What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

The prices of the R1 DVD at Amazon are pretty reasonable.

Amazon.co.uk: Buying Choices: Bell From Hell [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

[Make Them Die Slowly]

BUKOWSKI:BORN IN TO THIS. Excellent documentary spanning the life and work of Charles Bukowski made up of interviews with the man and those who knew him and famous fans. It doesn't shy away from the ugly side of his character but certainly shows him in a softer light than other films I have seen about him. Highly recommended.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Company of Heroes (2013)

Inspired by a video game of the same name which i confess to never having heard of. Company of Heroes is an entertaining action packed ninety minutes.

According to other sources, quite a bit of the film is inaccurate, but not being an expert on who should be shooting which weapon or using whichever radio i never noticed. What i did notice was a lot of hardware, it's not often films like this (low budget) have Tiger tanks in them, never mind fighter planes and tons of other vehicles to get blown up. In many ways it felt like an updating of Castellari's The Inglorious Bastards in that barely five minutes passed without a gun fight or explosion.

Starring Tom Sizemore and Vinnie Jones, you know you won't get Oscar baiting material, none the less Company of Heroes is a lot of fun and a film i will go back to quite a bit in the future no doubt.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

BUKOWSKI:BORN IN TO THIS. Excellent documentary spanning the life and work of Charles Bukowski made up of interviews with the man and those who knew him and famous fans. It doesn't shy away from the ugly side of his character but certainly shows him in a softer light than other films I have seen about him. Highly recommended.

Noted.

The Adjustment Bureau (2011, George Nolfi)

First off, how does a single man get elected in the US? Easily the laziest Dick adaptation I have had the bad luck to watch in years (this includes Paycheck btw ). Overlong and rushed is a hard act to pull off, but this manages it in spades. And tis the most underhand Xtian propaganda since The Happening IMHO. Avoid.

Eugenie (JF, 1970) (BU US dvd)
Had to cleanse the palate after that, so stuck this little charmer on. Marie Liljiedahl convinces as an innocent abroad, when the screen isn't taken up by Jack Taylor's gigantic boat. Christopher Lee wanders about, no doubt thinking up excuses why he's in this... and Maria Rohm can do what she likes as far as I'm concerned.

[J Harker]

Last night I watched The Night Of The Hunter. Absolutely brilliant film, Robert Mitchum is incredible as Harry Powell and for a fities film it is incredibly dark.

[Frankie Teardrop]

BIG BAD WOLVES – From the makers of ‘Rabies’ comes another tale of violence, cause, effect and consequence. A suspected child murderer is harassed by a corrupt cop – both are kidnapped by the raging father of one of the killer’s young victims. ‘Big Bad Wolves’ is poised between thriller, horror and black comedy but casts its net more widely than standard genre territory, echoing again the themes of the earlier ‘Rabies’, where idiocy and desperation were the conduits of ‘evil’ rather than the malevolent actions of a bad guy antagonist. Both films locate authority – the police, the family – as pretty much the source of this shitiness and reference broader social concerns ie Arab – Israeli conflict. More so than Rabies’, ‘Big, Bad Wolves’ is really quite gruelling and guaranteed to make you squirm… there is some physical violence, but it’s more emotionally tortuous than anything. See it. Draining, bleak and highly disturbing, all the more so for its deftly pitched lightness of touch.

TOWER OF EVIL – Brit pulp from the early seventies. It has one foot in the past, one in the future – a post-Hammer gothic feel lingers over leaner, meaner more exploitative material. Still, it’s hard to believe ‘Last House on the Left’ was made the same year and TCM was just around the corner. Plot wise, a bunch of teens are murdered on an isolated island. Some bickering antiques experts and a private detective (!?) are dispatched to get to the bottom of it all. There are lots of reasons for watching ‘Tower of Evil’, but in the end it boils down to a trade off between the good stuff and the bad. The good stuff includes a few splattery murders, surprising amount of skin given its provenance, whacky montages, awful stabs at period grooviness, good atmosphere and locations and a pretty cool ‘reveal’ (‘it’ should’ve featured a lot more heavily imo). The bad stuff includes the sum total of footage of people wandering around the island and having expository conversations. Sadly, the balance tips more towards the latter, but, although it often flags and maybe can’t sustain interest or excitement all that well, ‘Tower of Evil’ is still worth a watch.

