Films I have seen this year-Part 3!

Hello People,
Well i made it to part 3,coming at you with more of everything i have seen this year, I will as promised put everything on I watch for your pleasure or hatred,so here are the next lot of my movie watching year.
Jonny T.

The day of the beast.

First of a huge thanks to Mike and Sam over at http://cadaverlab.com/ for reminding me about this Spanish classic on a recent episode and it is a classic,Gory,great acting and funny as fuck!!Hard to come by but well worth your time to track down and watch 8/10.

Accion Mutante

Yet another great Spanish flick,staring some of the cast from Day of the beast,in my opinion not as good but freaky as hell and ultra gory,Definitely one for your foreign horror dvd collection 7/10

BEST WORST MOVIE.

Bloody great documentary about the making and reunion of the cast and crew from the truly dreadful"Troll 2"Worth watching for the fanboy's reactions and the director who gets annoyed that people are taking the piss! 7/10

HATED

Couldn't find a trailer for this documentary from way back on the life and death of Lunatic shit thrower G.G Allin,Shocking doc indeed,Definitely not for those of you with a weak stomach! 8/10

Troll Hunter
I remember hearing about this little gem way back on the horror etc podcast and saw the you tube trailer and thought is this REALLY a film if so i need to see it NOW!!!I did get to see it and its fantastic,The CGI for a low budget flick is really quite incredible,just a great little movie,go hunt down The Troll Hunter now! 8/10

Rosemary's killer(a.k.a The Prowler)

A great underrated 80's slasher that is well worth a re-watch,Great FX by the master Tom Savini,It's the 1st time i have seen a full uncut version and boy is it gory!Great stuff 7/10.

DEMONS

Another Classic re-watch,Mega gore fest produced by Italian horror genius Dario Argento,Finger nails ripped off,teeth pulled out,Green blisters bursting puss,gross out on a mega scale,If you have not seen this yet go do so now,i said so! 9/10

True Grit(2010)

I am a biiig fan of the Cohen brothers and this was quite brilliant,never seen the original because i can't stand John Wayne!Well worth a watch if you like a bit of gold old western,usual Cohen slight humour and violence,great film 8/10

 

Pumpkinhead.

 

Classic monster film from the 80's with one of the best and most underrated monsters ever,Brilliant performance by the great man Lance Henriksen although a warning from me is i wouldn't bother with any of the follow ups,they stink! 8/10

 

 

 

Prodigal Boxer (1974) Review-Robert R Best

Hello All,
I'd like to welcome back Robert R Best with the continuation of his classic Kung-Fu review series and this one does look a classic!
Please go check out his awesome book and website here,a must for zombie fans!!! http://www.robertrbest.com/
Take it away Mr Best!


Prodigal Boxer (1974) Review-Robert R Best

My knowledge of Fong Sai-Yuk consists of two points. One, he's a Chinese folk hero. Two, there have been a shit-ton of movies made about him. Prodigal Boxer is one of those movies.


Our story opens with some sort of cricket fight. At least I think they're crickets. They sure make a lot of cricket-y noises. Anyway, they're fighting and people are gambling on it. A fight breaks out over this and we get the first action sequence of the movie. During the fight, Fong Sai-Yuk (played by Fei Meng) kills someone but walks away without realizing it.

Unfortunately for Sai-Yuk, the guy he killed was a student of these two evil Kung-Fu teachers. Their interests include selling stolen goods, murder and being general dickheads. The figure out it was Sai-Yuk who done the deed that he did, and they head to his home.

But, Sai-Yuk's not at home. He's out doing other folk-hero things in town. So the evil teachers settle for attacking his family instead. There's a nice little bit of inter-cutting between them attacking and Sai-Yuk's adventures in town. It all culminates in Sai-Yuk's father being killed.

Sai-Yuk is understandably upset and wants to get revenge right then and there. But, his mother convinces him to wait until he can have further training. So they go into hiding and wait until Sai-Yuk is ready.

I don't really know much about the Fong Sai-Yuk legends, but one thing did jump out at me while doing some cursory (read: Wikipedia) research. Apparently, the legend goes that Sai-Yuk's mother broke all his bones when he was an infant so that they would heal and make him nearly indestructible. What's interesting is that this movie does have a part where Sai-Yuk attempts revenge a little too early and the bad guys break every bone in his body. He is nursed back to health by his mother and comes back stronger. I guess mothers breaking infant bones didn't fly in 70's Hong Kong cinemas. But, it makes me wonder what other references to the legends occur in this movie. If there are any, they're lost on me.

