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  #38521  
Old 3rd October 2016, 07:50 PM
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Film No.2

82683-child-of-darkness-child-of-light-0-230-0-345-crop.jpg

A Catholic priest is sent to investigate reports of two virgin conceptions. One is about to give birth to the child of God and the other is the child of the Devil and he must decide which one is good and which one is evil before Satan's followers can stop him.

I know this was a TV movie so i tried not to be too hard on it with its low budget but it was a bit of a slog to get through. The acting was sub par and no matter how hard i tried i just couldn't really get into it just like watching a film on True Movies. It was a pretty boring film overall no suspense or atmosphere just went through the motions right through the end which just came across stupid. Even with a minimal budget we see plenty of effective films but this just was not one of them.

3/10
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  #38522  
Old 3rd October 2016, 08:12 PM
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American Nightmare (2004)

On Halloween night a group of friends do the phone in on the local pirate radio station divulging their worst nightmares whilst also commemorating the murder of four fellow students the previous year. Unbeknown to them the killer has returned, with the intention of making their worst fears a harsh reality.

American Nightmare is a amiable low budget shocker, almost Friends like during the opening half hour where everyone is sat at the local coffee shop. It's nicely played out even if the final reasons why are a bit cliche. Sexy Debbie Rochon makes for an intimidating but seductive murderess as she brings people's nightmares to life. The film sports fair amounts of blood and sex and makes for an very watchable if not essential viewing in the run up to Halloween.
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  #38523  
Old 3rd October 2016, 08:18 PM
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Film No.3

WrongTurn6LastResortPoster.jpg

An strange inheritance leads Danny and his friends to an abandoned resort in the woods run by a odd brother and sister. Not long after arriving all the friends realise that something is not right with the place but Danny is captivated by the place and the brother and sister that have been looking after the resort. The longer they stay the more detached from his friends and girlfriend who was the only one who supported him and his idea to up sticks and live in the resort with his new "family".

Right from the get go you know exactly what you are in for the first scene we have boobs sex and gore as is the way with every entry in the series. The first kill had me worried because it was really shitty CGI and alarm bells started to ring but a couple of seconds later we were back to practical effects with the next brutal kill with some barbed wire to the face nice and gory does it

Like all these films the acting is not so good and all the characters are assholes but thats the fun for me because it makes their deaths all the more fun. I love this series they are just fun films full of brutal kills great effects and a healthy sprinkle of boobage.

7/10 FUN FUN FUN FUN
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  #38524  
Old 3rd October 2016, 11:15 PM
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Night of the Demons III (1997)

Known as Demon House in the UK, the film concerns a group of youngsters who hole up in an old mansion believed to be haunted following a shooting at a petrol station.

Demon House is flawed but it's also an entertainingly fun ride. Although it takes a good third to get to the house the characters are engaging (as in not all completely annoying) enough to maintain interest. Once at the house the group meet Angela the demon from the first two films in the series and all hell breaks loose in an orgy of sex and violence. The scene as Angela performs fellatio on a hand gun then spits the bullets into her palm is a hoot.

As the film wears on the youths do tend to become more irrational in their behavior and motives as Angela (Amelia Kincaid) seduces and offs them one by one. Luckily there's a stand out turn from established character actor Vlasta Vrana as a veteran cop in his final hours of duty who manages to hold it all together.

As with the original Night of the Demons (1988), the film romps along and proves an engaging but undemanding ninety minutes. As the dvd can be picked up for the price of postage it's one that is definitely recommended.
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  #38525  
Old 4th October 2016, 08:27 AM
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Seem to be having a spanish themed October so far.....


Tombs of the blind dead

A deeply atmospheric horror thats probably familiar to most of the people reading this. Essentially the ghosts of the nights Templar haunt a remote region of spain, when a young woman throws a strop after becoming the third wheel to her ex lesbian lover and her current love interest who seems to have friend-zoned her, she hops off a train in the middle of nowhere and decides to head up to an old castle where she inadvertantly awakens the slumbering knights.
The strenght of the film is Amando de Ossorio's direction and the terrific atmospher generated from the locations, especially the haunted ruins, the knights riding to slaughter in slow motion and the eerie soundtrack. Theres also a brilliant, Bava-esque scene where one of the victims comes back as a zombie to haunt a woman in a fashion house. A little bit of lore that remains unexplored in any of the sequels that admittedly plays fast and loose with any continuity to the characters.

