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Spatulater bro! posted:Also 2017 according to Letterboxd/TMDB. Nah, premiere isn't the same as release. It's a 2018 release.
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Oct 19, 2018 17:51
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Ah ok. I've never been totally clear on what constitutes a film's "release".
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Oct 19, 2018 17:55
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Franchescanado posted:
What about other recent theatrical releases like Hell Fest, Mandy or Venom?
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Oct 19, 2018 18:05
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Watch a horror movie released in 2018.
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Aside from Halloween, I think I've seen all the big horror releases from this year. How about Haunting of Hill House? I know miniseries count for the general challenge but what about Fran Challeneges? Either way, I'm sure I can slip in some 2018 straight-to-VOD junk in before Nov 1.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:10
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30. The Seventh Victim 1943 | dir. Mark Robson | Rental A spooky noir!  This movie is ranked #87 on Slant Magazine's 100 Greatest Horror films. I have been trying to complete the films from this list I haven't seen for this challenge (I have 22 left, for anyone curious). This ranks higher than John Carpenter's In The Mouth of Madness and The Fog, The Howling, and Sleepaway Camp. It's a curious choice, because this is through-and-through a Noir more than anything. The horror aspect is downplayed and acts as the twist that introduces the final act, and really serves as the center to the mystery at hand. Mary is a student at a prestigious school, paid for by her older sister. She is told that her payments have stopped coming in and her sister is missing. She decides to take off time from school to investigate. For those interested in a noir with an underlying horror to it, read no further and ignore any summary, as they all spoil it. Now that you've been warned, here come the spoilers. Turns out Jacqueline, the sister, has gone missing after her involvement with a satanic cult. The sister's investigation involves the police and a private investigator and uncovers her sister's co-workers, lovers and wanna-be-lovers. It also seals her sister's fate. Because the investigation brings attention to the cult, they must kill Jacqueline, which would make her their seventh victim. I love noirs, and this one manages to feel spooky and unsettling. There is a sinister tone throughout. The structure reminds me of the film Detour, in that it's a little jarring and leaves some strange gaps that make it a little confusing. It's more noticeable here, because the pacing is slower, and it left me a little more than once. The acting still carries the film past it's confusing plotting; there are so many side characters that keep popping up to chew some scenery. There is a wonderful sequence involving a shower scene, which I have read was probably stolen by Hitchcock to incorporate in Psycho. The camera gets weird and distorted, and Jacqueline's co-worker (a prominent satanist) talks to Mary. The shadow of her hat is distorted and looks like a large horned person is talking with her. It's a great sequence. Overall, I was hoping that there would be more horror to the film. I can see why this is now a cult favorite, because despite it's flaws, it's atmospheric, well shot, well acted, and makes great use of modern day cults and satanists as more than cloak-wearing psychopaths, and more like pagans who worship the dark lord when they aren't working a 9 to 5. Recommended. 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 | Tenebrae | Return of the Living Dead | Masque of the Red Death | Cast a Deadly Spell | Clive Barker's Underworld | The 7th Victim Total: 30 Fran Challenges:
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Oct 19, 2018 18:18
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Friday the 13th Part 8 Jason Takes Manhattan More like Jason Takes A Boat Ride. He doesn't even get to Manhattan until over an hour in. The first hour is just a lovely slasher movie on a boat, and the last 40 minutes are a lovely chase sequence in "Manhattan". Manhattan apparently being nothing but warehouses covered in garbage and a subway. You read that right folks, this movie is an hour and 40 minutes long. Ten minutes longer than any previous Friday the 13th movie. It feels thirty minutes longer. The acting is bad, which for a Friday the 13th movie is saying something. It completely fucks up the geography of Crystal Lake. We were told in Part 4 that a woman and her teenage daughter could take daily leisurely jogs around the lake. Now, it connects to the ocean and a big boat can get to the ocean from it. Which means there has to be a bridge for the Jarvises to have jogged over every day, and that bridge has to be big enough for a big boat to pass under it, and the whole thing is hosed up A high school senior saw kid Jason in the lake when she was a child despite the fact that Part 1 must've happened at least 20 years prior by now. The Jason makeup is terrible. Made even worse by how fantastic it looked in Part 7 The final fight is terrible. Made even worse by how spectacular it was in Part 7 A bunch of kids just vanish out of the movie and are never mentioned again The pedo uncle-principal is terrible but sticks around almost to the end, this in a series that is pretty good about killing off the designated rear end in a top hat or sometimes not even having a designated rear end in a top hat character. The toxic waste washing Jason off into a normal, non-deformed child is stupid and vaguely offensive. Friday the 13th Part 8 Jason Takes Manhattan is a really bad movie, no fun to watch, just terrible.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:19
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CRAYON posted:Well now I want to watch this. All I had heard about the anime previously was "it's so boring" *whine* *cry* I can certainly understand why some people would respond like that. It's an extremely grim movie about people on a probably doomed mission, the first half or so of the movie is just establishing how lovely life is and planning for the mission, and it's got that stark visual style. If you went in expecting, like, an old fashioned cheesy Godzilla movie, I can see how you'd be pretty put off. It's not a movie for everyone, but I do recommend it to sci-fi fans or hardcore Godzilla fans.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:23
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FancyMike posted:Release dates can be weird sometimes for smaller movies. Look at IMDB and you can see more detailed release info. For US residents it played one festival in late 2017, otherwise it wasn't available to be seen until 2018. At least a couple of films Fran listed have a similar sort of situation so I'd assume this is fine. Right. Letterboxd is especially weird about this, because it lists the year the film premieres instead of when it got national distribution, which is what most people (especially in the US) are used to. For instance, The Lure wasn't available to watch until mid-2017 in the US, but is listed as a 2015 movie because that's when it first was shown in festivals. So to clarify for the challenge: The film must have been made widely available by distribution in 2018 to qualify, whether that was in a theater run (even limited release), streaming, VOD or for purchase. It's totally okay if it played in a few festivals before 2018 as long as it found distribution in 2018.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:24
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CopywrightMMXI posted:What about other recent theatrical releases like Hell Fest, Mandy or Venom? Nope. Just Halloween, because people got to see early screenings of it last night, and I didn't get to post the challenge in the morning before the reviews started coming in. Lester Shy posted:Aside from Halloween, I think I've seen all the big horror releases from this year. How about Haunting of Hill House? I know miniseries count for the general challenge but what about Fran Challeneges? Either way, I'm sure I can slip in some 2018 straight-to-VOD junk in before Nov 1. If someone finishes it and posts about it now that challenge has been posted, that's fine. No retroactively counting it. A mini-series can count towards a challenge.
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Oct 19, 2018 18:26
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Spatulater bro! posted:
I've got it on my watch list, just haven't gotten to it yet.
