What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I really liked 'Due Date'. Then again, I think I've liked every comedy film reviewed on here that everyone else disliked.

As has been said before, it would be very boring if we all felt exactly the same about every film.

[Gojirosan]

Originally Posted by Demdike

December 2nd.

Offspring (2009)

Yet another take on the legend of Sawney Bean. The offspring of a clan of cave dwelling mutants attack coastal homes to satisfy thier hunger. This Jack Ketchum penned film was potentially a good watch knowing what his stories are like. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Having children as the killers could have been interesting however the usual modern horror drawbacks soon took hold. The film was mainly shot in pitch black with only the reds and oranges of a flickering fire as lighting and any gore was offscreen or too fast or dark to make out. Even at 76 minutes including end credits this film felt overlong.

I thought this was excellent. Though admittedly The Woman is one of those rare sequels better than the first.

[PaulD]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

I thought this was excellent. Though admittedly The Woman is one of those rare sequels better than the first.

Oddly enough, I watched The Woods the other night and spent the first half hour thinking "oh this is the one with the feral people in that's a prequel to The Woman".

[Gojirosan]

I really liked The Woods but the Channel 5 broadcast seemed...odd. Like it was zoomed in slightly? I don't know if I was imagining it or not...either way I should buy it and replace the recording.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

I thought this was excellent. Though admittedly The Woman is one of those rare sequels better than the first.

I didn't know The Woman was a sequel. I have it but never watched it as of yet. I did think Pollyanna Mcintosh in Offspring looked like she does on the cover of The Woman though.

[Gojirosan]

Inbred - 2011 UK d: Alex Chandon

There is a decent horror film here underneath the shite. Unfortunately for everyone involved that horror film is Eden Lake which all ready exists and resides in a league Chandon et al can only dream of attaining.

There is some excellent acting by the "non locals" and some moments of genuine stress and tension. But this all comes to nought as a barrage of infantile, unfunny comedy blooms and undermines any promise the film may have.

It also falls into the "Tarantino Trap" of being so heavily and obviously derivative of things it comes across as the dreary wet dream of an unimaginative fanboy dickhead. OK, sure there can be some fun to be had at going "Oooh, The Wicker Man! Ohhh Deliverance! Oooh The League Of Gentlemen!" etc but when you realise you have been doing this for every scene for a solid 40 minutes the paucity of imagination and ideas comes crashing to the fore. The whole "dirty, bad teeth, scruffy clothes" cliché is massively irritating too. You end up begging that something different will happen.But it sticks strictly to its tired formula.

Impossible to recommend, even for the few good aspects early on. Watch Eden Lake or Straw Dogs instead.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

Inbred - 2011 UK d: Alex Chandon

There is a decent horror film here underneath the shite. Unfortunately for everyone involved that horror film is Eden Lake which all ready exists and resides in a league Chandon et al can only dream of attaining.

There is some excellent acting by the "non locals" and some moments of genuine stress and tension. But this all comes to nought as a barrage of infantile, unfunny comedy blooms and undermines any promise the film may have.

It also falls into the "Tarantino Trap" of being so heavily and obviously derivative of things it comes across as the dreary wet dream of an unimaginative fanboy dickhead. OK, sure there can be some fun to be had at going "Oooh, The Wicker Man! Ohhh Deliverance! Oooh The League Of Gentlemen!" etc but when you realise you have been doing this for every scene for a solid 40 minutes the paucity of imagination and ideas comes crashing to the fore. The whole "dirty, bad teeth, scruffy clothes" cliché is massively irritating too. You end up begging that something different will happen.But it sticks strictly to its tired formula.

Impossible to recommend, even for the few good aspects early on. Watch Eden Lake or Straw Dogs instead.

EDEN LAKE is a superb film, really unsettling.

[Paul@TheOverlook]

I thought INBRED was one of those films that tries desperately to be hip but comes across as a bit reaching instead, I did think it was okay though.

EDEN LAKE is excellent.

[gag]

Watched the new Spider-Man I quite enjoyed this thought it was pretty decent,
Tbh I'm surprised they haven't turned it into a tv series ....not cartoon animated,
Like smallvile is for superman, never actually watched smallvile really,

[evbear]

Hell Night, 1981 Linda Blair, Slasher:

At the stroke of midnight a crowd of rowdy college students dressed in an assortment of costumes, gather around the gates of the ominous, Garth Manor. They listen intently as the president of sorority, Alpha Sigma Rho, Peter Bennett (Kevin Brophy), recounts the sordid history of the cursed house, a twisted tale of murder and suicide.

Twelve years prior to this night, the lord of the house, Raymond Garth savagely strangled his wife Lillian, along with murdering their three children, who were psychically afflicted with an assortment of terrible deformities. With his rampage complete, Raymond hung himself in a last act of violence, however the story doesn't end there. When the police arrived they found that one of the children was missing, the youngest of the three, Andrew. Who as the story goes, witnessed the savagery of his father’s heinous acts. Filled with terrible anger, he is now said to roam the grounds waiting for any that trespass in his domain, waiting for his next victim. Now four pledges, Marti, Jeff, Seth, and Denise, must survive a night in this god forsaken place, as part their fraternity hazing. Is the legend true? and can they survive till dawn?

So begins the 1981 slasher, ‘Hell Night’ a competent little throwback to the spook house days of William Castle, and the monster filled features of the ‘50s and '60s. While the movie does contain the required lashing of head twisting/ripping carnage, and some mild 'T & A', it could easily have been released in this B movie heyday. Starring cult ‘80s favourite Linda Blair - who seems oddly bored throughout - as 'Final Girl' Marti and future ‘Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter' star Peter Barton as Jeff. The real star however, is the wonderfully Gothic mansion where most of the film takes place. Bathed in the eerie glow of hundreds of dripping candles, the house is filled with a classic assortment of booby traps, secret passages and hidden doors.

While nowhere near as accomplished as its champions proclaim, ‘Hell Night’ is still a charming and stylish slasher. Thanks mostly to its inventive setting, a couple of committed performance and the ink black cinematography throughout, which help set it apart from the numerous ‘Friday the 13th’ rip-offs of the time. There are also a number of welcome playful nods to past slashers, such as the characters wearing fancy dress - 'Terror Train' (19800 - and the moment the killer emerges from the floor draped in a rug - the sheet over Micheal Myers scene from 'Halloween' (1978).

Admittedly the pace does start out quite slow, thankfully things pick up considerably in the second half, particularly the effective gate scaling sequence, which offers a genuine moment of tension. Another standout is the stealing of a shotgun from a police station by Seth (Vincent V Patten). Who then spends the last half of the movie pretty much running his ass off the entire time, before getting into a fight with a big, deformed killer. Nice.

There may be some who will be anaesthetised by the whole affair, most slice n'dice fans should find plenty to enjoy. If your tastes lean more towards gore, maybe give this miss, everyone else should find an entertaining, if modest little slasher gem.