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#3 Fright Night 2 , 1988 submission . Overall I really liked this , I thought it was going to be pretty poo poo and the version I watched was a terrible transfer but it reall wasn't as bad as I thought. I really liked the flip in the film with Brewster being the victim of the female vampire. McDowell of course is wonderful. Of course it doesn't live up to the original but it's still a worthwhile watch.  / 5 #4 , Pet Sematary 2, 1992 Look the first film is a masterpiece however this has Clancy Brown as the the main antagonist and he is as wonderful as you would think he is. Also, it's got some really really surpising moments which I thought were great. There is a scene though where I'm pretty sure a guy fucks a demon dog. Really though this film is all about two things Clancy and Brown. He's so wonderful. / 5 27 years to go..... Hollismason fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Oct 2, 2017 |
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Oct 2, 2017 01:28
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I am not much for reviews. I will probably end up doing a recap at the end of the month and some highlights during, but today I'm off to a running start, so what the hey.. Crowhaven Farm This TV movie has been on my October to-watch list since (along with The Iron Rose ). I'm not sure why I took so long to watch it. It was an entertaining movie, but plays it by the numbers and you pretty much know how the movie is going to play out shortly after it starts. A decent watch, but not near enough to transcend to status of made for TV gold (Dark Night Of The Scarecrow! /5 Eyeball Went in with low expectations, but it wasn't too bad. Unlike the cover would have you think, this is a 99% who-dunnit. It seemed to go fast,but I don't recommend this unless you are big on Lenzi, but even then this one isn't so much a horror movie /5The Devil Rides In Now THIS is what I'm talking about. A Hammer film with Christopher Lee that isn't afraid to show the devil himself early in to it . Supposedly one of Lee's favorite Hammer films and one he pushed to be made at all /5Might finish off the night with The Love Witch or some movie I know nothing about and can find little on called The Night Brings Charlie . It's free on YouTube , so hey whatever Even those of you with subscriptions, don't forget to overlook YouTube. There are some good 70s-90s horror on there, and some real underground gems (Hauntedween)
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Oct 2, 2017 02:33
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Uh Oh! Look at the Calendar!! It's time for the 31DaysofHalloween !!! As always, that means my version of things around here is I challenge myself to watch as many new-to-me horror films as possible by the 31st. Last year I hit 62 total "new" films (I can't count repeat viewings which definitely slotted in as well). Ironically, the first two films I've watched so far are both films difficult to actually describe without just falling into the whole drat plot. Oh well. #1. We Are The Flesh aka Tenemos La Carne (2016) The film is set within a ruined building in what we presume is a post apocalyptic setting, and aren't told either way. Living there is Mariano, a disturbed and probably psychotic man who tools around his home making things, and making trades with a silent anonymous person on the other side of a hole in the wall for food. Lucio and Fauna, a brother and sister exploring pair break into Mariano's home, and upon discovery make a deal to work for him in exchange for food and shelter, which he agrees to, setting them to making his main room into an artificial cave out of wood and cardboard and other supplies they can get. Mariano's psychosis slowly finds itself infecting the siblings, especially Fauna, and he eventually pulls them into his mental state, forcing them into an incestual relationship, while he dies watching. The pair then continue to live this bizarre, primitive, psychosexual life for a while, and then things start to get REAL strange. Well. This sure was a film. I'm still kinda processing this rather random pick to open things for me. If it were an American made film, it would definitely be a hard NC-17, as there's very graphic nudity and sex on display, as well as a bit of gore, and a whole lot of taboo-breaking weirdness on display. It's the kind of thing I consider "Art Horror" where only a select group of people would probably go for it, and there's definitely a subset that would be offended heavily by it. I give "We Are The Flesh" and a half out of five2. The Void (2016) A small town cop finds an injured man on the side of the road and takes him to the nearest emergency room-a mostly burnt down hospital with just a skeleton crew (including his wife whom he's in a trial separation with) manning what's left of the place. After a bit, one of the nurses suddenly attacks and kills a patient, and the officer is forced to shoot her. Shaken, he passes out, to find another policeman arriving at the scene. He tries to call the incident in but finds the hospital surrounded by white robed people, one of whom attacks him while a loud siren sounds. After retreating inside, the officers find the killer nurse having turned into a monster, and they shoot it down. Nearly immediately afterwards, two country men fight their way into the hospital, after the man the officer found on the road. It becomes clear that the hooded men are keeping the few people inside the hospital, and incredibly strange things beyond this existence are starting to happen around the hospital, where this small group is besieged within... Wow, I loved this movie. It felt reminiscent of the stories of the Silent Hill games, what with multiple layers of existence, cult members, freaky body-horror monsters, a dark hospital, terribly under-equipped regular guy heroes stuck fighting their own psychological scars as much as the monsters, etc. The monsters are shown in loving detail of their impossible forms. There's a mean streak a mile wide. It's the sort of movie I hope for every year, and I STRONGLY recommend it to you all. I give "The Void" out of Five
