I watched Stephen Kings "Thinner" after seeing a few people posting about in on here.

Was a bit of a laugh for an hour and a half. Like a drawn out episode of Tales from the Crypt without the witty intro made by the crypt keeper. A stretched out episode though, not as good as the full Crypt movies.

Thinner is great! Saw it years ago with zero expectations and loved it - one of my favourite Stephen King adaptations. The Mafioso type that's in Godfather III is brilliant in it .

French Connection

Brilliant in its simplicity. One of those 70s NYC movies that captures the aesthetic and atmosphere so well you can't help being completely immersed.

Watched Cooties (2014, Millot/Murnion)
I laughed. Some bits drag, but on the whole a hoot. Equalling HalfLife for the worst first day at work, Elijah Wood and co have to survive the worst case of (pre) teen angst. Not the worst film I've seen. ;)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Shit blows up in futuristic Scrapheap Challenge.

TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE
Plague carriers and vengeance from beyond the grave are the main ingredients in this sometimes gruesome Italian horror from the 60s.
Severin's print, while perfectly watchable, is a little ropey on occasions ( there is severe print damage at one point ). However, if this is the only way of seeing films like these, then I'm perfectly ok with that. A nice remastered box set of Italian gothics would be neat.

LIVE LIKE A COP, DIE LIKE A MAN
A couple of hard hitting cops from the 'special force' are on the trail of a gambling den hood in this violent crime drama from 70s Italy, all wrapped up in Ruggero Deodato's dynamic direction.
Having seen this years ago on Raro's dvd, I can safely say 88s blu ray is a huge improvement - it looks fantastic.

I don't think it will be the same watching subtitled films whilst dry.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Yl...P3RskU=s791-no

Two old favourites (Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) & Les Diaboliques (1955)) and two new ones, A Tale of Springtime (1990) and Morgiana (1972) which is an absolute dark, vibrant, exciting gothic delight - highly recommended!

Scrapheap Challenge would of been a much better name for the film.

Shit Shit: Shit Shit, also springs to mind.

Fully agree, or possibly to the depths of Tales from the Darkside. Enjoyable but where's the beef?

I watched it recently, just last week, I didn't realise a few of us had but I'm guessing we all have Netflix!

The Philadelphia Experiment (2012) - A typical Syfy channel movie with the sort of half realised special effects that you come to expect with these things. Stars Nicholas Lea as the hapless Navy LT who is transported through time along with his ship. Malcolm McDowell pops up as he invariably does in these cheapo films, and the star of the original 1984 picture, Michael Paré, also stars as a henchman.

Human Centipede III

Camp, colourful and riotous - perfect antidote to HCII. Like how II is revealed to be a movie and that both baddies from I & II are co-stars - far exceeded my expectations :)

Eating chips in the bath, thought I was the only one that did that! :lol:

I saw The Martian over the weekend. A modern, hard science take on Robinson Crusoe on mars as Matt Damon finds himself trapped on the Red planet and must use whatever is available to survive. After the god-awful The councillor and the visually stunning but messy as hell Prometheus this is a great return to form from Ridley scott. Its a great slice of sci-fi with some great acting and plenty of tension. My only real bug-bare is that half the characters seem to discuss things or deliver monologues through mouthfuls of food.

I watched the Herzog version of Nosferatu. I only have an older Anchor Bay DVD with the German Audio, but unfortunately the subtitles were garbage. There were long periods of German speaking with nothing in the screen, and then 2 lines of subtitles when only a few words were spoken.

Therefore I didn't really get what was going on but it looked great :lol: I need to pick up the BFI set I think.

It felt like the thing to do, full-on decadence. Note the egg cup full of ketchup.

Nail Gun Massacre (1985)

Sometimes a film doesn't have to be good to be good.

What Nail Gun Massacre lacks in finesse and plausibility it makes up for in out of tune country rock and occasional electro, denim wardrobes, huge belt buckles, an under qualified, lackadaisical doctor, a disaffected cop, and plumped up areolas.

It doesn't bother with a gradual lead in to the plot, more wham, bam straight in to the revenge. Which seems incredibly random even though you know from the get go what is going on.

It's the type of film you can enjoy with friends as it provides plenty of belly laughs. You'll find yourself questioning How there can be do much blood when surely a high pressure gun would wedge in to create a plug with minimum seepage? How can the killer have any peripheral vision with all that tape on their mask? Why is the safety not on that guys chainsaw? And why is the chainsaw belt too tight? Surely he knows basic maintenance? Unless cutting wood is really a euphemism.

Of course who really wants reality in a horror film? NGM is fun, implausible nonsense.

Starring Bob Carolgees, Liza Minnelli, The Miliband brothers, Kate Bush and my old gynaecologist.

My favourite part is probably the 'death by nail in the elbow' scene. A close second would be the two guys who are shooting nail guns at each other one moment but, when the killer turns up with a nail gun, they are suddenly petrified of the implement!

