What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Point in case .... I needed to clear my head after that thing I watched, so stuck on some Fragasso. ZFE 3 to be precise. At 1:85 and far more intact than the German disc or the Vipco one ... it is the best I have seen it. Which isn't saying much if indeed you've seen this chewy gooey delight and instantly shudder at the mention of the song title "Living Afterrrrr Deeeeeeaaaath!!"
Ahem.

[Demoncrat]

Many highlights here. Cliver & Kerman clones firstmost. The face ripping (ouch). The nagging riff used in the chase sequence. The green goo..... recommended for fans of fun flicks. Ok, there are no flying heids in this one but still ....

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE VAULT – Clint E's daughter is in a siege situation with James Franco after a bank robbery goes wrong, although 'wrong' in this case adds up to a vault full of vengeful ghosts. 'The Vault' opened to generally quite dismissive reviews, which I think is unfair. Basically, 'The Vault' is a mainstream B-movie, and delivers a well paced, fairly tense ninety minutes of brisk entertainment. It isn't revolutionary, but it is proficient, well made and enjoyable. The siege aspect is well handled, as is the transit over to a more supernatural mode, which is quite atmospheric in places and decorated with bits of gore here and there... it doesn't always make sense, but who cares? It's well done popcorn. Recommended.

ENCLOSURE – A couple go camping in the woods, only to fall foul of a redneck and some local mythology about tree-people. 'Enclosure' is another film that disappointed critics, but it may have been misread as a 'creature feature', rather than the more subtle piece that seems to have been intended. It's strong in a dramatic sense, with Fiona Dourif (yep, child of Chucky) giving another great performance as a woman struggling to come to terms with a disappointing relationship, and in fact this is the focus for much of 'Enclosure', which relies on steadily building an ominous atmosphere. I quite liked it and would say that it's worth a look if you happen to see it on Netflix or Amazon or the like. From the director of 'Nailbiter'.

THE EVIL IN US – A bunch of twentysomethings head out into the usual back of beyond to do some partying. How are they to know that their stash of cocaine has been contaminated with some weird chemical that turns users into crazy cannibals? 'The Evil In Us' has a real 'Horror Channel' vibe about it. It's not absolutely terrible, but it's not very good. At best, it's a passable time waster, with a bit of gore, some laughable bits (such as the coke hallucinations, which are hilariously shite), and some more interesting ideas that could've been better developed (the whole electoral conspiracy bit... and I loved the creepy sadism of the moment when the politician's wife asks for the volume of the ones dying in the test facility to be turned up so she can enjoy their suffering more, if only the whole movie had been as callous). Unfortunately, it's all as flatly stylised as one might expect, and, with so much messing about and plodding predictability, 'The Evil In Us' lacks the exploitative bite it might otherwise have had.

GRAVE WALKERS – Some cops are being harassed, first by an inexplicable shape shifting evil, then by zombies in this quirky, highly stylised indie. The director makes deliberate and obvious nods to Lynch and Tarrantino – there's sassy chat and a real 'Twin Peaks' vibe in the cop-shop, but this also gives way to moments of outright surrealism. Some of the smartness might appear smug – the film is shot in black and white until someone rings a cursed bell and ushers in a full colour zombie apocalypse. However, I really enjoyed it, I thought it was great. Or, almost great, I guess it was one of those ones that nearly got there, only to be hamstrung by an accumulation of flaws – bad CGI, not enough real nastiness, ultimately played for laughs, some pace-related lag. All very subjective on my part maybe, but, equally subjectively, there was so much right about it – the tone, especially early on, the random weirdness, the sense of epic strangeness about to unveil itself, glowing-eyed zombies with properly messed up undead faces, Tony Todd as a priest... I guess some would look at it as the kind of film that strains too hard for cult acceptance, whereas I thought it was really good but frustratingly short of being a level or two beyond that.

