[Daemonia]

Ironclad (2011) - Following the forcible signing of the Magna Carta, King John (Paul Giamatti), teams up with the Danish to reconquer England and retake the throne. But Templar Knight Thomas (James Purefoy) teams up with the Baron of Albany (Brian Cox) who ride with their small band to Rochester Castle and hold it against John and his Danish cohorts. It's pretty well done and I quite enjoyed this slice of historical mayhem.

The Hypnotic Eye (1959) - Desmond the Hypnotist might well be behind a recent spate of beautiful women disfiguring themselves and it's up to a local detective to get to the bottom of the mystery - especially as his own girlfriend could be the next victim! It's quite an oddity this one and fairly nasty for its time. There's also a weird sequence inside a beatnik club where a guy rattles off a poem called Confessions of a Movie Addict, which talks about seeing original, uncut films. See, even back then they wanted unrated versions. LOL! Overall, nicely done and I enjoyed it.

Drive (2011) - Ryan Gosling is the titular driver, who works by day as a stuntman and by night is a getaway driver for hire. But when he becomes embroiled with a young girl it spells trouble, as her husband is up to his neck in debt with a criminal gang. He agrees to help the husband but soon finds himself in the middle of something he hadn't accounted for. Winding Refn delivers another gem of a movie and is simply lovely to look at. The violence is brutal and the acting first class. Every single frame tells a story. Brilliant.

Blitz (2011) - Jason Statham is a tough London cop on the trail of serial killer 'Blitz', who is bumping off coppers. It's all action and brutality as the Stath rages through London. Silly but enjoyable.

Red State (2011) - Kevin Smith departs from his usual style and delivers this shocking portrayal of religion gone bad. Three young men on the promise of sexual thrills arrive at a trailer and suddenly find themselves kidnapped and at the homicidal mercy of Abin Cooper (Michael Parks) and his 'family' of church fanatics. They've also got an arsenal of guns and when the shit hits the proverbial fan, a prolonged seige and shoot out ensues. Absolutely brilliant. Best moment for me was in the middle of a ferocious firefight, Abin asks his daughter to get him a cup of tea. LOL! Unmissable.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - Picked this up cheap on BD for a rewatch. It's silly, it's overdone, but I can't help liking it. Two bank robber brothers are heading to Mexico to escape the law and hitch a ride with a pastor who's lost his faith and his two kids. Upon arriving at the rendezvous point in Mexico at the unforgettable Titty Twister things take a most uunexpected turn, as the Titty Twister is a lair for a coven of vampires and it goes into overdrive. For all its shortcomings, I do rather like it. The BD looks great too, revealing details hitherto obscured. Quite impressive transfer, really.

The Guard (2011) - Brendan Gleeson is an Irish copper and a pretty unothordox one at that. When he's teamed up with a CIA operative to bust a drugs ring, things get a bit crazy. I really enjoyed this and Gleeson is pitch perfect. Well worth a look.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) - Blu-ray rental. Matthew McConnaughy (or whatever) is a lawyer who does his business from the back of a Lincoln. He's also exceptionally good at what he does, but then finds himself involved in a case that isn't what it appears to be and links back to a previous case he defended. It's actually pretty good and never quite goes where you expect it go. Not bad.

X Men: First Class (2011) - Another origins movie, this one is obviously recalling the origins of the X Men. And....it's actually pretty good. The performances are decent and the FX is excellent. It's also nice to get some back-story to Magneto and Xavier and I liked how they took in the Nazis, the Cold War and government conspiracies! Phew! They packed in as much as they could and it really does work rather well. Recommended.

The Woman (2011) - Chris Cleek (Sean Bridgers) is, on the surface of things, a family man with wholesome values. But when he discovers a wild woman living in the nearby woods, he decides to capture her, tie her up in his cellar, and 'civilise' her. Well, that's what he says, anyway. But as things start to unravel it becomes apparent that Chris and his family are far from normal, harbouring many, many dark secrets and Chris himself turns out to be anything but wholesome.

Lucky McKee's film is very dark and gruelling viewing at times, but absolutely brilliant. It's almost like a twisted deconstruction of the perfect American family. It had me cringing a few times as I couldn't believe where the film was going and Chris gets increasingly unhinged - although we quickly learn he's been unhinged for a very long time. Absolutely worth your time, this one.

Scarface (1983) - Picked this up on BD and I'm glad I did, it looks and sounds amazing. Tony Montana (Al Pacino) arrives in Miami as a Cuban refugee and quickly embarks on a career of crime rising to the top of a multi-million dollar cocaine empire. It's perfect in every respect and the film simply rolls from one classic scene to another, there's just no faulting this film. From the drug deal gone to bad (involving a chainsaw no less!), to the face off between Pacino and Loggia fiollowing an assassination attempt on Tony, to the final climactic shoot-out in Tony's mansion. It's breathtaking stuff and De Palma is audacious in what he dares to put on film - very strong stuff for its time. Oliver Stone's screenplay is searing and full of quotable lines and Giorgio Moroder's score is excellent, it's like a character within the film. Every single performance is brilliant, there's not a bad bit of acting in the entire film. Even the actors who only say a couple of lines are outstanding. If you haven't seen this masterpiece from Brian De Palma, then you really owe it to yourself to do so.

Cool Hand Luke (1967) - Paul Newman is Luke, a non-conformist who lands himself on the chain gang. But he refuses to be broken and continues to challenge authority, even though it won't go well for him. It's really a film about the triumph of the spirit and it's brilliant. Newman was never better and the supporting cast are first class: George Kennedy, Strother Martin, Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Don Baker....the list goes on. It's been a long time since I last saw it and was glad to revisit it on BD, which looks amazing. Glad I've finally added this one to my film collection.

She Beast (1965) - This is Michael Reeves' first feature and it's nothing special, I'm afraid. After waiting so loong to finally see it, it was a bit of a let down. Ian Ogilvy and barbara Steele are a honeymooning couple in Transylvania when their car goes off the road into a lake and she becomes possessed by an ancient witch. It's not bad as these things go and Reeves proves he's masterful with a camera. But the story is weak and the acting sub-par, so it doesn't quite achieve 'classic' status.

Hostel III (2011) - Scott Spiegel takes over directorial duties on this one and the plot pretty much follows the trajectory of previous entries, but with a few added extras. A group of friends partying in Vegas find themselves abducted and subjected to torture and death in front of a live audience. There's a few twists along the way and I thought it was good fun, actually. In fact, as trashy as it is, I think I enjoyed this more than the two Roth entries. Not bad, though, overall. At least this one knows what it is - cheap, trashy entertainment and doesn't pretend otherwise. The final twist is shit though.

Easy A (2011) - A girl at High School finds herself in a situation whereby guys pay her just to say they've had sex, even though they haven't. But it backfires a bit and she gets a reputation as a slut, even though she isn't. Lots of references to The Scarlet Letter along the way too (and some Demi Moore slagging off as well LOL!). This wasn't actually half as bad as I thought it was going to be and there's a definite dark undercurrent to the whole film. Not a classic, but I've seen worse.

Damnation Alley (1977) - Following a nuclear holocaust a band of survivors hole up at a military facility. But when someone gets careless the place gets blown up and so George Peppard and Jan Michael Vincent set off in their battletrucks to head for Albany, where they suspect other survivors are living. Along the way they pick up a woman and a young boy (Jackie Earl Haley) and encounter some giant scorpions. But all's well that ends well. It's daft as a brush but I really enjoyed this crazy slice of 70's sci-fi.