What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[vincenzo]

Pills, lesbian sex, a hermaphrodite called Superwoman, male masturbation, a well-dressed accountant smoking a water pipe, inflatable chairs, Martin Bormann, girls with breasts the size of mountain ranges, micro-minidresses, sex on the beach (and in cars, beds, on chairs etc), Charles Napier trying to act seriously, Strawberry Alarm Clock, a graphic decapitation, a man wearing a Tarzan thong and a woman dressed as Robin, a girl's face being blasted off and another one shot through the mouth, a young Pam Grier at a funky party, the Sandpipers crooning the theme song, a heavyweight boxer who makes Mike Tyson's behaviour seem like Mother Teresa, truly immortal dialogue ("It's my happening and it freaks me OUT!", "You will drink the black sperm of my vengeance"), one early use of the c-word, a sex star called Ashley St Ives, a song about the gentle people (most of whom are either nymphomaniacs, psychos, drug addicts, or just plain wacko), and a climax that spills more blood than some video nasties.

It can only be Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls.

[Daemonia]

Bloody hell, Vin - why haven't I seen this yet? I've got the DVD, I'll have to get this watched, pronto!

[vincenzo]

It's like..... well, nothing on earth. Best described as Josie & The Pussycats meets Charles Manson.

[TALL DUDE]

Picked up this lot in blackpool last week...

Roy chubby brown-exposed.
Red sands.
the children.
the midnight meat train.
scar-3d.
in sickness and in health-series 2.
Rock hammer-dvd rock compilation.

Bought in cash converters yesterday...

Throw momma from the train-£1(aint seen this in years,so looking forward to a revisit.
Sunshine-£1 The only danny boyle flick i aint seen yet.

Also got reptilicus on dvd and the trans formers soundtrack through the post from james lee.Cheers mate!

[TALL DUDE]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I watched the extremely long and sleazy "Rossa Venezia" last night.What a treat.I've not felt this scuzzy since watching "The Sinful Dwarf" and "Gutterballs"

This is still sitting in my to watch pile.I'll need to set a good few hours aside for viewing it and make sure the kids aint around also.

[Sam]

Watched 'Murder Rock' over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised that it was a tidy little giallo. The 80s cheese only added to the enjoyment for me!!

Shriek Show have put a nice set together for this one too, with some good extras and great picture quality.

[Daemonia]

What I've watched recently...

Street Kings - Keanu Reeves (Mr Wooden Actor himself) stars as a disgruntled cop who's misdeeds are continually covered up and he rarely follows procedure. However, after a series of incidences lead him to suspect some major corruption on his force, he sets out to uncover it and, hopefully, redeem himself, for his conscience's sake. Not bad but not brilliant. Reeves is slightly better than usual and actually acts with a bit of conviction instead of sleepwalking through his role.

The Frightened Woman (aka Femina Ridens) - A strange tale of psycho-sexuality and twisted obsession. A man takes to kidnapping a woman and forcing her to endure humiliating tasks. The tables soon turn and everything is not as it seems. Strangely compelling viewing and yet so little actually happens on screen - and yet it's mesmerising. Recommended if you appreciate offbeat cinema.

Man-Made Monster - Mad scientist Lionel Atwill uses Chaney Jr as a guinea pig by blasting him with electricity to create a monster that will do his bidding. Terrific entertainment and thoroughly recommended.

The Dark Knight - Follow-up to Batman Begins with Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman. This time he's up against a new nemesis, the chillingly cold-blooded The Joker (Heath Ledger is almost unrecognisable - shame we'll never see him at work again, it's an Oscar-worthy performance). Terrific entertainment and a real visual spectacular. Loved this, it's absolutely brilliant - as flawless a Superhero movie as I've ever seen. Thoroughly recommended!

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave - I watch this often and felt it was time for a revisit. Absolutely top-tier Hammer this one and one of the very best entries in their Dracula series. Cracking stuff.

The Stepdaughter - Passable TV movie thriller with an ageing Gil Gerard (remember Buck Rogers?) as a father who's family is terrorised (sort of, it's a TV movie after all) by a psychotic stepdaughter - though they don't know she is. You know the score. Average at best.

Return of the Vampire - Bela Lugosi is the vampire Armand (hmmm...is Anne Rice a plagiarist?) who returns from the grave after being staked some 23 years earlier. He has a werewolf slave and is back for vengeance on those who killed him. Daft as a brush but good, solid entertainment. And I actually think the werewolf make-up in this Columbia picture is even better than those in the Universal Wolfman series. Recommended.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - A young orphan discovers he has an almost superhuman sense of smell and sets out on a quest to create the ultimate perfume. He does so by discovering he can catch the scent of young women - the very essence of their soul and being. A thoroughly odd film, but utterly captivating. The finale could easily have come straight out of a Ken Russell movie and wouldn't have been out of place in The Devils. Mesmerising, haunting and evocative - well worth seeking out.

