There are no problems with the transfer, I don't think. It was shot on digital video in the mid noughties, and we're not talking about particularly high end stuff. It has a really flat, almost TV soap kind of look, but that all adds to its dubious charm. Not the kind of thing you watch on BD, but... it is what it is.

Thanks.

I was just checking they weren't like some washed out fuzzy mess.

No problem. Have the other one, 'Island Of the Living Dead', to watch at some point this week, so will be sending a report back on that one. Not sure about the cannibal stuff - might get those next month.

I think i'll order them tomorrow. Some new shoddy zombie goodness always hits the spot. :nod:

Sorry! missed it completely. The intervison releases are all great. I also have zombies the beginning where mattaei xeroxes the plot of aliens and thats well worth picking up as well!

Troll Hunter, a Nordic found footage jobby about a mysterious loner drifting around the more remote parts of Norway in his caravan basically keeping the troll population in check for the top secret government department the TSS, Troll Security Sevice.
I really enjoyed this film but like all found footage films it has its weaknesses. Characterisation is quite weak, the ending is a bit limp. Setting up a reason why this guy is actually being filmed by a college camera crew was a bit flimsy. That said the trolls are great, the central character himself is pretty cool and i loved that there was a whole internal mythology put together for the film. Worth watching.
Oh and it's better than The Exorcist. 😉

You need to make this your new signature :lol:

I loved Troll Hunter and the scenery was breathtaking.

Me and a few mates used to go to see The Exorcist a lot, because the lazy local cinema owners kept showing it. After about the 5th time, I gave up watching it and started watching the audience instead. Highly entertaining.

AAnyway....

The Collection (Marcus Dunstan, 2012)
Must stop watching the Horror Channel!! Torture porn blah blah blah. NOT recommended. Though Bubble (from "The Wire") had an interesting haircut ahem.

Ditto. Never heard anymore about that US remake either thank Cthulhu!!! :)

Oh Christ let's hope it's never heard of again.

I was gonna watch this the other night, I enjoyed the Collector, I'm guessing this isn't as good then?

Well, if you enjoyed the first.....it's just that the mask reminds of the Cambridge Rapist on from The Great Rock & Roll Swindle, so couldn't take it seriously. Plus some of it quite silly imo....

Also revisited Grave Encounters (2011, Vicious Brothers).
See what I mean about the Horror Channel? Any old tat haha. Found some interesting imagery this time. But everything had a green tinge afterwards ahem. Maaaay watch sequel now, but then again.......

I was thinking of adding a better or worse than the The Exorcist to all my reviews.

It's good, but it's not that good!

I'm sure there's a rule about not deliberately antagonising others, particular moderators!

were I stopped watching the first time that's when it picked up and turned it some OTT bizarre screwed up superhero movie with a load of gore and nudity. what's not to like

NEON MANIACS

This film I remember from many years ago, but it passed me by in the viewing stakes.

Creatures live under The Golden Gate Bridge, where are they from? no one knows! Why are they suddenly here? no one knows! What is their endgame? You guessed it...no one knows.....do we care? not really because I thought this film was fantastic. It is definitely so bad it needs to be seen. I will not spoil the very shallow plot because there is not much of one to spoil.

The Neon Maniacs are like Hellraisers Cenobites on a 5p budget which just adds to the appeal.
I personally think the make up is great for a budget flick and for its day.

Not much to add except if you like bad good movies...like I know most on here do and you have not seen this, get it!

Here are some glorious pix of the Neon Maniacs.

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I'd buy that for a dollar... maybe - Part III

Don’t Go In The Woods (1981) BOMB
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A group of backpackers (and some other visitors of the forest) make the acquaintance of a hillbilly maniac, resulting in many casualties. Silly music, actors without any acting skills, cheesy dialogues, cheap special effects, unprofessional direction - this film is totally bonkers. Apart from a few nice shots of the woods, this film doesn’t have any merits. Really? Once you accept the fact that you’re watching an early 80s Slasher C movie which has been made with very little money and even less talent, you may find this film as entertaining as I did. Quite a bit of humour (mostly unintentional) and some gory scenes make Don’t Go In The Woods a trashy curiosity.

The Dead Want Women (2012) BOMB
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A decadent roaring twenties party comes to an abrupt end when the lady of the house (a silent movie star) slits her own throat. Many years later, two young women want to sell the vacant house but find out it is not as uninhabited as expected. Produced and directed by schlockmeister Charles Band, this direct-to-video Full Moon release has little to offer. Both the title and the taglines promise nudity and horror, but the film lacks both. While I’m able to live without gratuitous nudity, I generally do not like anaemic horror. Apart from a headshot, the violence is pretty mild. What I did like: the movie never pretends to be more than the cheap video film that it is. The acting is way over the top, the makeup is simple, and the dialogues are at least mildly humorous. I bought this film for three quid, and I was not disappointed. A stupid little filler.

