First off, Robot Chicken is the ultimate parody show. There are no real story lines. The episodes consist completely of various parody skits and sketches. The sketches last 6-7 minutes tops. Most of them only last a few seconds to a minute! They animators use only toys and clay figures which, in my opinion, adds to the hilarity. And it's packed with senseless violence that shames even Mortal Kombat. Batman, Robin, the Mario Brothers, Brittany Spears, N'Sync, Hillary Duff, Fred Flintsone, the Little Drummer Boy, The Nutcracker and even Cap'n Crunch and Tony the Tiger have all been brutally killed by the twisted creators of the show. So often the violence is completely pointless. For example, in one skit we see a trio of kids enjoying their "Phillis Diller Spray n Play" sprinkler. Suddenly, the sprinkler goes haywire and kills all three of the kids in completely disgusting manners that left me breathless from laughing so hard. The tentacles on the sprinkler impale one kid's chest, rip the shin off the second kid and tear open the head of the third kid. In another skit, a granny fights her fellow senior citizens in a massive nursing home for absolutely no reason. Nothing is safe from the geniuses behind the show. They even find ways to make children's franchises such as the Carebears and Clifford the Big Red Dog excessively violent. There's way too much to even go to detail on but if you like senseless violence and carnage, this show is for you!


I love this freaking comedy! It is the most funniest Adult Swim series since "The Boondocks". I love the "Transformers-Optimus Prime dies of prostate cancer" skit. I love the "The Robot Chicken Half Assed Christmas Special" last Christmas 2007. I really love "The Robot Chicken Star Wars Special". My most favorite was the "I'm so happy cause I'm a Gummy Bear" skit. You will be rolling around the floor laughing until you pee your pants. Watch this show and you will be satisfied...with constant laughing.

Warning!: This cartoon may have some inappropriate scenes in their skits like the ones I mentioned above. This Adult Swim people. Not Nick, Jr.


Hilarious, hysterical, violent, satire.. These are just some of the words I use to describe Robot Chicken. I love the style of Robot Chicken, how it uses stop-motion animation and turn it into something random and violent. I love how it satires movies, and sometimes recent events.

The only thing that would make me offended by the show is if they made a parody of Hurricane Katrina, but I still wouldn't stop watching the show. I love how when someone screams, their eyes are wide and their mouth. It goes good with the show. I also love how people in the show seem so violent for absolutely no reason such as the Flintstones sketch. It was so random how Fred killed everyone for no reason. I also love the sketch of Scooby Doo and Jason. It was just so funny, also in the end when Velma loses her virginity to him.

I recommend this episode if you love shows that satires everything. I also recommend it if you like random violence on shows.


I used to subscribe to Toyfare magazine and one of my favorite sections of ANY magazine was "Twisted Toyfare Theatre". I always wished they would do an animated show...Then recently a friend asked if I had seen "Robot Chicken" because it was "right up my ally". What a great surprise!!! Seth Green too!!! Each episode is packed with little skits that is set up like watching T.V. with someone else flipping endlessly through the channels, sometimes sticking to one channel long enough to "get involved", and flipping again. Brilliant! Even the split second skits are hilarious. Definitely designed for adults. I would recommend this to anyone that is a fan of The Simpson's, Futurerama, Ren & Stimpy, Southpark, Star Wars, The Smurfs, and SO MANY other shows that Robot Chicken spoofs - It's animated action figures & toys!!! Picture Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, Mario & Wario, Speed Racer & more all racing in The Cannonball Run!!! With Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise doing voice-overs!!! Mario Brothers stumble into Vice City (from Grand Theft Auto) and trade the go-cart for a "Pimped ride"!! By far the best is when Darth Vader calls the Emperor after the Death Star has just been destroyed - "what's an aluminum falcon?!" & "oh! just build another one - who's gonna finance that-You?!!" Words are not enough - you just have to see it!!!


This shows has no plot line outside of a mad scientist who forces a home-made robotic chicken to watch random TV clips. It's all done in stop-motion animation and uses popular cartoon characters and toys from the late seventies and early eighties. The skits could be anything from a parody of a movie or TV show, a fake commercial, or just random events (presumably TV shows as the robot chicken is being forced to view a multitude of TV screens at the opening of every episode). The humor is often dark, dealing with subjects like psychosis, murder, terminal illness, abuse, rape, the awkwardness of adolescence, and violence in general, but the writers are not above making light of even that.

One memorable skit involved the three possible endings to a story in which an abusive husband murders his wife as his son and the Tooth Fairy listen in from the child's bedroom, at the end of which a parade of characters comes into the boy's room with banners proclaiming and celebrating it as the darkest sketch in television history. While the humor is definitely not clean in nature, it's appealing to older adolescents and adults, particularly those who grew up with the toys and cartoons they most often utilize in the show (transformers, thundercats, rainbow bright, smurfs, scooby doo, gi joe, etc.).


Robot Chicken is a show that thrives upon incongruities, beginning from its seemingly-nonsensical frame story: a mad scientist finds a dead chicken lying on a road during the middle of a thunderstorm and brings it back to life through robot parts, only to force it to watch endless TV clips. This introduction precedes every episode, and it is the short sketches that comprise the actual show.

The show itself is sketch comedy, acted out through stop-motion: plastic toys, various props, toy vehicles, and intricately-decorated miniature sets. The sketches themselves are hit-and-miss; depending on your tastes, you may find an extremely amusing sketch followed by one that fails to amuse. The fortunate aspect of the show is that the sketches are so short and frantic (anywhere from five seconds to, rarely, several minutes in length) that dropped jokes are soon swept from memory. The odds that each episode will contain at least a couple of 'personal' gems is quite high.

Robot Chicken is not for everyone: some of the humor is rather mature, occasionally toeing the line between edgy and tasteless. Still, the astute social commentary (or utter randomness) and merciless skewering of popular culture/celebrity make for a highly underrated and amusing show.


I love non-sequitur humor. There's nothing like watching Peter Griffin pop off, "Like that one time..." or watching Cartman say something stupid again. Robot Chicken has some of the best non-sequitur humor I've ever watched or heard, only Family Guy ranks higher in the non-sequitur humor. There's really no plot in Robot Chicken. Seth Green (Austin Powers Trilogy, Family Guy) voices many of Robot Chicken characters (along with a bunch of cameo appearances by celebrities) in random skits. For example in one scene you see a snail riding a turtle exclaiming, "WEEEEEE!". The next scene could be something as random. You really never know hat to expect while watching this show. Robot Chicken is a great show to watch when you just want to kick back and watch something on TV without having to think that much about the plot. Five stars!


Robot Chicken is simply hilarious.The show is written by Seth Green, who I didn't really find funny as an actor, but as a writer, he is simply hilarious.This show is almost as funny as family guy.Like family guy, it has plenty of pop culture references.It is much more raunchier and f-ed up than family guy was.The show is 15min long(two episodes a night play on Teletoon) and basically involves a series of short stop-motion skits.Some are simply hilarious, the others are just plain random.There have been very few bad ones.If you like shows in the vein of Family Guy, you will love Robot CHicken!

10/10


Robot Chicken is one of, if not the funniest show on television right now, and yet most people I know have never even heard of it. The show mocks everyone and everything. I think that because of it's relative obscurity on adult swim it's overshadowed by Family Guy and South Park(both of which I also love). Some of the skits are absolutely hysterical, especially the where are they now with Michael Moore and the Unsolved Murder Cases. Maybe these are funny to me because they use characters from my childhood that have all but been forgotten. Aside from the comedy aspect of the show which is actually the only aspect of it, is the staggering list of guest stars this show has. It is on par with the tonight show for the number and the status of the guest stars they produce. In summation do not overlook this show, especially if you can remember TV from the mid-80's to early 90's.


There are only a few shows that i absolutely hate. One is Mind Of Mencia. This show is another.

The jokes (if you can call them that) are uncreative and could easily make people stupid. That isn't a joke. The only thing they seem to think is funny are crotch hitting jokes, terrible puns, and fart jokes. How is any of that funny?

The only plot to this show is a newly cyborg chicken is forced to watch random and crudely written sketches.

This show is so absolutely horrendous that i would rather play ET for the Atari or watch Manos: Hands of Fate than watch this show. At least their creators admit to not putting any time or effort into those. The 60 titles they came up with for this show seems like the only effort they put in. Even those potential titles sucked.

It's astonishing that people love this show. It has almost the same amount of viewers as Family Guy. At least that show has a plot and is funny. With shows expertly written like Boondocks on Adult Swim there is no excuse as to why this show is so popular. Maybe if you're a casual TV watcher and don't know good writing or story lines, then you will love this show and think all of the pop culture references are funny. The only other excuse to liking this show is that you must be high or have lost a lot of brain cells from constant drug use.

Coming from someone who has no life and watches over 6 hours of TV a night. The show is so bad that i leave the house to walk 2 miles both ways to the gas station at 1 am (my time). Do not waste your time. You could be doing something much more productive like cleaning or watching Ernest movies. His movies are Citizen Kane compared to this garbage. This is one of the worst and unfunny shows ever in the history of TV and is a good reason this site needs scores under zero. If you have any intelligence, do not waste your time on this crap.


This is probably the best show I have ever seen. With great actors various voices it makes for a wonderful way to spend 12 minutes. This show features skits anywhere from 3 seconds, to 5 minutes. The creators of this show use action figures for frame by frame animation. They simply draw mouths on the faces to move them. They frequently make fun of old people, Optimus Prime, Keanu Reeves and a whole bunch of kids shows. When I first saw this, I laughed so hard that I had to turn it off! This is simply the funnies junk I have EVER SEEN!!! Seth Green is a shear genius. Some of the guest voices are Seth MacFarlane, Amy Smart, Macauley Culkin, Phil LeMarr. The show mainly focuses on ironic humor and unexpected twists that frequently uses wrecking balls. haha. The show gets TV ratings anywhere from PG to MA. Some of them are very tasteless, but funny nevertheless. Some are as profane as southpark and have as much sexual content as sex and the city. And some are no worse than the simpsons. So if you are easily offended, this show is not for you. I rate this a 10 out of 10 in my book. Sheer comic masterpieces.


