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7. The Last Exorcism 2010 - dir Daniel Stamm Deep fried southern fried mockumentary horror with good acting, oh praise him!  /5
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Oct 6, 2021 21:11
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Night of the Living Deb (2015) It's the Fourth Of July, and Deb (Maria Thayer), discovers the only thing worse than an awkward morning after after an even more awkward one night stand: a zombie apocalypse. But on the other hand, she is trapped with the man of her dreams, so it can't be all bad ... This is a fun, light-hearted romp (do people still use the word "romp"?), that showcases the comedic talents of star Maria Thayer (Strangers with Candy, Eagleheart, Those Who Can't). She's wonderful as Deb, and has strong support from Michael Cassidy as Ryan, her one night stand; Ray Wise as Ryan's obnoxious father, Chris Marquette (Barry) as Ryan's brother Chaz, and Julie Brister (Goliath) as Deb's friend Ruby. The film is solidly a comedy, and not truly a horror film, as it eschews the more horrifying aspects for laughs (except for some brief intestines eating action), but is still an overall entertaining and fun watch. 4 out of 5 cars named "Otis" Watched on Tubi. 1. Final Exam (1981) 2. Snowbeast (1977) 3. Suburban Gothic (2014) 4. Pledge Night (1990) 5. Without Warning (1980) 6. Death Machine (1994) 7. Cell (2016) 8. Venom (1981) 9. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) 10. Night of the Living Deb (2015)
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Oct 6, 2021 21:17
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4. V/H/S 94 Surprised I haven’t seen more people watching this but truthfully you’re not missing a whole lot. I wouldn’t call any of the shorts misses but I wouldn’t call many of them hits either. The best one for my money is the next to last bit, which kind of eschews the whole 94 gimmick. The last short is about a (presumably) white power militia that’s going to attack a federal building. I was really excited to get some fake comeuppance for our January 6th friends but it really kind of drags until the final reveal which is pretty cool but short lived. I’d say this is probably my least favorite VHS, though I still wouldn’t call it terrible or anything.
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Oct 6, 2021 22:02
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 (8) The Black Cat (1934) dir. Edgar G. Ulmer Bela Lugosi is fresh from the prison no one leaves to visit his war buddy Boris Karloff who build his maze like house on the former battlefield to see what has become of his wife and daughter. Karloff lies and says they both died when in reality he has killed & preserved the mother and married the daughter. Because he is a satanist! A decent little movie that could have used a little more flesh to the story.  (9) Doctor X (1932) dir. Michael Curtiz A reporter is trying to figure out who is dismembering people with a rare surgical tool that only five professors at a surgical school have access to. The head professor believes the moon is causing the murderer’s psychosis and decides to expose his colleagues to the moon to see which is the crazed maniac.  (10) Island of Lost Souls (1932) dir. Erle C. Kenton A version of Island of Dr Moreau made while H.G. Wells was still alive. A decent enough adaptation even with the technical limitations wrt to makeup making everyone just various levels of hairy. Bela Lugosi in a small appearance as the sayer of the law.  (11) The Lost Boys (1987) dir. Joel Schumacher A recently divorced woman and her two sons move to the murder capital of the world. So called because of all the vampires! Actually just one small group of sexy teen vampires. One son accidentally joins them and the other teams up with Corey Feldman to try to kill them. A fun adventure is had by all.  (12) The Ape Man (1943) dir. William Beaudine Bela Lugosi accidentally turned himself into an ape man and now needs spinal fluid to turn back. Unfortunately the only way he knows how to obtain it involves using his normal ape partner to kill people first. Meanwhile a reporter thinks something is fishy and is trying to figure out what's going on. A very thin movie with not much in it. Total: (1) Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) (2) The Addams Family 2 (2021) (3) Addams Family Reunion (1998) (4) Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008) (5) Titane (2021) (6) The Raven (1935) (7) Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009) (8) The Black Cat (1934) (9) Doctor X (1932) (10) Island of Lost Souls (1932) (11) The Lost Boys (1987) (12) The Ape Man (1943)
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Oct 6, 2021 22:11
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 9. Apt Pupil (1998) "What did you do during the war?" For my October challenge, I'm watching one movie from each year that I haven't seen. I've seen a lot of the 'top horror' from 1998, so I picked this not knowing much about it besides it having Ian McKellan and it being based on a Stephen King novella I read as a teenager. It was alright - good performances from the leads, and some scenes really swing for the fences (everything with Michael Byrne in the hospital for example), but the changed ending was markedly worse than the book, the score was grating (I think I just don't like John Ottman), and of course after I finished it I read all the lawsuit stuff that I was unaware of and now I doubt I'll ever watch this again.  2.5/5 10. V/H/S 94 (2021) "Hail Raatma." I like the first two V/H/S movies an awful lot (and never watched Viral due to basically everyone I know warning me away from it) so I was stoked to dig into this as soon as I could. Happy to report that it is a LOT of fun, gory, and well worth your time if you enjoyed the first two. The wrap-around story, "Holy Hell" (Jennifer Reeder) builds on the first two movies' tape-trading stories with a raid on a drug lab that turns out to actually be a facility where the cult behind the tapes does their 'testing'. It's a fine wrap-around and does a good job setting up the stories as it progresses, though there is some iffy acting at the end of it. Beyond the wrap-around, the first story is "Storm Drain" (Chloe Okuno), where a reporter is given a lemon of an assignment to report on local urban legend 'The Rat Man' who lives in the sewer. She and her cameraman decide to go deeper into the sewers to get better footage and to give their story some pop. Great performance from Anna Hopkins as the reporter, ending made me LOL. Next was "The Empty Wake" (Simon Barrett), where a funeral home worker is left alone to keep the video cameras running at an overnight wake. Tons of tension and misdirection that builds to a genuinely scary finish. After this was my personal favorite, "The Subject" (Timo Tjahjanto, who did the awesome 'Safe Haven' cult story in VHS2). This starts in the underground lair of an evil scientist who is kidnapping people to turn them into... uh... weird poo poo. A little Sid's-toys-from-Toy-Story here, some Tetsuo-the-Iron-Man there. Surprisingly emotional for what essentially becomes a FPS video game. Last we have "Terror" (Ryan Prows), where some Trumpy rear end militia in the woods plan to launch a terror attack on a government building using a supernatural weapon, but it doesn't all go according to plan. I had a great time with this one, and I think a lot of you will too. 4.5/5Total Watched: 10 // 'New to Me' Total: 9/40 Years Complete: 1985, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2018, 2021 Fran Challenges Complete: --/--
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Oct 6, 2021 22:24
