[Hutnicks]

il Demonio, The Demon, aka The Purification of Puri, starring Daliah Lavi takes place in the early 1900's in a small town in Southern Italy where superstition and rites to prevent bad luck are a way of life.

Purificazione is head-over-heels-monkey-mad in love with some guy intent on marrying a woman who looks like what God used to make with the leftovers after he sculpted Puri. She has chosen him as hers and he will be. No question about it and she knows just how to make it happen.

She cuts off a lock of hair, brings out a little blood, adds it all to a small sackcloth, whispers a few choice words and puts it in the fire. When it's turned to ashes she takes them out, strolls down to church where the Priest is conducting Mass, kneels at the altar and places a curse on her true love so he will never forget her till the day he dies.

Now that's devotion.

Puri is a sorceress who communes with the dead, claims to have spoken with a demon and twice as crazy as she is beautiful. She stalks her lover, tricks him into drinking some wine she poured the love potion in and announces she has bewitched him while running off laughing. She is a wild woman if there ever was one.

They think her possessed and try to exorcize her in the church, so she demonstrates her skill and dexterity as the inventor of the Spider Walk:

It's really a tragic story. Everyone is scared to death of Puri, she's an outcast and is taken advantage of twice in the film. All she wants is to be with her man, and though she does go to extreme measures she worships him.

Today she would probably be diagnosed as Schizophrenic. However, she does speak with a boy only to find he died earlier that day and her spell casting is of some skill. And who hasn't cast a curse or two...

Through I guess the bit about slinging a dead rabbit at the place the newlyweds were having their honeymoon and cursing their first born child stillborn was a little over the top, the town folk are a bit hypocritical as they perform their own rituals. Such as setting a scythe under a wedding bed to ward off evil and placing their sins in a stone while making a public declaration of them over the past year..

It's a great movie IMO and totally believable in my eyes. 10/10 for Deliah Lavi doing the spider walk alone. Claims to be based on a true story.

Thanks for this. Lavi's only presence in my memory was in From Russia With Love and so I need to hunt this one down.

Between you and the Moose mentioning a naked Kinski, this is a banner day for me in exploring film

 

[Redcarmoose]

Yes, I think I’m going to have to rewatch Cat People featuring Kinski 6 years later! She is in 60+ films total, though remains a rare view in my personal film background.

 

[Hutnicks]

Yes, I think I’m going to have to rewatch Cat People featuring Kinski 6 years later! She is in 60+ films total, though remains a rare view in my personal film background.

Well, in days of yore when Farrah was the teenage masturbation fantasy, I was (and still am, to be honest) captivated by Ms Kinski wrapped around an ophidian or vice versa.

Stunning, enigmatic and still timeless in her last and more B oriented ventures she goes down as one of the most underrated actresses of all time. While actresses americano are on the Weinstein binge, Kinski was torpedoed in my humble opinion by her brief liason with Polanski. Shame that, as if she had ever encountered a good director her career, and dare I speculate life itself would have taken a very different turn.

A stunning creature who evokes pathos and envy in the same breath for me.

 

[Trihexagonal]

Thanks for this. Lavi's only presence in my memory was in From Russia With Love and so I need to hunt this one down.

Between you and the Moose mentioning a naked Kinski, this is a banner day for me in exploring film

And that makes my day. She's in several films. 10 Little Indians and The Return of Dr. Mabuse to name a couple I have.

I have a lot of movies and don't want to bother reviewing anything I don't think is worth the watch. I like to watch them just before I write about them though and will try to do more.

 

[Greyscale]

Oldboy (again)

9.9/10

Loses a .1 due to that crappy zoom thing they did on Dae-Su's face near the end. :[

Film I hadn't watched before: Amélie

9.5/10

Definition of "adorable". That's all there is to say about this film, haha.

 

[WraithApe]

They think her possessed and try to exorcize her in the church, so she demonstrates her skill and dexterity as the inventor of the Spider Walk:

I'm guessing Friedkin stole that for The Exorcist; fortunately it didn't make the theatrical cut. It's a classic move no doubt, but wasn't needed in that film - Regan is scary enough without acrobatics!

 

[WraithApe]

I especially love Maniac. He's mad as a hatter.

"You ain't goin' out tonight."

This is one of those very rare cases where I actually prefer the remake to the original. Franck Kalfhoun took what was a particularly scuzzy video nasty and made it into a different beast altogether.

 

[oqvist]

Cloverfield paradox. Has two seconds related till cloverfield. Its an attempt of a new event horizon, Solaris mixed with the regular alien torture stuff or Saw if you will.

6/10 you must like sci-fi. Aldo bad sci-fi.

