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Thread: Hidden Gems

  1. #1
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Hidden Gems

    Use this place to recommend movies you’ve seen that seemed to fly under the radar and not get the recognition they deserved.

    Any era or genre!


    Just watched this one...




    And kind of loved it.

    A bit of John Woo, a bit of cheesy retro sci fi, and lots of hair metal and 80s pop culture excess.

    A surprisingly poignant and bittersweet ending, too.

    Would put it up there with the best 80s actioners.

  2. #2
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    Have to see that one. For me I always recommend The Horror Express. Lee and Cushing battling a killer alien on a train FTW.
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  3. #3
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting MadMan (view post)
    Have to see that one. For me I always recommend The Horror Express. Lee and Cushing battling a killer alien on a train FTW.
    That is a great one, yes.

    Telly Savales, as well.

    While not a Hammer, I lump it in with those. And I am a ridiculously huge fan of Hammer horror.

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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    Didn't recognize it from the poster, but the trailer seemed familiar.

    Then I remembered Siskel and Ebert featured The Hidden on a special episode about horror films they thought deserved a bigger audience.

    Check it out! https://siskelebert.org/?p=1150
    Last edited by Irish; 11-06-2019 at 03:58 PM.

  5. #5
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  6. #6
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
    I’ll have to check this one out, because yeah, with that cast I wouldn’t be expecting much!

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    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    I’ll have to check this one out, because yeah, with that cast I wouldn’t be expecting much!
    It's fun.

    http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showth...l=1#post540993
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  8. #8
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    I’ll have to check this one out, because yeah, with that cast I wouldn’t be expecting much!
    Where would a 2019 movie like this be?

    Could totally work with some gentrified woke-sters going into a neighborhood expecting special treatment.

    Barbarian - ***
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    Sniper (TriStar, 1993) - Half cheesy actioner and half psychological drama, more grounded than whatever Stallone, Willlis, and Arnold were doing at the time but occasionally sillier too (shout out to the Ringo Lam-inspired bullet cam F/X and the bad guys carring SMGs with ridiculously large scopes attached to them).

    TL;DR: If he hasn't seen it, Scar will love this movie.
    Last edited by Irish; 11-10-2019 at 06:45 AM.

  10. #10
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    100% Scar has seen this movie. Maybe even some of the sequels.

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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    Just watched this one...



    And kind of loved it.

    A bit of John Woo, a bit of cheesy retro sci fi, and lots of hair metal and 80s pop culture excess.

    A surprisingly poignant and bittersweet ending, too.

    Would put it up there with the best 80s actioners.
    This was lunatic & a lotta fun.

    [
    ]

    Siskel & Ebert noted in their review that the movie doesn't over explain itself. It just assumed you'll keep up as it goes along. I liked that a lot too. There isn't any bullshit exposition or overly complicated backstory to get in the way of the fun.

    Also, agree that the ending is Extremely Good(tm). It was another surprise in a movie filled with sorta casual surprise.

  12. #12
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    I've seen Sniper. I remember the opening scene scoping out a bunch of bad guys from the jungle.
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  13. #13
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    This was lunatic & a lotta fun.

    [
    ]

    Siskel & Ebert noted in their review that the movie doesn't over explain itself. It just assumed you'll keep up as it goes along. I liked that a lot too. There isn't any bullshit exposition or overly complicated backstory to get in the way of the fun.

    Also, agree that the ending is Extremely Good(tm). It was another surprise in a movie filled with sorta casual surprise.
    Yusssssss.

    I’m SO glad you enjoyed it.

    Read some trivia on it and apparently Michael Nouri turned down Riggs in Lethal Weapon to do this. Wonder where Mel Gibson would be at today if he hadn’t made that choice?

    Again about that ending - surprisingly bittersweet and somewhat bleak for a Hollywood actioner. I was surprised.

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    It's a good rec.

    Doubleplus rep++ if I could.

  15. #15
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
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    Never Goin' Back, a comic delight and just under 90 minutes. A pair of high school dropouts are living in a crappy home with one of the girls brothers- they just want to escape to the beach, but first they need to figure out how to afford it. Everything that can go wrong does, in a charming and crude fashion.

  16. #16
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)


    Sniper (TriStar, 1993) - Half cheesy actioner and half psychological drama, more grounded than whatever Stallone, Willlis, and Arnold were doing at the time but occasionally sillier too (shout out to the Ringo Lam-inspired bullet cam F/X and the bad guys carring SMGs with ridiculously large scopes attached to them).

    TL;DR: If he hasn't seen it, Scar will love this movie.

    I have never seen this one, but aren’t they up to like number 7 or 8 now?

    I remember when I was working at Walmart a few years back, another Sniper movie came out in the new releases section.

  17. #17
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    I know I’ve praised this one to the high heavens for many years, but I still feel it’s grossly underseen and under appreciated.

    It came out around the same time as the Tombs of the Blind Dead series, and was overshadowed by the success of those and other films of the Spanish horror renaissance of the 1970s. However, it’s a significantly tighter, slicker and overall better production than any of those films. It’s also creepy AF right to this day.

    A zombie story with an environmentalist twist, chilling music, and did I mention it’s pretty freaking creepy? The appearance of the first zombie is unnerving as heck, and a scene involving our protagonists stuck in a tomb is tense and frightening.

    It has become a regular rewatch for me when craving a zombie film, and is one of the all time best of that horror subgenre.

    If you seek it out, know that it’s also known by the titles “The Living Dead in Manchester Morgue” and “Don’t Open the Window”, and is readily available on R1 DVD/BRD under all three titles. So if you can’t find it under one, just search for another.

