What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[nicholasrope]

Enter The Shootfighter

Michael Worth's friend dies after sustaining injuries after an Illegal Fight, he get trained by Sam Jones and Eric Lee (Ring Of Fire) to exact revenge. Released in 94-95, this came at the end of this particular cycle for The Kickboxing Genre, nothing you haven't seen before but it's an alright watch. I definitely think that Matthias Hues is the only name on the list if you want to cast a Bad Guy Fighter lol.

Card Player

Dario Argento Thriller in which a Killer who abducts women and challenges The Police into playing On-Line Poker and kills if The Police lose. One of these films which I forgot what happened and I was enthralled all over again.

Toy Soldiers

A Drug Cartel take over a Prep School in order to gain the release of the leader's (Andrew Divoff) Father. However the resident prankster (Sean Astin) leads the resistance. Lou Gossett Jr. plays The Dean. I really like this film, it's one of those easy to watch. not have to concentrate and relax films. I can't help but wonder that if this film was released in the 80's, that it would be more revered?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Beat the Devil (1953)

"We are at sea gentlemen, in more ways than one"

So says Humphrey Bogart's character Billy Dannreuther and it sums the film up perfectly. The story is intricately woven and yet also instantly forgettable window dressing as ideas come and go without development and the whole thing is rushed in the final five minutes when Bernard Lee's inspector from Scotland Yard shows up to sort it all out.

Filmed on Italy's Amalfi coast this is less the tale of disparate folks attempting to get a boat to Africa and more about getting a fantastic cast - as well as Bogart we have Peter Lorre, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morley, Gina Lollobrigida and Edward Underdown - to pretty much just enjoy themselves and spout delicious dialogue, all held together, if you could call it that by Truman Capote's ad hoc script (Apparently he wrote it as they were filming day to day) and John Huston's self indulgent direction.

Whilst watching, the fact that Huston seems to be self parodying his earlier work such as The Maltese Falcon was distracting as was the sheer whimsy of many scenes but now an hour later it's a film that has definitely left something in my head and i can't say the same about the majority of movies. It's a mess but clearly a very interesting mess.

The 2020 BFI restored release looks great especially when compared to the many gray market releases that came before it.

[Demoncrat]

Hard Rock Zombies (1985, Krishna Shah)

Horror comedy about a rock band that fall foul of small town morality.
Very silly film. The songs are ... undemanding
A hoot.

[Nordicdusk]

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The creator of the number one R rated comic book has decided to end the series of Slasherman a comic based on a real life killer. Suffering from writers block and unable to find the inspiration to give it a satisfying ending he sets off on a road trip with his girlfriend business partner and assistant hoping it will give him what he needs. The road trip takes a turn for the worst when someone starts acting out what happens in the comic books.

The first thing that grabbed me in this film was the colours every scene is lit with bright yellows pinks or greens in the night scenes the moon is actually green so everything has the glow to it and it all looks really cool i like that they bothered to show a green moon so its not just a random green glow on everything. The acting for 95% of the cast is pretty solid the worst was the female cop her first scene on the side of the road was hilariously bad screaming like a drill sergeant and squatting like a sumo wrestler . The story is a decent idea and as it goes along it makes much more sense and i really liked what they did with it. When it comes to the violence what is there is decent all great practical effects but i would of liked a little bit more a couple of scenes dragged on a little bit where the time could of been spent a little better considering the killers inspiration is and extremely violent gory comic the kills are lacking.

Overall its an entertaining film i dont think i would watch it again not because its bad but its just a one time experience for me it didn't offer enough for repeat viewings.

7/10

[Nordicdusk]

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Everyone is going off their heads with lockdown across the world and so in these difficult times what do we do? Go on zoom and do an online séance of course. Six friends get together for a bit of fun and get a medium to host a séance but before it starts they are asked to take it serious and not to insult the medium but of course there always has to be one on a group that has to be the joker or asshole which ever way you want to look at it. After annoying the spirits one actually sticks around and the girls fun times turns into a nightmare.

Im not usually a fan of these types if films but i really enjoyed this one. Its a really cool idea with the times we are living in. It has a realistic look with the girls dressed like real people are in lockdown no make up wearing PJs or track bottoms lazing about drinking up for anything cause they are bored so they managed to make it believable from that point of view. The banter between the friends felt natural for the most part and at times it didn't feel like acting it just felt like they were hanging out. I will say most of the characters were fine but Jemma character i really didn't like she was annoying and laughing at stupid times and it kind of took me out of the moment the Caroline character was the one i fell did the best job her reactions felt real and she came across genuinely nervous before the séance even started and the little bit of banter between her and her dad at the start added to the natural feel to her character.

