Goldbeater

Toxie versus the devil. It must be said that in 1989 two parts of The Toxic Avenger series were produced simultaneously and one of them had to suffer in quality. The Last Temptation of Toxie contains the classic Troma ingredients, including a very entertaining and satirical opening scene in a video store, but this part seems slightly fragmented and unfocused, but it's still quite a good fun.

Toxie goes to Japan - a completely blatant goof around, that ticks all the boxes as far as incredibly fun entertainment goes. For me, this movie is a more or less dignified (if this word can be used in connection with Troma at all) continuation from the first Toxic Avenger movie. I'm fascinated by the surprise of some movie-goers, that they didn't enjoy the fun - this is Troma, for God's sake, what did you expect? As for me, I'd happily watch it again anytime.

This movie is incredible fun for thick-skinned fans for whom Troma is their Bible. After falling into a barrel of toxic waste, the bullied cleaner and outsider Melvin Junko acquires superhuman abilities and, with a mop in his hand, decides to literally clean up Tromaville of all its bizarre criminals. The rest is history. If you don't like this movie, you can immediately save time and write off the whole Troma catalogue. I can't help it, I enjoy this as a "guilty pleasure" - and I am completely sober and clear-minded.

Um, family comedy? Well, I'm not sure who this movie is for. Adults will be put off by the stupidity, embarrassment, and toilet humour. I would also definitely not recommend this for children because of the zoophilic subtext (yes, it is there). This is just a really horrible movie that only works on a very base level - Siegfried hits his head and the movie-goer laughs!

Riding in on the wave of success from the entertaining comedy movie Death Race 2000, a number of similar movies came out, including Deathsport. In the anti-utopian future, this time David Carradine is not forced to race in a funny-looking car, but to fight for his life on a funny-looking motorcycle - and now hold on, it is meant absolutely seriously, which is for a movie in which naked girls lit up by psychedelic lights accompanied by strange synth music dance between poles charged with electricity, an unfortunate mistake. So it is only slightly passing for funny in scenes where characters with frowning seriousness deliver their cheesy banal lines. Unfortunately, this movie is so far from being unintentionally funny it could never pass for actual entertainment. Deathsport is therefore a terrible movie but fortunately, in my eyes director Allan Arkush regained his reputation a year later with Rock 'n' Roll High School.

A small and greatly underestimated comedy about burnout at work, with which any movie-goer can very well identify. The plot isn't that important, the backbone of the movie is the well-written characters, and the associated acting performances in supporting roles consolidate this. Gary Cole, Richard Riehle, John C. McGinley - they are all memorable caricatures, and then there's Stephen Root, who, in the role of Milton gives an acting performance worthy of an Academy Award nomination. I was laughing away at Milton's tragicomic fates long after the movie ended. It is a pity that the movie flopped at the box-office, as I would gladly be up for a sequel right now.

Following on from conflicting mixed reviews, I didn’t expect much, and in the end, Venom is just sort of OK – which slightly irritates me because this film could have been much better. This is due in part to the limits of a PG-13 certificate, so scenes intended to be gory are either cut so that you can’t see the gore, or made in a ridiculous way of not showing blood (for example, a symbiote turns its limbs into sharp blades, but does not slice up their opponents; instead he throws them on the side). The plot is nothing new – it’s a relatively engaging origin story with, unfortunately, a completely generic and uninteresting villain played by Riz Ahmed. At times, the logic is lost, like when Venom tells Eddie that he was in his head and knows everything about him, but then five minutes later he asks who Anne is. Paradoxically, the film works best as a comedy with Tom Hardy humorously muttering and fooling around, which is a fail if Venom is intended as a darker film – because it isn’t.

This film was made in a similar way to An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe. An array of horror stars narrate selected short stories by Poe, this time accompanied by various animations, not all of which seem completely fitting or having enough of a horror atmosphere. The core story is a needed cement in which the writer’s soul talks to his demons, however, the viewer is probably more interested in the individual segments: The Fall of the House of Usher: Sir Christopher Lee reads my favourite short story. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his performance, but the animation is slightly childish, akin to a video game, which doesn’t fit the dark atmosphere. The Tell-Tale Heart: This is a more visually interesting animation, with a style slightly reminiscent of Sin City, and is narrated by Bela Lugosi from an old archived recording. This means poor sound quality and a noticeable hum, which is at times intrusive. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar: Read by Julian Sands, accompanied by a very apt animation, making this segment probably the most balanced contribution to the anthology. The Pit and the Pendulum: Although I was worried about how understandable Guillermo del Toro’s reading would be, his performance is nevertheless excellent and adds a solid voice-over to the unfortunately relatively dull animation. The Masque of the Red Death: In the last segment, instead of relying on classic tale telling, there’s a minimalist narration from the mouth of Roger Corman (as the classic creator of Poe film adaptations, including his own version of The Masque of the Red Death), and there’s much more emphasis placed on the imagery, which is enough to tell a simple story, but could be a little disappointing for the viewer if they were looking forward to Corman’s narration in full.

This is a generic commercial horror and a quick-brewing franchise, whose only goal seems to have been to take more cash out of the audience’s pockets, and to get a demonic nun into the living room of the Warren couple. The script is therefore just a dark padding without any real story or surprises, but it is blessed with a multitude of tropes such as ‘We’ll move the camera to the side, but then move it right back to reveal a loud jump scare.’ I was most frightened when I checked the time and saw there were 40 minutes left.

A slow but impressive mix of slasher and gothic horror, most of which takes place in a very sinister sanatorium, where an old family secret emerges. Of course, this is nothing revolutionary, but the strong point of this particular Ozploitation movie is how director Tony Williams seizes of the reins, and whose sense of atmosphere building and visual gadgets (memorable slow-motion shots and dream sequences) in conjunction with Gary Hansen's camera work and Klaus Schulze's vigorous soundtrack impresses. I was also surprised by the acting performance of the protagonist (Jacki Kerin), whom I found completely believable when expressing her rage and helplessness at the end, and I really hadn't seen such authentic hysteria for a long time (I am recalling now the classic escape scene with Marilyn Burns in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Quality obscure horror that I fully recommend.