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Didn't feel like watching Nosferatu with Joe Bob Briggs last night - because I've seen it recently-ish and I don't think it'd benefit from his intrusions - so I went ahead and finished off the challenges instead.gey muckle mowser posted:
 #19. Bones (2001)(iTunes) 20 years after being killed, hustler Jimmy Bones comes back from the dead to exact vengeance on the people who murdered him, and the young teens trying to set up a club in his old home. I love director Ernest R. Dickerson's Tales From the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, so I was hopeful going into this film. That previous film is a wonderful high-wire act, deftly balancing horror, humor, drama, pathos and a dash of fantasy action. Bones wants to have slightly higher aspirations, but ends up falling short due to one simple fact: the first half or so is fairly boring and rote. It takes a long time to finally get to the spooky action and have Snoop Dogg show up to liven up the proceedings, and I just don't care about most of the characters we're following until then. (Plus, I don't know if it was really established what the evil dog had to do with Snoop's character - if it's just a pun on his real life stage name, fine, but since the character of Jimmy Bones never has or is near a dog in flashbacks, it doesn't really make sense that he'd have an evil hell hound protector thing. And it just feels like they're using that as a substitute to drag out the unveiling of Snoop as an Evil Crow slasher villain/ghost, which is really all I wanted out of this in the first place.) Like I said, I'm not too thrilled about the first half of the movie. It has a few bright-ish spots: the pretitles scene is effective, Pam Grier and Clifton Powell are reliable veterans, and there's some interesting themes about generational views on gentrification and the place for supernatural spirituality in underserved urban communities. But they never get fully fleshed out, and those elements get dropped when Snoop finally shows up (far too late) to go on his evil ghost rampage. (I'm kinda torn on that stuff too, since a lot of it comes with Ricky Harris mugging as a disembodied head Jimmy carries around, like he's an extra annoying "God of War" item Kratos can't put away. But then there's a scene where Jimmy kills his old bodyguard and ends up singing over his dying body, showing him as much mercy as he's capable - a quick death, no eternal damnation, some measure of mourning - and it both feels a little out of place, and a little better than the movie deserves at this point. It was definitely the moment that I kept coming back to afterwards.) In the end, I don't think this is a bad movie, and I don't think it's a bad idea to build your film around a simple enough premise/gimmick. "Popular rapper as slasher villain" can work to get your movie made and seen, and Snoop proves better than initially expected, mainly because he's not pandering to the material. But it still takes too long to get going, and the few interesting things that the slow first half plays around with get dropped too easily for that gimmick stunt casting. It's fine enough as it is, but I just wish this thing had more meat on its Bones (dear God, I'm so sorry for the pun).  /5Watched so far: Night of the Living Dead (1968), Escape Room (2019), The Company of Wolves (GMM Challenge 9), Shutter (2008) (GMM Challenge 3), bunch o' shorts (GMM Challenge 7), Black Sunday (1960), The Hallow (GMM Challenge 1), Dr. Strange 2, Madhouse (1974) (GMM Challenge 10), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) (GMM Challenge 13), Memory: The Origins of Alien (GMM Challenge 5), Trollhunter (GMM Challenge 8), Friday the 13th Part 2 (SBLT Challenge), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Firestarter (2022) (GMM Challenge 12), Happy Death Day 2U (GMM Challenge 2), The Editor (GMM Challenge 6), Anna and the Apocalypse (GMM Challenge 4), Bones (GMM Challenge 11) Class3KillStorm fucked around with this message at 19:03 on May 21, 2022 |
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May 21, 2022 17:05
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CHALLENGE TIME 
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14. Men (2022) A woman (Jessie Buckley) takes a vacation in a village in an attempt to shake off the emotional cobwebs of her husband's (Paapa Essiedu) suicide, in the process being tormented by the village's male inhabitants, each of whom have the face of Rory Kinnear If you hated mother!'s reliance on metaphors you'll really hate this one's (especially the unsubtle metaphors!); if you hated the insanity of Annihilation's final ten minutes you'll really hate this one's. As a huge fan of both, I loved this. As I said in the horror thread this is something I expect to watch multiple times, and Alex Garland has done it again for me Unsurprisingly a film that's 95+% the performance of two actors lives and dies by how good they are; Jessie's one of the best, has been in my mind for sure since I'm Thinking Of Ending Things, and shows more of that here. And Rory has never been more sinister, making even the rare "ordinary" scenes uncomfortably tense Something about seeing films I know everyone else is gonna hate on the big screen has continuously delivered. Seeing this in an otherwise-empty theater may not 100% compare to seeing the bear scene of Annihilation in a packed one, nor the descent into hell of the last act of mother! that caused a couple walkouts in a half-full one, yet I don't think I'll be able to forget the peak of any of them all the same. Can't wait to see this again. Maybe my fav horror of the year. However long Garland wants to keep doing this (something I know he's got on his mind lately), he's earned more than enough of my trust at this point to know I'll show up for each moment of it ***** 14/13+ (Presence 2022, Bitch rear end, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes, The Outwaters, Masking Threshold, When the Screaming Starts, The Abandon 2022, To the Moon 2022, Dawning 2022, La Pasajera, Pennywise: The Story of IT, Firestarter 2022, Escape the Field, Men 2022) Hopefully not done for the month here, though I wouldn't be upset with that. Appear to be done with theater horror for it though; only other thing I have planned is Downton Abbey tomorrow morning and then I'm not back in a theater until either Bob's Burgers or Crimes of the Future
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May 22, 2022 03:46
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11. The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) (first viewing) In 17th century England, the unsettling discovery of inhuman remains sparks off the beginnings of a Satanic cult among the youth in a rural village. Wiki lists this one right between Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man when discussing the beginnings of folk horror as a sub-genre, so it seemed like an interesting one for the folk horror challenge. This one gets by more on atmosphere than a tight narrative. It mostly works visually in terms of costumes, sets, and locations, although the props for the more supernatural elements come across way too cheap and goofy. Similarly, the score is pronounced and largely effective, although occasionally it way overshoots spooky and enters Looney Tunes territory. My biggest complaint is that the demonic corpse shows up in the opening scene and half the village is worshiping Satan almost immediately. The real issue here is that the film needed to show a little more of the status quo so there was a basis for comparison as the village became corrupted. CHALLENGE: "Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched." --- CHALLENGES: 1. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) 2. Scream, Queen! Death Drop Gorgeous (2020) 3. 4. Music of the Night Nocturne (2020) 5. Behind the Screams Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019) 6. The King in Yellow The Fifth Cord (1971) 7. Short Cuts (various short films) (misc) 8. A Perfect Getaway 9. Hidden Gems 12 Hour Shift (2020) 10. The Price is Right 11. Horror Noire Tales from the Hood (1995) 12. All Hail the King 1922 (2017) 13. Sins of the Past The Wolf Man (1941)
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May 22, 2022 05:50
