More On Movies X

The Undertaker aka Death Merchant (1988/2010/2016)
Can I say Joe Spinell gets more demented than usual? Probably not after Maniac (1980). He's a loveable undertaker with more than that on his mind and perhaps his colleagues should look out. Sadly this was Spinell's last piece of acting caught on celluloid. You're gonna watch this if you're a Spinell fan (speaking of which here's a mini doc on his life) or just a little bit mental. It's not that bad considering it wasn't even released straight to video at the time. This unfinished movie finally got a semi-official dvd release with stupid added in footage in 2010 by Code Red. The 2016 blu-ray restores The Undertaker to its original form. This is another Vinegar Syndrome release that brings you the dregs from the depths.

Apostle (2018)
Boring horror movie Netflix shit. Got 20 minutes in and that was it.

The Hearse (1980)
Funny and a bit crap but it tightens up a little towards the end. This is a haunted house/satanic/nightmare kinda thing where dreams and reality get blurred. The Hearse is probably loved because of its campy absurdity than due it actually being chilling or frightening. An inept film that seems to miss every beat. Quite a feat.

Don't Answer The Phone (1980)
Strange tone from the very beginning which is so sarcastic. A man who's fat, rapey and hysterical commits ritualistic murders. Very much wrong but somehow enjoyable. I can't believe the brilliant noisy electronic score is actually part of this movie. If you like what I just described you'll either say this is another Vinegar Syndrome winner or moan.

78/52 (2017)
Delve into the minutiae of Alfred Hitchcock's shower scene from Psycho. This is a Netflix documentary that's not as boring as you might imagine. I guess if you don't know much about Hitchcock or Psycho this would be much more interesting ie. I'm very much aware of most of what is being repeated here by so-called horror experts. There were a couple of little bits of information I didn't  know though. I always wondered how they didn't get water on the camera lens in the shot looking directly up at the shower head from underneath...in fact I'm still not quite sure how they did that. On the talking head front we could have done with a lot less Eli Roth and just way more Bret Easton Ellis!

Secret Ceremony (1968)
Bizarre. This is all about the clothes, the house, the interior design, the eerie, the perversion & the depravity. Not quite like anything else I've ever seen. This film has to be seen to be believed. Cenci (Mia Farrow) is a regressive 22 year old whose mother died when she was little but she finds a lookalikey in Leonora (Liz Taylor) on a bus one day. The strangeness then begins. Add to that a pervy stepfather named Albert played by Mr. Robert Mitcham. Secret Ceremony is an outlandish psychological horror film that is incredibly entertaining. I imagine this is a cult classic in many circles.

The Dead Zone (1983)
An excellent movie that nobody ever says is great. I would have thought people imagined a Stephen King story in the hands of David Cronenberg would have been rather bloody and brutal but Cronenberg tones down the gore here. It's his first time directing a film that he did not write himself. Fine performances from Chris Walken, Herbert Lom, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt etc.

Christmas Evil aka You Better Watch Out (1980)
This film's tone is all over the place. Christmas Evil had real potential but seems to have been put together rather haphazardly. However it's easy to see why it's gained a cult following. It's funny, it's got murder by christmas decoration and Santa is an anti-social outsider. Harry (Brandon Maggart) is a disgruntled toy factory worker who takes it upon himself to become a real life Santa who ends up murdering people who do wrong. Worth watching at least once for historical purposes as this is one of the early examples of a homicidal Santa.

The Hitcher (1986)
I know I watched and wrote about this recently but Emma had never seen it and it's just been issued on blu-ray. The Hitcher would be in my top 10 movies from the 80s. The film-makers just do not miss a beat in this film. I'm thinking that it is perhaps flawless. There is something mysterious about the relationship between the psycho hitcher John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) and Jim Halsey (C Thomas Howell) the kid who gives him a ride. Is there something telekinetic going on or possibly a homosexual subtext? Am I just imagining this? It's hard to tell giving this film an enigmatic aura.

The Stepfather (1987)
I can't believe this is not a TV movie as it just felt like one. ie. rushed script, direction, editing, one take acting etc. The Stepfather has a very similar premise to Michael Winner's 1984 film Scream For Help but it's nowhere near as compelling as that nutty piece of work. Worth a look for slasher completists and fans of psychotic fathers.

