What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV

[Vyn]

Wow - been a while since I've dropped by this topic - great to see all the spooky shows discussed. And Typhon's offer is above and beyond, fantastic!

Loved those old Hammer shows.

Lately I have been watching short horror shows on Youtube from a channel called Alter. They curate 10 to 20 minute long videos in the horror/spook/etc genres. Some of them have been among the best movies I have ever seen. Some of them have sucked bad. Check it out...if you dare:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMOB6uDg7e-h8OuCw8dK2_Q

[Typhon]

Hands of the Ripper (1971)

From Hammer Studios, through his experiments with psychoanalysis a doctor discovers a deadly violence in one of his young female patients.  However, figuring out what triggers these violent acts proves to be a dangerous endeavor.  Set in 19th century England, a perfect time for a story such as this.  8.5/10

[Charger]

Halloween Special pt. 2 (This one courtesy of Typhon!)

THE CREEPING FLESH


A slightly goofy professor returns from an expedition from Papua New Guinea with a mysterious skeleton that he soon finds can grow back it's flesh when exposed to water. He then begins to examine it further and finds that there are some evil cells in its blood and starts experimenting with them. He uses his own daugther as a test subject for fear that she'll go mad like her mother...but rather than protect her the serum makes her violent...

Theres an awful lot of plot squeezed into 90 minutes but frankly very little action or horror. Eventually the creature stolen by the professor's brother does come alive but causes very little carnage.

But it is still a treat to watch Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee at work. And this is more of a period drama with some supernatural elements than a proper horror movie...not quite what I was expecting.

*  *  ½

[Typhon]

Wake Wood (2011)

From Hammer Studios, the parents of a girl who was killed, relocate to a small town.  They discover that the people there are able to grant the parents an opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter, through a special ritual.  But then the parents must say goodbye to her forever, or face consequences.  8/10

[Vyn]

Edison Studio's production of Frankenstein. Released in 1910, for many years this silent moving picture short was considered lost.

[Charger]

Halloween Special pt 3

SMILE

A psychiatrist gets a patient who say she's seeing people with freakish smiles around her and thinks something bad is going to happen and soon she while freakishly smiling kills brutally kills herself in front of her. Soon after she begins to see things and is pushed closer to insanity as she tries to figure out just what is happening to her and she in convinced that a someking of an entity is trying to get her to kill herself and pass on this curse to another one.

The movie concentrates a lot on psychological horror instead of frights or action...but sadly it kind of drags along for the most part...concentrating on the wrong things and moving way too slowly. The two hour length is too much...had this been cut down to say 90 minutes it would have worked much better. Once the creature comes out it is quite formiddable...the ending however is bit too obvious...but ofcourse it left things open for a sequal which has already been made and in my understanding a third one is in the works.

Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon) does a great job in the lead however portraying a persion slowly sinking into madness before figuring out what is going on. The rest of the cast is mostly known from tv preformances.

This has been raved as one of the better horror movies of late but I was not that impressed. It did have it's moments though but could have used better pacing. But for the most part I found myself just looking at my watch seeing how much more is there...which is never a good thing.

*  *  ½

[Typhon]

Peacock (2010)

In rural Nebraska, the secret life of a town's reclusive bank clerk slowly begins to unravel.  A very interesting   look into the mind of a person with mental issues.  9/10

[Charger]

ON THE LINE

A cocky mighnight radio host Elvis gets a call from a guy called Gary claiming he is holding his wife and daughter hostage and forces the host to play a dangerous game while on the air.

Mel Gibson provides a hell of a preformance here in a movie that mostly takes place in one building. The suspense is great and the it's not too slow. There are twists and turns along the way and the ending turns out to be something that you were NOT expecting which is a bit of a rarity these days.

The other actors are pretty unknown (part from Kevin Dillion) which is good it gives Gibson more time to shine, and shine he does.
However I do feel that they could have chosen a more dramatic/ominous voice for Gary.

A great small budget thriller with a double shocker ending!

