The Night Porter Review

★★★1/2☆

The Night Porter is a very notorious cult classic that came out in 1974 directed by Liliana Cavani (Ripley’s Game). It’s a film that hasn’t age well in the proceeding years and tries to be a art film when it’s just a piece of exploitation cinema.

The story is about a Night Porter called Maxamilian (Dirk Bogarde) at a Vienna hotel, he has a dark secret he was a SS officer. He had a sadomasochistic relationship with a girl Lucia at a concentration camp, it’s suggested that she was Jewish but it’s never mentioned. Their history is all told in flashback though out the film. They rekindle their relationship many years later against a backdrop of a trial Max is about to face about his war crimes. However he has been meeting with old Nazi chums who are destroying evidence to get away clean. They eventually find out about the girl and want her dead so they hid away in a hotel room.

The film much of it’s time, it’s one of those 70s “art” films that on the edge of being a sex film or a serious art film for example I am Curious series. The film fails are both however it’s a rather interesting film about a woman despite what Max did to her still feels connected to him. Which is a rather daring story to tell. However it’s overly long would have worked a lot better a 90-minute thriller than it’s slightly less than 2 hour running time. Way many long shots of them stuck in this bedroom.

The acting by the 2 leads are quite good especially Dirk Bogarde pull off the complex role of a man who hates his past but also wants parts of it back. Charlotte Rampling’s performance as the girl Lucia is despite her great acting in flashback sequences is pretty bland, she just lying around a hotel room not doing a whole lot. The supporting cast of his Nazi chums are quite effective as well.

Overall it’s a fascinating if somewhat pretentious attempt to tell a fascinating serious story. However the Dirk Bogarde really saves it from being a bad film. It’s overly long and I rarely say that about a film. I could trim at least 20 minutes out and it would work better. It’s worth checking out but it’s not very shocking as some people may suggest.

Ian Schultz

Rating: 18
UK Re-release: 30th July 2012
Directed By:Liliana Cavani
Cast:Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling. Philippe Leroy
Buy: The Night PorterOn Blu-ray [1974]

Win The Night Porter On Blu-Ray

One of the most shocking and controversial movies ever made, The Night Porter (Anchor Bay) is a courageous and uncompromising piece of filmmaking that has come to be regarded as a classic of European cinema. This scintillatingly sexy story of forbidden love and the aphrodisiacal effects of decadence and cruelty comes to Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.

Available to buy on DVD and Blu-Ray on 30th July.  

Vienna, 1957. Max (Dirk Bogarde), a former Nazi concentration camp officer, is now employed as a respectable night porter at one of the city's most luxurious hotels. Still anguished by the guilt of his actions during the war, he attempts to relieve his conscience by devoting himself to his work while awaiting the upcoming trial of himself and his fellow Nazi officers. But one fateful evening Max's disturbing past catches up with him in the form of the beautiful and alluring Lucia (Charlotte Rampling). Now the wife of a respected American classical composer, almost 15 years earlier Lucia was a teenage concentration camp inmate and Max's lover in an aberrant sado-masochistic relationship. Bound by their memories and uncontrollably drawn to each other, Max and Lucia rekindle their bizarre love affair. But their future together becomes threatened by other ghosts from the past…

To celebrate today's release of The Night Porter on Blu-Ray courtesy of Anchor Bay we have 3 copies of the film to give away, to enter  we're not going to ask you a question just follow us at Twitter  and like us at Facebook (if you haven't done it already), Send us a quick email with your name, address with your twitter name and facebook name. E-mail them to cinehouseuk@gmail.com,deadline For The Competition is August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs).

 Terms and Conditions

• This prize is non-transferable.
• No cash alternatives apply.
• UK & Irish entries only  Cinehouse and Anchor Bay Entertainment have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice
• The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of  Cinehouse,Anchor Bay Entertainment employees
• This competition is promoted on behalf of Anchor Bay Entertainment
• The Prize is to win The Night Porter on Blu-Ray
• To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, like us at facebook, follow us at twitter (include twitter/facebook in email) Deadline August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs)
• Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (cinehouseuk@gmail.com), any other entry via any other email will be void.
• automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned.
• The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes
• The competition is opened to Aged 18 and over
• Unless Stated Please Do Not Include Telephone Numbers, we don’t need them
• The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email
• By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

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'The Victim' DVD Review

★★★☆☆

Although Thai director Monthon Arayangkoon’s The Victim isn’t exactly a pitch perfect horror-thriller, it’s still a bit criminal that the film was made back in 2006 and is only now getting a release in the UK.  The Victim’s strength pulls mostly from the basic and striking nature of its premise: a young actress is haunted by the souls of the victims she portrays in police reconstructions, and after taking on the role of Meen she is slowly pulled into a mess of supernatural terror. A good mix of thriller, horror, plot twists, and a dollop of black comedy make this feature a lot more accomplished as a whole than your average bog-standard ghost story.

