Last Movie You Watched 2026

THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR ( Michael Armstrong ) a Tigon production on blu from the A2B media label .

TOWER OF EVIL ( Jim O'connor ) blu on Screenbound UK label .

Prompted to watch these British " proto slashers " after reading a magazine article on Jill Haworth who starred in both .

Both full of exploitation and sleaze . I thoroughly enjoyed them !
 
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Kundo: Age of the Rampant (2014) . Your basic South Korean revenge against the evil exploitative aristocracy movie. Violent, but pretty good imo.
 
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I invited a friend over to watch a relatively benign selection, Tea With Mussolini. He was more interested in the above. Nominated for nine academy awards, including best picture, it is a sprawling period piece with outstanding acting, production design and attention to every sort of detail imaginable. Blood and violence of course but my spouse, who generally dislikes both of those was intrigued to the level, particularly by the second half, that she expressed an interest in reading the original Mary Shelley.
In two parts, the first tells the creation more or less from the viewpoint of Count Frankenstein, the second the wanderings and development of the Monster from his (its?) perspective.
I read the book when I was a teenager and do remember some divergencies from it in the movie. However del Toro reportedly wanted to make a creation that was basically true to the original text, including the philosophical question of what is human.

edit: The movie won three Academy Awards last night for Costume, Makeup and Production Design.
It was nominated for many more but the competition was tough.
 
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Took last week off and watched all of these:


Judgement at Nuremburg (1961) dir. Stanley Kramer; starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell (Turner Classic Movies)
Re-watch. A 65 year-old movie that holds up. Steady performance from Tracy as the chief judge of the Nuremburg tribunal grounds the movie and his scenes with Dietrich as the widow of an executed German general are very good. Lancaster matches Tracy’s gravitas as Dr. Ernst Janning, a German judge on trial who recognizes his culpability if not the extent of it. Good turns from Richard Widmark and Montgomery Clift and, especially, Judy Garland. Early roles for Schell and for William Shatner. Other familiar faces from American tv include Werner Klemperer, Karl Swenson, Edward Bins and, for ‘70s and ‘80s U.S. coffee drinkers, Virginia Christine (Folger’s Mrs. Olsen).


The Wrecking Crew (2026) dir. Angel Manuel Soto; starring Dave Bautista, Jason Moma, Morena Baccarin, Temuera Morrison (Prime)
Title pretty much says it all. James (Bautistia) and Jonny (Momoa) Hale are brothers whose father has been killed in a hit-and-run. James is current Navy, Jonny is a cop, and they determine their father was on to something corrupt and are determined to find out what. Know what? The plot is a thin coat hanger for action scenes, fight scenes, wild chases and explosions. Bautista and Momoa are a genial even at times charming if steroidal Bob & Bing. There is more gore than necessary, but if you can stomach that, it succeeds as a weekend, no-brains-allowed shoot-‘em-up.


Night of Terror (1933) dir. Benjamin Stoloff; starring Bela Lugosi, Wallace Ford, Sally Blane (Prime)
Scientist develops a formula for reviving the dead and tests it on himself. Meanwhile a serial killer is terrorizing the neighborhood. Events intersect. Lugosi plays a family servant, Ford is a reporter equipped with a quip for every occasion, Blane is the romance interest and has a few quips of her own. Not really good, and maybe an early indication that Lugosi’s Dracula fame was conditional.


12 Angry Men (1957) dir. Sidney Lumet; starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, and over ½ dozen faces that would populate American tv for 20-30 years (Turner Classic Movies)
Re-watch. Great, tense movie in which a jury of 12 men decide the fate of one young man accused of murdering his father. The back and forth between the jurors unveils apathy, prejudice, complacency, and heartache. Fonda provides the kind of grounding that Tracy provided in Nuremburg: E. G. Marshall, Martin Balsam, Robert Webber, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden, Ed Begley, John Fiedler, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec and Edward Binns (a connection with Nuremburg) as the jurors are all excellent; really, one of the most stacked casts of the ‘50s.


