Hausu is definitely one of the maddest films ever made. Love all the not so subtle references to spaghetti westerns and stuff.
I (think I) like 60s/70s Japanese films. Can one of you give me a list of 10 to watch? (I mean, the ten best, or strangest, or just best looking, or whatever.)
Anyway, I was about to go on about Knife in the Water being my favorite Polanski -- mainly because I've gone right off all the others, apart from possibly Chinatown, although I haven't watched that all the way through in a long time. I've had a dispassionate interest and admiration for his films for years that, actually, when I think about it properly, falls to pieces guite quickly.
Repulsion -- neurotic, quite silly.
Cul-de-sac -- very tedious, just twaddle.
Fearless Vampire Killers -- unwatchable, not even as funny as Lust for a Vampire.
Rosemary's Baby -- pretty gauche and hollow, as becomes clear at the ludicrous conclusion.
Macbeth -- this is still decent, to be fair.
What? -- I retain a soft spot for this, despite itself, but, I mean, it's not good.
Chinatown -- is great, yes.
The Tenant -- about as over-rated as they come, as tedious as Cul-de-sac and pointlessly neurotic as Repulsion
Tess -- almost as boring as Hardy's prose.
Frantic -- super right up until the end which then destroys the whole movie and you never want to watch it again.
And then everything after this, apart from The Pianist, is chewing-your-hands-off stuff. Knife in the Water is the one -- focused, tense, obsessive, stylish. He never bettered it.
Branded to Kill has really got something I think - although obviously it makes no sense whatsoever - but I really couldn't handle Tokyo Drifter; after a promising start the singing is just so fucking annoying. His comeback film Princess Raccoon also did my head in."Branded to Kill - Rice-cooker fetish killer in black and white masterpiece.
Tokyo Drifter - We will need/want a powder blue suit after this one..."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0225009/Pinocchio 964, lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is thrown out onto the street by his owners because of his inability to maintain an erection. He is befriended by a criminally insane, memory-wiped, homeless girl. Meanwhile, the corporate entity who manufactured and sold him plots to kill him because of his malfunction.
Har Har.
Of course I loved the Lady Snowblood and Scorpion films, Hanzo the Razor, and The School of the Holy Beast...but that's about all I've really seen (relatively sober, anyway) despite the best efforts of Badger Gav, so thank you for the leads.
Oh yeah - and what's the other one by the Onibaba guy? It's really similar although slightly inferior but still worth seeing. He did another more realist one as well but I haven't seen it.
anyone watch History of Horror with Mark Gatiss (BBC4)? far from complete, but decent TV i thought. i'm hoping Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be a good as the clip featured. obviously i have a great deal of catching up to do. so what are the greatest horror films? is there anything better than Coffin Joe or Carnival of Souls?