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12. Wake in Fright - Amazon Prime A nicer Deliverance by way of the Australian Outback. Instead of hillbillies out to get the city slickers, here they're all too friendly and willing to include him in their activities. Here the city slicker in question is John Grant, a schoolteacher who's being forced to work in a small outback community as part of his program (presumably to pay for his college). On his way to take a trip he gets caught up with some locals in the town where he's catching his flight. It does get a bit trippy later to mirror the increased drunkenness of John and you do lose a sense of time and place. Overall a pretty good, at times very intense, watch. Watched so far: 1. Creepy (Amazon Prime) 2. The Platform (Netflix) 3. The Fury of the Demon (Amazon Prime) 4. Bliss (Shudder) 5. In The Tall Grass (Netflix) 6. Parasite (Hulu) 7. Color out of Space (Hoopla) 8. The Lighthouse (Amazon Prime) 9. Gozu (Amazon Prime) 10. Exorcist III (Shudder) 11. One Cut of the Dead (Shudder) 12. Wake in Fright (Amazon Prime)
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Apr 27, 2020 15:56
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 10. Slithis, 2/5 A nuclear leak creates a mutant Slithis sea monster, which terrorizes the variety of pets, winos, and hippies who hang around Venice, California. The EIC of a high school newspaper wanders around Venice in increasingly embarrassing mid-life crisis outfits, harassing the locals with his insatiable interest in "dead things." I laughed a lot but was also pretty high so your mileage may vary.  11. Lords of Chaos, 4/5 A teenager’s quest to launch Norwegian Black Metal in Oslo in the 1990s results in a very violent outcome. I see a lot of people on Letterboxd comparing this movie to "Goodfellas" and that feels extremely wrong to me. This movie's closest living relatives are "In Cold Blood" and "This is Spinal Tap." This movie doesn't care about Black Metal, and that's fine, because it cares about its idiot, edgelord characters instead. Euronymous and Varg are both extremely compelling, and their slow transformations are made all the more believable by Rory Culken and Emory Cohen's performances. The movie is at times shocking, sad, and hilarious, and every emotional shift feels earned and appropriate. This might not fit the bill as a horror movie specifically, but I watched it because of the Evolution of Horror podcast so take it up with Michael Muncer.  12. Bloodsucking Freaks, 3/5 Sardu, master of the Theatre of the Macabre, and his assistant Ralphus run a show in which, under the guise of ‘magic’, they torture and murder people in front of their audience. But what the punters see as a trick is actually real. I wasn't sure what this movie was before I watched it, and now having seen it I'm still not entirely sure. It's repellent but never tedious, and there's just enough craft that I can't dismiss it outright. This movie occasionally does interesting things with light in between scenes of torture and cannibalism, and I often found myself leaning forward even though I actively disliked what was on the screen. I'll give it three stars for the S&M dwarf with a taste for eyeballs. Now let us never speak of it again. I blame you, Chris Jericho.
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Apr 27, 2020 16:36
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Franchescanado posted:22. Blade These, these are great writeups. Franchescanado posted:3 From Hell is actually really good, and justifies itself pretty well. Continues the themes of The Devil's Rejects, including how the Fireflies just somehow keep perpetuating mayhem, but manages to feel more fun and slightly less brutal than The Devil's Rejects. In a year of good horror, 3FH was a stand-out in 2019. This, I cannot abide.
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Apr 27, 2020 16:45
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 Prometheus I hope everyone had a good Alien Day. I decided to do some rewatches in "chronological" order, that is, following the in-universe timeline of these films. As expected, no major revelations were to be had really, because as we all know Ridley Scott never intended to come back to Alien and do two further sequels. Still, it's an enjoyable experience to mix up the order of a series like this once in a while. The main draw of Prometheus(and Covenant) that keeps me coming back is David's psychology. By the end of the two films, his motivations are clear, but he is still somewhat of an enigma because there's never a moment where he just lays it all out for the audience. You have to put the pieces together based on the things he says and the actions he takes throughout the films. It's a puzzle that I enjoy putting together, taking apart, and putting together again in a slightly different way just for the hell of it. The main takeaway on David here is that he has contempt for humans. His programming requires him to do certain things, but he does them in a way that further his own goal. There are many scenes that make clear David's disdain for humanity, although only one really comes close to spelling out why: Holloway: What we hope to achieve is to meet our makers. To get answers. Why they even made us in the first place. David: Why do you think you're people made me? Holloway: we made you because we could David: Can you imagine how disappointing it would be to hear the same thing from your creator?  Alien: Covenant When the film was first released I think a lot of people were a bit confused by the opening scene. Really though, when you look at both films side by side, the opener of Covenant is one of the most direct continuations you're likely to find in a sequel. It answers one of the biggest unanswered questions from Prometheus: why did David do this? What made him this way? It's crazy to think about the amount of information David is asked to absorb in his first five minutes of life. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to have those kind of heavy revelations dropped on you all at once like that. I was created by a human, a man who has a very limited lifespan and yet is spending most of it pursuing a question I, a being that has existed for five minutes, already knows the answer to. And this arrogant prick wants me to serve him tea. And then as time goes on David interacts with more humans and finds that most of them are exactly like Weyland. Holloway is just further confirmation that yes, humans really are that self-centered and stupid. 1. Leprechaun 4: In Space 2. Leprechaun In The Hood 3. Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood 4. The Uncanny 5. Rockula 6. Come To Daddy 7. Cast A Deadly Spell 8. In The Tall Grass 9. Pet Sematary(2019) 10. Pet Sematary(1989) 11. The Wind 12. VFW 13. Piranha 14. Jaws 4: The Revenge 15. Deep Star Six 16. Underwater 17. Antrum 18. MosquitoMan 18. Prometheus 19. Alien: Covenant
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Apr 27, 2020 17:00
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 84 (103). The Omen (2006) Directed by John Moore, Written by David Seltzer. Watched on Starz, also available on DirectTV. Faithful remake of the ’79 classic about an American ambassador who discovers that his adopted son may in fact be the son of the devil. Apparently this was SUCH a copy of the original that the WGA refused to give credit to the screenplay writer and instead gave it to Seltzer, the writer of the original. This feels a lot like Gus Van Sant’s Psycho, although a bit better. Van Sant’s felt “soulless” to me and more like a school project assigned than someone someone was really excited to make. Just something they were doing as an experiment or assignment or whatever. This feels more like Moore was trying to make a good movie, and he didn’t make a bad movie. But the problem is of course that its nearly an exact remake of a great movie so… what was the point? I guess if you hate the look of older films maybe this will appeal to you. And unlike Psycho this has a strong cast who does a good job with their adaption of the story. Live Schreiber can’t really hold a candle to Gregory Peck but he does a solid job. And if nothing else I gotta give credit to casting Mia Farrow as the satanic nanny. I mean… that’s loving inspired. Kudos. The one notable difference is that Julia Stiles is given more to do and a bigger role as Damien’s adopted mother. Which I welcomed because I’ve always liked her and I thought it would be good to add that element so it wasn’t all on Schreiber to carry the way Peck did. And I think she does a good job, but ultimately it doesn’t really add much to the film. Although I admit that at this stage I’m not sure what I can remember from each sequel of the film and if I’m not inverting some of Faye Grant’s concerned mother form Omen IV with the original or what. Like some of Stiles’ role feels like a repeat of Grant’s so it might be further apart from the original than I’m giving it credit for. What it comes down to is that this movie is perfectly fine IF you’ve never seen any Omen