*  *  *  *

[Typhon]

Mile 22 (2018)

For a plot description, check out Charger's post (reply #945). 

As far as my thoughts on the film, I can understand why Charger liked it, because of his love for action in movies.  However, this type of action makes me kind of dizzy.  The constant switching of various camera shots and angles is overdone.  A couple of martial arts type of fight scenes where people get knocked about, not just by fists, but also heavy metal objects, yet just keep going and going and going are ridiculous.  On the plus side, the opening scene is very interesting and the ending is excellent.  Unfortunately, everything between the beginning and the ending made me too dizzy to enjoy it.  5/10

[Typhon]

Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)

A team of experts participate in a contracted covert operation to secure genetic material from dinosaurs who are living on an island which was abandoned when experiments went wrong.  The mission is complicated when the operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized.

It has been a number of years since I have watched one of these Jurassic films.  Although this one takes a little while to get going, I did enjoy it.  Excellent special effects and a good story provided a reason to see these ancient creatures again.  8/10

[Charger]

^^^
I have not seen that one yet...but has been on my list! I have really enjoyed all of the Jurassic movies.



16 BLOCKS


A tired old alcholic NYPD Detective Jack Mosley gets a job transporting a prisoner to a Grand Jury hearing through 16 New York city blocks. The job should be easy but soon Mosley finds out the Prisoner he is transporting is hunted by killers and a bunch of his collegues because Eddie is going to testify against them. A cat and mouse game ensues as the two try to reach the courthouse alive.

Bruce Willis plays a very different kind of NYPD detective than John McClane here in this quite a bit less action packed and less humoristic but very thrilling film. Mos Def as Eddie also does a great job in the somewhat annoying but good at heart criminal who wants to turn his life around. Also David Morse once again delivers the goods as a dirty cop! He is a fine bad guy actor.

Director Master Richard Donner knows how to drive the action when needed but also gives the story time to breathe and Bruce Willis does one of his finest preformances here.

This one remained Donner's last movie...which is a real shame as he truly was one of the greatest action directors of our time....eventhough this movie moves bit slower than lets say Die Hards or Leathal Weapons it still provides great thrills and some good action.


*  *  *  *

[Typhon]

The Gift (2015)

A young couple move to Southern California where the husband (Jason Bateman) is starting a new job.  Things are going fine until they run into a guy who was in the husband's high school class 20 years ago.  Now, distant memories come back to haunt.  Nonstop suspense keeps this great story going.  9/10

[Charger]

HONEST THIEF

A professional solo bank robberer Tom meets a lovely lady and decides to call it quits and surrender himself and his loot which he hasn't spent a dime to the FBI but unfortunately the bureau sends in a crooked agent who instead of taking the money into evidence steals it for himself and forces his partner to join in the crime and they end up killing their supervisor and framing Tom for the crime. A cat and mouse game ensues, Tom trying to clear his name and FBI trying to catch him.

Liam Neeson does another solid job here...Jai Courtney as the crooked FBI agent does a fair job and the lovely Kate Walsh as Tom's girlfriend is great. Jeffrey Donovan as the agent trying to catch Tom and who soon starts to ponder something isn't right here also does a great job.

But the story is bit lacking, also there isn't nearly enough action. Luckily the movie is rather short only around 90 mins which means it does move along nicely. Nothing special here, a solid film.


*  *  *

[Thelemech]

I bought a Alfred Hitchcock collection of 16 of his films on blu-ray
So far I have watched Rear Window,  Vertigo and now watching The Man Who Knew Too Much
These are exceptional movies and I regret not watching them sooner
They are very strange especially Vertigo in which James Stewart plays a darker role than his usual fare and he does it well

I recommend his movies to you guys They are worth the effort 👌

[Charger]

I have seen most of Hitchcock's movies...only few that i have not...

His movies are very unique and he surely was a master of his craft even if I haven't enjoyed them all...those three that you mentioned though are stone cold classics! Add North By North West and you have one hell of a set of classics!