What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Mike]

The one ive seen today is Zombie chronicals, from 2001

It wasnt bad but i wasnt expecting much because i bought it for cheeseyness. i reccomend buying it for less than £3. its worth a watch

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by VicDakin

makes me proud to be British.

Originally Posted by Demdike

I should be honest i've never seen any of the Hammer Buses films. My dislike stems purely from the tv series.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by JoshuaKaitlyn

Holiday on the Buses (1973) 7/10 The third and last movie in the series sees Blakey, Jack and Stan sacked from the bus company and hired again in a North Wales holiday camp where the usual goings on continue. By this point the TV series had ended with both Reg Varney and Michael Robbins having already left the sitcom, and because of this, continuity-wise, it dosen't seem to fit in with the TV series. This was Varney's last cinematic performance after which he stared in his own series titled "Reg Varney" which lasted a year. Yet again the humour is non pc but its more of a saucy seaside type with some nudity thrown in and a few cameos from other actors of popular british comedy shows of the day. Dated and crude but I still laughed!

A bloke I work with was on holiday at the camp when the film was made.

[demonknight]

Right now I'm watching Slither. Great flick.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

A bloke I work with was on holiday at the camp when the film was made.

I hope you look after him well MTDS.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Demdike

I hope you look after him well MTDS.

I do have access to a lot of medication...

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Originally Posted by Demdike

I should be honest i've never seen any of the Hammer Buses films. My dislike stems purely from the tv series.

"ahhhhhh I ate you Butler!"

[Gojirosan]

Children of Insidious...

So, I've just done a double bill of two 2012 Hollywood horror films, The Possession (d: Ole Bornedal) and Sinister (d: Scott Derrickson). Both seem to be rivulets following the gush of big box office hit Insidious, yet oddly, they both are superior, though do not thus leap to the conclusion that these are great films just because they are better than Insidious.

The Possession takes on the hoary cliché of a child possessed by an evil spirit - here a dybbuk rather than Satan - and doesn't really bring much new to that well trodden path. The story unfolds predictably and is never surprising, but as familiar stories go, this one is told fairly well. It starts off rather dull, to be honest, but does improve. There is an arty experimentalism to shots and editing that keep the eyes interested and there are some very fine performances from the likeable cast, and a rather clumsy but well-intentioned effort to parallel childhood demonic possession with the effects of divorce. In all, this is an OK entertainment. It's not going to ever be seen as a classic or garner rave reviews, but it shuffles along quite pleasingly.

Much darker and yet paradoxically more commercial is Sinister. There are more ideas here and a better script all around. Lead performances are good, but the visual style is pretty flat and "comfortable". Sound and music are exceptional, however, and almost make up for the unadventurous look of the piece. It has a good ending, yet one can practically smell the desire to turn the antagonist into a Freddie-esque franchise, and this sullies the tone. Again, it is not bad, not a great film, and more likely to be remembered fondly than The Possession. Fans of Manhunter will smirk to themselves in recognition at several points; Sinister is not afraid to recycle old ideas either.

Neither film is a gem. Both are fine. But they are interesting in the sense of seeing the current trends of Hollywood horror, a trend aside from the found footage thing. I think we may say, and considering other recent films, that there is truly a "Post-Insidious" era upon us.

[Daemonia]

Originally Posted by Mike

The one ive seen today is Zombie chronicals, from 2001

It wasnt bad but i wasnt expecting much because i bought it for cheeseyness. i reccomend buying it for less than £3. its worth a watch

Seriously? Worth a watch? I'd say it's probably one of the very worst films I have ever, ever seen. Inept doesn't even begin to describe it!

Here's a review I wrote of it for the SexGoreMutants website:

Zombie Chronicles

Whilst the age of camcorders and digital technology has enabled filmmakers to turn in effective movies on relatively small budgets, it has also given birth to a culture of no-budget amateur crap, which has little to no value for even the most undemanding of viewers. Now I don't mean to be cruel, but 'Zombie Chronicles' is the horror equivalent of Dad's camcorder epic of his holiday in the Costa Del Sol. The cast and crew obviously had great fun making the film, but there's really no good reason to inflict it on the rest of mankind - just like there's no sane reason to make the whole family watch Dad's endless shots of seagulls freewheeling in the blue skies of the tropics. He may have enjoyed filming it, but we certainly don't enjoy watching it.

