Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

The Killing Hour (aka The Clairvoyant) 1982 - pretty disposable movie that has some okay horror elements. 2 different reviews on IMDB cite Giallo similarities but thats only accurate to the extent that most giallos are pretty mediocre. Also, I saw a movie with this exact same plot like a month ago. Easily the worst aspect of this movie is Detective Weeks, the dumb bad detective who moonlights as a stand up doing imitations of George Burns and is supposed to be charming?

A woman starts seeing crimes in her mind that are also taking place in real life. Its "The Hand Cuff Killer"! The most effective kill is one where he handcuffs a persons leg to the bottom of the ladder in a pool and they drown.

Without weak Weeks this could have been a decent grindhouse flick. stupid but okay
3/5

[indianasmith]

SACRIFICE (2020) - A man and his pregnant wife return to the village in Norway where he was born to claim the home his mother bequeathed him in her will.  They quickly discover that the hospitable villagers are actually members of a cult that worships a slumbering sea demon.  Cool premise, very slow and boring movie - with WAY TOO MANY dream sequences!  How many time is something bizarre and terrifying going to happen, only to see a pregnant woman jerk awake and realize you've been had again?   2.5/5

[Alex]

The Deep Ones.

Another film based loosely around Lovecraft's works, but with boobs added in. A couple takes a holiday at a seemingly idyllic seaside retreat. Right from the start, the locals seem somewhat off although overly friendly. Me, I'd have gotten the hell out of there about the time I met the local doctor.

[zelmo73]

DONKEY PUNCH (2008) - Four young men pick up three young English girls at a club and take them on a spin in a borrowed yacht, looking to get high, party, and have sex.  But then a horrific accident during sex play leaves one of the girls dead, and the men now have to figure out the best way to avoid being charged with murder - but can they get the girl's two horrified friends to go along with it?  Graphic, brutal, and dark, this psychological thriller was pretty well done, although none of the characters were particularly sympathetic.  A very hard "R" rating for graphic nudity and violence.  4/5

This movie premise sounds eerily similar to Very Bad Things (1998) starring Christian Slater and that Wet Bandits guy from Home Alone (1990):

[Dr. Whom]

Orgy of the Dead (1965)

The most exploitation-y of exploitation movies. A series of spirits of dead girls have to perform a sexy dance for Criswell in order to get access to the afterlife. Much like Nude on the Moon, except you don't have to wait half an hour for something to happen.

The bulk of the movie is pretty naked girls strutting their stuff, interspersed with comic relief (I use the term very loosely) by the Mummy and the Wolfman, and some of the flattest delivery of lines I have ever seen. The script by Ed Wood doesn't help.

What this movie does have, is smoke. There is hardly a shot without some smoke in it, from great billowing clouds to tiny wisps.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Passenger 57" (1992)
An airline security expert (Wesley Snipes) finds himself in the right place at the right time, when his flight from Florida to L.A. is hijacked by a terrorist (Bruce Payne) who's just escaped from Federal custody. So in other words, it's "Die Hard" on a plane.
"Passenger 57" is obviously not the most original thing to come down the pike but it's an entertaining, fast paced action flick. Snipes' impressive butt kicking moves in this helped elevate him into a bankable action hero for much of the next decade.

[Rev. Powell]

Orgy of the Dead (1965)

The most exploitation-y of exploitation movies. A series of spirits of dead girls have to perform a sexy dance for Criswell in order to get access to the afterlife. Much like Nude on the Moon, except you don't have to wait half an hour for something to happen.

I've never seen NUDE ON THE MOON, but if it's actually slower than ORGY OF THE DEAD I think I'll pass. ORGY OF THE DEAD was the most bored I've ever been looking at topless women!

[Dr. Whom]

I've never seen NUDE ON THE MOON, but if it's actually slower than ORGY OF THE DEAD I think I'll pass. ORGY OF THE DEAD was the most bored I've ever been looking at topless women!

Well, Nude on the Moon is not much slower as such, (also not faster, mind you) except that in the first half hour or so, when the 'scientists' plan their expedition, there is nothing going on except for bad dialogue and wooden acting. I recommend skipping everything until they set foot on the moon. Not that the acting and dialogue improve, but at least you have naked girls to look at.

