Rewatched A Virgin Among The Living Dead and Satanic Sisters, both still fairly bonkers btw.

Sherlock Holmes...Hound Of The Baskervilles and The Scarlet Claw (which is basically a Hound ripoff, same plot etc). Loving these, Rathbone looking every inch the authorititive sleuth that he's playing.


Have come across Boris Karloff's Chiller, which is a tv series I believe....may watch a few tonight, if time permits...

Well just finished first part of storm of the century and had to restrain myself from watching it all. Up next wilow creek or the mangler

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Willow creek

Was actually enjoying this up till about the last third of the film. It starts of as documentary being made on the Bigfoot legend by a man and his girlfriend. The first two thirds is done more or less as a documentary with them interviewing people etc as they go off into the woods to look for Bigfoot. Then when they set up camp for the night we have about 20minutes of them stuck in tent listening to noises outside etc, but it's not scary in the slightest. Those 20minutes felt a lot longer. Things pick up once dawn breaks but like a lot of these lost footage/ documentary films it's not scary. But unlike most the acting is ok and characters are likable. not great but worth a watch if you can get it cheap. 6/10

Mark of the Devil.

In an unnamed european town, (actually shot in austria) brutal and corrupt witchfinder Albino is abusing his authority to rape and pillage the local population in the name of religion. Mainly however its a tool to get his end away, his latest target is the buxom tavern wench he's intent on denouncing. Unfortunately a new witch finder is coming to take over, the notorious lord Cumberland. His apprentice takes issue with Albinos methods and believes his master will instil justice in the local population. After falling for the tavern wenches charms Christian begins to doubt his mission. doubt that begins to grow when Cumberland's true nature becomes exposed.

Whether intentional or not there's a fierce political undercurrent to MOTD. Witch finder general, the film that precedes it and influenced it was as much an English set western as it was a horror. A revenge piece that owed as much to the revenge westerns of Anthony Mann as it does the Gothic horror of hammer and roger corman. Mark of the Devil on the other hand is about political disillusionment. Christian is a true believer who honestly thinks Lord Cumberland will bring real change and justice to the proceedings and soon begins to realise that there is little difference between him and the evil Albino. The corruption has been allowed to fester in the village thanks to the apathy and moral cowardice of the townsfolk who allow this all to happen. And when they do rise up the slaughter is indiscriminate, with even the hint that things may go back to business as usual when the credits roll.

Mark of the devil is a nasty film even by today's standards, thanks in part to the well researched use of of actual medieval torture devices and methods. As much a condemnation of the use of torture for political means as for titillation of its audience. (or again perhaps I was reading too much into the film.)

for those with a strong stomach, Mark of the Devil is a beautifully shot, wonderfully scored film with some great performances, especially from Udo Kier and Herbert lom. Arrows disc looks fantastic and has some interesting bonus material as well. I've been a fan of the movie for quite a while and was tempted by the German blu-ray but to be honest i'm glad I held off.

I bloody well hate remakes.

I quite enjoyed that one and the Hollywood DVD releases of selected Nico Mastorakis films all seem to feature really good quality anamorphic widescreen transfers.

A few weeks back, I read Bizarre Eye's review of Blood Orgy of the She Devils here, and even though he explained how bad it was, I was curious to see it for myself. Then, a few days later, I read Demdike's review of it here, once again saying how shite it was, so for some unknown reason I decided to add it to my rental list from Lovefilm, maybe these two guys had got it wrong, I usually agree with their reviews, but maybe, just maybe they missed something here.
Fast forward a week or two and said disc arrived, so last night I popped it in to see what my thoughts would be on this low budget piece of trash.
A full 17 minutes later and I'd turned it off, cursing myself for not realising that B_E and Demdike were absolutely right about this steaming pile of utter shite, I was tired when I put it on after a long day at Uni/work, so if I'd stuck it out for any longer than the 17 unbearable minutes I managed, I'm fairly certain I would've fallen asleep before the "film" finished, missing out on the lack of Blood, Orgies and She Devils promised by the title and cover and as those two guys mentioned, appear to have been missing from the "plot"!

So, there's a lesson to be learnt here, if two people say something is dull, shite and boring, ****ing listen to them!!!!

Sorry to hear about your ordeal, Rik (although you only have yourself to blame! ;)). It just goes to show sometimes that when reading opinions on a film, it does often pique your interest to seek it out irrelevant of how damning those opinions are.

