What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Originally Posted by SharonLynette

Killdozer! (1974)

Finally, being a fan of the band that took their name from this film it has sat on my YouTube watchlist for some time, finally I dedicated some time to watch it this evening. The quality of the copy of YouTube is really quite decent btw.

What could be a complete schlock fest this is actually a rather stylish, well thought out film. Seriously, for a plot that is basically bulldozer that kills it has some reasonable & likeable characters, interesting shots, sporadic but purposeful music and a sensible plotline (in one machine gone mad stage they actually just walk up a steep hill and watch from there rather than running around in circles flapping). Although, in a film like this, sensibility isn't necessarily a good thing but it really works and don't worry it lives up to its name, people are killed - the machine is really quite menacing, even though it is bright yellow. Another bonus is it comes in at a nice b-movie 70 minutes, I wish all films were this length.

Seriously worth checking out, and for those that don't know the band, one of their great covers.









friggin' love Killdozer

Loved this when I was a kid!

[keirarts]

Death Wish

Up there with The Sentinel as one of Michael Winners best films in my humble opinion. Charles Bronson stars as Paul Kersey, a New York Architect whose life is turned upside down when a group of street thugs (including a young Jeff Goldblum) break into his apartment and attack his wife and daughter. His wife dies from her injury's and his daughter slips into a catatonic state. Kersey decides to take on a project in Utah, he befriends the client who is a member of a gun club and reawakens a long dormant love for guns in the pacifistic upper middle-class architect. Heading back to New York with a gun and a head full of the old west and frontier justice, Kersey begins to wander the mean streets of New York gunning down muggers and rapists causing a dramatic decline in street crime. The mayor, worried this will make the city look bad asks that 'the vigilante' as Kersey has been imaginatively dubbed, be quietly run out of the city.

Winners film is adapted from a novel by Brian Garfield who also penned the sequel Death sentence. You may remember that being made into a film by James wan and starring Kevin Bacon, in the books Kersey is named Paul Benjamin and both books are used to make Winners film (some also carries over to Death wish 2) The James Wan film uses the material to make a stand alone feature. Death Wish is essentially a right wing fantasy about frontier justice that politically feels very out of date. Given the horrifying violence we have seen recently the films pro-gun stance feels a little off and studies have pretty much debunked the idea of guns as a tool for self defence, it's a film where one character even argues the poor should be put in concentration camps in order to solve the city's crime issues.

However politically dubious sentiments aside Death Wish is also a lot of fun, it has a real grim and gritty 70's New York feel to it and the street scenes are terrific. Its actually arguable that the film really takes off once Kersey is out plugging muggers. The film was a huge hit and Cannon revived the series with several sequels that became gradually more ludicrous. Death wish 3 is a prime example with New York descending into urban warfare. That said they are rarely dull. This one is still the best however.

[SharonLynette]

I'm trying to delay my urge to dive into Autumnal watching but as the weather was incredibly cool today and I've had to put the blanket on the bed I decided it's time to start. The summer better not arrive now as there is no turning back.

I started with The Black Torment (1964), a film I have watched once before whilst multi-tasking, I sorely regret not giving it my full attention the first time. A totally atmospheric, gothic chiller. I really liked how dark the film was, it added to the menace, I always find full on bright lights in a film set in this period incredibly off-putting. The acting was subtle, the twists not too hard to guess but at least they worked. Plus there was plenty of frilly shirts and sword play.

Full on spooky, gothic intrigue. A nice opener to the autumn season. I think I'll move on to another from the Odeon Best of British collection.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

*SPOILERS!*

Nightmare City on Arrow's new blu-ray. Watched the version from the camera negative after watching the small featurette about the two versions included on the disc. Never seen the whole film before, and ashamed to admit it. Totally crazy & dire makeup effects on the "infected", but it just all adds to it's brilliance. Totally bonkers. Although, I'd have stopped it before the final scene. Would've been a lot better, imo, if they had it all as a dream instead of hinting that it could all be a premonition of things to come.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Home at Seven (1952)

David Preston, a bank official goes missing for 24 hours and has no memory of the lost time, but when he learns that the steward of his local club has implicated him in a robbery, and has also been found murdered, he finds he has no alibi, and the police suspect him of both robbery and murder.

