Is the poster not showing up?

It does for me. That's all that matters really. :lol:

The Prestige (2006)

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are two stage magicians who engage in competitive one-upmanship in an attempt to create the ultimate stage illusion.

In the midst of his Batman trilogy director Christopher Nolan unleashed this piece of wizardry on the world. Albeit less celebrated than Gotham's superhero i do think this is the better film.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, i think it's a film well worth searching out. It has fantastic production design, a glorious 1899 setting, David Bowie and illusions galore.

The Prestige is one of those films where the viewer is endlessly searching for clues and tricks as to what is unfolding before our eyes but as Michael Caine says during the opening, "Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled". And that is why i much preferred it second time round - it's best not to get too involved as first time round i found it all rather disappointing but a repeat viewing, albeit a decade later, and everything fit perfectly into place.

Probably my favourite Nolan film. :nod:

The book by Christopher Priest is well worth seeking out too.

The Dead Zone (1983)

**** out of *****


The Fly (1986)

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

King Arthur (2004)

Dismissing much of Arthurian lore - no Camelot, no wizardry etc, Clive Owen headlines a strong cast in director Antoine Fuqua's audition of The Magnificent Seven.

Huge battles ensue including a breathtaking set piece on a frozen lake in this hugely enjoyable take on one of Britain's greatest myths.

Went to see Under The Shadow (2015, Babak Anvari)
at the DCA in Dundee. Whilst more conventionally a "horror" film than A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, this is still well worth a look. Strict adherence to dogma makes us less human, something....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHVFP80Upxw

.....which led me to a rewatch of

The VVitch (2015, Robert Eggers)
At mates request, as he desired to bear witness to the film. Terrifying in a very subtle manner, I feel I may play the Amer card here to dig me out of a hole AHEM. Reevaluation of the year! ;)

White Settlers (2014, Simeon Halligan)
Whilst it appealed to my very black sense of humor, this is more or less a UK version of any number of redneck films. Will await its arrival on THC shortly haha.

City 40 (2016, Samira Goetschel)
Harrowing documentary about one of Russia's "closed cities" ,filmed secretly in Ozersk. Watched this to get the taste of

Twisted F*cking Sister!(Andrew Horn)
out of my mind. Strictly for fans. Of which I'm not.

There will be more, but now I have to go and cough up a lung, as i contracted Bronchial fever whilst on holiday...

Get well soon, D! :nod:

Really good reviews, Demoncrat. I hope the bronchial fever is short lived and you are back to full health shortly.

Cough indeed haha. Due to my strict diet of fags and one piece of fruit a year, I hath only myself to blame, thanks to both for wishing me well...let's see how long I last this time haha....

Watched
The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015)
Really wish that I hadn't put up the trailer for this a while back, as it best gone into blind I now feel. I recommend this highly.

The Legend Of Barney Thompson (2016, Robert Carlyle)
Begbie's directorial debut is a wee stoater by ra wie. Or....this film is an accomplished piece of work (for all the sassenachs on here ;))

Three more FF ers....
Creep (2014, Patrick Brice)
A job is a job, yes? Well, watch who is paying you. Similarities with Enduring Love not withstanding, this wrong footed me at the point where I was just about to shrug mentally, suspend that disbelief and watch a very odd wee film.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident (2013, Renny Harlin)
Yes, that is Mr Geena Davis at the helm. A group of Americans blithely wander about where they really shouldn't in this slightly creepy tale. Unsolved mystery reexamined? Check. Foreshadowing ignored? Check.
Cheeky wee ending though, so it rises above the mire slightly.

Invoked (2015, Rosa/Mendes)
A group of 20somethings go to an island for a weekend break, but it's them who get broken haha. Look, the cardinal rule here is.....If there is an ancient legend which involves trapped spirits do not hold a seance!!! Sheesh etc. Some nice touches, but strictly for FFFans.

