My Life as a Dog is my favourite.

That's properly third on the list.

Have you read The Cider House Rules? It is a great read along with all of Irving's earlier work with A Prayer for Owen Meany being outstanding.

No, I haven't read any of his books.

He is very good and an easy read which is handy as he can stretch a story to over 400 pages. The World According to Garp and The Hotel New Hampshire have both been made into so-so films.

I'll keep that in mind for when I have some spare time during the summer.

But that's not a problem with the film - as soon as he learns of his origin, puts on the suit, and learns how to fly, there are trained Kryptonians beating the shit out of him! He acts exactly as he should, especially when they threaten his mother and he totally loses it, flying Zod through any building that happens to be in the way - you'd do exactly the same :)

Your right, I think brutish ape was the wrong thing to say, it's more that he's just starting out not fully understanding the extent of his powers. But it's a lot more realistic than the Christopher Reeve film in the respect that he's just starting out and will make mistakes and as you said the did treating his mother. It is the only film that shows us what superman can really do and this is way he nearly always holds himself back

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Nothing I can add that's not already been said about the fantastic and gruesome move, so here are some pictures of this classic of the horror genre 9.2/10

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Murder Mansion (1972)

A disparate group of strangers trying to escape a pea souper fog find themselves holed up at an old dark house. Once there they meet the beautiful Martha (Ida Galli) with all sorts of horrors awaiting them.

I really like this Spanish / Italian co-production. Similar to the following years Seven Dead in the Cat's Eye (1973) the film brings the genres of Gothic horror and Gialli crashing into one another with wondrous results.

The film plays with Gothic staples like vampires and the un-dead but it is the classic old dark house creepiness that works best of all. The initial plot is strikingly similar to James Whale's classic 1932 film - The Old Dark House - as the group of strangers are randomly thrown together with the seemingly odd folks who reside there. Whereas Whale had Karloff hulking about and a pyromaniac locked away upstairs, Murder Mansion has supernatural elements and in true giallo style a possible killer round every corner.

The Gothic horror is the main draw for me. Director Francisco Lara Polop creates a beautifully creepy landscape from the shadowy house to the stunning fog bound graveyard which echoes the best of the Corman / Poe films of the 60's.

For a giallo there's minimal blood and no nudity whatsoever. My dvd looks fairly poor at times and is clearly a nth generation vhs print which looks like it could have been cut for violence and nudity, but i'm not too sure. As with the aforementioned Corman / Poe cycle, Murder Mansion works on a subtler level, playing on audience reaction to characters fears rather than on screen violence. The fact some of the editing seems 'sharp' - well, many Italian films of the time seemingly suffered this problem.

The film sports some fantastic set pieces, including the lovely AnalÃ*a Gadé in a strong performance, seemingly being stalked round the house and grounds with only a flickering flame for protection. Polop directs these sequences with skill and creates suitable tension and generally maintains an all round air of creepy weirdness throughout.

In among the general eeriness, red herrings await in customary giallo fashion and the film finishes with a fun practically Scooby Doo style big reveal ending.

Murder Mansion is a fine film and is begging for a suitable restoration and re-release.

I'm liking the sound of this one.

Yeah, one for the watch list for sure. :nod:

Have you not seen it either?

I've had it since about 2006.

When you do a Google image search there are one or two widescreen ones in decent quality but i don't know the source dvd.

I'd pick it up if i could find it...at a reasonable price of course.

I suppose it could be this one below. But £50 is a big gamble to find out.

Unfortunately not.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to splash anything near that. I've already done a brief search on Youtube and come up empty - otherwise I would have maybe even watched it later on today!

I have this release.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-gDlrjnrL.jpg

I couldn't recommend it even at £5.50 delivered though.

I've watched it a few times over the years, so it is watchable, just poor quality.

What Films Have You Seen Recently?
 

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Well that was a lot better than I was expecting from the reviews, most made it sound like a unwatchable mess , don't get we wrong it has problems and won't win any awards but was very enjoyable with likeable characters and an interesting story and some gruesome special effects . It's worth a watch especially for fans of van diesel or fantasy /horror. Basic story is Kaulder(diesel)kills the witch queen hundreds of years ago and is cursed by her with immortally. Fast forward 800 years to modern times Kaulder is working with the axe and rose a group of priests that work with the witches council to keep peace, when he's friend of 50 years (Micheal Caine) is murdered Kaulder Fears something more sinister is going on and sets out with his Caines replacement (Elijah Wood) and good witch Chloe to figure out was going on 7.7/10

Sounds okay to me. I like Vin Diesel so thought i'd give it a go at some point anyway.

It's not terrible neither is a great movie, but as I said worth a watch and I've always enjoyed most of vin diesels stuff and don't understand the hate he gets from some quarters

Just watched 10 Cloverfield Lane, I really enjoyed it. It's a very claustrophobic film where the majority of it takes place in an underground bunker and a cast of 4 people in the entire movie. My only complaint is that the ending seems tracked on and different in tone to the first 90 minutes. Worth a go anyway as the acting is fantastic.

The Terror Within (1989)

Feeble Corman produced sci-fi horror which rips off Alien and Aliens not to mention Corman's own Forbidden World and Galaxy of Terror.

Yes, the man in a rubber suit creature looks quite impressive, at least in close up and the gore effects are well done. However uninspired direction ensures tension is never built up and even the presence of Andrew Stevens and George Kennedy fail to convince that The Terror Within is more of a turkey than a monster.

Ticking off some more Corman films for this week's top list I see Dem. ;)

Ha,ha, yes.

Ten shouldn't be a problem...glad it's not a top 20 though.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Two teenage scouts ditch their old friend on the night he's supposed to be getting his merit badge to attend a party with hot girls, blissfully unaware that while they've been out in the wilds their little town has become Ground Zero in a zombie apocalypse. This teen horror-comedy was actually much better than I was expecting, with some very funny moments and likeable characters. I enjoyed it. :)

Fallen (1998)

Plodding detective thriller sees Denzel Washington on the hunt for someone or something that just might be the fallen angel Azazel.

Directed bu Gregory Hoblit who two years previous gave us the excellent thriller Primal Fear, Fallen is now just as it was when i saw it at the cinema - a bit of a mess.

Whilst Washington is good value as always and ably supported by John Goodman and Donald Sutherland, the script they have to work with is all over the place. Fallen doesn't know whether it wants to be a biblical horror film, a police procedure affair or something else entirely. If it wants to be a horror it fails as it just isn't scary or creepy and crime dramas of the time such as Seven or The Bone Collector ramp up the suspense in far superior style.

The film has a couple of good set pieces as Azazel transfers itself across many people in the street but this trick is repeated once too often and itself becomes repetitive. The final showdown is nicely worked out, as is how it ties into the very first lines in the movie so it's worth watching carefully early doors and should make you ask yourself exactly what you've seen and who was narrating the movie. Other than that, Fallen is as run of the mill as thrillers come.

I've always thought it was excellent myself! :tongue1:

It gets 7 out of 10 on IMDB so you aren't alone.

Just realized. It's almost 20 years since i saw this at the pictures.

Where's the time gone? :eek:

Been a while but like iank I rate Fallen quite highly.

I think it goes back to when i first saw it. We were seeing a film a week each and every Sunday and had done the majority of the decade.

In comparison to many crime thrillers with horror elements like the aforementioned Seven, Primal Fear, Copycat, Kiss the Girls, 8mm etal it just seems to lack focus.

There are far worse films that i prefer and far better films i dislike more.

Might just be me, and that's fine, but none of us were wowed at the time.

Thats one of the great things about films though, differing opinions on the same thing. Of those few you mentioned, Seven is in a different league to Fallen, whereas Kiss the Girls and Copycat aren't a patch on it.
But that's just my opinion.
Actually never seen Primal Fear or 8mm.

I'm going off ancient memory here as i haven't bothered with either of those since the cinema.

Rec.
Gave this a go earlier this evening.
Firemen responding to a seemingly innocuous call involving an elderly lady trapped in her apartment find themes in for a nasty shock when the old dear turns out to be infected with some sort of 28 Days Later style crazy virus. Before you can say 'Danny Boyle' authorities seal the building off from the outside world trapping the firemen and the remaining residents inside. Fortunately for us the fire department are the subject of a police camera action type tv show called While You're Sleeping, and the shows presenter and more importantly cameraman are now trapped in the building too.
Given the relativity short running time of 75 minutes i found this Spanish found footage jobby dragged, only the brilliant last 15 minutes really grabbed me. Worth a watch and probably a rewatch just for the ending.

After that brief interlude. Now back to Love Goddess of the Cannibals.

Enjoy your Easter folks. :)

Sequels and diminishing returns

Having time on my hands, and wanting to catch up on some sleep, I decided to do some films that I bought, knowing that I probably wouldn't enjoy them. This way, I can tick them off my 'to watch' pile, and also get some shut eye

I started with the Shameless box set of 'The Bronx Warriors Trilogy':

'The Bronx Warriors' (1982) is a thoroughly entertaining film about gangs in the Bronx in 1990. I thought it owed a lot to Walter Hills 'The Warriors' and also John Carpenter's 'Escape From New York'. I enjoyed it, although I wasn't expecting to

Oh well, onto the first sequel. I must be able to get some sleep now. 'The New Barbarians' (1983) owes a lot to 'Mad Max'. It was fun, but not as good as the first one

So, the second sequel must be the one that sends me into the arms of Morpheus. 'Escape From The Bronx' (1983) is another enjoyably trashy film.

All three of them were better than I expected

So, still needing my afternoon nap, I decided to have a go at the 88 Films 'Killjoy Collection'

The first film, 'Killjoy' (2000) is 70 minutes about a ciller klown. It's bottom of the barrel, but it kept my interest

This is followed by 'Killjoy 2: Deliverance From Evil' (2002), which is an awful movie. With a run time just shy of 80 minutes, it seems to be around the 75 minute mark before Killjoy actually shows up! It is not a good film. Oh, in the original, the eponymous villain was played by Angel Vargas, now he is played by Trent Haaga (who went on to write 'Deadgirl' and 'Toxic Avenger 4' amongst other movies). 'Killjoy 2' is a very poor film

After a break of 8 years, 'Killjoy 3' was released (2010), and after the hideous movie that was part 2, I wasn't expecting very much...but time is a great healer, and this was a very good film. Killjoy is back with some new chums (Punchy, Freakshow and Batty Boop [who must save a fortune on washing powder, because she is naked throughout the film, just wearing body paint]). This film features college students being dragged thru a mystic mirror onto another dimension - a not particularly novel idea admittedly, but an agreeable timewaster

Killjoy returned in 'Killjoy Goes To Hell' (2012), where he is on trial in Hell for failing to be scary. Again, it is a surprisingly good film

So, 7 films to tick off from my list, and I never did get the sleep I needed!

*Note - At time of writing, it seems that there is another 'Killjoy' film in the pipeline. 'Killjoy's Psycho Circus' is listed as being "in post-production" at IMDB

The Man From Uncle.

Guy Ritchies update of the sixties spy show. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer star as secret agents working on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, Cavill as American spy Napoleon Solo a retired art thief recruited by the CIA to better make use of his exceptional skills. Hammer is Illya Kuryakin a KGB agent possessed of almost superhuman abilities when the plot suits.
Something to do with a nuclear scientist and some nefarious Euro-villains means these two are partnered up to fight for the greater good. Thats about as much as i got from the plot if you can call it a plot. The film is too preoccupied with trying to be cool and stylish and funny to really present the storyline very well at all. Armie Hammer attributes himself well to Illya even if the accent slips now and then, Cavill on the other hand looks bored.
Where the film should shine it falls flat with big action sequences presented in comic panel interludes so Guy Ritchie can spend another 10 minutes playing old Italian opera music while another attempt at cool falls flat on its arse. All in all maybe worth a watch but i won't be wasting another 2 hours on it. Glad i borrowed rather than bought.

I got this earlier in the week and aim to watch it this weekend. Things don't look promising. :rolleyes:

It's nonsense but, if you go in with the right mindset, it's probably enjoyable nonsense.

Papaya: Love Goddess of the Cannibals (1978)

Joe D'Amato's dreary cannibal flick without any cannibals. Other than having it as a vehicle for Sirpa Lane, Melissa Chimenti and Maurice Poli to act out numerous soft core interminably dull sex scenes there really was no point to this film.

In fairness it's original Italian title Papaya the Caribbean, has no reference to cannibals whatsoever, it was just unscrupulous film distributors out to make a quick buck on the back of the cannibal schlock fest of the late seventies.

Going off the thanks to the Dominican Republic govt slate at the end it seems clear that D'Amato got clearance to film before he had a story. There's so much wandering about the island either on foot or in jeeps....oh why bother?

This was just boring and made 1980's Orgasmo nero seem exciting in comparison.

Did it have a slipcase?

No.