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I've been binge watching movies this whole dreary day, and it's been great. Zombie Holocaust aka Doctor Butcher M.D.(Medical Deviant) I got what I expected from Kvlt! as his staff pick. This movie starts with bodies at NYC morgues being discovered mutilated and cannibalized. The staff trace this to migrants in the area who come from a little island near Africa. A group is ensembled and sent to investigate and things get crazy. The gore effects are nice and the story is wacky but coherent. This movie falls in a weird place. It's not one I've really heard of before, either for it's importance or it's gore, but it also isn't a horrible movie. I am going to guess the gore didn't go far enough (which isn't a critique, I think it fits how it is), and it's release date was unfortunate as horror and gore fans probably flocked to Cannibal Holocaust over this. As with Drive-In Massacre, this is another movie I felt sure was a rip-off of an earlier, more popular film, but it came out the same year as said film. Not a bad movie, but not really my cup of tea  .5 / 5 Legacy Of Blood - Elvira's Movie Macabre The timeless story of a family who is gathered together to hear the reading of a will, and are then forced to spend time (in this case a week) together in the house in order to inherit the fortune. This movie also adds the house staff who stand to split $1m between themselves, but if all of the family members die over that week, they inherent something like $180m. I can't tell you a lot more about this movie beside it was a slog. Maybe the most difficult movie to grind through yet this month. The red herring and the twist are probably two things you have already figured out by reading my two sentence summary. / 5I'm surprised , but if you go by my movies watched this month Tubi > Shudder . I mean, I've feel like I got my $5 worth, and the JBB are worth more than that to me alone, but if I had to pick to keep one or the other, it would probably be Tubi. Dr.Caligari fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Oct 28, 2018 |
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Oct 28, 2018 22:09
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26 - Deadly Friend Fran Challenge: Dead and BuriedThis movie has a serious tone problem. Most of the film is acted and directed like a Weird Science or ET type story, where some well meaning teens take a science experiment too far and get into some wacky trouble! And if it wasn't for the opening stinger that lets the audience know the robot is secretly psychotic, you'd have no way of knowing it's not that kind of film, up until this happens:  Why is that in the same movie as a cute little robot that goes "Beep beep vrooo diddledoop" in a gremlin/slimer voice? Your guess is as good as mine. The entire film can't decide if it's a lighthearted family film, a serious sci fi tragedy, or a schlocky horror movie, and it doesn't really work as any of those things in the end. You can't take the tragedy of an undead cyborg girl who can't regain her humanity seriously when she goes "Beep beep boop" and violently explodes heads with a basketball, and you can't enjoy the film as a violent gore fest when so much time is spent on the drama and there's such a low kill count. Kristy Swanson does a very good job as both the charming abused girl next door and the eerily unnatural cyborg girl, giving long haunting stares as the latter, but her performance is seriously undercut by the acting of everyone around her, who seem to believe they're in a lifetime movie about not doing drugs or something. I don't know who to recommend this to, it's just so strange. It almost feels like Wes Craven changed his mind about what kind of movie he was making halfway through production. Also possibly the weirdest credits song I've ever heard in my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9dwVDUHkNQ
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Oct 28, 2018 23:15
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Lurdiak posted:26 - Deadly Friend The studio actually forced him to do reshoots to change it into a horror film after bad test screenings.
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Oct 28, 2018 23:21
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Friends Are Evil posted:The studio actually forced him to do reshoots to change it into a horror film after bad test screenings. That explains a lot, but not why the robot sounds like that.
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Oct 28, 2018 23:22
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Lurdiak posted:That explains a lot, but not why the robot sounds like that. Some things aren’t meant to be explained. I was shocked to learn that Frank Welker does not, in fact, do the robot voice. Friends Are Evil fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Oct 28, 2018 |
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Oct 28, 2018 23:23
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48. Friend Request (2016) aka Unfriended, Netflix When do we start counting social-media horror as a subgenre? There's nothing too memorable or unique about this movie and somehow all of the scares fall completely flat. It amazes me sometimes how often mediocre movies will gently caress up like a dozen jump scares. You'd think at least one would land. One thing about it that's interesting is that it's a German movie, filmed in South Africa, but takes place in America. I somehow didn't notice that while watching, so I must not be very observant I guess. 1/5 Movies seen: 1. Terrifier | 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street | 3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge | 4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors | 5. Scream | 6. Mandy | 7. November | 8. Salem's Lot | 9. The Resurrected | 10. Demon House | 11. Pumpkinhead | 12. Prom Night | 13. Tales from the Crypt | 14. Carnival of Souls | 15. The Fly II | 16. Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker | 17. Resolution | 18. The Endless | 19. Spontaneous Combustion | 20. Hardware | 21. The Haunting of Molly Hartley | 22. Hold the Dark | 23. Truth or Dare (2017)| 24. Trick or Treats | 25. The ‘Burbs | 26. Dead and Buried | 27. Digging up the Marrow | 28. Frankenstein Conquers the World | 29. The War of the Gargantuas | 30. Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil | 31. Apostle | 32. Maximum Overdrive | 33. Blood Rage | 34. Tales from the Hood 2 | 35. Halloween (1978) | 36. Halloween (2018) | 37. The Old Dark House | 38. Truth or Dare (2018) |39. Slender Man | 40. An American Werewolf in Paris | 41. Mr. Jones | 42. Vampyros Lesbos | 43. Night of the Demons | 44. Summer of 84 | 45. Bad Ben | 46. Waxwork | 47. The Town that Dreaded Sundown | 48. Friend Request Fran Challenges:
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Oct 29, 2018 00:06
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Franchescanado posted:
26.  Dracula Has (Obviously) Risen From the Grave Probably more notable for its famous poster than the movie itself, and for good reason. While I enjoyed it, it was really dry and about the only truly good thing about it was Christopher Lee (obviously). It's a standard almost-retelling of the Dracula myth, with a young couple being torn apart by the titular Count who seeks revenge against a Monsignor who has desecrated his castle with a cross. And that's after he rises from the grave (obviously) thanks to a bumbling priest, who soon becomes his new Renfield. The atmosphere and period setting were a nice break from my usual gory slasher fare, I just kind of wish they'd have gone with something more interesting than a single pub for a setting. I have to confess something, this is the first Hammer film I've ever seen, and while it's not "bad" by any means I wasn't totally engaged. It felt like more of a gimmicky "one last hurrah" movie for Christopher Lee, who isn't in the movie nearly as much as one would hope. After this, I really need to get ahold of Lee's previous Dracula films, since he's really good in this but feels kind of wasted. Summary: It's OK! 27.  Twins of Evil Another Hammer film, and in my opinion it's far and away better than the previous movie. The setting and atmosphere are way better, as is the pacing and direction. And the casting... very nice performances by Playboy playmates the Collinson twins, and Peter Cushing is superb as a witchfinder general who starts out as a total rear end in a top hat but gets redeemed by the end. I like how the movie pits petty and superstitious witchfinders against True Evil, and the decadent Count Kantstein is a pretty good villain. I guess the movie should really be called "Twin of Evil", since as you'd expect from this kind of movie you have the Good Twin and the Bad Twin, and the Bad Twin ends up being the corruptible one (obviously). I also love the gothic feel of this one, lots of underground caverns and huge castle rooms and stark, contrasting light and dark. Dracula Has Risen From the Grave had a bit of that, but mostly just felt flat and bland by comparison. I'd highly recommend this one if you haven't seen it. I don't have a point of comparison to any earlier Hammer films, but this movie's really made me want to seek some more Hammer movies out for next October. e: And that catches me up with the Fran Challenges. Here's what I watched in the order I watched them, not necessarily in the order of challenges issued: Best of the Worst: Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers Hometown Horror (Illinois): Halloween 1978 Video Nasties: Bloody Moon Birth of Horror (1983): Psycho II Love Something You Hate: Unfriended Dark Web Queer Horror: What Keeps You Alive The World is a Scary Place (Czechoslovakia): Cremator Fear and Now: Halloween 2018 Stranger Danger: Grave Encounters What We've All Been Waiting For: Halloween II Masters of Horror: Ginger Snaps Dead & Buried: Dracula Has Risen From the Grave Once In a Lifetime: The Mutilator King Vidiot fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Oct 30, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 00:31
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38 - Edward Scissorhands I don't think I've seen this since high school, and while I remembered all the main bits, I forgot just how weird it was. It was certainly good, as much as I'm over Burton and more than done with Depp, they made a hell of a fable here. I'm honestly not sure if there are deeper themes that I'm missing with it, but Burton seems to be someone who plays his ideas pretty straightforward so I doubt it, but I really do feel like I'm not quote getting the full impact from it.
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Oct 29, 2018 00:42
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 197- Warm Bodies 2013 - DVD When this one came out I really didn't pay it much mind. I had too much going on at the time and a shitload of other stuff to watch that I figured if I happened to remember it later on, then I'd catch it on a stream or something. What changed things was I got annoyed at someone on my Facebook who posted one of those 'it's the Twilight of Zombie films' meme. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was one of those things that hit at the wrong time with the wrong person posting. I've posted about H before on the forums, and at the time of her post, I was beyond tired of her habit of going ridiculously overboard in her desperation to be liked. Case in point, I'm open about my love of horror movies to where I'm pretty much the goto person at work if someone's got a movie question. When H heard this, she became all about horror movies but when asked about her favorites, what horror actors she liked, or anything like that, she'd get a deer in headlights look and not really answer. So, yeah, her just regurgitating a meme for likes annoyed me enough to find out more about this one. I ended up reading the book and watching the DVD. Honestly, the only thing Twilight-y about this is that Nicholas Hoult's hot. The story follows R, a reasonably fresh zombie. He's rather similar to zombies like Bub or Big Daddy in having some awareness and echoes of memory. He spends his time wandering around an airport with other zombies imitating what they remember of their living days, occasionally goes on hunting parties for any living outside the human enclave, and trying not to draw the attention of the Boneys who are near feral severely decayed zombies. The zombies here will eat flesh, but brains are favored because it lets them have moments of feeling alive again. R tends to muse a lot on the state of his existence. It's on a hunting party that R comes across Julie when her group is on a scavenging trip for supplies. R kills and feeds on Julie's boyfriend which begins some dramatic changes in R which no one's quite prepared for. For as much as we've seen plenty of zombie films covering the outbreak or life as a minority in a world of the dead, Warm Bodies does try some different things. Here we have a world on the cusp of a potential end to the zombie apocalypse which is actually hopeful. As we're dropped en media res into events, we don't know what caused the reanimation, and we are only given the barest basics into the physicality of the undead. They eat people, headshots kill them, decomposition's slow. We've all heard the underlying commentaries on zombie films being mindless consumerism and the like, here the commentary's that without the human connection, we are all zombies. We see this as R begins to change as he connects more with Julie. He loses his craving for flesh, starts to articulate words, decay starts to reverse and old wounds start healing. The other zombies see this and want this too, and the Boneys fear this as they've progressed too deep so their humanity's lost. The book goes more into detail, and some events happen differently such as Julie's dad dies because he refuses to accept the possibility that the zombies are beginning to revert back to humanity. As the film's PG-13, it's not gore intensive. Upon my rewatch I wonder if this film's major sin is that it does try something new instead of the same usuals despite how many demanding something new in the sub-genre.    198- Phantom of the Paradise 1974 - DVD For years all I'd seen was the occasional still from this one so when MTV had a special showing of this movie, I made sure my rear end was home to watch. It's a delicious mix of Faust, Portrait of Dorian Gray with the Phantom of the Opera story with some commentary on the state of the music industry. Winslow Leach is a particularly gifted songwriter/composer, but that's about all he's got going for him. Megaproducer Swan hears his music and wants it, but not Winslow. Swan arranges to dispose of Winslow but Winslow's not so hard to get rid of. As I said in the main horror thread, this one was a hard to market one for the studio. It wasn't quite a rock music film, but it wasn't quite a horror film by either standards the studio was familiar with. Studio considered it a flop but thanks to Winnipeg, the film was enough of a hit there that it wasn't consigned to the oblivion some films have of being lucky to see a VHS release. I know there's a blu-ray release with deleted footage, one of which I hope's the one of during Beef's funeral, a kid so desperate to audition for Swan starts tapdancing on the casket. The satire of the music industry still rings true today, and Paul William's music is a delight. This was another love at first watch for me to where I've dressed as one of the Undead band for Halloween and have a faux concert shirt for the opening of Faust at the Paradise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n5qVJEg3qA
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Oct 29, 2018 01:08
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Friday the 13th (the remake) This wasn't terrible. I knew it wouldn't just be a Friday the 13th remake, because of course it had to have Jason in it. But what they actually do is kinda clever. They do a remake of the ending scene from Part 1, then doa half hour long new Friday the 13th movie that takes the cloth mask and campfire scene from Part 2. And then the actual movie, the last hour, borrows heavily from Parts 3 and 4 wile also doing new stuff. And it actually works OK. That structure does create some problems, specifically we don't get any time with the kids in the first half hour so who cares about them, and then we gotta get acquainted with a whole new cast right after. But they keep both casts small so it's still possible to tell the characters apart. Even if I would describe the bulk of the second cast as the blonde guy who wants to keep the house clean, the blonde guy who doesn't care about cleanliness, the blonde girl who's dating the first blonde guy, and the blonde girls who's dating the second blonde guy The black guy and the asian guy have good chemistry, I wish we could've gotten some more of them just loving around The leads are played by the guy from Supernatural and the woman from Flash whose character the writers never know what to do with, so this movie is a CW power couple! One thing that really bugged me was the secret weed patch. There's no point to it. It's why some of the first cast is out in the woods, but the rest of the cast is just there to camp. So you don't need the secret weed as motivation. And then the movie never does anything with it. At the very least they should've done a fakeout where they get attacked/menaced by a mysterious figure that turns out to be a dude guarding the weed. But not even that. Nothing comes from it, it gets brought up onces later but only as a joke. The movie spends so much time setting up the secret weed, and it's all a complete waste. And It's already the longest Ft13 movie, at an hour 45 minutes. Cut the secret weed! I'm not crazy about the changes they made to Jason's character. If we set aside Part 9, and I really hope that's something we as a species can agree to do, Jason has had an extremely consistent, simple character. He kills people to get revenge for the killing of his mom. That's it. He only stops killing when he's dead. But this new Jason has more going on. The townsfolk know about him and talk like there's a way to avoid provoking him, he keeps a lady chained up for 8 weeks because she looks like his mom even though most of the time he knows she isn't. It's not much, but even the littlest complication kinda ruins it, IMO. I know, new Jason, new rules, but I don't like it. That's not what I'm here for Considering the series staples of a secluded location far from help, and characters not knowing they're being killed until the end, you'd think this would be one movie that didn't need a big "I can't get a signal!" scene. But they include it. Wasn't necessary, but I guess any horror movie made in the late 2000s was required to have it. The final fight sucks. This is supposed to be a return to mortal Jason, but he's even tougher than zombie Jason! The people never even do any damage to him until right near the end, and it has no effect on him. And then, they got him with a chain wrapped around his neck and the end of the chain being pulled into a tree shredder. What do you think happens? He gets loose? No. Oh so that's how it actually ends, he gets pulled into the shredder and gets loving destroyed and blood and gore flies everywhere and it's awesome?! Nope. Instead of either of those, the shredder just kinda stops pulling him in for no reason, leaving him pinned in place so they can stab him with a machete. And then then they untie him from the shredder and push his body into the lake It sucks! It's not as bad as 8 or 9, and there's more boobs than any previous entry and it does have a body thrown through a window so it's more of a Friday the 13th movie than Part 6 Friday the 13th (the remake) isn't as bad as it could've been, but isn't very good either
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Oct 29, 2018 01:29
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Guy Goodbody posted:Friday the 13th (the remake) They do get attacked by a dude guarding the weed: Jason. The only question that remains is why does Jason need all that weed?
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Oct 29, 2018 01:43
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Drunkboxer posted:They do get attacked by a dude guarding the weed: Jason. The only question that remains is why does Jason need all that weed? But the guy in the barn later on says he found a bunch of weed, and tries to sell some to the guy from Supernatural. Jason killed the first cast because they found his weed, but lets that random dude take it all?
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Oct 29, 2018 01:49
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Drunkboxer posted:They do get attacked by a dude guarding the weed: Jason. The only question that remains is why does Jason need all that weed? To enjoy his movies? 
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Oct 29, 2018 01:52
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Guy Goodbody posted:But the guy in the barn later on says he found a bunch of weed, and tries to sell some to the guy from Supernatural. Jason killed the first cast because they found his weed, but lets that random dude take it all? the random dude was cool, though
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Oct 29, 2018 01:57
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FRAN CHALLENGE #13: What We've All Been Waiting For 54. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - 3/5 (Shudder) quote:That shotgun impalement was pretty funny, but otherwise there's not much here that hasn't been done better by any of the other Halloween sequels. Halloween 4's biggest crime (besides the Feels Guy mask) is the fact that poor Mikey gets absolutely clowned on, just thrown around like a drat ragdoll. I get he has to be Scary and Dangerous and Strong, but it's to a comical fault here. That shooting gallery at the end seemed like something from a parody. 55. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers - 1.5/5 (Shudder) quote:Christ. They didn't even try to get the Halloween atmosphere this time. Look at those green rear end trees! The inclusion of costumes is the only thing that feels in season, and speaking of... And that's all the Fran challenges completed for me! SMP fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 03:22
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Fran Challenge 2: Queer Horror Multiple Maniacs - 1970 I think half the value of this movie is how completely insane it is and so spoiling any part of that would be a horrible crime. That being said it's crazy, smutty, violent, and Divine steals any scene she's in. Just remember, when Divine lays down on the couch and delivers her monologue near the end, the movie still has about 10 minutes left, and what a 10 minutes that is.  5/5 with the caveat that it just barely fits into this horror movie challenge Fran Challenge 6: Video Nasties Evil Dead - 1981 After watching this I can definitely see why they went the comedy route for Evil Dead 2 and everything after. The deadites have this manic joy in torturing and killing that translates well to Ash tossing one liners right back at them. The demons crashing their way invisibly through the woods and the first scene where Ash goes into the cellar work surprisingly well for straight horror though. Highly recommended to anyone who's only seen the sequels and is wondering how well Evil Dead works as campy horror. 4.5/5 Fran Challenge 9: Stranger Danger Oculus - 2013 - Netflix US This isn't going to be something I go back to, but it has it's moments. Karen Gillan is solid in it. The dual storylines, both past and present, going on at the same time keeps the tension up. I'm just not one for psychological horror type mind-fuckery I guess. The fact that neither they nor I can tell what's real and what's fake tends to leave me just turning off my brain and being mildly tense for every scene. Also *ending spoiler* the dad falling backwards into the mirror after being shot damages it a little, but an anchor with weights attached smashing Kaylie face into the mirror does nothing? It seems with the former scene they were setting up for a sacrifice needing to be made in order to hurt the mirror, but then didn't follow up. I'll still say it was competently made with some solidly unsettling scenes, but it's just not my kind of horror movie and some decisions bothered me. 3.5/5 Fran Challenge 11: Dead and Buried Bride of Frankenstein - 1935 Somehow I assumed this movie, made over 80 years ago, would be boring. I was VERY wrong. I can't really do any kind of decent review other than saying I loved every part of this. This may just turn out to be something I watch every year around Halloween going forward. 5/5 Total movies watched: 8 Fran challenges completed: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11
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Oct 29, 2018 03:35
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An empty weekend schedule results in a movie watching binge. 29. Phantom of the Opera (1925) Amazon  A classic, well known story. A disfigured incel lusts after an opera singer and kidnaps her. Her boyfriend and the local villagers form a mob and go after the phantom to rescue her. Lon Chaney does an excellent job as the phantom with a simple for now but effective and advanced at the time makeup job. With long sections dedicated to the songs of the opera being performed, it doesn't translate well to being a silent film without a carefully selected score. The score on the copy I watched was not carefully selected. 30. Werewolf of London (1935)  A British botanist is searching for a rare flower that only blooms under a full moon when he is attacked by what is obviously a werewolf. He takes home some of the flowers to try and get them to bloom under artificial moonlight. Then it turns out when the flowers bloom, they can be used to suppress the transformation for one night so using artificial moonlight becomes more important. Since it isn't working, he transforms and goes out to kill. Things come to the usual tragic conclusion. Not bad for a contemporary non-Lon Chaney werewolf movie. 31. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)  The wolf man comes back to life a couple years after he died in the previous movie. He hunts down the old woman that explained what a werewolf is to see if she can help. The only thing she can think of is to find Dr Frankenstein and see if he can help. He's dead so he can't, but another doctor thinks he can and also fix up the monster while he's at it. The villagers don't like that and riot. A pretty good monster crossover. Fran Challenge #8: Once In A Lifetime 32. Carnival of Souls (1962) Amazon  A car drives off a bridge into a deep river. Then three hours later one of the occupants shows up on the shore. Despite clearly not being a ghost, she has frequent bouts of people not being able to hear or see her. Also she keeps seeing creepy people dressed all in black and kind of ghostlike. On her way to her new job, she finds an abandon carnival and feels drawn to it not at all like how ghosts are drawn to places. She goes there one final time and disappears while at the same time the car from the beginning is finally pulled from the river along with her body. Really well made and worth watching. 33. Abominable Snowman (1957)  The wonderful Peter Cushing is a botanist hanging out in the Himalayas when some friends rope him into coming with them to hunt for yeti. They find some but the yeti slowly kill off the expedition for attacking them. Peter Cushing survives since he respects them and is willing to forget ever seeing them. A good start to Hammer Horror. Fran Challenge #13: What We've All Been Waiting For 34. Halloween (2018)  Really well done sequel, especially considering how uneven the rest are. Makes a good comparison to Terminator 2 with how a survivor of a horror movie deals with what they went through. It looked and sounded great, definitely should be seen on the big screen. 35. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)  The wolfman tries to stop Abbott and Costello from delivering Dracula and Frankenstein's monster to the local house of horrors. He doesn't succeed so instead he teams up with them and an insurer to stop Dracula from putting Costello's brain in the monster. A pretty good A&C movie and a pretty good monster crossover. 36. Ghost Shark (2013)  Filmed and set in Louisiana, a sport fisherman kills a great white for stealing his prize catch. Unfortunately for him the shark swims directly for a haunted cave that lets it come back as a ghost. Being able to appear from any form of water to kill people, it does repeatedly. Eventually the cast figures out how to kill a shark that is also a ghost. A good variety of silly kills that make good use of the concept. Obviously a tv movie but still worth watching. 37. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) Amazon  A madcap 70s movie about giant tomatoes attacking humans. It's pretty much just what it says on the tin, various scenes of tomatoes attacking. Not just real tomatoes being tossed by a stage hand but also hilariously fake looking giant tomatoes rolling along. Eventually a way to defeat them is discovered and all is set right. Worth watching it you can put up with that kind of 70s humor that's not really around nearly as much. Fran Challenge #12: (Self-Described) Masters of Horror 38. Return of the Living Dead (1985) Amazon  Another Dan O'Bannon treat. Turns out night of the living dead was based on a true story and the chemicals that brought the dead back to life are in the basement of the very building the movie starts in. Which is next to a cemetery. Once the obvious happens, lots of zombies arise and start to attack. Well done gore effects and a good level of comedy, a must see. Fran Challenge #5: Birth of Horror 39. Altered States (1980)  William Hurt has been having fun with sensory deprivation tanks when he settles down and gets married. After 7 years, he decided he needs to go back to that but while using some magic mushrooms he received in Mexico. Then things get weird as the trips seem to be regressing him physically. During one of them he turns into an ape like creature and runs to the local zoo to eat a sheep. His wife and the doctors working with him decided to let him to do one final trip where he turns into a cronenberg, a being of light and then a whirlpool of smoke. Very odd movie, but also well done. 1. Suspiria (1977) 2. The Last Shark (1981) 3. Evils of the Night (1985) 4. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) 5. Death Spa (1989) 6. Belladonna of Sadness (1973) 7. Orca (1977) 8. Evil Toons (1992) 9. Dracula's Daughter (1936) 10. Invisible Woman (1940) 11. Slumber Party Massacre (1982) 12. Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) 13. Slumber Party Massacre III (1990) 14. House of Dracula (1945) 15. Invisible Agent (1942) 16. Sleepaway Camp (1983) 17. Sleepaway Camp II (1988) 18. Venom (2018) 19. The Mummy's Hand (1940) 20. Nosferatu (1922) 21. Terror in the Midnight Sun (1959) 22. Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957) 23. Häxan Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) 24. The Mummy's Tomb (1942) 25. The Mummy's Ghost (1944) 26. The Mummy's Curse (1944) 27. Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) 28. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) duz fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 04:36
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 Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, 1969 I'm a bit of latecomer to Hammer Films and it's only through the last few years I really discovered them. They are the perfect bridge between classic and modern horror in that they got the style of classic, but the tits, blood and graphic violence of modern. I always make sure to watch at least one Universal Pictures film, at least one 80s slasher, at least one Italian gore film and so on, and from now on I'm going to put at least one Hammer Film in my marathons. This one was great. Peter Cushing is such an perfect Frankenstein. He is the very reason to watch the Hammer take on the conic mad scientist. So much that the monster becomes unimportant. I think they must have realized this since they don't bother with one and have the plot revolve around brain transplants. There's lot of cool stuff around that and plenty of horror to be had from the concept, but like I said, it's all about Frankenstein as a character. He is the very essence of what it means to be a psychopath. He got no morals, treats people like poo poo no matter who they are, but put up fake charm and kindness if he thinks he can manipulate them. He is as arrogant, mean-spirited, condescending as they come and irredeemably evil. And that's why I love these Hammer Frankenstein films. I look forwards to view a lot more Hammer from now on.
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Oct 29, 2018 04:44
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Franchescanado posted:
 #39. Bride of Frankenstein (DVD) -  /5Dr. Frankenstein, spurred on by a fellow mad scientist, creates a mate for his Monster. Better than the first one, but not substantially so. Karloff gets more to do, more of a chance to emote, but Colin Clive gets his emotional range reduced to compensate. The whole thing is more arch and campy, which makes it feel a little less interesting overall. There's an extended scene where bad guy Dr. Pretorius shows off some miniature people kept in jars, which might have seemed impressive in the 1930s but stops the picture dead for about 5 minutes. I did really enjoy that they built a self-destruct switch into their castle, even it makes the ending super perfunctory.  #40. Jigsaw (Hulu) - /5John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer, believed dead for several films now, is apparently alive again and up to his old tricks. Not a bad entry in the series, but after several years of rest, it's disappointing that the film ends up retreading ground already covered, namely going over the whole "the Jigsaw stuff is set in the past" thing that was done all the way back in Saw II. The traps are still suitably ridiculous and over the top, but I like that they traded in the whole "gross rusted over pipework and yellow sodium lighting" aesthetic for a brightly lit, impossibly big barn instead. I can see a future coming from the new, non-Hoffman Jigsaw follow up character, even if I don't see a way for him to continue being a part of the events without it seeming like a retread. I do feel they played dirty in hiding his identity; you should still be able to guess it fairly easily, since the red herring misdirection stuff is pretty obvious. And with that, I managed to meet my original quota, with a few days left before the big day. Guess I'll just have to continue on... a-like so...  #41. Son of Frankenstein (YouTube TV/TCM) - /5Henry Frankenstein's son Wolf moves his family back into his father's castle. There, he finds Ygor, the broken-necked hunchback, and the Monster, hiding in the old laboratory. Wolf is convinced to help restore the sick Monster to health, which sets off a chain of murders in the nearby town. The best of the Universal Frankenstein series, this one ends up contributing almost as much to popular perception as Bride did; it practically forms the entire shot-for-shot basis for Young Frankenstein later. This is also probably the best front-loaded cast, with Karloff's last turn as the Monster, Bela Lugosi as Ygor, and Basil "Second Best Sherlock Holmes" Rathbone as the titular prodigal son. This is pretty much Rathbone's movie, and he does a great job - you can tell from the start how much he loves the idea of restarting his father's work, but he has a fantastic turn later when he realizes what that entails. He also gets a chance to bring out that Holmes-ian imperiousness and indignity late in the movie, which was hilarious to see turn up in a Universal Monster movie. Lugosi is also great here, though it's disappointing that the Monster is rendered mute again. I do have to knock the film a bit for its design work - the castle and laboratory sets are both too sparse, and the open-air sulfur pit thing is ridiculous. It does lead to a fairly tense ending sequence, where the Monster considers throwing Rathbone's son into it, even if you know the film would never have the guts to go there. I also have to knock the film for its child actor, who is just terrible and annoying. Small quibbles compared to how good the rest of the film is, though. Highly recommended. Watched so far: Cat People, Halloween 5, Mom and Dad, Hell House LLC, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Beetlejuice, The Horror of Party Beach, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, The Return of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Murder Party, Anaconda, Dracula (1931), The Ritual, Blade II, The Beyond, Sleepaway Camp, Lord of Illusions, The Mummy's Ghost, Children of the Corn II, The Mummy's Curse, The Prophecy, Child's Play 2, Halloween II (1981), Hotel Transylvania, Psycho (1960), Halloween III, The Creature Walks Among Us, Train to Busan, Frankenstein (1931), The Addams Family, Bedeviled, Halloween (2018), The Old Dark House (1932), Pumpkinhead, Friday the 13th Part 2, Dead & Buried, Summer of 84, Bride of Frankenstein, Jigsaw, Son of Frankenstein Class3KillStorm fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 05:08
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 54. Corpse Bride (2005)- Blu-ray Looks amazing but the story didn't click with me.  55. Phantasm II (1988)- DVD This might have to become an annual viewing because it is glorious.  56. The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)- DVD Huh, it's an exploitation flick serving mostly to watch a stripper fight with bouncing tits. Plus mad scientist lab, existential rage, and rampaging monster. I'd put it on for background noise in the future.   57. Piranha (1972)- DVD Also, and possibly more commonly known as: Piranha, Piranha or Caribe I typed this post and dug up screenshots while watching this garbage. An hour of mostly poorly acted characters bumming around Venezuela. Dunno after that as I've still got a half hour to go. Presumably involves a riff of The Most Dangerous Game and possibly man eating fish? Perhaps I'd enjoy it more if drinking half as much as the actors. Movie sucks and I can't even so much as recommend it for drunken group screen heckling. Eighteen minutes left in this 89 minute stinker and no fish to be seen. The sociopathic hunter hasn't even made hs mov...17 minutes left and he just knocked the photographer over with his nice rifle for some good, old fashioned '70s rape. On a wooden plankway. In the rain. If I wasn't sick on the couch, I'd regret the waste of my time on Ear...13 minutes left and he just stuck her brother with a knife. Her brother who had run, unarmed, after the rifle toting rear end in a top hat. At least the in-some-cases-titular prianha finally showed up to feed on the brother's body kicked off the blade and into the river. Nine minutes left and our amtagonist has fired a warning shot nefore wrapping and lighting a torch to stand still and yell...scratch that, light village huts ablaze while laughing. Six minutes left and the guide fired one shot from a pistol into the psycho's back before it jammed. Psycho easily kicked his rear end but left him alive while still laughing. Four minutes left and guide has somehow caught up and ambushed the psycho hunter with a punch in the face. In the middle of a plank walway across a mud flat while the psycho was walking in his direction. But still caught off guard? Christ, his lady prisonr was being marched before him so he wasn't even disracted by looking back or just gently caress rhis movie in its stupid face. Anyway, despite arm in sling, the antagonist again kicked the guide's face. Vehemently anti-gun lady just shot the hunter with his own rifle. Movie is over. I do now regret 72 of the last 89 minites of my life. Did I already say, "gently caress this movie?" gently caress this movie. 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), 17. Maniac (1934), 18. Thirst (2009)7, 19. Horror Hotel (1960), 20. Event Horizon (1997)*, 21. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)3, 22. Frankenstein (1931)*, 23. Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967), 24. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), 25. The Funhouse (1981)6, 26. Beetlejuice (1988)5, 27. Fright Night (1985)2, 28. Son of Frankenstein (1939), 29. The Terror, 30. A Cure for Wellness (2016), 31. Blood Diner (1987), 32. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), 33. The Killer Shrews (1959)9, 34. The Devil Bat (1940)9, 35. The Bat (1959), 36. Alien Apocalypse (2005)*, 37. Dave Made a Maze (2017)8, 38. Wrong Turn (2003), 39. Last Woman on Earth (1960)4, 40. Halloween (2018)10, 41. I Sell the Dead (2008), 42. Village of the Damned (1995), 43. Beast from 10,000 Fathoms (1953)*, 44. Gamera (1965), 45. Parents (1989), 46. Rigor Mortis (2013), 47. Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), 48. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), 49. The Mist (2007)*ish 1, 50. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982), 51. Village of the Damned (1960)11, 52. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)*13, 53. The Blob (1958), 54. Corpse Bride (2005), 55. Phantasm II (1988), 56. The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962), 57. Piranha (1972) Years Spanned: 96 (1922-2018) Tally by Decade: '20s (I), '30s (V), '40s (III), '50s (VI), '60s (X), '70s (IV), '80s (XII), '90s (IV), 2000s (VIII), 2010s (V) B&W/Color: 23/35 Rewatch/Total Counted: 7/57 Countries: 'Murika, Canada, Blighty, France, Germany, Estonia, China, South Korea, Japan Fran Challenges Complete: * Rewatch
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Oct 29, 2018 05:42
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 #94. Haunts, a.k.a., The Veil (1977) Whoa. This had a lot of surprises. It's an American giallo that's genuinely good; on top of that, it's a Cameron Mitchell movie that's actually good! Admittedly, his screen presence is the minority of the movie, but still. A woman dealing with assorted repressions and years in an orphanage following her mother's suicide has returned to live with her father (Mitchell), but as women around town are murdered with scissors, her instability increases. Great balance between the bizarre and grounded, with a real strength for slipping between the two. Another one I'd love to see cleaned up by Vinegar Syndrome or some similar folks. Originally at 6/10, gets another pumpkin for how it's congealed in memory since initial viewing. / 10       #95. Isle of the Snake People, a.k.a., Isle of the Living Dead, a.k.a., Snake People, a.k.a., Cult of the Dead (1971) Boris Karloff's final movie, though I didn't know that going into it. Better than it could have been; just look at Bela Lugosi's finish. Still embarrassing. A slopping of introductory voodoo mixed with the old zombie-raising scientist staple, spiced up with a dwarf version of Baron Samedi and some snake-dancers for Damballah. A commandante-type is interested in the military applications, of course, and some visitors are horrified by the situation, of course. Very few surprises in the plot, but the oddity of the filler scenes steps it up to compensate. I don't even have much impression of the film beyond those stretches of Samedi twisting around, and poor Karloff as the scientist doesn't get anything to match. Most of his scenes are just him sitting and providing exposition. Still, the willingness to get real weird with the physical performances carries the film higher than it really deserves, even if that's still short of earning it recommendation. / 10           #96. Dracula, a.k.a., Horror of Dracula (1958) Hell yeah, nice. Still jumbling up some details, but at least this seems to have more reason behind its story and character alterations than the '31 rendition. That shot of Lee as Dracula raised to blood-shot fury is golden. Provides a pretty direct shot of the essential Hammer flavor, with Cushing managing to upstage Lee through presence alone. While turning Lucy into the sister of one of the men who were trying to marry her is more than slightly strange, his character is an enjoyable component of this version, with the breaking down of his disbelief into desperation making him probably the strongest audience surrogate (tempting as van Helsing may be). It did strike me how much the child's acting improved for the last scenes, I wonder what happened to cause such a sharp turn in quality. Looking forward to the sequels in which Lee comes into stronger form. / 10
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Oct 29, 2018 06:25
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#30- Strait-Jacket Joan Crawford stars as a woman who chopped up her husband and his mistress with an axe, was found legally insane, and locked away in an asylum. Twenty years later, she's released and goes to live on a small farm with her now-grown daughter, but she's dogged by nightmares and memories, and well, eventually the axe starts falling again. William Castle directs from a script by Robert Bloch, and of the wave of films that came soon after Psycho, this holds up pretty well- there's legitimate drama, good visuals, and of course Crawford gets to act her heart out. This is a subgenre that bears closer inspection, I think.
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Oct 29, 2018 06:53
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Ok, the last of my “random year picks” before I get to a few saved ones… 46 (51). The Astro-Zombies (1968) Available on Amazon Prime.   The CIA is in search of Dr. Demarco, an ex-employee who is attempting to create “quasi human” Astromen who can withstand the rigors of space and get brains transferred into them or something. Its kind of confusing. But the Astroman is on the looks killing beautiful young women and there’s an international cabal of evil spies looking to get ahold of the technology. You’d expect a really schlocky B romp, right? That’s what I was expecting. Sadly this is like 90% Dr. Demarco, the CIA, and the evil multinational spies just talking and trying to explain the plot and macguffin. It might make sense, I don’t know. I was zoning in and out waiting for aliens or zombies or something to show up until I realized it just wasn’t gonna happen and accepted I was just waiting this thing out. The Astromen do show up but they’re really just ineffective Jasons in goofy skeleton masks who have to hold flashlights to their forehead or they’ll die. Its weird. And not in a fun way. Also, they’re super rapey. It was kind of fun that Dr. Demarco is played by John Carradine, patriarch of the Carradine clan and father of David. I’m sure I’ve seen him in other stuff but it was fun to notice. Even if like everyone else he just kind of stands around trying to explain what all his beeping machines are doing. Man, those posters looked more fun. You gotta think Kuroneko would have been better. Well, at least we’re onto the last couple of planned and highly anticipated movies. In fact, both my final years/films are in the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” So lets get going. 47 (52). Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Available on Kanopy.  Dr. Bennell returns to town after weeks away to find that much of the town is convinced that their loved ones have been replaced by imposters. The seemingly impossible shared delusion of the town sends him down a path as he discovers the evil taking over his town and threatening the very future of humanity. The original film that spawned many remakes and knockoffs and introduced us to the concept of “pod people.” I’ve probably seen every version except this one. I was gonna watch it earlier in the month and follow it up with the 70s remake I haven’t seen in awhile, but ah well. Was even hoping to find the 90s version I remember kind of liking. But instead I ended up just saving it for one of my last films of the challenge that I hoped would deliver and finish off on a high spot. And it 100% delivered. Just a really great film that has almost no slow spots. It takes a break here or there to catch your breath but then another turn and danger immediately surfaces and its off and running again. This is gonna be another one of those “I don’t know if I have anything new to say” reviews because I don’t know if I do. Its an incredibly well done movie that doesn’t lose anything 60 years later. Kevin McCarthy as the lead is great and Dana Wynter is both stunning and compelling as the understandably exhausted but not “helpless damsel.” I do wonder if its a tiny but problematic that I’m enjoying these suave white male leads with beautiful love interest 50s movies so much. I might have to freshen up with something more modern. But at it doesn’t feel backwards or outdated besides it being a town of only white people. I don’t know, weird digression. Anyway, despite knowing the basics of the story the cool thing about these movies is that there’s still plenty of twists and turns you have no idea about since its about people in the story. Sure, you may know that the Invasion of the Body Snatchers is basically about alien pod people replacing humans but you don’t know how things work out for Miles or Becky so you’re engrossed in their fates. What was kind of surprising was that the movie kind of ends on an optimistic note with them discovering the pods and actually taking his warnings seriously. I wasn’t expecting that at all and completely subverted my expectations that he’d just get locked away as humanity fell. It reads like the original ending was much more hopeless and pessimistic and its how I seem to recall all the remakes and knockoffs ending. It reads like the director wasn’t happy that the studio made him change it and I can understand that, but its interesting that 60 years later it actually makes the original kind of unique in that way and unexpected. If a modern retelling changed to a happy ending we’d trash it for ditching the original intent for mass appeal. But since it was the original that went for mass appeal its a real subversion of what my mind was expecting. Just funny how that seemed to work out. There’s obviously all kinds of political and social allegorical ways to read the film from the time period and today. But as I try and form any of that in a calm way I just know that’s not possible so rather than inciting a fight with someone I’ll just bypass that and appreciate this as a surface horror film and a universal, timeless fear. But yeah, great film. Maybe one of my favorite of the countdown. Great penultimate choice for my 31 Years. I got one more year left and I planned to watch it tonight, but its 2 hours and I don’t think I’m up to it tonight. So even though I wanted to finish with this tonight I’ll have to make it the featured viewing for tomorrow night. I might try and sneak another movie in tonight. Something with a different tone or length that I think that can hold my attention tonight. Its not like I wasn't going to be watching horror movies tomorrow night anyway, so its just a little rescheduling. But I’ll have to settle with getting it down to 1 year with 3 days to go. 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 #7: 27 (29). November (2017) / Fran’s Challenge #8: 28 (30). Escape From Tomorrow (2013) / 29 (31). Horror of Dracula (1958) / Fran’s Challenge #9: 30 (32). The Open House (2018) / 31 (33). The Innocents (1961) / 32 (34). The Brides of Dracula (1960) / 33 (35). Resolution (2012) / Fran’s Challenge #10: 34 (36). The Endless (2018) / 35 (37). The Oblong Box (1969) / 36 (38). Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) / 37 (39). Ex Machina (2015) / 38 (40). Night of the Creeps (1986) / 39 (41). Night of the Demon (1957) / - (42) Scream (1996) / - (43). Scream 2 (1997) / - (44). Scream 3 (2000) / Fran’s Challenge #11: 40 (45). Scream 4 (2011) / Fran’s Challenge #12: 41 (46). Possession (1981) / 42 (47). Devils of Darkness (1965) / 43 (48). I Drink Your Blood (1970) / 44 (49). The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) / 45 (50). Blood and Black Lace (1964) / 46 (51). The Astro-Zombies (1968) / 47 (52). Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
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Oct 29, 2018 07:07
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 19. Viy (1967) Watched on Youtube Russia's first horror film, adapted from the same Gogol story that inspired Bava's Black Sunday. This is a neat piece of folk horror; it's done in a very minimalist style, and though the plot is simplistic, it has a few interesting departures from the expected, especially in the last quarter of the film. There are some pretty creative shots here - the early attempt at "drunk vision" is neat, and even the more obvious greenscreen shots, like a witch surfing on a flying casket, are smart enough to use motion to disguise it. The central character isn't the most complex, but he's reasonably charismatic and has some human flaws - enough to keep you invested. It feels like a pretty traditional witch folktale until the climax, when they really go all out and just dump all sorts of things on you. There's goblins, vampires, werewolves, witches, and demons on display, and the makeup is interesting and fun, even if it hasn't aged all that well. Worth a view for all the glorious Cossack moustaches alone, but if you're a fan of early horror films, it's an interesting look into the output of a country with weirdly few horror films. / 5---  20. The Quatermass Xperiment, a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown (1955) Watched on DailyMotion FRAN CHALLENGE #11: Dead & BuriedThe first "Hammer Horror," and the movie that paved the way for them becoming synonymous with the genre. This was a way overdue watch for me. I was surprised by how well this held up, since for whatever reason a lot of 50s horror tends to feel a bit sluggish to me, but the pacing here is pretty snappy, and while it's not what I would call a high-tension film, it's smart about when and how to raise the stakes. Oddly enough, it has sort of a documentary feel to it that actually works in its favor, though I can't quite put my finger on why. The makeup work is great, and actually quite a bit more brutal than I was expecting, and the creature still looks pretty good too, especially compared to some of the other practical effects work of the era. I will say that the ending felt super abrupt, but I can't deny its effectiveness as a sequel hook. The influence of this movie on The Thing (and lots of other sci-fi horror) is huge, and just generally speaking, this is a very solid, foundational part of the horror genre. .5 / 5---  21. Cat People (1942) Watched on Youtube This was excellent. Briskly paced, strong performances, and the dark, noir-ish use of layered shadow is just gorgeous. I'm not really even sure how I would classify the aesthetic of this movie - it's like...symbolist horror, I guess? The way they echoed imagery in subtle ways, like juxtaposing an actual bird cage with shadows that look like a cage around the character, are really cool, and it's super impressive how much tension and unease they were able to squeeze out of literally nothing but lighting and strong sound design. It's neat watching this for the first time and seeing stuff like the bus scare and the swimming pool scene that have been imitated so many times (that's definitely what that scene in It Follows was riffing off of, yeah?), but it's all done so well here that it doesn't feel stale. I'm kind of curious to watch the '82 remake just to see if it captures any of the atmosphere of the original. .5 / 5--- So Far: Tremors | Blood and Black Lace | Cube | Killer Klowns from Outer Space | Kuso | The Fog | Borgman | The Tenant | Braindead | Al Final del Espectro | The Boxer's Omen | Phase IV |Der Student von Prag | The Invisible Man | Balada Triste de Trompeta | Gozu | Annihilation | Hour of the Wolf | Viy | The Quatermass Xperiment | Cat People Total: 21/10 Challenges: Years Spanned: 1913 - 2018 Decades Represented: 1910s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s Countries Represented: United States, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Colombia, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Russia Grizzled Patriarch fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 07:13
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Grizzled Patriarch posted:I'm kind of curious to watch the '82 remake just to see if it captures any of the atmosphere of the original.
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Oct 29, 2018 07:31
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33. Horror of DraculaFranchescanado posted:
The only Hammer film I ever saw was The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and that one didn't do much for me, but I heard it was an outlier with all the martial arts. Much like with the Universal flicks I decided to give Dracula a try and see where that would lead me. In the end I guess I expected more. It has the theatricality of the Universal movies, but lacks the wonderful sets. It feels too modern to work as a classic, but too dated to be enjoyable as a modern film, if that makes any sense. It occupies its own place in time and that isn't one I particularly care for. On top of that the pacing is really off things like the one-time joke with the customs inspector in a movie that doesn't do humor just feel out of place. Even Lee, jumping over the table, seemed more like amateur theater than an icon of horror. 34. Phenomena Franchescanado posted:
Franchescanado posted:Phenomena picked by King Vidiot: "It's Dario Argento, it's Jennifer Connelly, it's Donald Pleasance. There's a deformed killer on the loose, and only Jennifer Connelly and Donald Pleasance and the power of psychically-bonded bugs can stop them! Featuring gratuitous and inappropriate Iron Maiden songs, a hyper-intelligent chimp, and did I mention Donald Pleasance? Can't recommend this movie enough, it's completely bonkers, especially that finale." This certainly delivered everything King Vidiot promised. Outside of Suspiria giallo never really worked for me, but this one is on point. It starts off a bit slow, but once things get rolling in the last half hour it just goes completely nuts. Sometimes I wasn't sure if it was a parody, but in a good way. The last scene has the best deus ex machine ever. I was laughing my rear end off.
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Oct 29, 2018 09:07
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Someone actually put this on my radar awhile back but I completely forgot about it when the Fran’s Challenge rolled around. I was just cruising through my streaming options to see what caught my attention and saw it so figured I’d give it a watch. 48 (53). Ghost Stories (2017) Available on Hulu.  Phillip Goodman’s family was torn apart by an overly religious father so he’s dedicated his life to exposing spiritual and paranormal frauds, but the man who inspired him asks him to disprove three cases he never could and it sends Goodman down a path of questions. There’s more interesting posters but I don’t want to overexcite you with anything too promising or interesting. This one feels the most appropriate. I didn’t like this much at all. Its not really an anthology, I’d say, since none of the individual stories within it actually even get a finish and the “wrap around” story is obviously really just the plot of the film. If it was an anthology I could have seen myself getting into any of the individual stories, but it wasn’t so I just felt frustrated that as soon as they got interesting they were done. It starts to get more interesting when Martin Freeman shows up and starts pulling things together but that’s more than an hour into the film. And then that actually ends up not really coming together much at all with the ultimate reveal/payoff. I mean, I get it. None of the questions I have or elements of the stories have to make a lick of sense because its just the random poo poo swimming around in his sleeping subconscious. But that’s kind of lovely. I have the feeling that this was a kind of intentional British thing that I just don’t like. The mini-stories ending just as they’re getting good. The characters all being unlikable. Things being introduced to have no payoff because they don’t actually mean anything. This all feels like a sort of thing that’s supposed to be funny or cute because it diverts expectations and comes up short from what I wanted or something. I don’t know, maybe I’m reading into it. If it is that sort of thing then I simply don’t actually like being trolled or teased. And if I’m just trying to make more sense of it than it is then I just think its a poorly written story with a deeply unsatisfying payoff. It was apparently a wildly successful stage play before it was a film and from the very little I’m reading of its structure on stage I can see it working much better in that format. The play seems to be Goodman giving a lecture where he narrates the 3 stories as the bigger picture comes together. I can see that working much better than this where Goodman is moving around and listening to the stories and playing a very passive role. The stage play sounds like it makes Goodman the focus so it makes the payoff seem more natural in theory. Here it just feels like a bunch of different poorly focused subjects that don’t pay off. Don’t know, but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you really like the play or really like the idea of having stuff dangled in front of you and then pulled away or something.
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Oct 29, 2018 09:23
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27 - Slumber Party Massacre 2 So this is 25% horror movie, and 50% music video. The central cast consists of an all-girl rock band (with the little sister from the first film playing the bass guitar) who has the ability to instantly turn any scene into a music video, complete with making instruments appear where they shouldn't be and creating fun coordinated dance montages.  The amazing part of the film is that once the killer shows up, he has these same abilities and more, materializing a wicked drill guitar out of thin air and breaking out into song while slashing up the teens. If it wasn't for the fact that the other 25% of the film is boring filler, this'd be one of the most fun horror films I've ever watched. Fans of the first film might be surprised at how different it is in tone and structure to the original, although don't worry, there's still some badly justified nudity and creepy violence against women. While the killer takes an eternity to actually show up, the main character's increasingly vivid nightmare sequences more than make up for the slow progression of the plot. I remarked while watching it in stream that this movie was like an episode of Freddy's Nightmares that wasn't confusing and obnoxious. I definitely recommend this film, just be prepared for a lot of rockabilly and some boring banter in the middle, and a possibly frustrating ending. 28 - The Phantom Empire (1988) This cave exploring romp barely counts as a horror movie, as it's more of a lighthearted sci fi adventure, but it does open with a man getting his head torn off in gory detail and feature cannibal mutants, so I'm counting it. The best review I can give this film is this: it was shot in 6 days and most of the sets and props were reused from previous productions, including a hovercar from Logan's Run, a giant spit from History of the World: Part I, and ROBBY THE loving ROBOT. Jeffrey Combs is in this film, essentially playing Herbert West if he had an archeology degree instead. While the film isn't satire or a comedy, there's plenty of stupid jokes and visual gags.  The movie's big flaw (aside from having no budget, making no sense and doing everything in one take) is that it has about 50 minutes of content, so after the decapitation in the opening stinger, there is what feels like an eternity of characters being introduced, explaining why they want to go into the cave, negotiating their salaries, driving around, etc. It's all horribly slow and boring filler and you'd be excused for giving up on the film. But as soon as they get in that cave, things quickly go batshit. Absolutely recommended to fans of b-movies. Best enjoyed without knowing what's going to happen, because the surprises are part of the fun.
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Oct 29, 2018 11:27
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I loved that they didn’t turn down any prop or material given to them, including stock footage of a volcano erupting just outside the cave (inside inner earth?), then it’s never mentioned again. At other times the movie is self aware enough to ask questions such as “how is there daylight inside the earth” which is answered with “ I dunno”
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Oct 29, 2018 12:17
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Felt like watching a few anthology horror films having never really dug too much into the subgenre before now, and as it so happens, a couple of the more prominent examples also qualify for challenges.Franchescanado posted:
Trick 'r Treat: Darkly comic and oozing with Halloween spirit, this film is presented less as a strict anthology, and more a series of interconnecting stories all set in the same Ohio town on Halloween night (while still paying homage to its' anthology horror roots through it's EC Comics inspired credits/transitionals and affection for ironic twists). The stories all do a good job at presenting their own unique takes on what the holiday is between different age demographics, my personal favourite being School Bus Massacre prank. My main criticism, minor as it is, is that I much prefer Sam as a onlooker and inferred influencer to forces beyond him, rather than an actual force in and of himself, as he is in the bookend segments. Likewise, I wish that they had kept his true nature up to the viewer's imagination, rather than unmasking him in the final segment. (Side Note: I swear I didn't realize I was choosing the same movie as the Challenge GIF until after I had watched it. )Franchescanado posted:
Creepshow: If Trick 'r Treat wears its' EC Comics influence on its' sleeve, then Creepshow proudly displays it front and centre. This movie fully embraces its' roots as a horror comic come to life in all facets of it's presentation, tone and aesthetic, entirely to its' benefit. Speaking just for myself, I know I couldn't resist freeze-framing and reading every time a new series of comic pages were shown between segments. As for the segments themselves, there really isn't a single one I'd describe as bad (though Lonesome Death is definitely lighter than the others surrounding it), with my personal favourites being Something to Tide You Over (in no small part thanks to a standout performance from Leslie Neilson), and The Crate (easily the most fleshed out of the bunch). Tales From the Crypt: Figured I'd follow up the previous two EC Comics inspired choices and close out with actual EC Comics. Framed as the Cryptkeeper regaling a bunch of assholes (and one lovely businessman with a walking liability of a wife) with the stories of their own impending deaths, this take is decidedly less pulpy than what I would associate with the HBO series to follow (which I should probably mention for posterity's sake that I haven't actively watched), and aside from some really obvious red paint in the place of blood in the first segment, it holds up quite well. My personal stand out segments from this one would be Poetic Justice and Blind Alleys (both stories of malicious assholes getting their just desserts), with Wish You Were Here also providing some delightfully black comedy in the form of the truly abysmal use of a (not) Monkey's Paw (though it does make me question the logic of the Gates of Hell twist ending if he can't actually die). Movies Watched (25): 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, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Gorgo (MST3K), Monsters, Inc., Halloween (1978), Halloween (2018), The Evil Dead, Motel Hell, Venom, Slither, The Return of the Living Dead, Trick 'r Treat, Creepshow, Tales From the Crypt Challenges Completed (12/13): #2 (Frankenstein), #3 (American Psycho), #4 (Mimic), #5 (Carnosaur), #6 (The Evil Dead) #7 (Gorgo (MST3K)), #8 (Slither), #9 (Motel Hell) #10 (Halloween (2018)), #11 (Creepshow), #12 (The Return of the Living Dead), #13 (Trick 'r Treat)
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Oct 29, 2018 12:24
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Is that the Bronson Canyon cave? Fake edit: IMDB says it is! You know you've watched too many b-movies when you can identify that cave on sight. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 12:33 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 12:30
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Random Stranger posted:Is that the Bronson Canyon cave? I told you, everything in the movie is recycled.
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Oct 29, 2018 12:33
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45. Demons 2 1986 | dir. Lamberto Bava | Shudder  In some ways it's better than the original. The scope of the setting is larger, there are greater implications, the body count is much higher, there is some absurd creativity, and the soundtrack is more recognizable. It still lacks the gore and the energetic immediacy of the original. By echoing the structure of the original, it trades in the surprises from the first for playing with audience expectation. If these had been more extreme, then this would have been better than the original. As it stands, I love this trilogy, but the first and third (The Church) are superior. Highly Recommended. 46. The Innocents 1961 | dir. Jack Clayton | Rental A new watch for me. Jumped up really high on the list of "best ghost movies".  It's a familiar story, as it's a direct adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, which many consider one of the greatest ghost stories. Like it's peer The Haunting of Hill House, it's a difficult story to adapt, because the fear is not from the spirits that haunt the ground, but in the psychology and the minds of those experiencing the haunting. There are themes of repression manifesting into mental illness, and a danger in presuming innocence where it needn't be. The cinematography is astoundingly good, and it's no surprise it's by Freddie Rancis (he's worked the Scorsese and David Lynch). It's made better by Jim Clark's editing, who uses artfully composited shots to make amazing imagery. It's beautiful. There's a reason why a selling point of this film is in the editing, and why Jim Clark's name gets brought up with this film. While he only edited less than 30 films in his career, horror goons may recognize his name from directing the Vincent Price horror film The Madhouse. I'm very excited to revisit this beautiful haunting film. Highly Recommended 47. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 | dir. Tobe Hooper | Shudder  No new insights this time around. My buddy came over and asked to rewatch this, and I of course agreed. It's hilarious that they thought this would be a PG movie. It's just bonkers levels of horror and cruelty and derangement. If you can, please watch the 4k restoration of this. I only had the 1080 HD version, and I as bougie as it is, I was missing that high quality transfer and improved sound design. Highly Recommended. 48. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 1988 | dir. Dwight H. Little | Shudder Franchescanado posted:
 I know this movie isn't good, but I like it just enough to give it a passing grade? Danielle Harris is excellent. You can tell they wanted to start up the franchise with a new killer, and they wanted to do it with the victim of this movie. They needed a solid child actor, and she nails it. The foster child angle isn't a bad decision at all, even if the writing tries to force our sympathy between the two sisters getting along. It's also the first Halloween to concentrate on trick or treating! Characters being stalked by a masked killer while trick or treating is a great direction for a Halloween sequel! It's better than a trip to the hospital, at least. It doesn't fully deliver on the premise and it doesn't really do anything suspenseful with it, but I still think that making a Halloween tradition part of the plot of a Halloween sequel is a smart move. There's some surprisingly cool gore. Michael digs into flesh like it's human clay. It's a weird choice for a slasher, but it's gross and neat when it happens. The score is lame as hell and the Halloween theme sounds like a ring-tone. The mask is bad. I dunno. I like this enough to keep it in the rotation. 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 | The Witchfinder General | Curse of Chucky | Puppetmaster | The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) | Alice Sweet Alice | Halloween ('18) | The Lords of Salem | The Changeling ('80) | Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56) | Bruiser | Scarab | Street Trash | A Page of Madness | Demons 2 | The Innocents | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Total: 48 Fran Challenges:
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Oct 29, 2018 13:51
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 199- Son of Dracula 1973 - VHS TRANSFER I still remember the soundtrack LP for this with the fold out wings with a collage of images from the movie inside. That was enough to make little me make it a life goal to watch this movie someday. When VHS became a thing, I tried my damnedest to track this down, but mention Son of Dracula, and everyone thinks of the Universal one. I'd mostly given up trying to find it until I eventually managed to acquire a copy. It's about standard for the rock musician vanity projects of the day. Pretty much as Ringo Starr's concerned, this film does not exist. Story's simple. Count Dracula's Lord of the Underworld and after his assassination, it's onto his son, Count Downe to assume the mantle of ruler. Naturally, he wants something different. It's a mishmash of elements of Hammer with whatever sounded good. In fact, if you said no drugs were involved in the making of the movie, I'd call you a liar. On the scale of cheesiness, it's somewhere on the cusp of cheese food product and real cheese. Much like Adam Sandler films are an excuse for him to get his friends together, this was Ringo getting a bunch of friends together for jam sessions with some movie bits thrown in. Harry Nilsson's songs are really the best parts of the movie. It is a fave of mine just from my growing up memories. In fact my avatar on Discord's the label from the LP.
