I love that it's both in the vein of a classic Lovecraft story while also being a loving homage to the genre
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31 Days of Horror (2018) - The October Movie Marathon
- Thread starter ThirstyFly
- Start date
10) The Stuff
Because this is very normal behavior when you find white stuff coming out of the ground and snow, eat it. And immediately packaging it and selling it is the next thought. This movie is 80's personified.
The editing on this movie is so spastic I got whiplash. I think everyone working on this movie was on the stuff. And by stuff I mean cocaine. I'm not even sure Michael Moriarty in this movie had a script. I think they just told him to say random shit with a southern accent.
No comment
I still love this movie, it's so 80's and all over the fucking place. You have capitalism, you have swagger, you have spandex and bikinis, Danny Aiello getting upstaged by a pooch, you have armed militia taking taxis, this movie has everything. Even Garret Morris.
Because this is very normal behavior when you find white stuff coming out of the ground and snow, eat it. And immediately packaging it and selling it is the next thought. This movie is 80's personified.
The editing on this movie is so spastic I got whiplash. I think everyone working on this movie was on the stuff. And by stuff I mean cocaine. I'm not even sure Michael Moriarty in this movie had a script. I think they just told him to say random shit with a southern accent.
No comment
I still love this movie, it's so 80's and all over the fucking place. You have capitalism, you have swagger, you have spandex and bikinis, Danny Aiello getting upstaged by a pooch, you have armed militia taking taxis, this movie has everything. Even Garret Morris.
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Film 11 - Evolution
Not to be confused with the David Duchovny Head and Shoulders commercial of the same name, this Evolution is a mesmerising slice of stately French sci-fi body horror. I say horror, but it's very understated in that respect. Apart from one cut hand, some medical footage of a caesarean section, and a smashed starfish limb, there's no gore. There is some… messiness, but even that's artfully restrained. Which doesn't stop it, and indeed the whole film, from being extremely weird, and pretty wonderful too.
Set in an isolated coastal community, Evolution is the story of a group of prepubescent boys and the uniformed 'mothers' and nurses who look after them - if you can call feeding them worm-infested gruel and inky black drinks, and performing extremely strange medical procedures on them, 'looking after'. The tale unfolds through the eyes of Nicholas, an adventurous boy who begins to push back against the weird regime when he spies another boy's dead body under the waves just off shore.
The acting is excellent throughout, and while the story is slight, it remains interesting because in keeping the focus on Nicholas, the film's many mysteries remain unexplained. I'm sucker for ambiguity. What really elevates Evolution in my eyes however is the stunning look of the film. It is truly gorgeous. From the fantastic underwater shots that bookend the movie, to the scenes on the jagged black volcanic rocks of the beach, to the bleak interior of the creepy hospital, it's just beautiful. It's also in no great hurry. With its willingness to linger on a still image, its refusal to be rushed, and its emphasis on atmosphere over story, I can imagine quite a few people finding Evolution to be a boring and pretentious load of old cobblers, but personally I absolutely loved it.
Films I've watched so far
Not to be confused with the David Duchovny Head and Shoulders commercial of the same name, this Evolution is a mesmerising slice of stately French sci-fi body horror. I say horror, but it's very understated in that respect. Apart from one cut hand, some medical footage of a caesarean section, and a smashed starfish limb, there's no gore. There is some… messiness, but even that's artfully restrained. Which doesn't stop it, and indeed the whole film, from being extremely weird, and pretty wonderful too.
Set in an isolated coastal community, Evolution is the story of a group of prepubescent boys and the uniformed 'mothers' and nurses who look after them - if you can call feeding them worm-infested gruel and inky black drinks, and performing extremely strange medical procedures on them, 'looking after'. The tale unfolds through the eyes of Nicholas, an adventurous boy who begins to push back against the weird regime when he spies another boy's dead body under the waves just off shore.
The acting is excellent throughout, and while the story is slight, it remains interesting because in keeping the focus on Nicholas, the film's many mysteries remain unexplained. I'm sucker for ambiguity. What really elevates Evolution in my eyes however is the stunning look of the film. It is truly gorgeous. From the fantastic underwater shots that bookend the movie, to the scenes on the jagged black volcanic rocks of the beach, to the bleak interior of the creepy hospital, it's just beautiful. It's also in no great hurry. With its willingness to linger on a still image, its refusal to be rushed, and its emphasis on atmosphere over story, I can imagine quite a few people finding Evolution to be a boring and pretentious load of old cobblers, but personally I absolutely loved it.
Films I've watched so far
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#26 Deadly Friend
Deadly Friend was supposed to be more of a straight sci-fi film but with that title and Wes Craven directing test audiences hated it and additional violent scenes were filmed to quench their blood thirst. These new scenes were at the expense of a more coherent story and consistent mood of the film. #ReleaseTheCravenCut What we end up with is a horror/sci-fi/(unintentional)comedy that's a mix of Re-Animator, Short Circuit, Weird Science and even a little Pet Semetary thrown in as well.
It's not a good movie but it's interesting as it's OG Buffy Kristy Swanson's first major role in a love it or hate it performance plus the infamous "basketball scene" and a bat shit ending makes Deadly Friend probably worth tracking down.
https://letterboxd.com/tculturevulture/
Anyone know about a Japanese horror movie where weird stuff is happening or ghosts are becoming prevalent, then you find out at the end that hell/afterlife is full. Also, the ghosts are like energy or electricity.
Better Look Out was actually pretty good it started off slow but once it kicks in its actually great fun
Yea, that's it. Thanks a lot, been trying to find it to rewatch this month.
#14 - The Invitation (2015) (first time viewing) - Logan Marshall Green is starting to be referred to me as Tom Hardy 2.0. Between this and Upgrade, he's quickly growing on me as one of my favorite actors. I missed this one over the years, but glad that I was able to watch this tense horror piece from Karyn Kusama.
Will (Marshall-Green) was married to Eden (Tammy Blanchard) until their son passed away. Eden disappeared for two years before reappearing with a new husband, and a new outlook on life. She invites her closest friends and Will over for a dinner party. But as the evening goes on, something doesn't seem right to Will. Could there be some sinister motive for this party, or is it all in Will's over-active imagination due to seeing his ex-wife for the first time since she left?
The Invitation has some great performances throughout. Eden, new her husband David, and friends Sadie & Pruitt wonderfully sells the audience on the "something not quite right with these people" vibe. It's because of this tone being set early on that allows the director to play with the viewer's emotions for a bit. Every time you think something bad is about to happen, it turns out to be nothing and vice versa. We're even given the possibility that Will is lashing out due to his sensitivity about the situation he's found himself in. The central theme revolves around how people deal with grief differently, and how those methods could effect those closest to them. But once we do learn what's going on, the film doesn't leave much time to resolve it. In a way, I appreciated that. Taking 80% of the movie to build tension and the ever-growing mystery about the real intentions of the dinner party only to have it wrapped up quickly seems to fit how this movie was constructed.
Good film, not great. Definitely worth a watch even if it's pretty obvious as to what's really going on. But the director teasing the audience is something I wish that would happen more often in horror.
7 "people that keep insisting you not leave, and only 1 person thinking there's something weird about that" out of 10.
8) Child's Play 3 (1991)
★1/2
After the delightful opening at the office of the toy company's CEO, things start going south very fast once we arrive at the drab setting of a military school. It shows that writer Don Mancini was forced to crank out the script in an incredibly short amount of time, as all the characters here are underdeveloped and one-note. The inventive cinematography of the first two entries is gone, replaced by a frustratingly generic visual style. At this point, we are merely going through the motions, waiting for Chucky's obligatory "Ade due damballa" voodoo chant to fail yet again and for Andy, now a completely uninteresting teenager, to destroy the doll until the next sequel. Just like the cheap Good Guy plastic doll, this installment is utterly disposable.
1) Terrifier (2018) ★1/2
2) Child's Play (1990) ★★1/2
3) Motel Hell (1980) ★★★
4) Wolfen (1981) ★★1/2
5) The Devil's Candy (2015) ★
6) I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House (2016) ★★★1/2
7) Lake Mungo (2008) ★★★1/2
★1/2
After the delightful opening at the office of the toy company's CEO, things start going south very fast once we arrive at the drab setting of a military school. It shows that writer Don Mancini was forced to crank out the script in an incredibly short amount of time, as all the characters here are underdeveloped and one-note. The inventive cinematography of the first two entries is gone, replaced by a frustratingly generic visual style. At this point, we are merely going through the motions, waiting for Chucky's obligatory "Ade due damballa" voodoo chant to fail yet again and for Andy, now a completely uninteresting teenager, to destroy the doll until the next sequel. Just like the cheap Good Guy plastic doll, this installment is utterly disposable.
1) Terrifier (2018) ★1/2
2) Child's Play (1990) ★★1/2
3) Motel Hell (1980) ★★★
4) Wolfen (1981) ★★1/2
5) The Devil's Candy (2015) ★
6) I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House (2016) ★★★1/2
7) Lake Mungo (2008) ★★★1/2
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A few watches this month:
Hold the Dark:
Saulnier turning in his rapid fire thriller chops for a slow burn? Alright sure. This still mostly worked for me, even if it probably needed to be a bit longer (or would've worked better as a miniseries). Clearly the lad was very devoted to the source material, sometimes to a fault. Some really striking images that will stick with me though.
Hellraiser:
I had seen this once or twice before but I hadn't seen it in quite a while and I've been going on a bit of an occult tear recently. Man this holds the fuck up. The Cinobites rule, I love how unique they are as villains (if they even are villains), caring more about exploration of the relationship between pleasure and pain then just being evil.
The Invitation:
The slowest of the slow burns, keeps you guessing as long as fucking possible. Buoyed by some stellar acting for sure. I don't love everything about the pacing and the finale sort of falls flat from a setpiece perspective but still very fun.
