|
Choco1980 posted:Hey, Fran, what about people like me who don't start til the 1st? Is there an expiration on your challenges? I'm pretty sure he said in the first challenge post that they expire November 1st the same as the overall challenge. Beginning of a new page, lets make it a movie write-up in that case:  The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms(1953) It was definitely the right decision to allow these kind of movies into the challenge, because it would really be tough to represent the 50s without a few of them. It was a time when nuclear testing was all the origin needed to establish a monster and then just let it loose. That's what The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is all about; we get some nuclear testing footage complete with dry documentary-style voiceover, and then it's straight into the monster action. You get a Harryhausen monster within 5 minutes of starting this movie, which is pretty great. Of course, overall the monster is used sparingly, but those scenes are distributed evenly enough that it's always entertaining. The lead actor is a bit of a drag, but the rest of the cast is solid and it has a pretty epic finale with the monster rampaging through New York and ending up surrounded by a flaming Coney Island roller coaster. There are more iconic Harryhausen monsters out there, but this is just a very solid monster flick all around and a pretty good place to start if you're new to his work. Total: 1. Frankenstein(1931) 2. The Old Dark House(1932) 3. The Bride of Frankenstein(1935) 4. The Mummy(1932) 5. The Invisible Man(1933) 6. The Wolfman(1941) 7. House of Frankenstein(1944) 8. House of Dracula(1945) 9. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein(1948) 10. The Boogeyman Will Get You(1942) 11. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms(1953) Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Sep 21, 2018 |
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 17:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 17:54 |
|
|
Choco1980 posted:Hey, Fran, what about people like me who don't start til the 1st? Is there an expiration on your challenges? Nope! They are open until November 1st.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 18:10
|
|
|
6. Black Magic Part 2 (1976, Ho Meng-Hua) Shaw Brothers horror movies fascinate me. Within the confines of a tiny budget, the filmmakers deliver unique, highly imaginative stories and concepts that make Hollywood horror look decidedly boilerplate by comparison. All the ones I've watched so far have been this way and Black Magic 2 is as well. What it lacks in convincing effects it makes up for with hilariously bizarre ideas and creative set pieces. Imagine this: A man who appears about 40 but is actually in his 80s uses black magic to cast spells on woman in order to turn them into zombies so he can, wait for it, drink their breast milk. You see, it's the milk that causes him to retain his youthful appearance and vibrancy. But these aren't regular zombies. These are what I'd call On-Demand Zombies. He keeps them in coma-like states in a hidden chamber. When he needs them he drives a huge nail into the top of their head and they spring to life to perform his bidding. Oh, and he also offers his black magic skills as a service for people looking to cast spells on their friends and relatives. What his patrons don't realize is that he's a tricky son of a bitch and everyone usually ends up as one of his automatons. And this just scratches the surface of the shenanigans that goes on in this film. Eyes are gouged, alligators are sliced, wounds look like people, cats are thrown, and there's enough female nudity to fill three Jean Rollin movies. This is goofy Hong Kong horror at its finest.   (4 wise eyes out of 5)
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 20:28
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms(1953) This is a good flick in its own right, but probably the best thing about it is that it was the main inspiration for Godzilla.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 20:32
|
|
|
 10. All Monsters Attack (1969) This movie is full of recycled footage and completely skippable, but I will say I believe that you should watch it for a couple of reasons. One, the main character Ichiro is awesome, he has a wonderful imagination and learns to stand up for himself by imagining hanging out on Monster Island. Two, you get to see Gabara punch Minilla in the face. Seriously though, it's a bummer this used so much recycled footage because I genuinely think this could have been a good movie. The idea was solid and the main actor that played Ichiro was really charming.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 21:38
|
|
|
Ok, you bastards have convinced me to start early. I may or may not include these in my personal count when its done but I figure I'll save my "31 years in 31 days" for October proper and the bigger movies I have hyped up. But there's always movies I never get around to or rewatches I don't have time for because of the gimmick so this is a good time for that kind of stuff. And I have to go back and find what the penance movie was for failing the May Challenge. 1. A Cure For Wellness (2016)  A moody nearly fairy tale like tale of a young business executive who goes off to an isolated spa and mental health facility to retrieve a partner who appears to have lost his mind, only to end up a patient - or captive - of the strange place with trippy happenings, culty residents, and lots of slithery leeches. Ok, good first. This film looks great. Not just in the basic settings and shot sense but in like a feel. It was obvious they were going for a kind of ethereal/fantasy quality to it and kind of crossing that line that exists where a lot of the old classic fairy tales are kind of terrifying horror stories, and instead kind of telling a horror story told like a fairy tale. I don't know if I'm describing that right because to be honest I'm not sure it full nailed what it was going for. But it was very close and I got it. The problem is its just such a meandering, long story. 2 hours and 20 minutes and I can't tell you how many times I looked at the clock or remarked to myself stuff like "it took 40 minutes for something weird to happen" or "its been 30 minutes since something weird happened." And the weird thing is, I was never really bored. I stayed engaged most of the movie so its not like I'd call it bad in that way. But stuff just kept going and happening without really happening. Its like the screenwriter had 5 good ideas and instead of picking 1 did all of them. And I swear, I thought the movie was over 3 times. I have no real problem with the ending it went went and its not like they contradicting each other or anything. It just kept going. I felt like I was watching the end of Lord of the Rings. There's a really good 90-120 minute film somewhere within the ok but kind of meandering 140 minute film. Not scary, but a kind of modern fairy tale retelling of Frankenstein or something like that. But as is it just dragged too much to ever really resonate and the story itself wasn't really anything new. And it probably could have benefited from a few more "creepy" scenes but that probably could have just been resolved with a shorter run time. All in all not the worst way to start but it could have been better. At least that's one of those films that kept making it the bottom of my list for years knocked off. In keeping with the "leeches" theme I went and gave a rewatch to one of my modern favorites this afternoon. - (2). Slither (2006)  Nathon Fillion stars in an early film