"Robot Chicken" is basically a string of unrelated "skits," featuring children's action figures being manipulated into zany and irreverent situations. The concept, in theory, is hilarious. Anyone who has stolen their sister's Barbies and produced a girl-on-girl porno/suspense/horror flick will clamor to get a peek at this program; however, the end product just doesn't pay off.

Have you ever heard someone tell a story that seems funny enough, but you just can't get into it all the way? The person just keeps on talking, snickering at himself from time to time, and after a while, you just start to think, "it's funny, but who really cares?" "Robot Chicken," much like the film "Team America," is a prime example of novelty comedy; but again, much like "Team America," "Robot Chicken's" novelty wears off quickly, and sooner or later, you realize that if it weren't a bunch of action figures, it would be utterly unwatchable.


Robot Chicken is the 2005 series made my awesome comedians Seth Green and Matthew Senrich. The show is 10 minutes of what is available on the television from spoofs on reality TV to the discovery channel. The show is fantastic for its random and clever humour that has made it famous and liked all around the world. The show has maintained itself in the 3 seasons it has gone for and while not going for long has shown great potential. This should go down in the same line as Family Guy and American Dad and while it will not win any Oscars (It has won awards though) it is a worth while show. Overall the show is great and I hope it goes on for years to come. The show has just reached 50 episodes and I hope it gets to 100. I rate this show 84%.


I'm usually pretty cynical about cheesy movies but this movie absolutely floored me. Drew Barrymore was phenomenal playing role of Julia Sullivan. I've seen the movie at least 30 times by now and her expressions still make me cry, they're just so sincere. I don't know how else to put it. As for Adam Sandler I think that this is his best role yet, he's a real person in this movie not just some overgrown immature goofball. On top of everything it's a brilliant 80s satire, for me its right up there with American Psycho. I understand why someone would have reservations about watching this movie but my advice would be to put your cynicism aside for a couple of hours and just watch with an uncritical mind. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.


A little known fact about me is that I'm a big fan of fluffy romantic comedies. Why wouldn't you want to spend 90 minutes or so watching a film; laughing and ultimately feeling good at the end of it? I don't consider fluffy romance films to be at the absolute top of cinema, but they're good fun, and therefore get a thumbs up from me. The Wedding Singer, however, gets not one thumb up; but both thumbs, firmly, up. So, why does The Wedding Singer succeed more than most films in it's sub genre? Is it the jokes? The beautiful female lead? The gratuitous helping of 80's pop songs? No, it's that this movie has a lot of heart; that's what makes it a winner.

Adam Sandler stars as the quintessential 'loser'. He's a wedding singer, and not a very good one either. He specialises in doing terrible covers of 80's songs. It's not the sort of act that I would want at my wedding. His life gets worse one day, his wedding day, to be exact, when someone doesn't turn up. The bride, that is. Now in a deep spiral of depression, our hero doesn't see any way forward. His next gig is a washout and there's love all around him; even his newfound friend, the cute little waitress that works at the same place as him is getting married. And to a man who doesn't deserve her, I might add. I don't think I really need to tell you what comes next, but even though it's a predictable ride; trust me, it's a ride you want to be on.

Adam Sandler tends to be a very annoying actor; and for that reason he is almost universally disliked, but it is undeniable that he is good in this movie. Nobody else could have given the character what Sandler gave him; his performance is both entertaining and believable, and therefore is just right for the movie. Drew Barrymore was also perfectly cast. She is the perfect girl in this movie; all smiles and sunshine, and it's impossible not to fall in love with her. The movie also features great little turn from Steve Buscemi, who provides the film with one of it's funniest moments towards the start.

As mentioned; The Wedding Singer has a lot of heart. From the way that the characters interact with each other, particularly Sandler and Barrymore, it is obvious that they are in love. The movie also has some points to make on the subject of love; The Wedding Singer portrays that being in love is overall better than being a 'Fonz' type, womanising character. The message at the movie's centre is also a worthwhile one; the movie professes that it isn't important who you fall in love with; it doesn't matter whether or not he's merely a wedding singer, all that matters is the love between two people. The movie says that love is all you need; and that is a worthwhile message in any movie. The movie's message is lost somewhat under the barrage of jokes; but it's most certainly there and I for one think that it's a shame that a movie that is entertaining and funny can't be considered in the same league as other, more serious movies with a similar message.

Overall, The Wedding Singer is at the very top of the romantic comedy genre. It will make you laugh, and you will ultimately feel for the characters. The fact that this movie has something to say is only another reason to recommend it; especially as it says it with a great big smile on it's face. The Wedding Singer is not a film that you will want to miss; it's feel-good at it's best.


To repeat a theme, I'm not a big fan of Adam Sandler, but I love this movie.

Robbie Hart is a genuinely likable character; he's a person I would like to have as a friend, and he's a performer I would gladly hire to sing at my OWN wedding (Sandler also seems completely comfortable with his character, while even Drew Barrymore sometimes sounds like she's merely reciting written dialogue). Yes, he's a capital-R Romantic, but that seems like a strong qualification for someone who makes his living at other people's weddings. I like the whole idea of a romantic comedy being set behind the scenes of the whole wedding game, and some of the most telling scenes involve Robbie guiding Julia through the preparations with an insider's eye.

Probably the funniest parts of the movie (to me) are those that play to Robbie's broken heart; it's probably the best depiction of the depression of the newly-dumped I've ever seen (in particular, I love the "Kill Me Please" song). Hey, I've been there.

This all being said, however, I think the touch-all-the-landmarks-of-the-mid-'80s approach gets awfully heavy-handed at times. The musical choices, though, were excellent.


The Wedding Singer and Punch Drunk Love standout from typical Sandler movies is two important ways. 1) The humor is subtler in these movies, and Sandler is much more subdued. 2) Critics actually like these two movies.

The Wedding Singer is a pretty average romantic story that wins because of funny performances and the ever elusive "chemistry" between Sandler and Barrymore. This was the first movie that taught me what romantic chemistry was. While you're watching it you not only want the characters Robbie and Julia to get together, but you want Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore to get together. The chemistry is that strong. A reason people, especially guys, don't like romance movies is because often the love between the leads seem contrived and forced. Thankfully, the Wedding Singer steers clear from that, and actually allows you to have an emotional stake in the characters.

Sadly, the movie is slightly forgettable, as it merely succeeds in its goals but fails to impress. However, it's great fun while it lasts and you'll always have a fond, if somewhat faded, memory of the movie.


Adam Sandler (a Wedding Singer) and Drew Barrymore (a waitress) first meet at someone else's wedding. They soon meet again, when Barrymore is making plans for her own wedding (to a total jerk), even though deep inside she feels that she's "settling" for security without true love. Meanwhile Sandler finds out about the two-timing bozo, when the groom-to-be brags about his adventures with every sexy girl that comes along. Secretly in love with Barrymore, Sandler eventually sweeps her off her feet.

Look for a great cameo appearance by Billy Idol. The air plane "proposal" is a sweet highlight, you'll love it! The soundtrack (all hits of the mid 80s) is a nice touch, too. From "Love Stinks" to "99 Luftballoons" it's all there. -- This is my favorite Adam Sandler movie. Treat yourself to a bag-a-laughs and a few mushy moments, this is top entertainment!


Adam Sandler plays Robbie Hart, a wedding singer with only enough money to get by. He was going to get married, but Linda, his fiancé', doesn't show up, and finally confronts him saying that she was having second thoughts. Drew Barrymore plays Julia Sullivan, a shy girl engaged to the wrong man. They meet when Julia is waitressing at the place Robbie works at. They are instantly friends and get along quite well.

This simple plot is expanded by the great and memorable characters and the actors who portray the roles. It is funny and has plenty of memorable lines. And if this isn't enough for you to shout "WAHOO!" the chemistry between Julia and Robbie is right on and I'm surprised they aren't dating in real life. This is a great romantic comedy so just watch it without any questions! It has become one of my favorites.


I've said it before,Adam Sandler does not do great films.He merely wants to entertain us.Though there are times when he has failed miserably,this is not the case with The Wedding Singer.While it does showcase Sandler's usual juvenile humor,this is by far his most likable character,even to date,and the chemistry between him and Drew Barrymore is undeniable. Though this film is not flawless by any means,it is funny and charming just the same.


Adam Sandler stars as a hopeless romantic in this warm and witty comedy that co-stars Barrymore as Sandler's love interest. This one is a big surprise for me. It's the funniest of Sandler's films because he seems calmer than in his previous and recent efforts. He's connecting to a character here it's a nice one. Barrymore is quite lovely as Julia. She's actually adorable in the role and the conclusion to the film is one of the most creative endings of recent romantic comedies. Directed by Coraci, who with Sandler, followed this up with the hit "The Waterboy."


The Wedding Singer is the first Adam Sandler flick that guys can take their girlfriends to see. It is a nice (and funny) comedy about a guy (wedding singer Sandler) who has been dumped by his fiancee and is soon falls in love with (waitress) Drew Barrymore who is also engaged, but isn't in love either. It is a nice comedy that almost comes close to a romantic comedy. Steve Buscemi, Jon Lovitz, and best of all, Billy Idol. A+


This quirky film has everything- lots and lots of comedy, a nice touch of romance, some violence and a hint of sadness now and again. Oh and it also stars 2 of the most charming actors- Drew Barrymore, as Julia and Adam Sandler, as Robbie. Their on-screen chemistry is very remarkable to watch and their individual charm is most appealing. The movie is set in the 80's and is a great nostalgic piece for that time period- in all is cheesiness and glory! Sandler as the Wedding Singer will surprise you with his musical talents. And musicians who have run the gamut of various music-related jobs will have extra giggles. And of course Barrymore will dazzle you with her cuteness and poise. This movie will leave you in stitches! And a must see!!!


