Bear

Subspecies: The Awakening - With his fourth entry to the Subspieces series, and the fifth overall, Ted Nicolaou incorporates his spin-off, Vampire Journals, nicely into the world of Radu Vladislas, Michelle Morgan and the few others who remained throughout most of the series. It's not the best in the series, and at times it feels a bit messy, but it's a well-directed effort with lots of atmosphere, some stunning special effects and an Anders Hove who's nothing short of amazing as Radu once more. But this film doesn't have enough Radu and it's a real shame as he's the real start of the films.

 

But it's very, very enjoyable and once more take a slightly different approach to the genre than previous entry's to the series.

 

Fans, like, eh, me, you mean? But nah, I don't think this will have a lot to say unless they decide to disband because of it. If they decide they'll find a new drummer the show will go on and no one will care about the change.

 

Or it's compareable to when Shinichi left Sigh after 22 years in the band or when Temis Osmond left Sabbat after 15 years. Don't quote me on this, but as far as I've gathered from interviews with all the bands both Shinichi and Temis Osmond had a lot more to say about their band's sound than Yasunori Takada ever has had.

 

So yeah, I don't believe this will change anything at all, unless they of course decides to disband or continue without a drummer. The latter I don't think will happen. And if they continue they'll sounds like the same Mono we all love.

We're getting close to the end of 2017 so I thought I'd post a small list of Japanese metal releases I've liked a lot this year.

 

Evil - 邪悪を讃えよ (Rites of Evil)

By far my Japanese favourite of the year. Take the debuts from bands such as Bathory, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Sabbat, Bulldozer, Venom, Sarcofago, Vulcano, Sodom and Sepultura and mix it up and you've got this. Simple, straight-forward and fantastic black metal that sounds like something from the 80's.

 

Bafomet - Poison of Darkness

Japanese/Chilean black/speed metal. It's simple and straight-forward, but it's lots of fun.

 

Coven - The Advent

Traditional heavy metal with ex-Fastkill guitarist Akihiro Ito. The cover is the least metal thing I've even seen on a heavy metal release, but music-wise it's really cool. The vocalist is a bit hit and miss, but it's catchy as fuck.

 

Kanashimi - Inoni

More depressive black/doom metal from this Japanese one man band. It's a bit more uplifting and airy than the debut, and with a more post-black metal-vibe than funeral doom. But it's beautiful and haunting, and I really, really like this album.

 

Anatomia - Cranial Obsession

This Japanese horde delivers mean and dirty death/doom metal in the vein of Autopsy and Coffins. They stick to what they know, and that's OK because they do it so good every time. Great album!

 

 

 

Witchslaught released their debut (recorded in 2013) this year too. I've only heard a few songs, but this shit is great and the demo rules too. Furious metal punk that makes me want to smash a head or two.

 

Necrophile released their debut album Awakening Those Oppressed this year. They formed all the way back in 87 and released some fantastic demos and EPs before they split up. Reformed in 2013 and released their debut now. Not heard the whole thing, but the tracks I've heard have been good. Death metal.

 

Also really looking forward to hearing the new G.A.T.E.S. album. It took no less than 18 years before these Japanese metal punks with members and ex-members from Sabbat, Magnesium, Metalucifer, Sacrifice, Church of Misery and Sonic Flower manage to release their debut, but I bet their spent their time well.Can't wait to get a hold on it.

Bloodlust: Subspecies III - This film was shot back-on-back with Bloodstone: Subspecies II with much of the same cast, crew and shit, and simply picks up where Bloodstone ended. But the end product is once again a film that is very different from its predecessor. This has more of a romantic vibe to it, and unlike the two previous films it shows a lonely Radu who showcases a lot of emotions. And we get to see him as more of a tragic monster in the classic sense. It's also a slower film than the two first and with less blood & gore. But the locations in Romania, Ted Nicolaou's beutiful direction and his glorious eye for details and Anders Hove as Radu makes this film what it is. It's very good, but the weakest of the three. We get some top notch shadow play again and it's amazing. It looks so good!

 

There's also a very out of place character named Bob who should've been left out. He adds nothing to the story and isn't funny at all. But it's just a small role, so it doesn't ruin the entire film or anything.

