What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[trebor8273]

After a group of deaths by what's believed to be a satanic cult, Scotland yard call in Van Helsing, it soon becomes apparent a sinister force is behind everything and the killings are only the small part of a terrible plan, could this evil be Van Helsings greatest enemy?

Really vampires killed by sprinklers, so would they be killed by the rain? These hammer vampires to seem a bit lame at times as they can be killed by nearly anything. 6/10


Now watching

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Spy's Wife (1972)

This 27 minute short from Gerry O'Hara (That Kind of Girl, Maroc 7) is an international espionage tale done on the cheap -ie - never leaves a couple of London flats. Sadly there's not much for a decent cast (Tom Bell, Vladek Sheybal) to do, although the lovely Dorothy Tutin makes the most of things with a charmingly enjoyable performance.

[MrBarlow]

Village of the damned. 1995.

In the small town of Midwhich, the inhabitants suffer a blackout, when they awake everyone seems to got over it, 10 women find out they are pregnant and get a lot of attention from a government medical research doctor.

John Carpenter's vision remake of the 1960s film seems a bit more violent while the original had a dark eerie tone where this is straight horror. The children seem to have darker agenda mixed with suspense that makes the film work with great acting. Christopher Reeve plays the town doctor and father of Mara who seems to be the leader of the kids. Kirstie Alley plays the government's chain smoking doctor who seems to know more than she is letting on. Mark Hamill plays the town's priest who looks rugged and nervous and Linda Kozlowski as the school teacher and mother of lone child.

Some parts of the film can be long, dragging and to the point of being pointless but does pick up again to being suspenseful with tense moments and people turning on each other with a great background score by Carpenter and great cinematography.


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[Demoncrat]

Battletruck (1982, Harley Cokliss)

The most shockingly violent family drama I have seen since The Stepfather
Ahem. Poapoc carry on with Michael Beck in amongst some Aussies. If that doesn't sell you .... Some bloke with the Patton complex rides around town bigging it up with a ragtag buncha twats. Guess who eventually kicks their collective arses????
A hoot. Great double bill with Turkey Shoot methinks ...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Mask Maker (2011)

Low budget backwoods horror in which a young couple buy a plantation house in the country to renovate then sell on, naturally they invite their friends over to party and find out the house has a sinister history.

Featuring cameo's from Treat Williams and the splendid Michael Berryman, Mask Maker is a Leatherface / Jason Vorhees rip off featuring an undead serial killer who wears the dead skin masks of his victims.

I know it sounds fun but in truth it's a stodgy, plodding mess with little gore , mainly due to the camera cutting away at the crucial moment, and even less variety to the kills

It's not exactly a boring film but it is a bland, unexciting one with zero tension and even less to recommend it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Death is a Woman (1966)

A hugely enjoyable British thriller set in the Mediterranean as Mark Burns' undercover agent attempts to crack open a heroin smuggling operation.

Very Bond-like at times with some excellent underwater scenes reminiscent of the previous year's Thunderball, not to mention a bevy of gorgeous gals also reminiscent of Thunderball, including Wanda Ventham, The Evil of Frankenstein's Caron Gardner and best of all the voluptuous Trisha Noble as the deadly femme fatale of the title. It's not just the ladies though, at one point on a sun lounger i was desperate for Burns to close his legs as his terrifyingly tight and tiny shorts were leaving nothing to the imagination - the sixties eh?

Death is a Woman is a far superior film to many of the exotically localed productions of the era as it actually had an interesting plot that kept me both guessing and highly entertained, and whilst Mark Burns is definitely no Sean Connery in the charisma stakes, as a film i actually prefer this to the afore mentioned Thunderball.

The UK Network dvd sports a delightful picture and sound quality.

[trebor8273]

I really enjoyed this one , it's just so OTT and fun. Zombies , decaying vampires and Kung Fu fighting!

While giving a lecture in China , professor Van Helsing is approached by a man from a small village that is under attack from zombies and vampires, Van Helsing sets of too end the terror with his son , a young woman and the villager along with others from the village. Little do they know that Van Helsing's greatest enemy , count Dracula is at the centre of the evil.


Really have no problem with Dracula changing his appearance , but with the short screen time he has, don't know why they didn't get Lee. Mind probably to do with him filming Man with the golden gun. 7/10


Now watching.



Where are my doggie woggies!!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Blood Runs Cold (2011)

A Swedish slasher film which I suppose beneath the surface is fairly generic with it's masked killer stalking the inhabitants of a remote (large) cabin in the woods but i really like it.

It's competently acted by it's youthful unknown cast and the harsh wintry setting gives the film a great atmosphere. For a feature debut it's an accomplished work from director Sonny Laguna. It's not rushed and the direction is assured. The characters are given time to breathe and when they aren't breathing it's because they've come to a gruesome demise (all practical effects) courtesy of a cool looking masked figure.

We never know who or what the killer is, he's certainly different to most as he doesn't exactly bleed when attacked and his methods are interesting as he appears more dedicated to 'dealing' with his kills rather than randomly going after the next person in the room.

For a modern day slasher i find this really refreshing and would recommend it to those who like a bit of character with their slaying.

[trebor8273]

For me it's the third Doctor Phibes film.

A group of critics are being dispatched in manners simular to deaths from Shakespearean plays. We soon learn that Edward Lionheart who was believed too take his own laugh when he was mocked by the critics at an award ceremony. Gloriously camp with a dark comedy core.

Price at his best in what is a exaggerate version of himself. So many great kills but my favourite will always be this. 10/10




Now watching this.

[iank]

Asylum. A psychiatrist visits a mental asylum to interview for a job, and is asked to evaluate four patients, each of whom has a very disturbing story to tell. Robert Powell, Charlotte Rampling, Peter Cushing and Herbert Lom star in this creepy early 70s British horror anthology that I really enjoyed. This is by far the best of the Amicus anthologies I've seen so far - Tales from the Crypt was middling, and neither Torture Garden nor Vault of Horror did anything for me at all - with all four stories being enjoyable (the Rampling one, despite being obvious, being my favourite). Very good.