The Boston Strangler

Stark, emotionless & brilliant retelling of the infamous DeSalvo story. The film is presented almost as a narrative documentary using multiple split screen techniques, and is all the better for it. Video prints used an awful pan/scan which cropped off pretty much everything. The DVD restores the film to its full widescreen glory.

In terms of acting the film is flawless. Henry Fonda & George Kennedy make a superb team (watch their delayed reactions in the brilliant elevator scene near the end). Among the equally excellent supporting cast are George Voskovec as the psychic Peter Hurkos (reunited with Fonda after Twelve Angry Men), William Hickey (superb as a creepy handbag-obsessed suspect), the droll combination of Murray Hamilton & Mike Kellin as detectives, Hurd Hatfield (the original Dorian Gray) as a hounded gay man, a brief appearance by James Brolin as a cop who comes a cropper to Hurkos's talents, and even Moe Greene himself Alex Rocco as a detective at an apartment murder scene.

However it's Tony Curtis who stands out among this towering ensemble. Yep, the same Curtis who dragged up in Some Like It Hot, lost his hand (but not his accent) in The Vikings, and uttered immortal lines such as "I won't let dem crucify youse, Spartacus" and "Yonder lies da palace of my faddah, de Caliph". Although he doesn't appear until almost an hour into the film his performance is absolutely mesmerizing. Whoever believed that Bernie Schwartz was capable of such phenomenal acting? Bone-chilling and genuinely psychotic (look at his eyes during the bathroom murder) this, together with The Defiant Ones, is the answer to critics who believed Curtis couldn't act.

The nudity is brief and the murders non-explicit (bar for the genuinely nasty assault on a bound Sally Kellerman). Much of the graphic material is limited to dialogue descriptions ("Don't tell the press about the broom handle") and this also helps the film immensely. When originally released in the UK the cinema version received some of the heaviest cuts ever made to a major Hollywood film, and even as late as 1988 the video was still a problem for the BBFC (losing over 1 min from the assault scene). Now it can be seen intact and uncut.

It can also be seen for what it is. A classic of 60's cinema and an unforgettable experience.

Couldn't agree more. Superb film with astonishing acting. Fleischer was the greatest ever director of true crime films.

watched killer croc flick Rogue last night and absolutely loved it. wasn't a fan of Greg McCleans first film Wolf Creek but this was great, a proper animal attack film and the CGI was awesome as it was mixed with animatronics. It's a shame this never got a cinema release over here due to Black Water and Lake Placid 2 coming out around the same time. It's beautifully shot, showing the barran outback and is very tense at times. Defo Worth a watch, i highly recommend it.

Word. I loved it SOOOOOOO much! :nod:

I loved both Rogue and Wolf Creek but I'd say I preferred Wolf Creek out of the two. Despite the films being horror movies, they really give me an urge to travel to Australia for a holiday. Some real beautiful shots of the country in both movies.

I watched The Ordeal yesterday. The Belgians are absolutely nuts. What the hell was the zombie shuffle dance in the cafe about? :laugh: That was great.

I have been looking forward to seeing Dead Beat at Dawn for a while now and a couple of days ago my synapse r1 DVD came through the post. I am a fan of this kind of 80's ultra low budget trash punk film making like Driller Killer, Basket Case, Combat Shock, Street Trash etc most of which was apparently inspired by the success of Evil Dead(if anyone else can recommend other titles I'd be extremely happy) and Deadbeat definitely falls into this category.

Jim Van Bebber wrote, directed, starred in and did all the make up effects for Deadbeat his first feature length film. Its an ultra violent tale of gang life in urban Ohio, Goose (Van Bebber) is the leader of a street gang who is talked into going straight by his girlfriend. Unfortunately a rival gang isn’t going to let him leave the life so easily and send out two goons (one of whom is Bone Crusher who has a fantastic rant about hating all people) to dispatch him, however they only succeed in killing his girlfriend as Goose is out on a drug deal. Extremely violent bloody revenge ensues involving nun chucks, ninja throwing stars and Van Bebbers signature style ultra violent kung fu, all shot in a whirlwind of fast camera movement and cuts that really gives the film some punch in the action department.

