I enjoyed My Soul To Take :lol:

aww sorry :lol: I did try to enjoy it honestly!:lol:

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"A woman looks to a cop for help against her abusive husband, who constantly rapes, beats, and belittles her and her son, but the husband catches wind of the cop's plan."

Nasty shocker from the "salad days of Cat III" featuring the ever reliable Anthony Wong.

The version I watched had subs (the HK CC dvd has none) which takes me back to my first viewing (vcd-rip on vhs!)...obviously there's some cuts,the most obvious ones being part of the attack on Julie Lee (probably pre-release) which probably would have made this even stronger to stomach...also the end credits feature more disturbing (deleted?) scenes that are not in the movie. It's a real mystery this one and I'd love some more info on it all. ;)

We are Still Here

The Fantastic Barbara Crampton and her Husband move into a house in a nice snowy US town,their son has recently died and they hope unusual encounters are his presence in their new home... not quite this film blends a nice mix of original & predictable and comes out with an enjoyable yarn which at times can get confusing. 7/10


Last Shift

Complete Borefest Dross. A rookie policewoman takes her first overnight shift at the cop shop and encounters all kinds of weird and nasty. The film tried to throw together a mix of stolen plot from "the eater" which featured in both Urban Gothic Season 2 in the Uk & In The Usa in the short lived "Fear Itself" series. Then tried to do a Val Kilmeresque character from the Traveller.

It does not know where it wants to go and fails miserably on all fronts. Even the evil presence couldn't decide whether he wanted to go out in his leatherface mask or his Trick R Treat Mask so threw a sad imitation of the 2 crossed together 2/10 :bored:


Premontition.


Poor show from the team involved in Dark Water & The Grudge. A bloke who has worse acting skills than the entire cast of Eldorado combined reads a "Newspaper of Terror" not the Daily mail though being asian ;) which tells him his daughter is dead and died at 8pm. As 8pm approaches you guessed it....

anyway after walkiing around the accident scene like he has piles and needs to relieve himself and throwing himself on the ground being winded by his wife tapping his back he crawls across the road on all fours doing an impression of a Gibbon in heat. After finally getting up off the ground the film moves forwards 3 years. Again he gets a premonition from the "newspaper of Terror" and blah blah... Obviously it's a right wing paper :pound:

This film trys to be a mix of Final Destination,Grand theft auto & Back to the future and screws up nearly every single aspect. 2/10 :headache:



Confessions

My Asian Double Bill improved vastly with this second film. This is quite possibly one of the best Japanese films I've ever seen. It is original,clever downright nasty,surreal,odd and with hints of black Humour.

We are even treated to an irrelevent scene where a teacher dances left to right with a tambourine while he and his pupils sing along to the 1979 Kc & The Sunshine Band Track "That's the way I Like It" O...k it was probably added as light relief from the brutal no holds barred premise of the rest of the film.

This film goes back and forth in time and is very clever as well as excellent it requires a great deal of concentration any interruption you'll lose the plot literally. 9/10 :turtle:


Pernicious

Odd film where 3 slappers visit Thailand and upset a statue that looks like a human shaped chocolate coin in foil. after walking backwards into it (yes that's right simply walking into it) Tapping on the wall with a hammer to raise zombies anyone? (Burial Ground) the upset foil wrapped wench overtakes all 3 of the women's bodies and forces them to exact brutal revenge on 3 halfwits that don't exactly paint us Brits as decent people if these 3 are our representatives. They then the next day get amnesia "what happened last night" blah blah... watchable but nothing to write home about 3/10 :critter:

Was going to watch Pernicious, but was more taken with Boof's white dress haha. Ahem.

Watched
Don't Open Till Xmas (1984, Edward Purdom)
Not as squalid as I had hoped, this still has a lot to recommend it, if only to see Alan Lake in the 80s haha. Would make a great double bill with Xtro, as it also had that blend of sheer and utter tedium and strangeness that Brit cinema had at this point.

Inspired by this, I rewatched Night After Night After Night (1969, Lewis J Force cough!) for the umpteenth tiime. Someone is going round bumping off tarts, and local lothario Donald Sumpter is suspect number one.....sleazy is an understatement with this one, note the charming sequence where DS knobs one bird, whilst being spied on by a schoolie (?) then rolls over and starts snogging her....I believe that from the films point of view that "she wants it" haha. Yewtree over here please :lol:

Devils Rejects

"aren't I ****en funny???!!"

Still his best film imho.

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN – The new one. I was slightly intrigued to find that the original had been remade, it being something of a mere footnote in genre history (I'm not a fan). This revamp gives it the meta- treatment to a weirdly wholehearted degree – it features drive-in snippets of its predecessor, is set in the same town and uses the folkloric embellishment of the film's 'true-crime' inspiration as its own springboard. Basically, a second series of killings happens in latter day Texarkana, and one of the town's new generation finds she's being stalked by a hooded murderer – looks like she's got herself a mystery to solve etc etc. The plot might be plain to the point of being down-home, but the conveying is a bit odd, with slightly abstruse camera angles being tossed out into passages of gaudy lighting during frequent bursts of semi-stylisation. There's a handful of freaky scenes, too. I mean, death by modified trombone - well, if it hadn't already happened in the first one, someone'd have some explaining to do. The ending flopped a bit, but that's the only real bad I can think of to say about this interesting flick, which pitches itself somewhere between dreamy meander and slightly brutal slasher / mystery.

CONTRACTED – A woman takes a break from her other half and shags a mystery guy at some party. Disappointingly for her, she develops a severe skin condition and begins to worry that her period is maybe just a bit too full-on. Various irritants in her life come round, hang out, hold pointless conversations then go before mystery guy turns out to be wanted for something really bad (possibly necrophilia in a government lab) and it all goes Horror in the last twenty minutes. 'Contracted', the newish one from the guy who brought us 'Maddison County', has shades of 'Thanatomorphose' about it, but is probably closer in concept to Andrew Parkinson's sleeper classic 'I, Zombie'. In truth, it's less grim than the former film and way less bleakly inspiring than the latter. Like Maddison County, its strength lies in build up and incidentals – by which I mean aspects at a tangent to the horror / fantasy, in this case a world of crap friends, bad relationships, wandering around, rubbish jobs etc etc. 'Contracted' has its feet too firmly planted in 'essentially inspired by Cronenberg's 'The Fly'' territory to really dally with the kind of 'post-Horror' approach I've seen creeping in over the last few years or so, but there is enough of that going on here to make the final reel seem a bit clumsy and artlessly done in contrast to what comes before it. Again, that's similar to how 'Maddison County' panned out as a film, and I guess 'Contracted' will possibly disappoint some fans in the same fashion – I suppose I mean people who would want the more 'in yer face' elements of the last few minutes to predominate. On the whole, it's a strong film in many ways – well acted, well paced, interesting and not so obvious in execution if not in concept – although I'm kind of waiting for a definitive statement from the obviously talented director (or, I think he is, anyway).

