Pearce’s Film Reviews
240 Films have been rated or reviewed by Pearce.
Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
Redeemable trash, anchored by an intense and iconic almost silent lead performance by Meiko Kaji. Great filmmaking from a period in Japanese film history where even the best were often reduced to making sordid exploitation movies.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
The greatest movie ever made. Deserves to be studied alongside Shakespeare. "Taste the black sperm of my vengeance" is the best line of dialogue in any movie. Take your grandparents to see it.
Modesty Blaise (1966)
Looks great, arch turn by Dirk Bogarde as the villain, Stamp and Vitti are gorgeous, but as entertainment it's flat. 
Shivers (They Came From Within) (1975)
If only they'd kept Cronenberg's original title, Orgy of the Blood Parasites. Probably the best sex zombie movie ever made.- DVD $14.95
Final Conflict, The (The Omen III) (1981)- Four stars just for the baby killing scene
Candyman (1992)
- This was a breath of fresh hair in the horror–starved early '90s. It still holds up today, helped immeasurably by Tony Todd's extraordinary presence and voice.
Beyond, The (E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà) (1981)- This is one of the few surreal horror movies that actually resembles a dream. Fulci actually pulls off some remarkable atmosphere to go with his shoddy gore effects. Watch for hints that the cast are having a ball cracking each other up.
Themroc (1973)- There's no dialogue in this movie, only gibberish spoken with French accents. I found it utterly delightful. One of a select group of anarchic counter–cultural movies in which cops are cannibalised (see also Pink Flamingos).
Martin (1977)- This is my favourite vampire movie, and is easily George Romero's most beautiful and emotional work. The melanchonia is leavened by a strong sense of irony throughout.
Phenomena (Creepers) (1984)- This one bugged me. Argento monkeys around with his formula too much. The worst part is a decent '80s metal soundtrack that never matches the visuals.
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