I just saw Piranha 3DD. I wrote a not-quite review, more just a lot of thoughts here: Underrated Movies: Piranha 3DD (2012) |
just got back to my hotel after a double bill of Room 237 and The Shining. The former is a funny look at five slightly off the wall interpretations of Kubricks film (more later). The latter should need no comment! |
Cold Fish The Lair of the White Worm |
THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS - I thought this was excellent. The fact that it's very dialogue driven is mentioned a lot in reviews, as is a sort of Pinteresque quality, but what it has going for more than anything is an immersive atmosphere and some quite harrowing moments, with sound playing a central role. There are surface similarities to 'Kill List' ie gangsters are present and devil related stuff happens, but really this is a very different movie, although the two do share a sense of impending dread. Billy Clarke gives an absolutely great performance as the hit man charged with offing a satanic associate of his boss. I was mesmerised by his face / expression - an utterly haunted, frozen mask throughout that finally breaks and gives way to fear during the existentially soul raking last act. It's not perfect, there are some minor false moves, but I found it never less than facinating for the most part, and, unlike some, really liked the transition to a more trashy, obvious kind of horror in the final reel (demonic homunculus kid bites throat etc). Highly recommended. |
Watched SF's collectors ed of Halloween 2 dvd last night. Not the biggest fan of the movie,but the dvd transfer was first class as were the extras. |
Rambo 3 Final Destination 5 |
Michael Winner's SCREAM FOR HELP - a fun thriller, not one of Winner's best but has some violence and sexy scenes i remember seeing this film on video on the old Heron label back in the 80's got this on a dvd-r with vhs-like transfer unfortunately no dvd exists and would be great if this was released officially with a Winner commentary esp as he liked the film as in an interview in Fangoria |
Quote:
From what I gather Oliver Reed once worked on a film with Klaus Kinski and the latter was, as often seemed to be the case, causing mayhem. An actress, whose name I can't recall, asked Reed why he didn't confront Kinski; with Reed being known to be a rather forthright and powerful individual. Reed explained that since he believed Kinski to be crazy, he really didn't want to get involved. |
I've got the Kinski book and it is indeed 'lively'. 'Mad as a proverbial' is another way to put it, as it's like reading the ravings of a raging egomaniac and sexoholic. Seriously, if the book's to be believed, he has his dick in someone more often than in his pants.. Great read though. Oh, and latest films: Sinister (cinema) - Disappointing Insidious-a-like horror with bog standard scares and clichés abound. You know exactly where it's going and most (save one or two) of the shocks are cheap. Killing Them Softly (cinema) - Much better than expected. A grim, gritty, misanthropic crime thriller with a fine cast and a bitter political edge. Has a real zinger of an ending speech. Being There (Blu) - Terrific Hal Ashby film starring Peter Sellers as a well mannered, gentle man, living an isolated existence with TV being his only link to the outside world - until he is forced into a society that finds his simplicity and directness both endearing and profound. |
THE PACT - Well made, pretty intense ghost / haunting type movie which, whilst it doesn't quite avoid the usual let-downs (ie standard, over-dramatic music cues), is at least by no means the worst offender, and features a thoughtfully creepy back story. I liked the long, still shots of scenes in the house - they added to the sense of spooky imminence - and nice characters and vignettes ie protag's blind, psychic high school buddy (yeah, I know), who seems to live in a weird shooting gallery / record shop / industrial noise installation. THE SLAYER - An old favourite, although I don't know why in some ways - perhaps I've learned to kid myself that the drawn out scenes of people wandering around on a beach are about 'atmosphere' rather than 'boredom'. Whatever, I keep on coming back to it after all these years. I always feel a bit cheated when I watch it, but then again there are some good bits - the genuinely bleak island setting, the odd moments of gore, the ethereally pretty lead and the pre-Elm Street dream murder angle. There's also a recurring shot of a poster which looks like it's framed to seem significant in some way, a weird enigma that keeps me awake at nights sometimes. I really should invest in more porn. 'The Slayer' could've been something other than what it is, but, like I say, it's one of those movies that works a strange magic on me, despite a lack of real delivery - I daresay we've all encountered this kind of thing along the way. I know that quite a few fans would love CR or someone to release a comprehensive version, but every time I revist my shitty Vipco disc I'm surprised to find that it doesn't look TOO bad. |
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