What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Justin101]

I fairly recently re-watched all of the Scream films, before Wes passed away actually. It's interesting that horror fans have bad things to say about them because they essentially rejuvenated a stagnant genre and gave it a kick start.

Scream 3 is a low point in my opinion but the first 2 are great and the 4th one is actually pretty slick with a good twist at the end. I never got to see it on the big screen though, I'm not sure why!

[keirarts]

Excess flesh

Food horror that plays like a cross between starry eyes and Repulsion. This ones about a girl with body dis-morphia slowly going mad and ultimately turning her growing rage on her skinny as a rake flat mate. The creative use of sound and image creates a real sense of disgust and unease as things slowly come to a head. Is suspect not everyone will like this but I thought it was pretty good. Its refusal to explain anything is also a plus. Its pretty clear at the end what's happened but it refuses to spell it out. Also worth a mention is Bethany Orr as the central character who really delivers a great performance.

Dark net

Short. Johnny vegas hires a hit man online to kill the man who 'stole' his ex. Really dark and funny with a neat twist.

Julia

Short. Fairly surreal, giallo-esque tale of a nasty break up. Pretentious but looks great.

Shut-in

Short. A journalist interviews a man who has lived the last 7 years in a virtual world. Solidly delivered cyberpunk revenge tale with a nice twist.

Whisper

Short. Part whistle and i'll come to you with Lovecraft inspirations. decently told and well shot tale of a young woman hiding out at the beach and trying to kick a heroin habit.

Willa

Short. Adapted from a Stephen King story this is a nicely shot ghost story set in the afterlife. Well realised even if the Twist is totally guessable.

A stranger kind

Short. A stage magician preforms a hand amputation trick on stage that has bloody consequences for a young woman and her step-father. Funny and bloody in equal measure. Great stuff.

Cowboy ben

Short. A coke snorting businessman meets an old toy come to life that reminds him of when he was a child. This one was really funny and had a nice dark twist to the tale.

The nightmare

Another documentary from the maker of Room 237. This one deals with people across America and Britain who suffer from sleep paralysis and documents the eerily similar visions that all have experience. It follows through the life changing consequences including the adoption of religious beliefs and the effects on the people around them. Very interesting, though I remain a sceptic, the films really looks great as well and the reconstructions of the experiences the sufferers went through are well done. Worth a look.

Howl.

A train breaks down in the middle of the woods and the passengers find themselves under attack by werewolves. The film has a terrific use of space within the train, the set design is excellent and the werewolves are very well realised and look different to any I've seen before. The performances are mainly great and it has some great gore FX to boot. This is a really fun little movie that's out on blu-ray soon and worth picking up.

Synchronicity

From the director of The Signal Synchronicity is a dark sci-fi that deals with time travel in interesting ways. For the first 35 minutes you'll think you know exactly where its going and it appears you may be right before veering off and really going some place better. The Sci-Fi seems to be there as a way of talking about human relationships however its got a great blade runner vibe to it.

Deathgasm

From the makers of houseboundthis is another New Zealand horror-comedy that really delivers the goods. A young metal-head arrives at a small New Zealand town and promptly begins hanging out with the local meatl fan and his role-playing friends at school. After breaking into a house that belongs to a black metal legend the group get hold of the 'black hymn' a song that summons hell on earth. After unleashing a plague of demonic possession on the town they must fight to undo what they have done. The demonic possession scenes play like a cross between Braindead and Evil Dead. The effects are genuinely terrific and the film is really very funny indeed. Massively recommended.

We are still here

Reviewed this here previously but was nice to see it on the big screen with an audience. Essentially a slow burning ghost story that mutates into an OTT gore fest in the final act. Wickedly weird little film with a nice turn from Larry Fessenden and some of the best material Babara Crampton has had to work with in a long while, she really delivers with her performance here.

[Justin101]

I've heard good things about Howl, Deathgasm and We Are Still Here. I want to check them all out!

Nice little fest rundown, thanks Keirarts.

[keirarts]

Sunday

Hellions

A halloween set, small town horror with demonic trick & treaters. It feels like you know EXACTLY where this is going except.....
Its from the director of Pontypool so it goes completely weird (in a good way) and begins to deal with the terror of unwanted pregnancy. This was a really left-field and interesting little film that might alienate some of its audience but will be a firm favourite with others. The soundtrack is genuinely haunting and it has some startling imagery. Its nice to see originality can still be found, I cannot promise you that you will enjoy it but I would urge you to give it a chance.

The sun has died.

Short film from Scandinavia that makes me hope the director gets to make a full horror feature. Essentially its about a woman working as a cleaner at a nursery who finds herself menaced by a stalker. Not especially original but directed and executed in way that really works. This genuinely had me on the edge of my seat.

Antisocial 2

Bit of an odd bird this. Its a direct sequel to the first and deals with the aftermath of the events in the first. It's a much slower and more thoughtful sci-fi picture where what's happening may ultimately be a step forward in human evolution. Even if you liked Antisocial its not a flat out guarantee you will like this. My mate hated the films intensely where I actually found myself liking where it was taking me.

