What was the last movie you saw?

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Horror High aka Twisted Brain (1973)

Cheap horror flick alerts the audience as to its cheesiness right away, as a soft rock ballad plays over the opening titles. Then it gives away its plot, as we listen to (but not see) high school students watching a film of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in class. Nerdy student creates a formula that changes a guinea pig into a monster that breaks out of its metal cage and kills the creepy janitor's cat. (We don't actually see any of this hardly at all, which goes for the film as a whole, really.) The vengeful janitor forces the kid to drink the formula, gets dunked into a vat of deadly acid (as any high school science lab should have) for his trouble. Soon all the other folks who tormented the kid get killed in unusual ways; decapitation by paper cutter, stomped to death by cleated shoes. (Interestingly, the victims are generally teachers, not fellow students.) I can't defend it as a good movie, but there's something charming about its old-fashioned plot, the fact that the kid gets almost no monster makeup at all, the innocent hint of romance with the sweet girl he likes, and the ultra-cool police detective on the case.

 

[Parson]

It's all delightfully ridiculous.

The word "delightfully" was completely unexpected.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Deadly Harvest (1977)

Low key (and very low budget) Canadian eco-disaster film with an interesting story. The narrator begins by telling us about the ecological disaster that wiped out crops in the late 1970's. Some government guys discuss the situation, basically deciding that they have to lie to the people that there's hope, meanwhile cutting rations down to 30% and imposing martial law and curfews. (Interestingly, one of the guys is addressed as "Minister." Unlike many Canadian films, this one doesn't pretend to take place in the United States.)

Cut to the farm of our protagonist (huge cowboy actor Clint Walker.) His young daughter is upset because he has to kill her cow for the meat. She runs off with the cow, only to run into some thieves/black marketers from the city who shoot the poor beast and haul it away. Their leader, our main antagonist, is played by familiar character actor Nehemiah Persoff. Slow-to-anger Walker just intends to carry on anyway.

Meanwhile, his older daughter (a very young Kim Cattrall) is about to get married to a city boy. Walker's son (a very young Geraint Wyn Davies, calling himself "Gary" in the credits) hates the city boy with a passion, claiming he only wants to join the family to get food. A rich man and his elderly father show up, literally begging for food, particularly for the man's sick young daughter. They get what little Walker can spare, but Davies (who has joined the local authorities, who are barely a step above vigilantes) and others stop them, thinking they stole the food. The confrontation causes the old man to have a heart attack.

The rich man tells Persoff about the upcoming wedding, where folks will show up with food as gifts. This leads to a bloody raid on the wedding, killing the bridegroom and Walker's wife. Walker tracks down the rich man (he drew a map of their farm on a piece of stationary with the name of his company.) Meanwhile, Persoff sets off on a final raid of the farmers, leading to our violent climax.

I liked the way the plot built up quietly, so that the violence, when it happens, has an impact. I liked the moral ambiguity of the rich man. (There's a powerful scene when he serves his family what will be their last meal, and places poison in the food so they won't have to starve to death instead.) I liked the open-ended conclusion, when Persoff is defeated but Walker admits that this isn't the end, and they just have to try to survive. I didn't like the electronic music, which is annoying. It's obvious this didn't have much of a budget, as lots of scenes are of a small number of people in small sets or outside (with Canada in winter playing the role of Canada in a cropless summer.) Not a classic, but well worth a look.

 

[J Riff]

.. no, ehh, im watchin Twisted Brain instead....

