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Choco 3 recs- Innkeepers House of the Devil The moth diaries
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Sep 25, 2018 16:12
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Watched a few more over the weekend: 5. Hell House LLC 2  Took a break from my HHN-related viewing schedule to watch a sequel to one of my favorite movies! What could go wrong, right? This was an absolute bummer. I watched Hell House LLC a couple times last year because I wanted to show it to everyone I knew, it was so fun and so seriously creepy in points. This one was so bad that I'm worried it's going to sour me on the first one by proxy. Some of the worst acting and most stilted dialogue I've seen since The Room (a line that sticks out in my head is when a medium asks the spirit who's moving around a planchette whether it's one of the people who's "gone disappearing" in the house...wtf?). Everything left ambiguous in the first one is explained in excruciating detail in this one. The scares are tepid and anything even sort of interesting is just something that I could watch being done better in the first. Total waste of my time. 6. Bride of Chucky  In my mind this didn't come out that long ago but yep 1998 was in fact 20 years ago and I'm just old. This movie has such a late 90s horror vibe, starting with the Rob Zombie song while the opening credits played. Was very shocked to see baby-face Katherine Heigl in this one, and oh hey John Ritter playing a super douchy cop who bites it in a super gnarly way. Jennifer Tilly is a goddamn babe, and I really loved everything about Tiffany. She loves Martha Stewart! She cries in the tub watching Bride of Frankenstein! (big mood.) She stands up for herself when her man doesn't appreciate her! Definitely a shift to a goofier sense of humor than the other Chucky movies, and I wish I didn't have to think about dolls having sex, but overall I enjoyed this one. 7. Seed of Chucky  This movie didn't work for me at all. It was way more of a gross-out comedy with Chucky elements and so much about it was just...yikes. The Chucky family drama was exhausting and Glen/Glinda was so annoying. I do appreciate how game Jennifer Tilly is to make fun of herself, so that's something. Some of it was kind of funny but this one just wasn't for me.
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Sep 25, 2018 16:23
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Oh, hey, my copy of The Witch came with a digital code that may be expired. Anyone not seen it and want to Hail Mary BVX7X2YVBFMY into redeemmovie.com and see if it works?
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Sep 25, 2018 16:24
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9. The Old Dark House (1932, James Whale) This is definitely not a "Boris Karloff movie". He gets top billing, but he's at most the fourth or fifth most important/prominent character. That's not a bad thing, as he does excellently in his small role, but it's important to note for anyone going into this expecting to see scenery-chewing Karloff. No, this is very much a Charles Laughton movie. He plays a gregarious character named Sir William Porterhouse, and I can't think of a more suiting name. The dude energizes every scene he's in. It's also worth noting that this film features Gloria Stuart who you may know as the old lady from Titanic. She looks... better here. What great atmosphere this movie has. The torrential rain, clapping thunder, the incessant wind noise, the candle-lit rooms, the roaring fire - it all creates the kind of spooky mood that I adore in these old horror movies. The dialog is clever, even funny at times, and the story takes a couple very interesting turns. You can sense the pre-code nature here which is always a big plus (the allusion to what one female character does or doesn't do for a male character is the sort of dialogue we wouldn't see for another three decades). A witty script, a mysterious plot, and wonderfully spooky atmosphere. I enjoyed this a lot.    (4.5 potatoes out of 5)
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Sep 25, 2018 16:26
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Totally agreed on Laughton, he's the main draw in The Old Dark House. I posted something similar in my own review. Not horror related, but he also put a David Lean movie on his shoulders and carried it all by himself, Hobson's Choice.
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Sep 25, 2018 16:54
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Franchescanado posted:When was the last time you've contacted your family and friends? In order: My fiance's been watching a fair amount of the movies with me and I talked with one of my cousins earlier who when I told her about this thinks I'm slacking with how many I've sat through so far. She thought I'd be at 100 by now. I have gone outside while it's been daylight. And I am not only eating but also taking time to cook.