Hold the Dark:
Saulnier turning in his rapid fire thriller chops for a slow burn? Alright sure. This still mostly worked for me, even if it probably needed to be a bit longer (or would've worked better as a miniseries). Clearly the lad was very devoted to the source material, sometimes to a fault. Some really striking images that will stick with me though.
Hellraiser:
I had seen this once or twice before but I hadn't seen it in quite a while and I've been going on a bit of an occult tear recently. Man this holds the fuck up. The Cinobites rule, I love how unique they are as villains (if they even are villains), caring more about exploration of the relationship between pleasure and pain then just being evil.
The Invitation:
The slowest of the slow burns, keeps you guessing as long as fucking possible. Buoyed by some stellar acting for sure. I don't love everything about the pacing and the finale sort of falls flat from a setpiece perspective but still very fun.
OP
OP
Giallo Week – Part 1
07) Thirsty for Love, Sex and Murder (Aska Susayanlar: Seks ve Cinayet) (1972) (Oct 8)
Apparently someone in Turkey was a big fan of Sergio Martino's phenomenal The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh because only a year later this turd was unleashed.
I won't bother with a plot outline because Thirsty for Love, Sex and Murder is a shot-for-shot Turkish ripoff of Wardh, right down to the paper dress scene. Only a couple of minor tweaks have been made to the story in order to simplify it, since they squeezed Mrs. Wardh's 100 minute runtime into a mere 58 minutes. The pace of this thing is insane! It jumps from scene to scene so fast I simply have no idea how anyone could attempt to follow anything unless they had already seen Mrs. Wardh. It's the giallo equivalent of listening to a podcast at 1.5x speed so you can get though it faster. Crazy!
And that isn't even the craziest thing about this garbage. From the attempts to mimic a giallo score and cinematography, to the hilarious police detective who's main interrogation technique is to SUDDENLY SHOUT at his witnesses to catch them off guard, to the female leads attempting to keep themselves covered during Mrs. Wardh's numerous nude scenes, this is an unintentional comedy goldmine. The biggest change to the Mrs. Wardh's story is also the funniest part of the movie, the new ending. They decided the ending needed
The movie itself is a bad, unnecessary ripoff, but the completely ludicrous ending simply needs to be seen. 0.5 / 5 for the movie, 4 / 5 for the unintentional comedy.
08) So Sweet, So Dead (Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile) (1972) (Oct 8)
When trying to narrow down my choices for giallo week, I decided to keep it more classy this year and went with what I thought was the least trashy choices. Well, that's out the window now, thanks to So Sweet, So Dead.
A maniac is on the loose, killing upper class women and leaving behind photos of their infidelity. Inspector Capuana is on the case, but the social status of the victims and their husbands may prove to be a bigger threat to the case than the killer.
What he have here is a pretty by-the-numbers slasher style giallo. Not terribly original or creative, but it's well made and it definitely has all the standard giallo calling cards. There is one subplot that definitely would have added some originality, however it annoyingly goes unused and eventually just ends up being abandoned by the plot.
As I'm sure you can decipher from my synopsis, this one definitely leans on the sleazier side of the subgenre, but is recommended for anyone looking for a standard giallo.
Recommended. 3 / 5
09) Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye (La morte negli occhi del gatto) (1973) (Oct 9)
I don't believe I've seen any of Antonio Margheriti's other films and have perhaps unfairly written him off as a schlock director due to the number of western, sci-fi and low budget action movies he has directed. Well, if Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye is any indication of his other work, I was completely wrong.
A young woman returns home to Dragonstone, her family's Scottish castle where her mother and aunt (and current owner of the castle) argue over the family's future at the castle. Soon a series of mysterious murders begin to occur bringing up family legends passed down through the generations. Is it the family's curse or something more sinister?
Going from the conventional giallo So Sweet, So Dead, this was really refreshing. Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye is a beautifully shot and atmospheric Gothic horror giallo that kept me enthralled from start to finish. It does feel a bit as if at one point it was intended to be a conventional Gothic horror and was repurposed as a giallo in order to capitalize on what was popular at the time. There's a couple of unconventional ideas that don't quite work as well as they should, and it's definitely light on the more blatant giallo characteristics but overall I felt that made it feel more original and I really enjoyed it. Definitely check it out.
This may also be the only Gothic horror giallo I watch this month with an orangutan in it.
Highly recommended. 4 / 5
07) Thirsty for Love, Sex and Murder (Aska Susayanlar: Seks ve Cinayet) (1972) (Oct 8)
Apparently someone in Turkey was a big fan of Sergio Martino's phenomenal The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh because only a year later this turd was unleashed.
I won't bother with a plot outline because Thirsty for Love, Sex and Murder is a shot-for-shot Turkish ripoff of Wardh, right down to the paper dress scene. Only a couple of minor tweaks have been made to the story in order to simplify it, since they squeezed Mrs. Wardh's 100 minute runtime into a mere 58 minutes. The pace of this thing is insane! It jumps from scene to scene so fast I simply have no idea how anyone could attempt to follow anything unless they had already seen Mrs. Wardh. It's the giallo equivalent of listening to a podcast at 1.5x speed so you can get though it faster. Crazy!
And that isn't even the craziest thing about this garbage. From the attempts to mimic a giallo score and cinematography, to the hilarious police detective who's main interrogation technique is to SUDDENLY SHOUT at his witnesses to catch them off guard, to the female leads attempting to keep themselves covered during Mrs. Wardh's numerous nude scenes, this is an unintentional comedy goldmine. The biggest change to the Mrs. Wardh's story is also the funniest part of the movie, the new ending. They decided the ending needed
a random shootout, karate kicking and a character repeatedly cartwheeling out of danger.
The movie itself is a bad, unnecessary ripoff, but the completely ludicrous ending simply needs to be seen. 0.5 / 5 for the movie, 4 / 5 for the unintentional comedy.
08) So Sweet, So Dead (Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile) (1972) (Oct 8)
When trying to narrow down my choices for giallo week, I decided to keep it more classy this year and went with what I thought was the least trashy choices. Well, that's out the window now, thanks to So Sweet, So Dead.
A maniac is on the loose, killing upper class women and leaving behind photos of their infidelity. Inspector Capuana is on the case, but the social status of the victims and their husbands may prove to be a bigger threat to the case than the killer.
What he have here is a pretty by-the-numbers slasher style giallo. Not terribly original or creative, but it's well made and it definitely has all the standard giallo calling cards. There is one subplot that definitely would have added some originality, however it annoyingly goes unused and eventually just ends up being abandoned by the plot.
As I'm sure you can decipher from my synopsis, this one definitely leans on the sleazier side of the subgenre, but is recommended for anyone looking for a standard giallo.
Recommended. 3 / 5
09) Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye (La morte negli occhi del gatto) (1973) (Oct 9)
I don't believe I've seen any of Antonio Margheriti's other films and have perhaps unfairly written him off as a schlock director due to the number of western, sci-fi and low budget action movies he has directed. Well, if Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye is any indication of his other work, I was completely wrong.
A young woman returns home to Dragonstone, her family's Scottish castle where her mother and aunt (and current owner of the castle) argue over the family's future at the castle. Soon a series of mysterious murders begin to occur bringing up family legends passed down through the generations. Is it the family's curse or something more sinister?
Going from the conventional giallo So Sweet, So Dead, this was really refreshing. Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye is a beautifully shot and atmospheric Gothic horror giallo that kept me enthralled from start to finish. It does feel a bit as if at one point it was intended to be a conventional Gothic horror and was repurposed as a giallo in order to capitalize on what was popular at the time. There's a couple of unconventional ideas that don't quite work as well as they should, and it's definitely light on the more blatant giallo characteristics but overall I felt that made it feel more original and I really enjoyed it. Definitely check it out.
This may also be the only Gothic horror giallo I watch this month with an orangutan in it.
Highly recommended. 4 / 5
24) The Innkeepers (2011)
★★½
The Innkeepers didn't do much for me. I was expecting to like it a bit more since I tend to prefer slow-burn horror, but besides the likable and charming characters and eerie atmosphere, I never found Innkeepers that creepy or the story that engaging besides the relationship between the main duo
25) V/H/S (2012)
★★
This gimmicky found footage anthology has its fair share of creepy imagery and gore, but lacks substance, with each story being relatively weak in all aspects besides those aforementioned moments of violence and cool visuals. No clever twists, no stories that take advantage of the format, no interesting characters
26) V/H/S/2 (2013)
★★★
Only marginally better than its predecessor. Those three stars are primarily for Safe Haven, which is fantastic and far exceeds everything else in this anthology. Much like the first VHS, the rest has some striking imagery and moments of impressive gore, but none of the stories are particularly memorable. That stands out even more here due to how much better Safe Haven is compared to the whole anthology
★★½
The Innkeepers didn't do much for me. I was expecting to like it a bit more since I tend to prefer slow-burn horror, but besides the likable and charming characters and eerie atmosphere, I never found Innkeepers that creepy or the story that engaging besides the relationship between the main duo
25) V/H/S (2012)
★★
This gimmicky found footage anthology has its fair share of creepy imagery and gore, but lacks substance, with each story being relatively weak in all aspects besides those aforementioned moments of violence and cool visuals. No clever twists, no stories that take advantage of the format, no interesting characters
26) V/H/S/2 (2013)
★★★
Only marginally better than its predecessor. Those three stars are primarily for Safe Haven, which is fantastic and far exceeds everything else in this anthology. Much like the first VHS, the rest has some striking imagery and moments of impressive gore, but none of the stories are particularly memorable. That stands out even more here due to how much better Safe Haven is compared to the whole anthology
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introducing the missus to the sheer brilliance that is #10 Suspiria ive loved this years marathon as ive been able to introduce my girlfriend to so many cool movies and shes actually taken an interest saw my list and said i like the sound of etc etc
Late in this endeavor comes my next two favorite surprises of the month (the others being Braindead, Blair Witch Project, and Dream Home)
27) Housebound (2014)
★★★★
What's the secret behind New Zealanders and their awesome horror-comedies? Housebound was a fun, well-directed, well-paced genre mashup that expertly balances resourceful rebellious protagonist, family drama, effectively creepy moments, sly humor and clever subversions, and mystery-thriller elements without ever feeling over-stuffed. Given the titular nature of Kylie's situation, the movie really makes the most of its house setting; the place is just oozing tactile atmosphere, from the ugly wallpaper to the clutter. A pleasant surprise that I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did.
