What was the last movie you saw?

[KGeo777]

THE BAT PEOPLE 1974 - Stewart Moss, a poor man's Anthony Perkins or Bradford Dillman, is bitten by a bat and then starts to have hallucinations and fears he is turning into one. Middling horror film to be honest--the makeup by Stan Winston is not much of a help. But I like to watch it every so often when I want some early 70s stock bat footage used in repetitive fashion.

 

[Randy M.]

GHOSTWATCH (1992) dir. Lesley Manning; starring Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Gillian Bevan

So that caused a panic?

Yeah. Okay. I can see that.

Excellent, slow burn movie. On Halloween an intrepid TV crew (Greene as reporter) descend on a house supposedly haunted, reporting back to their studio (Parkinson as presenter) what happens. Nothing much happens at first. There's much talk with Dr. Pascoe (Bevan), a parapsychologist who has studied this particular haunting, and with the family of three, a mother and two daughters, who live there, terrified of the bumpings and mewlings and more physical manifestations, and tired of all those who don't believe them. Gradually, the history of the place coalesces for the viewer and it's creepier for not being shown, just hinted at and pieced together. And what if the phenomena begin to spread?

Yes, really well done. The script by Stephen Volk is excellent. The actors are excellent. The production values for a BBC presentation also excellent. I've read a novella by Volk and now I want to read more by him.

 

[KGeo777]

I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL 1960 -- When they are sitting in the forest discussing their plans I got a strong sense of Sierra Madre from it with JD Barrymore as Dobbs--but then it went into a different direction. It held my attention--you kept wondering if it was going to shift genres at some point. It is interesting how simple the idea is--in one scene Walter is sitting at a table and chuckling to himself.


I was expecting to watch it in Italian with subtitles--but the version I had was in English.

 

[KGeo777]

Come to think of it--there is another parallel to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in there. The twist is somewhat similar to how the movie plays out because they were going to kill Cody and then after he is killed by bandits, they find letters from his wife. "Cody's widow" is an unseen presence.
When Sam goes missing--I was thinking about the scene where Dobbs shoots Curtin and then gets panicky about it.

"Walter Drew Dobbs don't say nothing he don't mean."

 

[KGeo777]

CARRY ON CAMPING 1969

 

[paranoid marvin]

No Time to Die

There is a chapter of David Mitchell's book 'Unruly' which discusses the theme (specifically the ending) of this movie. That pretty much sums up my feelings about James Bond too.

I'm not sure what the writers were thinking when they came up with that ending, but it pretty much defeats the object about what a Bond movie is meant to be.

 

[paranoid marvin]

GHOSTWATCH (1992) dir. Lesley Manning; starring Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Gillian Bevan

So that caused a panic?

Yeah. Okay. I can see that.

Excellent, slow burn movie. On Halloween an intrepid TV crew (Greene as reporter) descend on a house supposedly haunted, reporting back to their studio (Parkinson as presenter) what happens. Nothing much happens at first. There's much talk with Dr. Pascoe (Bevan), a parapsychologist who has studied this particular haunting, and with the family of three, a mother and two daughters, who live there, terrified of the bumpings and mewlings and more physical manifestations, and tired of all those who don't believe them. Gradually, the history of the place coalesces for the viewer and it's creepier for not being shown, just hinted at and pieced together. And what if the phenomena begin to spread?

Yes, really well done. The script by Stephen Volk is excellent. The actors are excellent. The production values for a BBC presentation also excellent. I've read a novella by Volk and now I want to read more by him.

I think it has to be seen in context for several reasons.

Back then, there was a regular weekly tv show called 'Crimewatch' which was a serious programme featuring details and footage of real crimes, which asked viewers to phone in to help solve. This made 'Ghostwatch' feel more authentic. Also the actors used where not known for drama programmes, so it would be very unusual to see them in such roles.

Because this was originally shown back when most didn't have live recording equipment, a lot of people would have tuned in part way through the show, and be less aware of the fact that it wasn't a proper paranormal investugation. And apaer from pucking up a copy of 'Radio Times', there wouldn't have been any background information about what we were watching.

Think of people tuning their wireless into Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds' broadcast part way through, and you get an accurate depiction of the background to the show.

Right up until the last 5 minutes, I remember watching and having no clue that it wasn't anything other than a genuine paramormal investigation. At the time it was scary more because it was 'real', than because of anything that happened on screen.

Along with Threads (which was simply off the scale in comparison), this was one of the most memorable pieces of tv. And it's notable that neither of these programmes gets repeat viewings, despite their popularity/notoriety.

Does Ghostwatch stand up to modern scrutiny? Dificult to say for anyone viewing it today, knowing what they know. Again, it's like asking if Welles' 'WOTW' broadcast still stands up. But from a personal perspective yes it does, because it recalls the memories of the first time I watched it.