CONTAMINATION – Oh, the memories. Back when I was a kid and 'Contamination' was a 'video nasty', the only version which came with a barcode always seemed to hang around on dodgy market stalls in Northern towns. I'd walk past what would be my own copy for weeks on end. Looming through the chip fat fumes, case battered and sticky, it looked like a relic from a foetid realm beyond my grasp. Not some warehouse. Not some video depot. A different PLACE. And how it beckoned, tilting through the fog, out of reach, somehow untouchable. Too horrible to contemplate, let alone take home. I knew that it couldn't possibly live up to the slimy and wretched images that coursed through my mind when I gazed upon the blurb on the back. But that somehow didn't matter. And, on the day I finally managed to rally enough courage to speak to the man with the glass eye and get it home under a needlessly furtive handshake, I found out that, yes, it was cut. And that the lingering stench of curdled chip fat from the market had followed me into my house and wouldn't leave. But something about that cover, about the prone, ripped up form of the guy in the hazmat suit, still seemed to promise the unspeakably nasty. The washed out, grainy picture and muffled dubbing still hinted at barely excised horrors lurking just beyond the oxide of the tape (or those censor's snippers). In short, 'Contamination', or the VHS copy I coveted so feverishly, was an emblem, a latter day talisman invoking a different realm, the taboo, the strangely sacred.
Now it's in HMV (or, in my case, the latest Arrow sale), I don't quite feel the same way about it. Hmmm. Things have moved on, in many ways.
At least we can see it now AS a film, rather than as video toilet paper. As everyone knows, it's Luigi Cozzi's 'Alien' rip-off featuring some slimy eggs which make people explode for no reason, a rubber monster with a headlight for an eye, lots of wandering about in South America, and Ian McCullough as a very bitter ex-astronaut. It's not very good. Or maybe it is. I couldn't tell you, because sometimes for me watching films like this is what listening to The Beatles is for some people ie. they stop taking it in, stop processing and feeling it, 'cos it's just THERE. I'm not a Beatles fan, by the way. I'm more into The Velvets. Actually, I'm more into 'Contamination', for that matter. And I've noticed, one thing that a lot of 'these kind of films' (by which I mean mostly Euro exploitation from the seventies / eighties) have in common is that they always have a ratio of 'boredom to awesome to ridiculous' qualities which varies from case to case but is rarely ever quite 'bang on'. Here, there is boredom (need I elaborate?), there is, granted, some awesomeness (the music, bodies exploding in creepy slow motion etc) and there is certainly some ridiculousness (the rest of it). The ratio is a little too weighted in favour of boredom for my liking these days, but it is still respectable. A ripe film. I still like it. What more can I say, really? By the way, this isn't a whinge along the lines of “everything's rubbish now it's not on a VHS tape that's been puked on”, because I'm full of admiration for the likes of Arrow for continuing to put this kind of thing out (and 'Nekromantik', too! Wouldn't have bet on that one, even a couple of years ago). Just weird how things change. S'all.

Saw The Naked Gun last night, for the first time in far too long. An absolute classic, packed to the brim with brilliant one-liners, sight gags and fabulously bonkers non-sequiturs, anchored by Nielsen's brilliant deadpan lead performance. One of the best comedies ever made, and pretty much the definition of a perfect film. They really don't make them like this anymore! :)

Pink Flamingos

Must be getting jaded...I found the weirdest and most unsettling thing about this the grandmother that spends her days in a cot enthusing about eggs, getting anxious about there not being anymore eggs, messily eating eggs and marrying the oddball that supplies her eggs.

Cronos

Guillermo Del Toro's debut sets the tone for a lot of his subsequent films, firstly there is the fascination with Vampires. Not the teen girls scared of mortality, wants to bed a good looking but dangerous guy fascination. More, the same fascination an entomologist would have for a bug. We get the whole life cycle and biological process of vampirism from infection on as an elderly antiques dealer is accidentally stung by an Alchemists Cronos device and becomes infected, ultimately becoming a 'pet' for his seemingly mute granddaughter. Del Toro's approach to vampires is refreshingly different to a lot of modern cinema's, while he seems intrigued and attracted to the idea of the vampire he seems at the same time sceptical. When the Alchemist who created the device is found dying in a collapsed building his final words in Latin translate (and I may be paraphrasing here) 'everything at the right time'. The film is littered with allusions to time from the name Cronos, who was the god of time in the Greek pantheon, to images of clocks and calendars throughout. The director feels that its important to accept that we are going to die and embrace it in order to live to the fullest. The films vampire groupie, the sickly industrialist whose nephew, played by Del Toro regular Ron Pearlman, is providing the muscle to obtain the device lives and isolated and barren existence in an upstairs room of his factory, which itself seems barren of staff aside from his nephew who seems to be waiting for him to die so he can inherit his fortune. Therefore the Vampire in a Del Toro film is also something repellent, most directors and writers spend a lot of time re-writing Vmpire Myth, a lot of which Bram Stoker nicked from Irish Faerie lore, in order to make the idea of becoming a vampire more appealing. Through Cronos, and subsequently Blade 2 and The strain, the vampire is an other, radically different and barely human in the conventional sense. If anything, the prospect of becoming a vampire in a Del Toro film is far less appealing.
Various other ideas resurface in Del Toros work, the films structure, that of a fairy tail would be repeated to a certain extent in Pan's labyrinth and Devils Backbone, both of which also feature a taste for bizarre often surreal creature imagery. In fact even his more 'commercial' Hollywood films manages to fit these ideas in, from the workspace of Hannibal chau in Pacific rim which focuses on the Kaiju Biology, the strange otherworldly menace of the roaches in Mimic, which also features a similar grand parent - grand child relationship along with a strange fascination with creature biology. Blade 2 takes the hip clubbing vampires from the first and mutates them into abominations not dissimilar to the one in cronos and The strain takes that design one step further. The Hellboy films, while based on an existing graphic novel show a fascination with monsters, making them the heroes and similar visual styles for set and creatures are evident, its sequel Hellboy 2 is more like a Del Toro picture with its focus on fairy tale story structure and creatures.
As for the film itself, it holds up beautifully and really manages to feel as fresh as it did back in the early 90's. The effects hold up wonderfully and while some of the more modern audiences may find its pace a little slow in places its still a fantasitc vampire movie.