28) Crimson Peak (2015)
★★★★½
Victorian drama. Dark romanticism. Giallo slasher. Gothic horror. Mystery. Thriller.
Crimson Peak is a love letter to all those, equal parts homage and subversion. Del Toro is not one to do half-measures when it comes to presenting his take on his favorite influences, and it shows here. What Pan's Labyrinth was for fairy tales and Shape of Water for classic Hollywood and 50s sci-fi, Crimson Peak does for all things Gothic: classic horror imagery embodied by the haunted manor and gnarled ghosts, the romantic roots of the protagonist and the film's twisted love story, the Poe-esque darkness underlining the movie's narrative. Add a lovely giallo homage here and surprisingly brutal bloodshed there, and you get this quietly sinister tale of romance and mystery and ghosts.
Crimson Peak also has the most vibrantly gorgeous set I've seen since Suspiria. The towering dark spires of the place like a festering stain against the snow, the vivid bleeding red contrasting with the elegant richly-detailed decay of the interior, the deep candlelit shadows of its halls at night, the grimy copper and rust of the bathroom, the dank industrial confines of the cellar...the titular estate is as much a character as the living and dead that populate its halls.
===
1) The Blob (1988)
★★★★
2) Dead Calm (1989)
★★★
3) Hardware (1990)
★
4) The People Under The Stairs (1991)
★★★½
5) Braindead (1992)
★★★★★
6) Cronos (1993)
★★★
7) In The Mouth of Madness (1994)
★★★★½
8) Village of the Damned (1995)
★★
9) Scream (1996)
★★½
10) Mimic (1997)
★★½
11) Apt Pupil (1998)
★★½
12) The Blair Witch Project (1999)
★★★★½
13) American Psycho (2000)
★★★½
14) The Others (2001)
★★★½
15) Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)
★½
16) House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
½
17) The Toolbox Murders (2004)
★
18) Wolf Creek (2005)
★★
19) Them (2006)
★★★
20) 30 Days of Night (2007)
★★★★½
21) The Ruins (2008)
★★★★
22) Drag Me to Hell (2009)
★★★½
23) Dream Home (2010)
★★★★
24) The Innkeepers (2011)
★★½
25) V/H/S (2012)
★★
26) V/H/S/2 (2013)
★★★
27) Housebound (2014)
★★★★
What's the secret behind New Zealanders and their awesome horror-comedies? Housebound was a fun, well-directed, well-paced genre mashup that expertly balances resourceful rebellious protagonist, family drama, effectively creepy moments, sly humor and clever subversions, and mystery-thriller elements without ever feeling over-stuffed. Given the titular nature of Kylie's situation, the movie really makes the most of its house setting; the place is just oozing tactile atmosphere, from the ugly wallpaper to the clutter. A pleasant surprise that I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did.
28) Crimson Peak (2015)
★★★★½
Victorian drama. Dark romanticism. Giallo slasher. Gothic horror. Mystery. Thriller.
Crimson Peak is a love letter to all those, equal parts homage and subversion. Del Toro is not one to do half-measures when it comes to presenting his take on his favorite influences, and it shows here. What Pan's Labyrinth was for fairy tales and Shape of Water for classic Hollywood and 50s sci-fi, Crimson Peak does for all things Gothic: classic horror imagery embodied by the haunted manor and gnarled ghosts, the romantic roots of the protagonist and the film's twisted love story, the Poe-esque darkness underlining the movie's narrative. Add a lovely giallo homage here and surprisingly brutal bloodshed there, and you get this quietly sinister tale of romance and mystery and ghosts.
Crimson Peak also has the most vibrantly gorgeous set I've seen since Suspiria. The towering dark spires of the place like a festering stain against the snow, the vivid bleeding red contrasting with the elegant richly-detailed decay of the interior, the deep candlelit shadows of its halls at night, the grimy copper and rust of the bathroom, the dank industrial confines of the cellar...the titular estate is as much a character as the living and dead that populate its halls.
===
1) The Blob (1988)
★★★★
2) Dead Calm (1989)
★★★
3) Hardware (1990)
★
4) The People Under The Stairs (1991)
★★★½
5) Braindead (1992)
★★★★★
6) Cronos (1993)
★★★
7) In The Mouth of Madness (1994)
★★★★½
8) Village of the Damned (1995)
★★
9) Scream (1996)
★★½
10) Mimic (1997)
★★½
11) Apt Pupil (1998)
★★½
12) The Blair Witch Project (1999)
★★★★½
13) American Psycho (2000)
★★★½
14) The Others (2001)
★★★½
15) Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)
★½
16) House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
½
17) The Toolbox Murders (2004)
★
18) Wolf Creek (2005)
★★
19) Them (2006)
★★★
20) 30 Days of Night (2007)
★★★★½
21) The Ruins (2008)
★★★★
22) Drag Me to Hell (2009)
★★★½
23) Dream Home (2010)
★★★★
24) The Innkeepers (2011)
★★½
25) V/H/S (2012)
★★
26) V/H/S/2 (2013)
★★★
#15 - Phantom of the Opera (1925) (first time viewing) - 93 years later and I finally got the chance to watch the great Lon Chaney (with his self applied makeup) in his most famous role.
There are reports of a phantom that haunts the Paris Opera House. He watches every performance high above the main stage, and falls in love with a singer: Christina Daae. The phantom lures Christina into his subterranean lair where he professes his love for her. After she unmasks him, she is horrified by his grotesque face. He ultimately lets her go with the warning that he would kill her and her lover Raoul if she ever saw him again.
I have to say that I initially avoided watching this because I'm not the biggest fan of silent films. But then I loved The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu, so why not give this a shot? While I didnt love the movie, I definitely liked it. For me, the best part was the last 20 or so minutes where the Phantom is being pursued. Lon Chaney is great in this, and I have to imagine his horrific makeup was quite a sight to see back in the 1920s. Hell, it holds up even in 2018. For being almost 2 hours long, it moved along at a pretty brisk pace. The score throughout the film is great, but a little out of place in a few scenes.
Another one that I liked, but didn't love. However, I respect the hell out of this film for what it was able to accomplish in the early days of cinema.
7 garish red robes at a masquerade party (I watched the colored version) out of 10.
There are reports of a phantom that haunts the Paris Opera House. He watches every performance high above the main stage, and falls in love with a singer: Christina Daae. The phantom lures Christina into his subterranean lair where he professes his love for her. After she unmasks him, she is horrified by his grotesque face. He ultimately lets her go with the warning that he would kill her and her lover Raoul if she ever saw him again.
I have to say that I initially avoided watching this because I'm not the biggest fan of silent films. But then I loved The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu, so why not give this a shot? While I didnt love the movie, I definitely liked it. For me, the best part was the last 20 or so minutes where the Phantom is being pursued. Lon Chaney is great in this, and I have to imagine his horrific makeup was quite a sight to see back in the 1920s. Hell, it holds up even in 2018. For being almost 2 hours long, it moved along at a pretty brisk pace. The score throughout the film is great, but a little out of place in a few scenes.
Another one that I liked, but didn't love. However, I respect the hell out of this film for what it was able to accomplish in the early days of cinema.
7 garish red robes at a masquerade party (I watched the colored version) out of 10.
17. Murder Party (2007)
As someone who studied performance art and instillation art, this was a treat, this is a film that went 0 to 60 in the third act I loved it.
18. Tragedy Girls (2017)
Storm and Negasonic Teenage Warhead played serial killer best friends, this is indisputably gem #3. Similar humour to The Babysitter, this fi;m drips with sarcasm and it just wqorks, great performances from Shipp and Hildebrand here. Gore is solid to boot which is always nice. Just a fun film that twists the classic third act of a slasher move on its head.
19. Bite (2015)
I goddamn love body horror so part of me absolutely grooved to his, but it largely feels like a missed opportunity, human beings being transformed into bugs is kinda of a genre of film I love but sadly this transformation is largely still too humanoid (likely due to low budget). Characters are thin and in one case bordering on utter parody. The bug properties seemed to be kinda just things the writer makes up at any given moment because he wants to do something cool, the insect never feels like an insect ya know, no real cohesive design. The movie also absolutely falls apart in the third act and the ending is laughable and while poetic given its insect theme goofy and out of nowhere, That said some great visuals (especially for a low budget) and some good gore.
As someone who studied performance art and instillation art, this was a treat, this is a film that went 0 to 60 in the third act I loved it.
18. Tragedy Girls (2017)
Storm and Negasonic Teenage Warhead played serial killer best friends, this is indisputably gem #3. Similar humour to The Babysitter, this fi;m drips with sarcasm and it just wqorks, great performances from Shipp and Hildebrand here. Gore is solid to boot which is always nice. Just a fun film that twists the classic third act of a slasher move on its head.
19. Bite (2015)
I goddamn love body horror so part of me absolutely grooved to his, but it largely feels like a missed opportunity, human beings being transformed into bugs is kinda of a genre of film I love but sadly this transformation is largely still too humanoid (likely due to low budget). Characters are thin and in one case bordering on utter parody. The bug properties seemed to be kinda just things the writer makes up at any given moment because he wants to do something cool, the insect never feels like an insect ya know, no real cohesive design. The movie also absolutely falls apart in the third act and the ending is laughable and while poetic given its insect theme goofy and out of nowhere, That said some great visuals (especially for a low budget) and some good gore.
