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 7) From Within (2008)  Challenge: After Dark This is about a group of suicides that start in a small town full of religious fanatics. It doesn’t take long for us to learn that the deaths are caused by an infectious curse, and the locals soon become suspicious of Aidan, the last son of a family known for witchcraft. He gets some sympathy from Lindsay, an open-minded good girl type who questions the prejudices of the rest of the town. The suicide curse is handled in an interesting way, but the teen drama side of the story is overdone. Both the excesses of Lindsay’s preacher-kid boyfriend and Aidan’s role in the story are obvious early on, and the characters weren’t compelling enough to make me care about what was coming. If this had been a Christopher Pike paperback in the late 80s, I’d have read it to pieces though, so it’d probably work a little better for its target audience. I’ll throw in extra points for that ending, but I wish it had shown that much guts earlier on.  8) Scalpel (1977) Challenge: Origin of EvilI went in expecting Scalpel to mostly be an Eyes Without a Face homage, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it go deeper than that. It’s about a plastic surgeon who finds a seriously injured young woman and gives her his missing daughter’s face in hopes of claiming a large inheritance. It kept me guessing about what happened to the daughter, the doctor’s intentions, and what the Jane Doe who’d been roped into all this was planning to do. Better yet, I fell into this movie enough that I didn’t spend much time thinking about the wider story beyond each scene. The actress playing duel roles here, Judith Chapman, had a great sense of presence, so it wasn’t surprising to learn that she’s spent basically her entire adult life as a soap opera star. While the body count is light and there’s very little blood, Scalpel’s great at ramping up and then releasing tension. Scenes slide from scary to awkward to deeply loving gross as the characters try to manage the absolute mess that’s going on. Towards the end this manipulation gets a little too intense and starts to feel like the movie’s jerking us around. Thankfully that’s not as annoying as it could be because we head into the climax and finally start getting some answers.  1. The Wind (1986) 2. Sole Survivor (1984) 3. Blair Witch (2016) 4. Horror in the High Desert (2021) 5. The Lurking Fear (1994) 6. The Chill Factor (1993)
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Oct 3, 2022 23:28
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Going to think about this for a while.
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Oct 3, 2022 23:32
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 4)Collingswood Story (shudder) H20It's not a good movie, but I really enjoyed. No to low budget found footage via computer screen flick from 2002, in which a long distance couple talk via webcam, and see a psychic with spooky results. Nostalgic as all hell if you were using the internet back then. And being in college in Philly in 02 and having gone to at least a couple of parties in Collingswood at the time, the whole thing filled me with the warm fuzzies. So your milage may vary, but if you like the novelty of it, and enjoy found footage in general give it a shot. Better than Friend Request at any rate. .5/51)The Munsters, 2)Color Out of Space 3)Living Dead Girl 4)Collingswood story 
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Oct 3, 2022 23:35
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1. The Empty Man - an ex cop begins to look into a series of disappearances and discovers much more than anticipated. This wasn't a bad one. It was definitely a strong movie when it had focus, particularly the first 15 minutes. Monster looked good and I liked the use of white fog when it approached. A bit slow near the start but from about the cult visit onwards it was pretty gripping. Main issue was that it spread its focus a bit too much: spending some time as a urban legend movie, a cult investigation movie, and a weird twist mindblowy-style movie. The twist landed well, but it's hard to take Tulpas seriously after the thing with the bronies pursuing them. Good execution, good sound, but it just lost itself a little between genres - some small changes would have brought it from good to great. 4/5 2. Ravenous - A soldier assigned to a remote post must survive when a cannibalistic visitor arrives. This movie has such a unique tone. It's very rarely intentionally funny but has so many quirky little moments starting from even the opening credits, where the cast names appearing have swooshing sounds. The main draw here is the soundtrack, it's almost like a character in itself. It always feels like completely the wrong fit, but unapoligetically commits and ends up working in an amazing unexpected way - whenever it kicks in that scene scales in intensity and is absolutely riveting. Definitely has become one of my favorites, there's just nothing quite like it and I greatly enjoy the experience of watching it. 4.5/5 3. Triangle (Bingo: Goodnight, Mommy) - A band of acquaintances capsizes their boat and makes it to an abandoned cruise liner, where a killer waits. This was mediocre in a lot of ways, aside from the time loop element which saved it a bit. Most of the cast was pretty unlikable, and it wasn't good as a slasher, but there was enough going on with the time loop to keep things engaging, and there were a few good standout moments the pile of corpses. That said, while it did scratch the time loop itch, it didn't feel like go the extra mile to make the loop as clean as something like TimeCrimes or Primer. It was good, but not quite there in multiple ways. 3.5/5 4. Fright Night 2011 (Bingo: they always come back) - Not really a movie that needed to be remade, but they did it. It wasn't bad, but just didn't have the charm of the original. As I recall, in the original there was a lot more of the doubt phase, and the play between Charley and Jerry was a highlight. Here though, things ramp up action and fighting out of nowhere, without being really earned. It also doesn't really look great - there's a lot of 2011 CG Colin Farrell and it's just off enough to notice. I thought David Tennant and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (early on at least) stood out performancewise, but there's not really much reason to watch this over the original. 3.5/5 New watches: 1: The Empty Man 2: Triangle, 3: Fright Night 2011 Rewatches: 1: Ravenous Decades 4/10: 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s Lhet fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Oct 6, 2022 |
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Oct 3, 2022 23:36
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 Pulse-pounding action! Castle Freak (Stuart Gordon ; 1995) Yeah, there's a reason why I hadn't seen this Gordon before. It's fine, I guess? But I would've rather rewatched Re-Animator or, even better, Dagon instead. I'm always down to spend my time on the Combs Crew, he's always a good time, but even he couldn't save this. It's just... okay, a lot. I don't hate it. I'm not mad I watched it and it had some legit good parts. It's just a bunch of those "good parts" were the castle they had access to for shooting* or some A+ sweater game. (The 90's were a good time to be into cableknit.). O! that cat is really cute! ...while it lasted. Look if you're in the mood for horror, it's free on Tubi and it's better than found footage. *I'm assuming the seeds of this were "someone we know has a castle" and "no one has any plans". 6/10 ; Jeffery/Combs 6 down, 25 to go 
