What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Fright Night (2011)

Many remakes are terrible. Occasionally some do the original films justice or in odd cases improve on them. Fright Night really doesn't fit in either of these two categories as whilst watching it all i felt was tedium. Not to say i was bored, i wasn't. This film seemed to be exactly what it said on the tin - a remake of Fright Night. The tedium was brought to bare by a lack of variation, a lack of variety and an air of banality to the whole set up.

Colin Farrell summed it all up. He played the vampire Jerry Dandridge but never convinced and never came across as remotely scary. David Tennant fared slightly better as showman / vampire hunter Peter Vincent. Even then he seemed to be doing an impression of Russell Brand and never came close to the original's Roddy McDowell in the same role. The rest of the cast were all instantly forgettable.

Nothing about the film was remotely memorable to give this version it's own identity, even the vampire death effects seemed straight out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as each staked undead blew up in a shower of sparks and ash.

Practically a scene for scene remake. If you have the eighties original sat on your shelf then stick with it and don't waste your time with this.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

What was the quality of Black Lake like Biz?

I've held off buying the dvd due to it's so called pis poor AV.

Very bad - one of the worst I've come across so far in my Nightmare USA related wanderings. However, I do try to overlook stuff like this when watching and base my viewing experience purely on the film rather the presentation.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Fright Night (2011)

I've yet to see this one and have a feeling I may like it more than most considering I'm not really a big fan of the original.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I've yet to see this one and have a feeling I may like it more than most considering I'm not really a big fan of the original.

I like the original but it's not really a fave of mine. If i'm honest i get it a little mixed up with the similar Night Visitor at times.

So both films become one and i have a little mini masterpiece in my head that involves Shannon Tweed being murdered by a vampire school teacher who keeps his brother in a cellar, before it all goes Scooby Doo and everyone would have gotten away with it had it not been for those pesky kids.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I like the original but it's not really a fave of mine. If i'm honest i get it a little mixed up with the similar Night Visitor at times.

So both films become one and i have a little mini masterpiece in my head that involves Shannon Tweed being murdered by a vampire school teacher who keeps his brother in a cellar, before it all goes Scooby Doo and everyone would have gotten away with it had it not been for those pesky kids.

That actually sounds like a better film!

[PaulD]

Seen so much recently and may offer a proper write up when I get the chance. Last nights viewing:


Evidence (2013) - Police use camcorder footage shot at the scene of a massacre to figure out the killer, making it a combination of traditional cinematic techniques and found footage. Usually I loathe found footage films but this at least has the courage of its own convictions in terms of it being clear who's shooting the footage at all times (even though it suffers from the typical ''oh just put the camera down and run!'' issues of the sub-genre, which it actually justifies in the final act). The director gets too bogged down in the 'frozen in time' effect and sweeping pans which actually jar with the audience rather than complimenting the film and it throws in a couple of last-minute twists which are bold, audacious and rather silly but it's an enjoyable hybrid of police procedural thriller and slasher film and the perfect accompaniment to a takeaway pizza.

[demonknight]

Hell of the Living Dead - 1980;

Firstly, hats off to Blue - Underground for an absolutely amazing HD transfer of this movie. HOTLD in my opinion doesn't deserve to look this good, but it truly does look great. Bruno Mattei, I think would be happy. Keeping RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR for later this evening.

Margit Evelyn Newton looked amazing, she definitely was not beaten with the ugly stick. I enjoyed the music too, even if it was borrowed from CONTAMINATION and DAWN OF THE DEAD. Didn't realize how much stock footage featured in Hell of the Living Dead, it was unreal. Again, thank you BU for making my movie watching experience of HOTLD considerably easier given your stellar upgrade

[Frankie Teardrop]

HEART OF MIDNIGHT - This is a truly neglected film which is sorely in need of meaningful revival. I myself was unaware of its many pleasures until I stumbled upon it recently, and I can say that, with so many mediocre items from the same era being exhaustively refurbished, it's a crying shame that movies as interesting as this are being overlooked. 'Heart of Midnight' follows an incredibly hot Jennifer Jason Leigh as she goes about renovating a dilapidated nightclub she's inherited from a sleazy relative. Peter Coyote turns up as a cop who may or may not have her best interests at heart, and events unfold in a dream like drift. We're fed a few hints about what might've gone on behind the nightclub's closed doors during a build up which seethes with sub-Lynchian atmospherics. The pay off is pretty sickly. Yes, going back to the L-word I mentioned back there - 'Heart of Midnight' does rather seem to ape aspects of Lynch's mid-period stuff, but it was made in 1988, when his stock in trades were hardly established. Maybe it's a case of shared influence, or perhaps HOM might be seen more as a neo-noir, post-eighties MTV, post-Argento mash-up. Whatever, it's great. I saw it for the first time today, and I'll see it many more times - I rarely think that about new viewings these days, but 'Heat of Midnight' definitely had that kind of a hold on me. I urge anyone who's into slightly weirdo cinema to pick this up - as far as I know, it's only ever been released on DVD via the MIA region 2, which is an OK open matte and goes for peanuts on Amazon et al. Definitely recommended and infinitely in need of rediscovery.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

HEART OF MIDNIGHT

Great review Frankie. I used to have this on vhs but haven't seen it for years. I do recall liking it though. I'll have to pick up the disc now. That's the great thing about these forums. People watch obscurities and suddenly they are back in the consciousness again.

Slightly related - i'll have to think about picking up The Dark Wind and Thunderheart. A couple of other eighties films i loved which have dropped off the radar over the years.

[keirarts]

Hell of the living dead/rats night of terror.

Perhaps my favorite double bill. HOTLD is reviewed here very well by others and I have tendnecy to go on about this admittedly dreadful in many ways yet endlessly enjoyable zombie schlocker from Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso. The wholesale theft from other films, the oft used stock footage, the eye popping gore and the clumsy attempt at making a horror take on Jonathan Swifts A modest proposal using the third world instead of Ireland.

Rats is a great follow up, certainly more original and some great sets and photography. The characters themselves are almost ludicrous, and the writing is once again ham fisted but this one is actually well constructed and the ending is hysterical.


LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE.

Great rollercoaster scare ride with an opressive atmosphere. Still think its no worse than a lot of the modern ghost films. Very entertaining throughout and I thought the Blu-ray represented the best presentation of the film to date.