|
The way they do Chucky as a puppet AND human is always a lot of fun to walk that line between cartoonish and gruesome. Like its always a kind of shocking and effective moment when Chucky takes some damage, tries to walk it off, and starts bleeding and goes all "NO! I'M TURNING HUMAN! I NEED OUT!"
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2018 23:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 19:14 |
|
|
 31. Dagon (2001) Dagon kind of starts off in a bad way, feeling cheap and kind of boring. But the slow start ultimately helps build up a creepy and compelling atmosphere. The main character was annoying at first but actually became pretty interesting. He gives you this vibe of incompetence but turns out to be quite strong and able to handle himself well. There are definitely some silly moments, and not in the self-aware sense of other Stuart Gordon films. The laughs usually come from poorly aged CGI or just iffy performances. Despite it's flaws I would definitely recommend checking out Dagon for it's interesting atmosphere and story.  32. Demonic Toys (1992) Demonic Toys is one of those movies that is best watched with a group of friends and some drinks. It's stupid, full of bad acting and silly ideas, but it's good because of all that dumb. Definitely check this one out if you like B-horror films, but try to bring some friends and good vibes.  33. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) This is a slow movie, and that is fine. Slow movies can be wonderful at building up an atmosphere and tension. The thing with slow burns that I usually like is that the build up leads to something, the tension snaps in a climactic moment that leaves you breathless or makes your hair stand on end. This film never did that for me. When the climax eventually happens I was wondering if I missed something and honestly felt pretty annoyed, like I had wasted a bunch of time. It was a bummer because I was totally on board for the first 3/4ths of the film. It was shot well, acted well, and the build up felt substantial. It just went nowhere and really left cold.  34. Nail Gun Massacre (1985) Holy crap this one cold opens with a horrible rape scene. Probably one of the worst ways you could possibly open a movie, but if you give this piece of crap a chance it will reward you with a lot of laughs. Terrible acting and utterly stupid kills make this one hell of an experience.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2018 23:45
|
|
|
15. Wicked City (1987)  It has terrible art , the plot is incomprehensible. I wanna hunt down who ever recommended this when I asked for movies like Perfect Blue in the horror thread. The only thing interesting was the woman turning into a giant vagina that the lead guy is super afraid of. Otherwise Garbage.  /5
Hollismason fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Oct 8, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2018 23:52
|
|
|
I managed to watch some stuff during the week but didn’t have time to write them up so here’s a dump of a few films. I don't have any proper theme, just catching up on films I haven't seen and rewatching a few to see if a second watch would leave me with something new or change my opinion, good or bad, of them.  1. Creep (2014) Dir Patrick Brice  FRAN CHALLENGE #1: Love Something You Hate  Pick a film from a horror sub-genre* that you don't like, and watch it.I have to start by saying that found footage is really not my thing, I don't think there's a single FF movie I have actually enjoyed so far and was feeling quite apprehensive about watching this. Saying that, I really enjoyed Creep. I wanted to do the May challenge but my ISP decided it would be fun to have a technician disconnect my cable and then give me the run around for 3 weeks. Instead I read the thread looking for stuff to add to my watch list and I think that's where I first heard of Creep, and thank you whoever who mentioned it as watching this was a great start to my October. Aaron replies to an ad for a videographer to film someone's daily life for a day. He meets Josef in his house out in the woods, who tells him that he is dying and wants Aaron to film him going about a normal day as a leave behind for his unborn son. I don't want to give away more of the plot but it’s a slow build up that pay off well. It’s probably the first found footage film where the handheld camera didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment. Mark Duplass is what really makes this so watchable. He puts in a great performance as someone goofy but with an undercurrent of creepiness. / 5 2. Creep 2 (2017) Dir Patrick Brice Mark Duplass is back putting ads out for people with video cameras and this time manages to find a blogger whose video blog she feels is not really good enough and needs something new. Likewise Mark, now using the name Aaron, feels like he’s lost his touch as a serial killer, no longer having the same creativity and not getting the same enjoyment out of it any more. He decides that Sara is the perfect person to make a documentary about him and his killings. Needless to say things don’t go as Sara might have expected them to, though all the signs should have been there from the start. Though I thought both were really good there are a couple of scenes that stood out for me in the first Creep. First when Aaron realises that Josef woke up whilst he was in the bathroom and panics. The second when Aaron attacks Josef in the woods. I wasn’t keeping track of the time so I assumed that was the end and was very pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t and the different direction it took afterwards. / 5 3. Halloween (1978) - Rewatch Dir John Carpenter FRAN CHALLENGE #5: Birth of Horror Watch a horror movie released in the year you were born.There were quite a few choices from that year but I had been meaning to rewatch this as part of the challenge anyway. I can’t even remember when I saw this last, that’s how long it’s been, so this was almost watching it for the first time as mainly the major story beats was all I could remember of it. Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence are both great and Carpenter’s direction is as well. I’m not going to go into the story as I assume most here are familiar with it anyway. I don’t have any screen caps but I really enjoyed the framing of a lot of the shots that make it feel like there could be something, or someone, hiding just out of shot. Apart from that (and the score of course) I didn’t really enjoy it that much. I can see its place in history and I can see why people like it but I guess it just wasn’t for me. On to part 2. / 5 4. Halloween II (1981) Dir Rick Rosenthal I don’t actually have much to say about this one, except that I don’t really see the point of it. Yes, it picks up where the first one ended and finishes the story (for now), but I would have preferred it to end after the first. Personally I didn’t need a continuation and all the supernatural bits and connections between the characters took away from the first Halloween where Michael Myers just is and is never explained. I feel a lot of movies would be better if they didn’t feel the need to explain everything. Reading that Carpenter didn’t want to make a sequel and was drinking a fair amount whilst writing the script kind of shows. / 5 5. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Dir Tommy Lee Wallace Now this is a much better sequel, though a sequel in name only. It should have just been released under its subtitle. Doctor Dan Challis ends up following a series of clues to the town of Santa Mira to solve the murder of a patient. He travels with the patient’s daughter, Ellie, to investigate the Silver Shamrock factory, a manufacturer of kids’ halloween masks, and its mysterious owner Conal Cochran. With Halloween quickly approaching, the creepy Silver Shamrock TV ads gleefully counting down the days, Dan and Ellie head to confront Cochran at his factory which is at the centre of the murders and witchcraft. Someone earlier commented on how skeezy Dan is and that’s definitely true. With some fairly striking imagery (particularly involving kids and Halloween masks) and a pretty good flow to it this is definitely one I will return to at some point. / 5 6. The Void (2016) - Rewatch Dir Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski I remember liking this the first time I saw it, probably since I feel that more films should have cultists in them! This time though was a bit of a disappointment. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t have the surprise of seeing what would happen next or who, if any, would make it. It is a perfectly adequate film, but I think it could have been a lot more than it ended up being. I wasn’t particularly a fan of the monster design, apart from the first one which was fine. The other ones felt a bit…boring, I guess? I wouldn’t call it a bad film but I’m left wondering what it could have been. .5 / 5Definitely rushed it a bit towards the end just to get these out of the way and return to watching some more stuff. It turns out I don’t hate found footage as much as I thought that I did. What would be a good recommendation for something else to watch? I’m in the UK with Amazon Prime and a Shudder trial. Seems a lot of people in the horror thread like As Above So Below, but I don’t think that’s included with my package. Movies Seen: Creep | Creep 2 | Halloween | Halloween II | Halloween III: Season of the Witch | The Void Total: 6 Fran challenges:
