Heh. Tough to beat that moment I guess. Here's a BTS on that particular moment.
Z | Behind The Scenes | The Stair Scare (SPOILERS)
An in-depth look at the making of one of the scariest moments of 2020.
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31 Days of Horror (2020) - The October Movie Marathon
- Thread starter ThirstyFly
- Start date
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Blue Underground has been putting out damn near their entire back catalog on 4K as of recent. Major Fulci films like Zombie, The House by the Cemetery (well, kinda major in that case) and The New York Ripper, along with William Lustig's own Maniac, and I believe that they're going to have the genuinely superb Daughters of Darkness out just before Halloween itself. Synapse also put out a 4K disc of Suspiria, which I've seen people say is about as good as the format is likely to ever look for home theaters. The majors have also been slowly putting out their back catalog of major horror titles as well, so you do have a pretty solid selection available. One thing to remember, though: 4K discs are region-free, so if you see something coming out in Europe, you can safely import it if you really want to get your hands on it.
Combining the two shots was really clever. The non-reaction to the moment really sold the suddenness of it all.Heh. Tough to beat that moment I guess. Here's a BTS on that particular moment.
Z | Behind The Scenes | The Stair Scare (SPOILERS)
An in-depth look at the making of one of the scariest moments of 2020.
Finished my list, third time attempting the full 31 but I feel pretty good about it this year.
- StageFright: Aquarius
- Phantom of the Paradise
- Possession
- The VVitch
- I Am A Hero
- The Wailing
- House
- One Cut of the Dead
- 28 Days Later
- An American Werewolf in London
- Halloween (1978)
- The Thing
- Black Christmas (1974)
- The Exorcist
- Onibaba
- The Haunting
- Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
- Phantasm
- The Wicker Man (1973)
- Cure
- Fright Night
- The Blair Witch Project
- Re-Animator
- The Evil Dead
- Carrie
- The Fly (1986)
- Tremors
- Scream
- The Blackcoat's Daughter
- Nosferatu (1922)
- The Cabin in the Woods
- The Innocents
- Alien
- Zygote
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Wow. A lot of high quality first time watches for you. I'm a little jealous tbh. Movies are rarely as good as the first time on rewatch, for me at least..
Does anyone here have Shudder? Can you tell me if The Devils (1971) is still on there? I've been wanting to watch it for a while and was hoping since I plan to subscribe to Shudder for the month that I could finally watch it, but I can't tell if it's on there or not.
It doesn't seem to be on Shudder anymore and It doesn't appear to be streaming on any service unfortunately. https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-devils
had chance to do my list today most of my films are boxed up atm due to redecorating but ive managed to scrape 31 together. I have a tradition of starting with Trick R Treat and ending with the BBC 1992 drama/film Ghostwatch theres also a few bonus films in there too
1.Trick R Treat (dvd)
2.Random Acts of Violence (shudder) Weekend
3.The Wind (shudder) Weekend
4.Scare Package (shudder) weekend
5.Wishmaster (amazon) weekend
6.They're Watching (amazon) weekend
7.Inbred (amazon) weekend
8.The Babysitter Killer Queen (netflix) weekend
9.Session 9 (netflix) weekend
10.Crimson Peak (netflix) weekend
11.When The Lights Went Out (blu)
12.Shocker (blu)
13.Colour Out Of Space (blu)
14.Shaun Of The Dead (4k blu)
15.The Shining (4k blu)
16.The Entity (blu)
17.The Beyond (blu)
18.Tenebrae (blu)
19.Jigsaw (blu)
20.The House Of The Devil (blu)
21.Blair Witch (2016) (blu)
22.The Conjuring (blu)
23.Intruder (blu)
24.Stakeland (blu)
25.Blumhouse Fantasy island (dvd)
26.Killer Party (dvd)
27.Halloween 78 (4k)
28.Doghouse (dvd)
29.The Void (dvd)
30.The Last Broadcast (dvd)
31.GhostWatch (dvd)
Bonus
WNUF Halloween special
Hocus Pocus
Psychoville Halloween Special
1.Trick R Treat (dvd)
2.Random Acts of Violence (shudder) Weekend
3.The Wind (shudder) Weekend
4.Scare Package (shudder) weekend
5.Wishmaster (amazon) weekend
6.They're Watching (amazon) weekend
7.Inbred (amazon) weekend
8.The Babysitter Killer Queen (netflix) weekend
9.Session 9 (netflix) weekend
10.Crimson Peak (netflix) weekend
11.When The Lights Went Out (blu)
12.Shocker (blu)
13.Colour Out Of Space (blu)
14.Shaun Of The Dead (4k blu)
15.The Shining (4k blu)
16.The Entity (blu)
17.The Beyond (blu)
18.Tenebrae (blu)
19.Jigsaw (blu)
20.The House Of The Devil (blu)
21.Blair Witch (2016) (blu)
22.The Conjuring (blu)
23.Intruder (blu)
24.Stakeland (blu)
25.Blumhouse Fantasy island (dvd)
26.Killer Party (dvd)
27.Halloween 78 (4k)
28.Doghouse (dvd)
29.The Void (dvd)
30.The Last Broadcast (dvd)
31.GhostWatch (dvd)
Bonus
WNUF Halloween special
Hocus Pocus
Psychoville Halloween Special
I haven't really watched any movies for the past few weeks, but I'm going to fix that in October, dang it. This should be a good motivator.
