Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla (1994, Kensho Yamashita)

The 1990s Godzilla flicks tried to be more serious again and have Godzilla as an anti-hero or enemy. Although in this movie he does battle Spacegodzilla, which helps out Japan while also naturally destroying a bunch of cities and stuff in the process. I don’t mind Godzilla as the hero sometimes, and he’s a lot more fun as the villain, yet having him be the anti-hero is the most interesting take on the character. Yes a giant fire breathing atomic lizard is a character.

Is this a horror movie? Are any of them really horror movies? Eh, close enough, and Spacegodzilla looks fantastic. The human stuff is a bit too silly for my liking, yet I still cared enough about them and that’s typical for a Godzilla movie. One nice thing about the American ones that came out in the late 2010s/early 2020s is that the human characters are a bit more fleshed out. The best Godzilla movies try to balance that with the awesome monster battles.

Does this movie have plenty of cool battles? Yes it does, and I will not accept any Baby Godzilla slander here. He’s adorable. The movie even tries to include a space environmental message, which isn’t too surprising considering the series’ history. I saw this thanks to Hulu, and with some notable exceptions I feel that most Godzilla movies are worth viewing, flaws and all.

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004, Paul W. S. Anderson)

While I was viewing Alien vs Predator I realized that this definitely feels like the Jason Takes Manhattan of the series, in which case I end up defending the movie haha. I prefer JTM anyways and I thought this wasn’t worth more than a 7/10, however there are things to like about AVP and I wonder if maybe I wouldn’t end up liking it even more on a second viewing in the future. For now I’ll have to rely on this review, which is half assed like most of my writings these days.

A group of experts descend into a hidden temple in Antarctica that is located beneath the ice. There, they uncover ancient secrets that would greatly excite that History Channel Aliens Guy. Sanaa Lathan is the main character and arguably a type of “Final Woman/Girl,” along with Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen (who was also in Aliens), Colin Salmon and Ewen Bremner, plus others who end up becoming the victims of the battle between Predators and Xenomorphs. I was hoping for a far more gorier movie than we ended up with, still you can’t get everything you wish for.

The pyramid endlessly shifting around was a really cool bit, and Lathan is really good as Lex. I learned that if you help kill a Xenomorph with a Predator you become their teammate of sorts, and that going to some hidden temple area is never a good idea, although I knew that one already from countless other movies. The tag line for this movie also still cracks me up: “Whoever wins, we lose!” Man that’s serious. Viewed thanks to Hulu which because they got the new Predator movie they had all the series available to watch, which is nice.

Horrorfest 2015 Presents: Critteriffic

Sure this was supposed to be part of my viewing from last year. Doesn’t matter because I do what I want anyways. Critters 3 and 4 came as a double bill part of a four pack that I found at my local library. Neither are particularly good, yet I actually dug one a little bit. I like to finish franchises anyways, for better or for worse. The series isn’t Oscar worthy but it is fun to watch. For some reason the 80s and 90s had a lot of franchise horror, although that seemed to be the norm for Hollywood, period.

Critters 3 is not a good movie. It’s easy the worst of the series and is mostly notable for featuring a young Leonardo DiCaprio in one of the main roles. As the son of a douche bag who wants to drive off his tenants so he can build a shopping mall or something. After having the Critters take over a farmhouse and a small town an apartment building is a huge step down. Imagine if this had been a big budget film where the Crites invade a whole city. Too bad that never happened.

Still this film does have its moments and the cast isn’t bad for a poor showing. They make this crappy movie watchable and I did like some of the kills. Also for some reason (SPOILER) The film ends on a cliffhanger. I like that Terrence Mann and Don Keth Opper appear in all of the series. That’s welcomed consistency.

Now oddly enough Critters 4 was a step up and works okay as an ending to the series. Well at least it was supposed to be, since nothing ever seems to end in Hollywood. Opper and Mann return along with new additions Brad Dourif and Angela Bassett as members of a crew that finds Charlie in space. I overlooked the obvious Alien/Aliens ripoff moments and sat back and enjoyed the fact that for the first time ever the Crites were actually in space. And that this movie has a few surprises, including one I did not see coming.

Even though like the rest of the series the low budget feel is quite apparent, I still enjoyed the fourth movie. The first two entries in the series are the best, however I still recommend even seeing the last two, just to see how things shake out. Also I am a fan of even bad sci-fi, especially since we don’t get too much of the actual stuff these days. Comic book movies don’t count.