ok lets all shit our pants to something old: pre-2006 horror film thread

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They're also releasing a Sonny Chiba film called Wolf Guy. Can't find any trailers.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 19 January 2017 21:54 (seven years ago) link

i'm really interested because supposedly it was m/l made up on the fly and barely resembles the source material at all. i regretfully read through the recent more recent manga adaptation

Nhex, Friday, 20 January 2017 04:44 (seven years ago) link

There's two films in a 00s monster action series called Kibakichi about a samurai werewolf. Might have been inspired by Wolf Guy. I think Kibakichi is regarded as a minor bad movie classic but looks like they could be fun.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 20 January 2017 07:25 (seven years ago) link

A BELL FROM HELL

Early 70s Spanish film that might not technically be a giallo but close enough. The main character is recently released from an asylum and its completely unconvincing how much his aunt and two of his cousins trust him in some scenes (a third cousin is smarter about it) because it's clear he can't be trusted. There's some pretty nasty footage of cows and sheep being slaughtered so some might want to avoid this one but it's a pretty good film. The director jumped from the bell tower after he finished filming. There's a longer version but I don't know if it's ever had a home release.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 21 January 2017 02:01 (seven years ago) link

LATE BLOOMER (2004, Go Shibata)

Sumida has cerebral palsy (played by a man with cerebral palsy), enjoys drinking, going to parties and gigs with his friend/carer who's the frontman of a rock band (a real band called Bermuda Vagabond). Sumida gets an additional carer who is a young girl who's attracted to the frontman and then Sumida gets jealous and becomes a serial killer.

It's very low budget, shot almost like a documentary, mostly black and white. It's quite simple and pretty good. World's End Girlfriend do the ending music.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 22 January 2017 04:14 (seven years ago) link

EL CINE DE VAL LEWTON vol 1-2

Two Spanish box sets containing 5 films each. Really only four of them could be considered horror films but a few others have minor horror elements (other Val Lewton box sets don't include Mademoiselle Fifi).

They're mainly noir thrillers and there's two historical dramas. Lots of recurring actors between them, Boris Karloff and Simone Simon have three films each.

I think people really exaggerate the quality and sophistication of these films because there's some pretty silly stuff in some of them, they don't try very hard to make a lot of the characters seem French, German or Hispanic when they're supposed to be but they're mostly fairly enjoyable films and they look nice.
People tend to talk up the earlier films and I've heard some say the Jacques Tourneur films (the first three) are the only good ones but I don't agree at all, I prefer the later ones, Robert Wise directs some of them.

For some reason The Seventh Victim disc is extremely quiet.

THE CAT PEOPLE

The most famous and critically acclaimed of them. It's about a woman who possibly turns into a large dangerous cat when she becomes passionate in certain ways, it has its own little mythology. I like it fine but I think the Paul Schrader version is just as good but far too long.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

Voodoo zombies on a Caribbean island, actually maybe just one of two zombies. The scenes in the tall grass are beautiful and quite atmospheric but I'm not that big on this film. I used to think the tall guy really had eyes like that in real life but viewing it recently it's obvious the eyes are fake.

THE LEOPARD MAN

Based on Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich. A murder mystery involving an escaped leopard. This is the worst of the bunch. It has some good suspense scenes but it's really dopey in places: the fact that nobody puts much blame on the dancer for scaring the cat away, the leopard owner who becomes convinced he might be doing elaborate murders when he's drunk and some of the conversations about the crimes are ridiculous (especially the theory about when women put lipstick on). According to Wikipedia "It is one of the first American films to attempt an even remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer".

THE SEVENTH VICTIM

A girl searching for her older sister who got involved with satanists. This is okay, the most noir-ish Lewton from the box sets and quite bleak but the portrayal of satanists seemed a bit daft to me.

THE GHOST SHIP

There are no ghosts, just an unstable captain of a ship. It's okay but apart from the extremely unconvincing scene when the captain convinces Russell Wade of his reasoning for leaving the ship anchor unsecured.
Lewton was sued for plagiarism and the film was not shown for decades.

THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE

Easily my favourite of the Val Lewton films and an odd gem. It's a very loose sequel that can stand by itself, a sometimes dreamlike family drama. The first time I saw this, the old woman telling the story of Sleepy Hollow spooked me. Simone Simon is adorable and hypnotic in this. Nice snowy scenes too. Beautiful film.

MADEMOISELLE FIFI

Based on Guy de Maupassant stories, set in occupied France during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. A propaganda film with most of the cast not bothering to sound French or German. Nice to look at and not too boring.

This from the TCM site..

"Simon, happy with her role and her co-workers, was in high spirits throughout filming. To provide the "oomph" that was expected of a sexy star, she wore false breasts for films and referred to them as "my eyes." It was reported that, just before each take, she would command with mock imperiousness, "Bring me my eyes!" Her performance in Mademoiselle Fifi is considered by some to be her best in an American film."

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/184959%7c188863/Mademoiselle-Fifi.html

THE BODY SNATCHER

Karloff and Lugosi film, loosely based on "The Body Snatcher" by Robert Louis Stevenson, about people who sell dead bodies to medical research. It's okay. Karloff reminded me a bit of Jeremy Irons, oddly.

ISLE OF THE DEAD

Set during the Balkan Wars 1912, the plague is everywhere, including the island a superstitious Karloff visits, which has a crypt, house and woods. Based on the Arnold Böcklin images but not as awesome as that sounds, although it's still a good setting but too much of the duration set in the house. Makes no sense that Ellen Drew is comfortable sleeping in the same room as the superstitious woman who threatens her.
It's one of the Lewton films I prefer because of the setting and a few of the scenes are pretty good.

BEDLAM

Based on William Hogarth's "A Rake's Progress" images. 1761 in London, Anna Lee is appalled by living conditions in an asylum, attempts to improve the situation and gets locked in there. It's one of the better films and has a few funny moments. Marred by a scene in which Anna Lee doesn't try that hard to avoid being locked in with a seemingly brutish man.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 22 January 2017 17:36 (seven years ago) link

damn, rag, you have a lot of patience

Nhex, Monday, 23 January 2017 00:44 (seven years ago) link

I wouldn't say so. I don't watch nearly as many films as a lot of other ilxor people and I don't take a lot of risks. Those Lewton films are easy to watch. The comics quests of Old Lunch and Aldo are something that requires waaaaay more patience. Dedicated popular animation fans are in another league altogether.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 23 January 2017 01:00 (seven years ago) link

It seems like you're knocking the Lewton films for not being realistic — they're typically lauded for their poetic, fable-like qualities. Besides, why is it more realistic to have French characters speaking English in French accents if they weren't speaking English in the first place? Verisimilitude is far less important than mood; nailing down stone-cold stereotypes hardly benefits an audience. I have no idea whether actual Satanists ever resembled the dreary bunch in The Seventh Victim, but that isn't the point — the film is a remarkably cruel coming-of-age story about isolation in urban life. A moment of Christian homily does seem a bit there-for-the-Code, but it doesn't diminish the impact of the conclusion. I love that film.

eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Monday, 23 January 2017 01:15 (seven years ago) link

I think the internal logic in some scenes just did not work, especially Leopard Man. It's like I was saying in one of the superhero comics threads recently, only certain leaps in logic can work even if the stories are fantastical or poetic.
Kazuo Umezu's work is nuts but even his stories had these unconvincing moments.

The accents aren't really as much of a problem. It didn't bother me that in Body Snatcher there was only one scottish accent, the English accents are easily plausible in Edinburgh and the American guy's accent isn't that strong. But in Mademoiselle Fifi it's a bit more jarring. That kind of mish-mash is easier to take in some Universal Monster films because they don't attempt to even look like they're in too specific a time period. It's about a certain level of consistency.
Like how in A Royal Affair they're all speaking Danish but in historical reality they were speaking a few languages. I thought that was a good choice.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 23 January 2017 02:04 (seven years ago) link

Maybe I underrated Seventh Victim a bit, I was quite wrapped up in her situation.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 23 January 2017 02:07 (seven years ago) link

FTR, RAG, it's not patience but rather mental illness that propels me through these odysseys.

