Fair enough, no Jackie Chan. The dude is 60 anyways, which would have made it really weird. I just wanted an action hero who could actually fight.

The Lodge, 2019. 6/10

Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz



https://66.media.tumblr.com/f69077ee...3qgo2_500.gifv

Meh.

Polaroid
 

get your photo taken by this old 70's polaroid camera and you die.

I guess if you were 16 and never saw a horror movie before - you might think this was a cool film.
I don't fit either criteria so to me this movie was so bad i fell dead asleep half way through.

Typical pathetic writing. so many filmmakers seem to live in a world where nothing has to make sense.

Here's where the film lost me: in the opening scene - 2 teenage girls are going through a box of stuff belonging to one of the girls recently deceased mother (where they find the haunted camera)

The first thing the other girl does is pick a ball out of the box and flippantly throw it across the room where it goes into a dark closet.
Of course the only purpose of this was to provide an obvious future jump out scare with the ball bouncing back into the room later ... but stop right there...
What kind of friend's first instinct would be to throw a dead mothers belonging across the room while smiling?
no one

This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy .. people doing things they never would do in real life just to provide a lame scare that has already been seen in a dozen better movies. Right then i shut down. Lazy ass 'writing'
The rest of what i saw followed suit.
So many shitty horror films ... so few good ones.

Tales Of Fear
 

This is a new horror anthology film that is based on the same classic E.C. Comics published by William Gaines that Tales From The Crypt, The Vault Of Horror, and Creepshow are; and it continues in the tradition of the stories being based on bad karma getting those who have it coming to them! This one also won the Driectors' Choice Award at the Indie Horror Film Festival near Chicago and screened at the Bram Stoker International Film Festival in England as well. It opens up at a local diner with several of the main characters at different parts of it discussing brief intros to the segments they are in. It then starts off in a dark creepy graveyard with a few kids messing around, only to meet a scary but cool looking ghoul who has a lesson to teach about disturbing the dead.

The second segment is about a troubled young man named Norman who is believed to have a sick mother living with him who nobody has seen, and keeps going to the library to check out books on different plants and medicines who also has a very nosy neighbor who keeps suspecting he is up to something, then gets too carried away with her spying on him and eventually starts making accusations without proof or enough legit reason to believe.

The third segment begins with a hunter traveling from out of town on a hunting trip, hunting coyotes out of season, saying that when a farmer is offering $100 per coyote head, it's open season all year round. One thing he doesn't realize is that there are werewolves in that area that could bite him and turn him into one of them, and another farmer is offering $500 per werewolf head.

The fourth segment starts with a couple of young bank robbers on the run when their car breaks down, and they end up having a mysterious family who lives in that isolated area take them in for the time being until they can get their car fixed and back on the road. They don't realize the dark and maybe deadly secrets that family possesses.

The fifth segment is about a scientist studying human cell regeneration and about how starfish can grow lost legs back but humans can not, trying to discover a way he can change that. When a girl he cares about gets severely injured, he really goes over the top by trying to help her by using his research, then gets carried away when it doesn't work in the way he had hoped.

The sixth segment is about a pedophile who stalks small children at local playgrounds and elementary schools, only to find that not all young small children are as dumb and vulnerable as he thinks, and about how the past can come back to haunt in more ways than a lot of people realize.

This film is overall well done with the whole cast and crew doing excellent jobs in what they did and/or with the roles they played. There is also great looking props, scenery, costumes, and make up to have really cool and scary looking creatures like a ghoul, a werewolf, and zombies. The stories are also very original with good twists and turns before displaying bad karma getting those who have it coming to them. My personal favorites of the segments are the first, third, and sixth; but they are all good overall. This is also one of the better horror anthology films to come out in years, maybe decades now. Fans of E.C. Comics, Tales From The Crypt, The Vault Of Horror, and Creepshow should not be disappointed with this one. ::cool::

Never Hike Alone

I love this shit.

Immediately from the title card with the Elm Street-nod, you know that these people know what they are doing. Following the vlogger made me think for a minute that this would turn into found footage, but they carefully moved around that. This is easily one of the scariest entries in the franchise and at least this kid puts up more of a fight than Rob did in part four.

I loved how one of the medics was called Axel. Great callback to The Final Chapter. I also thought the head squeeze was a little nod to part six, but maybe that's far fetched. And of course Thom Mathews making an appearance. Awesome.

I saw this awhile ago and remember being quite impressed.

THE SLEEPING ROOM 2014

A chance rendezvous between a prostitute and a young man awaken the spirits in an old building he is restoring.

I liked it. Bit confusing but different.

