What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Mojo]

CHALLENGE THE DEVIL ( 1963 )
I’m not quite sure what I’ve watched here.
What starts off as a sort of crime drama, then some musical numbers, then a ‘story’ about some juveniles entering a castle where a white haired Christopher Lee is mourning the loss of his wife. I think.
According to the extras, Lee spent 8 days shooting this obscure Italian film. I don’t know what he was doing for the other 7 and a half days, but his brief scenes here look like the were filmed in an afternoon. Lee giving a brief speech, Lee looking mournful, Lee with his head in his hands etc.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see such an obscure film starring the great man himself, but it’s obscure for a reason. It’s terrible.

SILENT ACTION. ( 1975 )
Thomas Milan is one of the stars of this Italian crime drama, concerning suspicious suicides of several high ranking military officers and the quest to find the truth.
Sergio Martino is one of my favourite directors and he brings a fast moving and entertaining tale by way of the usual car chases, bloody murders and corrupt cops.
This Blu Ray from Fractured Visions has a neat alternate Italian cover beneath the slipcase and the disc itself has a load of extras, including a booklet.
I believe they’ve got an Umberto Lenzi title coming up next. A label to keep an eye on methinks.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Mojo

SILENT ACTION. ( 1975 )
Thomas Milan is one of the stars of this Italian crime drama, concerning suspicious suicides of several high ranking military officers and the quest to find the truth.
Sergio Martino is one of my favourite directors and he brings a fast moving and entertaining tale by way of the usual car chases, bloody murders and corrupt cops.
This Blu Ray from Fractured Visions has a neat alternate Italian cover beneath the slipcase and the disc itself has a load of extras, including a booklet.
I believe they’ve got an Umberto Lenzi title coming up next. A label to keep an eye on methinks.

Free Hand for a Tough Cop is out today. I plan to order it next week.

[trebor8273]

The first of the " family" movies , Brain is back in the FBI but ends up having too team with Dom too bring down a drug kingpin who is also responsible for Lotties ( does anyone stay dead to n these films?)death. Some great chase scenes even if the effects in the tunnel look a bit crap still quite grounded in reality compared to what's too come.




Another amazing action packed episode in the series with the usual amazing stunts and action.

Here the IMF has been disbanded by Alec Baldwin head of the CIA, Ethan is a wanted man and is on the Lamb looking for a secret sinister organisation called the syndicate. He has help from old and new friends but has Ethan met his match this time?

This is a group of films that seem too get better as they go on, said this before but these are better "Bond" type films than most of the newer Bond's .


Now watching.

[MrBarlow]

Miami Connection. 1987.

An American rock band skilled in martial arts go after a drug gang in the Florida area.

I got no idea what I watched, this was about young college kids in a amateur rock band who look older than what they are, it seems to go off the rails a bit and shows some bad underground illegal fighting. The acting in this is really awful to the point the mute button was handy at times, the fight scenes are not the best at all.

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[Demoncrat]

It's a classic. You want utter crap? Try ...

Creepshow 3 (2006, Ana Clavell/ James Dudelson)

Woeful entry.
Just really awful.
The humour is threadbare and misplaced most of the time, the twists are cliche incarnate and those are the good points. AVOID.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

It's a classic. You want utter crap? Try ...

Creepshow 3 (2006, Ana Clavell/ James Dudelson)

Woeful entry.
Just really awful.
The humour is threadbare and misplaced most of the time, the twists are cliche incarnate and those are the good points. AVOID.

Oh Demon, you got my sympathy, a film that should really just disappear

HUG

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

G Men (1935)

Classic gangster crime film in which former Mob enforcer Brick Davis (James Cagney - Brick! What a name. You can tell what sort of a guy he is) joins the government bureau of investigation and ends up going after his old associates.

A cracking film full of fast car chases and even faster bullets - there are shoot outs galore - James Cagney is in great form and plays against type when you think of earlier Cagney classics like Little Caesar and The Public Enemy (Both 1931) in which he played the villain of the piece.

The dialogue is both amusing and quick fire cutting edge with Cagney and co-star Robert Armstrong playing off each other brilliantly as training instructor (Armstrong) and quick learning pupil (Cagney) and the film grips from first minute to last.

Excellent.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Oh Demon, you got my sympathy, a film that should really just disappear

HUG

Damn! That's my Secret Santa gift to you shot down in flames.

[MrBarlow]

Dolly Dearest. 1991.

A toy manufacturer buys the "Dolly Dearest" factory in Mexico unaware that one of the porcelain dolls has been possessed by a evil spirit.

This is one of those films I find myself coming back to re-watch and clearly a female doll rip-off from Child's Play except it has the soul of a 800 year old witch instead of a serial killer. The writing is pretty amateurish but the actors including Denise Crosby try to keep it together for entertainment even though there are some unintentional funny bits mixed in.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Krampus (2015)

Three days before Christmas young Max's dysfunctional family gather for their usual holiday arguments and put downs which depresses Max so much he unwittingly summons the Krampus, a horned demonic figure from Alpine folklore who visits the naughty children on Christmas Eve, as all breaks loose.

Although i enjoyed Michael Dougherty's film a lot more second time around it still feels poorly paced. The first forty minutes are excellent with superb character development as we get to know the highly dysfunctional family. The dialogue is excellent and i found myself chuckling more than once. For reference imagine the Griswold household in Christmas Vacation then imagine them turned up to 11. Toni Collette as Max's mum is brilliant.

It's the second half where things go awry. Dougherty throws everything at the screen, the Krampus obviously, demonic toys, sadistic ginger bread men, creepy dolls, killer elves...there's simply too much going on and although the films is at breakneck speed the characterisation levels come to a crushing halt and it all becomes so generic and lacking in tension. So much hits the screen that i can't even remember what happens to half the characters mere hours after viewing.