Dead of Night

An early British anthology film from Ealing studios, Dead of Night tells the story of an Architect who heads to an English country house, only to experience a sense of Deja Vu along with a very real sense of dread. The other guests tell a variety of ghost stories, from the hilariously funny to the genuinely creepy. A psychologist attempts to explain the stories away but as the evening progresses it becomes more apparent that the premonition is coming true.
Dead of night has aged fairly well, its perhaps not going to have the same affect on an audience that it would of had on release but its still a terrific horror film that influence Amicus to release a string of anthology films through the 60's and 70's. The Blu-ray release looks magnificent.

The Killing + Killers kiss

Decided to start watching Kubricks films now I have the box-set. Starting with these two from Arrow.

The Killing is a surprisingly brutal and effective heist movie about the robbing of a race track. while the film was written by Kubrick, the script has a lot of work from Jim Thompson, one of Americas best crime novelists and as a result has some terrific dialogue and some superb depictions of human evil and greed. Kubrick orchestrates things with a meticulous eye for detail and the film plays with time and structure in some very interesting ways as the film switches between different characters viewpoints.

Kubrick Followed this with another Noir piece, this time about a down on his luck boxer who falls for a dame with a jealous, and very dangerous boyfriend. This one reeks of the seedy underbelly of the city, malt liquor and cigarettes as everything unfolds. Like with the Killing Kubrick delivers some startling B&W photography and some very well executed scenes including some brilliantly choreographed boxing that must have been some influence on Scorsese for Raging Bull.

Shameless:
#19 Baba Yaga (1973) Second time seeing this and like the first time my mind wandered. Its a slow turgid affair.

#20 Footprints (1975) Another second time viewing. Slow but nicely shot and with a haunting theme. I still think Shameless did the dirty by adding '20 Shameless trailers' in order to raise the certificate from 12 to 18 ;)

Giving Shameless Sundays a rest for a while in order to concentrate on my Historical Cinema project....Want to get the 60's done by the end of the year.

Just watched Arrow's blu of Bound (1996) last night. Joins Spider Baby and King of New York as exceptional Arrow Video blind buys, whose films I may never have heard of, or not a long while at least, unless Arrow released it. To me this is why Arrow and similar companies are so great, particurlarly for us cinephiles, as they keep underseen/underrated cult films which will never likely get a digital release alive for rediscovery.

Brilliant cinematography, writing, characters, performances, editing and a killer score/soundtrack all blend into an amazing cinematic experience. One of the finest 90's films in my book, a cult gem. Much better than Pulp Fiction, in book, aswell :tongue1:

Very interesting and engaging interviews for the various extras swell. All in all a top package from Arrow and now one of my most cherished.

Film - 9/10

Extras - 10/10

:clap:

Contracted Phase II


Frankie's excellent review in the last 48 hrs tells you all you need to know about the original and I agree fully with his fantastic synopsis..Then comes this sequel. I will be honest I wasn't a huge fan of the original so wasn't expecting much with the follow up.

I am pleased to say I was proved wrong the sequel is much better than the original in that not only does it put it's foot on the accelerator on both pacing and gore,but it explains more about the origin of the disease,what the disease is and why the man from the original is doing it. This is a full on Body Horror which pulls no punches like the original.

After the opening of an autopsy on the girl from the original The Guy (Riley) from the original is followed in this sequel as he now goes from the stages of this disease and passes it on like wildfire. In this sequel the virus mutates so that it isn't passed on by just sex but even a (non sexual) kiss and becomes an epidemic. It appears basically the virus Decomposes you whilst still alive until eventually you do die. The film also has 2 scenes which are an obvious appreciative Nod to a scene in Peter Jackson's fantastic Braindead/Dead Alive & another which is a cheeky wink at a scene from 1988's Slugs. Do not eat an hour either side of this film 8/10


Cooties

The infections continue but in a much more lighthearted way in this Horror comedy about a horde of ankle biters who's brains decompose turning them into mindless raging zombies who tear adults apart after eating some dodgy chicken nuggets. It is great fun with a few Un-Pc risky jokes about some controversial subjects like 9/11,Paedophiles & Coloured people... although this is fun and I think it deserves a watch, It is not a film I personally would watch more than the once. 6/10


Lessons of Evil

A Teacher isn't the wonderful person his pupils think he is,he shags his students,Blackmails his colleagues, he also has a misfortunate habit of being a psychotic mass murderer too. Enjoyable J-Horror with a brutal full on Massacre filling up the entire last half hour or so. The second Jap film I've watched this week with a character called wherther (that's a wherther original) :lol: 7/10


Door Into Silence

John Savage drives around in circles for the entire duration of the film,occasionally speaking to people like construction workers & undertakers trying to establish who they all are and who's corpse is in the back of the hearse. I enjoyed this years ago but on revisit I found it rather boring. It's more or less a drive around Motorways & country roads without costing you any petrol money! 4/10

Weekend viewing!

Night of the Creeps

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My first time viewing this, but a film i've known the name of for a long LONG time. I wasn't aware that it was Dekker's film, and that was something which pushed me towards watching it as Monster Squad is one of my favourite 80's comedy horrors. In this one the protagonists are a little older pushing them into Freshmen College and Frat Houses, making it feel a bit more like a John Hughes movie but one with zombies and mind control slug monsters :lol:
Cool film which I enjoyed, the BD is the directors cut, I'm not sure what is different from the theatrical cut, perhaps it's just the ending which is supplied as an extra. Interestingly, I think that the theatrical ending works better than the DC ending, but this is just my opinion.

Hound of the Baskervilles (1959 - Hammer Version)

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Enjoyable Sherlock Holmes romp. I didn't think I'd seen this version, but every now and then it felt very familiar. Maybe it was just the Hammer soundstage sets, maybe it was the cast, I don't know. I'm still not entirely sure if yesterday was the first time I've seen the film :rolleyes:
It was all good fun and Lee in particular was good as Sir Henry Baskerville but I don't know if it's my favourite version of the story I've seen, I think that is still the Basil Rathbone one!

Mission To Lars

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Jeez, I was only 5 mins into this touching documentary about a guy, Tom, with Fragile X syndrome and I was weeping. Basically the premise is that he is obsessed with Metallica and Lars Ulrich in particular. His mantra has been "Wanna meet Lars" for as long as his brother and sister can remember and in order to rekindle the relationship that they used to have with their brother they make it their mission to take him to America and follow the end of the Metallica world tour and see if they can't get a meeting with Lars. The jaded part of me has to wonder whether they are doing this for their brother or to make themselves feel like they are part of his life and to atone for letting him down in the past. That aside, it's a rollercoaster of emotion from start to finish especially since that most difficult thing the family faces in setting up a meeting with Lars is getting Tom to actually go to it!