 

[WraithApe]

Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit : 7/10

Starts out with a retainer usurping the seat of his lord, taking his castle and walling him up alive in clay! Some years later, the usurper, Naoshige, now a lord himself, spots a girl he likes the look of at the festival of the cursed swamp (a festival held each year to appease the spirits of the swamp.) He determines to have Yukiji at all costs, and causes her betrothed, Yuki, to vow to fight for her to the death. Consequently, the first half of the film is mainly lots of sword-fighting and running around. When Yuki meets his untimely demise, along with with Yukiji, the film switches gear and goes insane crazy!

When the original lord's wife took her own life in the swamp, she took her cat down with her, and it seems the moggie still has a grudge to bear. It seizes the opportunity to find a new home in Yukiji's body and heads off to terrorize Naoshige. He's got it coming really - he's the kind of guy who beheads someone on the spot, with no warning, for touching his sleeve or not bowing deeply enough; a real asshat
basically, so it's good to see him get his dues. From here on out, it goes into psychedelic meltdown - ghosts (the cat also possesses another recently deceased girl, Yuri), severed arms with a life of their own, hands reaching out of the grave and horrific visions; the tastiest of which is definitely the room full of sentient severed heads!

Despite all this though, the most impressive thing about the film isn't the supernatural stuff, but the cinematography - gorgeous black and white 'scope with lots of great steady tracking shots, and even though you can tell it was all shot on sets, with its rolling mist and chiaroscuro lighting, it has that way of evoking an otherworldly atmosphere that a lot of these Japanese venegeful spirit films from the 60s do. In the Jigohuken vein, it sacrifices that atmosphere at the alter of scares and it does get a bit hokey, especially in the grave yard scene. That said, it's nice to see something from Toei's phenomenal back catalogue that isn't all brooding atmospherics and understated hauntings (brilliant though those films are.)

I was hoping for more cat though.

 

[kid vic]

Selma- 8/10

David Oyelowo does a pretty good MLK impersonation; solid acting and cinematography throughout the movie, nice incorparation of old news footage and broadcasts. Predictable but that just a by product of being based off of a well known story

 

[WraithApe]

@kid vic Following up our recent discussion of The Ghost of Yotsuya with another Nobuo:



Ghosts of Kasane Swamp : 6/10

This one predates Nobuo's more famous Ghost of Yotsuya by a couple of years and feels like something of a rough draft. There are similarities in the look and feel of the film - especially in the make-up of Rui's ghost with her disfigured face - but the atmosphere is somewhat lacking and the pacing isn't as tight. Despite being book-ended by some great supernatural scenes, the vast majority of screen time here is given over to melodrama and romantic intrigue. Admittedly, it ratchets up the tension and ends on a real high as Nobuo puts his camera tricks to work in the showdown between Omura and the ghost of Rui in Kasane swamp.

It all begins when a blind masseuse goes to Fukami's house to recover a debt and gets more than he bargained for - a psychotic episode sees the masseuse murdered by the samurai, his body dumped in the swamp. Fast forward 20 years, and his daughter Rui, now grown up, falls for a servant boy called Shinkichi, who is Fukami's son. Unfortunately, Shinkichi is into someone else and when Rui finds out, her sorrow turns to rage. Needless to say, the characters are all locked into a tragic arc from the start, seemingly destined to fulfill the prophecy, 'fear the hatred of dead'.

While it's a creditable example of Edo period ghost stories, I feel that the extended melodrama of the middle section brings it down, making it more mundane than some stronger offerings, such as Nobuo's own Ghost of Yotsuya. I'd still say it's worth a watch for fans of the genre.

 

[kid vic]

Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit : 7/10

Starts out with a retainer usurping the seat of his lord, taking his castle and walling him up alive in clay! Some years later, the usurper, Naoshige, now a lord himself, spots a girl he likes the look of at the festival of the cursed swamp (a festival held each year to appease the spirits of the swamp.) He determines to have Yukiji at all costs, and causes her betrothed, Yuki, to vow to fight for her to the death. Consequently, the first half of the film is mainly lots of sword-fighting and running around. When Yuki meets his untimely demise, along with with Yukiji, the film switches gear and goes bat**** crazy!

When the original lord's wife took her own life in the swamp, she took her cat down with her, and it seems the moggie still has a grudge to bear. It seizes the opportunity to find a new home in Yukiji's body and heads off to terrorize Naoshige. He's got it coming really - he's the kind of guy who beheads someone on the spot, with no warning, for touching his sleeve or not bowing deeply enough; a real asshat
basically, so it's good to see him get his dues. From here on out, it goes into psychedelic meltdown - ghosts (the cat also possesses another recently deceased girl, Yuri), severed arms with a life of their own, hands reaching out of the grave and horrific visions; the tastiest of which is definitely the room full of sentient severed heads!

