What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Underworld: Blood Wars (2016)

Fast, frantic and largely plotless fifth and hopefully final installment in the Vampires v Lycans series in which Kate Beckinsale is seriously out vamped by the devilish Lara Pulver.

Shit blows up, sabres are rattled and bullet clips emptied in a film that just about holds itself together across it's 90 minutes. The Czech Republic location work helps no end.

[trebor8273]

A enjoyable piece of underwater sci-fi nonsense with sonny Chiba who plays a reporter who after witnessing a mysterious creature while reporting a new submarine , sets out too investigate with his girlfriend who both are promptly kidnapped by a bond villain with his own underwater liar who has plans for global dominance and is tinkering with genetic manipulation and robotics.

Fast paced and enjoyable , worth a look.




Years since I've seen this and have to say I really enjoyed it it follows Earp ( Russel ) who has retired from law enforcement and had moved to the town of tombstone for a quite life , but that's not to be when he and his brother and friends get on the wrong side of a gang called the cowboys .

The real standout out off this was Val Kilmers performance as Doc Holiday which is easily his best role and should of gotten a Oscar.



We follow a young Billy the kid and the regulators played by the rest of the rat pack who seek revenge for Terrance Stamp a farther figure for the boys who is brutally murdered by Jack Parlance and his goons.

I found this quite slow and dull and Billy being a boarder line sociopath didn't help.

Now watching




Might watch young guns two later.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

We follow a young Billy the kid and the regulators played by the rest of the rat pack who seek revenge for Terrance Stamp a farther figure for the boys who is brutally murdered by Jack Parlance and his goons.

I found this quite slow and dull and Billy being a boarder line sociopath didn't help.


Might watch young guns two later.

I really like Young Guns.

It has an authenticity of the real west. Ramshackle saloons, dirty dressed people, that sort of thing with some genuinely nasty moments such as the gunning down of Stamp's Tunstall. A man who tries to improve his bratty young ranch hands through etiquette and reading poetry as well as sheer hard work. But despite all this when they are deputised it simply turns them into killers on the loose rather then actual deputies of the law and you know from the outset that our 'heroes' will be dead long before they become men. The quiet moments such as round the dinner table and Doc falling in love are what holds the film together and give it heart. We know Billy will turn into a renegade murderer but it's nice to see that when it comes to catching a pig he just ends up covered in shit as you or i would.

It's also a terrific young cast held together with a couple of western legends. At the time it was seen as a kind of 'Brat pack' western akin to The Lost Boys with it's young cast but i actually think it's so much more than that.

Young Guns II is a more fun film in a way. Perhaps helped by the excellent Blaze of Glory soundtrack album from Jon Bon Jovi which was huge at the time. Maybe you'll like that more.

"Yoohoo! I'll make you famous"

[MrBarlow]

Ghost Ship. 2002.

A salvage crew find a lost ship, when they are on board the ship slowly reveals its secrets.

This has one of the decent gore openings of a modern day horror, you know what's going to happen yet you can't look away even with body parts getting sliced and diced. The setting off The boat is what you expect it to be after 40 years adrift, dark, rusty and very atmospheric. The acting is decent from Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margolies, Karl Urban and Ron Eldard who eat the wrong things, Isaiah Washington who gets seduced by a female singer and Desmond Harrington and the Ferryman. As much as it's a good film it also has a decent soundtrack and background score.

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[MrBarlow]

Private Benjamin. 1980.

A high society girl joins the army after her husband dies on their wedding night and realises it's not what it's cracked up to be.

Goldie Hawn shows that she can be a great leading lady with this comedy as the spoilt rich kid who is coerced to sign up by recruiter Harry Dean Stanton. At the barracks she is put through tough training by drill sergeant Hal Williams who eventually shares the women in their war game celebration and Eileen Brennan as the senior base officer and ends up being the butt of a joke or two. I haven't watched this in years and forgot how funny it can be especially when Benjamin is explaining she is in the wrong army, or the base captain taking a shower with some blue dye and mispronouncing names at the NATO base.

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[nosferatu42]

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Watches over last week, Blood tide was written by the guy who made Island of Death and is set in Greece as usual, It starts of well and is quite engrossing, with James Earl Jones being a stand out, has vibes that reminded me of the nun, Lovecraftian film Dark Waters, so I was getting into it, but the end falls flat with a 2 second shot of the creature, shame.

Slumber Party Massacre has some decent characterisation for it's female victims and has amusing moments but the underdeveloped killer and his basic drill executions make it a very slight slasher that doesn't stand out for me.

I've been rewatching all the Universal Mummy films recently which after the Mummy's Hand took a dive in quality with Lon Chaney Jr 's version being a slow paced shuffling dullard, Yet the last 'serious' film Curse picked up and was pretty enjoyable.
So next I watched Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy which I enjoyed, their film ..meet the Killer features Karloff but was a jumbled mess and not half as enjoyable for me, but it had a few funny moments.

Transylvania 65000 was a film that's always been on my radar but i've never seen, wasn't missing much, Geena Davis turns up looking hot as a vampire type and Carol Kane had a few moments that amused me, but otherwise it was a dud.

