Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

BLOOD RED SKY (2021) - This is one of the BEST vampire movies I have ever seen, right up there with THE LOST BOYS and FRIGHTNIGHT (the original, not the crappy 2000's remake).  A woman with a mysterious blood disease boards a trans-Atlantic flight to New York with her son.  She is hoping that a special clinic in the USA will be able to reverse her symptoms, but a group of hijackers seizes control of the plane and turns it off course.  When she tries to hide with her son in the luggage compartment, one of the hijackers shoots her - and that is when you realize her blood disease is not something as humdrum as leukemia or AIDS.  Bloody mayhem ensues as the mysterious woman lets the infection take control of her, so that she can rescue her son from the terrorists.  This is a flipping brilliant film, available on Netflix. 5/5

[Alex]

The Deep House.

A haunted house with the added twist of being underwater. Fairly standard haunting type movie with the added problem of a limited oxygen supply. Some tension, but nothing that is going to give you nightmares. Still, I enjoyed it.

[lester1/2jr]

God Knows Where I Am - ehhh.... compelling story but the execution was flawed. A schizophrenic woman refuses to take her medication and ends up hiding out in an abandoned house for months on end. The problem is she's in New Hampshire and its freezing and shes too paranoid to seek help. Subsisting on apples for months at a time, she keeps a journal which is found with her body.

The journal provides a great insight into her mindset in those months, but the voice over readings are very "cringe" as the kids say. In general, the movie is geared towards women and the vibe is as much Lifetime as one of those crime channels. It's also overlong at around 100 mins.

a unique and touching story though that I'm glad I heard. Her friends and family are angry at the state for letting her out and not keeping tabs on her, but that was kind of their job wasn't it? Also difficult because when she was on her medication she was very normal so she could impress judges at hearings.

3.75 /5

[Dr. Whom]

Men (2022)

Harper (Jessie Buckley) has rented a lavish country house in a remote village to heal after the death of her husband. You immediately know something is afoot, when she must deal with a creepy naked stalker and all the men in the village have the face of Rory Kinnear.

It starts off pretty slow and portentous, but just as I was thinking that I liked Annihilation better, it gets into gear and quickly builds to a climax of body horror. This movie is not for everyone, not least because of its stubborn refusal to explain anything or even tell much of a story. At the end, you feel like some conclusion has been reaches, even though it is not clear what exactly. A very interesting take on the 'horror in an idyllic rural setting' genre.
Absolutely brilliant.

[FatFreddysCat]

"A Clockwork Orange" (1971)
Set in a dystopian future England, "Alex," the leader of a savage gang of street punks (Malcolm McDowell) is chosen for an experimental treatment that will hopefully remove his violent ways and make him a productive member of society. It doesn't quite work out that way.
Stanley Kubrick's artsy ode to "Ultra-Violence" was pretty strong stuff in its day, and it's still a weirdly watchable (and quotable) cult classic all these years later. As Alex himself might say, it's "real horrorshow, oh me brothers."

[FatFreddysCat]

"Robowar" (1988)
A team of commandos on a rescue mission in the jungle gets picked off one by one by an unseen hunter.
...sound familiar?
This absolutely shameless ripoff of "Predator" from Italian schlock kingpin Bruno Mattei replace Schwarzenegger with Reb Brown and the Predator with a malfunctioning military robot, but otherwise it's pretty much the same movie, done on 1/10th of the budget and with 1000 times the suck. Hilariously awful, z-grade, no-budget junk.

[Rev. Powell]

WYRM (2019): Suggesting a lighthearted cross between THE LOBSTER and WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, this story follows a geeky young boy who must kiss a girl to pass his required Sexuality 101 course and "pop his collar." Part absurdist farce and part earnest teen drama, the two agendas seem like they should work at cross purposes--but while you can sometimes see the seams, it all ultimately comes together in a charming addition to the quirky teen outcast genre. 4/5. 

[Trevor]

"A Clockwork Orange" (1971)
Set in a dystopian future England, "Alex," the leader of a savage gang of street punks (Malcolm McDowell) is chosen for an experimental treatment that will hopefully remove his violent ways and make him a productive member of society. It doesn't quite work out that way.
Stanley Kubrick's artsy ode to "Ultra-Violence" was pretty strong stuff in its day, and it's still a weirdly watchable (and quotable) cult classic all these years later. As Alex himself might say, it's "real horrorshow, oh me brothers."

