So nothing like what you are currently watching then? ;)

Well, to be fair I'm just clearing through all my recordings from last year

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Random segue but I think I heard rumblings of The Great Silence getting a UK release this year, can't remember where I heard that though... Do you have it, is it good? I've heard good things.

The way i'm feeling - throat and chest cold - i might be watching Movies4Men all next week. :behindsofa:

Sadly not, no. All i've heard is good things as well. I know the Inspector loves it, Keirarts as well i think.

Me too.

No need to be sorry Dem not everyone likes the same movies, in your other comment you mentioned torture porn would that be a comment for A Serbian Movie, even that one I wouldn't recommend.

My old college tutor copied me a load of films onto my usb stick a few years back that he thought I might be interested in, one of which was A Serbian Film. I watched it once out of curiosity (it was the full uncut version) and deleted it straight after, unfortunately I couldn’t delete it from my brain though!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to watching films that push the boundaries (August Underground, Grotesque, Murder Set Pieces etc), but that is one film I’ve absolutely no desire to watch ever again, shocking for the sake of it! :nod:

Bit like the Bunny Game, another I only watched out of curiosity :nod:

Same thing happened to me, a friend gave me a copy about 7 years ago fully uncut, can't forget the images, whisky doesn't help

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I vividly recall a "discussion" about A Serbian Film a few years ago. If I'm not mistaken, the thread had to be closed...

I've no interest in seeing A Serbian Film to be honest. There's been a lot of discussion about it over the years on here, some good some bad.

I do like the so-called torture porn genre, films like Hostel for example, and thought Life and Death of a Porno Gang was excellent as was stuff like Gutter Balls but don't really go in for the hard torture stuff. I do love effective blood and guts sequences in films especially slashers but I much prefer Gothic horror.

To be honest you're doing yourself a favour by not watching it

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Yeah, things got pretty heated from what I remember

Why would they make a film called A Serbian Film?

and What sort of people would want to watch that type of film?

I can think of one member who has a habit of posting while drunk :lol:

I've seen the first Hostel film and that's about it for anything remotely torture-esque, it's just not my bag at all. I'm too busy watching Franco's nature movies :lol: Some might say that's torture...

Hostel and Saw films are great premises but I feel they do not need to stick it in your face to gross out effect,The old 'the less you see is more' works better imo

Like Rik I saw it out of curiosity and after watching it I stared at the laptop in shock and disgusted at myself for viewing it. Work colleagues have asked me about it and never really gave a answer that could be honest.

You would have to ask the director.

Aaaaaand


....Keep repeating .... it's ONLY a movie .....

;)

I personally scratch my head as to why people would watch any of Michael Bay's ouvre. Different strokes and that ;)
Plus I always said that The Life & Death Of A Porno Gang was the betterer film anyhow.

Slander sir!! I have never drank a Serbian :pound:

I was never that bothered by Serbian film. One of those films i thought was trying to be shocking for it's own sake then think of a meaning later. The infamous baby scene was (thankfully) fake as hell. I've not had the urge to revisit it. Personally I found August underground mordem to be more shocking.

I've just watched.....

The Crazies

After two 16mm features, season of the witch and there's always vanilla, Romero moved to 35mm with a DP and more of a budget. The film didn't set the box office on fire at the time but has built up a solid reputation over the years.
After the languid pace of his last two features, the crazies moves at a break neck pace. A biological weapon gets loose and the army must quarantine a small Pennsylvania town to prevent the contagion spreading. The army are neither fully equipped nor prepared as they should be. While things steadily fall apart a group of survivors try to escape the quarantine zone.
For me, the crazies feels like Romero's attempt at doing a Dr Strangelove type of film with biological warfare rather than nuclear weapons . It's got Romero's typically pessimistic view of authority as the government tròops end up killing people in panic, turning on their own and generally screwing things up from the get go. The cast are mainly fine. The standouts being Lynn Lowry and Richard Liberty, who would later steal every scene he's in in Day of the Dead.
Arrows transfer is the best I've seen. I like the Blue Underground release but this one really tops it.

[QUOTE=keirarts;562265]I was never that bothered by Serbian film. One of those films i thought was trying to be shocking for it's own sake then think of a meaning later. The infamous baby scene was (thankfully) fake as hell. I've not had the urge to revisit it. Personally I found August underground mordem to be more shocking.



