Sunday, Jan 01, 2006

First off, Happy New Year, everybody. Secondly, as with Christmas, what kind of a loser am I that I watch a flick instead of partying? Well, actually, I watched this in the afternoon, so we could go out.

Parts: The Clonus Horror - 1979

This movie has been in the news recently, as the director has sued the makers of The Island, saying its a rip off. So, I rented both so I can compare them for myself. Tomorrow, we'll talk about The Island.

Anyone who's been watching bad movies for any length of time can tell you that before Star Wars in 1977, Science Fiction was in a sorry state. From the very good (Silent Running or Colossus: The Forbin Project) to the very bad (Escape from the Planet of the Apes or Invasion from Inner Earth). Even two years after the release of Episode 4 (which changed SF forever) , when Parts comes out, it was not unusual for a SF film to be slow and not very feature ridden. And boy, does that descibe Parts to a tee. It could have shown on TV without any problem, as there is nothing here that would bother the censors. Its all plot, and no action. Some people would say thats a good thing. I say that its not a BAD thing, in and of itself, if the plot is interesting. And Parts does move right along. It held my interest okay. Just don't go into it thinking you're gonna see any action to speak of. I mean, a race with a bicycle is the fastest paced thing here. That lets you know how non-action we are talking about. Overall, though, its a pretty good flick.

Parts has been MIA for a long time, and just recently brought out by Mondo Macabro. And its typical of this outstanding company. Clean transfer, bright audio, nice commentary and good extras.


Three out of five beers