What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[nosferatu42]

Halloween 5 - The revenge of Michael Myers

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Myer's returns again and is still after his niece Jaime Lloyd from part 4 and being pursued by Dr Loomis (but by this stage he's just Dr Loony to be honest).

Jaime is in a kids home, has become mute and has inexplicably gained a telepathic connection with her dear uncle nut job Michael M, whilst the obsessed Dr has become a crazed ranting child stalker who spends all his time stressing out the already distressed (and prone to fits) niece.

If this all sounds like a mess it's because frankly the film is too, (well at least for the first half).

During the first half the decently acting kid from part 4 is totally misused, she is mute and overacting and quite annoying. And even worse Pleasance comes across as a pretty menacing child botherer which makes the film all the more frustrating.

The direction here is tacky and unfocused and a real step down from part 4 and i was really finding it a chore to sit through,(with added shit "comic" relief" cops) on top of this it offs a sympathetic character from 4 in a throwaway fashion.

Then as we get to the halfway stage something happens, the tone shifts slightly with a nice slasher scene in a barn and Jaime gets her voice back and stops freaking out constantly, and we start having a few decent scenes with the best being MM trying to kill the niece and her becoming trapped in some kind of laundry chute.(a moment that was actually quite tense)

On top of all this we get some mysterious shadowy bloke in a cowboy hat and boots lurking in the darkness who does nothing until the final moments and will show up again in part 6.

So for me this was the worst film so far and a struggle to get through especially with the character assassination of Loomis.

5/10

[MrBarlow]

Antropophagus aka The Savage Island aka The Grim Reaper 1980

A group of people become stranded on a island that's uninhabited except for a deranged killer who slaughtered the former residents.

SPOILER ALERT

This film was made by Joe D'Amato and Co produced and written by George East man. It became a video nasty in early 80s. It was released under the title The Grim Reaper but was heavily cut but different versions were released around the world.

The version I just watched was the re released original uncut version even with the throat biting and fetus eating scenes. This is one to add to your viewing 8 out of 10.

[nosferatu42]

Halloween 6 - The curse of Michael Myers (Producers cut)

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As i said earlier i picked up the blu of this alternate cut of part 6, which led to me watching parts 4,5 in preparation.
All three of these films make up the secondary phase of Michaels rampages and are centred primarily around his niece Jaime lloyd, they were also seemingly ignored when Jaime Leigh Curtis returned to the series in H20.

Like 4 and 5 i had only seen the original release of this on its initial VHS release and frankly thought it was a load of shite, but the producers cuts more positive reception got me intrigued and brought me back once again, rather like the human yo-yo that is Michael Myers.

Anyways, what we have here is a continuation of part 5 with the return of Jaime Lloyd who is now grown up, up the duff and ready to drop, unfortunately she has been abducted by the mysterious shadowy cowboy figure from the previous film and brought up in the care of an evil cult.(eh.. say what?)

The baby is born and she escapes but is soon stalked by M Myers and ends up stashing the baby out of reach of her psycho uncle.

Next we are introduced to a new family of Michaels relations, who live in the old Myers house in Haddonfield, and opposite lives Tommy Doyle who was being babysat in the original Halloween when everything first kicked off.

Tommy (played by Antman Paul Rudd) is understandably mentally scarred from that night and obsessively watches the Myers house. (ahem, a good excuse to spy on the daughter. )
He also is obsessed with Myers and has been researching his story and stumbled across the reasoning behind Michaels obsession with killing his family members on Halloween, which is where the cult comes in.
He also conveniently finds Jamie's baby and becomes it's protector.

Anyways as you can tell everything is a little overcomplicated by this time story wise.

Still i thought this film had it's moments and was pretty well made, the main actors were petty decent and for the most part seemed to strive for an atmosphere that aped parts of the original film, using the original music to good effect and having a scene where the new female lead discovers a load of bodies in a house that was very similar to the first film.

Dr Loomis has conveniently had facial surgery and is played more sympathetically again by Pleasance which is a relief although here he has less action (ahem) scenes due to his age, he sadly died soon after this was made.

So this is not all bad by any means, for the most part i enjoyed this.

The problem is really the addition of the cult to the story, the explanation of Myers killing sprees sort of makes sense in horror movie logic but detracts from his "pure evil " persona, and the shadowy cowboy figure is just a bit cheesy and pants .

In a weird way this seems to mix the usual antics of MM with the pagan sacrifice druid elements of Halloween 3, which is an interesting idea of bringing everything together, but the execution is just so hack handed that you wonder what the writers were smoking.

Also the way the Jaime Lloyd story ends is just a bit underwhelming and depressing.

So all in all a mixed bag that is a lot better than i remembered but suffers from the addition of the new sub plot.

Well, thats the end to the second phase of Halloween films and it was interesting but frankly a bit all over the shop, The best is definitely 4, if only they'd not rushed 5 and given 6 a little more thought it could have been a much less bumpy ride back to Haddonfield.

6/10

[keirarts]

Easter bunny, kill! kill!

