Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Rev. Powell]

RELIC (2020): A mother and granddaughter check up on the family matron, who lives alone in the family's old homestead; dementia may be the least of the old woman's problems. For the first hour, it's mostly straightforward drama with a few spooky bumps in the night, but the final act delivers some scares (and heavy symbolism). And you thought your mom put up a fight when you put her in the nursing home! 3/5 (I suspect many will find it too boring, but since my mom has dementia, I identified with it).

Ive kept hearing about how scary this film is (which I put down as the usual over/hyping). This is the first time I've actually heard what the film was about.

I enjoyed it well enough, but it's not very scary. Final scene is a little weird/eerie.

[Rev. Powell]

THE MAD FOX [AKA LOVE, THY NAME BE SORROW] (1962): A fantasy set in medieval Japan involving prophecies, court intrigue, magic scrolls, madness, fox spirits and tragic romance. A sumptuous spectacle for the eyes, it starts slow but grows on you once Yasuna's madness hits, turning into a kind of Japanese fairy tale VERTIGO with three Madeleines. Arrow Video found and restored this forgotten minor classic and re-released it on Blu-ray this year.   4/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Grindhouse Presents: Planet Terror" (2007)
When a zombie outbreak grips a small Texas town, it's up to a one-legged go-go dancer and her ex-military ex-fiancee to lead a group of survivors to safety. Bullets fly, stuff blows up, and gallons of blood splash across the scratched-up screen.
Robert Rodriguez's action packed half of the "Grindhouse" two-fer is a pitch perfect ode to the ultra-violent B-Movies of the 70s, with an excellent cast (incl. Josh "Thanos" Brolin, Michael "Terminator" Biehn, gore makeup guru Tom Savini, and Bruce Willis) somehow managing to keep a straight face through all the guts, gore, and goop. Rose "Charmed" McGowan was at her peak of hotness (even if her character is missing a leg for most of the movie) when she made this flick. Tons of gonzo, over the top, gross-out fun.

[pennywise37]

i'm Currently watching Jaws  (1975) and while i do agree it's a great film it's not the greatest horror film ever made like some horror movie list it as as i've seen far far better horror films. but that sure doesn't mean i don't give it a sold 10/10.   

anyways the mayor reminds me that douche bag in Florida who refuses to close Florida or any of it cause Trump don't want him to and he wants to Bone Trump.
not that much of a difference between the mayor and this mayor. but if i recall someone saying that he's doing it cause their is a mafia subplot i used to have the book and i never got around to read it but a flood in our old house ruined that for me so i never got a chance to read it. anyways, man that still p**ses me off.

anyways leaving Trump out of course this Mayor is just like is it the mayor or the governor i forget which? and the people wanting to go swimming and so on etc... reminds me of the idiots who refuse to acknowledge that this virus is freaking real and not wearing masks etc... it's funny as i said this on another site how a film shot in (1974) pretty much is made about the Covid-19  virus years and years before we got it that's what it feels like to me in both cases it's a killer shark but of course substitute the shark for a virus.

[Alex]

The bit about the mafia subplot in the book is right.

[Gabriel Knight]

I never could past the first 15 minutes of that movie, way too boring and uninteresting. One day I'm going to suck it up and watch it to give an honest opinion.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hangar 18" (aka "Invasion Force," 1980)
A space shuttle mission encounters a UFO, which then crashes in the Arizona desert. When the shuttle crew returns to Earth and tries to tell the world what they've seen, they find out the U.S. Government has covered up the entire incident. The only way they can expose the truth is to reveal the alien craft's hiding place, at Hangar 18.

This charming, cheap little sci-fi/conspiracy thriller is well written and features a cast of dependable B-list veterans like Robert Vaughan, Darren McGavin, and Gary Collins, but it's let down slightly by the obvious budget restraints -- it may have been released theatrically, but it looks like a made-for-TV flick. I hadn't seen this since I was a kid, and it was fun revisiting it.

Of course, it also inspired a certain Megadeth song that you might know!

[lester1/2jr]

I'm watching Lathe of Heaven right now. the BBC taped over all their original copies of things so this is from some random affiliate in boogie on the nose snot england. mediocre qual   but great story


okay so this is a Monkey's paw variation featuring a ton of ugly but awesome post ww2 architecture. A guy can change fate by having dreams about things. He goes to see a psychiatrist to get some help. Unfortunately the shrink is a power hungry ideologue who wants to play God and cure all the problems in the world.

