Last movie watched...

[pictsy]

Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

I had to look this up and to see who Larry Cohen is.  This film sounds like a mess and he did The Stuff, so it goes on the list.

[Colin YNWA]

Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

I watched that many, many moons ago when I was pretty into B-movies - when Channel 4 used to show the most wonderful trash and I remember even then being very disappointed by it.

That said having just looked it up to make sure it was that movie - it was - the images make me want to watch it again anyway!

[repoman]

Now that we are in sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons, has anybody seen Q:The Winged Serpeant by Larry Cohen?

I love Q.  The main thing is that it's just a brilliant bit of acting by Michael Moriarty as he goes through his hoodlum life but with a giant lizard that occasionally flies in and eats people.

[milstar]

So, Q is must watch film? Great. But first I have to check Cohen's God Told Me To.

[Hawkmumbler]

So, Q is must watch film? Great. But first I have to check Cohen's God Told Me To.

A personal favourite of mine, it's absolutely insane. Probably the most ambitious movie ever to be filmed in and around 42nd Street and is woven into one another DNA, while simultaneously paying homage to the surrealists. One sequence straight up references a Dali painting. It's a mad as a box of crackers.

[pictsy]

I am rather perturbed with myself for not thinking to ever explore Cohen's work if it's as crazy as all this.  I like esoteric films and The Stuff was a favourite of mine as a kid.  I suppose it's a case of better late than never.  Let's hope I enjoy them when I get around to them.

Right now I'm going to go and watch Beastmaster.  I have my fingers crossed on this one, but I'm managing my expectations.

[milstar]

I am rather perturbed with myself for not thinking to ever explore Cohen's work if it's as crazy as all this.  I like esoteric films and The Stuff was a favourite of mine as a kid.  I suppose it's a case of better late than never.  Let's hope I enjoy them when I get around to them.

Well, Larry Cohen is a sort of icon in low budget science fiction/horror field, though he also did crime films as well (Phone Booth). I didn't like The Stuff because it was too derivative movie to begin with, but I quite like his It's Alive. Very haunting film.

[pictsy]

Beastmaster

OK, it's kinda dull in many places.  There are some likeable elements, but I don't think anything especially shines in this movie.  Not to the extent that I can say it was fun to watch.  The pacing is plodding and the plot is somewhat a jumbled mess of repeating itself.  Characters are static, the film has nothing to say, has no themes, no morals and it's visually dry as well.  I'm not going to say it's awful, because it's not.  It's just mediocre.  Honestly, I think it could have benefited from being more stupid... or had more exciting acting... or something.  I also didn't like the sexual assault by our hero.

The Stuff is a wonderfully biting satire of consumerism and capitalism that is a lot of fun as well.  The only other film I can think it's comparable to is They Live.

Whatever, tomorrow I'm probably watching Dragonslayer.

[milstar]

God Told Me To (1975)

...Is the phrase that torments tough NY detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) during his investigation of seemingly "unrelated" murder. Which, given that this is science fiction horror film, is only a glimpse into something more sinister and weird. I won't say as much, but that GTMT is a rather flawed, low budget mix of police procedural crime film, weird occultism (whose leader, Richard Lynch plays his proto evil-crazy) and - aliens. And preposterous it sounds, the movie nevertheless, manages to be pretty fun, yet harrowing (in good way) to watch. I like to think that low budget dictated a lot of things in this movie, such as a bad acting, mundane, unconvincing dialogue and visual look. It feels like watching a documentary, as Cohen heavily replies on hand-held camera use. Also, Cohen interjects into his movie chunks of truly hilarious humor, perhaps unintentional(?). In the opening, then unseen assailant is mowing down people with his sniper film, in the typically busy NY day. What looks pretty serious, managed to get me laugh, per movie is low budget and probably stand-ins had no time to rehearse it, it was like watching a video prank where people deliberately over-act as if they have a seizure. Nevertheless, the movie still managed to creep me up, especially in the climax, so the chill factor isn't miserable. And through to the decade, the movie ends on a bleak note, so there's that.

[Hawkmumbler]

A personal mantra I've adopted from journalist Jack Hunter is 'NO BUDGET, NO LIMIT' as scribed in his epic Eros In Hell collection of treatments. The lower the budget, the more free you are to just do whatever the fuck you want.

[milstar]

Watching Italian gore movies of the 1970s and 1980s, I can concur. In Larry Cohen's case, I can't help but to think how God Told Me To would be with a more acclaimed actor and better special effects. That said, I find his movies hastily edited. How much I liked It's Alive, I think it suffers from the same problem.

[Barrington Boots]

Beastmaster
...Not to the extent that I can say it was fun to watch.

Booo

The pacing is plodding and the plot is somewhat a jumbled mess of repeating itself.

This is totally true however

Sorry you didn't enjoy it!

[pictsy]

I'm not sure whether I enjoyed the film or not.  There were things I liked.  The animals were cute, the weird monster things were a curiosity and Rip Torn and John Amos were enjoyable to watch.  Nevertheless, it's a really dull film.  I think I'm more apathetic towards the film than anything else, but I may warm more towards it on a second viewing now I know precisely what I'm in for... or I may think it's too boring to watch.  Who knows.

[Funt Solo]

Beastmaster
...Not to the extent that I can say it was fun to watch.

Booo

Having watched five minutes of a "best of Beastmaster" on that there YouTube, I think the appeal may lie solely in how much you enjoy an oiled, hairless, muscly, white man running around in a loin-cloth and trying to look sad when his [spoiler]pet ferret buys the farm[/spoiler].

[Barrington Boots]

What's not to enjoy about that?

I suspect it more depends on if you saw the film in 1982, an experience which could leave you with strange feelings about Tanya Roberts and nightmares about being liquified by bird monsters.*


* speculating for a friend