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Jesse is the newest young hopeful on the L.A modelling scene. Every year countless young beautiful naive and vulnerable girls move to L.A hoping to make it big most never realise their dream and fade into obscurity but Jesse is different and she is making some very big waves in the shallow pool of self obsession vanity and the endless journey to achieve physical perfection. Make up artist Rudy takes Jesse under her wing and introduces her to her two model friends Gigi and Sarah but are there intentions honorable and are they here to help or hinder Jesses progress in this new world she has entered.

I had heard many bad reviews before i finally sat down to watch this from pretentious garbage to just down right boring. Man where they so wrong i loved everything about this film the soundtrack is perfect just like other Nicolas Winding Refn films it's a character of its own creating so much tension beauty and sensuality. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of every scene the lighting the colours the acting and just the general atmosphere. The Neon Demon is filled with horrible fake sinister characters that will do anything to get ahead in life and maintain their fake manufactured beauty.

Beneath all the glamour the bright lights the amazing soundtrack it might be easy to miss an even more disturbing side to the storytelling. Its not fiction that thousands of young girls and men put themselves at risk and at the mercy of sick individuals in places like the L.A modelling scene and the Hollywood agents of the real world. Just like Starry Eyes The Neon Demon shows us that its not all a bed of roses getting fame and hard work may not be good enough to secure the fame that you seek not only do you have to sell your soul but your body may also be part of the deal before you sign everything you are away on the dotted line.

Underneath all the neon there truly is a demon in waiting.

9/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUJsu5w8IU

I had a recent blu-ray cull and decided that The Neon Demon wouldn't stay. Odd thing is, that I much preferred the film when it was just dealing with the cut-throat world of fashion modelling, before it moved into the horror genre. Interesting film but I decided that it should make way for other titles. And I was somewhat bemused by the various reviews that made reference to a Dario Argento influence. My favourite Refn film so far is Drive, that actually earnt a place on the shelving unit.

Great review, Nord. I watched this the other day for the first time and it has instantly become my favourite film of 2016 and my favourite Refn too, narrowly edging out Only God Forgives.

whats only god forgives like, keep meaning to give it a watch.

I (briefly) reviewed it when I first watched it here.

It certainly won't be to everyone's taste but if you dig Refn's style/aesthetic you should at least get something out of it. Like Neon Demon, it attracted its fair share of hate and criticism.

Oh no, Only God Forgives pisses over The Neon Demon to put it bluntly. :lol:

Cheers B_E it has been constantly on my mind since i watched it.

What's it like having three things constantly on your mind? ;)

A BLADE IN THE DARK – A late giallo from Lamberto Bava. It's about a musician who's been asked to soundtrack a horror movie in a house with a past (and a murderer, natch). One 'interesting' thing about it that it's an early example of a horror film going the meta- route, or being quite self-referential. Not in the same way as wannabe mind blowers like 'Detention' or 'Last Cabin in the Woods', nor exercises in stylistic sass like 'Scream', but still it's about film, about the mechanics of making a movie, there's a film within a film etc etc – someone's even strangled with a strip of celluloid. Visually, maybe it takes its cue from 'Tenebrae' in some ways in that it turns away from the colourful pop-psychedelia of seventies gialli and embraces a cooler, more austere feel for the eighties. There's something quite eerie about the vast, sterile looking modern house in it, and the film does well atmospherically, building up a sense of brooding menace that crystallises out in some brutal killings. There's also something slightly strange about it all, something chilly and abstract that I can't put my finger on. Maybe that's just down to the combination of atmosphere and the ideas, which make the whole thing seem game-like in some sinister, covert way, almost metaphysical. On the downside, it does mess things up a bit in its latter half and becomes slightly baggy and uninvolving in places, plus there's a well worn resolution to everything which makes sense as a filmic reference, but still seems a bit tired. Good overall, though. I was going to get the 88 Films release, but noticed that my Vipco disc looks pretty good still.

HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP – A Roger Corman rip-off from the early eighties, 'Humanoids From the Deep' has sexually inappropriate sea monsters who look like they're from a dark version of Pertwee-era Dr Who. The combination of exploitative nastiness and clunky prosthetics promises to be a winner, but has to contend with a lumbering plot about the politics of salmon fishing in a small American town. The boring bits are worth trudging through to get to mean spirited mutant attacks and a messy monster birth scene. Stylistically it's a bit flat, but it still has that gritty, dour early eighties feel to it in some ways.