WARLOCK MOON – Another trip down memory lane to the misty realms of yesteryear’s grindhouse. ‘Warlock Moon’ was made in the same era as ‘Tower of Evil’ and underscores the differences between UK and stateside product of the time. In this one, two goofball college studes investigate the mysterious history of a long forgotten and semi derelict health spa out in the wilds. A local legend suggests a past involving murder and cannibalism… but what does Mrs Abercrombe, the spa’s sole occupant, know about the sinister satanic blood cult behind it all? ‘Warlock Moon’ is a regional American indie. It has the same slippery, hard to pin down but pungent atmosphere that attracts many to this hitherto forgotten epoch of film… a kind of low key, dreary psychedelia, post-Nam depression looming through a vale of pot smoke. It’s not overt, but it lingers in every frame. ‘Warlock Moon’ partially reminds me of, say, ‘The Velvet Vampire’ or ‘Messiah of Evil’ in tone and feel (although it’s certainly nowhere near as good as the latter). I liked it, and recommend it to fans of weird seventies horror. It’s a slight film in many ways, but rewards patient viewing for those into a certain kind of atmosphere. A word of caution to interested parties, however – the Shriek Show DVD has a glitch which was later rectified for the ‘Cannibal Lunch Box’ set.

VIOLENT SHIT 3 : INFANTRY OF DOOM – Or ‘Zombie Doom’ on the version I saw. Three men are washed up on an island. They are captured by a group of warrior types wearing silver cardboard visors. They are taken to an army camp run by a mummified figure in a suit of silver cardboard armour. A scientist performs experiments on human victims in the background. Before I go any further, I’ll just mention that, for the benefit of those who would rather skip onto the next post, this was made by Andreas Schnaas. For those who consider themselves a fan of Schnaas’ work on some difficult to fathom level (ie me), read on and know that this is a completely whacked out delight, a partial triumph of no-budget brainlessness which bludgeons itself stupid with its complete lack of sense and insistence on dumb sadism. The first indicator that things are going to get lopsided is the dubbing. In the earlier ‘Zombie ’90: Extreme Pestilence’ the distributors (via the filmmakers?) went for a broadly comedic approach and left everyone sounding like either Shaft or Marge Simpson in a SOV landscape of wall to wall entrail tearing. I wasn’t all that convinced. This time, they got the dubbing right in that it teeters on that ambiguous line between “are they trying to be funny?” and “this is awful, just… awful” (which is one way of approaching the entire film). Sorry to go on so much about the dubbing, but it really is almost the invisible lead character in ‘Infantry of Doom’, and I haven’t laughed so much since ‘Mad Foxes’. Anyway, dubbing aside, there are many other highlights here, including a sleazy attack – by – action – toy scene and loads of crazy gore. It was only when things got a bit too frenetic (and comedic, a la Peter Jackson) in the second part of the film that I found myself flagging a bit. But, if you like bad films, if you like films that look like shit, if you like totally disjointed nonsense full of random ultraviolence, then ‘Infantry of Doom’ is a winner.

[Handyman Joe]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

BIG BAD WOLVES – From the makers of ‘Rabies’ comes another tale of violence, cause, effect and consequence. A suspected child murderer is harassed by a corrupt cop – both are kidnapped by the raging father of one of the killer’s young victims. ‘Big Bad Wolves’ is poised between thriller, horror and black comedy but casts its net more widely than standard genre territory, echoing again the themes of the earlier ‘Rabies’, where idiocy and desperation were the conduits of ‘evil’ rather than the malevolent actions of a bad guy antagonist. Both films locate authority – the police, the family – as pretty much the source of this shitiness and reference broader social concerns ie Arab – Israeli conflict. More so than Rabies’, ‘Big, Bad Wolves’ is really quite gruelling and guaranteed to make you squirm… there is some physical violence, but it’s more emotionally tortuous than anything. See it. Draining, bleak and highly disturbing, all the more so for its deftly pitched lightness of touch.