I'm actually dipping in and out of a similar obsessive journey through early horror (or, given the porousness of the genre at the time, let's say 'fantastical') films. I think I've probably seen like 2/3 of the horror/thriller/sci-fi/fantasy movies of the '30s at this point and I got started on the '50s late last year (the '40s being a relatively fallow period beyond Lewton's work, although I think I'll ultimately go deeper into noir just to get a better sense of the darker side of cinema from that era).

"Nay" (Old Lunch), Monday, 23 January 2017 02:23 (seven years ago) link

Why haven't you written more about all the stuff you've been watching?

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 23 January 2017 06:58 (seven years ago) link

http://www.japanesesamuraidvd.com/.sc/ms/cat/Kaidan%2C%20Ghost%20and%20Horror
Great bootleg store. Will buy more as this is the only place to get a lot of these films with English subtitles.

This is the best string of films in seen in years probably. It was a good weekend. I must thank that youtuber Asian Movie Enthusiast because he recommended all of these, although I already had my eyes on Ghost Story Of The Snow Witch.

GHOST STORY OF THE SNOW WITCH/THE SNOW WOMAN/KAIDAN YUKIJORO

I've always found the Japanese snow woman to be one of the most compelling legends, not really for the romance story but just the images of her gliding around snowscapes. This film has some really satisfyingly beautiful and eerie scenes, good visual effects, sound effects, music and it gets surprisingly emotional. There's a clumsy scene in which the husband stands by and watches an old woman beat his wife for a minute before he does anything but this is a real gem.
The bootleg I bought was advertised as remastered but it doesn't look it. I'm tempted to get this from a Japanese site even if it doesn't have subtitles, to see if there's a better looking version. Still, well worth getting as is.

SECRET CHRONICLES OF THE GHOST CAT/HAUNTED CASTLE/HIROKU KAIBYO-DEN

This is really awesome. Another ghost cat film but with a ton more energy. It seems ahead of its time because the ghost cat woman has a ferocity in 1969 that wasn't really normal in monster films until after The Excorcist, Suspiria, Evil Dead and Demons. Earlier ghost cat women were often a tad silly looking but this one is quite scary. I felt quite sad when she stopped rampaging because I wanted her to keep killing. Most of these kaidan films have an avenging ghost but they really taken the rage seriously this time. The part when the sky is flashing is really great.
Not only am I saying this is better than Ghost Cat Of Otama Pond, Kuroneko and all the other Japanese historical horror films I've seen, I'm hailing this as one of the very best horror films of the 60s. Please watch it.

Tanaka Tokuzo also did Demon Of Mount Oe and Ghost Story Of The Snow Witch so I might go for his other films like his Zatoichi and Sleepy Eyes Of Death series and Betrayal.

SNAKE GIRL AND THE SILVER HAIRED WITCH

The first screen adaptation of Kazuo Umezu's comics (he appears in this as a taxi driver). It's a typical Umezu story with a good little girl finding her original parents and a mysterious disfigured sister.
This is from 1968 but it seems almost retro, maybe they were keenly aware of the weak special effects and decided to make it look like an older b-movie. But there's some shoddiness like dubbed voices (in the original Japanese, not dubs for a different language) over characters not even moving their mouths.
It seems like it might have been aimed at children but it's quite violent considering that, just like Umezu's comics. It's quite fun and despite the low quality of the special effects it's quite good looking too.

UNDER THE BLOSSOMING CHERRY TREES

A Masahiro Shinoda film about a man in the mountain forests who kills travellers and steals their women to keep in his house; he steals a woman who doesn't seem to mind that he killed her husband and she quickly starts to boss him around and shame him into doing things for her, demands which get crazier and sicker.
According to the film, people used to have a superstitious dread of cherry trees, saying that the blossoms drove people mad; the main character wants to overcome this fear.
Very good film, a bit more macabre than the title would suggest, great shots of the mountain forests and a Toru Takemitsu score.

Really want to see Shinoda's Demon Pond someday but I might have to get one without subtitles.