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Oct 2, 2017 02:45
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Willow Creek 2013, dir. Bobcat Goldthwait | Shudder This poster is awesome!  I'm not a huge found footage fan. I got burned out by many of the lazy ones. I have been looking forward to this for a while, though I never got around to it. I've grown up around the woods a lot, and I find them inherently scary. I find bigfoot and bigfoot enthusiasts interesting and frightening in their own way. It came up in the horror movie thread, but I (and others) would love a really good bigfoot film. Sadly, I haven't seen one yet.  "lol u think u see me in dis movie?" This is a tongue-in-cheek hyper-minimal found footage film. It takes it's time to show the chemistry between the leads, and it's fine. A lot of the humor comes from them being amateur film-makers. There's some weird turns here and there, and the movie succeeds in being creepy at moments. Still, even at a mere 80 minutes, it doesn't feel like it's earned it's run-time. This would be better as a short film. Alternatively, there are brief moments of weirdness that I wish this film had embraced more. Instead, it plays it safe, and it suffers for it.  "I can't believe they stayed and watched the whole thing..." Seriously good loving poster though. Connections: Pumpkinhead, Night of the Creeps and this are all creature features! / 5Movies Watched NEW: I Walked With A Zombie, Dead & Buried, The Mummy ('59), The Resurrected, Critters, Cemetery Man, Roadgames ('81), mother!, Christine, Willow Creek REWATCH: The Return of the Living Dead, Pumpkinhead, Night of the Creeps, SHORT FILMS (not counted in goal): Junk Head 1; TOTAL: 13
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Oct 2, 2017 02:50
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#5 1986 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 There are so many loving catchphrases in this film , "Dog will Hunt!" , " The Saw is Family" , "Sex or the Saw" . It's a excellent sequel with the return of Leatherface ( where they actually call him Leatherface) and Chrome Dome!!! Although I don't think they call him that. You gotta appreciate that Hooper was like " gently caress it I'm just remaking 1". This to me is similar to Evil Dead 2. Yea sure there are some differences but it's basically the same as the first. Stands out for this has to be Gunnar Hansens performance as Leatherface. Also though Dennis Hopper as a cop bent on revenge. It's just a drat good film it's to bad the censors got ahold of it and it was cut to poo poo ( from what I understand) / 526 years to go 2017 , 1993 , 1992 , 1988, 1986
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Oct 2, 2017 03:19
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We're halfway through Roadwars and the entire scene with the (dumb spoiler but the unexpectedness got me) boat getting smashed made me laugh so loving hard.
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Oct 2, 2017 03:24
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Starting out in October proper having just gotten back from seeing It. Having never actively sat down and watched the miniseries or read the book, I quite enjoyed this one. A ton of wonderfully surreal, nightmarish setpiece work on display here, all rooted in the strong emotional core of The Loser's relationship with one another and their own personal demons, and bolstered by strong performances all around between all of the child actors and Skarsgård's Pennywise. Movies Watched (1): It
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Oct 2, 2017 03:32
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It's October, and I had a nice lazy day of movie watching! Rings (2017) This movie starts out promising enough. It reminds viewers of the central concept of The Ring, sets up the main characters, and establishes that the ghost is targeting people faster now, as a reflection of how often the tape has been shared. I wouldn't have minded if they showed the entire haunted tape again. The first American Ring came out about 15 years ago so a reminder would have been nice. Instead we get snippets and character reactions. The movie falls apart in the second act and never really recovers. There's too many side characters who aren't particularly compelling, and the acting isn't very good. The really big takeaway from this movie though is that it isn't scary. We get characters reacting to things, but I didn't feel that was effective in conveying fear to the viewer. The first Ring wasn't gory, but it had a few amazingly scary scenes such as the girl in the closet and Samara's entrance into the real world. This doesn't have anything even close to that. Overall, I didn't find this one to be anything too great, but I'm not really a huge fan of this series to begin with. The Stepfather (2009) This is a a remake of the movie that I've never seen before so it's all new to me. This wasn't too bad. The basic premise is that the stepfather keeps marrying into families and ends up killing them eventually. We don't really get a motive but it's implied that no one lives up to his ideal family. I'm not really spoiling anything with this info, as the cops in this film outright state he's a killer right off the bat, thus robbing the film of any ambiguity and tension that could be derived after that. The character actions in this are pretty silly and everyone overacts in this. Also, I swear a character just disappeared midway through the movie. With that said, I enjoyed this movie for what it was. The