Great post, and I'll feel like revisiting The Slayer now, which I haven't seen since the VHS era... I know that strange magic all too well and it works its voodoo charm on me with Psychic Killer, nobody's favourite film but it has something...

Lore - a German language film from Australian director Cate Shortland whose 2006 film Somersault was outstanding. This is a very powerful study of a young girl who comes to terms with her families involvement in the Holocaust as she leads her siblings across Germany following the internment of her father (an important Nazi official) and mother during the days after Hitlers defeat in Europe. More in my diary once I have had some sleep and time to reflect.

A slow evening, only watched the one film. The simple but well executed (pun intended) Yield to the Night starring the wonderful Diana Dors.

CABIN IN THE WOODS - Really enjoyed this odd genre deconstruction, which seemed less like a dry exercise in po-mo pastiche than a Burroughsian media nightmare spinning out into cod mythic territory at the end. The last 20 minutes or so are mental, exactly the kind of monster riot you always wanted to happen in a movie up to and including evisceration by unicorn. I'll take this over self reflexive wimps like 'Scream' any day, and I'm also quite pleased that a film this screwy can be regarded as mainstream enough to warrant a place in the Asda bargain bins of the future (I guess for the time being it's going for a ridiculous twelve quid).
TRICK R TREAT - Definitely a treat rather than the kind of trick we're all used to. It's episodic, but not in a clearly delineated way, so the four tales spill into each other and overlap almost in a kind of 'Altman does EC' kind of way. The atmosphere is pure carnival and surprisingly nasty in places - I've never known a flick this light hearted to take such a casual attitude to child murder! Beyond this it just does a great job of capturing the stylised essence of Halloween. A joyous romp for anyone who ever felt like sneaking a razor blade into a mini snickers bar.

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Bit of a slow day for films must make up for it tomorrow :)

It is little wonder that the crazy bastard is one of my heroes! I just love characters!

When A Stranger Calls Back - still have a soft spot for this film even though it has the whiff of a cheap tv movie. Offers up a few plot contrivances to get the original characters back into a similar situation and could do with more moments of tension but overall enjoyable. There's a great bit near the end where the ventriloquist killer hides which is the perfect combination of far-fetchedness and creepiness. Carol Kane's voice still grates though.


Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - as much as I'd love to go against received opinion and find some hidden depths in this I just can't. It's awful. Truly awful. A 2 and a half hour animated soulless toy advert. The rubbish about the taxation of trade routes will do nothing but alienate it's core demographic, the cartoonish slapstick pratfalls of Jar Jar F--king Binks will do nothing but annoy the parents and the creepy way Queen Amidala perves on young Anakin will just disturb everyone. Meesa never watch again sir!

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - not terribly interesting sequel. The overuse of cgi makes the previous film look subtle in comparison and it's surprising how dated it looks. I suspect another revised edition in 10 years with every pixel replaced. The only real good bit is the revelation that in granting Senator Palpatine emergency powers Jar Jar Binks is effectively responsible for the creation of the Empire. Nice one Jar Jar!

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - aka The One Where Stuff Happens. The least sucky out of the prequels which obviously doesn't say a great deal. Anakin's conflict between good and evil is laughably pantomime and really undermines the character of Darth Vader in the original trilogy. It does have a few nice set pieces but suffers the same issues as the previous films in that none of the fights have any dramatic tension since the outcome is already known. By the end it just feels like they're ticking all the boxes to wrap it up and tie it into the original trilogy. "Luke and Leia born? Check! C3P0's memory wiped? Check!". Pointless Chewbacca cameo too. Am I ever going to sit through this again? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!


Hopefully going to go through the original trilogy today.

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Well there's not much in the way of blood n' guts but Bava Jr. creates a cracking dreamy and surreal atmosphere. Couldn't help but love it :D It almost makes me want to revisit Bava's GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE... almost :p Really liked Simon Boswell's score too. Oh and this Shriek Show DVD has very good PQ.

What do you guys think of the film?

Lunacy, 2005. Just amazing. <3

That should be fun,at least if you watch the original theatrical versions... ;)