What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

How on earth can anyone follow that post?

That'll teach you to visit Lancaster Keirarts.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Bridge of spies

So on Saturday I decide to go for a quick jaunt to Lancaster. Cue large scale flooding I discover I'm trapped. I make my way to morecambe where I can actually get an affordable hotel and after booking myself in decide to go see this. Well it was pretty good, what you would call a slow burner with a terrific script and some of Spielbergs best direction. However 10:30, right before the films ending the power fails.. and does not come back. … Still want to know what the hell happened at the end of the film.

Tonight I shall watch Eli Roths Knock knock and will probably hate it.

I saw Bridge of Spies last week and thought it was excellent – the third act is a brilliant culmination of everything which proceeded it, so it's worth going back to the cinema to watch it in its entirety. Mark Rylance is tds is best actor in the entire film and should be Oscar-nominated (if not a winner) for his portrayal of the Soviet spy. I don't mind admitting I had a tear in my eye at the end.

Funnily enough, I watched Knock Knock late last week and thought it was terrible.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Bridge of spies

So on Saturday I decide to go for a quick jaunt to Lancaster. Cue large scale flooding I discover I'm trapped. I make my way to morecambe where I can actually get an affordable hotel and after booking myself in decide to go see this. Well it was pretty good, what you would call a slow burner with a terrific script and some of Spielbergs best direction. However 10:30, right before the films ending the power fails.. and does not come back. Things started going a little crazy in the Hurricane that's outside so I head back to my hotel and huddle in the dark with sounds of chaos outside. Fellow guests decide to go on a rampage at this point looking for candles. The next morning the power is still off, nothings open. Needing food I walk the 3 1/4 miles into Lancaster to discover the same problems. I score a carrier bag full of pork scratchings, crisps, diet coke and head up through the chaos to the train station. Mobile phone signals are weak to non existent. I get to the train station and discover... no trains, Cumbria is underwater so no chance of getting home today. Ah well, I head back into Lancaster and hit up a Salvation Army truck for Hotdogs. I then head up to the Cathedral at the top of the hill, about the only place that has mobile signals and get through to my mum. with a little cunning I have her book a hotel online and have the confirmation sent to my phone. When the hotel staff are hesitant to let me in I thrust the text in their face and say 'booked!' Room sorted I head back into the city. I discover a chemists open that lets me buy some vitamin supplements, a polish shop where I buy some sausage and cheese and locate a bar thats still operating. I spend the best part of the day in the beer garden having an impromptu picnic. The bar runs out of beer and night falls, still no power. More shady folk in the city and no lights so I head back to the hotel and hide out until morning. Managed to get home this morning. Still want to know what the hell happened at the end of the film. Tonight I shall watch Eli Roths Knock knock and will probably hate it.

That whole post sounds like a movie in itself.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

The Ghoul (1933)





67/100

[keirarts]

Knock Knock

Ok, as an actual fan of Eli Roths work I have to say I was underwhelmed. Essentially a remake of Death game (aka The seducers) this one has a woefully miscast Keanu Reeves as a suburban upper-middle class family man who ends up getting what seems to be his dreams come true.. only for it to become a nightmare.
Its not dreadful, its not great either. As I said Reeves is miscast and really struggles with the role. He's not helped by a script that really falls flat on its arse with the girls calling reeves on of the 1%. Really?! he's and Architect, his wife's an artist, they seem to be doing ok but then that hardly makes him one of the 1%. Speaking of which, Architect is one of the laziest career choices that a screenwriter can pick for his central character. It's vague enough to not really need researching, all you need is to show someone at a board drawing buildings, and it suggests a career that involves the person being comfortably well off without being in an office all day. I do like the girls, their not exceptional but do their job well enough. Personally I would have preferred this a little sleazier and exploitative. Its too restrained and the end purpose of the film is really vague. I suspect that Roth is trying to show something about the bull**t that appears to be modern new wave feminism however it sort of falls on its ass.

