Reviews (4)

Only for the true Firth fan.
It's not easy to be a Colin Firth fan when he has movies such as this one. He is the only redeeming factor in this film. His proposal to the crazy woman is worth the cost of adding this movie to your collection. I fail to see why anyone who is not a fan of CF would bother with this one.

Loved the love story in this...
This would make a charming love story if it weren't so bogged down in the "seedy" plot. Colin Firth plays Joe Prince who obviously adores his wife even though she is neurotic, psychotic, and generally unlovable. He searches for her following her abrupt disappearence only three days after their wedding, finds out all kinds of less-than-wholesome things about her, then continues to look for her anyway. Although it is a charming idea, I am not sure how realistic this might actually be. Guys like this are so rare that they must already be in heaven. No matter what, Colin Firth is first-rate (as always), his friend, Elijah, played by Billy Zane, is also done very well, but the rest of the cast rates a C- or even lower. I would watch it again to focus only on the romantic scenes, and fast-forward over the rest.

Joe's a prince but his wife's a nut
To look at the cover, you would think this film is about a sex crazed, obsessed guy; so much for covers. In reality, the plot revolves around Joe Prince. Joe's quiet, a bit shy and a nice guy who thinks he's found his princess for life so he weds her and takes her home to the nature preserve via his charriot(a suitably beat up old truck) where he takes care of tree frogs and communes with nature. Joe thinks life is great right up until he comes home three days after the wedding and his princess has vanished, leaving behind a less than enlightening DEAR JOE letter. The rest of the film follows Joe as he tries to figure out who his wife is and where she went. Some aspects of the film are sketchy, I'll admit but Colin Firth makes Joe a likeable character who just wants his wife and life back though I am not sure that is ultimately a good thing for him. Billy Zane is great as the artist/friend Joe turns to and is very funny at times. Lisa Zane is OK but not as believable in her role as Colin or Billy are. Some of the supporting cast are stereotypical and good for a few laughs(unintentionally). The ending is alittle too pat and contrived but still a very watchable film, especially for any Firth fans.

Better than the cover suggests
I wish I could have given this movie 5 stars, but I am biased. Joseph Prince is, in my opinion Colin Firth's most charming character (and I always think he deserves 5 stars!). Lisa Zane is convincing, as is the man who plays her father. Billy Zane is believable as Joe's bud. Overall, the story is mediocre as is the rest of the cast. However, there are some touching and some laugh-out-loud scenes which make this a movie worth watching. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Slow,thoughtful,deeply engaging and memorable
This movie is sort of slow-moving,yet intriguing and exciting and full of honest emotion. It tells its story of the proud father and the prodigal son who both turn out to be something quite different very well,and its many mysteries are not solved until the very end. James Coburn`s performance is edgy,tense and wonderful,and the movie is beautifully shot.I don`t know whether this movie actually got an Emmy,but I hope it did.It`s well deserved.

About loss, stubborness, forgivenes, and love...
James Coburn heads the cast of this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. The story is centered around the accidental death of the wife and mother of a well-to-do ranch family. Coburn, the father, never forgave his son, the one who happened to be driving when the accident happened. That's all in the past. The bulk of the story happens in Mexico, where the son now lives and has a highly successful career as a painter -- that career provides another point of stress between father and son.

The father travels to Mexico to try to help his son when the son is involved in another car accident, this one a hit-and-run resulting in another death.

I enjoyed this Hallmark offering greatly, but for me it's a half-step down from other Hallmark movies like "Sarah, Plain and Tall," "The Love Letter," or "Decoration Day."

Definitely a solid 4-star offering. You'll be glad you watched this one.

Have a great day!

Alan Holyoak ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Back to Twin Peaks
A very strange, almost stock version of a David Lynchesque miscast. That said, I liked it anyhow.

Heather Graham plays a young widow who has witnessed her husband's murder and the murderer himself commit suicide(I think they were more than buddies wink wink.) There is no determined timeframe thereafter, but she is in a daze and living in an apartment alone and randomly and promiscuously engaging in sex with random guys, oh and one girl too. Well, the sex always revolves around her getting orally surfeited but that's of no matter is it? It's Heather Graham being sexed up! Anyhow somebody begins to stalk her and and and the police won't help and and and she keeps getting beaten and and and followed around by a big white car etc. Finally the mysterious stalker is exposed!

I'm giving it 4 1/2 stars on H. Graham alone being so lovely and just acting like a complete lulu. Her hair is wild, her demeanor is aloof to the things which don't interest her(which is everything) and she crouches over some guy lying on the floor, sans panties and rubs herself into his face. Even when she is at work typing, her shoulders bobbing and the doe-eyes are ghostly round, she is entrancing. I hope H. G. isn't a real-life Hollywood trollop because she sure made me buy into the movie on her presence alone. I even liked her in Say It Isn't So, a romantic comedy, which would make me gag normally. So what I am saying is that I am whoring out any objectivity principally on her aesthetics. But honestly, the movie wasn't bad either.

Random but cool
The movie was at the same time extremely scary but hysterically funny. The neurotic sensibility in Graham's performance is similar to Mia farrow in Rosemary's baby. It left a really deep impression on me since the whole film was so roughly presented and sharply scary. The film is so sharp and rough it even transcends into something really justifiable. Looking back on it I really loved it and how it could scare me like no other film (not anne rice, not from dusk till dawn, not even the baby of Rosemary.)

Not very intriguing
I like the way it gives you a twist when you actually think that there is someone real that is stalking her but a lot of scenes were cut out and that is what makes the movie a burial into the moritorium of movies. Other than that if I could just get my hands on an original uncut version that woud be fine too.Thank's..

Not Uncut
I bought this movie because of a still of the movie that I downloaded recently of Heather Graham sitting on the face of some guy. But when I watched this dvd I noticed to my horror that this particular scene had been edited out. I find this strange as the dvd is R rated.
A complete waste of my money and there's nothing I can do about it.

Not Uncut - beware
I bought this movie because of a still of the movie that I downloaded recently of Heather Graham sitting on the face of some guy. But when I watched this dvd I noticed to my horror that this particular scene had been edited out. I find this strange as the dvd is R rated.
A complete waste of my money and there's nothing I can do about it. ... Read more

Reviews (98)

"Every town has an Elm Street..." (4.5 stars)
I think most would agree that this particular Freddy movie is the goofiest of them all. It isn't even very scary, but still manages to be creepy. Even though it's the most goofy Freddy movie, does that mean it's not entertaining? Of course not! In fact, I think this is the most entertaining one in the series; not the best, but the most fun to watch. Freddy's back and is unleashing a bloody trail of dead teens in "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare."

A child psychologist is trying to help a group of troubled teens. But things get out of control when a John Doe enters her life, who turns out to be the last survivor of Elm Street. She finds out that the two of them have something in common; nightmares. John learns that the reason why Freddy has kept him alive so long is because he has a kid and is trying to get to him/her (there's even a possibility that John himself is Freddy's son). Whoever his child may be, the child is the key for Freddy to explore a new playground, enabling him to unleash his murderous wishes all over again.

Like I said, this isn't a very scary Freddy movie. It even resembles a comedy most of the time. But I still think it's a great flick. It's the most enjoyable of the series, but it isn't the best. Robert Englund still has it down as being Freddy Krueger. No way in heck would anybody else be able to tackle down the role as he has. And it's neat to see him have more lines in this one. As mean as he is, he can be pretty funny.

