What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Treasure Of The Amazon (1985, Rene Cardona Jr)

Stuart Whitman? Donald Pleasance?? Bradford Dillman??? Sold.
RC does Indiana Jones (cough) the only way he can. Maximum Exploitation Style.
Human rights be damned as they burn the locals and each other in a race for some trinkets. See someone eat a spider!
A hoot.

[MrBarlow]

Topper Returns. 1941.

Ann Carrington is accompanied by her fun loving friend Gail to attend her's father manor and Gail is murdered and her spirit seeks help from Topper who they meet briefly.

Roland Young returns as the banker who has ghost troubles again when he is trying to prove there was a murder and yet the body has disappeared and Donald MacBride turns up as the inspector to investigate who can't really grasp on what's going on. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson plays Topper's chauffeur who is dragged to the Carrington Manor and believes the house to be haunted before anyone has died.

This was a fun and laughter sequel set in a dark gloomy mansion with a few hidden secrets and a man dressed in black who lurks in the shadows, aside from being a comedy this does have the usual who dunnit murder mystery that we all love, this has always been entertaining to watch.

Topper_Returns_VideoCover.jpeg

[Frankie Teardrop]

SCANNER COP – Like the ‘Scanners’ sequels, ‘Scanner Cop’ does away with the Cronenberg original’s characteristic petri-dish atmosphere and plays it like a straight B-movie. It starts with a kid who impresses the local cops when they bust his scanner dad; years later, said youngster’s own psychic talents are put to work when he pins on a badge and takes on ultimate movie creepo Richard Lynch. ‘Scanner Cop’ serves up its meat and potatoes with the right attitude – keep it punchy, keep it moving, pause only to show the odd exploding head or freaktastic asylum dream sequence. No new ground broken here, but it’s a recipe that works. Nostalgics like myself will probably appreciate the added charm of that clunky-slick early nineties look.

THE DARK RED – A woman in a psych ward recounts her cautionary tale, which is basically “don’t get off with charming young men who you meet at funeral wakes, even if you don’t believe they’ll ultimately leave you in the clutches of a baby-snatching cult.” A few years back director Dan Bush made ‘The Vault’, a James Franco supernatural heist flick which I quite rated despite its mixed reviews. I was less taken with ‘The Dark Red’. It hits a few of the right notes at first with its washed-out, wintry atmosphere, but there is something a bit stilted and on-the-nose about the way it unfolds, too much exposition and too many obvious moves, though strangely enough the silly, slightly actiony pay-back climax made me perk up a bit. Worth a look if you can’t sleep and fancy a few hours of aimless streaming.

AMITYVILLE: DOLLHOUSE – We pay another visit to Amityville (or maybe just to anywhere in small-town America, it’s not entirely clear) and to that horror perennial, the theme of familial strife. Young kid’s birthday present is a creepy doll’s house (based on – you’ve guessed it); for the vaguest of reasons, harsh-looking insects swoop inside unwary ears and mom gets horny for her stepson’s toned abs. ‘Amityville: Dollhouse’ doesn’t hang together very well at all and more than once I found myself thinking “they’re making it up as they’re going along, and if there is some idea that unifies this mess then frankly it’s too much effort to figure out”. With its undead dads and interdimensional portals, AD perhaps leans closer to films like ‘Poltergeist’ and ‘House’ than the original. It strains for a few of those eighties / nineties “big fx-type moments”, particularly near the end, but it can’t quite deliver them because of a paucity of means. Still, a film with as little to say as AD is wise to prioritise throwaway moments of schlock horror over sense, and on this level it's mildly enjoyable.

[MrBarlow]

I Married A Witch. 1942.

A 17th century witch returns to persecute the descendant of the person who hanged her, a up and coming politician.

Veronica Lake plays Jennifer who is released from her prison in a tree thanks to a bolt of lightning, and plans to seek revenge with Cecil Kellaway who keeps reminding her that she is evil and that's why they were hanged. Fredric March plays the politician Wooley who seems to fall for Jennifer.

From start to finish this had a good comedy moments, the effects do seem outdated at times but the acting in this made it more entertaining, Veronica Lake seems to be known more for her film noir roles but in this she is shown to have a comedic side rather being a femme fatale, certainly worth checking out this little number.

I_Married_a_Witch_(1942)_poster_artwork.jpg

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

SCANNER COP – Like the ‘Scanners’ sequels, ‘Scanner Cop’ does away with the Cronenberg original’s characteristic petri-dish atmosphere and plays it like a straight B-movie. It starts with a kid who impresses the local cops when they bust his scanner dad; years later, said youngster’s own psychic talents are put to work when he pins on a badge and takes on ultimate movie creepo Richard Lynch. ‘Scanner Cop’ serves up its meat and potatoes with the right attitude – keep it punchy, keep it moving, pause only to show the odd exploding head or freaktastic asylum dream sequence. No new ground broken here, but it’s a recipe that works. Nostalgics like myself will probably appreciate the added charm of that clunky-slick early nineties look.

