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7 Valentine I barely remembered. You'd think a teenager would have more fondness for a bikini clad Denise Richards, but this one really just escaped my memory. Movie kinda worked, I enjoyed the killer bits, but there should've been at least ONE character you're rooting for to get out of this situation or overcome it all. Definitely not it. The frights are very plainly shot and not super interesting. It really doesnt get creative past the opening sequence after the dance scene. Interesting premise, kinda ok overall.   8 [RATED PG CHALLENGE]  This movie was a complete bummer. Just a waste of a premise that could've been quite good and funny, but it just really drags and is deeply unfunny despite being a comedy at 85 minutes! We got a number of notable character actors showing up, the best being Phillip Seymour Hoffman (credited as Phillip Hoffman) playing as politely as I could put it, a dullard? im not sure, he kinda plays him as a caveman just a bit feral and mean. Either way that was the bright part along with a surprise Cloris Leachman, Matthew Fox, Bob Dooley and Edward Herrmann. But yeah just a waste of potential, if this were an R rated thing maybe a bit more crass this could've been a lot of fun. Otherwise this is just watered down product. out of 59  Now THIS is a picture! Ticks was just a lot of fun. I've only ever seen the tv edit so watching the original cut was a lot of fun. Gotta tip my hat to Alfonso Ribero, dude knew what kinda movie this was, but he still went all out when the dramatic moments called for it. Everyone else was perfectly good and it was way more about the ticks and the effects and boy is there a lot of fun gooey bits in this one. I def regret not picking up the physical edition of this one on UHD so I will be amending that when I can. Easily my favorite so far. out of 5
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May 3, 2022 22:40
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Ticks looks good, and by the director of Hellraiser II to boot. I definitely have to track that one down.
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May 3, 2022 22:42
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My Boyfriend's Back is directed by Bob Balaban. I saw it when I was five years old, on TV, at my Great Uncle's house. It was the scene where the boyfriend zombie is eating from Phillip Seymour Hoffman's corpse's stomach? Scared the poo poo out of me.
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May 3, 2022 22:53
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Franchescanado posted:My Boyfriend's Back is directed by Bob Balaban. yep, I remember watching it as a kid too. first on VHS, my mom was mortified because there's a scene where the main character is attempting to have a sex dream about his crush and the entire school is cheering him on. super vanilla and plain compared to the sex comedy we've gotten in the last 25 years in the PG-13/R range. The gore is also just like blood smears, effective for a kid, but as an adult you kinda want a bit more.
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May 3, 2022 22:57
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4. 12 Hour Shift (Challenge 9: Franchescanado's Letterboxd list of Horror Film Hidden Gems) Most hidden gems are hidden because they have at least one major flaw. Obviously not enough of a flaw to ruin the show, but a flaw nevertheless. 12 Hour Shift's just so happens to be the final act. The first two are basically perfect. The sarcastic, over-this-bullshit tone of the story perfectly matches the shift worker characters. The casting director deserves a gigantic prize for absolutely nailing exactly what small city hospital workers actually look like. The hair and makeup are particularly great: we've all known these people. When the characters break out into song (this only happens once) it doesn't feel whimsical, it feels like "it's 3am and I'm mildly delirious, gently caress it." Unfortunately, the final part of the movie can't carry this energy all the way. As soon as the tension lets up a little it's like the director can't hold the line anymore, and it all rips through her hands. I think that's a huge shame. Samfucius fucked around with this message at 12:12 on May 19, 2022 |
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May 3, 2022 23:14
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 Kadaicha / Stones Of Death (1988) Take a lot of Poltergeist and a smattering of other 80s horror and you get this Australian flick involving a subdivision built on top of the burial ground of some Aborigine victims of a slaughter. It didn’t really do anything new, just mixed a bunch of flavors into a folkish ghostly revenge story. It seemed to half-heartedly aim at including colonial criticism but didn’t really land that too effectively. This was included in the All The Haunts Be Ours boxed set (highly recommended!) so I’m counting this for… Challenge Fulfilled! #1 Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched - Folk horror  Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) When the good Doctor lucks into two bodies, one beheaded and one in (relatively) good condition, he’s able to perfect his soul-transfer skills. This feels less like a Frankenstein movie and more in line with some combination of The Asphyx and Shocker or similar movies. The good Doctor is a relatively unimportant character once the “monster” is created, and it focuses more on her identity struggles (what with a new soul) and her revenge against folks who wronged the soul now trapped within her. This was great fun to watch - there’s a daring window escape by Peter Cushing and plenty of villainy played wonderfully. 3/13 Movies: What Have You Done To Solange?, Kadaicha, Frankenstein Created Woman 2/13 Challenges: #1 Woodlands Dark (Kadaicha), #6 The King In Yellow (Solange)
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May 4, 2022 03:16
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1. Wild Beasts (1984) A zoo’s worth of animals get hopped up on PCP and unleashed on the streets of Frankfurt. Just wall-to-wall animal attacks once the premise has been set up. Made with as much respect for animal and human welfare as you might expect of an Italian exploitation film directed by the guy who did Mondo Cane and Goodbye Uncle Tom, so I can’t really recommend it. But I had a good time gawking at the freak show, wondering how they got away with it all. 3.5/5
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May 4, 2022 03:22
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4: The Green Knight Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched I'm a big a24 guy but I missed this in theaters and haven't had a good chance to watch it, so thanks for the excuse. Absolutely stunning movie. I can see why there'd be some debate as to if this one fits in as horror at all, let alone for this challenge, but I feel like it's a good fit for both. "dark fairy tale" is probably the best descriptior, but it's got witches, monsters, ghosts, and other such things, plus the greatest monster of all, man and his pride. I feel it could have leaned into the dreamy, metaphorical side of things a bit more but that's not much of a complaint.
