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  #56531  
Old 12th September 2021, 10:47 AM
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BLACKENSTEIN – As the title suggests, a semi-blaxploitation cash-in on the tried and tested modern myth, and a thoroughly buffoonish one it is too. I wasn’t bowled over, but there was enough silliness to keep me going once I got my head around the idea it wasn’t trying to make even as much political sense as ‘Blacula’. A physicist teams up with the fairly quaint ‘Dr Frank’ in an attempt to save her hubby, who was blown up in ‘Nam – her jealous admirer sabotages things by slipping the soon-to-be-monstrous-guy some ‘bad DNA’ (or something). Lumpy and full of talk at first, but leavened by the unexpected appearance of leopard legs, gothic exteriors and flashing lights; later, we witness hulking monster attacks with glimpses of butchershop gore, a racist hospital bully getting his arm ripped off, and amusing little diversions like the bit where a comedian on stage just basically tells a fairly lame joke to an appreciative audience for five minutes (filling out the gargantuan 78 min run time quite nicely).

ANGUISH – Bigas Luna’s strange meta-horror from the late eighties. Michael Lerner is an eye-obsessed Norman Bates-type cossetted by his overbearing mother, Zelda Rubinstein, who can mysteriously pick up people’s thoughts through overlarge snail shells. The pigeon-fancying slasher that unfolds is only the tip of the iceberg however, as it soon transpires that it’s all just a movie playing before an audience about to face a ‘real life’ horror of its own... you could argue that ‘Anguish’ takes a cue from the far less arty ‘Demons’ from a couple of years prior, which in turn derived from ‘Videodrome’, though Lunas freights his film with an array of Hitchcock references to lend ballast to a ‘world within a world’ conceit that was already getting a bit stale, even at the time. I was more intrigued by the sheer weirdness of the Lerner/ Rubinstein strand than the drama in the movie theatre, but it all meshes quite impressively, and even finds room for a typical schlocky twist. Slightly underappreciated these days, it seems; though certainly not really obscure, it’s the sort of thing you’d expect to have had the bells and whistles from the likes of Arrow by now, but the German blu ray is pretty good.
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  #56532  
Old 12th September 2021, 01:02 PM
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The Police Accuse... The Secret Service Kills (1975) aka Silent Action

The actual outline of this film is fairly straightforward. As soon as the opening credits have rolled three high ranking military officials seemingly commit suicide (Although it's clear to the viewer they are murdered). The press report the suicides but Luc Merrenda's police inspector isn't convinced and begins a murder investigation.

Co-starring Mel Ferrer and Tomas Milian, this is a classy thriller from the prolific Sergio Martino. Like many of these Poliziotteschi thrillers the plot twists and turns and we don't really know who the protagonists are until the big reveal although in truth it's not difficult to guess. Where Silent Action stood out for me from the others in the genre i've seen were the action set pieces, especially a police assault from the skies on a mountaintop paramilitary camp which is particularly thrilling and especially epic.

The remainder of the film is an absorbing procedural thriller as the terrific Merrenda uncovers the clues to the murders - one of which is particularly nasty and beautifully staged - and begins to uncover corruption at the highest levels.

The 2K restoration released by new UK label Fractured Visions has had a bit of flak from those with too much time on their hands regarding it's image quality but i thought it looked fantastic for a rather obscure Italian film from nigh on fifty years ago. Certainly at times it doesn't look like the latest Disney blockbuster but that's to be expected, isn't it. Given it's lack of home disc releases it's difficult to actually compare what it may have once looked like anyway.

I haven't watched any of the extras yet but looked at their run times and found there to be well over three hours of documentaries and interviews including two fifty odd minute features in The Age of Lead: Italy in the Seventies Between Fact and Fiction and The Milian Connection, which i'll get stuck into this week.

One final mention for the soundtrack by Luciano Michelini, it's one that genuinely stands out whilst watching the movie and i'll be delighted to listen to the 57minute cd that comes with this great Blu-ray package.
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  #56533  
Old 12th September 2021, 01:24 PM
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Jack Reacher (2012)

I don't think there's much point going into detail about a Tom Cruise movie that's based on a character from British author Lee Child other than to say it's an enjoyably solid action based thriller with Cruise as good as ever as he helps uncover a twisty turny storyline of corporate corruption in the eastern state of Pennsylvania.

I'd like to say how great this film came across on Blu-ray though. The image practically sparkled and the 7:1 soundtrack was extremely immersive. Not just during the bullet strewn action packed finale either. There's a scen three quarters through as Cruise sits behind the wheel of a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle with it's engine ticking over. It genuinely does seem that i was sat in the car also as the engine sounds came filled the room from all speakers. Proper petrol head ambiance. It's probably needless to say that when the shit really flies i was practically ducking for cover as bullets whizzed by.

As a showcase for the HD format this movie is hard to beat.
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  #56534  
Old 12th September 2021, 05:15 PM
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As always FT

Anguish is something else and a half imho.