But even without knowing any of the stories (I can say this because I know almost none of them), this is an enjoyable movie. Very enjoyable, actually. The fight scenes are good, the story is honestly engaging, and it's particularly well made. There were several times I noticed how a shot was set up, or how well-designed a set was. There's even an attempt at an arty nightmare sequence that's actually pretty effective.

Will Sai-Yuk avenge his father? Will he defeat the two evil dickheads? Of course he will. You don't watch these movies because you doubt stuff like that. You're in it for the ride. And this is a very entertaining one.

Check it out.
Robert R Best

Classic Horror Campaign in cinemas Friday!!!

Hello Good people,
Bring back classic horror campaign has finally made it to the cinemas,this Friday!!
Well done to Richard and Sarah and the rest of the team for making it this far and i and hope you all support them along there great campaign,If you have not yet signed the petition make sure you do(The link is at the bottom of the page),
Good luck guys hope it goes great!!
Jonny T.

Classic Horror Campaign
The Classic Horror Campaign is proud to present “The Horror Double Bill” in association with the Roxy Bar & Screen, London.

This event will take place on Good Friday 22nd April starting at 3pm and will feature the classic horror fan favourite “Night of the Demon” followed by Hammer’s “Vampire Circus” which has gained a large cult following in the years since its release.

The screening will take place at the Roxy Bar & Screen on Borough High Street in London close to London Bridge and tickets cost just £5 per person on the door. This unique and popular venue is the perfect setting for the first in a series of events celebrating classic horror in the tradition of the BBC’s iconic horror double bill seasons of the 1970s and ‘80s.

The Classic Horror Campaign was set up by Richard Gladman in order to persuade the BBC and other television networks to bring these legendary films back to our screens so that they may be shared and appreciated by a whole new generation.

The campaign is being fronted by UK Scream Queen Emily Booth and is currently supported by various celebrities including Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman, Reese Shearsmith, actress Eileen Daly, best-selling author David Moody and Hammer Horror stalwarts Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.

For further information please contact Richard Gladman on mobile 07791022427 or email admin@classichorrorcampaign.com

Website –http://www.classichorrorcampaign.com/
Twitter -@horrorcampaign
Facebook –www.facebook.com/ClassicHorrorCampaign
Petition -www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringclassichorrorfilmsbacktothebbc/

www.classichorrorcampaign.com

Skyline-Review by Gavin Jennings.

I have temporarily abandoned my most recent project to offer you my thoughts on this heavily criticised effort from the Brothers Strause. I watched Skyline the other night and whilst I am still a little unsure as to how I actually feel about the film I do not necessarily agree with the masses that it deserves to be struck down and cast into the pit along with celluloid abominations like Transmorphers 2 and Alien vs. Hunter.

To be able to make an informed opinion about Skyline it helps to first understand who the Brothers Strause are. Real life siblings Colin & Greg and have been visual effects artists since the mid 1990’s. Their career began as technicians working on X Files episodes and big pictures like Nutty Professor and Volcano. They also worked on the iceberg sequence on James Cameron’s Titanic. Soon afterward they came up with that stupid nickname and started their own FX Company, Hydraulx. Their impressive resume, largely 20th Century Fox films, includes 300, X-men, Avatar, Fantastic four, Terminator 3, and Day after tomorrow, which earned Greg a BAFTA. Their big directorial debut in movies was the 2007 follow-up to Alien vs. Predator, another Fox franchise. Although initially quite promising it was released to negative reviews from critics and it was berated by true fans of the genre. Despite being fans themselves they failed to make the movie that we were all hoping for, it was riddled with action movie cliche's, poor characters and trite dialogue. It was overly dark which spoilt a lot of the gore and ruined the creature design. The much anticipated Pred-alien hybrid turned out to be little more than a bit-part character. In all fairness through it has never been made clear on how much input the studio had over the brothers. Ultimately all Fox wanted was a movie that would make enough money, even if it meant upsetting some fans. They would definitely have insisted on the R rating that would have exposed the film to a wider audience. This could go some way to explain why a lot of the gore was lost in the shadows. To the brothers credit they did manage to get an alien burst through a child’s chest, a first for the Alien films, and they also let the creatures loose on a hospital ward full of new born babies! We got to see the Predators home planet for the first time as well, and it was enjoyable to spot all the nods to the other films dotted throughout.