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Oct 3, 2022 23:41
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5) We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) First Watch SPOOKY BINGO: Glitches I didn't know much about this before I started watching, which I'm glad about. It initially presents itself as an almost found footage/paranormal activity style horror film, to the point where you're almost waiting for the jumpscares to happen. Instead, it's actually a film about loneliness, specifically a type of loneliness based around the idea that the only interactions you have with people are via the internet - faceless and nameless. It's clearly written by someone who has first hand experience of this, it all feels very authentic. It very cleverly walks the line between real and fake; there's a constant question of whether or not what you're watching is authentic or fake, in the same way you have to question the authenticity of anything you see online. For a film with basically only two cast members, and one of them a lot more prominent than the other, Anna Cobb does an amazing job. I dug this film. It made me scared of YouTube's auto play feature. 8/10 
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Oct 3, 2022 23:50
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 1. Saw [2004] Alright, starting my journey back the Saw hole with the original and maybe the best out of the series. It all still really holds up. I was practically obsessed with this movie as a teenager when it first came out. It really hit that raw nerve you're sometimes looking for as an angsty teen who is all gently caress the world, dont ask me for poo poo, this is filmmaking man. When in reality this is a very tiny and well produced picture that doesnt really hit the plausibility button firmly enough for me, but its enough to get over just the wonkiness of the story and the cool edit techniques and camera work while fun does get a bit tiring on the ol' peepers after awhile. Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell carry this movie, even if you enjoy the villain of Jigsaw you dont really get too much Jigsaw, at least not in teh way you get a whole lot of him in the future sequels. We're back in it and I guess I want to play a game.   out of 5 2. V/H/S [2012] Still my absolute favorite of the franchise so far. It has the best stories and the best of the wrap arounds. The standout for me is definitely I Like You, which still hits the same as it did when I first saw this one. There's just something to the VHS franchise that even when it hits a little low or doesnt nail the landing as well as you hope its still wildly entertaining and grimy feeling. I just wish from a production standpoint with all of the franchise as a whole they would really push more for using VHS and camera systems of the time they're purportedly being shot in. Give me that 4:3 magic baby! out of 5 3. Smile [2022] - The Devil Made Me Do It What a picture! It feels like an ultra refined early 2000's horror movie, but upgraded to 2022 level production work. Just a great success for everyone involved. The pacing never felt too slow or too fast. I was always just waiting for our main lead Rose to continue her journey through this psychological breakdown in the hands of this unknown force even when the movie did slow down to build tension it never felt like wasted time that I'd want for something else. It also felt very contained even when Rose was looking into the history of the force and others who've been affected by it. There was never a moment where building wasnt happening. That score and sound design as well were just top notch. I'm super glad I went to see this one in a theater because it really rattled my teeth in the right way and that score was some Hannibal level Brian Reitzell infusion of John Carpenter synths, but mingled with these found sound textures and crunchiness that added all sorts of roughness into the ensuing madness. It also has my vote for one of the best final shots in a movie this year. What a beast. out of 5 4. The Fog [1980] I think a really overlooked Carpenter picture. Its such a fun spooky ghost story with that heavy atmosphere you really expect from him (and done so early in his production life) that maybe its overlooked because the villains of the story arent like some iconic slasher or a goopy monster, but it builds into this wonderful crescendo of violence and terror that I really gotta continue to wonder why it never ranks too high (tho its very difficult to rank Carpenter material, even my rankings change day by day). it's also got a stacked cast of his regulars and future collaborators that there isnt a real weak link in the bunch. Just a wonderful ghost tale. out of 5 5. Dark Glasses [2022] - Masters of Horror I really didnt know what to expect going into this. The trailer was intriguing, that runtime was beautiful (a whopper of 90 minutes) and with the pedigree of Dario (even if his recent directorial work is wonky at times) I expected a more return to form. It is that in my ways, but also really doubles down on his worst habits, but maybe that's your bag (it sorta is mine). Our lead, Diana is blinded after a car wreck caused by a stalker which also in turns leaves a young chinese boy orphaned. She takes him under his wing while learning to live her new life as a blind woman. Like many Argento pictures the kills are brutal and bloody and deliciously overacted in a way that is ultimately satisfying and messy. Sadly the movie does hit a weird speed bump in spots that makes the run time not feel like a smooth 90, but then it gets right back to the absurd novelty you get with an Argento picture that I will not be spoiling here, but I came away from the movie enjoying it despite some of its pitfalls and the dynamics and relationship between Diana and Chin I would watch a whole television series of them living a slice of life adventure with a who dunnit wrapped into it. I had fun with this one overall. out of 5 6. Hellraiser: Bloodlines [1996] The uh, the cenobites were cool and building a giant galaxy crusher cube in space was a neat idea, but goddamn this movie sucked hard. Even with an 81 minute runtime I felt every minute of that and just kept waiting for it to be over. This isnt even apparently the bottom of the barrel for the franchise and I'll get to those eventually, but goddamn was this just tiresome. Like I said, the cenobites were cool. The swirl face twins transformation was sweet and goopy and so were a few of the kills, but there was a real lack of bite to any of the proceedings and any sort of narrative pull the movie had was drug down by the poor performances and bad script. S/o to Adam Scott for the brief 5 minutes he's in it, but otherwise what a load of bologna. out of 5 7. Resolution [2012] The first of the Benson and Moorehead pictures I will be watching. This one had a real meandering vibe to it, but when the meta-ness and lovecraftian atmosphere really started to kick in and become the propulsion of the movie in an otherwise kidnapping your "best friend" to get them off drugs story I was fully on board. I wish it had gotten to that point even sooner, but the movie was already a good 90 that I didnt mind too much. The leads are fine, but its really about the world that is swallowing them whole that is the ticket here. out of 5 8. Trick or Treats [1982] - Children of the Damned Movie Spoiler Challenge!!!!! This fat little poo poo boy is perhaps the absolute WORST horror child to ever be conceived. Worse than Damien, Michael Myers, and Gage. Just a rotten child that should've been killed early on and quick. Otherwise it carries a very buoyant and fun performance from Peter Jason who is basically just making a mess of all the sets everywhere he goes. It's very low budget, goofy and weird, but takes so long to get anywhere we practically didnt even leave the driveway in the 80+ minute runtime. I really just didnt enjoy this experience at all and the little poo poo boy didnt help. out of 5 First logging done. We're back. 