plot is fairly straightforward, and the movie does a good job of delivering exposition without grinding the movie to a complete halt. Train to Busan (2016) I've heard a lot of positive buzz about this movie and I was pleased to see that if was well deserved. The movie is about a zombie outbreak on a train. It doesn't reinvent the zombie genre, but it does an excellent job of balancing action with emotion. There are also some very tense scenes as well. I feel what drives this films success is the quality of its characters. They all seem so well rounded and this just makes everyone's fate seem so much more emotional. There's also an amazingly good rear end in a top hat capitalist character, and I'm glad that they don't try to make him sympathetic. Rewatches (4): Maniac Cop, Friday the 13th 3, Friday the 13th 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 First time watches (11): Mortuary, Little Evil, Eloise, Mother!, The Roommate, The Chaos Experiment, Resident Evil 6, Vacancy, Rings, The Stepfather, Train to Busan
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Oct 2, 2017 04:10
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I've seen Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight many times, but I forgot it has one of the best world building details in all of fiction: When mysterious agents from beyond our plane of existence arrive on Earth heralding the end of creation, they must first appear in the form of a cowboy and are mildly annoyed by that.
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Oct 2, 2017 04:41
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3. Gerald's Game (2017) Hits a few too many spots on the ol' Stephen King bingo card, but it's a tense film with surprisingly dynamic direction given the limited setting. Mike Flanagan is one of the most solid horror directors working right now, and if you don't recognize his name you're doing yourself a disservice. Gets docked a single pumpkin for some clumsiness with the script but it's still an amazing film overall. Easily the second-best Stephen King adaptation about a person chained to a bed.
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Oct 2, 2017 07:43
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#7 The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) I've heard a lot of people call this "The Witch light" as criticism, but as someone who didn't care for The Witch much this was more enjoyable. It was restrained, in a good way, using the atmosphere effectively and doing away with mostly unnecessary clutter. Not a masterpiece, but I dug it. #8 I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016) A sociopathic teenager in small-town America is afraid of turning into a serial killer, but when killings start happening he gets very interested and starts investigating them, finding something far more sinister than he expected. I really enjoyed this movie. It doesn't insult you by suggesting our teen might be the killer and just goes straight into something creepy and weird. Loved the ending. Best movie during my challenge so far. #9 What We Become (2016) An uninspired Danish zombie movie that does just fine telling its basic story and makes it feel a bit fresh because of its non-US setting, but still goes through the motions without adding anything to the genre. I don't regret watching this, but it offered absolutely nothing new or interesting like other Scandinavian horror such as Let the Right One In or When Animals Dream and I'm just kinda past the point where "good enough" is the type of horror I want to watch.
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Oct 2, 2017 10:26
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 The Seventh Curse Much like Lifeforce, this is one where I think a lot of screenshots would do a disservice to the movie. Better than you just watch it and let it take you by surprise. The Seventh Curse is a mash-up of a bunch of different things, it's Evil Dead meets Indiana Jones meets Chow Yun Fat. Actually, my biggest gripe is that Chow Yun Fat wasn't the main character, but whatever he still has his moments. Also, he walks around the whole movie with a badass Sherlock.  Yun Fat also features in the ending of the film, which is quite something. Anyway, like I said before I think the less said about it the better. The only caveat is that the odd mix of genres and tones is something that might not be for everyone, but if you're already acclimated to this kind of weirdness you'll definitely love it. The creature effects are great, but they are the main thing I'm trying to keep under wraps because if you don't know the full extent of them going in it makes for a ridiculous roller coaster ride. One thing I will say is that yes, there is absolutely a kung fu fight between a dude and a skeleton, and it rules. Completed:The Wicker Man, Deadly Blessing, Night Creatures, Shock Waves, Slugs, Venom, Maximum Overdrive, Christine, The Tingler, The Masque of the Red Death, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Funhouse, Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Invaders From Mars, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Seventh Curse. Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Oct 2, 2017 |
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Oct 2, 2017 14:29
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Moving on with a couple new-to-me movies. 2. Demons: So Italian it hurt in all the best ways. And those sideburns. Anyway, the makeup effects alone are worth the watch, nevermind the fun sets and backgrounds. Will have to try fitting the second movie into my month. 3. Phantasm: It has some problems but I can see why it grabbed a devoted fan base. This really is a classic and I wish that I had first seen it as a kid. On the whole and even when viewing thirty-odd years later, it stands up as a solid film.