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May 4, 2022 04:22
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In case anyone isn’t familiar with the film, CW: rape 4. Irreversible (2002) (dir. Gaspar Noé) Shudder Over the past few challenges I’ve set a goal to watch all of the films on three different “best horror films” lists. Last year I completed the TSZDT top 100 as well as Edgar Wright’s 100 favorite horror films, and got to 99/100 on Slant Magazine’s list - and the final film I was missing was Irreversible. Besides being wary of the infamous rape scene, it was also not especially easy to find on streaming services, so I put it off despite being a fan of Gaspar Noé’s other films. It’s up on Shudder now, so I figured I might as well finally take the plunge. And, holy poo poo. The film takes place over one night, but in reverse order - it starts with Vincent Cassel’s character being brought out of a gay S&M club on a stretcher, unconscious and badly beaten, and then works backwards from there revealing the events that led up to that point - namely, the brutal rape of his girlfriend Alex that sets him off on a drug and revenge-fueled rampage. Each scene adds some new context to what we’ve already seen, often in tragic ways, and it’s honestly pretty brilliant. Moments that would be happy in chronological order become heartbreaking instead. Noé punches the viewer in the gut more than once, and it’s effective as hell. Throughout the film, the camera is constantly in motion, chaotically spinning and wheeling around, creating a disorienting and sometimes claustrophobic effect. That is, until THAT scene - as Alex is attacked and raped in an underground passageway, the camera holds perfectly still and forces the viewer to watch in one long nine minute take. It’s shot as an act of pure horrifying violence - there’s no mistaking what’s happening here for sex or anything even remotely titillating (in fact the camera angle and blocking ensures there is no actual nudity beyond a CGI penis at the very end). Monica Bellucci’s performance here is absolutely raw and excruciating, and the scene is just as harrowing as its reputation would suggest. There’s a reason it’s all anyone talks about with this film. For obvious reasons, this a very hard film to recommend, but if you are a fan of Gaspar Noé and are aware of what you’re getting yourself into, this an effective and brilliant thriller. I *almost* want to watch it again to see those opening scenes in context with what happens earlier in the story… almost. Maybe someday. 5  out of 5Total: 4 Watched: The Exorcist | Exorcist II: The Heretic | We're All Going to the World's Fair | Irreversible gey muckle mowser fucked around with this message at 05:11 on May 4, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 04:46
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OK, let's get started! 1. Nocturne (2020) (first viewing) "An incredibly gifted pianist makes a Faustian bargain to overtake her older sister at a prestigious institution for classical musicians." This one has a nice slow burn to it. The insane pressure cooker of music school creates a constant feeling of tension, even before the more traditional horror elements start to creep in. Sydney Sweeney gives a strong lead performance that shows off some good range, and it's an impressive debut by the first-time director Zu Quirke. CHALLENGE: "Music of the Night." --- CHALLENGES: 1. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched 2. Scream, Queen! 3. Rated PG 4. Music of the Night Nocturne (2020) 5. Behind the Screams 6. The King in Yellow 7. Short Cuts 8. A Perfect Getaway 9. Hidden Gems 10. The Price is Right 11. Horror Noire 12. All Hail the King 13. Sins of the Past
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May 4, 2022 04:51
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Movie #5, challenge #2: - Watch a film by a LGBQT+ director - OR Watch a film that deals heavily with LGBQT+ themes. You will need to include these in your write-up. The Book of Birdie: A coming of age, coming of faith story following a morbid young artist with a fascination with menstrual art who ends up living in a convent and falling in love. Birdie (an excellent performance by Ilirida Memedovski) may be haunted, may be touched by God, or may be something else entirely! How much of a horror film you find this to be depends on what you bring to it. Yeah, there's a general sense of unease, there's spooky ghost nuns, and there's a lot of blood, but for me, raised Catholic and still all these years later haunted by guilt even for actions beyond my control, it's just existentially scary. This isn't a Church is Evil film; the nuns are mostly well-intended and Birdie does gain strength in new found faith, even if her actions would be considered pretty heretical. Birdie falls in love with the daughter of the convent's groundskeeper and keeps it secret, but no one ever tries to keep them apart. Their love is as powerful and healing as any religious experience. There's a surprisingly amount of warmth here among the freezing cold landscapes and gloomy hallways. Decaying buildings, Catholic guilt, women falling in love, awesome fashion, existential dread, and a commentary on comic book heroes as modern society's version of the saints; this is absolutely my style all the way.
