Goose

That's what I didn't understand about Andrews wanting to take over. What could he do? (I'm not being sarcastic, I genuinely don't know the answer)

Yes thinking about it, it sort of started off like The Goonies (it even referenced it) but then became quite brutal. But the ending was almost back to Goonies level.

I saw that video yesterday - he does a good, balanced review.

Yes, don’t watch the trailer, especially the red band one.

Yes, I seem to remember something like that.

Go for it - there's a lot of love for it in the thread.

Sorcerer is stunning. I still have no idea how they would have even begun to shoot that bridge scene.

Back in the days of Conan and the like, I saw a violent swords, sandals and monsters film called The Sword & The Sorcerer. It was incredibly violent and the lead carried a sword that had three blades - two of which he could fire out. Seen it a few times since and it was pretty good. Features all manner of stuff including a creature cable of force-pulling someone's heart out, a graphic crucifixion, as well as a nasty throat cut murder.

Final Girl (2015) A girl taken in and trained from childhood to be an assassin, has to face four sociopaths in a deadly game. Abigail Breslin, a long way from Little Miss Sunshine, stars as Veronica, a teenage girl taken in by Wes Bentley after her parents are killed. Bentley works for some kind of government agency which we never see. In flashback we see various times when he has trained Veronica, and the latter scenes are him preparing her for a job. These parts make up two thirds of the movie, with the last 30 minutes being the actual job itself. It's an interesting start but there's no real basis for anything. We don't see them take on other jobs, though the implication is there that this isn't the first one they've worked together on. The film also quickly brushes away Breslin's attempt at a relationship with Bentley. As these scenes are going on, we're introduced to four rich students who meet a girl, take her into the woods and then hunt and kill her (and this isn't the first time they've done it). There's no reasoning here, the guys pretty much get their development in four short scenes, as each one is picked up on the way to the next hunt. What we end up with is a cross between Hanna, Surviving The Game and American Psycho. The scene on the way to the hunt is tense and builds up well. Things are then further escalated during a game of truth or dare. However, it's hard to work out why things are happening. If Bentley knows about the game, why doesn't he arrest the guys? If he doesn't want to do it, why doesn't he just get Veronica to shoot them? (this is actually addressed and quickly dismissed). And if this is a test, why does she need to drug them - apart from to make their fight scenes a little more trippy and odd. Breslin is good, confident and handles the action scenes well. Bentley is fine but comes across as a wannabe Agent 47. The four guys are OK, if a little too Patrick Bateman, especially Jameson, the ringleader. The film makes good use of a small location but there really isn't much to it and the lack of answers leaves you wondering if this was to be the start of a franchise or if the story wasn't fleshed out properly (or was edited down). It's not a bad movie, but there are better examples of the genre out there.

The scene with the two guys reviewing films is brilliant.

I love all three of those movies. I only saw Murder by Death this year and it's excellent. I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka is just superb, one of the funniest, most quotable movies ever.

All Cheerleaders Die (2013) A group of cheerleaders have to deal with the death of their friend, as well as a group of football jocks. There's not many films with not a single likeable character but this one some how manages it. To begin with it plays like an even nastier version of Heathers, with a group of awful cheerleaders and over the top jocks. When one of the cheerleaders dies, it gives another girl a way in, and she has her own agenda. So far, so teenage drama. But then as she starts to sabotage things (for reasons unknown at that point) her and her friends are driven off the road and die. They're somehow resurrected by a goth-girl/witch but in bringing them back, they're not quite the same. I think this is meant to play as a jet black horror comedy but instead it's nasty and vicious for the sake of it. The lead jock is incredibly annoying and unpleasant, and his team mates are little better. The one kid who does generate some sympathy comes and goes with almost no development. The make up is generally good and the kills are bloody, but with no one to root for I found myself not caring who lived, died or became something else. There's little to no explanation as to how the goth girl can resurrect the dead, and attempts at body swapping two of the characters falls flat. There's a subplot with the girl trying to sabotage things, but this is basically explained away in one scene; as well as the goth girl trying to rekindle a relationship, but again, you care so little about the characters that you're not invested. It isn't badly made or played, but I found it disappointing and just not enjoyable.

Phantasm (1979) A boy and his older brother discover mysterious goings on at a local funeral parlour. Unlike the excellent Scanners and Poltergeist, this video shop classic doesn't live up to its garish poster and frightening drill spheres. The picture does build up a good atmosphere from the start, mixing a sex scene with a murder. Then everything grinds to a snail's pace as little happens for the next 45 minutes. There's plenty of weirdness, along with an interesting and overbearing (at times) score. The leads were ok but not the greatest actors. However, The Tall Man was a fine creation, turning up unannounced on a number of occasions, even after being killed. The notorious sphere of death was quite a let down. The effect is good and the killing was suitably nasty, but it's then never used again to any great effect. It shows up in a later scene and is quickly dispatched. Around the three quarter mark the film takes a sharp left and tries to add a science fiction element to proceedings. This sort of works but there's no rhyme or reason to it, and it's not fully explored (For some reason, I was reminded of John Dies at The End). There are so many scenes of one brother telling the other to stay put, including one that featured an escape that would have made Macgyver proud. The ending goes on a bit too long and you get the impression some people couldn't be around to film their exits, so are dismissed with a line or two. The finish up is quite silly but does end on a killer final shot. I know this was low budget, essentially pieced together with whatever money could be raised. It does have a good atmosphere and a great villain, but little else going for it. Another video nasty* that was all cover art and not much else. *I don't think this was on the official Nasty list.

I’d like to submit The Medusa Touch. Not seen it in years but I remember it being good. Solid turn from Richard Burton, in a picture that riffs on The Omen.

Time Trap (2017) While searching for a missing professor, a group of students finds a bizarre set of caves. You know by now that I'm a sucker for films that mess with time. I didn't have high hopes for this, the poster alone made me think it was like a Disney/Nick Jnr time travel movie. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty decent - for the most part. The film starts out with a man looking for a group of hippies who vanished years earlier. He himself vanishes and a few of his students, along with a couple of younger kids, try and track him down. There's an atmosphere almost straight away, and as they descend into the caves, things start to get bizarre. There are strange noises, voices and things that shouldn't be there. People are gone for hours, but for others its been merely seconds. The film manages to build on this bizarre feeling, while upping the drama a fair bit. It also makes good use of camera phones and video footage. One particular scene, which records someone's last moments was quite powerfully done. It takes a while for them to figure out what's going on, and things continue to get more tense as different people show up - some friendly, some not so. The acting is a bit of a mixed bag at times and the low budget nature is shown up by the special effects. However, it does remain intriguing and has little issue pulling some punches. I was puzzled as to how the film would resolve and there in lies the problem. The ending is building up to something but it seems the writers had no real idea how to explain or finish things up properly, so they didn't try to. It wasn't as bad as 'it was all a dream' but it was incredibly unsatisfying, more so after the mythology building before it. Imagine waking from a coma and the people around you say 'you'll never guess what happened' and then the scene fades to black. A real shame because it had a lot going for it up to that point. In a way it reminded me a little of The Endless. While the acting and writing weren't up to that level, it was still an interesting 80 minutes.