Midsommar (2019)

The Wicker Man (1973) is the perfect 'Pagan festivities' film. It runs for 100 minutes in it's extended directors cut version.

Ari Aster's Midsommar plays out over nearly 150 minutes.

I think you can see a problem right there. Midsommar is just too damn long and uneventful and it also emanates a strong sense of deja-vu at times with Robin Hardy's British classic as well as Ben Wheatley's A Field in England, Ti West's The Sacrament and even Herschell Gordon Lewis' Two Thousand Maniacs!, among others.

Whilst the film is unsettling in it's final third it lacks any dramatic tension up till then and the story is hardly gripping, seemingly borrowing from a multitude of genre sources in reaching it's destination.

That's not to say Midsommar is a poor and derivative film. It's not.

It's beautifully filmed and has a strong personality of it's own. The Swedish midnight sun setting is highly original and means that the very strong gory moments have no hiding place in the shadows and the stunning practical effects are there for all to see. It's also a beautiful film to look at, full of vivid colours especially in it's flowery costume designs.

Midsommar is, was, in the end over hyped, and to devotees of the horror / folk horror genre nothing remotely new.

I’ve only seen the theatrical version of Midsommer, but it bored the crap out of me, I should’ve watched the Wicker Man remake instead! Beautifully filmed though, which is the reason I gave it 2 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd :nod:

Invasion of the saucer Men. 1957.

A alien space craft lands in a small American town and nobody believes the two teens who see it.

I think this was one of those 50s B movies that wasn't meant to be taken seriously, big bugged eyed head aliens arriving and doping people up with alcohol, great cover up and denting a car and placing a dead guy by it and blame other people for a accident, smart creatures they are. Beside all that it was enjoyable, the actors did put in the effort to make it work and also make us laugh at the same time, with the hand the pops up with a eyeball.

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THE VIOLENT YEARS (1956)

Paula who seems like a nice girl is sadly neglected by her parents.
She is in fact the leader of a group of girls who at gun point rob gas stations, rape men and smash up school rooms..

Low budget drive-in delinquent teen movie written by Ed Wood.
Actually a not bad movie even with Ed's name attached.
Ends up with a moralising monologue about bad parents and their responsibilities to stop their kids getting out of control.

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Philip Raven is hired to assassinate a blackmailer but right from the get go things start to go wrong. The blackmailers assistant is also at the meeting and Raven is forced to kill both of them. Once the job is done Raven meets the man who hired him he is strangely paid in all ten dollar bills but what he doesn't know is that its a set up and the bills are all marked. When Raven is pursued by the police after using some of the money he discovers the double cross and follows Willard Gates and his boss the men who hired and stabbed him in the back to square things up. On route to L.A Raven meets the beautiful Ellen Graham who is on her way to L.A to work in the club of the the very man Raven is hunting down. They both have their own agendas but can they find a way that they both get what they want.

This Gun For Hire is a fantastic film beautifully shot and flawlessly acted its hard to find any negatives at all. Alan Ladd is great as Raven he is a man hiding lots of pain beneath his cold exterior he is cool and calm underpressure but their are moments where the cracks start to show but he quickly pulls himself together and its back to business. What can you say about Veronica Lake she is beautiful mysterious and just oozes class. Laird Cregar is the other stand out as Willard Gates he is such a weasel of a man afraid of his own shadow but he plays it spot on.

Just a wonderful film

8/10

The Brain Eaters. 1958.

When a large cone shaped object appears from the ground a group of people begin to act strange.

It always always amazing how a small town can seem to be the starting point of a alien invasion in these 50s science -fiction films, This one based on the book by Robert A. Heinlein (The Puppet Masters) starts off well then goes off track then back on the to being decent again. Ed Nelson takes point as the doctor who is curious about the coned object. There are are some good suspense moments but don't expect a lot more. Worth a watch and check out the remake The Puppet Masters 1994.

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The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, Species & L.A. Confidential
 

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie

Yes I know that this is considered to be 1 of the worst films ever but I remember not minding this when I was a child and considering I found a cheap DVD, I got it. To be honest whilst it's not good, I didn't consider it to be 1 of the worst either. It's a basic story of a bullied kid being helped by The Garbage Pail Kids.

Species

Rather enjoyable adult Sci-fi Action film in which a half woman-half alien escapes from a laboratory and is hunted by a rather impressive cast including Michael Madson, Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitiker, Alfred Molena and Marg Helgenberger whilst trying to procreate and murdering people. There is a commentary track with Natasha Henstridge. I may have to give that a try sometime.

L.A. Confidential

This film noir is 1 of my all time favorite films. Starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, this is a tale of Police Detectives investigating murders, missing drugs and blackmail. What I really like about this film is that while there are multiple storylines, it isn't too complicated to follow.

For me it's one of the Oscars biggest fails that this did not win Best Film.

The Hidden Hand. 1942.

A rich eccentric woman helps her insane brother escape the mental hospital in order to conceal him as a butler and frighten her guests who are after her money.

Great comedy mystery film set in a somewhat dark house thriller with plenty hidden passages with twist and turns on each of the characters who want to find where the old woman hid her fortune within the house. Cecile Cunningham plays the old eccentric Lorinda Channing and Milton Parsons as her insane brother John, who has the evil look and stare on hi face. Willie Best plays the chauffeur and bring in the laughs with his wide eyed stare and squeals.

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ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)

Castaway Edward Parker finds himself a guest on a strange island run by Dr. Moreau. Surrounded by beast like men, Parker stumbles upon Moreau performing and experiment on a man beast and finds out the truth..

All round great movie which was originally banned in many countries.
Charles Laughton is a joy to watch and the make up effects very good although unfortunately there are some excellent designs that for some reason were never seen in the movie.

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Black Mountain Side (2014)

Interesting psychological horror about a group of archaeologists who discover what appears to be an ancient structure buried in the snow towards the arctic circle.

What plays out is a dark thriller as the group face fears of isolation and strange physical mutations in a film thick with supernatural undercurrents.

I rather enjoyed this. It takes a bit of Carpenter's The Thing in addition to Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter and throws in what might be a dose of Lovecraft lite, in a beautifully photographed, nicely acted slow burning chiller.

What i did find utterly bizarre were the end credits. I wasn't paying attention as the cast list rolled so slowly 'rewound' the disc. The film's title Black Mountain appeared followed by a second title Black Mountain Side. On playback Black Mountain Side is nowhere to be seen. The credits simply say Black Mountain, then the cast list rolls.

A haunted dvd for sure. And a movie with definite rewatch value.