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The Berzerker posted:
This was another movie that loving TRAUMATIZED me as a kid. The scene where the guy gets buried alive still lives in my head rent free to this day.
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May 11, 2023 07:19
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Alligator (1980) -- You have a wonderful mind, a doctorate degree, and beautiful tits. Jaws in the midwest. Fond memories of this one from seeing it on TV back in the day. Didn't have any recollection of the lab animal growth experiment stuff to explain the size, I thought it just got big. Not technically a good movie, but a quite serviceable critter feature with significant 80s kid nostalgia. https://i.imgur.com/hxLzx1l.mp4 ⚞💀Progress Tracker💀⚟ 01. Idle Hands 🎃History Lesson 1990s🎃 🎃Horror High🎃 02. Maniac Cop 🎃History Lesson 1980s🎃 03. Skinamarink 🎃History Lesson 2020s🎃 🎃Fresh Hell (released in North America in January)🎃 04. Ginger Snaps 🎃History Lesson 2000s🎃 05. The Night Eats the World 🎃History Lesson 2010s🎃 06. Terrifier 07. Alligator 🎃Tales from the Cryptids🎃
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May 11, 2023 08:55
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Shaman Tank Spec posted:This was another movie that loving TRAUMATIZED me as a kid. The scene where the guy gets buried alive still lives in my head rent free to this day. It's that blond woman just biting into a wine glass like the host of Iron Chef for me. Chomp! *tinkle tinkle* loving good movie, although from anthropologist friends it sounds like his whole research isn't looking so hot these days.
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May 11, 2023 14:40
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 #11. Deep Red (1975) (Purchased on iTunes) A jazz pianist and a spunky reporter try to unravel a mystery after the former sees a psychic get murdered. After I had graduated from film school and was living for my own - for the first time, and in a big city no less - I spent a lot of time catching up on classics and weirdo horror movies, mostly all supplied by the TLA video store in Center City, Philadelphia (RIP). I went on a brief giallo kick during that time, going through a significant chunk of Dario Argento's oeuvre and branching out to a few other Italian directors (mainly just Bava and Fulci, if I remember right). The whole experience started strong with Tenebre, which I low-key loved, but a lot of the rest of the Argento films that I saw during that time ended up leaving me cold; I didn't end up liking things like Opera or Suspiria all that much, and I downright hated stuff like Trauma and Inferno. Deep Red, of all the Argento titles that I had seen, ended up falling pretty squarely in the middle for me. I know it had a pretty dedicated following, and I remembered it well enough to remember the conclusion to the mystery, but it always occupied a spot in my mind as "just okay." But I picked up a copy of it during one of the periodic deep sales on iTunes, where a bunch of 4K Arrow titles were going for $5, with the idea that I would revisit it later and see if my opinion of it had shifted over time. Years later, and even knowing that I go through fits and starts with Italian horror due to the weird production value and sometimes slipshod scripting and pacing, I came around a little bit more on this one: it had gotten all the way up to "pretty decent." NOTE: Knowing that the DVDs I would have watched back in the day were almost certainly the 104 minute American cut, I will say that I took the opportunity to watch the full on 127 minute Italian cut this time, with Italian audio. Like I said, I still remembered the ending and a couple of key scenes, but had forgotten huge chunks of the rest of the film, so I couldn't tell you what material was new or not in this longer cut. There's a warning up front that the material that was replaced was sourced from less than ideal material, but I couldn't see any scenes or shots of noticeably different quality compared to the rest of the film as presented. They certainly worked some magic on the picture quality, I'll say that much. With the better presentation in 4K, it was better able to hold my attention in the early going; it's not as lush or colorful as something like Suspiria, but this is still a fairly handsome-looking movie. And I think having Italian audio as the standard actually improves the experience of watching the film - I know half of the cast is speaking English on screen, but the dubbed voices were never that great in those Italian productions sent to the US. So, if the film is going to be in a dubbed format, better that it comes in a language I don't already speak, you know? Continuing on the audio front, I'll remain a Tenebre stan when it comes to scores from Goblin, but I forgot how good a lot of the music in this film was, and the cleaned up audio helps keep it in the forefront. However, I was still finding myself getting bored and antsy during the film - the extended cut probably helps things flow better (not having seen the film in over 15 years - Jesus - I can't attest), but there's still a feeling of padding over the whole thing. It kind of feels like there's a whole lot of dithering and laughing at our mismatched protagonists, but I also can't tell how much the film wants us to center on Marc's viewpoint or not. Like, are we supposed to laugh at his distrust of women, or agree with it? I imagine both, but considering how much effort it takes to (unwisely) sideline Daria Nicolodi in the back half makes me think that Argento isn't interested in challenging that viewpoint, either. And that's to say nothing of the films treatment of gay characters, especially poor Carlo, who gets punished far outside the bounds of necessity by the film, especially given the final revelation. As I said before, too, I know the solution to the central mystery already, but I forgot most of the fine details. It also helped me recognize that the film is playing a bit of dirty pool - I will credit the film that, yes, it does show Carlo's mother's face in the mirror when Marc first walks in, so you get the impression that you saw just another weird painting amidst all the others. But they only flash by it once and then they never reshow that hallway again, so Marc's constant declarations that he saw a painting that got removed always rings hollow - we the audience never get a chance to see the "altered" painting, so we never get a feeling that anything changed in that room either. And that ends up undermining the film's driving force, at least for me. So without a proper driving momentum for the story - because I can't feel it - and the dithering approach to character and pacing, I end up not feeling like I've shifted the needle all that much in my appreciation for this film. It's fine, but I can't really rate it much better than that. I'd have hoped for more after almost two decades, but what're you gonna do?  /5Watched so far: The Seed, Witchboard, The Visitor, Mad God, Eyes Without a Face, A Field in England, Dolly Dearest, Black Sabbath, The Boxer's Omen, Survival of the Dead, Deep Red
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May 11, 2023 15:52
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 Terrifier 2 This is one of the last newer releases I wanted to check off the list, this challenge is typically what I use to catch up on these things. I was not a fan of the first Terrifier, so I certainly wasn't very enthusiastic about sitting down to a 2.5 hour sequel to it. The buzz around Terrifier 2 was very very strong though, and some of the stuff I'd heard about it made me think it was worth a shot. And yea, I think in the end it was. There's certainly more to this one, they went beyond the very stripped down gore effects showcase/montage that was the first film and got more creative with Art and what he represents. We're given a chance to see things at least partially from his disturbed point of view, and there's a lot more to chew on in terms of why he exists and why he can do the things he does. A better foundation is established where they could potentially build more interesting things onto it in more sequels to come. So I definitely liked it a lot more than Terrifier, BUT with that said it's still not really my thing and I think the gore is too much. Not too much like I'm offended or grossed out by it, I just think some of the gore scenes are so extended and so detailed that they become redundant and pointless. Like, how many times do we need to see Art completely obliterate a person's face? It gets repetitive. And that's an aspect of Terrifier that I don't really see changing, that's become part of the "brand" and they'll most likely only ramp things up even more in that department. Oh well, obviously some people really love that style so to each their own. 1. American Bigfoot 2. Terror on Bigfoot Pond 3. Scream 4. Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch 5. M3GAN 6. Exists 7. Terrifier 2 Challenges Completed: 2. Tales From the Cryptids(take your pick) 4. Fresh Hell(Scream 6) 10. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things(M3GAN) Meta Challenges: History Lesson(1/5), Geography Lesson(1/5)
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May 11, 2023 16:42