Wolves

An odd one this. Basically a high school jock realises he's different and special. After believing he has killed and eaten his parents after turning into a wolf he hits the road and ends up in a community of wolves that he has connections to. It feels like some kind of young adult bullsh** however it at least delivers on the gore and some nudity. It ultimately hovers in a zone that is neither hardcore horror or young adult nonsense. It is however entertaining enough once you get past the annoying voice over that disappears after the first act. Extra credit to the film as well for the casting of Stephen Mchattie (pontypool) an actor I really like.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

As part of my quest to see every film made in 1979...

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

How far have you got?

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Lawdy, I've no idea, as I haven't been keeping a proper list

I see a slight flaw with your plan!

[gag]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Cheers again Frankie, keep em coming!!

Watched Island Of The Fishmen (1979, Sergio Martino)

As part of my quest to see every film made in 1979, I've had to wade through a few stinkers. This isn't one, though it came close. The bloke from The Haunting and a Bond girl (haha) run this island right? So take care not to be shipwrecked on it. Sadly for our protagonists this is what transpires. basically a Moreau ripoff, this runs out of steam way before the conclusion. Shame. least of his films that I've seen so far.

Nekromantik 2 dispatched btw. Thursday apparently.

Certainly different. To see every film from 79 that must be some task. Got be harder than you think with amount of films that get realeased. But sounds interesting and a lot of fun the at the same time.
But here a few firm favourites of mine. From that year. I googled them to check they where 79 and not 78 or 80
None need no introduction and you should know them.
The warriors fantastic cult film seen so many times yet never gets boring.
Wanderers another great watch
Life of Brian its monty python what more needs to be said.
The champ the only film ive actualy cried at.
The brood David cronenberg and oliver reed at their finest.
Quadrophenia. British film making at its finest
Scum oh yes ray winston in his debut kicking of. Up youre ****ing borstal.
Grest watching this now its a bit like who's who because at the time you wouldnt have knowm some of the actors :and others wernt well known faces till a few year later...

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE NAIL GUN MASSACRE – Another entry in the 'power tool abuse' sub-genre, 'The Nail Gun Massacre' comes from 1985 although possibly seems much older because it looks as scuzzy as hell. This one definitely reeks of regional aesthetics – everything about its threadbare sets, ugly nudity, awful non-performances and woeful effects work points in the direction of a true poverty row indie. Although it's little more than some murder scenes interrupted by a mullet-oriented police investigation, there is some semblance of a story going on in the background, something about a woman who was raped in the grounds of a local DIY warehouse and a dude in sci-fi crash helmet who avenges her with titular nail gun. A few notes on said killer – clearly inspired by the era's prevailing hegemony around wise cracking slashers a la Freddie Kruger, 'The Nail Gun' massacre's bad guy can't get through a single slaying without garnishing it with at least a couple of tasty one liners, delivered in an android voice courtesy of his special helmet. Not many of these gags are in any way amusing, most are inaudible and some don't really make sense – my fave must be his little quip after offing two teens: “Sorry guys, I guess you just don't understand”. What, like “yes of course I understand your need to murder me, you f*cking arsehole”. Maybe he was speaking for the film as a whole though, because 'The Nail Gun Massacre' is pretty inexplicable. We've all seen movies this cheap before. Some of them are rubbish and feel like they've disappeared into oblivion before we've even finished watching them, but some of them glow with a strange luminescence even though everything about them shouldn't really work. 'The Nail Gun Massacre' is definitely one of the latter. There's just something about it all, the ultra drab landscape of run down work places, quarries, fast food joints and country roads, the oddness of the killer, the free-form repetitiveness of scene after scene, the fact that some of the players sound like they're making their stumbling lines up on the spot (and speaking them into a really bad tape recorder), the characters who are introduced, hang around for long enough to seem vaguely pivotal, then disappear, the fact that a bad sex scene is scored by a song called “Fussball” which plays twice in succession... it's an intoxicating brew when taken all at once. At least, it works that way for me as I write these words, now. I'll call it a minimalist trash classic before I do a double take and realise that it's actually boring, badly made sludge, which it could equally well be.

