ATCOTD. How did you find it then?


Watched Let Me In (Matt Reeves, 2010, Momentum UK dvd). Mate kept pushing this onto me (unbeknowst to me at the time that he hasn't seen LTR1I!!). Typical US spoonfeeding of the plot, I missed the cat attack, the CGI grated (as twas so obvious) and blah blah blah. Watched this the same night as The Mechanic. And yes, I've given mate the original.

Argh, another film to add to my pile. I see he's got another one out with my mate's mancrush, so thatll be fun, the next time I see him haha.

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

A beautifully stylish piece of Gothic horror. Surely an influence on Dario Argento with it's fantastic tracking shots and avant garde photography. The Spiral Staircase is a Giallo movie twenty years before the Italians decided to make them.

The film features a black gloved killer who murders young disabled women. Helen a young mute girl who works as a live-in companion for a wealthy bed ridden woman fears that she will be the next victim and the killer could already be in the house.

The cast featuring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Elsa Lanchester and Ethel Barrymore is uniformly superb, especially McGuire who goes the whole film without dialogue, having to convey her thoughts and fears through other means.

The house itself, a large many bed roomed almost palatial affair is one of the "stars" of the film. Shadowy, cavernous and creepily eerie, the cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca, under the direction of Robert Siodmak brings the place to life giving it an almost foreboding personality in it's own right.

All in all, The Spiral Staircase is a terrific example of suspenseful Gothic noir which is guaranteed to keep you guessing right to the very end.

Highly recommended.

Went to Manchester to see MATT BERRY at the ruby lounge. Went early to have a browse round the shops ect.

Found myself with a bit of spare time so I went to the Odeon Printworks to see Richard Ayoade's THE DOUBLE.


When the film started I thought I was watching a kafka-esque nightmare sequence. As the film went on I began to realize 'Nope, this is the film.'

Kermode compared the film to Eraserhead, I thought he was nuts but the grim 70's Britain looking locations certainly made me think of the film. It looks like where we would all be working if the Communists had won the cold war.

It's a comedy... sort of. It's funny but incredibly bleak and nightmarish. I liked it but the audience was sat in stony silence all the way through not really knowing what the hell they were watching.

Also there was a trailer for the new Frank sidebottom film with Michael Fassbender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk-hWzq67w4

In the past week I watched the following:

Thor Dark Kingdom - Fun popcorn movie.

Hobo With A Shotgun - Perhaps one of the better of the recent exploitation pastiches.

Escape Plan - Two faded action heroes team up to provide a very entertaining escape movie.

Grand Slam - One of my favourite robbery films. Not quite up there with Rififfi but close.

Revolver - Great.

Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Lethal Weapon 4 - I think this series has aged badly, but still enough entertainment to warrant further rematches.

Fantastic Mr. Fox - for Anderson completists only.

Squirm - It is what it is.

and at the local Kino Noah - I think maybe some joker pasted pages from Lord of the Rings in Aronofsky's copy of the old testament. Entertaining, but the first of his films to really disappoint.

Noah actually contains a lot of the stuff cut out of the old testament and is found in the apocrypha.

FRIDAY 13th 1-8: Classic series, Voorhees will always be my favourite nutcase. The first 3 are perhaps the best produced of the series. 4 disappoints. 5 and 6 have an older Tommy Jarvis and are more fun to watch, particularly 6. I've always liked the psychic angle in number 7 and 8 is a hoot in the big apple. Will be watching 9 later. Then I have Jason X, Freddy Vs Jason and the Friday 13th remake - None of which I've seen before.

Amazing US blu ray box set from Paramount, with 3D glasses + camp crystal lake sew-on badge + thick booklet. I love watching number 3 with the 3D glasses provided, a novel experience! The 1st one has had the most care and attention lavished on the transfer. The others don't always pop in HD (but the upgrade from DVD is obvious!). Number 6 is pretty stunning to look at too.

DOLLS: One of the better 'murderous magic toys' film I've seen. Has a good creepy old house atmosphere and amusing script. Not very bloody for a Stuart Gordon film but has the Charly Band stamp all over it. Guy Rolfe is great :D Great looking transfer on the UK 101Films BD.

HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN: Barmy post-nuke comedy with Roddy Piper and frogmen. Great Arrow BD!

MEET HIM AND DIE: Really enjoyable poliziotteschi starring Ray Lovelock, Gianni Garko and Martin Balsam. Great car chases and twist ending.
Raro's blu ray isn't great, quite soft and a little DNR'd but its acceptable.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Wow! This was terrible. Chris Evans as the titular hero has as much ability to express himself as a broken pencil and Tommy Lee Jones is still coasting along playing US Marshall Gerard as only he can.

