What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Cinematic Shocks]

Child's Play 3 (1991)

**1/2 out of *****

[Cinematic Shocks]

Curse of Chucky (2013)

***1/2 out of *****

[Justin101]

I've watched a handful of films over the last few days;

10 Rillington Place (1971)
Attenborough as Christie is one of the creepiest things I've seen on the screen in ages. That scene made me gasp out loud....

Gilda (1946)
Rita Hayworth sizzles and eats every scene she's in, it's a shame that the plot is over-cooked.

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
The weekly trip to the cinema found me in a smart teen film about growing up. Predictable story but expertly executed with enough pathos to elicit an emotional response for the ending!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

This sort of ties in with my new found interest in British sex films of the 70's. Well when i say sex i mean more saucy sea side smut rather than anything hardcore. Don't Open Till Christmas is sleazy and nasty and British exploitation of the highest order with blue movie actress Pat Astley featuring in a fairly dodgy razor attack that possibly wouldn't escape the BBFC even now.

In a way this is the British answer to Silent Night Deadly Night from the same year, except i think this is better. For a start there is a kill every few minutes, 13 in all i think so the pace has no time to drop or the viewer become jaded before the next bit of hack n' slash lights up the screen. The murders are graphic - a spear through the mouth, a cleaver across the face, disembowelment, castrations - that sort of thing, or If it's not a murder then it's a pretty young woman chained up in a basement, as the film with it's simple plot of a psycho randomly killing any one dressed as Santa in the run up to Christmas.

The suspense is well handled by director Edmund Purdom, who also plays a police inspector in the film, especially a stalking sequence in the London Dungeon tourist attraction and the afore mentioned attack on Astley. In fact the whole thing has a delightfully grubby atmosphere and it doesn't help that sleazy Alan Lake stars as a reporter who may be more than he seems, and adds a lot of unease to proceedings. Oddly Caroline Munro pops up as herself, performs a song in a skin tight red dress then is never seen again. It's random nonsense like this that makes the film memorable in a quirky British sense. I would say Grittish but it's too much fun for that.

[Inspector Abberline]

Love and Death (1975)

11868-Love-and-Death.jpg

Woody Allen takes his New York Jewish shtick and plonks his persona right in the middle of Russia during the Napoleonic wars, where even as a child he is given to religious dreams and asking the Grim Reaper some poignant question about the after life "Are there girls? " While managing to live through a battle that sees Boris (Woody Allen) become a war hero accidentally of course. Diane Keaton is again Allen's love interest and all round foil. Woody's humour ranges from the downright silly, see the scene where Allen and Keaton are trying to knock someone out with a wine bottle to philosophical pseudo debates that are just as silly but probably give the intellectuals in the audience something to laugh at as well.
The genius of Allen's early films was that he could pretty much get laugh 's from any subject matter, I remember watching Love and Death on television when I was an early teen,and while I did not get any of the literature references, it still gets a laugh just from absurdity of it all. The black drill sergeant putting Boris through his paces, or the explanation about why Young Gregor's son was older than Old Gregor.Nobody could figure out how that happened and What's it like to be dead? You know the chicken at Tresky's Restaurant? It's worse. And since I have never read any of the classic Russian novels the film is supposedly spoofing its is a testament to Allen's comedy that it does not really matter, because at the end of the day all it seems to come down to basically is love and death, or more to the point sex. Also the newly released Arrow Blu Ray is a very nice upgrade, while the film does not boast any special effects as such, it looks like it should, a film from the 1970's,no fancy what ever the **** they do with restorations, it just looks like a film no more no less. Love and Death is my favourite Woody Allen after Broadway Danny Rose, and they both stand well to repeated viewings, which is always a good sign.And remember Never shoot up in the air when you're standing under it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Elf (2003)

There's something ever so slightly sinister about Elf. I don't know if it's the whole man elf thing where he sits on mens knees or if it's just star Will Ferrel himself who's creepy as ****.

It starts to settle down when the elf reaches New York after being kicked out of Santa's grotto in the North Pole for being a disaster at everything thanks to his large size. James Caan as the elf's estranged father is brilliant, working at a children's book publishers, he's under pressure to deliver a cracking Christmas tale, and channels his classic Las Vegas tv casino boss Ed Deline to perfection here until the inevitable melting of his heart and embracing the elf as his long lost son. Zooey Deschannel also adds a lot to the film with her reigned in performance as the elf's potential girlfriend.

As the film goes on either i warmed to Ferrel or just became used to his elf act, either way the film becomes lovely and heart warming and features some worthwhile funny escapades and might just bring a bit of Christmas cheer to even the coldest of hearts

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Elf (2003)

There's something ever so slightly sinister about Elf. I don't know if it's the whole man elf thing where he sits on mens knees or if it's just star Will Ferrel himself who's creepy as ****.

It starts to settle down when the elf reaches New York after being kicked out of Santa's grotto in the North Pole for being a disaster at everything thanks to his large size. James Caan as the elf's estranged father is brilliant, working at a children's book publishers, he's under pressure to deliver a cracking Christmas tale, and channels his classic Las Vegas tv casino boss Ed Deline to perfection here until the inevitable melting of his heart and embracing the elf as his long lost son. Zooey Deschannel also adds a lot to the film with her reigned in performance as the elf's potential girlfriend.

As the film goes on either i warmed to Ferrel or just became used to his elf act, either way the film becomes lovely and heart warming and features some worthwhile funny escapades and might just bring a bit of Christmas cheer to even the coldest of hearts

I love Elf. One of Will Ferrels best films. And Zooey Deschanel is cute as hell. I challenge anyone not to join in with the Santa Clause is coming to town at the end in Central Park.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I love Elf. One of Will Ferrels best films. And Zooey Deschanel is cute as hell. I challenge anyone not to join in with the Santa Clause is coming to town at the end in Central Park.

I didn't join in because i had grit or something in my eye.

[Dave Boy]

THE PROFESSIONALS (1966)

Four men are hired by a wealthy rancher to bring his wife back, who has been kidnapped by bandits....

Explosive western with a twist in tale. Good action sequences and a great cast that has you rooting that they will all make it out alive after rescuing the girl.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Dave Boy

THE PROFESSIONALS (1966)

Four men are hired by a wealthy rancher to bring his wife back, who has been kidnapped by bandits....

Explosive western with a twist in tale. Good action sequences and a great cast that has you rooting that they will all make it out alive after rescuing the girl.

One of my favourite westerns. A terrific film.