What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Great film. Owned the Eureka dual format release long before i had a Blu-ray player.

The blu-ray version is amazing with pic quality and great background score

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Court Jester (1955)

An amusing musical comedy, medieval romance, costume drama film starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury and Cecil Parker.

The plot, well i've only just finished it and i can't remember what it was exactly other than Kaye under cover in the tyrant king's (Parker) palace as a jester manages to get himself knighted and in a duel to the death over a woman he has no wish to marry. That's Angela Lansbury for you. Meanwhile Rathbone's lord plots all manner of nefarious deeds as only Rathbone can.

A first time watch for me and whilst i loved the quick witted word play and cleverly written songs which are practically tongue-twisters, the slapstick and Danny Kaye's buffoonery left me a bit cold. However i always find Cecil Parker entertaining and Glynis Johns was utterly adorable.

Would i return to this? Not sure.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Court Jester (1955)

An amusing musical comedy, medieval romance, costume drama film starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury and Cecil Parker.

The plot, well i've only just finished it and i can't remember what it was exactly other than Kaye under cover in the tyrant king's (Parker) palace as a jester manages to get himself knighted and in a duel to the death over a woman he has no wish to marry. That's Angela Lansbury for you. Meanwhile Rathbone's lord plots all manner of nefarious deeds as only Rathbone can.

A first time watch for me and whilst i loved the quick witted word play and cleverly written songs which are practically tongue-twisters, the slapstick and Danny Kaye's buffoonery left me a bit cold. However i always find Cecil Parker entertaining and Glynis Johns was utterly adorable.

Would i return to this? Not sure.

This one seems to be a hit and a miss but I enjoyed this and Hans Christian Anderson with Danny Kaye

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

This one seems to be a hit and a miss but I enjoyed this and Hans Christian Anderson with Danny Kaye

This was hit and miss throughout the film. Usually it's the films themselves that are hit and miss.

Not sure what to think about The Court Jester. Some of it was wonderful but other parts

[MrBarlow]

The Astral Factor. 1978.

Something new on the take of the invisible man that may have been the inspiration for Hollow Man, a killer dealing in the paranormal is able to make himself invisible and go after those that testified against him. A prisoner dealing in revenge, sounds like a take on Psychic Killer that came out the year before this with the deaths that no very creative or imaginative. Robert Foxworth plays the lead copper who is lost for words yet discovers who the killer is and stumped on how to stop him and save the next victim. Aside from having Elke Sommer, Stefanie Powers and Sue Lyon as the intended victims, their acting talents.are wasted, this can be easily avoidable.

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(AKA The Invisible Strangler)

[Frankie Teardrop]

BLADES – A ‘Jaws’ parody set on a golf course should never disappoint, but this is a Troma movie so inevitably it does. It’s actually fairly well done, with good production values, numerous nods to other classics and a generally quite winning playfulness, but maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for whimsy. Though I still think there’s a cool movie to be made about killer lawnmowers.

SOFT AND QUIET – A meeting of deeply bigoted women ends in a crazed attack in the controversial and divisive ‘Soft And Quiet’. I can see why it’s set people off. The surface anti-racist politics are palatable enough, but there’s something quite exploitative about the tone. References to LHOTL crop up in some reviews, and I can see why on that score too. You could tag it as a latter-day ‘Fight For Your Life’, maybe. Structurally it’s impressive, all done in one take.

SHREDDER – A slasher from the post-‘Scream’ era that wants to play clever but just isn’t up to it. Thankfully, it works on the reptile-brain level of its ancestors and offers up quite a bit of dumb fun before it all gets needlessly hectic towards the end. Some nasty boys and gals go to an abandoned ski resort with a past. The usual tropes are laid on with pseudo self-awareness and there are a few nice kills and silly bits to make it worthwhile.

CURSE OF THE BLUE LIGHTS – This is more like it. A mad ghoul and his servants plot to take over a small township whilst some yokels just bum around and try to figure out what to do. I loved it – feels almost like a lost episode of one of those seventies monster soap operas a la ‘Dark Shadows’ remade by potheads. Slow, ponderous, but invested with creaky regional horror loveliness (as demonstrated by its amply grainy 16 mm looks) and just the kind of weird trancey feel that makes a visit to the local am dram psychic seem like the most natural thing in the world.

DR CALIGARI – An amazing film, thank the lord that we have it fully restored now. The enigmatic Rinse Dream of ‘Café Flesh’ fame reimagines Robert Wiene ‘s expressionist classic as a nightmarish sex comedy full of misfits that might have stepped from the outer reaches of a John Waters / David Cronenberg double bill. It’s mannered to a degree that many will find off-putting; on the other hand, it’s an authentic exercise in warped vision, a real one-off. Just see it.

[Rob4]

Double Exposure (1982) - Vinegar Syndrome

Oh I do love a down and dirty sleazy movie and this was a nice discovery for me. It veers between 1970s type TV Movie psychodrama and 1980s slasher tropes, with bags of nudity filled violence which must have had the BBFC foaming with high minded disapproval.

Perhaps, its overlooked somewhat because it's not an out and out slasher and it doesn't have Tom Savini style gore effects but it does have a story, well drawn characters and good production values.

Well acted and well shot in widescreen. Recommended for sleaze-hounds everywhere

[MrBarlow]

Vile. 2011.

Obviously four teens have never seen The Hitcher, one guy following something like a compass with a stranded Cougar/Milf and regret it. Teens are kidnapped and taken to a house with other strangers. Object is they have 24 hours to inflict pain on each other that releases a body chemical and they can escape. To be honest the acting is not the best even I was ready to switch it off but strung it out and glad I did. What the cast lack in normal acting they make up when put under stress. It is a mix of Saw meets Are You Scared, there is some cringe worthy moments and decent make up effects and like both films mentioned there is a twist that is decently played out.

Vile_(film).jpg

[Demoncrat]

Quick roundup.

Der Fan (1982, Eckhart Schmidt)

It reminded the demon of all those rather earnest BBC 2 plays about "yoof" and that ... up to a point
A teenager obsesses about her favourite pop singer type. He's crushingly dull, eye of the beholder and all that. When her dreams come true with a chance encounter that leads to more than she bargained for, the film takes it upon itself to show a different side to that thing valled fandom ahem. Recommendeded.


Fast X (2023, Louis Leterrier)

Movie of the year. Use the time between the set pieces to make tea and that. Lawdy.


Mercenaries From Hong Kong (1982, Wang Tsing)

More teamwork with this Shaw Bros caper. And caper they do, tackling the situation in hand head on when a chap with a rather well maintained moustache is tasked with a dangerous mission. Putting a squad together to maximise his effort, he relies on friends trusted and true .. he hopes ... all in all a romp and a half. This one's also recommended.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974)

Dracula is dead and well and living in London as Christopher Lee plays the great vampire for one final time for Hammer in this unpredictable (if you've never seen it before) horror thriller.

Set in a contemporary London this pretty much follows on from Dracula AD 1972 (1972) as we meet Peter Cushing's Lorimer Van Helsing once again along with his granddaughter Jessica (Joanna Lumley stepping into Stephanie Beecham's shoes) and Michael Coles police inspector, as the three team up once more this time attempting to prevent Dracula releasing the bubonic plague into the world.

Director Alan Gibson moves things at a cracking pace in a film reminiscent of The Sweeney crossed with Hammer horror. The scene where Van Helsing finally reveals Dracula in the swanky apartment of D.D. Denham is among Hammer's finest.