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  #37681  
Old 27th July 2016, 09:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin101 View Post
It's better than the second one but not as good as the first one! I hope that helps Of course Treb might say the opposite haha
that's what who i went to see it with said, better than the second but not as good as the 1st
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  #37682  
Old 27th July 2016, 10:10 AM
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THE SEVERED ARM – One of life's big questions - “under what circumstances will I resort to cannibalism?” - is put to a bunch of starving, hopeless guys trapped deep underground. They're rescued before they have to come up with an answer, but not before they hack off the arm of one of their number in anticipation. Years later, said amputee starts to visit his ex-buddies with a view to violent revenge. 'The Severed Arm' is a proto-slasher movie from the nineteen seventies. It has its flaws, but is really quite good. The tone is grim but shrill, somehow summed up by the way the film's credit sequence emblazons the title, 'The Severed Arm', over a shot of a dummy severed arm whilst the soundtrack blares out some grating but eerie electronic noise. That's really the tone of most of the movie, if you incorporate the essence of lots of scenes of people sitting around and talking. There is a drag factor (isn't there always?), but 'The Severed Arm' is actually quite fast paced for its time, and is eased along by some reasonable acting and some quite effective sequences. The script and direction might be awkward, but it has some grainy seventies 'strangeness of form' on its side. Going back to the soundtrack for instance, there is a really obvious “electronics are still a novelty” vibe to it, and it's a great collage of discordant synthesiser squiggles although it might be a bit omnipresent for some. I'm also a big fan of crude seventies movie psychedelia – wonky angles, fisheye lenses, slow motion and the like – and some of that is in evidence here, together with a generally murky, shadowy atmosphere. Definitely check it out if you like grindhouse obscurities, or, for that matter, slasher forerunners, of which 'The Severed Arm' is an overlooked example. Plenty of public domain type versions on the market, but you can also catch it on YouTube.

ALIEN 3000 – Haven't checked in with Jeff LeRoy for a while, but his films always bring a smile to my face. 'Alien 3000' is a pretty good example of his schtick, being gleefully bad whilst holding back from parody (only just, though). 'Alien 3000' is about a cave full of treasure which seems to be guarded by an invisible alien. No prizes for guessing where Jeff got that 'concept' from, but thankfully the monster also materialises as an awful early CGI effect and also as a rubbish Dr Who monster type practical effect. Anyway, the story follows some army types, a made up government bureau of paranormal investigators and some mercenaries (?) who covene at the site of this cave and try to figure out what's going on / kill alien / snatch treasure etc etc. As befits a low budget movie about an alien in a cave, there's lots of wandering around and chatting to 'sustain tension', but also the required trash factor – monster battles and excessive gore. Well, not too excessive, and 'Alien 3000' doesn't have the incessant craziness of the LeRoy classic 'Rat Scratch Fever', but it's not afraid to sling some entrails when asked. Cheap, plastic, disposable dreck – that's what it's all about, though. I wonder what people will make of films like this in thirty or forty years time, whether they'll be given 16K Holo-Ray special editions, or whether they'll be even talked about at all.
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  #37683  
Old 27th July 2016, 11:29 AM
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Man from Deep River (1972)

In which Italian hack director Umberto Lenzi attempted to rip off A Man Called Horse (1970) using Ivan Rassimov instead of Richard Harris, and Thai jungle tribes instead of native American Indians and inadvertently created the cannibal horror film.

Overloaded with animal violence - the slaying of the alligator is particularly nasty as they slice open it's stomach as it flails about, although my dog Milli loved the mongoose / snake fight, absolutely glued to the screen she was - Man From Deep River isn't actually that interesting exploitation wise, The cannibal action is limited to a single scene and isn't at the forefront of Lenzi's ambition. The film is largely about Rassimov - a white man from the city - his induction into a primitive jungle tribe and his subsequent love affair with tribes girl Me Me Lai. (If ever a name came from a Frankie Howerd sketch it's Me Me Lai).

Whilst nowhere near the best work of either Rassimov, Lenzi or the seemingly stoned throughout Lai, Man From Deep River has more going for it than the majority of Italian cannibal films.

The Shriek Show dvd positively sparkles, so good is it's picture quality, so i can only imagine how good the truncated Blu-Ray from 88 will look.


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  #37684  
Old 27th July 2016, 01:45 PM
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I watched Don't Open Til Xmas again, followed by The Long Good Friday (w/comm this time). DOTX still redolent with that British stiffness that I loves, Alan Lake looking a bit "tired and emotional" at times ahem.

The TLGF comm is a bit of a disappointment, Mackenzie hasn't seen the film "in 20 years", and spends most of his time describing what's on screen. Meh.