Yes I love The Wedding Singer. In fact it ranks among my favorite movies ever. I love this not so much for the story line, although Sandler and Barrymore are adorable together in this but rather the hysterical return to life in the 80's. Since I am a child of the 80's(and retain many a fond memory of that time period) every time I watch this movie it brings me back. This movie is best watched among a group of your closest 80's friends. It is a comedy classic and my only beef with it is it makes me miss the 80's so much!

Basically, I love this movie! Nothing more nothing less. Wedding Singer is among my top 20 favorite movies ever-one of the best comedies and GREAT music as well! The best of the eighties music(and I do count "you spin me round" as one of them!) This movie pays tribute to a great time period and retains a place in my heart as both sweet/sentimental and roll on the floor funny. Watch it if you haven't, you will be hysterical. Oh man do I miss the 80's!!!!


I don't care how many times I've seen this movie. It's still one of the greatest, albeit oft-played, films Adam Sandler has ever been in.

Unlike most Adam Sandler movies, he doesn't have to rely on his character being goofy. The rest of the cast does that well enough... that's part of the appeal of this movie.

The main reason I can honestly say why people like this movie (especially me) is because it has humor and an element of romance as well... let's also not forget that this was set in 1985; that gives the cast an excuse to dress like a flashback.

The best part about the movie is that it wasn't inconclusive, negative or too sexually driven.

I totally recommend this movie.

10/10


This film is amazing.

I'm not a very emotive person when it comes to films as I know that it's all fictional but Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore do make a believable couple. When Sandler sings to Barrymore at the end of the film, the way she portrays her reaction makes me feel how she must feel. Sandler portrays some-one in love extremely well, when he's singing to her he looks at her as if she's the only person on the whole plane which just sums up what love is really. This film is romantic, its entertaining, its fun. Best of all, even though were in 2006 I don't feel this film is out of date even though it's set in 1985.

Best film I have ever seen by far.


This is one of the few Sandler films that I actually really love. I'm not a huge fan of his comedy, but this movie has something else. It has a heart at it's core. It's funny, yes, very much so. I laugh really hard every time I see it, but at the same time, I love the love story. It's sweet, not gross. It's over the top, but at the same time, it's based on the characters. It's a movie that is made great by having an amazing cast making well written characters come to life, and this is in big part because Sandler and Drew have amazing chemistry. It's one of those movies that puts a smile on face, and a stitch in your side. Major A+ material.


For those of us who look back fondly at a decade of dodgy hairstyles, gaudy colours and the reign of Michael Jackson and Madonna, this is the perfect film! It has the capacity to induce laughter, tears, boos and cheers. Adam Sandler (Robbie Hart) takes on the unusual role of a sensitive idealist (as opposed to his usual obnoxious but funny and somehow redeeming characters) and Drew Barrymore plays the delightful Julia with the charm that she never fails to bring to the screen.

There are hilarious scenes that echo the usual wedding reception capers, with a fantastic and unforgettable performance of a camp Boy George tribute! Although it is entirely predictable it is nevertheless a heartwarming film that serves to remind us that the enduring love and companionship that a marriage is really about is far more important than a glitzy, elaborate wedding.


Oh come on!!! Even if you hate chick flicks this is a hilarious film that has something for everybody This is a masterclass of Adam Sandler at his best, some might say he is a spent force, some might say he was never funny. I might agree with my first comment but this film pulls on the old heartstrings and makes you want to go visit the mens room because it makes you laugh out loud!!! As much as i hate to hate to say it; i have based my whole philosophy of love on this film and have found the woman of my dreams because of it ( with none of the corny 80's music involved!!!) Laugh out loud funny and a chick flick, what else could you need to impress the possible future Mrs or Mr in you're life?!?? It will go down as an absolute classic in my top 10 films


I thought this was a great movie. Having been a member of a wedding band in the 1980's, it brought back great memories of the music, the fashions and the overall aura of that era. Oh my God, the gaudy wedding gowns the screen brides wore. Back then you just couldn't get enough beads or sequins on a gown. Check out the Miami Vice references. The 1980's was definitely the Me decade. I think this is one of Adam Sandler's best performances in a movie. His character had some depth. He and Drew Barrymore seemed like they had some great on screen chemistry going on too. She is just cute as a button in this role. If you want lighthearted fare and lots of laughs, this movie is for you. I hear it's being made into a Broadway show as well. Wish I still lived in New York to be able to go see it.


This is my personal favorite movie of all time. I like just about about every Adam Sandler movie that there is. But the main reason I like this movie so much is the 80's theme. Also, I myself am a big karaoke fan and this has the similarities that go along with that. Also I love 80's music. And romantic comedies are also among my favorites. So this almost has it all for me. The only thing that I would have liked more about it was better music and better comedy. The 80's songs that were selected were not really all the biggest hits. I would have added a Madonna song because of Christine Taylor's character trying to copy her. Also as a comedy film, this isn't as funny as say "Anger Management" or "Billy Madison". But the sum of the parts equal a great whole.


This has to be my all-time favorite,it's just pure brilliance,i've watched it a countless number of times and it gets better and better every time, the dialogue is just hilarious and the slightly predictable ending is just heart-warming!!!Contains an excellent soundtrack and Adam Sandler does an excellent job as Robbie Hart, the singer. A great performance also came from Drew Barrymore as the waitress Julia Sullivan and cousin Holly Sullivan was portrayed well by Christine Taylor. The complete plot of the story is very original and hard to find in any other film which once again adds to the excellence of this classic. This film is definitely in my top five of favorites and in my opinion deserves more recognition and credit for its excellence.


I can watch this movie over and over. The storyline is predictable but so cute. There are so many little added touches that can make you laugh time and time again (remember "you suuuuuck!!" in the opening scene?).... It's particularly a trip for those of us who are truly "children of the 80s."


I really enjoyed this movie! The movie had a good storyline and it was hilarious. I'm partial to this movie because I grew up in the 80's and it brought me back to the music, fashion and fads! This is a great romantic comedy!


this was a great funny movie but it wasnt Adam Sandler's best movie. Overall it was a great movie for everyone, funny andromantic, it had me laughing thru most of the whole movie, i personally liked Adam Sandler best in Big Daddy or Happy Gilmore, i havent seen Mr. Deeds yet but it does look hilarious


While this may not be Adam Sandler's best movie in terms of pure comedy, it is his best all-around movie. In addition, the casting for this movie was superb. Drew Barrymore is amazing as Julia, Christine Taylor is perfect as Holly, Allen Covert's portrayal of Sammy is great, and the cameos were well thought out, too.


Strictly, I don't go for really cheesy films, but this one's so offbeat that it makes my list of all-time favourite films. Every time I see it, I forget how funny and romantic it is, and how good I feel inside when they get together. Bit sad... stupid...? Yes, maybe, but I totally love this movie. Adam Sandler is fantastic - so sweet, but also hilariously (makes-you-feel) sympathetic when he gets mad at his ex-fiance in the song he shows Julia. The ending is just how all films should end. The soundtrack is irresistable, and Sandler's singing very good and truly gorgeous. Drew Barrymore is so sweet and beautiful, and still remains my favourite female actress. You have to see it to love it! (obviously)


i found this movie incredibly entertaining! this is probably the best Adam Sandler film i've ever watched. but huge fans of Sandler would probably be disappointed because there is no gross or wild comedy in here. clean fun!

and 10 brownie points for the music. eighties music never looked so good! this is a very good movie with sweet comedic scenes. and yes, Adam Sandler singing his lungs out. i absolutely recommend watching it for a good time!


This will always be Adam Sandler's best movie, period. While some of he humor was really dated and sappy, the overall context made this a hilarious look at what pop culture used to be. Sandler and Drew Barrymore have consistently displayed incompetent moments of acting in their careers, they both had a sensibility which seemed real and beside themselves. I especially loved all of the bad 80s references, which added some reality to what a call a biopic of the 1980s (which also proves to be one the most turbulent decades fashion wise). A good film to keep a part of the collection.


I have no idea why but I like this movie. There are so many obvious mistakes in it, but the simplicity and sweetness of the story make up for the horrible outfits that Drew Barrymores character, Julia wears. Nothing about her said 1985 to me, the year in which this movie takes place. Robbie's friend, Sammy, wears a jacket identical to what Michael Jackson wore in his Thriller era, and I really think that any guy, (at least over 14) that wore this kind of jacket in 1985 would in no way be cool. And what is with the almost whispered lines? In any scene where Robbie isn't singing his voice is so quiet and low. The acting was terrible, except for Christine Taylor and a few others and Drew Barrymore needs to learn a new accent. Other than these faults I can't help but like this movie.


Adam Sandler seems to be a very popular guy in America. It seems that the Americans truly adore men that portray overgrown kids and act like idiots for 90 minutes. With the exception of, for instance, ´There is something about Mary´ I have yet to laugh once while watching these exercises in psychological torture. But...

I actually liked the Wedding Singer. I don´t know how, but Adam Sandler managed to make this film funny and even lovable. I suppose it is the simple fact that he plays an ordinary guy and the jokes aren´t of the usual ´man-falls-on-womans-breasts´ kind.

I have no idea why, but I actually would give this 6/10. I rented it for 1$ and, to my great surprise, it was worth it.


The Wedding Singer is a very funny movie! Adam Sandler is hysterical as an 80's wedding singer that gets dumped by his girlfriend the day of their wedding and finds a new interest on a waitress (Drew Barrymore.) She, however, is already engaged to a sleazy lady's man. They are become closer and look very cute together. This movie is far from the gross laughs that Adam Sandler is used to getting. He actually makes this movie a family movie. It's full of some great laughs from characters seen in many of his previous movies. A cute must-see.


I love this movie. It's one of the few romantic comedies that work. Simply because you really want Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore to get together. They have such wonderful chemistry together. Plus the characters they play are so likable. My respect for Adam Sandler stems from this movie. Not very many male comedians can show enough versatility to do a romantic movie. Plus I love 80's music. Highly recommend to all.


