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30. Horror Noire - 3.5/5 -  SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #3 - HORROR NOIRE quote:there's nothing i love more in this world than hearing people open up about why they love this low budget, "trashy", looked-down-upon genre. this was a very sweet documentary.
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Oct 12, 2019 14:36
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 Franchise: Lost Boys My first awareness of Lost Boys came when I was at some rinky-dink Dr. Who convention way back in the day. I was waiting in line for them to open a room for a panel and was sitting with everyone else on the floor. A couple people walked down our line handing out free buttons. One was for Spaceballs, the other for Lost Boys. At that time only lost boys I knew of was from Peter Pan, but I kept the button anyway since free stuff's free stuff. It wasn't until later on when Fangoria covered this new vampire film that now I was really interested.  58) The Lost Boys - 1987 - DVD Originally the cast was supposed to be Goonies cast age when Richard Donner was assigned to direct. Schumacher decided to age everyone up which I think was the better call. Every bit of this one's perfect. From the cast, to the soundtrack, to the better than the one on Eurovision Sax Guy. Only negative I have is this film likely started the evolution towards prettyboy vampires. If you haven't seen this already, you need to change that fast as possible.  59) Lost Boys: The Tribe - 2008 - DVD The idea of a sequel had been bounced around soon as the box office numbers started to roll in on the original, but for various reasons didn't pan out until this one. As an entry into the franchise it's fine, but as a sequel to the original, it's not that good. There was a comic, Reign of Frogs which detailed events from the first film to this one. It was okay, I wasn't crazy about the art. The plotline springs from the surfers partying on the beach that David and the others feed upon. One managed to survive and end up creating the Tribe.  60) Lost Boys: The Thirst - 2010 - DVD I'd say this one was better than Tribe, but not by much. Qualitywise it's a mixed bag and I did kinda like the ending potentially adding in the angle of werewolves into the franchise. It does feel more like a sequel compared to Tribe. Final Thoughts: The franchise has brought some interesting angles into the vampire concept such as what you eat reflects on you. The Tribe vampires fed at times on sharks, they had black eyes and a more bestial look compared to the ones feeding on humans and looking more human. There is another comic from Vertigo which feel more like a proper sequel and there's potentially a TV series in the works if the powers that be ever sort their poo poo out.
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Oct 12, 2019 15:04
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 Blood Suckers From Outer Space A zero budget movie out of Texas about a zombie virus that is carried invisibly by the wind. I love these really cheap movies and while this one is watchable, it misses more than it hits. The zombie make up is that of some kid that realizes trick-or-treat is starting in 30 mins and just slaps together what he could find around the house. Not necessarily a bad thing, but lacks the wit of superior cheap movies such as Hauntedween  /5 A Dark Song Watched blindly based on a single sentence synopsis. A woman hires an 'occultist' to preform an intense, 6+ month ritual that will see them locked in a house preforming grueling tasks. This movie moves super slow but builds some really good tension. The end doesn't exactly deliver, but doesn't flop. This is a case of gaining too much momentum and not having enough brakes and/or track to bring it back to the station. / 5 Viy I watched this for the October challenge last year, and I love this movie. Great effects and a great, timeless story make this a solid 5 for me. The short run-time made me suspicious, but it fits the time just right. The ending overshadowed the beginning for me on my first watch, but this time I was able to enjoy it all. The finale and ending are just great. A hearty recommendation / 5Seen; Stepfather 2, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, House Of Dracula, Murder Mansion, Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb, Your Sweet Body To Kill, Legend of 7 Golden Vampires, Bloodsuckers From Outer Space, Viy, A Dark Song
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Oct 12, 2019 15:41
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15. Blacula (1972) SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #3: Watch a film mentioned in Horror Noire that you haven't seen before In 1780, African Prince Mamuwalde is turned into a vampire by Count Dracula after travelling to Transylvania in an attempt to get the Count's support in ending the slave trade (Dracula, unsurprisingly, turns out to be in favour of it). After the castle's contents are bought wholesale by a pair of antique dealers in 1972, the renamed "Blacula" awakens in Los Angeles and sets about seeking a young woman named Tina, who Blacula believes in the reincarnation of his long-dead wife. I had always assumed that Eddie Murphy's Vampire in Brooklyn was a 90s remake of this film, and while there are a lot of similarities (chief among them being the cab drivers Juanita Jones/Julius Jones), it's clear now that the two films are different enough. And that Blacula is the better film. William Marshall portrays the tragic Prince Mamuwalde with an incredible amount of dignity, and it's something that Marshall had to work to get into the film. Even though he's technically the film's antagonist, you feel a great deal of sympathy for Blacula - he never asked to become a vampire, and his only real goal is to reunite with his beloved wife Luva/Tina. I also feel compelled to mention the film's Van Helsing substitute - I don't think even Anthony Hopkins' manic version of the professor wouldn't, upon coming face to face with a vampire, immediately grab a spade and smack it across the face. Just don't think about how Blacula learned about photographs and that he wouldn't show up in them after only 2 nights in 1970s Los Angeles... 