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May 4, 2022 04:52
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2. Deadline (1980) I found this one through Fran’s 151 hidden gems list, and I kind of dug it! Low-key psychological drama about a horror author whose life is going to poo poo, intercut with fantasy sequences of gore tableaux that represent scenes that he’s writing and rejecting as he tries to find “the ultimate terror”. The cuts between fantasy and reality suggests that they’re on a collision course, and they are, but not in the played-out Repulsion scenario of dude wigging out and killing somebody; instead, this ends up being a thoughtful meta-commentary on the early Eighties moral panic about horror films and on the foundations of true horror. 3.5/5
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May 4, 2022 05:24
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4. Burglar From Hell - dir. Phil Herman (1993) While I can easily see people finding this so bad its fun, i didnt enjoy it. Starts well but turns stupid in an unenjoyable way soon after. There's a few moments that got laughs out of me but I was mostly bored or annoyed. First miss from Saturn's Core for me sadly. 1/5
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May 4, 2022 05:33
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gently caress yes! For some reason I thought this was in April and was bummed about missing it, but I'm definitely in! Aiming for 15 movies, and once again aiming to see movies I haven't watched before to fill in blanks in my pitifully small horror movie experience. I also bought some really cheesy looking movies from the local second hand movie store in preparation for this: - Flesh Eater - Thankskilling - Ice Cream Man - Savage Weekend - Saturday Morning Massacre
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May 4, 2022 08:21
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3. The Whip and the Body 1963 | dir. Mario Bava under the alias "John M. Old" Kino Lorber blu-ray Before Blood & Black Lace, Mario Bava directed a gothic murder mystery ghost story in technicolor with erotic S&M elements, starring Christopher Lee. If that sentence excites you, and you enjoy Bava's laggard pacing, you're in for a treat.      It is a film first and foremost interested in it's visuals, colors and atmosphere. The camera work is slow, smooth, and deliberate. It floats throughout the house and landscapes, and lingers on the characters, especially Daliah Lavi. If you want something fast-paced and electrifying, this isn't it. Kurt (Christopher Lee) is the son of Count Menliff. Kurt was ostracized from his family, removed of title and fortune, because of the death of a servant. Now he has returned to confront his father on his death bed and to confront Nevenka, his ex-fiance, who is now married to his brother Cristiano at his father's behest. Kurt attempts to regain his title as the firstborn and his fortune, and he attempts a sado-masochistic seduction of Nevenka. Then someone is murdered, propelling the story into two directions: a murder mystery of trying to discover who the killer is, and a psychological ghost story where Nevenka is haunted by a vengeful spirit. Both of these elements are successful and tie together into the film's finale. I was hoping there would be enough giallo influence in this film to count it for the challenge, but that wouldn't be fair to the film or the challenge. It's does not share anything in common with the giallo structure. So for those of you who avoid giallo, but instead would like a colorful gothic film that's a bit of a murder mystery, a bit of a haunted house tale, a bit of a erotic thriller, a bit of a ghost story, this is a solid place to get all of those fixes. If you're not into light S&M (whipping and con non-con) then you might have some issues there. Coincidentally, the producers watched Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum and requested something similar, so this makes a fun follow-up to House of Usher. (I preferred The Whip and the Body.) Overall, it's an unsung Bava that should get more appreciation. This is one of his best-looking movies. Recommended Total 3 New To Me: Nightmare Weekend, House of Usher (1960), The Whip and the Body Challenges: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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May 4, 2022 13:34
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10 This one I was a bit iffy on, but when it really started to come together, boy did it come together. Ti West has a knack for being able to build the atmosphere of the decades his movies take place in. This one just feels like a sweaty and hot Texas summer and all the characters have this layer of sleaze to them that makes it feel authentic. Definitely feels like a slow burn then it just takes a turn and goes into overdrive straight into the ending. Cool little movie. out of 511  M Night, thanks for The Sixth Sense and Signs, but your new output is ok... Old was intriguing at first and then it slowly feels like we're not really going anywhere and then it seems its just like "oh lets toss these random character actions into this, but also