[Daemonia]

What I've watched recently...

Street Kings - Keanu Reeves (Mr Wooden Actor himself) stars as a disgruntled cop who's misdeeds are continually covered up and he rarely follows procedure. However, after a series of incidences lead him to suspect some major corruption on his force, he sets out to uncover it and, hopefully, redeem himself, for his conscience's sake. Not bad but not brilliant. Reeves is slightly better than usual and actually acts with a bit of conviction instead of sleepwalking through his role.

The Frightened Woman (aka Femina Ridens) - A strange tale of psycho-sexuality and twisted obsession. A man takes to kidnapping a woman and forcing her to endure humiliating tasks. The tables soon turn and everything is not as it seems. Strangely compelling viewing and yet so little actually happens on screen - and yet it's mesmerising. Recommended if you appreciate offbeat cinema.

Man-Made Monster - Mad scientist Lionel Atwill uses Chaney Jr as a guinea pig by blasting him with electricity to create a monster that will do his bidding. Terrific entertainment and thoroughly recommended.

The Dark Knight - Follow-up to Batman Begins with Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman. This time he's up against a new nemesis, the chillingly cold-blooded The Joker (Heath Ledger is almost unrecognisable - shame we'll never see him at work again, it's an Oscar-worthy performance). Terrific entertainment and a real visual spectacular. Loved this, it's absolutely brilliant - as flawless a Superhero movie as I've ever seen. Thoroughly recommended!

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave - I watch this often and felt it was time for a revisit. Absolutely top-tier Hammer this one and one of the very best entries in their Dracula series. Cracking stuff.

The Stepdaughter - Passable TV movie thriller with an ageing Gil Gerard (remember Buck Rogers?) as a father who's family is terrorised (sort of, it's a TV movie after all) by a psychotic stepdaughter - though they don't know she is. You know the score. Average at best.

Return of the Vampire - Bela Lugosi is the vampire Armand (hmmm...is Anne Rice a plagiarist?) who returns from the grave after being staked some 23 years earlier. He has a werewolf slave and is back for vengeance on those who killed him. Daft as a brush but good, solid entertainment. And I actually think the werewolf make-up in this Columbia picture is even better than those in the Universal Wolfman series. Recommended.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - A young orphan discovers he has an almost superhuman sense of smell and sets out on a quest to create the ultimate perfume. He does so by discovering he can catch the scent of young women - the very essence of their soul and being. A thoroughly odd film, but utterly captivating. The finale could easily have come straight out of a Ken Russell movie and wouldn't have been out of place in The Devils. Mesmerising, haunting and evocative - well worth seeking out.

There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day-Lewis excels as Daniel Plainview, a ruthless turn-of-the-century American oil man, who will literally do anything to get his hands on the land where an ocean of oil lies beneath. Absolutely brilliant with a shattering climax that really takes you off-guard. Thoroughly recommended.

Nighthawks - I'd never seen this Stallone vehicle, so thought I'd give it a spin. Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are two cops assigned to an anti-terrorist squad to track down and stop the notorious terrorist Wulfgar (a very slim and young-looking Rutger Hauer). Undemanding 80's cop movie with some nice seedy New York locations.

Milano Calibro 9 - Excellent Italo-crime wherein the crooks just get the job done, no messing. Absolutely brilliant - and I never saw that ending coming! It's an old twist now, but it still caught me off guard.

Black Friday - Scientist Boris Karloff meddles with brain transplants and puts the brain of a criminal into the body of his friend. He's intent on finding where the crim has hidden his loot by using his friend as a vessel for the brain of this underworld gangster. Things quickly go pear-shaped though. Hugely enjoyable - although I'm a bit baffled as to why this is in the Lugosi collection, as it's primarly a vehicle for Karloff - Lugosi spends barely 5 minutes in the film!

The Invisible Ray - Karloff is a scientist who has perfected the technique of extracting rays from space and seeing into the past. He discovers that there is a deposit of radium x somewhere in Africa, which will create the perfect weapon. Only trouble is, this radium x makes him glow in the dark (WTF??) and he can kill simply by touching people. Daft as a brush but terrific entertainment. Lugosi also puts in a good turn as a competing scientist - which is expected as this film is in the Lugosi set, although again it's more of a Karloff vehicle.

Murders in the Rue Morgue - I dipped into the Lugosi set again and gave this one a watch. A mad sideshow artist cum scientist is intent on mixing human blood with an ape's blood in order to prove the theory of evolution. Completely barmy but entertaining all the same. Lugosi is on fine, sinister form, but the script lacks any real depth and is all a bit stagey. Not a bad effort, but certainly the weakest film in the set so far. Universal have done a decent job with restoring the film, but the audio tends to dip low then boom high, which meant some dialogue was hard to catch whilst other scenes were deafening. Still, for Lugosi completists, it's an essential.

Awake - An intriguing little psycho-thriller, this. A man is put under anaesthetic for a heart transplant - problem is, he's not put out by the anaesthetic and is fully awake, but fully paralyzed. Whilst on the operating table he overhears a plot to kill him...and so the mystery starts unravelling. I really enjoyed this, even though it freaked me out a bit! A neat little thriller, well worth a look.