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#11: Beware! Children at Play  10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 12. History lesson 1980sAll I knew about this going in was the infamous final scene, so I was kinda expecting the whole movie to just be a bunch of faffing around until the end. But it's actually solidly entertaining all the way through. It starts off with a dad and his young son out camping, the dad gets caught in a bear trap, and the kid is trapped there for days with his dying dad as he slowly goes insane from the pain. The creepy things the murderous kids chant later are the half-remembered lines from Beowulf the dad repeated endlessly as he died I will admit, some of what keeps the movie entertaining is the goofy over-written dialogue and the bad actors wrestling with it. But that counts! It keeps your attention through the downtime until the murders start. And the murders are wonderfully over the top. We also get some good angry mob content. There's a guy with a very poorly dyed beard who kinda looks like Stephen King, and he's playing a role that's the kinda role you'd have Stephen King play if this was a movie based on a Stephen King story. And honestly the movie could totally have been based on some obscure Stephen King short story B-side. And then, of course, you get to the end. The child murder scene. And my god. It is as amazing as you have heard. It just goes on and on. They kill all those children, you see each child die individually, there's guns and machetes and a putchfork. The child actors in the bulk of the movie aren't great, but for this scene they had to get so many kids that several of them aren't even child actors, they're just kids who got roped into a shot where they stand still while an adult puts a gun in their mouth. And that's the end of the movie. Challenges in progress 13. Geography Lesson: North America (The Relic) Asia (Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi File 05: Preface True Story Of The Ghost Of Yotsuya) Challenges complete 2: Tales from the Cryptids: Mothman Prophecies (because of mothman) 3. Holy Terror: Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi File 05: Preface True Story Of The Ghost Of Yotsuya (because of Shinto) 4. Fresh Hell: M3gan 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things: Beware! Children at Play 12. History lesson: 1980s (Beware! Children at Play)1990s (The Relic) 2000s (The Mothman Prophecies) 2010s (Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi File 05: Preface True Story Of The Ghost Of Yotsuya) 2020s (Scream)
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May 11, 2023 17:33
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18. Tales from the Hood - 1995 Directed by Rusty Cundieff 🎃 Woke in Fright 🎃  It's a good thing that all of the social issues examined in Tales from the Hood are distant memories. We've come so far as a people and as a nation. 💀💀💀💀/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 7/13 1. Basket Case 2; 2. Basket Case 3: The Progeny; 3. 3 from Hell; 4. Attack of the Blind Dead; 5. The Ghost Galleon; 6. Night of the Seagulls, 7. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning GMM Challenges 7/13 1. Horror High - Bliss 2. Tales from the Cryptids - Mongolian Death Worm 3. Holy Terror - Incantation 4. Fresh Hell - The Pope's Exorcist 5. Shooting Zombies - The Fall of the House of Usher 6. Drawn and Quartered - Violence Voyager 7. Woke in Fright - Tales from the Hood 8. Second Chance 9. Challenge of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 11. It's-a Me! 12. History lesson - Evil Ed (1990s); Do You Like Hitchcock? (2000s); Blood Moon (2010s); Hellraiser (2020s) 13. Geography Lesson Completed Collections * The Basket Case Trilogy 🧺🧺🧺/🧺🧺🧺 * The Firefly Collection 🤡🤡🤡/🤡🤡🤡 * The Blind Dead Collection ⛪⛪⛪⛪/⛪⛪⛪⛪ * The Ginger Snaps Collection 🐺🐺🐺/🐺🐺🐺
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May 11, 2023 21:27
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twernt posted:18. Tales from the Hood - 1995 yeah I saw it for the first time in 2017 and the scariest thing about it is how relevant it all still is, maybe even more so  Class3KillStorm posted:However, I was still finding myself getting bored and antsy during the film - the extended cut probably helps things flow better (not having seen the film in over 15 years - Jesus - I can't attest), but there's still a feeling of padding over the whole thing. I didn't think the longer version really added anything, and maybe even makes it worse. More Daria Nicolodi is always good, but most of the extra scenes involve David Hemmings' character being sexist to her and don't advance the plot or anything. I can see why they were trimmed out for the International cut. Plus it's like 25 extra minutes on an already decently long film.
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May 11, 2023 21:44
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gey muckle mowser posted:yeah I saw it for the first time in 2017 and the scariest thing about it is how relevant it all still is, maybe even more so It's been on my list forever and this was a good excuse to finally watch it, but yeah, pretty depressing that it wasn't as dated as it should have been. Thanks for running the challenge again, by the way!
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May 11, 2023 21:56
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 7. The Ring (2002) CHALLENGE FILM: Second Chance, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead ThingsTwenty years ago, I rented this with my then-girlfriend and laughed while she shivered. Has two decades of movies (and a good dose of J-Horror) changed me? Can I take it a little more seriously? Yes and no. I can appreciate what the movie TRIES to do (import a popular product and make it palatable for a different cultural audience). And the filmmaking is competent. If this is someone’s first step into the genre, or a casual “ooh scary movie night” for some teens, then the movie succeeds. The same for if this gets someone to pick up Ringuor Ju-on and step into J-Horror. But that is also its failing because in the end it’s just basic and trite. If a viewer goes on, watches more horror movies, gets experience in cinema/cinema studies, then The Ring shows its flaws. The plot points are telegraphed, the scares lackluster, and the cryptic tape becomes a series of clues and perfect, serendipitous encounters culminating in a “open up for a sequel” final shot. That’s all it is - a boilerplate, big release horror movie. Flawed? Yes. Mindless? Yes. Eye-rolling for experienced viewers? Probably. But if it was also where a horror fan started, then who am I to judge them for owning a special edition Blu-ray of it on their top shelf? The Good Many of the special effects hold up well. Maybe not all (ex. fast-moving tree, some rain scenes), but most. The Bad Some movies just don’t want to end. To quote MST3k: “Goodbyes are more effective when someone actually leaves.” The Ugly I must have blocked out the medicinal green tint that 00s movies loved. Ugh. It’s overpowering in this movie to the point of distraction. Everyone looks jaundiced or fighting skin infections. Total Films: 7 Challenges Complete: Holy Terror, History Lesson, Second Chance, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things
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May 12, 2023 02:59
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19. The Fly - 1986 Directed by David Cronenberg 🎃 Second Chance 🎃  I saw this when I was in high school and for whatever reason it didn't make a big impression on me. I may have it confused with another movie. Either way, I never really thought about it as especially good or important. The Fly is actually very good, though some of the details are odd. * There's a store that sells friendly baboons somewhere in Toronto or wherever this takes place. * When she discovers Seth doing gymnastics, Veronica silently watches for way too long without even saying "Hey what's happening?" like a regular person would. * A magazine editor successfully drives an 80s Maserati sedan twice (that we know of) without it disintegrating around him. 💀💀💀💀/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 7/13 1. Basket Case 2; 2. Basket Case 3: The Progeny; 3. 3 from Hell; 4. Attack of the Blind Dead; 5. The Ghost Galleon; 6. Night of the Seagulls, 7. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning GMM Challenges 8/13 1. Horror High - Bliss 2. Tales from the Cryptids - Mongolian Death Worm 3. Holy Terror - Incantation 4. Fresh Hell - The Pope's Exorcist 5. Shooting Zombies - The Fall of the House of Usher 6. Drawn and Quartered - Violence Voyager 7. Woke in Fright - Tales from the Hood 8. Second Chance - The Fly 9. Challenge of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 11. It's-a Me! 12. History lesson - Evil Ed (1990s); Do You Like Hitchcock? (2000s); Blood Moon (2010s); Hellraiser (2020s) 13. Geography Lesson Completed Collections * The Basket Case Trilogy 🧺🧺🧺/🧺🧺🧺 * The Firefly Collection 🤡🤡🤡/🤡🤡🤡 * The Blind Dead Collection ⛪⛪⛪⛪/⛪⛪⛪⛪ * The Ginger Snaps Collection 🐺🐺🐺/🐺🐺🐺
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May 12, 2023 03:50
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8. Satan's Slaves (2017) (first viewing) (watched on AMC+/Shudder)  Last October, I watched the 1980 Indonesian oddity Satan's Slave. That film combines an extremely casual approach to logic and narrative (Phantasm is a common reference point) with overt religious themes about how the characters have fallen away from the path of Islam. I was aware of this loose remake, and the "Holy Terror" and "Geography Lesson" categories provided just the one-two punch I needed to check it out. This version--which was the biggest Indonesian box office hit of 2017-- is directed by Joko Anwar, who also did the excellent Impetigore, itself one of my favorite first viewings of the October 2021 season. Tara Basro, evidently Anwar's leading actress of choice, is the anchor performance in both films. Like the original, this movie is about the ways in which a woman's death leaves her partner and children reeling. Spookiness ensues after her burial, and it eventually comes out she had a dark secret--she was part of a Satanist fertility cult, which is coming back to collect on the youngest child. This one doesn't go as heavily into the religious aspect as the original, which literally climaxes in a "pray the demons away" finale, but there are less overt references to the family's secular ways opening them up for the demonic influences. The family seeks help from the author of an occult zine, but also the village's Islamic scholar. Some of the scares are a little predictable--the camerawork has a constant tell where anytime something conspicuously drifts out of frame, you know what's coming--but the atmosphere, strong characterization, and some great sound design elevate it above similar fare. This is filmmaking several tiers above the original, although the 1980 version has it's own charms, of course. Anwar also made a sequel--looks like I have the option of stretching out the Satan's Slave party to at least one more challenge. CHALLENGE: "Holy Terror" for contrasting the more common Satanist themes against the backdrop of Islam. This also contributes to "Geography Lesson" (4/5 completed) as my first Southeast Asian film of the challenge (via Indonesia). --- CHALLENGES: 1. Horror High--A Field in England (2013) 2. Tales from the Cryptids 3. Holy Terror--Satan's Slaves (2017) 4. Fresh Hell 5. Shooting Zombies--Ringu (1998) 6. Drawn and Quartered 7. Woke in Fright 8. Second Chance 9. Challenge of the Dead--City of the Living Dead (1980) 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things--Dolls (1987) 11. It's-a Me! 12. History Lesson (5/5 completed)--The Shout (1978) ('70s); Dolls (1987) ('80s); The Fear (1995) ('90s); A Field in England (2013) (2010s); Pearl (2022) (2020s) 13. Geography Lesson (4/5 completed)--The Fear (1995) (North America via USA); The Shout (1978) (Europe via UK); Ringu (1998) (Asia via Japan); Satan's Slaves (2017 (Southeast Asia via Indonesia)
