What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Frankie Teardrop]

BEGOTTEN – E. Elias Mirhige’s notorious ‘Begotten’ certainly leaves you groping for words. It’s an experience that might be better likened to a pulsating smear of dark matter rather than a film. It’s entirely without dialogue, without plot, without characters that possess more than minimal identities, and most of its runtime is taken up with what appears to be the ritualised brutalisation of a being that is ‘begotten’ by a masked woman (referred to in the credits as ‘Mother Earth’) after she impregnates herself with sperm flying from an entity known as ‘God Killing Himself’. As an evocation of cosmic squalor, it’s pretty untouchable. Its textural ickiness follows from the use of grainy, blown out monochrome film stock that lends an anachronistic feel – as you watch, only the delirious violence points to its eighties origin – whereas the soundtrack, made up of insectoid twittering and unearthly drones, seems like filth personified, perfectly framing a shimmering landscape of cruelty. We’re well used to films that are self-conscious and deliberate in their attempts to capture the essence of nightmare, it’s just a horror genre staple that’s more often than not an empty brag, but the flyblown expressionism of ‘Begotten’ seems authentic in its affinity for some kind of awful spiritual abyss. I can’t say it’s entertaining (not unless you’re a real sicko), but it’s pretty much striving to be the opposite of that anyway – whether you find within it a grim majesty that borders on the hypnotic, or whether its procession of murk strikes you as boring and just a bit ‘ugh’, will depend on personal attunement (whenever I see it, I sometimes find myself moving in both directions at once). Strangely enough for such a unique project, cinematic parallels seem within easy reach. There are echoes of those early Surrealist films such as ‘Un Chien Andalou’, inscrutable US experimentalism of the mid-century, ghosts of ‘Eraserhead’ (a normie by comparison!) Perhaps also something like the more recent ‘Hard To Be A God’ might be on nodding terms, being another endurance test dedicated to dismal phantasmagoria. All that aside, ‘Begotten’ is definitely its own grind, a weirdly mythic cinematic Rorschach that remains as impenetrable as it is imposing. Merhige went on to make the excellent ‘Shadow Of The Vampire’, a different kettle of fish.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)

Chris, a former surfing pro and his sister Nicole move back to their Californian coastal town and fall foul of a pack of vampires headed by another surfer, Shane.Shane partly turns Nicole during a wild party so Chris in desperation, turns to Edgar Frog for help.

A sequel to The Lost Boys and also a reimagining as this is essentially the same film but with different characters. Although nowhere near as slick, this direct to dvd film i rather enjoyed. Where the original film was definitely caught in it's own eighties time warp, this with it's more contemporary setting and gore galore feels much more like a horror film. You can tell from the moment Tom Savini's vampire is decapitated by the 'tribe' at his beach front house and his head sinks to the sea bed as the titles commence that in the blood and guts department Lost Boys: The Tribe is a different beast altogether and that's before we get to all the T&A.

The cast is nowhere near as strong as Joel Schimacher's original cult classic. Although Angus Sutherland (Donald's third son) has decent charisma as Shane the lead vampire as is Tad Hilgenbrink as Chris, although many times he reminded me in looks of Colin Morgan's Merlin, and Autumn Reeser as Nicole, none really match the quality of the original cast. However where The Tribe does best it is with Corey Feldman's Edgar Frog. Gone is the annoying twat in the red bandana for here we have a now adult grizzled Frog, albeit still sporting said red bandana, sounding more like Sylvester Stallone mixed with Darth Vader than the whiny kid that practically ruins The Lost Boys and he's really good and fun to watch despite reminding of a mini Rambo clone.

Whilst the soundtrack may not be as iconic as the original, the likes of Airbourne's banging Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast which plays over the sweeping opening titles, as well as Eagles of Death Metal and Aiden's Gothic metal update of Cry Little Sister give this a fresh modern sound

I guess as with all updates of eighties 'classics' many of the original fans will consider this a travesty but i really enjoyed it.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)

Chris, a former surfing pro and his sister Nicole move back to their Californian coastal town and fall foul of a pack of vampires headed by another surfer, Shane.Shane partly turns Nicole during a wild party so Chris in desperation, turns to Edgar Frog for help.

