Business Cats Viewing Log

Liam McPoyle · 19-10-2014 10:37am #1

Red Hill

Australian movie surrounding a city cop that moves to a rural town for a better life for him and his wife. First day on the job he is thrown into a cat and mouse chase with an escaped convict who had years previously murdered his wife and attempted to kill a local cop, he returns to finish what he started.

While not a horror in the purest sense this is a suspenseful horror cum thriller. Some great performances, particularly from the police chief, a decent script and some nice tense set pieces raise this above the usual stalk and slash fare.

7/10

Body Bags

First time watching this in at least 16 or 17 years (first saw it on BBC1 late night on a Saturday night when they used to screen horror flicks fairly regularly), this is a horror anthology presented by John Carpenter (he directed 2 of the shorts) and it contains cameos from a plethora of horror movie icons such as Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and Sam Raimi as well as a lot of other familiar faces.

Anthology movies (with the exception of the original Creep Show) are generally hit and miss affairs, this is no different.

The first one involves a young woman working in a 24 hour petrol station with the back drop being an unknown killer is stalking a little town called Haddonfield - mini nerdgasm from me for this - who encounters a couple of odd characters.

Second one involves a man losing his hair and having a new treatment done to reverse this.

Final one involves a base ball player who following an accident, has an eyeball transplant. Turns out the eye belonged to an executed serial killer, ruh roh, and he begins having visions of the killers acts.

Middle segment is the weakest, first one I liked best. Some nice special effects but its the "spot a star" factor that I enjoyed most.

Good fun but not great fun.

6/10

Liam McPoyle · 01-11-2014 7:04pm

Nightbreed - The Directors Cut

This is a movie that is 24 years coming. The original release was cut and edited by the studio and differed majorly from Barkers vision. A few years ago an extended cut was unearthed (all alternate footage was feared lost by Barker) and it got a couple of limited screenings at some horror festivals as The Cabal Cut of the movie.

The directors cut version features 40 minutes of different footage from the original theatrical release - 20 minutes additional footage and 20 minutes of alternate footage - increasing the total run time to 2 hours as opposed to the 100 minutes of the original release.

The story follows a disturbed young man named Boone who is plagued nightmarish dreams of monsters and a hidden world, Midian. His psychiatrist, played stunningly by horror icon David Cronenberg convinces Boone he (Boone) is responsible for a spate of brutal murders. Under the influence of psychotropic drugs, a remorseful Boone tries to find Midian in the hope he will find refuge and escape from the visions.

Visually, Nightbreed is a stunning movie, some of the monsters are fantastic looking and they really cement Barkers status as a horror visionary. Cronenberg is fantastically chilling as Decker, Boones maniacal shrink. He eats the screen when he is on it, his tone of voice never raising, he still manages to be mesmerising.

Its been up on 20 years since I saw Nightbreed in its original form so I cannot compare the 2 but the directors cut is sumptuously put together. When some movies are re-released with previously missing footage, the additional scenes are easily spotted (the uncut re-release of the original My Bloody Valentine and the full edition of The Wicker Man spring to mind instantly) however the new and alternate footage integrates seemlessly and Scream Factory should be commended for this.

While not a classic movie its certainly one that all horror fans and fans of cult cinema should watch.

6.5/10

Liam McPoyle · 07-11-2014 10:41pm

Rec 3 : Genesis

Im going to spoiler all of this as it contains details about all 3 movies.

Rec came out of know where a few years ago and created a massive stir among the movie going public. Incredibly scary, best horror movie in years and absolutely brilliant were just some of the things I read about it. Excited as a kid in a candy store I bought it on release day and sat down to watch it. It ended up been one of my most disappointing first time viewings. I didnt find it at all scary and thought the ending was very predictable. It was chock full of cheap jump scare attempts and didnt have the blood and guts to make it more interesting.It was an alright movie but I couldn't understand the praise that had been heaped on it.

Part 2 kicked off directly after the first one and introduced a religious element to proceedings. While its commendable that the makers tried something different thematically, I thought it was very flat and an even less enjoyable experience than its predecessor.

When I read part 3 was to be released it was a massive meh from me. Didn't have even a slight interest in it and the only reason I watched it tonight is because it was on Film 4 a week or so ago and I recorded it.

Man, am I glad I did!!