Once things start to go pear shaped there were some really great creepy moments and i was so hopeful that we were not going down the cheap jump scare route and it almost avoided it until the last few minutes and that almost ruined the film so me its so easy to go down that route and i hate it it just cheapens what has come before. I know all horror has the jumping cat or something like that but the whole jumping into the camera scares are they ones i hate the most. That aside i had fun with this there is a couple of shaky camera moments but when something is happening its clear to see whats happening not hidden behind the shaky cam sections.

Definitely worth a watch and at only 56 minutes it really doesn't overstay its welcome so maybe that helped my enjoyment of it.

6/10

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Filth to Ashes, Flesh to Dust (2011)

Shoddy serial killer / slasher movie where characters do the most stupid things.

For example. The killer (known as Purge) is strangling a guy. Girl comes up behind Purge with a loaded shotgun and...

...turns the barrels round and hits him in the back with the butt of the gun meaning he promptly gets up and kills them both.

It's infuriating scripting that ruins this film totally, well, that and the complete lack of tension and other deficiencies that even a couple of brutal kills can't mask.

Steer clear of this one.

[Nordicdusk]

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During WWII a group of soldiers are stuck in the middle of the ocean on a life raft with tempers running high and rations running low their time is running out fast. Suddenly a Nazi war ship appears from the darkness and they hesitantly get aboard expecting a very frosty welcoming party they are surprised to find the entire ship abandoned that is until they find a child hidden along beneath deck. But she has a very dark secret and when its exposed they will be sorry they didn't take their chances on the raft.

I love the idea for this film dipping into the practices of the Nazis with the occult as well as stolen gold and artworks. The vampire design is cool they have that half bat half human look which looks great and there is some great blood and very realistic effects. The characters are ok nothing special a few of them are annoying as hell and there are some stupid dialogue that sometimes ruins a scene especially the Russian solider who constantly says i have had worse your on fire i have had worse your leg is hanging off ive had worse and it goes on and on completely pointless. There is also a scene straight out of Jaw and then Lethal Weapon comparing scars which was pretty cringe. The pacing was a bit off there is obviously a slow build at the start until they discover whats going on but it never changes with overlong dragged out scenes for no reason taking any feeling of urgency and tension out of many parts of the film.

I know it may sound like i hated this but i didn't it was actually decent for the most part just a few things that really stood out that were worth mentioning. Just as everything is going swimmingly and im thing just before it ends that was pretty decent and no where near as terrible as i was expecting someone drops the most stupid f***ing one liner that just pissed me right off and i said loudly well that just ruined everything and to make it worst they look right into the camera to say it

My score may seem high for all my complaints but it was still decent and entertaining so i have to give it some credit.

5/10

[MrBarlow]

Presumed Innocent. 1990.

When a colleague is murdered, a lawyer is asked to look into it, Rusty Sabich finds himself accused of the murder having been in a short affair with the deceased, armed with a defense attorney he tries to clear his name as the evidence slowly builds up.

This was a tense decent crime thriller that never goes over the top and the actors never seem to outshine anyone, seems to me when someone in America is up for election or re-election something happens or bit of dirt can crop up and put a stop to it.

Harrison Ford plays Rusty, a defense lawyer for the D.A. accused of murder and hires his enemy Sandy Stern to defend him played brilliantly by Raul Julia who I wouldn't mind hiring to defend me if he was still alive (R.I.P Raul). This film doesn't drag on, from the first 10 minutes or so we are plunged into the murder and case files and a flash back then court case, what made it more tense was during the case that made it realistic and the prosecutor and defense having a battle of wits. Brian Dennehey, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield and John Spencer give out good performances as always.

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[J Harker]

Watched Clive Barking's Nightbreed for the first time today. I watched the Directors Cut and to be honest i loved it. What does the Cabal Cut have in store? Is it worth tracking down?

[Demoncrat]

Satanic Attraction (1989, Fauzi Mansur)

Shenanigans by the sea. Is a local radio DJ linked somehow to a series of murders? Her version of Our Tune would suggest so ....

Bonkers. Whether twas the dubbed dialogue or the bikini clad "investigator", this was just at the right side of off kilter. The incomprehensible flashbacks! The dialogue!
Ahem.