Harry's not in The Last Stand.

You sure?? I thought he played the old farmer that gets shot while standing up to Peter Stormare, my bad.

Sorry you are quite correct. I was wrong. He's not credited though i have the dvd in my hand as i type.

I also got Bullet to the Head mixed up with another film, only the title though. Sabotage. That was the abysmal film. The Hill film was a little better than that.

My heads scrambled as i'm looking for my dvd of Frontier(s) and can't find it.

Until i went Blu i could pick out any dvd in an instant but now it's a fecking mine field.

No need to apologise it's a bit late in the evening...that's a good excuse as any :lol: I saw the trailer for Sabotage and that was questionable to be added to my watch list or not.

Both Escape Plan and The Last Stand are better than Bullet to the Head. Not sure about Expendables 2 though, I was actually very disappointed with that one.

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That surprises me.

It was everything i wanted it to be. An action classic for me.

The first Expendables film was the worst for me. Everything took place in near darkness and when there are two or three fights happening at the same time at the finale you couldn't tell what was going on such was the editing.

I liked the first and third. I thought the second was very slow and a bit silly.

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Frontier(s) (2007)

A gang of young hooligans flee Paris during the violent aftermath of a political election, only to hole up at an inn run by neo-Nazis.

From director Xavier Gens this was part of the new wave of French brutality that arrived in the mid to late 2000's. It's certainly brutal but not as visceral as Inside from the same year nor as tense as Them from the year previous.

In fact although it's all perfectly watchable it's also something that crawls along pretty familiar ground as it feels very Texas Chainsaw in style or House of 1000 Corpses without Rob Zombies colourful inventiveness or cool characters.

There are no characters you can sympathise with, nobody is exactly innocent. The victims in this shoot a police officer during the first few reels so they aren't exactly nice folk to begin with and the final girl is rather dull. However the French new wave was an offspring of the much missed (for me anyway) torture porn genre and in that respect it delivers in spades with meathooks, saw blades, shotguns, primal butchery, throats bitten out and so forth.

I'm sure Gens and the film has a lot to say regarding the far right movement in France but any messages kind of get lost in the blood lust.

Luthor: The Fallen Son. A disgraced ex-cop breaks out of prison to nail a sadistic serial killer. This 2023 new TV movie with Idris Elba and Andy Serkis was an entertaining enough thriller, even for those of us with little experience of the TV show.

65

Set 65 million years ago on a distant planet, where humans with advanced technology, sees Adam Driver transporting people on a Spaceship which crashes on Earth. Therefore he along with a child that can't communicate must which a Rescue Pod, whilst fighting off Dinosaurs before the meteor crashes on Earth. There's makings of a good Movie here but it felt that it did execute as well as it should. Plus this only had a cast of 4 people.

Saving Private Ryan

Steven Speilberg War Movie which sees Tom Hanks lead a team of Soldiers during WWII to find a Soldier whose Brothers have been killed so they all can go home. Bookended by 2 brutal War Scenes this is a good Film but there are some lulls between the Action. This also has a star studded cast as well.

The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020)

A very low budget film with a surprisingly starry cast (Derren Nesbitt, Jane Merrow, Caroline Munro, Garrick Hagon, Judy Matheson) as well as some paranormal investigators - all young actors probably friends of the producer with minimal acting ability but at least they try hard.

The film itself is deeply flawed with a script that's pretty bizarre in places due to incompetent writing and some equally incompetent acting by all except Nesbitt. It's also not in the least bit horrifying (although there were one or two really cool ghostly shots). However there's also a lot i really enjoyed.

Margam Castle (A genuine Victorian mansion in South Wales) is a stunning location - Seriously, every old dark house movie should be filmed there - and the cinematography complements it beautifully with some amazing shots. The score is also excellent. A mixture of known public domain classics beautifully arranged and new music which as an accompaniment to the photography brings a soothing calmness to the ham fistedness of other parts of the film.

It actually has enough about it technically to make it an enjoyable watch even on second viewing and i was never bored.

About 40 minutes away from me.

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Have you been? Is it a place you can visit?

The interiors are gorgeous.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Comedy which sees a group of friends transported via Hot Tub back to the 1980's. In theory it shouldn't have worked but there are some quite funny bits including a man phoning his future Wife (She was 9 at the time) and shouting at her for having a affair and John Cusack's character having to hear his Sister in the middle of making his Nephew otherwise he'd never be born.

Sequel's awful.

The Final Destination

4th in the series, you knew the script. This time it's a Speedway Accident, a winkle in the plot is that the main character is able to see the new accidents. Really short (78 Minutes) and the F/X this time aren't as good, due to the fact it was filmed in 3D.