before it. And hopefully if you have seen some Omens before it you’ve seen the original since that’s the only good one. But It doesn’t improve on enough or do near enough different to be worth it unless you’re just really opposed to the 1970s film quality. Which I guess some people are so its not all bad. Mostly I’m annoyed because I went and left all these last sequels/remakes for so late in the month so I’m having to pack them all in when I’m a bit burned out and would prefer to be watching some of the other random films I’ve noticed from other people’s reviews. But no one to blame but myself, including for the obsessive “need” to stay on task instead of just abandoning it.  85 (104). Black Sunday (1960) Directed by Mario Bava, written by Ennio de Concini and Mario Serandrei (with uncredited contributions by Bava, Marcello Coscia and Dino Di Palma). Watched on Kanopy. The witch Asa Vadja is put to death by her brother in 1630 but vows revenge against her brother and all his descendants and waits 200 years until she is awakened and begins her vendetta for revenge and to claim a new life for herself at the cost of the princess Katia. I needed that. After so many 21st century films, and recent Hollywood films, and not so great sequels its as really a pleasure to see this foreign, 60s, gothic b&w film. That’s so crazy for me to say because a couple of years ago I was the exact opposite. I avoided these older films and was heavily focused on those recent films and recognizable franchises. Its a big part of what sent me down on my road to the 100 Years thing to fill holes and broaden my views and I didn’t really know how it would turnout. Going into last October I was worried that it was too much of the old stuff and I’d burn out, but not only did I not burn out but I was really sad when I was finishing up. And here I am actively excited to get something that used to be so far outside my comfort zone to break things up. That probably means nothing to you guys but its so cool for me. Despite all I just said Bava’s Black Sabbath has long been one of my favorite horror movies so I was pretty confident this one would work for me and it didn’t disappoint. Its probably less notable than it was at the time where it was apparently very ingenious in ways and gruesome for the time and Bava making a huge splash. It probably loses a lot of that with time but its still just a great little gothic witchcraft and satanism story. I love the setting and mode and tone. I think Barbara Steele is absolutely mesmerizing in the dual role as both witch and victim and steals the movie from the get go. Really, I was enchanted by her as much as the characters in the film were and can see why this sparked her career as well as Bava’s. I’ve made the decision that my October goal will be 31 foreign films to try and fill a lot of my holes, especially in Italian horror. So I very nearly skipped this one to save it for then, but I’m really glad I didn’t. I always save way too many tv shows, movies, books, video games, and whatever for “later” and never get there because the list gets too big. In this case I just needed a change of pace and was avoiding another sequel but in general I gotta just embrace watching things in the moment instead of saving them. Even this month there’s still a bunch of movies I’ve saved all month and probably won’t get to all of them. Its a character flaw I need to work on.
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Apr 27, 2020 17:16
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Timby posted:These, these are great writeups. Wait are you saying every review needs to be a proper 5-paragraph essay?
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Apr 27, 2020 17:43
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COOL CORN posted:Wait are you saying every review needs to be a proper 5-paragraph essay? Nah I think they're just not a fan of 3 From Hell. It's understandable, it's pure-strain Rob Zombie and not everyone can handle it.
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Apr 27, 2020 17:56
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Basebf555 posted:Nah I think they're just not a fan of 3 From Hell. Oh that's a fair point.
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Apr 27, 2020 17:58
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Last chance for a weekend catch-up post. #14. Chopping Mall (Shudder w/ Joe Bob Briggs) A trio of security robots go haywire and start killing teenagers partying in a mall after-hours. I don't know if Chopping Mall is the exact right film for the Joe Bob-style interludes, or the exact wrong one. The film is kind of slight, but it has a weird sense of forward momentum that doesn't want to let up once it gets going. It doesn't benefit the film to pause for long, let alone long enough for Joe Bob to take 10 minutes to wax laconic about director Jim Wynorski and his career in Skinemax flicks. As for the movie itself, it's dumb fun and little else. It's got big goofy robots and teenagers taking their clothes off and a couple of people die in creatively grotesque ways, the end. You pretty much get what you expect and next to nothing else. It's great background noise when you're feeling blah or need something late at night to just be on; I don't know that it benefits from being your main focus of attention, which Joe Bob's insertions kind of force it to be.  /5 #15. Paranormal Activity 2 (Epix via YouTube TV) The prequel to the first movie - an unseen entity haunts a suburban home, appearing to focus on the newborn baby boy. Everything is captured by conveniently set cameras. I dunno, I'm not a fan of "found footage" films and the Paranormal Activity series seems to make a lot of hay out of not much happening. There's only so long that I can wait tensely for something to happen before I start getting bored of nothing happening yet. And then when stuff DOES start to happen, it's either all offscreen or it's poo poo like pans falling down or lights flickering or other dumb, not spooky poo poo. The last 15 minutes or so end up working as a contained short film; I can't really recommend the preceding 70+. /5 #16. Crawl (Epix via YouTube TV) During a massive hurricane, a young swimmer and her estranged father are trapped in a flooding house with some hungry alligators. Lean, mean, and smart enough to know not to overstay its welcome, this is better than you'd expect based on the logline. In fact, the only thing that holds it back from greatness is that director Alexandre Aja maybe makes it too mean; I don't know if there's a need to see the one generic no-name deputy get vivisected into like 6 sections, or what happens to the rear end in a top hat teen thieves. The film is better about making you feel the pain and violence for the named characters, and making it seem meaningful. (Also, that was one of the gnarliest bone-setting scenes I've ever seen.) It's in the margins where everything starts to unravel. I knew Aja could be kind of a hateful prick when it comes to filmed violence, so I should have expected this, I guess. I just think giving him free reign to rip people apart for "entertainment" ends up undercutting the whole enterprise. There's a surprising dearth of good "alligators on the loose" movies out there; this is probably one of the best ones around, but I still don't know if I can recommend it without feeling a little icky about it. /5 #17. Alien: Covenant (HBO Go) The spaceship Covenant follows a strange signal to an unknown, empty planet, where they find bizarre life forms... and David, the crazy android from the last film. Eventually a proper Alien appears to allay fan concerns that the last movie was too cerebral and boring. An over-correction to fan complaints about the last movie, this one ups the gore and the intensity, but muddles the themes and thoughts that drove the last one. Say what you will about Prometheus, but you could tell that Ridley Scott was engaged with the material; I don't know that you could say that about Covenant. I see a lot more contempt for the source and for the concept in this than I saw the first time around; how else can you read turning the fascinating cypher of David from the first movie into a generic mad scientist/slasher mash-up in the second? There's some well-shot imagery in here, and most of the cast is still game, but I lump this in with most other generic, soulless Alien ripoffs. The idea that it came from the series' originator is still kind of mind-blowing years later. /5Watched so far: April Fool's Day (1986), Howl (2015), The Mummy's Tomb, Demonic Toys, The Exorcist III, Victor Frankenstein, Varan the Unbelievable, Critters 2, Warlock, Hellboy: Blood and Iron, Doom: Annihilation, Evil Bong, Piranha (1978), Chopping Mall, Paranormal Activity 2, Crawl, Alien: Covenant
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Apr 27, 2020 18:10
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Basebf555 posted:Nah I think they're just not a fan of 3 From Hell. Yeah, agreed. But for someone who likes The Devil's Rejects, Three From Hell is a safe recommendation.