A single mother with a mentally handicapped son brings a new man home. Her son, obsessed by easter and the easter bunny instinctively mistrusts the new man but his mother seems smitten. The boys mistrust proves to be correct as his mothers new fella reveals himself to be an abusive asshole who threatens to kill the boys rabbit if he says anything to his mum. Things get worse when his mother leaves the boy in her boyfriends care and he attempts to sell his ass to a pederast in exchange for coke. Leaving to pick up some hookers things look bleak for the boy until the easter bunny appears and the killings begin.
The home DVD market is awash with micro budget sleaze that promises the earth then fails to deliver. However this one is a diamond in the rough so to speak. In spite of its micro budget the film is competently shot and the story is well contained. A lot of the gore kicks off in the second half of the film but it successfully avoids boring the crap out of its audience in the first half with some genuinely well realised drama and characterisation. Ultimately its pure exploitation but its well crafted exploitation and the micro budget doesn't hinder things at all. I'm certainly happy to reccomend this one.

[keirarts]

Alien covenant

Like Prometheus, Scotts recent forays into the Alien universe are somewhat problamatic for me to review. I'm immediately biased wby my opinion that the alien craft that appears in the first act of Scotts original film is in no way in need of an explanation. The storm blasted planet and utterly alien design of the craft the crew of the nostromo stumble across is perfect without an explanation. The utter strangeness of the ships pilot, the bizarre bio-mechanical design that seems to go against all pre-concieved notions of industrial design, as well as how utterly ancient it looks helps generate a sense of cosmic dread. Something happened to the ship long ago, now its desolate. It lends the film an atmosphere not disimilar to what Lovecraft tried to convey in his stories, a sense that in the grand scheme of things humans are utterly insignificant.
Now it appears that the franchise is mererly a sci-fi horror thriller. A parable of creation and destruction where the main villain is mans own creation David. In Covenenant he's grown to utterly detest his creators, driven to expermentation in order to create his own lifeform and we can see where this is going...
Overall its imperfect, better than prometheus but hamstrung by a weak script. The scenes of horror when they occur are actually better realised than some of the films harsher critics have made out and ends on a note almost as bleak as 2017's other flawed sci-fi horror release Life. The acting is mostly good, Fassbender steals things but a lot of credit goes to Danny Mcbride who manages the transition from comedy to 'straight' roles very well. As you would expect from Scott the film is mostly a visual treat, thought the aliens themselves suffer from some iffy CGI. Its better than the AVP films (not hard) and the mess that was Alien ressurection, its somewhere on par with the third film for me. I've managed to compartmentalise the series to make these films non cannon for me, that way I can at least enjoy them as trashy B-movie nonsense with a studio budget. On that level I can enjoy them.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Alien covenant

I've managed to compartmentalise the series to make these films non cannon for me, that way I can at least enjoy them as trashy B-movie nonsense with a studio budget. On that level I can enjoy them.

I've done the same thing, only Alien and Aliens are canon as far as story line goes and the rest are films that just happen to have Xenomorphs in them! Works OK for me too

[bleakshaun]

Cube Zero
The prequel to Cube, the film focuses on a group of people trapped within the cube, same premise as the original, with a twist while these people try and escape we are seeing it through the eyes of a pair of techinicians who are observing the guinea pigs in the maze of traps. one of the technicians begins to question his job, especially when he starts to realize that one of the people in the cube hasn't consented.
The film is good as are the other 2, however the one flaw with this movie is that it is a prequel. the effects are good and some the traps are elaborate. also the whole bureaucratic angle and the whole evil government is kinda laughable. finally there is a moment when someone escapes the cube, which ruins the ending of the original.
6/10 plot is stupid, however the traps and kills keep it going.
now for The Running Man

[bleakshaun]

The Running Man
Set in the present year 2017 (wow i didn't realize this s**t was happening). A cop is ordered to shoot innocent people rioting for food, he is arrested and is sent to a prison camp, 18 months later he escapes and goes to see his brother, turns his brother has been taken by the government for re-education. he then tries to flee to Hawaii but is caught and is forced to participate in a tv game show called the running man.
The film itself is great, the cast is a great cast, Arnie tries to come out with some good one-liners but fails terribly, hell even Mick Fleetwood makes an appearance. some minor issues with the film including (for me) an awful soundtrack.
If you haven't seen it, i do recommend.
8/10

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Which Wallace set was this in, D?

One of the Network ones?

Aye, 3rd or 4th volume of the Mysteries. Il check when I get home.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bleakshaun

The Running Man
Set in the present year 2017 (wow i didn't realize this s**t was happening). A cop is ordered to shoot innocent people rioting for food, he is arrested and is sent to a prison camp, 18 months later he escapes and goes to see his brother, turns his brother has been taken by the government for re-education. he then tries to flee to Hawaii but is caught and is forced to participate in a tv game show called the running man.
The film itself is great, the cast is a great cast, Arnie tries to come out with some good one-liners but fails terribly, hell even Mick Fleetwood makes an appearance. some minor issues with the film including (for me) an awful soundtrack.
If you haven't seen it, i do recommend.
8/10

I prefer this to Total Recall.