Not sure if I'll draft up a full list, but I'm sure some staples will find their way into my viewings.
Not sure if I'll draft up a full list, but I'm sure some staples will find their way into my viewings.
I planned on watching it this year, it's complete disappearance leaves me hoping that some company will pick it up for a restoration.
Host (but you probably already know that one)
Sputnik
Murder Death Koreatown
Relic
The Wretched
The Beach House
Sea Fever
Oh yeh, I remember watching the trailer for Relic. That looks pretty good. Quite excited about seeing it now!
Will definitely check these out, thanks a lot!
I concur with Host, Sputnik, Relic, The Wretched, and The Beach House. All worth a watch fo sho. Unsure about others as I haven't seen them yet
I've been waiting for this thread all year! Recommendations of the stuff I've rented throughout the year.
Southbound is a fun anthology movie
The Invitation about a guy who gets invited to his ex-wife's dinner party.
The Fear Footage 1 and 2 very low budget super fun has a PT feel to it but it's a super low budget if you don't like that you probably wont enjoy this.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe everyone knows this one it's classic but very creepy.
Norori The Curse Japanese very cool.
Scarepackage very funny horror comedy I think it's only on Shudder and I think it just released on Blu Ray and DVD.
Lake Mungo Australian very good
Random Acts of Violence about a comic writer who uses a bunch of unsolved murders for inspiration and ends up inspiring the killer with his works.
The Hole in the Ground a single mother and her son move to a new home only for her son to start acting strangely.
Daniel Isn't Real about a guy whose childhood imaginary friend remerges as an adult as a super rad Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Nightmare Cinema another low budget anthology very enjoyable.
Haunt EXTREME VIOLENCE if you don't like that please do not watch this.
Hellhouse LLC 1-3 the second one kinda sucks but the third makes up for it.
Grave Encounters a ghost-hunting reality tv crew sets out to fake a haunting and bites off more than they can chew.
The Canal DISGUSTING BODY HORROR really it's nasty but if you don't mind that it's very creepy has probably the nastiest scene I've ever seen.
Better Watch Out a fun slasher with an interesting twist.
Found Footage 3D low budget don't watch the 3D version unless you have a 3d TV obviously.
Z creepy story about an imaginary friend that won't leave.
Near Dark About a band of a traveling group of vampires living in an RV and causing chaos sadly you probably won't be able to find this one, it's out of print but if you can watch it just don't watch the remake.
The Invitation about a guy who gets invited to his ex-wife's dinner party.
The Fear Footage 1 and 2 very low budget super fun has a PT feel to it but it's a super low budget if you don't like that you probably wont enjoy this.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe everyone knows this one it's classic but very creepy.
Norori The Curse Japanese very cool.
Scarepackage very funny horror comedy I think it's only on Shudder and I think it just released on Blu Ray and DVD.
Lake Mungo Australian very good
Random Acts of Violence about a comic writer who uses a bunch of unsolved murders for inspiration and ends up inspiring the killer with his works.
The Hole in the Ground a single mother and her son move to a new home only for her son to start acting strangely.