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May 12, 2023 03:53
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 23 (33). We Have a Ghost (2023) Written and directed by Christopher Landon Watched on Netflix Not bad really but kind of guilty of the usual sin of modern streaming stuff where it has less restrictions on what it needs to be and so it kind of feels like its trying to be too much. Like tightened up it would have made a fun 90 minute horror comedy kinda similar to Beetlejuice or something. Give Jennifer Coolidge a bigger role and just have fun. Maybe taken another route it could have leaned into the darker thing with the murder mystery and CIA stuff and whatever. But this feels like none of that stuff really has enough time to mean much so just kind of feels a little weird. A lot of this probably has to do with being adapted from a novel so it feels simultaneously overstuffed with all the chapters from the book but also shallow with all the stuff that got cut. That's just a guess but it would explain all these multiple sub plots that feel kind of unnecessary and undeveloped. And those problems seem compounded with the free reign of streaming where no one's ever saying "you gotta cut 20 minutes" so instead it becomes an extra 30. Still, I enjoyed a lot of it. I got some good laughs. Its a good cast and a simple enough if familiar story. But one that more or less works. I got a little tired of its length but not enough to want to turn it off or pause it or anything. But it doesn't have a strong enough narrative to really carry momentum the whole way and it feels like there's stuff left that they could have done more with. Or less. It just feels like it could have been a tighter, better, funner film. But it is what it is and that wasn't bad. gey muckle mowser posted:
 24 (34). American Carnage (2022) Directed by Diego Hallivis; Written by Diego Hallivis and Julio Hallivis Haters abound. All the reviews are all obsession on Jenna Ortega or the usual "every POC horror is a Get Out knockoff". The usual. Don't get me wrong I watched this for Ortega too but it was a pretty cool movie and in truth she ain't one of the leads. This is definitely a case of "hey, we made a movie with someone who just broke big, lets stick her front and center on the poster and make some money." But its a pretty cool and timely movie only slightly exaggerating the cruelty of which immigrants and dreamers are being treated in America loaded up with a talented diverse latinx cast that does a good job balancing the comedy and horror for a smooth watch. The twist isn't the most shocking thing and the movie isn't gonna change the world. But I thought it moved well with the good cast and a plot that never really stayed in one place too long but kept things moving. Probably not overly scary but not that kind of horror really. And I said the twist is predictable but really its kind of twist after twist after twist. And that's not like super clever or anything but it keeps everything moving well. The social commentary doesn't get any deeper than it has to. The racism we can see on the news every day, that the whole thing is really rigged to keep the status quo going exploiting people, a touch of the willful blindness of consumerism, and a little bit about the discarding of the elderly in there to boot. It ain't a thesis but its a lot of proper messages and vibes. And the core cast of Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jenna Ortega, Allen Maldonado, and Bella Ortiz all step up to make it a good movie IMO. With a pretty fun ending. Not a home run but a very solid double.  25 (35). The Rental (2020) Directed by Dave Franco; Screenplay by Dave Franco and Joe Swanberg Watched on Netflix A horror written and directed by Dave Franco and Joe Swanberg and starring Allison Brie and Lip from Shameless is not a combination I can fully wrap my mind around. Nonetheless this is one of those movies that’s been dancing on the bubble of my watchlist the last couple of years so this is the month to just clean it out. In truth not the film I expected. With Brie and Franco involved I guess I just sort of expected it to kind of be a comedy, even if a Swanberg like dry one. I wasn’t super in the mood for something serious but that’s on me for not digging a little deeper. It was alright I guess. Its a day later and its already kind of faded for me. The cast is talented enough and its made well enough. The story is probably the issue. The majority of the film is devoted to these pretty unlikable folks on the most boring vacation as their obvious dysfunctions and betrayals play out. There's a decent tension and sinister feeling in the air but its not super clear where its going. Then it shifts kind of abruptly into its last act and that just feels kind of unearned and shallow. Its not really set up in any meaningful way, we're not given any information about this new element until the epilogue, and you just spent all this time making us dislike these characters due to their issues you now are not going to resolve. I'm not saying I cared deeply about their relationships nor do I wish any of them dead... but nothing feels fulfilled and satisfying. You just swerved us for the sake of it and I guess I'm kind of annoyed. Its not a clever enough twist to warrant it. And to be honest the fact taht Franco admits they were doing it this way to set up a potential sequel/franchise just annoys me. A second film would even probably be better because presumably we wouldn't have this fake out scenario. But using an hour of your film as a swerve to setup your villain for future movies is just... annoying. Yeah, I guess I'm annoyed. I didn't really feel that way last night when I finished it but now as I think back on it I kinda am. Its not terrible or anything but it just doesn't deliver enough to counter balance the negatives. 🌼💀Spook-a-Doodle Half-Way-to-Halloween ’23: Spring Cleaning💀🌼 Watched - New (Total) - (1). Scream (1996); 1 (2). The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944); 2 (3). Viral (2016); - (4). Scream 2 (1997); 3 (5). Mostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House (2016); 4 (6). Man-Thing (2005); - (7). Vampires (1998); - (8). Vampires: Los Muertos (2002); 5 (9). Vampires: The Turning (2005); 6 (10). Evil Ed (1995); - (11). Scream 3 (2000); 7 (12). Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005); 8 (13). Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017); - (14). Scream 4 (2011); - (15). Scream (2022); 9 (16). This Island Earth (1955); 10 (17). A Field in England (2013); 11 (18). Scream: The Inside Story (2011); 12 (19). Scream VI (2023); 13 (20). My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022); - (21). Fright Night (2011); - (22). Brain Damage (1988); 14 (23). Fright Night Part 2 (1988); 15 (24)Children of the Corn (2020); 16 (25). The Signal (2014); 17 (26). The Mole People (1956); 18 (27). Mom and Dad (2017); 19 (28). Big Legend (2018); 20 (29). Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966); - (30). Extraterrestrial (2014); 21 (31). Blood Moon (2014); 22 (32). Son of Godzilla (1967); 23 (33). We Have a Ghost (2023); 24 (34). American Carnage (2022); 25 (35). The Rental (2020); Return of the Fallen: 5/13 - Viral; Day of the Dead: Bloodline; My Best Friend’s Exorcism; The Signal; We Have a Ghost; Completed Collections: 5/13 - The Invisible Man; Mostly Ghostly; John Carpenter’s Vampires; Scream; Children of the Corn; Spook-A-Doodle Challenges: 8/13 - Day of the Dead: Bloodline (Challenge of the Dead); A Field in England (Horror High); Scream VI (Fresh Hell); Brain Damage (Second Chance); Children of the Corn ’20 (Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things); Big Legend (Tales from the Cryptids); American Carnage (Woke in Fright); Meta Challenges: History Lesson: 8/5 - The Invisible Man's Revenge (1940s); This Island Earth (1950s); Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1960s); Fright Night Part 2 (1980s); Evil Ed (1990s); Man Thing (2000s); Viral (2010s); Scream VI (2020s); Meta Challenges: Geography Lesson: 4/5 - The Invisible Man's Revenge (North America); Evil Ed (Europe); Man Thing (Australia/Oceania); Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Asia);
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May 12, 2023 06:00
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twernt posted:18. Tales from the Hood - 1995 That's on my list as well for the same challenge. Does anyone have good other suggestions? I've seen Elm Street 2 and The People Under the Stairs (which I HEARTILY recommend), but not a ton of other films that might qualify.