/QUOTE]


I agree, AU Mordem is more shocking, I don’t think I made it to the end of that one and I never bothered with the third one

I prefer the charm of all the old school horrors. None of these modern torture porn films do it for me at all. It's not that i'm shocked by them, it's just that I find them dull and boring.
I remember when I stupidly bought Murder Set Pieces, the biggest pile of crap i've ever had to sit through.
Give me House on The Edge of The Park, any day!

Watched The Conversation, it's ok but not the classic it's reputed to be.

Also watched Abbot & Costello meet Frankenstein! Classic, must watch a few more of those!

Next up more conspiricy fun with Blow Up and Blow Out!

[QUOTE=Rik;562267]The ending of mordem crossed certain lines for me. In a way Serbia film tried and failed to do. I'm over shock cinema. Give me a plot, some sleaze and perhaps a little art..

Here too

Attachment 200451
WOMAN WHO CAME BACK (1945)

A woman, Lorna is returning home after two years away. On the way her bus is waved down by an old lady. The old woman knows everything about Lorna and begins telling Lorna that her ancestor burnt witches 300 years ago.
The bus crashes. Lorna is the only survivor and no one knows who the old lady was and never find a body. Mysterious creepy events surround Lorna and after a visit to an old crypt finds papers about the old lady. She was burnt at the stake, sold her soul to the devil and now inhabits new bodies through time.
Lorna now thinks she is possessed by the witch...

Atmospheric little chiller.
A good feeling of paranoia as Lorna feels enveloped by evil and the towns people, full of superstition turn against her. A nice sinister music score plays throughout. The movie lasts just over an hour but packs a lot in that time along with the thunder, rain and talk of witches. Good stuff :cool:

Hunt For The Wilderpeople (Taiki Waititi, 2016)

From the director of What We Do In The Shadows and some Thor sequel :lol: comes this abrasively charming tale. Ricky Baker is the scourge of the local Social Services, so when he is 'farmed out', so to speak to Bella and 'Uncle' Hector ... it's a fresh start for everyone. Sam Neill great as the bluff outdoorsman and newcomer Julian Dennison is refreshingly unsympathetic. Worth a look imo.

ACROSS THE RIVER – Picked this up after I read Dem’s recent review – cheers, Dem! I think I probably get more out of your recommendations than you do out of mine at the moment! So anyway, ‘Across The River’ is really good. It’s about some kind of biologist who, tracking data and doing field recordings out in the wilds, stumbles across the ruins of a village. Hidden in the dilapidated shell of one of the houses is a secret that brings the film to a pretty creeped out conclusion. Whilst it doesn’t do anything massively new, ‘Across The River’ brought it home to me how lacking in atmosphere, creeps and chills most contemporary horror fare is. There is a genuinely ominous vibe to this one that you just don’t get very often. Part of this comes from the sheer sense of isolation – there’s not much dialogue, nor many interactions. Just this vaguely Jamesian researcher who’s trying to make sense of something inexplicable and malevolent in a really bleak, cut-off place. What happens when it all comes to the boil is surprisingly brutal and, yep, in a few scenes quite scary. Not through recourse to jump-scares, but in a ‘cold hand milking my fear gland’ kind of way. When did you last see a horror film that was actually a bit scary? Even a bit? It’s not an easy thing to do. Definitely one to see if you like grim ghost stories.

BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 – From the director of ‘Bone Tomahawk’. Or should I say, from the director of the massively overrated ‘Bone Tomahawk’, as I didn’t really get the latter film. I don’t like Westerns and it just seemed really long. ‘Brawl In Cell Block 99’ is really long, too, but is actually superb. There’s quite a lot of set-up to this one, with Vince Vaughn as a drug runner with a slightly rigid ‘honourable man’ type persona that makes him ‘do the right thing’ in a highly relative way (go to jail after killing drug dealers who are shooting at cops… get into the bad bit of prison to kill another inmate after his wife is threatened on the outside etc etc). Anyway, ‘Brawl In Cell Block 99’ follows Vince’s journey through the American penal system as he closes in on the ‘bad guys’ responsible for his predicament, one of the latter being creepy Udo Kier, still doing it after all these years. The main thing about it is, it’s not a ‘prison movie’. It is literally, but not aesthetically. It’s not a rugged actioner about one man’s fight for justice inside. It’s a dreamy, stylised piece that ratchets up into Kafka-esque gothic rather than Guy Ritchie / J Statham bloke vibes. There’s a fair amount of violence, but the surrounding atmosphere is one of estrangement rather than of a meat-and-potatoes beat-‘em-up, which is how I thought it might play before I actually watched it. In truth, ‘Brawl In Cell Block 99’ reminded me much of Winding-Refn, maybe just at the level of style alone. Whatever, I thought it was excellent.

