|
5. The House of the Devil, 2009 Up until the ending this was probably the most successful attempt at recreating that early '80s style of genre film-making. Beyond the music and wardrobe choices the film nails the cinematography of that era with its longer takes, zooms, and freeze frames. Put me down as one of the people who enjoyed the build-up where "nothing happens" way more than the climatic scenes, which felt rushed and discordant with the aesthetic of the previous 80 minutes.  .5/56. Hush, 2016 Never seen a Mike Flanagan film before and this was a very solid home invasion thriller with a neat gimmick. It does some creative moments with its premise but feels like more of a standard entry in the genre during a lot of the middle section. I could've done without the protagonist's inner monologues at the end but it was still highly enjoyable and tailor made for the Netflix era. .5/57. Oculus, 2013 This seemed to be ostensibly a typical mainstream modern supernatural horror with a Spooky Ghost Woman but relied pretty heavily on setting a creepy tone over traditional scares more than its contemporaries. The flashbacks with the kids were far more interesting and reminded me of It with the narrative constantly returning to fragmented memories of childhood trauma. I really dug the parts toward the end where the past and present were intertwining but it all ends in a nihilistic punchline. /5Total Watched: 7 Pulse, The Darkness, Shatter Dead, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, The House of the Devil, Hush, Oculus
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 04:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 10, 2024 00:56 |
|
|
STAC Goat posted:Those descriptions of the Phantasm sequels make it sound like they were just bootleg adaptions of King's Dark Tower series. Now I'm weirdly curious to watch these and see if I can get further through them than the books. Ravager is the only one that's not good, but they're all worth watching, because they all take different tones and try different things, and yet they all feel very personal.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 04:12
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:I mean, I'm going off memory since i haven't seem them in awhile but its definitely the one I remember most enjoying and rewatching, and it basically does away with the family and focuses on a grown Brad, Charlie, and the bounty hunters. The Critters also are more mobile (if I remember correctly) and develop some tricks to become more menacing. Its also written by and the first movie directed by Mick Garris, for whatever that may or may not be worth to you. Nthing that Critters 2 is worth watching as it ramps up pretty much all the best aspects of 1. If you recall, this month I watched 3 and it shits away all that good faith completely, to the point that I'm hesitant to watch 4.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 05:09
|
|
|
Choco1980 posted:Nthing that Critters 2 is worth watching as it ramps up pretty much all the best aspects of 1. If you recall, this month I watched 3 and it shits away all that good faith completely, to the point that I'm hesitant to watch 4. 4 is even worse than 3 and also has an annoying and confusing plot twist that retroactively ruins a major element of the series, so I say skip it entirely and watch this fan film instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yloNnvdWBU0
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 12:36
|
|
|
19. Saturn 3: While a widely derided film, I remember it sticking with me after seing it as a kid. I remembered wrong, the movie sucks and only a few specifics stood out in my memory. Of them, only one stood up as genuinely effective*. Bummer that it really does suck through and through. * Hector wearing the Captain's face. While the eye bit, dead dog, and suicide bombing were all poorly executed. Butch Cassidy fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Oct 16, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 13:38
|
|
|
 16. City of the Living Dead (1980) aka The Gates of Hell dir. Lucio Fulci Saw this on a scratched-up print bearing the "Gates of Hell" title card, which honestly is a more accurate title for the movie given that most of the action takes place in rural New England. I'd seen the famous scene with the girl vomiting up her entrails before, but didn't know to expect it here, so it's great to finally have context for that. This is only my third Fulci film, after The House by the Cemetery and Zombie, and I dig his dreamstate, ultra-gore style. Although this one moves a tad too slow. I joked with my friend at the end that after they finish they're business in the catacombs we were going to watch them leave for 10 minutes, the editing could have sped things up more. But overall, when it's on point it's slick and gruesome in all the best ways.  17. Unfriended (2014) dir. Levan Gabriadze Brilliant reinvention of film form through one of the most familiar platforms of the moment, flaws and all. That it refuses to ever break away from the single screen perspective is its greatest strength -- it's got those little details that can help you get inside the head of the protagonist. It's got the nastiness of the most honest teen movies but the horror movie fun. Maybe more effective as an experiment than as a scary movie but it's a helluva experiment.  