Decemberdike # 17
 

Nightbreed (1990)

Craig Sheffer plays a mentally unstable man convinced by his doctor that he's a serial killer. On the run Sheffer finds refuge in an abandoned cemetery called Midian among a tribe of monsters and outcasts known as the Nightbreed who live there away from the human race.

A film with so many great ideas which are so poorly executed. Flat direction from writer Clive Barker - This is no Hellraiser - and zero tension meant my mind wandered more than once during it's two hour run time and for a while i was actually bored.

The casting of David Cronenberg as the serial killer shrink, along with the creature designs, are the films only real plus points.

It’s one of those situations where the book is much better, so if you ever get the chance to read Cabal I highly recommend it!

For me Nightbreed is obviously a brilliant idea I love the beginning of the film and setting up the whole Midian thing but once there its just a race to the finish line and everything feels rushed and a bit messy. I do still like the film but as you said it could of been much much more.

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Decemberdike # 18
 

Death Has Blue Eyes (1976)

A couple of gigolo's scamming their way across Greece eventually fall in with a wealthy woman and her daughter who has telepathic abilities and is being tracked down by foreign powers who want her abilities for themselves.

This bizarre directorial debut from Nico Mastorakis is a whirlpool of car chases, espionage, psychic nonsense, Cold War histrionics and naked babes.

Despite it being a smorgasbord of weirdness it's just too clunky and genre flitting to be considered really good but it is entertaining... if you can get by with zero coherence.

As for those blue eyes? They're actually green.

Ladies & Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982)

Always wanted to see this one, and the wait was worth it ;):lol:
Diane Lane and Ray Winstone play singers on tour. The supporting cast ... well, 2 Pistols, a Clash, and various Tubes prop up the background, the real reason that I wanted to peruse this one. When the main act suffers a tragedy, the tussle for top billing begins ...
The next song I post may have something to do with this film tee hee ...

Decemberdike # 19
 

The Mangler (1995)

One of those films where the concept is daft as a brush - a possessed industrial laundry press which needs the blood of virgins - but it works mainly thanks to a great relationship between Ted Levine's cop and Daniel Matmor as his demonologist brother-in-law as well as an OTT but fun performance by Robert Englund sporting state of the art crutches.

There's a lot of gore and dark humour among all the craziness and i just found it so much fun and had a blast watching it.

Been on the fence about this one for ages I have almost picked it up a few times sounds like it's exactly what I wanted from it so next chance I get I'll grab it.

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I really enjoyed The Mangler too it’s a very fun film indeed.

This will sound really stupid but it's looks so 90s I was a little turned off hope that makes sense [emoji23]

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I know what you mean, but I actually love that late 80s early 90s look of horror films, all smoke machines and neon lights :lol:

It does have that, but it's also about a giant industrial cleaning machine that eats people alive :lol: AND it's a Stephen King short story which is bonus points.

Give me nineties film over the uninspired stuff we get nowadays any day of the week. :elfsnow:

Decemberdike # 20
 

Time After Time (1979)

Novelist HG Wells (Malcolm McDowell) follows Jack the Ripper (David Warner) from Victorian London to contemporary San Francisco in his newly invented time machine.

An enjoyable romp with McDowell, almost against type as the fish out of water author in late seventies San Francisco whereas Warner's Ripper finds even more hookers to mutilate than in Whitechapel and quickly becomes known as the San Francisco Ripper.

There are some amusing moments throughout the film such as Wells being thrown out of an HG Wells exhibit at a Frisco museum and clever use of Wells own ideas and writing.

I did think there were certain similarities to 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home which also pitted time travelers into modern day San Francisco, possibly due to Nicholas Meyer co-writing that script as well as writing and directing this.

I'll finish by mentioning the SFX work for the time machine. The first time they appeared i was startled, i thought there was something wrong with the Blu-ray as strange crystal clear blue electricity effects begin to emanate from the centre of the screen.

Time After Time blends suspense, drama, comedy, science fiction, slasher movies and romance (Wells and Mary Steenburgen - who seems to be playing the same role as she would ten years on in Back to the Future III) into an enjoyable two hour ride.

If you've never seen this grab a copy of the Premium Collection Blu-ray. You won't be disappointed.

Great film Dem. Nice review.

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Thanks.

Last night was a first time viewing for me. I got the film as a blind buy. Pleased i did.

