films we just saw

[Mr Bill]

I deliberately skipped Saint at the fest because I got it mixed up with Priest which just arrived on dvd, and isn't good.
Priest is a bit like Jonah Hex meets Daybreakers and every bit as weak as that sounds.
Now I'm dead curious about Saint... must try to stop being an idiot.

[sherbetbizarre]

Apollo 18 - shite

[Maniacal]

Apollo 18 - shite

This.

[mamawaldi]

Wondered what Dick Maas got up to between Amsterdamned and Saint so I sniffed out a couple of his american efforts:

Down - a fun 'killer lift' film with Naomi Watts(!), Michael Ironside and Ron Perlman. Similar in tone to Saint I guess. Likeable despite some strange plotting and duff jokes and

Do Not Disturb - a bloody dreadful hokey thriller with William Hurt and Jennifer Tilley. At least this has the distraction of an Amsterdam setting but it's hilariously bad.

[sherbetbizarre]

Cheers - I'll try and get ahold of these...

[Rue-morgue Jay]

THE RUM DIARY: Not bad, i can find 6 resaons to go see it. Johnny depp may be the star of the film, but giovanni ribisi steals it.
THE AWAKENING: pretty good too. definately in my top 10 of the year. Which i a good thing, but the fact that i haven't seen that many goods films this year as a whole is very disappointing. TOP 10 is too close to the truth.

[soberdave72@hotmail.com]

saw SNOWTOWN yesterday, on the strength of Danny Leigh and Claudia Winklemen's review on film 2011, comparing it to Henry:Portrait Of A Serial Killer, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre in its intensity.

Although its not as mesmerising as Henry, its certainly powerful, and extremely well acted. Daniel Henshall as real serial killer John Bunting is outstanding.

The first time Director Justin Kurzel, is one to watch out for, the atmosphere of sleaze and violence he creates is striking.

One of the best films of the year.

[streetrw]

I've taken this month off from horror movies and have been concentrating instead on 80s (and a few early 90s) action movies. COMMANDO, COBRA, THE DELTA FORCE..... Chuck "Chuckles" Norris, Arnie, Sly. Films which I haven't seen for 20 years or more.

Interesting that some of them have held up quite well - EXTREME PREJUDICE was incredible ballsy entertainment, TANGO AND CASH was hilarious - while COBRA and NAVY SEALS look faintly stupid. I'd forgotten everything about RAW DEAL, the Arnie movie everyone forgets about, which is perhaps unsurprising in the shadow of PREDATOR, COMMANDO and the TERMINATORs. RED HEAT was kind of entertaining though. Norris' CODE OF SILENCE was pretty good fare though the robot thing at the end was something Sylvester McCoy couldn't have taken seriously.

My favourite was probably THE SPECIALIST (okay, it's a 1994 film that came out in January 1995, which is a bit later than the other films): while it's mainly notable for some spectacular explosions, a wonderful John Barry score and Stallone and Sharon Stone getting down to basics in the shower, the movie is stolen by the triumvirate of bad guys of whom Eric Roberts is the most normal and well-balanced. The great Rod Steiger is possibly doing Cuban and overacting wildly, but it's James Woods' film: he's clearly having a blast (literally) and the movie takes off every second he's on screen. Delirious.

[mamawaldi]

Nice idea ! If memory serves, Tango and Cash is Stallone's love letter to Jackie Chan - some sequences are ripped right out of Police Story. Will have to revisit the Specialist, the only bit I remember is the shower sequence
Yeah, lots of time for Sly.

[soberdave72@hotmail.com]

Although obviously, The Thing (2011) is not as good as Carpenter's 1982 version, I have to say that compared to a lot of the dross out there, its a hugely enjoyable monster movie in its own right, and a good night out. One of the best non frightfest genre films of the year.

Like the fact that it's a prequel rather than a straight remake, particularly the ends credits sequence, The new Thing effects are CGI but not intrusive, and it keeps the bodyhorror look of Carpenter. The effects are suitably yukky.

Also like the fact, that its played seriously, and is actually a lot more scary than I thought it would be. Some good action pieces, and love that we see more of the crashed spaceship. Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes a good Ripley esque lead.

Certainly not the disaster many feared, and a good companion piece to the two previous Thing movies.

[Maniacal]

Hugo, possibly my film of the year. Though I still have a warm place in my heart for Some Guy Who Kills People, Kidnapped and The Divide.

[mamawaldi]

Christmas viewing....
For viewers in black and white, Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie on BBC iplayer.
Tenebrae and Deep Red as I continue my initiation into the land of Argento. What a film Deep Red is !
and on Christmas Day itself, I went for the original Black Christmas which it has to be said, is a deliciously creepy film.

