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I only saw it for free as I ranked up enough points as a Chapter card member to watch a film for free, so to say it was a bargain is a bit of an understatement. Also going to watch the Cannon doc Electric Bugaloo at the Chapter on Thursday, so can't wait for that! |
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Extraterrestrial (2014) For the most part nothing really stands out in this decent but not particularly spectacular effort from The Vicious Brothers. Friends travelling to Hicksville USA to stay at a deceased relatives cabin in the woods. Naturally friends bicker, shout and generally become annoying, especially after discovering Michael Ironside's pot farm, then halfway through something big crashes in the forest and they are suddenly terrorized by aliens. Where the film succeeds is in the budgetary department. The visuals look great. The aliens (Roswell types) look impressive as does their ship. There's no shaky cam, stare at the ground for half the film, style footage, we see everything making it a refreshing change from other recent alien movies. It's still a bit ho-hum, seen it all before though....until the last ten minutes . Really taking me by surprise,the Vicious Brothers take us inside the alien craft. The film turns extremely creepy, grim, disturbing and quite gloopy. Guts are spilled, recesses are probed (yes...even that one) and edges of the seat are gripped. I can't really recommend Extraterrestrial as the first 40 minutes are so depressingly average but it does improve and the finale almost makes up for everything that's gone before it. |
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Lords of Salem. Watched this again. Perhaps too early as its more a midnight movie. A noble failure from Rob Zombie that he 'saved' in editing, this is still a decent mood piece and when things start really going off the rails in the last third it actually becomes quite good. Zombie certainly knows how to frame a shot and deliver some great imagery, its a shame he hasn't nailed the structure with this one. It! Terror beyond space. Aside from Planet of the vampires this is one of the other major influences on Ridley Scott's Alien. A rescue team pick up an astronaut stranded on Mars, convinced he has killed the rest of his crew. However as the voyage continues they discover an alien creature has stowed away and has begun killing off the crew. Solidly made 50's B movie with a decent level of tension. Hard science buffs may cringe at stuff like the crew discharging firearms in what is essentially a large metal box, but its entertainingly daft and looks great on Blu-ray. X: The man with the x-ray eyes. Moving into early 60's sci-fi/horror this one is somewhat more profound as an obsessive scientist named Xavier (played by Ray Milland) discovers a drug that can sharpen his eyesight to see everything. As a result he loses everything else to the point of wandering the desert with profound spiritual revelations. Well crafted stuff from Corman this was originally meant to be about a Jazz musician who experiences this through experimentation with drugs, however Corman worried about censor issues so made it about a mad scientist instead. The drugs parallels are pretty clear and ironic given this was the start of the 60's and in a few years we would be getting films like Easy rider, The trip and..... Pysch-out. Made 1968 as the hippie movement was overripe and about to burst, this far out exploitation picture from AIP and Dick Clark has Susan Strasberg playing a deaf innocent looking for her brother (played by Bruce Dern looking like a wrecked Christ) in the centre of the Hippie movement in Haight-Ashbury. There she encounters a group of musicians led by Jack Nicholson who help her navigate the scene in order to find her brother. Along the way they get help from Dean stockwell who looks astonishingly high. What first appears to be a love letter to the Hippie movement grows increasingly and alarmingly like a warning of what is to come as the film gradually seems to morph into a very bad trip. Given that its not long before Manson and Altermont then this might be the high watermark Hunter S Thompson discussed in Fear and loathing in las vegas. Certainly the night time street scenes seem to have an uncomfortable sense of Danger and Strasberg's innocent abroad begins to get more alarmed by what she sees. The film is still a product of its time and anyone's enjoyment will really depend on whether they can hack any of the 'far out grooviness' and psychedelia on display. As a time capsual for a place not that far off but seemingly a million miles away however, its worth a watch. |
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I watched the first 3 hours of the Hellraiser doc last night. It's up there with Never Sleep Again and Crystal Lake Memories IMO, loads of fascinating interviews with plenty of the cast and crew from the first 2 films, only exception is Barker himself, who had to pull out because of illness. Highly recommended, and I've nowhere near finished it yet seeing as it's over 700 long across 3 discs!
__________________ If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this. So, pretty please... with sugar on top. Clean the ****ing car! |
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Kidnapped (2010) A brutal home invasion film about a wealthy family in Madrid whose home is broken into by three vicious thugs. What starts as a simple robbery turns very ugly with brutal scenes of rape and violence with suspense and tension from the off. It's great to see a film of this type where the perpetrators aren't rampaging teen thugs but calculating criminals as it definitely adds unpredictability to proceedings. Once the invasion takes place the film's pace is unrelenting and uncompromising culminating in a final ten minutes that hits home hard and certainly took me by surprise. Stylishly directed and well acted, Kidnapped is definitely recommended. |
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