    It’s worth the hunt!

  18. #18
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    Thanks, meg, I've seen that one so long ago I'd forgotten it existed.

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    Ooooooh. Heard of that one but never seen it.

    Btw, it's streaming on Prime Video under the "Manchester Morgue" title!

    https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/t...chester-morgue

    ETA: Holy shit, Arthur Kennedy is in this movie! He's one of my favorite character actors. Did a few westerns in the 1950s with Jimmy Stewart ("Bend of the River," "Man from Laramie") and one with Marlene Dietrich ("Rancho Notorious"). Fucking excellent!
    Last edited by Irish; 11-11-2019 at 04:09 AM.

  20. #20
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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)


    I know I’ve praised this one to the high heavens for many years, but I still feel it’s grossly underseen and under appreciated.

    It came out around the same time as the Tombs of the Blind Dead series, and was overshadowed by the success of those and other films of the Spanish horror renaissance of the 1970s. However, it’s a significantly tighter, slicker and overall better production than any of those films. It’s also creepy AF right to this day.

    A zombie story with an environmentalist twist, chilling music, and did I mention it’s pretty freaking creepy? The appearance of the first zombie is unnerving as heck, and a scene involving our protagonists stuck in a tomb is tense and frightening.

    It has become a regular rewatch for me when craving a zombie film, and is one of the all time best of that horror subgenre.

    If you seek it out, know that it’s also known by the titles “The Living Dead in Manchester Morgue” and “Don’t Open the Window”, and is readily available on R1 DVD/BRD under all three titles. So if you can’t find it under one, just search for another.

    It’s worth the hunt!
    Another 10/10 rec.

    Agree with all your points. What I really liked was the way they dropped a compelling police procedural / murder mystery into the middle of a larger horror story. The characters are interesting, especially George, the hippie motorcyclist. I liked that everyone had something urgent and personal to say about their situations.

    The scene in the tomb was indeed a nail biter. I actually yelled at the screen, and it wasn't until that moment I realize how badly I wanted George and Edna to survive.

    All that & I never really knew where the movie was going, which was refreshing, especially since most zombie films establish themselves and immediately go on auto-pilot.

    Two favorite moments:

    - The first time the undead hobo appears and chases the girl. There's a shot of him lurching forward, reaching into the car, and the camera holds on his gray-green wet arm and something about that image was revolting and horrific.

    - Martin, the photographer, at the waterfall, with the camera on auto and the flash rhythmically firing off into the dark as the undead appear and the action heats up. That whole scene was striking and equal parts beautiful and ghoulish.

    I also really dug the counter culture subscurrent which my god they tried hard for. All that stuff about cops vs hippies, young vs old, is charming in retrospect but also, these days holy shit, oddly current.

  21. #21


    I don't know if this counts as a hidden gem exactly, but Nicolás Pareda and Gabino RodrÃ*guez's My Skin, Luminous, which I saw at TIFF in September, is playing on MUBI in Canada this month. It's only forty minutes long and it's super weird.
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  22. #22
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    Another 10/10 rec.

    Agree with all your points. What I really liked was the way they dropped a compelling police procedural / murder mystery into the middle of a larger horror story. The characters are interesting, especially George, the hippie motorcyclist. I liked that everyone had something urgent and personal to say about their situations.

    The scene in the tomb was indeed a nail biter. I actually yelled at the screen, and it wasn't until that moment I realize how badly I wanted George and Edna to survive.

    All that & I never really knew where the movie was going, which was refreshing, especially since most zombie films establish themselves and immediately go on auto-pilot.

    Two favorite moments:

    - The first time the undead hobo appears and chases the girl. There's a shot of him lurching forward, reaching into the car, and the camera holds on his gray-green wet arm and something about that image was revolting and horrific.

    - Martin, the photographer, at the waterfall, with the camera on auto and the flash rhythmically firing off into the dark as the undead appear and the action heats up. That whole scene was striking and equal parts beautiful and ghoulish.

    I also really dug the counter culture subscurrent which my god they tried hard for. All that stuff about cops vs hippies, young vs old, is charming in retrospect but also, these days holy shit, oddly current.
    W00t W00t.

    Glad you enjoy this one too!

    I agree with everything you said. There’s something extra gross and horrific about the zombies in this one. I think much of that was their movement.

    The first one (the one that attacks Edna in the car, by the creek) had such an inhuman way of moving. Super unnerving and effective.

  23. #23
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    Prolly wont get the love around here, but when I play this game, the first I think of is The Salton Sea and Spartan. Two premium Val Kilmer performances just completely buried in the sea of DVD release era. I wouldn't say either film is a masterpiece, but both are damn fine films that take chances and stand apart from other films because of their swings.

  24. #24
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Skitch (view post)
    Prolly wont get the love around here, but when I play this game, the first I think of is The Salton Sea and Spartan. Two premium Val Kilmer performances just completely buried in the sea of DVD release era. I wouldn't say either film is a masterpiece, but both are damn fine films that take chances and stand apart from other films because of their swings.
    I’ve never seen either, but have heard good things about both!

    The Salton Sea I remember particularly well because it came to DVD while I was working at a video store (my first job!).

  25. #25
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    I blind bought both at video stores that had like buy 2 get 3 free kind of deals. I was shocked...SHOCKED...at both films. Because they shouldve been talked about more and I never heard a single word on either.

    Edit: ALL...even if you end up hating both of these films, please give them a watch and review. I just feel they came to existance at a time of cinema when the rental store was collapsing and the DTV market was changing and they got misplaced in the shuffle. They at least deserve eyes on them.
    Last edited by Skitch; 11-12-2019 at 11:01 AM.

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