What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I've not decided on film #1 yet, but it might be Drag Me To Hell!

Personally I wouldn't waste my time with that one, but I look forward to hearing about what you watch regardless!

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Personally I wouldn't waste my time with that one, but I look forward to hearing about what you watch regardless!

I'm doing a 'you pick one, I pick one' thing with my flat mate, he loves that one and I've never seen it! It's only fair if I'm going to have him watching Fulci and Argento by the end of the month haha

[Frankie Teardrop]

Thin gruel recently, in a way. Wait 'till my copy of 'Alien Beasts' arrives.

BYZANTIUM – Quite liked this hazy but downbeat tale of runaway vamps slumming it beside the seaside. That's the ever seedy and down-at-heel English seaside by the way, which is always a good emblem for our weirdly sexy social rot. But I think someone should do something set in Bridlington or Filey, rather than just Hastings. My mind conjures a vastly expanded and perverse 'Everyday Is Like Sunday', but 'Byzantium' has enough of an intriguing way about it – the gothic past slithers into a threadbare present, austerity-style Britain cops noirish licks whilst dallying with Twilight-esque teen romance (I guess), bits of gore do battle with a rather serious man's Sunday Supplement version of fantasy-with-subtext. I've enjoyed many a Neil Jordan flick over the years – this might not be among his more... erm, I struggle for an adjective, but 'pensive but edgy but kind of genteel' maybe sums it up... works perhaps, but then neither was 'Company Of Wolves', which I enjoyed immensely and which this kind of took me back to.

THE REDWOOD MASSACRE – Some youthful guys and gals do a bit of camping in The Scottish Woods and end up as the prey of an angry dude with a scarecrow mask. I was drawn to 'The Redwood Massacre's seeming promise of being direct to DVD poundshop gold – actually, screw that, that sentiment sounds like bollocks now I've verbalised. OK, I was expecting (or hoped in vain for) gore, utter cheapness, the abandon of no-budget trash pissing its poverty over the clay feet of Hollywood idols... I got a bit of that, I suppose. It IS pretty gory, and they get a lot of mileage out of one effect (typically, an axe to the back) being played out ad infinitum. But it has much by way of drag, clunk and cringe. And too, the bad is the wrong kind of bad. It comes off as being.... all a bit stodgy. There are good points – a dip into the killer's past, where he laughs like a made up comedy maniac whilst killing his entire family. Maybe there's more good stuff besides, but I felt a little weary, watching this at three in the morning and wondering what to drink next.

BOUND – Really liked this neo-noir twister from those guys who made 'The Matrix' (which I hated. Actually, I can't even say that, as I've never even fully sat through it). It draws on the arch charisma of Gina Gershon and Jen Tilly as lovers who tangle with Mafia sleaze... there's plenty of head play and gritty sourness to make up for the happy ending. I've seen it a few times over the years, and it kind of grows on me. Nostalgia for the mid-nineties? Don't say that, it makes me feel so old and wretched! But there it is. Anyway, this is cool, like the barrel of a colt 1911 against your cheek in the night.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Halloween Resurrection (2002)

Set three years after the events of Halloween H20. Laurie Strode is in a psychiatric hospital with Michael Myers still on the loose. Although seen as a way to write out Jamie Lee Curtis from the rest of the film and any upcoming movies this opening fifteen minutes is actually the best part of Resurrection. Curtis does well with her few scenes and the final pay off is actually quite touching. The same cannot be said for the rest of the film as events move to Haddonfield, Illinois, and we focus on a group of college students who are to star in an online reality show where they spend the night in Michael Myers childhood home. Unfortunately for them it is the night he comes home.

And so this is where it all begins to unravel and we soon realize this isn't really a Halloween / Michael Myers film after all but a bog standard slasher movie attempting to draw viewers in by using the craze of reality tv as a selling point. Myers adds nothing to proceedings and at times it feels like the Busta Rhymes show. Yes Busta Rhymes the rap star, but from this evidence definitely not Busta Rhymes the actor. Perhaps i'm doing him a disservice here as the script does Rhymes no favours whatsoever, and it's certainly not a prejudice against US rap singers as i thought LL Cool J came over pretty decent in previous film Halloween H20. The rest of the cast, including soon to be Starbuck Katee Sackhoff, Sean Patrick Thomas, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Tyra Banks, unfortunately fair no better although Sackhoff's decapitated head bouncing down the stairs adds amusement value.

Another annoying factor is Resurrection completely ignores anything that happened in films 4,5, and 6, thus effectively making them non-canon. It's difficult to say why producer Moustapha Akkad would do this as they were all his films as well and each one of them a far better proposition than this extremely disappointing effort.

[Zann]

Welcome to New York

Beautiful looking film about a mucky little bugger. This movie looks stunning and Depardieu is fantastic in it. Found it quite apologetic in a way...insofar as the hookers literally keep turning up through a revolving door at such a rate he finds it impossible to tell the difference (not sure if this was Ferrara's intended reading?!)

[Demoncrat]

Watched Solarbabies (1988, Alan Johnson)

Nice to see Durning playing a sympathetic character for once. Odd mix of The Glitterball and The Rollerblade 7 (I wish ) which I will certainly revisit.

[J Harker]

Watching Nightmare On Elm Street the original. Does anyone else have the UK blu boxset??
Was hoping someone could have a check of their disc for me. At 39:13 my disc glitches and jumps to 39:40.
Wonder if I've got a faulty disc or is it a known error.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Watching Nightmare On Elm Street the original. Does anyone else have the UK blu boxset??
Was hoping someone could have a check of their disc for me. At 39:13 my disc glitches and jumps to 39:40.
Wonder if I've got a faulty disc or is it a known error.

I watched it a few weeks back and it definitely didn't do that, maybe the disc needs a clean (unless it's happened before that is)

[J Harker]

First time I've actually watched it properly Rik. Disc is spotless. I'll try it downstairs on the PS3 in a bit. I've had it too long to do anything about now as well.

[iank]

Warlock. An evil warlock condemned to hang in the 17th century gets whisked away by an unnatural tornado that lands him in 20th century America. Sadly for him, he's not alone, because the witch hunter that caught him in the first place has tagged along for the ride and together with a young city girl cursed by the warlock is out to defeat his nemesis once and for all - before he unlocks the secret to destroying all of creation! Julian Sands is an effectively icy villain and Richard E Grant and Lori Singer have great comic chemistry as the mismatched duo out to bring him down in this hugely enjoyable tongue-in-cheek fantasy-horror. An absolute blast from start to finish and a total 80s classic!
"Over my rotting corpse!"