What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Opera (1987)

A hugely enjoyable revisit and first time Blu-ray screening of Dario Argento's last great film (Although i personally think Mother of Tears (2007) is more fun).

In his first reworking of Phantom of the Opera - 1998's Phantom of the Opera was a more faithful down the line adaptation - Dario follows a young soprano given the lead in Macbeth by Verdi at the Parma Opera House who becomes the target of a serial killer.

The film sticks in the memory and gained notoriety because the killer stalks the singer and prior to any murder manages to overpower and restrain her then tapes a row of needles beneath her eyes to ensure she sees what comes next. It's wonderfully grisly and an iconic moment in Argento's filmography especially that first time when the kill itself is orchestrated brilliantly.

It's beautifully shot and the frequent raven eye views as the birds, present in the production, fly around the opera house are extremely clever taking the directors typical tracking shots to another level entirely. High definition does wonders for the operatic sequences in the soundtrack and although only two channels envelops the room turning it into my own mini opera house when played via 7:1 surround.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Climax (1944)

Boris Karloff plays a theatre physician who on hearing a new singer (Susanna Foster) is reminded of the fiancee he murdered ten years earlier out of obsession and jealousy, so he sets about seducing her to sing only for him and if she refuses...eek!

A nice atmosphere even if there's a little too much singing and aimless chatter in this riff on The Phantom of the Opera. (Seriously following Argento's Opera with another opera set film was bad planning by me). There's a reasonable amount of tension in Curt Siodmak's script but on the whole this is minor Karloff fayre when you consider the rest of the great man's output. He is however always a reason to watch films of this ilk.

Nice to see Turhan Bey in a slightly heroic leading man role rather than typecast as an Egyptian. The sets were the same ones as the 1943 Universal Phantom film so as you can imagine they look splendid.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Wrong Turn (2021)

Reboot of the long running horror franchise, this seventh entry does away with the cannibalistic hillbilly aspect and has a group of friends hiking in the Appalachians when they run foul of the 'Foundation' - a group of settlers who settled in the mountains to get away from the rest of humanity 170 odd years ago.

There's a lot going for this reinvigoration of the series. The use of bone animal masks and head dresses is always something i find both satisfying in a horror aspect and genuinely disturbing too as are Pagan or Germanic cults of which the Foundation certainly are. The fact the friends are either (brutally) killed or integrated into the Foundation is an interesting premise even though their prime objective is to escape with the finale quite surprising - at least to me.

At almost two hours the film is a little too long but the set up is well thought out and for almost half the film you are sure the paranoia and alienation that exudes from nearby townsfolk to the hikers will all be due to cannibal killers in the woods rather than a Heilung gig in the forest.

I liked this one, but then i more often than not always enjoy backwoods horror films.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I Start Counting (1970)

I mistakenly thought this British thriller was more serial killer film than a coming of age drama. Perhaps with good reason as the plot is essentially that of a fifteen year old Jenny Agutter who suspects her older foster brother might be the serial killer of several local teenage girls.

However it centre's more on Agutter's Wynne and her crush on her said foster brother (Bryan Marshall) as well as her friendship with best friend Corinne (Clare Sutcliffe) who is seemingly more sexually experienced than Wynne.

However the serial killer theme is a constant and properly comes into play during the last twenty minutes. It's not difficult to guess who the killer is thanks to the cast list and one 'name' who appears all too briefly (and creepily) during the first hour.

By no means is this out and out horror but it is a subtle psychological thriller which definitely has an air of the taboo about it as well as that off kilter Grittishness that was only witnessed in British films from this era such as Permissive, Deep End, Girly and Baby Love.

[iank]

Anna and the Apocalypse. A teenage girl and her friends battle for survival in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. This very weird 2017 British flick is a comedy horror zombie... musical. No, really. It's better than it sounds, but it's not just the musical aspects that make it odd, it's also a very strange fish tonally. I've heard it called a "feelgood Christmas classic" except that, take away the songs, and it's ultimately as bleak and depressing as most other zombie flicks, even lacking the hopeful "everything's back to normal, more or less" coda to Shaun of the Dead. The lead girl is very likeable and very beautiful, and it's watchable - I didn't turn it off, which is a major win for modern cinema lol - but it's just... odd.

[nicholasrope]

Dumb Money

Based on The True Story of the Game Stop Shares story during the Pandemic sees a number of ordinary people almost take down Hedge Funds due to them buying Shares in a company. Think Big Short meets Generation X. It follows the ups and downs and the dilemmas of whether to hold or sell and how the major Hedge Funds manage the situation. It's a very decent watch but due to being a True Story, I was with their friends and family who want them to sell and take the life changing money and thinking you idiots when they didn't.

Starring Seth Rogan (Who's facial expressions showing worry and dismay are amazing) Paul Dano, Shailene Woodley and Nick Offerman.

[Demoncrat]

The Horseman (2008, Steven Katrissios)

Revisited this one as it fell on me whilst shifting some stuff.
A man finds out his daughter's demise was slightly more sordid than normal after cleaning out her room. He sets off to find the folk responsible, so it's a revenge caper yes, but it's mostly low key with only the death scenes being somewhat histrionic cough. It all centres around the lead, so luckily he's quite believable as a man who just trying to keep himself together. Not as grim as some in this genre, but it's no Carry On either.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

The Horseman (2008, Steven Katrissios)

Revisited this one as it fell on me whilst shifting some stuff.
A man finds out his daughter's demise was slightly more sordid than normal after cleaning out her room. He sets off to find the folk responsible, so it's a revenge caper yes, but it's mostly low key with only the death scenes being somewhat histrionic cough. It all centres around the lead, so luckily he's quite believable as man who just trying to keep himself together. Not as grim as some in this genre, but it's no Carry On either.

I remember when this came out. I was kinda' disappointed when i watched the dvd as it was said to be some sort of masterpiece of revenge brutality but it really wasn't.

I still own it but have only watched it the one time.

Two Aussie films came out at a similar time i recall. The Horseman and Van Dieman's Land and were both pretty brutal cutting edge films. I much preferred Van Dieman's Land.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

Nicolas Cage plays a notorious criminal, Hero, who is sent to rescue the governor's adopted granddaughter, who has disappeared into a dark region called Ghostland. In order to make sure Hero completes his task or dies trying his new leather suit is fitted with small bombs which will kill him should he run out of time or set off in certain places should he mistreat the granddaughter in any way.

A largely dull rehash of Escape From New York with Cage strangely subdued although Bill Moseley as the governor is value for money. Director Sion Sono's attempts at the weird and quirky largely fell flat for me and following a promising start i became increasingly bored. A huge disappointment.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

L'arma l'ora il Movente (1972)

Internationally titled The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive, this is an intriguing little giallo. From what i understand it was the first one to feature that regular giallo motif the corrupt priest. Here said priest is having an affair with two women until he abruptly calls them both off. Soon after he is found murdered in his church. Both women quickly become the suspects of the local police inspector (A very good Renzo Montagnani) however the only witness allegedly is a young boy who doesn't seem entirely trust worthy.

Director Francesco Mazzei seems to be as influenced by the slew of nunsploitation films that populated European cinema at the time as he was the typical giallo as the film is full of naked nuns be it in the shower or flagellating themselves more so than giallo style murders, although there is a beautifully graphic throat slashing scene courtesy of the maestro Carlo Rambaldi.

The acting is uniformly excellent, the convent a good location and there's creeping suspense due to tight direction from Mazzei along with a slightly surreal air to certain scenes that for me elevated this above the standard giallo thriller.

I look forward to seeing this again in the coming months.