Daniel Isn't Real about a guy whose childhood imaginary friend remerges as an adult as a super rad Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Nightmare Cinema another low budget anthology very enjoyable.
Haunt EXTREME VIOLENCE if you don't like that please do not watch this.
Hellhouse LLC 1-3 the second one kinda sucks but the third makes up for it.
Grave Encounters a ghost-hunting reality tv crew sets out to fake a haunting and bites off more than they can chew.
The Canal DISGUSTING BODY HORROR really it's nasty but if you don't mind that it's very creepy has probably the nastiest scene I've ever seen.
Better Watch Out a fun slasher with an interesting twist.
Found Footage 3D low budget don't watch the 3D version unless you have a 3d TV obviously.
Z creepy story about an imaginary friend that won't leave.
Near Dark About a band of a traveling group of vampires living in an RV and causing chaos sadly you probably won't be able to find this one, it's out of print but if you can watch it just don't watch the remake.
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Let's hope. It's crazy you can't even rent the movie on any service either.
Warner Bros. has had a very challenging relationship with The Devils that really makes one wish they would just wash their hands of it and sell it to someone who doesn't feel offended that their name is all over it. Its availability has gotten better of the years in terms of streaming, but ownership remains frustratingly difficult.
I think I'm going to join you guys and watch a bunch of horror movies this year. It probably won't be one a day and I think I'll just decide on the movies at watch time, but I've been in the mood lately. I recently watched a bunch of adaptations of The Turn of the Screw in advance of The Haunting of Bly Manor. That'll be part of my viewing list as well.
Unfortunately I won't be able to participate in the full 31 days this year due to work and apprenticeship stuff, but I will definitely be doing at least 3 movies a week! Can't wait to dive in, my girlfriend and I had a ton of fun with this last year.
Recommendations I've been stuck inside like everyone else all year so I started renting anything that looked even a little interesting on Amazon and that was the list of stuff I thought was good enough to recommend. I've watched some real trash movies but some super good stuff too.
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If anyone wants their recommendations list added to the OP, let me know and I'll put a link with credit.
If anyone is looking to watch some horror films in October for free, here's a list.
Tubitv, Popcornflix and Youtube have free movies that are ad supported. Tubitv requires you to sign up for an account, Popconflix doesn't ,while I believe Youtube does for R-rated movies.
You can also check if your local library subscribes to Kanopy or Hoopla. These are free (no ads) with your library membership.
Tubi tv-
Creepshow 2
Scream 1-3
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Hills Have Eyes
Masters of Horror seasons 1&2
Day of the Dead
Hellraiser
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
Sleepaway Camp
Phantasm
Re-Animator
Bride of Re-Animator
The Slumber Party Massacre 1&2
High Tension (R rated version)
Goodnight Mommy
Night of the Living Dead
Prom Night 1&2
Black Sunday
Chopping Mall
The Prowler
Santa Sangre
Korean-
Train to Busan
The Host
I Saw the Devil
The Wailing
Mourning Grave
Japanese-
Ring of Curse: Gomennasai
The Complex
Tomie Unlimited
Ju-on The Grudge 1&2
Pulse (Kairo)
Dark Water
Directed by Takashi Miike-
Society
Audition
Gozu
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Over Your Dead Body
Masters of Horror: Imprint (season one, ep. 13)
Directed by David Cronenberg-
Dead Ringers
Shivers
Rabid
Directed by Dario Argento-
Suspiria
Inferno
Opera
Phenomena
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Popcornflix-
Train to Busan
I Saw the Devil
Phantasm
The Step Father
Peeping Tom
Black Christmas
Prom Night
Dead Ringers
The Slumber Party Massacre
Tokyo Gore Police
Sleepaway Camp
Phenomena
The Exorcist
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Youtube-
The Silence of the Lambs
Cube
Tubitv, Popcornflix and Youtube have free movies that are ad supported. Tubitv requires you to sign up for an account, Popconflix doesn't ,while I believe Youtube does for R-rated movies.
You can also check if your local library subscribes to Kanopy or Hoopla. These are free (no ads) with your library membership.
