Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

THE CURSED (2021) - In 1880, A group of French landowners hire mercenaries to kill a band of gypsies who showed up with a claim on their land. The gypsy's shaman curses them as they bury her alive, and within a few weeks the village and the landowners are being stalked by a deadly, wolflike creature.  Interesting take on the werewolf myth; great creature effects and gore.  4.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dog Day Afternoon" (1975)
Two inept crooks' attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank spirals into a hostage situation, turning them into media sensations and unlikely folk heroes. This slow burning suspense drama is based on an actual incident that took place in 1972 and features fantastic performances all around, esp. by Al Pacino as "Sonny." A classic.

[Rev. Powell]

EROTIC GHOST STORY III (1991): A Buddhist monk shows a wandering swordsman how to enter a drawing that leads to hell, where he falls in love with a beautiful demon while another female demon schemes to enter and conquer the earthly realm. A step down from the previous two entries with an equal amount of sex but less verve and imagination; it does, however, include the most athletic wuxia action in the climax. 2/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Sisters (1972) - I wasn't super in the mood for this, but I clicked on it anyway. It feels superficially kind of grindhouse-ey but with a lot more thought put into the plot and less focus on the blood and gore. Imagine if "Don't Go in the Basement" was directed by a very young David Fincher or something.

A guy appears on a goofy local game show in NYC and ends up going home with one of the other guests. Unfortunately for him, she has an insane twin sister. His troubles escalate with the introduction of her mad scientist looking ex husband who shows up and a complicated back history of the twins emerges. blah blah blah

It certainly could have used more nudity and gore, but director Brian De Palma does what he can. I liked this about as much Blow Out but not half as much as Body Double. I'm trying to come up with something writerly to describe my relative disappointment, but it just kind of needed to be more rated R. It bears some similarity to Warlock Moon which I saw the other day, but I liked that more for some reason, even though it was technically less accomplished.

4/5

[M.10rda]

I don't dislike BODY DOUBLE but I saw SISTERS and BLOW-OUT first (as a kid!  ...inappropriate...) and something about those two very low-key, chilly, ?subtle? movies really struck a chord w/ me. I agree BODY DOUBLE is more "fun"... or maybe "ostentatious" is the word? I feel like BODY DOUBLE has more in common w/ CARRIE than SISTERS or BLOW-OUT. (Actually I didn't like CARRIE when I first saw it, either, though I appreciate it/love it today.)

[lester1/2jr]

Is Femme Fattale (sp?) good?

[M.10rda]

I didn't particularly care for it. Honestly I don't remember it too clearly, which may be its own comment.

[indianasmith]

BLACKWOOD (2022) In this Western horror film, a gang of guns for hire capture a Sioux Indian woman and force her to lead them to a lost gold mine allegedly protected by the Wendigo.  Slow-paced, cheap, and boring, this one simply couldn't hold my attention.  Maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind, I dunno, but it did not impress me.  2/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films" (2014)
In honor of Chuck Norris' 86th (!) birthday yesterday, I re-visited this very entertaining documentary on the wild rise and rapid fall of Cannon Films, the notoriously shoddy film studio that ruled the 80s with a steady stream of low budget flicks starring Chuck, Charles Bronson, breakdancers, and ninjas. A fun trip down B-movie memory lane.

[Trevor]

"Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films" (2014)
In honor of Chuck Norris' 86th (!) birthday yesterday, I re-visited this very entertaining documentary on the wild rise and rapid fall of Cannon Films, the notoriously shoddy film studio that ruled the 80s with a steady stream of low budget flicks starring Chuck, Charles Bronson, breakdancers, and ninjas. A fun trip down B-movie memory lane.

Many of those ninja movies were shot here along with thrillers and war movies.

[Rev. Powell]

VISIONS OF SUFFERING (2006): A necrophilia-obsessed man is haunted by a demon. This undisciplined, experimental shock surrealist horror from Andrey Iskanov mixes genuine artistry with juvenile morbidity. I watched the shorter "director's final cut"; it was originally 30 minutes longer, which would have been suffering indeed. 2/5.