What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[iank]

I rented The Gift last night on the strength of good reviews, Frankly I was bored out of my brain within ten minutes. By the half hour point I had lost the will to live. Utterly uncharismatic actors/uninteresting characters, glacial pacing... yawnarama. This is supposed to be a thriller? Aren't thrillers supposed to be, you know... thrilling? God, I hate modern movies 99% of the time.
The only interesting thing about it was the trailer for Regression at the start of the Blu, which I'm assuming means it's coming soon and straight to Blu down here. Because clearly Sisters deserves a cinema release more.

Happy fecking New Year.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)

An aspiring young model's attempt to create a portfolio turns sour when the three men who set up the shoot turn up at her apartment, rape and drug her until she's unconscious. When she wakes up she finds she's no longer in New York but a dank cellar in Bulgaria where her worst nightmares are only just beginning.

Once you get past the hows and whys of the fact she wakes up in Bulgaria, I Spit 2 is a very brutal and extremely dark rape / revenge thriller. The ordeal Katie goes through is extremely harrowing and doesn't make for pleasant viewing. Not that the revenge part in the final third is a barrel of laughs either. From what i read the UK version omits the scenes where the nude and battered girl is urinated on and also much of her torture via the stun gun.

It's a well made film, nice and slick, featuring great direction and production values, it's also well acted from all concerned. Once Katie gets away from her attackers and exacts her revenge her character becomes a lot stronger than it was in the early sequences allowing you to root for her. Whilst you could never describe her revenge as fun it is creative and very violent, in fact ball crushingly so and grips you like a vice.

Although there are nastier films out there, I Spit 2 isn't for everyone and i'd recommend caution before seeing this uncut version.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

My first film of 2016...

Vigilante (1983)





67/100

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

My first film of 2016...

Vigilante (1983)



67/100

Still got this on pre-cert.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)

After loving the first Dead Snow film i had hopes for this sequel. Unfortunately Red vs Dead isn't a patch on its 2009 predecessor.

Where this fell flat to me was the way it ramped up the comedy aspects making it more tongue in cheek and becoming less of a horror film and more of a comedy. Dead Snow got away with it due to the novelty value of Nazi zombies and great gore in addition to characters played largely straight. Red vs. Dead has far too many comedy characters such as The Zombie Squad which failed to work. Tonally it all seemed just too light hearted.

It's not all bad though. It's still gory with decent CGI as well as practical effects, and i was impressed the producers actually got themselves a working Tiger tank which added a lot to the fun of the film. The final showdown between undead Russian soldiers and the Nazi zombies works well and is a nicely choreographed battle.

One final thought. The next time you hear Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart...what will you think of?

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

As you know I didn't care for the first Dead Snow much at all and whilst the sequel is still flawed, I actually slightly preferred it over the first one. I found the comedy in the first one to be more awkward and annoying whilst the comedy here, whilst still grating at times, at least flowed with the plot a lot better.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)

I enjoyed this because it's good fun but, like you say, it pales in comparison to the brilliant first film. Oddly, I wasn't overly disappointed in the same way that I was with Kick-Ass 2, another vastly inferior sequel.

[keirarts]

Star wars episode VII: The force awakens.

First film of 2016 and still holds up on its third viewing. Lots of small things I didn't notice first time around, like the cast of the raid turning up. Given that Hateful 8 and The revenant are both hitting uk cinemas soon this may be the last time I go see it on the big screen (for the first run at least)

Anyway, I need something a bit more 'culty' so film number 2 of the new year is going to be Nekromantik 2!

[Dave Boy]

THE GREEN INFERNO (2013)

I had low expectations after reading reviews but I this is actually pretty good.
There are some stupid scenes but the good overweigh the bad. You are really only rooting for the main girl as most the others are a bunch of asses from the start. Some good gore scenes that should please everyone. Could of, and should of been a so much better film but this is still worth checking out.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

VENDETTA

Dean Cain plays a cop who gets himself sent to prison to avenge the death of his wife by WWE's Big Show...

This is a balls out exploiter from start to finish with little in the way of plot or character development. To be honest there isn't enough time for such complications as Cain goes on a rampage through the prison maiming and killing bad guys in between having the shit kicked out of him...and that's it really. Fun.

THE DUFF

Excellent High School set comedy about the perils of being a DUFF: designated, ugly, fat friend. More in the style of EASY A and 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU than recent OTT teen comedies. Recommended.