A solid crime drama from the always-controversial Spike Lee, with superb acting(as always) from Harvey Keitel(with this may have been the last major studio film where he headlines the top billing. Think about it!), Turturo, Lindo, etc. Lee has seen better days directorial, but still worthy of a rental for the casual film buff and the Lee fan completist.
ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES (1978) - *1/2
You know, I love good "bad" movies as the next hopeless nerd on this planet, but this was a rotten vegetable(or was it fruit?) Instead of simply a humorous stupid "bad" movie that translates to goodness on my Trash Meter, this stinker instead is just plain stupid. Perhaps the filmmakers were trying too hard to mock the monster/alien invasion movies of the 50's, or they just beat a decent 30 minute joke into NINETY MINUTES. Urgh.
On the plus side though, loved the theme song. Followed by sequels and a cartoon series.
HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1989) - ***** - Masterpiece!
Oh fuck. I am a hard-skin fellow, but even this movie creeped me out in a disturbing way. Named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the 20 Scariest Horror Movies of All Timeand among Roger Ebert's "Great Movies", this flick does deserve its legendary infamous reputation.
A subdued abstract dramatic exercise about a serial killer, without the comic bookish superhero-gimmick status of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or SE7EN. No, this feels like a real psychopath that stalks the highways of America, who kills for both as a hobby, and as a sick passion.
If anything, with the jump-scare condition of horror in Hollywood, to see a film with a chilling ending that is simply just a shot of a suitcase that was ditched on the side of the road.....ya, let's just say I had a hard time sleeping. I heavily recommend it to my cinema buff friends, especially Capo, DV, and everyone else!
