Movie reviews (titles starting with L)

[goodcop2000]

Laid to Rest (2009)
3 chrome masks

Okay the acting isn't outstanding, especially by the lead actress, Bobbi Sue Luther, but this is still a pretty fun movie to watch. Yes, the characters make tremendously bad decisions with their lives on the line but isn't "Don't go in there, you idiot!!!" a traditional statement to make while watching a horror flick? On the plus side, this movie has a nice creepy atmosphere, a scary-looking relentless killer, and really impressive special effects. If you like realistic, gory effects, you'll want to check this out. While the plot and acting is average for a low-budget horror film, the special effects are on par with big movies like Hostel.

Land of the Dead (2005)
3.5 tasty brains

What can I say? I'm a sucker for George Romero zombie films. Critics have been harsh on this film but I found it to be a fun watch. Fourth in the Dead series, humans have holed up in fortified cities while zombies have evolved and begun to gain more intelligence. I was worried when I saw that Asia Argento was in this because I thought she was terrible in La Terza Madre (Mother of Tears) in 2007 but she does a decent job and the acting overall is pretty good.

​The Last House on the Left (1972)
3 escaped convicts

The Last House on the Left is a prototypical revenge story that includes a a brutal series of events. It involves two young girls victimized by some criminals who later encounter the parents of one of the girls. There probably was no budget for special effects because it's not really gory by modern standards. The 2009 remake is a little more intense because it features realistic violence. This version has decent acting but suffers from poor editing and continuity issues. The film is somewhat dated by the music, clothes, and hair styles. The most surprising thing in the movie are some unexpected comedic moments. Wes Craven fans will definitely want to check this out because it was his first directing gig.

The Last House on the Left (2009)
3.5 escaped convicts

This remake of Wes Craven's 1972 directorial debut is an intense and brutal film. The acting performances are good and the special effects are well done. What makes the movie feel realistic is that the parents who are seeking revenge against their daughter's attackers are just regular people, not action heroes.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
3.5 burning corpses

Vincent Price stars as the sole human survivor of a worldwide plague in this first film adaptation of Richard Matheson's story I Am Legend (to be followed by later versions The Omega Man with Charlton Heston, I Am Legend with Will Smith and other less known versions). While Price may not be the perfect fit for the movie he does a nice job and this screenplay is the most faithful to the original story by far among the three movie versions I've seen. Some of the plague victims rise from the dead and become a sort of vampire/zombie hybrid. While they dislike sunlight, garlic, and their own reflection, the onscreen portrayal of the creatures is of shambling, semi-intelligent corpses. As I've mentioned elsewhere, George Romero cites the creatures in this film as a major inspiration for the new type of zombies he created in his 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. There are some minor inconsistencies in the film that are distracting (for example, at one point a mob of vampires is milling around Price's home trying to break in while the door is unlocked the whole time) but overall I found the movie entertaining.

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
3.5 roaring saws

Leatherface is the third installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series and I found it strangely entertaining. The plot, which strains credulity, is about Junior Sawyer (aka Leatherface) and his cannibalistic family trapping a travelling couple. Some of the actors are not good but many give decent performances, particularly Viggo Mortenson as one of Leatherface's relatives and Kate Hodge as one of Leatherface's prospective meals. It's not easy to fill the shoes of the original Leatherface actor, Gunnar Hansen, but R.A. Mihailoff does a nice job. The film has plenty of fun action scenes that will keep your blood pumping.

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
3 kung-fu fighting brothers

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is a hybrid gothic horror/martial arts film. It's a strange combination but pretty entertaining nonetheless. As you would expect, there are great action scenes. The story is pretty interesting and involves Professor Van Helsing joining up with a family trained in the martial arts to help free a town from the tyranny of vampires. Peter Cushing is very good as usual in the role of Van Helsing, but most of the actors are not especially talented. John Forbes-Robertson is particularly bad in the role of Dracula. Thankfully, he has almost no screen time. I love the appearance of the seven ancient vampires who are victimizing the town. The rest of the special effects are bad including fake bats on strings and unconvincing transformation scenes. This is not one of the best Hammer horror films but it's definitely worth a watch.

The Legend of Hell House (1973)
4 restless spirits

I have seen a number of movies with similar plots, including The Haunting and both versions of The House on Haunted Hill, but I believe The Legend of Hell House is the best in the bunch. Several people are paid to venture in to a mansion which is known to be haunted and where numerous tragic deaths have occurred. The group, which includes a physicist, his wife, and two people gifted with supernatural sensory powers, has trouble agreeing what exactly is going on in the house and how the problem can be solved. The movie maintains a tense atmosphere of dread throughout. The special effects are not complicated but are well done. I enjoyed the actors' performances, particularly Roddy McDowall as Benjamin Franklin Fischer, one of the visiting mediums.

Legion (2010)
2 hideous demons

The premise is pretty interesting and there are a couple of decent action scenes and creepy special effects. However, all of the time between action scenes is painful, with poor acting and really cheesy dialogue. I recommend you skip this one.

