What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by profondo rosso

NEON MANIACS

This film I remember from many years ago, but it passed me by in the viewing stakes.

Creatures live under The Golden Gate Bridge, where are they from? no one knows! Why are they suddenly here? no one knows! What is their endgame? You guessed it...no one knows.....do we care? not really because I thought this film was fantastic. It is definitely so bad it needs to be seen. I will not spoil the very shallow plot because there is not much of one to spoil.

The Neon Maniacs are like Hellraisers Cenobites on a 5p budget which just adds to the appeal.
I personally think the make up is great for a budget flick and for its day.

Not much to add except if you like bad good movies...like I know most on here do and you have not seen this, get it!

Here are some glorious pix of the Neon Maniacs.

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Loved Neon Maniacs shame about the funds running out and the sudden ending.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

John Carpenter's The Ward (2010)

Kristen (Amber Heard) finds herself committed after setting fire to an abandoned farmhouse. Once there she becomes friends with the other girls as she comes to realize things are not as they seem and a gruesome ghostly figure stalks the ward at night.

Before i go on i should say i wanted to like this film. It is John Carpenter after all. Also i was pleasantly surprised as i thought it was a found footage film and happily it isn't.

The Ward is an interesting mystery, a slow burning story which gradually escalates, drawing the viewer in as both we and Heard's Kristen character try and figure out the reasons for her being hospitalized in the first place. Carpenter allows the suspense to come to the fore through the story telling as the film gradually flips from mystery to ghost story. The film is nicely acted with characters to sympathise with and tries to avoid the typical genre cliches of bullying wardens and such like. The soundtrack, although often subtle and low in the mix, (thankfully Carpenter doesn't resort to musical jump scares), has echoes of Goblin's Suspiria score. There is little gore, but what there is is gruesome, and one sequence is definitely not for the squeamish in it's eye opening nastiness.

The films only real let down for me was the extremely rushed denouement. I have to admit i didn't see it coming but when you actually think about it, it makes the preceding 80 minutes a bit of a waste of time as it's difficult to say if it happened or it was all in Kristen's mind.

Whilst The Ward is nowhere near classic John Carpenter, (he hasn't a writing credit or responsible for the score), however one or two of his directorial flourishes can be found such as slow, creepy tracking shots which add to the ghostly feel of things.

Better than Escape from LA. The Ward is worth checking out as it's nowhere near as poor as you've probably heard. (cough)

Originally posted in The Cult Labs Members Review Club.

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Loved Neon Maniacs shame about the funds running out and the sudden ending.

I always wondered why the ending was so sudden, the lack of explanation or conclusion of any kind actually quite dropped my opinion in the movie, as it left me kind of disappointed.

[profondo rosso]

Originally Posted by fuzzymctiger

I always wondered why the ending was so sudden, the lack of explanation or conclusion of any kind actually quite dropped my opinion in the movie, as it left me kind of disappointed.

The ending was very sudden and let it down but to be fair there was not much to explain anyway

On the BD there is a very good extra of an interview with FX guy Allan Apone who talks about the financial difficulties he / they had with the film. At one point he had to legally fight for his pay whilst still in the midst of making the film, and they still kept a professional relationship going to see it through. It was one of those films where they apparently filmed a bit, ran out of funds, months later kicked in again and so on.Some of the Maniacs were the same actors playing various roles. The script was probably one area they should of invested in....it does help!

[profondo rosso]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

John Carpenter's The Ward (2010)

Kristen (Amber Heard) finds herself committed after setting fire to an abandoned farmhouse. Once there she becomes friends with the other girls as she comes to realize things are not as they seem and a gruesome ghostly figure stalks the ward at night.

Before i go on i should say i wanted to like this film. It is John Carpenter after all. Also i was pleasantly surprised as i thought it was a found footage film and happily it isn't.

The Ward is an interesting mystery, a slow burning story which gradually escalates, drawing the viewer in as both we and Heard's Kristen character try and figure out the reasons for her being hospitalized in the first place. Carpenter allows the suspense to come to the fore through the story telling as the film gradually flips from mystery to ghost story. The film is nicely acted with characters to sympathise with and tries to avoid the typical genre cliches of bullying wardens and such like. The soundtrack, although often subtle and low in the mix, (thankfully Carpenter doesn't resort to musical jump scares), has echoes of Goblin's Suspiria score. There is little gore, but what there is is gruesome, and one sequence is definitely not for the squeamish in it's eye opening nastiness.

The films only real let down for me was the extremely rushed denouement. I have to admit i didn't see it coming but when you actually think about it, it makes the preceding 80 minutes a bit of a waste of time as it's difficult to say if it happened or it was all in Kristen's mind.

Whilst The Ward is nowhere near classic John Carpenter, (he hasn't a writing credit or responsible for the score), however one or two of his directorial flourishes can be found such as slow, creepy tracking shots which add to the ghostly feel of things.

