Space Raiders. 1983.

While stealing a spaceship, a band of pirates have a stowaway, 10 year old Peter, while trying and promising to take him home, the federation decide it be best to blow up the ship rather than rescue Peter.

Light hearted family film that's full of the 80s cheesy stuff we still lovewith the over the top kills that come with slow motion and the bad laser shooter space ship. Some of the visual effects seem to be taken from other space films and television shows that you never noticed until now, the acting is not great but still entertaining and helps pass a boring night at work.

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The Birds (1963)

First time viewing of this old classic...

The first part was kind of strange - half telling the story of Tippi Hendren’s character possible being a fraudster and Rod Taylor’s character trying to teach her a lesson by playing a joke on her, which then backfires (?) with her stalking him and breaking into his house to play a joke on him (?). There are then a few really great scenes where the birds start to become quite menacing, apparently forming an alliance and setting the mood for the coming onslaught. In the end...I don’t know why it’s still rated a 15...Probably because of one short ‘gross out’ scene in particular. Not bad, but not all that great. Psycho and Rear Window are still my favourite of Hitchcock’s.


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Conan the Destroyer (1984)

Another awards ceremony and still no medal for Chewie.

I bought this for the commentary from Kim Newman, Stephen Jones and co-star Sarah Douglas, who is easily the best thing about this film.

Watching it last night, minus commentary, i did wonder if i'd actually seen it before. To be honest it seemed a bit anemic in comparison to the movies that blatantly ripped Conan off such as Death Stalker and Barbarian Queen.

Going to watch this later, anyone seen it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtYTwUxhAoI[/QUOTE]

I think Samara Weaving is quite unique these days because unlike a lot of young actors she's extremely likeable. I really enjoyed Ready or Not and thought she was excellent in Mayhem.

Run (2020, Aneesh Chaganty)

A tad cliched but gripping enough.


Suburban Gothic (2014, Richard Bates Jr)

A hipster is forced to return to his hometown, where he meets a goth he ignored at school, she in turn helps him investigate a mystery. Decent enough, somewhat lighter in tone than his other films cough. Ray Wise has fun as a stuffy dad etc.

I loved it on the first viewing. On my second viewing, I paid more attention to the reason for the game and the family's insistence on it taking place.

With the slight reveal of the figure in the chair, it seems their fears of the 'ritual' not happening were well founded!

Life (2017)

The six member crew of the International Space Station, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds, uncover a microbe that provides evidence of the first signs of life on Mars.

Although perhaps not the most original sci-fi horror movie, i absolutely loved it. It's really well acted (Even Reynolds), looks fantastic whilst ramping up and sustaining the tension brilliantly thanks to great direction and a convincing screenplay.

There have been a lot of quality new science fiction films released in the 2010's, i think Life was my favourite.

PSYCHO COP RETURNS – Ragged comedy horror from the genre’s wilderness years, the early / mid nineties. Office block yuppies throw a naughty party after hours – Psycho Cop, although not on the guest list, turns up to ensure that no minor violation goes unpunished. Lots of tits, shagging and photocopiers, plus a sprinkling of splatter alongside obligatory one-liners and performances that seem partially automated. Thin gruel, but enough fun to keep going with, plus I liked the shadowy office block, I’m a sucker for ambient lighting and a bit of atmosphere.

NEW YEAR’S EVIL – Hurray for seasonal horror. There are better ones. Who can top the likes of ‘Christmas Evil’ or ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’, or even ‘Bloody New Year’? Let me get on with it before this post gets even more out of date. ‘New Year’s Evil’ is a competent slasher which trades on the gimmick of a midnight killing spree spread across America’s four time zones. It centres on an old New Wave music show host and her difficult family life, alongside attendant mask-wearing and serial murdering. Most of the fun comes from its depiction of punks and various subcultures, which is in line with the era’s media-based misperceptions. Not enough blood, but some atmosphere in places, enhanced by eighties fashions and attitudes. Enjoyable enough.

