Oh dear! I have that on my wishlist as it kinda' sounded okay. Time to remove it. :lol:

Have you seen As Above, So Below? It is a far better experience if you are in the need for people walking about in the dark. I really enjoyed it.

I wasn't struck on that to be honest. Not an awful lot happened. I think i did a review on here a couple of years ago but it's impossible to search for it as the words in the title are deemed too common.

It was far superior to Catacombs which was extremely boring. Shannyn Sossamon and Pink wandering about underneath Paris.

I didn't like that either but mainly because there is something about Sossamon that makes me want to punch her in the face in everything I have seen her in! Did Pink ever act again after it?

I don't think so.

Did she act during it?

Haha. She died early though...

I also tried to watch that HP Lovecraft animated film for kids but after a great opening with Lovecraft visiting his Dad in an asylum it went super cute and super boring. Even the little MTDSs got bored and they will watch any old crap so we turned it off.

Maybe I've just got too much time on my hands!

Symptoms. José Ramòn Larraz. 1974.

Young Anna is invited to stay at the secluded country estate of a her friend Helen. There's a sweaty groundskeeper called Brady. He's meant to be sinister but he just seemed a bit grubby and sleazy to me.
Not a great deal happens for the majority of the film which feels somewhat like one of the weaker episodes of tv show Thriller.
Now that said, I enjoyed Symptoms. There's a great atmosphere to the film as we see this old semi gothic country house viewed through the trees while the torrential rain endlessly lashes down. There are some creepy scenes that suggest there's more going on beneath the surface that the viewer simply isn't able to see just yet, stuff at the edge of the frame, little noises and such. Despite being a British film it neither looks nor feels like one, in fact everything feels a little foreign, probably a result of being made by Spanish director José Ramòn Larraz who utilises the English countryside in a way native directors might fail. The girls are ably played by Angela Pleasance (daughter of Donald) as the almost otherworldly Helen and Lorna Heilbron as Anna. And the late Peter Vaughan plays shifty groundsman Grady. Now obviously there's more to the plot than this but it seems a shame to go into it. It's not particularly deep or shocking, in fact it's more the journey than the destination. Symptoms reminds me a bit of Norman J Warren's Prey, except I don't have any urge at all to revisit that one and I actually look forward to giving Symptoms another whirl again soon.

Not that it matters now as Susan has found said review but if you put the whole search term in quotes, i.e. "As Above, So Below" then it should come up in the search.

That didn't work. It returned:

"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : as, above, so, below"

Instead, I tried looking for the films director and then star, but Mr. Dike didn't mention either in his review, so again I got nothing

Then I tried looking for 'found footage', cross referenced with 'Demdike', and it brought up what I was searching for

Alternatively, I am Demdike's forum stalker, and I have saved every single post he has ever made, and I just looked thru them!

In the right hands, that could make a fascinating, and possibly hilarious, post-modern documentary about the pitfalls of fame.

Found footage of Demdike is a scary prospect indeed. :scared:

A much more likely scenario! :tongue1:

That makes you sound soooo boring.

Am I the only one who sometimes treats po-faced films and programmes like comedies? That's how I make it through Exorcist II: The Heretic!

What's your excuse for the original?[emoji6]

To paraphrase The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, "Excuses? I don't need no stinkin' excuses!"

[emoji12]

Ouija (2014)

A film that's so average it's scary, unlike the film which isn't scary in the least. In fact were it not for one scene, (and it was a good scene i admit, in which a girl brushing her teeth has her lips sown shut, her eyes blinded, is then levitated and finally has her head smashed on the sink) it could have passed as a PG certificate film.

Ouija doesn't do an awful lot wrong, it has decent acting and effects and the lovely Olivia Cooke holds things together well, but it's just so bland. It doesn't grip the viewer in the slightest and has no exploitative elements whatsoever.

If ever a horror film was classed as rainy Sunday afternoon viewing then Ouija is it. Trust me...that ain't a complement.