Also rewatched Friday The 13th (1980).
A film that may be familiar to those on here. Say what you like, Sean, you couldn't have made Halloween, as you have no love for the genre. Still contains one of my favourite "You're all DOOMED!!" scenes.
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  #37685  
Old 27th July 2016, 02:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop View Post
THE SEVERED ARM – One of life's big questions - “under what circumstances will I resort to cannibalism?” - is put to a bunch of starving, hopeless guys trapped deep underground. They're rescued before they have to come up with an answer, but not before they hack off the arm of one of their number in anticipation. Years later, said amputee starts to visit his ex-buddies with a view to violent revenge. 'The Severed Arm' is a proto-slasher movie from the nineteen seventies. It has its flaws, but is really quite good. The tone is grim but shrill, somehow summed up by the way the film's credit sequence emblazons the title, 'The Severed Arm', over a shot of a dummy severed arm whilst the soundtrack blares out some grating but eerie electronic noise. That's really the tone of most of the movie, if you incorporate the essence of lots of scenes of people sitting around and talking. There is a drag factor (isn't there always?), but 'The Severed Arm' is actually quite fast paced for its time, and is eased along by some reasonable acting and some quite effective sequences. The script and direction might be awkward, but it has some grainy seventies 'strangeness of form' on its side. Going back to the soundtrack for instance, there is a really obvious “electronics are still a novelty” vibe to it, and it's a great collage of discordant synthesiser squiggles although it might be a bit omnipresent for some. I'm also a big fan of crude seventies movie psychedelia – wonky angles, fisheye lenses, slow motion and the like – and some of that is in evidence here, together with a generally murky, shadowy atmosphere. Definitely check it out if you like grindhouse obscurities, or, for that matter, slasher forerunners, of which 'The Severed Arm' is an overlooked example. Plenty of public domain type versions on the market, but you can also catch it on YouTube.

ALIEN 3000 – Haven't checked in with Jeff LeRoy for a while, but his films always bring a smile to my face. 'Alien 3000' is a pretty good example of his schtick, being gleefully bad whilst holding back from parody (only just, though). 'Alien 3000' is about a cave full of treasure which seems to be guarded by an invisible alien. No prizes for guessing where Jeff got that 'concept' from, but thankfully the monster also materialises as an awful early CGI effect and also as a rubbish Dr Who monster type practical effect. Anyway, the story follows some army types, a made up government bureau of paranormal investigators and some mercenaries (?) who covene at the site of this cave and try to figure out what's going on / kill alien / snatch treasure etc etc. As befits a low budget movie about an alien in a cave, there's lots of wandering around and chatting to 'sustain tension', but also the required trash factor – monster battles and excessive gore. Well, not too excessive, and 'Alien 3000' doesn't have the incessant craziness of the LeRoy classic 'Rat Scratch Fever', but it's not afraid to sling some entrails when asked. Cheap, plastic, disposable dreck – that's what it's all about, though. I wonder what people will make of films like this in thirty or forty years time, whether they'll be given 16K Holo-Ray special editions, or whether they'll be even talked about at all.

Both Sold!! Ahem. Great to read as always F!!
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  #37686  
Old 27th July 2016, 03:22 PM
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The Stuff (1985)

***1/2 out of *****


Warcraft (2016)

This was a lot better than I expected it to be considering how crap the trailers were and the mostly mixed to negative reviews. I actually quite enjoyed it.

*** out of *****

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  #37687  
Old 27th July 2016, 05:48 PM
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Satan's Baby Doll (1982)

Even at a measly 74 minutes, Mario Bianchi's La Bimba di Satana is a hopelessly padded, muddled mess where a few sex scenes aside nothing of note actually happens.

Yes it has a nice Gothic atmosphere and a cast of fine Euro starlets intent on taking their clothes off but that really is everything. It's not scary, gory, nor is it especially sexy.

Shameless to their credit have produced an edition as complete as can be minus the hardcore sex, but all that's added is additional soft core nudity from a ropey film print that in truth adds nothing to what is a virtually plot less story.
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  #37688  
Old 27th July 2016, 05:56 PM
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Any fans of Satan's Baby Doll that want to argue it's case?
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  #37689  
Old 27th July 2016, 09:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs View Post
Any fans of Satan's Baby Doll that want to argue it's case?
I'd love to, but it's long overdue a second watch – I can't remember much about it.
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  #37690  
Old 28th July 2016, 07:23 AM
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Recently watched that new Ghostbusters movie.. wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but then again it wasn't great either lol probably give it a 4/10
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