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Oct 3, 2022 23:51
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There should be a reward for the person who reaches 31 the fastest.
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Oct 3, 2022 23:54
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2) This Is GWAR Fran Challenge: Behind The Screams A documentary about a horror icon? Can do! I am familiar with GWAR only by reputation, and I had a hankering to learn why a bunch of grown rear end men and women have spent over 30 years dressing as alien barbarians and spraying the front three rows (further, if they could manage it) with fake bodily fluids. The answer is: because they wanted to have some iconoclastic fun. The band has had almost as many personnel changes as Deep Purple down the years, and many of the new intake were interviewed about how they joined. These interviews are remarkably similar: they were fans of the band; someone heard them play and asked if they wanted to try out; they got the job; and the first time they put the costume on they felt like a complete dipshit. Still, hearing their trajectory from a joke band to a serious musical act, how they let it get to their heads after their Grammy win (which even they can't explain), the hiatus and the reformation was interesting. The last half hour does get a bit maudlin as it delves into the health issues caused by performing in costume, the deaths of Cory Smoot and frontman Dave Brockie, and the general realisation that they were entering middle age wearing a loincloth and a latex mask for a living. It also becomes fairly obvious that Brockie was a man whose image has only been improved by his passing; only Hunter Jackson outright hated him by the end, but the others all add strokes to a picture of Brockie as one of those larger than life assholes that we've all met once or twice, the guy who is great fun to be around as long as you're happy with him being the only person in the room. It's clear that the post-Brockie incarnation of the band is a much happier and lighter-hearted place. They just want to be silly, decapitate puppets and make some listenable music. Verdict: Like most documentaries I doubt I'll feel the need to watch it again, and it's fairly straightforward, but it avoids falling into hagiography. Overall, above average.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:09
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Hollismason posted:There should be a reward for the person who reaches 31 the fastest. Knowing how fast some of the posters in this thread work I wouldn't be surprised if more than one person makes it to a hundred films before the month is halfway over.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:13
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 The Devil Made Me Do It -watch a film that features the Devil, or Satan, or demons. -watch a horror film heavily featuring religion or religious themes #16.) Dark Waters (1993; Tubi) A weird convent on a remote island holds the answers to an Englishwoman's mysterious past. Another drizzly movie, with the bonus of dank caves and grottoes. I'm not Catholic, so nuns and their whole deal are automatically weird to me. Not creepy, just odd and mysterious. But that's modern, continental US nuns. These are a breed apart, with an apparent dril budget for candles, a mother superior who speaks in dry croaks and an interpreter, and a big taste for flagellation. At first, I felt like I wasn't going to like this much. Dialogue was hard to hear clearly, and the lighting made details of scenes hard to decipher. But I warmed up to it by the end. The setting and vibes were those of an isolated group steeped in occultism, with a mystery being pieced together from ancient prophecies by a visitor unconstrained by the society's traditions, as they get themselves deeper into trouble with that investigation. Strongly in the Poe and Lovecraft (especially when seafood becomes a thing of horror) traditions, while being a co-production between Russia, Ukraine, Italy, and the UK gives it an almost otherworldly sense of place. Atmosphere is the main engine of this movie, as long stretches of it are dialogue-free wandering flashbacks. It builds up to a satisfying conclusion, but really takes its time to get there. “If your theory is right, there's a good chance we're going to get killed anyway. So we might as well try to find out why.” Rating: 7/10
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Oct 4, 2022 00:19
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dorium posted:7. Resolution [2012] I hope you get to watch The Endless.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:26
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I'm working on a game plan for the SPOOKY Bingo board, and I'm hoping to work in some of the Universal horror classics that went up on Criterion Channel this month. Obviously I have a broad idea about these movies, but of course by the nature of their challenge I haven't seen them. If anyone can think of good ways I might be able to sneak these into SPOOKY Bingo square, it would be greatly appreciated! I'm really eyeing any of Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. I know Golden Years applies across the board, Paperbacks From Hell for most, Masters of Horror could cover a James Whale selection, presumably H20 for Creature, but please let me know if I'm overlooking any.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:30
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Bruteman posted:I hope you get to watch The Endless. It's in the pile. Spring is next because what ive heard there isnt like a direct link, but they're all "connected" in some fashion. so i will get to it in this month.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:32
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Franchescanado posted:
 12) Cabin Fever - 2016 - Prime Having now sat through this, I can only think one thing: Was there a point to this? Granted, I said the exact same thing about the 2013 remake of Carrie, but at least that had updating for technology thing going for it. Here, there's nothing new added. Story is still a group of college students go on a summer break vacation that goes really wrong. What few changes were made are so minor, it's like they did the bare minimum so they can say they didn't redo the original exactly but with only different actors. Pretty much if you've seen the original, you don't need to spend time watching this. There's better uses of your time watching anything else. 