Despite all this though, the most impressive thing about the film isn't the supernatural stuff, but the cinematography - gorgeous black and white 'scope with lots of great steady tracking shots, and even though you can tell it was all shot on sets, with its rolling mist and chiaroscuro lighting, it has that way of evoking an otherworldly atmosphere that a lot of these Japanese venegeful spirit films from the 60s do. In the Jigohuken vein, it sacrifices that atmosphere at the alter of scares and it does get a bit hokey, especially in the grave yard scene. That said, it's nice to see something from Toei's phenomenal back catalogue that isn't all brooding atmospherics and understated hauntings (brilliant though those films are.)

I was hoping for more cat though.

Probably going to watch this one at some point this week

@kid vic Following up our recent discussion of The Ghost of Yotsuya with another Nobuo:



Ghosts of Kasane Swamp : 6/10

This one predates Nobuo's more famous Ghost of Yotsuya by a couple of years and feels like something of a rough draft. There are similarities in the look and feel of the film - especially in the make-up of Rui's ghost with her disfigured face - but the atmosphere is somewhat lacking and the pacing isn't as tight. Despite being book-ended by some great supernatural scenes, the vast majority of screen time here is given over to melodrama and romantic intrigue. Admittedly, it ratchets up the tension and ends on a real high as Nobuo puts his camera tricks to work in the showdown between Omura and the ghost of Rui in Kasane swamp.

It all begins when a blind masseuse goes to Fukami's house to recover a debt and gets more than he bargained for - a psychotic episode sees the masseuse murdered by the samurai, his body dumped in the swamp. Fast forward 20 years, and his daughter Rui, now grown up, falls for a servant boy called Shinkichi, who is Fukami's son. Unfortunately, Shinkichi is into someone else and when Rui finds out, her sorrow turns to rage. Needless to say, the characters are all locked into a tragic arc from the start, seemingly destined to fulfill the prophecy, 'fear the hatred of dead'.

While it's a creditable example of Edo period ghost stories, I feel that the extended melodrama of the middle section brings it down, making it more mundane than some stronger offerings, such as Nobuo's own Ghost of Yotsuya. I'd still say it's worth a watch for fans of the genre.

Sounds interesting, but I'm not quite as intrigued as I am by Bakeneko, still it's been added to my watch list.

Afro samaurai (edited into one continous episode/movie thingie) 6/10

Again not really a movie but of similar length, great for entertainment though a pretty simple and bog standard anime stiryline (somebody killed someone I love, ceaseless hunt for revenge ensues).
Maybe the edit quality that I watched was low but the visuals did really wow me, sound track was great, nice to hear some solid Rapper guest apperances.

 

[WraithApe]

Afro samaurai (edited into one continous episode/movie thingie) 6/10

Again not really a movie but of similar length, great for entertainment though a pretty simple and bog standard anime stiryline (somebody killed someone I love, ceaseless hunt for revenge ensues).
Maybe the edit quality that I watched was low but the visuals did really wow me, sound track was great, nice to hear some solid Rapper guest apperances.

I remember digging this a fair bit when it came out. It's probably not as good as I remember it though and I doubt I was entirely sober either.

 

[kid vic]

I remember digging this a fair bit when it came out. It's probably not as good as I remember it though and I doubt I was entirely sober either.

Haha somethings are greatly assisted with influence
I'm not saying its bad its just that I kinda expected more from it in terms of entertainment and storyline (again neither of which were bad, just marginally above average)

 

[castleofargh]

Afro samaurai (edited into one continous episode/movie thingie) 6/10

Again not really a movie but of similar length, great for entertainment though a pretty simple and bog standard anime stiryline (somebody killed someone I love, ceaseless hunt for revenge ensues).
Maybe the edit quality that I watched was low but the visuals did really wow me, sound track was great, nice to hear some solid Rapper guest apperances.

only saw the series and it was quite the funny stuff(if like me you laugh a lot while looking at blood everywhere and limbs flying around, muhahahahaaaaa). seriously I really liked it.
plus it had that nice racial quota thing where half of all Asians must be black.^_^
the sound track is a matter of taste, but I really liked how it served the anime. it most certainly wouldn't have been remotely as good without it IMO.
now about RZA and ninja stuff, the dude needs to be careful. this one was a great collab. him doing stuff for" Iron fist" is cool, those series aren't great, but also aren't horrible, they certainly entertain. but "The Man with the Iron Fist"(RZA has an iron fists fetish?)... RZA what are u doing? RZA stahhhp!!! it wasn't even fun as a bad Chinese movie.