MURDER WEAPON – From David De Cocteau, starring Linnea Quigley. It’s a shoestring no-budgeter that pads out its main scenario, about two bored rich kids wanting revenge against their exes, with overlong flashbacks and non-sequiturs. That could be painfully boring, but after a while it becomes quite intoxicating. It’s just so fragmented; “I guess that bit might’ve been a dream, then?” was a thought that occurred to me more than once whilst watching it transform into an LA house party-gone-giallo with random but gratuitous gore, brazen fourth wall breaches showing camera crew in-shot and weird, weird sound – that howling wind gets everywhere. It won’t work for those looking for something well-made and undemanding because it’s one of those where you kind of have to fight to find it entertaining or even meaningful. But it’s definitely authentic movie trash, well worth seeking out if you like unintentional surrealism and / or Linnea Quigley.

DR JEKYLL’S DUNGEON OF DEATH – I watched the old Vipco version of this long ago, back when it was known as ‘The Dungeon’ to the three or four people in the UK who’d picked it up. I had dim memories of gothic murk and endless fist-fights; both factors pretty much sum up DJDOD, though the VinSyn transfer highlights a lush aesthetic that the previous DVD could only hint at. Plotwise, it’s about a descendent of the original Dr Jekyll who injects people with a serum that ‘releases their inner rage’ and inspires them to engage in overlong sub-Kung Fu scenes; otherwise, it throws in incest, nice lighting and a gloweringly droney electronic soundtrack that makes even the most innocuous moments seethe with unease. The material is a bit thin and nothing much happens beyond cackling, fighting and bursts of unwholesomeness that never quite dip into full-on sleaze, but it is very atmospheric and, in its pungent shadowiness, reminded me of a sort of ripe Euro-goth version of Andy Milligan.

:hail::hail::hail::hail::hail::hail::hail:

As always, Frankie, superbly written and very entertaining reviews.

https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/mem...7-you-good.gif

“Friday the 13th part 5 : A New beginning”

Decent slasher film but in the true spirit of exploitation it relies too heavily on the “Friday the 13th” series for its success. I feel like the filmmakers scrimped too much on the gore and practical effects - too much stuff happens off camera! I enjoy slashers and trash movies so I enjoyed it, but I think it would be too lacking for “casual observers”. I will no doubt watch it again! [emoji38]


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Demons 6: The Black Cat. 1989.

A actress starts having visions of a witch she is playing in a up and coming movie and starts to wonder whether her visions are real or not.

This was to be the third installment of The Mother of tears trilogy by Dario Argento who passed on it and Luigi Cozzi was brought in to direct it, but due to changes Daria Nicolodi left the project and Cozzi was asked to write a Black Cat into the film that makes a couple of appearances and does nothing for the plot.

I came across this on youtube and not the best upload (probably taken from a old VHS tape (maybe Memorex, Scotch tapes were better) Urbano Barberini plays the director of the new movie and decides to base it on a Witch Levena and and have his wife Florence Guerin to play the part, except the witch was real and not very happy. This film tries to hard to find a plot and looses it's tracks half way through to the point it's a train wreck and people looking for survivors. I think Cozzi did try and live up too Argento's idea for a witch movie and failed, think a re-watch will do but not anytime soon.

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Gamer

Gerard Butler is a Death Row Prisoner who agrees to be part of a TV show run by billionaire, Michael C. Hall where he is controlled by a player and is in real life Shoot Em' Up game. Rebels assist him as it appears there is a larger conspiracy in play. This is decent enough fodder but it could have been so much better if the camera shots were better and had a bit less weirdness.

Back To The Future

Michael J. Fox is the teen who goes back in time where he has to make sure his Dad meets his Mom. However he has the added issue of his Mom (As a unaware teen) having a crush on him. 1st time seeing this film and I liked it however I thought that the song, The Power Of Love would have been featured more.

Casino

Robert De Niro is in charge of a Las Vegas Casino and this is his story which incorporates his friendship with Joe Pesci and marriage to Sharon Stone. This is an entertaining film but the last 50 minutes dragged a bit as it focused more on the marriage disintegrating. The scenes with the hammer and vice were good. Oh by the way, if I meet Joe Pesci and he asks me to do something, it'll go alone the lines of yes sir and is there anything else I can do, he portrays the man you don't want to get angry really well.

