Jonny's Cult Films

Red Scorpion-Review by Big Man Gav!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:44:45 PST

Red Scorpion Blu Ray Review

By Big Man Gav.

Action films from the eighties are in a class all of their own. For some reason a muscle man taking on an entire army with minimal dialogue and over the top stunts was a major box office draw. Audiences, including my seven year old self, just couldn’t get enough of watching somebody who usually wasn’t American stamp on whatever country was against the United States at the time. Perhaps we were deafened by gunfire and blinded by the homo-erotic tendencies of half naked sweaty killing machines to see what is so obvious now? Yes, they are infantile and ridiculous movies promoting US propaganda but they have a charm all of their own. Just looking at the box artwork of Arrow films latest release ‘Red Scorpion’ takes me back to when I would run around the playground with imaginary guns and infinite grenades shouting ‘take no prisoners!’ a time when I would do drawings of Rambo whilst adding my own soundtrack of gun noises and explosions. For the next 106 minutes I’m allowing Dolph Lundgren to take me back to 1988... Fuckin’ A!

My initial thoughts on this Blu ray disc are quite impressive. The 1080p picture quality is sharp and very clear. On my current PS3 settings there is minimal grain as well. Overall the image transfer is maybe a little too bright in places. The outdoor scenes in the desert look great. The blue skies contrasting on the white sands make the film look like new in places whereas darker interiors appear to have a misty finish, most notable in the opening scenes. Audio on the other hand is a little weaker. There is only an uncompressed stereo soundtrack which is a shame considering all the explosions and weapon fire. A DTS or Dolby 5.1 sound mix would have been far better and is a missed opportunity. For an Arrow release the features for Red Scorpion are a bit sparse. There is the token theatrical trailer which you almost expect these days and we have a brand new 30 minute interview with Dolph Lungren. It’s actually quite an enjoyable piece and I liked hearing about how he got bitten by a hyena during a stunt. There is an audio commentary with director Joseph Zito and another new interview with composer Jay Chatterway. It’s okay and I welcome its inclusion but I would have liked to have seen more considering the films controversy around the African apartheid at the time. Thankfully Arrow doesn’t disappoint with their usual high presentation standards. The new box art from ‘the dude designs’ looks fantastic and there is a choice of covers like before. Inside the box there is a nice double-sided poster and a booklet featuring brand new writing by author Calum Waddell.

In closing I can only really recommend Red Scorpion to die hard 80’s fans. There are bigger and better movies out there that do exactly what Scorpion does. The picture quality is let down by a basic sound mix and the features are a bit thin on the ground. At least the box looks nice!

7500-From Takashi Shimizu, coming soon.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:46:36 PST

Hello Folks,
Just bringing you some info on the new film from Japanese Director Takashi Shimizu most famous for his classic J-Horror The Grudge, 7500.
A co Japanese/American production it See's passengers on a plane flying to Japan when something Paranormal starts going crazy! From the trailer it's hard to tell whether i will like this or not, to me at the moment it looks like just another kind of straight to DVD fodder, but being a big fan of Shimizu i can only hope for there to be more to it than the trailer, only time will tell i guess,
Jonny T.

Official Trailer.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet-DVD/BLU RAY RELEASE!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:52:40 PST

Hello Folks,
I must say it's fantastic to see the Argento classic Four Flies on grey velvet finally get a great release, The so called "Lost" Argento classic has been circulating for years and i remember seeing it on a 16mm transfer to VHS and the print was quite terrible, but i have to say on watching this i was quite blown away, the print and audio has been restored to a fantastic level as well as the missing footage restored into the film and i really did enjoy the film, seeing Argento in his better years in this movie was great.Lot's of twists and turns and the extras on the disc are quite simply astonishing, so I'll stop gushing about it now and let you go and find this release, a fantastic addition to any Argento collection, I've stuck all the details below,
Jonny T.

“THE RAREST OF DARIO ARGENTO’S GIALLO THRILLERS FINALLY COMES TO DVD/BLU-RAY – A TWISTED TALE OF TORTURED PARANOIA AND HOMICIDAL FRENZY.” – ALAN JONES.

Forty years after its release and twenty years after the film disappeared from the public eye, Shameless Screen Entertainment is releasing the first ever worldwide Blu-ray of Dario Argento’s lost masterpiece, Four Flies On Grey Velvet and, also for the first time ever, in the original version in which it was made. This special 40th Anniversary Edition has been fully remastered in HD from the original negative and includes four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary “missing forty seconds”. Additionally, the original pristine English audio has been remastered exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and is being made available for the first time since the film’s initial theatrical release in the 1970s.

Described by DVD Times as “essential viewing”, this final instalment in what is unofficially referred to as Argento’s Animal Trilogy (following “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” and “The Cat O’ Nine Tails”) is a classic of the giallo genre, featuring music by Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone (The Untouchables; The Mission; The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) and starring Michael Brandon (Captain America: The First Avenger; Dempsey And Makepeace), Mimsy Farmer (The Black Cat; More), Jean-Pierre Marielle (Micmacs; The Da Vinci Code), Bud Spencer (They Call Me Trinity) and Francine Racette (Au Revoir Les Enfants; The Disappearance).

Going about his everyday life of band rehearsals and socialising with his wife, Nina (Farmer), and their hip friends, rock drummer Roberto Tobias (Brandon) notices he is constantly being followed by a strange man dressed in black. He decides to turn the tables on his stalker and follows him into an abandoned theatre, where a confrontation between the two ends with Roberto accidentally stabbing the man, who falls into the orchestra, apparently dead. Suddenly, a flash of light alerts Roberto to a figure in the upper wings of the theatre, where a mysterious person wearing a bizarre puppet mask and brandishing a camera has been taking photos of the fatal struggle. Roberto flees the scene, but the next day receives the dead man’s ID card in the post. Naturally assuming it has been sent by the unknown witness, he becomes immediately concerned by the lack of any blackmail demands and is haunted by the question of what it is the masked figure wants from him. Roberto’s fear and paranoia increase, and the mystery deepens, when his and Nina’s housemaid is found murdered in a local park and it becomes apparent that an intruder has had access to their apartment.

