Detention (2011)

As a copycat killer named after movie villain Cinderhella, stalks the student body at Grizzly Lake High School, a group of co-eds band together to survive while serving detention.

Sounds fairly formulaic. It isn't. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Take the plot of Scream 2, add some of Steven Moffatt's weirdest timey-wimey bollocks from Doctor Who and more movie satire than i think i've ever encountered in a film previously and you have Detention.

It really doesn't stop there. Add in dashes of Clueless, Heathers, Mean Girls, and a great big spoonful of The Breakfast Club topped off with a sprinkling of Saw II. and you might start to come close.

The film is probably the fastest paced bit of celluloid i can recall seeing. Jokes, gags and movie references fly at you so thick and fast it's impossible to catch them all in one sitting. You don't have time to laugh or dwell on each moment of humour as you'll miss the next one.

It's so insane at times it felt only a Wayans brother or an appearance from Carmen Electra away from the much derided Scary Movie series, and i do think that come the forty minute mark the film started to feel the weight of it's references and should have replaced it's wannabe cool 90's schtick for some actual story development, however the eagerness of it's relatively unknown cast keep it ticking over until the slasher movie begins for real and we get some great gore.

Detention won't be to everyone's tastes, but anyone with an unhealthy interest in Steven Seagal's fighting techniques and general movie geek insanity could do worse than checking it out.

Second time around and i really liked it all over again.

I had a look at the sole extra last night. An in vision director's chat track which throws even more bat shit crazy stuff at the screen as cast members pop up in their own little on screen boxes to talk about their characters, scribble stuff on the screen and generally bombard the viewer. Shit! As with the film you'd need to watch it five times to spot half the craziness.

I loved both Hellboy films it's a real shame we didn't get a Hellboy 3 to wrap it up. I always felt Ron Perlman was born for this role could of painted him red and stuck a couple of horn stubs on him and kaboom Hellboy no other prosthetics needed :lol:

Forgot to mention.

Detention (2011) has a pretty awesome soundtrack featuring House of Pain, Hole, The Raveonettes, Goldfrapp, Public Enemy, C+C Music Factory, Backstreet Boys... yes, this one works really well too.

I prefer this to the first Hellboy film. I don't mind the lack of David Hyde Pierce's voice because Doug Jones is a very good substitute, I love the whole Golden Army design and back story, plus Luke Goss (who, before his appearance in Blade II six years earlier, I only knew as being half of Bros) is excellent as Prince Nuada.

Also, the film looks amazing, has a really good score, and Seth McFarlane's voicing of Johann is perfect.

I watched this movie years ago, and I enjoyed a lot, and put on my 'wish to buy list' but never managed to find in blu ray.. now I will start my search again, excellent review Dem.

Thanks, Graveyard.

I didn't watch it on Blu. Merely dvd, it looked great anyway.

There is a German blu for €11 but not much else, I’ve only got this one on dvd myself.

Hellraiser V: Inferno. 2000.

Something a bit darker and a somewhat different direction for the Pinhead character, it does carry the S&M calling card...where else would you see a guy in the back of a ice cream van getting whipped. Craig Sheffer is the detective drawn into a puzzle after a...lady of the evening is found dead and he was the one that last saw her alive. This does go down the path of psychological route of what is real and what ain't and then search for someone who may not be real. As iconic the Pinhead character is along with other Cenobites, he doesn't appear till the final act but you get the feeling that he has shipshaped into other characters during the movie. This one I took a while to warm up to and do enjoy It a bit more now.

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Thank you @Justin101 and @Demdike@Cult Labs for the reply, I will look for both :)

Karen (2021, Coke Daniels)

I had to. The hilarious premise. The script that is so woke it squeaks. The wonderful touch of Breen right at the end just sealed the deal.
Meet the neighbours.
They might seem a little anal to begin with, but battling about garbage day would be preferrable to what we eventually get. Lawdy!! In all fairness, the titular lead really goes for it. No one utters the N word, just like that Clooney thing I watched where they did eventually burn crosses on lawns ahem.
Suburbicon? Anyway.
I do these things for you.
Next!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIdFzP0TJxc

:laugh:

Sins Of Desire. 1993.

A woman who's sister committed suicide teams up with a private investigator looking for a missing person that both victims are linked to a sex clinic.

This was one of those Friday night channel 5 movies and certainly not the best, two female leads Delia Sheppard and Tanya Roberts (yes that Tanya Roberts from Beastmaster and A View To A Kill) in a steamy erotic thriller that's not so steamy at all.

