What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE GINGERDEAD MAN – Charles Band got a lot of mileage out of little things with scary voices. In this case, the voice in question belongs to Gary Busey, here doing a Dourif as the spirit of a murderer who decides to possess and inhabit the body of, not a doll, but some baked goods. An intrinsic fairy-tale quality makes a lot of room for flat dramatics and lame goofiness – this has all the major characteristics of its species, mid-nineties comedy horror dross. Still, it takes me back. I liked the constant wonky camera angles. And Gary Busey’s voice tells a rat to f@ck off – there’s got to be something in that I suppose.

THE ALCHEMIST – Charles Band’s obscure effort from 1983. Robert McGinty is some guy who never ages because of a magician’s curse; Lucinda Dooling is some gal in a car who has trippy visuals about reincarnation. It’s slow but cumulatively odd, with windswept highways and woodland cabins lending atmospheric weight to one of those storylines that you feel was scrawled by someone with a hangover on the first day of shooting. It even seems to tip over into Phantasm territory near the end, when goblins emerge from an interdimensional portal. An acquired taste, but what taste worth having isn’t? I’d love to see an upgrade I could pop in my blu ray player, but maybe there’s a reason you can’t get it in a good format.

THE LURKING FEAR – You don’t really look for the essence of Lovecraft in a mid-nineties Full Moon production. This offering shoehorns the Martense saga into roughly eighty minutes of dithering in a church with an exploding graveyard at the end. Along the way, we witness several badly choreographed shoot-outs whilst Jeffrey Combs stands around looking like he needs a shave and a haircut but would make do with a stiff brandy. There was something I liked about the visual styling, which sort-of melds cheapo Noirish tropes with a bit of candlelit gothic. The rubber ghouls and the smidge of gore they contribute are OK.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I proper laughed when she was being attacked in her cell. I thought she was doing an impression of a child having a tantrum rolling round on it's back.

Hmm. I think a rewatch is required, probably in January after Christmas and my Now trial month has finished.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Deadly Manor (1990)

The first time i saw this was on a dvd and it looked shocking. The image was washed out, the sound wasn't great either, and the film itself, well seemed piss poor to be honest. All in all a terrible experience.

When Arrow released it on Blu-ray it piqued my interest as i may have found the audio visual experience impaired my judgment on the film itself.

Sadly not. Whilst the Arrow Blu-ray looked and sounded great, the film was remained piss poor. It's basically a slasher film about a group of young people who take refuge in an abandoned mansion one cold night and get picked off by a killer.

What really goes against it, aside from f*ck all happening other than inane chatter for the first hour of this ninety minute film, is the kills. The majority of them are either off screen or bloodless.

When it comes to slasher films it's the blood letting that's the selling point surely, especially in these low budget affairs, either that or the chilling atmosphere, i dunno there really isn't any great atmosphere either other than the elusive one that only Frankie T experiences after his sixth glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

And yet the most disappointing thing is that this is clearly the worst thing that director José Ramón Larraz has put his name to. He proved he could make a fun slasher with Edge of the Axe from just two years earlier and yet this is so below average at best.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Winterskin (2018)

More micro budgeted horror from British auteur Charlie Steads, in which a man is accidentally shot whilst hunting in the woods and ends up at the cabin of lonely Agnes...

What comes next is akin to a mash up of Stephen King's Misery and Hellraiser all taking place in a Gothic snowy cabin in the woods. Once the set up happens in the first fifteen minutes it does come across as dialogue heavy, some of it quite clunky, well either the dialogue is or the acting from Rowena Bentley as Agnes, take your pick.

However it's not really dialogue and acting where Steads generally wins out it's how he uses his tiny allowance which is mere pocket money in contrast to the majority of films. The effects are generally quite impressive, especially those of the 'skinless' and the aforementioned snowy setting is excellent even if the largely orange hues of the colouring give the film a warm feel when it perhaps might have been better with colder blue lighting.

Overall Winterskin is another decent effort from Steads. Someone whose creativity always leaves his budget far behind. If you got any enjoyment from his 2020 films A Werewolf in England or Death Ranch then i'd say give this a go. You'll probably quite like it.

[Demoncrat]

Noted D!!


Synchronic (Benson/ Moorehead)

Finally perused this one.
Liked it until yer protagonist just does something very wrong, and I lost interest in the outcome. Up til that point twas their usual slightly ponderous "strangeness". Shame.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Point Blank (1967)

Lee Marvin stars as Walker, a man left for dead when his partners rip him off of $93,000 during a drop off on Alcatraz. When he recovers he sets off to Los Angeles to get back his money.

British director John Boorman's Neo-Noir crime classic. There's so much that's outstanding about this film from Marvin's ultra cool performance to the excellent cinematography. It's stylish and brutal and gets better with repeat viewings as there's so many nuances to take in for one sitting.

Look out for Sid Haig as a security guard. He actually talks about a clown.

The Premium Collection Blu-ray looks superb with the many outdoor sequences having real depth to them.

[Demoncrat]

Boorman did what he wanted.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A Quiet Place to Kill (Paranoia) (1970)

A fairly lackluster Giallo from the normally reliable Umberto Lenzi which sees Carroll Baker's racing driver invited by her ex-husband's (Jean Sorel) new wife to stay with them at their Majorcan home. Once there the two women plot to kill Sorel and inherit his fortune.

If you basically borrow the story from Clouzot's Diabolique then you'd better come up with something decent and sadly this isn't. It's quite dull for the most part and then decides to turn complex albeit not in a surprising way and ends up with a rather frantic and overly dramatic finale.

Carroll Baker is always good and never shy even aged forty whilst Sorel has been better, and Anna Proclemer as Sorel's current wife is under used. Lenzi's camerawork is stylish as are the locations and the soundtrack. Yet A Quiet Place to Kill is unfortunately instantly forgettable.

The Blu-ray from 88 Films looks the business.

[Demoncrat]

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022, Eric Appel)

This was fun now. The bloke that played Harry Potter continues in his lifelong quest to convince us he is an actor. Various sorts pop up pretending to be real people (Emo Phillips!!) which just adds to the fun. The saga of one man and his accordion. See him struggle through adversity with (someone else's) song on his lips. Recommended.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022, Eric Appel)

This was fun now. The bloke that played Harry Potter continues in his lifelong quest to convince us he is an actor. Various sorts pop up pretending to be real people (Emo Phillips!!) which just adds to the fun. The saga of one man and his accordion. See him struggle through adversity with (someone else's) song on his lips. Recommended.

I watched this last night, a parody story of a parody singer a good bunch of laughs