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 00:00
|
|
|
Couple 'o write-ups for a couple 'o movies on completely different ends of the spectrum. Lake Mungo: I thoroughly enjoyed this one. A supernatural ghost film focused less on providing raw scares and paranormal setpieces, and more on instilling a sense of dread and sadness through the lens of a grieving family, desperate to find closure and come to terms with the tragic and untimely death of their sixteen-year-old daughter/sister Alice. The documentary presentation does wonders at making everything feel real, really pushing the raw human element at play, and getting the viewer that much closer to the Palmers on an intimate and personal level. The film is particular effective at building a growing sense of unease, which turns into genuine unsettlement as we learn more about the circumstances leading up to Alice's death and her premonitions of such, with Alice's phone video and the mirrored hypnosis sessions managing to send genuine chills down my spine. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: Just an incredibly fun and charming film, not that I would expect anything less from Wallace & Gromit or Aardman Animations as a whole. Every step of the way you can feel the pure detail and craftsmanship that went into every frame of the animation, which is only made that much more impressive given how expansive the cast is compared to the shorts (I recall hearing on a podcast that Nick Park on the commentary named the town hall scene as one of the hardest things he's ever had to animate, and I can certainly believe it given how many bodies there are). I especially love seeing all of the little fingerprints and clay-markings deliberately left in to retain the unique, hand-crafted feel. All of this is in service to a super enjoyable, breezy watch, striking a nice balance between slapstick and wordplay, and and embracing a rustic, small-town Harvest setting/aesthetic perfect for not just Halloween, but the entire Fall season. Movies Watched (10): Mandy, Hobgoblins (MST3K), American Psycho, Mimic, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End, Carnosaur, Lake Mungo, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Challenges Completed: #3 (American Psycho), #4 (Mimic), #5 (Carnosaur)
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 00:27
|
|
|
The doll's name is Chunky.
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 00:40
|
|
|
It's honestly hard for me to find it even remotely disturbing when Chucky gets mutilated, because Chucky is a loving rear end in a top hat. Like... Jason is a slasher, yes, but Jason's never really capable of cruelty. He just sees you, turns you into chunky salsa, and moves on. Chucky, meanwhile, is really, really into psychologically manipulating people and relishing in their pain; this means my reaction to stuff like the CP2 ending is less  and more "ha ha get wrecked you little hellfucker."
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 01:00
|
|
|
Not a movie, but I've been taking this Halloween season to also watch some appropriate anime. I'm working my way through Hellsing right now, and it's good! A classic tale of a young woman finding her place in the world as a vampire for the Queen, and also a secret war between the Vatican's secret police and the Church of England's secret vampire squad Just watch the opening theme song to get a feel for the show's overall tone and style https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNJwUUHMxc
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 01:26
|
|
|
LORD OF BOOTY posted:It's honestly hard for me to find it even remotely disturbing when Chucky gets mutilated, because Chucky is a loving rear end in a top hat. oh absolutely, he deserves it and it's great
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 01:38
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
 20. The Beyond (1981) (blu-ray) Liza inherits an old abandoned hotel, but while fixing it up a number of workers are met with horrible accidents. She soon discovers the root of the problem - the hotel was built over one of the gates of hell! As the dead begin to walk the earth, Liza must try to stop the gates from opening... I think. The plot is kind of fuzzy, and takes a backseat to the real highlight of the movie - the fantastic and over-the-top practical gore effects, which hold up shockingly well nearly 40 years later. Highlights include a woman dissolved by acid and guy getting his face eaten off by spiders. Lots of gooey gross stuff in this movie. This is the second film in Fulci's "Gates of Hell" trilogy, which is widely considered some of his best work. I slightly prefer the third film City of the Living Dead over this one, mostly because it has a better story, but it's close. If you aren't a fan of Fulci or Italian horror in general, this probably won't be the film that wins you over, but if you are into this type of film then I'd say this one is pretty much essential. Movies Seen: The Witching Season | Lifeforce | Terrifier | Unsane | I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House | From Beyond | 13 Ghosts | The Ritual | Child's Play | Twice-Told Tales | Beyond the Gates | Cat People (1982) | Fright Night | The Vampire Lovers | The Vampire Doll | Frightmare | Honeybee | Murder Party | Child's Play 2 | The Beyond Total: 20 Fran challenges:
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 01:51
|
|
|
I'm sick as hell so I guess I'm going to burn through my October list quickly. 28. Night of the Demon (1957) - 3.5/5 quote:Yeah man that's a cool demon. All around tight movie but I'm ambivalent towards 50s horror, perhaps my most unwoke opinion. 29. Evil Dead II - 4.5/5 (Starz) quote:The Evil Dead series doesn't quite click with me like it does for most (miss me with all that tree rape), but I can't deny Evil Dead II kicks rear end. The movie jumps straight to full speed like five minutes in and never lets up, it should be the model for any movie that styles itself a bloodbath. There's little I could say that hasn't been said better already, but I'll just say the laughing room is maybe one of the best scenes in the entire genre. This movie is undiluted, beautiful, manic energy. SMP fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Oct 10, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 02:03
|
|
|
 Viy Wow, this movie is something. Clocking in at a brisk hour and 17 minutes, this movie follows a young priest who must preside over the wake of a witch, which involves spending three consecutive nights in a chapel alone with the corpse. This movie is great , the effects are great and the sound design is effect. I'm impressed and surprised I don't see this talked about more Also, allegedly the first horror movie filmed in the Soviet Union and based on a Ukraine folk tale. Highly recommended. On YT in good quality /5
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 02:25
|
|
|
 Blood Feast, 1963 Blood Feast is considered by many to be the first ever splatter film, and it does not disappoint when it comes to having lots of blood and cheap gore effects. If you expect anything but that, it will disappoint in every other way. The sets look cheap as gently caress, none of the actors can act at all, the script is utter garbage, and as a result, the dialog is terrible and all the characters are complete idiots. It's a badly written and poorly made film through and through. But that's kind of what makes it worth watching. The violence and gore is super tame by today's standards, but it is very charming and got that good low budget look to it. There are plenty of other crap movies out there that that pull the whole "so bad that is good" better than blood feast, but it is a movie any horror nerd and fan of trash media should watch. Hot Dog Day #89 fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Oct 9, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 02:32