After I've stopped laughing, I will let you all know what I thought of Blair Witch ;):laugh::rolleyes:

Ignoring the 3 I saw in February. COUGH!!! :behindsofa:

BACK FROM HELL – Gnarly post-Evil Dead flick from director Matt Jaissle. 'Back From Hell' is the tale of a priest and his old friend, an actor who made it big in Hollywood before becoming a prolific serial killer after a satanic ceremony went wrong. You know the way it goes. I'm not sure about the 'big in Hollywood' thing, though – he looks like he'd be more at home delivering pizza in 1985 or something. But he does seem to have an enormous cellar full of cadavers. 'Back From Hell' is not a shot-on-video flick, but it does have a very similar aesthetic. That is, it's an obvious labour of love made in a backyard by someone who had yet to fully develop a grasp of cinematic basics. So it's disjointed and all over the place, and doesn't make a lick of sense. On one level. But in another way, and unlike a lot of similar ultra lo fi productions, 'Back From Hell' conjures up a very definite and consistent atmosphere, a world unto itself if you like. Murky 16mm phtography takes us into a realm of grungy interiors and dilapidated exteriors. Bleak looking houses in desolate countryside locations loom up. People sit and read the bible accompanied by over-loud clock ticking sounds and the meaow of a cat on a tape loop. It's these incidentals that give 'Back From Hell' real flavour, somehow. Of course there's the gore and the horror stuff, strung together by a plot line that gradually pales and fades like seaweed in the depths and doesn't really open up too much meaning to the viewer. It's something to do with occult stuff, things happen, a hand reaches out of said bible and grabs priest's face, someone goes in a house. On a slightly different note, Hollywood guy slashes a bum's throat, then rips out his larynx and throws it in the face of another bum who has the audacity to raise concern over his pal's demise. Contemptuous or what? Sometimes that's all you need when you're giving it to The Man. Matt Jaissle went on to do bad taste anti-classic 'The Necro Files' and a couple of others. This is good stuff for lovers of yesteryear's bargain basement fan cinema slime. Currently out on Massacre Video.

Another sterling review F. Though in my current state, Genevieve would look the same I feel :laugh:

THE BOY – Mainstream horror in which a babysitter is hired by a rich couple to look after their 'kid', a porcelain doll. Scenes of Lauren Cohan coming to grips with the fact she's supposed to care for an inanimate object and gradually being seduced into the role are quite interesting, and it's well put together from start to finish. The 'finish' in question is unfortunately a bit wack in some ways, as the film takes a detour away from the psychological / supernatural and into sort-of slasher territory. Fine, but that could all have been amped up a bit more, made a bit more sickly given the rich couple's ultimate designs. But it's just not that kind of movie. As it stands, it's vaguelly intriguing with a few creepy bits and some nice atmosphere, and manages reasonably well to entertain.

GREEN ROOM – From the maker of 'Blue Ruin'. 'Green Room' carries forward that film's approach, which basically involves giving genre filmmaking a semi art-house spin, so really 'Green Room' does for siege movies what 'Blue Ruin' did for the humble revenge flick. Here we have some broke punks who end up playing a gig at some kind of neo-nazi hang-out on the edge of town. The band start out by blasting the DK's 'Nazi Punks F*ck Off' at a bunch of skins, but it goes from bad to worse for them when they stumble upon a murder scene and find that head fascist Patrick Stewart has them trapped back stage. A very good movie which has one foot in action thriller territory but plays out more like a certain kind of American indie flick, with a sort of cryptic, languid feel to it even when the blood starts to spurt. Recommended.

Vampyros Lesbos (1970)

One of Jess Franco's most infamous films. It stars the gorgeous Soledad Miranda who entices women to her island home via exotic and erotic striptease acts at a club. Once there she ensnares them in with her vampiric will and drinks their bolod in order to live forever.

I've got to be honest and say plot wise there really isn't an awful lot going on. The lovely Ewa Stroemberg is lured to the isolated island in the Med, is seduced by the countess and no one including Dennis Price and Franco regular Paul Muller can work out what is wrong with her.