Unhinged (1982) * * ½
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Whilst on their way to a concert, three teenage girls crash their car. A friendly family (with a dark secret) takes care of them. Like Don’t Go In The Woods, this is a low-budget Horror film from the (in)famous 80s. All characters are played by either unexperienced models or unknown stage actors, and the synthesizer score is definitely an acquired taste. Surprisingly, this is nevertheless a nice little film. The actors’ performances are more than acceptable, director Gronquist makes the most out of the setting (an old mansion), and the dialogues are sensible most of the time. Another asset of the film is that it manages to create an atmosphere of suppression and mischief without explicitely showing very much. The ending packs a punch. Worth watching.

Halloween 5 (1989) * *
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After one more year in a coma and another astonishing recovery, ‘Evil Personified’ is back. This time, his aides are telepathy and his niece Jamie (Danielle Harris); his opponent is once more Doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasance). This is the first film of the Halloween franchise where you shake your head in disbelief more than once. The plot becomes rather silly now, and it’s pretty hard to believe this has anything to do with Carpenter’s original Halloween. However, Donald Pleasence and fluffy kittens save the day. Despite a ridiculous safer sex scene: watchable (with reservations).

Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995) BOMB
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A mysterious druid cult has evil plans involving Michael Myers, his niece Jamie and their newborn daughter. Doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasance) teams up with Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd) and Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan) in order to stop the sinister plot. One could argue that Pleasence’s sudden death during this film’s shooting is the main reason why this film is all over the place. I for one think, however, that the stupid original story was enough to turn this film into a total mess. Matters are complicated further by the fact that people are either miscast (Rudd), mousy (Hagan), or given ungratefully small roles (Kim Darby, Mitchell Ryan). An extremely disappointing film, and a sad exit for Pleasence. Avoid.

Island of Death was exactly what I was expecting. The Goat ****ing movie. Not quite as shocking as House on the Edge of the Park and not quite as clean cut as Night Train Murders, it still packs a punch and is gonna be nabbed by me when the BD comes out.

Loved Neon Maniacs shame about the funds running out and the sudden ending.

John Carpenter's The Ward (2010)

Kristen (Amber Heard) finds herself committed after setting fire to an abandoned farmhouse. Once there she becomes friends with the other girls as she comes to realize things are not as they seem and a gruesome ghostly figure stalks the ward at night.

Before i go on i should say i wanted to like this film. It is John Carpenter after all. Also i was pleasantly surprised as i thought it was a found footage film and happily it isn't.

The Ward is an interesting mystery, a slow burning story which gradually escalates, drawing the viewer in as both we and Heard's Kristen character try and figure out the reasons for her being hospitalized in the first place. Carpenter allows the suspense to come to the fore through the story telling as the film gradually flips from mystery to ghost story. The film is nicely acted with characters to sympathise with and tries to avoid the typical genre cliches of bullying wardens and such like. The soundtrack, although often subtle and low in the mix, (thankfully Carpenter doesn't resort to musical jump scares), has echoes of Goblin's Suspiria score. There is little gore, but what there is is gruesome, and one sequence is definitely not for the squeamish in it's eye opening nastiness.

The films only real let down for me was the extremely rushed denouement. I have to admit i didn't see it coming but when you actually think about it, it makes the preceding 80 minutes a bit of a waste of time as it's difficult to say if it happened or it was all in Kristen's mind.

Whilst The Ward is nowhere near classic John Carpenter, (he hasn't a writing credit or responsible for the score), however one or two of his directorial flourishes can be found such as slow, creepy tracking shots which add to the ghostly feel of things.

Better than Escape from LA. The Ward is worth checking out as it's nowhere near as poor as you've probably heard. (cough)

Originally posted in The Cult Labs Members Review Club.

I always wondered why the ending was so sudden, the lack of explanation or conclusion of any kind actually quite dropped my opinion in the movie, as it left me kind of disappointed.

The ending was very sudden and let it down but to be fair there was not much to explain anyway:lol:

On the BD there is a very good extra of an interview with FX guy Allan Apone who talks about the financial difficulties he / they had with the film. At one point he had to legally fight for his pay whilst still in the midst of making the film, and they still kept a professional relationship going to see it through. It was one of those films where they apparently filmed a bit, ran out of funds, months later kicked in again and so on.Some of the Maniacs were the same actors playing various roles. The script was probably one area they should of invested in....it does help!

Glad you liked it Dem. The problem with John Carpenter fans is we want him to find his mojo one last time and produce one more classic but I don't think that will ever happen, not dissimilar to Argento. Do you think it is a generational / era thing? 70's 80's Wes Craven, Carpenter, Argento, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper et al; all maestros in their time but slowly lost the originality and ideas that made the classics we associate with them. I personally think it was because it was a time when horror fans like us could afford and pick up a camera for the first time and realise our awful dreams onto film, giving way to originality and non main stream ideas.