HIS NAME WAS JASON (2009). Released in time for the 2009 FRIDAY, THE 13th release, this is an OK little doc on the whole series with interviews with many of the players involved in the franchise, such as Tom Savini (pretty cool job as Host), Sean Cunningham, Julie Aaronsen, Debisue Voorhees, Jensen Daggett, Kane Hodder, Harry Manefredi etc. Entertaining, but has a quality of being rushed to be ready in time for the reboot and would liked to have seen interviews if at all possible with Steve Miner, Kevin Bacon, Crispin Glover and Jeannine Taylor. Still a sense of fun about it and worth seeing if You're a fan. ***

Mandy (2018), directed by Panos Cosmatos.

I decided to check it out because I've heard that Panos Cosmatos is compared to Alejandro Jodorowsky (whose movies I personally like very much). After watching Mandy, I can see why he is praised for his expressive and original style. Using dreamlike frames and overwrought colouring, he created one of the most oneiric movies of recent years. Here we have Linus Roache as a mad preacher, who is worthily competing for each scene with Nicolas Cage... and Andrea Riseborough, portraying Mandy - she looks as if she existed on the border between waking and sleeping.
This movie isn't for everyone and that's perfectly fine. There is nothing new in the presented story, but the way it is presented... Well, colours are outstanding, visuals are totally trippy, music fits the sinister atmosphere perfectly. I must say, I'm not a fan of Nicolas Cage but his performance is on the verge of insanity and that works superb. Worth checking out if you like slightly psychedelic stuff.

[IMG]ht

Timecop
Van Helsing
End of Days

raided the HD-DVD shelf Friday night and grabbed a mitt full of movies I haven't seen in a while.

Timecop is getting a little dated but still a good watch. Ron Silver makes a great villain. Noted for the first time that Sam Raimi was one of the producers.

Van Helsing... still hard to watch .. it's pretty obvious that the actor playing Dracula was told to play it over the top in a Bela Lugosi style but man, you really have to turn your head to the side and squint to give this movie a pass.

End of days.. maybe one of Arnolds better performances .. no dumb catch phrases .. he plays it pretty straight. Enjoyable film.

The Wretched, 2020. 6/10

Directors: Brett Pierce, Drew T. Pierce

Death Sentence - This is a poor man's Death Wish: the happy family in the beginning, the losing the son, justice department sucks at it's job, the execution style killings, Hey Joe on the soundtrack for some reason... And at one point the main character escapes from the hospital and shaves his hair, because of course he does.

That said, Bacon and Goodman both do a decent job and share a good scene.

SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE III 1990

Ya gets what ya pays for....

The Unborn, 2020. 6/10


Director: Tal Lazar


https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/e3/15/007715e3_medium.jpg

The Lodge (2020) 3/10

This movie has nothing going for it except for some decent acting.

Even with as much as I love Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, and David Wenham, I also struggle watching this film.

I remember liking the soundtrack though.

after recently watching Death Wish for the first time in a long time .. I'd call it the poor man's Death Sentence.
I remember thinking Death Wish was a cool iconic film... but after watching it again .. i thought it was pretty crappy. It made a huge impression at the time because there was nothing really like it before. It was very raw - something i normally like .. but this viewing has me wondering why i ever liked it. Both films were based on books by the same author - Brian Garfield .. although apparently Death Sentence wasn't much like the book at all.
Kevin Bacon acts rings around Bronson. And I thought Goodman was fantastic.
Its probably not going to be a popular opinion here but personally - i think the newer film is a dozen times better than the original Death Wish.

Hmm....now I have to watch it again. I don't remember the soundtrack! ::big grin::

Its more orchestral than anything.

it had that hooky old-timey stringed instrument sound when there were action scenes like riding horses across the countryside, etc

his movies are mostly hooky like that .. kind of plastic-y/formulaic

i did like Deep Rising and Odd Thomas .. but the mummy films and van helsing ... they always left me kind of cold.

1 BR, 2019. 6,5/10


Director: David Marmor


https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/images/.../1BR_2_600.jpg

i

I loved the first Mummy film.

The Brave One (2007)
 

What'd you guys think of The Brave One (2007), starring Jodie Foster? That's basically Death Wish again. I thought it was alright. It was fairly realistic. It doesn't torture us with a graphic opening attack on Jodie. It deals with Jodie dealing with the attack eventually, and first her being a vigilante.

Eugeok -- I know what you mean about some films you watch again much later and wonder why you ever thought it was good or why it made an impression. I'd suggest the obvious, it's about how it made you feel. Attacking a fear head on is (usually) a liberating experience. Of course Death Wish, as I recall, is more so revenge, as I don't recall the Bronson character was ever shown to be scared of anything. But we, the general audience, would have a healthy fear of seeking out violent encounters with violent criminals in their hunting grounds.

I'd rather just except your assessment that Death Wish was a sucky film, but otherwise there's the notion the pace and shots of 70's films at the time can be rather slow and mostly undynamic.

Not yet, but it's goign on my watchlist.