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Oct 19, 2018 19:01
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Franchescanado posted:
29. Revenge (2018, Coralie Fargeat) Source: Shudder  This movie seems to be under the following misconceptions: Men are disgusting and evil, women have super human Wolverine-like healing abilities, there's no such thing as internal injuries, the human body contains an infinite amount of blood, and falling down a 200 foot cliff and being impaled on a tree is perfectly survivable. I'm great at suspending my disbelief for horror, and I'm not one to let silly plot details ruin a movie for me... usually. It's nicely shot and the gore effects are good, but this is a capital D Dumb movie. It's idiotic to the point of distraction. But... girl power! I guess?    (1.5 star earrings out of 5) _____________________________________________ Total: 29 Watched: The Blob (4.5) | Mandy (5) | The Hands of Orloc (4) | Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (4.5) | Fright Night (3) | Black Magic Part II (4) | Body Melt (3.5) | Suspiria (5) | The Old Dark House (4.5) | The Nude Vampire (3.5) | The Thing From Another World (3) | Phantasm (4) | Basket Case 2 (3) | Murders in the Rue Morgue (2) | The Tenant (5) | The Howling (3) | Calvaire (3.5) | Hereditary (5) | Nothing Left to Fear (1) | The Black Cat (4) | The Killing of a Sacred Deer (4.5) | The Hills Have Eyes Part II (0.5) | Cannibal Holocaust (3) | Apostle (2) | Christine (3.5) | Winterbeast (4) | Terrified (3) | Halloween 2018 (4) | Revenge (1.5) Fran Challenges: Countries: USA (18) | Italy (3) | France (3) | Argentina (1) | Hong Kong (1) | Germany (1) | Belgium (1) | Australia (1) Decades: 1920s (1) | 1930s (3) | 1950s (1) | 1970s (6) | 1980s (6) | 1990s (3) | 2000s (1) | 2010s (8)
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Oct 19, 2018 20:19
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Guy Goodbody posted:Friday the 13th Part 8 Jason Takes Manhattan This was shot in Vancouver, with one scene (Times Square) shot in New York.
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Oct 19, 2018 20:31
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15. Revenge (2017) Hell loving yes, this is how you do a rape revenge movie well! The assault happens mostly offscreen, and the whole movie really focuses on Jen, not just the things happening to her. I wasn't surprised to see the director is a woman. I liked the moments like the recoil knocking her over the first time she fired the gun, slipping on a floor slick with blood that humanized her a bit more. Also I had to laugh a bit when she cauterized the wound with the beer can and the massive hole just kind of disappeared and was replaced by the phoenix logo. But honestly that scene was cool and it looks loving badass. Some great gory moments too. Glass in the foot! Overall an awesome movie that manages to be brutal without feeling too exploitative. 4.5/5 16. Lifeforce (1985) So many wtf moments with this movie. I probably went into this with too high expectations given all the love it gets in the horror thread. Tobe Hooper directing an 80s movie about space vampires sounds so awesome, but it didn't feel like a very good movie. The plot seemed unnecessarily complicated for what it was, and I kept finding myself getting bored with it. Still, everyone should watch this at least once to experience the craziness for themselves. 2.5/5
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Oct 19, 2018 20:42
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Sodomy Hussein posted:This was shot in Vancouver, with one scene (Times Square) shot in New York. drat, Vancouver looks like a shithole.
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Oct 19, 2018 20:45
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Spatulater bro! posted:This movie seems to be under the following misconceptions: Men are disgusting and evil I don't understand. Men are disgusting and evil. Am man. Can confirm. graventy fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Oct 19, 2018 |
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Oct 19, 2018 20:46
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Lifeforce is basically the biggest budget 50s sci-fi b-movie ever. It's a bit at odds with 80s sci-fi tropes, but it worked like gangbusters for me because I love serious scientists and military folks standing around and talking about how to solve a sci-fi menace with a big dumb explosion-filled ending.
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Oct 19, 2018 20:48
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feedmyleg posted:Lifeforce is basically the biggest budget 50s sci-fi b-movie ever. It's a bit at odds with 80s sci-fi tropes, but it worked like gangbusters for me because I love serious scientists and military folks standing around and talking about how to solve a sci-fi menace with a big dumb explosion-filled ending. Also boobs.
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Oct 19, 2018 21:16
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Guy Goodbody posted:drat, Vancouver looks like a shithole. Well the massive amounts of graffiti I would assume was their bizarre way of New Yorkifying everything for pennies on the dollar. Y'all dumbass kids don't know what NYC looks like anyway!
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Oct 19, 2018 21:32
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Drunkboxer posted:Also boobs. Well hey, it's horror. You gotta pay the bills.
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Oct 19, 2018 21:32
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31. The Addiction 1995 | dir. Abel Ferrara | Rental recommended by FancyMike Vampire Philosophy 301  The Addiction is to Vampire films* as Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man is to Westerns. They are both monochromatic deconstructions of tried-and-true sub-genres that carry the weight of numerous symbolism. They both are philosophical explorations of their subject matter. Abel Ferrara, however, is a horror director, whereas Jarmusch isn't a director of westerns. It shows. There is a sincerity to the exploration of the vampire lore in The Addiction; it deconstructs to look at each of the pieces and see how they fit and why, and what new meanings can be found in their ideas. What's most fascinating is how close the two films are. The Addiction premiered at Sundance in January of 1995. Dead Man premiered at Canne in May of 1995. The Addiction finally had 'widespread' release in October of 1995. Dead Man made it's widespread release in May of 1996. It's fascinating how much DNA they share with each other, while being made at the exact same time. It's also apparent that Lily Annapour took much inspiration for her recent vampire film A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. This film makes me especially squeamish. Ferrara films always make me squeamish. The dude understands what I find unnerving and disturbing. Vampire films are fascinating, because most of the action is hidden behind someone's head as they bite a neck. There are no sharp teeth here, no transformations, no sharp claws. It makes the actual vampire attacks feel like you're watching an assault. Most of the attacks are caused by a woman, and the predatory sexual undertones to the attack are unnerving. The sound effects of blood being sucked are human and gross. The blood leaking out of necks glistens and oozes. It's all very simple and disgusting. I get the feeling that Ferrara is a big fan of Romero's Martin. The actual vampirism gets explicitly compared to heroin addiction, AIDs, cancer and destructive personalities. It's never just one thing, and instead shifts it's meaning. It could easily be faulty and feel like the director couldn't make up their mind, but it's very cohesive, held together my philosophical tangents that also shift as the narrative does. There are discussions of evil, sin, mankind's history of cruelty, the duality of morality, death, eternity, hedonism, pleasure, pain, suffering, faith, repentance, and plenty more. Philosophers are name dropped left and right, as Kathleen and many other characters are working on their doctorate in Philosophy (which comes to a conclusion more exciting than could be expected). If the idea of a hyper-literate vampire deconstruction The film's title isn't only in reference to the blatant comparison to hard drug addiction. It also references humanity's addiction to enduring and exerting suffering, it refers to our addiction to our vices, it refers to our addiction to sin, our addiction to life and pleasure. Lili Taylor is absolutely stellar in the role of Kathleen wrestling with her curse. She is only upstaged by Christopher Walken who in one scene steals the show with a career-best performance as the zen guru vampire Peina. Edie Falco is also wonderful as Kathleen's grounded friend who is concerned about her friend. All-around wonderful cast. If the idea of a hyper-literate vampire deconstruction sounds terrible, stay far away. But if that sounds up your alley, then it's Highly Recommended. *this is arguably a Lesbian Vampire film 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 | Tenebrae | Return of the Living Dead | Masque of the Red Death | Cast a Deadly Spell | Clive Barker's Underworld | The 7th Victim | The Addiction Total: 31 Fran Challenges:
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Oct 19, 2018 22:23
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Exorcist III (1990 - Tv, AMC) This movie was pretty good, but my overall enjoyment may have been marred by the way in which AMC presents movies. The movie wasn’t really what I expected - It was a lot of dailogie and monologues. Luckily they are delivered well so the movie doesn’t drag at all. Brad Dourif rules. The movie is also way more psychological than I expected, but there is enough supernatural shenanigans to not disappoint. It also has one of, if not the best, jump scare in movie history. I’ve seen clips of it before and even though I knew it was coming it was still a very effective and chilling scene. The ending was a little weird but I understand it was studio mandated. Also, watching on AMC is not ideal as their bizarre commercial placing just wrecks the flow at time. There are times when they cut to commercial mid-scene which shows really poor planning. I grew up watching movies taped off of tv and they used to be formatted so well... I should like watch this movie again at some point in a commercial free format. Is the directors cut worth tracking down or should I just watch the theatrical release? Watched (25) : 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; Baskin; The Mummy’ Curse; Nightmare City; Mystery of the Wax Museum; Shocker; Boy Eats Girl; Malevolent; Basket Case; Exorcist III
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Oct 19, 2018 22:24
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I am so glad I started this challenge back in the middle of September because I knew the latter half of October was going to make it difficult to go on. I did manage to bang off a few at the beginning of this week before getting slammed with other priorities. Like I said before I'm in the overrun because I hit my goal of 31 and am going for a personal best. 34. Halloween (1978)  Yes, the classic itself. I haven’t seen this one since high school over 15 years ago and I figured after completing the challenge I should open a bottle and go back. This is an amazing film for one reason: atmosphere. Michael Myers isn’t some supernatural being (which is why I hated the sequels) but rather pure evil that is also devilishly smart. I used to think it was “dumb” that Michael Myers could drive and plan things out but now I realize that’s what makes him terrifying. He is evil but intelligent and him not speaking isn’t a sign of weakness but rather he simply doesn’t want to emphasize on a basic level by speaking to another human being. He just wants to kill and is aware enough to know what he needs to do to achieve just that. It’s frustrating to watch this film at times because it does so much right that latter slasher films couldn’t achieve (the small town Halloween ambience works so well too) so they just upped the blood/gore in compensation. Not that I am complaining about a good splatter flick but there is really skill here that is envious. God drat, this is a classic and I really hope the Blumhouse film captures the spirit of this gem.  /535. C.H.U.D. (1984)  The classic 80s cheesy and campy monster movie. I wanted to see this one because it’s a bit of an injoke on a local radio station where they blame any weirdness in the city on “The C.H.U.D.s” then play the iconic theme. I knew of this film before that and decided I needed to watch it because I listen to the station on my morning commute. The film sets up the mystery of the C.H.U.D.’s as being responsible for the disappearance of the homeless population and characters investigating them. It’s got an 80s NYC vibe with the typical tropes of film set in that era with a wet NY (it's always wet back then) with a homeless population being subjected to something the government cooked up. Very cheesy with a good creature design. Not bad. .5/5Total: 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), 16. Seed of Chucky (2004), 17. Nightbreed (1990), 18. The Axe Murders of Villisca (2016), 19. Ghosts of Mars (2001), 20. Haunters: The Art of the Scare (2017), 21 Annabelle (2014), 22. The Stuff (1985), 23. Gremlins (1984), 24. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), 25. An American Werewolf in London (1981), 26. The Evil Dead (1981), 27. Escape from Tomorrow (2013), 28. Creepshow (1982), 29. Microwave Massacre (1983), 30. Venom (2018), 31. Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), 32. Lights Out (2016), 33. The Ritual (2017), 34. Halloween (1978), 35. C.H.U.D. (1984) Fran Challenges: Justin Godscock fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Oct 19, 2018 |
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Oct 19, 2018 23:09
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 8. The Cell - Tarsem Singh's only horror movie, so fits Challenge #8 (once in a lifetime). This was absolutely amazing, and finding this sort of gem is the reason I love to do this challenge. A serial killer who drowns his victims in an automated killing chamber ends up falling into a coma right as the police catch him, but his latest victim is already locked in the chamber and on the clock. The only chance to save the victim lies in an experimental dream therapy technology that allows people to enter another's subconscious. The killer's subconscious, unsurprisingly, is completely hosed up, but in an absolutely beautiful way. Each set is beautiful, often completely otherworldly, and there is amazing diversity between them. The movie isn't perfect, if you look at the entire movie, a lot of the other pieces of it simply don't add up to a whole "top quality movie in every aspect" package, but because it's such a visual outlier, it's something I won't hesitate to recommend and rewatch.  9. Saw - Picked for Challenge #1, (love something you hate), I had seen enough random torturepuzzle scenes from the series to turn me off a bit from it, but it actually wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. Reminded me of Se7en a lot, though with very different pacing and flow. One thing I noticed was how this was really cut to be a complete package, giving more than enough information to be a standalone, but I guess it was too successful to stand alone. Overall very well written and paced, the prisoners interacting and piecing everything together while flashbacks connected the rest of the story was really well done. A solid entry for sure.
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Oct 19, 2018 23:10
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# 21 The Descent (2006) - I chose this because I recall it being regarded as a great horror film when it came out (high regard on Rotten Tomatoes between critic and audience seems to have held up), but I suspect some time has elapsed and people's feelings have cooled, since curiously I never hear anyone talk about this movie anymore (purely anecdotal I know) and I was stunned by how bad it was when I watched. What made it bad was plain and simply character behavior that was mind-bogglingly stupid and inconsistent, which of course came from bad writing. In my review of Anaconda I said the same thing. So here's my molten hot take: The Descent is Anaconda in a cave. Look no further than the contrived effort to get the spelunkers into trouble: the leader did not take a map (and none of the other five ladies bothered to double-check and ask), they venture further into the cave with limited light sources not knowing anything, they get trapped and instead of staying put they venture FURTHER into the cave... then the writers, realizing by now the viewers might start noticing this is stupid and unrealistic behavior, contrive a motivation for them to continue which is the women seeing cave paintings which vaguely imply an escape route! One woman injures herself by RUNNING in a dark cave and plummeting down a hole. One woman accidentally kills another woman by swinging an ice ax after killing one of the creatures - the problem here is the woman who took the ice ax to the throat QUIETLY approached her after the fight. And then the stupidest thing happens where the ice ax wielder is blamed for the killing, I guess is supposed to be seen as despicable for the ACCIDENT, and is then punished later (without going into specifics). Sure, there are good pieces. The score is quite good. The cinematography is well done. The movie has its spooky and claustrophobic moments. But in this case, 1+1+1 = 0. You can call me no fun at parties, but to me this movie crossed a line BIG TIME and was just too nonsensical. 5/10 for me.
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Oct 20, 2018 00:11
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Franchescanado posted:
#83. Mandy (2018) Red and Mandy are a couple of nerds living out in the woods in 1983, when a nearby cult leader takes notice of the woman. What follows is a long trail of blood, fire, and rage. Wow, this is a wild experience of a movie. Nic Cage gives a heck of a performance as Red, one of his bests. I did not like the director's previous "Beyond The Black Rainbow", but all the problems with that movie are gone in this drastically different story, while still maintaining all of the moody slow angles, retro new wave music, and most importantly the wild colors of the previous film. It also goes into incredibly dark and bloody territory along the way. I found this to be the one movie all month where I never once checked the time remaining while watching, the two hour runtime is riveting and zooms along. out of 5#84. Psycho Cop (1989) After making a killing in a stock market windfall, six friends rent a mansion in the country for a vacation. Little do they know that they are on the beat of a satanic cop that enjoys killing... Oof, this was a stinker. It's both poorly written and acted, with all kinds of stupidity left and right and very little creativity. The title character is like a caricature of slashers, reminding me of the over the top central character of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, with his wild eyes, and gruff nonsense "jokes". I hear the sequel might be a little better, but I'm afraid to check. out of 5#85. Brotherhood of Satan (1971) A man, his girlfriend, and his young daughter, find themselves in a strange small town, where they learn they've become the only exception to anything getting in or out in the last 3 days, and that there have been strange murders and disappearing children. Also, there's secretly a satanic cult of senior citizens operating in town. Yeah. This is a really strange one, especially for its time. Like, the first half hour of the movie especially feels almost like a series of disconnected vignettes, though they do all connect tightly to the plot by the end. It's got a few over the top moments, and it's all just so mysterious, I couldn't help but like it. out of 5
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Oct 20, 2018 00:35
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Child's Play (1988) [Blu-ray] Entertaining enough, though Chucky's menace is limited by being a two-foot high doll that one could easily trap beneath a laundry basket and is mostly sold through Brad Dourif's energetic vocal performance. Still gonna check out the sequel, which I hear is a bit better. https://i.imgur.com/byGtfUu.gifv New (23): #1 The Terror (2018), #6 Mandy (2018), #7 Dead Alive (1992), #8 Would You Rather (2012), #9 1922 (2017), #10 Infinity Chamber (2017), #11 Venom (2018), #12 Dagon (2001), #13 Demonic Toys (1992), #14 Murder Party (2007), #16 Godzilla (1954), #17 The Vault (2017), #18 Cargo (2017), #19 Berlin Syndrome (2017), #22 Dawn of the Dead (1978), #26 Seven in Heaven (2018), #27 Happy Death Day (2017), #28 Into the Forest (2015), #29 Hardware (1990), #30 Prodigy (2018), #31 The Survivalist (2015), #32, Honeymoon (2014), #33 Child's Play (1988) Rewatch (10): #2 The Cabin in the Woods (2011), #3 Gone Girl (2014), #4 Annihilation (2018), #5 Seven (1995), #15 A Quiet Place (2018), #20 Doom (2005), #21 Predator (1987), #23 Gremlins (1984), #24 The Andromeda Strain (1971), #25 Split (2016) Personal Goal (4/13): Alien 3 (Assembly Cut), The Beyond, Beyond the Black Rainbow, The Brood, Fran Challenges (3/10): #7 [The World Is A Scary Place] Godzilla (1954), #3 [Hometown Horror] Dawn of the Dead (1978), #2 [Queer Horror] Into the Forest (2015)
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Oct 20, 2018 01:25
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 23)Killer Clowns from Outer Space It was a fun silly 80s horror comedy and pretty fun. Not sure if I like it as much as night of the creeps, but they'd probably make a fun double feature 3.5/5
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Oct 20, 2018 01:55
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CopywrightMMXI posted:Exorcist III (1990 - Tv, AMC) It's on Amazon Prime which is where I watched it this evening. Day 19 - Exorcist III: The Quickening  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXsj26KH4jk There are people who say Exorcist III is just as good as the original. Those people are idiots. But Exorcist III is a pretty good movie that has the misfortune of being a sequel to one of the greatest films ever (also, one of the worst films ever but let's not talk about The Heretic). A serial killer is stalking Georgetown, killing children and priests. But this serial killer has the exact same modus operandi as a killer that was executed in the electric chair decades ago. As the police investigate, they discover that it ties to a hospital where they have a patient who appears to be a priest that died almost twenty years ago during an exorcism. Here's why Exorcist III isn't as good as the original: writer/director William Blatty didn't have the courage to stick with his structure. When this movie is George C. Scott confronting Jason Miller who is going full on demonic possession, the movie is fantastic. That takes the most dramatic parts of the original movie, and amplifies them by putting the focus on someone even less equipped to deal with things. But instead of making the movie about that, he sends it into full cheeseball 80's horror at some points. And that would have been fine, it's just that possessed old lady chasing people with giant sheers and priest tearing his own skull apart don't fit together nicely with an intensely dramatic serial killer confrontation. It's hard to talk about this movie without talking about how amazing George C. Scott is. He could have completely phoned in this low budget horror role but he kills it the whole way through. The rest of the cast weren't exactly slouching, it's just that Scott seemed like he was going for another Oscar with this role. I didn't watch Exorcist III before this mainly because it was a sequel to a fantastic movie. And it didn't help that a lot of the talk about the movie is, "No, really, it's a good movie! Please ignore the second one!" I've been burned by that kind of talk too many times to jump on board. But it is pretty good. So good that I'm going to put on the Exorcist television show as I finish up my homework (it's going to be extremely bad, isn't it?). Completely unintentionally, I had William Blatty's other time in the director's chair, The Ninth Configuration, up for viewing this weekend and I didn't realize that he directed this movie as well. I might put it off until next weekend just to space things. (BTW, anyone who talks about the original Exorcist this month, feel free to call it The Devil Went Down to Georgetown. I couldn't find a way to work that into this post but I don't want to let it go to waste. Also, how does that song parody not already exist?) Mokelumne Trekka posted:# 21 The Descent (2006) - I chose this because I recall it being regarded as a great horror film when it came out (high regard on Rotten Tomatoes between critic and audience seems to have held up), but I suspect some time has elapsed and people's feelings have cooled, since curiously I never hear anyone talk about this movie anymore (purely anecdotal I know) and I was stunned by how bad it was when I watched. What made it bad was plain and simply character behavior that was mind-bogglingly stupid and inconsistent, which of course came from bad writing. In my review of Anaconda I said the same thing. So here's my molten hot take: The Descent is Anaconda in a cave. Look no further than the contrived effort to get the spelunkers into trouble: the leader did not take a map (and none of the other five ladies bothered to double-check and ask), they venture further into the cave with limited light sources not knowing anything, they get trapped and instead of staying put they venture FURTHER into the cave... then the writers, realizing by now the viewers might start noticing this is stupid and unrealistic behavior, contrive a motivation for them to continue which is the women seeing cave paintings which vaguely imply an escape route! One woman injures herself by RUNNING in a dark cave and plummeting down a hole. One woman accidentally kills another woman by swinging an ice ax after killing one of the creatures - the problem here is the woman who took the ice ax to the throat QUIETLY approached her after the fight. And then the stupidest thing happens where the ice ax wielder is blamed for the killing, I guess is supposed to be seen as despicable for the ACCIDENT, and is then punished later (without going into specifics). The thing that works in The Descent for me is the incredible claustrophobic cinematography. It made me queesy at times from how trapped it was. But the horror elements? They feel completely unnecessary. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 02:30
