I knew he wrote it and obviously starred in it, so somewhere along the line I must’ve mistakenly concluded that he also directed the bugger too. The old Holy Trinity. I think my confusion came with The Oscars. I remember that he was nominated but didn’t win and, in my brain, I was adamant he wasn’t nominated for acting or writing (he was of course nominated for both) so, it must’ve been for his directing, right? And the fact that some other guy won the Best Director Oscar that year cemented my assumption. Of course, the “other guy” who won that Oscar was John G. Avildsen for Rocky, so I couldn’t have made a bigger dog’s breakfast of (mis)remembering all that if I tried. ;D I’m normally quite good at that stuff but Sly’s (clearly) not my strong point.
Tourneur: Night of the Demon (1957)
Torneur is best known for his Cat People and I walked with zombie but here’s equally good but lesser known horror film about witchcraft. Beautiful black and white cinematography and impressive effects for 50’s film.
Today I watched
- Figures in a Landscape
- Fighting Mad
Got the day off, on the best day of the week, so I started with I, The Jury from 1982. If you like book to film adaptations that stretch the boundaries of the text, include random new plot points (Mind control? Sex Clinics? :o), ridiculous amounts of violence and sex, then you’ll like this. I watched the Fox Cinema Archive disc, which I think is the first ever dvd release of this film. Great quality as well.
Anyway, this film has become one of my guilty pleasures, and Armand Assante is why. He oozes coolness, and he’s a sleazy cat, armed with a Browning High-Power, and a pissed off attitude.
Parts of the book limp into frame, with Hammer looking for his best friends killer, with him coming up against suited mysterious men, the Sex Clinic’s head Doctor (Barbara Carrerra, which was a surprise, especially seeing her writh on the bed waiting for Hammer, I had to be nailed to chair ;)), whom he shares some great dialogue, ( " Dr: Why don’t you make your self comfortable? Hammer: You mean strip? Dr: … Why not?) and a Serial Killer who targets women, forces them to wear wigs and make up, before gutting them. Seriously this film is barmy, but its great 80’s barmy. I think if it didn’t have half the cast who were in it, this would of fallen apart, but its held together pretty well. It moves with a great pace, with Hammer questioning various people, then swiftly moving on, no dilly dallying, just on the next one, along with his faithful, yet clingy assistant, who keeps trying to get Hammer to marry him.
One of which is scene stealing Geoffrey Lewis as one said people questioned, then HERE is when it kicks into conspiracy mode. No sooner has he had a chat, than armed gunmen arrive, prompting a hair raising chase through the woods in a truck powered by booze. Now, I’m not sure if THAT was in the book, but it works, Ya’ know, with Lewis playing an alcoholic, who keeps crates and crates of the stuff.
Anyway, I won’t say anymore, but if you like ultra violent 80’s shenanigans, watch this. Its also runs just short of 2 hours, but listen, it’s entertaining as hell, especially seeing a random sushi chef get into a very brief tussle with our hero, only to end on the wrong side of one of those (Teryaki?) tables. Last thing, the score by none other than Bill Conti is great, nice mix of 80’s synth and funky strings and piano, never heard anything like it, but I loved it. Look up the trailer, it should help explain some of my ramblings.
9/10,
My favorite line: Calling a villain on his dead friend’s walkie talkie: This is Hammer, WANNA ROCK’N’ ROLL WITH ME?!!!"
[quote=“Farmer_J, post:12476, topic:1923”]
Got the day off, on the best day of the week, so I started with “I, The Jury”
My favorite line: Calling a villain on his dead friend’s walkie talkie: This is Hammer, WANNA ROCK’N’ ROLL WITH ME?!!!"[/quote]
Top film, one of my favorites. Assante’s perfomance is superb and Bill Conti’s soundtrack is killer and fitting like a glove. A movie with Attitude.
Time to get used to the new fórum, let’s go stop complaining life is made of change
Alatriste - 2006 - Agustin Diaz Yanes
Based in a well known novel in Spain that is, Alatriste is one of those films that I usually categorize as interesting films, not that can be considered a good film, but interesting at least in historical terms-
Mortensen is actor with a strong screen presence, and he’s perfect playing the “tired hero” (as he’s called in the books). Captain Diego Alatriste a veteran of the Spanish Flemish wars who returns home to become a gun for hire, that for the right price could even killed your enemies, not a nice character but still there’s something of quixotesc even that unique Iberian fatality, that in the end will appeal to the viewer.
