What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Slaughter In Sanfrancisco (1974, "William Lowe")

Another revelation. Ostensibly a Don Wong film, this rather Francoesque take on the "chop socky" genre is a riot, from the miscast dubbing to the sight of Chuck Norris as sexual predator (COUGH!!!!), this one's is a keeper. He's still a flabby poltroon in this one....playing on a bad guy image perhaps??


The Satan Bug (1965, John Sturges)

Always loved this rather paranoid little film. At the height of the cold war, a lethal virus goes a-missing from a "research" facility. Wooh mama!
TV stalwart George Maharis makes a reasonably convincing hero and tis always great to see Lou Grant as a husky voiced villain ahem.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Night of the Comet (1984)

Two college girls wake one morning, (not together i might add, that would have made a far better film) they discover everyone has been turned to orange dust by a passing comet. Everyone except them, the military and a couple of zombie types.

Following the disappointments of Sinister and Lake Placid 2, i rather hoped Night of the Comet might be a return to form, and it was kind of. Well the first forty minutes were. The two girls were likable enough and it was nice to see the addition of a young Robert (Chakotay) Beltran to the duo but not an awful lot happened. The film had some potential to be a fun school girls vs zombies romp, but events didn't really pan out this way as it became a game of cat and mouse with scientists in a bunker rather than what i hoped would be another Night of the Creeps (1986) The zombie traffic cops should have been a horror highlight and not just what was in effect a throw away dream sequence.

That's not to say the film was bad, it wasn't, i just think they could have done more with it. I loved the pinky/orange tinting of the sky, it made it really atmospheric and the glorious, numerous shots of downtown Los Angeles were very Omega Man in their stillness. How did they manage to film Wilshire Blvd and S Figueroa St with the magnificence of the Westin Bonaventure hotel in the background and have them so deserted. The film crew must have been up at all hours getting those shots.

In short Night of the Comet is, in my opinion, a missed opportunity.

[Justin101]

I felt the same after Night of the Comet as well, on paper it has everything to make a good movie, however in reality it's only OK, not a failure but not as good as I had hoped so I was ultimately a bit disappointed. I think it might fare better on a re-watch, which I might do in the next few weeks.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I felt the same after Night of the Comet as well, on paper it has everything to make a good movie, however in reality it's only OK, not a failure but not as good as I had hoped so I was ultimately a bit disappointed. I think it might fare better on a re-watch, which I might do in the next few weeks.

Yes, i mean if you are going to film a deserted downtown LA then you may as well have a bunch of zombified extras on standby to lurch along the streets, at least i would.

[JamesN]

I liked SINISTER a lot more than you did (at least that was the case when I saw it in the theater with my family), but we bought the Bluray when it was released and it's one of those films that I like less and less every time I watch it. I loved the music and thought the footage on those film reels was disturbing as hell, but I HATED that final "pop up" moment. So cheesy.

No desire whatsoever to see the sequel.

[Deadite]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

The Satan Bug (1965, John Sturges)

Always loved this rather paranoid little film. At the height of the cold war, a lethal virus goes a-missing from a "research" facility. Wooh mama!
TV stalwart George Maharis makes a reasonably convincing hero and tis always great to see Lou Grant as a husky voiced villain ahem.

This film takes me back. I think it was about 1983 and i had just got a black & white portable telly in my room. Back in the day when there were 3 channels (channel 4 came in '84 i think) and any telly not hooked up to the roof ariel meant a world of snow and having to sit 2 feet from the screen to see anything.

Well, as i recall, The Satan Bug was the first thing i watched late at night in my own room on my own telly without my parents knowing about it. Illicit thrills! Ah, memories.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Deadite

This film takes me back. I think it was about 1983 and i had just got a black & white portable telly in my room. Back in the day when there were 3 channels (channel 4 came in '84 i think) and any telly not hooked up to the roof ariel meant a world of snow and having to sit 2 feet from the screen to see anything.

Well, as i recall, The Satan Bug was the first thing i watched late at night in my own room on my own telly without my parents knowing about it. Illicit thrills! Ah, memories.

May have watched same broadcast haha.

Film 4 showed it a few times recently.

[JamesN]

Saw this last night. Nothing great, but definitely worth a rental. Fine performances all around:

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by JamesN

Saw this last night. Nothing great, but definitely worth a rental. Fine performances all around:

I'm interested in this, but it's probably going to be a 'when it's on Netflix' movie

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I'm interested in this, but it's probably going to be a 'when it's on Netflix' movie

I rented it from Lovefilm and thought it was much better than I expected – it's probably something I'll buy from HMV in a 3 for £20 or 5 for £30 deal.