That is also part of my complaints beside the others :lol: about films they create characters that are well shit, to extent you couldn't care less about them wether they lived or died and at times the film is like the characters, not interesting and soulless,
Hence why i dont fancy new Ghostbusters, not because it's a all female cast it's because thats how the characters come across in the trailers, and the fact the humour and jokes look like their trying to be funny, where in original it all just flowed and come naturally and come across effortless,

I actually enjoyed ghostbusters more than a thought I would granted a lot of the jokes fall flat but when they work they were really funny and ended up caring for the characters apart from the McCarthy character and I really liked the female "Egon". is it as good as the original? No but its still fun and their are lot worse moves out there. Its not going to be for everyone and if you have doubts I wouldn't rush out to see it, for me a solid 6.5/10

Suicide Squad (2016) - 1.5/5

Warner Bros. have done a Fant4stic on the film, they've completely mangled it. It's an incoherent mess, chunks are blatantly missing (and lots of Joker stuff from the trailers isn't there), they've thrown in loads of songs to make it like the trailers, so it just plays like a music video montage and every part of the film feels like a climactic third act. I pray we get the director's cut on Blu-ray, the theatrical cut is a disgrace.

Granted there a hell of lot worse films, ill give it benefit of the doubt by you're recommendation. So ill be gunning for you if i dont like it :whip:
But be a while before i do like waiting for it to be on netflix,

Attachment 181175


The Zero Boys are a small group of friends that partake in paintball war games. After their latest victory they head out to the woods for some training. On this trip they have a new addition to the Zero Boys Jamie the girlfriend of an other groups leader who they won as part of a wager in the last games. Almost as soon as they set foot into the wilderness things start to get strange and its evident this wont be a normal training / camping trip.

I had high hopes for this but i just found it dragging on and on Steve the leader of The Zero Boys was just a pain in the ass his acting was so wooden and he just didnt seem to fit in with the gang too much of a sensible father type character the rest of the characters or not too bad and their acting has some variation to it. When you have an action slasher i usually dont let the acting bother me at all but there is so little action and so very very little slashing here that you are forced to spend time with these people and their acting and listening to dialogue. I do enjoy a film with a slow build but when you are stuck in a cabin with people who are not one bit interesting its a real slog and for an 80s film with 80s ladies i didnt see one boob :scared:. The stalker in the film was not even menacing considering that The Zero Boys have a shit load of guns and the stalkers have a knife and a cross bow so the advantage is with The Zero Boys and even when they are unarmed the stalkers show up right behind them and run away purposely dragging it out to fill the run time. Some time down the road i will give it another spin and see if i like it any better second time around but after my first viewing i cant see much changing. One plus i can think of right now has to be the soundtrack i loved it.

Overall i was disappointed it was not the entertaining trashy fun i had hoped it would be.It had many good ideas but it just didnt expand on them enough. Ill score this right in the middle because although i found it a little boring i have seen much worse films so ill give it a

5/10


Attachment 181177

Steve shows off his mean face absolutely terrifying :lol:

Spanish Blu Ray of THE BURNING.
Nice print.
After YEARS of vhs and Vipco disc,this is fantastic to see in hi def.
Looks like the same print used on the Japanese Blu.

Be keen to see what Arrow do with this.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS
Criterion have excelled themselves as usual with this release.
It looks and sounds absolutely amazing.
Another film which spent years doing the rounds with appalling picture and sound!
Great extras as well-I actually watched a couple of them!

That spooky old pavillion was rebuilt three times-destroyed by fire twice and washed away by Salt Lake the third time!

Blackbeard's Ghost

Perfect Sunday afternoon viewing. A man takes a job as the coach of a small towns track team, the so called track team end up being the least of his worries as the town is knowing as were Blackbeard was killed and soon unleashes his spirit who has been cursed to limbo for eternity to make matters worse the inn in which he is staying , is wanted by a gangster and his goons. The coach teams up with Blackbeard to fraught the gangster's plan and make sure that the owners of the inn ( descendants of Blackbeard) get the deed to the first inn back which the gangster now owns. Pirates, gangsters and ghosts what's not too like. Fine performances all round and likabe characters. But the real star is peter ustinov as Blackbeard. 8.3/10

THEM!!