My favourite non-horror viewing was The Devil at your Heels - which I missed at the Duke Mitchell Night but is legitimately available to all on Youtube. Its a brilliant, funny and tragic documentary about crazy Canadian stunt car driver Ken Carter and his life's ambition to jump a car across the St Lawrence river. Very entertaining.

[Melvin Junko]

Another year and another journey into the depts of obscure films in a challenge to watch 365 movies in 12 months. Watched about 440 last year so it shouldn't be a problem Here's the list so far:

1: Strange things happen at sundown - Not the best way to start of the new year, pretty lame low budget vampire gangster stuff in a movie that's about 45 minutes too long. Not very good!

2: Cybernator - Cheesy Cyborg Sci Fi goodness released by Troma. Enjoyable.

3: Near Dark - Vampire movie done the right way, loved it.

4: Hellgate - A bit of a mess but very entertaining slice of 80's cheese.

5: City of God - Hadn't seen this in years, still love it. Looking forward to reading the book.

6: Stiff Odds - Very low budget and silly zombie flick brought by the fine people at Brain Damage Films.

7: Otis - Great film about a crazy pizza delivery guy who locks up girls in his basement until his latest victim escapes and her family goes on a revenge mission.

8: Voodoo Academy - Really lame movie about a Bible school ran by demons. Waste of time.

9: The Avenging Fist - Futuristic Martial Arts by the director of Stormriders. With Sammo Hung. Mad stuff, loved it.

10: A Snake of June - Starts out as what seems to be a typical Japanese stalker / sexual pervert kinda thing but being directed by Shinya Tsukamoto it's no suprise that it ends in a nice little bit of WTFery.

11: Rampage - Best Uwe Boll movie I've seen, raw, brutal, good stuff.

12: Salvage - Expected more from this Brittsish horror movie. Quite lame I thought.

13: Sheitan - Not the best French Horror I've seen but pretty entertaining. Nothing special though.

14: Chanbara Striptease - Japanese boobies and swordfights, what's not to love haha.

15: Panda Express - Pretty mental Chinese movie about a guy that starts a delivery company and has a Panda to deliver as his first job. Great fun.

16: Horno - Low budget Horror about a porn director who's making a mix between a Horror and a Porno. Yup, a Horno. Nothing too special but it was only 50 minutes long so didn't get boring.

17: Forgive me for raping you - With a title like that it could be Japanese but it turned out to be a very low budget American movie about a raping and killing priest. Too long and pretty boring, some good lines though, like 'Don't call me father, call me daddy'.

18: Get Crazy - Great 80's party flick about a newyears eve concert in a theather. Loved the energy of this one.

19: Death Spa aka Witch Bitch - Another lovely slice of 80's cheese!

20: Stingray Sam - Now what the hell was this. Consisting of 6 10 minutes episodes this was one hell of a weird, funny, low budget piece of black and white weirdness. Must watch again when severely intoxicated.

21: American Astronaut - From the same director as Stingray Sam, pretty much just as crazy. Loved it.

22: Portrait of Hell - Late 60's (I believe) Japanese Horror about a painter who's hired by a tyrant to paint his temple. Not bad.

23: Princess Warrior - Cheesy 80's Sci Fi that could have been made by the great Fred Olen Ray. Bottle of wine, some snacks and good times!

24: Teenage Catgirls in Heat - Great mess involving suicidal cats and boobs. Released by Troma. Loved it.

25: The Return of the Revenge of the Curse of the Ghost of the Evil of the Son of Frankenstein - Didn't expect much but wow what a terrible, terrible piece of crap haha.

[soberdave72@hotmail.com]

saw Intruders yesterday, very limited release.

Enjoyable little Chiller, which has a really creepy atmosphere, unusually set in both Spain, and England.
Kind of like Monsters inc, done seriously with two kids in different countries, being menaced by a nasty from the closet- which resembles, Hug A "Hoodie" crossed with the ghost from The Frighteners.

Worth catching, although the film's denoument will divide opinion, I rather liked it.

Good to see the 28 days later director staying in the genre.

[Melvin Junko]

Little update, I'm way ahead of schedule haha.

26: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Not bad for a remake but still pointless, ads nothing to the original and a bit of a cop out ending.

27: Graduation Day - Pretty average slasher released by Troma. Nothing Special.

28: Blackula - What's not to love! Classic stuff!