Hellraiser

Nuff said really. Arrows 2K release looks great and the film still delivers. Some of the flaws in the film show up a bit more clearly in this new master but it also has much more detail than my DVD release and does not look DNR'd unlike my US blu-ray.

A christmas Horror story

Another antholgy, this one has Santa facing off against zombie elves, a greedy family terrorised by Crampus, a family out stealing xmas trees who encounter some really scary shit and a couple of teens exploring a haunted school. All this is framed by a terrific performance from William Shatner as a drunk DJ. Christmas Horror story will likely be for me what Trick R treat is for halloween, essential viewing for the season. The effects are uniformly great and none of the stories are duds. Well worth a look.

DXM

The world premier of the new film from Andrew Goth the director of Gallowalkers and potentially the most divisive of the whole festival. Essentially a beautifully shot meditation on the future of science, human evolution and religion. Sam Neill plays a priest who builds a quantum computer in order to further science to a place where god is show to exist from the basis of single observer theory and unified field theory. As the work progresses shit gets weird....and that's all I'm really going to say on the plot. There were some walkouts and some applause. I dug it but then I have a high tolerance for beautiful , self indulgent overblown weirdness with pretensions to being profound. I will guarantee its going to see some hate, but it should build a fan base. Like Gallowalkers this will be a must buy for blu-ray owners who enjoy it.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Justin101

This one??

Angustia (1987) - IMDb

Aye, a rather unique wee tale ahem, enjoy!!

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Attachment 170830

Ellison is a true crime writer who for many years was at the top of his game but the last few years he has had no success and finances are putting a strain on his marriage. In an attempt to reignite his career Ellison takes his family to live in the house of a murdered family in a small town. During the moving in process while putting some boxes the attic Ellison comes across a box labelled home moives inside he finds reels and a projector. On these film reels Ellison finds home movies of various murders. The more he watches the more he starts to loose his mind and strange things start happening around the house. Is what he is seeing on these films coming to life or is the pressures of Ellisons work finally getting on top of him.

This is a really below average horror film i found no atmosphere or feeling of tension the jump scares were juvenile and laughable like alot of films like this the idea is very interesting but the execution is terrible. The characters in the family were the usual the career driven father the wingy daughter the snot nosed son and the moaning wife or maybe thats just family life in reality im not sure . I did jump once while watching it but it was because i feel asleep on the chair and someone screamed in the film and i nearly lost my life so if you want to get something out of this film turn up the sound and turn of the lights and fall asleep on the couch you may get a few scares out of it.

One other point the evil spirit / killer looks too much like the guy from slipknot so when i first saw him i just laughed. This was just not for me like i said i liked the idea but as the minutes went by my interest got less ad less and it took two sittings to get through this which very rarely happens to me.

Attachment 170844
Guy from Slipknot just incase people dont know.

3/10

I thought he resembled Mortiis myself.....

[Justin101]

Cigarette Burns



Due to time constraints I cheated a little bit for my October horrorthon and watched John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns instead of a full length movie. It manages to cram a lot into it's hour long running time though. For those who don't know, it follows a film buff who is known to be able to find rare films hired by collector who is dying and before he shuffles off the mortal coil wants to watch the most notorious film ever to be shown La Fin Absolue du Monde. A film apparently so evil that during it's one and only public showing at the Sitges Film Festival descended into mayhem and the audience who survived went mad.

It is similar in theme and feel to In The Mouth of Madness and has some great set pieces and gruesome bits. Little nods to other film makers are amusing and offer great fan service, and it's interesting to see a young Norman Reedus in an early role and with a much younger sounding voice!

I really enjoyed it and my flatmate who's never seen it before liked it as well, apart from Halloween he's not seen a Carpenter movie so this will open the doors for his education!

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Cigarette Burns



Due to time constraints I cheated a little bit for my October horrorthon and watched John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns instead of a full length movie. It manages to cram a lot into it's hour long running time though. For those who don't know, it follows a film buff who is known to be able to find rare films hired by collector who is dying and before he shuffles off the mortal coil wants to watch the most notorious film ever to be shown La Fin Absolue du Monde. A film apparently so evil that during it's one and only public showing at the Sitges Film Festival descended into mayhem and the audience who survived went mad.

It is similar in theme and feel to In The Mouth of Madness and has some great set pieces and gruesome bits. Little nods to other film makers are amusing and offer great fan service, and it's interesting to see a young Norman Reedus in an early role and with a much younger sounding voice!

I really enjoyed it and my flatmate who's never seen it before liked it as well, apart from Halloween he's not seen a Carpenter movie so this will open the doors for his education!

Carpenter & Udo Kier. Nuff said

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Carpenter & Udo Kier. Nuff said

Udo Kier throwing an ice cube at an angel who's had his wings cut off!!

[Demoncrat]

Revisited Prince Of Darkness, not due to any October "marathon"....I watch a horror film once a day all year, so why this month has to be different beggars me ha ha.

AAAnyway, I've grown to love this, the blankness of it, the refusal to explain away the ending, even Cooper's frankly overrated cameo doesn't grate as much as it did.
Maybe I should revisit Village Of The Damned after all.....