What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[keirarts]

Sorceress.

Produced by Corman, Directed by Jack Hill. Then hastily re-edited and re-shot. Sorceress was written by Jim Wynorski and put into production on the back of the success of CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Twin girls 'two who are one' escape sacrifice at the hands of their sorcerer father. They are given fighting skills by some dodgy looking god that materialises now and then. When their daddy resurrects and comes looking for them and slaughters their surrogate family the girls (who have been raised as boys) go out and seek revenge.
This film has it all; dodgy looking ape men, Tits, a Satyr that wanders around letching at stuff, pretty boy barbarians who look to have never seen a fight in their life, laser beam effects, Tits, Vikings, Tits, bad dialogue, Tits, Horny zombies and more tits.
In fairness this was the film that set the tone for all future new world pictures sword and sorcery epics, so all the stuff that seems cliche wasn't so much when it came out. More importantly the film is a lot of fun. It's fast paced, reuses the excellent theme music from battle beyond the stars and is hysterically funny. Best of all, not only does Scorpions blu-ray look fantastic, its region free.


Borgman.

A priest and several townsfolk, sporting dogs and guns, hunt down a group of strange dishevelled men living underground. One of the men, Camiel Borgman escapes into the suburbs and turns up at the door of a well to do family. The husband beats Borgman when he tries to talk his way in for a shower. Later his wife discovers him hiding in the pantry and lets him live in the summer house. Slowly he ingratiates his way into the family and his presence begins to change the family. Not for the better.
The film never goes out of its way to explain anything, Borgman is just an agent of evil who exerts his influence over the family. Its worth mentioning that Camiel is one of the spellings of the name of the archangel that expelled Adam and eve from the garden of eden, there is the hint of demonic influence involved. Equally it could be seen that he is simply provoking things already there that are simply lying dormant.
Whatever the answer, Borgman is well worth seeking out. Sadly the Alamo drafthouse Blu-ray is Region locked, the subtitles are a little annoying at times as well. Nonetheless the film is interesting, enigmatic and intelligent and is certainly going to require a re-watch at some point. If you can play it then it's worth picking up.

[trebor8273]

Queen of black magic

A young women is blamed by a ex lover for strange going on's at his wedding. The villagers end up hunting her down and throw her of a cliff. She is rescued by a mysterious old man that teaches her the ways of black magic and says she should take revenge on the entire village. Lots of great over the top kils with plenty of gore. 8.5/10


Black magic

Story of a man who hires a user of black magic to make a woman fall in love with him so he can get accces to her money. Said women is in love with a man who is about to get married and has no interest in her, so she also hires the magician to make him fall in love with her. Lots silly going on's and gore with epic battle between the evil magic user and a old priest at a building site of all places 8.5/10

Bloody moon

We have what I think is a superior slasher . That is a little slow in places but makes up for this with its last 20minutes and some very gory killings. 8.5/10

Now watching encounters of the spooky kind.

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE BOOGEYMAN - I feel this should be an essay titled "Why I Like The Boogeyman" (or maybe "Why Do I Like The Boogeyman?"), because many seem indifferent or antagonistic to it. Despite the fact that's it's a clumsy hybrid of slasher (Carpenter model) and popular supernatural / possession flicks of the day (Amityville and 'The Exorcist' spring easily to mind), it's got something else going on too... what that 'something' is is difficult to define, but it's certainly a movie to be enjoyed for its peculiarities. It's one of a clutch of films that share certain characteristics and have a weird grip on me... early eighties, not all that good 'objectively speaking', but a bit lopsided, with a strange atmosphere which is hard to put a finger on... 'Don't Go In The House' and 'The Slayer' are there too. Initially, the most bracing element of 'The Boogeyman' is its opening salvo, which mixes noxious parental cruelty, hilariously direct 'Halloween' references, a creepy guy with tights over his head, and, to go back to the 'Halloween' aspect, a great, tranced out electro soundtrack with those archetypal plunging synth bass chords. From then on it's about Suzanne Love and her mute brother and the childhood trauma they've been left with. This turns out to have something to do with a mirror haunted by 'tights-over-head-guy-from-the-opening-scenes' which later does bad shit to the world after its evil fragments are liberated by a chair wielded by hysterical Suzanne. There's a melange of death scenes (not too many, but wonkily great ones) and odd incidents all the way to the pyrotechnic but badly shambolic climax. Yeah, not great, nor even 'good' maybe, but a film like this is all about what sticks in the mind, and for me, there are many such things about 'The Boogeyman' which lead me to return to it again and again (someone say something about trauma, psychoanalysis, and self-reflexivity at this point cos I'm not going to). Constant images of knives, broken glass gleaming in a way which seems ridiculously sinister, a kid having his head crushed by a window, smile on his face (it's nothing if not mean spirited), a guy in a black T-shirt with the word 'triumph' emblazoned on his chest who kisses a crab then tosses it over his shoulder, disembodied slasher heavy breathing, the recurring synth theme which is so classically early eighties ominous, John Carradine etc etc ... it's a mosaic rather than a coherent whole, but somehow, even though you can see it was cynically strung together for a bit of cash (despite some deliberately? arty touches by Fassbinder sidekick Lommel), this in itself allows these weird details and fragments to shine through and in the end predominate. I think I put this in a recent 'top twenty' midway down the list, and, even though I might not always go along with that, 'The Boogeyman', with its grab-bag of perfect early eighties moments, is one film I'll possibly never let go of.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A fine critique Frankie.