A true B-movie classic. 9.4/10

Now watching descent into hell

Is that the Criterion Blu ray of Carnival Reaps?

Kes and Harry Brown.

Both film are different, but what i absolutely love about films like these is they are simple and basic, But what gives me the most heart warm felt about these films is you can feel the characters in the film, because its as if they just filmed people from all walks of life because they have the sense of realism as in thats as close as youre going to get how people really are, in the dialogue and how they really live. This is England is another example and sometimes you chuckle and think i know someone exactly like that, They arent hyped, ott, exaggerated or dumded down. Just realism
And thats also why i like British films because they seem so much better at making realistic films.

Descent into hell- end of the line

A group of people get stuck on a train and are attacked be another group who end up killing those they meet in very brutal and bloody fashion believing the apocalypse has come and they are saving the souls of those they kill. A game of cat and mouse developes between the two groups but could their be something sinister happing. Acting goes from dreadful to OK, but its fast paced with a lot of gore and a lot worse ways to spend 90minutes. 5.5/10

Well I can't decide what to watch next more horror in the form of plague of the zombies or a western with support your local sheriff

Sheriff definitely. It's a gem. Wait till you see the jail and useless Walter Brennan's attempts to bust it. Then of course there's the brilliant Jack Elam as the deputy.

Right.. rather than go back over the mountain of films I've been watching I'm going to do yesterdays viewings...

Suicide squad

Problems? Yeah this film has its fair share. Going through the deleted scenes for example (there is a LOT of them detailed online) Harley Quinn/Joker relationship was much more abusive and her character arc came across more as her getting her independence from Mr J and finding a new set of friends. Tying in with deadshots almost fatherly concern for her in the final half this would make a lot more sense. It's been cut down however and now its all about her & joker being soul mates and becomes more of a love story. Its an Interesting change but the Joker now comes across as some sort of Twilight-esque romantic figure rather than the clown prince of crime which sort of irritated me. Harley herself is great but I felt sorry for her as her costume looked dreadfully uncomfortable. Deadshot is great, its one of Will Smiths best gigs in a while. Jai Courtney actually finally manages to be good in something as Captain Boomerang. Killer Croc was done well (some ropey CGI aside.) Amanda waller is terrific, so is Rick Flagg.
Compared to Batman V superman the film is Marvels civil war, its a much better film than that mess. BVS was a series of sometimes cool scenes strung together by a mess of a script and a dreadful villain that really irritated the f**k out of me. Suicide Squad is a straigh ahead action flick that goes from A-Z without any saggy moments of crucial plot points left on the cutting room floor. David Ayer is a much better film-maker than Zac Snyder. Synder clearly read all the Frank miller Batman and came up with some cool interesting scenes inspired (lifted) from millers Graphic novels with very little idea on what to do with them. Ayer has said 'screw that' and focused on delivering a solid action film. Its not great, as pointed out on this thread its clearly a film thats been tampered with and some stuff falls flat on its face but its a genuine step in the right direction for DC.

The Blob

In the pantheon of terrific remakes, this one remains an awful lot of fun courtesy of Frank Darabont and Chuck Russell who take the 50's B classic and give it a gory re-invention. The Blu-ray for it is almost too good in places as the rear screen projection for some of the Blob scenes is a bit too apparant. It's still a worthy pick-up until somone decides to create some special features and release a special edition but it'll do for now.

Night of the living dead 90

A great double bill with The Blob, Savini's remake got largely ignored on release but has built up something of a following over the years. Savini does a good job directing and the film manages to create a grimm atmosphere but George A Romeros script really helps sell it as not just a remake of the original but as a companion as well. The real departure for the film is the depiction of Barbara who is transformed from mute to tough as nails action chick. Making her the focus of the film transforms the dynamic in some interesting ways as now the squabbling between Harry cooper and Ben now feels much more destructive and pointless. The Aussie blu-ray is solidly presented and worth a look.

I really like End of the Line.

Last week's viewings:

Loads of slasher-trash again, a long overdue re-watch of the entertaining The Relic, and the high-light of the week being last night's virgin viewing of the gothic fairy-tale Crimson Peak. Whilst a little clunky in places, I really enjoyed the story and the haunting atmosphere - a future purchase for sure.