we need people to start dropping off real quick because our movie is almost over so lets just start knocking them off too". I had a fine time with it, interesting concept and ending. out of 512  I definitely didnt know that this is what this movie was going to be going into it. It took me by surprise because it has all these setups of tension and this aura of claustrophobia surrounding it and gripping you, but there isnt something monster in the classic horror monster sense. this is just a real horrifying and tragic story of a girl dealing with inherent patriarchal standards of living and that the system isnt built for you to be given justice for your assault. it's a very sobering look at what a rape victim can go through, whether someone is intentionally stalking and harassing to the act or acting out unprovoked. it's an interesting story and I can see how it would've been ground-breaking for its time. the conversation is the same, but the language has progressed despite society and the system failing so many times these women who go through this. out of 513  A bonafide classic! Billy Zane is EATING every scene he is in, the cast is absolutely stacked and its just a blast of a movie that speeds off at a rockets pace from the first frame straight to the end. Just one of those monster features that you can catch at midnite on USA no matter where its at and just watch it and have a good time. This was the first time I got to see it in theaters too so that was an extra special treat. Just some incredible high highs, I wish the Tales From the Crypt IP would've gotten more movies. out of 5
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May 4, 2022 18:56
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gey muckle mowser posted:
5) All the Colors of the Dark (1972) There were a few lull spots where I thought I was going to lose interest, but then there were more than enough bonkers moments to keep bringing me back. This is the style of giallo I like - moments of mundane conversation dotted with absolute craziness. I don't think this ranks up with the classics of the (sub)genre, but it's certainly higher than most. And I'm always a sucker for a Satanic cult story. 4/5
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May 4, 2022 20:04
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7. The Abandon (2022) A PG-rated version of Cube where you only get to focus on one flawed character (and only ever get to hear from two other people for the vast majority) needed to do a lot to succeed and doesn't quite get there, feeling every bit of its near-100-minute length. My least-favorite feature of the Panic Fest thus far ** 8. To the Moon (2022)  A man unravels emotionally after getting a surprise visit from his hippie brother during a couples retreat, letting all his insecurities take priority. The mystery is if the worries are all in his head or not; I'd argue stuff like this and Unsane suffer from providing a quick and clean answer to that, making a rewatch harder. Obviously I like Unsane more *** 9. Dawning (2022)  Really well-done (with some surprisingly terrifying moments) Korean trauma-horror about a woman reconciling with her past returning to her childhood farm to be with her sister. Twists come and don't feel unearned or like they drag, with a brisk 70-minute (pre-credits) runtime making sure everything's smooth, even when it hurts ***** 9/13+ (Presence 2022, Bitch rear end, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes, The Outwaters, Masking Threshold, When the Screaming Starts, The Abandon 2022, To the Moon 2022, Dawning 2022)
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May 4, 2022 20:14
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 3.) The Birds Alfred Hitchcock | 1963 | Blu-ray Rewatch I remember watching this movie (and reading the novella) back in high school *indiscernible mumbling* years ago and just being bothered that there was never a reason given for the birds turning violent. It seems like a silly complaint in hindsight because I no longer think everything needs to be explained. Sure, sometimes it can make a film underwhelming where there’s no buildup (Final Exam) but other times it’s more important that something happened than how something happened (Night of the Living Dead). That’s how I feel about The Birds. Now I feel like I can appreciate the film more and enjoy the characters, relationships, and the setting. Yes, when the birds start really attacking it feels a little abrupt but I still think this is a great film. I know some people don’t like the film’s ending for being more ambiguous than the short story’s but I do think it works because in addition to the already hostile birds outside, the main characters are going to be traveling with a pair of lovebirds in the car. Rating:  Total: 3/13 New: 2 Rewatches: 1 My Letterboxd list (in progress)
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May 4, 2022 20:55