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Oct 2, 2017 15:01
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4. Little Evil (2017) The Omen, But A Family-Positive Comedy. It's fine, I guess. It feels a little flat and sanitized compared to Tucker and Dale Versus Evil, but it has some laughs and doesn't drag too much. I wanted something light but maaaaaybe not this light. Three pumpkins out of five, passable but not a recommendation.
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Oct 2, 2017 15:30
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6. From Hell It Came-1957: 4/10 (Turner Classic Movies) Goofy '50s monster flick where a giant tree stump stumbles around an island, throwing people into quicksand. As usual with these movies not enough time is spent on the monster (which is goofy as all hell and fun to watch) and too much time is spent on the conflicts of boring characters. 7. Rattlers-1976: 4/10 (Turner Classic Movies) Dull killer rattlesnake movie with one of the most useless female characters you've ever seen in a movie. How a movie like this made in the '70s could be this goddamn dull I don't know but they sure as hell pulled it off. 8. Deathgasm-2015: 9/10 (Netflix) Metal brings a demon to a town and poo poo hits the fan. It's funny and gory and pretty loving great. 9. Cannibal Campout-1988: 6/10 (Amazon Prime) Shot on video cheapie that's got a little charm. Everything is amateurish but done so in a way that makes you kinda like it. 10. Blood Beach-1980: 2/10 (YouTube) Great premise, boring-rear end execution. A movie about a monster killing people from under the sand should not be this boring. Especially one made in the '80s. 11. Don't Kill It-2016: 9/10 (Netflix) Dolph Lundgren is a demon hunter, if that doesn't sell you on this then nothing will.
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Oct 2, 2017 16:07
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#6 Pet Sematary 1989 This is just a great film and probably one of the more overlooked Stephen King adaptations. I think what I love about this film is that there's no real explanation beyond "Yeah you bury things there and they come back to life". Also, it has Fred Gwynne who is just absolutely wonderful in it. And Tasha Yar from Star Trek before she became insane and started flashing children. The whole film is a emotional roller coaster and is one of those films that really gets at you if your a older person or if you have kids. It's just excellently acted through out as well. "Gage come on out , I brought you something " as he flicks open the knife is my , favorite scene Is there anything more terrifying than a toddler wielding a scalpel with malice? / 5Years : 2017 , 1993 , 1992 , 1988, 1986, 1989 25 years to go Hollismason fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Oct 2, 2017 |
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Oct 2, 2017 16:47
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Basebf555 posted:
The big selling point with The Seventh Curse is that it's from the same director as Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. If you want to see that director tackle a kung-fu/horror/action movie, then watch The Seventh Curse ASAP.
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Oct 2, 2017 17:36
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X-Ray Pecs posted:The big selling point with The Seventh Curse is that it's from the same director as Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. If you want to see that director tackle a kung-fu/horror/action movie, then watch The Seventh Curse ASAP. I looked up the trailer for this on Youtube  Might have to give this a go.
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Oct 2, 2017 17:44
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The trailer does not prepare you for how insane it is. Buckle the gently caress up.
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Oct 2, 2017 17:48
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Well, I missed the original post, but I'm going to do the challenge. Or, -a- challenge. And I already watched a couple in a row this weekend, so I'm off to a good start. 1. A Dark Song  An excellent occult horror movie available on Netflix. Guy and girl meet up and lock themselves in a secluded house for weeks on end to participate in a psychologically and physically exhausting dark magic ritual. Their motives are suspect. After a while, creepy poo poo starts to happen and it really ramps up near the end. There are some awesome jump scares and creepy imagery in the film. Reminded me a bit of 1977's The Sentinel. 2. Gerald's Game Pretty decent adaptation of Stephen King's novel which I read when I was *way* too young. I like how the director 1) doesn't use music to goose the audience during the scary parts and 2) perfectly meshes the psychological horror of the main character's past (trigger warning: sexual abuse) with the very real "will I survive this?" horror of her present predicament. Bruce Greenwood and Carla Gugino are great.