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May 12, 2023 06:51
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Shaman Tank Spec posted:That's on my list as well for the same challenge. Sissy (2022) would be a great candidate
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May 12, 2023 06:58
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VROOM VROOM posted:Sissy (2022) would be a great candidate First Candyman has a framing story of a university study of poverty in inner city / projects. Evil Dead II (1987) -- A Farewell to Arms A sequel? A reboot? Both?? I've seen lots of various ED clips but never sat down and properly watched them. This takes the more or less serious tone of the first film and goes full Loony Tunes, which on paper sounds like a terrible idea but obviously it worked out for them. The sequel lead in would have been a hell of a twist in '87. But still the most fantastical thing is how easy that chainsaw starts up every time  ProTip: STOP READING THE LATIN ⚞💀Progress Tracker💀⚟ 01. Idle Hands 🎃History Lesson 1990s🎃 🎃Horror High🎃 02. Maniac Cop 🎃History Lesson 1980s🎃 03. Skinamarink 🎃History Lesson 2020s🎃 🎃Fresh Hell (released in North America in January)🎃 04. Ginger Snaps 🎃History Lesson 2000s🎃 05. The Night Eats the World 🎃History Lesson 2010s🎃 06. Terrifier 07. Alligator 🎃Tales from the Cryptids🎃 08. Evil Dead II
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May 12, 2023 07:48
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 8. Faust (1926) Every time I watch another silent horror film from a century ago I'm always surprised by how loving cool everything looks. I knew the general gist of Faust going in (an angel and the Devil make a bet that the Devil can corrupt a good man's soul and if he can, the Devil gets to rule humanity) and there aren't a lot of surprises - Faust is tempted with power, he wants to use it to help people, things don't work out how he wanted but he keeps chasing the power anyway - but the visuals are stunning, some truly wild things they were able to pull off. Emil Jannings as Mephisto is the most cornball, eyebrow wriggling, mustache twirling type of villain you can ask for and is the highlight. I had to watch this in a few pieces as I tend to get bored with silent movies but that's not a problem with the movie itself, just my brain. Glad I watched this one. 4/5 Completes GMM Challenge #5 Shooting Zombies This is number #112 on the TSZDT list - technically my highest ranked unseen movie on there is #111, High Tension, but I don't have a copy and this was easier to watch. Completes GMM Challenge #12 History Lesson I already had the 90s via The Last Broadcast, the 80s via Return of the Living Dead Part 2, the 2010s via To Your Last Death and the 2020s via The Sadness - this adds the 1920s for the fifth decade.    9. Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) Well, this was a weird one. Set in 1983 at the Arboria Institute, a research facility that opened in the 60s trying to help humans find "serenity through technology", we learn that the doctor who has since taken over the facility is insane and is keeping a girl heavily sedated in the basement lab, to suppress and study her telekinetic powers. All the while, he does lots of drugs, his wife does different drugs, and you feel like you're on drugs. This is more of a vibe and tone type of movie than a clear story - the obtuseness seems to be the point, trying to lock you in with the visuals and music (which are awesome). Synth heavy, Carpenter-esque score, Suspiria rear end lighting (or The Keep if you prefer), visuals that reminded me of Altered States and 2001 and a bunch of other things. I probably would have liked this more if I had taken an edible before watching it. 3.5/5 Completes GMM Challenge #1 Horror High Drugs are a main component of the story, in as much as there is a story. The telekinetic girl is kept sedated, the doctor's wife is constantly high, the doctor himself eats pills the way I eat peanut butter M&Ms. In fact, his pills come from the Benway pharmacy, Dr. Benway being a recurring character in the works of William S Burroughs, another drug connection.  10. Evil Dead Rise (2023) Delivers on the gore and moments to make you wince (cheese grater), the Deadites are mean and sadistic, and the final family monster like a Grafted Scion from Elden Ring or whatever was appropriately cool. I also really liked the look of the book and the way things played out with the vinyl. I just wish these new Evil Dead movies were funny. They have jokes and goofy bits, but they're not actually funny, which is a shame. Still, this was a good ride. If you liked 2013 Evil Dead you'll like this. 3.5/5 Completes GMM Challenge #4 Fresh Hell First time watches: 10/13 GMM Challenges: Tracking GMM #13: Geography Lesson: North America, Asia, Europe
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May 12, 2023 14:53
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 4) Mad God - 2021 - Shudder This one's definitely a something. Plot..um..well, I know there is a plot in there, I've sat through this three times determined to follow the plot, but each time I just get so drawn into the animation I forget to follow the plot. This is Phil Tippet's 30 years in the making passion project and WHOOOO it shows it. I think I could sit through this daily for decades and still feel like I've scratched the surface on how densely layered this film is. I'm not even sure if there's another film like this, it's just that much in it's own class. Definitely a have to see at least once. gey muckle mowser posted:
Phil Tippet's stop motion, nuff said.
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May 12, 2023 15:18
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Yea I rewatched Mad God fairly recently and it feels like I'm making progress on understanding it but only gradually. I love that about it, I feel like I could revisit it ten more times and notice new stuff each time. Also keep your eye out for a quick appearance from the classic Ray Harryhausen cyclops from 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
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May 12, 2023 15:23
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Basebf555 posted:Yea I rewatched Mad God fairly recently and it feels like I'm making progress on understanding it but only gradually. I love that about it, I feel like I could revisit it ten more times and notice new stuff each time. First time I saw the trailer, it made me feel the same way I did when I first saw the video for Sober. I was just so pulled in I barely paid attention to the song. Each watch of Mad God, I go in focussed on I'm going to follow the plot. Assassin goes into the underworld and...oooh what's that over there, I wonder how they did that construct....and yeah, more derailed than a dog noticing a squirrel.