It kicks off outside a church on the eve of a wedding, found footage ahoy. The camera interviews various guests and we meet the grooms uncle, who just happened to be bitten by a dog in the very recent past, ruh roh! The wedding goes off without a hitch, various scenes interspersed of the reception, uncle shows up again and vomits what appears to be blood, double ruh roh!

Major plot spoilers below so you may not want to read.

Uncle ends up taking a header off a balcony, comes too and takes a chomp out of another guest and with that, all hell breaks loose. Random people that are infected appear out of nowhere which was kind of head scratching as the time line from uncle vomiting and them appearing doesnt seem all that long however there were a couple of glances at people in haz mat gear so its presumably a follow on from the events in the first 2 flicks. Cue upside down and sideways camera shots, focus and sound moving in and out, typical found footage fare. The groom loses the rag with the camera man and smashes his gear, then the movie really starts.

I was expecting a fully found footage movie but instead, 20 odd minutes into the movie it turns into an actual movie, huzzah! The bride and groom are split up and we follow them both trying to find eachother. The movie has defined comedic undertone running through it, the religious themes are again explored and teased out by a priest, there is a nod to Evil Dead, some wonderful gore, and I actually cared about the couple and wanted to see them reunited. The ending is excellent too and it takes a couple of delightful turns, especially when we see grand dad again.

I LOVED this film. It doesnt take itself too seriously, it abandons the tiresome found footage and does not stop to take a breath for a second, its just brilliant.

For my money this is easily the best one of the franchise. It can be watched as a stand alone flick or as a companion piece to the franchise. Either way, do yourselves a favour and watch it. Its as much fun as the fantastic Planet Terror imo.

8/10

Liam McPoyle · 30-12-2014 10:46pm

Night of the Demons (1988)

Not to be mistaken with the Argento/Bava classics Demons & Demons 2, this one was obviously influenced by both of the above, particularly the make up effects.

It follows a group of teenagers that go to an alleged haunted house on Halloween night and manage to awaken the evil spirits that reside within.

Its a typical 80s horror, big hair, lots of screaming, some boobs and bush shots. What raises this above the norm is the special effects. Even though the "look" of the demons is stolen from Argento and Bava, they are still very well done and it features some excellent kills, including the best eye gouging/popping scene Ive ever seen.

Well worth a look for fans of demonic/possession type horror flicks.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

After seeing his parents brutally murdered by a crook in a santa suit and then spending his formative years in an orphanage run by a draconian nun, late teens Billy flips out one Christmas and goes on a rampage.

Released to some controversy in 1984 due to its depiction of santa as a serial murderer, this was hampered (or helped depending on who you ask) in its box office performance.

Its typical slasher fare with the innocents getting killed by various means such as axe, gun and a mounted deer head. Its good fun, I liked the back story of how Billy became the killer, it was nicely paced and the actress that played the mother superior was suitably wicked.

It certainly added nothing new to the genre but its good and doesnt over stay its welcome clocking in at around 80 minutes.

If you are interested then seek out the unrated cut. There were alot of the kill scenes edited in earlier versions. These are easy to spot, much like in the unrated cut of the original My Bloody Valentine, due to degeneration of the previously cut footage and it not been mastered on release, it stands out like a sore thumb. Though not nearly as enjoyable as MBV, its still good craic and a nice alternative to normal Christmas movies.

6/10

Liam McPoyle · 28-05-2015 7:32pm

Headless

A movie borne out of a movie. A couple of years ago a movie named Found came out. It centered around a horror movie obsessed kid whose favourite movie was an exploitation movie called, you guessed it, Headless.

Found garnered a huge amount of praise from the indie and underground scene, dont ask me why, I thought it was rubbish, so the makers had a kick starter campaign through indiegogo and Facebook to get the funds together to make Headless.

Its about a serial killer with a penchant for decapitating his victims and performing sex acts on gouged out eye sockets, and thats basically it. The movie is part told in flash back where we see the killer as an abused child with a domineering mother and cruel sister finally snapping and setting off on his merry serial killer way.

Its a low budget movie and it shows. Dont get me wrong, Ive no issue with low budget when its done well but this felt very flat throughout. Forgettable cast, predictable throughout only raised from been completely crap by some decent albeit not spectacular gore effects.

Its worth a watch for fans of the more extreme or low budget leanings but tbh, I wouldnt be arsed ever watching it again.

5/10

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