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Oct 2, 2017 17:49
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BioTech posted:#7 The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) I liked "The Blackcoat's Daughter" way more than "The Witch", for what it's worth.
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Oct 2, 2017 17:51
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Its October so time to play! I rewatched V/H/S and V/H/S/2 through the day. They're not my favorite films but they're good background horrors as you can kind of tune in and out with each segment. Some are hits, some are misses, most of them have something interesting going on and all benefit from the anthology appeal of not lasting long enough to really wear out its welcome if its flawed. I just found out Amatuer NIght got turned into a standalone movie that has ok scores so I'm kind of curious about that now. I don't know if Viral is on any streamings ervices but i fit is I'll probably put that on at some point this month just to finish the rewatch. On the main event... 1. Let Us Prey (2014)  A mysterious and dark stranger ends up in a small town jail cell overnight and begins to unravel everyone's dark secrets. Nothing terribly original in the initial premise and I was struggling with it early as the characters and their secrets and conflicts felt a little too forced for the plot early on. But there's a cheap/old school aesthetic and Liam Cunningham is a compelling presence even in a pretty muted role. And then the film just goes crazy, in a good way. Everything builds to just a fever pitch and then just keeps building into fairly unexpected total craziness. I just spent the first half of the money thinking "Yeah, I've seen this before" and then all of a sudden "Woah! I didn't see that coming!" The ending was also pretty different and fun as its not too often you see the hero of the movie end it by being seduced by the devil into being his hitman. A solid start to the month. 3 out of 5? 3 1/2? I'm not big on rating like that. It was fun and I enjoyed it. October Tally - New (Total) - (1). V/H/S (2012) / - (2). V/H/S/2 (2013) / 1 (3). Let Us Prey (2014) I'll also be going for Hollismason's "31 Years" thing as a side thing and tiebreaker to decide what to watch some days. And I made a really lazy little calendar to help me keep track in a fun way. Yellow circles mean rewatches that shouldn't really count but might have to in the end. Red X is a proper new watch entry. 
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Oct 2, 2017 17:58
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Wilhelm Scream posted:6. From Hell It Came-1957: 4/10 (Turner Classic Movies) Infamously, a review at the time was in its entirety: "And to hell it can go!"
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Oct 2, 2017 18:06
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Movie #8: The Thing from Another World This was enjoyable, but feels slight in comparison to Carpenter's The Thing, which may be an unfair comparison, but one I couldn't help making. The monster itself isn't much, and the final confrontation with him drags, with him only really shining in the brief bit where he fights a pack of dogs. The movie's at its strongest when it's just the human characters interacting, particularly the surprisingly charming romance, all but ignoring the super carrot wandering around outside.
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Oct 2, 2017 18:29
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Basebf555 posted:
 #12 The Manitou - "Just assume that she has a problem, now now assume also this problem has to do with Indian magic. Well, my God, son, you do have one hell of a problem!" The spirit of a 400 year old medicine man is reincarnating itself through a tumor on a woman's back. The movie is batshit crazy. 4/5 #13 Crimson Peak - I remember thinking the trailers for this looked like trash and now after watching it that's not surprising. Of course there's no way a Hollywood marketer would know how to sell this thing. Just that it was greenlit with such a budget seems crazy. It's not fully horror or romance, but playing in a space somewhere between. I really liked it. Everyone seems to be aware of what they're making and having a good time. Just enough seriousness to hold it together and not a shred of subtlety. The protagonist in the opening segment even straight up explains to us that it's not a ghost stoy, but a story with ghosts, and the ghosts are metaphors for the past. This was a lot of fun. 4/5 Total: 13 Butterly Murders [4/5], Candyman: Day of the Dead [1/5], The Fog [4/5], Demons [5/5], Demons 2 [4/5], Prom Night [2/5], The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [5/5], In the Mouth of Madness [4/5], Inland Empire [3/5], Vampyr [4/5], Scanners [4/5], The Manitou [4/5], Crimson Peak [4/5] Letterboxd list
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Oct 2, 2017 18:30
