What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[bdc]

Originally Posted by Wes

Just wondering out loud here, but did Star Wars dumb down Science Fiction Cinema ? I'm thinking about a lot of great intelligent sci-fi pre-Star Wars, like THX-1138, Andromeda Strain, Man Who Fell To Earth, Phase IV... I'm probably forgetting a lot of equally good thinking man's sci-fi from the 80's and beyond...

It's more of a space adventure (at least the original trilogy),it actually somewhat resembles the old Flash Gordon serials.

Alien is also more space adventure.

It's a sub-genre that always existed within scifi.

I personally enjoy both more serious and more space adventure type scifi.

[Nordicdusk]

morebrains.jpg

A great fun insight as fun as the film itself. Even at just shy of 2 hours it felt too short i was enjoying it that much. Its great to see the cast and crew having such fond memories of making and starring in a film i love. They all had some great funny stories to tell that personally i think adds to the magic of the film itself.

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Originally Posted by bdc

Tarzana, the Wild Girl aka Tarzana, sesso selvaggio (1969)

Watched it on the new Code Red dvd (there was only an old SWV dvd-r I think?).

Nothing unfamiliar if you've watched some old Tarzan films but the leading ladies are in top form and there's lots of nudity from all of them to enjoy (if you like that ).

Highly recommended for fans of Femi Benussi,Franca Polesello,Beryl Cunningham and Ken Clark.

It's from an old beat up release print but I enjoyed watching this one.

sounds interesting!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A few lines on Echo Bridge's 10 Movie Sci-Fi Pack.

I bought this set last Autumn because it was cheap and had a couple of fims that i wanted. David Cronenberg's Existenz and the Christopher Lambert / Natasha Henstridge action horror Adrenalin: Fear the Rush. I watched both of them when i bought it but left the others.

Until now!

Invasion of the Pod People (2007)

The Asylums' take on the classic Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. I'm guessing this came out when the Daniel Craig film The Invasion hit our cinema screens. The Invasion was a huge failiure at the box office, although i have to admit i didn't mind it at all. No matter how poor that film was you can virtually guarantee Pod People will be ten times worse, and it is. Due to budgetary constraints the film never gets outdoors we never see how much of the world has been taken over, nor are there any thrilling pursuits or set pieces of any kind. Had the budget run to grabbing some extras for filming it may have helped. Unfortunately the acting and script is so weak that you never care about any of the characters beyond the first thirty minutes, so Invasion of the Pod People ends up a total waste of time.

Monster (2008)

Things get worse. Clearly ripping off Cloverfield, Monster is the worst found footage film i've ever seen. The camera work is terrible, the film pixelates, goes black for minutes at a time, we gaze at the floor for what seems like hours, its just horrible. Possibly its just as well because the few glimpses we see of the horribly animated CGI monster are just as ineffective The actors in this monstrosity make the cast of Pod People seem like Oscar winners.

Seriously, avoid this like the plague.

Apocalypse (2007)

Marginally better, Apocalypse is The Asylum's take on Armageddon and Deep Impact, two successfull meteor films from the late nineties. Armageddon being the better of the two being a men on a mission film with added schmaltz. For some reason Apocalypse decides to go down the Deep Impact route and what begins as a fun take on the subject with decent effects, as chunks of meteor destroy roads and generally cause mayhem, descends half way through into a pseudo religious affair with the characters convinced their faith will save them. Much like Deep Impact it all becomes very annoying and you wish everyone dead.

War of the Worlds 2 : The Next Wave. (2008)

Finally a film from The Asylum with somebody i've heard of. A certain C Thomas Howell, he of The Hitcher and Gettysburg fame. Howell both stars and directs and to be fair it isn't a bad film. A sequel to H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds another Howell film from 2005. The acting and direction is pretty decent and the effects are well done for a micro budget film. There is a reasonable amount of suspense and the final battle as the US air force attack the martians is a well constructed conclusion

War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave is easily the best of these four Asylum features, in fact it really is the only one worth watching at all.

I'll give the set another visit in November when i'll be watching the remaining four films. None of which are Asylum productions.

[trebor8273]

Village of the damned (original )

Not much to say part from a far superior and creepy film compared to the remake. 9/10

Who saw her die

Found this to be slow paced but didn't stop me enjoy this movie, after his daughter is murdered Franco ( in a amazing performance by ex bond George lazenby) sets about to find her killer and puts himself and those around him in great danger. With it being set in Venice it's very similar to don't look now made the year before. Also has a brilliant haunting and beautiful soundtrack and a great ending in my opinion which should happen to all child killers 9.5/10

The house on the edge of the park

Really can't understand how this has gotten so many one star reviews on amazon. Ok it's not as graphic as say last house on the left or night train murders. And Hess performance is excellent as the psychotic Alex who along with his best friend the simple minded Ricky ( the only really likeable character in the film) who get invited to a party by some rich spoiled brats, who end up making fun of Alex and Ricky who quickly turn the tables on our yuppies who are attacked and raped, but it's not until the end that we find the brother of a woman Alex raped and killed set it up to get his revenge. Only downside was the last 20 minutes or so was a annoying hissing. 8.5/10

Antichrist 1974
Obvious it's a rip off of the exorcist made the year before, but in some ways this is actually better. Hipolita who was paralyzed as a young child has become bitter with the church and ends up becoming possessed by the devil after a psychologist is called in for regressive therapy and goes on a murdurous rampage, queue vomiting , head spinning, swearing and objects flying around the room, who also have a interesting scene of lots a naked ladies and sex with half man/ goat, a faith healer attacked by a disembodied hand. 9.5/10

[Rik]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

The house on the edge of the park

Only downside was the last 20 minutes or so was a annoying hissing.

Which edition did you watch, never noticed a hissing before?

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Rik

Which edition did you watch, never noticed a hissing before?

The shameless one

[Rik]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

The shameless one

I'll have to check mine, only watched it once to see how much it differed from my uncut DVD.

[Wes]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

The house on the edge of the park

Really can't understand how this has gotten so many one star reviews on amazon. Ok it's not as graphic as say last house on the left or night train murders. And Hess performance is excellent as the psychotic Alex who along with his best friend the simple minded Ricky ( the only really likeable character in the film) who get invited to a party by some rich spoiled brats, who end up making fun of Alex and Ricky who quickly turn the tables on our yuppies who are attacked and raped, but it's not until the end that we find the brother of a woman Alex raped and killed set it up to get his revenge. Only downside was the last 20 minutes or so was a annoying hissing. 8.5/10

What was the deal with the trailer for this movie ? That trailer cutter must have been drunk at the wheel there...

[SShaw]

My order from Amazon.com turned up yesterday (it took the advertised six weeks) and so I was able to get back into my Kevin Smith marathon this evening with Jersey Girl. This film is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, I love it. Its totally out of step with the rest of his output but its still great. Recommended for the open minded Kevin Smith fan.