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Finished with challenges. Now I'm just having fun running the score up. #20. Men (2022)(Theatrical) After her husband dies - maybe by accident, maybe by suicide - Harper retreats to an isolated country house to heal. However, she starts running afoul of all of the men in the village - first by small sexist acts, then larger and more violent actions. It's a tightrope act, this film, mainly based on your relationship with the character actors and the expectation that they can't seriously expect Rory Kinnear to basically play all but like 3 roles in the whole thing. For the most part, though, it comes off: Kinnear is able to subtly (or in some cases, not so subtly) differentiate all of the different characters (aspects?) that he is being asked to play, while lead Jessie Buckley gives an incredible performance of overwhelming grief married to damaged pride. The two leads are able to keep your attention riveted on the screen for pretty much the whole runtime. (Supporting players Pappa Essiedu and Gayle Rankin are fine, but their characters are much more one note functions in the script, so they don't get a ton of time to craft compelling performances.) On the flip side, outside of the lead actors, I don't know that I was terribly impressed by the rest of the proceedings. The location and outdoor photography is nice and vibrant, but nothing is super outstanding, either. Some of the makeup effects work is astonishing, but there's a young teen character that they digitally graft Kinnear's face onto, and the seams show too readily to make it work. The ending is bonkers, and metaphorically and thematically dense enough, but they also repeat that one trick several times in a row, which reduces its power to surprise or unnerve by the end of the sequence; all your left with is surprise they got away with showing it multiple times, and disgust at how committed they are to the bit. After all is said and done, the performances are enough to carry this to a tepid recommendation, but I don't know if I'd feel great about it; I think I'd have to go in and really stress that the performances come with a really strange and borderline offensive ending. (On the one hand, it shouldn't be read that way, considering we're talking about one of the most natural things in the world; on the other hand, it's a deliberate perversion of it, and, since we're in America, everyone is squeamish enough about it as is that you really can't dance around it.) Considering I was the one person at that Saturday screening of the film, I don't know if any amount of recommendations are gonna get people to see this before it hits streaming anyway, though. /5Watched so far: Night of the Living Dead (1968), Escape Room (2019), The Company of Wolves (GMM Challenge 9), Shutter (2008) (GMM Challenge 3), bunch o' shorts (GMM Challenge 7), Black Sunday (1960), The Hallow (GMM Challenge 1), Dr. Strange 2, Madhouse (1974) (GMM Challenge 10), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) (GMM Challenge 13), Memory: The Origins of Alien (GMM Challenge 5), Trollhunter (GMM Challenge 8), Friday the 13th Part 2 (SBLT Challenge), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Firestarter (2022) (GMM Challenge 12), Happy Death Day 2U (GMM Challenge 2), The Editor (GMM Challenge 6), Anna and the Apocalypse (GMM Challenge 4), Bones (GMM Challenge 11), Men (2022)
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May 22, 2022 16:31
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Well, am much behind with my writeups. Many movies are from Bracketology, and I'm not counting rewatches. 5. The Changeover is a really good coming of age horror struggling with a terrible YA source material, and ultimately losing to it. The cinematography is amazing, there’s a fantastic dreamlike atmosphere throughout, with some scenes that made me wish I was in the theatre to see them on the big screen. Timothy Spall is a great villain, and the movie has some of the most genuinely creepy scenes in this years bracketology tournament. Overall, everyone involved is doing a fantastic job, and utterly failing against the trappings of the genre. As it is, the movie just regularly grinds to a terrible halt to cover tiresome YA tropes. The movie is short, and too much time is wasted on scenes/dialogue from the book that nobody can deliver properly and that don’t add up to anything, and so we go from “youre a Sensitive™, you can become a witch” to her almost immediately becoming a witch, or the entirety of character development delivered in a voiceover at the end of the movie. If they’d cut out the entire with coven absolutely nothing would have been lost, it would have given the movie more space for actually worthwhile directions. What a shame. 6. Morgiana is a gothic drama with magnificent costumes, a fun story and a cute cat. It’s not an outstanding homerun of a movie for me, but it’s basically what I’d want from a Hammer movie and never really get. Not sure why the movie is named after the cat, it’s not really a central character (sadly). 7. It Came from Outer Space gives you pretty much exactly what you’d expect from the title. It’s a quite good looking movie with fun effects and a nice message, but it’s also not exactly exciting or anything. Not my cup of tea, but quite good. 8. Koko-di Koko-da A scandinavian, Lynchian (overused term but here it is) groundhog-day horror movie about a couple experiencing marital problems and murderous intrusions during a camping trip. Darkly funny, mean, and quite frankly too short. The sub-genre lends itself to the “here’s what I would have done” armchair victim spiel, but generally the movie just skips over most iterations that and ends a bit too quickly. Normally I’d not complain about a short movie, but some things need to breathe, and this one did. Also features shadow puppetry that to me looks like it was done in CGI, which I sort of hate. Warning: It features a bad dog that dies multiple times, and most of the violence is weirdly focused on the woman. Still, I’m nitpicking. It was very good, eerie, original and interesting, plus the drat children’s song was stuck in my head for a long time. 9. World of KanakoNow here’s a movie that goes hard, immediately and thoroughly, in a way that people like Takashi Miike or Sion Sono do at their best, and worst. A deliberately unlikeable protagonist stumbles, abuses, fights and rapes his way through the case of his missing daughter, only to find that her life was not what he believed it to be. Extremely energetic and gorgeous, switching between the visuals of different genres and even dipping into animation occasionally, just a joy to look at from start to finish. If you can look past the depictions of rape, ah Japan. 10. Phantasm 2 I barely remembered anything from the first movie, and the recap at the start of this one made me even more confused as to what was going on. But wow, talk about a perfect depiction of somebody’s night spent waking up between disjointed nightmares and trying to put a coherent narrative to them in the morning. Plus, good goop. Always appreciate that. Way better than expected. 11. Phantasm III is a step down from Phantasm II, which actually stuff going for it. Instead of the weird dream energy of its predecessor it’s cribbing from Evil Dead, which can be good but Reggie is no Ash, and deadites don’t fit into the movie. It’s still reasonably well made, again the goop is good (needs more though) so overall it’s ok, I guess? Enough Phantasm for me. 12. Vampire Doll is probably not a movie I’d have enjoyed much if it was any longer. But it’s short and sweet, with the titular Vampire Doll getting some genuinely creepy moments, and a very satisfying ending. Watched earlier: 1.The Berlin Bride, 2. Frankenstein Created Woman, 3. No One Gets Out Alive, 4. Hellbender
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May 22, 2022 23:23
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 All Hail the KingThe Dead Zone 1983 Directed by David Cronenberg  It's a really interesting Cronenberg because it's easy to forget that not everything he directs involves objects going into or coming out of various human orifices. There are still definite Cronenberg touches. My favorite is the Weizak Clinic. Cronenberg loves a clinic. The Dead Zone is a really tragic story that hinges in a thought experiment -- do you do the right thing even if nobody would have any reason to believe what you did was right? 💀💀💀💀 Spooky Non-American 1960s Challenge 13/13 1. Matango (1963), 2. Mill of the Stone Women (1960), 3. The Brainiac (1962), 4. Kill, Baby… Kill! (1966), 5. Gamera, the Giant Monster (1960), 6. Genocide (1968), 7. The House That Screamed (1969), 8. The Whip and the Body (1963), 9. The Snow Woman (1968), 10. The City of the Dead (1960), 11. The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960), 12. The Devil Rides Out (1968), 13. Spirits of the Dead (1968) Bracketology 9/? 1. Night of the Living Dead (1990), 2. Strait-Jacket (1964), 3. National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (2011), 4. Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), 5. The Changeover (2017), 6. It Came from Outer Space (1953), 7. Morgiana (1972), 8. Phantasm II (1988), 9. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), The Vampire Doll (1970) GMM Challenges 13/14 1. The Other Lamb (2019), 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), 3. Madhouse (1974), 4. Suck (2009), 5. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006), 6. Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972), 7. Various shorts, 8. The Medium (2021), 9. The Eyes of My Mother (2016), 10. The Tingler (1959), 11, His House (2020), 12. The Dead Zone (1983), 14. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
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May 23, 2022 00:16
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10) The Bat (1959) Challenge: The Price is Right I've seen most of the readily available Price movies, but I found this remake of a 1926 movie that was part of Bob Kane's inspiration for Batman and the uncredited debut of legendary cinematographer Gregg Toland. Unfortunately the remake is quite pedestrian, with little to recommend it beyond steady performances from Price and co-star Agnes Moorehead. You could do far worse if you need a deep cut, though.