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So still just catching up from over the weekend, for October 1st I went with a Mummy double feature, starting with: The Mummy(1959) One of the more underrated Hammer films in my opinion, you hear a lot about Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, but often The Mummy is overlooked. But the triumvirate of Hammer excellence are all here; Lee, Cushing, and especially Terence Fisher. The general rule of thumb is that if Fisher directed it, you can expect it to be a cut above most other Hammer films. It's a mostly thankless role for Lee, he does get to deliver some lines in flashback sequences, but it's his hulking and powerful Mummy that sticks in the memory. Much like his Dracula, there has not been a more physically convincing Mummy on-screen before or since. When the Mummy tracks his first victim, he tears his way into the room through a metal screen with a ferocity that instantly erases any of the inherent goofiness that a story about a killer Mummy may have. You really do not want to be in this Mummy's sights, Lee is a force of nature and his unrelenting power and rage is pretty drat scary.  The makeup on Lee is really well done as well, I can totally believe that those wrappings have been on him for thousands of years.  Throw in Peter Cushing in his predictably top form as the lynchpin of the group of protagonists, and you've got what I consider to be the best Mummy film ever made. I prepared myself for disappointment as I then watched  I actually already owned this in a Hammer DVD set but I don't think I'd ever gotten around to watching it before, at least I don't remember it if I did. It's not as terrible as I was expecting, I was pleasantly surprised that they actually did a decent job of recreating the look of Lee's Mummy:  But the protagonists were lacking in this one, as was the script. A mummy is brought back from Egypt and goes on a killing rampage, that's about it. Which wouldn't necessarily be a problem on it's own, but the cast doesn't really have any stand-outs either, and certainly nobody close to the level of a Peter Cushing to anchor the whole thing. It also suffers from not having a master like Fisher at the helm, there are some pretty ugly shots that didn't need to be and I'm sure wouldn't have been with Fisher on-board. I didn't regret watching it though, it's still Hammer and so the costumes and sets are still very colorful and a lot of fun to see. There's just a charm to these films that gets me even when overall the film may not be quite up to snuff. Completed:The Wicker Man, Deadly Blessing, Night Creatures, Shock Waves, Slugs, Venom, Maximum Overdrive, Christine, The Tingler, The Masque of the Red Death, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Funhouse, Poltergeist, Lifeforce, Invaders From Mars, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Seventh Curse, The Mummy, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
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Oct 2, 2017 18:33
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The Carrier Eight people on a 747 fly around while a disease rages below. It's British and strangely effective until they land, then for some reason these sick people turn into zombies (even though the infected on the plane are shown to retain their faculties) and kind of falls apart. Its best moments are the opening, and it's all downhill from there - which seems to be a common theme in a lot of the worse horror I've seen for this challenge. You'd think sticking the landing with a big rock ending would be easier with an obvious, external threat but no. Only the otherwise-excrebale 31 manages to have a cool and interesting ending. Movies Watched:Midnight Meat Train, IT, Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Saw 7, Phantasm, Demons, Rockula, House of the Devil, 31, Deathrow Gameshow, Nine Miles Down, The Carrier
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Oct 2, 2017 18:48
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I just started yesterday and instead of having a set list of movies to watch over the month, I'm picking films at random from my collection and netflix, trying to give a preferential choice to stuff I've had sitting around that I haven't bothered to watch yet (or that's been in my Netflix queue for ages) Also not even bothering with trying to do a movie a day, just packing them in when I can until I hit 31. First up: 1. Scars of Dracula (1970)  (The poster is god awful and I kinda love it.) It's been a long while since I sat down with a Hammer film, with 1958's Horror of Dracula making my Halloween watch list last year. Scars of Dracula is such a leap forward compared to Horror of Dracula, with Christopher Lee getting considerably more screen time and dialogue in this film. Everything I love about Hammer horror films is on display here, the barely convincing "Day for Night" shots, the bright red blood, the over the top melodramatic story and acting, and of course heaving bosoms.  Heaving Bosom. Dracula is resurrected in this one by a really cheesy looking bat vomiting bright red blood onto his dust. Despite the bat looking goofy as hell and making repeat appearances throughout the film, including killing the priest character in one of the single most hysterical death scenes I've seen that wasn't an Italian film, the effects work for Dracula's resurrection is actually really cool looking, as we get to see the Count's body reform from dust. There's also a neat glowing eye effect later in the film when our "Hero" attempts to kill Dracula.  Spoopy bat. Also somewhere between the events of Horror of Dracula and Scars, Dracula turned into a sadist who uses a red hot sword to punish his servant (played by Patrick Troughton) because that's a thing that happens in this movie.  