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3. The Iron Rose (1973) A young couple go on a date in an old cemetery. They stop to have sex in a crypt, and by the time they’re done, night has fallen and they’re trapped in the cemetery as if ensorcelled, unable to find their way out. That’s it, that’s the plot. It’s a two person existentialist play doing a death and the maiden thing; there’s some poetic dialogue, a fistfight occurs, the couple reconcile by making out on top of a pile of (I presume real) skulls, eventually the woman gets mystically enraptured by her surroundings and some slight complications ensue in the last twenty minutes. It’s a Jean Rollin film and I’m like 50/50 on watching the films of his I’ve seen without getting bored or falling asleep, but this held my attention well enough, partly because I became determined to ride it out and see just how plotless it was. It gets by on atmospherics the way all his films do. 3/5
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May 4, 2022 21:21
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7/13 - Der Samurai / The Samurai (2014) 2. Scream, Queen!  An allegory for repressing your sexual desires in the form of a werewolf movie but instead of turning into a wolf, you turn into a homicidal cross-dressing samurai (MAYBE!) is a hell of a concept, and strangely, I think The Samurai makes it work. The movie operates on a kind of dream logic... I would call it Lynchian, not in the context of style or content, but in the sense that the movie operates on a very specific kind of nightmare dream logic. The editing works to reenforce this; things that I initially assumed were bad editing decisions were, ultimately, something else entirely by the end of the movie. It's a very singular vision of a movie, but if the idea of a queer-coded dreamy slasher sounds interesting, I think there's a lot to chew on here.  
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May 4, 2022 22:26
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 Short Cuts The Evening Broadcast (29:50) This isn't strictly horror, but definitely has some unsettling vibes. It's closest to something like Welcome to Nightvale, and I think the inspiration definitely shows there. This is a broadcast from a public access station during a very bad storm, and while nothing outright scary happens it's all very off and unsettling. This is actually part of a videogame, Kentucky Route Zero, which is one of those weird arty games. For part of it you're the producer of this access show, and they actually recorded a live action version of it that syncs up with what's happening in the game as a sort of ARG thing, it's pretty neat (if you were planning on playing the game just be aware that this happens at the end of Act 4 of 5, and while it's hard to say it spoils anything it's definitely a chunk taken out of the narrative). Exorcism (12:13) I feel like I've burned through all the big channels for this kind of thing, but I haven't gotten around to these Q videos the main thread is into right now so figured it'd be good to check a few of those out. Started with this one and it was a good lead in I think. Nice and low key, not afraid to show it's budget but without feeling too low budget. Wish there'd been a little more to it but good and creepy. House of Mirrors (9:20) I like the structure of this one, mixing the audio in with their interview instead of just having 10 minutes of him silently walking around the house, which is what I feel a lot of channels would do. Seems like you know exactly where it's going to go (though it's hard to complain about that in a 9 min video), but then it has a pretty good swerve to it. Bivouac (10:11) Good old "lost in the dark woods" video, very creepy throughout. Little weird how abruptly it ends though. Strange Messages (6:28) One of the more straight fowards ones, it's just a bunch of recordings from someone's old answering machine where they were getting strange calls. Didn't really go anywhere and not much seemed to happen, but I get the impression there's a loose narrative through these videos so I'm thinking maybe it connects with something I haven't seen yet.
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May 4, 2022 22:34
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 3) Titane - 2021 - Hulu I likely would've skipped over this one but after all the raves in the main thread, I figured I'll eventually give it a watch. In light of my growing problem with the assorted challenges of finding something that fits the criteria along with being something new to me in that I've watched so much stuff, I will eventually hit the point where I can't do the challenge because I've already seen what's out there. So, I moved this one up on the priority viewing since it fits the challenge and I haven't sat through it yet. Having sat through it, it just didn't work for me. I know it's won awards and it's definitely one I'll recommend to certain people I know who will be certain to adore it, but as far as I go, just wasn't my cuppa. The cast was fine, storyline's okay, and I've liked what I've seen of the other work the director's done. Overall, film's put together fine, but mostly I was just 'okay...and okay' as I sat through it. I don't regret sitting through it, and if there was a specialty showing of it at my work, I'd go see it on the big screen because, well, big screen reasons. But for the most part I'm left just with 'okay, I sat through it'.