All solid reviews Mr T, I too have an odd fascination for Cozzi's film....

Watched We Are Monster (2014, Antony Petrou).
More British "horror", well if like me you class Nil By Mouth a horror film :nod: that is. Based on a true story, that i'm nae going to mention haha, this was quite gripping until remembered the actual story, then a feeling of dread started to creep in. Recommended.

Down Terrace (2010, Ben Wheatley)
Watched this on BBC2 last night, and all I can say is sold. Whilst not as accomplished as his later works, this contains many seeds that were to flower more convincingly.

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Excellent always loved this film, a great mix film noir and Lovecraft. Crying out for a DVD or blu Ray release. 8.5/0

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Average 5.5/10

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Fantastic, well acted tense and funny. 9.5/10

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7/10

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Well acted but some how lacking. story loosely based on people and events of the Roswell crash. 6/10

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Creepy nature runs amok tale with cockroaches as the creature this time. Let down by an slightly boring and unlikable lead and some poor effects. But on the whole enjoyable and worth more than one watch. 7/10

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Excellent. Thanks to likeable characters, some great kills and creepy back woods killers. Will be interesting to see how good the rest of the movies are in the series 8/10

Currently going through most of Kubrick's filmography (reviews to follow) however curry night at my mates we watched

White god

After her father abandons her dog Hagen, a young Hungarian girl begins looking for him through the city before ultimately giving up. Hagen meanwhile begins his own dark adventure through the cities underbelly experiencing the worst of human cruelty towards animals including confrontations with brutal dog wardens and some incredibly nasty (and thankfully fake) dog fighting. Brutalised and traumatised Hagen is transformed into angry ball of Furry rage and at the dog pound, as he is due for extermination he leads his fellow mutts in a revolution against the humans.

While the film is a somewhat 'artier' affair than titles like Day of the Animals, The pack or Dogs, there is still a streak of exploitation running through the film. It is essentially another nature Amok film, with broader subtexts throughout the film beyond man's inhumanity to his four legged friend. The fixation on Hagen's mixed breed suggests some level of parable about racism within Hungarian society. The title itself 'white god' suggests some nod towards this idea as it alludes to a dubious theory of ancient races being visited by Caucasian 'gods' that were actually visitors from Europe. The Spanish conquistadores were worshipped as gods on first contact by the Aztecs and a lot of fringe theorists expanded that. In white god then, the aggression and destruction wrought by the dogs in the final act is violence taught by their masters, their 'gods'. Given the recent scenes in Hungary between refugees and the state this reading may hold some weight (or I may be talking out my arse)

The film is striking to look at, and really should be seen in HD. Sadly the American blu-ray is region locked and we only get a DVD here in the UK. I would still urge people to at least check the film out however as its a really fine piece of cinema with a great score and some amazing visuals including scenes with dogs that must have been a pain to shoot.

Gambling City - the blurb on the back of the Noshame DVD makes this sound slightly light and whimsical but, whilst there are some humorous elements to this, I found it to be more aligned with the grittier crime thrillers of the time and all the better for it! This follows the exploits of Luca, a card shark operating in the Milanese underworld who finds himself mixed up with the local 'Mr Big' and embarks on an affair with 'Mr Big junior's' girlfriend and predictably runs into trouble. The plot is fairly generic but quite compelling with well drawn characters and an excellent central performance from Luca Merda, whose character could have been smug and irritating but is played with a commendable amount of light and shade. There are also some great action sequences, which are superbly directed by Sergio Martino and are surprisingly violent in parts and a memorably bleak ending. Well recommended if you can get hold of the Noshame DVD for a half decent price.

Despite the thread-bare script and emotionally void 'acting' there was something slightly intoxicating about the highly unimaginatively titled 'The Jar'.

The plot is a simple one: Man picks up someone after an accident and takes him back to his apartment to get cleaned up; man disappears; giant jar dwelling demon remains; demon gradually starts possessing man; the end (pretty much).

However, despite the glaringly obvious short-comings, the possession based events which run throughout The Jar's fairly short running time is where the film really came into its own for me. These events are played out as dream-like sequences involving some nice use of camera effects, lighting and sound almost imbibing an Argento-ish quality at times - although this is where the Argento comparison ends (unless we're talking Dracula 3D or Giallo Argento of course...). Although I am being slightly unfair, as I'd rather re-watch The Jar over the aforementioned Argento pairing any day.

Originally posted here: https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/gen...tml#post462645

THE VISITOR
There isn't much point in trying to give a brief synopsis of the plot, as there clearly isn't one!
As is revealed in the accompanying interviews, it seems to consist of about five different stories, none connected with each other and individually not making any sense. Having said that, you really owe it to yourself to see this one via Arrow's blu ray, as it is totally bonkers in a can' t stop watching it to see where the hell it goes next kind of way.

SPASMO
Ivan Rassimov stars as a man who is convinced he has stabbed an intruder to death, only for the body to disappear. And what are all the other characters plotting? Umberto Lenzi's giallo is one of the less exploitative titles in the genre, but its plot twists make it an entertaining watch. It also stars the sexy Suzy Kendall and has a cracking score from Ennio Morricone.
Here's hoping 88 Films put out more gialli in their Italian Collection, as this blu ray looks fantastic.

I've just watched a preview version of The Life, Legacy and Legend of Don Borchers (the documentary which will be on the 88 Films' Children of the Corn set). It's a comprehensive look at the career (so far) of someone about whom I knew very little with some illuminating and occasionally very funny stories about films he had a hand in making in his various roles, whether it's as an accountant, producer or director. The contributions from people he worked with are very honest, so punches aren't pulled just because it's a documentary about him – Corey Feldman is very honest about Meatballs 4, for example.

Jim Kunz has done a really good job with directing and conducting the interviews (they were organised by by Calum Waddell, who conceived, developed and co-produced the documentary), and Naomi Holwill did her usual fantastic job with editing about 15 hours of footage down to make an 84 minute documentary. It's going to be a terrific addition to the set (even though the Children of the Corn part is only one segment) of a thorough look at a fantastic character and hugely influential producer.

Actually, if it was a feature length documentary about Don Borchers and Children of the Corn, it wouldn't be half as interesting or entertaining – the highlight for me was about another film altogether!