Better than Escape from LA. The Ward is worth checking out as it's nowhere near as poor as you've probably heard. (cough)

Originally posted in The Cult Labs Members Review Club.

Glad you liked it Dem. The problem with John Carpenter fans is we want him to find his mojo one last time and produce one more classic but I don't think that will ever happen, not dissimilar to Argento. Do you think it is a generational / era thing? 70's 80's Wes Craven, Carpenter, Argento, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper et al; all maestros in their time but slowly lost the originality and ideas that made the classics we associate with them. I personally think it was because it was a time when horror fans like us could afford and pick up a camera for the first time and realise our awful dreams onto film, giving way to originality and non main stream ideas.

I liked this film and agree, I want to like every film he associates himself with. It has some stand out scary moments and the score is worth picking up even though its not JC's work.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by fuzzymctiger

I always wondered why the ending was so sudden, the lack of explanation or conclusion of any kind actually quite dropped my opinion in the movie, as it left me kind of disappointed.

I was the exact same but after I watched the doc I just felt bad for the director. Still a great cheesy fun film.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Rik

I was gonna watch this the other night, I enjoyed the Collector, I'm guessing this isn't as good then?

I'm going to give a differing opinion and say the collection is well worth watching. I wouldn't go so far as to describe it as torture porn. It has some nasty sequences but imagine a slasher picture set in jigsaws house. Its no classic of the genre but a lot better than some of the junk out there.

Last night I watched

THE BOGEY MAN

Uli Lomell when he was still making films worth watching delivered this gory knock off of films like Halloween and Amityville. Here a young brother and sister are tormented by memories of a tormented childhood that somehow manifests itself in a haunted mirror. The mirror is broken and the fragments cause some fairly nasty deaths.
Re-watching the film in a frankly stunning HD presentation I'd almost forgotten how f*****g random the film is in places. Not only in sudden violent deaths of incidental characters but in things like plot and character motivation. Biggest WTF came when suzannah love's characters husband admits the mirror may be possessed but says that's its absurd that its the ghost of their mothers dead lover.
For me this total weirdness is part of Bogey man's charms. It got watched to hell on VHS from the legendary vipco, the Anchor bay DVD remains on my shelf thanks to the presence of DEVONSVILLE TERROR on the B side but is also well watched. I'm guessing 88 films Blu will be the same!


Night train murders.

Two girls take a night train to terror at the hands of a pair of junkies and a sadean middle class housewife who is using them for kicks. Not as good as last house mainly because its a technically more proficient film and lacks the DIY documentary level nastiness of Last house, its still a great film however and worth a watch. Rather than an allegory about the dehumanising effects on violence this seems to be a more politically class oriented affair with the real monsters as the upper middle class who either crassly attempt to categorise crime and violence as a result of not enough sports in schools or actively encourage it for their own kicks.
88 films looks great. Seems to be a little fuzz in the brighter scenes that may get some hot under the collar but it looks good to me and is certainly on parr with the Blue underground release.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by profondo rosso

Glad you liked it Dem. The problem with John Carpenter fans is we want him to find his mojo one last time and produce one more classic but I don't think that will ever happen, not dissimilar to Argento. Do you think it is a generational / era thing? 70's 80's Wes Craven, Carpenter, Argento, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper et al; all maestros in their time but slowly lost the originality and ideas that made the classics we associate with them. I personally think it was because it was a time when horror fans like us could afford and pick up a camera for the first time and realise our awful dreams onto film, giving way to originality and non main stream ideas.

I liked this film and agree, I want to like every film he associates himself with. It has some stand out scary moments and the score is worth picking up even though its not JC's work.

I think there is a generational aspect because, as Mark Kermode recently argued, horror filmmakers now take their education from Halloween onwards rather than 10 years earlier:



As such, Carpenter is competing with people who are referencing his earlier work, making a clear dividing line between the two different types of films.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Warriors (1979)

A gang from Coney Island are blamed for the murder of the charismatic Cyrus. The leader of New York's most powerful gang - The Gramercy Riffs. The nine Warriors have to get home on foot through dangerous rival gang territory as the Riffs put a price on their heads.

Fast paced, controversial and most importantly a cracking yet simple story, The Warriors is one of cult director Walter Hill's best films. This was only my second viewing of it as i didn't particularly rate it when i first watched it. However, recent chats on here with staunch lovers of the film (Nordy & MTDS) made me want to watch it again.

I'm pleased they did as i got a lot more out of it second time round. Appreciating the film's subtleties and observations on life, not to mention it's killer soundtrack and influential dialogue.

The film is well acted. Michael Beck as Warrior leader Swan has a charismatic presence that holds the film together and his altercations with Ajax, played by the prolific James Remar, add to the tensions within the group. The various gangs they come across on their journey are all memorable especially David Kelly, best known for Commando (1985) and his Rogues. This time Sully was indeed killed last.

Perhaps not a great piece of cinema, The Warriors is definitely a cult classic and thoroughly deserves that status.

[Nordicdusk]

Not a bad little film

Great review Dem.