Next Of Kin (1982)
I became aware of this film many years ago as someone suggested that the soundtrack was fantastic. Being a fan of Mr Klaus Schulze I tried to find the soundtrack but to no avail. I recently discovered the soundtrack was never actually released but it was a bunch of his music complied from his classic LPs of the 70s and early 80s. Despite Next Of Kin's relative obscurity now, this movie must have been known to cinephiles, at least, because it appeared on the front cover of Australia's legendary film journal Cinema Papers (see above) in 1982. Next Of Kin is a fabulous piece of underrated film-making. Director Tony Williams is obviously influenced by Giallo movies, classic haunted House films and probably The Changeling (1980). The cinematography is stunningly beautiful. It's a good little story with spot on direction, pacing, acting, atmosphere and sound design.

The Alligator (1980)
Great fun When Animals Attack film starring the fabulous Rob Forster. Terrific little story written by John Sayles. Don't you love it when directors write scripts that they don't actually direct? ie. Quentin Tarantino, Terrence Mallick, Larry Cohen, Paul Schrader, Walter Hill etc. A pet baby alligator is flushed down the lou with dire consequences. Funny, bit scary and fine entertainment!

The Last House On The Left (1972)
Haven't seen this for years. Haven't seen Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1960) which this movie is based on since I was in my early 20s, you know, when you felt like you had to watch every bloody arthouse film ever made. Anyway this left me guessing right up until the end. The Last House On The Left is a nasty yet compelling exploitation/complex rape revenge movie. Wes Craven's not my favourite director but this is way better than his other major 70s effort The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and probably his best work. Ooh the VHS nerd nostalgists wont like that comment.

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
If you're a cinephile, Orson Welles fan or just interested in history you will have probably already watched this on Netflix. It's a great doc about The Other Side Of The Wind, a film that never was. Many years ago there was a documentary on like five or six films that Welles never finished which I recall being very frustrating. However somebody has completed The Other Side Of The Wind. I haven't watched that yet but this doc makes you very excited about the prospect of, at least, seeing a 2018 version of this film.

The Exterminator (1980)
Was not aware of this movie until the Diablolique Website did a fantastic list of the best vigilante films earlier this year. Sure, The Exterminator's not the best film ever but there are some scenes to maybe make it worth watching ie. NYC cesspool, Viet Vets, cars that blow up immediately after crashing, burning people, meat grinders, flame throwers, death by rat etc. It's quite a convoluted plot in a movie that could have done with much more editing.

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
I guess you know to expect absurd vigilante action thrills by now as this is the fourth in the Death Wish series. It's unbelievable that Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) survived this film. We're Back in LA for Death Wish 4. Many baddies have many bad shots at Kersey so he survives to tell another tale. That's enjoyment of Death Wishes 3 and 4 now, perhaps I really am becoming a Charles Bronson fan. Bring on Death Wish 5.

The Changeling (1980)
Not as boring as I remember, actually it's quite the opposite. The Changeling is a brilliant, grim, brutal and ultimately sad haunted house story with a deliberately slow burning pace. I wouldn't say I'm a big haunted house movie fan but this one really gets you in. An incredibly well executed film with stunning cinematography and a great unsettling atmosphere.

Death Line (1972)
Although there are comic moments here this is one of the saddest horror movies ever. I became aware of this in the 90s due to its fantastic Will Malone score. An upper class Englishman goes missing late one night in a London tube station. An investigation ensues with very unexpected, strange and twisted results. Donald Pleasance plays the arsehole Inspector Calhoun brilliantly. Death Line is worth watching for that performance alone but The Man played by Hugh Armstrong is a haunting pièce de résistance of pathos.

Rope (1948)
Alfred Hitchcock is so adept at creating suspense it's ridiculous and er... masterful. Rope is set in real time and I enjoyed every reel minute. Two posh young gentlemen (could perhaps be read as 'preppy dandies') murder an old school chum as some kind of exercise based on the ideas and philosophies of Nietzsche and De Quincey. Will this murder be an act of brilliant supremacy or supreme idiocy? Much technical wizardry and an ace script based on a play from 20 years earlier.

Moon Wiring Club - Psychedelic Spirit Show

Most exciting news all year!

Young Thug - Scoliosis

& Basic Channel/Chain Reaction Vibes

Hey, It's been ages since I posted about new music but here's something recent-ish. Well actually it sounds like Young Thug doin his thang over a Basic Channel/Chain Reaction track, doncha think? Sometimes I really want an instrumental or dub LP of many modern hip-hop records like Thugger, Future, Vince Staples, Lil B, Travis Scott et al. Scoliosis is not the first time that hints of 90s German dub-tech have appeared in rap though. The below track from 5 years ago had me thinking along similar lines and there have probably been a bunch more. Any suggestions out there?

