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Happy Shocktober first everyone! 1. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors  First time watch My favourite of the series so far, I love where the creativity is going after finding 1 a bit bland and 2 a joke. They did some fantastic prosthetic stuff in this, and tying each method of dream torture into each kid's character was interesting. I'm really enjoying kicking off each Shocktober with a Nightmare film, although now the series is getting really fun I might decide to watch the rest before next year! Oh and one extra note: loved the metal song in the closing credits, so much that I'm now looking into the discography of Dokken to decide which album of theirs to get first. Scariest moment: Either the veins being used as puppet strings on that one dude, or the souls of kids screaming through Freddy's skin. Body horror where faces are in places that faces shouldn't be really freaks me out. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 09:11 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 08:58
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1. The Blair Witch Project (TBS): So this was on at work last night and I said gently caress it, might as well. As a person who lives in the woods I still find that movie oddly unsettling. The acting is mediocre and you don't even see a cool witch (yes I know that's the point). Still pretty solid. It was on TBS so there was no swearing so that's at least a half a point off. 3.5/5 2. Z (Shudder) Z started off so strong and then got so dumb. Essentially a mother begins to realize that her son's imaginary friend is real. That is a cool concept that can be played a lot of cool ways. The way they chose was that the imaginary friend actually laid dormant in the mom until she had a son for it to attach to, because as a small child, the mom had promised to marry her imaginary friend. Her husband gets killed and she promises to go live forever with the imaginary friend. She is told, more than once, that the imaginary friend is her creation, in her head. Instead of showing one bit of mental fortitude and un-creating the thing, she hangs herself in a bid to either die or become mentally deficient enough to no longer have an imaginary friend. It is dumb. Upside: it has Sean Rogerson in it, who played Lance Preston in Grave Encounters. Glad he got out of that asylum. 1/5 Untrustable fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 09:05
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 40) Blood Freak - 1972 - Archive.org Without question, I've sat through a ton of horror films of varying quality. I could break them down into categories such as 'waste of time', 'give a second chance', or 'not sure if serious or satire'. Blood Freak's definitely in the latter category. I'm not sure if it's the strangest drug PSA ever made or a satire of drug PSAs. It starts with a Vietnam Vet trying to get his life together who comes across Angel who's very much into spreading the Word. They go to her house where her sister Ann is having a party with her hippy friends. While Angel's preaching, Ann's trying to get the Vet to toke up with them but he refuses. Later on Ann gets him to try some and of course, he's immediately addicted to the Devil's Lettuce. He also gets a job at the girls' dad's turkey farm where of course they're doing experiments on the turkeys to get a higher yield faster but they don't know if the meat's going to be fit for human consumption. Guess who gets to eat the turkey meat to see if it's okay with a bribe of more weed as incentive. He has a seizure after eating a whole turkey and gets dumped into the woods to hide the body where he mutates into a guy with a demented looking turkey head that now craves the blood of potheads. With that much of a synopsis, one can see why I don't know what to make of it. I hope it's a satire otherwise having a PSA about 'Don't eat turkey when you've got the munchies!' is an unusually specific PSA.
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Oct 1, 2020 09:56
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gey muckle mowser posted:lol I knew what it was supposed to be but couldn’t figure out how the bottom part fit in, I forgot about the second half of the title gently caress yeah, I suck and I should stop. 4/31 (30th September)  The Smudging - Guessed by DDD I was interested that it's a recent film that starred Native people and was shot in a real Native American Museum (in Chicago). Fair bit of hope there would be some fresh ideas and swaying away from usual tropes but sadly this leaned in to the tropes as well as repeatedly using very annoying jump scares with bad special effects. It's a no-budget found footage horror which are ten-a-penny and I find it hard to recommend. It's on Amazon Prime. The Hausu Usher fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 10:44
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5) Spooky, Spooky (鬼猛腳) - 1988 Okay, so there's a ghost dragging people underwater to their deaths. A local beach cop suspects there's an evil spirit killing people, and wants to close the beach, but no one believes him. So far this is Jaws with a ghost, then for some reason a Ghostbuster in a Doc Brown wig shows up carrying a ghost radar, then the movie decides to copy something else entirely and becomes Hong Kong beach cop Evil Dead. Also it's directed by Sammo Hung. 6/10. Worthwhile if you like goofy 80's HK movies.