 

[Danny McG]

ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. It's still a pretty good film after all these years

 

[Randy M.]

Think of people tuning their wireless into Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds' broadcast part way through, and you get an accurate depiction of the background to the show.

That's what I was comparing it to as I watched. Now you watch it and consider the beats: Does it act out like a live documentary TV show? Yes. It's a bit smoother, but there are some hesitations and stutterings that sell it as such. Further, I assumed the performers weren't widely known or the gambit wouldn't have worked. Do the actors get across their anxiety? Definitely. Sarah Greene is in the middle of everything, she knew what was coming, but you can't tell that from her performance; her surprise and discomfort are apparent on-screen. Further, the effects are simple but effective -- a darkened room under the stairs, a picture falling, papers scattered, even the traditional cat appearing for a jump scare of sorts works in the moment and only seems a bit tongue-in-cheek in retrospect. On the whole, the simplicity of how they kept things off camera with bumps and mewlings and so forth is a reminder of just how good Brits are at building this kind of atmosphere. For me this looks back to movies like of Curse/Mask of the Demon and it would be only just a few years later, The Blair Witch Project used a similar approach.

Does Ghostwatch stand up to modern scrutiny? Dificult to say for anyone viewing it today, knowing what they know. Again, it's like asking if Welles' 'WOTW' broadcast still stands up. But from a personal perspective yes it does, because it recalls the memories of the first time I watched it.

For what it's worth, I found it very entertaining. But then I like slow-burn, build suspense ghost/horror stories.

 

[Jeffbert]

The Yakuza (1974) Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) is the go-to guy when you have a problem with bad guys. George Tanner (Brian Keith) was doing business with a Yakuza boss, Toshiro Tono (Eiji Okada), and somehow, the deal went South. Not liking to be the loser in the deal, the Yakuza boss kidnapped Tanner's daughter, threatening to cut her to pieces if Tanner failed to live-up to his end within 4 days. So, Tanner sends Kilmer to Japan, hoping his connections will somehow resolve the deal. Or so, Tanner told Kilmer.

A thoroughly interesting, entertaining, and violent film. 1st time I have seen it! 9/10.

 

[Jeffbert]

The Sundowners (1960) in 1920s Australia, the Carmody family is employed as sheep drovers, but, unlike Paddy (Robert Mitchum), mom Ida (Deborah Kerr) & son Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.) are tired of the on the road life, and want to buy a farm and settle there.

Not quite my type of film, but I watched it anyway. Was not boring as I thought it might be. 8/10

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Hey, Let's Twist! (1961)

Twistploitation film that actually has a plot along with all the music and dancing. Extremely Italian widower sends his two sons to college. They come home wanting to drop out and be musicians. This causes Papa to collapse, sending him to bed for two weeks. The remorseful brothers agree to run Papa's restaurant while he's recuperating. The place has very few customers, so they change it from the Neapolitan Garden eating place to the Peppermint Lounge dancing place. (Obviously, this has nothing to do with the real history of the famous nightclub of the time.) They rake in the bucks. Upper class society columnist (hey, it's Zohra Lampert, star of the cult horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death) convinces them to add a five dollar cover charge and remodel the joint to look ritzy. Business dies, they go back to the old way, happy ending. Not as bad, or as campy, as it might have been

 

[KGeo777]

THE BEAST MUST DIE 1974 - 50th anniversary viewing. I think they should have done a sequel--maybe with a "Vampire Break."

 

[Toby Frost]

Doctor Strange (2016)

An arrogant surgeon is injured in an accident. He travels to Kathmandu to find a cure, and is drawn into a new life as a mystical wizard.

A psychedelic Marvel superhero film would usually be something I'd avoid, especially one whose protagonist starts off completely unlikeable (this may be a UK v US thing, but I think he's meant to be obnoxious), but Benedict Cumberbatch is good as a vain man who slowly finds greater meaning in life. The surreal magical battles are very visually impressive, even though they're obviously CGI (they couldn't be anything else). The combination of eastern mysticism and magic spells could have been pretty tired, but it works well here. Tilda Swinton is excellent as the supreme sorcerer. I don't know how much of the effect would be lost on a second viewing, when you knew what was coming, but it was good fun.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Ant Man and Wasp - after remarking hereabouts the other day that I had utterly given up on the MCU I found this amongst my to be watched pile while looking for something brainless to watch . I had vague memories of quite enjoying the first...

Not having seen the first, or any of the Avengers films which I eventually worked out must have come between that one and this one, for an extra long time I was totally lost as to what the hell was going on for a long time. I eventually pieced together the few breadcrumbs of clues that the scriptwriters left for anyone not totally immersed in MCU lore. After a long time I found myself wondering when the thing was ever going to end. I put on the DVD's on-screen display and found out I was only half way through. I stuck with it to the end but I remembered why I stopped watching the things.

