What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by troggi

Can anyone give me the definitive answer... is Johnson's head getting smaller or are his shoulders getting bigger?

He is massive these days double the size he was in WWF

[Rik]

Just finished watching The Dirt on Netflix, never been a Mötley Crüe fan and haven’t read the book, but after watching the trailer last night I decided to give it a go and I’ve gotta say, I loved it. My only complaint is Machine Gun Kelly (I’ve no idea who he is either before you ask) as Tommy Lee, constantly twirling his drumsticks around like he’s just learned how to do it, literally every scene, he’s also a pretty shit actor tbh!
Definitely worth a watch for fans of the band, or like me, fans of music biopics 4/5

[Paul Zombie]

Castle of Blood.

an english writer Alan foster(george riviere) takes a wager that he can't spend the night in a creepy old castle. and gets locked in and meets a ghost played by the foxy Barbara Steele.

From director Antonio margherita who did Cannibal apocalypse this is an eerie and classic gothic chiller that is very entertaining indeed. and the crisp black and white all adds to the vibe.
Barbara Steele is as beautiful as ever playing a ghost and looks amazing for a supposedly dead woman.
nice scenes in the crypt too that all enhance the spooky atmosphere in this Italian horror, and well worth a solid 75 out of 100.

[John Matrix]

Jeepers Creepers - 6/10

Not bad film from that beast. The beginning is the best though, it goes a bit shite when you start to see too much of the baddy. Also has one of the worst should we just drive on and be safe or nah lets look in here and more than likely get killed decisions.


Battle Creek Brawl - 5/10

Jackie's first attempt in America. Would actually be decent if he was up against someone of his skill and talent in it.


In The Heat of the Night - 8/10

First Sidney Poitier film I've seen and will definitely be getting more. Quite a cool cu*t in face of those useless racist pricks.


Career Opportunities - 5/10

Absolute shite apart from Jennifer Connolly roller skating with a quality wee white vest top on.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Jack the Ripper (1988)

Michael Caine returned to tv for the first time in twenty years to play Inspector Fred Abberline in this three hour gaslight crime thriller which is actually a fairly faithful remake minus Holmes and Watson (Caine and Lewis Collins take these roles as investigating police officers) of the 1979 Bob Clark film Murder by Decree and goes with the theory that the Ripper was actually a member of Queen Victoria's family.

Superbly acted with excellent sets and costumes and a fine support cast - Susan George, Armand Assante, Jane Seymour, Harry Andrews and more, Jack the Ripper is an enjoyable watch which really doesn't seem to be anywhere near three hours plus in length.

[MrBarlow]

Munich 2005.

During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian group known as Black September. The Israeli government recruits a mossad group to track down and execute those responsible.

From Director Steven Spielberg comes this tense action drama, that explores the line between vengeance and justice mixed with trust between inside the group and outside information.

Eric Bana plays Avner, who is instructed to lead the group around the world on the trail of everyone who was involved. The film does show how the mossad group get the info they need and how they plan to execute, even though a lot of innocent bystanders were in the line of crossfire and the tense moments that guilt and paranoia sets in. Definitely worth a watch 10+

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The 12th Man (2017)

Grueling WWII true story about Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud who finds himself fleeing from the Gestapo through the snowbound reaches of Scandinavia.

Although very good i found this a little disappointing as it wasn't quite the action adventure yarn i was hoping for. A Norwegian made film about survival and hope, it sticks to the facts, so rather than depicting exciting shoot outs and so forth we have a gangrene infected Jan hiding in a remote hut for 17 days, before cutting his toes off with a blunt knife then hiding out under a large boulder for another ten days.

To be fair these shortcomings are my own rather than the film itself. For it is a handsomely made production, excellently acted, and superbly photographed, i found myself gripped throughout regarding Jan's plight. We also see the Gestapo at work led by the brilliant Jonathan Rhys Meyers, whose dedication to capturing Jan leaves no stone unturned or no nails left on fingers (one torture sequence is not for the squeamish).

Despite this being very good and not a film i can find fault with i imagine in years to come i'll probably opt for Peter Weir's excellent The Way Back (2010) - a film of which i presumed this might be similar - it isn't.

[MrBarlow]

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald 2018.