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May 12, 2023 16:43
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 #12. Road Games (1981) (Peacock) A truck driver and a hitchhiker get caught up in mind games and danger on the Australian highways when they believe that they have stumbled across a serial killer. An incredibly effective little thriller, really playing into the lonesome paranoia of being bored in a place where you can't escape (either the cab of a truck or the Australian outback). It has to bend and twist itself in order to make the unnamed villain of the piece work, though - there's no real defined reason for why he's playing this game with the truck driver the way he does, after all. (He has a thousand opportunities to leave hero Quid in the dust, and never bothers to. It becomes really funny in the climax when Quid is hemmed in on all sides and all but stuck pursuing the villain down an alleyway and the baddie just... needs to stop and wait for him to catch up. Very considerate of him.) I've always liked Stacy Keach, and he makes an amiable hero here; I've always liked Jamie Lee Curtis, but she really doesn't have all that much to do here. You can also see why director Richard Franklin got the nod to helm Psycho II after this one - he manages to keep things taut and interesting throughout, wringing plenty of suspense out of what amounts to little more than two characters sitting and chatting and driving. Or sometimes even just one character sitting and thinking. And the car stunts aren't the biggest or best in the world, but they're effective for what they are and what they need to be. This might be my favorite find out of the challenge so far. Solid recommendation from me. /5No direct challenges for this one, but it counts towards Geography Lesson (Australia) Watched so far: The Seed, Witchboard, The Visitor, Mad God, Eyes Without a Face, A Field in England, Dolly Dearest, Black Sabbath, The Boxer's Omen, Survival of the Dead, Deep Red, Road Games M_Sinistrari posted:First time I saw the trailer, it made me feel the same way I did when I first saw the video for Sober. I was just so pulled in I barely paid attention to the song. Each watch of Mad God, I go in focussed on I'm going to follow the plot. Assassin goes into the underworld and...oooh what's that over there, I wonder how they did that construct....and yeah, more derailed than a dog noticing a squirrel. To be fair, plot is really not the focus of Mad God, nor is it intended to be. It's way more a movie about themes and visuals that underscore that - like, there's no plot reason why the Assassin walks past a world of Metropolis engines being powered by little monster men made of dust and poo poo-filtered Re-Animator fluid and are constantly killed and just scooped up and reformed and replaced, but that whole sequence reveals a ton about how Phil Tippett views the working world and capitalism in general. Class3KillStorm fucked around with this message at 16:57 on May 12, 2023 |
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May 12, 2023 16:48
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Road games is such a blast.
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May 12, 2023 16:53
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M_Sinistrari posted:First time I saw the trailer, it made me feel the same way I did when I first saw the video for Sober. I was just so pulled in I barely paid attention to the song. Each watch of Mad God, I go in focussed on I'm going to follow the plot. Assassin goes into the underworld and...oooh what's that over there, I wonder how they did that construct....and yeah, more derailed than a dog noticing a squirrel. From what I've pieced together so far I feel like it's key to understand the dynamic between the actual human actor(listed in the credits as The Last Man) and the bizarre magic ritual stuff that the monster in the underground is doing. The Last Man seems intent on destroying that whole underground world by sending the assassins with the bombs but then the magic being performed down there seems to be powered by whatever that weird larvae thing was that they pulled out of the captured assassin. So there's a self-perpetuating aspect to the whole thing, but I feel like I've only understood it on a very surface level so far.
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May 12, 2023 17:01
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 5) The Menu - 2022 - HBOMax First time I saw the trailer, my thought was 'oh, Top Chef, the unrated edition'. I hadn't made up my mind to go see the movie until it started to pop in my mind when my fiance and I had some cooking show on the Food Network on for background noise. Pretty much thanks to quarantine, we sat through a substantial amount of cooking shows since we were both stuck at home and as my fiance was able to do the work from home thing, cooking shows were safe enough to watch in case one bled over when he was on a call. In general, cooking shows are a mixed bag. Some are fun, some are interesting, and some are so pretentious you wonder if the chefs risk drowning during the rain because they have their noses that high up in the air. I remember one cooking competition where they had the chefs get their ingredients from Walmart and they all acted like they were told to go sift through month old garbage bare handed. I'm pretty much the antithesis of a fine dining foodie for the most part. I have no problem with occasionally splurging on pricey steaks for a special occasion or splurging on a higher quality chocolate when I make brownies, and I have gone to some reasonably fancy restaurants (had a coat room and valet parking). But when you get to the stuff like molecular gastronomy, food serving that's worthy of a We Want Plates post, and portions so small that my cats would look at it wondering where's the rest of the food, well, that's now in my snark on you zone. The Menu's story follows a group of fine dining types invited to master chef Slowik's private island for the ultimate dining experience. It ends up going off the rails in a spectacular fashion. God, where do I begin with this. If you've watched enough food shows, you'll recognize all the types here. The Food Critic, the Famous Actor you have to think on when was the last time you saw them in anything, the chef worshiping foodie...etc. The food courses are exactly as pretentious as can be with the 'breadless bread plate' and everything with an elaborate backstory. It brought me back to a time where I was looking up a cobbler recipe online and having to scroll past a small novel of the writer's reminiscing about her family who would make this on crisp autumn days when the trees in the neighborhood were a bonanza of golds and reds and it felt like a warm hug before I finally got to the actual recipe. As much as I'd love to elaborate on how everything unfolds, it's really something that deserves to be seen without warning. It's definitely made me look at making s'mores in a different light. Major kudos to the crew behind the movie in hiring the camera people who film the food shows to showcase Slowik's dishes. I absolutely adored Anya Taylor-Joy's character of Margo since she was saying so much of what I'd often think when watching some cooking shows. Ralph Fiennes was amazing and completely sold me on Slowik and how he became what he was. I highly recommend this one with the advisory of have a cheeseburger for your movie food when watching or be ready to pick one up afterwards. You will be craving one by the time the credits roll. I lost count how many times I'd be giving directions to the nearby burger restaurants to people who just got out of the showings for this movie. gey muckle mowser posted:
Many thanks to Jedit for giving me the idea on looking at a wider perspective of religion because when you take out the big hitters, options drop dramatically, though options are getting better gradually. Foodie/Fine Dining culture when taken to the extremes is a non-mystical religion. There's Chef Worship/cult of personality, and ample culinary sins (used something premade over made from scratch, didn't use organic/artisanal ingredients..etc), and Redemption through culinary change/growth.
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May 12, 2023 20:02
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 8. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) CHALLENGE FILM: Shooting ZombiesA carnival charlatan and his sleepy friend go on a crime spree. But sometimes it's best to let sleeping men lie. The Good Like so many foundational movies, it’s great to see how this one’s DNA winds up in so many other places. For example, Lily Munster’s look was obviously inspired by the narrator’s betrothed. The same goes for Dr. Caligari and actor George C. Scott. No, wait. Scratch that one. The Bad Silent film is much harder to watch now, maybe even for experienced viewers. Between cell-phones and multi-monitor setups, it’s too easy to steal the viewer’s focus and that’s a shame because something is certainly lost in this change. An appreciation for physical and/or facial acting, for instance. The Ugly The set design feels primary or secondary school drama level. Makes me wonder if a High School has ever mounted a production of this movie. Total: 8 Challenges Completed: Holy Terror, Shooting Zombies, Second Chance, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, and History Lesson
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May 12, 2023 22:58
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Class3KillStorm posted:#12. Road Games (1981) (Peacock) Hey, me too!  11. Roadgames (1981) Solid, tense little thriller. Most of the movie is spent with Stacy Keach (who I assumed was the villain when I saw he was in this, but he isn't) as he is lonely and bored driving his truck across the Australian outback with his pet dog, or dingo, or whatever that lil guy is. Radio reports of dismembered women, a suspicious van, and a variety of hitchhikers come into play as things develop. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this because when you get down to it, there isn't much action until the final act, but it's full of suspense and it's funny, too. 4/5This crosses off Australia on the Geography Lesson challenge. First time watches: 11/13 GMM Challenges: Tracking GMM #13: Geography Lesson: North America, Asia, Europe, Australia
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May 12, 2023 23:01
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Naked Man Punch posted:
That was intentional - it's meant to look unreal. Everything is deliberately distorted to generate a sense of madness, hyperreality and lost perspective.