GHOST CAT OF THE CURSED POND/BAKENEKO: A VENGEFUL SPIRIT (interrupted, unfinished viewing)

This is directed by Yoshihiro Ishikawa, he written Nakagawa's Yotsuya and Black Cat Mansion films and directed Ghost Cat Of Otama Pond. This is pretty much a black and white remake of the latter and it seemed pretty good but my disc kept jittering and jumping towards the end, making the last three chapters unwatchable, so I'll need another way to finish the film. There was some impressive scenes but I don't think I'd like this as much as the Otama Pond version.
Isao Tomita was mentioned in the credits but IMDB doesn't have that soundtrack listing for him.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 6 February 2017 01:43 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

The route of exploring European fairy tale films is very tantalizing for me right now. I'm a bit daunted by it though, most of this will probably be done on youtube and I've bought Enchanted Screen by Jack Zipes to help me, it's a big book with a good chapter on old European fairy tale films. The film list at the back is enormous.

RUSALOCHKA/THE LITTLE MERMAID (1976)

This time the mermaid trades her hair colour. Some pretty good songs, some of it even sounds a bit like Magma. I thought the witch was going to be a villain but she's just kind of a crude comedic character. I don't understand why they used rubbish special effects to make the mermaid look like she's in the water in some scenes when she's actually in the water in other scenes. It's a nice film, but I mostly enjoyed the incredible cuteness of the mermaid (the only film role of Viktoriya Novikova?) and the gorgeous princess.

MALA MORSKA VILA/THE LITTLE MERMAID (1976)

Beautifully designed film, the caves with mirrors and statues, all the mer-people (who don't have fish tails but regular human bodies) have slightly silly yet amazing hair entangled with decorations. It must be one of the more elegant screen versions of the story and the soundtrack by Zdenek Liska can be quite powerful (the beats in the cave scenes are quite strange), the soundtrack is easier to get on disc than the film. I recommend it.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 12 March 2017 13:36 (seven years ago) link

oh i watched all the phantasm movies last week. i love all of them except 5 (which i guess i should prob write about in the other horror thread) which is full of good ideas but looks like digital horseshit

the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Sunday, 12 March 2017 13:40 (seven years ago) link

You can get lost in the European fairy tale stuff on youtube. I seen a bit of a 90s tv movie which had incredibly shitty pantomime humour but really beautifully captured countryside.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 12 March 2017 13:55 (seven years ago) link

Chatter on Facebook amongst some serious genre experts tells me that's bullshit - that in fact the version Shudder are screening isn't even the slightly more complete UK X Certificate version released by the BFI on a Region 2 DVD a few years back, but the even more censored American cut.

Bernie Lugg (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:35 (seven years ago) link

Yeah, I'm to understand this version is at least a dozen minutes short of the full monty.

insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 March 2017 14:42 (seven years ago) link

BLACK MAGIC

Shaw Brothers. It isn't one of their supernatural martial arts mixes, this is just supernatural horror that revolves around people using magic to have sex with or kill each other. It makes no sense in a few places, has awful special effects, has a scene of a guy wrestling a dog that looks quite irresponsible for the filmmakers to do, but the film is fairly entertaining. There is a brief vision of a woman surrounded by a few hopping women in a forest and I wish it had more imagery like that.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 18 March 2017 23:29 (seven years ago) link

HORRIBLE DR HICHCOCK

If this isn't the first necrophilia horror film it has to be one of the earliest. It fares quite well next to the gothic Bava and Corman films, nice moody colours and cool soundtrack. Some of the acting is a bit lousy but the doctor comes across pretty creepy at times.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 19 March 2017 22:43 (seven years ago) link

Been meaning to get into more Shaw Brothers horror (big fan of Human Lanterns), I should catch those Black Magic movies
And I always love seeing Barbara Steele

Nhex, Monday, 20 March 2017 02:53 (seven years ago) link

Have you seen Boxer's Omen?

I've been meaning to get the new release of Seeding Of A Ghost but couldn't see it in shops recently and amazon is putting it up to a really high price for some reason.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 20 March 2017 02:59 (seven years ago) link

Yup, actually saw a screening a few years ago, it's craaaazy!