Nymphomaniac (directors Cut). Been holding off on this until I could see the whole enchilada. One thing up front - Von Trier does not give 2 shits about creating a classic piece of filmmaking, being lauded in critical textbooks or catering to profitable demographics - his philosophy is simple - if it's a cool scene/image/line/idea it's in. This gang ho style has obvious problems - wild fluctuations in tone, cringey moments that don't work outside LVTs head, excessive length (!) BUT , man, it's addictive - this film flies by - elegiac nostalgia, leads to bawdy smut, intellectual trivia and dissertations on Bach gives way to the most horrific scene I've witnessed in a lifetime of watching horrific scenes. Unforgettable cameos by Uma Thurman and Jamie Bell transfix you, blaring Rammstein exhilirates you, inexplicable plot contrivances drive you bloody crazy. Bottom line? I wish there were more Lars Von Triers and to hell with perfection and posterity.

Everest - fresh in my mind - saw it in the IMAX last night - recommend you do to, stunning does not do it justice. Screenplay could do with some work but when you're trapped in a 100 mph snowstorm , 25,000 ft in the air with no possible escape you won't be worrying too much about the character's inter relationships. Just an incredible achievment all round although, I wonder if, like LOTR and Avatar it'll end up being a cinema only experience for me.

My latest addiction - Eric Rohmer. If you had told me even a year ago I would be chain watching films about the sexual and philosophical strivings of a load of self obsessed 80s (1980s!) French folk I would have tittered and shook my aged noggin. You know what though? They're brilliant - totally engrossing. The dated clothes and electro music that surface paradoxically reveal how universal these films actually are - the urge for personal nirvana is, after all, timeless. Watched so far - The Aviators Wife, A Good Marraige, Pauline at the Beach and Full Moon in Paris. Arrow box set available for about 12 quid at Fopp - for 8 movies its a steal.

Loved Sense8 on Netflix - takes its own damn time but the pay offs are great. Tom Twyker and The Wachowskis directing Van Damme homages was always going to be fun and this is but it's also emotionally gruelling and really sad. If you're swithering - give it a go.

Ghosthouse (1988)

Young people move into a creepy house that's seemingly haunted by a young girl with a large clown doll who then proceed to terrorize and murder the new occupants.

Creepy clown dolls don't really cut it for me in the scares stake so director Umberto Lenzi had his work cut out to make this interesting especially as the bulk of the plot is typical ghost story standards.

Lenzi does actually produce something quite interesting and occasionally memorable. The soundtrack has a striking motif to it that felt cheesy at first, however the more times you hear it the more insanely chilling it becomes. Lenzi also imbues the film with great sequences of splattery gore beginning with the opening prologue that kept me interested throughout, as did the quietly creepy atmosphere.

Ghosthouse isn't perfect by any means. The dialogue or at least the dubbing is poor and the whole radio signals plot device that draws the people to the house isn't exactly thrilling, lead actress Lara Wendel grates at times too, but on the whole Ghosthouse is an enjoyable diversion that has a decent amount of re-watch value.

From Beyond the Grave.1974.Kevin Connor.
 

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From Beyond the Grave.1974.Kevin Connor.
"Offers You Cannot Resist".
The anthology film,we all love em and we all have are fave.But as pointed at by the creators of The League of Gentlemen tv shows,even the most innocuous of crimes and misdemeanour's were punished by some sort of painful death.Step on a crack in the pavement,short change your local newsagent or forget to say hello to your neighbour's pet cat and then you'll probably accidentally fall into a meat mincer while said hard done by victims laugh manically at your graveside.
See Terry Thomas in The Vault of Horror story The Neat Job,Bludgeon to death and sawn up just because he was abit tidy.
Everybody in From Beyond falls foul of Peter Cushing's antique shop owner,mind you everyone who enters the shop seems to be a shoplifter or dishonest in some way,except for the splendid Ian Ogilvy who turns out to be the only honest bloke left.
In The Gatecrasher David Warner buys an evil mirror for a bargain and turns into a killer.An Act of Kindness see's Ian Bannen steal a medal to impress and befriend Donald Pleasance and his real life daughter.
The Elemental has Ian Carmichael gets his very own evil spirit for swapping a price tag on a snuff box.While in The Door, Ian Ogilvy buys a door into another time in history.
The whole thing is then wrapped up by a robber who has been hanging around the shop waiting for his chance to rob Cushing,only to end up dead of course.Story wise there's very little we haven't seen before,the David Warner one is very reminiscent of the story The Haunted Mirror from the Ealing film Dead of NIght,and the others are all variations of familiar tales, written by Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes the creator of the Monster Club his stories do lack originality im afraid.
That said this Amicus production is well filmed and looks great and is vigorously directed by Mr Motel Hell himself Kevin Connor.And like all Amicus films it has plenty of familiar faces from past and present British film and Television.Not my fave of the Amicus bunch but certainly a fun film with some great performances.

I enjoyed that review Inspector.

Of course Ogilvy's honest. He's a saintly type you know.

The Butterfly Room (2012)

The only good thing i can say about The Butterfly Room is that it has a cast made up of classic genre actresses - Barbara Steele, Heather Langenkamp, Camille Keaton, PJ Soles and Adrienne King.

I found the film really disappointing and rather dull for the most part. It's also definitely not a horror film more a psychological thriller without any thrills. The only part in any way memorable was the finale and the reason Steele let no one other than herself see her butterfly room. It was nicely acted but i never found Steele totally convincing.

Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem released the same year, has more success mixing classic genre actresses with a decent horror storyline.

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Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would, will never be a classic but it's a fun, gory story of a priest (Ben cross) after surviving being trowing out of a 14 story is given his own church. We soon find out it has a dark past as two priest had been killed ritualistic manner. 7.5/10

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Yawn had some good ideas about good vs evil and the afterlife, but all let down by a boring script, some poor acting and some damn awful special effects. 4.5/10

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Enjoyable with some good kills but isn't enjoy this as much as the first, mainly down to an unlikable cast. 6/10

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When it started was expecting a retelling of teen wolf, with American football instead of basketball. But it soon takes a darker tone, enjoyable for what it is, with an likeable cast and characters. 7.5/10

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Not seen this since i was a wee nipper. Absolutely excellent. Basic story is that of a A.I that questions the orders of its creator. So it takes over the house of the creators ex wife with the intention of producing a child with her soon a battle of wits start between the wife ( Julie Christie ) and proteus 4. Both Christie and Robert Vaughan as proteus give fantastic performances, especially Vaughan who's character is menacing and creepy and yet you also feel sympathy for his plight and what he is trying to accomplish. 9.5/10

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Fantastic film, that's tense, claustrophobic and well acted. This is the third film with lead actor Nick Damici that I have really enjoyed the other two being stakeland and late phases. The only downside is the godawful UK artwork and title, as the film has nothing whatsoever to do with zombies, but is people that have mutated into rat/man hybrids after being bitten by mutated rats. 9/10

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So bad it's absolutely brilliant. Completely OTT and bonkers tale of vampires in modern day LA. Highlight for me had to be the completely bonkers and OTT performance from Rod Steiger as Van helsing who hires a group of gang bangers in his quest to rid the world of vampires, who also turns out to be a nazi war criminal. Very tongue in cheek with nearly all the cast given OTT performances. 8/10

That's not the only downside, the picture quality on the UK dvd is incredibly bad. Great film though.
Been meaning to order the US release which had the proper title and so I'm told a decent transfer.

