What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Spectre (2015) The Bond pictures seem to have fallen into the same pattern as the original Star Trek movies as in good, bad, good, bad (reverse that for Trek). It isn't bad for a Bond but it kind of slows down in the middle, almost dozed off at one point!

[keirarts]

The Green Inferno

Well this was a pleasant surprise. Given some of the harsh word of mouth online through social media I was expecting some pile of Junk. It occurs to me though that certain sections of 'fandom' are a wee bit to intense when it comes to any modern film-makers having any kind of success in the genre, genuinely I single these folk out when they tend to state their dislike of an artist purely through creative use of personal insult and vitriol linked to their latest blog. Not that all criticism of Mr Roth is unwarranted and there are plenty of eloquent arguments from people as to their dislike of his work.
Green Inferno avoids too much retro navel gazing, its certainly clear from the film that Roth is a fan however there are no knowing music cues from classic 70's genre pictures, no recreations of classic moments and no running into ivan Rassimov somewhere in the jungle for a nudge & wink cameo. Green Inferno is a very modern film, focused on the current wave student activism and a harsh critique of the motives of some of the folk behind it that use the good will of people with genuine concerns to further their own careers. Neither is it some new age tract on the spiritual or moral superiority of the noble savage. The cannibals have a point in their dislike of the white interlopers however they are actually depicted as assholes who get high and get a thorough kick out of some of their more brutal antics. the blood, when it comes flows freely and there is some nasty sequences here for the squemish and the gore-hounds. Green Inferno isn't perfect but I'll give it a watch if it plays at my local cinema, I'll probably shell out for the blu-ray also.

[keirarts]

Zombie doom (aka violent shit 3)

3 blokes wash up on some island and end up sport for a bunch of nutters in metal masks. Plot-wise its wafer thin and makes no real rational sense. The dialogue is f******g dreadful, as if written by some kind of racist 10 year old who has taken a short break from Xbox live, lots of discussion about pissing on peoples shit, shitty uncles, puking at piss, pissing on puke and shitting at ****s.... you get the idea. The gore is sort of creative and the whole thing flat lines out into some kind of rotten terminal mess that is like a kind of vomit laden car crash involving clowns and german pornographers. If you want something really, really bad that will make you chuckle for the wrong reasons its probably worth ago. The DVD I watched included Zombie 90, a film best viewed when either dead, on heroin or possessed by the ghost of some kind of pervert.

[Frankie Teardrop]

DEMONIUM – Those looking for epic badness can often get their fix in the form of Andreas Schnaas and his ouvre, which of course boasts such delicacies as the 'Violent Shit' series. 'Demonium' is pretty rubbish – no, actually it's utter shite, but do I hold it against the fella behind the camera? Not really, but if I had to sit through this again I might try to. 'Demonium' is, well, it's a bit pointless recounting the plot because Andreas evidently either found it at the bottom of a badly soiled packet of cornflakes or made it up as he went along, but it has something to do with an inheritance, a mansion full of dickheads lined up for a Christie style whodunnit murder mystery, medical experiments involving the concept of immortality and a monster in the cellar who's in it for about half a minute. I was entertained by some of the utterly bad acting, but again, this lasted about half a minute. There's a fair amount of gore, but I didn't really care. This kind of boneheaded grime I usually like, but I found myself wincing when I wasn't pinching myself trying to stay awake. Probably worth a go only for bad film completists, and I'll probably stumble across it in another five years when I've forgotten about it again. Message to Frankie – watch 'Persona' or something.

THE HORSEMAN – A middle aged dad goes on a revenge spree when his daughter dies after taking part in a porn shoot. This is a really good film actually, and I know this to be true because I usually groan a bit when confronted with the tried and tested 'revenge' type dynamic, but in this case I found it pretty riveting and decidedly lacking in sentimentality. Actually, rewind and erase that last bit, there is some sentimentality at play – middle aged dad forges a contrived relationship with a teenage runaway, who of course supplies surrogate daughter psychology. But this strand was necessary for the narrative to develop in a certain direction and reach a specific destination, so I can forgive it, especially as it seemed so crassly calculated and mechanical, slipped in to make a point. In fact, 'well oiled machine' pretty much sums up 'The Horseman', a spare, lean slice of brutality which seems every bit as down and dirty as its seventies exploitation counterparts. Recommended.

