What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I like to have some new to me 'biggish' films to watch over Christmas and this is pretty much all there is so far.



Probably have Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible out by then as well which will be fantastic.

Oh ok. Yes I'm aware of your first time watches over crimbo. I was looking for some particular connection with Plane. I hadn't clocked any Christmas connections.

[Demoncrat]

Vacation Of Terror
Vacation Of Terror 2 (1989, 1991, Rene Cardona III)

When a father informs his family that he's just inherited a new "summer home", they all dutifully go and pack for the weekend. When they get there, it's a different story, as the place is a tad dilapidated and that cough.
Making the most despite some exploding eggs, they all hunker down for some fun. Luckily the doll that the youngest girl finds has it's own ideas about fun. Undemanding possession caper. Shot very flatly, but a wee bit of atmos pops in now and then.


The sequel ... wooh mama. A decent enough opening does dwindle eventually into cliche and trope. Did have some fun with this one, but might have enjoyed it more if the antagonist hadn't put me in mind of a Mighty Boosh character. Ho hum.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)

An FBI agent (Dennis O' Keefe) teams up with a Scotland Yard detective (Louis Hayward) to investigate information leaks believed to be from a Communist spy network who have infiltrated a southern California atomic research center.

Typical post WWII anti Communist scare tactics made all the more believable and authentic by the documentary style voice over. Good location work in San Francisco helps the first half of the film before the action hots up in the second half.

Hayward and O' Keefe are fine and parts of the script are quite clever but in the end this is just a run of the mill police procedural pot boiler made to combat the 'Red Scare'.

[MrBarlow]

Passenger 57. 1992.

Wesley Snipes in his hay day as a expert with terrorist activity in hijackings, when the plane he is on that's taking over he steps in. Bruce Payne has always been a decent antagonist to watch as he has only one facial feature that makes him cold blooded killer.

Essentially this is a solid little action movie which is well paced and has enough intriguing characters and good action scenes to keep you interested right through to the finale. The story is perhaps a little thin and the script could have used a bit more depth to develop the characters, but it's very enjoyable none the less for a Saturday morning view.

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[MrBarlow]

Machete. 2010.

Danny Trejo in a leading role as a ex federalé taking revenge on his former boss who left him for dead and uncovers political scandals with a senator and a drug kingpin.

A film that shouldn't be taking seriously by writer/director Robert Rodriguez who manages to create different characters and place them all in one film. Robert De Niro is the next in line senator who wants to to stop immigrants crossing into America. Jeff Fahey is the aide and looking to help the senator into office by any means but has a troubled daughter Lindsay Lohan who seems to find religion. Steven Seagal plays the top dog kingpin who does more talking than fighting and has the most unrealistic death scene. Jessica Alba plays the immigration officer who likes to chat up Michelle Rodriguez. Plenty of action, blood splatter, decent nudity and laughs.

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[Frankie Teardrop]

THE STRANGERS – I doubt anyone will look back on the noughties as a time that spawned any heavyweight genre classics, but ‘The Strangers’ is always a movie I find very effective. It’s so basic – just a home invasion, no twists, no mystery even, apart from the cheap mystery of never really taking your mask off. Could be a thousand other films, and what’s good about it I can’t quite express, although a few things stand out; the performances (Liv Tyler), the way we come into it on this awkward and slightly tragic note (romantic rejection), aspects of the cinematography and how it evokes not only isolation but claustrophobia, just the way it captures that feeling of being miles from anywhere at four in the morning, then there’s a knock at the door… It’s not perfect. The last half teeters on the brink of that ultimate horror foible, ‘running around in the dark to rack up the minutes’. But, without being ground-breaking, or all that interesting or imaginative or even brutal, it somehow distils something of the essence of dread, at least for me. Divisive film as many tag it as a simplistic knock-off, but I think there’s definitely something about it that doesn’t diminish with repeated viewings.

THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 2 – I always quite enjoy the original SPM, which seemed to counter a by-the-numbers approach with witty dialogue and a slightly parodic air. This sequel was made after the slasher boom had peaked, a time when any hopeful contenders basically had to fall back on novelty or comedy to survive in the marketplace. As much as I like the seriousness of the first wave slashers, I prefer the weirder, sillier stuff that came along later – case in point, ‘The Slumber Party Massacre 2’. It picks up after the first, with the sister of one of the characters from SPM fretting about her high school band and the big rehearsal / party they have planned. Someone’s parents are away for the weekend, paving the way for everyone to end up under the same roof so that the inevitable can happen ie lots of running around and people dying. I really enjoyed SPM 2. The influence of Elm Street is apparent, with dream sequences galore and a baffling supernatural killer who resembles the lead singer of a Cramps tribute act. He also has an outrageous guitar / drill thing that looks way more metal than psychobilly, but anyway. There’s an unabashed stupidity at work – witness lame gore gags such as the severed hand in a bap, and that undead chicken’s leap for freedom – but beyond the larking about there’s a slightly arch self-awareness, and it plays with feminist ideas in the same vein as its precursor. Not that there’s anything all that groundbreaking in having your killer as a dark embodiment of male desire whose weapon of choice happens to be a really obvious phallic symbol, but not many people were taking that line in 1987 (and this film really has ‘1987’ written all over it). Trashy fun that more than lives up to the original.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

I doubt anyone will look back on the noughties as a time that spawned any heavyweight genre classics, .

I'm not so sure. Dog Soldiers, Trick r' Treat, Inside, Wrong Turn, House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects...

Not saying you are wrong Frankie, because it's all subjective but personally i think there were more in the 2000's than the 2010's and perhaps the 1990's.

For me the 2000's were a very productive decade.

[MrBarlow]

Age Of Kill. 2016.

A ex special ops sniper is blackmailed into killing 6 people in six hours and a Detective Inpsector is trying to figure if there is a connection to the intended targets.

Set in and around London this isn't exactly a gritty British thriller as it's made out to be, Martin Kemp plays Sam Blake who's daughter is being held by a unknown terrorist and blackmailer. Patrick Bergin is able to put on a posh toff voice who seems to be the aide to prime minister Bruce Payne. Phil Davis is the ex major brought in to help understand why Blake may have gone rogue and April Pearson is the other pawn victim in the game. This wasn't tense or on the edge of your seat, the camera work can be a bit amateurish at times, certainly decently paced and entertaining but wouldn't rush about to buy it unless it's at a decent price.

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[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I'm not so sure. Dog Soldiers, Trick r' Treat, Inside, Wrong Turn, House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects...

Not saying you are wrong Frankie, because it's all subjective but personally i think there were more in the 2000's than the 2010's and perhaps the 1990's.

For me the 2000's were a very productive decade.

I liked the 2000s in horror compared with the nineties, definitely. Well, they were certainly more interesting. Even so, I can't think of many films from then that really look like they'll stand the test of time in the same vein as 'Halloween' et al.
But yeah, it's funny how it is all so subjective at the end of the day. Out of that list you provide, I only really rate 'Inside' and 'Trick r Treat'. The RZ ones are 'just' good in my eyes, and I personally can't stand 'Dog Soldiers'! It irritates the f*ck out of me. Don't know why. It seems especially mystifying, considering it's held in such high regard by people whose opinions I respect. But I'll be the first to admit I have lousy taste when it comes to movies, which should be clear from my reviews!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

I liked the 2000s in horror compared with the nineties, definitely. Well, they were certainly more interesting. Even so, I can't think of many films from then that really look like they'll stand the test of time in the same vein as 'Halloween' et al.
But yeah, it's funny how it is all so subjective at the end of the day. Out of that list you provide, I only really rate 'Inside' and 'Trick r Treat'. The RZ ones are 'just' good in my eyes, and I personally can't stand 'Dog Soldiers'! It irritates the f*ck out of me. Don't know why. It seems especially mystifying, considering it's held in such high regard by people whose opinions I respect. But I'll be the first to admit I have lousy taste when it comes to movies, which should be clear from my reviews!

I thought the 2000's were a very interesting decade as far as horror went. I never got bored with torture porn and loved all the extreme gore that came throughout the decade be it in straight forward horror like Laid to Rest and Hatchet or the black comedy stuff like Botched, Doghouse or Severance.

As for the 2010's they really sucked. I can only think of The Witch off the top of my head. That's one i've seen more times than many of the classics from yesteryear.