I just watched the DVD of this movie and loved it. A doesn't-take-itself-to-seriously romp of a true story about basketball point shaving in the early 90's. Krumholtz is fantastic (as usual). Ernest Dickerson does a great job. And the script is sharp. Big props to FX these days for doing some colorful stuff. If your interested in seeing a made for cable movie that attempts, and often succeeds, at doing something special... check this one


Yes, this film is made for cable and yes, they could have spent a little more on production. But the first time I saw it, I didn't know it was made for cable. I bought the DVD (had to order it because nobody carries it) and still find it pretty entertaining.

Benny Silman (played exceptionally well by David Krumoltz) takes up book making in college and gets more than he asked for. He ends up in a basketball points shaving scheme at Arizona State University that makes him rich. Yeah, the money is easy but greed soon turns the tables on Benny and his less than reputable business partners. The film has a good message, is relatively clean and has great script and actors. It does, however, leave you wanting a little more since it IS made for T.V. Still, I'm happy to own it and I watch it at the start of every college basketball season and maybe a couple of other times throughout the year.

I kind of hope they don't remake it as it would probably fall victim to overproduction, which seems to be the theme in Hollywood these days.


Don't know why you've given so low score to this movie.... eventhough it's for tv only i think it's one of the most serious movies of the new generation it deals with the most scary subject of our ages "EASY MONEY" I've just loved it...... give to "Big shot" a second shot plz

c ya :D


Hmmm, after reading the others' comments on "Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie", I am wondering if they really watched the same movie. Characters are the same, events are the same, even the silly cardboard cut-outs in the "big game" scene are the same.

So why would these people take the time to write glowing reviews of a boringly predictable moral tale?

Answer 1: Novices. Perhaps these people have never witnessed a "moving picture" before and are very impressed simply by the illusion of movement across large white screens (or glowing dots of light if they're watching on a television). Perhaps they have never experienced any of the thousands of children stories that show a protagonist doing something ethically questionable and then regretting it in the end (ie, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", "King Midas", "The Godfather", or any story involving getting wishes).

Answer 2: Friends of the movie. Perhaps these people either worked on the movie or are somehow associated with people with interests in the movie.

To keep with the movie's theme, I'm giving 3:2 odds on the latter.

Okay, the review (skipping a summary as you can read that elsewhere): From the opening scene, the protagonist, Benny (ably played by Numb3rs' star David Krumholtz), tells us this is the story of how he came to regret his current state. This swift reveal also destroys much of the opportunity this movie had to keep us engaged. Instead of letting us discover what happens, we already know how it's going to turn out. There's a fourth act and a bizarre epilogue as well, but I'll get to that later.

Benny's sidekicks are capably but predictably played as your basic NYC stereotypes. Benny's girlfriend is decently portrayed by "House" star Jennifer Morrison. The other bookies, bad-guys, and the basketball star (Tory Kittles) are again simple characters marking simple stereotypes. While better actors could have squeezed something out of the characters, there was clearly nothing in the script for them to work with.

One interesting note is the excessive use of body-mounted cameras. These shots are used to portray various intense moods of Benny, but are so used that they get very annoying. Instead of hitting the same note on the piano, let the DP use other tricks, please. Other than that, the look and style was decent for an ultra-low budget film.

But for a movie that indulges so much in the coarse pleasures of life (drugs, violence, strip-clubs, etc.), I am amazed at the lack of female eye-candy in this film. This is made especially more painful from the tease of the establishing sequence of why Benny chose to come to Arizona in the first place. Even the titty-bar shuns nudity (the girls are all wearing bikinis or silly-looking pasties). Sure, this was a made-for-TV movie, but it's already rated R. Truly sad is the decision to make an exploitation movie and not have any exploitation.

While the occasional breaking of the fourth wall (where the Benny talks directly into the camera during a scene a la "Malcolm in the Middle") is amusing, the near constant use of voice-over narration to explain, re-explain, and re-re-explain the plot is not only overkill, it's downright insulting. I paused the movie eight times to cool down before I finally finished it. Had I been in a theater I would have simply walked out.

And if the painfully clear moral of the film wasn't drop-dead obvious enough, after the out-of-no-where fourth act comes an epilogue. In this final bit, the real Benny Silverman talks directly to the audience (think "Blow"), re-re-re-repeating the moral, insisting for the audience to never do what he did (what? and never get a movie made about your life?).

It's like paying to hear a rich drug addict preach about not doing drugs. For me, the message is clear: I want my money back!


I found this 25-minute Harold Lloyd short to be better and better as it went on. As with a number of silent film comedy shorts, it starts slow and finishes fantastically. This was great not just in the end from the halfway point on, filled with numerous nonsense. It reminded of many Three Stooges films in which the boys wind up in some hotel or house or castle where guys are trying to scare them off with skeleton outfits, gorillas, etc. Those are always funny, and so is this movie. Maybe it inspired some of that Stooges lunacy in the next decade.

Here, Harold - to get the girl, naturally - has to do something: in this case, visit a haunted mansion, where a few people are waiting to scare him away. Hey, that was better than trying to kill himself, which he unsuccessfully did in some humorous scenes in the first half of the movie.

Overall: good laughs.


This Harold Lloyd short film is very funny indeed! You cannot watch this short without laughing at something every 30 seconds!

But before I comment on this hilarious short, I disagree with the fact that this is racist. This is because F Gwynplaine MacIntyre says that the title of this movie is meant to be a racial pun: 'spooks' being a 1920s slang term for Negroes. This is, in my opinion, extremely pointless to note for this when watching this film! This is because that the film's 'spooks' are supposed to be the uncle, played by Wallace Howe, who is trying to scare the Girl, played by Milfred Davies, who has just married to the Boy, played by Lloyd. Therefore, the black servants have nothing to do with scaring them away, because they just hide behind curtains, get covered in flour after jumping in the flour, or hide in a huge pair of trousers, or caught the Uncle in disguise as a ghost!

Now I am going to discuss the film.

First of all, the casting list at the beginning of the film gives the first chuckle from the film by saying that the Girl had 'never-well,only once or twice..' and the Uncle is a 'man of sorts-we are not saying what sort'! Pretty funny... or what?

The Boy's suicide attempts are very funny too. From trying to shot himself with a water pistol, falling off a bridge over shallow water, to falling over another bridge into a boat, it's all great slapstick!

The scene in the mansion where the Boy, the Girl, and the servants run away from the 'spooks', hide behind curtains or in flour or trousers is all hilarious. I could not stop laughing at those antics!

The only criticism I have is the well appropriate score is performed in a midi format. But with a silent film to create mood without music is pretty hard. So there is nothing they could do about it when they released this onto an all-region DVD,which was were I watched it from.

Apart from that, the score for this film is fantastic. I especially enjoyed the piece of music when the Boy and Girl entered into the mansion for the first time. That was a great piece to suit the eerie mood of the place.

Also, I thought the Little Boy, played by Ernest Morrison, almost stole the show by creating the illusion of that table moving, hiding in the flour, which made him look like a ghost when he scrambled out of it, and creating that illusion with the big pair trousers really was hilarious. I was glad that Morrison went on to have a well-establsihed career until his death.

I could not agree with Spuzzum, I do wish Harold Lloyd would get more attention.While Keaton and Chaplin ruled the roost of silent comedies , Harold Lloyd is ignored like that. This is too bad, but he could do it all, prat falls, stuntwork, very subtle comedy and he was a great actor as well. Also nothings justifies this opinion any more then the 5-7 minutes of Haunted Spooks. This is because we see Lloyd as a suitor of a rich socialite competing with another suitor, and in this amazing montage, we see them ducking it out, with Lloyd easily getting the better hand of the frustrated suitor.

Overall, if I was to describe this film in three words they would be very funny indeed!


This short demonstrates all of Harold Lloyd's irreverence, his charm and his comic ability. Unfortunately, compared to others of his films, it does downplay his physical agility and he never finds the opportunity to climb a skyscraper.

The familiar setup is Harold's determination to meet the girl of his dreams and get married, coupled with the cliche of the heiress who must live up to the conditions of a will and visit a "haunted" mansion. Count on Lloyd to make the most of every opportunity for a laugh that comes his way.

Having seen this with a modern audience, I know that people today are distressed by the portrayals of African Americans in the film. That's really too bad, because the little black kid in this film proves himself a comedian easily on a par with Lloyd himself.


I in the process of watching or revisiting all of Lloyd's short and feature work and the first few shorts i've watched that i had not previous seen, most notably Number, Please?, have not seemed to have the inspired genius of his features, relying more on the tired run-fall down-slapstick violence and chases of the over-rated Keystone films and Roscoe Arbuckle. They certainly had good moments but were did not offer the Harold of the features.

In Haunted Spooks though we have a film that is ingenious, hilarious and inspired.

From a wonderful introduction to Harold (he's in frame a good 30 seconds before you see him, a truly brilliant reveal) the invention never lets up. The film could easily have sustained 4 reels or more, there is so much going on.

The highlight is a hilarious sequence where Harold, left suicidal by yet another rejection, tries to find ways to do the deed. The result of one attempt involving drowning is priceless and as funny a gag as Lloyd ever produced. Another involving the typical self-absorbed nature of people as a man pauses him in another attempt to ask for a light and then the time while failing to notice the circumstances is equally riotous. It is a gloriously dark vein of comedy for Lloyd, and one he would revisit, that brings to mind Keaton - who often got great fun out of the subject, perfectly demonstrating the fine line between tragedy and comedy.

Here Lloyd does the same perfectly. To so generally happy a character as Lloyd generally portrayed (in contrast to Keaton's more dour screen persona) is ought to be a sad moment (and is one Chaplin would have milked for sentiment) but the triumph of humour over the tragedy is his genius. I know some over-serious types find the subject distasteful but that is to miss the comment which is the fine line between tragedy and comedy, a subject all the finest of the silent comedians (Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton) understood well and exploited to wonderful effect.