29: Death Cheaters - Australian action flick that starts of very promising, I was hoping for it to be on par with The Man From Hong Kong but it drags a bit too long and there's not all that much of a climax. Still pretty good.

30: Space Raiders - This is how I love my sci-fi, 80's cheese crappynes at it's best!

31: Hospital Massacre - Another pretty average slasher.

32: Conquest - No, not the Jenna Jameson pirate porn but Fulci's epic WTF fest. Perfect viewing while intoxicated.

33: Night of the Creeps - Why have I never seen this before! So good!

34: Nam Angels - 80's movie about Hell's Angels in Vietnam going on a mission for the army. Very entertaining.

35: Ogroff the mad Mutilator - French ultra low budget gore crapfest. Hardly any dialogue, just a guy with a mask running around killing people. Oh yeah, there's zombies as well. If you like a bit of Andreas Schnaas then this is highly reccomended!

36: Prisoners of the Lost Universe - One can never have too much cheesy 80's SCi Fi!

37: Queen of Black Magic - Indonesian black magic with some good magic battles and gore.

38: Naked Space - Not a single boob but instead we get Leslie Nielsen and a dancing space monster. Good times.

39: Rider of the Skulls - 1965 black and white Mexican horror western. Pretty weird stuff with a Zorro-like guy fighting a werewolf, a vampire and other monsters. Pretty whack!

40: Fortress - Not the Christopher Lambert one but a 1985 Australian TV movie about a Teachers and a bunch of schoolkids who get kidnapped by some guys and start fighting back. Not bad at all.

41: Miami Golem - Pretty descent 80's Sci Fi.

42: Zombie Death House - A Vietnam vet ends up on Deathrow for a crime he did not Commit. As if that's not enough there's a zombie outbreak in the prison as well.

43: The Demons of Ludlow - Some boring stuff about a haunted piano or something. Didn't care much for it.

44: Tetsuo the Bullet Man - Not bad but they should have kept it in Japanese.

45: The Fruit is Swelling - Hong Kong cat III erotic comedy, you know what to expect.

46: Pan's Labyrint - Still love it!

47: Hobo with a Shotgun - Still love it as well!

48: Helldriver - Sushi Typhoon Japanese gore madness, Couple of glasses of wine and a few smokes and there you go!

49: The Entity - Hadn't seen this in ages, love this movie. The ghost rape music gets a bit annoying though.

50: Mallrats - Not Kevin Smiths best work but still good for a few laughs.

51: The Immoral Mr Teas - Russ Meyer stuff that I didn't like very much.

52: Up! Now that's better, classic Russ Meyer!

53: Vital - Shinye Tsukamoto's least weird film? A guy loses his memory in a car crash and starts studying medicine. He seems to know the girl on the dissection table. Pretty heavy stuff, left me feeling quite uncomfortable.

54: Wolf Creek - Another one I hadn't seen in ages. Still pretty good.

55: Amelie - Really liked this one, a bit of a breath of fresh air in the midst of all the crazy shit I usually watch haha.

56: Gojoe - Japanese Demon film that could have done with a bit more action.

57: Mushishi - Fantasy from the director of Akira, really like it.

58: Natural City - Korean Sci Fi epic, some pretty good action scenes.

59: Deathsport - David Carradine cheese fest, what's not to like!

60: The Bride with the White Hair - Wanted to see this for ages and finally found a cheap copy on dvd. Wow, this was amazing! It all looks great and there's some wild stuff going on. Right up there with Zu, Stormriders and Chinese Ghost Story. Loved it!

61: Perth - the first Singaporean movie I've ever seen and I wasn't too impressed.

62: Infection - Great Japanese horror about people getting infected in a hospital and turning into zombie like creatures.

63: K20 - The Legend of the Black Mask - Epic Japanese Sci Fi adventure. Bit too long but some great action at times.

64: Aquarium - Pretty lame French movie about a bunch of people who wake up in a locked room and have to play a game to survive. Nothing special at all, glad it was only an hour long.

65: Saving Grace - Another little break from all the sickness, really like this one.

66: A Tale of Two Sisters - I think I was a bit too tired to fully understand what was going on. Will have to watch it again at some point.

67: Ninja Vixens - Demonic Sacrifices - Low budget sexy Japanese Ninja girls, how can you go wrong!

68: Ninja Vixens - Crimson Blades - Little less fun than Demonic Sacrifices but still time well spent

69: This Night I will Possess your Corpse - 2nd Coffin Joe movie, and a great little piece of horror!

70: The Strange World of Coffin Joe - liked this one a whole lot less, 3 short stories that just couldn't get me interested. I suppose the last one was ok but it was too late by then.