Lisa Marie Review A Best Picture Nominee: Raiders of the Lost Ark (dir by Steven Spielberg)

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I can hear you right now.

“Really? You’re reviewing Raiders of the Lost Ark for Horrorthon? That’s not a horror movie!”

Well, you’re right, it’s not. That said, it’s definitely a film that borrows from the genre even if it doesn’t embrace it. If you’ve got a thing about spiders, you’ll cringe when Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) has to wipe all of those tarantulas off of that guy’s shirt while they’re exploring the Peruvian temple. If you’ve got a thing about snakes, you’ll share Indiana’s reaction when the cobra hisses at him. And don’t even get me started on the justifiably famous finale. “It’s beautiful!” Belloq (Paul Freeman) shouts right before the angels turn into skeletons. A man’s eyes pop out of his head. Another one melts. Another explodes. There are plenty of scary moments in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s such a thrill ride that the fear doesn’t necessarily linger the way that it would need to for Raiders to actually be considered a horror film. We’re too busy cheering on Indy and Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) to duck behind the couch. That said, I think Raiders of the Lost Ark is still a perfect film for the Halloween month. Though it was released a little before my time, I imagine that Indiana Jones, with his hat and his bullwhip, was a popular figure when Halloween rolled around in 1981.

I rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark on Tuesday and, as always, I found myself more than a little amazed at how well it holds up. There’s not a single wasted moment. The action scenes are still exciting. The moments of humor — that poor swordsman! — still make me laugh. There’s not a single weak performance to be found in the film’s large cast. Denholm Elliott is instantly lovable as Prof. Brody and John Rhys-Davies plays Sallah with just the right amount of gusto. Ronald Lacey and Wolf Kahler are thoroughly hissable as the Nazi villains and Paul Freeman brings just enough wit to the role of the duplicitous Belloq that you can understand why he and Indiana were once friends. Of course, the film truly belongs to Karen Allen and Harrison Ford. Karen Allen projects a toughness and an inner strength that keeps Marion from being just another damsel-in-distress. Harrison Ford was the perfect choice for Indiana Jones and he’s equally believable whether he’s running through the jungle, falling into a crypt, or teaching a class. (Indiana is so cute when he puts on his glasses!) My mom always used to say that she liked the way Indiana would smile in a semi-confused way before taking decisive action. For all the arguments about why the last two Indiana Jones movies failed, the answer is pretty simple. They forgot that an Indiana Jones movie is supposed to be about Indiana Jones, not Shia LaBeouf and certainly not some condescending Brit. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. He’s the reason we watch.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a film that is so good that I think there’s a tendency to take it for granted. That’s why, much like with the best of the James Bond films, I think it’s important to rewatch it and re-experience just how good it is. Producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg sought to recreate the experience of watching the serials and the adventure films of their youth and they succeeded. Spielberg directs like a man in love with the movies and, as a result, it’s hard not to fall in love with this movie.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was, of course, a huge box office success. It was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Harrison Ford was (unforgivably, in my opinion) not nominated for Best Actor. In the end, the Academy selected Warren Beatty over Steven Spielberg and Chariots of Fire over Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Electric Dreams (1984, directed by Steve Barron)

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Electric Dreams is a film about a love triangle between a man, his neighbor, and his personal computer.

Miles (Lenny Von Dohlen) is an architect who wants to develop a special brick that can withstand earthquakes. One of his colleagues suggests that he buy something called a — let me check my notes to make sure I got it right — com-put-er. Apparently, computers can do anything! Miles is skeptical but he decides to give it a try.

(In all fairness, this movie came out at a time when there were no iPhones or even laptops and personal computers were viewed as being strange and exotic. )

Miles get his computer and it’s basically one of those boxy computers that used to populate computer labs in high schools across the country. As soon as I saw the computer, I wanted to play Oregon Trail. After the computer overheats and Miles tries to cool it down by pouring champagne on it (!), the computer comes to life. Now voiced by Burt Cort, the computer develops a crush on Mile’s neighbor, a cellist named Madeleine (Virginia Madsen). The computer hears Madeleine playing her cello and composes its own music to play with her. Madeleine hears the music and assumes that Miles must be a great composer. Soon, Miles and Madeleine are falling in love and the computer is getting jealous. The computer composes more more music for Miles but grows angry when Miles doesn’t give the computer any credit. Even though the computer can’t move from the desk and has to be plugged in to work, it still manages to wreck havoc with Miles’s life. When this movie came out, the idea of someone’s entire life being electronically monitored and recorded probably seemed like an out-there idea. Today, that’s just a normal Tuesday for most people.

