What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Frankie Teardrop]

MOSQUITO DER SCHANDER - Mid seventies German production featuring a mute file clerk who, humiliated and abused by everyone around him, decides to pop down the local morgue with his glass proboscis and start tapping the veins of the only ones who won't sneer in his face and treat him like a subhuman... sound depressing? Yeah, kind of, although interminable scenes of lead Werner Pochath bobbing about on a seemingly undersized scooter do undermine things a little on that score... 'joking' aside, 'Mosquito' is still pretty bleak, despite the scooter comedy-basic. 'Mosquito's elements are pretty horror-basic too, in that we're faced with lone ant/protagonist steadily losing it in an isolated bedsit surrounded by dolls and Giger posters, then a whole slew of corpse desecrations before a wonky resolution. Giger posters I can overlook, but dolls, I'm always up for more dolls. Despise them as clichés, but I can't get enough of them. Neither can Charles Band, and surely he's OK? Maybe I'm joking again. Here, the dolls are creepy, in that implicitly and slightly inappropriately eroticised way which smacks of seventies tinge. There's a whole lot of 'seventies tinge' about 'Mosquito', and in fact everything feels completely in tune with my mind's ersatz re-creation of the Euro-bloc circa 1977, right down to the spiralling uniformity of a plunge down an office block stairwell. The flip-side of this is the (slightly less effective) 'gothic' of some of the morgue and graveyard sequences. It's all tightly marshalled and boxed in though, and the limited horizons of Pochath's existence - work, bedsit, morgue (shit, gotta say at this point, he's doing one better than I am) - inspire a claustrophobic ambience, which is augmented by direction in the correct Euro-sleaze key of red-lit exploitation and vaguely arty surrealism. It's pretty gruesome... in fact, feels gorier than it is, the rubbish special effects lending a certain tawdriness to proceedings which is confirmed by the feel of the movie overall. What makes it more poignant than a mere low rent wallow is the narrative line which follows the fate of Mosquito's muse, a neighbour whose dreamy innocence parallels his own (sort of, minus the corpse ravaging). I cried at the end! That dancing in the forest! OK, I didn't cry, but I almost cried at 'Bright Eyes' when I was a kid. Anyway, if you dug 'Martin' but thought it was a little too optimistic, look no further. I have a feeling that some or many will balk at one early scene which depicts a quite hideous act of parental cruelty in a way which maybe seems a bit questionable in a statutory sense, but 'Mosquito' is a likely recommendation for weird people who like weird films about weird people.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Rik

I think I'm taking one for the team and going to watch this tonight, payback for dragging her to Grimmfest to watch Suspiria and Dawn of the Dead last October, knew that would come back and spank me on the arse!

Bonus!

[Make Them Die Slowly]

MARDAANI. Hard arse cop flick straight out of India, with a female police officer on the trail of child traffickers. I really enjoyed this having only seen the singing and dancing end of Indian cinema previously. I'm pretty sure I missed loads of the political aspects to the plot, along with a host of Indian pop culture references along the way. I especially liked the ending where the heroine beats the shit out of the baddie and leaves him to be killed by loads of pre pubescent girls dressed as French maids who his was just about to pimp out to the high and mighty of the city.

[nosferatu42]

Nice review Frankie, i've got an old VHS of Mosquito that i found in a charity shop under the title Bloodlust, only problem is it's cut, but strangely i think most of the gore is there but the distributors cut out huge chunks of story.
After watching it i looked at some scenes on youtube, they had cut out the stuff as a child and some of the neighbour stuff.
On the back a label says 'Special Edition 1hr version'.
Even from what i could make out it seemed very bleak but quite interesting and unusual, quite arty in places, would like to see a full version eventually. This is one of those films that some uk label should release in my opinion.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Nice review Frankie, i've got an old VHS of Mosquito that i found in a charity shop under the title Bloodlust, only problem is it's cut, but strangely i think most of the gore is there but the distributors cut out huge chunks of story.
After watching it i looked at some scenes on youtube, they had cut out the stuff as a child and some of the neighbour stuff.
On the back a label says 'Special Edition 1hr version'.
Even from what i could make out it seemed very bleak but quite interesting and unusual, quite arty in places, would like to see a full version eventually. This is one of those films that some uk label should release in my opinion.