Four Flies On Grey Velvet (cert. 15) will be released on Blu-ray (£24.99) and DVD (£15.99) by Shameless Screen Entertainment on 30th January 2012.

Special Features

- Introduction to the film by Luigi Cozzi.

- New, exclusive and extensive recent interview on the making of Four Flies On Grey Velvet with writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi.

- Original English audio remastered in HD exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and available for the first time since the film’s original theatrical opening in the 1970s.

- Shameless re-build edit of the complete version of the film including four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary “missing forty seconds” (the inserts are in Standard-Definition quality). The Blu-ray will allow for seamless branching of the four inserts giving viewers two versions of the film: one all HD without the re-inserted scenes and one longer version including the inserts.

- Restoration of all individual damaged frames, most notably with respect to the removal of the black diagonal frame line (caused by the film jumping the high speed camera gate) in the final car crash sequence.

- Optional Italian audio version in HD with English subtitles.

- Italian and English trailers.

- Alternate English opening and closing credits.

- Shameless Trailer Park (Blu-ray only).

Walking Dead season 2-Part 2 is nearly here!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:12:09 PST

Hello all,

Well it only seems like 5 minutes when i read back last year that The Walking Dead was having a mid season break, nooooooooooooo!!! Well that's what i thought, but whilst filling my time in with another series the rather excellent Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead are nearly upon us once again, set to return on February 12th in the USA and 1 week later in the UK it's great to see that they have extended the run of the season from 12 to 16, i also follow the writer Robert Kirkman on Twitter and he announced last week that they have already sat down and started to write season 3 which in his will "Blow you away".

An avid reader of the comics since issue 1 i know that there are some indeed parts that will blow you away in case you haven't read it but i hope they do keep close to the comic and try and not to divulge too far away like the weak ending in my opinion of season 1, will Shane truly flip? will dale push Shane too far? who knows!! I have included a sneek peak for season 2 below which i personally haven't watched as it may contain spoilers so be warned.

So with a little over 3 weeks to go i personally cannot wait, bring on the dead!

Jonny T.

Sneeky Peeek season 2!!

The Shrine Comes to DVD/Blu Ray.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:43:57 PST

Hello People,

Great to see the upcomimg release in February of the very creepy looking The Shrine, I have heard only good stuff about this on American podcasts and sites so I'm very much looking forward to this release!

I've stuck all the details below,

Enjoy,

Jonny T.

“THE SHRINE IS QUITE POSSIBLY ONE OF THE BEST HORROR FILMS OF THE YEAR.” – HORRORCULTFILMS.CO.UK.

From award-winning filmmaker Jon Knautz, writer-director of the cult hit horror-comedy “ Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer”, comes The Shrine, “a wonderfully eerie slice of Lovecraftian horror” (BeyondHollywood.com) that sets itself up as a traditional genre entry before brilliantly and unexpectedly pulling the rug from beneath the viewer with a killer twist.
Starring Aaron Ashmore (Smallville; Veronica Mars), Cindy Sampson (Supernatural; Reaper) and Meghan Heffern (The Fog; Chloe), The Shrine has been hailed as “true-blue horror all the way… uncompromising and aggressively nasty” (FearNet.com) and gained plaudits for its “great story arc, solid writing and acting, and a last act that’ll blow you away” (AnythingHorror.com).
When a young American goes missing in Poland while backpacking around Europe, ambitious journalist Carmen (Sampson) links his disappearance to a number of similar events that have occurred over the years in and around the remote rural village of Alvaina. With the US and Polish authorities showing little interest in the case, Carmen decides to investigate the story herself, hoping for a scoop that will forward her career as a writer.
She convinces her photographer boyfriend, Marcus (Ashmore), and her young intern at the newspaper, Sara (Heffern), to join her in trying to uncover the truth and the trio travels to Alvaina to make some initial enquiries. On arrival at the village they immediately attract the unwelcome attention of the hostile locals who order them to leave the area. Fearing for their safety Marcus is ready to give up and go home, but Carmen and Sara become intrigued by and drawn to a mysterious fog hanging over the nearby woods. On entering the mist, they come across what appears to be an ancient statue – a discovery that leads them on the path to a revelation far more terrifying than anything they could possibly imagine.
A solid supernatural chiller that recalls elements of “The Exorcist”, “Jacob’s Ladder” and “The Evil Dead”, The Shrine is an unexpected gem of a horror film and boasts a Grammy nominated (for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media) score by award-winning composer Ryan Shore (Stan Helsing; Numb; The Girl Next Door).
The Shrine (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£12.99) and Blu-ray (£tbc) by Arrow Films on 27th February 2012.

The Classic That is Django.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:46:05 PST

Hello People,
Well i don't know if you are aware but there is a new podcast in town , it's called Wanted:Alive or preferably dead. Recently started up by the great chaps Stephen and Vaughn it's going to explore all things western, i heard on the preview show the title "Django" and i thought i have not seen that it years, so whilst scanning through my LOVEFILM account i found it a re-watched it, boy what a great film!
Made in 1966 staring the great Franco Nero and directed by Segio Corbucci it tales the usual western tale of a man seeking revenge for those that have done him wrong, but what lifts this high in my opinion above a ton of other westerns is the grittiness and violence not really seen before in westerns up until this point, a genre changing movie.Sergio Corbucci is often unfairly refereed to as "The other Sergio" In reference to Sergio leone, the director of the classic spaghetti westerns.This Django his very well known amongst film fans including of course Quentin Tarantino who inspired by this and the other Django movies will be bringing us this year his take on the genre with Django Unchained, in fact he is such a fan that he starred in Takashi Miike's excellent western Sukiyaki Western Django, which is also a film i would highly recommend.
Talking of Tarantino, there is a scene in Django where a priest is revealed as a spy and they decide to take revenge on him by cutting off his ear, ring any bells?