This tune still astounds me. It also astounds me Boosie isn't as big as Kanye as previously mentioned (yawn).

Last year there was this terrific DJ Python album, not hip-hop but some kind of synthy-new-age-drift/deep-dub-tech-house hybrid thing that was probably a genre named something else entirely. Hey I was in the 90s so you can't fool me. Anyway there are several moments that recall or are probably homages to the great sounds from Basic Channel/Chain Reaction/Rhythm & Sound and their milieu. Amongst the cosmic tropical bliss Dulce Compañia also contains hints of 90s-esque ambient house/tech and even some shimmering post-rock of the Seefeel variety while still feeling contemporary. It's hard not to be seduced by such a lovely record. 

More On Movies VIIII

RECENTLY RE/WATCHED

Truck Turner (1974)
The threads in this blaxploitation flick are outstanding. Isaac Hayes is Truck Turner the double denim clad booze hound bounty hunter. The hunters however become the hunted. Look out for weird car chase including bagels, a foot-chase through a sewage works, the pimp and prostitute pool party & funeral, spectacular shoot out in a hospital and the brilliant symphonic funk soundtrack. Not forgetting the cars on the 70s streets of LA. Originally released as part of a double bill with Foxy Brown, now that's what I call a double feature!

Beyond The Black Rainbow (2010)
Third viewing of the first feature from director of 2018's Mandy Panos Cosmatos. I can't say it has grown on me at all. It's just too fucking slow and oh so stylised man. Elena (Eva Allan) is drugged and trapped in some kind of New Age clinic/psych ward The Arboria Institute by psycho druggy Dr Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers). What will happen? Well not much but there is a pretty cool telekinetic murder. Beyond The Black Rainbow is where trash and high art aesthetics collide but it's just not satisfying like similarly styled films ie. early Cronenberg movies. Fabulous soundtrack however from Sinoia Caves. One of my top 5 soundtracks of the 10s.

I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)
Wow this was an unexpected little bewdy, it made my week. Netflix just dump stuff on their site and you have no idea what it is. This had been sitting in my watch later list for over a year. I thought I'd probably never watch it, mainly because of the title. I was expecting it to be some kind of emo snowflake indie shit until I read the blurb. The lead role of Ruth is played by the stalker girl from Two Men and A Half Melanie Lynskey. Anyway Ruth, who is suffering from depression, gets robbed after already having a bad day at work. She teams up with neighbour Tony (Elijah Wood) to try and find her stuff, then things go berserk and spiral out of control from there. I Don't Feel... is an unpredictable and thoroughly entertaining black comedy revenge film. Hey, it's got the frontman of noise-rock legends Scratch Acid* and Jesus Lizard David Fucking Yow as shit criminal Marshall and he's really good. In a word surprising.

Someone's Watching Me (1978)
Pretty good little made for telly thriller. John Carpenter made two movies in 1978 this is the other less famous one. Good performances from Lauren Hutton and Adrienne Barbeau. A stalker is making creepy phone calls to Leigh (Hutton) but nobody's taking her seriously so she takes matters into her own hands in this Hitchcock homage. Terrific ending, which is something you rarely get to say.

The Invitation (2015)
Will (Logan Marshall-Green) is invited to a dinner party by his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard). Things start looking dodgy as the hosts become more creepy and may have some kind of agenda for the evening apart from the usual eating and drinking. An uneasy suspenseful vibe is created right from the start. One of the most well executed horror/thrillers I've ever seen this Millennium.

Creep (2014)
Top notch found footage horror flick. I was not expecting much from this but it turned out be fine entertainment which was funny and ultimately very fucking disturbing. Aaron (Patrick Brice) a freelance video cameraman gets a job with a weird dude named Josef (Mark Duplass). Should he continue with the project or run for his life? A very clever premise and script with good actoring. I recommend.

Creep 2 (2017)
Not as good as the first one but still pretty good. Another good concept and script. The acting is good once again. If you enjoyed the first one do yourself a favour.