A sequel to The Lost Boys and also a reimagining as this is essentially the same film but with different characters. Although nowhere near as slick, this direct to dvd film i rather enjoyed. Where the original film was definitely caught in it's own eighties time warp, this with it's more contemporary setting and gore galore feels much more like a horror film. You can tell from the moment Tom Savini's vampire is decapitated by the 'tribe' at his beach front house and his head sinks to the sea bed as the titles commence that in the blood and guts department Lost Boys: The Tribe is a different beast altogether and that's before we get to all the T&A.

The cast is nowhere near as strong as Joel Schimacher's original cult classic. Although Angus Sutherland (Donald's third son) has decent charisma as Shane the lead vampire as is Tad Hilgenbrink as Chris, although many times he reminded me in looks of Colin Morgan's Merlin, and Autumn Reeser as Nicole, none really match the quality of the original cast. However where The Tribe does best it is with Corey Feldman's Edgar Frog. Gone is the annoying twat in the red bandana for here we have a now adult grizzled Frog, albeit still sporting said red bandana, sounding more like Sylvester Stallone mixed with Darth Vader than the whiny kid that practically ruins The Lost Boys and he's really good and fun to watch despite reminding of a mini Rambo clone.

Whilst the soundtrack may not be as iconic as the original, the likes of Airbourne's banging Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast which plays over the sweeping opening titles, as well as Eagles of Death Metal and Aiden's Gothic metal update of Cry Little Sister give this a fresh modern sound

I guess as with all updates of eighties 'classics' many of the original fans will consider this a travesty but i really enjoyed it.

Never seen any of the films after the original might put them on the list for October.

[Nordicdusk]

Bull_2021.jpg

Ten years after his crew double cross him Bull returns to settle a score and get is son back from his drug addicted ex wife.

Browsing through Netflix I kept coming across this but never got the chance to watch it plus I have always enjoyed Neil Maskell in anything I have seen him in so there was an extra pull there and as Bull he does not disappoint. Bull is a great revenge film it's nasty and violent but as nasty and violent as it is you always side with bull because under the madness he just loves his boy and wants to protect him. There are no signs that he was a bad husband and definitely not a bad father his wife is having an affair with one of Bulls crew and her father is the head of the gang Bull run a with so he forces the marriage break up because daddies girl always get what she wants but there is a way to go about it and unfortunately they went about it all the wrong way.

The acting is ok some better than others there are a few people that look like they are acting if you get me not natural just acting but Neil Maskell steals the show he is pretty amazing when he is with his son he is soft and loving but when his buttons are pushed he is terrifying to watch so I can only imagine what it would be like to be around such a person in person.

The soundtrack is somber and fits the tone of the film perfectly it's just there in the background never overpowering just subtle enough to create an atmosphere even an element of horror and unease . Soundtracks like these can be so beautiful when done right and here it's certainly done right.

Well worth a watch and the ending is pretty brilliant to me anyway.

Gritty low budget British crime revenge film perfect for a dull wet afternoon fits the mood of outside and brings it into your sitting room.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Never seen any of the films after the original might put them on the list for October.

I've just got the third film to go from the box set now. So far it's two good ones for a tenner which at a fiver each isn't bad. Now if the third is decent too - The Thirst - that'll be three for a tenner so £3.33 each which will be fantastic value for three Blu's.


Will watch that next weekend.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Attachment 248012

Ten years after his crew double cross him Bull returns to settle a score and get is son back from his drug addicted ex wife.

Browsing through Netflix I kept coming across this but never got the chance to watch it plus I have always enjoyed Neil Maskell in anything I have seen him in so there was an extra pull there and as Bull he does not disappoint. Bull is a great revenge film it's nasty and violent but as nasty and violent as it is you always side with bull because under the madness he just loves his boy and wants to protect him. There are no signs that he was a bad husband and definitely not a bad father his wife is having an affair with one of Bulls crew and her father is the head of the gang Bull run a with so he forces the marriage break up because daddies girl always get what she wants but there is a way to go about it and unfortunately they went about it all the wrong way.

The acting is ok some better than others there are a few people that look like they are acting if you get me not natural just acting but Neil Maskell steals the show he is pretty amazing when he is with his son he is soft and loving but when his buttons are pushed he is terrifying to watch so I can only imagine what it would be like to be around such a person in person.

The soundtrack is somber and fits the tone of the film perfectly it's just there in the background never overpowering just subtle enough to create an atmosphere even an element of horror and unease . Soundtracks like these can be so beautiful when done right and here it's certainly done right.