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May 23, 2022 00:51
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 1/13: Thir13en Ghosts Exceptionally dumb schlock. Thir13en Ghosts is a horror movie with the attitude of an Ed Hardy shoe, all the way through to the truly galaxy-brained title spelling. The setup has potential. F. Murray Abraham is a sinister occultist who's been trapping murderous ghosts, but then dies at the hands of... a murderous ghost. Whoops. Nephew Tony Shalhoub and his dipshit family then inherit Abraham's clockwork glass mansion with creepy Latin writing all over the walls, and wouldn't you know it, when they come to check out the property a bunch of murderous ghosts are there to start up an oogety-boogety routine! The glass-walled house with its moving rooms should make for cool memorable set pieces. Instead it delivers only one cool kill. It can barely sustain visual interest as everyone splits up and trips over themselves in the most played-out tedious Scooby Doo routine imaginable. The editing is dogshit, but I can't blame the editors for it. The writing and performances are both so abysmal that it's impossible to serve up any spookiness, so what do you do? Make every ghoulie constantly flashing and cutting and jerking and inverting color every other frame in that most eye-searingly 2001 filmmaking fashion possible, baby! It's impossible to look at the ghosts for longer than 2 seconds at a time but at least by dumping this much gasoline on the trash fire, it brings enough heat and bang to keep the carnival ride moving. The most contemptible film failures are baffling and boring. Instead, I gotta admit that Thir13en Ghosts (sigh) is decently amusing as a "How stupid is this going to get?" three beers kind of watch. Not a never-watch-this, just a never-watch-this-sober. .5/5 2/13: Run A straightforward, meticulous thriller that wrings many queasy moments out of Sarah Paulson gaslighting and "protecting" Kiera Allen, her isolated wheelchair-using daughter. Writer-director Aneesh Chaganty zeroes in on the domestic cat-and-mouse game of Allen trying to decipher the threat and escape. It's drat tense, the pace of escalations is well-tuned, but by the end I found myself wanting more of a lens into Paulson's disturbed psychology to attach some meaning to what I was seeing. Run leaves her opaque and wraps up too quickly to shed much light into how being raised by someone like this could mess you up beyond the obvious physical endangerment.  /5
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May 23, 2022 01:20
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13. A Cure For Wellness An epic length gothic-ish horror movie, gorgeous to look at but ultimately there’s not that much to it. The initial American Psycho-esqueness is replaced by a relatively generic weird science in asylum plot, but not that much weirdness happens for a movie that’s clearly someone’s pet project. 14. The Found Footage Phenomenon, a documentary about foot foundage. Takes the generic approach of filmmakers and thinkers talking about the history of the thing, but this one is notable in that they got almost everyone, from Eduardo Sanchez and Lance Weiler to Koji Shiraishi and frigging Ruggero Deodato (who by far had the most interesting stuff to say). It does show some scenes of real life executions and deaths such as the infamous Vietnam headshot so be VERY AWARE OF THAT. Didn’t mention Trash Humpers ONCE. Still provides a nice list of movies and directors to look into. 15. Final Prayer Inspired by the FF documentary, and a reminder that I’m a huge wuss when it comes to jump scares. It was ok overall but didn’t have anything special to it. Watched earlier: 1.The Berlin Bride, 2. Frankenstein Created Woman, 3. No One Gets Out Alive, 4. Hellbender, 5. The Changeover, 6. Morgiana, 7. It Came from Outer Space, 8. Koko-di Koko-da, 9. World of Kanako, 10. Phantasm 2, 11. Phantasm III, 12. Vampire Doll married but discreet fucked around with this message at 01:28 on May 23, 2022 |
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May 23, 2022 01:26
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oh god how did this get there i am not good with post/edits
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May 23, 2022 01:27
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#16: The Possessed Challenge 6. The King in Yellow  This is, I believe, my first giallo* movie. It's not quite what I picture when I think of giallos*. It's in black and white, so there's no weird coloured lights. There was no black-gloved killer. But there was a beautiful European women stabbed with a small knife. A guy goes to a hotel in the hopes of remaking the acquaintance with the maid he fell in love with from afar the previous year. Only to discover that she has committed suicide. But the man quickly begins to suspect that it was actually murder. It's a pretty basic murder mystery, but not a bad one. What really jazzes it up is some excellent visuals. Great shot construction and dream like over-exposed sequences. It's very nice to look at. The one demerit I give it is the main guy doesn't have much going for him. It might be because I watched it dubbed, which the physical media thread told me was fine for giallos*, and the dub guy doesn't put much into the job. But it's not a huge deal Overall, The Possessed, very solid. *if you knew how I was pronouncing giallo you would be upset 1) One Cut of the Dead, 2) Land of the MinotaurCH8, 3) Terra Formars, 4)The Great Buddha ArrivalCH5, 5) BogCH3, 6) Satan's Cheerleaders, 7) Zombie For Sale, 8) JeruZalem, 9) CandymanCH11, 10) Curse of the Crimson Altar, 11) PreyCH2, 12) The Possession of Michael King, 13) The Green KnightCH1, 14) Before We Vanish, 15) The Brood, 16) The PossessedCH6
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May 23, 2022 01:55
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12. Men I was already excited for this; I thought Ex Machina was really good, and loved Annihilation and Devs, but seeing stuff like this Chris James 2 posted:If you hated mother!'s reliance on metaphors you'll really hate this one's (especially the unsubtle metaphors!); if you hated the insanity of Annihilation's final ten minutes you'll really hate this one's. As a huge fan of both, I loved this. Definitely amped me up because I looovvvveeedd mother!, so I was all in on this and I don't think it disappointed. It's gorgeous, well acted, and sounds great. It's up it's rear end at a few points, but I think it earns them. I didn't find it as difficult to understand as some people seemed to. There's certainly stuff that is unexplained/up to interpretation, but for the most part I think it's straighter than people are treating it, as long as you go into it understanding that there isn't going to be some big resolution where they walk you through all the answers.
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May 23, 2022 03:03
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Movie #17 - Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (1968)  The second film in the Yokai Monsters series, released the same year as the first. In spite of that, this film doesn't feel rushed or cheap; it's no Godzilla Raids Again! I liked the first film's political story, focused on villagers fighting back against a corrupt landlord with the help of the supernatural. The second is a pretty different story, with the yokai from the first movie teaming up to defeat an ancient Babylonian vampire lord. A lot more fighting, cartoon red blood, and ghostly mishaps. Spook Warfare is a much more straightforward film, dropping the stories within stories framing of 100 Monsters. Different, but still good, this one is a lot sillier and more fun with way more time spent on the monsters themselves. The costumes are great and have a ton of personality and the stretchy-necked Rokurokubi is still terrifying! Credit to Arrow Films too, the restoration they put out on blu-ray is gorgeous!
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May 23, 2022 04:52
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 12. Found Footage 3D A clueless producer runs rough-shod over film makers trying to make the “first 3D found footage” movie. Ultimately this was disappointing, and not just because I watched it in 2D. Although I do wonder at the 3D version, if that papers over the problems with a fun wow factor. It criticizes found footage movies then knowingly does the same thing. Knowing the pitfalls and walking into them while winking at the camera doesn’t actually make it better. There was one great moment with a door, and the aftermath of one of the characters was grislier than I thought it would be. Maybe that’s worth some points? Challenge #5: Behind The Screams  13. Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? This on the other hand was a delight. Not perfect by any means but a nice strange retelling of Hansel and Gretel. It had a lot of fun with the premise, and in particular throwing some other elements into the mix like a seance and a skeletal daughter to sing to. Fun! Challenge #9 Hidden Gems 13/13 Movies: What Have You Done To Solange?, Kadaicha, Frankenstein Created Woman, Night Of The Living Dead (1990), Straight Jacket, Slaughterhouse Rock, It Came From Outer Space, The Changeover, The Body Snatcher (1945), Anarchy Parlor, Cruising, Found Footage 3D, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? 8/13 Challenges: #1 Woodlands Dark (Kadaicha), #2 Scream Queen (Cruising), #4 Music Of The Night (Slaughterhouse Rock), #5 Behind The Screams (FF 3D), #6 The King In Yellow (Solange), #8 A Perfect Getaway (Anarchy Parlor), #9 Hidden Gems (Auntie Roo), #13 Sins Of The Past (Body Snatcher)
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May 23, 2022 04:56
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11. Eating Raoul (Challenge 2. Scream, Queen!) Eating Raoul is a zippy little movie about transgression. The main couple derides the world as decadent, then proceeds to insincerely engage themselves in sex, gluttony, lies, and violence while they very sincerely pursue their moral blindspot, the most decadent of all the vices: profit. It's deeply cynical and deeply fun. 12. The Masque of Red Death  (Challenge 10: The Price is Right) Yes, the rich are bestial, decadent blobs of abject cruelty. Yes, Vincent Price was the most fun actor of the 60's. Yes, Roger Corman was a genius for putting the two together. (Bonus shoutout to the Roeg cinematography and the set design, particularly the colored rooms that reflect the robes of the avatars of sickness) 13. Freaks  (Challenge 13: Sins of the Past) I read up on the so-called controversy surrounding this film and I genuinely have to wonder how drunk these critics were when they came up with these ideas. This is a deeply compassionate film. It's not subtext, it's loving text. The "freaks" moniker is sarcastic from the first frame: physical appearance and ability have nothing to do with a drat thing. The villains are those who allow themselves to be morally compromised, not a single scene passes the screen that demonizes , fetishizes, or pokes fun at the physical structures of the actors. It's there for the audience to notice, but it never factors into their moral bedrock. I'm honestly blown away that people think otherwise. 14. Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel  The pitch for this one was really just "Spirit Halloween blood packs and a black hoodie... Oh and we're gonna take a dig at Grave Encounters." The first one was bog-standard found footage but kinda fun, this one is like a student film from people who don't even want to be film students. Half star out of five.