Its not all ultra violence and nuck chuck beatings though. There are times when the film slows down like when Goose goes to visit his alcoholic drug addled father and we see that Goose has probably done relatively well for himself considering where he has come from.

Also worth pointing out are Jim Van Bebbers death-defying stunts. In the film he repels down walls, jumps off a bridge and gets dragged by a car, and according the commentary track it was all done with little regard for safety.

If you like low budget gritty film making with plenty of ultra violence then track down this film. Just don’t expect it to have any morals what so ever. The synapse release has a commentary track (every so often on this track there are some comments by a British distributor who tried to release in here in 1998, his dealing with the BBFC make interesting listening) as well as a couple of Van Bebbers short films and the transfer is pretty decent for a low budget 16mm flick.

This could be a great film for Arrow to release, as far as I know it's had no UK release. Does anyone think it would still run into the same problems with the BBFC now that it had in 1998?

It wouldn't have any problems at all today, BioZombie.

Guessed as much, I thought alot of the violence in the 15 rated Kick Ass (an amazing film that I reccoment eveyone should see) was almost at the same level as [/b]Deadbeat[/b] though maybe not quite as relentless and sadistic.

I have still never caught up with Deadbeat At Dawn. That review has revived my interest. Cheers BioZombie! Nice review.

Cheers Gojirosan, its definitely worth a look, the synapse realease is out of print so is not overly cheap. I paid £16 on ebay including postage.

just watched Maniac Cop for the first time, it's a pretty good film and the awesome Tom Atkins is in it, my only gripe is the picture quality, optimum have done thing to the picture and it looks slightyly better that an vhs copy. but good film none the less...

Watched The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave tonight and in all honesty, I really didn't think much of it. It had some really nice moments, but I was expecting a bit more gore (especially with cover art like it has). The DVD was very poor quality too which probably never helped.

But...but...the fit redheads...REDHEADS I SAY! REDHEADS!!!

:biggrin::lol:

Well okay, maybe it wasn't too bad then :laugh:

:lol:

I watched I spit on your grave last night. Was my 2nd viewing as I last saw it a few years back. Rape scenes were quite bad but the rest wasn't too bad. I guess the remake wont have a rape scene as long as the original or maybe even not that graphic like Last house remake.

Which version did you see?

I have it as part of NoShame's Emilia Miraglia box set and the pq was excellent. Having said that, I was expecting a little bit more from this one too. Enjoyable enough, but I preferred the director's other giallo The Red Queen Kills Seven Times.

I also preferred Red Queen to Evelyn, but do enjoy them both.

I didn't like either film, thought they were both quite poor. Though I'm glad I got the No Shame box before it went OOP.

"Daddy's Girl" (2006) - aka "Cravings"

British (indeed a rare Welsh one) 'Horror' film about a troubled psychiatrist looking into the case of a teenage girl who has cut herself and drank her own blood.

Very slow burning and more like a drama/thriller for the first hour this is well acted and well made but the script is unsure on what kind of movie it's meant to be.
Why the (plot wise utterly pointless with no payoff) possible supernatural elements were thrown, for a basically separate sub-plot, into what is otherwise a grounded, serious, real world narrative is a mystery but in general this is an interesting little film that packs in some very bloody moments and some violence in the last half hour...leading to a nicely dark, if motivationally forced at the last minute, ending.


"Jack Says" / "Jack Said" - (2008) - (2009)

Low budget British noir/thriller/gangster films that are confusingly plotted thanks to most of the (produced later) "Jack Said" being a prequel to the earlier "Jack Says"...except for the last part of "Jack Said" which is in fact a sequel to "Jack Says"!

As such no matter which order you watch the film's in...you lose out somehow as far as plot/spoilers go.

Acting is pretty bad, but "Jack Says" is the only one really hurt by it...where some wooden or hammy all to hell performances make viewing the film (already densely, confusingly plotted and presented) a bit of a chore.

