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Post by ripper on Nov 27, 2023 19:06:33 GMT
I might try the Arthur Wontner Sherlock Holmes films. Anyone seen any of them? From wiki: Title Year Based on The Sleeping Cardinal(US title: Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour) 1931 "The Adventure of the Empty House" and "The Final Problem" The Missing Rembrandt (still considered lost) 1932 "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case 1932 The Sign of the Four The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes 1935 The Valley of Fear Silver Blaze (US title: Murder at the Baskervilles, release 1941) 1937 "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" I think it was Triumph I saw. I seem to remember that I thought it a bit stagey. It didn't make me rush to see more. Much prefer the Rathbones from a few years later.
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 27, 2023 19:59:19 GMT
Suitable Flesh, apparently based on 'The Thing on the Doorstep' - I had high hopes, but it was pretty dire.
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Post by helrunar on Nov 27, 2023 20:43:21 GMT
The trailer looked really ghastly and not in a good way, alas.
On the US amazombie popular online retail site, they're "streaming" what appears to be a faux documentary (a popular sub-genre these days) called The Unbinding, which I'm curious to take a closer look at, as the trailer for that actually appears promising. It's about a sort of Friday the 13th (old telly series, not films) museum of occult relics which receives the gift of a strange image called the Catskill Crone. The story seems to riff on the current mania for "paranormal investigations" that has saturated every level of media these days.
Hel.
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Post by andydecker on Nov 29, 2023 9:15:54 GMT
Cannibal Club (O Clube dos Canibais), 2018, written and directed by Guto Parente
The title says it all, basically. Otavio and Gilda are a wealthy couple in Brazil. Otavio owns a private security company, which is a booming business. When the mood strikes them, they kill their employees and eat them, mostly after Gilda has sex with them and Otavio watches with the axe in hand. Otavio is a member of the cannibal club, a cabal of the right-wing super-rich, who despise the poor and have a vision of an "honest" Brazil while watching couples doing a live act getting slaughtered and eating them afterwards. All goes downriver after a drunken Gilda at a party discovers a secret from Borges, a powerful congressman and the Club's leader.
Subtle this is not. The movie basically begins with Otavio and Gilda slaughtering their latest victim naked while having sex with them. The whole movie is shot in a clinically, detached way. The villains have no agenda, literally eating the poor is just their live style. There are some darkly funny moments, Gilda fighting with her husband who goes alone to a club meeting with dinner while watching a wild animal documentary, Borges tiresome and hypocritical law and order speech while their latest victims are served by the chef, or the couple screening their latest employee/victim for health issues. But all is shot in such a unemotional, cold way that it is hard to relate. Or care. Gore and sex are plenty on the screen, but this is only technically a horror movie. The different approach to the subject is the most interesting thing here.
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Post by bluetomb on Nov 29, 2023 10:45:03 GMT
Recently: The Night Flier (1997) Bad Moon (1996) Also got the DVD for 1980's Night of the Demon. I have a great love for Night of the Demon even though an especially good or even sensical film it is not. Years ago when it was still supposed to be censored in the UK and hard to come by otherwise one of the Sky channels used to sometimes play it uncut late nights, and one summer night at 2.45 I came across it and had 90 odd minutes of sheer goofy bliss. Still probably the high water mark of the gory side of Bigfoot horror as well.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Nov 29, 2023 14:52:13 GMT
I watched Escape from 1930. A film based on a play by John Galsworthy, about a convict who escapes from Dartmoor prison while on a potato picking detail during a fog. It's a series of escapades. I enjoyed it. It stars Sir Gerald du Maurier; his acting is a bit stagey, his delivery is of a particular style no longer seen, and seems to lack depth of vocal range, however he gives a good performance with his bodily mannerisms. I found it amusing, all (bar one) of the woman were rooting for him and tried to help. It was remade in 1948 with Rex Harrison, but I haven't seen that one. It's only 70 minutes, and worth a watch in my opinion.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 2, 2023 12:48:42 GMT
I watched A HAUNTING IN VENICE, Kenneth Branagh's "adaptation" of Agatha Christie's HALLOWE'EN PARTY. It has absolutely nothing to do with Christie's novel. Nor with Christie's work in general. It is, however, quite entertaining in its own right. It is atmospheric, and the plot is quite audacious in its ridiculousness. Plus Kelly Reilly reminds me of Marina Malfatti, so it is possible to see something of those crazy Italian films of the 70s in this. Recommended. Seen it too. Frankly I was surprised. I liked it a lot. Hard to believe that this is the same crew that did the boring Nile.
