What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Family Secret (1951)

Not to be confused with the similarly titled Hitchcock film Family Plot (1976).

The Family Secret is a fairly low key thriller starring Lee J Cobb as an attorney who finds out his son (John Derek) has killed one of his friends in a drunken argument outside a roadhouse.

Although distinctly restrained when compared to so many other Noir movies it's still a very good film. Lee J Cobb is always extremely watchable and it was good to see him in a more sympathetic role than he normally plays especially when he has to defend at the trial the man wrongly charged with the killing.

The film focuses as much on the rifts that quickly appear in father and son's life as it does the court proceedings and John Derek the actor never comes across as someone able to extract any empathy from the viewer regarding whether to do the right thing or not. Only in his scenes with secretary and love interest Leigh (An excellent Jody Lawrance) did he exhibit any sensitivity.

Despite this i rather enjoyed The Family Secret. I'd never seen it before, nor heard of it so it was quite an enjoyable surprise.

Now here's the daft part. The Family Secret is part of Indicator's six film Columbia Noir Bogart box set. It was one of three films in the set i'd never seen so grabbed it as it made it's way out of the box first and low and behold Bogey's not actually in it at all.

He's definitely in the other five though.

[MrBarlow]

The Amityville Murders. 2018.

On the night of 13th November 1974 Ronald "Butch" Defeo Jr shot and killed his parents and four siblings while they slept and claimed voices told him to do it, this film shows the lead up to the night of the murder.

This film re-unites Burt Young and Diane Franklin who appeared in Amityville II as father and daughter, in this they are playing father and daughter again but in a different family. Paul Ben-Victor plays Ronald Sr and from interviews with Jr it depects how Sr was controlling and a bully to the family and wasn't shy in being a spouse hitter, it also shows how he may seem calm one minute and then turn in a blink of a eye.

John Robinson steps in the role of Butch, who took the high calibre rifle and killed his family in cold blood, during the shooting one or two things do happen that can leave you questioning whether or not it actually happened. There is also mentioning of Butch's drug use which can have you thinking did he kill his family while high and thought he was hearing voices or was he clear headed and heard the voices...who knows.

The structure of the house is the same as The original and not the remake which is a good touch and does take you back to how the first Amityville film looked so the makers done a decent job re-creating the set piece with everything that was available back then. This isn't a masterpiece, parts of it looks made up and interesting, there is real pictures shown at the end of the family in happy times and ones shown after they were killed so that can be upsetting for some.

Amityville+Murders.jpg

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (2000)

A very enjoyable science fiction horror movie that although wildly derivative - It borrows from Starship Troopers (1997) with it's bugs vs humans in a base under siege trappings not to mention Aliens (1986) and most definitely John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) in which prisoners team up with their guards, in this case Vin Diesel's convict Riddick, to defeat the outside hordes trying to get in - has enough about it to still be a blast.

Director David Twohy sets out his characters immediately even though the opening scenes of the ship crashing onto what seems an uninhabited planet are really clunky and it's when Riddick is set free that the action levels ramp up in fast and furious fashion.

Radha Mitchell leads the supporting players and she's really good as is Farscape's Claudia Black, whilst Cole Hauser's bounty hunter is the bastard you expect him to be and Keith David's devoutly religious priest an almost Obi Wan (Guinness not McGregor) type. So far so cliched.

It's the premise that makes the film enjoyable, well the premise and Diesel's star power in his break out role. The planet's three suns that keep it in perpetual daylight - some lovely tinted camera work throughout the films first half - until those three suns go down at the same time and leave the planet in total darkness. It's quietly inventive with a couple of stand out shocks and ensures the cliches whilst clearly noticeable can be ignored in what is a rip roaring science fiction action B-movie.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (2000)

A very enjoyable science fiction horror movie that although wildly derivative - It borrows from Starship Troopers (1997) with it's bugs vs humans in a base under siege trappings not to mention Aliens (1986) and most definitely John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) in which prisoners team up with their guards, in this case Vin Diesel's convict Riddick, to defeat the outside hordes trying to get in - has enough about it to still be a blast.