16. The House That Jack Built (2018)  Jack, a serial killer who likes to call himself "Mr. Sophistication", recounts key events in his life and "career" as a serial killer through the 1970s and 80s to a companion, "Verge", as they go on a journey together. We see through flashbacks several of Jack's kills, as well as his attempts to build a house by himself, which he seems unable to do because of his OCD and perfectionism. I've never liked Lars Von Trier. I'd just started my Film Studies degree at university when his Dogma '95 manifesto was getting a lot of attention, and I remember all of us in my class thinking that it was a lot of pretentious bollocks. But I was curious as to how this film would be, especially after people started complaining about its brutality, and so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think the worst thing about this film is that itwas so very nearly a great film. Matt Dillon, looking like an evil Bruce Campbell, is brilliant in it, and at least some of the basic portrayal of Jack is a very accurate picture of what a serial killer would be like. One scene, where Jack keeps trying to leave a crime scene after a murder but has to keep going back inside because his OCD keeps telling him he must have left bloodstains there even though he knows he did not, is a really good portrayal of what it's actually like to have OCD. But Von Trier just can't help himself, and so we get a scene where, while Jack talks about how atrocities are "art", we get clips from all of Von Trier's previous films to illustrate his point. The whole meta-plot with "Verge"/Vergil and Dante's Inferno is pretty clear from early on in the film, but Von Trier has to make sure he hammers the point home, as though he thinks his audience is too stupid to get it on their own. Yes Lars, we get it. Now shut the gently caress up. Also, the film's epilogue was wholly unneccesary, as I counted three points where the film could have had a good, organic end before that, but it just had to keep going. 17. Viy (1967)  A seminary student has an encounter with a witch, whom he beats severely in order to escape. The next day he is called to a house to pray for three nights for the soul of the landowner's daughter... who turns out to be the very same witch, who has since died from his attack on her. Oh Russia, your films are always so memorable. Sure, watching this in 2019 the effects are beyond dated, but they still have a certain charm to them, and the film also shows that even the most basic of filmmaking and camera techniques (such as endless slow circles with the camera) can still be very effective. The witch's nighttime attacks are meant to be unnerving and disorienting, and the slow, steady pace of the story adds a dreamlike quality to the whole film. 18. Mystics in Bali (1981)  Cathy, an American writing a book on black magic throughout the world, asks her friend (lover?) Mahendra to help her learn about Leák magic for her book. Mahendra introduces her to a deformed old woman, the Queen of the Leák. She agrees to take Cathy as a pupil and teach her of the Leák black magic, but the Queen also has sinister plans that involve turning Cathy into a Leyak, so she can gather blood for the Queen to restore her youth and vitality... Yup, this is a movie that involves a woman's head and internal organs detaching from her body and flying around at night, to suck the fetuses out of pregnant women. And because it was made in 1981, the effects look like they were done with craft scissors and a Spectrum ZX. Not to mention how everyone seems to take the revelations of evil witches, black magic and Leyaks with remarkable calm, like they'd all been downing Night Nurse just before coming on set. It's cheesy and hilariously bad, but also a must-watch, especially with friends. New: (14); Jacob's Ladder (1990); Dead Ringers (1988); Prom Night (1980); Exists (2014); Cure (1997); Ravenous (2017); Alucarda (1977); Who Can Kill A Child? (1976); The Seventh Curse (1986); God Told Me To (1976); Blacula (1972); The House That Jack Built (2018); Viy (1967); Mystics in Bali (1981) Rewatched: (4); Exorcist III; Halloween (2018); Dead Snow (2009); What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
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Oct 12, 2019 16:13
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#10: Friday the 13th (1980) Watched on DVD Having watched this movie for nearly two decades, the original Friday the 13th no longer holds a lot of real scares, but it's still an absolutely fascinating movie. It can't really claim to be the prototype for slashers, they had been going on for most of the preceding decade, but it does feel like the point when they turned into a mass-market product. The movie looks about as good as you would expect for a half-million movie, and is acted just as comparably, though the sound is wonderful. The music only coming in when the killer is actually present is a novel detail to notice, and the 'ki ki ki ma ma ma,' is exceptional and iconic. Top it off with the Mrs Voorhees reveal and you have something really interesting; how many slasher villains pull it off with a baby blue cable knit sweater? The franchise could have done something really interesting with its villains and the repeated attention to teen sexuality, but rather than saying something interesting, it feels like it holds at mere surprise and titillation. I know that speaks more to where the series goes from here than this movie itself, but it always strikes me as a 'what could have been,' while watching it. .5/5Watched: 1. From Beyond 2. Evil Dead 3. Phantasm 4. Candyman 5. Phenomena 6. Boar 7. Mandy 8. A Quiet Place 9. The Crazies 10. Friday the 13th
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Oct 12, 2019 16:27
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 #75) Invaders From Mars (1953) Wanted to check out the original before moving on to Tobe Hooper's remake. And this turned out better than I expected, what with 'traditional American values' being the tool used against humans. Actually had me feeling pretty tense at times. Roughly a Body Snatchers plot, with people acting strangely and uniting in a conspiracy. And no one will listen to the young boy who's clued in to what's going on. There are some narrative leaps (like the way the boy gets to keep hanging out with the counter-force even when it moves up to army level), but it's all gelled together in a way that makes it relatively easy to buy the developments. And there's the dream ending in some cuts, which makes that fit even more. I think it would have been enormously more effective if we'd never seen the true forms of the aliens, which they do save until late in the film, but that probably would have had monster movie attendees of the time complaining about cheaping out. I did like that we're given a reason for the aliens invading at this given time, instead of it being the common 'they just wanted to invade' reasoning. The ending is a bit wobbly after the very solid lead up to it, but I can't imagine a major studio of the time getting away with something that thematically followed from the implications of the preceding material. rating: 7/10"Please, God, let them find Mom and Dad before they do something awful."