50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen (2014)
This is one of those countdown shows like the TV show here in Australia which had a heap of crap celebrity Z-listers counting down all sorts of obvious shit like the best music videos of the 80s, the 20 most controversial moments in sport etc., maybe it was called 20 to 1. Anyway this American one counts down 50 horror movies you've supposedly never seen. I thought right here's a challenge I bet I've seen a shitload of these. But, haha, they got me in my achilles heel with a lot of movies made post-2000. I think I'd seen everything listed from the 20th century and only a few from the new Millennium. It's narrated by legendary scream queen PJ Soles. You get to see some talking heads that you may not have ever seen like film-makers, writers, podcasters & Blu-Ray label people such as Philippe Mora, Jeff Nelson, Kim Morgan, Rob Galluzzo etc.

Wrong Turn (2003)
This is one from The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen which I'd never seen. Not a bad little backwoods slasher. Young and beautiful city slickers get in the way of inbred hillbillies somewhere in West Virginia. There's a body count and a couple of good, if generic, kills toward the end. Wrong Turn stars Eliza Dushku and the dude who played Brenda's mental patient brother in Six Feet Under.

Giallo E Venezia (1979)
Nuts giallo meets exploitation hybrid set in the seedy side of Venice. Much wrongful sexy time and creepy rapeyness with plenty of 70s bush and even quite a bit of male nudity. The awkward wrongness of these sex scenes is captured to create maximum unease. You know what I found the most disturbing about this film though? The detective always had a boiled egg. At one stage he was banging it on his colleagues smoking pipe. Weird. There weren't many Gialli set in Venice, I can only come up with The bloodstained Shadow. If you're looking for Giallo of the most sleazoid kind go no further, here it is. Thanks to Samm Deighan and Baron Martino for alerting me to this little known flick.

Baise-Moi (2000)
I have a vague recollection of this getting banned in Melbourne and taken off cinema screens before I got a chance to see it. So I was quite surprised and thrilled to find it was streaming on Stan. I'm assuming this was some kind of censored censored version. The utter nihilism of this movie is pretty fucking intoxicating. Two girls get raped then fuck and take out vengeance on everything in their path. Extraordinary romp of extreme sex and violence.

In A Lonely Place (1950)
I felt like starting a noir-fest after reading some stuff on the BFI website. Noir films tend to all blend together for me as I haven't watched them for a long time. Great cynical tone, script, acting, direction, plot etc. A screenwriting thug (Humphrey Bogart) is suspected of murder then falls in love with his actress neighbour (Gloria Grahame). It's all about the drinkin' and the smokin'. This Nicholas Ray fella wasn't a bad director was he?

Rabid (1977)
This is probably my least watched of the classic David Cronenberg movies because it's so fucking gross. I can't look at the screen half the time. The living anus with the spiky penis thing in the armpit of main star Marilyn Chambers is just disgusting. Medical experimentation once again causes chaos (see Shivers 1975) this time across Montreal and martial law is imposed. Canada did some dodgy shit back in the day with regard to medical trials, government control etc. This is a comment on that but it's still an entertainingly queasy horror flick.

Suspiria (2018)
Just kidding. Why would you bother doing this? What's next Blue Velvet?, Holy Mountain?, The Godfather? Withnail & I?....

More On Movies VIII

RECENTLY RE/WATCHED

Mr Majestyk (1974)
Classic. It's all about the ford cars, the double denim, the melon massacre, curtains with horsey patterns, the car chases, the hair and the stunning landscape of rural Colorado. Terrific Elmore Leonard screenplay perfectly realised. The pace and the tone were spot on. I believe this is now the fourth Charles Bronson film I've liked and this just might be my favourite. That's 4 out of 7 now, his average is growing. The soundtrack from Charles Bernstein is excellent up there with his other great scores White Lightning and The Entity. Why is Mr Majestyk not rated along with other 70s canonical shit? I get that director Richard Fleischer was old compared to the new Hollywood brats but hey so were Sam Peckinpah and John Huston. Perhaps it's the whole thing of auteur theory being valued above all else in film criticism particularly when it comes to American cinema in the 70s. Whatever.

The Last Run (1971)
The Last Run is a good lil crime movie if a tad too slow. An ageing criminal getaway driver Harry (George C Scott) plans to retire after one last caper. Will he walk away cashed up and happy or will things go haywire? Spectacular Spanish setting.