TOWER OF EVIL – Brit pulp from the early seventies. It has one foot in the past, one in the future – a post-Hammer gothic feel lingers over leaner, meaner more exploitative material. Still, it’s hard to believe ‘Last House on the Left’ was made the same year and TCM was just around the corner. Plot wise, a bunch of teens are murdered on an isolated island. Some bickering antiques experts and a private detective (!?) are dispatched to get to the bottom of it all. There are lots of reasons for watching ‘Tower of Evil’, but in the end it boils down to a trade off between the good stuff and the bad. The good stuff includes a few splattery murders, surprising amount of skin given its provenance, whacky montages, awful stabs at period grooviness, good atmosphere and locations and a pretty cool ‘reveal’ (‘it’ should’ve featured a lot more heavily imo). The bad stuff includes the sum total of footage of people wandering around the island and having expository conversations. Sadly, the balance tips more towards the latter, but, although it often flags and maybe can’t sustain interest or excitement all that well, ‘Tower of Evil’ is still worth a watch.

WARLOCK MOON – Another trip down memory lane to the misty realms of yesteryear’s grindhouse. ‘Warlock Moon’ was made in the same era as ‘Tower of Evil’ and underscores the differences between UK and stateside product of the time. In this one, two goofball college studes investigate the mysterious history of a long forgotten and semi derelict health spa out in the wilds. A local legend suggests a past involving murder and cannibalism… but what does Mrs Abercrombe, the spa’s sole occupant, know about the sinister satanic blood cult behind it all? ‘Warlock Moon’ is a regional American indie. It has the same slippery, hard to pin down but pungent atmosphere that attracts many to this hitherto forgotten epoch of film… a kind of low key, dreary psychedelia, post-Nam depression looming through a vale of pot smoke. It’s not overt, but it lingers in every frame. ‘Warlock Moon’ partially reminds me of, say, ‘The Velvet Vampire’ or ‘Messiah of Evil’ in tone and feel (although it’s certainly nowhere near as good as the latter). I liked it, and recommend it to fans of weird seventies horror. It’s a slight film in many ways, but rewards patient viewing for those into a certain kind of atmosphere. A word of caution to interested parties, however – the Shriek Show DVD has a glitch which was later rectified for the ‘Cannibal Lunch Box’ set.

VIOLENT SHIT 3 : INFANTRY OF DOOM – Or ‘Zombie Doom’ on the version I saw. Three men are washed up on an island. They are captured by a group of warrior types wearing silver cardboard visors. They are taken to an army camp run by a mummified figure in a suit of silver cardboard armour. A scientist performs experiments on human victims in the background. Before I go any further, I’ll just mention that, for the benefit of those who would rather skip onto the next post, this was made by Andreas Schnaas. For those who consider themselves a fan of Schnaas’ work on some difficult to fathom level (ie me), read on and know that this is a completely whacked out delight, a partial triumph of no-budget brainlessness which bludgeons itself stupid with its complete lack of sense and insistence on dumb sadism. The first indicator that things are going to get lopsided is the dubbing. In the earlier ‘Zombie ’90: Extreme Pestilence’ the distributors (via the filmmakers?) went for a broadly comedic approach and left everyone sounding like either Shaft or Marge Simpson in a SOV landscape of wall to wall entrail tearing. I wasn’t all that convinced. This time, they got the dubbing right in that it teeters on that ambiguous line between “are they trying to be funny?” and “this is awful, just… awful” (which is one way of approaching the entire film). Sorry to go on so much about the dubbing, but it really is almost the invisible lead character in ‘Infantry of Doom’, and I haven’t laughed so much since ‘Mad Foxes’. Anyway, dubbing aside, there are many other highlights here, including a sleazy attack – by – action – toy scene and loads of crazy gore. It was only when things got a bit too frenetic (and comedic, a la Peter Jackson) in the second part of the film that I found myself flagging a bit. But, if you like bad films, if you like films that look like shit, if you like totally disjointed nonsense full of random ultraviolence, then ‘Infantry of Doom’ is a winner.