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Apr 27, 2020 18:22
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Jedit posted:I like to think that in his spare time Pinhead has a gig as a stand-up comedian where he does nothing but rag on Jesus. Mel Gibson: "Hold my beer." I'd say the Passion is more horrific than anything in a Hellraiser movie.
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Apr 27, 2020 20:03
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PeterCat posted:Mel Gibson: "Hold my beer." Well, Jesus definitely wept.
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Apr 27, 2020 20:27
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47. Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (2018) Antrum is a movie that I don't want to say much about, but I NEED to say something about. It's the worst kind of movie. There are some films that are smug, or insistent upon how good or scary they are - a lot of found footage films are like that, for example. But Antrum isn't just smug about it, its entire conceit is that it's "the deadliest movie ever made". If I were making a movie and wanted to try and pull that kind of stunt, I would first make sure that my movie was at least GOOD. Instead, we get a cheap, amateurish art school project film that's trying to be some eastern European knock off of The Wicker Man and The Blair Witch Project, but with none of the nuance that makes either of those films interesting. Honestly, the only good thing I can say is about the before/after "documentary" wrapper parts. That's the only reason I gave this 1 star instead of 0.5. Those wrapper parts at least had me intrigued, before the actual "film" started, in all its fake-vintage-effects glory. Seriously, if you're going to do fake 70s effects, at least remember to apply them to all the scenes. Most of the scenes looked like they were filmed on modern cameras with a cheap Instagram filter applied to them. And then there's the credits. Why are they 1/3 in English, 1/3 in Russian and 1/3 in Hungarian? Some of the credits mix Latin and Cyrillic alphabets mid-word! Like, show A LITTLE attention to detail. Agh, I'm so mad that I wasted 90 minutes watching this. 1/5 48. Murder Death Koreatown (2020)  I loved this film. THIS is how you make a good, compelling, low/no budget found-footage horror movie. As far as I understand, this is based on a real life murder, but the fictional part comes in with the way the filmmaker becomes obsessed with it, and begins picking at conspiracy strings that aren't there (or are they??). As the strings unravel, so does his own grasp on what is or isn't real, until things reach a boiling point at the end. Yes, this does the same "this is real found footage!" trope that Antrum did (and I hated that movie), but it seems to come by it much more honestly in MDK. The found footage trope is what makes this a compelling viewing, it's not simply tacked on for publicity or street cred or whatever. All of the acting was surprisingly natural, to the point that I'm still questioning how much of it was scripted, and how much was shot in some semi-guerilla format. There were some stretches of logic that didn't work so well, and some parts that came off a little hokey (the "old" woman in the car seemed like a subpar actor), but all in all this is absolutely worth a rent. I recommend it. 4.5/5 49. Overlord (2018)  This is the closest thing I could possibly imagine to a Wolfenstein movie. It's got it all - one dimensional characters, video game cut scene-style cinematography, weird mutants made by an evil scientist in a lab. But don't get me wrong, I say all of those things with affection! Overlord is a very fun popcorn flick. It stays engaging and tense the entire way through, and has some of the wildest practical effects I've seen in a while. Recommended for a Friday night. 3.5/5 Watched so far: 1. Zombie (1979) / 2. Frankenstein (1931) / 3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) / 4. Basket Case (1982) / 5. Carrie (1976) / 6. Audition (1999) / 7. Creepshow (1982) / 8. Cannibal Holocaust (1980) / 9. Daniel Isn't Real (2020) / 10. Popcorn (1991) / 11. Matango (1963) / 12. Raw (2016) / 13. Men Behind The Sun (1988) / 14. Freaks (1932) / 15. Island of Lost Souls (1932) / 16. Hagazussa (2017) / 17. Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole (1988) / 18. The Mummy (1932) / 19. The Old Dark House (1932) / 20. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / 21. American Mary (2012) / 22. The Invisible Man (1933) / 23. The New York Ripper (1982) / 24. The Head Hunter (2018) / 25. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) / 26. The Wailing (2016) / 27. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) / 28. The Hunt (2020) / 29. Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) / 30. Friday the 13th (2009) / 31. Amer (2009) / 32. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) / 33. A Bucket of Blood (1959) / 34. Demons (1985) / 35. Creepshow 2 (1987) / 36. All the Colors of Giallo (2019) / 37. Human Lanterns (1982) / 38. Bay of Blood (1971) / 39. Tenebre (1982) / 40. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) / 41. Opera (1987) / 42. Brain Damage (1988) / 43. Deathgasm (2015) / 44. The Lighthouse (2019) / 45. Maniac (1980) / 46. 3615 code Père Noël (1989) / 47. Antrum (2018) / 48. Murder Death Koreatown (2020) / 49. Overlord (2018)
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Apr 27, 2020 20:42
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 129) Robert - 2015 - Prime Since I'm familiar with the story of the real Robert the Doll from Florida, I figured to give this a go and see how it was. After all, the story of Robert was allegedly one of the inspirations Don Mancini used in creating Chucky. I've coughed up scarier stuff than this movie. Common sense says if you're making a creepy doll film, you have to present a respectable amount of creepy doll stuff. Instead, too much time's spent on the drama between the husband and wife. The design for Robert is clearly in Annabelle style which makes you wonder why anyone would want this around their kid in the first place. Brahms: The Boy 2 did a better job of things than this film does. This is definitely skippable.  130) Drive Thru - 2007 - Prime This wasn't so much bad, but more with just a little effort and tweaks here and there, it could've been great cheese. Instead, it's just decent cheese. Story centers around the Hella Burger fast food restaurant where the mascot, Horny the Clown is on a killing spree targeting a specific group of teenagers. I liked it, it was clear they were having fun with the concept and taking advantage of just how ridiculous things of this sort are in slasher films. This is one of those that calls for some good beer and friends to have a laugh with.
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Apr 27, 2020 21:11
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Woohoo, 50 movies 50. White Zombie (1932)  Short review for a short film - somebody said that the lighting and Bela's acting carry this film, and that's exactly true. Watch it for that and not much else. It's a fun little movie that I'm sure was a lot more frightening to 1930s audiences, but it's still interesting to see the pre-Romero concept of "zombies". The transitions are buckwild, those are pretty impressive for what I'm assuming is hand-cut and filmed transitions. Watched so far: 1. Zombie (1979) / 2. Frankenstein (1931) / 3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) / 4. Basket Case (1982) / 5. Carrie (1976) / 6. Audition (1999) / 7. Creepshow (1982) / 8. Cannibal Holocaust (1980) / 9. Daniel Isn't Real (2020) / 10. Popcorn (1991) / 11. Matango (1963) / 12. Raw (2016) / 13. Men Behind The Sun (1988) / 14. Freaks (1932) / 15. Island of Lost Souls (1932) / 16. Hagazussa (2017) / 17. Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole (1988) / 18. The Mummy (1932) / 19. The Old Dark House (1932) / 20. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / 21. American Mary (2012) / 22. The Invisible Man (1933) / 23. The New York Ripper (1982) / 24. The Head Hunter (2018) / 25. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) / 26. The Wailing (2016) / 27. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) / 28. The Hunt (2020) / 29. Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) / 30. Friday the 13th (2009) / 31. Amer (2009) / 32. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) / 33. A Bucket of Blood (1959) / 34. Demons (1985) / 35. Creepshow 2 (1987) / 36. All the Colors of Giallo (2019) / 37. Human Lanterns (1982) / 38. Bay of Blood (1971) / 39. Tenebre (1982) / 40. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) / 41. Opera (1987) / 42. Brain Damage (1988) / 43. Deathgasm (2015) / 44. The Lighthouse (2019) / 45. Maniac (1980) / 46. 3615 code Père Noël (1989) / 47. Antrum (2018) / 48. Murder Death Koreatown (2020) / 49. Overlord (2018) / 50. White Zombie (1932)
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Apr 27, 2020 21:48
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Basebf555 posted:Nah I think they're just not a fan of 3 From Hell. Yeah, it's this. Rob Zombie's directorial work leaves me completely cold and I have a hard time rolling with it.