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Oct 12, 2019 16:28
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 #13 Creep 2 2017 Netflix This is a good sequel. It takes the premise of the first film, twists it just a little (this time, the format is a Vice-style Youtube doc and not a video diary,) and expands upon it in a way that changes the formula: in Creep 2, rather than the affable dupe of the first movie, the killer’s quarry is, herself, predatory and cunning. Sara is a videographer who, however she may like to dress it up, is trying to find the right freakshow to bring herself fame. She’s found her ideal mark in Aaron, a self-described serial killer who wants to document his trade as a means of breaking through a mid-life crisis. Though viewers of the first film will recall that Aaron is an actual murderer, Sara is less convinced. What she does key in on with acute emotional awareness are his vulnerabilities, his moments of stupidity and hubris, and his desires. The dynamic between these two characters is thrilling, and most of this 80 minute film consists purely of conversation between them. They test one another’s ethical and emotional limits and wrestle for control of the narrative. Unfortunately, like in the first film, things become less interesting when they devolve into slasher fare. Thankfully, this is considerably less of a focus than in the preceding picture. What’s frustrating about Creep 2 is that the movie is usually at its most interesting when Sara is dominating Aaron. It felt as if the natural ending of this movie would be to have Sara emerging as the victor, and revealing herself to be a resplendent predator- in whatever form, as a newly minted killer, exposing herself as a practiced murderer, or simply reducing Aaron to an emasculated video subject. Instead, we get an extended ending sequence that seems to suggest that the final conflict between these characters will take place in Creep 3. That’s tiresome and feels like a cheat. 3/5
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Oct 12, 2019 16:55
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SUPER SAMHAIN CHALLENGE #3: Horror Noire 3) Candyman (1992)  It's a big testament to how good this movie is that the first half before Tony Todd even shows up is so engaging. Once he does show up he completely dominates the movie but before that Helen's investigation into his legend is very compelling. I loved the use of the run down apartment complex as if it was the ruins of a castle in a gothic horror story. The fantastic score only added to this. Between the exploration of urban legends and the commentary on the treatment of both women and minorities in society there is a lot more that can and has been said about this movie. Also, quite a lot of bees. Strong recommend. Flying Zamboni fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Oct 17, 2019 |
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Oct 12, 2019 17:04
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10: In the tall grass ABCs: I Patrick Wilson is just delightful and he should be in more stuff. This was fine, if nothing special. I do agree with others that it suffers from its length, I think it would have benefited from either being a short, or leaning into it and doing more on the “how and why” as a 3 parter or something like that. It feels like a good old fashioned King story though and I’m glad we’re finally starting to get good adaptations recently.
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Oct 12, 2019 17:14
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 16. Brightburn (2019) (digital) An alien spacecraft crashes in the woods near the farmhouse of Tori and Kyle Breyer, and inside is an infant that they decide to raise as their own. They name him Brandon, and for over a decade they live a seemingly normal life. As Brandon turns 12, he starts to act strangely and develops dangerous powers, putting everyone around him at risk. This is literally just "what if Superman, but bad?" I think the premise has a lot of potential, but this film didn't quite live up to my expectations. A story about a kid with incredibly powerful abilities but without the maturity to control them (or lack of empathy due to being alien) could've been really interesting, but it feels more like Brandon is just evil for no real reason. If he's there to take over the planet or whatever, why bother doing poo poo like scaring family members or leaving his little symbol all over the place? With his powers he could kill people instantly and would have no reason to fear getting caught by the police, but he chooses to sneak around and lurk in the shadows and generally act like a slasher movie villain. Overall I enjoyed this well enough - there are some fun scenes and some pretty gnarly gore - but it does feel like a waste of a good premise. If you're interested in it, I think it's worth checking out, but don't set your expectations too high. 3/5 Total: 16 Watched: Dead of Night | Child's Play (2019) | Escape Room | Hell Night | The Wind | Evil Dead (2013) | Cure (Samhain Challenge #1) | Tigers Are Not Afraid | The Craft | Tower of London | In Fabric | Popcorn | Cube | Uninvited | Galaxy of Terror (Samhain Challenge #2) | Brightburn
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Oct 12, 2019 17:47
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24. Oct 11, 2019 Psychos in Love (1987, Gorman Berchard) Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Clearly with heavy improvisation and not much money, but often funny and silly. I'm not big on slashers, but this being a romcom about serial killers makes it more than trash. It does have plenty of sleaze to it, which makes me believe there's only a thin line between slashers and porno. It's also a surprisingly sweet film, between all the dismemberment and blood. 3/5 25. Oct 12, 2019  Blood Feast (1963, Herschell Gordon Lewis) Criterion Channel This is my first HGL film and it's a lot of fun. There's something both hilarious and unsettling about Lewis' industrial film aesthetic. I'd imagine audiences in 1963 really got a surprise with such a film. I love how phony all the gore looks - just lots of red paint and raw meat, but it only adds to the "mental hygiene film from hell" feel. 3.5/5
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Oct 12, 2019 17:51