Hangover

A group of friends go to Las Vegas for a Bachelor Party but can't remember what happened and they lost the Groom. This was the best of the series (The other 2 were awful) but it wasn't as good as before. The Mike Tyson scenes were still funny as before.

Day After Tomorrow

The Earth is experiencing very extreme weather and it's up to Dennis Quaid and co. to help stop it. This is one of those forgotten films and it is brilliant, the F/X is incredible and it's one of those films that what actually be good in 3D.

Dark Tower. 1989.

A skyscraper that is under construction has some accidental deaths surrounding it and a company personnel investigating believes it is haunted.

Another Youtube find and a simple little tale of betrayal and supernatural, , it isn't anything like Poltergeist III, haunted building spooks running wild, except Jenny Argutter running wild in a open blouse...steady down peeps her cleavage was covered. Michael Moriarty plays the security consultant tasked to look into the deaths and thinks it's haunted and to bring in help. This was decent film, nothing that would make you jump out your seat and hit the roof or have you on the edge of your seat surprisingly entertaining after all these years of not seeing it.

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FATHOM (1967)

Raquel Welch stars as Fathom Harvill, a skydiver who is recruited by the British Government to find an atomic trigger mechanism..
Light hearted spy movie which is really a vehicle for Raquel to show off her amazing body which we see quite often.
Folding a parachute back in to it's pack has never looked so erotic!
Nice!

A Climax Of Blue Power (1974, Lee Frost)

Roughie from the director of The Black Gestapo ?? Form a disorderly queue folks ...
Taking cosplay too far can lead to ... complications cough.
Grotty, but not as grim as some other examples from this genre cough.

Darlin' (2019)

A cracking continuation of the story that began with Lucky McKee's Offspring (2009) and The Woman (2011) about a feral woman and her children.

Pollyanna McIntosh reprises her role of 'the Woman' and also directs, but this time her character isn't the central role. One of her adoptive offspring named Darlin' ends up in hospital and then at a Catholic boarding school where they attempt to civilize her to live in 'normal' society again, however the Woman has other ideas.

I really enjoyed this. It was different to the other two films and felt quite fresh, dealing with patriarchy and Catholic corruption (obviously). It was reasonably tense throughout with one or two grisly moments along the way. The largely 'unknown to me' cast were all good and McIntosh's direction more than competent.

Darlin' had me invested in it from the first moments and it never let up.

Noted, Dem. Thanks for the top review and recommendation.

:thankingyou:

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BATTLE OF MIDWAY (1976)

An all star cast in this fact based movie about the 1942 Japanese intention to target Midway Island. Two US aircraft carriers are sent out to the area..
The ariel battle sequences use real life footage mixed with scenes taken from other movies such as Tora,Tora,Tora and Battle Of Britain.
Like Tora,Tora,Tora, the film has a slow build of of facts before any action sequences begin at least half way through the movie.
My own little bit of nostalgia is that I remember standing waiting outside a cinema looking at the poster as a coming soon and the trailer being shown when inside.

Plutonium Baby (1987, Ray Hirschman)

As teens (cough) interrupt their idyll, a grandfather and grandson find they more to deal with than just litter louts. An odd beast. Features the least likely "10 years later" title card ever ahem. Just when you're settling in already. :nod:

Satan's School For Girls. 1973.

A young woman gets accepted to a private school to figure why her sister died in a apparent suicide only to discover something darker in the school.

From the opening credits and rushed start I thought this was gonna be a no brainer daft movie and glad I stuck it out, it's a mere chiller thriller rather than a full point horror film that does have a few twists and turns along the way. Pamela Franklin plays the lead Elizabeth who wants answers for her sister's death but hardly anyone speaks of her. Cheryl Ladd gives out a decent performance as classmate Jody and Jo Van Fleet as the headmistress.

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Big Ass Spider. 2013.

A giant alien spider arrives in a body at a L.A. hospital and escapes, the military and a scientist team up with a exterminator to kill it.