Ok turning a novel with five chapters (until now), into a film or a mini series (almost three hours), not an easy task, the film sometimes is a bit confusing with too many characters, but if you want to know something of 17th century Spain, as a change at least not a bad choice.
One or maybe the most expensive Spanish cinema production of all time
It was interesting to watch Brosnan being a bad guy in this but still, this was really awful, even for an action flix. It was like watching a long episode of NCIS or something similar, totally predictable and at the same time completely unrealistic.Pffft!
Watched few Jess Franco films again:
La casa de las mujeres perdidas (1983)
-Weird perverted sex film. An ex-actor lives on isolated island with his wife and 2 daughters,one retarded, other sexually frustrated (Lina, masturbating constantly of course). Lina who was around 30 at the time of filming (and gained a bit weight from her blooming days of early 70’s) is supposed to be 18 years or so which doesn’t look credible at all. Tediously boring film which is a pity because film also has a certain dark and should i say deviant mood at times.
Exorcism (1975)
-Jess plays the lead role himself for change in this nasty piece of sleaze as a insane religious serial killer who thinks he can exorcise the evil out of people who are attending (false) black masses and orgies. Title scene has naked Lina tied to a cross while other girl whips and tortures her in front of the audience. Amazing footage!
You have me interested in this one.
It was quite good. Stephen Thrower describes it in his book as a pivotal film in Franco’s career and writes he wanted Vincent Price to play the lead role. That would have been something. But Jess is actually really good here.
His name was king
Nice western with plenty of action und unse klaus kinksi as a bad guy as uasul
well of to another movie
The Punch Bowl (1944) - A German cult movie very popular before X-Mas 
“Hans Pfeiffer and some of his friends are drinking “Feuerzangenbowle”.
Talking about their school-time they discover that Hans never was at a
regular school and so, as they think, missed an important part of his
youth. They decide to send him back to school to do all the things he
never could do before”
UNKNOWN (2011, Jaume Collet-Serra)
One of the many recent action vehicles starring Liam Neeson, a bit (but only a bit) different from the others. He’s not a CIA veteran this time, but a professor with partial memory loss after a car accident in Berlin (where he was supposed to visit a biotechnology meeting), and instead of a straightforward action flick, Unknown plays more like a paranoia thriller. When trying to piece things together, Neeson discovers that another person has taken his identity (and his wife). What is going on?
The credibility factor is low from the start but director Collet-Serra handles the paranoia theme rather well and Neeson adds a necessary emotional note to theme of a man who is robbed from the only certainty we all seem to have: that we’re we. But a good a premise and a good start don’t make a good movie. As the whole thing progresses, it becomes more and more preposterous, a string of implausible plot twists. And yes, Liam eventually becomes an invincible action hero once again. Nice cameos by Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella can’t save it, but indiscriminating fans of action and mystery might still like it.
5/10
Not heard of that one, will take a look.
That movie really gave me a deja vu feeling: Funeral in Berlin with Michael Caine, Polanski’s Frantic, couple of Hitchcock’s…
1990: The Bronx Warriors
Horribly campy flick, even by Castellari’s standards. But a great BluRay for sure.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00TQUPJVK/ref=as_li_tl?tag=gcdb-21
I’ve got this on my Amazon wish list. I haven’t seen it since it was a newly rentable VHS tape in, what, 1984-ish? I still remember it through my 12-year-old-boy eyes, so I can only recall it as being bloody excellent, but I’ve got a feeling that’s probably not the cold truth of the matter. 
Halloween III - The Season of the witch - 1982 - Tommy Lee Wallace
Yeah a Halloween too late. Anyway I had to check the title twice, didn’t had Michael Myers in it, after a few research I understood why it didn’t, Myers was “dead” so it was time to move on.
Well the film isn’t that bad, better than some of the Halloween sequels, got that 80’s taste with an usual but specially good Carpenter soundtrack, vevry melodic with creepy freezing feeling.
The plot is weird but interesting seems more like science fiction mixed with terror, and the ending is strange, quite strange.
I’m really not a great fan of Tom Atkins, but he’s not bad as the unsual hero, the villain played by TV habitue actor Dan O’Herling really steals the show, great villain form the nasty kind
In the overall a nice surprise Halloween or not,