Tubi tv-
Creepshow 2
Scream 1-3
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Hills Have Eyes
Masters of Horror seasons 1&2
Day of the Dead
Hellraiser
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
Sleepaway Camp
Phantasm
Re-Animator
Bride of Re-Animator
The Slumber Party Massacre 1&2
High Tension (R rated version)
Goodnight Mommy
Night of the Living Dead
Prom Night 1&2
Black Sunday
Chopping Mall
The Prowler
Santa Sangre
Korean-
Train to Busan
The Host
I Saw the Devil
The Wailing
Mourning Grave
Japanese-
Ring of Curse: Gomennasai
The Complex
Tomie Unlimited
Ju-on The Grudge 1&2
Pulse (Kairo)
Dark Water
Directed by Takashi Miike-
Society
Audition
Gozu
The Happiness of the Katakuris
Over Your Dead Body
Masters of Horror: Imprint (season one, ep. 13)
Directed by David Cronenberg-
Dead Ringers
Shivers
Rabid
Directed by Dario Argento-
Suspiria
Inferno
Opera
Phenomena
-----------------------------------------
Popcornflix-
Train to Busan
I Saw the Devil
Phantasm
The Step Father
Peeping Tom
Black Christmas
Prom Night
Dead Ringers
The Slumber Party Massacre
Tokyo Gore Police
Sleepaway Camp
Phenomena
The Exorcist
-----------------------------------------
Youtube-
The Silence of the Lambs
Cube
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I think my theme for this year is going to end up being 'subscribe to the Arrow Video channel via Prime for a month'...
Woo, just a week now. In the meantime, I probably just going to finish up the mortal Jason stuff from Friday the 13th this weekend.
I also might add the first two Hellraiser on list, since I been reading a bit of the comics recently.
I also might add the first two Hellraiser on list, since I been reading a bit of the comics recently.
I forgot about the best horror movie I've seen all year Antrum The Deadliest Film Ever Made it's a movie within a movie it's supposed to be a festival screening of a film that's supposed to be cursed anyway the cursed movie is bout two kids who try to dig a hole to hell it's on Amazon prime too. It's really cool and has some awesome monster design.
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How are the comics? I was thinking of taking a look at them in October.
You still have The Babysitter Killer Queen! which I thought was a fun watch, and a nice continuation of the story
The old marvel series is pretty enjoyable, although the masterpiece volumes seem to just grab a select amount of the stories (being an anthology mostly). There is suppose to be a overreaching story too, with a new group of Cenobites (one of who is basically Lon Chaney ha ha), but I don't know if that is collected yet.
Been reading with Comixology unlimited, which has the two current masterpiece volumes along with a bunch of other Hellraiser stuff.
Okay, so, I've been watching horror movies my whole life and at this point, they basically just wash right over me. Last night however, I watched one that is lodged in my head. It's made me walk a little quicker when I go to the bathroom at night.
You guys: you gotta' watch Lake Mungo. Holy shit, it's spooky as hell. I saw this three years ago but the viewing conditions weren't ideal. People were leaving the room, entering, broad day light, phone check-ups. No, this one you gotta watch at night, sound up, and full focus. It's essentially a build to one final revelation at the end, the fear of which has been accentuated by the films mounting tension and tone.
This is an overlooked film, the neglect of which the term underrated is reserved. Watch this, people, and be frightened.
You guys: you gotta' watch Lake Mungo. Holy shit, it's spooky as hell. I saw this three years ago but the viewing conditions weren't ideal. People were leaving the room, entering, broad day light, phone check-ups. No, this one you gotta watch at night, sound up, and full focus. It's essentially a build to one final revelation at the end, the fear of which has been accentuated by the films mounting tension and tone.
This is an overlooked film, the neglect of which the term underrated is reserved. Watch this, people, and be frightened.
Lake Mungo is indeed awesome. I think we watched it last year.
Wife and I watched Society last night. That movie was uh... something. Not sure if I liked it but it definitely has a WTF factor.
This is an amazing list. Definitely will be stealing this for my Spooptober watching. Thank you!
Okay, I think I'm going to try this year. There's a solid chance I fail at watching all of them, but I'll put in the college try. Here's my list, not yet in order. I'll try my best to order is smartly so there's a good flow of funny ones to break up intense films.
Bolded are movies I haven't seen yet, so a good mix of new and old.
