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Post by slayrrr666 on Jan 25, 2011 11:14:42 GMT -5
Incubo is known as Nightmare City on my side of the map, and is a worthy B-tier entry in that Italian wave of zombie flicks. I'd put it up there with Hell of the Living Dead in terms of pure entertainment value, even though on a technical front they're drawn back to the middle of the pack, but it's a fun watch and, as the very first instance of running zombies, beat out 28 Days Later by a good two decades, further proof that Europeans either invented every genre possible or made the best representation of it. You will find a European film of some kind in that role in just about every single horror genre out there.
Bloody Birthday-During a solar eclipse, a group of kids born under a similar sign years ago begin to murder their parents and those around them, forcing those who survive into battling with the demonic children before they're all killed off. I've seen this one before, just now I have a physical copy to replace the moldy VHS version I had, which was unwatchable in the incarnation I had. Solid B-level slasher from the early 80s, nothing really remarkable or stand-out moments but hits all the genre hallmarks and does them regularly enough to not get boring, but it's not a true defining example of the genre.
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Post by Fenril on Jan 25, 2011 13:20:45 GMT -5
Incubo is known as Nightmare City on my side of the map, and is a worthy B-tier entry in that Italian wave of zombie flicks. I'd put it up there with Hell of the Living Dead in terms of pure entertainment value, even though on a technical front they're drawn back to the middle of the pack, but it's a fun watch and, as the very first instance of running zombies, beat out 28 Days Later by a good two decades, further proof that Europeans either invented every genre possible or made the best representation of it. You will find a European film of some kind in that role in just about every single horror genre out there. Agreed, and since 28 days later is a british film, it confirms that Hollywood mostly produces ripoffs of ripoffs.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jan 26, 2011 10:57:56 GMT -5
Yeah, but 28 Days Later is a piece of rancid horseshit, and the sequel isn't any better. Nightmare City is at least a good film so I'd rather use that one as the starting point anyway.
The Entity-When a single mother becomes the subject of repeated rapes by an unseen specter, a group of parapsychologists and other paranormal hunters gather together to find out why she's being targeted and how to stop it from continuing. A rather impressive, if exceedingly overlong entry that really tests your patience at over two hours for what is such a sleazy tale that tends to feel far too classy at times for the subject matter, but still tries to go for the shock due to the extremity of it's set-ups, and gives it a completely clashing feel that is really hard to understand. The impressive nature comes from the brutality and utter sleaze involved in it's rape scenes, which are set-up to initially look like they're self-inflicted but gradually become evident of their supernatural origin through some impressive effects, and are rather enjoyable, but the length and clashing tone are rather hard to get over.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jan 28, 2011 11:04:55 GMT -5
Pistol Whipped-A mysterious man asks a gunman to perform a contract killing and will wipe out his debt if he does so, but finds out he's part of a far more sinister plot than was initially let on and tries to free himself from his predicament. One of Seagal's recent comeback films for the DTV market, and this might be one of his weakest efforts in his entire career. Really, really low on action, keeping more of a suspense/thriller tone throughout by the inclusion of it's reluctance to fully divulge what's going on with the proposal, which is nicely developed but has no action to it, and along with the snail-like pace, doesn't really keep it interesting until it gets to the last half-hour where it finally goes full-on with it's shootouts, chasing and hand-to-hand fighting. Seagal isn't as obviously doubled here, even though it's still clearly not him, so the fights aren't that bad, but it's really just hampered by it's slow pace and lack of action.
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Post by Fenril on Jan 29, 2011 1:26:33 GMT -5
Yeah, but 28 Days Later is a piece of rancid horseshit, and the sequel isn't any better. Nightmare City is at least a good film so I'd rather use that one as the starting point anyway. The Entity-When a single mother becomes the subject of repeated rapes by an unseen specter, a group of parapsychologists and other paranormal hunters gather together to find out why she's being targeted and how to stop it from continuing. A rather impressive, if exceedingly overlong entry that really tests your patience at over two hours for what is such a sleazy tale that tends to feel far too classy at times for the subject matter, but still tries to go for the shock due to the extremity of it's set-ups, and gives it a completely clashing feel that is really hard to understand. The impressive nature comes from the brutality and utter sleaze involved in it's rape scenes, which are set-up to initially look like they're self-inflicted but gradually become evident of their supernatural origin through some impressive effects, and are rather enjoyable, but the length and clashing tone are rather hard to get over. On "The entity"; yeah, that was bugging me about this movie, that it's so inconsistent in terms of tone. That, and that it is way too long (especially when the last thirty minutes or so are devoted to pure fringe science). There are some good sequences here, but on the whole it's more a weird movie than a good one. I wouldn't call "Nighmare city" at all good, either, just entertaining (which is quite an acomplishment in itself).
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Post by Fenril on Jan 29, 2011 1:31:00 GMT -5
Just seen Eurotrip, the uncensored version. It's about... eh, the plot is in the title and it's a comedy. Really dumb and gratuitous. That said, this movie doesn't pretend to be something it's not and so it's at least harmless, even fun at times.
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Post by knightofcydonia on Jan 30, 2011 12:05:17 GMT -5
The Children - Ridiculous, and unintentionally hilarious.
Black Swan - For the first half hour I thought, 'I've made a mistake coming to see this'. By the end, I was won over. Brilliant
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jan 31, 2011 11:33:56 GMT -5
Nightmare City is a lot better than most say it is, simply because it's low-budget is apparent do people bash it which I think is totally stupid. There's a lot more in there than most people think, and it gets overlooked unfairly because most can't overlook one factor of a film.