Right at the start we are thrown into a murder that the wife is calm and makes me think that the husband has done it before. Jan Michael Vincent shows up and his character I have no clue about but obviously some hired gun that he can't shoot worth a shit. There is a bit of girl on girl but not even worth getting excited about (The girl on girl part in Animal Instincts was far better and more believable). It's like the actors wanted to do the film but lost interest.

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Before I Hang. Nick Grinde. 1940.

I forgot I watched this Karloff/Colombia vehicle last week. This is the fourth film from Eureka's Karloff at Columbia set. On the whole a good package.
This is one of the so called Mad Scientist films Karloff made for Columbia studios.
In this one he plays an elderly scientist striving to perfect a serum that will combat the effects of old age. When an experiment goes wrong and kills one of his test subjects, Dr John Garth is sentenced to death. As he waits out his time in prison Dr.Garth is surprised to find the prisons own doctor, played by Edward Van Sloan, has made succesful appeals to the powers that be to let him carry on his work in prison. Unfortunately the good doctors first successful experiment comes with tragic side effects.
Decent film this, though the weakest of the mad scientist themed films in this set so far. Karloff is superb as ever, the man had such a way of drawing an emotional response from his audience, be it the masterworks like Frankenstein and it's (slightly lesser) sequel or lower grade b-movie hokum like this. The way he evokes sympathy even as we watch him gear up to do something naughty is masterful and one of the reasons he is a true icon of the genre. Boris also recieves able support from the actors around him and unlike other reviews I've read have suggested I didn't particularly find this came across as low budget. Enjoyable, a little slow here and there if I'm honest and simply not quite as gripping as Karloffs best turns. Still a great film and Eureka's presentation is flawless.

Nice write up. :clap:

It's Karloff's ability to make b-pictures like this seem better than they are which truly marks him down as one of the greats. Peter Cushing did the same.

However Lugosi who is more often than not mentioned in the same breath as Karloff wasn't in the same league in this respect.

No I like Lugosi well enough but he simply wasn't the actor Boris was. He had his moments but at his best he didn't touch Karloff on an off day for me.

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. 1988.

Oddball cheese fest at its finest with this, to get into a sorority, a couple of girls and a few pervy guys have to break into a bowling alley and steal a trophy, except the one they pick has a evil imp inside.

Just look at the title and you know what to expect even with Linnea Quigley in this and you can tell it's going to be a laugh. Sorry to break this to you guys but Linnea does manage to keep her clothes on but another actress bares all and isn't afraid to show a bit of Bush. Produced by Charles Band this must have been his lowest budget movie ever, nobody is going to get a Oscar for their performance, those who created the Razzie awards would be embarrassed to hand them out. With saying all that this was a entertaining movie and why we love 80s films.

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The only one Lugosi comes close is The Black Cat (1934). Werdegast is his best role as far as i'm concerned.

He's not bad in The Body Snatcher. Although I think it's a film that ironically emphasises how far apart the two were in ability.

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He's very good in The Body Snatcher in what is a rather small role, which like you say emphasises how far apart the two actually were. However it's his scenes with Karloff, the blackmail one especially, which make it a good performance.

Bela should have been so much more but it just wasn't to be for several reasons which are quite sad.

I can still enjoy some of the sillier stuff for what it is. Voodoo Man for instance.

I have that but couldn't tell you a thing about it. :lol:

I do think he's very good in White Zombie, but it's also one of those films where he basically plays Dracula again.

I completely agree with you and J Harker about Lugosi and Karloff. Lugosi had presence and a strange charisma in some roles, but Karloff, no doubt due to ~eight years of stage acting in Canada and the US, was a more versatile actor who could perform with gravitas and humour, depending on what the role needed.

I suppose another advantage was that English was his first language and that growing up in England before emigrating to Canada and then moving to the US gave him a grasp of language and accents that Lugosi, whose delivery was often a bit stilted, simply couldn't match.

When they were together in The Black Cat, that was a brilliant piece of casting in an exceptional film, allowing each to shine and benefit from the other's presence that didn't quite happen in The Raven, You'll Find Out, The Body Snatcher, or Son of Frankenstein.

Christopher Lee couldn't raise a film like Peter Cushing could either. (I mentioned Cushing earlier so thought it relevant).

I don't think with Lee it was because he didn't have the ability, more that his heart wasn't really in it and he didn't really love what he was making,horror especially. He was certainly more in it for the money than because he enjoyed what he was doing.

A claim which is proven by his dominating presence in non-starring roles in later films by directors he admired such as Peter Jackson, George Lucas and Tim Burton.

When i say 'I don't think' i mean i know having read his memoir Lord of Misrule.

Peter Cushing loved his audience and loved giving them what they loved.

And on that lovely note i bid you goodnight.

Night Sir Dem.