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
19. Sinister (2012) This one takes place in a non-specific Pennsylvania town. I feel like this movie is a framing device in search of a compelling story. The first quarter of the movie, I was all in. Ethan Hawke is one of Hollywood's classic lovely Dads and struggling true crime writer looking for one more big book is a great role for him. The creepy Super 8 box full of home murder movies, again, great hook to get you invested in what's to come. But what comes is just so... rote. Creepy kids, a monster man that looks like Slipknot's guitar tech, it's all so generic. Even Vincent D'Onofrio can't come in and explain why Grumbly Pete or whatever the gently caress the creature's name is does the things that it does. It's shot and acted well, the family drama is compelling and nobody feels like they're a cardboard cutout. But there's no substance to the central mystery of the movie.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 02:37
|
|
|
  #21. Dolls, a.k.a., The Doll (1987) Would have been nice if the thematic part of this movie had influenced more of Full Moon's output, instead of leading Charles Band to jam puppets and dolls into 70% of their output. Characters are painted broadly, from the man who's a child at heart to the disinterested father and cruel step-mother right out of a fairy tale, two no-good British punks, mysterious old people, and the little girl caught in the midst of it all. They all get caught in a storm, find shelter at the home of the old couple, and their flaws eat them alive, helped along by some custom-made dolls who aren't above murder. The moralization may have been heavy-handed, but at least it gave the story a firm direction. Good effects (particularly in the transformation scenes), and a well-tuned performance from the kid actress (according to IMDb, this was her last acting gig, which is a shame). The most family-friendly movie directed by Stuart Gordon I've seen, and at 77 minutes, nice and quick. I liked the sense of exasperated fear the hero adult worked in his performance, and seeing Guy Rolfe in a pre-Puppet-Master-sequel role was a treat. Take out the early fantasy of a teddy bear dismembering people, and this could have been a TV movie. Not that that's a knock against it, just weird coming from Stuart Gordon. / 10 #22. Nightbeast, a.k.a., Night Beast (1982) A wrinkly, hairless gorilla alien in a disco suit comes down and starts shooting EVERYTHING with his ray gun. Rocks, trees, walls, cars, and especially people, everything gets vaporized. Hokey effects, worse acting, terrible dialogue, a memorably awkward sex scene, and some gross human-on-human violence against a near-mute woman. Still better than a lot of Troma-distributed fare, and the way it seemed to luxuriate in its low-budget standing, from indulging in scripting cliches ('The governor's coming! We can't cancel this party!') to holding shots on bad action (struggling to get over a wall for ten seconds) gave it some leeway. Not enough to save it from being a bad movie, as it certainly does follow formula in the path to resolution (while finding room for one poo poo-talking, woman-choking biker), but enough to keep it from being painfully tedious, and enough to elevate it (slightly) above its cheapness. Best taken with plenty of alcohol. / 10
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 02:48
|
|
|
There is a single attractive woman in Night Beast but she's not the one in the sex scene. Instead two very ugly people go at it.
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 03:01
|
|
|
It was Thanksgiving here in Canada this weekend. I managed to watch quite a few movies but I'm in a turkey coma and don't feel like writing much, so here's some quick and dirty reviews. Phantom of The Paradise (1974) (blu ray) This movie pretty much won me over immediately. It has such a great atmosphere and great music. It seamlessly blends camp with horror. Everything about this movie has an amazing style, from the editing to the set design to the songs. I highly recommend this and recommend watching it in HD. This is a really nice blu ray and if you buy physical media I recommend purchasing this disc. Dead Silence (2007) (DVD) This was a disappointing movie. I’m normally a fan of James Wan and I figured a ventriloquist dummy would suit his style, but this was just boring. It wasn’t scary at all and had some terrible acting. Blood Diner (1987). DVD This movie threw everything against the wall but nothing seemed to stick. There’s a few nice scenes and good effects/design but it just never seemed to come together. Annoying characters and bad acting just killed this for me. Fran Challenge-watch a video nasty- Toolbox Murders (1978) (Prime) This was pretty good. It’s a proto-slasher but all the killings happen right away then it turn into exploring who did it and why. It has some pretty visceral gore and a lot of nudity so I can see why this qualified as a video nasty. The movies back half is a little too slow and dependant on too much exposition scenes but the front half was cool enough to make up for this. Bride of Re-Animator(1989) (iTunes) This was really great. I might even prefer this to the first Reanimator in fact. There’s just so much incredible practical effects and awesome creature design Watched (16) Always Watching: A Marble Hornets story; Terrifier; Boys in the Trees; Creature from Black Lake; Parents; Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat; Murder Party; Hell Fest; Alone in the Dark; House of Purgatory; 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity...; Phantom of the Paradise; Dead Silence; Blood Diner; the Toolbox Murders; bride of Re-Animator
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 03:08
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:
I think with some exceptions, contemporary zombie movie are the most generic, voiceless genre of horror out there. They're either the store-brand cereal of horror or they're jerkoff fodder for reactionary "gently caress you got mine" types. People keep saying this is one of the good ones, so here goes.  25. Train To Busan (2016). Directed by Yeon Sang-ho. Watched on Netflix Thankfully, this doesn't share the same reactionary politics I mentioned. Like the best of Romero's Dead movies, the zombies are only a method to convey how we deal with each other in desperate situations. Train To Busan does a pretty succinct job showing the pack mentality you see in things like The Walking Dead for what it is, a callous tribalism that promotes needlessly endangering others. The setup to the outbreak is brilliant, telling you just enough for you to piece things together. You see lots of subtle character work which really helps sell the film. I just wish the craft was better. I appreciate the switches from the compressed space of a train to the open air of a station, but thematic flourishes aside, it's very unambitiously shot when the zombie infection begins to spread, though there are a couple impressive set pieces. Also, I think I heard some stock music cues? It lays things on pretty thick in the second half, though the character work's so good it's kind of justified? Friends Are Evil fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Oct 9, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 03:25
|
|
|
#9 / 31 - Inside (2007) ★★★☆☆ I'm... I'm gonna be honest, I'm really not sure how to feel about this movie. This was a rewatch for me, and I loving loved it the first time. On the original watch, I was half ready to call this one of the most entertaining horror flicks I've ever seen. But... I'm gonna be honest, it's been a while, and my personal squicks and my attitudes towards certain things have kinda changed in a way that made this significantly less fun to revisit. The basic plot (and holy christ is it a basic plot) is as follows. Sarah, heavily pregnant, gets in a car accident and loses her husband. She decides to spend Christmas Eve alone grieving, while a day away from going into labor with the baby. All of a sudden, an assailant starts trying to bust into her home, knowing exactly who she is and what her circumstances are, and pretty clearly meaning to do something a lot worse than rob her. From here, the movie's basically Sarah and the assailant fighting against each other, with assorted random people inserting themselves into the situation and getting killed messily, lobotomized, or lobotomized and then killed messily. Which is a good segue, because this movie really, really likes graphic brain trauma. Like, there's at least three separate people in this goddamn movie who get stabbed or shot in the head and are still alive afterwards, but visibly and horrifically brain damaged from it. I almost wonder if the movie's trying to do something with it, but frankly, it doesn't seem to dovetail with any of the obvious themes- Bustillo and Maury just seem to really, really like gore gags with lobotomies. This wouldn't be a problem if the movie were serious, because I can't really get mad at a serious horror movie for disturbing me. However, either this movie's tone is very, very confused, or Bustillo/Maury are scared of much more ludicrous things than I am, because... solidly half of this movie is so utterly over-the-top and absurd that it feels less like High Tension or Martyrs and more like a more grounded and straight-faced Braindead or Planet Terror. Hell, it almost seems to be leaning into it at times, with things like the aerosol can flamethrower out of nowhere, the ending gore gag, and basically everything with the Arab rioter who gets quite literally dragged into the mess. As a result, instead of being effective horror scenes in an effective horror movie, all the graphic head trauma just winds up being weirdly "real" for a movie that's otherwise a bonkers thrill ride; it makes the movie feel like it really can't decide whether it wants to be Green Room or Evil Dead 2 and ends up settling for "por que no los dos." I will say, to the movie's credit, that it looks nice as hell. The cinematography is legit fantastic in a lot of parts, and I feel like the movie being aesthetically fantastic really kind of smooths over a lot of its issues, at least on a first viewing. Also, while the performances are largely nothing special, the killer's actress is... certainly something. She's largely just nondescriptly threatening, but at a few points, Sarah manages to get one over on her, and... to say she doesn't take it well would be the understatement of the century, she straight-up starts loving Cage raging and stabbing walls with her scissors and screaming incoherently- one of the many reasons why this movie works better as an OTT thrill ride than as a "legit" horror movie. At the end of the day, though, this is a movie you can't really skip if you're a horror fan, regardless of my opinions of its flaws. Like, this is a pretty pivotal flick in a movement that I think a lot of us would classify as being pretty important to modern horror; New French Extremity is pretty much why we get violent horror movies in theaters again, and Inside is probably the NFE movie that's simultaneously the most entertaining and least unpalatable.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 03:38
|
|
|
I had way more free time today than I thought I would so here you go 9) The Initiation (1984) - I miss old malls The second half of this movie takes place in a large shopping center; several floors ring an open atrium. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism blah blah blah I miss old malls. I miss having to actually leave the house to go somewhere to buy luxury items I wanted. I miss them being slightly more complicated than layouts filled with summerwear and shoes stores. I miss being able to mess around in their open spaces and run into friends. This technically is relevant to the movie because one of my favorite sequences involves a group of college kids who don't realize what kind of danger they're in just tooling around an empty mall and having fun. Not like a montage of decadence or a robbery spree. And there's no hand-wringing over their stupidity because there's no reason for them to think that anything's wrong. Just some folk having a good time. It's not the kind of scene that can always work due to potential tone issues but oh buddy this movie already bounces around moods like a rubber ball so the frivolity doesn't break any immersion you might have. A group of sorority pledges are in the final stretch before they're officially members. They just need to do ~one last job~ pulling a prank in a shopping center after hours and they're home free. This is the central plot but by absolutely no means is it the only major thread the movie wants to dig into. Here's an incomplete rundown of major plot details in the film: recurring nightmares of parental sex, a discount Nurse Ratched, hand cultivators sharpened to lethal precision, doctorate students of parapsychology, a man dressed like a penis, a scheme to steal the clothes off a security guard, and repressed experiences of severe trauma. The movie reaches for a few actual themes and motifs and then hurriedly has characters shout them out loud so the script can show how proud it is of itself. I enjoyed the movie despite itself. It's not as clever as it thinks it is but it still managed to surprise me in a few ways I enjoyed. It's not as funny as it hopes to be but there's enough intentional lightheartedness to keep the proceedings from drying out. It's not scary at any part but did manage to make me anxious for the sake of characters I didn't want to see impaled in an empty mall. I'm not sure how rewatchable the film ultimately is. It's an inoffensive Halloween-appropriate film and seeing Daphne Zuniga in anything that isn't Spaceballs is a neat kick in the nostalgia. Well worth the 90-ish minutes spent but I'll admit I was rather enthralled with all the ways the film tried to stand out from the slasher crowd even if the efforts were strange and sometimes ineffective.  10) Murder-Rock: Dancing Death (1984) - Enjoyable! Functional! Serviceable! I'm very welcoming to mysteries in media, unless it's Luther, which can get out. A story being a mystery is not a guarantee that I'll enjoy it but I've been watching and reading mysteries since I was a kid so I want to enjoy them when they're put in front of me. From Matlock to Bava, Poirot to Psych, Tenspeed and Brownshoe to Raines, so long as it doesn't involve Idris Elba correctly determining if someone's a murderer based on whether or not they sympathetically yawn I'm in. This is only the second Fulci I've seen. The first was A Lizard in a Woman's Skin a few years back. I've already forgotten most of it. From his reputation he's rather multi-faceted so although I know him largely by the gory 80s titles of his I haven't seen I knew going in that I shouldn't be surprised if this film was different. As someone who's not much of a gorehound I'm glad to say that this film's violence is understated but it is still very disturbing. Someone's killing gorgeous young dancers trying to make it big! Who would do such a heinous thing? Is it one of their peers, trying to climb to the top? A family member trying to provide a breakthrough for a less-talented sibling? Is it a jealous ex-lover pushed to the edge by uncovered secrets? The answers provided by the film satisfied me. This is not a top-notch twist-a-thon giallo; it's more like a half-sane half-crazy giallo-lite. I don't mind my giallos tempered. As much fun as a full-bore thrill ride can be I also greatly enjoy mysteries that have a bit more plotting and care put into them. That's not to say that this is some fine-tuned clock, however. There's still a greater sense of style over, well, sense. But enough threads come together in neat and clean ways to make me feel like it's a proper murder mystery that also happens to be Italian rather than the other way around. Again, there's nothing wrong with a nonsense fest but if I had to choose I'd take a dollop more sense for the sake of a satisfying reveal. The flip side is that the cleaner the mystery is the less rewatchable it can be. Great and/or fun performances can elevate a more common mystery but you're not really going to find those here outside of the lead detective. As much as I enjoyed it I won't be coming back soon. I'll still know the details a few years from now though. Adlai Stevenson fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Oct 9, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 03:55