So, back to the film, It's starts off with a classic theme song and the image from behind of Franco Nero as Django dragging a coffin behind him.He then See's a woman tied up and being whipped by a bunch of bandits, this is where we seem him do his 1st classic speech and start deliver his ultimate coolness then proceeds to rescue the lady, he enters a town where there is a feud going on between member of a Mexican gang and the KKK, Even Tarantino couldn't make that one up!

The film proceeds with Prostitutes mud wrestling, long bar fight sequences and did i mention Django's amazing Gatling gun?Needless to say that Django is there and he is instantly at odds with the Major Jackson and the Mexicans, this gets back to the fact that you can sense the anger and hatred played brilliantly by Django and there are people dispatched left,right and centre.This is down to in my opinion Corbucci's straight to the point no nonsense film making that has few as you would call them "Slow" moments, flying along and it's over before you know it, but do not despair as Nero returned in the also great Western Django strikes again.Bizarrely it was banned in many a country on release because of it's so called violence, but being back in 1966 you can see why, it still remains cut in many countries DVD release of the film, but thanks to LOVEFILM i found it and it's a great print, so i have put the link at the bottom to their site so why not check it out,I'm off to seek more Django films! And be sure to keep your ears on Vaughn and Stephens new show, i will definitely be doing as I'm sure there is a ton out there that they know of and I'm waiting to discover,

Jonny T.

Rent Django and other classic spaghetti western's from our friends at LOVEFiLM. weather your watching TV online or renting films directly to your door LOVEFiLM is sure to have a package to suit you.

Red Scorpion-coming to Blu Ray.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:37:45 PST

Hello Folks,

Back again with some more news of yet another great release from Arrow Video, this time the 80's action machismo fest that is RED SCORPION, Somewhat overlooked at the time and in my eyes never really given the credit it deserved it's great to see this getting a nice shiny Blu-Ray release from Arrow.

All details below,

Enjoy,

Jonny T.

TAUGHT TO STALK. TRAINED TO KILL. PROGRAMMED TO DESTROY.

Following supporting roles in “A View To A Kill” and “Rocky IV” and a less than stellar turn as He-Man in “Masters Of The Universe”, in 1988 former chemical engineering graduate turned actor Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables) took on the role that would define his career as an action star playing the titular hero in the shoot-’em-up action-thriller Red Scorpion. Directed by Joseph Zito, the man behind Chuck Norris’ number one box office smash hits “Missing In Action” and “Invasion USA”, the film remains one of the most memorable and revered action movies of the 80s. Now, Red Scorpion is coming to Blu-ray, featuring a host of extra features including a UK exclusive audio commentary by Joseph Zito.
Lundgren stars as Nikolai Rachenko, a deadly, highly skilled agent for the Russian army and an all-round a killing machine whose brutal efficiency and single minded determination to serve the motherland leaves behind a trail of battered bodies and bloodied enemies.
Nikolai’s latest mission involves infiltrating an African rebel army seeking to defy its new communist rulers and take out their leader. But as he gets to know his enemies and the dignified Bushmen he encounters, he begins to slowly realize that all he has been taught was a lie. Now, this Cold War rebel is ready to turn the tables on his Soviet masters and kick all kinds of ass!
With a body count that leaves jaws firmly on the floor and a healthy disregard for troublesome logic, Red Scorpion is a classic 1980s action spectacular that doesn’t let up for a second.
Red Scorpion (cert. 15) will be released on Blu-ray (£24.99) by Arrow video on 6th February 2012.
Special Features
Brand new High Definition transfer of the film (1080p); introduction to the film by star Dolph Lundgren; UK exclusive audio commentary by director Joseph Zito, moderated by filmmaker and genre scholar Howard S. Berger; “All Out Of Bullets” – Dolph Lundgren remembers Red Scorpion; “Music With Muscles” – composer Jay Chattaway on the soundtrack of Red Scorpion; original trailer; reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork; double-sided fold-out artwork poster; collectors’ booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author Calum Waddell; original 1.78:1 aspect ratio; original uncompressed LPCM Stereo audio; optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Dellamorte Dellamore comes to DVD.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:19:10 PST

Hello folks!

Well i must say being a Zombie fan i am very pleased to see the release of Dellamorte Dellamore-The Cemetery man, i got to see this years back at a horror festival then owned the gold old VHS but never the DVD but i certainly will be doing!!

A quite unusual take on the genre with sex, violence and great looking zombies set in a very creepy location all adds up for a great little zombie flick, I've put the the press release and all details below,

enjoy,

Jonny T.

“SOAVI’S MAJESTIC MASTERPIECE OF SURREALISTIC SANGUINE CINEMA.” (10/10) – BLOODY-DISGUSTING.COM.

From Michele Soavi, director of “The Church” and “The Sect”, comes Dellamorte Dellamore (aka The Cemetery Man), a surreal blend of George Romero gore, Dario Argento style and ‘Monty Python’ irreverence, and arguably the weirdest zombie movie ever made. Based on the novel by Tiziano Sclavi, creator of the cult comic book hero “Dylan Dog”, the film stars Rupert Everett (Stardust; St. Trinian’s; Shrek), Anna Falchi (The Princess And The Pauper) and Francois Hadji-Lazaro (Brotherhood Of The Wolf; The City Of Lost Children).

Meet Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett), gravedigger and guardian of the mythical Buffalora Cemetery where the dead just don’t stay dead. Seven days after burial, the fresh cadavers claw their way out of their coffins looking for flesh to eat. And it’s Francesco’s job to dispatch these ‘Returners’ before they escape into the local community.

