What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[J Harker]

Lockout. 2012. James Mather & Stephen St.Leger.

The blurb on the box says "Die Hard in space!!" This film is actually much more in line with Carpenters Escape From New York. In the year 2079, CIA agent Snow is wrongly convicted of international espionage and the murder of a fellow agent. The only hope to prove his innocence lies with a convict on a maximum security cryogenic prison in orbit 5 miles above the earth. Fortunately for Agent Snow the Presidents Daughter is on a humanitarian mission on said prison investigating the effects of cryogenic freezing on the human mind. Upon being woken up one of the most dangerous convicts in the place promptly steals a gun from a secret service agent and all hell breaks loose. Snow is given an ultimatum rescue the Presidents Daughter or spend the next 30 years in such a facility.
Ok so this Luc Besson produces actioner is clearly highly derivative. Nicking the plot of the aforementioned EfNY (apparently since its release John Carpenter has in fact successfully sued Besson) and one of the key ideas of Demolition Man. But to be honest I don't care, it nicked some very good ideas which is where a lot of derivative films go wrong. Guy Pearce plays Snow and even though his performance is corny as hell I really enjoyed it. Perhaps it was just what I was looking for Friday night. This is the sort of film that got me into films in the early nineties. The ones I would devour from the video store and watch again and again and I have no shame saying it was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Frankie Teardrop]

BLOODY MUSCLE BODY BUILDER IN HELL – Basically a fannish 'Evil Dead' rip-off which distinguishes itself by ladling on a load of weirdo splat-stick visuals in its latter half. I think it was shot on super-eight in the mid nineties, and it shows – luckily, I'm a fan of the fly-blown look. If you're searching for a plot, you've probably guessed it already; a guy visits his childhood homestead with his ex and a psychic, hoping to pick up on some decent ghost vibes... well, his dad did flip out and murder his mum there all those years ago, so you could forgive him for thinking there might be something of an atmosphere about the place. He didn't count on all those crazy flying hands, though. BMBDIH keeps it pretty serious for a bit and even seems quite atmospheric, with its odd angles and creepy dolls lurking in washed out celluloid. But, come the gore, it soon finds that it can't keep a straight face. And neither will you, and why should you, BMBDIH's raison d'etre is ultimately to show a Japanese Popeye crushing monster's heads with his weights, I mean even someone as intrinsically miserable as Frankie Teardrop finds that a bit funny. Or if not funny, at least a bit 'groovy'. So, recommended if you like blood, guts and madness, and, at just over sixty minutes, it won't waste your time. And it's better than Evil Dead 2.

THE LOVE WITCH – Anna Biller, of 'Viva' fame, is back with 'The Love Witch', which I have to say is a great film. It's about a young occultist who tends to have an overwhelming effect on the guys who fall in love with her ie they die, one by one. It's a romance, in a really twisted way of course, and Biller frames love as a kind of excess that turns women into powerful but monstrous figures but men into confused and terrified wimps who can't handle their feelings. If you can't dig the romance angle you can take it as a serial killer flick, almost – that's technically what it is, but structurally, thematically and atmospherically it's not really a horror film, although Biller has absorbed plenty of Hitchcock and probably some Bava. It does look ultra cool and is visually striking, there's just such a plethora of colour and ornate design on show pretty much all the time, all set in stylised late sixties technicolor – Biller, a true auteur, spent ages making everything from sets to costumes. Films that tap into the grindhouse era are ten a penny in the genre, but 'The Love Witch', despite its apparent aspiration to seem phantasmagorically unreal, feels authentic in its obsessive fixation on the era of psychedelia and its swinging possibilities, and really brings some of that stuff onto the modern screen. So, although Biller has shouted down comparisons to Russ Meyer, I can really see where they come from, at least superficially, sexual politics aside (and I guess Biller's point here is that the politics shape the aesthetic). Anyway, 'The Love Witch' – dark feminist surrealism of a totally rad kind. Easily one of this year's best, so – see it!