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May 4, 2022 22:57
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8/13 7. Short Cuts Autumn Harvest (17 mins.) A Lovecraftian short with a gorgeous black and white palette, the film benefits greatly from having created a monster that looks specifically great when shot in stark black and white. The story is sparse in a ‘pick up on it for yourself’ type way, but I don’t think that’s a negative — instead, you’re left to assemble some of the narrative from the gorgeous cinematography. I don’t think the movie would have been as interesting in color, given that the palette would have been dominated by washed out blues, greens, and browns. Instead there’s an extra lurid layer of grime because of the B&W and I think that’s awesome. Wild (11 mins.) I have a theory that most short horror films are created because the writer/director figured out how to do a really cool effect, and they built a movie around that. Which isn’t a problem, because when they do figure out how to do an awesome effect, it usually looks really good. Lush shots in a beautiful environment and a great horror ending here, definitely doesn’t feel like a wasted 11 minutes. Rakka (21 mins.) I absolutely forgot to watch this when Neill Blomkamp dropped it in 2017, but it popped back up in my recommended when I was browsing for short horror on YouTube, and I'm glad it did. I find it interesting what happens when creators make a horror short that is ostensibly horror but cloaked in another genre. IMDB wants to call this sci-fi, but the sheer amount of goopy body horror on display, and one of the wildest things I've seen in any film ever (the Eiffel Tower covered in human corpses) makes for a kickass short that I feel like would have been much less well received if it had advertised itself as being horror/horror-adjacent from the beginning. Always a nice feeling seeing Ripley in something horror related. Your Date Is Here (6 mins.) Face Mask (6 mins.) I'm lumping these two together because they both come from Midnight Video, who specializes in exactly one type of horror short -- the kind with a jump/twist ending in the last ten seconds. Their shorts work, though, because they're very good at building tension in the previous moments and then releasing it in a single (cheap) jumpscare. Your Date Is Here uses the imagery of classic boardgames to a creepy effect, while Face Mask does the same thing but with the ubiquitous face masks we've all become accustomed to seeing in the last couple years. I respect that Face Mask bucks the Midnight Video trend by not ending on an overt jumpscare, and yet... I still think their jumpscare shorts are ultimately better. IMO their strongest short is Where Is It, but I'd seen that before, so I'm not talking about it here.
PKMN Trainer Red fucked around with this message at 05:17 on May 8, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 23:09
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 1. Witchfinder General (1968) "Ungodly? Depends on how you look at it." A great looking period piece about a terrible man named Matthew Hopkins, who essentially capitalized on the chaos of the English civil war, travelling around "finding" "witches" and then executing them, charging villages for the service. While it's not quite as hardcore as Witchhammer, this is still pretty grim and brings a surprising amount of violence. Vincent Price is great as Hopkins (a real person who existed), very different from most things I've seen him in - less campy and more sinister. A great start to the month. 4/5 --  10. The Price is Right 2. Kratt (2020) "Give me work." Internet addicted siblings are left with their grandmother for the summer, without their phones. Bored of helping with chores in rural Estonia, they visit the village library hoping to get online, but instead find a book about creating a "Kratt" (an Estonian folk creature that is activated by giving blood to the devil). The Kratt then does whatever it is told, constantly demanding new tasks - and if you don't keep it busy... well, mayhem ensues. This is charming and silly, not particularly scary, but I had a good time with it and would recommend it if you enjoyed the tone of Psycho Goreman. It's less coherent (like, really all over the place) but it's fun. As a bonus, if you have already seen a movie from Estonia, you could use this for the folk horror challenge if you wanted! 3.5/5 --  8. A Perfect Getaway (Estonia)Total Watched: 2 // GMM Challenges Complete: #10, #8
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May 4, 2022 23:15
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BTW, in case anybody is going for A Perfect Getaway and has seen a moderate amount of horror movies, here's a list of horror choices from some unconventional places. Everything listed here is available on either one of the major streaming platforms, or is available to watch if you just google the name and click the Videos tab, cough cough. Indonesia: - Impetigore (2019) - Satan’s Slaves (2017) Pakistan: - Kataksha (2019) - Udham Patakh (2021) Nigeria: - Karishika (1996) Bangladesh: - Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) Egypt: - The Blue Elephant (2014) - 122 (2019) Turkey: - Woman Despiser (1967) - Baskin (2015) Iran: - Under The Shadow (2016) - A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) Thailand: - Shutter (2004) - 4bia (2008) South Africa: - Fried Barry (2020) - Gaia (2021) Argentina: - Virus-32 (2022) - The Last Matinee (2020) - Terrified (2017) Poland: - The Lure (2015) - Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight (2020)