But his quest to stop the dead from invading the world of the living falters when he falls in love with a beautiful and enigmatic widow visiting her husband’s crypt. For when he kills her by mistake, and is cursed to see her face for eternity, the difference between being alive and dead becomes chillingly confused in his shocked and romantically damaged brain.

Hip, offbeat, gory, funny and intensely erotic, Dellamorte Dellamore is a totally unique horror movie that demands to be seen.

Dellamorte Dellamore – The Cemetery Man (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Shameless screen Entertainment on 27th February 2012. Special Features include: audio commentary by director Michele Soavi and writer Gianni Romoli; exclusive booklet of Alan Jones’ personal on-set memoir; trailers; photo gallery; English and Italian (with English subtitles) audio options.

Book(s) of the month-Lakewood/Ashton Memorial.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:44:13 PST

Robert R Best.

Lakewood Memorial
2009
The small town of Lakewood has been overrun by the walking dead. In a
single night, the world has descended into a madness of biting teeth
and a sickness that kills but does not kill. Caught at the centre of
it is Angie Land, young single mother and nurse's aide at Lakewood
Memorial Hospital. She and a handful of others are lucky enough to
survive the initial assault, but how long will they last? And more
importantly to Angie, how long will her kids - waiting at home -
survive?

Hello Folks,
The good old book of the month is back!
This month i have kind of cheated by having not one but 2 books, The first 2 parts in the Memorial trilogy that are Lakewood and Ashton Memorial, now you know me I'm a sucker for a great zombie book and the sad fact is that although zombies are ever increasing in popularity the books and indeed films are churned out at the rate of McDonald's burgers and the quality of these books/films are also the quality of those burgers, crap!
But i have to say that these 2 really stand out both in the fact of the characters and storyline,atmosphere and genuine twist that leaving you hanging on and me personally cannot wait for the third book, so whens it out Mr Best?
So for all you good folks, i have put the link to Roberts site below for you to try these out for yourselves and blow away those January blues,
Enjoy,
Jonny T.

Official Webpage for all the ways to get these books and more!!
www.robertrbest.com/

Ashton Memorial
2010
How long does it take for the world to fall apart, when the dead
inexplicably rise from their graves to eat the living?As they travel
to the big city of Ashton to find their families, Angela Land and
Parker Welch discover the world goes to hell fast. Angie, desperate to
find a safe new place for her and her two children, will fight any man
or animal—living or dead—that gets in her way. Meanwhile, Park hasn't
seen his twin daughters for years, but he'll need to hurry if he's
going to rescue them from their crazed power-hungry stepfather and the
chaos that is his new kingdom, Ashton Memorial Zoo. With more undead,
bat-swinging, creative-swearing action, Ashton Memorial asks the
question, What would you do to survive?

World Memorial
2012
….stay tuned…..

Penitentiary-Comes To DVD!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:36:30 PST

Hello all!

Well just a catch up with some news of another great release coming at you in 2012 from Arrow Video this time they delve into the archives to bring you the classic hard hitting Penitentiary, i remember seeing this way back and it's great to see it get a release at last, let's hope they bring out some more classic Blaxploitation,

all details below!

Jonny T.

“GREAT, ROLLICKING EXPLOITATION… A FUN RIDE.” – DIGITAL-RETRIBUTION.COM.

A real Grindhouse cinema original and an undisputed Blaxploitation cult classic, Penitentiary was one of the most commercially successful independent feature films of the early 1980s, inspiring many imitators and spawning two sequels. Written and directed by one of the leading pioneers of the “L.A. Rebellion” film movement, Jamaa Fanaka (Street Wars), Penitentiary comes to DVD in February 2012 with a release that boasts an audio commentary by the director and includes the full-length bonus feature Penitentiary II.

Jamaa Fanaka's raw and violent indictment of prison life is considered a masterpiece of urban cinema. A potent combination of Blaxploitation, prison movie and social commentary, Penitentiary busted genres and galvanized audiences from the art houses to the inner city, becoming a cornerstone of urban independent film for generations.

Martel Gordone (Leon Isaac Kennedy) is a hitchhiker who gets into a fight with a pair of bikers over a prostitute. One of the biker dies and Martel finds himself in prison with the moniker “Too Sweet” because of his love of candy bars. Soon, he is a hardened but pragmatic inmate who joins the prison boxing team in an effort to secure an early parole. Standing in his path however is “Half Dead Johnson”, a member of the prison's most violent gang.

Penitentiary (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£tbc) by Arrow Dome on 13th February 2012. Special Features include: director’s audio commentary; trailers; “Penitentiary II” full-length feature

Animal Kingdom-reviewed.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:41:02 PST

Hello All and a Happy new year!
Whilst recently browsing through my love film account i was wanting to watch something on line something different from my usual watchers, i went through the horror and the action and the thrillers for a bout an hour and couldn't find anything that i really wanted to watch, you ever get that feeling?
Then i thought "Drama section? let's have a gander" so i did and Animal Kingdom came up at the top of the list with 4 stars with some great reviews along with the usual 1 star reviews that just said "Boring" ah well, I'll give it a watch and I'm pretty damn glad i did!
Made in Australia in 2010, it tells the story of a young boy Josh who's mother dies of an heroin overdose and has nowhere to go see he makes a phone call to his estranged Grandma to see if he can go and live with her, she duly obliges so he moves in but also living there are 4 of his uncles who just so happen to be heroin addicts, armed robbers and drug dealers, a real nice family, these are the kind of people you really wouldn't want to mess with at all, they slowly try and embroil him into there nasty ways but he always seems to resist or get involved in a very minimum way, partly scared by his family so for an easy life just goes with the flow, the whole town has basically gone to shit with the police openly killing criminals and always making it look like self defence, so comes the first part of the story where one of the brothers ( i wont reveal who) is talking about getting out of the game as he has made a ton of money on the "dirty" drug trade and now wants a better future and so has invested in shares, too late, he gets shot by the police who have been after him for a while, no explanation by the police is ever given and this leads to anger amongst the remaining family especially the one who is always high on coke and paranoid as hell, retribution time, one of the uncles asks young Josh to go steel him a car but doesn't say why so he does only to find out the next morning that it was used to kill two police officers in cold blood, the police swoop on the family and the are all arrested except for of course the grandma, known as grandma smurf. The film twists and weaves with a good few shocking moments and proceeds with the brothers being released on bail but the heat is very much on Josh as the paranoia spreads through them believing that Josh and his girlfriend are telling more to the police than he is letting on.