Alone
The Conjuring
Haunting of Bly Manor (counting this as three, will watch over Fri-Sun)
Train to Busan
Sputnik
The Thing
Extra Ordinary
Rear Window
What We Do In The Shadows
In the Mouth of Madness
Before I Wake
The Exorcist
1BR
The Hole In The Ground
Housebound
Come To Daddy
The Wind
The Exorcist III
Annabelle Comes Home
Z
The Conjuring 2
Littler Shop of Horrors
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Peninsula: Train to Busan
I Saw The Devil
Event Horizon
Bram Stoker's Dracula
The Handmaiden
In Fabric
Bolded are movies I haven't seen yet, so a good mix of new and old.
Alone
The Conjuring
Haunting of Bly Manor (counting this as three, will watch over Fri-Sun)
Train to Busan
Sputnik
The Thing
Extra Ordinary
Rear Window
What We Do In The Shadows
In the Mouth of Madness
Before I Wake
The Exorcist
1BR
The Hole In The Ground
Housebound
Come To Daddy
The Wind
The Exorcist III
Annabelle Comes Home
Z
The Conjuring 2
Littler Shop of Horrors
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Peninsula: Train to Busan
I Saw The Devil
Event Horizon
Bram Stoker's Dracula
The Handmaiden
In Fabric
This remains one of the best traditions. 😊 I love that one of the "rules" is to watch films we haven't seen before! In that unholy spirit, I'll be watching the following for the first time:
Bava's The Church
The Slumber Party Massacre
The Exorcist II
Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest
Begotten
Haxan
Vampyr
And re-watching the following:
From Beyond
Fulci's City of the Living Dead
Romero's Dawn of the Dead
LUZ
Halloween 3: Season of the Motherfucking Witch
Argento's Suspiria
Bava's The Church
The Slumber Party Massacre
The Exorcist II
Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest
Begotten
Haxan
Vampyr
And re-watching the following:
From Beyond
Fulci's City of the Living Dead
Romero's Dawn of the Dead
LUZ
Halloween 3: Season of the Motherfucking Witch
Argento's Suspiria
You are in for like, hit after hit after hit after hit there. 😆 I hope you enjoy Nosferatu, I think it's incredible.
Lots of deep cuts on here, reminds me of sleazier days! And oh I pray for thy soul watching anything to do with Ghoulies. 😆Here's a tentative list I came up with, not in order:
It's more Green Room-mold thriller than horror, but I got to give a shoutout to Alone, the newly released film John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning)
Hard to imagine that there'll be another survival thriller in 2020 as lean and mean as John Hyams' Alone. No tricks, no jump scares, no high concept, just pure suspense served stark and stripped-to-the-bone.
Young woman on the road is kidnapped by a serial killer, young woman escapes and flees into the forest. Jules Willcox plays the former with a cunning desperation that always feels believably intense and smart. Marc Menchaca plays the latter with the creepy cruelty dialed way up. And Hyams does the rest, infusing the simple premise with white-knuckle momentum, relatable unease, and tightly-constructed cat-&-mouse tension among the labyrinthine PNW wilderness. Alone is to killer thrillers what The Shallows and Crawl are to creature features, a taut set-piece rollercoaster climaxing in a primal finale where Hyams lets his action director side come out to play.
Highly recommended, and currently in my top ten of 2020
Hard to imagine that there'll be another survival thriller in 2020 as lean and mean as John Hyams' Alone. No tricks, no jump scares, no high concept, just pure suspense served stark and stripped-to-the-bone.
Young woman on the road is kidnapped by a serial killer, young woman escapes and flees into the forest. Jules Willcox plays the former with a cunning desperation that always feels believably intense and smart. Marc Menchaca plays the latter with the creepy cruelty dialed way up. And Hyams does the rest, infusing the simple premise with white-knuckle momentum, relatable unease, and tightly-constructed cat-&-mouse tension among the labyrinthine PNW wilderness. Alone is to killer thrillers what The Shallows and Crawl are to creature features, a taut set-piece rollercoaster climaxing in a primal finale where Hyams lets his action director side come out to play.
Highly recommended, and currently in my top ten of 2020
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I haven't seen Ghoulies since I was a little kid, I remember begging my Mom to rent it at the VHS store. She really did not want to but eventually gave in, but I still do not remember anything about the movie other than the puppet on the cover popping out of a toilet.
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So I rewatched Hellraiser 1-2 as a bit of a warmup.