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Oct 4, 2022 00:44
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ok everyone please slow down, I can’t keep up with reading this thread and watch movies at the same time Enjoying the love for Freaky, it’s such a fun movie M_Sinistrari posted:
Hereditary nearly gave me a panic attack in the theater, my heart rate was elevated for like an hour afterwards. It’s the only film I can remember affecting me like that. It also holds up really well on rewatches, there are tons of little details throughout that don’t really mean anything the first time through but become significant once you know what’s going on.
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Oct 4, 2022 00:47
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Crescent Wrench posted:I'm working on a game plan for the SPOOKY Bingo board, and I'm hoping to work in some of the Universal horror classics that went up on Criterion Channel this month. Obviously I have a broad idea about these movies, but of course by the nature of their challenge I haven't seen them. If anyone can think of good ways I might be able to sneak these into SPOOKY Bingo square, it would be greatly appreciated! I'm really eyeing any of Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. I know Golden Years applies across the board, Paperbacks From Hell for most, Masters of Horror could cover a James Whale selection, presumably H20 for Creature, but please let me know if I'm overlooking any. Bride of Frankenstein is a good tragic fit for Zombie Honeymoon. The Invisible Man has been remade a few times and so counts for They Always Come Back. Dracula should qualify for A Perfect Getaway - it's a vacation gone wrong, if you look at it from Dracula's perspective! 
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Oct 4, 2022 00:49
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3. Frozen (2010) (challenge: Wild Beasts) "You know, it's funny, but I was never afraid of heights until right now." Better known as the "stuck on a ski lift" movie. A movie mostly saved by its second half. The entire beginning is like a teen comedy but even more annoying, with way over-the-top character conflict that is obvious setup for later development but grueling as it happens, and half of it never pays off. The actors don't seem quite comfortable embodying their characters and are generally sleepwalking through their lines. There are a ridiculous amount of bad decisions made to contrive the plot along, but it's generally played straight (though there are elements of genuine comedy - there's a missing persons poster that is actually hilarious if you pause to read it). The whole "guy stuck between his dude friend and his tag-along girlfriend" triangle dynamic gets really, really tiresome. They get stuck on the ski lift and there are more bad decisions hastily executed (by both the characters and the director) to move things along. But. Shaking things up halfway through is the best thing that could happen to the movie. There's a sequence (from the boyfriend getting eaten by wolves while the friend tries to prevent the girlfriend from watching and hearing it happen, through the remaining two explosively blaming each other for his death and their situation, to them reconciling and falling asleep) that is absolutely harrowing and drat near perfect, comprising a great short film on its own. Threads are lost while the rest plays out (the phone number thing, for example, goes nowhere, only amounting to giving a character a reason to talk about something personal, except they were already talking about plenty of personal stuff because they're dying) but it resolves more elegantly than the clunky setup would suggest, and dumping the triangle dynamic does a great service to the writing and the acting. While comparisons to Jaws are optimistic the horror tone does lift a little bit as the characters resolve to go for broke in their attempt to escape. There are some half-baked thematic elements, like the parallels between a character trying to remember a woman's phone number and the characters getting forgotten on the mountain, and the first shot of the film being a super-close-up of the ski lift machinery to emphasize how much the characters' situation is caused by simple, stark physics, but there's only so much to work with. If you have any interest in watching The Stuck on a Ski Lift Movie you may as well watch it. Oh, and great makeup work. 6.5/10
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Oct 4, 2022 01:12
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Vanilla Bison posted:Bride of Frankenstein is a good tragic fit for Zombie Honeymoon. He bought an abbey. I don’t think that counts as a vacation rental. I’m just funning
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Oct 4, 2022 01:13
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Freaky really is such a fun movie. 2. Monster-A-Go-Go (1965) Well, this was bad. Not because of a limited budget or bad acting or a very dated sci fi premise, but it was boring because it told you what was going to happen before every scene. God knows we wouldn't want to shock the audience with barely discernible footage of something mildly silly looking without them being forewarned! And sadly it seems to miss all the bingo categories - 1960s by 5 years, it isn't in outer space nor a monster, and a fear of radiation that makes you, er, tall, doesn't seem to fit the glitches cat. But I fear not, it counts for hooptober and I'll definitely be able to catch a bingo!
