What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Frankie Teardrop]

DEATH NURSE – 'Death Nurse' comes from Nick Millard's late eighties camcorder period. If you've seen the even more obscure 'Dr Bloodbath', you'll know what to expect – namely, the director's friends and family putting on a show in the Millard house, a show which involves lots of static shots of people talking, scooping out ice cream, preparing invoices, digging holes. Some horror bits get thrown in, probably at points when Millard remembered he was making a film called 'Death Nurse', rather than 'What I Did Around The House On My Days Off'. 'Death Nurse' follows a nurse / doctor duo who run a private clinic which looks just like a suburban house (because that's exactly what it is, see above). They've hit on a scam to murder their patients, then bill the medical authorities for 'the treatment'. Millard's wife plays an alcoholic patient. 'Dr Bloodbath' himself, a dude with a serious hangdog expression on loan from some seventies French comedy, is here under a different name. If this account gives you the impression that things actually happen during 'Death Nurse', don't be fooled – it's more about people wandering around looking vacant and confused, wondering if what they're doing actually counts as being in a movie. 'Death Nurse' runs for about an hour, but even so, Nick Millard couldn't get enough mileage out of filming people hanging out, so he drafted in whole sequences from his seventies post-HG Lewis classic 'Criminally Insane' to pad things out. As shameless as this is, his use of his own stock footage isn't quite as inspired as it was when he pulled off the same trick in 'Dr Bloodbath' – here, we get 'Criminally Insane's horror scenes, whereas in 'Dr Bloodbath' he lifted shots of someone mopping their kitchen! All of this would be intolerable if 'Death Nurse' didn't have a certain 'something'. Whilst the bulk of the 'shock' of seeing something like 'Death Nurse' can be put down to its brazenly anti-cinematic qualities, there's also a weird experimental artiness about the way Millard does things that comes through here, whether this be about shots, compositions, use of repetition etc. There's also (I think) a self consciousness and humour at work, although for me this detracts a little – I prefer this kind of freakiness to be played dead straight. By now, having read this review, you'll already have decided whether 'Death Nurse' is something you'd consider watching at all. I'd hesitate to call it a classic of unintentional surrealism or similar, but it is from that strange realm of films which, with time, seem more like things you've dreamed about rather than watched.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

This past week's viewings:

Beware! The Blob (1972)



56/100


Zaat (1971)



27/100


Dear Dead Delilah (1972)



59/100


The Fury of the Wolf Man (La furia del Hombre Lobo) (1972)



53/100


Grave of the Vampire (1972)



52/100


Moon of the Wolf (1972)



52/100


The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972)



57/100


Alabama's Ghost (1973)



51/100


Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)



64/100


Performance (1970)



81/100

[Inspector Abberline]

Chas: [to Mick Jagger] You're a comical little geezer. You'll look funny when you're fifty.

how true he was.

[J Harker]

Took my lad to watch the new Jungle Book film this morn.
I've never been a fan of the old Disney cartoon. Easily one of their worst. I just find it silly and the kid irritating. So i was expecting much the same from Jon Favreu's new live action epic. I was wrong, an intelligent expanded storyline, stunning effects and brilliant voice work from Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray and especially Christopher Walken. And the kid played by newcomer Neel Sethi is very good too.
I really enjoyed it.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Took my lad to watch the new Jungle Book film this morn.
I've never been a fan of the old Disney cartoon. Easily one of their worst. I just find it silly and the kid irritating. So i was expecting much the same from Jon Favreu's new live action epic. I was wrong, an intelligent expanded storyline, stunning effects and brilliant voice work from Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray and especially Christopher Walken. And the kid played by newcomer Neel Sethi is very good too.
I really enjoyed it.

I love the original Jungle Book, and really want to see the adaptation of the book. I've heard mixed things about it, which will enable me to have a fairly clean slate when I watch it, which will hopefully be this coming week.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I love the original Jungle Book, and really want to see the adaptation of the book. I've heard mixed things about it, which will enable me to have a fairly clean slate when I watch it, which will hopefully be this coming week.

Maybe it helped that i weren't expecting much but i really liked it and will definitely be picking it up on blu.

[Justin101]

I watched The Jungle Book yesterday as well and I did enjoy it. The kid who plays Mowgli is the worst thing about it, but a) it's his first acting gig and b) he's the only actual person in the film so you can easily forgive him. There are some great action scenes, a splash of comedy and even some intense drama. It also looks fantastic.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Lost River (2014)

Actor Ryan Gosling makes his directorial debut with this haunting film that plays like an adult fairy tale much reminiscent of David Lynch and Nicolas Winding Refn. It's not surprising it has the look and feel of Refn as he was probably Gosling's muse and chief influence.

The film centers on financially strapped mother, Christina Hendricks, who is offered a job in a club, by her bank manager!?, where acts involving torture and mutilation top the bill. Meanwhile her quiet unassuming son (Iain De Caestecker) just wants to get on with his existence and a blossoming romance with the delightfully named Rat, (Saoirse Ronan) which brings him to the attention of a local nut job (Matt Smith) who runs their practically no-go neighbourhood after dark.

Gosling's film is certainly interesting, visually it's fascinating and keeps you watching over the 90 minutes, however it's also challenging viewing but mainly down to it's lack of focus and narrative structure. It's the Lynchian Twin Peaks aspects of the nightmarish club and the night time world that come over the more stimulating but it's lack of coherence lingers longer in the memory than anything else on screen.

Where Gosling's film certainly does work is in the performances. For a first time director he brings together a terrific list of actors. Hendricks is excellent. (Her face peeling stage act is harrowing viewing), Ronan is ever watchable, as is Eva Mendes. Gosling also brings out a terrific scenery chewing performance from Matt Smith who is as far away from his Doctor Who role as could be imagined.

Lost River comes across as a bit of a missed opportunity and too much like it's influences, having said that it is one that was interesting enough to demand a re-view in the future.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

I also found Lost River to be a very interesting viewing experience Dem, and it's certainly one I want to revisit in the near future too to see how I take to it second time around.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I also found Lost River to be a very interesting viewing experience Dem, and it's certainly one I want to revisit in the near future too to see how I take to it second time around.

Did you find it lacked focus or maybe needed tightening at times?