Okay. Big Predator franchise fan here. Lets talk The Predator.

Predator 1 and 2 hold a special place in my film history. Both were the first films I ever saw that were rated 18 (apparently I watched a lot of Die Hard once when I was 6 my mum said but I remember none of it. So Predator was the first "official" viewing of an 18 movie). I rate them both equally. Many people that love the original may disagree but I loved seeing the Predator in LA, killing drug lords left and right. I also loved the characters, Danny Glover doesn't get enough credit.

In my under-age years I have twice tried to sneak into the cinema. I failed with Final Destination 5 but succeeded with Predators, I was 13, the guy clearly knew that when he gave me the ticket but he just sort of smiled and I got in- Only to walk out later feeling crushing disappointment. What I had seen had just felt like a watered down re-tread of the first one (and they blatantly ignored the second one whilst referencing the first which really angered me). NONE of those characters can match Dutch, Dillion, Mac, Blain, Hawkins, Billy or Poncho from Predator. NONE of those characters could match Mike, Jerry, Leona, Danny or Keyes from Predator 2... Or even King Willie for that matter! I mean the character Laurence Fishburne plays is good and had potential but he's barely in it! And they kill off Danny Trejo almost immediately?!? Super Predators instead of the Classic ones?!? It just didn't do.

So for this one after so and so trailers I really did go in with no expectations. And I'm glad I did. Because I really like it. Is it one of the all time great action movies like the first two? No... But it was lightyears ahead of Predators :woot: :woot:

Characters are well done and acted well.
Classic Predator is back (not a spoiler you see it in the trailer)
Gore is great
Its overall filmed pretty well
Decent story.

It has flaws. There is another Super Predator in this one (again in the trailer) and he is blatant CGI. But they give him a bit of backstory and he feels like he has more reasoning to exist, even if he is CGI, which he shouldn't have been. The third act is weaker than the earlier parts of the film and the usual final fight that you always get between the main character and the Predator isn't really all that good. But these aren't crippling flaws that hurt the film badly like Predators. They just feel like minor faults that stop it from being great like the first two. I still heavily recommend it though. This is the real Predator 3 for me.

I only really have two wishes by this point. Firstly, Arnie should have been in this movie if only to improve the third act (Shane Black did apparently try to get him involved though tbf) and secondly, now that they've made the real Predator 3, can they please make the real Alien 5 that isn't Prometheus or Alien Covenant?

I would need to see it again to really write one of my usual more in-depth reviews but I'm overall impressed. My ONE expectation was that it be better than Predators and it passed that quite convincingly.

Ranking only the Predator films.

1. Predator/Predator 2
2. The Real Predator 3
3. Predators

Never seen or heard of that one.

I do have a couple of their releases though. So Evil My Love, starring Ray Milland, and Blind Corner, starring Barbara Shelley. Both pretty decent from what i remember.

And in their Hollywood collection, i have Female on The Beach, Woman on the Beach, and Angel Face. Again, all total blind buys, but well worth a watch. ;)

I don't own any of the Predator films despite really enjoying the first one. I didn't think much in the second and haven't seen the third. I haven't seen the trailer of this new Predator film and it will probably be best at the cinema so I may go on Sunday or Monday.

The nun

Looks great. The film has a real Bava-esque look, with some psychedelic background lighting and impressive Gothic set design. There's also some very pointed references to Italian film-makers including one very noticeable homage to city of the living dead. I wanted to like this film far more than I did. I'm not the Conjuring's biggest fan and Annabelle (the first one at least) was a huge turd of the movie. For the most part though they do make decent theatrical experiences, even if they are ultimately very disposable.
The nun however is is beset with problems. There's not much plot to it. Not a big issue in itself as decent film-makers fall back on creating great atmosphere and suspense. The Nun however feels a little flat. There's very little suspense throughout and it at no point did I feel engaged. The other problem is some of the acting. Mainly the fella they hired to play 'Frenchie' who is absolutely terrible and almost single-handedly drags the whole film down. The only part I got engaged with was the finale, at that point they pretty much gave up and the film becomes very silly. I might pick it up when it appears in poundland or a charity shop (same thing I did with the other conjuring titles) but I wouldn't rush out for this.

