Watched Camp Blood 2 last night for the first time. Utter utter utter crap and completly retarded. Only in this film would a character, who is burning to death, decide to ignore the river two feet away, but instead jump inside a tent. Which bursts into flames. And she still survives.

So crap. So so very crap. My brother came in towards the end of the film, and he's not a big fan of film at all, but he luved how bad this film was!

Billion Dollar Brain

Regarded with contempt when first released, due to Harry Palmer becoming a 'swinging' spy, but after the utterly boring Funeral In Berlin it was a wise move. Not quite as atmospheric as The Ipcress File but still thoroughly entertaining stuff. Caine is excellent, the tragic Francoise Dorleac is gorgeous as ever, the Finnish locations are splendid, and Richard Rodney Bennett's score is superb. A toothy Susan George can be spotted chomping sweets on a train and sharp eyes will also notice a bespectacled Donald Sutherland ("What's going on?") at a computer terminal. Splendid stuff with a riveting finale.

All DVD releases are missing the scene where Caine enters the Latvian resistance hut to the sound of "A Hard Day's Night" (removed for copyright reasons), although it was intact on the old Warner video. It doesn't affect the scene in any way.

I have recently seen Man From Hong Kong and Stunt Rock. Twp great Brian Trenchard Smith action films.

MFHK stars Jimmy Wany Yu, George Lazenby and Sammo Hung (who is also on fight chorography duties). The opening scene is better than the climax of most action films with Sammo fighting on the top of Ayres Rock and a car being chased into a firery explosion by a helecopter. The action doesnt let up for the rest of the film. The bonus film Kung Fu Killers that comes on the Madman 2 disc release is also a really cool.

Stunt Rock is a bit of an oddity, Australian stunt man Grant Page goes to Los Angeles to do some work and meet up with his cousin who is in the rock band Sorcery. What follows is like an extended trailer involving crazy stunts and live music from Sorcery, who have a insane stage show that involves lots of pyrotechnics and magic.

Both these films are a must for action fans.

"You've blown it all sky high, without a reason why"....... :dance:

Got to be honest Vince I wasnt over impressed with the title song, I found it a bit overly cheesy.

It's 1975. It must be cheesy. :D

"The Road"

There was certainly enough stuff going on here, away from just the father/son relationship, to keep this moving drama interesting and even exciting and it had some great visuals and excellent acting all round.

The cannibal 'basement' scene was suitably creepy and grotesque, and the film did a good job at ramping up the tension while still being a genuinely moving, serious, movie.

So I 'enjoyed' it and will re-visit it.
But....it felt more lightweight than I was expecting somehow, and perhaps a bit too low key and even a bit short.
But still a good, well crafted, engaging, worth owning movie.



I had a problem though with what did not matter as a whole as far as the drama and emotion went (what happened to the world and how) but matter as far as some logic problems went that took me out of the film now and again.

Like...how fast an event was it and did it kill most people instantly?
Because you really needed to explain why a well stocked shelter, designed for such an event, was lying undiscovered and unused? It was by a house, so why did the people who owned it not use it!?

This shelter also gave me a problem, given as how much a paradise it was to them, in how they decided to leave it because the father heard a noise upstairs.
The fim needed to give far more than just that one noise to leave, there was not enough justification to leave such a well stocked, generally safe, place.
Seems to me the shelter was so good they could have spent the entire film there, so they had to be (badly) made to leave it!

I don't get this. It's cropped up in your (excellent, don't misunderstand me) reviews before.

Why do you need this explaining? It just is. So far as the narrative you are watching goes, it just is. You don't need to know why, and you do not need to think beyond the story that the film is unfolding for you. It just is.

I am honestly, not having a go. I think you have a fine reviewing style and I enjoy reading your stuff and you make me think and you make me want to check things out, but I just have trouble over this issue. It utterly puzzles me. Surely if you can accept a narrative with something as absurd as, say, zombies or a werewolf, than surely you can accept an eccentric turn in a depiction of fictional events? Why does anything else need explaining? Deus Ex Machina? Shit happens?

But that has nothing to do with it.
In fact I explicitly stated, just to avoid such a comeback in the first place...
...what did not matter as a whole as far as the drama and emotion went (what happened to the world and how)

I had NO need...AT ALL...to know what happened or how it happened as far as the film went as a whole.
I'm not thick. I know it was simply a stepping stone to the drama and what happened does not matter to the drama unfolding.
I said that. And I still don't care what happened as far as that goes.

But my problem had nothing to do with the drama of the film, or my needing hand holding, It had to do with basic, GLARING, logic in a key scene.
You build a shelter right by your house for an event LIKE THIS. So why did you not use it?
It opens up questions!! It's called taking an interest.
And that's nothing to do with drama, emotion, or deeper friggin meanings.