"Special One Hour Edition!" I love things like that. If only I had a pair of those 'They Live' shades, then I'd be able to see through to the "We love rubbing the public's face in the diarrhoea of their own vile stupidity. Now cut yer knob off. DUHHHH!" message which obviously isn't intended. Always nice when the product controllers find a slightly less insulting way of patronising us. Makes life inside the death machine seem that little bit more tolerable.

As for Moz... would be great if a UK outfit took it on, although I'm not sure the flashback scenes would get through unscathed. They're really cruel, although not eroticised. I'd have thought 'Mosquito' would make a pretty cool number for Mondo Macabro or some such, but who knows how all the rights issues work out. I'm surprised it hasn't made it on to Blu-Ray in a way, because obviously excellent materials exist, given the image quality obvious even from the stuff on show on eg. Youtube.

[Crimson Blade]

Originally Posted by keirarts

I think so. Its been a good few years since I saw the Anchor bay release. Worth getting Daughters of Darkness either way as its a fantastic film.

Totally agree. Love Daughters of Darkness as well.

I have the first edition that Blue Underground put out around 2003. Doesn't look too great now to be honest.
Keep meaning to pick up the bluray.

[fuzzymctiger]

Ramble time! I have an assessment tomorrow and there's only so much you can read about Turn of the Screw. Reverse order as usual. Sadly, I put this off too long, so some great thoughts (or complaints) may have since dissapeared.

Toxic Avenger III: The last time anyone should use left over footage for a sequel, Or How to become a Toxic Yuppie - Jesus christ what an absolute bore. You know you're in for trouble when an hour of an 100 minute run time is a flashback. You also lose consistency, with a headscratchingly poor move to have Toxie casually work for the villains of the first movie. The humour is dry, and so is the action. The last 40 minutes is a long battle in a series of challenges, with the devil himself. But this section just gets bizarre, with random reversing action, a painful to watch rehash of the original Melvin, god appearing, and more. As for the disc, 88's disc is packed with extras, but sadly a mess. Transfer is a lot dirtier than the other two, it's missing gore (not obvious jump cuts, but obvious lack for Toxie), it has a random 2 second poor 4x3 film stock insert that shouldn't be there. Unless you're a completist or an absolute die-hard fan, both of which I am, avoid. That being said, I still have high hopes for Citizen Toxie. 4/10

Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat - Before i start reviewing, holy shit, a note on the disaster of a dvd and the fun experience I got out of it. Arrow's disc is in 4x3. The film is is 1:85. The transfer is 4x3, but with black bars, so it appears window boxed on any mdoern tv. But the credits fill the 4x3 box. Pissed at the idea of watching it window boxed, I said stuff it to director intensions, and stretched the 4x3 to 16:9. The result? I watched Blood Feast 2 in 2:35, and ****ing loved it. If you have this disc, try it, the film works fantastically, and nobody really looks too stretched at all.
As for the film, well what can one say about it? It's shit. It's self aware and shit, it's vapid, it's brutal as hell, and I loved it. The dialogue and characters are all over the top and ridicolous, and the gore is positively filthy, long and lingering. At times, quite purposely hilarious, like the recurring body of the father no one cares about. The opinion I reached was this movie is making fun of it's older incarnations, and is doing it again for fun. And it succeeds spectacularly. The overacting is theatrical as opposed to unbearable, the plot is goofball as opposed to silly, and the soundtrack is top. I rated it 8/10, but it gets a 10/10 for a Saturday night good time.

