Let Us Prey (2014)

*** out of *****

Blood bath. 6.1/10

Gremlins 9.4/10

Hellraiser 9.3/10

Wizard of gore 7.5/10

Testament of Youth (2015)

Based on the First World War memoir of Vera Brittain which became the classic testimony of that war from a woman’s point of view.

Beginning as a light romp, this film of how a group of young people's lives were shattered by the onset of the First World War grows steadily darker from the forty minute mark. The main cast - Alicia Vikander, Taron Egerton, Kit Harrington and Colin Morgan - are all outstanding as is the direction which flits the film about but keeps it all easily on track as we are taken deep into a young woman's world of love, loss, despair and horror as she becomes a nurse at the British front line in France.

Despite the slushy romantic aspect of the movie poster, Testament of Youth isn't a simpering portrayal of lost love and aching hearts, it's a devastating account of the horrors of war. One scene in particular i found extremely chilling. Early on Vera opens a newspaper to a page with a headline saying 'Lost in Combat' The broadsheet is full of names, as she turns the page the list continues, and continues. No blood, no gore, yet far more horrific.

Powerful and moving, Testament of Youth is another prime example of fine British film making.

I also thought this was a fine piece of filmmaking and a very affecting story. My mum read the book for her book group and I'm sure she skipped through bits because it was a bit too 'wordy' and a book of its time, and not particularly accessible and easy to read. As such, the adaptation for the screenplay does a great job with the material.

About to start deliverance which I have never seen before

Been years since ive seen but great film.

Mothers Day (1980)

Having previously seen the remake starring Rebecca De Mornay and found it passable but nothing more it was with interest i approached 88 Film's newish release of the original so called slasher classic.

Troma aren't my favourite film company i find their releases often quickly become too silly for my taste and sadly Mothers Day was no exception. Following a nicely grim beginning in which we are introduced to the murderous mother we soon meet her two sons, and this is where the film goes from reasonable horror to OTT silliness.

Owing more to Hooper's classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) than any slasher film, Mothers Day goes down the dysfunctional family route but not in the dark black humour of the original, this is more like the buffoonery of the sequels. Mothers two sons are basically shouting, gurning inbred idiots which i found extremely off putting and any horror was soon negated due to the clowning about. It's only in the later scenes does any tension arise but by this stage it's too late and the film is beyond redemption.

What do the rest of you think about Mothers Day?

Found it average its enjoyable but nothing special.

What treb said.

I really like it and much prefer it to the remake. That said, it has been a while since I watched the 88 Films release, so should added to the list of discs which are overdue another spin.

I like it, however it's far from being a top-tier slasher.

It's the inbred brothers with their blacked out teeth acting goofy that annoyed me more than anything.

Oh and the initial scene in the car. The young couple were going to murder the old woman by strangling her with a chord. Did they not notice she had a neck brace tight on, meaning that would have failed straight away. :lol:

Monster a gogo 7/10

The eternal 5.1/10

Deliverance 8/10

Since when were slashers realistic?! :D

Yeah, the brothers' goofiness does get a little tiresome at times. As Troma-fare goes though Mother's Day is definitely one of their better efforts - and this is coming from someone who could generally be considered a Troma fan!

I think you'll definitely be okay in reference to that HGL set, treb.

Monster A Go-Go is by far one of the worst of the bunch.

Only 5.1 out of 10 for the balmy The Eternal, Treb?

Smoke or drink something then give it another go. :lol:

I do think it would help to be drunk or high while watching it, but my score should be 6.1 not 5.1

Clearly i wasn't suggesting being high or drunk would help.

I meant a cigarette or a drink of milk. :nod: :lol: ;)

It had scenes which made you feel like you where high/drunk. Very trippy/ surreal in places

Was going to watch the mist but you have to be in the right frame of mind for that one, so something a bit more lighthearted some Lois and Clark

Eddie The Eagle.

Much better than i ever thought it was going to be. It was truly at times funny at others moving and always entertaining. A gem of a film. 10/10.

I didn't think they ever intended to kill her? It seemed to me a very amateurish attempt at misdirection.

Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)

**** out of *****


The Last Boy Scout (1991)

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

GHOSTHOUSE – Italian horror movies are renowned for ripping off anything with box office potential and a pulse, but what is the inspiration behind Umberto Lenzi's 'Ghosthouse'? Some might suggest that it's a typically clumsy attempt to knock together bits of 'Poltergeist', 'Amityville', maybe even Fulci's own 'House by the Cemetery'. But from where I'm sitting, the influence of the infinitely creepier UK TV Testcard is more in evidence. Maybe I'm stretching things a bit, but there's definitely a sinister little girl and a clown doll in it, and, in what has to be a deliberate act of homage, they do at one point appear on a TV screen. A hack like Lenzi couldn't be expected to mine the depths of such satanic potential, but maybe he doesn't have to. Dolls, particularly clown dolls, are just freaky anyway. Anyway, going back to the theme of 'stretching things a bit', we have the plot of 'Ghosthouse' to consider. It involves a radio enthusiast who picks up an SOS message which, it turns out, happens to come from the house with the sinister child / doll combo in it. Not only that – the message came from the future! How? Why? Haven't you ever heard of telepathy, or something? I think a character actually says that at one point. Or he might have used the word 'telekinisis' instead, but he definitely didn't say “some things happen for reasons of pure plot device only, biatch”. Anyway, we're introduced to various people who serve little purpose other than as fodder for death scenes, as exemplified by the presence of an annoying hitchhiker who fills his three minutes of screen time with weirdly pointless practical jokes before being iced off screen (his dying form appears in a doorway near the end, by which point I imagine the viewer will haveforgotten he was ever even in it). 'Ghosthouse' doesn't do badly in terms of cheap gore, but makes the mistake of laying down its strongest hand right at the beginning, with a pretty bloody double murder which has a distinctly Fulci-esque vibe to it. Apart from this kind of thing, the main attraction, as with most Italian horror rips, is the ad hoc bizarreness. There's quite a bit of it, enough to carry the audience through the many sequences marked 'has light doze potential'. When they're not yapping (endlessly), people fall into vats of milky acid, flail around in rooms full of feathers and toys, are menaced by maggot-faced apparitions. There's a creepy nursery rhyme which appears to be played by the doll, and a completely bizarre shot of a rocking horse partially blocking the view of someone who's been cut in half. All kind of non-sequitors, but all necessary in a carnivalesque sort of way. The acting is as wooden as hell, particularly a dude who looks like a young Steve Coogan (he's the guy who died in the future or something). For those who want quality thesps, Dr Butcher himself Don O'Brian is at hand, mugging his way through the film as a sort of inconsequential slasher killer. This all adds to the creeping atmosphere of unreality conjured by 'Ghosthouse'. That's 'unreality' as in simply fake, by the way. There's nothing by way of scares, suspense, or 'real horror', whatever that is. But anyone interested in watching 'Ghosthouse' will know that anyway, and will just get off on the synthetic weirdness of it all. Another one where the otherwise sorry looking Vipco release has a suspiciously good pq.

Brilliant!

I spent half the afternoon deliberating on this film.

I noticed Lenzi's House of Lost Souls going cheap on Music Magpie and thought i owned it because it mentions the head in the washing machine, however after searching my collection for a film that doesn't exist i realized it was Ghosthouse where i'd seen that scene.

From the sound of things Lenzi even ripped himself off, with House of Lost Souls sounding like clone of Ghosthouse.

Anyway i ordered House of Lost Souls after the search. I bet i do own the bloody thing, i just can't locate it and it certainly ain't with the other films in the House series.

I've seen all the 'House' films. Thinking about them now, they're all really weird, although I have to admit I can't remember a thing about 'House of Lost Souls'. 'Ghosthouse' is just tuned into its own reality. My review sounds a bit harsh, but I really like it. That Fulci one, 'House of Sweet Horrors' or whatever it's called, takes the cake for sheer oddness though.

I also like them all. I love how you say Ghosthouse is tuned into it's own reality. To me they all are. All very odd. Wild gore and a weird tv movie vibe with atrocious dubbing of course.

I was on a bit of a VIPCO trash style binge this afternoon. I also ordered Bava's Graveyard Disturbance. Lamberto not Mario. It would be ridiculous to think Mario could make a film as shit as that. A film i've owned three times previously and ditched three times too. However i got the urge to pick it up again. I always think it won't be so bad this time around, but i'm sure it will be. Still, i've sworn to keep hold of this copy no matter what. :behindsofa:

Thinking of checking out 'Graveyard Disturbance' myself, as it's one piece of late eighties Italo shite that I haven't actually seen. Although your history with it doesn't seem to bode well.

It's all really promising until the demons appear, then it's like watching and being scared of dancing zombie Smurfs.

