The MacGuffin

Cabin Fever (2003): Splatstick comedy has hilarious performances, a ton of red stuff, and some great ‘what the fuck?!’ moments. 9/10

Spencer and John talk about films that got better or worse upon repeat viewings, then they give their DVD picks of the week, and they close out the show by talking about the portrayal of vampires in film and on TV.

100 Feet: Famke Janssen gives a good performance as a woman under house arrest in a home haunted by her husband’s angry ghost. 7/10

Fracture – Anthony Hopkins plays an uber-intelligent psychopathic killer. Totally unlike what he usually plays and is famous for… no wait… that IS what he’s famous for. Ted (played by Hopkins) finds out his wife is cheating on him with a police officer. Ted waits until she gets home to confront her and then shoots her in the face. She doesn’t actually die, but is more or less brain dead.

Deadgirl (2009): Two guys find a zombie tied up in an old asylum and use her as a sex slave. Even more unrealistic situations follow. 4/10

Daybreakers: A fun action film set in a world overrun by vampires. Has a key ingredient missing from most modern horror: originality. 8/10

Ashes of Time Redux (originally known as Dung che sai duk) is a Chinese film about a swordsman, Huang, who shows up at a friend of his’ house (Feng) with a jug of magic wine that makes people forget. He doesn’t believe it, but tries it anyway and actually forgets his past.

Up in the Air stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a traveling “termination manager” – he flies around the country working for companies downsizing and he fires people. He’s on the road (or the air) 95% of his time and actually complains if he has to spend time at home. His family doesn’t see him, he doesn’t get tied down with relationships or responsibility or commitments, and one day, his company decides they’re going to shift to an online version of what he does. Clearly he’s not happy.

Volver is a Spanish film about a family living in Madrid. The mother and father have passed away in a fire and the elderly aunt is getting up there in years and bit crazy. The daughter pops in to take care of the aunt and the aunt keeps talking as if the mother were still around taking care of her. She writes it off as crazy talk, but after the aunt dies, we find out the mother faked her death in the fire and has been taking care of the aunt. The mother goes and hides out at her other daughter’s house and pretends to be a Russian hair dresser and steers clear of the oldest daughter.

There’s a machine that changes men into mutants and it’s buried under the earth and its secret is protected by a secret cult. It’s been around since the medieval times, but has lasted through the year 2707, when four corporations rule the world.