 

Anders Hove is once again beyond amazing as Radu and Pamela Gordon is to awesome as his Mummy. The looks of both these are top notch!

 

 

Vampire Journals - Vampire is the fourth entry to the Subspieces series, but it's a spin-off that has nothing to do with the main series. Although I believe some of the characters are a part of the last Subspieces film. Anyway, with Vampire Journals we see Ted Nicolaou move in a whole different direction. We still gets his beautiful direction and lots of lovely details, but the film is much, much slower and ends up more in the land of romantic vampire films, sharing a good deal with Interview With a Vampire. It's a good film, but by far the weakest in the series.

 

So where the Subspieces series are more on the black metal side of things, this is more on the goth rock side of things.

 

Why is that shocking? Band members comes and band members goes. Normal.

 

Don't think this will cause any problems at all. They'll probably get a new drummer and continue on as if nothing happened, and no one will notice a single difference.

 

Good luck to him. Hope it's nothing bad that makes him leave.

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I suddenly decided I had to dig even more into the catalogs of Charles Band's Empire International Pictures, Full Moon Features and it's sub companies. Lots of hidden gems made and released by these studios.

And I did not lie.

 

 

Subspecies - Haven't watched this in ages, but this was a lot better than I remembered. The first thing you'll notice is how this film is shot on location in Romania which gives it an awfully authentic vibe and it truly adds to the atmosphere. It's not very original, and while it is a low-budget film, it doesn't feel like one. One of Charles Brand's goals with Full Moon Entertainment was to make cheap films which felt expensive, and they've done it here. Superb gothic atmosphere, great special effects, and a good and intelligent storyline. The vampire, Radu, is really fucking awesome too. One of the better vampires to be caught on film if you ask me.

 

By the way, Marduk's "NIghtwing" is a cover of the main theme from this film, and the song itself is about our main antagonist Radu Vladislas. That's cool!

 

 

Bloodstone: Subspecies II - This sequel picks up where the first Subspieces film ended and ups the bar quite a bit. First thing you'll notice is how it's a bit heavier on the special effects, violence and blood & gore, but they all look fucking gorgeous. It's from 93, but it's total practical 80's effects that we all know and love. Again it's shot on location in Romania and we get that authentic feeling, and we get genuine, extravagant castles. It's really awesome.

 

Highlight of the film is whenever director Ted Nicolaou decides he wants to play around with shadows, because the shadow play is nothing short of outstanding and both the special effects and especially the shadow play let's us see that director Ted Nicolaou is quite a talented lad, and that he probably should've gone on to direct bigger films. A lot better than most other directors directing horror films in the 90's. Outstanding!

 

Anyway, this sequel is better than the first film. It's magnificent! Best Full Moon Entertainment film together with Castle Freak. Superb!

 

 

There's a lot of nods toward the original Nosferatu throughout the films. Both in Radu's appearance and a lot of scenes. It's awesome!

Shin Godzilla was amazing. Best Godzilla film in ages.

Trancers II - The original is a low-budget gem from the 80's. Original and unique in many ways. This sequel however feels cheaper, looks cheaper and generally plays cheaper. It's basically got nothing for itself, and even the one-lines are pretty awful. Not even the legendary Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton can help this film. A poor sequel to a great original. Disappointed!

Trancers: City of Lost Angels - This short was intended to be a part of Charles Band's anthology Pulse Pounders which would include this, a sequel to the original Trancers, a Dungeonmaster sequel and a brand new H.P. Lovecraft film based on The Evil Clergyman (with Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, David Gale and David Warner. This was meant to be released in the late 80's, but due to the fall of Empire Pictures it was shelved. However, 20+ years later they found a copy of the film and released The Evil Clergyman in 2012 and Trancers: City of Lost Angels saw its release in 2013. Now we're only waiting for The Dungeonmaster sequel and a full release.

 

Anyway, Trancers: City of Lost Angels is a 20 minute short which kicks off not too long after the first film ended.  It's a fun one, but lacks the real sci-fi elements of the first one and feels a bit more standard than the first film. But it ain't a bad film. Good for what it is!

