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STAC Goat posted:I didn’t dig too deep but I got most of the info from this podcast summation. Gotcha. Yeah, I didn't know any of this until your post, and the whole thing has been an interesting read. No wonder someone wanted to make a documentary about it. Shame you didn't like the movie. It does have some skeevy moments to it, but on my viewing that just kinda added to the danger and terror of the film.
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May 16, 2023 14:57
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It's up against Spielberg's Duel in the Bracketology thread. Duel is representing one of my teams so I needed a few people to not like Alice Sweet Alice if I'm gonna win.
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May 16, 2023 15:02
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Basebf555 posted:It's up against Spielberg's Duel in the Bracketology thread. Duel is representing one of my teams so I needed a few people to not like Alice Sweet Alice if I'm gonna win. Feels like an easy win for Duel. Duel is so good. Alice Sweet Alice is great but also off-putting.
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May 16, 2023 15:06
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Franchescanado posted:Feels like an easy win for Duel. Duel is so good. Alice Sweet Alice is great but also off-putting. Yea that was my take, Alice Sweet Alice is too much of a specific taste to be able to take down Duel. But we shall see. I definitely don't expect it to be a shutout.
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May 16, 2023 15:08
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22. Akpamyk (1996) - I have no idea what I just watched other than that it is from Turkmenistan, and that Youtube auto-translate is less than useless, A girl goes on a walk somewhere, and the big bad wolf, or possibly a donkey, but most definitely a guy in a really bad mascot costume is plotting... something? Then there are many more people in bad mascot costumes. Not rating because of the language barrier. -. La Voz de Afuera (2020) - Short to fill out Nicaragua. Again, no English subtitles, but there's very little dialogue here anyway. Nicely shot with some great in-camera effects. 23. Dry Season (2006) - A thriller from Chad, and the best I was going to do under the "I'm counting it if I made an honest attempt" rule I self-imposed in October. It's very good, but of the "Thriller - Drama - Action" label on Letterboxd, Thriller and Action don't really apply. With the government ending reprisal attacks in the aftermath of a civil war, a young man, encouraged by his grandfather, sets off to murder the man who killed his father, but finds out that the killer has reformed, attends mosque daily, and runs a bakery, so he gets to know him before deciding his course of action. 4/5
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May 16, 2023 15:39
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Movie #13: Tales from the Hood (1995) 7. Woke in Fright “Don't worry! You'll get the poo poo! You'll be KNEE-DEEP in poo poo!” As we all know, often in horror movies the actual literal horrors we see are metaphors or stand ins for real life problems, groups or people. Well, Tales from the Hood kind of reverses that. Yes, there are zombies and monsters, but they're not the real horror. How could they be, for instance, in a story where three racist cops beat up and murder a black city councilman who got in their way, and would have gotten away with it scot free if not for the unlikely fact that the city councilman came back as a zombie to kill them? This isn't so much a metaphor for anything as a condemnation of a very broken system, where the victims of systemic racism have to resort to vengeance from beyond the grave to get any kind of justice. And it doesn't end there. We have child / spousal abuse, a racist-rear end Republican candidate (whose family made their fortune off the skins and deaths of slaves) trying to ride the vilification of black people into office etc. In all these stories the system has failed and keeps failing, and people have to resort to supernatural means to defeat the problem. In this the stories feel like a continuation of golems etc, the supernatural constructs and devices that pop up in the folklore of oppressed people who couldn't see natural ways escaping their tormentors or getting revenge on them. It's brutal. It's extremely uncomfortable, but it's also important. The subject matter is awful, but the movie itself is very enjoyable. It has a good mixture of horror and comedy. The actors do a good job, and especially Clarence Williams III is excellent as the eccentric mortuary operator, Mr. Simms, whose stories of the strange dead people in his mortuary act as our framing device. The soundtrack is also a lot of fun, and I very much enjoyed the strained and slightly discordant violins that occasionally pop up, because sound like they were lifted directly from the beginning of Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre. Just about the only real complaint I have is that the movie could have used a bit more running time. A couple of the stories felt a bit rushed and could have used more time to breathe, specifically the first and third ones. As an aside, holy poo poo, I knew the name of the writer/director/actor, Rusty Cundieff, sounded familiar, but I had to go to IMDB to realize he was Ice Cold in Fear of a Black Hat and also wrote and directed it. And Mark Christopher Lawrence from the same movie also pops up here! The Best Part: Or actually, the worst part. The movie is drat near 30 years old, and the racist Republican, or three white cops murdering an inconvenient black man and escaping justice could literally be from today's headlines. Having Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" playing in the background of the beatdown was a brutal reminder that in 1995 they were probably saying the exact same thing about the 50s, when they were saying the same thing about the 20s, when they were... you get it. gently caress, man.  / 5My May 2023 Movies: 1. Black Friday!, 2. Hood of the Living Dead, 3. Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron, 4. Psycho (1960), 5. Mandy, 6. Knock at the Cabin, 7. Suburban Sasquatch, 8. Bay of Blood, 9. Saloum, 10. Braindead, 11. M3GAN, 12. Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, 13. Tales from the Hood Challenges Completed (11/11): 1. Horror High (Mandy) 2. Tales from the Cryptids (Suburban Sasquatch) 3. Holy Terror (Saloum) 4. Fresh Hell (Knock at the Cabin) 5. Shooting Zombies (Psycho) 6. Drawn and Quartered (Hellboy Animated) 7. Woke in Fright (Tales from the Hood) 8. Second Chance (Braindead) 9. Challenge of the Dead (Hood of the Living Dead) 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (M3GAN) 11. It's-a-Me! (Bay of Blood) History Lesson (Complete): Psycho (1960), Bay of Blood (1971), Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron (2007), Mandy (2018), Knock at the Cabin (2023) Geography Lesson: (Complete): North America (Psycho), Europe (Bay of Blood), Africa (Saloum), Australia/New Zealand (Braindead), Asia (Gonjiam) Shaman Tank Spec fucked around with this message at 16:49 on May 16, 2023 |
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May 16, 2023 16:37
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Shaman Tank Spec posted:As an aside, holy poo poo, I knew the name of the writer/director/actor, Rusty Cundieff, sounded familiar, but I had to go to IMDB to realize he was Ice Cold in Fear of a Black Hat. And Mark Christopher Lawrence from the same movie also pops up here! To be clear Rusty made Fear of a Black Hat too. Didn’t just star in it.
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May 16, 2023 16:44
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STAC Goat posted:To be clear Rusty made Fear of a Black Hat too. Didn’t just star in it. Yeah that's a good clarification, he did.