|
|
|
My baseball team is trapped in hell and its completely put me in some kind of fugue state and I can't for the life of me decide what terrible, demoralizing movie I'm going to turn on in a little bit to meet my challenge.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 03:57
|
|
|
Day 8 - The House That Dripped Blood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNO3yw0Cg5I Oh man, I had a house that dripped blood. Cost us over ten grand for a new roof. This is an anthology about a house where the last four occupants all met grisly fates. A horror writer starts seeing his killer everywhere he goes. A man sees an old lover's face in a wax museum Salome. A distant father's odd behavior toward his daughter scares the newly hired nanny. An actor playing a vampire gets a costume that helps him get into his role. They're familiar tales, but well told since the script was by Robert Bloch. This isn't a fantastic movie, but it is a nice one. With four stories plus a wrapper, there isn't time for anything to wear out its welcome. And these are four very different stories. The first two could have come out of Tales From the Crypt (the comic, though I guess the TV show too). The last story is a comedy that leans into some intentional goofiness. The cast is great with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing heading up different stories. I think my favorite story in the anthology is the wax museum which uses the old cliche really well. The abusive dad story is pretty good too with a really mean ending. The other two aren't bad, they just aren't quite as stand out, but there's something fun about the last segment complaining about how Lee's Dracula movies aren't realistic enough. Basically, not something that you'd want to go out of your way for, but a really pleasant watch. Dr.Caligari posted:
I've brought this up in year's past but as far as I can tell there are exactly two horror films produced by the Soviet Union. One is Viy, the other is Den Gneva which I have had no luck in tracking down an English language copy. It has aired on TCM at some point in their history so it has to exist, but I cannot find it. I am legit tempted to watch this on youtube with google autotranslate subtitles. I'm sure it would be awful, but at least I'd finally see this movie. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Oct 9, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 04:03
|
|
|
 11. The Raven (1963) *cue montage of Peter Lorre drinking wine while trying on different robes and wizard hats while Vincent Price shakes his head or gives the thumbs up in approval* Almost a straight fantasy/comedy, this happens to fall into the Corman-Poe cycle of horror films more because Price reads the titular poem over the credits and uh his wife's name was Lenore. It also whips borderline pornographic amounts of rear end, and is worth watching because: it's hilarious and tightly paced, has what is probably the wizard duel in the history of western film, and you get to watch Price, Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Jack Nicholson all playing off each other and having a great goddamn time doing it. Lorre is really the star here, playing (to no one's surprise) a drunk, surly and somewhat cowardly sorcerer, and he apparently quite a few of his best one-liners were ad-libs. Some of the special effects are very silly, but I honestly think in a way that elevates the film. All the magic is a mix of practical effects with hand drawn, almost child like superimpositions on the frame. It's low stakes, a little psychedelic, and in the end I don't think there's too much more I can say except that I loved it.  12. The Boxer's Omen (1983) A movie of almost indescribable strangeness, creativity, and hatred for crocodiles. I usually like to pull stills and gifs from the movies I watch for this challenge but I really think you just have to sit down and watch this one for yourself. It is relentless in its parade of horror imagery. A man will pull his head from his body and use the flying, dangling entrails to strangle his opponent. Buddhist monks will destroy demons with shimmering rainbow lasers. There are creature called into battle that look suspiciously like little green man and later on some that look suspiciously like power rangers putties. It's one of the movie's great strengths how distinctly the aesthetics behind forces of light and dark are opposed. The evil sorcerers use magic of the body, with bone and viscera, go betweens that may be material or animal. The monks fight with light, music, and even the writing itself, in some especially spectacular sequences. And every bit of it is gorgeous. I can genuinely say I've never seen anything quite like this film, and I watch a whole lot of visually striking arthouse poo poo. I'm not sure how well the film carries itself outside of the spectacle because I think I'm still in shock, but the spectacle is drat nice.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 04:06
|
|
|
CopywrightMMXI posted:Bride of Re-Animator(1989) (iTunes) Well hi there, Thinks Bride Might Just Be Better Than The Original buddy 
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 04:07
|
|
|
#7 Tag (2015) Well. Tag was on my radar because Sion Sono directed it. I've seen a small chunk of his movies and while I have issues with some of his "director trademarks", he's made some stuff that I really love and there are at least specific things I find cool about everything I've seen from him. I guess that's sort of the case here as well. I don't think I liked this movie as a whole, but there's some good bits. The movie opens with a bus full of high school girls. It's over-the-top idyllic to the point where you absolutely know something's about to happen, and it soon does, to the tune of the entire bus, along with everyone inside of it except for the main character, getting cut in half by "the wind". From there we follow our main character as she quite literally runs between parallel universes in which everyone around her is horribly murdered. There is a LOT of running in this movie, by the way. At 85 minutes it's not a very long film, but there are an almost distracting number of long shots of people running, sometimes from specific things, other times from nothing in particular. The rest of the movie and my thoughts on it are hard to talk about without spoilers because things don't really start to make any sense until near the end. Throughout most of the movie, there's a very obvious pattern of having no men at all on screen. Every character and extra is a woman for the first 90% of the film. Throughout all of this there's a very obvious male gaze with regards to how everything's shot (specifically there are a lot of panty shots), and extremely over the top gore and bits of body horror involving these characters. At the end of the movie it's revealed that the main character and her friends all died a super long time ago but had bits of their DNA saved somehow and now they're characters in a video game made and played by this society that's presumably made up entirely of men. It's maybe almost an interesting feminist critique of society, except I don't think it really succeeds. First of all, the conceit doesn't really make any sense and isn't really explained at all. The game itself makes no sense. The character breaking out of the game makes no sense. The future man society makes no sense. The "villain" motivations make no sense. It maybe works as a very high level metaphor but the movie explains just enough of all this for it to stand out as confusing. It would've worked better if we'd been shown less. Also, I'm not sure I buy the authenticity of the message. Showing the audience a bunch of gratuitous violence and male gaze-y shots of high school girls and then right at the end smirking "Ah, but you see... it was YOU who was the sexist this whole time!" doesn't feel like that much of a critique, it just kinda feels sexist, especially given the trends of a lot of Sono's past movies. All that said, there were a few great scenes and images, and it was pretty enjoyable if just for the bizarre mystery and content. In conclusion... eh. Watched (7/15): #1 As Above, So Below (2014), #2 Shutter (2004), #3 A Dark Song (2016), #4 The Endless (2017), #5 Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978), #6 Blade II (2002), #7 Tag (2015) Fran Challenges: #1, blood_dot_biz fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Oct 9, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 04:12