I'll mention Ygor as one of Lugosi's stand out roles for me because it's so far from his roles where the Dracula comparison can't be made. He wasn't the main role in the films but he stood out and made you notice him.

I've not seen any of the Frankenstein sequels past Bride, so I've yet to see Bela in the Ygor role.

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The problem with Ygor is he was such a cruel character. I hate him and that's testament to Lugosi's performance. He deserves all that comes to him. I couldn't wait for the monster to kill him. :lol:

Karloff could do cruel and manipulative and heart warming all in the same film. The Body Snatcher is a great example of this.

The way he talked to young Georgina with her affliction was lovely. You'd never have known what sort of a man he was really.

Knock Knock (2007)

A direct to dvd slasher that's not a million miles away from being a homage to 1982's Pieces.

Although a definite throwback to the eighties i feel it tries to do something different with it's kills yet somehow they seemed both inventive and derivative. Especially the suitably grim shower scene in which a girl is hung up and gutted.

Knock Knock occasionally borders on incompetence and has that strange 80's aesthetic of when European film makers attempted to convince us their films were set in American high schools - the fact this one actually is adds to the weird vibe that permeates proceedings.

Dvd is where this one is ideally homed as it's not particularly stylish neither is it remotely politically correct but for all it's flaws (not being PC isn't one of them) Knock Knock is a film i've seen a few times now and remains memorable due to it's high gore content.

He could pull of such things in the same scene at times.

He certainly could.

"I'll be having a drink with my old friend, Toddy".

Exactly – John Gray is a nuanced and layered character, both evil and affectionate, and couldn't have been played as such by a lesser actor.

The Goonies. 1985.

Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner's film about a group of kids lead by Sean Astin go on a treasure hunt to find a missing pirate boat and steal the fortune to save their houses from being demolished and everyone is separated. Anne Ramsay, Robert Davi and Joe Pantoliano play the Fratelli family who join the hunt for their own gain and laughs. Pro footballer John Matuszak spent a good few hours in the make up chair to give us a iconic character for the film and a probable memorable catchphrases "Hey You Guys hehe".

We got Chunk played by Jeff Cohen who does the "Truffle Shuffle" and and makes a brilliant confession which can attract a laugh or two. Corey Feldman as the non stop talker mouth who can land himself in trouble. Josh Brolin as the tough older brother who thinks the pirate ship is just a story. Key Hu Quan as the inventer Data who spells out the swear words. I know this may not be for one or two fellow Cultists but decent funny family entertainment.

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The Love Bug. 1968.

A down on his luck race car driver buys a old VW Beetle that has a mind of its own.

Comedy, some drama, romance, we know very little about Jim Douglas except when he is described as down on his luck, angry, and one who was prone to getting into trouble. Dean Jones did an excellent job as the cocky, angry, egotistical driver who is knocked down a few pegs by his friends and a little car. Buddy Hackett is Jones little mechanic that seems to have a understanding with the car and calls it Herbie. David Tomlinson plays the opponent race car driver who wants to steal the car and fails at the opportunity.

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Reasonable Doubt (2001)

I think it's called Reasonable Doubt, but i watched it on dvd as Dirty Work whilst the poster below is Crime Scene.

A homicide detective investigating a series of sex murders in L.A receives help on the case from a well-known sex therapist with a dark secret.

When said homicide detective is former glamour model turned actress Amber Smith and the sex therapist is another hot blonde played by GiGi Erneta, i think you can probably imagine the help given. Help by a warming fireplace, help in a jacuzzi...

When it comes to serial killer movies The Silence of the Lambs this is not, it's pretty dismal, although Smith's cop partner has some funny scenes especially when questioning a couple of pot heads regarding the whereabouts of one of several red herrings.

I watched this on Wednesday night and even for a second time viewing it's rather unmemorable (Except this one scene with Smith and Erneta in a jacuzzi...did i mention that?) with a plot that starts okay but becomes ever more convoluted yet despite it being obviously pretty crap i keep returning to tat like this every so often.

SKINAMARINK – The one that set social media alight last year (I wish it’d done that literally) finally arrives on Shudder. I find it really odd that it caused such furore because it’s the most abstract thing I’ve seen in ages. There is a story, kind of – two kids find that they’re alone in a house at night after their parents disappear, only there might be something waiting in the darkness for them after all etc etc. This thumbnail might, in other hands, have formed the basis of yet another badly filmed jump-scare flick, but no, director Kyle Edward Ball has taken the less frequently travelled avant-garde route and instead presents us with a veritable cinematic tone poem. ‘Skinamarink’ unfolds as a series of moody shots of surfaces, doorways, halls, all Dutch angles, everything at night, whilst disembodied TV voices and weird cartoons play in the background. We see snatches of the kids and hear their muffled voices as they try to figure out what’s happening. What IS happening isn’t ever really clear, but it’s pretty spooky. As is the film. It’s one for that elusive ‘right mood’, and I have a feeling that sticking it on for shits and giggles will swiftly lead to boredom for most; it seems tailor-made for three AM and a fairly sketchy mental state. I actually found it less of an endurance test than I feared thanks to the atmosphere of grim foreboding and the director’s fascinatingly manipulative use of a pound shop budget. If nothing else, it’s a very interesting experiment in tranced-out weirdness. Films like this and ‘We’re All Going To The World’s Fair’ give me hope that the genre’s upping its freak factor.