I don't give a damn what happened or how...until you have such an obvious question as that.
Going by the Viggo and his family, they stayed at their home after what happened for years!
Years!
So how come the owner of the shelter didn't go to it in all that time?
This opens up the question of were most people killed instantly...or not.
That's basic interest in the movie!

It's observation and thought on what is unspooling in front of you. Not watching the film like you're staring at a blank wall, noticing nothing.
'Shit happens' and a shrug seems to me very little interest is invested in the film.

Now now guys!

You can't ask why the "film" didn't explain these things because it is an extremely close adaptation of the book. So to ask why these things don't or didn't get explained you actually have to question the clarity of the novel, not the film.
I agree though about why they didn't just stay there, but if that's what was in the book then that's what they had to portray on film. Maybe Cormac McCarthy didn't want to leave his characters there to live out the rest of their lives because then there'd be no more story left to tell.

Awesome review as always though, I've seen so many great films after your recommendations. Keep it up buddy :D

I watched Color Me Blood Red, :crazy: 2000 Maniacs :clap: and The Gruesome Twosome :doh: over the last few days. What the hell was going on at the beginning of The Gruesome Twosome with the talking wigs?

Hmmmm...fair enough. I don't get it though.

I guess we just watch films differently. I'm not even sure I understand exactly what you mean by "basic interest in the movie". Despite being involved in a film I sinply cannot imagine asking those questions you ask. They seem so completely inconsequential and irrelevant. There just is a shelter that was not used - that's all you need to know. Surely?

As I said, I wasn't having a go at you, sorry if I got your back up. I was really being insecure as to how I watch films not attacking how you do. So, apologies if I annoyed.

recently watched:

The Damned United - Superb! So refreshing to see a football film that does not revolve around hooligans.

Thunder Squad - Decent mid 80's action film from Umberto Lenzi.

Naked..You Die - Excellent giallo from the underrated Antonio Margheriti

Eroticopholia (aka Evil Eye) - Interesting supernatural giallo. Worth a look

French Sex Murders - Great giallo with a quality exploitation cast.

Cyborg Cop - Fun, straight to video actioner with a hiliarious performace from John Rhys Davies.

Cyborg Cop 2 - Not bad, but not as much fun as the first one.

finally watched The Bridge On The River Kwai yesterday and was 'Blown' away by it, for a film made somewhat 53 years ago it looks almost as though it was made recently with a fantastic Alec Guiness performance to boot.

Our Man Flint

Cheesier than Stilton and campier than Austin Powers could ever dream to be, but I love it. Coburn is superb and Jerry Goldsmith's score is magnificent. 60's spies didn't get much better than this.

The UK releases are marred by a BBFC cut and one that I feel particularly strongly about. Avoid like the plague and buy the US release instead.

Fully agree. So many people turned down the role of Nicholson (Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, even Charles Laughton) but nobody could have played it like Guinness.

Agreed. Watched it recently on BR and I loved it. Fantastic performances throughout.

I watch Bay of Blood..although according to dvdcompare its the only poxy cut version out there(film 2000) so I'll have to get this.
Loved this and now I can see the outrageous comparisions to Friday the 13th The bed scene from 2 is ripped almost frame by frame!
Only thing that bugged me is that there are 3 or 4 blokes that are very similar looking and it confused the hell outta me...but then again everyone seemed to kill someone at some stage!

Watched berserker last night.Actually enjoyed this late 80's backwoods slasher.It aint great but on repeat viewings seem to enjoy it more.:)

Just finished watching Dolly Dearest, cliched and corny but a lot of fun. I've got to admit, those dolls are pretty creepy!! :blush:

The Lionsgate R1 DVD is fullscreen and the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired but it seems like pretty much the only option at the moment.

Alas it is. The same cut print as the old Redemption video.

Just finished watching Meatball Machine. The first time I saw it, I thought it was utter rubbish - terrible in fact! But, I thought I'd give it another watch and hope I could proof myself wrong. Well, I guess I did prove that. Not a great film by any strech of the imagination IMO, but it certainly did have some great moments (Exploding head anyone?) Clearly influenced by Cronenberg's earlier work and Tetsuo (I swear it was filmed on the same street!), perhaps if it was slighly shorter it may have been better. Overal I'd give it a low, but fair, 2 out of 5.

About to (perhaps unwisely) re-embark on a trip through Warhol territory. Namely Flesh, Trash, Heat, Chelsea Girls and Women In Revolt.

