What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by gag

The film I watched was from last year, and the trailers are for new films.
But I keep meaning to watch Tucker & dale v Evil dead

Well, the 80s thing is in vogue. have you seen trailers for...White God, Spring, Bite, Goodnight Mommy? None of them seem to be conventional imho.....

[TJ Doc]

Blackhat

Could have benefited from removing about half an hour of technobabble and padding, but that sexy Michael Mann style is evident in almost every frame (to the point where I expected Tangerine Dream to start emanating from the ether), its violence is unapologetically schlocky and Chris Hemsworth is believable as an ultra-masculine hacker who smacks the bitcoin out of cyber terrorists and bangs his best friend's sister in an adjoining room.

Not up there with Thief, Manhunter or Collateral, but still better than most of what passes for blockbuster entertainment these days. Shame it bombed.

[gag]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Well, the 80s thing is in vogue. have you seen trailers for...White God, Spring, Bite, Goodnight Mommy? None of them seem to be conventional imho.....

Only seen trailer for goodnight mommy. Rest i shall seek out

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Interesting to see how young most of them look in the earlier films, apart from Sid James who must of been born old.

I saw him recently in 1953's Bad Blonde, a cool Brit Noir, as boxing trainer Sharkey and can vouch for him being young in that one.

[gag]

Unfriended.

Watch this last night, had no idea what i was watching so didnt know what to expect.
But boy i wasnt dissapointed,
The film is shown all way through on a computer screen as if u really looking at it.
Its also done as if its in real.,
The whole concept of the film is about bullying, its it very well made in every sense,
Despite it being shown from a computer their never a dull moment and keeps you glued to youre seat.
Its all about bunch of teanagers all chatting to each other over the net by fb pm skype etc when suddenly a year after a friend commited suicide tbey all start to get messages and think someone trolling them, but whats in store is a lot worse and the person starts playing games with them, but things rapidly spiral out of control & the spirit begins to start turning the friends against themselves with dark games & revealing how they were involved in her suicide

film is extremely well made no daft dialogue or silly moments that ruin the film, its all done realistically like teanagers would act etc if someone playing games with them, if you want something fresh and different for a change then you cant go wrong with this

A high recommendation

[keirarts]

Snowpiercer

Adapted from a French comic series, snowpiercer is a sci-fi where at some point in the future an attempt to reverse Global warming has caused a massive ice age, the remnants of mankind live aboard a massive train that crosses the globe continually. The leaders live near the front in relative luxury, the middle classes live at the centre of the train and the underclass live at the rear. Everyone is told to 'accept their place' and that the current situation, decided by the handing out of tickets, is natural an needs to be preserved. Curtis, played by Chris Evans, thinks otherwise and leads a revolution towards the front.
Snowpiercer is a smart, gorgeous looking dystopian film from Joon-ho Bong that appropriates a lot of its look from film-makers such as Terry Gilliam, Fritz lang, Ridley Scott and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Gilliam's Brazil is probably the best comparison, with its tonal shifts from abusrdist humour to dark horror, sometimes within individual scenes. Impressively it manages to pull this off really well and it doesn't feel jarring, the script moves things along with impressive speed and gives us an idea of who people are through conversations and acting. There are very few points that any of the characters sit down and give us exposition, however when it does its quite affecting, especially one scene with Chris Evans in the final act where Chris evans gives what can be considered a career best performance.
In terms of style Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a good comparison as well but for me Jeunet is very much style over substance and here there is a lot going on beyond the style. The film has a lot to say about class, revolution and systems of control. Especially the cost of revolution and its function to ultimately serve the real systems of control.
Its a real shame this hasn't had a UK release. There are region free discs in Europe and this film comes highly reccomended. Brilliant!


GhostHouse & Witchery

Worth reviewing as a double bill, GhostHouse (1988) comes from Italian Schlock-meister Umberto Lenzi here credited as Humphrey Humbert who also gets joint credits as writer. The film is a Gorey haunted house film where a ham radio expert tracks a mysterious signal to a strange old New England house where he and his girlfriend run into another group who have holed up in the place on vacation. Gradually people begin to die and they soon realise the place is horribly cursed.
Umberto Lenzi is one of those directors who had few stone classics on his resume (almost human and spasmo come to mind) however he never really delivered anything really rotten either, unlike some of is fellow Italian exploitation directors. GhostHouse comes at a point the Italian Film industry had begun to collapse and the reduced budget is ver much apparant here, however Lenzi does his best and the film is very likeable in spite of some incredibly dodgy dialogue.
Witchery (also 1988) is a little more 'out there'. directed by Fabrizio Laurenti a director without the level of experience or talent of Lenzi this one is utter dog-shit. However in that charming way Italian films have its also very entertaining. David Hasselhoff plays a photographer who is out on an island taking some photographs with his girlfriend, Linda Blair and her family are heading over as they have bought the place and want a look round to see what they have bought. Naturally there's a f*****g curse on the place and a witch intent on coming back to life by ritually killing off the visitors.
The Witch traps the group by killing the ferryman (who looks like chuck Norris) and then proceeds to drag the group one by one into 'hell' where they are tortured and killed. the trip to Hell involves some doctor who effects circa 1975 before the hapless victims find themselves mugged by some overacting pensioners I Swear I've seen on my charity shop travels round Burnley. Pretty soon everyone gets knocked off bar the Hoff and his lady and Linda Blair who naturally must then become posessed. Witchery is dreadful film, but highly watchable if you have a taste for this kind of junk. Its not as outright crap as Troll 2 but its bazd enough to be weird and actually quite funny.
Both films work really well as a double bill and Kudos to Scream factory for putting them together, it works almost as well as the all time legend that is Hell of the living dead/Rats night of terror.