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Oct 4, 2022 01:16
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Dracula or Frankenstein could probably count for the remake one. There were earlier versions of them. Definitely Frankenstein. Bride definitely for the romance one although half the Universal classics could count there. Dracula’s Daughter could go for the LGBTQ. Or any of Whale’s films. Wolfman and Mummy are obvious. All of them work for GoldenYears. A bunch of the go for the novel adaption one of the highbrow one. The Whale ones or Brownings Dracula should count for Masters of Horror. Draculas Daughter would fit as a feminist film. Wolfman would fit the witches/carnival one maybe? They’re all period piece films. Any of the Wolfman or House of films would fit the wild beast. Creature clearly fits H20. I’m not at my computer but I think you definitely could do like half the card with classic universals if you place them right. I’ll give it a go when I get a chance. I love that kind of stuff.
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Oct 4, 2022 01:20
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#4: Treehouse of Horror XXIX, XXX, XXXI Halloween is Special I haven't watched an episode of the Simpsons made in, at least the past decade. So I decided this would be a great chance to revisit the Simpson family and see if they still have any of that old magic left Treehouse of Horror XXIX Alright, this one was pretty rough. There were some bits that got a light chuckle out of me, but most of the jokes were misses. There were also jokes that made no sense. Like, the kids meet Chief Wiggum, then the camera zooms out to reveal he's being eaten by a monster and then the kids act shocked even though it's clear that from their perspective they could've seen it the whole time. The first part is an Invasion of the Body-Snatchers parody that's also complaining about how people spend too much time on phone, but those two things are way less well integrated than you'd assume. I had to look up what the second part was parodying and apparently it was Split? I haven't seen Split so that whole segment was baffling to me. Also no blood. In the third segment people get their arms and heads ripped off and there isn't a drop of blood. This, from the show that gave us the gas that turns you inside out? Treehouse of Horror XXX This one is actually significantly better. Way higher percentage of jokes land. Still a couple of cringe moments, but overall enjoyable. It actually elicited two full laughs from me. The Omen parody opener is the best, I wish they had done that as a full segment. Still no blood. Treehouse of Horror XXXI This one opens with an extended joke about the 2020 election and how important it is to vote Trump out. It's not funny now but they did vote Trump out so I guess fair enough. Fewer solid jokes than XXX, but the segments are more narrative driven than in the previous episodes. And the first and third segments are actually reasonably entertaining on their own merits. The second segment includes introducing themselves with the line "I'm Disney Princess Homer!" So let's not talk about that one. Weirdly, this episode had a small amount of blood. I'm not sure what's going on with that. Overall, I've learned that new Simpsons is a land of contrasts. Some episodes are pretty bad. Some rise to the level of reasonably entertaining. And I'll check back in with the Simpson family in another ten years. 
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Oct 4, 2022 01:21
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smitster posted:Freaky really is such a fun movie. It’s a tricky case but the uncredited director of Monster a Go-Go Herschel Gordon Lewis is an objective Master of Horror. I mean it’s considered one of his films but don’t know if uncredited work is stretching the rules.
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Oct 4, 2022 01:28
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Hollismason posted:Its best to try and hit double digits before the 10th so that you have some breathing room when watching movies. If you do one a day then you may miss a day and have to make it up. One movie a day is how you make sure you have a spooky October and make sure it's a challenge. October 3 - The Fly I've never seen the 1958 version though I have seen the monster and this one was conveniently available. Speaking of which, I'm already starting to run out of movies on HBO Max that I haven't seen. I've been trying to go through the content on there since it's going to die soon and then I can just cancel the service.  I can honestly say I wasn't expecting the film to be set up as a mystery with a twist. A famous scientist is dead, partially crushed in a hydraulic press leaving his head unrecognizable. His wife freely confesses to the crime, but she says it wasn't murder. She's also become strangely obsessed with catching but not killing one particular fly. Turns out the scientist peppered in God's lo mein. I feel like this film is too structured around trying to keep the audience in the dark. We don't even start the flashback until thirty minutes into the film and a lot of the important action takes place off screen, delivered to us in exposition. We don't see the fateful teleportation experiment, for example. I'm not saying that we needed to see the fly man a lot more, with the limitations of make up effects they made the right choice in keeping him shrouded most of the time and hinting at things. It's just that too much of the story occurs away from the viewer and the mystery doesn't work when you know what's coming (like if you saw the movie poster). You get a feeling of both "get on with it" and "why isn't there more to this?" This is also a strongly regressive movie in ways I wasn't anticipating. Obviously it was going to have an anti-technology bent, it's one of the definitive movies on that front, but there is some explicit "technology is so scary, maybe we should stick with what worked in the good old days" speeches in the movie concluding with an actual "There are are some things man was not meant to know and they must be destroyed," moral. And transpose the "got scrambled up with a fly" with another serious injury that disfigured the body and the behaviors become much worse. Yeah, it sucks to have a fly head, but the way it's played everyone would have reacted the same way if his jaw was shot off. Instead of being "Can I live with the consequences of this?" which would have had some actual drama, it's "No one should ever be aware that it's possible for humans to have fly heads and so I must be destroyed!" Yes, I know there was a tiny dash of Jekyll and Hyde mixed in there, but I don't think it meshed with the themes. Along those lines, the scientist is one of the more dickish ones in scifi movies of the era. I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone that nasty to their spouse. The best thing in the movie was the teleportation equipment and it's the one time where I felt like the film looked good. The direction felt bland and completely uninspired except in those sequences where garish lighting takes over. Despite shooting in cinemascope for Fox, this film looks like it was shot the same way that a poverty row flick of the time would be: cheap, easy set ups and lighting, and fast. So despite the iconic moments toward the end of the movie, The Fly did not impress me. It lacked any kind of atmosphere. The Cronenberg remake does exactly what you want a film remake to do: take the basic idea for a film that wasn't as good as it should have been and turn it into something special. I'm not talking about the special effects there, either; the remake is a more thoughtful, better put together movie by an enormous margin that also happens to feature a fly man vomiting up acid on a guy. I went with Glitches on the SPOOKY card since this is, like I mentioned, the definitive "technology goes wrong" story. 
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Oct 4, 2022 01:34
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3. The Bridge Curse A reporter investigates the suspicious drownings of some students... with spooky results. This is a completely predictable Asian curse/ghost movie... and yet I actually liked it quite a bit? The spooks are absolutely top notch. They're fairly inventive, well paced, and a couple are actually scary. The whole thing is really well shot, tense and has great sound. It reminded me a lot of Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. That was also super predictable with excellent spooks. Also about a group of young people who investigate a thing they know is supposed to kill them and then OH NO! it's trying to kill us! It feels like the people who made this really understood the genre and had a strong love for it. Also, I realized I really like Asian curse stories. There's no bullshit about trying to break the curse and redeem a ghost or whatever. A curse is a force of nature. A horrible thing happened and now if you do the wrong thing you're dead and that's it. If curses were real this is what it'd be like. 4/5 Forgot the bingo card. I'm counting this as a ghost movie. 
Skrillmub fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Oct 4, 2022 |
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Oct 4, 2022 01:56
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For anyone looking for a good made for TV film, Penda's Fen is probably my favorite one.Crescent Wrench posted:I'm working on a game plan for the SPOOKY Bingo board, and I'm hoping to work in some of the Universal horror classics that went up on Criterion Channel this month. Obviously I have a broad idea about these movies, but of course by the nature of their challenge I haven't seen them. If anyone can think of good ways I might be able to sneak these into SPOOKY Bingo square, it would be greatly appreciated! I'm really eyeing any of Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. I know Golden Years applies across the board, Paperbacks From Hell for most, Masters of Horror could cover a James Whale selection, presumably H20 for Creature, but please let me know if I'm overlooking any. A True Jar Jar Fan fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Oct 4, 2022 |
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Oct 4, 2022 02:02
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Yeah, Talbot/Chaney is in Meets Frankenstein, birth Houses, and Abbott and Costello. So any of those can fit in Wild Beasts or Full Moon. And yeah there’s a key romance in that one but there’s also in Dracula, Bride, Mummy, and Creature. L
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Oct 4, 2022 02:05
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A True Jar Jar Fan posted:For anyone looking for a good made for TV film, Penda's Fen is probably my favorite one. Penda's Fen is a massively underrated little moment in queer cinema and I don't think many people have seen it.
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Oct 4, 2022 02:16
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 Highbrow Horror -watch a highly esteemed qualifying film (horror, thriller, etc.) #17.) Blood and Black Lace (1964; Tubi) The murder of a fashion model leads everyone in her industry circle to high anxiety when its discovered that she kept a detailed diary. Oh my word, this movie was just overflowing with style. The lighting, the costuming, the colors, the sets. It's easy to see why so many gialli (and non-gialli) took cues from this in subsequent years. The strange figure of the murderer, the black gloves, extended scenes of hunting and murdering the victim, rooms of deep shadow, the Cameron Mitchell, and playing virtually every character as if they could be the one who dunnit. None of those were pioneered by this film, obviously, but the way it brings them together with such wonderful flair (holy poo poo, that brazier scene) is deeply impressive. It may be a simple mystery by today's standards, but the filmcraft doesn't feel the least bit dated. Sure, it helps that Italian fashion in the '60s was spectacular, but the quality goes right down to the core of this film. “As you can see, we're tied to each other by a strong thread.” Rating: 8/10
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Oct 4, 2022 02:31
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Darthemed posted:
Do not loving sleep on Dark Waters its a excellent film with some great Lovecraftian horror and its free on Tubi which is super loving suprising.
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Oct 4, 2022 02:33
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 4. Creepshow (1982) [Tales of Terror] Would've been the mythical "Anthology movie where every single segment is good" but I didn't really like Crate, the one with the ape creature and annoying wife. Every other one was a banger, though, perfectly cast and acted. Even the one with Steven King doing what's mostly a one-man show works well because it leans into the fact that he can't act for poo poo and plays it for comedy. I'm not going to go through each segment, but the standouts for me were seeing Ed Harris and ESPECIALLY Leslie Nielsen in here doing their things, both great. Having 5 different segments keeps them a good length, nothing overstays its welcome and you get to do fun things like a couple of the stories only having one or two people in them instead of needing a whole cast of characters. Oh, I almost forgot! Sick animated credits! Always great to see. 4/5  5. Misery (1990) [Dead & Buried, RIP James Caan] Misery is one of those movies that I never bothered to watch because I figured I'd absorbed most of it through pop-culture osmosis. I feel like pretty much everyone who was around in the years after it came out knows about the hobbling scene, for instance, so I was a bit worried that knowing the broad strokes would hurt my viewing. I was happy to find out that that isn't the case at all. Kathy Bates plays Annie with a lot more nuance and sympathy than I was expecting and just dominates the movie, but James Caan stands up to her well and portrays a real desperation during his solo scenes. The unexpected highlight for me was the husband/wife sheriff/deputy duo. Great comic relief and the sheriff brings a more urgent tension to the climax than the slow burn we've been sitting with the rest of the time. 4/5 After the first three things I watched I'm really happy to get back-to-back great films. 
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Oct 4, 2022 02:36
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Sorry I haven’t been participating in this thread. My computer died and is in the shop and wont be readt until this weekend. So I’m stuck posting on my phone and probably going to find a library tomorrow to post what I’ve watched so far. I mean I could post with my phone but I want to do fancy graphics and a format that is annoyingly tedious to do on a phone. Four films in now and will be back.
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Oct 4, 2022 02:44
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3. Evil Toons I've mever heats of this movie until a goon posted about it in here. It's by no means a good movie. God no. But it is extremely entertaining even though the gimmick is only in the movie for about three minutes. As a movie? 1.5/5 As a good time? 3.5/5
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Oct 4, 2022 02:48
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9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) Watched On: Shudder  Why are we using this bad music to lead into the Halloween theme? I get you wanna do different things but that's one I think you can leave alone. In fact they do some absolutely terrible remixes of the main theme through this movie. I do kinda dig violent pumpkin carving placed in the credits though. Maybe the worst thing H5 has going for it is that it's tone is just terrible. Scenes go from intense Dr Loomis yelling at a Jamie having visions, to wacky cops with weird clown music, back to Loomis once again yelling at Jamie along with with over the top Tina sprinkled all over the movie. On that topic though, boy oh boy Loomis has fully lost it! My guy is nothing but dramatic line readings and intense yelling, Donald Pleasance is trying to save this movie. Here is where we also get the crossover to almost everyone being assholes so you can cheer Michael wasting them, for my tastes that super sucks. Oh and I barely mentioned the psychic link between Jamie and Michael, ugh. A stray observation, Michael really loves to drive cars. He's having a blast driving this Camaro. Even though it's a bit hollow due to everyone sucking the last thirty minutes or so when Michael really gets to killing is pretty alright, Loomis is firing on all cylinders, Michael tries to mow down kids with a car, at least they threw us some kind of bone before hammering a stupid as hell ending in. Favorite Shot  Loomis bargaining with Michael is honestly a pretty alright scene and it's fun seeing them just kinda standing there together like this. Favorite Kill  Michael slicing and dicing with a scythe isn't something I realized I needed. The Mask   Michael, are you doing ok? Do you need a meal or something? Good lord. 3/10
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Oct 4, 2022 02:55
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TheKingslayer posted:9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) I think this is also the movie where Loomis's burn make up changes from scene to scene and its really funny when you notice it.
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Oct 4, 2022 03:00
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7. The Haunting in Connecticut 2009 Why does actor Martin Donovan look like Tucker Carlson?  I went looking for a ghost movie and thought I had seen this one, but it turns out I hadn't. I was thinking of A Haunting in Georgia, which is not in fact The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, and I hadn't seen The Haunting in Connecticut, in conclusion whoever named all these things is an rear end in a top hat. Anyway, this was made in that great period a decade ago when people still threw money at mid-budget mediocre horror movies, and it shows. And that's what this movie is -- thoroughly mediocre, even though I think the premise is a good one. Instead the movie never meets a jump scare it didn't love, and spends a lot of time talking about how lovely cancer is instead of, you know, being a movie about ghosts. And when it does get to being a movie about ghosts, you get the aforementioned jump scares, some gore for the sake of gore, and a run-of-the-mill plot and conclusion. Kyle Gallner is good in it, despite that I usually find him kinda annoying, and seeing Virginia Madsen in a horror movie that isn't Candyman is nice. But then the dad is Martin Donovan, who looks like an alternate universe Tucker Carlson and I find that super distracting. At least Elias Koteas was there to round everything out. Honestly, the movie was just forgettable. Even having never seen it before, I can't say as that I would have remembered it if I did, which is a pretty grave sin in a genre that routinely does memorable poo poo. Rating: 4.1/10 Basement Crematoriums Incidentally, comin' in pretty hot on a bingo: 
PKMN Trainer Red fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Oct 4, 2022 |
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Oct 4, 2022 03:07
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7. Uncle Peckerhead USA, 2020. Dir. Matthew John Lawrence Punk Vacation Down and out punk band are ready and set to go on tour when their van gets repossessed, so with no money and no other options they decide to let a kinda shady guy, who owns a van, drive them around and be their roadie. Unfortunately for them, he has a nasty habit of turning into a cannibalistic demon each night. Hijinks ensue. I will start by saying right out that this was a totally random watch for me. It was hard trying to find a punk-related horror movie i hadn't already seen, so I kinda went with the first one I could find that sounded halfway decent. Kinda feels like i stumbled on a diamond in the rough over here! Surprisingly funny, and some nice gore here and there. Almost splatterpunk at times. Unfortunately, Peckerhead's demon makeup leaves a lot to be desired. Dude looks like a low budget buffy vampire. Also, for being a movie about a punk band, their music doesn't seem all that punk to me. A little too polished, a little too indie-sounding. Still, the movie has a lot of heart, and the punk spirit was definitely there. Strong recommend. 8/10. Stray thoughts: Very first shot is of a nice, goopy, faceless skeletonized guy who right away gets his lower jaw ripped off and chewed on. Helluva way to start a movie. Whoever's job it was to make up band names in this movie really had a lot of fun with it. Our protagonists' band, Duh, is a fantastically moronic and accurate name. Then there's Queef Queens, Brain Busters, Acid Cats, Turd Toilet, Pissface, and the apropos Alliteration Records. Even the full-of-themselves poser punk band they butt heads with later, Dominion Rising, sounds just like the kinda name a band like that would have. Going into this movie I did not expect the character of Peckerhead (Peck to his friends) to be so goddamned charming. For being an unabashed cannibal the guy was folksy as hell. Despite not looking anything like him, his accent and most of all his bashful mannerisms kept reminding me of Ernest P. Worrell. Very weird, but it worked. Neon cassettes for mixed tapes? What year is this set? Very punk tho. The final scene, when they're playing their first show after just getting out of prison, Judy thinks she sees Peckerhead in the audience, and the clock hits midnight. The crowd starts screaming, and at first you can't tell whether they're screaming for the band, or because they're being torn apart. Thn the screams get a little louder, a little more frantic. Cut to black. Great way to end a movie. 