WORM – Excellent indie sci-fi 'comedy' set in a world where people use parasites to facilitate their dreaming. 'Worm' centres on awkward Charles, custodian of the apartment block where sneery tenants Reed and June look down on him. He wants what they have – middle class chic and social standing. So begins a tangled weave of relationship dynamics, parasitic worms and, ultimately, murder. I thought 'Worm' was absolutely great, a bona fide cult hit of the future which does so much with so, so little. The essence of microbudget, 'Worm' turns its meagre resources to its advantage and never slips up, nailing pretty much everything – performances, narrative, pacing are all spot on, as is the transition from the comedic lightness of the first half hour or so to the bleakness of its conclusion. The characters seem crudely drawn at first, but what happens between them is more subtle, and provides the engine for a film which is full of ideas, but is ultimately as much about human tragedy as it is about addiction, worms in your ear and the “dreams that money can buy” Highly recommended.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Dracula (1979)

Director John Badham's take on the classic Bram Stoker story is perhaps more romantic than usual as a seemingly fangless Frank Langella charms his way across the screen. Coming across more Lestat than Dracula, Langella in truth is miscast yet he manages to easily steal many of the scenes he's in especially with Laurence Olivier's Van Helsing, who also appears to be miscast. The mighty Donald Pleasence has a large role in this, although his Dr. Seward isn't a million miles away from his trademark Dr. Loomis in the Halloween series of films. Look out for Sylvester McCoy as well, playing Seward's general dogsbody.

Despite these seemingly damaging flaws in the casting, Dracula is still a good film. It looks terrific and has Gothic atmosphere in spades, and is beautifully photographed, there truly isn't a dull scene to be ahem' scene and whilst it isn't as gory as some of the best vampire films there's still some delightful throat ripping and stakings galore as well as some frightening imagery such as the dead Mina Van Helsing (?) coming on to her unwilling father in her tomb. Isn't it odd how the various Dracula films play mix and match with character names and scenarios?

I was a bit apprehensive as i settled down to watch this, almost fearing the worst, but i actually really enjoyed it.

[Demoncrat]

Food for thought as always F!!!

Have connected the dvd player so I can R1it.
Starting with It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ... then either Superstition or Inside.
Terry - Thomas!!

[Demoncrat]

Oooh Intermission!!

Kettle & Toilet in that order.

[Demoncrat]

Plumped for Superstition. Now this I haven't seen since VHS. Liking so far .... Is a church handyman really a serial killer?? Am waiting to be depraved and corrupted anyhow ....

[Demoncrat]

.... still waiting

Fun enough. Lots of JUMP scares. Wan's favourite film no doubt
The bandsaw still the standout .... Mary Mary, quite contrary indeed ahem.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Accountant (2016)

A film with a straightforward story that's let down by a convoluted plot. How so? Well it's basically an old fashioned action movie at heart but the script writers decided to pretend otherwise and reckon on it was all a lot cleverer than it actually is but in reality it was all so predictable.

Decent action and a good turn from Ben Affleck who can be as wooden as he wants in this portrayal of an accountant turned killing machine with autistic tendencies. Co-star Anna Kendrick pulls off one of those American nasal whiny voices whilst barely moving her lips.

Nowhere near as good as Argo (2012) which was the last Affleck film i saw.

[bleakshaun]

Last night's film choices were:
Theatre of Blood
A group of theatre critics get killed off one by one by a Shakespearean actor who gets ignored for a prestigious award for acting. The actor uses Shakespeare's as his inspiration for the murders.
The cast is swell and has a damn fine performance by Vincent Price who really hams it up and takes.so much enjoyment in the role. Also has some great kills and black comedy.
10/10

Curse of the Werewolf
A beggar humiliates himself for food and money and ends up in prison. He gets fed by jailwardens daughter and ends up raping her, she escapes and dies after birth, turns out that the child is got an evil spirit and during the full moon turns to a werewolf.
One of my favorite Hammer movies, Oliver Reed brings a good performance as Leon and also some great effects for the werewolf as well.
9/10

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