Alice Through the Looking Glass. James Robin. 2016.

This hasn't even finished yet but I can't be bothered waiting to the end to say it's rubbish. I really like Tim Burtons first film but this is pants.

I watched it a month or two ago and can't remember much about it apart from having something to do with time – something the film did a great job of wasting.

Spot on assessment there Nos.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

*** out of *****


Hostel: Part II (2007)

*** out of *****

REZORT

Forget all those overpaid actors in commercials trying to make you feel guilty about the world refugee problem, this film offers a glimmer of hope for everyone in crisis...

This plays out as Jurassic Park with zombies in a post zombie apocalypse world and as such is fairly good as these things go but for me the film is far more interesting as pure exploitation of a current political problem...basically, to keep the zombie park going, and fresh zombies for people to kill, refugees as used to keep the zombie numbers up! It is as if Ukip and the pro hunting lobby have made a horror film.

Kingsman: The Secret Service. This entertaining 2015 OTT homage to oldschool Bond flicks is more fun than Bond itself has been since the 80s. Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson steal the show. :nod:

Yeah Kingsman is great and Colin Firth in particular fits into the action man role well.

Demdike wasn't joking when he said Vampire Ecstasy was 'major perviness' rather than 'minor perviness'. I would say that it straddles the line between softcore and hardcore porn, but 'straddles' is far too literal a word as it describes the majority of the film's content. I bet share prices in candles went through the roof after this was released.

Infeasibly large objects are put places they have no place being and there's enough boobage on display to put national geographic to shame, as suspiciously mono-browed ladies cavort in the basement of a large castle - all in the name of resurrecting a long-dead vampire mistress.

This film does have one curio that i have yet had the pleasure to witness on film - the idea of a curse of wanking! One poor girl is at it night and day, and the only way to get rid of the itch is do what the prancing crones in the basement want her to do. When isolated from its salacious nature, quite an intriguing curse.

As far as film-making goes, it surprises me to say that i've seen far worse in the pursuit of cult films. Worth a watch as long as you close the curtains.

Director Joe Sarno made some excellent sexploitation films in the 60s. A fair few can be found on the Something Weird label which is the go to company for 60s smut.

I have the film twice and one of them is in a Sarno set.

The other, because i'd forgotten it was in that set is the same as Deadite's.

Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia


Warren Oates plays Bennie, a down on his luck Gringo piano player working in a seedy bar some place in Mexico. He's approached by two fellow gringos out working for a mexican mob boss who has offered one million dollars for the head of Alfredo Garcia. It seems that 'Al' has a rep as a ladies man and deflowered the bosses granddaughter. discovering the gigolo has also had it away with his missus before getting run down in the street Bennie decides to turn his luck around and fetch the head himself for a promised ten grand.
Naturally things don't go to plan and the bodies begin piling up, with Bennie getting more & more unhinged as things progress.
Made without the usual studio interference, Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia plays as pure unadulterated Peckinpah. It lacks the grandeur of his earlier films primarily because the budget is low however it ends up working to the films advantage as things progress. The film ends up feeling like a sweaty, claustrophobic, blood soaked road trip to hell. Oates is reportedly doing a spot on portrayal of Peckinpah himself. Benny is a mess of insecurity and paranoia, made worse by having to confront someone like Garcia who seems to embody the masculine ladies man ideal more than him. This is driven home by his cuckolding that seems to at least partly fuel the undercurrent of impotent whiskey fuelled rage he exhibits through the film.
Overall its one of my favourite Peckinpah films. I'm glad I missed out on Twilight Times release as Arrows not only looks great but has the excellent man of iron documentary as well as plenty ot other supplemental materials.