This reminds me of something I heard on the Dead Meat channel on Final Destination. According to James, the test audiences were so shocked by the scene with Terry being run over by a bus that the filmmakers had to insert 40 seconds of footage in order to give them time to recover. Maybe filmmakers in the 70s also purposely gave the audience more time to take in the action.

I see where you are coming from. Death Wish is one of those films where the iconic status perhaps makes it better than it actually is.

I also agree that John Goodman makes for a good villain. I wonder if he had any other villain roles and I don't include 10 Cloverfield Lane because that one left it a bit in the middle.

METAL:A HEADBANGERS JOURNEY (2005). Very good documentary on Heavy Metal music with its origins, place in society, controversies etc. Sam Dunn of Banger Films (also check out RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE and SUPER DUPER ALICE COOPER) is a real fan , interviewing heavyweights like Tony Iommi, Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio among others. If You're into this sort of music, it's well worth a watch, although I find some of the interviews, especially with Norwegian bands to be almost Spinal Tap-is. ****

Agreed. Personally, I rememer missing bands like Deftones, but that's just a detail. Well recommended.

Martyrs (2008), directed by Pascal Laugier.

One thing comes to my mind: WOW. This is actually a masterpiece. Such a dark, ground-breaking, brave and moving piece of work. It did play on my mind. Truly devastating.

Train (2008), directed by Gideon Raff.

I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting with this one. It's about a bunch of American kids travelling around and getting terrorized in a titular train in Eastern Europe. There are some loopholes, but it can work for fans of gore with a not so bad of a story line.

[Rec] 3: Genesis (2012), directed by Paco Plaza.
[Rec] 4: Apocalypse (2014), directed by Jaume Balagueró.

[Rec] 3 totally departs from [Rec] & [Rec] 2 - actually the one and only link connecting these stories is "Uncle" who happens to be a vet recently bitten by a dog ([Rec]). The movie itself is like... love it or hate it. As an individual black comedy flick it's pretty good.
[Rec] 4 is finally back to the original story, though. I liked it. ::cool::

Afflicted (2013), directed by Derek Lee, Clif Prowse.

The concept is solid, though it's quite messy. Throughout the first part of the movie, the action developed really slowly... and it didn't look much like a horror film. All in all, I liked the idea and it was quite entertaining, though there were some flaws - some scenes were a little bit cheesy, could have been omitted, really.

The Occupant (2020), directed by David Pastor, Àlex Pastor.

It's full of narrative holes (I don't want to spoil anything, but for the first half of the film it's not clear what the protagonist wants...). Javier Gutiérrez as a sociopath does a good job, though the movie is very predictable. Don't get me wrong, it's not THAT bad, but I can't stop thinking it could have been done better.

[IMG]h

i saw/have The Brave One. I thought it was a well done film. You don't see Jodie Foster in anything bad really .. she's had a very cultivated career.

I love the grit and rawness of 70's film. its my favourite era both cinematically and musically. I love a slow paced film too. But Death Wish - last time i watched it - it just felt sloppy .. bad editing ..and lets face it .. he may be watchable but Bronson was never a very good actor. Just that one stone face tough guy persona. he didnt change much off screen from the interviews ive seen,

I was surprised .. i knew all the sequels were absolute crap but i remember thinking the first one was pretty good. I guess after years of 1000's of films, i understand the craft a lot better .. or at least developed a certain expectation and style for my personal tastes.

my last seen movies - i started to rewatch the MCU flicks in chronological order.
Some i havent seen in a while so it's been kind of fun.

interesting to see - after the fact - how they built the franchise ... and how little i foresaw where the whole thing was going as the films were originally released.

not all of it was brilliant - there were some growing pains .. not all the films were great - but they sure came to a mighty conclusion.

I finished Winter Soldier last night .. tonight it will be Guardians of the Galaxy vols 1 and 2. (if i can stay awake for the second one)

Interesting. I've been re-watching them, too. In the middle of Winter Soldier. You know me, urge, I can't stay awake past 10:00! LOL

Blood Quantum, 2020. 7/10

Director: Jeff Barnaby

Do you know the Final Destination films fairly well? What was the best one? I saw the first, thought it was crafty, nice camera work, but I wasn't sure I really wanted to see another 2 hours of it. I saw the FD2 trailer at the theatre and the highway scene was scary on the big screen.

I thought Winter Soldier was one of the best. Civil War was good too, but I think I still like The Avengers the best.

Underworld: Evolution, 2006. 7/10

Director: Len Wiseman

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2011

Thought i had seen this, or at least seen something like it. It was ok. A crew for a paranormal t.v. series gets trapped overnight in an insane asylum. Nothing about the crew was likable so i didnt really care what happened to them.

Cry Havoc, 2020. ::smile:: /10

Director: Rene Perez

https://411mania.com/wp-content/uplo...oc-645x370.png ::love::