The story, such as there is, tells of Tara Woodley, a young woman out researching the legends of a reportedly haunted desert town. On her travels she encounters the odd Ebenezer Jackson, who regales her with a duo of tales. The first story is of an elaborate murder plot (which is insanely ludicrous) and yields some unexpected results in the form of a visitor from beyond the grave. The second tells of how three young hikers through the woods incur the wrath of an undead Wild West outlaw following their desecration of his resting-place. Having told his tales, Ebenezer promptly disappears and Tara soon after makes an unsettling discovery, which convinces her of the validity of what he has told her.

The film is badly shot, appallingly acted and the script is full of unintentionally hilarious dialogue. There is really little here for me to recommend to you, but I suppose the special effects aren't bad (though they're not exactly great either and wholly unconvincing) and there's certainly plenty of grue and gore on display. Apart from that there's not a lot I can say in its favour. It did make me laugh a lot, so maybe you could always approach it as a comedy…?

The quality of the presentation also leaves a lot to be desired. This DVD was obviously mastered from a tape source - and it shows. In fact, initially I wondered if Hardgore had sourced this DVD from a VHS master they found in the bin round the back. Yes, it really is that bad. To be fair, I have seen worse (rarely, but I have). The colours are faded and washed out and there seems to be a fair bit of interference in the picture frame throughout the first half of the film. At one point there was some very pretty rainbow swirling patterns across the image, but very distracting for someone trying to actually watch the film (I'd already lost interest by this point and found the swirling a pleasant diversion). The movie is presented full-frame, which is undoubtedly the correct ratio - it's just a shame it looks so poor. The audio is little better, being a standard DD 2.0 stereo mix with the sound levels fluctuating wildly throughout. One minute you can barely catch the dialogue and the next it's booming so loudly that the walls are shaking. Granted, this was the probably the best that could be provided in the sound department considering the budgetary origins of the film. Still, it could have been better. Actually, everything could have been the better - the acting, the script, the effects, the plotline, the DVD presentation etc. It's been a while since I've seen anything quite this bad - and no, it's not in the 'so-bad-it's-good' category, it's just plain bad. Sorry guys, better luck next time.

Hang on, I've just thought of something positive to say - it's mercifully short at only 71 minutes long.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

Children of Insidious...

So, I've just done a double bill of two 2012 Hollywood horror films, The Possession (d: Ole Bornedal) and Sinister (d: Scott Derrickson). Both seem to be rivulets following the gush of big box office hit Insidious, yet oddly, they both are superior, though do not thus leap to the conclusion that these are great films just because they are better than Insidious.

The Possession takes on the hoary cliché of a child possessed by an evil spirit - here a dybbuk rather than Satan - and doesn't really bring much new to that well trodden path. The story unfolds predictably and is never surprising, but as familiar stories go, this one is told fairly well. It starts off rather dull, to be honest, but does improve. There is an arty experimentalism to shots and editing that keep the eyes interested and there are some very fine performances from the likeable cast, and a rather clumsy but well-intentioned effort to parallel childhood demonic possession with the effects of divorce. In all, this is an OK entertainment. It's not going to ever be seen as a classic or garner rave reviews, but it shuffles along quite pleasingly.

Much darker and yet paradoxically more commercial is Sinister. There are more ideas here and a better script all around. Lead performances are good, but the visual style is pretty flat and "comfortable". Sound and music are exceptional, however, and almost make up for the unadventurous look of the piece. It has a good ending, yet one can practically smell the desire to turn the antagonist into a Freddie-esque franchise, and this sullies the tone. Again, it is not bad, not a great film, and more likely to be remembered fondly than The Possession. Fans of Manhunter will smirk to themselves in recognition at several points; Sinister is not afraid to recycle old ideas either.

Neither film is a gem. Both are fine. But they are interesting in the sense of seeing the current trends of Hollywood horror, a trend aside from the found footage thing. I think we may say, and considering other recent films, that there is truly a "Post-Insidious" era upon us.

Agree entirely, especially regarding sinister (see we can share a few views! ) The score for sinister was done by christopher young I believe and its the best work he's done in ages in my opinion. What I really liked about the film was how the audience en masse switched off their mobile phones and went silent at that opening!