West End, Edinburgh.
Author Archives: Ben Gould
The Signalman (1976) is a classic for a reason.
It’s totally gripping and eerie and surely too adult and atmospheric for TV. One would think for that era, anyway. Denholm Elliott is best known for his role as Dr. Marcus Brody in the Indiana Jones movies, but he was more than capable of going proper convincingly nuts in a Gothic horror.
This is Charles Dickens done right.
Here we are:
The Haunting (1999) gave me nightmares. Not because it’s scary but because it’s shit.
It is not scary in any way; I’ve found the state of one of my jobbies to me more terrifying. What often puzzles me upon the viewing of atrocious movies is, did they realise they were making utter rubbish or were they under the impression that a masterpiece was in the works? The lunacy of the script aside, the ‘acting’ here is hysterically bad, with Owen Wilson giving perhaps the worst ‘performance’ of 1999. One does, however, feel some sympathy for the lad given that his dialogue is from the bargain bin.
So badly shot and edited, but hilarious in unintended ways, I would recommended this to film students. We could maybe have a module: ‘This is how not to make a movie.’
Just … wow.
Cruel Intentions (1999) is the peak of every single actor in it.
It’s a surreal accident. I’d declare it a masterpiece if it didn’t feature Tara Reid.
P.S. Smashing tits.
Wanderings and ... wonderings. 