http://www.smalltowncritic.com COOP COOPER is an independently syndicated film critic with a split personality. His "Southern Side" prints mainstream reviews that appear in various print publications across the mid-south. His "Dark Side" from Los Angeles befouls the site with reviews of horror and grindhouse flicks. Welcome to the site where COOP's two halves (and his contributors) review and debate the latest film/DVD releases... Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/10/01/hair-metal-movie-madness-presents-ode-to-slashers-music-from-jason-freddy-and-michael-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/10/01/hair-metal-movie-madness-presents-ode-to-slashers-music-from-jason-freddy-and-michael-by-dark-side/#comments Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:20:11 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2584 Friday the 13th movie franchise? Yeah, I didn't either until a friend reminded me that it existed. FT13 Part 6 was poised to resurrect (literally) the flailing franchise who already saw the demise of it's main character, Jason, in IV and replaced him with a temporary impostor in V. Nobody liked that, so what was their solution for 6? Death to Arnold Horshack from Welcome Back, Kotter. Just kidding, but not really...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/10/01/hair-metal-movie-madness-presents-ode-to-slashers-music-from-jason-freddy-and-michael-by-dark-side/feed/ 0 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/09/20/a-serbian-film-dark-side-returns-to-review-the-most-controversial-horror-movie-of-the-year/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/09/20/a-serbian-film-dark-side-returns-to-review-the-most-controversial-horror-movie-of-the-year/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:56:25 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2854 Srdjan Todorovic) is a retired Serbian porn star trying to go legit with a Swedish interpreter wife and a 10-ish year-old son. He can't seem to get a break, so he takes the odd skin flick job to help pay the bills. One of his scumbag ex-co-stars gives him a lead on a supposed well-funded filmmaker offering Milos an exorbitant amount of cash to make an arthouse porn film. This crazed filmmaker, named Vukmir Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic), explains to Milos that the cash agreement will be honored as long as Milos enters the scenes without a script or prior knowledge of what they are about. Milos must then improv his way through the scene. Though uncomfortable with the conditions, Milos cannot turn down the money, so he agrees. The scenes start off mildly disturbing, then escalate to violent and illegal...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/09/20/a-serbian-film-dark-side-returns-to-review-the-most-controversial-horror-movie-of-the-year/feed/ 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/07/23/strange-things-are-afoot-at-the-man-behind-the-door-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/07/23/strange-things-are-afoot-at-the-man-behind-the-door-by-dark-side/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:13:26 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2792 crazy from an amateur paranormal researcher, I was giddy. GIDDY, I say. Now Coop ain't tellin' me much about what's in The Box [cue organ music and mad scientist laughter], but he's already found some groovy stuff from this rogue investigator named Wes Cotten. Formerly based out of Memphis, TN, Wes has gone AWOL and left a bunch of his research for his old friend Coop to wade through and do what he wants to with it, including Wes's creepy website THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOR... ]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/07/23/strange-things-are-afoot-at-the-man-behind-the-door-by-dark-side/feed/ 0 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/06/10/why-splice-is-overrated-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/06/10/why-splice-is-overrated-by-dark-side/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:07:41 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2765 Splice down over at the Final Girl blog. She expressed her reasons for disliking the film stem from the fact that if you take the sci-fi element of the film, you basically have a Lifetime Channel rehash of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Thanks for pointing that one out, Stacy. I admit I somehow missed that one, but now that I look back, you're 100% right and it's obviously another subconscious reason why I hate (that which I merely disliked beforehand) Splice. I have several other reasons why the flick failed to iron my britches and I feel the intense urge to list them all below...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/06/10/why-splice-is-overrated-by-dark-side/feed/ 3 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/05/14/dark-side-returns-to-review-the-human-centipede-2010-and-to-pitch-director-tom-six-some-suggestions-for-sequels/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/05/14/dark-side-returns-to-review-the-human-centipede-2010-and-to-pitch-director-tom-six-some-suggestions-for-sequels/#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 02:02:38 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2731 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/05/14/dark-side-returns-to-review-the-human-centipede-2010-and-to-pitch-director-tom-six-some-suggestions-for-sequels/feed/ 5 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/01/18/daybreakers-2009-12-movie-review-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/01/18/daybreakers-2009-12-movie-review-by-dark-side/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:54:27 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2628 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2010/01/18/daybreakers-2009-12-movie-review-by-dark-side/feed/ 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/28/how-to-avoid-the-fright-of-your-life-while-watching-a-scary-movie-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/28/how-to-avoid-the-fright-of-your-life-while-watching-a-scary-movie-by-dark-side/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:00:25 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2589 (NOTE: Due to... 1. the Halloween Holiday 2. a trip out of state and 3. a lack of a working laptop, The Small Town Critic website will go on vacation until Nov. 4 when I will be bringing you a review of "Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day" - Coop) Here's a Halloween tip for those of you NOT particularly jazzed about seeing a horror movie in the theater. It might not be your thing, but sometimes you end up doing it; whether it's your date choosing the movie, a group decision or it's something you really want to see despite your aversion to acute fright...