I really like Terror Creatures. I have it on a Mill Creek set and have watched it dozens of times. (Seriously - it's a great film to fall asleep to) The opening scene of the guy in the bar is quite effective but in relation to the rest of the movie is actually out of place. The story is a slow burner but i find the dialogue carries it along fairly quickly. The idea of plague spreaders polluting the water (What an eerie song by the way) then having their hands cut off and mounted for all to see is rather macabre.

I also love the opening title music. It wouldn't be out of place as one of James Bernard's Hammer themes.

Is the Severin print a step up? Is it dvd quality, or vhs standard like the version i have?

I watched Cannibal Apocalypse on the Horror Channel last night, I never thought I would see the day that it played on T.V. I can still remember the first time in the early eighties seeing the old Replay video with the groovy artwork and the double X certificate on the back. Happy days. :nod::cool:

Murder-Rock: Dancing Death (1984)

Well I finally got the chance to watch Murder Rock as Demdike loaned me his copy. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, which doesn't mean I'm disappointed.

First of the title, I like including the Dancing Death bit as I think Murder Rock is a bit lame, unfortunately the DD's leave me a bit tongue tied so when speaking out loud I usually pronounce it Dancing Deaf which is a different film entirely.

I had hoped for more gaudiness, over the top dancing and a wilder soundtrack. There was dancing (not always in sync which was somewhat annoying, they would have barely made the chorus line) and a catchy theme song that was played constantly which meant that eventually it started to sound more Chas 'n' Dave than anything and I like CnD but this was annoying. The film wasn't a Fame: The Murder Years that I was hoping for.

Now after that it might seem strange for me to say that I really liked it but I did, it's actually a neat little classy thriller. But last night I just wanted trash.

I was passing through London with work on Friday and decided to stay overnight to see a couple of films at the London Film Festival.

Elstree 1976 is a documentary that explores the impact that the filming of Starwars had on the lives of 10 of the films "extras" (including David Prowse). A really interesting film, a lotto fun and, surprising considering how much has been written and said, with something new to add to the Starwars discussion.

Being Evel dealt with slightly different subject matter, the life and times of Evel Knievel. Evel, a childhood hero of mine. The film does a particularly good job of disassembling his reputation. It turns out he was a pretty nasty piece of work.

Assassination my final film before I headed to Heathrow for my flight home was this Korean "men on a mission" film set during the Japanese occupation. Its a great piece of action cinema following a small team of independence fighters who are sent on a suicide mission. Great fun and very reminiscent of classic WW2 films (although the soundtrack owes a lot to Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds).

The Big Bird Cage (1972)

6/10

Spirited Away (2001)

10/10 - One of the very times when the film's title actually reflects the exact and completely immersive feeling's of experiencing it.

Venom (1981)

6/10

The Legacy (1978)

5/10

What did he do? I know he attacked a writer but I believe that was over some disparaging remarks made by the writer. Curious to know what other things he got up to.

In The Mouth of Madness

http://33.media.tumblr.com/021840891...lvg6o1_500.gif

John Carpenter explicitly does HP Lovecraft in this film about an author who sends his readers into psychotic frenzy. "Do you read Sutter Cane?" Boom axe through the window! An excellent late entry into the JC cannon, keeps you hooked right from the beginning and keeps you right there until the crazy, bug eyed, manic laughing end!
Unbelievably I'd never seen this one and I am a self proclaimed Carpenter addict so to fix that I found that the US blu is region free and ordered myself one for something like £8.00 from amazon. I'm glad that I did because this is now one of my favourites!
You've all seen it, but I highly recommend it anyways!

A fantastic film and makes for a great double-bill with New Nightmare.

These were a couple of things I found at Wikipedia:

Shortly after getting married, Knievel started the Butte Bombers, a semi-pro hockey team.[7]p. 21 To help promote his team and earn some money, he convinced the 1960 Olympic Czechoslovakian hockey team to play the Butte Bombers in a warm-up game to the Olympics. Knievel was ejected from the game minutes into the third period and left the stadium. When the Czechoslovakian officials went to the box office to collect the expense money the team was promised, workers discovered the game receipts had been stolen. The United States Olympic Committee wound up paying the Czechoslovakian team's expenses to avoid an international incident.[7]p. 21-22 Evel Knievel also played with the Charlotte Checkers of the Eastern Hockey League.


While Knievel was healing from his latest round of injuries, the book Evel Knievel on Tour was released. Authored by Knievel's promoter for the Snake River Canyon jump, Shelly Saltman, the book painted an unflattering picture of Knievel's character, alleging that he abused his wife and kids and he used drugs. Knievel, with both arms still in casts, flew to California to confront Saltman, a VP at 20th Century Fox. Outside the studio commissary, one of Knievel's friends grabbed Saltman and held him, while Knievel attacked him with an aluminum baseball bat, declaring, "I'm going to kill you!" According to a witness to the attack, Knievel struck repeated blows at Saltman's head, with Saltman blocking the blows with his left arm. Saltman's arm and wrist were shattered in several places before he fell to the ground unconscious. It took numerous surgeries and permanent metal plates in his arm to eventually give Saltman back the use of his arm. Saltman's book was pulled from the shelves by the publisher after Knievel threatened to sue. Saltman later produced documents in both criminal and civil court that proved that, although Knievel claimed to have been insulted by statements in Saltman's book, he and his lawyers had actually been given editorial access to the book and had approved and signed off on every word prior to its publication. On October 14, 1977, Knievel pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to three years' probation and six months in county jail, during which he publicly flaunted his brief incarceration for the press.

