Indeed. God knows how many times I've watched the restored version. Its the benchmark as far as I'm concerned. :clap:

Child's Play 2 (1990)

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


The Prowler (1981)

*** out of *****

TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA -Not seen this since early dvd days.
I found it quite a chore to sit through.
On rewatching it,being older and wiser now,:wise: I found it an entertaining piece of filmmaking,and another great performance from Petersen,from Manhunter; who deserved to go on to bigger and better things in his career.

And he certainly did that. :nod:

Watching this in preparation for tomorrow when the game comes out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htnkOpknGok

Pacific Rim. On my first viewing of this a year or so ago, i wondered how someone making a film about giant robots fighting godzilla-alikes could ever make a boring film out of it - and it did lag for me on first watching. So i decided to watch it again to see if my initial feelings were correct. Well, i'm glad to report that i found the second viewing to be more fun than the first. The film still has an awful script though, and the characters have ridiculous names, and Idris Elba heroically spouts nonsense with a straight face - "Today we is cancellin' the apocalypse innit!" (Well, i'm paraphrasing ;)).

There are so many holes in this film that even for a detach the brain film, i feel it kinda fails. When we are introduced to the last lot of jaegers (the robots), the Chinese one is introduced as the "best we have", the Russian one as "a tank" and the Aussie one as the "fastest". Then within ten minutes all of that is proved false and the rubbish one that is obsolete is the best of the lot that uses a weapon as a last resort that proves to be the best weapon we see in the film...(Why haven't you used it as a first resort you numpties!)

Anyhoo, i can never say that it's a good film (sorry fans), but it was markedly better second time around than on first viewing.

Interesting, I found it to be over stylized pap limply suckling on the Simpson/Bruckheimer teat. And it's made me reevaluate The bleedin' Guardian ahem.:laugh:

Watched 3 Veronica Lake films....proper review to follow.....;)

A Long Ride from Hell (Vivo per la tua Morte)
 

A Long Ride from Hell (Vivo per la tua Morte)


Attachment 184583


More famous for playing the muscle bound Greek hero Hercules, Steve Reeves final film before he retired was A Long Ride From Hell, Apparently according to the world wide web of lies and half un-truths Reeves was originally offered the man with no name role before Clint, but scoffed at the idea that the Italians could make a western.DOHHH. Also rumour has it ,he was offered James Bond role for Dr No,but turned it down due to not being offered enough money, whether it was true or not, both franchises would of been extremely different to say the least.((do not blame me if these facts are not true ,society is to blame). A Long Ride from Hell which for its German DVD release has been given the Django moniker, no doubt done to jump on the Django Unchained band wagon a few years ago, where it seemed every spaghetti western pot boiler was re-released and given the name Django. The plot is as light weight as a paper house, some guff about Reeves cattle being stolen,so him and his younger brother Ivan Scratuglia as Roy Sturges,go looking for the thieves, then get accused of being mixed up with a train robbery,and get sentenced and sent to Yuma State Penitentiary. Yeah you guessed it Reeves escapes prison and sets out to get revenge on those who have wronged him. For me i am so use to a seeing a certain style of film making, whether it be Leone or Sergio Corbucci,that anything else pales into comparison, and while its work man like direction from Camillo Bazzoni is pretty good, he has none of the style or flare of any of the previous spaghetti westerns, in fact it is so generic looking it could of been filmed any where.Steve Reeves who obviously looks ripped when he takes his shirt off,as he does in the rock breaking scene, is no Eastwood or Franco Nero,but he can do the quiet squinting into the middle distance while looking mean and moody as good as anyone else. Its a shame Reeves retired from film making after this,as he does have some noticeable screen presence but I don't think he was suited to the western genre,maybe a spy perhaps??

QUEEN OF BLOOD – The follow up to 'Blood for Irina' by ex-Fangoria guy, Chris Alexander. Like that film, 'Queen of Blood' seems to be going for a Euro-ambience as it unfolds its tale of... some kind of vampire, I guess, who wanders around in a forest and kills a few people. Note my flagrant misuse of the word 'tale' in that last sentence, because 'Queen of Blood' has no real narrative at all (and no dialogue, for that matter). Oh well, I'm not going to change it now. 'Queen of Blood' will probably not be for everyone, and maybe especially not for those who like a bit of story to go with their visuals. The film does manage to build up a hypnotic quality through repetition, and the central image that gets thrown at the viewer time and time again is that of Irina the vampire (Shauna Henry, who has a really haunting face) ripping out the throats of her victims to a backdrop of droney electronic music. She's either doing that or mooching about really slooowly. Oh, and that guy from Skinny Puppy's in it too, as some kind of unpleasant preacher type figure. If none of this sounds very inviting, it quite possibly isn't, but lovers of freaky weirdness should give it a go because after a while it does feel quite 'narcotic'. It's aesthetics are a bit knackered though, with a cheap digital harshness in place of the lovely seventies saturated graininess that maybe went on in the filmmakers' heads. Or maybe that just makes it even more 'interesting'. Again, a film that I probably can't recommend to all comers, but the curious might get their reward (or might feasibly never want to watch anything that isn't by Michael Bay ever again).

