主播大秀

The great Richard Farnsworth also has a cameo and as usual creates a "movie moment".......Carl Perkins is pretty good too...mean as his blue suede shoes.
What about "They might be Giants" as another gem ready to be rediscovered....usually your forte MK

I think I've seen this movie...many moons ago but I may be mixing it up in my mind with After Hours. I'm getting to that age where I need to start writing down what I've seen!
Jeff Goldblum is always great isn't he?!
Seeing Bowie with a tache sure highlights how much Duncan Jones looks like his Dad.
On the subject of John Landis, I agree, one does immediately think of the fantastic American Werewolf in London. I also enjoy his commentaries on the fabulous Trailers From Hell Website. Here's a link to his enthusiastic and good humoured commentary on The Curse of the Werewolf.

I love An American Werewolf in London, and despite not being born until 3 years after it was released it is one of my favourite films, one of the best, most perfect examples of a mix of horror and humour to ever grace celluloid, and I would rather watch that then Twilight (sigh) or Paranormal Activity 2 any day.

I love John Landis and I really want Burke and Hare to do well because I want to see him go on to make more movies. Unfortunately the word on the grapevine is not good, although Mark Gatis would probably enjoy it based on his assessment of post 1970's horror. And sandwiched between Paranormal and Saw 3D is not such a good place to be a week before Halloween, and a lot of normal people (i.e. not me)are just not going to notice that it is out.

I will be checking out In to the Night now though, sounds great!

Meh it's perfectly fine just not that special, I think After Hours is a crazier, better directed and less self conscious film

I watched American Werewolf in London recently (well, within the last 6 months) and a few things struck me:

1. The dialogue is very stage-y, particularly the scene where the two students are being stalked by the wolf at the beginning.

2. How rapidly does David over his grief for Jack? I know it's a comedy horror film but isn't this meant to be his best friend? Aside from the fact it's a film about werewolves, there are a few other "as if" moments that jarred a bit (particularly with Agutters' unprofessional nurse! hehe).

3. How slow and quiet the film is in general - apart from the main scare at the beginning, the nightmares and the final act, the film has a very pedestrian pace. I should add that this isn't a complaint but it's interesting to contrast it to a modern equivalent (say, the "Final Destination" films for example).

By way of analogy, if you were to compare issues of 80's pop magazine "Smash Hits", with a modern equivalent (like "Heat" or "Reveal") you realise just how much editorial it used to feature and how little actual writing forms part of features now. Dumbing down anyone? (Hell-in-a-handcart etc, etc. Regards, Concerned of Glasgow)

In any case, overall, it wasn't as good as I remembered I'm afraid to say. :-/

Finally Into the Night is recognised as a classic! After the flab and excess of The Blues Brothers it was a joy to behold. I love An American Werewolf in London, but Into the Night, along with Trading Places, is the high water mark of Landis' career.

Thanks for the heads-up Dr K! I shall be checking it out as soon as possible. The thought of watching Goldblum playing an insomniac is too good to pass up.

I grew up watching John Landis films and almost all of his 80's output has a place in my heart (Into The Night is the only film of his from that decade that I've yet to see). Animal House, American Werewolf and The Blues Brothers seem to be the most revered these days but I personally think that Trading Places is his masterpiece. If it wasn't for the farcical scene on the train near the end I'd put it on my personal list of 'Perfect Movies' (which, if anyone's interested, is quite an exclusive club- only 44 films and counting).

I genuinely believe that he should be regarded as one of the greatest comedy directors of all time and it's a shame that his poor later work seems to overshadow his phenomenal earlier output.

But, thinking away from movies, his place in pop culture history has been cemented by Michael Jackson' 'Thriller' video, which is, inarguably, a classic.

Stuart Hanson wrote:
"After the flab and excess of The Blues Brothers"

Get out you blasphemer, and never darken this place every again with your opprobrious talk.

@Demolition99
Gatiss is right, you can keep your Saw 1,2,3,4,5.... and your Paranormal Activites, I would much rather see a Landis or Dante comeback movie over those, any day.

