The Incredible Shrinking Man

Scott Carey was a typical man, living out the 1950s equivalent of the American Dream. But after a chance encounter with a mysterious fog bank, he begins to shrink. At first, no one believes him. Before long, his diminishing size becomes undeniable. Scientists struggle to understand his condition, working feverishly to find a cure. Scott's dwindling size begins to put stress on his marriage. No longer able to work, his attempts to cash in on his infamy only lead to intense public and media scrutiny. He withdraws further and further into himself as he shrinks, taking out his frustration on his wife. Then one day she accidentally leaves the front door open and Butch, the family cat, gets into the house and begins to hunt Scott like it would a mouse. Barely escaping the cat, Scott is then trapped in his cellar, where his life and death struggles truly begin. Even though I don't think Scott is a particularly sympathetic character (he's a chauvinist who comes really close to cheating on his wife at one point in the movie) he has the pathos of a film noir character. He narrates the film, mythologizing his journey along the way. The Incredible Shrinking Man actually has a surprising amount of depth. I can see how the themes of the movie could be interpreted in a number of ways. It can be enjoyed easily enough on a surface level, but I'm also willing to bet that there are some Men's Rights Activists out there praising the movie and using it to justify all sorts of repugnant shit.

Rating: 70%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Carnival of Monsters

A pair of colorful traveling entertainers arrive on the planet Inter Minor. They're reluctantly greeted by a tribunal of gray skinned bureaucrats. And then, the TARDIS materializes inside the cargo hold of a boat. You may be asking  yourself, is it some kind of alien boat? Nope. It's a boat that appears to be on Earth, somewhere in the Indian Ocean in the 1920s. Confused? Did I mention that everyone on the boat seems to be stuck in a time loop? Because that's also happening. And there are dinosaurs and giant snake monsters and, if you look close enough, there's even a Cyberman roaming around. That's the beauty of Carnival of Monsters. Robert Holmes' script is jam packed with characters, locations and monsters. Thankfully, the serial is well paced and all of the disparate elements are smoothly integrated into the story.

Rating: No, that's impossible%

Ghoulies II

Ghoulies II is not a very good movie. It is, however, better than the first Ghoulies movie. The puppet demons look a lot better this time around and they're aided by some passable stop motion animation. Black magic is only a minor part of the movie, leaving room for a great deal more Gremlins style puppety mayhem. Once again there are no Ghoulies wearing suspenders featured in the film, but at least they had the decency to reflect that in the poster art.

Rating: 46%

(Image from impawards.com)