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Apr 27, 2020 22:27
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 86 (105). The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith. Watched on SyFy but available everywhere. Seymour’s whole life turns around when he grafts a new plant that is a huge hit with everyone. He gets praise and the girl. But he discovers the plant can talk and has an insatiable bloodlust. I read on Wiki that this was packaged as a double feature with Black Sunday back in ’60, and still wanting to avoid bad sequels a bit and never having seen this version I decided I was gonna embrace my new “watch what I feel like watching instead of scheduled” philosophy. Plus I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Roger Corman film. How’s that for another hole? And sure enough this was an absolute delight. I’m sitting there just enjoying the play stage banter and sharp wit when out of nowhere Dick Miller is eating carnations. And holy gently caress, is that Jack Nicholson? Woah. Listening to him sound exactly the same as he’d become famous for was thrilling for some reason. There was just so much delightful randomness up and down with this thing. The cops. Leonora Clyde Seymour’s mom. It was just nonstop silliness and fun and absolutely great. I started watching on Prime but the quality was pretty terrible. I considered gambling on Kanopy having a high standard but I wanted to save my borrows just in case. But I checked out a bunch of other places and settled SyFy as a good looking copy that wasn’t weirdly a different length, even if it came with a few commercials. Why knows if I chose right? Really, just an absolutely great watch and a very deserving cult classic. I don’t know if I like it more or less than the musical version but I really think they’re two such completely different films that I’ll probably end up enjoying them equally after I watch this a few more times. And at a 72 minute running time its such an easy movie to just pop on and breeze through. “I’ve got to get home, my wife’s making gardenias for dinner.”  87 (106). The Love Witch (2016) Written and directed by Anna Biller. Watched on Prime, also available on Kanopy, Vudu, Shudder, and others. Elaine is a witch who uses her potions and powers to draw men in to find her perfect love. But things tend to go bad, partially because she’s not great at the magic and partially because… you know… men suck. You know there was this girl in college who was really cool and sexy but then this one time she was like “lets go hang out at the Renaissance Fair, you can throw knives and eat big pieces of meat and drink ale” and I was like “ok” but then there was these friends of hers there and singing and some weird stuff. I wonder if she was a witch or just a huge nerd. I tried really hard to engage with my sequel and I got like 20 minutes in and was just totally out of it. So gently caress it, lets go with whatever takes my interest and for whatever reason this one did. Its been on my long list for awhile. Its very stylish and has a very dry sense of humor. Griff Meadows is such an absurd person in a very subtle way. All the guys are, really. Elaine’s a pretty absurd low key sociopath herself. Everything about the film is just such a weird, aloof, nightmarish dream world. ladadadada tradadadala The only person who feels like a semi normal human being is that poor Trish lady. Oh wait… no… never mind… It definitely captures some of that 60s goofy horror feel although all a little too self aware and mocking to ever really feel like it nails the fine line of perfect satire. I think that’s a think I have with a lot of these hyper stylish period ones that try and poke fun with a style or tone from the past. If you play it straight you can have a laugh but also kind of enjoy what people really did enjoy about it. Something like Stranger Things does a good job with that. They’re making fun and you know when they’re making fun, but they’re also embracing it and there’s a sincerity to that. With something like this I think there’s maybe a little too much goofily to really nail it. Still, I think it works well enough. For a 2 hour film it really moved along really well and never felt that long to me. Its a breezy and light watch and Samatha Robinson has an engaging performance to carry much of the film. I don’t know that I loved this or anything but I definitely got my 2 hours filling satisfyingly with some laughs and some sexiness and style and some deserving shade on how I engage with that sexiness. Biller clearly has a lot of talent and I’m curious to see what she does next, but her hyper afteur “do everything yourself” thing seems like it might be an impediment to success. I dunno. We’ll see. Unicorns, rainbows, lucky charms…
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Apr 27, 2020 23:27
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STAC Goat posted:I wonder if she was a witch or just a huge nerd. "I wonder if he was really into Warhammer 40K or just a huge nerd."
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Apr 28, 2020 00:20
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Class3KillStorm posted:Last chance for a weekend catch-up post. Oh hell yeah, that's one fine film. I just like to talk Jim Wynorski, what a legend. Sorority House Massacre II is a masterpiece, plus it's quasi-sequel Hard to Die. The definitive loopy comedy slasher late night cable kind of movies. Just really funny. Something about Wynorski at his best just makes it quirky enough to have something that makes it a trash classic. And his very very funny bad family film Munchie Strikes Back played at a local theater's trash night, that was a great one. Also, this book "DeathMaster" I have on my to-read pile says "Dedicated to Jim Wynorski", just him. So clearly he's a legend. Oh yeah, he made Deathstalker II as well, another great one. Also funny that several of these are II's where he didn't make the 1, and as far as I can tell the 1's aren't nearly as entertaining.
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Apr 28, 2020 03:09
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#34 The Stone Tape A group of engineers move out to an abandoned castle to try to invent a recording medium superior to magnetic tape before "the japs" beat them to it. It turns out the castle haunted, and they come to the conclusion that hauntings are simply events somehow psychically recorded onto physical material, in this case the stone walls, and then played back by the human mind. So they set out to figure out how that happens and how they can replicate it. First off, I gotta talk about the racism. It doesn't come up often but there are a couple moments where they talk about "the japs" and it is very casual and very cruel. Which really sucks because the rest of the movie has a very comfy vibe. Very 70s, very BBC production of a play adapted for the screen. But those two moments just kick you right out of that vibe. I imagine that when The Stone Tape came out, the mere idea of using science machines to investigate a ghost was far more novel. But all they have is the idea of doing that, not actually what doing that should look like. They just kinda wave vacuum tubes around in a castle. Any episode of any modern ghost hunter show does the idea better. The whole idea of replicating hauntings for industrial purposes is really neat, but they don't do anything with it. It's basically just a reason for the characters to stay in the castle as they try to figure it out. The Stone Tape doesn't have much to offer but a vibe, and it fucks up the vibe by being racist.