by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn that takes a lot from movies like Night of the Creeps as slithery aliens land on Earth and start possessing and mutating humans and generally being really gross. Body horror isn't really my thing but the comedy of this one has always worked for me. It just manages to nail the right tone to keep the grossness and horror of what we're seeing kind of light without being silly. This time around it really struck me HOW mean and harsh it is. It really pulls no punches on showing messed up poo poo. The family scene kind of half way in has always struck me as a kind of shocking moment. The sight of the kids seizing as they're possessed/killed and then going all zombie always really unnerved me. And all the body horror especially around Michael Rooker's transformation and... actions... is just so much. But in a good way. I still haven't seen Night of the Creeps (or that I remember), or a lot of the other similar movies of the kind (C.H.U.D. is on my list as a potential "31 years" movie). But I've expanded my viewing a lot in the last couple of years and I can see the similarities with the work of someone like Yuzna or Cronenberg or something like Society that I didn't see the first time I watched this film. Early in I was thinking maybe getting older has made me a little more squeamish to this stuff than I used to be but by the time the action really gets going I was into it and had kind of moved past my "icky" reactions and towards the "daaaaaamn" kind. September Tally - New (Total) 1 (1). A Cure For Wellness (2016) / - (2). Slither (2006)
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 23:09
|
|
|
6. Monster Squad 1987 | dir. Fred Dekker The good Goonies! (Prepare for unpopular opinions!)  I've seen this movie about half a dozen times now. This is better closer to October--it's a fun Halloween film despite not taking place on Halloween--but I had a group of friends come over, one of which can not handle any gore and wasn't in the mood for anything stressful, who had never seen this film. There's a lot I love about this movie. The characters are cool, the monsters look great, the music is good, the idea is fun and cool, it wears 1987 on it's sleeve, and the premise of the evil monsters working together to take over the world is cool, and Tom Noonan is a great Frankenstein's monster. And yet there's a lot that I don't like. This is one of the best on-screen Mummies, and it gets nothing to do. It dies cool, but it's completely useless to the plot and action. It just bumbles around. The Wolfman gets a lot of good showcase, but the Gilman only gets one scene to shine. Tonally the movie is great--I like a darker shade of kid-friendly movies--but the humor is dated and some of the slurs just don't feel right. I end up watching this movie every year, but it always leaves a feeling that it's missing something. The parts don't add up to a satisfying whole. And I don't have the pleasure of a nostalgic lens. Recommended. Movies Seen: Hell House, LLC | Dagon | The Bird With the Crystal Plumage | Critters 2 | Serial Mom | Monster Squad Total: 6
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2018 23:57
|
|
|
5) House of Wax (1953) As with the two Jekyll and Hyde movies, watching House of Wax immediately after Mystery of the Wax Museum gives a lot of deja vu. And although Price is a far stronger lead, the better known movie suffers from poorer pacing. The disfigured Jarrod is given plentiful screentime before he appears in his disguise and wheelchair just before the intermission, so you're already inclined to think it's him. The later movie is also ten minutes longer without any real extra plot, and while some of that is given over to 3D exploitation (the barker with his paddleballs being the most egregious example) the rest feels like it's repeating scenes you've already seen. Still, it's fun to watch Price's early rendition of the performance he would later perfect in The Abominable Dr Phibes and Theatre of Blood. I'd also forgotten that Charles Bronson had an early role in this movie, under his real name of Buchinsky. E: Oh, yeah, and I did watch it in 3D.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 00:34
|
|
|
4/31 The Ritual is one of those films that the horror thread just couldn't stop talking about for a long while. It's only right that I take an entire year to get to it. Our hero, Luke, is a coward. When the film opens, he's forced to watch as his friend is stabbed to death in a liquor store robbery because of his own inability to find the courage to fight back. To honor his dead friend's last wish, the remaining friends take a hike across the King's Trail in northern Sweden. Things don't go smoothly for them, but in the meantime the actors provide excellent chemistry and believable relationships as a group of friends trying to get back to knowing one another but torn apart by a tragic death. Before the horror begins, they kid around and talk about what kind of food they want as the hunger sets in (one guy wants a big steak with chips, scotch and a cigar, while another wants sushi and red wine, and a third wants a Big Mac and isolation). Despite this, it's clear that Robert's death never really leaves Luke's mind....or anyone else's. What made the film famous at the time of its release is the breathtaking cinematography. The Ritual was filmed on location in the Scandinavian mountains and they're bound to show you every goddamn minute of what they spent. Even as the horrors steadily pile on, much is made of the incomprehensibly massive vistas they take place in. It's not unlike The Revenant in its focus on natural scenery. This quickly changes to foreboding as the gang takes a fatal shortcut through the woods, a tightly packed space that chokes out the sun and fills every motion with snapping branches. And when things start getting creepy, it gets creepy. While it has somewhat too much of a reliance on jump scares, the atmosphere is absolutely solid from start to finish. The film makes turns and introduces elements that aren't often seen, creating a unique mythology that keeps you interested. Overall, this is absolutely worthy of the praise it receives. I'm proud to recommend it to anyone else. chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Sep 25, 2018 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 00:56
|
|
|
5.  The First Purge Well it took them three sequels but they finally did it, they finally justified The Purge's existence as a franchise with this, the real first movie in the series. Yes, seriously. Forget that the original even existed, this is the first movie and it's by far the best of the lot. There are a lot of obvious potshots at our current political climate, as you'd expect, but I was surprised by how tightly written and directed it was. The final setpiece is like Die Hard meets The Raid and it's awesome, and "Skeletor" was great as Chekhov's Psychopath, he's just absolutely creepy and steals every scene he pops up in. There are a few moments that don't land, like the crazy hobos that just randomly attack people who come through their sewer lair, one of whom delivers a cheap "grab her by the pussy" gag because of course they had to go there, but overall it was really good. The trailer gives away basically everything, so if you haven't seen the movie or the trailer and are looking for a good place to start with the Purge franchise, here you go. I thought it was good enough that it retroactively made the other sequels better, even the incredibly underwhelming Election Year. e: Also  at all the extremely obvious trollbots (and actual alt-righters) on the imdb page who drove the rating down.
King Vidiot fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Sep 22, 2018 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 02:04
|
|
|
In my first post I forgot to mention that I'm going for 31 this year, expecting to fall short as usual. Franchescanado posted:
5. Scream (1996) (rewatch)  I don't have the same appreciation for Scream as most horror fans. I definitely hated it when it came out because I was kind of a contrarian and it's widespread popularity among teens made me instantly hate it. I've revisited it a couple of times and still disliked it, despite really wanting to because I like Craven overall. I still don't like how every teen in the whole town is an insane sociopath and I don't like Ghostface's whole look. I never found that mask frightening and the blousey costume is awkward looking. I don't like smug teen killers in general either. Things I did like this time: 1) I forgot about that Nick Cave song. I like that song. 2) The opening scene is a great standalone short film. The whole thing works. 3) The garage door kill is so confusing I kinda loved it this time. 4) Nev Campbell is good in it. All in all I think a warmed up to it a bit more. I definitely still harbor a grudge against it because of all the smug 90s Dawson's creek slashers that followed it, but I realize I'm probably wrong about that as well. 3/5 Movies seen: 1. Terrifier | 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street | 3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge | 4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors | 5. Scream
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 02:31
|
|
FRAN CHALLENGE #1: Love Something You Hate 
Pick a film that you have seen before that you hated, did not like or just didn't get. Rewatch it, and re-evaluate.
|
 Mandy (2018) I have mixed feelings here but this was overall a disappointment for me (I definitely seem to be in the minority there), and I was really pumped for it going in. I'll start off with the good: the soundtrack is very well done and perfectly aligned with the film, and the performances from both Cage and Linus Roache carry the movie very far, committing like hell to their characters and bringing serious emotional weight. Cage in particular is probably worth the price of admission. The film's biggest problem is its pacing, which is all over the place, and the movie unquestionably runs on too long for a film which is as heavily invested in being stylish as this is. It is daring with light and color, and there are memorable scenes, memorable actions, the movie has a clearly defined notion of what it wants to be that will stick with you, but there was never a single frame that I wanted to stop and admire. I feel like Cosmatos is good at mood, and he can get at it with every aspect of his film making, but needs to work on his craft in every other way. Really, there's very little horror film in the Mandy we got. It's two films, one a nostalgic rural mumblecore that tries to use color and musical cues to occasionally build dread, the second a fairly straightforward action revenge story that we happen to see through the filter of a group of people on some unholy cocktail of bath salts and salvia divinorum. All that being said, I will definitely be watching what Panos Cosmatos does in the future, and am going to add Beyond the Black Rainbow to my watch list for this challenge. What I really appreciate about Mandy is that for all it gets described as "gonzo" or "metal album cover come to life", Cosmatos isn't winking at the audience or trying to coast by on references. He is completely serious in his aesthetic and his film making. I wanna do a double feature with this and The Neon Demon, especially with how testosterone driven Mandy is, once I get some more distance from the first watch.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 02:31
|
|
|
Mover posted:Cosmatos isn't winking at the audience or trying to coast by on references. He is completely serious in his aesthetic and his film making. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 02:35
|
|
|
Cheddar Goblin really needs his own spin-off. Like he needs to be the wraparound for a horror anthology TV series produced by Cosmatos.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 02:39
|
|
|
9) 976-Evil directed by Robert Englund featuring... that guy from Fright Night. No not him. Not him either. Yeah that other guy the best friend. Uh. I wasn't really into this not enough gore. Just didn't dig it. Still alright for a 80s movie and its neat to see a movie directed by Robert Englund. / 5
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 03:30
|
|
|
Day -10 - Alien https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLamj-b0I8 I'm going to say something that's a bit sacrilegious in a horror movie thread: I think Aliens is a better movie than Alien. I mean they're both excellent movies, top of their respective genres, and absolutely defining in ways that hundreds of movies would follow their footsteps exactly. It's just that I think Cameron is a better director than Scott and that resulted in a better movie. Still, I can't think of another franchise to have two top tier movies in two different genres. And also a lot of garbage tier stuff, too. You can tell that Ridley Scott worked on the very early seasons of Doctor Who (if he hadn't gone on vacation that week, he would have been the guy to design the Daleks). Alien is very much a standard plot that the show used excessively in early years. Step one: "We're just a pack of average Joes in a remote location." Step two: "Hey, what's this weird alien thing? Think we should mess with it?" Step three: "Oh poo poo! We shouldn't have messed with it!" Step four: "drat it, this thing is picking us off one by one and it seems like someone here is a traitor!" Okay, that's also a lot of B-movies of the 1960's, but in this instance it likely is the television show that led to Alien. There's even a story that aired right around the time the script would have been written that is about 75% of the way to Alien (Ark in Space). Of course, the movie does all of it better and Giger's designs work way better than a guy covered in green bubble wrap. I've never been that bothered by Ripley running around for that cat though it's something that gets certain people upset. That's the kind of believably crazy thing that someone would do for a pet. This time while I was watching, I appreciated Ian Holm's performance. Particularly when Ash starts breaking down but he's trying to kill Ripley, his shift to something obviously broken but still moving is really effective. There's something unfortunate about knowing too much about the production of the movie. I can see the seams everywhere in it now. I can easily spot when the man in the suit is there and how it works, for example. Alien works better with the unknown and it's become so familiar. I used to work at a movie theater that for some reason, long after the film was gone, still had the first real of Alien stored up in the loft. It cut off right as they reach the ship so it made for disappointing viewing if it was spooled up. Jedit posted:5) House of Wax (1953) I kind of want to see this in 3D, though my eyes always have trouble with 3D effects (I either see double images or I give myself eyestrain trying to resolve them into one). This, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Dial M for Murder have struck me as the early 3D movies worth watching.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 03:38
|
|
|
Random Stranger posted:Day -10 - Alien House of Wax is one of the best 3D Blu’s I’ve seen. Some scenes pander towards 3D but everything is so well shot that the effects really enhance the film. Creature is probably even better than HoW. I haven’t seen Dial M in 3D but I’ve heard good things.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 04:08
|
|
|
 Gojira(1954) I watch every monster/kaiju/creature feature I can, so every few years when I come back to this one it always surprises me a little with how dark and nightmarish it is. They really never did duplicate it, I suppose Shin Godzilla has a few scenes that are close, but it's just not the same. And sure, it has it's moments of goofiness too but the overall experience is a very somber one, even today with the dated effects. Spatulator bro pointed out how much The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms inspired this film, and it was interesting to watch it with that in mind. There's absolutely some similar plot beats and at least one set piece obviously directly inspired by Beast. So it was really fun to notice all that. But also the differences, like how different the suit plays vs. the Harryhausen stop-motion effects.  Creature From the Black Lagoon This movie really feels luxurious because of the wider aspect ratio, it feels a lot more like a modern blockbuster than any previous Universal monster film. The only thing maybe holding it back is that there aren't really any great performances, but it's mostly a showcase for the Creature and great underwater cinematography. And it succeeds there completely, a lot of the underwater stuff still holds up today because of how the actor(Ricou Browning) was able to move convincingly and fluidly in the monster suit.  Total: 1. Frankenstein(1931) 2. The Old Dark House(1932) 3. The Bride of Frankenstein(1935) 4. The Mummy(1932) 5. The Invisible Man(1933) 6. The Wolfman(1941) 7. House of Frankenstein(1944) 8. House of Dracula(1945) 9. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein(1948) 10. The Boogeyman Will Get You(1942) 11. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms(1953) 12.Gojira(1954) 13. Creature From the Black Lagoon(1954) Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Sep 22, 2018 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 04:12
|
|
|
1) Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser Part 1 I kicked off the challenge last year by watching Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, so I thought it would be cute to watch this to kick off this year. Leviathan is, simply, a documentary about the making of Hellraiser (I watched this on Shudder, which I guess doesn't have part 2 up). They get the majority of the cast, crew and production staff to talk about it (minus Clive Barker and the actress who played Kristy, which sticks out like a sore thumb). It's a fairly pleasant watch; there's lots of behind the scenes photos, in-depth discussion of the effects and designs, and everyone involved with the first one sounded like they enjoyed working on it and had good memories. It was interesting, but I have to imagine if you're a Hellraiser superfan, you probably already know all this stuff. 2) Caltiki, The Immortal Monster For a low-budget late '50s giant blob movie, this one's pretty good. Scientists discover an ancient blob monster in Mexico than ran off the Mayans hundreds of years ago, and now it's been reactivated by an approaching radioactive comet; hijinks ensue. 1) The cinematography by Mario Bava is really effective. The first part of the film looks the best, it takes place in the jungle and Caltiki's lair, and it's great stuff. 2) Oh god the little girl's dubbed voice is terrifying. 3) As M_Sinistrari alluded to earlier, it has a a few fleeting scenes of some truly gruesome effects that look great even though the film's in black and white. I mean, it's not quite The Blob '88 level of detail, but it had to have been an inspiration - I'm sure the reveal of the first victim gave a bunch of kids nightmares back in the day. 4)  at the drama/romance subplot between the scientists and their women.5) I swear to god Dean Koontz ripped off this film when he wrote Phantoms. I couldn't put the book down but was really disappointed by the movie. I guess I should rewatch that for Franchescanado's first challenge...
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 04:50
|
|
|
#1 The New York Ripper 4/5 Quacks The violence is so visceral and grotesque that the comedy never breaks the tension once it ramps up. The Donald Duck voiced slasher is one of the funniest things I have seen all year. It's absurd and creepy. The unexpected motivation for the killer was a hell of a thing. #2 Pumpkinhead 3/5 Dirt Bikes Lance is great and I love the mountain folk and mythology but the generic rear end in a top hat teens are a huge drag. This deserves a remake into something centered around the spooky mountain and not a slasher cabin. I am very sad the creature is a xenomorph instead of a dude with a pumpkin noggin. #3 The Predator 2/5 Foil Unicorns It's a dumb and very bad movie but not a bad time. It's as if Shane Black did a ton of punch up instead of trying to fix the awful story. The lead sucks and it's not a surprise the morons who signed off on this script would watch Narcos and decide Murphy is the star to bet on. #4 A Simple Favor 4 Martinis Before 5 O'Clock An enjoyable and funny thriller. The film's most interesting character goes missing but the story keeps going without falling apart. It is about 10 minutes and one plot twist more than it needs to be, like every thriller. The only real flaw is that the husband an underwritten dud rather than inscrutable. #5 Hellraiser 4+5 Sequels It's more disturbing than scary but the creatures are incredible and gross. Hardly any of Hell/Cenobite City is shown but the human drama isn't a let down. I like the dark Labyrinth scene even if the monster is very obviously a dude in a costume. #6 The Wicker Man (1973) 3/5 Medicinal Toads Christopher Lee and the eerie townsfolk are fantastic but the mystery loses a lot if you know where it's going. The 70s British atmosphere and folk music really stand out. This would make an amazing double feature with Harold and Maude. #7 Always Shine 2 Best Friends 5ever Davis is good but this does nothing for me. It's an ok character drama with a bunch of weird cuts and music stings to hit some checklist for an unsatisfying thriller. I wish the casting call horror story was developed into something more. The rest of the movie does not live up to the opening. #8 Zombi 2 4/5 Boroughs Overrun By Zombies Holy poo poo the shark fight! The story peaks early but this is better than other voodoo zombie movies. I like the eye stab but there are too many cuts to the wide shot where the prosthetic is obscured. Stick to the close up. The Beyond has the best story but I like every Fulci I've seen. Total: 8/31 They Shoot Zombies: 39/50 Turns out a lot of the Italian stuff is dubbed so I am not getting anywhere close to 10 foreign language films. 3 from 7 different decades: 2010s, 1980s
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 05:23
|
|
|
10) Devil Fetus 2 : The Rape After Another Hong Kong gore flick thats too light on the gore. Overall I think the tone of this film did not help it. It takes itself waaaaaaaaaaay to seriously. Where instead of a fun romp with gross special effects you get rather dour and serious exorcist knock off. The main character of the film wa what started the whole thing to begin with he becomes the hero! and nothing really bad happens to him is kind of a terrible person . Its got some memorable sequels but overall I'd give this one a pass. Not enough gore, too serious, and a plot that doesn't go anywhere. There's not even a really great wizard battle. Overall kind of a let down when compared to Devil Fetus. /5
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 05:31
|
|
|
 11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) [rewatch] This might be my favorite Godzilla film. It's a psychedelic public service announcement about how we are killing the planet. Hedorah is the monster we made, it's feeding on our garbage and pollution to become powerful enough to kill us with it's own waste. Godzilla is the hero, the one that can clean up, with our help of course. The group effort is lead by the Yano family. Through the collaboration of the imaginative young boy Ken and the scientist father Dr. Toru they figure out how Hedorah ticks and how it can be defeated. This all sounds pretty straight forward for a Godzilla film, but everything about how it's constructed is weird and experimental. It uses a ton of different techniques to blast you with it's message that Hedorah is disgusting and we're feeding it. The movie never lets you get comfortable by always throwing something new at you, either to make you think or to just make you squeamish. That is the main success of the film, keeping us on our toes, making the viewer uncomfortable. Scenes of sludge melting flesh, cats covered in muck, Godzilla being scarred and bloodied all reinforce that what we're doing to the environment is not okay. Another thing I love about Godzilla vs. Hedorah is way the they portray Godzilla. He's introduced as a folk hero with "Godzilla's Fight" blasting while his silhouette marches to face the pollution. Godzilla also seems a lot smarter than usual, by taking time to think about how to solve problems and not just smashing through every situation. It's interesting to me that a lot of Godzilla fans seem to not think too highly of Godzilla vs. Hedorah. I think it's because of it's tone and unrelenting thematic assault on the viewer. Definitely check this out if you like weird, unapologetic films. CRAYON fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Sep 22, 2018 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 07:07
|
|
|
 30-Blood of Dracula 1957 There is debate whether this one should be included along with Teenage Frankenstein and Teenage Werewolf as the classic monsters marketed to the bobby soxers set. As far as I'm concerned, it should. Story begins with Nancy getting sent off to the Sherwood School for Girls. The reason's obvious as her mother's only died six weeks ago, Dad's already remarried and siding with the new Mrs. so Nancy's getting the short end of the stick. I do have to credit this film for showing me that all girls schools weren't just something from the turn of the century. As expected, Nancy has trouble fitting in as her classmates are probably rejects from High School Hellcats. The teachers are as expected for this sort of thing, strict and out of touch save for Ms. Branding, the chemistry teacher who has her own issues. When we meet her, she's explaining to her favorite student about how men are destroying the world with things like experimenting on nuclear power. She's not particularly better as she's looking for a special someone to be able to do her own experiments. Yeah, Nancy's really getting the short end of the stick here. Ms. Branding hypnotizes Nancy with an amulet to always obey her and unlock the mysterious powers she believes can be woken in Nancy who can now change into a vampire by Branding's command. No good ends up coming from this. Nancy's vampire look is a change from the 'looks normal but pale' appearance vampires in film have during this time. It's more like a stylized bat and very distinctive. This one tends to get the cold shoulder compared to the other Teenage monster films. I've seen reasons stated such as it having Dracula in the title with no Dracula to 'it's a rip off of Teenage Wolfman' to complaints that there's no supernatural element to the vampire. It's an interesting watch and that's not even counting the musical number 'Puppy Love'.  31-I was a Teenage Frankenstein 1957 Here we have a member of the Frankenstein family crafting a new monster. However this time the doctor's using parts recovered from teen car crashes. He might be onto something as the monster looks normal save for his face. Overall, the depiction of the monster's a refreshing change from the usual. Other than looking like his face went through a mangle, he's talkative, hormonal and wants to go socialize like any teen. However as this is a Frankenstein film, we know this isn't going to end well. This one's another that's primarily in black and white with a switch to color at the end. Overall, it's a decent film for it's time.  32-I was a Teenage Werewolf 1957 In this one, we have Tony, a troubled teen with a habit of overreacting and having a temper. In other words, a normal teen. Because of the trouble he gets into, he ends up seeing Dr. Brandon, a psychologist who believes humanity's future is dependent on regressing our personalities to our primitive instincts who sees Tony as the perfect person to test his theories on. It pretty much reminds me of something my Human Sexuality professor said in that the reason why there's so many approval boards and oversight committees for testing stages now is because of the Psychology Department which manages to mess up people's heads just as much as helping fix them. In this case, Dr. Brandon manages to change Tony so in times of stress, he turns into a werewolf. Yeah, obviously no good's going to come from this. All in all, I've always loved the look of the werewolf in this one even if he is a bit overdrooly at times. It's even made me feel a bit let down by other teenaged werewolf depictions that followed. I love this movie so much that the only episode of Highway to Heaven I watched was the one where Michael Landon donned the Teenage Werewolf makeup again. The werewolf had aged well.  33-How to make a Monster 1958 Simply stated, this one's meta as gently caress. The story starts at American International Studios which has had a long storied reputation for making monster films. It's just been bought out by NBN Associates and they're thinking more of making musicals with dancing girls and comedies so they're on a clearing out spree to re-envision the studio so first on the list of layoffs is Pete, the head makeup artist who was responsible for creating the memorable monsters over the studio's history. Not accepting the pink slip civilly, he decides to get revenge through the monsters he created, including the Teenage Frankenstein and Teenage Werewolf. Going with what I know of Hollywood History, it's impossible to not see the parallel of the changing hierarchies of the studios and buy outs to perceived tastes and how Jack Pierce was treated by Universal. Pierce was sacked by Universal and replaced by Bud Westmore. The usual stated reason is Pierce refused to use the latex technology of the day. This reason falls apart with the fact Pierce would use foam latex when it was warranted. It makes far more sense that Universal at the time was looking to rebrand itself away from it's growing reputation for B-Movies and Horror to more glamorous films and the Westmores didn't have that Horror rep that Pierce did. It also probably didn't help that Pierce did have a reputation of being difficult at times even with everyone praising his makeup skills to the sky. Interesting tidbit with this one is Pete's gallery of monsters are the props created by Paul Blaisdell for other AIP pictures. The final scenes shot in color in the gallery are the only color film of these props as the films were in black and white.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 07:25
|
|
|
Random Stranger posted:Day -10 - Alien I'll chuck out a couple of factoids that you may not have been aware of. The BBC repurposed some of the Nostromo sets for the Vogon Constructor Ship in the Hitchhiker's Guide TV series; and when Lambert is killed off camera, HHGG actress Beth Porter is the person who screams. I also have Black Lagoon in 3D. It's on my list, if I have the time and access to the TV for two loving hours.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 09:31
|
|
|
Hollismason posted:10) Devil Fetus 2 : The Rape After What a title. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 12:37
|
|
|
Drunkboxer posted:What a title. Seriously, that sounds like a title someone would make up to make fun of Kvlt in the horror thread.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 13:18
|
|
|
Please don't disparage my adopted horror child.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 13:31
|
|
|
Hollismason posted:Please don't disparage my adopted horror child. You adopted a devil fetus?
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 13:46
|
|
|
Please don't speak to me or my demon children ever again.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 13:54
|
|
|
I'm going to just go for 31 this year, but I'll probably hit more like always. Some quick hits to catch up: 1)A Field in England I dind't like it as much as the director's Kill List. Still good, and I have a soft spot for english folk horror stuff 3/5 2)Houses October Built 2 These filmmakers really want a travel channel show. It's fun watching people go to haunts and the story wraps up in a satisfactory way, but the whole thing is kind of silly 2.5/5 3)Resolution really dug this one. kind of like a subtle low budget cabin in the woods. 4/5 4)SatanWar It's way more mesmerizing than it should be, for such a low budget (and possibly Christian? Or christian exploitation?) film 3/5 5) Haunters:Art of the Scare Decent Doc, I'm still unsure about I feel about the McKamey manner stuff. Impossibly it feels less Skeezy than the black out guy. 3/5 6)The Void I wanted to like this more than I did. It's certainly a love letter to Carpenter, but I don't feel like all the parts mesh well together. Recent Carpenter likes such as IT Follows, The Guest and Hush were all way more successful as films, but I can't deny The Void looked really good and the effects were great, but it just didn't click for me. 3/5
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 14:14
|
|
|
6. Mandy (2018) Sometimes a movie just gets you:  I wish I had seen this in theaters. I don't have a small TV by any means but I imagine some of those scenes would have been really intense on a bigger screen. It's still cool looking as hell. It definitely felt like more of an action movie after finishing it, but thinking back on it most of it is pretty hosed up horror movie -it's just that the revenge portion of the story is so blood soaked and metal that it feels like it takes up more of the movie than it does. Cage's character taking the time to forge a brand new revenge-axe out of raw metal cracked me up. Loved the LSD cenobite bikers too. Lives up to the hype in my opinion. 4/5 Movies seen: 1. Terrifier | 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street | 3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge | 4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors | 5. Scream | 6. Mandy
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 14:26
|
|
|
 34- The Bad Seed 1956 It's surprising a film like this was even made back in the 50s. Based off the book by the same name written by William March, the movie's a very faithful adaptation. It's also a very quick read and there's not enough words available to stress how highly I recommend it. Here, we have little Rhoda Penmark. She's the sort of child a parent of the 50s would consider perfect. She's obedient, polite, and not at all like the average child tearassing around. We're introduced to her the day of the school picnic at the lake after Rhoda lost a penmanship competition to a classmate who ends up drowning in the lake that day. While everyone's naturally freaked out over the child's death, Rhoda's pretty chill about it. When her mother finds the penmanship award medal in Rhoda's room, we start realizing there's something more going on with Rhoda. Patty McCormack who plays Rhoda absolutely sells the concept of a child sociopath. Her recounting how she killed her classmate for the medal still gives me chills. The editing really ratchets up the tension and suspense as Rhoda's mother starts realizing what's going on with her daughter. The only way the movie differs from the book is with the ending, which is understandable. With the Hayes Code mandate of Crime Must Pay, normally I'd be calling bullshit but with how skillfully we're brought in to see how Rhoda's mind rationalizes her actions and seeing what she does, having the ending change would've been needed for how much of a sledgehammer this movie is and especially how freaked out it would've had audiences then. I did also see the '85 remake when it aired. I don't remember it as being particularly bad and it did go more into stuff from the book. I still would recommend the '56 movie over all other versions.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 15:11
|
|
|
Ooof, off to a rough start for me 1. Creepshow II A three story anthology movie and a disgustingly animated wrapper based on short stories by Stephen King - a murderous native american statue, college teens stuck on a raft in a pond inhabited by a flesh-eating blob, and a woman haunted by a hobo she killed in a hit-and-run accident. It's low budget, all stories are perfunctorily shot, few flourishes or interesting things going on there besides some good/okay goo effects. I can't really put my finger on anything that's particularly wrong about it, but it's just not very good?? I was quite disappointed overall since, like everyone else, read a lot of Stephen King as a child, and The Raft is one of his short stories that stuck with me to this day. This one just seems to go through the motions, here's a story here's another one, last story, thanks. No real energy to it. 2. Monster Squad Children form some sort of Creature Unit to fight various classic horror bad guys. I sat on the fence for a bit whether I liked it or not, but then fell really hard on the side of hating it. Don't get me wrong, I can absolutely see why people like it, especially if they'd seen it as a kid. The production values are good, it's pleasantly shot, and it has some clever things going on (Scary German guy being a holocaust survivor, something that nobody in the movie ever comments on. On the other hand, I hate most things Shane Black touches and this movie has got to be one of the worst things he's ever written. The dialogue is trying so hard to be cool in the minds of 80s children, it's absolutely insufferable. The characters are completely interchangeable, everyone talks in the same jokey/cool Shane Black voice, there's no character growth, nobody learns anything. It's homophobic, misogynistic and the only non-white character is a total joke. The monsters don't do anything interesting either. Not gonna rate every movie I see but this one gets 0/5 from me.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 17:03
|
|
|
7. November (2017) November is a pretty strange movie. It's very spooky and haunting overall, but I don't strictly think it's a horror movie. It's just that 19th century Estonian folk beliefs are apparently creepy as hell. The black and white photography is quite pretty at times and can be very dreamlike. I kind of don't really feel like I ever got a firm grasp on exactly what was going on with the various magics and whatnot. Pretty good Saturday morning movie, and surprisingly funny. 4/5 Movies seen: 1. Terrifier | 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street | 3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge | 4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors | 5. Scream | 6. Mandy | 7. November
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 17:24
|
|
|
married but discreet posted:Ooof, off to a rough start for me The raft is the best segment in any of the Creepshow movies and among the best in any horror anthology. The other two, on the other hand... There are those who say that this is sufficient and Creepshow 2 is the best of the series. They're wrong, but it's undeniable how good The Raft is.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 17:58
|
|
|
 The Night of the Hunter(1955) Today I suppose this wouldn't be considered a horror movie, but it's without a doubt one of the scariest movies of the 50's. Mitchum is great as both sides of the character he plays, and the movie never shies away from showing you the heinous crimes he's committing. He's just a scary dude. It's also visually stunning on every level, probably most famous for the lighting:   Charles Laughton was obviously an under-appreciated talent in his time. The Night of the Hunter is like if the Coen brothers had made Blood Simple and then nothing ever again. Just a very sad missed opportunity in the history of movies. Total: 1. Frankenstein(1931) 2. The Old Dark House(1932) 3. The Bride of Frankenstein(1935) 4. The Mummy(1932) 5. The Invisible Man(1933) 6. The Wolfman(1941) 7. House of Frankenstein(1944) 8. House of Dracula(1945) 9. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein(1948) 10. The Boogeyman Will Get You(1942) 11. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms(1953) 12.Gojira(1954) 13. Creature From the Black Lagoon(1954) 14. The Night of the Hunter(1955)
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 19:13
|
|
|
Night of the Hunter is a visual masterpiece and Laughton came from theater. He actually didn't just disappeared he just went back to directing theatrical plays and acting. Once you catch on that he set the movie up in some shots just like a elaborate stage play the film becomes even more engrossing. The film is meant to be played in a movie theater. I have always wanted to see it on the big screen because some shots take up the whole frame of the movie. Also once you notice that Wes Anderson steals liberally from this for like ALL his movies you can't stop noticing it. Like straight up a lot of the camera work is just this film. Kind of a interesting connection.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 21:34
|
|
|
I can confirm that Night of the Hunter is a must-watch in theaters, if given the opportunity.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 21:57
|
|
|
11. Child's Play (1988) Hoo boy. I love this movie. Chucky scared the hell out of me a lot and my brothers bought a replica doll to really freak me out wiht. Chucky and I pretty much grew up together since I was born in the same year it released. Out of the gate, for some reason this watch I found Andy to be annoying as hell. I was groaning every time he was on screen. I don't ever remember him bothering me this much so I can't exactly figure out why it was so now. But that isn't to say he isn't acting well along with the rest of the cast. Something that was fun on this rewatch was a special feature I'd never messed with, which is actually Brad Dourif as Chucky giving his commentary on certain scenes. I honestly wish they would have him sit down for all the movies and do a few tracks for each one. Child's Play is still a classic though and it's really impressive how they use the camera to make the advancing doll insanely menacing. 4 out of 5. This is just what I needed to break a streak of less than great watches. 12. Hell House LLC 2 (2018)  After loving the original this was such a huge letdown with the pieces of something that could have been good. But my snap judgement, this is part Grave Encounters, part Grave Encounters 2 and not nearly as good as either. I already wasted enough time watching it so I'm not going to waste any more time reviewing it. 1 ouf of 5
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2018 22:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 17:54 |
|
|
2. (3) Castle Rock (2018) A VERY Stephen King Hulu original series about a man discovered in Shawshank Prison with no name or explanation and how he ties to the town of Castle Rock's tendency to have terrible things happen. Its just SUPER King. Small town people with dark secrets and complicated relationships. Someone's got the Shining. Otherworldly evils. The usual. First off, I heard a lot of people describe this as some kind of homage or meta show about Stephen King books and its absolutely not. There's references, but all King works have them. Maybe this one has a few more than most since its very theme is the history of Castle Rock, which includes so many King stories, but its not like anyone's investigating the past works or anything.* The most cute thing is Jane Levy's character being kind of obsessed with murder stories and being the cousin of Jack Torrance. But its all pretty within the realm of usual King storytelling and the stuff he likes. In face, while I won't say I "called" any of the twists or reveals (I absolutely didn't) none of them shocked me that much since they're all kind of stuff King likes. The other worlds with parallel events and crossing over all comes from stuff like the Dark Tower and Desperation/Regulators, and so much of the people hearing things and what the real nature of The Kid is all felt so familiar. That's not a criticism, mind you. I like Stephen King. And this felt like a really good return to my childhood growing up watching King miniseries. I gather some didn't like the ending because of his ambiguity and the possibility that it invalidates an entire episode as a lie. I have a couple of ideas about that. 1) Maybe its a lie, but that doesn't feel terribly different with the amazing Ruth episode where she was lost her in her own memories and delusions, which definitely hinted heavily that she wasn't just suffering from Alzheimers but that she really might have been "out of time or place." 2) Maybe it wasn't a lie. As Henry said "I don't know if you were always a monster or you just became one." 3) My personal favorite, maybe it was a true story but that isn't Henry. Maybe The Kid is just an ethereal evil posing as Henry or possessing him. That feels very King-esque and the idea I was kind of rolling with even after Henry revealed his story. All in all I don't mind the ambiguity and I really enjoyed the story. Its slow at times but that's typical of a King work to establish the characters and their stories as well as the town. I like the pacing and like I said, it reminded me of those old It, Stand, Storm of the Century and Rose Madder I grew up with. Episode 7 "The Queen" is one of the best hours of television I've seen in awhile and Sissy Spacek gives an amazing performance. Like the whole series is worth watching for that. It almost literally took my breath away. That's how I physically felt and I had to get up and walk around a bit just to "catch my breath" and recover after it. I like that we're including TV shows this time around as I always like to have a TV show I'm watching and I have a bunch of horror themed ones I can hit on for the next 5 weeks. *While the show itself definitely isn't digging into King's works I did see an online theory that was kind of interesting where many of the stories in the title sequence or annotated or have inconsistencies. The idea seemed to be that there may be someone going over King's works and trying to resolve things, and that could probably play into the alternate worlds and schism reveals of the show. Its kind of interesting and seems like the sort of thing King might do but it also very much feels like easter eggs for the hardcore fans. September Tally - New (Total) 1 (1). A Cure For Wellness (2016) / - (2). Slither (2006) / 2 (3). Castle Rock (2018) STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Sep 23, 2018 |
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2018 00:02
|
|