|
|
|
Lurdiak posted:There is a single attractive woman in Night Beast but she's not the one in the sex scene. Instead two very ugly people go at it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 05:04
|
|
|
 10. The Screaming Skull A pretty bad drive-in spook-a-doodle. I didn't even need the coffin they offered to buy for the viewer at the beginning of the movie. There were a few scenes of surprising eeriness, but otherwise not a whole lot to recommend it. Clocking in at just over an hour, it still felt too long - would have been a decent part of an anthology film. I did like the titular skull rolling around like a critter, though. And if peacocks really scream like that, Crispin Glover is not gonna be able to sleep much at all. List (10): Savageland, Ghostbusters (2016), Creep, Vampyr, Hereditary, Frontier(s), Butterfly Effect 3, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Tenant, The Screaming Skull Challenges Fulfilled: #3 Hometown Horror: Butterfly Effect 3, #1 Love Something You Hate: Only Lovers Left Alive, #5 Birth Of Horror: The Tenant
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 05:44
|
|
|
 4. Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988) Watched on Hulu FRAN CHALLENGE #1: Love Something You Hate Clown horror does absolutely nothing for me, probably because I was never afraid of them as a kid for whatever reason. Even Curry's Pennyworth didn't creep me out, though I can appreciate the performance. So, to get it out the way: this film is not even remotely scary - there's maybe one and a half scenes that edge into "slightly unnerving", but that's okay, because this movie fully and absolutely commits to its gimmicks in a way that just makes it fun. The tone is established in the very first frame, and right out of the gate you've got some nods to The Blob and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Instead of leaning on the easy juxtaposition of clowns and a scary atmosphere like pretty much every other film in the genre, this one fully leans into the aesthetic space that the monsters provide, and some of the results are genuinely creative - the balloon animal bloodhound and the invisible car are obvious standouts. John Vernon steals the show here as pretty much the platonic authoritarian tight-rear end, and nobody else even comes close. The "spaceship" set design is inventive, though I wish they'd made more use of painted backdrops (I just like them). It's a dumb, goofy, labor-of-love movie, and while I'm still not scared of clowns, the brothers behind this eventually went on to design Large Marge, which *did* scare the poo poo out of me as a kid, so I'll call it a wash. / 5---  5. Kuso (2017) Watched on Shudder I really wanted to like this. Visually, it's right up my alley - it's got sort of a neo-Dadaist aesthetic, like a blend of a Bosch painting, a Tim and Eric sketch, and a 90s FMV game, and the soundtrack is solid. But honestly, it's just so unrelentingly juvenile that I can't get into it. I can appreciate art that is meant to shock, but it's 2018, and I don't think anyone that grew up on the internet is clutching their pearls over bodily fluids at this point. The premise is cool, there are some very visually interesting scenes and a couple legitimately creepy moments, and there's a chuckle to be had now and then, but at the end of the day it feels like they squandered all of that so that they could fling jizz and poo poo everywhere (this is probably the most anally-fixated film ever made). This is a debut movie, and it shows - the influences are worn on its sleeve, and a lot of it just feels like there isn't enough confidence to shoot for something more meaningful (with a couple of very brief exceptions), so I'd be interested to see what else comes from the team behind this, but...yeah. .5 / 5---  6. The Fog (1980) Watched on Shudder This feels like pretty middle-of-the-pack Carpenter to me. I like that it feels intimate without being claustrophobic, and the opening sequence of the campfire story goes a long way toward establishing that tone, I think. The cast is great, and while some of the computer-generated fog effects haven't aged well, the practical fog effects are really cool, and genuinely feel like something living, which is also partially thanks to the understated shot composition. As a horror film, the biggest pitfall is that there's just not really any tension - the stakes feel weirdly low (even in a small town, a curse requiring the deaths of six people seems a bit underwhelming, especially when three of them are random dudes on a boat that you don't see enough of to care about, and one of the other victims basically spends the whole movie talking about how much he deserves to die). The film also spends a lot of time focused on the characters that feel the safest - I never felt like Carpenter was going to do a rug-pull and let anything actually happen to Barbeau and her son, and the scene on top of the lighthouse especially telegraphed that. Performance-wise, Barbeau and Atkins stand out, and Curtis feels a little wasted. Not Carpenter's worst movie, but he's done plenty that is both more frightening and more tense. . 5 / 5So Far: Tremors | Blood and Black Lace | Cube | Killer Klowns from Outer Space | Kuso | The Fog Total: 6/10 Challenges:
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 05:55
|
|
|
26-Annihilation I’ve been looking forward to this for months but it was one of those “in one theatre for a single weekend and then vanishes” movies, so I was excited to see it pop up on Netflix. First things first it is a gorgeous movie; the lighting and colour palette are amazing and really drive the otherworldly beauty home. The story is also very interesting, and while it does have some ambiguity, I appreciated that it got pretty deep into answering some of its questions, mainly in the final 15 minutes which i believe was filmed by Aronfsky on mushrooms. Also worth noting is that our focus is in a military team made up entirely of women, and unless I missed a line that’s never mentioned or treated as novel. The main character is there to help her husband, but beyond that the team is treated no differently than if it were all men, which was refreshing. It’s a bit of a slow burn, especially at first, and will require a lot of suspension of disbelief, but it’s stunning and well acted, I recommend it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 06:00
|
|
|
#36. Mutations (1976) (aka The Freakmaker) A genetics professor (Donald Pleasance!) believes he has found the secrets to genetic engineering. He is assisted by a deformed man who co-owns a traveling freak show (Tom Baker!) who kidnaps young men and women for him to experiment on, in hopes that the professor will be able to cure him of his own abnormalities. All the not so good doctor actually accomplishes however, is making monsters himself. I've been meaning to see this film for a little while now, and I could never remember the name. It's pretty wild that the movie isn't well known today considering it's two big names, the fact that it's a crazy monster movie, and the film's efforts to replicate some of the success of Tod Browning's Freaks by casting actual circus performers in the freak show (there's even a "one of us!" scene) That said, the film is definitely low budget, and filled with bare production values and pseudo-science. It's fun, but it won't win any awards. out of 5#37. Shock Waves (1977) A small pleasure cruise runs into a ghost ship overnight and the people aboard are forced to make for a small nearby island, deserted save for an older ex-Nazi (Peter Cushing!) who tells them how in the second world war he was in charge of a special experimental battalion of men, scientifically experimented on to turn into living weapons impervious to most natural and environmental causes of death. Now these strange man-creatures have risen up out of the sea and are stalking our survivors. This is such a weird film to place in any one pigeonhole. Like, it feels very European in its look, but it is definitely an American production, with the improved line delivery in English. It kinda feels like a zombie movie (an underwater nazi one no less), but the monsters aren't quite zombies either, in that they're smart, and quick, and creative instead of some mindless beasts. Even the rhythm of the film is