18. I Walked with a Zombie (1943) dir. Jacques Tourneur Holy poo poo those final shots with the zombie on the beach are just stunning. For a film from the 40's, it's got a real keen eye for the evils of colonialism that it doesn't try to mask and although it can be a talk heads affair much of the time it knows how to employ the money shots. I watched Night of the Demon for the first time last month before the challenge began, and although I like that one a bit more, I'm glad to have finally seen this. It's a soulful funeral hymn for the ruined islands.  19. I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) dir. Herbert L. Strock Carries with it the tragedy inherent in the scenario, although frequently bogged down in time-padding dialogue. When we're spending time with the monster, however, it's a golden age classic. The film recognizes the exploitation inherent in the scenario of teenagers dead bodies being robbed from crime scenes and brought back to life -- it's an adult controlling and abusing a child. It's something strung through all of the Herman Cohen "Teenage" pictures, Werewolf and Blood of Dracula are likewise screaming out for the monster who was made, not born.  20. In a Glass Cage (1986) dir. Agusti Villaronga Although I understand its core statements about cycles of abuse, fetishization of violence, genocide, and power, I also don't know that any of it connected with me in a way that went beyond leaving me uncomfortable, but not shaken. A well-acted extremist drama for sure, but one where the ultimate resonance relies on its ability to pierce you deeper than shock value, and I'm not sure this did that for me. Watched: It (2017); The Invisible Man; mother!; Carnival of Souls; Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III; Dementia; Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains; Snuff; The Last House on Dead End Street; When a Stranger Calls; Peeping Tom; What We Do in the Shadows; Tusk; Lace Crater; Interface; City of the Living Dead; Unfriended; I Walked with a Zombie; I Was a Teenage Frankenstein; In a Glass Cage (Total: 20)
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 13:54
|
|
|
 #22 Cemetery Man - This movie is hosed. But also really great and fun. The plot is nonsense but Rupert Everett kills a lot of zombies while not giving a poo poo and saying cool lines like "I'd give my life to be dead" 4/5  #23 Halloween II - Not bad I guess, and there are some pretty good scenes. But it doesn't really do enough to fully justify its existence in my opinion. 3/5  #24 Creepshow - Went to a theatrical showing last night. Didn't fully work for me, I found myself getting a little bored at times. Adrienne Barbeau and Leslie Nielsen were both really great though. 3/5 Total: 24 Re-watches(1): The 'Burbs [5/5] First time(23): 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], Planet of the Vampires [3/5], Raw [5/5], Friday the 13th Part 3 [2/5], Entity (2012) [1/5], Nosferatu [3/5], Poltergeist [4/5], Re-Animator [4/5], Cemetery Man [4/5], Halloween II [3/5], Creepshow [3/5] Letterboxd list
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 16:25
|
|
|
Well that's easily the best Creepshow poster I've ever seen.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 16:28
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:Well that's easily the best Creepshow poster I've ever seen. 2nd image search result, can't take screencaps in a theater. It's the cover for a soundtrack LP.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 16:33
|
|
|
Which creepshow has the lake raft slime monster? That one truly messed me up as a kid.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 17:36
|
|
|
Dr. Angela Ziegler posted:Which creepshow has the lake raft slime monster? That one truly messed me up as a kid. That's Creepshow 2. Probably my favorite Creepshow segment.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 17:56
|
|
|
I watched some of Lifeforce the other day, after fond memories of gawking at the box art at my rental place as a child. Good silly fun so far, but what made me laugh the most is seeing that it was made only a year before Aliens, and on a significantly chunkier budget too. It looks like it was made a decade before. I'm gonna put this down to it being a Cannon movie so a good chunk of the budget went up the producers' noses, dodgy accounting, and Britain in the 80s looking a decade out of date.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 18:11
|
|
|