The Predator

Another mess, however this was more entertaining. The Predator feels like the initial cut must have run well over the 2 hour mark at least and then was heavily re-edited. Someone pointed out to me that there appears to be several predators in the film and it looks like they cut it to look like there were 2. The regular predator and the big predator-hunter one. There's numerous glaring continuity issues and scenes that literally make no sense. Characters appear with small arsenals of weapons with no explanation. They also have a kid with Hollywood autism where its a superpower. I have autistic friends and while they are bright they're not Stephen hawking's much smarter brother. The editing is also terrible.

But...

Its actually fun. Shane Black delivers the goods with banter and carnage. It actually made me laugh in quite a few places. Its decidedly very un-pc without the usual internet nerd take on un-pc where they go full racist/sexist. It doesn't feel like at any point they are going PG-13 and the effects work is mostly ok. If you go in with expectations lowered the film may be an utter shambles from a technical perspective but its very watchable and silly. Better than either AVP film.

Rollerball 1975.

In a corporate control future, the sport Rollerball is the main feature of the world, player Jonathan E is its star athlete but the corporation wants him to retire. When he refuses they change the game rules and test his strength and stamina.

Forget the 2002 remake, this is still the original classic film, James Caan takes on the lead role as Jonathan and John Houseman plays Mr Bartholomew the head of the corporation, there is some minor appearances from Moses Gunn, Maud Adams and Sir Ralph Richardson.

With the 70s violence was unappreciated but director Norman Jewson didn't really care as he gave us this classic Sci fi movie that keeps us entertained from the start to finish with great cinematography from Douglas Slocombe. 10+

White Zombie (1932)

Madge Bellamy plays a new bride moving into her new husbands Haitian mansion who is transformed into a zombie by voodoo master Legendre (Bela Lugosi) in order to have her for himself.

Victor Halperin's early talky non-studio horror film is the first feature length zombie movie. Filmed in a mere 11 days on Universal's sets this is far better than it has any right to be. Lugosi is at his best, even if he is in need of a little restraint, and stalks the screen in a far more sinister way than he did the previous year in Universal's Dracula. Halperin adds lots of atmosphere thanks to the use of unconventional photography and an almost fairy tale trance like ambiance swathes the viewer, helped by some truly outstanding sound design. The scene showing Legendre's sugar cane mill being worked by the living dead is truly fantastic; One of the great sequences of thirties and forties horror.

If the film has faults it's in the performances of the other players which appear quite stilted, the same goes for the dialogue at times and the denouement where Bellamy returns to life (how?) borders on the ludicrous, but Lugosi towers over such trifling faults with his sheer bravado in probably the best independent horror film of the 1930's.

I watched the Roan Group's restoration dvd of the film from 1999 and can report that it's ten times better than any other release i've seen.

Jesabelle 2014.

After a horrific car accident, Jesabelle returns to her childhood home, she thinks she is been tormented by a ghost or is it in her mind.

This was better than I expected it to be from the trailer, yeah OK it does start of a bit slow and dragging but once it starts building up the pace it does get better, it's not a mind blowing greatest horror/thrill type that you will keep talking about for years to come. Blended in with good acting, and the dark gothic surrounding of Louisiana with excellent camera work does help the creepy feel to it. 7 out of 10.

Whispers 2015

A couple grieving at the loss of their child vacate to a house where chilling occurrences happen.

I got no idea what's more painful, sat in a dentist chair getting root canal treatment or watching some people trying to act and look scared.

The start of it was confusing but did hope it would get better which it did with the end credits appearing, if you want to see something that's done before like this check out Half Light 2006 or The Secrets of Crickley Hall, but avoid this at all cost.