The Tenant (1976)
The first time I saw this I thought it was silly, the second time I thought it was cool and this time I thought it was brilliant. Roman Polanski directs and acts in this psychological horror movie. Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) moves into an apartment previously occupied by a suicide victim. Things get very bloody strange and Trelkovsky gradually becomes unhinged. This is a wonderful time capsule of Paris in the 70s that also stars Isabelle Adjani. The Tenant is an amazing meditation on paranoia. The sense of unease created here is palpable. Quite possibly Polanski's best film.

Shivers aka They Came From Within (1975)
A parasite experiment gone wrong causes an epidemic of unstoppable orgy/rapey maniacs in a modern tower block. There is some pretty deranged shenanigans going on in this film but it's also pretty funny. At the time of release this was an enormously controversial movie in Canada. It almost feels quaint now but it's still a transgressive classic. David Cronenberg created one of the eeriest ever final scenes in the history of cinema at the end of Shivers.

All The Colors Of The Dark aka Tutti I Colori Del Buio (1972)
I like Gialli with masks and black gloves but I also like it when they go unconventional and don't use them. This Sergio Martino movie is in the later category. Three icons of Gialli Edwige Fenech, George Hilton and Ivan Rassimov star. All The Colors Of The Dark is Jane Harrison's (Edwige Fenech) paranoiac nightmarish vision that includes car crashes, dead babies, satanic cults, black masses, a stalker with a knife and more. Excellent Bruno Nicolai score too.

Una Sull'Atra aka One On Top Of The Other aka Perversion Story (1969)
An incredible Lucio Fulci Giallo shot in San Francisco in the late 60s. Is this the only bona fide giallo to be shot in America? Top crime jazz score with occasional psych interludes from legendary composer Riz Ortolani! French actor Jean Sorel, who is the star of my favourite Giallo Short Night Of Glass Dolls and the Buñuel classic Belle De Jour, plays George a shonky doctor who ends up on death row. Is the dodgy doctor being framed for insurance fraud and murder or did he do it?  We've got double identities amongst some classic Giallo shit like inheritances, sexy shenanigans, police, sleaze, detectives, exquisite interior design, airports, people being drugged, photographers and even black gloves.

Mandy (2018)
You know you are in for something different if a movie starts out with a tune from prime 70s King Crimson. This is a fucking mental movie like a queasy bad acid trip. I dunno if I liked it but I watched the whole thing so I can't have hated it. In 1983 Red Miller (Nic Cage) and his girlfriend Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) are living off the grid somewhere in the wilderness but an absurd hippy Christian cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache) has spotted Mandy. Jeremiah wants Mandy for himself but his seduction technique doesn't work so the cult wreak havoc upon the couple. That first half of this film is very bloody slow going but the second half is more compelling with Red seeking spectacular vengeance on the lysergically altered cult members. The saturated colour scheme used in this film would make Michael Powell, Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Marty Scorsese and Michael Mann proud. Mandy is some kind of arty cosmic black comedy action revenge horror film, that has instant cult status written all over it.

I was thinking Mandy was a truly anomalous film but then I thought hmm it's a bit God Told Me To (1976) with a tiny bit Hellraiser plus the film's vibe had me thinking of batshit crazy movies like Blood Beat (1983), White Of The Eye (1987) et al. So it is a pastiche but a mega-mix like no other. The first Panos Costmatos flick Beyond The Black Rainbow was much more indebted to his influences ie. Kubrick, Lynch, Cronenberg, Tarkovsky etc. If that was his hypnogogic/vapourwave film Mandy is his prog rock/black metal movie. Seedy, unhealthy, gross, sickly, fantastical, icky, psychedelic, nightmarish, hallucinatory, languid, gory, feeble, uneasy, squeamish, nauseating, peculiar, queer and aberrant are all words that could be used to describe Mandy but I feel like we need some new language to elucidate more perfectly what this movie is like. Sorry, you'll just have to watch it but don't blame me if you hate it. Look out for the chainsaw sword fight plus tiger and big black insect. The late Johan Johannsson's gloomy drone score, which is frequently reminiscent of 90s post-rock legends Labradford crossed with atmospheric black metal, is outstanding and this film would be nowhere without it.

Best score since Mica Levi's Under The Skin

More On Movies VII

RECENTLY RE/WATCHED

Short Eyes (1977)
I saw this in the 90s but totally forgot about it until I got a few minutes into the blu-ray. This obscure prison drama is a lost gem. A middle class white pedophile is chucked into a prison. Will he find his comeuppance while inside or have his flimsy case dropped? Short Eyes is very very realistic because they used actual criminals in the cast à la The Wire. Rough, hard boiled and highly recommended. Look out for Curtis Mayfield as an inmate.

