What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Equalizer (2014)

I was also left cold by this as it seemed to be a retread of Man on Fire with some similar editing and aesthetic traits. Some of it seemed solid enough, but the bits demonstrating his otherworldly ability to evaluate the scene and calculate how long it would take to clear a room felt a bit tacked on and unnecessary.

Denzel Washington is an extremely reliable actor if you want a brooding physical presence with very little humour, but even this act is beginning to wear thin. Basically, it's no Training Day and a fairly forgettable action-revenge flick.

[Sam]

In Country - this has all the trappings of the 80's and, as such, can come across a little cheesy and lacking in subtlety in parts but I still enjoyed it a lot. I find films about the Vietnam war quite intriguing and this offers a slightly different perspective, from a teenager (Sam) who never met her father who died in service and struggles to relate to the Vietnam experience and connect to her father's memory. Bruce Willis puts in a great performance as Sam's Uncle, who carries both the psychological and physical effects of the war and is easily the most sympathetic character. Whilst this starts off fairly light in tone, it soon becomes apparent that the vast majority of characters cannot communicate or relate to each other on an emotional, or even physical, level due to a generation that was lost to a war that the rest of the townsfolk would rather forget. There are some great films about the Vietnam war and many that are superior to this but, in my opinion, 'In Country' is unfairly overlooked.

[SShaw]

I have been hanging out at Imagine in Amsterdam this weekend. Here are some quick thoughts on the films I saw so far:

Clinger a weak US teen horror comedy in which Ferns clingy boyfriend refuses to leave her alone despite his recent death. not recommended.

The Frame A paramedic and a career thief cross over into each other's worlds when they find they can communicate via a television set (they both watch one another in the TV series that they appear to be characters from). It's time to intervene when one of the shows faces cancellation. this is a really inventive sci-fi thriller which uses its premise to great effect.

Homesick A fantastic Austrian physiological thriller which tackles the mental breakdown of a young cellist as she is terrorised by her retired neighbour. brilliant.

Housebound a film I first saw almost a year ago, but it remains as fresh and funny as the first time I saw it. recommended.

The Answer a distinctly average sci-fi thriller in need of a better script and a better female lead.

Norway a very odd Greek art house horror featuring Abrams Stoker and Hitler. it plays as some bastard hybrid of Lars von Triers Europa, Jim Jarmusch's Only lovers left alive presented through a prism of David Lynch at his least lucid. very difficult to recommend even though I quite liked it.

Ex Machina Finally managed to catch Alex Garlands debut and I really liked it. I haven't seen a film about what it means to be sentient since Bladerunner and, while not basd on any of his work, this captures the ideas of Philip K Dick brilliantly. my favourite film of the weekend.

I managed to miss Uncanny thanks to my friends at KLM, who judging by the past few weeks are struggling to manage their airline. I also walked out of maouri language film The Deadlands as it was too much effort trying to translate the Dutch subs (it was originally advertised as English language). a shame as it looked interesting.

[antmumford]

Originally Posted by SShaw

I have been hanging out at Imagine in Amsterdam this weekend. Here are some quick thoughts on the films I saw so far:

Clinger a weak US teen horror comedy in which Ferns clingy boyfriend refuses to leave her alone despite his recent death. not recommended.

The Frame A paramedic and a career thief cross over into each other's worlds when they find they can communicate via a television set (they both watch one another in the TV series that they appear to be characters from). It's time to intervene when one of the shows faces cancellation. this is a really inventive sci-fi thriller which uses its premise to great effect.

Homesick A fantastic Austrian physiological thriller which tackles the mental breakdown of a young cellist as she is terrorised by her retired neighbour. brilliant.

Housebound a film I first saw almost a year ago, but it remains as fresh and funny as the first time I saw it. recommended.

The Answer a distinctly average sci-fi thriller in need of a better script and a better female lead.

