What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

You probably watched Bridgett Jones instead.

It was surprisngly really good no corpse bothering though...

[Dave Boy]

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THE GHOST GALLEON (1974)

Third entry in the BLIND DEAD series. This time, the Templars are taken from the familiar locations of ruined churches and put aboard a fog shrouded ship. This time, the Templars time on screen seems minimal in the confines of the ship but each time they do appear they dominate the scenes and look as great as ever. The Galleon itself is suitably atmospheric on board and combined with the Templars and the familiar chanting score still make this an enjoyable entry in the series.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Offbeat (1961)

An MI5 officer goes undercover in a gang of crooks as they attempt to pull off a diamond heist.

An interesting British B-picture starring William Sylvester (Devils of Darkness 1965). At times playing out like a lesser version of the previous years The League of Gentlemen which shows the meticulous lengths criminals go to in order to carry out the seemingly perfect crime.

Occasionally gripping, the film is well thought out with a few twists and turns along the way. The opening was particularly intriguing and completely threw me at first. Sylvester has splendid support from Anthony Dawson, John Meillon and Swedish siren, Mai Zetterling together with a zingy jazz score make this aptly titled thriller more than mere routine entertainment.

Shot on location in the centre of London, Offbeat is worth the attention of all crime film fans.

Another lovely print on the dvd from Network along with a strong soundtrack.

[Frankie Teardrop]

SMILE 2 - Naomi Scott is Skye Riley, a singer trying to make a comeback after a drug-fuelled car trip tragedy. She might feel that the mind-warping machinations of fame are bad enough, but then supernature also proves a dab hand at cracking things up for her - enter that sinister smile and the demonic presence behind it. I thought the original 'Smile', a 2020s updating of last decade's multiplex paranormal tendencies with added J horror, was good if nothing too exciting. 'Smile 2' is a couple of notches up from there, and stretches beyond its baked-in tropes to appear actually quite nightmarish in places - it's a film whose frame-for-frame sense of reality is so adamantly on the verge of flipping that it puts even the likes of 'Jacob's Ladder' to shame. Recommended, one of the best of a strong year.

WATCHER IN THE ATTIC - I watched this (in my attic, actually) long ago via a substandard presentation on a pretty sucky UK dvd... consequently, very little of its sullied charm registered and I forgot all about it. It's based on early 20th cent horror scribe Edogawa Ranpo's novel of the same name and is known primarily as 'that clown cunnilingus movie'. This is true only up to a point; it's more an elliptical take on the dynamics of a serial killing duo a la the likes of 'The Honeymoon Killers' or 'Alleluia', done with mid-seventies Japanese erotica-arthouse dreaminess and detachment. Good-looking nihilism, the sort of stuff I still go in for; then again, I'm the kind of guy who can be entertained by five minutes of someone on a mattress blowing smoke at their fingers. Horses for courses and all.

BEAU IS AFRAID - I can sort of see why this one got shot down a little after 'Hereditary' and 'Midsommar' - "love your movies Ari, but three hours of a reasonably dull bachelor's existential crisis?" Even if that's not an altogether lazy sentiment, this bloated and surreal bildungsroman is too loaded with mad ambition and operatic overstatement to shoulder easy dismissal. Beau is afraid - primarily of himself and his relationship with his mom - and that basically sums up his careening road trip through grotesque slumland nightmare to bizarre woodland freakshow commune via a sickly household that you imagine Tod Solondz might've visited once or twice. What all this has to do with the cock monster in the attic is anyone's guess. See it, it makes more sense than my write-up, and it's not a trek; one hundred and eighty minutes, and for me they flew by.

STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER - Like 'Nightmares In A Damaged Brain', it's wearing its scum cinema status like a badge of pride. A bit plusher than the '42nd Street' affair its moniker might suggest, 'Strip Nude For Your Killer' is an almost archetypal mid-seventies giallo that, with its fashion house setting, la la la soundtrack, and Edwige Fenech, might as well be wearing the T-shirt along with the badge. Director Andrea Bianchi piles on enough 'era specific' attitude to guarantee at least mild opprobrium today but really pulls in the neon and grime of the urban night with his visuals, making the whole thing seem a bit more haunting than its latent silliness would normally allow.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Beezel (2024)

An interesting take on both the found footage style of indie film making and typical supernatural horror. Beezel spans the decades telling it's story of a suburban house in New England haunted by a witch.