Satans Blood.

A young couple(Ana and andy), by chance or is it? meet up with a strange couple, the husband chap supposidly knowing Andy from their schooldays and get invited to stay at their isolated villa in the country.

one of many films that were made in the 1970s about devil worship and witchcraft and this one is definately entertaining. It has bags of atmosphere and a very creepy vibe that mixes black mass rituals, ouija boards, a very spooky porcelen doll, and loads of sex and nudity. :cool: and despite the cast being unknowns they are very good as well, especially the girl who plays Ana who is so pretty. :)

Yes i recommend this a lot despite the predictable twist ending that a lot of these films used to have. 81.5 out of 100.

I really like this one. Fairly sure it's directed by J.P Simon who made pieces.

someone named Carlos Puento is credited as the director, but maybe that's a pseudonim. i do know that JP Simon is the producer.
But it's still a great effort whoever directed it :)

The Love Witch (2016)

Elaine (Samantha Robinson), a beautiful young witch, is determined to find a man to love her. In her Gothic Victorian apartment she makes spells and potions, then picks up men and seduces them. However, her spells work too well, with often disastrous results.

Anna Biller, this films director, writer, editor and producer is a unique talent. Her feature debut Viva (2007) was quite superb in the way it blended sexploitation ala Russ Meyer into a 70's suburban housewife sexual revolution. However i didn't feel The Love Witch quite worked as well. Yes it's clearly a playful reworking of sixties and seventies Occult horror films with a heavy dose of gender politics thrown in, but it never quite hit the mark. The scenes of wicked witchery and Occult ceremony didn't really go far enough in comparison to the films it spoofed and although i often sported a smile i never once came close to laughing at the comedy aspects.

Samantha Robinson was excellent as the witch but the whole feminist aspect and metaphors felt very heavy handed and in the age of the #Metoo movement seemed so preachy in it's way of putting men in their place albeit in a playful way.

What can't be denied is Biller's style behind the camera. The film looks gorgeous, full of vivid colours in stunning Technicolor palettes. Yet even the setting came over as slightly confusing as it placed characters clearly from, as well as dressed, in the seventies into a contemporary small town America setting, meaning that unlike Viva it felt more like a nostalgic exercise in style over substance.

I was very intrigued by the Love witch, with the gorgeous colour scheme and 70s style. but a lot of the reviews have been terrible for it and the fact that it drags on for two hours. :(

Had it actually been as exploitative as the films that influence it then it would have been very good but it really does play it safe. Oh and yes, it's far too long.

Dragonflies(2001).

Starring Kim Bodnia, from the Scandinavian drama The Bridge, as Eddie, a bearded middle aged guy who is married to a young girl and lives in a remote Norwegian region living a quiet life. But their idyllic lifestyle comes to an end when Eddie's past catches up with him after his former partner in crime turns up and causes trouble within their marriage.

The film is very slow moving but has a well developed plot about jealousy and revenge that holds your attention throughout it's melancholic atmosphere.

Kim Bodnia gives an excellent performance as Eddie as does Maria Bonnevie who plays the role of his wife.

Well worth a watch if you want an alternative to the rubbish turned out by Hollywood lately 7/10.

The Ouija Exorcism. 2015

In 1984, the son of a rabbi plays with a Ouija board and releases a demon and banishes it back. Several years later the demon in freed.

Don't expect this to be a big budget movie cos it ain't, the actors in this I don't recognise and it's probably damaged their future in the movie business.

The plot of the movie was OK it's a bit like the film The Possession but instead of a box it's a very badly black burnt board. The story is shown with flashbacks with laughable non missable goofs and errors and very dark light that watching in the dark doesn't help, it's OK for background noise but that's about It. 2 out of 10...

Capons :laugh:. Kudos Prince :pound:

Likes all round then!!