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Gonna mostly ignore baseball tonight and try and tackle Fran Challenges AND 31 Year Challenges. Lets see if I can get four whole movies into a Friday night. I am so cool. Franchescanado posted:FRAN CHALLENGES “Another country” seemed too easy so I went with “a country you’ve never seen a movie from.” I’m pretty confident I’ve never seen a movie from Estonia. 27 (29). November (2017) Available of Shudder.  Liina loves Hans but Hans is creeping on some rich girl who doesn’t know he’s alive so she performs some black magic to try and make him love her and he sells his soul to the devil to bring a snowman to life to teach him poetry. You know that old love story. Oh and there’s werewolves? And ghosts that turn into giant chickens? And some kind of demonically possessed race of hardware monsters? What exactly is going on in Estonia? “I am Estonian so the baron’s underpants are mine!” That sums it up quite well, I think. I really have no idea what I just watched. I guess it was a romantic tragedy? Or was it a comedy? Was this the equivalent of Estonian Shakespeare? Like some kind of cross between Romeo and Juliet and a MIdsummer’s Night Dream? It was really pretty to look at. Gorgeously shot. And those kratt things were just bizarre and tripped out. I’m not sure I’d recommend this to someone but I wouldn’t discourage them if they wanted to watch it either. It was definitely something different. I honestly don't know what to say about this film. Is it worth watching? I guess if you're into cinematography and weird poo poo. Its got both of those in spades. I'm not sure what else it has, including a coherent story or point to half the weird poo poo. But if you don't need that then go for it. And there's a very dry humor in play unlike many things I've seen if it happens to be a tune you can hear. “Put your pants on your head! The plague will think you have two asses and won’t touch you!” Oddly that one worked. Franchescanado posted:FRAN CHALLENGES I tried to find something a little older so I wasn’t just taking advantage of the “first film” loophole here. But after going through a lot of random films it turns out that its really hard to find someone who’s made one horror film and didn’t make some other random B horror somewhere. I was all ready to give up and take an easy “first film” pick when I was looking over my Shudder watch list and noticed one that totally fits the bill and which I don’t think anyone else has hit. 28 (30). Escape From Tomorrow (2013) Available on Shudder.  Jim gets fired from his job on his final day of a family vacation at Disney World and chooses to keep it to himself to not ruin the vacation. But as the day goes on he begins to see strange things, act oddly, and grow ever more paranoid and strange as the Magic Kingdom becomes a nightmare. Is he having an existential breakdown? Is he just having a midlife crisis creeping on girls? Or is there something much more sinister going on? For the second movie of the night I’m not entirely sure what I just watched. I was so excited to watch this when it first came out and somehow i just never got around to it. Then it was just one of those movies that I forgot about but every time i noticed it it would go back on my list and just get missed again. If you don’t know the interest in this film its that the entire thing was filmed guerrilla style at Disney World and Disneyland without the permission of Disney. They posed as tourists, used small handheld cameras to film, and kept scripts and communicated on their phones which were seconded as recording devices. The cast and crew had to rehearse and block their scenes elsewhere and film in the right sun and lighting positions. The director was so paranoid he edited the film outside the country (that seems extreme). Many thought Disney would never let it get released commercially given how legally protective they are over their brand. There was a lot of debate over whether it was legal or not between all the copywritten and trademarked stuff and the random tourists caught on camera without releases but ultimately Disney opted to let it go and not make a big deal of it and risk “The Streisand Effect.” As for the movie itself, its a very weird piece that’s basically two different films. The first half is pretty much a walking tour through Disney World with a family drama and existential crisis playing out. It actually triggered a lot of nostalgia for me and had a lot of tension and weird stuff but maybe dragged on a bit too long. The second half on the other hand is absolutely bonkers and makes no sense at all. It also flies by balancing the film quite a bit. I have no idea what happened but it was really a trip to watch. If nothing else I think this is a unique film worth watching for what they managed to do under Disney’s nose. They got a LOT of footage and it really comes together very nicely into a genuine story in the first half. The second half is basically filmed elsewhere but its such a bizarre mindfuck its really something to watch. Small note, I really did get a ton of nostalgia from this. I think I puked in the same trash can outside Space Mountain when I was Elliot’s age. Also, appropriate for the Halloween thread, a big joke amongst my family is that I’m such a horror fan and have been for most of my life and yet when I was a child I created an absolute scene at Disney World because I was scared shitless to go into the Haunted Mansion. I like to think that its actually more in character than it seems because I like being scared by a horror movie and a big part of my enjoyment is that controlled anxiety and fear like riding a roller coaster. But as a kid clearly I was just TOO scared and couldn’t handle it the way my sisters who don’t really get into this stuff could. Because they just didn’t buy in the way I do. That’s my story of why I was a sobbing mess outside the Haunted Mansion 30 years ago and I’m sticking to it. edit: A little addendum as I was reading about the film and saw this little short horror story filmed guerrilla style in the Haunted Mansion. Its cute and seemed appropriate given my anecdote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M-yetCGm-A September Tally - New (Total) 1. A Cure For Wellness (2016) / - (2). Slither (2006) / 2 (3). Castle Rock (2018) / - (4). The Forsaken (2001) / 3 (5). The Night Eats the World (2018) / 4 (6). The Girl With All The Gifts (2016) / 5 (7). The Voices (2014) / 6 (8). Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) / 7 (9). Jug Face (2013) / 8 (10). Coherence (2013) / 9 (11). A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) / - (12). Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) / 10 (13). Excision (2012) / 11 (14). Spring (2014) October Tally - New (Total) 1. Suspiria (1977) / 2. It (2017) / 3. The Beyond (1981) / 4. Trilogy of Terror (1979) / 5. House on Haunted Hill (1959) / 6. Demons (1985) / Fran’s Challenge #1: 7. The Green Inferno (2013) / 8. Martin (1978) / 9. Malevolent (2018) / - (10). Dead and Breakfast (2004) / 10 (11). Night of the Comet (1984) / 11 (12). Jaws (1975) / 12 (13). Black Swan (2010) / Fran’s Challenge #2: 13 (14). Happy Death Day (2017) / - (15). Hell House, LLC (2015) / Fran’s Challenge #3: 14 (16). Hell House, LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) / 15 (17). Carnival of Souls (1962) / 16 (18). The Last House on the Left (1972) / 17 (19). The Haunting of Hill House (2018) / Fran’s Challenge #4: 18 (20). My Soul To Take (2010) / Fran’s Challenge #5: 19 (21). Motel Hell (1980) / 20 (22). The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) / Fran’s Challenge #6: 21 (23). Don’t Look In The Basement (1973) / 22 (24). All Cheerleaders Die (2013) / 23 (25). Sleepaway Camp (1983) / 24 (26). The House That Dripped Blood (1971) / 25 (27). The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (1976) / 26 (28). Friday the 13th Part III (1982) / Fran’s Challenge #9: 27 (29). November (2017) / Fran’s Challenge #10: 28 (30). Escape From Tomorrow (2013) STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 03:48
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 Terror Firmer, 1999 You can't go wrong with the shitfests that Troma makes with Lloyd Kaufman in the director chair. The movie is kind of meta that it is about a lovely Troma film being made. They are making it as cheap and tasteless as you'd expect a Troma film to be made, only to be plagued by this hot chick that keep killing people on the set. This movie as as crap as you expect. There's tons of cheap gore, tits, lovely tasteless unfunny jokes and badly used stock sound effects. Pure unfunny trash all the way. I was questioning if I was in the mood to put up with this bullshit the first 20 minutes of the movie or so. But somewhere around the half hour mark, it just clicked. The jokes started to be funny, the lovely plot started to make sense and it turned into something great. Maybe it was because I had gulped down my third beer at that point, but it turned into magic. It's just pure Troma. This is the lovely low budget horror comedy I loving live for. Terror Firmer is a masterpiece of crap, and it is a great movie because of it. I can't think of anyone other than Lloyd Kaufman to make a poo poo movie on purpose and have it be funny instead of cringy. Terror Firmer feels cringy at first, but like I pointed out, turns into magic. If you ever enjoyed any other dumb Troma horror comedies in the past, then loving watch this movie.