From 1967 part 1:

The Way West - Kirk Douglas leads a wagon train west to Oregon during the pioneer days in this somewhat unengaging western. It’s more a series of extended vignettes. Also stars Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark and Sally Field in her big screen debut.
The Night of the Generals - One of the last pictures to be censored before the production code was abolished. The code was replaced by the MPAA voluntary rating system. This is a murder mystery set during WWII and although it becomes clear who the murderer is quite early in the movie it doesn’t spoil the rest of the picture.
Magical Mystery Tour - This is actually a TV movie. Similar in style to the Beatles two earlier outings this is another anarchic collection of scenes interspersed with some classic Beatle tunes....Which tbh is the only reason to see it.
King Kong Escapes - Kong goes up against Robo-Kong who is being controlled by the fiendish Dr. Who! Yep you read that right, although it isn't the real Timelord. More Toho monster mashups.
The Dirty Dozen - An all-star cast and a classic war time actioner that spawned an 80's franchise.
Easy Come Easy Go - Standard Presley vehicle the first of three he did that year....I'm not doing the other two!
To Sir With Love - The First of three pictures starring Sidney Poitier that year. Poitier plays a black American teacher in a north London school and has to contend with both racism and teenage rebellion. The picture isn't perfect but I actually enjoyed this.
In The Heat of the Night - From North London to Sparta Mississippi. Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs in what is arguably his most iconic role. Once again he has to face racism and prejudice whilst investigating the murder of a local business man. The Picture went on to win five Academy awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Rod Steiger. Steigar also won a BAFTA for the role. Poitier would return to the role of Tibbs three years later in 'They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - Poitiers last picture this year and also Spencer Tracy's last film. You would think a film that dealt with both racism and interracial marriage would be full of histrionics but the tone of the movie couldn't be further from that. It has a comedy element to it, just watch Poitiers reaction when the black housemaid practically throws his cup and saucer across the table at him. Spencer Tracy, ill at the time of filming, died just short of three weeks after the film was released. He was given an Oscar nomination posthumously for Best Actor but lost out to Rod Steigar for the film above.
Son of Godzilla - When 'Godzilla' was released in 1954 the tone of the picture was of a monster wreaking havoc, death and destruction, but over the years this tone has become more comical and aimed at a younger audience. Godzilla is now almost the hero fighting other monsters who threaten to destroy various cities. In this one he tries to protect his newly hatched son from three gigantic praying mantises as well as a giant arachnid. All in all somewhat silly really....And the throwing rocks back and forth that seems to be the staple comedic moments in most of this pictures is getting old fast!
Casino Royale - James Bond returns....sort of! A 007 spoof where every spy is James Bond 007. Just what the hell was I thinking by adding this to my cinematic history list I don't know, bloody awful! It would be another 39 years before Bonds first literary debut would be filmed again for the big screen...and for the better!
Billion Dollar Brain - Harry Palmers third and final big screen adventure is very 'Bondian' in nature. The Ipcress File was espionage that wasn't glamorous, quirky camera angles and no gadgets! Now we get an opening credit sequence that you could replace Palmer for Bond,(deliberate spoof?) a villain with piles of money who wants to cause a war, a supercomputer and a leggy blonde. This is in no way as good as the first movie although it does pass the time.
You Only Live Twice - Connery's penultimate Bond, (if you don't count 'Never Say Never Again), and the first time we get to see Blofeld's face. Spectre makes an appearance in this the fifth Bond picture.
Tarzan and the Great River - Mike Henry's second outing as Tarzan saw him being bitten by the chimp causing him to receive twenty stitches as well as a serious infection and the chimp was destroyed as a result. By this time Sy Weintraub already had his Tarzan TV series in production with Ron Ely as the jungle lord. Henry, (who still had one more outing in 'Tarzan and the Jungle Boy' (1968), was meant to star in the series but pulled out due to the gruelling shoot that this and 'Jungle Boy' had.

Venom (2005)

A tale of voodoo and the undead in the Louisiana swamps.

Produced and directed by the makers of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Venom is a slickly made, atmospheric, modern slasher film which utilizes the swamp locations well.

As with the aforementioned IKWYDLS, Venom isn't particularly gory for a slasher but the viewers interest is maintained by good characterization and an interesting story line which zips along at a steady pace. The voodoo adds something extra to the typical slasher plots and is used far more effectively than say Adam Green's Hatchet.

Whilst i'd never claim Venom is anything other than decent, i did enjoy it and will definitely revisit it at some time.

Watched the first episode of Cosmos A Spacetime Odyssey last night.........wow just wow, superb.:woot:

Cruel Story of Youth (1960)

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So first off, I've never seen an Oshima film before, I was intrigued by the front cover of the disc box and the fact that it was on the MoC label gave it some seal of approval. This is one great film, I'm kinda obsessed by Japanese society so anything that's a study of that is right up my street. Funny though that this is the second film within a week I've watched that is set during the 1960 student demonstrations. The difference being that this is filmed at the time of them rather than being a period film. I'm not going to go into a synopsis or the themes of themes of this movie, but if you have an interest in Japan you'll enjoy this slice of 1960.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)

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Studio Ghibli is a powerhouse of animation to rival only Disney. Their films might not be as many as Disney but they are all revered by fans and critics alike. This 2hr long documentary films follows Miyazaki and Takahata as they make what is reported to be their final films, The Wind Rises and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya. It's an intriguing fly on the wall where nothing really happens but you remain entertained for the duration!

Natural Born Killers (Directors Cut) (1994)

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Ah Natural Born Killers, there isn't much to say, the film which shocked the entire world in 1994. I saw this at the Odeon one afternoon when I didn't have lessons at college, I'm not exaggerating when I say almost all of the audience walked out of the screening before it even got to the real violence of the riot scene. I though, loved it and was keen to go on my American family holiday the following summer so I could buy the VHS unrated. Flash forward 20 years and at least 15 since I've seen the film. It's lost all of it's shock power - TV is worse these days! However it's still a brilliant send up of media frenzy, I thoroughly enjoyed myself for 2hrs on a Sunday afternoon!