@Joel_Cooney
Stagey! No way man the scenes on the moor when they're being stalked are classic! People get jokey when they are scared out of their wits. The build to the werewolf attack is one of the best scenes in horror cinema history.

@StuartHanson Good call mentioning Trading places, favourite scene...Eddie Murphy breaking the fourth wall after being patronised by the Duke brothers! Genius :D

Wouldn't it be just ducky if instead of Mark saying "track down this rarely seen film blah blah" (which basically means bit torrent or nothing) he curated a late night 主播大秀 series of forgotten films in the style of the cult 80s Alex Cox Moviedrome series. If there's already a series like this on terrestrial tv would somebody let me know.

@Orthodoxcaveman Not that I'm one to shill for Amazon, but you can find a copy of Into The Night on there for the princely sum of 拢3.93...though I agree, a Moviedrome season on 主播大秀2 is way, way, way overdue. I still remember as a 14 year old sneaking downstairs to catch the Peckinpah double bill of Major Dundee and Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia in 1994. Seminal stuff!

For those of you that wish to see this but can't find a copy or just want to watch it follow the link:



Enjoy

Just looked unfortunately its only the first 40 minutes of the movie.Sorry,for that guys,but take a peek if you wish.

Burke & Hare was very entertaining. Dark humour, good performances and Simon Pegg showing he's got a career beyond comedy. Love a bit of Jeff Goldblum, I shall seek out Into The Night asap.

I think the thing about American Werewolf in London is that it is deliberately tongue-in-cheeks, the hokey dialogue, the performances, the use of songs that mention the moon. It's full of puns and in jokes and great big huge clangers of symbols - as Landis has said himself, what's the first thing we see? The two students getting out of the back of a truck full of sheep. They then go into a pub called "The Slaughtered Lamb". Hello?! They're toast. Even when it's being horrific it's being comic, the famous transformation scene for example. It's a lot smarter than maybe it seems. Thus, it is a true classic.

Just downloaded the podcast... No Simon. No Mark....

Rage... taking over.... No NO no... Rage REALLY taking over....

Really fancy seeing this now, mainly due to the presence of Jeff and Bowie.... on that note, you can't say that about Bowie... even if his acting has been average (though I'd disagree) he's David Bowie, I find the word crap doesn't compute lol

Mark.....I'm shocked......How can you mention John Landis without mentioning National Lampoons animal house.....Surely John Landis's breakthrough movie. Anyways, as for "Into the Night"...I saw this back in the eighties in a similar cinema in St Helens. Part of the ABC chain I seen to remember, or was it Cannon then?....again, having seen John Landis's other work, and being a fan, I went along to see it. It also contains a brilliant version of "midnight Hour" by BB King on the soundtrack.

John Landis as the mad terrorist, genius!

And funnily enough I was just talking abou this film a couple of weeks ago with a friend of mine.

As something of a nocturnal creature myself, I love these 'Long Night of the Soul' movies. I think the last great one was with Michael Mann, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx all on their dazzlingly grim A-game in Collateral. Mann really has a knack for making LA look like a paradoxically beautiful purgatory.

I saw Burke and Hare a few days ago. Really enjoyed it. Andy Serkis and Simon Pegg were brilliant and I didn't want the film to finish. The only tiny flaw the film had for me was that it seemed a bit short running at only 80 mins or so long. Apart from that, really good film. One of the best films of the year! I haven't seen any of those films you mentioned Mark, I'll have to give them a look :}.

mark, whats your thoughts on 'innocent blood'? another underated john landis movie

I discovered "Into the Night" as part of my thoroughly legitimate Michelle Pfeiffer-fetish. That I was treated to a snide and entertaining thriller in addition to a fine performance by one of Hollywood's last stars of integrity was a fabulous bonus.

I recently rewatched Into The Night for the first time since the 主播大秀 showed it in the early 90's.

