TheRetroCritic

I love the Hellraiser movies. After sitting through Hellraiser III , which was certainly a big step down from both previous films, and learning the next movie was directed by Alan Smithee... I was expecting something exceptionally bad. Hilariously bad, even. Like Leprechaun IV: In Space type nonsense. Weirdly, Hellraiser IV: Bloodline got my attention very quickly and held it all the way until the end. It actually starts in space which... I did not really expect. But then we're told what happened ages ago with the inventor of the infamous box and how the bloodline led to Pinhead actually trying to take over the world! It's crazy stuff but it's fun. The acting throughout is pretty bad but not distractingly so, Hellraiser movies were never known for their Oscar-nominated performances anyway. It's an ambitious sequel to say the least but it handles its goofy ideas surprisingly well, althewhile peppering the whole thing with the occasional bloody lols. And Hellra

You'd think a Die Hard film in which John McClane rides a plane, flies a car into a helicopter and runs Maggie Q over into an elevator shaft would be pretty darn classic. Well, somehow Die Hard 4.0 (or Live Free Or Die Hard ) found a way to not make that into the best THING that 2007 had to offer. This sequel sees Bruce Willis' NYPD cop (now detective) being assigned the task of picking up some computer hacker, played by a grating Justin Long, and bringing him to the FBI for questioning. As it turns out, the kid was used as a pawn by a terrorist organisation (run by Timothy Olyphant) to set-up a "firesale", basically a cyber attack resulting in financial meltdown. McClane and Matt (Long) are soon under fire and instead of sticking with the FBI they decide to take on Gabriel (Olyphant) themselves, which doesn't really seem like the most reasonable solution but hey. There'd be no movie otherwise. But this is partly why 4.0 doesn't really cu

Up until this moment, the Leprechaun films were just a bunch of stupid but oddly enjoyable, trashy horror comedies. With Leprechaun 4: In Space, I'm pleased to announce, we're entering Ed Wood territory. Going in, I just wanted to know how in hell they were going to explain the Leprechaun's space presence. They don't. Not even a bit. I'm not even sure the word "leprechaun" is even uttered at any point throughout the film! We're told a group of human space marines are going on some planet to kill some alien...which turns out to be Warwick Davis' critter. Leprechaun 3 was no masterpiece but it did have quite a few redeeming qualities about it, but In Space is just...chaos. It's like a weird mix of a Starship Troopers -style action B movie, a Leprechaun horror film, a Mel Brooks, Spaceballs -type Dr Who spoof and a cheesy Star Trek The Original Series episode. Yeah... This is one of those rare films where nothing works. Story? Nope. Visuals