As enjoyable as the movie is, it does have a tendency to get overly goofy. I think they could've made it a little more scarier. The other ones before might've been funny, but they were also scary, too. That's the only real flaw of the movie, as it's one you shouldn't take very seriously. It's a fun and enjoyable flick and nothing more. It's not trying to be the "Great American Movie."

The DVD isn't loaded with a lot of extras. You can watch it in Dolby Digital or in the original stereo mix. The picture looks really good; a big improvement over the VHS version, of course. There's cast and crew biographies that you can explore as well. I don't know if this is included in the single DVD version of "Freddy's Dead," but if you pick up the complete set there are 3-D glasses included that allows you to watch the end sequence in 3-D. Pretty cool extra, if you ask me.

All in all, "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare," while not the scariest one in the series, proves to be quite an enjoyable movie. That is, if you don't take it too seriously. It's a great one to see, especially if you've seen the rest. Although it's the most criticized in the series, I still think it's the most enjoyable one. And make sure you watch the end credits, to see the life of Freddy Krueger. A great time, if you ask me.

It ain't over 'til it's over
If ever there was an indicator that the 'Nightmare' franchise had run outta steam, 'Freddy's Dead' was it. The storyline was a bit too surreal and muddled, and wasn't always easy to follow. Freddy's array of "witty" one-liners were so corny and dated (e.g. references to those "Your brain on drugs" commercials and the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System), I found myself groaning at every other word that came outta his mouth. The Freddy-kills here were so over-the-top and cartoonish, I was half-expecting the Acme Co. to be prominently shown in the closing credits (sadly, Freddy couldn't find it within himself to kill off the characters played by Roseanne and Tom Arnold). And don't even get me started on the 3-D sequence (shown in 2-D on this platter, (un)fortunately), which featured visual effects that would've looked high-tech and halfway decent, had this movie been made about a decade earlier. And, like all the other 'Nightmare' flicks before this, 'Freddy's Dead' wasn't all that scary to me. I laughed, I cried, I kissed four bucks of DVD rental money goodbye. But fear and fright were nowhere to be found...

On the upside: despite the silliness of Freddy's kills, I found them rather entertaining, and the main reason why I decided to give this a view. I also liked checking out Freddy's back story, even though the parts of his past that they show are rather brief. Now if the screenwriters only had him take out Roseanne and Tom Arnold's characters in a really gruesome fashion, this bad-boy woulda' earned an extra star from me...

Special features on this disc include a theatrical trailer and English subtitles. The subtitles don't include every single line each character says, but they don't omit too much, either.

'Late

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
My word! I'll start off with the story. Basically Freddy has killed all the teenagers of Springwood, so he needs a new stomping ground. We then meet Freddy's previously un-heard of daughter, who works in a home for wayward teenagers. I think you know what happens. He kills some kids and then his daughter kills him. That's it!
Rachel Talalay takes the job of directing this pathetic attempt to kill off one of the biggest horror icons ever. Does she do a good job? Well, I'm sure my star rating say's it all.
The acting is awful. Not by everyone, mind you. The women who plays his daughter does an alright job and Yaphet Kotto, the guy who was in the first Alien film, is the only character who you actually quite like.
Let's talk about Freddy now. Well, what can I say? Mrs. Talalay actually made me not like him... I mean it! Okay, his wise-cracking antics were a bit O.T.T. from number 3 onwards, but this one really got on my nerves. In this one we had Freddy spouting lines like "Great graphics".
Next I'll talk about the deaths. Oh my god! What happened here? After viewing the deaths in this film, I'm not sure whether it was a comedy or what. They were atrocious! Only one was remotely 'Freddyish' (the one with the deaf kid).
Also, from a film that sets out to kill a big name, it does it in rubbish fashion. What an imagination the film makers had. 'Let's kill Freddy off by literally blowing him up!' I could have come up with a better death than that on the toilet! And also the 3-D...it looked absolutely dreadful. No ILM, put it that way.
I'm sorry, but Rachel Talalay should be ashamed of herself, she really should. I honestly do believe that this film is the reason why we had to wait so long to see Freddy back on the big screen in his original form (not including New Nightmare). I think that New Line Cinema were a bit reluctant to use him again, after this film bombed.
So, you have been warned. If it were up to me, this film wouldn't be a part of the Freddy story, but it is. And because I'm so loyal, I own it on video and DVD. But really, though, this film is diabolical.

"It's Horrid! Truly Laughable!"
Plot: A boy is having dreams of Freddy and is learning dark secrets of his past. And he begins to wander 'Am I Freddy's child?' We soon find the answer to that when Freddy drops him a hundred feet from the air onto a bed of spikes saying 'Bring me my daughter!'

Review: I want to give this movie Zero stars! It Sucked! As all my friends know I am the biggest Freddy fan in school, but oh my god! I was reading the reviews for this movie before I watched it, and almost everyone said it sucked, and I was like 'Oh come on, it cant be that bad! (...) Needless no say they were right. Me and my friends watched this and we were laughing our butts off! The only reason me and my friends laughed is one: We have dark senses of humor (we enjoy stick death) and two: It Horrid! Truly Laughable! The death scenes where stupid (blood spraying out of a TV? Please...) And there is no gore! I know a movie can be scary without gore, and I honestly prefer it that way, but some could have saved this maybe even if it was just an inch. And they never even showed how Freddy came back to life (I know none of the others did, beside the 4th one but still...) And as I said before me and my friends were laughing the whole time. I'm sure I lot of people would think this is great (And I love comedy) but how the hell can you rank this under horror? The only thing scary was how bad it was! Now, I love the first one. Best horror movie ever. Plain and simple. But this could possibly be the worst horror movie ever. Know why? I'll tell you: IT IS NOT HORROR! I know I have said this a lot but my god, a two year old would be laughing at this! How can this be rated R you ask? I don't know, honestly. There are only two things I like about this movie: 1 How it flashed back to show Freddy's past. Cool. And two: Carlos's death. I know I said that I didn't like this movie being comedy, but this scene was just SO funny! He pops the guys head!

Anyway those are the two good things about the movie. I don't think I have anything else to say but I am glad Wes Craven hated this movie and come back, create Freddy, and kill him the way it was meant to be done: HUMORLESS

Whatever. The only reason I am keeping this movie is so I can tell people at school "Yeah, I have all the Freddy movies"

PS you can hit that No on the "Did you find this review helpful, but I am just warning those who like the true Frederick.

AWESOME!!!
This one is awesome!!! Definently the best of the series! Way more scary, fun, and entertaining than the last 5. It also has the best death scenes. And also, Freddy looks the scariest in this one. Freddy doesn't die until the end though, and even then he's not really dead, so its not really the final nightmare, cause then there's Freddy Vs. Jason. But this is still the best of the series and it definently worth owning. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

[poor] and pretentious
This film is about a female student at Randolph University in Alabama in the early 60's who is a writer for the school newspaper. She gets caught up in the civil rights movement and gets into trouble for writing in the newspaper articles favorable to the civil rights movement. It could have been a decent movie, but I found the acting and the dialogue so superficial and uninvolving and unconvincing. A much, much better movie on this theme is The Long Walk Home and also The Ghosts of Mississippi. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Coen Brothers meets David Lynch
Wasn't expecting much knowing the producers do mostly straight to video, but was surprised by the camera angles and dialogue. Very fun and unpredictable. Get to see DeMornay with biggest bust she's had in any movie. Heard she was nursing during this one. Not that that matters for film geeks, but, well, they are sitting out there in most of the scenes. Okay then.