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May 16, 2023 16:49
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Took a few days to enjoy some Tears of the Kingdom, but I'm still watching. 9. Pennywise: The Story of IT (2022) A love letter to Tim Curry disguised as a documentary of the 1990 IT mini-series. The Good Viewers who grew up on the 90s Stephen King TV adaptations and/or Tim Curry’s 70s and 80s filmography will have a warm and fuzzy feeling the whole time. Also, there’s a fun chapter on the loved/loathed final monster. The Bad Both the title and a large chunk of the narrative is spent on Pennywise, Tim Curry, and clowns alone. Therefore, viewers may ask, "Which is the focus? The mini-series or the monster?" Pick a central topic, directors, and stay with it. The Ugly Like similar documentaries, there are some “what almost was” moments that hurt. For example: One early idea was IT as an 8+ hour episodic serial novel directed and co-written by George Romero. drat.  Total: 9 Challenges Completed: Holy Terror, History Lesson, Second Chance, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things
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May 16, 2023 21:40
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 Survival of the Dead (2009) ; Some goddamn NERD This was shockingly better than I thought it was going to be. But I also thought it would be absolutely agonizing, so keep in mind the high points are more like flirtations with mediocrity. It was also definitely based on someone's RPG, and because of the year and the narrative I'm pretty dang sure it was All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Part of why I know this is because it's the kind of poo poo I would improvise on the spot if I was asked to back then. There is a squad of National Guard troops after the dead started rising, then they bump into a kid who joins their party but has been scaled appropriately to be a protagonist. There's some pretty uncomfortable sex stuff, because it was the cave-man days of RPG design and player safety tools weren't common. Then there's a GMPC or possibly a PC where the player had talked with the GM way too much.. Finally they set out to have an open world adventure inside a natural boundary for ease of narrative. The PCs get some rotating spotlight time while being arbitrarily divided so they can see all the moving pieces and interact with the ridiculously rear end-pulled backstory. (O no, I'm the identical twin sister of the zombie that rides a horse, hello I will be with you for the rest of the adventure.) Things are pieced together with no consistency (it's a hidden island, how is there enough room for a ranch?!?!) but who cares it's all just narrative decoration. Eventually everybody's played enough so the characters start getting themselves killed in satisfying manners, because that is the way of the horror one-shot : everyone fights for their lives until the very end and then they turn all but suicidal. It's better than Diary of the Dead but none of it was as good as the best part of Diary of the Dead. And it's cool that like half the cast of Patriot is in this. If they'd thrown in Mark Boone "the Boonior" Junior I might have even said I liked it. Challenge of the Dead 2000's for History Lesson
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May 17, 2023 01:55
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28. Baron Blood - 1972 Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga Directed by Mario Bava 🎃 It's-a Me! 🎃  It's some gothic horror and it's pretty decent as far as those go. There's a castle and a curse, some wooden performances, and a strange little kid. Baron Blood is mid tier Bava but it's still Bava so any real "persona a cui piace Mario Bava" should definitely check it out. 💀💀💀/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 13/13 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; 11. Saw VI; 12. Saw VII 3D: The Final Chapter; 13. Jigsaw GMM Challenges 11/13 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 - Survival of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things - The Pit 11. It's-a Me! - Baron Blood 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 * The Saw Collection
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May 17, 2023 03:28
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 38 (54). Critters Attack! (2019) Directed by Bobby Miller; Written by Scott Lobdell Its a TV Movie Critters sequel like 30 years after the original that I didn't even know existed. I actually watched through the franchise a few years ago but didn't bother with the webisode one... which is apparently different from this one... but came out the same year. I dunno. Do I gotta add it to Letterboxd and watch that too? Yeah, maybe. Its kind of what you might expect. I happen to love Critters 2 but the rest ain't great. 3 and 4 in particular. So the expectations were low. Its like okish for what it is. The critters look pretty good even if they're kind of painfully immobile a lot of the time. The characters and story are pretty week. I actually did like the kid group by the end but it takes a long time to really get everything set up and going. The film feels like it moves very slowly and never really has a lot of bite. Pardon the pun. The TV budget and rating certainly is part of that but I also just thing the story kind of drags through cliches that don't ammount to much. And it was nice to see Dee Wallace back. Always good to see Aunt Dee. But she could have been worked a lot better into the film. That or kept as a surprise for the end. The way they do it where she is revealed early and then just disappears for a long time before she comes back for the finale just ends up making her feel absent. Its not the make or break of the film or anything but its definitely part of what kind of doesn't quite work. "Doesn't quite work" is probably the phrase I'm at. I love puppets and have a soft spot for Critters and this could have been a lot of fun. I was in the mood for this sort of thing for sure. And I didn't hate it or anything, But it never fully clicks. Ultimately it feels like a solid effort for what was given it but it still feels like a TV movie rolled out kind of cheap and dirty. With a little more money and effort it feels like it could have been stronger.  39 (55). Kids vs. Aliens (2022) Directed by Jason Eisener; Written by John Davies and Jason Eisener ”sigh loving teenagers…” This is a feature film adaption of the Alien Slumber Party scene from VHS2, a segment I mostly remember as being decent for its chaotic energy and fast pace. Here we do away with the found footage stuff and tell real story with characters and stuff and there's kind of a mixed bag of response. On one hand I did kind of like the main kids and I really enjoyed the mix of 80s kid energy. Neon colors, wrestling, dinosaurs, mad max type designs, lots of yelling, unsupervised children doing dangerous poo poo because of absent parents. It was all very 80s kid. Oh and the villainous teenage boy who is just a total loving psychopath. Very 80s. So the intent here is clear and I did have a lot of fun with it for awhile. I think things slow down in the middle as it tries to set up its story before the alien poo poo starts. There's where the cliche of everything kind of hurts things. Its not bad, its just not that interesting. And the film just slows down for awhile which doesn't benefit it. Starting fast, slowing down, and finishing fast is a tough road to go because that middle part might just be too much of a slow down for the momentum if its not really really interesting or good. But the last part speeds up a lot finishes decently well. I think there's probably both too many ideas in play with too little clear story. This would have made a very good hour and maybe a pretty good 1 and 45 minutes. But at 75 minutes or so it manages to sometimes feel like its padding stuff out and sometimes feel like its rushing ideas. But it feels like a labor of love and I did mostly enjoy myself. I wish I had enjoyed myself more but to be fair I was feeling very sick and tired and I went to sleep the second the movie ended. So some of its me. I liked the cast, I liked the style and look, I liked the basic idea. I had a solid amount of fun. I just think its a little rough around the edges.  40 (56). Siren (2016) Directed by Gregg Bishop; Written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski; Based on "Amateur Night" by David Bruckner and Nicholas Tecosky Watched Kids vs Aliens which was a spinoff of the VHS series so decided to watch the other spinoff I’d been meaning to check out for years. It was alright I guess. It looks and feels cheap and kind of sneezy but that’s at least partially intentional or played into. The characters are nothing generic douche bros but again… leans into the story. Being story appropriate doesn’t make them characters any more interesting to follow but it does help accept the world building. This world building is a super skeezy underground night club that is actually like a demonic honeypot or something? The movie doesn’t exactly make that clear and I think that’s actually the most disappointing aspect. Ultimately the weird world of medusas and sirens and poo poo was much more interesting than some assholes getting hosed by gender dynamics karma. The story here is largely different from the short, mainly in that it has all that more interesting demonic night club stuff that doesn’t get explored enough. It does bring back the same actress from the short which is cool. She’s an effective monster even if the film doesn’t really write enough story for her. That’s kind of the weirdness I guess. There’s like two decent movie ideas here… maybe they’re the same one… but neither feels like its fleshed out with a good enough story. Its not terrible or anything. There’s enough good and promising stuff to kind of counter the boring or generic stuff. I don’t know if it fully balances out but its close depending on your tastes I guess. Or just your mood. I started watching this when I was feeling bad and bounced right off it. I then restarted it a few hours later when I was feeling better and engaged more. Still not a great or even especially good film. But it was catchable and not without some memorable stuff. But anthologies often work because they showcase ideas that aren’t deep enough to get a full feature. And the clear challenge in extending a short into a feature is finding that deepness to flesh it out. And this was kind of a valiant effort to basically build a whole new kind of interesting world to support it but still not really a strong enough story to make it work. Or maybe they just needed more engaging generic dudes?
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May 17, 2023 04:44
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Next of Kin - 1982, Australia There are a ton of movies with this title! This one's the 1982 Australian horror film. I'd heard it called an Australian take on The Shining and hey I was all-in on the Canadian Shining, Ghostkeeper, so I had to check this out! Turns out they're not much alike besides a few superficial similarities (funny enough, I thought it had more in common with the early sections of Doctor Sleep, so there is still a King vibe.) It's not a film about isolation or giving into your worst impulses or watching a loved one change, it's a sleepless, anxious story about how you can never really go home again, dread coming from realizing that you never really knew the people you grew up with. So no, I wouldn't call it an Australian Shining but that's fine: It's still good! One of those films set in a small community where you can't trust anyone. Julia inherits her mother's rural estate, a giant mansion that's been converted into a retirement home. A soft synth score, a rotting mansion introduced in the middle of a thunderstorm, a dark family history coming to light: 100% my style. Great use of sound and camera work to really get you inside a panic attack! Linda slowly getting more miserable and paranoid with each night with no sleep? I've been there. I loved that we get to see the techniques she used to calm down, too; Linda finds calm in balancing objects, whether it be a house of cards, a pair of forks, or a giant sugar cube structure. She's also remarkably capable of defending herself. This one takes a wild turn in the last act that's way more 70s giallo than anything else and drat does Linda have some good moves to protect herself, got to give props to any horror movie where a lady smashes a chair on a villain's back. I also dug the subtle humor; yeah I'm going to laugh at a FIRE DANGER HIGH sign in the background following a gigantic explosion.
