What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1971)

Umberto Lenzi does himself proud here. The director of exploitation classic Cannibal Ferox (1981) really turns on the sleaze in the opening half hour of Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, treating us to four murders and three sequences of nudity in the opening 20 minutes. Setting his stall out from the get-go.

I like Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. Based on a story from German Krimi writer Edgar Wallace, it has a linear plot that's easy to follow. Basically, Antonio Sabato attempting to track down a savage killer who leaves crescent moon shaped pendants on his victims. A failed attempt to murder Uschi Glas gives Sabato chance before the killer realizes she's still alive.

It can be argued that Lenzi doesn't have the style of some of his contemporaries and whilst this is probably true his no-nonsense approach to film making benefits this film as the story races along. As well as Sabato and Glas, Lenzi assembles a first rate cast including the gorgeous Marisa Mell and Rosella Falk who has been in, and indeed been hideously murdered in several of the gialli i've watched recently. Her demise at the hands of Umberto Lenzi is just as memorable as it was in the hands of Luigi Bazzoni and Paolo Cavara.

A Giallo wouldn't be a Giallo without classy kills and Lenzi gives us a taste of things to come in the next decade with a plethora of inventive murders ranging from drowning (Hi Rosella) to power drills. He directs them with flair and no shortage of suspense. The film also has it's fair share of intrigue and plot subtleties especially when it comes to Mell's character. I'd forgotten the twist with her and it came as a pleasant surprise.

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, the title does mean something, isn't a top level example of Italian thriller cinema but it is a bloody (pun intended) good one.

[Frankie Teardrop]

MADMAN – You can tell it's going to be a bit strange right from the start. How many classic-era slashers start with a campfire a cappella? OK, maybe that's not massively weird in itself. But when that a cappella, which is cringeworthy by the way, pretty much covers the back-story of the 'madman' in question as bursts of grim prophecy concerning the fates of those blithely happy campers flash up on screen, you know the film you're watching isn't going to be standard fare. Although of course in many ways 'Madman' IS standard fare. It's about a bunch of kids in the woods, and there's a slasher around, and he pretty much kills them all, and that's about it – can't say squarer than that. 'Madman' rolls out in an odd way, however. It's an accumulation of things. There's an aspect of stylisation – the blue filtered interior of Madman Marz's cellar, the heavy handed juxtapositions which dominate the film's colour scheme, some of the cinematography, which is unusually impressive. There's awkward moments of pure clunk, like Gaylen Ross's hot tub hot love scene, soundtracked to perfection with plastic early eighties puke romance music. There are some actually tense scenes, nice backlit visuals and a good body pile up reveal at the end, but what stick in the mind more than anything are those arcane moments of silliness. That excalibur type thing with the axe – why? The bit where the campers line up head to head and finish other's faux philosophical sentences before one of them goes really weird with a knife but then it's all just a joke – why? I could go on, but I won't sleep tonight if I do. Apart from all this, 'Madman' just fumbles along, feeling a bit off with slightly wonky pacing and a vague general disjointedness. It's enough to give it a weird air, even though at base the most rigid slasher protocol is stringently observed. I've seen 'Madman' three times over the years, and it always catches me a bit unawares. I forget it's baffling nature, expecting just another slasher. Maybe I'm conning myself into seeing a (relative) richness which isn't really there – plenty of far more knowledgable horror fans than I see it as simply boring. It DOES sort of exemplify that whole 'walking around in the woods... again... for ages' thing. But before someone points out that I should try watching it when I'm sober, I haven't had any booze for three weeks, so for now I'll believe that the magic's there.

[keirarts]

Ghost Town

A sheriff's deputy is investigating the baffling disappearance of a local woman out in the desert when he is transported to a Ghost Town out somewhere in purgatory and forced to face off against a villainous demonic gun-slinger and his posse in an unusual mix of horror and western.
A charlie band cheapie, this has all the hallmarks of one of his productions. Small-ish cast, single location short and well paced. Here everything is shot in one of those old disused western theme towns and the film gets plenty of mileage out of it. Its released by scream factory on a nice looking blu-ray, region locked but its the sort of title 88 would pick up sooner or later.

Home invasion

Generic as f*** film starring Natasha Henstridge that plays out EXACTLY how you expect. Masked gang break in, Natasha plays cat and mouse games with them while assisted by the home security company who are monitoring the situation (playing quite similar to THE CALL). While its blatantly unoriginal its hard to really slag the film off too much as it delivers the story reasonably well and is professionally directed. I doubt this will make anyone's top 10's but its worth a look at least.