Good points over with, Captain America is a chest beating, America is here to save you, re-writing history as we do it, infestation of jingoistic flag waving nonsense.

I would love to know what Jello Biafra thought of it.

100% disagree ;)

That's fine. :)

Agreed. Great film and I'm off to see the sequel in a minute.

Thought it was more in the mould of the director's previous film THE ROCKETEER as pulp adventure on the big screen.

Really enjoyed it. Will do a little bit more of a review later, hope someone like arrow will bring this film out on blu ray. 9/10

From 1953:

Titanic - A bit of a soap opera to begin with but once the berg hits its not too bad!
The Wages of Fear - The blurb on the box says 'One of the best action movies ever made' I have to say I'd disagree with that. Overlong and just didn't hold my attention!
From Here to Eternity - The winner of the Best Picture award at the 26th Oscars, not bad but not great either!
Tarzan and the She Devil - Barkers last Tarzan and really not anything new.
Summer with Monika - Igmar Bergman's story of two runaways who escape their lives and flee to the country, fall in love, have a child and are ultimately forced to return to civilsation where their relationship breaks down is quite a good movie.
Genevieve - Classic British comedy that still makes me laugh.
The Earrings of Madame De - Unlike Max Ophuls ealier 'La Ronde' and 'La Plaisir' this isnt a tryptich, and for me this suffered because of that. Frankly it bored me!
The Moon is Blue - Otto Premmingers and United Artists attempt to release a movie in the US without an approval code! Using such dialogue as 'Mistress', 'Pregnant' and shock-horror 'Virgin' it opened the vice like grip of the Breen office if only a little.
Tokyo Story - Not a lot happens but its far from boring.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Great movie musical with some classics scenes.
The Robe - The first movie to be released in cinemascope, a biblical tale that shows the Emperor Tiberius as a more kindly man rather than the perverted one that he was, and Jay Robinson is at his sneery best! Plus it has a great score from Alfred Newman.
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms - Classic monster movie thats short (1h 16m) but never drags!
Beat the Devil - A European movie that stars Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Robert Morley and Gina Lollobridgida. However to me Bogart seemed out of place. This did bore me and left me thinking what a load of tosh!

Kalifornia - not seen this for years and, sadly, it hasn't aged particularly well. There are elements of the film that have really dated, such as the hokey voice-over, and David Duchovny's performance is so bad it nearly kills the whole film! Thankfully, Brad Pitt's gurning, snorting serial killer is a lot more interesting and it's a performance that walks the thin line between inspired and ridiculous. All in all, I did enjoy seeing this again but it's certainly not the fascinating insight into the mind of a serial killer I remember it being 20 years or so ago!

Sling Blade - I'm not quite sure this achieves the epic status it strives for but I enjoyed it a lot, not least due to an amazing performance from Billy-Bob Thornton as the simple-minded killer trying to adapt to life on the outside. Despite some truly incredulous moments ('hey mom, I just met this bloke on the street' .... 'that's nice son, why doesn't he move into the garage?' :crazy:), the plot is really engaging and there is an underlying tension due to the feeling that Karl is a ticking timebomb, despite his sedate exterior. Recommended :)

The Wages of Fear is a gripping thriller and I think it's one of the all-time great movies. Have you seen Sorcerer, William Friedkin's brilliant but sadly overlooked and underappreciated remake?

We on about the same movie? Gripping is hardly a word I'd use, in fact the only part that really grabbed my attention was Yves Montand running over his mate in the pool of oil! As for Sorcerer, nope not seen it but will track it down!:)

A few evenings ago I watched the original The Fly. No point going into the story as I'd be amazed if anyone didn't at least know the basic plot but for me this is a classic. I hadn't seen it for about 20 years and though I recall enjoying it first time around revisiting it was a real pleasure. I've watched Cronenbergs remake half a dozen times and while it's a great film I believe the original has the edge. The story feels more tragic in this one with the brilliant scientist being a devoted family man as opposed to Jeff Goldblum's frankly oddball recluse. 20th Century Fox's blu is also a great disc with a great 45 minute Vincent Price doc and a cracking transfer.

Then tonight I went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier. One of Marvels best I thought. An improvement on the decent original and a huge improvement on Thor: The Dark World. Few silly ideas and such but hey it's a comic book movie.

