What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[J Harker]

I have The Shining (book) upstairs. How is it in terms of pace and such? My biggest problem with Stephen King, and i keep coming back to this term is his books are so bloody long winded. He never uses 1 page when he could use 5.

[Justin101]

The book of The Shining is actually awesome, of the King books I've read it is easily the best. It's not as loose as his later books where his editors were obviously too afraid to cut him down!

[Vipp]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I have The Shining (book) upstairs. How is it in terms of pace and such? My biggest problem with Stephen King, and i keep coming back to this term is his books are so bloody long winded. He never uses 1 page when he could use 5.

I couldn't agree more mate, I truly believe King is the most over rated writer in modern history however this book has it all, it's the only book to ever managed to scare me and it gives up the goods right to the last page, I doubt you will think it's boring when you get to the end mate.

Originally Posted by Justin101

The book of The Shining is actually awesome, of the King books I've read it is easily the best. It's not as loose as his later books where his editors were obviously too afraid to cut him down!

Harker if you needed any more proof I'd say Justin has hit the nail on the head with this comment. It's time to go upstairs and get that book mate.

[Frankenhooker]

Meh, I think, despite a few mis-steps, King is a fantastic writer. I read around four books a month, not much fiction, but the only two novelists I get excited about are Stephen King and James Ellroy. I actually think King is getting better as a writer.

The Stand is well up there when it comes to popular fiction.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

NORTHMEN

A bunch of Nordy lookalikes tart around Scotland with swords...dumb and fun actioner with plenty of mud, blood and hair.

THE VOICES

Indie throwback to pre slasher, psycho killer times when abused kids grew up to be schizophrenic serial killers. Actually, this works quite well with an uneasy mix of comedy, horror and raw emotion...however I for one could have done with a little more head from Gemma Arterton.

LONE SURVIVOR

If you ignore the wraparound flag waving at the beginning and end, this is a brutal true story of 4 navy seals trapped in Afghanistan after a failed mission, being hunted by the Taliban and defeated by the landscape. Recommended.

[keirarts]

Trouble is they did a faithful adaptation of the shining and it wasn't very good.....


Children of the corn

Not my favourite King adaptation, I prefer Cujo, Dark half, Carrie, The shining, Dead zone.. It's still a neat little killer kid movie that sticks closely to the short story until the point it needs to provide more of an audience friendly ending. Essentially its a look at the often bizarre interpretations of the Bible found out in the middle of nowhere in the bible belt taken to its extreme. Given the surge in fundamentalist religion its still an interesting film to watch, if perhaps it attributes everything to an actual bogeyman rather than the more terrible notion, and one that's in Kings story, that it's all happening because the kids actually believe in it. 88's transfer looks less waxy than my Anchor bay blu-ray but it loses all the extras, it does carry an interesting documentary on the producer that's worth a watch.

Children of the corn 2

If you ignore the native American sub-plot, this is a pretty decent sequel. It takes place in the aftermath of the first one and has a reporter coming to investigate and discovering local corruption at the heart of the mystery. It's main flaw is that it wants to provide both a rational explanation to the events of the first while keeping the supernatural menace. Well it can't have its cake and eat it and it doesn't really gel together. Still fun however and nice to finally see it on blu-ray.

Children of the corn 3

This one cashes in on the craze for 'urban' cinema and moves the action to the inner city and includes all the cliche's that one might expect. It's still enjoyable nonsense however, and features an appearance from the lovely Charlize theron. The gore scenes are well done and the end monster rampage is barmy, over the top but adds to the fun of the film. Ultimately silly in a way I enjoy.

Children of the corn 4

An early Naomi Watts film, part 4 has her coming back to visit her mom and her sister. She discovers an ancient curse placed on the town is turning the kids into killers. A few changes this one could actually get away being a separate independent film. It deviates from the 'lore' quite a bit. Its nice to see Karen Black in the film and overall its not bad, more a little bland and forgettable.

Children of the corn v

Probably the best of the Dimension pictures Corn movies, this one also ahas the best cast including Fred 'the hammer' Williamson, David Carradine, Eva mendes, Alexis Arquette, Kane Hodder... I could go on. Its directed by Ethan Wiley who does a bang up job of delivering something that while in no way ground breaking at least manages to be entertaining.

Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return

John Franklin returns as Issac in a bid to return the franchise to its roots. It doesn't really work and the film feels a little dull. I suspect Dimension peaked with part V. I have 7 and 8 someplace but can't be arsed to locate them which tells you all you need to know and I never even bothered with the remake.

Aaaaaaaaah!

frankly batshit insane bit of surrealism where everyone is required to communicate in grunts and behave like apes. Its funny, and contains some genuinely outrageous moments including a store manager spunking over a photo of prince Harry. I suspect this is the sort of film that will probably alienate some but I enjoyed it. Certainly the scenes of Toyah Wilcox communicating in ape speak stuck with me.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Really good reviews of the Children of the Corn films, keirarts. I've only seen the first three which I have on DVD and Blu-ray (the latter of which I have recently watched); I want to check out the others for the sake of completion.

I also really want to watch Aaaaaaaaah! – the Blu-ray is high priority on my Lovefilm rental queue.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Keep (1983)

When Michael Mann decided to adapt F Paul Wilson's vampire novel for the big screen he opted to leave all vampire references behind thus crushing the very soul of the work by taking himself all too seriously.

It's overlong and decidedly dull and manages to waste a fine cast - Ian Mckellan, Jurgen Prochnow, Scott Glenn and Gabriel Byrne, with the only saving grace being the special effects light show extravaganza that is at least a bit of fun to begin with.

In the end what could have been a very promising World War 2 story about Nazi's, vampires, Jews, and the demonic Molasar, savior of the Jews, ends up a pretentious, two hour long, Tangerine Dream music video.

Sure, this may well work better on blu-ray with super surround sound, but i watched this off a home recorded vhs and what you see is what you get.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Really good reviews of the Children of the Corn films, keirarts. I've only seen the first three which I have on DVD and Blu-ray (the latter of which I have recently watched); I want to check out the others for the sake of completion.

I also really want to watch Aaaaaaaaah! – the Blu-ray is high priority on my Lovefilm rental queue.

This one's region free.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...4&s=dvd&sr=1-4

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

This one's region free.

Children of the Corn Collection Blu-ray US Import: Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray

Thanks – I'll keep it in my basket and (probably) buy it sooner rather than later.