Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) review

(3/10)

     Creature from the Haunted Sea is one of the most infamously terrible horror movies with terrible performances, an indecisive plot and style, cheesy special effects and a lack of screentime for the so-called monster. The movie tries to parody so many different styles that it only ends up parodying itself in a mess that's so bad it's borderline hilarious.

PLOT: During a time where Cuba is in political turmoil, criminal Renzo Capetto (Anthony Carbone) makes a deal to transport a group of Cuban exiles out of the country while also taking some of the country's national treasure. Capetto plots while on the boat with American ex-agent Sparks Moran (Edward Wain) to kill the exiles and blame it on an apparent sea monster so he can keep all of the money for himself. However, things begin to go awry when a real sea monster shows up and starts terrorizing the crew. Capetto must escape the sea monster to get away with the riches and the girls he wants. The plot is a hot mess with abundant unnecessary twists and turns. It seems to focus too much on the comedy relief and attempts at satire and not enough on the horror aspect of the movie. So many characters, situations, and quirks were just random and un-called for making the plot of this movie an unbalanced and substantially dead mess.

ACTING: The performances in this movie were very amateur at best. None of the actors or actresses truly stood out or showed any real emotion. In fact, it becomes hilariously evident about halfway through the movie that even the actors have given up. It's like they knew the movie was terrible and just didn't want to even put effort into it anymore. These performances are the equivalent of grabbing some random people off the street and offering pay.

SCORE: The score in here was very quirky and unfitting for most of what this movie intended to be. The music in no way matches the mood of a super-spy flick or a horror movie.

EFFECTS/ANIMATION: The special effects for the creature were very cheesy at best, making the monster appear clearly fake and apparently thrown together. As terrifically cheesy as the monster's costume effects are, his appearance is somehow one of the most widely known of early black-and-white horror films. Maybe Creature from the Haunted Sea is just notorious for being cheesy and bad? In addition to the creature effects, there were some unnecessary animations at the beginning of the movie. They served no purpose, changed the whole tone of the movie, and mislead the viewer in many ways, from under-exaggerating the monster and over-exaggerating the action and comedy. One can start a pure comedy, family movie, or children's movie with light-hearted animations in the title credits, but a horror film? It just doesn't sound reasonable.

OTHER CONTENT: Creature from the Haunted Sea seemed to just not know what it wanted to be. As it begins, the audience is led to believe it's going to be a super-spy satire complete with laughs for all. As it progress, however, it seems to wander into the territory of goofy Gilligan's Island-style comedy and doesn't really touch upon the horror genre or the whole "creature" part until near the very end. Even if it did want to be a comedy or a satire, it should have focused only on that aspect and not try to take the movie in a dozen different directions. Cheesy horror genius Roger Corman has made some ridiculous cinema, but this one seems to be the most brainless and underdeveloped. The movie surely would have been much better had the makers scrapped most of the additional characters and plot twists and added more production value and maybe even more screentime for the monster which bears the movie's name.

     Roger Corman's Creature from the Haunted Sea is widely recognized among classic horror fans throughout the world, but in all reality one of the most terrible and cheesy ones the decade has to offer. The plot has too many unnecessary twists and can't choose which genre it really wants to follow, the special effects are cheesy to iconic excess, and the acting is hollow and ridiculously untalented. Save your time on something much funnier or much spookier, like an actual satire or an actual horror film.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) review

(6/10)

This addition to the famous franchise is almost just as funny as the first. A lot of the jokes are just hilarious; however, a good bit of the jokes in here are borrowed or more crude than usual. Did I mention that I didn't like the whole time travel aspect as well?

PLOT:Super spy and sex magnet, Austin Powers (Mike Myers), is back and single again in this comedy adventure. Dr. Evil (also Myers) is also back with another evil plot to take over the world, only this time he's thought of disabling Powers from stopping him. Dr. Evil and his crew build a time machine to take him back to the 1960s and steal Powers' "mojo", the stuff that keeps him going, while also taking over the world. After Austin Powers notices his mojo gone, he also travels back in time to stop Dr. Evil and get his mojo back, all the while trying to woo the new female spy accompanying him, Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham). It's a great plot executed fairly well.



ACTING:The performances in here are pretty good, and for the most part, just like the first one. Austin Powers still plays an excellent and memorable set of roles as Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and the newly introduced Fat Bastard. Heather Graham also played a great part as smooth female agent, Felicity Shagwell. Most of the roles are just as equal to its predecessor, but some have been newly introduced or are just better. The other shiners would be Michael York as Basil, Robert Wagner as Number Two, Rob Lowe as young Number Two, Seth Green as Scott, Verne Troyer as Mini-Me, Will Ferrell as Mustafa, and Mindy Sterling as Frau, with honorable mentions to Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, and Jerry Springer as themselves.

SCORE:The score in here is similar to that of the original, keeping the original theme, but adding an even better soundtrack. The soundtrack includes classic rock and other stuff from the likes of Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, and more.



OTHER CONTENT:This installment to the popular franchise is almost as good as its predecessor. Most of the jokes are hilarious and clever just like the original, but some of them are also too much like the original. A few of the jokes in this addition are either borrowed from the first or more crude than the past. I also didn't really care for the whole time travel aspect in the plot. I know this movie's supposed to be just a lot of fun, but I can't help but hate the fact that the time travel has little to no sense in it.

OVERALL,an okay movie with a great plot, pretty good acting, great score and soundtrack, and a lot of new and hilarious jokes, but some of the jokes are borrowed or more crude, and I didn't care for the time travel aspect of the plot too much.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) review

(7/10)

This classic movie is a lot of fun. It's hilarious and pokes fun at the spy films and flower-power feel of the past.

PLOT:Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is a level-headed, goofy super spy and sex magnet for women all around in the '60s. He was always going against the notorious Dr. Evil (also played by Mike Myers) and his tricks of trying to rule the world. However, both end up being frozen for 30 years by their staff and then brought back in the '90s. Austin Powers, after being unfrozen, meets and falls for Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), who was sent to bring Powers up-to-date with the world. When Dr. Evil's unfrozen, he immediately hatches a plan to take over the world yet again, and it's up to Austin Powers and Vanessa to stop him. It's a good plot executed greatly.



ACTING:The acting in this movie is very good. Mike Myers plays a funny and entertaining role as Austin Powers and Dr. Evil. This has to be one of his most memorable performances. Elizabeth Hurley also played a pretty good part as Vanessa Kensington. The cast is nearly all-star and delivers a great comedic performance. The shiners besides these two would be Michael York as Basil, Robert Wagner as Number Two, Seth Green as Scott, Mindy Sterling as Frau, Will Ferrell as Mustafa, and Joe Son as Random Task.

SCORE:The score was pretty good. It had a few memorable themes and some familiar songs. The theme song to Austin Powers has also become quite memorable.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie is a lot of fun. The humor is very creative and goofy. I like how this movie makes fun of the majority of older spy films and just pokes fun at the genre. This movie has become one of the most iconic comedies to date because just about everyone I know recognizes the name Austin Powers. This movie is just a lot of fun and isn't really meant to be taken seriously, so kick back and lose yourself in it.

OVERALL,a good comedy with a great plot, very good acting, memorable score, creative and goofy jokes, an accurate parody of the spy film subgenre, an iconic comedy name, and just mindless entertainment.