REWATCH.
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  #56535  
Old 12th September 2021, 07:39 PM
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'Neath Brooklyn Bridge'. 1942.

When a body is found in a flat, a girl is accussed of murder, the Easy Side Kids try to clear her name, only for a finger print on a baseball bat to be found that belongs to one of the kids.

The East Side Kids movies have always been a laugh even though they are only a hour long or just over, we know that one of them didn't commit the murder but it's a laugh to watch them look for the real culprit and place the blame back on them in more ways that gets comical and comical. Leo Gorcey who leads the gang always to trust his friends and knows nothing goes to plan even with Scruno able to do a small dance off.

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  #56536  
Old 12th September 2021, 09:51 PM
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Meet The Applegates. 1990.

With the looming destruction of their rain forest in South America, a family of bugs disguise themselves as human in order to infiltrate a power plant and destroy it.

Think this is one of those movies that you either like and laugh at it or hate it. you got Ed begley Jr and Stockard Channing as the parents of two spoilt teens or as they appear to be trying to infiltrate a small town in America, the film is set in present time yet they dress like a family from the 50s. Glenn Shadix plays their neighbour and has a device he uses to annoy or kill bugs...you got great neighbourd there Applegates. The bugs themselves are like giant cockroaches that seem to have the same length of arms as a praying mantis. Lighthearted comedy from the late 80s.

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  #56537  
Old 12th September 2021, 10:39 PM
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You Only Live Twice (1967)

I'd forgotten how poor this Connery outing actually was. The plot is fine but it's the smaller plot points that totally ruin it. You can really see why the makers of Austin Powers ripped it to shreds.

Examples - Well where to start? Why does Bond spend twenty minutes of the film Ninja training and marrying a Japanese girl? Simply so he can walk up a jetty with her it would seem. Not really sure you have to get married for that. Then there's Bond 'turning Japanese'. The moment he enters Blofeld's volcano base the prosthetics are nowhere to be seen. SPECTRE's number 11, as played by Karin Dor, captures Bond and takes him to her base, ties him to a chair, makes out with him then concocts an elaborate plan to escape with him in a small plane before she leaps out with a parachute leaving Bond in the plane to crash, except he doesn't obviously. Why the hell not just shoot him when he's stuck in her chair? Meanwhile Donald Pleasence portraying Blofeld is simply comical. As Jimmy Cricket would say 'And there's more', in fact much more, but i'm bored typing it.

It's not all rubbish writing from Roald Dahl though.

There are one or two fun scenes, in particular an aerial dogfight featuring Bond piloting 'Little Nellie' an armed gyrocopter against four SPECTRE helicopters - it's exhilarating stuff as is the Ninja assault on the volcano base but by then it's all a little too late.

No wonder Sean Connery decided to leave the role of 007 midway through filming. Thankfully as promised James Bond returned in the far superior On Her Majesty's Secret Service two years later.
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  #56538  
Old 13th September 2021, 10:05 AM
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The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sadism (1967, Harald Rienl)

Kept thinking "this would make a great game".
Almost a German Hammer flick, a disparate group find that the written word doesn't always tell the whole story ahem.
Fun here, with Chris Lee, Karin Dor etc.
It does kind of falter in the last third but I got a lot of enjoyment out of this slightly lurid little film. Alternately atmospheric and hilarious, this was just what the doctor ordered
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  #56539  
Old 13th September 2021, 10:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs View Post
You Only Live Twice (1967)

SPECTRE's number 11, as played by Karin Dor, captures Bond and takes him to her base, ties him to a chair, makes out with him then concocts an elaborate plan to escape with him in a small plane before she leaps out with a parachute leaving Bond in the plane to crash, except he doesn't obviously. Why the hell not just shoot him when he's stuck in her chair?
That seems to happen a lot in early James Bond films and is presumably where Mike Myers and Jay Roach got the idea for this scenario in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

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  #56540  
Old 13th September 2021, 06:25 PM
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Deliver Us From Evil. 2014.

New York detective Ralph Sarchie begins to investigate why a mother threw a baby into a moat at a zoo and a ex marine beaten his wife and why a family think they hear noises coming from the basement. He teams up with a uncoventional priest who believes demonic forces are at work.

Based on actual events that Ralph Sarchie retired from the police force and became a ghost hunter, this movie does get it's flack for being poor, too dark, poor writing and directing, yet seems to be praised for it's true presentation of exorcism.

I'm not sure if Eric bana was the right choice for the lead but manages to make the character believable as in he has to see to believe what is real and what isn't. Edgar Ramirez plays the drinking and smoking priest who faced his own demons to battle supernatural demons and makes the unbelievable beliveable. Sean Harris makes his possessed character Santino creepy as f'ck, not as creepy from the film Creep which he was good in that. It does build up the slow tension for a predictable jump scares, got to admire that they used The Doors as refrences throughout the film. Entertaining enough.

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