What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Hawkmonger

Deranged is a ****ed up little Canadian horror movie that depicts probably the most realistic interpretation of the life of Ed Gein. Not for the faint hearted but a riot fir anyone who likes there comedy black as coal. Great effects as well. It's not for the squeamish mind and is certainly very atmospheric with some set pieces being to grimy you can almost feel and smell it. Indeed, i was so impressed with it I'd rate it up with Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Evil Dead as horror classics and it really desserved more attention.

I can only assume the version you watched was the cut one, so I'd recommend the Arrow Blu to see it fully uncut!

[Hawkmonger]

Originally Posted by Rik

I can only assume the version you watched was the cut one, so I'd recommend the Arrow Blu to see it fully uncut!

Indeed. The online version missed out the brain scooping scene, but even without it i'm well aware of its infamy. I'll be ordering the Arrow BD at the next opportunity.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by demonknight

I remember seeing Lifeforce at my local cinema many years ago and loving it,saw it again Saturday night on bluray from Arrow and I have to say that this time I didn't enjoy it as much. Hats off to Arrow for a features packed disc. I also watched a brilliant 54min interview with the great Peter Cushing recorded back in November 1983. This 'special extra' can be found on the also excellent 'Amicus House Of Horrors' documentary. A/V is atrocious but the interview itself is first class and that's probably down to the interviewee. A very humble and honest man

Yeah I also watched the International cut of Lifeforce and was mildly disappointed-I too remember it to be far more exciting as well!
Still LOOKS the part though-just a pity about some of the dialogue!
Perhaps give the shorter cut a whirl....
Another which I watched today that wasn't as good this time round was Craven's PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS.....Might be this flu,but I struggled with it....

Something well worth picking up is Criterion's THE UNINVITED-A true haunted house classic.

Also-Anyone who hasn't ordered directly from Eureka,I highly reccomend they do.
NOSFERATU arrived a day later!
Watched it yesterday and found it a highly pleasureable experience.(I usually struggle to stay awake through silent films,and in fact,skipped through their last dvd release from a few years ago.)

And lastly,the US BD of THE MONSTER CLUB is well worth upgrading to.
Another grand job from Scorpion.

[Zann]

Cyclone

Cyclone my arse...Raleigh Vektra more like it

[Rik]

While searching for a piece of silent animation on YouTube to add a score to, I stumbled upon this, which is thought to be the first ever Horror film. Think I'll add a score to this instead

The Haunted Castle (1896)

[Buboven]

Last film I saw was the Giallo, Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970).

Never heard of it till I saw it on a user's list on Letterboxed.

I was quite impressed with it however, definitely one of the best looking - especially in the first ten minutes or so -, best acted, best structured, best paced and best, story-wise, I have seen.

Overall a 8/10.

[Daemonia]

Misery (1990)

Writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) has just finished his last novel, the saga of Misery - and it's to be the final book of the series. However, inclement weather forces his car off the road and he he is badly injured. He is rescued from certain death from the snowy wastes by nurse Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) who takes him back to her house to nurse him back to health. There's a problem though....she's a bit of a fruitcake and a Misery obsessive. She asks to read Paul's latest tome but is horrified when she realises Misery gets killed off. This unhinges her even further and she makes him destroy it and demands that he write a new novel, one that continues the saga, not ends it.

Probably one of the best Stephen King movie adaptations out there and both Bates and Caan give powerhouse performances and it grips you from start-to-finish. Enjoyed revisiting this again on Blu-ray and it looks stunning.


Speed (1994)

I hadn't seen this since it first came out so I grabbed it on Blu for a rewatch. Mad bomber Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) is out to net himself a few cool million by terrorising the city with bombs, but when he is thwarted from his original plan by cop Jack Traven, he sets a new plan in motion. This time he plants a bomb on a bus - once the bus reaches 50mph the bomb becomes active and if the bus drops below 50 it will explode. Traven gets himself on the bus and it's all action as he has to keep the bus going over 50mph, negotiating traffic, obstacles and even an unfinished highway which they have to jump.

Not quite as good as I remembered it being, it's still very enjoyable nevertheless. Keanu is as wooden as ever, but it doesn't seem to matter in a film like this. Undemanding popcorn viewing and I was entertained. The Blu looks good too.


The Expendables 2 (2012)

Stallone and his all-star action crew are back again, with some new additions. This time they're on a mission to the old Soviet Union, but things go a bit bad and one of them gets killed. Revenge then is on their minds and they head for an all-out confrontation with a formidable enemy. Nice to see Chuck Norris getting in on the action for this one. Really enjoyable nonsense and highly recommended. It's not often you get to see all these big names in one film.


