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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Oct 28, 2018 14:48:40 GMT
Pyewacket, what you think? I liked it, but I do like a slow burn approach to horror films so that helps. Thought the lead actress, Nicole Muñoz, was very assured. I liked it better than the average horror/thriller offering, which are often forgettable these days. I might see it again someday. Was the ending supposed to be a shock revelation? If so I suspect most viewers were ahead of the plot. Personal Shopper from this week was another slow supernatural thriller from the art-film end of the spectrum. Well it's the twist in the tail, but it's hardly a rocket science revelation. Yes I will keep an eye out for Personal Shopper, be interesting to see how Stewart performs in it. Thanks for the nudge. |
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Oct 28, 2018 17:24:30 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone is having a good weekend,and my Horror viewings were: British Horror duo: The Lodgers (2017) (a Netflix gem) 7  Filmed in the real "haunted house" Loftus Hall, director Brian O'Malley & cinematographer Richard Kendrick lodge an unshakeable,slow-burn Gothic Horror atmosphere of weaving shots round the grounds giving Loftus the appearance of being stuck in time, and a precision in the movement of the inhabitants giving them a ghostly shade. Joining Rachel and Edward in their family estate as they attempt to to follow the rules of The Lodgers, O'Malley dips into the surreal with striking water effects giving The Lodgers a slippery shine,and the estate that of a watery grave, with stylish mirror shots reflecting the tide coming in towards Edward and Rachel. Also co-composing the simmering score with Stephen Shannon and Kevin Murphy, the screenplay by David Turpin brews an elegant Gothic Horror brimming with the frozen in time family trauma Rachel and Edward are haunted by. Keeping the reason for the existence of The Lodgers clear, but holding them out of sight for the majority of the time, which makes their slithering appearance towards the duo ring with an urgency. Played by an excellent Charlotte Vega and Bill Milner (with David Bradley and Eugene Simon being very good visiting guests) Turpin splinters their faithful following with touching encounters with outsiders opening up their greatest weaknesses, which leads The Lodgers to lodge a deadly complaint. Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952) 5  Doing the film for £5000 so he could get a plane ticket home after the producers of his touring Dracula show went bankrupt and did not pay the cast or crew, Bela Lugosi (wearing a cape) proves he could still give a good performance, in one of his final roles,thanks to Lugosi giving "Vampire" an icy menace, which remains intact even when whacked against low-rent comedy. Giving this flick a groovy vibe due to them looking so out of place with Lugosi, "Sit-Com/British Sex Comedy" stars Dora Bryan, Richard Wattis and Hattie Jacques upstage grating lead Arthur Lucan with classy turns that play the laughs, but also take serious the threat of the "Vampire." Containing elements that would work as a swift Comedy Horror, (a serial killer/Mad Scientist with a trusty robot servant) the screenplay by Val Valentine gets dragged down by having to fit into the "Old Mother Riley" franchise, (this was the last in the series) with annoying lead Arthur Lucan under-miming any chills or gags with his plodding slap-stick "routines." Facing the same challenges as Valentine, director John Gilling (whose excellent The Plague of the Zombies was my first Hammer Horror) "Dead of Night" and cinematographer Stanley Pavey offer glimpses to their eyes for Horror with a charmingly bulky robot and stylish dissolves into Vampire's lair,as Mother Riley tries to stop a vampire flying over London. Best film of the week: The Other (1972)9  Tracking the child's play between Niles and Holland via keeping the camera at a child's height, director Robert Mulligan & cinematographer Robert Surtees set alight a peculiar Southern Gothic atmosphere,where everyone is contained in an off-centre purgatory. Set at the height of the Depression, Mulligan and Surtees paint the Perry family home in rich chocolate browns and pelts of blue rain turning the nostalgia of the era into a rural darkness. Displaying an incredibly subtle touch in the framing of camera moves on Niles and Holland's interactions, (and backed by Jerry Goldsmith's shimmering score) Mulligan flame-grills slow-burn Horror in panning shots across the dream-like farmland, landing on the child whose mind is in the shadows. Writing the novel when no roles in films or TV shows were being offered to him, Tom Tryon's adaptation of his own book strikes a poetic note in the blending of Horror and Fantasy,as Niles exchanges with his brother Holland flow between an ambiguity of mental illness and a macabre viciousness. Whilst the brothers are the focus, Tryon gradually threads the family into suffering reverberations from the brothers games. The lone credit for both of them, Chris and Martin Udvarnoky give