Re Violent Shit - at least they're upfront about it, no danger of any quality with that title. Imagine walking into a restaurant and asking for some food that's off, or attending a concert hoping the band will be out of tune and playing their worst material. Only in the world of extreme low budget cult filmdom can a deliberately duff artifact be reverently collected and discussed. Glad you're here to watch them for us Frankie, I bowed out of this scene after sitting through, I think it was called Subhuman Cruelty, another does what it says on the tin effort.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

BIG BAD WOLVES – From the makers of ‘Rabies’ comes another tale of violence, cause, effect and consequence. A suspected child murderer is harassed by a corrupt cop – both are kidnapped by the raging father of one of the killer’s young victims. ‘Big Bad Wolves’ is poised between thriller, horror and black comedy but casts its net more widely than standard genre territory, echoing again the themes of the earlier ‘Rabies’, where idiocy and desperation were the conduits of ‘evil’ rather than the malevolent actions of a bad guy antagonist. Both films locate authority – the police, the family – as pretty much the source of this shitiness and reference broader social concerns ie Arab – Israeli conflict. More so than Rabies’, ‘Big, Bad Wolves’ is really quite gruelling and guaranteed to make you squirm… there is some physical violence, but it’s more emotionally tortuous than anything. See it. Draining, bleak and highly disturbing, all the more so for its deftly pitched lightness of touch.

TOWER OF EVIL – Brit pulp from the early seventies. It has one foot in the past, one in the future – a post-Hammer gothic feel lingers over leaner, meaner more exploitative material. Still, it’s hard to believe ‘Last House on the Left’ was made the same year and TCM was just around the corner. Plot wise, a bunch of teens are murdered on an isolated island. Some bickering antiques experts and a private detective (!?) are dispatched to get to the bottom of it all. There are lots of reasons for watching ‘Tower of Evil’, but in the end it boils down to a trade off between the good stuff and the bad. The good stuff includes a few splattery murders, surprising amount of skin given its provenance, whacky montages, awful stabs at period grooviness, good atmosphere and locations and a pretty cool ‘reveal’ (‘it’ should’ve featured a lot more heavily imo). The bad stuff includes the sum total of footage of people wandering around the island and having expository conversations. Sadly, the balance tips more towards the latter, but, although it often flags and maybe can’t sustain interest or excitement all that well, ‘Tower of Evil’ is still worth a watch.

WARLOCK MOON – Another trip down memory lane to the misty realms of yesteryear’s grindhouse. ‘Warlock Moon’ was made in the same era as ‘Tower of Evil’ and underscores the differences between UK and stateside product of the time. In this one, two goofball college studes investigate the mysterious history of a long forgotten and semi derelict health spa out in the wilds. A local legend suggests a past involving murder and cannibalism… but what does Mrs Abercrombe, the spa’s sole occupant, know about the sinister satanic blood cult behind it all? ‘Warlock Moon’ is a regional American indie. It has the same slippery, hard to pin down but pungent atmosphere that attracts many to this hitherto forgotten epoch of film… a kind of low key, dreary psychedelia, post-Nam depression looming through a vale of pot smoke. It’s not overt, but it lingers in every frame. ‘Warlock Moon’ partially reminds me of, say, ‘The Velvet Vampire’ or ‘Messiah of Evil’ in tone and feel (although it’s certainly nowhere near as good as the latter). I liked it, and recommend it to fans of weird seventies horror. It’s a slight film in many ways, but rewards patient viewing for those into a certain kind of atmosphere. A word of caution to interested parties, however – the Shriek Show DVD has a glitch which was later rectified for the ‘Cannibal Lunch Box’ set.

