What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

To me Last Man Standing is a poor take on Yojimbo / A Fistful of Dollars.

[Frankie Teardrop]

CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS – Throw ‘Clerks’ and ‘The Terminator’ in with a killer Santa and you have CBC, the latest from Joe Begos. Begos has, over his last three or four movies, nailed a specific look but it’s basically the palette of the classic eighties apologist, with everything drenched in lilac and puce neon and set to a Carpenterian synth soundtrack. It’s what people seemed to go in for ten years ago, but the eighties obsession never fades. I’m not rolling my eyes or anything because I quite dig it, and for me CBC his strongest movie yet. I think it takes something to pull off a completely absurdist concept (basically, android killer Santa) without resorting to cheap laughs – despite touches of black comedy, the mood surrounding the mayhem is somehow dead straight, even bleak, and the copious prosthetic gore is mean-spirited as often as it’s simply ‘fun’. Many have dissed the quickfire, seemingly improv-heavy dialogue, but I thought it was great. Just excellent, and I can honestly see it being a personal future seasonal fave up there with ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’.

A WOUNDED FAWN – From Travis Stevens. I liked ‘Girl On The Third Floor’ and found ‘Jakob’s Wife’ enjoyable, if a little less effective. AWF seems to take a different direction, and impresses us with an air of arty abstraction from the opening scene. In fact, the way the film captures the look of an early eighties Euro arthouse horror flick in terms of vibes alone is nothing short of eerie – the grain, the lighting, the layout of the shots all match up with a style of filmmaking that is utterly extinct. The plot is a bit more tangible. It’s about a serial killer, initially posing as an auctioneer, who entices his new date / victim away to the woods, where a secluded cabin awaits. There follows a predictable game of cat and mouse, but then the film explodes into surrealist rampage full of references to Max Ernst and Greek mythology. This avalanche of weirdness can’t quite conceal the fact that there is very little that is truly enigmatic about this film, but it’s satisfying to see Shudder-era product taking these kind of aesthetic risks. I really enjoyed AWF. Both Sarah Lind and Josh Rubin are excellent in it, and the mad descent into freeform imagery in the latter half is handled well. It doesn’t quite have the substance to back up its claims to strangeness, but I hope Stevens pushes his ambition and takes us even further out next time. If you have a Shudder subscription, I recommend you watch this.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

A film i've always enjoyed, a film that attempts to do something else with the series and the first to take the character of Jason Vorhees away from Camp Crystal Lake.

However the title lies a little bit as the majority of the action takes place on a ship. A mere six minutes during the final ten minutes takes place in anywhere recognizable as New York.

Where this film is a mess is the script. It's sloppy and not thought out at all. You can't actually think about any scenario because the whole thing simply falls apart.

For example. Jason, the films anti-hero zombie killer. His big no-no throughout the series is water. He's supposedly scared of water as that's how he died as a child in the first place not to mention ending up at the bottom of Crystal Lake at the end of other movies. Jason Takes Manhattan just ignores this and has him turn into some sort of Michael Phelps motherf*cker who swims the oceans faster than five people can row a boat.

Meanwhile the ship the action takes place on. It's a proper ship - the SS Lazarus - hired by a high school to kill off their students, i mean hired by their school to take graduating students and their teachers (One of whom is a complete tool) to celebrate in New York. Mysteriously it seem the SS Lazarus is a ghost ship with no crew other than the captain, co-pilot and a grizzled cleaner who warns of impending doom every time he wanders into shot. Jason leaves unhidden corpses all over the ship including down below but not one body is discovered by anyone.

It's full of stupid inconsistencies but i still enjoy it for what it is - an entertaining slasher with a high body count that throws Jason Vorhees into Times Square for six minutes.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Meanwhile the ship the action takes place on. It's a proper ship - the SS Lazarus - hired by a high school to kill off their students, i mean hired by their school to take graduating students and their teachers (One of whom is a complete tool) to celebrate in New York. Mysteriously it seem the SS Lazarus is a ghost ship with no crew other than the captain, co-pilot and a grizzled cleaner who warns of impending doom every time he wanders into shot. Jason leaves unhidden corpses all over the ship including down below but not one body is discovered by anyone.

Oh, but you forgot about the handsome handyman guy

I also watched this last night. Nowhere near as bad as people say it is. I actually quite enjoy this one (way more than part 3 (and maybe 5), waaaaaay more). I mean, yes it's too long and why is Jason constantly wet? But, there quite a few cute boys in the cast and that one girl gets beaten to death with a pink Flying V guitar so yeah that's cool!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Oh, but you forgot about the handsome handyman guy

I also watched this last night. Nowhere near as bad as people say it is. I actually quite enjoy this one (way more than part 3 (and maybe 5), waaaaaay more). I mean, yes it's too long and why is Jason constantly wet? But, there quite a few cute boys in the cast and that one girl gets beaten to death with a pink Flying V guitar so yeah that's cool!

Because he's constantly swimming!

That was another thing. When the girl is pushed over board and the dude jumps in to save her the ship just stops moving. Just like that. The girl should have been left behind before the guy even thought to jump in to save her. It's not like anyone even told the captain to stop the ship, something that couldn't happen that quick anyway.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Because he's constantly swimming!

That was another thing. When the girl is pushed over board and the dude jumps in to save her the ship just stops moving. Just like that. The girl should have been left behind before the guy even thought to jump in to save her. It's not like anyone even told the captain to stop the ship, something that couldn't happen that quick anyway.

I think that picking holes in the film's logic is fighting a losing battle

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I think that picking holes in the film's logic is fighting a losing battle

Logic is something the script lacks.

[Graveyard]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Logic is something the script lacks.

I don't think you should look for logic when you are watching a Friday 13th movie..

On topic:



This was bad, but not in a way "so bad that makes it good" it's just plain bad.

I didn't understand if they were trying to do a horror, comedy or action movie.

The final girl is annoying, the kills are not great, the only good thing about this movie is only the gore and a couple of Easter eggs.

Probably the worst of the series for me.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Graveyard

I don't think you should look for logic when you are watching a Friday 13th movie..

Haha! Well, no, i mean once you buy into the whole idea of the unkillable Jason all logic in that regard goes out the window.

I do think they should be able to manage to get basics right. Such as the fact it's impossible to stop a moving ship, not a boat, just like that.

They can do whatever the hell they like with Jason, they could even have him fight Freddy Krueger in a dream world or some nonsense like that and i'd still believe but treat the audience with some respect for other things.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Graveyard

I don't think you should look for logic when you are watching a Friday 13th movie..

On topic:



This was bad, but not in a way "so bad that makes it good" it's just plain bad.

I didn't understand if they were trying to do a horror, comedy or action movie.

The final girl is annoying, the kills are not great, the only good thing about this movie is only the gore and a couple of Easter eggs.

Probably the worst of the series for me.

Worst in the series...did you ever see Jason X???