What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Abattoir (2016)

A reporter investigates Jebediah Crone (Dayton Callie), a mysterious old man who is assembling a haunted house constructed from rooms where deaths have occurred.

I always liked Dayton Callie in Sons of Anarchy but sadly in this he doesn't get much screen time other than the final twenty minutes. However by this stage the film was totally lost to me as boredom had seriously kicked in. In theory the whole murder room idea is a good one which worked well in Fritz Lang's Secret Beyond the Door (1947) but this is more convoluted and less interesting despite some atmospheric scenes that suggest a better film could have been made had director Darren Lynn Bousman gone for chills rather than by the numbers swirling ghostly CGI smoke effects.

[Hammer time]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I have the Dagored release of this. Good film, poor quality dvd.

I have the other release from italy, It looks dvd quality but the screen ratio is wrong.No english so it took me ages to find a subtitle file online but perseverance paid off. (not as hard as finding subtitles for fulci presents Hansel e Gretel)

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Southern Comfort (1981)

A squad of National Guardsmen - including Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe - are sent on exercise in the Louisiana swamplands and find themselves drawn into a war with local Cajuns.

As this is set in 1973 i presume it's an allegory of the Vietnam war with the Cajuns cast as the shadowy Vietcong flashing about in the trees seen only from the corner of the eye, however allegories aside, Southern Comfort is also a quite brilliant film.

Helped by a stunning soundtrack from Ry Cooder, director Walter Hill establishes the Louisiana Bayou as a grey almost formless and formidable labyrinth in which the guardsmen are soon trapped. The part time soldiers don't help themselves once in this situation, indeed for the most part they are a totally unlikable bunch - even Carradine and Boothe play as anti-heroes rather than men we can get behind until the final twenty minutes - firing their automatic rifles loaded with blanks at the locals for a laugh but the locals didn't see it that way and start what becomes a guerrilla war and thrusting the viewer into what can only be described as an abstract action film.

The end result is a film that's tense and extremely creepy throughout with a finale that is thoroughly uncomfortable viewing.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Hammer time

I have the other release from italy, It looks dvd quality but the screen ratio is wrong.No english so it took me ages to find a subtitle file online but perseverance paid off. (not as hard as finding subtitles for fulci presents Hansel e Gretel)

Fortunately the Dagored release is English friendly.

[Demoncrat]

The Festival (Iain Morris)
By the numbers 'comedy' starring an Inbetweener (or two ) ... so you know what to expect. Cliched drivel imho. Some laughs here and there. Mate wanted to see this. I gets my revenge tonight with .....

Philosophy Of A Knife ....

[trebor8273]

With going to see Glass tomorrow thought I better watch Split first.

[bleakshaun]

Fyre
A documentary telling the creation, collapse and aftermath of Fyre festival. A weekend music festival on Pablo Escobars island in the Bahamas. Elaborating on how it was formed and looking into how the creators used social media influencers to sell what turned out to be a lie.
An intriguing documentary and a guide as how to not do a music festival. Interesting watch for sure.
fyre_ka_us.jpeg

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Chappaquiddick (2017)

The Ted Kennedy car crash wasn't an event i was at all familiar with, perhaps as i wasn't born until two years later (a lazy excuse i really don't buy) or because as an Englishman other events that happened at the exact same time involving some fella called Armstrong meant that in the years since it just never registered with me.

The Senator as it's known on UK dvd, tells the true story of Senator Ted Kennedy driving his car off of a bridge on Massachusetts' Chappaquiddick Island. The accident results in the death of passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old campaign strategist who worked for Kennedy and the ongoing investigation and scandal which would harm Kennedy's political career forever.

Starring Jason Clarke as Ted (He looks just like him too) and Kate Mara as Mary Jo as well as Bruce Dern, Ed Helms and Clancy Brown, this is a riveting retelling and a brave drama to make about one of America's most powerful families.

Anyone going to see Vice at the cinema could do a lot worse than give this a go as well.

[John Matrix]

American Beauty - 9/10

On of my favourite films. Everything about it is perfect, great cinematography from Conrad Hall and all the acting is superb apart from maybe the boy that plays Ricky he's a bit cheesy.

[Demoncrat]

The Revenge Of Robert The Doll (Andrew Jones)

Puppet Master III ripoff anyone???? WWII set oddness featuring ... well, I'm not really sure tbh. The opening imagery is suggestive of another series of films featuring dolls ... but that fades into ... a domestic abuse drama in all honesty. Hmmm. Exploitative for sure. Market? Cthulhu knows. So to this ....


The Hitcher Robert Harmon)

It is basically a slasher after all . This being the old UK vhs. A chap whom has never seen that old Hammer House Of Horror episode enters a world of pain when he picks up a bedraggled hitchiker. Is he an evil spirit haunting this road? Or just a nutter with great luck?? The best thing is tis never really explained. Restraint is the watchword as is still one of the more disturbing yet nongraphic American films that I have seen. Recommended.