THE DARK RED – A woman in a psych ward recounts her cautionary tale, which is basically “don’t get off with charming young men who you meet at funeral wakes, even if you don’t believe they’ll ultimately leave you in the clutches of a baby-snatching cult.” A few years back director Dan Bush made ‘The Vault’, a James Franco supernatural heist flick which I quite rated despite its mixed reviews. I was less taken with ‘The Dark Red’. It hits a few of the right notes at first with its washed-out, wintry atmosphere, but there is something a bit stilted and on-the-nose about the way it unfolds, too much exposition and too many obvious moves, though strangely enough the silly, slightly actiony pay-back climax made me perk up a bit. Worth a look if you can’t sleep and fancy a few hours of aimless streaming.

AMITYVILLE: DOLLHOUSE – We pay another visit to Amityville (or maybe just to anywhere in small-town America, it’s not entirely clear) and to that horror perennial, the theme of familial strife. Young kid’s birthday present is a creepy doll’s house (based on – you’ve guessed it); for the vaguest of reasons, harsh-looking insects swoop inside unwary ears and mom gets horny for her stepson’s toned abs. ‘Amityville: Dollhouse’ doesn’t hang together very well at all and more than once I found myself thinking “they’re making it up as they’re going along, and if there is some idea that unifies this mess then frankly it’s too much effort to figure out”. With its undead dads and interdimensional portals, AD perhaps leans closer to films like ‘Poltergeist’ and ‘House’ than the original. It strains for a few of those eighties / nineties “big fx-type moments”, particularly near the end, but it can’t quite deliver them because of a paucity of means. Still, a film with as little to say as AD is wise to prioritise throwaway moments of schlock horror over sense, and on this level it's mildly enjoyable.

SC just about makes my day every time it comes into view. Kudos!!

[Demoncrat]

Fatal Possession (2002, Adeeb Barsoum)

Go on, guess why I watched it then
What does this remind me of? Not much. The rather grounded tale of Egyptian fandom and its perils is still whirling around my head. Was it really that dull? Did I really pause it halfway through to finish watching YMS play Silent Hill really badly? (I did). Rivals Don't Go In The Woods for sheer tedium. For all that I was transfixed. The actors are .... uniformly amateur, the print was out of sync and the FX
I needed a laugh and I got one. Double bill with The Pyramid

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Creeping Flesh (1973)

Peter Cushing stars as a scientist who discovers a mysterious skeletal creature whilst exploring New Guinea. On returning home he discovers it comes alive when touched by human blood, eventually transforming into a murderous creature.

Christopher Lee lends the film a strong presence in a co-starring role as an asylum curator.

This is a grim entry in the Gothic cannon, produced by Tigon and well directed at a swift pace by the excellent Freddie Francis. Francis uses many long shots and gives the film a sense of bleak desolation as the creature stalks the countryside in the form of a black hooded putrifying ghoul.

Cushing is partly in Frankenstein mode here. Being slightly sympathetic but also coming across as obsessed by his work with terrifying results.

Francis even goes to the extreme of having a camera shot from inside the creatures head as it stalks Cushing, the viewer looking through the eye holes throughout the attack. A technique and viewpoint he used constantly in his earlier film The Skull (1965)

[MrBarlow]

Dracula: Prince Of Darkness. 1966.

10 years have passed since Dracula was defeated by Van Helsing, Four tourists take shelter in Castle Dracula and he is resurrected by the blood from one of the group.

Christopher Lee returns to the role he is more remembered for in this Hammer movie, This entry was one I was never daft on but over the years it has definitely grown on me and more appreciated. Unlike Horror Of Dracula Lee never utters a word but is able to bring terror with his presence.

Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer and Charles Tingwell plays the tourists who are told to stay away from from the Castle and find themselves being taken to it and meet Klove played by Philip Latham who gives a creepy sinister performance as Dracula's servant. Andrew Keir plays Father Sandor of the monk monastery and believes there is no more evil yet warns the travelers of the Castle, he gives out a great performance as the angry yet empathetic monk who wants to wipe out Dracula once and for all.

This is very atmospheric with the inside of the castle thanks to great cinematography, even inside the monastery it may seem dark until Klove appears then there is the dark cloud over it. The resurrection of Dracula is well done for it's time and a lot of effort put into it. The acting is brilliant to watch even with Thorley Waters who seems to be a take on Renfeild eating a fly.

Draculaprinceofdarkness.jpg

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Nice write up of an excellent film, Mr.B.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Nice write up of an excellent film, Mr.B.

good sir, just in the process of buying Dracula Has Risen from The grave and Taste the blood of Dracula.