Despite an ending you can see coming during the last fifteen minutes, Home at Seven is an intriguing little British B-picture. Featuring some outstanding acting from Ralph Richardson and Jack Hawkins. It's the strength of the acting that makes it compelling and fairly gripping until the final denouement which sadly isn't quite as strong as the first seventy minutes.

As with all these Network releases the film looks quite delightful and has crisp clear sound. They really do deserve credit for releasing these obscure British efforts.

Well worth a look for those interested in British films.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

WRONG TURN 4.

Fun and exploitative fourth entry in the franchise that bills itself as a prequel but feels like a stand alone film in its own right.

The film starts in the 70s with the Nordy brothers locked up in an asylum after killing and eating their parents. They quickly escape and free all the inmates not before butchering a couple of doctors by ECT and barbed wire quartering.

Years later a group of friends lost in a blizzard take shelter in the asylum...

This is trashtastic from beginning to end, full of ludicrous amounts of gore and blood letting between scenes of its female characters getting naked and having sex for no other reason than titillation of the teenage fanboy (and girl) in the viewer.

It is certainly an improvement on Part 3 and Tamer Hassan's American, via Bow Bells, accent.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

WRONG TURN 4.



It is certainly an improvement on Part 3 and Tamer Hassan's American, via Bow Bells, accent.

I agree. Part 3 was piss poor in all respects. The censors would have had a field day in the 80's. Probably cut it by twenty minutes.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

WRONG TURN 4.

Fun and exploitative fourth entry in the franchise that bills itself as a prequel but feels like a stand alone film in its own right.

The film starts in the 70s with the Nordy brothers locked up in an asylum after killing and eating their parents. They quickly escape and free all the inmates not before butchering a couple of doctors by ECT and barbed wire quartering.

Years later a group of friends lost in a blizzard take shelter in the asylum...

This is trashtastic from beginning to end, full of ludicrous amounts of gore and blood letting between scenes of its female characters getting naked and having sex for no other reason than titillation of the teenage fanboy (and girl) in the viewer.

It is certainly an improvement on Part 3 and Tamer Hassan's American, via Bow Bells, accent.

I thought he was on holiday in Argentina smuggling in nazi gold or something?

[Gold6082]

Poltergeist Remake.

I saw the trailer and thought that as far as remakes go this one might be good. I found upon watching it it was the general remake rule of thumb and would end up in one of 2 baskets "typical crap" and "nice try but no cigar" this one for me went into the latter. Remakes are seldom a wise idea with the extremely rare exceptions like The fly (1986). It wasn't too bad but I still deem it a pointless exercise but at least they "tried" to put soul and ideas into it without much result. 3/10


Breeders.

short & sweet. Which is probably a good thing. Not as bad as I expected but certainly no cinematic masterpiece or even rewatch value. Again the idea was there just poorly executed and all over the place like 3 films spliced into one. 4/10


Horror Hospital.

The odeon disc brags a gorgeous transfer but then again their blu's always come to the party in quality. Very odd film to say the least It was "ok" not really my thing but certainly not a "bad" film at least it was original. & Had Michael Gough. 5/10


Voices.

A Guy walks around having conversations with scottish Cats with worse Tourette's than me (Having tourettes I am allowed to say that!) and a sympathetic Dog that sounds like it has strep throat. He trys to impress the women he works with but instead manages to end up with their heads in his fridge informing him of what he should do about his future. There is an amusing scene (if you're warped like me) where a talking deer which has gone through his car windscreen begs him for mercy.

Original and amusing (if you're warped) but I would suggest a rental as for most this will probably be a one off viewing and not one for revisit. not bad but not fantastic then again it is poor taste really to mock schitzophrenia even for those with a sick sense of humour like me. 5/10


Milano Calibre 9.

