What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Gojirosan]

Having read Richard Matheson's book last week I felt obliged to buy and rewatch The Legend Of Hell House.

I was always very find of this film, which Granada would often show in their "Night Time" slot - indeed, short clips from the film were used for years as the on-screen visuals for the Night Time continuity announcements.

Never seen it in it's correct aspect ration though and I am glad I have! Those amazing skewed angles and specifically chosen optics create a disorientating effect in the viewer and combine with Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson's exquisitely warped sound effects to form a wonderfully nervy and confusing atmosphere. Simply marvellous.

The casting is good, though if you look back to the book, it is odd that Pamela Franklin and Gayle Hunnicutt didn't play each others' parts! Nonetheless they are splendid. And Roddy McDowall...well...Roddy McDowall is in it! What more needs to be said!

I know there are those who rate Twins Of Evil, but for me this is John Hough's finest film and a superb entry into the great pantheon of haunted house films.

It was a pleasure to see it again after all these years.

[Gojirosan]

Eight Legged Freaks - it must be almost ten years since I saw this wonderful, under-rated, Gremlinsesque comedy throwback to 50s giant critter flicks. Firstly giant spiders are awesome, then there's that this film was clearrly made with great care and affection. The CGI is superb (even today it's some of the best I've seen), the script is funny and the performances great.

And the young Scarlett Johansson looks a lot like a blonde Michelle Trachtenberg in this!

Excellent fun. Sadly, BT Vision's version was cropped to 16:9, so I guess I'm just going to have to buy it...

[J.R.]

I have been visiting my wife who currently lives in NZ and picked up a few DVDs for dirt cheap so I have indulged myself in Bloodmoon, The Blob (original), Prince of Darkness, Prom Night 2, Anatomie 2 and Deathdream.

I admit my brain hurts slightly.

[Handyman Joe]

Uzumaki - Time hasn't been kind to this Japanese effort from the heyday of J-horror. Neither as giddily full-on weird as Hausa nor as disturbing as The Grudge, it ends up a rambling succession of scenes many of which are hobbled by amatuerish optical effects. The character of the boyfriend drove me up the wall with his dull monotone although he does get the best scene at the end. I would love to see one of the contempory Asian masters have a go at this as the concept is still pretty great.

[DaveJ.W]

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)

**** out of ****

[DryJack]

Watched "When the wind blows". An animation about an elderly couple (Jim and Hilda)during the build up to a nuclear attack. Jim follows the instructions in his Protect and Survive leaflet to the letter, fully believing it will keep him and his wife safe. Even after the attack he consults his leaflet and expects help to arrive from the government (which, of course, never happens). I first watched it back in the Eighties when it had more relevance but I really enjoyed rewatching it. The animation, although dated, still has a certain charm and the movie is both funny and tragic.

[Demoncrat]

watched Attack The Block great "beasties" (as we say up north) but id have to echo the sentiment that if you dont care about the protagonists...film doesnt really work on an emotional level....

Reno 911:Miami! a bunch of idiots in uniform go to the annual convention, and end up running the whole show after the rest of the cops are stricken with a biological attack, long time fan of the tv series (**** you E4....where did the rest of it go etc?? harumph), the film lived up to the very silly behaviour that they specialise in, highlight being The Rock's 60 second cameo....

Beast in Space hahahahahaahahahahahahaha easily the funniest film ive seen in ages. full review in blog when im healed up.
kudos to Diabolikdvd, 6 days fae start to finish, will be ordering from them again!!

[Daemonia]

Basement (2010) - Blu-ray rental. Danny Dyer, Jimi Mistry and three screeching girls run around some underground tunnels and get killed. Sort of. There's a twist. Which is shit. ****ing rubbish. Avoid it.

Killer Elite (2011) - Jason Statham is a mercenary/assassin for hire and De Niro is his sidekick. When De Niro is taken hostage by some Arab, Statham has to carry out a hit on some SAS guys in order to free him. Supposedly based on a true story this was actually very, very good with the Stath on top form and De Niro being a hard ****er again. It's all loud and brash nonsense, but I really enjoyed it.

The Cyclops (1957) - An expedition heads into uncharted Mexican territory (is any part of Mexico really uncharted?) to look for a missing fella and discover a lost world of giant animals and lizards. They also encounter a massive man with a weird face and one bulging eye. I saw stills from this film as a kid and was overjoyed to finally see it. Can't say it was really worth the wait, but I liked it. Some great dialogue from the pilot too...

'It's alright, I'm 1/16th Indian.' (how'd he get that ratio?)