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May 17, 2023 04:52
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Blood Quantum (2020) -- *raises hand* Can we panic now? Zombies VS Indians. Pretty standard postapocalyptic fare, but everything looks good and there's buckets of blood. Like, Japanese grindhouse blood geysers amounts  Hey guys, maybe when you're screening new people for your zombie apocalypse survivor camp, maybe don't just take their word for it when they say they haven't been bit  Also features the world's worst blowjob.Woke in Fright justification: There's some mention of how the 'townies' don't like natives from the reservation, but we never really see this much. However the entire 2nd half of the movie is based on white peoples being abused by tribe members. Very Us vs Them with easy parallels to general immigration/refugee issues of the day. ⚞💀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 09. Blood Quantum 🎃Woke in Fright🎃
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May 17, 2023 08:53
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 10) Rampant - 2018 - TubiTV Okay, Joseon dynasty Korea with the most amazing hats, check. Nobility scheming in the Imperial court, check. Turbo Zombies, check. Crown Prince returning home to zombie mayhem, check. Just from these points, I could be describing the incredible Kingdom series, but I'm not. Rampant does share a lot of the same plot beats as the series that they do get compared frequently, but they are separate entities. Considering I'm craving a next season of Kingdom, Rampant did scratch that itch. The zombies are scary, the pace was good. It kept me engaged and not wanting to pause to get something to drink. The actors were great. Interesting to note is the financiers/distributors for this film also brought us the excellent Train to Busan, so it's safe to say if they crank out another zombie film, I'm ready with movie snacks to give it a watch. Highly, HIGHLY recommend this one. gey muckle mowser posted:
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May 17, 2023 09:28
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5. Renfield Vudu Nicolas Cage is Dracula and Nicholas Hoult is cowardly assistant Renfield, who needs courage from a group therapy session and a new relationship with a cop to find the strength to say no to him. Obviously the response to that isn't well. The half of this that a) plays on the camp potential "Nicolas Cage is Dracula" inherently brings to a project, and b) takes full advantage of its R rating by being full of gore during entertaining action scenes, is fun and really difficult for me to not recommend someone see at least once! And then the other half has like 10 full minutes of Awkwafina Comedy (aka a cop being surprised other cops are corrupt in 2023) and teases of fun stuff we don't get a lot more of yes I am incredibly pissed Lugosi-Nicolas Cage in black and white was given away in the first scene for seconds, that could have easily been its own feature Yeah. I liked more of Renfield than I didn't, so I can't say I was truly underwhelmed despite it being among my most-looked-forward-to films of this year's first half, but it wasn't by much. Maybe give this one a rent or watch it on TV in a few years *** 6. Malum  Vudu Almost a full decade ago Anthony DiBlasi released Last Shift, about a rookie cop being assigned the titular graveyard stay at the station and told not to leave no matter what. A cult makes that a challenge. I finally watched it a few years ago (after a handful of years of it being recommended to me) and loved it, thought about it for weeks. Didn't break new ground (especially with its ending), but was just a really tight tense well-paced 87min film that still found a way to go gonzo in the third act despite its limitations, and sometimes that's all you need or want Another one of my most-looked-forward-to films of this year's first half, Malum is DiBlasi's just-released remake, with a bigger budget to work with, more characters, and a different take on the story. This time the cop intentionally took the job and shift because she wanted to learn more about her dad's involvement with the cult. Originally believing him as a hero who saved some girls they abducted, she grows to find out there was far more that she wasn't aware of, including how he died (given away in the opening scene, in the process probably making the ending more predictable than Last Shift's was) Ultimately while I still prefer Last Shift, for me it's just the difference between great and pretty good. DiBlasi manages tension really well; it could have seemed a fluke with the original, but maintaining it with new directions in this one shows that's just not the case, he knows what he's doing and that makes me look forward to what he does next more than a lot of indie horror directors currently! It gets pretty bloody and nuts in the final third. And the bigger emphasis on plot and the cult works to its advantage, some of the standout scenes involve these minor characters that have a chance to breathe, even though this is only a few minutes longer than the original The big thing I feel is worth criticizing is there's an overreliance on hallucinatory imagery; Last Shift kept you on the edge by showing you just enough while holding back just enough that you were left unsure what was real. Malum doesn't show such trust in its audience in that regard, and there's a few too many jumpscare dream sequences. Despite that, man I liked the last half hour. Cute big demon btw. I can definitely tell why he wanted the budget to reflect his vision the first time, but less wound up being more; if you can only see one version of DiBlasi's cult film, it should still be Last Shift **** 6/13 (Beau is Afraid, From Black, Enys Men, Fear 2023, Renfield, Malum)
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May 17, 2023 13:11
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#14 Land of the Dead (2005), first watch Zombies menace a city-state riven with contradictions, where the mercenary guards are getting tired of taking orders. This is a weird one. It feels caught between two eras. It has an old-fashioned straightforwardness to it - simple motivations, straightforward dialogue, a limited scope where a single kitted-out truck is important enough to fight and die over. But it has a cheap look to it, especially in the indoor scenes, and the characters feel like lazy archetypes, just sort of lifeless, no pun intended. They never surprise you. I suppose the main attraction is the zombies, which look excellent and are surprisingly characterful, and have a great many scenes of just ploughing through hapless humans, so the movie does what it says on the tin, at least. It's disappointing to know that this is still better than Romero's last two Dead flicks. Anyway, that's my submission for Challenge of the Dead3/5 #15 Bliss (2019), first watch  An artist breaks through her creative block with the aid of a substance known as BLISS. It's pretty good! The whole movie is really excellently paced, just propelling from one scene to the next, which is good because the main character is kind of awful to be around. Nights blur together, and you lose your grasp of her relationships and social norms, and it becomes hard for you (and her) to keep track of what's real, because even the pre-Bliss reality is kind of hosed up and chaotic. Nothing she does seems to have any consequences, and you can't tell if that's because it was a hallucination, or because the world she lives in is just that disconnected. It's got a really distinctive look to it, hazy in a way that doesn't feel like poo poo to look at. Also, props to the movie for convincing me I might get something out of metal, for a while. This is my entry for Horror High, with the plot being basically one big bender. 4/5 #16 Knife+Heart Un couteau dans la cœur (2018), first watch  A producer of gay porn in '70s Paris finds her stars menaced by a serial killer. I really liked it. It was a surprisingly cozy movie; it between the grisly murders it spends a lot of time just settling you in to the life of Anne and her associates. She's neither happy nor miserable, pining for her ex (and current editor) Loïs, and trying to inject some real artistic merit into the films. It's only after the second killing that the fear really sets in, and people stop showing up for work. The cops, while not overtly hostile, are not willing to help, and Anne & co. are left to fend for themselves. There's this very fun subplot in which she integrates the actual investigation into a new feature, set in a fantasy world where the cops are actually solving the case (and also are constantly having sex with the witnesses, suspects, and each other). Ultimately it's Anne, acting alone, identifies the killer, and it's the patrons of a random porn theatre who catch him and kill him. It's really not a joyful ending, but at least they can rely on each other. The movie, I should mention, is set in 1979. This is my entry for Woke in Fright4/5
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May 17, 2023 13:46