Average movie. Great perfromance by Rebecca De Mornay.
Rebecca De Mornay makes a great job as usual in this average thriller. She plays a very confused and not quite sane wife of a man who's always "working" (=having a second family in another city). Her character, Ruth, is an interesting character. The movie, however, feels like a made-for-TV-movie. It is an average movie and with another lead actress it would probably be quite forgettable. But still, it is something about it that makes it quite appealing and enjoyable. I recommend Rebecca De Mornay fans to at least rent it. She's a very talented actress, and beautiful too.

Oh Rebecca say it ain't so
Well, we all know Michael Rooker is sometimes in good
stuff ( like "The Bone Collector" ) and more often in
very ropey stuff like this, but to see Rebecca DeMornay
in such a bad bad movie is just too much. I can hardly
believe this is the same woman from "Feds", "Risky Business",
"The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" and the underrated "Dealers".

She is too beautiful to get stuck in B-movie dreck like this.

Please Rebecca, get back in a good movie soon.

my view
I really saw alot in the this movie. A guy who married the right woman to enhance the career but needed something spicey on the side,someone who started out being controlled by lust,then he had to gain his control back by ... induced mind games.Ruth was fighting for her sanity and to be loved completely i.e. baby.I liked the performance of Rebecca DeMornay in this because of the complicated character she played. A stripper,humorous,insecurity,fighting for her husbands attention,bored housewife with a troubled past,not a ozzie and harriet type of family childhood. I would have liked to have seen the shift of power,matt being controlled by Ruth in the beginning but Matt tries to use ... on Ruth to control her.That Rebecca DeMornay is one intelligent actress capable of playing any role. She might be one woman who could tell me something I don't already know.Watch this one! Jim

Edge of your Seat Movie
This movie is an edge of your seat movie that keeps you watching from start to finish. This is about a man who says he is going on field trips for work, but instead is going to the house of his other wife, which wife #1 does not know about. I could not stop watching this. I tried predicting what was going to happen next, but I was wrong, and I loved that I was wrong. Too many movies are too predictable and this one is not at all. This is easily the best movie I have ever seen. Rent it or buy it today. It is more than worth it. The ending is shocking. I could of never guessed what was going to happen, and this movie is full of surprises. I love it. Wicked Ways is an A+ movie! I was extremely impressed the first time I watched it. This movie deserves five stars. Any movie that can hook me into it so good that I do not want to leave my seat, deserves the honor of me writing this review to tell everyone else out there, that this is not just anyone predictable thriller, it is one of the best movies out there! I haven't told you much about the plot and the shocking surprises, and that is because I want you to see it for yourself. Go see it!! Trust me, there are a very few amount of movies I actually like, and I more than liked this one, I loved Wicked Ways! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The Best Hulk Cartoon Ever
It's got action,crises,and frindshp. But for some reason the colers change from time to time. I used to watch the show and this is the best. I got so mad when they canceled it,but luckily I know have the best one EVER!!!!!

This UPN Kids series was incredible!..
The Incredible Hulk aired on UPN Kids from September 1996 until September of 1999. The show was well animated and humerous, another marvelous animated series from Marvel, no pun intended. The only thing that confuses me is why Fox Kids video released it when it never aired on Fox Kids? It aired on UPN Kids.

Excellent!
I Love this New Hulk Series! I think it was made Very Well, and I Really wish that Fox would release more episodes from this series on home video.

I LIKE HULK! HULK BASH! HULK CRASH! HULK SMASH!
Yo! I'm the guy that reviewed the box set of MIB cartoons! This is not a video for little kids in my opinion, unless they have matured rapidly! It has Bruce Banner, oterwise known as Hulk, getting captured, where Betty convinces her dad, one of the hulk busters, to let bruce continue his tests for healing the gamma radiation. But at that same time, someone who triggered the gamma radiation, and also affected by it, is planning to capture hulk and take his power. He sends one of his monsters, who stops the test, but hulk gets away, and starts living with bugs who also were affected by the gamma radiation. And anyhow, I wont give away the ending, but it has the origin of hulk, and a must see for hulk fans.

New show on the Hulk is not Incredible.
Pilot for a new animated series on the Hulk finds Lou Ferrigno doing the voice of the Hulk, as he fights the Leader who wants to rule the world, and the US Army who wants him dead. Better animation from the Marvel Films Studios but the story is almost non-existent.The Hulk animated series from the 1960's is still the best. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Hand That Rocks The Cradle it's not ...
But it's not bad, either. Thoroughly entertaining flick about a misfit nurse who swears revenge against a man who caused her father to commit suicide after killing her mother and brother. I found some of the suspense scenes to be rather humorous at times, and the plot holes made the movie even funnier. Good pick for fans of cheap cinema.

The Nurse
Another of the producer Pierre David's classy thrillers which features Lisa Zane in a surprisingly effective and chilling role. Zane plays Laura Harriman, a nurse whose father was recently accused of embezzlement. When Laura walks in on her father committing suicide and murdering her mother and brother, she vows revenge on the man who accused her father. After Bob Martin, the man who made the accusation, has a stroke after hearing of Laura's family's tragedy, Laura decides to take on her revenge now and take a job as his live-in nurse. Now, Bob is helpless and paralyzed, at the mercy of his new caretaker: Nurse Harriman. Above-average direct-to-video thriller has some decent scares and moments of suspense, but the plot seems to go almost nowhere in some scenes. The performances are good and I found that the music suited the film beautifully adding an eerie feel to it. Unfortunately, the plot holes and the plot going nowhere lower the rating for this. **The reason why Nurse Laura Harriman decides to vow revenge is quite similar to that of Payton Flanders' reason to vow revenge in THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE. ... Read more

Reviews (73)

Surprisingly delightful!
I had my reservations about this film because of all the negative reviews I read about it, but I love Chris Kattan, so I decided to give it a chance. I was surprisingly delighted in this hilarious movie! "Citizen Kane" it's not, but it's not supposed to be either. It's a zany, bizarre and totally "out there" kind of movie, and escapism at it's best! It doesn't use the standard formula of most movies either (a refreshing change!), and I found the story and plot very original. Chris Kattan is hilarious in his role (my sides were aching from laughing so much) and Brendan Fraser proves once again that he can take on a myriad of roles with ease.

The opening sequence with the cartoon is probably the "wierdest" scene in the movie and I almost turned it off right there (thinking that the rest of the movie would follow in the same manner), but sheer curiosity kept me watching. The visuals are also quite impressive and lend a certain "Beetlejuice" meets "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to them. This is a fun movie through and through. Worth a "rent" at least!