Filmed in what could be described as archaic Super 8 cameras in the sixties as we see a mother and her son killed by the witch in the basement, to the 80's as a videographer who films the story of a man currently residing there who is alleged to have butchered his wife, but he has another story, before we reach the 2000's and have the use of modern digital cameras as the witch begins to haunt the dreams of a young couple newly moved in.

It's not all found footage, much of the film is conventionally shot but the contrast in styles of filming is remarkable and make this stand out from the norm. So does the supremely effective and eerie soundtrack from the wonderfully named Robot Disco Puma.

The film makers don't go in for back story, it simply is what it is and that's an easily digestible non-convoluted story. A house with a malevolent presence. We do see the witch, Beezel, from time to time in some extremely effective and creepy moments, especially as one character hides under a bed.

I suppose Beezel isn't especially original but it's technical flourishes and ideas do make it seem more original in execution than most and i found much to enjoy here.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A Knight's Tale (2001)

Sometimes a film is worth watching for pure entertainment value alone, rather than scrutinizing the story or it's anachronistic dialogue and soundtrack, i always find A Knight's Tale to be a simple blast of fun filled pleasure.

Heath Ledger is great as the Knight in question as is Mark Addy (Playing basically the same role as he would in the BBC'S Atlantis series some years down the line) and Paul Bettany as Chaucer who steals every scene, even those involving the sneery Rufus Sewell.

So if you want to cry piss and vinegar about the use of WWF style entrances and football crowd chants or Thin Lizzy on the soundtrack then A Knight's Tale is not for you but if you just want two hours of entertainment from a cracking cast then this film fits the bill perfectly.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Door With Seven Locks (1940)

When the wealthy Lord Selford dies, he is entombed with a valuable collection of jewels. Seven keys are required to unlock the tomb and release the treasure, but a series of mysterious events cause them be scattered; the Canadian heiress to the Selford fortune attempts to unravel the circumstances, but she and her fellow investigators find themselves caught in a terrifying web of deceit, torture, and murder...

Extremely creaky British old dark house thriller that captures the best elements of the genre perfectly - creepy old houses, crypts, torture devices, murder with a star turn from Leslie Banks channeling his Count Zaroff from 1932's The Most Dangerous Game to perfection.

You'll know by now if Gothic old dark house thrillers are your thing. If you like them then The Door With Seven Locks is a worthy addition to your collection, if you aren't convinced then it will hardly change your mind.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

A Knight's Tale (2001)

if you just want two hours of entertainment from a cracking cast then this film fits the bill perfectly.

I've never seen this, but if it is as entertaining as you say it is, then I'll look to buy a cheap DVD from Music Magpie or CEX to see what I think.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I've never seen this, but if it is as entertaining as you say it is, then I'll look to buy a cheap DVD from Music Magpie or CEX to see what I think.

It's the film that really made Heath Ledger a star. Plus when you back this up with Paul Bettany, who is absolutely outstanding here, you have an excellent piece of entertainment. That's before we get to the jousts or anything like that.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Rippy (2024)

Also known as The Red, Rippy is about a police woman with a maudlin back story regarding her ideals about her father who is on the trail, along with her estranged aunt and uncle, of a giant kangaroo mutilating everything it comes across in the Outback.

Although Tess Haubrich is very good as the small town sheriff her schmaltzy story almost derails what is a fun ride. Luckily there's Michael Biehn as her wide eyed uncle who brings much needed focus to events. Although his initial ramblings about a killer Joey are seen as nothing more than him being a drunken fool, with his almost Jack Sparrow like performance a highlight of the film in the end.

As for the Kangaroo? I thought it looked great in all it's animatronic beauty, it also created great bloody wounds in people and cattle which the camera lovingly explored. I won't forget Rippy smashing it's way into the local pub for a while. Running at a slight eighty minutes this is easily digestible and a decent way to spend part of the night despite the poor comments many seem to regard it with. Maybe having bought it on dvd i want to invest more in these things than someone giving it three minutes on Netflix Prime and quickly deciding it's shit before swiftly moving onto the next slice of disposable celluloid.

Both this and Friday's Beezel proved a welcome change to all the other stuff i've been watching recently.