Category Archives: Robin’s Underrated Gems

Castor’s Hallow’s Eve Duds – DeepStar Six (1989)

Posted on October 13, 2020 by castordurden

Onward with the pervasive trends of the 80’s, ‘DeepStar Six’ is Carolco’s twiddling, extremely slow-burn installment in the abyss-spelunking subgenre. The dry-for-wet technique for marine-biology authenticity that was so palpable in ‘Leviathan’ is a facsimile of matte composites and miniatures … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Hallow’s Eve Gems – The Devil All the Time (2020)

Posted on October 12, 2020 by castordurden

‘ The Devil All the Time’ is a chronologically jagged, hyperliterate mood piece with a homespun narrator device for a William Peter Blatty-esque yarn about Pentecostal extremism. The clergical image of a gunnery sergeant Miller Jones crucified in the Solomon … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Hallow’s Eve Duds – Nightmare Beach (1989)

Posted on October 11, 2020 by castordurden

I suppose the reason that left-wing filmmakers regurgitated the analogous storyline of a resurrected death-row killer was because it was their soapbox against capital punishment. As such, ‘Nightmare Beach’s is a tactless notch on the flashpoint topic which nullifies any … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Hallow’s Eve Duds – Species II (1998)

Posted on October 10, 2020 by castordurden

Having recently watched Peter Medak in ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers‘, I could only envision how insignificant the maelstrom of egos between Michael Madsen and Natasha Henstridge must’ve been in comparison to Sellers’ manipulative megalomania. Luckily, the most vanity Medak … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Underrated Gems – Bat*21 (1988)

Posted on June 24, 2020 by castordurden

The heedlessly invigorating Bat*21 is fundamentally a role-reversal prequel to Behind Enemy Lines with Gene Hackman evading enemies on the ground while Danny Glover is his audio guide back to safety. Although Lieutenant Colonel Iceal E. Hambleton (Hackman) was a … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Underrated Gems – Villain (1971)

Posted on June 24, 2020 by castordurden

Once more into the frat of Cockney hooliganism, Villain is a pungently facinorous crime drama which loosens the reigns from Richard Burton. Burton was usually the staid rock of Gibraltar in films but, as Vic Dakin, he is a frothing, … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Underrated Gems – Lone Star (1996)

Posted on May 30, 2020 by castordurden

In one of the sporadic examples of Chris Cooper in the lead role, John Sayles embroiders a tapestry of the imperialistic town of Frontera, Texas, in which the Mexicans outnumber Caucasians and yet still travail under them in subservient serfdom. … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Underrated Gems – Holocaust 2000 (1977)

Posted on May 18, 2020 by castordurden

Holocaust 2000 (a.k.a. The Chosen) is usually disregarded as an Omen rip-off but it is much more prescient about the biblical apocalypse via ripped-from-the-headlines topics like thermonuclear power, a technocracy and the United States tampering with Middle East affairs. For … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Underrated Gems – The President’s Analyst (1967)

Posted on May 18, 2020 by castordurden

Psychotherapy was almost an anomaly in the late 60’s when holistic healing and astrology were paramount. Now, the profession of introspection is more pertinent. The fly-on-the-wall sessions between Sidney (James Coburn) and his patients are quite tantalizing and often feel … Continue reading →

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Castor’s Underrated Gems – Sitting Target (1972)

Posted on May 10, 2020 by castordurden

In the eruptive, lurid Sitting Target, the inimitable Oliver Reed is an incretionary “animal in a cage” as Cockney convict Harry Lomart. He does push-ups from the pipes above his prison cell. Moreover, Harry is not an alpha male who … Continue reading →

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