Well, a good list always sets the pace for my next movie marathon as my list shortens year by year. Here are the films that I haven't seen yet that have been on my mind lately.
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
Zombie Holocaust
The Devil Rides Out
Coffin Joe (all three)
Versus
Battle Royal
Wild Zero
Men Behind the Sun
Nekromantic
Vanishing Point
Wild Guitar
Hercules vs the Moon Men
Vampyres
The Vampire Lovers
Holy Mountain
El Topo
Dodge City
My Darling Clementine
The Ox Bow Incident
Vera Cruz
Hallaluja Trail
Companeros
The Great Silence
Face to Face
Aces High
A Bullet for a General
The Mountain Men
Breakheart Pass
Chatos Land
The Train Robbers
The Naked Spur
Pugatory
Master and Commander
Kill Bill (1and 2)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake)
Dawn of the Dead (remake)
The Alamo (the new one)
Hell Boy
There are more on my list, but these seem to be on my top 40 films to view for right now.
I'd avoid Nekromantic, it's not really a good bad movie. It's one i've seen once and don't want to see again.
Here are a few comments from yours truly:
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie - I have the DVD. One of the better horror movies from the 1970s.
Zombie Holocaust - I also have the DVD. Also known as DR. BUTCHER, MD.
Coffin Joe (all three) - I have AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL and THIS NIGHT I'LL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE. Both are must-see movies.
Battle Royal - I have the director's cut DVD. Very enjoyable.
Men Behind the Sun - I have old copies of parts 1 and 2 on VHS (dupes). Pretty gory and sometimes disturbing.
Nekromantic - One of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Too bad the gore effects are just average.
Vanishing Point - One of the best car chase movies ever. The DVD is cheap!
The Vampire Lovers - I have the DVD double feature. I haven't watched it yet (but I did see it on VHS about 20 years ago).
Master and Commander - Just bought the DVD over the weekend. Very interesting & great digital sound.
Kill Bill (1and 2) - Just bought part 1 on DVD and saw part 2 in the theater. Excellent movies.
Dawn of the Dead (remake) - Not great, but better than I expected. Worth seeing.
hellboy is a enjoyable movie ive seen it and thought it was ok. nothing really special about it its just a solid well done movie.
"Dont be a fool for ur tool"
Scott,
Look on Ebay for Versus and Battle Royale. I got a pretty sweet box set of Versus, BR, and Ringu for around 35.00 on DVD.
Be ready for some great action in both Versus and BR as they will completely blow you away. Both amazing films.
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is probably the best movie on the entire list out of the ones I've seen, definitely let that one be a top priority.
Scott, you
Must, must, must, must, must, must, must, must, must, must, must
See Dawn of the Dead remake ASAP. Definitely one of the best new films out today and much better than Hellboy. It drags a bit and is NOT scary, but it IS worth every penny.
The Mountain Men - Chuck Heston and Brian Keith having fun playing aging trappers. Critics seemed to hate it, but regular folks enjoy it, I know I do. Not a lost treasure but fun and exciting. Plus for some reason whenever I remember Keith's line "I can read sign, goddammit!" I crack up every time.
Breakheart Pass - the first 2/3 are very good, murder mystery on train in the Old West. For some reason, once the plot plays out, and the movie changes tone, I always turn against it. Based on an Alistair MacLean novel I keep telling myself to read and compare.
Chato's Land - I've never liked this one as much as some of Bronson's other movies from this time. Besides when I see how good of shape the man was in when he was 50 years old, I remeber that I need to start working out and quit watching so much TV.
Master and Commander - Hollywood manages to make a good old fashioned epic and not screw it up. makes me regret missing it in the theater. Left me with the best feeling I've had after watching a mainstream picture in years. I hope they make other Aubrey and Maturin films as long as they can maintain this level of qulaity and skill. Crowe actually looks pretty much how I saw Jack Aubrey in my head.
Vanishing Point - Even though the story is thin, this film is hypnotic and drawns me in everytime I see it, a favorite of mine.
Kill Bill Vol 1- watched it this morning for the first time. As a fanboy, I liked it for all the little touches and tributes to other genre films (but also felt it was kind of overloaded with them too). Love the touch of comedy from Sonny Chiba, hated the anime segement - seemed forced - maybe I'd like the story better if I see the rest of it. Still find myself wondering if QT can tell a complete story without leaning on other films and pop culture references so heavily. Will probably go see Vol 2 this week anyway since I'm glad to see David Carradine in something other than the low-end dreck he's been doing for so long.
The Vampire Lovers - don't remember much except that it was typical Hammer horror of the era. Lots of Ingrid Pitt nudity, always a good thing. If you haven't see it already I recommend the similar, "Twins of Evil" with Peter Cushing.
I wants to see the spaghetti westerns and the Jodorowsky films (only seen his Santa Sangre so far) on your list, as well as some others.
Darn! That's a long list, Scott. It'll keep you busy, if nothing else.
And double darn! Yaddo42 beat me to it on a couple of films, but, here it goes. These films can be divided into three: those that I have not seen, those that I have seen and did not enjoy, and those that I have seen and enjoyed.
Those that I have not seen. Only would like to comment on "The Devil Rides Out." I presume that is the one with Chris Lee and Charlie Gray. I have yet to find a person who has seen it and not liked it. Thus worth checking out for that reason alone.
Those that I have seen and not enjoyed. From worst to best (IMHO)
"Mountain Men"
Liked it much less then Yaddo42. Found it to be a poor western, a poor Charlton Heston film, and thus a poor Charlton Heston western.