superb performances as Holland and Niles, with Martin giving Holland a teasing edge in his game playing, and Chris showing real maturity in a performance that walks the line between Niles breaking down, and a fearful awareness of the other. Worst of the week: Black Christ/Crapmas (2006) 4  Disowning the film over the Weinstein brothers forcing more gore to be included, (this was at a time when the starry-eyed press glossed over reports like this as just another good-olde "Bob & Harvey story") writer/director Glen Morgan and cinematographer Robert McLachlan original design remains visible in glimpses, most noticeable in the flashbacks to Billy's grunge-stained childhood, and the unsettling creeping behind the walls recalling the classic X-Files ep Home, written by Morgan and producer James Wong. Visibly unhappy in the Making Of (more interesting than the film!) about having to chuck more gore in, Morgan offers some Christmas cheer in the final, highly stylised set-piece, but before it is only able to scrap together a plodding mess which offers each would-be Slasher set-piece little to stand out from each other. All impressively performing their own stunts, the sexy cast make a good attempt at showing a warm friendship during the X-Mas holidays,but are hurt by the rush for gore not allowing for any build-up in the friendships to take place. Taking the setting of Roy Moore's 1974 script, the screenplay by Morgan attempts to go on a different path by unwrapping killer Billy's grotesque childhood. Pulled apart by studio demands for blood, the film lack all the psychological tension that makes Morgan's work on X-Files and Millennium stand-out, as there is no time given to develop the friendships in the house, due to the unneeded rush for another Slasher slaying on a damp Christmas. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Oct 29, 2018 1:00:13 GMT
The Revenge of Frankenstein. Filmed back-to-back with Dracula (1958), Hammer use many of the same sets but dress them accordingly, and they are sights for sore eyes. This really is a tip top production, the costuming to Salzedo's luscious musical score, and from Asher's piercingly beautiful Technicolor photography (some quarters have it incorrectly listed as Eastman Color) If you'll permit me, hitchcockthelegend, I'll offer some clarification on the subject of Technicolor. Prior to Eastman's introduction of "monopack" color negative stock in 1950, the only commercially viable system for reproducing a full color spectrum on film had been the 3-strip Technicolor system perfected in 1932, employing Technicolor-owned cameras (rented to studios by the company) that exposed three negatives (one recording the record for each primary color) along with an "imbibition" or "dye transfer" printing process that produced stable and fade-proof release prints for exhibition. The last film shot and released in this process was 1955's Foxfire. The Eastman system was so economical by comparison that it became the de facto industry standard for color productions thereafter. By the time of Hammer's The Horror Of Dracula and The Revenge Of Frankenstein, "Color By Technicolor" had, like "Color By DeLuxe," "WarnerColor," "Metrocolor" or "Eastmancolor" itself, come to signify only the specific lab that had developed the negative and manufactured release prints. But all utilized the single-negative system that had been introduced by Eastman. If that isn't confusing enough, the Technicolor Corporation continued manufacturing dye-transfer release prints by way of "separation master" dupes made from monopack negatives until 1975 (pictures released in this way sometimes carried the credit, "Print By Technicolor"). But as a production medium from 1955 on, "Technicolor" has been only a name, rather than a unique color photographic system. |
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Oct 29, 2018 1:47:17 GMT
The Hunted / Jack Bernhard (1948). This film introduces to me a new woman actor whose movie roles only total five where she wasn’t performing as herself or as an unnamed dancer/ice skater. She went by the single name Belita but was born Maria Belita Jepson-Turner in England. A dancing-ice skating-intellectual prodigy, she represented the U.K. in figure skating at the 1936 Olympics at age 12. I think I love her. “The Hunted” is the third of three noirs she made for Monogram. As the movie opens, Laura Mead (Belita) is returning to Los Angeles on parole after serving four years for robbery. Police Lieutenant Johnny Saxon (Preston Foster) had been her lover until she was accused. Johnny was the one who arrested her and gathered the evidence against her. At her sentencing she had threatened Johnny and her lawyer with death. When Johnny contacts her, she claims to be innocent of the charge but he doesn’t believe her. Eventually, he comes around and starts to trust in her innocence. Then, the lawyer is murdered and the clues point to Laura. Has she been framed or is she a mad killer? I ain’t gonna tell. Excellent film. A little gem that has been restored by Eddie Muller’s Noir Foundation. Belita and Preston Foster in a posed publicity photo for The Hunted 