Ong Bak 2 (2008)

Tony Jaa returns in this martial arts extravaganza which serves as a prequel to the first film...well, of sorts. This is waaaay before the first film and is set in medieval Asia with lots of big battle scenes and some stunning martial arts action. Very entertaining.


Taken 2 (2012)

Liam Neeson returns as the one-man-army Bryan Mills. This picks up from the first one and this time the families of those Mills killed in the first film have sworn revenge and once again Mills finds himself in the hot seat pursued by a gang of ruthless killers. Entertaining but not as hard edged as it should've been since it was obviously toned down for the PG-13 market. Still, there's nothing really wrong with it and I found it enjoyable enough.


The Hole (2009)

Joe Dante directs this tale of two brothers who discover a hole in their basement, locked shut with padlocks. To their detriment they unseal the hole and it's not long before dark forces start seeping out and exerting their malignant influence. This was a lot better than I expected it to be and I had a good time with it. Recommended.


Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

Saw this going cheap on Blu so I picked it up. Bubba Ritter (Larry Drake) is a grown man and a simpleton. When Bubba helps a young girl after she's been attacked by a dog, the locals actually suspect that Bubba did it and three local men decide to exact revenge on Bubba. Led by Otis Hazelrigg (Charles Durning) they chase Bubba into a field, where Bubba hides within a scarecrow. The three men mercilessly execute him. However, Bubba isn't gone, his spirit is back for revenge, and he has taken the form of a scarecrow.

Hadn't seen this since the mid-80's so I was thrilled to see it again. The performances are all pitch perfect and Durning is suitably sleazy as the closet paedophile projecting his guilt onto Bubba. The Blu-ray looks stunning, one of the very best I've ever seen - just goes to show that some of these old TV movies were superbly crafted. Highly recommended.


The Collector (2009)

Arkin (Josh Stewart) plans to rob his employers' home in order to repay back his wife the money he owes her. However, what he doesn't know is the property has been targeted by a master criminal who has rigged the house full of traps. When Arkin inadvertently finds himself trapped within the house, he must figure out how to survive and get out of the nightmarish house.

I thought this was brilliant and possibly one of the best horrors I've seen in recent years.


The Collection (2012)

Arkin manages to escape the clutches of the notorious serial killer 'The Collector' and promptly finds himself back in the game when he finds himself, under duress, assisting a crack team to rescue the daughter of a rich man, whom the Collector has abducted. They manage to locate her whereabouts - an old, abandoned hotel. But the place is booby-trapped from top-to-bottom and so begins a bloody game of cat-and-mouse.

A worthy sequel that certainly ups the ante in terms of inventiveness and splattery gore set pieces. It's certainly as good as the first film and I thoroughly enjoyed it.


The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

When the love of Sinbad's life is shrunken by a nasty wizard, he finds himself blackmailed into travelling to an island fraught with danger. It's all good fun and Harryhausen's FX are a treat. We get Cyclops, Roks and a Dragon! The film looks absolutely gorgeus on Blu too.

Top notch entertainment. You can't beat the oldies!

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Buboven

Last film I saw was the Giallo, Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970).

Never heard of it till I saw it on a user's list on Letterboxed.

I was quite impressed with it however, definitely one of the best looking - especially in the first ten minutes or so -, best acted, best structured, best paced and best, story-wise, I have seen.

Overall a 8/10.

Out of all the gialli I've seen I'd have to say that Forbidden Photos is near the bottom, for me. Whilst I agree it looks good, I felt it was missing a lot of substance. Although I'm someone who prefers my gialli to be more towards the sleazy and psychedelic end of the spectrum.

[Daemonia]

The Lords of Salem (2012)

Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie) is a radio DJ and is sent a strange record from a group proclaiming themselves The Lords of Salem. When she plays the record she starts having nightmarish visions and when the group say they are coming to play a live concert, you know it's not going to end well.

Nice to see Rob take a stab at something a little different and he seems to enjoy the experimental nature of the film. I really enjoyed it and I think it's probably his best film yet. Certainly more mature than his earlier films.


Scanners (1981)

'My art keeps me sane.'

Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is a 'scanner' but doesn't realise he is until Dr Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) captures him and trains him in how to use and control his powers. Vale is Ruth's secret weapon and sends him to infiltrate a rogue scanner network headed by the formidable Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside).