 

[alexvss]

Boy Kills World (2023). A nameless boy trains with a shaman to kill the leader of the totalitarian regime that murdered his family.

Great John Wick-style action movie. It's John Wick meets Suicide Squad: revenge with lots of blood (and a lot of comedy too). A plot twist near the end caught me off-guard.

It is produced by Sam Raimi, hence all the blood.

It is not an adaptation, and that’s great. It’s good to see original work like this.

However, I think that Bill Skarsgard, for being too tall, fights and moves slowly and clunky. And two good actors were not used as they should: Famke Janssen and Andrew Koji (Bullet Train, Warrior).

Although not perfect, I strongly recommend it.

And let the Monkey Man come!



My name is Loh Kiwan (2024). A North-Korean refugee tries to survive in Belgium.

Newest Korean Netflix Original, and one of the worst. There’s a lot of need but no clear want. All that suffering means nothing without an objective.

The soundtrack is aggressive. It says to you: “It’s a sad scene. Cry.” Poorly directed movie.

I dropped it.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Love Causes Big Trouble For Young Folks Including Climactic Car Wrecks Double Feature:

As Young As We Are (1958)

Two young teachers (one of them is Majel Barrett from Star Trek) find it hard to get a job because they're young. They manage to find positions at a high school in a California desert town. On the trip to the place, their car's headlights die in the middle of the night, so they stop. Two really creepy guys approach them with bad intent. Young guy in a farm truck happens by and rescues them. He and the teacher who isn't Majel Barrett quickly fall into a hot and heavy romance. Too bad he failed to tell her he's a student in her class. Awkward!

She tries to break it off, he goes completely into stalker mode and literally kidnaps her, carrying a gun and intent on marrying her in Las Vegas. The cops chase them, leading to the climactic car crash, with some injuries but no fatalities. The teacher decides to stay in town despite the scandal, the student gets off way too easy, with only charges of reckless driving and illegal possession of a firearm.

It's a so-so drama. Given the two creepy guys at the start and the student's behavior at the end, the message seems to be Don't Trust Men.

The Young Captives (1959)

Intense little thriller. Our psycho is "working" at an oil rig; sleeping, drinking, playing a transistor radio, and ignoring something that's liable to blow up. Boss comes around to fire him, psycho kills him.

Meanwhile, two young folks head for Mexico to get married. They run out of gas, but who should happen to come along but our helpful, extraverted, talkative psycho, whose motorcycle has broken down (or so he says.) During a stop at a gas station/diner, he kills a woman who rebukes him. It isn't very long until he pulls a knife on the young couple and forces them to take him to Mexico. He reveals his intent to marry the woman himself. The cops are already on his tail, and it leads up to the climactic car crash which isn't directly fatal, but certainly doesn't help the psycho, who is already bleeding to death.

It's pretty strong stuff for the time. Bludgeonings, stabbings, and the psycho falling face first into a campfire. The actor playing the psycho really nails it.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Deadly Manor aka Savage Lust (1990)

Generic slasher. A bunch of young folks and a hitchhiker wind up at a seemingly deserted spooky old house in the middle of nowhere. There's a wrecked car set up like a shrine outside, an empty coffin in the cellar, a huge number of photographs of the same woman all over the place, and a collection of human scalps in a closet. You'd think the latter, at least, would convince them that this isn't a good place to spend the night.

Before this, one of the women has already left on foot, convinced this place is EVIL. She's either psychic or has seen a movie before. Sure enough, folks get killed (the one who left is the first victim) and we eventually learn the murderer's insane motive.

Not a very good film, but it has some effective moments.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Night of the Demon (1980)

Low budget Big Foot movie. Starts with a professor, "horribly mutilated" (indicated only by a bandage around his face below his nose) in the hospital being questioned by the authorities. It seems he and some students went out to find evidence of Big Foot after the father of one of the young folks was killed by the critter. (Flashback to arm being ripped off.) Along the way, we get more anecdotes/flashbacks to bloody slayings. Big Foot even uses an ax!

The first weird plot twist occurs when they run into a cult of people who worship Big Foot. They chant near an effigy of the critter and a woman on an altar of sorts.

What with one thing and another, the investigators track down the woman, who lives alone in a shack way back in the woods and doesn't speak. Hypnotized by the professor, she reveals her traumatic story.

It seems she was raped by Big Foot and gave birth to a hybrid baby, which was killed by her religious fanatic father, whom she killed in turn. Eventually, Big Foot shows up and kills everybody except the woman (he likes her) and the professor, who barely escapes.

Very amateurish and definitely in bad taste. The flashback to the woman's experience (as sleazy as it is) and the final mass slaughter are the most effective parts. The flashback killing in which Big Foot picks up a sleeping bag with a guy inside it and swings it around and around his head, then lets it go so the guy gets impaled in a branch, is the funniest part.

 

[Chris von shannow]

"Invasion Los Angeles" I quite enjoyed it