Body Puzzle (1992, Lamberto Bava)
So now I can say I've seen two films with St Bernards in them :lol:
Joanna Pacula lives in Italy. With her doggie. A local whose take on 'gifting' bears shades of Ed Gein has fixated on her for some reason .... could it have been anything to do with the rather soggy opening sequence? Settle in for a rollicking ride as the last giallo in town flutters its flag on high. Red herrings? Check ... Obscure motives? Tick! Whilst there are some gaping flaws and the image of Colin Farrell playing Eddie Shoestring never quite escaped from my mind, I enjoyed this unlike .....


Blood Hook (1986, David Mallon)
AVOID this rather draaaawn out wee number. Badly plotted, directed and acted 'horror' film that had a premise that someone like Jeff Lieberman would have made a snappy 85 minuter out of. Dream about that film instead :rolleyes:

Read the predator was heavily cut. Edward James Olmos was in it but he was cut, heard it was supposed to be about 2 and half hours, maybe we will get the uncut version on blu ray. Cuts made for pacing and to lower the rating

The Hand. Michael Caine is a comic book creator who loses his hand in a freak car accident. As he struggles to rehabilitate, with his career and marriage collapsing around him, he becomes increasingly convinced that his disembodied hand, which was never found, has somehow gained a rather murderous life of its own... Is a malevolent "hand" really on the loose, or is he just descending into madness? Caine is his usual great self in this early 80s flick (directed, rather strangely, by Oliver "JFK" Stone of all people) that's really more of a psychological thriller than the campy B movie horror the title and premise might make you think. I liked it a lot. :nod:

To The Devil A Daughter (1976, Peter Sykes)
I put my hands up here and say I do not rate Wheatley at all. His prose is stuffy and riddled with snobbery imho. Having said that the cherubic glee that Lee exudes during a birthing sequence :pound: lifted this viewing. Beautiful plumage squire! See you can polish a turd :nod:.
A populist debunker of current occultist trends is sweatily tasked by Denholm Elliot (at his fidgety best here ;)) with rescuing his estranged child from a right bleedin' bunch of cults and no mistaking!
Part paid with deutschmarks, the film is saddled with the albatross that is Natassia Kinski. Christus she is terrible. :whip: . And that ending :behindsofa: killed Hammer stone dead in my opinion. But it was nice to see an actual human on fire as well. So ... you win some .....

I actually really rate To the Devil a Daughter. Agree with you about Wheatley though.

The film was just a bit lacking for me. I may rewatch it again. That nice Mr Barraclough etc etc. ;)

The film has grown on me over the years, as for Wheatley, I love the snobbery of his writing. Bloody commoners.

One of my favourite Hammer films as of 2018.

I sticks with the Lovecraft for me snobbery ;)

Lovecraft? He had no imagination; Everything was indescribable! :laugh:

For a good reason dear boy ;):nod:


:lol:

Thirsty for Love, Sex and Murder (1972)

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I accidentally signed up for the Amazon prime trial when ordering something :rolleyes:, so thought i may as well peruse the dodgy films, have set up a watchlist and am going to try and watch a few over the next few weeks.

First up was this, dragged in by the title, (Which i'd never heard of) and the fact that's it's only an hour long.

A Turkish giallo (well basically a remake of "The strange vice of Mrs Wardh") this was really entertaining (i thought), full of bad editing and even dodgier acting that i found at points hilarious.
Then smothered with a completely slapdash soundtrack that sounds like a mix of slow melodies, cut up and chopped together by a moron on speed, then blended with what sounds like a fuzz guitar being fought over by a gang of hungry alley cats.:cool:

It's not particularly gory, but it's filled with stupid scenes like where a victim is asking the killer not to rape her (as she slowly undoes her top ..eh?) whilst he is not even touching her and she could easily run away.:confused:
Also a detective who acts all chilled then suddenly shouts questions in witnesses faces randomly:lol:, and a guy who suddenly does cartwheels to evade bullets.