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Sep 25, 2018 16:58
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1. Pyshco II (1983) I wrote a longer than usual review of this. Short and sweet, I enjoyed this one a ton. Anthony Perkins is great, Meg Tilly is great, there's a great balance of humor and horror, and some nice critique of the culture around mental health issues in America. Below are some shots I enjoyed (not caps I took unfortunately).    - This one I tried hard to find the actual shot from the movie from but couldn't. They are both fearful of someone being the house with them and lock themselves in a room during the night. After some unease on Mary's part she comforts Norman and the shot closes with the camera pulling back, showing them hug in the tiny room they've locked themselves in, surrounded by blackness. It's a great shot and I'm bummed there's not a cap of it to share. Last one is a gif and an ending spoiler so I'm linking it instead of embedding it: https://i.imgur.com/oXH8arp The sound it makes in the movie is brutal. E: Oh yeah the rating part. 3.5/5 and fully recommended. MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Sep 25, 2018 |
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Sep 25, 2018 17:11
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I have a good setup for cooking/watching movies too, it's a small apartment so the kitchen is like just around a little corner from my t.v. and couch. Perfect for watching a movie and letting something simmer for a few hours like chili or a stew, something that I can cook low and slow.
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Sep 25, 2018 17:12
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M_Sinistrari posted:In order: My fiance's been watching a fair amount of the movies with me and I talked with one of my cousins earlier who when I told her about this thinks I'm slacking with how many I've sat through so far. She thought I'd be at 100 by now. I have gone outside while it's been daylight. And I am not only eating but also taking time to cook. Good to know. The amount of movies you've logged so far is staggering.
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Sep 25, 2018 17:14
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5/31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et-xhuWtu4M This is not It. This is actually Clowntergeist, which someone has uploaded in the guise of an It rip. Seeing as it has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes with 5 reviews, I can see why they'd be trying to just trick people into watching for free. It was released on VOD just 4 days after It, apparently hoping to cash in on any potential increase in interest in killer clown movies (rather than an interest in Stephen King)  The titular Clowntergeist is actually an evil spirit that appears in the guise of a clown and eats people who are afraid of clowns. This is simultaneously original and terrible. Opening with a confusing bit of crossbow-related antics, the film is technically inept basically from the first minute. The DSLR apparently used for filming struggles with the poor lighting and little effort is made to pull focus. Apparently having to pull a name out of a hat, the villain is named Ribcage the Clown. The opening scare is the most horribly telegraphed and cliched version of "We don't have a clown statue in the house!" that has ever been filmed, and is followed by the "dog is licking the hand at night but isn't actually the dog" urban legend, but it's so dark that it's almost impossible to see that the dog is supposed to be gone. The sheriff's badge is a $5 eBay prop meant for an old west costume, and he's played by what appears to be an African immigrant with a thick accent and whispery voice. A girl's hair changes length from scene to scene. A character wants to open a school for dogs and campaign for pet's rights. "Confusing" seems to be the name of the game. Nobody -- writers, actors, directors, camera operators, and effects crews -- seems to be fully aware of what they're doing at any point. Actors have long delays before lines, either from forgetting them or the editor not cutting extraneous time. Characters have wide, empty gaps between them during conversations because of awkward staging (like being on opposite sides of an ice cream counter) or are partially off-screen. In the darkness, the cameraman seems unsure about where to go and only half-heartedly attempts to get the objects that are actually lit into frame, making it difficult to tell exactly where anyone is meandering; a scene intended to show the protagonist walking through her house in the dark is so dark that she's little more than a black silhouette against a dark gray background and it took some shot transitions to even tell that who it was supposed to be. Overall, Clowntergeist isn't even good as a microbudget horror movie. While good acting and effects can make up for the poor production quality and a cliche storm script, this film isn't even able to manage that. What we end up with is 80 minutes of something that's terrible, but not in such a way that it's inadvertently funny.
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Sep 25, 2018 17:53
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chitoryu12 posted:5/31 I love that poo poo like this keeps getting made. It’s oddly comforting.
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Sep 25, 2018 18:04
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CRAYON posted:
You missed one.