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Oct 4, 2022 03:17
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Crescent Wrench posted:I'm working on a game plan for the SPOOKY Bingo board, and I'm hoping to work in some of the Universal horror classics that went up on Criterion Channel this month. Obviously I have a broad idea about these movies, but of course by the nature of their challenge I haven't seen them. If anyone can think of good ways I might be able to sneak these into SPOOKY Bingo square, it would be greatly appreciated! I'm really eyeing any of Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. I know Golden Years applies across the board, Paperbacks From Hell for most, Masters of Horror could cover a James Whale selection, presumably H20 for Creature, but please let me know if I'm overlooking any. So by my thinking you can fit the entire "Larry Talbot Saga" in like this. You can move a few things around too but this is how I got them all to fit. Paperbacks From Hell: Dracula (Frankenstein or Invisible Man would also fit) They Always Come Back: Frankenstein (There's definitely at least one previous Frankenstein film) Masters of Horror: Bride of Frankenstein (Any James Whale or Tod Browning would fit here) Scream, Queen!: The Invisible Man (Any James Whale would fit here) Femme Fatale: Dracula’s Daughter Golden Years: The Invisible Man Returns (All of them fit here) Goodnight, Mommy: The Mummy Zombie Honeymoon: The Wolfman (Mummy, Bride, or Dracula could fit here and probably a few others) Something Wicked This Way Comes: Picnic At Hanging Rock: Son of Frankenstein (pretty much all of them fit here) Full Moon: Franknetsine Meets Wolfman (Any of the Wolfman movies fit here) Glitches: House of Dracula (and of the Frankenstein or Invisible Man movies would probably fit here) Wild Beasts: House of Frankenstein (Any of the Wolfman movies would fit here) Highbrow Horror: Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein (Most of these movies would fit) H20: Creature from the Black Lagoon
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Oct 4, 2022 03:20
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WeaponX posted:It’s a tricky case but the uncredited director of Monster a Go-Go Herschel Gordon Lewis is an objective Master of Horror. I mean it’s considered one of his films but don’t know if uncredited work is stretching the rules. No kidding! Still because it's a stretch I'll just take it as an extra and work on something else. Like 3. Mr. Jones A very interesting look at art as magic, ritual, nightmare world. A couple retreat to the wilds so Scott can make a documentary but he doesn't really know what about. Penny gives up pretty much everything in her life to go with him. They discover a reclusive artist and quickly things go south. It was folky and occulty just the way I like. I'll count this as the movie about filmmaking - he starts out making a documentary and the spooky stuff also involves solving the FF problem by helpfully shooting footage! I'll put up the bingo card when I get to a computer and not my phone :/
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Oct 4, 2022 03:23
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 Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, 1958 I think everyone has seen this poster at some point. It is pretty much iconic and the very symbol of trashy 50s movies. But has anyone actually seen the movie? I have and as the only person in the entire world who has ever seen the movie, I can tell the poster is false advertisement and it is pretty crap. I like 50s sci-fi horror. Those movies tend to be a bit boring, but rewarding and surprisingly good when they get going, or they tend to be so bad and stupid that they are entertaining because of their crappiness. This one sort of falls under the later, but there's quite the handful of other bad 50s movies I rather watch as entertaining bad movies over this one. A orb from space, or satellite as the movie calls it, is seen all over the world and lands in the California desert. A socialite driving during the night (which is obviously filmed during broad daylight) sees the orb and a giant hand reaching for her. She is treated as just hysteric as she got a history of alcoholism and mental illness, and her cheating husband that only want her wealth so he can run off with his lover tries to get rid of her by driving her out in the desert under the pretense of finding the orb she claimed to see. They find it and she is grabbed by the giant inside. Later she is found like 40 min in this one hour and ten minutes long movie, taken home, then she has grown 50 feet over the night. We see her giant hand fill the bedroom. I got no idea where the rest of her body is. Doctors are baffled and stuff. She has a "rampage" 55 minutes into the movie, which is is just her walking through the desert, then smashing up the one building in the tiny desert town looking for her cheating husband. Both dies, the end. Everything about this movie is stupid, the effects crap even for the 50s. It is sort of worth watching when you want bad 50s sci-fi horror, just that as I pointed out, there are other movies in that category that are just way more fun.
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Oct 4, 2022 03:31
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