Nhex, Monday, 20 March 2017 09:35 (seven years ago) link

RUSLAN AND LUDMILA

Although it's an epic it suffers from the same cheap made for television look that a lot of Soviet fairy tale films suffer from. It's shoddy and bad in quite a few ways but the whole film is so artificial that it's hard to be too bothered. There's still a fair amount of good things to recommend it.
The guy who plays Ruslan is a really impressive looking man. The gnarled forests are the visual highlight of the film. There's a desert with a giant's sleeping head and cave interiors with giants holding them up. There's a scene that looks amazingly like a platformer videogame a good number of years before they happened.
It gets surprisingly violent towards the end, with Ruslan impaling men on a spear and cutting heads off while riding his horse. One man gets cut in half by a cheerful jester. But there's hardly any blood and I think this is a family film.
For me, the crowning glory of the film is the main theme music by Tikhon Khrennikov. It's gorgeous and the version when the musician sings it at the wedding is amazing too.

Possible animal cruelty: a bull gets shot with arrows but it just flinches a bit. Maybe not real arrows?

Here's a video that repeats the main theme music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTlVdDpyjnQ

VIVA LA MUERTE

Fernando Arrabal's semi-autobiographical surrealist film about his father being imprisoned as a traitor in the Spanish civil war and his sexualized resentment toward his mother and aunt.
Have to say I didn't like it much, it's quite interesting sometimes but it relies too heavily on shock value. He's considered part of a trio with Roland Topor and Jodorowsky, this is his classic film, so I probably won't watch the others but won't rule out his writing.

If you're sensitive about animal cruelty, avoid this like the plague. The lizard or amphibian getting its head bitten off could be fake but the beetle being cut in half then it's upper body still crawling around and the bulls and sheep being slaughtered and their remains being played with looks very real.

On the disc there's an interview with Arrabal in which he talks nonsense while playing with a chair and admires the smell of his own feet.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 27 March 2017 00:41 (seven years ago) link

Re ruslan, I wonder if khrennikov uses any thematic material from the extremely influential (in Russia) opera by Glinka

chip n dale recuse rangers (Jon not Jon), Monday, 27 March 2017 13:04 (seven years ago) link

I was wondering that too but as far as I know it's all Khrennikov.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 27 March 2017 13:17 (seven years ago) link

I was reading a bit about him, apparently he praised Stalin til the end but

The controversial Shostakovich memoir "Testimony" claims that Khrennikov was so intimidated at a meeting with Stalin that the composer soiled his pants and suffered a nervous breakdown.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 27 March 2017 13:23 (seven years ago) link

HEX

If it weren't for some weak acting, unconvincing twists, poorly integrated humour and some bad special effects, this could have been really great because it's a very well shot film (way ahead of Black Magic in that respect) and the setting is really nice. The dancing scene near the end is kind of cool too but it changes the film into sexploitation, maybe a tad jarring and perhaps that doesn't matter. The drowning scene was the highlight for me. Would have been a really good ghost story had they reined in the tone.

The 88 Films disc version includes two very good features with Bey Logan explaining the Shaw Brothers studio and some aspects of Hong Kong cinema. He clears up a lot of misconceptions.

88 Films tend to focus on particularly trashy films so I hadn't been that interested until their Asian film line came out. I think it's been exclusively Shaw Brothers so far and I don't know if they'll expand. But I've been really impressed with them, they compare quite well with Arrow Films. Hoping they'll bring out Bloody Parrot and Black Magic 2 next. Throw in Boxer's Omen and I might even buy it again.

TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE

I liked this better than Creepshow. It's trashy in a fairly entertaining way. Was surprised how many famous people were in it. Arthur Conan Doyle and Stephen King stories for the first two segments, the third story is a lot like Yuki-Onna but I'm not sure if it's similar enough to the Hearn version to justify a credit (there's no adaptation credit for this one).

