What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Nemesis (1992)

In the year 2027 a cyborg LA policeman is hunted down by humans and other cyborgs. There are other parts to the story but i can't be arsed with them. Why? Because Nemesis is basically an ass kicking action movie where plot gets in the way of mayhem and bloodshed.

Albert Pyun, a director of spectacular cheese fests, delivers a fast moving, violent romp that only slows to show German star Olivier Gruner's ass or former Dallas girl Deborah Shelton's wonky boob job. From the fifth minute onwards Nemesis is carnage all the way, hell even Gruner's dog is killed, as Gruner slays a whole host of C-grade video stars including Brion James, Thom Matthews and direct to video stalwart Tim Thomerson. Also look out for Thomas Jane in an early role and naked throughout. You'll wince as Shelton knees him in the bollocks.

Channeling everything from The Terminator to Robocop and featuring more gun play than The Matrix, Nemesis has great location work throughout and is one of the slickest, maddest, coolest pieces of trash cinema about.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Nemesis (1992)

In the year 2027 a cyborg LA policeman is hunted down by humans and other cyborgs. There are other parts to the story but i can't be arsed with them. Why? Because Nemesis is basically an ass kicking action movie where plot gets in the way of mayhem and bloodshed.

Albert Pyun, a director of spectacular cheese fests, delivers a fast moving, violent romp that only slows to show German star Olivier Gruner's ass or former Dallas girl Deborah Shelton's wonky boob job. From the fifth minute onwards Nemesis is carnage all the way, hell even Gruner's dog is killed, as Gruner slays a whole host of C-grade video stars including Brion James, Thom Matthews and direct to video stalwart Tim Thomerson. Also look out for Thomas Jane in an early role and naked throughout. You'll wince as Shelton knees him in the bollocks.

Channeling everything from The Terminator to Robocop and featuring more gun play than The Matrix, Nemesis has great location work throughout and is one of the slickest, maddest, coolest pieces of trash cinema about.

I still need to pick up 101's boxset. I've not seen Nemesis in years, can barely remember it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I still need to pick up 101's boxset. I've not seen Nemesis in years, can barely remember it.

This was the old Prism release. A few extras but i'd expect 88's print to be better, not that this was bad at all.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

This was the old Prism release. A few extras but i'd expect 88's print to be better, not that this was bad at all.

I had an old big box ex rental vhs. Last time i watched it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

No One Lives (2012)

...and no plot points either as i wouldn't want to spoil this film for any newcomer such as myself who watched it without any prior knowledge. I didn't even read the reverse of the sleeve.

Needless to say No One Lives is a terrifically bloody thrill ride starring Luke Evans and he's perfect in the role of... No sorry, not saying.

If you want twisty turny, fast paced violent shocks then give No One Lives a go. Chances are you won't regret it.

[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

No One Lives (2012)

...and no plot points either as i wouldn't want to spoil this film for any newcomer such as myself who watched it without any prior knowledge. I didn't even read the reverse of the sleeve.

Needless to say No One Lives is a terrifically bloody thrill ride starring Luke Evans and he's perfect in the role of... No sorry, not saying.

If you want twisty turny, fast paced violent shocks then give No One Lives a go. Chances are you won't regret it.

Adelaide Clemens is great in it too. She really should be doing more big stuff.

[J Harker]

Red Hill, Patrick Hughes, 2011

A young policeman and his pregnant wife relocate to the country to raise their family. On his first day on the job the officer is thrown in the deep end when convicted murderer Jimmy Conway breaks out of a maximum security prison and heads back to town seeking revenge on the police department that put him away.
Pretty much a western, this excellent Australian film had me gripped with some great characters and some surprisingly old fashion western touches. The bad guy Jimmy Conway makes for a great villain too stalking his prey through the town and not uttering a single word Michael Myers style. Brilliant film. Blu ray looks stunning too really showing off the gorgeous but almost alien Aussie landscapes.

[davidmurphy.dm19]

The Synapse HD release of Basket Case 2. The movie looked gorgeous. Synapse did a better job with this movie than Something Weird Video did with the original, which was still acceptable, by the way. Not as good as the original Basket Case, but watchable, nonetheless.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

A huge British production with a terrific cast who superbly play it throughout. Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman are excellent as the Tsar and his wife with performances that take you away from the savage political and social unrest they caused, ending with the Russian revolution and their abdication and imprisonment in Siberia, making the viewer feel sympathy for them even though they clearly had it coming.