The first hour and a bit is really great, fast-paced, witty and intriguing and I had fun spotting all those cameos that didn't quite mean as much the last time (Cronenberg, Bartel etc.) Even Landis himself, almost stealing the show as a hapless Middle Eastern villain.

But, I must say that the last act ran out of steam as the plot became increasingly muddled, and I can't help but feel that the SPOLIER ALERT 'happy' ending was added on at the last minute.

I've always been a fan of that type of running round late at night movie - Not just After Hours, but even Adventures In Babysitting (midn you, it's been a LONG time since I watched that), and ESPECIALLY the criminally unknown 1988 film Miracle Mile.

Burke And Hare looks to be John Landis' most appealing film since 1992's Innocent Blood (aka A French Vampire In New York).

Don't you think all film made in new zealand should be boycotted because of the unions and the government allowing themselves to be bribed allow it's actors to be expolited
.

@Miracle Mile

I saw Miracle Mile for the first time recently and you're absolutely right. I thought it was a phenomenal film.

I should probably give Into the Night another chance. I remember on its initial release I felt that it somehow didn't really hang together. That said, I think I saw it twice, which perhaps is an indication of either my devotion to John Landis or Michelle Pfeiffer, or I wanted to confirm my disappointment. I seem to think it's on my list of movies that just fell short of classic, but maybe needed just one more rewrite (that said, it probably stands up better than our current slew of underwritten comedies).

After Hours and Something Wild are better movies (IMAO), but their common territory says more about the times they were made in than inviting useful comparison.

Another somewhat under-rated long night of the soul comedies of the same period, brat pack version -- Adventures in Babysitting (shoot me now, I've just praised a Chris Columbus movie, I haven't seen it for 20 years, maybe I was just crushin' on Elizabeth Shue)

I agree with The Blues Brothers heretic above. Cult status notwithstanding the film has huge amounts of unfunny padding around its few genius set pieces and classic soul music cameos. Additionally, the film's success led to a slew of SNL skit stretched to feature rubbish movies, this alone would make it unforgivable, if it weren't for the fact that it has taught successive generations the lyrics to Rawhide.

It's great to have Dante and Landis back in the cinemas (and Zemeckis v1.0 if you count the BTTF re-release, before Zemeckis v2.0 disappeared down the CGI rabbit hole). If we could have Savage Steve Holland back now....

Oh, you youngsters...

I think one thing some posters fail to appreciate is that back-in-the-day the special effects of Carpenter's "The Thing" and Landis' "Werewolf" were eye-poppingingly awesome because we'd never seen their like before. They were the 80's equivalent of Avatar in terms of cinematographic technical innovation. It's the filmic generation gap - we oldsters saw those things for the first time whereas youngsters grew up taking them for granted.

And c'mon, I think the sequence of the business man being stalked in the underground stands up today as an iconic horror scene that's brilliantly realised (though maybe it stands out moreso for claustrophobes).

I agree with the posters who feel that "Into the Night" lost it in the third act and, in general, I feel that many Landis films sort of lose it in the third act or end in a weak or unsatisfying manner. It's almost like he runs out of energy towards the end of a film and doesn't know what to do with it - it's like he doesn't know whether to end with comedy or pathos and he kind of makes a cackhanded attempt to do both. He's extremely good at scenes, he's not so good at arcs.

On another subject entirely - I've downloaded Mark's book "It's only a movie" onto my newly acquired kindle. Woohoo. This means I'll be able to press the paperback I bought (which I had to get from amazon.uk) onto my friends at gunpoint and I'll still be able to carry Kermodian wisdom around in my handbag in case I feel the need for a quick laugh while I'm on the train (the paperback is actually pretty unwieldy I've got to say). BTW, I got at least 10 solid laugh out louds as well as numerous chuckles from reading Mark's book so it was well worth the price of admission as far as I am concerned. I might have heard some of the stories before but if Mark's telling them then I want to hear them again.

No, I am not being paid to say this.

