Orca (1977) or what Free willy really could be like when pissed...

Ok I have recently learned that an orca isn't a whale but a dolphin. I guess they didn't knew that back in the 70s as they still referred to him as killer whale. My blu ray with German title mentions: orca: the killer whale;

So that means it isn't literally a rip-off from Moby Dick or Jaws and Free Williy eventually became the family friendly version of Orca. But since many killer fish/water mammals eventually became labeled as Jaws rip-offs, movies trying to cash-in on Spielberg's movie.

There are similarities but also a lot of differences Between Jaws and Orca
Jaws is pretty straightforward, a shark actively hunting for people looking for recreation at sea.This prompts the mayor to organize a hunt for the big killer fish.

Orca doesn't take place at sandy sunny beach but at a rocky small fisher's village. Here we have a fisherman named Nolan (Richard Harris) who got tired of average pay and found a more lucrative deal hunting for big fish. The bigger the caught animal the better the payment. He gets really excited when a group of orcas are spotted bigger and more powerful than any of the sharks in those waters despite warnings from biologist Rachel (Charlotte Rampling) who noticed that it was a male and female who normally stay together their whole life. Disrupting the happy family could lead to catastrophy and that's what Nolan does. On the hunt he aimed for the male but instead harpoons the female orca. Not only does she get badly hurt and eventually dies it appears she is pregnant too. The male goes on attack versus the boat and kills the oldest crew member. He also looks at Nolan, the killer of his mate and unborn child in the eyes. The orca knows this is the guy I want to take revenge on. And that's a big difference with Jaws where the shark kills people because he likes human flesh making the people vengeful, in Orca it is the animal out for revenge and that versus one particular person and anyone getting in his way or being too good mates with Nolan.

This time Nolan knows it is serious, he decides to quit his hunt on the animal and takes the advise of Rachel staying away from the water. However the orca taunts him tries to lure him into the water. He wrecks several fisher boats but not Nolan's. Even though other fishermen pressure Nolan to hunt the animal down, he still refuses rightfully afraid. However when the orca takes it one step further wrecking Nolan's beach house above the waters in which his female assistant Annie (Bo Derek) loses one of her legs, Nolan has no other choice. He needs to face the big creature on the waters. The leg bitten of is probably a nodd to Moby Dick. The captain wanting to get that big white whale for handicapping him for life. Here the roles are reversed however.

The final part in Orca is however more like Jaws, an active hunt for the beast at sea on a boat. Nolan gets Rachel, two male colleagues and the old Indian specialist in local legends Jacob (Will Sampson mostly known for his role as the chief in One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest and Taylor in Poltergeist II) aboard to assist him. This eventually leads to a thrilling showdown looking like a mixture of Jaws and Moby Dick. I'm not giving away the ending.

In the end both Orca and Jaws are more drama/thriller than outright horror. In both there is very little graphic scenes. However there is numerous reasons why I prefer Orca over Spielberg's blockbuster.

In short:
Orca has a more developed story. Even though most of the characters don't get much characterisation (mostly Nolan and Rachel) I felt more of an attachment to them and also to the orca. His desire for revenge is understandable. Losing his wife and child is really a heartbreaking moment in the movie. If they have a great memory like an elephant I doubt it but it works in order for the next events. I rooted for the orka. Except for Quint I could never root for Bruce.

Bruce rarely showed up. While some people thought this added to the tension it was actually a budgettary choice. Even some of the fans said the shark didn't look too good for me a plastic beast is not a problem, we had plenty of those in the 50s and that worked for me too. However if possible I prefer live animals. I don't know for sure but the orca's seemed real to me.
Orca has a much darker atmosphere especially the night scenes enhance that effect. The setting alone is more cold than the sunny coast in Jaws.
Dialogues and length eventually makes a movie like Jaws pad too much. In Orca they are more to the point, also the action is spread much better in a length of 90 minutes.

