Kirk’s Movie Blogspot 13th Feb

Oh crap, in writing the title for this, I’ve just noticed that it’s Friday the 13th! Now everything that goes wrong for the rest of the day will no longer be a result of random interactions of molecules, or the poor decisions made by individuals with free will, it’ll be because it’s Friday the 13th! Obviously there’d be a nice film tie-in I could make with the Friday the 13th films here (this being a movie website and all!) but I can’t ’cause I’ve never seen them. Yes that’s right I’ve never seen them! There’s pretty much a whole genre out there that I know very little about ’cause I’m just a 6ft pansy when it comes to horror and suspense.

Don’t get me wrong, I have seen the occasional horror film. I remember back as a teenager (I think I was 13) in the late 80s when a mate brought round A Nightmare on Elm Street. I entirely blame this film for my hatred of the horror genre as I didn’t sleep well for a while afterwards! Later, as an 18 year old growing up in Derby my mates and I went to the Showcase cinema pretty much every Tuesday for several years. They did a deal where any film was £2.50 so we’d get our tickets and then go in the pub next door for a drink ’till the film was on. In doing this there were times when we’d seen pretty much everything that was on. We therefore ended up seeing some shite! I remember one film in particular called Blue Ice starring Michael Caine, by the end of the film I was the only one of our group of 5 still awake!

None of my mates were particularly into horror either. Give us a good action film or sci-fi extravaganza any day, but there were occasions where there were only horror films left to see. The only two that stick in my mind are Candyman, which as horror films go wasn’t too bad (I mean that in terms of scaring me witless, not that it wasn’t a bad film), but we all came away agreeing that we wouldn’t stand in front of a mirror late at night and say candyman however many times you were supposed to say it. The other wasn’t really a horror film as such, it was more horror comedy and was the Peter Jackson film Brain Dead. Now you have to picture the scene here, we knew absolutely nothing about this film going in, but it was the only film on that we hadn’t seen. Even half way through I didn’t know whether it was trying to be serious or the biggest piss take in history. I later decided it was the latter and definitely not the former, I think it was when the vicar started kickboxing the zombies and shouted out “I kick arse for the lord!”

When I say that I don’t do horror, I don’t really include horror comedy, ’cause those I do quite like. Ever since I saw Evil Dead II and House (no not the cranky doctor TV series, the horror comedy starring William Katt), I’ve always had a soft  spot for a good  horror comedy. I was lucky enough to be sent the Evil Dead II and III Blu Rays to review a few months back and had great fun watching the exploits of Ash again. Note to self, must try and see if you can buy House on DVD, haven’t seen that in years!

This week for me has largely been uneventful. Was going to try and see Valkyrie with a mate last weekend after seeing a very funny Tom Cruise interview with Johnathon Ross, but ended up with gasteroenteritis (the joys of having a child at nursery!) and was in no fit state to sit in a cinema! Might try and get round to it this weekend instead. Standout DVD /Blu Ray release of the week by far (for me) was the eventual release of Star Fleet, the 80s sci-fi japanese puppet show that kicks the arse out of Thunderbirds and the like. This was one of my all time favorite shows as a kid and I’ve wanted this to be released for so, so long now. It’s a great package as well, loads of extras in the case (comic, postcards etc.), I have to say that Fabulous Films did a great job. I’m well aware that some of these nostalgia trips we go on end in disaster. Things rarely are as good when viewied again as a more discerning adult. Battle of the Planets was one such programme for me. I remember it as a shining beacon amongst cartoons. I’d race home from school and plonk myself in front of the telly to find out what fiendish scheme the gang would foil this week. On buying the DVDs I found it to be a very poorly edited hack job of a Japanese cartoon with an annoying robot added for no good reason. I’m very happy to say that so far (I’m four episodes in) that is not the case with Star Fleet. I think I was a little bit older when I first saw it, so remember it a bit more true to form. The digital restoration is good, but I won’t go so far as to say the image is fantastic and crisp. It’s good considering the source they had to work from, that’s what you’ve got to remember. If you’re a fan and didn’t know it was out then what are you doing reading this, go and buy it! If you’re not a fan but liked Thunderbirds and the like then wait for it to come down in price a bit and then get it, I gaurantee you’ll love it.