DR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES – I'd waited ages to see a 'proper' version of this Walerian Borowczyk film, so of course I rushed down to the video emporium like everyone else when I heard Arrow were putting it out. Then I forgot I had it, then I found it again the other day and so I watched it. For the unfamiliar, 'Dr Jekyll...' is a sexed up and darkly psychedelic variant of the fabled RLS story and would fit in quite well sandwiched between Herzog's 'Nosferatu' and Zulawski's 'Possession' as part of a trio of early eighties horror flicks made by non genre Euro arthouse directors. Like those other two movies, the emphasis is on dreamy unreality. Visuals seem to matter more than plot, and making an impact with images more important than having anything sensible to say. But why would you expect 'Dr Jekyll...' to say anything sensible? It's by Walerian Borowczyk, and he's directed a horror movie! Although 'Dr Jekyll...' feels quite threadbare, it knows what to do with its meagre resources. It squeezes the original into one claustrophobic location, which is shot in a kind of shimmering soft focus. These kind of stylistics get us through the talky bit at the beginning, which is still pretty weird however, featuring as it does a glowering Patrick Magee, not to mention the archdeacon of bad Euro vibes, Udo Kier. Kier is Jekyll, and, after he slips himself some of that potion (and, it seems, takes a chemical bath), he's Hyde too – his version looks strangely like a weasely Ian Curtis impersonator with a huge knob. There are some truly hysterical scenes, like the one where Magee's daughter appears to ravish a sewing machine whilst taking it up the arse from an enthusiastic Mr Hyde. The music really stood out for me as well, an ominous drone that sounded as if it'd come straight from an early record by Cluster or some other German experimentalists. See it! Definitely!

The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.(1962)
 

The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.(1962)

Attachment 184595



By 1962 the boys were starting to look a little like the cast Of Last Of The Summer Wine, and while age should not really make much difference to a comedy performance, the all to frenetic slapstick violence of the The Stooges was looking a bit dated and ever so geriatric. The Three Stooges comedy has never been particularly sophisticated at the best of times, and a lot of its success was mainly down to whether you liked the guys in which incarnation they were in at the time. Personally they were never better than when Curly Howard was in the team, he had a bit of that Stan Laurel innocence mixed with a bit of snarling mad dog lunacy, and his face just fitted the part and completed the crazy trios look and comedy. In The Three Stooges Meet Hercules his replacement is Curly Joe real name Joe DeRita, who replaced Shemp Howard back in 1958 (replacing the replacement). Stooges are working in a drugs store, and there next door neighbour happens to be a scientist working on some sort of time machine, of course the boys can not help themselves and have to interfere with the making of the machine and obviously screw things up and get themselves with Schuyler Davis (Quinn Redeker) and Vicki Trickett as Diane Quigley sent back in time to Greece where they meet Hercules. Suffice to say everything about this film is as daft as a brush,and if you thought the Frankie Howerd history comedies were ludicrous then you ain't seen nothing yet . And while it does have a silly charm all of its own, it fails really to get any genuine laughs,the jokes are few and far between and the trademark slapstick violence is pretty much non existent in the film. By this time in there career, they were living on past glories mainly due to having there early short films being repeated on television at the time .A curio to say the least. And should only be watched by people who are trained in Stoogism.

Child's Play 3 (1991)

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

Curse of Chucky (2013)

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

I've watched a handful of films over the last few days;

10 Rillington Place (1971)
Attenborough as Christie is one of the creepiest things I've seen on the screen in ages. That scene made me gasp out loud....

Gilda (1946)
Rita Hayworth sizzles and eats every scene she's in, it's a shame that the plot is over-cooked.

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
The weekly trip to the cinema found me in a smart teen film about growing up. Predictable story but expertly executed with enough pathos to elicit an emotional response for the ending!

http://i.giphy.com/XJwO864AFPh5e.gif

Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

This sort of ties in with my new found interest in British sex films of the 70's. Well when i say sex i mean more saucy sea side smut rather than anything hardcore. Don't Open Till Christmas is sleazy and nasty and British exploitation of the highest order with blue movie actress Pat Astley featuring in a fairly dodgy razor attack that possibly wouldn't escape the BBFC even now.