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3. Edge of the Axe (1988) A masked axe maniac terrorizes Paddock Country by night. Meanwhile bike riding computer wiz Gerald teaches his girlfriend how to look up stuff on the computer. When I first heard about this all I heard was that it was a) Spanish and b) a slasher. With that information I expected something more along the lines of euro-horror stuff like Living Dead in the Manchester Morgue but this doesn't really feel all that European. It does feel like an outsiders idea of rural America, I say this without ever having been to the US at all so maybe it's just my knowledge of the director being Spanish coloring my perception of how corny America seems in this. Like the opening credits begin with wooden animals and stereotypical "Tobacco Store Injuns" by a busy road. Which is pure distilled Americana. Also lot of the music is very generic country music. The score used for the more suspenseful scenes is actually great especially the quick blast of gated drums that is played almost every time something startling and/or shocking happens. That aspect of the film reminds me a lot of My Bloody Valentine which was aggressively Canadian but made by Canadians. Some of the actors are obviously Spanish and have different accents to everyone else but they're mostly in minor roles so it doesn't stand out that much. One thing I suspect might be a Spanish influence is that this small predominantly non-Hispanic white northern California hicksville has one church that appears to be Catholic which I don't think would be the case. However in Spain everyone and their dog is Catholic by decree of law (even though most people aren't practicing but that's just Europe for you) There's a bit round the midpoint that reminded me of an Icelandic folktale called the Deacon of Dark River in which a young man that falls off his horse and dies on his way to meet his fiancé who lives in another part of the country. A few weeks later his reanimated corpse arrives to pick her up for the Christmas dance and she jumps on his horse. She is a bit suspicious, he is unusually cold and can't say her name properly because it contains the word God and as an undead creature he is not able to speak it, but she doesn't realize what is happening until she lifts his hat and sees the exposed skull underneath it and using this discovery she manages to save herself at the last moment before being dragged into his grave. In this film there's a scene where Lillian begins to suspect that Gerald might be the killer and also her brain damaged cousin because he has a big scar on the back of his head that she only sees when she gets on his bike with him and lifts up his hair. Total coincidence? 100% certain. Felt like writing about it anyway. Especially since that turns out to be a total red herring. The part computers play in the plot was probably a big novelty when it came out. Now that aspect is an amusing time capsule. A solid little slasher that isn't very remarkable but still a good watch if you're into that sort of thing. thank you for reading this poorly constructed rambling rant tune in next time for similarly disconnected thoughts about something completely different. FreudianSlippers fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Oct 6, 2021 |
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Oct 6, 2021 22:50
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 14 (23). Sea Fever (2019) Written and Directed by Neasa Hardiman Watched on Hulu Hooptober Ocho 11/39: 4/6 countries (Ireland) ”Mother of Jesus! A redhead!” I’m torn on that one. I really liked the mood and look of the film and the performances of the cast (even though it was a strain on my uncultured American ears to decipher their blend of international Irish accents). And even though its clear the movie was done on a budget I really liked the look of the tentacles and slime and parasites. There were times I couldn’t quite tell if there was something very subtle that I didn’t entirely catch or nothing at all that they just faked me out on by saying it was subtle enough for me to miss. But either way it was a really effective way to sell the whole idea of paranoia and fear and panic of infection and a pandemic. And of course that’s an idea we all understand a bit more than we did when this movie was made. But there’s also like… no conflict in the film. That’s a clear sign that this was made before Covid because like they argue over the need to quarantine to protect their loved ones and others vs their own fear of staying in danger or desire to return to the safety of home. A very accessible thing we’ve all dealt with over the last couple of years. But then… they just kind of do it. There’s no real pushback or fight. Everyone just kind of does the necessary thing in the end. And the end usually comes like 3 minutes later. Its odd. To that end the whole thing felt very rushed to me. I felt that early on when it felt like character introductions and story setup was all moving really fast and in a really dry and muted way and I thought maybe that was on me. But I also figured, hey, maybe they’re just rushing to the big stuff. But then they kind of do the same through the big stuff too. I don’t know. Its just all very dry and very low key and has no real time to breath or sink in. And there’s a lot of ideas in here. From the themes like pandemics or the affect of climate change or whatever to more personal stuff like facing death or personal responsibility or grief or even falling for someone. Two characters flirt and then like… 5 minutes later the story makes that moot. Its all a perfectly good and interesting story and character turns but they all rush past you so quickly none of them really leave any impact or sink in. I guess this all could work more if you’re into “its all hopeless, just accept it” stuff but I hate that and thing its unhealthy. And it didn’t feel like the usual kind of depressing or hopeless thing that usually fits for. This felt like a film building to stuff that just never really happened. And budget might be the answer for that but it feels like this is a movie that could have used an extra 30 minutes or one or two less subplots. Just a tighter focus on stuff to make it really hit home. I still more or less liked it and its definitely a film that makes me want to see more of the director and cast. But I dunno. I came away feeling not fully satisfied. Like watching a proof of concept version of a film for a bigger money full feature or something. I dunno. Its solid but definitely kind of missing stuff. But still has sone good stuff too. ”Spaghetti is stupid and you know it.”  15 (24). Tales from the Crypt (1972) Directed by Freddie Francis; Screenplay by Milton Subotsky; Based on Tales from the Crypt & The Vault of Horror by Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein, and William M. Gaines Watched on AMC+ HalloweeNIT 6/31 I had no idea this was THAT Tales From the Crypt. I’ve been kind of passing it over for years now on anthology lists, not for any real reason, just it not standing out to me. But that definitely should have got my interest. Its not exactly the HBO Crypt Keeper nor does it have the real campy or pulp quality of the show or comics. Its playing things fairly straight, although maybe this dry British dark humor was considered “camp” in ’72. I can’t say. It was starting off kind of dull and weak but as each story goes on it really started to pick up steam. It probably doesn’t help that all the stories were so thematically similar, so they don’t really stand out from one another. I’ve already kind of forgotten the second story and the first one was really pretty generic and unnotable aside from Joan Collins’ beauty. The third story is the one that started to really pull me in. Peter Cushing is tremendous as the kindly old man at the core of it and I couldn’t even recognize him until I spotting his name on Letterboxd. The villain is such an effectively contemptible even gently caress that even though the story’s the same basic supernatural karmic justice against bastards that the rest of the stories are the bastard really stands out as a real piece of poo poo. I can’t say I generally go for the idea of revenge or this kind of retribution, but in his case I’m willing to make an exception. Between his evil and Cushing’s kindness… the story got me where I needed to be for the ending. The monkey paw story isn’t stand out but t does kind of change up the theme enough and stays lively so its able to keep the momentum going, and then the final story is a solid extended finish. Again, not breaking a ton of new ground but making the victims sympathetic enough and the villain a big enough rear end in a top hat. And it does change things up a bit in making the karmic retribution not come supernaturally or randomly but from a deliberate, malicious, sadistic act. I’m not sure the blind folks didn’t get a little carried away. I mean you didn’t have to involve the dog and that was a pretty twisted Saw-esque idea. But then again that guy was a real rear end in a top hat. I wouldn’t call it great or anything but it was a solid little anthology. Its backloaded so that helps out a lot and all together very well paced for the big star in the opener, the best story in the middle to keep you in, and then a solid big finish. Probably would have been more fun if the Crypt Keeper had been a rotting corpse with bad puns but what can you do? Hey, HBO Max, put that thing on your app already. 