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

BLOODY MUSCLE BODY BUILDER IN HELL – Basically a fannish 'Evil Dead' rip-off which distinguishes itself by ladling on a load of weirdo splat-stick visuals in its latter half. I think it was shot on super-eight in the mid nineties, and it shows – luckily, I'm a fan of the fly-blown look. If you're searching for a plot, you've probably guessed it already; a guy visits his childhood homestead with his ex and a psychic, hoping to pick up on some decent ghost vibes... well, his dad did flip out and murder his mum there all those years ago, so you could forgive him for thinking there might be something of an atmosphere about the place. He didn't count on all those crazy flying hands, though. BMBDIH keeps it pretty serious for a bit and even seems quite atmospheric, with its odd angles and creepy dolls lurking in washed out celluloid. But, come the gore, it soon finds that it can't keep a straight face. And neither will you, and why should you, BMBDIH's raison d'etre is ultimately to show a Japanese Popeye crushing monster's heads with his weights, I mean even someone as intrinsically miserable as Frankie Teardrop finds that a bit funny. Or if not funny, at least a bit 'groovy'. So, recommended if you like blood, guts and madness, and, at just over sixty minutes, it won't waste your time. And it's better than Evil Dead 2.

In the words of Demoncrat: SOLD

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Void (2016)

Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures.

Imagine if you will John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness combined with Hellraiser II. It sounds fascinating in a way HP Lovecraft would approve. Unfortunately The Void's promise doesn't come to fruition and what we actually see on screen is a real mixed bag of ideas chucked into the mix. The film sports a few cleverly produced practical effects which kept me watching and indeed hoping for something better but the paper thin characters lacking any sort of interesting story together with a complete dearth of tension meant at times i became bored.

Reading other reviews The Void is allegedly some sort of classic 80's Lovecraftian throwback. Over hyped and unmemorable are two of the words i would use. Not so much a time waster but a waste of time.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Void (2016)

Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures.

Imagine if you will John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness combined with Hellraiser II. It sounds fascinating in a way HP Lovecraft would approve. Unfortunately The Void's promise doesn't come to fruition and what we actually see on screen is a real mixed bag of ideas chucked into the mix. The film sports a few cleverly produced practical effects which kept me watching and indeed hoping for something better but the paper thin characters lacking any sort of interesting story together with a complete dearth of tension meant at times i became bored.

Reading other reviews The Void is allegedly some sort of classic 80's Lovecraftian throwback. Over hyped and unmemorable are two of the words i would use. Not so much a time waster but a waste of time.

You sound quite disappointed, Dem. I wasn't that sold, but came away thinking that at least it had some tentacles and a bit of slime. Actually, if I picked it up for 99p at CEX without knowing anything about it, I'd think it was ace...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

You sound quite disappointed, Dem. I wasn't that sold, but came away thinking that at least it had some tentacles and a bit of slime. Actually, if I picked it up for 99p at CEX without knowing anything about it, I'd think it was ace...

I've seen more tentacles and slime on the end of my cock.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Trebor banged on about it like it was the best horror in years.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Void (2016)

Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures.

Imagine if you will John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness combined with Hellraiser II. It sounds fascinating in a way HP Lovecraft would approve. Unfortunately The Void's promise doesn't come to fruition and what we actually see on screen is a real mixed bag of ideas chucked into the mix. The film sports a few cleverly produced practical effects which kept me watching and indeed hoping for something better but the paper thin characters lacking any sort of interesting story together with a complete dearth of tension meant at times i became bored.

Reading other reviews The Void is allegedly some sort of classic 80's Lovecraftian throwback. Over hyped and unmemorable are two of the words i would use. Not so much a time waster but a waste of time.

For what it was I quite enjoyed The Void. It reminded me a bit of Event Horizon in parts (as well as the other two you listed above). A shame you didn't like it as I thought it was certainly better than a lot of the bigger budget and/or bigger hype modern horror fare I've seen in the past few years.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I've seen more tentacles and slime on the end of my cock.

I think somebody needs to book themselves a doctor's appointment!

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Trebor banged on about it like it was the best horror in years.

If there is one thing I've learned in the world of film: Never buy into the hype! Nothing's as good as it is hyped up to be... plus, it's trebor so he'll still be selling it to CEX in a week.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

For what it was I quite enjoyed The Void. It reminded me a bit of Event Horizon in parts (as well as the other two you listed above). A shame you didn't like it as I thought it was certainly better than a lot of the bigger budget and/or bigger hype modern horror fare I've seen in the past few years.

I had to nick the plot summary from IMDB as i can't remember anything about it in the cold light of day except a bunch of folk bickering in a hospital until they decide to go down to the cellar and find a glowing triangle.

Had Rob Zombie made it people would have said how shit it was.

Perhaps i was asleep at this point but why when the three got the gun from the car did they not just drive away?