In a way this is the British answer to Silent Night Deadly Night from the same year, except i think this is better. For a start there is a kill every few minutes, 13 in all i think so the pace has no time to drop or the viewer become jaded before the next bit of hack n' slash lights up the screen. The murders are graphic - a spear through the mouth, a cleaver across the face, disembowelment, castrations - that sort of thing, or If it's not a murder then it's a pretty young woman chained up in a basement, as the film with it's simple plot of a psycho randomly killing any one dressed as Santa in the run up to Christmas.

The suspense is well handled by director Edmund Purdom, who also plays a police inspector in the film, especially a stalking sequence in the London Dungeon tourist attraction and the afore mentioned attack on Astley. In fact the whole thing has a delightfully grubby atmosphere and it doesn't help that sleazy Alan Lake stars as a reporter who may be more than he seems, and adds a lot of unease to proceedings. Oddly Caroline Munro pops up as herself, performs a song in a skin tight red dress then is never seen again. It's random nonsense like this that makes the film memorable in a quirky British sense. I would say Grittish but it's too much fun for that.

Love and Death (1975)
 

Love and Death (1975)

Attachment 184608

Woody Allen takes his New York Jewish shtick and plonks his persona right in the middle of Russia during the Napoleonic wars, where even as a child he is given to religious dreams and asking the Grim Reaper some poignant question about the after life "Are there girls? " While managing to live through a battle that sees Boris (Woody Allen) become a war hero accidentally of course. Diane Keaton is again Allen's love interest and all round foil. Woody's humour ranges from the downright silly, see the scene where Allen and Keaton are trying to knock someone out with a wine bottle to philosophical pseudo debates that are just as silly but probably give the intellectuals in the audience something to laugh at as well.
The genius of Allen's early films was that he could pretty much get laugh 's from any subject matter, I remember watching Love and Death on television when I was an early teen,and while I did not get any of the literature references, it still gets a laugh just from absurdity of it all. The black drill sergeant putting Boris through his paces, or the explanation about why Young Gregor's son was older than Old Gregor.Nobody could figure out how that happened and What's it like to be dead? You know the chicken at Tresky's Restaurant? It's worse. And since I have never read any of the classic Russian novels the film is supposedly spoofing its is a testament to Allen's comedy that it does not really matter, because at the end of the day all it seems to come down to basically is love and death, or more to the point sex. Also the newly released Arrow Blu Ray is a very nice upgrade, while the film does not boast any special effects as such, it looks like it should, a film from the 1970's,no fancy what ever the **** they do with restorations, it just looks like a film no more no less. Love and Death is my favourite Woody Allen after Broadway Danny Rose, and they both stand well to repeated viewings, which is always a good sign.And remember Never shoot up in the air when you're standing under it.

Elf (2003)

There's something ever so slightly sinister about Elf. I don't know if it's the whole man elf thing where he sits on mens knees or if it's just star Will Ferrel himself who's creepy as ****.

It starts to settle down when the elf reaches New York after being kicked out of Santa's grotto in the North Pole for being a disaster at everything thanks to his large size. James Caan as the elf's estranged father is brilliant, working at a children's book publishers, he's under pressure to deliver a cracking Christmas tale, and channels his classic Las Vegas tv casino boss Ed Deline to perfection here until the inevitable melting of his heart and embracing the elf as his long lost son. Zooey Deschannel also adds a lot to the film with her reigned in performance as the elf's potential girlfriend.

As the film goes on either i warmed to Ferrel or just became used to his elf act, either way the film becomes lovely and heart warming and features some worthwhile funny escapades and might just bring a bit of Christmas cheer to even the coldest of hearts

I love Elf. One of Will Ferrels best films. And Zooey Deschanel is cute as hell. I challenge anyone not to join in with the Santa Clause is coming to town at the end in Central Park.

I didn't join in because i had grit or something in my eye.

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/4d...810dafa833.jpg
THE PROFESSIONALS (1966)

Four men are hired by a wealthy rancher to bring his wife back, who has been kidnapped by bandits....

Explosive western with a twist in tale. Good action sequences and a great cast that has you rooting that they will all make it out alive after rescuing the girl.

One of my favourite westerns. A terrific film. :snowman:

Die hard. 9.6/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnQEo4bazIo


Doomed megalopolis. 7.3/10

Nightmare City (1980)

*1/2 out of *****

Not fond of Nightmare City, CS?

Nope.

Maybe Tom Savini's remake will be much better.

I seriously doubt it.

Personally i think it's a mess but good fun.

If you didn't like Lenzi's version, I don't think Tom Savini's will be much more to your taste. Personally, I like Lenzi's film in a 'dumb but fun' way – it's not a film with any great sociopolitical subtext (it definitely isn't Day of the Dead in that way), but the ending indicating it may be either a dream or premonition is something which is either brilliant or an ultimate copout.

We both think similar of Lenzi's film then.

