That was an excellent one.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

It's commonly known that Oliver Stone served in Vietnam and that his most acclaimed masterpieces, most notably "Platoon", are based on his own traumatic experiences and the agonizing real-life horror situations that he witnessed over there. Perhaps his Vietnam luggage turned him into one of the greatest directors of all times, but it also must have caused a bit of permanent brain damage, if you ask me! How else would you explain the madness of "Seizure"; his long-feature debut released not that long after he returned from his tour of duty? This is a truly bonkers horror movie, half brilliant and half unendurable, but fascinating and hypnotizing enough to keep you glued to the screen. Jonathan "Barnabas Collins" Frid stars as Edmund Blackstone, a writer suffering from recurring nightmares featuring the villains of the horror story that he's trying to finish. Nothing but a bad case of writer's block, you'd say, but when Edmund and his wife are hosting a party during the weekend and welcome several guests in their lakeside house, the trio of villains literally pops up at the dining room window! They are: the ravishing but deadly Queen of Evil, the black and heavily mutilated giant referred to as Jackal, and the viciously cruel dwarf named Spider. They start killing off the guests, which isn't a bad thing since they are truly horrible people, but poor Edmund can't seem to figure out if they are real or hallucinatory. Debuting director Stone generates a reasonably tense and mysterious atmosphere, and "Seizure" certainly contains a few strong sequences, but the film is overall too dull and far too talkative. Especially Edmund's "reflective" moments, guided by a voiceover, are immensely long and meaningless, but the Queen of Evil also jibbers too much and even the dwarf would have been far more petrifying if he shut his mouth a little more! As mentioned already, the supportive characters are downright nasty. You often see in horror movies that an alleged group of friends doesn't get along, but these people here are the most arrogant, selfish, treacherous and despicable trolls I've ever seen! There's not a lot of gore, obviously, but nevertheless a few efficient shock-moments and solid performances from Jonathan Frid, Joseph Sirola and the breathtaking Martine Beswick! The eviler she gets, the sexier she becomes! The finale is logical and effectively abrupt, but not exactly original. There's a certain horror milestone from 1962 that ended with a similar twist already.

Historically important as the first filmmaking effort for the young Oliver Stone, "Seizure" will likely not appeal to certain genre fans. There's no gore - there are always cut aways when something violent happens - there isn't much sleaze (although Mary Woronov looks mighty fetching wearing very little), and the script tends to favour talk over action. Still, if anything, "Seizure" is an interesting film. It could be argued that there's simply too much exposition, but Stone and his co-writer Edward Mann do give the film a philosophical nature. It's definitely a thinking persons' horror film, albeit one with some decent atmosphere and a respectable amount of weirdness.'Dark Shadows' star Jonathan Frid plays Edmund Blackstone, a horror novelist who's having some friends over at his country home for the weekend. Edmund is plagued by nightmares, and soon these friends and Edmund & his family will fall prey to some characters that Edmund may have dreamed into existence. First is the Queen of Evil, played by sultry cult icon Martine Beswicke. Next is the hulking, scar faced Jackal (Henry Judd Baker). Finally, we have a malevolent dwarf named The Spider (played by Herve Villechaize of 'Fantasy Island' fame). They subject their victims to various cruel games, pitting character against character.The acting is variable from a cast also including the super sexy Woronov, Joseph Sirola, Christina Pickles, Troy Donahue, and Richard Cox. Frid is fairly intense, and his scenes with Roger De Koven as his confidante Serge provide the film with a degree of humanity and thoughtfulness. De Koven is quite good, but it's Beswicke who steals the show; obviously she is enjoying herself. Villechaize (who was also the still photographer) is amusing, but his thick accent renders some of his dialogue hard to understand.Worth a look for fans of Stone and his cast; it is intriguing now to see his humble beginnings.Filmed in the Canadian province of Quebec.Six out of 10.

OK, this was Oliver Stone's first movie, so I'll cut him some slack (although Satyajit Ray and George Lucas didn't need any pity points for their stellar debuts, "Pather Panchali" and "THX 1138", respectively). Though attempting to make a low-budget horror film with serious undertones about the dark recesses of the unconscious mind, he has instead put a group of very capable actors into a series of macabre scenes - some of which are quite good - but that don't add up to much. And as for serious subtext, the movie ends up with about as much depth as a young adult horror novel. In addition, I didn't like the twist ending, as this same twist was used in literature over a hundred years previous.The true strength of the movie comes from the casting of several iconic actors and actresses from various places ("Dark Shadows" and elsewhere). Though I had not seen any of these actors elsewhere, I give complements to the performances of both the dwarf actor Herve Villachaize and Martine Beswicke as the Queen of Evil. Beswicke, in particular, is the most darkly beautiful actress I have ever seen, and I could not keep my eyes off her whenever she was in a scene. Casting her as the ultimate villainess was a stroke of genius. I'm even tempted to say that her performance is the one best reason for seeing this movie (which is surprising, because Stone has never been very good at creating compelling female characters). Otherwise, there is little here to predict Stone's master craftsmanship on virtually all his films from the late '80s through early '90s.* INTERESTING SIDENOTE: the newscaster voice narration at the end of the movie as the credits roll is that of Oliver Stone himself.

This, Oliver Stone's first feature film, is possibly the worst excuse for a horror film I've ever had the "pleasure" of viewing. Ludicrous plot, poor location shooting, & the presence of Troy Donahue sink it. Interesting cast , though, including "Dark Shadows" veteran Jonathan Frid, Martine Beswicke, & Mary Woronov. But not even Mary can save this one. Maybe if there had been more sex & violence it could have been watchable. =)