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6. Fear Street: 1994 2021 | dir. Leigh Janiak rewatch | Netflix I didn't get around to parts 2 and 3 of this trilogy when they came out. There were too many other movies to prioritize. My girlfriend and I were talking about Tim Jacobus, the illustrator who painted the original Goosebumps covers. My girlfriend loved the Fear Street books and talked about wanting to collect them again. Hey guess what, there was a trilogy of Fear Street movies that we could watch! I thought it would be right up her ally, with a witch legend, and a more creative take than the rote slashers she doesn't really dig.  And she didn't really dig this either! I overall like the premise, and the aesthetic works a lot of the time. Tonally it's a mix of Buffy and Scream and Halloween and Hocus Pocus, but it maybe leans a little too into the quest game structure of Hocus Pocus and feels juvenile, despite the blood, gore and language. It's like a PG-13 movie that was allowed to be R. It's a curious thing. The first act is edited to quickly, which fucks with pacing. There are way too many needle drops. I think there is a 5 minute segment of film in the first act that manages to have 6 needle drops, like you're on a road trip with a friend who hears 20 seconds of a song and then has to switch it again. Once the film finds it's groove, it's still a good time overall, and the violence and who the film's willing to kill keeps an element of surprise. We'll see how the sequels work out. Soft Recommendation Total: 6 New: 4 Rewatches: 2 Movies Watched: Tenebre | Twilight Zone: The Movie | Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) | Alligator | VFW | Fear Street: 1994
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May 17, 2023 14:05
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gey muckle mowser posted:
 #16. His House (2020) (Netflix) A pair of refugees from Sudan, after having fled to England, are beset by an evil force inside of the slum house they've been relocated to. I picked this film for this challenge not for the spooky ghost element - I don't know enough about Sudanese culture to know if the witch doctor? ghost? thing at the end is supposed to be a real thing or not, or what it's supposed to be doing or how they're able to overcome it in the way that they do. No, I picked this because I expected to get a horror-themed drama about black people being shunted to the sidelines by racist white people perpetuating a system of neglect, and that's somewhat true of the experience. There's a lot of snide remarks about how the dilapidated slum house the Majurs are moved into is "bigger than what [the white people] got", as if that's a way to excuse their dismissal. As if that is compensation for what the Majurs went through to get to England to be put up in that house; as if that is explanation for how shoddy the house itself is or the fact that they're not allowed to leave it. Former Doctor Who Matt Smith has a small role as the face of this dismissive bureaucracy, and I like that he plays it as a former romantic, someone whose compassion is basically embers at this point, but I don't think that the film really gets away with trying to let the system off the hook via his character; he's glad for the Majurs in the end, that they were able to get their poo poo together enough to (be allowed to) stay, but their material circumstances haven't changed at all, even if their perspectives have, and I don't know that the film believes they are an upward trajectory at the end. As for the rest of it - it's well acted and shot, even if the script is a little flimsy and it can be too reliant on sudden ghost appearance jump scares. It kind of feels like the film is getting in its own way when it tries to play into genre conventions so heavily. I also don't think that the late-in-the-game revelation that the Majurs had tried to kidnap a girl and pass her off as their daughter to be able to flee really works as a kind of twist or character beat - it starts to sour your sympathy for them right at the start of the third act, and (again, not aware of Sudanese culture or myths or anything) makes the attempted sacrifice to the ghost monster thing feel like a missed opportunity for karmic retribution. Looking back, it does make their only occasional grief make more sense, but it also feels like a beat too far and ultimately not something that really gets paid off by the ending - if the kidnapped girl is just one of dozens of ghosts that are haunting them from their flight away from a war-torn country, does it make any difference that she is somehow the only one who was wronged in any particular way by the Majurs directly? She gets lost in the sea of faces that make up the ghosts that they are learning to live with in the final shots anyway, so all of this extra detail literally gets lost in the background of their trauma. Still, it all evens out to pretty decent, so it's worth a look. /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, Road Games, Abominable, The Omen, Lyle, His House
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May 17, 2023 15:03
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 - (57). Duel (1971) Directed by Steven Spielberg; Written by Richard Matheson I watched this back in February so I considered skipping it but the thing is the last/first time I watched it was on Svengoolie. And while I enjoyed it I also felt like the commercial breaks and corny jokes probably did the film a disservice as a tense thriller. Granted it was originally a TV movie anyway but still. I thought at the time I owed it a rewatch without the noise so now seemed as good a time as any. Besides its a very good hot day time horror. And yeah, i'm glad I did because I was right. It was a tenser and more flowing affair naturally. It also just looked better. Svengoolie must have shown the TV version because the theatrical version looked like a film more than I remembered. Then again maybe Sven showed the theatrical version because I had seen the school bus scene and apparently that was added for the extended version. So who knows? Ultimately its a very good, very tense, very well acted, very great stunt worked film for sure. A great first showing for a legend that clearly gives you hints of the classics to come. I don't think this is up to those classics but its drat good. I'm not a big car stunt guy so that probably holds it back a bit for me, but on the other hand that means it holding my attention the whole way as well as it does really speaks to how good not only those stunts were but how good the story those stunts were worked into was. Just a real good watch even for the second time in a few months. And good enough to make me think about working some Speilberg into my post May watchlist.  - (58). Hatchet III (2013) Directed by B. J. McDonnell; Written by Adam Green Watched on Amazon Prime Three days ago I made the decision to rewatch the entire Hatchet series. Then I got about as sick and in pain as I've ever been for the next few days. And once I was feeling better I watch the next Hatchet movie. Because I'm a glutton for punishment. I decided to rewatch these because I didn't remember much about them and wanted to get the story and characters and stuff. Joke's on me. This tired retread of tired retreads has nothing resembling a story or meaningful characters unless you count the gag of bringing Pary Shen back to play new characters each time or bringing in familiar faces from past horror films. I liked Shen in the first film but his roles/characters are increasingly nothing. The horror cameos are also dragging a bit with the dude from Gremlins and the lady from TCM2. Well Sid Haig is there which is something I guess. Was I supposed to know who Derek Mears is? It feels like we're really scraping to justify the gimmick here, guys. This is a dull affair. A nothing story. A forgettable cast. Danielle Harris returns but spends most of the movie handcuffed doing and saying nothing. I'm not saying she's a make or break part or anything but what's even the point of bringing her if you're not gonna use her? She got naked for this movie and you couldn't write her a real role? It feels like at this point Green has really lost sight of any parody he started with and is now just actually thinking Victor Crowley is an interesting character to continue. He's not. He's intentionally designed as generic as possible. Maybe Green isn't deluded and in love with his creation. Maybe its just that he's discovered the value of cheap slasher sequel cash ins. Either way this is a drag that doesn't feel like its got any real purpose for existing. The previous films were bad but I could kind of see their appeal for someone else. This? I don't know who this is made for. And somehow there's still another one left.  41 (59). Victor Crowley (2017) Written and directed by Adam Green Watched on Peacock Comedy is subjective. But man I found this painfully unfunny. I guess to its credit at least this once again feels like its back to being comedy as opposed to 3 which feels like they just forgot they were making a joke and started to think someone actually wanted more Victory Crowley lore. This is no longer a slasher parody. Now its just a slasher comedy. Technically I guess. There is slashing and Crowley but most of this is just unlikable people and juvenile comedy. I kind of liked the production crew. So they died unceremoniously so the unlikable people could yell at each other more. Because I guess that's funny? I dunno. Laura Ortiz was kind of decent as the smarmy best friend? But like she's got nothing really to do. Its a weird rear end not very good script. There's a pair of red herring subplots that just get derailed suddenly for a laugh I guess? And then again, its like 30 minutes of them standing in a small space yelling at each other. The whole thing seems like its intentionally backloaded for a gore fest in the final 20 minutes or so so the rest of the film is this kind of dragging dull really outdated comedy. Well again, subjective and all. I dunno. Its on me for watching 4 of these films. I can't blame anyone else. I guess Hatchet has an audience and Adam Green has a fanbase and I guess they're getting what they want. I dunno. At least I'm done. Of gently caress... a teaser for another one. Why do you do this to me, Danielle Harris? 🌼💀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); 30 (42). Night Teeth (2021); 31 (43). The Howling: Reborn (2011); - (44). Let Me In (2010); - (45). The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966); - (46). Hatchet (2006); 32 (47). Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008); 33 (48). Hatchet II (2010); - (49). Signs (2002); 34 (50). Evil Dead Rise (2023); 35 (51). Alice, Sweet Alice (1976); 36 (52). Incantation (2022); 37 (53). All Monsters Attack (1969); 38 (54). Critters Attack! (2019); 39 (55). Kids vs. Aliens (2022); 40 (56). Siren (2016); - (57). Duel (1971); - (58). Hatchet III (2013); 41 (59). Victor Crowley (2017); 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: 9/13 - The Invisible Man; Mostly Ghostly; John Carpenter’s Vampires; Scream; Children of the Corn; The Howling; Sleepaway Camp; Critters; Hatchet; GMM Challenges: 10/13 - 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); Incantation (Holy Terror) Meta Challenges: History Lesson: 9/5 - The Invisible Man's Revenge (1940s); This Island Earth (1950s); Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1960s); Alice, Sweet Alice (1970s); 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 17, 2023 21:42