It's all screwed up faces and exploding heads but I can't help loving the film. The Blu-ray from Second Sight is impeccable and a definite keeper.

'The future? You murdered the future!'


Dracula (1958)

Christopher Lee makes his debut as Count Dracula in this sumptuous Hammer classic. The tale is well-known so I won't go over it again. All that remains to be said is that Hammer/Lionsgate's Blu is terrific and reinstates footage not seen in decades, which adds an extra dimension to this well-known film. An absolute stunner of a Blu-ray and an essential for Hammer fans. Not sure what all the squabbling is over the colour timing as it looked just fine to my eyes.


I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

A bunch of teen friends driving home from a night on the beach, drinking and making out, hit a man on the road. Terrified of the possible consequences of their actions, they decide to simply dispose of the body and carry on as usual, hoping they'll never be caught. But it seems someone knows their dirty little secret and starts offing them one-by-one. Not a bad latter day slasher that followed in the wake of Scream and it's pretty enjoyable. I've always kind of liked it. The Blu from Sony is as good as you'd expect.


A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

John McClane (Bruce Willis) hears his son is having trouble in Russia, so he goes there to see if he can help out. He quickly learns that his son is an undercover CIA agent and they find they have to team up in order to survive the underworld forces that are being marshalled against them. The execution of the film is good, the story is solid, but Willis is utter shite. He sleepwalks through his role and looks thoroughly bored and disinterested and his performance lacks any kind of commitment. This could have been very good, but Willis ruins it. Shame.


Outpost 2: Black Sun (2012)

I wasn't really expecting much from this one, but was pleasantly surprised. It starts out intriguingly with our heroine Lena (Catherine Steadman) on the trail of notorious war criminal Klausener. But having located his whereabouts she finds herself in the middle of a war zone. Klausener has created an unstoppable undead army that is killing everything in its path. A NATO force has been intercepted to stop this zombie horde - but will they succeed?

I really enjoyed this and it's a cut above your usual zombie-fest with an interesting back story. Recommended.


Blade Runner - The Final Cut (1982)

Ridley Scott's masterwork gets the HD makeover on Blu with the release of his Final Cut. I do prefer this version without the voiceover, but couldn't really spot what else was different in the narrative.

The story is familiar to us all - Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a Blade Runner; a gun for hire who specialises in tracking down rogue replicants. But his newest targets are a little different, they're not just out to wreak havoc, they want to understand the reason for their existence and why their lifespans can't be longer.

The Blu looks absolutely stunning and it was a joy to revisit this again after so many years.


Rulers of the City (1976)

Tony (Harry Baer) is a low level mob enforcer but dreams of bigger things. He teams up with friend Napoli and together they hatch a plan to con mob boss Manzari (Jack Palance) out of a fortune so they can retire in style. Manzari isn't about to let them get away with it, though.

Another superb film from director Fernando Di Leo and it's total entertainment all the way. Lots of violence, gratuitous nudity, casual sexism and....Jack Palance! The Blu looks terrific and I had a great time with this one.


Gangster Squad (2013)

Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) is an uncompromising cop. Beacuse of this he is enlisted to form a squad of cops who will take on the might of Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) and his criminal empire.

Not a bad film and there's certainly enough going on to keep you interested. Brolin and Penn are great and get solid support from the likes of Ryan Gosling and Nick Nolte. Well worth a look.


Star Trek - Into Darkness (2013)

This is a sequel to the prequel reboot - did you get all that?

Anyway, this time around Kirk and crew are up against John Harrison - aka Khan - and they have to stop him before he wreaks havoc across the universe. I really enjoyed this outing for the Enterprise and her crew and I quite liked the reverse playing out from Wrath of Khan, only it's Kirk who's dying on the other side of the glass this time. Neat little twist though. Definitely worth your time - I thought it was great!


Evil Dead (2013)

Rather limp remake of an out-and-out classic. This time around the friends gather at a remote cabin to help one of their number kick their drug habit. But it's not long before they've invoked the Kandarian demons and all hell is breaking loose.

My main problem with this is that although there's plenty of the red stuff being thrown about, it's just not nasty. The dialogue sounds like outtakes from The Exorcist ('Your little sister's getting raped in hell!') and the violence and gore is thoroughly unconvincing. The acting from the cast seems a bit non-committal and I found the whole thing a bit of a non-starter. Remaking such a classic and beloved film was always going to be difficult, but I'd have expected something a little better than this.