With their tales firmly between their legs the Brothers Strause stepped away from the cameras for a while. They did some FX work on the 2009 blockbuster Avatar as well as Iron man 2, and Knight and day. In Feb 2010 the brothers saw an opportunity to redeem themselves as directors and Skyline went into production. Rather than have studio financing the brothers were funding this project entirely themselves. Using their own superior knowledge of FX and shooting entirely in Greg’s apartment building they would be able to produce a blockbuster film at a fraction of the price, what could possibly go wrong?

Physical production ended in late March of that year at a cost of less than $1,000,000. The small and low rent cast comprised of largely unknown actors from US television shows, most notably Scrubs and Dexter oh, and Sweet Valley High if you can remember than one! Almost the entire Hydraulx staff produced over eight hundred intricate visual effects for the film pushing the budget up to a meagre $15,000,000. Peanuts compared to a Hollywood produced movie normally five times that amount!

The brothers found a distributor in Relativity Media and Skyline was released theatrically the following November. Critics immediately didn’t like Skyline which isn’t a surprise considering that alien invasion flicks rarely review well. Their core plots are meant to be implausible and the human characters only exist to drive the action from one special effect set up to the next. The genre is the cinema experience at its most primal, a pop corn extravaganza to be enjoyed just long enough for the credits to roll. It was never meant to be War and Peace. That being said Skyline must be an epic disaster to have upset the cinema going public right? Well yes and no. There are a number of things wrong with Skyline; it is derivative of many other sci-fi films but large pieces of the script look to have been lifted directly from specific movies. Stephen Spielberg’s War of world’s is most apparent in the scene where the characters hide from the invaders in a neighbour’s apartment and a creature sends out long tentacles to feel out its prey. The aliens themselves although fairly impressive and created by the guys who worked on the Alien films are reminiscent of the creatures seen in Independence Day. The drone army seen towards the end of the movie have a humanoid appearance with multiple eyes and look suspiciously like the Chimera foot soldiers from the Sony PS3 Resistance games. The script has some silly inconsistencies and I did wonder how the aliens had just enough time to take a break from conquering the world to waste 80 odd minutes concentrating on a few stragglers. The films third act is a bit of an overblown mess to say the least. I did roll my eyes when a US air force jet was smashed out of the sky only to land on a creature that would otherwise have succeeded in capturing the remaining survivors. Perhaps the biggest problem audiences had with Skyline though was the rather unorthodox decision of not actually having an ending to the film. I don’t want to tell you exactly what happens but if you can imagine Jaws ending just before chief Brody says ‘Smile you son of a bitch!’ or the Shining ending just as Jack breaks through the bathroom door and it goes some way as to tell you how badly Skyline ends. I’m sure the intention was to leave the film open for a follow up but given the negativity surrounding it I do wonder if it will ever get made.

To the films credit the Brothers Strause have still succeeded in making a tidy $50,000,000 profit from their little movie. I really admire their bravery in producing a film outside of Hollywood, particularly in today’s financial climate. In doing so they have been able to produce the film exactly how they wanted. This time round there are no issues with the lighting hiding the action from view, in fact it is quite the opposite since all the aliens emanate a cool looking blue glow. I also liked how the action is shot at a speed that allows us to absorb it. Far too many movies are adopting this technique of high speed editing so you can’t actually see what’s happening. Skyline allows you to see everything and is a better movie for it. Will Transformers 3 be able to do the same? I doubt it. Being able to see everything also means that the visual effects have to be even better than ever and I can honestly say that the majority of Skyline’s CGI is very impressive. It is definitely one of the films strongest assets and further enforces the fact that the Brothers Strause are up there with the best in terms of special effects. But we already knew that didn’t we, the question is can they make it in the industry as film makers? Well I for one did find some level of enjoyment in Skyline and they have shown some improvement since their last outing as directors. What I found most interesting about the film is that in producing a movie outside of the Hollywood machine they have wound up making an alien invasion movie that is decidedly anti-Hollywood. It made a refreshing change seeing the action scaled down to a bunch of nobody’s trapped and scared of what is happening around them. With no help from the armed forces or government I would have probably acted in a similar way. Their bleak outlook was the perfect remedy to Will Smith’s comedic one liners and the ending, although poorly executed was at least different to the usual ‘America saves the day’ chest pounding nonsense.