Monkeybone A Cult Masterpiece
I have found that the people that like this movie are usually the ones with a stroke of creativity in their blood...people that can actually relate to Stu. Being an illustrator myself I found a lot of truth behind this film about a man and his psychological baggage. The characters real and fictional are very well developed and the movie moves along at a pace that really kept me interested and involved. If you liked the movie, the DVD is well worth acquiring for all the special features. My favorite extra's were the extended scenes, explaining a lot of plot development in further detail. The animation is great, the story is great, the characters are great. I don't know what creative person can sit through this movie without wanting to buy their own Monkeybone doll. I researched and found a copy of Kaja Blackley's graphic novel "Dark Town" upon which the movie is based, and found it just as fascinating. Only problem now is dealing with the fact that only #1 out of a 12 volume series was published...and I'm left with only the movie in its completion!

Used to hate it and now I love it.
I saw Monkeybone when it was in theaters without knowing what it was even about. My impression at the time was that it was a wierd and stupid movie with no point. I recently found it for $5 so I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. Everyone I know hates this movies or has not seen it, but I now think this is a wonderful movie.

Stu Miley (Brendan Frasier) has just launched his new animated character Monkeybone, created from Stu's repressed sexual anxieties(as another reviewer put it). Monkeybone is a hot character that brings a huge demand for cartoons, toys, and just about any other kind of merchandising you can think of. After a party for the launch of his new character, Stu and his girlfriend are in a car wreck leaving Stu in a coma. This happens just when Stu is going to propose to his girlfriend. As others see him in a coma, Stu ends up in Downtown, the place where other people in a coma reside, along with their nightmares. I really enjoyed the effects that take place in Downtown. But once there, Stu comes face to face with his creation, and together must find a way out of Downtown before Stu's sister "pulls the plug" on him in the outside world. Monkeybone turns on Stu and steals his pass into the real world, and so with a deal from Death (Whoopi Goldberg) Stu must get back to his life and stop Monkeybone from ruining his life. Thats all I want to say about the plot, and it may sound dumb or a little complicated, but to me is a good and very entertaining movie. Bottom line is that this is a nice blend of live-action and animation and is nicely directed by Henry Selick. And as usual Frasier gives a nice performance in this starring role. At the heart of this movie is also a good love story. A lot of you may not like this movie, but at least watch it once and give it a chance. You might be surprised.

I know it looks stupid, but trust me.......ts funny
I know it may look stupid but it is real funny. This movie is about a guy who is in a deep deep coma. He is in this fantasy land kinda thing. It reminds me of the set of Tim Burton's nightmare before christmas. Then he has this kinda pet named "Monkey Bone". Then once he finally gonna get out, Monkey bone betrays him. So now Stu (Brendan Fraser)has to find a way back to his girlfriend. This is a real funny movie. It has the kinda smart comedy we needed years ago.

Monkeyblah
Synopsis:
A freak car crash, (involving a giant inflatable monkey) sends cartoonist Stu Miley (Brenden Fraser) into coma and into a nightmarish and bizarre between world called Downtown where coma patients must wait for their ticket back. There he meets an aspect of his twisted personality, a character he created called Monkeybone.

As Stu waits in limbo, back in the real world where his girlfriend (Bridget Fonda) waits for him to recover, his sister, Kimmy plans to pull the plug. Monkeybone and Stu discover her plans and try to escape back to the real world. But a double-cross nearly dooms Stu and his life altogether and sends Monkeybone on a crazy (and somewhat raunchy) escapade in the real world.

About the movie:
I found this movie somewhat painful to watch and was left wondering how anyone could think that something this bizarre and poorly written would do well in the theaters. (It didn't do that well).

As a movie, this one is pretty odd overall, and the script is below par at best. There are quite a few spots that could use more exposition, and the main characters definitely needed to be fleshed out more. None of them make you care a whit about what happens to them. Bridget Fonda is nice to look at, but she was totally luke-warm in her role as Stu's girlfriend (not that she had much to work with) and Brendan Fraser's character is so neurotic as to make you wonder why she'd even like him. Whoopi Goldberg has a cameo as Death, but her role is pretty much a yawner as well.

This is not to mention that there are some pretty gross things in this movie. Chris Kattan (who proves in this role that he is a fantastic physical comedian, something worth seeing, if only for his acting) running around as a reanimated dead guy with a broken neck was extremely entertaining, for his physical comedy, but the bit with the organs falling out onto people was in really bad taste and more than a little gross.

The end result of all of this is that you have a weak movie that subsists mainly on bodily function jokes and sexual gags for almost all of its humor, and of that, most of it is of the extremely low brow and immature sort. If you happen to like that sort of humor, great, but me, I got tired of being browbeaten with it by halfway through the movie.

The only thing semi redeeming about this movie was the sophisticated stop motion photography that was used in creating the Monkeybone character. It really is impressive to see what they pulled off, somewhat akin to the sort of stuff done in Who-Framed Roger Rabbit. It's a shame it was wasted in a movie that ended up being so painful to watch.

Neat special effects don't make a movie. Script, plot and acting do, and while Fraser and Kattan were decent in their parts, the rest was sorely lacking. Not the most painful movie I've seen, but it's lurking down there nearby.

About the DVD:
Monkeybone comes in a standard hard case in 1.85:1 widescreen format with 5.1 Dolby digital sound. It contains English and French audio tracks and English and Spanish subtitles. The picture and sound are quite good.

The cover of this DVD release claims that it's the SPECIAL EDITION. Considering that there never was a regular DVD release of this movie, that label is a bit pretentious. Of course, it does make up for it by being loaded with extra goodies, not that the extra goodies make up for the movie itself.

Among the special features are, a director's commentary, 11 extended scenes, an alternate ending (both with optional director's commentary), 7 animation studies for scenes in the movie, a gallery of stills, and the obligatory theatrical trailers.

The director's commentary is interesting, as he talks about what it took to put the movie together, mostly from a production point of view. His commentary helps explain how certain scenes and shots were put together and the amount of work needed to make them solid and believable. Interestingly, near the end of the commentary, there seems to be a sense of consternation in his conversation as he subtly wondered in a roundabout way why his movie hadn't done better in the box office.

I'm not a film critic, but I probably could answer that one. It was just too off the wall, a little too weird and simply had humor that was too immature (and at one point, gross) for most audiences. I certainly would suggest previewing this before letting kids watch it.

Anyway, back to the point. While all these goodies on the DVD are nice, they really don't make up for the fact that the movie itself is so poor. 2 stars for a decent DVD release and a not so good movie. ... Read more

Reviews (73)

Surprisingly delightful!
I had my reservations about this film because of all the negative reviews I read about it, but I love Chris Kattan, so I decided to give it a chance. I was surprisingly delighted in this hilarious movie! "Citizen Kane" it's not, but it's not supposed to be either. It's a zany, bizarre and totally "out there" kind of movie, and escapism at it's best! It doesn't use the standard formula of most movies either (a refreshing change!), and I found the story and plot very original. Chris Kattan is hilarious in his role (my sides were aching from laughing so much) and Brendan Fraser proves once again that he can take on a myriad of roles with ease.

The opening sequence with the cartoon is probably the "wierdest" scene in the movie and I almost turned it off right there (thinking that the rest of the movie would follow in the same manner), but sheer curiosity kept me watching. The visuals are also quite impressive and lend a certain "Beetlejuice" meets "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to them. This is a fun movie through and through. Worth a "rent" at least!

