First up, I had a rewatch of some classics: Possession (1981), Society (1989) and Final Destination (2000). All enjoyable for different reasons.
River - 2023
Residents of a small Japanese inn become stuck in a short time loop. It does absolutely everything it can with this setup, never becoming stale and maintaining itās momentum. Really clever film making that is fun and light, well cast, well scripted and nicely presented. Well worth a watch.
The Nightman - 2023
An uncomfortable situation spirals as everything becomes a threat. Tonally it felt off, dramatic moments felt like whiplash and it lacked chemistry from the 2 central performances; they seem like good actors though so perhaps a direction/script problem. Despite this the 3rd act was alright. Go watch Sleep or The Beasts instead.
The Shadow Strays - 2024
Revenge from an off duty ninja assassin. It had moments but the pacing was completely off for a limited story having at least 45 minutes that needed to be cut from the film. Despite an incredible effort from the stunts department, I couldnāt wait for it to end. Go watch Baby Assassins or Sisu instead.
Saw Y2K last night, which seems to have bombed here as much as the US, in and out of Cineworld in one week.
Was it particularly good? Not really. Did it subvert the tropes of late 90s horror movies? Again, not really. Did it at least have a useful lead character? Not at all.
But, you know, I had a good time still. The janky robots were great, Fred Durst has a fun bit, and I found it generally quite entertaining, mostly because of how stupid and tonally weird it was. Solid 90 minutes on an otherwise quiet Thursday night.
Iād say generally youāre right, more like a way of life Iād assume. However Itās the sole plot point of this 2hr 24m film, so definitely off duty in this one. =]
Honestly, anyone who gives out about the length of the Brutalist needs to sit down with this one to properly see a film that drags, despite near endless action. Kept checking the seek bar for how long was left.
absolutely loved The Rule of Jenny Pen. Funny, tense, scary, genuinely weird. Brilliant turn from Lithgow
Shame that one of the main plot holes of the care staff not giving a shit really is to its detriment considering what goes on. Probably be in my top 5 horrors of the year though I think, loved it
Thought Seven Blood-Stained Orchids was pretty standard giallo fare really. Got worse as it went along too, but there was some nice camerawork at least.
another good one from that team (part of anyway, itās the same writers but a different director iirc) is Summer Time Machine Blues, which is a lot of fun
These were noted as screened at Horror Fests and they meet my criteria for horror (at least 1 person has to die), although not sure anyone else will consider them horror. Anyhoot, 1 worth a watch and 3 that can be skipped; in order of preference:-
Time Addicts - 2023
Two junkies take a risky job to clear a debt and become trapped within a house that makes them confront their choices. Some unexpected hard hitting drama given the eccentric characters and the silly situation they find themselves in, somehow tonally it works. I enjoyed the unique characters, their predicament, the outcome and its entire presentation. Looking forward to what the writer/director, Sam Odlum, does next. FFO Benson & Moorhead films.
Sri Asih - 2022
Indonesian superhero film based on the 1959 comic book series and is the 2nd film of the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe. Act 1 is great for itās character setup, presentation and choreography of the fight scenes; but once the lead gains her full powers it turns into smallville with a hero never under any risk and barely under any moral quandary. Pandemic limited but still disappointing especially when compared to the first film, still hopeful for the next film, Godam. Watch Gundala (the 1st BCU film) or Exhuma instead.
The Dead Thing - 2024
A woman falls for the wrong man. None of it works. After an hour of 6 uncomfortable ādatesā and 3 awkward sex scenes, you get an unintentionally funny scene of an invisible ghost slapping someone to death and a person dying from what looks like a tea cosy. The biggest horror was the lack of concern for skin cancer the lead character has. Watch Your Monster or My Animal instead.
Mad Cats - 2023
Anthropomorphic cats seek a stolen Egyptian box of catnip. A mess of a film, everything was poorly judged and filmed ugly, yet the biggest issue for me was a sound mix that was too quiet or too loud. Almost unwatchable, wish I turned it off but it did have an alright fight at the end that unfortunately was still badly shot/edited. Watch Tiger Stripes instead.
Watched yesterday: Blood and Black Lace. Kind of ashamed that itās taken me so long to check this out, given how many gialli Iāve been watching over the past few years. Of course, this is regarded as an absolute classic of the genre, and rightly so. Iām not sure that I was as blown away by this as Iād expected to be but Iām glad Iāve seen it and Iāll almost certainly revisit it soon. The bare bones of the plot couldnāt be simpler: a string of murders takes place at the Christian Haute Couture fashion house and a detective is called in to find the killer. End of story. However, itās the style that Bava brings to this that has earned its place in cinema history ā the film has barely begun before the screen is awash in some of the gaudiest colouring youāll ever see, while the soundtrack is equally iconic, featuring a jazzy score from Carlo Rustichelli. Naturally, the killings here are a major draw ā while thereās nothing that quite matches the elaborateness that Argento would bring to his films subsequently, they still serve as a template for what to expect from a death scene in this kind of film. Like I say though, I wasnāt completely stunned by this. The plot is fairly rudimentary and surprisingly twist-free given that this is a genre that would later become known for (enjoyablly) ridiculous story convolutions. Also, I could have done with a bit more characterisation ā maybe a giallo is the wrong place to be looking for finely-wrought character studies but it definitely felt like a lot of the cast were introduced purely so they could be offed minutes later. Still, I had a lot of fun with this ā I just wish Iād seen it earlier when it could have served as more of building block to start a giallo exploration on.
The Rule of Jenny Penā¦what an absolute banger. Should be a cult classic at some point. Really superbly acted too, which sold it - Lithgow especially! Fackinā demented.
Just came in to talk about this. Brilliant - Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow at the absolute top of their game. Loved the slightly unreal care home setting - deliberately woozy kind of effect that made you as the viewer question what was real and what was just a prison of the mind. Enjoyed the approach to aging and loss of dignity and self control. Also, that fucking puppet - what an instant horror icon
not gonna bother with the trailer (sure iāll see it loads in the cinema anyway) but interested to see what these guys have come up with, thought Talk To Me was okay
