What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[profondo rosso]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

December 29th - The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

I'm not going into any plot details here, no spoilers whatsoever. I'll just say this truly original horror film starring Emile Hirsch and the excellent as always Brian Cox was a riveting experience from it's opening moments. I found it tense and creepy, bordering on the scary, with a deliciously eerie ambiance to it throughout.

Possibly the best modern horror i've seen this year.

Totally agree with this Dem, it is one of the best, original horror films I have seen for a looong time. Creepy, great foreboding atmosphere, use of lighting and if I am right only two locations used throughout the whole film. There was an article in Darkside 186 interviewing the director ( also talking about Troll Hunter, which I have not seen yet) which prompted me to watch it again several nights ago ( I am a little behind on my Darkside issues ) Within a very short space of time you feel for the father and son which adds to the tension. I had not heard of this film so was a blind watch for me also. Highly recommended.

[iank]

When Eight Bells Toll. Anthony Hopkins gets to be James Bond, well almost, (not something you see every day) as a British agent on the trail of a conspiracy to hijack and plunder ships laden with gold billion in this early 70s British action-thriller based on a novel by Alastair Maclean. Hopkins is great, but the film never really manages to be anything other than just "okay", if perfectly watchable.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Atomic Blonde (2017)

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Despite sporting some terrific fight sequences and Charlize Theron looking super stylish, i found the story to be completely uninvolving at best and derivative at worst, it's Cold War Berlin setting just that a setting and not really part of the plot, meaning it failed to grab me and a sense of detachment soon kicked in.

The film had a rather cool 80's synth soundtrack featuring the likes of Depeche Mode and David Bowie but it's a case of style over substance more than anything else in an attempt to be cool but it just felt sterile and self aware.

Disappointing.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Atomic Blonde (2017)

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Despite sporting some terrific fight sequences and Charlize Theron looking super stylish, i found the story to be completely uninvolving at best and derivative at worst, it's Cold War Berlin setting just that a setting and not really part of the plot, meaning it failed to grab me and a sense of detachment soon kicked in.

The film had a rather cool 80's synth soundtrack featuring the likes of Depeche Mode and David Bowie but it's a case of style over substance more than anything else in an attempt to be cool but it just felt sterile and self aware.

Disappointing.

100% agree, I rented this the other night and it's one of my biggest film disappointments of the year, I was so excited for it after the trailer but just under an hour in I was actually bored, at least it was just a rental though I thought and not £15 spent...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

100% agree, I rented this the other night and it's one of my biggest film disappointments of the year, I was so excited for it after the trailer but just under an hour in I was actually bored, at least it was just a rental though I thought and not £15 spent...

I got it as part of Asda's 3 for £20 offer so only cost £6.66 which isn't too bad. I aim to watch it again at some stage see it it improves, plus it has a very nice slip case.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Atomic Blonde (2017)

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Despite sporting some terrific fight sequences and Charlize Theron looking super stylish, i found the story to be completely uninvolving at best and derivative at worst, it's Cold War Berlin setting just that a setting and not really part of the plot, meaning it failed to grab me and a sense of detachment soon kicked in.

The film had a rather cool 80's synth soundtrack featuring the likes of Depeche Mode and David Bowie but it's a case of style over substance more than anything else in an attempt to be cool but it just felt sterile and self aware.

Disappointing.

Originally Posted by Justin101

100% agree, I rented this the other night and it's one of my biggest film disappointments of the year, I was so excited for it after the trailer but just under an hour in I was actually bored, at least it was just a rental though I thought and not £15 spent...

I was also hugely disappointed with this as the trailer (plus the talent behind and in front of the camera) led me to expect a cleverly plotted and action packed movie, not one which seems like a pale imitation of the Bourne films. The fight scenes were superbly choreographed and executed, but that's just about all I can praise.

It looked like something I would love and buy as soon as it was released, but I haven't had the inclination to watch it since it was at the cinema, nor add it to my collection, something which says a lot.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

It looked like something I would love and buy as soon as it was released, but I haven't had the inclination to watch it since it was at the cinema, nor add it to my collection, something which says a lot.

Unless 88 Films release it

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

Unless 88 Films release it

The day 88 Films start releasing films like Atomic Blonde is the day I know I'm truly through the looking glass!

[keirarts]

slime city.

Ultra low budget melt movie that was shot around the same time as Street Trash. In fact Jim Muro did some steadycam work here for free. Sadly some delays, including the director and a lot of his team working on Brain Damage for Frank Hennenlotter meant the film wasn't completed until the bottom had fallen out of the independent horror market and the film failed to take off.
For me it's not as good a film as Street Trash or Brain Damage but is still worth checking out. It's almost minimalist approach to shooting makes it feel like a Roberta Findlay flick. It's got plenty of urban low budget charm like a lot of the underground horror coming out at the time mixed in with a 'plastic reality' approach to the human body that gives it a strange dream like quality. Sure it's got faults, it'd be hard not to given how cheaply it was made but it all adds to it's underground charms. If you like Toxic avenger, street Trash, c.h.u.d. or any of the other low budgeted sleaze that found it's place in home video this ones well worth checking out.

slime city massacre.

A 2010 'sequel' to slime city with cult icon Debbie Rochon. It has a post apocalyptic feel to proceedings set in a new York where a dirty bomb has gone off. A couple looking to escape the city end up in an abandoned warehouse where they meet another couple also looking to survive. They discover the elixir and ectoplasm from the first film and pretty soon find themselves turning into slime creatures.
This one feels like a real throwback to the sort of outrageous DTV material that was coming out around the time of the original slime city. It even has a throwaway homage to basket case and street trash in one scene.

Both films appear on the DVD and blu-ray releases and are well worth checking out if you haven't seen them yet.

[keirarts]

As far as Atomic Blonde goes. For me it was a handful of great scenes in a film that failed to work as a whole. Obviously the lesbian scene appealed to my sleazeball nature but I did enjoy the stairway fight scene and the fight in the cinema that had Tarkovskys stalker playing. The film itself isn't amazing sadly.