Fine Hammer take on Sherlock Holmes from Peter Cushing. Christopher Lee is also present and rather good as Sir Henry Baskerville, and I liked that the Watson in this was rather capable and less of a bumbling audience-substitute who only serves to listen and admire Holmes. This is Hammer of course, so we get the bombastic school and more blood and violence than more conventional versions, but it’s good fun. Cushing was a great Holmes, it’s a shame he didn’t play Holmes again for Hammer.
I really expected this to be a rerun of King Kong, and for the first 2/3rd it mostly was, but it then wildly diverged into unexpected territory of a chase, followed by rescue that was genuinely exciting. The male lead was one of the worst actors I’ve ever seen, but the rest of the cast was solid. Pretty decent.
Completely bonkers Jason tale, that deviates wildly from the usual formula of kids in woods + Jason into a tale of body-jumping Jason hunting down a new body. Mixing elements of The Omen, Dog The Bounty Hunter, The Hidden and Child’s Play, this is bananas. But entertaining.
A very interesting experience, a live broadcast reworking of the original Quatermass story. I like Jason Flemyngs interpretation, but stagey (by design) and a little too old fashioned for its own good.
Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast
Another great Quatermass film, with some fine tension building, acting and set pieces. It gets baggy and dissolute in act 2, but hell, is act 1 and 3 great. PS. WE ARE THE MARTIANS.
Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast
Decent entry into the Jason tales, with some creative deaths and a little tension, but needed to spend more time in Manhattan to be properly fun. Enjoyable enough though. Best kill: Jason punching a guy’s head off.
Ridiculous sequel where, even though people find corpses throughout the woods, they act as if nothing has happened and decide to get some air in the same woods. It’s not completely without charm though, as Kane Hodder’s reanimated Jason gives us a steady stream of kills, and the premise of Jason vs Carrie is a decent one, even though the film doesn’t really deliver on it.
Despite a few cheesy moments (especially in the build-up to the tidal wave), this was pretty damn thrilling. Everyone seemed to be giving it their all, and it kept me totally engaged from the point the tidal wave hit, right through to the end. The part where the old fitness guy helps the young singer to leave her dead brother was quite touching.
A fascinating documentary giving us in the 21st century an insight into the ‘midnight movie’ phenomenon of the 70s, .starting with El Topo and finishing with Eraserhead. Some fine talking heads, insights and period footage made it engaging and funny.
Another great British 50s scifi, dealing with mature themes of government conspiracy and control. It has something akin to the podpeople in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, but these podpeople are ahead of the curve, and have already taken over government. It really packs a lot into its 80 minute running time, so has some narrative shortcuts that are really massive coincidences, but there’s some great stuff here…the police inspector about to tell all to someone in power, and noticing the alien scar and quickly changing the story, the sinister guards in gasmasks and helmets wielding machine guns, and the realisation the aliens are blocking the pipes with human bodies to stop oxygen poisoning them. A great paranoia piece of the time.
Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast
Odd Italian thriller/horror that suffers the usual problem in Italian horror, in that the motiviation and speech of the characters seems slightly skewed compared to the narrative drive. The main actress was pretty committed, and the ending was pretty good (except the last 5 seconds), and it was fun, with a few atmospheric moments. The central relationship between a woman and a severed head doesn’t bear too close an examination.
A definite improvement on all the sequels (especially the terrible 5th one), this has some talent, wit and decent ideas going on, with some nice tension and jumpscares. I liked this Frankensteinian Jason, who walked fast, and seemed relentless.
Damn fine British scifi, made by Hammer before they went full-horror, with Brian Donlevy doing a great scientist-as-sociopath in his portrayal of Bernard Quatermass, and Richard Worsworth doing a great turn as Victor Caroon, a man slowly being overtaken by an alien intelligence in a performance often (rightly) compared to Karloff’s performance in the original Frankenstein. Some great touches, including rising tension in a zoo where the off-camera monster lurks, followed by the sight of dead, desiccated animals throughout the zoo the next morning, fine music, a documentary style that really serves to make you uneasy. One of the great scifi movies of the 50s.
Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast
wow this is rank. Every single character exists only to die in a usually cursory and unconvincing way, as they meander through dialogue that exists only to bridge the bodycount. Even the motivation of this new “Jason” is utterly ridiculous. A couple of the deaths had a little frisson, but that about it. The very beginning, with Corey Feldman, was maybe the only decent part.
Rather fine 50s scifi that is very Quatermassy (it was intended to be a sequel to the original Quatermass movie, but Hammer couldn’t get the rights), and rather good. It has a creature reminiscent of The Blob, and the effects in this film are better than The Blob, actually. Dean Jagger does a really good job as the American scientist in Scotland – good character actor. Very enjoyable scifi from Hammer before they concentrated so much on horror.
Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast
This was a lot of fun, and definitely at the top end of 80s B-movie horror. Witty, self-knowing script (in a good way), some good effects (and bad effects), and some really decent setups/payoffs. It thrilled me.
pretty weak entry, with very little tension or decent dialogue, but bolstered by Marty McFly’s dad, and a pretty good final act where a kid takes the war to Jason – AND THAT KID IS COREY FELDMAN WITH A SHAVED HEAD!
Rather fine, and I think a little forgotten, Roger Corman movie with Vincent Price. The film looks really crisp and lush, and Corman knew how to stretch the dollars to keep the film looking classy, but kept it cheap by running the smoke machines for every single exterior shot. Price isn’t too hammy here, and gives a fine performance. What is funny is that Corman is trying to sell this as being an Edgar Allen Poe-based movie when it’s clearly an H.P.Lovecraft story. There’s mentions of the elder gods, Yog-Sothoth, and some very fine imagery going on here, with a story of a wizard burned for mating young girls with beasts from the other dimensions, cursing the whole village to horrible mutations, and then resurrected into his own ancestor. Enjoyable shennanegins.
This is a weird and subtle British horror movie that is really about a child’s dreams. The acting is generally quite poor from the children (who are essentially the leads), but it static quality actually works fine in this movie, whose qualities come out really in the visuals and sound design, especially (but not entirely restricted to) in the dream sequences. More subtle and Lynchian than, say, Freddy Krueger in its exploration of dreams. Recommended.
Travolta is absolutely terrific in this, giving the reasonably complex script his all by an excellent portrayal of a conflicted, trapped, working class young guy. He’s helped by the pounding soundtrack, especially the BeeGees tracks, which add several points of cool to his already deep-freeze cool presence. There’s some great scenes with him, and he’s like liquid gold on the dance floor.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie doesn’t live up to it, except the scenes of his home-life. His friends are shallow and one-dimensional, with the only interesting one being a girl that is smitten with him, but who he doesn’t feel much of anything for. The main female lead, Stephanie, is poorly acted with a grating, unsympathetic manner, and you get a kind of overload of self-inflicted tragedy very near to the end, saved somewhat by the subtle, downbeat ending.
Tony Manero is a great screen character, with great moves and presence, but unfortunately he dwarves almost everything except his home life and the soundtrack.
I definitely recommend this to see once at least, as it has useful and resonant things to say about working-class aspirations and escapes, and about growing out of your surroundings, but be prepared for a slog in the second half.
There was a slew of interesting, thought-provoking scifi made in the lull between 2001:A Space Odyssey and the juggernaut of movie scifi that was Star Wars, that for many years made movie sci-fi==movie sci-fantasy. Stuff like THX 1138, Omega Man, Soylent Green, The Last Warrior, Silent Running, Dark Star. Logan’s Run comes near the bottom of the pile. It’s got a wonky script and the actors are not directed well, but even coming near the bottom, it’s still worth a watch. The beautiful Jennifer Agutter disrobes a lot (and is easy on the eye when clothed too), and Peter Ustinov’s turn as a cranky old guy spouting T.S.Eliot is fun, as is a mad robot obsessed with freezing people.
The world-building is also quite interesting (if a little star trekky), and I think this one would be a good candidate for a remake.
A magnificent performance from George C. Scott as the magnificent bastard blood and guts general Patton. Sometimes this gets lumped in with the antiwar movies of the early 70s (MASH, Catch 22) but this is a horse of a different colour, showing the driven, intelligent, bigoted (against what he called ‘cowards’), narrowminded, well-read character that was Patton, presented here as a man of a different age, who was still grounded enough to beat the hell out of the German army. Very enjoyable, and enthralling.
Ignoring the shockingly bad DVD transfer, this is one of the most fun godzillas for me, with both beasties smashing up trains and cities, and watching Kong’s arms change length throughout. I’m sure there was a bit where Kong swings Godzilla round and round by the tail, but I only saw a snatch of it in this version. Also Kong’s face looks terrible in this, as do the blacked-up Japanese island natives. FUN.
Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day.
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Our Star Wars 2-parter finishes with Clone Wars (the animated series), Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi. Plus Julia’s Eyes (2010), Yeux Sans Visage (1959) and Mark Kermode.
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Star Wars 2 parter starts off with a the machete order (google it) of watching the Star Wars movies, beginning with A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones. Plus assorted other movies, books and games, such as Island of Lost Souls, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Wicker Man ’73, and PC game Anno 1404 (see picture)
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