Defiantly not one to be taken seriously even with the title, something of a nod to the old B Movies like Tarantula or Them, it does have it's funny campy moments and CGI effects that can make it more funny, this is one of those films that's up there with Eight Legged freaks, Ray Wise does make a decent Major and Lin Shaye as the sweet old scared of rats lady.

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Extra scene after the first set of end credits.

I saw this last September, forgot to review it. It was a lot better than many films of this ilk and the spider looked cool but i did think it began to run out of steam the longer it went on.

It showed the big ass spider more or less straight away - a lot of movies could take note from that.

It was decent and a bit better than Spiders 3D, when I saw a few familiar names, my instincts were a few well known actors but why be in a stupid horror but it kept me entertained.

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A young fashion designer living with the scars both physically and emotionally of a car accident which took the lives of her parents Sarah's trauma is about ti get a while lot worse. After discovering she was invited to a party by a guy she really likes but his invite wasnt genuine he was put up to it by her friend. Sarah storms out of the club and is involved is an horrific accident leaving her face disfigured. In pure desperation Sarah takes part in an experimental plastic surgery that will have dire side effect and give her a thirst for something she has spent her life avoiding.

The Soska must have been under so mich pressure when they took it upon themselves to do this film an iconic director and a big influence on them. Did they buckle under the pressure lets find out.

The simple answer is no they didnt blow it the films is well acted and very beautifully shot there is a great use of colour and lighting especially the use of red representing the overall theme of blood in the film. The gore effects look great maybe the torso fingernails rip looked a bit ropey but generally everything looked really nice horrific and realistic. There were a couple of scenes where i though peoples reactions were a big stupid mainly the face reveal from under the bandages after the accident but hey its a horror film not 24 hours in A&E :lol:

Over all i found it to be a fun film with some great gore im really glad to own this and i will watch it again no doubt. As a big fan of American Mary and how good this turned out i will definitely have to check out See No Evil 2 and i look forward to see what The Soska Sisters do next.

7/10

Little personal side note just my view of course if you hate remakes thats your opinion this is just my view.

Its always tough going into a remake of any film let alone a film you love but you have to be open minded and put the original to the back of your mind at least until the film is over to let yourself have an opinion. Years ago i was the sort of person that felt it was blasphemy and all that bollox to do a remake but i have been willing to give remakes more of a chance the past few years and there are some that are really good so no point missing out by having a narrow mind at the end of the day the originals we all love are always going to be there.

Hush. A maniac killer targets a young deaf woman living alone in the country in this mid 2010s horror thriller from Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Doctor Sleep). A lean and efficient thrill ride, with a very intense and visceral climactic showdown between the overly confident killer and a woman who will not be going down without one hell of a fight. :nod:

The Follower. 2017.

Internet Blogger David is invited to a house by recluse/loner Carol as she feels her house is haunted. Sceptic that the house is haunted, David is given one rule, film anywhere but not in Grandma's room.

This is one of those found footage movies that seemed decent shot on a shoe string budget in a flat, house, forest and a shop that's the locations, the plot seemed to be simple, guy investigates a supposed haunted house and doesn't go well. The only thing that didn't go well was the acting, everyone is trying so hard to make it look real, and try so hard to make it look creepy, only two things decent about this film, the blink and miss it moments and the end credits.

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SCREAM FOR HELP 1984 Michael Winner

Outrageous Stepfather outing (Which was written by Tom Holland) and released three years before the Terry O'Quinn outing.
Winner's film is done in the same sort of style as his later Dirty Weekend with most of Holland's script binned and some OTT setpieces replacing the suspense.
In the extras interview he really puts the boot into Winner!

I loved it.It's a keeper and I highly recommend it for fans of the late Death Wish man.
If you ever wondered what a sleazy and violent episode of Knots Landing would look like,then look no further!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOzeCPE5CI0

Full Monty

A group of unemployed men from Sheffield become unlikely Strippers. This is a very funny film with plenty of humorous moments. Thinking now that The Producers would probably like to change 1 song from it's Soundtrack now.