I imagine the audience would split into three categories:
1. People who just think it is stupid and boring
2. Those who think it is stupid but fun and
3. Those who really enjoy it and think there is some social commentary, thinking it is a 'misunderstood masterpiece'

Savini's remake of NOTLD (a truly great film) is very good. So, there's a good chance of him remaking a bad film and turning it into something a least good.

I have no doubt it would be something interesting, whether visually, cinematically, aurally, or just to see what Savini does with the story, but whether it will be anything more than Lenzi did with the same narrative is questionable. Simply going by the money situation, I don't know if it will ever be made.

Just took my boy to watch Disneys latest offering Moana.
Brilliant film.

I found Savini's remake horrendous. Mainly because i really disliked Patricia Tallman who shrieked throughout the film and much the same way Shelley Duvall did in The Shining completely ruined it for me.

Not to worry. We can't all like the same things or Michael Bay would be on the streets.

Brighton Rock (1947)

An absolute masterpiece worth a truly terrifying and chilling performance by the late great Richard Attenborough that puts many horror villains / bogeymen to shame.

10/10

About to watch edward scissorhands, which I've never seen and makes me as bad as Dem for not seeing poltergeist!

It's ok, a guy I work with (who's 30 BTW) has never seen a single Star Wars or James Bond film!

Holy crap! There are people out there that have never seen a star wars movie?. these people have my pity!

Doctor Strange.

Just got back from Marvel Studios latest.
The story of a brilliant but egotistical neurosurgeon who loses the use of his hands in a car accident. After exhausting the possibilities of traditional medicine he heads to the far
east in search of help through spiritual enlightenment. In the process Dr Stephen Strange learns that the reality he perceives is but the tip of the iceberg and that there are worlds beyond ours and threats to humanity that he could never imagine and thus finds his true calling. Of the Marvel films this is by far the silliest, I can't say I didn't enjoy it but it is a bit....well strange😊.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays the title character and given how much I love his turn as Sherlock I was rather underwhelmed with his performance. Not sure if it was him or what the film/script required of him but his accent definitely didn't help and he came across as nowhere near arrogant and big-headed enough in the first place for the transition to seem all that great. Marvel did an animated movie that is significantly shorter than this and yet somehow seemed to feel more accomplished in its plotting. Mentions have been made of the Matrix like effects with characters seemingly floating and flying about the place a bit too much, I'd say the problem was more the kaleidoscopic scenery effects. Imagine the city folding effect from Christopher Nolans Inception on speed. Rooms, walls, cityscapes just endlessly folding in on each other and turning inside and such until it's just impossible to work out what the devil is going on. Tilda Swinton was good as Dr.Strange's mentor known only as 'The Ancient One' and Chewitel Ejiofor provides able support as fellow sorceror Modor.
So worth watching but certainly cheesier and sillier than the other Marvel movies.

I started thinking I had imagined it because everyone else is going nuts for it, I just didn't think it was all that. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Decemberdike # 1
 

Castle of Blood (1964)

Following an evening spent interviewing author Edgar Allen Poe in an English tavern, journalist Alan Foster (Georges Rivière) accepts a bet to spend All Hallows Eve night in a supposedly haunted castle.

Italian director Antonio Margheriti returns to Gothic horror following the previous years excellent Virgin of Nuremburg. A genre he would also visit with this same years The Long Hair of Death and with 1973's excellent Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye. Castle of Blood shows, and make no mistake here, that along with the other three mentioned films Margheriti was Italy's top Gothic horror director (Sorry Mario) and it's a crying shame he made only four films in the genre, preferring it seems science fiction, crime and fantasy.

Castle of Blood is an absolute delight of Gothic cinema. Rather than going all out for shocks, Margheriti clearly has an understanding of the Gothic and allows an atmosphere of dread to slowly build from the moment Rivière begins to make his way to the castle. The journey on foot is slow, dark and incredibly eerie. Even as he enters the castle the gloomy corridors and rooms are lit only with a candelabra he carries. It really is truly atmospheric and quite wonderful and thankfully it never lets up throughout the films hour and a half run time.

Once established in the castle Foster meets Elizabeth Blackwood who apparently resides there, but unbeknown to him she's actually one of the many ghostly apparitions that appear every Halloween when the fabric between reality and the spirit world is at it's most vulnerable. What the put upon writer soon comes to understand is that the ghostly residents need blood - in this case his blood - in order to return the following All Hallows Eve.

The characters are well rounded, believable and nicely written, ghosts or otherwise, in fact Sergio Corbucci 's screen play i'd say is practically flawless. Even lesser characters such as the lovely Sylvia Sorrente when she shows up in the final reels are fully fleshed out. In fact Castle of Blood is everything you could want from Gothic horror from it's eerie atmosphere of dread and decay to startling visuals and impeccable performances.

Highly recommended.

I got this on the Nightmare Castle blu ray,so looking forward to watxching it.