The Last Movie You Watched?

PORTRAIT OF A HITMAN - Jack Palance is a hitman whose conscience is not clear enough in order to continue his job. Things are getting perplexed when he’s ordered to kill his lifetime friend… Found Palance fantastic in this one and Rod Steiger is always a safe bet in such films. Enjoyed the whole thing a helluva lot despite its shortcomings (dark photography, ending). No less than 7,5/10

Yep Steiger is really on one in this !

Superuomini, superdonne, superbotte (1974) AKA Return of the Barbarian Women. It’s supposedly a sequel to Battle of the Amazons (1973), which I haven’t watched yet. I thought the film was incredibly ridiculous but I did laugh throughout. I recommend it as long as you’re into those “so bad it’s actually good” movies.

De Witte (Whitey - 1980, Robbe De Hert)

A popular Flemish movie, based on a even more popular Flemish novel by Ernest Claes (published in 1920), about a 12-year old boy called Lewie (Flemish for Louis), knicknamed Witte (Whitey) for his blond hair. De Witte is above all a story about the end of childhood: Lewie is in his last year in school and next year his carefree life will be over: like any other boy of his age living in the countryside, he’ll spend his days working in the fields. His often droll adventures (he is quite a rascal, this Whitey) are shown against the background of the rise of socialism and the strong reaction against it by the catholic church and the village squire. The film was released internationally (so there might be a subbed or dubbed version available somewhere), but understandably it did better at home than abroad.

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Have you seen the first film adaptation as well? Made in 1934.

Yes, but years ago. I would have to rewatch it to compare it to this version.

Might be interesting from a political and historical viewpoint, considering Ernest Claes’s ideological affiliations.

Yes, the director of the first movie had - like Claes - right-wing sympathies, De Hert is a left-wing artist (and politician, he joined the political party ROOD! - Red! - a while ago). In 1980 many people were surprised that De Hert wanted to adapt the novel to the screen, and many fans of Claes (the novel is still very popular) were afraid that he would turn Claes’ work into a political pamphlet. De hert has neglected the ‘heimat’ stuff and emphasized the social dimension of the story (also present in the book) but he hasn’t turned the movie into a pamphlet. Most comments (then and more recently) were quite positive, most Claes fans seem happy these days with this adaptation.

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I saw RAPE (1976) yesterday, a spanish production directed by Miguel Iglesias. A guy dies an unexplained death and his friends suspect - in the first 5 minutes of the film - that something supernatural must be the cause of his death. A few minutes later, and without any second thoughts, they leave behind their everyday lives to travel to a spanish village only to find out that a young girl who is considered to be a witch is probably involved in their friend’s death. But it turns out that she is not a witch herself but she is possessed by the spirit of the princess of Montezuma!
It could all have been a bit more believable if it wasn’t for the incredibly shitty direction, the sub-par acting, the inappropriate score, the horrible dubbing and a dozen other things that are just plain wrong in this total mess of a (very rare) film.

Possessed by the spirit of the princess of Montezuma? Intriguing … I suspect a revenge motif.

Right on. Rubbish plot anyway…

THE LOVED ONES (2009, Sean Byrne)

An Aussie horror movie about two high school outcasts, whose lives intertwine on prom night. Brent feels responsible for the death of his father and escapes in a world of marijuana and loud music, Lola is ostricized by her classmates and therefore thinks that she and Brent would make a perfect couple. She asks Brent to accompany her on prom night, but Brent has already given his word to the plain but gentle Holly, who really cares for him. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. With the help of her deranged father, Lola throws her own party with Brent as the special guest …

The Loved Ones was almost completely overlooked by horror fans but then brought to the attention of a couple of 'serious’ critics, who were excited about this odd mix of teen and horror movie. The premise reads as CARRIE meets MISERY, but somewhere past the half-way point it takes a turn towards the torture porn of WOLFCREEK or even THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. It’s not a perfect movie; there’s a completely superfluous subplot (about Brent’s friend and his prom date) and somehow this graphic second half is less gripping than the more suggestive first. But the movie redeems itself with a sudden, but very effective finale, and before I forget: this finale takes place in and around a VW Käfer!

Again: Not a perfect movie, but if you’re in for a teen torture pic with a twist (or two), this might be something for you. The film is available (at least where i live) - in excellent quality - on You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV9mHaiI03E

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Looks alright, that. I’ve never heard of it, I might give it a watch this evening. Nice one, Scherp.

I’ve always wanted the VHS.

I watched the uncut version of Cannibal Holocaust. The animal cruelty was pretty disturbing.

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The Island (1980) - Found it dull after the first half hour… some scenes could have been more tense, like the execution of the people on the large boat wasn’t as disturbing as it should have been… probably Morricone’s worst and most inappropriate score, imo

Today: Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (Coon/Skausen, 2016)

A film about a film based on another film. In 1982, three eleven year-olds decided to remake Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981), shot for shot. Seven years later, they’d almost done it.

My ramblings here:

After a while I went back to French cinema, with a rewatch of this classic Chabrol movie:

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This topic was automatically closed after reaching the maximum limit of 10000 replies. The discussion continues however in the replacement topic thread which can be found HERE.

Simon’s review has a short revival as a FC #seoultember entry