The Chucky Craze continues with Bride of Chucky. This is the last of the franchise that I had seen already and it was kind of the one that turned me away. Its not that there’s nothing in there to enjoy but its the full Freddy-ified of Chucky a real tonal jump from the Child’s Play movies to the absurd camp of the Chucky movies. Like, where Child’s Play excels in holding Chucky back and making it so that when he does start doing poo poo its terrifying and shocking Bride of Chucky is just all about Chucky and Tiffany running around and doing wacky stuff and telling jokes. The human leads are clearly just supporting cast at this stage and its all about taking the robot dolls for a ride. It can be fun in the right mode but its appropriate that the franchise changed its name entirely. I have more to say but first this.. 16 (26). Seed of Chucky (2004)  What. The. gently caress. Just seriously, what the gently caress? Its hard to even believe that Child’s Play and this are part of the same franchise. I’m trying wrap my mind around the fact that the same guy wrote all of these movies. I mean, I guess its a testament to him letting the character “evolve” and going not being married to his original idea. But what the gently caress? From beginning to end this movie had me slack jawed at what was happening. I said when I watched Nightbreed that it felt less like a horror movie and more like some kind of attempt at a grand epic like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars but with monsters in place of elves or aliens. When in the same kind of way I think Seed (and to a lesser extent Bride) has just entirely abandoned the idea of horror (at least in the scary sense) and is now just some kind of bizarre dark fairy tale. Where the humans in Bride are just kind of tag along characters because of the carryover “we need to transfer to human hosts because that’s the plot of every movie” thing Seed just abandons that entirely. This isn’t a movie about Andy or Kyle or Tyler or even Jessie and Jade. This is a movie about Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen/Glinda. And Jennifer Tilly is around for super meta comedic value. Humans are just kind of the playthings of dolls at this stage and it quite appropriately climaxes with Chucky just going ”You know what? I don’t want to be human! I like being a killer doll!” As insane as this movie is its a real evolution of a kind for the franchise and Chucky. I half expect Chucky to call Andy up and be all “Sorry about all that trying to posses you poo poo… false alarm.” I wasn’t entirely sure I hadn’t seen this one but I now feel comfortable saying that if I had I would have remembered it. Just what the gently caress? There was a poster in the Horror thread saying that the world should believe in Chucky by the 6th or 7th movie and as much as I disagree with that it got me thinking of the press fallout from this movie. ”Chucky Goes Crazy star Jennifer Tilly says the Chucky doll came to life and murdered half a dozen people including famed rapper, actor, and director Redman in her home this week. Tilly also claims the dolls artificially inseminated her with voodoo babies that were delivered within days.” Somewhere in the Chucky universe right next to the Netflix Documentary on all the serial killers like Andy Barclay and Jessie and Jade who have killed in the name of Chucky is a Jinx-esque series on how Jennifer Tilly got away with mass murder. What the gently caress? I don’t know what I think of these movies at this stage but I’m genuinely curious to watch Curse and Cult. Saturday. Friday the 13th is for Jason. October Tally - New (Total) - (1). V/H/S (2012) / - (2). V/H/S/2 (2013) / 1 (3). Let Us Prey (2014) / - (4). The Crazies (2010) / 2 (5). The Boy (2016) / 3 (6). Beyond the Gates (2016) / - (7). Child’s Play (1988) / - (8). Jennifer’s Body (2009) / 4 (9). Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) / - (10). Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) / 5 (11). The Void (2016) / 6 (12). Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut (1990) / - (13). Grave Encounters (2011) / 7 (14). Grabbers (2012) / 8 (15). Get Out (2017) / 9 (16). Society (1989) / 10 (17). The House of the Devil (2009) / 11 (18). Hell Baby (2013) / 12 (19). Ghostwatch (1992) / 13 (20). Let Me In (2010) / - (21). Child’s Play 2 (1990) / 14 (22). Splinter (2008) / - (23). Child’s Play 3 (1991) / 15 (24). Apollo 18 (2011) / - (25). Bride of Chucky (1998) / 16 (26). Seed of Chucky (2004)
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 18:14
|
|
|
EL BROMANCE posted:I watched some of Lifeforce the other day, after fond memories of gawking at the box art at my rental place as a child. Good silly fun so far, but what made me laugh the most is seeing that it was made only a year before Aliens, and on a significantly chunkier budget too. It looks like it was made a decade before. A lot of the budget went into a pretty crazy sequence towards the end, lots of extras involved, special effects, etc.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 18:20
|
|
|
Ah I look forward to that then!
