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  #34941  
Old 30th December 2015, 10:44 PM
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Default Christmas Horror Marathon #24

The Halfway House (1944)

A group of travelers, all with something to hide in their past, take shelter from a storm in an old inn. An inn that was bombed to the ground exactly a year ago to the day.

The Halfway House is an absolute gem. An underrated gem at that. Beautifully directed by Basil Dearden it plays out almost like a portmanteau with each character having a story to tell from their past, present or indeed future in the case of the Irishman. The film could be seen as a propaganda piece with it's own view point on Ireland's neautrality in the war, but the whole is much more than mere war time propaganda.

Starring Mervyn Johns and his actual daughter Glynis, as the innkeeper and his daughter, the film has an air of supernatural mystery to it, an air that's fairly easy to figure out as some of travelers begin to as the film plays out. Such as why their hosts cast no shadow and so forth, but the mystery isn't the reason for the film, it's how each character sorts out his and her troubles and the way the innkeeper helps them deal with their woes, hopes and fears. Far from dragging, the script gives each character believability whether you believe their motives are sound or not in what is essentially an excellent morality tale. The supernatural atmosphere is constant but never meant to scare, more to intrigue and beguile, at least until the final reels where everyone realises what happened to the inn and their reason for being there on this fateful day.

Anybody who loves Dead of Night (1945), again co-directed by Basil Dearden, should really appreciate this little seen slice of the supernatural.
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Last edited by Demdike@Cult Labs; 30th December 2015 at 11:00 PM.
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  #34942  
Old 30th December 2015, 11:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Demoncrat View Post
The Hateful Eight (2015)

After the rather lovely opening, you suddenly realise you're watching one of his films. Then it's a case of deja vu all over again.......
I was at work today and a bus passed by with the advertising for this film on its side, I took one look at Samuel L, and knowing it was another Tarantino affair thought to myself its another one of his movies, in other words fancy dialogue and more 'style' then you can shake a stick at! Turn't me off of it! as you say "deja vu all over again".
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  #34943  
Old 30th December 2015, 11:22 PM
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WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE?
Massimo Dallamano's classic giallo gets a gorgeous transfer on Arrow's blu ray. Performances are top notch, the camerawork and photography excellent and it has yet another cracking score from Ennio Morricone.
In the hands of another director, this could have been cheap and nasty, but under Dallamano's direction, it is a gripping thriller.
Some great interviews as extras make this an essential purchase.

COUNT DRACULA
Christopher Lee stars in Jess Franco's take on the vampire legend, which, by all accounts, Lee really enjoyed as it stuck pretty closely to Stoker's original novel ( including the notion that the Count gets progressively younger after each attack ) as well as having him quote dialogue directly from the book.
I wouldn't say it surpasses anything by Hammer, but it looks lovely and is very restrained, particularly considering the more extreme material Franco would film only a few years later. Lovely looking print on Severin's blu ray.
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  #34944  
Old 30th December 2015, 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by JoshuaKaitlyn View Post
I was at work today and a bus passed by with the advertising for this film on its side, I took one look at Samuel L, and knowing it was another Tarantino affair thought to myself its another one of his movies, in other words fancy dialogue and more 'style' then you can shake a stick at! Turn't me off of it! as you say "deja vu all over again".

It's actually a really good film. Think Reservoir Dogs & The Thing in a Western/post US Civil War setting, and that pretty much sums it up. Almost 3 hours long, but it doesn't drag for a single second, with Kurt Russell sporting the coolest beard in the history of films, and channeling the spirit of Duke Wayne. Plus, Tarantino comes up trumps again with his use of music borrowed from other films, including a few familiar cues from The Thing.
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  #34945  
Old 30th December 2015, 11:39 PM
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Creed

well it'll be interesting to see what all the folk unhappy star wars had similar plot points to the original will make of this, basically its Rocky re-done with Apollo creeds son being trained by Rocky. I really enjoyed it however and think it holds up as an entertaining movie.

As for Hateful 8, I'll be seeing that soon. Personally I think all of Tarantino's films are great fun. I've never bought into the self indulgent criticism as a lot of my favourite directors including Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, Alejandro Jodorowsky ect ect have all been rather self indulgent. I personally think you either dislike his style of film-making, which is totally fair given a lot of directors I like split opinions down the middle, or you like it.
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  #34946  
Old 31st December 2015, 10:17 AM
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Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Enjoyable but nowhere near as good a spy spoof as i'd hoped.

The film sports an ingenious use of Skynyrd's Freebird (Second only to The Devil's Rejects) as Colin Firth slaughters an entire church's congregation in hand to hand combat.

Too long overall. In Like Flint and Austin Powers International Man of Mystery are better examples of the genre.
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  #34947  
Old 31st December 2015, 11:33 PM
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Default What Films Have You Seen Recently?

As I'm boring and can't be bothered to go out for new year, seeing it in with this movie

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Last edited by trebor8273; 31st December 2015 at 11:55 PM.
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  #34948  
Old 1st January 2016, 12:44 AM
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I stopped going out on New Years Eve after the millennium celebrations. I don't miss it at all. Too many pissed up people who can't drink.

Tonight's viewing has been

Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958) - excellent
Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) - very good

with Dead Snow 2 up next followed by The Inbetweeners 2.

I've not seen any of the four before so i'm pleased at least 50% are very good.

Happy New Year to all Cult Labbers.


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  #34949  
Old 1st January 2016, 01:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trebor8273 View Post
As I'm boring and can't be bothered to go out for new year, seeing it in with this movie

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Absolute classic!
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  #34950  
Old 1st January 2016, 02:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly View Post

MUCK

This is more like it, utter shite lacking any real motivation other than to show as many close ups of a woman's arse as she gets covered in mud and blood. There is a plot in there somewhere amongst the casual racism, sexism and arses. In fact, if you like arses and American regional slashers where people talk endlessly to pad the running time between walking in woods or in and out of rooms, then it's a winner. I liked it. Apparently it is the second part of a trilogy with the first and third parts yet to be made!
Muck is one off the worse movies ever made. *face palm smilie*
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