I'm Not Working On: Creature + Nightmare in Wax (Patreon)

We've been trying to be a bit pickier about what films we review, because it does make a big difference to views and now seems like the time to go the extra mile and try to make each one count - we don't want to lose ground when we've been doing so well. So you're probably going to see more of these posts.
Creature is an interesting one, because it's very definitely Alien (more of our reviews are Alien than any other movie) and that's worked quite well in the past with stuff like Dead Space and Galaxy of Terror. I was a bit cagey to start with because we've got Roger Corman's Forbidden World in the same batch which is the Alien rip-off on which Dead Space is based, so we definitely want to do that, and you've got to draw the line somewhere. But there is also just something missing in Dead Space; that X-factor that makes a good review. There's a lot that's bad about it and a few funny lines and basic incompetence but I think the lack of distinctive characters killed this one for me. In fact, I was about to switch off when Klaus Kinski popped up, rolling his eyes, saying things like 'I see you like guns, what else do you like?' and then grabbing someone's ass in a space suit, but he didn't live long enough to liven up the film as a whole. In the end, it's no single factor; it's just not right.

Nightmare in Wax I'd been looking forward to doing because it seemed like something different and obviously referenced back to a classic film. Plus it's set in the film industry and even mentions Lon Chaney alongside other movie in-jokes. Really ought to have worked; didn't. Despite the police failing to suspect the one-eyed man in the waxwork dungeon with a strong motive for offing the man who cost him his eye, there just wasn't enough for a good review.