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Oct 29, 2018 14:00
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A very intense week at work has kept me from posting during peak Halloween time but I just wanted to say I've still been really enjoying all the reviews. It's been a perfect way to take a 5 minute break and just get my mind on something that doesn't drive me insane. I've got From Beyond on tap for tonight and Return of the Living Dead for tomorrow, so all is not lost.
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Oct 29, 2018 15:55
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I'm anxious to hear what you think of From Beyond.
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Oct 29, 2018 16:03
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28. Evil Dead (2013) Watched On: Library Blu-Ray This is probably my favorite movie that I've watched for the Horror Challenge. I think I even like this better than the original. The characters, specifically the central pairing of Mia and Dave, are super compelling and the setup of trying to get Mia sober is a solid plausible reason for the group to stay in the cabin after poo poo starts getting weird. And whoo boy, does it get weird. The gore and effects in this movie were top notch and ran the gamut from over-the-top blood geysers to incredibly upsetting defensive wounds. Those were the moments in the movie that got me shuddering and cringing (the syringe stabs on Eric and little machete nicks when Mia was crawling through the walls in particular). The demonic possessions were genuinely creepy and I felt the stakes more and more as the movie progressed and the slightest chance for hope became visible. I had a loving blast with this and I hope other people will too!
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Oct 29, 2018 16:19
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 58. The Fly (1986) - Blu-ray Do you like practical effects, horrific tragedies, melting bodies, and 'sploding heads? Then you've probably already seen this and love it. I prefer the original for rewatches but this is great. I've never watched it through and only remember some of the transformational stages from the couple times my father rented this on VHS. The Blu-ray looks fine but this isn't one that needs the picture quality. Muddier VHS quality suts the material just fine which may show to be an unpopular opinion but one I'll stand by. Now to try catching up on some commission work before work work. Tomorrow starts the Evil Dead franchise rewatch. Probably just the first with II and Army of Darkness double-featured on Halloween before trick or treating. Then toss in the remake when home from the after party. 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), 17. Maniac (1934), 18. Thirst (2009)7, 19. Horror Hotel (1960), 20. Event Horizon (1997)*, 21. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)3, 22. Frankenstein (1931)*, 23. Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967), 24. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), 25. The Funhouse (1981)6, 26. Beetlejuice (1988)5, 27. Fright Night (1985)2, 28. Son of Frankenstein (1939), 29. The Terror, 30. A Cure for Wellness (2016), 31. Blood Diner (1987), 32. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), 33. The Killer Shrews (1959)9, 34. The Devil Bat (1940)9, 35. The Bat (1959), 36. Alien Apocalypse (2005)*, 37. Dave Made a Maze (2017)8, 38. Wrong Turn (2003), 39. Last Woman on Earth (1960)4, 40. Halloween (2018)10, 41. I Sell the Dead (2008), 42. Village of the Damned (1995), 43. Beast from 10,000 Fathoms (1953)*, 44. Gamera (1965), 45. Parents (1989), 46. Rigor Mortis (2013), 47. Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), 48. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), 49. The Mist (2007)*ish 1, 50. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982), 51. Village of the Damned (1960)11, 52. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)*13, 53. The Blob (1958), 54. Corpse Bride (2005), 55. Phantasm II (1988), 56. The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962), 57. Piranha (1972), 58. The Fly (1986) Years Spanned: 96 (1922-2018) Tally by Decade: '20s (I), '30s (V), '40s (III), '50s (VI), '60s (X), '70s (IV), '80s (XIII), '90s (IV), 2000s (VIII), 2010s (V) B&W/Color: 23/36 Rewatch/Total Counted: 7/58 Countries: 'Murika, Canada, Blighty, France, Germany, Estonia, China, South Korea, Japan Fran Challenges Complete: * Rewatch
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Oct 29, 2018 16:25
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 #42. Critters 3 (Vudu) - /5Charlie, the bumbling town drunk turned extra terrestrial, is still mopping up the Critter infestation from the last movie. A lone one manages to lay its eggs in an urban family's truck, who unwittingly take them into the big city. There, the creatures hatch and begin attacking the family and their fellow neighbors in a tenement building. A blatant time-water even if you liked the far superior Critters 2, it's little more than a footnote in Leonardo DiCaprio's career, a random IMDb piece of trivia more than an actual movie worth of consideration on its own merits. The Critters should be the stars of the show, but they're sidelined and relegated to sporadic appearances until the last half hour or so. Even then, the limitations on the puppets keeps them from being able to do too much. They tried to keep the goofier spirit of Part 2 in play here, treating the Critters more like cartoon characters that can get disemboweled, but they screw up those elements when they put them into play. (There's a terrible edit on the bowling gag, which shows the monsters get hit before the sound effect plays, which is just poor execution. They also whiff on the initial "Critter eats dish soap and starts burping bubbles" bit, but the joke doesn't get cut in quick enough to land with any force. I did like the retread later though, where the soap burping Critter gets the top of his head cleaved off, so his corpse is still spewing bubbles out of the top.) This is also a movie where only the bad guys get eaten and all of the good guys get away mostly unscathed but for their dignity, so there's a weird tonal problem where the bad, broad comedy and the gore effects don't play well against each other. Also, I liked Charlie the Bounty Hunter from 2, and I get that there isn't much else you can hang the "continuing story" on if you want continuity in your goofy sub-Gremlins direct-to-video horror series, but I really didn't care about the whole cliffhanger set up for a Part 4 of this whole thing. Don't threaten me with more, movie, when you're already currently this bad. Not recommended. Watched so far: Cat People, Halloween 5, Mom and Dad, Hell House LLC, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Beetlejuice, The Horror of Party Beach, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, The Return of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Murder Party, Anaconda, Dracula (1931), The Ritual, Blade II, The Beyond, Sleepaway Camp, Lord of Illusions, The Mummy's Ghost, Children of the Corn II, The Mummy's Curse, The Prophecy, Child's Play 2, Halloween II (1981), Hotel Transylvania, Psycho (1960), Halloween III, The Creature Walks Among Us, Train to Busan, Frankenstein (1931), The Addams Family, Bedeviled, Halloween (2018), The Old Dark House (1932), Pumpkinhead, Friday the 13th Part 2, Dead & Buried, Summer of 84, Bride of Frankenstein, Jigsaw, Son of Frankenstein, Critters 3
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Oct 29, 2018 17:45
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 200- The Night Stalker 1972 - DVD I admit to missing the Movie of the Week on regular TV. Lots of horror gems were there with Dan Curtis behind them like Norliss Tapes and Trilogy of Terror. This one's the most influential I feel since without Kolchak, there'd be no X-Files or Supernatural. Kolchak's a down on his luck reporter who stumbles upon the real reason for a string of murders in Vegas with no one believing him with what he knows. This was enough of a hit to spawn a sequel and a series which I watched faithfully when it was on. I've even bought what books they have on kindle which aren't bad. While this is dated by today's standards, it's very much worth a watch for the horror history it is.
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Oct 29, 2018 18:13
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