What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MuckyFunster]

Evil Dead Rise

Wow! Go see this at the cinema. Wild. I could barely sleep after it. Was rattling with adrenaline all night!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[J Harker]

I'm hearing good things about this Evil Dead film.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

[Demoncrat]

I'll be watching that tonight if all goes well.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Decision at Sundown (1957)

Bart Allison (Randolph Scott) rides into a sleepy town named Sundown with the intention of killing local boss Tate Kimbrough (John Carroll) by sundown.

Some years earlier Kimbrough had an affair with Allison’s wife who later committed suicide. Tensions build as sundown approaches, not just between Allison and Kimbrough, but among the townspeople as well.

Decision at Sundown is a strong film from director Budd Boetticher film once again teaming up with Randolph Scott. However it's a different beast altogether from the usual plain galloping mayhem the duo usually give us. Although not studio bound it's set solely in town following the opening scenes.

Scott, playing against type is a mainly unlikable character, more like Clint Eastwood's later High Plains Drifter than anything remotely heroic. His sole focus is killing Kimbrough and the tension rises during the first half hour.

If what follows isn't quite how you imagine it playing out then all the better, like i said Decision at Sundown isn't your typical Scott / Boetticher western.

[MrBarlow]

The Blue Lagoon. 1980.

Cousins Richard and Emmeline are castaways on a deserted island and slowly discover life as they grow up.

Throught out the stuff I have put my other half through, seems fitting I gotta watch this and be happy about it. Elva Josephson and Glen Johan play the young children stranded on a island with the ship's cook Leo McKern who stands up to be the new guardian and teaches them survival and laughter.

Christopher Atkins and Brooke Sheilds play the near mature adult Richard and Emmeline who cross paths with each other and discovering about maturity and love. This did cause a controversity upon its release due to the ages of the actors and parts of nudity, can you imagine the uproar with today's standards. The cinematography is amazing with the underwater shots of the ocean mixed with a good background score by Basil Poledouris. A decent bit of early evening drama.

images (2).jpg

[J Harker]

The Intruder. Deon Tayler. 2019.
Successful young couple Scott and Annie decide to get out of the crime ridden city to raise a family. They buy a gorgeous country home in the Napa Valley from charismatic man's man Charlie Peck (Tuck Pendleton). Things go bump in the night.
Basically, The Intruder is a home invasion film, reminiscent of those 90s thrillers that seemed to be all over the place in....well...the 90s. It shares the aesthetic of say Pacific Heights or The Hand that Rock the Cradle, that sort of thing. Which means it's decent entertainment if never particularly groundbreaking. There's no real twist here and I imagine anyone who's seen a film will work out the basics of what's going on here. I was going to be more explicit but I just can't bring myself to include spoilers.
The point is Tuck Pendleton aka Dennis Quaid plays his part to perfection, and this is what almost single handedly carries this film. Dennis Quaids amazing larger than life grin (deserves it own credit in my opinion, always has), in an interesting against type casting choice. Simulateously very charming and ultra threatening while blasting a deer with a shotgun as Scott and Annie pull into his drive for a house viewing that surely shouldn't have caught him off guard.
Decent but nothing exceptional.

[MrBarlow]

Let's Scare Jessica To Death. 1971.

This has a small cast with Zohra Lampert taking the lead as recently woman recently released from a mental hospital and taking away to a New England country house and believes something is tormenting her. The film does have a low budget look and feel, admittedly it is a slow burner but it's a slow burner that is actually done decently and works well with the grim gloomy atmosphere with the use of the cottage, use of the outside elements and the townspeople. The intensity of the film does build up well and does have the psychological effect of is the voices she hearing real or not, is those around her actually causing her fragile state of health to near breaking point again. A great 70s film that i'm happy to return to again.

lets-scare-jessica-to-death.jpg

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Silencers (1966)

Starring Dean Martin as Matt Helm, glamour photographer by day retired secret agent by night and quickly coerced back into his old ways by his former boss from spy network ICE (Intelligence and Counter Espionage) to thwart a new threat from the villainous organization Big O and it's nefarious leader Tung-Tze (Victor Buono).

Mike Myers and his Austin Powers films didn't spoof James Bond, they spoofed this. The four film Matt Helm series. However although Myers Dr. Evil super villain sounds exactly like Buono in this the rest of the film is so difficult to spoof because nothing the Powers films do is actually as bonkers as The Silencers. From Big O's secret cave hideout to Helm's bed which manoeuvres him not only round in circles but also along the floor before tipping him into a huge soapy bath where his secretary Miss Kravezit is waiting to take a message.

Until last night i'd never seen a Matt Helm film and i thoroughly enjoyed The Silencers. Martin sends himself up constantly by having Helm listen to Martin crooning all the time, whilst saying "This fella can't sing" (Frank Sinatra) when his mate comes on the radio quickly changing the song to more Martin balladry.

The plot involving Big O's intention of dropping a nuclear bomb on new Mexico is secondary to the hi-jinx Helm and sexy but clumsy Gail Hendricks (Stella Stevens) get up to but it does come into it's own during the final act.

It's not purely a piss take though. The Silencers is a well made film with a fine score from Elmer Bernstein as well as songs from Martin and Sinatra, whilst Phil Karlson's careful direction means we aren't over stuffed with either comedy or spy genre techno babble.

The big question is do i watch the other three in The Matt Helm Lounge dvd set straight away or leave some breathing room between them in case the joke wears thin?

[Demoncrat]

The demon tried to watch Avatar 2 last night.
Yes, it looks like bloody water
About halfway through though, I just thought " I do not care about this". So put it off.
N E X T!!!

Ahem.

[iank]

I thought that with the first one.