Spoilers for the end of a movie that came out in 1970: The final showdown between the hero and Dracula takes place outside the castle while a storm is rolling in. The hero throws a metal pole into Dracula, who removes it and then spends entirely too long preparing to throw it so he can be struck by LIGHTING. Dracula then catches fire and does a full body burn in slow motion. They cut some really nice close up shots of Lee in make up to help sell the effect, and despite a shot that catches the really terrible Lee mask the stunt guy is wearing for a second too long, the whole sequence works pretty well. Even the dummy that takes the fall off the side of the castle wall looks impressive engulfed in flames, and the final shots of the flaming body slowly falling down the side of the castle with the sound of Dracula screaming was solid.  I really enjoyed Scars of Dracula, camp and all. It's just the right amount of over the top gothic schlock and vampire moments. out of 5Completed: 1.Scars of Dracula joylessdivision fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Oct 2, 2017 |
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Oct 2, 2017 19:44
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Hollismason posted:#5 1986 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 There are so many loving catchphrases in this film , "Dog will Hunt!" , " The Saw is Family" , "Sex or the Saw" . It's a excellent sequel with the return of Leatherface ( where they actually call him Leatherface) and Chrome Dome!!! Although I don't think they call him that. You gotta appreciate that Hooper was like " gently caress it I'm just remaking 1". This to me is similar to Evil Dead 2. Yea sure there are some differences but it's basically the same as the first. Stands out for this has to be Gunnar Hansens performance as Leatherface. Also though Dennis Hopper as a cop bent on revenge. Gunnar Hansen wasn't Leatherface in part 2. They wouldn't pay him what he asked for.
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Oct 2, 2017 19:56
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I consider Leatherface to be the only downside to what Hooper did with TCM 2, I just prefer the less cuddly version from the original.
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Oct 2, 2017 20:07
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#3 Gerald's Game (2017) Jessie and her older husband Gerald go on a special weekend trip to a cabin by a lake to try to spice up their marriage. In the process, Gerald dies of a heart attack during bedroom antics and Jessie winds up stuck handcuffed to the bedposts unable to reach the keys. While she struggles desperately to free herself, she finds herself hallucinating, and thinking back on her abused past. However, the ghosts she's seeing might not all be so ethereal... This only recently debuted on Netflix as an original film, but I think it did a very good job of what it set out to. There's not anything here that will make you jump out of your skin, but it's a very realistic scenario that easily fills the room with dread. It has a tone of say, a lifetime movie, as strange as that sounds, but stranger still I kinda liked it. I give Gerald's Game and a half out of Five#4 A Cure For Wellness Lockheart, a young up and coming corporate exec is sent to a remote Alpine spa where his CEO has retreated to in order to get him to come back to the company in a time of crisis--by force if need be. However, he suffers a broken leg in a car accident and quickly becomes a patient at the very same spa. There, inside a former castle, the treatments seem to be exclusively water based. Lockheart meanwhile divides his time between Hannah, a mysterious young patient, and the dark secrets the clinic seems to hold, finding himself deeper and deeper within both the treatments and his own psyche. It's interesting to see Gore Verbinski return to horror after so long, with his last horror outing being The Ring. While the plot is so so, and you can figure things out pretty early on, the camera work is simply exquisite, providing strange angles and reflections, claustrophobic paranoia, and the same sort of general unease that permeates The Ring on first viewing. Also, even though you CAN figure things out way before Lockheart, that doesn't mean they aren't strange things worth watching. I give A Cure For Wellness out of Five#5 Armynel (2012) Savannah is having a problem. She has strange dreams, both at night and in the day, involving flashes of a little girl walking in on an upset father. Her girlfriend recommends she go to a psychiatrist, who through hypnosis finds that she is the little girl and the father is her own, and he apparently abused her. She also talks about a woman in the room named Armynel, who wears a mask she inherited from her mother. After these breakthroughs, her girlfriend is killed in a hit and run by an ex-coworker who was fired for sexually harassing them. Then suddenly a woman wearing the Armynel mask starts killing the people around her. Could it be Savannah is Armynel? This was a pretty blah low budget number. I do have to give them credit for knowing how to work a shot and not resorting to the home video class cameras you see so many low budget indie films resort to. The story is so-so, I guess I could see it from the likes of some tv mystery anthology series or something. Heck, add in some gore and it might even be okay for Tales From The Crypt. My initial thought is 2.5, but I'll give it an extra half a point for the refreshingly normal way the lesbian relationship was depicted, so out of Five.