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW (Disney)

Animated musical short film with the voice of Bing Crosby. It's decent, the horror bits are nicely done. I really like that type of spookiness, wish there was more of it.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 2 April 2017 22:38 (seven years ago) link

AUTOPSY/THE VICTIM/MAGICIAN

Giallo with Mimsy Farmer. It's pretty good, very twisty plot, the museum of death has some striking pieces, but I don't think I've got that much patience for giallo outside the most stylish ones with the bolder colours.

Possible animal cruelty: there's a scene of a dog get belted a bit.

SEEDING OF A GHOST

For a few weeks or months it was really hard to find the recent 88 Films release of this but they made more. It's funny to imagine this being unexpectedly popular but they probably just made fewer of these than the others in their Shaw Brothers series.

It's like the other dark magic Hong Kong films but with some 80s rubbery monster gore. It's not as crazy as Boxer's Omen but it must be a runner up in the HK horror section. Some people have been exaggerating these qualities so don't expect lots of monsters (there's a grotesque corpse, some slight human transformations and an actual monster at the end) or constant insanity (it's mostly kept to the end and the magic rituals are definitely the strangest thing). It's pretty nasty too, the rape is quite bad, most of the characters are lousy people and there's none of the humour you might expect from a film like this. Worth seeing but I don't think it lives up to the hype.

It came out the same year as Devil Fetus but the ending is so similar I'm convinced one is ripping off the other (but I've never seen Devil Fetus in full).

THREE WISHES FOR CINDERELLA

Just a very sweet and nice film with lots of snowy countryside, dogs, horses and an owl. Popelku/Cinderella is stunningly beautiful and even her ugly sister is really cute. The sensibility is a bit too crowdpleasing and like a lot of adaptations it struggles a bit with the fairy tale logic (making characters seem stupid) but I really like this film. Apparently it's a popular film shown every Christmas in a few countries, I don't know if they're lucky or if it's better to keep it less frequent but I'd take it over The Great Escape.
The background information talk on the Second Run disc is excellent.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 9 April 2017 23:41 (seven years ago) link

EVIL DEAD TRAP

In the 90s I always used to see vhs copies of this next to Evil Ed and the Evil Dead series, I thought they were all related.

This is an offbeat Japanese slasher with a small drop of rubber monster stuff. It's set in a military base, there's nasty rape and violence in there, which sounds like the type of thing I'd normally avoid but it's pretty stylish and has a cool soundtrack. Some might even call it a giallo.

I've heard that the sequels don't have much to do with each other and they didn't sound as good.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 23 April 2017 21:53 (seven years ago) link

Saw a 35mm screening of EYES OF FIRE. Not bad, some cool visuals. Kind of a weird precursor to last year's The Witch, made in 1983.

Nhex, Monday, 24 April 2017 07:40 (seven years ago) link

Heard about it recently, don't remember where.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 24 April 2017 12:03 (seven years ago) link

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY

Really only bought this because I couldn't find a copy of the very beautiful Bruno Nicolai soundtrack and I've not seen many Edwige Fenech films. It's an okay/decent film, I'm sure a lot of you would like it a lot more than me.
The Arrow disc has a good documentary about Fenech and another one about the director (I've been hearing a lot more Scottish accents in dvd features recently).

Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 28 April 2017 21:08 (seven years ago) link

Rewatched Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for the first time in ages. What a weird movie, sometimes half-assed, sometimes funny. Once they get to the underground lair I was all, huh, how much time is left? 45 minutes !?!? Definitely seems to be ground zero for Rob Zombieville.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 April 2017 21:27 (seven years ago) link

THE SCARLET FLOWER

A Russian 1970s Beauty And The Beast variation with a leafy tree spirit as the beast. The most impressive thing is the interiors of the palace, where all colours are muted except for reds. In the rural scenes there's a style of folk singing I've never heard before. The father looks a lot like Tom Hardy might in a few decades. It's a nice film but I wish there was a bit more going on, admittedly I wasn't paying close attention to all the relationships.
In the bonus features interview with the director, it seems like she had much bigger ambitions for the film than she was able to execute but she's still quite pleased with it.

THE BLOOD DRINKERS/BLOOD IS THE COLOR OF NIGHT

60s Filipino vampire film which is pretty lousy in most ways but manages to create some impressive images with lots of fog and its unusual use of colour. It alternates between full colour and black & white with red or blue tints.

