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3rd November 2017, 11:36 AM
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3rd November 2017, 03:03 PM
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| Hollywood Flies (2005) A fun and fast paced kidnap / heist / road movie, this Italian production set in the Arizona desert and Los Angeles (Some excellent LA cinematography to be seen here) is one of those films where the plot twists and turns and keeps you both gripped and guessing as the action plays out. Two of the films leads - Antonio Cupo and Bianca Guaccero who play siblings i know only from this but both play engaging roles as does former model Caprice Bourett as a sexy stripper on the run from a hitman whose life intertwines with the Italian pair. Vinnie Jones is too good as one of the kidnappers. His snarling, cockney rabble rouser role irritates at times and you are desperate for him to get his comeuppance. Caspar Van Dien, character actor Conrad Coates and the tragically short lived Brad Renfro fill out the rest of the cast. This gets a pitiful score of just 4.6 on IMDB. This is the third time i've watched it over the years and have always enjoyed it. It might interest some on here to know that Hollywood Flies was written by Aldo Lado (Night Train Murders, Who Saw Her Die? and more) |
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3rd November 2017, 11:40 PM
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| Slightly Scarlet (1956) An intriguing little Noir from the final days of RKO. Unusual in that Noir from the time was primarily black and white but this was shot in glorious Technicolor. The film works on two levels. One is top level crime and corruption in the city, the second about a petty thief (Arlene Dahl) released on parole into her sister's (Rhonda Fleming) care and somewhere down the line these two plot strands become entwined. Although unusual the colour photography really works especially when it comes to Fleming and Dahl, two stunning femme fatale red heads and clearly the slightly scarlet of the title. The colours used are imaginative and the use of light and shadow is at times Lewton esq. (I might not have used that description had it not been an RKO production) All in all Slightly Scarlet is a decent if not top level example of the genre. |
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4th November 2017, 08:01 AM
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| Bloodbeat Its to Vinegar Syndromes credit that they manage to unearth some of the weirdest nonsense that ever graced a video shelf and give it five star treatment. Bloodbeat is one of their most 'out there' scores, with inexplicably psychic characters, possessed Samurai armour and plenty of bow hunting. Shot by a French director who headed west in search of his Horatio Alger moment and finding himself in snowy Wisconsin. After apparently getting into the local acid/pot scene he began writing then borrowed some money to make this. By his own admission he was inexperienced and was expecting at least a portion of the film to be improvisational. The end result is a mess. Its an interesting one though. Like runaway nightmare its a film that's somehow better than the sum of its parts based on the fact that its so damned weird it was difficult to tell exactly where it was going. |
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4th November 2017, 10:51 AM
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4th November 2017, 10:51 AM
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FRANCESCA – Marmite giallo homage from Luciano Onetti . It's become quite hip in recent years to play with tropes from this particular epoch of genre filmmaking, what with 'Amer', 'The Strange Colour of your Body's Tears' etc, but also in some ways 'Berberian Sound Studio'. They all share a preoccupation with giallo stylistics above plot. That's alright with me, I really like the pop-psychedelic visuals of gialli, but often can't stand the plodding murder mystery elements. 'Francesca' differs a little from 'neo-gialli' in that it tilts more towards narrative, but it's still more into fried images of illuminated mannequins and gouged-out eyeballs sitting next to toys than cops standing around discussing things. There is a plot involving police detectives and a backstory about a nasty little girl who offs her kid brother by stabbing him in the eye, but the emphasis is on textures and atmospheres rather than complex story arcs and dramatic catharsis. 'Francesca' really nails one aspect of the giallo, and that's its fetishistic nature, in the broad (rather than specifically sexual) sense of objects being invested with great, almost ineffable power. So we get lots of close ups of salient things, not only killer's leather gloves but dolls and piano keys, which creates a certain atmosphere. The decision to go for a retro look seems a bit half-baked, but it works visually. There is something very detached and dream-like about 'Francesca', and, although I didn't find it very immersive, I did feel that it was a striking piece of cinema - interesting and intriguing and it's stayed with me since I watched it. Recommended, although evidently not everyone's into it. CULT OF CHUCKY – Serviceable 'Child's Play' sequel, with F Douriff in psych ward being understandably freaked out at the prospect of Chuck coming to get get her. Enjoyable, but a bit disposable... a film I didn't particularly think about afterwards. Still, I'm always up for homicidal dolls and Fiona does another good turn. Quite fun. ANGEL OF DEATH – Strange indie about a college student who seems to come back from the dead after being raped and murdered, The supernatural rape revenge schtick has been done before and better, but AOD manages to be slightly alluring in a way I can't quite put my finger on... I guess there's an arbitrariness to things, the way the heroine wanders from encounter with awful rapey college brats to falling foul of demonic serial killer man to being in a ghostly room which is apparently in her own head... confusing, but interesting. The textures veer from pedestrian to intangible / dreamy. There's something slightly cumbersome about it, but it's worth checking out. MONSTER MAN – I remember watching this a few years ago and thinking it was rubbish. Strange how my standards have changed (dropped?) in just ten years. It's a frat boy road trip with designs on the kind of comedy that would've been popular in 2003, crossed with TCM style rural horror. It's pretty funny in places, or, maybe not really, but likeable and watchable. There's something nicely monstrous about the bad guy who does all the killing, although in a way I was hoping for a bit more gore. Still, pretty good. |
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4th November 2017, 11:21 AM
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| Naked Massacre (1976) An American Vietnam veteran attempting to get home ends up in conflict torn Belfast. Clearly disturbed, he forces his way into a house shared by eight nurses and proceeds to terrorize and murder them. Based on the true story of Richard Speck, what a grubby little film this is. Disturbing and sleazy yet not overly gory there's a lot of physical and emotional abuse on offer here especially in the last half hour where the nurses are subjected to sexual abuse then murdered. It's not an easy viewing, often feeling very obtrusive and voyeuristic and sits nicely with grim little ditties such as The Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave Watch it in a double bill with 86's Combat Shock and enjoy! |
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4th November 2017, 12:12 PM
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Frankie Teardrop and trebor8273 like this. |
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4th November 2017, 04:59 PM
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Don't know it by its proper name |
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4th November 2017, 05:07 PM
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| gag and trebor8273 like this. |
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