Have to agree with Nos, one of the most gripping films I've seen in a long time, I was on the edge of my seat from the moment they started the ignition on the trucks.
Haven't seen Sorcerer myself either but will soon. The US digibook Blu has started to get posted out already although not due out for a couple of weeks

All the colours of the dark

First time I have seen this and it will not be the last, interesting supernatural giallo with some great set pieces, a eerie atmosphere, wonderful score and twist ending. Hoping arrow or someone else bring this to blu ray. 9/10



Anthropophagus

Really couldn't get into this found it to be boring with unlikable characters. A few minor highlights that didn't save it from being average , not hard to see how it got its reputation because of that one very unsettling scene. 5/10

Horrible(absurd,Anthropophagus 2)

Enjoyed this a lot more had for me a more enjoyable ( but silly) story of a man experimented on by a priest . which ends up turning the subject in a psychotic manic who has regenerative abilities and can only be destroyed by destroying the brain. 8/10

Insidious
Creepy and effective haunted house/ possession film with some good chills which is let down by the laughable "monster" . 8/10

Captain America the winter solider

Not hard to see why people are praising this as the best marvel movie to date, interesting story and a more real world film than the other marvels, but that didn't stop it being a gripping , exciting and action packed ride from beginning to end. Loved the little Easter egg of pulp fiction. Thor 2 is probably still my favourite marvel movie, but this is a very close second 9.5/10

I was really disappointed with Thor The Dark World.

MARKED FOR DEATH. Big Stevie Seagal in more trim days, kicks, snaps and shoots the living shit out of a gang of Voodoo practising Jamaican crack dealers. Man, I'd forgotten just how balls out looney this film was in terms of exploitation and violence. Stevie is on top form, at his most arrogant looking best as he snaps arms and legs all over the place. Highly recommended.

Starman (1984)

A very good John Carpenter film aimed at a family audience and in all probability riding along on the coat tails of ET, Close Encounters etc.

Jeff Bridges stars as an alien who comes into contact with widowed Karen Allen and forces her, in the beginning, to take him on a road trip into the Arizona desert where he'll get picked up by his own people. Charles Martin Smith is enlisted by the NSA to prevent this happening.

A really enjoyable film with a simple yet highly entertaining premise and is supremely acted out by Bridges, who was nominated for an academy award, and Allen, who genuinely seems the sort of woman you would want to go on a road trip with.

Carpenter directs with verve, and it's a shame he didn't try more of the family friendly fayre when his horror career started to decline.

Highly recommended.

Probably my favourite Seagal film, Marked For Death. Managed to pick it up on Blu today for 6 pounds from CEX in mint condition, had a lot of fun revisiting it especially that final battle. :)

Nightmares come at night.

Crime thriller shot by Jess Franco who turns it into some dark erotic nightmare. Very odd and certain to alienate a few who watch it. Franco fans should really get a kick out of it however.


Cobra.

Needing something a little more 'lightweight' after Nightmares, decided to finally check out my Cobra blu-ray in the Stallone box set. Cobra is a fun movie. It's one of the many right-wing super cop movies that came out in the wake of the Dirty Harry franchise, where aggressive alpha-male police officers take brutal action against criminals who are pretty much universally one dimensional monsters. All the while the cop bemoans the fact that he has to abide by the rules and respect peoples rights. Politically i've always found these kinds of film a Joke and i'm not the only one. Judge Dredd and the American TV series Sledgehammer both found plenty of comedic material out of this premise.
As unaware of itself as it is, Cobra is nonetheless an awful lot of fun. It has plenty of action throughout and the cult of serial killers is a neat idea that other properties have pinched over the years.

Things to come.

Had this sat on my shelf unwatched for ages so finished the evening off with this minor classic of British cinema. The planet, as represented by the fictional 'everytown' is wracked by war. After decades of conflict mankind is reduced to primitive barbarism until the airmen come along and take over. Using the idea that all the resources and technology humans use to make war on one another could be better used for the betterment of mankind they turn the globe into a utopia. However some eventually tire of constant progress.

The film is perhaps a little too idealistic but the message is a positive one. Change and progress is inevitable and should always be embraced and steered on a positive course that will improve things for all mankind, not just a select few.

can see why some didn't enjoy it, but for me its a lot of fun and is what a superhero movie should be. DC really need to take a look at marvel if they want to make a good superhero film, yes that includes the dark knight trilogy (and man of steel) which are great films but to me its not a superhero film and its batman is just a guy in a costume and is not the Batman i know from the comics etc. the dark night batman is really a bit of a wimp compared to what he should be like.

I found Thor 2 overlong and far too much time was spent on silly science babble. And too much of it was set in Asgard which I feel turned it into more a Star Wars wannabe. And given its a Thor movie he wasn't in it for huge patches.
Granted it is still better than Iron Man 2 which I hated.

