What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MrBarlow]

Sins Of Desire. 1993.

A woman who's sister committed suicide teams up with a private investigator looking for a missing person that both victims are linked to a sex clinic.

This was one of those Friday night channel 5 movies and certainly not the best, two female leads Delia Sheppard and Tanya Roberts (yes that Tanya Roberts from Beastmaster and A View To A Kill) in a steamy erotic thriller that's not so steamy at all.

Right at the start we are thrown into a murder that the wife is calm and makes me think that the husband has done it before. Jan Michael Vincent shows up and his character I have no clue about but obviously some hired gun that he can't shoot worth a shit. There is a bit of girl on girl but not even worth getting excited about (The girl on girl part in Animal Instincts was far better and more believable). It's like the actors wanted to do the film but lost interest.

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[J Harker]

Before I Hang. Nick Grinde. 1940.

I forgot I watched this Karloff/Colombia vehicle last week. This is the fourth film from Eureka's Karloff at Columbia set. On the whole a good package.
This is one of the so called Mad Scientist films Karloff made for Columbia studios.
In this one he plays an elderly scientist striving to perfect a serum that will combat the effects of old age. When an experiment goes wrong and kills one of his test subjects, Dr John Garth is sentenced to death. As he waits out his time in prison Dr.Garth is surprised to find the prisons own doctor, played by Edward Van Sloan, has made succesful appeals to the powers that be to let him carry on his work in prison. Unfortunately the good doctors first successful experiment comes with tragic side effects.
Decent film this, though the weakest of the mad scientist themed films in this set so far. Karloff is superb as ever, the man had such a way of drawing an emotional response from his audience, be it the masterworks like Frankenstein and it's (slightly lesser) sequel or lower grade b-movie hokum like this. The way he evokes sympathy even as we watch him gear up to do something naughty is masterful and one of the reasons he is a true icon of the genre. Boris also recieves able support from the actors around him and unlike other reviews I've read have suggested I didn't particularly find this came across as low budget. Enjoyable, a little slow here and there if I'm honest and simply not quite as gripping as Karloffs best turns. Still a great film and Eureka's presentation is flawless.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Before I Hang. Nick Grinde. 1940.

I forgot I watched this Karloff/Colombia vehicle last week. This is the fourth film from Eureka's Karloff at Columbia set. On the whole a good package.
This is one of the so called Mad Scientist films Karloff made for Columbia studios.
In this one he plays an elderly scientist striving to perfect a serum that will combat the effects of old age. When an experiment goes wrong and kills one of his test subjects, Dr John Garth is sentenced to death. As he waits out his time in prison Dr.Garth is surprised to find the prisons own doctor, played by Edward Van Sloan, has made succesful appeals to the powers that be to let him carry on his work in prison. Unfortunately the good doctors first successful experiment comes with tragic side effects.
Decent film this, though the weakest of the mad scientist themed films in this set. Karloff is superb as ever, the man had such a way of drawing an emotional response from his audience, be it the masterworks like Frankenstein or it's (slightly lesser) sequel or lower grade b-movie hokum like this. The way he evokes sympathy even as we watch him gear up to do something naughty is masterful and one of the reasons he is a true icon of the genre. Boris also recieves able support from the actors around him and unlike other reviews I've read have suggested I didn't particularly find this came across as low budget. Enjoyable, a little slow here and there if I'm honest and simply not quite as gripping as Karloffs best turns. Still a great film and Eureka's presentation is flawless.

Nice write up.

It's Karloff's ability to make b-pictures like this seem better than they are which truly marks him down as one of the greats. Peter Cushing did the same.

However Lugosi who is more often than not mentioned in the same breath as Karloff wasn't in the same league in this respect.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Nice write up.



It's Karloff's ability to make b-pictures like this seem better than they are which truly marks him down as one of the greats. Peter Cushing did the same.



However Lugosi who is more often than not mentioned in the same breath as Karloff wasn't in the same league in this respect.

No I like Lugosi well enough but he simply wasn't the actor Boris was. He had his moments but at his best he didn't touch Karloff on an off day for me.

[MrBarlow]

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. 1988.

Oddball cheese fest at its finest with this, to get into a sorority, a couple of girls and a few pervy guys have to break into a bowling alley and steal a trophy, except the one they pick has a evil imp inside.

Just look at the title and you know what to expect even with Linnea Quigley in this and you can tell it's going to be a laugh. Sorry to break this to you guys but Linnea does manage to keep her clothes on but another actress bares all and isn't afraid to show a bit of Bush. Produced by Charles Band this must have been his lowest budget movie ever, nobody is going to get a Oscar for their performance, those who created the Razzie awards would be embarrassed to hand them out. With saying all that this was a entertaining movie and why we love 80s films.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

No I like Lugosi well enough but he simply wasn't the actor Boris was. He had his moments but at his best he didn't touch Karloff on an off day for me.

The only one Lugosi comes close is The Black Cat (1934). Werdegast is his best role as far as i'm concerned.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The only one Lugosi comes close is The Black Cat (1934). Werdegast is his best role as far as i'm concerned.

He's not bad in The Body Snatcher. Although I think it's a film that ironically emphasises how far apart the two were in ability.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

He's not bad in The Body Snatcher. Although I think it's a film that ironically emphasises how far apart the two were in ability.

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He's very good in The Body Snatcher in what is a rather small role, which like you say emphasises how far apart the two actually were. However it's his scenes with Karloff, the blackmail one especially, which make it a good performance.

Bela should have been so much more but it just wasn't to be for several reasons which are quite sad.

[J Harker]

I can still enjoy some of the sillier stuff for what it is. Voodoo Man for instance.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I can still enjoy some of the sillier stuff for what it is. Voodoo Man for instance.

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I have that but couldn't tell you a thing about it.

I do think he's very good in White Zombie, but it's also one of those films where he basically plays Dracula again.