No, it's an area I've driven through dozens of times but never visited.

http://www.margamcountrypark.co.uk/

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AIRPLANE (1980)

I had nort seen this in ages, years! Really enjoyed seeing it again.
I saw it in the cinema on release and that was the last time I saw a movie with a support feature. The support movie was Goldie Hawn's FOUL PLAY (1978)

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AIRPLANE II THE SEQUEL (1982)

First time I have seen this. Affer warching AIRPLANE again I thought I'd try the sequel. Enjoyed this one as well. Basically a retred of the first movie but still with some great gags.

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TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990)

Another movie I'd not seen in years and another movie I saw at the cinema when the Turtle craze was going on.
At the time, the Turtle suits were very advanced and were worked on by the legend Jim Henson and his creature shop. The suits still look good and the Splinter puppet holds up well also.
** You can pick up this movie very cheap now on DVD, but the 2005 release is the best disc. The later release in 2019 is very heavy DNR and looks like s**t. Same with the Blu ray.

Deathgasm (2015)

I really didn't get on with this demons and metal music horror comedy first time around but enjoyed it more last night.

One or two cool band references and a bit of Norwegian Black Metal legends Emperor on the soundtrack were just bonuses on top of a decent horror comedy with ample gore.

It's a pity that second lead James Blake as Zakk is so unlikable and there's nothing you won't have seen before in other 'mates vs demons' movies but i certainly dug it more on a second viewing.

Really?

When I saw 'Airplane' at the cinema, the 'B' movie was a sadly forgotten b/w werewolf spoof called 'Cry Wolf'

It was double billed with both Life of Brian and Rocky 3 at some stage.

I didn't know about Rocky 3 until i just looked it up but saw on a Michael Palin extra on one of his round the world adventures recently the poster showing Brian with Airplane.

Seems you can even book overnight ghost hunts at the place.

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Hmm. Not sure i'd want to do that. :crazed:

Cocaine Bear (2023)

All I wanted was a silly film about ... well, you know, what you get is another faaaaamily flick. Lawdy. Some fun is to be had, but not much.



Horror In The High Desert (2021)

Mockumentary. When a hiker goes missing, a search is launched to no avail, but an entry in his blog might hold the key. Decent enough. The performances are all believable etc.



Operation Fortune Ruse de Guerre (2023, Guy Ritchie)

Another caper in a familiar style. Stafam hits some folk, and Hugh Grant practises his Rigbsy impression (it's not good :pound:). On another day, I might have crucified this, but enjoyed it instead. Undemanding.

Concorde: Airport 79. Robert Wagner is a dodgy arms dealer who'll try anything to destroy an entire passenger plane to get one woman - and some very incriminating documents. But he's reckoned without the best pilot on the planet, George Kennedy baby! The 4th and final in the Airport series gets some stick, but I rather liked it. You can definitely see it's got a lower budget than the others - there are some very dodgy effects - but the unusually unpredictable plot, actors - including the great David Warner - and general 70sness made it still very watchable and entertaining to me. Have to be honest, I enjoyed all four of these!* ;) :D

The Mummy. 1999.

The 1930s Mummy with Boris Karloff was a thing of horror and then Hammer decided to do their version with Christopher Lee that was a nice little touch to the screen then universal decided to do a remake with a bigger budget. Although this isn't a masterpiece and relies on CGI that actually does work well.

Arnold Vosloo steps in as the Pharoh's priest Imhotep that is stupidly resurrected by Rachel Weisz in the desert after finding his sarcophagus and his rotten skeleton. Brendan Fraser plays the Foreign Legion soldier who helps Rachel and brother John Hanna to find the lost city and treasure along the other treasure seekers. There isn't much horror in this except seeing a few rotten skeletons, some good comedy and laughs, but certainly better than the Tom Cruise version.

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Like your good self i enjoyed these films but with the effects this installment felt like a T.V. Movie rather than a theatrical film.

Dawn Of The Dead (Argento Cut)

Argento's version of George A. Romero's classic Zombie Movie, his version trims a few minutes off to make it a bit more faster paced. I didn't mind it, the gore was still there and the Zombies are how they should be, slow but scary looking. This also had the Goblin Soundtrack, I found it got repetitive after a while.

I didn't realize that the original version got a re-release from EIV and got confused when the new Trailer was advertised on Films that were released after Day Of The Dead was. That Trailer is really good, made it look nasty and scary (I was young at the time)

Rising Sun

When a American Woman is found dead during a party held by a Japanese Company, Detective Wesley Snipes is teamed with a Liaison played by Sean Connery. The investigation takes many turns as they have to deal with Japanese customs. Co-starring Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Harvey Keitel, this is a rather enjoyable Thriller with great performances from the cast.