@Alina
I totally agree with what you say and I think the effects in American werewolf and particularly The Thing, still hold up today. There's no larking about with CGI, everything you see is physically there. I'm still blown away by the "chest jaws" and the head that sprouts legs in the Thing - Amazing!

@Alina re:28

Hmmm as much as I like the good Dr. and as much as it pains me to say, [whisper] I thought the book was a bit of turkey:
.

This is really a great film, on so many different levels, fast and enjoyable.

We of course have Landis to thank for inspiring Neil Marshall to make DOG SOLDIERS, using the same transformation techniques and lo-fi make-up effects, along with the subtle blending of horror and comedy. Although BURKE & HARE got a mediocre reception on Friday's show, I'm anxious to see it.

I watched Into the Night earlier and enjoyed it, really good performance from Goldblum. Bowie indeed was not terrible and the random David Cronenberg cameo made me happy. I still think After Hours is a much better film, but I admittedly have a huge softie spot for that film (sometimes I even like to think that somewhere in the dark corner of an empty bar, there's still a jukebox that plays Peggy Lee).

Burke and Hare... I've been pulling for it to be good, partly because I like everybody involved in it and partly because I am a huge nerd that has spent a lot of time reading about the case. The moral ambiguity around the body-snatching practice is fascinating, yet there aren't really any good films about it. The only decent ones I have seen are B-movies like the Legosi/Karloff film Body Snatcher and that Hammer one starring Peter Cushing (I'm spacing on the name if anybody can help), but they're both really sensationalist and wanting for detail. The Doctor and The Devils had potential, but then somebody had the brilliant idea of casting Julian Sands and Twiggy in it and together the two of them made the entire thing pretty unbearable.

So even a comedy is welcome and having Landis and Serkis involved doesn't hurt. At this point it looks like it will be a harmless movie at best but, unless it ends up being a complete trainwreck, odds are I will enjoy it.

I think Landis still has enough talent in him to pull himself out of the pit his career has fallen into. I really enjoyed his Masters of Horror contributions - the show was hit-or-miss overall, but his offerings were easily two of the most entertaining of the series and worth watching for anybody who is a fan. Especially Deer Woman.

Oh, and it's past one in the morning, so Happy Halloween to everybody.

@Amber Happy Halloween to you too :D

3 words....

Michelle
Pfeiffer
nude

... I'll get me coat.

Any film with a David Cronenberg cameo gets a thumbs up from me!

I rented Into the Nighr about three months ago, having heard Dr. K mention it off-hand in one of his reviews (wasn't Date Night, can't quite remember what it was). Would like to echo some of the comments on here - the first hour is very good, thoroughly entertaining and David Bowie as ever being very watchable. But the number of cameos began to bother me and in the last twenty minutes the film had run out of steam.

Just come from a screening of Burke and Hare, after which I was mobbed by a bunch of Newcastle supporters (not a pretty experience). I really liked it - good central performances, beautifully shot, a number of unintrusive cameos (including a brilliant turn by Paul Whitehouse), and above all very funny. The early scenes with a podgy Tim Curry carrying out a vivisection very nearly had me on the floor XD Not up there with Landis' best (Werewolf and Trading Places) but ninety minutes and seven pounds very well spent :)

I hate to disagree with you on this but I saw this movie in the theatre when it came out. The girl I saw it with and I agreed that it was boring while trying to be a comedy/mystery/action film. It fails on all 3 levels and has a completely illogical ending. Additionally, it somehow manages the unbelievable task of making Michelle Pfeiffer look less than stunning. The reviews at the time for this were rightfully very negative. The only thing somewhat interesting about the film is watching the cameos.