The main detective is played brilliantly by Guy Peirce whom i have seen in many a film and he always in my opinion is a fantastic actor, another high praise has to go to Jacki Weaver who plays Grandma Smurf, she is truly a great character who's love and protection for her boys knows no bounds, there is a part near the end where she his talking with a lawyer and she basically has him wrapped around her finger, the scene is great and you defiantly would NOT mess with Grandma Smurf!
So in summing up this is a very high recommend from me, it's one of those films that doesn't move at a million miles an hour but the intensity of the plot and the acting is top notch and keeps you glued through every twist and turn and double cross,
Fantastic stuff -9/10.
Jonny T.

Z-108 Thai Zombies!! Finallly out this year!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:36:18 PST

A Zombie film from Thailand?? Hell yeah, looks pretty good to me!
Not many details i could find as yet but looks like the usual take on the Zombie appocalypse but it does look very atmospheric and with it being a Thai film you just know they will push the barriers and definately not skimp on gore!

Z-108 OFFICIAL TRAILER

2012 Preview No.4-Livide, AMAZING!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:32:39 PST

So with a release date of January 2012 comes Livide, the new movie from the makers of the ultra violent and pretty fucking awesome "Inside" after giving the finger to Hollywood over studio interference on the proposed remake of Hellraiser they return to France to make what they like and how they like it!
This will definitely be at the top of my must see list along with REC3 especially after reading that at the preview screening some critics walked out at the apparent "Brain eating" scene, bring it on, Vive la France!!!

Livide-Official Trailer.

2012 Preview No.3:Jack The Giant Killer.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:03:50 PST

This one looks a good one for 2012, Directed by the great director Bryan Singer this kind of sudo Remake is a great telling of the legend that is Jack and The Beanstalk, looks super big FX and from the looks of the trailer there are many more giants than just the one!
Jonny T.

JACK THE GIANT KILLER-OFFICIAL TRAILER.

2012 Preview no.2----The Devil Inside

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:49:51 PST

Another good looking Exorcism movie coming at you in 2012 is The Devil Inside, there seems to have been a re insurgence of the exorcism movies of late but to me this looks like one of the better ones,
enjoy,
Jonny T.

A week of 2012 preview starts with REC.3

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:05:49 PST

Hello people,
Well it's nearly that there Xmas time! And i as I'm sure you all are are extremely busy but the week leading up to Xmas i will be doing a 2012 preview of the day of some of some films i thought looked interesting coming our way in 2012,So without further ado the 1st posting is...........

REC.3

This has to be near the top of my list for MUST see films next year, i absolutely loved the REC films and from this newly released teaser trailer it looks just as good as the other 2 films, bring it on!!!

Website of the week-Brit Zombie Girls art!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:01:53 PST

Hello all!
This weeks website of the week is the awesome Etsy store brought to you by the fantastic artist that is Zoe Humphries-AKA Brit zombie girl!
She did some great artwork for the very 1st Jonnys Cult Films podcast and it's great to see that she has pushed herself forward in opening and selling her great artwork from all your favourite film characters, she also been featured on the U.S. website/Podcast Cadverlab it seems the word is spreading and so it should.
All the artwork are limited edition prints and come with a certificate of authenticity/signed and they are all a very very reasonable price indeed.
I do think the artwork does resonate a great old school feel of the art on old cinema posters and it would be great to see some indie film maker out there maybe one day commission a poster, so if you are a film maker why not get in touch, it's just an idea i that would make for great and original poster art, forget photo shop!
So head on over to her sites and check out what you could get now and support a great artist amongst the horror community.
Website links below.

The Etsy Shop----> http://www.etsy.com/shop/Britzombiegirl?ref=si_shop

Zoe's Official site----> http://www.britzombiegirl.com/

MORE SAMPLES OF ZOE'S WORK.

A List of my Asian Cinema Favourites-Part 1.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:45:40 PST

Hello Folks,
It's list time again!
This time I'll be doing a list of my all time favourites from Asian Cinema, it's by no means the most comprehensive list but just a few titles i though of whilst thinking about the Asian cinema films that really stand out for me personally, No doubt there will be more list type posts that will include recommendations but these are a few of my favourite that you may or may have not seen and if you haven't i would highly recommend you seeking out these titles that include everything from hopping vampires through to heroic bloodshed,
Enjoy and thanks for looking,
Jonny T.

Mr Vampire.

A true classic in Chinese cinema, This was i recall probably one of my 1st experiences of Asian cinema and i loved it, it's creepy and really quite hilarious, The story of the hopping vampires that can be stopped by... a steak to the heart? Nope! Garlic? Nope! A crucifix? Nope! The only way you can stop these from hopping to your jugular is to stick a bit of yellow rice paper to their forehead, i kid you not! A real must see whether you are new to Asian cinema or you have never seen it, i can't recommend this one highly enough.

Encounters of a spooky kind-A.K.A Spooky encounters.