Graveyard Disturbance (Una notte al cimitero) (1987)

http://66.media.tumblr.com/a007c9df5...w2z4o9_400.gif

58/100


Night Screams (1987)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/n36sNmVTgM4/hqdefault.jpg

47/100


Hell High (1986)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OKCR0ouJ6P...ellhigh1lo.jpg

57/100


Time Walker (1982)

http://www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hyst...imewalker2.png

55/100


Terror on Tour (1980)

http://bp2.blogger.com/_LdNLOv1lKmI/...s1600/TOT3.jpg

46/100


Honeymoon Horror (1982)

https://horrorpediadotcom.files.word...ng?w=457&h=315

43/100


Doom Asylum (1987)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IwVQlRrO9ZA/hqdefault.jpg

55/100


Houseboat Horror (1989)

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3CFFOc27MR8/hqdefault.jpg

29/100


Silent Madness (1984)

http://horrorsnotdead.com/wpress/wp-...tmadness7.jpeg

47/100


Blood Tracks (1985)

http://horrornews.net/wp-content/upl...-4-450x301.jpg

42/100


Fatal Pulse (1988)

https://aslashabovedotcom.files.word...4984784784.jpg

42/100


The Night Brings Charlie (1990)

http://body-count.net/wp/wp-content/...were-messy.jpg

47/100


Return of the Family Man (1989)

https://67.media.tumblr.com/cef08c1d...97xbo1_500.jpg

56/100


The Relic (1997)

http://i2.listal.com/image/1238981/500full.jpg

64/100


Hollywood's New Blood (1988)

http://horrornews.net/wp-content/upl...-Shyman.-4.jpg

24/100


Crimson Peak (2015)

https://67.media.tumblr.com/339daacd...rywjo1_500.gif

73/100

BLOOD GNOME – The fetish community of downtown LA is being terrorised by an unseen killer. A nerdy phtographer with a tragic past is hot on the case. Invisible gremlin types who get off on blood sports, a tentacular slime beast that pushes out narcotic embryos and girls in bondage gear are all in evidence. 'Blood Gnome' is a microbudget horror film from around ten years ago, which was roughly when I last watched it. I remember thinking at the time, “an S/M flick with killer gnomes and a weird cthulhuvian monster – how can this not be the best film ever made?” Inevitably, my viewing experience went on to show that 'Blood Gnome' was not in fact the best film ever made, although it sounds undeniably impressive on paper. It's quite good fun, is in a way original and imaginative, but is too slight and meagre to do much with its quite 'heady' material, although what it actually does is to some extent cool. Erotica isn't the point here really and 'Blood Gnome' is distinctly in the DTV horror bracket rather than sub-porno... those looking for Andreas Bethmann type excesses had better go away, for 'Blood Gnome' is not particularly explicit in its expose of the BDSM scene, and the whole sex underground angle seems to have been pursued either for lip service novelty, or because the director just knew some dudes who were into that kind of stuff and wanted to let it all hang out on camera (a bit). Interestingly, although it's pretty tame, it does home in on blood letting fetishes (for narrative reasons more than anything else). S and M or no S and M, perhaps what it needed was a touch more of the madness suggested by the words 'invisible killer gnomes'. It's never less than watchable though, and ultimately 'Blood Gnome' is a winningly eccentric one of a kind that manages to stand out from the shitpile of no budget horror despite its shortcomings.

I was delighted to add this to my Julie Strain collection...Then i watched it. Like yourself about 10 years ago. I was quite disappointed. It was bathed in that shot on video sunlight look where everything feels so artificial. I'd give it another go if i still owned it thanks to your enthusiasm but i don't so i won't. :lol:

Still it's way better than The Imp.

Patricia Tallman's constant whining and screaming makes this completely unwatchable for me. Horrible performance and a pointless remake. I'd prefer to watch the old colourized vhs than this remake.

thats what i went for and you were right about the jail

Indeed.:laugh:

Pity I watched the film at all imo. Am sick of "avant" horror films. Some nice imagery though.

This weekend's viewing has been what you could say is eclectic!

I've already talked about Friday's viewing Suicide Squad - not good, and my opinion of it is going down every time I think about it!

