What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[SShaw]

Tonights film was the US Blu-ray of The Pawnshop Chronicles which I passed judgement on over on my diary thread - I liked it, but not as much on the second viewing. I notice that this is announced for a German blu-ray release under the title The Gangster Chronicles.

[Frankie Teardrop]

AND SOON THE DARKNESS - First watch, having delayed for ages after being bored shitless by the absolutely dismal remake (which is really one to avoid). However, this, the original 1970 prototype, is wonderful, a simmering, slow burning Euro thriller which seethes with claustrophobia and paranoid tension. It follows two Brit cyclists as they struggle through rural France, portrayed here as a desolate, windswept place full of empty fields, enigmatic encounters and mysterious figures staring in the distance. The sense of hostility around every corner is ramped up by the girl's (and probably much of its UK audience's) ignorance - they don't speak French well and neither do I, and this intensifies the atmosphere of isolation as the two split up and come to realise that a sex killer is lurking down one of those 'bad roads'. It matches pared down minimalism with a kind of oppressive repetition - the same few characters, sets and locations recur and seem to cycle around each other, giving a sense of things closing in and becoming nightmarishly inevitable. If it puts a foot or two wrong it's by way of the slightly too obvious (sometimes) music cues and the mid section, which is a bit flabbier and less tense than the rest... but overall, this is definitely a must-see seventies relic and a great example of quietly weird cinema. I really like the director's 'Dr Phibes', but this is very different in approach, and I prefer it.

[Demoncrat]

Buckaroo Banzai (WD Richter, 1985).
With the merest prologue you are plunged into an alternate world where a Rick Springfield clone can save the world. Much like Streets Of Fire, this stood out from all the slosh pouring out of Hollywood at the time....and sadly paid the price for that individuality...
Interesting to see that Lithgow had a "accent coach"...as he sounds Russian for most of the time!!! Cough. Such a shame we never got that sequel as well.....

Welcome To The Punch.
Pandering glossy rubbish. Though I liked the slo mo shootout haha.

[Demoncrat]

Not exactly a film, but watched the Carry On Christmas "special" from 1969. Hawtrey's initial "Oooooh, Hello!" up there with his best imo. The mixture of sheer filth and sheer cheek quite a revelation. Next up the one from '72.....

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

[B]

Welcome To The Punch.
Pandering glossy rubbish. Though I liked the slo mo shootout haha.

I really liked it. One of the best films of last year.

Loved the green hue it was shot in - cool modern London noir.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I really liked it. One of the best films of last year.

Loved the green hue it was shot in - cool modern London noir.

Agree to disagree then.

[ArgentoFan1987]

Just finished watching all three discs of Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide, part 2. It was absolutely brilliant! I'm actually pretty sad it's all over.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

AND SOON THE DARKNESS - First watch, having delayed for ages after being bored shitless by the absolutely dismal remake (which is really one to avoid). However, this, the original 1970 prototype, is wonderful, a simmering, slow burning Euro thriller which seethes with claustrophobia and paranoid tension. It follows two Brit cyclists as they struggle through rural France, portrayed here as a desolate, windswept place full of empty fields, enigmatic encounters and mysterious figures staring in the distance. The sense of hostility around every corner is ramped up by the girl's (and probably much of its UK audience's) ignorance - they don't speak French well and neither do I, and this intensifies the atmosphere of isolation as the two split up and come to realise that a sex killer is lurking down one of those 'bad roads'. It matches pared down minimalism with a kind of oppressive repetition - the same few characters, sets and locations recur and seem to cycle around each other, giving a sense of things closing in and becoming nightmarishly inevitable. If it puts a foot or two wrong it's by way of the slightly too obvious (sometimes) music cues and the mid section, which is a bit flabbier and less tense than the rest... but overall, this is definitely a must-see seventies relic and a great example of quietly weird cinema. I really like the director's 'Dr Phibes', but this is very different in approach, and I prefer it.

I agree, an excellent film!

Interestingly Fuest and clemens worked together previously on a couple of Avengers tv episodes.

I also have a deep appreciation for his satanic shatner film Devils rain. The shats second best film after kingdom of the spiders.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Schoolgirls in Chains (1973)

This fairly enjoyable and sleazy little exploitationer is centered around two brothers who kidnap young girls and keep them locked up in their basement under the control and influence of their domineering mother. One brother is a simpleton who sees the girls as nothing but playmates and subjects them to various torturous games - playing doctor will never be the same again - whilst the other brother is more aloof and absorbed with his 'mommy issues'.

Whilst an exploitationer at heart, the film is often quite dark and brooding with lingering close-ups on the girls' facial expressions as they undergo and witness the various torturous shenanigans the brothers deploy onto them and that of their fellow captees. The low budget adds to the gritty mood and despite the twist element at the end, which becomes increasingly more obvious as the film progresses, this was an interesting and original enough experience to engage me throughout.

[ArgentoFan1987]

Originally Posted by keirarts

I agree, an excellent film!

Interestingly Fuest and clemens worked together previously on a couple of Avengers tv episodes.

I also have a deep appreciation for his satanic shatner film Devils rain. The shats second best film after kingdom of the spiders.

I had no idea they remade And Soon the Darkness!