[SShaw]

I have been in Berlin for the last week or so to see the sights and enjoy this years Fantasy Film Fest. Here are some quick thoughts on what I saw.

Reality

Quentin Dupieux returns with perhaps his most accessible film, this time exploring the differences between reality and truth, particularly with respect to how film and film making distorts our perception of reality. Unfortunately the showing was without English sub-titles for the French language parts, but if anything that added to the overall confusion and WTF that one expects from Dupieux's films.

World of Kanako

A former detective explores the seedy underground of a Japanese city as he searches for his missing daughter.

Maggie

Arnie is back, this time as the father of a young girl who has contracted a disease that will eventually lead to her going zombie. This is excellent, and the director and script manage to work around the governators limited range to extract a performance which while not subtle is appropriately nuanced. Recommended.

Night Fare

Two friends come to regret bailing on their taxi fare after a drunken night out as they are pursued through the lonely, darkened streets of Paris. This film is excellent up until the "fourth act" which attempts to explain the motivation of our friendly taxi driver. Without this final act it could have been great. With it is merely good. (This will play at Fright Fest)

Extraordinary Tales

This film brings a breath of fresh air to Poe's short stories. Brilliantly combining archive recordings of the stories being read aloud with computer and stop-frame animation. Recommended.

Kung Fu Killer (aka Kung Fu Jungle)

A kung fu master is released from prison in order to help the police pursue a serial killer who is attempting to demonstrate that he is the number one martial artist in China. It does exactly what it should complete with a spectacular over the top final action sequence under the traffic of a chinese road.

Rabid Dogs

Remake of Bava's original which was perhaps my favourite film of the festival. This is a must see (it will play Fright Fest in a couple of weeks)

Possessed

Fantastic computer animation from Spain that plays with a lot of horror classics to deliver a brilliantly funny horror story.

Demonic

A group of college students investigate the site of a 20 year old ritual murder with all of the consequences you might expect. An average film that delivers an above average experience.

Sweet Home

Excellent Spanish home invasion film in which a young couple are terrorized by a gang sent to evict the tenants of a near abandoned building.

Body, The

Things go from bad to worse as bad decision follows bad decision in this film about three friends celebrating Christmas eve.

Pack, The

An australian family are terrorised by a pack of feral dogs on their outback farm. This lacked any real tension as the dogs weren't that convincing.

Yakuza Apocalypse

Mike returns with a Yakuza Vampir mash-up that escalates to the end of the world. As with all Miike films its a case of strapping yourself in and just enjoying the sensory overload.

Momentum

This South African action film is let down a bit by lack-lustre acting and direction. But it is not coompletely without merit.

Excess Flesh

Alongside Starry Eyes this is another of those films that explores the underbelly of the Hollywood bubble. Disturbing, gruelling. One for those who like their cinema grubby and uncomfortable.

Extinction

Two men bring up a young girl in the permanent winter of a new ice age following the zombie apocalypse. Think three men and a baby without the jokes and with more zombies.

Frankenstein

Pretentious sub-sixth form philosophy replaces all that is good in Shelley's original novel with shite. This is likely to be lauded due to the "strong" central performance. Although one mans strong performance is anothers over-acting.

One & Two

A very odd, quiet, slow film about two children who have the ability to displace themselves in space. (this played in Edinburgh). Recommended.

Der Bunker

Perhaps the most German film I have ever seen. When I understand this fully not only will I be able to understand German but I will also understand Germans.

Back Track

Adrien Brody stars in this pedestrian psychological thriller in which the story is obviously sign-posted from the outset.

Nobody From Nowhere

An excellent French film in which an unfulfilled estate agent takes on the life of one of his clients. Recommended.

Stung

Above average creature feature with giant wasps. This was made locally so a lot of the cast and crew attended the Berlin screening.

Sherzo Diabolico

A really odd Spanish language film in which a kidnapper comes to regret kidnapping his bosses daughter.

Office

a disappointing Japanese psychological thriller dealing with the consequences of an overly competitive and unsupportive office culture. One for HR practitioners.

Bite

My expectations were elevated following good word of mouth from Fantasia. While it is competently made the structure of the film is heavily flawed resulting in an overly linear narrative. A shame as rather than being good this film, with a rewrite or better edit, should have been great.

Strangerland

Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes star in this Australian film that follows the impact of the disappearance of their children on two parents. It has echoes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. While it never comes close to those classics it still manages to be unsettling and is recommended.

Some Kind of Hate

My last film of Fantasy Film Fest, at least in Berlin, I enjoyed this slasher film set in an isolated boot camp for disturbed teenagers. Recommended.

I will continue the festival in Hamburg next weekend before flying back to the U.K. for Frightfest.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

GhostHouse & Witchery

It's a good job no one from the Doctor Who production team ever saw Witchery back then. There's a definite plagiarism case to be won by them.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

VHS (2012)

A piss poor attempt to woo in any lovers of old vhs casettes. VHS the film might feature footage of someone picking up old cassettes but the film itself is bog standard shaky cam footage that we've all seen before in far better films. It's not shocking and it's not clever and neither is it entertaining.You can only stare at the floor or walls so long before abject boredom sets in and a few gory sequences do not make this lazy and cheap form of film making any more worthy or watchable.

As far as recent anthology features go this is the least interesting. At least The ABC's of Death and Little Deaths, as recent examples, attempted to produce something different to the norm whatever your opinion of them.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

VHS (2012)

I found the sequel to be slightly better if you can summon up the energy to pop it in your VCR... neither are very good though and just seems to be yet another excuse for people to dick around with cameras in the name of 'found footage'.