Home entertainment for couch potatoes

Blade
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff

Count Dracula meets Matrix! That is Blade for you in a nutshell. It is a sci-fi horror action thriller. This 1998 film was one of those populist cult classics which proved so successful at the box-office that it went on to have two sequels.

Now to the far-fetched plot. For centuries, vampires have resided in this world enjoying their immortality and quenching their blood-thirst on their unsuspecting human prey.

A militant 'half blooded' vampire Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), now plans to evoke an ancient prophecy which would help vampires rule the human race!

But then there is Blade (Wesley Snipes) – the 'day walker'– half mortal, half vampire with all the vampire strengths but none of their weaknesses.

He is the only one who can destroy Frost's evil plan and save the human race from being slaves.

With the help of his mentor, the sworn vampire-killer Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) and a female vampire attack-survivor hematologist Dr. Karen (N'Bush Wright), will Blade be able to achieve his mission?

Full of eye-popping special effects and spectacular action scenes, Blade is a typical comic-strip tale of a flawed superhero helping good overcome evil. If you like some gory, gooey, gruesome supernatural sci-fi action, it might just be the right film for you.

- By Dr. Mandar V. Bichu

In the mouth of madness
Cast: Sam Neill, Charlton Heston

The world is changing and it is changing for the worse. People are becoming psychotic and violent. The reason? A best-selling horror-writer's books are driving readers to insanity!

What horrific tales he writes in his stories are seemingly now taking place in reality. To complicate matters, he has vanished without a trace and the manuscript of his latest novel is still incomplete.

His high-profile publisher (Charlton Heston) then hires a clever investigator (Sam Neill) who has a nose for sensing frauds.
As the investigation begins, the cynical investigator finds himself on the edge of insanity facing the frightening demons unleashed by the man he is trying to find.

He finds that in his own world, the line between reality and fiction, rationality and irrationality is getting thinner and thinner!

Director John Carpenter's horror flick begins promisingly but despite the presence of some big actors and some excellent special effects, it soon becomes an increasingly tortuous and none-too-convincing exercise full of doomsday demons and axe-wielding zombies!

If you like to watch blood, gore and slime with a dash of the supernatural, then you might find it interesting.

- By Dr. Mandar V. Bichu

The incredible hulk
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt

Dr. Bruce Banner (Norton) turns into a baddie when he gets angry – a green giant who destroys everything that gets in his way.

A section of the US Army sees great potential in this Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde transformation. General Ross (Hurt) wants to capture Banner and check out if his body fluids can be used to create a race of super soldiers.

But our hero doesn't want to be the subject of an experiment that could prove disastrous for mankind. He flees to South America and tries to keep a low profile while looking for the elusive cure to his affliction.

In a bid to check his anger, Banner even goes for a course in breath control. He works at a beverage bottling plant, where he suffers a minor cut. A drop of blood falls into a bottle of juice which is finally consumed by someone, and this is how the army finds out where he is. Will the team led by Emil Blonsky (Roth) get him?

The movie is highly enjoyable, especially when the Hulk runs amok in the streets of Brazil.

This is not a sequel to Ang Lee's Hulk that was released in 2003, so it doesn't matter if you missed that one.

The DVD includes a feature commentary with director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth. It's an interesting extended look at various scenes and other aspects of the movie.

Rating: 12

- By Cyril Pinto