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May 12, 2023 23:33
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That part of Caligari is cool because the only place that looks remotely realistic and put-together and not at all askew is, of course, the insane asylum
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May 13, 2023 00:54
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#10 The Loved Ones (2009), first watch A troubled high-school student is kidnapped to take part in a two-person Man, I was kind of sold on this as a black comedy, and while there's some humour there, it was a lot more torture-porny than I anticipated. The other subplots do a lot to lighten the mood, and there's some top-shelf catharsis all the way through, but still it was just not my kind of horror movie. Very true in its portrayal of rural Australia, I suppose. 2/5 #11 A Wounded Fawn (2022), first watch  A woman spends the weekend in a (fancy) cabin in the woods with her new boyfriend, a walking heap of red flags. It had its moments, and they were mostly in the first half. The slow burn of realising just how much danger she's in is some great stuff, and then the back half of the movie is a giant trippy chase scene. The whole thing with the Eryneas/Furies was cool and all, but at a certain point in the dream sequence it just seems like everything is arbitrary and inconsequential. I felt like the movie relied on me being interested in the guy and his bullshit, and I just wasn't; the original protagonist, who I did care about, is swallowed up in all the symbolism. The credits joke did a fair bit to make up for all that, but still, I didn't love it. Nice to look at, at least - lots of strong, saturated colours. 3/5  #12 The Night House (2020), first watch  A widow is haunted by her husband and his secrets. Loved it. I've got some issues with the script - I feel like the reveal that the husband killed like 10 women in order to trick a demon that he had killed her did not quite carry as much narrative weight as it should have. But the movie is really all about Rebecca Hall's performance, which was fantastic. Beth is someone who knows that something is wrong, and not knowing what it is is just agony. As fun as it is to watch someone vamp it up and embody an archetype, it's also nice in the middle of a horror-month to watch a like actual human performance. I also really liked the sparing-used negative-space spooks. 4/5 #13 Watcher (2022), first watch  An American, uncertain in her new home in Bucharest, is tormented by isolation, troubling news, and a neighbour who seems to always be watching. This rounds out my unintentional Trilogy of lovely Dudes. Anyway, it was quite good. Another one from the thriller end of the spectrum, which constantly refuses to give Julia (or the audience) any confirmation whether there's really anything to be afraid of. I know Is she being tormented or is she just crazy? is not original territory, but it's really well done here, and it does a good job getting into the isolation of being in an unfamiliar country. This movie is apparently a UAE-US-Romania co-production, so it might be good for a geography challenge in October. 4/5
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May 13, 2023 06:47
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 26 (36). Destroy All Monsters (1968) Directed by Ishirō Honda; Screenplay by Takeshi Kimura and Ishirō Honda Watched on Svengoolie Its what its all been building to! Its Godzilla Infinity War/Endgame! Its me almost finishing all the Svengoolies on my DVR! Feel the excitement! This era of Godzilla films is obviously a bit weird as the formula seems to have become that the studio doesn't think the monsters are enough so each film has a weird Star Trek/Bond film plot all its own. I guess its what was popular at the time and I can understand why they might have thought you can't just have monsters punching each other movie after movie. I'm all for building a story. But these stories feel very separate and odd. I mean they're related and are basically the reason the monster stuff is happening but its just odd. I guess if you were more into that goofy 60s sci fi stuff or grew up with it as a kid that all might be more fun but I'm mostly here for the monster stuff. I'll take some good human stuff if you got it... but this don't got it. So yeah the human/alien half of this movie just isn't very good. Its probably charming in its cheapness and dumbness to many but its also pretty boring for long stretches of time and doesn't like make me care about anyone or anything. I sorta felt bad for that guy who's girlfriend became an alien controlled mass murdering monster terrorist but then he violently assaulted her and it got weird. But the monster stuff is fun. And worth the price of admission. Getting all those monsters together and having them team up for destruction and then the big end fight is a real hoot. Its just fun to see monsters smash models and there's a good bit of that half way through this. And then the big final fight is such a good time I had myself rooting for monsters and poo poo. Anguirus is the clear MVP of that fight and Gorosaurus was dead weight. Why you dropkicking Gidorah, you moron? Bite! Anguirus has shown you the way! You're a big scary t-rex! Bite! But hey Manda and Baragon didn't even show up for the fight so at least you did. And man Godzilla Jr is adorable just cheering along with the whole thing. So yeah. Tale of two movies. Boring sci fi/human/alien thing. Very fun monster stuff. I could have definitely gone for more of the latter than the former but I had a good time especially with Svengoolie's goofiness. A good enough time that I think I might even try and complete this collection of Godzilla films this month. Its like 7 more films so its a lot but I think I'll plug away and see how long my interest holds. I'm having fun right now so let the train keep rolling.  - (37). Hellraiser (2022) Directed by David Bruckner; Screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski Still pretty good on a second watch. Its a good Hellraiser movie, which is either a low bar or a high achievement depending on how you look at it. Its obvious strength in that category is obviously that it IS a Hellraiser movie. Taking all the themes and elements and telling a new story instead of just shoving Pinhead into a random horror movie. But its well done too. David Bruckner has been making some good films and low key making a name for himself in horror and he not only makes a good Hellraiser movie here but adds some good character gravitas and stuff. Odessa A’zion is great in the main role as the far from perfect but also pretty sympathetic and good main character. I've seen criticisms that the character stuff is too rushed but given the film's length I'm not sure what you could do that wouldn't make this too long. I think the "problem" is that Bruckner does something here a lot of horror movies don't do and makes a circle of horror movie characters who give a poo poo about each other. That's kind of rare in horror. So often its stereotypes turning on each other or being catty or just being picked off fairly indifferent to one another. This one actually does have everyone act decent and human and give a poo poo. And that means we gotta kind of quickly introduce the relationships but I didn't have a problem with that. Actually something I really liked is that these weren't a close circle of friends. The one person who unites them goes pretty early. But they're all decent people so they don't abandon each other. There's a very natural sense of doing what's right. Which is a bit of an exception in horror and especially Hellraiser, a franchise kind of built on hedonistic, selfish, and sociopathic characters willing to screw anyone to get what they want. And we've got one of them too but we got our core cast of decent human beings and I liked them and gave a poo poo about them when evil kinky demons hosed with them. Maybe it tries to do a bit too much or with a bit too many characters? I dunno. I don't think so but like I guess the roommate is kind of undeveloped. But I dunno. I enjoy it, think it flows pretty well, and didn't mind the rewatch at all. Its not gonna change the world but its a pretty good movie in a franchise with very few pretty good movies. But hell even besides that its just pretty good.  27 (38). Oxygen (2021) Directed by Alexandre Aja; Written by Christie LeBlanc Watched on Netflix A super tense affair. It sounds super on the nose but I literally had trouble breathing through this film. Just heavy mouth breathing for like 90 minutes. Mélanie Laurent does a tremendous job carrying the full weight of the film and the impossible dilemma she's in and panic she's feeling and Alexandra Aja keeps the pace moving with new challenges and concerns so that a film focused on one actor in one place barely even moving doesn't ever get dull. Admittedly the harder sci fi turn the film takes lost me a tiny bit. Its just not my genre and those kinds of subjects don't interest me much. But I still think its handled well and I like the way Laurent's character deals with her existential dilemma in a very matter of fact and human way. "I'm not the one who did this to you!" Just yelling at the walls. I can relate. Yeah, so a good film. Well acted and well paced. Not the most shocking twists but not the most predictable film either. But I think the twists are secondary to the character. It doesn't matter whether or not I could see the plot beats going late because I was deeply invested in the plight of our character and the terror she's feeling. Not a film I'd watch again soon because I don't need that anxiety but one I'd definitely recommend.
