Steven Helmer Publications

Movie character crossovers have entertained audiences almost from the time Hollywood films became a thing. Whether it was Frankenstein's Monster meeting the Wolf Man, King Kong destroying Japan alongside Godzilla, Freddy Krueger taking on Jason Voorhees or Batman feuding with Superman, cinematic worlds colliding has become a movie staple. There are, however, plenty of missed opportunities when it comes to movie crossovers, whether it was pairing action stars with each other or horror film monsters. Here are five movie character pairings I think should have (and some still could be) made. M3GAN ( M3GAN ) versus Chucky ( Child's Play ) - It's probably just my opinion but killer dolls make the best horror movie monsters. In this case, you'd have an AI-powered doll, M3GAN facing the possessed-by-a-psychopath Chucky. While M3GAN is evil but only because she's trying to be good, I'd make her the hero by default, perhaps protecting whatever child she is living with now...

When people talk about a movie, the main characters and the stars who play them are usually the ones who come to mind. However, as an avid movie watcher, I know the best films are the ones with strong supporting players who don't always get the fanfare they deserve and, in some cases, are even wrongfully vilified (or correctly vilified). Some of these supporting characters are even intriguing enough to justify their own film - either a spin-off movie or an origin story. While this has happened, there are plenty that didn't get that love that should have. Here are four I think are perfect examples, though not necessarily by the same actor/actress for obvious reasons. Maleva - The Wolf Man (1941) Before there was Larry Talbot ( Lon Chaney, Jr. ), there was Bela ( Bela Lugosi ), the gypsy fortune teller who bit Larry and changed him into a werewolf.  While Bela's origin story might also have merit, it is his mother, Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) who has always intrigued me most. ...

Synopsis: When a wealthy bio tech executive bioengineers four Graboids for one of his exotic big game hunts, things quickly go south and a happily-isolated Burt Gummer is once again forced to come out of retirement to stop them before they become Shriekers and wipe out a nearby wildlife sanctuary and the natives living near it. Who's in it? The movie stars Michael Gross , John Heder , Jackie Cruz , Richard Brake and Caroline Langrishe. Review: When I saw Netflix had yet another Tremors installment, I had a mixed opinion. Part of me was happy to see another chapter in what is easily one of my favorite movie franchises. Yet, at the same time, I did wonder if maybe it was rolling the dice one too many times. My wife and I finally watched this movie this past weekend. While I wouldn't say it was one of the best from the franchise, I also didn't hate it. I think the thing that works best for this movie is it keeps things simple. While there are other supporting characters, ...

Synopsis: While serving detention, four teenagers discover a video game and decide to play it. However, the game, Jumanji, is magical and, when they are sucked inside, they must work together if they hope to survive and return home. Who's in it? The movie stars Dwayne Johnson , Jack Black , Kevin Hart , Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas. Review: It was pretty warm out yesterday and, even though I did manage to get some work done outside (and make an appearance at a graduation party), none of us had a lot of energy by yesterday afternoon. As a result of that, we wound up having a family movie night and picked this movie, which I got on DVD through Netflix. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this film when I first saw previews for it. I didn't hate the original Jumanji , but it also isn't on my list of favorite movies. And, because of that, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this sequel. But, as it turns out, the movie was pretty good. One thing I found I l...

Synopsis: While visiting Thailand with her fiance, Jim, a young American woman, Julie, becomes obsessed with the country's Ghost Houses, small houses designed to attract spirits so they don't feel the need to haunt a real house. When she is tricked into disrespecting one of the houses, she is haunted by the angry spirit of a jilted woman who died in a fire and seeks to steal the souls of young women. Who's in it? The movie stars Scout Taylor-Compton , James Landry Hebert , Mark Boone Junior , Michael S. New , Russell Geoffrey Banks and Rich Lee Gray . Review: This was a movie I was undecided about when I first came across it on Netflix. The preview looked somewhat interesting. But, the film also seemed somewhat similar to other movies we've seen before and, because of that, I had doubts about it being anything special. However, I couldn't find much else that caught my eye so we ended up watching it. As it turns out, it was a better film than I was expec...

Synopsis: Struggling with life after college, the Bellas decide to join a USO tour in Europe. In addition to providing entertainment for military troops, the tour is also a competition and the winner will work for  DJ Khaled. However, their competition is able to use musical instruments. Meanwhile, Fat Amy is reunited with her estranged father, a criminal who may have an ulterior motive for tracking her down. Who's in it? The movie stars Anna Kendrick , Rebel Wilson , Brittany Snow , Anna Camp and John Lithgow. Review: When we got this film through Netflix over our three-day weekend, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. I didn't hate the first sequel , but I also thought the original film was significantly better. As a result, I had some serious doubts about the third installment of this movie series. My wife and I watched it last night, however, and it turned out to be much better than I was expecting. I had two major complaints about this movie. The ...