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May 4, 2022 23:37
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 6. The King in Yellow- Watch any giallo or giallo-influenced film  5. Amsterdamned (1988) (dir. Dick Maas)  Shudder A serial murderer wearing SCUBA gear is stalking the canals of Amsterdam, killing innocent people at random using a variety of nautical-themed implements and remaining one step ahead of the police. This is essentially a Dutch giallo with a touch of ‘80s b-movie humor, and as another reviewer mentioned it’s very Italian for a non-Italian film. Instead of a black-gloved killer wielding a knife, you’ve got a killer wearing a black full body diving suit and wielding a harpoon. It’s silly but also creative and a lot of fun. There are also some pretty sweet motorcycle and speedboat chases, and the script and characters are generally better than you might expect from this kind of film. The only part I didn’t really care for is a side plot involving a kid with psychic powers - it didn’t really add anything or even tie into the main plot all that much. I guess it was meant as a kind of comic relief, as the banter between the kids is funny, but the film itself is already fairly light in tone so it’s not really necessary. Plus it’s fairly long for this kind of movie, so without those scenes it probably would’ve been a bit tighter. Overall though I loved this, and if you like ‘80s Euro horror at all I highly recommend it. I wish the title was better - I appreciate a good pun and all, but it’s not descriptive of the insanity of a SCUBA giallo at all. 4.5 wetsuits out of 5 Total: 5 Watched: The Exorcist | Exorcist II: The Heretic | We're All Going to the World's Fair | Irreversible | Amsterdamned
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May 5, 2022 00:56
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Shrecknet posted:have you seen I have, I wish it was better, the controversy around it with the title change forced onto the movie because of conservative america really romanticized the idea that the movie is way more radical than it really is. Good cast and it's Kevin Williamson at his Kevin Williamsonist, but it falls flat when compared to other post-Scream knock offs. On top of the post-Scream stuff that I've been watching, I also recently watched Wolf Creek 1 and 2. Both really nasty Australian torture/survival movies, the antagonist really makes these movies, he's got the gross crass humor of a guy like Freddy which undercuts the horrifying reality that he's just a crazy brute who rapes and murders strangers in the Australian outback.
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May 5, 2022 01:19
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ruddiger posted:On top of the post-Scream stuff that I've been watching, I also recently watched Wolf Creek 1 and 2. Both really nasty Australian torture/survival movies, the antagonist really makes these movies, he's got the gross crass humor of a guy like Freddy which undercuts the horrifying reality that he's just a crazy brute who rapes and murders strangers in the Australian outback. I watched the first one a year or two ago and it was better than I expected, is the second worth it too?
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May 5, 2022 01:24
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"Better than I expected" is a good descriptor for both the first and second one. The second one has a pretty fun opening with some rear end in a top hat cops, and keeps you guessing at a few spots. Now that I'm thinking about it, these movies share a lot in common with The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer. The ending is very abrupt tho, and I know they're making a third one, but I couldn't find any info on it. E: and apparently there was a tv series in 2016? That ran for 2 seasons?! What the hell?
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May 5, 2022 01:35
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Movie #6, Challenge #3 Watch a film rated PG or PG-13 Godzilla vs. Hedorah (PG) Skipped ahead in the Criterion box set to watch a Godzilla I hadn't seen and I can't believe I slept on this one for so long, it's fantastic! Animated interstitials and multiple disco montages about the danger of pollution, awesome costume designs, a giant smog monster toking on an industrial smoke stack. There's so much wild stuff here. There's such a weird energy to this film that a lot of Godzillas lack. There's so much contrast here; loud music cuts to silence, dark black sludge cuts to fluorescent glow. It's a shame this is the only film directed by Yoshimitsu Banno, he really brought something special to this one. The final act runs out of steam, the rare Godzilla movie where all the best stuff is early on! But I appreciate that a big part of the final act is, "You people did this to your own planet, God(zilla) can't bail you out every time." (The humans still manage to screw up nearly everything though!) I like that by this point in the series giant monsters are just a fact of life. Kids have Godzilla and Ghidorah toys, no one's really surprised when a new one emerges. The most clearly fantastical thing in the film is the government sacrificing profits and shutting down all production in response to a climate crisis.
