What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

The Doom Generation
Gregg Araki, 1995

A rather shapeless trawl through the seedier arsecrack of Murica. Rose McGowan pouts for her life. 3"gen x"ers band together unwillingly ... Parker Posey wasted in a one scene appearance. Still quite violent for aw that

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Evil Roy Slade (1972)

Madcap western starring The Addams Family's John Astin as the very likable titular character who stops robbing and generally being evil when he falls in love with Pamela Austin.

With one or two running gags throughout this turned out pretty good fun, especially as i didn't even know it was a comedy when i put the dvd in the player (It was from a 101 Films Western collection so i feel i can be excused here) so while the plot was slight the humour quotient was fairly high. Besides "I learned a valuable lesson today. Never trust a pretty girl, or a lonely midget."

As far as comedy westerns go i think i preferred this to Blazing Saddles.

[Demoncrat]

Yes, saw ERS yeeears ago on tv. The "confessional" scene in the jailhouse still makes me laugh. Rewatch!!!

[Dave Boy]

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THE GIRL WHO DARED (1944)

A group of people are invited to a ghost hunt in a secluded house.
When they arrive, they discover that no invitations were sent out.
With dead bodies of the guests being found here and there and all the cars disabled, the guests argue among themselves as one of the group has to be the killer..

Low budget but atmospheric Republic chiller.
Storm raging outside, rain lashing the windows and creepy grounds.
Good.

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[keirarts]

Dragged across concrete

AKA the film where the current darling of the cult film crowd S. Craig Zahler shits the bed.

I really like Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in cell block 99. Writer/director Zahler avoids anything like moral certainty in his plots or his characters. Dealing somewhere in the grey zone where people seem to be more realistic human beings. Flawed & corrupt people who may try and do the right thing if sometimes for the wrong reasons. Or people that might be seen as outcasts who are genuinely trying to to be better. Mixed in with brutal violence and plots that mainstream Hollywood would normally steer well clear of both films feel like a breath of fresh air.
Much of this appears in Dragged across concrete. We have Mel Gibson as a street hardened cop, bitter and angry at being stuck in the same role his whole career and not having the cash to get his family out of a crime-ridden neighbourhood. His anger is affecting his work to the point that both he and his partner are suspended from duty when caught on camera brutalising a suspect. They decide to use their time off to rob some villains and decide to pick on a viscous hold up crew quite happy to kill people when needs be. We also get a crook, fresh out of jail who needs money to get his family out of poverty who goes to work for the crew.
Unfortunately the film doesn't quite work. I think its getting a lot of glowing reviews through social media. I can't help wonder if this isn't just because of who made it. If any other director turned out a film like this it'd be criticised for being overly self-indulgent, sloppily edited and in need of someone independent coming in to recut the whole affair. Its 2 hours and 40m minutes long. If it was gripping throughout then it'd get a pass. I like Michael Mann's HEAT but then I found the characters in that film more compelling. Mel Gibson is great, and he really sells his character. Unfortunately his partner played by Vince Vaughn feels horribly underwritten. Given large chunks of the film are them sat in a car talking it gets quite tedious. Thomas Kretschmann's character may have well been played by anyone given how little we see of him on screen or any sort of characterisation. Again very underwritten. Aside from Gibson the only other relateable character is played by Michael Jai White who is almost the mirror of Gibson's characters struggle to keep his head above water in a corrupt world. There are flashes of brilliance but the overall film is sluggish, shallow and really quite a chore to sit through. It really highlights the need for someone acting as producer to give notes and suggest removing scenes to bring a film down to a suitable length.

[Paul Zombie]

The murder clinic (1966)

set in the 1870's, Dr vance(William Berger) runs a clinic in a creepy looking villa in the country. and in the meanwhile, a maniac(isn't there always) is on the rampage dressed like the grim reaper in a hood and cape and brandishing a razor. and is dispatching patients and even staff. while up in the attic there are strange sounds.

another of those gothic style giallos that were popular in the 1960's. and is actually not a bad effort at all and competently directed by some chap called Elio scardamaglia.
and William Berger who was also in Five dolls for an August Moon gives a good turn too.

great fun indeed for Eurohorror fans with some suspenseful scenes and murders. and not too mention a few Euro hotties as well, including the foxy nurse Mary, and bad girl Gisele, who sadly doesnt make it to the end of the film. 70 out of 100.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Paul Zombie

The murder clinic (1966)

set in the 1870's, Dr vance(William Berger) runs a clinic in a creepy looking villa in the country. and in the meanwhile, a maniac(isn't there always) is on the rampage dressed like the grim reaper in a hood and cape and brandishing a razor. and is dispatching patients and even staff. while up in the attic there are strange sounds.

another of those gothic style giallos that were popular in the 1960's. and is actually not a bad effort at all and competently directed by some chap called Elio scardamaglia.
and William Berger who was also in Five dolls for an August Moon gives a good turn too.

great fun indeed for Eurohorror fans with some suspenseful scenes and murders. and not too mention a few Euro hotties as well, including the foxy nurse Mary, and bad girl Gisele, who sadly doesnt make it to the end of the film. 70 out of 100.

Is this on dvd, Paul?

[Paul Zombie]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Is this on dvd, Paul?

I found it on youtube demdike.

there was a Bluray release in Germany, but is rather expensive.

would be a great release for Arrow or 88 Films to pick up

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Paul Zombie

I found it on youtube demdike.

there was a Bluray release in Germany, but is rather expensive.

would be a great release for Arrow or 88 Films to pick up

Thanks.

I saw a dual format release on Amazon for £50...yeah, right.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Terror Train (1980)

A fairly anemic slasher film that merely trundles along the track for seventy minutes showcasing several David Copperfield tricks along the way. Slashings and blood are minimal, annoying high schoolers are maximal with only Ben Johnson offering anything in the way of decent acting - sorry Jamie Leigh. Even the mystery killer isn't a mystery thanks to a pre-title sequence that tells us immediately who the killer is slaughtering teens on a party train.

However the last twenty minutes are a vast improvement as the killer hunts down Ms. Curtis in the now empty railway carriages and finally director Roger Spottiswoode gives us some atmospheric thrills and spills.