What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Yep, it's up there with Ferrara's comm for The Driller Killer for sure

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Yep, it's up there with Ferrara's comm for The Driller Killer for sure

I was thinking more like the cast commentary on This Is Spinal Tap, but whatever floats your boat!

[Demoncrat]

I likes a challenge me

[ArgentoFan1987]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

He loves that film alright. I can see why mind.
That Eureka release has the heaviest booklet of any reissue ...

I used to own it, but sold it when I was "financially challenged!"

[ArgentoFan1987]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Yep, it's up there with Ferrara's comm for The Driller Killer for sure

I recently bought the Arrow Blu-Ray of TDK, even though I am not a fan of the film at all. If the commentary you are speaking of is on it, I might give it a listen,

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE UNDERTAKER – Joe Spinell’s last gasp. He was a wonderful actor – what would ‘Maniac’ be without his sweaty, bug eyed presence? He seemed to bring that to a lot of the stuff he appeared in, and that’s certainly true here. ‘The Undertaker’ has a chequered history and exists in different versions, one of which was put out by Code Red a few years ago and played like a bizarre, lo-fi meta-movie. The one available from VS is more like a straight horror flick, where an undertaker with trademark JS mannerisms lives with his mother or aunt or something and murders pretty co-eds. There’s a smattering of gore, but it’s really disjointed. In fact, it reminded me somewhat of the kind of thing H G Lewis would be doing if he still made movies in the late eighties. Again, the presence of twitchy Spinell takes it up a couple of levels and makes it seem twice as strange. What can I say? See it if you like bad, old, weird movies (don’t I always say that?)

ANNIHLIATION – Alex Garland / Jeff VanderMeer’s trip into the subconscious, in which a party of (significantly, all female) military-tech-operatives venture into a strange area where flora and fauna both seem to be running rampant. Despite its pastel hues, there’s a bio-horror aspect about it that’s quite ‘The Thing’-like, and, although it dumps the machismo, a creeping paranoia runs through proceedings up to and including the slightly psychedelic conclusion. Definitely recommended.

THE LORELY’S GRASP – A great flick from the director of ‘The Blind Dead’ series. It’s about a security guard who’s hired to protect a German girl’s school against a murderer with scaly hands and a connection to local legend. It blends myth, exploitation and straight horror, but is a strange film in some ways as its gory killings, prevalent from the outset, do give way to something more like a gothic romance (then back again). If that’s not enough, a scientist shows us via seventies special fx how a severed human hand can regress to its reptilian evolutionary predecessor, then gets his face messed up with acid. Euro horror high point for sure.

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER – From the guy behind ‘Dogtooth’ and ‘The Lobster’. If you liked those, you’ll probably like this, although it’s a much darker film than either in many ways. Colin Firth is a surgeon stuck in a strange but probably solicited relationship with a former patient of his, a young boy who seems very keen to court the possibility of a paternal surrogate, or something way more warped. Mind games and desperate acts ensue as a scalpel is taken to the necrotic tissue of upper middle-class family life and a ghastly tumour laid bare. An ominous film, exquisitely stylised to the extent that, to me, it evokes the landscape of late period J G Ballard or D Cronenberg – an austere, arid milieu where something horrendous is lurking behind the frost of suburban alienation. It feels full of horror that always seems on the brink of crystallising out… then does. A chilly, disturbing downer that is absolutely recommended.

LEATHERFACE – Seemed to attract a lot of negativity from fans and critics. I really liked it though, what’s the problem? TCM, sacred cow, so what. On the other hand, the filmmakers have ‘disappointed’ everyone since ‘Inside’, which surely shouldn’t be taken as the yardstick to measure a filmography by. No, I liked it. It’s fast paced, trashy, violent – you don’t have to wait long before some bad taste moment or other flashes up onscreen, whether that be coyly rendered necrosex or free flowing gore. Does it succeed in getting to grips with the genesis of Leatherface? Well, we’re talking about a made-up entity who was never very well drawn in the first place so who knows, but dramatically, not really, but who cares? It’s just not that kid of film. It does get really disjointed in its latter half, but to me it seemed to be trying to capture something quite EC-comics like, which I appreciated. And it avoids falling into the same trap as the putrid ‘Halloween’ remake, which was so po-faced in its attempts to humanise. Go on, give it chance, it’s better than people say.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

THE LORELY’S GRASP – A great flick from the director of ‘The Blind Dead’ series. It’s about a security guard who’s hired to protect a German girl’s school against a murderer with scaly hands and a connection to local legend. It blends myth, exploitation and straight horror, but is a strange film in some ways as its gory killings, prevalent from the outset, do give way to something more like a gothic romance (then back again). If that’s not enough, a scientist shows us via seventies special fx how a severed human hand can regress to its reptilian evolutionary predecessor, then gets his face messed up with acid. Euro horror high point for sure.

