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Steve-war
Reviews
The War of the Worlds (2019)
Desperately disappointed
I've been waiting most of my life for a faithful adaptation of the great novel.
Sadly, the wait goes on.
This is more like a cheap Dr Who episode crossed with Edwardian Eastenders.
Absolutely crushed with disappointment.
Ah well...
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
I give it 4 stars for reminding me how brilliant Seven Seas Of Rhye was.
Seeing all the 10 star reviews on here has left me dumbstruck.
I just cringed from start to finish.
A handful of decent scenes but other than that it's beyond corny.
As awful as Queen eventually became.
Late Night Horror: No Such Thing as a Vampire (1968)
A distant but chilling memory
I remember seeing this as a kid on what I believe was a Friday night.
It was an episode in a series called Late Night Horror.
I remember the titles scaring me to death. Just petrifying. I think the fact they had no music to speak of, just...sounds, was what made them so ghastly . You can find them on YouTube and they look a little hokey now but somehow still make me shudder.
I don't remember much about the episode other than I don't think I slept for a month.
Would dearly love to see it again, if only to exorcise a shuddering memory.
Communion (1976)
Very underrated
Its low budget shows in places but this modest chiller does so many things right that it's pretty much unmissable.
Drenched in Catholic angst, it's a Hitchcockian horror-thriller with a haunting score, and a remarkably eerie performance by Paula E Sheppard, who is here playing a 12 year old when I believe she was in fact 19 at the time - lending her performance a truly other-worldly tone.
Genius casting.
Horrible setpieces and an exhausting atmosphere of hysteria makes this something of a minor classic.
Goddess of Love (2015)
Fantastic surprise
A disturbing movie with an absolutely kickass and brave central performance, this should be much more widely known than it is.
You won't be able to look away.
Makes Fatal Attraction seem like Bambi.
Very, very nicely done.
Bird Box (2018)
Excellent
Really well done. Great performances, even the kids are excellent - no overdone cuteness.
Slow-burning and tense, with only some minor cliché
d moments.
Somewhat derivative if you want to over-analyse but on a par with A Quiet Place and waaay superior to The Happening.
Have to congratulate Netflix.
Nightmare (1964)
What a find!
Just watched this on YouTube so I'm guessing it's in the public domain now.
This has got to go down as one of Hammer's lost classics, because that's exactly what it is.
The performances are all superb but Moria Redmond is incredible, particularly in the fraught last scene of the film.
Just wow.
I thought I was something of a Hammer expert but somehow this one slipped under the radar all these years.
It's almost a sin it isn't better known because it's credentials are impeccable.
Recommended.
The Beyond (2017)
Good movie
A really interesting film in the form of a documentary. Great, believable performances from the cast.
I've seen some people complain about the script, and yes there are some strange choices of words such as 'uncomfortability' instead of 'discomfort', but I'm sure these were to add credibility to the realism of the performances.
This is a really good low budget sci-fi movie, and I recommend it to people who are happy to watch a thoughtful piece instead of a slam bang action film.
Operation Finale (2018)
Surprised me
An interesting tale told pretty well, with a great score.
I was going to post an average review as it really didn't knock me out as it seemed fairly formulaic, albeit based on a true story, with an airplane scene toward the end that was similar to the one in Argo, minus the tension.
But the last scene really took me by surprise and I found myself with tears in my eyes. Quite a poetic moment.
Hold the Dark (2018)
Tone poem and a great movie.
All the bad reviews on here are beyond comprehension. One can only assume they've been written by people with short attention spans, more at home with superhero movies than slow-burning, enigmatic dramas like this.
Shocking set pieces and an underlying vibe of dread put this on the same shelf as No Country For Old Men.
Well done Netflix.
Extinction (2018)
Average and not original.
100% rip off of the premise of a much better movie called Take Shelter. Go watch that instead.
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Just amazing.
I never tire of watching this movie. Actually, any Cassavetes movie. Gena Rowlands is beyond compare here. She's brilliant even by her astronomical standards.
All the while she's having her 'episodes' she's always somehow adorable, and even though he's often exasperated by her behaviour you can see the love shining from husband Peter Falk's eyes in another amazing performance.
The whole cast is 100% believable and watching the film I felt like I was almost intruding in something... private. But in a gripping way.
You need this.
The Human Jungle (1963)
A grower
Dated but enjoyable. Watched a few episodes and was unmoved, but stuck with it and was eventually drawn in by the interesting stories and generally great performances.
It's a somewhat strange 1960s world, both familiar and alien to see.
And I'm ready to to watch another episode and go back into that world.
Cabin Fever (2016)
Not just awful, but awfully awful.
From the moment this film gets underway with a car travelling through the wilderness accompanied by a score either ripped off or tipping its hat to the music from The Shining during its own opening scene, I knew this was not going to be a landmark moment in cinema.
Maybe it was because the music sounded like it was being played on a second hand Casio keyboard from the 1980s.
This is immediately followed by a nod to Donnie Darko, so I'm guessing it was intentional.
Ghastly acting from the cliched group of 'teens' yapping about Minecraft, wifi, and the usual horror trope of no phone signal.
They all look nearer 30 than 18.
You need to sidestep this like you would a land mine.
Not good.
The Dark (1979)
Mediocrity
Amusing in a so bad it's almost fun kind of way.
But it's not fun. It's simply tedious. Unless you enjoy set pieces so dark you don't have a clue what's going on, apart from the fact you know an actor with false monster hands and a leather jacket is involved.
Avoid.
Thank me later.
A Ghost Story (2017)
Beautiful and haunting.
Stately tone poem that will live with me for a long time. Comforting and disturbing at the same time.
Truly a one off.
Not for everyone that's for sure, but if you have a heart you've a good chance of finding something worth experiencing here.
Lifeforce (1985)
Will leave you speechless
Truly one of the worst films ever made. Words cannot possibly describe how bad it is. Dialogue straight out of Thunderbirds, acting that would embarrass Ed Wood and Henry Mancini's score sounds like he wrote it while having a stroke. I'm not done yet - it's laughably miscast, the first ten minutes seem to have been badly edited down from at least thirty minutes and some of the dubbing is amateurish at best. It's truly ghastly, tacky, cheap-looking rubbish. And yet...and yet.... The special effects are great for the time, often filmed bravely in bright light. No CGI here, it's all prosthetics. The lead alien is as beautiful as the movie is bad, I mean she's gorgeous. And the action doesn't let up for a second. Slam bang from start to finish. And somehow the abiding atmosphere is strangely haunting. You will love this movie at the exact same time you are hating it.