What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[davcol]

An Innocent Man:1989
Next on the agenda for me and my sons is this cracking little thriller. Two racist, drug addled cops break into Tom Sellecks house in a case of mistaken identity. Rather than apologise and offer to pay for damages they instead plant drugs on him that results in a prison term. Once inside jail Tom has to get mean and take no shit.
Unintentionally funny in places this film is perfect for the middle aged, dad type like myself.

[Frankie Teardrop]

RED MIST – A pack of attractive but fairly nasty medical students make an arch-nemesis of a feeble-minded janitor and do all sorts of horrible things to him, including feeding him a funnel full of drugs and calling him ‘freakdog’. I mention the nickname because it’s also ‘Red Mist’s AKA. Janitor ends up in a coma, but his spirit gives his life support system the slip and reaches out to get ‘em all by means of possession; which one’s it trying to be, ‘Patrick’ or ‘The Meatcleaver Massacre’? From the airbrushed smiles of its protagonists to the tepid bits of torture porn that plug the empty narrative, ‘Red Mist’ is ‘2007’ to the core. Little scraps of joy fall here and there courtesy of its blunt ways and callous attitude (I found its portrayal of necrophiliacs as bumbling oafs to be quite insensitive). It’s a film full of tacky shit – many of the possessees hiss “freakdog…” and try to look a bit evil whenever they’re about to do a kill – but it rattles through its schtick swiftly enough not to bore. An added fillip is that it’s one of those flicks where a lot of UK TV actors try to sound American, always a little amusing to me at least.

SOUTHERN COMFORT – The national guard gets it wrong in the bayou and riles some Cajun trappers; Keith Carradine tries to keep a level head whilst Brion James gives it stary blue eyes. Funny, even though it’s short on thrashing tendrils and metamorphic monstrosity, ‘Southern Comfort’ always reminds me of ‘The Thing’. In principal they’re quite similar I think, just that stifling sense of a closed little world where macho men seem destined to do themselves in through their own rampant paranoia. Hypnotic and tense, atmosphere thick with Ry Cooder and swamp mist at every turn. I’d choose ‘The Driver’ or ‘Warriors’ over this as my fave Walter Hill, but it’s a close third.

THE NESTING – Armand Weston did quite a lot of porn and this, a supernatural horror flick about an agoraphobic writer’s big dark house full of secrets. It’s never shaken off a slightly tepid reputation and is for the most part overlooked these days, unfortunate when you consider the fawning regard for other early eighties creepy house movies eg the mediocre ‘Amityville Horror’. ‘The Nesting’ is flaky but strong on atmosphere. Beyond the rote plot moves and a tendency to lumber looms the feeling that flows from rooms full of shadow in a house surrounded by endless forest. If that fails, you might be tickled by the odd flourish of ineptitude (that shrink, that roof incident), and if you need a little more, there’s always croaky John Carradine and a sickle to the head. It’s a pity that, in the end, it’s just a fairly conventional ghost story wrapped in the usual through-the-motions type mystery. But I’m drawn by the well-framed rot and murky style, and just that densely wooded upstate New York thing.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Demolition Man (1993)

A slick futuristic sci-fi actioner starring Slvester Stallone as a tough cop from the twentieth century whose uncompromising methods land him in a cryo prison. Decades later, 2033 to be precise, he's revived to track down an old sparring partner in maniacal criminal Wesley Snipes who has been revived from his cryogenic state to create havoc in the now crime free state of San Angeles.

There's a lot of fun to be had sending up 90's political correctness and Stallone and Snipes deliver the goods when it comes to the frequent action scenes. Sandra Bullock offers decent support as a fellow police officer but i can't help feeling Nigel Hawthorne probably wandered onto the wrong movie set.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Endless Night (1972)

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie, Endless Night follows heiress Hayley Mills who falls in love with chauffeur Hywel Bennett and gets married much to the annoyance of her family. The couple have a new home built but it soon becomes apparent the land it was built on is cursed.

Endless Night isn't a bad film, it's just not that thrilling. Directed by Sidney Gilliat who was most well known for the St. Trinians film series, it lacks both suspense and that quirky Britishness so prevalent in genre cinema of the time.

There's a whole bunch of well known faces including Britt Ekland, Peter Bowles, George Sanders, Lois Maxwell and Leo Genn but there's not a lot they can do with a film that really doesn't know what it wants to be - horror, thriller, romance, or least of all an Agatha Christie mystery - and with such lacklustre pacing as well.