Sure, it tried to out-gothic every Gothic about Venice and went to ridiculous length to do this. But it worked. Very well done setting, and I want to have this house with the roof terrace. The last shot of the movie is so beautiful.
Basically this follows the murder plot of HALLOWE'EN PARTY in most parts. Insofar it is not that removed. To do Christie's stories in new environments has become kind of a cottage industry. Just think of the French Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie which filmed nearly all stories as "comedic police crime drama", a hand full as a 30's period piece and the majority as a 50's-60's period piece. The just use the crime-plot of the original, the rest is a police procedual with the newly created Commissaire.
I liked the cast. The only actress I thought misscast is Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver. But maybe I am biased because Zoe Wannamaker left such a strong impression in Suchet's Poirot as the character. You are right with Kelly Reilly. She really reminds one of Marina Malfatti. I guess I will put The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave or The Red Queen Kills Seven Times in the player soon.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 2, 2023 20:19:31 GMT
Basically this follows the murder plot of HALLOWE'EN PARTY in most parts. I am happy you liked it, but no, it does not. It uses some names from the novel, that is all. But never mind.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 3, 2023 12:44:47 GMT
I watched A HAUNTING IN VENICE, Kenneth Branagh's "adaptation" of Agatha Christie's HALLOWE'EN PARTY. It has absolutely nothing to do with Christie's novel. Nor with Christie's work in general. It is, however, quite entertaining in its own right. It is atmospheric, and the plot is quite audacious in its ridiculousness. Plus Kelly Reilly reminds me of Marina Malfatti, so it is possible to see something of those crazy Italian films of the 70s in this. Recommended. Seen it too. Frankly I was surprised. I liked it a lot. Hard to believe that this is the same crew that did the boring Nile.
Sure, it tried to out-gothic every Gothic about Venice and went to ridiculous length to do this. But it worked. Very well done setting, and I want to have this house with the roof terrace. The last shot of the movie is so beautiful.
... I liked the cast. The only actress I thought misscast is Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver. But maybe I am biased because Zoe Wannamaker left such a strong impression in Suchet's Poirot as the character. A Haunting in Venice was easily my favorite of Branagh's Poirot adaptations. I enjoyed Murder just fine; Nile was not so good, and suffered from some truly cursed casting. I appreciated the ridiculous lengths that Branagh went to gothicize Venice, even (maybe especially) all the wild camera angles. I liked Fey, but I'm biased in her favor--she and my wife went to the same school (but not at the same time, so they've never met).
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Post by andydecker on Dec 3, 2023 12:54:34 GMT
Basically this follows the murder plot of HALLOWE'EN PARTY in most parts. I am happy you liked it, but no, it does not. It uses some names from the novel, that is all. But never mind. I have read the novel too long ago to be sure, only recently watched the Suchet adaption again, still, isn't the basic idea of the plot not this: An obsessed person (admittedly here a compilation of two different characters in the source material) is confronted with a person who claims to know about an earlier murder, which is not true. Regardless the obsessed person kills that character because there really was a murder, and later kills another person which it thinks is a blackmailer. Which is also wrong. Isn't that the basic idea of Christie's novel? Of course Christie is about money and obsession (the garden), and here it is just obsession. I don't want to argue that this is anything but a very, very free adaption, because of course it is. But there is surely more than just the names.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 3, 2023 13:10:51 GMT
I saw an interesting still from it. But Nicolas Cage... that's a dealbreaker for this viewer. The director, Richard Stanley, is notorious in film circles from having being fired after the first week from the disastrous shoot of a terrible 1990s remake of ISLAND OF LOST SOULS with Marlon Brando, who apparently thought they were remaking GREY GARDENS. H. I didn't knew this was made. This will be difficult. THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE is theoretically good movie material, but Cage? I have come to avoid his work. the last movie I saw of him was Drive Angry, which was okay. Mandy I read some good reviews. But I can't forgive the remake of Wickerman Or Left Behind. I have seen both Dust Devil and Hardware. Hardware I only have a hazy recollection about, but Dust Devil was pretty impressive. So there is hope that this won't be another Lovecraft light.
