What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

I agree Dem-tries a different slant on the slasher with the gypsy backstory.
I enjoyed it.

[MrBarlow]

Journey To The West. 2013.

A inspiring Buddhist demon Hunter tries to help a village be rid of three demons while being saved by another Demon Hunter.

Basically this is set around 16th century and somewhere in China, that starts off in a small fishing settlement then a road trip to see the Monkey King...no not King Louie. There is a good amount of action and more comedy that can give you the hiccups. As usual with some films there is a over load of CGI used, I'm not sure if there is a dubbed version of this but some subtitles are missing so got no idea what the actors were saying in some bits.

journey-to-the-west-poster-1-600x339.jpg

[MrBarlow]

Slumber Party Massacre. 1982.

One house, one escaped lunatic and a small group of girls this was a blast, intended to be a parody this turned out to be a bit of a cheesy slasher film with some unintentional horror/comedy added in. Not every day we see naked girls in a shower and saying stuff about each other's...chest. Some films we see the killer and get a back story or twist as to why they are killing, in this film we see the killer and got no idea why he is killing them, was it just for his excitement...who knows. Hate to admit it, but this was actually not bad.

slumber2.jpg

[Frankie Teardrop]

Been bingin' like a seasonal bastard - here is the belated proof (part 1).

BLACK CHRISTMAS – Tried and tested I know, but I seldom get through an xmas eve without this old mainstay. I’ve always liked its offhand, slightly elliptical seventies vibe, and the fact that the creepo with the googly voice is just so… inexplicable. Grainy clouds of foreboding for the end of a crappy year.

CHRISTMAS EVIL – I’m with John Waters all the way on this gritty, wintry downer, wherein a downtrodden guy just loves dressing up as Santa and deciding who’s been naughty or nice. CE could’ve been played for laughs, but the opposite is true – the atmosphere is as hangdog as its protagonist, and shimmers with a vague, arty abstruseness until a couple of splattery outbursts. Somehow it's still all quite funny. Not everyone’s idea of a festive slasher, but an impressively twisted ‘ho ho ho’ in the face of anyone with a preference for baubles.

DOLLS – This is definitely a christmassy movie, I feel. All the requisite elements are there – naughty toys, kids winning against bad adults, sinister magic-wielding elders who are goodies in the end. Monster teddy aside, it always takes me a while for me to settle in (possibly a fatal flaw in such a short movie) – but then something switches and it just goes a bit crazy with all those battalions of dolls and murderous figurines. If that’s not enough, there’s an abundance of gothic corridors, shoddily performed goths, and underlying themes that seem strangely moving. I’ve always enjoyed it more than ‘Re-Animator’ and ‘From Beyond’ – sue me, misers.

THE FEAR – A nice little find for me. A psychologist organises a highly unrealistic cabin-based retreat for his dickhead mates, then stumbles upon a creepy mannequin from his past. Plods for a little, then suddenly blossoms into all kinds of wild silliness. By the end I was grinning, and not just because of the tiki. One of those bottom-of-the-barrel weirdoes like ‘The Vineyard’ or ‘Hellgate’ that still mystify and entertain.

THE NEW YORK RIPPER – Silliness and sleaze vie for supremacy in Fulci’s nasty slasher / giallo ‘hit’. What about that ending? It’s meanspiritedness still takes me by surprise after all these years, but the journey there is so completely quackers that NWR never leaves me completely without a smile. Vile sludge from the bowels of Gotham, Italo-style - a toxic classic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME – Whoever was responsible for that final twist certainly had some nerve. But then ludicrousness runs through HBTM like current from a faulty socket, and it makes an overlong film quite intoxicating. Neurosurgical red herrings aside, HBTM has a good line in primo slasher set-pieces – the ‘dead guests posed in a birthday party tableau at the end’ being a bit of an archetype. Entertaining.

EBOLA SYNDROME – This Cat 3 classic is as flyblown as ever – good. An acid douche for the festive season, ‘Ebola Syndrome’ is a movie that shits on the face of humanity whilst still being quite a good laugh. I mean it’s just so cartoon-misanthropic; the protagonist, a happy individual who decides to go plague spreading in between bouts of casual rape'n'murder, is the biggest c*nt I’ve ever witnessed on screen. If, after viewing, you feel a bit queasy, don’t worry about coming down with anything sinister – ‘Ebola Syndrome’ is likely to make anyone spike a temperature.

[Demoncrat]

The Killing Of Satan (1983, Efren C Pinon)

Look I know I always say this, but this was an oddity. Fillipino madness a gogo as rival factions battle to ... no spoilers cough cough
Lando has problems. His daughter's gorn missing a tad and local magicians are hexing him like it's going out of fashion.
Lunatic and drab in that best way. REWATCH.

[Demoncrat]

I too love Christmas Evil FT. But then who wouldn't??

[Dave Boy]

Venom_LetThereBeCarnage_Quad.jpg
VENOM:LET THERE BE CARNAGE

What starts off well and looking pretty serious, soon turns in to a comedy fest with Tom Hardy battling against his Venom symbiote.
It's all a bit of a thowaway movie really, just go along for the ride.
Clocking in a just 90mins is enough.
I'm glad I can turn the sound down for the end titles because those songs are just garbage to me. What a racket!

[Demoncrat]

Galyon: The Indestrucible Man (1980, Ivan Tors)


From the man who brought you Flipper no less ...

Imagine if you will that Steve Irwin (RIP) had made a movie, and he secretly harboured a hair fetish. Maybe he did, I didn't know the man ahem.
I digress.
Actioner starring the writer, so strap in
A tycoon's offspring is snatched, so send in a man who likes to fondle snakes. Not fake ones like in Daktari, real ones. not quite Roar, but you're on the edge on your seat nonetheless ahem.
The villians are the usual troupe of semi concious, er, revolutionary clods.
Fun here, as the editing leaves something to be desired. The violence is .... presented on film
Ahem.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Bloody New Year (1987)

Cheap but cheerful supernatural horror from Norman J Warren in which a boatload of friends end up marooned on a remote island and take refuge in a seemingly deserted hotel all decked out for New Years Eve in the middle of an English summer.

Words that sum up Bloody New Year are silly, poverty row, clumsy, meandering and plotless. However it's also decidedly odd, eerie, fairly creepy thanks to somehow being far too well lit and occasionally unsettling.

Parts reminded me of the far superior Carnival of Souls and others The Beyond minus any decent gore, but i actually quite enjoyed it. Perhaps i'm too forgiving of Warren due to his classic (in my eyes) earlier output but if you can somehow ignore the issues clearly on display - mainly through lack of budget and dodgy acting - then like me you might get something out of Bloody New Year because, and this is the main thing. I was never remotely bored.

½ / 5

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

I finished my review of Bloody New Year with the words 'I was never remotely bored'.

The same cannot be said of this 'throw everything at the screen' garbage. It had a budget of $160m whereas Warren's film was nearer to £1.60 but i had a way better time with Bloody New Year than i did with this bollocks.

Once i've allowed myself to watch the Blu-ray of Black Widow then Marvel's Multiverse can Flux off once and for all.