[pennywise37]

sometimes watching movie for nudity isn't worth it man,  as for what the last film i watched Ghostbusters (1984)  man it's funny how you look at some of these jokes now the key master and the gatekeeper and you don't realize how dirty the film is i mean dialog wise kinda like when i watched Grease as a kid i didn't realize how dirty that film language wise cause it went over my head.

i also didn't think about it either so that's why it went over my head so anyways, as for Ghostbusters (1984)  i saw a remark about it not that long ago on how the FX haven't aged well and i disagree i think they for (1983) when it was shot in still look pretty damn good for what budget they had and for what Technology was around back in (1983) there are some silent films that i've seen where if it's got Special Fx some of them i know how it was done but on some of them it does make me curious on how they did it and that means they still look good and are convincing i think.   i don't have these on 4K yet but i fully plan on getting them at some point so i can get rid of my (1999) releases

[Jim H]

Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay

Second to last official Sartana film, and the second I've seen.  Pretty entertaining but clearly B-tier Spaghetti Western.  Sartana remains a memorable character, I also liked the secondary antagonist, Lee Tse Tung.  He looked like he was having a blast delivering silly lines, he also gets the best line in the film.  "No.  It's only that I'm a lazy man."

Lots of fun gimmicks/gadgets too, which remains a Sartana trademark.  I laughed out loud at a couple.  Even the bad guys get one!  Though nothing as ridiculous as Sabata's seven barrelled derringer.

Also, the English dub is bad.  Often out of sync and badly performed.  The Prime streaming version doesn't have the Italian, which I'd guess (based on past experience) is a significant improvement.  I THINK this one was performed on set mostly in Italian, but I'm not sure.

If you've seen the Leone westerns and maybe a Django film or The Great Silence, and want to move to new pastures, this is a good start. 

7/10.

[zelmo73]

there are some silent films that i've seen where if it's got Special Fx some of them i know how it was done but on some of them it does make me curious on how they did it and that means they still look good and are convincing i think.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is a wonderful example of this, particularly the tornado scene. The "tornado" was actually done with a 35 foot tall wind sock from an airport, attached it to a type of contraption which ran on a pulley in the ceiling and a curving track on the floor of a big room. Then they blew a big fan to kick up dust around the base of the "tornado", added some movie magic images to the foreground of the film, and there you had it. There was a little more to it than that, but that is essentially what they used to create the effect, all for a little over $12,000 in 1938 dollars to make that movie sequence. For me, the tornado scene actually looks better after I found out how they did it.

https://www.wqad.com/article/weather/hail-to-the-chief-the-making-of-the-ultimate-tornado/526-c5327a73-308f-4f14-8789-3e4b895729a7#:~:text=He%20created%20the%20tornado%20out%20of%20a%20wind,that%20was%20across%20the%20top%20of%20the%20stage.

I still say that the tornado in The Wizard of Oz (1939) looks better than all of the tornadoes combined in Twister (1996).  

[pennywise37]

exactly my friend they showed how they did that in one of the making's off and it was simply amazing cause it just looks so damn real and this movie is now over 80 years old!  a good example is i love Classic Doctor who i also love the current doctor who as well, for those who don't watch the current who as i  call it, it's no longer New as it's been on since (2005) why it's still called New Who i don't get. when that ends and a reboot comes what's it gonna be called?

sorry rant over, anywys, a friend of mine who is about a decade younger or so loves doctor who and when i said why don't you watch the original show? the special fx are terrible he says, i said some of them yes and some of them still look good to me. i also said well whatever happened to not giving a s**t about the special fx and just enjoy the story? no comment at all from him. his favorite companion is Rose! ya know i've been a fan of that since (2006) and i don't meet many people who's favorite is Rose.

sorry i don't mean to be getting off topic my point is some special still look good and someday 30 or 40 years from now when i'm an old man today's fx will no doubt look awful because it's CGI and that doesn't always age well. now look at Jurassic Park (1993) when they used some CGI and some models you cannot tel the difference i know i can't and it has aged so well. that lasts i think

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Rocketeer" (1991)
In 1938 Los Angeles, a down on his luck stunt pilot gets mixed up with gangsters, G-Men, a Hollywood movie star, and Nazi spies when he stumbles across an experimental rocket pack and becomes a reluctant super hero.
An underrated period-piece action flick in the "Indiana Jones" vein, based on the cult comic book character. "The Rocketeer" features a great cast, plenty of cool aerial stunts, and Jennifer Connelly at her absolute peak of hottie perfection. Lots of fun.

[pennywise37]

I''ve always liked that film and i think it is a lot of fun

[FatFreddysCat]

"American: The Bill Hicks Story" (2010)
An examination of the life and career of the late Bill Hicks, the controversial stand-up comedian whose ascent to the big time was cut short by cancer, just as he seemed poised for a mainstream breakthrough.
I was only vaguely familiar with Hicks' work during his early '90s rise, but I was interested in checking this doc out mainly due to the constant rumors that Denis Leary (one of my fave stand ups from the same era) stole most of his act from Hicks. I didn't see much resemblance between the two aside from them both smoking a lot of cigarettes onstage and a similar ranting style, but either way this was a cool documentary about an interesting guy, and I'm going to be checking out more of Hicks' stand up in the future.