Once Upon A Time in America - I saw the 200 and god knows what minute version, but long story short it was the longest version and probably too long for the single sitting in a theatre I was at. Some new material is good, some is pointless, the quality of most is jarring. The film itself? A very interesting look at an era, that is very well directed and haunting at times. The opening sequence with the ringing phone is a perfect piece of film making in my opinion. The rest of the film could have done with splitting in two. It's very long and some scene's get pretty boring, and certainly plays out as more of a drama than any other genre really. Overall I enjoyed it, but I can't recollect an awful lot of thoughts on the film. 9/10

Turn of the Screw - the BBC tv adaption. ****ing awful in every regard. A travesty of an adaptation and a travesty of a film. Performances suck, editing and direction is laughable, excessive and ridiculous. A classic story butchered. 1/10

Natural Born Killers - Wow. This left me shocked and in awe. A true experiment in every single form of media, from music to every medium for filming imaginable. I was gripped immediately, but nearly lost it around the middle and was surprised by how soon they were in prison, but boy it just kept getting better. The multimedia rapid cutting, use of ads and stock footage, and sequences playing out like sitcoms, this film cleverly blends whatever it can get it's hands on to critique the society of it's time, and much like A Clockwork Orange, shock and confuse everyone in the process. The performances here are not to be questioned. Woody Harrelson is chilling, Robert Downy Jnr wild and believable, and Tommy Lee Jones is an absolute blast. The ending prison riot is the stuff of nightmares, the single most effective piece of brutality and hell I have ever seen (in the Director's cut only). If you haven't seen this, watch it. If you have, I'm curious to know what you think, as it appears to be very polarizing. 10/10

Midnight Movies: From Margin to Mainstream - Always wanted to watch this, and was pleased to see it on TV. Not so much a full documentary, but a look at the midnight success of each of the 6 films individually in order, with short connections. One could chop a segment out and make it a special feature on the respective film, and it would be great. On the whole it still works great though. One need not know the films, as they're briefly enough explained through lots of used footage, and interviews from the distributors, fans, and the directors themselves. And the director's themselves should be applauded, because they both love it. All are full of smiles and stories, and very very vibrant. John Waters, George A Romero, and David Lynch stick out, as all are very different filmmakers, who tell great stories, make you laugh, and are pleasant to watch. If you have any interest in these films, or their type in general, I highly recommend. 10/10

Toxic Avenger Part II: The much better sequel - I started this when I first received the disc, but just never got around to finishing it until recently, so memory is a bit stuffed. First the American set scenes at the start and finish, well are a lot of fun and gore, but some such as the opening battle, are far too drawn out. A lot of laughs here however, and still good silly fun. The Japan scenes? Absolutely loved them. For a studio as insensitive as Troma, they somehow made something so very accurate. Never once is it racist or does it stereotype, but in fact quite accurately depicts aspects of their culture, is shot on location in Tokyo at a variety of known, however not iconic places (I've been to a few which made it even better), and the Japanese cast truly give it their all. Overall an 8/10, but if you have interest in Japan, this is a good watch.

The Delta Force - I've had this for a while but put it off due to low expectations and long run time. I really shouldn't have though. The first half depicting the hijacking, I felt was honestly 10/10 material. If it was made as it's own movie, I feel it would have done very well, as the acting is very good and it's all very well executed for tension. Of course the second hour is extremely silly, but great action fun all the same. 9/10

Thief - This was a very good movie. I'm having trouble with thoughts here though. I really liked the score and cinematography, and the realism of the robberies was very good. It's tense, it's interesting, if you like Scorsese i'd say you'd like this. Had a lot of trouble with inaudible dialogue though. 10/10

Birdman - A solid film about an adaptation of a Carver story becoming very much a Carver story in itself. That's my only original thought here really. Everything else is obvious and has been said. Riotously funny, mesmerizing performances, unique scoring and cinematography. See it. 10/10

The Last Horror Film - I wanted to see this for a while, expecting it to be a 2nd Maniac almost, but was very pleasantly surprised in how much it wasn't. This film is almost like a time capsule. Depeche Mode and constant soft rock, Cannes Film Festival with a LOT of poster shots, and also the air that this needed to be rescued from somewhere. Two scenes of violence are from a very dark tape, and the opening credits jump around a fair bit with the music. However, this is a fun almost slasher. People connected to an actress die as Spinell tries to make his movie. Fun twist at the end that I really liked, and a hilarious final shot. It's a fun by the numbers almost Scooby Doo like horror movie, very self aware. 7/10

I'm splitting this in half here in case I lose anything and for easier reading.

