Movie Review: "Shakma" (1990; Castle Hill/Code Red)

...and now, a word about genre movie trailers...from one who's own genre movie trailer collection is as varied and voluminous as his movie collection: Being a devoted and...well, let's just go ahead and say obsessed collector of genre films, this ardent viewer absolutely loves a good genre movie sleuth...especially when coming across a title, which sounds interesting, but...despite a respectable and wide-spectrum level of knowledge...have surprisingly never heard of. And it's one thing, merely hearing of such a title, and it's a whole other thing altogether, in stumbling upon a trailer for such a film. A genre film...rare, obscure, never released (...and if it was released, it was done so far below the radar, as to be undetectable to even the most seasoned and observant collector, hence it invariably fell off the radar, ignored and long forgotten...possibly, for good reason)...

...and being a sucker for a good trailer...even one that looks so incredibly ludicrous and cheezy...it makes searching for that rare and obscure genre movie, all the more irresistible, even if it takes months...even years to find that lost and elusive genre jewel, sometimes wading through an endless sea of low-grade bootlegs, taken from out-of-print VHS tapes and cable broadcasts. And when the long-sought film finally gets a legitimate release...well, that's a good thing, too, as the old adage rears itself, suggesting that 'the journey...or the search...is a lot more fun, than reaching the destination...or finding the prize'. No problem though; it's just a matter of moving on to the next elusive and irresistible genre film. And thus, the never-ending search continues.....

Movie Review: The Quiet Ones (2014, Blu-ray)

Oh, the 1970s. Filled with feathered hair, bell bottoms, and unsanctioned experimental medical treatments of psychotically tortured young women. The Quiet Ones brings us Joseph Coupland, a British abnormal psychology professor who truly believes ‘troubled’ people can manifest their negative energy through telekinesis. Once they do that, they can put it...somewhere and it can be destroyed permanently. Hence, Professor Coupland would be able to cure mental illness forever.

No small feat, that.

Coupland has already signed on two students, Harry and Krissi, who truly believe in Joseph’s theories and work. Brian joins last and his job is to film everything. What is everything? Professor Coupland already has a patient, Jane, and they will be performing experiments so she can finally rid herself of whatever is plaguing her.

Too bad the University thinks Coupland is cuckoo for cocoa puffs and pulls all funding. But that doesn’t deter our intrepid professor. He procures some run down abandoned house in the sticks and continues torturing poor Jane until she gives up the goods (I mean teleplasm not sex, you pervs) on the part of her psychosis she has named Evey.