And now for something completely different: for those who like to spot location shots in classic films and track down what the place looks like today.The Polar Palace on Van Ess just south of Melrose (613 North Van Ness Avenue) in Los Angeles (current site of the Raleigh Studio campus) in a screen grab from The Hunted  The Polar Palace goes down in flames in 1963 after 35 years at the same spot  A terrific read Mike (and thanks for the extra photos.) For not being a big name,with Decoy,Blonde Ice (and by the sound of it,The Hunted) Bernhard sure had a run of excellent Film Noir's. |
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Oct 29, 2018 1:57:36 GMT
The Revenge of Frankenstein. Filmed back-to-back with Dracula (1958), Hammer use many of the same sets but dress them accordingly, and they are sights for sore eyes. This really is a tip top production, the costuming to Salzedo's luscious musical score, and from Asher's piercingly beautiful Technicolor photography (some quarters have it incorrectly listed as Eastman Color) If you'll permit me, hitchcockthelegend , I'll offer some clarification on the subject of Technicolor. Prior to Eastman's introduction of "monopack" color negative stock in 1950, the only commercially viable system for reproducing a full color spectrum on film had been the 3-strip Technicolor system perfected in 1932, employing Technicolor-owned cameras (rented to studios by the company) that exposed three negatives (one recording the record for each primary color) along with an "imbibition" or "dye transfer" printing process that produced stable and fade-proof release prints for exhibition. The last film shot and released in this process was 1955's Foxfire. The Eastman system was so economical by comparison that it became the de facto industry standard for color productions thereafter. By the time of Hammer's The Horror Of Dracula and The Revenge Of Frankenstein, "Color By Technicolor" had, like "Color By DeLuxe," "WarnerColor," "Metrocolor" or "Eastmancolor" itself, come to signify only the specific lab that had developed the negative and manufactured release prints. But all utilized the single-negative system that had been introduced by Eastman. If that isn't confusing enough, the Technicolor Corporation continued manufacturing dye-transfer release prints by way of "separation master" dupes made from monopack negatives until 1975 (pictures released in this way sometimes carried the credit, "Print By Technicolor"). But as a production medium from 1955 on, "Technicolor" has been only a name, rather than a unique color photographic system. Aye Up Dogs
Permit granted, thank you for the detailed post, though I know it already as such. Watching so many Westerns over the years I got intrigued by all the various names attributed to the colour assigned in the credits, so read up on them. You are of course right, but my medium with it for review purpose is to actually have what the colour is named in the credits, just for clarity really. One you didn't mention was Trucolor, boy that must have been a back street lab because some of those Republic Pictures look awful today.
Thanks again, really is a fascinating subject in the history of film.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Oct 29, 2018 4:04:26 GMT
Aye Up Dogs
Permit granted, thank you for the detailed post, though I know it already as such. Watching so many Westerns over the years I got intrigued by all the various names attributed to the colour assigned in the credits, so read up on them. You are of course right, but my medium with it for review purpose is to actually have what the colour is named in the credits, just for clarity really. One you didn't mention was Trucolor, boy that must have been a back street lab because some of those Republic Pictures look awful today.
Thanks again, really is a fascinating subject in the history of film.
Good catch on Trucolor. Like early incarnations of Technicolor and rival low-budget process Cinecolor, it began as a two-color system. Created by CFI (Consolidated Film Industries, whose operations survived into early this century), it became a three-color system in 1949 but, as you point out, still didn't earn high marks for quality, and was used primarily by Republic. It's nice to find someone who cares about these arcane matters and their histories. Having worked in post production 30-odd years ago (at which time CFI remained a very active lab in town, although no longer using Trucolor), they're of special interest to me. |
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Oct 29, 2018 4:26:52 GMT
Aye Up Dogs
Permit granted, thank you for the detailed post, though I know it already as such. Watching so many Westerns over the years I got intrigued by all the various names attributed to the colour assigned in the credits, so read up on them. You are of course right, but my medium with it for review purpose is to actually have what the colour is named in the credits, just for clarity really. One you didn't mention was Trucolor, boy that must have been a back street lab because some of those Republic Pictures look awful today.