VIOLENT SHIT 3 : INFANTRY OF DOOM – Or ‘Zombie Doom’ on the version I saw. Three men are washed up on an island. They are captured by a group of warrior types wearing silver cardboard visors. They are taken to an army camp run by a mummified figure in a suit of silver cardboard armour. A scientist performs experiments on human victims in the background. Before I go any further, I’ll just mention that, for the benefit of those who would rather skip onto the next post, this was made by Andreas Schnaas. For those who consider themselves a fan of Schnaas’ work on some difficult to fathom level (ie me), read on and know that this is a completely whacked out delight, a partial triumph of no-budget brainlessness which bludgeons itself stupid with its complete lack of sense and insistence on dumb sadism. The first indicator that things are going to get lopsided is the dubbing. In the earlier ‘Zombie ’90: Extreme Pestilence’ the distributors (via the filmmakers?) went for a broadly comedic approach and left everyone sounding like either Shaft or Marge Simpson in a SOV landscape of wall to wall entrail tearing. I wasn’t all that convinced. This time, they got the dubbing right in that it teeters on that ambiguous line between “are they trying to be funny?” and “this is awful, just… awful” (which is one way of approaching the entire film). Sorry to go on so much about the dubbing, but it really is almost the invisible lead character in ‘Infantry of Doom’, and I haven’t laughed so much since ‘Mad Foxes’. Anyway, dubbing aside, there are many other highlights here, including a sleazy attack – by – action – toy scene and loads of crazy gore. It was only when things got a bit too frenetic (and comedic, a la Peter Jackson) in the second part of the film that I found myself flagging a bit. But, if you like bad films, if you like films that look like shit, if you like totally disjointed nonsense full of random ultraviolence, then ‘Infantry of Doom’ is a winner.

Totally agree about BBW. I lucked out and caught it at Grimm up north festival and loved it, had a real chuckle as my mate missed it because he was outside having a chat with one of the chaps from Arrow. Same festival they screened borderlands, another film well worth checking out.

Also really enjoyed Warlock moon. The commentary track from Joe bob briggs is worth a listen too.

[Dave Boy]

Good to see this again. With it's tongue firmly in cheek there is much to enjoy among the fishy mayhem from 1978. The frenzied attacks by the Pirahna are still very good and the death of Belinda Balaski as she is pulled down to the depths is really quite haunting. A host of horror stars and even some stop motion animation make this a recommended viewing.

[Gold6082]

Nightmare 1980

This is the Aussie slasher not the Famous (In a damaged Brain) one. A Young Girl witnesses Her mother (Maureen Edwards) Being touched up by her pervy lover leading to a car crash after her Father (Dr weissman from Prisoner) tells her it is all her fault she begins to have violent visions into her adult life,as an actress her colleagues begin to die in various odd ways involving shards of glass as the relation between sex & glass fuses. Max Phipps is on hand as the Director of the play. Not the best Aussie Film unless of course you have always wanted to see Neighbour's Pam Willis (Sue Jones) running in the rain naked having her arsecheek cut by a shard of glass! . The film also features an extremely pointless scene with Joy Westmore who proves her role as Officer Joyce Barry In Prisoner was not unique she really is a shit actress!.


Nighthawks.

Not as good as I had hoped but that is not to say this 1981 thriller was a bad film. Sylvester Stallone chases Rutger Hauer around the world as he shoots & blows everyone up is basically the punchline.

Scarecrow.

I read some good reviews about this film from the Three wolves company released a week ago. Bloody hell how I wish I hadn't been tempted into this. The scarecrow is a killer who targets every generation of a family. The scarecrow has a face like a burnt space invader crisp & a body of burnt shredded wheat. Why this is an 18 mystifys me also . The only scary part was the 95 minutes I'll never get back again!

The Church

Bugger me! Giovanni Lombardo Radice actually made it through a film alive a little slow at times but still a very enjoyable film. Also that annoying doctor from Holby Shitty puts in an apperance as a one man army against ancient buried witches. ho hum.

Fragile.

An Excellent orginal thriller about a childrens hospital being haunted by an evil nurse from decades before who don't want them to leave,Gemma Jones also features as a head doctor I have liked her since seeing her in the fab adaption of "13 steps down" back in 2012 on ITV about Rillington place. a Few genuinely good ideas used overall very well.