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10. IT (2017)
I don't think I'll be doing the miniseries for this challenge this year because that thing is just too lengthy and dry. I think this movie is pretty fun. It's got it's funny moments here and there but it's still able to get the more tense moments across pretty well. I also enjoy this version of Pennywise. He (or she, I guess. I was never clear on that) moves like a puppet that's being operated by something else that has a very general understanding of how humans work. It's really prevalent later on where the makeup of his body doesn't seem to factor into how he moves. His center of gravity and joints are changing constantly. It's a really nice detail that lends itself well to the character's mythos.
I don't think I'll be doing the miniseries for this challenge this year because that thing is just too lengthy and dry. I think this movie is pretty fun. It's got it's funny moments here and there but it's still able to get the more tense moments across pretty well. I also enjoy this version of Pennywise. He (or she, I guess. I was never clear on that) moves like a puppet that's being operated by something else that has a very general understanding of how humans work. It's really prevalent later on where the makeup of his body doesn't seem to factor into how he moves. His center of gravity and joints are changing constantly. It's a really nice detail that lends itself well to the character's mythos.
Haven't updated mine in a while, so I'll get the ones I didn't enjoy so much out of the way first.
The Conjuring is something I was expecting to love because I've read nothing but positive things about it online, but I found it to be pretty boring. It's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but nothing about it scared me or really made me think. I didn't care about any of the characters. Like... why didn't they just leave the house?
Same thing goes for The Babadook - was expecting my mind to be blown, but the movie just annoyed me more than anything. Yes, I know that "grief is the real monster" and it's all supposed to be psychological symbolism and whatnot, but I was just so bored.
The VVitch was pretty great. I'd say it's the movie I've enjoyed the most so far aside from Hereditary. I know that the slow buildup of tension isn't for everyone, but I loved it. The soundtrack was also pretty terrifying.
Insidious was another surprise for me. I thought I would dislike this movie, but it was actually one of the coolest concepts for a horror movie I've seen in a long time. There was some silliness a la The Conjuring, but this one actually had me on the edge of my seat.
List so far:
1. It Follows
2. Hereditary
3. Event Horizon
4. The Void
5. The Conjuring
6. The Babadook
7. Insidious
The Conjuring is something I was expecting to love because I've read nothing but positive things about it online, but I found it to be pretty boring. It's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but nothing about it scared me or really made me think. I didn't care about any of the characters. Like... why didn't they just leave the house?
Same thing goes for The Babadook - was expecting my mind to be blown, but the movie just annoyed me more than anything. Yes, I know that "grief is the real monster" and it's all supposed to be psychological symbolism and whatnot, but I was just so bored.
The VVitch was pretty great. I'd say it's the movie I've enjoyed the most so far aside from Hereditary. I know that the slow buildup of tension isn't for everyone, but I loved it. The soundtrack was also pretty terrifying.
Insidious was another surprise for me. I thought I would dislike this movie, but it was actually one of the coolest concepts for a horror movie I've seen in a long time. There was some silliness a la The Conjuring, but this one actually had me on the edge of my seat.
List so far:
1. It Follows
2. Hereditary
3. Event Horizon
4. The Void
5. The Conjuring
6. The Babadook
7. Insidious
Film 12 - Jigsaw
Well, that was a bit rubbish. Wall to wall plot holes and nonsense, with far too much detective work and far too little savagery. The traps were either unimaginative, or so insanely elaborate they would have taken an army to put them into place, and the gore was dull.
The twist at the end is pretty cool... until you think about it for a few moments and then it all collapses in a big steaming pile of its own stupidity.
Dire.
Films I've watched so far
Well, that was a bit rubbish. Wall to wall plot holes and nonsense, with far too much detective work and far too little savagery. The traps were either unimaginative, or so insanely elaborate they would have taken an army to put them into place, and the gore was dull.
The twist at the end is pretty cool... until you think about it for a few moments and then it all collapses in a big steaming pile of its own stupidity.
Dire.
Films I've watched so far
1. The Mummy (1932) (rewatch)
2. Extraordinary Tales (2013)
3. Justice League Dark (2017)
4. The Wicker Man (1973) (rewatch)
5. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
6. Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956)
7. It (2017)
8. mother! (2017)
9. The Void (2016)
10. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Slasher horror? Random bits of oddness? A tacky English dub? Yep, this is a Dario Argento movie alright.
2. Extraordinary Tales (2013)
3. Justice League Dark (2017)
4. The Wicker Man (1973) (rewatch)
5. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
6. Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956)
7. It (2017)
8. mother! (2017)
9. The Void (2016)
10. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Slasher horror? Random bits of oddness? A tacky English dub? Yep, this is a Dario Argento movie alright.
9. The Omega Man (1971) - A very loose adaptation of the book I Am Legend, with some fun creative choices. Instead of vampires, the villains are a cult of mutated chalk-faced goons who want to kill the last remnants of the technology age. The hero spends his days blowing them away with his machine-gun and his nights shrugging off their flaming catapult attacks. Its kind of cheesy and very 70's feeling, but I enjoyed it.
#10 Re-Animator (1985)
Mr. West, I suggest you find yourself a pen!
Well that was something. A deranged, camp comedy horror vaguely based on a Lovecraft story, Re-Animator follows Herbert West's attempts to reanimate the dead with his invented reagent. It starts with a test subject's face exploding and gets considerably sillier from there.
This was really just a delight, right up my alley. The non-existent budget leads to very creative gory effects of varying success. My favourite was the amazingly phony zombie cat, which wound up looking very similar to a stuffed toy I had as a little kid. By the time West's unwilling partner punts it across the room I was cracking up.
I imagine the over the top gore on display would have been shocking even in 1985 (at least for American audiences), as cartoonish as the gruesome antics are. But then there's the real drawing point: the script, which is full of great lines and dark gags. Of course, the big star is Herbert West himself, totally off his rocker without being constantly hammy, and capable of Blackadder-level disdain of all others. In short this film is
I recommend it to all in search of fun. In particular, if you enjoy the Evil Dead films, this is a must see.
Mr. West, I suggest you find yourself a pen!
Well that was something. A deranged, camp comedy horror vaguely based on a Lovecraft story, Re-Animator follows Herbert West's attempts to reanimate the dead with his invented reagent. It starts with a test subject's face exploding and gets considerably sillier from there.
This was really just a delight, right up my alley. The non-existent budget leads to very creative gory effects of varying success. My favourite was the amazingly phony zombie cat, which wound up looking very similar to a stuffed toy I had as a little kid. By the time West's unwilling partner punts it across the room I was cracking up.
I imagine the over the top gore on display would have been shocking even in 1985 (at least for American audiences), as cartoonish as the gruesome antics are. But then there's the real drawing point: the script, which is full of great lines and dark gags. Of course, the big star is Herbert West himself, totally off his rocker without being constantly hammy, and capable of Blackadder-level disdain of all others. In short this film is
I recommend it to all in search of fun. In particular, if you enjoy the Evil Dead films, this is a must see.
#6. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil - It was okay. Strong performance by the great Alan Tudyk, the rest, well.... It just felt like a joke extended much too far.
Apt description!
Left me conflicted too. Did you notice the lack of overbearing soundtrack? I think it was incredible as a mood setter, and the uneasy/unfamiliar feeling is fucking tense. Still... I don't know how I felt about that ending.
Never heard of this but I'm instantly interested, thanks for the write up!
New Zealanders have the magic touch with horror-comedy. What We Do In The Shadows and Braindead are my two favorites in that subgenre, with Housebound as a runner-up. I got to rewatch Black Sheep and check out The Frighteners
I have no idea what happened in Evolution or what its themes were beside "coming of age" but man...it sure was effectively unsettling. From the opening scene, it's the kind of movie where everything just feels off and wrong, and every new development piles on the discomfort. It's one of the few movies that really unsettled me, alongside The Witch, Hereditary, The Eyes of My Mother
- Godzilla (1954)
- Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
- King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
- Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster (1964)
- Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
- Son of Godzilla (1967)
- Destroy All Monsters (1968)
- All Monsters Attack (1969)
It's said that Ishiro Honda wasn't necessarily pleased with the direction TOHO took the Godzilla franchise, but he was a traditional Japanese "company man" and when asked to direct a Godzilla children's film on a shoe-string budget, he did it to the best of his ability. This one follows Ishiro, a bullied latchkey kid who dreams of Monster Island, where he befriends Minilla and learns to stick up for himself (foiling a pair of "50 million yen thieves" along the way). A new monster, Gabara, was developed for this film, and his fights with Minilla are the only original SFX footage in the movie; almost all the monster battles here are stock footage from Ebirah and Son of Godzilla. Gabara is a Monster Island "monsterification" of the bully tormenting Ishiro at school, and he is a unique monster to this film, and doesn't appear in any other Godzilla movie. Although the script is better than it ought to be and the film competently done, it's pure juvenalia and often considered the least of the Godzilla franchise...
#10. Poltergeist 3
This one draaaaaaaaged. It started off fairly interesting but then it was just people yelling each other's names for the last half hour and the ending comes so suddenly. I actually really liked the first part of this but damn if it didn't have NOWHERE to go in the second half. From the time carol anne gets dragged in it just dies.
4/10
Next up I think I'll finally finish off Halloween with the second rob zombie film. Also going to see the first Halloween in theatres for the first time which should be awesome!
This one draaaaaaaaged. It started off fairly interesting but then it was just people yelling each other's names for the last half hour and the ending comes so suddenly. I actually really liked the first part of this but damn if it didn't have NOWHERE to go in the second half. From the time carol anne gets dragged in it just dies.
4/10
Next up I think I'll finally finish off Halloween with the second rob zombie film. Also going to see the first Halloween in theatres for the first time which should be awesome!
Yea, it was a nice break from all the loud banging noises everywhere else. Definitely effective for what it was going for, especially in those moments where you know what's happening and why it's happening and you just want it to stop and everyone to go live a peaceful happy life.
That last shot was brutally cheesy though. Even thinking about it a day later I'm still not sure if they intended their audience to figure out their twist on their own. They were so blunt with it in the end.