🎃Halloween 2021: Hooptober Ocho and Spook-a-Doodle HalloweeNIT ’21🎃 Hooptober Ocho: 11/39; HalloweeNIT: 6/31; Svengoolie: 2/26 Fran Challenges: 0/??; Watched - New (Total) 1. The Funhouse (1981); 2. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988); 3. Eden Lake (2008); - (4). Halloween (1978); - (5). The Purge (2013); 4 (6). The Company of Wolves (1984); 5 (7). Kiss of the Damned (2012); - (8). Halloween II (1981); 6 (9). Malignant (2021); 7 (10). The Vatican Tapes (2015); 8 (11). Hard Labor aka Trabalhar Cansa (2011); 9 (12). Alice aka Něco z Alenky (1988); - (13). Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982); - (14). Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988); - (15). Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989); 10 (16). Room 237 (2012); 11 (17). Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer’s Cut) (1995); - (18). Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998); - (19). Halloween: Resurrection (2002); 12 (20). From Hell It Came (1957); 13 (21). Fiend Without a Face (1958); - (22). Hostel (2005); 14 (23). Sea Fever (2019); 15 (24). Tales from the Crypt (1972);
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Oct 6, 2021 23:03
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Iron Crowned posted:9) There's Someone Inside Your House (2021, Netflix) I’m halfway through this and the farm empire scion turning his father’s Nazi memorabilia collection into bongs and one hitters made me smile.
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Oct 6, 2021 23:07
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#5 28 Days Later (2003) - Watched on HBOMax This is a rewatch for me, but I'm pretty sure I only watched it originally at the theater. I didn't remember much about it, other than it's one of the best "zombie" movies I've ever seen. The opening scenes, with the protagonist waking up from being in a coma (or just unconscious) in a silent hospital, and nobody else is in the building, was amazing. The only clue at first that something that had gone horribly wrong was he seemed to be the only person there, in the entire building. At least someone had slipped the key to his hospital room door under said door, so he could get out. The cinematography for the first 20 minutes or so was amazing. Everything was silent. No people, vehicles, no machinery, no animals, other than the occasional bird. I loved the minimal use of music during the scenes in which he's walking around downtown London, occasionally screaming, "Hello?!" with no response. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdRFMp8Xwo Although technically this is a horror movie, there aren't a lot of jump scares or even real scares. There's a bit of gore, but this is more of a suspenseful thriller. Even nowadays when "Zombie" movies are a dime a dozen, it's worth watching in my opinion. (It isn't really a zombie movie, the people are infected with a "rage virus" via escaped chimpanzees, similarly to how the contagion spread which wiped out the earth before the events of 12 Monkeys.) They run super fast, and you don't have to die to be infected, just have to get an infected person's blood into your mouth or eyes. Of course it ends up being a "man is the real monster" type of movie, as it turns out the men who initially claim to have a way to save Jim, the woman, and teenage girl he's with, just want to use that woman and teenage girl to re-populate the earth. It's still an excellent movie though, and one I highly recommend. Rating: 4/5 raven77 fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Oct 7, 2021 |
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Oct 6, 2021 23:12
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I owe the thread some write-ups. here we go: 5. Dream No Evil 1970 Directed by John Hayes A very slow psychological horror drama with a made for TV vibe. Pretty light on the horror overall and leads with some bad narration that gives the game away before it ever starts. That's my main reason for not giving this a 'heart'. The twist could have been neat, but it's given to you via narration like 10 minutes into the picture. Everything feels perfunctory as a result which just drives home how basic the "women with daddy issues are crazy" plot is. There is some pretty landscape shots, a couple very solid compositions, and I thought the cast was decent. Cutting the narration wouldn't make this some hidden classic, but would let the dreamy atmosphere stand out a bit more. 2.5/5 6. Dark August 1976 Directed by Martin G. Goldman Dug this a lot. A slow burn, more psychological drama than horror and a very interesting idea about handling guilt. Loved the weird way the curse plays with the leads mind, and the old man had a great creepy look to him. Builds up to a neat spiritual ritual and the movie ends very strongly. If you're looking for a lowkey regional horror I recommend checking this out. 3.5/5 7. The Child 1977 Directed by Robert Voskanian Another enjoyable low budget horror from the 70s. This had a great atmosphere to it and the child actor is pretty great at being creepy and mean. Solid effects work for the most part and it all builds up to a great climax that had me gripped. Good stuff. 4/5 8. The Resort 2021 Directed by Taylor Chien Not good folks, not good. 1.5/5 9. The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh 1971 Directed by Sergio Martino Very cool giallo. Well paced, solid script, great music, and as usual stylish as hell. My favorite Edwige Fenech role so far. She kills it in this. George Hilton is a dreamboat. Tons of great shots/scenes. The dream sequences add a great layer to Mrs. Wardh's character as she struggles with her past infidelity and the vice she partakes in. The scene near the end with George in the barren land area looked amazing, the shot of the reflection of his glasses was so drat good. Really enjoyed this and I think even some non giallo fans might dig it. 4/5 10. V/H/S/94 2021 Directed by Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows An absolute blast. Every segment is good. One of them doesn't exactly feel like it's fully using the vhs aesthetic the way the others do, but it's also the most batshit segment possibly in the whole series so I quickly didn't care about that as much. There's a wonderful amount humor to go along with the over the top violence and gore. I was hooked in from start to finish. The Subject was probably my favorite, just for the sheer lunacy of it. The Empty Wake might be the best crafted of the lot though. It's a very simple story but creates an effective atmosphere by making us feel trapped in the room with the lead. It's edited really well, the cuts between multiple cameras have a great sense of rhythm that build up to a great ending. The other segments arent lacking though and you can't go wrong with any of them. The wrap around, once again, might be the weakest part, but it keeps things moving, helps with the movie's tone, and I thought the set design of the facility was pretty cool. It's definitely not as awful as viral's wraparound I can promise you that. Glad to have VHS back. Hoping for more. 4.5
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Oct 6, 2021 23:19
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8. Pulse (2001)(aka Kairo)- (new) - The rise of the internet use opens a portal to the afterlife realm, which is becoming overly full and can no longer contain the spirits of the dead. I liked this one. Despite the age and topic, it didn't really use internet as a crutch for horror, it was just a thematic catalyst opening the link between worlds - so because of that the movie has actually aged well. Definitely one of the sadder takes on ghosts, they aren't vengeful, just lonely, and that loneliness ends up passing to others - direct encounters with these ghosts tend to cause the victim to give up on life, either ending themselves, or just fading into the other world quietly. This lack of direct threat or even ill intent made the ghosts a lot more disturbing - the only enemy here is the loneliness of death. This movie was a slow burn, and pretty scary. The connections between world usually showed up as black moldy spots, with ghosts manifesting from them. No jump scares, but a lot of atmosphere. Some of the spookiest moments were mainly just featured sound - suddenly cutting away all audio but for a voice repeatedly begging "help me". The mostly string-based soundtrack here was also excellent, often building up dread slowly, sometimes becoming dissonant - it created a very gloomy atmosphere. The ending went a lot further than expected - basically a massive apocalypse due to the mass disappearances from our world, with only a minimal scattering of survivors. 4/5 9. Liza, the Fox Fairy (rewatch) - A live-in caretaker searches for love, while followed an envious ghost... Kinda best going in a little blind; but this one is always a lot of fun. A bit reminiscent of Amelie, with some Wes Anderson-ish stylings. Not scary at all really, but definitely fits the theme for the month. Fun soundtrack, and great use of it - with a lot of very fun musical scenes. It's stylish, funny, and pretty light, definitely one I'll continue to coming back to. 4.25/5 Prelude: vi: Jaws v: Gozu vi: Slither iii: Let the right one in ii: House on Haunted Hill i: Lair of the White Worm New watches: 1: The Pit and the Pendulum 2: Suspiria (2018) 3: Velocipastor 4: Siren (2006) 5: Vivarium 6: Ju-on: The Grudge (2002) 7: Boxer's Omen 8: Pulse (2001) Rewatches: 1: Liza, the Fox-Fairy Lhet fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Oct 6, 2021 |
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Oct 6, 2021 23:25
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 9)V/H/S/94 2021 shudder I'm a sucker for the vhs movies, and find the highs more than make up for the lows. If viral was consistently the worst, then this is probably the consistently best. Which again, no individual short tops my favorites from before, but none are as bad as the worst. And as far as faux vhs anthologies, it's a helluva lot better than all hallows' eve. The wrap around is probably the weakest. It does its job. I absolutely love the aesthetic of the first short, and it was probably the most successful at making me nostalgic. The second is a solid night alone in a morgue with some good gore, the third might be the mvp. It's bonkers and rad and basically a love letter to video games. It's very Resident Evil (very much reminds me of an area in the recent Village) and FFVII-Barret's gun arm, and cloud's buster sword (as arms) make appearances The final short is alright but I could have done with more white supremacists getting hosed up by a vampire. Though I laughed when the one dude who opens fire with his big rear end mounted gun loses control and wipes out a few of his own crew It's not very serious, but it is a lot of fun. Hope they keep making them. /5
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Oct 6, 2021 23:34
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1. Daughters of Darkness (1971) A newlywed couple check-in to an otherwise empty hotel. Then Elizabeth Bathory shows up with a trail of bodies in her wake. Sumptuous sets and costumes, some great performances, and a constantly escalating atmosphere of intertwined sex and violence. Wonderful soundtrack. Good stuff. 4/5 2. Phase IV (1974) A space happening makes ants smart and they start collaborating across species to form a glorious communist society. Humans not invited. I had to mute the audio during one scene with an incredibly loud high pitched sound that went on for about 5 minutes straight. Am I old now? (yes) 3/5 3. Basket Case (1982) A boy and his formerly conjoined twin-in-a-basket look for love and happiness in Henenlotter's filthy 80s New York City. Grimy, funny, gory. 3.5/5 4. Next of Kin (1982) A woman inherits her mother's country estate, now a nursing home. Soon after she moves in, the residents start dying. Slow burn horror with some Italian influence. It's an 80s film but the pace is very 70s. Stick with it though, as the final act rewards your patience. 4/5 5. Demons (1985) A creepy guy in a mask hands out invitations to a secret film screening in Berlin. The film starts and the horrific events on-screen are mirrored in reality. This might be the platonic ideal of Italian horror, and it's my favourite film of the month so far. Incredible soundtrack, memorable performances, great gore and practical effects and inventive use of the movie theatre setting. I'm probably going to watch the sequel this month too, and then apparently I should watch The Church? I'm all-in. 4.5/5 6. The Legend of Hell House 1973 A physicist and some psychics go to the titular house to try to prove the existence of the afterlife. A very well executed haunted house film in the vein of The Haunting. Not quite up to that film's high standard but well worth watching. 4/5
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Oct 6, 2021 23:45
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Been knocking out a bunch with my new friends. 4. May (2002)  Very surprised I hadn't come across this one before, especially given that it came out a decade before Excision. The beginning felt to me like a shlocky lolrandom endeavor, but it quickly comes into focus as a character piece and carries it all the way home. High marks for the supporting cast also, especially Anna Faris as some sort of lesbian succubus. Overall, quite a good comedic dramatic tragedy, and the final shot is a payoff I was praying for well before it happened. I'll just say it brings everything together and breathes new life into it, so to speak. 8.5/10 5. Till Death (2021)  Men, am I right? I had high hopes but not high expectations for the new thriller with Megan Fox, but I was quite satisfied. It's the story of how thoroughly one woman can get hosed over and what she'll do to get through it as she always has. Many beats are by-the-numbers but this is a compliment to their excellent execution, especially as they needed to be pulled off within the ambitious high concept that intrigued me in the first place, and there are a number of "twists" that are actually just well-foreshadowed reveals of further details of a dead man's plot continuing to unfold. There are a couple nice visual motifs, like a couple camera moments where Emma disappears so fast it's like she turned invisible - a nice example of patriarchy being turned against itself, and how nearly every problem is solved by stabbing. Possibly Megan Fox's best performance, especially considering she literally had to drag a stuntman around for half the movie. 8/10 6. Dolly Dearest (1991) TBH I almost vibed with everything in the movie except the dolls themselves, which had their moments up until they put on their scary face and started yelling about murder or whatever. I guess this was made as a Child's Play ripoff which is unfortunate because they had some good ideas besides. It meanders in and out of an anti-colonial message (and a character being unable to call the local police because they only speak English was a nice touch), the child actors have their moments, and Rip Torn has fun as a horror movie archaeologist, but the whole thing's a bit of a mess and the ending is a flop. 5/10 7. Triangle (2009)  This one was my pick, and while it demands to be rewatched at least once, it just gets better every time. At times disorienting, at other times beating you over the head with its themes, it always sticks the landing. I must be kinda dense because the full depth of the morality tale that it tells only really hit me this time, plus I also finally realized the title's meaning, specifically what a triangle would probably look like if you drew one right now. 9.5/10 And speaking of my picks, it's appropriate that we ended the night with 8. Resolution (2012)  which remains my #1 top horror movie of all time. The horror movie to end all horror movies. Constantly keeps you guessing (if you want a film that includes unpredictable drug dealers, UFO cultists, regular cultists, a We Buy Houses guy, satellites, and French people as potential threats, this is the film for you, and that's far from an exhaustive list), but the answer makes you feel like a drat fool, because not only was it in your face the whole time, what else could it have possibly been? It's a masterpiece of visual and audio work that is backed up by characters and performances that are better than they have any right to be.  10/10 e: I have just discovered that the horror movie to end all horror movies has a sequel. 
VROOM VROOM fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Nov 2, 2021 |
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Oct 7, 2021 00:04
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 #21) Deadfall Trail (2009; DVD) Three survivalist types go on a camping/peyote trip with low supplies. Surprisingly, things do not go as planned. What if The Blair Witch Project wasn't found footage, there was no witch, they weren't film students, didn't really know each other well beforehand, and they didn't have any real concrete plans beyond going into the wilderness? It might go a little something like this- hit it! Tensions within the group are the main boiling point, without any weird child sounds or tent-pokers at night to exacerbate them. While there's some charm to the trio camping and surviving with minimal tools, like those numerous 'man vs. wild' TV shows, the nature of the story made their journey a little too aimless for me to enjoy. Anything could have happened, but what did happen wasn't particularly surprising. There's a reason going out into a desert with little more than a bottle of water and a trash bag is discouraged by anyone who thinks about it for more than ten seconds. It's dangerous. Duh. But so is going into a house everyone says is haunted, or going out on a boat, or into a cave, or any of a number of other horror movie premises, so it's not the film's basis that has me grumpy, just the predictability of the conflicts. And how long it drags on after making its point. Not terrible, but it could have been much better. “Hey! Look at us! We're right here!” Rating: 5/10
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Oct 7, 2021 00:11
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 11. The Hitcher (1986) "My mother told me to never do this." I've been meaning to watch this forever and glad I finally got around to it. It's a bit different than I expected, Rutger Hauer is basically a terminator but less robot and more sadist. He really just chews up the whole drat movie, great performance. Pleasantly surprised at some unexpected choices like killing off Nash, and it has a lil baby Quark to boot. 3.5/5Total Watched: 11 // 'New to Me' Total: 10/40 Years Complete: 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2018, 2021 Fran Challenges Complete: --/--
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Oct 7, 2021 00:29
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VROOM VROOM posted:
It's a good one, too.
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Oct 7, 2021 00:56
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 The Curse of La Llorona, 2019 When I find movies to watch in this marathon, it is a mix of me getting my hands on old movies I haven't watched and me just googling "best modern horror". There's tons of these low effort list articles that pop up and I just pick a few random ones for the marathon so it isn't just stuff from the 70s and 80s. When the DVD arrived (I like to collect physical media), I was all like "oh no" as I saw "from the producers if The Conjuring universe" on the cover. This is one of those dumb jump scare movies they make fun of on Half in the Bag. I did check if they talked about the movie, but only in a wrap up video of stuff they couldn't be bothered to make an whole episode of. Mike just said he watched it and they spent the segment talking about TV instead. So I didn't have the greatest expectations going into this one. It is OK. Not directly mediocre, not great, just OK. It had some atmosphere and it didn't rely too heavily on jump scares as expected. The plot is about this ghost lady from Mexican folklore that drown children. Some mom crosses paths with someone cursed that looses her children and get cursed her self, so now she got to protect her children from the ghost lady. It works fine a spooky lady popping up in the dark and paranormal stuff happening in an unreasonably dark house. The story take place in the 70s, but I'm sure they had proper indoor lighting back then. So yeah, not as bad as expected. Who knows, maybe I'll give it another go in a few years.
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Oct 7, 2021 00:57
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TheBizzness posted:4. V/H/S 94 I mean it just came out today. Expect to see lots more people talking about it (myself included. I'll be watching it this evening.)
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Oct 7, 2021 01:00
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11) Split Second One of the many DTV Rutger Hauer movies released between 1985 and 1995, and one of the few I've managed to miss all these years. Hauer plays a gun-toting cop in a future London (actually set in 2007, but hey) that has been flooded by climate change, hunting the heart eating monster that killed his partner and which may or may not be Satan. Scenery is chewed, Kim Cattrall gets her tits out briefly, nobody even tries to take the script seriously - if it was ever meant to be taken seriously; Gary Scott Thomson went on to create the Fast and the Furious franchise - and a man in a very cheap rubber suit is duly slain. I have no idea why London was chosen as the setting, as the action is very American and the characters don't fit in there at all. Still, at least it gave a lot of British actors including Pete Postlethwaite and Alun Armstrong some work, which is nice. It was also the major acting debut for Alastair Duncan, who has been in almost everything that required a British person since 1993, and had a cameo from Ian Dury. Overall I'd say it was better than the material deserved, worse than anyone involved was capable of, and definitely the worst of Hauer's SF action movies that I've dared to watch.
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Oct 7, 2021 01:25
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8. The Phantom of the Opera (1989) An aspiring opera singer performs an old piece at an audition... with spooky results. I only wanted to watch this because Robert Englund plays the Phantom. He swings for the fences like you expect him to, and they obviously changed the character to be more Freddy, but it doesn't work to his strengths. It feels like someone wanted to do a straight adaptation, then Englund signed on and the studio made a ton of edits. It goes back and forth from period piece to cheesy horror movie. The Phantom quips to his victims. There's this modern day wraparound that adds nothing at all. Apparently they wrote a modern day sequel but canceled it when this one didn't make any money. The best part of the movie is the prosthetics. This version of the Phantom cuts off people's faces and sews them to his own to hide his disfiguring. There's both a sewing on and cutting off scene and they're pretty well done. 2/5
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Oct 7, 2021 01:28
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 22) Superbeast - 1972 - Prime drat if I didn't have Rob Zombie playing in my head while watching this. This is okayish. It's a mix of mad scientist, and most dangerous game. Rather standoutish was I didn't catch the usual stock footage scenes that usually turn up in these types of films. Plot involves a scientist working on a way to make violent criminals not violent and the failures end up being hunted by the guy funding the scientist. It's about standard for its time and frankly, the Rob Zombie song's better.  23) The Bat People - 1974 - Paramount+ I had wanted to do this one in an earlier challenge but I couldn't find a non-MST3K version. This year, the stars aligned correctly and the Halloween Gods smiled. This is an odd one in it feels like a '50s film plunked down in the '70s. Scientist gets bitten by a bat, turns into a man-bat. I liked the ending in his wife gets bit and joins him as a bat person. Pretty much my main gripe was I would've liked to've seen more bat people.  24) Haunting of Julia - 1976 - Prime My Mom really liked this one, however teenaged me found it "so sloooooow and boooooooring!". I decided to revisit it as it's been 30+ years since I last saw it and I'm finding it a bit of a challenge with finding movies I haven't already covered in the previous challenges. Well, I'm now very interested in picking up a copy of the Straub novel this is based on. Story's a bit reminiscent of The Changeling. While both are a slow burn, I found Changeling more compelling than Haunting. The soundtrack was quite good, and the set eyecandy was exceptionally nice, but story elements weren't quite clicking with me. Starting with Julia's daughter's death, last thing that would come to mind was attempt a tracheotomy. I'd be doing the Heimlich or calling 911 (or 999 as applicable for the movie). Even when Julia is investigating the haunting and finding out little Olivia was a nasty piece of work, if it were me, I'd be moving out of town or getting a priest for a blessing and having enough smudging of sage going on that the neighbors would be calling the fire department because of the smoke. So, I'm happy I revisited this one. I found things to appreciate even if the story didn't quite click with me at times. If you liked The Changeling, I'd say give this a try.
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Oct 7, 2021 01:33
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6. There’s Someone Inside Your House Watched On: Netflix A competently made modern teenager slasher film. Someone is going around and killing people after exposing their secrets to the world. Solid if unremarkable performances, a good gimmick for the killer (3D printed masks of the victim’s face) and some surprisingly brutal kills (shoving the white supremacist into the knife already embedded in the opposite side of the confessional). The only thing missing is a satisfying motive for why all of this is happening. The ending is a solid set piece but the rationale for a massive murder spree is nonsensical. A fun watch, akin to a Valentine or Urban Legend for kids who were born when those movies came out. 1. Prince of Darkness 2. Possessor 3. The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh 4. Death Walks On High Heels 5. Death Wish Club 6. There’s Someone Inside Your House
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Oct 7, 2021 01:35
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 #8: The Gallows 25 years ago a school play went horribly wrong when a prop malfunction turned what was supposed to be a stage hanging into an actual hanging. Now the school is putting that same play on for the first time. But the star has cold feet, and he and his friends decide to sneak into the school at night and gently caress up the set so the play has to be cancelled. But then spooky stuff starts happening. The Gallows is alright. A school at night is a great setting for a horror movie in general, and this movie uses it well. Decent scares, shallow but reasonably well defined characters, moves at a reasonable pace. The "we need the built-in flashlight!" excuse for videotaping everything is serviceable and there aren't any egregious impossible angles or anything like that. I was a little let down by the end, but that's because the climactic scene made me think it was headed in one direction; The ghost just wanted the play to be finished! If we do the final scene the stage hanging will work this time! but instead it went for a pretty standard found footage horror ending. Nothing really to complain about, it's a decent found footage horror movie.
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Oct 7, 2021 01:36
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8. V/H/S/94 2021 - dir Simon Barrett et al I enjoyed the VHS franchise, the cheap and weathered aesthetic gives most of the stories a "should I be watching this" feeling. VHS Viral was hot dogshit and had a why am I still watching this thing going for it (save for Bonestorm). VHS is back to its ooey gooey glory. Guys, we gotta find parts 4 to 93! Hail Raatma. /5
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Oct 7, 2021 01:46
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I love going through these shot on video oddities. Great snapshots into a specific time and place and strangely nostalgic. Film 12 Scary Tales Directed by Doug Ulrich. 1993, United States🇺🇸 A great slice of shot-on-video horror. It’s an anthology film, so let’s rundown the 3 tales real quick. The first involves a man finding a peculiar necklace while using his metal detector. After he puts it on, he starts to have increasingly dark and disturbing and real nightmares. The second is about a man whose wife cheats on him so he kills her, her lover, and then like 6 other random people. That’s…pretty much it. The last one’s about a man obsessed with a video game. No matter how hard he tries he can’t get to level 21. One night he manages, and is transported to a magic realm that’s just like the game. Is this real, or just a horrible nightmare. The budget was approximately $10, but they use every single penny. Lots of really fun and creative effects. The soundtrack is either cheesy rock, or synthesized orchestral. The acting is stiff most of the time. The locations are either someone’s house, the park, or the streets of Baltimore. But despite that, there’s a lot of heart in this. You can tell this is a bunch of friends trying to make the best scary movie possible, and I think they did an admirable job. With a bigger budget and a little professional help, they probably could have made something really special. 🎃🎃🎃/5
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Oct 7, 2021 02:42
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Jedit posted:11) Split Second This is a fun movie. I love the look of the raised water level.
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Oct 7, 2021 02:43
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 12) The Day of the Triffids (1963) Trailer Seen on: Tubi, but their copy is terrible - found a better-looking one on YouTube A global meteor shower blinds everyone who observes it. This is great news for the titular triffids, presumably extraterrestrial carnivorous plants that started appearing on Earth during a previous non-blinding meteor shower; you see, the triffids are plants that can actually move, and now they're stalking their helpless human prey (unfortunately they are not voiced by any of the members of the Four Tops). The film follows several people who weren't blinded - including sailor Bill Masen (who conveniently had his eyes bandaged after surgery in London), and a feuding husband and wife science team in a remote lighthouse laboratory - as they fight for survival in what is rapidly becoming a post-apocalyptic world dominated by walking venus fly traps. I did a little research after watching this, and apparently this adaptation deviates a bunch from John Wyndham's 1953 novelization, which I've never read. I found this to be quite the enjoyable time - it's weird watching something like this and then realizing how much of it seems familiar from other films, and then you look at when it was made and realize all those films had parts inspired by this one. Night of the Comet and especially 28 Days Later have opening half hours very similar in content here (heroes saved from an event that disabled everyone else because they didn't witness it/were medically isolated at the onset), and the whole shuffling, plodding nature of the triffids calls to mind Romero's zombie films and beyond. There's essentially two films here - the zombie siege film with the husband and wife scientists blockading themselves in their lighthouse from the encroaching triffids, who provide the audience with info on what the triffids are and what the magic bullet is that eventually kills them; and the post-apocalypse travelogue with Bill Masen, the orphan girl and young woman he finds in his travels who become a family unit. The triffids themselves have big drippy mouths and deadly branches, but they're kind of goofy in their presentation and it's hard to take them seriously. As with later zombie movies, their threat feels uneven, because if you're not blind you can move faster than them, but the movie always has to contrive to put you in a situation where you can't just run. I was really surprised to see a movie like this dealing with the knock-on effects of everyone in the world being blinded. We're treated to several effective scenes of chaos in London at the start - blind people silently bumping around the city and a scene where a train crashes and disgorges a throng of panicked blind passengers who walk around, arms outstretched like the undead (again with the zombie stuff) is creepy, and there's even a very dark sequence where blind pilots tragically try to land a plane as the passengers panic and riot. This is a pretty decent apocalyptic thriller/monster movie for its time and worth checking out.
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Oct 7, 2021 03:00
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 #22) V/H/S/94 (2021; streaming on Shudder) Hey, only took them seven years to get this sequel out. The tape-trading network from previous framing segments has developed into a full cult, which is rudely raided by a SWAT team. Then the team watches the videos or something, to get the main chunks viewed. Nice to have the film-makers remembering the name of the series for their pieces again. First segment was good, subterranean exploration and camcorder footage are a great combo in my book. Second one got a little wonky with the number of cameras involved, but had a solid, simple, and creepy set-up, which lost the thread a little at the end. Third segment felt more like an exercise in practical effects and set decoration than a full story, but it was still a fun ride, ridiculous as it was. And the last one was a goofy take on Waco types, but with supernatural power in their arsenal. Overall, a good batch, and I'm glad they're still making these, but I miss the connecting threads between the segments like in the first installment. You could sort of throw 'ACAB' in as the connector for this one, except it doesn't apply to the funeral parlor and sewer drain pieces. No segments in this that I'd call an outright failure, either, which is a rarity for this series. Let's hope it doesn't take as long for the next installment to arrive. “Kiss him!” Rating: 7/10
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Oct 7, 2021 03:02
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Jedit posted:11) Split Second I'll have you know this was actually released in the theaters; I should know, I think my dad and I were the only ones in there when it came out.
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Oct 7, 2021 03:39
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October 6 Lake Mungo Tomtrek, you were really passionate about Lake Mungo, so I thought I'd give it a watch. Tomtrek posted:5) Lake Mungo (2008) Alice and her family head off to a picnic at Lake Mungo where she disappears. Her body is dredged from the water days later. As her family grieves their loss, they start spotting Alice in photographs and video that is taken. They consult with a famous psychic about Alice and that leads to the discovery of Alice's secrets. Let me get this out of the way first: I get what the film was doing, it just didn't work for me at all. This feels like something that would connect with someone who watches a lot of ghost hunting TV shows or documentaries on the "History" Channel about "real" hauntings since the film is shot just like one of those documentaries. I don't like those things at all, so the game of "Spot the ghost in the image!" didn't connect for me; I don't care if Alice is leaving impressions of herself in photographs, the consequences of her presence were more important. That's something the film has, but I feel like the not so effective attempts to spook get in the way of that. Also, this is a personal complaint, but I hate when psychics show up in movies to help people connect with their recently lost loved ones. It lends credence to some very harmful parasites who take advantage of emotionally vulnerable people. So having psychics be the real thing and only there to help people is disgusting. It's like a movie where telemarketers are presented as heroic ("Thank you for letting me know about my car's extended warranty!"). And obviously The Conjuring movies are pretty high on my shitlist for promoting con artists as legitimate. The most interesting thing in the film to me was the use of the idea of ghosts as echoes across time. It's still a supernatural explanation, but it's not life after death which I think gives the ghost in Lake Mungo a different flavor. I didn't think Lake Mungo was a bad movie, just a movie that definitely wasn't for me. Maybe if it was more effective at conveying a tone of unease; so much of the film feels very mundane that it makes a family being haunted come across as just another Wednesday. Tomtrek posted:The key to this film, to me, is the way it keeps you on your toes as to whether there is anything supernatural is happening or not. First it shows you ghosts, then it debunks them. Then it say, no, actually there are ghosts... until it debunks that as well... and it goes on like this. As a structure for a film like this, it feels like that should get annoying, but somehow it never does. Somehow that just makes it even better. The problem with that is I knew that they'd wind up at "Yep, it's supernatural" in the end. It's the nature of filmmaking that it cannot be mundane. I actually think it would have been better if there was no ghost, just a grieving family wanting there to be one. Tomtrek posted:The horror in this film is based around slow suspense and tension rather than jump scares (there's one proper jump scare but it's a good one!). Instead it would rather show you an image on a screen and then reveal that the image you have been looking at has something creepy in it that you have missed the whole time, which I mind more effective. For me, I knew that the filmmakers would be doing that because that was the kind of movie it was. So I was always looking in the negative space of the frame for the ghost.