Ak-Nyeo aka The Villainess - Byung-gil Jung impressed me moderately with his 2011 debut feature Confession of Murder. But it's been 6 years since he did anything and he's used his time well, because with The Villainess he doesn't only released the film of the year, but he takes action to a whole new level. The techniques he used for the action scenes have been used before, but they have never been utilized this well and effective. Byung-gil Jung delivers a film where the action scenes are superbly choreographed and extremely well-shot with cinematography by Jung-hun Park which is nothing less than perfect as far as action goes. It's ultraviolent and it's innovative.

 

The Villainess is so brutal, violent and bloody that it makes recent action flicks like John Wick I & II and Taken look like children's films.

 

But it also has a fairly complex story and well-carved out characters with plenty depth. Some won't find much enjoyment in this, but I like both the story and the characters a lot.

 

Opening scene are probably the best action sequence ever filmed. In many ways similar to certain scenes from Oldboy and Daredevil, however most likely not as impressive as I can't imagine it being a 7 minute long take, rather I imagine it being cut and stitched with some incredible CGI and film techniques. But I can't see it, and I spent the first hour after finishing this film watching this scene on repeat. Complete and utter madness!

 

There is also a motorcycle scene that is out of this world.

 

 

 

Trancers - The first few minutes of this sci-fi actioner looks and feels like a b-grade Blade Runner. Both the way the story starts and how it looks makes me wonder if I'm served a Blade Runner rip-off, but sadly things changes quickly. The futuristic begining, with a car modified by none other than Gene Winfield who worked on the visuals for Blade Runner, is the best part of the film. But as soon as our main man are sent back to 1985 everything is back to standard, no visual treat. But that doesn't really matter. Trancers offers a b-grade sci-fi actioner that's only 75 minutes long and is fast-paced throughout. It's not amazing, but I thought it was really, really entertaining.

 

 

 

I suddenly decided I had to dig even more into the catalogs of Charles Band's Empire International Pictures, Full Moon Features and it's sub companies. Lots of hidden gems made and released by these studios.

Yeah baby. I agree to most of that. Only like the two first, but they are both fantastic. Classic b-rated band.

Swamp Thing - An early Wes Craven film based on one of the best and coolest superheroes of all time, DC's (and now Vertigo as far as I know) own Swap Thing. It's a superhero sci-fi/horror film, with lots of action thrown in of course. It's not perfect, but it is incredibly fun and the campy elements just takes it to a whole other level. Full of cheese, and I love it!

 

 

Like I said, among the best and coolest superhero films ever made. It's not quite The Toxic Avenger, but it's not too far behind. Swamp Thing probably had a massive influence on the creation of The Toxic Avenger. Gods, the both of them!

 

Street Trash - For some weird reason director James M. Muro only directed one film (before he 26 years later started directing TV-series), and what a film it is. It is one of a very small amount of films known as "melt movies", and it is a beautiful one. It is as outrageous, gross and disgusting as it is hilarious. Pitch black comedy and horror in the vein of The Stuff, Body Melt, The Blob, The Incredible Melting Man, Society and probably more.

 

This film is pure fucking entertainment and the special effects are as beautiful as they come. Top notch film! Cult as fuck and so on.

7 hours ago, ghost said:

Blood Music is my favorite label right now. They must've rolled out like 20+ new pre-orders and I ordered most of them.  I've seen some of your Sigh collection and yeah, absolutely stunning.

 

Huh, I didn't know that. Care to name some worthehile releases?

 

 

https://www.discogs.com/label/78076-Crust-War

 

Crust War is a label that focused on crust punk and d-beat, and they got everything from old classics to newers gems. They release on either vinyl (mostly 7") and cassettes. They got stuff like Gloom, Zouo, Zoe, Effigy, Framtid, Abraham Cross and Corrupted.

 

 

And since in on the subject of Japanese punk, XXX Records are finally re-releasing the 5 Gauze albums on LP. These will be official releases of several of the best and most important Japanese hardcore albums of all time, namely Fuck Heads and Equalizing Distort.

