Swamp Shark

B and Cult Movies rating: 3 stars
Year of Release: 2011
Movie Certification: 15
Running Time: 85mins
Genre: Monster/Horror
Starring: Kristy Swanson, D.B. Sweeney, Robert Davi, Jeff Chase
Director: Griff Furst

The film is called SWAMP SHARK. I cannot resist films with titles like that. Considering that Loathed Film exists, covering all of the cult movies out there, I don’t think that I’m the only one. SWAMP SHARK. It’s an almost perfect title.

The story isn’t particularly original. A rare shark is being transported when it manages to escape and cause havoc, before our heroes eventually hunt it down. Of course, the point of cult movies such as this isn’t to be original, but to be entertaining within the confines of the genre. SWAMP SHARK certainly delivers on this.

We have a corrupt local sheriff – seemingly written for Tommy Lee Jones. Robert Davi delivers a good performance, though, and the character is thoroughly dislikable throughout. Our heroine is Rachel Bouchard, played by Kristy Swanson (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). The character isn’t particularly deep, and I wonder why all of her friends rely on her so much, but Swanson plays the part well. The rest of the characters are pretty much all chump for the shark.

The use of a bayou as a setting may not be the most original idea, but it is a dependable one. I also found it relatively atmospheric, with some funky zydeco music thrown in. The shark takes out some alligators, which is one of the film’s highlights, for me, and illustrates some of the fun that is being had with the genre conventions in this film. As with all shark films, there are some shots straight out of JAWS. And, to be honest, the shark is generally less realistic here.

There is one amazing FREE WILLY moment, but with a shark. A shark eating someone’s head. There is a good nod to JAWS in the finale, too, though I don’t want to spoil it for you. Suffice to say, the
scene went from disappointing to triumphant.

Lots of fun – not a straight comedy, but some good laughs to be had, and a few jumps along the way. The team know their cult movies, and enjoy playing with the genre, and this comes across. Good fun with some beer and friends. Particularly if you have a friend with a shark phobia.

By Tom Roberts
Follow me on twitter @Tom_Wookiee

Full Metal Jacket

B and Cult Movies Rating: 5 stars
Year of Release: 1987
Running Time: 116mins
Genre: War
Starring: Matthew Modine, R.Lee Ermey
Director: Stanley Kubrick

Okay, it’s hard to really say if Full Metal Jacket can fall into the cult movies genre or not but I’m going to review it anyway. The story is set in the Vietnam War and follows the main character Private Joker. Along with many others, Private Joker has been called up to fight in one of the most controversial wars that have taken place. The young soldier graduates through military training and becomes a combat correspondent for ‘Stars and Stripes’ the Militarys newspaper.

Private Joker gains his name by making inappropriate jokes with the brutal cult character Sgt Gunner, who is by no means someone you would mess around with. Joker is also the narrator of the film which gives the viewer an attachment to him throughout watching. Kubrick seems to do this in some of his other movies and it works really well. There are many other characters in Full Metal Jacket so it would be difficult to say Joker steals the film as such but Matthew Modine gives a great performance playing him. There are other great characters in the film, Raptor Man, for instance, is Jokers closest friend and also a likeable character.  Most of the quotes (that youve probably heard) in the movies dialogue come from Sgt Gunner and there is defintely comedy involved.

The story and script are very well written, these attributes along with Kubrick based cinematogrphy is what tops the film off superbly. The story itselff varies between a mixture of comical, depressing and violent chapters, concentrating on the plot and characters as opposed to the fight or kill scenes (although there are a few of them as well). It also sends out some pretty strong messages about war; identifying how some of the participients get so wrapped up in it they fail to identify between right and wrong. It’s easy to compare Full Metal Jacket to other Kubrick films not because of the genre or story but because the style he uses. You can’t fault Kubrick for orginality.

It goes without saying that Full Metal Jacket is a great war film, in fact probably one of the best. The characters are great, the soundtrack is decent and it foucses on military problems which still exist today. Out of the Kubrick films I can safely say this is my favourite, it tends to grip the viewer in an unsettling yet thrilling manner which you can’t help but love……..See it if you’ve not.