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Sep 25, 2018 18:16
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Skipped a few days, playing catch-up now. #3. Mom and Dad -  /5This one is fun, and has a ton of energy to spare. And I loved how the ending had evil grandparents, led by Lance Henriksen, show up to deus ex machina the kids out of danger. On the other hand, while I can get behind some of the grim humor of the premise, I think they overplayed their hand a few times, namely in regards to how in control Cage and Blair are supposed to be of their thoughts and emotions. (Everyone else is treated as basically being zombie rage monsters, so the fact that Mom and Dad are arguing with each other, playing out domestic squabbles (after Mom gets shot through the door) and making elaborate plans to gas their children feels like it runs contrary to all of that. Fortunately Cage is always up for tear-assing through the house, gibbering and foaming at the mouth, which does help paper over a lot of those issues and the dramatic inertness in the back-half, what with the kids just hanging out downstairs and waiting by the door. Recommended.  #4. Hell House LLC - /5I wish I ended up liking this one more than I did. I liked a couple of the lead actors, I liked the setting, it worked despite my usual distaste for found footage movies, and some of the scenes were plenty creepy. But I think that the ending just didn't work for me, as the "cultist ghosts" came across as boring and kinda goofy to me, and actually showing the footage of what really happened in the basement ended up killing a lot of the creepy mystique that had hovered over the whole production. Plus, I think the filmmakers overplayed their hand by trying to have two or three separate and distinct endings - the attic attack, Sarah and Paul getting killed, and Sarah tricking the second documentary crew into the room to die - which ended up working against them. Recommended with reservations.  A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - /5And speaking of general disappointments... I wish this one was a better movie than it is. To do so, though, it would have to pick which one movie it actually wanted to be, since this feels like what it is: 3 or 4 scripts mashed together, none of which seem to fully work together with the others. I kind of dig Haley as Freddy Krueger, but his approach absolutely can't sustain the "maybe he was innocent all this time" story element, which results in that just feeling like narrative padding. Between Haley's portrayal and the underlying thematic elements of Freddy now being the avatar for horribly repressed sexual trauma, I feel like this should have been great, should have been a great new direction for the Freddy character. And it should have been a great way to be scary to two different generations for two different reasons, as the teens that were scared by Robert Englund in the 80s are likely parents today, and they would probably have more of a repulsed reaction to this Freddy than even kids will. But unfortunately, the filmmakers blinked, and that ended up damaging this probably beyond the point of saving. Not recommended. Watched so far: Cat People, Halloween 5, Mom and Dad, Hell House LLC, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
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Sep 25, 2018 18:48
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drat, now I feel bad for just ignoring this one whenever it was on a list.
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Sep 25, 2018 19:26
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CRAYON posted:
This is one of the handful where I can say safely that the Japanese and American cuts are dramatic enough that one should seek out the different edits (and I don't say that solely because of the bare breasts). You thought the US cut was somber and dark, the Japanese cut is downright bleak, with a super duper downer ending that just leaves you feeling bad. Ambitious Spider posted:Choco 3 recs- I said you get ONE you rear end! Neither you OR Phantom Stranger know how to listen.  
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Sep 25, 2018 19:33
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Choco1980 posted:This is one of the handful where I can say safely that the Japanese and American cuts are dramatic enough that one should seek out the different edits (and I don't say that solely because of the bare breasts). You thought the US cut was somber and dark, the Japanese cut is downright bleak, with a super duper downer ending that just leaves you feeling bad. Pretty sure I watched the Japanese cut, it was the Classic Media DVD. As soon as she got the implant I kinda saw that coming so that took some of the impact away but yeah it was definitely 
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Sep 25, 2018 19:37
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10- The Predator I think the thread has been a bit overly hard on this one. It was fun and entertaining, and did feel like a Shane Black movie, if not a very good one. That said, the story makes absolutely no sense at all if the predator was there to help humanity, why immediately start stringing people up as soon as he lands??? and it’s clearly just setting up a sequel that probably won’t happen. But I was entertained enough. The one thing I find unforgivable though, is that at no point is the giant, suped up Predator called the Apex Predator and that’s just a shame Anyways after that, I realized that while I’ve seen the first one and AvP numerous times, I’ve only seen 2 in bits and pieces and never anything from predators, so I tracked them down and had a Predator day. 11- Predator 2 A pretty great example of how to do a sequel right. The core story is mostly the same, with the requisite tough guy tracking down the Predator, but we trade the jungle for the city, up the body count, and expand the mythology. A classic. 12- Predators One thing I dig about these movies is that everyone feels different and bigger, they don’t just make the same movie over and over and it works well. The first one is still my favourite, but this was probably the best of them from a technical standpoint. It looks great, and the cast is phenomenal. The only real issue I had with it is that the beginning is too slow a burn; they keep building the mystery of where everyone is and what’s going on, but the viewers already know all that. If this were billed as something lee and then turned out to be a stealth predator movie that could work, but here it just feels like it’s dragging its feet for the first 30 min or so.
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Sep 25, 2018 20:28
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Short on time, no frills update. 13. Hell House LLC 2 (2018) I missed out on Hell House LLC until earlier in this marathon, and I was blown away at how good it was for a found-footage film, a genre I typically feel is far more miss than hit. Not only had I not heard of Hell House, I was unaware a sequel was only a few days away, so I was hyped to jump back into the Abaddon Hotel. Too bad this stay wasn't as fun. Whereas the first film thrived on simplicity and mystery, this sequel goes a little hard into explanations, even to the point of being excruciatingly, pointlessly detailed. It wasn't an awful film, but a poor sequel to a solid spook-house movie. And something happened to the acting along the way. Man, that's rough this time around. .5/514. The First Purge (2018) The Purge franchise is hilarious. What it lacks in subtlety, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm. In this prequel, we get to see the very first attempt at the "All Crime Is Legal" formula we've seen in the previous films, this time with a heavy dose of making America great again. I wouldn't so much call it ham-fisted, as much as ham-armed. Or ham-entire-bodied. It's stupid, it's over-the-top, and cathartic to see a bunch of white supremacists get owned. This movie rules. .5/515. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) (4k ReWatch) I love this movie. I love all it's ridiculous faults, of which there are many. For every Winona Ryder hamming it up or bad, tired Keanu Reeves accent, there's visually stunning set pieces and charmingly bizarre costumes. And Gary Oldman chewing the scenery and necks of everything in sight while Anthony Hopkins waddles around as a fantastic Van Helsing. It's a dumb, grimy fairy-tale and just a good time that straddles a fun line between terrible and beautiful. The 4k treatment for this movie didn't blow me away, but did add a good amount of detail and pop to the already beautiful and textured costuming. The shadows got a nice little bump to that added to Gothic ambiance, as well. .5/5
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Sep 25, 2018 20:54
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28 Days Later - Not counted because I ended up only half watching it with the director's commentary on. Commentary was fine, nothing too special. I'm not sure the movie still feels like as much of a revelation as it did in 2002, but it is still great and the first half in London is pure gold. Watched because I wanted it fresh in my mind for:Franchescanado posted:
 12. 28 Weeks Later (2007, dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) I hated this when it came out, and hadn't rewatched it since I saw it in the theater 11 years ago. And for the first hour I mostly just wanted to turn it off, thinking of course I hated this movie it's bad. But then it got to the back half, which this time around I found really gripping and good. Which is kind of the opposite of how I felt about the first movie which starts off incredibly strong and loses a bit by the end. It's still really uneven, and I'm not ready to fully forgive the first hour and how long it takes to get going, but once it does there's a pretty decent movie in there. This one just gets a passing score. 3/5  13. Phantasm II (1988, dir. Don Coscarelli) Mike and Reggie are back to hunt down the Tall Man. Bigger than the original in every way, could have called it Phantasms. More action, less spooky, more fun, still weird and nonsensical. Reggie is the loving best. 4/5  Total: 13. The Untold Story (3/5), The Sleep Curse (4/5), The Faculty (3/5), Demon Knight (4/5), Return of the Living Dead (4/5), The Evil of Frankenstein (3/5), Hellraiser: Judgment (1/5), Vampyres (3/5), We're Going to Eat You (3/5), The Slumber Party Massacre (4/5), The Eternal Evil of Asia (3/5), 28 Weeks Later (3/5), Phantasm II (4/5)
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Sep 25, 2018 21:23
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FRAN CHALLENGE #1: Love Something You Hate
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7/31 - Gremlins I know I’ve seen this movie but I don’t remember anything about it except “the rules”. Glad to find that it’s a Christmas movie! Maybe my wife will let me break up the monotony of watching the Santa Clause trilogy over and over in December. This is really a great premise for a movie and it delivers. Mom blending and microwaving the Gremlins was hilarious. The pool scene was incredible. The best part though is any time a Gremlin uses a gun. It had me rolling every time. Also young Johnathan Banks! As much as I really enjoyed this movie I do have to suggest that it could benefit from a well done remakeor maybe just another more modern sequel.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:36
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4) Demon of Paradise Scream Factory DVD trailer above - NSFW for boobs, but if you watch it, you've seen all the most exciting parts of the movie and don't have to watch it! Standard '80s low-budget guy-in-a-suit monster movie. Shady dynamite-wielding fisherman somewhere in Hawaii awaken AKUA, the legendary local lizardman monster. It's got everything you'd expect from one of these flicks, stop me if you've heard this before - the natives who are aware of the beast (and the one native who scoffs at its existence dies to it five minutes later), the shady newspaper reporter and resort proprietor who scheme to turn the monster's existence into a tourist attraction, the fish-out-of-water (GET IT?!) disgraced former big city sheriff who got sent to the boonies and is disrespected by the locals and has to deal with a string of unexplained murders, and the local female herpetologist who wants them to preserve the lizardman FOR SCIENCE! For an R-rated film, it's tame as poo poo (barely any blood, some boobs and F-words are the main offenders I guess) and too boring to make up for the cheese factor. The one hilarious scene where Akua takes down a helicopter (which somehow STILL isn't the most exciting scene in the movie!) isn't worth it. Avoid.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:37
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15. Bride of Chucky (1998) This one is known for shifting the Child's Play/Chucky series more towards black comedy but keeping up with the bloody slasher kills and wise-cracking doll. It actually works quite well but the movie suffers from being made in 1998 (pretty much any horror movie made in the late 90s is going to feel that way). Rob Zombie and Coal Chamber are in the soundtrack, constant pop culture references and a self-aware tone define this movie. It takes me back but the shift is quite jarring if you weren't there. Though I will say a greater focus on Chucky is welcome (Brad Dourif really made that character) and the kills are all nicely done I always liked the bottle to the mirror ceiling that sends shards down. /5Total: 1. The Conjuring 2 (2016), 2. Terrifier (2016), 3. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), 4. Split (2017), 5. The First Purge (2018), 6. Trick 'R Treat (2009), 7. Wolf Creek (2005), 8. King Kong (1976), 9. Halloween II (2009), 10. Pumpkinhead (1988), 11. House on Haunted Hill (1959), 12. House on Haunted Hill (1999), 13. What We Do in the Shadows (2014), 14. Ghostbusters (2016), 15. Bride of Chucky (1998)
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Sep 25, 2018 21:42
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TheBizzness posted:7/31 - Gremlins Actually what you're looking for is Gremlins 2. The reason why we haven't had anymore Gremlins movies is because they reached perfection on the 2nd attempt.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:49
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Franchescanado posted:Actually what you're looking for is Gremlins 2. Joe Dante even didn't want to make a sequel to Gremlins and only did so after being given complete creative control and going nuts with the sequel. It all worked out.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:54
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Justin Godscock posted:Joe Dante even didn't want to make a sequel to Gremlins and only did so after being given complete creative control and going nuts with the sequel. It all worked out. I've hosted horror movies for my friends for almost 2 years now, and Gremlins 2 has been the most popular movie I've shown. It's not even a competition, it's just the biggest crowd-pleaser.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:57
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I keep neglecting this thread! 5. Nightbreed - I honestly don't know what the hell this movie was. I'm glad Clive Barker got a sizable budget for his second feature so he could put this together, but I could barely track what was going on in this after the first 20 minutes or so. Really enjoyed David Cronenberg's performance, as I don't think I'd seen him in more than a cameo before. He probably could've had a substantial career as a character actor. There's some great effects work too and I also appreciated Danny Elfman's score, even if it was a bit too Batman '89 at times. I'll have to revisit this sometime. 6. Monkey Shines - I have dim memories of watching this some years ago, but I didn't remember much about it other than it being the killer monkey movie. There's some interesting ideas about the main character's misogyny and the destruction of his own femininity is killing both himself and others around him. The ending feels too neat though. 7. Pulse (or Kairo) - I don't use this word lightly, but this might be a masterpiece. I'll have to re-watch it sometime later and find out. I didn't know what this about going in, so what the subject matter ended up actually being was shocking. I'll dance around what exactly that is for the benefit of anyone who doesn't know. I didn't think this would take the ideas behind what computer technology can lead to that extent. This also shares a deep, aching sadness to this movie. And it's just beautiful. But it kills you. 8. Venom - Kind of plodding and mostly tensionless, although it's redeemed by Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed. It's really great to see the two of them go at it, but I can't help but think it must've been a nightmare on-set because of that. Venom also does feature one of the most fake looking snakes I think I've ever seen in a movie, so it gets points for that too. 9. Intruder - I think this was the first slasher movie I saw, many years ago now. I have a certain amount of fondness for it because of that, but I don't think it holds up quite as well as I remember. It's nice to see Dan Hicks' acting range in a role which is very different from what he is in Evil Dead 2. Scott Spiegel takes some obvious cues from Sam Raimi's direction of his first three features and he imbeds the movie with the same sense of excitement at its own existence. Sam Raimi also acts in a minor role in Intruder, so that's cool too. 10. Prom Night - Man, Jamie Lee Curtis is great! She really elevates some not great material here. She brings a sense of realism and pathos to the part, and it wouldn't be half the movie it was without her. There's also a sequence which feels like it's 10 minutes long where she just dances to disco at prom. And it's perfect. I enjoyed Prom Night's more subversive elements too. The girls rescue the guys. A couple gets killed after having sex, but the two of them are the goofiest, most likable characters. Leslie Nielsen isn't funny. Good stuff. 11. Terror Train - I like David Copperfield in this though. His presence as (what else) a magician, gives the film certain thematic elements which boil under the surface of most slasher movies. It turns the movie into something about seeing past appearances and seeing things for what they really are. The killer gets tricked at the beginning for failing to look past a practical joke. He turns the tables on the partygoers by using a similar trick against them. They aren't able to see past his disguises and get killed. Even Jamie Lee Curtis, who is able to tell that there are murders going on, is constantly fooled by others. In fact, her character arc is really about becoming more perceptive of the world around her.
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Sep 25, 2018 22:12
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11. Poltergeist II (1986) Continuing with the trilogy, it seems the family is still solidly poltergeist-ed. The movie opens with some American Indians performing a ritual on top of a mesa matte painting, which, I've got to be honest, does not bode well for the rest of the film. The Freeling family has moved to Arizona, to live with grandma while the whole "house destroyed by spirits" thing gets taken care of. Grandma dies a remarkably natural death, for a horror movie, and once again the poltergeist strikes. We learn a lot of lore and backstory, and find out that head geist here is Kane, who was a cult leader whose entire cult died on the land where the Freeling's used to live, and now that he has a taste of a living person in the in-between he just can't get enough. Our magical Indian friend shows up to offer mystical guidance, to little effect, but eventually the family prevails yet again. A big step down after the first movie, and replacing 'unknown mystical entity' with 'creepy old cult leader' was not a good direction. Though he is a very creepy cult leader. It was a mostly boring retread, and why do I need a magical Indian when I have Zelda Rubenstein? That said, the effects were neat, and the weird nightmare creatures that appear are pretty fun. /512. Poltergeist 3 (1988)  The Freelings, finally sick of dealing with Carol Anne and her poltergeist, send her to the Windy City to be with her aunt and uncle. Finally Poltergeist returns to its roots, by which I mean a mirror-filled skyscraper in a huge city. It's what the fans demanded. That dastardly cult leader tracks her down and does his poltergeisting, as per usual. I enjoyed this movie far more than I should have. Let me state for the record that I like evil mirror tricks. You want a reflection that doesn't do what you do? How about things in the mirror that aren't there in reality? Monsters reaching out of mirrors? A classic bathroom mirror cabinet open? This movie has it all! It probably should have been called Poltergeist: House of Mirrors. /5
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Sep 25, 2018 22:18
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3. Murder Me, Monster (2018, FFest) - With a title like that, how could I resist. Wow, not what I expected but it was good. I can't find the right words to describe it, but it slowly builds in wierdness to an insane reveal of the monster. 3/5 Forensics! 4. Climax (2018, FFest) - Non-stop audio and visual assualt. You are going to want to see this in theater if possible to fully experience the pounding dance music and screaming. 5/5 cups of sangria
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Sep 25, 2018 23:03
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I was in New York most of last week to go see the Pig Destroyer record release and the Printed Matter book fair at MoMa PS1, so I'm just trying to make up for lost time right now. 9. The Devil Rides Out (1968). Directed by Terence Fisher. This doesn't have quite the same punch as it might have in it's initial release, but this still rips. It's interesting to see a character in one of these Satanic movies fulfill the "skeptic proven wrong" trope, but still be depicted as respectably intelligent rather than a strawman. Christopher Lee rules in this as the good occultist, the magic circle scene still holds up as being incredibly interesting and effective (even if some of the effects work doesn't), and the Goat of Mendes is one of the most intimidating onscreen devils I think I've seen. Imagine how hardcore folks thought this was back in 1968.  10. Jacob's Ladder (1990). Directed by Adrian Lyne. So far, the biggest blind spot on my list. I don't think it's quite as smart as it thinks it is with the purgatorial references, but it's still very effective. The way it mixes it's iconic body horror scares with New York grime is something I still haven't seen very many horror movies attempt, much less this well. It's super obvious in retrospect how much influence this had on Silent Hill.
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Sep 25, 2018 23:06
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So what's up with the theatrical run for Climax? Is it getting a wide-ish release?
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Sep 25, 2018 23:09
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Spatulater bro! posted:So what's up with the theatrical run for Climax? Is it getting a wide-ish release? US rights got picked up by A24, so I think it's at least getting the same treatment those get. It'll probably show up at some AMCs nationwide in addition to the obvious independent theaters. No idea when it's actually releasing here in the US, though.
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Sep 25, 2018 23:12
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 11)The Crime of Doctor Crespi The first half is snoozefest. Stage like, and the acting is blah. Second half of it picks up when the lead actor starts hamming it up. They're no Lugosi, but they give it an effort. 1.5/5
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Sep 25, 2018 23:40
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Franchescanado posted:Actually what you're looking for is Gremlins 2. Nice! I remember seeing it in a weird movie theatre/Pizza parlor back in the day with my parents but all I remember from the movie is Hulk Hogan. It’s on the DVR though so it’s my next watch.
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Sep 26, 2018 01:15
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TheBizzness posted:Nice! I remember seeing it in a weird movie theatre/Pizza parlor back in the day with my parents but all I remember from the movie is Hulk Hogan. More evidence of Gremlins 2 supremacy is that the home video and novelization versions both have their own customized fourth wall-breaking moments for that scene.
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Sep 26, 2018 01:54
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 49- Quatermass and the Pit 1967 This one was my introduction into the Quatermass films. I first saw it under the Five Million Years to Earth title. The story for this is solid. During an extending of the Underground, skeletal remains and strange metal turn up during the tunnel dig. As this is a Quatermass film, we know this is going to turn into something way more than just found some bones and junk. Only clinker to the story is the premise of finding five million year old artifacts at the level a subway system's being dug, seriously, I can believe Roman coins or Celtic pottery sherds, not prehistoric bones. Everything else here is practically flawless in the pacing and story events. Definitely worth several watches it's that good. Franchescanado posted:
 50- Queen of blood 1966 Everyone I show this to sums it up as 'A First Contact gone really wrong.'. We start with an Earth where 20 years after the first manned flights, spaceflight is a common thing. We've got bases all over the moon. The future's looking like we're going to take a new first step with having radio contact with an alien species. They're interested in meeting us to the degree they're sending an Ambassador to Earth to see about establishing relations. Of course, everything that can go wrong, does. Ambassador's ship gets damaged en route and crashes on Mars. Rescue mission sent to Mars finds a dead alien on the ship and a lifepod jettisoned. They track down the pod to Phobos and find the ambassador only to have their rescue ship only able to carry two people so one of the astronauts has to stay behind until a later ship can be sent for him.The poo poo keeps happening from here until by the end you're left wondering when the eventual intergalactic incident mushrooms out. Out of all the films from the 60s I've sat through, this is the one I've most wished there was a sequel to just for the factor of what happened next. Edit to add: I was already going to be watching this, but it does count for the challenge because of it's director/writer was gay. When I looked him up on IMDB, turns out he's done a shitload of films I liked. Any themes he might've put in Queen of Blood, I'm not big on digging into a film and analyzing it until it's the film equivalent of a tasteless well done steak. I do think he did a phenomenal job presenting the Alien Ambassador as enough of an other that can be unsettling to some. M_Sinistrari fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 02:14
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Which movie are you counting as the queer horror one Sini? And why?
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Sep 26, 2018 03:02
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Choco1980 posted:Which movie are you counting as the queer horror one Sini? And why? I completely brainfarted on that, thanks for catching it.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:21
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Choco1980 posted:I said you get ONE you rear end! Neither you OR Phantom Stranger know how to listen. Dude, you've got a list of 1500 movies to slowly page through. I lost track of your post in the twenty minutes it took me to get to a spot.  Day -6 - The Fly  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BzwxJ-M_M0 The first Cronenberg movie I ever saw. And it became the one I least wanted to revisit. Well, I won't watch Crash again but that's different. The thing about The Fly is that in my mind it was just another monster movie. Particularly goopy and disgusting, but still just a monster movie. On this rewatch, I realized it was much better than I remembered it. The sexual politics, however, are 1980's. Gena Davis's boss/ex-boyfriend is very rape-y and he's the good guy. The man who breaks into her house so he can expose himself to her and sexually harasses her is the hero. And there's tons of rape overtones with Goldblum's character even before it's clear he's becoming a monster. The film is pretty casual with these things. Is it weird that I like the first half of the movie better than the second? I mean, I could watch a movie about Jeff Goldblum dealing with turning monkeys inside out and figuring out why his teleporters keep going horribly wrong. The body horror of the second half is less interesting to me than that. I kind of wish that he had been making monkey/whatever hybrids as he was deteriorating so we could get some more of the crazy process. The thing that bothered me the most in the body horror was the puking acid. Scabby skin? No problem. Ear falling off? Whatever. Puking and eating it? I've got the same reaction as the boss/ex-boyfriend.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:09
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13- Dogtooth Faculty of Horror described Horror as “the breakdown of the mundane”, and I feel like few people get that like Yorgos Lanthimos. Killing of a Sacred Deer was one of my favourites last year (and will likely get a rewatch for this challenge), and while The Lobster didn’t really hit me as hard it was still really good. Lobster also didn’t really fit the definition, as the entire world felt like it was as strange as the section we were seeing, whereas Deer gives the impression that while things are weird all over, the family it focuses on is weirder. Dogtooth is much more explicitly a breakdown of the mundane; the normal world exists more or less as is outside, and it’s the family that’s bizarre. I’m not really sure I can say much more about it. Not even in an “avoid Spoilers” way, I mean there’s just really no good way to describe this movie, because it’s weird as all hell. If you liked any of Lanthimoses other movies you’ll like this one, but I’m not sure it’d be a good place to start with his work.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:49
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9. Xtro I was ready for alien gore, but did not expect a midget clown, a black panther, a giant toy soldier bayonetting a woman and a toy tank that shoots real bullets. This feels like it is two movies in one, poorly combined and while the good kind of crazy is present neither of them is entertaining enough. Didn't care too much for it.
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Sep 26, 2018 08:34
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