What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

I went in knowing little about it, apart from the fact that it was really good and really scary, neither of which it lived up to IMO. It's well made and everything, but it just lacked something for me and didn't stand up against films like Insidious, The Conjuring and Sinister, which I really like.

Whilst I thought Insidious was quite effective when I first viewed it (I've yet to re-watch it) I'm the other way really. I couldn't stand The Conjuring and find that those type of films to be nothing more than a conveyor belt of jump scares with the thinnest veneer of plot and little substance. Oculus, for me, had more going on and the main disappointment was that it didn't explore its potential more. I guess budget constraints are to blame for some of the film's limitations though.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I guess budget constraints are to blame for some of the film's limitations though.

That is exactly what I told my other half last night

[Dave Boy]

FLESH AND FANTASY (1943)

An excellent hidden gem from Universal Pictures. The film features three stories which revolve around the supernatural, fate and death.
In the first, a girl is given a mask of beauty on Mardis Gras night so she can see a man she secretly loves but the mask has to be returned at midnight...

In the second, a palm reader is accurate in all his pedictions when he reads the palm of a lawyer. He also tells him that he will kill someone. The lawyer becomes obsessed with the prediction and sets out to kill anybody, just to get the prediction over with......

In the third, a high wire performer dreams that he falls from the wire during his act. Also in the dreams are a woman he has never met. The dream of falling from the wire affect his next performance and he then meets the girl of his dreams........

There was to be a fourth story but Universal felt that the film would then be a half hour too long. Not wanting to waste the shot footage they added more story and released the fim seperate as DESTINY (1944)

An absolute recommendation for fans of Universal Horror/Thriller pictures.

[J Harker]

That sounds like something I'd really like DaveBoy. I'll have to track that down.

[Dave Boy]

Great. Available on the Universal Vault series (R1)

[Demoncrat]

Watched
Absurd (Joe D'amato, 1981)
Watch Italians try to look bothered about an american football game! See an hospital with nae security! Gloat as George Eastman redefines "acting"......

Kiss Me Monster/Dracula Contra Frankenstein (JF, 69, 72)
Drunken bingette.

Whisperer In Darkness (2011, Sean Branney)
What is this?
Obviously taking a leaf from S Gordon's book of "How to f*ck up, er, adapt Lovecraft for the screen", this was a severe disappointment.....for shame!!

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Rik

I watched the first 3 hours of the Hellraiser doc last night.
It's up there with Never Sleep Again and Crystal Lake Memories IMO, loads of fascinating interviews with plenty of the cast and crew from the first 2 films, only exception is Barker himself, who had to pull out because of illness.
Highly recommended, and I've nowhere near finished it yet seeing as it's over 700 long across 3 discs!

Mines not arrived yet, hoping it's there when I get home. Desperate to stay watching.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Mines not arrived yet, hoping it's there when I get home. Desperate to stay watching.

I watched the 2nd disc (covering Hellbound) today, and some of the extras on the 3rd disc. Its absolutely brilliant, can't recommend it enough

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Down Town (1975)

For half an hour the Puerto Rico set Down Town is an intriguing noir style thriller / murder mystery. Franco himself has the lead role as a PI who is paid to take photos of a two timing husband by his wife. Unfortunately for Jess as soon as he's done the work the husband ends up dead and his wife it turns out is a different woman entirely. Franco the director throwing a sweaty yet intoxicating cool vibe over the viewer, slightly reminiscent of Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 thriller Body Heat.

It was at this stage that Franco lapses into one of his lazier moments and reverts to type by completely ignoring the story line and takes us head first into his own fantasy world with endless scenes of him shagging his real life muse - Lina Romay - and editing it all into the film. Whilst this may be fine for a while, it just goes on and on and on to the point of becoming boring...That was until i decided to play a drinking game where i took a shot of whisky every time the camera zoomed in on Romay's thatch. Needless to say, 7 minutes later i was paralytic and in need of a stomach pump.

With around ten minutes remaining the film reverted to noir thriller and the plot was clumsily wrapped up.

The film has some great ideas and a wonderful lilting jazz score, it also features the reliable Paul Muller as a detective working the case but his total screen time only added up to that of an extended cameo appearance. Jess Franco himself is also a plus point, his clumsy acting style fitting the bumbling PI perfectly. It's just a shame that my main memories of this will be close ups of Romay's cellulite...and that's being polite.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Rik

I watched the 2nd disc (covering Hellbound) today, and some of the extras on the 3rd disc. Its absolutely brilliant, can't recommend it enough

It arrived, but sods law I didn't have time to look at it haha, the slip is really good looking though! I might get some time after work today though.