Thankfully the overt ugly and lazy slapstick of violence and chases is largely missing here in favour of genuine laughs and ingenious devices. Bizarrely in the haunted house section of the film there is even a moment that evokes thoughts of FW Murnau's Nosferatu despite the fact that Lloyd's film pre-dates the German masterpiece by 2 years (and it's US premiere by 9).

Mildred Davis, Harold's future wife, is as delightful as always but it is Harold's maturing in comedic styles here that marks this out as a special piece. The only vague marring of the film is a racial stereotyping of the servants in the house - an unfortunate byproduct of the time that seen through modern eyes gains a more negative aspect - but we must remember the time in which the film was made and not judge too harshly for that - in fact Lloyd gives the moment of triumphant discovery to the butler, ably demonstrating his generosity in not always taking centre-stage (in fact Lloyd is missing from probably a quarter of the film entirely).

It is also interesting to note that the accident with a prop bomb which claimed index finger and thumb from his right hand and nearly killed him happened during production of Haunted Spooks, halting production for some months, and the prosthetic glove by wore to disguise this is first evident here. Indeed there are scenes clearly showing his real hand and others with the much lighter in colour prosthetic.

A must see for anyone who not only wants a good laugh but wants to see the mastery of Lloyd at his best in his shorts.


Harold loses the love of his life and wants to end it all.His all suicide attempts are failures.But he ends up marrying a pretty girl and ends up with her in a mansion that is spooked by a wicked uncle who wants to scare the young people away so he can have the place for himself.Alfred J. Goulding and Hal Roach are the directors of Haunted Spooks (1920).It's great to watch Harold Lloyd do his comedy.Mildred Davis is beautiful and brilliant as the girl.She would become Harold's real-life wife three years later.The film has lots of fun during its 25 minutes.It's awfully funny to watch Harold and Mildred in a car while those chicken and ducks peck him in the head.And comedy meets tragedy in all those suicide attempts.Lloyd sacrificed two of his fingers when a prop bomb exploded in his hand.What wouldn't Harold have done for comedy?


This plot-packed and enjoyable but, ultimately, minor Harold Lloyd short gained some unexpected notoriety when the great comedian was seriously injured in an explosion during a publicity stunt for the film which cost him the loss of two fingers and necessitated the installation of prosthetics.

It starts off with frequent Lloyd co-star (and future wife) Mildred Davis inheriting an estate - on the condition that she's married and that she stays on the premises for a whole year. Soon, her greedy relatives begin to scheme how to drive her out - but, first, her lawyer determines to find her a husband opting, naturally, on Harold (once again suicidal over a failed romance). This first half provides the film with many of its best moments, as the latter section - relocating to Mississippi - mainly resorts to some crude racist humor and overly familiar ghostly 'manifestations'.

This was my third time viewing the film - the first as an extra on Image's DVD of the Silent version of THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) and the second on TCM, as part of a Harold Lloyd marathon in anticipation of the release of this same 7-Disc collection, when I was in Hollywood late last year; actually, I liked it better this time around, hence I upped the rating from **1/2 (besides, back then, I wasn't as familiar with the star's short films as I am now)!


Dang, I wish Harold Lloyd would get more attention.

While the Keatons and Chaplins of the world get heralded, Harold Lloyd is unjustifiably ignored. Which is too bad, but he could do it all, pratfalls, stuntwork, very subtle comedy and he was a great actor as well.

Watching the first 5-7 minutes of Haunted Spooks justifies my opinion. We see him as a suitor of a rich socialite competing with another suitor, and in this amazing montage, we see them duking it out, with Lloyd easily getting the better hand of the frustrated suitor.

The movie then bizarrely goes into another less interesting movie where Lloyd marries this girl who has inherited a house. The two occupants (were they servants? This was'nt clear) decide to scare them off, which leads of course to misfired results.

Lloyd tries his best in this part of this generally weak movie, but really shines in the first 1/4 of the movie, where he really is amazing.


The film begins as Harold is trying to see a lady's father so he can ask her hand in marriage. He agrees, but Harold comes back to discover that she's in love with another, so he sets out to kill himself. This is the same maudlin and uncomfortable theme running through another Lloyd short, NEVER WEAKEN, and I think it was not particularly funny (is suicide ever really a funny topic?).

A lawyer finds Lloyd in this state and instead convinces him to marry a young lady sight unseen--because she must get married and live in a house in order to fulfill the conditions in a will. Unknown to him and his bride is the fact that some other family members are determined to scare away Harold and his bride--and thus get the inheritance themselves. This leads to a few laughs, but also some uncomfortable moments--as there were just too many scenes of intensely scared black people--a crappy stereotype from the era.

Apart from this problem, the film is a decent but not great Lloyd short since it's so contrived and has some cheap laughs. He certainly did better, but it's still good for a few laughs.


Here's something you don't see every day - a mobster movie that focuses on the evil of criminals, instead of their coolness. "Shanghai Triad" shows you how mob violence destroys the life of a gangster's moll and endangers her innocent, fresh-from-the-country servant. It's exactly the kind of story you wouldn't see in a Hollywood movie - which is, I suppose, why we watch this weird foreign stuff!

Gong Li is, as ever, forceful and compelling, with a role that's infinitely more interesting than what America's "lead" actresses usually get. She's very glamorous here, and totally unlike the peasant characters she played in "To Live" and several other films. What a wonderful, versatile actress.

The film's other strengths include gorgeous, award-winning cinematography, interesting point-of-view shots, and an effective shift from an urban to a country setting that's pulled off very smoothly. It's a shame that this is the last film that director Zhang Yimou and Gong Li made together, but at least it caps off their collaboration on a high note.


A young boy is brought to 1930's Shanghai from the countryside to be the manservant of a gang boss's mistress. The mistress (Gong Li) is a glamourous nightclub singer and a royal bitch. Soon after he arrives, the boy is witness to a power play in the underworld that results in the uncovering of lots of treachery and quite a bit of violence.

It's a nicely constructed story with good acting from everybody involved. It's fairly straightforward, but satisfying, and seeing the gang land activity from the perspectives of two outsiders makes it all the more interesting.

SHANGHAI TRIAD became my favourite Zhang Yimou film when I saw it some years ago, for the simple reason that it was one of the most beautiful films I'd seen. The production design, costumes, lighting and camerawork are all quite remarkable - creating stunning images from the opulence of Shanghai's nightclubs and mansions to the simplicity of the rural island where the second half of the film takes place.

Unfortunately, the R1 DVD fails to do the film justice. The colours are far too subdued, giving the film a rather lifeless look, and the demon of the digital age, Edge Enhancement, rears its ugly head again. The result looks rather like a VHS transfer, but I'd swear in court that the film looked a lot better on my UK VHS copy (mainly because of the colours). Poor Zhang Yimou, he hardly ever seems to get good representation on DVD.

The film is recommended for fans of Zhang Yimou or Gong Li, though without the vibrant cinematography the film wouldn't be ranked as his best by many people. If you've already got the film on VHS, it's not worth "upgrading" to the DVD though.


Gong-Li and film making partner Zhang Yimou have another fine hit; in a series that is beautiful filmmaking as well as one the government would find disapproving of the reality of triads.

She plays a "moll" , also a singing star triggering more than an ample reward for the conniving under bosses who would try to topple the boss.

Stunningly photographed and acted, maybe near the Hang Zhou coast (or a rare unfilled canal in Shanghai?) ... with his beautiful concubine, and the narrative device of a young male orphan as fellow observer; the Boss hits the mattresses due to an attempted murder from within; and retires to an island to discern the traitor giving orders to kill anyone who arrives or leaves the island without his permission.

Then the Boss waits, and Gong-Li idles no longer singing in the cabaret; and the "smoke out" begins.

Excellent poignant drama sensitively photographed.

As in all her films, and the directors, the people as bystanders and victims of any corruption is a subtle attended theme!


There has been way to much chatter about how beautiful this film is with its sumptuous sets, costumes, and magnificent photography. On the surface this looks like another gangster film, this time taking place in Shanghai. But of course, it isn't. The gangster scenario is just the backdrop really.

 Shuisheng, a boy of 14, has come to the city to serve the haughty and beautiful Xiao Jingbao, the nightclub singing moll of Tang, head of the most powerful gang in Shanghai.

 Shuisheng's uncle is a riot as he gives the boy a whacky set of instructions on how to be a proper servant to snobby Xiao, wonderfully played by Gong Li. "Call her 'Miss'. Follow her wherever she goes, not to far behind, and not to close. That's the rule. Hold her coat in your left hand and her hat in the right, but don't let the coat drag on the floor. That's the rule. Got it?" And the Shuisheng replies, "Got it." However, after "Miss" delights in calling him a country bumpkin, and chews him out a couple of times, (And why not, Shuisheng can't tell a red dress from a green one.) the kid starts looking for the exit. When his uncle tells him, "When she rings for you, stop everything (yes, everything) and go to her. Got it?" His reply this time is, "I want to leave." Bad move, uncle is most displeased.

 In many ways, Shuisheng is the most inscrutable character in the movie. He's got a real poker face, and you'll probably have a tough time deciding if he's an idiot, or a sharp kid who's observing things closely and learning fast. This is the heart of the film, the relationship between the boy and the woman. Eventually, the boy will find out the self-important, hip swinging Xiao Jingbao is miserable. She is the beautiful songbird hopelessly trapped in a world where she is bathed in luxury by the ruthless Tang, with no hope of freedom.

 The boy's whole attitude changes when he realizes this, and the question the film poses from here is ... what, if anything, can he do about it? If this was an American film, (and I'd love to see such a version) probably plenty, but director Yimou Zhang is a cynical man with a dark outlook on life. All his films have downbeat endings, and this one is no exception. What really bothers me though, is that events take place that result in a complete shift in setting half way through the film, and that's always a dangerous move in the cinema. And this abrupt shift comes at a time when things are just getting interesting in the nightclub, when Shuisheng realizes "Miss" is very unhappy. He might have been able to help her in the big city and spacious confines of the nightclub, but marooned on an island, there's not much he can do. This is a good film, but I would have liked to see the plot move in a different direction in the second half.