#10. Red Dragon: A solid thriller. The Red Dragon story is a bit more interesting than Buffalo Bill but they'll never top Silence of the Lambs with these films. I will admit, I didn't think Fiennes was great in this role; not terrible either. I prefer Armitage's performance from the TV series.
Glad to see some positivity for this movie. I remember people not being that hot on it when it came out but I watched it a few months ago and loved it.
Thanks for mentioning it. I've put it on my watchlist. Apparently there's a shitty 2006 remake with Kristen Bell (and a Wes Craven screenplay)...
I'm a Kristen Bell stan so I may watch it one day :|
One of my favorite TV series is The Twilight Zone. I've seen every episode, even the hour-long Season 4 episodes. Some of my favorite episodes are "Nothing in the Dark", "Deaths Head Revisited" and "The Shelter". With that said, let's talk about:
9. Twilight Zone: The Movie: I'm bothered by the lack of a "The" in the title. A movie that recreates 3 different Twilight Zone episodes, but also improves upon them with higher production values, and changing various elements. 4-time featured actor Burgess Meredith is the narrator here (around the time of Rocky III). Also worth noting actors from the original TV series making appearances in Kick The Can and It's A Good Life.
Prologue: This is not how I expected a Twilight Zone movie to start. It's kind of a mini-episode in and of itself, complete with twist, but it's no Large Marge. It's nice that it's also a bookend to the movie.
Time Out: I assumed this was going to be A Quality of Mercy, but it's more of an original segment. A bitter man who hates Jews, blacks, and the Vietnamese winds up in their places. I don't feel this is as effective as Mercy, especially with the Nazi parts, as he doesn't understand why he's being shot at. He's not a Jew, slapping a patch on him doesn't change that. The KKK rally and Vietnam segments would be better, and this episode could have ended properly...if it wasn't for the tragic helicopter accident that killed the main actor and two children. Instead however, it's a darker ending that reminds me more of Tales From The Darkside.
Kick The Can: This segment keeps the spirit of the original, from the grumpy old man to old people turning to children again thanks to the magic of playing Kick The Can. But the segment doesn't stop there, and that's when this does better than the original episode.
It's A Good Life: I thought this was going to be The Hitch-Hiker at first. A segment that really shows off the enhanced production values and special effects. What also makes this different is Anthony's attitude. He has powers, but he's not entirely ruling with an iron fist. He's willing to take no for an answer, or be told he's wrong, but everyone is too terrified of him. It's more optimistic, but it misses the point of the original episode: that spoiled children will up running your life, but this one is a god.
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Changing things up by having John be in the middle of a nervous breakdown instead of us being informed of a previous one, as well as traveling alone. It's also much harder to see out onto the wing. The creature effect is much better than having some weird guy in a parka and face makeup. Also a better ending.
Overshadowed by tragedy, I find myself liking this, especially with some of these changes. I honestly feel it's overlooked.
Full list
9. Twilight Zone: The Movie: I'm bothered by the lack of a "The" in the title. A movie that recreates 3 different Twilight Zone episodes, but also improves upon them with higher production values, and changing various elements. 4-time featured actor Burgess Meredith is the narrator here (around the time of Rocky III). Also worth noting actors from the original TV series making appearances in Kick The Can and It's A Good Life.
Prologue: This is not how I expected a Twilight Zone movie to start. It's kind of a mini-episode in and of itself, complete with twist, but it's no Large Marge. It's nice that it's also a bookend to the movie.
Time Out: I assumed this was going to be A Quality of Mercy, but it's more of an original segment. A bitter man who hates Jews, blacks, and the Vietnamese winds up in their places. I don't feel this is as effective as Mercy, especially with the Nazi parts, as he doesn't understand why he's being shot at. He's not a Jew, slapping a patch on him doesn't change that. The KKK rally and Vietnam segments would be better, and this episode could have ended properly...if it wasn't for the tragic helicopter accident that killed the main actor and two children. Instead however, it's a darker ending that reminds me more of Tales From The Darkside.
Kick The Can: This segment keeps the spirit of the original, from the grumpy old man to old people turning to children again thanks to the magic of playing Kick The Can. But the segment doesn't stop there, and that's when this does better than the original episode.
It's A Good Life: I thought this was going to be The Hitch-Hiker at first. A segment that really shows off the enhanced production values and special effects. What also makes this different is Anthony's attitude. He has powers, but he's not entirely ruling with an iron fist. He's willing to take no for an answer, or be told he's wrong, but everyone is too terrified of him. It's more optimistic, but it misses the point of the original episode: that spoiled children will up running your life, but this one is a god.
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet: Changing things up by having John be in the middle of a nervous breakdown instead of us being informed of a previous one, as well as traveling alone. It's also much harder to see out onto the wing. The creature effect is much better than having some weird guy in a parka and face makeup. Also a better ending.
Overshadowed by tragedy, I find myself liking this, especially with some of these changes. I honestly feel it's overlooked.
Full list
DAY 18
The House with Laughing Windows: Ah, rural gialli. While they're generally not as well-known as the heavy hitters in the genre, there's something a bit cozier about them as they shy away from the stylistic excesses and ultraviolence and focus more on the atmosphere of strange little communities to go for something more understated and unsettling. As far as this film is concerned, it has a lot going for it with how strange this whole village seems, with all of the citizens getting their own bizarre little asides that gives them some depth even as one-off characters, and the deterioration of the buildings pairs very well with the marshy setting, almost as if the traces of humanity is being slowly wiped out. Even before the odd story kicks in, there's a lot going for the film, but the sense of hostility kicks into overdrive with the vaguely supernatural feel the story takes on with its tale of mad painters and missing persons, giving this giallo more of an outwardly horror feel than most tend to have. Throw in a soundtrack that wisely underscores the film rather than overpowering it, and there's a lot to like. It's unfortunate, then, that for all the great work it does with its atmospherics that the film seems to be lacking the narrative drive needed to take the film to the next level, and even feels like it's lazing about a little too much for its own good. The film can honestly feel very scattershot from scene to scene, and while it does occasionally fit the film's sense of disorientation as our bland hero dives further into a mystery he has no business uncovering, it's hard to get a feel for the stakes when the progression feels wobbly and can create situations where there are scenes where characters start hostile to one another for no reason and then get chummy yet again a shot later. Nothing new for fans of the genre, to be sure, but with this going for a low-key approach, such inconsistencies stick out more. The result is a film that has a lot of what I love for small town creep fests, but not enough meat on its bones to feel as much menace as it should. The film has the right look, no question there, but looks aren't everything.
God Told Me To: A horror film that Giorgio A. Tsoukalos would approve of! Larry Cohen has long made a career out of warping genres to his will, so this little mix of police procedural, science fiction and cultist horror is very much in that same wheelhouse. Unlike his other films, which tended to lean more into a bit of satire, this one plays it fairly straight and the jokes are kept at a minimum. There's a great deal of immediacy to the story, with it opening with a mass shooting and getting right into the investigation that takes our hero through other crimes that share the same MO, and combined with the documentary feel, there's quite the pep in its step as it navigates the early goings. Once we start getting closer to the truth of the mystery man and his origins, the film does slow down and start getting more exposition as to the how and why, though a crucial part of the mystery is kept under wraps for just a little bit longer. Where the story goes from there has me of two minds: on one hand, it's definitely not where anyone could have expected it to wind up at, which gives the film a nice bit of unpredictability and does up the stakes considerably, but on the other, it does perhaps promise something grander than the film's budget could ever allow for, leading to a final showdown that feels like it ran out of money to do anything more elaborate than falling debris, though a nasty little makeup effect does leave a mark. Up until that point, I do have to admire how much Cohen was able to pull off with the limited budget in terms of establishing and maintaining the scale of what he's setting out to accomplish, and as this is before he met up with Michael Moriarty and his particular brand of scenery chewing, you wind up with a solid cast that gives the material the proper dramatic weight without being overly serious. After all, there's only so much drama that can be mined from a scene in which a naked woman runs back out into the rain after already doing it once before! All in all, the film might be held back a little too much, but what is there is pretty darn solid and has an edge to it that I found to be missing in the other films I've seen of Cohen, which is definitely a positive in my books.
51 films remain, with the 80s coming up real soon!
The House with Laughing Windows: Ah, rural gialli. While they're generally not as well-known as the heavy hitters in the genre, there's something a bit cozier about them as they shy away from the stylistic excesses and ultraviolence and focus more on the atmosphere of strange little communities to go for something more understated and unsettling. As far as this film is concerned, it has a lot going for it with how strange this whole village seems, with all of the citizens getting their own bizarre little asides that gives them some depth even as one-off characters, and the deterioration of the buildings pairs very well with the marshy setting, almost as if the traces of humanity is being slowly wiped out. Even before the odd story kicks in, there's a lot going for the film, but the sense of hostility kicks into overdrive with the vaguely supernatural feel the story takes on with its tale of mad painters and missing persons, giving this giallo more of an outwardly horror feel than most tend to have. Throw in a soundtrack that wisely underscores the film rather than overpowering it, and there's a lot to like. It's unfortunate, then, that for all the great work it does with its atmospherics that the film seems to be lacking the narrative drive needed to take the film to the next level, and even feels like it's lazing about a little too much for its own good. The film can honestly feel very scattershot from scene to scene, and while it does occasionally fit the film's sense of disorientation as our bland hero dives further into a mystery he has no business uncovering, it's hard to get a feel for the stakes when the progression feels wobbly and can create situations where there are scenes where characters start hostile to one another for no reason and then get chummy yet again a shot later. Nothing new for fans of the genre, to be sure, but with this going for a low-key approach, such inconsistencies stick out more. The result is a film that has a lot of what I love for small town creep fests, but not enough meat on its bones to feel as much menace as it should. The film has the right look, no question there, but looks aren't everything.