off balance. Don't get me wrong, it's surprisingly well done for what it is, but figuring out exactly what that is is what makes it strange. out of 5#38. Fury of the Demon (2016) In 2012, in Paris, there was a special, much-hyped screening of a film thought lost for over a hundred years, "le Rage Du Demon", which had only been screened two other times in historical record. All three screenings of this film, thought to be made by a former protege of Georges Melies, pretty much the inventor of film special effects, resulted in a strange temporary madness wherein the audience went into rages and attacked each other. This film investigates the mystery of the film. I enjoyed this hour long mockumentary, mostly because of just how much work is put into it to make it seem believable. The film spends a good portion of its running time talking about Melies' history, and has many talking heads portraying themselves in the film. However, frustratingly, there are some places it just drops the ball. There's next to no description of what actually happens in the film in question, though it's theorized that the contents are not the cause of the panics. Also, more damning to my eyes is when they show "photos" of the protege thought responsible while talking about them, which are clearly doctored photos to include this actor. That is far too common a problem in my opinion--how badly people do photoshopping the very old photography; it takes a lot more than dressing your actor up and matching the tint and lights. In this case, it ruins the whole illusion for me and just disappoints. out of 5#39. Delirium (1987) Gloria is a former nude model who struck it big making her own magazine. Now suddenly people around her start being killed off, and the killer is mailing photos of the corpses posed in front of pictures of Gloria to her. Oh well. I turned this one on because of a super weird looking cover, which references the first kill scene, where for some odd reason, from the killer's perspective the victim's head is replaced by a giant eyeball. It's strange. And nothing about it is mentioned or repeated again the whole movie. Other than that, it's a fairly bog-standard giallo, made in the late 80s, with lots of nudity and sex, and an environment of wealthy and miserable people. Eh. out of 5.#40. Blood Diner (1987) Brothers Michael and Georgie, as boys, are visited by their uncle Anwar, while he's in mid crime spree, and he imports on them the lesson to follow the family religion, worshipping the ancient Lumarian goddess Shitar. Cut to twenty years later, and the brothers are digging up their uncle's corpse, and stick his brain and eyes in a bottle, and the three of them begin a plan using their restaurant to prepare a cannibalistic ceremony to bring their goddess to life on the mortal plane. If this sounds familiar at all, it's because in the early stages of development, the film was to be a sequel to Blood Feast, with Anwar obviously being Fuad Ramses from that film. This film is a lot of fun, with good acting, and actually funny jokes mixed in with the bad ones, and high production values, all accented by a real enthusiasm seeming to come across by everyone involved. There's plenty of gore, but it's almost all so over the top cartoonish, that it's hard to imagine people actually being upset by it. It's cheese, but it's FUN, deliberate cheese. out of 5
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 06:41
|
|
|
 "You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now you die." #18 Phantasm (1979) Phantasm is an obvious passion project by a "director/writer/did everything because there was no money" who loves bad dreams and Lovecraftian horror. It starts out pretty piss-weak and unremarkable and slowly gets funnier and funnier in a really dry and crude way, as well as more imaginative. Almost every line the big brother has is just charmingly dumb. I love that instead of the kid fighting by himself it turns into a family hit squad, but the catch is that the villain can't be conventionally defeated, because it's literally a nightmare. Gonna do the rest of these movies again this month, because they're a pretty wild, incoherent, and bizarre ride in low-rent filmmaking.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 06:59
|
|
|
blood_dot_biz posted:#7 Tag (2015) You summed up my thoughts on Tag as well. Some good parts but not that good as a whole. I didn’t feel I wasted my time watching it but it’s not something I would revisit.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 08:59
|
|
|
I've been trying to watch a horror flick a day (or something like that) for October, and I wasn't really following this thread, but to Hell with it. Goal-wise I'm going for at least 31. I am behind pace but expect some double features/marathons down the line. So may as well just get started. #1. The Brain Eaters An extremely cheap 50s sci-fi movie primarily notable for the following: the filmmakers were sued by Robert Heinlein over similarities to his book "The Puppet Masters" (settled out of court), Leonard Nimoy has a small role and is credited as "Leonard Nemoy", and finally, the female lead was also one of the aliens in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Strange fuzzy creatures burrow up from the ground and latch on to people's backs, taking control of their minds. It's obviously aiming for that Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe, though Heinlein was also probably totally right to sue. Held back by its cheapness and some weird story issues, this barely hobbles to feature length, but comes close to being effective a few times. #2. The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Ah, Lon Chaney at his finest. The makeup of the Phantom is still wonderfully disturbing, and his performance is top notch. The movie itself is a little varied- superb set design (particularly for the Phantom's ludicrously elaborate secret lair), some engaging sequences, including a dazzling color masquerade, but gets held back a bit by the conventions of melodrama; most notably, the ending completely dumps any concept of Erik accepting he can't make Christine love him and dying alone, in favor of him being chased down by a mob. (This was apparently ordered by the studio and Chaney hated it.) Falls short of greatness but is solid entertainment. #3- and Fran Challenge #6: Video Nasties- Toxic Zombies First things first, even understanding how silly the Nasties controversy was, I have NO idea how this ended up on the list of 72. There's none of the obvious things the BBFC would be upset by- no sexual violence, no violence against animals, some children are threatened but not actually hurt, etc. I don't even recall the gore very much. A bunch of hippies growing marijuana out in the forest get sprayed with an experimental herbicide by the feds, which turns them into flesh eating monsters. This is a very cheap, sloppy production- the story has some nice subversive ideas, with the government trying to cover up their mistake, but it ends up just plodding along with a lot of people talking in offices, and the monsters never come across as convincingly threatening. #4- The Sadist Surprised this one isn't better known because it's actually really good. Arch Hall, Jr.