Not a good film in any sense of the word but i found it really entertaining. 7/10 :pop2:

A quick rundown of stuff i've watched recently.

The Creeping flesh

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Bought that Mill Creek Triple Blu which features this,Torture garden and Brotherhood of Satan under the stupid banner title of Psycho Circus.
Pretty decent prints on all of 'em.

This is one of those oldies that seems like a Hammer production but is actually a Tigon job. I never really saw this much on T.v as a kid, so was coming to it fresh.
I liked it, good atmosphere and Cushing is great as usual, but it's not one of my favourites although if i grew up with it i'd probably like it more, still great to get a decent copy and much like the creeping flesh itself i'm sure it will grow on me.

7/10

Torture garden

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The one Amicus anthology i never got round to watching, and probably my least favourite.
That's not to say it isn't entertaining, Burgess Meredith is always enjoyable to watch and most of the stories are o.k, the real stinker is one with a killer piano but this is made up for by the final story "The Man that collected Poe" featuring Cushing again and Jack palance which is really good.

A enjoyable watch but it didn't blow me away.

7/10

Count Dracula's great love

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I like Paul Naschy films generally from what i've seen, they are usually cheesy but entertaining with a decent amount of blood and boobs.
In fact the only one i didn't like so far has been "Crimson/The man with the severed head".
This one i really enjoyed, Dracula's trying to find a virgin to fall in love with him (yer good luck with that mate.;)), but never fear for the most part this is non mushy and manages to get enough murders, vampire hobo's and sex into the
runtime to keep me interested.

8/10:pop2:

Sleepwalker/ The Insomniac

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A couple of short films released together by the BFI, Sleepwalker is an early eighties cross between a social commentary and a slasher film, with two couples spending the night together arguing about 80's society and consumerism etc until bedtime and the murders begin.
This is stylishly shot at times, and nicely lit little film but in the end it doesn't really amount to much, but maybe i was expecting too much, it's an easy watch so it may well impress me more on further viewing.

The Insomniac i found intriguing and entertaining, a ponderous and slow at times little film that centres around an insomniac who is slowly losing his mind.
There are some nice shots here and everything feels slightly off kilter in the same way as some of those Hammer house of horror episodes.
I enjoyed this but found the ending a bit lacklustre.

So a couple of interesting short films about 50 mins each, both enjoyable up to a point but also slightly frustrating.

6/10:pop2:

Other new watches.

A Judy Geeson double bill.

A candle for the devil.

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A spanish film about a young woman who is punished for being a slut and killed by two bible bashing nutters who run a hotel.
The murdered girls sister (Judy Geeson) turns up to investigate as the female psycho's try to cover up the killing but end up going on a murder spree.
I enjoyed this, has that weird Spanish atmosphere and is suitably sleazy and bloody, with the killers being sanctimonious then shagging blokes in secret.

7/10:pop2:

Goodbye Gemini

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Here Judy is one half of a pair of twins who seem to exist in an isolated childlike world, everything is centred around them and their twisted, almost incestuous relationship.
We first meet then as they arrive in swinging London and proceed to kill off their housekeeper, leaving them in control of an old posh house and allows them to sink further into their isolation.

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Into this comes a Jack the lad Irish hipster guy who proceeds to play the twins off against each other and expose them to the swinging delights and cruelties of modern life.(at the time.)
This tips the balance sending the twins over the edge and eventually tears their lives apart.

This is a very interesting film, the parts are well played and the shots of 1970's London and atmosphere are great, the twins are often quite sinister together, but the film only really goes full on horror in a few moments, mostly it's a psychological drama.