I totally agree, Frankie.

LEATHERFACE – Seemed to attract a lot of negativity from fans and critics. I really liked it though, what’s the problem? TCM, sacred cow, so what. On the other hand, the filmmakers have ‘disappointed’ everyone since ‘Inside’, which surely shouldn’t be taken as the yardstick to measure a filmography by. No, I liked it. It’s fast paced, trashy, violent – you don’t have to wait long before some bad taste moment or other flashes up onscreen, whether that be coyly rendered necrosex or free flowing gore. Does it succeed in getting to grips with the genesis of Leatherface? Well, we’re talking about a made-up entity who was never very well drawn in the first place so who knows, but dramatically, not really, but who cares? It’s just not that kid of film. It does get really disjointed in its latter half, but to me it seemed to be trying to capture something quite EC-comics like, which I appreciated. And it avoids falling into the same trap as the putrid ‘Halloween’ remake, which was so po-faced in its attempts to humanise. Go on, give it chance, it’s better than people say

You've completely sold this one to me. Everyone else has seemingly slated it for it's characterisation of Leatherface, a character that was never well drawn in the first place, just as you say. As for TCM being a sacred cow. Aren't sacred cows usually slaughtered? The other TCM films following the original film are complete bollocks that ruin any sacred values the first one held.

Great work, Frankie.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I totally agree, Frankie.



You've completely sold this one to me. Everyone else has seemingly slated it for it's characterisation of Leatherface, a character that was never well drawn in the first place, just as you say. As for TCM being a sacred cow. Aren't sacred cows usually slaughtered? The other TCM films following the original film are complete bollocks that ruin any sacred values the first one held.

Great work, Frankie.

Exactly. The key to something like 'Leatherface' is, just go into it expecting a fast paced, fairly violent movie without all that much stylisation about people on the lam from a psyche ward and it works well. Expect something momentous that reinvents something that's just a faraway idea anyway, and it fails to be any kind of holy grail. I mean, it's possibly the least of the directors' films - I happen to like them a lot anyway, others don't, but again I think that's just because they were bigged up so much after 'Inside'.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Bravo, Frankie you have probably created the post of the day!

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

THE UNDERTAKER

I'm surprised I haven't seen this because I like Joe Spinell in everything I've seen in, so I'm going to investigate that right now.

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

ANNIHLIATION

I think Alex Garland is a wonderful writer who seems to have a problem with the third act of films as everything he has written suffers at the end, with Ex Machina being the sole exception. I'll investigate this one as well!

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

THE LORELY’S GRASP

Absolutely no idea why I haven't seen this film either, so another for the watchlist!

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

I've been meaning to rewatch The Lobster and have had this in my wish list since it was released (it was never in the cinema near me) so I hope it's on Netflix soon. If not, I'll get it as a blind buy because you have really sold it with the comparisons to Ballard and Cronenberg. Fortunately, it's available to watch on Prime Video, so that might be something for this evening.

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

LEATHERFACE

This is a film in which I had no interest until I read your review. I don't think there's anything intrinsic the wrong with exploring the background of the 'monster' – Bates Motel is a prime example of that as I thought delving into Norman Bates' childhood/teenage years would be a mixture of sacrilege, boring and diminish Psycho, so I was surprised about how much I liked the TV show and how it had no impact on Hitchcock's great movie when I saw it subsequently.

Everything I have seen in the rebooted Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series has irritated or somehow annoyed me, but Leatherface (I actually like the 1990 film of that name) might be something I enjoy as a stand-alone fast-paced horror flick.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

Exactly. The key to something like 'Leatherface' is, just go into it expecting a fast paced, fairly violent movie without all that much stylisation about people on the lam from a psyche ward and it works well. Expect something momentous that reinvents something that's just a faraway idea anyway, and it fails to be any kind of holy grail. I mean, it's possibly the least of the directors' films - I happen to like them a lot anyway, others don't, but again I think that's just because they were bigged up so much after 'Inside'.

I really like Inside (The best of the Euro shock films from the 00's) and also enjoyed Livid. I wasn't sure what to expect from Among the Living. Should i seek it out?

I was going to order some dvd's from HMV's 5 for £20 offer so will go with Leatherface instead of the latest Chucky film i think.