In Like Flint

Think the opposite to what I said about the original and you get the sequel. Tired, bland, dull (immensely dull), and cheap.

Gone is the fun atmosphere of the original. Also gone are an enthusiastic Coburn (replaced by a bored-as-heck Coburn) and a magnificent Goldsmith (this score rates among his worst). This whole mess feels like it was made up as it went along. The sole virtues are a very erotic opening title scene and a splendid cameo by Yvonne Craig (the original Batgirl) as a Russian ballerina/spy. The rest is abysmal.

A mate lent me the Jonathan Creek box-set, so I haven't watched any films for a few days.

Been enjoying Jonathan Creek again though!

I used to love that show Goji. The problem is that when you re-watch them, the big reveal endings are spoilt.

"Night of Fear"

http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvnight.php


The rather frenzied opening credits throws up this Australian film’s chequered history as the first title to appear is “Fright”, as “Night of Fear” was originally going to be the first of 12 stories in an Australian TV horror series.
This never came to be due to just how warped and grotesque this opening film was!

The score here is mostly discordant, bizarre, electronic warbling which adds just so much to the insane atmosphere.
Another unusual aural choice is the lack of any dialogue in the entire film.
The lack of dialogue of course means the simplistic, one dimensional, initial set-up (literally just a woman being terrorised) stays that way for the duration.
But it’s a strange device that manages to instil the film with a genuine, oh so very 70’s, sense of nightmarish dread.

It’s literally horror film making cut right back to the bone!

All this is helped no end by the two lead performances, with Norman Yemm turning in a superb backwoods nutter performance as the 'Nutbag' and Carla Hoogeveen doing the screaming, confused victim shtick with great aplomb.

Director Terry Bourke also shows us that he knows his stuff even before most of this stuff even existed!
This is two long years before the classic “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and yet here, in this discordant, shrieking, minimalist wallow in the violent and the grotesque is all that brutal, screaming, leering nastiness of that glorious decade of American Exploitation movie-making that Tobe Hooper’s masterwork truly kicked off.
But “Night of Fear” is earlier, it’s Australian...and it was made for TV!

Like “TCM” there is little gore (though in fact there is actually a bit more bloodied weirdness here than in “TCM”) but we certainly have that unsettling, leering, attitude to threat, degradation and violence that so epitomised the 70’s Exploitation film.

The film is also given a, still pretty damn strong today, sexual edge.
Be it during a truly bizarre nightmare sequence involving the nude girl tied down to a table as the naked ’Nutbag’ slowly walks towards her, moaning and groaning, with the bloodied skull of a female victim held over of his groin, or the amazingly sick finale that sees the grunting, panting ‘Nutbag’ getting down with his grimy self in no uncertain terms, "Night of Fear" embraces the psycho-sexual horror with great verve.

And time and again we see that Bourke knows his Exploitation art as the camera zooms in on screaming mouths, pleading eyes, tear/grime streaked faces, ripped cloth and partially bared flesh.
Like all the greats of Exploitation film making, then and now, Bourke grabs the back of the audience’s head and rams their faces into the screaming violence and shrieking madness unfolding before them.

The production design is also spot on and here we have one of the truly great, unsung, psycho lairs of all time.
The filth, dirt, dereliction and charnel house grotesquery on display here certainly match other great movie killer’s lairs.

It is a real shame that “Night of Fear” was not extended into a feature because as it is it can’t be called a real movie so it sadly falls between the two stools of 'what the hell were they thinking' episode of a TV show and a promo reel for the feature length Exploitation movie that would never appear.

But as a skilfully crafted, bizarre, twisted, sometimes gruelling, extended exploitation sequence (that could grace any actual Exploitation feature you could name) “Night of Fear” is a true gem that any and all fans of Grindhouse/Drive-In/Exploitation cinema should check out right away.

It’s on a great double bill DVD with Bourke’s “Inn of the Damned” and is an essential purchase for sleaze 'n' grime connoisseurs.

watched Sin Nombre last night - wonderful film, important but fun and exciting as well. In the mould of City of God.

On a seperate note, I've made some sugestions of top revenge films on my blog and am asking for other peoples. If anybody is interested please take a look and leave some ideas.

http://cinematheque.leithermagazine....-best-revenge/

Tonight I watched S. F. Brownrigg's obscure Keep My Grave Open - it's about this crazy ol' woman who kills anyone who comes into her home. It was ok I guess, just very slow and often boring. The set pieces were pretty good however, as was the score for the film. Unfortionatly, I wouldn't personnally recommend this film. Maybe it was the terrible quality of the dvd (Alpha Video) that ruined it, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been much better if the dvd was perfect.