"Dodge City"
Did not enjoy, but unllike the above film, probably worth checking out. Regarded as a good western, a good Errol Flynn film, and probably the best western Erro.l Flynn made.
"My Darling Clementine"
Again a film I did not enjoy, but even more highly regarded then the film above. Regarded as being a great western, a great John Ford and Henry Fonda film, , and thus a great Ford and Fonda western.
Those that I have seen and enjoyed. From best to worst (IMHO)
"The Ox-Bow Incident"
Probably with "My Darling Clementine," the most highly regarded western on the list, and thus one of the most highly regarded westerns of all time. W/ Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, Harry (Henry) Morgan, Jane Darwell, Frances (John Ford's brother) Ford, and Margaret Hamilton.
"Naked Spur"
If John Wayne and John Ford got together to create a highly regarded series of westerns, and Randolph Scott and Budd Boetticher got together to create another highly regarded series of westerns, then this shows how Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann got together to createt a third highly regarded series of westerns. Not my favorite of theirs, but regarded, by some, as being the best one they made together. W/ Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, and Millard Mitchell.
"Vera Cruz"
Not regarded as the best of those I have seen, but my favorite of those I had seen.
W/ Gary Cooper and Burt Lanc aster. A favorite, if for no other reason , then outside of "Casanova;'s Big Night," in no other film have so many great villains been gathered together in one film. W/ Cesar Romero, Geogre Macready, Henry Brandon, Charles Bronson, Jack Lambert, Jack Elam, and Ernest Borgnine, before "Marty" humanized him.
"Breakheart Pass"
Something of an oddity. Maybe because it is not a straight western. It is more of a mystery that takes place in the west. Yaddo42 mentioned that the book, which does closely follow the film, was written by Alistair Maclean. What some may not know, is that Alistair Maclean was also the author of "Guns of Navarone." Surprisingly well regarded, if Yaddo42 enjoyed "The Mountain Men" more then I did, then I enjoyed this one, more then he did. W/ Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, Jill (Bronson's wife) Ireland, Charles Durning, Ed Lauter, Bill McKinney, David Huddleston, and Archie Moore.
"Hallelujah Trail"
Like the film above something of an oddity. Maybe again because it is not a straight western. More like a comedy that takes place in the west. At least, one that I found funny. Especially, the attack on the wagon train. But, instead of the whites inside the wagon train holding off the Indians, here it is the Indians inside the wagon train holding off the white cavalry. Humorously , off course. W/ Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton, Donald Pleasence, Brian Keith, Marttin Landau, John Anderson, and Robert J. Wilkie.
"Train Robbers"
Not a great western. Not a great John Wayne film. Thus, not a great Wayne western, but, enjoyable none the less. Like most of his films from that time period. And there is nothing wrong with the cast. W/ Wayne, Ann-Margaret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Christopher George, Bobby Vinton, Jerry Gatlin, and Ricardo Montalban.
And that leaves my favorite of the films I have seen.
"The Alamo" (2004)
Forget the Fess Parker version. Forget the John Wayne version. Forget all the other versions. If "Saving Private Ryan," is the definitive film on combat in WWII, and "Glory" is the definitive film on combat in the American Civil War, then this is the definitive film, so far, as to what combat was like before the American Civil War. And the most definitive version of the story to date. Which may be why it is such a failure at the box office. Actually, one may want to see it twice. Once in the theatre, if it is still playing, on the big screen. And once on dvd, if there is a director's cut dvd, as alot of the story was cut out of the film to get in close to a two-hour running time.
W/ Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid.
Failure or not, I will say that the film has revived an interest in a certain chapter in Texas history. And, if one remembers "Star Trek: Deep Space 9," and Bashir's and O'Briens interest in re-fighting old military campagines, three of the battles they programmed into the holosuite on the station, were the battles of Thermopayle, the Battle of Britain, and the Alamo.
I really recommend LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE (1974) and ZOMBI HOLOCAUST (1979) for your viewing experience.
LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE is a Spanish-Italian take from director Jorge Grau on Romero's zombie theme, but to it's own level of social commentary (i.e., environmental activities on pollution, a common theme in 70's sci-fi/horror flicks, but done real well by Grau's direction) with lovely British scenery and great gore effects by Lucio Fulci's effects master Gianetto De Rossi. Don't believe the refference books claiming that it's a rip-off of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; the original script written by Sandro Cozentica originally did riff Romero's film, but Grau made some personal changes to make it different and original.
ZOMBI HOLOCAUST is a real wild Italian splatter flick that shows that those crazy Mediterranian dudes sure know how to deliver the gore. Zombies, cannibals, mad doctors, etc. are all on display by ZOMBIE producer Fabrizio De Angeles. Such sights as a zombie having it's face sliced-and-diced by a motorboat blade, a woman's scalp removed, and other images that are just too crazed to list! And don't forget to check out the outrageous dialouge ("The patient's screams disturbing me; performed the removal of her vocal chords"). And yet, it all falls into place.
Wow, some great comments from all the veterans on this great board. I'll take each comment accorded to such luminous badmovies.org posters. Thanks for the imput everyone.
Great frickin' list, man! I need to see many of those myself. I recently saw "The Great Silence" which is awesome. Just don't let the corny English overdubs bother you too much. Stick with it and you'll enjoy an excellent western. I also thought "Hellboy" was a helluva lot of fun. Much better than I expected. And don't let these others on the board get your expectations for "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" too high. It's a good zombie movie but it's not as good as any of the Romero films. It's an above average zombie effort, and well worth seeing, but overall I found it kind of tepid compared to the Romero flicks.
Wow, someone who has seen THE GREAT SILENCE. I'm impressed Hugomarink. I have yet to see this Spagetti Western.