RESURRECTION – Rebecca Hall in another role that showcases her talent for weird intensity (see also ‘The Night House’, but more so her deeply unnerving performance in ‘Christine’, a sad, sad film that really sticks in the mind after all these years). Hall is being stalked by none other than Tim Roth, so the potential for psychosis seems limitless. ‘Resurrection’ presents itself as a fairly standard thriller, then gradually morphs into something stranger and more surreal – we end up in a realm where gaslighting, madness and the supernatural all seem entangled - but the outstanding aspect is Hall and her wracked, starey face, through which all the film’s otherworldliness plays out. The final spiral into bleakness is pretty messed up, not to mention stomach-rummagingly gory. I recommend it.

MURDER ME MONSTER – Argentinian monster movie that’s short on popcorny thrills and long on cryptic mood. Headless women have been turning up near the Andes; a burned-out cop teams up with the suspect to find out what’s going on. These bare bones make it sound standard, but ‘Murder Me Monster’ is an exercise in floaty vibes that becomes progressively unhinged. There’s an off-key neo-noirishness (I was about to say ‘Lynchean’, but didn’t bother) that sets the tone, but then lots of zoned-out asides and dialogue that’s borderline incomprehensible. You do get an hilarious bollocks-vag-teeth monster at the end and a couple more dollops of gore, but beware, I really liked it but it’s probably one for people who don’t mind feeling like they’re watching stuff in zero gravity (see ‘The Skinamarink’, maybe ambient horror’s becoming a thing).

The extremely long and derivative supernatural thriller genre that took over following gore and torture porn's fun ascendancy and rapid descent died a death for me years ago when the likes of Blumhouse churned out utter shite constantly on rinse and repeat for practically a decade now.

It seems with the lease of life the likes of Shudder are giving low budget horror that film makers are experimenting again which is great. It's not always successful but at least it's not boring. In a way it's like the mid 00's when supermarket dvd shelves oozed so much potential just begging for idiots like me to spend a fiver on.

Totally agree - it's strange to think that the period around 2002 - 2012 (from the time of all that French and Japanese extreme stuff to the start of the 'Insidious' era) might be seen in years to come as a a golden age of weird, gory shit, but I think it's in with a chance. I remember that time as being full of loads of quirky stuff that hasn't had much of a look-in since. Even the 'Hostel' rip-offs were more of a laugh than a lot of the tripe we've had to put up with in the last ten. So signs that things might be getting more experimental are all for the good imo.

Born Free (1966)

Born Free tells the story of Joy and George Adamson, conservationists in Kenya who raised three orphaned lion cubs. Two of which are sent to Rotterdam Zoo when they reached near adulthood but the third Elsa, remained with the Adamson's.

When it becomes clear they can no longer keep Elsa they realise they will have to teach her within three months to fend for herself and go back to the wild or join her siblings in a zoo.

The cinematography is excellent - it looks glorious via Eureka's Blu-ray - and the story is extremely affecting. I don't mind saying i was in tears a couple of times experiencing this all over again. Although the Adamson's, as played by real life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, are very good it's Elsa we are here to see and she's impossible to take your eyes off; talk about a scene stealer! Meanwhile John Barry's theme and Matt Monro's iconic title song is still echoing round my head over 24 hours later.

A childhood favourite (And now an adult favourite) which i can't have seen for at least thirty five years, this is a beautifully shot and sensitively made adaptation of Joy Adamson's true life best seller and one of the all time great animal films.

Herbie Rides Again. 1974.

Herbie helps a old lady to protect her house from a property developer.

Growing up i felt this was the Herbie movie that played a lot on TV during school holidays and totally loved it yet now a fully grown man and I still love it. Helen Hayes plays the adorable grandmother who has custody of the loveable VW Beetle and young friend Stefanie Powers who likes to pack a punch and Ken Berry who seems more afraid of the young lady than his evil Uncle. Keenan Wynn plays the property developer who seems to think everything should go his way. Robert Stevenson returns for the sequel and somehow manages to add in more family fun entertainment.

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