Back To The Future Part II

Our 2 heroes go into the future in order to prevent Michael J. Fox's Son from committing a crime however an older Biff is able to sneak back and hand a younger self the results of every major sporting event which therefore change's 1985. It was ok, expected better but it did have a earlier role for Darlene Vogel who was quite hot in the 90's

School Of Rock

Jack Black is a slacker who somehow is able to get a job teaching a Prep School Class. But seeing that he's not a Teacher, he ends up turning the Class into a Rock Band. Once you can get passed the ludicrous notion that he was able to start teaching with being found out, this film is riotous fun, great soundtrack. This film is perfect for Jack Black.

Death Wish 3 (1985)

A gentle rom-com from the prolific Michael Winner in which Charles Bronson takes a Browning Machine Gun to the street punks of Brooklyn.

A classic exploiter that continues to thrill.

To me this is a remake in name only. I'm not a big fan of remakes but i see this as more of a re-imagining - basically taking the title of a classic movie then doing something different with it.

It's something else, isn't it? I watched agog. :nod:

I'm the Leader of the Gang, perhaps?

Gestapo's Last Orgy (1977)

The story, and i use the term loosely, of a beautiful Jewish woman formerly an abused prisoner at a concentration camp, who lures the commandant back to it's ruins many years later to make amends for his hate crimes.

Recently deemed unsuitable for the public's consumption by the BBFC (I can see why but i don't agree with it), Gestapo's Last Orgy is one of the stronger Nazisploitation flicks. The opening forty minutes is pretty relentless in it's atrocities towards the Jewish female prisoners, scene after scene of sleaze and violence, so much so that it became both boring and also slightly laughable.

In one scene female prisoners are burnt to death in giant ovens, whilst the next Nazi's have a banquet on the flesh of unborn Jewish babies before dousing a woman in cognac and cooking her alive in a human shaped cooking pot... I could go on. The fact it's all done with so much hatred of a specific race who the Nazi's persecuted so terribly, namely the Jews, that it would only take one BBFC member being Jewish and viewing this to understand why it was not given a certificate. Again. Especially in today's political climate.

The effect it had on me was to desensitize me to the violence and the lack of anything resembling a story meant it also became boring. Schindler's List this is not.

I did laugh at the scenes of a naked female hung upside down over what looked like Siberian Hamsters who were ready to feast on her face. Those little fellas really made me miss the two i used to have. Sadly i had to get rid of them when they ate the dog.

The Blair Witch Project.

Sadly it spawned many a shite shaky cam found footage crappy horror film but it really is a great piece of film making. It has you sitting there in your bed, covers up to your face, shitein' yersel at a pile of rocks and some twigs.

saw this at the cinema and thought it was rubbish and never seen it since, so I'm due for a rewatch to see if I might think different now.

Tried watching this a dozen or so times but just get to about 20 minutes and switch off every time.

Night Shadow. 1989.

A T.V news anchor woman returns to her hometown for vacation and soon the townsfolk start being killed.

I have never heard of this film before and came across it on Youtube, this one seems to be on a very low budget, that starts off with a loose killer who seems to be stalking the journalist making his next target but turns out to be a werewolf movie, there is some decent effects used but not overly done and why have a wannabe Bruce Lee character mixed in has me thinking. Not the best werewolf film but entertaining.

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It's definitely an absolute love it or hate it film, but I've always liked it, always found it creepy and scary and quite unique for it's time.
I'm sure there are plenty I just can't think of the now but there can't have been too many horror films where you actually see fu*k all in terms of the "bad guy"

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Its halloween night and there is a killer clown on the loose. There friends are hunted tortured and mutilated by the deranged clown and thats the story its just that simple no back story nothing just stalking and slice n dice the end :lol:

This was a fun film there is no bs just straight to the point gore and plenty of it. The acting is questionable but nothing that i found annoying. The gore effects looked great and the kills were all enjoyable especially the upside down one :lol: There is absolutely no character building or character progression if you just want to literally switch your brain off and not have to thing at all then this is for you. Hard to get into any details with a film that has none just gore gore and gore :pound:

7/10