 

Nuclear War Now! Productions has a lot of Japanese metal to their name. Classic albums from both Abigail and Sabbat, as well as stuff from Anatomia, Metalucifer, Barbatos and Evil. The man behind the label are one of the most dedicated fan of metal around the world and it shows very well on the quality of his releases.

 

 

As far as metal goes finding black, death, thrash, grind and classic heavy metal is fairly easy. They get re-released all the time and stuff.

Blood Music and The Crypt have both re-released a shitload of Sigh on vinyl. Gorgeous releases, especially those by The Crypt. 6/6 every time.

 

 

But metal and punk on vinyl is pretty common as far as japanese music goes.

The Punisher - This has always been a fairly poor adaption of the iconic anti-hero that is The Punisher, but I've always loved it and I still do despite all of its flaws. It's a real fun and brainless action film with one of my big heroes, Dolph Lundgren, in the lead as Frank "The Punisher" Castle. Total fucking cult!

I saw Trondheim Symfoniorkester perform Score - Orchestral Game Music, conducted by Nick Davies and sung by Sabina Zweiacker yesterday. Was my first time attending something like this and it was magnificent. Superb setlist and all over top notch.

 

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture - Suite

Sonic the Hedgehog - Medley

Final Fantasy VI - Terra's Theme

Conan Exiles - Main Theme

Battlefield 1 - Suite

Halo - Unforgotten/Main Theme

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine - Lullaby of Woe

Bloodborne - Suite

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag - Suite

Wing Commander - Suite

Secret of Mana - Fear of the Heavens

Megaman - Suite

Horizon Zero Dawn - Suite

Final Fantasy VI - Aria di Mezzo Carattere

 

Skyrim - The Dragonborn Comes

 

Everything was amazing and everything was a highlight in itself, but Final Fantasy VI - Terra's Theme, Conan Exiles, The Witcher 3, Bloodborne, Assassin's Creed 4, Scecret of Mana, Megaman and Skyrim were the biggest highlights. The epic nature of the newer , cinematic soundtracks was so nice live.

 

Didn't know they were gonna play Skyrim - The Dragonborn Comes as it did not feature on the program, but as much as I actually despise the game the soundtrack is wonderful (same with Conan Exiles, Assassin's Creed and The Witcher 3) and it was an amazing inclusion. The audience's reaction pretty much says it all at it saw the first audience noises of the evening with lots of people basically yelling YEAH/YES/WAAAAH/whatever as soon as it was announced.

 

My only "complains"/disappointment was Final Fantasy VI - Aria di Mezzo Carattere. It was beautiful, but I wish it was something from either one of the earlier FF games, FF VI or something darker and more gloomy from another game. But it was fantastic nonetheless.

 

Superb and glad I am going again tonight.

A bit off topic, but I am gonna see SCORE Orchestral Game Music on both wednesday and thursdsy, and I am really looking forward to it. I don't know exactly what they'll play, but it says music from Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy VI, Conan Exiles, Battlefield 1, Halo, The Witcher 3, Bloodborne, Assassin's Creed IV/ Black Flag, Wing Commander, Secret of Mana, MegaMan, Horizon Zero Dawn, Final Fantasy VI. The bold one should be pretty fucking massive live, but judging from the few videos I've seen they're gonna make everything sound amazing. I expect these two nights to be among the highlights of the year for me, so I got pretty big expectations.

 

 

4:23 - Dr. Willy's Castle. That sounds so fucking amazing.

 

Cat Sick Blues - This is hands down one of the weirdest and oddest films I've ever seen. This shit was seriously out there. Macabre and fucked up. I liked it, but I will have to watch it again to decide on how much I liked it. Holy fuck!

 

Split Second - Nice, cheesy, dystopian b-film action-horror starring the one and only Rutger Hauer, Kim Cattrall and Alastair Duncan. Visually it looks like a low-budget, dirty Blade Runner, but plot-wise it's got a bit more in common with Alien and Predator. A hidden, underrated gem. Cheese? SUre, but it's the smelly, tasty kind. You know, the kind I fucking love.

