What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Vampire Journals (1997)

Vampire Journals is one of Charles Band's Full Moon productions and stars Jonathon Morris, best known as Adrian Boswell from eighties tv classic Bread. Don't let this put you off though as Vampire Journals is enjoyable stuff.

Blood is spilt, heads roll and necks are bitten frequently, the film also has a couple of orgy scenes and other titillating sequences. Director Ted Nicolau, a veteran of Full Moon straight to video rubbish clearly knew his stuff by 97 and made the film look quite impressive despite its impoverished budget and tv movie sheen.

The film benefits from its East European locations with many scenes playing out in some rather posh mansion houses with characters that look to have been swiped from classic horror productions of the sixties, giving the film a nicely polished Gothic feel to it. The acting isn't always wonderful and the film could really do with a Cushing, Price or Lee to give it gravitas, but on the whole Full Moon have done a good job with this.

[nicholasrope]

The Devil Wears Prada

Fantastic movie staring Anne Hathaway as a Assistant to Meryl Streep Devil like Fashion Editor. Whilst Streep is amazing as a terrifying boss who has her staff under constant fear, Hathaway along with Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci also shine in a film that can be watched regularly.

The Bogey Man

A young boy murders his mother's abusive Boyfriend whilst his sister looked on, years later he lives as a mute with his Sister and her husband. Plagued by nightmare his sister breaks a mirror from their old house which contained the soul of the dead Boyfriend. Therefore whenever some fragments of glass gets a reflection from light, some deaths occur. I heard many good things about this film but I was quite disappointed. I thought it was slow and the deaths weren't all that great.

Clockers

Spike Lee directed film in which Harvey Keitel tries to work out who murdered an alleged Drug Dealer. The film focuses on whether a Drug Dealer or his law abiding Brother (Who admitted to doing the killing) did it. It was ok, nothing special.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A Knight's Tale (2001)

Sometimes a film is worth watching for pure entertainment value alone, rather than scrutinizing the story or it's anachronistic dialogue and soundtrack, i always find A Knight's Tale to be a simple fun filled experience.

Heath Ledger is great as the Knight in question as is Mark Addy (Playing basically the same role as he would in the BBC'S Atlantis series some years down the line) and Paul Bettany who steals every scene, even those involving the sneery Rufus Sewell.

So if you want to cry piss and vinegar about the use of football crowd chants or Thin Lizzy on the soundtrack then A Knight's Tale is not for you but if you just want two hours of entertainment in these lonely days of lockdown then this film fits the bill perfectly.

[Dave Boy]

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VAN HELSING (2004)

The Vatican sends Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) to Transylvania to destroy Count Dracula. The mission is important to save the souls of the last of the Valerius family, Prince Velkan and Princess Anna (Kate Beckinsale). Due to an oath 450 years before, the souls of the Valerius family will not enter heaven until Dracula is destroyed..

Another movie that always panned. I have no idea why as this movie is constantly entertaining, an action packed fun movie.
The opening sequence is a homage to the Universal movies and looks pretty awesome in black and white.
The sets and art direction throughout the movie is superb.
Sure, some of the antics of Van Helsing and Anna are pure comic book stuff but that is the fun of the movie.
You just gotta sit back and enjoy the adventure ride because they just don't make movies like this anymore.

[Rik]

I love Van Helsing, never understood all the hate it gets

[MrBarlow]

Trick. 2019.

A detective tries to track a mass murderer Patrick "Trick" Weaver who moves from town to town over a three year period surfacing on Halloween Night.

I wasn't expecting much from this as it seemed to be a Halloween rip off from the start of the film with the point of view opening of a house but was a bit surprised by it. Omar Epps plays the detective on the trail of the killer he believes has supernatural abilities as he seems to survive gunshots and a swan dive from a window. There a small appearance by Tom Atkins as the diner owner and cinema operator who hosts horror films every Halloween. The killings are done well with plenty gore and splatter and the acting and twist were decent.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

I love Van Helsing, never understood all the hate it gets

Let's re-phrase that shall we?

"I love Kate Beckinsale and have never seen anything on screen except her"

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Let's re-phrase that shall we?

"I love Kate Beckinsale and have never seen anything on screen except her"

That’s one reason yeah

[SymbioticFunction]

My wife and I finally saw Knives Out yesterday. It was very enjoyable and it was pretty cool to see Daniel Craig in a non-Bond film that could really hold it's own. He seems to have had a few leading role misfires outside of the 007 universe. Might sound odd but it was also quite refreshing to see a modern American film (with a healthy budget) that seemingly didn't have any cgi. Would recommend to fans of the whodunnit genre. btw I think a sequel with Craig has already been greenlit?

[MrBarlow]

The Brain that wouldn't die. 1962.

doctor experimenting with transplants is involved in a accident and his girlfriend is decapitated, he intends to keep her head alive so he can find a new body for her.

How come some of the old 50s and 60s horror black and white horrors seem more creepy than the films that come out today. This one was full of suspense and tense moments that kept me entertained and asking what was behind the locked door in the laboratory. Jason Evers plays the doctor trying to keep his beloved Jan (Jan in the pan) alive played by Virginia Leith. Worth a watch.

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