What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[mbv]

Finally got to see Shogun assassin. What a movie. Loved every second of it.

[Paul]

I saw the remake of Day of the Dead last night. What a steaming pile of poo it was.

[alex s]

Had a in the woods slasher fest last night watched

Manhunt (rovydr/backwoods)

while the gore quota was more than sufficient there was nothing in that hadn't been covered before in recent times, if you enjoyed Wrong Turn 1/2 or Htchet them you will enjoy it. Having said that will probably revisit it again in a few months has it wasn't a bad movie overall and is worth a watch imho

Broken

Again the gore quota was quite well done and was quite an enjoyable little movie, but to me it felt more like a torture movie than a slaher, with a very small cast, but with it being a british movie well worth supporting.

alex

[gag]

Just got color me blood red of loops saw it yrs ago but watched it again. dont know y its still a 18 in todays standards a 12 is more apropiate. no violence gore swearing or anything realy...its all done very low key

[Daemonia]

This is what I've been watching lately:

Shrooms - A bunch of American teens tramp around the wilds of Ireland eating mushrooms. One girl has a bad trip and foresees the coming deaths of her friends. It's not brilliant - but it's a novel idea. The ending's a cop-out though and I saw it coming about an hour earlier. Predictable and seen it all before. Not bad but don't go out of your way to see it.

The Earth Dies Screaming - Terrific Brit sci-fi/horror wherein everyone on earth appears to have mysteriously just dropped dead - aside from a handful of survivors, who have to fight to stay alive and figure out how to beat these alien invaders. Superb film that's aided by a stellar cast, including Hammer regulars Dennis Price and Thorley Walters. Thoroughly enjoyed this, brilliant stuff. Highly recommended.

Death Race - Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is framed for the murder of his wife and finds himself in prison. In prison he's offered the chance for freedom if he participates in the Death Race, posing as the infamous Frankenstein. Cracking entertainment - brainless but enjoyable. It's actually far better than I expected it to be. Well worth a look.

Tower of London (1939) - Political intrigue as the brother of the King, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, murders and manipulates his way to the Throne. Brilliant in every regard, this is unmissable. Karloff is on especially good form as the sinister and malevolent Mord. The cast also includes Rathbone and Price, so you know you can't go wrong with this one.

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952) - Cracking little drama this one, in which Kees Popinga (Claude Rains), a Dutch bookeeper discovers that his boss (Herbert Lom) has been siphoning off funds for his fancy lady and the company is on the verge of bankruptcy. In a fit of rage Kees hurls his boss into a nearby canal. Believing he has killed him, he makes off with his boss's suitcase, which is full of money, and heads off to Paris. Kees always longed to travel on a train to Paris and experience the high life, so off he goes. He then looks up his boss's fancy woman and makes her show him the city life - with a promise of revealing where he's hidden the stolen cash. The only spanner in the works is that a detective (Marius Goring) is hot on his trail. Rains gives a career best performance - and it's heart rending to see him yearning for a life he can never have - a pretty young girlfriend, plenty of money, living it big in Paris. But it's always going to be beyond his reach. Utterly fabulous - I can't recommend this highly enough!

The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) - Universal's second follow-up to Creature from the Black Lagoon and it's not too shabby. Scientists capture the Creature with the intention of humanising it, but things so go awry. The Creature actually looks extremely chilling when he becomes more human. Great stuff.

Crank 2 - More high-octane action which carries on immediately from where the first left off. This time around Chev's (Jason Statham) heart has been stolen and he's been given an artificial heart which needs electricity - cue lots of inventive ways to charge himself up. And the hunt is on to reclaim his heart and get it back in his chest where it belongs. Great fun, if a little misanthropic, but I enjoyed that aspect of it - something to offend everyone. I enjoyed it anyway - made me laugh. Certainly NOT to be taken seriously. Recommended.

The Old Dark House (1932) - A terrifically atmospheric Universal horror that really does establish the rules of the spooky house genre. Weary, wet and windswept travellers seek refuge in the Welsh hills at - you guessed it - an old dark house. However, their hosts are harbouring deadly secrets that are unveiled as the night progresses. There's some genuinely scary moments and James Whale once again proves what a fine director he was. It's a shame this was given scant distribution, it's a superb little movie. Brilliant stuff - highly recommended!

Oh, and living in Wales myself, it has the best line of dialogue I've heard in a while - when Karloff simply grunts at the guests when they knock the door, the male character says something like: 'I know we're in Wales, but 'I'm sure Welsh isn't supposed to sound like that!' Priceless.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers - I saw this on my shelf and thought 'I can't remember a thing about it', so out it came and into my player. There's a reason we block certain memories... To be fair, it's not too bad and I think it was unnecessarily panned at the time of release, it's not that bad, but it ain't exactly great either. A serviceable b-movie.