Leprechaun (1993)
2 gold coins

Leprechaun tells the story of a family that moves into a home where a violent, evil leprechaun has been trapped for a long time. When the leprechaun is released, he resumes his quest to recover his gold which was stolen by the home's prior owner. I think Leprechaun could have been pretty scary if the film makers had played it that way, but instead they went for silly humor. It felt like a kids' movie with inappropriate blood and violence thrown in. The presence of a young Jennifer Aniston kept the movie from being a complete loss for me.

Let the Right One In (2008)
4 acid-scarred faces

While the cinematography and special effects are not quite at the same level as the 2010 American re-make Let Me In, I give Sweden's Let the Right One In extra credit for creating the original, very entertaining plot. You can't go wrong watching either version and if you are a horror aficionado I suggest you watch them both!

Let Me In (2010)
4 acid-scarred faces

This remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In is very good. Most of the key actors are very young but they do a fine job. The story is consistently interesting and involves a young, lonely, bullied boy who reaches out for friendship from a young girl who moves in next door. The boy is very attached to the girl by the time he discovers her dark secrets. I was extremely impressed by the cinematography as several key scenes in the movie use unique camera angles and violent movement to create a visually alarming effect.

Lisa and the Devil (1973)
2.5 creepy mannequins

Director Mario Bava pushes the idea of "Who needs an understandable plot with all these cool images?" too far for me in this film. The movie is about a tourist in Spain who gets lost and is swept up into a surrealistic series of events. As usual, Bava delivers stylish scenery, striking images (the swapping of real people with mannequins is particulary eerie), and a few interesting death scenes. In this case, I think the movie just suffers too much from lack of characterization and the jumbled plot to really be enjoyable. I kept hoping that the end of the film would tie everything together but only minimal explanations were made. I am still not sure what exactly happened and I am left unsatisfied.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
3.5 hungry plants

Director Roger Corman is hard to figure out. He makes some turkeys like the terrible Creature from the Haunted Sea but then he has the ability to shoot this gem in two days! The Little Shop of Horrors is a zany black comedy about a quickly growing carnivorous plant. It's very funny, mostly because of the snappy dialogue delivered with perfect timing by actors Jonathan Haze and Mel Welles.

Live! (2007)
3 silver bullets

This movie is about an ambitious television producer who decides to push the boundaries of law and ethics by showing a group of people playing Russian roulette on live television. I did not plan on watching this film because I thought the idea was so preposterous but it happened to come on while I was doing something else and it was interesting enough to draw me in. The acting was better than I expected and against all odds I actually started to care about the characters who were participating in the game show.

Living Death (2006)
1 slayer

It's getting harder and harder to find good horror films. This particular one is terrible. I know that Kristy Swanson has not had an award-winning, stellar career in film but I'm actually embarrassed for her to be in a film this bad. The movie is about greed, murder, and revenge but that makes it sound much better than it is.

Lord of Illusions (1995)
3.5 falling swords

If you enjoyed Nightbreed, you will probably also like Lord of Illusions which has a similar feel. Both movies were written and directed by Clive Barker. Lord of Illusions is a supernatural horror combined with a fun, hard-boiled detective story. The movie has very interesting characters and the acting is good for the most part. Some of the special effects are good while others look cheesy. The film has a nice soundtrack which adds to the enjoyment.

The Lost Boys (1987)
4 dripping fangs

The 80's was a great time for horror and The Lost Boys is a fun film, despite being a bit dated. The movie is about a family moving to a new town in California and trying to fit in. The older brother, played by Jason Patric, falls in with the wrong crowd (including a young Kiefer Sutherland) and finds himself in a dangerous situation. The two Coreys (Corey Haim and Corey Feldman) are at their best as they build a friendship based on a suspicion that the town may be infested with vampires. The soundtrack is excellent and adds a lot of atmosphere to the film.

Lumberjack Man (2015)
1 giant flapjack

Lumberjack Man is an ultra campy horror comedy with a summer camp slasher setting. Think of it as a really bad cross between American Pie and Friday the 13th. The only positive things I can say are that some of the kills have decent effects and there is an occasional funny line. The plot (which I refuse to even go into) is really stupid and the dialogue is bad. The killer is not scary or cool looking. Prepare yourself for lots of nudity and acting that is low quality even for a slasher film. Michael Madsen sticks out as an actual actor, but he must have fallen on hard times to appear in this movie.

[goodcop2000]

After a 2nd viewing I have adjusted my rating for the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead from 3.5 tasty brains to 4. It is the only remake of the 1968 classic that does any justice to the original and the ending is quite good.

NOTE: This reply is in this thread because the original post covered L/M/N movies before they were separated.

[samuraitrev]

(03-12-2014 03:22 AM)goodcop2000 Wrote:  After a 2nd viewing I have adjusted my rating for the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead from 3.5 tasty brains to 4. It is the only remake of the 1968 classic that does any justice to the original and the ending is quite good.

I agree. I think the remake was made with respect to the original. Plus the remake had a powerful, thought provoking ending too.