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Rumble on the Docks (1956)

James Darren gets his first film role(and even gets "Introducing James Darren" in huge letters during the opening credits) in this juvenile delinquency/crime film. He's the leader of a teen gang. His father had his back broken some years ago by waterfront hoods, and is understandably on a crusade against the local crooked union boss. (And guess what? His mother is played by the woman who was T'Pau in the Star Trek episode "Amok Time"!) He gets recruited by the gangster, eventually being made to lie in court about the hit-and-run murder of a honest longshoreman foreman. To add to his problems, there's the rival gang to have rumbles with. (Apparently they have strict rules about their fights. When one kid shows up with a knife, even the members of his own gang go after him.) Add in the local nice guy who tries to help out the kids, Darren's sweet girlfriend, and the girlfriend's little brother, who worships Darren. As a bonus, the first rumble takes place at a recreation hall/gymnasium, where we just heard the swingin' rock 'n' roll number "Take the First Train Out of Town" by Freddie Bell & The Bellboys. Watch for cult actor Timothy Carey giving one of his eccentric, scene-stealing performances as the gangster's right hand man. It's not a bad little melodrama.

 

[alexvss]

The Eyes of my Mother (2016) is a black-and-white film about Portuguese immigrants in The U.S. Specifically, about the daughter of an ex eye surgeon who gets crazy after her murder. She then starts to kidnap people, remove their eyes and feed them. It's deeply disturbing and raised some polemic in Portugal because of the way it approaches mental illness. It's also a little weird to listen to people talking in Portuguese in an American movie (even with that accent). I really like horror, and I like violence, so I thought I got used to it. This movie made me realize I didn't. I don't get this disturbed in a long while.

 

[AE35Unit]

Mama (2013)
A creepy little horror from Guillame del Toro, pretty good

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Hands of Steel (Vendetta dal futuro, 1986)

Italian science fiction action film that features a lot more action than science fiction. Set at an unspecified time in the future that is indistinguishable from the 1980's, it starts with a blind man in a wheelchair who is the leader of some kind of environmental movement. (Their posters feature the slogan "You have no future," which wouldn't seem to inspire many followers.) Our movie's Sinister Corporation sends an assassin after him, who badly injuries him with his bare hands but doesn't kill him. It seems he had a change of heart. The unstoppable almost-killer goes on the run, winding up at a motel/bar/general store in Arizona, run by our movie's Love Interest. Then we get two arm wrestling contests, the second one featuring rattlesnakes. After an hour of this, we find out that our protagonist is a cyborg, with 70% of his body (all internal, it seems, as he just looks like a normal human being) replaced by machinery. The Evil Corporation sends hit men after him, leading to all kinds of gunfights, explosions, and the like. The most interesting antagonist is a woman who calls herself "the perfect cyborg" who has one heck of a fight with him. (One wonders why the bad guys bothered to send ordinary humans after him, since he wipes them out easily.) She even continues to bad mouth him after he tears her head off! Eventually, the head of the Nasty Corporation (special guest star John Saxon) comes after him with a laser gun the size of a bazooka. It's all goofy fun.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Brain Twisters (1991)

Modest little science fiction thriller. Mad scientist conducts experiments where he exposes students to computer screens full of moving colored lights. They go on murderous rampages and then kill themselves. (The subjects freak out whenever they see any kind of moving light, it seems; flashing bulbs on a pinball machine, soap bubbles while taking a bath, soap moving over a car's windshield in an automatic car wash, even the sun coming out of the clouds.)

Apparently, this has something to do a Sinister Corporation, but it's confusing, as they quickly cut off his funding and, later, send an assassin to kill him. Anyway, our movie's Good Girl becomes romantically involved with the detective investigating the murder/suicides. When she turns on the TV as he washes the dishes, after their spaghetti dinner, we see the opening titles of "Uncle Ted's Monstermania" come on (a nod to the horror buffs in the audience) followed by, yes, moving colored lights, send to the TV by the bad guys. Good Girl walks up to the cop with a big knife, but instead of killing him, they smooch, then she yells at him to get out and throws leftover spaghetti at him. Talk about mixed emotions!

Eventually the mad scientist falls prey to his own gizmo; you can tell he's become murderous, because he puts on glasses, suit, and tie, for the first time in the movie. While in this state, he buys the Good Girl some ice cream, coming back with two cones full of red stuff and saying, in his most sinister voice "Do you like [dramatic pause] raspberry swirl?" He almost kills her, but sees moving lights in some small hanging mirrors and walks away. The corporate assassin blows him away.