THE PACK – One of the lesser known entries in last decade's French horror renaissance – I'm being a bit lazy, but it's essentially that – 'The Pack' is a slightly confusing proposition which takes us from 'backwoods' type shenanigans through to full on monster action. It follows a footloose rocker who ends up in a rural dive with the hitchhiker she's picked up along the way. Surrounded by decrepit weirdoes in a beige cafe bar relic from the seventies, she ends up embroiled in a 'hidden captives behind the toilet walls' type scenario which threatens to go torture porn pretty quickly. This all gets interwoven with a local legend about creatures rising from the earth in the aftermath of a local mining incident (or something, can't quite remember). Things happen, and yes, said creatures rise from the earth and some bits of gore ensue, although alas there is too little of this for my liking. 'The Pack' skeeters from one approach to the next in a way which seems contrived to wrongfoot the audience, but to its credit it never feels too messy, or, if it does, it's only in a good way. There are plenty of strong points, and I liked the characters (some of them) and the quirky (I hate the word 'quirky', but I'm typing fast) milieu, and the creatures themselves did 'horror' pretty well, being strange blind things deathly white as maggots, with gnashing mandibles ready to do bad things to human flesh... I was left wanting more somehow, and the pacing seemed a bit off for such a short film. Definitely worth a look though, for Gallic admirers and anyone who likes slightly offbeat horror.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

The DVD I watched included Zombie 90, a film best viewed when either dead, on heroin or possessed by the ghost of some kind of pervert.

Why do i get the feeling this is a favourite of MTDS?

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Late Phases.

Had this purely been about a blind, angered, 'Nam Vet burying his dog for what seems like an eternity, I would have loved this film but loads of hairy arsed werewolves came along and spoilt it for me. It shifts from a rather fine if slightly shallow character study into a mad as f*ck A-Team style final that is both small and wildly over the top at the same time. Enjoyably odd and down beat.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Totally agree with your reviews Frankie.

Demonium i found almost unwatchable...almost!

The Horseman is one of those grimy Aussie films that mangles Wolf Creek for Breakfast and The Pack is full of Gallic madness. I remember buying The Pack at Asda along with Devil's Rock. Weirdly both films are on my shelf sat right next to The Horseman.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

Had this purely been about a blind, angered, 'Nam Vet burying his dog for what seems like an eternity, I would have loved this film

Try the Brian Cox film Red. That pretty much sums it up. And yes it's a terrific film.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Why do i get the feeling this is a favourite of MTDS?

I possess the ghosts of perverts not the other way round.

[Zann]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Zombie doom (aka violent shit 3)

3 blokes wash up on some island and end up sport for a bunch of nutters in metal masks. Plot-wise its wafer thin and makes no real rational sense. The dialogue is f******g dreadful, as if written by some kind of racist 10 year old who has taken a short break from Xbox live, lots of discussion about pissing on peoples shit, shitty uncles, puking at piss, pissing on puke and shitting at ****s.... you get the idea. The gore is sort of creative and the whole thing flat lines out into some kind of rotten terminal mess that is like a kind of vomit laden car crash involving clowns and german pornographers. If you want something really, really bad that will make you chuckle for the wrong reasons its probably worth ago. The DVD I watched included Zombie 90, a film best viewed when either dead, on heroin or possessed by the ghost of some kind of pervert.

I had Violent Shit Der Trilogie and Zombie 90 on DVD about 15 years ago and couldn't believe how dreadful they are. Nikos the Impaler is terrible too. I'm sure on imdb someone has given Violent Shit a very concise Spinal Tapesque review along the lines of "Shark sandwich. Shit sandwich".