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

Disjointed and the end battle just seems do go on and on, sure in the book it was all described in a few paragraphs, more than anything the film just seems a excuse to link it to lord of the rings and the coming of Sauron. Also unlike return of the king which had more than one ending, no one really seems to have a prober ending. 6.5/10


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

Very good. A group a tourists are stranded in Amsterdam countryside. Each of them hold a dark secret of something they have done in there past, they all soon become prey to a supernatural killer. Well paced and we get decent back stories on each of the character's. Some good kills and an unexpected ending. 8/10




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8bxcJZrus0


None of the social commentary of the first film, more of a prison move this time. Jensen Ames is framed for the murder of his wife, it soon become apparent that it was all done so he could take the place of Frankenstein the most popular driver in death race. Fast paced with some good and bloody kills. 7/10



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

A prequel to the first film, which deals with the creation of death race and Frankenstein's origin. Luke Gosss makes a surprisingly decent action hero, who plays Carl Lucas a getaway driver that ends up in prison rather that rat on his boss( Sean Bean). Who doesn't believe he will keep quite so sets a bounty on his head. The prison televises death match, in which the prisoners are pitted against each other gladiator style. With falling ratings this is turned into death race. 7.5/10


Now watching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzKA2J6NIrg

Eaten Alive

The Tobe Hooper nasty.....BD looks great and it's got quite an unpleasant atmosphere in parts but jeesus it's boring.

Frankenstein (2015)

I've always found Bernard Rose to be an interesting director. Not all his work is successful indeed much is quite flawed but his films i've seen - Candyman, Paperhouse, Chicago Joe and the Showgirl, and Snuff-Movie have always been worth watching and slightly different to the norm.

His version of Frankenstein is no different. Told solely from the 'monsters' point of view, Mary Shelley's classic Gothic horror story is thrust kicking and screaming into 21st century Los Angeles. The contemporary setting makes no difference to proceedings as Rose utilizes the main story points just as faithfully as any of the classic interpretations.

Viktor Frankenstein (Danny Huston) and his wife, Marie (Carrie-Anne Moss), are scientists who bring to life Adam - a fully-grown young man (Xavier Samuel) with the mind of an infant. Adam's cells fail to replicate correctly and he soon develops deformities on his face and body. Frankenstein decides to end his experiment by ending Adam's life but he is abnormally strong and escapes into the countryside. From that point onwards Rose adapts the stories classic scenes such as meeting the little girl, striking up a relationship with a blind drifter (a beautiful performance by Tony Todd) and several run ins with local torch wielding mobs before the final showdown with his 'mum and dad'.

I have to admit i really enjoyed Frankenstein. Largely because it was something different and yet so very familiar. Many of the problems the monster had whilst on the run in the original 1818 story are still relevant some two centuries later, mainly the human hatred of anything different to what we see as the norm.

Whilst at times touching and quite sad, the film also has some strong violence. The scene where the 'monster' escapes and part lobotomizes one of Viktor's colleagues is stomach churning in it's gruesomeness for example.

Bernard Rose certainly took a risk making this film and in my opinion it pays off handsomely and is a unique take on a classic story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzKA2J6NIrg

Its a TV movie for a failed TV series , a lot of liberties are taking Strange is not a surgeon but a psychiatrists. The ancient one is Merlin (john Mills) and main villain is Morgana Le Fay. Most of the film envoles Merlin trying to protect strange and Le Fey trying to kill Merlin. Actually quite dark and atmospheric in places and the whole opening sequence and titles leads you that it would be a atmospheric and chilling 70s horror,sadly that's not so but still fun to be had and would of been interesting to see what the show would of turned out like. We also have one very trippy and psychedelic scene when strange enters the dream world.6.8/10


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8XwWwPT8LE

A lot better than I was expecting, very tense and claustrophobic with a few twists and turns. Not going into the story to much apart from the basic plot which involves a group of youths that decide to rob and old blind mans house, tables are soon turned as they fight for there survival and dark secrets are revealed. I could muster up little sympathy for our victims(apart from one point) even though I think we are supposed to feel more for them. 9/10

Split (2017) - 7.5/10

It doesn't go where you'd expect it to, and the ending has a massive surprise that makes me really impressed they managed to keep it secret! The trailer didn't spoil the film at all, which is a rarity these days.