Witness for the Prosecution (1957) dir. Billy Wilder; starring Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Lanchester (Turner Classic Movies)
Laughton chews scenery as Sir Wilfrid, a barrister recovering from a heart attack but insistent on defending Leonard Vole (Power) against a charge of murder. Vole is supposed to have killed for an inheritance. Laughton’s is as assured a comic performance as you’ll ever see, capably assisted by Lanchester (receiving a best supporting actress Oscar nomination). Dietrich (another connection to Nuremburg) is Christine, Vole’s wife. Sort of. Several twists and turns ensue. Good support from John Williams, Henry Daniell and others, including an early appearance of Ruta Lee, another American tv staple for the next 20-30 years.

And now, for something completely different …

Heart Eyes (2025) dir. Josh Ruben; starring Mason Gooding, Olivia Holt (Netflix)
Rom-com with blood. Killer has terrorized different cities for three consecutive Valentine Days. Jay (Gooding) and Ally (Holt) meet-cute over coffee orders, turn out to be colleagues as Jay has just been hired by Ally’s employer to help correct an error Ally made in marketing. Impulsively, Ally kisses Jay to make an ex-boyfriend jealous, which the Heart Eyes killer witnesses and so the chase begins. Gooding and Holt work well together, making the progression from strangers to colleagues to friends to something else understandable (if implausible in the circumstances). Enjoyable support provided by Gigi Zumbado as Ally’s friend and fellow employee and Michaela Watkins as Ally’s boss. Jordana Brewster and Devon Sawa appear and seem to be having a lot of fun. Some of the movie is rom-com funny, and some is gross and how much you can stomach one may determine if you can enjoy the other.
 
THE MANSTER ( 1959 ) on UK freeview channel TPTV

A mad scientist slowly poisons a journalist . Enjoyed this slice of sci fi horror campery . Some good shots , well paced , of its time but worth watching .


CRY OF THE BANSHEE ( Gordon Hessler ) on blu from Hammer UK .

The legendary Vincent Price chews up scenery in lurid folk horror .
 
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Today I watched the 2020 film Monster Hunter which stars Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, and Ron Perlman. It was reportedly based on a video game by Capcom. The movie begins with a UN team of soldiers led by Captain Artemis (Jovovich) in a desert environment being overtaken by a dark sandstorm laced with eerie lightning. They are then transported to another world.

In this desert otherworld, there are enormous monsters. The title gives away that much. There are also what appear to be steampunk monster hunters who use ridiculously enormous weapons such as swords and axes to fight these monsters. Jovovich’s character is soon alone and has to team up with a resident of this otherworld known as Hunter (deep, isn’t it?). They then try to survive and eventually to get her back to her home.

This is not a great movie. However, it does max out on action and special effects. The monsters are really huge and it seems ridiculous that they can be overcome by the weapons used. However, if one suspends disbelief, it can be an amusing film. Diminished expectations can lead to less disappointment.
 
STRIPPED TO KILL ( Katt Shea )

On blu ray from 88 films UK .

A " stripper in peril " murder mystery .
Much more to this than meets the eye and I watched it twice to fully appreciate . A female director channels some giallo influences and is unafraid to return the heterosexual male gaze .
 
Ubergeek said:
STRIPPED TO KILL ( Katt Shea )

On blu ray from 88 films UK .

A " stripper in peril " murder mystery .
Much more to this than meets the eye and I watched it twice to fully appreciate . A female director channels some giallo influences and is unafraid to return the heterosexual male gaze .
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Saw this in the '80s and liked it. Watching it again a year or so ago confirmed my memory that it's a flawed, but still good neo-noir, one of the "erotic thrillers" that came out in the wake of Body Heat. Roger Corman produced and, frankly, I'm a bit surprised Shea didn't get to write and direct more movies; the shoe-string budget doesn't really show -- or maybe contributes to the grittiness of the movie -- and she gets solid performances from old pros, Kay Lenz, Greg Evigan and Norman Fell.