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 18:52
|
|
|
20. Day of the Dead: Friday the 13th of October in the year we lost Romero goes to the man. Not as rewatchable as Dawn but a very good movie showing that Savini's effects makeup work will always hold up. Also Bub 
Butch Cassidy fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Oct 16, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 19:11
|
|
|
EL BROMANCE posted:I watched some of Lifeforce the other day, after fond memories of gawking at the box art at my rental place as a child. Good silly fun so far, but what made me laugh the most is seeing that it was made only a year before Aliens, and on a significantly chunkier budget too. It looks like it was made a decade before. Maybe just finish the movie and you'll see where the budget went?
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 19:13
|
|
|
STAC--Curse and Cult pull it back a little from Bride and Seed. It's still cartoony, but not completely, and the humans actually matter again. Also, just FYI, both films have post-credits stingers you should stick around for even if they're brief. #38. Shadow: Dead Riot (2006) At a prison, an occult serial killer nicknamed Shadow (Tony Todd!) is sent to execution. However, due to his magical practices, he explodes and his blood infects the prison, causing a huge riot, where all the killed prisoners get buried in a mass grave in the yard. Cut ahead 20 years later, and the prison is now designated for women. A new inmate, Solitaire, is admitted, and goes through the normal dramas of making friends and enemies. Meanwhile, the prison doctor is using Shadow's blood to perform mad experiments, and also the dead underneath the lawn are growing restless... I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. It has an amazingly great grindhouse esque trailer I recommend looking up, as it's the best part of the whole movie. However, what we have here is a classic case of 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag, and everything feels rushed and crammed. I appreciate the effort of mixing a WiP movie with the zombie genre, but it just doesn't work as well as it wants to. But at least it tried. I give Shadow: Dead Riot  out of Five#39. The House on the Edge of the Park (1980) Alex is not a nice man. The film opens with him forcing a woman off the road and then raping her in her car. Afterwards, as he's shutting down his mechanic garage, he and his buddy Ricky are stopped by some rich yuppie types for some small help with their engine, and then come with them to a small gettogether uptown with a few of the yuppies' friends. After some patronizing play from the upscales, Alex turns ugly and starts terrorizing and brutalizing the people leading to a night full of terror. I'd always heard of this one but never got around to actually watching it until now. The hushed tones its spoken of in I think exaggerate the brutality of the film, not helped by a lead role by David Hess, previously of Last House On The Left and directed by Ruggerio Deodato, most known for Cannibal Holocaust. I also suspect that it ends up blurring with the similarly plotted but apparently far stranger Last House On Dead End Street. All that said, I find much of the action kinda muted and not at all that brutal, though there are plenty of things to find upsetting here. Much like Holocaust however, I feel like Deodato is using the template of shocking horror to hide behind while he pontificates on deeper subjects, one such in this case being the stagnant terribleness of the bourgeoisie finding themselves up against someone that turns that same narcissism to its peak. Also like Holocaust, I think not everyone will like this one, but it does have some worth from a film scholar perspective. I give The House On The Edge Of The Park out of Five
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 19:13
|
|
|
X-Ray Pecs posted:Maybe just finish the movie and you'll see where the budget went? Oh I intend to, just was getting late. I have high expectations now, because the opening space sequence looked so dated. I'm all up for big finales, and it's been a fun enough film so far.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 19:43
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:That's Creepshow 2. Probably my favorite Creepshow segment. Great segment and it's a shame that the rest of Creepshow 2 isn't as good as Creepshow 1. I feel like if cutting The Raft into Creepshow would be best.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 19:43
|
|
|
Random Stranger posted:Great segment and it's a shame that the rest of Creepshow 2 isn't as good as Creepshow 1. I feel like if cutting The Raft into Creepshow would be best. The biggest issue with Creepshow 2 is that they decided to go with just 3 segments. I think 5 is the perfect number and that's what makes Creepshow a lot better. Because I actually think all three segments of Creepshow 2 are good, but it's not as fun an anthology just because you don't jump from story to story as quickly.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 19:46
|
|
|
Old Chief Wooden Head feels like it's twice as long as it should be just to barely get the film to 90 minutes with only 3 segments.