 

It's got one of the coolest scenes ever too where our hero, played by Rutger Hauer, who survives on coffee, chocolate and anxiety, pick up a dirty, old cup of cold coffee with an old cigarette butt in it and drinks it. That's just. Badass!

Mindhunter was superb! Totally recommended.

 

 

The Punisher - I really liked the two first seasons of Daredevil (The Punisher was the best part of the second season!), Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, but Iron First really let me down and I still haven't managed more than 20 minutes of the first episode. Dreadful as fuck! I've also seen a lot of the fights in Iron Fist and it's nothing short of embarrassing, even though this is the series that should be offering the best choreographed fights. And because of this, and some words of friends, I haven't started on The Defenders yet.

 

And because of this my hopes and expectations for The Punisher was lowered like hell. Anyway, The Punisher delivers the good. Ultraviolent and bloody with a bloodthirsty Frank "The Punisher" Castle driving it forward. My only real disappointment is the Lewis Wilson side-story. I get what they are going for, but it just doesn't do the show any justice or good. It just drags it out. Should've been left out, which would've made the season 2-3 episodes shorter. But aside from that this was real fun!

John Wick: Chapter 2 - With the neo-noir actioner John Wick, Chad Stahelski basically took modern Hollywood action up to a new level of cool, offering stylish action and cool and beautiful environments full of atmosphere. It was a film Hollywood really longed for. An action film where the actors gets to unfold on-screen and actually fight. It was a breath of fresh air, especially with the fights not being cut to death Hollywood style.

 

John Wick: Chapter 2 isn't as much as a breath of fresh air as the first one, but I won't hesitate saying that it's the better film of the two. Like the first one the film bears tons and tons of John Woo influences on its sleeve, as well as Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa. Great fight choreography and action sets. The first one was an instant, modern classic, and so is this.

 

A third one is coming and my body is ready. If Chad Stahelski can prove himself for a third time with the third film, then I will glady take 20 more of these. Even if it's just the same all over again. Immensely fun!

 

Blade Runner 2049 - I watched this in the best cinema Norway has to offer a month ago or so, and it was a real pleasure. Now the experience itself was great, with the sound being out of this world. It was so loud that our chairs were shaking, but still not so loud it hurt our ears. And that was brilliant.

 

Anyway, a slow-burning, visual masterpiece that really connects well with the original and just builds further on what made the original so good. It feels real, it feels honest and it feels like a proper continuation of the original. And it shows a lot of respect towards the original. A fantastic sequel!

 

Baby Driver - Silly but incredibly cool action-crime film with loads and loads of cool music. This isn't some deep film that'll leave you thinking about life and shit, but it's a film that'll entertain you greatly for the entire 110 minutes it lasts. Fast-paced, witty and fun. Thought it was real good!

Son and Batman - A flawed but very fun beginning on a trilogy about Batman, his son, Nightwing and more. Lots of action and violence, and it shows another side of Batman. He not only becomes a father figure, but an actual father. It's fun. Got plenty nice dialogue, voice acting and animation too. My only problem is that the son, Damian, is way too strong and powerful. But that's the only big mistake here IMO.

 

Good film!

 

 

Batman vs. Robin - The second part of the trilogy is a huge step up. This is one of the better of the animated films. It digs hella lot deeper into the characters of Batman and Robin, their problems and their relationship. It's darker than Son of Batman, is much better written and is a lot more fun. Simply a fantastic film!

 

The Court of Owls! Holy shit, so cool!

 

 

Batman: Bad Blood - Last part of the trilogy is a step down from Batman vs. Robin, but is as good as Son of Batman. Doesn't feature much Batman tbh, but you get plenty Nightwing, Robin, Batwoman and Batwing. It's got a fairly deep and complex story lots of violent action and plenty fun and snappy dialogue. A very good film!

 

But I really wish they'd explore the villains a lot more. But it doesn't the job really well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Btw, next year we'll see the release of Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, based on the Elseworlds story by the same name. Shieeeeeeeet, I am so looking forward to that. Batman set to the Victorian era. But I know they've made some changes from the comic book. Not sure what I think about that yet. Because if done right, this could so easily become the best Batman film ever made. But we'll see.

