What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[keirarts]

What the peeper saw


I have to admit I had no idea this one was directed by Andrea Bianchi!
Britt Ekland stars as the young bride to a middle aged widower who goes to live with him and his young son in Spain.
Pretty soon she's getting creeped out by her hubbies son who has come home after being suspended from school, he's a bit of a perv and tries groping Britt but then how can you really blame him? Things take a darker turn as it looks more & more likely that he killed his mother.
This is a film that would be unlikely to fly today given some of the plot elements including a sequence where Britt interrogates the boy while stripping off. Things also get a bit weirder and its suggested that it might be Britt that's going mad. The films lacks a real pace or sleaziness to make it a classic but its totally serviceable and the ending is nuts.

Giallo

Had anyone but Argento directed this its reputation would be one of a mid-level quality Giallo with a few interesting ideas thrown in that don't always work as they should. However watch it as an Argento movie and the review reverts to this....

shit.jpg

honestly thoudh, second time around and I have to say on its own merit its alright. Having Brody play the killer and the Detective was a nice idea and it has some genuine sadism in places but it just feels flat and lifeless and lacks any od the passion or drive of something like Deep red.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Giallo

Had anyone but Argento directed this its reputation would be one of a mid-level quality Giallo with a few interesting ideas thrown in that don't always work as they should. However watch it as an Argento movie and the review reverts to this....

honestly thoudh, second time around and I have to say on its own merit its alright. Having Brody play the killer and the Detective was a nice idea and it has some genuine sadism in places but it just feels flat and lifeless and lacks any od the passion or drive of something like Deep red.

In all truth Argento hasn't made an Argento film worthy of the name since Opera in the late 80's. One or two decent attempt like Sleepless and the fun Mother of Tears but nothing you could call top level.

As you say, Giallo isn't a bad film and is certainly better than quite a few from the 70's.

Sometimes i wish people like us could forget the old Argento. Much of his best work is forty years old now, and just see him as another horror/thriller director.

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Sometimes i wish people like us could forget the old Argento.

I prefer to forget the new Argento

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Frozen Ground (2013)

Intriguing and deliciously moody fact based thriller stars Nicolas Cage as an Alaskan state trooper on the trail of a serial killer. Vanessa Hudgens plays a young prostitute who escapes the killers clutches following a terrifying ordeal.

Being based on the true story of Robert Hansen also known as the Butcher Baker, and taken from the account of Cindy Paulson, here played by Hudgens, the film sticks largely to fact without feeling the need to have sensational set pieces or added thrills for the sake of it. Set in 1983, the crux of the story is Cage having to convince his superiors he's after the same man who raped and murdered 17 other women in the region throughout the previous decade, whilst also protecting Hudgens from a killer intent on finishing what he started.

Cage is good as the detective, steering clear of the often manic turns that often plague his films and John Cusack is excellent as Hansen. Is it just me or is Cusack actually starting to look like a serial killer in real life now he's getting older and lost his youthful exuberance? However the star of the show is Vanessa Hudgens. An actress challenging herself as she approaches 30 (although from her looks you'd never know it) and moving ever further away from the squeaky clean roles of her youth.

There's some great location filming in and around Anchorage and the whole thing has that stark cold feel you'd expect from Alaska which creates a suitably atmospheric air in this uncompromising procedural thriller.

Recommended.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Frozen Ground (2013)

Intriguing and deliciously moody fact based thriller stars Nicolas Cage as an Alaskan state trooper on the trail of a serial killer. Vanessa Hudgens plays a young prostitute who escapes the killers clutches following a terrifying ordeal.

Being based on the true story of Robert Hansen also known as the Butcher Baker, and taken from the account of Cindy Paulson, here played by Hudgens, the film sticks largely to fact without feeling the need to have sensational set pieces or added thrills for the sake of it. Set in 1983, the crux of the story is Cage having to convince his superiors he's after the same man who raped and murdered 17 other women in the region throughout the previous decade, whilst also protecting Hudgens from a killer intent on finishing what he started.

Cage is good as the detective, steering clear of the often manic turns that often plague his films and John Cusack is excellent as Hansen. Is it just me or is Cusack actually starting to look like a serial killer in real life now he's getting older and lost his youthful exuberance? However the star of the show is Vanessa Hudgens. An actress challenging herself as she approaches 30 (although from her looks you'd never know it) and moving ever further away from the squeaky clean roles of her youth.

There's some great location filming in and around Anchorage and the whole thing has that stark cold feel you'd expect from Alaska which creates a suitably atmospheric air in this uncompromising procedural thriller.

Recommended.

I liked it too. Have you seen Cusack in The Paperboy?

[trebor8273]

Not as good as the first but still highly enjoyable thanks to Jeffrey a combs as West and some great gore. The picture quality is superb 7.5/10



400 years after his death a samurai's frozen body is found and moved to L.A by a company that studies cryogenics. The samurai awakens and soon escapes and has a run in with a street gang killing them. It's not long until both the police and the company are hunting him down, his only help is from a young woman who is a student of Japanese history. Basically a fish out of water story with the samurai trying to make sense of the world he lives in and keeping his sense of honour. Ok but nothing spectacular,would of been a lot better if they focused more on him and the street gang element than him being hunted down. 6.3/10


17 years after a woman is raped on the wedding night, she and her husband return to the town where the rape took place to try and find the man that raped her, in a effort to save their son who has developed some strange genetic disorder. It's not long before we find something is being hidden by members of the town, not long after people start to turn up brutally murdered. Found it more of a possession movie than a creature feature, with some lovecraft references. 7.9/10

Tonight's viewings

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I liked it too. Have you seen Cusack in The Paperboy?

No i haven't. I don't think i've even heard of it.

[nosferatu42]

Turbo Kid

maxresdefault.jpg


This pic basically sums up my response to the film perfectly.
Needed a bit of cheering up and this did the job.
A great homage/ pastiche to 80's sci-fi b movies, with a post apocalyptic wasteland and an orphaned boy who meets a totally endearingly nuts girl, and has to contend with a evil Michael Ironside and his henchmen.
Everybody rides BMX's to the sound of 80's style synth music, which is cool.
But wait there's more, throw in a large amount of Bad Taste/Braindead style splatter and a quite touching relationship between the two kids and you get a dose of B movie heaven.
I loved it and its going straight into my apocalyptic top ten this week( when i finally get round to it).
(9/10 on first impression and i'm already itching to re-watch it.)
Maybe i'm being overly generous but when a movie makes you feel as good as this did then i'll take the risk.
Recommended.

Oh it's on netflix by the way.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

No i haven't. I don't think i've even heard of it.

Lurid Deep South. Weird characters and weird bits. It's well worth a watch, Dem.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

Lurid Deep South. Weird characters and weird bits. It's well worth a watch, Dem.

Nicole Kidman pissing on Zac Efron, what more do you need to know!