Films that deserve reappraising

We have all done it.

We have let someone tell us a film is either great or terrible, and we have already condemned ourselves to that view before watching a minute of the movie.

Well there are plenty of films out there that get either a really hard time or elevated when the said film is just...well.....average. 

So I want to offer up a thread to discuss films that have been judged unfairly.

My first offering for a great film that often gets dismissed as rubbish is.....

Halloween III - Season of the Witch

Now the main gripe that people have with this film is that it doesnt have anything to do with Michael Myers and the rest of the franchise. And whilst that is true that it has very little to do with the original film and its sequel, as a stand alone movie, it is excellent.

I think its fair to point out that it DOES seem out of place in the franchise. And that was down to Carpenter and Debra Hill deciding that the story of Michael Myers had finished at the hospital in part II. So the idea was to create a yearly standalone horror story set around Halloween. But then they decided to go back to the cash cow of Michael Myers, which is what really marked down Season of the Witch as an oddity in the series.

However, the actual film is very good and very creepy.

The story is of a madman wanting to kill children by sending out a TV signal on Halloween that activates a signal in their masks, causing their brains to melt (or something like that - in the one instance where it works, the signal causes the unlucky wearers head to melt and release spiders and other insects in a scene that STILL freaks me out!). Okay its a bit hokey but the way it plays out is very well done:

Creepy town where everyone is afraid of the main employer - check
Humanoid henchmen that are actually robots - check
CCTV watching everything - check
Tom Atkins - Check (he made every 80s horror film at least 67% better)
A sense of urgency before the beam was signalled - check

If this film had just been called "season of the Witch" and not had the Halloween prefix, it would be seen as one of the best horrors of the 80s. 

So who has seen it and what other films do you think deserve a re-evaluation?

Moulin Rouge, to many it is a vastly overrated musical loved only by women who think they are too good to admit to liking Mama Mia or friends of Dorothy, when in reality is is a hard hitting insightful examination of life and love and what it means to be human.

Rocky V - To many an absolute car crash of a movie that had many deriding Stallone even more than before but in actuality it's a scathing indictment on society's willingness to dispose of it's more famous denizens when they reach a certain age. Bruce Willis may have made a far more articulate point in Die Hard 4.0 but I believe Stallone deserves more credit for the fifth (and arguably greatest) installment in the Rocky franchise.

The Dark Knight - Gets a free ride due to Heath Ledger, is actually pretty average.

Screw you Rick, that film is excellent. The third installment is balls but part two is great.

Legally Blonde 1 & 2 - had to endure then when I was dating a woman with poor taste in movies (but she had massive t!ts) I hated the films with a passion but feel it's time they were re-evaluated. Would just like to stress that under no fu*king circumstances will I be the one doing the re-evaluating. I may be shallow but I'm not an idiot

Rowley wrote:Moulin Rouge, to many it is a vastly overrated musical loved only by women who think they are too good to admit to liking Mama Mia or friends of Dorothy, when in reality is is a hard hitting insightful examination of life and love and what it means to be human.

Rowley wrote:Moulin Rouge, to many it is a vastly overrated musical loved only by women who think they are too good to admit to liking Mama Mia or friends of Dorothy, when in reality is is a hard hitting insightful examination of life and love and what it means to be human.

Sorry Tino, didn't mean to copy your post.

trottb wrote:Sorry Tino, didn't mean to copy your post.

Yes you did, Trott. Yes you did.

DAVE wrote:Screw you Rick, that film is excellent. The third installment is balls but part two is great.

No it is not... loads of continuity errors, irritating Batman voice and lots of other cack stuff. It is an OK watch but that is about it.

rick_dagless wrote:

DAVE wrote:Screw you Rick, that film is excellent. The third installment is balls but part two is great.

No it is not... loads of continuity errors, irritating Batman voice and lots of other cack stuff.  It is an OK watch but that is about it.

Screw you...go re-appraise it. You're entitled to an opinion, just not that one.

You wanna talk irritating voices...what about BANE?!?!?!?!?!?!

I agree on Bane, they really screwed that character up, but, I reappraised the Dark Knight about a week ago and confirmed my suspicions.

The third one is not thought of as highly so would not need to reappraise, thought I may have been wrong about the second... But I wasn't.

The Dark Knight is good until all the Two Face stuff towards the end. I realize it was necessary to facilitate the whole "White Knight" idea, but it just felt like it was tacked onto a better film which would have been much less bloated without it.

Bane would have been far more menacing had he not spoken at all. He ended up sounding a bit like John Hurt in the Elephant Man.

Watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time in ages on Friday. On re-appraisal it wasn't really as good. I was convinced when Terry Nutkins tucked his hampton and balls between his legs he said 'Do you wanna phuck me?'. Hugely disapoointed that it seems it wasn't the case.

superflyweight wrote:Bane would have been far more menacing had he not spoken at all.  He ended up sounding a bit like John Hurt in the Elephant Man.  

Bane would have been far more menacing if he's spoken like Alan Carr!!!!!!!!!!!

seanmichaels wrote:Watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time in ages on Friday. On re-appraisal it wasn't really as good. I was convinced when Terry Nutkins tucked his hampton and balls between his legs he said 'Do you wanna phuck me?'. Hugely disapoointed that it seems it wasn't the case.

Amazing that it is that part that ruined it for you...

trottb wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:Watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time in ages on Friday. On re-appraisal it wasn't really as good. I was convinced when Terry Nutkins tucked his hampton and balls between his legs he said 'Do you wanna phuck me?'. Hugely disapoointed that it seems it wasn't the case.

Amazing that it is that part that ruined it for you...

Amazed he's watched any more of the film other than that scene

All those wasted years tugging off shouting "yes, yes, I do"

Sean doesn't consider those years to have been wasted

I'll flag a couple of old Crime films that I saw recently for the first time in many years.

First off, Double Indemnity from the mid 1940s and directed by Billy Wilder. Generally regarded as an absolute classic film noir and that was always my view as well since a viewing decades ago. However, I'm now disappointed by the ending (or, rather, for those who know the film, the final explanations as the plot unravels) which seems rushed and unconvincing. Still much to admire in the film - the masterly build up to the crime, the tremendous dialogue throughout and a performance to die for from Edward G Robinson (shameful that he wasn't even Oscar nominated). Just no longer quite the 10/10 I had always thought it was.

Secondly, Hitchcock's Frenzy from the early '70s. This was one of Hitch's last films in which he returned to his London roots (set around Covent Garden) and is often dismissed as being amongst his weaker efforts. That too was my assessment having never seen the whole film but bits and pieces on two or three occasions on late night tv. However, upon a complete watching, I found it surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable. Some lovely comic moments and fine acting from a wide ranging cast; in particular, Michael Bates, Jean Marsh and Barbara Leigh-Hunt, the latter putting in a splendid performance to rival that of Janet Leigh in Psycho.