Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 Stowaway (Netflix) Low-ish expectations as always for any Netflix original, but this is rather good. I think it forgets itself in the last 15 minutes and the way it ends makes little sense considering what went before. But it's the sort of focused, professional and unfussy stuff that I think Netflix is actually quite good at identifying. Nice to see Anna Kendrick in a dramatic role and she kills it. Worth noting that Joe Penna, who directed this, also made Arctic with Mads Mikkelsen a couple of years ago, a superb survival drama that's already been forgotten, sadly. The Producers (TCM) What I love most about Mel Brooks films is that his characters are almost all complete lunatics, totally unpredictable, and likely to pluck a laugh from nowhere. They're total chaos and while I would have Young Frankenstein as my favourite of his, this is still ingenious and hilarious. And Springtime for Hitler is still one of the most inappropriately catchy songs ever created. North West Frontier (Talking Pictures TV) I can't resist a war action-adventure film but I had no idea that I had been missing out all these years on a great one in this. J. Lee Thompson was almost always a guarantee of a good time and I think this could even be one of his best. Also, not quite as racist as I was expecting considering it was set in India. A great companion piece for Von Ryan's Express, I'd say. Day of the Dead (original) (pirate) I've never really been a huge fan of this and I'm still not convinced by it. It gets praised for being a change of pace from Dawn of the Dead but I don't think that's necessarily a positive here. It's just too slow and the acting is bloody awful. It rounds off superbly but I doubt I'll ever watch this again. Albert R.N. (Talking Pictures TV) Enjoyable war prison camp escape film that has a goofy central concept that was apparently based on real events. The Nazis were stupider than we thought, then. Juggles too many characters but it's still good fun for an hour and a half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 8 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said: Day of the Dead (original) (pirate) I've never really been a huge fan of this and I'm still not convinced by it. It gets praised for being a change of pace from Dawn of the Dead but I don't think that's necessarily a positive here. It's just too slow and the acting is bloody awful. It rounds off superbly but I doubt I'll ever watch this again. I must admit after seeing this a number of times over the years I still don't really get it. I love Dawn. Can't get enough of that one and the more I understand the context the better it is really. But Day. I keep hoping one time it'll click for me but it just never has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted April 24, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2021 I always thought Day of the Dead was widely thought of as being a bit crap. Personally I think Night of the Living Dead is by far the best of Romero's films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members DEF Posted April 24, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2021 57 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: I always thought Day of the Dead was widely thought of as being a bit crap. Personally I think Night of the Living Dead is by far the best of Romero's films. That is my impression as well. I haven't watched Day in about 20 years but I remember liking it more than your average Romero fan. It's certainly the weakest of the 3. I love Dawn but Night is a masterpiece. The less said about the astonishing mistep of the directors cut with the newly shot footage the better though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Dawn of the Dead is so good that even Zack Snyder couldn’t fuck it up. What was the feeling on Land of the Dead? I remember not liking it but I’m sure it reviewed well in Empire at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted April 24, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2021 18 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said: Stowaway (Netflix) Low-ish expectations as always for any Netflix original, but this is rather good. I think it forgets itself in the last 15 minutes and the way it ends makes little sense considering what went before. But it's the sort of focused, professional and unfussy stuff that I think Netflix is actually quite good at identifying. Nice to see Anna Kendrick in a dramatic role and she kills it. Worth noting that Joe Penna, who directed this, also made Arctic with Mads Mikkelsen a couple of years ago, a superb survival drama that's already been forgotten, sadly. Had never even heard of it when I put it on last night and it's 2/3rds of a really good film that fell apart at the end. The cast were all fantastic and it could have gone so many different ways and been better for it. One of the few films that would have been better as a 4 miniseries to dig into the characters a bit more and build on the impending doom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 24, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2021 2 hours ago, Mr_Danger said: Dawn of the Dead is so good that even Zack Snyder couldn’t fuck it up. What was the feeling on Land of the Dead? I remember not liking it but I’m sure it reviewed well in Empire at least. I quite liked it but I was going through an Asia Argento phase at the time so that may have skewed my feelings on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 24, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) Mortal Kombat (Interwebs) 15 year old me would have loved. 