Thanks again, really is a fascinating subject in the history of film.
Good catch on Trucolor. Like early incarnations of Technicolor and rival low-budget process Cinecolor, it began as a two-color system. Created by CFI (Consolidated Film Industries, whose operations survived into early this century), it became a three-color system in 1949 but, as you point out, still didn't earn high marks for quality, and was used primarily by Republic. It's nice to find someone who cares about these arcane matters and their histories. Having worked in post production 30-odd years ago (at which time CFI remained a very active lab in town, although no longer using Trucolor), they're of special interest to me. Visuals mean a lot to me being such a massive fan of Westerns and film noir, so obviously cinematographers I'm big into, from monochrome into colour, how they are presented is importantly of interest. Great to have a sage ex industry worker on site to keep the facts on track  |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Oct 29, 2018 14:32:04 GMT
Good catch on Trucolor. Like early incarnations of Technicolor and rival low-budget process Cinecolor, it began as a two-color system. Created by CFI (Consolidated Film Industries, whose operations survived into early this century), it became a three-color system in 1949 but, as you point out, still didn't earn high marks for quality, and was used primarily by Republic. It's nice to find someone who cares about these arcane matters and their histories. Having worked in post production 30-odd years ago (at which time CFI remained a very active lab in town, although no longer using Trucolor), they're of special interest to me. Visuals mean a lot to me being such a massive fan of Westerns and film noir, so obviously cinematographers I'm big into, from monochrome into colour, how they are presented is importantly of interest. Great to have a sage ex industry worker on site to keep the facts on track I don't know how "sage," but I thank you for the kind word. Something that struck me as odd when first starting in the business: while I had little contact with creative types (writers, directors and so forth), workers in the various technical disciplines - film and sound editing; lab personnel; electricians; construction and the like - had little interest in either the industry as a whole or film itself as an art form. These "below the line" workers tended to focus entirely on their own fields, not much caring about any of the rest of it, and any mention of the sorts of things we kick around on this board - such-and-such a director, film, actor, writer, cinematographer, genre or whatever - was more likely than not to earn only a blank stare, shrug or "Oh, I don't know anything about that" reply. The only people with such broader interests were usually clerical types like me. And since the jobs I did involved mostly paperwork, I made it my business to learn all I could about what was represented on those documents directly from the experts. And to their credit, they were always patient with my questions and even happy to tutor someone who cared enough to ask. |
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 2, 2018 9:09:54 GMT
Visuals mean a lot to me being such a massive fan of Westerns and film noir, so obviously cinematographers I'm big into, from monochrome into colour, how they are presented is importantly of interest. Great to have a sage ex industry worker on site to keep the facts on track I don't know how "sage," but I thank you for the kind word. Something that struck me as odd when first starting in the business: while I had little contact with creative types (writers, directors and so forth), workers in the various technical disciplines - film and sound editing; lab personnel; electricians; construction and the like - had little interest in either the industry as a whole or film itself as an art form. These "below the line" workers tended to focus entirely on their own fields, not much caring about any of the rest of it, and any mention of the sorts of things we kick around on this board - such-and-such a director, film, actor, writer, cinematographer, genre or whatever - was more likely than not to earn only a blank stare, shrug or "Oh, I don't know anything about that" reply. The only people with such broader interests were usually clerical types like me. And since the jobs I did involved mostly paperwork, I made it my business to learn all I could about what was represented on those documents directly from the experts. And to their credit, they were always patient with my questions and even happy to tutor someone who cared enough to ask. Hee, so what you are saying is you were a nosey parker?  Which of course is a great thing to do, how else you going to learn stuff? Ran into another one last night, watched Fort Defiance (1951) www.imdb.com/title/tt0043554/reference and that was in Cinecolor, one I had forgot about. I'm wondering how many there is now so going to keep a record. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 2, 2018 20:33:57 GMT
Hee, so what you are saying is you were a nosey parker? Which of course is a great thing to do, how else you going to learn stuff? That was me, alright. You know how it goes: it's usually easiest to get people talking about themselves and/or what interests them. |
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