What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Frankie Teardrop]

MADHOUSE – A woman is stalked by her twisted sister in this atmospheric slasher from the early eighties. 'Madhouse' might not automatically satisfy those hoping to score at the blood'n'guts end of the spectrum, but there's something hypnotic about it. It may aspire to the same sub-genre as 'The Burning' et cetera, but is closer to Italian neo-goths such as 'The Beyond' in terms of look, texture and feel. Crazed throat ripping hound aside, maybe it's about the cinematography, with its shadowy compositions which all have an air of unease about them, as if something's going to happen... that 'something' might involve a climax which overlaps a bit too much with the end of 'Happy Birthday to Me', but is at least slightly maniacal in its OTT nonsense. So, 'Madhouse' – disjointed, dreamy, a bit like a slasher but not really – you wouldn't expect anything massively straightforward from the maker of 'The Visitor', and this isn't.

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK – Something weird's happening in early seventies London. Edwige Fenech is having nightmares, and someone's following her. Her buddy has the great idea of getting her into a satanic cult, and prods her further down the winding road to certain madness etc. 'All The Colours Of The Dark' takes aspects from 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Repulsion' and swaddles them in the look of the giallo. We get some great, unhinged dream sequences and various other outbursts of gratuitous overstylisation, all played out against the kind of interior design you last saw when you were on mescaline. All of which I'm in favour of, because I'm not such a big fan of gialli and to be honest they only ever really interest me if the pop-psychedelic bits manage to overcome the massive police procedural yawn induction that always seems part of the package. None of those tiresome shenanigans here though, it's mostly all Edwige and her inner / outer demons and various people looking intense and haunted at the relevant moments. Sergio Martino keeps some degree of tension flickering in the background, and at its best ATCOTD aspires to Hitchcock through a fractured lens. For me though, the datedness and the lack of pace mire it in a kind of clumsiness, and as a result it never quite clicks. But again, I tend to have that issue with most gialli. Even though, let's get this straight, 'All The Colours Of The Dark' is not a giallo. Not really, anyway. Erm, what was I talking about again?

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

MADHOUSE – A woman is stalked by her twisted sister in this atmospheric slasher from the early eighties. 'Madhouse' might not automatically satisfy those hoping to score at the blood'n'guts end of the spectrum, but there's something hypnotic about it. It may aspire to the same sub-genre as 'The Burning' et cetera, but is closer to Italian neo-goths such as 'The Beyond' in terms of look, texture and feel. Crazed throat ripping hound aside, maybe it's about the cinematography, with its shadowy compositions which all have an air of unease about them, as if something's going to happen... that 'something' might involve a climax which overlaps a bit too much with the end of 'Happy Birthday to Me', but is at least slightly maniacal in its OTT nonsense. So, 'Madhouse' – disjointed, dreamy, a bit like a slasher but not really – you wouldn't expect anything massively straightforward from the maker of 'The Visitor', and this isn't.

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK – Something weird's happening in early seventies London. Edwige Fenech is having nightmares, and someone's following her. Her buddy has the great idea of getting her into a satanic cult, and prods her further down the winding road to certain madness etc. 'All The Colours Of The Dark' takes aspects from 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Repulsion' and swaddles them in the look of the giallo. We get some great, unhinged dream sequences and various other outbursts of gratuitous overstylisation, all played out against the kind of interior design you last saw when you were on mescaline. All of which I'm in favour of, because I'm not such a big fan of gialli and to be honest they only ever really interest me if the pop-psychedelic bits manage to overcome the massive police procedural yawn induction that always seems part of the package. None of those tiresome shenanigans here though, it's mostly all Edwige and her inner / outer demons and various people looking intense and haunted at the relevant moments. Sergio Martino keeps some degree of tension flickering in the background, and at its best ATCOTD aspires to Hitchcock through a fractured lens. For me though, the datedness and the lack of pace mire it in a kind of clumsiness, and as a result it never quite clicks. But again, I tend to have that issue with most gialli. Even though, let's get this straight, 'All The Colours Of The Dark' is not a giallo. Not really, anyway. Erm, what was I talking about again?

Sir!! I applaud this latest missive most heartily. Kudos

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK – We get some great, unhinged dream sequences and various other outbursts of gratuitous overstylisation, all played out against the kind of interior design you last saw when you were on mescaline.

I think this is the first time I've read a film review that is:
A) completely accurate
B) with which I am in complete agreement, and
C) channels Hunter S. Thompson.

Kudos, sir!

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Hopefully Powerhouse/Indicator will use the same/similar transfer the French have used for Blind Terror/See No Evil.
I watched it yesterday and it looks INCREDIBLE!

The French subs are,thankfully removable.

STILL a fantastic little British thriller,and I suspect James Watkins of Eden Lake infamy is a fan as well.....

[Dave Boy]

Respectable-Poster-18.jpg
RESPECTABLE- THE MARY MILLINGTON STORY (2016)

Excellent companion documentary to Simon Sheridans book 'Come Play With Me, The Life And Films Of Mary Millington.
Lasting nearly two hours, the doc is full of interviews, clips and photos of Mary's life. If you have read the book then most of the content will be familiar to you but there are interviews with people from Mary's past including David Sullivan that expand the story.

[nosferatu42]

Dario Argento's
Door into darkness

door into d.jpg


Episode 1 - The Neighbour

Dario's short lived T.v series, and although the picture quality is not amazing i found this perfectly watchable.
I'd mean't to catch up with these for a while after buying the dvd set in January, but have only just got around to it, well the first episode so far.

I enjoyed this episode in which we get a brief intro by Dario then enter the story of a couple who are moving house with a baby to a isolated place by the coast.
Arriving at night they have no furniture and also no lights working so have to use a candle, they go upstairs to ask a neighbour for some assistance but are told to go away.
Left to their own devices with only a candle and a T.V for company (showing Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein) they hear the neighbour leave and after noticing a stain spreading on their ceiling go upstairs to investigate.
They find the dead body of a woman and a bath left running hence the stain.
Attempting to leave their car will not start so they are left stranded in the house fearing what will happen if the neighbour returns, the candle flickers out and the couple realise they have left their lighter in the bathroom upstairs...

I found this pretty tense and even though it's a basic Hitchcockian premise i thought it was handled well by director Luigi Cozzi and was worried for the couple and their baby as the drama run it's course.

At just under an hour it doesn't outstay it's welcome and i'am now looking forward to watching the remaining episodes.

7/10

[iank]

Aftermath. A terrible tragedy has aftershocks that result in another tragedy in this dark drama starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie is an ordinary man whose world collapses around him when his wife and daughter are killed in a plane crash, the result of human error on the part of the Air Traffic Controller, whose life simultaneously collapses in the wake of his fatal mistake. But Arnie's grief, shock and growing anger at his inability to get a simple "I'm sorry" from anyone in the airline leads him to an unthinkable act... Big Arnie gives a powerful performance in this very good film based on a shocking true story.
Probably won't buy it though, I don't think it's the type of film for repeat viewings. Not exactly a barrel of laughs, know what I mean...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Dario Argento's
Door into darkness

Glad you like it so far, nos. I've seen them all a few times now and have to say i really enjoy them.

I prefer The Tram to several of Dario's films, including Cat o' Nine Tails.

[Dave Boy]

zz7PUWwL9xZpVV54I7x425RfXUL.jpg
FRANKENSTEIN THE TRUE STORY (1973)

Superb two part TV series clocking in at three hours.
First shown in the UK on the BBC in 1975 the series did have a limited theatrical run in an edited two hour version.
The original title was to be 'Dr Frankenstein' but was changed to 'The True Story' much to the disgust of the writers as this is not the TRUE story of the novel but an original work with ideas from the book.

Any fans of this TV series should check out the new Little Shoppe Of Horrors #38 magazine as it is devoted to this production and is jam solid with the story of getting this made and is a terrific read.

[Frankie Teardrop]

NO-ONE LIVES – Fun schlocker from the director of 'Versus' and 'Azumi'. It's about a family of armed robbers who tangle with the wrong dude after one of their gigs goes badly wrong. Just how 'wrong' aforementioned dude is becomes apparent when all those news reports from 'America's Most Wanted' point in one direction only... 'No-one Lives' is slick and has a certain relentlessness to it. It also has that heightened sense of slightly delirious badassery you want from films about unrealistic criminals taking on unrealistic criminals, and some pretty good gore in places. Definitely worth a shot if you haven't already.

THE CHURCH – 'The Church' isn't Soavi's shining hour, but it still gets a few things right. I realised this after witnessing a few scenes of languid chaos in a church (in The Church, actually) give way to an equally casual shot-in-passing of a kid sat around playing a trumpet. Ah, it takes a special mind to conceive of such things... meanwhile, the world carries on turning. Anyway, for the uninitiated (see what I just did there ?), 'The Church' is about a church, The Church (stop it, Frankie), built over a pit containing the victims of a pogrom-type massacre from back in the day, which is about to unleash something demonic because of a meddling historian (or something). As is usual with this kind of thing, story and plot take a back seat to atmosphere. There is some of that, but there's also a lot of plodding. When Soavi lays on the visuals they seem appropriately majestic and otherwordly in a Ken Russel kind of way, and elevate the film towards the shining beacon it could've been with a little less 'scene setting'.

DEMON SEED – From the late D Cammell comes this strange item which is part sci fi / horror pot boiler and part excursion into mysticism. You would expect the latter from someone who was partly responsible for 'Performance'. In 'Demon Seed', a conscious computer takes over Julie Christie's futuristic household and basically rapes her for the sake of having a child. This robo-roughie element is dealt with quite coldly, and lends a real curdled undercurrent to a movie which is for most part about a captor – captive dynamic. Gender politics aside (they are ambiguous here ultimately) 'Demon Seed' is utterly of its time and is furnished with a very seventies imagining of the shape of things to come. More interesting is the post-hippie aspect, with its occasionally trippy visuals, droney electronic soundtrack and frequent hand wringing about the nature of consciousness.