"Jack Said" (with Danny Dyer in a support role) is better made and (mostly) better acted and has a more coherent plotline and can at a stretch be, sort of, enjoyed without "Jack Says".
Sadly though you do need "Jack Says" to fully appreciate the story, even though "Jack Says" brings the entire enterprise down.

But really both are not as good as they have bravely strived to be (the hardboiled, graphic novel, noir styling and plotting is rare for a British film) thanks to dubious thespian skills, sometimes annoyingly cliche dialogue and messy plotting.
Nice try though.
A 3rd film is supposedly in production to explain exactly what happened at the end of "Jack Said"...which does end in a partially open-ended fashion.

I am not glad that I didn't! Goes for silly money now!

Bah! :mad: :lol:

Watched the story of ricky last night..1st time i ever seen it
I know it ott and a no brainer film and the gore and violence to be taken with humour and a pinch salt and its deffo ott but even then sometimes these type of films can still get a bit silly ...i was doing exactly as the above and well sort of enjoying it but when the governer changed into a resemblance of the hulk totaly ruined it for me

Pit and the Pendulum(Vincent Price and Barbara Steele) Great version of this, some fantastic sets and the usual creepy acting from Price.

This afternoon we watched The War Of The Stars: A New Hope Grindhoused, which was an absolutely fantastic fan edit of Star Wars, complete with deleted scenes, alternate takes, behind the scene footage, new music, and new special effects to make up a completely re-imagined version of Star Wars.

Highly recommended!


Now we're watching my Easter present...

http://www3.hmv.co.uk/hmv/Large_Imag...DEO/FCD377.JPG

Half way through and loving it! :happy:

"Strange Days"

Sits with "The Hurt Locker" as Bigelow's best film.
As it's not hampered by a dreadfully weak and generally crap ending like "Near Dark" or hampered by just being total crap full stop like "Point Break".

Seriously undervalued and underrated at the time "Strange Days" may have flaws, the simplistically liberal and often one-sided politics of the piece that never bothered me before now seems dated to these 9/11 hardened eyes (Bigelow is often the most male of women directors, here she wants to be the most black male of women directors) and it is perhaps a bit too baggy in places.

But overall this is a wonderful piece of well made alternative reality/futuristic sci-fi drama/thriller making with a great cast all in top form.
The action is sparse but well staged but the highlight here are the characters and the performances.
Fiennes, Sizemore and Bassett (where she'd go) are the best of a fine bunch and the story is clever and interesting.

Mind you, seeing as the move into 2000 was in the end perhaps the world's biggest anti-climax it's very strange to see such a HUGE deal made of that New Year's eve here.
And Bigelow was surely living in a lovely fantasy world if she thought the world's biggest new year's eve celebrations would be blessed with a soundtrack of Hard House, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal!



"Natural Born Killers" - Director's Cut

Oliver Stone's vastly superior adaptation of Tarantino's rather lacklustre and bland screenplay (the same happened with the superior adaptation of his "True Romance" too) still holds up as one of the most outrageous, nasty, cynical, bruising, sadistic, twisted, nightmarish, stylish movies ever produced.
And certainly a highlight of that glorious 90's decade of balls-out actions films and extreme thrillers.

Superb soundtrack superbly used, a stunning cast all doing exactly the right thing in exactly the way it needed doing, wonderful set-pieces, jarring violence and sexual brutality and Stone makes great use of Tarantino's basic screenplay and ideas while adding so much extra greatness in the transition from page to screen.

Still unlike anything made before or since..."NBK" is an undervalued masterwork of cinematic extremes.

The first person POV scene in Strange Days is one of the best technical achievements in wacky camerwork I've ever seen. It's awesome.

I really like all of Bigelow's stuff. Near Dark is my fave but she does macho stuff better than the boys as well.

Must admit to liking the incredibly eccentric soundtrack too. Nine Inch Nails, Leonard Cohen, Patsy Cline, and Bob Dylan warbling what appears to be an underwater rendition of You Belong To Me.

"The Wild Man of the Navidad"


This was going to be the subject of a proper, screen caps and all, review. Now I've seen this junk though it ain't worth it.