Monkeybone A Cult Masterpiece
I have found that the people that like this movie are usually the ones with a stroke of creativity in their blood...people that can actually relate to Stu. Being an illustrator myself I found a lot of truth behind this film about a man and his psychological baggage. The characters real and fictional are very well developed and the movie moves along at a pace that really kept me interested and involved. If you liked the movie, the DVD is well worth acquiring for all the special features. My favorite extra's were the extended scenes, explaining a lot of plot development in further detail. The animation is great, the story is great, the characters are great. I don't know what creative person can sit through this movie without wanting to buy their own Monkeybone doll. I researched and found a copy of Kaja Blackley's graphic novel "Dark Town" upon which the movie is based, and found it just as fascinating. Only problem now is dealing with the fact that only #1 out of a 12 volume series was published...and I'm left with only the movie in its completion!

Used to hate it and now I love it.
I saw Monkeybone when it was in theaters without knowing what it was even about. My impression at the time was that it was a wierd and stupid movie with no point. I recently found it for $5 so I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. Everyone I know hates this movies or has not seen it, but I now think this is a wonderful movie.

Stu Miley (Brendan Frasier) has just launched his new animated character Monkeybone, created from Stu's repressed sexual anxieties(as another reviewer put it). Monkeybone is a hot character that brings a huge demand for cartoons, toys, and just about any other kind of merchandising you can think of. After a party for the launch of his new character, Stu and his girlfriend are in a car wreck leaving Stu in a coma. This happens just when Stu is going to propose to his girlfriend. As others see him in a coma, Stu ends up in Downtown, the place where other people in a coma reside, along with their nightmares. I really enjoyed the effects that take place in Downtown. But once there, Stu comes face to face with his creation, and together must find a way out of Downtown before Stu's sister "pulls the plug" on him in the outside world. Monkeybone turns on Stu and steals his pass into the real world, and so with a deal from Death (Whoopi Goldberg) Stu must get back to his life and stop Monkeybone from ruining his life. Thats all I want to say about the plot, and it may sound dumb or a little complicated, but to me is a good and very entertaining movie. Bottom line is that this is a nice blend of live-action and animation and is nicely directed by Henry Selick. And as usual Frasier gives a nice performance in this starring role. At the heart of this movie is also a good love story. A lot of you may not like this movie, but at least watch it once and give it a chance. You might be surprised.

I know it looks stupid, but trust me.......ts funny
I know it may look stupid but it is real funny. This movie is about a guy who is in a deep deep coma. He is in this fantasy land kinda thing. It reminds me of the set of Tim Burton's nightmare before christmas. Then he has this kinda pet named "Monkey Bone". Then once he finally gonna get out, Monkey bone betrays him. So now Stu (Brendan Fraser)has to find a way back to his girlfriend. This is a real funny movie. It has the kinda smart comedy we needed years ago.

Monkeyblah
Synopsis:
A freak car crash, (involving a giant inflatable monkey) sends cartoonist Stu Miley (Brenden Fraser) into coma and into a nightmarish and bizarre between world called Downtown where coma patients must wait for their ticket back. There he meets an aspect of his twisted personality, a character he created called Monkeybone.

As Stu waits in limbo, back in the real world where his girlfriend (Bridget Fonda) waits for him to recover, his sister, Kimmy plans to pull the plug. Monkeybone and Stu discover her plans and try to escape back to the real world. But a double-cross nearly dooms Stu and his life altogether and sends Monkeybone on a crazy (and somewhat raunchy) escapade in the real world.

About the movie:
I found this movie somewhat painful to watch and was left wondering how anyone could think that something this bizarre and poorly written would do well in the theaters. (It didn't do that well).

As a movie, this one is pretty odd overall, and the script is below par at best. There are quite a few spots that could use more exposition, and the main characters definitely needed to be fleshed out more. None of them make you care a whit about what happens to them. Bridget Fonda is nice to look at, but she was totally luke-warm in her role as Stu's girlfriend (not that she had much to work with) and Brendan Fraser's character is so neurotic as to make you wonder why she'd even like him. Whoopi Goldberg has a cameo as Death, but her role is pretty much a yawner as well.

This is not to mention that there are some pretty gross things in this movie. Chris Kattan (who proves in this role that he is a fantastic physical comedian, something worth seeing, if only for his acting) running around as a reanimated dead guy with a broken neck was extremely entertaining, for his physical comedy, but the bit with the organs falling out onto people was in really bad taste and more than a little gross.

The end result of all of this is that you have a weak movie that subsists mainly on bodily function jokes and sexual gags for almost all of its humor, and of that, most of it is of the extremely low brow and immature sort. If you happen to like that sort of humor, great, but me, I got tired of being browbeaten with it by halfway through the movie.

The only thing semi redeeming about this movie was the sophisticated stop motion photography that was used in creating the Monkeybone character. It really is impressive to see what they pulled off, somewhat akin to the sort of stuff done in Who-Framed Roger Rabbit. It's a shame it was wasted in a movie that ended up being so painful to watch.

Neat special effects don't make a movie. Script, plot and acting do, and while Fraser and Kattan were decent in their parts, the rest was sorely lacking. Not the most painful movie I've seen, but it's lurking down there nearby.

About the DVD:
Monkeybone comes in a standard hard case in 1.85:1 widescreen format with 5.1 Dolby digital sound. It contains English and French audio tracks and English and Spanish subtitles. The picture and sound are quite good.

The cover of this DVD release claims that it's the SPECIAL EDITION. Considering that there never was a regular DVD release of this movie, that label is a bit pretentious. Of course, it does make up for it by being loaded with extra goodies, not that the extra goodies make up for the movie itself.

Among the special features are, a director's commentary, 11 extended scenes, an alternate ending (both with optional director's commentary), 7 animation studies for scenes in the movie, a gallery of stills, and the obligatory theatrical trailers.

The director's commentary is interesting, as he talks about what it took to put the movie together, mostly from a production point of view. His commentary helps explain how certain scenes and shots were put together and the amount of work needed to make them solid and believable. Interestingly, near the end of the commentary, there seems to be a sense of consternation in his conversation as he subtly wondered in a roundabout way why his movie hadn't done better in the box office.

I'm not a film critic, but I probably could answer that one. It was just too off the wall, a little too weird and simply had humor that was too immature (and at one point, gross) for most audiences. I certainly would suggest previewing this before letting kids watch it.

Anyway, back to the point. While all these goodies on the DVD are nice, they really don't make up for the fact that the movie itself is so poor. 2 stars for a decent DVD release and a not so good movie. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Back to Twin Peaks
A very strange, almost stock version of a David Lynchesque miscast. That said, I liked it anyhow.

Heather Graham plays a young widow who has witnessed her husband's murder and the murderer himself commit suicide(I think they were more than buddies wink wink.) There is no determined timeframe thereafter, but she is in a daze and living in an apartment alone and randomly and promiscuously engaging in sex with random guys, oh and one girl too. Well, the sex always revolves around her getting orally surfeited but that's of no matter is it? It's Heather Graham being sexed up! Anyhow somebody begins to stalk her and and and the police won't help and and and she keeps getting beaten and and and followed around by a big white car etc. Finally the mysterious stalker is exposed!

