SLEEPER (1973)

Clever early Woody Allen comedy that suffers somewhat from dated humor.

In 1973, Miles Monroe (Allen), the owner of the Happy Carrot health food store, goes to the hospital for a simple surgery. There's a complication, so doctors place him into an cryopreservation state. He stays frozen until the year 2173, when he's illegally thawed out by scientists who are part of a rebellion against the oppressive government and they plan to use Miles as a spy because he has no "biometric identity" and can be tortured for months and months without giving up any useful information. That might sound dark, but it's not at all.

Audiences back in 1973 must have found this film to be pretty funny (since it ended up making back 9 times its budget at the box office), but SLEEPER is pretty dated. Jokes about Howard Cosell and Charles DeGaulle might have flown back in 1973, but I can't see them bringing many laughs today. That's not to say there isn't any humorous moments thought...the robot scenes were pretty funny.

If you're a huge Woody Allen fan then SLEEPER is a required watch, but others would be better off sticking to early Allen classics like ANNIE HALL or LOVE AND DEATH.

MY SOUL TO TAKE (2010)

Alright, see if you can follow this (because I barely could): a guy unknowingly has multiple personalities, one of them being local serial killer "The Riverton Ripper". When he accidentally discovers that he's The Ripper he goes bonkers, kills his pregnant wife and is in the act of attacking his young daughter when the coppers bust in and shoot him. Stuff happens and while he's being transported to the hospital he stabs an EMT in the neck, causing the ambulance to wreck and explode.  His body is never found. Within the hour, 7 babies are born at the local hospital and then sixteen years later on their sixteenth birthday the "Riverton 7" start getting killed off one at a time. Could the culprit be The Riverton Ripper? A reincarnated soul?  Somebody else completely? A wookalar? Or maybe The Ripper's ghost returning to haunt/possess/murder the seven teenagers?

If MSTT was made by a first-time director I might be a little more forgiving, but seeing how it was written, produced and directed by horror legend Wes Craven who's been in the business since 1971, I can't help but be disappointed at how amateurish the whole thing felt. I didn't hate the film, but that's not saying much or even an accurate statement because there isn't much happening in MYTT to hate. It's literally too bland to even make a critical judgement about. There isn't one single original idea in the entire movie; the story is ancient; we never even get a clear shot at the killer (he appears to be a large, scruffier version of Rob Zombie); the characters are all bland stereotypes we've already seen a million times before (lonely nerd, abusive jock, power-hungry preppy; prude prayer chick, etc.), really boring photography. And with almost zero violence, gore, blood or nudity I don't even know what Wes was thinking the audience would be entertained by!

Not face-punchingly bad, just boring, formulaic and extremely bland. Skip it with a vengeance...or watch it to make fun of. All of that said, I own this motherfucker.