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/28/how-to-avoid-the-fright-of-your-life-while-watching-a-scary-movie-by-dark-side/feed/ 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/16/belated-zombieland-2009-movie-review-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/16/belated-zombieland-2009-movie-review-by-dark-side/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:10:09 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2575 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/16/belated-zombieland-2009-movie-review-by-dark-side/feed/ 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/12/dark-side-sees-paranormal-activity-2009-12-in-memphis-with-craig-brewer/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/12/dark-side-sees-paranormal-activity-2009-12-in-memphis-with-craig-brewer/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:23:45 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2560 Oxford Film Freak. After monitoring screening news about Paranormal Activity: Evidence of a Haunting like a hawk, I thought I had the lowdown on when it might show near me, like say in Memphis, TN. The projections: Not likely. Apparently Memphis doesn't have the cinematic pull as Lincoln, Nebraska or Cleveland, Ohio (bollocks, I say) and wouldn't be getting a midnight screening. Then I got word of a last minute screening in Memphis at the Indie Memphis Film Festival at the fantastic Studio on the Square Theater. The kicker... Craig Brewer (Memphis native/director of Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan) would be introducing the film. Jackpot!...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/12/dark-side-sees-paranormal-activity-2009-12-in-memphis-with-craig-brewer/feed/ 2 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/07/dark-side-says-the-new-dvd-release-trick-r-treat-2009-is-greatest-halloween-movie-that-doesnt-feature-michael-myers/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/07/dark-side-says-the-new-dvd-release-trick-r-treat-2009-is-greatest-halloween-movie-that-doesnt-feature-michael-myers/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:59:23 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2553 Saw IV and then Saw V the following year. Not seeing an end to the Saw tradition of releasing a high-grossing film every Halloween (Saw VI releases this month), The WB decided to dump Trick 'R Treat to a DVD/Blu-Ray release for Oct. 6 and market the hell out of it for one month. What a low-down, dirty shame. One of the best Halloween movies of all time, it gets delayed for two years and it doesn't even get a theatrical release. I hope someone leaves a flaming bag of crap at the Warner Brothers studio gate for that one...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/07/dark-side-says-the-new-dvd-release-trick-r-treat-2009-is-greatest-halloween-movie-that-doesnt-feature-michael-myers/feed/ 0 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/06/dark-side-sez-you-must-see-pandorum-before-it-leaves-the-theater/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/06/dark-side-sez-you-must-see-pandorum-before-it-leaves-the-theater/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:27:51 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2548 Ishtar which isn't fair at all because it's a great sci-fi film that deserves a dedicated following of fans, and it may not be in the theaters much longer. It's one of the oldest pitches in the book: "A guy wakes up in a ______ with amnesia, so he must solve the mystery of who he is, how he got there and why someone (or something) is after him."...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/06/dark-side-sez-you-must-see-pandorum-before-it-leaves-the-theater/feed/ 0 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/04/hair-metal-movie-madness-11-leatherface-has-a-laaz-rockit-in-his-pocket-care-to-blast-off-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/04/hair-metal-movie-madness-11-leatherface-has-a-laaz-rockit-in-his-pocket-care-to-blast-off-by-dark-side/#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:47:22 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2544 Texas Chain Saw Massacre III: Leatherface (1990) was the biggest budget production of the original Chain Saw franchise before Michael Bay got his grubby little hands on them. It starred a young Viggo Mortensen as the handsome and deadly "Tex", reliable character actor Tom Everett as a babbling maniac and genre legend Ken Foree as a heroic survivalist nut. Oh yeah, and Leatherface sports a sweet mullet...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/10/04/hair-metal-movie-madness-11-leatherface-has-a-laaz-rockit-in-his-pocket-care-to-blast-off-by-dark-side/feed/ 0 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/29/oh-dethklok-youve-done-it-again-review-of-dethalbum-ii-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/29/oh-dethklok-youve-done-it-again-review-of-dethalbum-ii-by-dark-side/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:51:18 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2530 Pandorum in the next day or two, but when a bunch of cartoon characters from "Adult Swim" can singlehandedly resurrect the flagging "death metal" scene, that's news for the ages. Dethalbum II, by the fictional band Dethklok, hit iTunes last night at midnight and I downloaded it immediately. Why? Because Dethalbum I was so popular and completely owned the genre it satirizes...