Synopsis: When their college professor goes on a trip with his wife, he lets four of his students have a relaxing getaway in his country home in exchange for watching is daughter. However, a short time after coming to the house, the women quickly learn it is haunted by a former Nazi and the daughter he murdered. You can read my review here: https://wizzley.com/movie-review-the-hatred-2017/

Synopsis: Zeus' demigod son, Perseus, knows nothing about his lineage until the humans declare war on the gods and his adoptive family becomes an innocent casualty. Angry at Hades over his family's death, Perseus joins forces with the humans and goes on a quest to save a princess from the Kraken. Who's in it? The movie stars Sam Worthington , Liam Neeson , Ralph Fiennes , Gemma Arterton and Jason Flemyng. Review: I originally saw this movie several years ago, not long after it came out on DVD, and didn't like it. However, I'm a huge fan of the 1981 original and, after some reflection, realized I probably didn't give this film a fair chance. So, when I had an opportunity to watch it again earlier this week, I decided to do so. And, after seeing it again, I do have a much better opinion of it. I'll start out by saying I still prefer the original. Sure, this re-make has better special effects. But, there is just something much more memorable about...

Synopsis: After being accused of accepting a bribe when researching and recommending trains for the New York City subway, Walter Garber is reassigned to the dispatch center pending the outcome of the investigation. When one of the train cars is taken hostage by a group of men demanding a $10,000 ransom and refusing to talk to the police, it is up to him to keep the group's leader from killing passengers. Who's in it? The movie stars Denzel Washington , John Travolta , John Turturro , James Gandolfini and Victor Gojcaj . Review: My wife had the TV remote while I grabbed a shower last night and, when I came into the living room, I saw she had picked out this film, which was airing on one of our movie channels. This is a movie she has wanted to see for a few years now but we never got around to watching it. So, after making some popcorn, we ended up doing just that. And, overall, it ended up being an OK movie. To be honest, part of the reason why it took us so long t...

Synopsis: 10 years after A Nightmare on Elm Street first became a hit at theaters, a demonic force looks to escape into the world in the form of Freddy Krueger. To do so, it first must get past Heather Lagenkamp, the actress who (as Nancy) stopped Freddy in the original film. Who's in it? The movie stars Heather Langenkamp , Miko Hughes , Wes Craven , Robert Englund and David Newsom . Review: Even though I liked A Nightmare on Elm Street , I admittedly have not watched too many of the sequels to that film. So, when I came across this movie on Netflix a couple nights ago, I decided to watch it with my wife for the first time. At first, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie, mostly because the Netflix description was a little vague. But, it turned out to be an OK film. I think the thing I liked most about this one was the hopelessness Langenkamp had to feel throughout the movie. Not only does she have a knife-wielding killer stalking her and her son ...

Synopsis: As part of an experiment, a pair of high school students decide to make the cranky widower across the street believe his house is haunted while secretly recording his every reaction. Not only does he not react with terror, as they expected him to, they observe him behaving suspiciously. This includes him spending hours in the basement he keeps padlocked. Who's in it? The movie stars James Caan , Logan Miller , Keir Gilchrist , Anne Dudek and Edwin Hodge . Review: My wife and I had some time to watch a movie together last night and, since I couldn't find anything on our movie channels, I ended up selecting this one off of my Netflix list. I came across this film a couple weeks ago and, even though I wasn't sure of the description, I decided to give it a try because I saw it starred James Caan. As it turns out, it was actually a halfway decent film. The movie is classified as a thriller. However, I don't think that classification is accurate. It is, ...

Synopsis : A small town is terrorized by clown-like aliens with cotton-candy-shooting guns and a hunger for human blood. Who's in it? The movie stars Suzanne Snyder , John Allen Nelson , John Vernon , Royal Dano , Grant Cramer , Michael S. Siegel and Peter Licassi . Review: This is a movie my wife and I have watched together on more than one occasion. However, when I came across the film on one of our movie channels a couple days ago, I couldn't resist recording it and watching it again. We finished the movie, again, last night and, overall, I was happy with my decision to see it one more time. To tell you the truth, I didn't realize this movie was nearly 30 years old. Since my wife and I discovered it only relatively recently, I thought it was a much-more-recent (albeit low budget) movie. Now that the movie's age has sunk in, I can only appreciate it more. The best way to describe this film is, it isn't really scary or funny. It's just very bizarr...

Synopsis : A dramatic re-telling of the life of George Herman "Babe" Ruth, starting with his life at a reform school through his final days as a professional baseball player. Who's in it? The movie stars John Goodman , Kelly McGillis , Peter Donat , Bruce Boxleitner , Trini Alvarado and James Cromwell . Review: Even though this movie came out when I was still in high school, I never actually took the time to watch it before. However, it happened to be on one of our movie channels last night and my wife and I ended up watching it while waiting for the kids to go to bed. After seeing it, my opinion of it was mixed. Ironically, one of the main reasons why I avoided watching this movie before is the fact I'm not a big John Goodman fan. As it turns out, he was actually the best part of this movie and did an excellent job playing the title character in a way that humanized him. Unfortunately, outside of Goodman, there really isn't much about this movie I tru...