Finally caught up with PT Anderson's The Master. The only thing I'm sure about is that the torrent of one star 'reviews' on Amazon are utter garbage. No film that looks this stunning and is acted this well is a one star movie. That said, what's it all about? There's no story in the conventional sense, more a meeting of two people and the effect they have on each other. Hmm, I'II see it again and get back to you, I think there's more going on here than meets the eye and it strikes me as a singular film, one that deserves a little effort.

I agree. For me even the nolan films don't really hold up and are the directors weakest films. I much preferred Nolan making stuff like the prestige and inception.

I think anyone who didn't like Thor the dark world might want to think long and hard about guardians of the galaxy (and then go anyway) as its going to be cosmic stuff like Thor.

BLACK SABBATH - ITALIAN VERSION
MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE
SUN DRAGON
HARD BOILED

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Adam McKay, 2013).
Not as consistently silly as first, but still made me laugh. Which is all you can ask for in a comedy really.

Got this lined up to watch tonight :nod:

I thought Anchorman 2 was dire. But I must admit a soft spot for the first one, despite not being really 'good'.:lol:

Night of the demons 7/10

Night of the demons 2 7.5/10

Frankenstein conquers the world 5/10

Shock 6.5/10

The x from outer space 7/10

Latitude zero 8/10

Edit

Crawlspace 9/10

Watched MS.45 on Blu the other night.
It looks absolutely stunning on Blu.
Draft House have done an incredible job with the transfer and are a label to watch.
So much so,I've bought THE VISITOR and A FIELD IN ENGLAND releases.

I watched line last week and agree, looks lovely. :)

That saxophone tune's still as annoying though eh?:laugh:

RABIES - Starts out like a fairly typical 'Teens-in-the woods-with-slasher' affair but quickly morphs into a black comedy of warped cause and effect as violence spreads like a contagion between its characters, who are constantly undermined by misunderstanding, rage and stupidity. Victims, persecutors and rescuers swap roles in an unstable landscape littered with references to conflict... the film is from Israel, and there is an obvious subtext about the wider political situation there. I was really impressed and quite riveted. Totally looking forward to 'Big Bad Wolves' by the same director.

HARRY BROWN - With Michael Caine as an enraged pensioner vigilante taking on a derelict London estate. Quite interesting in places because it seems to want to splice bleak social 'realism' with gung-ho action. It's actually really entertaining, but its take on Hoodie-Horror is way more Daily Mail than the relatively subversive likes of 'Eden Lake', which were more about the toothless middle class getting ruthless and showing their true barbaric colours. I guess it was never going to take the Ken Loach route, but the dehumanised portrayals of estate kids are a bit grating and the film's proposed solutions to social problems don't exactly involve sorting out the economic infrastructure. But where else can you watch Michael Caine stab a junkie through the hand in front of a TV full of porn? So, there are definite plus points.

SYNCHRONICITY - Indie horror from Brian Hirschbine. It's an odd mix of weak comedy that doesn't work and sickly surrealism that for the most part really does. I assume this clash was intended on some kind of formal level because halfway through we get Hegelian diatribes about the unity of opposites or something. Whilst I found this interesting, I was perhaps more focussed on watching the people in animal costumes f**ck and murder each other. There are plenty of good weird bits and it's quite graphic and I guess in the end these aspects justify the slightly painful stabs at humour. Hirschbine directed some other fairly extreme indie horror films like 'Black Ice' and 'Tapeworm'.

WICKED GAMES - Tim Ritter's sequel to 'Truth or Dare'. It's not as full on as 'Creep', but it's still pretty enjoyable. A detective loses the plot when his wife has an affair and takes on the mantle of The Copper Masked Killer... or does he? Who's really behind all those brutal slayings? Maybe it's all the deranged fantasy of a madman etc etc. Chances are you probably won't care as you gawp in delight at the wonders of shitty mid-nineties camcorder footage of a self-mutilating psychiatrist shagging a showroom dummy.

You will be pleased to hear Big Bad wolves is even better!

I watched Assassins last night.

Richard Donner directs Stallone and Banderas with a script that was originally written by the Wachowski Brothers and then re-written extensively by Brian Hegland.

It's a very, very dull and bloated film. I remember going to the old Art deco cinema in my home town to see it way back in the 90's and not really digging it then. Now I just found myself looking at my watch and going to make cups of coffee. The whole mess could use some more interesting action scenes and a loss of about 30 minutes of fluff and then it might have been good.