Last Film You Watched + Your Comments?

[MarcMorris]

I just watched (for the umpteenth time) David Greene's The Strange Affair (1968). I must admit to having a soft spot for obscure British movies from the 50s - 70s.

Michael York stars as Peter Strange, a young and inexperienced new police constable who gets star place in a set of uncompromising photographs when he gets picked up by an under age and very groovy Susan George, who plays a hippy. Things go from bad to worse, and soon he's implicated in a major corruption charge by the very dodgy Jeremy Kemp.

Never released on video or DVD anywhere, my copy came from a Brazilian TV station. It's a Paramount title so I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a DVD release of this any time soon.

[tobiaswragg]

I saw this on ITV (may even have been a network, rather than a regional showing, as it was weekday) in about 1978/9.

[thehamish]

Lars von trier's Antichrist..well grief can do funny things to people...and il never be able to watch any romcom again (not that i do that often)....due to a certain sequence near the end...im not big on spoilers so check it out..not as moving as The Idiots..but still better than most hollywood plop..am watching either doghouse or whatever works tonight..wish me luck!!

[Timmy Lea]

I must admit to having a soft spot for obscure British movies from the 50s - 70s.

You don't say. No shit, Sherlock!!

The last three films I watched were THE BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL, BILLY JACK and SON OF HITLER- in that order. The last-named, which I believe has never had an official release, simply beggars belief. If you thought Peter Cushing was 'out of character' in CORRUPTION and TENDRE DRACULA, wait till you've seen this....

[tobiaswragg]

That Cushing one sounds interesting. Apropos of Peter, the uncut prossy kill from the magisterial Corruption has been kicked off YouTube. One is still deliberating whether Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, which I watched last night, plays better with or without the grafted-on rape scene.

Finally saw Deadly Strangers again. Very good. Smart direction from 'Old reliable' Sidney Hayers. Simon Ward can't take to the wheel without a little snifter, and is quite a man for the top-shelf mags, although, as one pissed-off paramour finds out, he can't rise to the occasion, so to speak (no, not brewer's droop). Couple of dopey Hell's Angel types. Pervy lorry-driver type. Hayley Mills gets 'em out briefly. Sterling Hayden's character seems to have strayed in from another film (in order to attract Yank backing and/or audience perhaps). This was the big Saturday night film on ITV in 1980 which may surprise some.

[Fuad Ramses]

And Soon The Darkness
An intelligent and expertly crafted psychological thriller. Two Brit girls cycling in France end up in an argument and from there things take a dramatic turn in events. Very Hitchcockian in style and presentation. Excellent acting throughout and the feeling of paranoia really kept me second guessing even when I thought I had it all sussed out. The slow pace does seem to drag a little in places but does help in the build-up of the creepy atmosphere.

[Timmy Lea]

Both DEADLY STRANGERS and AND SOON THE DARKNESS feature in my list of all-time Brit "urban horror" favourites, even though technically, as they're both set in the countryside, they're "rural". But you know what I mean. They're also part of an undiscussed subgenre of which I am very fond- "British Road Movies"

I love the faded, yellow look of the film stock in the existing print of STRANGERS, and I think if it were to be remastered for DVD anytime soon, those involved would do well to keep it in. My only regret is that original choice Hywel Bennett wasn't available to play the male lead- Ward does an admirable job, and I'm a big fan of his anyway, but had 'The Benn' appeared, it would have completed a fine 'trilogy' alongside TWISTED NERVE and ENDLESS NIGHT- or "The Hywling 1 & 2", as they're known to some. As it is, he did eventually pay homage to those roles in the 1985 film MURDER ELITE- although this is one of many Brit titles I've still yet to see.

I wonder if this remake of AND SOON THE DARKNESS with Amber Heard will be any good. Wait a minute, what a stupid question...

[tobiaswragg]

Yes, Hywel would have been, if not better, a more suitable choice. I've got great affection for the two Bennett/Mills creepies because I saw both of them when I was very young. Unavoidably, the film also put me in mind of Hayers' Assault and Revenge, with their ambience of (let's be honest) something that looks and feels as if it was made-for-tv, but getting a runout at the cinema. The former is almost like a feature-length version of those warning films I saw at primary school, that keep-away-from-strangers crossed with don't-go-near-pylons vibe. God, I still recall one of them with a shudder... 'On the outside this man may look harmless, but on the inside he looks like THIS!!!, If he takes you to his house he will make you do bad things you won't like'. The images accompanying this voiceover dialogue will haunt me always.

[cloud]

Funnily enough Tobias I was recently watching Deadly Strangers an all. It's a good film that runs at a fair pace and has 2 or 3 truly memorable and creepy sequences but it was lacking that little bit of spark that was present in Night Of The Eagle, Circus Of Horrors and the best Sidney Hayers film I've seen to date Revenge. It's definitely in need of a DVD release and yes I'd definitely purchase a copy. Oh and a special mention goes out to the bearded American old timer who fancies himself as a real lady's man - as if!

And Soon The Darkness really is a delight isn't it! My only gripe is the final 5 minutes when the killer is revealed, it was almost as ineffective as See No Evil's climax.

[tobiaswragg]

Yes, that's Sterling Hayden. It just seemed tacked-on to me, as if, as I say, he'd wandered in from a different film, like, say, the martial arts professor in Pieces. Hayley Mills' character seemed to change in order to accomodate the scenes she has with him. I appreciate of course that he could be seen as comic relief, and he is subsequently integrated into the main plot. That was the line incidentally which ITV used for their quite heavy (surprisingly perhaps) ad campaign for their showing of the film (Ward to Mills: 'It's not you he wants').

[cloud]

I went to college with a lad who grew a beard exactly like that. His nickname was initially 'Herman' because he had an uncanny resemblance to Herman Munster but then we decided he had a fruity smile so we renamed him as "Fruity" and that's pretty much as it stayed through our 3 years there. Even people from other classes were calling him Fruity and then the teachers joined in. I think even he was referring to himself as Fruity after the first year! I saw him fairly recently actually, he was working in Currys and he still had the dodgy beard. He kept giving my wife pervy looks too, I mean yes she's a good looking lass but that was unnerving. Good guy though, top bloke.

My nickname was 'Forlan' after ex-Man Utd striker Diego Forlan, it was a pisstake of course because I went through a bad run of form in the pool. I went through about 3 weeks where couldn't hit a barn door - it was a nightmare!

Ah memories. I miss old Fruity, he used to do my homework at times! Well a lot of the time actually. True story that. Ah old Fruity.

Sorry how did we go from Deadly Strangers to this? I blame that geezer's beard!

[tobiaswragg]

The film itself felt as if it had drifted off-topic when he wanders in. The words 'I need the money' flashed into my head as I was watching him. A la Aldo Ray in Don't Go Near the Park or Roddy McDowall in Embryo.