Just last weekend I watched the sequel, Stripped to Kill 2 -- imaginative title, isn't it? -- and it was better than it had a right to be. According to IMDB, Shea had five days to write and direct the movie before the set was torn down. This is not to say it's good, just that it shows a professionalism that makes it more tolerable than a lot of other low budget movies.
 
Randy M. said:
Saw this in the '80s and liked it. Watching it again a year or so ago confirmed my memory that it's a flawed, but still good neo-noir, one of the "erotic thrillers" that came out in the wake of Body Heat. Roger Corman produced and, frankly, I'm a bit surprised Shea didn't get to write and direct more movies; the shoe-string budget doesn't really show -- or maybe contributes to the grittiness of the movie -- and she gets solid performances from old pros, Kay Lenz, Greg Evigan and Norman Fell.

Just last weekend I watched the sequel, Stripped to Kill 2 -- imaginative title, isn't it? -- and it was better than it had a right to be. According to IMDB, Shea had five days to write and direct the movie before the set was torn down. This is not to say it's good, just that it shows a professionalism that makes it more tolerable than a lot of other low budget movies.
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Randy , it was definitely " giallo on a shoestring " ! Imagine what she could have done on a bigger budget .

I think I read somewhere Katt Shea was annoyed by what she saw as Corman interference on StK 2 . Apparently he insisted on certain editorial choices she didn't agree with . She now does not want associated with the film .


I'm planning on watching Carrie 2 The Rage which Shea directed and Barbarian Queen which she starred in and Corman produced .
 
iu


I just watched the Oscar-Winning horror film, Weapons, on HBO Max. Well, that was a disturbing story! Julia Garner plays a teacher that get unfairly blamed for the disappearance of 17 of her students at 2:17am one morning. These kids simply leave their homes and run off into the night. The film tells then retells the story from different perspectives and never ceases to be horrifying. It is fairly gory in some scenes, particularly the ending. I’m unsure how I feel about it, but it is a different and moving film. Not for the sensitive!
 
I really didn't like Weapons, but not sure why. Think it was the humour sitting uneasily with the horror. It started well, but lost it somewhere along the way for me. Might have been the creepy granny that wasn't...

And off to see Project Hail Mary today. (I know; late to the party.)
 
Hobbit said:
And off to see Project Hail Mary today. (I know; late to the party.)
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And just back. That was an experience. There were moments in the film of absolute silence - haven't seen that (or heard!) that in a cinema since Inception! Hats off to Ryan Gosling for holding that film together: reminded me of how Sandra Bullock did the same in Gravity.

There were people crying in the audience at the end - and this is a British audience, they don't normally do that.

Emotionally manipulative, yes: but still very much worth a watch, and on a big screen too.
 
Hobbit said:
I really didn't like Weapons, but not sure why. Think it was the humour sitting uneasily with the horror. It started well, but lost it somewhere along the way for me. Might have been the creepy granny that wasn't...

And off to see Project Hail Mary today. (I know; late to the party.)
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Apparently they are making a prequel that tells what creepy granny was doing before she came to town! Do not want!
 
Prairie_Dog said:
iu


I just watched the Oscar-Winning horror film, Weapons, on HBO Max. Well, that was a disturbing story! Julia Garner plays a teacher that get unfairly blamed for the disappearance of 17 of her students at 2:17am one morning. These kids simply leave their homes and run off into the night. The film tells then retells the story from different perspectives and never ceases to be horrifying. It is fairly gory in some scenes, particularly the ending. I’m unsure how I feel about it, but it is a different and moving film. Not for the sensitive!
Click to expand...

I liked Weapons. I thought it was really good.
 
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB ( Seth Holt ) on UK blu ray .

One of my favourite Hammer Horrors . Essentially a murder mystery with gothic and supernatural overtones . An Egyptian expedition leads to fatal consequences back in England .

The making of the film is almost a thriller in itself . Seth Holt tragically died on set with one week to go and Michael Carreras ( Hammer head honcho ) stepped in . Screenwriter Christopher Wicking was banned from the set as his interference was hindering production .
 
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