What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Rik]

I’ve just this minute finished watching it and fully agree with everything that’s been said, massive let down compared to the trailer!

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Rik

I’ve just this minute finished watching it and fully agree with everything that’s been said, massive let down compared to the trailer!

One of those trailers which all the good parts are showing in it,people should save themselves 2hours 30 minutes and just watch the trailer.

[Frankie Teardrop]

TOURIST TRAP – Have never fallen out of love with ‘Tourist Trap’, a film I return to endlessly after all these years. In a sense it might have been a fairly perfunctory rip of TCM with added mannequins and telekinesis were it not for its incessant offness, which really does push it onto a far higher plane… “hur hur… you’re pridee…”, goes Chuck Connors’ off-brand Leatherface as he asphyxiates someone with a dishful of spackle. TT throws out indelible images without so much as a shrug – witness a roomful of dummies breathing up a crescendo of sighs, and that feverish bout of supernatural missile-hurling and plastic-mouthed giggling near the start, which almost certainly must have influenced ‘The Evil Dead’ somewhere along the way – but there’s also a tug of weird melancholy about its forgotten lakeside location and backstory of heartache and loss. The inevitable downside is that it’s repetitive and runs out of steam too early, but for all that remains a flawed near masterpiece of the macabre.

PANIC BEATS – Paul Naschy, remaking one of his earlier films (‘Horror Rises From The Tomb’, I think? I’m no expert). It’s set in a huge castle with suits of armour standing around, so it looks the full gothic monty despite the contemporaneous con-merchants at the heart of its storyline. Had my hopes up after the full-blooded intro but had to wait till the end to really wet my whistle, although it was worth it to see everything turn into a succession of Pan Book Of Horrors' Best Covers for five or ten minutes. Quite the blow-out, if you’re into rotting faces and a bit of gore (I am, obviously). Everything in between was either moderately intriguing or intermittently atmospheric, but the talky / sludgy pitfalls of much Euro-horror of PB’s vintage were never very far away. Another lovely package from that feted boutique, Mondo Macabro.

PLAGUE TOWN – Set in rural Ireland, where an American family and a latched-on annoying Brit guy are wandering lost. They happen across an abandoned car, then some freaky kids… cue lots of running around and angst. ‘Plague Town’ is effective because of its night-in-bleak-countryside vibes, which are relayed through very nice cinematography and lighting etc, and there’s also something to be said for the creepiness of its monstrous backwoods charmers and the violence they impose. It has about itself the feeling of a nightmare, at least in places, and that’s basically what I look for more than anything in movies like this. An element of ‘constant chase’ might threaten to be slightly wearisome, but it never gets that grating. I liked it. From the guy who runs Severin (I think), which makes you wish he’d do more features than extras.

THE UNHOLY – Has a lot of what I like about late eighties horror, which was never afraid to resort to rock video visuals if a lacklustre storyline needed propping up. Both elements are in evidence here - ‘The Unholy’ might spin us a bit of ‘heard it all before’ in laying out its possession-themed mystery, but its tick list of stylistic tropes is a gaudy delight (there’s even a neon-lit era specific goth club scene). Gelled lighting and mist aside, the atmosphere actually grows quite ominous in places, and the climactic fx blowout that arrives complete with a slightly Clive Barkeresque hallucinogenic hell sequence is nice and unexpected. Shame that those latter titbits weren’t the predominant force in the movie, which as a consequence leaves a vague aftertaste of missed opportunity along with a lingering sense of frustration about some of the pacing (there’s a bit of ponderousness here and there, but I guess the filmmakers thought that it was warranted by their weighty themes). As with all minor movies of its ilk, it’s a mixed bag, but I’m glad I finally made the acquaintance of ‘The Unholy’, which I’d seen lingering on the shelves of CEX on many a winter’s night, but always passed up on.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

PLAGUE TOWN – Set in rural Ireland, where an American family and a latched-on annoying Brit guy are wandering lost. They happen across an abandoned car, then some freaky kids… cue lots of running around and angst. ‘Plague Town’ is effective because of its night-in-bleak-countryside vibes, which are relayed through very nice cinematography and lighting etc, and there’s also something to be said for the creepiness of its monstrous backwoods charmers and the violence they impose. It has about itself the feeling of a nightmare, at least in places, and that’s basically what I look for more than anything in movies like this. An element of ‘constant chase’ might threaten to be slightly wearisome, but it never gets that grating. I liked it. From the guy who runs Severin (I think), which makes you wish he’d do more features than extras.

