What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MuckyFunster]

*Zombie Lake*

This film is a bit like that Morecambe and Wise sketch. He's playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!

This film felt so disjointed I didn't really know what was going on. The individual scenes were pretty good, but joining them all together left them making little to no sense. I went the majority of the way through the film thinking that the full thing was a flashback, with the mayor telling the journo the whole gory story. Then, in rural France, the journo suggests napalming the Zombie's. What?!

The PQ on the new screenbound release is really good, but the lighting for the film is pretty bad at times, and having green zombies wearing camouflage having a fight in the woods left them almost invisible on the screen at times, which was occasionally a good effect, but during close ups your reviewer was straining his eyes trying to make out what he was supposed to be looking at.

The make up was bad. The dialogue was bad. The story was ... weird, but the film definitely has its charms, even without all the nudity and candid underwater camera angles during swimming sequences. It's a decent low budget effort, and would probably have won a film student a plaudit if submitted for end of term coursework or something.

I'll defo watch it again at some point. Good for a laugh with some mates and a few tinnies.


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[Cinematic Shocks]

I’ve been slack on the film watching front as of late, as I’ve just had a four seasons marathon of Vikings, and I’ve been catching up with Bates Motel. I've started making up for it...

Sanjuro (1962)

****1/2 out of *****

High-Rise (2015)

***1/2 out of *****

Rogue One (2016)

**** out of *****

[MuckyFunster]

*Prom Night*

I picked up the 1980 version of Prom Night in a charity shop yesterday, and watched it last night having never seen it before.

The movie is a bit slow to start with, but you can feel the tension building with the back story of the covered up accidental death, the sex offender who was wrongly accused and attacked over it, the sex offender escaping the hospital, the dead nurse, the creepy phone calls, the excitement and the happiness being felt by the youths who are getting ready for their senior Prom (which, while not all too important an occasion here in the U.K. is obviously is a milestone for a American kids). But then the tension gets completely killed off by this really dragged out disco dancing sequence that wouldn't have been out of place in a film that was actually about disco dancing! After the dancing, the tension destroyed, the film goes on to some fairly tame kill scenes. *shrug*

In saying all that the film was full of twists, turns and had red herring after red herring! The final scenes were very exciting and really had me gripped to the screen waiting on the mask being pulled from the killer's face! The killer was gialloesque - completely dressed in black and never really appears on screen enough to give you any clues as to the gender. I didn't have a clue who it was going to be!

Overall I enjoyed the movie. It's one of these really famous slashers which all genre fans should watch...cause it is good!

Plus JLC is in it, which is never a bad thing.


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[Make Them Die Slowly]

The Man from Nowhere

Rather good Korean action flick with a passing resemblance to Statham's SAFE. It has a spectacular stabby end scene as the hero takes out the baddies.

Bleed for This.

Based on a true story of a two times world champion boxer who breaks his neck in a car accident only to beat the odds and return to the ring....

I was slightly underwhelmed with this, the fight scenes look too staged and the cast all have Oscars in their eyes as they emote in heavy Italian American accents. Oddly for what is a remarkable true story, this lacks any emotional depth or real sense of the struggle the main character goes through. I think the problem is that the film is too short at just shy of 2 hours. There is way too much time spent prior to the accident to allow a more in-depth picture of the physical rehab process and the effect this has on the characters.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

A rather splendid ghostly love story about the recently widowed Gene Tierney who rents an old house on the English coast only to find it haunted by the ghost of a sea captain (Rex Harrison).

The opening half hour is reminiscent of The Uninvited (1944) as Tierney rents the house and explores it that same night, candles flickering, a storm raging, curtains billowing, and ghostly shadows dancing across the walls. It's all nicely atmospheric and suitably Gothic.

What follows is a gentle love story as Tierney becomes aware of the ghost and following the shock begins to get to know him. It's these scenes where Tierney and Harrison really shine together, Tierney stunningly beautiful and Harrison cool and charismatic, and i'd forgotten about the spooky beginning due to their chemistry which was aided by some choice lines of dialogue.

It veers off track around the hour mark as Tierney meets and falls for lothario George Sanders as the romance and comedy makes way for drama, however it's not long before the film comes full circle as the years pass and Tierney, Sanders just a distant memory, ... well lets just say it becomes a brilliant tear jerking fantasy.

The Ghost and Mrs Muir is a true gem that i strongly recommend.

[Zann]

Hanger

Not that bad...pretty puerile though. Soundtrack was ok and there's a clear Basket Case influence.

[Cinematic Shocks]

The Last Dragon (1985)

***1/2 out of *****

[bleakshaun]

my mate brought over last night 2 films: el topo and holy mountain.
with Jodorowsky, i have read his comics but never saw his films.
the plots are rather convoluded (is that the word?). however el topo is much easier to follow than the holy mountain. out of them both i prefer el topo. but holy mountain is still great, even if the ending pretty much says you have just wasted your time watching this.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Exquisite Tenderness (1995)

A cracking fast paced psycho/slasher horror thriller set in a hospital, Exquisite Tenderness aka The Surgeon is light on plot but high on gore and palm clenching entertainment.

For what is essentially an exploitation film it has a remarkable cast including Malcolm McDowell, Peter Boyle, Charles Dance, Teryl Rothery and James Remar who give the film a sense of gravitas it possibly doesn't deserve as it's little more than a popcorn thrill ride, yet it's one that has stuck in the memory from the days of vhs when i used to own it as a big box ex-rental. Probably the plot doesn't bare close scrutiny as any medical conundrums soon give way to slasher movie formula, but i scarcely notice as the action is relentless and the gore twisted and horrible.

As a final thought. What is it with the Chordettes and hospital themed horror? From Mr Sandman in Halloween II to Lollypop which features throughout Exquisite Tenderness. Their simple tunes always suddenly become creepy funereal harmonies.

[Demoncrat]

Just watched the Stooges documentary Gimme Danger.
Recommended to anyone who has a pulse.
Minor quibbles aside ... this is one story that needed to be told.