What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[trebor8273]

My favourite of the bunch. Taking place straight after the first , the maniac cop is now a zombie and quickly dispatches Bruce Campbell and his girlfriend , so it's up to cop Robert Davi and police psychologist Claudia Christian to try and stop the zombie cop who has teamed up with a prostitute killer who looks like Mick Foley!

With have a scene ripped straight from terminator when a police station is stormed. 8/10



The maniac is resurrected and sets out killing those who have wronged a young female police officer who is wounded after a robbery , but is portrayed as a gun happy killer by the news crew present and is used as a scape goat by the police department too stop bad publicity. 5.5/10

Now watching Hercules and the Amazon Women. Followed by beyond the door.

[MrBarlow]

The Ghost Walks. 1934.

After arriving at a old dark house, a playwright, theatre producer and assistant realise the house was the focus of a unsolved murder.

This was one of those films that starts off as a creepy dark film that becomes more into a crime comedy horror. The actors do try to keep things entertaining as it does go to the point of being slow that back to a steady pace with some good funny one liners delivered. There was a attempt to add in a plot twist that did go well even on a low budget this was entertaing and worth a watch.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Grand Isle (2019)

A hugely enjoyable slice of Grand Guignol / Southern Gothic in which a handyman ends up stuck during a hurricane at the isolated mansion of former marine Nic Cage and his nympho wife KaDee Strickland.

Yes the story is bonkers and it is fun and Cage is on top form but he's bettered by Strickland as his demented sex pot wife in a bizarre game of cat and mouse as both have plans for the young handyman (Luke Benward) and that's before we even get into what is exactly behind the cellar door.

I'm sure those who wish to can pull this apart piece by piece but i found it an at times thrilling and very entertaining ride.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

My favourite of the bunch. Taking place straight after the first , the maniac cop is now a zombie and quickly dispatches Bruce Campbell and his girlfriend ,

I'd always assumed Cordell was effectively a zombie to begin with.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

The Protector (1985) ★★★

Directed by James Glickenhaus, The Protector is Jackie Chan's second American film (after The Big Brawl five years earlier) and, compared to the Hong Kong films he made before and after this, it's not great. The film really suffers because Chan's character, Billy Wong, is almost a charisma-free zone he does a few of the audacious stunts which made Chan such a superstar in Hong Kong.

What you have is a pretty average action film: recently demoted, maverick New York cops go to Hong Kong to investigate a kidnapping. There, they are in danger from drug smuggling gangsters and receive nothing but scorn and obstruction from the Royal Hong Kong Police.

I like James Glickenhaus's The Exterminator and this is probably on a par with it, but with Jackie Chan, Danny Aiello and Roy Chiao in the main roles, it should be much better. Apparently the production was fractious because Glickenhaus and Chan didn't see eye to eye on the action sequences and got so bad that Jackie Chan left the set and only returned because he was contractually obliged to, re-editing the film with some re-shoots himself for its Hong Kong release. It's this last element which makes it interesting because the US and Hong Kong versions are very different – neither is brilliant – and it's fun to watch them and see how they differ.

Personally, I prefer Jackie Chan's version because the fight sequences are more involving and skilfully edited – it's no wonder that Police Story, the film Jackie Chan aid directly after this is such a great watch.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Dragons Forever (1988) ★★★½

Starring three superstars of Hong Kong action cinema: Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Jackie Chan, and directed by Sammo Hung, Dragons Forever is a wonderful piece of chop-socky with an interesting storyline and some brilliant action sequences involving the 'three brothers', unusually cast against type, on top form.

Although I didn't like the occasional use of slow motion during fight scenes, I love the sequence when Jackie Chan ends up wearing a white vest and black trousers with more than a passing resemblance to Bruce Lee. Generally, a highly entertaining and enjoyable movie which I'm very glad I own.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) ★★★½

In order to stop drug trafficking from the 'Golden Triangle', (an area of intense heroin production at the intersection of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar) into Thailand itself, the Thai government recruits a mercenary gang of Chinese soldiers to kidnap the drug baron responsible and bring him to Thailand to face justice. Nothing is easy for Chan Chung (Eddy Ko) and his band of mercenaries (including his son and 'auntie') as, along the way, they interrupt the mass murder of a group of French travellers by a Vietnamese border patrol resulting in the shooting in the eye, by Chung, of a Vietnamese general (Lam Ching-ying) who then pursues Chung. This leads to almost endless fights between the two men and their forces along the way to a showdown between Chung and the general.

This is a strange film from John Woo, partially because he didn't have complete independent creative control and was forced by the studio to film a drug and sex scene to make the film more appealing to international audiences. This seems a strange decision as the scene appears completely out of place and unnecessarily slows the pacing of the film. There's also a comedic gambling sequence which could be completely without any effect on the story, but would certainly make the film flow better. It could have been shot by someone else and inserted by Golden Harvest against Woo's wishes but that's just speculation.

As with all John Woo films, especially those made in Hong Kong, the body count is huge, the stunts and violence plentiful and the 'bullet ballet' slow motion is used enough for effect but not overused to the point where it becomes annoying.

Heroes Shed No Tears was filmed between 1984-5 but only released in 1986 after the international acclaim and success of A Better Tomorrow. Perhaps due to the interference of the studio and perhaps because Woo was still perfecting his art, this is not one of his greatest films and is several rungs below the likes of The Killer, Bullet in the Head or Hard Boiled, yet is still great fun to watch, especially if you like John Woo's stylised 'bullet ballet' violence, of which there is plenty.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Paranoia aka A Quiet Place to Kill (1970) ★★★½

Clearly influenced by films such as Les Diaboliques, this is an atypical giallo, one which isn't really interested in murders and a black gloved killer. Instead, he concentrates on the character dynamics and interpersonal relationships between people who have good reason to be suspicious of those around them.

It's an unusual film to watch because it's unlike any of Umberto Lenzi's other films, with characters unsure whether to believe what they have seen, may have even been an influence on Dario Argento's acclaimed giallo Deep Red.

It's one of Lenzi's better made films but it's a shame I didn't find Carroll Baker or Jean Sorel – usually very interesting characters – particularly engaging. I was impressed with the young French actor Anna Proclemer, who is definitely the most interesting person on screen.

Because of the plot twists and ending, it's a film I'll revisit several times, no doubt at least once this year.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Brothers Till We Die (1978) ★★★½

An interesting and solid poliziottesco, one particularly notable for Tomas Milian playing two roles. Even without the 'gimmick' of the lead actor playing two very different characters with very different appearances (Milian clearly had much more fun than usual with prosthetics and wigs), this is a neatly plotted and directed film, one which kept me interested from the first minute to last.

Although probably not the best poliziottesco ever made – it's not Milano Caliber 9, Rabid Dogs, or Live like a Cop, Die like a Man – it's a film by an accomplished director with a talented, charismatic lead and skilled supporting cast.

[MrBarlow]

Things Happen at Night. 1948.

An Insurance investigator and a psychic try to eliminate a poltergeist from a house.

I don't think this was to be taken seriously as a horror, if it was a horror back then, nowadays it's more comedy and daft. The acting wasn't great but the actors do try to make it enjoyable for those watching it. Even though it seems to be set in a dark gothic mansion the special effects are what you would expect them to be from that era even though the director did try to make them decent as well as serious. Entertaining enough to enjoy.

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