When I first saw Zhang Yimou's wonderful 'Raise the Red Lantern', I missed all but the last 30 minutes. This is the most regretful episode of my life for the film has now been deleted. My life was honestly changed as that half an hour was a real time anomoly, obeying the theory of relativity and breaking that particular convention by immersing me so fully that it seemed to last forever and yet, not long enough. 'Shanghai Triad' does not contain that one off quality, however, it is in itself a fascinating film. The colour scheme, of many Yimou films remains, his use of colour is deeply moving as it becomes sublime and almost 'old school'. You can see movies of the studio system being played out again but in a whole new style. Red is so prominent once again and for reasons we can only speculate. Personally I see the colour red as an exciting colour, it conveys to me a sense of a past in which I did not belong to, how I did not exist. The fascination I have in history pre-1982 and more importantly the early 20th century glamour and ancient history.

The splendour of the whole thing is beyond belief, it could almost have the production values of a Hollywood mainstream movie. It shows that perhaps you can create a better effect with lower production values. The Tang household is splendid, but it's vastness perfectly encapsulates a lonely feeling that puts you in the place of the child as well as any cliched point of view shots ever could. It is moments like these that prove Yimou's background as a cinematographer, he is a master of the visual, able to simply show a character's mood in an implicit sweep of camera and minutely fine detail within the mise-en-scene excluding cliche from his work completely. This is the sort of filmmaking we would associate with Ridley Scott, Scott is a visualist, he works with far darker tones than Yimou, which from a personal point of view, makes Yimou my prefered choice, but Scott himself blended both dark and light in 'Thelma and Louise' like Yimou has done for most of his career. The characters themselves have layers of light and dark which are conveyed well in all of their surroundings.

This comparison with Scott brings me to the point in Triad when the empathy shifts from the boy to be shared by him and Bijou. This does echo a bit of the Roy Batty syndrome which was probably the reason for 'Blade Runner's' limited success on it's original release, or so says Robert McKee. But Gong Li's performance is outstanding. She nails Bijou's nasty streak to a tee and then compels us to believe that she is more than that. Of course it is helped when the viewer feels that the situation she is in is a frightening one, not unlike mountaineering where one false step could end up in death, at what ever height you are at. Li is one of the finest actresses in the world, not to mention that her beauty is unparalleled. (Despite the fact that she is just four years younger than my mother) The film may not be seen as very moral but it is clear that it has heart as we feel so bad about the events that end the film. Li shows her hardness of character and complete vulnerability then finally her loss of control, shame and regret. This heart is not made of solid stone, rather a quite flexible rubber.

It requires a period of reflection, one that does not equal that of 'Raise the Red Lantern' but is the only film to have such a numbing effect since. By now though, I have Lantern in such a high regard that it borders on gaining a mythical quality as I have yet to see it in it's entirety. It's not every day that a heavily opinionated young man will be reduced to a pathetic single syllable, but when Triad is finished, many of you will be reduced to it too, lay back and just clear your head of anything other than the film, all that enters the head will be "Wow".


This could be an American gangster movie except that it is so beautiful. Well, that and the fact that it takes place in Shanghai in the 1930s. Gong Li plays Xiao Jingbao ("Bijou") the moll, a self-centered, vain, mean, slutty songstress kept by the "Boss" (Baotian Li) of Shanghai's underworld. As usual with director Zhang Yimou every set is gorgeous and artfully planned, the story compelling, and the human psychology veracious.

We see the events through the eyes of Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao) a 14-year-old boy from the country who, because he is a member of the trusted Tang family, is brought to the city to be a servant to Bijou. She treats him and everybody else like dirt while she plays the Boss for a fool. We can guess that her comeuppance will be severe. Oh, but HOW severe? In this Zhang Yimou goes beyond what one has seen in American gangster movies and gives us something from Machiavelli and Genghis Kahn.

The film is a little slow in parts and Gong Li plays her role so well that she is most disagreeablethat is, until what I might call the "turn." This occurs when she is forced to go with the Boss to the country after a rival has attempted to kill him. Bijou is bored. There is nothing for her to do so she goes to the house of a country widow named Cuihua (Baoying Jiang) with a nine year old daughter Ah Jiao (Yang Qianquan) to lord it over her and to amuse herself with these country bumpkins. But the surprise is that in the process she is returned to her childhood when she herself was a country bumpkin. Zhang Yimou plays this part of the film masterfully as we slowly realize that Bijou is jealous of Cuihua and her poor but idyllic life. But that is something she can never admit to herself as she spies on Cuihua with her lover. One almost gets the sense that Bijou would like to be in Cuihua's place with that crude country lover.

At one point Bijou makes Cuihua loan her some of her peasant clothes and then takes delight in wearing them. We can see that Bijou is in denial about how much of a slave to the master she really is and how unsatisfying is the life of a kept woman regardless of how well kept. She realizes that her life is empty. And now we see a certain generosity of spirit: she gives the boy some silver coins; she tells the boss to spare the woman, but it is too late. Because you talked to her she knows too much, he says. He adds, you see, it is your fault again.

This film sits well with the current communist government of China despite or perhaps partly because the Boss with his small round eyeglasses looks a little like a Chinese Trotsky. But more importantly Zhang Yimou's depiction of the criminal decadence of China in the 30s before the rise of communism is exactly what Maoists like to see. Communism freed the Chinese from all that, is perhaps the idea.

This is not the only film of Zhang Yimou's to play to communist sensibilities. His Raise the Red Lantern (1991) also shows in a different way the moral corruption of what might be called the ancient regime. But Zhang Yimou can be forgiven for playing to the powers that be because he does it with subtle irony and for a purpose, the purpose being to give himself the celebrity and an international reputation so that he is able to make films that might in some way criticize the communist state while he maintains a position of loyalty to that state. Working from within, it might be said. We see this in his To Live (Huozhe) from 1994 in which the hardships under communism are not euphemized. To be more exact it might be said that Zhang Yimou sees the excesses of Mao's regime but realizes that Mao was a stage through which China had to pass; and at any rate, who would want to go back to the time of the capitalist gangsters? The airy, white tops of the reeds wave in the breeze. The colors are straw and the cottage on the island is neat and holds out against the rain. Inside Cuihua cooks and weaves a basket. She is content. Bijou, in her red dress and her red lips, wearing her jewelry and her superior manner, is not. She recalls the mulberry trees of her childhood and how she would climb the trees and eat the tree-ripened fruit. All the riches in the world cannot bring back those days, nor can she return to them.

She would like to take nine year old Ah Jiao with her back to Shanghai. Ironically Ah Jiao in her innocence wants to be like "Miss," which is Bijou's "title." Ironically, however, it is the Boss who takes the little girl back so that she can grow into the next Bijou.

The ending of the film is as brutal as anything you might expect to see, and yet there is a kind of poetic justice in what happens. In part. Zhang Yimou is always about politics, even though the politics are sometimes "just" domestic politics, as in Raise the Red Lantern. But he does the politics in a way that leaves no doubt: justice or what comes to pass is shaped by those who hold the power, whether it is the power of the state, or the power of the gangster boss, or the power of the master of the house, not by those who do not hold power. And that is the trenchant reality behind the great beauty of any Zhang Yimou film.


Zhang Yimou's attempt to squeeze yet another Chinese history lesson into one of his movies aside, I still came away unexpectedly moved by "Shanghai Triad." The story is fascinating, sometimes in a morbid way, sometimes in a childish one. I got the sense that I'm being witness to a myth in the making, one of those amazing stories out of history that have underlying messages about the human condition. Zhang's treatment of the aesthetic, both visual and aural (Ajiao's song makes for a wonderful musical theme), is moving as ever. And since it's by him, all the symbols, allusions, circular events, juxtaposition of characters - and all the rest of that - applies.

Gong Li as the bratty and doomed Bijou is wonderful to watch, and Wang Xiaoxiao is very effective as the audience's stand-in in the movie.

And the history lesson wasn't so bad either.


"Shanghai Triad" is the last of the great collaborations between director Zhang Yimou and actress Gong Li. They will not work together until 2006's "Curse of the Golden Flower", and that period drama is a negligible work. A school of thought has it that this film is the last and the least of the collaborations between the two (a point made by American critic Roger Ebert). However, watching this movie after catching the director's excellent "To Live" again, "Shanghai Triad" does not strike one as a lesser movie. In fact, technically and narratively, this film is even more ambitious that its earlier counterpart and could be said to be something like Zhang Yimou experimenting on the gangster genre. Only that the gangster genre does not yet exist in mainland Chinese cinema and the director has to breathe life to the genre by consulting Western models. Hence it is set in Shanghai in the 1930s, the most Western (and crime-ridden) of Chinese cities.

"Shanghai Triad" has a lot of nuances which would be lost on non-native speakers. For some, this film is merely one of many mobster movies, a la Chinese style. But the Chinese title of the film hints on its primary theme: the corruption of the naive through (Triad) violence and bloodshed. The Chinese title alludes to a typical Chinese lullaby/rhyming song sung by children and which personifies itself in little Jiao, the young girl in the island. In a way, she is also young Jinbao, going back many years. The young country lad Shuisheng is similarly tainted. He cannot fight against the Chief of the Triad no matter how much he knows about his rottenness. At the film's end it is hinted that Shuisheng will probably end up as one of the Chief's men, probably as he bids a time to avenge the death of the Gong Li character.

