MonteCarloMan

Spasms stars Oliver Reed as Jason Kincaid, a wealthy big game hunter who, while hunting in the jungle of a remote island, becomes cursed by a demonic serpent. Since the encounter, the hunter is telepathically linked to each attack done by the snake by way of an all-blue color perspective. The serpent is eventually captured after a vicious rampage against the island's native inhabitants and smuggled to North America for research when it escapes it's handlers. From there all hell breaks loose setting up a final, fateful confrontation with Reed's character. Spasms is a fairly decent suspense movie that will keep you riveted as you follow the snake's indiscriminate path toward each doomed victim it encounters. Special effects are generally good for it's time, showing some of the damage impact of the serpent's poison on it's victims but shots of the rarely shown snake itself does reveal some limitations due to lack of budget...this movie would be a good candidate for a CGI enhanced remake with increased budget to tie up the original's loose ends; mainly the believability of the snake itself. The movie is loosely adapted from the novel "Death Bite". Spasms is an increasingly hard to find title which so far is only available in it's out-of-print VHS format.

Action fans no doubt know of Steven Seagal as the ultimate 90s action star who blended bone-crunching martial arts with more conventional use of weaponry & street smarts. In the last 10 years, his star had fallen to the point that he fell out of favor in Hollywood and could only make movies on the very cheap, direct to video labels. He successfully makes a long-awaited and overdue comeback with the release of "Into the Sun". He is essentially back "in his element" fighting the bad guys while appearing invincible. Semi-autobiographical, (Seagal lived for a time in Japan) he successfully blends traditional Japanese sword fighting with his known Aikido skills. "Into the Sun" features a well-written story of Seagal's fight to bring down a young upstart in the Japanese Yakuza mob family. The film goes along at a crisp pace with great music, fight choreography, and brilliant cinematography, successfully put to maximum effect without appearing over the top. This author would dare say that this comeback movie was better than all those big-budget efforts earlier in his career. It definitely hits the mark of the kind of Seagal movie worth watching multiple times. Give it a look and see if you don't agree.

I recently purchased this DVD for my collection to replace my worn-out VHS tape and I have to say from a documentary point of view this is the best video about the band released so far, before or since. Founding members Gene "Demon" Simmons (bassist/vocalist) and Paul "Rockstar" Stanley (rhythm guitarist/vocalist) give their 2 cents about the history of KISS, chronicling their early days in Wicked Lester up to their 1992 Revenge Tour. Lots of interesting inside stories are confirmed by various band members, in between music videos, along with plenty of archived interviews from over the last 20 years that provide fascinating tidbits detailing the history of the band's global success. Very entertaining to watch overall and if you are a KISS fan then its a must-have for your DVD collection. (The DVD version pairs with the "KISS Konfidential" concert movie as a bonus!) Overall it's well put-together compared to the earlier, immaturely made "KISS-Exposed".