World War Z Film Set Images

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Here’s some images from the film set of ‘World War Z’, which is to star Brad Pitt and will be the newest film in the zombie movies genre, based on the cult horror novel by Max Brooks. Its funny walking … Continue reading →

Super

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B and Cult Movies rating: 5 stars Year of Release: 2010 Movie Certification: 18 Running Time: 92 mins Genre: Action/ comedy/ superhero Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon Director: James Gunn “Shut Up, Crime!” Ever felt that … Continue reading →

Withnail and I

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B and Cult Movies Rating : 4 stars Year of Release : 1987 Movie Certificate : 15 Running Time : 107 minutes Genre : Comedy/Drama Starring : Richard E Grant, Paul McGann ‘Withnail and I’ is an English cult comedy … Continue reading →

Stephen King’s IT

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B and Cult Movies rating: 3.5 stars Year of Release: 1990 M ovie Certification: 15 Running Time: 192mins Genre: Horror Starring: Tim Curry, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid Director: Tommy Lee Wallace Stephen King’s IT is film based on the best … Continue reading →

Corpse Bride

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B and Cult Movies rating: 3 stars Year of Release: 2005 M ovie Certification: PG Running Time: 54mins Genre: M usical/Animation Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Carter, Emily Watson Director: Tim Burton, Mike Johnson “A tragic tale of romance, passion and … Continue reading →

Big Man Japan

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B and Cult Movies Rating: 3 stars Year of Release: 2007 Movie Certification: 15 Running Time: 113 mins Genre: Comedy /  Sci-Fi Starring: Hitoshi Matsumoto, Riki Takeushi Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto These are the features of BIG MAN JAPAN… Ah, Japan! … Continue reading →

Friday

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B and Cult Movies rating : 4 stars Year of Release : 1995 Movie Certification : 15 Running Time : 91 mins Genre : Comedy Starring : Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long Director : F. Gary Gray Friday is … Continue reading →

Creature from the Black Lagoon

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B and Cult Movies Rating: 4 stars Year of Release: 1954 Movie Certification: PG Running Time: 75mins Genre: Horror Starring: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams Director: Jack Arnold I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call … Continue reading →

Scum

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B and Cult Movies Rating: 4 stars Year of Release: 1979 Movie Certification: 18 Running Time:  98 mins Genre: Crime / Drama Starring: Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, John Blundell Director: Alan Clarke Scum is a cult film that takes a … Continue reading →

Bubba Ho Tep

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B and Cult Movies Rating: 3 stars Year of Release: 2002 Movie Certification: 15 Running Time:  88 mins Genre: Horror / Comedy Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis Director: Don Coscarelli Well bless my soul, what’s wrong with me… I have … Continue reading →

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

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B and Cult Movies rating: 4 stars Year of Release: 1953 Movie Certification: PG Running Time: 76 mins Genre: Action/ Monster Starring: Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey Director: Eugene Lourie The lighthouse stands silhouetted against the very … Continue reading →

Chopper

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B and Cult Movies rating: 4 stars Year of release: 2000 Movie Certificate: 18 Running Time: 94 mins Language: English Genre: Crime, Biography Director: Andrew Dominik Starring: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, David Field Chopper is based on the life of … Continue reading →

The Fog

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B and Cult Movies rating : 4 stars Year of release : 1980 Movie Certificate : 15 Running Time : 89mins Language : English Genre : Drama Director : John Carpenter Starring : Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet … Continue reading →

The Good, The Bad and The Weird

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B and Cult Movies Rating : 3 stars Year of release : 2008 Certificate : 15 Running Time : 124 mins Language : Korean (with subtitles) Genre : Korean Action/spoof/ Western Starring : Kang-ho Song, Byung-hun Lee, Woo-sung Jung, Je-mun … Continue reading →

Boxcar Bertha

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B and Cult Movies rating : 3 stars Title : Boxcar Bertha Year of release : 1972 Movie Certificate : 18 Running Time : 88mins Language : English Genre : Drama Director : Martin Scorsese Starring : Barbara Hershey, David … Continue reading →

Battle Royale II

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B and Cult Movies rating : 4 stars Year of Release : 2009 Movie Certification : 18 Running Time : 133 mins Genre : Action/ Thriller Starring : Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Shungo Oshinari, Ayana Saki, Riki Takeuchi Ah, the … Continue reading →

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

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B and Cult Movies rating : 4.5 stars Year of Release : 1998 Movie Certificate : 18 Running Time : 118 minutes Genre : Adventure/Drama Starring : Johnny Depp, Benico Del Toro The story is written by legendary ‘Gonzo’ journalist … Continue reading →

Loathed Film: From Twitter to a B and Cult Movies blog!

“Hello World” was the title of the default message here on the new Loathed Film blog, not bad for a first post title but I thought Id change it to keep it original and all that mumble jumble. Yep, exciting stuff alright. So the decision was made to go ahead with the Loathed Film blog. But first of all a big thanks to all our Twitter followers who have made it happen in the first place.

Anyway, a little bit about ourselves. Loathed film will be a blog based on B and cult movies around the globe and will hold a collection of reviews, articles, interviews and anything else that is relevant to B and cult movies . We like the weird and wonderful, comedy, horror, Westerns, war films and most genres so please feel free to leave comments or anything else if you feel like saying something or being critical on any of the posts.

Short first article but I don’t want to bore you with any long introduction…..So lets get stuck into some film!

P.S.  The banner image above is from ‘Attack of the 50foot Woman’ ..Seriously pretty bad eh?