What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[demonknight]

Candyman (1992);

A nice little horror flick from the early '90s, directed by Bernard Rose.
Starring Virginia Madsen, and Tony Todd as the hooked killer. The movie
looks really good in HD. Gore isn't really at the forefront of this type of
movie, but the scenes that did feature 'the red stuff', were executed pretty
well by Bob Keen and his crew. I love what he did on Hellraiser (1987).
Candyman is a great horror movie, and on the HD format, is extremely
pleasing to the eye.

[Buboven]

Originally Posted by demonknight

Candyman (1992);

A nice little horror flick from the early '90s, directed by Bernard Rose.
Starring Virginia Madsen, and Tony Todd as the hooked killer. The movie
looks really good in HD. Gore isn't really at the forefront of this type of
movie, but the scenes that did feature 'the red stuff', were executed pretty
well by Bob Keen and his crew. I love what he did on Hellraiser (1987).
Candyman is a great horror movie, and on the HD format, is extremely
pleasing to the eye.

This excellent film still has my favourite opening sequence in horror.

Never seen the sequels, anyone here recommend them?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Buboven

This excellent film still has my favourite opening sequence in horror.

Never seen the sequels, anyone here recommend them?

They are interesting enough to warrant watching, but certainly aren't up to the standards of the first film.

[Nordicdusk]

I'm a big fan of Candyman it has a really creepy vibe to it. Never seen the sequel so can't comment on that.

[keirarts]

The Devils men.

Donald pleasance is an amiable enough Irish Priest living and working in Greece and providing accommodation for various swinging 70's youth who stop by. Dons certainly 'down with the kids' however he's a little concerned that they seem to be going missing at an alarming rate at a nearby castle and ruins owned by Peter Cushing. Don keeps asking his mate, who looks a lot like Ted Crilly from father Ted, to help out. Ted seems to busy hanging out at his new York flat stark naked with his missus and chain smoking. He's supposed to be a private eye but he doesn't really do much of anything and is fairly ineffectual even when he actually gets his arse in gear. Eventually there's a showdown when its discovered Cushing is heading a group of minotaur worshippers who are sacrificing teenagers.
Devils men is a somewhat middle of the road Brit horror. Not as bad as Incense for the Damned or blood beast terror, not as good as anything from the golden era of hammer, Pete walker, Norman J warren or Blood on satans claw. Somewhat 'middle of the road'. It's fun enough for what it is and the time passes well enough so probably worth watching.

Terror.

Norman J warren 'homages' Suspiria in a film that embraces style over substance. Warren himself admits he only had ideas for individual scenes and then handed them to Screenwriter and Peter Walker regular David McGillivray to make some sort of sense of. So we get the last descendants of a family cursed by a witch and their mates getting bumped off one by one in what could be a supernatural curse or a lunatic with a grudge.
Warren delivers a quite stylish and entertaining horror that while not as good as Suspiria is certainly an entertaining watch. Warren injects the film with moments of humour for some audience relief and plenty of soho sleaze in places as well.

Satans slave.

Another Norman J warren flick. This ones earlier than Terror and somewhat reminiscent of another film he made PREY, as its a film with a relatively small cast set in one location. Like with that Warren is a master of making do with what he has and delivers a great occult chiller on a shoestring budget.
A young woman approaching her twentieth birthday goes with her family to visit her reclusive uncle and his oddball son. Her uncle is played by British cinemas premier rent-a-nutter Michael Gough who may or may not be a nutter (though most fans will guess which side of the sanity line he falls on pretty quickly) His son is a sexual sadist who seems to be able to turn the charm on when needed, before going to town with a pair of scissors and a mad leer that gives the film its seediest and most censored scene.
Our young heroine seems oblivious to the fact her relatives are clearly f&*%££ psyhotic and actually starts falling for her cousins charms before the shit hits the fan.
Satans slave is great fun, Warren can and often does work wonders with a tiny budget and this film really holds up well.

Zombie Hunter.