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 21:22
|
|
|
Lurdiak posted:Old Chief Wooden Head feels like it's twice as long as it should be just to barely get the film to 90 minutes with only 3 segments. Only The Raft justifies it's length, I think Old Chief Woodenhead and The Hitchhiker(I think that's it's name?) could both be cut down pretty easily to make room for more segments. But I enjoy them all regardless.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 21:32
|
|
|
I personally think 4 would be the peak number. Any more than that and it gets crowded. I'd probably like Creepshow 2 better as well if it had that same comic book color experimenting going on for it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 21:58
|
|
Choco1980 posted:I personally think 4 would be the peak number. Any more than that and it gets crowded. I'd probably like Creepshow 2 better as well if it had that same comic book color experimenting going on for it. Instead we get the worst animation in the universe.
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 22:00
|
|
|
Wes Craven's Dracula 2000 What even is this movie? Is it a psychosexual thing with all of Dracula's Brides and hypnotism? Is it a straight Van Helsing hunter movie? Is it some kind of Wuxia wire-fu thing? Is it Jeri Ryan talking about her tits? No idea, all I know is now I need to shop at a Virgin Mobile Megastore. Movies Watched: (20) 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, Halloween (1978), Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Nightbreed, Pumpkinhead, What we do in the shadows, Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky, Dracula 2000
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 23:10
|
|
|
Ok, so right off the bat… I’ve never seen the Friday the 13th movies. I mean, I saw Jason X and Freddy vs Jason. And I’m sure I’ve seen bits or pieces. And I’m familiar with so much of it through cultural osmosis. But I’ve never actually seen Friday the 13th. This franchise just never really appealed to me. I’m not a huge slasher fan to begin with and Jason never seemed to have anything going for him. I suppose its hard to say that when I’m such a huge fan of Halloween but I guess you just have to chalk that up to my Carpenter love. Plus it has Laurie Stroud, one of the most iconic “final girl” protagonists in horror history. Friday the 13th movies always seemed to be a silent, characterless monster hunting down interchangeable nondescript teenagers. I just didn’t see the draw. Freddy and Chucky are funny and creative in their kills. Michael has Laurie and Loomis. Pinhead is horrifying. What’s Jason got? I guess I’m going to find out today. 17 (27). Friday the 13th (1980)  Ok, I guess I’m going to find out about Jason a little later today. Of course one of the many things I know from the zeitgeist is that Jason isn’t in the first movie aside from the dream stinger, its Mrs. Voorhees. And in the context of the time I imagine this might have been a solid shocker. I think it suffers from her not being a character and them not having any kind of red herring or suspected killer. They spend all movie hiding the identity of the killer and implying some level of familiarity with his/her victims and then its revealed… the killer is someone we don’t know with a backstory that gets revealed in the final 15 minutes? And it doesn't help that its not exactly an exciting end fight. I don’t really know if I liked this film at all. The characters don’t exist except for Ned to live just loud enough for me to want him dead. I’m not a slasher/deaths fan but these deaths aren’t even notable. Kevin Bacon’s death actually made me cringe but that was for how unexpectedly brutal it was. Also I didn’t realize Kevin Bacon was in Friday the 13th. But I don’t think I especially liked this. A quick glance of Wikipedia tells me Siskel and Ebert spent an entire episode bemoaning this film as a cancer on the industry bereft of any value. I’m not sure I’d go that far but I see what they’re saying. Still it moved briskly enough and the score is iconic. So I guess we’ll be continuing on to Mrs. Voorhees’ baby boy. 18 (28). Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)  Given my criticisms of the first that tag line seems like a bad sign. This was… better? A farmer in a burlap sack is slightly more menacing than a middle aged single mom. I remember Jenny’s name and she’s a slightly better final girl than… that girl who I briefly thought would hang around long enough at the start of this film to make me remember her name. The tag line lives up as there appear to be more indiscriminate murders of interchangeable teens that happen in such a way that I lose track and can’t remember who’s dead or alive. The truth is I still don’t like this at all. I’m not getting anything from it. Now Jason clearly isn’t Jason yet so obviously there’s somewhere for this franchise to go. I intend to keep watching. But its nearly baseball time and I’m nearing #31 on my countdown and I rather it not by a random Jason sequel. I’m gonna watch the remake and continue on in this franchise waiting for a hockey mask at least. But so far this marathon is kind of making me feel right in never thinking Friday the 13th was worth my time. Sad to say. October Tally - New (Total) - (1). V/H/S (2012) / - (2). V/H/S/2 (2013) / 1 (3). Let Us Prey (2014) / - (4). The Crazies (2010) / 2 (5). The Boy (2016) / 3 (6). Beyond the Gates (2016) / - (7). Child’s Play (1988) / - (8). Jennifer’s Body (2009) / 4 (9). Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) / - (10). Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) / 5 (11). The Void (2016) / 6 (12). Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut (1990) / - (13). Grave Encounters (2011) / 7 (14). Grabbers (2012) / 8 (15). Get Out (2017) / 9 (16). Society (1989) / 10 (17). The House of the Devil (2009) / 11 (18). Hell Baby (2013) / 12 (19). Ghostwatch (1992) / 13 (20). Let Me In (2010) / - (21). Child’s Play 2 (1990) / 14 (22). Splinter (2008) / - (23). Child’s Play 3 (1991) / 15 (24). Apollo 18 (2011) / - (25). Bride of Chucky (1998) / 16 (26). Seed of Chucky (2004) / 17 (27). Friday the 13th (1980) / 18 (28). Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) /
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 23:17
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:Ok, so right off the bat… I’ve never seen the Friday the 13th movies. I mean, I saw Jason X and Freddy vs Jason. And I’m sure I’ve seen bits or pieces. And I’m familiar with so much of it through cultural osmosis. But I’ve never actually seen Friday the 13th. As someone who just finished watching 1-8 and seeing 2-7 for the first time, the last sentence of yours I quoted is the biggest problem. There is never really anyone to root for in Friday the 13th. I guess in 4,5,6 you get Tommy Jarvis but I was really only rooting for him in 4. For the most part you're rooting for Jason to kill the poo poo out of everyone which is fun, sure, but there is never any tension after the first movie. Even in the later Halloween movies you still have Loomis and Jamie Lloyd. In a way I hope you finish cause I would like to read your reviews but I couldn't blame you if you didn't.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2017 23:58
|
|
|
11. The ABCs of Death (2012) Yup, joining in on this ongoing discussion over this film because I haven't seen in and figured I might as well give my two cents. It's OK, I guess, the problem I had was some of the segments like F is for Fart, H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion and especially Z is for Zetsumetsu (Extinction) were pure "WTF is wrong with Japan?!" because they just were not scary and brought you out of the film. Though I did enjoy X is for XXL and T is for Toilet though with the latter that's because I enjoy Lee Hardcastle's work (seriously, check out his YouTube channel). It's an interesting concept for sure but, drat, there needed to be some kind of vibe/theme to follow because the shorts were all over the drat place. / 512. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Ah yes, the infamous Halloween film with no Michael Myers that people skip because of that. Please don't skip this one because it's actually a pretty nice 80s horror flick with a good Halloween setting. It's a part mystery film about a company manufacturing Halloween masks and syncing them with a commercial to play on Halloween that will kill everyone. It is cheesy but in the same way horror films were in the 80s, has some nice kills and overall a fine watch. I also saw this one because I realized I haven't seen any Halloween film past the sequel to the original (except for the first Rob Zombie film) and will add the whole series to my queue this year. / 5
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:29
|
|
|
#40. The Prowler (1981) So, in 1945 at a girl's college just after the war ends there's a graduation dance, but a couple gets killed by the girl's jealous ex. For the next 34 years, no dance. Now in 1980, the school pushes and gets a new graduation dance. Gee, I wonder what will happen? Well. This was a slasher, I can say that with certainty. Other than that, it was dull, poorly acted, and with a "twist" they telegraph WAY too hard. It's main claim to fame was the controversy where they credited Tom Savini with the special effects for this masked slasher film, and he claimed he didn't do it, but had just given the crew some opinions/advice. In present day, it's hard to say who is telling the most truth, but it's likely both sides are lying/exaggerating things. In spite of all the blahness, it does have a pretty keen head explosion, so there is that... I give The Prowler out of Five#41. The Burning (1981) We start out at a summer camp where the groundskeeper is apparently cruel and violent. Some of the boys set up a prank to get back at him and it goes wrong, burning the man alive. Five years and a lot of hospitalization later, the man, Cropsy, is back on the street, terribly burnt. Driven mad, he decides to get his revenge by attacking the camp now sitting where the previous one was, particularly a group of older, teenaged campers going on a three day canoe trip. This film is an odd duck in horror history. It was made before Friday the 13th, and with a similar plot--wronged camp person goes on killing spree of teenagers--but Friday made it to the box office first, setting the genre off. Kinda like how Black Christmas came first, but everyone remembers Halloween as starting the stalk and slash trend altogether. This is also a "humble beginnings" for a lot of reasons. It was the very first movie released by Miramax (plus written by the Weinstein bros), plus it has "before they were famous" roles by Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and in a small role, Holly Hunter. Anyways, after watching the previous film, this one felt like night and day different, filled with lots of dynamic shots, fine acting that felt like a real group of kids, some real tension, and an awesome prog score by Rick Wakeman of Yes that is reminiscent of the stuff Goblin was doing at the time. Also, this time, Savini is PROUD to be credited for the ambitious death scenes. I give The Burning out of Five