- of Eegah! fame- plays a psycho spree killer who traps three schoolteachers at an abandoned gas station. Pretty much the entire film is him and his crazy girlfriend holding a gun on three people trying to figure out how to escape, kinda prefiguring the modern wave of "people trapped in a single location by something deadly" movies, and it's brutally effective at times, with no clear sign how things are going to turn out. Hall is actually pretty well cast here, he maybe goes over the top but it's so hard to tell what's too over the top with this kind of character in this kind of movie. #5- Deep Red This is one of Dario Argento's better known giallos, and it's... solid, I think. A killer is on the loose and a composer witnesses the first murder from the street, and tries to put together clues from there. It's a very small cast for a whodunnit, but the plot does manage some nice misdirections, even if the final revelation ends up a little underwhelming. But yeah some good visuals and good tunes, plods a bit but works. Particularly notable is Daria Nicolodi as an enterprising reporter. #6- Devil Girl From Mars Another 50s sci-fi chiller, this one from old Blighty. A group of people end up at a remote Scottish inn just as a flying saucer lands, and a woman in black leather informs everyone that she's here to take Earth's men. A better idea than most these days. This actually started life as a stage play, and it shows- it's very static and talky, and as the Martian invader, Patricia Laffan has a great look but has to cope with some very unwieldy dialogue. It is, however, very atmospheric, set on a foggy, chilly night, and I kind of admire the attempt to make things seriously dramatic. I dunno about this one. Slow, but has a certain charm. #7- The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue I'd heard this referred to as the best looking zombie movie, and it's definitely well photographed. Despite being set in the UK it was mostly a Spanish and Italian joint, albeit with extensive location work. Basically a hippie and a girl he bums a ride from end up stuck in the countryside where an experimental pest control machine is making things with primitive nervous systems act really violent- and this means corpses, unfortunately. This one has a bit of a pacing problem, bound up with the main plot there's this thing about the cops being suspicious of all these drat longhairs and some attempted social commentary, but the zombies themselves are especially eerie and there's a good unsettling vibe. Also the protagonist is really not very likable at all but this becomes less of a problem as the mayhem increases. It could be better, but I can definitely see why it's got a cult following.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 09:32
|
|
|
24. The Witches 1990 | dir. Nicolas Roeg | Rental The most disturbing Roald Dahl adaptation?  We watched a lot of movies in elementary school. I remember seeing the Labyrinth and having to have the beginning scene where the goblin is pretending to be the baby fast-forwarded because it was "too scary". I remember being amazed by The Neverending Story and being terrified by the wolf. Kids movies were scary! I was never shown this film, however. My parents would let me watch pretty much everything, but I suffered under puritanical adults at school. Harry Potter wasn't allowed because 'Witchcraft is real, and you shouldn't even subject yourself to fictionalized versions of it.' Maybe those people saw The Witches when they were too young. It's hard to think that witches aren't real (at least how they are shown in film) when here they are peeling off their faces and hair and revealing ridiculous wretches underneath as they plan ways to destroy little children. This movie is legitimately terrifying. The Jim Henson company did amazing work with the special effects. There are some horrifying transformation sequences. There's a real sense of danger. The sense of humor is a little perverse. Even the filming style, the manic energy, the dutch angles, they're all much more intense than kids movies are now. It's wonderful. There's a heavy Terry Gilliam vibe, through-out. The Witch meeting with all the transformations reminded me of the lizard scene in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, but for kids. There is another major horror connection through the cinematographer, Harvey Harrison, who also did the slasher The Burning. I've very surprised that he only worked as DP on ten movies. He managed to create drama and suspense by framing trained mice performing acrobatics. Not an easy feat. I also appreciate any kids movie where the monsters are real, the kids are smart and an adult believes them. Roald Dahl, despite his flaws as a person, was a fun writer for kids. I was a little concerned that some of his antisemitism came through with some of the witch designs, but I don't know if that's actually there or if I'm projecting what I know about the guy. But is this the best Roald Dahl film? I don't actually know. It's hard to objectively compare it to Mathilda and Willy Wonka and even James and the Giant Peach, movies I grew up loving as a child. It is certainly a different approach to a Dahl story, which I think all the others have been lacking. It's a smaller story, and easily the scariest, but not as other-worldly as Willy Wonka or charming as Mathilda. And of course, major kudos to Anjelica Huston. She's an excellent villain. Her make-up effects took seven hours to put on and five hours to take off. Her mannerisms in this costume MAKE the film. Without her performance, this movie would have probably been forgotten. As it is, it seems to be coming back in public awareness, partially for 90's nostalgia, partially because people still love Jim Henson productions, and partially because witches are becoming cool again. Recommended! edit: I failed to mention that Nicolas Roeg also directed the horror classic Don't Look Now and CineD favorite The Man Who Fell To Earth Movies Seen: Hell House, LLC | Dagon | The Bird With the Crystal Plumage | Critters 2 | Serial Mom | Monster Squad | The Neon Demon | Motel Hell | Vampyr | Possession | Under The Skin | Martyrs | The Curse of the Werewolf | The Old Dark House | Children of the Corn | Assassination Nation | The Leopard Man | Halloween 2 | Häxan | Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood | What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? | Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things | Near Dark | The Witches Total: 24 Fran Challenges: Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 13:47 on Oct 9, 2018 |
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 13:32
|
|
|
16. Sssssss (1973) - DVD Strother Martin is the only thing to make this movie watchable. The whole schtick being to show live snakes and play on a common phobia is a weak driving fuel for the movie. One moment of decent effects with one solid actor and one drunken snake is about all this has to offer. I did like it and would put it on again as background noise but it's not worth going out of your way to see. Anyway, a venom researcher, convinced that only cold blooded animals will survive the oil shortage, loses his grad. student and is issued another. New assistant starts banging the old man's daughter while doing not much more than be a dumping ground for various injections. Tally: N/A Psycho (1960)*, 1. Halloween (1978), 2. Halloween II (1981), 3. Carnival of Souls (1962), 4. The Blob (1988), 5. I Bury the Living (1958), 6. Dead Men Walk (1943), 7. Nosferatu (1922), 8. Les Revenants (2002), 9. The Mummy's Hand (1940), 10. House on Haunted Hill (1959)*, 11. Lifeforce (1985), 12. The Gorilla (1939), 13. The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), 14. November (2017), 15. Doghouse (2009), 16 Sssssss (1973) Years Spanned: 95 (1922-2017) Tally by Decade: '20s (I), '30s (I), '40s (II), '50s (II), '60s (III), '70s (II), '80s (III), '90s (0), 2000s (II), 2010s (I) B&W/Color: 9/8 * Rewatch
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 13:43
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:Yea I think The Burning is the superior movie, and it's not close. The Burning is a far better movie, yes, but there's a reason I have Sleepaway Camp on blu ray and not The Burning. Charm and weirdness go a long way, but that's just me 
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 13:46
|
|
|
I am legitimately curious, because it's one of my favorite film sub-genres. What is your favorite Summer Camp Horror Movie? You can only pick one. I love The Burning, but I think I'm gonna give it to Friday the 13th Part 2 since I've seen it more than any other Friday film.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 13:49
|
|
|
If Friday Part 6 is disqualified(not really much time spent at a summer camp in that one), then yea it's The Burning for me. What sets it apart is that it totally works just as like a summer camp screwball comedy before the horror even starts.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 14:22
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:If Friday Part 6 is disqualified(not really much time spent at a summer camp in that one), then yea it's The Burning for me. What sets it apart is that it totally works just as like a summer camp screwball comedy before the horror even starts. Part 6 is the only one with actual campers. It counts in my book.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 14:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 19:14 |
|
|
I've only seen two, Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2. So I'm gonna say Friday the 13th.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2018 14:28
|
|