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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Suspiria (1977) in Movies

Dec 29, 2020

Suspiria (1977)

1977 | Horror

7.9

(28 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Dario Argento's body of work throughout the 70s and 80s is pretty damn solid, and Suspiria is arguably his strongest entry. It's a damn masterpiece.

The lighting, colours, and camerawork are all phenomenal. Throw them together, and you get one of the most visually striking horrors ever made.
It has excellent pacing - the opening ten minutes are incredibly intense, and culminate in a truly iconic horror cinema kill. The vast majority of what follows is a slower build up of plot, but in true Giallo fashion, keeps a sturdy mystery going for the whole time. The climax of the film ramps everything up again, as things take a supernatural turn, providing the audience with a solid reveal, disturbing imagery, and a decent helping of blood, all the while being backed by an absurd soundtrack courtesy of Italian prog band Goblin. The music goes from being enchanting, to downright jarring at the click of a finger, and just adds to Suspria's otherworldliness in spades.
Some memorable performances from the likes of Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Alida Valli and Joan Bennett also help in elevating this movie to horror greatness.

Suspiria is one of those films that you must see before you die. Horror at its weird, sense-assaulting best!

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Rowan Atkinson recommended Being There (1979) in Movies (curated)

Being There (1979)

1979 | Comedy, Drama

8.3

(3 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"Peter Sellers movies, I would have to have in on him. I’m tempted by Being There. Again, one of his more serious things, but a beautifully attenuated performance I thought he did in that. I haven’t seen the movie for a long time. I’m always nervous about saying, “Oh, that was a brilliant movie,” if you haven’t seen them for 15 years or 20 years, because you may go back to them now and think, “Oh, ah, well actually, it’s not great.” Or at least, “It’s got those great bits that I remember, but there’s a lot of stuff in between that is very unimpressive.” But I seem to remember the only thing that really spoiled it — and it was very much the fashion at the time — was the sort of bloopers edit over the end credits. And I thought that movie in particular did not suit and did not need shots of Peter Sellers cracking up. But obviously the producers or the distributors said, “Look, it’s a Peter Sellers movie and it hasn’t got a lot of laughs in it. Can we just stick something silly in the end?” And that is what they did, and it didn’t completely ruin the film, but it came very, very close, in my opinion."

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ClareR (5691 KP) rated Dishonour and Obey in Books

Oct 26, 2020

Dishonour and Obey

Graham Brack | 2020 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Thank goodness Master Mercurius is back! He might not like the idea (he’d rather be with his books at the University of Leiden), but I most certainly do!

This time, it’s 1676 and Stadhouder William of Orange wants Mercurius to join the delegation going to England to interview his possible future wife. This future wife is the 14 year old niece of King Charles II, and William wants to make sure that she’s a good Protestant - and not a Catholic like her father. Of course, nothing seems to ever run smoothly for Mercurius, and this trip is no exception. It’s not long before Mercurius is required to use his powers of deduction when one of the Dutch party is found dead. And he has clearly been murdered.

It’s no secret that I love these books. Mercurius’ reluctant humour really appeals to me, and this observational humour is used when we look at King Charles and his court. Mercurius’ observations of the royal court and their loose morals is, at times, laugh out loud funny (well, I certainly snorted in a very unladylike fashion, anyway!). I think I actually genuinely love Mercurius, and I can’t wait to read more.

Many thanks to Sapere Books for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

Kudos

Darren Fisher (2447 KP) rated Shark's Paradise (1986) in Movies

Dec 12, 2020 (Updated Dec 12, 2020)

Shark's Paradise (1986)

1986 | Action, Mystery

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

"Get your damn hands off me or I'll give you a social disease you wouldn't believe...!"

This is a pretty crazy Australian made for TV film. Throw in every film cliché you can mention, some extremely bad 80's fashion, hilariously bad dialogue, speed boats, car chases and you get the Aussie equivalent of Miami Vice with sharks... well almost. It's great fun and there's never a dull moment. Don't expect much shark action though. Apart from a couple of brief scenes at the beginning and the end the sharks are barely in it. Not that it really matters. The idea that a mad genius(?) is holding a city to ransom with the threat of sending 100's of sharks to their coastlines to decimate the public is fun but the loop hole is massive (erm... just stay out the bloody water!). When our leading lady is hanging off the feet of a helicopter it is so glaringly obvious it's a stunt double (twice the size of the actress and more 'blokey' looking). I laughed my ass off all the way through. An added bonus is the soundtrack, featuring the likes of Split Enz, INXS and The Hoodoo Gurus and The Church among others. Trashy fun. Neat!