Saturday 5 June 2010

DVD Reviews


Not Of This Earth
Director: Roger Corman
Starring: Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, Morgan Jones
In2Film
Review by Rob Wade

Created in 1957, and remade three times since this original incarnation produced and directed by Roger Corman, Not Of This Earth sees an emotionless alien vampire on the prowl in LA seeking a suitable blood source to save his dying race back home...

We're all familiar with the concept of movies that are so bad they're good. Many is the time that I've spent a fun evening at the house of Ian and Lynn Harmer, Brad's mum and dad (not in that order) watching utterly terrible movies for the sake of amusement. Take Plan 9 From Outer Space, which isn't a bad analogy for this film in actual fact, as they are very similar in terms of quality.

The film's protagonist, Paul Johnson, is played by a mono-syllabic Paul Birch. The draw of this character is that he could destroy anyone by looking them directly in the eye with his pupil-less alien eyes, and burning them through all the way through to the back of the skull, brain and all. He would then devour their blood for sustenance, as he was trying to offset the destruction of his people.

The problem with this film ultimately is that it is frankly shockingly bad at times. The special effects are almost null and void, and they re-use action scenes unapologetically over and over, in the same scene. Take, for instance:

"Look into my eyes. They are alien...Look into my eyes, look at me, look at me."
A bit more driving, incidentally the same drive re-used...
"Look into my eyes. They are alien...Look into my eyes, look at me, look at me."

It's just poor, frankly. The film clocks in at SIXTY-EIGHT MINUTES (which for added insult runs around the same amount of runtime as The Jonas Brothers Movie in 3D. Just over an hour, and they have the audacity to use scenes over and over again, as well as waste time in dialogue repeating the dialogue between characters.
"Stage One will begin with research."
"Stage One is research."
Just in case you didn't get that...

The Emotionally Fourteen Rating
Violence: No actual violence, but lots of implied brain-burning.
Sex/Nudity: 1950s nudity, a stockinged leg and a particularly frumpy swimming costume.
Swearing: None.
Summary: Definitely a quality film for a group piss-taking session, but not a great film by any stretch of the imagination. 2/10



Whilst documenting his life as a lowly intern, James Parker uncovers the long forgotten film, The Street Walker. Desperate to make a mark on the film industry and to prove his ever-doubting parents wrong, James endeavours to complete the unfinished horror movie, resulting in a murderous obsession. Delving into the past world of ‘snuff movies’ and the modern trials and tribulations of internships and making it big, James’ genius and madness is captured on tape by friend and documentary maker Marcus.

Unbeknown to those around him James declines so far in to the fantasy world of Street Walker that he is unable to untangle himself from the mystery he uncovers whilst resurrecting the film relic. For James, the there is only one way out, and for some there is no escape...

Thanks to our friends at Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment, we've got five copies of Resurrecting the Street Walker to give away! For your chance of winning one, send us an e-mail to resurrectinggiveaway@yahoo.co.uk with your name and postal address before midday on Saturday 12th June (UK time). The first five names drawn out of the electronic hat will win a free copy!

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