There's so much historical matter here that a mere three hours doesn't do it justice and there are one or two inaccuracies (I did early 20th century Russian history and the rise of Stalin as a ten week GCSE evening course in my early twenties) which i suppose is inevitable when it comes to these things.

As for interest to Cult Labs members, Tom Baker is quite brilliant as Rasputin with his drinking, shagging and everything you'd expect a devout monk to indulge in. I'd almost say he nailed the role even better than the late, great Christopher Lee did in Hammer's 1966 film. Also look out for an uncredited Robin Askwith who shoots someone in the head.

Whilst not Cult Labs material by any stretch of the imagination Nicholas and Alexandra is a good film that should appeal to anyone who enjoyed the BBC's recent adaptation of War and Peace.

[Frankie Teardrop]

CURTAIN – Newish indie horror about an ex-nurse who's aggravated by her disappearing shower curtains. That's a pretty thin premise for a horror sci-fi movie, but there is more to it. Ex-nurse finds out that the curtains are vanishing through some kind of portal which leads to the local woods, where they emerge covered in ectoplasm – at least, that's as much as she can gather from the crazy bum who lives there. A back story involving occult sacrifices and transformations is gradually uncovered. I quite enjoyed 'Curtains'. I was a little worried that it'd be played for laughs, given the apparent emphasis on shower curtains as harbingers of the unknown. There is a comedic edge to it in places, but this is phased out by the bleak climax. Elements that appealed to me were the eighties-harkening synth soundtrack, the slight originality of the whole thing and the bits where there was some monster action, which were all too brief in my opinion. Definitely well put together on a shoestring, 'Curtain' deserves plaudits for imagination and scope, and the slender run time is a plus, too. Definitely one to check out – as microbudget debuts go, it's not quite in the same realm as 'Absentia' for example, but is a good opening shot nonetheless.

MANIAC COP - Have I reviewed this before? Never mind, it seems a while since I last saw it. 'Maniac Cop' has really grown on me over the years. I remember seeing it in the early nineties for the first time, when I had a much more indignant gobshite type attitude, and I recall moaning to my buddy about the fact that we weren't watching 'Cannibal Holocaust' or something equally 'transgressive'. I suppose that back then it just seemed like another VHS rental. After years of watching shitty, abysmal dreck from all corners of the genre, a film like 'Maniac Cop' really shines as an example of tight, slick low budget film making. You'll all know the story, about Cordell the hot-shot officer who's 'back from the dead' after being fitted up and murdered in Sing-Sing. For me, it's a perfect meeting of minds, taking in Lary Cohen's socio-political approach and Bill Lustig's NYC grime aesthetic. Fast paced and down and dirty, 'Maniac Cop' never fails to entertain, although perhaps it stays its hand (or trigger finger) when it comes to graphic violence and sleaze – nothing here is as excessive as some of the stuff in Lustig's earlier 'Maniac'. Still, nearly excellent and an essential B Movie after all this time.

MAUSOLEUM – Bobbie Bressee is a woman in a house who's struggling with a family curse. 'Mausoleum' is a low budget horror movie from 1983, and really feels like it is too. Which theoretically should mean that it's great, but, sadly, it just isn't. There are some definite plus points – the effects by John Buechler are vivdly 'VHS era', and would grace the back cover of any big box. What surrounds them is more of a problem. 'Mausoleum' is not slowly paced, in fact the reverse. But it is tension free, and that really affects my perception of time during a film. If I'm not anticipating something, I'm kind of veering towards looking at my watch. As for why 'Mausoleum' is so uninvolving, there's something about the flatness of the direction that makes it seem like a soap opera viewed through a haze brought on by too much cough syrup, or perhaps the vague recollection of a dull dream about a TV movie. This in itself might be interesting, but yesterday afternoon I just wanted some horror action and some hard hitting narrative. With 'Mausoleum', there is certainly some horror action, quite a lot of it in fact, but again, it's like islands in a not so great stream. Seen in the right frame of mind (preferably one which allows for mental fast forward), 'Mausoleum' could certainly seen as trashy fun, and to an extent it is. My memory now is taking me back to the 'good bits', the crappy glowing green eye fx and the demonic face-breasts, the bits of gore and the moments which just don't feel right, and pretty soon I'll have forgotten that there's a certain amount of other stuff to wade through. In about three or four years I'll be thinking “Mausoleum – cool! It's that one with all the bladder effects and cloaked figures and eerily lit, gory... yeah, think I'll put it on. Why don't I watch it more often?” Future Frankie, take note – this review is your answer to that last bit.