What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

You can't take your eyes off him when he's on the screen ....

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE GHOUL – Viewers of 'Blunder' from the mid-noughties may remember“The Baron! I'm Evil!”, though they may struggle to recognise Tom Meeten in 'The Ghoul'. He gives an excellent, haunted performance as a depressed undercover cop (or is he...) in this twisty psych thriller from Gareth Tunley. Reality constantly slips and identities blur in a curdled Brit-gloom atmosphere that roils like bad reefer smoke. Is the supernatural at work, or is this all about the unfolding of a tortured mind... who knows, 'The Ghoul's ineffable air of conspiracy gives nothing away. For fans of 'Memento', 'Time Crimes' and depressing UK TV dramas. “Jizz-face!”

SKINLESS – Microbudget body-disintegration horror that knowingly rips Cronenberg's 'The Fly'. It's about a scientist who develops a cure for cancer, only to find that, when he tests it on himself, his face drops off. Tortured relationship with colleague ensures availability of doomed romance sub-plot. I really liked 'Skinless'. The pacing isn't really very good and the cheapo aesthetics might put some off, but it's shamelessly ludicrous in everything from its over-blatant 'homage' through to the arbitrary nudity and the icky (and satisfyingly prosthetic) flesh melt gore. There's even room for some almost-hentai at the end. Veers towards laughs at points, but this isn't overdone... I would say it's tongue is firmly in its cheek, but then, it doesn't really have one... or a tongue, for that matter... wuh hah hah hah hah, I should be the Crypt Keeper or something. Anyway, recommended.

SUDDENLY IN THE DARK – From Mondo Macabro, reliable traders in forgotten overseas weirdness. 'Suddenly in the Dark' is a Korean horror film from around 1981, a rare commodity no doubt. It's about a woman whose intense suspicion of the servant her etymologist husband has brought into the familial home drives her to brink of sanity. Although again, we may be in the presence of the supernatural, as there's a creepy doll in the mix and people fall out of windows “as if pushed by a sinister force”. 'Suddenly in the Dark' didn't quite win me over, despite there being plenty in it to pique my interest – I'm a sucker for dolls, wonky camera angles and cheap psychedelic visuals (“just put that jam jar over the lens, that should do it”) and all of the above abound here. The slightly staid unfolding put a damper on things a little, and in some ways, pre the Bava'd up climax, there just wasn't enough horror, ominous build-up aside. Interesting, though, and definitely worth watching. Kudos again to MM.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Bedlam (1946)

Karloff returns with producer Lewton and director Mark Robson in this film telling of the downfall of the sadistic governor of St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum, a fictionalized version of Bethlehem Royal Hospital, also known as Bedlam.

Based on Hogath's painting A Rake's Progress which depicted goings on in Bedlam, this is one of Lewton's very best productions. Karloff's governor is similar in ways to his portrayal of the ruthless Grey in 45's The Body Snatcher - seemingly kind to those not in the know, but terrifying to those who cross him - as happens to lovely Anna Lee as she tries to put a stop to Karloff's macabre practices with the inmates of Bedlam and unwittingly is incarcerated herself.

Bedlam is a grim film even now. Some scenes are still truly disturbing, but thankfully Lee, whose not in the least bit insane, begins to pull the strings with the other inmates. The final scenes of the film are powerfully done and have echoes of Poe at times. Unlike most of Lewton's productions there are no unseen forces at work, the monsters are there for all to see in the case of Karloff, whilst much of the horror comes from his actions and the depiction of life inside London's most notorious of asylums rather than the power of suggestion.

Bedlam, over the years, has become one of my top three Val Lewton productions.

Highly recommended.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Bedlam (1946)



Karloff returns with producer Lewton and director Mark Robson in this film telling of the downfall of the sadistic governor of St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum, a fictionalized version of Bethlehem Royal Hospital, also known as Bedlam.



Based on Hogath's painting A Rake's Progress which depicted goings on in Bedlam, this is one of Lewton's very best productions. Karloff's governor is similar in ways to his portrayal of the ruthless Grey in 45's The Body Snatcher - seemingly kind to those not in the know, but terrifying to those who cross him - as happens to lovely Anna Lee as she tries to put a stop to Karloff's macabre practices with the inmates of Bedlam and unwittingly is incarcerated herself.