                Arayangkoon’s understanding of the composition of horrifying images is obvious throughout The Victim and even when the second half starts to wobble on plot twists, the visual impact is in no way lessened. Images of terror here are eerie and startling: faces summoned out of shadow, long tracking shots through deserted space, the muddling of past and present, imagined and real. All of these help to push the viewer down a rabbit hole with the fantastic Pitchanart Sakakorn who’s wrought twisted lead performance stands out as key to the success of the story.  On the other hand, some of the supporting cast can be less striking; fading into wooden monotony, but the success of the director’s control over the involving nature of fear squashes any problems here.

                Over-reliance on CGI in some make-up effects tarnishes an otherwise accomplished understanding of the subtleties required in striking fear into an audience. The director’s keen eye is most arresting when he constructs scares comprised solely of glimpses and shadows and it’s this that is most infuriating when compared with the TV-movie feel of the more blasé CG scare-tactics.

                Problems kick-in from the big twist that strives for the Shyamalan-effect but squanders itself somewhere around his later, less striking, work. From the first unveiling the film slowly threatens to pop its own bubble, the excellent mix of moods and that wonderful control of visually perfect haunting sequences is somewhat tarnished by a complicated and rushed last half hour that strives to do too much with too little and leaves the film unfulfilled.  Still, a good strong lead, consistent visual smarts, and more than enough well-devised scares help leapfrog any lulls in the plot and mark the feature out as impressive.

Scott Clark

Rating: 15
UK Release Date: 6 August 2012
Directed By: Monthon Arayangkoon
Cast: Pitchanart Sakakorn, Apasiri Nitibhon, Penpak Sirikul
Pre-Order/Buy:The Victim On DVD

R.I.P Chris Marker

One of cinema's true originals Chris Marker has just died at the age of 91. Chris as most well known for "La jetée" in 1962, which served the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's "Twelve Monkeys" in 1995. Chris Marker was also known for his documentary which pushed the boundaries of the medium "Sans Soleil" and for his writings on film. Watch La Jetee

Ian Schultz

Win Zombie 108 On DVD

Billed as Taiwan's first ever Zombie film in history ZOMBIE 108 which has generated a nice buzz within the Horror community worldwide. Courtesy of our friends at Showbox Entertainment we have 3 copies of Zombie 108 to give away on DVD.

After a catastrophic accident at a top secret research lab, a deadly virus is released into the city and all hell breaks loose.

Controlled by a local crime lord, District 108 is the one place in the city the police don't want to go on a normal day. But today is not a normal day, and the crack SWAT team ordered to help evacuate the uninfected must do just that. Met with fierce resistance by the local gangs, both sides suffer heavy casualties before realising that the guys with the guns aren't the real enemy: the zombies are!

With ammunition running low, the two sides join forces to fight for the only thing worth fighting for: a chance to escape from the city and the zombies currently running loose in it!

To win Zombie 108 please answer the following easy question:

Q.Who is regarded as the Godfather of the Zombie genre?

Title Email 'zombie 108' Deadline:August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs) . Follow us at our Facebook Page if you haven’t done it already, double entry!send your name, address, answer only to cinehouseuk@gmail.com




Terms and Conditions

• This prize is non-transferable.
• No cash alternatives apply.
• UK & Irish entries only The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and showbox Media have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice
• The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,showbox media employees
• This competition is promoted on behalf of showbox  Media
• The Prize is to win zombie 108 on DVD
• To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs)
• Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (cinehouseuk@gmail.com), any other entry via any other email will be void.
• automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned.
• The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes
• The competition is opened to Aged 18 and over
• The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email
• By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

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Win Pentathlon and Hijacked On Blu Ray

To celebrate the release of Pentathlon and Hijacked (Anchor Bay) on Blu-Ray and DVD on 30th July, we have Blu-Ray copies of each film to give away!

Two fantastic action thrillers, with some stellar talent in the form of Dolph Lundgren (Pentathlon) and Randy Couture (Hijacked).- certainly not to be missed for all action film lovers.

In Hijacked,Need an Expendables style fix right now? Former UFC Champion and “Expendables” star Randy Couture teams up with Brit hard men Vinnie Jones and Craig Fairbrass to take on a team of terrorists in this “Executive Decision” meets James Bond-style high altitude action thriller. In Penthathlon, Dolph “The Expendables” Lundgren goes to the Olympics and kicks plenty of neo-Nazi butt along the way in this sport-themed action-thriller.

To win 1 of 3 sets of these films on Blu-Ray courtesy of Anchor Bay  please answer the following  question:

Q.What city& Country will the 2016 Olympic Games Be Held?