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Apr 28, 2020 03:14
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51. House (1977) Wow, what? It's like if William Castle and Lewis Carroll moved to Japan and did a bunch of LSD and made a movie. It's so good. I think I enjoyed it more having read the ACTUAL story of how it got made. Apparently it's "written" by a 10 year old girl who recounted all of the things that scared her from her relative's big scary house. And the genius of Nobuhiko made sure to portray that all just as it would appear in a child's mind - from the over-the-top depictions to the fast cuts to the wacky colors. It's really a stunning achievement in surrealist film and never comes close to boring. Watched so far: 1. Zombie (1979) / 2. Frankenstein (1931) / 3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) / 4. Basket Case (1982) / 5. Carrie (1976) / 6. Audition (1999) / 7. Creepshow (1982) / 8. Cannibal Holocaust (1980) / 9. Daniel Isn't Real (2020) / 10. Popcorn (1991) / 11. Matango (1963) / 12. Raw (2016) / 13. Men Behind The Sun (1988) / 14. Freaks (1932) / 15. Island of Lost Souls (1932) / 16. Hagazussa (2017) / 17. Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole (1988) / 18. The Mummy (1932) / 19. The Old Dark House (1932) / 20. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / 21. American Mary (2012) / 22. The Invisible Man (1933) / 23. The New York Ripper (1982) / 24. The Head Hunter (2018) / 25. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) / 26. The Wailing (2016) / 27. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) / 28. The Hunt (2020) / 29. Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) / 30. Friday the 13th (2009) / 31. Amer (2009) / 32. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) / 33. A Bucket of Blood (1959) / 34. Demons (1985) / 35. Creepshow 2 (1987) / 36. All the Colors of Giallo (2019) / 37. Human Lanterns (1982) / 38. Bay of Blood (1971) / 39. Tenebre (1982) / 40. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) / 41. Opera (1987) / 42. Brain Damage (1988) / 43. Deathgasm (2015) / 44. The Lighthouse (2019) / 45. Maniac (1980) / 46. 3615 code Père Noël (1989) / 47. Antrum (2018) / 48. Murder Death Koreatown (2020) / 49. Overlord (2018) / 50. White Zombie (1932) / 51. House (1977)
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Apr 28, 2020 04:34
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Ugh the time got away from me. I don't like posting without a nice image, but I wanna get these out without taking too much space, and most of this is written days or even a week after I watched the movie in question and I probably don't even remember the movie in question very well, but here goes. Dario Argento’s Dracula 3D Gorgeous cinema attached to a bad movie. Sweetheart I really wanted a movie where she kept tussling with the creature, staying one step ahead, until some final confrontation. But what I got wasn’t bad either - I really liked this take. VFW Throwback more to action movies than horror, IMO. Eventually, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I became sick of the extreme primary red and blue coloring. How I longed for a green. But it was pretty good for all that. Antrum This *could* have been great. If it had leaned into the wraparound script and really made the film messed up, went the begotten route more, made the narrative of the film-within-a-film really nonlinear, I would have liked it a lot. Conversely, if they dropped the wraparound and just leaned into the strange movie-within-a-movie plot with strong retro 70s look and feel, I would have liked it a lot too. As it is, they each seem to detract from the other. I still liked it quite a bit. S&Man I haven’t seen any of the August Underground or Guinea Pig movies, but this was still a fantastic pseudo-documentary about those. Braid This was a strange one. It felt like a fever dream from start to finish. I think I liked it for it’s stark raving weirdness, a bizarre setup that somehow still keeps getting stranger. Medusa More a murder mystery thriller than horror, *shrug*. I read somewhere that George Hamilton wanted an extended Greek vacation so he threw this movie together, self-produced, so he could justify staying in Greece longer. I don’t know if that’s true, but it makes sense - it is a hot mess of a movie. I was very tired when I watched this and couldn’t say what the plot was, but it seemed to hinge around someone being accused of being a killer and he isn’t but then he was? The Autopsy Of Jane Doe A rewatch for me, I still liked this. Fantastic atmosphere, spooks a-plenty and an autopsy. Tight, small setting and set of characters. A miss here and there, but overall, what’s not to love? Bloodsucking Freaks I caught this on Shudder on the joe bob thing. It didn’t really have a plot, or what plot there was existed to show sadistic torture and gore in the vein of HGL, but HGL movies seemed to have a stronger central thread of humor and camp that this didn’t have - it was more mean-spirited. I’m glad I saw it but I’m not gonna rush out and see it again, these kinds of movies aren’t really my bag. Watched So Far: 21 - 1. Satanic Panic, 2. Alpha Incident, 3. Planet Of The Vampires, 4. Popcorn, 5. Matango, 6. Rockula, 7. Underwater, 8. World War Z, 9. The Lighthouse, 10. The Watcher In The Woods (2017), 11. Society, 12. The Strange Colour Of Your Body’s Tears, 13. Dracula 3D, 14. Sweetheart, 15. VFW, 16. Antrum, 17. S&Man,, 18. Braid, 19. Medusa, 20. Autopsy, 21. Bloodsucking Freaks
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Apr 28, 2020 05:03
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 78. From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (Showtimeanytime) The film begins with Bruce Campbell being attacked by a swarm of vampire bats, in a very entertaining sequence that is sub-Sam Raimi. However this isn't the movie we're going to watch unfortunately, this is a movie within the movie. I really wonder why films do these fake outs. Did they have that as a concept test, just laying around, and then said "Screw it, put it in the movie somewhere". Okay, so the movie really begins with Robert Patrick's Buck discovering that his buddy has escaped from prison, so it's time to put the gang back together and do one last bank heist across the border. Cue vampire hijinx. The film has a lot of issues, but they're quite typical of amateurish, low budget b-movies. The editing is sloppy, the musical stings come straight from the music library, it drags in sections, the dialogue can be extremely clunky, and it doesn't do a great job of maintaining engagement with the audience. These are all minor quibbles though, there's nothing unforgivably bad here. On to the positives it's still a bit of a mixed bag. It tries to be a lot more lighthearted than the original, none of the jokes really land but it's a fair effort. There are occasional directorial flourishes where you can tell the filmmakers were trying to do something interesting, and they're not all unsuccessful. The action scenes are admirable, but lack a certain physicality and weight. It's like watching a puppy try to walk down stairs, it's not a graceful film, but the effort is adorable. Honestly, it's a perfectly fine, schlocky b-movie. 2.5/5  79. From Dusk Till Dawn 3: Hangman's Daughter (showtimeanytime) The film opens in an old West setting, at the occasion of a hanging. After the accused escapes with the titular hangman's daughter, a posse is rounded up to pursue them, and in the middle of this fray is Michael Parks' Ambrose, a grizzled journalist come to volunteer with the revolutionaries. The plot is a little immaterial, what really matters is that several disparate characters are heading out into the wilderness, and into a collision course with Ye Olde Titty Twister Saloon. This is another perfectly fine b-movie, though a big improvement over the second film. The characters here are well-drawn. The action is wild, frenetic, inventive, thoughtful, and impactful. When it wants to be sexy it does a great job, and without being overly leering, or creepy. There are a lot of loose ends, and plots arcs which were presumably lost in the edit, but nothing too distracting. All in all I had a lot of fun. I'd describe the film as several extremely entertaining action setpieces, strung together by some questionable narrative choices. 3.5/5
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Apr 28, 2020 06:44
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13. Come to Daddy - Amazon Prime Rental Elijah Wood gets a letter from his estranged father inviting him to visit and reconnect. When he arrives his father doesn't seem as welcoming as he was expecting. This goes in a lot of different directions, and there's a lot of humor throughout. The pacing is also great-by the time I realized it was finishing up I hardly noticed it (and if anything, wanted more). Really fun movie (and another great performance by Wood, who I'm really starting to enjoy in these oddball movies). Watched so far: 1. Creepy (Amazon Prime) 2. The Platform (Netflix) 3. The Fury of the Demon (Amazon Prime) 4. Bliss (Shudder) 5. In The Tall Grass (Netflix) 6. Parasite (Hulu) 7. Color out of Space (Hoopla) 8. The Lighthouse (Amazon Prime) 9. Gozu (Amazon Prime) 10. Exorcist III (Shudder) 11. One Cut of the Dead (Shudder) 12. Wake in Fright (Amazon Prime) 13. Come to Daddy (Amazon Prime rental)
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Apr 28, 2020 08:23
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 131) Curse of Robert - 2016 - Prime I don't know how or why, but there's two sequels to the 2015 Robert. With as lovely the first one was and this one is, I'm figuring it's safe to presume the other one's poo poo as well. It's not even worth doing a one sentence summary, this one's just that crappy. Skip this, skip this, skip this.  132) Blood Quantum - 2019 - Shudder To sum this up in one emote:  Seriously, drop everything and WATCH THIS MOVIE! Even if you're so beyond tired of zombies, WATCH THIS MOVIE! The effects are excellent, the characterizations are excellent, and cinematography's amazing. The script's well written and smart. I can't remember the last time a film's pulled me in like this. I was a wreck by the end of this. I'm not even going to summarize the plot so I don't ruin the experience for everyone else. I was planning on going to sleep after this, but I can't, my mind's too blown to try to sleep. I am definitely keeping an eye out for anything else this director makes and need to see the other film he did. I never thought I'd be able to say this regarding a modern era film, but FINALLY here's someone who pulls off the right balance of story/social commentary. I can't stress it enough, WATCH THIS MOVIE!