Return of the evil dead

Sequel to Tombs that changes the back story of the Templars to make them a curse on a small spanish town that kicks in on the anniversary of the villagers victory over the Templars. The film is a lot gorier than the previous films with numerous mutilations, decapitations and a nasty scene of the local oddball mutilating the tits of some sacrificial victim in order to raise the blind dead. The idea of the people trying to remain silent to avoid the attention of the templars creates some great suspense and the end sequence of the templars dying in sunlight is one of the standout sequences of the series.

Ghost Galleon

Franco regular Jack Taylor decides to generate some publicity for his swimsuit models by having some of them get stranded in a speedboat on the high seas. This genius plan naturally backfires as a ghostly galleon emerges from the fog. Naturally its full of Templars who have taken the UK movie adaptation of TV series trope of going on tour and are haunting the boat. Given the intruders are swimsuit models this is red rag to a bull for the Templars and they waste no time going out for some maratime murder.
Its regarded by some fans as the weakest of the films but I like it. Its ripe with atmosphere and has some stunning ladies. Jack Taylor is at his Ron Burgandy peak here and the film is actually very enjoyable.


Night of the seagulls

for the fourth and final Templar film Ossorio decides to mine Lovecraftian mythos with the Templars worshipping some weird Dagon-esque idol. A doctor and his wife head out into the middle of nowhere to take over a practice only to discover that the locals are all hostile. It seems they have some strange pact with the templars to sacrifice seven girls over seven nights once every seven years. The sacrifice itself is heralded by the screeching of seagulls.
Its a nice send off for the templars. It re-writes the back story once again but as a slice of lovecraftian horror it works nicely while still feeling like part of the series. As with the previous entries Ossorio shows he's a master of creating a haunted atmosphere in his films.
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  #38526  
Old 4th October 2016, 03:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trebor8273 View Post
Are you not enjoying preacher and if not why the hell not, its fantastic probably my favourite new show
I've read it treb.
But putting that to one side, it is a hoot and recommend it highly, just be warned that it deviates from the source text somewhat....as did TWD in its first series cough, and look how that turned out.
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  #38527  
Old 4th October 2016, 06:17 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs View Post
Night of the Demons III (1997)

Known as Demon House in the UK, the film concerns a group of youngsters who hole up in an old mansion believed to be haunted following a shooting at a petrol station.

Demon House is flawed but it's also an entertainingly fun ride. Although it takes a good third to get to the house the characters are engaging (as in not all completely annoying) enough to maintain interest. Once at the house the group meet Angela the demon from the first two films in the series and all hell breaks loose in an orgy of sex and violence. The scene as Angela performs fellatio on a hand gun then spits the bullets into her palm is a hoot.

As the film wears on the youths do tend to become more irrational in their behavior and motives as Angela (Amelia Kincaid) seduces and offs them one by one. Luckily there's a stand out turn from established character actor Vlasta Vrana as a veteran cop in his final hours of duty who manages to hold it all together.

As with the original Night of the Demons (1988), the film romps along and proves an engaging but undemanding ninety minutes. As the dvd can be picked up for the price of postage it's one that is definitely recommended.
I have the dvd for years and still not watched it i will watch it as part of my 31 unseen.
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  #38528  
Old 4th October 2016, 07:43 PM
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The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

Directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, this Val Lewton production began life under the title Amy and Her Friend. However, RKO, delighted by the success of the previous years Cat People insisted Lewton change the title and film additional scenes to add black cats to proceedings. Lewton already had Simone Simon and Kent Smith on board so with some re-writing they were to resume their roles from the earlier film.