As I've mentioned when reviewing these films though, I'd hate for my opinions to be the cause of someone deciding not to check something out that they could potentially enjoy... 'She Devils' aside of course!

I'm just glad I rented it, I had considered blind buying the 88Films DVD! :eek:

I think Dem did. :madgrin:

Yeah, he did :nod:

Wah Wah Wah Waah Sad Trombone SOUND EFFECT - YouTube

:frusty:

I shan't be buying any more 88 releases from now on.

This is the Bobcat Goldthwaite film, yes? Isn't it a spoof then??;)

Gone mainstream and big budget this week:
X-Men First Class (2011)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
X-Men (2000)
X-Men 2 (2003)
X-Men The Last Stand (2006) This I think is the best picture in the entire franchise.
The Wolverine (2013)
X-Men Days of Future Past (2014)
Transformers (2007)

Very brave. Balls of steel watching that lot.

None too sure what you mean't by that?

Too Late for Tears - well I've encountered some real nasty women during my year of noir binging but Lizabeth Scott in TLFT is by far the worst. Her unforgettable face - a snapshot of where beautiful meets ugly - literally contorts and twists with greed as this movie progresses. It's an amazing portrayal - she even makes you feel sorry for Dan Dureya, no mean feat. This plays like a surreal morality play, only without the morals part - everyone bar the poor schmo hubbie and his sister are degrees of awful. A wildly melodramatic ending for Ms Scott and a nice twist round it off nicely. Shame about the Alpha video print - it's horrendous. Rumours of a restoration on imbd - I really hope so.

The File on Thelma Jordan - all hail Barbara Stanwyck, amazing as ever as the titular Ms Jordan - is she really rotten? You'll be guessing till the penultimate, barking mad scene. Today Stanwyck wouldn't get through a casting call - sorry Love, you'll need a nose job, a boob job and you don't look like you could carry off an action scene. This, in a nutshell, is why I hate current Hollywood tripe - no real distinctive characters or indeed, actors. Anyway rant over - this isn't as good as Martha Ivers but is still a solid 7/10

Bill Rebane's The Demons of Ludlow charts the revenge of a murderous Demon who inhabits a piano which has been brought out of storage by the townspeople of Ludlow in order to celebrate their bicentenary.

Immediately, the film brought to mind Carpenter's The Fog, what with the idyllic, isolated village community and its curse - that is fulfilled in this case when the piano is played.

However, unlike The Fog it is pretty much devoid of atmosphere and suspense. Rebane even ignores taking advantage of the beautiful local scenery to get some great location shots, and instead opts for plenty of overlong indoor scenes.

Whilst the film is fairly competently made and the re-occurring 'demon hand' effect is a nice touch, the overlong, predictable and sometimes dull bulk of the film takes its toll on the overall viewing experience. You can't help but feel that the film in a trimmed down form may have worked better as a anthology segment or that with a few minor tweaks could have been quite a bit better than it is.

Originally posted here: https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/418812-post285.html

TWINS OF EVIL
Easily one the best of Hammer's latter day output and one of my favourites per se.
With Peter Cushing in top form ( is he ever not? ) this best of the Karnstein trilogy also uses the twins as a proper plot device rather than just a novelty.
It all ends up in a surprisingly gory climax.
This is another terrific looking Blu ray from Network.

INSIDIOUS 2
There aren't many modern horrors that do it for me, but I loved the original INSIDIOUS. Sadly, this sequel was a real let down. The superb scares and hugely creepy atmosphere in the first one simply weren't there this time. A disappointment.

Sorry that was a none too subtle way of saying I'd need money to sit through those lot. Never mind all in one week.

Aww, shame you didn't go for this one. Maybe it's just me, but I have an inexplicable liking for DOL (on second thoughts, no, it really IS just me). I do feel it has some atmosphere and that cockeyed, disjointed quality that can raise some seventies / eighties dregs up a notch or two... and there are a couple of moments which seem quite perverse. Was hoping you might track down Rebane's 'The Cold' (aka 'The Game') as part of your Nightmare USA blitz, 'cos I've never seen it and I can't find it anywhere, not even on Y-Tube.

It's on YT here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-DS1g_uDPI

Despite my experience thus far with Mr Rebane, I will check it out on your rec, Frankie! :nod:

Easily one of my favourites!