Alice (Neco z Alenky) (1988)

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This is the best Alice in Wonderland I have ever seen, bold statement I guess but in my mind accurate. In fact the best film I've seen in a LONG time. I pre-ordered this BFI bluray and have had it on my watch pile since, just waiting for the right time. Had I'd known it was so good I would have watched it 3 years ago hah... It's a surreal experience but so is the book it's based on. I was surprised how scary and creepy it was, I expected it to be before watching it, but the first 30 mins or so are funny and Alice is so naughty that the change in tone kind of crept up on me until it was full Lynchian terror for a few minutes culminating in the scene on the screenshot above. If you've not seen this version of Alice in Wonderland, give it a try you might be surprised, I was!

Paths of glory

Kirk Douglas plays Col. Dax, an idealist criminal lawyer caught in the power games and corruption of high command and the bloody trench warfare of world war 1. The film goes from the poorly thought through and possibly political decision to attack a German position named the anthill. As this fails Gen. Paul Mireau orders artillery fire on his own men. In order to save face he orders the arrest and trial of three men for cowardice which ultimately ends in the men's execution. Based on a classic novel, Paths of Glory is a brutal dissection of the men who lead war. From the pompous general marching the trenches and engaging in casual small talk with a man clearly suffering from shell shock ( a condition many men were executed for in real life) to the politicking and one-upmanship that ultimately leads to the execution of three innocent men, it's clear that the war is being waged by men more concerned by their own positions and careers than by the welfare of their own troops.
Douglas as Dax plays the one sane, moral voice and is ultimately beaten by men more ruthless and politically savvy than he is. The general bleak view of the upper echelons led to the film being banned in France for 20 years.
Apparently the book that the film is based on is even more bleak and pessimistic, Dax is more a peripheral character elevated to more prominence to give the audience somebody to root for, several plot threads are also resolved in order to give the audience some sense of justice being served. These changes were made by Kubrick himself who at this point needed a hit and saw the film as more commercially appealing with these changes.
Its a testament to Kubrick's skill that the film can still be regarded as a masterpiece, the film is technically beyond its 1959 date, with impressive tracking shots of the trenches, excellent production design and lots of impressive editing and well composed shots. The film itself is still affecting today and still packs a potent punch that can stir up righteous anger in its audience. The Criterion blu-ray looks stunning and is a genuine revalation.

Lolita

James Mason plays stuffy academic Humbert Humbert who heads to America for work. He takes lodgings with Charlotte Haze played by Shelly winters, Haze is a widower who seems interested in Humbert as a prospective husband and is played to perfection by winters with an almost pathetic sense of desperation and pretensions to sophistication and culture that actually manages to make her sympathetic and ultimately tragic. Humbert is not planning to take the room until he sees his landlady's 14 year old daughter Lolita and before you can say 'nonce' he's smitten. Humbert ingratiates himself into the house and ultimately marries Charlotte in order to gain access to Lolita. Things seem to be going smoothly, and when his new bride discovers his dirty little secret and runs out the house, to be hit by a car and killed, it seems that Humbert has Lolita all to himself. Unfortunately for Humbert Lolita is still a teenager and wants to do teenage things like school and boys so he takes her on the run, the bigger threat however is Clare Quilty who also has designs on Lolita and is intent on stealing her away.
Given its subject matter its easy to imagine the film being uncomfortable viewing, and to a certain extent it is. Humbert, played perfectly by James Mason is a destructive man child who destroys lives through his passion and comes across at points more juvenile than Lolita. Sellers as Clare Quilty is both hilarious as one would expect and also deeply sinister. Real credit goes to Sue Lyon as Lolita who really delivers in the role and plays a convincing mix of allure and teenage innocence. Kubrick delivers a film that is both hysterically funny and deeply tragic and still ranks as the best adaptation of Nabakovs book.

Dr. Strangelove

Kubrick resumes his collaboration with Peter Sellers here playing multiple roles in an absurdist apocalyptic comedy about the madness of nuclear conflict. Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper goes a little 'funny in the head' and sends his flight squadrons into Russia to 'catch the Russkies with their pants down'. As the planes make their way into Russian airspace, high command is sent into a panic, especially when they discover that the Russians have constructed a doomsday device that when activated will destroy all life on earth.
Peter Sellers plays three roles in the film, Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake who must try and talk Ripper down, President Merkin Muffley who seems to play the one sane person in the film with quiet grace and delivers some of the funniest lines in the film, especially in his phone conversations with the Russian premiere. Finally he also plays Dr. Strangelove German Rocket scientist and ex-nazi whose spasms provide some genuinely great comic moments, including the infamous attempt to restrain a Nazi salute "yah meine Fuhr...Mr President". Strangelove is still one of my favourite comedies, its endlessly quotable and as relevant today as it was when it was made.

2001 a space odyssey

Kubrick's collaboration with Arthur C Clarke delivers a Sci-Fi epic that follows human evolution from Ape to space faring species and beyond, guided by a mysterious black monolith that appears to be acting on behalf of a mysterious alien intelligence. Traditional narrative is discarded to create a visual epic that combines with a classical soundtrack to deliver ideas on humanity. 2001 is a well crafted visually stunning piece of cinema, its a film that manages to tell the story of the discovery of tools to space travel in a single graceful edit.
Apparently the film found its audience among the counter culture of the 60's as a lot of audiences were mystified by the film. However its much more than a drugs film, watched today its still terrific and looks magnificent on blu-ray. Its influence on modern sci-fi is abundantly clear in every frame.

