Cat Chaser (1989)

Cat Chaser (1989) is an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel and is directed by Abel Ferrara. However, it is a film that he disowns and sits low in critical reflections of his filmography. From interviews I’ve read (the Hidden Films article about it is insightful), it was a troubled production with stars Peter Weller […]

Body Snatchers (1993)

Merging my horror movie viewing in the lead up to Halloween with my on-going retrospective of director Abel Ferrara’s filmography this year, I thought I would revisit Body Snatchers (1993), his sci-fi horror film for Warner Brothers. If it wasn’t for the later box office bomb of the Nicole Kidman starring The Invasion, this was […]

Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning (2012)

Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning (2012) might be a sequel but it’s also a resetting. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are the game pieces but the board has changed (even Andrei Arlovski from the previous sequel is another refashioned game piece). After making an impressively gritty, muscular action film out of a DTV franchise […]

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

I’d read good word on this Direct To Video sequel, Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009; also not to be confused with the previous DTV sequel Universal Soldier: The Return) and was curious to see if it matched the hype expressed about it among action fans. Even though it has the trappings of a DTV franchise action […]

The Mechanic (1972)

While funnily enough I’ve seen both of the Jason Statham remakes of The Mechanic (1972), I’ve never seen the original even though I’m a fan of Charles Bronson. Directed by Michael Winner, after they’d made Chato’s Land but before the box office smash success of the first Death Wish movie, this stars the granite faced […]