Fear in the City (Giuseppe Rosati, 1976) - Entertaining italian crime film starring Maurizio Merli. Could do with a decent dvd release.

Lady of the Night (Piero Schivazappa, 1985) - Dull erotic drama starring Serena Grandi and her massive chest, which lacks the style of the director's earlier The Frightened Woman. Only worth watching to see a load of women working out to the song Black Inferno from The Raiders of Atlantis.

Smash Cut (Lee Demarbre, 2009) - A funny, gory tribue to HG Lewis. Worth a look.

"Strip Nude for your Killer".

Pubes, titties, mutilation and a good few splashes of blood.
Must be great then, yes!?

Hell no!

We can thank the gore, silly but fun zombies, general weird sleaze and Peter friggin' Bark for making the otherwise shoddy and generally just bad "Burial Ground" work.
That's because director Andrea Bianchi, who helms this Giallo, is a shitty hack director.

And sure enough, cover up the tits, shave the pubes and remove the (mostly aftermath only) bit of gore and you have nothing at all worth a damn here.
A particularly bad dub job does not help the crap script, but really this is just a dull, repetitive screenplay that nothing would help.

All the male characters are sleazy and nasty, all the women stupid and controlled (I hardly register as PC, but that a woman who has been kidnapped and threatened with a bludgeoning if she does not allow herself to be raped then comforts her impotent rapist and smiles and jokes with him is not only shit writing bit farcically offensive even in the 70's) and so no-one here is worth a damn.

The kills are also dull and badly staged (hell the exact same set-up, water turned on in one room, victim turns off water, more water running in another room, victim slooooooowly walks to that room and gets pounced on, is used two times in a row) and mostly bloodless and goreless except for a few quick edit aftermath shots (nice line in genital mutilation).

It's also badly made, with the entire film crew reflected in a mirror in one scene, and a 'dead' guy's neck pulse merrily throbbing away in another.
And bad plotting also, like a big fuss made of some photos of the killer being developed...despite the fact we already know the killer is completely disguised. So who gives a ****!?

The killer looks quite good (black biker leathers and helmet) but is rendered rather amusing by the fact they wear that full biker gear, including full visor helmet, while.....driving a car!
Talk about drawing attention to yourself.

Edwidge Fenech looks lovely in the extreme of course and the nudity is frequent (and wonderfully all made by nature, not a hack boob job in sight) but literally everything else is completely dire.

The general standard of the movie can be summed up via two scenes.
One where it spends 5 minutes of its too long running time following a whiny, utterly obnoxious, extremely fat tosser (in huge white nappy pants) as they walk around very slowly...clutching a deflated sex doll.
And the other being the final scene. Which is a 'joke' about forcing anal penetration upon one of its typically spineless female characters by one of its typically nasty male ones.

Hunt out a 10m minute montage of the sleaze highlights if you must...and then avoid the other 85 minutes of this tedious garbage.

Where's Mr Bark when you need him?

new movies
 

just got city of the living dead BLUE-RAY the poster is great as for the film i know its gonna be great.so thank you ARROW VIDEO.

watched Harpoon 2 nights ago, am afraid to say I was not that impressed.
Had nothing new really and was just a average slasher flick with charcters I did not care about at all. Ending was pretty bad too, you know it was going to happen as soon as you saw the situation.

Hopefully will watch Heartless tonight after Lost finale!! Sad times :lol:

Caged Women (Erwin C Dietrich, 1979) Average women in prison film starring the gorgeous Brigitte Lahaie.

Graduation Day (Herb Freed, 1981) Dull slasher

The Nun of Monza (Eriprando Visconti, 1968) One of the better 'nunsploitation' films. Worth a look.

Shocker (Wes Craven, 1989) Daft, but fun.

THE GATE:pop2:

Watched the Psycho remake again. Of course it's a good film, it's basically EXACTLY the same as the original with just a few tweaks. I didn't think much of Vince Vaughn however.

I thought it was one of the worst remakes in the history of remakes (and that's saying something). It's amazing how they could refilm it scene for scene and still make such an abysmal mess of it. :ack:

We have a classic original (and a surprisingly good first sequel). The rest is sheer garbage.

:laugh: I think EVERYONE on here will agree with you there, Vince. Hitchcock's original is a TRUE masterpiece! I personally wouldn't say this is the worst remake ever (that award goes to The Wicker Man and Friday The 13th for me), but the single most pointless remake ever. All the dialouge and shots etc where exactly the same. I remember seeing Tarantino on Sky Movies ages ago yak on about how amazing this remake was - about how it was a big experiment or something like that.

The poll tax was an equally big experiment. Tarantino should have been fed to da fishes for coming out with that. :madgrin: