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24. The Return of the Living Dead: Campy horror with a punk chick whose clothes and later improvised outfit keep finding their way off. How have I never watched this before? It's a monumental piece of trash and awesome. The attic bit freaked my wife out for some reason, by the way. 25. The Cabin in the Woods: Currently on for background noise while mixing a cocktail and doing some housework. I'll be glued to the screen when the elevator bits roll around. They're my favorite in what is an all-around good time. Only my second rewatch so far but I'm starting to get the itch for soms old favorites. Going to start watching some black and white films that are new to me, a bit of Hammer, and double feature days of old/new Fly and Bodysnatcher movies to keep feeding new movies in before completely caving to the same old. 26. Return of the Living Dead Part II: Cool cover art. Just stare at it for two hours and it'll be much more enjoyable than the movie. Butch Cassidy fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Oct 16, 2017 |
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Oct 16, 2017 02:59
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Egbert Souse posted:10: The Touch of Satan (1971, Don Henderson) [MST3K] I had no idea about Cronenweth doing Touch of Satan. He'd already worked with Altman on Brewster McCloud for god's sake, how did that happen? Maybe Touch of Satan is better than its rep (I haven't seen the actual movie) but even so, it was an ultra low budget affair.
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Oct 16, 2017 03:22
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36. Tales of Terror - This is, of course, gorgeous. One of the finest spooky old mansions I've ever seen. I really dig the first segment's ghost effect too, although I can see why others did not. Segment two is Price and Lorre being Price and Lorre at each other, with the tensest wine-duel ever filmed. It is fantastic. 37. Body Bags - A mixed bag, but even the less interesting segments are full of horror cameos so it's always fun to watch. Worth it for the hair segment.
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Oct 16, 2017 04:49
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Oof, I've let my write-up back-log build up. Time to catch up. 15. Suspiria (1977) This was my first time watching this on something other than an old VHS copy, and while the improved visual sharpness was nice (good grief, those colors!), I kept having to jump the volume up and down depending on whether music was playing or not. The silly bits (of which there's quite a few, and many of those due to the dubbing) aren't nearly enough to detract from this one for me, but again, that's almost entirely thanks to the visuals, whether it the sets (that stained-glass sky-light!), the angles (those feet moving along the maggoty floor!), the use of light (that stark maggoty ceiling shot!), or the colors (that taxi ride!). Goblin's score is wonderful, but all the nightmare imagery is what really sets this one as a classic for me. So many of the scenes practically feel like moving paintings, and although the ending is too abrupt, the ride there is delirious fun. 4/5 razor-wire storage rooms  16. A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, a.k.a., Schizoid, a.k.a, Carole (1971) My co-watcher summed this one up pretty well for me: "I wanted lizard people!" Really striking visuals in the first half-hour, then things drop of drastically, turning into thriller/giallo territory. Another 'visuals over plot' experience, with the highlight after the initial rush is over being a chase scene up a huge spiral staircase into a bird-filled cathedral. Nice sets, but the events taking place just felt a little too stock for me to feel much enthusiasm. This one is early enough in the '70s, and has enough warm regard in the reviews I've read for it, that I'd be willing to believe it helped set some of those standards, but even so, I felt so let down by the shift from that dreamy opening (and the rather disappointing twist reveal) that I'd be fine with not revisiting this one anytime soon. 3/5 blind hippies  17. Toxic Zombies, a.k.a., Bloodeaters, a.k.a., Blood Butchers (1980) Near-Troma-level cheapie horror, with government agents (you can tell because there's a flag in the office) sending a crop-duster to spray some weed-growers' plants, resulting in staggering cannibals. There's a number of plot threads that never come together too tightly, including kids who apparently live in the woods (yet have clean, well-fitted flannel clothing), a crusty cabin-dweller, and the G-men's follow-up investigation. Some decent practical effects, but dreadful acting and logic thrown out the window. A nice Return of the Living Dead-ish 'oh gently caress' ending, though. 2/5 thirsty zombies  18. Friday the 13th (1980) And then back to filling in my partner's viewing gaps with this one, on Friday the 13th (naturally). Still my favorite of the series, but even this early in it, the characters just feel flat all around. Some amusing bits, like strip Monopoly and the gruff cop, but they're really outweighed by the parts that feel off, or forced in service of pushing the story along. The opening '50s part feels awkwardly jammed-in, the interactions with everyone who's not a counselor feel unnatural (although Ralph is great), and Mrs. Voorhees' abilities require a drat high amount of faith and disbelief suspension. It's shot well, and the expressions in the big reveal strike an effective chord, but man, it's weird that this kicked off such an enduring series. Worth it for Ebert's indignant ranting about the 'dead teenager' film genre, though. 3/5 bulging Bacon swim-briefs  19. Candyman (1992) Best of the month for me so far. I was so happy to revisit this one, and not just for Ted Raimi playing a biker tough. The themes of belief, dependence, seduction, and the power of fear are spun together so drat well, and Tony Todd hits such magnificent heights in his role. Love the use of pin-lights for hypnosis, early Universal Dracula style, and Candyman's lair (hell, all of Cabrini Green) has such menace and lush set-dressing seeping out of it. Probably the best Clive Barker adaptation, in my book, and the stuff that really scared me as a kid in this (aside from the compulsion to do the mirror ritual) stands out now as departures or transgressions against the standard horror 'rules'. There's violence against animals and children, the only nudity is done in a context of being of no interest to the observing characters, the final girl chooses her fate, and we get to see her funeral. Shame about the sequels (although I've only seen the Farewell to the Flesh), but this one stands so strong on its own, they don't really take anything away from it. 5/5 bee-filled toilets  20. Saturday the 14th (1981) This was a rental staple of my childhood, so I'm probably much more willing to forgive its flaws than most would be. Even so, the combination of low-key comedy (repeatedly muttering about the "drat owls" as bats swoop around the house) with gag-a-minute scripting (the parents walk under a ladder, a mirror falls and breaks, and a black cat winds around the daughter's legs in a ~10-second span, for instance) can still make me laugh. The script could be tighter, as most jokes, even the running gags (like the curtains repeatedly pulling open to reveal "ALL DED SOON" scrawled on the window, and the son trying to keep anyone from noticing), get dropped after a scene's over. But the dad's deadpan handling of the weirdness, the break-neck mood changes of the Gilda Radner-type mother-turning-vampire, and the unwanted presence of the delivery boy in the third act are all done well, considering what the movie is, and the showdown in which Jeffrey Tambor and Van Helsing yell sound effects at each other is something I love to share with people. And just to reassure the other person who watched this for the October challenge, the actress playing the daughter was 20 when the movie came out. 3/5 Harker women
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Oct 16, 2017 05:27
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Saturday the 14th has the prestige of being the only VHS rip I have ever seen on Netflix
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Oct 16, 2017 06:09
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Movie #16: Fire in the Sky The small town stuff is pretty slow, but it's entertaining enough, and then the alien spaceship sequence at the end completely delivers. I enjoyed it.