Recently I watched ZOMBIE HUNTERS, a frankly awful and almost unwatchable pile of tripe that had a lot of half formed ideas poorly realised in a dull and achingly rotten pile of poorly acted garbage.
This film however was actually sort of fun...
Essentially a mad max style twit with a line in gruff voiced machismo is surviving zombie apocalypse when he gets inexpicably shot and taken in by a group of survivors including the bad-ass Danny Trejo. Eventually we get huge tyrant like zombies turning up and the group must flee.
So pretty plot-light, its also incredibly sexist, gratuitously violent and uses the well worn grindhouse schtick for all its worth.
All in all it's not a great film but its actually sort of fun in an incredibly dumb, tired-out-my-brains-and-in-need-of-something-undemanding kind of way. Unlike the one with the s at the end zombie hunter sticks to one idea and milks it for all its worth and in doing so is a much better film. It cost me 50p and if you see it for that its worth a watch.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Slaughterhouse (1987)

Generic D-grade slasher about a hillbilly farmer and his son who slaughter people as freely as they do their hogs especially when their farm is threatened by bankruptcy from a chain of slaughterhouses.

There's absolutely nothing you haven't seen before in a film that isn't exactly awash with the red stuff even though it sports one or two decent kill scenes. The film's biggest problem is in having characterization so thin it becomes boring during the often endless sequences of dialogue as the viewer has no one to empathize with and no one to root for come the end making the whole thing a bit of a scare free zone. Another of the reasons is the directors failure to make the most out of the slaughterhouse scenario which should have been a terrifying environment but it all comes across as a bit comical. Having said that some of the humorous asides are a bit of fun. The farmer and Buddy's last name is Bacon, one of the teens is named Lizzy Borden, being a couple of examples. The films main redeeming feature is Buddy as played by Joe B Barton. A huge sadistic mentally challenged brute who can't talk but grunts and squeels like a pig as he skull crushes and batters his victims to death.

The fact this was director / writer Rick Roessler's only film is a shame as he comes across as a decent guy in the extras and clearly knows how to frame a scene, giving the film a sense of higher production values than it really has.

Ultimately though if you've seen a lot of slasher films then Slaughterhouse comes across as a bit of a porker.

[SShaw]

This weekend was my first time in the Empire Leicester square since the refurbishment. I went to see Black Hat and chose a seat on the balcony of the Impact screen, which lived up to its name but is clearly is not for those who suffer from vertigo. Not sure if it was the screen (which completely fills your field of view) or the film, but I found the shaky cam much less effective (and slightly nauseous) than normal. The film is not Michael Mann's best, it felt like a rehash of some of his earlier films, but I liked it just enough and to be honest while the subject matter is timely, computer crime, it's difficult to see how something which is essentially a man sat at a keyboard, could be made genuinely exciting.

Of course I was in London to see Profundo Rosso with a live musical score and despite the technical problems (in the latter part of the first half) hearing and seeing Claudio Simonetti and co. perform their live soundtrack accompaniment was a real treat (perhaps not as good as last years Suspiria, but that has more to do with the film). They stayed around after the film to play a role call of Argento/Goblin greatest hits. Simply sublime! Hopefully they will turn up around the festival circuit so that I have a chance to see the performance gremlin free. I have some very grainy photos from my Handy that I will share on my diary thread.

[trebor8273]

Manhunter

The first Hannibal lecter film before anyone had really heard of the character. For me far superior to the remake (red dragon )in nearly every way, acting,direction and soundtrack. Vary tame compared to the tv show which is to be expect with its age. In someways I found Cox's performane more menacing than Hopkins whose performance as the movies went on seemed to get more OTT and hammy. 8/10

Now watching fast times at ridgemont high, which I've not seen before, but really enjoying it and seems like a blueprint for all the teen/high school comedy's that followed it. Lots of familiar 80s names in early roles

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Now watching fast times at ridgemont high, which I've not seen before, but really enjoying it and seems like a blueprint for all the teen/high school comedy's that followed it. Lots of familiar 80s names in early roles

The pool scene with Phoebe Cates is perhaps the definitive moment of celebrity nudity in film, even more than Halley Berry in Swordfish or Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Her level of popularity at the time and the unexpected nature of the scene has yet to be surpassed.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

The pool scene with Phoebe Cates is perhaps the definitive moment of celebrity nudity in film, even more than Halley Berry in Swordfish or Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Her level of popularity at the time and the unexpected nature of the scene has yet to be surpassed.

Naked Phoebe Cates wait while I find a box of tissues !