Title Email 'Pentathlon' Deadline:August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs) . Follow us at our Facebook Page if you haven’t done it already, double entry!(if your already following us include you FB Name with email).

Terms and Conditions

• This prize is non-transferable.
• No cash alternatives apply.
• UK & Irish entries only The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and Anchor Bay  Entertainment have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice
• The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,Anchor Bay Entertainment employees
• This competition is promoted on behalf of Anchor Bay Entertainment
• The Prize is to win  pentathlon & Hijacked on blu ray, 3 winners
• To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs)
• Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (cinehouseuk@gmail.com), any other entry via any other email will be void.
• automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned.
• The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes
• The competition is opened to Aged 16 and over
• Unless Stated Please Do Not Include Telephone Numbers, we don’t need them
• The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email
• By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
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Destructive Teaser Trailer For Studio Ghibli's Live Action Short 'God Warrior'

Studio Ghibli probably the most recognisable Japanese Animation studio in the world, they need no introduction their films are adored worldwide. The studio have joined forces with the creators of Evagelion to create God Warrior Appears In Tokyo (Kyoshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru), the iconic studio's first foray into live action and a trailer has appeared online , we have to say we're impressed!

Evangelion director Hideko Anno is directing with Studio Ghibli producing the short film (running just under 10 minutes mark) has been created for an animation exhibition focussing on special effects at  the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. The design of the Warrior is inspired by Nausicaa The Valley of The Wind (Anno was a key animator)with the film created using no CGI which is unusual in this day and age especially considering the film's genre usually known for its heavy usage of CGI. They have used a technique called Tokusatsu which basically means they used miniature models in the way they used to do in the old school creature feature/sci-fi films like Godzilla.

No word if the film will be shown online,but if your fortunate to be able to visit Tokyo the film will be playing at the exhibition it was created for. Enjoy the impressive trailer and tell me wouldn't it be great if this became a feature live or animated?

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 source: Anime News Network

Win Panty&Stocking With Garterbelt On DVD

Behold the madness this 30th July in the form of Panty and Stocking With Garter Belt Complete Series Collection (Manga Entertainment).

Foul-mouthed fallen angels Panty and Stocking must rid Daten City of malevolent ghosts if they're to be allowed back into heaven. Without a doubt, one of the rudest, crudest, funniest and weirdest anime ever made- available to buy on DVD 30th July. 
 

Angels Panty and Stocking have been booted out of heaven for bad behaviour and can't return until they've destroyed the ghosts menacing Daten City. Fortunately, the less-than-angelic pair have some surprises hidden away under their dresses - blonde-haired sex maniac Panty can magically transform her knickers into a handgun while her sugar-addicted sister Stocking can change her stripy legwear into twin katana. Aided by bondage-loving, afro-bedecked priest Garterbelt and their luckless dog Chuck, Panty and Stocking battle a host of bad guys including faeces monsters, sperm ghosts, evil cheerleaders and alien robots …not to mention their demonic arch rivals, Scanty and Kneesocks. Panty And Stocking With Garter Belt is Studio Gainax's homage to Western cartoons such as The Powerpuff Girls, Ren & Stimpy and South Park - 13 potty-mouthed episodes of delicious double-entendre, gross out comedy and all-round weirdness topped off with brilliantly audacious animation.

To win a copy of this mad anime on DVD courtesy of Manga Entertainment please complete the following form:

Q.Panty & Stocking Are what?

Title Email 'panty&stocking' Deadline:August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs) . Follow us at our Facebook Page if you haven’t done it already, double entry!  
Terms and Conditions

• This prize is non-transferable.
• No cash alternatives apply.
• UK & Irish entries only The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and Manga Entertainment have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice
• The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,Manga Entertainment employees
• This competition is promoted on behalf of Manga Entertainment
• The Prize is to win Panty&Stocking With Garter
• To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline August 19th, 2012 (2359hrs)
• Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (cinehouseuk@gmail.com), any other entry via any other email will be void.
• automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned.
• The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes
• The competition is opened to Aged 18 and over
• Unless Stated Please Do Not Include Telephone Numbers, we don’t need them
• The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email
• By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
 Loquax Competitions
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Zombie 108 DVD Review

★☆☆☆☆

A cursory glance at some of the Internet’s goriest movie websites tells you that approximately half a billion zombie-themed movies were released in the past 8 months, with another half billion on the way.

That is, admittedly, a slight exaggeration, but there’s no denying that zombie movies continue to be churned out with a worrying regularity that makes their abundance on video-store shelves seem like a desperate parody of their own content. They are quite literally everywhere.