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Oct 16, 2017 08:06
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23 (33). Fido (2007) After the great “Zombie War” of the 20s or 30s humanity has gotten the zombie plague undercontrol and has even domesticated them to work as servants, companions, and really any menial labor task in the tranquil 50s America where children are taught gun training and that old people are ticking time bombs not to be trusted. What could possibly go wrong? To be honest, this did a lot less for me than I was expecting going in. The premise seems to be obviously going somewhere and it does, basically go there. But it does it in a slow, peaceful, 50s family drama way that just feels off. Its like the entire time I was waiting for the hammer to drop and it just never really did. Its a weird criticism since this wasn’t a horror so much as it was an overt comedy so its not like I was expecting full on zombie slashing mayhem or anything. It just never really seemed to get out of first gear. The premise and the jokes are amusing but I didn’t really find them overly funny. Its funny, I was actually talking a little before to someone about “Canadian comedy” and saying that I thought it was a sweeping generalization but in general I found Canadian comedy movies, especially of the horror variety, to just not be my exact wavelength. They play “cute” to me but then never really feel like there are punchlines. Charming but… I need something else to laugh. I don’t know how fair that is for me to sweep an entire country’s comedy with but its how I ended up feeling about this one. 24 (34). Hell House, LLC (2016)  Five years after an unexplained fatal tragedy at a “haunted house” attraction a documentary crew attempts to get to the bottom of what happened when they make contact with a surviving member of the crew who brings with her footage. I have some silly “rules” for found footage films to keep them “realistic” and I think this movie cheats a little bit by doing the documentary thing. Of course that’s not a real criticism but I do think its easier to tell these stories when you just have a cold third party editing it as a movie seemingly unaffected by the horror they’re seeing. It also allows you to kind of cheat a little and do closeups and replays of scary stuff instead of just trusting your audience to pay attention, and I think that kind of takes away. Apollo 18 did that too and I think the movie was worse off for it. It doesn’t hurt Hell House as much but the first act of the movie suffers a bit from being too structured and the final part feels a little odd in retrospect. That nitpicky criticism aside I really, really enjoyed this. It was a very effective use of the genre. Clearly they didn’t have the money or effects to name any kind of truly scary monster or anything so they made use of the found footage genre by making what’s scary the tension and fear of what’s waiting around the corner and what’s lurking in the darkness just out of view. The couple of big “chase” scenes through the house really worked well without really doing anything but moving things around off camera, but a lot of the credit goes to the actors who just really sell how scared they are by how that should be impossible and terrifying. And the big scene where Paul is hiding under the covers from the ghost works amazing well and had my heart in my throat, despite the fact that the ghost really wasn’t THAT scary on her own. But it was all about how scared he was and how his eyes (the camera) were really our only option so I was scared with him. That’s what I think found footage does so well when done well. Force you to experience it through the characters and feel their fear. The movie even played lip service to my “When Do You Get The gently caress Out?” game, even if they only barely bothered to provide an answer. It was like they cut off people like me who might say “that’s not a good enough reason” by just never actually giving the reason and forcing me to accept that it was good enough for the characters. Bravo, Hell House. You won this one. Ultimately the inevitable problem the movie had was that it didn’t have the budget or ability to ever fully deliver with a big, scary answer to “What happened?” Don’t get me wrong, I think it mostly worked. But a movie that was relying on moving plastic masked dummies around for 75 minutes wasn’t going to pull out some scary as hell monster in the final 15 minutes. However I think they actually make up for that a little with the double ending. It wasn’t exactly shocking but it had a bit of a “not again!” feel to it that drew up that old desire to yell “DON’T GO IN THE BASEMENT!” Literally. All in all I fine little film that didn’t really do anything new or exception, but did what it did very well. And all the lights are on in my room and I don’t think I’m going to be turning them off and going to bed for a little while. Oh yeah, my phone just buzzed with the creepy crow ringer i have on it and I nearly jumped to the ceiling. Hell House, LLC definitely passed the ultimate test of horror I have. 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) / 19 (29). The Babysitter (2017) / 20 (30). Curse of Chucky (2013) / 21 (31). 31 (2016) / 22 (32). Cult of Chucky (2017) / 23 (33). Fido (2006) / 24 (34). Hell House, LLC (2016)
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Oct 16, 2017 08:56
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#18 Pieces (1982) Bad acting, weird plot and unnecessary nudity make this sleazy slasher a joy to watch, but it never goes far enough to make it a true gem. Special mention for the guy playing Willard and his amazing stink eye. Also, the completely random kung fu teacher. #19 The Exorcist (1973) Most of my reviews are just one or two lines, but after seeing the Exorcist it has been on my mind and I'm kind of struggling to explain what I keep thinking about. This was my second viewing, the first time was 15+ years ago. Lets start with the big one; it just isn't scary. My parents never really watch horror, but like a lot of people their age they saw this in cinema when it was released. Every time horror comes up they tell me about how this absolutely terrified them. Same with the in-laws, who warned us about watching this . They just couldn't believe we weren't that impressed with the scares. Maybe I'm jaded, maybe my expectations were too high, but it just isn't scary. The other thing is that it has pacing issues. The whole start in Iraq doesn't add anything to the movie. It is long, feels out of place and when we see the statue from the temple appear during the exorcism at the end it doesn't resolve anything. There is no puzzle piece falling into place or something coming full circle, it just kind of happens to be the same statue and that's it. If all of that was left out you would have the same story and a better movie. At 2+ hours it takes a long time to get to the climax and doesn't spend enough time building up to it, often focusing on things that don't really go anywhere. The detective wanders through the movie without cause, nothing would be lost without him. And yet....it is hard to deny that there are some very interesting things at work. I think the camerawork is absolutely gorgeous, especially with Karras often being framed as caught between things. Especially near the end, on the stairs, with him staring tired and distraught out from behind two rows of bars, it shows a man trapped in a hard place, struggling with where he is and what is going on. The monstrousness of modern medicine, making all the technology seem barbaric, was very interesting. Regan is literally bled by doctors, assaulted by machines and constantly subjected to tests that seem like torture. If that is the kind of help a mother can expect, it is no surprise she contacts a priest for a different approach. I don't regret seeing it at all, but I feel the Exorcist got its reputation in an era when horror was a cheap, a guilty pleasure and something with the production quality of this movie would stand out. Not convinced that is true anymore. #20 Minutes Past Midnight (2016) I like anthologies. If a short is good it'll stick with you just as long as a regular movie, often showcasing the strength behind a concept before adding clutter to get it to full movie length. If it sucks then you only lost 10 minutes and the next one starts. MInutes Past Midnight is way above average and surprised me. The worst shorts weren't bad at all, there were plenty of good ones and even a few that I would call great. I also like that the style of each short was different. You get Troma-like trash and Evil Dead humor shorts combined with serious shorts. Sometimes the CGI is wonky, it doesn't stick to a single theme or style so can feel messy and there are definitely some budget issues, but if you can get past that this one is worth a watch. Just look at this haunted house, it is gorgeous. And yes, the arms and head move.  #21 The Hidden (1987) This was seriously cool. It feels like Fallen meets The Terminator and while the ending is a bit of a disappointment there is a lot of fun to be had here. Never heard of it before, very glad I saw it. BioTech fucked around with this message at 09:01 on Oct 16, 2017 |
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Oct 16, 2017 08:58
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4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, dir. Tobe Hooper, d.p. Daniel Pearl) Wow. This is an incredibly crafted film on every level. The cinematography is highly inventive, aided by supreme set design. All of the actors put in at least above average performances, with particularly stellar ones coming from the family of cannibals (and especially by Edwin Neal, whose first appearance sells the menace of the film completely). The barebones script stays out of the way and avoids unnecessary repetition of visual information, or really any explanation at all. At times, the film seems almost Lynchian in the way it viscerally embraces the weird and how certain sequences (especially the dinner sequence) are cut, though it lacks any trace of outright surrealism. It wouldn't surprise me if this had at least some influence on his work. Going in knowing nothing of the film, the most surprising aspect of the whole thing was that Sally actually made it out alive. (Well, that and a broom being the most memorable weapon) It's not that I feel let down by it, but more to the fact that if there's any slasher that put in the hard work to justify a complete wipeout of the cast, it was this one. The whole film was just immensely satisfying, and it's reputation as a classic is entirely deserved. 9/9
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Oct 16, 2017 10:19
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Trying to catch up, only a few films left! 22. Pieces In the 1940s, a boy is interruped by his mother while he puts together a puzzle of a naked lady, so he murders and dismembers her for interrupting him. 40 years later, young woman are murdered and dismembered on a college campus, and the chainsaw-wielding, heavy-breathing masked killer is taking pieces of the corpses for...something. Slasher films aren't my favorite, but this is an engagingly weird little entry into the genre from the director of Slugs and....Pod People?! The lead young guy sings Burning Rubber Tires in Pod People! And the head poacher from Pod People is a police detective here! Also the extremely obvious enternally scowling red herring groundskeeper guy is Beast Rabban from Dune and Bluto from Popeye! The acting is terrible and hilarious, the T&A (and even some equal opportunity D) is ever-present, and some of the kills are effective (even when you see the killer's fake knife bend on impact). There's some really weird non-sequitur stuff here too. The brooding main synth/bass motif used throughout the film is cool. I had the ending spoiled for me years ago but it didn't disappoint. 23. Dead of Night 1945 British horror anthology (shown on the Scream Stream) about an architect who comes to work on a house, but when he arrives he knows he's seen all the guests there in a dream. The houseguests all tell scary tales (in a nice change, some of them may or may not be true). One or two of these are just ok, there's a funny one about two competing golfers, and then there's a really good evil ventriloquist dummy one at the end followed by a nicely creepy ending to the wraparound story. Overall pretty good and atmospheric. 24. Chillerama Hands down the worst film I've watched in this challenge (courtesy of the Scream Stream). It's a "horror" "comedy" anthology that fails at both genres and thinks it's making a Mel Brooks-style parody, but it's just loving terrible. The first segment, about a giant rampaging sperm, is perhaps the only one that fares well since it goes totally over the top from the start, but that's damning it with faint praise compared to what follows: a too-long musical(!) 50's-beach movie parody about gay werewolves that, even though is directed by someone openly gay, is just pretty dumb and tasteless in all the laziest ways. Even stuff like "Diary of Anne Frankenstein," which had the potential to be clever, has a few good moments and squanders those by being incredibly flat and unfunny in nearly every other opportunity . The worst is the wraparound segment, about everyone at a drive-in watching the film segments that make up the movie turning into raping, blue-goo-oozing zombies (isn't this FUNNY folks?! why aren't you laughing?!). The most egregious thing about this segment, however, is they make the killer mistake of having all the characters, and I mean everyone, loving quoting dialogue from other better horror and action films - please don't make me remember I could be watching those better movies! Never again. 25. IT This is probably my second-favorite King book after The Stand, and I thought this was a fantastic adaptation of the kid half of the book. It keeps in most of the main story beats and even introduces a few new effective bits (Stan's painting lady was the high point). The kids are all great, especially Sophia Lillis as Beverly. I have gripes - I wish they hadn't taken away character stuff from Mike and given it to Ben, the film's "spooky setup/JUMP SCARE!!" rhythm gets real predictable - but ultimately its strengths outweigh the weaknesses and it's way better than it has any right to be. Also Richie's and now I gotta kill this loving clown is one of the best pre-rear end-kicking one-liners I've ever heard. 26. Mutant (aka Night Shadows) Two brothers hitch-hiking through a small town are beset by hicks and blue acid-emitting zombies created by the toxic waste-dumping evil corporation outside the town limits. This is a bad movie, but I love toxic waste zombie/contamination movies, so it's a wash. Wings Hauser is a terrible leading man, but I always thought the zombies were kind of neat, if goofily made-up. And this is one of those rare horror films where no one is safe, which is always a plus!
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Oct 16, 2017 12:30
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Retro Futurist posted:No, don't! Convinced me
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Oct 16, 2017 13:00
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#25: Death Note (2017) Oofa doofa, this is a mess. It never figures out what it wants to be or what story it's trying to tell. There are at least three movies' worth of story here, and multiple different tones that never mesh, they're all fighting for screentime in an overcrowded script and with breakneck editing. Characters aren't very well established, and their choices always feel arbitrary, like they only exist to move the story forward instead of coming from the characters themselves. The editing doesn't help this, the film is cutting too and from things so quickly, few of the big decisions have any weight, and the moments with gravitas feel wildly misplaced. Things just happen, because the movie has to move on to the next big plot event. As a result, most of the movie feels completely arbitrary; the "rules" of the Death Note never feel as complicated or as much of an ouroboros as they should be, and instead feel like convenient deus ex machinas. The movie also has an issue with tone, where it can't decide if it wants to lean into full-on camp or not. The energy and ridiculous kills were enough to keep me engaged, but make no mistake, this film is a weird mess that needed a simpler story and a different editor. Completed: Beyond the Black Rainbow, Rabid, The Driller Killer, Phantasm*, Phantasm II, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Phantasm IV: Oblivion, Phantasm V: Ravager, The Prowler, The House of the Devil, From Beyond, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Apt Pupil, Wait Until Dark, Gerald's Game, Hell House LLC, Black Swan*, Happy Birthday To Me, Pieces, Trollhunter, As Above So Below, The Devil's Candy, Antibirth, Chopping Mall, The Terminator*, Death Note *denotes rewatches
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Oct 16, 2017 14:35
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Catching up from over the weekend, I watched two more Hammer Draculas. I'll keep these short. Cushing but no Lee. Apparently Hammer wanted to actually stick with the death of Dracula from the previous film, at least for one sequel. This one instead focuses on an elderly socialite who retreats from society to protect her vampire son(or is she trying to protect us from him!?!?!). I'm reminded watching this one that Cushing was a fantastic physical actor. He spends a lot of time here getting tossed around and choked out. He's a master of the "getting choked to death" face.  Fisher's direction elevates everything even without Lee, this is still prime Hammer.  I basically had to watch this just to be able to use this poster. The Hammer Dracula series enters the Cushingless era(I've still not seen Prince of Darkness, but hopefully will next week when it's on TCM), which is a bit of a bummer. Lee is back though, and it's directed by Freddie Francis, who is like the poor man's Terence Fisher. You can still expect a pretty high level of quality from Francis, even if his overall batting average isn't as good as Fisher's. The thing that stands out for me with this one is that Lee's Dracula is pissed. A priest comes around, almost out of boredom it seems, and puts a cross in the threshold of Dracula's castle. Big loving mistake dude, especially since you choose do it like 5 minutes before Dracula wakes up!  WHO HAS DONE THIS ...THING!?!?! I was at WalMart and I saw a set of the first 4 Nightmare on Elm Street films for $10 so I'm gonna watch those next I think. I haven't seen 3 or 4 for a long time. Completed:1.The Wicker Man, 2. Deadly Blessing, 3. Night Creatures, 4.Shock Waves, 5.Slugs, 6.Venom, 7.Maximum Overdrive, 8.Christine, 9.The Tingler, 10.The Masque of the Red Death, 11.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 12.The Funhouse, 13.Poltergeist, 14.Lifeforce, 15.Invaders From Mars, 16.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, 17.The Seventh Curse, 18.The Mummy, 19.Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 20.Hellraiser, 21.Hellbound: Hellraiser II, 22.Child's Play, 23.Cult of Chucky, 24.Leviathan, 25.Pumpkinhead, 26.Phantasm, 27.Murders in the Rue Morgue, 28.The Abominable Dr. Phibes, 29.The Devil's Candy, 30.The Visitor, 31.Prince of Darkness, 32.Critters, 33.Killer Klowns From Outer Space, 34.Horror of Dracula, 35.Brides of Dracula, 35.Dracula Has Risen From the Grave Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Oct 16, 2017 |
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Oct 16, 2017 15:30
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 UV Code for It Follows, expires December 31: - Whoever claims it must also watch and log/review a movie filmed in Technicolor. That covers a ton of Hammer films to say nothing of American movies so it should be an easy bar easy to clear. - Bonus points if you also log a Carpenter film and specifically compare soundtracks. ATF0 2THQ N13F 0QE6 redeem at starzuv.com
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Oct 16, 2017 15:39
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17. Pod An estranged brother and sister go up to their other brother's cabin because he's either found an alien or he's having a psychotic break; You can guess how things go from there. This wasn't bad, but it felt very much like a student film. The lead actors were all good and had some good chemistry, but then things fall apart a bit in the back half including a very odd twist that could have been cool but kind of fell flat. Also has a bad case of the netflix preview image spoiling everything
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Oct 16, 2017 17:10
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11. The Visitor A movie about space Christ battling the offspring of space Satan with birds. Or something. This was one of those 70's movies where it feels like whoever wrote and directed it must've been taking a whole bunch of drugs. There's a lot about this movie that feels like a pastiche of a ton of other movies but it's definitely interesting. Not very gory (or even particularly "horror") I still kinda enjoyed this. Just gotta kinda go with the wacky plot and where it takes you. 3/5 12. We Go On Ghost story about a man who seeks proof of the afterlife. Miles is a dude in his 20's with a ton of phobias, and after receiving a financial windfall decides to spend it on putting an ad in the paper offering $30,000 for anyone who can show him proof of some sort of afterlife, or existence after dying. Much better than I expected, this was a lot slower and more emotional than I had initially expected. Miles is a dude with a ton of fears, many which seem to stem from his father's death when he was young. He's helped along by his mother with whom he has a complex relationship. The interplay between them is one of the best things in the movie, something feels very real about it. For being so much about death and dying and mental illness and fear, the movie is largely neutral to positive feeling. Really interesting take on a ghost story, was a very solid movie. 3.5/5 13. American Psycho Not sure how well this has aged as horror. It feels a lot more like a humor/satire that has some added slasher elements for attempt at shock than a fully integrated horror movie. It almost feels like you could pull all the kills out entirely and lose little. That said, Bale is great as Patrick Bateman. But the movie as a whole may be a little too in on the joke to be effective as horror (or maybe I'm just too jaded). As satire it's more effective though, and a lot of humor throughout. And it's slick as all get out. Supposedly there was something in the works initially to get Cronenberg to direct which likely would've been something amazing. 3.5/5 Total: 13 (9 new) 2 Jennifer [1.5/5] Gifts From Strangers [3.5/5] The Alchemist's Cookbook [4/5] Roadgames [3/5] The Gateway [3.5/5] The Thing [10/5] Phantasm II [3.5/5] Gerald's Game [2.5/5] Purge: Election Year [2/5] The Phoenix Tapes '97 [2/5] The Visitor [3/5] We Go On [3.5/5] American Psycho [3.5/5]