Norway a very odd Greek art house horror featuring Abrams Stoker and Hitler. it plays as some bastard hybrid of Lars von Triers Europa, Jim Jarmusch's Only lovers left alive presented through a prism of David Lynch at his least lucid. very difficult to recommend even though I quite liked it.

Ex Machina Finally managed to catch Alex Garlands debut and I really liked it. I haven't seen a film about what it means to be sentient since Bladerunner and, while not basd on any of his work, this captures the ideas of Philip K Dick brilliantly. my favourite film of the weekend.

I managed to miss Uncanny thanks to my friends at KLM, who judging by the past few weeks are struggling to manage their airline. I also walked out of maouri language film The Deadlands as it was too much effort trying to translate the Dutch subs (it was originally advertised as English language). a shame as it looked interesting.

I was in Amsterdam this week for my 1 Year wedding anniversary and I managed to drag my other half over to the EYE for the afternoon on Thursday. What I didn't manage to accomplish though was to persuade her for us to watch Lost River, which was part of the Imagine line up

[Prince_Vajda]

Friday the 13th (1980) * *
Watching the film 35 years later, one can only wonder why this totally unexceptional Slasher flick was a box office hit back in the day. Apart from pretty convincing special effects by Tom Savini and a highly effective Harry Manfredini score, the film has not very much to offer. It’s definitely not the worst example of its genre, but due to its bland ‘final girl’ (A.King) and dragging direction this Cunningham ‘classic’ is only mildly entertaining.

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) * * ½
Once more, Alice (A.King) is part of this sequel’s cast. Luckily, this time she’s not the final but the first girl (to get killed). For those who fell asleep, the first film’s ending is shown again. Although it’s not very inventive (the spear murder can be found in Bava’s brilliant '71 A Bay of Blood) and still pretty much a formulaic Slasher, this second part of the franchise is slightly more entertaining than its predecessor and has a much better pace. The ending is a real let-down, though.

Friday the 13th Part III (1982) * * ½
Slightly better than Part II, this third tale of the Voorhees saga was originally shot in 3D – and you can tell that a mile off. There’s a myriad of tools, weapons, and toys which are meant to look like they’re coming out of the screen. Maybe this was pretty neat in the few cinemas showing a 3D print of this flick back in the 80s. Today, however, all this gimmickry is a bit annoying. Other than that, Part III is pretty entertaining, and Richard Brooker is my hands down favourite Jason - his body language is awesome. A well-directed Slasher (with pretty good cinematography), and the only one of the original four parts to feature lots of slick third-person view shots of Jason. Recommended (with reservations).

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) * *
This fourth part mainly suffers from a slightly muddled plot. To make matters worse, all the boring ‘make out’ scenes almost turn this into a failed Teen Sex Comedy. Corey Feldman’s performance as Tommy Jarvis is impressive, though, and the ending is violent and intense. Pretty good special effects by Tom Savini, and the highest body count of the original four Fridays – thirteen in total.

[bleakshaun]

Watched Tale of 2 Sisters.
It was a great horror film, which had a real shock of a revelation. Although my only gripe was with the ending. It really felt stretched

[Make Them Die Slowly]

The Sentinel is now on UK Netflix and a few Nollywood films, though none look like the crazy looking horror/witchcraft films I have wanted to see for years.

[Frankie Teardrop]

IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS – Another from B Mattei's final directorial flourish, this romp through the jungle pinches bits from 'Cannibal Holocaust' and 'Predator' in its weighty disquisition on civilisation versus savagery. Hilariously, it even siphons off a few passages from 'Mondo Cannibal', the latter being a wholesale Mattei rip of CH (see below)... wow Bruno, you're dead postmodern, you are. I think he was more bothered about slamming some gore and nudity up on the screen – or maybe not, as there's precious little of either here. In fact, I wish 'In The Land Of The Cannibals' had been as mind-boggling as the magpie autophagy of its construction, 'cos, toss it on one of those cannibal cook-pots and it'd boil down to not much more than wonky ass dialogue and a really bad soundtrack. Now, these two things alone might sustain me, and I have to say I was particularly aggravated / enthralled by the music, which was a kind of triumphalist military-type bombast done on a high end casio. But, all in all, pretty thin gruel from a talent as luminous as Mattei's, and I often found myself checking my watch and longing for the lunacy of something like 'The Other Hell', or 'Island Of The Living Dead' for that matter.

