What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974)

Dracula is dead and well and living in London as Christopher Lee plays the great vampire for one final time for Hammer in this unpredictable (if you've never seen it before) horror thriller.

Set in a contemporary setting this pretty much follows on from Dracula AD 1972 (1972) as we meet Peter Cushing's Lorimer Van Helsing once again along with his granddaughter Jessica (Joanna Lumley stepping into Stephanie Beecham's shoes) and Michael Coles police inspector, as the three team up once more this time attempting to prevent Dracula releasing the bubonic plague into the world.

Certainly not a conventional Hammer film but it has elements of previous Gothic outings as well as action you might well see in The Sweeney.

Director Alan Gibson moves things at a cracking pace and although nowhere near the best Dracula film it has it's moments - including satanic rituals, the bloody staking of vampire women and a classic meeting between Dracula and Van Helsing - that should thrill all lovers of the macabre.

Although i'd seen this countless times previously i'd saved the Premium Collection Blu-ray to watch on Christmas night and i'm very pleased i did.

/ 5

[MrBarlow]

Scarface. 1983.

When a director has a bad cocaine addiction, what is he to do, make a film about the drug. Al Pacino plays the Cuban refugee who goes from a small time crook to the big man style in Miami. With some of his best work from The Godfather, Serpico and Cruising, Tony Montanta is definitely memorable as is the phrase "Say Hello To My Little Friend".

Michelle Pfeiffer felt somewhat embarrassed about being in Grease 2 the previous year but at least this film helped show her acting skills as the mobsters wife Elvira then joining forces with Tony and his rise to power to being the person he wanted to be and the fall of his empire and life.

Brian DePalma knew how to make a good film from the opening credits of Fidel Castro making his speech and then the interrogation, Tony and Manny doing small jobs then going for the big kill. I have never been a fan of Robert Loggia but in this he deserves some good credit for being the gangster type. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays Tony's little sister who seems to come between Tony and Manny that can raise some questions and certainly does look good in a open robe.

At clocking in just under three hours, this is time well spent with the acting, cinematography and a perfect background score by Giorgio Moroder who is able to piece together music for different parts of the film that blends in well with what happens.

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[Demoncrat]

Mother / Android (2021, Mattson Tomlin)

In the future, we have slaves again, but they are just machines, so it's okay. If this is where woke is leading us, then put me back to sleep ffs
A freak occurence and the sense this was based on a YA novel suddenly came crashing to bear on my viewing experience. Some fun up front shrivels into a tedious third tier scenario. Teethgrindingly awful in that way-worse-than-The-5th-Wave kind of way. This pushed me to watch nothing but films from 1987 tonight, as recently viewed modern examples of entertainment () have been lacking in that very concept.
Avoid

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Hellraiser: Revelations (2011)

F*cking hell! This sucked. It was like a bunch of idiots playing Cenobite cosplay at a Halloween party.

The more recent Hellraiser: Judgment (2018) is ten times better than this dross.

0 / 5

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

So Sweet... So Perverse (1969)

Director Umberto Lenzi and actress Carroll Baker's second giallo together is essentially a reworking of 1955's Les Diaboliques, in which a wealthy wife plots to kill her husband but unbeknown to her is actually the intended victim of her accomplices.

Boasting a strong cast alongside Baker in Jean-Louis Trintignant, Erika Blanc and Horst Frank, this is classy and intricate stuff from Lenzi and a far cry from the exploitation that would come later in his career.

/ 5

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

Angelina Jolie plays a smoke jumper now stationed at a forest tower who goes on the run with a boy who has two assassins on his trail as another forest fire breaks out.

Despite the simplistic paragraph above that's basically the gist of the film. It's well made with a decent cast including Aiden Gillen, John Bernthal and Nicholas Hoult and the Montana wilderness is beautifully shot.

Although always enjoyable i perhaps wasn't truly gripped until the last half hour when the proper spectacle really kicked in. Having said that Those Who Wish Me Dead felt like a movie for adults that was grounded in reality albeit maybe a straightforward nineties action thriller reality and for that i cannot complain. A good film watching start to 2022.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Devil's Honey (1986)

A film i'd been looking forward to watching ever since i bought the 88 Films Blu-ray back in the summer.

Sadly this for me is probably the least interesting film in Lucio Fulci's locker that i've seen and for an erotic thriller seemed really limp. Not in the same league as Jess Franco's Shining Sex which i saw earlier in my December marathon.

As far as Fulci goes this was 50 shades of shite.

/ 5

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Devil's Honey (1986)

A film i'd been looking forward to watching ever since i bought the 88 Films Blu-ray back in the summer.

Sadly this for me is probably the least interesting film in Lucio Fulci's locker that i've seen and for an erotic thriller seemed really limp. Not in the same league as Jess Franco's Shining Sex which i saw earlier in my December marathon.

As far as Fulci goes this was 50 shades of shite.

Certainly not Fulci's best movie

[Demoncrat]

5 from 1987.

Steele Justice. Kreese as Rambo. Some funny dialogue means a rewatch is in the near future.

Stripped To Kill. Kay Lenz goes undercover to track down a maniac. Not as sleazy as it should have been.

Howling III. The highlight of the night. A charming wee oddity.

Primal Scream. Quirky they tried for, falling short of the target somewhat.

Project A 2. Jackie & co leap about the place again, not as out right bonkers as the parent flick imho.

[Demoncrat]

Night Wars (1988, David A Prior)

Ted Prior? Dan Heggarty?
Reliving Vietnam one more time ... with a little twist. Somewhat crazed. Two vets find that their slumber is being disturbed from the past. Can they work through their trauma together?? Watching them try was fun.