Wilford B's plan to kill and eat his family

I'll be back or my stupid opinion on The Terminator (1984)

It might sound strange but I've have only seen this movie in full recently. I did see parts of it on TV before but never triggered me enough to watch the whole movie. Also I don't really have a high opinion on James Cameron as a director. I have seen his first movie Piranha II the Spawning like a week ago which was rather dreadful. Ok I'm quite a fan of the original I must admit. Furthermore I have seen Titanic and Avatar (aka Dancing with the Smurfs) while visually stunning they are rather empty in other aspects IMO. Given its Cameron I had enough reason to believe Terminator was going to be simplistic in story, dialogue and flat characters. That was indeed so in the end but at least The Terminator does have some memorable parts that are cool and not cringe-worthy like many of the scenes in the aforementioned flicks.

Now why would I actually want to watch a movie that I probably not going to like much. It's not that I was running out of options nor that I just get gratification out of pissing of the fans. I know some people are rather attached and passionate about their favorite movies but in the end it's a movie, the creation of someone who you in most cases have no relation with, something abstract and acted on a piece of celluloid. First there was Box indirectly recommending it and even though he did have the feeling I might not like it he would still would like to know why. So it's for him mostly. When I feel like I can be elaborate on the pros and cons. I myself hate reviews like it was crap or it was a masterpiece, those are useless. That doesn't trigger any discussion and a board if for discussion. Leave the superficial stuff to platforms like facebook and fansites I say. Secondly I like myself a good challenge. Since the 132 years of movies chalelnge I'm hosting on the Dutch movie board is still running I had the category "urban area" where I could fit in The Terminator. And yes who knows maybe after seeing this movie I might actually end up not hating it maybe even liking it. Maybe I would even understand the vague definition of "general consensus" (which some might confuse with general truth I guess) or even become part of the elite which recognizes great movies without needing to explain why because the average rating is the proof it can't be bad and those who disagree are simply wrong. Actually I do wish that was the case so I wouldn't be the party pooper so often or the contrarian or the one who thinks it's cool to bash popular movies because they must be bad or just to piss of the fans. But one can't help what he likes and dislikes and unfortunately there is considering movies a lot I do not like. Search another hobby like reading or so nah I don't have the patience. Besides I still think it's fun hunting for that gem even if I have to go through dozens of movies that eventually became a miss. Ok, anyone who feels bitten in the ass now, don't this is all meant in good fun.

Now finally onto the movie. I already mentioned most of its weak parts. I don't really mind the straightforward simplistic story. I mean I have seen the Matrix long ago and I wonder what was the point of this over explaining the whole damn thing while fans are going to watch it for the action anyway. A small cast is handy too there is just 3 characters you need to memorize: Sarah (the target), Kyle (the protector) and the Terminator. The others are merely attributes needed to fill up the world and the story. Talking about fillers even though it takes a while before we get to some longer action scenes there is actually few scenes that would pad or stretch out the movie to an unbearable length. They might have cut about 10 minutes but the intention of the movie is clear pretty quick. Arnie the terminator has one mission: destroy Sarah Connor. Sure there is the dialogue between Sarah and Kyle with flash backs that do slow things down but understandable the viewer wants to know why 2 beings from the future travel to the past. Sarah will eventually become the mother of a future rebellion leader names John Connor. Since he is bearing his mother's name the identity of the father remains unknown, well at the end you will know that as well or you might even guess it before. I don't think it was that surprising, future romances are often easy to predict. In the end that makes no sense at all though and IMO virtually impossible but name one movie where time travel actions can be explained with bullet-proof certainty there are no flaws. It's a movie, don't overanalyze Box would say I guess.

This reminds me actually of Back to the Future possible the worst culprit to have time travel actions make sense. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the first movie since it was the perfect ending (minus the part Doc eventually taking Marty and his gf to the future to initiate the next installment). While enjoyable in parts those sequels were not needed IMO. I particularly didn't like Doc eventually remained in the Wild West not to mention the changes they made should have come back in their face.

Back to the Terminator. The Terminator himself or itself since it is just a genderless machine. Kyle refers to the Terminator as a cyborg. I always thought a cyborg was a creature being a mixture of human and mechanical parts. Sure Terminator is a robot with human flesh around it. But is this skin really human flesh, it seemed more synthetic to me. Also he had no emotions, he just did what was instructed: kill Sarah Connor. He didn't target others unless they would walk in his way. So there isn't much acting involved in this character. I don't think Arnie is a good actor but I do think he really shines in action roles. There are exceptions where he actually goes out of this comfort zone like Maggie where he did play the caring father convincingly. Personally I don't think the Terminator rates as his best action role I think Conan and Commando are better not only because he actually is the good guy and does have a personality I just think they are better action movies. I actually need to revisit Conan. Oh yeah there is Red Sonja too but that one is rather dumb IMO. Anyway to me he is the best action actor.

