What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Make Them Die Slowly]

The last ear infection I had was fantastic, apart from the pain of course. Every time I moved my head my conciousness would take a few seconds to catch up leaving me with a wonderful free floating experience.

Frankie, have you tried Vic's spider in the ear cure all?

[oaxaca]

THE CHANGELING (1980) - One of the great haunted house films along with THE HAUNTING (1963) and LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973). The ending is barmy but spectacular and stylishly shot, as is the film on the whole. There's also a brilliant seance scene. Highly recommended. The optimum DVD sports a very decent transfer.



Ps. Ear infections suck, spent most of my childhood dealing with them and still come back from time to time; you've got my sympathy!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Betrayal (2009)

A moody, thought provoking, Second World War thriller from Norway, involving espionage and Nazi corruption. Former Aqua singer Lene Nystrom plays a nightclub singer who in reality is a British double agent.

Stately of pace yet always interesting, with excellent acting and great photography, this joins Flame and Citron and Winter in Wartime at the top of the list of recent Scandinavian WW2 thrillers.

[bdc]

Originally Posted by Rik

Hate ear infections, get well soon mate!

Just finished watching disc number 2 of the Universal Monsters BD set, Frankenstein(1931), another fine looking and sounding film, they really don't make 'em like this anymore, an absolute classic that deserves a place in anybodies collection, be it in SD or HD.
Debating whether or not to watch The Mummy next or skip right on ahead to Bride of Frankenstein

Both are very good imho so you can't go wrong...

[Rik]

Originally Posted by bdc

Both are very good imho so you can't go wrong...

Agreed, I think I'll save the next disc for tomorrow instead, I'm tired so I won't get the most out of the film tonight.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

The last ear infection I had was fantastic, apart from the pain of course. Every time I moved my head my conciousness would take a few seconds to catch up leaving me with a wonderful free floating experience.

Frankie, have you tried Vic's spider in the ear cure all?

Dunno about a spider, feels like there's a total tw*t in there at the moment.
Sorry, I do whine about these things.
Anyway, forgot to mention one of my faves of the year so far - BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW. If anybody likes early Cronenberg (as in 'Stereo') and the look and feel of 1983, then try to see this one. At the moment it's a prohibitively expensive import, but those interested should try looking on e-bay, where I got it for £15 inc p&p. It's a strange, in some places dialogueless semi-psychedelic drift though the treatment program of a young woman interned in some kind of New Age psychiatric research centre. It's hard to get a grip on what's actually going on as it's both very elliptical and fairly uneventful (in terms of action / dramatics)... more like film as a haze of images, textures and surfaces, although it's fair to say that it's closer to narrative cinema than a full on experimental work. Actually, one thing I found quite amusing was the end bit, where the film drops its po-faced attitude and almost threatens to morph into a slasher flick, but for the most part it's a trance inducing, zoned out fever dream. It kind of reminded me of what a sick humour free feature length episode of 'Jam' might be like if set in the early 80s with Chris Morris as a Dr Benway style psychiatrist... actually that's probably bollocks as far as comparisons go, but I really liked it and I hope it gets more of an audience.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

Flattened by bastard ear infection. Anti-biotics not working, therefore only remaining course of action is to watch a massive pile of DVDs. Here are some I tried earlier:
THE INNKEEPERS - Enjoyed, though perhaps not as much as HOTD. Similar approach, though - slow pile up of nuance and mood. As much a study of human loneliness as anything else - ghosts spring up as stand-ins for central character's terror of life. I liked the cryptic, off key exchanges between the players more than the jump scares, which felt a bit perfunctory. And that bit with the garbage bag - was that quite zen or do I need to get my temperature down?
ZOMBIE DRILLER KILLER - Blind buy based on title alone. Why, though? Anything called 'Zombie Driller Killer' is bound to disappoint, surely? Not in this case, which is all the more gratifying given that the title is sort of accurate and yet the film itself is kind of opposite to what one might expect... OK, basically some killer in an orange jumpsuit is drilling people's heads and turning them into black tar spewing zombies. The father of one of the victims does some detective work and finds sinister weirdness going on in a chemical plant. Sounds like the same film you got bored of watching about five years ago? It's not at all - far from being yet another in the seemingly endless procession of zombies-by-numbers, this owes much more to the approach of eg 'I, Zombie'... it's grim, downbeat and serious. Well actually there's quite a bit of black humour, but never at the expense of a pervasive feeling of bleakness and sadness: a good portion of the movie is given to the father's efforts to support his zombiefied daughter, who is less a shuffling flesh eater than someone who seems desperately ill (well, 'cos they are). Disturbing, pretty original and well worth a viewing, probably better served by its former title 'Dark Souls'. The polar opposite of 'Zombie 108', this year's other interesting zombie flick.
NIGHTMARE CITY - I always think this never gets enough credit. But I'm biased, it's one of my favourite ever Italian exploitation movies. I'm sure most people here have seen it or know about it so I won't go on about it except to say it never fails to entertain me with its eighties TV dance troupe routines, non-stop apocalyptic carnage, frequently perverse gore and frazzled zombies who just look like they're complete arseholes. I mean look at them, they're not just driven by instinct or a need for braaaiiinnnss, OK they drink a bit of blood but mainly they just seem to get off on chasing and murdering people. Anyway, hats off to Umberto for a movie I will likely never tire of. Now I must let my ear gently weep.

Get better soon, I ended up with a urinary tract infection due to having to self catheterise thanks to all my various medical issues, not pleasant, but I found sitting back with a few films helped!

Nightmare city is indeed fantastic, I always seem to come back to that movie time and time again!

[Ranarchy]

Had m' buddies over today. And we marathoned a bunch of movies! In this order

Hello Marie Lou: Prom Night 2 (VHS)
Rocktober Blood (VHS)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (DVD)
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (DVD)
Red Heat (VHS)(Not the Arnold movie, the Linda Blair Women in Prison flick)

[Nordicdusk]

The Outlaw Josey Wales Blu Ray

I have lost count how many times i have watched this film. Its as amazing the last time as it is the first time you watch it. Its up there as one of the best films i have ever seen. This Blu Ray version looks great too.

[Rik]

Dics number 3 of the Universal Monsters Blu Ray collection-The Mummy (1932). Another excellent transfer with good picture and sound quality. I'm planning on watching all the films before returning to each disc in turn for the extras, of which there's a fair bit to get through