Seen and not seen's, recommendations and queries on top films in general.

[david lloyd jones]

'symptoms' by José Luis laraz, who made 'vampires'
wired slow build film featuring Angela pleasance (Donald pleasance's daughter) with her other worldly looks as a fragile woman with 'issues' and all that the plot's deterioration entails.
superior bfi blue ray DVD combo to suit all.

[bitewerksMTB]

Symptoms is a good one. I had read about the film before but it wasn't something that stuck in my head so it was a pleasant surprise. It's kind of like mixing elements fromThe Haunting with Repulsion.

I've watched 3 of the Hellraiser sequels recently, which, all sucked. Plus two of the Angel Guts films: High School Co-Ed & Red Classroom.

I've picked up Blu-rays for Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive, Friday the 13th (Uncut), Manhunter, & Madman recently all 40-50% off retail price.

[aububs]

watched Curtains the other day - loved it.



also watched The Lamp which was great fun but not Curtains league.

[bitewerksMTB]

I didn't like Curtains. It's really tame with only a couple of interesting scenes. I seem to remember a severed head in the toilet...?

There's a couple of videos from Scream Factory's upcoming Blu-ray of John Carpenter's The Thing & the new transfer looks damn good especially the special efx:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pid5LVJrSXw

[aububs]

yeah there's a severed head in a toilet.

really great ice skating scene too and some enjoyably over the top acting.

it is kinda tame.

[Andrew McIntosh]

I've watched 3 of the Hellraiser sequels recently, which, all sucked.

I fucking loved the first "Hellraiser" movie because of the extreme ambiguity of the Cenobites. I had no idea of knowing what they were - aliens, demons, creatures form another dimension - they just appeared, kidnapped people and tortured them for fun.

That the whole mythos was fleshed out and explained in subsequent movies, comics and so on was a disappointment to me. People seem to have an obsession with wanting to know what's going on behind the scenes, having things explained.

[aububs]

i like the second one too, cos it's actually even more cenobytey than the first. the third one is funny when yr drunk. the rest blow.

i watched this:


liked it a lot. kind of overlooked i think. gotta admit i must be kinda dumb cos i kept getting confused between todd and terry and wasn't 100% sure what happened in the end.

[david lloyd jones]

recently out, is 'female prisoner scorpion' complete series.
blue ray DVD combo from arrow in UK
four films of psychopathic Japanese female revenge.
beautiful and , pretty much wordless, the female leads exploits extend over these films, with almost nihilistic abandon.
one of a whole slew of extremely watchable 70's Japanese exploitation films.

[bitewerksMTB]

recently out, is 'female prisoner scorpion' complete series.
blue ray DVD combo from arrow in UK
four films of psychopathic Japanese female revenge.
beautiful and , pretty much wordless, the female leads exploits extend over these films, with almost nihilistic abandon.
one of a whole slew of extremely watchable 70's Japanese exploitation films.

One of the releases I was most looking forward to but the transfers didn't turn out very good. That teal tint isn't suppose to be there; saved me a shitload of money but still disappointing. I have a couple of legit dvd's & a couple of fansubbed dvd-r's so I have the films.. Arrow says they received "low contrast" elements that already had that teal tinting  baked in. Some suspect that Nikkatsu plans on releasing the films with much better elements so if that happens, someone will add Engrish subs to them..

I wish there were a nice Blu-ray release of the first two Hellraiser films in the U.S. The original is definitely a modern horror classic. Seems like the second film is pretty good, too? It's been a long time since  I've seen it. I only remember she wakes up in the hospital or a mental institution? Speaking of Ashley Laurence, I watched Hellraiser: Hellseeker a couple of days ago. It's useless but it does feature Ashley looking good and intense in a few scenes (check out her paints on her website. There's a couple that are pretty interesting.).

I just picked up the Aussie revenge film, The Horseman, for $4. I've seen it once but only remember bits n' pieces so I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

[Jack]

Second Hellraiser is superior to the first in my opinion, though makes little sense as a standalone film. I remember it as gorier and more twisted than its predecessor. Love the vistas of hell during her descent into the underworld too.

[david lloyd jones]

interested to think of original nikkatsu releases, likely horribly expensive.
so much of my Japanese film collection is bootleg cd-r stuff, always seeking proper euro releases.

the original hellraiser, and to a lesser extent the sequel were big deal uk origin films of their day. the original UK DVD releases were awful,
real dark poor quality things.
not seen the recent blue ray issues but hope much better. no interest after the first two. even the sequel is ok if you can forget the transfer to a us actress etc

[david lloyd jones]

Second Hellraiser is superior to the first in my opinion, though makes little sense as a standalone film. I remember it as gorier and more twisted than its predecessor. Love the vistas of hell during her descent into the underworld too.

gorier and more twisted were the result of success of original and then us production money, leading to lack of sense/coherence following from the original.

[Fluid Fetish]

First two Hellraisers are amongst the best horror movies of all time. I strongly agree with the assertion that Hellraiser 2 is even better, I watched it again for the first time in a while a few months ago and it's genuinely very twisted and creative. The world inside the puzzle box is extremely fascinating, you get to see the creation of a cenobite, the gore as well as the story are unique. I can remember in the past every time I watched the movie with other people they would always cringe, comment, or feel sorry (or all the above)for the guy on the mattress cutting himself up, which is one of the best scenes in a horror movie ever.

[david lloyd jones]

hellraiser 2
can't agree that it is better than original, but, that despite it's us takeover, it is good in it's own right and not a fuckmup.

[Fluid Fetish]

hellraiser 2
can't agree that it is better than original, but, that despite it's us takeover, it is good in it's own right and not a fuckmup.

It's definitely a divider amongst horror fans heh, some people stand by the 1st, some the 2nd. I think the clincher for me is that the second one is not only so twisted but it's an odyssey...the world inside the puzzle with "Leviathan" etc. Apparently those drones that the giant obelisk named Leviathan is making is actually morse code for God according to the special features..

Has anyone seen End of the Line? I watched it for the first time the other night and I have to say I was impressed. The ambiguity of the story/ending....the hints as to what's going on with the hallucinogen muffins, the shadow on her face at the end. I have two theories as to what the director was going for, on the commentary he intentionally leaves it vague but implies that there is an answer and it's hidden through out the movie.

I love movies like that, that are ambigious and leave clues but don't answer anything...you see it in Blade Runner (is he replicant?) and other films too like Inferno.