V/H/S (2012)

A group of miscreants are hired to break into a house and steal a rare VHS tape. They stumble across a pile of tapes and start watching them and realise they may have discovered a stash of snuff movies....and each tale gets more bizarre than the one before it.

It's basically part of that whole found footage/shot on camcorder genre and it's a bit tiresome, to be honest. There's a few good moments and the last story was well worth waiting for. Overall, though, it was a bit tedious and uninteresting and gave me a headache.


ABC's of Death (2013)

26 independent filmmakers were each given a letter of the alphabet and had to make a very short film relating to that letter. It's a neat idea and although there's a lot of dross, there's also some inspired filmmaking in there. I really enjoyed it - and my favourite was probably w = wtf? That one made me laugh out loud.

Well worth a look.


Maniac (2013)

Elijah Wood takes up the role of demented Frank Zito in this gritty remake. It pretty much plays out in the same way as the original, only this time we get to step into Frank's shoes and see what he sees in a POV fashion. This can make for quite uncomfortable viewing at times and, unlike the Evil Dead remake, this is thoroughly sleazy and nasty. I think they did a damn good job with this remake and it's able to stand on its own merit.


Mad Max (1979)

Last time I saw this was about 30 years ago, so it was great to revisit it courtesy of the Blu boxset from Warners.

It's the near future and earth has become something of a wasteland following nuclear devastation and the like. Fuel is in short supply and there are nutters and gangs roaming the roads. Max (Gibson) and his crew are the law enforcement tasked with keeping law and order on the highways of Australia. But when a renegade gang kill his wife and child he's out for revenge. It's all riotous car chases and impressive stunts and is great fun from start-to-finish. I'd forgotten just how good this film is and how influential it was on the action/road movie genre.


Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

This one ups the ante in terms of sheer action and white-knuckle car chases. Max stumbles upon a band of oil-rich stragglers holed up in a desert town - and they are being menaced by a violent gang who want their oil. Max agrees to help them escape the bandits in return for gas. Again it's all big action and frenetic car chases but no worse for it. Gibson is at his moody best here and the film never lets up for a moment. Probably even better than the original film.


Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Things go a bit downhill in this third entry and is probably the weakest in the series. This one tones down the action and tries to be more ponderous and thoughtful - and suffers as a result. Max arrives in Bartertown looking for the man who stole his belongings because he wants them back. Instead, he finds himself enlisted to engage in a battle to the death with the king of the underworld who controls the power supply. But when Max realises he's been duped, he makes a sharp exit. He then meets up with a gang of kids who dream of the old world and the man who will take them there - and they think Max fits the bill. Max cautions them he isn't their saviour, but the kids set off in search of the old world anyway - and find Bartertown. Max has to return there and set things right.

The fact that Tina Turner has a lead role should tell you something about the quality of the film. It's not a bad film as such, but after the first two I'd have expected something better.


The Night Digger (1971)

Maurice Prince (Patricia Neal) is a middle-aged spinster who lives with her blind mother in their crumbling gothic mansion somewhere in England. When young Billy Jarvis turns up claiming to be a family friend - and possibly a distant relative - and asks to be taken on as a handyman for the estate, things take a strange turn. Maurice is clearly attracted to the young lad, but Billy is hiding a dark secret...

I thought this was really good and I'm surprised I'd never seen it before. The locations used and the atmosphere of underlying tension that is served up works a treat. Recommended.

[Daemonia]

Stash House (2012)

Dave and Amy have found the perfect home - or so they think. It's not long before they discover pounds of heroin in the walls and dangerous men have come to collect it. Again, or so they think. They discover the house can seal itself off from the outside world and they load the smack into bin liners and throw it out the window to the two men who have them under siege. But it's not the dope they want, there must be something else in the house they want...

It's actually a great premise but it's very, very poorly executed. The tension that should have been at breaking point is barely existent thanks to poor directing and the usually fairly reliable Dolph Lundgren gives a surprisingly weak performance. Not that good, I'm afraid.


Sinister (2012)

Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a writer of true crime. Unbeknownst to his family he moves them into a house that was the scene of a multiple murder. Whilst there he discovers some home movies and starts to watch them and begins to uncover something very troubling.

I really enjoyed this and I don't want to give anything away - but this is truly unsettling and that impressed me as a jaded film viewer! Definitely worth a look.


P2 (2007)

People raved about this at the time but I never got round to catching up with it. So I thought I'd remedy that.

It's Christmas Eve and Angela is trying to leave work when she finds herself locked into the car park. She manages to locate security guard Thomas to help her get out, but he has other things on his mind and she quickly becomes his prey and she must overcome the odds to survive.

