The Broken (2009)

By: Jody
Score: 5/10

Doppelgangers are the subject of this Lynch-ian (with a dash of Hitchcock) After Dark Horrorfest 3 movie. After seeing someone identical to herself drive past, the protagonist (Lena Headey)  follows the woman only to get into a horrible car accident.

Still recuperating, she is haunted by visions of this mystery woman and memories that she can't be certain are her own. To top it off, her loved ones around her seem to have changed as well. Is she losing her mind or are there more sinister goings on?

The atmospheric but painfully slow first hour of the film make the 93-minute run time feel like two hours, but the last 30 minutes pack a wallop. While not entirely fitting in the After Dark collection, there are far worse films to waste 90 minutes on..... assuming you can't get your hands on a David Lynch or Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Starring: Lena Headey and Richard Jenkins
Directed by: Sean Ellis
Budget / Gross: $6.3 mil / Info Not Available (Festival and Direct-to-DVD Release)
IMDB Score: 5.5/10
Tomatometer: 44% critics and 26% audiences liked it

House Party (1990)

By Greg
Score: 7/10
With a film like "Project X" currently out in cinemas, I felt like looking up a classic party film. Of course starting off the 90's decade was "House Party" featuring the high stylings of rap artists Kid n Play. Simple story told and retold when it comes to party films. Parents go out of town, get some friends and have a party. Of course hi jinks ensue, bullies (Rap Artists- Full Force) want to punish these cool kids and Kid (Christopher Reid) is grounded and forbidden to go to the party.

But this is the party worth risking permanent grounding from his Pop(Robin Harris). Girls are going to be there, plus he and his best bud Play(Christopher Martin) are hosting this fiesta at Play's house. Bilal(Martin Lawerence) is going to DJ the event and girls Sidney (Tisha Campbell) and Sharane(A.J. Johnson) have their eyes on Kid and Play, and vice-versa.

The film has all the staple events with a party film, music, dancing, police, irate neighbors and parents. The film has good direction and its the subtle humor, especially from Harris, is one to watch when he is on screen. The music is also something also to admire, rap/hip hop isn't anything that I normally listen to, but its quintessential in this film. So the live action rap cuts from Kid 'n Play are worth checking out. It spawned two sequels and a cartoon series, yet to be checked out. For party films, this is probably in the top ten, simply it follows predecessors but is also stand out all on its own.



Starring: Christopher 'Kid' Reid, Christopher 'Play' Martin, Tisha Campbell, A.J. Johnson and Martin Lawerence
Directed by: Reginald Hudlin
Budget/Gross: $2,500,000 (estimated)/$26,386,000 (USA)
IMDB Rating: 5.8/10
Tomatometer: 96% critics and 73% audience liked it

The Stupids (1996)

By Greg
Score 2/10

The title says it all, Stupid. It is exactly how I felt as a viewer. The film left  me with a stupid feeling and maybe even a little dumber afterwards. Although I can say director John Landis, yes the same John Landis that directed such classics as "Animal House," "Blues Brothers," "An American Werewolf in London" and "Twilight Zone:The Movie (Prologue and 1st Segment)" along with many other successful films. This was a failure, maybe he made it for sentimental family reasons or he fell beneath a spell of stupidity along with all that were connected with this movie.

The film is about a family called "The Stupids" and is based off of a children's book. Father, Stanley (Tom Arnold), mother, Joan (Jessica Lundy), son, Buster (Bug Hall), and daughter, Petunia (Alex McKenna), make up this family of dim-witted, ignorant, and just plain densely stupid family. Of course, like many cartoon characters or dim-witted live action characters, their stupidity leads them down a direction of enough left turns make a right turn. So enough stupid acts will make a smart, crime solving act. Starts off real slow with father Stanley pusueing the person who is stealing his garbage. Slightly picks up pace, with the family searching for Stanley. Ultimatley there is a weapons deal that gets busted by the Stanleys, its just a stupid train wreck for 88minutes, even at one point Tom Arnold sings "I'm my own grandpa." The film was dense from start to finish and is an epic fail.

It is a family oriented film, that would waste a family night of film viewing from an actual enjoyable film. How many families suffered this piece of cinematic stupidity. I don't mean to be harsh, but it was crap. Why John Landis, I looked up to you? Why? This is a similar feeling I had to Blues Brother 2000, WHY?

Only saving grace of the film and why it didn't get a more deserved 1 out of 10. Cameos, not just film stars, but film directors. David Cronenberg (The Fly and Videodrome), Costa-Gavras (Missing and Z), Robert Wise (Sound of Music, Star Trek:The Motion Picture and The Day the Earth Stood Still[1951] ), and Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica), just to name a few. Noticing Robert Wise, who played the neighbor to the Stupids, is what tipped it off. As the credits rolled, it was name after name of cinematic recognition.
Some standout actor cameos, Christopher Lee (Master of Villainy) and Bob Keeshan(Captain Kangaroo) both play different versions of the character called Mr. Sender, because Stanley Stupid thought he discovered a conspiracy theory when he worked for the U.S. postal service, "Return to Sender." Who is Sender? Why does he get so much mail? Stupid.

Starring: Tom Arnold, Jessica Lundy, Bug Hall and Alex McKenna
Directed by: John Landis
Budget/Gross: $25,000,000 (estimated)/$2,415,593 (USA)
IMDB Rating: 3.8/10
Tomatometer: 21% critics and 34% audience liked it