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Checking through my DVD library for a flick to watch tonight, I spotted another movie that fits in here. The old Spielberg suspense movie Duel with Dennis Weaver as the man pursued through the countryside by an unseen assailant... who just happens to be driving a very big truck!
It's worth noting that the story and the screenplay for Duel were both written by Richard Matheson, he of "I Am Legend" fame.

Ugh, laid low for the last couple of days with a nasty cold and have been concentrating my illness-depleted creative energy on 3HG projects. I will finish off this round of reviews over the rest of the weekend

Morthrai wrote:Ugh, laid low for the last couple of days with a nasty cold and have been concentrating my illness-depleted creative energy on 3HG projects. I will finish off this round of reviews over the rest of the weekend

Sorry about the illness, but getting more work done! You can rest up with a movie.

Phulish wrote:Sorry about the illness, but getting more work done! You can rest up with a movie.

Thanks, it's not bad but it's the kind of cold that drains the energy and makes your whole body ache. Still, got a couple of movies left to see and have got a little writing done in conjunction with a new 3HG contributor

Movie #24 - Another 70s TV flick that, like Killdozer, has become a fondly-remembered item from the age of polyester "Gargoyles" has sensible anthropologist Dr Boley (Cornel Wilde) visiting a roadside tourist attraction whose proprietor claims to have found a strange skeleton. While Boley at first dismisses the find as a carny prop a la the Fiji Mermaid, it soon transpires that he has happened across a lot more than he bargained.

This isn't as bad as it would seem from my description, really! It has a pretty obvious set-up and there are no real suprises, but there are some shocks and the monster effects are quite well done. There are plenty of big-budget movies that are no better than this one

Movie #25 - One that has definitely gained a place on the Dark Conspiracy essential viewing list. "The Hidden" has FBI agent Gallagher (Twin Peaks very own Kyle MacLachlan) teaming up with detective Beck (Michael Nouri) to find a Ferrari-stealing bank robber. However, when the suspect is killed Gallagher seems undeterred in his hunt. Eventually, Beck finds out that what they are really looking for is a body-hopping alien thrill-seeker, robbing banks and stealing cars and then moving on to a new body when the previous is used up (that is, shot by the police). Turns out that Gallagher isn't really a Fed either...

Aliens, weird technology, Claudia Christian as a stripper with a shotgun...what's not to like

I loved this movie... back in the early 90s when I was a teen. Does it hold up?

Marcus

Marcus Bone wrote:I loved this movie... back in the early 90s when I was a teen. Does it hold up?

The Hidden? For gaming purposes, definitely. Not all of my list are great classics but they do relate in some way, and this belongs on the DC essentials list as much as "Dark Angel" (aka I Come In Peace) or "Split Second"

Ah yes, The Hidden.
I have fond memories of it because it also sparked my interest in Claudia Christian ... err, as an actress, yeah, that's right. Hey I was in my early 20s and some of the outfits she wore were pretty revealing!
But seriously, it was a decent movie and one that warrants revisiting every so often.

Movie #26 - They don't get much more 80s than this! "Chopping Mall" features a bunch of teenaged mall workers who decide to have a late-night party in one of the stores. This takes place on the night when the mall owners' new fully automated robot security system goes into operation...can we see where this might be going yet?

It's just silly cliched fun but it does rip along at a decent pace and it's in no way taking itself seriously. Still not sure why the armour-plated and tracked robots have lethal lasers fitted but it's that kind of flick!

Movie #27 - 1999's "Virus" is the tale of a Russian scientific vessel that is struck by a strange energy field from space. Shortly afterwards, an ocean salvage ship commanded by an alcoholic captain (Donald Sutherland) loses his latest hulk in a storm. While making repairs in the eye of the storm, the crew spot the Russian vessel adrift, and decide to go aboard to check for signs of life. If deserted the ship will make the crew millionaires from the salvage. Unfortunately, it's not...

This movie gets a lot of flak but it's not as bad as all that, though it's certainly not great! Given the presence of Donald Sutherland, Jamie Lee Curtis and one of the Baldwins it should be better but for gaming purposes it's on par with "Deep Rising" which is in broadly similar territory.

Movie #28 - while I was on a seafaring kick, I took in "Leviathan". This plot summary from IMDB tells you all you need to know: "Deep-sea miners encounter a Soviet wreck and bring back a dangerous cargo to their base on the ocean floor with horrifying results. The crew of the mining base must fight to survive against a genetic mutation that hunts them down one by one."

Bets thing about this flick is the cast, several of whom are featured in some of the other essential DC-style movies: Peter Weller (Robocop, Screamers, Naked Lunch), Amanda Pays (Max Headroom), and Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, The Crow). It works well enough as a movie but again there's nothing here you won't have seen before

I watched a movie last night that has some DC interest.
How To Save Us
Quoted from IMDB
"Brian Everett's younger brother Sam goes missing on the island of Tasmania during the middle of a mysterious quarantine forcing Brian to traverse across enemy lines to save his brother from an army of ghosts."

I quite liked it - and not just because it was filmed in Australia - though I see from some comments on the net that some have a strong dislike of the movie. It's about time that some of these movie-goers came to the realization that they're just in it for action or jump-scare movies and they should stop watching anything that falls outside of those tropes.

One reviewer at IMDB complained about it being 90% made up of just two men walking about. A fair amount of the story is told via dialogue instead of visually and I would argue that some of those people who gave it negative reviews probably didn't bother to actually listen to the dialogue and background dialogue (I'd further argue that they were expecting the typical Hollywood jump-scare horror movie and How To Save Us actually requires the audience to pay a bit of attention to the dialogue).

To be fair, I would have preferred a broader explanation of what's going on rather than the personal explanation but that's just because I was really getting into the mystery and wanted know more about the "How, What, Why, When & Where" of the "plague" and overall the movie focused on one family's story played out against the backdrop of what was happening.
I don't want to mention much about the DC connections because that would wander into Spoiler territory but once you've watched it I think you'll see them.

Morthrai wrote: This movie gets a lot of flak but it's not as bad as all that, though it's certainly not great! Given the presence of Donald Sutherland, Jamie Lee Curtis and one of the Baldwins it should be better but for gaming purposes it's on par with "Deep Rising" which is in broadly similar territory.

I like Deep Rising. However, some surprisingly low SAN losses given they were taking on a St*r Sp*wn of Cth*l*.

Linden wrote: I like Deep Rising. However, some surprisingly low SAN losses given they were taking on a St*r Sp*wn of Cth*l*.

I would guess that their GM ported the scenario over to a different system that doesn't have a sanity mechanism?