I haven't yet mentioned our movie's Bad Girl, have I? She walks into class, literally just seconds before the dismissal bell rings (why bother?) wearing what can only be described as a brassiere under an open vest, to go with her spike heels, miniskirt, and very long red nails. (Remember those nails.) In case this isn't enough to establish her character, she brags about how she didn't earn her grades by studying. She, of course, becomes one of the zombie-like killers, dispatching people by slashing them with her nails. She even kills the head of the corporation, seemingly at random.

As a coda, the movie ends with some kid playing a video game -- moving colored lights! -- and screaming at his mother when she tells him to stop playing and come downstairs. The camera pans to reveal that he's playing a game called Brain Twister.

Not a good movie, but it entertained me more than it should have.

 

[Pyan]

Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy - Vol 2, on consecutive nights. I enjoyed them both very much, with possibly a shading toward Vol 2, which I thought had a little more humour. I laughed out loud at poor Rocket trying to make sure that Baby Groot pulled the levers and pushed the right button in the right order...

 

[CupofJoe]

Jaws [1975]
Don't know how many times I've watched this film and I still love it.
I like the pacing, the characters [I can't think of a bad note on that side] and even the special effects. I love the absolutely not in anyway CGI'd shark Bruce! And the music? John Williams at his finest [except for maybe Raiders...].
Okay, some of the fashions and technology look a little dated but then I think they did in 1975. Amity Island is not at the forefront of anything.
And the film is almost exclusively white and male.
The only niggle is that when I saw it in the cinema [yes I am that old] I could swear the Mrs Kintner spat in Chief Brody's face, but in the versions I have seen recently she slaps him. That was far more visceral and the slap feels a little weak.

 

[Randy M.]

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) dir. Henry Hathaway; starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, Martha Hyers

I don't recall ever seeing this one from beginning to end. Lots of familiar faces from the Wayne troop, like Rhys Williams and Paul Fix, also James Gregory -- Wayne seemed to like actors who could stand up to him and not be effaced -- George Kennedy, and a young Dennis Hopper in his early jittery phase.

Runs to formula for the Wayne 1960s movies -- Wayne comes to town, someone doesn't like him, there's at least one comic fist fight, the bad guy and Wayne dance around each other, finally a gun fight and Wayne walks off with the probability of settling with the leading lady. It helps that Hathaway was a good director, adept at framing his shots and stringing scenes together that tell the story. It may hurt a little for some of us to recognize the set as the one used for Rio Bravo among others. But on the whole, for a certain generation, even for those of that generation aware of Wayne's and the movie's faults, a Wayne movie is kind of like comfort food.

 

[G.T.]

Love and Monsters (2020) dir. Michael Matthews.; starring Dylan O'Brien (MazeRunner), Jessica Henwick, Dan Ewing, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt

New to Netflix and surprisingly entertaining. I've only had Netflix a few months and the quality of newly added movies is hit and miss.

Joel is living in the apocalypse. An attempt to divert an asteroid heading for earth causes some fallout that results in various creatures mutating and growing to monstrous sizes. The other people in his bunker have paired up. Unfortunately for Joel his pre-apocalypse girlfriend is in a bunker 80 miles away.

Cue Joels adventures.

It felt a little like Zombieland (just replace zombies with monsters), so if you enjoyed that then this might be worth your time.

 

[dask]

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) dir. Henry Hathaway; starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, Martha Hyers

I don't recall ever seeing this one from beginning to end. Lots of familiar faces from the Wayne troop, like Rhys Williams and Paul Fix, also James Gregory -- Wayne seemed to like actors who could stand up to him and not be effaced -- George Kennedy, and a young Dennis Hopper in his early jittery phase.

