What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[SilverSurfer]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Eiger Sanction

There are a few versions released of that film,one is a short version and another a much longer version (although neither contain the throat slitting as that was cut prior to release) The same goes for Firefox (one is 124mins and another is 137mins long )

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

There are a few versions released of that film,one is a short version and another a much longer version (although neither contain the throat slitting as that was cut prior to release) The same goes for Firefox (one is 124mins and another is 137mins long )

The only version of The Eiger Sanction i know clocks in at 124 minutes. The blu ray editions are 129 minutes. I presume this has to do with how blu-ray is encoded and frame rates rather than an extra five minutes of new footage.

There are certainly two versions of Firefox. The UK version is shorter than the US release by 16 minutes.

I wish i'd bought the UK short version as it's bloody awful for the first 90 minutes . For some reason i used to like it as a kid too.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Lust for a Vampire (1971)

A finishing school for young women provides the location for this sequel to The Vampire Lovers (1970) Sadly for everyone involved said school is right next to the ruined Karnstein Castle where the nefarious Count Karnstein is about to bring back the vampire Carmilla.

Again (very) loosely based on the works of J.S. Le Fanu, Lust For a Vampire is a bit of a rerun of the first film although not quite as good. Lacking the presence of any Hammer regulars, the film feels like a rush job.

The most memorable sequence involves the blood soaked resurrection of Carmilla, delightfully played by Yutte Stensgaard, erotic and creepy all in one it's one of the iconic scenes in Hammer's celebrated history. However the rest of the film ends up quite campy with sex and gore that never quite hit the heights of the earlier Vampire Lovers and never come close to the grimness of the final film in the Karnstein saga Twins of Evil (1971)

The film does seemingly work better as an example of exploitation rather than classic Hammer horror. Having said that Lust For a Vampire is a film i've watched a lot over the years. It is sexy and it is fun and director Jimmy Sangster always keeps things interesting in that comforting Hammer Gothic sense and happily throws in a rampaging mob at the finale, flaming torches aloft, to burn all who reside in Karnstein Castle.

[MrBarlow]

HOUSE 1986

Author Roger Cobb (William Katt) inherits a house, decides to stay there to work on his new book, but believes the house to be haunted.

Welcome back to the comedy/horror flicks of the 80s. From Sean.S. Cunningham and Steve Miner comes this underated 80s movie

William Katt and George Wendt (Norm from cheers) provide a comedy act thats well timed. Its like life, believing something is in your closet and trying to persuade someone else to believe you and get greeted by funny facial expressions. with this film it does come with cheesey special effects and costumes and some good one liners. 9 out of 10.

[Demoncrat]

Desert Heat (1999, Danny Mulroon)
Ahem. Always knew that JCVD had an ego mania as such. Full blown tis here as the Damme plays a loner who has his work cut out pitting scummy meth dealers against even scummier bikers. Littered with a colourful supporting cast, this is easily the funniest of his I've seen yet ...well twas for about 20 minutes until I stuck on ....

Double Impact (1991, Sheldon Lettich)
He plays twins!!! One is bad (slicked down hair ... reminiscent of his look in Black Eagle ) and one is good (wears his tshirt tucked into his shorts er ....)
Absolute nonsense from beginning to end ... . Why they didn't go for the obvious sci fi sequel ... well, I can think of one reason

Ahem.

[Demoncrat]

Alien From The Deep (1989, Anthony M Dawson)

Words are indeed blunt tools. In order to describe the tumult of emotions that I felt during this ... film . would take a braver man than I to the brink of sanity. The heady mixture of sleaze and desperation intermingled with sheer naked 'business sense' leaves you groggy and disorientated.

Or!

Margerhetti mixes a load of sci fi tropes in a big pot
Take your pick.

[Cinematic Shocks]

Insidious (2010)

*** out of *****

Night of the Demons (1988)

***1/2 out of *****

[Cinematic Shocks]

Mum and Dad (2017)

I quite enjoyed this zany black comedy horror. It has a lot of energy, it’s very witty, it has heaps of stylized violence, and the two leads are great. I just felt it could've been even better with deeper characterization.

*** out of *****

[Nostalgic]

Watching the critic/academic commentary on the Arrow Carrie blu ray, lots of good nuggets of info (Paxton Real Estate is a nod to Bill Paxton who worked on the art direction/set design), better than most of the modern academic commentaries which descend into being a bit TOO analytical (the "m" giallo? etc).

Worth a listen, a good combination of fan love & academia!

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic

Watching the critic/academic commentary on the Arrow Carrie blu ray, lots of good nuggets of info (Paxton Real Estate is a nod to Bill Paxton who worked on the art direction/set design), better than most of the modern academic commentaries which descend into being a bit TOO analytical (the "m" giallo? etc).

Worth a listen, a good combination of fan love & academia!

Have you heard the commentary on the BFI seven Samurai. Its almost impossible to get through. It's dryer than the sahara and like listening to the shipping forecast. Shame as the guy doing it seems to know his stuff.

The Post

Essentially chronicling the Washington Posts release of the classified Pentagon papers under the threat of legal action, the film deals with the thorny issue of freedom of the press vs national security as well as looking at the sidelining of women in the corporate world that was common at that point of time.
Spielberg seems to be really delivering these days. I was always put off by a lot of the mawkishness in some of his earlier work. Minority Report being a great example where for two thirds of the film its a great adaptation of Phillip K Dicks book then it goes and shits the bed with the final act, crow-barring in a happy ending that feels completely out of place based on what preceded it. But then the backbone of his work was eighties cinema which consciously distanced itself from the cynicism of the cinema of the 70's and the new Hollywood movement. I'd pretty much given up when Tin Tin came along, which managed to take several stories and craft a surprisingly decent adventure film out of the material. Then of course we got Bridge of spies which was possibly one of the best things I think he's done in a long time. The post seems to be carrying on this tradition. Its got Hanks again, really delivering as a gruff newspaper editor who refuses to compromise his belief in the fourth estate, specifically the importance of an independent press. Meryl Streep is also great, but would you expect anything less. Here her character arc is actually the most interesting one in the film. She's the owner of the Washington post, a role she found herself in after the death of her husband. She begins the film very much in her shell, as someone who has never had to work and whose role in life was as a homemaker. Gradually as the drama unfolds she begins to see more possibilities in her life and Streeps performance as she slowly begins to emerge from her shell and find the courage needed is a terrifically understated one.

Cat O'nine Tails.

Argento's 'difficult second film' is one the director himself initially stated he was not happy with as it was too 'American' and rooted too much in the film noir tradition. Personally I would disagree.
While Cat is not as ground breaking as Bird with the crystal Plumage was, and while the plot feels a little more convoluted in places, with the identity of the killer seeming to have little real importance, its still a solid and well crafted Giallo. Certainly if you took Argento's name off the picture and went into it not knowing a thing, it'd be rated as one of the better films of the period with some real stylistic flourishes including a terrific car chase and a jaw dropping death by train among its many set pieces. Karl Malden is great as the blind ex journalist who thinks he may have witnessed something. James Franciscus is also good as the journalist who gets roped into the investigation.
Arrows Blu-ray looks terrific. The colours really pop. There's no sign of scanner noise and its certainly the best presentation of the film i've seen.