MONDO CANNIBAL - … On the other hand, this is the real full-on Mattei meal deal. As already stated, it's basically a reconstruction of 'Cannibal Holocaust' minus any aspect of the original's directorial brio. Sitting through 'Mondo Cannibal' was a weird experience. Watching it made me think of a dodgy clone lab where CH DNA had spawned a hideous replica with a soul of warped plastic. It felt hypnotically vapid, coming on like a simulation of a film, as removed from 'filmic reality' as a cheaply produced international soap. No doubt this was due in part to the threadbare video production, but also the moves, the camera work, the dialogue all swam in this direction. A word on that dialogue – it felt like it'd been dubbed by robots on the verge of hysteria. I lost count of the number of times I could only gawp at what I was hearing, and quite often I did worry about my bladder control. Do 'snot-fanciers' really exist? Not in my cloistered world, up till now. Crazy. And, as with 'Island Of The Living Dead', it all felt quite deliberate, mocking. He's rubbing our noses in it. The gore was pretty full on, as was the sleaze in a couple of scenes. But Mattei, being the sly fox that he was, maybe felt that the grating misogyny and arguable racism could be justified by trying to play CH's get-out-of-jail-free card: media critique. Now, I didn't believe Deadato and I don't believe Mattei. Mattei really ups the ante in nose-thumbing cynicism, and winks at us when that studio exec paraphrases CH's final cop-out line next to a big TV company logo - “sometimes I wonder who the real cannibal is.” Yeah, right. Anyway, I could go on but I'm sure you're tired enough already. 'Mondo Cannibal' – it made me feel dizzy. And that's a recommendation.

THE EVIL – Back to some kind of normality with 'The Evil', a seventies horror film which I hadn't seen before. Basically, it's about a psychologist who renovates an abandoned house in the hope that he can turn it into a rehab clinic. He's joined there by a bunch of his students, and before long the usual supernatural schtick rears its head and we're treated to a barrage of era-specific special fx and mounting hysteria. I quite liked 'The Evil'. It's a bit lightweight, but it does its job. OK, I didn't get that sense of 'whaaat?' that I always hope for when I'm sifting for forgotten relics, but then, for every 'The Pit' come ten or more mere functionaries. 'The Evil' is a bit better than this, and odd moments of craziness hang around its hoary framework and worn out foundations. There's a strangely effective moment when a statue tilts its head, there's Andrew Prine cutting his hand off apropos of nothing, and there's the ending, which has a Lucio Fulci kind of 'metaphysical plane in a cellar' feel to it – the two surviving characters go beneath the house and find a vast white space with the devil in it. Wish the rest of the film had been more like that, but to be honest 'The Evil' is pretty entertaining, and rattles along at an excellent pace, meaning I didn't check out my watch too often, or at all really. Will be enjoyed by lovers of seventies horror and is probably quite good value for money if you get hold of it via that Shout Factory double bill with 'Twice Dead'.

[gag]

Isolation

Highly enjoyed this set on a remote farm in England.
A experiment that goes wrong a cow is pregnant and gives birth to another cow that is pregnant with 6 monsters and all hell breaks loose.
It is very well made good atmosphere and tension and recommended if not seen.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by gag

Isolation

Highly enjoyed this set on a remote farm in England.
A experiment that goes wrong a cow is pregnant and gives birth to another cow that is pregnant with 6 monsters and all hell breaks loose.
It is very well made good atmosphere and tension and recommended if not seen.

It's set in Ireland gag.

I really like it too.