At Close Range (1986)
Stan added this to their movie list the other day so I thought I'd give it a go. Turns out I had never seen it. At Close Range is pretty slow to the point of being boring. But it does star Sean & Chris Penn with Christopher Walken as their criminal low-life father. The soundtrack kept making me think it was gonna break out into a Madonna song, I thought I was just being mental until the final scene where it does break out into Live To Tell. An 80s curio worth a look if you dig the aforementioned actors and Mary Stuart Masterson, whatever happened to her? Oh....and Crispin Glover but don't blame me if you get bored to death.

Deliverance (1972)
Had not seen this since I was a teenager. I must be conflating it with another movie because I thought there was going to be cannibalism along with the buggery rape. Deliverance is so well done it keeps you transfixed from the start right up until the very end. John Voight, wow! The rest of the cast are great too. Deliverance is a timeless masterpiece. I'm never going bush for the rest of my life. No canoeing for me thank-you.

48 Hrs. (1982)
Wow imagine if this film was released today? Imagine the think-pieces! 48 Hrs. is a sometimes entertaining buddy cop film with Eddie Murphy & Nick Nolte. Not as good as I remember....still...I remember Another 48 Hrs. being a lot worse. One for the nostalgists only.

North By North-West (1959)
Thoroughly entertaining conspiracy thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. It's a tad long innit? He most definitely could have trimmed some fat off here and there. North By North-West contains some of Alfred's most spectacular scenes, you know, the drunk driving, the crop-duster and Mount Rushmore scenes. A film that oozes cold war paranoia and nefarious tones.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
I was expecting to still dig this but er...it's just not my bag. Why it's much loved by twits and legends is lost on me. 70s remake of a 50s Sci-Fi horror flick. I liked the human dog things. I found the rest rather tedious for some reason despite the best efforts from Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum plus an outstanding performance from Leonard Nimoy. Maybe if Cronenberg or Carpenter had directed it I might have been more interesting. I'll give it a year or so then give it a Space Debris reappraisal. It's mainly that me and sci-fi just don't get along anymore or maybe I was a bit grumpy.

In The Mouth Of Madness (1995)
This is the best movie that nobody ever says is the best movie. I remember going to see it in a cinema in Bourke St. Melbourne. Shout out to SJ who used to call me Philippa Hawker* because I was such an opinionated critic. Anyway we left this film saying 'What was that???'  but ultimately agreeing it was silly rubbish. Hey, I'm still perplexed but now I love it. The only other films that have any kind of parallels to this are Lost Highway (1997) and I, Madman (1989). John Trent (Sam Neil) is hired to go find missing blockbuster horror author Sutter Kane which takes him on a journey to an apocalyptic non place and back again. In The Mouth Of Madness is a gripping film right from the get go and Sam Neil is at an acting apex. Quite possibly John Carpenter's finest hour.

Death In Brunswick (1990)
They were the days. Alright this one is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me but maybe it's a good film....I just dunno. It's all too close to my heart as I lived in Brunswick for most of the 90s. Good lil story and top performances from Sam Neil and Zoe Carriddes though. This was an instant cult classic in Melbourne at the time like Romper Stomper was two years later. 

Prince Of Darkness (1987)
Kinda silly but funny satanic horror from John Carpenter. He's not at his best here but not at his absolute worst either. I'm not sure any of it makes a hell of a lot of sense but there are some truly memorable scenes. Death by half a bicycle, the chosen evil one's head is chopped off but she just grabs it and puts it back on, lots of gross spitting of evil liquid into each others mouths and Kelly & Catherine getting lost forever to the other side through a mirror. Then there's the great shared dream sequence that changes slowly in small increments throughout the movie. Donald Pleasance, Victor Wong and Dennis Dun are great but fuck me the rest of the cast suck. This could have been a classic but it feels rushed, a lost opportunity.

Blue Thunder (1983)
Is this the best action movie ever made? It's unbelievably impressive. Blue Thunder must have been such a dangerous film shoot. These helicopter stunts are mental. Warren Oates, Roy Scheider and Malcolm McDowell star in this fun OTT 80s action epic.

