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Post by marksamuels on May 19, 2011 22:57:39 GMT
But maybe it's time to see a GOOD film for a change...? Try "Black Swan" (assuming, of course, you've not already seen it). I think that's a good 'un. Not quite as good as his (i.e. Aronofsky's) earlier efforts "PI" or "Requiem for a Dream", but hey ho. Mark S.
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Post by lemming13 on May 20, 2011 8:23:59 GMT
I'm still lured by the east at present, so last night it was Demon Empire; quite a lot of fun, actually, though a bit grimmer in tone than expected. The wire flying works so much better in an overt fantasy. Nice storyline, though as usual the box blurb seems to have come from someone who hasn't actually watched it, and some really beautiful effects - demons dissolve slowly into flakes of flickering ash when killed, and the heroine battles using flower petals. Very poetic. Followed up with Japanese horror flick Ghost Train, which is actually pretty good; another one which tries to build up an atmosphere of tension and fear rather than rubbing your nose in severed limbs and entrails. On the other hand that can be fun, so I finished with the remake of 2001 Maniacs; another that I found most enjoyable. Robert Englund was made for that part. Haven't watched the sequel, so I can't comment on that, but I think Herschel would have enjoyed this one himself. Incidentally I heartily recommend the remake of Wizard of Gore with Crispin Glover - Jeffrey Combs, too, two of my favourite cinematic nutters for the price of one.
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Post by andydecker on May 20, 2011 8:57:44 GMT
starring Dick Miller as a wannabe beatnik sculptor, who does a Mystery of the Wax Museum. ... Memorable in later years as Mr Futterman in Gremlins and the unlucky gunshop owner in TerminatorNow that is a actor which always makes me smile. Always just bit-parts, still after 30 years or more I know him better than a host of his fellow actors of the time. He is truly unique.
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Post by ramseycampbell on May 21, 2011 10:39:24 GMT
Then we watched Karloff and Jack Nicholson in Roger Corman's The Terror, which was bizarrely plotted, didn't make much sense, but it had Karloff and Nicholson and Dick Miller again! The film was split into a prologue, main story, then an epilogue. The prologue and epilogue were set twenty years after the main story and I was impressed that Dick Miller, who was the only member of coast to be in these and the main story, actually looked twenty years older - till I discovered that these bits were actually filmed twenty years later! Corman had odd sequences filmed in the belief he could one days patch them together into a film. Almost worked. Could you say which DVD distributor this is, David? In fact the prologue and epilogue weren't on the original release, and I've never seen them. Corman added them in an attempt to reclaim the lost copyright on the film.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 21, 2011 11:55:57 GMT
Apparently there is a German DVD of THE TERROR that features these additions.
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Post by andydecker on May 22, 2011 12:00:57 GMT
I have bought this edition, I think. I have to check. I watched it but have only some hazy recollection about it.
I will see this evening and post.
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Post by andydecker on May 22, 2011 16:32:25 GMT
,The film was split into a prologue, main story, then an epilogue. The prologue and epilogue were set twenty years after the main story and I was impressed that Dick Miller, who was the only member of coast to be in these and the main story, actually looked twenty years older -. So I checked. This version begins with a scene of Karloff lifting a gate, then after the titles you have an older Dick Miller killing two guards while infiltrating a dungeon and stumbling upon sorcerer von Leppe who is just summoning a demon. After some fisticuffs Miller lands on a rack and tells the henchman a story. Cut to a very young Nicholson riding in napoleonic uniform at a beach, intercut with a lot of recycled stills from the Poe movies. At the end you have an epilog with Miller again. This german edition is done by an outfit called E-M-S. It is still avaiable at Amazon Germany for 10€ as The Terror - Schloß des Schreckens. It is a lame edition, the extras are basic, no different languages, no comments, no original version.
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Post by David A. Riley on May 22, 2011 21:41:04 GMT
I'll have to get back to you next week about this, Ramsey, as the DVD is at Garstang at the moment and I'm in Oswaldtwistle.
It was in one of those cheap four horror film sets in one box, containing two discs. But I'll post the full details when I have the box to hand.
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Post by lemming13 on May 24, 2011 9:22:28 GMT
Damn, my version is the cheapo from Poundland with no extra bits. Must hunt this one up. Meanwhile, I dulled my cravings with Octopus (another from the B Movie box set, and another that caused me and the offspring to ache with laughter), Burke and Hare (you were all right, it could have been funnier, but I didn't think it was all that bad - it's just the disappointment of a cast, director and writer we know could have made a work of genius turning out a work of adequacy) and Doctor Who - The Curse of Peladon. Yes, rubber suits, high pitched campy tentacle thingy, wobbly sets and all, but a rather good story with some nice ideas. I just wish the BBC would let some of the excellent fan animators out there cgi an alternative version. Keep the original on the disc for the purists, but let the rest of us take a look at what it could have been like with a bigger budget and more time.
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on May 25, 2011 1:16:35 GMT
Wake Wood (2011)
I enjoyed it, but it still feels a bit of a wasted opportunity, although this is not actually Hammer, just presented by them. The deleted scenes also reveal it has been opened up to 1.78:1 from 2.35:1 (a process that seems to be on the increase, unfortunately, but at least it was opened up & not cropped to 1.78:1). It's early days yet though. I'm not expecting the full gothic horror, etc. as the time has gone really & so have the people involved (sadly) & really it's only Hammer in name.
The Walking Dead series 1 (2010)
I'm already impatient for series 2! I used a free blockbuster rental on it, rather than watch it on 5 with ad breaks & a week between episodes.
Odd to see Andrew Lincoln (This Life) as an american sheriff's deputy.
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Post by killercrab on May 25, 2011 2:01:24 GMT
I seem to be one of the few who really enjoyed WAKE WOOD ! It felt very much like the type of modern rural horror that the studio should be producing now and bodes well for the WOMAN IN BLACK. Maybe I've a taste for paganistic filmmaking since I love stuff like BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW , CRY OF THE BANSHEE etc. This seemed to fit well and had a flavour of the old Hammer House Of Horror series about it which can only be a good thing! Plenty of gore too.
KC
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on May 28, 2011 20:24:19 GMT
Red Riding Trilogy - 1974, 1980, 1983 - (2009)
I watched all 3 films in one go, which is really how they need to be seen & they're that engrossing, that you'll want to anyway.
Fictional but based on actual events (The Yorkshire Ripper case, police corruption investigations, various child murder cases, etc.), it's as dark as they come & powerful with it. All of the cast are great & it's hard to pick stand-outs, but Sean Harris is certainly one (playing corrupt copper Bob Craven).
The only criticism I have is in places in the final film, some flashbacks are not well distinguished from the present, but that's minor & they're certainly films I'd watch again.
Considering the 3 films are made by 3 different directors, they fit together well, with no jarring style changes (they're there, but subtle). It's a shame there wasn't the budget to film all 4 books & so we lose 1977.
Not having read the books, I've just reserved all 4 from the library, looking forward to them.
A US remake helmed by Ridley Scott is in the works, but I can't see Red Riding working outside of its Yorkshire setting, especially as the plan is to condense it into one film.
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Post by killercrab on May 30, 2011 15:47:07 GMT
Screamtime 1983
A British anthology film directed by Mark Of The Devil's Michael Armstrong. Three interlinked stories that is much like Tales From The Crypt with ripped jeans and perms. The creepiest story is the first , nicely shot in Brighton ( from the looks) about a down trodden Punch and Judy man. The second is a haunted house story with a twist - probably the bloodiest of the three and finally the last includes a garden gnome attacking a burglar ( to be seen to be believed).
The linking story is set in NY , where thieves rob a video store and watch their haul.
KC
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 6, 2011 8:35:54 GMT
Had a sudden outbreak of train fever during the spawns' latest holiday, possibly a subconscious desire to escape from chattering pre-teen girls constantly asking me what I was doing ('preparing for a ritual human sacrifice, care to volunteer?' is apparently not the best way to shut them up and make them leave any more, damn it). So I sat down with Horror Express, Death Line and the Japanese Ghost Train. Epic entertainment.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 13, 2011 12:32:50 GMT
Had booked a couple of days off last week in anticipation of attending the Bradford Fantastic Films Weekend, which proved a financial non-starter, so, as I had copies of most of the stuff I'd have wanted to see, I decided to stage my own festival -
Friday Bloodbath At The House Of Death - Vincent Price proves as gifted at comedy as Kenny Everett in 80s Brit Horror Comedy Sci-Fi madness. Stupid bloody candle! Gareth Hunt and Don Warrington camp it up and amongst many 70s/80s horror film parodies, the Sheila Steafel as Carrie proves nerve-wracking and hysterical (SPOILER) Decapitation by tin opener! Horror Express - it's got its own thread here, so no real need to cover its genius. Hands Of The Ripper - top late Hammer psychic hand-me-down slashings with Eric Porter acting everyone off the park (SPOILER) Never thought I'd see Dora Bryan impaled on a door with a poker, nor Lynda Baron stabbed through the eye. The Exorcist. Time hasn't been too kind to some of the shock elements - the foul language and suggestions seem merely risible, but the effects just about hold up, many taking place in brightly lit scenes. Max Von Sydow in redoubtable form. The good bits now seem to be the non in-yer-face elements.
Saturday Plague Of The Zombies - mid period Hammer - all the cliches are there but the execution is flawless.John Carson, Andre Morell and, yes, Michael Ripper on top form. Jacqueline Pearce - sweetly pretty and dead scary in undead form. This was followed by the Karnstein Trilogy (The Vampire Lovers/Lust For A Vampire/Twins Of Evil) back to back. I'd never seen them in such close proximity before (good job I'm getting old) and it raised (oo-er) a number of questions, not least about the chronology. Is the death by staking/decapitation (fire won't do) from Le Fanu? It's stressed in all three pictures.
Sunday
Lazy day, with just time for Edward Scissorhands - typical Burton adult fairytale , quite affecting, especially Vincent Price, and a film I hadn't seen for far too long - Nothing But The Night. Not particularly horrifying or thrilling, but interesting if you've an interest in how life was lived in the early 70s (Keith Barron's bachelor pad is a sight to behold) and the chance to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing investigating a not very mysterious mystery. Very laid back before the last five minutes when it goes a bit bonkers.
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