I'm giving it 4 1/2 stars on H. Graham alone being so lovely and just acting like a complete lulu. Her hair is wild, her demeanor is aloof to the things which don't interest her(which is everything) and she crouches over some guy lying on the floor, sans panties and rubs herself into his face. Even when she is at work typing, her shoulders bobbing and the doe-eyes are ghostly round, she is entrancing. I hope H. G. isn't a real-life Hollywood trollop because she sure made me buy into the movie on her presence alone. I even liked her in Say It Isn't So, a romantic comedy, which would make me gag normally. So what I am saying is that I am whoring out any objectivity principally on her aesthetics. But honestly, the movie wasn't bad either.

Random but cool
The movie was at the same time extremely scary but hysterically funny. The neurotic sensibility in Graham's performance is similar to Mia farrow in Rosemary's baby. It left a really deep impression on me since the whole film was so roughly presented and sharply scary. The film is so sharp and rough it even transcends into something really justifiable. Looking back on it I really loved it and how it could scare me like no other film (not anne rice, not from dusk till dawn, not even the baby of Rosemary.)

Not very intriguing
I like the way it gives you a twist when you actually think that there is someone real that is stalking her but a lot of scenes were cut out and that is what makes the movie a burial into the moritorium of movies. Other than that if I could just get my hands on an original uncut version that woud be fine too.Thank's..

Not Uncut
I bought this movie because of a still of the movie that I downloaded recently of Heather Graham sitting on the face of some guy. But when I watched this dvd I noticed to my horror that this particular scene had been edited out. I find this strange as the dvd is R rated.
A complete waste of my money and there's nothing I can do about it.

Not Uncut - beware
I bought this movie because of a still of the movie that I downloaded recently of Heather Graham sitting on the face of some guy. But when I watched this dvd I noticed to my horror that this particular scene had been edited out. I find this strange as the dvd is R rated.
A complete waste of my money and there's nothing I can do about it. ... Read more

Reviews (98)

"Every town has an Elm Street..." (4.5 stars)
I think most would agree that this particular Freddy movie is the goofiest of them all. It isn't even very scary, but still manages to be creepy. Even though it's the most goofy Freddy movie, does that mean it's not entertaining? Of course not! In fact, I think this is the most entertaining one in the series; not the best, but the most fun to watch. Freddy's back and is unleashing a bloody trail of dead teens in "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare."

A child psychologist is trying to help a group of troubled teens. But things get out of control when a John Doe enters her life, who turns out to be the last survivor of Elm Street. She finds out that the two of them have something in common; nightmares. John learns that the reason why Freddy has kept him alive so long is because he has a kid and is trying to get to him/her (there's even a possibility that John himself is Freddy's son). Whoever his child may be, the child is the key for Freddy to explore a new playground, enabling him to unleash his murderous wishes all over again.

Like I said, this isn't a very scary Freddy movie. It even resembles a comedy most of the time. But I still think it's a great flick. It's the most enjoyable of the series, but it isn't the best. Robert Englund still has it down as being Freddy Krueger. No way in heck would anybody else be able to tackle down the role as he has. And it's neat to see him have more lines in this one. As mean as he is, he can be pretty funny.

As enjoyable as the movie is, it does have a tendency to get overly goofy. I think they could've made it a little more scarier. The other ones before might've been funny, but they were also scary, too. That's the only real flaw of the movie, as it's one you shouldn't take very seriously. It's a fun and enjoyable flick and nothing more. It's not trying to be the "Great American Movie."

The DVD isn't loaded with a lot of extras. You can watch it in Dolby Digital or in the original stereo mix. The picture looks really good; a big improvement over the VHS version, of course. There's cast and crew biographies that you can explore as well. I don't know if this is included in the single DVD version of "Freddy's Dead," but if you pick up the complete set there are 3-D glasses included that allows you to watch the end sequence in 3-D. Pretty cool extra, if you ask me.

All in all, "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare," while not the scariest one in the series, proves to be quite an enjoyable movie. That is, if you don't take it too seriously. It's a great one to see, especially if you've seen the rest. Although it's the most criticized in the series, I still think it's the most enjoyable one. And make sure you watch the end credits, to see the life of Freddy Krueger. A great time, if you ask me.

It ain't over 'til it's over
If ever there was an indicator that the 'Nightmare' franchise had run outta steam, 'Freddy's Dead' was it. The storyline was a bit too surreal and muddled, and wasn't always easy to follow. Freddy's array of "witty" one-liners were so corny and dated (e.g. references to those "Your brain on drugs" commercials and the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System), I found myself groaning at every other word that came outta his mouth. The Freddy-kills here were so over-the-top and cartoonish, I was half-expecting the Acme Co. to be prominently shown in the closing credits (sadly, Freddy couldn't find it within himself to kill off the characters played by Roseanne and Tom Arnold). And don't even get me started on the 3-D sequence (shown in 2-D on this platter, (un)fortunately), which featured visual effects that would've looked high-tech and halfway decent, had this movie been made about a decade earlier. And, like all the other 'Nightmare' flicks before this, 'Freddy's Dead' wasn't all that scary to me. I laughed, I cried, I kissed four bucks of DVD rental money goodbye. But fear and fright were nowhere to be found...

On the upside: despite the silliness of Freddy's kills, I found them rather entertaining, and the main reason why I decided to give this a view. I also liked checking out Freddy's back story, even though the parts of his past that they show are rather brief. Now if the screenwriters only had him take out Roseanne and Tom Arnold's characters in a really gruesome fashion, this bad-boy woulda' earned an extra star from me...

Special features on this disc include a theatrical trailer and English subtitles. The subtitles don't include every single line each character says, but they don't omit too much, either.

'Late

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
My word! I'll start off with the story. Basically Freddy has killed all the teenagers of Springwood, so he needs a new stomping ground. We then meet Freddy's previously un-heard of daughter, who works in a home for wayward teenagers. I think you know what happens. He kills some kids and then his daughter kills him. That's it!
Rachel Talalay takes the job of directing this pathetic attempt to kill off one of the biggest horror icons ever. Does she do a good job? Well, I'm sure my star rating say's it all.
The acting is awful. Not by everyone, mind you. The women who plays his daughter does an alright job and Yaphet Kotto, the guy who was in the first Alien film, is the only character who you actually quite like.
Let's talk about Freddy now. Well, what can I say? Mrs. Talalay actually made me not like him... I mean it! Okay, his wise-cracking antics were a bit O.T.T. from number 3 onwards, but this one really got on my nerves. In this one we had Freddy spouting lines like "Great graphics".
Next I'll talk about the deaths. Oh my god! What happened here? After viewing the deaths in this film, I'm not sure whether it was a comedy or what. They were atrocious! Only one was remotely 'Freddyish' (the one with the deaf kid).
Also, from a film that sets out to kill a big name, it does it in rubbish fashion. What an imagination the film makers had. 'Let's kill Freddy off by literally blowing him up!' I could have come up with a better death than that on the toilet! And also the 3-D...it looked absolutely dreadful. No ILM, put it that way.
I'm sorry, but Rachel Talalay should be ashamed of herself, she really should. I honestly do believe that this film is the reason why we had to wait so long to see Freddy back on the big screen in his original form (not including New Nightmare). I think that New Line Cinema were a bit reluctant to use him again, after this film bombed.
So, you have been warned. If it were up to me, this film wouldn't be a part of the Freddy story, but it is. And because I'm so loyal, I own it on video and DVD. But really, though, this film is diabolical.