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 16. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) I was really into this at first. Examining the impact of The Blair Witch Project on Burkittsville, MD where the original takes place is fun. Hearing from residents who capitalize on it ("it costs too much to ship a rock" says a woman selling dirt from the woods online), seeing waves of goths hanging out in the cemetery, etc. is interesting, but then it veers into a movie that feels very bland and by-the-numbers. We get a group of folks (research student couple, goth girl, Wiccan girl) taking a Blair Witchy tour with spooky results - most of which is stuff happening that doesn't make sense, and video footage from every location that contradicts what we saw earlier in the film. It's not scary at all, and reading about the production it is clear that there might have been a cooler movie hiding inside this if it weren't for studio executives forcing changes to make it more a 'traditional' horror movie, which is a shame. 1.5/5First time watches: 16/13 GMM Challenges: [/quote]
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May 17, 2023 21:50
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24. Zombie rear end: Toilet of the Dead (2011) Challenge of the Dead - This movie definitely overdelivers, by which I mean that there are plenty of piss- and vomit-related gags too. Zombification via mutant, anal tapeworms. Obviously full of goop, dials up to ludicrous at the end. 3/5 25. Yeelen (1987) - Another revenge thriller from Africa that is really more drama than anything, this time from Mali. This one's set in the mythical past, with our protagonist out to get his sorcerer father. Gorgeously shot. 4/5 26. Poison for the Fairies (1986) Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things - Slow-burner from Mexico that feels more 70's than 80's about a lonely rich girl making friends with an orphan who believes that she's a witch. Gets heavier and heavier as they become more immersed in witchcraft, and pays it off nicely. 3.5/527. The Fourth Victim (1971) It's-a Me! - Fairly tame giallo that may only be notable because it has quite possibly the most anti-climatic ending in cinematic history. 2/528. Eyes Without a Face (1960) Shooting Zombies - The opening reminded me somewhat of Carnival of Souls, but this goes in a completely different direction. A bit predictable as a story, but it's executed perfectly and the ending is glorious. 4/5
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May 18, 2023 04:24
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11. Knife+Heart (2018) (first viewing) (watched via AMC+/Shudder)  This French slasher is set in Paris in 1979, and follows the cast and crew of a gay porn studio that finds it's actors are being stalked and slain by a mysterious killer. Although this one does lend itself to the snappy elevator pitch of "a gay giallo"--and it is that, for sure--there's quite a bit going on here. Yes, it's got the gloved killer, the stylish lighting, and some loose plotting that favors a kind of cinematic intuition over rigid logic. But the sex and violence is mixed in with humor and, dare I say it, even moments of heart. Our lead character, Anne (Vanessa Paradis), is the director at the studio. Although she eventually digs deep into investigating the murders, are first she's so indifferent that she cares more about mining the deaths as plot ideas for the porno they're shooting. (Although the scenes they film with horny cops investigating the fictional versions of the killings are indeed the funniest parts of the movie. I wish I had a gif of the horny cop thrusting at his typewriter during an interrogation.) That callousness carries over to her personal life, which she spends drunkenly trying to manipulate and abuse her ex-girlfriend back into the relationship. The cops don't try too hard to find to why gay porn actors are being picked off, and there's an interesting mixture of themes involving sexuality, commerce, art, danger, and death, all placed just before the looming AIDS epidemic. The investigation into the murders itself takes the film into some vaguely mystical, fantastical places, and the departures from strict realism give the film an interesting flavor. It looks great, it sounds great (the M83 score is excellent), and it certainly feels like a modern take on giallo rather than just a rip-off. And don't forget to stay for the mid-credits coda. CHALLENGE: "Woke in Fright." --- CHALLENGES: 1. Horror High--A Field in England (2013) 2. Tales from the Cryptids--Suburban Sasquatch (2004) 3. Holy Terror--Satan's Slaves (2017) 4. Fresh Hell--Evil Dead Rise (2023) 5. Shooting Zombies--Ringu (1998) 6. Drawn and Quartered 7. Woke in Fright--Knife+Heart (2018) 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 (6/5 completed)--The Shout (1978) ('70s); Dolls (1987) ('80s); The Fear (1995) ('90s); Suburban Sasquatch (2004) ('00s); 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 18, 2023 04:30
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History of the Occult - Argentina, 2020 - Finishes up Challenge 13, Geography Lesson When I first heard about this one I assumed was a documentary, whoops! It's actually an Argentinian horror film about witchcraft and conspiracy centered on the final broadcast of a national news program. OR IS IT? A popular news program in 1980's Argentina prepares to air its final broadcast, the conclusion of a year long investigation into a murder, disappearance, and coverup connected to the president. Everything plays out in real time, with our perspective split between the TV program and the drama and paranoia behind the scenes. A very convincing portrayal of a late night news/talk show from another era, one that's both familiar and hard to place. Simulates the feeling of listening to a ghost story late at night when you're half asleep. There's dread here, but it's a sleepy, detached sort of dread where you're not quite sure if you should be feeling anything or not. I dig it. I'm always into playing with aspect ratios too! There are some very fun visual tricks at play here. I also loved the subtle way the temperature displayed on screen during the program continued to rise in a way it really shouldn't, without anyone calling attention to it. I'll have to watch this one a second time because there's a lot to dig into. Time and space get weird for both us and the crew; at times I swore this was a lost 90s indie film from its direction, contrast, and composition, even if I know it's actually from 2020. Capitalism and politics as a cult is certainly the most relatable topic at hand, but there's a whole lot more going on and I almost want to call this a sci-fi film rather than horror. The ending packs a punch and I'd love to see the story continued in a parallel, separate way ala Resolution/The Endless. A True Jar Jar Fan fucked around with this message at 05:12 on May 18, 2023 |
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May 18, 2023 05:04
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 42 (60). Mirrors (2008) Directed by Alexandre Aja; Screenplay by Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur; Based on Into the Mirror by Kim Sung-ho Watched on HBOMax A pretty good if kinda weird film. This film was somehow both exactly what I should expect from the two main parts of it and also not at all what I expected. When I saw Keifer Sutherland in this and the basic plot summation I immediately assumed it would be a kind of cop thriller to capitalize off of 24's success, and it more or less was. But I'm watching it because its Alexandra Aja and he's known for making pretty gnarly, pretty gorey, pretty all out horror films. And it was that too. So while I was expecting something kind of tame instead its basically Jack Bauer falling head first into a full on horror film and getting more than what he was prepared for. Its an interesting mix. I never actually watched 24 and I think its entirely possible I haven't seen Keifer Sutherland in anything since the 80s. But Jack Bauer was pretty ever present so I was basically expecting him to cop around a ghost murder mystery or something. and that's more or less what we get for awhile. Kiefer is fine I guess but he plays it kind of weird. He plays it like I imagine Jack Bauer worked. He's not exactly a nice or stable dude, he yells a lot, does some really questionable poo poo, and screams "poo poo!" every time things go bad. I don't know why that amused me. He just yelled it so loud and forcefully. It wasn't what I expected. But again, kind of exactly what I feel like I should expect? The movie kind of takes a very sudden horror turn midway through with a bathtub scene. Its... a lot. Its a horror film up to this point but all of sudden its a HORROR scene. That quiet cop thriller ghost murder mystery gets a big blast of gore and from that point on poo poo gets increasingly horrory and gnarly and out of Jack's comfort zone (as he continues to yell "poo poo!"). It feels like Aja kind of intentionally played the game here riding the expectations of what a Jack Bauer horror would be and then gradually throwing him into what a Alexandra Aja horror is. Its a pretty fun ride and far from predictable. The film this ended up was nothing like what I went in expecting. I wouldn't call it a home run but its a pretty good and interesting watch. Like I'd just recommend it for the weird tonal play but I think there's some gore that really would please a lot of horror fans. Its not like all the way full on hardcore gore hound or anything. But its a unique balance that doesn't really pull its punches.  43 (61). Bloodrayne: The Third Reich (2010) Directed by Uwe Boll; Written by Michael Nachoff Watched on Amazon Prime On my journey to finish off Letterboxd Collections I've rewatched a few series I have regrets about. But even I'm not such a poor decision maker that I'm gonna rewatch a couple of Uwe Boll movies. So I don't really remember poo poo about Bloodrayne except that she's a Blade knockoff who bears an inconvenient amount of cleavage in really bad movies. I think that's enough. This isn't as bad as I was worried it would be, but its still real bad. The poor writing is never more apparent than when Bloodrayne is delivering her grade school philosophy journal monologues. I bet Uwe thought he was being deep. It really sometimes feel like the writing and acting is a high school play someone weirdly gave a movie budget too. This Bloodrayne is mildly better than the first one I think but its a nothing character. She has no depths or motivation or anything. She's as basic as the character starts with from a one line description. And easily none of the other characters are any better. Clint Howard seems to be having fun overacting as a nazi scientist and Micheal Pare is at least competent. Brendan Fletcher is a dude I feel like I've seen in a dozen things but can't remember a single role. But really they're all at the mercy of their terrible director and his bad script. Still its watcheable which I feel like puts it above the other two films. Its been 18 months since I watched 2 and 2 years since I watched the first one so maybe I'm wrong. But as I said I'm not rewatching these films. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment. Oh hold on, its another ridiculously timed and over indulgent sex scene. About the only thing I enjoyed in this was how anticlimactic the final battle scene is. Its actually kind of hilarious. No, no, not enough to like this or make you think you should watch this. Please don't. I'm just glad I'm done.  44 (62). Run Sweetheart Run (2020) Directed by Shana Feste; Written by Shana Feste, Keith Josef Adkins, and Kellee Terrell Watched on Amazon Prime Not at all what I expected, even though the basic twist had kind of been spoiled for me. Still movie surprised me. Its a little rough around the edges. Its kind of campy, absurdist tone feels at odds with the very straight tone early on. The longer the film goes on the more I kind of started to get it. That this was the vibe we're going for but it did sort of feel like a push and pull. What we have is almost a kind of Odyssey by way of O Brothers Where Art Thou or Bible story by way Dogma or fairy tale by way of The Warriors. You get me? Like there's a real fantastical tone thats there but it doesn't feel like it comes to naturally, rather it feels like its fighting against the more simple tone of what the film looks like on the surface. And its got these themes about the patriarchy and misogyny for sure. And they're all a bit on the nose but that's obviously by design. But I really did dig the idea here. The ever evolving cast of characters Cherie encounters along her journey. The sinister bad guy performance of that guy from Game of Thrones. Ella Balinksi does a solid job holding down her end but she's given the tough task of being the straight man... err, woman... of the adventure. Like most in that roll I think she kind of ends up feeling lesser than but not because of any failing on her part. Just because everything else is so over the top in its own way or spectacle like that she's left carrying the bag. But she does a solid job at it. You kick some rear end, lady. So yeah, not quite a home run but I did really dig what it was going for and a lot of what it did. Maybe didn't all quite come together but I think it just could have used a tweak her or there or a fuller commitment to things going off the rails into the fantastical or absurd. But then again that probably would have pushed back against the intended setting and misdirect and metaphor... well not really a metaphor. Its all right there. But nothing wrong with that. All for more women and POC horror stories. Let the dudes who have dominated the genre for generations with misogynistic slashers and virgin final girls be on the other side for awhile and complain that there's too many "message" horrors. They just scared like you know who that the tide is shifting. Best run.
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May 18, 2023 07:06
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 11) Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - 1985 - Prime When I was little, the general consensus in the crypid books regarding dinosaurs living in modern times was that aside from Nessie, they were probably in the deep regions of Africa or Asia. I used to think it'd be cool if somewhere there were still dinosaurs around, but then when I learned dinosaurs eventually evolved into birds and my experience with the rooster on my family's farm who truly embraced his velociraptor ancestry with chasing all of us kids until we fled into the house as well as actively attacking everyone's cars, yeah....dinosaurs still around is not so cool an idea. This film goes into Mokele-mbembe, a massive sauropod who lives in the Congo River Basin. Story is the basic scientists find the cryptid is real and other interested parties want to exploit the cryptid or kill it. Since this was a Disney project through thier Touchstone brand, there is a happy ending with the Mokele-mbembe going off into the jungle. I first saw this as a teen, and I remembered it as being okay enough. There's not much out there for Mokele-mbembe compared to the other cryptids like Bigfoot or chupacabra. Revisiting it again, it's still okay enough. It's not awful but it's not particularly stand out. gey muckle mowser posted:
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May 18, 2023 15:06
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A few rewatches before I dive back in for a couple more Bigfoot movies. Texas Chainsaw Massacre I'd been holding onto the new UHD for a few months, figured I'd wait for the weather to heat up a bit. Anyway I think you'd get a range of opinions on whether a movie like TCM really benefits from the UHD treatment. Is the movie better when watched on a beat up VHS than a top of the line UHD? That line of thinking makes sense in a way because it's a movie that gets better the more you slide into it's sweaty griminess. That said, the 4k transfer doesn't remove any of that, in fact you could argue that in some places it maybe even goes a bit too far. The grain is extremely heavy and there are a few places where you do get that "swarm" effect and I'm not a huge fan of that. Overall though the graininess is what you want from TCM, and the 4k release definitely maintains that great texture of a down and dirty(yet extremely well shot) midnight drive-in type film.  Signs In the early 2000s I kinda rolled my eyes at the "loss of faith" storyline that is at the core of Signs. The resolution at the end of the film felt more like a Shyamalan contrivance than something truly earned, but watching it now after at least a decade since the last time, I feel differently about it. I think the genius of it is that it works if you want it to work. It kinda teaches you a lesson about faith in that way, faith is something you have to put effort into because you have to want it. If Gibson's character had chosen to fully abandon his faith, he would've ignored the so-called coincidences and Merrill may have never picked up the bat in that moment. In the end, we get to choose how we see the universe and in a sense we determine our own reality. All of that is of course added on top to what I already enjoyed about Signs, which is some genuinely cool and creepy stuff. We don't get a lot of big studio movies on this subject and it's always a good time when you get to see it done right. 1. American Bigfoot 2. Terror on Bigfoot Pond 3. Scream 6 4. Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch 5. M3GAN 6. Exists 7. Terrifier 2 8. Primal Rage 9. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 10. Signs 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 18, 2023 15:26
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Crescent Wrench posted:11. Knife+Heart (2018) (first viewing) Fun fact that I didn't realize until I watched a bunch of Yann Gonzalez's short films - his brother is Anthony Gonzalez, the lead singer/songwriter of M83 I also recommend Yann Gonzalez's You and the Night, it's not horror (although it has some slightly spooky bits) but if you like his style and are interested in queer cinema it's pretty good. The blu-ray of it has another disc with most of his short films too which are overall quite good, and both the movie and the shorts feature a lot of the same cast members as Knife+Heart.
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May 18, 2023 18:23
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29. Alice, Sweet Alice - 1976 Directed by Alfred Sole 🎃 History Lesson 🎃 Wrapping up my History Lesson here with another Bracketology pick.  I wonder how Alfred Sole feels about the Catholic church. Alice, Sweet Alice doesn't really present a definite point of view. It's uncomfortable and uneven, but better than I expected. Alice and Mr. Alphonso were pretty much perfect casting and I don't think that's a compliment to either of the actors. 💀💀💀/5 Spooky May Spring Cleaning 13/13 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; 11. Saw VI; 12. Saw VII 3D: The Final Chapter; 13. Jigsaw GMM Challenges 12/13 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 - Survival of the Dead 10. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things - The Pit 11. It's-a Me! - Baron Blood 12. History Lesson - Alice, Sweet Alice (1970s); 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 * The Saw Collection twernt fucked around with this message at 20:02 on May 18, 2023 |
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May 18, 2023 19:53
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I'm behind where I wanted to be at this point, too much going on lately. Also Tears of the Kingdom is sucking up a lot of my leisure time. 9. Clearcut (1991) (dir. Ryszard Bugajski) Blu-ray #7 - Woke in Fright - environmental activism and indigenous rightsPeter (Ron Lea), a white lawyer representing indigenous peoples in a case against the owners of paper mill who want to cut down the forests on their land, becomes frustrated when they lose the case. After experiencing hallucinations in a sweat lodge ceremony, Peter meets Arthur (Graham Greene), an indigenous activist whose anger drives him to take more direct action, and Peter is caught up in increasingly violent events when Arthur kidnaps the president of the mill. This is really excellent! It's included in Severin's folk horror set, but it's less of a straight horror movie and more of a revenge thriller with a somewhat supernatural layer to it. At times this is subtle and quiet, but it builds to a violent and gory third act. It's both horrific and cathartic - the film doesn't really take Arthur's side, but neither does it fully condemn his violence. It's about the frustration of fighting a losing battle in a system that's stacked against you from the start, where violence seems like the only recourse. I think the message is maybe a little unclear at times, but the compelling performances, haunting music, and gorgeous landscapes make this a really engaging watch. Definitely recommended! 4 scalps out of 5 Total: 9 Watched: Lokis, a Manuscript of Professor Wittembach | The Manitou (Challenge #3) | Spoonful of Sugar (Challenge #1) | Faust (Challenge #5) | The Medium | Ringu (Challenge #8) | The Boxer's Omen | Magic (Challenge #10) | Clearcut (Challenge #7) Challenges: History Lesson: 5/5 - 1920s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2020s Geography Lesson: 4/5 - Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Asia
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May 18, 2023 21:14
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6) Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) Challenge: Second Chance Kung fu vampire action in a Hammer/Shaw co-production. It's been a very long time since I first watched this one, so forgive me for being brief: I wasn't keen. And I'm still not. It's one of the lesser lights of Hammer, coming as it did towards the end of the studio's run when the barrel was being firmly scraped. The absence of Christopher Lee was a big hint that it wasn't going to be good; he was offered the part of Dracula but turned it down after reading the script. I'd wager that Peter Cushing wished he'd done the same. It's a limp movie, not even saved from mediocrity by absurdity. The plot is contrived and the staging is very poor. That said, I will give it credit for including a rare movie appearance for the jiangshi, the hopping vampire of Chinese myth.
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May 19, 2023 00:57
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29. The Abominable Snowman (1957) Tales from the Cryptids - Hammer film about horrible bipedal monsters (humans) in the Himalayas. Not much Yeti, too much "humans are the real monsters," and Peter Cushing demonstrating mastery of his craft. 3.5/5 30. Awakening of the Beast (1970) Horror High - Hallucinogenic Brazilian film about hallucinogens, as a psychiatrist gives four patients LSD to prove that drugs just ramp up people's natural inclinations, not turn them into criminals. Visual feast and subtly horrifying, at least until it turns outright horrifying with the final patient's vision of hell. 4/531. Sarraounia (1986) - My October leftover from Mauritania... it's about a witch, so it counts, right? In this case, it's a historical film based on sorcerer queen Sarraounia uniting her neighboring tribes to oppose French colonialism in West Africa in the 1890's. The titular character is on-screen rarely, and it mostly focuses on the racism and brutality of the French forces. 3.5/5
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May 19, 2023 04:26
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#15: Happy Birthday To Me 5. Shooting Zombies  The Challenge says highest rank you haven't seen and have access to and this was the highest ranked one I haven't seen and was available on bluray at my local Half Price Books, so I'm counting it. Pretty good standard slasher fare. Multiple fun deaths and a couple good car stunts which I wasn't expecting. Really unpleasant brain surgery scene. The one drawback is the running time. It's too long. Could stand to lose 12 or 20 minutes. Not bad but I don't know if it's the 900th best horror movie of all time. On the other hand I can't think of 900 better horror movies so gently caress me I guess [sub][sub]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 1: Horror High: Naked Lunch 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 5. Shooting Zombies: Happy Birthday To Me 6. Drawn and Quartered: The Spine of Night 8. Second Chance: As Above So Below 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 19, 2023 04:32
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Blacker Than the Night - 1975, Mexico A very straightforward ghost story that's two parts style, one part sleaze. The mysterious, world-traveling Susana dies and leaves her giant estate to her last living relative on one condition: Take good care of her cat. Her niece, Ofelia, moves in right away along with her posse of fashionable friends. The cat dies shortly after and a haunting begins. The costumes and hairdos are gorgeous and while it's not stated I'm pretty sure this group of four women are actually two couples, even with an awkward ex-husband hanging around and a chemistry-free boyfriend. Ofelia meets one of them for the first time after coming home from a trip and seeing her naked in her bed while her roommate showers, it seems a little bit more than "she needs a place to crash!" Sofia, a servant who has lived in this mansion for decades, was also very clearly in love with the departed Susana. Just two nice old ladies living with a cute cat for years until the hardship of old age started catching up with them. I hate that these ladies suck so horribly at taking care of pets, but otherwise I love that Ofelia's reaction to inheriting a mansion isn't worry or anxiety or even sorrow, she just immediately goes "hell yeah I'm moving in and taking all of my hot friends with me, plus that girl I just met." The lush costuming, colorful mansion, and classical horror storytelling really gives this a Hammer vibe with the occasional splash of giallo in the second half. This is my second Carlos Enrique Taboada film and I absolutely love his style; this isn't a film that tries to break new ground, but one that embraces long-standing traditions and does so exceptionally well.
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May 19, 2023 05:37
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 45 (63). Renfield (2023) Directed by Chris McKay; Screenplay by Ryan Ridley; Story by Robert Kirkman Everyone seems way down on this and the main complaint seems to be that there's not enough Cage Dracula but I mean... look at the name, guys. Its Renfield, not Dracula. And I actually really got a great kick out of the way it played around with the Universal Origin or the Hammer sequels. That's all kind of in the first 10 minutes and ok, I'm riding a really good short idea a little. But it was a great mood setter that really put me on board early. And then you got like Jean Ralphio screaming his rear end off. I was just having fun. And ska took a beating. There's a fair share of crowd pleasers here besides that internet meme guy. Look I like Cage fine and I think he's a very fun Dracula. But I judge the film for what it is... and what the name on the poster is. And actually there's more Cage in this than I expected. He's easily the secondary character at worst and there's more of him than Awkwafina. And he's great. And yeah ok, the Awkwafina cop stuff isn't the best and doesn't really feel like the story we want here. It definitely feels like a bit of a clumsy means to an end fir the plot. But I don't think its too bad nor that it takes up too much of the film. Mostly it sets up Awkwafina's family situation and motivation for the pivotal final act role. And ok, yeah. I don't hate Awkwafina the way many do but she definitely feels a bit of out of place here. But just little. I don't think she actually hurt the movie. Its more the choice to go with the cop plot when they probably could have made do with the core story of Renfield's own personal journey and Jean Ralpio and Shohreh Aghdashloo along with the support group. Its actually a very loaded and talented cast and I think that very much helps it past some of the rough spots of the script. But ultimately I guess you gotta feel the vibe or not. And yeah, ok, I totally get why people would have wanted to see that Universal or Hammer parodies they teased. But I didn't come in expecting either of those movies so I accepted them as just a hilarious bonus. Would those movies have been better than this one? Maybe. I don't know. But I enjoyed the movie I got. Nicholos Hoult is entertaining in the lead role, its maybe one of my favorite Nic Cage performances, and there's a loaded extended cast beyond Awkwafina who I also think is fine. Ultimately I had a really good time and was highly entertained. And that's all that really matters, right?  46 (64). Vampire's Kiss (1988) Directed by Robert Bierman; Written by Joseph Minion Watched on Hoopla Not at all what I expected. I watched this one off my list just because I enjoyed Cage as Dracula in Renfield and thought I'd finally check out that other Cage vampire film I'd heard so much about. But definitely not what I was expecting. Its probably not some kind of hot take for me to say that this film feels less like any kind of vampire story so much as it does feel like the daddy of American Psycho. I suppose when you get down to it American Psycho could certainly be looked at as a thematic vampire film at a certain angle so that makes it feel even more natural. But Cage could easily have been Patrick Bateman's terrible, absentee, abusive father. Just one of those one night stands. So yeah obviously this is about Cage's completely manic performance. And Nicolas Cage and manic performance is almost redundant at this stage but this is definitely a doozy. Completely deranged and absurd in a way that truly makes you wonder what the hell even possessed Cage and the director to do the things he's doing. María Conchita Alonso's fear and terror from him might as well been real. I can't imagine not being terrified by Cage in this. Its a wild ride for sure. I don't think I was as blown away as many but I'm not generally blown away by Cage or this kind of wild thing. But its good and engaging and certainly a memorable performance in a memorable career as well as what feels like an inspiration/prequel to another cult classic in American Psycho. Its certainly a film to watch. And to think I had long confused this with that one Jim Carey vampire teen comedy.  47 (65). The Attic (2007) Directed by Mary Lambert; Screenplay by Tom Malloy and Bob Reitano Not a good film, which is a shame. With Mary Lambert behind the camera and Elisabeth Moss in front of the camera I was hoping for something better. Not great, just a solid spooky film. Moss does a fine enough job and Lambert seems to do as well as she can with the flimsy budget and materials at hand. The real problem here feels in the script and overall writing. Its just a bad story. To start with the film spends no time at all establishing its characters or story. Its just right into things in opening minutes with the spooky poo poo happening before you barely even know anyone's name and Moss' character already being affected before the film even started. Its a weird choice that gives us no time to give a poo poo about these characters or know them before their lives get turned upside down. All we ever know Moss as is this isolated, disturbed young lady. All we know her parents as are these stressed people concerned and angry that their daughter is acting the way she is. It just doesn't work. Its also just kind of an unnecessarily confusing and janky story that drags. Having spent time getting to know our characters away from their haunting could have certainly helped the pacing of this film a lot but it also feels like the film spends a lot of its time and energy just kind of feeding red herrings and spooky mysteries to keep things going. And in the end the results aren't super shocking but they also don't make a lot of sense or come together in a satisfying way. Its just a bit of an uninspired mess. Script was written by the actor who also chose to play a developmentally disabled character. Which may have biased me against his decision making but does make me feel like most of this falls on him. Its a cheap film that does a lot of stuff badly. Mary Lambert doesn't seem to have as many hits on her resume as misses and there's probably at least a few directing choices that should fall on her. And no matter how good an actor Moss is and she's certainly of the caliber who could carry a film and she doesn't here. But in the end I just think its a real bad script above all else. Its just not a good story and you can't turn crap into a diamond even under the best of circumstances.