Having said that i got really involved in the film and wasn't sure how it would play out, it seems to be unusually open about homosexuality for the time, although maybe because this is used as a plot point to advance the mental breakdown of one of the twins.

i'd never really heard much about this before but found it intriguing and was pleasantly surprised by this.
It was made by the same guy as "Dracula A.D 1972" and i'm guessing he probably got that gig on the back of this film and it's depiction of London and it's groovy inhabitants.
Also i know it's a long shot but i wonder if Cronenberg saw this, as the subject matter is linked and the surgeon clothes in "Dead ringers" remind me more of the sheets worn in GG's kill scene than normal surgical clothes.

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Recommended 8/10 :pop2:

Torso.

A black gloved maniac in a ski mask is stalking and killing young girls who attend a college in Italy, with a black and red scarf holding the key to the killers identity.

This i think is director Sergio Martino's best giallo, eventhough i have enjoyed all his other films as well. What i like about this one is that it has a good pace and keeps you entertained throughout with great suspense scenes, especially in the woods and the final scenes set at the villa.
all the cast fit in well too, especially Suzy Kendall as Jane who gives an even better performance than she did for Dario argento, despite not getting her kit off like the rest of the sexy actresses in the film. :lol:

top notch stuff indeed, and with a very good soundtrack too that adds to the tension of this fantastic giallo. 91.5 out of 100.

SOLD :laugh::pop2:

AP has many many more delights. Enjoy!!
Ahem. This referred tae yr 'Turkish giallo' post nos :laugh:

This is the Shameless BD? If so ...how does it look ta??

Funny Man (1994, Simon Sprackling)
Say what you like about it, but I like this film. Does it work? Not really, though it does predate some tropes. I sit everytime imagining what went on on set. Like the sorely in need of a reissue Love Potion, this features a cast of also rans (and 'er from The Selecter :lol:), overacting in a stately pile-for-hire. Then along comes Tim James as the titular character. Truly unique in British cinema ... he revels in slaughter and reaaally terrible puns in a way I haven't seen since. Is he scary? Sadly not. I find t'Barnsley accent quite endearing personally. Still enjoyed it again for all that.

Watched quite a bit over the last week

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Twins of Evil - 7/10

Decent later period Hammer horror with superb costume direction :)


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Brides of Dracula - 7/10

Although it's one of the first Hammer vampire films I prefer some of the later ones like The Vampire Lovers etc The guy who plays the main vampire is shite. Peter Cushing is superb as always though.


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Scream - 7/10

Not seen this in years, still decent, although the guy who plays Stu (Shaggy from Scooby Doo) is possibly the most annoying character in film history. Ever scene he's in you want to smash his overacting stupid face.

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The 'Burbs. best Tom Hanks comedy film. "About a 9 on the tension scale Rube" Bruce Dern is great in it.

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Rutger Hauer plays an alkie. Really nice film with Rutger, very little dialogue and many a flashback scene.

Got this on the trades page if anyone's after it.

'Night Of The Demons', directed by Kevin Tenney in 1988, is a trashy 'by-the-numbers' horror film

How trashy is it? Count the cliches with me while I give you a one sentence synopsis: "On Halloween [1], a group of teenagers [2] decide to have a party [3] in an old, decrepit house/ex-funeral parlour [4], where drinking and sex [5] leads to the spooky, Goth girl [6] suggesting that they hold a seance [7], resulting is a demon infestation [8] and bodily possession [9]"

That's 9 horror cliches in a single sentence!!!!!

For all it's faults, however, the film is FUN, and that is the main thing

It's a good tongue-in-cheek movie, which doesn't take itself seriously, and it reminded me a lot of Sam Raimi's debut picture

Linnea has a memorable introduction, takes her clothes off and does something unforgettable with a lipstick! The [practical] gore effect are good, limbs are lopped off and eyes gouged out with gay abandonment

OK, a lot of it doesn't make sense, but that doesn't matter - as I have said, it's a FUN film

My only complaint is that Anchor Bay used an awful cover on their DVD release, when the one used by Palace Pictures for their 1980's VHS was much better

What are clliches now may well have been innovative in 1988. ;)