Synopsis : Years after causing her abusive and alcoholic father's death, a telekinetic teenager returns to Crystal Lake with her mom and her psychiatrist, Dr. Crews, who is secretly trying to exploit her gift. When her powers grow stronger, she accidentally releases Jason Voorhees (still chained to the bottom of the lake) and he immediately starts another killing spree. Who's in it? The movie stars Lar Park-Lincoln , Terry Kiser , Kane Hodder , Susan Blu and Kevin Spirtas. Review : Even though I recorded this film when I came across it on one of our movie channels a few days ago, I wasn't really sure if I was going to end up watching it. However, the 6th installment of this movie franchise wasn't too terrible (and was an improvement over the two that preceded it). So, as a result of that, I gave this installment a try too. Unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations. I think the biggest problem with this film is the same one I see with a lot of sequel...

Synopsis : Aspiring hockey player Happy Gilmore has a powerful slapshot but his anger issues and weak skating prevent him from making a team. When he learns his hockey skills allow him to drive a golf ball further than any other golfer, he wins a local golf tournament and reluctantly becomes a professional golfer in an effort to save his grandmother's house from the IRS. Who's in it? The movie stars Adam Sandler , Christopher McDonald , Julie Bowen , Frances Bay and Allen Covert . Review: As I mentioned in another post , my wife and I ended up spending part of our Sunday afternoon relaxing on the couch and watching movies. This included back-to-back Adam Sandler films, including this one. While I'm not a huge Adam Sandler fan, there are a few of his movies I do enjoy to the point I have seen them multiple times. This is one of those films. As I've mentioned before, Sandler tends to be the weak link in most of his films. This is one of the rare exceptions to...

I just wanted to take a moment to wish happy birthday to the famous great white shark, Jaws, which opened up at theaters for the first time 42 years ago today. This is a movie I've seen a few times and do want to find time to watch it again in its entirety (I've tried on a couple different recent occasions but wasn't able to finish it) just because of the impact it had on movie watchers. Let's face it, when you see this movie, you do think twice about stepping into the ocean. Oh, and as luck would have it, it was released roughly 3 months before I was born, making it a pretty good year in my opinion.

Synopsis : A pair of outlaw brothers (one of them seriously wounded) seek refuge in a desert ghost town and are attacked by a family of cannibals. Who's In It? The movie stars Aria Emory , Drew Harwood , Monique Rosario , Anthony Ficco and Rebecca Fraiser . Review: After spending Father's Day attending a car show and having dinner at my parents' house, my wife and I pretty much just wanted to crash on the couch this evening. I decided to look for a movie for us to watch and, since it had been a while since we watched a movie with cannibals, I ended up picking this movie out. Since it was a film I had never heard of, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. And, to be honest, when I realized I didn't recognize any of the actors in the film, I didn't set my expectations too high. As it turns out, the film failed to meet even those lowered expectations. To be fair, the part with the cannibal family actually isn't too terrible. They always seem...

Synopsis:  Kidnapped and imprisoned, a paperboy tells three stories of horror in an effort to distract the witch who is planning on serving him up for dinner. Who's In It? The movie stars Debbie Harry , Matthew Lawrence , Christian Slater , Steve Buscemi , Julianne Moore and William Hickey . Review : I came across this film on one of our movie channels a couple nights ago and, since it had been a long time since my wife and I had taken the time to watch it, I ended up recording it for later. We finally finished up the movie last night and, after seeing it again, I have to say it was better than I remembered it. The wraparound story about the kidnapped paperboy (Lawrence) and the child-eating witch (Harry), was a little predictable and, at times, a little dumb. But, the stories the paperboy ends up telling her are what make this movie and are a big reason why the film is enjoyable. My personal favorite was the second one, about the killer cat. That segment en...

Synopsis : As a powerful storm, brought on by global warming, strikes the coast of California and Los Angeles, a retired professional surfer (with help from his friends) attempts to rescue his ex-wife and children both from flooding and from dozens of hungry sharks that are being scooped up from the ocean and dropped on land. Who's in it? The movie stars Ian Ziering , Tara Reid , John Heard , Cassandra Scerbo and J ason Simmons. Review: This is a movie that I've been on the fence about watching for the past four years, mostly because I'm not a big fan of horror/comedies, especially those that would be considered low budget. In fact, the only reason I decided to finally watch it last night was I had heard there is yet another sequel (the 5th movie total) coming out and I found myself a bit curious about what I was missing. As it turns out, after watching this movie last night, I can honestly say there wasn't anything about this movie that surprised me. Ho...

Synopsis: Even though she is forbidden to do so, Zarina, a pixie dust keeper fairy, conducts secret experiments to learn more about the pixie dust and what it can do. When one of her experiments causes an accident, Zarina flees Pixie Hollow. A year later, she returns, as a pirate, and steals the blue pixie dust that is essential for fairies to fly. It is up to Tinker Bell and her friends to retrieve the dust and, if possible, convince Zarina to return home. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Mae Whitman , Christina Hendricks , Tom Hiddleston , Lucy Liu and Jim Cummings . Review : My youngest daughter wanted to have a family movie night so, after turning her down a couple times this week (due mostly to not really having the time), we ended up having one last night. I let her and her older sister pick out the movie as long as it was one none of us had seen yet. This film happened to be on Netflix and ended up being the one we watched. While this isn't the...