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May 19, 2023 06:24
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#17 Kill, Baby, Kill! (1966), first watch aka Operazione Paura, aka Don't Walk in the Park, aka Die toten augen des Dr. Dracula  A doctor is sent to a remote village to investigate a death, and finds himself caught between superstitious villagers, a sinister baroness, and a witch. Sort of a pre-giallo gothic horror, with lots of stagey sets and coloured lighting (also, I absolutely couldn't find a non-dubbed version). Awfully pretty to look at. The main character, Paul, is a total idiot, who just sort of blunders around, getting people killed and never entirely understanding the situation he's in - which is ultimately resolved when the witch decides to deal with it. There's this sort of earthiness to the whole thing I really liked. There's no messing around with the mechanics of the curse, or a ritual to lift it, or an appeal to the ghost's humanity, or a magic weapon; Ruth decides to take action because her husband is killed, and she does this by just strangling the Baroness. I really loved the scene towards the end, where Paul is running through the same room over and over, and it starts to loop the footage in such a way that it looks like he's chasing himself from the previous shot, and then he actually catches himself - it's playing with a visual convention so as to pull the rug out from under you, and leave you uncertain of what is allowed to happen in this movie.  I had planned to watch this for It's-a Me!, being a Mario Bava movie, but instead I'm going to put it down for Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things. The ghost is a little girl, and many of her hauntings have this childlike aspect to them. Apparently this was one of the prototypical Evil Child movies, and this whole side of it was novel and frightning to audiences at the time, which is cool. 3/5 #18 Mad God (2021), first watch  Shudder doesn't let you take screenshots, so here's another one from Kill, Baby, Kill! The world is populated by things that consume everything they can and destroy everything they cannot, no plot. This is basically a feature-length special-effects mood piece, made mostly with stop-motion miniatures, though I believe there was also a little live-action mixed in - it's a testament to the quality of the animation that it was hard to tell at times. It's a sort of tour through this nightmare world. There are factions but no protagonists, there are journeys but no clear beginning or end, there are things that act but no clear motivations or purposes. I guess I saw it as a depiction of the world but defamiliarised, like the way an animal looks at an artificial thing, seeing just the object and not trying to suss out who made it or what it does, which a person can't help but do when they see the object. Like if you showed a parrot the inside of a slaughterhouse; it would be equal parts horrified and confused, wondering how this scenario came about, how such a thing can exist. One of the consistent threads in the movie's vignettes is that life is a resource, and like all other resources is constantly being transformed into other, more useful forms. I'm not 100% sure it's a movie, but it's definitely horror. This is my entry for Drawn and Quartered4/5
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May 19, 2023 06:45
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Gripweed posted:#15: Happy Birthday To Me You can do better than that! If you have the internet you have free access to a large number of the films that are actually good. YouTube, Archive.org, Moonflix, etc. I just said the "have access to" part because I didn't want people to feel like they needed to spend money on something.
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May 19, 2023 14:13
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 Dawn of the Beast The Bigfoot: This was a double disappointment because not only was there very little Bigfoot in the movie, the Bigfoot itself is pretty crappy. The makeup effects are decent but I don't like the design at all, it looks more like a Lon Chaney Jr. Wolfman than a Bigfoot. Unfortunately I don't really have much more to say about it because like I mentioned, the Bigfoot is barely in the movie. They lean much more into the Wendigo creatures, which are equally strange in their design but I'm not getting paid to evaluate Wendigos here, my job is Bigfeet. Score: 2/10 Everything Else: It's a well shot film, on the technical side it looks pretty good. That's about the only compliment I can give it, because everything else is just boring and uninspired. So it's actually an odd combination of technically competent filmmaking but without any sort of compelling material to actually make a film out of. It feels like they came up with a one line elevator pitch: People get attacked by Wendigos in the woods and then get saved by Bigfoot, and weren't able to build a movie around it to deliver that moment in a satisfying way. 1/10 Total Score 3/20 It's interesting how I came away from something like this actually preferring the zero budget stuff where people sit around a mud puddle while a guy in a Bigfoot suit does the Robot on the edge of the frame. This felt like a worse offense because they had some ingredients to make something good and didn't even come close to doing it. 1. American Bigfoot 2. Terror on Bigfoot Pond 3. Scream 6 4. Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch 5. M3GAN 6. Exists 7. Terrifier 2 8. Primal Rage 9. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 10. Signs 11. Dawn of the Beast 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 19, 2023 17:56
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16. Beau is Afraid (2023) Well that was loving intense. My first reaction (and I feel like I'm gonna need a long time to chew this one over) is "It's The Odyssey as written by Kafka". But holy poo poo, that was a loving ride. I've never seen an audience in genuine stunned silence like at that ending. 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, Beau is Afraid Total: 16/13
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May 19, 2023 18:30
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 17. Fright Night (2011) When I read the cast list for this, I was looking forward to it, but what a disappointment. Colin Farrell was enjoyable as the hunky vampire, and I really liked David Tennant's weird Criss Angel / Russell Brand hybrid take on Peter Vincent. There are some good suspenseful moments, but the CGI is awful and ruins a lot of scares. More than that though is the script - it felt like 4 out of every 5 jokes were just "you're a pussy, you're a woman, are you a little girl" type of poo poo, or calling girls "skanks" etc., some real cringe garbage. Not recommended! 2/5 18. Duel (1971) Watched this for [url]https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4018436&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1]Bracketology[/url] but it has been on my watchlist forever. I've watched a lot of the movies it inspired - in fact I think I watched 1997's Breakdown for the October challenge last year which was very similar. This is a tense TV-movie thriller! Dennis Weaver stars as David Mann, a salesman driving through the Mojave (it looks so hot there it almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter  ) and for reasons we never figure out, the driver of a giant tanker truck decides to terrorize him - smashing his car, running him off the road, and generally just being scary as hell. I liked this so much I went and voted for it over in the Bracketology tournament over Alice Sweet Alice (which I also like) - this was great. 4/5First time watches: 18/13 GMM Challenges:
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May 19, 2023 19:41
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