Had this film been made now i'm sure it would have turned out a disaster, however Lewton didn't deal in disasters and the finished product is a beautiful film about a child's loneliness and desperate search for a friend. Perhaps more Gothic fairytale than horror though the film has it's fair share of creepiness including the obligatory shadowy old house and several references to Washington Irvine's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Simon is brilliant as (the ghost of) Irena, following up her character from Cat People, stunningly beautiful and warm she's the sort of imaginary friend anyone would want...but is she imaginary? Kent Smith carries on his role and it was most welcoming to see Sir Lancelot - the creole singer from I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - in a much larger role as the famiy servant (it's all very dignified) and the nearest thing to a friend the girl has.

As with all Val Lewton productions the film looks stunning despite being low budget. It's almost cliched to mention the use of light and shadow in Lewton's films but it's so distinctive and makes each and every one of them something special and a real treat for classic horror fans. The Curse of the Cat People is no different, it's gorgeous to watch and a film i often go back to at this time of year.
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  #38529  
Old 4th October 2016, 07:48 PM
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Film No.4

The-Babadook-Poster.jpg

On the way to the hospital to give birth to their first child Amelia and her husband are involved in a car crash which costs her husband his life. Jumping forward six year and Amelia and her son Sam are still living alone and sam is a little terror obsessed with the presence of monsters his fear and determination to protect his mother makes him very violent towards her and kids at his school resulting in him having to be removed from the school. His behaviour gets worse and worse and even more violent towards his mother when he discovers a book called Mister Babadook.

Right from the get go The Babadook is a really annoying film and i was tempted to turn it off three maybe four times. First off the kid is constantly screaming his head off and the longer the film goes on the worse it becomes. This is a real mixed bag when ever The Babadook appears it looks pretty stupid and the mother's descent into madness is more annoying than terrifying the only time i felt uncomfortable was with the treatment of the kid even if to begin with he was an irritating little brat. I liked the use of colour to make it seem like they were living inside the Mister Babadook storybook the house they live in is almost completely black and grey and the kid is always dressed in black and grey.

Oh and that ending is a load of Bolladook

This was not for me it was really hard to sit through i couldnt wait for it to be over. Not one i will ever watch again. I have seen people say you have to understand the deeper meaning behind the film to get it but its hard to get over the amount of annoyances the films had for long enough to be able to dig deeper.

The Babadook gets a very unimpressive

4/10
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  #38530  
Old 5th October 2016, 06:12 PM
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House of 1000 Corpses (2001)

As with many rock stars Rob Zombie is known for his love of old horror films so it comes as no surprise that his directorial debut is a warped trip into B-movie horror, riffing on the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and it's 1986 sequel.

Never moving out of classic grindhouse territory, House of 1000 Corpses plunges two young couples into a nightmarish Halloween back woods tale where they fall victim to a family of sick deviants and deformed grotesques including Karen Black, Bill Moseley, a demented Sid Haig in the now iconic role of Captain Spaulding and Zombie's wife to be, Sherri Moon.

Whilst the film is derivative it's also a homage to classic horror as we witness scenes from Universal classics such as The Wolf Man (1941) and House of Frankenstein (1944) thrust into the insanity of the Firefly family's chamber of horrors. In fact Zombie's direction is inspiring, at least to me. Witness the scene where Walton Goggins, sheriff is shot in cold blood. Moseley holds his gun to Goggins head and we wait for the shot to ring out. It doesn't. Zombie edges his camera out still focusing on the pair, again nothing. It's not until we get a birds eye view and you begin to check to see if the dvd counter is still running and the film hasn't froze before the inevitable finally happens. It's a sequence that takes about thirty seconds to play out but seems like an eternity. The cinematography is superb as is the mind bending use of film stocks and random weird clips that assault the viewer every so often, such as Moon sticking her tongue into a rotting corpse's mouth, along with various freaks and absurdities, whilst giving the impression of being an MTV style horror music video it also makes it seem even more disturbing than it is.

The film is similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in you think you are seeing more blood and gore than you actually do. Yes it's a relentless assault on the eyes but often it's all so quick that it really is a case of blink and you'll miss it. So yes, whilst it is practically a reworking of 70's films it's also fresh meat with outstanding performances and memorable new characters. So much so that it was inevitable we'd see them all again in sequel The Devil's Rejects (2005)
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