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May 13, 2023 07:48
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 28 (39). The House (2022) Directed by Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, and Paloma Baeza; Written by Enda Walsh; Story by Emma de Swaef, Marc James Roels, Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Johannes Nyholm, and Paloma Baeza Watched on Netflix Really good, really weird stop motion animated anthology. I watched this when I couldn't sleep and was a little loopy which only made it weirder. And while it is weird its sort of coherent enough to get a sense of what's going on. Kinda. There's a lot of themes here and they don't all feel like they necessarily fill out or close off. Although a really great credit song from Jarvis Cocker actually manages to bring it all together in a way that really made sense to me. The unifying link is just the various ways we over focus on the material and the ideal and lose sight of everything else including family and friends. "A home is a place love and life can mix, A house is nothing but a collection of bricks." I think what makes this unique aside from the very creep imagery is that it definitely feels like a collaborative effort. Its not an anthology made by one party or one that's a bunch of different things pieced together. There's clearly a shared idea here between all the creators at play. Its not always clear or neat but it all definitely feels like its working together towards some goal. I would agree with most that the second short is the relative weakest as there doesn't seem to be a clear morale or anything. Its much more of a dark comedic breather I think. The first short is intensely creepy and weird and I definitely get why its the favorite of most. Its unmistakably the most horror of the three and deeply unnerving on a lot of levels. So the almost goofy second one makes sense to me for relief. And then the last one might have actually been my favorite? People seem to dislike that its the least freaky and most clear but that's me. Narrative over vibes. It tells a simple story with a clear enough morale of letting go and appreciating what you have. Its just a very good anthology. All first time feature film directors so there's probably rough spots on all of them. But its a really unique and memorable entry. More freaky puppet horror please.  - (40). Blacula (1972) Directed by William Crain; Screenplay by Joan Torres, Raymond Koenig, and Richard Glouner You gotta love a 70s vampire movie because you can never tell if the vamps are wearing capes and Star Trek uniforms to fit their new lifestyle or to go clubbing. Some homophobia aside Blacula is a surprisingly sophisticated blaxploitation entry. Not at all the campy parody you expect from that name, it actually has real significance as the slave name that was given Mamuwalde when Dracula was trying to further dehumanize him. And its the name he finally uses when he accepts the monster he's become instead of the noble prince who was betrayed. His story follows the classic Stoker Dracula story a fair bit in the reincarnated love sense but it resonates a little more here since Dracula is always a dick and Mamuwalde really was hosed over. So even though he's out their killing folks and is definitely the bad guy you still can feel for him trying to regain what was stolen from him. Dracula really is a racist dick. He was a 18th century nobleman so it tracks. Good acting well above its standing from William Marshall. A fun vibe of style and music. A solid if uninventive story that's given a boost by the racial components. In a lot of ways this is a great showcase of the blaxploitation dilemma. You can see it for the stereotypes and problematic elements or you can see it for the most sophisticated test and subtext for black voices and artists. Its a good balance and a genuinely worthwhile piece of horror history all fans should see. And of corse the cop shot the wrong person.  29 (41). Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011) Directed by Mary Lambert; Written by Naomi Selfman This is bad. Real bad. I watched it while I was catching up on reviews and man I was disappointed when I finished and had to focus more on the film. Its really really bad. An Asylum SyFy channel film starring Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. I guess you can say this film knows its camp? But its not funny or anything. It really does seem to be trying to make us take some of this terrible CGI and acting seriously. I mean it doesn't think its gonna win an Oscar or anything. But it sure seems like... gently caress I dunno. I'm the doofus who watched this. What can I say? Its weird how little Debbie Gibson and Tiffany's characters seem to have rational human responses to stuff that happens. the whole film feels like an excuse to have the 80s pop stars have a catfight in their 40s as if we're fulfilling some horny teenager's wish from 1985. Its odd. The ladies do look good though so good for them. But its weird. Was someone asking for this still? Is somone gonna make a Brittney/Christina bad Asylum film soon? I dunno. I've never seen a Sharknado film so I'm clearly not the audience for this thing. I watched because it was Mary Lambert but she's really slumming here. This sure ain't gonna make me check out one of those films thought. And its gotta be bad for them, right? Like Sharknado has to be better than this, right? I honestly can't think of a single positive thing to say about this without being creepy towards Debbie Gibson. Which I guess I now have been so now I don't like myself any more than I like this film. The ladies did tour together after this so I guess something good came from it? Also there was never a giant monster fight. Which like... is the entire reason... its on the poster... what the hell, guys? Please god let this be the worst thing I watch this month. 🌼💀Spook-a-Doodle Half-Way-to-Halloween ’23: Spring Cleaning💀🌼 Watched - New (Total) - (1). Scream (1996); 1 (2). The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944); 2 (3). Viral (2016); - (4). Scream 2 (1997); 3 (5). Mostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House (2016); 4 (6). Man-Thing (2005); - (7). Vampires (1998); - (8). Vampires: Los Muertos (2002); 5 (9). Vampires: The Turning (2005); 6 (10). Evil Ed (1995); - (11). Scream 3 (2000); 7 (12). Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005); 8 (13). Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017); - (14). Scream 4 (2011); - (15). Scream (2022); 9 (16). This Island Earth (1955); 10 (17). A Field in England (2013); 11 (18). Scream: The Inside Story (2011); 12 (19). Scream VI (2023); 13 (20). My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022); - (21). Fright Night (2011); - (22). Brain Damage (1988); 14 (23). Fright Night Part 2 (1988); 15 (24)Children of the Corn (2020); 16 (25). The Signal (2014); 17 (26). The Mole People (1956); 18 (27). Mom and Dad (2017); 19 (28). Big Legend (2018); 20 (29). Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966); - (30). Extraterrestrial (2014); 21 (31). Blood Moon (2014); 22 (32). Son of Godzilla (1967); 23 (33). We Have a Ghost (2023); 24 (34). American Carnage (2022); 25 (35). The Rental (2020); 26 (36). Destroy All Monsters (1968); - (37). Hellraiser (2022); 27 (38). Oxygen (2021); 28 (39). The House (2022); - (40). Blacula (1972); 29 (41). Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011); Return of the Fallen: 7/13 - Viral; Day of the Dead: Bloodline; My Best Friend’s Exorcism; The Signal; We Have a Ghost; Oxygen; Mega Python vs. Gatoroid; Completed Collections: 5/13 - The Invisible Man; Mostly Ghostly; John Carpenter’s Vampires; Scream; Children of the Corn; GMM Challenges: 9/13 - Day of the Dead: Bloodline (Challenge of the Dead); A Field in England (Horror High); Scream VI (Fresh Hell); Brain Damage (Second Chance); Children of the Corn ’20 (Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things); Big Legend (Tales from the Cryptids); American Carnage (Woke in Fright); The House (Drawn and Quartered) Meta Challenges: History Lesson: 8/5 - The Invisible Man's Revenge (1940s); This Island Earth (1950s); Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1960s); Fright Night Part 2 (1980s); Evil Ed (1990s); Man Thing (2000s); Viral (2010s); Scream VI (2020s); Meta Challenges: Geography Lesson: 4/5 - The Invisible Man's Revenge (North America); Evil Ed (Europe); Man Thing (Australia/Oceania); Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Asia);
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May 13, 2023 08:49
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3) Switchblade Romance aka Haute Tension (2003) Challenge: They Shoot Zombies Not the highest I haven't seen - I somehow managed to miss The Innocents (1961) - but the highest unseen that I have access to. So this is an early entry in the New French Extremity genre, by which I mean it's a late entry in the Young Women Being Tortured genre. And that's all I really care to say about the movie, to be honest. There's no tension to it, the plot twist is nonsense, and Maiwenn le Besco had already been exploited enough by Luc Besson before Aja decided to give it a go. I'll give the female leads credit for doing their best, but if anything they sell it too well to make it work. Verdict: the whole genre belongs in the dustbin, and this should be at the bottom.