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Oct 1, 2020 10:53
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I can't believe there's a film called The Smudging, I'm glad it's focused on native people and not just a few sisters to the spice rack
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Oct 1, 2020 11:03
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 5) Twice Dead (1988) Trailer Seen on: free onTubi; also available on Amazon Prime The Cates family is broke; fortunately, they've just inherited a deserted old mansion in California that once belonged to a famous (and suicidal) Depression-era actor, Tyler Walker. The family's problems start on arrival at the house, when they discover that a group of the most late-'80s scuzzy punks you can find are using the decrepit mansion as a drug den and playground and they don't want to give it up without a fight. Siblings Scott and Robin take it upon themselves to try and scare off the punks with their special effects knowledge, but soon the ghost of Walker himself decides to intervene in the conflict with deadly results... This is one of several movies I decided to watch for this challenge because the cover art on the VHS tape made an impression on pre-teen me while at the video store. Overall it's not bad for a Roger Corman-produced horror movie (released through his Concorde Pictures label) - it moves at a decent clip and the actors are game, particularly the siblings (Robin is played by the love interest from Night of the Creeps) and the gang's leader, Silk. There's a trigger-happy shotgun dad, a car chase with a hearse and a Trans-Am and, unfortunately, the cat dies (The cat is named "Meow," by the way). There's two showcase sequences here, one where the siblings lure the gang into the house and convince each member with makeup effects that the others have been killed (some of these effects are professional grade, how are they doing this?) and the one at the end where the punks get their comeuppance. There's a twist involving one of the gang members and the house that you can see coming a mile away, and it even has a blatant THE END?!, so it has all the elements you need for cheesy '80s horror. Enjoyed watching this one. Bruteman fucked around with this message at 11:12 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 11:06
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Debbie Does Dagon posted:I can't believe there's a film called The Smudging, I'm glad it's focused on native people and not just a few sisters to the spice rack The film created the idea of SAGE GRENADES in the fight against evil spirits, which is maybe it's one good idea!
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Oct 1, 2020 11:08
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3. The Invisible Man (2020, HBO Max) I liked this movie a lot. No other movie has made me anxious about staring at empty spaces, except probably Hereditary. It starts off tense and stays wire-tight throughout. I really dug the stealth suit and the little subtle details about it. I also really enjoyed the whole hospital sequence. My only real issue is that Elizabeth Moss' character knows exactly how to use security cameras to get her revenge, but never once does the movie make reference to the cameras all over the mental hospital she's in. They talk about "firsthand accounts", but no one is like, "oh hell, the footage shows a person flickering in and out of visibility, tuning up our security guys". The effects were fantastic and for being a movie about an invisible man who could pop up anywhere, it had relatively few jumpscares. 4.5/5
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Oct 1, 2020 11:59
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7. Catacombs Several hundred years after a demonically-possessed man is sealed in the catacombs of a monastery, a young woman arrives to do some research there and the demon begins to awaken. Also known as Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice, this was actually made before Curses II and III, but when the distribution company went bust it sat on the shelf for a few years, until someone decided to release it under the Curse IV title to try to capitalise on that series' "success". It also stars Ian Abercrombie, so we've technically gone from Count Dooku in III to Darth Sidious in IV. This movie actually started off quite interesting, with a possessed man who looked like Geralt of Rivia if the STDs caught up to him and some spooky goings on. Then in the present day, when we meet several of the monks they're interesting and likeable people. Alas, this doesn't compensate for the fact that, after the opening, very little happens. A couple of monks get slapped around telekinetically as the demon gets free, there's an Italian woman who turns up to make ominous predictions that people will die, and then at the end there's your usual battle between the demon and a priest having a crisis of faith. Overall, it's better than Curse III, but not by much. 1.5 out of 5. Letterboxd Totals: 7 5 new (The Abominable Dr Phibes; Session 9; the Curse; Curse II: The Bite; Curse III: Blood Sacrifice; Catacombs) 1 rewatch (The Grapes of Death)
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Oct 1, 2020 12:34
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6) Twilight (2008) I've never seen or read a twilight before. What I knew going in: Teenage melodrama Sparkle vampires The author named her self-insert protagonist "Beautiful Swan" Fans are on "Team Edward" or "Team Werewolf Guy" I know I'm not the target audience and I swear I went in with an open mind. The main cast are fine and I kind of liked Bella's relationship with her parents. The baseball scene was mildly funny. There's very little plot or stakes (e: lol stakes) until near the end when they need to fight a bad vampire. Bella has a group of school friends who have nothing to do with the story, but get a lot of screentime, though not enough for me to care who asks who to the prom. This is an adaptation problem. I'm sure fans of the books got more out of seeing these characters interact. It's not heavy on special effects, just speedy moves and sparkles, and they look terrible. The whole film is visually drab. I'm unclear why a hundred year old vampire attends high school if he's not a predator. There's no edge to Edward's character, he's a fluffy bunny. There's one scene where they try to make him seem dangerous when he rescues Bella from some rapey frat boys but it falls flat because he doesn't brutally murder them. Lame. I don't know why he's so pouty when there are no downsides to being a vampire Robert Pattison is very pretty even if his hair is stupid. Watchlist: Tenebrae; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; Body Melt; In Search of Darkness; The Monster Club; Twilight (total: 6)
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Oct 1, 2020 12:49
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M_Sinistrari posted:
What makes Blood Freak so bizarre is that it's a Christian horror drug propaganda film. Which sorta explains why it's extreme in weird ways and then stupidly tame in others. And why pot makes the protagonist act like he's a junky.
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Oct 1, 2020 12:58
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bitterandtwisted posted:6) Twilight (2008) Stephanie Meyer recently released Midnight Sun, which is the events of Twilight told from Edward's perspective. It goes someway to explaining his poutyness. As a psychic and magically beautiful being, his mind is flooded all day with people creeping on him in uncomfortable ways. Added to this he also has the usual issue of controlling his hunger constantly, the "you're my brand of heroin" line is very literal. His existence, along with the existence of at least one other notable character, is constant torture, hence the rather heavy suicide themes in the later books/films. I enjoy all brands of trash 
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Oct 1, 2020 13:05
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I Cut Your Flesh (2020) Watched on: Blu Ray Not really much to say about this one tbh. It's a documentary about an extreme self harm/BDSM fetishist and the entire thing is just her talking for a bit and putting needles into herself/cutting herself. I thought it would be more in the style of something like Black Metal Veins but it tries to take a more positive/uplifting angle. Sox is a weirdo but in a weirdly charming way, though not really interesting enough to be the subject of a documentary. Skip it unless you're bored, and even then probably just skip it. 2/10 Movies watched: 2
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Oct 1, 2020 13:34
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Edward attends high school because the Cullens are trying to blend in and appear as normal members of the community. I suppose there's no reason they couldn't claim home schooling, but like it's one of the least baffling things about Twilight. Honestly, I think the backlash against Twilight has mostly been because teenage girls like it. Aside from the deeply unsettling and abusive dynamic of Edward and Bella's relationship, an actual point of contention, there's not much else offensive about the series. They're more interested in the teenage angst and romance angle, the vampire elements are just kind of dressing.
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Oct 1, 2020 14:17
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 The Mummy's Ghost This was a decent improvement over The Mummy's Tomb in my opinion. It's nothing great, but any time you add John Carradine into the mix it's a good thing. I don't know if I've ever seen him younger than in this film and he really did have such an interesting face. Some actors basically are able to make an entire career based on interesting facial structure and Carradine was one of them.  It's at this point that I started to get kinda sick of these goddamn tannus leaves. Every movie we get the story about Kharis and the tannus leaves. Brew nine tannus leaves each night to wake Kharis to defend the tomb, but NEVER MORE THAN NINE LEAVES. Rah only knows what would happen if you use more than nine leaves! It's pretty funny that when they remade The Mummy in 1999 the description of what happens when you use too many tannus leaves used(he will become a walking abomination and powerful Evil like the world has never seen!) is there but they just skip the leaves and focus more on Immotep gaining power through his regeneration. Yet again though, Chaney is wasted. I have a hard time imagining why he even wanted to be in these movies, the only assumption I can make is that he wasn't getting any other offers, but when you look at his filmography it's packed with multiple films every year so I dunno maybe he just liked working a lot and wasn't very choosy.  The Mummy's Curse This was fine, I'd put it somewhere in the middle between The Mummy's Tomb and The Mummy's Ghost, but not as good as The Mummy's Hand(do you have all of that straight?) Yet another young priest has to take Tannus Leaves 101 and we the audience are forced to sit in on the lecture. I liked how Ananka was resurrected in this one though, that was a great scene, and I felt like there was a better flow as far as pacing than in some of the other sequels. This marks the end of the Chaney run as The Mummy and I can't say that it was a very memorable one. No wonder you don't hear it mentioned all that often when you hear his career discussed. 1. The Mummy 2. The Mummy's Hand 3. The Mummy's Tomb 4. The Wicker Man 5. Hellraiser 6. The Mummy's Ghost 7. The Mummy's Curse
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Oct 1, 2020 14:34
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TrixRabbi posted:Edward attends high school because the Cullens are trying to blend in and appear as normal members of the community. I suppose there's no reason they couldn't claim home schooling, but like it's one of the least baffling things about Twilight. The main argument I remember was it was presenting those abusive dynamics as something desirable and romantic to a demographic that more likely than not doesn't have the relationship experience to judge something like he sabotaged your vehicle so you don't leave as something really hosed up. I don't think the backlash would've been so huge if the abuse presented as romance was there. It was practically almost the entire 'how to tell you're in an abusive relationship' checklist.
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Oct 1, 2020 14:43
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5. Bones (2001) Tubi A bunch of suburban youths buy the last building standing on one side of the street in a bad neighborhood in Ontario with the intention of turning it into a night club. Unfortunately for them it's haunted by the ghost of It's actually a lot better than it sounds. In a time when CGI was all the rage, it's almost all practical effects, some nice 70's style red blood, and Snoop's skeleton growing a new body. It did drag a little at times, and Snoop was decent as the vengeful ghost, but overall it was a decent watch. Also, considering my roommate has been listening to it a lot lately, we immediate picked up on the fact that "Jimmy's Revenge" is Snoop's Run at James Brown's "The Payback." Both versions contain the best line in music I don't know karate, but I know crazy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=istJXUJJP0g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW1cTzKL_LE 3.75/5
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Oct 1, 2020 15:03
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M_Sinistrari posted:The main argument I remember was it was presenting those abusive dynamics as something desirable and romantic to a demographic that more likely than not doesn't have the relationship experience to judge something like he sabotaged your vehicle so you don't leave as something really hosed up. I don't think the backlash would've been so huge if the abuse presented as romance was there. It was practically almost the entire 'how to tell you're in an abusive relationship' checklist. Unequal power dynamics, and "fixing" problematic partners are pretty common tropes in romantic and YA fiction though, for better or for worse. I didn't want to go too far into spoiler territory with The Housemaid, but it's interesting in this discussion because it roughly follows the same relationship dynamic. Linh, the Bella stand-in, fixes her looming issues in the relationship by stabbing her partner to death, because gently caress imperialism. Which is a very pragmatic way of solving the issue.
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Oct 1, 2020 15:07
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TrixRabbi posted:Edward attends high school because the Cullens are trying to blend in and appear as normal members of the community. I suppose there's no reason they couldn't claim home schooling, but like it's one of the least baffling things about Twilight. If he looked like a child sure, but it seems unnecessary for a full grown young man. The real reason he can't be graduated/homeschooled is so Bella and Edward would have a high school relationship that's more relatable for the intended audience Debbie Does Dagon posted:I enjoy all brands of trash I respect that 
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Oct 1, 2020 15:24
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M_Sinistrari posted:The main argument I remember was it was presenting those abusive dynamics as something desirable and romantic to a demographic that more likely than not doesn't have the relationship experience to judge something like he sabotaged your vehicle so you don't leave as something really hosed up. I don't think the backlash would've been so huge if the abuse presented as romance was there. It was practically almost the entire 'how to tell you're in an abusive relationship' checklist. That's a legit criticism but if you remember back to around 2008 or so when the craze was peaking the people really ragging on it weren't interested in that. It was complaints about "gay vampires that sparkle" and generally bemoaning a series that was popular with teen girls for not being targeted towards boys enough. I distinctly remember the abusive relationship component coming into conversation later. bitterandtwisted posted:If he looked like a child sure, but it seems unnecessary for a full grown young man. In the book at least he is distinctly 17 years old.
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Oct 1, 2020 15:33
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M_Sinistrari posted:The main argument I remember was it was presenting those abusive dynamics as something desirable and romantic to a demographic that more likely than not doesn't have the relationship experience to judge something like he sabotaged your vehicle so you don't leave as something really hosed up. I don't think the backlash would've been so huge if the abuse presented as romance was there. It was practically almost the entire 'how to tell you're in an abusive relationship' checklist. What you ended up with is a mixture of the two. First there was the "things for teenage girls suck" backlash against its popularity, then the actually well-argued feminist argument against the things you mentioned above, then a bunch of people from the first group co-opted the arguments of the second to justify hating it from the start.
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Oct 1, 2020 15:34
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Tarnop posted:What you ended up with is a mixture of the two. First there was the "things for teenage girls suck" backlash against its popularity, then the actually well-argued feminist argument against the things you mentioned above, then a bunch of people from the first group co-opted the arguments of the second to justify hating it from the start. Precisely.
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Oct 1, 2020 15:35
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TrixRabbi posted:
What age do you graduate in America? I assumed it was around 18?
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Oct 1, 2020 15:39
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bitterandtwisted posted:What age do you graduate in America? I assumed it was around 18? 17-19 depending on your birthday. Had friends that didn't turn 18 until the October after graduation.
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Oct 1, 2020 15:44
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They also say in the film "The younger we start in a town the longer we can stay there", so the plan is to just waste a couple of years in High School to publicly establish an expectation of their age, before moving on to regular life. E: But agreed, it's 100% a rationale just so they can hook up
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Oct 1, 2020 15:54
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#11) Dead of Night / Deathdream (1974) Boy, what a bleak film. Generally speaking, I think this film was expertly done. Sure, the metaphors in it are about as hamfisted as they come, but the emotional impact it has is still pretty powerful. This movie paints a bleak, bleak picture of what happens to people when they come back from war. How they decay, slowly, and how in turn the lives of those around them decay as well. Richard Backus puts on an incredibly cold and lifeless performance (and I mean that as a compliment!) Really moving stuff, but not a happy watch. 4 / 5 Total: 11 1. Don't Look Under the Bed (1999) / 2. Mom and Dad (2017) / 3. Daughters of Darkness (1971) / 4. Snuff (1975) / 5. Southbound (2015) / 6. The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974) / 7. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) / 8. Last House on the Left (1972) / 9. The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) / 10. Poltergeist (1982) / 11. Dead of Night (1974)
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Oct 1, 2020 15:57
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 41) Blood on Satan's Claw - 1971 - Youtube This one's a bit of a mixed bag of doing things incredibly well while lacking in others. Movie's set during the 17th century when a plowman digs up unnatural remains in a field. He goes to bring attention to them but by the time he returns with the authorities, they're gone. Not long after the young people of the village are seen playing with some of the bones and they begin to change. To start with where the movie did things right: 1) It pays attention to it's setting history. Most films of this sort just call it at the Christian vs Pagan/Satanist angle. Here we also see the other direction of thought of Reason vs Superstition that would eventually bloom into the Age of Enlightenment. 2) It gets the dialect of the time period correct. Until fairly recently, it's been a mixed bag when it comes to showing period accurate dialects. It's either the Try Hard where they slather on the 'thee', 'thou', and 'prithee' without even bothering to look at the grammar rules; the Deadwood where it's mostly accurate until a word sound silly and they swap for something modern (consarn got swapped for modern swears); or the Don't Bother where they just go modern dialect. It's one of those things one might not think much about, but it really helps shape the film's setting. It put a smile on my face considering how many primary sources I went through for research papers on the era and hearing what I'd read. Where the movie dropped the ball: 1) It does feel a bit 'busy'. It's like a combined anthology of multiple stories shaped around a central event. While some more recent anthologies are going this route, here it doesn't quite have a smooth overall tone. 2) Touching a bit on the previous, but it does have shifting inconsistencies. Some in the occult touched are able to slice off the devil skin they manifest while others are murdered and worse for theirs. With no reason given, it comes across as meanness for shock value. 3) Showing the Devil. For most of the movie, you only see parts and hear it's whispering/buzzing voice which builds on it's unnatural creepiness. When you see it full on at the end, it's a muddied mask and robes. 4) Angel's Eyebrows. I know this one sounds ridiculous, but while I understand they were wanting to convey her becoming more evil, how it comes across looks like they slapped on some Vulcan eyebrows while not even bothering to cover her natural ones. It was enough to make me chuckle at each closeup. 5) The shift in the Judge's attitude. He started out really good being an advocate for reason over superstition, but near the end he shifts to the standard religous crusader fighting Satan with a two hander. It's a jarring shift. Overall, the film's pretty decent. I'd fit it in a marathon with similar films. Interestingly, while I was looking for a poster image, I came across some considering this as Folk Horror which makes me wonder is Folk Horror something involving modern day such as The Wicker Man or Midsommar, or is it anything involving ancient practices appearing outside its historical era?
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Oct 1, 2020 16:24
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 #23) The Manson Family (1997) From the director of Deadbeat at Dawn, this is a combination of the Manson Family's history leading up to the murders and a 'modern-day' production of a film about them, all intercut with interviews and scenes of contemporary Manson super-fans. It has a nice psychedelically-influenced flow and looseness to the presentation, the reflections from the family members on their situations were handled well, and the use of some of Manson's own songs was a nice dab of retrospection on the events. The filming is proficient, managing to combine a number of different film stocks and grain effects to characterize different periods in time and states of mind, and the actors do a good job in both their '69 and modern roles. Altogether, an interesting assemblage, and probably the Manson 'documentary' most faithful to the spirit of the ranch.  Rating: 7/10Watched on DVD.
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Oct 1, 2020 16:27
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I found myself in the mood for another movie where a monster is obsessed with some leaves so I watched.... The Relic  Can a movie with the above shot in it be all bad? No, of course it can't. The Relic is a nostalgia hit for me for a few reasons. First, because it's based on one of my favorite horror novels. Second, because this was one of the first creature features I saw that was gruesomely violent. You've got multiple graphic decapitations, brains lying around everywhere, dudes getting cut in half, once it gets going it's a free for all. It's far from perfect of course. The monster is uneven, sometimes it looks really good(even the CGI is solid in some shots), other times the framing and lighting expose it too much. Stan Winston did the creature effects on this, so any time you have the actual physical creature in the frame it's very cool and very detailed. In fact, this is a good example of a movie that probably would've benefited from Stan Winston himself directing. I think he would've refined the creature a bit more and cut out some of the less effective shots. It also takes maybe a bit too long to get going, which I think is a natural issue with adapting the novel, where much of it is investigation and things don't really go nuts until the big museum gala at the end. As for the situation with the leaves, I think it's gotta be a similarity that was noticed by somebody, because they threw this shot in there just for laughs:  1. The Mummy 2. The Mummy's Hand 3. The Mummy's Tomb 4. The Wicker Man 5. Hellraiser 6. The Mummy's Ghost 7. The Mummy's Curse 8. The Relic
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Oct 1, 2020 16:29
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 2. The Green Slime Look. You put someone in a monster suit and get them to fling their arms around and walk slowly down a hallway, you get one free star from me. Copious model effects is another free star. And an attempt at some character arcs throws in a half-star. But... Stuck uncomfortably between two wildly different eras of horror, this well-meaning 60s b-movie is the worst of both worlds. It's got the slow-paced "serious men of science" stuff that often bogs down 50s sci-fi b-movies, and it's got the ambitions of telling a serious story about loss and regret in the line of command. It's constant tonal whiplash between scenes that are trying for real drama and a guy in a goofy Hedorah-lookalike costume. It's like someone was given a script for a kids movie and decided to make a film for adults instead. It felt more like an episode of Space: 1999 stretched out to an hour and a half than a proper movie. It had some interesting production design here and there, I liked how impossibly craggy our rear end in a top hat hero's face was, and I loved a lot of the monster bits. But Planet of the Vampires does a lot of the same stuff much better. It also rubbed me the wrong way that it was established very early that using energy weapons on these things was a bad idea, then we have a third act where everyone's just doing it anyway. This is the sort of thing I should be in the bag for, but it just didn't hit the mark. Maybe I'll watch the MST3K of it at some point and find some more warmth for it, because it was very well-meaning. 6/10 - A Minor Disappointment
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Oct 1, 2020 16:30
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This is from the Horror thread, but I'm adding it to the 2nd OP:Benito Cereno posted:Every October I make a list of horror movies on Netflix worth watching in an attempt to keep people from watching The Forest or whatever out of desperation. I used to do it on Tumblr, but now I do it as a Letterboxd list
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Oct 1, 2020 16:38
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 Deep Rising The only question you should ask yourself about Deep Rising is "Why I am not watching Deep Rising?" For the unaware, Deep Rising is about a group of mercenaries/thieves who board a luxury cruise ship/floating casino to rob it, only to discover (almost) everyone dead or missing. Turns out a giant monster from the depths of the ocean has infested the ship with its many tentacles and his eating anything that lives. Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Wes Studi, Anthony Hearld, Djimon Hounsou star in a Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) film. Also stars a guy who looks like a bootleg Colin Farrell. Just an overall FUN movie with some great effects, and some not so great effects. Creature effects by Rob Bottin. Originally meant to star Harrison Ford, I don't think Ford would've been as good a Williams, who straddles the line between comedy and drama perfectly. Five out of five tentacles. Watched the Kino Lorber Special Edition DVD Davros1 fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 16:42
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(rewatch) The Babysitter (2017) Cole is a 12-year-old bullied wuss in love with his cool hot babysitter. Then he stays up late and finds out that she’s into human sacrifice. Hijinks ensue. This movie, for better and worse, feels like it was written by a 12-year-old boy. Pretty much everyone is a hot and sultry stereotype. It has girls making out for no real reason. The black guy is, at best, poorly written. Even given that, it’s a pretty entertaining and fun ride. Samara Weaving is great. Cole is a pretty likeable loser and you’re cheering for him the entire time. Good, goofy fun. 3.5/5 4. Drácula (1931)  It’s everyone’s favorite vampire, en español! (You can tell because of the accented a.) This version gives Dracula more to do, and many of the changes are for the better. I think the mirror scenes are handled really well, and Renfield has a better death. It actually shows Dracula being driven back by the dawn, which is nice – the English version has him close a door and then confusingly head to sleep. I don’t really feel like the extra length added much to the film, and, while Lugosi didn’t have much to work with, he’s a better Dracula overall. This Renfield is manic, fully insane, and Lupita Tovar is pretty great as Eva. It’s for sure worth a watch, I’m just not sure if I’d say it was better, overall. 3.5/5
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Oct 1, 2020 17:22
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 5. Get Duked! (2019) Amazon Four students embark on a hike through the Scottish Highlands in an effort to win the "Duke of Edinburgh Award" (which seems to entail a laminated certificate and not much else). They very quickly get lost and find themselves being hunted by none other than the Duke of Edinburgh himself (played by Eddie Izzard)! This is equal parts dark comedy, survival horror, and hip-hop musical, and there are quite a lot of scenes involving hallucinogenic rabbit poop. This was pretty solid! It's often really funny, although I wish Eddie Izzard was given more to do. The four boys all do a great job and have more depth to their characters than you may expect from this kind of comedy. It does rely on the drug humor a bit too much, but at least the visuals during those scenes are super inventive and fun. I really dug the music too. The soundtrack slaps (with tracks by Run the Jewels, Vince Staples, and others) and it also has some original music sung by the cast that's a lot of fun. I didn't really love how the story played out though. A lot of what happens doesn't make much sense when given any thought, and the ending isn't all that satisfying. There are a lot of really good gags and character moments though, so overall it's a blast and I definitely give it a strong recommendation, especially if you like British comedies. 4 well sharp forks out of 5 Total: 5 Watched: Peeping Tom | Cry of the Banshee | The Loved Ones | The Tenant | Get Duked! SIDE QUESTS: Edgar Wright's Top 100 Horror: 88/100 Slant Top 100 Horror: 88/100 TSZDT Top 100: 97/100
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Oct 1, 2020 17:50
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Davros1 posted:Just an overall FUN movie with some great effects, and some not so great effects. Creature effects by Rob Bottin. Originally meant to star Harrison Ford, I don't think Ford would've been as good a Williams, who straddles the line between comedy and drama perfectly. Treat Williams is FANTASTIC at camp. He makes The Phantom movie watchable.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:56
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Woke up this morning and as I was sipping my coffee it dawned on me. It's October. Let's do this friends. I'm in for 31 again. Yay!
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Oct 1, 2020 17:58
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 #24) Massage Parlor Murders! (1973) Someone is going around killing women working at massage parlors in NYC. Low-budget, with several minutes of just cruising around New York neighborhoods, sometimes with voice-over, sometimes without. There were some interesting camera moments, where it was almost POV while the killer was stalking and approaching someone, then it pulled back to third person once the actual attack began. We get a cop duo for the movie to follow around, but they're pretty flat, personality-wise. Sandra Peabody (Mari in Last House on the Left) is also in it, which is how I came across this film. More than anything, this is fun as a time capsule for some sleazy locales captured in the filming. Aside from that, there's little to make a lasting impression. Shout out to the Liquid Sky-like music of the climax with falsetto screaming over primitive synths, though. Rating: 5/10Watched on Tubi, turned out to be another Vinegar Syndrome treatment.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:58
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2) The Loved Ones Watched on Amazon Prime As the child of a very messy divorce, I’m a sucker for movies where a person’s previous mental trauma serves as armor against their current predicament, extreme as it may be. I think that’s the case here with Brent’s having to reckon with being the driver in the accident that killed his father and then the fallout with his mom becoming overprotective and possibly blaming him. Those emotional scars I think prepare him for his bugnuts encounter with Lola and her father; a person who hadn’t been forged in the flames of emotional turmoil may not have been as likely to survive being tortured by the girl whose prom invitation they politely turned down. As with Tammy and the T-Rex, this is one that I would have passed over if not for the recommendation of this forum. Once Brent is in the hands of Lola, it rips. At first I was put off by the side-plot involving Brent’s friend and Mia getting high outside the prom, but upon further reflection I appreciate those scenes as a mini tension release valve in addition to tying together the prior victimization of Mia’s brother and her father’s subsequent (and very short-lived) quest for vengeance. Also I’m not a fan of torture in films, but this one did not bother me at all and I think at least a small part of that was due to the bleaching of Brent’s vocal cords preventing him from begging and pleading and screaming, which always makes the torture more unbearable to watch. Although his banshee howls were very off-putting anyway. I'm probably being overly liberal with the spoiler tags, but better safe than sorry. That said, watch this movie! Lessons learned: A. There is something to be said in favor of not being popular enough to be asked to prom. B. This I’ve already learned from drywall studs, but it’s important to apply pressure when drilling. C. Everything is deadlier in Australia and Robin McLeavy is one of them.
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Oct 1, 2020 18:32
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Darthemed posted:Watched on Tubi, turned out to be another Vinegar Syndrome treatment. With how much Vinegar Syndrome you're watching, we'd totally get along
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Oct 1, 2020 18:37
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