"It's Horrid! Truly Laughable!"
Plot: A boy is having dreams of Freddy and is learning dark secrets of his past. And he begins to wander 'Am I Freddy's child?' We soon find the answer to that when Freddy drops him a hundred feet from the air onto a bed of spikes saying 'Bring me my daughter!'

Review: I want to give this movie Zero stars! It Sucked! As all my friends know I am the biggest Freddy fan in school, but oh my god! I was reading the reviews for this movie before I watched it, and almost everyone said it sucked, and I was like 'Oh come on, it cant be that bad! (...) Needless no say they were right. Me and my friends watched this and we were laughing our butts off! The only reason me and my friends laughed is one: We have dark senses of humor (we enjoy stick death) and two: It Horrid! Truly Laughable! The death scenes where stupid (blood spraying out of a TV? Please...) And there is no gore! I know a movie can be scary without gore, and I honestly prefer it that way, but some could have saved this maybe even if it was just an inch. And they never even showed how Freddy came back to life (I know none of the others did, beside the 4th one but still...) And as I said before me and my friends were laughing the whole time. I'm sure I lot of people would think this is great (And I love comedy) but how the hell can you rank this under horror? The only thing scary was how bad it was! Now, I love the first one. Best horror movie ever. Plain and simple. But this could possibly be the worst horror movie ever. Know why? I'll tell you: IT IS NOT HORROR! I know I have said this a lot but my god, a two year old would be laughing at this! How can this be rated R you ask? I don't know, honestly. There are only two things I like about this movie: 1 How it flashed back to show Freddy's past. Cool. And two: Carlos's death. I know I said that I didn't like this movie being comedy, but this scene was just SO funny! He pops the guys head!

Anyway those are the two good things about the movie. I don't think I have anything else to say but I am glad Wes Craven hated this movie and come back, create Freddy, and kill him the way it was meant to be done: HUMORLESS

Whatever. The only reason I am keeping this movie is so I can tell people at school "Yeah, I have all the Freddy movies"

PS you can hit that No on the "Did you find this review helpful, but I am just warning those who like the true Frederick.

AWESOME!!!
This one is awesome!!! Definently the best of the series! Way more scary, fun, and entertaining than the last 5. It also has the best death scenes. And also, Freddy looks the scariest in this one. Freddy doesn't die until the end though, and even then he's not really dead, so its not really the final nightmare, cause then there's Freddy Vs. Jason. But this is still the best of the series and it definently worth owning. ... Read more

Reviews (73)

Surprisingly delightful!
I had my reservations about this film because of all the negative reviews I read about it, but I love Chris Kattan, so I decided to give it a chance. I was surprisingly delighted in this hilarious movie! "Citizen Kane" it's not, but it's not supposed to be either. It's a zany, bizarre and totally "out there" kind of movie, and escapism at it's best! It doesn't use the standard formula of most movies either (a refreshing change!), and I found the story and plot very original. Chris Kattan is hilarious in his role (my sides were aching from laughing so much) and Brendan Fraser proves once again that he can take on a myriad of roles with ease.

The opening sequence with the cartoon is probably the "wierdest" scene in the movie and I almost turned it off right there (thinking that the rest of the movie would follow in the same manner), but sheer curiosity kept me watching. The visuals are also quite impressive and lend a certain "Beetlejuice" meets "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to them. This is a fun movie through and through. Worth a "rent" at least!

Monkeybone A Cult Masterpiece
I have found that the people that like this movie are usually the ones with a stroke of creativity in their blood...people that can actually relate to Stu. Being an illustrator myself I found a lot of truth behind this film about a man and his psychological baggage. The characters real and fictional are very well developed and the movie moves along at a pace that really kept me interested and involved. If you liked the movie, the DVD is well worth acquiring for all the special features. My favorite extra's were the extended scenes, explaining a lot of plot development in further detail. The animation is great, the story is great, the characters are great. I don't know what creative person can sit through this movie without wanting to buy their own Monkeybone doll. I researched and found a copy of Kaja Blackley's graphic novel "Dark Town" upon which the movie is based, and found it just as fascinating. Only problem now is dealing with the fact that only #1 out of a 12 volume series was published...and I'm left with only the movie in its completion!

Used to hate it and now I love it.
I saw Monkeybone when it was in theaters without knowing what it was even about. My impression at the time was that it was a wierd and stupid movie with no point. I recently found it for $5 so I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. Everyone I know hates this movies or has not seen it, but I now think this is a wonderful movie.

Stu Miley (Brendan Frasier) has just launched his new animated character Monkeybone, created from Stu's repressed sexual anxieties(as another reviewer put it). Monkeybone is a hot character that brings a huge demand for cartoons, toys, and just about any other kind of merchandising you can think of. After a party for the launch of his new character, Stu and his girlfriend are in a car wreck leaving Stu in a coma. This happens just when Stu is going to propose to his girlfriend. As others see him in a coma, Stu ends up in Downtown, the place where other people in a coma reside, along with their nightmares. I really enjoyed the effects that take place in Downtown. But once there, Stu comes face to face with his creation, and together must find a way out of Downtown before Stu's sister "pulls the plug" on him in the outside world. Monkeybone turns on Stu and steals his pass into the real world, and so with a deal from Death (Whoopi Goldberg) Stu must get back to his life and stop Monkeybone from ruining his life. Thats all I want to say about the plot, and it may sound dumb or a little complicated, but to me is a good and very entertaining movie. Bottom line is that this is a nice blend of live-action and animation and is nicely directed by Henry Selick. And as usual Frasier gives a nice performance in this starring role. At the heart of this movie is also a good love story. A lot of you may not like this movie, but at least watch it once and give it a chance. You might be surprised.

I know it looks stupid, but trust me.......ts funny
I know it may look stupid but it is real funny. This movie is about a guy who is in a deep deep coma. He is in this fantasy land kinda thing. It reminds me of the set of Tim Burton's nightmare before christmas. Then he has this kinda pet named "Monkey Bone". Then once he finally gonna get out, Monkey bone betrays him. So now Stu (Brendan Fraser)has to find a way back to his girlfriend. This is a real funny movie. It has the kinda smart comedy we needed years ago.

Monkeyblah
Synopsis:
A freak car crash, (involving a giant inflatable monkey) sends cartoonist Stu Miley (Brenden Fraser) into coma and into a nightmarish and bizarre between world called Downtown where coma patients must wait for their ticket back. There he meets an aspect of his twisted personality, a character he created called Monkeybone.

As Stu waits in limbo, back in the real world where his girlfriend (Bridget Fonda) waits for him to recover, his sister, Kimmy plans to pull the plug. Monkeybone and Stu discover her plans and try to escape back to the real world. But a double-cross nearly dooms Stu and his life altogether and sends Monkeybone on a crazy (and somewhat raunchy) escapade in the real world.

About the movie:
I found this movie somewhat painful to watch and was left wondering how anyone could think that something this bizarre and poorly written would do well in the theaters. (It didn't do that well).

As a movie, this one is pretty odd overall, and the script is below par at best. There are quite a few spots that could use more exposition, and the main characters definitely needed to be fleshed out more. None of them make you care a whit about what happens to them. Bridget Fonda is nice to look at, but she was totally luke-warm in her role as Stu's girlfriend (not that she had much to work with) and Brendan Fraser's character is so neurotic as to make you wonder why she'd even like him. Whoopi Goldberg has a cameo as Death, but her role is pretty much a yawner as well.