Now the favorite parts. The '˜Ill' be back' scene isn't particularly good or memorable but eventually became a popular quote among young people here (and other parts of the world I bet) certainly in that typical English with German accent. It was amusing to link it to images even though in the end I mostly remember the quote and how he says it. Other action scenes are rather standard fare, shooting and car chasing. It's the last 40 minutes however that the movie becomes more engaging where we actually get to the parts that could be described as (graphical) horror; Actually the scene where Arnie starts poking in his flesh and eye with a knife was one I did see before. I'm not a person who is squeamish or disgusted easily but eyes woah such scenes I find painful to watch. Than there is the scene where Arnie shoos away the boy in the truck with a robotic dry '˜get out'. I can understand wit that face the boy didn't hesitate to follow this order. Finally we come to the best parts when the terminator gets burnt and shows his true form: a skeleton robot with glowing red eyes. Yes the movements are wooden and robotic and clumsy (he didn't have that problem in human flesh) and may I say pretty dated now. However it is the moment where to me he is most threatening especially when only haf a robot he still keeps going and that hand reaching out for Sarah's throat.

In the end I'm happy to finally have seen it in full. Does it invite me to see the sequels, not really. I actually did see a sequel in theatre with a friend who does like action movies but other than the beginning where Terminator Arnie asks a male stripper for the guy's clothes (pretty similar to the beginning of the original movie) which includes funny sunglasses which Arnie tramples I don't remember anything about it anymore. Besides Onyx already told me the first one is the darkest more horror so let's leave it at that. I might try the arcade game again (Terminator 2 I think) I remember this being fun playing in the arcade halls with a friend shooting at the terminators.

The Rental (2020)

Dave Franco's feature length directorial debut is a horror movie, and it came out in 2020. Yeah, movies are actually coming out this year, can you believe that? This one is about two couples taking a weekend in a rental house, and you know something bad is going to happen.

Charlie (Dan Stevens) and his girlfriend Michelle (Allison Brie) are one part of the equation, and Charlie's brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White, Lip from Shameless) and his girlfriend/Charlie's business partner Mina (Sheila Vand) are the other half. The man who rents the home to them is Taylor (Toby Huss from Halloween 2018) and they're iffy about him from the start. Things go smoothly for the first night, but a somewhat foreshadowed twist occurs, and it only gets worse from there. That's as much as I'll say about this, because to say anymore would spoil everything, and you really ought to see how this one plays out.

This was a pretty solid debut with decent tension and loads of foggy atmosphere. Our leads do a great job and play solid characters and once the horror kicks in, it doesn't go easy on our protagonists, even if it's short-lived.

I do feel that the movie leaves me a bit unfulfilled at the end, seeming rather inconclusive, but for what it is, I thought it was a good effort.

#Review

47 Meters Down... again!

The first movie was alright. Cage-diving gone wrong with some ridiculous circumstances attached, but enjoyable. With its box office success, a sequel would be guaranteed, but they changed it up a bit. This time... it's uncaged!

I'm not sure the 47 meters down bit holds any relevance anymore, but the same director is doing a survival shark movie, so we're not supposed to overthink it as it isn't really connected with the first movie at all.

This time around, some attractive school girls decide to ditch a windowed boat tour of sharks in favor of exploring a recently discovered Mayan cave on the coast of Mexico. Two half-sisters are involved and their dad is head explorer on the project, but he's unaware of this rendezvous and is a bit farther away from the girls, but not out of plot's distance.

As the girls explore the underwater caves, an accident collapses their entry tunnel and they're stuck in there... with a goddamn shark!

The progression isn't bad. There are a lot of points that the movie could have turned into a complete mess, but the director didn't want to piss people off. He wanted to tease them a lot that he would piss them off, but he opted against it, and I was so close to thinking the movie was going to end in a godawful way, but I walked away thinking... not too shabby.

