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StrangeLand

StrangeLand

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Snider's interesting movie drags down after awhile
Review: Dee Snider (lead singer of Twisted Sister) wrote but did not direct this horror movie about a sadistic madman who prays on people from their computers. He invites them to where he lives and tortures them to death. Snider is an alright actor and I think he did a better job at written the script then Rob Zombie did for House Of 1000 Corpses. Kevin Gage plays the hero cop, Elizabeth Pena (Rush Hour) plays his wife, Linda Cardellini (The Unsaid, Scooby Doo) plays his daughter and Brett Harrelson (The People Vs. Larry Flynt), Woody's brother, plays his partner. Gage catches his ass and Snider is assigned as mentally unstable, so he goes into treatment for years but when he gets out the towns people try to kill him but they only bring back the monster. From where Snider's evil side comes back to the climatic end it lags down from there and runs out of juice. Interesting but yet not a very great movie. Also starring a young Amy Smart (Road Trip, Campfire Tale). Kevin Gage looks like a clone to Ted Levine.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: or..... the good, the bad, the ugly
Review: Although this horror flick was predictable and the pretentious monologues by Capt Howdy/Carlton Hendricks were a bit hokey - I gotta say I liked it overall. Dee Synder did an excellent job as the villian. All of the acting was pretty good if you ignore the father's cop partner (who was funny, although unintentionally so). Some of the characters were amusing (Freddy Kuger as a redneck, fountain of knowledge tow truck driver and the bible thumping woman) but not so for the underlying menace of the movie. It wasn't an over-the-top gore fest but nasty all the same. The mutilation of the victims was horrorific and the story had some depth if you care to reach (true purpose of body modification, issue of insanity and medicated sanity, etc.) and despite some holes - a watchable film that could have been much better given more time (as in running longer than 90 mins.) and a tighter script.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: So much flesh...So little time...
Review: I'm not even going to apologize for liking this movie. Being a horror fan and a heavy metal fan, the movie as a whole fell comfortably into that dark spot inside me and left me with a satisfying taste in my mouth.

Carleton Hendricks, aka Captain Howdy, (played by Dee Snyder) is a twisted fiend obsessed with finding a higher spiritual plain through piercings, tattoos...and torture. He doesn't wish for the death of his victims, he wishes for his own death, which makes him a nasty antagonist indeed.

When Captain Howdy lures young Genny Gage into his lair, it seems he has selected the wrong victim, for Genny's father Mike (played by Kevin Gage) is a police detective. Mike hunts down Captain Howdy and rescues his daughter, but Howdy is insane and gets sent to an asylum rather than prison.

Without giving too much away, the movie will go on to question whether the beast inside can be contained, or whether it is just held behind the bars of medicine. Another very interesting dilemma brought to light, is whether or not it is a crime to ignore a crime; and what would the consequences be for you if you did.

Although the movie is a little bit flat in some facets such as dialogue and some weak plot smatterings, overall it is richly filmed and well acted. Kevin Gage, Robert Englund, and Elizabeth Pena hold up the cast with skill, and Snyder does a rather decent job himself; especially as the psychotic Capt Howdy half of Carleton Hendricks. Look for a brief but well done job by pretty girl Amy Smart. (Road Trip)

Rather than compare this movie to Silence of the Lambs, I would say it was closer to The Cell (but with better acting), or perhaps the original Manhunter, in that it gives us a brief glimpse of the lamb inside the wolf.

As for the horror, the movie makes up for its lack of blood by terrifying us with an unwelcome and horrifyingly disgusting buffalo shot of Robert Englund in his underwear. That alone made me toss my lunch harder than any brain eating scene could have done.

If you like creepy horror villains, scenes of torture, and a glimpse into the psychotic all set to a heavy metal soundtrack, then you will probably like this movie. Watch for Captain Howdy's full size puppet scene! Enjoy!


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