WEREWOLF WOMAN – Psycho-sexual Euro-horror from the mid-seventies, ‘Werewolf Woman’ has a vaguely incoherent storyline about the traumatised descendent of a countess being possessed by the spirit of said countess, who, back in the day, also used to be a werewolf. Or something. It feels more sensible when you’re watching it, although that’s because, with films like this, sense isn’t particularly under scrutiny (or, not when I’m watching). More important are those Euro-vibes – the imagery and atmosphere that cut through the woodenness of the characterisation and the plotting. On this level, ‘Werewolf Woman’ delivers quite well. The only other time I’d seen it was eight or so years ago, and I couldn’t remember it much. I was kind of worried that it’d turn out to be one of those disappointments with a few good scenes surrounded by plodding dullness – face it, a lot of mid-seventies European horror flicks end up playing a bit like that these days. ‘Werewolf Woman’ is, by contrast, relatively crammed with incident, sleaze and weird shit, so it’s a winner in my eyes. One of the strongest sequences is the opener, where the original werewolf-countess is hunted and killed by some torch-bearing townsfolk types – really atmospheric and dreamy, with an eerie soundtrack echoing across nocturnal scenes. From there, we follow the lead’s descent into murderous insanity as she takes to the road and does some sex-related killing. There are dream-like bits such as the one where an armadillo crawls up protagonists leg towards her crotch and various other smidgeons of strangeness before it all takes a left turn at the end and becomes a rape-revenge flick. I was kind of impressed with the pacing, as there were only a few wordy excursions into slightly numbing exposition. Yeah, overall pretty good. See it if you haven’t already.

Sterling stuff as always F!!
Liked Brawl despite my Vaughn handicap.
ATR is a definite purchase :nod:

Delighted you enjoyed Across the River, Frankie. Definitely one of my Decemberdike highlights.

I'm surprised that 88 Films haven't picked up Werewolf Woman yet. It would make a great addition to their italian collection.

Glad I imported the Raro Blu-ray a while back.

Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus
The shark from mega shark vs giant octopus is alive and destroys a naval ship, in the meantime a large crocodile has awakened in the Congo now the US navy has to stop both of them.
Well dammit this is only slightly better than the previous film and that is only because of 2 reasons the first being Robert Picardo and the other being the crocosaurus sequences which is laughable to say the least.
6/10
Thankfully the torture is almost over............
For now.

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A few reviews of films I've seen over the past few days:

SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK
I’m not sure whether it was the title of the cover, but I half expected this to be the campy, and extremely silly, Glam metal lovechild of Phantom of the Paradise and The Birdman of Alcatraz. It has a very weird vibe, due in no small part to the idea of one of the main characters being guided around by the spirit of a murdered heavy metal singer who was killed there and wants to help him fight the Demon who was possessed his brother. It sounds ridiculous and there are several occasions where it is. However, rather than reducing the enjoyment, this only made it more fun and I’m certainly looking forward to watching it again soon.

SWEET SIXTEEN
It’s been so long since I saw this that I’d completely forgotten the reveal and who was the responsible for murdering all the teenage boys who want to spend some ‘quality time’ with Melissa (the subject of a horrendously catchy song which plays over the end credits) who is approaching her 16th birthday. When it becomes clear she is the last person to see these boys alive, she becomes the prime suspect – is she hiding behind the facade of being a shy beauty, or is someone else responsible? I must admit to enjoying this one a great deal as well and, like Slaughterhouse Rock, I think 88 Films have released a disc with extremely good AV quality, and this benefits from an enjoyable and informative commentary by The Hysteria Continues team. They are both releases for slasher fans to buy.

THE BLOOD OF FU MANCHU
One of the weirdest aspects of this film is, a bit like the issue with Navajo Joe that I mentioned earlier this week, is the racism in the central casting, in this case Christopher Lee having the skin around his eyes pulled tight in order to portray a Chinese man. The story is simple enough: the titular villain has inoculated 10 women against a deadly poison, then infected them with it and sent them out on a mission to track down 10 world leaders, giving them all the ‘kiss of death’. It’s preposterous and far campier than (I assume) Jess Franco intended.

THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU
The second film in the Fu Manchu collection (which I picked up on Demdike’s recommendation) is another piece of ridiculous shtick from Jess Franco with Christopher Lee as the evil Chinese mastermind, this time aiming to freeze the world’s oceans. It is stupid fun because it’s so outrageously ridiculous as people obey Fu Manchu, and facilitate his ambitions for world domination, for the promise of an extra few hours of life, or to (temporarily) spare the life of a loved one. In this case at least, they do things including performing a heart transplant when the donor hasn’t consented and when the surgical team consists of two people! Like I said, it’s completely preposterous, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t watch it again.

DOGS
Going back to the delivery from 88 Films and the latest from their Vault collection. It’s one of a number of films (Squirm and Grizzly being among them) which saw the appeal of Jaws and realise the potential of a horror film in which the antagonist can’t be reasoned with or predicted because it’s not human. Also, in this case, the killer is something you would usually consider friendly. This was my first viewing and felt it owed more to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) than the other films I’ve mentioned, turning a friendly, or perhaps neutral, creature into something malevolent and altogether terrifying. It’s extremely well made by Burt Brinkerhoff and far better than I was expecting from a killer animal B-movie.

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
I’m not sure if this was the first Ang Lee film I ever saw, but it was definitely my first experience of wuxia as I remember not knowing exactly what to make of people running up walls, flying through the air and effortlessly skipping across rooftops from building to building. I’ve seen many more since I bought this film as a blind buy on DVD, learning to understand and really like the world of wuxia, and the new Ultra HD release showcases the amazing cinematography (people who hate grain should stay well away), the brilliant soundtrack and occasionally breathtaking action set pieces. I consider it a masterpiece of cinema and it’s even better with the best available picture and sound quality.

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE
This has been reviewed several times already so there’s not much I want to add. It is a simple story of a father and son pathology team who are presented with a case which is far from simple. The box makes this out to be a horror film and I was certainly bemused by the content of the first act which made me think of the word ‘horror’ was used for marketing purposes rather than as a genuine reflection of the tone and its effect on the viewer. I needn’t have worried because by the time the event rolled around I had jumped several times and been quite shaken at times. I don’t get the comparisons to The Babadook or It Follows beyond it being a genre film the last couple of years. My advice is to watch it without any preconceptions and you shouldn’t be disappointed.

It was i who compared it to The Babadook and It Follows. Not because they are in any way similar but because i felt all three were distinctly original horror films, but unlike those two Jane Doe didn't gain the critical hype even though i suggest it is a far superior work.

Trebor then did my review practically word for word when he'd watched it, hence seemingly a lot of references to those two movies.

They are very distinct and original films – whether you like them or not – and I would much rather they be made and distributed than another remake or sequel in an established series, whether it's another instalment in the Conjuring, Saw, Paranormal Activity or Insidious franchises.

I'd much rather watch something new and innovative where filmmakers are trying to do something interesting than a remake, sequel or prequel to a known commodity and which (as far as the distributors are concerned) is a relatively 'safe' investment. If it's a DTV film on Netflix or cheap from Music Magpie, that is sometimes better than a big budget movie in the multiplex.

Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark
Another megalodon is awakened from ice, this time the world has a plan: fight the shark with a robot shark.
Out of the 3, this is by far the most derivative pieces of trash, not only in many ways taking a leaf out of Pacific Rim's book, but even taking elements from films such as Stealth. Still good to see Christopher Judge in something that isn't Stargate and there are some enjoyable set pieces. 5/10
God I feel a bit like Nathan from South Park after all those shitty shark movies
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Christ, you must be a glutton for punishment watching all these films :lol:

(He says as he looks at shelves full of crappy Italian cannibal and zombie films :lol: )

Well as I said earlier I have a lot of recordings from last year mainly from the horror channel. I think the term is masochism. But the good news is I don't have to deal with asylum bullshit for a while (hopefully never). Still, a new year a new selection of schlock and:
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Good Time (2017, Safdie Bros)
R-Patz continues his escape route from Twilight with this reasonably entertaining story of two brothers on the wrong side of the tracks. When a bank robberry leaves one brother incarcerated ... the other is forced into a dire situation to resolve this.