Zombie 108’s tactic to make itself heard amongst the shuffling rabble of its flesh-hungry fraternity, is to sell itself as Taiwan’s first ever zombie movie.

It’s to be hoped that it’s also the last. Zombie 108’s treatment of the shambling, groaning, venerable old monster is so wanton, so profoundly pig-headed, it surely marks the point at which we collectively shelve the genre for the time-being, and turn our attentions to mummies or radioactive insects instead.

The initial copy made available for viewing was removed from its berth on Vimeo due to apparent complications with the English subtitles. It was therefore with no small sense of irony that I settled in to watch a replacement copy, only to find that the film employs only a minimum of intelligible dialogue anyway. It’s an honest question to wonder whether this laughably incoherent collection of violent set-pieces would be in anyway degraded by a complete and utter removal of all sound from the film. A non-descript, laboratory-based disaster is unleashed upon Taipei, turning its denizens into a hungry, gooey army of the undead. This complicates matters for the upright members of the Taiwanese SWAT team engaged in a turf war with a local mob boss. The zombies shuffle in, and the two sides must work together in order to avoid being served-up as an entrée.

It’s a joyless, meaningless parade of tits, bums, chicks with guns, a little bit of parkour, and a lot of sub-standard gore.

But it’s the addition of a sleazy torture-sub-plot, making its presence felt too often for comfort, which prevents Zombie 108 from being merely noisy, juvenile nonsense. It’s in these moments that the film falls into downright lecherous misogyny and startling, incomprehensible animal cruelty. A rape scene intercut with moments of comedy stands as particularly ill-judged, coming dangerously close to Last House on the Left territory.

Zombie 108’s existence was made possible thanks to the generosity of some 900 or so individuals who heeded director Joe Chien’s plea for charity and donated money to fund the film. If you count yourself among the 900, might I suggest you politely ask for a refund? It takes guts to pull the trigger on a friend or family-member who has slowly but surely begun the painful transformation into a walking cadaver; but it must be done. Likewise, Zombie 108 is a film which desperately needs euthanising.

Chris Banks

@Chris_in_2D

UK Rating: 18
DVD Release: 30th July 2012
Directed By:Joe Chien
Cast: Morris Rong, Yvonne Yao , Sona Eyambe
Buy:Zombie 108 On DVD

Feature - Top Ten Movie Dressing Gowns

Studio Canal and the ICO are very pleased to announce that they will be bringing back to the big screen the underrated and long unseen WOMAN IN A DRESSING GOWN, a powerful and progressive drama that follows the turmoil caused when a husband of 20 years tells his wife he is leaving her for a younger woman.

In a new feature to celebrate the film's recent limited re-release we have this cool little feature celebrating the lost classic of British social cinema, the dressing gown here represents the...
Yvonne Mitchell in WOMAN IN A DRESSING GOWN (1957)

Jeff Bridges in THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
No-one has ever made the dressing gown look so comfortable outside of the home as The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Accessorize ideally with a pint of milk.

Sylvester Stallone in ROCKY (1976)
OK, so not strictly speaking a dressing gown, but since Sly immortalized the silk number in Rocky, they do a healthy trade on Ebay reinvented as a man’s dressing gown….

Catherine Deneuve in BELLE DE JOUR (1967)
In comparison with Woman in a Dressing Gown, Deneuve’s lonely housewife finds liberation in her dressing gown as she leads a double life as a classy prostitute in Bunuel’s masterpiece, with costumes designed by Yves Saint Laurent.

Marlene Dietrich in DESIRE (1936)
This outrageous fur-lined dressing gown, designed by Travis Branton would never be countenanced today for the sheer number of furry animals that must have died for it to exist… Sheer 1930s glamour.

Brad Pitt in FIGHT CLUB (1999)
How can anyone in a teapot dressing gown, wearing red shades with a fag dangling from their mouth, look this good?

Lauren Bacall in THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
This beautiful silk dressing gown was just one of a series of fabulous costumes Bacall wears in the classic film noir that reunited her onscreen with her now-husband Humphrey Bogart.

Bill Murray in LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)
Director Sophia Coppola thought it would be funny to see Bill Murray in a tiny Japanese kimono**, and the outfit subsequently graced the movie poster. **Admittedly, not really a dressing gown

 Dennis Price in KIND HEARTS & CORONETS (1949)
In the classic Ealing comedy, this sumptuous “house coat” is worn by the ultimate social-climber, Louis Mazzini, and leaves us in no doubt that he dresses like a Duke, even if he has to kill to actual become one…
Robert Downey Jr in SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)
A more recent addition to the pantheon of movie dressing gowns, an interesting creation, as sported by the world’s most popular detective

Woman In Dressing Gown will be released on DVD for The First Time On August 13th, Woman In A Dressing Gown On DVD [1957]