6 Trailers For The End Of The First Week of Horrorthon

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As week 1 of the 2023 Horrorthon comes to a close, it’s time for me to admit that I am absolutely, 100% exhausted. Hopefully, this latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse Trailers will help to keep me awake!

Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Here’s a trailer that’s as good as any when it comes to giving you a reason to try to stay awake!

2. Bad Dreams (1988)

Freddy isn’t the only person haunting the dream world.

3. Dreammaniac (1986)

Actually, there’s a lot of dangerous things out there in Dream Land.

4. The Cell (2000)

Even Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn know better than to get lost in someone else’s dream.

5. Phantasm (1979)

And, of course, we can’t talk about sleep and dreams and nightmares without including the classic trailer for Phantasm.

6. Dreamscape (1984)

Fear not, though! If things get too intense in the dreamworld, we can always call Dennis Quaid.

Sweet dreams!

10 Christopher Plummer Films To Watch This Weekend

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Christopher Plummer died today. The Canadian actor was 91 years old and he left behind a truly impressive filmography. Below are ten films that I would recommend if you want to have a Christopher Plummer film fesival this weekend. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a bit of an idiosyncratic list, a mixture of obscure and cult films with a few films that are well-known but which perhaps aren’t usually thought of as being Christopher Plummer films. This was intentional on my part. Everyone already knows that Christopher Plummer was in The Sound of Music and Knives Out. I wanted to recommend a few films that you might not see listed elsewhere.

So, with all that in mind, here are 10 Christopher Plummer films to watch this weekend:

Starcrash (1979) — One of my favorite films of all time, this Star Wars rip-off features Christopher Plummer in the small but pivotal role of the Emperor of the Galaxy. Plummer brings a lot dignity and humanity to the role. If the galaxy does ever have an emperor, I hope he will be as wise as Christopher Plummer was in Starcrash.

Up (2009) — Christopher Plummer lends his amazing voice to this PIXAR film about an old man who floats away on an adventure and who runs into far more sinister adventurer named Charles Muntz. Plummer is wonderfully menacing at Muntz, using his voice to create one of PIXAR’s most memorable villains.

Murder By Decree (1979) — In this Canadian film, Plummer plays Sherlock Holmes while James Mason plays Dr. Watson. Together, they investigate the crimes of Jack the Ripper and uncover a royal conspiracy. Plummer is perhaps one of the most credible Sherlock Holmes to ever appear on screen, breathing real life into a character that otherwise could have felt like a literary invention. Thanks to Plummer’s performance, the final scenes are poignant and rather sad and perhaps as emotional as any scene to be found in any screen adaptations of Holmes’s adventures.

12 Monkeys (1995) — Plummer is nicely cast of Brad Pitt’s father in this Terry Gilliam-directed time travel epic.

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) — In this historical epic, Plummer played yet another emperor, the mad Commodus. Though The Fall of the Roman Empire has its flaws, it’s still an enjoyable work of spectacle and Plummer’s villainous turn is definitely one of the film’s highlights. Whereas other Roman epics often portrayed the “bad” emperors as being decadent and somewhat buffoonish, Plummer plays up Commodus’s anger and his desire for revenge. He’s the emotionally vulnerable tyrant.

Dreamscape (1984) — The enjoyable sci-fi/horror hybrid features Plummer as a sinister government agent who is conspiring to kill the President through his dreams. Though the role might not have much depth, this is a well-made movie and Plummer makes for an effective villain.

The Silent Partner (1979) — Christopher Plummer is terrifying in this Canadian film, playing a bank robber who dresses up like Santa Claus and who has no hesitation about using violence to get what he wants. This is one of Plummer’s best villainous turns.

Barrymore (2011) — The great Christopher Plummer plays the great John Barrymore in this Canadian film. This may not be Plummer’s best-known performances but it’s one of his best.

Alexander (2004) — As silly as this Oliver Stone epic sometimes is, Christopher Plummer is the ideal Aristotle.

Vampire in Venice (1988) — Christopher Plummer vs. Klaus Kinski in Venice! Kinski is Dracula. Plummer is basically Van Helsing. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime meeting of two unique acting talents.

Finally, a few other Christopher Plummer films that I’d also recommend checking out: Inside Daisy Clover, The Pyx, The Man Who Would Be King, Wolf, Dolores Claiborne, The New World, The Last Station, Beginners, All The Money In The World, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Christopher Plummer, R.I.P.

Halloween Film Review: Dreamscape (1984, directed by Joseph Ruben)

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Jedadiah Leland

Before there was Inception, there was Dreamscape!

Dreamscape opens with the image of a woman running down a street while a red mushroom sprouts above the city behind her. Just as a radioactive cloud envelopes the woman, the scene cuts to a man named John (Eddie Albert) waking up with a scream. John is the President of the United States and he has been having reoccurring nightmares about nuclear war. The dreams have shaken him to the extent that he plans of signing a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union.

Bob Blair (Christopher Plummer, playing one of the slick villain roles that dominated his career until he finally won an Oscar for Beginners) is a political reactionary who works for a shadowy agency that is even feared by the CIA. Determined to stop the President from signing that treaty, Blair recruits psychotic martial arts enthusiast Tommy Ray Glatman (David Patrick Kelly, of “Warriors, come out to play…” fame) to assassinate the President. Tommy is a psychic who can enter people’s dreams and when you die in a dream, you die in real life.

Tommy is a part of a government-funded research project that is headed by Dr. Peter Novotny (Max Von Sydow) and Beth DeVries (Kate Capshaw). Tommy was the program’s superstar until the arrival of Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid). Until he was recruited by Dr. Novotny, Alex was using his psychic abilities for gambling and womanizing. Now, Alex has to use his abilities to save the President’s life.

Dreamscape came out the same year as Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street and they do share a few things in common. During one scene set in the President’s nightmare, Tommy even has razor-sharp claws. But ultimately, Nightmare and Dreamscape are two very different films. Whereas Nightmare was a horror film, Dreamscape is an adventure film with horror elements. In fact, Dreamscape feels like four different films all mashed together. It’s a political conspiracy story, with Christopher Plummer plotting to kill the President. It’s an adventure story, with Dennis Quaid as an appealing rogue. It’s a love story, as Alex and Beth fall in love while researching dreams. At times, it is also a very dark comedy, like when Alex enters the dream of a man who is terrified that his wife is cheating on him with everyone that they know.

Fans of cult cinema will appreciate that Dreamscape features one of David Patrick Kelly’s best villainous performances. In the role of Tommy, he not only gets to do his usual bravura work as a weasley psychopath but he also gets to bust out an impressive impersonation of Bruce Lee as well.

Along with David Patrick Kelly at his demented best, Dreamscape also features the Snakeman, a claymation monster who may look cheesy today but probably gave many youngsters nightmares back in 1984. Like the Snakeman, all of the film’s special effects have aged but it does not detract from the film. Since the special effects were used to create the film’s dreams, it doesn’t matter that they no longer look 100% realistic. Dreams are supposed to be strange so the cheesiness of some of the special effects actually works to Dreamscape‘s advantage.

Dreamscape may not be as well-known as Inception or Nightmare on Elm Street but it is still a fun and entertaining excursion into the dream world.