5/5 on yt I have seen a DVD version and it's exactly the same

[FatFreddysCat]

"Evil Dead" (2013)
In this 21st century "re-imagining" of Sam Raimi's 1981 splatter classic, a group of twenty somethings gather at a secluded cabin, muck around with a spell book they find in the cellar, and awaken something evil in the forest. Hilarity, of course, does not ensue.
I usually don't have very high hopes for remakes, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one, which wastes no time getting to the nasty stuff and keeps a frenzied, grimy, balls-to-the-wall pace all the way through. Finally, a horror remake that doesn't suck! Who knew?

[pennywise37]

Jaws (1975) is a film that starts off slow there's not a doubt about that but it's a slow start and it's within 20 or 25 minutes of the film where the Mayor wants the beaches open. it's a solid movie and i can see why people love it don't get me wrong but it's not the best horror movie ever made like so many lists have it as.

i'm a bigger fan of say "Tourist Trap' (1979) or Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) which isn't the best either but it's one of my favorites Hangar 18 i have seen that one
but i saw the MSKT3000 KTMA years when they did i didn't think it was that great of a film, but actually the film has 2 versions of it and i saw one of them and they both have different endings as well if i recall.  i'm willing to watch the 2nd version though i dunno which one i did watch but i hope it's better than the one i did watch. as for the Evil Dead remake (2013) that movie is 7 years old already? Damn i didn't realize it and i dunno why i just haven't seen that one yet.

[pennywise37]

oh the Jaws films is my nephews 2nd favorite film of all time he's only 8 by the way, his other is Finding Nemo (2003) but he loves the Jaws films.

i don't think he's seen that many horror films to be honest but him being only 8 it's understandable ya know? i can't see him watching Friday the 13th though well any of them for that matter not at age 8.  some of you prolly did but i don't remember what age i did but i doubt i was 8 at the time

[Dr. Whom]

Brazil (1985).

Terry Gilliam's triumph of style over substance. Absolutely stunning vision of a bureaucratic nightmarish world, but he spends so much time setting it up that we are a full hour and a half in before the story properly speaking sets in. Even then the story kind of meanders along to take in as many visual set pieces as it can manage. Magnificent, but after a time I got indigestion. Shoutout for the Messerschmitt Kabinenroller, though.

The movie takes place at Christmas, so does that make it a Christmas movie?

[Rev. Powell]

HUMAN LANTERNS (1982): A lantern-maker gets revenge on his arch-enemy by turning his loved ones into lanterns. A ridiculous plot (which some may find a plus), but the Shaw Brothers spent a lot of money on this one: the sets are eye-catching, and the fight choreography is amazing. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Battle Star Wars" (2020)
Some space pirates, a couple of cute girls in tight outfits, and a mystic warrior type protect a planet of innocent refugees from a galactic bad guy and his evil forces.
In case the title didn't make it immediately obvious, this is The Asylum's attempt to ride the coat tails of the latest Star Wars trilogy and it's enjoyably bad.
On the plus side, the sets don't look like they're made of cardboard for a change, and there are even a couple of halfway decent CGI space-battle sequences... but as usual, the acting is atrocious and the costumes look like they were bought off the clearance rack at Party City the day after Halloween. (The "Darth Vader" character is just an ordinary looking guy in a long robe which looks like a smoking jacket, so I dubbed him "Space Hefner.")
Apparently this flick was shot in a mere six days (!) and there's already a sequel in the works. Lord knows I'll probably watch that too, because I'm a glutton for punishment.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Final Level: Escaping Rancala" (2019)
More mock-buster fun from our friends at the Asylum!
Ten years ago, a girl's brother mysteriously disappeared without a trace while playing a vintage video game at the local arcade. Now, she and two of her gal pals fire up the same game and are drawn into its virtual world, where they must battle a variety of enemies in order to rescue him and bring him home.
...Asylum pulls off a two-fer with this flick, cuz it's ripping off "Ready Player One" and the recent "Jumanji" reboots. As usual, the script is a mess, the acting is totally amateur night, and the special effects are cheap crap, but on the other hand, there's three times the cleavage (Seriously fellas, the redhead in this movie is a stone cold fox).
My video game obsessed 12 year old bailed on this before it was over, but I enjoyed this cheesy fun flick. Asylum movies are like potato chips, you can't have just one.