Electric Dreams is a mix of romance, comedy, and science fiction. The scenes of Miles and Madeleine falling in love are mixed with scenes of the computer basically having a nervous breakdown and conspiring to ruin Miles’s credit and even trap him in his apartment. Electric Dreams is probably the most good-natured film ever made about a computer run amuck. The computer doesn’t mean to hurt anyone, it’s just jealous and feeling neglected. It’s a weird mix but the movie is so dedicated to its premise and Lenny Von Dohlen and Virginia Madsen are so appealing as the romantic leads that it works. Electric Dreams proves that true love can conquer all, even in the Computer Age.

Horror Film Review: The Omen (dir by Richard Donner)

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

A few days ago, Arleigh shared the theme song from 1976’s The Omen as Monday’s horror song of the day. As I sat there and listened to Jerry Goldsmith’s award-winning hymn to Satan, it occurred to me that I happen to have all five of the Omen films sitting in my movie collection. Seeing as how this is Halloween and how the world seems to be getting closer to ending with each passing day, I decided that this would be the perfect time to rewatch the entire franchise and consider whether or not The Omen films are truly as scary as a lot of people seem to think.

So, that’s what I did.

How did things turn out?

Well, in the long history of sequels and remakes, The Omen franchise is one of the more uneven collections. This is one of those franchises where things tend to get less impressive with each subsequent entry. However, 38 years after its initial release, the first Omen remains effective and, in its way, genuinely scary.

If you’re a horror fan, you probably know the general plot of The Omen regardless of whether you’ve actually watched it or not. It’s one of those films that has been so frequently imitated that it’s almost possible to watch it by osmosis.

The film opens in Rome with diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) being rushed to the hospital where his wife, Kathy (Lee Remick), has just given birth. A priest (Martin Benson) tells him that his son died shortly after being born but that he can always just go home with an orphaned newborn that he just happens to have handy. Robert agrees and decides not to tell his wife the truth about the child. Robert and Kathy raise the boy and they name him Damien. Four years later, the politically ambitious Robert is named as Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

The Thorns move to London and soon, odd things start to happen. Damien (now played by Harvey Spencer Stephens) is a quiet boy with a piercing stare who throws a fit whenever he’s taken inside of a church. When Kathy takes Damien to the zoo, they’re attacked by angry baboons. A large Rottweiler mysteriously appears on the grounds of the Ambassador’s estate. A mysterious and sinister nanny (Billie Whitelaw) shows up and explains that she’s been sent by an “agency.” A crazed priest (Patrick Troughton) starts to stalk the Ambassador, demanding a chance to speak with him and insisting that Damien’s mother was actually a jackal.

Even more mysteriously, people start dying in the strangest of ways. A young woman (Holly Palance) smiles as she shouts, “Damien, it’s all for you!” and then hangs herself, thoroughly ruining Damien’s fifth birthday party. A freak lightning storm leads to a man being impaled by a weather vane. Another person who suspects that there might be something wrong with Damien ends up losing his head in a graphic sequence that — even in this age of Hostel and Saw — is difficult to watch.

The Ambassador is contact by Keith Jennings (David Warner), a nervous photographer who fears that Damien may be planning on killing him. Soon, Thorn and Jennings are flying to Italy and to the Middle East and discovering evidence that five year-old Damien might very well be the Antichrist. Speaking of Damien, he and that nanny have been left alone with poor, victimized Kathy.

(“Oh, leave her alone,” I muttered as Damien attempted to kill Kathy for the hundredth time…)

As I watched The Omen, I tried to figure out why this film has held up so well. It certainly wasn’t due to the performance of Gregory Peck who, quite frankly, seemed to mostly be going through the motions. David Warner, on the other hand, gave such a good performance that it was almost difficult to watch. (Don’t get attached to any character who appears in an Omen film.) Some of the film’s effectiveness was undoubtedly due to Jerry Goldsmith’s intense score. Anything’s scary when you’ve got a hundred voice shouting “Ave Satani” at you.

But, ultimately, I think the reason why The Omen still works is because the film generates such a palpable sense of doom. This is one of those films that leaves you convinced that anyone can die at any minute and, considering that happens to be true in both this movie and in real life, that makes the horror of The Omen feel very real. By the time the film ends, you’re left with little doubt that nobody in the film had the least bit of power or control over his or her own destiny. Instead, they were all just pawns in a game that they had no hope of ever winning or understanding. Is there anything scarier than feeling powerless?

All I know is that, having rewatched The Omen, I will never look at a plane of glass the same way again.