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:33
|
|
|
The Burning is a lot better than Friday the 13th in every way, but I don't think that's really a controversial opinion. Seems to be what most people say once they've seen The Burning.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:40
|
|
|
TheBizzness posted:As someone who just finished watching 1-8 and seeing 2-7 for the first time, the last sentence of yours I quoted is the biggest problem. Yeah, I think that's my problem. With Freddy and Chucky they're such characters that even if you can't connect with the humans you can just kind of enjoy what they're doing. With Michael he's a silent slasher but there's full characters and even beyond Laurie and Loomis there's Jamie. It doesn't always work but they're trying. My impression with Jason, and my experience thus far, is its just random people he's killing. So if you're not connecting wth them and he's not being "fun" with his killing then it starts to feel like i'm just watching some dude slash up people. And I don't get anything from that and I start to feel weird the more I think about. I don't think I get Jason. But I also don't know that I've met Jason 2 movies in so I'm going to soldier on. If nothing else the movies have been brisk and haven't felt like chores. And its always felt like an embarrassment to be a horror fan and know I have this giant blind spot.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:43
|
|
|
4 The Blob (1988) I've never actually seen the original film so I have no idea if this remake does it any justice but I was at least entertained. Some thoughts: the film has no problem playing with your expectations and killing characters you don't expect to die. The way people melt when they come into contact with The Blob is pretty drat nasty. The characters are pretty fun even if they aren't exactly three dimensional. Flagg is a cool dude. The whole "evil government is to blame" thing was probably not in the original. 5 Martin One of Romero's best films. It totally strips the vampire myth of all Romanticism. Instead of a suave nobleman the vampire in this film is a awkward manchild. When most movie vampires feed it is very sensual but when Martin feeds it is clumsy, messy, and never goes quite how he plans it. The way the film intercuts Martin's memories and fantasies, eerie and dreamlike in black and white, with the harsh reality of how things actually are is sometimes a bit dizzying but it does a lot to reinforce how much of a gently caress up Martin is. I really like that the film never makes it clear if Martin actually is a 82 year old vampire or if he is just a delusional kid. I wish this was available in HD since it is a gorgeous film with a lot of really nice cinematography.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:46
|
|
|
The way I always thought of the F13 films is they are not "good films" (they are essentially exploitation films) and contain pretty much every 80s slasher film cliche you can think of especially in terms of the characters (the stoner, the horny couple, the black guy, the nerd, the punk, etc.). But watching Jason do his thing and just kill everyone in creative and grotesque fashion is a guilty pleasure and probably the trend-setter of "I watch it for the kills" horror films.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:50
|
|
|
Jason has evolved a lot over the course of like 10 movies and so if you were to only watch lets say the first 4, you'd have an idea of that version of Jason. But then by the time you're into 6,7, and 8 it's a completely different type of Jason. So if you want to feel like you got a sampling of everything you've seen in pop culture over the years, you'd have to watch them all or just skip around. For instance, if you watched Part 2, Part 3, Part 6, and Part 8, that might be a better overall representation of what the series is. Obviously there's room for adjustment there depending on personal taste, some people would say skip Part 8 and watch Part 7 instead, etc.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:51
|
|
|