Dead End. A bickering family heading to relatives for Christmas find themselves trapped on a never-ending road to nowhere. Ray Wise, Lin Shaye and Alexandra Holden star in this early 2000s darkly comic Xmas horror that isn't very Xmassy. Great atmosphere and I loved this when I first saw it back in 2004, but once you know the end I think it makes revisits a little pointless.

Die Hard 1988
Watched this for about the 10th time last night with the oldest. No point doing a synopsis as everyone knows this film and what a great Christmas film it is. To me Paul Gleason almost steals the show playing a typical hard nosed cop with a mixture of irritation and then exasperation as Gruber falls to his death when he says "I hope that wasn't a hostage" . Classic 10/10.

Despite it being on every year, how good how classic etc it is, it's one of those film I've only ever watched twice and last time was over 20yrs ago.

..Another UK double Bill

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THE MUTATIONS (1974)

Donald Pleasence experiments on his students, mixing human and plants together..
Really bizarre movie this one. The film mixes both elements of the experiments going on, with that of circus performers story which echo's FREAKS.
Good movie which always leaves a bit of a strange after taste in the mouth.


CHOSEN SURVIVORS (1974)

Random people are taken to an underground nuclear facility and are told the Earth is devastated by war and they have been chosen to re populate the World when it is safe to venture again outside.
They have to fight for their lives when a colony of Vampire Bats find their way inside the complex..
What starts out like a Sci Fi movie soon becomes a survival horror in this enjoyable romp.

That's one film that's crying out for a Blu-ray release.

My fav era for films is 70s then 80s.

Decemberdike # 21
 

You'll Like My Mother (1972)

Following the death of her husband in the Vietnam war a heavily pregnant mother (Patty Duke) takes the bus to snowbound rural Minnesota to meet her mother in law (Rosemary Murphy) for the first time.

Trapped at the house by a snowstorm Duke ends up giving birth and is drugged by Murphy when she comes to she's told the baby is dead and has been buried. This scenario sets the scene for the second half which drips with tension and genuinely unnerving suspense. Duke excels at vulnerability as much as Murphy does at menace. Meanwhile Sian Barbara Allen almost steals the show as the silent and mentally challenged sister of Duke's deceased husband.

From the snowy exteriors to the old dark house that the majority of the film is shot in, together with a disturbing secret in the cellar, although set in the 1970's this is a film very much steeped in the traditions of the classic Gothic chiller.

You'll Like My Mother is an excellent exercise in celluloid terror. Highly recommended.

Noted D.

Deadly Games. On Christmas Eve, a tech savvy and resourceful but naive 10 year old boy is forced to defend himself and his ailing, near-blind grandfather when their home is invaded by a psychotic killer dressed as Santa Claus. This late 80s French horror flick has become something of a cult classic, only available in the West relatively recently, and is often said to be the horror Home Alone, albeit made first! Saw this on Shudder last night and was blown away by how great it is. Beautifully shot, great Xmas atmosphere, great 80s atmosphere, with some terrific suspense and tension. Loved it! :xmastreedance::xmascan:

It's an odd one certainly. Need more love.

Sometimes thats the way it goes with films. I myself have only seen classics such as Speed, Reservoir Dogs and Into the Wild once yet have seen Stalker by Tarkovsky twice.

This is a different Deadly Games to the one Arrow released?

Yeah I think that one's from 1982 this is 89. Also sometimes known as Dial Code Santa Claus.

VIOLENT NIGHT – Jaded Santa rediscovers the meaning of Christmas when he’s forced to rescue a little girl and some awful rich people from an army of robbers. I love it when films pile sentimentality on top of gore, and it’s amusing to watch Santa kicking the shit out of a bunch of c*nts. This fantasy splatter comedy actioner skewers every festive movie cliché going with gleeful abandon and is a lot of fun.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE – Wrong holiday, but I always find this old slasher chestnut faintly warming in a mulled-wine-and-candlelight sort of way, so on it went. A bleak mining town celebrates an anniversary it would rather forget, and before long people are making gruesome discoveries in boxes of candy and whispering about old Harry Warden and his reign of terror. From back when you didn’t have to do much more than get a bunch of teens to scream and die at the hands of someone in a mask, but there’s still plenty of nice stuff here to do with shadowy mines and that elusive quality I guess we can call ‘Canadian’. Additional points for having its own specific folk-tinged theme song.