Well worth a watch and the ending is pretty brilliant to me anyway.

Gritty low budget British crime revenge film perfect for a dull wet afternoon fits the mood of outside and brings it into your sitting room.

Good choice Nordi. I came across this on a blind watch and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[nicholasrope]

Streets Of Gold

Klaus Maria Brandauer is a former Russian Boxer who was prevented to Box for Russia because he is a Jew travels to America and takes Boxers Adrian Pasdar and Wesley Snipes under his wing and guides them to a competition against Russia.

I've been watching a lot of VHS Trailer Reels on Youtube recently and this one popped up and I had the Spanish Import DVD and I thought that this one was 118 Minutes with a lot of the character's private lives featured but I remembered wrong, this was a brisk 88 minutes and it was highly enjoyable with a earworm for a Theme Song.

Would like a Blu-Ray release, would be perfect for The Vestron Classics Range.

Casualties Of War

Based on a True Story which sees a group of Soldiers in Vietnam kidnap, Rape and Murder a local Woman and it's up to Michael J. Fox to blow the whistle. Sean Penn, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo and Ving Rhimes co-star in a powerful Film with great performances from Fox and Penn.

Drop Dead Fred

Phoebe Cates resurrects her former imaginary friend played by Rik Mayall when things don't go right for her. Mayhem and mischief follow in a decent effort with some funny hijinks but can be vulgar in places.

[nicholasrope]

Death Of A Soldier

Based on a True Story where a U.S. Soldier (Reb Brown) based in Australia during WWII murders women after getting drunk. James Coburn initially investigates along with 2 Australian Detectives but ends up defending him after it's found out that he has a Mental Disease and the U.S. Military want to hang him in order to appease the Australians.

I really enjoyed this one, I found it to be well acted by it's many main stars especially Brown and Coburn and this needs a UK physical release. It would fit in with 88, 101, Arrow, Eureka and Radiance.

Luckily it was on Youtube.

Zombie Holocaust

Whilst investigating some Cannibalistic incidents in a Hospital, some Americans are sent to a remote country where a local Doctor is trying to re-animate the dead and creates Zombies and they have to deal with Cannibals as well.

Back in 2001, whilst in HMV, I had the choice of buying Eaten Alive or this one on VHS (This was the Stonevision version) as they were both the same price and just watched Cannibal Ferox, I went with the Lenzi Film and whilst I enjoyed it, luckily I realized that after the other purchases I made, I had enough money to buy ZH, the next day. I loved it then, I loved the 88 Films DVD and I upgraded to the 88 Films Blu-Ray and I still enjoyed the gore and the hilariously bad dubbing, I felt the picture wasn't has good as it should have been especially during the night scenes.

Dumb Money

Based on the True Story of the Gamestop Share Buying Scandal where normal people were seemingly prevented from making money by the larger Investment Firms.

It's similar to The Big Short but it didn't have the celebrity explainations, I understood the gist of what was going on but not fully understanding what was going on and in a way I was thinking you idiots, sell and take the money. It was a good film and there are some good performances from Paul Dano and Seth Rogan and Nick Offerman was funny as well.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A View to a Kill (1985)

One of the lesser James Bond films but still entertaining. Yes we know Roger Moore was by this stage too old for the part -although i argue that you wouldn't have noticed so much had his hair been darker - and despite the fact he was older than co-star and love interest Tanya Roberts mother, they still have chemistry together.

The plot is slight in comparison to many of the Moore films and does feel like a later Connery film echoing Diamonds are Forever and especially Goldfinger with which it has many similarities.

There are several very well crafted set pieces including the fire engine chase across San Francisco and the airship finale atop the Golden Gate Bridge, whilst Christopher Walken makes for a fun if not especially well written main villain. Grace Jones is memorable as the sadistic MayDay but one can't help feel she was a bit wasted in the roll.

There's some lovely cinematography composed by director John Barry, sweeping vistas over Paris, San Francisco and Silicon Valley giving the whole thing a genuine feel of scale without the need to go into space.

Another plus is the title song. One of the series best ever from Duran Duran.

Another thing i did notice. This is perhaps the only film with three iconic sleuths in it. Moore's Saint (and Persuader), David Yip's Chinese Detective and John Steed himself, Patrick Macnee.

So A View to a Kill may not be top tier Bond but it's by no means the worst and on the whole hugely enjoyable.

[iank]

I love A View to a Kill.