KIDS GO TO THE WOODS... KIDS GET DEAD - A contemporary SOV indie slasher homage - this kind of filmic move seems very popular these days. KGTTWetc. distinguishes itself slightly by referencing the whole degraded VHS tape thing which has become an underground staple in recent years - witness 'Trash Humpers' for this phenomenon's mainstream variant, or else countless YouTube 'hypnagogic pop' videos. Basically, a tongue-in-cheek slasher flick is cut in with said video edits and scraps of late night TV horror presenter 'Candy Adams' to create the feeling of something ripped from TV in the early hours. This 'film as object' thing is quite interesting and calls for further exploration than the superficial treatment given here, but this is micro-budget cinema with an imagination, something I'm totally in favour of.
HELLMASTER - Wow. What a special, special movie. Definitely could form part of an unholy f*cked up late eighties trio with 'Hellgate' and 'The Vineyard'. Feels like an average B-movie of its era mixed in with rip-off Italian horror stylistics, then edited into oblivion until all sense is lost. I can't think of many films where the dream-like atmosphere is down to sheer film-making incompetence as much as the conscious deployment of creativity in action, Maybe this is the only one. Certainly the only one featuring David Emge, John Saxon and Ron Asheton from The Stooges!

Just watched "Alice, Sweet Alice" a great little film, a bit over the top in parts but I love over the top! Apart from the film "Over the Top" which I was disappointed I didn't like.

If you have Lovefilm "Alice, Sweet Alice" is available to stream!

Man on a Ledge (2012)

An excellent thriller that ratchets up the tension as it goes on. Any possible flaws in the plot are completely forgotten during the last half hour as the tension becomes almost unbearable.

Great performances from Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Ed Burns et al.

Brilliant stuff.

The Amazing Spiderman - good fun, but nothing new. I am astonished by the need to reboot this.

Watched Perfume of the Lady in Black last night, followed by Mr. Freedom Currently watching Lamberto Bava's Delirium before giving a fair shot to Insidious!

Last night I watched... 'The Theatre Bizarre', and must say I really enjoyed this.
I've bought and watched a whole lot of indie stuff recently and most of it has been quite forgettable but this is one of the best things I've seen this year...

Comprised of 6 short films, linked by sort of a 7th, involving a young woman who sneaks inside what appears to be an abandoned theatre, where she meets her host (played by Udo Kier) who, between some very strange segments, introduces her to the six bizarre tales...

Directors include Buddy Giovinazzo, Karim Hussain and Tom Savini and although I thought all the films were very good in their own right, the two stand out ones for me were 'Mother of Toads' directed by 'Richard Stanley' which is about a couple, travelling in the Pyrenees mountains, who cross paths with a lustful witch, played by 'Catriona MacColl' and the other one being 'The Accident' directed by 'Douglas Buck' which is about a mother trying to help her daughter to make sense of a tragic motorcycle accident.
I thought this one was so good that I watched it 3 times!

I'm not going to give anything away with regards these two (or the other four for that matter) so as not to spoil it for anyone but if you haven't heard of the Theatre Bizarre, by all means look it up for further info...
I highly recommend you give this a watch if you get the chance... :nod:

Right now though, I'm about to watch the BD of 'Dark Night of the Scarecrow'. :)

SUMMER HOLIDAY. Cliff and the boys have fun in the sun and on a bus. I love exploitation films like this, whereby a well known pop star is cast in the lead of an undemanding film. Everyone is a winner: the fans get to see the star sing a few songs, the star gets more exposure and the film makers get richer.

THE FIRM. Gary Oldman is f*cking amazing in this excellent but objectively rather silly look at football hooligans. It plays better as a film about gang warfare than football violence. Still, the background information delivered by cars, houses, clothing and employment paint an excellent portray of Thatcher's Britain and contain a subtle political depth lacking in such recent films like "The Football Factory". That said, "The Football Factory" is still my favourite film seen so far the year.

Going back to Oldman, I'd forgotten just how good he was when younger.

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A decent noir thriller about a navy intelligence officer sent to shanghai in 1941, before pearl harbour and with america still not committed to the war, investigating the murder of his friend. As he probes deeper, the officer (played by John cusack) uncovers a web of betrayal and murder and no one is who they appear.

Great cast, interesting story and well shot by Mikael Hafstrom, Shanghai is well worth a look. (even if only for the lovely Gong li) This one seems to have gone direct to dvd in the UK, which is a shame really, it would look great on the big screen.