Bedlam is a grim film even now. Some scenes are still truly disturbing, but thankfully Lee, whose not in the least bit insane, begins to pull the strings with the other inmates. The final scenes of the film are powerfully done and have echoes of Poe at times. Unlike most of Lewton's productions there are no unseen forces at work, the monsters are there for all to see in the case of Karloff, whilst much of the horror comes from his actions and the depiction of life inside London's most notorious of asylums rather than the power of suggestion.



Bedlam, over the years, has become one of my top three Val Lewton productions.



Highly recommended.

This one sounds great. I’ll have to have a look around for it.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

THE GHOUL – Viewers of 'Blunder' from the mid-noughties may remember“The Baron! I'm Evil!”, though they may struggle to recognise Tom Meeten in 'The Ghoul'. He gives an excellent, haunted performance as a depressed undercover cop (or is he...) in this twisty psych thriller from Gareth Tunley. Reality constantly slips and identities blur in a curdled Brit-gloom atmosphere that roils like bad reefer smoke. Is the supernatural at work, or is this all about the unfolding of a tortured mind... who knows, 'The Ghoul's ineffable air of conspiracy gives nothing away. For fans of 'Memento', 'Time Crimes' and depressing UK TV dramas. “Jizz-face!”

SKINLESS – Microbudget body-disintegration horror that knowingly rips Cronenberg's 'The Fly'. It's about a scientist who develops a cure for cancer, only to find that, when he tests it on himself, his face drops off. Tortured relationship with colleague ensures availability of doomed romance sub-plot. I really liked 'Skinless'. The pacing isn't really very good and the cheapo aesthetics might put some off, but it's shamelessly ludicrous in everything from its over-blatant 'homage' through to the arbitrary nudity and the icky (and satisfyingly prosthetic) flesh melt gore. There's even room for some almost-hentai at the end. Veers towards laughs at points, but this isn't overdone... I would say it's tongue is firmly in its cheek, but then, it doesn't really have one... or a tongue, for that matter... wuh hah hah hah hah, I should be the Crypt Keeper or something. Anyway, recommended.

SUDDENLY IN THE DARK – From Mondo Macabro, reliable traders in forgotten overseas weirdness. 'Suddenly in the Dark' is a Korean horror film from around 1981, a rare commodity no doubt. It's about a woman whose intense suspicion of the servant her etymologist husband has brought into the familial home drives her to brink of sanity. Although again, we may be in the presence of the supernatural, as there's a creepy doll in the mix and people fall out of windows “as if pushed by a sinister force”. 'Suddenly in the Dark' didn't quite win me over, despite there being plenty in it to pique my interest – I'm a sucker for dolls, wonky camera angles and cheap psychedelic visuals (“just put that jam jar over the lens, that should do it”) and all of the above abound here. The slightly staid unfolding put a damper on things a little, and in some ways, pre the Bava'd up climax, there just wasn't enough horror, ominous build-up aside. Interesting, though, and definitely worth watching. Kudos again to MM.

And kudos to you sir.




Halloween (2007)

A reminding that not only can't you go home .... you wouldn't want to anyhow. Am dreading this new one. What did I really expect??
It's more obvious this time ..... the stench of the grave he robbed. Overblown where there was subtlety. Vulgarity where there was class. Have paused it at the part where it 'becomes' Halloween. I need to pee etc.
Am going to listen to the comm after. Should be illuminating on many levels.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

STITCH FACE (2014) – Two grieving parents are struggling to cope with life without the young daughter, so go into the desert with friends and try something ritualistic to help her rest, and ease their depression. Unfortunately, this seems to conjure up demonic forces and the adults develop horrendous wounds which are even worse when they are inexplicably and painfully repaired with gruesome stitches.

THE WATERMEN (2011) – A trio of girls head into the middle of the Atlantic with a wealthy playboy Amanda in a fight for their lives with sadistic fishermen (the titular watermen). Some of this is ridiculously stupid, befitting a film with Jason Mewes in a major role, and some of it is actually quite tense. It's nothing special, but I can see myself watching it again next October.