Sammo Hung at his finest, The legend that is Sammo Hung pulls out all the stops for this classic, Very much in the same vane as Mr Vampire and equally hilarious, the fight scenes are insane as is the ghosts, i remember being lucky enough to catch this at the cinema and the ending is just amazing, i remember it finished and me and my friend Simo both turned to each other and did the "What the fuck was that???" Amazing stuff from a true legend of Asian Cinema, Long Live Sammo!

A Classic scene from Encounters of a spooky Kind.

Once Upon a Time in China 2.

Jet Li continues his role as the Chinese legend Wong Fei-Hung in this follow up to the original Classic Once upon a time in China, Directed by one of the best directors to ever come out of China Tsui Hark and in my opinion is far superior in both pace and action than the original, the crowning glory has to be the final pole fight between Donnie Yen and Jet Li, Take no notice of the duff Hollywood stuff that Jet Li has made this his Hollywood days this in his him in his prime and and his awesome best.

A Better Tomorrow 2.

The good old genre of Heroic Bloodshed does not come much better than this! Starring The King of Heroic Bloodshed Chow Yun Fat and directed by the heroic maestro John Woo this set the very high standard of Heroic Bloodshed films which in my opinion no one ever topped, the shootout scenes go on for ages but not in a bad way, in a John Woo style with slo-mo Chow Yun Fat in long trench coat blasting the living shit out of everything! A Masterpiece.

Eastern Condors.

"An action film about a daring commando raid into Vietnam to destroy a munitions dump left behind by American marines." Well from the IMDB synopsis it doesn't sound like much but it certainly is! Explosions, massive fight scenes, great story and some of the best action you will ever see from the legendary pair of Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen, A MUST WATCH!!!!

Honourable mentions that go without saying!

Bullet in the head.

The Ring.

The Host.

The Grudge.

I Saw the Devil.

Confessions.

Slice.

Fong Sai Yuk.

My Father the hero.

Iron Monkey.

13 Game of Death.

Hansel and Gretal.

Chocolate-2008 Thailand Review.

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:34:28 PST

Hello All,
Jonny T here bringing you a review of the pretty kick ass Thai movie from 2008 that is Chocolate.
The story starts based upon a forbidden love affair with a Thai female gangster and her Japanese Yakuza lover, There i s constant fighting and killing between the Thai and Japanese gangs that culminates in the Thai lady becoming pregnant and the Yakuza departs back to Japan, Story moves forward a few years and we get to see the birth of the young girl known as Zen, The DR tells the mother there have been some complication's and the child will require special needs, we see her young life unfold with various harrowing scenes of her being scared by basically anything or anyone around her and she shows a fascination with kung fu flicks and starts to practise the moves, she befriends a rather chubby boy who is great and helps her out and ultimately her mother who sadly develops cancer, he takes her around the streets performing what he calls a ball trick wherein anyone from any angle can throw a ball at her and she will catch it without flinching, he uses this and her to generate money required for the expensive treatment and drugs that her mother needs to hopefully get her on the road to recovery.
Then one day they find one of her mothers old books and hand written inside is a list of people that owe her a ton of money from way back and it's ,ore than enough to help pay for all the medical bills so they set off on the trail to pull in all the debts.

Needless to say this takes them to deal with some very dodgy characters the first lot they come up against is in an ice factory and they are told to get lost, seeing her mother so ill and after watching a few more kung fu flicks notably the one she watches mostly at this time is the other classic Thai kung fu flick Ong-Back, she decides to return to the ice factory, and when it all kicks in out come the Ong Back Tony Jaa moves!
The girl who plays Zen is Jeeja Yanin and it's difficult to tell how old she was when this was made but boy does she know her moves and zips around the screen kicking ass with breathtaking skill and speed, for example, there is one seen where she jumps from a balcony and land on top of a cabinet doing the splits!
The film follows pretty formulaic steps wherein the next place they go to gets more harsh especially the scene in the meat factory where she has to overcome her fear of flies and meat hooks are involved, some pretty nasty kills!But having said that the last 20 minutes or so are non stop action, there is a scene straight from kill bill in the Japanese tea house where she takes on around 30 guys, then here estranged father turns up and takes on about another 20 with a samurai sword and she has a pennant for copying many styles of fighting she see's as in her influence with Ong Bak and then i kid you not a retard kung fu guy with a massive twitch comes at her and kicks the shit out of her until she starts to replicate him!! But the scene that made it for me was the one where she is chasing and also being chased by a ton of gangster up the side of a building, leaping and kicking from one side to another whilst bouncing off street signs and bouncing the gangsters off ledges to the ground below, that's the great thing about Thai cinema it very much harps back to the early Jacki Chan insane stunt fests such as Armour of god and the like,
So in summing up, the first 20 minutes are at times painfully slow but please stick with it and you will NOT be disappointed,
Breathtaking stuff,
8/10
Jonny T.

OFFICIAL TRAILER-AWESOME!

Films you should get for Xmas!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:05:55 PST

Hello people,

So with good old Christmas just around the corner i though I'd Just do a little post with a few idea's of films to own and to stick on your list to Santa!

You may have heard of some of these or may not have but these are my top 10 more obscure films you really should have in your collection or on your list to the man in red,

enjoy,

Jonny T.

1-Who Can Kill a child.

One of my all time favourites, Made way back in 1976 a very obscure and difficult film to get hold of until this year with a great re-release which now contains the original 8 minutes that were cut from the beginning about the history of violence towards children, set on a lonely Greek island a honeymooning couple arrive only to find that there are no adults left only creepy sinister looking kid's, the atmosphere is quite brilliant, excellently paced and twists that will blow your hat off, a true classic you really should own.

2-Yokai Monsters-Spook Warfare.

This year i discovered the wonderful world that is Yokai Monsters, based upon the Japanese legendary monsters this and the Takashi Miike version are the only films in the series i have managed to catch so far but they are great, really quit bloody as well for films that are supposed to be aimed at kids, the big Vampire monster that steals soles is worth it alone but the parade of monsters and crazy variety could only be pulled of in Japanese cinema, Just awesome!

