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karlfred
Reviews
UFO (1970)
Sci Fi classic
In the early 70ies I saw it in B&W, but something that struck me firsthand was the main theme by Barry Gray: what an incredible music! Then there was all these "realistic" future production design: Ed Straker's turbine car, the fighter jet that was launched from a submarine (Sky Diver), the moonbase with these three girls (later I become aware that their hair was purple), and the space interceptors. Another very cool thing were the UFOs, they rotate making a very funny noise. When I buy the DVD collector set, after more than 35 years, I became aware that it was undoubtedly retro, but a very serious approach to a fictitious future environment. The SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization) sounds too much like SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) and all those Cold War's codes and organizations. Highly recommend it for the Sci Fi fans.
The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (1964)
Best Horror Film Ever !!!!
I was a 6 year old kid in 1971 when one night my dad pick up this movie on TV (B&W). It was hideously captivating from the very beginning: my dad was so scared that he forgot to sent me out of the TV room and so I saw it. There are sounds and images from this movie that still echos in my nightmares: the camera following the phone line; the sobbing when someone pick ups the phone; I remember something falling without explanation to the ground,like some flower basket or such; one shot in the Mandour Mansion hall where the sunlight drops over a sofa on which a beautiful woman sits... and the "bleeding ghost". Yeah, terrified I was. Until 1975 the TV put it a couple of times and then I never see it again. Never an horror film has shocked me as this one, a real classic! But as far I can remember Martin Landau wasn't the dead lady's husband but a paranormal detective or something alike. The dead lady was Mr. Mandour's mother as far as I remember. The whole movie had this "atmosphere", something incredible arcane. Is it possible to find a video master or a film positive (or negative) somewhere and release a print? If someone accomplish to release he's have the No.1 Horror Film Ever, much better than actual CGI movies.
Asesinato en el Meneo (2001)
The worst movie ever
When I was a kid I saw a movie called "Ultraman against the Men of Mars" and since then it was my No.1 "Worst Film Ever". Now that I saw "Asesinato en el Meneo" I have the intellectual duty to put "Ultraman" in No. 2. The idea behind this movie was very simple: if you can go down enough looking for the audience's minimum intellectual common factor then, in theory, you can have a hit. By doing so the producer-director not only didn't got a hit but accomplished to be put aside Ed Wood as one of the worst movie makers ever. The ironic feature is that the female "star" got herself promoted as a "sex symbol" of the country and now she punishes us by appearing on TV every week.
Caribe (2004)
Costa Rica's best movie yet
Esteban Ramírez is the only movie maker from Costa Rica that has achieved some heavy international recognition for his work, being "Caribe" his cornerstone. The movie is based on a short tale that Ramírez and co writer Ana Istarú achieved to transform in a contemporary story with two main axis: a story of love and betrayal on one hand and a subplot that involves the resistance of some groups to explore and exploit oil fields in Costa Rica shores. The first story goes quite OK. The second, nowadays, with the fuel prices as high as they are I really don't care if foreign companies, or national ones, exploit oil or uranium if the Costa Rican people can save some money. But it was a good stroke because by doing so, to criticize the oil exploitation, the movie got the spontaneous backup from many environmentalist and Anti U.S. leftist groups. Not a masterwork it speaks very well of the producer-director Ramírez who achieved a good work for his curriculum. As far as I'm concerned he has a "10" in Costa Rica and expect to see more of his.