Boogeyman 2 - Sequel to recent film...well...it's nothing like it at all, really. A young woman fears the Boogeyman after witnessing the massacre of her parents and so finds herself checking into the same mental institution her brother was once in. People then start dying in unnatural ways and she blames the Boogeyman but no-one believes her, you know the drill. The real problem here is that the makers of the film have tried to kick-start a Saw-esque franchise, even to the point of casting Tobin Bell in a lead role. It's pretty lame and I really can't recommend it.

Tropic Thunder - A spoof action movie-within-a-movie. It works in parts but totally misses the mark elsewhere. Ben Stiller has the potential to be a good actor, I reckon, he just needs to abandon his juvenile humour, which is insulting to everyone's intelligence. Or maybe the Americans 'get it' more than the rest of mankind..? Robert Downey Jr is priceless though, as the method actor who turns 'black' for his role. Speaking of Black, that tosser Jack Black really ****ing irritates me - how anyone can find him the remotest bit funny is utterly beyond me. Not really worth a punt. Actually, it's pretty crap and I don't really know why I took the time to watch it - I think I was probably suckered in by some good reviews. Glad I only rented it!

Outlander - Part sci-fi, part historical adventure. A space traveller crash lands on earth in Northern Europe during the Iron Age. The problem is, he's brought the Morwen with him - a ferocious alien creature that will destroy everything in its path. The traveller ends up teaming up with the local Vikings to kill the creature. It's predictable enough - but it's also daft enough to be entertaining. Jim Caviezel (sorry - James Caviezel - now he's a serious actor LOL) is the stranded astronaut and he does a decent enough job - but he's no match for the acting talents of John Hurt and Ron Perlman (who steals every scene he's in!). Not bad, but leave logic at the door. Also, a few inaccuracies, historically. If it's the Iron Age, why do they use wooden spades to dig the trap? And where did that Catholic priest appear from? The Vikings certainly wouldn't have a priest in their number! FFS the Iron Age in Northern Europe was around 1200-1000 BC and along comes this Catholic priest carrying a Celtic cross (the Vikings weren't Celtic!!) and mumbling in Latin. Latin!!?? Don't script writers ever bother to do proper research??

[iluvdvds@Cult Labs]

Nice list of films you've got there, Daemonia. The Man Who Watched Trains Go By sounds more interesting than the title! I'll have to try and watch that.

Shrooms on the other hand, isn't very good at all IMO. But hey, I got it cheap, so can't complain....much

As for me, well I watched Haunts last night - but didn't make it to the end of it, as I got bored. Ended up switching on some Judas Priest!!!!!!! But I watched the original Toolbox Murders the previous night and really luved that! The deaths are really REALLY good! I just thought it was Excellent! And I only paid a pound for that (the Vipco one) at a local boot sale - it's a shame it was cut but ,oh well.

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by iluvdvds

I watched the original Toolbox Murders the previous night and really luved that! The deaths are really REALLY good! I just thought it was Excellent! And I only paid a pound for that (the Vipco one) at a local boot sale - it's a shame it was cut but ,oh well.

I first saw it on the cinema back in 1982 and it was massacred.

[iluvdvds@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by vincenzo

I first saw it on the cinema back in 1982 and it was massacred.

Really?! Do you remember how much it was cut by Vince? I imagine it's a lot as the whole film is full of murders!

Oh, I wish I could see this (uncut! ) in the cinema!

[vincenzo]

It was cut by around 5-6 minutes. The entire 'bathtub' scene was missing, and both the drill murder and nail gun killing were heavily cut (especially the latter). They also cut the shots of the dead girls bodies.

Interestingly they allowed the final shot of the nailgun into the girl's head though the blood running down her face was shortened. The Vipco DVD cut this completely and ended the scene with the girl being shot in the stomach. Apart from this, and the killer chasing the girl into the bedroom, the Vipco release restored the old cinema cuts. It would pass fully intact if resubmitted today.

It was doubled with Zombie Flesh Eaters (which received less cuts) on the cinema when I first saw it.

[iluvdvds@Cult Labs]

You know so much about censorship Vince! You're a walking censhorship-enclopydia!!!!!!!!!!!!

They deleted the best part! The bathroom scene was excellent, especially with the use of contropunctual sound! Excellent stuff - kinda like the bit from Watch Me When I Kill.

Did you see it as part of the double bill then mate? That must've been so good (even if it was cut!)