STAC Goat posted:I don't think I get Jason. But I also don't know that I've met Jason 2 movies in so I'm going to soldier on. If nothing else the movies have been brisk and haven't felt like chores. And its always felt like an embarrassment to be a horror fan and know I have this giant blind spot. Jason is basically the shark from Jaws and you watch a Friday movie to see people slide into his mouth in different ways and that's basically the whole series, but each movie after 3 has just enough of its own spin & energy to be worth watching. Edit: Too late at this point but my advice is to only watch Part V Avril Lavigne fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Oct 14, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 00:59
|
|
|
21: Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie Des Grauens (1922) Carrying on my run of vampire movies, which will go at least four and maybe six depending on how I feel. Not much point going into detail about the film itself as it's so famous, but it's very interesting to contrast it with Faust. Nosferatu uses the very old fashioned mode of filmmaking that goes back to Melies. With one exception the camera is static, use of the iris is constant, and the acting is very much like a mime. Just four years later Faust was using tracking shots, pullout shots, framing with the set, massively more advanced visual effects and the acting was far more natural.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 01:09
|
|
|
I want to say I'm looking forward to all of the reviews from the Scream Stream viewers of Kwaidan. A lot of people are getting exposed to great cinema this evening. Friday the October 13th Part XIII: The Final Reboot  Woo! Joining the conversation since it's pretty much obligatory to watch one of these movies given the date. However, I loving hate the Friday the 13th films. How much do I hate them? My favorite is Jason X. Seriously. They're derivative and lazy to the point of boring me. There's no tension or atmosphere. So I wouldn't watch another of these films except for the fact that today's Friday the 13th. But since I was having trouble remembering which of the original series I've watched (they're all so generic they blend together; though I'm positive I haven't Jason Takes Manhattan), I went with the reboot. A bunch of lovely teenagers go out to an abandoned camp in the woods to gently caress and smoke pot. I think everyone can fill in the blanks from from here. So pros for this movie: they know exactly why the audience is there and gives it to them fast. There's essentially a twenty minute Friday the 13th movie that was the opening credits. There's some sequences that play out pretty well. Cons: after that the movie stops for just as long of "wacky" antics. The missing sister subplot was totally unnecessary which you can tell because it basically went away for the majority of the movie, and having Jason keep a girl captive felt completely wrong for the structure of the film. There's too much forcing it into being a direct reboot for my taste; I didn't need baghead Jason at the start and then showing me him getting a hockey mask. The film winds up being adequate, but not really anything I'd recommend to anybody. Which I guess puts it in the upper range of Friday the 13th movies for me. It's better directed than most of them at the very least, though that's a super low bar.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 03:21
|
|
|
RAW (2017) HOLY poo poo  I mean, FNWOH is essentially the reason I have for even still liking movies at all, and Alexandre Aja is probably the guy whose name is most likely to get me to go to the movie theater anymore, but this is just better than Martys or Inside in every way. More grisly, more personal, more interesting and for maybe only the second or third time all month, sticks the landing, because it is seriously great. The casting is perfect, too - Justine needed to be that near-anorexic waif, and she nails it. I love this movie already and even though I don't squick easy, it's just intense in an unrelenting way. There are no cutaways, no splashes of blood on windows, just the reality of the slowly-degrading mind of a vet school student going bananas. Make time in your queue for this one, folks. The Blob (1988) (rewatch) Some of the best creature effects I've ever seen, used with a fairly smart script for what it is, but the compositing is so incredibly bad compared to how good the gore and monster are I have to assume it's intentional as a throwback. The Blob is a grisly movie and it's immensely satisfying to finally (again) see a movie with no plot armor. Movies Watched: (22) 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, Halloween (1978), Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Nightbreed, Pumpkinhead, What we do in the shadows, Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky, Dracula 2000, RAW, The Blob (1988) Shrecknet fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Oct 14, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 03:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 10, 2024 00:56 |
|
|
Avril Lavigne posted:Jason is basically the shark from Jaws and you watch a Friday movie to see people slide into his mouth in different ways and that's basically the whole series, but each movie after 3 has just enough of its own spin & energy to be worth watching. 5 was my favorite other than the original and had the only characters I actually didn't think deserved to get the Jason treatment (Demon and his girlfriend).
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2017 05:39
|
|