37 year old me thought it was entertaining cheesy fluff. The fight scenes are well choreographed, the violence is brutal. Actual fatalities an everything! It’s not going to win any Oscars but for an easy watch, it does a grand job. Even famous breast milk producing wrestler Nathan Jones pops up in it! Edited April 24, 2021 by Hannibal Scorch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Unhinged. Nice to see John Goodman making a comeback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted April 25, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 25, 2021 Mortal Kombat is a true throwback to early 90s New Line / Canon video shop releases. Your enjoyment will depend entirely on your love for that era of movie. It's terrible... But in the right way. Oh and the lanky Goro from the original is way better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members CleetusVanDamme Posted April 25, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 25, 2021 It was fun. Some cool fights and Kano delivered the lols I was worried would be missing without Johnny Cage. Up for a sequel, but given I'm still waiting on season 2 of Conquest, season 3 of the web-thingy and a sequel to the G.O.A.T. Co-op game Shaolin Monks I won't hold my breath. It was disrespectful to the source material to make Mileena not tidy, though, and the fact I didn't know Dewey Crowe was in it until reading about it afterwards is criminal. To anyone who hasn't seen it yet: To cheer on Kabal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Milano Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) Still watching random 80s horror/slasher movies that I find on YouTube. Killer Workout (1987) (YouTube) Members of a Fitness Gym are targeted by a killer and their oversized safety pin. Bordering on a softcore movie at times. Usual suspect acting, terrible fight scenes, but some surprising plot twists towards the end that keep you guessing. Better than average B-Movie. Sorority House Massacre II (1990) (YouTube) Five Sorority sisters move into a house with the hope of restoring it, all bar one, unaware that it was previously the site of a massacre. Doesn’t take itself too seriously (unrelated flashback scenes to Slumber Party Massacre), the women spend most of the film in their underwear) and a vast improvement over the first film. A bit of a surprise. Stage Fright (1987) (YouTube) The cast of a musical production find themselves locked inside the theatre during rehearsals with an escaped killer. Atmospheric score with violent and brutal kills which are made all the more sinister by the fact the killer is wearing a giant owl’s head (a prop from the play). Good slasher fare. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982) (YouTube) A group of students stay on campus over Christmas to clear out one of the buildings that is being sold off. Bad VQ on the YouTube upload means this probable deserves a rewatch. Ending is excellent though, completely different and quite unlike “the norm” you would expect from a slasher. Hell High (1989) (YouTube) Troubled by an incident from her childhood, a teacher takes revenge on a group of students who are harassing her. Okay, but takes a while to get to the meat of the film (to the point I thought the movie had been misleadingly named) and then when it does, everything is all too rushed. Cutting Class (1989) (YouTube) A killer is on the loose in a high school...and for once it’s the obvious suspect. Tries to toe the line between comedy and horror (Roddy McDowall is great as the lusty principal) however overall this is below average and the acting (notably Donovan Leitch) falls off a cliff at the climax. Also Brad Pitt’s film debut. Death Screams (1982) (YouTube) This must have the longest opening credits ever. Interchangeable “teens” hang out at various locations. The last ten minutes isn’t bad when most of the action happens but it’s a slog to get to that point as everything is so uninspiring. Still no idea who the actual killer was! Bottom level stuff. Summer Camp Nightmare (1987) (YouTube) Counselors in Training take a dislike to the new Camp Director and revolt to take over the running of things themselves. Very Lord of the Flies. Also goes to some very dark and unexpected places (murder, rape, a lynching). Good film and more thriller than the horror I had anticipated. Edited April 27, 2021 by Magnum Milano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Magnum Milano said: Stage Fright (1987) (YouTube) The cast of a musical production find themselves locked inside the theatre during rehearsals with an escaped killer. Atmospheric score with violent and brutal kills which are made all the more sinister by the fact the killer is wearing a giant owl’s head (a prop from the play). Good slasher fare. The director of this, Michele Soavi, is a disciple of Dario Argento and directed a few other really good horror films in the late 80s and early 90s. I'd recommend checking out La Chiesa (The Church), La Setta (The Sect/The Devil's Daughter) and Dellamorte Dellamore (The Cemetery Man) if you enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted April 27, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 27, 2021 12 minutes ago, Magnum Milano said: Stage Fright (1987) (YouTube) The cast of a musical production find themselves locked inside the theatre during rehearsals with an escaped killer. Atmospheric score with violent and brutal kills which are made all the more sinister by the fact the killer is wearing a giant owl’s head (a prop from the play). Good slasher fare. I'm enormously fond of this film. It's cheap as hell, but genuinely eerie in places. The giant owl's head is an amazing image and really disconcerting. There's a scene towards the end, where the killer is just sitting peacefully amongst the bodies that is both beautiful and tense - even though a 'severed' head blinks a couple of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 50 minutes ago, Chris B said: I'm enormously fond of this film. It's cheap as hell, but genuinely eerie in places. The giant owl's head is an amazing image and really disconcerting. There's a scene towards the end, where the killer is just sitting peacefully amongst the bodies that is both beautiful and tense - even though a 'severed' head blinks a couple of times. Yeah, Soavi was a very good filmmaker and had that knack for making his films stylish and genuinely good despite small budgets and bad actors. I love the look and feel of this and the other films I mentioned above. A cut above the usual exploitation fare of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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