lewis-sands So many movies Such small amounts of pleasure... Or perhaps the pleasure is just too spread out eh? Anywayzz; I really enjoy movies and shows like this one. They don't pretend to be anything more than what they are like a whole lot of flicks these days.(I don't trust trailers anymore, and no, not the kind with wheels). If you want reality i get it i really do, but i don't want reality when i sit down to watch a movie.(just me i guess) I just want to be entertained for a couple of hours, and to sort of remove myself for a bit eh. This flick let me do just that I AM HAPPY TO SAY! I enjoyed the actors and i liked the story which even made me giggle a few times as well!(shhh!) Here here, and jolly good shoooe, and all that! Enjoy your time at the movies!!(I did:-))

kosmasp Many argue that if Tobe Hooper ever had any magic touch going for him, he lost it. Some also argue, that even Poltergeist was mostly directed by the producer of the movie (Mr. Spielberg that is) and therefor Mr. Hooper never had "it". Whatever you think of him, he at least created some fine visuals for this episode.And Mr. Flanery tries his best to convince us and get us into the story. A predictable one and also (and unfortunately) a very lame/tame one. While Style over substance is mostly used to describe something as negative, I think the style here adds quite a few point to the whole thing. At least, that's how I felt about it. I know, that most people are or will be disappointed by it.One thing is for sure: As this is a Masters of Horror episode, this means, you don't have to watch a 90 minute movie. It's not even an hour long. If you are willing to spend that much time on this, try to enjoy it as much as possible ... if not for the story, then at least for the gore and visuals on hand

Michael_Elliott Damned Thing, The (2006) *** (out of 4) The second season of Masters of Horror kicks off with Tobe Hooper's entry. I haven't viewed all of season one yet but so far Hooper's film has been the worst so I didn't have high hopes with this one. As a child, a Sheriff (Sean Patrick Flanery) witnessed his father turn crazy and kill his mother but he also saw the entire town go crazy with suicide and murder. Twenty-four years later he begins to feel the town is once again going crazy with strange murders and more suicides. I was pleasantly shocked to see how much I enjoyed this film. I enjoyed it so much that I don't have any problem in saying this is Hooper's best work since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film has some nice suspense and Hooper keeps the mystery going very well. There's some extremely graphic violence that actually works quite nice but the ending is just downright stupid and pulls the film down some.

Scarecrow-88 A young boy watches as his seemingly loving father goes violently berserk shooting his mother point-blank with a shotgun claiming, "The damned thing found me." Running frightened out of his wits, the child climbs up a tree with daddy in hot pursuit blazing his shot-gun in a state of madness. The child watches as some invisible force throws his father up against the truck ripping him apart. Twenty something years down the road, he has grown into a boozing, deeply traumatized man, a sheriff in a nearby town named Cloverdale, hoping that the damned thing will remain in Sturgess, Texas, but deep down(and as the forehead scar certainly reflects)he knows the past will come back to haunt him just like his other two generations of Reddles. Sheriff Kevin Reddle(Sean Patrick Flanery, wearing the traumatized history of his past etched into his troubled, wounded face)has installed video equipment into his home watching for that terror he fears will return, as his estranged wife and young son live in a trailer separate from him. Soon Cloverdale citizens are killing themselves and each other as loud thunder and vicious lightning noises the damned thing's return. We see in one sequence where Kevin's wife Dina(Marisa Coughlan)is taken over by the invisible force almost leading her to the murder of son Mikey(Alex Ferris). It's one example of many where rational, normal people react against type in extreme, unsettling ways displaying cruelty towards those around them. What is the damned thing and can Kevin somehow prevent history from repeating itself? Does this past incident in 1959 where a town slaughtered themselves after the Reddles drilled a certain well dry have something to do with the outbreak of violence taking place in the present? It is mentioned by a newspaper writer that perhaps an evil force was released when the Reddles started drilling for oil, could chaos have actually been unleashed on innocents? In describing the myth from stories in his childhood, Kevin tells us that those who found the townspeople dead in the streets from a past slaughter explained an overwhelming force they felt.Describing the force that is overwhelming people, I guess Dina describes her experience best..that which went through her was like a poison.If you are watching this for an exhilarating experience from the plot, you'll feel rather unsatisfied and perhaps even mystified. But, if you want pure blood and guts, Tobe delivers that in abundance. Expect entering this horror tale, lots of over-the-top violence, there's bloody carnage on display. People being blown away by shotgun blasts, one woman whose upper torso is pulled from a car as shredded flesh and blood splatters where her legs use to be, a man bashes his head with a hammer, Priest Father Tulli(Ted Raimi, how's that for casting against type!)blows a deputy's brains out with his own pistol, etc. Often, Tobe often uses frenetic camera-work, I'm guessing to communicate the panicky situation at hand during the action where characters are running for their lives from threats. The oil monster at the end is something to behold, I'll tell you. The film has narration from Kevin explaining his terrifying past and his fears. We see in one eerie scene where the scar on Kevin's forehead opens to reveal a demented grin..with teeth and tongue emerging!