Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Fists in the Pocket, 1965

Alessandro is the middle child in a family burdened by various afflictions (their mother is blind, all but one of the siblings suffers from epilepsy). Deciding one day that their oldest brother, Augusto, should not be burdened by them, Alessandro sets out to do away with the family to set Augusto free.

There is a ton to unpack in this film from a thematic point of view. From the unhealthy dynamics of the family itself, to the emptiness of the religious rituals that surround Alessandro's murderous/suicidal ambitions, there's just a lot there.

But it wasn't the theme or the content that captured my interest with this film, it was the way that it was shot. The family is messed up and broken, yes, and the style in which the film is shot seems to echo this. Characters are frequently shot disembodied---a hand reaching into frame, or a line of dancers shimmying into the camera's view and then out again. It creates an uncomfortable sense of disorientation and a kind of (pleasantly) unpleasant suspense. In one sequence, Alessandro and his sister stand together in a fireplace. One shot shows the siblings headless. In another shot, Alessandro's arm emerges, monster-like, to grab a cup of tea.

The performances are all solid, and I liked the way that the characters were written and played. There's a fun ambiguity as to whether or not the family members are aware of (and even courting) Alessandro's deadly plans.

I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that the director was 26 when he made this film--it is such an interesting and assured piece of art.

The Specialist (1994) - 7.10

Pretty sure I never sat thru this entire movie when I was younger because it didn't involve Sly putting on boxing gloves (kind of like Cliffhanger) but this is an okay entry. I don't think it reaches any fun heights as Demolition Man or Judge Dredd but the John Barry score and James Woods saying screw it and going full blown looney halfway thru makes it a decent ride.

Watchlisted. Never heard of it before but looks promising.

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The Purge (2013):
Very eerie yet fast paced horror film.
8.5/10
The Purge Anarchy (2014):
Entertaining and a film that reminds me of an old school 80s action film at times.
9/10

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“I really have to feel that I could make a difference in the movie, or I shouldn't be doing it.“
Joe Dante

Dug this one a lot when I saw it at TIFF last year. I would add Repulsion to its stew of influences, but the movie blends them into its own thing.


The director was wearing a hawaiian shirt during the Q&A, which is another point in her favour.

Haven't seen this one, but Miami Blues from the same director is a hoot. Peak Alec Baldwin, and my man Fred Ward looking like the missing link between Warren Oates and Michael Rooker.

VF isn't even in the same league as Miami Blues. The director, George Armitage, had only done one other movie in the intervening 14 years. But it turns out he also directed another one of my favorites, Grosse Pointe Blank. The novel by Charles Willeford is pretty decent as well. He wrote a series of books based on Fred Ward's hard boiled cop character, Hoke Moseley. Miami Blues should be considered a hidden treasure.

Frank Grillo is rock solid in this. He makes the movie like he did with that Skyline sequel.

I think he could play a good Punisher actually.

Absolutely; I love how unapologetically gleeful Travolta was in his sense of sheer sadism as he got into character as Troy, although I'd say that Cage was even better, what with the way he went back-and-forth through the occasional, aforementioned freakouts in order to maintain this insane facade, while also undergoing a legit identity crisis as he loses himself in the face of his mortal enemy. Just great, really layered stuff going on performance-wise with that film all-around. By the way, are you a fan of any of Woo's old Hong Kong efforts, while we're discussing him?

The Dark and the Wicked (2020)

A slow and boring horror that takes the misery from Ari Aster's playbook and combines it with cheap horror cliches.

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The Grey Fox (1982)

A western (sort of) glorifying an aged robber. After the praise this got in our western countdown, I was disappointed at how average it was. Nice scenery, though.

Good film that. The scene at the cliff top - jeez.

Attack Of The Puppet People (Bert I. Gordon, 1958) +
Suffers from being a little short of action but it has to be said the leading lady is a doll at times

Impetigore (2019)


I’ve been putting off watching this, because of the subtitles and because I didn’t have high expectations. I finally got my hands on a dubbed version yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. First of all, it does come close to being ‘disturbing’, for what that’s worth – a rarity in the sea of increasingly sanitised horror films. The concept was pretty good, both [spoilers] in terms of what ailment the new-borns suffer from – Epidermolysis bullosa is a truly awful, horror-worthy condition – and the way the protagonist’s friend is swiftly dispatched by the villagers. (As an aside, what I feel makes it that much more effective is that babies are born without skin a priori, rather than being ‘skinned’ as in Martyrs.) There is a believable and not at all tacky sense of culture shock, made all the more nuanced by the fact the protagonists are Indonesians, not tourists, but still look very much like clueless city folk in comparison to the villagers. Somehow, it really seemed to work – all the way to the ending which . That, too, had been pretty rare in recent years, even in horror. In short, I really liked this, might revisit soon.

Yep, quite a lot of sites have said that, will definitely return to it. Great film.

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Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

That's issue never really occurred to me Takoma and not disagreeing with you but I don't think it ever would.
The sound design was absolutely perfect, so atmospheric.

Yeah, can certainly see why folk wouldn't enjoy it but my point was more that most of the horror community should enjoy it. I've a really bad habit of checking out IMDB ratings before watching a film, this is perfect example for me to stop doing that.

Indestructible Man (Jack Pollexfen, 1956)
Low-budget affair that brings nothing new but does build to a moderately electric finale

No, man. That's one blindspot I need to correct. I've actually only seen three of his American films (Broken Arrow, Face/Off, and M:I-2). I know, I know...

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Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)






Ratched (2020)


Anybody else watch this? The connection with OFOTCN never really worked with me so I kinda just watched it as something unrelated to the original story. Really enjoyed it. Great to look at and apart from a few irritating characters, the acting was very good. ON this note, I'll say that it would have been much better had Sophie Okonedo been used more, what a performance!!


Had been looking forward to this for ages and although it ended up very different to what I'd expected, it was still worth it.