Here be spoilers....as quite frankly (despite what some review sites who should know better may try to tell you after watching their freebie screeners) no one else needs waste their ****ing hard earned money on this.

Yes, the makers got the look right (cheap white-out contrast problems aside) to give this the style of a 70's Drive-In/Grindhouse flick and the compositions and framing are genuinely astute at carrying this off.
As were the great retro looking titles.

But that's as much as this lifeless, dull, badly written, just frustratingly weak and generally naff movie gets to the real thing.

I don't know of any 70's 'creature' flick that would let over half the running time go past without barely a glimpse, or one single attack (let alone death) from the creature.
At the very least these films gave us pre-credit/opening sequence establishing the creature's presence and threat the essential hook to thrill and pull in the audience while (YES) the often long build-up occurs to the next attack...here though we literally have nothing at all offered up to us.

At about 55 minutes (of an 83 minute film) in we finally have an attack, on characters we have spent a good five minute of constant screen time following.
And what are we given after this agonising wait?
A single shot of the creature, in the dark, bloodlessly attacking a tiny tent (the two characters are nowhere to be seen) with just dubbed on over screams to represent people being present.

Just over an hour in we finally have a tiny bit of real gore. Which is simply a bit of blood and some endlessly recycled, dried up looking, offal strips resting on the actor.
And as in all these weak, badly shot, attacks there are no meaty sound effects at all to represent what we are constantly not shown. Something real 70's movie makers were adept at providing to cover up their visual limitations.

Nothing much happens again then until the very end with one more attack that is once again just a splash of blood and bits of sad offal strips resting on the actor before the 'creature' is despatched, after a thrill free hunt by some bored and confused looking guys in sweaty shirts, in a totally bloodless fashion, by one single bullet, by what sounds like a cap gun.
The End.
Thank ****!

As a creature on the loose flick it utterly fails to deliver the thrills, kills or chills and even the gory fun.
The creature is a worthless looking, threat free, guy in a bunch of old rags and skins...that is never in doubt...and yet the makers still try to make out this may be a creature.
As such we get neither a successful rendering of a monster OR a successful rendering of a mad man.
Real deals like "Don't go in the Woods...Alone" shows how to deliver a wild man killer in a satisfying way (and a damn huge, gore-filled, body count besides) and yet that gets slagged off while this junk gets praised.

And even as a 'backroads' hick flick it fails due to the schizo writing and dull characters.
Shadowed plot points about the 'creature' are brought up (the main characters even know about it and - in endlessly repeated scenes of boredom - leave food out for it) with even the Sheriff knowing something even before any killing starts and yet he does nothing at all to stop any of it happening.

And exactly what retro movie world do the makers think a cheap Drive-In creature flick would be half in Spanish with subtitles?!
Make your minds up!

This also brings up the awful character writing for a guy named Mario who seems to be the live in (?) help to the main guy and his invalid wife.
One minute Mario is a total sleaze who tortures and sexually assaults the wife (even that's done in a dull fashion)...the next minute he's a wise friend to the husband and...wait for it...the moral backbone of the story!
But hold on! Next scene he's molesting the helpless wife again!
Worse, his eventual demise (basically he's the joint lead as far as screen time goes) happens off screen!

"The Wild Man of Navidad" may have the look of a 70's exploitation film but it has NONE of the scuzzy energy, passion, wonderful characters, wonderful dialogue, cheap thrills, bloodlust, eccentricity or simple thudding violence of the real thing...and that's despite what the bogus quotes on the DVD may say to make you part with your cash.

Go watch the real deal. Don't be suckered like I was with this failed retro effort.

actually not much has changed in the True Romance script, as it was not adapted but tweeked by QT and tony Scott together. TR was originally the basis of NBK of which both films were constructed around the screenplay, well elements of Tarantino's My Best Friends Birthday, I liked NBK because Stone took what could have been a Great Single Narative lovers on the lamb kinda film and changed it to a critique on Media and the way the media's Coverage of certain events are shown. This was a good idea otherwise we would have had 2 True Romances, so if this is Stone's Take on TR, then congrats to stone. I think that NBK is a complete one of a kind and the kind of film maybe we may never see again. It's absolutely insane, the direction is nuts, the sound track is fantastic and everyone of the cast members is standout especially Woody Harrelson, who for me has never topped his performance and Tommy Lee Jones who need to make more films like this and the Fugative. If im gonna be completely honest i don't think Oliver stone has made a descent film since this though.:cool:

Yeah but the changed (improved) ending and the total removal of the non-linear time frame structure (in "Res" and "Pulp" it works superbly, here it did nothing at all) from the screenplay were pretty big changes.