3-The Bicycle Thieves

A truly fantastic film from Italy from 1948, not horror by any means but just stunning, set in Post war Italy it tales the tale of a man struggling to find a job and eventually does as a cinema poster flyer man who sadly has his beloved bike stolen and the rest of the film he tries to retrieve it with the help of his son, i admit it doesn't sound the most enthralling story but the way it's filmed and the characters who you really feel for is phenomenal, try something different and give this one a try.

4-The Old Dark House.

A solid gold Universal classic from 1932, a little seen and quite hard to track down on DVD in the UK at least, Karloff does star in this but by no means is the star, The scene is set for broken down motorists stranded and only shelter available is in The Old Dark House where in lies a family of complete loons!
Will they all make it through the night and who is the relative the have locked in the Attic room?
Atmospheric beyond belief and characters that defined the Era, a must have.

5-Confessions.

Definitely 1 of the top 3 films i have seen this year, it's a dark and twisted tale told in 3 parts based upon the confessions of a school teacher and people who interact with her, it has some absolutely brilliant twists and the slow-mo visuals from director Tetsuya Nakashima in places are breathtaking, if you are into Asian cinema or not this is still one you need to see and definitely ask Santa for!

6-Pieces

I have seen this title knocking about for years but it was one that i never got around to seeing but when my i was reminded of it whilst listening to THE man Vaughn's show Motion Picture Massacre (which by the way is a great podcast!) i thought i have to see it and low and behold the good old Arrow films released it and it is insane! I reviewed it a while back on the blog and loved it, so if your into your 80's cheesy slashers with a ton of gore you could do no wrong with finding this title in your stocking!

7-Slice

Yet another fantastic flick this time from Thailand, very brutal with an incredible twist that you won't see coming in a million years, the story of two young boys growing up in a very violent neighbourhood when later in life a serial killer takes to the streets and boy is is brutal! An absolute must see!

8-Storm Warning.

One of the best ozploitation films of the last few years, I've seen it come in for a bit of criticism but i personally loved it, the tale of a couple who take a tranquil boat trip but get stuck out in a storm and take refuge in a grotty looking outback house only to discover that two reel backwater brothers live there with their absolute pshyco dad, could be classed as a rape revenge flick but boy what revenge,those fish hooks, ouch!!! Great stuff.

9-Spider Baby.

I cannot say how much i love this film, it's one of those that never gets dull no matter how many times you watch it, quite gory for the time and fantastic characters of the psycho family especially the part played by the legendary Sid Haig, one you should have on your shelf now!

10-Sheitan.

This one is an absolute favorite of here at Jonnys Cult films, Vincent Cassell as the head of a rural family that has to be seen to be believed, it's mind blowing in every sense, you will laugh, be shocked and grossed and and make sure you watch the end credits to see Vincent in the creepiest make up ever, Tell Santa to stick this at the top of your list!!

Breaking News: an Autozombiography-Book of the month!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 03:04:04 PST

“N.J. Hallard is THE zombie author you want in your survival enclave after the rising”

Professor of English
Brendan Riley PhD
‘Zombies in Popular Media’
Columbia College Chicago

Hello Folks,
Welcome to a new monthly feature "Book of the month" and this for November i have chosen Breaking News: an Autozombiography by the great chap N.J. Hallard, I have read this a couple of times now and it does get better with each read and i must say that i am really looking forward to Rising Up: an Autozombiography the sequel which is planned for next year, Breaking news tells the story of the start of the Zombie apocalypse and events thereafter, the characters are really well written and you get a great feel for thier plight and do feel a hell of a lot of empathy for them which i feel with a lot of stuff i've read that the characters are not that deep and most of the time you really don't care what happens to them, oh i did i mention the dog?Also a great feature of the book is the artwork hand drawn by N.J Himself wich is very very cool indeed, see the pictures below, Just Awesome!
So get your order in for xmas, either treat yourself or give it to a loved one, wether they like horror or not it's a cracking read that never lets up in pace and will keep you gripped until the very last page and leave you shouting " I wanna read Rising up!!"
Jonny T.

Here be some links for all your details of how to get Breaking News and keep an eye out for Rising Up.
Your Copy of Breaking News.-The link to get your copy in every format you can think of!
http://njhallard.wordpress.com/ -The Official Site.

Artwork From Breaking News: an Autozombiography

Amazing Ghanain movie trailers!!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:13:38 PST

Hello Folks,

Jonny T here, just crawling around the old Internet and came across these CRAZY looking trailers for 3 films from Ghana!! I've not managed to track down these yet but if you do find them please let me know, i bet Spielberg is shitting his pants as the competition for Tin Tin arrives from Ghana!

Enjoy, 2016!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jonny T!

2011-What Happened to Horror?

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:58:51 PST

Well tiz nearly the season to be jolly fa la la la la la la la la!(who said Bah Humbug???)

With the end of the year approaching and the new year and possibly the end of the world in 2012 according to religious lunatics i have to ask myself about 2011 and say "What Happened to horror?"

For me personally it has been a pretty weak year in the great horror release stakes, sure there have been a few good exceptions in my eyes with the likes of Troll Hunter, Tucker and Dale VS Evil, Final Destination 5,Stakeland and Scream 4 was even ok but i really can't think of any others that were that great.I mean what happened to all the Halloween horrors that used to be released?

Amongst the others that disappointed were The Dead-Great Zombies but way too long and overly visualised with a story that has been told many many times, Insidious-great first half but then just turned into Poltergeist with Darth Maul rather than Slimy tennis balls,Paranormal Activity 3-More plot holes than a kilo of Swiss Cheese and finally the very poor Human Centipede 2-personally one of my biggest let downs of the year.