THE PIT – Very strange film about an alienated twelve year old geek who's also a budding sex pest. He's often found perving at his childminder, or engineering highly unlikely blackmail type scenarios which involve getting his neighbours to strip before their front room windows. All this aside, the bigger deal for anyone in this film with an interest in self preservation is that there is this Pit. It's out there in the forest and is full of primeval beings who are about to discover the great taste of human flesh – and the kid knows about it etc etc. What a weird one. I'd seen it before, and felt the same way about it after this latest viewing, namely that it struck me as simultaneously a bit uninvolving and grimly attractive. Or maybe just disjointed, odd and flummoxing. One thing that gets in the way a little is its flatness. It has a TV movie type aridity to it, and sometimes films like this from the late seventies and early eighties can make that work in a numb, dissociated way, but here I didn't like it so much. The first hour drags a little whilst we're introduced to the kid and his brewing nastiness, but at least it's peppered with head scratchers like the guessing game the film seems to be playing around the nature of that teddy bear (does it really talk to the kid, or is all a hallucination? No, it's real, but so what!). The mayhem is concentrated at the end. The upside of all of this for someone like me is that 'The Pit' is just, well, f*cked up. Ultimately, not a very likeable movie perhaps, but a must see for anyone interested in how casually skewed genre filmmaking could get in the not too distant past.

I thought the same, so didn't bother. :lol:

Cougars Inc (2011)

Sam, a young man who seems to get expelled from every school he goes to, is on the verge of yet another expulsion due to his mother withdrawing the funds to pay for his education. Downtrodden, he meets an older woman in a bar, following a one night stand she leaves him a cheque for $500 to help pay his way, which gives Sam the idea of starting an escort service for lonely woman using his school buddies as escorts.

Ignore the promo artwork, this isn't the American Pie style movie you might be expecting. (There's not even a dog in the film) There's no slapstick comedy or outrageous behaviour it's all done in a realistic sort of way. The women are decent people looking for a good time as their home lives break down and the youths are happy to help them out, in fact at it's heart Cougars Inc is just a movie about relationships.

It's been a while since i saw Jim Belushi in anything more than a cameo so to see him have a large, much meatier role in this as the high school principal was definitely a bonus. Actually all the cast were very good from Kyle Gallner as Sam to Kathryn Morris and Denise Richards as the lead 'cougars'.

Go into this expecting a gross out comedy and you are likely to hate the film, but go in with no expectations and you might actually enjoy this sweet and occasionally sad indie effort with a few laughs along the way.

It's got a clever strap-line.

Friday the 13th (1980)

A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which, years before, was the site of a child's drowning.

Considering the reactions of victims as they meet the killer is often 'Hi, didn't see you there', director Sean S Cunningham does well to keep this trend setting slasher movie suspenseful. Helped in no uncertain terms by a very Hitchcock / Bernard Herrmann style score from Harry Manfredini.

Whilst the film lacks the lumbering Jason Vorhees killer, it's still a stylish bit of hack and slash showcasing the gory make up effects of Tom Savini to full effect with some of his best work. An early throat slashing is memorable and the classic spear through Kevin Bacon's neck sticks in the memory for life so iconic it has become.

You don't need me to tell you if this film is any good. It's one of the all time great horror films and you should know by now if you like it or not. Personally i think it's a far better film than the similar but overrated The Burning (1981) but not as good as the same years The Prowler, two films which also show off the best of Tom Savini.

Bleed for This (2016)

***1/2 out of *****

Sticking with the VHS at the moment

The Diamond Mercenaries (1976, Val Guest)
Slightly shoddy actioner from the man who brought us The Day The Earth Caught Fire. The kind of film that by rights should be "up there" with Avalanche Express and The Cassandra Crossing...but just isn't :laugh:. A hoot in places, a drag in others. AKA Killer Force. Vipco "big box" release.

Silent Assassins (1987, Lee Doo Yong)
Flash aah - ah! Ahem more like. Sam Jones turns in an undemanding performance as cop Sam Kettle. Linda Blair, a year away from ripping the piss out of her iconic role plays the girlfriend. Am not doing this justice, as it is a fairly violent wee film, though I'm sure that this Medusa release was trimmed....