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Oct 20, 2018 04:07
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6. Belko Experiment (2016): Silly concept, a bunch of people in an office are stuck fighting each other. This ended up being a lot more fun then I expect.  /57. Bad Samaritan (2018): I wanted to like this because I generally enjoy David Tennant in things but meh, go watch Don't Breathe it's a similar idea and IMO does it better. /58. Hell House LLC (2015): A fake doc about haunted house attraction that gets real. I usually don't like found footage movies (outside of REC), I really enjoyed this one. It's got like no budget but it works outside out of the ending. /59. Insidious: The Last Key (2018): Yuck. This is a total piece of poo poo. There's no logic to it. It just kind of ends. Its just gone too far down the sequel line. /510. Splinter 2008: Watched this on Scream Stream, the lack of budget really kills this one. The monster special effects are pretty great but there's really not more than like 6 people in this movie on one set. Would have loved to this movie sized up. /511. CreepTales 1989(?): Also on the Scream Stream. Really enjoyed quite a few of the stories in this anthology movie, like punk spongebob singing about robbing and the vacuum cleaner story. /512. Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994): The son of Pumpkinhead goes and get revenge on everyone who killed a disabled boy (who may have been Pumpkinheads son), I kind of couldn't pay attention to this thing. /513. Winterbeast (1992): I feel like everything that could be said about this has been said. This movie is totally incoherent. The monsters are a joke but its great movie to have on in the background. /514. Near Dark (1987): This did not click with me at all. A boy turned vampire desperately wants to get home. /515. Christine (1983): An evil car craves blood. I wanted to enjoy this but it's just too straightforward for me, there were no twists. /516. It (2018): The second part of my Stephen King Double Feature. I'm not sure it needed its length I would have preferred something cut down a bit. /517. Another WolfCop (2018): A werewolf loose cannon cop fights aliens or something. I enjoyed this but it's not a good movie. The special effects are nice, but this movie just kind of ends and that really soured me to the movie. spooky:/518. An American Werewolf in London (1981): Two friends go to England one becomes a werewolf. I liked this one for awhile, and then it stopped to doing it for me. Special effects are top notch, but there's no mystery to it. /519. WNUF Halloween Special (2013): A VHS copy of local station's newscast and their Halloween special that goes wrong. For what this try to do it's great. 100% Perfect. But as a movie not so great. At first I loved all the comerical breaks, but it kills the flow so much by the end, and for some reason I expected them to be part of the plot like it was a cursed tape. spooky:/5Bonus: Channel Zero: Candle Cove (2016): This is fun, I think it might have been a better movie its running time doesn't add anything to it. The list: 1.The Changeling (1980), 2.Cast A Deadly Spell (1990), 3.Orca: The Killer Whale (1977), 4.Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), 5.Nail Gun Massacre (1985) BONUS:Best Worst Movie( 2009)
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Oct 20, 2018 04:28
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Franchescanado posted:FRAN CHALLENGE #8: Once In A Lifetime Dawn of the Dead (2004) [Blu-ray] Rewatch. You know I had to do it. Zack Snyder's first film and only horror movie. It was interesting revisiting this now that I've seen Romero's original, and while that's obviously a good movie, gotta say, I prefer the remake. Faster, gorier, and gorgeous as all hell. There's less of a satirical focus, but I didn't find that part of the original all that compelling. Was cool to see some of the original cast in this, though. https://i.imgur.com/uLoQoZC.gifv New (23): #1 The Terror (2018), #6 Mandy (2018), #7 Dead Alive (1992), #8 Would You Rather (2012), #9 1922 (2017), #10 Infinity Chamber (2017), #11 Venom (2018), #12 Dagon (2001), #13 Demonic Toys (1992), #14 Murder Party (2007), #16 Godzilla (1954), #17 The Vault (2017), #18 Cargo (2017), #19 Berlin Syndrome (2017), #22 Dawn of the Dead (1978), #26 Seven in Heaven (2018), #27 Happy Death Day (2017), #28 Into the Forest (2015), #29 Hardware (1990), #30 Prodigy (2018), #31 The Survivalist (2015), #32, Honeymoon (2014), #33 Child's Play (1988) Rewatch (11): #2 The Cabin in the Woods (2011), #3 Gone Girl (2014), #4 Annihilation (2018), #5 Seven (1995), #15 A Quiet Place (2018), #20 Doom (2005), #21 Predator (1987), #23 Gremlins (1984), #24 The Andromeda Strain (1971), #25 Split (2016), #34 Dawn of the Dead (2004) Personal Goal (4/13): Alien 3 (Assembly Cut), The Beyond, Beyond the Black Rainbow, The Brood, Fran Challenges (4/10): #7 [The World Is A Scary Place] Godzilla (1954), #3 [Hometown Horror] Dawn of the Dead (1978), #2 [Queer Horror] Into the Forest (2015), #8 [Once In A Lifetime] Dawn of the Dead (2004) Sir Kodiak fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 04:56
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Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) By 1982, the sleazy, actor-centric "lonely scumbag man is alienated a city, usually New York" films that defined the seventies had pretty much dried up, and the giant claymation monster films of the fifties had been a joke for a generation. Naturally, Larry Cohen decided to combine the two and the result is a hoot. The real draw here is Michael Moriarty's committed and compelling performance as Quinn, a small-time crook/musician who tries to use a flying Aztec snake-chicken's reign of anti-sunbather terror as an opportunity to finally make some cash. While Quinn's a great comic figure, and the winged serpent is endearingly goofy, Cohen and Moriarty understand how to keep the movie funny without undermining strong characterization. They make you feel Quinn's sweaty, desperate existence, from the limp he walks with after the film's opening bird attack, to his swagger at holding the city in the palm of his hand, to his ultimate redemption-on his own terms of course. Kind of a proto-Shin Godzilla meets the original Taking of Pelham 123. I really loved this one. 5/5  sCold Hell (2018) Challenge: Fear and Now (Received US distribution through Shudder in 2018)  Noir/Hitchcock/giallo/action hybrid about a cab driver/boxer who is targeted by a serial killer. Has a very straightforward plot and surprisingly quite a bit of socially conscious melodrama piled on top of that. Much more unwieldy than the stripped-down premise suggests and probably strongest when it focuses on its heroine's isolation and pragmatic approach to dealing with the killer. Some of it doesn't work, but then again some of it is Violetta Schurawlow repeatedly elbowing a murderer in the face in the middle of a crowed subway train. 3/5  sThe Lure (2015)  It's a pretty wild story, but if you keep the music going the audience will have to go along -Stephen Sondheim The Europop segments in this movie should have been called Lure-ovision. Eh? Eh? Forget it. This gets more mileage out of sheer weirdness than most movies seemingly pre-designed to be cult movies do, but uh...the little mermaid story kinda doesn't work that well when they spend the whole movie walking around, on land, with legs. I really liked that mermaid telepathy sounds like a dolphin trying to growl. 3/5  s (WE HAVE A EUROVISION SMILEY YES)