Director David Twohy sets out his characters immediately even though the opening scenes of the ship crashing onto what seems an uninhabited planet are really clunky and it's when Riddick is set free that the action levels ramp up in fast and furious fashion.

Radha Mitchell leads the supporting players and she's really good as is Farscape's Claudia Black, whilst Cole Hauser's bounty hunter is the bastard you expect him to be and Keith David's devoutly religious priest an almost Obi Wan (Guinness not McGregor) type. So far so cliched.

It's the premise that makes the film enjoyable, well the premise and Diesel's star power in his break out role. The planet's three suns that keep it in perpetual daylight - some lovely tinted camera work throughout the films first half - until those three suns go down at the same time and leave the planet in total darkness. It's quietly inventive with a couple of stand out shocks and ensures the cliches whilst clearly noticeable can be ignored in what is a rip roaring science fiction action B-movie.

A film I haven't watched in many years. I always found it a bit overrated to be honest. I kept waiting for 'it' to happen and nothing really did. I prefer the sequel, Chronicles of Riddick. Never seen the third installment.

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[trebor8273]

Married couple Gene Davis and Alec Baldwin end up dead but that's only the beginning of there troubles when a family move into their home , not knowing what too do they unwittingly seek the help of beetlejuice ( Micheal Keaton in one of his most iconic roles). Vintage Burton.




A fat hobbit spends his time looking for some one eyed willy with his friends and brother Thanos. A product of its time and a film that people either love or hate.


Now watching for the first time.




Followed by . Which also not seen before

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Casablanca and Cool Hand Luke. You are watching some classics this Easter, Trebor.

[trebor8273]

Also planning to watch these this Easter. Probably won't get through them all.


Wizard of Oz
Singing in the Rain
Court jester
East of Eden
Giant
Rebel without a cause
Ben Hur
Unforgiven
Father goose
To catch a thief
Sahara

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Casablanca and Cool Hand Luke. You are watching some classics this Easter, Trebor.

Maybe but he watched Goonies too.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Candyman (1992)

Bernard Rose's brilliantly crafted horror which looks into the myth of an urban legend of the Candyman who will murderously appear when you say his name five times whilst looking into a mirror.

Whilst that aspect of the film seemed rather creepy at the films original time of release in the early nineties, thirty years later it's pretty cringe inducing as it's an idea which has been done to death in the intervening decades since.

Despite this Candyman remains a compelling film. Even though Tony Todd's, who is terrific by the way, title character has gone down as a horror film great, Rose keeps the film refreshingly gimmick free as he ratchets up the tension.

Watching it again after several years it really came across as a very adult and intelligent film in it's study of psychological fear with the excellent Virginia Madsen at the center of it all seemingly abandoned by all around her and left to fend for herself against the hook handed supernatural entity.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Candyman (1992)



Bernard Rose's brilliantly crafted horror which looks into the myth of an urban legend of the Candyman who will murderously appear when you say his name five times whilst looking into a mirror.



Whilst that aspect of the film seemed rather creepy at the films original time of release in the early nineties, thirty years later it's pretty cringe inducing as it's an idea which has been done to death in the intervening decades since.



Despite this Candyman remains a compelling film. Even though Tony Todd's, who is terrific by the way, title character has gone down as a horror film great, Rose keeps the film refreshingly gimmick free as he ratchets up the tension.



Watching it again after several years it really came across as a very adult and intelligent film in it's study of psychological fear with the excellent Virginia Madsen at the center of it all seemingly abandoned by all around her and left to fend for herself against the hook handed supernatural entity.

Candyman is a film I enjoyed much much more on my second viewing many years after the first. That was the thing that really struck me. It just felt like Virginia Madsens character was so so alone. Isolated while surrounded by other characters.

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