Arrow have done a gorgeous transfer here. A Bloke called Ugo (Ugo your way Igo mine) who looks like the paramedic from Casualty who died last year, is wrongly accused of stealing money from a mafia man who looks like Barry Stuart Hargreaves from Hi-de-Hi with Water Retention. He can not decide whether to go it alone or work for Barry Stuart Hargreaves. In between many Conversations with a Tanned Ted Bovis Lookalike and the Scarf Seller from Torso blowing up someone then himself we come to a confusing conclusion.

Great Fun quite tame in violence for an Italian fare though... rabid dogs is up today so that will no doubt correct that area. 7/10


Population 436

A census investigator seems confused to why for 100 years the population of Rockwall falls is always 436 and anyone trying to leave dies. Children of the corn VS Downton Abbey with a splash of Dead & Buried. Not bad bit slow at times 5/10

[keirarts]

Hitman: agent 47

Not much of an improvement over the xavier Gens one. Well choreographed action and a wafer thin plot short on characterisation and originality. Surprised this got to theatres as its perfect for streaming or Blu-ray.


Death Wish 2

Continuing with the Death Wish marathon. This one ditches Death Sentence, which was hinted at in the first film, even though they took a bunch of stuff from that for the first picture. Instead they move Kersey to LA where its proved lightening does indeed strike twice when a street gang breaks into his home and gang rapes his maid before abducting and raping his daughter. Already messed up from the assault in the first picture she jumps out of a window and is impaled on railings. Its a thoroughly nasty sequence that is cut in the Blu-ray releases as its the R-rated cut. The extended sequence is even nastier and ended up getting the film in hot water. After that its business as usual as Kersey takes to wandering the mean streets of LA. Unlike in part 1 he actually encounters the gang that crossed him and one by one he guns them down. The LAPD decide to call in the NYPD detective from part one to put a halt to the violence.
Death sentence, the novel, deals with the addictive qualities of violence and revenge and was something of an atonement for the right wing power fantasies of the first book. Here its pretty much a right wing power fantasy as Kersey goes about his business dispatching street thugs. There is a love interest who surprisingly isn't here to get victimised, instead she's another 'bleeding heart liberal' that Kersey gets to roll his eyes at whenever she talks about rehabilitating criminals and opposing the Death sentence. However like the first film its a lot of fun and very violent. I don't think its as well rounded as the first film and its certainly trashier though its not as OTT as part 3 (more on that in a minute!) Jimmy Page does the soundtrack however and its terrific!

Death Wish 3

The point at which any attempt at subtlety or restraint is even attempted ends here! Kersey heads back to the mean streets of New york 1985 to visit an old war buddy. He discovers his friend dying and a terrorised community victimised at the hands of a brutal street gang. Kersey is run in to the station at behest of the captain (Ed Lauter) who is sick to death of his forces inability to rein in the violence. He makes a deal to let Kersey have free rein to do what he wants without police obstruction and Kersey sets about going to war with the gang. First he sends for his pal Wildey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.475_Wildey_Magnum and sets up booby traps. Things begin to escalate real quick and soon the entire neighbourhood is at war. The final third is where things get really f*****g insane to the point the streets are all out war, people are running about on fire and 30 cal machine guns are deployed against the street guns. One bloke is even taken out almost point blank with a Laws Rocket leaving a portion of the building gone and a burning mess of a street thug.
If you haven't seen Death wish 3 then think a cross between Bronx Warriors and Tenement a game of survival. Its pure unadulterated over the top street violence of the most entertaining kind. Its the most outright ludicrous Death wish of the whole series but its also possibly the most fun. So long as your prepared to abandon logic, common sense and any sense of realism, Death Wish 3 is a cracking piece of exploitation. Once again Jimmy Page delivers on the score.

Death Wish 4

Michael Winner abandons the franchise at this point to be replaced by J Lee Thompson. Here the Regan administrations war on drugs is handed over to Kersey when a millionaire hires him to go to war against the cartels. Thompson dials things down a little from the nutty excess of 3 and delivers noirish LA set thriller where we see Kersey take the dealers down with ruthless efficiency. Part 4 is a great little film, but after 3 it feels a little too slick and professional and its hard not to feel the series peaked at 3.


No part 5 on the set and having difficulty finding my DVD. Needless to say its more along the lines of Part 4 but with the added bonus of michael parks as a villain.