Creep. Christopher Smith. 2004.

I really like Christopher Smiths films but like another of my favourite British directors (Neil Marshall) the bugger just doesn't seem to make enough of them.
Socialite type Kate falls asleep in the tube station and wakes up to find the place deserted and she's locked in. Before long she's being stalked by a... something. Simple plot but done well. The London underground is scary before you even begin with a 'then' (or that might just be me) but being locked in down there with some sort of predatory presence... well as a plot that just works for me. The fact that Smith manages to keep the entire thing closed in and claustrophobic, never ever during the whole film even in the run up to events do we see the outside world, kind of gives the film a surreal feel. That the heroine feels very human helps, she's not particularly likeable but is real enough to care for. I would have thought Smiths inspiration must have been the brilliant Raw Meat/Death Line but according to imdb he'd never seen it before he made this (not sure I'm convinced), apparently this film grew out of his being affected by the subway scene in John Landis' awesome An American Werewolf In London.
Regardless of such trivialities Creep is an excellent film and I highly recommend watching this with a decent surround system.

The horrible Dr Hitchcock

Attachment 186127

First time watching for this, although being a Barbara Steele fan i've wanted to for quite a while.

What we have here is a creepy doctor/surgeon type bloke who has a thing about dead bodies, so much so that he likes nothing more than drugging women then interfering with them when they are out cold.
He does this with his wife and she seems quite happy to comply until one day she reacts badly to the drug and dies, heartbroken he leaves his home and doesn't come back until many years later with his new wife Barbara Steele.

The idea's in the film are quite unsavoury for the time, but because it is more implied it managed to get away with it, there is a nice gothic atmosphere to this and Steele's performance really holds the film together.
Barbara must have been one of the doctors patients as she is said to have suffered from delusions and a breakdown in the past, and you feel for her as she struggles with her sanity as strange things go down in the old dark house.

Theres also an old housekeeper with a secret and the first wife's ghost and cat still roaming about to complicate things.

I quite enjoyed this, it had a nice atmosphere about it as Barbara roams the grounds and corridors and the highlight has to be the scene where she wakes up in a coffin.

I picked up the recent U.S Olive blu which is a pretty decent print but has sod all in the way of extras, (region A only). Still good to finally catch up with this film.

Recommended if you like gothic stuff, but don't expect any gore. 7/10:pop2:

Well that's interesting SJ. I really like M.Night Shumbalumbas early films, even The Village which doesn't seem popular round these parts but his career of late has been well shonky. The Happening was beyond shit and The Visit wasn't much better. I've not seen his Airbender adaptation but the Mermaid film was pants too.

House that dripped blood

Attachment 186128

Another of those 70's portmanteau films from Amicus and although this is not one of my very favourites there is still much to enjoy.
Some stories work better than others with my personal favourites being the one with Christopher Lee and the voodoo doll, and the Jon Pertwee vampire section.

Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliot, Ingrid Pitt and Geoffrey Bayldon also pop up in the the short tales with the linking device being they all happened to owners of the same house in the past.

Attachment 186129

An enjoyable watch. 7/10 :pop2:

John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. (1996)

One of those films that's such a retread of the first you have to ask why bother. The only difference is that whilst Escape from New York was a gripping action film, here Carpenter lurches from one over indulgence and absurdity to the next and come the final half hour i just wanted it to finish. At times Kurt Russell seems to be playing a parody of Snake Plisken even if he doesn't seem to know it and the effects work is so amateurish at times it borders on the cartoon like.

You know, for half an hour Escape from L.A. is actually pretty damn enjoyable and that's the real shame of it all.

hi guys,saturday night after work {got in at midnight},I had a few hrs on the ps2,i then decided to watch a film.
"THE WARRIORS" jumped out at me and I re watched this classic.
hard to believe this film is over 30 yrs old!
I believe that this will be re made at some point?:scared: