What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nostalgic]

Leatherface (2017) (Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)

The directors of French gorefest Inside (loved it, I was hooked) direct the latest TCM installment and it's a huge disappointment!
Starts off like the last one did with the Sawyer family falling afoul of the sheriff (Stephen Doriff wearing a moustache the village people would be envious of) and little Leatherface-to-be being carted off to the local nuthouse.
That's where the horror stops and it turns into a redneck kill-fest which reminded me more of Natural Born Killers than anything else.
Lil' Leatherface gets broken out & we spend a while with over-sexed psychos.

Turned it off after 40 mins, have never done that with achainsaw movie! Watched an hour of Resident Evil 5 instead (which was bad but still better than Leatherface). Disappointing beyond words!
1/5

[keirarts]

The Saragossa manuscript.

Two soldiers in spain during the Napoleonic wars (peninsular war?) find a book that quickly engrosses them. The story concerns a guard captain named Alfonso van Worden who is trying to make his way to Madrid via a mountain pass. His journey is hindered by a ghostly pair of Muslim princesses, a strange hermit, the Spanish inquisition and a mysterious cabalist.
The film has a sort of Russian Doll structure within its narrative. Its a film within a film that then has further films within it as Worden recounts the story of his father and other characters recount stories to him. This might leave some people a little mystified, however if you can roll with it its ultimately a rewarding film. It sort of works for the film itself as in part its about getting lost within a story. I kind of wish someone had shown this to Zach Snyder before he crapped out sucker punch as that tries to layer itself but doesn't quite pull it off like this. Visually its a film that must have had a huge influence on Terry Gilliam. The frame is layered with detail, lots of it that might not register with the audience on first viewing but adds a layer of reality to the film that a lot of other films lack.

[nosferatu42]

Have you seen the 'Hourglass Sanatorium' by the same director as 'SM', that's another really interesting film Keir.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Have you seen the 'Hourglass Sanatorium' by the same director as 'SM', that's another really interesting film Keir.

That's getting watched tonight. Sargossa was 3 hours and I only got started watching stuff at 9 as if been at the hospital visiting a mate who had a bad dose of flue. I picked both films up from Fopp on blu ray for £6 each.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

The Hourglass Sanatorium is one of my favourite films - I hope you enjoy, keir.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Beast Must Die (1973)

"One of these eight people will turn into a werewolf. Can you guess who it is when we stop the film for the WEREWOLF BREAK? See it ... solve it ... but don't tell!"

The Beast Must Die boasts a fantastic cast including Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Charles Gray and Michael Gambon. Even with these heavyweights it's Calvin Lockhart who steals the show as the millionaire playboy who's gadget ridden mansion the others are all invited to. Lockhart exudes charisma and should surely have been a bigger star based on his performance here.

The films gimmick was its Werewolf Break ten minutes from the end, the film pauses and a clock appears asking the viewer if they can guess who the werewolf is as the clock counts down. Its a device which is fun but not really necessary, it does however make the fim stand out from the normal run of seventies horror films.

I liken this film to The Satanic Rites of Dracula in that it is an old style gothic horror film set in the present day with modern flourishes, in this case they are Lockhart's state of the art mansion surrounded by hi-tech werewolf traps and surveillance equipment. The werewolf as depicted in this film is shown in the form of a wolf like large dog, thus dispensing with the need to have any werewolf creature effects. This works for me as the wolf attacks are well filmed with the dog / wolf coming across as a savage beast on the loose without any need for poorly executed wolfman makeup.

The gadgetry and surveillance systems lend the film an air of James Bond, with Anton Diffring sat in the control room co-ordinating attacks and helicopter strikes with technological precision. Added to this it's liberal borrowing from the likes of Agatha Christie and The Most Dangerous Game giving The Beast Must Die a different angle and makes it an interesting and often diverse viewing experience.

[Nordicdusk]

Over the last couple of months I have been addicted to Netflix so mostly Netflix originals and documentaries. Oh yeah Star Wars but that's enough about that.

[Demoncrat]

The Shape Of Water.

Go in BLIND and see this UNIQUE film. Fcuk the Billboard movie.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

The Shape Of Water.



Go in BLIND and see this UNIQUE film. Fcuk the Billboard movie.

I watched it the other day, Del Toro’s best film? I think so

[Demoncrat]

That's all I'm saying.

Next!!!