What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Only the meanest and most jaded of souls could fail to enjoy Enchanted.

Yeah, go on then, you're exempt.

[keirarts]

The nice guys

If your heading past a multiplex and have a few quid or so to spare then you could do a lot worse than give this a few hours of your time. Its almost vintage Shane Black with a wicked script full of great buddy dialogue with two mis-matched, flawed but generally nice blokes stumbling across a mystery that involves two of seventies Americas bigest industries, porn and automobiles.
I dont want to say too much but if you liked Blacks other output like Last boyscout, kiss kiss bang bang, leathal weapon ect then you will likely enjoy this. Probably the most enjoyable film Russel crowe has been in for some time and Ryan Gosling proves he has some comedic skills in his role as a drunken asshole/private eye. I thouroughly enjoyed it.

[Deadite]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Only the meanest and most jaded of souls could fail to enjoy Enchanted.

Yeah, go on then, you're exempt.

It does help that Amy Adams is super hot.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by keirarts

The nice guys

If your heading past a multiplex and have a few quid or so to spare then you could do a lot worse than give this a few hours of your time. Its almost vintage Shane Black with a wicked script full of great buddy dialogue with two mis-matched, flawed but generally nice blokes stumbling across a mystery that involves two of seventies Americas bigest industries, porn and automobiles.
I dont want to say too much but if you liked Blacks other output like Last boyscout, kiss kiss bang bang, leathal weapon ect then you will likely enjoy this. Probably the most enjoyable film Russel crowe has been in for some time and Ryan Gosling proves he has some comedic skills in his role as a drunken asshole/private eye. I thouroughly enjoyed it.

I saw this on Tuesday too, I enjoyed it, Gosling was the stand-out for me but I loved the girl who played his daughter as well. Really fun film, great soundtrack and the costumes are fantastically 1977!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Octaman (1971)

A better than average rubber monster movie that considering it's back ground should be a lot more well known than it actually is.

Director Harry Essex was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter throughout his career most famous for The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), an excellent vehicle for John Wayne, and a film you should all be familiar with - 1954's classic Universal monster movie The Creature From the Black Lagoon - the film Octaman most resembles.

It's not just the writing and directing either. The Octaman creature was created by special effects genius Rick Baker, in fact the film was his first and a mere two years later he would be working on The Exorcist. The film stars Kerwin Mathews, best known for playing the titular heroes in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960) and Jack the Giant Killer (1962).

The film itself is quite basic as the Octaman creature hunts down an expedition in a remote Mexican basin. As mentioned it most resembles Creature From the Black Lagoon as the monster attacks boats and base camps murdering or capturing anyone in it's path and taking them to it's watery lair.

The creature design is nicely effective, looking like a cross between a Doctor Who monster that never was, the Black Lagoon's creature and the alien from This Island Earth (1955). Even though one or two of it's tentacles are clearly just stuck onto the rubber suit it all works rather well and Baker adds some gore during the often savage creature attacks.

The Retromedia 40th Anniversary Edition of the film looks terrific with a spotless, crystal clear image and vibrant colours. Unfortunately this version is now sadly deleted and goes for mind blowing amounts on Amazon's marketplace.

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE FOREST – Don Jones' 'The Forest' has few admirers, certainly not among the kind of critic who likes to go on record as the voice of reason. Rejecting 'The Forest' is a pretty sound position, and definitely a safe one – you can't really defend it in any language that makes sense. It's not a very good film, and, after a moderately rousing opening during which the bloodied hand of a woodland murder victim flops down next to a bunch of flowers that look like they've been coloured by a mad child, 'The Forest' settles into a dull, detail laden account of a camping trip. After about twenty five minutes, you're expecting a tedious F13 retread – then something magical happens. 'The Forest' is just weird. OK, so it's basically about two guys and two gals wandering around in the woods, but this banal minimum is superseded by the strangeness of the tale of a cannibal who lives in a cave with the ghosts of his kids. The kids pop up throughout the film to give helpful advice to the camper-victims, and we know they must be ghostly because everything they say goes through an echo pedal. Their dad, the cannibal guy, is played to mad perfection by Gary Kent, who has a very convincing thousand yard stare and a kind of hang-dog resignation in the face of a world of woe. And his world has been woeful like no other – in a flashback, we see him find his wife in bed with a repair man. After he kills his wife, he goes outside to find the repair man actually finishing off his repairs! How much of a loser must he really be? Cue ridiculous fight scene with awful soundtrack. Speaking of soundtracks, 'The Forest's one veers between early eighties slasher electro and its own bespoke little number, which is kind of like a seventies easy listening version of goth. It's just another little detail which makes 'The Forest' so special. I could go on at length about why I like this film so much, but I sense I'm already beginning to bore you, plus I may find that I run out of reasons. But, 'The Forest' is not a reasonable film. I haven't done a very good job of capturing its weird and elusive atmosphere, but, if I had my say, it'd be turned into a serial like 'The Singing Ringing Tree' or something... it has all the vital ingredients. Fanciers of low seventies / eighties trash will need no introduction, but I certainly recommend this to any lover of shriekedelic video sludge, and, if after 'The Forest' you're still Jonesing for a Jonesing, then there's always 'The Love Butcher' or 'Schoolgirls in Chains'.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

THE FOREST – Don Jones' 'The Forest' has few admirers

I'm one of the few too, Frankie.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I'm one of the few too, Frankie.

That'll make three of us, then. I used to genuinely think 'The Forest' was so reviled that its fans could fit in a lifeboat, but lately it's been getting a bit more appreciation so who knows, maybe there's a Titanic sized cult following out there waiting to demand a Blu ray at some point. Actually, weren't CR going to do one? I lose track of these things.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

That'll make three of us, then. I used to genuinely think 'The Forest' was so reviled that its fans could fit in a lifeboat, but lately it's been getting a bit more appreciation so who knows, maybe there's a Titanic sized cult following out there waiting to demand a Blu ray at some point. Actually, weren't CR going to do one? I lose track of these things.

Yes, Code Red have recently announced this for a Blu-ray upgrade - it's on the way to me as I type!

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Yes, Code Red have recently announced this for a Blu-ray upgrade - it's on the way to me as I type!

Ah, a quick look on Diabolik tells me they're out and available... damn, if I had the £, I'd be tempted. Maybe let us know about the pq etc when you get round to checking it out? CR's old DVD looked really soft and shoddy when I put it on the other day, so I'd be up for an upgrade.