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Oct 7, 2021 04:24
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Random Stranger… hating on both Lake Mungo and Conjuring in one post? We’re going to be good friends 
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Oct 7, 2021 04:46
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 14. Prison [1987] This was pretty good. Viggo Mortensen playing the strong silent type for a lot of the movie (I assume to cover up the accent he really had as a younger actor). There's some fun dopey deaths in here and something about a haunted prison. It's a bit muddy and I think it got a bit unfocused as it went, but its a heck of a spectacle picture. There's a handful of actors in this one that are a who's who of "wow so this is something I dont ever recall you being in" sorta thing. Tiny Lister really starting off his career as "that dude" in the prison. Solid flick. 3  out of 5 15. Madhouse [1974] A fantastic whodunnit. Vincent Price is always a lotta fun and this one doesnt let down in that department. It's just a good old fashioned story of madness and just how far do you fall into the characters you play as an actor and where is the line. Super fun and loud and vibrant. They definitely dont make movies like this anymore. 4 out of 5 16. Cult of Chucky [2017] I really didnt see any of this coming tbh. Without giving too much away the kills are fantastic, the build up is great and I bought in for every single minute of this one. The show is going to be a hell of a ride if this is the pick up point for where the show is going to lead from. You genuinely wont be able to guess where this poo poo goes. I definitely didnt. Highly recommend (re)watching the Child's Play series. Well worth besides for Bride which was the biggest stinker of the bunch. 4 out of 5 17. Pieces [1982] I think I kinda loved this movie quite a bit. It's dirty, poorly dubbed and mean. Just a real kicker of a midnight movie and a lot of dumb fun. One I really want to add to my personal collection in the future if I do so feel inclined to do so. Just a lot of dumb cheesy fun, good gore and kills and some really dumb characters. Don't know what else you want from an early 80's slasher you know? 4 out of 5 18. V/H/S/94 [2021] ~Tales of Terror~ This was pretty good. Much better than part 3 where we initially thought that was gunna be the end of the series. This was solid all the way through, even the interstitials werent bad. Maybe the 3rd story felt a little bloated towards the end there and could've used a trim, but first one is a banger, second story is a banger and the fourth is literally a banger. Honestly I think this one might be the best collection of the series. VHS power rankings 4 > 2 > 1 > 3 4 out of 5 19. The Omen [1976] Yea the Omen is still solid. I think I'm going to go ahead and watch the entire series this month as well. Damien is a perfect creepy kid and the atmosphere slowly and slowly crushes you until you're just as out of breath as Gregory Peck. Just a ton of weird evil fun with a lot of solid tension and thrills. 4 out of 5
dorium fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Oct 27, 2021 |
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Oct 7, 2021 04:49
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5. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966, HBO Max) - Mothra once again proves that she's the best kaiju by sleeping through 90% of this boring movie, showing up, slapping Godzilla, and leaving. The plot this time concerns a nuclear-armed yet ambitionless paramilitary organization that is bribing Ebirah with lemons(?) to keep intruders away from their island. Godzilla is also asleep for the first half of the movie, wakes up, wrestles with Ebirah, and destroys a disappointingly small number of miniatures. 2/5 6. Son of Godzilla (1967, HBO Max) - Godzilla has a son. This is not explained. Nor is the reason a weather control experiment was set up on an island that is brimming with giant insects, arachnids, and multiple Godzillas. I was starting to hate-watch this, but the giant spider is pretty cool and the human side of the plot makes a lot more sense (a.k.a any sense) compared to the last one. 2.5/5 7. Destroy All Monsters (1968, HBO Max) - This one's fun, with plenty of city destruction and monster battles. The monsters are all living relatively happily on an island until aliens mind-control them to smash humanity into submission. Tables get turned, Ghidorah gets curbstomped, and everyone lives happily ever after. Except the many, many people who died. 4/5 8. All Monsters Attack (1969, HBO Max) - Part anti-bullying PSA, part clip show, with a bank robbery plot thrown in, and barely longer than an hour. The bad is really bad here - most of the film is a dream sequence with a kid hanging out with Minilla to learn to stand up with bullies. The non-horror, non-Godzilla ending with the kid's escape from the robbers and standing up to his actual bullies is pretty good though. There are also some interesting cinematic choices made here - some of it is due to the nature of the sequences, but there's also a lot of freezing and jumping in the latter part of the film. 3/5
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Oct 7, 2021 04:51
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 8. Fanatic (or Die, Die My Darling) (1965) A woman goes to her dead boyfriend's mother's place to get closure, and instead gets locked up with dear mother who wants to religiously purify her to be her dead son's wife. This was a fun bit of psychological horror from Hammer. It would have been better without a fiancee-ex-machina, but that's a small nit. Donald Sutherland is in it as well. There are criminal servants, escape attempts, occasional weird Hammer lighting, and a sometimes strange score choice. 8/31: The Lure, Candyman, Wyrmwood, Malevolent, Vivarium, Three Extremes, Def By Temptation,
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Oct 7, 2021 04:58
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 #23) Timecrimes (2007; DVD) Following a kooky day of mishaps, an older man named Hector gets sent back in time to the start of that day. More mishaps ensue. Stylish, taut, and an enjoyable level of convoluted, though even with its small cast, women feel more than a little prop-like. Tracing the paths of the Hectors through their plans, and the misfires of those plans, forms a massive part of the movie's intrigue, meshing them through each other in a way that's both linear and not. One that I'm looking forward to revisiting; might even pick up the special edition DVD to check out the recut 'linear' edit someday. Nacho Vigalondo has yet to let me down with any of his movies. “Surveillance cameras! We could use some!” Rating: 8/10
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Oct 7, 2021 05:01
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 6. V/H/S '94 (2021), dir. Timo Tjahjanto, Ryan Prows, Chloe Okuno, Simon Barrett I adore OG V/H/S. I think it's an amazing movie that should be talked in the same breath as the Babadook, Get Out, The Witch, and It Follows. I love all the shorts and I think it has some great underlying thematics. I think I'm in the minority in this opinion, but the two V/H/S sequels that came after really felt like failed attempts to relive that initial magic. Both had great shorts, but also very forgettable ones. V/H/S '94 doesn't feel as special as the original. It doesn't have deep underlying messages although two of the shorts deal with white conservative grievance. Its framing device is bad. There is an underlying cheapness to it that some of the shorts escape, but is on full display with the lovely framing device. But V/H/S '94 is consistent in its actual shorts. They are all fun and tight horror movies that give you a great mix of scary, inventive, and funny. There are no standouts. Nothing is as good as Parallel Monsters or Safe Haven, but nothing feels like boring filler either. There is a clear short that is SUPPOSED to be the standout, but lovely special effects undermine what is otherwise could have been great. It's just four effectively scary movies and that works for me enough. /5
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Oct 7, 2021 05:01
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Yep the bad CGI in the third segment deflates it down to the status of "as good as the other three".
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Oct 7, 2021 05:05
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I easily forgave its faults for being so buckwild.
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Oct 7, 2021 05:12
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#8 V/H/S/94 Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Steven Kostanski, Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows, 2021  I loved all four of the main segments, which is something I can't say about any of the previous three films. But there still has yet to be one that surpasses Safe Haven from part 2. And the wraparound here is weak as hell. But man I'm glad they're still making these movies, and at this level of quality. V/H/S Viral had me concerned the series was dead, but 94 has reaffirmed my hope. 4/5 8 Films watched: 1. Titane (2021), 2. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), 3. The Lair of the White Worm (1988), 4. Maniac (1980), 5. Maniac (2012), 6. Possum (2018), 7. We Are the Flesh (2016), 8. V/H/S/94 (2021)
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Oct 7, 2021 05:15
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