What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Murder Mansion (1972)

A disparate group of strangers trying to escape a pea souper fog find themselves holed up at an old dark house. Once there they meet the beautiful Martha (Ida Galli) with all sorts of horrors awaiting them.

I really like this Spanish / Italian co-production. Similar to the following years Seven Dead in the Cat's Eye (1973) the film brings the genres of Gothic horror and Gialli crashing into one another with wondrous results.

The film plays with Gothic staples like vampires and the un-dead but it is the classic old dark house creepiness that works best of all. The initial plot is strikingly similar to James Whale's classic 1932 film - The Old Dark House - as the group of strangers are randomly thrown together with the seemingly odd folks who reside there. Whereas Whale had Karloff hulking about and a pyromaniac locked away upstairs, Murder Mansion has supernatural elements and in true giallo style a possible killer round every corner.

The Gothic horror is the main draw for me. Director Francisco Lara Polop creates a beautifully creepy landscape from the shadowy house to the stunning fog bound graveyard which echoes the best of the Corman / Poe films of the 60's.

For a giallo there's minimal blood and no nudity whatsoever. My dvd looks fairly poor at times and is clearly a nth generation vhs print which looks like it could have been cut for violence and nudity, but i'm not too sure. As with the aforementioned Corman / Poe cycle, Murder Mansion works on a subtler level, playing on audience reaction to characters fears rather than on screen violence. The fact some of the editing seems 'sharp' - well, many Italian films of the time seemingly suffered this problem.

The film sports some fantastic set pieces, including the lovely AnalÃ*a Gadé in a strong performance, seemingly being stalked round the house and grounds with only a flickering flame for protection. Polop directs these sequences with skill and creates suitable tension and generally maintains an all round air of creepy weirdness throughout.

In among the general eeriness, red herrings await in customary giallo fashion and the film finishes with a fun practically Scooby Doo style big reveal ending.

Murder Mansion is a fine film and is begging for a suitable restoration and re-release.

I'm liking the sound of this one.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I'm liking the sound of this one.

Yeah, one for the watch list for sure.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Yeah, one for the watch list for sure.

Have you not seen it either?

I've had it since about 2006.

When you do a Google image search there are one or two widescreen ones in decent quality but i don't know the source dvd.

I'd pick it up if i could find it...at a reasonable price of course.

I suppose it could be this one below. But £50 is a big gamble to find out.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Have you not seen it either?

I've had it since about 2006.

When you do a Google image search there are one or two widescreen ones in decent quality but i don't know the source dvd.

I'd pick it up if i could find it...at a reasonable price of course.

I suppose it could be this one below. But £50 is a big gamble to find out.

Unfortunately not.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to splash anything near that. I've already done a brief search on Youtube and come up empty - otherwise I would have maybe even watched it later on today!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Unfortunately not.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to splash anything near that. I've already done a brief search on Youtube and come up empty - otherwise I would have maybe even watched it later on today!

I have this release.



I couldn't recommend it even at £5.50 delivered though.

I've watched it a few times over the years, so it is watchable, just poor quality.

[trebor8273]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1458758060.868629.jpg

Well that was a lot better than I was expecting from the reviews, most made it sound like a unwatchable mess , don't get we wrong it has problems and won't win any awards but was very enjoyable with likeable characters and an interesting story and some gruesome special effects . It's worth a watch especially for fans of van diesel or fantasy /horror. Basic story is Kaulder(diesel)kills the witch queen hundreds of years ago and is cursed by her with immortally. Fast forward 800 years to modern times Kaulder is working with the axe and rose a group of priests that work with the witches council to keep peace, when he's friend of 50 years (Micheal Caine) is murdered Kaulder Fears something more sinister is going on and sets out with his Caines replacement (Elijah Wood) and good witch Chloe to figure out was going on 7.7/10

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Attachment 176988

Well that was a lot better than I was expecting from the reviews, most made it sound like a unwatchable mess , don't get we wrong it has problems and won't win any awards but was very enjoyable with likeable characters and an interesting story and some gruesome special effects . It's worth a watch especially for fans of van diesel or fantasy /horror. Basic story is Kaulder(diesel)kills the witch queen hundreds of years ago and is cursed by her with immortally. Fast forward 800 years to modern times Kaulder is working with the axe and rose a group of priests that work with the witches council to keep peace, when he's friend of 50 years (Micheal Caine) is murdered Kaulder Fears something more sinister is going on and sets out with his Caines replacement (Elijah Wood) and good witch Chloe to figure out was going on 7.7/10

Sounds okay to me. I like Vin Diesel so thought i'd give it a go at some point anyway.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Sounds okay to me. I like Vin Diesel so thought i'd give it a go at some point anyway.

It's not terrible neither is a great movie, but as I said worth a watch and I've always enjoyed most of vin diesels stuff and don't understand the hate he gets from some quarters

[Justin101]

Just watched 10 Cloverfield Lane, I really enjoyed it. It's a very claustrophobic film where the majority of it takes place in an underground bunker and a cast of 4 people in the entire movie. My only complaint is that the ending seems tracked on and different in tone to the first 90 minutes. Worth a go anyway as the acting is fantastic.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Terror Within (1989)

Feeble Corman produced sci-fi horror which rips off Alien and Aliens not to mention Corman's own Forbidden World and Galaxy of Terror.

Yes, the man in a rubber suit creature looks quite impressive, at least in close up and the gore effects are well done. However uninspired direction ensures tension is never built up and even the presence of Andrew Stevens and George Kennedy fail to convince that The Terror Within is more of a turkey than a monster.