God Told Me To: A horror film that Giorgio A. Tsoukalos would approve of! Larry Cohen has long made a career out of warping genres to his will, so this little mix of police procedural, science fiction and cultist horror is very much in that same wheelhouse. Unlike his other films, which tended to lean more into a bit of satire, this one plays it fairly straight and the jokes are kept at a minimum. There's a great deal of immediacy to the story, with it opening with a mass shooting and getting right into the investigation that takes our hero through other crimes that share the same MO, and combined with the documentary feel, there's quite the pep in its step as it navigates the early goings. Once we start getting closer to the truth of the mystery man and his origins, the film does slow down and start getting more exposition as to the how and why, though a crucial part of the mystery is kept under wraps for just a little bit longer. Where the story goes from there has me of two minds: on one hand, it's definitely not where anyone could have expected it to wind up at, which gives the film a nice bit of unpredictability and does up the stakes considerably, but on the other, it does perhaps promise something grander than the film's budget could ever allow for, leading to a final showdown that feels like it ran out of money to do anything more elaborate than falling debris, though a nasty little makeup effect does leave a mark. Up until that point, I do have to admire how much Cohen was able to pull off with the limited budget in terms of establishing and maintaining the scale of what he's setting out to accomplish, and as this is before he met up with Michael Moriarty and his particular brand of scenery chewing, you wind up with a solid cast that gives the material the proper dramatic weight without being overly serious. After all, there's only so much drama that can be mined from a scene in which a naked woman runs back out into the rain after already doing it once before! All in all, the film might be held back a little too much, but what is there is pretty darn solid and has an edge to it that I found to be missing in the other films I've seen of Cohen, which is definitely a positive in my books.
51 films remain, with the 80s coming up real soon!
#10 - Absentia
Everyone knows of director Mike Flanagan's other work (Oculus, Gerald's Game and soon The Haunting of Hill House) but Absentia doesn't seem to be nearly as popular. Combining atmosphere, subtlety, psychological horror and some Lovecraft influence, Absentia is probably the creepiest film of my marathon so far. Done on a budget of just $70k, this film isn't without some flaws but I found it hard to care while being captivated by such effective horror.
Everyone knows of director Mike Flanagan's other work (Oculus, Gerald's Game and soon The Haunting of Hill House) but Absentia doesn't seem to be nearly as popular. Combining atmosphere, subtlety, psychological horror and some Lovecraft influence, Absentia is probably the creepiest film of my marathon so far. Done on a budget of just $70k, this film isn't without some flaws but I found it hard to care while being captivated by such effective horror.
OP
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Another really late watch. I liked this a decent amount but I can't help but feel a bit let down. Don't take this as me meaning the film isn't good by any means because it is. I guess with Vincent Price in the cast and the general notoriety this has had over the years I just expected a bit more. At least this was a light watch as far as length.
I did love the score though.
????!!!
This was a bad choice to watch at 3 am. I expected a trashy mess of a film but I got whatever this was instead. This felt really arty, if not avant-garde at times which is the last thing I had expected. If I'm completely honest I even see shades of Let's Scare Jessica to Death here in terms of the atmosphere and aesthetics. I cannot believe.
Well, this was about as bad as I had remembered. Which is to say pretty bad.
Can't believe they fumbled this so badly. If any of these big horror remakes had room for more potential with the advancement in effects/technology it would've been this. By far my least favorite of the major horror remakes.
It's too bad we didn't get this cast in a film that wasn't trash. I love Rooney Mara and Jackie Earle Haley had potential as Freddy, just not as he's seen here. We live in the Bad timeline though and it wasn't meant to be. :(
This sure was a post-Scream early 00s slasher. You know what you're getting here.
I was pretty amused about the bit where the girl poured hot wax on the nasty guy's privates. It should be done to all people who take it upon themselves to behave like he did tbh.
Where does one even begin with this film? An absolutely wonderful piece of work whose influence knows no bounds.
Every time I get around to revisiting this (which is at least once a year, if not twice) I wonder if the impact of the film will have faded at all. As of yet, the answer remains a resounding No. I was feeling so tormented that by the time the penultimate sequence came around the audio desynced on my Shudder stream (I was too lazy to get up and put the blu-ray in tbh...) and I didn't notice until I heard the sound of shattering glass. If that isn't an endorsement of the effectiveness here, I don't know what is.
Beyond that, I love the southern rural aesthetics. I'm not an outdoorsy person but I can appreciate some outdoor cinematography in a film and this is some of, if not the best I've ever seen. Between that, the performances, effects, and sound design there's a lot of all time greats to be found.
Kinda just rambling away again but this is so good. If you haven't seen it yet, I don't know what you're waiting for. There's no time like the present.
So far so good being able to keep up. I've watched 9 movies so far, with a lot of first time watched movies.
My reviews will just be about what I thought of the movies rather than getting into too much detail as I don't want to spoil anything. * movies that I'm watching for the first time. Ratings are out of 5 ★★★★★.
1. The Prowler (1981)
★★1/2
It's an ok slasher movie, a bit cheesy and trying to cash in on the slasher craze of the 80s. Nothing really stands out, it was pretty average all around. Not much more to say.
2. The Car (1977)*
★★★
This was a fun movie, pretty much Jaws but in the desert. Hearing the awesome car horn was making me smile. Pretty silly movie but still an enjoyable film. For an old and what I imagine to be low budget the picture has aged very well. I would recommend it if you want some cheesy fun.
3. 31 (2016)*
★1/2
I like Rob Zombie movies, but this one wasn't my cup of tea. It lacked the charm of Devil's Rejects imo. The concept was cool, but having his wife in it kind of ruins any tension because you almost know
I also have Lords of Salem on my list, but I might change it out because this one really soured me on another Zombie movie this October.
4. House (1986)
★★★1/2
It's been a while since I last saw this, so it was almost like watching it for the first time. Nice mixture of horror and comedy. Love the music, it left a lasting impression as a kid and it was still great. This and American Werewolf in London have great use of music that really leave a lasting impression. Fun movie.
5. Holidays (2016)*
★★
This is hard to really rate because the different short stories being of varying quality. Overall I didn't care too much for the shorts. Don't have much more to add.
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)
★★
My least favorite of the TCM movies. Pretty bad all the way around. The family is not at all interesting and they don't even appear to be cannibals! Leatherface is pretty worthless as well. A lot of the film was just rehashing the first film. Skip this.
7. Mother's Day (1980)*
★★1/2
The movie was ok, but I it seemed heavily censored. A lot of the kills cut away and nothing was really gory was shown at all.
8. Happy Death Day (2017)*
★★★1/2
I really enjoyed this one, the movie was very entertaining and funny. My only complaint was that I wanted more creative kills, most were just standard stuff with minimal blood. I was really hoping for some graphic stuff here since they could really go nuts with it.
9. Terrifier (2017)*
★★★1/2
Well here I was complaining about lack of gore on the previous two films then I watch this. Wow, this thing is over the top, maybe a bit too much. I enjoyed the movie for what it was. I didn't mind the total lack of story because it was fun to watch the kills. I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough people to kill off, but they managed to squeezed in enough. Not for the feint of heart that's for sure.
My reviews will just be about what I thought of the movies rather than getting into too much detail as I don't want to spoil anything. * movies that I'm watching for the first time. Ratings are out of 5 ★★★★★.
1. The Prowler (1981)
★★1/2
It's an ok slasher movie, a bit cheesy and trying to cash in on the slasher craze of the 80s. Nothing really stands out, it was pretty average all around. Not much more to say.
2. The Car (1977)*
★★★
This was a fun movie, pretty much Jaws but in the desert. Hearing the awesome car horn was making me smile. Pretty silly movie but still an enjoyable film. For an old and what I imagine to be low budget the picture has aged very well. I would recommend it if you want some cheesy fun.
3. 31 (2016)*
★1/2
I like Rob Zombie movies, but this one wasn't my cup of tea. It lacked the charm of Devil's Rejects imo. The concept was cool, but having his wife in it kind of ruins any tension because you almost know
she won't be the first to die. You really expect her to be the last to die or be the heroine because he is obviously going to give her as much screen time as possible.
4. House (1986)
★★★1/2
It's been a while since I last saw this, so it was almost like watching it for the first time. Nice mixture of horror and comedy. Love the music, it left a lasting impression as a kid and it was still great. This and American Werewolf in London have great use of music that really leave a lasting impression. Fun movie.
5. Holidays (2016)*
★★
This is hard to really rate because the different short stories being of varying quality. Overall I didn't care too much for the shorts. Don't have much more to add.
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)
★★
My least favorite of the TCM movies. Pretty bad all the way around. The family is not at all interesting and they don't even appear to be cannibals! Leatherface is pretty worthless as well. A lot of the film was just rehashing the first film. Skip this.
7. Mother's Day (1980)*
★★1/2
The movie was ok, but I it seemed heavily censored. A lot of the kills cut away and nothing was really gory was shown at all.
8. Happy Death Day (2017)*
★★★1/2
I really enjoyed this one, the movie was very entertaining and funny. My only complaint was that I wanted more creative kills, most were just standard stuff with minimal blood. I was really hoping for some graphic stuff here since they could really go nuts with it.
9. Terrifier (2017)*
★★★1/2
Well here I was complaining about lack of gore on the previous two films then I watch this. Wow, this thing is over the top, maybe a bit too much. I enjoyed the movie for what it was. I didn't mind the total lack of story because it was fun to watch the kills. I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough people to kill off, but they managed to squeezed in enough. Not for the feint of heart that's for sure.
October 10, 2018
Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort
Synopsis: Danny and his friends head up into the West Virginian Hills to a resort spa that he just inherited. Unfortunately Three Finger, Saw Tooth, One Eye and their kin live around there too. The last thing they have is a relaxing fun time...