[fuzzymctiger]

This one will be shorter as i remember a lot less of these

Tomb of Ligea - The best of the box I think. On location shooting and a very interesting story make for a much more interesting story than the previous films. 9/10

The Raven - An odd little film. Feels like a Sunday matinee kids film, silly harmless fun. Some good laughs and a fun little plot of magic battles and grudges. A very young Jack Nicholson appears as well. 8/10

Powaqqatsi - Right off the bat one can tell this won't be as operatic as it's predecessor and future Fricke films. The others opt for a slow build, a progression of themes, music, and images from slow and steady to fast and frantic. Powa however, opts to jump in blazing. As a result, it feels much less organized than the previous installment, and a fair lot of the images aren't as interested and powerful. It does improve around the second half however, bringing in more interesting shots and variation, but I guess it just will never be able to live up to the masterpiece the original. Arrow's Blu, like Koyaan, is Perfect. 8/10

Mark of the Devil - An odd film. Interesting varied characters and respective performances, and a cool score, whilst also being excessive, and kind of downbeat and repetitive. 7/10

Cheeky - Ugh. I picked this out as it was the Brass film that interested me most and supposedly one of his better ones, but shit if this is the better end I can't imagine the worst. This feels like porn, with unbelievable situations and characters. The main male character is so extremely misogynistic it's painful, what little plot there is runs wild, and so much of the sex manages to be unsexy. It's just boring and a very poor production. Well shot though, and a very fun score. Some very nice eye candy as well. Sadly the film offers naught else. 2/10

Night of the Comet - I loved this. Love love looooooooved it. There is so much good, the characters and story are fun, the scenery is fun, the writing is fun, it progresses nicely and steadily with different plot points. I just couldn't find anything wrong with it at all. I'm sure it didn't help that the main character and her sister remind me so much of my girlfriend and her sister, but still. This film would be perfectly paired with Return of the Living Dead. So 80's, so much fun, so good. 10/10

Branded to Kill - This opened very well, but fell so quickly. It's just wierd, and I feel it doesn't fit well in the Video line. It's wierd, it's all over the place, it's boring as hell for the most part. I didn't like it, but the bonus movie version looks more up my alley. 5/10

Black Sabbath - I have a slight sense of shame in saying this is the first Bava film I've enjoyed. Black Sunday did nothing, Baron Blood was silly, Lisa and the Devil i haven't even finished, Bay of Blood was cool but all over the place. This hwoever, is solid. Three stories, that never overstay their welcome. Good suspense and shooting and interesting stories. The third, A Drop of Water I think it was called, was amazing, the colorful cinematography, the amazing sets, and that face. I hope Blood and Black Lace is like this, it looks to be. 9/10

A Beautiful Mind - Tragic as hell, but very moving and interesting, with great twists. Not very real as it says however, but still good. 9/10

Bound - This really impressed me, as with such a small location and plot, it works amazing tension and action, and shows the future potential the Wachowski's proved with the Matrix and pissed away with everything after. 9/10

Naked Lunch - This was so overlong and boring and confusing and just wow, I have never been so lost with a movie so fast. 30 minutes in I was pretty much gone and it never got me again. The only redeeming features are Ed Harris' performance, and two great monologues regarding homosexuality, and a talking asshole. 2/10

Well thats it, i barey remember any of those.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by fuzzymctiger

Naked Lunch - This was so overlong and boring and confusing and just wow, I have never been so lost with a movie so fast. 30 minutes in I was pretty much gone and it never got me again. The only redeeming features are Ed Harris' performance, and two great monologues regarding homosexuality, and a talking asshole. 2/10

I love Naked Lunch. It's a brave attempt at a virtually unfilmable book. I highly recommend the book.

As for talking assholes...there are a lot of them about.

[nosferatu42]

I love Naked Lunch too, i think it helps to make sense of the film more if you find out about Burroughs life ,which is reflected in parts of the story.