WE STILL KILL THE OLD WAY – Chavsploitation meets new skool Brit gangster flick in this preposterous but entertaining yarn with slightly curdled undertones. Basically, an old ex-East End type gangster is murdered by a 'crew' of leering tracksuit wearers, led by a spectacularly obnoxious Danny-Boy Hatchard. Ex-gangster's bother (the great Ian Ogilvy) rounds up a posse of similar elderly psychopaths with a view to eliminating these young whippersnappers. 'We Still Kill The Old Way' is structured like a revenge flick. It knows which buttons to press, and leaves its audience in no doubt who the righteous are and that the scum-who-must-be-killed richly deserve their fate a thousand times over. It's highly skillful in this department, because even a bleeding heart liberal with wannabe socialist tendencies such as myself was cheering those dear old guys on when they were driving spikes into the kneecaps of trembling hoodies. That's what's quite interesting about 'We Still Kill The Old Way' – yeah, on one level it's about good old British pension age geezers not taking any shit anymore and showing 'em how it's done, but take a step back and you have a nightmarish movie about a group of elderly men who clearly revel in the torture and murder of socially deprived youngsters... most slasher flicks have less dubious dynamics at base. Whether this realisation adds to or subtracts from your interest and enjoyment probably depends on how twisted you are, but whereas the viewing public saw an actioner based on generational conflict, I see a potentially quite mental exploitation film with a fairly nasty undercarriage. All of which serves to recommend it as far as I'm concerned. However you choose to see it, 'We Still Kill The Old Way' hurtles along at a frenetic pace, doling out violence and tension until the ridiculous climax, a hospital based shoot out. I don't know about you, but frankly I found the zombie hospital invasion of 'Nightmare City' to be a more realistic proposition. But maybe that's ultimately what works about 'We Still Kill The Old Way' – for all its urban realist trappings, it's really not that grounded in any kind of reality at all. Dynamic, winning, with the likes of Ogilvy and Lysette Anthony sometimes charming, but deep down pretty nasty and fairly bizarre... not that much different from one of those delightful old time murderer dudes, then.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

WE STILL KILL THE OLD WAY – That's what's quite interesting about 'We Still Kill The Old Way' – yeah, on one level it's about good old British pension age geezers not taking any shit anymore and showing 'em how it's done, but take a step back and you have a nightmarish movie about a group of elderly men who clearly revel in the torture and murder of socially deprived youngsters... most slasher flicks have less dubious dynamics at base. Whether this realisation adds to or subtracts from your interest and enjoyment probably depends on how twisted you are, but whereas the viewing public saw an actioner based on generational conflict, I see a potentially quite mental exploitation film with a fairly nasty undercarriage. All of which serves to recommend it as far as I'm concerned.

More often than not the victims in slasher films don't usually beat and stab someone to death in broad daylight under a railway bridge to make Michael, Jason, whoever, exact bloody revenge. It's not like the victims in this were happy go lucky teens just drinking and ****ing.

Although Ogilvy and crew clearly reveled in what they were doing it was methods they used to do when they ruled the streets hence the film's title.

I loved their methods and i loved the film. Brutal but oh so satisfying. I remember feeling the adrenaline pumping as i watched it.

Great reviews by the way Frankie.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

More often than not the victims in slasher films don't usually beat and stab someone to death in broad daylight under a railway bridge to make Michael, Jason, whoever, exact bloody revenge. It's not like the victims in this were happy go lucky teens just drinking and ****ing.

Although Ogilvy and crew clearly reveled in what they were doing it was actions they used to do when they ruled the streets hence the film's title.

I loved their methods and i loved the film. Brutal but oh so satisfying. I remember feeling the adrenaline pumping as i watched it.

Great reviews by the way Frankie.

I always feel uncomfortable with the Old Testament attitude of revenge flicks. It's more about being manipulated than anything else - as you said of yourself, my adrenalin was also zinging when I saw this one. I guess we can all make decisions about how far we let a film affect us, though.
The other, creepy aspect of WSKTOW - well, that's partly down to me wearing my social worker hat, but I also thought that it made it more interesting in a twisted kind of way.