You might consider giving Cage another chance--I think he has been delivering entertaining performances in his recent horror films. I enjoyed The Color Out of Space tremendously on Friday. Would caution that it doesn't work the way these things "should" as it were, in "good" film terms. But I think it nails rapacious, unknowable cosmic force, there's a lot of trippily gorgeous neon violet, Nicolas Cage on hilarious good form (intentionally so at times) and some nice freakish body horror. Not read the story in about 20 years so can't really comment on how good it is as an adaptation, but I'd definitely rate it high on midnight movie terms. I agree with all of this. The visuals in The Color Out of Space are wonderfully psychedelic, and Cage is fun to watch. Speaking of trippiness, Mandy is like a series of black light posters, airbrushed paintings on the sides of vans, and 1980s heavy metal album covers brought to life--it's not for all tastes, but I enjoyed it immensely. Willy's Wonderland, which features Cage in a silent performance as a janitor fighting evil animatronic animals designed in the style of Chuck E. Cheese, is a more minor entry in his recent work, but still a good time-waster for a slow afternoon.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 3, 2023 14:39:48 GMT
An obsessed person (admittedly here a compilation of two different characters in the source material) is confronted with a person who claims to know about an earlier murder, which is not true. Regardless the obsessed person kills that character because there really was a murder, and later kills another person which it thinks is a blackmailer. Which is also wrong. Isn't that the basic idea of Christie's novel? At this level of abstraction, you are right, of course. But I would not call that a "plot," but rather a "theme." For me the central plot device in the novel is a wonderfully placed clue that in retrospect seems blatantly obvious. It is nowhere to be found in the film.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 3, 2023 15:12:28 GMT
At this level of abstraction, you are right, of course. But I would not call that a "plot," but rather a "theme." For me the central plot device in the novel is a wonderfully placed clue that in retrospect seems blatantly obvious. It is nowhere to be found in the film. You are right. These movies don't show or build up, they just tell. This is the weakest aspect of the Branagh movies. At the end he just knows because it is time. Like in so many crime shows patterend after the "reveal" in the last act, the viewer gets a few flashbacks substituting for any detection, while the detective explains how the murder was done.
This has become a lazy device, especially in "feel good" cozy crime shows like Death in Paradise. As unfair in story telling as the magic internet where you apparently can find doctor prescriptions from 1959 with a key stroke.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 3, 2023 20:03:22 GMT
The Colour Out of Space with Cage is available through the one "streaming" service I have, and if my schedule ever slows down, I might have a look at it one evening just out of curiosity. A couple of friends who saw it really liked it.
None of the other Lovecraft projects discussed with director Richard Stanley have come about, evidently because the film production company dropped him in the wake of abuse allegations. There was news about a lawsuit from him about this and then nothing. It's such a familiar tale these days.
Hel.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 15, 2023 4:41:48 GMT
I noticed that this film is now available on youtube; the person who posted the movie provided this blurb: The Curse of the Doll People (Spanish: MuƱecos infernales lit. "Infernal Dolls"), or The Devil Doll Men, is a 1961 Mexican horror film directed by Benito Alazraki. It was produced by CinematogrĆ”fica CalderĆ³n S.A. The screenplay by Alfredo Salazar is an uncredited adaptation of the novel Burn Witch Burn! by A. Merritt. Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_S3ssA1WcII thought this was good pulpy low-budget fun. I wondered if Robert Holmes had seen this because a couple of scenes made me think of a certain motif in the excellent Dr Who serial Terror of the Autons. it has its ridiculous moments but there are also some effectively creepy scenes for those who appreciate low-budget, black and white, mid century horror. Hel.
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