RABID GRANNIES – Yet more awful rich people gather at their elders’ stately home and do all the usual double dealing and backstabbing until someone opens a magic box and it all goes a bit ‘Evil Dead’. This Belgian splatter comedy has a really leaden sense of humour, but somehow I enjoyed its mishmash of gore, bad dubbing, nice gothic looks and endless running around in shadowy corridors. It fails to orchestrate in any convincing way but nonetheless manages to charm through its incessant silliness.

RATMAN – There’s something quite magnetic about David Warbeck’s face, and here it is in ‘Ratman’, with its deep furrows and slight overanimation. ‘Ratman’ is an iffy late eighties exploiter that also stars the world’s smallest man (last phrase should probably be in quotes). Instead of giving him something interesting to work with, they put claws and sharp teeth on him and, there you go dude, you’re a rat-man! Callous or what, but we’re at the fag-end of the Italian trash boom so I don’t know why I’m surprised. ‘Ratman’ is ninety percent horror padding involving shitty looking rooms and probably only a negligible percentage of gore / nudity / actual ratman, but it offers plenty of what I look for in films of its ilk, namely exactly that end-of-eighties Italo aesthetic – mesmerising synths and an unreal feel that privileges nonsense over narrative. Tune in for that, otherwise you’ll be in for slim pickings.

My Xmas night movie was Happiest Season, the 2020 rom-com/family xmas flick. McKenzie Davis is the chick who takes girlfriend Kristen Stewart home to meet her family and then forces her to pretend to just be her roommate as she's not actually told them she's gay. Shenanigans ensue. Just as fun second time. :xmastreedance:

Tensions are boiling outside a store awaiting the start of the Black Friday sale and when the daughter of the store owner sneaks her friends in the back door the crowd go wild when they start taunting them through the window and an all out riot starts. Almost a years later to the day and the friends are all targeted and people who were involved in the riot start to get picked off one by one knowing they are the main target of the psycho they must stick together but can they really trust.

As soon as this started I was thinking oh Christ when the teens get together for the first time and they were all whipping out their phones and the usual these days carry on but it surprises me that I actually didn't hate these characters they were not too in your face or over the top so it settled for me pretty fast. The acting is pretty solid from everyone there is no real superhero type carry on obviously there is a bit of macho jock talk but thats just normal testosterone driven young men around girls talk.

The gore is great mostly there are one of two scenes are are CGI but mostly it's proper practical gore and as the film goes on it get more and more over the top to the point where I'm laughing my ass off out loud .

I'm not the biggest fan of Eli Roth but I do love his knowledge of film and his love of horror I'm just always sceptical watching any of his films but I have to say this is my favourite of his films I have seen I had such a fun time with Thanksgiving the killers mask is great the acting the gore the set ups the over the top nature of things that happen the whole thing is just a blast I loved it.

This could easily become a yearly regular.Attachment 249329

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On Xmas eve a father holds the body of his dying son after he is struck by a bullet from a drive by. The father gives chase but gets shot himself and after months of rehabilitation in the hospital the father emerges broken willed and unable to speak from his injuries. Hitting the bottle pretty hard and pushing away his already devastated wife our hero sets a date to take revenge on the gang members that killed his son by Xmas eve.

Silent Night is a pretty looking film and the action is typical of the stylised action from John Woo's past work a dance of death it's more a performance than just out and out violence but it is violent if you get what Im trying to say. I really like the element of realism he put into the film I mean this is a man who is self trained in a short period of time so he isn't John Wick he is flawed and he is learning on the job so most of the time he is getting his ass kicked but you would be surprised the amount of punishment a desperate man will endure especially when emotional pain is may worse than physical pain.

While I really like the idea of Silent Night there are a few things that didn't sit right with me. Fine the guy can't talk but no one talking was a bit of an odd choice apart from the radio I mean I could understand if he lost his hearing and so he lived in a world of silence but he just couldn't talk so it didn't make much sense to me.

Overall it's different and its enjoyable but I can imagine it won't be everyone's cup of tea given the lack of any dialogue.
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Following an excellent opening twenty minutes which sees Indy (Harrison Ford) up against Nazis in 1944 the film reverts to the present day and teams the now elderly archaeologist with his goddaughter as played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

I was often bemused by Waller-Bridge. At times she was so annoying, can she actually act? Going off this film she appears to be from the Liz Hurley school of terrible acting and more often than not looked lost in comparison to Harrison Ford, who i should add, was once again brilliant. However she did kind of grow on me by the end.