There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day-Lewis excels as Daniel Plainview, a ruthless turn-of-the-century American oil man, who will literally do anything to get his hands on the land where an ocean of oil lies beneath. Absolutely brilliant with a shattering climax that really takes you off-guard. Thoroughly recommended.

Nighthawks - I'd never seen this Stallone vehicle, so thought I'd give it a spin. Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are two cops assigned to an anti-terrorist squad to track down and stop the notorious terrorist Wulfgar (a very slim and young-looking Rutger Hauer). Undemanding 80's cop movie with some nice seedy New York locations.

Milano Calibro 9 - Excellent Italo-crime wherein the crooks just get the job done, no messing. Absolutely brilliant - and I never saw that ending coming! It's an old twist now, but it still caught me off guard.

Black Friday - Scientist Boris Karloff meddles with brain transplants and puts the brain of a criminal into the body of his friend. He's intent on finding where the crim has hidden his loot by using his friend as a vessel for the brain of this underworld gangster. Things quickly go pear-shaped though. Hugely enjoyable - although I'm a bit baffled as to why this is in the Lugosi collection, as it's primarly a vehicle for Karloff - Lugosi spends barely 5 minutes in the film!

The Invisible Ray - Karloff is a scientist who has perfected the technique of extracting rays from space and seeing into the past. He discovers that there is a deposit of radium x somewhere in Africa, which will create the perfect weapon. Only trouble is, this radium x makes him glow in the dark (WTF??) and he can kill simply by touching people. Daft as a brush but terrific entertainment. Lugosi also puts in a good turn as a competing scientist - which is expected as this film is in the Lugosi set, although again it's more of a Karloff vehicle.

Murders in the Rue Morgue - I dipped into the Lugosi set again and gave this one a watch. A mad sideshow artist cum scientist is intent on mixing human blood with an ape's blood in order to prove the theory of evolution. Completely barmy but entertaining all the same. Lugosi is on fine, sinister form, but the script lacks any real depth and is all a bit stagey. Not a bad effort, but certainly the weakest film in the set so far. Universal have done a decent job with restoring the film, but the audio tends to dip low then boom high, which meant some dialogue was hard to catch whilst other scenes were deafening. Still, for Lugosi completists, it's an essential.

Awake - An intriguing little psycho-thriller, this. A man is put under anaesthetic for a heart transplant - problem is, he's not put out by the anaesthetic and is fully awake, but fully paralyzed. Whilst on the operating table he overhears a plot to kill him...and so the mystery starts unravelling. I really enjoyed this, even though it freaked me out a bit! A neat little thriller, well worth a look.

[Daemonia]

The Love Guru - I'm not sure how I got roped into watching this - but I was surprised to actually find myself laughing. Not throughout, but there's some funny moments. Not something I'd recommend, but it was *okay*.

The Black Cat - The last film I've got to in the Lugosi set and it's good, solid entertainment. Lugosi returns to where he suffered mistreatment at the hands of his captors during the war - most specifically, Karloff. Karloff is on fine form and sporting a chilling look and Lugosi is competent as the unlikely hero. Good stuff.

Prom Night (2008) - The similarity ends with the title...oh, and there's a prom. It's better than the original (although that was never going to be hard) but still lacks flair or originality. Not a bad film, but not particularly great. You're still better off watching this than the original, though!

Chaos - Passable action thriller about a bank heist with an agenda. Jason Statham is the disgruntled recalled from suspension to handle the case with Ryan Phillipe playing sidekick. Wesley Snipes is a bit crap as the criminal they are chasing. Not great but I've seen worse.

My Bloody Valentine 2009 - Watched the 2D version of this and had a great time with it. Proper old school - gratuitous nudity, bloody and imaginative kills, a masked killer and a neat twist at the end. I thought this was great. I'll watch it in 3D later in the week. Good stuff.

The Abandoned - Dire haunted house movie that's really badly handled by director Nacho Cerda. No tension, no thrills, no suspense - I was left utterly bored. It's a shame, I had high hopes for Cerda after seeing the searingly shocking Aftermath. Oh well. Better luck next time, Nacho.

Wanted - James McAvoy gets ballistic when his life is turned upside down and discovers his absent father was actually a member of an elite society of assassins. It's all very silly but hugely entertaining. But am I the only person in the world who thinks Angelina Jolie is a bit...urgh?

Assault on Precinct 13 - Every now and then this gets a watch here at Chateau Daemonia and it never fails to impress and entertain. Carpenter's film is a solid piece of entertainment and I just pretend the dire remake never happened.

The Shepherd - Usual Van Damme rubbish, but mildly diverting. He's not made a decent film since....erm....okay, so he's never made a decent movie... In this one it's some absurd tale about a guy who becomes part of the American border patrol so he can flit into Mexico and smash a drug cartel. Utter nonsense and not really very good.