The Mutations. 1974.

A somewhat strange and possibly forgotten little British film with Donald Pleasance as a college/university biology lecturer and a also mad wanna be scientist who is doing cross-genetics study on his students. Tom Baker stars as the mutated Igor who picks up people and brings them to his mad master to work on and uses his experiments in a freak show.

Probably back in the day this may have been seen as a shocker and a mix of Tod Browning's Freaks but by today standards it's nothing new. The make up design on some of the cast is decently done even for Mr Baker but this is a low grade B movie that was certainly entertaining to see Donald being a Frankenstein wannabe.

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(This was also titled The Freakmaker)

Hancock (2008)

Starring Will Smith as John Hancock who is basically Superman with an alcohol problem who couldn't give a shit until he meets up with Jason Bateman's PR guy who persuades Hancock he needs a better image with the general public so they'll treat him as a genuine good guy rather than a superhero without a cause.

A lot of fun with some crazy superhero shit such as Hancock dropping a car full of bad guys on top of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. Will Smith is likable as an unlikable superhero. He's funny and crude and basically Deadpool before Ryan Reynolds and Marvel decided to get in on the act a decade later.

Or perhaps more accurately Hancock is Superman crossed with Bad Santa.

Entertaining stuff. Seen this a few times on dvd but last night was a first in HD.

The Squeeze. 1977.

Nicely crafted gritty British crime thriller with Stacey Keach as a ex policeman who has hit the bottle big time only to get involved with rich man Edward Fox who's wife and daughter have been kidnapped by a ruthless gang lead by David Hemmings.

This is a cracker of a movie. There are good performances all round, and some stylish direction from former documentary film-maker Michael Apted. Watch out for some shaky camera work in some scenes. There is scenes of sadistic mind games but the last 15 minutes or so the tension is really built up well.

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Is this on Blu at last or streamed?

It was streamed online and pretty decent quality

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When a rediculous plan to drop some cocaine from a plane over a national park not surprisingly goes awry the drug mule dies and the drugs are scattered all over the place. Now the park ranger a couple of kids skipping school the cops and the drug dealers are all wondering the park but it's not each other they need to worry about after a big black bear stumbles across the cocaine and helps herself. Now she craves another line and she won't stop at anything to keep her high.

Cocaine Bear is a good bit of fun some of the humour falls a little flat but it was still a good time. Surprisingly the acting is pretty good which I didn't expect from a film about a bear off her face on drugs :lol:. Anyway I was really happy with the CGI of the bear it really works well and looks real enough that your not distracted when the bear is on screen. The first half of the film there isn't much bear action other than eating the cocaine but once he gets going there is some great kills. Hands down my favourite was the ambulance scene :lol:

Well worth your time.

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On a remote island there is a famous and very very exclusive restaurant that is by no means cheap. The diners come for not just the food but the whole experience. Things start off pretty run of the mill but soon the guests start to become impatient not with the quality of the food but the way in which it is served. What's starts out as fancy arty presentation soon turns into a lecture of morality greed and a lack of understanding of how regular people live the sort of people that couldn't afford to come to such a place. As the evening goes on people's darkest secrets begin to be exposed.

Right off the bat I loved every minute of The Menu Ralph Fiennes is brilliant showing such a range of emotions behind his sinister demeanor he is broken lost and vulnerable. The whole thing has a uneasy feel to it not knowing what's going to happen next. What made me love this even more is the fact that when I go to restaurants they are always full of the type of assholes that are in this film people talking complete b*LL*X about their dinner and drinks.

I'll keep it brief as hopefully it will surprise people as much as it surprised me I was expecting something totally different .

Recommended 100%

Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022, Joe Begos)

It's the film you'll expect if you know the mans work, if not ...

Two co workers end up celebrating the season when plans fall apart. There's a little sexual tension, so romcom in the snow, aye? No :rolleyes::laugh:
All told in that there neon drenched way that he likes. Lawdy.
Recommended. :nod:

I also thought The Menu was brilliant, an unexpected gem, a film I look forward to re-watching, and wholeheartedly second your recommendation.

Rise Of The Footsoldier: Origins. 2021.

We have had the story of Carlton Leach, Pat Tate and now we got the story of Tony Tucker. Fresh out the army after being in the Falklands, Tony enters the door security jobs, then meeting Craig Rolfe who both end up meeting Pat Tate and entering the drug and violence scene.

