art of drunken boxing after he catches them stealing from his winery.

After the success of Jackie Chan's film Drunken Master, more drunken Kung Fu films started cropping up to cash in.  This is an unofficial sequel/prequel to that film and focuses on the early life of Begger Su and his pal Fan Ta-Pei.  Begger Su is one of the most iconic characters in martial arts cinema.  Director Joseph Kuo resurrected the character for this film. Simon Yuen (the original Begger Su actor) is all over the box cover and appears in the opening credits demonstrating drunken kung fu but then is replaced by two other actors for the rest of the film.  A little bait and switch which is highly disappointing.

Vineyard owner Chang Chi catches Fan Ta-pei and Su Hua-tzu red-handed as they steal grapes from his supplies. To make good for what they've stolen, Chang Chi puts them to work in his winery, and soon discovers they both have a natural talents for the martial arts. Chang begins coaching them in the finer points of Kung Fu, and one day when Fan Ta-pei and Su Hua-tzu see a thug named Yeh Hu harassing the townspeople, they stand up to the bully, only to discover he outpaces them as a fighter. Chang Chi arrives in time to save the day, but this rekindles an old rivalry between him and Yeh Hu, and now Fan Ta-pei and Su Hua-tzu must get serious about their martial arts studies to protect Chang Chi and the villagers from Yeh Hu and his minions.

Fan Ta-pei and Su Hua-tzu reunited 30 years later.

Action director Yuen Cheung-Yan put in some solid work here with the fighting but it doesn't come close to matching the original Drunken Master film.  The fight scenes still supply enough excitement to raise World of the Drunken Master above the shallow level of your average chop socky movie. There are a few comedic elements in the film and despite their appearances, Li Yi-Min and Jack Lung make a competent comic team.  The film ended with sort of a cliffhanger ending which was surprising.  As far as I know there was no sequel.  Who the hell knows what happened next.  It's a rather confusing ending.

Fan Ta-pei ready to kick some ass.

One bad point about the film is the final fights are way too cut-up.  The film has great fight choreography, a well-acted and thought out main plot, and good cinematography. The subplot at the beginning and ending of the film...not so thought out.  Overall it is a worthy film to add to your collection if you're a fan of old school Hong Kong cinema.

Geronimo (1962)

An Apache warrior who defies U.S. attempts to bring the Indians under control grapples with an array of U.S. soldiers sent to subdue his revolt. Sympathetic scouts seek to bring Geronimo back to the reservation before he is hunted down. 

Blond haired Chuck Conners is GERONIMO!!!!  That's right a white dude playing the famous Indian. We also have Kamala Devi playing his wife.  She's an Indian alright...from India playing an American Indian.  Conners must have really dug her because he married her in real life.  It even has Batman Adam West as a member of the Union army in hot pursuit of Geronimo.  However, their performances are actually pretty good.  Conners was at the height of his popularity as "The Rifleman" when this film was made.

Geronimo wants a little Indian Va-jay-jay

I suppose this was a pretty good Western film but there wasn't nearly enough battles or gun fights for me.  They are very far and few between.  The film begins with Geronimo surrendering  and going to live on the San Carlos Reservation.  But ill treatment by corrupt politicians and self righteous do-gooders forces Geronimo to take his warriors and leave. He then has a stand off with the US Army.  It then ends at a point that will make you wonder what happened in real life to Geronimo afterwards. 

The Most Defiant Warrior Of Them All!

If you can get over how ridiculous Connors looks as a blue eyed Indian, the film Geronimo is not a bad one given the fact it is a B film.  The script problems include the movie not really going deep in his character but it held my attention.  It's probably not historically accurate but you could do much worse on a snowy afternoon.

Geronimo is not a big fan of reading.

 What did happen in real life? Geronimo didn't live happily ever after but was screwed again by the hated white man and not allowed to returned to his beloved and ancestral homeland in the Arizona Territory of the USA. Geronimo instead ended up making a meager living becoming a side show curiosity in Wild West Shows with people paying to photograph or be photographed with the once brave and fearless Apache warrior. Living out his last days at the US Army base at Fort Sill Oklahoma Geronimo passed away on in the dead of winter on February 17, 1909 at the age of 79 from pneumonia. His last words were reported to have been said to his nephew saying that the biggest mistake he ever made was surrendering and not fighting to the death against the white man. That damn evil white devil.

No bullet could kill him. No army could capture him.