Aside from some cool effects work, I still really dislike Hellraiser 2. It just makes no sense at all.
Aside from some cool effects work, I still really dislike Hellraiser 2. It just makes no sense at all.
Oooh, glad I saw Friday the 13th part 3 and 4 in the last couple days, cause both are leaving Prime on the 30th.
Agreed. I rewatched it recently curious if I'd like it more, but aside from Julia's return and the doctor, it really does nothing for me
Hellraiser 1 is amazing through. Sleazy noir with perverted cosmic horrors on the fringes
Yeah, I respond well to the setting along with the effects and all that. Plus Pinhead hamming it up a bit. However, it never compared to the first in my eyes.
Week One: A Trip through Bollywood Horror, with the Help of the Ramsay Brothers, Day 1 (Sept 27)
It starts, as these things often do, on a dark and stormy night. A recently married couple are on their way to their honeymoon, when their car breaks down and must take refuge in the old, dark mansion they just so happened to come by. Soon, the ghost of a vengeful spurned lover warns them that the sight of a bride in red drives him to murderous ends, which he quickly proves as he steps into the body of another man altogether, also pursuing his own bride on foot, possessing him to turn into a kind of werewolf creature with blood and rampage on its mind. Our couple comes across his ghastly crime and manage to break away to safety on a train, only to share their car with a very familiar looking man. Disaster inevitably strikes as a fight breaks out, a man is thrown through the window of a moving train, and the beast takes its second victim before moving seemingly moving onto another body to continue its revenge...
If that sounds like a solid premise for a movie, you would be correct, but I have amazingly described just the first 12 minutes of this film, at which point the opening titles finally hit and start cramming in even more plot and incident as the spirit, finding a yet-to-be identified new host in about the best place he could possibly set shop in: a town that acts as a hub for wedding processions for the entire region, giving him a virtually limitless supply of brides to murder. Bandits are blamed initially, but as the film progresses, the various players become more and more convinced that something supernatural is at play and that someone in the community may in fact be hiding a lot more than they let on. This does lend itself quite nicely to a nice, cozy creature feature with a bit of a whodunit appeal, as werewolf films can frequently venture into, had that been the sole principal plotline. Yet this is Bollywood, and we can't stop there, as we get treated to a good three seasons worth of soap opera melodrama as romantic rivals battle it out against each other for a quickly revolving door of would-be brides, wedding arrangements are made with the speed of a runaway train, an entire comic relief plotline occupies a good half hour of the film when all is said and done, dark pasts come back to haunt the present, and even a bit of mob rule comes into play as folks try desperately to find someone, anyone to pin the murders on when leads prove elusive. Forget two-and-a-half hours being enough: binge watching entire series over two-and-a-half weeks couldn't produce nearly as much incident as this film is hellbent on giving literally everyone out there something to sink their teeth into, consequences be damned.
For how messy the film is on a story level to its very, very core, especially with it being rather cavalier with its monster's presence in the proceedings and the complete obviousness of who our culprit is, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't largely onboard with its brand of shenanigans all the same. It is very much a film designed to entertain, and entertain it does with ridiculous feats of showmanship from our heroes (no horse goes un-vaulted without at least one full 360 degree flip, forward or backward), earnest song-and-dance numbers of love professions that do wind up being pretty damn catchy while being shot on surprisingly dangerous outdoor settings, and, yes, the absolute madness that our villain possesses as he looks like what would happen if someone caught Eddie Munster juicing with horse steroids while still being hilariously overpowered for even our heroes to handle properly in the rousing finale that pushes the insanity to sublime extremes. Even the melodrama can be fun to get wrapped up in with the characters you can make heads or tails about, with romantic rivals arriving with a frequency that can be described best as "reckless abandon" for how many would-be love interests pop in and out throughout.
Films like this are simultaneously their own worst enemy and their greatest champion, as you're forced to have to take the good with the bad as both are inextricably linked to each other. That I can use my own alternative title of "Four Weddings and a Werewolf" should give one an idea of exactly what to expect as they take this on. It's hard not to immediately jump onto the idea that this could have lost, at a very, very minimum, a half hour and be better for it, but gonzo films of this kinda need to be the whole package to make the proper impression and to elicit the proper reaction, like mine has been thus far. And so, we start off a week of Bollywood horror in the way I think I needed it to be all along: a lotta song, a lotta dance, a lotta bad comic relief, a lotta macho bravado, a lotta pretty women and a vengeful spirit that makes good on its word to leave this world forever by breaking through a man-shaped hole through a stone wall, shining a heavenly light on the world that can rest easy knowing that he possess any more men to become furry werecapuchins.