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May 23, 2022 11:07
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Samfucius posted:
That's rather ironic, considering the film was released during Prohibition. Simply put: it was 1932. Americans, being obsessed with propriety and decency, were happy for people with deformities and differences to make a living by working in human menageries because then they were safely hidden away where nobody had to think about them or look at them if they didn't want to. Browning caused outrage by putting them in the public eye. And that outrage was stoked even further because the normal people - people like you! - were cruel exploiters and villains while the freaks were the friendly good-hearted community. And the price Cleopatra pays is to have the ugliness inside her made manifest. Freaks was a reflection on and of America, showing up the callousness behind the mask of neighbourliness. And you'd better believe that there is nothing the self-righteous hate more than being shown themselves.
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May 23, 2022 11:36
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Jedit posted:Freaks was a reflection on and of America, showing up the callousness behind the mask of neighbourliness. And you'd better believe that there is nothing the self-righteous hate more than being shown themselves. I totally agree, but I wasn't only talking about 1932, or even the limited scope of America. The BBC re-reviewed and re-rejected the film in 1952, and in 1963 reviewed it for a third time and allowed it... with an X rating for exploitation. I'm not so naive to not expect these kinds of reactions, but they're puzzling. Samfucius fucked around with this message at 12:18 on May 23, 2022 |
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May 23, 2022 12:14
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 12. All Hail the King- Watch a film based on the works of (or written by) Stephen King 5. Sometimes They Come Back (1991) This feels way too thin to last as a feature film - why did no-one do a decent budget King short anthology and make a few of his short stories work? I was surprised that the director of the fun, action-packed Jason Lives was behind this tame, afternoon soap-opera floater. Greaser Ghouls From Beyond the Grave is certainly a cool look and with some more effort in the special effects would have been very memorable - as is, it's not. Forgettable King. 2/5   13. Sins of the Past- Watch a film released before 1950 6. The Curse of the Cat People (1944) This is a low-stakes slow burn about a fancy-free child who believes in faeries, listens to stories (especially about Sleepy Hollow which is where she is) and makes best friends with an imaginary woman who might be the ghost of her father's first wife/catwoman. It meanders a fair bit but there's some really cool music and settings including a haunted old house in the neighbourhood and a child lost in the snow. I liked it but it's hard to recommend in the same breath as the original film. 3/5     7. Short Cuts- Watch 60+ minutes worth of horror short films and review them. 7. Fireworks -14mins (1947) So for this challenge I decided to watch a bunch of Kenneth Anger who I've been meaning to catch up on since my friend let me borrow Hollywood Babylon a few years ago. Fireworks is an engaging homoerotic dream that draws you in before becoming quite a frightening nightmare. The symbolism is joyful, I really liked this a loving lot. Experimental work can sometimes feel a bit cold but this really felt like you were seeing something about Anger and I love what he said about the film "This flick is all I have to say about being Seventeen, the United States Navy, American Christmas, and the Fourth of July". 4/5 8. Invocation of My Demon Brother -12mins (1969) This is trippy as gently caress which just so happens to be my jam. A lot of fun Satanic imagery of smoking through skulls, cool outfits and with appearances from Anton LaVey and Mick Jagger (who also provided the weird as gently caress synth soundtrack). For me the 12 minutes flew in, the editing is fast as we're driven towards who knows where - the Satanic gathering juxtaposed with concert footage and newsreel of Vietnam, it almost feels like taking acid as a giant portrait of Alestair Crowley looked down on you was actually the only sensible choice. 4/5 9. Lucifer Rising -29mins (1972) Lucifer is called upon by ancient gods to come forth and do his poo poo in sweet threads - now THERE is a narrative. Building up to this was probably the 2nd best way to watch this (the first being tuned to the moon, obviously). Kenneth Anger does not make pedestrian, boring poo poo - love him or loath him, you can't say you've seen much like his short films. I really liked the humour, the sincerity and just the inventiveness of truly feeling like this is from someone boldly riding the edge of society. I will be catching way more of his stuff and rate him very highly. Super influential, Lucifer Rising is the spirit of rock n roll that kicks off with a very Black Sabbath-esque soundtrack and just gets better from there. 4/5 10. Das Clown -8mins (1999) So the Kenneth Anger horror shorts amounted to 55 minutes and I had to round it up to over an hour with no more Anger and I thought I'd go for this story of a killer doll. It's not very good, leans on comedy a lot and it's my fault for watching it after such immensely sincere horror short films. It's done like a powerpoint presentation with still screenshots and a storyteller voice-over. It's fun enough I guess, I didn't hate it. 2/5 Watched: 1. Horrors of Malformed Men (challenge 1) 2. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (challenge 3) 3. Salo: 120 Days of Sodom 4. Last House on Dead End Street (challenge 5) 5. Sometimes They Come Back (challenge 12) 6. The Curse of the Cat People (challenge 13) 7. Fireworks /8. Invocation of My Demon Brother /9. Lucifer Rising /10. Das Clown (challenge 7). 6/13 challenges complete
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May 23, 2022 13:00
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 #21. Intruder (1989)(Shudder) The overnight crew at a local supermarket are terrorized by a psychopathic intruder, who picks them off one-by-one. I went into this mostly expecting to be pulling a Matt from Dinosaur Dracula and primarily signposting all of the old and outdated or just plain forgotten 1980s snack foods, ignoring the actual movie on hand. That may have been true in the beginning, when the film is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting to set up life at this rinky-dink market and all of the meatbags milling around it. Once things settled down and started getting spooky in the second half, I was able to start ignoring old Diet Pepsi can displays and original box designs for Trix and instead focus on some surprisingly solid gore effects. (When they go for it in this film, they will go for it.) I guess it's a benefit of a small-ish budget and dedicated crews - you know where you want to put your focus, so you can make those moments stand out, and by God they were able to do so. (Downside of a small-ish budget and dedicated crews means that I had to hold out hope that the actors and crews were keeping a strict focus on safety when setting up some of those shots/scenes; half the tension of the film comes from the fact that you know people really were sticking their hands and faces near meat slicers and box crushers.) Outside of those gore scenes and food packaging nostalgia, the film is solid but otherwise forgettable. Small budget, small scope, small ambitions, small returns, you know? Strangely, it seems like the half-life this film has found seems to be both focusing on the wrong scenes (trying to sell you on the input of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, when they're limited to small roles in front of the camera) or spoiling the not-enthralling twist (I was semi-surprised they went for a misdirect, considering how much stock they put into the violent rear end in a top hat character in the beginning, but it still doesn't seem cricket that all of the advertising, even in the original run, spoils that the weak-willed co-manager is the one doing all of the killing - not to mention that it doesn't make a ton of sense to begin with). Still, for what it's worth, I enjoyed my time with Intruder well enough; sometimes, basic competence and an ability to craft a couple of key moments is all a film really needs. /5Watched so far: Night of the Living Dead (1968), Escape Room (2019), The Company of Wolves (GMM Challenge 9), Shutter (2008) (GMM Challenge 3), bunch o' shorts (GMM Challenge 7), Black Sunday (1960), The Hallow (GMM Challenge 1), Dr. Strange 2, Madhouse (1974) (GMM Challenge 10), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) (GMM Challenge 13), Memory: The Origins of Alien (GMM Challenge 5), Trollhunter (GMM Challenge 8), Friday the 13th Part 2 (SBLT Challenge), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Firestarter (2022) (GMM Challenge 12), Happy Death Day 2U (GMM Challenge 2), The Editor (GMM Challenge 6), Anna and the Apocalypse (GMM Challenge 4), Bones (GMM Challenge 11), Men (2022), Intruder (1989)