KNOCK KNOCK (2008) – Members of a high school football team are brutally killed by someone in a mask leaving the message 'knock knock'; the police are useless, but some old man who enjoys whiskey and his own company is clearly the key to solving the puzzle. This is just about watchable with a fascinating appearance by Lou Ferrigno. It's nasty, but not as nasty as it should be, nor as sleazy or original.

RESURRECTION COUNTY (2008) – A group of twentysomethings travel through the titular locale into Enoch, a remote town. There, shit gets nasty and it is surprisingly downbeat. I guess this was riding the very end of the 'torture porn' wave because there is a lot of attention paid to brutalising and killing people who are lucky if they are two-dimensional, but by the ending I was surprised at how much I was rooting for them!

LOVE OBJECT (2003) – Kenneth, a socially inept office worker, finds out about somewhere that will make a lifelike love doll, so he contacts them and has one made and delivered to his apartment. Unfortunately, Udo Kier is the building manager, and anyone who knows anything goes nothing goes well when Udo Kier is around. In this case, the doll (which he names Nikki) seemingly becomes sentient, sending him to work with bondage straps on his wrists and the two have blazing arguments. After that, things get even worse when he begins a relationship with a co-worker, Lisa, who encourages to dress and style her hair to resemble Nikki, finds out about her latex lookalike.

SATAN'S LITTLE HELPER (2004) – A nine-year-old boy, Dougie, who is addicted to the titular video game, strikes up an unlikely friendship with someone he finds dragging a body around in town, thinking it is the incarnation of the main character in his favourite video game. There is a weird dynamic at play because Dougie is naïvely complicit in gruesome murders, which he thinks are fictional, so this seems to be trying to comment on the age of criminal responsibility, but I didn't watch it for social commentary. This could be why I enjoyed it because of the twisted relationship between a young boy and a shape shifting Demon.

MONSTER MAN (2004) – This felt like something which was an inspiration on the (superior) Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010) with its mix of buddy comedy and extreme violence. The main male characters are an unlikely pairing of Adam, a shy virgin who wants to crash his ex-girlfriend's wedding so we can tell where he still loves her, and the extremely antisocial and insensitive Harley, who just likes annoying people. This kind of works and I liked Adam a lot more than I thought I would at the beginning, and Harley became less annoying as it went on. That was one bonus and the other was the Duel-inspired killer monster truck.

THE SLEEPER (2012) – I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be a homage/pastiche, the fact it's set in a sorority in 1981 with a killer targeting the sorority girls, means it has more than passing similarities to Black Christmas, A Stranger Calls, Halloween, and Scream. As such, most of it is devoid of tension because it is simply recycling plot devices from other, better, films.

THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW (1983) – The only film mentioned here which was not bought for £1 from Music Magpie and one which, despite having owned it for about a decade, I haven't seen in a very long time. This is a shame, because it is a very neatly constructed and influential piece of cinema, drawing on films like Les Diaboliques, Black Christmas and even The Exorcist (watch how the scene with Katherine exploring by candlelight echoes Chris McNeil in the attic). It's something which I watched with fairly low expectations, which it easily surpassed and has been given an excellent release from 88 Films, looking and sounding better than I expected and with an informative commentary by The Hysteria Continues, which I'm enjoying right now.

[Demoncrat]

Love Object was a wee surprise indeed. And THOSR is always worth watching.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Love Object was a wee surprise indeed. And THOSR is always worth watching.

I was pleasantly surprised by Love Object, which is a very twisted little tale. The bits that stood out for me were when I expected something very violent to take place, and what happened instead was even more disturbing because of the psychological impact.

It's probably been a decade since I've seen The House on Sorority Row – the cropped full frame Boulevard Entertainment DVD – and it was like watching the film for the first time.

[Demoncrat]

This is the best thing about revisiting some old films in these editions.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

This is the best thing about revisiting some old films in these editions.

Definitely. There's a big difference between watching a DVD with a cropped/pan and scan picture and murky sound and the same thing with remastered sound and picture in the right aspect ratio.