Technically, this film is astounding. The Shanghai nightclub scenes are splendidly realized and show that the Chinese technicians are more than a match for their Hollywood counterparts. This film rightly won a Technical Award at Cannes, and the cinematographer Lü Yue was nominated for an Oscar. Nonetheless, it is Zhang Yimou's helming which makes this film truly unique. He is able to show us the perspective from young boy Shuisheng, and make us share his fears amidst all the novelty of coming to a large city and then witnessing countless murders himself. The directing is fluid and seamless yet does not draw attention to itself. It is truly a marvelous technical achievement.

The resplendent Gong Li is always watchable, and here her movement from a pampered cabaret singer to a sympathetic character entirely believable. Zhao Baotian is excellent as a Triad Boss. The other characters all hold themselves up well, including the boy playing Shuisheng, who is asked to downplay his emotions so as to depict a wooden "country bumpkin".

Thanks to Roger Ebert this film has been thought to be one of Zhang Yimou's lesser films but it really shouldn't be so. Maybe something is lost in the translation, but if you really watch it in its original language understanding every nuance and every line of the dialog, "Shanghai Triad" will reveal itself as what it is: a masterpiece. A very underrated film. Highest recommendation.


An Oscar nominee for it's brilliant cinematography, and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film (lost to Les misérables), this film is directed by Zhang Yimou and stars Gong Li. They worked previously on five films: Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, The Story of Qui Ju and To Live.

14-year old Shuisheng (Wang Xiao Xiao) is brought in from the country to serve the Boss' mistress Bijou (Gong Li), who he can't control.

Shuisheng soon finds that she is not a nice person, and he gets back at her when he can.

I especially liked the bar scenes where Bijou performed. It had the right mix of beautiful costumes and smokiness.

But, this was a gangster picture, so things end badly for some.


Shanghai Triad never gains momentum from a slow start and languid pacing until it eventually fizzles out.

Gong Li looks superb and director Zhang Yimou's attention to detail and stylistic conceits never fail to impress. But the plot is overly simplistic and the characters never rise above a narrative bogged down with one dimensional characters and clichéd situations. You get the feeling Yimou was ready for something different in his career and Gong Li had played one too many parts under his direction.

That said, it is entertaining without ever attaining the high standards of previous collaborations.


What always impresses me about Zhang Yimou's *Shanghai Triad* is how the two settings of the film -- the Thirties-era, glitzy nightclub milieu of the gangsters in Shanghai and the pastoral scene in the second half -- are used as a counterpoint to the drama unfolding before us. The settings are glamorous, mythical, beautiful; the people are not.

The characters are, in fact, brutally ordinary. Even the ostensible hero of the piece, the 14-year-old boy who becomes the servant of chanteuse Gong Li, is not particularly remarkable: not intuitive, not very smart, and certainly not a winner. Ineffectual to the end, he ends up suspended upside-down like the famed Hanged Man in a deck of Tarot. The plot involving the Thirties-era Shanghai Mafia is mostly presented through the boys' eyes, with the result that the most "action-oriented" events, usually occurring off-screen, seem incoherent and, though violent and tragic, beside the point. The Boss's girlfriend Gong Li obsesses us to the same degree that she devours the boy. All else -- meaning, the plot's wider macrocosm -- remains tangential or dangerously opaque. It turns out that there is plenty enough drama in the day-to-day life of the gangster's moll, played by Gong Li with a seemingly infinite variety: shallow, slutty, heartbroken, tragic, pathetic, whimsical, tender. The poor boy is in a dither. One minute he hates her enough to spit in her tea when her back is turned; the next he smiles at her childish singing like the first fool in love in the history of the world. (By the way, let it be said that I would've had my left ear cut off if given the chance to be Li's boy-servant!)

"Miss Bijou" could almost have become a real human being if permitted just a few more weeks on the island. The snotty poisons appear to ooze away from her; the rustic setting puts her back in touch with a girlish freedom, almost forgotten (and hardly suspected by us). In several of Shakespeare's plays, there exists what his critics call a "green world" -- a haven far away from the corruptions of urban life. Zhang permits us brief glimpses of decency that are engendered by this potentially healing "green world", all under the nose of the ruthless crime lord (who is ostensibly there to heal from his knife wound, as well). These glimpses are so powerfully touching that we tend to forget the Boss's evil eminence, and therefore the machinations of the gangsters -- never forgotten by THEM, of course -- intermittently slap us awake.

All of which is another way of saying that Yue Lu's cinematography is almost too astonishing for the movie's subject. *Shanghai Triad* is, without question, one of the most beautiful-looking movies of the Nineties, perhaps of all time. But don't let the beauty of the pictures, or Gong Li's physical charms, for that matter, distract you from the preciseness of Zhang's direction. Obliged to commit to the idea of subjective camera placement (that is, generally taking the perspective of the boy), Zhang evinces great subtlety and restraint. For instance, he uses the Steadicam here, but doesn't get carried away with it in order to create some sort of mood or tone, the way Kubrick was prone to do. Zhang knows when to move the camera, and he knows when to keep the damn thing still: it depends on what each scene calls for. Every frame of this film is directed to a specific aesthetic purpose.

By the way, this movie makes a natural double-bill with Hou Hsiao-Hsien's *Millennium Mambo*, another exercise in exquisite aesthetics with a plot about a gangster's moll. One wonders if Hou wasn't a bit tainted by the influence of *Shanghai Triad*, despite *Mambo*'s 21st-century setting. Both films are about inarticulate, helpless satellites in a criminal universe who come to depressing ends. Needless to say, these films could only have been made in China or Taiwan, home to a culture more ruthlessly realistic than our sappy civilization. If remade as an American film, the Boss in *Shanghai Triad* would have developed a sentimental attachment to the kid which would inevitably bring his criminal empire crashing down around his head. Imagine the reverse, and you'll get the idea of how THIS film ends.

All in all, one of the classics of modern Chinese cinema. 9 stars out of 10.


This movie contains some beautiful cinematography and an enjoyable soundtrack. The acting is terrific and the plot easy to follow. I enjoyed this movie immensely. It is quite a departure from the other Chinese movies I have seen and enjoyed. It may appeal to those who did not like "Raise the Red Lantern," "Red Sorghum" and other Chinese movies that had strong political messages. This movie lacks that political undercurrent and is a pleasant contrast to the aforementioned (very excellent), titles.


In "Shanghai Triad", Yi-Mou Zhang trains his lens on a gangster's girlfriend and her young servant boy as the mob lurks in the background doing what mobs do. A character study which focuses on Li Gong's wonderful portrayal of a kept woman whose singing and beauty took her from peasant life to wealthy emptiness, there's little story to be found as the film moves serenely from cabaret song and dance numbers to pastoral scenic beauty. Those who appreciate the Chinese culture will enjoy this lyric and beautiful film the most. For many westerners, however, there will not enough of a story arc to make for a satisfying watch. (B)


"Shanghai Triad" tells the story of a young country boy who takes a job as a servant to a mob boss in Shanghai and becomes a passive observer to the skulduggery behind Shanghai's opium wars. In spite of the subject matter, action takes a back seat to art as the film languishes in the beauty of each scene while telling a thin and only mildly interesting story. Expect lots of beautiful cinematography and little else and you won't be disappointed.


One the most beautiful films I saw in the last fifteen years, together with "Burnt by the Sun" from Mikhalkof, "the Piano" from Campion and "Heavenly creatures" by Jackson.

It's filmed in a very artistic and original way, quite a perfect fusion between independent/innovative and classical/stylish styles. Like if Polansky, Cronenberg, Bertolucci, Spielberg and Annaud were made one! Kubrick's influence is noticeable too, in the very "quiet" way of filming that give this "surrealistic" feeling to trivial events. It's incredible to feel so close, so empathetic to characters so different from us...

I was very moved AND fascinated at the time.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes unique movies, and it can be watched with pleasure by anyone who not the "technolywood" kind (Cameron & Emmerich fans, stay away from this one, you'd be bored to death!) I'd like to see more from this director...


Shanghai Triad has an interesting MO. It is really a socio-historical commentary masquerading as a coming of age story masquerading as a Gangster Film.

Yimou makes bold storytelling choices - using the servant boy of a gang lord's mistress as the unlikely protagonist - shifting the setting of the film suddenly from bustling urban Shanghai to the peaceful Chinese Countryside.

The risk taking pays off - it is what separates Triad from generic Hollywood tripe.

Rather than some sort of high-handed morality play or costume melodrama, Yimou uses the story to illustrate the corruption of innocence, shifting loyalties and the endless struggle for power and dominance.

Yimou purposely subverts our expectations of the genre picture by denying any form of release - any false catharsis/closure.

The protagonist/viewer can only watch helplessly from the sidelines as the cycle of violence and exploitation continues.

This device will prove undoubtedly frustrating to a Hollywood Audience and I commend him for it.


*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS* Interesting, entertaining crime drama set in the wild days of China's very own "sin city." Hence there's plenty of raucous nightclubs, chorus lines, Chinese gangsters, packed dancefloors and assorted inequities for every taste.

With this backdrop, a young, orphaned moppet from the countryside arrives, and is put to work by his distant family.

The story, directed by Zhang Yimou, is woven skillfully to encompass the many sides of its characters. A veritable tapestry of rich characterizations come forth. Of course, the darker side of organized crime, away from the spectacular show numbers and bounding bonvivant feeling, we are shown in gritty detail. For example, the seedy, suffocating quality of life that has become, in essence, living death for a gangster's moll. The country boy, in a strange way becomes her sounding board. The two finds themselves so desperately out of control of their lives, they exude anguish.

In summation, the film is visually sumptuous, the performances are rather good (although a notable few are wooden) and the story line is clever. Recommended.


I had hopes for it, and it opened beautifully. It promised introspection, scope, meaning, and a bit of beauty, yet the first three were still-born, and the last ruined by triteness. But, the expected revelation in this movie never came. And in the mean time, Gong Li was incredibly annoying the entire film, due to her successfully acting the part of the spoiled singer flirt. I used to enjoy watching her, but after this torture, not any more. Why see this, when you can see Temptress Moon, which was richly embroidered with meaning, and did have scope, and it not only met, but exceeded propounded expectations? Sadly, Shanghai Triad has a superior video cassette box, since it is a film of superior marketing, but drastically inferior plot, scope, characters and quality.