#Review

A reply to Johan's shout

I will post this here rather than on the shoutbox because well, I ended up writing too much and with the limit, it's just not convenient. So for anyone who might have missed it, here are Johan's comments to which I will now respond:

@markus I thought that gory kind of stuff was not your cup of tea?Aren't you the more sophisticated type of horror guy? And what you like Walking Dead that's another surprise.

Oh bryan sannie boy even admitted that himself he isn't much for the gore. But there is always exceptions , Asian stuff probably gets bonus points and popular stuff as well or anything directed by Spielberg especially with a shark in it.

Firstly Johan, yeah referring to me as "sonnie boy" is very amusing indeed. I know you are trying very hard to provoke a response from me (and guess what, you sure got one) because that is what you like to do. It is in your nature to provoke people in order to gain a response, and you're very good at it. I don't know what reason you have for having a dig at me, only because I mentioned a Korean horror series that had great gore and if anyone else had seen it, but as Samuel L. Jackson said in Pulp Fiction: "Well allow me to retort!":

I've never claimed I don't like gore. I have no idea where you get that idea from. I will admit I prefer art house or as you say "sophisticated" horror movies to trash on the whole, but as you will be quite aware art house movies, such as Martyrs, can also have gore. I suppose this probably begs the question why I am here, on TRASH EPICS. Well I am still here because most of the other guys are not so narrow minded as you when it comes to horror. They don't try to constantly force their opinions on people. You're a person who believes people only like certain horror movies becaue they are "popular". And beacuse you feel these movies are overrated/overhyped, you somehow feel superior and then act all high and mighty - with your love of HG Lewis and, yes rather weirdly, horror movies with
very young girls as the main protagonist. Don't pretend it's not true or that I am the only one to notice. Other individuals have noticed it and have even left the site because of your constant digs at anyone who enjoys a "popular" horror. Even now you feel the need to have a dig at people who enjoy Spielberg movies. Well GUESS WHAT. Spielberg has actually made some decent movies regardless of your stupid opinion. You think you know better, well here's news for you: YOU DON'T.

And look, let's have a dig at Markus for liking Asian movies too while we are at it, because only Markus likes them! No one else does. Ironic considering you admitted once that you used to enjoy non-gore Asian movies like Ring, Ju-On and Tale of Two Sisters but now apparently, you're too above them or something. No they don't get bonus points for being Asian, although Japanese gore is probably the best in the world. I mentioned a Korean zombie show but yeah that's right, I like The Walking Dead too and just as much. But I bet you'd hate it because it's "too popular, man".

And no one is expecting you to like The Terminator either. You've already decided it's overrated before you've even seen it, because hey it's hip to go against what other people consider good, or popular, even if it's the GENERAL CONSESUS. Everyone else must be wrong, and Johan must be right... it makes you feel better.

You are not better than anyone else here Johan, just because of your niche love of trashy movies and your disdain for popular horror movies, so please stop acting like you are.

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Terrifier 2 teaser

Looks pretty good!

Tweaked Feature: Nudity and Trash Ratings

I couldn't sleep the other night, so my brain tells me out of nowhere that in addition to overall Value and Gore ratings, we also need Nudity and Trash ratings. Again, this is something zed did before on his old site, so I got the urge to implement it finally.

I figure it'll help distinguish us from regular rating sites, especially since we're Trash Epics, we need to be able to judge a film by it's trash factor. So feel free to go through the list of movie titles and rate a film by its level of nudity and how trashy it is. (1=none/classy, 2=barely, 3=a fair amount, 4=extra, 5=lots/filthy)

Shot-On-Shiteo: Rape & Aerobics



So, how 'bout those 90's Martial Arts flicks? Those were a thing, right? Best Of The Best 2 was pretty sweet, huh? That Cody from Step-By Step kicked some ass in a few movies if I remember correctly. Who could forget the Code-man? I saw this movie recently that really could have used a little of that guy's coolness. A terminally uncool movie that still deserves a little love simply for being so positive in such a negative world. So, today, I give a little love to a movie called High Kicks. An obscurity that likely went undetected by most everyone upon release and beyond. You may not know it, but there are actual shot-on-video flicks out there that are not of the horror (or porn) genre, which actually seems a little wrong to me for some reason. I've come across a few over the years, but a martial arts movie? Definitely a new one on me too. However, bear with me. This gets good. And by that, I, of course, mean dumb enough to hold your attention.