On Saturday I sat down for the 3 hour epic which is Andrei Rublev. It's a slow burn for sure, the polar opposite of Suicide Squad! In fact it was so slow to start with that I almost gave up after the 45 minute mark but it got better and better. It doesn't have a narrative arc but is split up into chapters which each concentrate on one aspect of Andrei's life. The final 3 chapters were the best, 'The Raid', 'The Silence' and finally 'The Bell'. In 'The Bell' we get the return of the young actor who played Ivan in Ivan's Childhood, and he was just as good in this segment as the son of a Bell-maker who's entire family has died of the plague, he lies to Andrei announcing that he alone knows the secret of making the perfect bell!
A lot of scholarly people pronounce this as a masterpiece, while I thought it was very good it was a little too meandering at the beginning for me to think it was perfection. It was very good though.

Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to crack open my cult-labs prize from last week Critters! It's been ages since I saw it and I totally got a kick out of how 80's it was. It's not a great film by any opinion but it's a load of fun. Billy Zane with his little rat's tail hair-do made me laugh :lol: I'm looking forward to part 2 - I'll probably take a look at that tomorrow evening!

I rounded off the weekend with Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, a film which I've never seen and I have to say what a way to end the weekend's viewing! While it's not as sophisticated as his later works it's interesting to see how his artistry has developed. Straight away we're plunged into the story, not knowing what's going on but utterly intrigued to see how it all plays out! It turns out to be quite the caper and didn't really end how you would expect it. That final scene had me shouting No at the TV screen :lol:. You've probably all seen it already but it's highly recommended. Arrow's BD looks bloody fantastic!

https://s9.postimg.org/4r4n6jim7/Weekend_Viewing.png

13 Frightened Girls (1963)

The penultimate film in the Mill Creek William Castle Horror Classics set (I'm saving The Old Dark House until October). 13 Frightened Girls could never be classed as a horror film, it's barely a thriller, in fact this is actually a light hearted espionage tale about a diplomats daughter who attends a special school for diplomats girls and becomes involved in a Cold War spy ring against the Chinese.

Director William Castle often uses gimmicks in his film but i can't recognize any here, unless it's an attempt to lure the viewer into thinking it's some sort of a slasher film with the 13 Frightened Girls being 13 victims as suggested by the lurid poster. If that's the case then Castle definitely pulled a fast one on me.

Kathy Dunn who plays lead school girl Candy is a breath of fresh air throughout with her bubbly, enthusiastic performance (She reminds me of someone that i can't put a name to) and is ably backed up by Murray Hamilton and Hugh Marlowe with star to be, Alexandra Bastedo as one of the other frightened girls.

As with much of Castle's more (in)famous out put the film is camp and garish in colour with dialogue often so stilted but charming in equal standards as is the dubious xenophobic outlook the film sports. With another actress 13 Frightened Girls could have been a proper mess but it isn't and it's one i think i recommend. Certainly better then 13 Ghosts and Homicidal but not up with the best of Castle ie - Mr Sardonicus and The House on Haunted Hill.

I would disagree. Each to their own and all that but I really like the way Tallmans character takes charge in spite of the squabbling between Ben and Harry. I would also much prefer this to some bastardised version of the original with glowing green zombies.

Certainly is mate.:nod:

Supportably your local sheriff

Jason McCullough(James Garner) is passing through the small town of Calendar (on his way to australia) which has just discovered gold and has made the town a rough and lawless place, needing money he decides to take the job of town sheriff he soon upsets the local outlaws the Danby family by arresting the youngest son Joe(Bruce Dern), who set their sites on freeing him and killing our good sheriff. we also have a sub story of the budding romance between McCullough and the mayor's (Harry Morgon), clumsy daughter Prudy. McCullough is joined in his fight by Jake (Jack Elam) who becomes his reluctant Deputy who is one of the highlights of the film, which also include a jail with no bars and inept attempt to brake Joe out of jail. a wonderful fast paced and very funny film, with lots of great scenes and characters looking forward to watching the sequel 8.5/10

Just saying Treb, it's Jack Elam not Jake Elm.

http://thegreatwesternmovies.com/wp-...alSheriff2.jpg

Fixed

Well, half fixed.

Jack not Jake.