After the assault of Saltman and time served in jail, Knievel lost most marketing endorsements and deals, including Harley-Davidson and Ideal Toys. With no income from jumping or sponsorship, Knievel was eventually forced to declare bankruptcy. In 1981, Saltman was awarded a $13 million judgment against Knievel in a civil trial, but never received money from Knievel or Knievel's estate.

Wow. That's spectacularly scumbaggish.

Zombie Holocaust

Nice looking BD from 88. Forgot how much terrible dialogue there is in it. Love the scene where the doctor tells the woman to calm down after she discovers a decomposing severed head covered with maggots in her bed!

Behaved very badly towards his wife, family and friends. Assaulted the promotor of his canyon jump with a baseball bat (for which he went to prison). Turns out the guy was a bit of an arsehole.

Sicario


I have to admit to being somewhat sceptical about this film going in. I had awful visions of later era Tony scott with stuff like Domino or even that awful Arnie film Sabotage by David Ayer. I'm actually pleased to say director Denis Villeneuve has taken a pretty decent script and really delivered a brilliant little movie that needs to be seen. It stars Emily Blunt as a federal agent working in phoneix and finding her job is involving more and more mopping up after the Mexican cartels, after a grisly raid on a safe house she is enlisted by shady Josh Brolin who is working with the silent but deadly Benicio del Toro. Blunt has reservations going in that get deeper after illigal trips across the border to detain suspects and things just keep getting darker from there.
There is non of the hyper kinetic nausea inducing editing of a lot of films of its type, instead Sicario delivers long beautifully shot takes courtesy of DP Rodger Deakins. Blunt is terrific as the agent in well over her head and Del Toro quietly steals each scene he's in leading up to a quietly horrifying climax. The film feels like the better sort of stuff that hollywood was producing back in the 70's and it has that cynical world weary attitude throughout. The soundtrack is excellent and adds a moody, rumbling tension to the whole film.
Go see it!

I intend to see it this week, along with Crimson Peak and, on Wednesday, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Amazing / upsetting as to what you could get away with before the days mass media could tarnish your image.

I remember being rather upset when I learnt how one of my heroes, Clint Eastwood, treated Sondra Locke. Revolting stuff.

Wondered if anyone who has 88's blu of Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man has watched it yet, and what they thought of it. I put it ok and thought it was a perfectky acceptable transfer, pretty grainy throughout (and the couple of reviews I've seen like it), but as usual, the blu-rage folk aren't impressed, ranging from it being a typical Italian "gauzy" transfer, to just plain awful.

Haven't seen it but when it comes to BD transfers, as long as the aspect ratio is correct and it hasn't been DNR'd or filtered to death, I'm happy.

it just seems that some people just dont like 88 films no matter what, arrow fanboys, people desperate for attention or assholes, take your pick. look at the reviews on amazon, one guy really seems to have it in for them and reading the reviews they posted i can't help but think they are a few sandwiches sort of a picnic and need some sort of help. most of the films they bring us are never going to look fantastic and we should be grateful to get a lot of them

just ordered this one earlier tonight from HMV and looking forward to watching it, sounds like starsky and hutch with the violence racked up-to ten. have to give 88 films their due they are making me buy everything with them numbering stuff, if they had not i probably wouldn't of bothered with some of there releases

I was thinking the exact same thing about people just having it in for 88. Tbh, I remember Arrow's initial Tenebrae release being one of the dreaded LVR scans with the weird filtered/fake grain look to it, and I always try and compare discs of Italian films to that one, and to my eyes at least, Live Like A Cop looks nothing like it, yeah It has grain throughout, but I don't think it looks artificial.

Not watched mine yet but I know two of my mates have seen it and said it looks way better than they expected.

I was going to see it tonight but ended up rewatching Bay of Blood by checking out Kino's release for the first time.

STARRY EYES

A 30 something actress strikes a Faustian deal to become a star.

This could have been an excellent little film if the scum factor had been cranked up a notch rather than going for the body horror and murder angle it veers off into. I wanted more from it and whilst watching it couldn't figure out what it lacks and only at the end of it when there is brief nudity did I realise, it lacked lots of grotty, seedy sex scenes to truly deliver its tale of self transgression and transformation. A bit like life in general!

Saw Black Mass at the cinema today. Johnny Depp gives a terrific performance as a small time hood who becomes a massive crime kingpin as a result of an increasingly illicit partnership with the FBI in this based on a true story crime drama/thriller. Enjoyable.:)