Agreed though, QT was more involved in "TR" than he ever was in "NBK".
But quite frankly his screenplay was a dull retread of "Badlands". Stone took it and made it something all together greater.

I totally agree with you there. The problem alot of people have is that although his films are usually great and fun to watch, he's not exactly the most original of writers. He seems to borrow, take, homage everything. You just have to listen to his comentaries.
Take kill bill for instance, there's not an original bone in that entire film, almost every scene if from something else, but he strings it together to make a completely new thing, although this didn't happen with death proof as that just sucked. Even pulp fiction, he's just refering back to seventies crime movies and bringing them in to the modern era, I am a QT enthusiast and i enjoy everything the man makes, but even i can see that he's not the most original film maker and im just waiting for the day he makes a completely straight movie. no chapters, no cuts to different days just one straight linier time line.

Oh yeah, I agree.
And it's that ability to re-use other movie's parts, but to ultimately create a completely unique whole of his own, which is why I defend QT from 'rip-off' attacks.

He should have come out earlier with it, but when the attacks started on him over the use of "City on Fire" in "Reservoir Dogs" (from suddenly 'knowledgeable' people who came ****ing late to BOTH), I had to laugh.
As the films are completely different as whole films in almost every way.

In fact so much so that when people who had not heard of "City" suddenly watched it because of "Res Dogs"...they more often than not ended up saying how ordinary and boring "City" was.
As indeed it is a slow paced, not really flashy, gritty if very typical and utterly un-eccentric or unusual cops/robbers drama.
Only really notable because of Danny Lee, Chow and couple of action moments.

Try the HK film DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS:dance:

Watched The Faculty,written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez the other night.Love this film a LOT.A great mix of The Breakfast Club,Invasion of The Bodysnatchers and The Puppet Masters,as an alien tries to take over an American highschool and it's up to a group of kids to band together and save the day from the alien invasion.

Schizoid

Excellent cast (including one of my teen pin-ups Donna Wilkes) but deadly boring rubbish including a ripe Klaus Kinski and a freaky Christopher Lloyd (nothing new there). Packaged as a slasher (which it isn't) and a low budget one (which it is).

New Year's Evil

Amusing, if bloodless, nonsense with Kip Niven (former vigilante cop and prophet of cinematic earthquakes) as a rather tepid serial killer who terrorizes rock star DJ Roz Kelly ("It's time to spin out and boil your hair") via telephone. Passes the time away, and does have a novel approach to marijuana use.

watched Terminator Salvation for the second time last night, and the film just gets better. It's a straight up Post-apocalyptic action Extravaganza and beats the hell out of T3:Rise Of The Machines.

Couldn't stand it. Thought is was an overblown, wooden CGI fest, also I thought Sam Worthington was a terrible actor. Bale (who was the film's only redeeming feature imo) wasn't even that good in it. A very messy and pointless film overall.

I preferred T3 (with the exception of that whiny c*nt Nick Stahl who plays Connor, and the shitty in-jokes - when Arnie trys on the 'fruity' glasses a la T2 etc.), but only thought that was average.

Each to their own though Pedro! ;)

I've got to agree with Pedromonkey on this one. After hearing mixed reviews about it I watched with very skeptical eyes but I thought it was great. It was just so superbly directed and some real fantastic camera work. I can't understand what people expected from it. It was dark, in places quite jumpy and was full of fantastic cgi action pieces which left you no time to take a breath. Superb stuff. Looking forward to seeing it again, definitely.

I absolutely hated, hated, HATED Natural Born Killers. I thought the film devoid of any merit. Is the Director's Cut different enough to warrant a look?