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May 5, 2022 01:41
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PKMN Trainer Red posted:BTW, in case anybody is going for A Perfect Getaway and has seen a moderate amount of horror movies, here's a list of horror choices from some unconventional places. Everything listed here is available on either one of the major streaming platforms, or is available to watch if you just google the name and click the Videos tab, cough cough. Thanks for this! Here are a few more I would recommend: - November (Estonia, 2017) - Rift (Iceland, 2017) - Penumbra (Argentina, 2012) - The House at the End of Time (Venezuela, 2013) Also, some I would not recommend, but here they are: - The Silent House (Uruguay, 2010) - Djinn (United Arab Emirates, 2013) - Killbillies (Slovenia, 2015) - 2012: Curse of the Xtabai (Belize, 2012)
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May 5, 2022 03:03
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9. Bit (2019) 2. Scream, Queen! - A transwoman moves to LA and falls in with a group of lesbian vampires. Think Lost Boys, but the vampires are more, albeit not entirely, sympathetic, and the Frog Brothers are a bunch of chuds. Pulls off quite a bit of plot in 90 minutes without feeling like it's cramming things in, and it's nicely staged and shot. 4.5/5 10. Riding the Bullet (2004)  12. All Hail the King - Clearly intended as a 60s nostalgia-fueled dreamscape, it's a bit of a trainwreck. Following a failed suicide attempt, protagonist Alan Parker almost immediately learns that his mother has had a stroke and heads out to hitchhike to the hospital. He frequently enters dream states and envisions other alternatives as to what's about to happen, but I didn't find it terribly impactful when they quickly get to the correct version of events. David Arquette pretty much single-handedly saves this as George Staub, one of the drivers and also a ghost who forces Alan to choose whether he or his mother is going to die. In fairness, that scene is like half the movie. 3/5A Perfect Getaway - I think it's only available to rent on Vimeo at the moment, but would Antarctica's only film, South of Sanity, count? I think I'm saving it for October so I can do a "7 continents" theme. Sono fucked around with this message at 03:39 on May 5, 2022 |
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May 5, 2022 03:33
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Count me in for 13 
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May 5, 2022 04:33
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4. The Lodge (2019) I was kind of annoyed by this one. Not because I was rolling my eyes at the plot twists the way most of the people I follow on Letterboxd were, but because its portrayal of the mentally ill seems kind of crass. Here we are doing Repulsion again. Apparently a little gaslighting and missing your meds for a couple of days is all it takes to push a schizophrenic into wigging out and becoming a psycho killer. Still, nice atmosphere, and I enjoyed the dysfunctional family dynamics. 3/5
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May 5, 2022 05:47
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2. Tales from the Hood (1995) (first viewing) "A funeral director tells four strange tales of horror with an African American focus to three drug dealers he traps in his place of business." The funeral director is the Cryptkeeper figure here, opening up caskets and telling stories about the corpses within. This anthology tackles serious issues--police brutality, domestic abuse, the legacy of Amerian racism, and gang violence, among others--but mixes it with a horror-comedy tone. It's consistently enjoyable--I would have liked some higher highs, but each of the segments is distinct and none overstays its welcome. CHALLENGE: "Horror Noire." --- CHALLENGES: 1. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched 2. Scream, Queen! 3. Rated PG 4. Music of the Night Nocturne (2020) 5. Behind the Screams 6. The King in Yellow 7. Short Cuts 8. A Perfect Getaway 9. Hidden Gems 10. The Price is Right 11. Horror Noire Tales from the Hood (1995) 12. All Hail the King 13. Sins of the Past
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May 5, 2022 06:24
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Servoret posted:
"All it takes"? I think you may have missed a pretty important part of her back story here...
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May 5, 2022 06:29
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 The Lure (2015) Challenge #4: Music of the Night Mermaid Golden and Mermaid Silver get jobs at a sexy cabaret an absolutely no one thinks this is strange. Silver immediately gets a crush on the worst dude in Poland and now she has to weigh the pros and cons of having her tail surgically removed so she can have a vagina. Golden is more interested in doing mermaid poo poo like seducing men at bars and eating their hearts. The Lure is tentatively a musical and horror movie but it is 100% weird as poo poo. You will get whiplash from how fast things proceed in this story because it doesn't go more than a minute with one thing before moving on to the next. There's absolutely no time to get acquainted with any of the characters they only exist insofar as to proceed the story to the next step like some sort of mad greek play. Ultimately though it's interesting visually and aurally and crazy enough to not be a waste of a watch. 3/5
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May 5, 2022 06:49
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I'm still in the process of trying to find something Stephen King I haven't sat through yet. Would Rose Red count as a mini series or a movie since while it originally aired as a mini series, I believe it was home released edited to a movie?
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May 5, 2022 08:15
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twernt posted:Thanks for this! I'd add Dachra from Tunisia to the list. I watched it for this challenge last time it came up.
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May 5, 2022 08:33
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