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Oct 16, 2017 17:17
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#25 Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter - Watched on Friday of course. The fourth one in and this is finally what I expected from the franchise. Not weighed down by the seriousness of the first two and better executed than part 3. It was fun enough. Wasted my entire Sunday on a triple feature of Hellraiser  #26 Hellraiser - Classic. If you're in here and haven't seen Hellraiser get out and watch it.  #27 Hellbound: Hellraiser II - I don't really care for the expanded lore and story bits but that's more than made up for with the horror and visuals. Everything that happens in Hell is awesome and I don't care if the plot is nonsense. The bit at the end with Kirsty putting on Julia's skin is great.   #28 Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth - Quite a bit more fun than I remembered. Maybe that's just me and my mindset for it this time though, because while the script feels like it's motioning towards the campy-horror-franchise-sequel everything on-screen is presented completely seriously. Pinhead's soul and evil were separated at the end of the second film and there's a dumb club that makes no sense and the lore continues to get worse. But it's still got some good imagery and gently caress you I like the CD-DJ cenobite. Even if the lines aren't great I like Doug Bradley having more dialog and screen-time. Quite a drop off from the first two but I enjoyed it this time, and it's still much better than any that came after. The Motörhead music video is still the best thing to come out of this movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M4FG1UXH5w Total: 28 Re-watches(4): The 'Burbs [5/5], Hellraiser [5/5], Hellbound: Hellraiser [5/5], Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth [3/5] First time(24): 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], Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter [3/5] Letterboxd list
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Oct 16, 2017 17:19
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27. Killers from Space: After posting this, I'm looking into a googly-eyed, caterpiller-browed costume for Halloween. Cheesy dven for the time and predictable with plenty of stick footage and excessive B-roll but enjoyable nonetheless. While the climax featured comically inept characters, it did a far better job keeping reasinably taut suspense despite the previous acts. A solid choice for background noise when filling some '50s sci-fi slots in the challenge program. Butch Cassidy fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Oct 16, 2017 |
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Oct 16, 2017 17:20
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FancyMike posted:#28 Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth - Quite a bit more fun than I remembered. Maybe that's just me and my mindset for it this time though, because while the script feels like it's motioning towards the campy-horror-franchise-sequel everything on-screen is presented completely seriously. Pinhead's soul and evil were separated at the end of the second film and there's a dumb club that makes no sense and the lore continues to get worse. But it's still got some good imagery and gently caress you I like the CD-DJ cenobite. Even if the lines aren't great I like Doug Bradley having more dialog and screen-time. Quite a drop off from the first two but I enjoyed it this time, and it's still much better than any that came after. Hellraiser III is very bad, especially when the cenobites break free and start terrorizing the city, which prompts the response of "all seven cops in NYC respond" The whole movie would be improved just by setting it in a smaller town, because the lack of extras and obvious backlot sets just make it look so, so empty when it's supposed to be in literally "the city that never sleeps" Seriously it looks like amateur hour. If you're willing to dig, I honestly believe Hellraiser VII (the Kari Wuher one in Croatia) is legit the second-best one, mostly because the Cenobites are barely in it.
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Oct 16, 2017 17:31
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Dr. Angela Ziegler posted:If you're willing to dig, I honestly believe Hellraiser VII (the Kari Wuher one in Croatia) is legit the second-best one, mostly because the Cenobites are barely in it. Hellraiser: Deader is the second worst imo. But at least they finally set one in Europe. My favorite Bota Hellraiser was Hellworld. The MMO bit is silly and funny, and the end is very bad, but otherwise it's just a boring kids in a haunted house movie, which was less awful to me than most of the other movies. But whatever, not a lot of point in digging to find which flavor of poo poo is least bad.
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Oct 16, 2017 17:43
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Woah boy. Last week was absolutely miserable off-line. I barely had time or energy to do some write ups. Friday the 13th: Part 2 1981, dir. Steve Miner | Starz This takes place 5 years after the original! The timeline is so hosed!  I've seen this movie many times. The Friday the 13th series is my go-to horror franchise to throw on the screen as background noise. However, none of my friends have seen any of them (except for a few who have seen the original). Some of my audience's thoughts: -"None of these people are teenagers" -Everyone's a big fan of the wheelchair guy (he's charming!) and felt bad he died. -Muffin is great -Sexual harrassment guy deserves what he got -child psychologists can defeat serial killers My thoughts on it: What if Mrs. Vorhees's original killing spree was ritualistic? By killing those teens, she was able to bring back Jason? The original plan wasn't for her to die, but since she did Jason's now sad about his momma being dead. -if the opening scene is 5 years after the original, how is Mrs. Voorhee's head so well maintained? 3 / 5  'sFriday the 13th: The Final Chapter 1984, dir. Joseph Zito | Starz The recap of this movie is mainly Part 2, with only three or so clips for Part 3! This is...7-8 years after the original?  Audience thoughts: -"So if you just sexually harass a girl (the nurse) long enough, she'll hook up with you? She's a nurse, she's pretty, she deserves way better than this pervert." -banana girl's death is gross since she still has banana on her tongue -"None of these characters are teenagers!" -Ted loving sucks -Tommy needs to learn self control when it comes to his voyeurism. -what's-his-name is blatantly cheating on his girlfriend in front of his girlfriend -crazy amount of nudity -Crispin Glover is painfully awkward, but he is everyone's favorite character by far -everyone feels sorry for the nice twin being stuck with Ted while her nympho sister jumps from guy to guy -it's crazy that the mom died (thought some thought that her absence implied she survived; I corrected them and said she's dead but the scene was cut) -"So is Tommy the killer now?" -"Wait, when did Gordon die?" -"What's so funny about that porn?...Is this porn?" -This Jason hunter guy is an idiot, what a waste. My reactions: I don't remember the group being this terrible. A lot of characters are just unpleasant and blatantly awful to each other. I did like the mother/daughter relationship at the beginning of the movie, but we really don't spend much time with the sister until the end. I think it's effective for developing sympathy, I wish they had incorporated that more with the teens we actually hang out with. All the deaths from both films got great reactions. My group was very animated, and it kinda makes me want to show more traditional slashers, since everyone is so dramatic about them. The Twin being thrown through the window is a big one, as was the wheelchair death and the spear death in Part 2. 3.5 / 5 'sTales of Terror 1962, dir. Roger Corman | Scream Stream  Segment 1: 3/5 Segment 2: 5/5 Segment 3 4/5 4 / 5 'sBody Bags 1993, dir. Carpenter, Hooper, Sulkis | Scream Stream  4 / 5 's 4 / 5 's 4 / 5 's 4 / 5 'sTotal: 5 / 5 'sBut how?! Because each segment was amazing and strong. Three solid 4 star shorts in a row? That adds up to a perfect anthology film in my book. Plus all the cameos, and using the Keach and Mark Hamill as leads in two shorts? gently caress yes. Definitely deserves to be right next to Creepshow and Trick R' Treat as best anthologies. Movies Watched NEW: I Walked With A Zombie, Dead & Buried, The Mummy ('59), The Resurrected, Critters, Cemetery Man, Roadgames ('81), mother!, Christine, Willow Creek, Castle Freak, Wait Until Dark, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, The Mummy's Shroud, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, The Uncanny, Venom, Tales of Terror, Body Bags REWATCH: The Return of the Living Dead, Pumpkinhead, Night of the Creeps, Demons, Demon Knight, Suspiria, Friday the 13th: Part 2, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, SHORT FILMS (not counted in goal): Junk Head 1; TOTAL: 27
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Oct 16, 2017 18:12
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Once you notice that they're using the wrong side of the machete in Part 2, you can never unsee it. I never knew about it until they mentioned it in Crystal Lake Memories. Makes Jason even more intimidating, he so strong he can kill you with the blunt end!
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Oct 16, 2017 18:37
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Got a bunch of entries, will keep my write-ups short: 5. Cult of Chucky This was an absolute blast and had me in stitches for a good portion of it. I enjoyed the setting and the use of that setting for letting Chucky infiltrate the asylum. Fiona was a delight. While I also enjoyed some of the Jennifer Tilly bits, I'm also tired of seeing her pop in these movies. This was a big step up from Curse for me. Good style and some excellent use of colors. 3/5 6. Tomb of Ligeia A Vincent Price starred movie based on a Edgar Allen Poe story, directed by Roger Corman. Did you google up the easiest way to watch it yet? Well if not, go for it. It isn't the strongest Poe adaptation, but Price is always wonderful and I really enjoyed how the Ligeia story is told in the movie. Great cat movie, great sunglasses movie. The sets, as usual, are loving fantastic. 3.5/5 7. The Mutilator A pretty decent slasher. Some great c-movie level acting, solid gore effects with some creative and brutal kills. It flips back and forth between comedy and horror well enough for me, but I can see it causing tonal clashes for some people. Slasher fans will delight in this one. I really enjoyed the small setting and the movie used it well enough to its advantage, it essentially takes place in a 2-3 bedroom condo and garage with some beach scenes to break it up a bit. 3/5 8. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter I had a bunch of friends over on Friday (of course) for a F13 double feature. Most had never watched either one I showed or it had been years since they had. Both of these are easily elevated by being great group watches. Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover were both highlights for the group for obvious reasons, but the kills were enjoyed by all. I absolutely love how sleazy this group is, it's over the top and made for some cringe worthy and hilarious moments. 3/5 9. Friday the 13th Jason Lives The return of Tommy! I forgot that this one was quicker paced than a lot of the series as it pretty much dives right into the action after Tommy resurrects Jason accidentally. It wasn't as popular as part 4 with my group, but most were drunk enough by then that it was still enjoyed by all. The kills were a let down at times though. 2.5/5 10. Frankenstein (1931) Beautiful movie. So many shots I want to just frame and stare at. Karloff is amazing as the monster. He does a ton of work adding emotional depth to the monster while grunting and making expressions. My favorite moment might be the scene with the man carrying his daughter through the festival. That was an incredibly powerful moment for me. 4.5/5 11. Dead and Buried This owned bones. Dan O'Bannon weaves a great little mystery flick about a small town where visitors are being murdered. The gore effects are great and James Farentino was pretty fantastic as the town Sheriff. It's also always nice to see Robert Englund pop up in flicks. Loves the build up of the whole movie, with a great ending to cap it off. The town is filmed wonderfully and chock full of weird/interesting characters. 4/5 12. The Babysitter McG does his best impersonation of Edgar Wright in this slasher. It's fun, silly, and has some excellent gore. McG leans hard on style butdoesn't execute everything that well. There's a few instances where someone should have reigned in his use of gimmicks like stylized captions popping up on screen. Robbie Amell was an absolute scene stealer though. He had me cracking up constantly and one of my favorite scenes is him teaching the main character how to stand up for himself. The main character plays the scared loser kid pretty well, but the rest of the cast is largely forgettable. 2.5/5 Watched: Motel Hell, The Burning, Carnival of Souls, Microwave Massacre, Cult of Chucky, Tomb of Ligeia, The Mutilator, Friday Part 4, Friday Part 6, Frankenstein (31), Dead & Buried, The Babysitter MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Oct 16, 2017 |
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Oct 16, 2017 19:56
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19. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Classic for a reason. Is this the first instance of a film immediately picking up where the last one left off? Anyway almost everyone who seemed dead in the original is not, and the Monster wants a woman. I'm not so sure about the miniature people though. I didn't expect that. My favorite bit was early on, when the Burgomeister says 'Now, now, we don't want any riots' right after the riots from the first movie. That's the kind of law and order I can respect. /520. The Babysitter (2017) I'm aiming to do a good spread of years, but Netflix keeps releasing good new content this October. The setup is very similar to Better Watch Out, though it heads in a completely different direction. Cole and his babysitter have a great friendship, but he thinks that something weird might be going on after he goes to sleep, so he stays up. There is something weird. I think the movie thought it was funnier than it actually was, and the cutaways were mostly lame. But, it was entertaining and had some very unexpected and gory kills. .5/521. Tales of Terror (1962) Three Poe tales, directed by Roger Corman. The first one wasn't great, but The Black Cat was fantastic, and the finale was also enjoyable. /522. Body Bags (1993) The bookend segment has a real Cryptkeeper vibe. The three tales themselves are entertaining, if not particularly groundbreaking. Lots of recognizable faces, or, at the least, famous directors whose faces I should recognize. /523. Kwaidan (1964) loving gorgeous movie, but unfortunately cinematography does not necessarily translate into a fun or exciting watch. The stories themselves are pretty predictable, and they each give you enough time to really map out their paths. So very slow-paced. .5/5
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Oct 16, 2017 20:18
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23: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2015) Iranian indie movie about a vampire stalking ne'er-do-wells. At one point the vampire rides a skateboard, so clearly the movie is about the seductiveness of radical Islam. Seriously, though, this movie is very nice looking and very good.