Later....

'I lied.'
'Lied?'
'I'm half Indian.'

Then a bit later...

'Oh...I'm all Indian now.'

Strange.

I Spit On Your Grave (1978) - Grabbed the Australian BD of this (UK is cut, US is region-coded) and thought I'd give it a spin. Well...what can I say. The HD presentation on this is so good that the film becomes even more repellant. But it also shows that this wasn't some cheap affair, the cinematography here is revealed to be very good and Zarchi pays close attention to detail in every frame. The scene where the three men approach Jennifer from different directions in the woods now looks like a scene from some wonky western. I must say, seeing this with such clarity and richness of detail really has given me a new appreciation of the film. I would never have believed this film could look so good. A textbook example of how cult movies should be handled.

Damien: Omen II (1978) - Dipped into the Blu-ray set again. This time around Damien is a bit older and has been adopted by his Uncle and is now enrolled in military academy. He is just beginning to become fully aware of who he is and there are many satanic followers paving his way and watching out for him. This is probably the weakest of the three films and kind of ends up just being a body count movie. The first and third parts are far more interesting. The HD transfer is superb though, I must say. Shame the film doesn't really live up to expectations. The lift scene still packs a punch though.

Two Evil Eyes (1990) - I grabbed this on Blu-ray as it was going cheap and couldn't really remember any of it (which should have served as a warning). It's definitely overlong but not unenjoyable on a certain level. I think Romero's segment is the strongest, though I have to admire Argento for cramming in as many Poe references as he could possibly manage. Not entirely successful, but entertaining enough in its own way. The HD transfer is stunning though, fair play.

The Beyond (1981) - This film really needs no introduction and I'd be at a loss to explain the story anyway, as it doesn't make one scrap of sense really. But where the story falls flat it more than makes up for with spectacular gore set pieces, which is really what the film is reknowned for. The HD transfer looks marvellous and I quite enjoyed revisiting this again. Not my favourite Fulci, but one I like all the same. Glad to have such a nice edition of the film.

Raw Deal (1986) - Picked this up cheap on BD and Optimum have done a good job. Arnie is Mark Kaminsky who is enlisted to go undercover to smash a criminal gang. It's all fist-fights and guns but does so with a knowing wink. Arnie fails to convince anyone he's American, but director John Irvin handles the action well. Quite enjoyed this one again.

Red Heat (1988) - Another cheap BD. This time Arnie's a Russian agent, Ivan Danko, chasing a Soviet drug smuggler across Chicago. Danko is teamed up with Chicago cop Art Ridzic (James Belushi) and between them shoot loads of people, have car chases and blow things up. It's typical 80's action fare in other words, but it's inoffensive entertainment and again I really enjoyed revisitng this one.

The HD transfers on both films is very good, better than I expected.

The King's Speech (2010) - Blu-ray rental. Colin Firth is King George and he has a speech impediment, he stammers. But he has to give lots of speeches, so he enlists Geoffrey Rush to cure him. This wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be, but it's not something I'd ordinarily choose to watch, but 'er indoors wanted to see it, so I stuck it out. Just glad it wasn't as boring as I expected it to be.

Cemetery Junction (2010) - Blu-ray rental. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are the men behind this film and it's....alright. Nothing special. Three young lads in the 70's each find their own ways of dealing with their humdrum existence. The period detail is good, if not entirely authentic (it's more like an 'impression' of the 70's as someone might think it was like rather than the real thing). I didn't mind it, but it ended up just being another glum Brit drama with no spark or flair. And with the roles Ralph Fiennes has been taking lately, I'm beginning to think he really is a miserable ****.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Reno 911:Miami! a bunch of idiots in uniform go to the annual convention, and end up running the whole show after the rest of the cops are stricken with a biological attack, long time fan of the tv series (**** you E4....where did the rest of it go etc?? harumph), the film lived up to the very silly behaviour that they specialise in, highlight being The Rock's 60 second cameo....

Cracking stuff, film and tv series both really funny.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Handyman Joe

Uzumaki - Time hasn't been kind to this Japanese effort from the heyday of J-horror. Neither as giddily full-on weird as Hausa nor as disturbing as The Grudge, it ends up a rambling succession of scenes many of which are hobbled by amatuerish optical effects. The character of the boyfriend drove me up the wall with his dull monotone although he does get the best scene at the end. I would love to see one of the contempory Asian masters have a go at this as the concept is still pretty great.

check out the origional manga by junji ito, he also wrote TOMIE (another good film series) horror buffs should love it!