Jake's the name of his character, DOH!

I was close!

I knew you'd get there in the end. :lol:

Watching Superman the move. Screw Henry Cavill, Christopher reeve is Superman!

Region locked??

The Resurrected

An adaptation of H.P Lovecrafts Charles dexter ward with Chris Sarandon in dual roles of Dexter ward and his Ancestor Joseph Curwen. directed by Dan O'Bannen it reworks the story into more of an occult noir with a private detective hired by Wards wife stumbles onto more than he bargained for.
The films suffers slightly from a low budget mixed with big ambission and some of the creature effects while well designed don't work as well as intended. However the film is still good. It's still as good an adaptation that your going to get, the haunted palace is a good film but it lacked the confidence/ability to stick to the story and mixed in several other stories including Dunwich horror and The shadow over innesmouth. The blu-ray is a step up from the dire DVD release in the fact its widescreen. There is still some issues with the picture quality but I suspect this might be due to the source materials.


The reflecting skin

Drenched in southern gothic imagery, the reflecting skin is a tale of a young boy who suspects a local woman is a vampire. After his friends die one by one he begins to fear for his brother (viggo mortensen) who has fallen for the woman.
The reflecting skin is not a vampire film. Its a strange, almost surreal and sun drenched tale of childhood that left me a little baffled until mid way when it clicked. This is shot as a memory of childhood summer from the memories of a serial killer. The childish pranks the kids pull go one step to far for childish pranks, the kids strange reactions to horrifying events all feel off kilter. Its a film I don't think everyone will like but its worth checking out.

I watched Batman Begins again recently. Hasn't aged well. What once seemed gritty now seems very silly. Ho hum.

Also perused Side Effects (Steven Soderbergh, 2014)
Rooney Mara is sad as her hubby is in jail for insider trading. How she copes with this unfolds in Soderbergh's usual stately pace. Worth a look as it didn't turn out the way I expected.

Watched Time Without Pity (1952, Joseph Losey)
A cast of stalwarts in a tale of revenge and boozing. Twas on Talking Pictures etc. Recommended, if only to see Rumpole with dyed blond hair!!!

Catch 22 (Mike Nichols, 1970)
Sprawling adaptation of Joseph Heller's wartime novel. Quite grim in places, lived up to the memory.

Psycho (1960, Hitch)
Whilst Peeping Tom is still the sicker film, this is just a unique piece of cinema. Arbogast's demise still a highlight for me. As this was the blu that I received as a late Xmas pressie, it looks sharp enough on my crappy tv haha.

This is a spoiler filled article about Suicide Squad, but when the piece is called 'The 16 most ridiculous moments in Suicide Squad' you know you're barking up the wrong street making films :lol:

The 16 most ridiculous moments in Suicide Squad

I still hate this film :thankingyou:

Scarface (1983)

****1/2 out of *****


The Nice Guys (2016)

**** out of *****

Just about to head to the cinema to watch this oh well its only €5 tonight so no loss if its that bad.

Really looking forward to watching Nice Guys looks good from the trailers.

Playing catch up # 1
 

Se7en (1995)

Nobody expected a director who to date had only made one film, the at the time deemed failure Alien 3, and a couple of music videos for Aerosmith and Madonna, to hit home with one of cinemas modern classics. However David Fincher did just that, and to my mind has never come close to bettering this still shocking thriller.

I recall seeing it at the cinema and being wowed from the sinister, in fact downright unnerving, opening credits scored by Nine Inch Nails to the earth shattering climax and everything in between. Although truth be told i don't think the film really clicks into gear until Detective Mills ( a career best Brad Pitt for me) inadvertently invites at odds partner Somerset(Morgan Freeman) round for tea thanks to wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. The scenes of getting to know you are every bit as vital to the film hitting home with it's final gut punch as any of John Doe (Kevin Spacey's) ingenious ways of inflicting death and torture via the seven deadly sins.

Still as remarkable 21 years later as it was in 1995. If you haven't watched it for a while go and give yourself a treat. Films like this don't come around that often.

It was a joy to watch. Excellent stuff.

I watched half of it other night, and wasnt expecting much but pleasantly surprised i enjoyed what i saw. Watch other half in day or two when got time.