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Apr 28, 2020 13:10
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52. The Lodge (2019) A dangerous movie to put on a quarantine watchlist, considering the themes of isolation. The Lodge is dark and plodding, but you are compelled to keep watching. It's so oppressively full of dread and sadness, but you can't look away. I was so stressed out while watching, to the point that I still feel sick to my stomach even after the credits have rolled. This movie hits much the same tone as 2018's Hereditary, but is its own beast enough to feel fresh and new. The Lodge explores the perennial horror themes of being a child/teenager and feeling like you have no say in your life, and that parents will never listen to you. The children in horror movies typically end up being right, though, and what a journey it is. The performances here are just incredible. Riley Keough is revelatory, and I want to see Jaeden Martell in more movies after seeing him in this and 2017's IT (oh, and Knives Out!). The violence is stark, sudden, shocking, and - frankly - traumatic in much the same way it would be if we'd seen it with our own eyes. I'm in a strange position where I will absolutely give this movie 5 stars, but at the same time I can't go out and recommend it to everyone because it is a difficult viewing. It's a tough journey through a very dark place. But it feels like an important one. 5/5 Watched so far: 1. Zombie (1979) / 2. Frankenstein (1931) / 3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) / 4. Basket Case (1982) / 5. Carrie (1976) / 6. Audition (1999) / 7. Creepshow (1982) / 8. Cannibal Holocaust (1980) / 9. Daniel Isn't Real (2020) / 10. Popcorn (1991) / 11. Matango (1963) / 12. Raw (2016) / 13. Men Behind The Sun (1988) / 14. Freaks (1932) / 15. Island of Lost Souls (1932) / 16. Hagazussa (2017) / 17. Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole (1988) / 18. The Mummy (1932) / 19. The Old Dark House (1932) / 20. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / 21. American Mary (2012) / 22. The Invisible Man (1933) / 23. The New York Ripper (1982) / 24. The Head Hunter (2018) / 25. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) / 26. The Wailing (2016) / 27. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) / 28. The Hunt (2020) / 29. Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) / 30. Friday the 13th (2009) / 31. Amer (2009) / 32. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) / 33. A Bucket of Blood (1959) / 34. Demons (1985) / 35. Creepshow 2 (1987) / 36. All the Colors of Giallo (2019) / 37. Human Lanterns (1982) / 38. Bay of Blood (1971) / 39. Tenebre (1982) / 40. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) / 41. Opera (1987) / 42. Brain Damage (1988) / 43. Deathgasm (2015) / 44. The Lighthouse (2019) / 45. Maniac (1980) / 46. 3615 code Père Noël (1989) / 47. Antrum (2018) / 48. Murder Death Koreatown (2020) / 49. Overlord (2018) / 50. White Zombie (1932) / 51. House (1977) / 52. The Lodge (2019)
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Apr 28, 2020 15:33
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I think it's important to note that The Lodge is a Hammer horror film, and it continues the tradition of beautiful cinematography, beautiful location/set/houses, interesting clothes, but in a completely present style. Great movie, but I agree it's a hard one to recommend cuz it's Bleak As gently caress.
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Apr 28, 2020 15:39
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Franchescanado posted:I think it's important to note that The Lodge is a Hammer horror film, and it continues the tradition of beautiful cinematography, beautiful location/set/houses, interesting clothes, but in a completely present style. I noticed that in the opening credits but forgot about it until now! Hammer continues being my favorite movie house of all time 
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Apr 28, 2020 15:40
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COOL CORN posted:I noticed that in the opening credits but forgot about it until now! Also the whole movie really works because of Riley Keough's performance. I wasn't really aware of her, and now she's definitely on my radar. Also, both Lia McHugh and Jaeden Martell put in excellent performaces. Best kid acting I've seen since The Florida Project.
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Apr 28, 2020 15:48
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Franchescanado posted:Also the whole movie really works because of Riley Keough's performance. I wasn't really aware of her, and now she's definitely on my radar. Also, both Lia McHugh and Jaeden Martell put in excellent performaces. Best kid acting I've seen since The Florida Project. Yeah I alluded to that in my review in the April thread. I think a lot of the "scares"/violence/dread work because of the kid actors. They're phenomenal.
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Apr 28, 2020 15:54
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Franchescanado posted:I think it's important to note that The Lodge is a Hammer horror film, and it continues the tradition of beautiful cinematography, beautiful location/set/houses, interesting clothes, but in a completely present style. No, please recommend them. Bleak as gently caress movies are awesome.