If you are a fan of DC I would recommend going through their animated films. Seen a lot of the Batman films and saw two more yesterday and tge quality of the majority are sky high. Really, really high quality stories where they put a lot of effort into almost everything. Said it not many days ago that it is a shame they, don't put 1/10th of the effort into the live action films. It really angers me.

7 hours ago, platy said:

Justice League – Also, this definitely should have been released AFTER every other character in the league had been established with their own movie, I know a little about each hero due to the JL cartoon and stuff I watched, but for people who don't have this knowledge the characters were just sort of thrown into the movie with little introduction. 

 

This shouldn't be a problem, unless the film is poorly made and written to begin with. Take a look at The Avengers as an example. Neither Black Widow or Hawkeye had an film of their own before this, even though they had small appearances in other Marvel films before this. But they both worked really well in the film and had quite big supporting roles. But it's not like the general audience had any clue about who they are before this.

 

It's the same with Captain America: Civil War and the characters Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier), Falcon, War Machine, Black Panther, Vision and Scarlet Witch. None of these have had any big roles in previous films, though some have had small supporting roles. But again, most casual viewers knew nowt of these characters. But again, they worked really well in the film.

 

And I could mention more Marvel films who's made this work. And that's only because of it's writing and portrayal of its characters on-screen.

 

 

I have not seen Justice League yet, but I would imagine it suffering from the same problem as every other film in the DC Extended Universe. And that is poor writing. Poor, poor, poor writing. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman all suffers from this, even though Wonder Woman is on a whole other level compared to the other films. But it's still not a well-written film. Not even close, especially character-wise. And I have no problem imagine this as a huge problem for Justice League as well, as it seems to be a trend in the DCEU to have poorly written characters and stories.

 

DC should be about 50 times better and cooler on screen than Marvel as it's got a cooler arsenal of superheroes and characters, yet the DC films, with the exception of Wonder Woman (6/10), are unwatchable at best while Marvel are spewing out the one big, fat entertaining film after the other in an incredible tempo. So disappointing.

 

Mayhem - Action-horror that really does live up to its name. Total fucking chaos and mayhem from start to end. It was 90 incredibly fun minutes. Start-forward, action-packed, witty dialogue with loads of SNAP to it and violent as hell. What the hell more could you ask for? Nothing.

 

On top of that it's pretty metal. Samara Weaving's character (The Babysitter) is asked to mention three favourite bands and she mentioned Motorhead, D.R.I. and old Anthraxh (not just Anthrax, but OLD fucking Anthrax) and later she takes off her sweater and beneath she's wearing a The Black Dahlia Murder t-shirt.

 

The soundtrack is immense too. A synthscore by Steven Moore of Zombi, so you know it's gonna be good. It's the type of soundtrack I'll gladly buy on vinyl.

 

Magnificent!

Batman: The Killing Joke - A weird, disjointed film. The film starts with a prologue taking a look at the relationship of Batman and Batgirl. And unlike others, I think this part is decent. Fans talk about the character of Batgirl being sexualized, but I don't really think so. Or at least not in the vein others seem to think. It shows the human side of the characters Batman and Batgirl, and it shows some of their flawed sides and faults, especially the father figure that it Batman.

 

My problem with the film lies in the fact that the first and second half of the film don't connect in any way whatsoever, and the first half doesn't stand well on its own legs. I don't know why they included that in this film and I don't understand why they didn't just make a full film out of the second half. But the second half, the Killing Joke story, is really nicely adapted, if not perfect. But it makes this film worth a look and it makes it a lot better than the reviews would suggest.

 

 

 

Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection - The first Delta Force film with Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin is a classic, and this, while like most Cannon film sequels are a huge step down, is still very entertaining. Simple, straight-forward Chuck Norris action film. No more, no less.

 

68 Kill  - 90 minutes of fast, over the top violence and gore, immature humour and witty dialogue. This isn't by no means a great films, but it's got almost everything I love mashed into one film and it worked really well. These 90 minutes flew by like it was fucking 40 minutes. Absolute hilarious.

 

I checked this out because of its poster btw.

 

 

 

Sweet-looking posters, Especially the top one. Gorgeous!