Monday, March 15, 2021

Black Pumpkin/Llamageddon

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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see.  I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future).  You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Black Pumpkin                                                            OK
Let me just say that I love the title.  I also liked the mask donned by the killer, Bloody Bobby, based on an urban legend in a California town in this film, summoned by kids and teens unintentionally on Halloween, thus starting a body count (I wasn’t a fan of the childlike sounds emanating from the killer though).  It is a low-budget film, that is apparent, but it is also apparent they were trying, making this one of those “it probably sounded good on paper and would’ve been better with a better budget” films.  The end credits inform you that Bloody Bobby will return (that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen, I know), and, if so, perhaps enough people will see this (perhaps I’ll aid in that?), allowing for a better budget next time?  Their hearts are in the right place and all the elements are there…3/10/2021

Llamageddon                                                              OK
I don’t think I need to explain one doesn’t expect a masterpiece with a title like that.  I will say it is the first movie I recall featuring a killer llama from another planet, let alone a killer llama movie.  In fact, the only other movie featuring a llama at all that comes to mind is The Emperor’s New Groove.  Of course this comes off as a Z-movie, featuring “grandparents” that are obviously the same age as one of their kids (perhaps even younger), college-age kids that can’t act for shit, and two horribly (read: laughably) choreographed sequences involving the llama beating people up.  But, I could very well label it a B-movie as well, which was likely the intention.  Let’s see, there was more than one creative animated sequence, a real llama was used (points for practicality), the red eyes added to said llama in post-production looked real enough, the CGI effects used were more passable than not, and there is violence (even if not always of the best quality, but, again, your expectations shouldn’t be so high to begin with).  So, do the pros outweigh the cons here?  All I’m going to say is that it’s not the worst “bad movie” I’ve seen (maybe even a bit entertaining), and I’ve seen my fair share of really bad films (so-bad-they’re-bad, that is), and it’s barely even 68-minutes.  It’s currently available on Tubi and Amazon Prime, meaning free on the former and no ads on the latter.  3/14/2021

Bonus review:

Demon Wind                                                               EH/OK
(haiku review)
Year ’90.  Demons.
Read about it in Rue Morgue.
Script?  Fine.  Effects?  Crap.  3/9/2021

*Currently available on Tubi (meaning free for most streaming services)*

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Blind (2020)  >>>EH

Blood Harvest (1987)  >>>EH/OK

The Condemned (2013)  >>>B/EH
   (In Spanish with subtitles)

Kid 90  >>>OK
   (Hulu)

Rent-A-Pal  >>>OK

Weathering with You  >>>G

---Sean O.
3/15/2021

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