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May 13, 2023 11:23
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20. Saw III - 2006 Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman The Saw Collection  Detective Wahlberg is back and he's still tangled up in the goopy antics of that little clown puppet with all of the petty grievances. It's weird to call a Saw movie ambitious, but Saw III might be. It really tries to build backstory and mythology. The problem is that all of the scenes that should be emotionally impactful end up all jumbled up with cuts and swoops and zooms and whatnot. The effects get really gnarly though if you're into that sort of stuff. 💀💀.5/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 8/13 1. Basket Case 2; 2. Basket Case 3: The Progeny; 3. 3 from Hell; 4. Attack of the Blind Dead; 5. The Ghost Galleon; 6. Night of the Seagulls, 7. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning; 8. Saw III GMM Challenges 8/13 1. Horror High - Bliss 2. Tales from the Cryptids - Mongolian Death Worm 3. Holy Terror - Incantation 4. Fresh Hell - The Pope's Exorcist 5. Shooting Zombies - The Fall of the House of Usher 6. Drawn and Quartered - Violence Voyager 7. Woke in Fright - Tales from the Hood 8. Second Chance - The Fly 9. Challenge of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 11. It's-a Me! 12. History lesson - Evil Ed (1990s); Do You Like Hitchcock? (2000s); Blood Moon (2010s); Hellraiser (2020s) 13. Geography Lesson Completed Collections * The Basket Case Trilogy * The Firefly Collection * The Blind Dead Collection * The Ginger Snaps Collection
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May 13, 2023 14:34
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21. Saw IV - 2007 Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman The Saw Collection  Has Jigsaw finally jigged his last saw or seen his last jig? You thought the nonlineear storytelling died with him, but it has really just begun. Maybe it's because a piece of him lives on in all of us through all those videos he recorded, the thoughtful notes he left for his friends, and the work he was able to outsource. Saw IV is kind of a mess. 💀💀/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 9/13 1. Basket Case 2; 2. Basket Case 3: The Progeny; 3. 3 from Hell; 4. Attack of the Blind Dead; 5. The Ghost Galleon; 6. Night of the Seagulls, 7. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning; 8. Saw III; 9. Saw IV GMM Challenges 8/13 1. Horror High - Bliss 2. Tales from the Cryptids - Mongolian Death Worm 3. Holy Terror - Incantation 4. Fresh Hell - The Pope's Exorcist 5. Shooting Zombies - The Fall of the House of Usher 6. Drawn and Quartered - Violence Voyager 7. Woke in Fright - Tales from the Hood 8. Second Chance - The Fly 9. Challenge of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 11. It's-a Me! 12. History lesson - Evil Ed (1990s); Do You Like Hitchcock? (2000s); Blood Moon (2010s); Hellraiser (2020s) 13. Geography Lesson Completed Collections * The Basket Case Trilogy * The Firefly Collection * The Blind Dead Collection * The Ginger Snaps Collection
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May 13, 2023 17:13
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15. Braindead (1992) It's disgusting, it's hilarious, it's basically a live-action cartoon, it's still a perfect movie. I can't even think of much to say given how many of us have seen it and love it, but if you've somehow avoided seeing it, track it down immediately, and tell us all which was the scene that made you have to pause for a while for some fresh air. Watched so far: The Borderlands, Nosferatu (Shooting Zombies), Shed of the Dead (Challenge of the Dead), Djinn (Holy Terror), Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon (Tales from the Cryptids), Dolly Dearest (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things), A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (It's-a Me!), The Addams Family (Drawn and Quartered), White Dog (Woke in Fright), Scream 3 (Second Chance), There's Something Wrong with the Children (Fresh Hell), Bliss (Horror High), History of the Occult, Coming Home in the Dark, Braindead Total: 15/13 Gyro Zeppeli fucked around with this message at 19:10 on May 13, 2023 |
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May 13, 2023 19:04
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22. Saw V - 2008 Directed by David Hackl The Saw Collection  This one is practically a Saw clip show that depends on you remembering and knowing the significance of various moments in the four previous movies. Then you also have to be able to place them correctly in the continuity of the Saw franchise for any of it to make the least bit of sense. Of course this makes the leadup to the finale incomprehensible because when the movie cuts from one character to the other, there's no way to know if they even exist in the same space and time until you see them make physical contact with each other. There's also a subplot involving some horrible people trapped in a remake of Cube. 💀💀/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 10/13 1. Basket Case 2; 2. Basket Case 3: The Progeny; 3. 3 from Hell; 4. Attack of the Blind Dead; 5. The Ghost Galleon; 6. Night of the Seagulls, 7. Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning; 8. Saw III; 9. Saw IV; 10. Saw V GMM Challenges 8/13 1. Horror High - Bliss 2. Tales from the Cryptids - Mongolian Death Worm 3. Holy Terror - Incantation 4. Fresh Hell - The Pope's Exorcist 5. Shooting Zombies - The Fall of the House of Usher 6. Drawn and Quartered - Violence Voyager 7. Woke in Fright - Tales from the Hood 8. Second Chance - The Fly 9. Challenge of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 11. It's-a Me! 12. History lesson - Evil Ed (1990s); Do You Like Hitchcock? (2000s); Blood Moon (2010s); Hellraiser (2020s) 13. Geography Lesson Completed Collections * The Basket Case Trilogy * The Firefly Collection * The Blind Dead Collection * The Ginger Snaps Collection
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May 13, 2023 21:10
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6. Glorious (2022) I like this kind of thing—high-concept, low-budget—and I found a (very) late unexpected reveal to be a fun surprise that made the movie go down even easier. This is one of those things that gets shelved under comedy but is only funny like of incidentally; it’s more that the tone is generally on the lighter side than that there are jokes in here or anything. Recommended if you’re into smiling some at cosmic horror or the rest of the stupid purple Shudder originals and wanna see something maybe a notch above. Fun fact: Barbara Crampton doesn’t appear but gets an exec producer credit, haha! Slay, queen
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May 13, 2023 21:35
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I signed up for a free two weeks of Arrow's streaming service here in  , they have quite a selection of odd things I haven't seen. 12. Nightwish (1989) A professor puts his students into tanks and hooks them up to machines. They sleep, have nightmares, and the professor and other students watch and analyze. They all head to a creepy house to investigate some paranormal activities and the plot goes kind of insane. This was a trip - a little incoherent, eventually brings in aliens and demons and ghosts and all kinds of nonsense but it had fun practical effects and even though I wasn't always clear on what was happening, it was a good time. Hilarious ending. 3.5/5 13. Shocking Dark (1989) Bruno Mattei rips off Alien and Terminator with a five dollar budget. It's fun to see some scenes straight up lifted into this movie but overall this was a big snoozefest. I actually fell asleep for a couple of minutes at one point but it didn't matter, I didn't miss anything. Don't watch this unless you want to see a guy in a lovely rubber suit chase people through the same set like ten times. 1.5/5Neither of these contributed to my remaining challenges but they did get me to the 13 'new watches' goal I set for myself. I've still got three more GMM challenges to go First time watches: 13/13 GMM Challenges: Tracking GMM #13: Geography Lesson: North America, Asia, Europe, Australia
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May 13, 2023 21:55
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7. Psycho Goreman (2020) Okay, CelticPredator was right. This is amazing. The monster designs are so drat good and such a different weird mix, and then at the end there’s a credits rap.
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May 13, 2023 23:49
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4) Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things Challenge: as per title A theatre troupe travel to a secluded island and attempt to rip off Night of the Living Dead without great success. Watching this, it was hard to believe that just a couple of years later Bob Clark would make a stone cold classic like Black Christmas. This earlier work is vastly inferior, not even measuring up as a calling card showcasing the director's talent. The one-sentence description of the movie above is tongue in cheek but also profoundly literal. The cast really were a theatre troupe, most of whom play characters based on themselves, and the movie really is just a ripoff of NOTLD without the budget (which is saying something). At least, it is once anything actually happens. More than an hour of the movie's scant running time is spent watching Alan Ormsby be an obnoxious rear end in a top hat, which is not fun. Verdict: Goons Shouldn't Watch poo poo Movies. Jedit fucked around with this message at 22:38 on May 25, 2023 |
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May 14, 2023 00:48
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