What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[wongfeihung62]

Barbara Steele is the Goddess of gothic horror.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUT OF SPACE. Not seen this since the late 80s and was surprised how well it has stood the test of time. Wildly more inventive than most small budget films of the time and now. Pacing seems a bit slow nowadays but it has some great moments in it, my favourite being John Vernon being used as a ventriloquist dummy that was both funny and slightly wrong.

RUMPLESTILTSKIN. Mid 90's horror that is full of bad puns and jokes but somehow punches above it's weight/height and contains a couple of really good images, oh and shit blows up, twice.

Both are on Netflix at the moment. KKFOOS in HD too.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

MOEBIUS - Crazy, crazy film which filmgoers who still have issues with Oedipus are advised to avoid. To anyone who just likes batshit weirdness however, I heartily recommend. An unhappy woman castrates her son and swallows his dick in retaliation against her philandering hubbie... the phallocentric twistedness has only just begun at this point, and 'Moebius' throws masturbation via 'extreme grazing' (I don't know how else to put it) and knife wound wanking at its bewildered viewers en route to an incestuous final act. None of this is particularly explicit, but 'Moebius's psychosexual notions, all delivered in an often breezy, nonchalant manner, are definitely on the warped side of Cronenberg. Its manic game of penis substitution conceals a more sober meditation on the absurdity of attachment (well, attachment to a schlong, anyway). From Kim Ki-duk, on absolute top form here in this blacker than black comedy (which is all the more boundary-pushing for being completely without dialogue). One of the most audacious things I've seen this year, and pretty much a must-see.

DEVOURED - A waitress struggles to stay afloat in the big city - all her cash goes back home to pay for her absent son's operation. Her bosses are arseholes and she's surrounded by cold, horrible people in general. Her life and sanity begin to spiral ever downwards. 'Devoured' is a flawed but interesting take on the old 'isolated descent into madness' riff. It's no 'Repulsion' (very obviously a reference point here), but it is quite affecting and, in some places, powerful. It works best when it's at its most subdued and tries to capture with some subtlety the slide into darkness some lives can take... the bleakness it evokes rings true. It doesn't do all that well with the 'horror' aspects, mostly because these are too overt to chime well with the otherwise carefully maintained atmosphere of depression. These more blatant aspects don't really kick in until nearer the end however, leaving 'Devoured''s slow, absorbing build up otherwise intact. So despite some drawbacks (again, the film's ending, which as well is a bit of a fumbled 'reveal'), I do recommend 'Devoured' as an involving attempt to step outside expectations, as it sits awkwardly and interestingly between dreary but poignant drama and something more 'genre'.

I've been meaning to watch Moebius for a while now as it keeps coming up as a recommendation on Netflix for me. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I've been meaning to watch Moebius for a while now as it keeps coming up as a recommendation on Netflix for me. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

Definitely! Sickest movie I've seen in a while, in both senses. Think you'll like.

[troggi]

"Guardians of the Galaxy" 2014
"Odd Thomas" 2013
"Guardians of the Galaxy" I guess that everyone who loves any comic book franchise will already think that this flick is a "classic", possibly with a capital "C"! Unless it is just me that is "everyone who loves any comic book franchise". 32/10

"Odd Thomas" This film did nothing to make me lose the liking of the "Odd..." series by Dean Koontz. I must've read a shelf full of his books and enjoyed the majority. There's been a slew of his stuff adapted for tv and film with mixed results, "Odd Thomas" is one of the better ones. It seems to run pretty much true to the book and, as there are more "Odd..." books, there could be more "Odd..." films. It won't be the greatest film franchise ever and some of 'em will probably be stinkers but I'll more than likely keep watchin' 'em! 15/10 for the movie on the dvd, -3 for the lack of any extras gives us a solid 12/10!

[nosferatu42]

By the sound of it the 'Moebius' director should be re named Kin ki-Fuk!!

[R-T-C Tim]

I really enjoyed this batshit crazy take on the teen horror genre, although I imagine a lot of others might not. It is about a group of highschool cheerleaders who get into dispute with the football players and end up in a car chase, crashing to their deaths in the river below. Fortunately a friend of theirs uses witchcraft to keep them in undeath and they return to school to get revenge - although the film takes a number of odd twists on the expected format and things get very messy for all the characters involved.

A very unexpected film, going by the case I was expecting a typical teen slasher film. There is a plentiful amount of gore although far too little nudity.

If you can tolerate teen slasher films but prefer your horror a little more cerebral, then check this one out.

As usual, DVD specs and more review here - All Cheerleaders Die.

[keirarts]

Alucarda

Apparently the director of this is a some time collaborator with Jodorowsky, it certainly shows. Alucarda is a somewhat nuts fusion of The Devils, The Exorcist and euro-vampire movie. Essentially a tale of friendship that spirals way the hell out of control into demonic possession, lesbianism, vampirism, madness and lots and lots of screaming. Personally I think it's bloody marvellous, with a wonderful visual style, tons of surrealistic imagery, nudity and violence. It has a rich Gothic atmosphere and is very well paced.

The Occultist.

Oh, dear oh dear. The night was going so well. It should ring alarm bells when you can pick up a German blu-ray for a couple of quid. This one is set in 'miskatonic university' where a couple of oddball professors are mixing occult studies into their lessons. In the evenings they start sacrificing their students to summon lucifer. A bunch of other stuff happens that will feel like an eternity of boredom then it f*****g ends with a pair of c***s of think they're funny. Ever wanted to reach through the screen and throttle someone with your bare hands just for the pleasure of watching the life drain from their ignorant f*****g eyes. This is how I felt. Occultist is not just inept, its totally offensively wrecked in ways that make HELLGATE seem like the evil dead. It's so f*****g bad I want to smash stuff up...

[R-T-C Tim]

The End of the World is Nigh, at least in the four SyFy channel apocalypse films I'm writing up today.



Another bad one I'm afraid, this is the first of Active Entertainment's apoc movies for SyFy and they try and make a traditional disaster film with no budget. The idea is okay - a quantum anomaly in space that is pulling gravity and causing all sorts of weird events, including temporal shifts. Unfortunately the budget just isn't there for all that and aside from a very brief couple of flashes, the rest of the exciting stuff, we are just told about.

So it is left to the characters to keep this one interesting. A bunch of dull clichés you really don't care about. A small town mayor and his "Sheldon Cooper" brother are okay, but his son and his girlfriend and her bully ex storyline is just painful and the introduction of two more socially awkward scientists trying to solve this thing is just 'Big Bang Theory' rip-off overload.

Not so bad its fun, just bad. Skip this one.

More words and some pretty pictures - Quantum Apocalypse full review.

[Demoncrat]

Watched a few recently, but will be catching up with Memebers reviews so hows this for a double bill.........The Big Zapper/Hidden Agenda.

Should be a fun night!!


Guardians Of The Galaxy isn't as cool as it thinks it is btw....