A Clockwork orange

Based on Anthony Burgess science fiction tale of teenage violence, Kubrick marries great visuals and music to create a genuine classic. Here the film deals with morality and mainly the question that if someone is forced to be good are they truley moral. The Film follows the adventures of Alex de Large an intelligent psychopath who along with his droogies goes out at night for a bit of the old 'ultra-violence' robbing and raping at will. This first act is one of total forward momentum as the film delivers scene after scene of mayhem leading up to a brutal home invasion on an Author. Deciding to rid themselves of Alex, his droogs set him up for arrest by the police, and when he 'accidentally' kills an elderly lady it seems Alex is done. However, alex discovers a new proceedure developed by the state that functions similarly to operant condtioning where subjects are conditioned to react with physical pain to violence. It seems the state is preparing to fill the prisons with dissidents so they need common crooks out of the way.
Out of prison, unable to do violence Alex becomes a victim, and one by one his past victims come back to haunt him. The final act from the book is missing as Kubrick was given the america edition where it was missing. Ultimately in the book Alex decides to be good on his own volition, which is the ultimate moral act. However I always thought this stretched plausibility as Alex is the kind of psycopath that its difficult to imagine changing. Ultimately Alex is a man of contradictions, hes a complete monster in some respects but he's also intelligent and cultured. The film came at an especially fertile point in Malcom Macdowells career, through his collaborations with Lyndsey Andserson. O'lucky man came out around the same time and Macdowell resented the film for eclipsing that however he gives on of his best performances in Orange and manages to make Alex somewhat sympathetic which helps the film work. Once again it's visually stunning and the pop art design and editing influenced a whole slew of future film-makers. The films legend was in part cemented by Kubricks supression of the film in the UK (it was never actually banned) as it seems the main unhealthy influence the film had was on the anti-violence campaigners who sent death threats to Kubricks Family. Seems they lack any sense of irony.

Barry Lyndon

Ryan O'neill plays Barry, an Irish farmer who as a teenager falls for his cousin. As she's getting married to an english colnel, Barry gets the hump and ends up in a duel that he wins. Thinking he's killed his opponent (a second collaboration with Leonard Rossiter) our hero goes on the run, joins the army and ends up through various adventures, mainly involving lying, cowardice and rakishness, ends up climbing to the top of social ladder. Like Icarus he flies to close to the sun and ends up getting burned.
Various things still astonish me about Barry Lyndon, the painstaking attention to period detail, the excellent use of Handel, the various battle scenes and the fact that almost every frame looks like an oil painting from the period. This is very apparant in the blu-ray which looks gorgeous and really brings the colour and detail to life. Lyndon might be off-putting to people who dislike bawdy epics but its a lot of fun. its very humerous and tragic and lingers in the memory long after its over.

The Shining

The Stephen King adaptation that splits its audience down the middle, The Shining adapts the story of Jack Torrance who takes his family to stay in an isolated hotel in the Rockies over the winter as he works as a caretaker and attempts to write his novel. His son Danny is psychically gifted, a gift the hotel caretaker Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers) calls The shining. Danny's gift allows him to connect to the evil spirits that haunt the hotel and he begins seeing visions of creepy looking twins who want Danny to play with them. His father Jack seems to have the gift as well and soon makes contact with Lloyd the bartender and Delbert Grady who begin to influence Jack into killing his family.
The main criticisms of the shining are its deviations from the source material, certain sub-plots are removed and altered. The other criticism is the casting of Jack Nicholson as Torrance, Jack is supposed to be a relatively stable recovering alcoholic. Nicholson's performance gives the impression that he may be nuts already. In fairness Kubrick's film is still excellent and taken as a separate and individual entity it works well. King did his own adaptation in 1997 its nowhere near as good. The long, lingering tracking shots of the Hotel corridors, the strange and bloody images cut into the film and Nicholson's OTT performance, especially in the final act as well as the rumbling, moody score add to a growing sense of unease and dread and the film remains regarded as one of the all time great horror films. It says something that an entire documentary, room 237, was made detailing the numerous readings of the film.

Full Metal Jacket

Coming on the heels of a slew of vietnam films, beginning with Apocalypse Now through to the same years Platoon, Full Metal Jacket holds up as a film that really does something new with the subject. The film spends almost half its running time, and delivers most of its most memorable scenes taking the characters through basic training. Here they are bullied, dehumanised and trained to be killers, leading to Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence, a husky man-child to go off the deep end leading to murder-suicide.
Its these scenes, with an astonishing central performance from Vincent D'Onofrio as Lawrence and R Lee Ermy as the Drill instructor who destroys him that really stand out. Ermy was a real-life drill instructor and consultant on the film who ended up stealing the role as the drill instructor and launching a career in film, he brings an astonishing level of authenticity to the role and delivers some truly memorable lines with insults I freely admit to nicking from time to time. D'Onofrio's portrayal of his characters descent into madness is genuinely chilling and authentic and its hard to believe this was his first screen role (he was friends with Matthew Modine and working as a bouncer). The second half is a lot better than people give it credit for, it shows the impracticality of training when applied to the reality of combat in vietnam. I think people must have been so stunned by the first half that it feels a little like an anti-climax however its battle scenes (filmed in London!) are brilliantly directed and really hold up.

Eyes wide shut.

After a night on the weed, a couples sexual jelousy comes to the surface culminating in admission from the wife that she had considered abandoning her marriage and child to run off with a total stranger. With a head full of weed the husband, a doctor heads out on a call. His patients daughter, engaged to be married confesses her love to him, in spite of knowing him for a few weeks that confirms that his wife might be telling the truth. He then wanders the streets getting into encounters with various people before ending up at a ritualistic orgy somewhere out in the country. After getting thrown out our protagonist is a little disturbed by what he has witnessed and begins retracing his steps, discovering that in the harsh light of day everything he experienced is different.
Kubricks final film was something of a media sensation, partly because he hadn't made a film for 12 years. Also because of the casting of Tom Cruise and Nicole kidman as the couple. Because at that time they were an actual married couple it was thought that this might add some plausibility to them as a couple though a celebrity couple might present a totally accurate representation of their marriage and it still seem odd. I'm a little surprised they didn't have cruise cartwheeling about screaming about scientology. However, in all fairness they are both pretty good in the film and Cruise does deliver in his own scenes. Re-watching it, it comes across as a terrific midnight movie, a weird trawl through the darker recesses of sexual jealousy.

Great reviews Keir, Room 237 is a hoot.

Watched IT (Tommy Lee Wallace, 1990).
After rewatching The Dead Zone on THC (u/c!), I felt a slight King binge coming on, so dug this out. Never mind about it being a "flipper" that gives no warning as to the break.....

Some kids band together to fight off an ancient evil that has plagued their town for..........ever. Featuring the usual raggle taggle bunch of Kingites (both as kids and as adults), this is still my favourite SK novel, so did wonder how they were going to put across this epic tale....in a TVM.

Oh, well. Whilst it still has the ridiculous "monster" ending, this hadn't aged as badly as I had feared, mainly due the kids performance (as the adults seem to be playing some scenes for laughs!! John Ritter!!).


Insidious Chapter 3
Another part 3 that negates the first film. Another attempt to milk the J horror cow ONE last time. Another film where I can't really see anything because it so ficking dark. Watched IT after this, and was more that mildly scared by that. This, however failed in that respect.

Excellent reviews, keirarts. I should really rewatch all of Kubrick's films in chronological order because, as you pointed out, there are so many masterpieces amongst them.