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Class of 1999 is a vague sequel to class of 1984 by the same director, hadn't seen this since it hit VHS and was a very enjoyable mix of the aforementioned film and Terminator/ Robocop style goofiness, shit blows up.

Def con 4 was a first time watch, it starts with 3 people on a satellite watching on as the earth destroys itself in a nuclear war, (a really strong opening) then they return to earth and have to deal with the low budget mad max inspired leftovers of humanity, ultimately kinda goofy but I enjoyed this one.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I really like Young Guns.

It has an authenticity of the real west. Ramshackle saloons, dirty dressed people, that sort of thing with some genuinely nasty moments such as the gunning down of Stamp's Tunstall. A man who tries to improve his bratty young ranch hands through etiquette and reading poetry as well as sheer hard work. But despite all this when they are deputised it simply turns them into killers on the loose rather then actual deputies of the law and you know from the outset that our 'heroes' will be dead long before they become men. The quiet moments such as round the dinner table and Doc falling in love are what holds the film together and give it heart. We know Billy will turn into a renegade murderer but it's nice to see that when it comes to catching a pig he just ends up covered in shit as you or i would.

It's also a terrific young cast held together with a couple of western legends. At the time it was seen as a kind of 'Brat pack' western akin to The Lost Boys with it's young cast but i actually think it's so much more than that.

Young Guns II is a more fun film in a way. Perhaps helped by the excellent Blaze of Glory soundtrack album from Jon Bon Jovi which was huge at the time. Maybe you'll like that more.

"Yoohoo! I'll make you famous"

I agree. I've always loved the film ever since it's network premiere on...ITV I believe it was many moons ago. Easily the best role Emilio Estevez has ever had.
Love the soundtrack too. The main title theme is fantastic.

[nosferatu42]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Attachment 245141

Watches over last week, Blood tide was written by the guy who made Island of Death and is set in Greece as usual, It starts of well and is quite engrossing, with James Earl Jones being a stand out, has vibes that reminded me of the nun, Lovecraftian film Dark Waters, so I was getting into it, but the end falls flat with a 2 second shot of the creature, shame.

Slumber Party Massacre has some decent characterisation for it's female victims and has amusing moments but the underdeveloped killer and his basic drill executions make it a very slight slasher that doesn't stand out for me.

I've been rewatching all the Universal Mummy films recently which after the Mummy's Hand took a dive in quality with Lon Chaney Jr 's version being a slow paced shuffling dullard, Yet the last 'serious' film Curse picked up and was pretty enjoyable.
So next I watched Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy which I enjoyed, their film ..meet the Killer features Karloff but was a jumbled mess and not half as enjoyable for me, but it had a few funny moments.

Transylvania 65000 was a film that's always been on my radar but i've never seen, wasn't missing much, Geena Davis turns up looking hot as a vampire type and Carol Kane had a few moments that amused me, but otherwise it was a dud.

Attachment 245142

Class of 1999 is a vague sequel to class of 1984 by the same director, hadn't seen this since it hit VHS and was a very enjoyable mix of the aforementioned film and Terminator/ Robocop style goofiness, shit blows up.

Def con 4 was a first time watch, it starts with 3 people on a satellite watching on as the earth destroys itself in a nuclear war, (a really strong opening) then they return to earth and have to deal with the low budget mad max inspired leftovers of humanity, ultimately kinda goofy but I enjoyed this one.

Roundup of last week's watches, was editing when others posted, didn't want it to get lost in the wilderness.

[nosferatu42]

Also watched Spaced out and Playbirds a couple of softcore low budgeters that i'd never seen before.

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Spaced Out is a Norman J Warren film i'd never seen as I was only familiar with his Horror output, It's not a good film by any standards but a few things stood out, ahem, nothing to do with the acting obviously.
A passable time waster if you are in the mood.

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The_Playbirds_FilmPoster.jpeg

Playbirds on the other hand was an eye opener, yes it's a sleazy low budget rush job, but i found it surprisingly downbeat with a killer murdering models who pose for a men's magazine.

A kind of remake of Covergirl killer, and based around the real life mag Playbirds published by the producer (an odd bit of publicity), it features Mary Millington as a policewoman.

The thing that surprised me was that the stalking and strangling scenes are straight out of a horror film and the photo shoot set pieces include a devil worship type scene and a woman being burnt on a cross, whereas I was just expecting the usual T&A.

Also some really bad non PC dialogue, such as the jaw dropping moment when the killer burst in on a woman in bed and she exclaims
" Oh, I've never been raped before!!!" with a cheerful smile.

You what???

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Phantasm: RaVager (2016)

The fifth and final film in the Phantasm series. I rather enjoyed this. Much more than the previous sequels. It felt more focused and less shambolic allowing characters to develop and giving some real depth to Reggie Bannister's Reggie in what was a nice change of pace and a good character study.

Of course the second half of the film goes full on Phantasm with some welcome cameos and added craziness and although low budget i really liked the effects especially the landscapes and skies which were reminiscent in style of the final Doctor Who story Survival in the original run in 1989, which in turn gives some idea of RaVager's production values, for better or worse.