1/38
It starts, as these things often do, on a dark and stormy night. A recently married couple are on their way to their honeymoon, when their car breaks down and must take refuge in the old, dark mansion they just so happened to come by. Soon, the ghost of a vengeful spurned lover warns them that the sight of a bride in red drives him to murderous ends, which he quickly proves as he steps into the body of another man altogether, also pursuing his own bride on foot, possessing him to turn into a kind of werewolf creature with blood and rampage on its mind. Our couple comes across his ghastly crime and manage to break away to safety on a train, only to share their car with a very familiar looking man. Disaster inevitably strikes as a fight breaks out, a man is thrown through the window of a moving train, and the beast takes its second victim before moving seemingly moving onto another body to continue its revenge...
If that sounds like a solid premise for a movie, you would be correct, but I have amazingly described just the first 12 minutes of this film, at which point the opening titles finally hit and start cramming in even more plot and incident as the spirit, finding a yet-to-be identified new host in about the best place he could possibly set shop in: a town that acts as a hub for wedding processions for the entire region, giving him a virtually limitless supply of brides to murder. Bandits are blamed initially, but as the film progresses, the various players become more and more convinced that something supernatural is at play and that someone in the community may in fact be hiding a lot more than they let on. This does lend itself quite nicely to a nice, cozy creature feature with a bit of a whodunit appeal, as werewolf films can frequently venture into, had that been the sole principal plotline. Yet this is Bollywood, and we can't stop there, as we get treated to a good three seasons worth of soap opera melodrama as romantic rivals battle it out against each other for a quickly revolving door of would-be brides, wedding arrangements are made with the speed of a runaway train, an entire comic relief plotline occupies a good half hour of the film when all is said and done, dark pasts come back to haunt the present, and even a bit of mob rule comes into play as folks try desperately to find someone, anyone to pin the murders on when leads prove elusive. Forget two-and-a-half hours being enough: binge watching entire series over two-and-a-half weeks couldn't produce nearly as much incident as this film is hellbent on giving literally everyone out there something to sink their teeth into, consequences be damned.
For how messy the film is on a story level to its very, very core, especially with it being rather cavalier with its monster's presence in the proceedings and the complete obviousness of who our culprit is, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't largely onboard with its brand of shenanigans all the same. It is very much a film designed to entertain, and entertain it does with ridiculous feats of showmanship from our heroes (no horse goes un-vaulted without at least one full 360 degree flip, forward or backward), earnest song-and-dance numbers of love professions that do wind up being pretty damn catchy while being shot on surprisingly dangerous outdoor settings, and, yes, the absolute madness that our villain possesses as he looks like what would happen if someone caught Eddie Munster juicing with horse steroids while still being hilariously overpowered for even our heroes to handle properly in the rousing finale that pushes the insanity to sublime extremes. Even the melodrama can be fun to get wrapped up in with the characters you can make heads or tails about, with romantic rivals arriving with a frequency that can be described best as "reckless abandon" for how many would-be love interests pop in and out throughout.
Films like this are simultaneously their own worst enemy and their greatest champion, as you're forced to have to take the good with the bad as both are inextricably linked to each other. That I can use my own alternative title of "Four Weddings and a Werewolf" should give one an idea of exactly what to expect as they take this on. It's hard not to immediately jump onto the idea that this could have lost, at a very, very minimum, a half hour and be better for it, but gonzo films of this kinda need to be the whole package to make the proper impression and to elicit the proper reaction, like mine has been thus far. And so, we start off a week of Bollywood horror in the way I think I needed it to be all along: a lotta song, a lotta dance, a lotta bad comic relief, a lotta macho bravado, a lotta pretty women and a vengeful spirit that makes good on its word to leave this world forever by breaking through a man-shaped hole through a stone wall, shining a heavenly light on the world that can rest easy knowing that he possess any more men to become furry werecapuchins.
1/38