In closing I have to say that Skyline isn’t a bad film. If you are willing to view the film with an open mind you just might find it to be an enjoyable farce. If you have seen it and like the masses were appalled by it then by all means cast it into a pit but may I suggest you toss it into the one marked ‘Cult’ and not the one named ‘Crap’.
Gavin Jennings.

Insidious-Review by Ken Harrelson.

Hello again friends, it’s Angry Puppy of Angry Puppy Films aka Ken Harrelson. I was writing up a review of a movie I went to see and thought it might be something our mutual friend Jonny might want to use.

So in a rare moment of whimsy, I went to see Insidious yesterday. My expectations were low. Not a big fan of the Saw franchise, but appreciate the contribution it has made to Horror as a genre. It is directed by the director of Saw, James Wan. OK. It wasn’t exactly whimsy. I’m in pre-production on a film called Angela’s Room that is a haunted house story and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t managed to write something similar to Insidious before I started spending cash like the drunken sailor I am.

The basic story- tragedy strikes family, child is in a coma-like state family is all torn up. Oh yeah, spooky stuff is happening in the house.
Overall, the film was beautifully shot. The lighting and composition of the shots were incredibly well done. There is a muted wash over the colors as the emotional state of the family disintegrates.

The acting was superb. Patrick Wilson was amazing as the Dad and Rose Byrne was fantastic as the stressed out Mom. Barbara Hershey shows up about midway through as grandma.
On a side not, Ms. Hershey is a talented actress and has been one for a long time. Yet now, playing Grandmothers, she's still a special bit o yummy. Sexist commentary over now. But really. Gorgeous.

I’m not sure how a teacher was able to afford to live in the houses they had in this movie. Maybe California teachers get paid something above a poverty level? I’m not sure about the comic relief ghost hunters or their psychic leader, but they were necessary to move the story along a rather weird path.

Honestly, it was a good scary flick. Perhaps the effect was enhanced by the chick behind me screaming at every scary moment. Somewhere in the beginning of the Third Act it turned into a "Thank God I didn't stand in line for this" Halloween Haunted House but for the most part it was a solid idea, well executed.

My recommendation- Not bad. I probably won't buy the DVD but will watch again on cable.

Let me know what you think! I am on twitter @angrypuppyfilms. Many thanks to Jonny for loaning me his soapbox! I feel like one of the speakers in Hyde Park, only with a Texan drawl!

Silent Scream reviewed by-Xander Kane.

SILENT SCREAM-Review by Xander Kane.

Hello Good people,
I would like to introduce and thank the man Xander Kane to the Blog,
Please find below his review of the underseen Silent Scream,if you haven't seen it i would suggest you do,its a good one!
Take it away mr Kane!
Jonny T.

The Silent Scream 1980


Directed by: Denny Harris

Starring: Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, Avery Schreiber, Barbara Steele

A young college girl is looking for a room to rent out for the semester. After a frantic search she finds a nice house near the ocean. The house is owned by an older woman and her son. There is also 3 other college kids renting rooms in the same house. These characters are your average college kids. The old lady keeps herself held up in her room and does not come out much. Her son Mason who also seems to be college aged is your nerdy stereotype. There is also a cop in the film but to be honest he is pretty forgettable. He is there to serve his obvious purpose in the film.

The film seems to use tension opposed to bloody kills. It's pacing as a whole is pretty slow but not enough to lose interest. The fact that it has some pretty mild kills is surprising. After all when you think of an 80’s slasher you think tons of nudity and gratuitous violence. Just like most films there is a small love story but it seems its only purpose is a nude scene. It was quite pointless to moving the plot along. It does not harp on the love story very much so don’t worry. The tension sometimes seems to drag a little too much. It is an early entry into the slasher genre and a forgotten one. You strongly see the influence of Alfred Hitchcock. Especially the setting in which the film takes place. It is very much like Psycho. And it makes the film very effective in setting the mood at times.

The reason this film does not flop is because of the director. In the wrong hands this could have been a disaster. He just managed to pull off some great camera shots and picked the perfect location to tell the story. Denny Harris died in 2007 at the age of 76. The only film that I could find to his credit is Silent Scream. I don’t know why he never directed anything else. For this to be his first film it definitely showed promise of a good directing career.