Review: Being a bit confused about the time line of the Wrong Turn films, I believe this a prequel to the first Wrong Turn, regardless of the fact that newer cell phones and gopros are featured in the film. I think the time line goes 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3. I probably should have watched them in this order. It would have made more sense. The movie, in my opinion, is better than 4 and 5. It still features younger people getting killed in brutal and creative ways but the plot with Danny and him inheriting the resort was an interesting twist. Again, like 4 and 5, the hillbillies are showcased as unstoppable, faster, smarter and stronger than regular people but the way this movie presented it was not as infuriating as Wrong Turn 5. The resort was a cool place to see and how the plot wrapped around that plus the woods made this far more interesting than the Asylum in 4 and Fair Lake in 5. After watching all six films, if anyone plans on making a seventh, I think it would be time to go back in time and deal with the history of the area and really see the events that unfolded that started the whole franchise. It would be a fresh take on the series.
- 6/10
Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort
Synopsis: Danny and his friends head up into the West Virginian Hills to a resort spa that he just inherited. Unfortunately Three Finger, Saw Tooth, One Eye and their kin live around there too. The last thing they have is a relaxing fun time...
Review: Being a bit confused about the time line of the Wrong Turn films, I believe this a prequel to the first Wrong Turn, regardless of the fact that newer cell phones and gopros are featured in the film. I think the time line goes 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3. I probably should have watched them in this order. It would have made more sense. The movie, in my opinion, is better than 4 and 5. It still features younger people getting killed in brutal and creative ways but the plot with Danny and him inheriting the resort was an interesting twist. Again, like 4 and 5, the hillbillies are showcased as unstoppable, faster, smarter and stronger than regular people but the way this movie presented it was not as infuriating as Wrong Turn 5. The resort was a cool place to see and how the plot wrapped around that plus the woods made this far more interesting than the Asylum in 4 and Fair Lake in 5. After watching all six films, if anyone plans on making a seventh, I think it would be time to go back in time and deal with the history of the area and really see the events that unfolded that started the whole franchise. It would be a fresh take on the series.
- 6/10
I felt very similar to this when I watched it a few years ago. The narrative just never seemed to really grab me, although I did like the ending.
I've been slacking a lot lately.
I went to see Halloween 1978 last night, seen it many times before but not on the big screen. Nice introduction from Carpenter before the film. It's a classic. Booked up to see Night of the Living Dead in two weeks, Evil Dead on 31st.
I'm really in the mood to watch The Thing now so I might watch that tonight.
I went to see Halloween 1978 last night, seen it many times before but not on the big screen. Nice introduction from Carpenter before the film. It's a classic. Booked up to see Night of the Living Dead in two weeks, Evil Dead on 31st.
I'm really in the mood to watch The Thing now so I might watch that tonight.
8.Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
The theaters around me censor R rated movies, so I'm skipping Shane Black's The Predator movie until it's out on digital. Instead I watched the first AvP movie last month with the Red Letter Media commentary. This month, I watched that one's sequel, AvP: Requiem. I think this is as close as we'll get to a true blue Alien vs Predator vs Space Marine movie we've all wanted. This one felt like a two steps forward, one step back to it's predecessor. The worst part was, of course, the human element. In this case, it's dumb slasher movie teenagers. Everything with them is garbo central.
But, the AvP action is on point. They went ahead and made it R rated this time, so there's plenty of gore. In the first AvP, the fights between the monsters were a joke. They felt like a WWF wrestling match. They totally fixed the predator in this, making him a true hunter. We get to see him find clues and set traps to clean up the fallout from the first movie. We get a little army action with National Guard troops, too. And the Pred-alien hybrid is responsible for a particularly rough impregnation scene that tickles certain fetishes, if you're into that sort of thing ;) However, the action can be a little too dark and dingy, making the fights at night hard to see. Like watching someone slap two glistening Bad Dragon dildos together in a sewer.
Previous entries:
1.Under the Skin
2.Hocus Pocus
3.Bone Tomahawk
4.Meet the Applegates
5.Venom
6.Signs
7.Fortress
The theaters around me censor R rated movies, so I'm skipping Shane Black's The Predator movie until it's out on digital. Instead I watched the first AvP movie last month with the Red Letter Media commentary. This month, I watched that one's sequel, AvP: Requiem. I think this is as close as we'll get to a true blue Alien vs Predator vs Space Marine movie we've all wanted. This one felt like a two steps forward, one step back to it's predecessor. The worst part was, of course, the human element. In this case, it's dumb slasher movie teenagers. Everything with them is garbo central.
But, the AvP action is on point. They went ahead and made it R rated this time, so there's plenty of gore. In the first AvP, the fights between the monsters were a joke. They felt like a WWF wrestling match. They totally fixed the predator in this, making him a true hunter. We get to see him find clues and set traps to clean up the fallout from the first movie. We get a little army action with National Guard troops, too. And the Pred-alien hybrid is responsible for a particularly rough impregnation scene that tickles certain fetishes, if you're into that sort of thing ;) However, the action can be a little too dark and dingy, making the fights at night hard to see. Like watching someone slap two glistening Bad Dragon dildos together in a sewer.
Previous entries:
1.Under the Skin
2.Hocus Pocus
3.Bone Tomahawk
4.Meet the Applegates
5.Venom
6.Signs
7.Fortress
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I'm going to see Halloween tonight! Can't wait to see it on the big screen for the first time as well
Yeah, the ending had some great imagery, even if it wasn't that out of left field with all the breadcrumbs the movie was leaving.
I'm not really participating because I really don't have the time to watch 31 horror movies over the course of a month, but I love following the thread to read impressions / reviews and find new recommendations.
I'm also in a horror mood this month, but so far I've only watched two horror movies:
1. The Wailing
I've been meaning to watch The Wailing for quite some time, but I had to convince my girlfriend to stick with it. Some of the overacting (some really bad crying scenes) and slapstick moments didn't work for us, but I absolutely loved everything else.
2. Veronica
Pretty decent horror flick. It's filled with cliches, but I found the first half of the movie to be executed well. I thought the quality dropped a bit in the second half, but maybe that's also because I didn't like some of the bad CG in some of the later scenes.
I'm also in a horror mood this month, but so far I've only watched two horror movies:
1. The Wailing
I've been meaning to watch The Wailing for quite some time, but I had to convince my girlfriend to stick with it. Some of the overacting (some really bad crying scenes) and slapstick moments didn't work for us, but I absolutely loved everything else.
2. Veronica
Pretty decent horror flick. It's filled with cliches, but I found the first half of the movie to be executed well. I thought the quality dropped a bit in the second half, but maybe that's also because I didn't like some of the bad CG in some of the later scenes.
Nice, enjoy! Felt so good seeing it at the cinema, even just the opening credits with the music. I've not seen much Carpenter at all on the big screen, going to see Escape From New York next month though and hopefully The Fog/They Live/Prince of Darkness if they get showings near me.
31 Days of Horror: #9 From Beyond the Grave
This final Amicus anthology film is also the weakest, unfortunately. The framing story, though not without its charms as Peter Cushing plays a knowing shop owner who gladly sells haunted items to greedy customers, feels more perfunctory than usual and doesn't have much of a payoff.
The stories are still solidly entertaining stuff, but they don't quite have the punch they need. The best story is one starring Donald Pleasance as an ex-military man who is reduced to hawking lighters on the street who attempts to befriend a man pretending to be in the military. Like many good anthology stories is isn't quick to reveal its hand, but takes its time in developing a twist that pulls the rug out from under you. First they have to put the rug under you in the first place for that to work, and this one does. The other stories all have their moments, although a humorous story involving a man with an invisible demon perched on his shoulder is both predictable and dull and the weak link of the bunch. The other two tales, on about a man with a ghostly mirror that commands him to kill, and a couple who install an antique door in their house that leads to a room that wasn't there before are both fairly good (the former, even though it's prefictable at least feels pretty grizzly with the handling of the murders). Even a lesser Amicus anthology is still a pretty a good time.
31 Days of Horror: #10 The Wicker Man (1973)
What happens when an unstoppable force meets and immovable object? A lot of weirdness, and none of it good.
The Wicker Man, made during the liberated 70's, is about the clash between old values and new (or even older, made new again). Rather than judge either the God-fearing police officer, who comes to the summer isle to search for a missing girl, or the Pagan residents of the island, the film judges both of them. Plenty of laughs are had at Sargent Howie's stiff personality and moral outrage, and the the townspeople...well, lets just say they've got problems of their own. This clash isn't just one of religion (Christianity vs Pagansim) but an entire way of life: education, sexuality, beurocratic structure, culture — all come under fire as Sargent Howie gets deeper in his investigation, and the broader scope keeps the film from being too narrowly polemic. The resolution to the mystery isn't in the least surprising in its outcome, indeed it feels entirely fatalistic, but it is surprising in how jarringly empty and absurd it feels, a stark contrast to the grandness of the scale.
If The Wicker Man mocks the idea of both stasis or progression, what is it even about? If anything, the eerie ending seems to imply that though empty in their value to the world around them, and absurd in their arbitrary nature, human culture and belief has a tremendous and lasting power over the minds of men. This is underscored not just by shocking acts of violence, but in the grandiosity of the creative dedication to concepts that only live in the minds of humanity (churches, graveyards,
Stonehenge, and wicker men), and the affecting folk music that pervades the film that literally brings the bodies of those who hear it to passionate movement and action. For all the frightening conflicts of strange belief the film plays up, its most chilling observation is that these sort of meaninglessly lethal clashes are as enduring and arbitrary as the beliefs and values we steadfastly hold on to.
This final Amicus anthology film is also the weakest, unfortunately. The framing story, though not without its charms as Peter Cushing plays a knowing shop owner who gladly sells haunted items to greedy customers, feels more perfunctory than usual and doesn't have much of a payoff.
The stories are still solidly entertaining stuff, but they don't quite have the punch they need. The best story is one starring Donald Pleasance as an ex-military man who is reduced to hawking lighters on the street who attempts to befriend a man pretending to be in the military. Like many good anthology stories is isn't quick to reveal its hand, but takes its time in developing a twist that pulls the rug out from under you. First they have to put the rug under you in the first place for that to work, and this one does. The other stories all have their moments, although a humorous story involving a man with an invisible demon perched on his shoulder is both predictable and dull and the weak link of the bunch. The other two tales, on about a man with a ghostly mirror that commands him to kill, and a couple who install an antique door in their house that leads to a room that wasn't there before are both fairly good (the former, even though it's prefictable at least feels pretty grizzly with the handling of the murders). Even a lesser Amicus anthology is still a pretty a good time.