The makers kept up the continuity of keeping Terry Stone, Craig Fairbrass and Roland Manookian in the same roles from the previous films. Surprisingly Vinnie Jones plays the straightheaded no nonsense doorman and knows how to pack a punch. The acting is solid and decent and as you can tell from start to finish the C word is thrown about quite a lot. I had no high expectations for this but I enjoyed it and do expect to see a bit of violence and torture. Remember kiddies stay away from the drug scene.

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(Extra scene during end credits)

SPOONFUL OF SUGAR – Weird childminder looks after a kid who seems a bit disturbed himself – why wouldn’t he be, with such awful parents – but makes the mistake of combining her job with a lot of flagrant LSD use. Her therapist is an ardent advocate of ‘microdosing’; I don’t know where they get the ‘micro’ from, I think a bit of ‘macro’ went on with this film. ‘Spoonful Of Sugar’ is a mess. It’s like they ransacked one of those nineties ‘Hand That Rocks The Cradle’ rip-offs, got rid of any bits that looked like they might belong in a sensible thriller, then filled the holes with random oddity and exploitative pot-shots, from crawling severed fingers to context-free self-harm. Everything seems tacked on, thrown together and aimless – I’ve seen more hallucinogenic veracity on Coronation Street (not even referring to the recent outbreak of trippyness, just the show as a whole). This stew of horror nonsense at least never bores, and works as a schlocky watch (which I find heartening in this day and age, when everything’s so manicured); if it’d pushed things even further and been a bit nastier, it might’ve ended up a modern day trashterpiece. It may or may not help the medicine go down, but if you fancy a spoonful of Shudder you could do a lot worse.

INITIATION (SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4) – I used to be lukewarm about Brian Yuzna but these days I’m slightly hotter. Not Mediterranean, maybe uh Morcecambe in summer, hot enough for me, anyway; don’t know what did it, maybe the wackery of ‘Faust’. ‘Initiation’ is Yuzna on solid form. A journalist hits back at sexist boss Reggie Bannister by investigating the occult – it all has to do with cockroaches, a couple of slimy Screaming Mad George fx, and creepy Clint Howard stalking around with his weird wizened-baby looks. There’s a crazy amount of pareidolia in this film, faces just pop out of nowhere all the time (don’t worry, I haven’t done much ‘microdosing’ myself since the late nineties.) What’s it all about, Yuzna? You can’t really ask that of nineties schlock, certainly not of schlock directed by Brian Yuzna, who always seems to have a thing about weird for weird’s sake. Anyone expecting anything to do with the original series should note that ‘Initiation’s relationship with the SNDN franchise appears only contractual, cemented by conspicuous christmas tree placement and, hilariously, the scene where two of them are shagging and creepy Clint walks in, switches on the TV and starts watching SNDN Part 3! I loved that. ‘So charming, the quaint nineties’, someone probably said on Tik-Tok. Yeah, good though. Cockroaches, squirmy fingers, faces, faaacccceeessss…

- :pound:

To Have and Have Not (1944)

A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.

The film in which Humphrey Bogart met the nineteen year old Lauren Bacall and one of Hollywood's greatest romances began.

I'll be honest. To Have and Have Not isn't a patch on the film it seemingly tries to emulate - Casablanca (1942) - even though so much of this is similar. Despite this it remains a hugely enjoyable and very witty war time melodrama.

Where To Have and Have Not wins is it's casting of Bacall. Watching her performance there's no way in hell you'd guess she was a mere nineteen years of age. Her screen execution is so mature, her femme fatale wiles better actresses double her age and experience and you can see her relationship with Bogart blossom as the film plays out. It's screen chemistry that can't be acted and some of Bacalls smokily seductive lines in the direction of Bogart are complete come on's, barely even double entendres.

"You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow."

"I'm hard to get, Steve. All you have to do is ask me."

The Asphyx. 1972.

A Victorian gentleman tries to achieve immortality by caputring the spirit of death called "Asphyx" that leaves the body of a person on the brink of death.

Early 70s British horror that I have appreciated over the years, Robert Stephens plays Sir Hugo who believes with he can capture the person's point of death and spirit leaving the body and develops a way to trap it and cheat death. Robert Powell plays his adopted son and assistant who believes the experiment to fail and soon becomes involved in the experiment.

From the start the film opens in a modern day England then goes back to 1870s and let's the story unfold and how the film opened in the present. The set designs in this are brilliantly crafted as the set pieces with the use of old costumes and the gothic style manor house. The effects are done brilliantly with the capturing of the spirit and screams can be a tad loud.

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