Dr. Puppykicker fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 09:02
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 CHEAT MODE ENGAGED 25) John Carpenter - Anthology Live (2018)  My argument: Carpenter backs his live show with clips from the movies he's performing the score to so I did at least spend 70 minutes watching them. I will not, however, try counting this for the Fear and Now challenge because only one track from 2018 was used. The set list was everything you'd expect to be on it, but a few changes were made from the 2016 set. I don't recall Village of the Damned, Body Bags or Jack Nitzche's theme from Starman being on the old set. And of course, Halloween Triumphant was a new addition - and when they segued straight from that into the classic theme the roof came off. Sadly I missed out on a Meet and Greet ticket, but I did get some sweet loot including a VIP-only Thing T-shirt and a signed limited edition Halloween print.
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Oct 20, 2018 09:22
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 The List1. Welcome to Willits (Fran Challenge 1: Love Something You Hate) 2. Multiple Maniacs (Fran Challenge 2: Queer Horror) 3. The Phantom of the Opera 1925 Featuring commentary by Andrew Lloyd Webber (as portrayed by Paul F. Tompkins) 4. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (Fran Challenge 3: Hometown Horror) 5. Dawn of the Dead (2004) (Fran Challenge 4: Best of the Worst) 6. Creep 2 7. I am the Pretty Thing That Lives In The House 8. Silent Hill 9. The Undertaker and his Pals 10. Re-Animator 11. Hell House LLC 12. The Purge (2013) 13. Interview With The Vampire (1994) (Fran Challenge 5: Birth of Horror) 14. He Never Died 15. Leatherface 16. Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon  I've certainly seen a number of reviews in this thread stating 'I don't know what I can say about this that hasn't already been said'. I've used that phrase before, during the first year I participated in this challenge. Reflecting on it, I think I used it as a self conscious defense against judgement. A pro-active self criticism that my film analysis skills weren't 'Mature' enough. That I couldn't develop a hot take that would have people fawning. Over the years doing this challenge, I came understand that criticism and reviews aren't about that. They're supposed to be honest reflections of my feelings and engagement with a film, even if that experience was identical to most everyone else who watched it. This preamble brings me to my hypocritical point, that I feel like everything there is to say about this film is self evident. It's reached a wide cult status in the horror community, like Trick R Treat, as one of the few highlights of an arguably dire decade of horror. It's reputation precedes itself, as a meta commentary on the Slasher genre that still manages to work in a post-Scream era. It's a mockumentary/slasher that works equally well as comedy and horror. A love letter to a dying genre. A drat enjoyable hour and a half. And I have to concede, I generally agree with every one of it's points. No, It's not a flawless masterpiece whose message transcends the medium. It's just a fun horror film, that's both equally charming and somewhat unsettling. It's ambitions doesn't overreach it's means, and yet manages to make it's scope feel much larger than it actually does. I will say I was surprised by the sincere upbeat heart this film has, conveyed by the sheer enthusiasm of it's leading man, Nathan Baesel. He's just this huge dork with an abundance of love for his hobby and people to share it with, which just so happens to be artistically inclined, hyper designed killing sprees. I would highly recommend pairing this with Creep 2 for a night of lovably weird creepozoids.
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Oct 20, 2018 09:22
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#36 "If you leave your home, your local authority may take it over for homeless families. And, if you move, the authorities in the new place will not help you with food, accommodation, or other essentials. You are better off in your own home. Stay there."  Threads (1984) Alternate title: White English Middle Class Dammerung. Filmed as half-documentary, half-slice of life, Threads very effectively applies the worst case scenario math for nuclear war to Britain as a thought exercise, focusing on Sheffield. There are no heroes in this film, no lucky ones, and no left turn from bleakness. The first half of the film is a bit dry, with the looming threat of nuclear war treated much the same as it is in a zombie movie--weird stories on the radio that become more and more difficult to ignore, until it's at your door. Then, the film really becomes a remarkable exploration of the full, unabated, and senseless human misery that nuclear war would bring, based on official damage estimates by the government. The film's epilogue, a neo-medieval society of uneducated children who speak only pidgin English, is where it takes the most creative license, and would in itself make a good movie. The point is to paint an unrelentingly black picture of post-nuclear war life, so you have to go all the way. It does become grimly comic at times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeQMy6lDscA I would say also that the absolute lack of minority characters in this is more than conspicuous. It's almost like they knew that for the film to be politically effective they had to scare the poo poo out of white people. I was watching Take Shelter today, a perfectly good movie, and realized that I am pretty burned out on weird-rear end movies, and 36 (the same number as my age) feels like more than enough to retire my horror challenge. Actually, it's literally more than enough, as I promised 31. Without further adieu, the full list with ratings. 1. Alien (1979) 5/5 2. Aliens (1986) 5/5 3. Alien 3 (1992) 2/5 4. Alien: Resurrection (1997) 4/5 5. The Birds (1963) 3/5 6. The Crazies (2010) 4/5 7. Dawn of the Dead (2004) 4/5 8. Dracula (1992) 5/5 9. Frailty (2001) 4/5 10. From Beyond (1986) 5/5 11. Saw (2004) 3/5 12. Saw II (2005) 3/5 13. Saw III (2006) 3/5 14. Saw IV (2007) 3/5 15. Saw V (2008) 1/5 16. Saw VI (2009) 1/5 17. Saw: The Final Chapter (2010) 1/5 18. Phantasm (1979) 4/5 19. Phantasm II (1988) 2/5 20. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994) 2/5 21. Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) 1/5 22. Phantasm V: Ravager (2016) 2/5 23. Interview with the Vampire (1994) 5/5 24. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 5/5 25. Prometheus (2012) 4/5 26. Pumpkinhead (1989) 2/5 27. Blade III (2004) 1/5 28. Blade: House of Chthon (2006) 2/5 29. Thirty Days of Night (2007) 5/5 30. The Thing (1982) 5/5 31. Halloween (1978) 4/5 32. Sleepaway Camp (1983) 1/5 33. The Gate (1987) 1/5 34. Halloween (2018) 3/5 35. 31 (2016) 1/5 36. Threads (1984) 5/5
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Oct 20, 2018 14:07
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Spatulater bro! posted:29. Revenge (2018, Coralie Fargeat) Source: Shudder But that's true? 
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Oct 20, 2018 14:19
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My third 31st of the season, this one the first officialish one. My 31st movie of October. Not my 31st new and not my 31st year, but still a 31. So something special. 29 (31). Horror of Dracula (1958) Available on Vimeo.  Christopher Lee as Dracula, Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. Its the classic tale told by Hammer in what people say helped revitalize the legend, helped make Hammer, and helped turn those two men into horror legends. I think this is probably my first Hammer film and I started with the big guy. I was going to watch Prince of Darkness before i looked it up and realized it was a sequel to this. I was going to just back off and watch whatever but the more I thought about it the more it seemed like a shame not to go out of my way to see some Hammer in this. And to be honest, Dracula himself has always been another blindspot for me. The legend never appealed to me that much and as far as vampires I usually prefer the more feral and demonic versions. It also helped that I finally realized that Horror of Dracula IS Dracula '58. Apparently the name was changed to avoid confusion but it meant I spent a long time trying to find a way to watch "Dracula" and being frustrated I kept finding my way to "Horror of Dracula". Once I got that resolved this became clearer. I enjoyed but didn’t love this. Lee has such a great presence as Dracula, especially the way he’s filmed as “big.” But he really disappears from the film for much of it. I enjoyed Cushing and I’ve never seen him young and was surprised what an action star he kind of came off as when things happened. But so much of the film is Cushing as the straight laced doctor with no present foil. When the two finally meet Lee’s Dracula feels like such an afterthought. A silent creature who just runs away. Very different to how he felt at the start of the film when he was speaking and overpowering Harkner. Still, an overall enjoyable movie. I think I’m gonna definitely watch Prince of Darkness to see if Lee gets a little more screen time. I dozed off towards the end of this sadly no 4 films last night. And a Game 7 tonight threatens to make my weekend less productive for this countdown then I hoped. September Tally - New (Total) 1. A Cure For Wellness (2016) / - (2). Slither (2006) / 2 (3). Castle Rock (2018) / - (4). The Forsaken (2001) / 3 (5). The Night Eats the World (2018) / 4 (6). The Girl With All The Gifts (2016) / 5 (7). The Voices (2014) / 6 (8). Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) / 7 (9). Jug Face (2013) / 8 (10). Coherence (2013) / 9 (11). A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) / - (12). Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) / 10 (13). Excision (2012) / 11 (14). Spring (2014) October Tally - New (Total) 1. Suspiria (1977) / 2. It (2017) / 3. The Beyond (1981) / 4. Trilogy of Terror (1979) / 5. House on Haunted Hill (1959) / 6. Demons (1985) / Fran’s Challenge #1: 7. The Green Inferno (2013) / 8. Martin (1978) / 9. Malevolent (2018) / - (10). Dead and Breakfast (2004) / 10 (11). Night of the Comet (1984) / 11 (12). Jaws (1975) / 12 (13). Black Swan (2010) / Fran’s Challenge #2: 13 (14). Happy Death Day (2017) / - (15). Hell House, LLC (2015) / Fran’s Challenge #3: 14 (16). Hell House, LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel (2018) / 15 (17). Carnival of Souls (1962) / 16 (18). The Last House on the Left (1972) / 17 (19). The Haunting of Hill House (2018) / Fran’s Challenge #4: 18 (20). My Soul To Take (2010) / Fran’s Challenge #5: 19 (21). Motel Hell (1980) / 20 (22). The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) / Fran’s Challenge #6: 21 (23). Don’t Look In The Basement (1973) / 22 (24). All Cheerleaders Die (2013) / 23 (25). Sleepaway Camp (1983) / 24 (26). The House That Dripped Blood (1971) / 25 (27). The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (1976) / 26 (28). Friday the 13th Part III (1982) / Fran’s Challenge #9: 27 (29). November (2017) / Fran’s Challenge #10: 28 (30). Escape From Tomorrow (2013) / 29 (31). Horror of Dracula (1958)
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Oct 20, 2018 14:22
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FRAN CHALLENGE #9: Fear and Now 26. October 20 - The Haunting of Hill House I loved this show. The scares were great, the story was gripping, and it was told in an interesting way. I was especially impressed with the casting. Not only do all the characters actually look like a family, the children perfectly match their adult counterparts, and they're never annoying or distracting. It's not perfect; it can get a bit schmaltzy, and it's too focused on trying to tie everything up in a nice package, but as far as horror TV goes, it's some of the best. I understand why some people didn't like the relatively happy ending, but I'm more forgiving about "unearned" happy endings in ten hour TV shows than 90 minute movies. Total: 26 1. Hell House LLC 2. Channel Zero: Candle Cove 3. Grave Encounters 4. Channel Zero: No-End House 5. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil* 6. Rope* 7. Der Nachtmahr 8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* 9. Survival of the Dead* 10. Lake Mungo 11. Jigsaw 12. Tenebrae* 13. Opera* 14. Halloween 15. Channel Zero: Butcher's Block 16. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night 17. Tetsuo: The Iron Man 18. The Eye* 19. Dark, Deadly & Dreadful 20. As Above So Below 21. Chernobyl Diaries 22. Hour of the Wolf* 23. Apostle 24. The Wicker Man 25. Sleep Tight* 26. The Haunting of Hill House* *Fran Challenge (10/10 Completed)
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Oct 20, 2018 14:56
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The thing is, its not even THAT happy an ending. Half the family is dead and trapped as feed for a haunted house. The family members left are doing their best to get their poo poo together and be good to each other, but like... is that really too happy an ending? The house won. The survivors are just trying to move on. I guess I'm not sure what those particular critics would have preferred as an ending. Like, I can appreciate that the family drama is not everyone's thing but I feel like if it bothers you that much you should have been turned off by the first half of the series.
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Oct 20, 2018 15:16
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