Wonder if i can cancel that order? :confused:

Recent watch involves,

Streets of fire
Class of 84
10 Rillington place
Bad boys, prison version not the action version,
Kez
Futureworld
Assault on precint 13


Plus other films.
These are the type of films that make me debate on no matter how good films are todays (even tho i think most aren't) they just dont hold up and make them like they use to

Z

Based on real events the film boldy declares any similarities to real people or events is intentional. It begins with a political rally where a left wing candidate is assasinated, the authorities try to paint it as a tragic accident however an autopsy is orderd and points towards a deliberate assault. The film then follows the investigations of the investigative magistrate (Jean-louis Trintignant) who begins to realise the death is actually an assasination by a right wing military junta looking to seize power.
Z is an incredible, documentary style thriller that feels inspired by The battle of Algiers in its approach and has to have had some inspiration on new wave Hollywood directors like william Friedkin. The Australian DVD from Umbrella looks great and is region free and should actually be affordable. Well worth picking up.

The French connection

Decided to double bill Z with this. Like Z it takes a documentary style approach to delivering the story as we follow Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) following through a case on gut instinct and uncovering a huge Heroin deal. I don't really need to sell this to anyone as most people here will have seen it but if your multi region then grab the Filmakers signature series release as its great, though its worth keeping hold of the UK release for the Mark Kermode documentary.

I recently re-watched Graveyard Disturbance (check my last 'in depth' (;)) post in this thread) and rather enjoyed revisiting it.

Hopefully you fare better this time around Dem.

Also, as we're on late '80s made for TV Italo-horror you need to check out Dinner with a Vampire if you haven't already too. ;)

Hmmm!

Is there something you need to tell us?

Ill let you ponder on that thought :tongue1:
I say to much at times on here as it is, and then get bullied and picked on for it :lol:
Maybe i should say less :lol:

Estranged (2015, Adam Levine)
Twas on THC. Couple on holiday suffer a road accident which leaves one of them with amnesia. Returning to the family home to recuperate, the reception they receive isn't the warmest.....quite gripping up to a point.

The Unfolding (2015, Eugene McGing)
Another FF film. Don't go haha. Couple investigate paranormal shenanigans on Dartmoor. Some nice locations bolster this tale of revenge from beyond. I felt they could have made more of the backstory chiming with the events they witness, as the ending lead me to believe???

Devils Of War (2013, Eli Dorsey)
Prime piece of exploitation. In that, even though tis only 70 odd minutes, there is padding, excruciating dialogue of the "We zink you have ze answer, Tommy!" variety, hot blonde nazi babes, and a racist character!! Well worth the £1 I paid for it haha.

Unlike.....SAS: Black Ops (Rishi Thaker, 2014)
A film that has serious pacing problems. Decent enough story, but all in all twas NOT worth the £1 haha. Aka Slaughter Is The Best Medicine

Supernova (2000, Walter Hill!!)
Burroughs was right. We cannot go into space whilst dragging our human failings with us. The back story with this film is far more interesting...so go check that out ahem.

MI 2 (200, John Woo)
Mate gave me a few R1 discs a while back, this is one of them. One of the few Woo films I've avoided due to the Cruiser. Wish this had remained the case. Ok, so tis the PG13 cut I've watched, which is shorn of some action sequences, I presume? Certainly the gunplay looked "toned down". Exciting set pieces abound, which is par for the course, but if I never see it again.......

I haven't seen Dinner with a Vampire.

As far as i'm aware Mya are the only company to have released it, and Mya being Mya i was always dubious. I notice there are multiple versions about but not all are English friendly. There's a Czech release at a very good price but has no mention of English language tracks.

I have the Mya disc and it is pretty good (for Mya anyway!)

I added it to my wishlist earlier so when the Pound performs a bit better i'll order it.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)

Although he didn't direct the film this remake of a 1973 tv movie bares all the hall marks of producer / script writer Guillermo del Toro. From it's atmospheric opening and it's creepy mansion with foreboding grounds all decked out in gorgeous Autumnal colours it's unmistakably del Toro...or Tim Burton.

The story is a familiar tale of an architect (Guy Pearce) moving into a new old house with his girlfriend (Katie Holmes) and young daughter ( Bailee Madison) a house they are restoring. It's not long before odd things happen to the daughter and there seems to be something living in the basement putting everyone in danger.

The film has a mix of tension, playfulness, and sudden shocks, somewhat akin to 1987's Dolls and the whole thing has a lovely Gothic fairy tale horror feel to it even with the reveal of what resides in the basement. However the final outcome is rather downbeat and decidedly darker and scarier than what precedes it.

I don't know how this was received on release but i have to say i was pleasantly surprised at how much i enjoyed the film.