Third entry for the Film Diary; covering films I've watched within the span of a week, accompanied with a short review and rating. I will try to churn these out as quickly as possible, evidently there's never enough hours in the day to watch, write, and then format this for the blog. These reviews won't appear under the index of reviews as I prefer to keep that reserved for more lengthier entries.

Films watched between Monday 07/11/2022 and Sunday 13/11/2022.

Monday 07/11/2022
The Birds II: Land's End (1994)

Director: Rick Rosenthal credited as Alan Smithee

Attempting to make a sequel to a Hitchcock feature is always going to be unenviable or daring, but producing a made-for-TV sequel to a Hitchcock picture is almost unthinkable. To be completely honest, The Birds II: Land's End isn't an entirely terrible affair. It is when compared to its predecessor, but truthfully no worse than any more recent b movie schlock that you might find on the Sci-Fi Channel. It has some cool scenes, great explosions and cringeworthy, yet entertaining bird-attack sequences, but is hampered by abysmal pacing and vapid characters.



Tuesday 08/11/2022
A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975)

Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

Of all the films I watched this year, this is one of my favourites. Totally wild and bonkers with an indescribable plot that's sort of like a Kaibyō (supernatural/ghost cat) take on Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat. Beautifully shot; it's as colourful as an Argento flick, and thoroughly entertaining. It's not perfect, but if you dig zany movies with plenty of sleaze and feline absurdities, particularly those that originate from East Asia, do yourself a favour and check this one out.



Friday 11/11/2022
The Shiver of the Vampires / Le Frisson des Vampires (1971)

Director: Jean Rollin

Beautiful and dreamy in the way that Rollin's work often is, but I must confess that I didn't quite enjoy this much as I wanted to, nor as much as some of his other vampire themed work. It feels as though it's missing a crucial ingredient, only I can't discern what it is. It's full of the resplendent photography and lulling qualities you can expect from Rollin; I must revisit this again at a later date, and see if my opinion changes because I really wanted to love this. Also, the Acanthus soundtrack is outstanding; unique and memorable, a work unto itself.



Saturday 12/11/2022
Hostel (2005)

Director: Eli Roth

The first of two Roth films in this weeks diary. I sat down to watch this with Emily at her request. Instrumental in spawning and canonising the term "torture porn", fathering two sequels, and inspiring many imitators, yet surprisingly Hostel isn't near as visceral as one would imagine. It still packs a wallop and Roth could have easily gone much further with the content in certain scenes. Filled to the brim with badly-aged lowbrow bro humour, reprehensible characters, and a commentary on the thrills, ills, and spills of sex tourism. I can distinctly remember when this came out, it was the same year as Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects (2005) and a younger gore-hungry me thoroughly enjoyed both.



Sunday 13/11/2022
Blue Ice (1985)

Director: Phillip Marshak

Emily and I have started something that we like to call "Sex film Sunday", it's as self-explanatory as one could imagine. Not the first X film we've watched together; that would be Bob Chinn's comical Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls (1978). Blue Ice sees a Private investigator hired to locate and procure an ancient book, unbeknownst to him a group of escaped Nazis are also out to find the artefact, as it holds the power to turn any woman into a nymphomaniac. Nicely shot and edited; it features a Lynchian "blue light " sequence that appears during the finale that appears to take place outside of the films reality. I dug it; driven in equal measure by the plot and the sex scenes, its brisk 86 minute runtime moves along at a steady pace. Featuring minor roles from 42nd Street Cinema fave Jamie Gillis and a young, but recently disgraced, Ron Jeremy. If peepin' is your thing, peep this.



Sunday 13/11/2022
Cabin Fever (2002)

Director: Eli Roth

Following up our small foray into Roth-territory, Emily and I checked out his first feature film. It's a well-paced, slickly edited and stomach churning-ly gruesome effort about a highly contagious flesh eating disease and a group of obnoxious youths. Unfortunately some of the bro-humour and dialogue choices haven't aged too well; this is also evident in Hostel (2005), but don't be deterred, if for whatever reason you've never seen Cabin Fever check it out. There's plenty of wince-inducing scenes, brought on by queasy effects and character lines like:

Karen: Bert, what the hell is that?
Bert: Huh? Oh, I'm gonna go shoot some squirrels.
Paul: Why would you wanna kill squirrels?
Bert: 'cause they're gay.
Karen: Bert, don't be a fucking retard.
Bert: I'm kidding. I don't care if they're gay or straight, I'll kill 'em either way..

I remember being so confused when a remake was announced and actually came out in 2016, watch it if you like, but it doesn't get a glowing recommendation here, and the less said the better about the sequels, perhaps save for Ti West's Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009), I have a bit of a soft spot for that one.