What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[keirarts]

Dracula

In fairness to Franco's Dracula you can tell the point the cash ran out. a large portion of the film is eerie gothic atmosphere which then descends into silliness with some of the more pornier aspects of Franco's other works sadly missing. I still feel its a nice antidote to the Hammer stuff which was threatening at that point to become a bit hackneyed. chris Lee is terrific as the count and the film looks bloody marvelous on blu-ray.

Die murderklinik

Apparently bridges the gap between classic Italian Gothic and the modern Giallo set at a clinic where the patients are being murdered one by one by a hooded maniac. Lots of late 60's fun that feels like a mash up of asylum erotica and red queen kills seven times, worth a go.

[Nordicdusk]

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Im having a guest reviewer for this one

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[iank]

I went to the cinema today and saw Goosebumps. I'm not in the slightest bit familiar with the books or the TV series, but I thought it looked quite fun from the trailer and it was a laugh. Nothing special but I liked Jack Black and Odeya Rush and it had a very 90s throwback feel to it, which is rarely a bad thing. Fun.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

French 'Noir' double:

Diabolically Yours (Diaboliquement vôtre) (1967)



A mysterious and fairly engrossing little oddity starring Alain Delon as a man suffering from amnesia after a car accident. As he begins to recover his memories he starts to realise that his life and the people around him aren't exactly how he remembers his life to be before his accident...



71/100


The Killer Strikes at Dawn (L'Assassin frappe Ã* l'aube) (1970)



An fairly odd and mildly entertaining tale revolving around a lonely, neglected husband who befriends an artist, ends up taking magic mushrooms only to awake to find his wife dead... the worry being that he may have accidentally killed her.

Interesting to note that one of film's alternative titles is Le champignon (The Mushroom).



56/100

[Nordicdusk]

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A troubled teen runs away from home to the big city to be with her boyfriend and escape her life living with parents that hate each other and fight constantly. Once in the big city her first surprise is realising her boyfriend lives in a run down condemned building filled with junkies drug dealers transsexual prostitute and a couple of homosexual S&M Nazis. People in the building start getting sick and developing massive puss filled soars all over their skin which makes them hallucinate and turn on who ever is nearest to them.

I quite enjoyed this one the acting was a real mixed bag but the gore effects were pretty well done there is not real deep story here just a bit of fun watching people go crazy. Worth a watch.

7/10

[Nordicdusk]

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Kent is a hard working and loving father so when he gets the chance to save the day at his sons birthday he does not even have to think twice about it. When the entertainment company mess put the clown booking for his sons birthday Kent must take his place and entertain all the kids at the party. Kent uses a Clown costume he finds in a chest at an old house he is working on. After his act goes down a storm with both the kids and his son Kent passes out on the couch after a tiring but rewarding day. But the good times fade rapidly when the wig nose and suit can not be removed. What starts out as a bit of a joke soon turns nasty and spirals out of control and take a toll both physically and mentally on Kent and his whole family.

Some great effects on show here and the clown increases in creepiness every time he is on screen. Both the story and the acting a pretty strong and there is a real sinister dark tone. Recommended

8/10

[Nordicdusk]

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A loved up couple from the city head out to the woods for a romantic break from the rat race. The location is beautiful and again the acting is pretty decent until some asshole shows up with one of those Irish accents from a 1940s cartoon you know the stereotypical Boston police commissioner so this trip started loosing point from early on. I went into this with the notion that i would be watching two people surviving the elements,hunger and a pissed off black bear. What i got was an hour of two people walking through the woods sleeping and arguing. I wanted to see people getting taught a lesson from nature and being told alright mate your in my backyard now and we are gonna play by my rules son. That never happened and the bear is in it twice and boom its over. The last half an hour was more like a instrumental music video. This was a wasted opportunity a real shame.

This one gets a low score but deserves an even lower score was it not for the beauty of the woods and the beautiful bear i dont think i would of ratted this one at all or maybe i should of called in Mr Shatner to help me out again.

4/10

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Knives of the Avenger (1966)

Mario Bava's third and final team up with Hollywood western star Cameron Mitchell is a lively Viking epic.

Amusingly the film is practically a direct remake of the classic 1953 western Shane in which a weary gunfighter settles down with a woman and her son out in the wilds but soon becomes involved in a violent cattle ranch war.

Yes the cattle ranch war is replaced by viking squabbles but the story is much the same, especially how the son comes to idealize Mitchel as the father he never knew. The similarities aren't a problem though. Shane is a good western and Knives of the Avenger is a fine historical actioner from Bava.

Mitchell as always is pretty good value as our avenging hero, although at times he does look a little odd with his dyed blonde hair, dark stubble and strangely grey eyebrows. The rest of the cast complement Mitchell well. The bulk of the first two thirds are spent solely in the company of the lovely Lisa Wagner and her son, Moki, played by Louis Polletin. In some respects the film stands or falls on Polletin's performance. If he'd failed to convince or become irritating as Brandon De Wilde did in Shane then it would have ruined the film. Fortunately he's largely excellent and the quiet family scenes play out rather well.

The final third is where the bulk of the action is. Mitchell coming into conflict with the ruthless Hagen and his war with King Arald as played by Fausto Tozzi and the ever watchable Giacomo Rossi Stuart, perhaps one of the unsung heroes of sixties and seventies Italian cinema and every bit as good, if not better than the usual suspects - Merli, Franco, Testi, Merenda etc.

Bava directs the film with pace and gives it a frantic urgency in the many fight scenes, not to mention some typically fine photography during the quieter scenes.

Knives of the Avenger is one of the lesser known Bava films, but came out when the director was at his prolific best in the mid sixties, and is more than worthy of your attention.

[Nordicdusk]

Easy to get hold of Dem ?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Easy to get hold of Dem ?

You should have it in the region 2 Mario Bava box set.