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Apr 28, 2020 16:03
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 #18. The Brides of Dracula (Peacock) Vampire hunter Van Helsing returns to Transylvania to destroy handsome bloodsucker Baron Meinster, who has designs on beautiful young schoolteacher Marianne. I don't get why the poster is all intent on calling the vampire here "the most evil... Dracula of all" - it sounds like my mom calling any video game system "a Nintendo." Worse, trying to draw comparisons for David Peel's anemic "Baron Meinster" to either Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee is a fool's endeavor; Peel is going to come up well short against pretty much ANY mildly successful vampire performance in any film. Peter Cushing tries mightily to save the film, obviously, but there's not much here beyond his performance. Any time he's not on screen is a dull, plodding affair; when Cushing is on, we rev all the way up to cruising speed and stay there, firmly set and not intent on going one iota faster. I did like the moment where he got bit and hurriedly MacGuyver-ed a cure for vampirism using only a hot branding iron and holy water, but it threatened to get the film out of "brisk walking speed" all the way up to "power walking" so it's the only scene that has that kind of energy. The film knows enough to know that there's not much under the hood, so it does have the sense to just cut and run at the ending. Peel gets sloshed with holy water, starts a fire, runs outside and just flops over dead. I think it was because the windmill blades made a giant cross, but the film doesn't care to explain and I don't care enough to hear it anyway. The titular brides are barely an afterthought, and I think at least two technically get away - the film does have the sense not to threaten us with a follow-up at least. One of the few bright spots is knowing that this little Lee-less detour is going to remain just that; a cinematic cul-de-sac not worth the trip. /5Watched so far: April Fool's Day (1986), Howl (2015), The Mummy's Tomb, Demonic Toys, The Exorcist III, Victor Frankenstein, Varan the Unbelievable, Critters 2, Warlock, Hellboy: Blood and Iron, Doom: Annihilation, Evil Bong, Piranha (1978), Chopping Mall, Paranormal Activity 2, Crawl, Alien: Covenant, The Brides of Dracula
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Apr 28, 2020 16:43
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 15. The Hunt What if the liberal elite secretly kidnapped and hunted outspoken conservatives? GASP The politics of this are incredibly dumb and poorly thought out, but once it becomes Betty Gilpin versus the remaining liberal elite it’s kind of a fun fight. It’s all just so stupid though, with characters on both sides spouting buzzlines about the deep state, or deplorables. It also kind of feels like someone had a sex dream about a badass blonde showing those liberals what’s what, and decided to make a movie about it. Also, while I like Hillary Swank, she was played up as this huge reveal, which went completely over my head because I didn’t recognize her. Did the rest of you who watched it? 1.5/5  (rewatch) Shaun of the Dead Shaun leads a boring run-of-the-mill life. Then, zombies. Movie continues to be a classic. Not laugh out loud funny, but clever and enjoyable throughout. A crowd pleasing favorite. 5/5  16. Memories of Murder Bumbling, backwater police do everything they can to track down a serial killer. A slow-moving, but masterful work, that shows Boon Jong-Ho’s trademark stylistic choices were there from the beginning – lots of humorous touches in what is overall a sad, dark story. My only real complaint is that, since it is based on a true story, it probably cheapens things a little to make light of, say, police brutality. 4.5/5
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Apr 28, 2020 19:55
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11. Housewife (2017) Can Evernol follows up Baskin with...Baskin, only the cast isn't as good. The setup feels a little more grounded this time - woman who had a traumatic childhood is now grown up and married, goes to a cult meeting because an old friend is part of the cult, then the weird stuff. This might have worked if the two central characters had been really exceptional actors, but instead they were both awkward and probably not working with their first languages. The story is engaging but the characters are not, which is the biggest step backwards from Baskin - the best scenes in that were two guys talking in a diner. Here, every time someone starts talking I just hope it's over quickly. If you just want more Evernol there's enough visual goodness that it's worth your time, but it's not the improvement I think we were all hoping for. 12. The Lodge (2019)  Comparisons to Hereditary are unfavorable, a little unfair, and entirely unavoidable. Sorry, movie, you picked a bad time to come out with lots of bleak family drama and a dollhouse motif. Trying to take this on its own merits, it's actually pretty good! There are lots of interesting pieces set up and pushed onto an inevitable but hazy collision course - you know the broad strokes of what's going to happen early on, but you won't know what's going to set things off or who is going to be responsible. If you have somehow not yet seen Hereditary but like the bleak stuff or you're pretty good at not letting that sort of comparison influence your enjoyment, you should absolutely watch this. Unfortunately I personally have a tendency to find myself thinking "this is a lot like X but not as good" in the middle of the experience, and it does come up short in the comparison on almost every front. Also features the most obviously doomed dog in the history of cinema, so come closer or stay away as appropriate. Kvlt! would hate it so this might be what persuades him that his thread partner is a secret poser.
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Apr 28, 2020 20:06
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Irony.or.Death posted:Kvlt! would hate it so this might be what persuades him that his thread partner is a secret poser. How dare you talk about me like this
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Apr 28, 2020 20:11
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It's ok you're safe he won't ever actually watch it or venture into this thread
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Apr 28, 2020 20:18
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53. Blood Quantum (2019) I definitely enjoyed this movie, but zombie movies in general just don't do much for me. AS a zombie movie, it nailed every single beat. And I loved seeing proper native representation in a horror movie, that's really rare. The gore effects were fantastic, the pacing was really good, and the acting/characters were generally great. So, if you are a fan of zombie movies, I'd say check this out. It doesn't necessarily subvert the genre or bring anything absolutely novel to the table (a la One Cut Of The Dead), but it's a lot of fun. 3.5/5 54. Luz (2018)  Luz is a real shame. You would think "slow trippy movie about a demon possessing people to get to the woman it loves" would be extremely good. And there are a LOT of really cool ideas in this film. But, ultimately, it kind of flopped for me. This could have easily been a 30 minute short, since it felt like it dragged even at 70 minutes. It's strange - it feels unique, the acting is good, the soundtrack is good... yet somehow it still didn't engage me in the least and felt boring. I think partially because the whole conceit of the movie is spelled out a fraction of the way in, and after that there were just no surprises. The ending was good, but that doesn't save the rest of the film. Utterly forgettable, and that's a real shame. 2/5 Watched so far: 1. Zombie (1979) / 2. Frankenstein (1931) / 3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) / 4. Basket Case (1982) / 5. Carrie (1976) / 6. Audition (1999) / 7. Creepshow (1982) / 8. Cannibal Holocaust (1980) / 9. Daniel Isn't Real (2020) / 10. Popcorn (1991) / 11. Matango (1963) / 12. Raw (2016) / 13. Men Behind The Sun (1988) / 14. Freaks (1932) / 15. Island of Lost Souls (1932) / 16. Hagazussa (2017) / 17. Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole (1988) / 18. The Mummy (1932) / 19. The Old Dark House (1932) / 20. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / 21. American Mary (2012) / 22. The Invisible Man (1933) / 23. The New York Ripper (1982) / 24. The Head Hunter (2018) / 25. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) / 26. The Wailing (2016) / 27. Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) / 28. The Hunt (2020) / 29. Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) / 30. Friday the 13th (2009) / 31. Amer (2009) / 32. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) / 33. A Bucket of Blood (1959) / 34. Demons (1985) / 35. Creepshow 2 (1987) / 36. All the Colors of Giallo (2019) / 37. Human Lanterns (1982) / 38. Bay of Blood (1971) / 39. Tenebre (1982) / 40. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) / 41. Opera (1987) / 42. Brain Damage (1988) / 43. Deathgasm (2015) / 44. The Lighthouse (2019) / 45. Maniac (1980) / 46. 3615 code Père Noël (1989) / 47. Antrum (2018) / 48. Murder Death Koreatown (2020) / 49. Overlord (2018) / 50. White Zombie (1932) / 51. House (1977) / 52. The Lodge (2019) / 53. Blood Quantum (2019) / 54. Luz (2018)
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Apr 28, 2020 20:59
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80. Blood Quantum (Shudder) I enjoyed this film, but it didn't really pull me in. It reminds me of The Void, in that I really respect everything that's being presented on screen, but I didn't feel the honesty of the storytelling, if that makes sense. I felt like there was a missed opportunity to tell a more unique story because the metronomic beats of the zombie genre kept interrupting the flow. All that said, it is definitely a good movie and goes places I really wasn't expecting. The gore especially is fantastic, and more than once I was audibly gasping. It's also really cool to see a dominantly native cast, and have them share their accents, cadences, language, faces, culture, and struggles in a way that is so often ignored by mainstream media sources, and have it be done in a way that feels normal, and honest, and not pandering. 3.5/5  81. One Cut of the Dead (Shudder) Oh my loving god. I started writing notes for this one, but just ended up throwing them all away. Usually I'd say spoilers don't matter, films should stand up on their own regardless of spoilers, but this is definitely the exception. It's been said a million times before, but go in blind! 4.5/5 Irony.or.Death posted:It's ok you're safe he won't ever actually watch it or venture into this thread Which is a shame, because this is easily the best thread on the site right now. It's just effort post after effort post.