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Oct 16, 2017 22:18
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STAC Goat posted:24 (34). Hell House, LLC (2016) Seriously, though. I couldn't get to sleep last night because every time i turned off the lights and rolled over suddenly the image of that ghost girl watching me sleep popped in my head. Good job, Hell House LLC. You totally ruined my night and morning.
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Oct 16, 2017 22:22
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Jedit posted:23: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2015) I liked the director's follow up, The Bad Batch, but it's since become very polarizing.
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Oct 16, 2017 22:27
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1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) 2. TCM: The Beginning 3. Halloween (2007) 4. Friday the 13th (2009) 5. Hollywood Ghost Stories (1986) 6. Halloween 2 (2009) 7. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) 8. Scream 4 9. Texas Chainsaw 3D 10. Mother! 11. Never Sleep Again 12. Lurdiak's Scream Stream 10/06 13. Scream Stream 10/07 14. Scream Stream 10/08 15. Crystal Lake Memories 16. Dracula (1931)  This film is a cultural landmark in the genre. Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula has been incredibly influential, becoming the Prototypical Depiction of the original Horror Icon. And it's perhaps fair to say that, 86 years on from it's release, that it isn't that much of a scary movie anymore. And I don't blame the film for this, between the slow pacing and nigh silent score, our changing cultural values, audiences that have been witness to horrors far more visceral than depicted in this film, and the large gap in time that makes even the most grounded scenes feel alien. And I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I've had to read the script of the play this film is based off of for a number of times in High School. So the story is far from unfamiliar to me. That said, it's far from a bad or even unwatchable film. Even outside of context there's plenty to appreciate. The lavish sets, particularly Castle Dracula and Carfax Abbey, still look wonderful today. And considering the relatively primitive technology in use and that the language of film still had yet to fully develop, it's commendable how well they're able to convey the internal thought of each character through acting and creative use of light. And the true star of the film is Dwight Frye as Renfield, who was given the most interesting and most conflicted character of the entire feature. He perhaps plays him incredibly broad, but it's in the attempt to convey an upsetting sadness that's driven by addiction. In a weird way, you could consider him a very contemporary character. A sympathetic junkie driven to do bad things, not out of malice, but by forces well beyond his control. And his presence is not met with pity and empathy, but with as much derision and hatred as the cause of his problems. The only other thing I'd like to note is that the Hungarian countryside is recognisable as nothing but the Sun-Bleached Californian hillsides that LA was built on, familiar to anyone whose driven around the area. It's just another unintentionally funny bit that haven't lasted the test of time, like the fainting maid or the silly rubber bat. But still, an enjoyable film if for reasons of Cultural Anthropology than for Thrilling Entertainment.
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Oct 16, 2017 23:35
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Hannibal Rex posted:1. Cigarette Burns 10. Cat People A classic for a reason. Also, I had no idea 80s shoulderpads on women were just a throwback to the 40s. 11. The Lure This is an amazingly weird Polish horror musical about two singing, and occasionally, heart-eating mermaid sisters. Not quite what Andersen had in mind, but I'll take it any day. 12. Death Spa Another winner, despite the direct-to-video budget and actors (Ken Foree excepted). Pleasantly unpredictable, and completely eighties. 13. The Church The KGB cook from Hunt for Red October, the blind monk from Name of the Rose, and Kastagir from Highlander walk into a church... Jokes aside, The Church was amazing. It's a fantastic companion piece to Prince of Darkness. Anyone who just thinks of this as just a spiritual sequel to Demons 1 & 2 is selling it short. I love finding treasures like this. I still have some catching up to do, but this week is looking to be less stressful than the last.
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Oct 17, 2017 01:21
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FancyMike posted:and gently caress you I like the CD-DJ cenobite. my man
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Oct 17, 2017 02:34
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October 16 - The Happiness of the Katakuris Okay, Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead is really pushing it. The musical numbers are more extreme than than Sound of Music and the family definitely isn't the Von Trapps. And there's no zombie apocalypse, though I'm willing to concede the commentary on Japanese culture. A laid off department store employee and his wife buy a remote country inn with the thought of healing their broken family. The criminal son, divorced daughter with her own daughter, and father all move in to help. The inn is too remote to attract guests, though, and when they finally get one he kills himself. For the sake of the inn, they decide to cover up the death. Then other guests arrive and also wind up dead and they keep doing it as the deception spirals out of control. All of this is accompanied by outlandish musical numbers. I kind of liked this film, but I'd never ever actually recommend it to anyone else (which is how I react to most Miike films, come to think of it). It's grotesque and absurd and surreal and disjointed but it's never dull. The scenes of them dealing with the madness their lives have become are pretty good. On the other hand, sometimes I feel the movie goes too far; I didn't really care for the claymation sequences and how they sometimes derailed the film. Oh, and there's pedophilia though at least in this film it's supposed to come across as weird and creepy. And then the sumo wrestler dies in the middle of sex and crushes the twelve year old and you get something so horrible that you have laugh.
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Oct 17, 2017 02:49
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38. The Woman - This is a weird one. A guy is out hunting, spots a woman who was apparently raised by wolves, and his first thought is "I should chain her in my cellar." Not particularly wacky hijinks ensue as his family adapts to their new project. Bad first impression, but it won me over a little as it went - there are some excellent shots and the musical selections are so ludicrously on the nose that I couldn't even be mad at them. Surprisingly tasteful for what it is on the whole, and I think I enjoyed it more than something like Hounds of Love, but this is really not my subgenre. On the other hand, the post-credits bit is cool and I would definitely watch that movie. Reviewing the images that stuck with me I apparently also like watching the title character chew things. So, uh, thanks for that, movie. I guess. mildly   And really this one you also might not want to explain to your boss I guess but no nudity so whatever. 
