What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Assassins (1995)

Despite being directed by Richard Donner and scripted by the Wachowskis and Brian Helgeland it's probably best not to think about the plot and it's loopholes and simply sit back and enjoy Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas going at each other tooth and nail as a pair of assassins given the same mark - tech wiz Julianne Moore.

Stallone, despite being nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award actually does a really good job and underplays his role to near perfection with Banderas being the one to go a little OTT with his emotional and impatient outbursts. Whilst Donner injects the film with enough suspense and action to keep things bubbling along nicely.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

Nicolas Cage plays a notorious criminal, Hero, who is sent to rescue the governor's adopted granddaughter, who has disappeared into a dark region called Ghostland. In order to make sure Hero completes his task or dies trying his new leather suit is fitted with small bombs which will kill him should he run out of time or set off in certain places should he mistreat the granddaughter in any way.

A largely dull rehash of Escape From New York with Cage strangely subdued although Bill Moseley as the governor is value for money. Director Sion Sono's attempts at the weird and quirky largely fell flat for me and following a promising start i became increasingly bored. A huge disappointment.

Have been tempted so many times to watch this don't think I'll bother now.

Sent from my Nokia C01 Plus using Tapatalk

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Have been tempted so many times to watch this don't think I'll bother now.

I'm always up for a Nic Cage movie, but i'll never watch this again.

[Justin101]

For the record I LOVED Prisoners of the Ghostland

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Spiral (2021)

Chris Rock plays a homicide detective handed the task, along with a reluctant back up team thanks to shit that went down years before, of stopping what appears to be a Jigsaw copycat killer.

I really enjoyed Spiral. There's enough unrelated police corruption back story to give the cops and their attitudes to Rock a simmering tension away from the boiling tension of watching the wildly impressive murderous traps of the copycat Jigsaw killer. In a way it has the feel of a little brother to Fincher's Seven (1995) without the gut punch ending of course.

Rock is fine as the cop at the centre of the film, if a little shouty, but it's the support cast of Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols and Samuel L Jackson that give the film that something extra.

It's been a long time since i saw (Haha) any of the Saw series and i found Spiral: From the Book of Saw, to give it it's full title, quite refreshing and a stand out in what seems to have been years of gore free, scare free studio horror.

[Demoncrat]

Revolver (2005, Guy Ritchie)

To watch this pretty tosh after a documentary about Tarkovsky ... I pick my moments
A man wants revenge. Help seems to come from an unexpected source. Or is he?
Hmmm. To have seen this garish miasma at the pictures would have been fun. Mark Strong gave off serious Arkin vibes in his performance, so that was nice. I had to, having missed it during the Stafamathon I had a while back. Old age no doubt.
Musical remake anyone??

[davcol]

Scrooged 1988.
I watched this with my son the other night. I think it is a classic adaptation and both funny and poignant at the same time. I really love the fake trailers at the start and especially "The Night the Reindeer Died" with lee majors arriving to save an under siege Santa Claus and his helpers from Russian looking terrorists.

[MrBarlow]

Countdown. 2019.

Something new...ish but follows the same path as two other horror movies, Elizabeth Lail is the newly promoted nurse who downloads a app called "Countdown" which predicts when she will die, of course those around her have years to go before dying yet she has three days.

All I could think of this is a bit like The Ring except its via a phone when the curse starts and our heroine must try and find a way to break the curse with a stranger who will die minutes before she does in a Final Destination way of trying to cheat death. The acting for this isn't that bad although will never be perfect, the deaths are shown off screen and nothing is brutal, but also copies a death scene from a Final Destination movie. The jump scares are predictable in some moments and decent effects for the "Angel Of Death". This is one I would return to for a second viewing.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Long Night (2022)

Scout Taylor Compton plays a young woman searching for her missing family. Upon hearing they might be back in their old South Carolina home where Compton grew up she returns there with her boyfriend to their former home and unwittingly become the target of a supernatural cult about to fulfill an ancient prophecy of evil.

Although Taylor Compton and Nolan Gerard Funk as boyfriend Jack are decent enough the likes of Jeff Fahey and Deborah Kara Unger don't get enough screen time in this stylish but ultimately empty horror film.

There are lovely aerial shots and the cult look suitably terrifying and demonic donned in their robes and animal skull masks yet despite them standing outside the house for great swathes of the film looking menacing with flaming totems, not an awful lot happens between the half hour mark until the last fifteen minutes. There's a nice unnerving atmosphere of dread but it can't sustain a whole movie.

As far as indie horror goes The Long Night is technically excellent and really looks the business, it's just a shame the script lacks the required thrills to move this into the higher echelons of indie horror.

[MrBarlow]

Tower Of Terror. 1941.

This is a excellent wartime thriller that benefits from a low budget for once. The setting for the film is a lighthouse in Germany, and most of the running time takes place within the claustrophobic confines of the building. Wilfrid Lawson is excellent as an oddball lighthouse keeper with a hook for a hand who is afraid of no one, rude to everyone and definitely very scary to live with. This was a decent afternoon British war movie with great acting, shoot outs and after the opening you get immersed in it that time just flies by. Certainly worth a watch.

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