A Visual depiction of the plot from Paranormal Activity 3.

So this year i have watched some great films but non in the horror genre have really blown me away, seen great films such as the Asian films, I Saw the devil, Confessions, Slice and finally got to see the Donnie Yen classic IP Man as well as films such as Driver-Ryan Gosling was quite superb and old classics such as The Old Dark house, Horrors of the black museum,Horror Hospital and even re watched Karen Black in her best role in Trilogy of terror.

Karen Blacked, Pissed off with this years releases.

The Prequel to The Thing has yet to hit the UK bust comes out in December so that's my last hope of this years releases being good and i hope next year is better as there is some interesting titles coming our way, non more so than Livide, The new film from Directors of the French Classic from 2007 Inside,Alexandre and Julien Maury, it apparently has already been shown at very selected festival and everyone is saying how shocking a so called "Brain Eating" Scene is so anyone who has seen Inside will more than know what to expect from these guys,if you haven't seen it stop reading this and go see it now!

Over the next month I'll be trawling around the old web and bringing news of what potentially could be the best films of 2012, But then again as with titles i have mentioned from this year i hope we all aren't disappointed, watch this space.............

Jonny T.

The Human Centipede 2?Stick it up your ass!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:41:38 PST

Hello people,
Well after a pretty poor year on the whole (no pun intended) i was really looking forward to The Human Centipede 2 and what can i say, it's terrible!
Now i know i'm probably guna take some shit for this (please note it will be full of HC2 cliches!!) but i really did think it was a real let down, Ok so it's filmed in black and white to add effect and i've heard it said that it is more of an arthouse film because of it, i personally would call it an arse house film, The story as you may know revolves around Martin the sad loner car park attendant that lives at home with Mother in their run down flat and his dad is in prison for abusing him which is mum constantly blames him for,There lies the first problem for me,yet another story of abuse leading to the creation of a psycho,How about someone who just flips?He has more than an unheatly obsession with the original film which involves owning a scrapbook on it as well as a pet and rather aggresive Centipede, oh and and wanks himself off with sandpaper whilst watching the movie at every given oputunity he can,he works shifts that seem mainly nights in the lower level of a parkin lot and randomly pick out his victims as to re-create the original film but this time a full sequence involving 12 people, so picks off the people at random and takes them along to a rented warehouse until he has the full amount to start his version of The Human Centipede.

As i mentioned he lives in a grotty flat with his constantly nagging mother and a neighbour that blasts his music so all can here, as i said the acting is terrible and when we first see the neighbour who threaten to smash his fackin' face in the level of Cockney acting makes Dick Van Dyke and Danny " oi you caant" Dyer seem like masters of the cinema, cringe inducing!
So he gets all his 12 and a couple die etc but the lead girl can't shit, so he blasts her full of laxative and the rest until the shit flows with the explosion of shit which is the only scene in colour, maybe this was a metefor as the film itself is a big explosion of shit, Martin doesn't have any dialogue just stares blankly with his big bold bug eyes, he's probably thinking what the fuck am i doing in this??? Then that kind of reverts back to the fact of the bad acting, i mean i know some actors will do anything for a job but the level of these actors is shocking and all they are good for is sticking there heads up other peoples arses, at least that meant that they were sucking shit rather than talking it.
Now rant over i can see why people will be having a laugh watching this and i salute Tom Six for basically showing everything that people said you didn't see in the first film but as i say if you see it just don't expect to much and you may get something out of it but i personally didn't, akin to a serbian film the scene with the pregnant lady and the baby and the car ( you will know what this is when you see it) was done in an awful effect that was similar tihe worse FX in a bad Troma movie.
I can see all the points that I think that Tom Six is trying to make,such as he does show you everything,He has pushed the limit in utter shock value,it's said that it's a finger to censorship and the argument that says horror movies or movies in general effect people and make them do bad things so on them points I really can't fault him,But like I said it just didn't do it for me personally.
If you want a great take on The Human Centipede 2, make sure to head over to http://www.cadaverlab.com/ and listen to Mike And Sam's hillarious take on HC2 in the latest Podcast.
3/10
Jonny T.

Classic Horror Campaign live this sunday!!

noreply@blogger.com (jonnyscultfilms) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:59:43 PST

Hello folks!

With the cold dark November days dragging on what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon with the guys from Classic Horror Campaign and 2 classic movies!

So if you are around the London area make sure you get down there or even if your not it will be well worth the journey.

The Classic horror campaign has been going for quite a while now and weekly gathers more momentum, originally started to bring back classic double bills to the BBC it has now rolled out to cinemas with special screenings and event and also some very special guests, so if you have yet to see what they are up to and what it's all about please be sure to click on the links below and sign the petition and bring back classic horror!

Jonny T.

Press Release
Classic Horror Campaign

The Killer Creature Double Feature takes place at the Roxy Bar & Screen near London Bridge on Sunday 13th November from 3pm featuring Curse of the Cat People (1944) and Frogs (1972).
For further information please contact or email admin@classichorrorcampaign.com

Website – www.classichorrorcampaign.com

Twitter - @horrorcampaign

Facebook – www.facebook.com/ClassicHorrorCampaign

Petition - www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringclassichorrorfilmsbacktothebbc/

Book tickets - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/131280
The Classic Horror Campaign has been set up in order to persuade the BBC and other television networks to bring these legendary films back to our screens so that they may be shared and appreciated by a whole new generation.
The campaign is currently supported by various celebrities including Emily Booth, Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman, Reese Shearsmith, actress Eileen Daly, best-selling author David Moody and Hammer Horror stalwarts Shane Briant and Caroline Munro.
The Classic Horror Campaign presents regular classic horror double bill screenings around the country in the style of the old BBC2 seasons of the seventies and eighties including a horror quiz, guest appearances and free prize giveaways.