If there is ever going to be a poll on the best thriller ever written and the best movie thriller ever created, then Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon" is a sure winner in the book category. As for the movie category, Michael Mann's "Manhunter", the adaptation of the novel, would quite possibly take the grand prize. Both the book and the movie are far superior to the overfamed "Silence of the Lambs". Mann, a long-time specialist in creating atmospheric pictures, managed to make a true classic, and his skill of using the right music to magnify the ambience shows best in this film.

Sill, silly movie. Which would be fun if it weren't so predictable. I knew the killer less than FIFTEEN MINUTES after the opening, and this is one of those films where you're supposed to learn who the killer is only in the very end. Even Robert Englund cannot save this movie with others acting so bad. And speaking of bad actors: who is that character killed in the very beginning, the one driving the car in the rain? She has to be the worst "actress" I have ever seen. She can't do ANYTHING, she can't speak, she can't sing, she can't walk, and she most certainly couldn't act even if she took 1000 acting classes. If you think you've seen a bad, wooden actress, take a look at this one... Apart from the quite good, ambient score, there is one good thing about this movie (probably especially for a non-American viewer :) - you learn a good deal about nice urban legends.

If there is ever going to be a poll on the best thriller ever written and the best movie thriller ever created, then Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon" is a sure winner in the book category. As for the movie category, Michael Mann's "Manhunter", the adaptation of the novel, would quite possibly take the grand prize. Both the book and the movie are far superior to the overfamed "Silence of the Lambs". Mann, a long-time specialist in creating atmospheric pictures, managed to make a true classic, and his skill of using the right music to magnify the ambience shows best in this film.

I first heard of this pitiful flick when I saw a teaser for in another video. "A 'Se7en' ripoff... how nice!" - I thought, because I'd been waiting for a decent thriller inspired by (read - "copying from") David Fincher's film for a while, and "Resurrection" seemed like it. What a mistake! To call it a Se7en ripoff would be gratifying it. The "creators" of this trite trash attempted to rip off a lot from "Se7en", indeed, but only one thing of all they lifted more or less works: the weather (although even that is not really good - the rain in "Se7en" did look realistic, while some of the "raindrops" in "Resurrection" scream: "Hello, we've just come out of water hoses - see the pattern in which we're falling?"). The rest does not work at all and is in fact simply idiotic. The movie is not only boring, but deeply imbecilic, with blatant pseudo-ideas, plot holes bigger than the Black Hole of Calcutta, and a ludicrous conclusion. The cheap cartoon cutout of a villain is glued together from bad cliches - much as he himself combines body parts (in a ripoff of "Hands" and "Relentless") - and stands on two crooked legs, Moronic & Writing. The even cheaper and more hackneyed cop is a Generic Tough Detective With Inner Problems, the dialogue is dull and meaningless, the whole "plot" could be written down on half a matchbox, and the acting is either hammy or wooden (Lambert, in his typical "direct-to-Z-grade-video-stardom" fashion, covers both variants). Trying to watch this flick without forwarding it is almost as pleasant as having teeth pulled with no anesthetic. Laughably and pathetically enough, its makers even tried to copy Seven's idea for the title - "Seven" spells itself as "Se7en", so here they inserted a cross instead of "t" in, to "cleverly" present the flick as "RESURREC+ION". Actually, however, it should have been titled "resurrecti0n" - for "0" plot, zero originality and just as much entertainment.

In itself, it's a good horror movie, but I have mixed feelings about it - because it seems that this flick shamelessly copies plot ideas from a well-known horror book and a popular film. It appears that the basic plot is simply copied from Stephen Gallagher's excellent novel "The Valley of Lights", with some things taken from Wes Craven's movie "Shocker" (which, as a child, I placed among my favorite horrors :). Keep this in mind while watching "Fallen". You will probably enjoy it, though, as it's quite atmospheric, with a handful of great actors (and I don't mean Washington - I'm referring to John Goodman and Donald Sutherland). I particularly liked the movie's ending. ;)

Because it's based on facts, you begin to watch this movie knowing perfectly well what's going to happen and what the ending will be - nevertheless, it's gripping and deeply involving. The story of judge Falcone is faithully recreated - though too shortened for my liking - and does him justice. Chazz Palminteri plays Falcone much better than I expected, and while F. Murray Abraham does not look like the real Tommasso Buscetta, he does a fair portrayal of a "man of honour". The role and part of Toto Riina, while secondary, is worth mentioning too - it's truly frightening!

I'll make it short: it's just like wine, the older, the better. If you like high black humor - or any kind of humor for that matter - you must not miss this movie. Just make sure you'll see it in its original black and white version!

A surprisingly good adaptation of King's early novel! In fact, among the TV movies - not cinema releases - based on his work, this is probably the best. Good acting, fair effects - with the amazingly convinving and the transformation of ultra-overweight Burke into an ultra-underweight one - good script, and skilled directing... What's more, this is one of those rare instances where, in some aspects, a movie turns out better than the book it was based on. I'm referring to the ending here - I liked the movie's ending MUCH better than the book's one, which I always found annoying. The film's version of the conclusion is, I would say, much more satisfying... >:)

Pure joy for fans of old fashioned sea adventure and entertaining, if stereotypical, peg-legged, eye-patched pirates shouting "Arr!", this movie does not pretend to be anything else than it is - great fun based on popular legends and beliefs rather than the facts on pirate lives. And so much the better! Non-stop action, fantastic score, breathtaking sceneries and props, adequately fun script, and, yes, even good acting (to my surprise, Geena Davis actually managed to deliver a good performance!). Frank Langella is almost as good a pirate as Walter Matthau was in Roman Polanski's equally underrated pirate classic. Hearing various bad comments about the movie, I had low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that the bad reviews and comments were simply unfair. Apparently, critics these days follow one another in "their" opinions rather than actually watching the movies, and people are looking for violence and blood of "Dobermann" kind rather than simply entertaining if unrealistic movies like "Cutthroat Island" (actually, the movie seems to have been researched quite nicely - it's the first time I've seen Hollywood use actual "squad" wine bottles in a pirate movie instead of modern-shaped ones!)

Silly, silly movie. Which would be a lot of fun if it weren't so predictable. I knew the killer less than FIFTEEN MINUTES after the opening! And this is one of those films where you're supposed to learn who the killer is only in the very end. Even Robert Englund himself can barely save this movie with others acting so bad. And speaking of bad actors: who is that ugly girl killed in the very beginning, the one driving the car in the rain? She has to be the worst "actress" I have ever seen. She can't do ANYTHING, she can't speak, she can't sing, she can't walk, and she most certainly couldn't act even if she took 1000 acting classes. If you think you've seen a bad, wooden actress, take a look at this one... Apart from the quite good, ambient score, there is one good thing about this movie (probably especially for a non-American viewer :) - you learn a good deal about nice urban legends. The movie actually inspired me to hunt for those on the Net and then write an article on them - for this I'm thankful. :)