An end which took over two and a half hours to come, which is another problem. The film is far too long and careers from one set piece to another. There are great swathes of the plot which could have been cut - All the CIA stuff for a start - to tighten the story which was weak when compared to the original trilogy of Indy films, especially it's pointless time travel ending. As with Star Wars, Disney have all the ingredients they simply don't know what to do with them.

The set pieces were for the most part very good. The tuk-tuk chase through the streets of Tangier was exciting even if it didn't quite beat the opening train sequence for sheer Indiana Jones fun.

Half the time i felt like i was watching a Bond film with an elderly Bond rather than an Indiana Jones film, perhaps due to Mads Mikkelsen playing the main villain in similar style to his Le Chifre from 2006's Casino Royale and also the multiple vehicle chase sequences even if as mentioned they were well done.

The film's final scenes were lovely and left me with a warm glow and overall feeling of enjoyment even if it was a bumpy ride getting there.

Prey (2022)

Finally another decent Predator film. Only been 32 years since the last one.

For years AI and humans have grown together living and working side by side in harmony until a nuke is set off in LA and AI is help responsible for the death of millions from that day forward AI is outlawed worldwide apart from New Asia where humans fight for the rights of AI but good of America is having none of it and sends an undercover agent to find the creator and bring switch him off for good.

It's a bit of a cliche story an undercover agent falling in love with someone within the organisation he was sent to infiltrate and now he much fight to protect her but it's the way it told that makes it stand out. The film is a visual wonder set in some of the most beautiful places this earth has to offer. The acting it's fantastic especially Joshua and Alfie they work so well together and they are so believe in their pain and struggles.

The battle scenes are all fantastic with all types of robots running around the battlefield I was genuinely excited watching this I actually kept saying out loud this film is great I'd say I was pretty annoying to watch it with but anyway [emoji23]

I wholeheartedly recommend this without any hesitation I loved every second of it it's sad moving exciting and a stark warning to the world to stand back and think about where we are going and what we are doing going forward because believe me science fiction is becoming science fact faster than we can handle.

It was only after I watched this I realised that the director did Rouge One and I thought ah this gave me that same excitement because of all the star wars films of the star wars rush years Rouge One is my favourite.Attachment 249349

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For Boxing Day this year

Flux Gourmet (Peter Strickland)
The Glitterball (Harley Cokliss)
Sharks Of The Corn (Tim Ritter)

All went down rather well, so was quite pleased with this outcome. :xmasbanana:

Superman. 1978.

Comic book adaptation that was broughgt to us with Richard Donner at the helm with Christopher Reeve playing the last son of Krypton and Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Marlon Brando as the wise scientist of Krypton Jor-El. I decided to give the 3 hour tv version another go even though there is the director's cut and theatrical cut available. Even though for me this is a classic film, the added in extra scenes were a bit decent, the extra part of the Kryptonian guard alerting the elders of the energy use and investigating while the planet is getting ready to explode. Superman chasing the rocket that did blend in well with the film and Superman rescuing Miss Teschmacher from a it and telling her that her mother sends her love was a laugh as Luthor realises he has been beaten and Ottis thinking how can he get out of this.

Attachment 249350

Black Friday

Gary Daniels is a Government Agent turned Lawyer who's family is taken hostage, so he tries to rescue him.

You look at the cover, it stars Gary Daniels, you read the plot and it screams a decent looking B-Movie Action Film but there's just one teeny weeny little problem, the Film Makers have illusions of grandeur, they actually made an Art House B-Movie Action Film, Know your audience, it's a simple rule. There's a lot of talking and slow motion, they focus on someone typing on a computer and someone putting on a jacket.

My God, avoid at all costs unless you are looking for something awful.

Foxcatcher

Based on the True Story of the Foxcatcher Wrestling Team in which a eccentric Millionaire (Played by Steve Carrell) is able to enlist the best Wrestlers to his Training Facilities but is jealous when the Brother of his prized student joins. Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo co-star in a Film that is able to convey how jealousy is able to consume.

Decemberdike # 27
 

Renfield (2023)

The Dracula film i never knew i needed

The vampire film i never knew i needed

The Gangster film i never knew i needed

The comedy i never knew i needed

The gore fest i never knew i needed

In short Renfield is the brilliant film i never knew i needed.

It is the Nic Cage film i always wanted though.

Renfield really took me by surprise I thought I was going to hate it but I loved it everything about it hit the right spot.

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That Black Friday review is hilarious I want see it now [emoji23]

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