What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Well, seeing as i can't find Among the Living due to sorting out discs i'm going with Leatherface.

enjoy it Dem

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

The bit with the foot and glass had me cringing.

Me too. It's an incredibly realistic make up effect.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Vikings (1958)

A classic historical swashbuckler in which Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis play two estranged Viking brothers vying for the same woman in Janet Leigh's Welsh princess Morgana as well as defeating the English tyrant Aella (Frank Thring) who killed their father as played by Ernest Borgnine.

Stunning cinematography from Jack Cardiff showcasing Long Ships in the Norwegian Fjords and an awesome half hour Viking assault on Aella's cliff top castle are the highlights of this cracking and hugely memorable drama with Curtis and Douglas really going for it in their intense rivalry.

Eureka describe this as a 'gorgeous transfer' on the reverse of the Blu-ray case. They weren't kidding!

[MrBarlow]

Blow Out. 1981.

A movie sound technician accidentally records the sound of a car crash and uncovers a potential assassination on a presidential candidate who was with another woman.

Brian De Palma reunites John Travolta and Nancy Allen who again plays the lady of the evening and seems to have two sides, one as a young naive lady and the other as co-conspirator to bringing down wealthy men in compromising positions. Dennis Franz appears as the photographer who was at the right place and right time to get the perfect picture. John Lithgow does have a great on screen presence as the cold hearted killer who is able to be a great manipulator.

De Palma is able to grab your attention right from the start with the Travolta trying to create a good piece of screaming from the film he is working on and then trying to record outside noises, then drawn into his own investigation that builds up some great suspense and tense moments.

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[MrBarlow]

Mara. 2018.

A police psychologist is investigating a death of a man while he was asleep. His wife is the main suspect until she says he died due to a sleep demon.

Based on urban legend of the sleep demon known as "The Old Hag" that can cause sleep paralysis and known as other names in different countries, I took a chance on watching this. The concept of feeling guilt or troubling mind while sleeping as few theorists believe can cause sleep paralysis is written in this film although it is played out well but the film it self relies way too much on jump scares. There is a good time of dark atmosphere so don't watch during the day as I have other wise strained eyes will happen. This film isn't great but no terrible either as Olga Kurylenko does play a good part as the psychologist.

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[Frankie Teardrop]

ALLIGATOR – The whole stampede of seventies / early eighties ‘animals attack’ movies might be indebted to ‘Jaws’, but ‘Alligator’s black comedy makes it more of a successor to ‘Piranha’ in some ways. A lot of that has to do with John Sayle’s sharp writing; even the little asides and bits of character padding have a wit to them. Otherwise, you’re looking at the standard drill of monster-loose-in-the-streets (eventually, the alligator in question spends a lot of time in the sewer at first) and lots of build-up to enjoyably OTT showcases, such as the alligator garden attack sequence. There’s a bit of satire and plenty of that gritty ‘dark times ahead’ early eighties attitude, qualities that lend a punchy tone and make the ramshackle bits and the loose ends hold together more than they should. In that sense, ‘Alligator’ is a masterclass in the lost art of the B-movie, something a bit throwaway, cobbled together out of very little, that still has bite.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) – I can’t remember much about last year’s Netflix revamp apart from that I didn’t like it, even though it was full of things that I supposedly enjoy, such as nice lighting and gore. It’s been ages since I first saw the 2003 ‘remake’, but I had the distinct memory of being pleasantly surprised at the time. Horror fans always tend to see the state of the genre as anaemic and lacking compared with past glories, and back in the noughties that wave of big franchise reboots seemed awkward, slightly inexplicable and mostly rubbish, apart from the 2003 TCM (and later ‘The Thing’, not that many others agree). It’s taken me a while to get round to it again, but I’m glad that the things about it that struck me the first time still stand out; the moody palette, the flyblown atmosphere of chronic dereliction, the harsh (for a mainstream film of its era) violence. There’s a deadly seriousness to it that’s quite impressive, considering it was made at a time when most genre offerings were going for that lightweight post-‘Scream’ feel. A few early noughties-isms drag it down a bit, and it doesn’t do much to challenge the ‘woman-being-chased-by-powertool-wielding-maniac… for ages’ template, meaning the latter sections, which are basically just that, do get a bit ponderous. But you could say that of the original, a film I deeply love. All in all, a very credible reworking that still cuts it.

[MrBarlow]

Netherworld. 1992.

A young man travels to New Orleans to inherit his father's land, only to discover there is a secret cult involving voodoo and his father's plans to be resurrected.

New Orleans in films seems to look at the darker side with voodoo especially by Louisiana, check out The Skeleton Key. Here we got a manor house that doesn't show all the rooms, a bar that has a brothel underneath it with people claiming to be resurrected celebrities and a flying hand that somehow may or may not kill people but certainly shuts them up anyway. I'm gonna hold my hands up and say I was not entertained by this, even with the nudity that was decently shown I felt this was dragging on in parts.

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[trebor8273]

John is forced into taking a job , he is forced into and when complete is betrayed and a bounty placed on his head , he crosses the line when he kills the one who betrayed him on hotel grounds and that leads to excommunicado and huge bounty placed on his head. Plenty of amazing fights scenes and none stop action with some very brutal and painful looking stunts.




Taking place straight after the end of the first , John is on the run with everyone after him and betrayal by those he holds close. While not as good as the first two it's still a lot a fun , once again with some amazing action scenes.




Watched this years ago and didn't think much of it, don't even think I finished it. This time I watched it all and enjoyed , the death in the car was a real highlight , while not as good as the second I enjoyed it more than the first.




Well that was worth the wait and lives up to the hype it's between this and the first which is my favourite. It might be nearly 3 hours but it didn't feel like , it's a none stop ride with amazing actions from beginning to end. Highlight was fight in paris street and Wick with the nunchucks was amazing. Donny Yen shines as Stick a friend of John who is hired to hunt him down. The scenes with Lance Reddick were heartfelt and poinent with what has happened . Bound to be come a classic of the genre , enjoyed it so much of too see it again next week. Like topgun maverick this is a perfect tonic too the endless display of superhero movies which people are growing sick of. The showing I went to was packed and had wide variety of people from teenagers to pensioners.




Now watching

[iank]

City Slickers. Billy Crystal and his mates are in the midst of midlife crises when they go on a two week vacation to drive cattle as proper cowboys. But things do not go quite as planned... I haven't seen this early 90s comedy for decades - even though I've had it on Blu for years - but have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it last night. Jack Palance famously won an Oscar for his turn as the grizzled Curly but Crystal, Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stern keep it anchored as three mates trying to find meaning in their confusing lives. Great fun. They do not make comedies like this anymore.

[nicholasrope]

Pearl

Prequel to X, this sees Pearl in her younger years in 1918 during a Pandemic. It sees her descent into madness as her Mother is strict and her Father is an invalid. When she fails at a Dance Audition, she loses it.

A bit of a strange Film but it held my interest but not all that bothered about watching it again, Mia Goth is entirely convincing as someone who can turn at a minutes notice.

Also got the most unnerving End Credits as well.

Out Of Bounds

1986 Film which sees a Teen from Iowa who picks up the wrong bag from an Airport which contains Drugs. Therefore he's on the run from The Drug Dealers, whose bag it was and The Cops after he gets framed for Murder. He is assisted by a Actress turned Waitress who he met on the Plane.

It's a generic, seen it all before and seeing it for the 1st time in 2023, I've seen better but if I had seen it in the 80's-early 90's, then I think I would have liked it.

Pleasantly surprised to have seen it on Talking Pictures