What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[bleakshaun]

The Prophecy
The archangel Gabriel is on the hunt to find the darkest soul, it leads him to a rural area and a little girl. A cop and the girls teacher try to stop him.
I don't know how I felt about this, Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen were great as Gabriel and Lucifer; especially those moments where Gabriel is tormenting people. But some general can't be the darkest soul.
Maybe a rewatch will be needed.


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[nosferatu42]

Punishment park.

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Interesting film shot in a documentary style, supposedly set in the future where
freedom of speech and radical and revolutionary behaviour is outlawed.
Although the hair and clothes sets this film firmly in the early 70's this is not a problem as it's the idea's that count.

First we have a small court of straights interrogating the free thinkers, so this really comes across as a plea for intelligence, thoughtful discussion and acceptance of diversity.

But all the while the straights are showing their disproval and ignorance, then the court sentences the defendants to prison sentences.

At the same time they give them the option to choose Punishment park instead, which is basically a trek across the desert with no food or drink, if they arrive at their destination (an American flag) they can go free.
But that's not all, they will be pursued by police officers and army men as part of their training, who are supposed to bring the offenders in without violence if they are caught and surrender.

Obviously this doesn't go according to plan and the offenders are slowly hunted and killed by their pursuers.

I thought this was a very interesting and absorbing film, that is really a thinly disguised snap shot of late 60's/early 70's free thinkers and hippies ideals, and a cry for tolerance and acceptance.
And also an attempt by the filmmakers to show how corrupt and distorted the government and ruling societies values were at the time.(cough)

It's a well made and relevant film, but i can't really say it was a fun watch.

8/10

Vampire Ecstasy

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Basically this is an attempt by American smut peddler Joe Sarno to make a Rollin style Euro nude vampire film.

The story doesn't really make much sense, something about resurrecting a vampire by a cult of witches ( i guess ) who spend a lot of time larking about in a castles dungeon dancing in the buff, erotically fondling penis shaped candles and inserting an uncomfortably large looking stone dildo into each other.

It sounds a bit Franco too writing the details down but this isn't all that explicit in it's details, just has a lot of nudity and the odd bit of hairy muff.

As the story was practically non existent and it was lacking in gory details it's a hard film to recommend.

Having said that i enjoyed it.

If there was some more blood and vampirism in the film it could have been a much more entertaining and satisfying experience , the women were on the whole do able enough in that 70's style and the use of a real castle gave it some nice atmospheric touches.

Also the accents were quite hilarious at points in that Udo Kier "Wampire" style.

Like i said i did enjoy it, but can't find it in my heart to rate it any higher due to it's various shortcomings. (ooh-er misses)

6/10

[Nostalgic]

Don't know what's been wrong with me lately, working so much I haven't watched a full film in a while. Started Witness & Mr Smith goes to Washington, fell asleep halfway through both (through tiredness, films were both excellent!).
Sometimes i can watch a film in two halves but really want to watch them in one sitting.

Trying Requeim for a Dream again, but have to get up for work at 4am so nodding off.....

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bleakshaun

The Prophecy
The archangel Gabriel is on the hunt to find the darkest soul, it leads him to a rural area and a little girl. A cop and the girls teacher try to stop him.
I don't know how I felt about this, Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen were great as Gabriel and Lucifer; especially those moments where Gabriel is tormenting people. But some general can't be the darkest soul.
Maybe a rewatch will be needed.


Sent from my PRA-LX1 using Tapatalk

I really like The Prophecy. A great cast and a surprisingly non-apocalyptic storyline which allows the likes of Walken, Virginia Madsen, Elias Koteas and Eric Stoltz to shine.

Watched it and The Prophecy II again this week (perhaps due to this weeks TTT list i made). The sequel isn't as good but adds Jennifer Beals, Brittany Murphy, Eric Roberts and Glenn Danzig to the madness.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Passion (1954)

Starring Cornel Wilde as a young rancher seeking vengeance for the murders of his wife (Yvonne de Carlo - here playing two roles) and his parents. The killers are a ruthless band of land grabbers led by Salvador Sandro, who Wilde, now a fugitive from justice himself thanks to sheriff Raymond Burr, intends to kill one by one.

Passion is a western that's as surprising as it is ludicrously titled. Sounding like a romantic drama, it comes across as very misleading. What we actually have is a brutal revenge thriller set in Mexican ruled Spanish California that seems to pre-empt the Spaghetti western genre by several years, not only that. The final third leaves the sweltering desert towns and plunges us into a chilly snowbound chase across the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Not as low budget as many RKO westerns, the film features some nice photography among the numerous shoot outs.

[bleakshaun]

The Eye
A woman undergoes surgery in order to see. It's a success, however she then starts to see ghosts which other people cannot see.
I loved this, the atmosphere was great as well as a great score.
Recommended.

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[Deadite]

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Giallo high-jinks with Bouchet, Danning and co. Feeling a bit dense at the moment because i found this rather confusing. I had a suspicion who the killer would turn out to be. However, they were so under-developed that i still have no idea who they are. Housekeeper? Relative? Friend? I have a feeling i either wasn't paying attention when they were introduced, or they were never introduced properly.

Anyway, some decent kills, and a bit of tension, but fairly standard stuff other than my confusion at the central premise. Guess i'll have to watch it again.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

One of those films that is fun and very enjoyable whilst watching but instantly forgettable afterwards. At a slim 100 minutes it never becomes boring and Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron and co have great energy.

As for a Barnum musical? I saw Michael Crawford in Barnum at the London Palladium in 1982 and that was far superior to this. For those who wish to see a better Hugh Jackman vocal performance then i recommend Oklahoma which is on dvd. Again far superior to this but at a whopping three hours a bit bum numbing.

[Demoncrat]

Terrifier (2017, Damien Leone)

Grotty wee flick. Picked this up due to reviews here. Must see this precursor as well if this was owt to go by. Reminiscent of the 80s whilst not overdoing it (think more House Of The Devil, less Atomic Blonde ) and some of the FX will have Ferman spinning in his grave .... not that there will be a lot left to rotate now surely . I digress. Liked Art btw.
Scarier than Pennywise?? Hmmm. On the whole, a hit and far less nerve shredding than ....



Daphne & Velma (Suzi Yoonessi)
Zoinks!! Our female duo finally meet, when Daphne moves to Velma's high school. Millenial revisionism a gogo here. Live action movie. Some rather disturbing after thoughts brung me to review this here. The set up screams sequels of a Nancy Drewish nature. Not a sniff of any drug crazed hippies (though the villain does utter THAT line at the denoument ). Girl Power!!

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Deadite

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Giallo high-jinks with Bouchet, Danning and co. Feeling a bit dense at the moment because i found this rather confusing. I had a suspicion who the killer would turn out to be. However, they were so under-developed that i still have no idea who they are. Housekeeper? Relative? Friend? I have a feeling i either wasn't paying attention when they were introduced, or they were never introduced properly.

Anyway, some decent kills, and a bit of tension, but fairly standard stuff other than my confusion at the central premise. Guess i'll have to watch it again.

Watch it again regardless . Is PQ adequate then??