THE UNHOLY – Has a lot of what I like about late eighties horror, which was never afraid to resort to rock video visuals if a lacklustre storyline needed propping up. Both elements are in evidence here - ‘The Unholy’ might spin us a bit of ‘heard it all before’ in laying out its possession-themed mystery, but its tick list of stylistic tropes is a gaudy delight (there’s even a neon-lit era specific goth club scene). Gelled lighting and mist aside, the atmosphere actually grows quite ominous in places, and the climactic fx blowout that arrives complete with a slightly Clive Barkeresque hallucinogenic hell sequence is nice and unexpected. Shame that those latter titbits weren’t the predominant force in the movie, which as a consequence leaves a vague aftertaste of missed opportunity along with a lingering sense of frustration about some of the pacing (there’s a bit of ponderousness here and there, but I guess the filmmakers thought that it was warranted by their weighty themes). As with all minor movies of its ilk, it’s a mixed bag, but I’m glad I finally made the acquaintance of ‘The Unholy’, which I’d seen lingering on the shelves of CEX on many a winter’s night, but always passed up on.

Plague Town is one of those films i've wanted to see for years. It was always 'coming soon' to dvd but never actually arrived in the UK and although it got a US release there was always something more important to order than this if you get my drift.

I love The Unholy. You mentioning it reminded me it's out on blu from Vestron isn't it? There's a couple of their releases i'd like so this is another.

[davcol]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

It just seemed long ,just for the sake of length. Should of been 90 minutes , the opening credits was by far the best bit of the film, then it crawls to a snail's pace with loads of boring and pointless dialogue.

Netflix are more inclined towards long running series as are all of these content providers and perhaps this would of been better as a mini series ? i don't know.
I do know there was a political undertone throughout but it wasn't particularly subtle.

[gag]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Executive Decision (1996)

A classic 90's action thriller and the perfect movie to start on the extra large bag of beef Monster Munch i bought from Sainsbury's today for £1.25.

Movie and Munch heaven.

Snap I got a large bag today as well from my corner shop, mine was a slight bit cheaper tho was only a quid. Soon went through it tho.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by davcol

Netflix are more inclined towards long running series as are all of these content providers and perhaps this would of been better as a mini series ? i don't know.
I do know there was a political undertone throughout but it wasn't particularly subtle.

Think it's more Zack Snyder don't think he's made a film that's less than 2 hours all he's films seem a little bloated maybe it's all that slow mo!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)

Burt Lancaster stars as a renegade general escaped from a military prison who along with three other military convicts (Including Paul Winfiled and Burt Young) take over an underground nuclear missile silo in Montana and threatens to launch them starting WWIII unless the US President reveals top secret documents to the public regarding America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

One of those films i'd heard of but never seen until i bought the stunning looking blu-ray from Eureka. It's a powerful and tension filled drama which develops into a race against time and is cleverly directed by the great Robert Aldrich who uses split screen in a far more intense fashion than any other movie i've seen.

Even at two and a half hours the film flies by. Becoming genuinely nail biting stuff when Richard Widmark's General leads a team to retake the silo in order to prevent Armageddon.

The cast is excellent, Lancaster and Widmark always are, and when you add Charles Durning's President and Melvyn Douglas and Joseph Cotten as part of his scheming cabinet to proceedings you know it's going to be an acting tour-de-force.

Part political drama, part Cold War thriller, with a strong message at it's core that if you replaced Vietnam with Afghanistan and Iraq would remain as relevant today as it was back then.

An excellent film.

[Inspector Abberline]

There are no midgets in the United States Air Force.

[gag]

The boat

It's one of those films with only 1 cast, a fisherman finds a boat and then becomes trapped out at sea in it, this is type of film that proves you don't need any fancy gimmicks, who who in the film, cgi, special effects, huge budget, ott action or anything else,
Just the suspense tension and atmosphere to be done right,
It’s a nail-biting tale of survival, the guy continues to look for solutions to the problems that he faces despite odds against him never gives up, He believes deep down that a miracle might occur, and at times of also feels like the boat is haunted and playing games with him.

Recommended and one I would watch again .