However the lure of Vampyros Lesbos isn't the story, it's everything else. For the Spanish maverick Franco has created a surreal melancholic poem about vampiric loneliness. There's plenty of erotica although perhaps not as much as the films title might suggest. Far from pounding the viewer into submission with endless zoom shots of hairy sexuality, Franco is far more subtle, intercutting scorpions, moths and kites in the sky with the lingering moments of sensuality.

The film's soundtrack is a joy. Thick with hedonistic eastern influences and jazz and rock motifs, it's skillfully integrated into the film carefully toying with the ears and mind as Franco's sumptuous visuals work their way into our conscious. Coming across like a fever dream, Vampyros Lesbos is recommended late night viewing.

The UK dvd from Second Sight is beautifully restored and looks stunning.

Off to see Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in the next half hour and if itwe not to late when I get back going to watch the extended cut of th shining.

Enjoy!

I would have thought you'd be watching the shorter cut though, what with missing the 'e' off. ;)

Didn't get too see Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children as there were no seats left when we got there. So just went for something to eat and a drink.

Now watching the shining. Forgotten how much I hate the Shelly duval character what a bitch, no jury would find anyone guilty if they killed her.I really can't remember her being so annoying in the book.

:pound:Just one of the reasons I enjoy the book so much more than the film!

I am one of those who doesn't really get their hate for Wendy in Kubrick's film, seeing her as a victim in an abusive relationship with an atypical child.

She completely ruins it for me.

Hills have eyes

Not really much to say that hasn't been said. Arrows reastoration is a big step up imo. It still looks like a rough and ready 16mm independent horror and the print damage is still present but the colours look terrific, there's more detail apparant in scenes and manages to feel like an improvment that still retains the grimey, home made feel to the action.

She doesn't completely ruin it but she is easily the worst thing about the film. God knows why she was cast. She's irritating in everything I've seen her in.

I haven't read the Shining book,but I always assumed she was annoying and whiny and nagging and this was what pushed Jack over the edge,that and the booze,ghostly children,wrinkly old ladies and an axe of course.

The Undertow (2003)

Six friends go on a weekend canoe trip and arrive at the strange town of Old Mines. When they refuse to move on soon, the mayor releases the Boy, a 7-foot-tall deformed creature who enjoys tearing people to shreds.

From producer Eric Stanze (Scrapbook) and starring that films Emily Haack, The Undertow is a grimy throwback to the old Friday the 13th films especially as 'the boy' wears a sack over his head ala Jason in F13p2.

Although it takes an age to get going the acting for this type of film is pretty good. Some scenes go on way too long, the sheriff sequence on the road for one, but once 'the boy' is loose The Undertow is a quite satisfying low budget slasher film.

For very low budget film making The Undertow has good cinematography, memorable music and even better gore effects. In no way is it as sleazy as Scrapbook but some sequences such as 'the boy' playing with a half dead girl as if she were a doll are not for the squeamish.

The Undertow isn't for everyone, it's too grungy for that, but those who like their gore should enjoy the goings on here.