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Apr 28, 2020 21:01
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Whoops, forgot to post this last night. 88 (107). After Midnight (2020) Written and directed by Jeremy Gardner, co-directed by Christian Stella Watched on Hoopla. Hank isn’t doing great since his girlfriend left him in the middle of the night a month ago with a vague note and no real explanation of why or when she’d be back. Yes there’s the anxiety, fear, loneliness, and anger all built into that but there’s also the monster that’s been attacking the house every night since she left. That’s a wrinkle. This really wasn’t a horror. I suspected it might not be going in. I checked it almost entirely because its the latest piece from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, and I’ve loved everything they’ve done (Spring, Resolution, Endless) but none of it is REALLY purely horror. Its all deeply emotional relationship and character studies with a horror element hanging around to put pressure on things. And this is no different, despite not actually being written or directed by either guy (Benson is one of the few actors in the film). But Jeremy Gardner very clearly has a similar voice as them and its obvious how this relationship with them as producers makes sense. This feels a lot like Spring, which I absolutely loved, as its just a deeply invasive look into a relationship and how a good relationship can make people better and a bad one can drag them down. Gardner does a good job in the main role and I assume the co-directing credit largely speaks to the help he needed since he’s in 100% of the film scenes. Part of me wants to say I didn’t get enough of Brea Grant but I don’t think I really mean that. Yes, I did want to see more of her (at times she reminded me of Christina Hendricks), but the result of spending the entire film seeing the relationship through his eyes and having no idea why she left makes her finally returning and unloading on why much more effective. The whole thing is very raw and personal and borderline voyeuristic like you’re caught in the middle of a couple’s most intimate moments and you just want to slip away quietly but you also are too invested to not see how it ends. There’s also good laughs and I loved the directorial choice to reveal the monster at last in the second of a gunshot’s flash. There wasn’t a lot of horror in this but that was some good horror. I wouldn’t recommend this as a horror, but I absolutely would recommend it as a film and if you like Benson and Moorhead’s other works, especially Spring. I don’t know where it stands with their films as I’ve only seen all of them once, but I’ve been meaning to do rewatches. I also really want to see their 4th film but it doesn’t actually seem to exist anywhere. Apparently this one did film festivals a year ago but only got distributed 2 months ago. And Synchronic apparently got its distribution rights bought 7 months ago but is nowhere to be found. And that one’s got Falcon and Christian Grey in it. I love what these guys do but they don’t seem to be really in high demand. That sucks. On the bright side it turns out all 3 of their previous films are on Prime/Netflix, so I know what I’m doing next month.
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Apr 28, 2020 21:15
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There I go watching and reviewing two new movies since my last post. Oddly enough from the current batch of March Madness franchises there’s only 3 films I haven’t scene and I already had 1 planned for today (actually for yesterday and Sunday too). So I decided, gently caress it. I’ll watch #2 today as well. And I’ll get to #3 when I do an Alien binge this weekend.  89 (108). Survival of the Dead (2009) Written and directed by George A. Romero. Watched on hoopla, also available on Magnolia Selects. In the years after the dead rose a squad of AWOL soldiers head to an island off Delaware and get caught between a feud of families divided on how best to deal with the zombie apocalypse. I actually recognized this when I turned it on but I think I’ve just started it once or twice and bailed. Its bad. Like real cheap and poorly acted. It becomes somewhat apparent immediately that Romero might have gone “found footage” with the preceding Diary of the Dead in part because it could hide budget constraints. Its been a long time since I saw that and I really, really disliked it but I don’t remember it LOOKING as bad as this one. Its a shame since Dawn, Day and even Land have good gore and effects but Romero just clearly doesn’t have the budget or people this time around. And sadly all he’s left with is boring unlikable characters and a middling premise on war and tribalism. Romero was obviously losing his touch with Land but now he’s just kind of mailing it in. If anything it feels like he felt like he needed a new thesis subject for another dead movie so he settled on “war, what is it good for?” and tossed zombies in as the excuse. it turns out when everyone shots everyone everyone ends up dead. Message sent? Its also weirdly dated. There’s an actual “PC vs Apple” joke with someone showing off their fancy iPhone. Was 2009 really that long ago or was George just really out of it? Or was it just a product of the really confusing timeline for the Dead films where this only happens a few weeks after the original so iPhones popped up like a week after Ken Foree ditched town? Its a bad movie. Worse its a really incredibly forgettable movie. In the final act I AGAIN thought I remembered it and wondered if I just forgot the whole film? I don’t know. But I think I would have remembered the really terrible final shot of the two warring family heads all zombified instinctively “dueling” at sunset on a hill. Its a shame this was Romero’s last film and that it may have pushed him away from making more. Maybe Romero was just dried out of material and old. It happens to us all. Or maybe he just needed to lead the Dead go. He could have made a 7th Dead film about the idea of letting go.  90 (109). Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) Directed by Paul Schrader, Written by William Wisher Jr. and Caleb Carr. Watched on DVD. Three decades before the events of the Exorcist Father Merrin is an archaeologist in Egypt who has uncovered a buried Catholic church that makes no sense at the same time that everyone around him wrestles with the nature of evil in man just as Merrin struggles with the evil that touched him during the war. You know the deal here, right? This film gets made, a rough cut gets sent to the studio, they hate it, they hire Renny Harlin to direct a new movie that recycles some elements from the original but rewrites and shoots like 80% of it. It bombs hard and the studio decides to make back some of their money by bring back Schrader to finish this one and releasing it too. It bombs too but some folks like it more. One of those people being William Peter Blatty but I suspect his opinion might be at least partially influenced by a similar experience he had with “the studio” for Exorcist III. For the first 2/3rds I think I agreed that this wasn’t really a good movie but it was probably a better one than Harlin’s. I see why they wanted Harlin’s over Schrader’s. Harlin’s is much more supernatural and “big” movie with a bunch of memorable scenes and imagery. Schrader’s is a much softer play. Its got some clunky imagery but that can probably be excused as the result of them never getting to properly finish the film. But there’s a solid little “nature of evil in man”/“all evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing” story happening in here. I don’t think its fully clicking. There’s something missing, but its kind of interesting, and different from the other films, and once again super Catholic. And a lot of the shared story elements between the two versions like ritually murdered people and kids the locals turn on and hostility with the military all feel much more natural in this version. You know, like they were actually part of the written story and not just stuff adapted to a completely rewritten script. The big problem I had was that when this movie inevitable turns to the spooky demonic possession stuff it does it HARD and in a way that really left me feeling derailed. Its like we spent 2/3rds of the movie at a 2 on the spooky meter and then all of a sudden we’re at an 11. It felt unearned and poorly built. I kind of like the place we ended up with all hell breaking loose as everyone in the valley being influenced by the evil within them and the church. But I’m not sure the path to get there was up to snuff. Or even really happened. One minute we’re all “man chooses to do evil” and the next the devil is making them do it. So yeah… I was prepared to say I liked this one more than Harlin’s all the way up until that last act. And there were elements of that last act I liked. And I can excuse some of the execution flaws for the studio screw job. But even with that stuff cleaned up I don’t think it would have come together. I don’t think the studio rejected a good film they just didn’t like. I think they rejected a flawed film and chose to go in a different equally flawed direction. Is Harlin’s more cerebral flawed film better than Schrader’s more supernatural flawed film? I don’t know. Probably depends on your tastes and mood.
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Apr 29, 2020 02:30
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