Jaw 3 (1983)

Film of 2012 #52

The third film in the Jaws series, filmed in glorious 3D is a terribly produced, bad story, poor continuity enjoyable piece of entertainment. This is by no means a good film and without the 3D effects the film looks really poor with floating fish heads and arms looking really out of place as they are supposed to be sitting in front of your red and blue glasses. The story follows the Brody brothers Mike and Sean played by Dennis Quaid and John Putch. Their romantic interests Kate Morgan and Kelly Ann Bukowski played by Lea Thompson all work or are visiting the Florida Sea world run by Louis Gossett Jnr. Their man made sea world is invaded by a 35ft Shark and it's offspring.

This film is a monster movie that plays on the popularity of the Steven Spielberg original and the brothers while carrying the names and having a few after effects are not the emotional wrecks you would imagine after they went through what they did when they were children. Apart from the name there really is very little correlation between this and the original 2 films other than it is a shark attack film. The most surprising thing to me is the fact that Richard Matheson actually helped write this story, you can see glimpses of what they were trying to get with the story but they really needed to do their research on sharks.

I enjoy this film when I watch it, it really is one of the most guilty of pleasures and I think it actually get's an easy ride as the 4th film is terrible so people remember this film more fondly. I give this film 3 stars knowing full well that many people will not enjoy watching it.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Film of 2012 #13
Some Spoilers

The film based upon the Richard Matheson Novella "I Am Legend" it is the 1st adaptation and  the truest to the original story. It follows Vincent Price in the titular role of the only surviving Man in a world over run by vampires. If you have ever read the book, this is the visualisation of the world that Matheson envisioned and explores what it would be like to be the only living human in a world of Vampires.

I love the book and the story and the end point that explains the title and the fact that you might not necessarily know what the consequences of your actions are no matter what your intentions or or thoughts The biggest flaw for this film for me is that Vincent Price while an awesome actor and character he is very much Vincent Price and it is hard to see past this when watching the film but still you get the idea of the impression that Matheson was trying to convey in the book.

This film is a must for all fans of genre films and the Richard Matheson story, this is a solid 4 star recommend for me, the flaw of the wrong actor for the art and the clearly small budget within a film that is clearly dated, still well worth seeing.