The Forest

Natalie Dormer

Natalie-Dormer-ann_3401741b.jpg

MMMMMM.....


The film itslef is flawed but interesting. Set in Japan's suicide forest, lovely natalie is looking for her twin sister who disappeared. Convinced her sister is still alive she heads in to the forest with an American travel writer and thats were things go awry. Its decent enough with one or two good scares, though it plays around with the 'it was all a dream' scares a bit too much, the whole suggestion that she might be going mad is another familiar trope. However its all put together well enough and worth spending some time over a beer with it. Glad I missed it at the cinema though.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Home invasion

Generic as f*** film starring Natasha Henstridge that plays out EXACTLY how you expect.

Oh good! Look forward to this one then! I have certain expectations with Ms. Henstridge.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

MADMAN

But before someone points out that I should try watching it when I'm sober, I haven't had any booze for three weeks, so for now I'll believe that the magic's there.

I've watched the dvd of this twice and just can't find any enjoyment in it. Don't know why really as it's the sort of thing i like.

A fine review Frankie. I know this as i want to actually give Madman another go. Surely a case of third time lucky.

[tele1962]

Watched again, simply breath taking:

[sjconstable]

Grimsby (2016) - 2/5

A surreal experience for me seeing my hometown depicted onscreen but filmed in Essex, and everyone speaking with a mixture of a Manchester and Yorkshire accent. As with Cohen's other fictional films, a great deal of the jokes just fall flat, as opposed to Borat and Bruno which are just hilarious throughout in my opinion. Definitely one of the stupidest films I've ever seen, there's a scene that takes the rhino scene from Ace Ventura 2 to a whole new level haha.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Ghost Town

A sheriff's deputy is investigating the baffling disappearance of a local woman out in the desert when he is transported to a Ghost Town out somewhere in purgatory and forced to face off against a villainous demonic gun-slinger and his posse in an unusual mix of horror and western.
A charlie band cheapie, this has all the hallmarks of one of his productions. Small-ish cast, single location short and well paced. Here everything is shot in one of those old disused western theme towns and the film gets plenty of mileage out of it. Its released by scream factory on a nice looking blu-ray, region locked but its the sort of title 88 would pick up sooner or later.

Home invasion

Generic as f*** film starring Natasha Henstridge that plays out EXACTLY how you expect. Masked gang break in, Natasha plays cat and mouse games with them while assisted by the home security company who are monitoring the situation (playing quite similar to THE CALL). While its blatantly unoriginal its hard to really slag the film off too much as it delivers the story reasonably well and is professionally directed. I doubt this will make anyone's top 10's but its worth a look at least.

The Forest

Natalie Dormer

Attachment 176039

MMMMMM.....


The film itslef is flawed but interesting. Set in Japan's suicide forest, lovely natalie is looking for her twin sister who disappeared. Convinced her sister is still alive she heads in to the forest with an American travel writer and thats were things go awry. Its decent enough with one or two good scares, though it plays around with the 'it was all a dream' scares a bit too much, the whole suggestion that she might be going mad is another familiar trope. However its all put together well enough and worth spending some time over a beer with it. Glad I missed it at the cinema though.

I have done endless research on Aokigahara and it is a truly heart breaking and very haunting place filled with so much pain and misery. Watching documentaries and seeing pictures of belongings left behind by people on their last journey is very moving. So after spending some time over the past few years gathering up as much information about the place i think i would find it hard to watch a film about the place that looks like its just for cheap scares.

Im not saying its in bad taste or that im offended you gotta try hard to offend me just ask a few of the regulars here they have been trying for years now .

[Dave Boy]

VOODOO MAN (1944)

Time to dip back into some more low budget horrors....

Dr Bela has his henchmen set up road diversions for ladies travelling alone so that they can kidnap them for his voodoo rituals.
He hopes that he can transfer the mind of one of the women into his 'dead' wife.

Enjoyable enough but lacking any real atmosphere. The only real horror here is the zombie women, failed experiments of Bela.
John Carradine is good as one of the dim henchmen.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Dave Boy

VOODOO MAN (1944)

Time to dip back into some more low budget horrors....

Dr Bela has his henchmen set up road diversions for ladies travelling alone so that they can kidnap them for his voodoo rituals.
He hopes that he can transfer the mind of one of the women into his 'dead' wife.

Enjoyable enough but lacking any real atmosphere. The only real horror here is the zombie women, failed experiments of Bela.
John Carradine is good as one of the dim henchmen.

Wouldn't surprise me if George Zucco stole the film from under Lugosi's nose.