★ 4 / 10
**_Hampered by noticeably bad ‘B’ acting, but dynamic
Wuchak
**_Hampered by noticeably bad ‘B’ acting, but dynamic, comic booky SoCal youth-cult horror_** When a popular boy band from Los Angeles loses its frontman, the…
**_Hampered by noticeably bad ‘B’ acting, but dynamic, comic booky SoCal youth-cult horror_**
When a popular boy band from Los Angeles loses its frontman, the manager (Adrienne Barbeau) conducts an American Idol-like contest to enlist a new singer. The top 3 contenders then compete for the gig at the band’s coastal hacienda, but something sinister is going on.
Shot in 2003, "Ring of Darkness” is similar to “The Lost Boys” (with a little “Dangerously Close”), but on a $750,000 budget helmed by a quickie director. If you can roll with the ‘boy band’ angle, the first half has pizazz and is entertaining. Unfortunately, laughably wooden acting takes over in the second half (not that it was exactly great in the first half). It’s like the production was running out of money as they were filming and the cast members started receiving their lines 5 minutes before shooting.
Blonde Irina Voronina stands out on the feminine front as Amethyst while Ryan Starr is notable as Stacy. On the other side of the spectrum, Stephen Martines works well as protagonist Shawn.
While I’m giving this a relatively low rating due to the bad acting, it’s amusing and has its highlights, as long as you can handle TV-budget non-horror from the early 2000s, such as the remakes of “Satan’s School for Girls” (2000) and “The Initiation of Sarah” (2006).
The movie runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in Hollywood & Bronson Caves in Los Angeles and El Matador State Beach in Malibu.
GRADE: C-
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★ 3 / 10
Fame! Ain't it a Drag
sol1218
(Spoilers) Redicules and bumbling film that wouldn't even be good, or bad, enough to make the famous Bad Movie TV show "Mystery Sicence Theater 3000". The…
(Spoilers) Redicules and bumbling film that wouldn't even be good, or bad, enough to make the famous Bad Movie TV show "Mystery Sicence Theater 3000". The movie is about this rock group the Take Ten, even though there's only five members in it, who's suddenly out it's lead singer Gordo, Greg Chipes, and is desperately looking for a replacement.
You see Gordo found out who the members of the group really are and tried to make a run for it from the groups island, Compus, where they were all staying at. Captured on the beach Gordo tells the group members that he's going to spill the beans on them, to the National Enquire. Only to get spilled into the ocean by them never to be seen again.
Coming up with this cock & bull story that Gordo was a drug addict and was sent by the group to some secret rehabilitation clinic they through their manager Alex, Adrienne Barbeau, conduct a nation wide search for Gordo's replacement. Narrowing the competition for Gordo's job down to three lucky guys Max Jonah & Shawn, Eric Dearborn Jeff Paterson & Coltin Scott,their flown to Compus for what would be a battle for the lead singers contest to see who's the one to finally replace Gordo.
At the island strange things begin to happen in that Jonah turns out to be an undercover reporter working for a supermarket tabloid magazine, The National Enquire?. He's soon discovered by the group members only to be iced and never seen or heard from again. Max who would give his right arm to make the group "Take Ten" ends up giving up a lot more, his life. When they feel he's not cut out to be with them and do a little bit of cutting up of Max on their own.
Shawn who's at the island with his girlfriend Stacy, Ryan Starr, isn't really interested in becoming a group member, It's all Stacy's idea. He tries to leave the island only to be captured by the Take Ten and their manager Alex, who seems to have the hots for him,and. He's then put through this really weird ritual at a secret cave by the beach where Shawn as well as all the group members, striped down to his boxer shorts as the group preforms some kind of Satanic rites or ceremony on him. Shawn is at last rescued by his girlfriend Stacy who comes to his aid with a cross-bow. Later Shawn unties himself and takes what looks like a bunch of voodoo dolls and throws them into the fire, that the group set for their ceremony, causing them as well as the group members to burn to a crisp.
The movie tries to give us a surprise ending which is about as effective as the rest of the story that preceded it: it's totally unbelievable. Were given this BS story about the group being around since the mid 1950's changing their name every five years or so. The rock & Roll group kept hitting the top Billboard Charts with hit after hit for the last fifty years starting with the 1954 Rock & Roll band Bobby Coolly and the Sea Sharks.
As for the Busty Adrienne Barbeau who played Alex, the Take Ten's manager, looked like she was either out in the sun too long or went the distance in the boxing ring with "Iron Mike" Tyson.
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· 1K ratings
2.8/10
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