Category: Series Overviews

Series Overview – Jurassic Park (1993-2015)

Published on by Chris Scullion2 Comments

Jurassic Park was one of the biggest films of the nineties. Based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name, it brought to life a thought every one of us has had as a child: “What would it be like to see a real life dinosaur?”

With the novelty gone, Jurassic Park’s sequels lacked the first film’s initial impact but there was still a giddy pleasure in seeing more dino hijinks. A fourth film, Jurassic World, is planned for summer 2015.

Click each poster for the full review.

Jurassic Park poster

Jurassic Park (1993)
“Eccentric Scottish billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has opened up a theme park in a remote tropical island, a theme park that features real life dinosaurs he’s managed to clone using the DNA extracted from blood found in fossilised mosquitoes. Excited about his park, he invites some guests to see the park before it opens and get their expert opinions. Oh, and he’s invited his two grandchildren too, because things definitely won’t go tits-up.” Continue reading “Series Overview – Jurassic Park (1993-2015)” →

Series Overview – Twin Peaks (1990-1992)

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When discussing the most important TV dramas ever created, it’s more or less impossible not to mention Twin Peaks.

David Lynch and Mark Frost’s bizarre tale of murder, infidelity, possession and… um, owls gripped American audiences when both series first aired in the early ’90s, and continues to find new fans watching it for the first time to this day.

A third season is currently planned for 2016.

Click each poster for the full review.

twinpeaks_s1_poster

Twin Peaks: Season 1 (1990)
“The first season of Twin Peaks remains a masterpiece 25 years after it first aired. There’s enough going on in these eight episodes to fill three seasons of any other show, but it’s presented with such expert pacing, direction and dialogue that it never overwhelms, at least not in that sense.” Continue reading “Series Overview – Twin Peaks (1990-1992)” →

Series Overview – Child’s Play (1988-2013)

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments

The Child’s Play films tell the story of Chucky, a doll possessed by the serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Although Chucky’s general aim in each movie remains the same – to escape from his doll body by possessing a human’s soul – the tone of the series grew more light-hearted over the years until Seed Of Chucky, which was a flat-out comedy.

More recently, Chucky returned to straight horror in Curse Of Chucky, essentially bringing the series full circle.

Click each poster for the full review.

Child’s Play (1988)
“This particular doll is possessed by Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), a serial killer and voodoo nut who transforms his soul into the doll just before he’s killed by a police officer. The doll, Chucky, sets about killing Andy’s babysitter as well as the other criminal chaps who screwed him over before his ‘death’. Cue various explosions and voodoo doll stabbings.” Continue reading “Series Overview – Child’s Play (1988-2013)” →

Series Overview – Scream (1996-2015)

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments

When director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson teamed up to release Scream in 1996, they changed the horror genre with its fourth wall-breaking, movie-referencing dialogue. Scream was a film that spoke to the newly born, savvy internet generation, a film that wasn’t afraid to reveal, discuss and make light of the unwritten rules that governed all slasher films until that point.

Click one of the posters below for a full review of that movie.

Scream (1996)
“Scream is to modern horror films what the Beatles were to rock music. Look at it now and it’s easy to forget the impact it’s had on so many of the films we’ve seen since. Nowadays almost every slasher movie has some sort of “clever” post-modern fourth wall-breaking scene where someone says “we shouldn’t split up, that’s how people die in the movies”. Scream did it first, and while it’s been imitated countless times since it’s somewhat telling that Scream still does it better than most, 15 years since its release. Continue reading “Series Overview – Scream (1996-2015)” →