This is not to mention that there are some pretty gross things in this movie. Chris Kattan (who proves in this role that he is a fantastic physical comedian, something worth seeing, if only for his acting) running around as a reanimated dead guy with a broken neck was extremely entertaining, for his physical comedy, but the bit with the organs falling out onto people was in really bad taste and more than a little gross.

The end result of all of this is that you have a weak movie that subsists mainly on bodily function jokes and sexual gags for almost all of its humor, and of that, most of it is of the extremely low brow and immature sort. If you happen to like that sort of humor, great, but me, I got tired of being browbeaten with it by halfway through the movie.

The only thing semi redeeming about this movie was the sophisticated stop motion photography that was used in creating the Monkeybone character. It really is impressive to see what they pulled off, somewhat akin to the sort of stuff done in Who-Framed Roger Rabbit. It's a shame it was wasted in a movie that ended up being so painful to watch.

Neat special effects don't make a movie. Script, plot and acting do, and while Fraser and Kattan were decent in their parts, the rest was sorely lacking. Not the most painful movie I've seen, but it's lurking down there nearby.

About the DVD:
Monkeybone comes in a standard hard case in 1.85:1 widescreen format with 5.1 Dolby digital sound. It contains English and French audio tracks and English and Spanish subtitles. The picture and sound are quite good.

The cover of this DVD release claims that it's the SPECIAL EDITION. Considering that there never was a regular DVD release of this movie, that label is a bit pretentious. Of course, it does make up for it by being loaded with extra goodies, not that the extra goodies make up for the movie itself.

Among the special features are, a director's commentary, 11 extended scenes, an alternate ending (both with optional director's commentary), 7 animation studies for scenes in the movie, a gallery of stills, and the obligatory theatrical trailers.

The director's commentary is interesting, as he talks about what it took to put the movie together, mostly from a production point of view. His commentary helps explain how certain scenes and shots were put together and the amount of work needed to make them solid and believable. Interestingly, near the end of the commentary, there seems to be a sense of consternation in his conversation as he subtly wondered in a roundabout way why his movie hadn't done better in the box office.

I'm not a film critic, but I probably could answer that one. It was just too off the wall, a little too weird and simply had humor that was too immature (and at one point, gross) for most audiences. I certainly would suggest previewing this before letting kids watch it.

Anyway, back to the point. While all these goodies on the DVD are nice, they really don't make up for the fact that the movie itself is so poor. 2 stars for a decent DVD release and a not so good movie. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Back to Twin Peaks
A very strange, almost stock version of a David Lynchesque miscast. That said, I liked it anyhow.

Heather Graham plays a young widow who has witnessed her husband's murder and the murderer himself commit suicide(I think they were more than buddies wink wink.) There is no determined timeframe thereafter, but she is in a daze and living in an apartment alone and randomly and promiscuously engaging in sex with random guys, oh and one girl too. Well, the sex always revolves around her getting orally surfeited but that's of no matter is it? It's Heather Graham being sexed up! Anyhow somebody begins to stalk her and and and the police won't help and and and she keeps getting beaten and and and followed around by a big white car etc. Finally the mysterious stalker is exposed!

I'm giving it 4 1/2 stars on H. Graham alone being so lovely and just acting like a complete lulu. Her hair is wild, her demeanor is aloof to the things which don't interest her(which is everything) and she crouches over some guy lying on the floor, sans panties and rubs herself into his face. Even when she is at work typing, her shoulders bobbing and the doe-eyes are ghostly round, she is entrancing. I hope H. G. isn't a real-life Hollywood trollop because she sure made me buy into the movie on her presence alone. I even liked her in Say It Isn't So, a romantic comedy, which would make me gag normally. So what I am saying is that I am whoring out any objectivity principally on her aesthetics. But honestly, the movie wasn't bad either.

Random but cool
The movie was at the same time extremely scary but hysterically funny. The neurotic sensibility in Graham's performance is similar to Mia farrow in Rosemary's baby. It left a really deep impression on me since the whole film was so roughly presented and sharply scary. The film is so sharp and rough it even transcends into something really justifiable. Looking back on it I really loved it and how it could scare me like no other film (not anne rice, not from dusk till dawn, not even the baby of Rosemary.)

Not very intriguing
I like the way it gives you a twist when you actually think that there is someone real that is stalking her but a lot of scenes were cut out and that is what makes the movie a burial into the moritorium of movies. Other than that if I could just get my hands on an original uncut version that woud be fine too.Thank's..

Not Uncut
I bought this movie because of a still of the movie that I downloaded recently of Heather Graham sitting on the face of some guy. But when I watched this dvd I noticed to my horror that this particular scene had been edited out. I find this strange as the dvd is R rated.
A complete waste of my money and there's nothing I can do about it.

Not Uncut - beware
I bought this movie because of a still of the movie that I downloaded recently of Heather Graham sitting on the face of some guy. But when I watched this dvd I noticed to my horror that this particular scene had been edited out. I find this strange as the dvd is R rated.
A complete waste of my money and there's nothing I can do about it. ... Read more

Reviews (73)

Surprisingly delightful!
I had my reservations about this film because of all the negative reviews I read about it, but I love Chris Kattan, so I decided to give it a chance. I was surprisingly delighted in this hilarious movie! "Citizen Kane" it's not, but it's not supposed to be either. It's a zany, bizarre and totally "out there" kind of movie, and escapism at it's best! It doesn't use the standard formula of most movies either (a refreshing change!), and I found the story and plot very original. Chris Kattan is hilarious in his role (my sides were aching from laughing so much) and Brendan Fraser proves once again that he can take on a myriad of roles with ease.

The opening sequence with the cartoon is probably the "wierdest" scene in the movie and I almost turned it off right there (thinking that the rest of the movie would follow in the same manner), but sheer curiosity kept me watching. The visuals are also quite impressive and lend a certain "Beetlejuice" meets "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to them. This is a fun movie through and through. Worth a "rent" at least!

Monkeybone A Cult Masterpiece
I have found that the people that like this movie are usually the ones with a stroke of creativity in their blood...people that can actually relate to Stu. Being an illustrator myself I found a lot of truth behind this film about a man and his psychological baggage. The characters real and fictional are very well developed and the movie moves along at a pace that really kept me interested and involved. If you liked the movie, the DVD is well worth acquiring for all the special features. My favorite extra's were the extended scenes, explaining a lot of plot development in further detail. The animation is great, the story is great, the characters are great. I don't know what creative person can sit through this movie without wanting to buy their own Monkeybone doll. I researched and found a copy of Kaja Blackley's graphic novel "Dark Town" upon which the movie is based, and found it just as fascinating. Only problem now is dealing with the fact that only #1 out of a 12 volume series was published...and I'm left with only the movie in its completion!

Used to hate it and now I love it.
I saw Monkeybone when it was in theaters without knowing what it was even about. My impression at the time was that it was a wierd and stupid movie with no point. I recently found it for $5 so I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. Everyone I know hates this movies or has not seen it, but I now think this is a wonderful movie.

Stu Miley (Brendan Frasier) has just launched his new animated character Monkeybone, created from Stu's repressed sexual anxi