I just watched the new 鈥渕aking of鈥� extras for the Blu-Ray version of the Exorcist. It has a new interesting explanation of why the 鈥淪piderwalk鈥� scene was cut and how it was accomplished. FYI

I think that "After Hours" wins the battle of the films about urbanites out their depth; it has a darkness and desperation to it that are, ultimately, truly nightmarish and way beyond Landis and Demme's more popcorny takes on the same theme. But this discovering lost gems game is a lot of fun. My nominations for excellent films that seem to have been forgotten? Internal Affairs would be up there and Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog never received its deserved due. Then there would be the French film La Balance. Perhaps, though, the ultimate classic-that-never-was would, for me, be Mountains of the Moon. Never heard of it? My point entirely...

went to see 'burke and hare' and the following day watched 'the flesh and the fiends' - the Peter Cushing version and i'm afriad to say the latter was way better.. ghoulish with pitch black homour and exactly what Mr. Landis' version should have been. now, must check out the 1972 version.. anyone seen it?

will check it out

though i absolutely love american wereworlf in london, the greatest horror comedy of all time, it isn't landis' best film

his best film is trading places, a true classic

im not gonna bother with burke and hare, too many bad reviews, which is a pity, cause i was desperately hoping it would be a return to form

his last good film was coming to america, which was 22 years.

it really is so disappointing that it has been such a long time since he made a good film. what's happened to the guy who's made so many great films like american werewolf, animal house, the blues brothers, trading places and the best music video of all time, thriller

oliver stone, fine i can maybe understand, maybe it's something to do with turning to scientology, but landis?

Saw B&H (hmmm... how apposite) yesterday evening in an all but empty cinema. I know it's been less than acclaimed in critical circles and that may be fair comment. It's not a classic by any means but it's an enjoyable and well-paced comedy with nods aplenty to its ancestors in the Ealing Comedy lineage. Yes it's predictable in places but it never actually misfires although "I did it for love" suggests the carburretor might need a service. Far better that an audience lines the pockets of Messrs. Landis, Pegg, Serkis et al by patronising this than lame parodies such as Vampires Suck etc.

I absolutely love this film since the first time i saw it on 主播大秀 2 when i was a kid.

Packed full of movie in Jokes and two good leads Landis is really in his element here i love playing spotthe director with Roger Vadim and Paul Mazursky being the obvious ones and Jonathan Demme Lawrence Kasdan and Don Sigel being the more harder to spot.#
Jack Arnold has a a lovely scene with a dog and Landis nicks the film with his very funny terrorist

Ooh... ooh.. Into The Night - what a great movie! I must've watched it endlessly as a student in the eighties - and never seen it since! I'm so pleased Dr K thinks it has aged well. I had the chance to pick up a DVD of it a while back and didn't as I thought it would look all shoulder pads and red leather and ruin my memory of it. I remember having a crush on Michelle Pfeiffer and being really impressed by the size of the telly in that scene were Jeff Goldblum walks into the amazing batchelor pad - neither of which sit so well when you're in your mid-forties..!

Here was me thinking I was the only person
who loved Into The Night. Its such a cool movie
that I think i'll hire it again from my DVD co
tonight.

I didn't rate After Hours at all. Not quite in
the same league as Into The Night.

What a great movie - I discovered this unpolished gem during the summer of '86 when I rented a different movie almost EVERY DAY from the video store across the road in the summer holidays. Thus was born my fascination with film, and the inexplicable delight when watching something like 'Into The Night'.
David Bowie grinning from ear to ear and muttering 'You're really VERY good aren't you?' while edging a pistol into Jeff Goldblum's mouth; the all-so-brief glimpses of a stunningly naked Michelle Pfeiffer running past an open bedroom door; the man himself Landis hoking it up as an inept hitman - all cemented together in a delirious mix of some kind of bizarre 80's road movie, that seems to have been made by a guy who called in every favour he could muster from showbiz pals in a golden age of Hollywood.
Haven't seen anything from Landis to match this or 'Werewolf' in recent memory - personally I think he should link up with HBO and do some really edgy TV stuff - just take a look at Mad Men and see what's possible.
Totally agree with OrthodoxCaveman's suggestion about MK hosting his own 'Videodrome' stylee platform - surely this was a match made in heaven? Then we could celebrate genius in a manner more befitting of us true fans of the genre..