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May 23, 2022 16:57
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Sins of the Past The Old Dark House 1932 Directed by James Whale  If you want to experience mild chills executed just about as well as they can be, have I got a movie for you! I'm being sincere. The Old Dark House is put together very well. This is the final movie to complete my challenges but I'm sure I'll try watch a few more this month. 💀💀💀1/2 Spooky Non-American 1960s Challenge 13/13 1. Matango (1963), 2. Mill of the Stone Women (1960), 3. The Brainiac (1962), 4. Kill, Baby… Kill! (1966), 5. Gamera, the Giant Monster (1960), 6. Genocide (1968), 7. The House That Screamed (1969), 8. The Whip and the Body (1963), 9. The Snow Woman (1968), 10. The City of the Dead (1960), 11. The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960), 12. The Devil Rides Out (1968), 13. Spirits of the Dead (1968) Bracketology 10/? 1. Night of the Living Dead (1990), 2. Strait-Jacket (1964), 3. National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (2011), 4. Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), 5. The Changeover (2017), 6. It Came from Outer Space (1953), 7. Morgiana (1972), 8. Phantasm II (1988), 9. Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), 10. The Vampire Doll (1970) GMM Challenges 14/14 1. The Other Lamb (2019), 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), 3. Madhouse (1974), 4. Suck (2009), 5. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006), 6. Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972), 7. Various shorts, 8. The Medium (2021), 9. The Eyes of My Mother (2016), 10. The Tingler (1959), 11, His House (2020), 12. The Dead Zone (1983), 13. The Old Dark House (1932), 14. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
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May 23, 2022 16:58
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69 Appropriately placed at number sixty-nine, Shivers was pretty good. Interesting idea from Cronenberg once again, but maybe not as fully fleshed out as his future ideas would be but you can see the angles and the nooks and crannies he's starting to discover and build from for future projects. The slugs were gross as hell and the one landing on the old ladies umbrella with a heavy THWACK was pretty funny. It's got some good zombie moments and the bleak ending totally fits the overall scope of the picture. I could see a triple midnite feature of Shivers, Teeth and It Follows being a real fun "sex is dangerous" triple feature.  Out of 570  It's a shame I put off watching this one for so long because its pretty drat great. Just a very human piece about a very inhuman time that was prescient to a few things going on with COVID-19 and just the reaction to it from the beginnings of the lockdown and where we were as we sheltered indoors for months and year(s). Performances across the board were great and there is this terrific tension slowly eroding everything around it until the climax. Just a very attuned and well honed picture. Out of 571  Now this one is a grindhouse classic for the oughts. Just real mean and hosed up in a good way. Nic Cage doin his thing, Selma Blair going full unhinged and I sorta didnt care for the kids, but I think that works for the film because it helps escalate things and you're kinda not rooting for anyone, but its such a glorious trainwreck of things happening and people getting hacked up both on and off camera with such a weird premise. I'm glad they didnt go too deep into the movie science of what is going on. All you gotta know is the olds want to kill the youngs out of self-preservation and that's it. Cool little flick.  Out of 572  This one is still a lot of fun. A nice head flip on the originals screenplay and giving Barabara more agency, but kinda letting the rest of the cast play out their parts similarly as they would in the original. Having very cavalier hero being wrong, the bullish strong-headed type still hurtling towards impending doom and the doofus couple just not getting anything right. I think there's still a lot more they coud've mined from the concept and the character archetypes, but its still a strong enough film that it works well on its own. Out of 5
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May 23, 2022 18:05
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I keep trying to stay honest about watching a movie from a country I havent seen one before and cant find one. Every time I think I got it I'll try and just double check and find another I've seen. Need some deep obscure country pumping out movies.
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May 23, 2022 19:10
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 18. Shock Em Dead (1991) "Someday I'm gonna be so famous that people are gonna stand in line to hear me play!" A guy gets a voodoo themed(?) monkey's paw wish where he becomes really good at Rockin' (I guess), but has to kill and absorb life force using a crappy little knife as his method of feeding himself and staying alive. Like a vampire movie, but no biting, just stabbing. Traci Lords is there. It's got a lot of guitar licks and squeedlee-deedlee stuff in it, it's pretty bad but it's also kind of funny. There is a hilarious song about abstinence.  2/5 19. Night of the Demon (1980) "One thing I do know is that there isn't any Bigfoot in these woods, here or anywhere else." So it's a slasher but the killer is Bigfoot and it's told through a series of flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks. Because of this movie, any time I think about Bigfoot for the rest of my life I'm going to think about how Bigfoot ripped a guy's dick off. It's really all over the place but there is a significant portion dedicated to Bigfoot raping a girl and her giving birth to a half Bigfoot or something. The baby looks like a normal human baby doll but covering in poo poo and makes monkey noises. I don't know if more people should watch this or not tbh, but it was fascinating and really swings for the fences on low budget gory kills. 3.5/5I've surpassed my "13 new to me" personal challenge, and I have one mod challenge left to go.  Total Watched: 19 // GMM Challenges Complete: #13 (The Uninvited), #12 (The Tommyknockers), #11 (Def by Temptation), #10 (The Witchfinder General), #9 (Motel Hell), #8 (Kratt), #7 (replaced with Never Hike Alone: The Ghost Cut), #5 (Shadow of the Vampire), #4 (Repo! The Genetic Opera), #3 (The Changeover), #2 (Penda's Fen), #1 (Kuroneko) dorium posted:I keep trying to stay honest about watching a movie from a country I havent seen one before and cant find one. Every time I think I got it I'll try and just double check and find another I've seen. Need some deep obscure country pumping out movies. Have you seen any Estonian horror? I used Kratt (2020) for the challenge.
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May 23, 2022 19:20
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dorium posted:I keep trying to stay honest about watching a movie from a country I havent seen one before and cant find one. Every time I think I got it I'll try and just double check and find another I've seen. Need some deep obscure country pumping out movies. seen this? https://letterboxd.com/film/the-barbados-project/
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May 23, 2022 19:21
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dorium posted:I keep trying to stay honest about watching a movie from a country I havent seen one before and cant find one. Every time I think I got it I'll try and just double check and find another I've seen. Need some deep obscure country pumping out movies. I went to Letterboxd’s world map and just went country by country checking if I’d see anything. I got lucky though and found one in Argentina.
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May 23, 2022 19:26
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Have you seen -Fangs (1981) the Egyptian Dracula musical horror comedy? -Strangler vs Strangler (1984) the Yugoslavian serial killer horror comedy? -Ludo (2014) the Faroese psychological drama/thriller? -The Eagle' Nest (1974) the Turkish version of Straw Dogs? Tilbury (1987) the Icelandic WW2 period piece horror comedy?
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May 23, 2022 19:28
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dorium posted:I keep trying to stay honest about watching a movie from a country I havent seen one before and cant find one. Every time I think I got it I'll try and just double check and find another I've seen. Need some deep obscure country pumping out movies. El Dia De La Bestia!
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May 23, 2022 19:34
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The Berzerker posted:Have you seen any Estonian horror? I used Kratt (2020) for the challenge. I've used Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway before. It's an Ethiopian/Estonian co-production so it can count for either. Also there's Dachra on Shudder, which is reportedly Tunisia's first horror movie.
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May 23, 2022 19:36
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The Berzerker posted:
Going to look into all this!
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May 23, 2022 19:47
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 34 (51). Children of the Corn (2009) Written and directed by Donald P. Borchers King Spring II: 13/13 That wasn’t terrible? It wasn’t good either. I do really like David Anders and he plays a very good bad dude who also happens to be the antihero of the story. And I like Kandyse McClure too and its notable that this keeps true to the original King story in making the couple a bickering unpleasant one. I’m honestly not sure it adds anything. I was never really bothered by the change in the original but I don’t think this hurts it either. And for the most part it feels like a very faithful adaption in most ways. I don’t recall the Nam flashbacks. Those were odd. Like i kind of get it. You gotta flesh out the story somehow and the Nam thing helps frame the time period a little (its kind of the only part of the movie that does) and the idea of the bad dude Nam vet having to fight kids and it triggering PTSD about the evil poo poo he did in the war… well I get it but its weird and dark and harsh. Like are you telling me he’s murdered children before? I think maybe you’re making him a little too bad. I didn’t really feel anything for this. It also doesn’t really do much in the paranormal He Who Walks Behind the Rows department, and what it does do it hides in the PTSD trauma and delusions. I don’t mind the focus on the creepy kid cult. I mean, the church sex orgy was weird and rather unexpected for a tv movie. But I do like the whole creepy kid cult aspect and its cool that they actually used kids for it (although thankfully not for that scene). But I dunno. It doesn’t feel like it really enters into second gear with that. And really I think that’s it. There’s a decent setup here, there’s decent performances and pieces in place. I just don’t feel like there’s a real final act to this thing. Instead things just kind of get strung out for awhile and then wrap up quickly. And I found myself just drifting by the end. In fact its been a couple of days and I just went back and rewatched the ending just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. And no. I mean the details are fading super fast. Nothing in this sticks. And there’s no real final punch or push. It could have been something but my guess is they just didn’t have the budget for a big finale, or were playing a little too faithful to King’s story. But either way it just doesn’t get there. Its probably a better made movie than most of the CotC sequels, although a lot of those sequels are kind of the reverse. Bad setups and films that throw everything into the finale. I think others would probably prefer that. Is it better to be bored for an hour and then kind of have fun for the end or to be kind of into it and then just sort of drift away until the finish? Most would probably choose the former. I’m not sure I would disagree. But it wasn’t a terrible watch. It just also wasn’t good.  - (52). Braindead (1992) Directed by Peter Jackson; Screenplay by Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson, and Frances Walsh To be honest I wasn’t really in the mood for this. I’ve seen it many times and enjoyed it but I find as I get older this sort of stuff appeals to me less. So I was in some ways dreading something that was a bit too gross or mean. Something I had grown past. And for the first act or so I did kind of feel that way but then like the film just kind of won me back over. Jackson is of course good so even if this kind of humor or gore isn’t usually my thing when someone very good does it it can rise above. And it did. And really the film is such a madcap kinetic run to the end that it really sucked me in. The first act humor isn’t really a setup or start of the film theme, its more of a build up. The film just builds and builds in insanity and whacked out wildness as the situation gets crazier. I don’t even know if I really have anything to say about it. You’ve probably seen it, and if you haven’t you probably know its a cult classic and are interested in it. And its deserving of that status and holds up. So many memorable effects and scenes and gore and wild stuff. And all constructed well with some characters you can enjoy and get behind and an insane ride you just kind of have to hang onto and enjoy. And I did enjoy it. I didn’t think I was gonna. I wasn’t in the mood. I felt burnt out on horror and this felt like the exact wrong kind of thing to perk me up. But I was wrong. It actually really put me in a better mood and just was a fun time. I guess I never should have doubted.  The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Created and directed by Mike Flanagan; Based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Watched on Netflix ”A ghost can be a lot of things. A memory. A day dream. A secret. Grief. Anger. Guilt.” Another series I fit into this month, a revisited one. I loved it back when it came out but I never got around to its “sequel” and never revisited it in the years since. So I was curious to see how it held up and for the most part I’d say greatly. Now the slow play structure of the setup, focusing each of the first 5 episodes on one of the Crain kids before finally bringing the family together and getting some clearer idea of what’s happening in the very good and technically interesting 6th episode Two Storms. And then the ending isn’t some big final punch. Its all very somber and slow finish. A slow build, a bit of a pick up middle, and a slow finish. And I can understand why people wouldn’t necessarily enjoy that, especially horror fans. Midnight Mass certainly went a lot harder for its finish so I’m not surprised that was better received with a lot of my horror fan friends. But still. I love this kind of stuff. Hill House really is that kind of horror and ghost story that is less about scaring you and more about wrestling with the ghosts we all live with and that end up hurting us. Not the way a supernatural force might hurt someone, but in those ways we all hurt. Grief, mental illness, depression, trauma, addiction, guilt. The things that not only hurt us and break us down but tend to separate us from the people who love us. And that’s the irony because much like an evil force might try and separate you from anyone who might help these thinks always try and isolate us and keep us separate from those who love us and could help us get through it. And sadly we don’t all survive this. None of us do in the end but so many of us fall too soon. And for those of us left that only hurts more and adds to the pain and creates one more ghost. The ghosts keep coming and they’re always there, but they don’t have to be monsters. I also think its a very effective spooky piece. I love the Hill House and its big, labyrinth layout and gothic feel. The ghosts weave in and out scaring you as a child would expect to be scared and just sort of sneakily becoming part of the house. The cast is great. Timothy Hutton and Kate Siegel really stand out for me but in many ways Victoria Pedretti and Oliver Jackson-Cohen steal the show and are the heart fo it as Nell and Luke. Pedretti does an amazing job making you care for and love a character whose fate you already know. I really need to see more of what she’s done. I need to see Bly Manor. That’s coming up soon for sure. But really I think the whole cast is great, which of course just makes me more interested in Bly Manor since I know how Flanagan loves reusing his casts. The first time i watched this I was struck by how he was able to use all his leading ladies so effectively as mothers, daughters, and sisters that I was sometimes confused who was who. This time I was just struck that Steve had married Bev from Midnight Mass. Run, man! Run! Samantha Sloyan really owned that role and made it stand out in the same way Pedretti does the Nell role here. I should check out more of her work too. Really just a very enjoyable and sad watch. Heartwarming and heartbreaking. A few scares. The kind of moody atmosphere and slow build I really enjoy. Flanagan isn’t for everyone but its clear there’s an audience for what he does and as a member fo that audience I think he does it very well.  35 (53). Children of the Living Dead (2001) Directed by Tor Ramsey; Written by Karen Lee Wolf Knockoffs of the 13 Dead: 6/13 Well that’s not the worst thing I’ve seen. Not the worst Living Dead film I’ve seen either. Its not good though. You might be tempted to check it out since its produced by John Russo and stars Tom Savini. It feels like an unofficial sequel to the original in all ways except George Romero. Of course Russo calls it The Living Abomination of Children” and Savini calls it "the biggest piece-of-poo poo movie ever made.” I wouldn’t go that far but I can understand their feelings. Savini’s part is actually a lot of fun. He shows up from the start and its basically a zombie action movie starring him rolling over car hoods and doing flips and with dozens of guns and blowing stuff up. Its kind of great and it feels like 90% of the energy of the film is focused on that opening 10 minutes or so. Or maybe just 90% of the talent? Because Savini is done after that and the film changes courses completely and nosedives hard in quality. What it is is… I dunno… really a very generic rear end zombie movie but also kind of vampire film? Like there’s this super zombie who turns other zombies and seems patterned after Nosferatu. And the plot seems to suggest he’s been around for awhile and the whole town fears him and makes sure not to go out at night like in one of those old Dracula films. The townsfolk fearing the monster in the dark. But its all very poorly written and doesn’t feel complete at all. There’s no real explanation or point to the Nosferatu Zombie thing and the film just kind of ends. None of the story threads or character stuff set up feels like it pays off at all. The film’s writer is the daughter of a producer for Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween II and III and this whole productions sounds like a vanity project/gift for her. At least that’s what Russo makes it sound like, that he was just trapped doing this at the whims of someone who didn’t know what they were doing. Some of it feels over the top and I’ve seen some of Russo and Savini’s lesser films and it does feel like t they’re really trying to bury someone hard here. But still, its bad. This has actually been on my radar for years because of its tenuous link to Romero’s films. So you might be tempted like I was to check it out and see what its all about. Or close that collection. But I advise you, don’t. There’s not much here. Maybe if you really feel like it check out the opening ten minutes for Savini doing his Rambo impersonation. But the rest is just a dull, unfinished, poorly acted, and poorly written whatever. If there’s anything I’ll say I think Tor Ramsey does a solid enough job directing if we are to believe that he was restricted to Wolf’s designs. Its a poor film but it feels like a film more than some of the other bad NotLD knockoffs do. I don’t know who that guy is or what else he’s ever done but he and Savini do feel like the only bits of decent professionalism in this thing. But its not nearly enough to be worth watching so don’t bother.  36 (54). Invitation to Hell (1984) Directed by Wes Craven; Written by Richard Rothstein Return of the Fallen: 10/13 - Wes Craven That was fun. Maybe a little dry. Its very much a TV movie. Hell its a TV Movie All Star cast. But its Wes Craven in the same year he made Nightmare on Elm Street and there's definitely more there. Its hyper 80s in both a good and bad way. A surface look makes it all seem very silly and liek Wes just thinks computers are magic science fiction. And maybe I'm being over generous to one of my favorite directors but that all feels kind of deliberate. Its dry but I think its very deliberately campy and a bit of a satire of the excesses of the 80s. A computer can sense "auras" and just answer questions like a secretary and laser beams. Its kind of like all the wacky ideas of the time smooshed into something and it all feels in line with the rest of it. The wealth and artificial style and glamour of the 80s. All presented to Robert Urich as the American Dream offered at his fingertips by the symbol of the 80s in the alluring Susan Lucci. “Keeping Up With The Jones” really, that 80s idea that happiness was tied with having the newest stuff and what your neighbor had. Hell, Lucci’s character is named Jessica Jones. It feels like it has the same kind of ideas as films like Society or American Psycho, and while its a very different kind of movie its kind of got that insight into the 80s way earlier than they did. Its also a lot more direct on the opinion of the whole thing. The final act is as over the top and silly as much of the rest. I mean Punky Brewster murders a stuffed bunny with a crowbar. And Susan Lucci’s perm. But its also a bit reserved just because of the budget. Still, while it probably won’t be as wacky or big as some people would like with the idea I find the whole thing super fun and charming. Its a TV movie and its a super, super 80s movie. And Wes Craven does some up and down. But I love Wes and think he always brings something to his films. They don’t all succeed but they always feel like they have something there, even with the TV movies that are more hired jobs than any kind of auteur piece. Craven manages to put his touch on these films and give them a little extra. And i think this is probably the best of his TV movies I’ve seen so far. And like I don’t even think I need to give it any kind of TV movie handicap. I just plain enjoyed it. Its fun and Wes makes his view of the 80s and Reaganism very clear. Bless you, Wes. You’ll always be one of my favorites.