MUTILATIONS – Yesterday's real bargain basement stuff, especially from the seventies, eighties and nineties, tended to go two ways. Either you got really unabashed, punkish weirdness with no aspiration to conventional cinema – e.g 'Black Devil Doll From Hell', 'Alien Beasts' etc etc – or you got the kind of film made by, I guess, 'amateur professionals', the sort of people who didn't necessarily burn with outsider visions, but just wanted to do a good job to the best of their abilities. 'Mutilations' is in the latter category. It's the story of a college professor, his students, some cattle mutilations and some bad-ass aliens. You can probably tell already where it's going – professor and students head out into the wilds and before long they're trapped in a house by an unconvincing creature with a rubbish space craft. See, minimal resources, minimal story, it's kind of fitting. 'Mutilations' is awful. But it might be the kind of 'awful' that tickles your imagination. The performances, for a start: the level of actorly expression here is so deficient that everyone involved wouldn't seem out of place in some kind of specialist clinic. Wooden isn't the word. Blank isn't the word. I'm searching for the word, but it isn't coming. Already, 'Mutilations' is feeling like a whole world unto itself. The actual sci-fi horror aspects, the alien stuff, it's all pretty badly done, but it's the kind of 'analogue badness' that warms the cockles of today's movie geeks. I'm talking about rubbishly rendered stop motion claymation, lame but absolutely laboured over. Look, where else can you see a heavily mutilated plasticene cow flap about whilst everyone involved in the same scene suddenly becomes part of a really crude back-projection? Yes, they used back projection as a way of fitting in their obviously scaled down models, and it sucks, but it looks so strange. Will it take you out of the movie? I don't know if anyone can 'get inside' a movie like 'Mutilations'. In as much as a really well made, engaging film can become an immersive experience where you almost forget about real time, films like 'Mutilations' are the opposite, objects to be contemplated and beheld from the outside, films which have their own internal logic but which don't really ever let you 'in' because they seem too artificial – at every turn, the badness reminds you that you're watching a movie. 'Mutilations' might be badness personified, but it's at the very least endearing, and maybe for some (including me), really enjoyable. As with all films whose badness is so obvious that it has a distorting effect, you're never quite sure whether you've been had, whether it's all kind of deliberate, an attempt at camp. Is it ever OK for an old dude with a shotgun to yell “eat my biscuits, blood sucker” at a feeble plasticene alien before opening fire? Moments like that seem a bit too knowing, and make you question everything you've witnessed. After all, it's hard to truly like a bad film which is intended that way. But I'll defintely give 'Mutilations' the benefit of the doubt on that one.

:lol:

The Undertow seems like a huge studio production in comparison. Wouldn't surprise me if it had less money behind it though.

You're probably right. 'Mutilations' was shot on 16mm in the mid eighties, way before the era of readily available digital video. These days, you can make something for absolute peanuts and still give it a professional sheen, in some ways.

I'm not sure The Undertow has any sort of sheen. :lol:

I'm surprised you haven't seen it, Frankie. I presumed films like Scrapbook, Ice From the Sun, and I Spit on Your Corpse, I Piss on Your Grave would be in your collection already.

I generally like Eric Stanze films, being a fan of grungy camcorder destitution. I guess he's getting bigger budgets these days, but only by a little. I particularly dug 'Ice From The Sun' when I saw it years ago. Perhaps I should reacquaint myself, because I'm not sure whether I enjoyed the idea more than the reality if you know what I mean, and I seem to remember that it's a bit of a sit-through if you're just wanting to be mindlessly entertained, which, these days, increasingly, I am. Have never seen the uncut 'Scrapbook', although obviously I'm aware of its small scale notoriety. ISOYCIPOYG lies unwatched in a carrier bag at the back of one of my cupboards, and I think that's probably fitting from what I've heard.

I have got the uncut Scrapbook and it's a pretty grueling affair. I watched the six or seven trailers on the Undertow disc and thought ISOYCIPOYG looked rather good in an extremely sleazy way. I haven't seen Ice From the Sun. The trailer looked a bit amateur hour if i'm honest.

Me and my eldest son just watched this, first time for him, second for me and it does work better on a repeat viewing, much like the Book of Eli, great film.

The Russia House. Sean Connery is an author who gets a very intimate letter from a Russian woman (Michelle Pfieffer) he's never even met, along with a book purporting to expose Russian defence secrets, and soon finds himself embroiled in espionage. Well acted and moderately entertaining spy drama, if a bit on the slow side.

Deepwater Horizon

A solidly made disaster movie telling the real life story about the worst oil rig disaster in history. If your going to watch it its worth considering a trip to the pictures as the films disaster sequences are very well realised and work as pure spectacle on the big screen. How well the film plays on repeat viewings remains to be seen.