THE FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER

Ken Russell's last full length film. It's as awful as they say, unfortunately. I only got half way through then fast-forwarded the rest. It's done on a shoestring budget, Russell puts on a terrible German accent, the music is Nick Cave wannabe stuff, most of the costumes and props look like they're from cheap Halloween and novelty item stores. It's silly and vulgar in a way that isn't fun.
If he had a huge budget and all the resources he wanted at this point, I wonder if it would be as puerile? Maybe he knew he could never make a great film on this budget and so didn't take the whole thing too seriously.
I feel bad writing all this because Russell is one of my favourites.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 30 April 2017 17:47 (seven years ago) link

It's silly and vulgar in a way that isn't fun.

I disagree. It's silly and vulgar and puerile and generally terrible, but watching it drunk with your mates is a laugh-riot. Also the main actors are the singer from Gallon Drunk and one of the Mediaeval Baebes!

emil.y, Sunday, 30 April 2017 17:55 (seven years ago) link

Maybe he knew he could never make a great film on this budget and so didn't take the whole thing too seriously.

I do think this is pretty spot on, though. I mean, it's basically filmed in his back garden with crap he picked up from, as you say, "cheap Halloween and novelty item stores". I don't think anyone involved thought they were making a work of art.

emil.y, Sunday, 30 April 2017 17:58 (seven years ago) link

Didn't know about the Mediaeval Baebes member in this. I'm not familiar with Gallon Drunk.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 30 April 2017 18:11 (seven years ago) link

If you're in the US (Arrow seems to be handling this better in the UK) and have any thoughts of procuring the new complete Phantasm blu-ray set, get on it ASAP. The thing was just released last week to a limited number of retailers and it's already totally sold out and going for inflated prices everywhere but Best Buy.

How many gigabyte is in trilobites (Old Lunch), Monday, 1 May 2017 12:07 (seven years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Wow @ Death Bed: The Bed That Eats. I knew it had to be super low budget (which it definitely is) but had no idea it was some weird art/exploitation film hybrid. The Bed's nemesis is Aubrey Beardsley (whose ghost is trapped in a painting in the same room as the Bed). The bed actually seriously drinks Pepto Bismol at one point. I think I love this movie.

human/hutt hybrid (Old Lunch), Saturday, 20 May 2017 02:05 (six years ago) link

death bed freakin rocks

ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Saturday, 20 May 2017 02:07 (six years ago) link

I think it's officially joined Robot Monster in my pantheon of movies that popular opinion has written off as super shitty but that are actually kind of transcendent and amazing.

I think I'm gonna watch The Witch Who Came From the Sea next. Cool to see a couple of y'all discussing Arrow's American Horror Project set upthread!

human/hutt hybrid (Old Lunch), Saturday, 20 May 2017 02:13 (six years ago) link

Malatesta's Carnival Of Blood was the best of those easily. Real unearthed treasure.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 20 May 2017 02:42 (six years ago) link

The Witch Who Came From the Sea is fuuuuuuucked. Millie Perkins in the lead role is like a lite version of Isabel Adjani in Possession. It feels like the kind of role that takes a bite out of your psyche if you throw yourself into it so completely. Kinda not exactly horror, I guess, but I don't know what else to call it. Recommended.

(I keep a sort of mental file of indelible moments from horror films, and the flashback to her character's distorted utterances of 'Papa? Papa?' as a child is now burned into my brain.)

human/hutt hybrid (Old Lunch), Saturday, 20 May 2017 03:56 (six years ago) link

saw a print of Witch last year, loved it

Nhex, Saturday, 20 May 2017 10:19 (six years ago) link

one month passes...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-40089750

Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 20 June 2017 15:38 (six years ago) link

There's a part in one of the Wishmaster films with the monster asking someone about love in his cookie monster voice. Someone needs to clip that for youtube then put it in a song intro.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 21 June 2017 21:05 (six years ago) link

Arrow finally got their own edition of Bava's Kill Baby Kill

Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 22 June 2017 11:02 (six years ago) link


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