What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

A masterpiece of cinema that chronicles a summer for children Scout and Jem Finch as their father Atticus defends a black man on trial for the rape of a white woman.

It's the study of a Scout's coming of age, not in the traditional sense but in that of growing up quickly and the loss of innocence with so much going on around her. Mary Badham as the young girl gives probably the best performance i can recall by a child actor. Even better than Giovanni Frezza in Fulci's House by the Cemetery.

Yet it's also a brilliant treaty on small town prejudice and racism, of good and evil and how one man - Atticus, superbly played by Gregory Peck - can somehow stand tall and do what is right against all the odds.

You don't need to have read the acclaimed novel by Harper Lee to see how much of an influence To Kill a Mockingbird has been on the career and probably life of Stephen King.

[MrBarlow]

Barbarian. 2022.

This is a interesting concept of renting a Airbnb without checking the background of the place and a house with a hidden room that holds a mystery.

Bill Skarsgard and Georgina Campbell are strangers to each other who hire out the same place through two different companies and discover a secret room and a dark tunnel. Justin Long is the problematic dick head tv producer facing allegations who hires out the same place and Richard Brake who had the same house in the 60s who knows the secret of the house.

This is a Indie made movie so don't expect a big budget horror but certainly had a interesting concept, what seems to be a empty house with someone inside that gives you a idea of who it may be then gives out a bit of a darker twist. The acting isn't too bad, Richard Brake does not have a big on screen presence but certainly gives out the creepy stalker vibe and know his intentions of what he may be planning. This is worth a watch.

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[nicholasrope]

Meg 2: The Trench

Jason Statham is back and whilst not being a Environment Vigilante, he and his team go deep water exploring where they encounter some illegal drilling, some more Megs and some prehistoric creatures. This is not bad but the Megs don't really attack until the near the end of the film and the Jurassic Park tributes don't help nor does the CGI.

Eye Of The Tiger

Gary Busey encounters some Drug Running Bikers and after they kill his Wife, he goes after revenge. It's a story that's done before but I'm a simple man and in a world where 200 million Blockbusters are plentiful, I quite frankly prefer a well made entertaining Film that takes a simple story but executes it very well.

[Demoncrat]

Well, I watched that Predator BD finally.
Sounds lovely, but did look a tad ... off.
Did a bit of digging and yes, it's the "dud" one. C'est la vie. The extras make up for this, I will say.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Bullet Train (2022)

David Leitch's film about an assassin called Lady Bug and played by Brad Pitt who is assigned by his handler to retrieve a suit case from Japan's famed Bullet Train. However unbeknown to Lady Bug several other assassins are also aboard the train with differing objectives.

A film that really caught me by surprise. I really wasn't expecting this. I knew it was an action comedy but this almost takes that definition to new levels. It's like a cross between Leitch's own Deadpool 2 with it's brilliantly clever dialogue, a Guy Ritchie ensemble gangster thriller with all it's twists and turns and incredible action and shoot outs right out of Ben Wheatley's awesome Free Fire.

Story strands crash into each other throughout and it's thanks to it's marvelously creative characters, including the Thomas the Tank Engine adoring Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as British hitmen (Definitely the Ritchie influence) and Joey King's terrifying school girl like assassin who manipulates one and all, that it all holds together so fluidly and entertains so much. Oh and yeah, Brad Pitt's was born for roles like this.

If there's one complaint it's possibly too long at 126 minutes but there's definitely enough going on in this wild and wonderful movie to ignore that.

MrBarlow sent me this a few weeks ago. He mustn't have been that impressed. Crazy guy I loved it though.

[Demoncrat]

Watched The Guardian and The Boys In The Band in tribute.

One is an odd horror flick about ... a tree demon and the other is a gaze into a rather insular world, personally I think this one needs more love anyhow. RIP.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Watched The Guardian and The Boys In The Band in tribute.

One is an odd horror flick about ... a tree demon .

I really like The Guardian. I was annoyed when i went HD that the Blu was out of print.

There's a good interview with Jenny Seagrove on the Second Sight dvd anyway. Apparently she had been very dismissive about it in the past but seemed to enjoy it more when watching it to talk about it for the release.

[Demoncrat]

I have fond memories of the tree flick, we saw the trailer on nearly every tape we took out at one point, but only found the actual tape when I moved one town over (the local Mace had a basket etc).
It lived up to the hype tbh, cut as it was ahem.

[MrBarlow]

The Godfather. 1972.

Aging Don Corleone wants to hand down his empire to his son Sonny, until his youngest son Michael steps in and takes over the empire that may cause problems to his loved ones.

Francis Ford Coppola's classic 1940s look at the underworld of organised crime families with Marlon Brando in a role that gave him a good strong presence on screen as the ageing Don Vito Corleone.

Al Pacino plays Michael who is a war hero that everyone doesn't want him to enter the family business but steps in to make a quick decision and slowly under the help of his father and family lawyer Robert Duvall he becomes a powerful individual key figure in the underworld.

The acting is absolutely fantastic, bringing to life characters that are rich and complex, perhaps unlikeable at first but as you get to know them you warm to them. Right at the start we see a man talking about his life and then realise he is grieving his problems to one man who can help him. James Caan plays the hot tempered Sonny who does loose his temper, in certain scenes we see Michael looking to loose his temper but speaks calmly knowing he is planning something.

The cinematography is utterly amazing from start to finish that is helped by a perfect background score. The Scilly scenes are perfectly shot with the outside shots of the country and hills. Perfect classic that has plenty of memorable scenes and quotes.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Night of the Sorcerers (1974)

Director Amando Di Assorio is best known for his excellent Blind Dead films. Although Night of the Sorcerers doesn't really come close to the greatness of those films, it does share some of the ideas conceived by them, most obviously the graphic whipping sequences which had censors the world over biting their knuckles due to the nudity and blood on breast sequences.

You have to love the the sacrificial scenes, they are quite striking, heads roll down shoots and blood gushes out of the dismembered bodies after them in scenes of almost violent poetry and then the disembodied head always laughs at the camera. It makes me wonder if this was a nod to Geoffrey Holder's Baron Samedi who had a trademark laugh during sacrifices throughout Live and Let Die from the previous year.

Although set in Africa, the feature was filmed in a Spanish safari park, located near Madrid. Di Assorio makes the film look good, the jungles are lush and the river scenes vast, certainly giving the appearance of the huge African terrains. Di Assorio adds vivid colours to the mix and this combined with the swirling mists and occult storyline gives the film quite a unique and often dream-like style.

The magnificent Jack Taylor takes the lead here although sadly we don't see his grinning disembodied head, whilst Giallo regular Simon Andreu is there as the great white hunter always readily available for any late night river shagging.

I seem to be one of the few who loves this film and have seen it many times over the years.