What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Cash comes across as a genuinely nice guy, strangely obsessed with making puppets, and a man who just wants to make people happy without any malicious thoughts. I just looked him up on Wikipedia and found he recently came out as gay following some unreported obligations.

Aha! What with the age of consent over there etc, it all makes sense now. Hopefully!!!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I watched Captain Phillips last night, and it was nearly as good as on the big screen. There was a discussion a while ago about subtitles and I realised I had mixed it up with A Hijacking, which doesn't subtitles the Somali dialogue, whereas all the Somali dialogue in Captain Phillips is subtitled.

I watched it again today, this time with the commentary, which isn't as good as it could be because Paul Greengrass becomes a little too descriptive, talking about what is happening rather than the nuts and bolts of the filming experience.

[trebor8273]

Shock waves

Not practically scary or violent but atmospheric and tense with some interesting characters helped by the legends that where Cushing and carradine. Probably the first zombie nazi movie decades before zombie nazis became popular. 8.5/10


Now watching frightmare which I think is the first Pete walker film I have watched.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Know watching frightmare which I think is the first Pete walker film I have watched.

His best too.

[trebor8273]

Well just finished frightmare and really enjoyed it hope his other movies are half as good as this. Fantastic performances all round but Sheila Keith playing the character of Dorothy was absolutely amazing, a fantastic performance and the most terrifying old woman I have ever seen. 9/10

Next up another film I have not seen Lemora a child's tale of supernatural

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Well just finished frightmare and really enjoyed it hope his other movies are half as good as this. Fantastic performances all round but Sheila Keith playing the character of Dorothy was absolutely amazing, a fantastic performance and the most terrifying old woman I have ever seen. 9/10

Next up another film I have not seen Lemora a child's tale of terror.

Lemora is brilliant.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

Lemora is brilliant.

I've always thought it would make a great double bill with this...

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL - The word 'genius' was invented to sum up this bizarre camcorder oddity from 1984 which features an uptight christian being 'liberated' by a doll with demonic powers and a rapey attitude. Manages to offend on just about every level, from the consumer tech aesthetic to the image of a pious lady enjoying being violated by a jive talkin' mannequin... why cinema at large felt there was anywhere left to go after this one is beyond me. For all its taboo trashing glory, I prefer the director's follow up, 'Tales from the Quadead Zone', which is somehow even weirder. Both have been rescued from massively over-expensive VHS collector oblivion by Massacre Video.

WEASELS RIP MY FLESH - More no-fi shot-in-your-living room fun with a camera, this time in super-eight. 'Weasels Rip My Flesh' is an homage to Corman era sci-fi monster horror with HG Lewis gore trimmings. It really works when it looks like a Blue Peter montage of abstract universe creation, and works less when it turns into some late adolescents in a room pretending to be men with beards explaining a science fiction type scenario. But then, after the saggy exegesis bit it thankfully reverts to type with freaky monsters beating the shit out of each other and ripping people's arms off. Definitely worth having for its good points, as are all N Schiff's films. I wonder what happened to 'Vermillion Eyes', love to see that one.

JOHN DIES AT THE END - Multiverse reality slipstream stuff from 'Phantasm' guy. I've got to say I was a little disappointed by this after getting my hopes up - I don't know how, but I was expecting it to be even freakier! It is pretty freaky though, and kind of bludgeons its weirdness home to the point of being a bit boring. I stopped trying to follow it after a while and just let it all wash over me, and then had a slightly better time with it. Left me feeling similar to the way I did after I watched 'Detention' ie "I really want to feel bothered enough to watch that again and like it a bit more".

CABIN FEVER 2 - The disreputable sequel to the over-rated 'Cabin Fever'. I don't like 'Cabin Fever' at all, and in fact it's one of the few films I've actually physically thrown away after seeing once and throwing a shoe at my TV. 'Cabin Fever 2' seemed really different, and although I don't go for comedy horror usually, for some reason I liked it. It's a good mixture of 'gross out' teen high school comedy and repulsive gore - maybe it was the jarring combination which somehow made it work. Despite all the hi-jinks, it also has quite a nasty, misanthropic undertone. Well worth a peek for fellow 'Cabin Fever' detesters (I have a feeling I'm not the only one).

HELLRAISER 3 - Had that slightly too slick but somehow still clunky 'nineties' horror look and feel from the word go. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not. In the context of the Hellraiser stuff, probably its not such a good thing. But I ended up enjoying 'Hellraiser 3', which I hadn't seen before I put it on the other day. I think it's because the director just throws in a load of random and often quite slimy weirdness and gore. It's not very well co-ordinated, but it works well enough to be entertaining. Some aspects ie Pinhead's Krugerisms still really grate, but, in the end, even if it's not dead twisted and dark like the original was meant to be, it still manages to be fun when it gets going.

I really enjoyed "Weasels", have you seen the Schiff short on the "The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome" collection? It's a nice little 10 minute film from 2008.

Speaking of de Rome has anyone seen his "The Destroying Angel"? It's meant to be an epic, gay porn, psychedelic mess about sex, alter egos, magic mushrooms and Edgar Allen Poe. Sounds like a winner to me.

[PaulD]

Viewings from last November onwards:


High Tension - 2nd or 3rd viewing for me. An extremely gripping, tense and bloodily violent slasher let down only by a twist which I maintain doesn't stand up on repeat viewings. There's unreliable narrators and then there's this. I was partially drawn to a rewatch for some cinematography research which this film does exceptionally well; a wonderful looking film.

