What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

The Howling.(1980)
Possibly the best werewolf film ever made after An American Werewolf, of course,I find it hard to believe that this film has its detractors..It has everything you would want from an 80's horror film, cool bladder effects, naked werewolf chicks and just an who's who of B movie and exploitation film list of great actors...Ok, the humor is sort of goof ballish and not too subtle as the scene with Eddie Quist shows " I'm gonna give you a piece of my mind. I trusted you, Karen." he then pulls a piece of brain out of a bullet hole in his head, and it would not be Joe Dante film without Dick Miller gurning away and giving a couple of nuns the evil eye as he tries to sell books on witchcraft to the likes of Forry J Ackerman...And while the cast is peppered with the great and the good from past genre movies, it's John Sayles morgue attendant that gets some of the best lines in the movie "Well, he didn't just get up and walk away! "....Maybe as a kid I was more impressed with the cracking effects, which may be by today's standads a little bit antiquated but at the time what were called bladder effects, were popping up in every horror movie of the early 80's,Whether its the bubbling skin of Eddie's Quist transformation or T.C.'s severed werewolf hand returning to its human form Rob Bottin's effects still pack a visual punch, as does the decomposing visage of Eddie as he slowly rots in-between transformations..It maybe that I've been a fan of this film since I first saw on video back in the day that im pretty blind to any faults it may have, to me its the perfect genre movie mixing horror and chuckles, and its the perfect testament to Dante's filmmaking skills that after alll this time I still get enjoyment from repeated viewings...

Sorry to say Inspector that I've given The Howling numerous opportunities to impress and the bottom line is...well frankly i find it rather boring...

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Sorry to say Inspector that I've given The Howling numerous opportunities to impress and the bottom line is...well frankly i find it rather boring...

well you can't say fairer than that I suppose...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

well you can't say fairer than that I suppose...

I think i'll give it another watch tonight when the sun goes down. It always seems like a movie to watch on a hot summer night.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

well you can't say fairer than that I suppose...

I very nearly suggested it WAS boring. But that would just be my thought. I want to like it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Time for a bit of Bogie now though.

[Demoncrat]

Avenging Force (1986, Sam Firstenberg)
The 3rd Hardy Boy is miffed when his good buddy Steve James' Mardi Gras isn't all it's cracked up to be ...
Being the Dudikoff he is ... fists fly ... cars crash ... and some spurious 'ninja' element is clumsily grafted on.
Recommended.

Return To Oz (1985, Walter Murch)
No
Those slippers just do not go with that tyranny sir!!
Tis nice to see so much stop motion on show ...

[MrBarlow]

Contagion 2011

After returning home from Hong Kong Beth Ermhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) feels tired and puts it down to jet lag, unaware she has contagious pathogen. Around the world people start to feel the same and die off. The C.D.C and W.H.O try to find a cure.

I wouldn't say this film was a thrill ride but interesting to see it from two health card's point of view and what overhyped media people do to create a panic. Although it's a movie it's filmed like a documentary type scenario filmed around four main people, the father story, the C.D.C and the W.H.O, scientists to find a cure and blogger who knows the cure. There is good acting from Matt Damon (the father). Lawrence Fishbourne (CDC). Marion Cotillard (W.H.O). Jude Law (Blogger). Elliott Gould(scientist). 7 out of 10.

[keirarts]

The evil wihin

directed by Andrew Getty, this film will probably live on in infamy for its production history alone. The director took 15 years on the film, while battling meth addiction. The film itself took five years to shoot, he then converted one of the rooms in his mansion into a mini studio to finsh editing and pre-production. At some point he died but friends helped complete the film. The full account is here Late Getty Heir's Directorial Debut 'The Evil Within' Lands After 15 Years | Hollywood Reporter and well worth a read.
The big question is if the film is any good. The answer is yes. Its about a special needs kid who befriends his reflection and unlocks some inner evil. It throws hints that something more supernatural might potentially be at play however it doesn't make the mistake of saying explicitly which option is real. It gets very dark indeed as his reflection pursuades him that the only way to 'get well' and cure his affliction is through murder. Its all well realised with some genuinely creepy imagery in places and while not managing to become a classic is definietely worth your time.

[keirarts]

Swamp ape

Given it's free to watch for Amazon Prime customers how could one resist a film with that title? Certainly I couldn't . Its an exciting 59 minute shot cheaply on digital, entry into the bigfoot sub genre as a group of kids and their professor head into the swamps for 'science' reasons and end up running into the murderous 'ape'.
Its gloriously trashy from beginning to end with sloppy editing and some genuniely appalling effects work. The Ape is literally a bloke in a cheap, furry suit with a protheic cock that gets 'lipstick' when he's dragging the various strippers the director hired to star in this opus into the woods for sexy times. Its a bad film but then thats the point. Its actually pretty fun if your an afficianado of turd bombs like this but it fails to reach the giddy heights of the ultimate bigfoot picture 'shriek of the mutilated' (yes I prefer this to boggy creek!).

[keirarts]

Bound to vengence

A woman who has been kidnapped by sex traffickers gets the best of her captor and escapes. She discovers that there are lots more women around town that might die so she drags her captor around with her visiting various places in town that the women are being kept and rescuing them. The task is made more difficult by the fact that some of the women have clearly been driven mad at this point and are as difficult as their captors but pretty soon she has killed her way through the towns underworld and has rescued some of the captive women.
Bound to vengence is a stark, brutal and brilliantly paced film that is well worth watching. copies of the film turn up in poundland from time to time and need picking up if you see them. Its a terrific little movie that somehow went under my radar.