Watchable but nowhere near essential. As far as Mills and Bennett go this is no Twisted Nerve.

[Nordicdusk]

A woman goes to a small down seaside town searching for her father who she hasn't seen in years but only communicates with letters she has become more and more worried of how bizarre the letters have become. As soon as she arrives it's obvious this place is not right the streets are more or less empty and anyone she does encounter barely acknowledges her especially when she mentions her father's name.

Messiah of Evil is a pure nightmare it's emptiness gives you a feeling of loneliness and the house scenes give you the feeling that you are trapped and you need to get out but something is keeping you there. The use of art on the walls of the house creates a feeling that you are constantly been observed even in the bathroom it's like an audience watching you have a bath. Outside not only is the empty town haunting but the dark beauty of the sea the waves crashing on a desolate beach surrounded by beautiful but imposing cliffs that while feels quite idyllic it always adds to the feeling of being trapped.

The use of lighting is absolutely astonishing every single scene it's pure art not only at night when the colours really pop but how the day time scenes are shot gives you a false sense of beauty the town has that clean look that anyone would want to live in but you know it's hiding a horrible secret.

As always with me a soundtrack is so important and Messiah of Evil doesn't disappoint it's a very heavy synth soundtrack which is the perfect blend of beauty and horror.

Messiah of Evil for me is more of a feeling than an understanding.MV5BNWY3MDc1NDAtMWY0Yy00NDNlLTljZjItOWNmZDRmMGVhZmY2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzU4ODM5Nw@@._V1_.jpg

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[Frankie Teardrop]

THE DARK POWER – Oh, this takes me back. Me and my mate used to derive hours of amusement from its endlessly quotable dialogue, most of it courtesy of Lash Larue, a whip-wielding local hero whose delivery was flat enough to worry a mortician. “Taste my whip, you son of a bitch.” “I understand you’re indestructible.” Maybe you need to hear it. He’s pretty formidable, but anyone looking into ‘The Dark Power’ will find that Lash Larue is but the tip of an iceberg of weirdly uplifting trash oddity. Some college kids move into a house; it once belonged to a shaman who knew of myth, the Toltecs and supernatural things; some of those ‘things’ arrive in the form of four badly made-up members of the demonic undead, who lay siege and juggle their axes; people run around and try to escape; cue Lash. Before the horror bit, a procession of matter-of-fact bizarreness toddles along, including an in-yer-face racist who spouts on for no reason other than to fill in as an obvious meanie (no explanation / exploration, then she just… vanishes? I may have lost track), then various expected leg warmer moments and eighties-specific awkwardnesses. Sometimes the boring bits are the best bits. This is a film that sneers at the very notion of tonal consistency, whirling from inept comedy to shades of nightmare with all the finesse of a fake tomahawk hurled by a plastic zombie hand… the house glows red… people do the same thing over and over… “take that, you demonic bastard.” Here’s to you Lash, wherever you are.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Pope's Exorcist (2023)

Russell Crowe stars in this film based on the 1990's books An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories by Father Gabriele Amorth.

Crowe plays the Pope's personal exorcist who is sent by his holiness to attend to a seemingly possessed boy in the Spanish countryside.

I'll be clear straight away, i loved this film. Russell Crowe in something of an acting resurgence thanks to roles in genre cinema such as 2020's Unhinged and the following years Thor: Love and Thunder, gives the film genuine acting clout and the inspired casting of the great Franco Nero as the Pope adds extra gravitas and indeed class.

It's slickly directed by Julius Avery and has a well written script with tasty dialogue and some lines i found genuinely laugh out loud funny. For example as the child partially taken over by the demon, tells Crowe "I am your nightmare" to which the exorcist replies "My nightmare is France winning the World Cup"

At one point there's excellent use of the 5:1 Dolby Digital soundtrack as the boys older sister hearing banging in the house turns to look in terror in the direction the sound comes from in a home theatre speaker set up. I thought that was extremely clever direction.

The final battle with the demon Asmodeus is terrific. Whilst it isn't as groundbreaking as Friedkin's The Exorcist it's still executed superbly and is wonderfully tense. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

To almost top it all there's an early scene of an annoyed Crowe riding his Lambretta across Rome's St. Angelo Bridge as Faith No More's We Care A Lot blasts through the speakers. That's a music to image marriage that Tarantino would be proud of.

