I didn’t do much this month because I’ve been putting together the Short Takes on Great Films: Capsule Reviews of Lesser-Known Films. Or whatever the final title is. This will be version 1.0. The idea is to correct the error of Michael J Weldon, who I quietly curse every time I guess wrong and open the wrong of his two books. Anyway, I did write about a few films.
The main thing to note here is that The Night of the Virgin is a fantastic horror-comedy out of Spain. Yet more evidence that this is a golden age of international horror. It does have a couple of gag-inducing scenes. But if I can make it through them, anyone can.
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is, of course, a classic. And I think everyone should watch it just for Clint Howard. But at this time, it isn’t essential viewing. It is, however, a whole lot of fun.
And then we get to the Tremors franchise. I just loved the first four films. Not that they are essential viewing either. They are just silly horror-comedies. But they are irresistible. And I’d encourage everyone to watch them. In fact, I think the second, third, and fourth films are better than the first!
The problem comes with Tremors 5. The whole franchise is under new ownership and the films become typical action films. Sure, there’s comedy! But it’s of the one-liner variety that we know so well of dozens of forgettable action films of the past. All the charm is gone.
Stop at the fourth film. You’ll be glad you did!
December 2021 Films
- The Night of the Virgin (2016)
- Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)
- Tremors (1990)
- Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)
- Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)
- Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)
- Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015)
- Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)
See you next month!