Satans blood

Out with their dog Blackie, a young couple are approached by another couple, the husband insisting they know each other from college. In spite of drawing a blank the couple decide to head out into the middle of nowhere to an old mansion. Pretty soon we are in the hairy 70's sex, satanic rituals and murdered pets. The film is a lot of fun and manages to create a weird dream-like atmosphere which becomes a nightmare near the end. The UK Blu-ray is decent quality and gives the option to play with or without the odd into where some sleazy looking professor discusses satanism.

Black Candles

A horror film that ditches a lot of its horror plot and plays more as a sleazy soft core porno with some added goat shagging and satansim. Its pretty filthy but fun if you don't mind a film where almost every scene descends into some kind of 70's hairy shag fest.


Those who inhabit the dark

A bunch of rich doctors and businessmen head into the country to a large mansion to have a Marquis de sade themed weekend. The group (including Paul Naschy) are about to get down to business when nuclear war is triggered. Realising they are in a sweet position given the mansion has a cellar that would make a perfect fallout shelter the group decides to head into town to round up some supplies. Discovering that the townsfolk are all blind due to the nuclear flash, the group begin looting and when the locals object they end up killing some of them. Far from helpless however the blind townsfolk descend on the mansion looking for revenge.
It's a decent post apocalyptic thriller that plays as an allegory of class warfare as the wealthy seize all the goods and the townsfolk stage a revolution to get it back. Code reds blu looks a little iffy but I'm led to belive the materials are in a poor shape.


A Candle for the devil

A pair of spinsters overcome by moral outrage begin killing off young women guests who dont correspond to their moral standards. One of the victims sister (played by Judy Geeson) starts getting suspicious, but as she wears pantsuits and doesn't appear to get pissed the Whitehouse sisters (not their real names) struggle to find reasons to kill her off. Things come to a head as the sisters continue their moral crusade and Geeson decides to catch them in the act.
candle is a great little horror that skewers the moral hypocrisy of Francos spain, with the ultra conservative catholic facists killing off anything that faails to match their impossible standards. Director Eugino martin also made the excellent horror express.

Watched a couple of oddities, The Interior (2015, Trevor Juras), about a young man who needs to find some purpose in life and decides to "rough it" in the great outdoors. Possibly the new It Follows?? Tee hee.
Then I perused Lake Mungo (2008, Joel Anderson) which is another mockumentary film about the ghost of a young woman who seems to return after a swimming accident??

This is in amongst watching the 3rd series of Penny Dreadful and that Preacher "thing". :behindsofa:

Yet again, you've sold me, even if I have a really nagging feeling that I have seen it??
Curse my drunken binges :whip:
See also TU cough

Started my 31 days of unseen Horror and watched both of these so far will do some reviews when i get home. I have not picked my film for tonight yet.

Attachment 183239 Attachment 183240

Film no.1

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A medical student goes on a journey in a search of a secluded beach that her recently deceased mother talked about when she was younger in an attempt to bring her closer to the spirit of her mother. When he is dropped of by a local her friend texts her saying that she has hooked up with a random guy and will not be joining her on the most personal and emotional part of the trip. Undeterred Nancy heads out on her board to surf the same waves her mother surfed many years before. Whilst just sitting on her board floating on the water Nancy is overcome by peace and tranquillity and a feeling of closeness to her mother she has not felt since she passed away. But these feelings of joy don't last long when not far from shore Nancy is attacked by a great white shark only metres from the shore. She manages to swim to a small cluster of rocks but she is only safe until the high tide comes.

With an influx of stupid shark movies over the last few years like robo-octo-zombie-ghost-shark-da-puss i was excited to see an actual real shark movie and right off the bat i was pretty impressed the acting was solid granted there are only a few actors but the few that were in on show were very convincing especially Nancy she really made you believe her pain ,fear,isolation and desperation. But the honeymoon period was short lived and what started out as a survival against one of nature's most deadliest predators just became ridiculous the jellyfish scene being one of the most ridiculous but i'll say no more to avoid spoilers.

The Shallows gets a 6/10 the first two acts are really good and interesting but sadly the third act was a major let down after such a promising start.

Are you not enjoying preacher and if not why the hell not, its fantastic probably my favourite new show