What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Big Chase (1954)

An LA cop delivers his expectant wife to hospital and gets caught up in a heist involving a payroll robbery.

Story wise that's pretty much it. The Big Chase is a slender affair clocking in at a mere 61 minutes. The first forty minutes involve the set up and the cop's home life but the final third is where all the action is as the big chase kicks into gear. Cars, trains, motor boats and helicopters are all on show in a majestic bullet strewn finale which comprises a full third of this film.

It's all quite exciting stuff and features one scene that appears strong for the time. During the car chase the cop (Glenn Langan) shoots the wife of the robbery mastermind (Jim Davis from Dallas), still alive, she's dragged from the car and rather nastily thrown down the side of what might possibly be Mulholland Drive by her accomplice's.

Genre fans might like to know Lon Chaney jr co-stars in this film as one of the crooks and is involved in a well staged foot race and shoot out in an LA rail yard.

The Big Chase is definitely a minor noir and most likely played as an opener to a bigger film in cinemas but it's still well worth checking out.

[Buboven]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Stoker (2013)

I'm quite late to the party with this one which is inexcusable as i bought the dvd from Blockbuster prior to it going under.

Anyway that's digressing. Stoker, written by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller (his first screenplay), is quite a little gem. Impeccably acted by it's three leads - Mia Wasikowska, Mathew Goode and Nicole Kidman in what is essentially a southern Gothic drama with nods to the Hitchcock classic Shadow of Doubt.

Unlike the Hitchcock film Stoker brings doubt to the viewers mind as to what is actually unfolding on screen. At times i wasn't convinced Uncle Charlie as played by Goode actually existed at all thinking he was just an idea in India Stoker's (Wasikowska) head. Indeed acclaimed Korean director Park Chan-Wook suggests otherwise but i feel it's up to your own interpretation of events as to exactly what unfolds onscreen and exactly who is the culprit for the nefarious goings on.

The film looks stunning thanks to Park's direction and he fails to waste even a single scene and brings to the table some fascinating directorial flourishes that even Hitchcock himself would have admired.

I would say it's recommended but i think you'll all have seen it anyway.

Better than Oldboy in my opinion.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Scream Bloody Murder (1973)

An proto slasher from the States, Scream Bloody Murder has that same cruel streak in it's reels that later efforts left out and it's all the better for it.

Titled Claw of Terror on video, it tells the story of a farm boy who murders his father and then loses his hand in a farm machinery accident. Years later on his release from a sanitarium, the still deranged young man goes on a killing spree of bloody proportions.

Taking it's cues from Psycho ,the film is at heart, just another tale of a mother obsessed hallucinating prude on the rampage. However it does have inner depth and a slightly differing angle to the typical hack and slash movies which would be so prevalent just a few years down the line.

What the film has in spades is gore. Unfortunately it's more HG Lewis gore than Savini style but it's effective none the less. Scream Bloody Murder isn't a film i can recommend because some of the acting is poor and much of the dialogue is woeful to the point of negating the effects of some scenes, but those who like this drive-in style fayre should have a good time here.

[Inspector Abberline]

[Mojo]

DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE
The magnificent Mr Lee stars again in one of my favourites of Hammer's Dracula series. Sadly, no Peter Cushing, but the performances are all top notch, the sets are wonderful and, of course, it has that wonderful staking scene! Another magnificent looking blu ray from Warner.

SECONDS
Rock Hudson stars as a man given the chance to relive his previously duller ( and older ) life in this chilling tale. It is an intriguing story of someone trapped in a body and lifestyle he doesn't want, but what can he do? Terrific film, that has an arguably even greater relevance today, which looks stunning on Eureka's blu ray.

[Rik]

What We Do In The Shadows-AKA This is Spinal Tap:Vampire Edition.

For anyone not familiar with this film, it's basically a fake documentary about three vampire flatmates (and the elder Nosferatu/Barlow like leader who lives in the basement) and what they get up to in their day to day lives. It had me in stitches in places (the late night encounter with the pack of rival werewolves was brilliant) and it had a few decent gore scenes, all played out for laughs.
When I first heard about this film (from seeing the Humph's awesome poster art on FB), I wasn't too bothered for seeing it, but it came highly recommended by one of my bandmates, so I rented it from Lovefilm and watched it this morning, definitely going to pick up the blu

You're Next

Another film I wasn't bothered for seeing, this time recommended by my other half (who watched it at the weekend while I was out pretending to be a rock star). Wasn't too bad, nothing really original in the home invasion style of films, it did have a couple of good moments, but I'm in no rush to watch it again

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

What We Do In The Shadows-AKA This is Spinal Tap:Vampire Edition.

For anyone not familiar with this film, it's basically a fake documentary about three vampire flatmates (and the elder Nosferatu/Barlow like leader who lives in the basement) and what they get up to in their day to day lives. It had me in stitches in places (the late night encounter with the pack of rival werewolves was brilliant) and it had a few decent gore scenes, all played out for laughs.
When I first heard about this film (from seeing the Humph's awesome poster art on FB), I wasn't too bothered for seeing it, but it came highly recommended by one of my bandmates, so I rented it from Lovefilm and watched it this morning, definitely going to pick up the blu

I also rented this from Love Film earlier on in the year... I wasn't sure how I'd take to it as I'm a little picky when it comes to horror comedies. I ended up really enjoying it though and actually laughed out loud a few times. I'll be picking it up on Blu at some point too.

Originally Posted by Rik

You're Next

Another film I wasn't bothered for seeing, this time recommended by my other half (who watched it at the weekend while I was out pretending to be a rock star). Wasn't too bad, nothing really original in the home invasion style of films, it did have a couple of good moments, but I'm in no rush to watch it again

Yeah, as mentioned on here a few times I wasn't overly enamoured with this one either.

[Zann]

The Conformist

Beautiful film with wonderful music. The leafy scene outside Marcello's mothers place. The sex scene in the train carriage. The snowy forest assassination. The story, pretentions, subtle as a sledgehammer metaphors and Freudian twaddle are all firmly rooted in the student politics of the time though.

[J Harker]

Full up with the lurgy so home with a few hours to myself this morning so i watched No One Lives on Netflix.
A family of dedicated career criminals kidnap a seemingly wealthy couple travelling cross country in some random anonymous part of the US. Things aren't quite what they seem. I really enjoyed this short snappy little horror/action/thriller mishmash and would recommend it.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Full up with the lurgy so home with a few hours to myself this morning so i watched No One Lives on Netflix.
A family of dedicated career criminals kidnap a seemingly wealthy couple travelling cross country in some random anonymous part of the US. Things aren't quite what they seem. I really enjoyed this short snappy little horror/action/thriller mishmash and would recommend it.

We got this from Poundland a couple of months back, I too recommend it