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/29/oh-dethklok-youve-done-it-again-review-of-dethalbum-ii-by-dark-side/feed/ 2 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/08/paranormal-activity-and-lake-mungo-two-ghostly-mockumentaries-that-i-want-to-see-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/08/paranormal-activity-and-lake-mungo-two-ghostly-mockumentaries-that-i-want-to-see-by-dark-side/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:00:40 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2477 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: EVIDENCE OF A HAUNTING Hitting the festival circuit for awhile now (at least since 2007), this Blair Witch-type found-footage film capitalizes on a very simple idea... A couple move into a new place. Weird things start happening so they set up some video cameras to try and solve the mystery. Things get scary. So scary in fact that it's rumored that audience members...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/08/paranormal-activity-and-lake-mungo-two-ghostly-mockumentaries-that-i-want-to-see-by-dark-side/feed/ 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/07/pontypool-review-zombies-vs-don-imus-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/07/pontypool-review-zombies-vs-don-imus-by-dark-side/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:54:07 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2473 spoiler-heavy, in-depth review because of the fact that Pontypool could've been a great horror movie. In fact, the first half was near flawless. But I'll get to that. Boy will I ever. You see, I got a few favorite concepts out there that work great by themselves. Sometimes a smarty pants comes along and merges two of the concepts to create what I call a "super concept." It's kinda like when rock stars from different bands get together to form "super bands." Sometimes it works (Traveling Wilburys), sometimes it doesn't (Hear 'n Aid). This concept worked... almost. In what amounts to a mix of Talk Radio, Night of the Living Dead and War of the Worlds, we meet...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/07/pontypool-review-zombies-vs-don-imus-by-dark-side/feed/ 0 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/04/halloween-ii-2009-movie-review-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/04/halloween-ii-2009-movie-review-by-dark-side/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:30:32 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2464 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/09/04/halloween-ii-2009-movie-review-by-dark-side/feed/ 3 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/31/it-came-without-warning-1980-watch-one-of-my-favorite-horrorsci-fi-films-online-for-free-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/31/it-came-without-warning-1980-watch-one-of-my-favorite-horrorsci-fi-films-online-for-free-by-dark-side/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:28:13 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2458 It Came Without Warning aka Without Warning aka Alien Warning aka The Warning aka Alien Encounter aka Alien Shock scared the heck out of me in 1980 with its shocking televised promo spots. The normally tame programming would interrupt to show humans being attacked by frisbee monsters thrown by a giant alien with an over-sized noggin. At 4 (or possibly 5) years old, I was horrified at seeing those images. Years later, I had completely forgotten the name of the...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/31/it-came-without-warning-1980-watch-one-of-my-favorite-horrorsci-fi-films-online-for-free-by-dark-side/feed/ 1 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/24/scary-trailer-for-the-fourth-kind-inspires-dark-side-to-teach-you-how-to-defend-against-alien-abductions-seriously/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/24/scary-trailer-for-the-fourth-kind-inspires-dark-side-to-teach-you-how-to-defend-against-alien-abductions-seriously/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:25:10 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2431 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/24/scary-trailer-for-the-fourth-kind-inspires-dark-side-to-teach-you-how-to-defend-against-alien-abductions-seriously/feed/ 13 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/22/hair-metal-movie-madness-9-wes-craven-orders-assistant-director-skinner-to-shock-peter-berg-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/22/hair-metal-movie-madness-9-wes-craven-orders-assistant-director-skinner-to-shock-peter-berg-by-dark-side/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:59:59 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2427 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/22/hair-metal-movie-madness-9-wes-craven-orders-assistant-director-skinner-to-shock-peter-berg-by-dark-side/feed/ 2 http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/20/is-fear-of-the-mpaa-the-reason-why-most-american-horror-films-like-the-last-house-on-the-left-remake-wimp-out-by-dark-side/ http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/20/is-fear-of-the-mpaa-the-reason-why-most-american-horror-films-like-the-last-house-on-the-left-remake-wimp-out-by-dark-side/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:04:09 +0000 admin http://www.smalltowncritic.com/?p=2417 This Film is Not Yet Rated (3 out of 5 stars) about how how the Motion Picture Association of America has one of the most powerful, secretive and arbitrarily unchecked bureaucratic systems in the U.S. When you can hand down a rating for a movie (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17) and not have to give a reason, nor reveal who made the decision, you've got an abuse of power there, sir! While I usually don't have too many qualms with their system - because frankly...]]> http://www.smalltowncritic.com/2009/08/20/is-fear-of-the-mpaa-the-reason-why-most-american-horror-films-like-the-last-house-on-the-left-remake-wimp-out-by-dark-side/feed/ 3