Tonight?
Bob Ross paints a Seascape (with Lighthouse!!). Should be fun.....:rolleyes:

Demdike yes fri 13th is a great film.
But imo i think like a lot of other films they over killed the franchise. And me personally with a lot of films i lose interest once start going after 3 4 films.
Hellraiser, cotc, noes, halloween i just havent been bothered to watch the films, they might be good but its me thats missing out :nod:
Think only franchise ive watched all the films is Final destinations.
Never been a fan of stuff like James Bond and only seen one fast & furious, but thats just my opinion. Im glad there a lot of films from the 80s they didnt go down that route, and i think if Burning had, they would have spoiled it and lose the edge of the cult status its got.

It really isn't.

Still, it's better than most of the sequels!

Agreed, I am in The Burning as a far superior slasher camp myself :nod:

I don't think it's better than any of the sequels to be honest. :lol:

Two and three are truly awful. Eight is bad (but fun in a novelty sort of way) and JGTH is probably the worst of the bunch, for me. It's a while since I've seen them to be honest so most just gel together in my head.

You and your love for Steve Miner. ;)

Indeed. ;)

He must have wronged me in a previous life or something.

I'm thinking you won't be buying the forthcoming House box set then.

Nope. I'd rather be buggered to death with a cactus!

It can be arranged!

The Inspector has a cactus greenhouse just for such an eventuality.

I bought the Anchor Bay box set. I quickly sold it on.

Two is a travesty for the rip-off of Bay of Blood.

Trashouse.

Zero budget sci fi horror from Essex made in 2005....A group of people are invited to spend a weekend plugged into a new shared virtual reality machine that gives them unlimited powers to shape both the virtual and real world...whilst the acting and effects are shockingly poor at times this works pretty well thanks to the lightness and humour in the script. It is quite fast paced for a zero budget film and crams in loads of shit looking blood and gore in the final third of the film. I wouldn't recommend anyone bother watching it but it is good to know that there are people out there making this kind of low budget schlock in Blighty and it made a nice change from watching Americans walking around woods in the dark, my normal no budget go to kind of film to watch.

Ghost Team.

A group of slacker ghost hunters get themselves involved in more than supernatural hi-jinks when they stumble across a group of drug dealers...doing drugs might make the time pass faster when watching this lame comedy.

Killer Legends

The makers of the excellent Cropsey take a look at urban legends and seek the truth behind them. Objectivity they fail completely to do this by trying to shoe horn real crimes into their theory however it is an excellent documentary about crime, especially the stuff about evil clowns and killers in the house with babysitters. Worth a look.

Agree. Another in the camp of the burning to be honest I don't rate it very high and its one of the worst Friday the 13th moviss but I've never rated the movies highly

The only F13th movie I have ever even remotely enjoyed is Part 4.

Sheesh! You're a miserable lot. Do you take it in turns with the cactus or have one each? :D

The cactus sounds a better choice than Friday the 13th.

Ha, ha you can't fool us. The cactus doesn't count as a purchase.

I never share my cactus!

It has been a while since I saw all the Friday the 13th films, but I don't recall disliking any of them. Even those which are either slightly dull, badly made, or just plain stupid (Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan would check at least two of those boxes) has enough going on to easily pass the time and make it more than watchable.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, but even Jason X is great fun and, even though it isn't the most well-made, is probably (if only for the WTF aspect) the most enjoyable of the series.

Friday the 13th Parts 2 & 4 (The Final Chapter), are not only the best of the franchise, but are two of the very better slashers of the '80s.


Bad Santa 2 (2016)

**1/2 out of *****



9½ Weeks (1986)

***1/2 out of *****

Just finished watching Pet Sematary, 27 years later and it's still the only film that scares me (same goes for the book)!

I've heard you say something similar before, Rik. :nod:

Yeah, I've said it quite a few times on here :nod:

Do you think it's an 'age when you first saw it thing' going on, as i only saw both films for the very first time a few years ago and thought them merely okay.

I saw it for the first time a few weeks back and while it's not necessarily scary the scenes with Louis Creeds Dead son are very eerie and we'll made. As with the book all the dead child stuff really does hit a chord with me.