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Oct 2, 2017 20:23
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All right, now that October proper is here I can stop procrastinating and post. There is no method to my madness all choices are arbitrary and random, which I think particularly stands out in yesterday's double feature: 1. House (1986) After his aunt kills herself, an author returns to live in her house and write. Coincidentally, it is also the house where his son mysteriously disappeared (years? ago). Also the house is evil. The movie ramps it up real quick into levels of insanity I did not expect, and now I kind of want to see where the rest of this series goes. .5/52. Female Vampire (1975) This is my first real experience with Jess Franco, and you can pretty much tell from the opening scene whether you're going to enjoy this movie or not. On a foggy tree-lined road, a woman walks out wearing a cape, and a big belt, and nothing else. The camera pans up, and down, zooms in a few times, pans some more. Behold, a female vampire! She sucks her victim's blood at the moment of orgasm, and then, as far as I can tell, writhes around for a few minutes in her own orgasmic state. There is a lot of writhing, and nudity, and not all that much plot. I enjoyed watching it (Lina Romay is a very beautiful lady) but it wasn't particularly great as a movie. /53. Gerald's Game (2017) I read this book a very long time ago, and liked it a lot. I think the overall idea of being trapped alone somewhere generally considered safe and not entirely sure if what you're seeing is real is a very effective device. I thought the movie handled it well, right up until the last ten minutes or so, when it begins to go into detailed explanations of things that were completely unnecessary. /5
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Oct 2, 2017 20:44
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joylessdivision posted:Gunnar Hansen wasn't Leatherface in part 2. They wouldn't pay him what he asked for. Huh, I did not actually know that I totally thought it was him. graventy posted:All right, now that October proper is here I can stop procrastinating and post. There is no method to my madness all choices are arbitrary and random, which I think particularly stands out in yesterday's double feature: That's like every Jess Franco movie. I don't particularly super care for his films. Jean Rollins does it better. Hollismason fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Oct 2, 2017 |
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Oct 2, 2017 20:57
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Hollismason posted:That's like every Jess Franco movie. I don't particularly super care for his films. I've never seen a Jess Franco that I liked.
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Oct 2, 2017 21:07
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6/31, Pumpkinhead: It's already been discussed in this thread, and it was a favorite of mine when I was a teenager in the 90s. /5
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Oct 2, 2017 21:24
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Franchescanado posted:I've never seen a Jess Franco that I liked. I actually kind of like The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein Maybe Vampyros Lesbos but that was just like okay
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Oct 2, 2017 22:01
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Franchescanado posted:I've never seen a Jess Franco that I liked. I'll probably try one more but honestly you're probably better off just watching porn. At least the plot would go somewhere.
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Oct 2, 2017 22:03
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Hollismason posted:I actually kind of like The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein I tried The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein and it didn't work for me. I haven't seen Vampyros Lesbos yet. They all just feel like cheap versions of already good movies. Like, "Hey, The Devils by Ken Russell is good, lemme make that, minus the intrigue." graventy posted:I'll probably try one more but honestly you're probably better off just watching porn. At least the plot would go somewhere. I'd say watch a Jean Rollin film so you can see the difference between the two filmmakers and you get to see a justifiable "art-house lesbian vampire" film. Similar concept, waaaaay better execution, great imagery, cool dream logic, etc. I really like Fascination, and Living Dead Girl. The Nude Vampire is visually amazing, but the acid jazz soundtrack is really abrasive (which is intentional), and it doesn't make it a very pleasant experience overall. The best lesbian vampire film I've seen is The Blood Spattered Bride, one of many Carmilla adaptations, but arguably the best.
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Oct 2, 2017 22:12
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X-Ray Pecs posted:The big selling point with The Seventh Curse is that it's from the same director as Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. If you want to see that director tackle a kung-fu/horror/action movie, then watch The Seventh Curse ASAP. Story of Ricky is practically a horror movie as well, I definitely consider it one, and Shudder seems to agree since they do have it in their catalog
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Oct 2, 2017 22:19
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 23:09 |
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7/31, Society: I'd started this movie a time or two, usually late in the evening, and I'd fallen asleep every time. Having gotten through it, I'm not sure I was wrong those first few times - the payoff is there, but there's just so much tiresome paranoia in the front half. I feel like they could have cut a few story beats and ended up with a much better product. The end is completely insane, though. 2/5 buttheads
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Oct 2, 2017 22:25
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