Piranha (1995)

In the 1990s, Roger Corman produced more than two dozen movies for the premium cable network Showtime. A number of which were remakes of films that he had either produced or directed himself. The remake of Joe Dante's Piranha is notable because it reuses most of the special effects footage from the original film. While watching the remake, it's pretty clear that most of the footage filmed above water is new, while almost all of the footage underwater is from the original. A lot of the script has also been taken verbatim from the original as well. The plot is virtually the same, hitting all of the same beats. There's actually more nudity in the remake, which surprised me. The cast is full of TV veterans like William Katt, Alexandra Paul, Soleil Moon Frye and an impossibly young Mila Kunis. There are even a few notable character actors like James Karen and Leland Orser among the cast. I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see Piranha (1995), but there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.

Rating: 59%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: Alexandra Paul, who was on Baywatch when Piranha (1995) came out, was also in Dragnet and John Carpenter's Christine.

Uninvited

A bunch of Spring Breakers end up on a Wall Street tycoon's yacht with a deadly, mutated cat. It's simultaneously better and worse than it sounds. When the cat isn't killing people, they use a real cat. A big, fluffy, orange cat. It's not menacing in any way. But, when it's killing time, they use an unconvincing cat puppet with a second unconvincing cat puppet coming out of the first cat puppet's mouth. Now, if that description of the cat puppets didn't make a whole lot of sense to you, rest assured that seeing it for yourself in the movie won't make very much sense either. Let's just say that Uninvited is not a good movie, but it definitely is a good time. The practical special effects in the movie are particularly bloody and over the top. The acting isn't great, but the movie does feature performances from character actor icons George Kennedy and Clu Gulager. George Kennedy sleepwalks through his performance. Clu Gulager, on the other hand, makes some big choices with his part. I laughed a lot while watching Uninvited. It's going on my list of favorite bad horror movies, right next to Prom Night II.

Rating: 59%

(image from Wikipedia)

Voyage of the Rock Aliens

A group of aliens, who look like discount Devo, come to Earth in a guitar-shaped spaceship to discover the source of Rock and Roll. The leader of the aliens falls for an Earth girl named Dee Dee. Dee Dee's boyfriend Frankie doesn't take too kindly to the intergalactic interloper and sics his gang/band, The Pack, on the aliens. Meanwhile, for some reason, two maniacs escape from the local mental hospital and start a killing spree. Unfortunately for the good folks of Speelburgh (yes, that's the name of the town where all this takes place), the local Sheriff, played by Ruth Gordon, is too occupied with hunting down the aliens to notice all the corpses piling up around her. And, I'm not kidding when I say this, that's not even a comprehensive account of all the weird shit in this movie. I'm brushing past the robot voiced by Peter Cullen, the Jermaine Jackson cameo, the polluted lake, the battle of the bands and the Lovecraftian tentacle monster. Voyage of the Rock Aliens feels less like a movie and more like a series of music videos cobbled together into a loose narrative. It's a fascinating thing to behold. Highly recommended for lovers of bad movies.

Rating: 52%

Fun Fact: One of the escaped maniacs in the movie was played by Michael Berryman, the poster boy for Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes.

(Image from Wikipedia)