What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I just watched the 88 Films Blu-ray of Just Before Dawn, and again with the Calum Waddell/Justin Kerwell commentary. I agree with Calum in finding it a bit slow and lacking a bit in the gore department, but it is beautifully shot and very competently directed. Acting wise, it's not brilliant, but it's a step above the likes of Don't Go in the Woods… Alone.

I enjoyed it, and found the conversation about the film and the slasher genre in general by the two commentators to be enjoyable and informative, so I will probably check out the extended version later in the weekend after watching the two latest additions to the Italian Collection.

In terms of the AV quality, even though I have no idea the merits of the DVD release, the, picture and sound are top-notch.

[MrBarlow]

Darkness falls 2003.

In the town of Darkness Falls a woman people called the tooth fairy was badly burned and never left home. Two children vanished and she was blamed, before she was executed she put a curse on the town.

This film was as good as the first time I saw it, plenty edge on the seat moments and jump scares. This is one to watch in the dark with the sound up. 8 out 10.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I think both MrBarlow and gag are correct, but in the context of the sentence, the correct answer would be a very painful, and effective, hair removal technique that leaves every follicle empty!

NSFW picture on the Wikipedia page!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini...azilian_waxing

Thanks for confirming a Brazilian is someone who comes from Brazil, Nos.

All those years of study are definitely paying off.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Darkness falls 2003.

In the town of Darkness Falls a woman people called the tooth fairy was badly burned and never left home. Two children vanished and she was blamed, before she was executed she put a curse on the town.

This film was as good as the first time I saw it, plenty edge on the seat moments and jump scares. This is one to watch in the dark with the sound up. 8 out 10.

This was apparently butchered by the studio. I'm very keen to see the directors version but don't hold out hope. He went on to do the one genuinely decent modern texas chainsaw picture, the beginning.

[Cinematic Shocks]

Originally Posted by keirarts

This was apparently butchered by the studio. I'm very keen to see the directors version but don't hold out hope. He went on to do the one genuinely decent modern texas chainsaw picture, the beginning.

TCM: The Beginning is pretty solid. I thought the released version of Darkness Falls was a turd.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Thanks for confirming a Brazilian is someone who comes from Brazil, Nos.

All those years of study are definitely paying off.

You're welcome. I didn't want there to be any confusion about the situation in South America.

In other news, water is wet.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

In other news, water is wet.

Unless it's frozen.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Unless it's frozen.

In which case it is ice, not water, and is still slightly wet to the touch!

Back on topic, I watched Alien: Covenant yesterday and realised in the first 10 minutes it has been far too long since I saw any of the Alien films, particularly Prometheus. However, the storytelling was done very well so the gaps in my memory of how Prometheus finished were filled quite subtly rather than a clunky 'Basil Exposition' way.

The opening scene with Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender, as Weiland and his new creation, who called himself David, was a terrific piece of framing and prescient storytelling, so the (intentionally) jarring cut to a ship travelling to Origae-6, a far-off planet with a cargo of 2000 colonists and 1000 frozen embryos to populate the planet, a seven man crew, and a 'synthetic' (also played by Fassbender) called Walter. (The difference between David and Walter is revealed later on in the film, but superficially David as an English accent whereas Walter has an American accent.)

Predictably enough, something goes wrong and the ship picks up a message from a different, closer planet which could be a distress call, leading the captain to decide to take an expedition on a smaller ship to the planet, encountering the 'Engineer' ship from Prometheus as the source of the signal.

Although this is a film where the beginning and end points are known to everyone with a working knowledge of the Alien films, I found myself gripped by how it played out, the interplay between the synthetics and humans, and between the two synthetics. There is a beautifully worked action sequence where the expeditionary group is attacked by some baby Xenomorphs and the frantic pace and lighting is really exciting. Throughout the film there are some excellent callbacks to the original Alien and some spectacular practical effects work with the various stages of the Xenomorph life-cycle based on H.R. Giger's designs.

Whatever the flaws of the film, Ridley Scott's eye for detail always gives you something to enjoy, so even if there are parts of this which do not entirely work, it is a pleasure to watch a master filmmaker design the hell out of every single shot. Additionally, the entire cast are impressive, with Fassbender probably taking all the plaudits for his dual role performance and Katherine Waterston's Branson drawing parallels with Ripley in a positive, rather than derivative, way.

Prometheus is a film which has detractors, but I am not one of them, so it's perhaps unsurprising that I really enjoyed Alien: Covenant and look forward to watching it again.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

In which case it is ice, not water, and is still slightly wet to the touch!

Back on topic, I watched Alien: Covenant yesterday and realised in the first 10 minutes it has been far too long since I saw any of the Alien films, particularly Prometheus. However, the storytelling was done very well so the gaps in my memory of how Prometheus finished were filled quite subtly rather than a clunky 'Basil Exposition' way.

The opening scene with Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender, as Weiland and his new creation, who called himself David, was a terrific piece of framing and prescient storytelling, so the (intentionally) jarring cut to a ship travelling to Origae-6, a far-off planet with a cargo of 2000 colonists and 1000 frozen embryos to populate the planet, a seven man crew, and a 'synthetic' (also played by Fassbender) called Walter. (The difference between David and Walter is revealed later on in the film, but superficially David as an English accent whereas Walter has an American accent.)

Predictably enough, something goes wrong and the ship picks up a message from a different, closer planet which could be a distress call, leading the captain to decide to take an expedition on a smaller ship to the planet, encountering the 'Engineer' ship from Prometheus as the source of the signal.

Although this is a film where the beginning and end points are known to everyone with a working knowledge of the Alien films, I found myself gripped by how it played out, the interplay between the synthetics and humans, and between the two synthetics. There is a beautifully worked action sequence where the expeditionary group is attacked by some baby Xenomorphs and the frantic pace and lighting is really exciting. Throughout the film there are some excellent callbacks to the original Alien and some spectacular practical effects work with the various stages of the Xenomorph life-cycle based on H.R. Giger's designs.

Whatever the flaws of the film, Ridley Scott's eye for detail always gives you something to enjoy, so even if there are parts of this which do not entirely work, it is a pleasure to watch a master filmmaker design the hell out of every single shot. Additionally, the entire cast are impressive, with Fassbender probably taking all the plaudits for his dual role performance and Katherine Waterston's Branson drawing parallels with Ripley in a positive, rather than derivative, way.

Prometheus is a film which has detractors, but I am not one of them, so it's perhaps unsurprising that I really enjoyed Alien: Covenant and look forward to watching it again.

Thats the first thing ive read on here that gets me excited Nos. Strange because i really like Prometheus, but there seems to have been a lot of 'meh' attitudes towards Covenant.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Thats the first thing ive read on here that gets me excited Nos. Strange because i really like Prometheus, but there seems to have been a lot of 'meh' attitudes towards Covenant.

I too liked Prometheus so i'll probably love this.