Hmm, after checking the release date I've realised that I too probably first saw this on 主播大秀2 when it was first screened on tv. My bad. Damn, that REALLY messes up my summer of 86. Ah well, at least I can tell you all with conviction that my Christmas doesn't start until I've watched Trading Places. And Muppet Christmas Carol. "NIN GY! NINGY OMBOKU!"

Your vids are getting mixed up on this site. The Dougall one is all about John Landis.

However, in it you say American Werewolf in London had the 'first transformation scene'. I guess you a transformation scene mean using real-time prosthetic special effects. I won't argue over release dates, but The Howling also took it to a new level at that same time.

Rick Baker was the original special effects artist for The Howling, but left it to work on An American Werewolf; handing effects work over to his prot茅g茅 Rob Bottin.
Bottin's next film was Carpenter's The Thing; say no more.

The tone of American Werewolf was comedic horror; the effects were class, as you'd expect of Baker.

The Howling was a low budget, no frills horror, but Bottin delivered a really unsettling and transfixing transformation. A better one in my opinion.

This has always been in my top 5 favourite films of all time. I remember the trouble I had tracking it down on video when it was deleted not long it was released. Without a doubt Jeff Goldblum's best performance and a brilliant title track from the blues legend BB King! Brilliant to see someone else remembering it as fondly as I always have.

I remember seeing this in the cinema back when it was first released, and even then I had a feeling it'd still be talked about decades later. It was a real departure for most of the cast, the very dark comedic elements work well alongside the more serious elements of the plot, and it twists and turns more often than the illicit offspring of an Argentine Tango and a Viennese Waltz... Excellent movie.

Ok so you want gems here goes

Prime Cut 1972/ Michael Ritchies second film is a little joy as Lee Marvin plays a Gangster called upon to chase down a debt ,Gene Hackman is a notable baddie and it has some fine set pieces .

Night moves 1975/Arthur Penns Private eye film is one of the most overlooked of the 70s period and again it has a crackerjack Gene Hackman Part

To Live and Die and LA and Sorcerer 1986 and 1978 / two William Friedkin works which deserve a bigger reputation

The Long Riders 1980/Walter Hills cast the brothers western is one of the finest film of the 80s also check out Hills The Driver 1978/ Streets of Fire 1985/ and Wild Bill 1992

Blow Out 1981/ Brian De Palmas masterpeice contains one of John Travoltas most complete performances and a good line in the nasty which helps

Junior Bonner andd The Ballard of Cable Hogue /Two films which prove Packinpah was not just about violence also his later masterpiece 1977s Cross of Iron

Dr. K,

Checked this out on your recommendation (I generally think pretty well of Landis). His best? I wouldn't say so. It's got an admirable premise, and I think Goldblum and Pfeiffer work well together. But it's a weird mix of comedy and action that never quite worked for me, despite the fact that it's an area Landis knew well by this point in his career. There's a sort of lighthearted atmosphere paired with some pretty brutal violence (the beach and penthouse scenes are the ones I'm thinking about here) that felt disturbingly inconsequential, and made the characters look selfish.

It's not a completely terrible movie, but I don't think it's a forgotten gem. I think it's more of what you'd call a "perfectly good, workaday film" with some weird flaws.

Sorry Mark, I have to disagree... Animal House, AAWiL and Trading Places will always be the ones for me too. From the second they begin they have his trademark stamps all over them. One could almost call them the work of an 'auteur', so characteristic are the hallmarks. ITN is imo where things aren't quite falling into place any more for Landis. You have to remember, this was a broken man, following his reckless and tragic Twilight Zone shoot (and the subsequent lawsuits he was facing) directing this movie. Into The Night was, ironically, and metaphorically, where Landis was heading. Very sad. We lost a truly great talent but, more importantly, children died in the pursuit of getting 'the shot' at any cost.

I loved Into The Night when I watched it on cable Tv movie station called Premiere in the eighties. I always was wonder why this film is so unknown even now.