| ||||
Halloween (Original) Been a long time since I had watched this film and my daughter had never seen it, I think the years have taken away thr shock and scare factor (Only scene that made us both jump was when the window breaks in the bedroom when the Sheriff and Loomis are searching Myers house) Bit there's no deny what a good film this still is and an unforgettable film score. Evilspeak This was my first time watching this film and what a great horror film I loved thr satanic element and the use 9f computers as well some great scenes and some silly too, should be more highly rated and watched I think.
__________________ Whatever you do, don't fall asleep! |
| ||||
2 Charity Shop DVDs, 2 Oscar winners (1960 Best Film/Director, 1972 Best Director), 2 glaring gaps in my viewing history and 2 absolutely perfect films (with amazing performances across the board) - I'm talking about The Apartment and Cabaret of course, both of which I must now get on Blu-Ray- I remember now why I binned DVDs. BTW- Shirley MacLaine circa 1960 surely the cutest actress ever?
|
| ||||
From a Whisper to a Scream (1987) An excellent portmanteau horror film in the same vein as from Beyond the Grave and Vault of Horror. The difference being as it was made some fifteen years later than those classic chillers it's a much more salacious and gruesome affair. Toplined by Vincent Price in his final classic horror role, it tells the story of a librarian (Price) being interviewed by a journalist, Susan Tyrrell, about the horrific goings on over the years in the town of Oldfield, Tennessee. From a Whisper to a Scream was a first time viewing, being a film that had gone completely under my radar over the years. What a tremendous film to discover. Price although clearly past his best, is well cast as the old librarian in a neat and not over-ambitious wrap around story, but it's the four tales told that make the film. Full of sleazy murders and gruesome gore, they are quite grim, downbeat and edgy for this type of film, featuring murderous, disfigured children, deranged psychopaths, eye gouging and glass eating carnival performers it's an anthology which isn't for the squeamish. Highly recommended. |
| ||||
THE OTHERS - Strange how 'The Others' has passed me by over the years, I don't remember watching it before today. It's a classy ghost story, an atmospheric slow burn which relies on lingering unease rather than the jump-scares seemingly more popular a decade on. I liked it - I suppose I was expecting to be a little more drawn in than I was, given its reputation. But it succeeds in conjuring an effective gothic ambience, and I was a little bit moved by the tragic narrative reveal at the end (surprised by my reaction to this, as it was telegraphed a mile off). TOTAL RECALL - The original. Hadn't seen this one in ages, so felt like dipping in again as my recall of it was less than total and I fancied a bit of wham bam sci-fi action. Of course, there's much more to it than explosions and mutants - as everyone knows, it's a twisty mindbender themed around identity and memory, although it's certainly also true to say it doesn't skimp on ammo and squibs. Paul Verhoeven is an interesting director in that many of his films seem to feature a weird mix of leftish (or at least anti-establishment) politics and triumphal 'hurrah' type violence. I'd love to see him do a really awkward collaboration with Haneke. Anyway, compulsive viewing, slick as hell and pretty much a latter day classic. Watching stuff made around this time does make me feel old though... the thirteen year old Frankie never reckoned on sitting around in his late thirties thinking "wow, this all looks so nineties". MAD FOXES - Always a pleasure, sort of, to revisit this notorious shitefest. A playboy type who frankly seems like a bit of a knob aggravates some hilarious Euro-bikers when he causes a crash and burn incident. Retaliation involving sleazy rape follows, after which playboy-knob spearheads a martial arts based counter attack at the biker's wake... cue lots of chasing and occasional bloodiness in between dull soft core scenes and horse riding excursions. This is not a sober meditation on the hopeless circularity of revenge. No, 'Mad Foxes' is overripe foulness incarnate and actually manages to live up to the whole 'so bad it's (insert hyperbole)' thing for once. Despite being technically competent, there's so much wrong with it - the acting, the dubbing, the incessant metal-disco soundtrack all conspire to drag the viewer to a movie hell where survival means attaining a slightly delirious, ironic distance from proceedings whilst wearing a vacant grin. It's one of the only schlock movies I get into on the basis of the dialogue and performances alone - so many choice, baffling lines, but one of my faves has to be "we're the masters of the universe!" as delivered by one of the bikers after they disembowel a chambermaid amidst howls of laughter. Some of the biker's dubbing is exaggeratedly coarse and makes them sound like stupid monsters, whereas everyone else sounds like they're speaking to different people in different rooms. I also like the frank approach to ugly male nudity - those bikers sure do like to get their knobs out. A victory for bad taste, but I always forget how the midsection (yep, 'horse riding excursions') drags and makes a 75 minute movie seem a lot longer. |
| ||||
The evil that men do Hitman Holland ( Charles Bronson ) comes out of retirement to avenge the death of a friend by a sadistict doctor who tortures and experiments on people. Holland is joined by the victims wife and daughter As he sets out to stop the evil doctor. Fast paced and very enjoyable, also very violent especially when the doctor gets his comeuppance by some of his victims. Wife got on my nerves a little as she was the one who suggested to come with Holland so she could have her revenge, but complains about hollands profession but still wants him to kill the doctor. 9/10 The mansion of madness ( Dr tarred torture dungeon) Very enjoyable tale of a reporter that goes to investergating a new technic to treat the insane. It's not long after the report arrives that we find out something is not quite right, that's because the inmates have taking over the asylum. Very surreal in places and a little bit bonkers. Also very atmospheric with some interesting sets 8/10 outpost Had this one for sometime and never gotten around to watching it. A group of mercenaries are hired to investigate abandoned nazis bunker. Said mercenaries think ithey are hunting nazi gold. Not long after arriving they discover a pile of bodies and a strange machine. Not long after that people start turning up dead. Atmospheric and claustrophobic with some good acting. Reminded me of the Korean film R-point which was superior to this beacuse I didn't feel any connection to the mercenaries. But still a good little film the surpassed its small budget. Looking forward to watching the other 2 movies. 7.5/10 Last edited by trebor8273; 27th October 2014 at 12:08 AM. |
| ||||
Having a Halloween week: Frankenstein's Army (2013) If I had known this was a 'found footage / POV cam' movie I wouldn't have bothered! Really just an excuse to have weird game inspired zombie-bots running around killing people in non too original ways. Crap! Manhattan Baby (1982) Since coming here to Cult Labs I've seen a fair few movies from both Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento that I wouldn't have bothered with, and I have to say not a Fulci fan, (Argento yes). Manhattan Baby just plain bored me to the point of falling asleep 15 minutes from the end. I've yet to find a Fulci that I really like, just have to keep looking!
__________________ Alea iacta est." |
Like this? Share it using the links below! |
| |