Banned for over 20 years in South Africa 

[indianasmith]

JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION (2022)  I've been waiting a year or more to see this movie, and I was not disappointed.  I know some critics are knocking it, but ignore them.  It's all the characters we love, combined with wall-to-wall dino mayhem. After a very stressful week (my wife has been ill with flu or asthma, bad enough to necessitate one trip to the ER), it was nice to get out of the house and just lose myself in a fun movie.  HIGHLY recommended!  5/5

(And my favorite critter, the mosasaur, was in the first and last scene!!!)

[Rev. Powell]

THE MADS: PHANTOM FROM SPACE: This movie was directed by Billy Wilder's brother (a fact that inspires a lot of mockery) and involves an invisible alien who visits earth, kills people, and taps out a code (which seems like a major plot point but is never explained). The after-show guest is Bill Corbett, who's entertaining as always. Frank and Trace wring a few laughs out of this really pointless, talky and generally awful movie. Fans will be satisfied, but not one of their best to start with. 2.5/5.

[Dr. Whom]

Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (2022)

At the collapse of Goryeo kingdom in Korea, a general sails away with the royal treasure, in order to reestablish the dynasty at some later point. However, he disappears without trace. Then, a band of brigands falls in with a pirate ship, and they discover a map to the fabled treasure. However, a rogue warlord is also after the treasure.

The shadow of Pirates of the Caribbean hangs heavily over this movie. The idea was clearly to make a similar swashbuckling adventure, but set in a Korean period context. The leader of the brigands 'The best swordsman in all of Goryeo' is an obvious take on Captain Jack Sparrow.
That being said, it is quite enjoyable. It really is a kids' adventure movie, with non stop action, outlandish costumes, slapstick humour and lots of shouting. Silly but fun.

Also, this is the first time I have seen a treasure being guarded by penguins.

[Rev. Powell]

THE LAND OF CARDS (TASHER DESH) (2012): An avant-garde production of a 1933 Indian play about a prince who travels to an imaginary fascist playing-card themed world and inspires the populace to rebel through sexual innuendo. The pageantry of the sets and costumes and the mayhem of the second half made this watchable, but I lack the cultural and political touchstones that likely would have made this a far richer experience. On Netflix if you want to see something truly different that you probably won't understand. 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Viva Las Vegas" (1964)
A race car driver (Elvis Presley) arrives in Sin City to take part in the first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix, and takes a job as a hotel waiter to earn enough money to fix his car. Along the way he romances a swim instructor (Ann-Margret) and sings a bunch of terrible songs. Typically corny Elvis musical fluff, worth watching simply to ogle Ann-Margret, who was so hot it was ridiculous. Legend has it that the King and Ann had a brief real-life romance during the filming of this movie, and I can't say I blame him!

"Truck Turner" (1974)
Soul music legend Isaac Hayes is Mack "Truck" Turner, the most badass skip tracer in L.A., who winds up with a price on his head after he kills a powerful pimp. Cars crash, bullets fly, butts get kicked. This was one of the best "blaxploitation" movies of the 70s. Nichelle "Lt. Uhura" Nichols is amazing playing against type as the vicious dragon-lady villainess, and the famed "pimp funeral" scene is one of the greatest things ever committed to celluloid.

[Jim H]

The Night Watchmen - A horror comedy with vampires that behave more like zombies, besieging some night guards in a corporate type building.  This film is well-made and decently acted...  But it is overwhelmingly a comedy, and virtually every joke is mistimed, off-key, or somehow doesn't work.  Like, it's incredible, just misses the target over and over and over, to the point where it almost feels intentional.  So, basically, it's awful.  3/10.

Incidentally, I seem to be in the minority here...  Film's got good reviews I know.  But man, I think I was actually amused once or twice the entire film.  If humor doesn't work for you in a comedy, it just doesn't.

[indianasmith]

OLD (2021) - M. Night Shamalayan seems to have come out of the desert of terrible filmmaking that he was stranded in last decade with his last few offerings, and this is no exception.  The premise of the film is simple - three families are on vacation at a luxury resort when the hotel manager offers to drive them to a private beach where they can spend the afternoon away from the crowds. Once there, they discover that time does funny things on this beach - mainly, their bodies start aging with incredible rapidity, roughly two years for every hour or so. And every time they try to leave, whether by swimming or hiking back through the cave through the cliffs that they walked through to get there, they black out.  A six year old becomes a teenager and then a young man in a matter of an afternoon; health problems accelerate, and one by one the group dies of old age, until the last two children make a desperate bid to escape. 

This is a bizarre film to say the least, but certainly enjoyable and definitely not your run of the mill horror offering. 4/5