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 19. Bride of Re-Animator (1989) Dir: Brian Yuzna (Amazon Prime) First repeat offender on my challenge list! I watched Faust: Love of the Damned for the other challenge I'm doing on Letterboxd (Hooptober), but that was before the thread opened here. It's been ages since I watched the first Re-Animator, so I could be remembering it wrong, but this movie never gets to the point where it feels as wild as the original. Part of it might be down to diminishing returns, part of it may be down to Brian Yuzna just not being quite as solid a director. The movie starts out rough. It does get close towards the end, thanks to effects by Screamin' Mad George and John Carl Buelcher. Definitely still an enjoyable watch, at least in part because a lot of the principals are back (even David Gale!). And even if the directing isn't quite as tight, Yuzna still knows how to direct the hell out of some body horror. 1. Candyman 2. The Wailing 3. Spookies 4. One Cut of the Dead 5. Viy 6. The Driller Killer 7. Tammy and the T-Rex 8. Friday the 13th Pt VI: Jason Lives 9. Scary Movie 10. Ice Cream Man 11. Freaks 12.The Hills Have Eyes 13. Spider Baby 14. Lady Terminator 15. All The Colors of the Dark 16.Tales From The Hood 17. Man Bites Dog 18. Prime Evil 19. Bride of Re-Animator Friends Are Evil fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Oct 12, 2019 |
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Oct 12, 2019 17:54
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11. Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991) How do you make us root for the slashers in a slasher movie? Make the victims Nazis. Pretty delightful and well-made prequel that goes all out on making the puppets the good guys, which considering how cute and gimmicky they are is probably for the best. The stop motion work is great, though I wish there were more of it, and most of the human drama actually works, with a late game-revelation about the true nature of the puppets that kind of floored me for its sincerity and weirdness. A gem of the direct-to-video era, and a treat for anyone who enjoys watching nazis get theirs, which should be everyone. 3.5/5  12. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)  Probably my biggest horror blindspot. This has most of the shortcomings you expect from sci-fi of this era (hello female lead running in heels for four feet before collapsing), but it's 88 minutes of pure, relentless paranoia. This thing moves from the moment the pods are first discovered all the way to that incredible scene on the freeway that, if not for studio interference, should have ended the movie on a hauntingly unresolved note. Easy to see why this has been remade so many times, it's an irresistible, endlessly adaptable metaphor while still functioning on the level of a nightmare. 4/5 
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Oct 12, 2019 18:02
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 #76) Invaders from Mars (1986), a.k.a., Invaders Alright, let's see what Mr. Hooper can do with this. As soon as the Last Starfighter-ish opening credits music started up, I had a feeling this remake wasn't going to be going for the sort of tone I'd been hoping for. Early on, the faithfulness to the original comes through strong, down to the angle of the fallen fence, but things diverge as the film goes on. The invaders are better at hiding their nature, sort of; I feel like the original stiff angriness would have been more unnoticeable in the '80s than the quirky tells they have this time. The filming is more dynamic, colorful, and expressive (there's a wonderful shot during a conversation between the parents and the nurse that zooms in so slowly it makes them all seem to be on a conveyor belt heading down the hallway), but the pacing and tension feel shot to pieces. Things get too obvious too fast, the invaders give tells to authority figures very early on, we visit the alien base about a third of the way into the movie, and the clean arc falls into messiness shortly after. The creature design is detailed, and they're impressive from a practical effects perspective, but it feels like it was crafted to aim for the child's POV side of the story, and does nothing to elevate the sense of paranoia and infiltration. I guess I was hoping for TCM-mode Hooper, and got TCM2-mode, so I might like it more revisiting while knowing what flavor I was gonna get. It's been another 33 years, so hopefully this will get another remake soon, hopefully by someone like Brandon Cronenberg, Jordan Peele, Isaac Ezban, or Jennifer Kent. Someone who can really bring out the moody sensation of being able to trust no one, without leaping into armed conflict. I get that I'm basically wanting an entire different movie, and it is neat to have something like this aiming for appeal to kids. But that aim leads things to feel like it's essentially mean E.T. at times, which isn't too satisfying to me at this point in my life. I'm a little staggered that they kept the original ending, it just compounded my general disappointment. Ah well, could have been worse. rating: 6/10"Marines have no qualms about killing Martians!"
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Oct 12, 2019 18:09
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 #77) Not of This Earth (1957) More of a slow-cooker alien invasion film, this time from the perspective of the lone visitor. There's a sympathetic motivation, and the movie strikes a good balance between 'fish out of water' and 'merciless invader' themes. While I'm sure a lot of people would find this movie to be stuffy and slow-moving, it scratched the harder sci-fi itch I developed with the Invaders from Mars pair. On top of that, Dick Miller shows up for a brief scene, always a treat. The movie gave me things to think about, which has been uncommon in my string so far, and a lot of it stemmed from focusing so much on the growing unease of the people around the alien. Since he's clueless, of course he needs a guide, and since he's sick, of course he needs a live-in nurse. But as much as he tries to insulate them from the outside world, once they're in his employ, his failure to understand the social nature of humans leaves him vulnerable. I have to admit, for a lot of my viewing time, I was wondering how they ended up at a remake with Traci Lords. I guess I'll find out. rating: 6/10"Don't be a drag, you know how you flip me." "I'm hip."
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Oct 12, 2019 19:48
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 Body Bags Great short stories. Hamil's was the best one, though the others were really good. 4.5/5  Innkeepers Friend made me watch this. She had seen it before, but I hadn't. Main character is endearing and cute, acting is good. Small budget feel. 3.5/5
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Oct 12, 2019 20:17
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 #10. Head Count (2018) (First watch) A group of college kids summon an entity that hides among them to pick them off. This was....neat? It was a bit inconsistent in terms of pacing, with a majority of the action happening at the end of the third act. Not much really happens until then in terms of the plot, which isn't bad because the characters are actaully decent. It's a fun watch.
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Oct 12, 2019 20:46
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 #78) Not of This Earth (1988) Archive.org. Yes, Traci Lords stars, but it's also directed by Jim Wynorski. I had a bad feeling about this one as soon as I saw that, and the goofiness of the opening didn't help, but the credit for the same composer as Chopping Mall did. Slightly. From the first post-credits scenes onward, there was a lot of word-for-word recreation, but the lead this time lacked any of the restrained menace the original had. And then the prostitutes showed up. The special effects are even cornier than in the '57 one, but I do like the new designs for some of the alien equipment. This pretty much had all the disappointing kinds of changes of Hooper's Invaders from Mars (more special effects, less subtlety, less dread, more childishness), without anywhere near the talent to match the updates that one implemented. The score matches the doofier vibes, and it's kind of impressive how much of the dialogue still felt contemporary without editing. Wynorski's T&A injections didn't change the flow of the story at all, and while I thought that all the monsters in the opening credits were going to be part of a twist on the original, it seems they were just pulled-in footage from other films. Lords does a passable job with her scenes, and that's about it. I wasn't taken with it, but I also can't muster up enough distaste for it to really slag it. It's a pointless remake with nothing but horniness to add to the original, which was strongest when it dealt with the feelings of isolation and alienation. If you've gotta watch a horror film with Lords in it, go with Blade or Excision instead. rating: 5/10"Besides, I like working for the doctor. We're kind of a team, you know? Like Laurel & Hardy." "I am unaware of these doctors."
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Oct 12, 2019 21:07
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11) The Void (2017) This was plugged to me as Carpenter meets Lovecraft, and I can't disagree with that. It's not as good as Prince of Darkness, which is the movie it reminds me most of, but I appreciate the way it drops you in at the middle and expects you to roll with it.
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Oct 12, 2019 21:21
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#23: Mermaids: The Body Found rewatch  I was looking for found footage/fake documentaries on Youtube and his popped and I was like, yeah I'll watch that again Mermaids: The Body Found tries very hard to make you think it's a horror movie. The jump scare, the grainy cell phone footage, the mysterious photographs, the blue filter, the ominous music. It's trying to make you think this is a spooky horror movie. But it's not, it's an alternate biology movie. Like an alternate history story, but biology instead of history. Instead of what if Hitler had won, it's what if pre human hominids had evolved into an aquatic mammal. It starts by laying out Aquatic Ape Theory, and then imagining what would happen if a one branch of the species had just kept on trucking with that, eventually becoming full on mermaids. I found it to be really compelling and interesting. It's structured really well, with the modern day investigations being paired with the history of mermaid evolution, and the investigators finally being convinced that they've got a mermaid corpse right as mermaids reach their modern form. That's also where the movie basically admit it's not a horror movie and is just like, c'mon how cool would it be if mermaids were real? M:TBF does have a couple knocks against it. It doesn't really make sense that the government would keep mermaids secret. And some of the actors don't come across as 100% real in the interview segments. And the CGI is not good. Which is fine for the recreation scenes, because it's a Animal Planet documentary. But for the couple shots that are supposed to be genuine mermaid footage, it's pretty not great. So it's not as easy to accept to M:TBF as a genuine artifact, which is what you want from a fake documentary. But it's strengths as speculative fiction override it's weakness as a fake documentary, imo. Plus it's got that song from Sunshine, and you put any footage to that song and it's great. So yeah Mermaids: The Body Found is a well made and compelling alternate biology movie.
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Oct 12, 2019 21:29
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10. Ghostbusters  Another classic I got to see on the big screen for the first time this year. It's Ghostbusters, nuff said.  11. VIY  Glad this was shown on the stream, what a delightful old Soviet movie! I got to give them props for what they accomplished with very rudimentary and early effects, but outside of the spooky scenes the film didn't do a whole lot for me. It's worth seeing once, though, for sure. quote:1. The Shining [5/5 Spooks]
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Oct 12, 2019 22:00
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 #79) Not of This Earth (1995) Let's try this again. Very first scene is a couple doing some heavy petting, with the guy saying "My nads are the size of beach-balls," so that wasn't promising. But as soon as Michael York showed up in the role of the alien, things improved. I appreciated this version's increased emphasis on the visitor learning rules, laws, and social expectations, and the addition of super-speed-reading. More emotional depth to him than in the original, and more conflict. Jennifer Coolidge has a bit part as a nurse, John Carl Buechler has a cameo, Richard Belzer has a main role, and most everyone seems to be putting real effort into their acting. There's some nice moody lighting, too, and the alien communication device is a lot cooler this time around. The sex appeal moments are incorporated so much more effectively than in Wynorski's remake, but I'm both impressed and a little mystified at how beat-for-beat the overall structures of both are in following the original. Maybe Charles B. Griffith had an 'X% must adhere to the original script' clause in his contract or something. Being from the mid-'90s, and part of a 'series' that's always been about harvesting blood, it's unsurprising that some discussion of AIDS comes up. What is surprising is that it's done in a relatively inoffensive way, and actually builds it into the narrative in a (relatively, again) thoughtful way. Considerably more successful at updating the story to modern times than the '88 version, but without a big name like Traci Lords to boost it, it's understandable why this one has apparently been forgotten. rating: 6/10"Remember, it is your duty to serve the hive."
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Oct 12, 2019 22:44
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#24: The Crazies Oh hey, it's Timothy Olyphant! And the chick from The Flash. She does a really great job, especially considering her character is just "Some lady". But she still manages to make Some Lady more compelling than the main woman lead, who gets slightly more characterization as Pregnant Wife. You know what I wanted from The Crazies? Crazies. But The Crazies is remarkably Crazy-lite, and most of the Crazies aren't that Crazy. There's one a mortician who stitches closed the eyes and mouths of cadavers, and also one living dude somehow, and that's great. If the movie had more of that, I would've been 100% on board. But that is by far the most Crazy Crazy. All the other Crazies just kill people. Mostly with guns. The scene in the poster is pretty good, but beyond that way too many of the Crazy scenes are just "a guy with a gun is trying to kill us" and their Crazy status doesn't even enter into it. A massive problem this movie has is pacing. Or maybe it's escalation. Or both. Whatever it is, it's a problem. There's three unrelated standalone Crazy incidents, and then the army comes in. And at this point the evacuation of the town is largely peaceful and orderly. Then one Crazy drives a truck through the army base, everybody runs away, and the next thing you know Main Street is on fire. Like, literally, the characters walk onto Main Street and every building is a little on fire, the street is strewn with rubble much of which is also on fire, and I have no idea how that happened. Did the Crazies do that? The military? The Crazies fighting the military? That would've been badass to see, if that's what happened*. And that's like the halfway point of the movie. There's still another 50 minutes to go. And it doesn't escalate at all, the characters just kinda go from one place to the next, including multiple places we've already been. And then the movie eventually ends. I dunno. There's definitely some good scenes, and good performances. But The Crazies overall is competent and somewhat promising in the first half, and then boring in the second half, limping from one uninspired action scene to the next. Give it a pass, imo *there's two antagonistic forces, the Crazies and the military, and outside of a truck driving through a fence you never see them fight. It's bullshit.
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Oct 13, 2019 00:09
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I kind of like the Crazies but I completely agree about the pacing. Its a weird movie that takes a little while ramping up the dread and paranoia, then shoots it through the roof, and then spends a really long time getting to its end. I just like that first half a lot but I tend to zone out on rewatches.
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Oct 13, 2019 00:23
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I did really like the parts in the beginning where the Crazies were more weird than violent. And even when they were violent they were detached from it. Which made it doubly disappointing when all they did in the second half was try to kill people, often with guns
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Oct 13, 2019 00:30
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 #80) Dreamaniac (1986) Tubi. Another DeCoteau, and his very first non-porn directing credit. In this, a metalhead has nightmares of a mysterious and murderous woman, and it's affecting his sleep schedule. Meanwhile, he's trying to balance his relationship with his girlfriend with his song-writing, and stress is creeping up on him. A sorority party at his place isn't helping matters, and as the night goes on and his dream girl appears in reality, he becomes increasingly unstable. The very first character to appear in this is a fully nude dude, so salute to DeCoteau for sticking to his guns. This also has the catchiest opening theme of any DeCoteau movie I can recall. I don't have much else to praise in this, sad to say, as the kills are uninspired, the atmosphere is spotty, and some of the line delivery takes they went with are incredibly wooden. The last stretch takes forever to get where it's going, but a power drill comes into play, so that almost balances things out. And the ending would be much funnier if the film were actually titled Succubus. Lily, the dream girl, is the strongest presence to be found, slinking around the party and teasing everyone she encounters. The dialogue (in written form) can be amusing, as it aims for '80s teen party spirit and veers just enough off the mark that things come to genuine life in spots. Very effectively hits the rental horror sleaze spot, though, so if that's something you're looking for, you could do worse (for example, DeCoteau's follow-up, Creepozoids). rating: 5/10"Your brownies are a big hit, you'll have to give me the recipe sometime." "Right, just don't make them for Mom and Dad." Darthemed fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Oct 13, 2019 |
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Oct 13, 2019 00:34
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Gripweed posted:I did really like the parts in the beginning where the Crazies were more weird than violent. And even when they were violent they were detached from it. Yeah, its one of those films I come across every now and then and say "Why isn't this more loved? I think I liked it." Start it up and go "Man, this is fun, this should get more love." Then I remember "oh right, this is when it grinds to a halt and stays there for a really long time..." and I go and find some chores to do.
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Oct 13, 2019 00:47
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October 12 - The Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fv3gU-ed7Y I've missed out on the Shyamalan renaissance in the past few years. I didn't even know this was one of his until I put the disk in. I guess I'm watching two of his movies this month. Two teens are going to visit their estranged grandparents for the first time at the grandparents' remote farm. One of these is a budding filmmaker who is set on documenting the entire process. The grandparents are friendly, but a bit odd. They might be falling into the early stages of dementia. Or maybe something more suspicious is happening? Also, the world's most intense game of Yahtzee occurs. I feel like this is a minority opinion on this movie, but I kind of liked this. The found footage format didn't really work to the movie's advantage and the story could be better paced and even if you're not looking for a twist you'll figure out what's happening but there's a fundamental unease to the film that works. The Visit brought to mind those forums for estranged parents where the posts take on a sinister air when you read between the lines and work out why the children want nothing to do with those parents. There's a sinister air of abuse and manipulation that hangs over everything when the movie is watched in that context. The question of why the grandparents are estranged is always there, A certain amount of the movie is "old people are gross". Considering the perspective characters, it's something I think works in that context when it might not in others. Dealing with naked grandma wandering around in a daze would be horrifying to a thirteen year old. So I think The Visit winds up being more than the sum of its parts. I think it ends a little unsatisfactorily in the final conversation ("it wasn't them, it was me" feels wrong as a resolution to the estrangement) and it's kind of sloppy, but I still thought it was decent.
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Oct 13, 2019 01:17
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Random Stranger posted:
I think the CineD hivemind has decreed the movie to be dope. I personally thought it was a great mix of scary and hilarious, something that Shyamalan has always excelled at.