Pretty basic survival horror that's not really all that impressive.


Chatroom (2010)

A somewhat dysfunctional teen sets up a chatroom called Chelsea Teens and then when people start joining he starts playing mind games with them which all leads to a violent ending. It's not really very good overall, but I like the way they showed the chatrooms as a real world device. Not brilliant but not too bad. Middling.


Callng Dr Death (1943)

Part of the Inner Sanctum series from Universal, each one stars Lon Chaney in a story of mystery and suspense.

In this one, Chaney plays Dr. Mark Steel, a brilliant neurologist who appears to have a blackout at the same time his wife is killed. He becomes convinced that he's the culprit although he can't remember anything. But is someone else playing with his mind...?

Pretty routine stuff but hugely enjoyable. It's a shame Chaney never really reached the heights of stardom that Karloff and Lugosi achieved, but I suspect his drinking put a dampener on things.


The Frozen Ghost (1945)

Another Inner Sanctum mystery. This time Chaney is stage mentalist Alex Gregor who, midway through his act, is interrupted by a heckler. Gregor becomes enraged and the man dies. Gregor becomes convinced that he killed the man with the power of his mind. He retires to friend Valerie Monet's wax museum for some solitude, but once there the plot against him begins to unravel.

Quite atmospheric and a whole heap of fun. Really enjoyed this one, certainly more than the previous one I watched.


Halloween (1978)

John Carpenter's timeless classic certainly needs no introduction here. Michael Myers kills his sister when he's a kid and is institutionalised. But fifteen years later, the day before Halloween, he escapes and heads back to his home town of Haddonfield for a killing spree. It's brilliantly done and set the blueprint for all slasher movies to follow.

The new Blu-ray from Anchor Bay finally delivers a hi-def presentation as it should be. The colouring is once more properly balanced and there's termendous detail in the image - one of the very best Blu's I've ever seen, in fact. Well worth the upgrade and the steelbook is a thing of beauty.


The Amityville Horror (2005)

This remake is certainly better than the film that came out in '79, but it's still a bit shit. I hadn't watched since it first came out, so I thought I'd revisit it. Ryan Reynolds certainly does his level best as the beleagured George Lutz, but the real problem is that Reynolds just isn't suited to this kind of material. Melissa Goerge is good as his wife, but that's about the best thing I can say about it really. Pretty poor all round, unfortunately.


Dracula (1931)

The film that started it all for Universal. Bela Lugosi is iconic as the vampiric Count Dracula and he has his sights set on getting to England to begin a new reign of bloodsucking terror. Lugosi's stilted acting and halting english really do add something here and gives the film a unique flavour. But my favourite performance is from Dwight Frye as the demented Renfield, who manages to keep escaping from the sanitarium, although no-one seems to know quite how he does it!

Absolutely brilliant.


Frankenstein (1931)

The film that made Karloff a horror icon and deservedly so. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) (interesting how Hammer named him Victor) is something of a mad scientist and wants to build a man and know how it feels to be like God. Alas, due to a damaged brain, things don't go as planned and the Monster runs amok invoking the ire of the locals who come along to dispatch the Monster in true villagers-with-pitchforks style.

Brilliant!


The Wolf Man (1941)

The only real surprise here is that it took Universal 10 years after their first horrors to get round to this one. Lon Chaney Jr is Larry Talbot who returns home after some time away. When some gypsies arrive in town, he takes his girl out there to see them and see what's going on. After a palm reading and the reader has a fit (Lugosi on fine form), Larry goes off and is attacked by what he believes to be a wolf. But we all know he's been bitten by a werewolf and is cursed to become one himself! Some great make-up effects for the time and great performances all round including Lugosi, Chaney and Rains. Perfect entertainment!


The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Karloff returns to the role of the Monster and this time he wants a mate! So he's going to make Henry build him one! It's a bit more light in tone than the first film and the Monster learns to talk a little in this one. But there's some fantastic optical effects - particularly with the miniature people - and it's brilliantly scripted. Everyone gives a great performance and it's a joy to sit through with never a dull moment.


The Wicker Man (1973)

Picked up the Blu-ray of the Final Cut and gave it a watch. It's a well-known story so I won't repeat it. I will say that I think this is definitely my preferred cut of the film now. It reinstates the good stuff and leaves out some of the footage that didn't really need to be added back in (IMO anyway). The print looks stunning and only drops in quality when the extra footage kicks in. A worthy upgrade on Blu-ray, I'd say.