I always thought it a film totally let down by it's sequel, rather than it's own failings.

[Demoncrat]

Great review Frankie, you always put a good spin on things etc.

Watched 4 last night
Eugenie De Sade (1974, JF)
More fun with incest. Nearly everything I watched had some spurious link, this being the film I finished with. Unlike awful British "drama" Captive this really goes for it, Mueller easily the epitome of sleazy otherness....

This was preceded by a rewatch of Stop! Look! Listen!! The 4th volume of COI films from the BFI. Containing all the "hits"..Apaches, Lonely Water etc etc. This terrifying two discer has many many delights...mostly from the heartless hand of John Kirsh...check out his The Finishing Line harumph.

Halloween: Resurrection (Rick Rosenthal, 2002)

Oh really? Resurrection usually means something else imo.
How not to make a horror film. Hire someone with no aptitude or understanding of the genre. Then add token music star. Screechingly awful from start to finish, this was one film I wish had stayed unseen.

The Woman In Green (Roy W Neill, 1945)

The Baker St sleuth tackles some meatier themes this time in his bid to solve some nasty murders. Grimmer in tone than some of the films, this I'd recommend to folk who like their monochrome a little darker ahem.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Gray Lady Down (1977)

A homeward bound nuclear submarine is accidently struck by a tanker and it sinks to the ocean floor. The subs crew have enough oxygen for just 48 hours. Will this be enough time to carry out a rescue?

A great cast - Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Ned Beatty, Stacy Keach, Christopher Reeve and Stephen McHattie are let down by a bit of a plodding script for forty or so minutes, where Heston doesn't really have much to do except argue with Ronny Cox, but the film bucks up during the second half with the introduction of the deep sea rescue vehicles and manages to ratchet up a fair bit of tension come the end in a will they? or won't they? life or death scenario.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Great review Frankie, you always put a good spin on things etc.

Watched 4 last night
Eugenie De Sade (1974, JF)
More fun with incest. Nearly everything I watched had some spurious link, this being the film I finished with. Unlike awful British "drama" Captive this really goes for it, Mueller easily the epitome of sleazy otherness....

This was preceded by a rewatch of Stop! Look! Listen!! The 4th volume of COI films from the BFI. Containing all the "hits"..Apaches, Lonely Water etc etc. This terrifying two discer has many many delights...mostly from the heartless hand of John Kirsh...check out his The Finishing Line harumph.

Halloween: Resurrection (Rick Rosenthal, 2002)

Oh really? Resurrection usually means something else imo.
How not to make a horror film. Hire someone with no aptitude or understanding of the genre. Then pander to the latest trend. Then add token music star. Screechingly awful from start to finish, this was one film I wish had stayed unseen.

The Woman In Green (Roy W Neill, 1945)

The Baker St sleuth tackles some meatier themes this time in his bid to solve some nasty murders. Grimmer in tone than some of the films, this I'd recommend to folk who like their monochrome a little darker ahem.

Ahem! Also watched Messiah Of Evil (1974, William Hiyuck)
Cut from similar cloth to Lemora imo, this grim, nightmarelike vision of the seaside is right up there with The Slayer and Daughters Of Darkness for me.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Ahem! Also watched Messiah Of Evil (1974, William Hiyuck)
Cut from similar cloth to Lemora imo, this grim, nightmarelike vision of the seaside is right up there with The Slayer and Daughters Of Darkness for me.

Which version of Messiah do you have D?

Is it the CR release or a public domain / Mill Creek copy? If it's not the CR version whats the quality like?

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Which version of Messiah do you have D?

Is it the CR release or a public domain / Mill Creek copy? If it's not the CR version whats the quality like?

It's the CR dvd. Should have said etc. Can only imagine that a PD print would be v murky cough.....

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

The Devil's Playground (1976)

Perhaps the strangest film I've come across thus far in my trudge through unexplored Nightmare USA territory, in as much as it is neither horror nor exploitation as such, but more an in depth drama surrounding the young boys of a Catholic seminary and the priests (or 'brothers') who teach there.

Still as relevant today in many ways as it was when it was made almost 40 years ago, the themes of sexual exploration vs. repression and the religious connotations linked therein certainly provide the viewer with some food for thought.

Originally posted here: Nightmare USA Films Discussion Thread