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Oct 13, 2019 01:57
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Random Stranger posted:I feel like this is a minority opinion on this movie, but I kind of liked this. The found footage format didn't really work to the movie's advantage and the story could be better paced and even if you're not looking for a twist you'll figure out what's happening but there's a fundamental unease to the film that works. I think it was generally well received around here. I definitely enjoyed it anyway!  17. Body Bags (1993) (Shudder) Despite the fact that John Carpenter is one of my favorite directors of all time, I've never gotten around to watching this one. I guess I didn't realize how much of the film was his. Not only did he direct two out of the three segments here - he also stars as the "host" of the framing story. I'm not sure I've ever seen him act beyond little cameos, so it's great to watch his super hammy Crypt Keeper-esque performance. It's basically nothing but rapid fire puns and goofy jokes, and it looks like he is having fun in the role. This movie also features several big names in horror acting in minor roles, including Wes Craven, Roger Corman, and Sam Raimi. The first segment, called "The Gas Station" and directed by Carpenter, is pretty solid and probably the best one out of the three. It's about a young woman working her first overnight shift at a gas station on a night when a serial killer has escaped from a nearby mental hospital. The basic premise isn't particularly original, but it's tense and well directed and ends in an over-the-top and satisfying way. It's also set near Haddonfield, Illinois, in a neat little reference for Halloween fans - however Michael Myers is unfortunately nowhere to be seen. The second, a comedy called "Hair" that is also directed by Carpenter, is about a man who is panicking about going bald and resorts to a mysterious new treatment to get his hair back. It works, and he soon has a full head of luxurious hair - hair that won't stop growing and possibly has a mind of its own. This was my least favorite segment, although it does have some solid gags and some fun creature effects. The third, directed by Tobe Hooper and starring Mark Hamill, is called "Eye" and is about a baseball player who receives an eye transplant. He starts seeing disturbing things and begins acting violently towards his wife. You can probably guess why - variations on the "someone gets the body parts of a murderer and becomes a murderer themselves" idea have been made and remade for nearly as long as movies have existed. Hooper does a pretty good job with it, although I don't think he was nearly as good of a director as Carpenter. Overall this is a fun anthology in the vein of Creepshow and I think most horror fans would really enjoy it. 3.5/5 Total: 17 Watched: Dead of Night | Child's Play (2019) | Escape Room | Hell Night | The Wind | Evil Dead (2013) | Cure (Samhain Challenge #1) | Tigers Are Not Afraid | The Craft | Tower of London | In Fabric | Popcorn | Cube | Uninvited | Galaxy of Terror (Samhain Challenge #2) | Brightburn | Body Bags
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Oct 13, 2019 02:15
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19. The Babysitter (2017) Watched On: Netflix This was another frustrating one like In The Mouth of Madness. The cast is so damned good, the script is quippy and fun, it's excessively gory and everything turns out how you'd want it to. But it's a movie that gets in its own way over and over again. The direction, cinematography and... like weird graphical overlays all take away from what should be a much tighter overall experience. I don't need Scott Pilgrim overlays over every action or the hits of the 80s and 90s blaring over every montage. It's too much. But it's still worth a watch, if solely for the performances. Samara Weaving is both charming and over the top, Andrew Bachelor (the Vine guy!) gets a lot out of a pretty limited role and Robbie Amell totally steals the movie as the overly enthusiastic shirtless murder junkie. It's a movie that I like which I think I could have loved if it was handled better.
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Oct 13, 2019 02:18
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26. The Addiction (1995, Abel Ferrara) Arrow Blu-ray This is the first Ferrara film I've seen and now I want to see everything he's made. A brilliant meshing of vampires, actual life horror, and addiction. Lily Taylor is brilliant in the lead. There's also a great scene where Christopher Walken shows up. It's also in high contrast black and white. I especially found fascinating the religious aspect (one of the behind-the-scenes bits shows Ferrara's apartment where he's editing has photos of Mother Theresa and Orson Welles on the wall). 4.5/5
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Oct 13, 2019 02:28
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 Super Samhain Challenge #2 Dead & BuriedBuffy, the Vampire Slayer  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jUONxiMA4U Looking through the list of celebrities that passed in recent years, I was reminded that we lost Rutgar Hauer a few months ago. And I thought, "Surely a man who worked in as much schlock as Hauer" must have made the horror movie rounds. Turns out, not really. The only one I spotted in his filmography was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (comma included in the film title). Turns out this is kind of a two-fer since I completely forgot that Luke Perry also starred in this movie. The plot: into every generation is born a slayer. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of the night. This time it's valley girl Buffy's turn as she's recruited to fight vampires. You know, there's something off about a movie with feminist themes that can't pass the Bechdel test. I wasn't even looking for that; it just occurred to me at the end of the movie that there wasn't a conversation between any of the women in this movie that didn't turn to boys. It's really difficult to not compare the movie to the television show due to getting a much better version of this same concept a few years later. Still, you can spot some Joss Whedon witticism occasionally in the lines. Regardless of what you think of the rut Whedon dug for himself later, it makes this movie more fun. Which it desperately needed because so much of the rest of the movie falls flat. I have no idea how the vampire hoard was defeated at the end of the movie (not much of a spoiler, the vampires don't beat Buffy). They were rampaging in one scene and then when we return they're all dead and staked. There's several jumps in the plot like that which don't make sense, that's just the one that stood out the most for me. I'm watching this film for Rutgar Hauer so I need to say something about his performance. Unfortunately, as the head vampire he isn't given a lot to do. To the point that he's completely outshined by Paul Reubens playing his flunky. Hauer isn't imposing or funny or clever or scary or fun. He's just a creep who's into very inappropriate relationships with high school girls. Luke Perry, FWIW, was also incredibly bland as the scruffy love interest who gets caught up in the slaying to the point that I feel like the movie would have been better without him. If Buffy the movie existed by itself in a vacuum, it would be a near miss for me; some clever lines don't make up for the rest of the film being either bland or incoherent (even in the context of a goofy movie). Placed along side the much more enjoyable television show (well for the first few seasons at least), it kicks the movie down another peg. Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Oct 13, 2019 |
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Oct 13, 2019 02:51
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https://twitter.com/KennethJWaste2/status/1183204021806555136?s=20
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Oct 13, 2019 03:16
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 The Vampire Lovers, 1970 Despite being a life long horror fan, I'm a bit of a latecomer to Hammer Films. In the last few years, I've started to truly discover how great they are. They brought back classic horror in the the late 50s and 60s, only with more blood than what the old film could get away with. They are the very bridge between classic and modern horror. But the start of the 70s is where Hammer Films really started to crank up the sex and violence, and this movie is the start of all that. The Vampire Lovers got it all. Blood, tits, nudity and lesbianism. The plot is fine and all, but what makes these movies so great are they are oozing with style. So I'm not even going to talk about the plot at all. I'm just going to fawn over the set design, the costumes, the blood, the foggy ruins of the castle in the night, the fact Peter Cushing is in it. This is porn for fans of old school horror. I loved every second of this.