Even though it is slow at times the length of the overall film is fine. As a whole it is well shot, well acted, and well written. Sure to please most of your slow burn and many slasher fans. It is a shame that more people haven’t seen this film. In a genre that became over saturated with teens having sex and doing drugs and then getting brutally murdered. This offers something much less mindless. The creepy vibe that you get at times is a great feeling that I had almost forgotten. Many slasher films seem to miss the mark on setting this kind of tone. This is more for someone who enjoys slow burns and simplistic plot. Especially for anyone who is a Barbara Steele fan.
Xander Kane 7/10

SILENT SCREAM TRAILER.

Vincent Cassel Kicks fucking ass!

Vincent Cassel kicks fucking ass!By Jonny T.

Hello All,
I would like to share with you my thoughts and reasons why i think that Vincent Cassel kicks fucking ass!
Well from the Fantastic La haine to the not so great Black swan it seems to me everything i have seen him in so far he shines like a young De-Niro,From recently watching his performance in Black swan you could tell that the director Darren Aronofsky wanted that quintessential French stereotypical frenchy french man and he totally got that with Vincent,Moody,Angry,mysterious and mean.
It is a Shame that what i have seen him in so far that is from the money machine Hollywood he does get type casted quite a bit,for example in Ocean's 12 and 13(Terrible films)and as i said he landed the same role in Black Swan.

Born in 1966 and Starting his acting career off in TV way back in 1988 it wasn't until he played Vinz in the gritty french urban masterpiece La Haine(1995)that he finally got real recognition for his craft,Going on to be noticed by such great directors as Luc Besson  who cast him in the roll of Gilles de Rais in the underrated Joan of Arc,Then bizarrely after appearing in this he went on to play Gino Bolognese in the British comedy Guesthouse Paradiso,Talk about being stereotyped!!!

The next 3 projects that he did truly propelled him to the top of his game and what great choices they were,firstly came The Crimson Rivers(2000) starring another great french actor Jean Reno,a story of double crossing religious lunatics with Vincent as a detective who teams up with Jean to uncover the mysterious goings on at a monastery,action filled with a ton of twists the is a fantastic film and the scene where he bursts in on some drug dealers whilst they are playing Tekken and then proceeds to have a real long Kung-Fu fight with them all is just brilliant and indeed in this scene he truly does Kick fucking ass!

Next up was The French werewolf film Brotherhood of the wolf(2001)Now a lot of people have said this is a classic,Don't get me wrong its a good film but i must admit it didn't do it for me,Vincent again though does shine as an evil one armed french royal,It just seemed to me that it was all to much style over substance and it did have a predictable plot line but hey that's just me!If you have not seen it though i would recommend you do and form your own opinion,just saying,Nice hair Vincent.

The next film was the animated classic Shrek(2001)He did the voice for the character Monsiuer Hood,you know the dashing Robin hood type chap,Great film and a huge box office smash,He was now amongst the true big guns.

But the great thing about Vincent is that he never just stayed in Hollywood but reverted back to his French roots and some powerhouse movies and indeed performances were to follow,Films such as the ultra violent Irreversible(2002)from visionary Director Gasper Noe which features the most violent use of a fire extinguisher EVER put on film and also a ten minute rape scene,hard film to get through indeed,He then went on to make a couple more French flicks before returning to Hollywood for the 3rd installment of the Ocean's film.
He then made what is for me his best film Satan(Sheitan)(2006)in this he is in true lunatic no holes barred 300mph Vincent Cassel form,A basic story of very strange towns folk with undertones of incest,features threesomes,violence,Dog masturbation(i kid you not)and a birth whilst walking,the great thing about this is that he plays the character Joseph and his wife!!Amazing stuff indeed.I'll stick some photo's below and just look at him as Joseph and his wife, make sure you watch the end credits as well for a bit of Joseph's wife,creepy genius.Also has a brilliant soundtrack So i would fully 100% recommend you track this down and watch it as soon as you can,go on do it now!!!!!!

Vincent as Joseph from Sheitan.

Vincent as Joseph's wife,Sexy!!

So there you have it many reasons why Vincent cassel kicks fucking ass,He has indeed worked on many many more films,including Mesrine parts 1 and 2 and  the Oscar winning Black Swan,so long may Vincent continue on his upward climb and hopefully be recognised as the truly great actor he is,I do look forward when he turns his hand to French cinema and hopefully dives back into the greatness of films such as Irreversible and sheitan,we raise a glass of fine French wine to you sir and light a cigarette in a moody French way and hope we don't lose you to Hollywood,

Vincent Cassel,you do kick fucking ass!

Jonny T.