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May 23, 2022 19:59
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Samfucius posted:I totally agree, but I wasn't only talking about 1932, or even the limited scope of America. The BBC re-reviewed and re-rejected the film in 1952, and in 1963 reviewed it for a third time and allowed it... with an X rating for exploitation. As far as censorship goes, I think the whole idea was that it’s “morbid” to look at people with deformities for any length of time. And honestly I can understand not wanting to expose children to it. I did find it disturbing as a child; the idea that the human body could go uncontrollably and catastrophically “wrong” was frightening to me. And that’s the ultimate terror at the end of the film, that this could happen to anybody at anytime. And I do think the film has its cake and eats it too. The film is sympathetic to the freaks, but exploits the element of the uncanny about them. They’re supposed to be shocking, that’s the intended horror element. It’s transgressive in both a positive and negative sense; the filmmakers knew how the “gooble gobble” scene and having Randian crawl around with a knife in his mouth would be received back then. I think that’s what makes it an interesting film.
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May 23, 2022 20:03
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10. Schizoid - dir. David Paulsen (1980) An American made giallo about an advice columnist being stalked by someone who is murdering the columnist's therapy group. Pretty slow and character focused, but I enjoyed Marianna Hill's performance and character so I didn't mind too much. Klaus Kinski is his usual just hanging on by a thread sane type which adds some fun tension for how unethical his character is. Donna Wilkes as Allison is magnetic. The shots of her dressed up in those amazing outfits are wonderful, the black suit and hat while holding the gun is particularly striking. The cops are especially useless in this which is something I enjoy in giallo type movies. They make poor assumptions, write off obvious leads, and show up far too late to be of any help. Early on they complain to the lead that they can't help her because there are too many actual murders to solve that creepy letters aren't worth their time, then later after examining a crime scene they lament how a dept. doesn't work after 5 and one of them says, "what's a few more days, not like anyone is gunna die." Lol. The twists n turns work pretty well and finale has a great frantic feel. 3/5 11. Hospital Massacre - dir. Boaz Davidson (1981) Barbi Benton plays Susan Jeremy and has to survive the worst run hospital of all time and every man on the planet at the same time. The hospital feels like a waking nightmare, and as someone with a small fear of hospitals it tapped into my brain really well. Every man in this movie is a piece of trash that either wants to control, demean, and/or abuse Susan. Dr. Saxon is especially super gross, forcing a nude examination onto our lead then constantly trying to control her and refusing to believe anything she says. It's an interesting idea for a slasher and it does it decently. There's some exciting slasher moments, Barbi is great, and things keep moving creating a good sense of desperation and exhaustion by the end. 3.5/5 12. What Have They Done to Your Daughters? - dir. Massimo Dallamano (1974) drat good giallo. Claudio Cassinelli and Giovanna Ralli are awesome leads and do great jobs in their roles. There's some stellar camera work and pretty cinematography. The score has a neat vibe to it, I really dig the main track. As usual the plot gets a convoluted at times, but it makes up for it with great ideas and a couple bold statements that still feel relevant today. 4/5 13. Demons - dir. Lamberto Bava (1985) An absolute blast. Love the demon sfx and the soundtrack. The coke joke kills me everytime. 4/5
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May 23, 2022 20:44
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 Guess who finally got a 4K TV! gey muckle mowser posted:
 12.) The Bird with the Crystal Plumage ( L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo ) Dario Argento | 1970 | UHD I wasn’t sure which version to watch (because they both seemed to be dubs), so I picked the English version I don’t have much experience with giallo, as this only the second one I’ve seen (the first was Nightmare in October) but I really liked this! It looks amazing visually, and the music was great too. It was also surprisingly funny. I definitely will be checking out more giallo for the next challenge. Rating: gey muckle mowser posted:
 13.) Dead Heat Mark Goldblatt | 1988 | UHD This film was a blast! Really funny with some cool effects, the highlight of course is the Chinese restaurant scene. There’s really no filler, it’s just a lot of fun and the end part is entertaining as hell. I do think we could’ve used a little more Vincent Price though. Rating: ½  13 FILMS WATCHED! GONNA KEEP GOING AND COMPLETE THE CHALLENGES! gey muckle mowser posted:
 14.) Night of the Creeps Fred Dekker | 1986 | Blu-ray I enjoyed this film, but it kind of felt a little disappointing and I can’t explain why. The film seems like it should be more fun than it is, but something feels off. I do think it’s good and there’s plenty of cool stuff in here and the climax reminds me of Brain Dead/Dead Alive . Rating: ½ gey muckle mowser posted:
 15.) The Lost Boys Joel Schumacher | 1987 | Blu-ray I really liked this! I knew of its reputation but I have to say I was still pleasantly surprised by how funny it was. There’s a lot of great lines out there especially “There’s one thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach… all the drat vampires” There’s some cool effects and the film has a really great atmosphere to it too. The final stretch is pretty great as well. A lot of fun. Rating: ½ Total: 15/13 New: 14 Rewatches: 1 Challenges: 1. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (Men), 2. Scream, Queen! (The Lost Boys), 3. Rated PG (Saturday the 14th ), 6. The King in Yellow (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), X. SECRET BONUS LIMITED TIME CHALLENGE (Friday the 13th Part 2), 9. Hidden Gems (Night of the Creeps), 10. The Price is Right (Dead Heat), 12. All Hail the King (Firestarter (2022)) My Letterboxd list (in progress)
