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RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE – A cartoonist – sorry, graphic novelist – hits the road in hope of finding a conclusion to his ailing serial killer comic book. He finds… pretty much what you no doubt expect. An odd film of many colours, filters and ‘eighties inspired’ synth noodles, ‘Random Acts of Violence’ seems to slip from moral posturing to celebratory gore with disconcerting ease; be that as it may, the director ain’t no Haneke. ROAV’s inconsistencies give way to a genuinely strong, dreamlike final half hour which seethes with atmosphere and makes good on some of the film’s promise. BLACK CANDLES – I wouldn’t call this top tier Larraz, but the director’s hallmark atmosphere is present in abundance, a sense of an imaginary back-roads England somehow cut off from the real world by a veil of shadows, mist and drizzle. ‘Black Candles’ concerns the internal life of a rambling country house, which of course is riven with Satanic conspiracies and feuds in the wake of an inheritance claim. Larraz sleazes it up with pretty much wall to wall softcore; I’m only ever really interested in that kind of thing if it’s particularly weird, and it sort of is in places, a bit – there’s no guarantee that goat was having a good time. But, although watching one aimless bout of nookie give way to the next can get a little yawnsome, the tone wins out… just that candlelit aura of creeping dread, amplified by swirling soundtrack electronics and the grim, mildewy feel of 1982’s rainy season in the air. WARRIORS OF THE YEAR 2072 – Fulci’s vision of the future is a TV dictatorship where things are a bit like ‘The Running Man’, still three or four years away when this came out; one thing they don’t mention about Italian rip-off cinema is actually how pre-emptive some of it was. Whatever, WOTY2072 won’t disappoint those searching beyond ‘The Beyond’ for the fuller range of that early eighties Fulci / Salvati feeling – lots of diffusion and weird camera work, and just a plethora of odd moments – a strange senselessness pervades all. It does go on a bit, but you know what you’re getting. THE BLACK STRING – Slacker guy has a one-night stand and worries that he might have ended up with an STD. What could be worse? An STD that happens to be the cornerstone of an occult conspiracy, that’s what! ‘The Black String’ does well in its portrayal of the claustrophobic collapse of a hapless dude’s life, but it misses a few tricks along the way – its failure to push some promising imagery and a slightly bland style don’t stack up well. That said, it’s entertaining and involving enough. It’s bolstered by the starey blue eyes of ex-Malcolm himself Frankie Muniz, now all grown up and available for hire in Prime-destined genre product. THE NEST – One of the few cheap horror films to ponder the non-genre specific question of separation anxiety, ‘The Nest’ presents to us the world of a small child and her favourite teddy. This quaint image is immediately sullied by said teddy’s bulging, bug like eyes and the fact that its stomach tends to pulsate and transform into a gaping, slimy maw. ‘The Nest’ is a truly odd little film. Its central theme of ‘family as emotional prison’ is dealt with by recourse to the metaphor of ‘mind control by insects that look like long, repulsive cockroaches’. That’s an impressive creative decision. Other such decisions don’t fair so well. It’s way overlong and really plods in places. The acting is off and / or stiff, not that that’s really a problem for me. It veers from drab to dreamlike in its overall tone, all the while looking kinda cheap. I liked it, but I just wish they’d shaved twenty or thirty minutes off and unleashed the potential cheapo semi-classic within. As it stands, ‘The Nest’ is an interesting fail, a curate’s egg that tantalises and frustrates with visions of what it might’ve been. Still definitely worth a watch if you have Prime or money to fling around and not to be confused with the good eighties B-movie of the same name, nor the similarly monikered new Jude Law film (which excellent btw, best of the three). |
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__________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] [B] "... the days ahead will be filled with struggle ... and coated in marzipan ... "[/B] |
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BC made me cry with the laughter in places. REWATCH.
__________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] [B] "... the days ahead will be filled with struggle ... and coated in marzipan ... "[/B] |
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Nobody. 2021. When a man is pushed to the limit, only thing he can do is push back, Hutch Mansell is the guy who pushes after a home invasion, only thing is he pushes a few Russians around and they want revenge. I thought this would be a piss take on the John Wick movies but it's a stand alone film with plenty action. The protagonist does get his fare share of cuts and bruises that shows he ain't super human, Christopher Lloyd seemed to enjoy himself a bit too much with a couple of shotguns, worth a glance. artworks-W4LzcbKoaSN02XGP-kD0sxw-t500x500.jpg
__________________ " I have seen trees that look like tortured souls" |
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Whilst I'm here, here are some quickies from the last couple of weeks before I forget I even saw them - THE LOVE BUTCHER - Mmm, there's more to Don Jones than 'The Forest', it seems. LB has a similarly lopsided appeal, although it appears less a work of inspired incompetence and more a parodic pop at post-'Psycho' drive-in norms (Norms?) The deliberate artiness , if that's what it is, does partner up with moments of clunk, but the toxic ranting of its venomous lothario-cum-gardener is quite hilarious. Peter Sellers would've been an amazing choice for the lead, had he been into bottom-of-the-barrel fleapit productions. SWITCHBLADE SISTERS - Jack Hill classic about a hard-bitten girl gang out to take no prisoners. They do let themselves down a bit by bickering over their boyfriends - who cares, just kick 'em in the bollocks and go and set fire to a pram or something. I love all the subcultural stuff that went on in the seventies; maybe it's just cos I'm jaded and out of touch, but it seems so vivid and nasty compared with what's around today, so much so that you can believe the roller disco shoot-'em-up and the machine gun-heavy attempts to kickstart a revolution. Lean and mean, and always worth a watch. THE INITIATION - I have a slightly odd history with this one in that I loved it when I first saw it, found it really boring when I viewed a second time, and now I'm back into being into it again. Hot and cold, that's me. Anyway, 'The Initiation' is a tortuously silly sorority slasher movie from '84 or thereabouts, already pretty late in the day. Being last out of the door it strains for something new to say, tossing around lame twists and lamer ideas (dream research, in this case). It's the kind of film where the mentally ill are portrayed as gibbering, malevolent children, where someone might be evil just because they have a burned face, where the implement of murder is basically a trowel. During the climactic sequence set in a shadowy apartment store, there's an inexplicable flurry of creepy mannequin and statue bits - cool, I dig it, it makes about as much sense as anything else going on in it. Very gaudy, very eighties, utterly disposable schlock, but I imagine I'm not the only one susceptible to its brainless charms. |
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Return of the Living Dead III (1993) A cracking zombie film from Brian Yuzna which is as much a fetishistic love story as it is zombie horror featuring a truly memorable turn from Melinda Clark as the undead punk Julie brought back to life following a fatal road accident who develops an unhealthy appetite for human flesh. Although certainly a bizarre romance this remains gory as hell with fingers bitten off, faces eaten, spines ripped out and gross body modification courtesy of rusty nails and broken glass. If like me you haven't seen this in a few years then go grab the Vestron Blu-ray. It's a graphic brain munching delight. |
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Watched the two new Jurassic movies while not as good as the original , thought they are better than 2 and 3 , first is really just a re make of the original while a lot o f people didn't enjoy it the part in the Manson had resident evil/dino crisis vibes. A classic that wasn't appreciated on release, it was only through word of mouth and home video that it got the recognition it deserved. Amazing story and acting and a wonderful uplifting ending . A true classic that's in my top five movies . Now watching which I've not seen since release. |
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