I personally think Eurotrip is the absolute best of those gross-out teen comedies from that time-period, utterly hilarious at nearly every turn but also having more brains than all of the others combined that I still look back on that one incredibly highly.
Mega Python vs Gatoroid-When a deranged activist releases a group of pythons from a testing lab into the Florida everglades, their rampage across the resident gator population forces a wildlife officer to inject steroids into the creatures to fight back, inadvertently starting a war with the now monstrous species in the area. The first Sci-Fi Channel creature feature of the year, and so far we're off to a winner. A newfound storyline to get the creatures off and fighting, lots of deaths, mild gore, instantly recognizable and beyond atrocious CGI, all the hallmarks we're used to. We're off to a nice start so far, let's hope it's kept up.
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Post by Fenril on Jan 31, 2011 19:22:41 GMT -5
- Viernes de ánimas (Ghostly Friday). A young psychic on vacation with his best friend is drawn into a mystery involving a family of ghosts. Lacklustre and with more good intentions than skills, as is the case with a lot of recent Latinoamerican horror productions. Nevertheless entertaining. Also notable for using a morbidly obese lead in a role that could have been played by anybody (I mean this in a positive way).
- Black Swan. Very good psychological thriller with a rather European flavor (dispite being an unmistakable US production, complete with lack of nudity); not quite as smart as it pretends to be, but definitely worth a watch.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 1, 2011 11:06:55 GMT -5
The Bounty Hunter-A down-on-his-luck skip-tracer learns that his latest quest is his ex-wife and vigorously agrees to the assignment, unaware of the danger she's in that initially forced her into the situation to begin with. Despite really being billed as a straight-up comedy, this one is a lot more serious than it appears since it's promos are mostly built around the central plot but completely ignore the several dozen that are hanging right around the edges, yet despite all the different stuff going on, I'd have to say this one was an incredibly entertaining surprise in that it stays interesting all the way through, the romantic escapades aren't as cliche as they initially appear and it's a rather enjoyable watch. Don't go in expecting a flat-out comedy and you should be entertained.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 2, 2011 11:01:22 GMT -5
The Bounty Hunter-A down-on-his-luck skip-tracer learns that his latest quest is his ex-wife and vigorously agrees to the assignment, unaware of the danger she's in that initially forced her into the situation to begin with. Despite really being billed as a straight-up comedy, this one is a lot more serious than it appears since it's promos are mostly built around the central plot but completely ignore the several dozen that are hanging right around the edges, yet despite all the different stuff going on, I'd have to say this one was an incredibly entertaining surprise in that it stays interesting all the way through, the romantic escapades aren't as cliché as they initially appear and it's a rather enjoyable watch. Don't go in expecting a flat-out comedy and you should be entertained.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 3, 2011 11:01:08 GMT -5
Orion's Key-A team of archeologists in Africa unwittingly uncover an ancient alien artifact and must soon flee from it's robotic guardian and a secret society bent on using the technology for their own evil purposes. I know for a fact this one goes by at least ten other different names, but that's not a knock on the fact that this one was actually a surprisingly decent affair that provided the cheesy low-budget action goods. Lots of chasing, things blowing up and all, so I had a good time, and even managed to provide some rather decent atmosphere had this gone for a horror-based route, but are strangely out-of-place in an action film which it really is. Not a bad watch at all, despite the cheese seeping through quite readily.
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Post by knightofcydonia on Feb 5, 2011 15:22:49 GMT -5
Thank you For Smoking - 4 stars
The Fighter - 4 stars
Vicky, Cristina, Bareclona - 3 stars
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 7, 2011 11:09:49 GMT -5
Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest-Moving into a Chicago suburb after being adopted by a childless family, two teens from Gatlin, Nebraska set about trying to recreate the societal structure they employed back home, forcing their foster parents to race to stop them before they complete their task. It's rather hard to take any of these films seriously due to the fact that it's just so obvious any irrational, violent adult in the situation who starts throwing fists the first second things go wrong would inevitably stop the rampage before it starts, but there's still the fact that the only thing that's really changed in this film is the deaths and when the society begins, otherwise it's the same old thing and that makes this one feel rather hum-drum compared to the other sequels.
Husk-When a road trip strands them in the middle of nowhere, a group of friends find themselves under attack by a group of supernaturally-powered scarecrows bent on killing them off for a higher purpose, forcing them to find a way of getting away from the location before they're killed off. An admittedly decent affair, which is the most disturbing part since this had a ton of potential to be great with a spectacular atmosphere and sense of doom along with the usual high-quality reserved for scarecrow-based slashers, but the film tends to spend so much time setting up what is an obvious conclusion that it tends to think it's pulling off a con by pointing towards one direction but clearly headed for the obvious part that it gets boring and old rather fast. Some great gore in the kills and a fantastic finale redeem it, but this could've been a lot better than what it is.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 8, 2011 11:27:45 GMT -5
Room 205-Moving into a new dorm room, a youth finds that the local legend about a dorm room inhabited by ghosts is really true and are intent on tormenting her and her friends, forcing them to fight to get away from the beings before they all become victims. Really enjoyable Danish horror film, with some highly impressive shock scenes that are a nice departure from the norm by milking the suspense and not just going for the quick out, giving them some extra boost despite the cliche nature of what's going on (appearing behind them after looking elsewhere, in the mirror but turning around to find no one there, yet appearing in the mirror when they turn around, etc.) and coupled with some good kills and a fantastic ghost look, it has some impressive points about it. It is very laid-back and lethargic, though, and really needs some adrenaline to keep going, as well as having a very weak ghostly backstory that has very little spelled out about it, but overall this was a pretty fun film.
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