What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[J Harker]

Alien. Ridley Scott. 1979.

First time I've watched this in ages. Firstly it looks absolutely stunning on blu. Scott is a director often known for style but I'd always thought Alien a little dull and grungy to look at compared to say Blade Runner. Seeing it in HD changes that. However it's still not a film I love and I still consider it the weakest of the original quadrilogy. For some reason i just don't engage with it, I think it's the characters. There's no one there I particularly care about. Also the whole haunted house in space thing? Well we're over the halfway mark before the films equivalent of a ghost even really appears. I don't know...I've more appreciation for it than before in terms of the visuals and design but that's about it I'm afraid. Oh and for the record I consider Prometheus and even the first AVP film to be superior to this.

[MrBarlow]

An American Werewolf In Paris. 1997.

Is this a sequel or just a cash in on the title? one of the many questions in the film world we may never know for sure. A trio of American 20s something or other travel to Paris and one becomes infatuated with a woman he rescued from the Eiffel Tower which he sustained a concussion that was comical and finds she has a secret.

AAWIL is a classic film and always will be, with the acting, direction, the transformation and the nice blood spree in Piccadilly, but this was more comedy than horror. We do see a glimpse of the transformation from man to wolf but it's not taking very seriously and the wolves look very much CGI or is it just me? Can't ignore the fact that Julie Delpy has a nice body and a bit of a decent soundtrack .

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sleepwalkers (1992)

Although critically derided i've always loved this story of shapeshifters that feed on the life force of virgin human females - In this case the lovely Madchen Amick.

Written for the screen by Stephen King, who also has a brief cameo along with Joe Dante, Clive Barker and John Landis, this is a slick and pacy affair directed by Mick Garris. Yes, it's probably a bit absurd and some may find the incestuous relationship between Brian Krause and Alice Krige's 'Sleepwalkers' off putting, especially the sniffier critics, but the fact this flies by at breakneck speed i never really notice it's flaws and simply enjoy it for what it is to me - gory horror fun played out by a fine cast.

[trebor8273]

A classic mixing elements of horror, comedy thriller and love story. The movie put unchained melody back too number one after decades and increased the sale of pottery wheels a million fold!

But the real highlight is Whoopie Goldberg's role as Oda Mae Brown which won her best supporting actress.



Aircraft carrier the Uss Nimitz ends up back in time on the eve of the attack on pearl harbor the crew debate if they should get involved and change history , a interesting idea that either because of the script or budget doesn't fully explore the potential of the idea. Really as enjoyable as it is it's feels more like a extended recruitment film for the American navy.

The 4K release looks stunning probably more than you would expect.
Now watching.


Followed by, both first viewings.

[MrBarlow]

Children Of The Corn. 1984.

Have you ever driven into someplace and thought it wasn't a good idea, Stephen King must have had inspiration to write this story or was he still on cocaine and been in a induced hallucination? Linda Hamilton and Peter Horton come across Gatlin, a town with No adults just children.

Right from the start with the voice over of a young boy then all hell breaks loose does do the film a somewhat explanation on what's to come, the child actors do a decent job and get a bit more credit, John Franklin's portayal as Isaac the somewhat cult preacher has always been good. Courtney Gains role as Malachai does bring a sinister follower but also wants to lead the children to follow in his steps instead. Enjoyable as always.

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[MrBarlow]

Piranha. 1978.

The plot of this does sound the familiar but with a different species, government military secret of mutated piranha's that have survived the so called killing and accidentally released and go on a munch fest. Roger Corman gave us another monster movie this time with Joe Dante directing that is actually decent.

The acting is a solid, with Kevin McCarthy playing the researcher who does have a heart. Heather Menzies-Urich as the investigator hired to find two back packers and Bradford Dillman as the not so grizzly mountain man who is dragged into the mess. Barbara Steele has a small role as a military doctor and Dick Miller as a resort tourist operator who both ignore the warnings until it's too late. The effects seem outdated now as we see the piranha in the water that look like cardboard cut outs and hand puppets, enjoyable.

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[nicholasrope]

Steele Justice

Martin Kove is a former Soldier who goes for revenge when his best friend his killed by people associated from their pasts.

As I mentioned when another poster reviewed it, this was a Film whose Trailer I saw many many times but my Video Shop(s) never got it in. Watching it in 2022, it's a paint by numbers type of Film and it's nothing that I've seen before however if I had seen it around 87-90, I would have loved it. If a DVD/Blu-Ray should become available in the UK (Not including import releases) I will pick it up, it would serve a purpose in my collection.

Big Bang

Another Film in which I saw the Trailer many times and never saw because the Video was never in. This is a 1987, Adult Animation which sees a wannabe Superhero being sent to act as a Peacekeeper in order to stop a Nuclear War between the Males and Females. It's short and whilst it does have some funny moments, it does have some jokes that are from it's time. Would get it if it was on sale or package deal filler.

Stripped To Kill

A Detective goes undercover as a Stripper to catch a Killer. In it's short running time it certainly delivers as advertised however (And I can't believe that I'm saying this) the Stripping scenes got boring and there wasn't as much Murder investigation as I would have liked. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, just would have liked a better dancing/Investigation ratio.

[MrBarlow]

The Green Inferno. 1988.

Why not take a trip to the Jungle of the Amazon, you will see wild animals of rare species, and a hungry tribe, glad they don't advertise that on Trip Advisor. Total cash in the name Cannibal Holocaust, right from the start the dubbing is all over the place, people's mouth moves but nobody is saying anything and when they do it's laughable. Cannibal Holocaust is a great piece of film to watch, this was just daft, boring, and was practically begging for the groups of treasure hunters to be slaughtered in a nice gruesome way, didn't really plan out that way. Down with animal cruelty though.

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[Mojo]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Dark Places. 1974.

This was a blind watch for me so had no idea what to expect even with a strong cast of Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Herbert Lom and Robert Hardy, from the plot it seems like a haunted house but appears to be more psychological chiller rather than pure horror. Robert hardy plays a duel role of the new and previous Gothic style mansion owner who seems to live the past and present nightmare.

Christopher Lee and Joan Collins play brother and sister who want the hidden treasure that is within the house as well as shady solicitor Herbert Lom. There is quite a good build up of suspense that seems to play out slowly but it's really not on the edge of your seat, there is a good dark background score. Not sure if this was released as feature film or a made for T.V. film.

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Saw this waaay back in the old vhs days.
From what I remember, it wasn’t the greatest film, but it did have a nice creepy atmosphere and a great cast.
Would love to see this one get a Blu Ray release ( Network / Indicator? )

[Demoncrat]

Der Henker 3 (The Executioner 3) (2019, El Excremento)

Splattery short and sour (just under the hour)
A lunatic murders people. Claret is on show most certainly
Undemanding in context



Space Raiders (1983, Howard R Cohen)

Corman SW knock off. Harmless enough fare. Was quite taken with the fact you could see the lead's hairplugs ahem.