Runs to formula for the Wayne 1960s movies -- Wayne comes to town, someone doesn't like him, there's at least one comic fist fight, the bad guy and Wayne dance around each other, finally a gun fight and Wayne walks off with the probability of settling with the leading lady. It helps that Hathaway was a good director, adept at framing his shots and stringing scenes together that tell the story. It may hurt a little for some of us to recognize the set as the one used for Rio Bravo among others. But on the whole, for a certain generation, even for those of that generation aware of Wayne's and the movie's faults, a Wayne movie is kind of like comfort food.

This may be my favorite John Wayne movie.

 

[alexvss]

Jaws [1975]
Don't know how many times I've watched this film and I still love it.
I like the pacing, the characters [I can't think of a bad note on that side] and even the special effects. I love the absolutely not in anyway CGI'd shark Bruce! And the music? John Williams at his finest [except for maybe Raiders...].
Okay, some of the fashions and technology look a little dated but then I think they did in 1975. Amity Island is not at the forefront of anything.
And the film is almost exclusively white and male.
The only niggle is that when I saw it in the cinema [yes I am that old] I could swear the Mrs Kintner spat in Chief Brody's face, but in the versions I have seen recently she slaps him. That was far more visceral and the slap feels a little weak.

Mandela Effect?

Love and Monsters (2020) dir. Michael Matthews.; starring Dylan O'Brien (MazeRunner), Jessica Henwick, Dan Ewing, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt

New to Netflix and surprisingly entertaining. I've only had Netflix a few months and the quality of newly added movies is hit and miss.

Joel is living in the apocalypse. An attempt to divert an asteroid heading for earth causes some fallout that results in various creatures mutating and growing to monstrous sizes. The other people in his bunker have paired up. Unfortunately for Joel his pre-apocalypse girlfriend is in a bunker 80 miles away.

Cue Joels adventures.

It felt a little like Zombieland (just replace zombies with monsters), so if you enjoyed that then this might be worth your time.

This draws a lot from the videogame The Last of Us (which is based on the book/movie The Road). Even the name of the protagonist is the same.

 

[G.T.]

This draws a lot from the videogame The Last of Us (which is based on the book/movie The Road). Even the name of the protagonist is the same.

Just so people don't get confused.

Maybe they were the writer's inspiration, and the name is an homage, but that'd be it.

I wouldn't want anyone to watch L&M thinking they will see something similar to The Road. It's not like that at all.

But if you are looking for a laugh in the apocalypse, then go right ahead.

 

[CupofJoe]

Mandela Effect?

It looks like you are right. There is nothing on the Interweb about a change being made. but apparently the SLAP was real [the actor couldn't pull their "punch"] and there were seventeen [17] takes. A bad day to be Roy Scheider's left cheek...

 

[Rodders]

Been seeing Love and Monsters on my Netflix feed and it does look like something i'd enjoy. Have you seen Daybreakers? It looks like it could be similar.

 

[Foxbat]

Dead Space: Downfall
I bought this on a whim, not knowing that it was a prequel to a video game. It’s a space horror animation, which is definitely not one for the kids. After an hour or so of violence, evisceration and general goriness. I was left kind of shrugging my shoulders. It was okay, I guess. But I couldn’t help wondering if it was trying to emulate Doom or Alien. Probably somewhere in between. I’d give it five out of ten.

 

[AstroZon]

Pirates (1986) d: Roman Polanski, s: Walter Matthau, Cris Campion, Damian Thomas, Charlotte Lewis

The acting, sets, and photography are excellent throughout, however, the film meanders and seems to be missing impact. After watching it last night I looked up it's history. It cost $40m to make and brought in a bit more than $8m worldwide. Ouch.

Regardless, it's still worth a watch for the principle actors: pirate Walter Matthau and his honor-bound accomplice Cris Campion. Damian Thomas doesn't overplay his role as the pompous Don Alfonso, and likewise Charlotte Lewis keeps her role as a Spanish princess modest.