Ahh! I see. Quite liked them TBH. I have a bit of an ecletic taste from grindhouse to arthouse which has only really developed over the past few years so a lot of stuff I either haven't seen or have seen years ago and never had an appreciation for. Should see my shelves! I've got Eureka MOC and BFI's sharing with the likes of Russ Meyer, Jess Franco and Michael Bay;)

Beautiful :thumbup:

A fairly effective and creepy 'killer kids' film, Devil Times Five deals with 5 sociopathic children who escape their psychiatric transportation and end up being taken in by some unwitting people who are holidaying nearby.

The children are able to lure the adults into a false sense of security with their feigned sweet and innocent behaviour before the film takes a darker turn and the crazed kids start dispatching their contemporaries in various creative and brutal fashions, but without losing their lighthearted and playful air, which makes it all the more disturbing and compelling.

The holidaying adults certainly have their own particular issues too, to the extent that when watching them perish at the hands of the psychotic children, you can't help but feel less than sorry for some of them.

Certainly a stand-out film in this particular sub-genre, Devil Times Five is a entertaining oddity that's worth checking out.

Originally posted here: https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/418913-post290.html

The 'Burbs - 1989;

Compliments of Arrow in the UK. Not a bad movie but not a great one either. Not one of the better transfers from Arrow, but certainly watchable IMO. Didn't check out any of the extras, but I would be interested in watching the feature length documentary on the making of the movie. Love that stuff! At times it felt like a HOUSE movie with Joe Dante directing and not Steve Miner. Enjoyed Hanks and Fisher's performance. And when was the last time you watched an 80s movie that didn't feature, at the very least, a cameo by Corey Feldman?;)

Yes it is, it's a James White restoration. Your issue is with the look of the film itself due to film stock and artistic intent.

Man, do you have a secret stash or something? Or maybe my searches are a little unimaginative... either way, kudos and props for bringing me this long sought after schnitzel, which I may taste tonight... thanks once again. Oh, and ditto re Devilx5.

I thought it was a brilliant picture from a new transfer, approved by Joe Dante. The contrast levels and colour balance are exceptional.

No worries - enjoy!

I will be sampling it too at some point in the not-so-distant future ;)

The mangler

Started off ok but the more it went on the worse it got, the end was just stupid and unintentionally funny. Only highlight was Robert englund character. 4.5/10

Storm of the century

Just finished the last part and have to agree with the others one of the best if not the best King mini series. Also made a nice change to have a ending that wasn't upbeat. Acting was top notch for the most part and the actor playing Linoge was very menacing. 10/10

Now watching batman (1989)

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

The last of the great all star ensemble epics, A Bridge Too Far tells the story of Operation Market Garden. The Allied forces plan to parachute thousands into Holland and take the Rhine bridges of Nijmegan, Eindhoven and most famously Arnhem in a bid to move into Germany on two fronts.

Richard Attenborough directs with an attention to detail that gives the film an almost documentary style, whilst the methodical approach doesn't really allow any moments of great tension the film still has great re-watch value thanks to it's epic scale and cast of thousands.

Who's James White?

James White.

Great film. :nod:

When he restores a film, he makes it look exactly as it should, he's one of the very best :)

Might go and watch Metropolis on the big screen at the Chapter Arts Centre on 5th October. What better way for a first time watch of a true classic of science-fiction cinema. :rockon:

Who here has seen Honeymoon (2014). Is it worth watching?

A young boy gets more than he bargained for one birthday when he is bought a cymbal playing monkey toy which just happens to have been possessed by a malicious demon.

The monkey-bound demon then sets about attempting to kill off the family one by one through a series of gradually escalating psycho-kinetic and possession based events.

Whilst The Devil's Gift doesn't really bring anything new or original, it is for the most part competently made and adequately paced. However, aside from the gimmick of the creepy evil monkey the film is a little bland and predictable and certainly nothing you won't have seen before in some form or another.

Originally posted here: https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/419004-post292.html

The Last Exorcism - Was expecting more from this film as the DVD was rated 18 but to be honest it wasn't even a hard 15 so don't know what happened there. I guess the storey was ok I enjoyed the (found footage) style of filming, even though it wasn't trying to hard to be one of them films, the girl facing the exorcism did great and her double joints really did add some genuine creepiness to the film, but it was still no Exorcist

Captivity - After seeing this film I see it was actually filmed as a different thriller style film, but chopped and changed into a torture porn film, I think the chopping did have a negative effect on the film, it wasn't terrible, but some things for me were not explained very well, where as the Alternate version had some of the answers, the twist I had half worked out, convinced myself it wasn't that and made up another twist which never happened. Again an Ok film but no Saw or Hostel.