I would recommend this film just for its superb photography - except that it also happens to be a lavish, well-plotted gangster film. The mobsters are every bit as nasty as those in "The Godfather", with the (tasteful?) difference that the violence is always off-stage - though only just, at times. This is not a matter of squeamishness : most of the film is seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy, a reluctant 'witness' (well, he's usually on the other side of the door) to the various plots, sub-plots and counter-plots. On second thoughts, the gangster boss here is NASTIER than anything in the Godfather. That point doesn't immediately sink in, because the film is so BEAUTIFUL, a real feast for the eyes, and because the final twist in the story - in my case, anyway - has a delayed impact. It's one of those films you need to see again, armed with the knowledge of how it is going to turn out - like "The Usual Suspects". If this is how Chinese cinema is developing, we shall be seeing - and welcoming - more of this stunning fare.


I saw this one at the Midnight Madness screening in Toronto and I have to say I was thoroughly entertained. Before the film the producer mentioned he wanted to bring back an Amicus-style anthology film, which it definitely captures the feeling of, however with a very distinctively Japanese feel (most notably in Sean Cunningham's episode) as well as a twinge of Cronenberg-style body horror.

It's great to see Ken Russell back shooting films for the big screen where he belongs and his episode is complete and total obsessive madness where you can tell that he had as much fun making it as I had watching it. Cannibalistic breasts may not be the subtlest of images, but if you go with it you'll have a blast.

The next episode is what might possible be the best and most experimental Sean Cunningham film ever made. Combining animation with some rather shocking scenes of necrophilia and traditional Japanese horror imagery, the episode is both surprising and creepy. It's quite bold and radical, entirely different from anything Cunningham has done before.

The Monte Hellman episode, that was lauded at Cannes, is a cool change of pace for the film, displaying a deep love of cinema history as well as adding a haunting twist to the mythology of the moving image.

And finally, the last episode from newcomer John Gaeta is an extremely well made body horror story that's based on a semi-true story (as we learned from the Midnight Madness Q+A) about a woman's fraternal link with her mother's tapeworm. This is one of the most original and interesting stories of the movie that features great concepts and imagery.

The Joe Dante directed wrap around segments are suitably amusing (even get a Dick Miller cameo) and it's fantastic as always to see John Saxon do his thing.

Writer and producer Dennis Bartok has been able to round up some of cinema's heroes and give them an opportunity to do something different. His screenplay is very consistent however in retaining a singular and entertaining voice between the different personalities of the directors.

This is the kind of film you should just sit back, relax and enjoy as a sometimes subversive, but always quirky trip into the genre. It seethes with pure adoration for the movies, without falling into forced reference-laden in-jokes.

I, for one, had a blast watching it.


The actress Phoebe Kane (Rachel Veltri) and her boyfriend Andy (Jayce Bartok), the architect Henry (Scott Lowell) and his wife Julia (Lara Harris), the former director Leo (John Saxon) and Nathalie (Michèle- Barbara Pelletier) receive an invitation for a VIP Tour in the Ultra Studios. When they see the spooky house where the missing director Desmond Hacker filmed "Hysteria", they ask their tour guide (Henry Gibson) to stop the car to visit the infamous house. In a moment, they find that they are trapped in a room without any exit and the guide suggests them to tell the scariest experience of each one like in "Hysteria". Each one tells a spooky tale until they finally discover the end of their stories.

"Trapped Ashes" follows the structure of "Creepshow" with a lead story and four segments in the format of "Tales from the Crypt". The lead segment is directed by Joe Dante and the motive why the participants disclose their stories is silly and unreasonable. Ken Russell directs the funny and bizarre "The Girl with the Golden Breasts" with the artificial breasts implanted by the actress sucking human blood. Sean S. Cunningham directs "Jibaku" with the journey to hell of Julia in Japan. Monte Hellman directs the erotic "Stanley's Girlfriend" and with sexy Nina performed by the gorgeous unknown Amelia Cooke affecting the relationship of two best friends. John Gaeta directs the gruesome segment "My Twin, The Worm". In the end, "Trapped Ashes" is a good entertainment despite the unfair reviews in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Armadilha do Terror" ("Trap of Terror")


I don't know why but I used to be a huge fan of Creepshow and Tales from the crypt although the later series were rather lame. "Trapped Ashes" is very much in this tradition and features 4 horror shorts bound together in a surrounding plot of 2 couples and 2 solo people going on a sightseeing on a Hollywood movie site and getting stuck in an hold horror house with an old guy who leads them around. Turns out they can only leave if each tells their most frightening personal story... so here we go... Story 1 is about an actress who doesn't get any new jobs and decides to get a boob job. Now after her life turns around for the positive she soon realizes that her breast are vampire boobies feeding on human blood which doesn't go to well for her lovers. This story is pretty bizarre and trashy and captures the spirit of old "Tales from the crypt" stories best. Its totally idiotic but the end is so over the top its fun. Story 2 is a ghost-story about a couple moving to Japan where the woman is seduced by a monk who dies and takes her to hell where she turns into a succubus. Her husband soon learns he has to free her from there by feeding her a spell. The story is OK, but as frightening or thrilling as a Sesamestreet Episode. At least you get some naked shots and some nice animation sequences of old Japanese paintings which work pretty well. Story 3 is pretty much nothing leading nowhere. An actor and his best friend a scriptwriter regularly meet for chess until a girl appears. Soon the scriptwriter disappears and the actor begins a love affair to find out years later that the girl is some kind of ghost/witch/vampire... honestly I couldn't care less because the episode is boring and makes no sense. Story 4 is another strange one about a girl who grows up in her mothers womb along with a tapeworm and lives with a strange desire for collecting food for her "twin". When she is treated badly by her stepmother the "twin" takes revenge.

What most of the stories suffer from is incredibly long passages of introducing of characters and that is way stretched and often even unnecessary for the plod. So when the action starts most of the time is up and there is not too much time for the horror to happen. Like most of those story collections there is some bad apples in there and I couldn't recommend this average movie just for the vampire boobies and the finale. This is just for real die hard fans of horror shorts... the slow ghost movies won't be too interesting for neither "Tales..." Fans nor others because they don't lead nowhere. Too bad...


All I can say is THANK GOD FOR NETFLIX!!! I'm the type of cinephile who will buy a movie sight unseen if the filmmakers interest me or if it's a horror film that sounds interesting. In that sense "Trapped Ashes" fulfilled the criteria perfectly....

I realized recently though that I really am wasting money buying movies unseen so I signed up with Netflix figuring that I could rent new releases that appealed to me & if I liked em' I would purchase em'. "Trapped Ashes" was a movie I was dying to see. How could it go wrong?? Russell, Cunninngham, Dante, Hellman & Gaeta (The rookie of the 5) each directing a segment of a horror film?? It's gotta rock...Doesn't it?? It doesn't rock. It's actually pretty much a complete failure. It plays like one of those softcore "Horror" movies that used to play on Showtime in the late 80's thru the mid 90's. Aside from some so-so effects in the first segment there is nothing to recommend this disaster at all.

I returned it to Netflix on the same day I received it, Thankful for the money I saved by not purchasing it. Be warned...It sucks!!


A group of tourists on a movie studio lot are locked in the House of Horror and forced to tell 'true' ghost stories about themselves in order to be released. The stories range from plastic surgery nightmares to necrophilia.

Mysteriously, this film started filming shortly after Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted was released. . . but, I'll just chalk that up to coincidence. From some of the (former) great minds of horror that have brought us such horrors as Friday the 13th, Altered States, The Lair of the White Worm, The Howling, Piranha, Gremlins, The 'burbs, and. . . umm. . . Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out!. . . we're now given Trapped Ashes. It's anthology of four (plus wraparound) stories that vary in quality from the average 'Jibaku' to the pathetic 'Golden Breasts,' we're given quite an array of 'terrifying' tales. Like most anthologies, it's not so much the point of the stories. . . just the stories themselves. However, Trapped Ashes did manage to give a reason for the anthology, so kudos to that. As far as the stories go:

- The Girl with Golden Breasts: The idea was interesting, like Teeth, but with a different part of the female anatomy. There was some good, cringeworthy gore. . . but that's about it. The acting was amateurish, only accentuated by terrible dialogue (including my most hated error: outwardly spoken inner dialogue). As the story progressed, it became more and more ridiculous, resulting in an almost embarrassing conclusion.

- Jibaku: In hopes of classing up the film with some Asian flare, the next story headed to Japan. It's fairly disgusting as it studies some weird necrophiliac fantasies and the story is interesting, but it becomes a bit muddled as it goes through and is ultimately forgettable.

- Stanley's Girlfriend: The third tale, this one about the peril of deceit, is the 'classiest' of the bunch, utilizing mood & suspense more than outward horror. Unfortunately, in an attempt to be slow-burning, it ends up just being downright slow. It's not poorly made, just seems rather unimportant until the final reveal.

- My Twin  The Worm: Uninvolving is probably the best word to describe this one. It was an interesting parasite-twin story. . . but, I didn't really care all that much and found myself easily distracted.

Although I didn't like the tales, I did like the idea for the wraparound. Unfortunately, an anthology made up of lame stories makes for a lame anthology. And, overall, that's what this film turns out to be: pretty lame. If you're heavy into anthologies, give it a look. . . but you can do much better.

Final verdict: 4/10.


The film keeps to the spirit of comic book erotic horror. The four stories are well matched and all good. It's a little bit sexy, but just a tease (yes guys, you get to see nipples, more than you want).

It's a little bit scary, but in a fun, carnival way. Each story had something in it that got somebody to leave the theatre for a different reason, so don't be afraid that it's totally lame and tame. And only one of the people who had to leave the theatre was obviously a plant to drum up publicity.

Keep an eye out for tributes to genre classics.

This is what the Tales From the Crypt movie could have been.