White Of The Eye (1987)
All I knew about this one was that it was a crime movie or maybe a slasher that was rated by the VHS nerds as a high watermark in batshit crazy film making. Halfway through I was nearly falling asleep but yeah I gotta say by the end I was thinking 'WTF?' I dunno if I liked it but the second half was so engaging, eerie and totally fucking bizarre. What does it all mean? I'm not sure. I definitely have to watch it again then probably again after that. I'm not even gonna try and do a mini synopsis of White Of The Eye suffice to say whether it makes sense or not it's truly bonkers. I guess it's similar stylistically and thematically to a Giallo with regional Arizona as the backdrop instead of Europe. I think it was based on a bestselling novel(?). The director was none other than the enigmatic Donald Cammell. This one is for the out there cult film buffs.

I Spit On Your Grave (1978)
One I had to check off my list before I died. But did I? Yes indeed I did, a classic. This is the most brutal movie I've ever seen. I Spit On Your Grave is the ultimate rape revenge movie which is totally compelling from start to finish. Only people who think they are hardcore need apply. I Spit On Your Grave is a beautifully shot and tightly made film.

The Mechanic (1972)
Wait a minute here we have another Charles Bronson film I like. Sometimes I wish all movies were like this ie. plenty of action and crazy stunts that I'm pretty sure were seriously dangerous. Then you've got all the early 70s glamour of the beautiful interior design, houses, cars, fashions and hair. Not forgetting that the spectacular action is taking place in exquisitely shot exotic locations. Of all the Michael Winner films I've seen so far this is at the top.

Maniac (2012)
Very excellent cover version of the classic disturbing 1980 slasher Maniac. It's POV all the way from Elijah Wood's character Frank Zito. I can't remember if the original was like that or not. This is a primo example of how to do a remake. 2012's version might even be better than the original. Oh the Sacrilege. What will the VHS nerds say? Love the score from Rob too. Now I wanna watch the old Maniac. Which I remember being very creepy, perhaps a bit crap and maybe just a tad too unpleasant but with a great score.

Death Wish 3 (1985)
Vigilante shit is so satisfying innit? This is now the third Charles Bronson film I have enjoyed. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) goes OTT with his WW2 weaponry as he takes on a neighbourhood of young hooligans who are running amok in 80s NYC. Perhaps this wasn't filmed in New York though, it just doesn't feel authentic like the original Death Wish. I'm even thinking about watching that first movie again just to see if maybe I'll like it this time. The freedom of being able to change your mind and not be a slave to a certain set of aesthetics is an exhilarating feeling.

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
Totally missed this when it came out. It features 4 vampires from 4 different classic eras living in a share house in current day Wellington, New Zealand. Clever little light comedy that vampire fans will love and so will everybody else. Hey, It's got Jermaine Clement and Rhys Darby from Flight of The Concords.

Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
Another spectacular horror/action hybrid written by Larry Cohen and directed by Bill Lustig. The indestructible Maniac Cop Mathew Cordell befriends a serial killer who specialises in the murder of strippers. Look out for remarkable scenes of Cordell attacking others whilst being fully on fire amongst an array of other memorable scenes. This is where the style meets the sleaze and creates riveting entertainment.

Hereditary (2018)
Another mega mix pastiche horror film. This movie doesn't know what it is.  Don't waste your time on this bollocks. The berserk swelling drones of the score were very fucking cool though. Best soundtrack of 2018?

Mother (2017)
Oh dear....anyone wanna be sledgehammered to death with a biblical and climate change allegory? I'm pretty sure this an insult to my intelligence and yours.

Maniac (1980)
Onya once again Bill Lustig. The original Maniac is way better than I remember (I love it when that happens). Joe Spinell is so fucking great as the creepy yet charismatic serial killer Frank Zito. Frank has a variant of agalmatophilia where his mannequins have to have human scalps, hair included. I've gotta say this movie is also excellent like the remake and not one bit crap as speculated above. None of this is POV, so the 2012 version of Maniac is quite different but still very faithful to the original story. Joe Spinell should have been bigger than Jack Nicholson. The score is still in top 10 territory for me, onya Jay Chattaway. Maniac goes into to the Space Debris movie hall of fame!


* Philippa Hawker was a film critic and a sex/relationships columnist for The Age newspaper in Melbourne during the 90s or was it The Australian? I also think maybe she worked for Cinema Papers in the 80s (?).

**I'm aware of the run-on sentences but hey I'm mentally rusty and it's a blog.