31 Days of Horror: #10 The Wicker Man (1973)
What happens when an unstoppable force meets and immovable object? A lot of weirdness, and none of it good.
The Wicker Man, made during the liberated 70's, is about the clash between old values and new (or even older, made new again). Rather than judge either the God-fearing police officer, who comes to the summer isle to search for a missing girl, or the Pagan residents of the island, the film judges both of them. Plenty of laughs are had at Sargent Howie's stiff personality and moral outrage, and the the townspeople...well, lets just say they've got problems of their own. This clash isn't just one of religion (Christianity vs Pagansim) but an entire way of life: education, sexuality, beurocratic structure, culture — all come under fire as Sargent Howie gets deeper in his investigation, and the broader scope keeps the film from being too narrowly polemic. The resolution to the mystery isn't in the least surprising in its outcome, indeed it feels entirely fatalistic, but it is surprising in how jarringly empty and absurd it feels, a stark contrast to the grandness of the scale.
If The Wicker Man mocks the idea of both stasis or progression, what is it even about? If anything, the eerie ending seems to imply that though empty in their value to the world around them, and absurd in their arbitrary nature, human culture and belief has a tremendous and lasting power over the minds of men. This is underscored not just by shocking acts of violence, but in the grandiosity of the creative dedication to concepts that only live in the minds of humanity (churches, graveyards,
Stonehenge, and wicker men), and the affecting folk music that pervades the film that literally brings the bodies of those who hear it to passionate movement and action. For all the frightening conflicts of strange belief the film plays up, its most chilling observation is that these sort of meaninglessly lethal clashes are as enduring and arbitrary as the beliefs and values we steadfastly hold on to.
I watched The Fog (1980) and the opening credits show on screen for the first 12:03 seconds of the movie. The movie is only 1.5 hours long. It's ridiculous. The same thing happens with Prince of Darkness. The opening credits lasted 12 minutes. Must be a Carpenter thing. Holy shit it is annoying.
I love the drawn out credits, particularly in Prince of Darkness. Those two movies are all about atmosphere and those extended scene settings gradually build up the tone and world of the stories at the right pace. It's not like it's just a black screen of credits either, but they puncture the montage of the openings in a way that suggests "this is what you're in for: still want to go through with this?".
Prince of Darkness is easily his most prolonged credit sequence, quite notoriously, but his hold filmography is about protracted tension and playing with pace. Consider that Halloween is a horror movie where the protagonist doesn't even know she's in danger until the last fifteen minutes of the movie.
Prince of Darkness is easily his most prolonged credit sequence, quite notoriously, but his hold filmography is about protracted tension and playing with pace. Consider that Halloween is a horror movie where the protagonist doesn't even know she's in danger until the last fifteen minutes of the movie.
1. Wrong Turn (N)
2. Valentine (N)
3. Urban Legend (N)
4. Ghost Team One (N)
5. Constantine (R)
6. Monster House (R)
7. Warm Bodies (R)
8. Scream 2 (R)
9. Most Likely to Die (N)
10. Tragedy Girls (N)
11. The Windmill (N)
12. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (N)
13. The House on Sorority Row (N)
14. The Invisible Maniac (N)
15. Clown (N)
16. Halloween (R)
17. Ruin Me (N)
18. Hide and Go Shriek (n)
19. Hatchet (N)
20. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (NR)
21. Drag Me to Hell (N) - The name and poster made me think this was gonna be a frighteningly scary movie, then I saw it was from Raimi and adjusted my expectations accordingly. And it worked that way. Sometimes the movie was delightfully over the top and cheesy, and some of the characters were awful, but really enjoy the film. And the ending was bittersweet.
22. The Funhouse Massacre (N) - One of those movies I just picked because needed something to watch before bed that didn't have to pay attention to, but honestly ended up being surprised by this. One of those films that finds the happy medium between a silly premise (a bunch of escaped psychopaths start up a Halloween carnival in order to lure victims to them) and execution (that is in on the joke while taking it serious) that makes for an enjoyable ride. It does start to lose steam once all the characters are in on it, but it was a fun movie for the majority. And some pretty vicious and funny kills.
2. Valentine (N)
3. Urban Legend (N)
4. Ghost Team One (N)
5. Constantine (R)
6. Monster House (R)
7. Warm Bodies (R)
8. Scream 2 (R)
9. Most Likely to Die (N)
10. Tragedy Girls (N)
11. The Windmill (N)
12. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (N)
13. The House on Sorority Row (N)
14. The Invisible Maniac (N)
15. Clown (N)
16. Halloween (R)
17. Ruin Me (N)
18. Hide and Go Shriek (n)
19. Hatchet (N)
20. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (NR)
21. Drag Me to Hell (N) - The name and poster made me think this was gonna be a frighteningly scary movie, then I saw it was from Raimi and adjusted my expectations accordingly. And it worked that way. Sometimes the movie was delightfully over the top and cheesy, and some of the characters were awful, but really enjoy the film. And the ending was bittersweet.
22. The Funhouse Massacre (N) - One of those movies I just picked because needed something to watch before bed that didn't have to pay attention to, but honestly ended up being surprised by this. One of those films that finds the happy medium between a silly premise (a bunch of escaped psychopaths start up a Halloween carnival in order to lure victims to them) and execution (that is in on the joke while taking it serious) that makes for an enjoyable ride. It does start to lose steam once all the characters are in on it, but it was a fun movie for the majority. And some pretty vicious and funny kills.
The Howling
Something new: Werewolves
I'm really digging the dynamics of this something old, something new list and the werewolf section really brings to light just how much things have changed over the years. With Werewolf of London things were definitely a bit more subdued because of the age of the film, but the werewolf mythos didn't seem to be there. Like no silver bullets and no packs of them. The Howling is on the other extreme. We get werewolf meetings as if they were some weird Montana survivalist colony at their compound or something.
The other extreme was selling this with so much sex. I typically don't attribute anything but throat ripping violence to werewolves and I think vampires typically have more of a sexual vibe. However, we start off in the seedy red light district and end up watching a gang bang in the local smut house before being taken out to the orgy farm. It kind of worked rather well actually, but I would have liked a more one on one story we had with the werewolf in the smut place. That felt like a bit of Driller Killer and Taxi Driver. Once we get to the compound place, the vibe really changed a lot.
The effects were decent, but the transformation scenes went on far too long. I'm sitting there thinking to myself that if I were standing there watching a person transform like this in front of me that I wouldn't be standing there very long. Seems like they were locked in place while they changed so that would be an excellent time to make tracks.
All in all this was ok. I can't say I would ever revisit this one, but there a bunch of sequels I'll probably check out at some point.
This one gets three silver bullets to the face.
Something new: Werewolves
I'm really digging the dynamics of this something old, something new list and the werewolf section really brings to light just how much things have changed over the years. With Werewolf of London things were definitely a bit more subdued because of the age of the film, but the werewolf mythos didn't seem to be there. Like no silver bullets and no packs of them. The Howling is on the other extreme. We get werewolf meetings as if they were some weird Montana survivalist colony at their compound or something.
The other extreme was selling this with so much sex. I typically don't attribute anything but throat ripping violence to werewolves and I think vampires typically have more of a sexual vibe. However, we start off in the seedy red light district and end up watching a gang bang in the local smut house before being taken out to the orgy farm. It kind of worked rather well actually, but I would have liked a more one on one story we had with the werewolf in the smut place. That felt like a bit of Driller Killer and Taxi Driver. Once we get to the compound place, the vibe really changed a lot.
The effects were decent, but the transformation scenes went on far too long. I'm sitting there thinking to myself that if I were standing there watching a person transform like this in front of me that I wouldn't be standing there very long. Seems like they were locked in place while they changed so that would be an excellent time to make tracks.
All in all this was ok. I can't say I would ever revisit this one, but there a bunch of sequels I'll probably check out at some point.
This one gets three silver bullets to the face.
So as part of my movie marathon I watched Halloween for the first time. The movie was overall as great as I expected it to be! Campy, but very eerie with a good slow burn to it.
But something really stuck out to me and my girlfriend. During the scene where the boyfriend and another girl arrive at the other house in a truck they're flirting a bit, the boyfriend makes a offhanded joke about ripping off Lindsay's clothing after ripping off the girlfriends clothes. I wasn't paying too much attention and processed that as "the other babysitter", he's just jokingly suggesting a threesome he won't get. But then later in the film I realized Lindsay was the child being babysit. What the fuck? For a movie as highly regarded as Halloween I feel this line REALLY stuck out and felt odd to me. Horror films typically tread a dark line of edgy humor and content, but I feel like off handed jokes about child molestation in a generic slasher film are a bit much even for this genre. The only thing I can think of is they messed up the name in the line reading and no one really caught it before the final cut or something? I even tried watching the commentary track to see if John Carpenter would comment on it, but no dice. Did anyone else notice this?
But something really stuck out to me and my girlfriend. During the scene where the boyfriend and another girl arrive at the other house in a truck they're flirting a bit, the boyfriend makes a offhanded joke about ripping off Lindsay's clothing after ripping off the girlfriends clothes. I wasn't paying too much attention and processed that as "the other babysitter", he's just jokingly suggesting a threesome he won't get. But then later in the film I realized Lindsay was the child being babysit. What the fuck? For a movie as highly regarded as Halloween I feel this line REALLY stuck out and felt odd to me. Horror films typically tread a dark line of edgy humor and content, but I feel like off handed jokes about child molestation in a generic slasher film are a bit much even for this genre. The only thing I can think of is they messed up the name in the line reading and no one really caught it before the final cut or something? I even tried watching the commentary track to see if John Carpenter would comment on it, but no dice. Did anyone else notice this?