What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Mojo]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

SHIVERS – Thought I'd check out my Arrow replacement disc. It's odd, watching it now from the standpoint of Cronenberg's later work, just how confidently 'Shivers' lays out its director's preoccupations and themes. Not only that, but it's fully invested with that essential Cronenebergian quality, 'chilly detachment'. This is only slightly undermined by the obvious awakwardness of a first time (feature) director, though the moments of clunk give way surprisingly easily once the sexual holocaust at the heart of the movie is in full swing. I don't know whether Cronenberg has ever acknowledged a debt to J G Ballard, but it seems strange that 'High Rise' was published around the same time as 'Shivers' came out. The two make wondeful companion pieces, and I'm keen to see what young Ben Wheatley has made of Ballard's visionary dystopia. I imagine it'll be infinitely
better made, but somehow less impactful, than 'Shivers', a film which remains genuinely haunting and disturbing in places, with imagery and scenes which are so obviously of their times, but are somehow also beyond them. There's something about 'Shiver's philosophy which is difficult to define, but which has the potential to offend just about anyone – from groovy sixities lifestyle experimentalists to social right wingers to Freudo-Marxists to today's 'sex positive' generation. It's hard to pin the film down, either as an gleeful attack on sterile
bourgeois values, or as a conservative exercise in equating sex with destruction, but maybe it works best as a disappointed satire on sixties radicalism – weirdly, for me one of the most chilling scenes is the last one, where we see the newly liberated denizens of Starliner towers
file out of the parking lot car by car. It's obvious in narrative terms that they're going to
'spread the disease' etc, but you're left with a feeling that they might just be going to work, or
to the movies... the same old alientated trudge. Whatever, 'Shivers' is necessary viewing, and
the Arrow release has to be the best it's ever looked.

Great review Frankie. I think SHIVERS is one of the most disturbing horror films ever made. A classic.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A Candle in the Dark (2002)

A very low budget indie horror about murders at a university campus that show signs of vampirism.

I'd love to be able to review this film yet despite the fact it only runs a mere forty minutes i can't remember a damn thing about it. I wasn't bored by it i know that, i just can't recall anything about it.

[J Harker]

Dangerous Voyage. Vernon Sewell, 1954.

When the Drews, a young yachting couple come across a struggling fishing boat in the English Channel they offer to tow the men back to shore. Despite clearly seeing two men on deck during the journey back, upon reaching the port they are baffled to find no one aboard. Adding to the mystery none of the official documents that should be on the boat are present and there is in fact literally nothing but a single solitary mens shoe aboard. Thus obtaining a salvage right to the boat the couple are eager to offload the vessel when a vacationing American takes an interest. Unfortunately police procedure means things are held up until more facts are established regarding the boats origins, ownership or destination. From here things get more mysterious for the Drews, Mrs Drew in particular when our mysterious American friend finds a metal plate on board indicating at least the builders of the boat and then stumps up the cash to go trekking around France tracing the owners of the vessel. I won't say anymore for fear of ruining the plot suffice to say this is a nice little British mystery from Vernon Sewell.
Acting is spot on all around and a few sequences are suitably sinister plus the film appears to have had a decent budget for the time.
I picked it up for £4 in the Network sale though even at the full price of six pound something you could do a lot worse. Oh and as usual for Network the print is excellent.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Dangerous Voyage. Vernon Sewell, 1954.

When the Drews, a young yachting couple come across a struggling fishing boat in the English Channel they offer to tow the men back to shore. Despite clearly seeing two men on deck during the journey back, upon reaching the port they are baffled to find no one aboard. Adding to the mystery none of the official documents that should be on the boat are present and there is in fact literally nothing but a single solitary mens shoe aboard. Thus obtaining a salvage right to the boat the couple are eager to offload the vessel when a vacationing American takes an interest. Unfortunately police procedure means things are held up until more facts are established regarding the boats origins, ownership or destination. From here things get more mysterious for the Drews, Mrs Drew in particular when our mysterious American friend finds a metal plate on board indicating at least the builders of the boat and then stumps up the cash to go trekking around France tracing the owners of the vessel. I won't say anymore for fear of ruining the plot suffice to say this is a nice little British mystery from Vernon Sewell.
Acting is spot on all around and a few sequences are suitably sinister plus the film appears to have had a decent budget for the time.
I picked it up for £4 in the Network sale though even at the full price of six pound something you could do a lot worse. Oh and as usual for Network the print is excellent.

I'll definitely pick this up next time. Great review, sir.

[Deadite]

The Horror channel had Satan's Slave on the other day. Never seen it before and i was quite surprised by the amount of t&a and gore on show. Nice!

[Demoncrat]

First Blood (Ted Kotcheff, 1982)
yes, I watched them back to front. At least I had seen this one before. A fairly solid, kinetic thriller which escalates organically, befitting its source material for once. Dennehy is small town USA personified...insular, xenophobic and short sighted. Sadly he picks on the wrong "drifter" whose only crime is that he seems to be "other". Setting a template for decades, this is still an effective piece.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Okay then. Coming from the pen of John Milius, it is his standard macho posturing all wrapped in that good ol'myth called America. At least the Cannon films don't pretend to "educate" the way Hollywood tries to.

Or am I missing something?


I'll stick with Combat Shock methinks....

Genuine question. I don't get the Milius reference. What does he have to do with any of the Rambo films? I've looked at his writing credits and nothing mentions those films.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Okay then. Coming from the pen of John Milius, it is his standard macho posturing all wrapped in that good ol'myth called America. At least the Cannon films don't pretend to "educate" the way Hollywood tries to.

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Genuine question. I don't get the Milius reference. What does he have to do with any of the Rambo films? I've looked at his writing credits and nothing mentions those films.

I think Mr. Crat is slightly mistaken

Apparently John Milius was offered the job of writing a film based on the book 'First Blood' by David Morrell' in the late 70's, but he turned it down

The film version with Stallone was finally released in 1982

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Genuine question. I don't get the Milius reference. What does he have to do with any of the Rambo films? I've looked at his writing credits and nothing mentions those films.

Wow. After revisiting the credits of said film, I can only surmise that I must have Alzheimers. After his sterling teen comedy Red Dawn, I must just have "made a leap" ahem.


I'll get my coat.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Wow. After revisiting the credits of said film, I can only surmise that I must have Alzheimers. After his sterling teen comedy Red Dawn, I must just have "made a leap" ahem.


I'll get my coat.

Happens to all of us.