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May 23, 2022 20:46
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6. The King in Yellow
10. The Price is Right
9. Hidden Gems
2. Scream, Queen!
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Inadvertantly went on a Max Caulfield (Rex Manning from Empire Records) retrospective last week, I had no idea the kind of bastards he was playing in the 80s. The Boys Next Door and the underrated Sundown: Vampire in Retreat pair really well with Mind Games (1989)  Maxwell Caulfield plays a hitch hiking drifter who inserts himself into a small family on their road trip trying to save their marriage. Under the guise of "science" Caulfield is using the family as guinea pigs for his "social experiments" that pretty much is just your standard gaslighting and sociopath manipulation. There's some really great moments in this, and Caulfield's bastardry is off the charts. 3 1/2 stars I followed that up with a modern day King double feature over the weekend In The Tall Grass (2020)  Halfway through this I started to think to myself if Stephen King (and his son Joe) wrote this after watching the movie Cube. Then I looked it up and the director of Cube directed this, lol. I had a good time, I'll watch almost anything with Patrick Wilson. I felt it had some strong commonalities with Arrival (2016) moreso than the obvious Children of the Corn. 3 1/2 stars Firestarter (2022)  Extremely okay movie, elevated by the John Carpenter score. Zac Efron was alright, I liked the effect they were going for whenever he was forced into confrontation, but it just wasn't enough. Michael Greyeyes felt really underutilized, but at least he was an upgrade from George C. Scott wearing a pirate's eyepatch. 2 1/2 stars ruddiger fucked around with this message at 22:32 on May 23, 2022 |
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May 23, 2022 22:27
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11) Candyman (2021) Challenge: Horror Noire I wasn't sure about this remake-cum-sequel when I first heard about it. It felt like they were trying to dip in someone else's well, and I was worried that they might completely miss the point. These fears turned out to be not completely unfounded. There's multiple scenes where someone with no reason to summon Candyman does so for the pure purpose of giving the script an excuse to kill them, and it's greatly to the detriment of the movie as a whole because it leads to the central core of the movie not being explored. It feels like an episode of TV pushed out to feature length - the bones are solid, but not strong enough to carry all the fat. Still, I appreciated it a lot more than I thought I would. It's got solid central performances, the core conceit is good, and it respects the original movie while still knowing when and where to go beyond it. I just wish they hadn't tried to turn it into a slasher movie, because that's something the original wasn't.
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May 23, 2022 23:43
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 20. The 4th Man (1983) "I lie the truth." Dutch horror/thriller that tells you right off the bat that our protagonist is an alcoholic unreliable narrator, which keeps you wondering how much of the bisexual Catholic guilt nightmare you're seeing is real, premonition, or imagination. And then questions start getting answered... or do they? It's Paul Verhoeven and has some of the things I expect from him, like dick trauma, unsexy sex scenes, and gore that feels out of nowhere. But it also feels a lot looser than his English stuff that I've seen, putting us right there with Gerard, trying to parse reality from a boozy fever dream. 4/5Total Watched: 20 // GMM Challenges Complete: #13 (The Uninvited), #12 (The Tommyknockers), #11 (Def by Temptation), #10 (The Witchfinder General), #9 (Motel Hell), #8 (Kratt), #7 (replaced with Never Hike Alone: The Ghost Cut), #5 (Shadow of the Vampire), #4 (Repo! The Genetic Opera), #3 (The Changeover), #2 (Penda's Fen), #1 (Kuroneko)
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May 24, 2022 00:22
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 3/13: The Rite The subject matter of Catholic priests performing exorcisms instantly sets The Rite up for unflattering comparisons to The Exorcist. So I went in with low expectations, lowered even more by the mediocre review scores, and that turned out to be the perfect way to appreciate The Rite for what it is! The normal way for a contemporary horror film to compete with a classic is to slather on aggressive spook-outs and special effects. But The Rite is instead a slow burn character piece, walking you through Colin O'Donoghue's skeptical journey as he apprentices to Anthony Hopkins' veteran exorcist. No split pea soup, barely any writhing or twisting heads. Instead the demons in The Rite attack with words, speaking directly to the doubts and secrets that are already preying on people's minds. And even for Hopkins, who exudes a workaday confidence about his practices, these exorcisms seem to be a long and grueling process without much of a success rate. This movie may not be a masterpiece of atmosphere but it does build a discomforting mood, ratcheting the intensity scene by scene until a plot turn with Hopkins' character allows him to unleash his formidable acting chops and deliver the scenes that justify the entire film. If any single thing drags The Rite down towards the middle of the pack it's a lack of character detail. O'Donoghue is just boring as hell. Him being sad about his dead mom is the most generic screenwriting you can imagine, there's no meat to the role, and even though Hopkins' character isn't much more interesting on paper, Hopkins brings so much nuance and personality with his intricately enunciated line readings that he elevates every scene he's in. Which is most of them!  / 5 4/13: Creep A compelling thesis that "pranksters" should be put to death. Hated this. Totally reliant on the inherent, awkward meta-awareness of the found footage concept, that this boring footage has been selected deliberately so something interesting must be happening. Artificial suspense from waiting for a purpose to reveal itself. And then a dozen irritating jump scares that don't get more tolerable just because a character is diagetically doing irritating jump scares. If you love this lovely little sub-genre then Mark Duplass is probably going to be enough to carry it for you, though, because he finds a perfect balance where he's off-putting but mundane, never flee-the-scene scary.  / 5
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May 24, 2022 02:59
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#17: 12 Monkeys Saw this one ages ago, felt like it was time for a rewatch. It's really good. The first half is really weird and disorienting, on purpose. The present sucks and is ugly, the past sucks and is ugly, and our hero is out of place in both. He is trapped in these nightmare systems. In the second half it gets much more normal movie, with clear goals and a love story and all that. The lady is a real highlight. It's great how once she decides he's telling the truth, that's it, she is fully on board and crazier than he is. 1) One Cut of the Dead, 2) Land of the MinotaurCH8, 3) Terra Formars, 4)The Great Buddha ArrivalCH5, 5) BogCH3, 6) Satan's Cheerleaders, 7) Zombie For Sale, 8) JeruZalem, 9) CandymanCH11, 10) Curse of the Crimson Altar, 11) PreyCH2, 12) The Possession of Michael King, 13) The Green KnightCH1, 14) Before We Vanish, 15) The Brood, 16) The PossessedCH6, 17) 12 Monkeys
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May 24, 2022 03:06
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12. Baskin (2015) (first viewing) My first Turkish film. A group of cops responding to a back-up call find themselves dragged out to a remote neighborhood subject to eerie rumors, and start making sinister discoveries when they investigate an abandoned police station. (Turns out it's a good hide-out for some kind of sadomasochistic cult.) There's certainly stuff to like here stylistically speaking. The dark cinematography and flashlight police search is effective at revealing enough while leaving something to the imagination. And some of the ritualistic gore in the back end is enhanced by the deliberate pace. But there's not too much of a strong narrative to follow. The protagonist seems to be sliding through various levels of time, consciousness, and reality, although not in a completely coherent way. It doesn't help that the movie opens up with a scene of police brutality in which the non-participating characters are complicit, at best, so they're all too corrupt to root for, but not vile enough where you savor their fates. I've seen both Hellraiser comparisons and the "torture porn" label thrown around, but the film is neither that good nor that bad. CHALLENGE: "A Perfect Getaway" by way of Turkey. (Tip of the hat to PKMN Trainer Red for mentioning this in a post, and Fran has it on the Hidden Gems list as well.) --- CHALLENGES: 1. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) 2. Scream, Queen! Death Drop Gorgeous (2020) 3. 4. Music of the Night Nocturne (2020) 5. Behind the Screams Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019) 6. The King in Yellow The Fifth Cord (1971) 7. Short Cuts (various short films) (misc) 8. A Perfect Getaway Baskin (2015) 9. Hidden Gems 12 Hour Shift (2020) 10. The Price is Right 11. Horror Noire Tales from the Hood (1995) 12. All Hail the King 1922 (2017) 13. Sins of the Past The Wolf Man (1941)
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May 24, 2022 03:56
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Movie #18 - Yokai Monsters: Along With Ghosts (1969) All three films in the Yokai Monsters series are dramatically different in tone and in ghosts-per-minute. The final installment, Along With Ghosts, has by far the least on-screen ghost scenes of the trilogy. Instead, we focus largely on Miyo, a child on the run from a group of bandits after witnessing her grandfather's murder. Unlike the other two films with their tight focus on local affairs, this one is a journey, following Miyo from town to town and through a series of spooky forests. Ghosts protect her, but more out of a sense of elemental vengeance against her pursuers than the genuine friendliness seen in the second film. This is a decent ronin story and the climax is impressively tense, but it's more horror adjacent than the other two films; the ghosts here are more incidental than I expected after the party animals we met in the second film. None of them have the same level of personality we've seen previously, but they are more threatening, if nothing else. The weakest of the trilogy but still a fun, fast-paced adventure.
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May 24, 2022 05:32
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