The Invisible Man - Claude Rains is the invisible man, having carried out experiments upon himself. There's a problem though, the drug that causes invisibility also drives you to insanity. It's not long before he follows his insane, murderous urges. Absolutely terrific entertainment, I really enjoyed this one - and, surprisingly, I'd never seen this one before!

The Air I Breathe - Caught this on Sky Movies and it's not a bad little film at all. It basically takes the story of four people and how their lives are altered upon becoming involved with gangster boss 'Fingers' (Andy Garcia). It's a novel idea and it's pulled off reasonably effectively. Worth a look.

The Face of Fu Manchu - Fu Manchu hatches a diabolical scheme to distill the black hill poppies into a lethal poison that he can use in his quest for world domination. Unfortunately for him, Nayland Smith (what a great name!) is on the case and ensures that Fu Manchu's nefarious schemes don't reach fruition. Cracking entertainment. - and Chris Lee is suitably menacing as Fu Manchu (although he looks exactly as he did in Hammer's Terror of the Tongs!).

The Brides of Fu Manchu - This time around, Fu Manchu plans to use transmitter devices to blast energy and destroy cities - again, in a quest for world domination. Once again, he is foiled by the tireless Nayland Smith. Lee reprises his role here and it looks like this was a higher budgeted production, the set design is marvellous. Interestingly, it was shot at Bray Studios, which I suppose is what it gives it that Hammer feel. Recommended - even better than the first film.

Atonement - Not a bad little period drama exposing the lies and hypocrisy of upper class England in the 30's and 40's. The chaos of the beaches of France during WW2 are very well realised, in all fairness. But...and it's a BIG but...I can't stand that Keira Knightley, she gets right on my tits.

Juno - I thought I'd give this a try, but feared it would be full of whiny American teenagers. Which it is. However, the character of Juno is a great creation and when she debates about the greatness of Argento versus H.G. Lewis you know it can't be all bad. Quirky and offbeat - I actually quite enjoyed this one! Certainly better than I anticipated it to be.

Burn After Reading - The Coen Bros return to familiar territory with this quirky, offbeat comedy-drama about supposed espionage, which isn't. There's some genuinely funny moments and it's nice to see John Malkovich back on odious, angry form again. Worth a look.

Figures in a Landscape - What a tremendous film this is - McDowell and Shaw are fugitives on the run whilst relentlessly pursued by a helicopter and soldiered foot patrols. Who they're running from and why is never explained, but the mystery is the whole beauty of this film. Shaw and McDowell have a brilliant chemistry and play off each other flawlessly. Really loved this one - decidedly odd but utterly compelling.

Storm Warning - After delivering up two rather mediocre slashers in the form of Urban Legend and Valentine, Jamie Blanks returns to Australian shores to helm this rather shocking film. It almost works...but never manages to fully engage. It's a neat idea though, which I won't give away, as that would spoil the fun. Plenty of blood and gore on display too - which is pretty nasty. Hugely enjoyable, nonetheless, but pales in the shadow of the French new wave.

The Invisible Man Returns - This time around Vincent Price is the invisible man, wrongly convicted of murdering his brother and sentenced to hang. But, being invisible and all that, he's able to easily escape his confines and searches for the truth surrounding his brother's death. Meanwhile, his associate, the scientist who made him invisible, is frantically seeking an antidote - before Price goes completely bonkers. Liked this one better than the first one, actually. Looking forward to seeing the others now!

The Girl Next Door - This was one hell of a rough ride, especially when you consider it's based on actual events. Two young girls are taken in by their aunt when their parents are killed in a tragic road accident. But it quickly becomes evident that the aunt is a sick, sadistic bitch of a woman. Things just go from bad to worse as her sadism knows no bounds. It's sickening to think this is based on real events. However, this is a superbly crafted film and all the performances are pitch perfect. Nothing is overdone. A profoundly disturbing film, but thoroughly recommended. I'll have to give Jack Ketchum's book a read, I think.

Rome Armed to the Teeth - Maurizio Merli is the renegade cop intent on smashing a crime ring. Fantastic Euro-crime with a stellar cast that includes Merli, Tomas Milian, Arthur Kennedy and Ivan Rassimov. A class act. Unmissable.

I know this is a thread for what DVDs you've seen, but I sneaked in a couple I've caught on Sky. As you can see, I'm a bit of a film fanatic...that was last week's viewing.

[Pete]

Bloody hell!

Thats a lot of movies!

[KPWNINJA]

WOAH!!! Daemonia!!! That is some viewing dude!

Had these films on the shelf for a while but only just recently had the time to watch them:

FULL METAL YAKUZA

THE CITY OF LOST SOULS

Takashi Miike is a genius!