So, anyway. We've all been there, haven't we? At one point or another, we've all longed for that special someone to come along to not only encourage us to fight back against our tormentors, but to teach us how. Not all of us are lucky enough for someone like that to ever show up, much less appear out of nowhere like Sam. However, for Sandy, she would soon find much more than some advice or encouragement. Soon, Sandy will gain confidence, along with vengeance and good times with new friends. And along the way, romance with a pretty, blonde beau with an epic mullet, whose free-spirited nature just might be able to be tamed. More on that later, for today is a new day for Sandy. Today, Sandy's "Knight in shining armor" walks into her life, narrowly missing the gang of ethnically-diverse rapists who just finished up having their way with her once-tight vagina. If he had made it there sooner, it would have been helpful, but Sam's a chillin', carefree guy who gets there when he gets there. However, Sam does assure Sandy that if he had been around, the rape would not have gone down. And I'm sure that helped a great deal.

So, Sandy owns and runs the "High Kicks!" aerobics studio, while Sam, a sailor who is merely passing through, has just scored a short-term job working for her. And as Sam learns the disturbing news of his new employer's rape, he pitches the idea of teaching her how to prevent future rapes. Not wanting to ever feel so vulnerable again, Sandy takes Sam up on his offer, and being a pro at aerobics, she just knows this Karate stuff will be a cinch. A scene or two later, and we are finally clued into the fact that Sandy is a bit of a retard. Sam takes her to see his two friends who also practice the martial arts regularly, and when Sandy sees them sparring, she about loses her shit. And once Sam joins in the training, Sandy is convinced it is the end. Poor girl is soon clued in on what sparring is and that these guys are long-time pals of Sam's. So everyone likes each other, now!

Strangely, one could almost wedge this story into the rape-revenge category. However, it's all just very watered-down and comes off suspiciously PC at times. Nobody actually dies but Sandy and Pals eventually go around L.A. looking for members of the rape gang, and in some really badly-executed scenes, the Karate guys teach them a little lesson. They don't fuck them up too awfully bad. Just enough to let them know that rape isn't cool. As Sandy witnesses this while learning her own self-defense, she starts to feel better about everything and soon regains her confidence and then some. Somewhere in the middle of all this, Sandy and Sam bond over Sam's confession that he too was once raped by a bunch of dudes. He also learned the martial arts as a way of protecting his tight little hole. And as far as we know, Sam only has ONE of those, so, he really has to be on his game at all times.

Sandy and pals beat up rapists, hang out and drink beer, joke around a lot, and great! Everything seems more or less settled with a good half hour still left. Sandy throws around the idea of inventing "karobics" by merging karate with aerobics. That goes surprisingly well, actually. The story randomly starts focusing on Sam not knowing how to take the romance further with this chick who couldn't possibly be making it easier for him. Sam is pressured into going on a date with some aerobics floozy, putting him in the doghouse with Sandy for a while. Eventually, things are worked out with Sandy and her new beau celebrating with a round of hot, consensual sex, which we never see because of course we don't. And for some reason, they felt the need to throw in some last-minute subplot with Sam trying to figure out how he's going to make his brother's wedding on such short notice. Don't ask me...

Well, if you happen to be a fan of the SOVs as well as martial arts flicks, I suppose I owe you a big "you're welcome". Otherwise, never mind any of this, because I'm sure it would take being a fan of both to have the patience for it all. But seriously, I don't exactly believe in "guilty pleasures", but I'd put my money on this being someone's, for sure. Me? I'm down with this shit in the most healthy way possible. Sure, it's super lame, but given the right frame of mind, this level of lameness and ineptitude can be a real treat. Sam's flowing, golden mullet being at least 1/3 of said treat. And his uncanny resemblance to Dave Coulier is truly the cherry on top. Who knows? I guess someone back in '93 just wanted to make a good-natured martial arts flick on video. There's something awfully naive and almost sitcom-like about this movie and its characters. They all might have come off somewhat endearing had they actually developed a little and had been played by actors, but hey, they're nice. It's just a nice movie. Not everyone needs to go around cutting dicks off, anyway! 3/10



#Review