Gravity - Film of the Year last year for me. Cinema on a purely experiential level, an edge-of-the-seat fairground ride. Visually sublime, incredible 3D, wonderfully carried by Sandra Bullock. Amazing


Django Unchained - still stands up although still overly baggy, especially when we get to Candyland. I don't get how Tarantino loves exploitation cinema so much but seems to ignore the brevity of those films. 90 minutes and done shold be his mantra when making these sorts of films. His "G'day mayte!" cameo didn't grate this time round though.

Squirm - enjoyably icky low-budget monster movie. Wonderful practical effects and gorgeous Hd transfer on the bluray. Genuinely made me squirm.

Pieces - showed this to a friend who was in the mood to watch a slasher. Can't really recall what he thought but I enjoyed it as ever. Nasty violence at odds with the overall camp tone of the movie, non-sequiter kung fu teacher, implausible and nonsensical undercover tennis coach scheme and an out-of-place last minute genital grab shock twist. Trash perfection.

Detention - without a doubt the best teen comedy/high school/body-horror/bodyswap/slasher/science fiction/time-travel/90's referencing/Breakfast Club-aping/torture porn-mocking/alien invasion movie I have ever seen and I have seen it 3 times now. It's all over the place and obnoxiously aware of itself at times but I don't care because of its ambition and execution. The best film I saw last year that didn't come out last year

Laid to Rest - cheap-looking slasher which seems to get more praise than I could understand based on my viewing. Wasn't awful, just wasn't particularly engaging.

Leprechaun - the best thing Jennifer Aniston has done after Office Space. You can smell the 1990's all over it but it's good diverting silly fun while it lasts

ATM - one of those "stuck in one place" low-budget thrillers. 3 office workers gets implausibly trapped in an ATM cubicle after a party and are preyed on by a mysterious killer in a parka jacket. The typical sort of thing I enjoy watching on Netflix these days

Midnight Killer - Lamberto Bava directs this pretty silly, Argento-lite giallo which borrows key points from Tenebrae and The Bird With the Crystal Plumage unashamedly, soundtracked by a Tenebrae-lite Simonetti synth score. Despite the ludicrous ending which doesn't stand up under even the mildest scrutiny and the fact it's not a stellar entry in Bava Jnr's career it's still an oddly entertaining film. My main point of interest with this film was that the plot had many similarities with my own MA dissertation film which was an odd coincidence as I was never aware of this film at all until recently

Maniac Cop - I'd planned to watch the trilogy back-to-back, a plan which failed. I still love this film which mixes action and horror perfectly amidst the background of 80's New York

Grindhouse - couldn't decide between a rewatch of Planet Terror or Death Proof so went for both. Regardless of it's faults I still enjoy this as one complete experience, faux trailers and all. Planet Terror's digitally-aged effects look terrible in HD though; the film print look resembles the original Arrow White Noise Edition of Tenebrae

Maniac Cop 2 - one of those rare sequels that surpasses its predecessor. Bigger, louder and more action packed with a tremendous set piece at the end involving the titular Maniac Cop going beserk in a prison while being on fire, this is Bill Lustig's masterpiece as far as I am concerned

The Haunting of Molly Hartley - more Netflixploitation™ and very dreary nonsense at that. There's no haunting, no characterisation of any kind, just uninspired nonsense regarding a deal with the devil. Whatever Happened To Rosemary's Baby Part II: She Went To Prep School And Bored Everyone To Death In The Process.

Prince of Darkness - baggy, dull yawnfest. Soz Carpenter fans. Did nothing for me at all

American Mary - really interesting and intelligent body-horror/rape-revenge film with a fantastic feminist edge. Nice to see good old fashioned practical effects too. Highly recommended.

RoboCop - the original, natch. Still as dark, violent and amusing as ever.

With Friends Like These - dismal and predictable anthology which is like a few terrible Twilight Zone episodes strung together. the second part about a mutant casserole living in a fridge is by far the highlight, largely just because it's the least predictable. That said, this is at least the third time I've seen it so, y'know...

The Case of the Bloody Iris - superb giallo filled with style, mystery, murder and red herrings. Hard to believe this was directed by the same man who directed Ratman. If ever I was to recommend a non-Argento/Fulci giallo this would be it.

Strip Nude for your Killer - fairly unremarkable giallo which becomes intolerably sleazy. It had its moments but I struggled to stay engaged even though I'd seen it before.

The Beyond - style and atmosphere over substance. This, in Fulci's case, is a great thing.

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence - now boasting a directorial credit by Alan Smithee. You can see why. There are some positives (the car chase with Cordell on fire is great) but it just lacks the interest and continuity of the first two.

There's more but I'll post later when I have more time

[Demoncrat]

Watched the doc on my Twins Of Evil (cheers again trebor!!) dvd. Great "history of Carmilla etc" until we actually get to the discussion of the film itself, when suddenly everyone goes a bit sniffy.

CS!!!

Ahem.

rewatched Dracula Contra Frankenstein to cheer myself up. Have found some lovely hardboxes of Franco's stuff floating about. Any recommends on best place to order, as the chap on amazon wants £24 a pop for 'em (Tender & Perverse Emanuelle among these cough)

any help will do, sometimes the library filter gives me grief ala non UK sites.