Anyone who likes atmospheric religious horror with plenty of demon lore and fine performances could do a lot worse than The Pope's Exorcist.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Pope's Exorcist (2023)

Russell Crowe stars in this film based on the 1990's books An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories by Father Gabriele Amorth.

Crowe plays the Pope's personal exorcist who is sent by his holiness to attend to a seemingly possessed boy in the Spanish countryside.

I'll be clear straight away, i loved this film. Russell Crowe in something of an acting resurgence thanks to roles in genre cinema such as 2020's Unhinged and the following years Thor: Love and Thunder, gives the film genuine acting clout and the inspired casting of the great Franco Nero as the Pope adds extra gravitas and indeed class.

It's slickly directed by Julius Avery and has a well written script with tasty dialogue and some lines i found genuinely laugh out loud funny. For example as the child partially taken over by the demon, tells Crowe "I am your nightmare" to which the exorcist replies "My nightmare is France winning the World Cup"

At one point there's excellent use of the 5:1 Dolby Digital soundtrack as the boys older sister hearing banging in the house turns to look in terror in the direction the sound comes from in a home theatre speaker set up. I thought that was extremely clever direction.

The final battle with the demon Asmodeus is terrific. Whilst it isn't as groundbreaking as Friedkin's The Exorcist it's still executed superbly and is wonderfully tense. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

To almost top it all there's an early scene of an annoyed Crowe riding his Lambretta across Rome's St. Angelo Bridge as Faith No More's We Care A Lot blasts through the speakers. That's a music to image marriage that Tarantino would be proud of.

Anyone who likes atmospheric religious horror with plenty of demon lore and fine performances could do a lot worse than The Pope's Exorcist.

Glad you enjoyed this one Dem, I was apprehensive about this but the more it went into the film and the somewhat thrown in curve ball about the ancestral family home, the edge of the sofa became a bit more comfortable

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Pope's Exorcist (2023)



Russell Crowe stars in this film based on the 1990's books An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories by Father Gabriele Amorth.



Crowe plays the Pope's personal exorcist who is sent by his holiness to attend to a seemingly possessed boy in the Spanish countryside.



I'll be clear straight away, i loved this film. Russell Crowe in something of an acting resurgence thanks to roles in genre cinema such as 2020's Unhinged and the following years Thor: Love and Thunder, gives the film genuine acting clout and the inspired casting of the great Franco Nero as the Pope adds extra gravitas and indeed class.



It's slickly directed by Julius Avery and has a well written script with tasty dialogue and some lines i found genuinely laugh out loud funny. For example as the child partially taken over by the demon, tells Crowe "I am your nightmare" to which the exorcist replies "My nightmare is France winning the World Cup"



At one point there's excellent use of the 5:1 Dolby Digital soundtrack as the boys older sister hearing banging in the house turns to look in terror in the direction the sound comes from in a home theatre speaker set up. I thought that was extremely clever direction.



The final battle with the demon Asmodeus is terrific. Whilst it isn't as groundbreaking as Friedkin's The Exorcist it's still executed superbly and is wonderfully tense. I couldn't take my eyes off it.



To almost top it all there's an early scene of an annoyed Crowe riding his Lambretta across Rome's St. Angelo Bridge as Faith No More's We Care A Lot blasts through the speakers. That's a music to image marriage that Tarantino would be proud of.



Anyone who likes atmospheric religious horror with plenty of demon lore and fine performances could do a lot worse than The Pope's Exorcist.

Good to know you thought highly if this I will give it a go now I wasn't expecting it to be much but now I want to see it.

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[Graveyard]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

Nicolas Cage plays a notorious criminal, Hero, who is sent to rescue the governor's adopted granddaughter, who has disappeared into a dark region called Ghostland. In order to make sure Hero completes his task or dies trying his new leather suit is fitted with small bombs which will kill him should he run out of time or set off in certain places should he mistreat the granddaughter in any way.

A largely dull rehash of Escape From New York with Cage strangely subdued although Bill Moseley as the governor is value for money. Director Sion Sono's attempts at the weird and quirky largely fell flat for me and following a promising start i became increasingly bored. A huge disappointment.

I don't really understood what Sion Sono was trying to do with this one, I was hugely disappointed(tbh I fall asleep couple of times).
If you want to see Sono on his best try Cold Fish or Why Don't you Play in Hell.