I liked this film and agree, I want to like every film he associates himself with. It has some stand out scary moments and the score is worth picking up even though its not JC's work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fQxx1LAfq8

I was the exact same but after I watched the doc I just felt bad for the director. Still a great cheesy fun film.

I'm going to give a differing opinion and say the collection is well worth watching. I wouldn't go so far as to describe it as torture porn. It has some nasty sequences but imagine a slasher picture set in jigsaws house. Its no classic of the genre but a lot better than some of the junk out there.

Last night I watched

THE BOGEY MAN

Uli Lomell when he was still making films worth watching delivered this gory knock off of films like Halloween and Amityville. Here a young brother and sister are tormented by memories of a tormented childhood that somehow manifests itself in a haunted mirror. The mirror is broken and the fragments cause some fairly nasty deaths.
Re-watching the film in a frankly stunning HD presentation I'd almost forgotten how f*****g random the film is in places. Not only in sudden violent deaths of incidental characters but in things like plot and character motivation. Biggest WTF came when suzannah love's characters husband admits the mirror may be possessed but says that's its absurd that its the ghost of their mothers dead lover.
For me this total weirdness is part of Bogey man's charms. It got watched to hell on VHS from the legendary vipco, the Anchor bay DVD remains on my shelf thanks to the presence of DEVONSVILLE TERROR on the B side but is also well watched. I'm guessing 88 films Blu will be the same!


Night train murders.

Two girls take a night train to terror at the hands of a pair of junkies and a sadean middle class housewife who is using them for kicks. Not as good as last house mainly because its a technically more proficient film and lacks the DIY documentary level nastiness of Last house, its still a great film however and worth a watch. Rather than an allegory about the dehumanising effects on violence this seems to be a more politically class oriented affair with the real monsters as the upper middle class who either crassly attempt to categorise crime and violence as a result of not enough sports in schools or actively encourage it for their own kicks.
88 films looks great. Seems to be a little fuzz in the brighter scenes that may get some hot under the collar but it looks good to me and is certainly on parr with the Blue underground release.

I think there is a generational aspect because, as Mark Kermode recently argued, horror filmmakers now take their education from Halloween onwards rather than 10 years earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBDCFQ-Jfpk

As such, Carpenter is competing with people who are referencing his earlier work, making a clear dividing line between the two different types of films.

The Warriors (1979)

A gang from Coney Island are blamed for the murder of the charismatic Cyrus. The leader of New York's most powerful gang - The Gramercy Riffs. The nine Warriors have to get home on foot through dangerous rival gang territory as the Riffs put a price on their heads.

Fast paced, controversial and most importantly a cracking yet simple story, The Warriors is one of cult director Walter Hill's best films. This was only my second viewing of it as i didn't particularly rate it when i first watched it. However, recent chats on here with staunch lovers of the film (Nordy & MTDS) made me want to watch it again.

I'm pleased they did as i got a lot more out of it second time round. Appreciating the film's subtleties and observations on life, not to mention it's killer soundtrack and influential dialogue.

The film is well acted. Michael Beck as Warrior leader Swan has a charismatic presence that holds the film together and his altercations with Ajax, played by the prolific James Remar, add to the tensions within the group. The various gangs they come across on their journey are all memorable especially David Kelly, best known for Commando (1985) and his Rogues. This time Sully was indeed killed last.

Perhaps not a great piece of cinema, The Warriors is definitely a cult classic and thoroughly deserves that status.

Not a bad little film ;)

Great review Dem.:clap:

Anyone seen Fritz Lang's Spies (1928)?

Just got the Blu on Lovefilm.

As far as I can remember, it's brilliant and up there with the first two Dr. Mabuse in terms of his early, political thrillers.

That's good to hear. I love the first two Mabuse films but have yet to see Spione.

The epitome of 80's horror cheesiness and why i like the film so much. I never knew about the difficulties filming it, interesting.

Road to El dorado

Was flicking through netflix and came across this film with I had not heard of before, so was not expecting much but what I found was a enjoyable and funny tale that in some ways reminded me of the old Bob hope and Bing Crosby road movies. Nicely animated with some decent songs by elton John and likeable characters espically the two leads voiced by Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline who bring there characters to life. A pleasant surprise that I will watch again 8/10

Next up either Hollywood chainsaw hooker or slaughterhouse both which I have not seen before, leaning more towards chainsaw hookers

How much did you get that blu-ray for?

Well after watching THe Walking Dead last night I decided to watch Abc's of Death 2 having picked it up in HMV. It's certainly a lot snappier than the first installment but it's lacking something the first had, I can't put my finger on it though. Some of the segments are brilliant others are well, not that good. None are plain bad maybe just not as well realised as they could be and some of the directors I've never heard of. But for the price you can't really go wrong, it's 90 minutes of mostly creative fun.

The Psychic (1977)

Rivals Don't Torture A Duckling for my fav Fulci flick.

9/10 :clap:

What do you guys think of my list?

‎My Top Vintage Euro Horror, a list of films by Buboven • Letterboxd

interesting. What were your criteria?