To Stop Grindelwald's plan of pure blood wizards to rule over everyone, Albus Dumbledor seeks help from former student Newt Scamander.

The second installment of the prequel to Harry Potter, this was just confusing, set in 1927, there is good visual effects, and good cast from Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne and Ezra Miller with more speaking parts, there was a few plot holes mixed with some back stories to the characters which seemed to rush the whole movie. 5 out of 10.

[John Matrix]

Flavia The Heretic - 6/10



Not what I was expecting at all going by the cover. That's no even Flavia on the front of it. I was expecting 90 minutes of nuns and tits but the film's not really like that at all, in fact it takes it self quite seriously and is rather well shot.

From what I can gather about the plot, Flavia is sent to the convent when she is young for looking at a soldier of the invading muslim army.

Some years later whilst at the convent a big group of zoomers enter and start rubbing their fanny's and rolling about the floor which gives Flavia the idea that this convent life isn't up to much.

Flavia then becomes influenced by another of the nuns who seems to hate men and blame them for their pishy lives, even though it seems to be all women who are running the convent.

Eventually Flavia fu*ks off from the convent and joins up with the invading army in a sort of out of the frying pan and into the fire decision as I sincerely doubt that the 15th century muslim army were much interested in progressive feminism.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

It's been ages since I saw Flavia the Heretic and I've just read through the review I wrote of the Shameless DVD at the time. I don't know whether I was fair or harsh, something only another watch would decide.

At the turn of the 15th century in Puglia, southern Italy, Flavia (Florinda Bolkan) and her brother come across the aftermath of a battle, where one army had been routed, with only one survivor. She tries to comfort the soldier, but her father appears and, to her horror, chops the man’s head off and holds it aloft on the end of his sword. He banishes Flavia to a nunnery where she grows up hating men, especially her father, but befriends a Jewish monk called Abraham (Claudio Cassinelli).

One day the peace is shattered when a weird religious group called the Tarantula Cult visit town. They are let in to the building, but their strange sexual behaviour causes the Mother Superior to throw them out. One nun is affected by them and is so taken that she bares her breasts and asks to be bitten by the tarantula – a painting comes to life and the man in it touches her with his sword, possessing her.

She is stripped and horrifically tortured on the orders of Flavia’s father and she is so repulsed by this that she leaves the nunnery with Abraham. When Italy is invaded by a Muslim Turkish army, she joins them to attack her father’s army and becomes a heretic.

The film claims to be inspired by real events that took place during the Musulman invasions, particularly “the Martyrdom of the 800 at Otranto”.

Ah, ‘nunsploitation’, one of the most obscure and bizarre sub-genres, including such films as Ken Russell’s The Devils, Jess Franco’s Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun and Gianfranco Mingozzi’s Flavia the Heretic (Flavia la monaca musulmana). They all typically involve sex, violence and nuns. ‘Flavia the Heretic is no exception, with plenty of nudity, a nun being raped in a pig-sty and a torture scene involving hot tar and the removal of a nipple.

The rape and torture scenes were done so badly that they had no effect – recent rape scenes, such as the one in ‘Irreversible’ are much harder to sit through, but this one isn't. The same applies to the torture scene as the effects are so low budget as to be almost laughable. In contrast, there is one rather graphic and difficult scene to watch, where a horse is castrated with Flavia torn between disgust and arousal, as when she observed the nun being raped – I found it unnecessary and cruel, as reaction shots of Florinda Bolkan’s face would have sufficed. Amongst all this is a strange Buñuel-esque sequence where a naked woman is laid on a table and is eaten by naked diners, whilst a naked Flavia climbs inside a cow’s carcass hanging from the ceiling.

Times have obviously changed at the BBFC, as when this was submitted by Redemption Films in 1994, cuts of 1 minute 24 seconds were required for the 18 certificate, but now it’s available uncut in the UK.

Final Thoughts
Flavia the Heretic includes a lot in just over 90 minutes, yet is surprisingly dull and uninvolving. I'm not sure whether Mingozzi wanted to make a sleazy nunsploitation film, or make something deeper about the place of women in 15th century Italy, but he ends up doing neither. It's certainly sordid, but it’s also boring and a turgid watch. The DVD case, with its tagline of “Flay Me Baby One More Time!” and stills from the film showing nudity, swords and blood, writes a cheque the film doesn’t cash.