TheRetroCritic

With the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee , Paul Hogan basically single-handedly gave Hollywood the irrefutable proof that Australia really does exist. The relatively low-budget comedy was a huge box-office hit and eventually spawned two sequels. Directed by Peter Faiman, the film sees Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski), the feature writer for a New York newspaper, travel to the Australian outback where she is meant to meet a bushman who reportedly fought with a crocodile and lived, minus one leg. She finds that the man in question, nicknamed Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, probably embellished that story a little seeing as he still has his two legs. He takes the disillusioned Sue on an expedition where she finally gets to understand why he's something of a local legend as he takes on kangaroo shooters, subdues large animals using an unusual technique and takes part in an aboriginal tribal dance. She decides to take him back to New York with her partly because she could expand her s

Here's the video version of my Manborg review.

There was a time when this Prince soundtrack just wasn't for me. It was just so distracting, so 80's and so not in line with anything else in the movie which went for more of a 1940's film noir-style vibe. I actually used to count it as one of the film's (very few) shortcomings. Listening back to it now though, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It's a guilty pleasure, for sure, but there's just something irresistible about a "funky" Batman soundtrack. Prince opens the album with " The Future" , a song you hear roughly in the background during the opening scene of the film where that family is wandering the streets of Gotham. It doesn't build up to anything particularly memorable but it's fine. Things get good with the second track though, " Electric Chair" sounding like a cross between Stevie Wonder and... AC/DC, as Prince gets to rock-scream a bit near the end of it. Gotta love the rock-screamin&#

Another day another Bond... Looking back, the 80's didn't look good for 007: For Your Eyes Only , Octopussy ... not a good start. And that was just after Moonraker . Thankfully, Roger Moore bowed out with a half decent effort,  A View To A Kill , which boasted kickass villains in the form of a Christopher Walken/Grace Jones dynamic duo. It was a fine movie but it was, indeed, time for a change. Pierce Brosnan not being available at the time, Timothy Dalton steps in as the new Bond and would bring with him a somewhat more serious, harder-edged feel to the character and his new adventures. Well... compared to Roger Moore's, that is.  The new Bond reinvention began with The Living Daylights , arguably THE most legitimately 80's of the 007 movies. With its irresistible synth-led score and its cool A-ha theme tune, it's almost shocking this Bond doesn't have a mullet and legwarmers! What Dalton lacks in natural pun deliveries he makes up for in making Bond feel m

Going back to The Lost Boys halfway through watching Season 1 of 24 was a bit of a jarring move, granted, but all this admittedly kick-ass Jack Bauer superhero stuff just made me miss the good old evil Kiefer Sutherland I knew and loved back in the day. Was never a huge fan of The Lost Boys, but I remember watching it and enjoying it fine. Seeing it now, I think I "get" it more. Not that it's a particularly hard one to figure out but I found it was much more tongue-in-cheek than I recalled. Corey Haim avoids the annoying-80's-movie-kid syndrome found in most kid-friendly flicks of the time and actually does a good job. The Corey Feldman/Jamison Newlander vampire-hunting/comic-book-selling duo are a lot of fun and the vampire gang, led by a terrific Sutherland and an especially ridiculous-looking Alex Winter, are so OTT they're inherently enjoyable. Director Joel Schumacher (on a good day here) is clever enough to have the always great Dianne Wiest and the e

Classic camp 80s sci-fi doesn't get any more classic, camp, 80's or sci-fi than this little nugget! I mean you've got spaceships, magic rings, gold-winged bearded men, a planet called Mongo, a bitching Queen soundtrack... you need more? Sure this isn't very consistent to say the least: one second we're trying to follow some weird subplot in some kind of swamp jungle, the next everyone's flying around, then everyone plays American football for some reason. And all in front of the most glorious bluescreen you'll ever see. Thankfully it's colourful, creative and silly enough to keep us all entertained. Queen also help. It feels like one of those flops which  were probably hell to shoot, a nightmare to write and way too crazy for most viewers. Parts of it are pretty trippy, in a good way, and if anything it's worth seeing just for the nostalgia factor. Overall, like David Lynch's Dune , it's flawed to the point of being pretty unsuccessf

How could a film called Hot Tub Time Machine possibly be any good? By being so damn freakin' fun and gross out silly you forget to ask all the "whys" and "hows" a normal film would warrant, that's how! As silly as I felt in the cinema asking for a ticket for...Hot Tub Time Machine...it was all well worth it. You've got time travel, John Cusack, the 80s, Chevy Chase, Crispin Glover, that little big guy from Sex Drive , huuuuge amounts of random silliness and the line "nobody fucks my mother in the past!", what more could you want? Nothing that's what. Great great fun. 

Clive Barker's classic horror/fantasy may not have aged quite as well as it should have but there's still enough decent gooey effects, silly 80's haircuts and general weirdness to entertain. The concept is pretty out there but the originality and creativity involved make it work nonetheless. There is a certain clunkiness in the acting and direction which adds a B movie quality to the proceedings and the whole thing has the expected charm of a cult 80's horror flick. With Pinhead and his trio of sadistic ghouls stealing the show. Unfortunately they only cameo in this first instalment and one would need to check out the infinitely crazier Hellraiser II for more of these ugly bastards. Overall, this is good old-fashioned silly, slimy fun and a trip that will probably put you off fresh meat or anything flesh-like for a little while. The random stretch-out "Jesus Wept!" scene at the end alone is worth it though, trust me. Check it out.