What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Dead End (2012)

A family at odds with each other decide to go to the country for a restful break. After stopping in a secluded side road the family find themselves strung up from the ceiling in an abandoned roadside cafe.

Dead End is a film populated by wholly unlikeable characters throughout with only the family daughter being someone you could even think about sympathizing with. The families captors are a deranged mob and come across like a watered down version of Rob Zombie's Firefly clan, but lacking the threat and dangerous seediness of Mosley, Haig etc.

Starring Eastenders 'bloke' Jaime Foreman as Dog, the leader of the gang and Jill Greenacre, who you may recall as the fresh faced, clean cut Linda in The Brittas Empire, as his lipstick smeared, smacked out, deranged lover, Bones, who i bizarrely found really attractive. The film is largely set in a single room and lurches from one sequence to another that every horror fan will have seen played out in fifty other probably better films.

Strangely, come the twist finale which i didn't see coming, i had that feeling of satisfaction and despite it's many cliches actually rather enjoyed the thing in spite of or possibly because of it's general British shoddiness.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Jill Greenacre, who you may recall as the fresh faced, clean cut Linda in The Brittas Empire, as his lipstick smeared, smacked out, deranged lover, Bones, who i bizarrely found really attractive.

Looks like we've pegged down Dem's 'type'.

Great reviews as always, Dem.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Looks like we've pegged down Dem's 'type'.

Great reviews as always, Dem.

Things just slip out don't they?

Thank you by the way.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Jill Greenacre, who you may recall as the fresh faced, clean cut Linda in The Brittas Empire, as his lipstick smeared, smacked out, deranged lover, Bones, who i bizarrely found really attractive.

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Looks like we've pegged down Dem's 'type'.

Great reviews as always, Dem.

I strangely fancied Julia St. John, who played Laura.

Agreed, excellent reviews.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I strangely fancied Julia St. John, who played Laura.

Agreed, excellent reviews.

After a bit of puzzlement i realized you were talking about The Brittas Empire rather than Dead End.

Thanks for the complement too Nos.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

After a bit of puzzlement i realized you were talking about The Brittas Empire rather than Dead End.

Thanks for the complement too Nos.

I probably should have been a little more specific!

[Nordicdusk]

mr_sardonicus_poster_02.jpg

Sir Robert Cargrave is a Neurosurgeon who seems to have everything in life he has recently been knighted and his name is well known throughout the world. The one thing that escapes him is love and his heart remains with his ex lover he left behind in Europe.

Out of the blue Robert receives a letter from his ex lover to summon him to the home of her husband Baron Sardonicus with the upmost importance. At once he gathers his belongings to be at the Baronesss side. On arriving in the village of the Baron Sir Robert notices that the very mention of the name of the Baron puts fear in the peasants very soon Sir Robert will see why.

Its does not take long for things to take a strange turn when Sir Roberts enters the home of the Baron he is greeted with the screams of a woman who is tied to a chair and her face is covered in leeches. After a quick reunion with the Baroness they are both summoned to dinner where Sir Robert will meet the Baron for the first time. Baron Sardonicus enters to room wearing a mask that he never removes which we later discover is because his was a poor farmer in his past and when his father died he was buried with a winning lottery ticket. Under a lot of pressure from his then wife he digs up his fathers grave and on sight of his fathers face his face is permanently disfigured after the shock. The Baron and his servant Krull have been experimenting on the young woman and servants of the house trying to get a cure for the curse inflicted upon the Baron but without success. The last option is Sir Robert using a special massage he has developed that relaxes the muscles. At first Sir Robert refuses to help because of the cruelty of Baron Sardonicus towards the Baroness but the Baron holds all the cards and in order to save the life of the woman he loves he must do as he is told.

This came as part of the Brotherhood Of Satan Blu Ray double pact i picked up awhile back both films i had not seen before and this is the best of the two. For me this is a hidden gem i loved the story and there were plenty of dark moments of torture and coldness from the Baron himself. I enjoyed the performance of Krull the most his character progressed through so many emotions through the film from humble servant to a man blinded by his loyalty to his master and then a man filled with a lust for revenge. This is one i will revisit from time to time a big from me.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

It's a brilliant film isn't it Nordy.

I saw it last year thanks to the same dvd set. I too bought it for Brotherhood (Complete let down imo) but this was easily the outstanding movie.

A quite underrated classic.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

It's a brilliant film isn't it Nordy.

I saw it last year thanks to the same dvd set. I too bought it for Brotherhood (Complete let down imo) but this was easily the outstanding movie.

A quite underrated classic.

It really is a great film i didnt expect much from it when i bought it but as i said it will be getting many repeat viewings.

[Demoncrat]

Bit of a mixed bag this time....
The Machinist (Brad Anderson, 2005).
Before he went Hollywood Bale pulls out all the stops in this tour de force performance. Who hasn't seen this? Rectify that post haste!!

The Signal (William Eubank, 2014).
Sci fi hokum of the highest order, I felt they faffed about too much in the intro, which makes you think it's going to be a FF film. Maybe this will impress someone, it left me cold ahem.

Stranded (Roger Christian, 2012).
Christian Slater appears in Canadian tax loss venture. the moral being....when your moonbase is hit by a meteor, don't take it inside to "investigate these spores" haha.

Dolls (Stuart Gordon, 1987).
Certainly the sweetest film from Yunza/Gordon imo. Never bothered with this at the time, as twas all dolled out by this point. Silly me, as this has much to offer. Miles better than Puppetmaster imo.

We Still Kill The Old Way (2014, Sacha Bennet).
Even more right wing than Harry Brown, this hoot shows some "old school" gangsters taking on todays yoof. Ian Oglivy!! Need I say more, geezer??

The Bay (2012, Barry Levinson)
Watched this on Film4. Sue me, but I liked it. Moral? Don't dump chicken shit in the water!! Ahem.