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Oct 17, 2017 05:50
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I feel like I need to rewatch that because (a) my memory was the family had nothing to adjust to because he had done this before and (b) I apparently missed the post credit scene unless that was when the little girls leave with the woman.
STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Oct 17, 2017 |
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Oct 17, 2017 05:53
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1. The Conjuring: 3/5 2. Prom Night: 2/5 3. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II: 4/5 4. The Slayer: 1/5 5. The Initiation: 3/5 6. Graduation Day: 4/5 7. Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo: 2/5 8. WitchTrap: 3/5 9. Death Spa: 3/5 10. The Suckling: 3/5 11. Beyond Darkness: 2/5 12. There's Nothing Out There: 4/5 13. Ghoulies: 2/5 14. Blair Witch (new one): 1/5 15: Pumpkin head In Pumpkinhead, Lance Henrikson plays the only civilized hillbilly in what looks to be backwoods Appalachia. He lives in the middle of nowhere with his son who sort of looks like the Pagemaster. Life is pretty peaceful until one day a group of city folk show up, make a ruckus, and end up killing his son. Using hillbilly voodoo taught to him by what might be a witch or just a really old woman, Lance calls forth a demon of vengeance known as Pumpkinhead. Plenty of people are killed. Pumpkinhead is way better than I was expecting. Lance Henrikson is great in it, the monster itself looks fantastic and creepy, and besides a short, unneeded side plot, the story moves along at a good pace. I kind of like the idea of a demon that can't be killed until it fulfills it's duty, and the way its finally killed is inventive enough to be entertaining. I can't really say much more about it. Pumpkinhead is just an entertaining, straightforward horror movie. 4/5 16. Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings Pumpkinhead II is yet another sequel that didn't need to be made. I can't blame anyone for making it however. The original wasn't exactly high art, and even I'll admit that the Pumpkinhead design was just too good to only use once. The plot is pretty simple. A group of rowdy teens kill what I assume is the witch from the original movie and summon Pumpkinhead just for fun. Pumpkinhead, as expected, starts killing people, but this time, he's killing some jerks that tortured and killed a deformed orphan back in the 50's. This goes on for a little while, Linnea Quigley shows up naked like she usually does, and then a bunch of middle aged men show up and shoot a spare Pumpkinhead suit they had laying around. The end. The biggest problem with Blood Wings is that it mostly forgets everything established in the first movie. Originally, you had to call Pumpkinhead to get revenge on people who've wronged you, and in return, you became linked with Pumpkinhead, but in this movie, you just kind of call him and he shows up and does his own thing. The end result doesn't seem all that different, but for whatever reason, it just makes the movie seem sort of bland. The biggest difference however, is that this time, Pumpkinhead can be killed fairly easily, and when he is, it's entirely unceremonious. A bunch of hicks just kind of show up and start blasting, and Pumpkinhead awkwardly falls into a well. It DOES technically mimic an earlier scene, but the whole thing is just incredibly lame. That's not to say there was nothing I liked about Blood Wings. The costume in this one was better than the original, the kills were fun, and although I found it worse than the original, the story wasn't the absolute worst. The two reasons I was able to get through this one were that I saw Linnea Quigley's name in the opening credits, and I just really like looking at Pumpkinhead. Luckily, the movie didn't disappoint on either of those two things. I can't recommend Pumpkinhead II in a world where the first movie exists. Just watch that and forget the other three exist. 2/5
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Oct 17, 2017 06:04
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STAC Goat posted:I feel like I need to rewatch that... Your first point there is the kind of information I try to avoid in my descriptions since the movie doesn't make that explicit until fairly late, and throws out plenty of other apparent causes for the family's quirks. The post-credits bit is after what you mentioned.
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Oct 17, 2017 06:11
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Irony.or.Death posted:Your first point there is the kind of information I try to avoid in my descriptions since the movie doesn't make that explicit until fairly late, and throws out plenty of other apparent causes for the family's quirks. poo poo, I'm sorry. I threw it in spoiler tags. Its been awhile since I saw it so my memory is really fuzzy on it. I thought that was presented fairly upfront.
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Oct 17, 2017 06:14
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Not a big deal, it is definitely one of those things that's going to seem apparent in retrospect - lots of clues, but on the first pass they've mostly get several plausible interpretations. The movie is very up front about the guy being a complete shithead, but exact nature and extent are a fairly gradual exploration.
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Oct 17, 2017 06:20
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Movie #17: Re-Animator loving great.
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Oct 17, 2017 08:11
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Watched Psycho last night having shamefully never seen it (or any other Hitchcock for that matter), and I'm glad to say that, to the surprise of no one, it holds up wonderfully. All in all, just a very well shot and paced thriller that makes effective use of it's relatively small cast and setting. Between both of its leads, Hitchcock masterfully portrays the permeating sense of guilt and paranoia in having committed a crime and maintaining the lie lest they slip up and give themselves in. Even knowing the final reveal through cultural osmosis, I can still appreciate the efforts made to push the audience into perceiving Norman's actions the way the filmmakers want it to, while still laying out the seeds necessary to lead to the actual outcome. Movies Watched (18): It, Werewolf (MST3K), Army of Darkness, Frankenweenie, Corpse Bride, Paranorman, Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Shining, Room 237, Teenagers from Outer Space (MST3K), Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Cannibal! The Musical, Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part II, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Psycho
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Oct 17, 2017 08:29
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#22 The Stuff (1985) Fun little movie that seems to have lost some scenes in editing or simply bit of more than it could chew. Flawed, but enjoyable. #23 Blade Runner 2049 (2017) I was skeptical about people adding this to their list, but having seen it I have to agree. The Frankenstein stuff wasn't more than a sidenote, but the architecture used in the Wallace HQ made me feel very uncomfortable. Combine that with an oppressive soundtrack and horrifying shots of insanely depressive endless rows of grey buildings where even the neon is drowned out and it made me feel afraid that our future might look like that. Though the monologues tend to be heavyhanded this was swept aside by amazing visuals and a soundtrack just as good.
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Oct 17, 2017 11:10
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