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Oct 13, 2019 03:20
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Random Stranger posted:
Technically, the TV show is a sequel to this movie. They're very vague about it, but something very much like the events of the movie happened to TV Buffy, and that's why she had to transfer.
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Oct 13, 2019 03:23
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 23. Los Parecidos (2015) Netflix Interested in a feature-length take on the Twilight Zone with musical, camera work, vocal, and visual nods to Hitchcock? If so, check this out and go in blind. It was a hoot and a half for me. Can't wait to make my kids watch it. Watched - 1. Get My Gun (2017), 2. The Last Man on Earth (1964), 3. It Stains the Sands Red (2016), 4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), 5. Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil (2017) *Tied for Current Favorite*, 6. Halloween (1978), 7. One Cut of the Dead (2017), 8. Phamtasm II (1988), 9. Ramekin (2018), 10. Les Affamés (2017), 11. Braindead (1992), 12. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), 13. The Haunting (1963) *Tied for Current Favorite*, 14. House of Wax (1953), 15. Shock (1946), 16. Annihilation (2018), 17. Westworld (1973), 18. Kuroneko, 19. In the Tall Grass (2019), 20. Sound of Horror (1966), 21. Rubber's Lover (1996), 22. Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), 23. The Similars (2015) Decade - 1920s, 1930s, 1940s (II), 1950s (I), 1960s (IV), 1970s (III), 1980s (I), 1990s (II), 2000s (I), 2010s (IX) Black & White:Color:Hybrid - 7:15:1 By Country - Canada (II), Japan (III), Mexico (I), 'Murica (XIV), New Zealand (I), Spain (II) New:Rewatch - 19:4 Super Samhain Challenge - 1. Westworld (1973), 2. N/A, 3. N/A
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Oct 13, 2019 03:37
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 #11. Slugs (1988) (First watch) Mutated slugs devour residents of a small town. Simple premise, gory execution. This is absurd from start to finish. Plot? Don't matter. Characters? Same. Watching them get eaten? The only purpose. This isn't a negative at all either, it's a positive. It's the glue to this. Nothing makes sense. That's ok though. At the end of the day what is important is watching people get eaten, and this movie provides that.
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Oct 13, 2019 04:06
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#25: The Initiation of Sarah Have you seen Carrie? Because the makers of Initiation of Sarah sure have.They changed enough to make it legally distinct, and also for nothing to work. Instead of literally everyone in her school, only the members of a mean sorority pick on Sarrie. And she is a member of a different sorority where she is completely accepted. So why doesn't Sarah turn to her sorority sisters to help strike back against the evil sorority? Shut up, that's why. The initiation of Sarah's version of the blood scene has Sarah standing in her sorority house doorway while the evil sorority throws mud at her. Why doesn't Sarah just go back inside? Why does she stand there for like 45 seconds while people throw mud at her? Shut up, that's why. Sarah's sorority is run by a satanic woman who apparently gives no poo poo about the sorority and just kinda hopes that eventually a psychic girl will pledge and she will be able to use her psychic powers for evil? It doesn't really make sense. And then she pulls a surprise human sacrifice and just expects everyone to roll with it. In Carrie Carrie's death is tragic and senseless and makes you feel bad. But in Initiation of Sarah, Sarah just basically chooses to die in fire, I guess because she has now done literally a single bad thing and so must end her life? And it's basically OK because her happier, prettier sister who has never done anything wrong joins Sarah's sorority in her place? Kinda gross. If The Initiation of Sarah had been a regular movie instead of a made for TV movie, there would've been so many boobs in it. You can just tell, this would've been a boob movie. But instead it was made for primetime TV so you don't even get a single boob. I could go on in this way for awhile, but I think y'all get the point. The Initiation of Sarah is a bad Carrie ripoff. But that doesn't mean it has no value. It has one value. Look at the poster. Look at the left most face. It's Morgan Fairchild! Notice that her name isn't on the poster? This was Morgan Fairchild's first named role. And she kicks rear end. Her performance is a delight. Even this early in her career she was a fantastic actress with insane screen presence. The Initiation of Sarah has quality Fairchild, but literally nothing else.
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Oct 13, 2019 04:08
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 05:04 |
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Behind Maslow posted:
Slugs is probably my second favorite "animals go crazy and start attacking people" movie. It's weird that something so specific has enough movies to be a horror subgenre. It's especially weird that there's so many species of small animals that can be driven to start attacking people.
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Oct 13, 2019 04:34
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